Cor.
Tullus Aufidius then had made new Head.

Larg.
He had, my Lord; and it was that which caus'd
Our swifter Composition.

Cor.
So then the Volscians stand but as at first,
Ready, when Time shall prompt them, to make Inroad
Upon us once again.

Com.
Lord Consul, they are worn and harrass'd so,
That we shall hardly, in our Age, behold
Their Banners wave again.

Cor.
Saw you Aufidius?

Larg.
On Safeguard he came to me; and did curse
Most bitterly the Volscians, who so vilely
Yielded the Town. He is retir'd to Antium.

Cor.
Spoke he of me?

Larg.
He did, my Lord.

Cor.
How? What?

Larg.
How often he had met you Sword to Sword.
That of all things upon the Earth, he hated
Your Person most: That he would pawn his Fortunes,
So he might only be proclaim'd your Vanquisher.

Cor.
At Antium lives he?

Larg.
At Antium.

Cor.
I would I had a Cause to seek him there,
T'oppose his Hatred fully: Welcome home.

Enter Sicinius and Brutus.
See where the Tribunes of the People come,
The many-headed Monsters common Tongues;
Whom I despise and hate, because the Wretches
Would raise their puny and their upstart Power
Above what we, the Nobles, ought to bear.

Sic.
Pass no further.

Cor.
Ha, what say'st thou?

Brut.
It will be dangerous to go on, no further.

Cor.
What is the Cause of this so sudden Change?

Men.
Ay, what uncommon Accident has happen'd?

Com.
Has he not pass'd the Nobles and the Commons?

Brut.
Cominius, no.

Cor.
Thou Wretch, Despite o'erwhelm thee.
What should the People do with these bald Tribunes?
On whom depending, their Obedience fails,
And grows rebellious to the greater Bench.
When not what's fit, but what must be was Law,
Then were they chosen. In a better Hour
Let what is fit, pronounce it must be fit,
And trample on their Power.

Brut.
He has said enough.

Sic.
He has spoken like a Traytor, and shall answer
As Traytors do.

Brut.
The Ediles, ho. Let him be apprehended. Enter an Edile.

Sic.
Go call the People, in whose Name, my self
Arrest thee as a traytorous Innovator,
A public Foe to Rome. Obey, I charge thee,
And follow to thy Answer.

Cor.
Hence, old Goat.

All Sen.
We all will be his Sureties.

Cor.
Hence, rotten thing, or I shall shake thy Bones
Out of thy Garments.

Sic.
Help, help, my Fellow-Citizens. Enter a Rabble with the Ediles.

Men.
On both sides more Respect.

Sic.
Here's he who would deprive you of your Power.

Brut.
Seize him, Ædiles.

All Pleb.
Down with him! down with him!

2 Sen.
Weapons! Weapons! Weapons! [They all bustle about Cor.

Men.
Tribunes, Patricians, Citizens, what ho!
Sicinius, Brutus, Coriolanus, Citizens!
Now what will follow next? I am out of Breath,
And want the Power to speak, and they to hear.
Confusion has already taken place,
And Ruin, its Attendant, must ensue.
Patience, ye Tribunes of th' unruly People;
And thou, Coriolanus, too have Patience.
Speak to the People, good Sicinius, speak.

Sic.
Hear me, People. Peace.

All Peop.
Let's hear our Tribune. Peace. speak, speak.

Sic.
You are about to lose your Liberties;
Marcius, by force, will seize upon your Rights,
This very Marcius whom you nam'd for Consul.

Men.
For shame, Sicinius;
This is the way to kindle, not to quench.

Sen.
To unbuild the City, and to lay all flat.

Sic.
The City! What's the City but the People?

Pleb.
'Tis true, the People are the City.

Brut.
By the Consent of all we were establish'd
The People's Magistrates.

Pleb.
You so remain.

Men.
And so are like to do.

Cor.
That, that's the way to lay the City flat,
To bring the Roof down to the deep Foundation,
And bury all its Order, and its Beauty
In heaps and piles of Ruin.

Sic.
This deserves Death.

Brut.
Or let us stand to our Authority,
Or let us lose it. We do here pronounce,
In all the People's Name, in whose just Power
We were elected theirs, Marcius is worthy
Of present Death.

