To the greater bench: In a rebellion, When what's not meet, but what must be, was law, Then were they chosen; in a better hour, Let what is meet, be said it must be meet24, And throw their power i' the dust. Bru. Manifest treason. Sic. This a consul? no.. Bru. The Ediles, ho!-Let him be apprehended. Sic. Go, call the people; [Exit BRUTUS.] in whose name, myself Attach thee, as a traitorous innovator, A foe to the publick weal: Obey, I charge thee, And follow to thine answer. Cor. Hence, old goat! Aged sir, hands off. Sen. & Pat. We'll surety him. Com. Cor. Hence, rotten thing, or I shall shake thy bones Out of thy garments 25. Sic. Help, ye citizens. Re-enter BRUTUS, with the Ædiles, and a Rabble [Several speak. Cit. Down with him, down with him! 2 Sen. Weapons, weapons, weapons! [They all bustle about CORIOLANUS. 24 Let it be said by you that what is meet to be done, must be meet, i. e. shall be done, and put an end at once to the tribunitian power, which was established when irresistible violence, not a regard to propriety, directed the legislature.' 25 6 here's a stay, That shakes the rotten carcase of old death King John. Tribunes, patricians, citizens !—what ho!— Cit. Peace, peace, peace; stay, hold, peace! Men. What is about to be?—I am out of breath; Confusion's near: I cannot speak:-You, tribunes To the people,-Coriolanus, patience: Speak, good Sicinius. Sic. Hear me, people;-Peace. Cit. Let's hear our tribune :- -Peace. Speak, speak, speak. Sic. You are at point to lose your liberties: Marcius would have all from you; Marcius, Whom late you have nam'd for consul. Men. Fye, fye, fye! This is the way to kindle, not to quench. 1 Sen. To unbuild the city, and to lay all flat. Sic. What is the city, but the people? Cit. The people are the city. True, Bru. By the consent of all, we were establish'd The people's magistrates. Cit. You so remain Men. And so are like to do. Cor. That is the way to lay the city flat; To bring the roof to the foundation; And bury all, which yet distinctly ranges, Sic. This deserves death. Bru. Or let us stand to our authority, Or let us lose it:-We do here pronounce, Upon the part o'the people, in whose power We were elected theirs, Marcius is worthy Of present death. Sic. Therefore, lay hold of him; Bear him to the rock Tarpeian, and from thence Into destruction cast him. Bru. Ædiles, seize him. Cit. Yield, Marcius, yield. Men. Hear me one word. Beseech you, tribunes, hear me but a word. Edi. Peace, peace. Men. Be that you seem, truly your country's friend, And temperately proceed to what you would Thus violently redress. Sir, those cold ways Bru. That seem like prudent helps, are very poisonous Where the disease is violent:-Lay hands upon him, And bear him to the rock. Cor. No; I'll die here. There's some among you have beheld me fighting; Come, try upon yourselves what you have seen me. Men. Down with that sword;-Tribunes, withdraw awhile. Bru. Lay hands upon him. Men. Help, help, Marcius! help, You that be noble; help him, young, and old! [In this Mutiny, the Tribunes, the Ediles, and the People, are all beat in. Men. Go, get you to your house; be gone, away, All will be naught else. 2 Sen. Cor. We have as many friends as enemies. Men. Shall it be put to that? 1 Sen. Get you gone. Stand fast; The gods forbid ! For 'tis a sore upon us, I pr'ythee, noble friend, home to thy house; Leave us to cure this cause. Men. You cannot tent yourself: Begone, 'beseech you. Com. Come, sir, along with us. Cor. I would they were barbarians (as they are, Though in Rome litter'd), not Romans (as they are not, Though calv'd i'the porch o'the Capitol)- Men. Be gone; Put not your worthy rage into your tongue; Cor. I could beat forty of them. Men. On fair ground, I could myself Take up a brace of the best of them; yea, the two tribunes. Com. But now 'tis odds beyond arithmetick; Men. Pray you, be gone: I'll try whether my old wit be in request With those that have but little; this must be patch'd With cloth of any Com. colour. Nay, come away. [Exeunt COR. COM. and others. 1 Pat. This man has marr'd his fortune. Men. His nature is too noble for the world: He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, Or Jove for his power to thunder. His heart's his mouth; What his breast forges, that his tongue must vent; And, being angry, does forget that ever 26 One time will owe another.' I think Menenius means to say, Another time will offer when you may be quits with them.' There is a common proverbial phrase, ' One good turn deserves another.' The lowest of the populace, tag, rag, and bobtail. VOL. VIII. T [A noise within. He heard the name of death. 2 Pat. I would they were a-bed! Men. I would they were in Tyber!-What, the vengeance, Could he not speak them fair? Re-enter BRUTUS and SICINIUS, with the Rabble. Sic. Where is this viper, That would depopulate the city, and Men. You worthy tribunes, Sic. He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian rock With rigorous hands; he hath resisted law, And therefore law shall scorn him further trial Than the severity of the public power, Which he so sets at nought. 1 Cit. The noble tribunes are the people's mouths, And we their hands. Cit. Men. Sir, Sic. Peace. He shall well know, He shall, sure on't 28. [Several speak together. you should Men. Do not cry, havock 29, where but hunt With modest warrant. 28 We should probably read :— 'He shall, be sure on't.' 29 This signal for general slaughter was not to be pronounced with impunity, but by authority: Item que nul soit si hardy de crier havok, sur peine d'avoir la test coupé.'-Ordinances des Battailles, 9 R. ii. Art. 10. Again, in the Statutes and Ordynaunces of Warre, printed by Pynson, 1513:-' That no man be so hardy to crye havoke, upon payne of him that is so founde begynner, to dye therfore, and the remenaunt to be emprysoned, and their bodies to be punyshed at the kinges wyll.' Paroc, in Saxon, is a hawk, and Mr. Tyrwhitt thinks the cry may have originally been a sporting phrase. See Julius Cæsar, Act iii. Sc. 1, note 17. |