Cominius, Menenius, and other senators, having in some degree appeased the people, here enter and join with Votumnia in trying to persuade Coriolanus. They intimate to him that fair speech may recover his election, if he can thereto frame his spirit: Volumnia answers : [Volumnia.] He must, and will: Pr'ythee, now, say you will, and go about it. [Cor.] Must I go show them my unbarb'd sconce ? Must I This mould of Marcius, they to dust should grind it, [Cominius.] Come, come, we 'll prompt you. [Volumnia.] I pr'ythee now, sweet son, as thou hast said My praises made thee first a soldier, so, To have my praise for this, perform a part [Coriolanus.] Well, I must do 't: Away, my disposition, and possess me [Volumnia.] At thy choice, then : To beg of thee, it is my more dishonour, With as big heart as thou. Do as thou list: [Coriolanus.] Pray, be content; Mother, I a'm going to the market place; Chide me no more: I'll mountebank their loves, Come: I'm ready. At the Forum, the tribunes and citizens are awaiting the arrival of Coriolanus and his friends: they enter, Menenius beseeching Coriolanus, as they come forward, to be gentle toward them, and calm: he repeats his mises, and then speaks to the people: [Coriolanus.] The honour'd gods Keep Rome in safety, and the chairs of justice pro The tribune Sicinius, after desiring the people to draw near, interrogates him: [Sicinius.] I do demand, If you submit you to the people's voices, To suffer lawful censure for such faults [Coriolanus.] I am content. Shall I be charg'd no further than this present? [Sicinius.] Answer to us. [Coriolanus.] 'Tis true, I ought so: say. [Sicinius.] We charge you that you have devis'd to take From Rome all 'stablish'd office, and to wind Yourself into a power tyrannical; For which you are a traitor to the people. [Coriolanus.] How! traitor? [Menenius.] Your promise-calmly—your promise. If, in thine eyes, sat twenty thousand deaths, [Sicinius.] Mark you this, people? Hear how he treats your tribune. A cry springs from the whole multitude-To the rock with him! to the rock with him! [Sicinius.] He doth indeed Deserve extremest death: but since he hath [Coriolanus.] What do you prate of service? What know Of any service? [you The senators interpose, in order that he may not increase the irritation: his impatience interrupts them : Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death, [Sicinius.] For that he has, As much as in him lies, from time to time, To pluck away their power, and now at last The ministers that do distribute i't, we, I' the name o' the people, even from this instant, A loud shout of approbation follows: the senators in vain interpose: [Coriolanus.] You common cry of curs, whose breath I hate As reek o' the rotten fens,-whose loves I prize As the dead carcases o'f unburied men That do corrupt my air-I banish There is a world elsewhere. upon it. ROME SAVED BY THE MEDIATION OF THE WOMEN, ILLUSTRATED BY SCENES REPRESENTING THE CONCLUDING PART OF THE STORY OF CORIOLANUS, AND SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE IN ROME; IN THE HISTORICAL MEMORANDA. The Roman historians are proud to attribute the salvation of their city, on more than one occasion, to the women. In the days of Romulus, the women who were related to the Romans as their husbands, and to the Sabines as their fathers, interposed between the hostile armies of these two nations in order to save Rome. It seems to be agreed by modern inquirers, that a great part of early Roman history, is allegorical or legendary. This may be the case with the story of Coriolanus; yet we can hardly persuade ourselves that there was not some foundation for the belief, that Rome was saved from the rage of one who, before his exile, had been the greatest of her warriors, by the intercession of his wife and mother. The date commonly assigned to this fact is the year 263 of the city, or 489 before Christ: but modern inquirers are of opinion that if it happened at all, the date should be thirty years later. It is to be added, that banishment was no part of the old Roman law:-a man went into exile when he found himself in danger of a heavier doom, but the law did not banish him. We imagine a public place in ancient Rome. Two of the tribunes, Sicinius and Junius, are in conversation : [Sicinius.] We hear not of him, neither need we fear him. We make his friends blush that the world goes well: We stood to 't in good time. Is this Menenius? [Junius.] 'Tis he, 'tis he: O, he is grown most kind Of late.-Hail, sir! [Menenius.] Hail to you both! [Sicinius.] Coriolanus, sir, is not much miss'd, But by his friends: the world goes smooth without him. [Menenius.] All's well, and might have been much better, if He would have temporis'd. [Junius.] Where is he, hear you? [Menen.] Nay, e'en his wife and mother hear not from him: I know not. An Edile enters, and speaks. [Edile.] Worthy tribunes, There is a slave, whom we have put in prison, [Menenius.] Hear you that, tribunes? No doubt it is Aufidius, who has heard Of Marcius' banishment, and now thrusts out [Junius.] What talk you Of Marcius? I'll see this rumourer whipp'd: |