Able to bear against the great Aufidius

A fhield as hard as his. A certain number
(Tho' thanks to all) muft I felect from all :
The reft fhall bear the bufinefs in fome other fight,
As caufe will be obey'd; pleafe you to march,
And four fhall quickly draw out my command,
Which men are best inclin'd.

Com. March on, my fellows :

Make good this oftentation, and you shall
Divide in all with us.

[Exeunt.

SCENE changes to CORIOLI.

Titus Lartius having fet a guard upon Corioli, going with drum and trumpet toward Cominius and Caius Marcius; Enter with a lieutenant, other foldiers, and a Scout.

Lart. CO, let the ports be guarded; keep your duties,
S
As I have fet them down. If I do fend, dispatch
Thofe centries to our aid; the reft will ferve

For a fhort holding; if we lofe the field,
We cannot keep the town.

Lieu. Fear not our care, Sir.

Lart. Hence, and fhut your gates upon's:

Our guider, come! to th' Roman camp conduct us.

[Exeunt.

SCENE changes to the Roman Camp.

Alarm, as in battle. Enter Marcius and Aufidius, at Several doors.

Mar.T'LL fight with none but thee, for I do hate thee

I Worfe than a promise-breaker.

Auf. We hate alike:

Not Africk owns a ferpent I abhor

More than thy fame, and envy; fix thy foot.

Mar. Let the first budger die the other's flave, And the Gods doom him after!

Auf.

Auf. If I fy, Marcius,

Halloo me like a hare.

Mar. Within these three hours, Tullus, Alone I fought in your Corioli walls,

And made what work I pleas'd: 'tis not my blood,
Wherein thou fee'ft me mask'd; for thy revenge,
Wrench up thy pow'r to th' higheft.

Auf. Wert thou the Hector,

That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny,

Thou shouldft not 'fcape me here.

[Here they fight, and certain Volfcians come to the aid of Aufidius. Marcius fights 'till they be driven in breathless.

Officious, and not valiant!

In your condemned feconds.

-you have fham'd me

Flourish. Alarm. A retreat is founded. Enter at one door, Cominius with the Romans; at another door, Marcius, with his arm in a scarf.

;

Com. If I fhould tell thee o'er this thy day's work,
Thou'lt not believe thy deeds: but I'll report it,
Where Senators fhall mingle tears with smiles
Where great Patricians fhall attend and fhrug;
I' th' end, admire; where ladies fhall be frighted,
And, gladly quak'd, hear more; where the dull Tribunes,
That with the fufty Plebeians, hate thine honours,
Shall fay, against their hearts,-" We thank the Gods,
"Our Rome hath fuch a foldier!".

Yet cam'it thou to a morfel of this feaft,
Having fully din'd before.

Enter Titus Lartius with his Perver, from the purfuit.
Lart O General,

Here is the fteed, we the caparison :
Hadft thou beheld-

Mar. Pray now, no more: my mother,
Who has a charter to extol her blood,
When she does praise me, grieves me:

I have done as you have done; that's, what I can;
Induc'd, as you have been: that's for my country;

He, that has but affected his good will,
Hath overta'en mine a&t.

Com. You fhall not be

The grave of your deferving: Rome must know
The value of her own: 'twere a concealment
Worfe than a theft, no lefs than a traducement,
To hide your doings; and to filence that,
Which, to the fpire and top of praises vouch'd,
Would feem but modeft: therefore, I beseech you,
In fign of what you are, not to reward

What you have done, before our army hear me.
Mar. I have fome wounds upon me, and they smart
To hear themselves remembred.

Cem. Should they not,

Well might they fefter 'gainft ingratitude,

:

And tent themfelves with death Of all the horses,
Whereof we have ta'en good, and good store, of all
The treasure in the field atchiev'd, and city,
We render you the tenth, to be ta'en forth,
Before the common diftribution, at
Your only choice.

