Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?
Tit. Not I; 'twas Chiron, and Demetrius :
They ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue,
And they, 'twas they, that did her all this wrong.
Sat. Go, fetch them hither to us presently.
Tit. Why, there they are both, baked in that pie;
Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,

Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point.

[Killing TAMORA.

Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed.

[Killing TITUS.

Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed ? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed. [Killing SATURNINUS. A great tumult.

confusion disperse.

The People in MARCUS, LUCIUS, and their Par-,

tisans, ascend the steps before TITUS's House. Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome, By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl

Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,

Oh! let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body;
Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself',
And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
Do shameful execution on herself.
But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,

Cannot induce you to attend my words,

Speak, Rome's dear friend; as erst our ancestor,
When with his solemn tongue he did discourse,
To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,

The story of that baleful burning night,

When subtle Greeks surpris'd king Priam's Troy.

LEST Rome herself be bane unto herself,]

Modern editors have sometimes given the four first lines of this speech to a Senator, and the rest to Marcus. The two 4tos. assign the whole to a Roman Lord," but the folio gives it to a "Goth," in whose mouth it is very inappropriate. In accordance with the corr. fo. 1632, we assign the whole to Marcus, who, having said "Oh! let me teach you," &c. proceeds to perform his undertaking. Let of the old copies is also there altered to "Lest," a very obvious change, formerly made by Southern in his folio, 1685.

Tell us, what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
Or who hath brought the fatal engine in,

That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.
My heart is not compact of flint, nor steel,
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief;

But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utterance, even i' the time
When it should move you to attend me most,
Lending your kind commiseration.

Here is a captain, let him tell the tale;

Your hearts will throb, and weep to hear him speak.
Luc. Then, noble auditory', be it known to you,
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius

Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
And they it was that ravished our sister.

For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded,
Our father's tears despis'd, and basely cozen'd
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out,
And sent her enemies unto the grave.

Lastly, myself unkindly banished,

The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out,
To beg relief among Rome's enemies;
Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears,
And op'd their arms to embrace me as a friend :
And I am the turn'd-forth', be it known to you,
That have preserv'd her welfare in my blood;
And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my adventurous body.
Alas! you know, I am no vaunter, I;

My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is just, and full of truth.
But, soft! methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise. Oh! pardon me;
For when no friends are by men praise themselves.

Mar. Now is my turn to speak. Behold this child: Of this was Tamora delivered;

The issue of an irreligious Moor,

Chief architect and plotter of these woes.

The villain is alive in Titus' house,

1 THEN, noble auditory,] So the two 4tos: the folio reads, erroneously," This noble auditory." It is "Then noble auditory" in the corr. fo. 1632, perhaps obtained from the 4tos.

2- I am THE turn'd-forth,] The folio omits "the," found in both 4tos.

And, as he is, to witness this is true.
Now judge, what cause had Titus to revenge
These wrongs, unspeakable, past patience,
Or more than any living man could bear.

Now you have heard the truth, what say you, Romans?
Have we done aught amiss? Show us wherein,
And from the place where you behold us now,
The poor remainder of Andronici

Will, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down,
And on the ragged stones beat forth our brains,
And make a mutual closure of our house.
Speak, Romans, speak! and, if you say, we shall,
Lo! hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.

Emil. Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome,
And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,
Lucius our emperor; for, well I know,
The common voice do cry, it shall be so.
Mar. Lucius, all hail! Rome's royal emperor.-

LUCIUS, &c. descend.

Go,
go into old Titus' sorrowful house,
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,

[To an Attendant.

To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.-

Lucius, all hail! Rome's gracious governor.

Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans: may I govern so, To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe! But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,

For nature puts me to a heavy task.—

3 AND, as he is,] Theobald altered this to "Damn'd as he is," with additional force, we admit, but unnecessarily, and in the face of all the old copies, which contain the words of our text. In the next line, "what course" is properly corrected to "what cause " in the folio, 1685. It had long before been amended to "what cause "in the corr. fo. 1632.

4 - some direful slaughtering death,] "Some direful lingering death" in the corr. fo. 1632-perhaps a difference of recitation.

5 — GIVE ME AIM awhile,] The usual meaning of "to give aim," as Gifford has shown in his Massinger, Vol. ii. p. 27, is to direct; but here the expression seems to be intended in the sense of "give me leave awhile." If it had been "cry me aim awhile," it would have been equivalent to " encourage me awhile," and perhaps that is what was intended: see " King John," A. ii. sc. 1, Vol. iii. p. 140. In the next line the corr. fo. 1632 substitutes style for "task ;" and in the next line but one bier for "trunk," in both cases for the rhyme sake. The mention of bier reminds us of a blunder in "Valentinian," (Dyce's Beaumont and Fletcher, v. 239,) where biers is misprinted 'beats," to the confusion of all editors, from first to last-" for thus we get but years and beats."

Stand all aloof;-but, uncle, draw you near,
To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk.-
Oh! take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,

[Kissing TITUS.

These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,
The last true duties of thy noble son!

Mar. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss,
Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips :
Oh! were the sum of these that I should pay
Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them.

Luc. Come hither, boy: come, come, and learn of us
To melt in showers. Thy grandsire lov'd thee well;
Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,

Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow;
Many a matter hath he told to thee,

Meet and agreeing with thine infancy :
In that respect, then, like a loving child,

Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring,
Because kind nature doth require it so:

Friends should associate friends in grief and woe.
Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;
Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.

Boy. Oh grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart
Would I were dead, so you did live again.-

Oh lord! I cannot speak to him for weeping;
My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.

Enter Attendants, with AARON.

1 Rom. You sad Andronici, have done with woes. Give sentence on this execrable wretch,

That hath been breeder of these dire events.

Luc. Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him; There let him stand, and rave and cry for food:

If any one relieves, or pities him,

For the offence he dies. This is our doom:

Some stay to see him fasten'd in the earth.

Aar. Oh! why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb ?

6 Do HIM that kindness, and take leave of HIM.] The 4tos, in both instances, read them for "him :" the folio, 1623, gives it correctly. In the corr. fo. 1632 the line is made to run thus:

"Do him that kindness, all that he can have;"

which, on many accounts, seems preferable; but the change, like others in this play, may possibly have been only arbitrary.

I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
I should repent the evils I have done.
Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
Would I perform, if I might have my will:
If one good deed in all my life I did,

I do repent it from my very soul.

Luc. Some loving friends convey the emperor hence,
And give him burial in his father's grave.
My father and Lavinia shall forthwith
Be closed in our household's monument.
As for that heinous tiger, Tamora',

No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds,
No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
But throw her forth to beasts, and birds of prey.
Her life was beast-like, and devoid of pity;
And, being so, shall have like want of pity.
See justice done on Aaron', that damn'd Moor,
By whom our heavy haps had their beginning:
Then, afterwards, to order well the state,

That like events may ne'er it ruinate.

[Exeunt.

7 As for that HEINOUS tiger, Tamora,] The epithet "heinous," as applied to a tiger, does not sound like Shakespeare; and the corr. fo. 1632 tells us to put ravenous instead of it, which certainly suits the place better; but as there is no sufficient objection to heinous," we leave it, on the supposition that the word inserted by the old annotator, was perhaps that which he had heard from the lips of some actor of the part of Lucius: the reader has the choice of the two adjectives before him.

Her life was BEAST-LIKE,] The 4tos. read beastly for "beast-like" of the folio. In the preceding line the 4tos. have "birds to prey," for "birds of prey." 9 See justice done ON Aaron,] So all the old editions, 4to. and folio. prints "to Aaron."

Malone