Sic.
Therefore lay hold of him,

Bear him to the Tarpeian Rock, from whence
Into Destruction cast him.

Brut.
Seize him, Ædiles.

Cor.
No; I'll die here. [Draws.
There are among you who have seen me fighting,
Now come and try the power of this Right Hand.

Men.
Down with that Sword. Tribunes, withdraw a while.

Brut.
Lay Hands upon him.

Men.
Help, Marcius, help; ye who are Noble, help,
Both old and young.

All Peop.
Down with him! down with him! [The Tribunes, Ædiles, and People are beaten in.

Men.
Go, get you to your House, begone, away,
All will be naught else.

2 Sen.
I pray be gone.

Cor.
Stand fast, we have as many Friends as Foes.

Men.
Shall it be put to that?

1 Sen.
The Gods forbid.
I pr'ythee, noble Friend, home to thy House;
Leave us to cure this Cause.

Com.
Besides,
'Tis a Mistake to think our Friends are equal:
So far from that, 'tis Odds so disproportion'd
That Numbers cannot reach it. Come away,
For Manhood is call'd Foolery, when it stands
Against a falling Fabrick. Will you hence
Before the Rout returns? whose Rage grows mad
As interrupted Waters, which o'erwhelm
What they before supported. Come away. [Exeunt Com. and Cor.

1 Sen.
This Man has marr'd his Fortune.

Men.
His Nature is too noble for the World.
He would not flatter Neptune for his Trident,
Nor for his Thunder Jove; his Heart's his Mouth:
What his Breast forges, that his Tongue must vent.
And being angry, he forgets that e'er
He heard the Name of Death. [Noise within.

Here's goodly Work.

1 Sen.
I would they were a-bed.

Men.
I would they were in Tyber.
What, with a Vengeance, could he not speak 'em fair? Enter Brutus and Sicinius with the Rabble again.

Sic.
Where is this Viper, that would lay the City
Depopulate and bare; that he might then
Be all in all himself?

Men.
You worthy Tribunes.

Sic.
He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian Rock
With rigorous Hands. He has resisted Law,
And therefore Law shall scorn him further Tryal,
Than the Severity of the publick Power
Which he so much contemns.

Men.
If by the Tribunes leave, and yours, good People,
I might be heard, I then would speak one Word,
The which can be no further detrimental
Than so much loss of Time.

Sic.
Speak briefly, then,
For we are peremptory to dispatch
This viperous Traytor; for to banish him
Were to prolong our Danger, and to keep him
Were certain Death; therefore 'tis decreed,
This very Night he dies.

Men.
Now the good Gods forbid,
That our renowned Rome, whose Gratitude
Towards her deserving Children is enroll'd
In Jove's own Book, like an unnatural Dam,
Should now devour her own.

Brut.
We'll hear no more.
Pursue him to his House, and pluck him thence;
Lest this Infection of Malignant Nature
Spread its contagious Poyson.

Men.
Hear me but one word more.
This Tyger-footed Rage, when it shall find
The Harm of thoughtless Swiftness, will too late
Tye leaden Pounds to its Heels; proceed by Process,
Lest Parties, as he is belov'd, break out,

And sack great Rome with Romans.

Brut.
Were that the Case indeed—

Sic.
Can you demur then?
Have we not had a Taste of his Obedience?
Our Ædiles smit, our selves resisted? Come.

Men.
Consider this; he has been bred to War,
Since he could draw a Sword, and is ill school'd
In boulted Language: Meal and Bran together
He throws without Distinction. Give me leave,
And peaceably I'll undertake to bring him
Where he shall answer, by a lawful Form,
Even at his utmost Peril.
Noble Tribunes,
This is the human Way, the other Course
Will prove too bloody, and the End of it
Unknown to the Beginning.

Sic.
Be you, Menenius, then the People's Officer.
Masters, lay down your Weapons.

Brut.
Go not home.

Sic.
Meet on the Forum, we'll attend you there,
Where if you bring not Marcius, we'll proceed
In our first Way.

Men.
I'll bring him to you.
Let me desire your Company. [to Senators.] He must come,
Or what is worse will follow.

Sen.
Come, pray let's to him. [Exe.

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