And lay it by; the angry northern wind

Will blow thefe fands, like Sibyl's leaves, abroad,
And where's your leffon then? Boy, what fay you!
Boy. I fay, my Lord, that if I were a man,
Their mother's bed-chamber fhould not be fafe,
For thefe bad bond-men to the yoke of Rome.
Mar. Ay, that's my boy! thy father hath full oft
For this ungrateful country done the like.
Boy. And, uncle, fo will I, an' if I live.
Tit Come, go with me into mine armoury.
Lucius, I'll fit thee; and withal, my boy
Shall carry from me to the Emprefs' fons
Prefents that I intend to fend them both.

Come, come, thou'lt do my meffage, wilt thou not?
Boy. Ay, with my dagger in their bofom, grandfire.
Tit. No, boy, not fo; I'll teach thee another course.
Lavinia, come; Marcus, look to my house:
Lucius and I'll go brave it at the court;

Ay, marry, will we, Sir; and we'll be waited on.

[Exeunt.

Mar. O heavens, can you hear a good man grone, And not relent, or not compaffion him?

Marcus, attend him in his ecstasy,

That hath more scars of sorrow in his heart,

Than foe-mens' marks upon his batter'd fhield;
But yet so just, that he will not revenge;
Revenge thee, heav'ns! for old Andronicus.

SCENE II. Changes to the palace.

[Exit.

Enter Aaron, Chiron, and Demetrius, at one door; and at another door, young Lucius and another, with a bundle of weapons, and verfes writ upon them.

Chi. Demetrius, here's the son of Lucius ;

He hath fome meffage to deliver us.

Aar. Ay, fome mad meffage from his mad grandfather.

Boy. My Lords, with all the humbleness I may, I greet your honours from Andronicus; And pray the Roman gods confound you both. Dem. Gramercy, lovely Lucius, what's the news? Boy. That you are both decypher'd (that's the news)

For

For villains mark'd with rape. May it please you,
My grandfire, well advis'd, hath sent by me
The goodlieft weapons of his armoury,
To gratify your honourable youth,
The hope of Rome; for fo he bade me fay :
And fo I do, and with his gifts prefent

Your Lordships, that whenever you have need,
You may be armed and appointed well.

And fo leave you both, like bloody villains.

[Exit.

Dem. What's here? a fcrowl, and written round aLet's fee.

Integer vita, fcelerifque purus,

Non eget Mauri jaculis nec arcu.

Chi. O, 'tis a verfe in Horace, I know it well :

I read it in the Grammar long ago.

[bout?

Aar. Ay, juft;

-a verfe in Horace

-right, you

have it

Now, what a thing it is to be an afs'

Here's no fond jeft; th' old man hath found their guilt, And fends the weapons wrapp'd about with lines,

That wound, beyond their feeling, to the quick.

But were our witty Empress well a-foot,

She would applaud Andronicus' conceit :
But let her reft in her unreft a while.

And now, young Lords, was't not a happy star
Led us to Rome strangers, and more than fo,
Captives, to be advanced to this height?
It did me good before the palace-gate,

To brave the Tribune in his brother's hearing.
Dem. But me more good, to fee fo great a Lord
Bafely infinuate, and send us gifts.

Aar. Had he not reason, Lord Demetrius ?
Did you not ufe his daughter very friendly?

Dem. I would we had a thousand Roman dames

At fuch a bay, by turn to ferve our luft.
Chi. A charitable with, and full of love.

Aar. Here lacketh but your mother to fay Amen.
Chi. And that would fhe for twenty thousand more.
Dem. Come, let us go, and pray to all the gods
For our beloved mother in her pains.

Aar. Pray to the devils; the gods have given us over.

[Flourish. Dem.

2

Dem. Why do the Emp'ror's trumpets flourish thus?
Chi. Belike, for joy the Emp'ror hath a son.
Dem. Soft, who comes here?

SCENE III.

Enter Nurfe, with a Black-a-moor child.

Nur. Good morrow, Lords:

O, tell me, did you fee Aaron the Moor?
Aar. Well, more or lefs, or ne'er a whit at all,
Here Aaron is, and what with Aaron now?
Nur. O gentle Aaron, we are all undone :
Now help, or woe betide thee evermore!

Aar. Why, what a caterwauling doft thou keep?
What doft thou wrap and fumble in thine arms?
Nur. O that which I would hide from heaven's eye,
Our Emprefs' shame, and stately Rome's difgrace.
She is deliver'd, Lords, fhe is deliver'd.

Aar. To whom?

Nur. I mean fhe is brought to bed.

Aar. Well, God give her good reft!

What hath he fent her?