Mar. I thank you, General:

But cannot make my heart confent to take
A bribe, to pay my fword: I do refuse it,
And ftand upon my common part with those
That have beheld the doing.

[A long flourish. They all ory, Marcius, Marcius!
caft up their caps and lances: Cominius and
Lartius ftand bare.

Mar. May the e fame inftruments, which you profane, (8)

(8) May these fame Infiruments, which you profane,

Never found more : &c.]

Several fubfequent Verfes in this truly fine Paffage are difmounted, unnumerous and imperfect: And the Senfe, 'tis plain, has been no less maimed than the Numbers. To remedy this Part, I have had the Affiftance of my ingenious Friend Mr, Warburton; and with the Benefit of his happy Conjectures, which I have inferted in the Text, the whole, I hope, is restored to that Purity, which was quite loft in the Corruptions.

Never found more! when drums and trumpets fhall
I'th' field prove flatterers, let camps, ás cities,
Be made of falfe-fac'd foothing! When fteel grows
Soft, as the parafite's filk, let hymns be made
An overture for the wars !-No more, I fay;
For that I have not wash'd my nose that bled,
Or foil'd fome debile wretch, which, without note
Here's many elfe have done; you shout me forth
In acclamations hyperbolical;

As if I lov'd, my little fhould be dieted
In praises fauc'd with lies.

Com. Too modeft are you:

More cruel to your good report, than grateful
To us, that give you truly by your patience,
If 'gainft yourself you be incens'd, will put you
(Like one that means his proper harm) in manacies;
Then reason fafely with you: therefore, be it known,
As to us, to all the world, that Caius Marcius
Wears this war's garland: in token of the which,
My noble fteed, known to the camp, I give him,
With all his trim belonging; and from this time,
For what he did before Corioli, call him,

With all th' applause and clamour of the hoft,
Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Bear th' addition nobly ever.
[Flourish. Trumpets found and drums.

Omnes. Caius Martius Coriolanus!

Mar. I will go waih :

And when my face is fair, you shall perceive

Whether I blush or no.

Howbeit, I thank you.

I mean to ftride your fteed, and at all time
To undercreft your good addition,

To th' fairness of my power.

Com. So, to our tent:

Where, ere we do repofe us, we will write
To Rome of our fuccefs: you, Titus Lartius,
Muft to Corioli back; fend us to Rome
The beft, with whom we may articulate,
For their own good, and ours.

Lart. I fhall, my Lord.

Mar. The Gods begin to mock me :

I, that but now refus'd most princely gifts,
Am bound to beg of my lord general.

Com. Take't, 'tis yours: what is't?
Mar. I fometime lay here in Corioli,
At a poor man's houfe: he us'd me kindly.
He cry'd to me: I faw him prifoner :
But then Aufidius was within my view,
And wrath o'erwhelm'd my pity: I request you
To give my poor hoft freedom.

Com. O well begg'd!

Were he the butcher of my fon, he should
Be free as is the wind: deliver him, Titus.
Lart. Marcius, his name?

Mar. By Jupiter, forgot:

I am weary; yea, my memory is tir'd;

Have we no wine here?

Com. Go we to our tent;

The blood upon your vifage dries; 'tis time
It should be look'd to: come.

[Exeunt.

SCENE changes to the Camp of the Volfci.

A Flourish. Cornet. Enter Tullus Aufidius bloody, with two or three faldiers.

Au.

"He town is ta'en.

T

Sol.'Twill be deliver'd back on good condition,

Auf. Condition!

I would, I were a Roman; for I cannot,
Being a Volfcian, be that I am. Condition?
What good condition can a treaty find

I'th part

that is at mercy? Five times, Marcius, I have fought with thee, fo often haft thou beat me: And wouldst do fo, I think, fhould we encounter As often as we eat. By th' Elements,

:

If e'er again I meet him beard to beard,
He's mine, or I am his mine emulation
Hath not that honour in't, it had; for where
I thought to crush him in an equal force,

True