Nur. A devil.

Aar. Why, then she is the devil's dam: a joyful iffue.
Nur. A joylefs, difmal, black, and forrowful iffue.
Here is the babe, as lothfome as a toad,
Amongst the fairest breeders of our clime.

The Emprefs fends it thee, thy ftamp, thy seal;
And bids thee chriften it with thy dagger's point.
Aar. Out, out, you whore! is black fo bafe a hue?
Sweet blowfe, you are a beauteous bloffom, fure.
Dem. Villain, what haft thou done?
Aar. That which thou canst not undo.
Chi. Thou haft undone our mother.

Dem Woe to her chance, and damn'd her lothed

Accurs'd the offspring of so foul a fiend!

Chi. It fhall not live.

Aar. It fhall not die.

[choice,

Nur. Aaron, it muft; the mother wills it fo.
Aar. What, muft it, nurfe? then let no man but I

Do execution on my flesh and blood.

Dem. I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point. VOL. VI.

Nurfe,

Nurfe, give it me, my fword fhall foon difpatch it.
Aar. Sooner this ford fhall plow thy bowels up.
Stay, murtherous villains, will you kill your brother?
Now, by the burning tapers of the sky,

That fhone fo brightly when this boy was got,
He dies upon my feymitar's fharp point,
That touches this my firft-born fon and heir.
I tell you, younglings, not Enceladus,
With all his threat'ning band of Typhon's brood,
Nor great Alcides, nor the god of war,

Shall feize this prey out of his father's hands.
What, what, y' unfanguine fhallow-hearted boys,
Ye white-lim'd walls, ye alehoufe painted figns,
Coal-black is better than another hue,

In that it fcorns to bear another hue:
For all the water in the ocean

Can never turn the fwan's blag legs to white,
Although fhe lave them hourly in the flood.
Tell the Emprefs from me, I am of age
To keep mine own; excuse it how she can.
Dem. Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus?
Aar. My mistress is my miftrefs; this, myself,
The vigour and the picture of my youth.
This before all the world do I prefer ;
This, maugre all the world, will I keep fafe;
Or fome of you fhall fmoke for it in Rome.
Dem. By this our mother is for ever sham'd.
Chi. Rome will defpife her for this foul efcape.
Nur. The Emperor in his rage will doom her death.
Chi. I blufh to think upon this ignominy.

Aar. Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears.
Fie, treacherous hue, that will betray with blushing
The clofe enacts and counfels of the heart!
Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer;
Look how the black flave fmiles upon the father;
As who fhould fay,. "Old lad, I am thine own."
He is your brother, Lords; fenfibly fed
Of that felf-blood that first gave life to you;
And from that womb where you imprison'd were,
He is infranchifed, and come to light.
Na, he's your brother by the furer fide,
Although my feal is ftamped in his face.

Nur

Nur. Aaron, what fhall I fay unto the Emprefs? Dem. Advife thee, Aaron, what is to be done, And we will all fubfcribe to thy advice.

Save thou the child, fo we may be all fafe.

you.

Aar. Then fit we down, and let us all confult. My fon and I will have the wind of Keep there now talk at pleasure of your fafety. [They fit on the ground. Dem. How many women faw this child of his? Aar. Why, fo, brave Lords; when we all join in

[league,

I am a lamb; but if you brave the Moor,
The chafed boar, the mountain-lionefs,
The ocean fwells not fo as Aaron ftorms.
But fay again, how many faw the child?
Nur. Cornelia the midwife, and myfelf-
And no one elfe but the deliver'd Emprefs.
Aar. The Emprefs, the midwife, and yourfelf
Two may keep counfel, when the third's away.
Go to the Emprefs, tell her, this L faid [He kills her.
Week,-week!-fo cries a pig prepar'd to th' fpit.
Dem. What mean't thou, Aaron? wherefore didft
thou this?

Aar. O Lord, Sir, 'tis a deed of policy.
Shall fhe live to betray this guilt of ours?
A long-tongu'd babling goffip? no, Lords, no.
And now be it known to you my full intent:
Not far, one Muliteus lives, my countryman,
His wife but yeiternight was brought to,bed,
His child is like to her, fair as you are.

Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
And tell them both the circumftance of all;
And how by this their child fhall be advanc'd,
And be receiv'd for the Emp'ror's heir,
And fubftituted in the place of mine,
To calm this tempeft whirling in the court;
And let the Emperor dandle him for his own.
Hark ye, my Lords, ye fee I have given her phyfic,
And you muft needs beftow her funeral.
The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms.
This done, fee that you take no longer days,
But fend the midwife prefently to me.

The midwife and the nurfe well made away,