Flourish of trumpets, &c. Enter MUTIUS and MARTIUS: after them, two men bearing a coffin cover'd with black; then QUINTUS and Lucius. After them, TITUS ANDRONICUS; and then TAMORA, with ALARBUS, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, AARON, and other Goths, prisoners; foldiers and people, following. The bearers fet down the coffin, and TITUS speaks.

Tit. Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!
Lo, as the bark, that hath discharg'd her fraught,
Returns with precious lading to the bay,
From whence at first the weigh'd her anchorage,
Cometh Andronicus, bound with laurel boughs,
To re-falute his country with his tears;
Tears of true joy for his return to Rome.➡
Thou great defender of this Capitol,

Stand gracious to the rites that we intend !—
Romans, of five and twenty valiant sons,
Half of the number that king Priam had,
Behold the poor remains, alive, and dead !
Thefe, that furvive, let Rome reward with love
Thefe, that I bring unto their latest home,

With burial amongst their ancestors:

Here Goths have given me leave to sheath my sword.
Titus, unkind, and carelefs of thine own,
Why suffer'st thou thy fons, unburied yet,
To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx?-
Make way
to lay them by their brethren.

[The tomb is opened.

There greet in filence, as the dead are wont,

And fleep in peace, flain in your country's wars!

O facred receptacle of my joys,

Sweet cell of virtue and nobility,

How

How many fons of mine haft thou in store,

That thou wilt never render to me more?

Luc. Give us the proudeft prisoner of the Goths,
That we may hew his limbs, and, on a pile,
Ad manes fratrum facrifice his flesh,

Before this earthly prifon of their bones;
That fo the fhadows be not unappeas`d,
Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.
Tit. I give him you; the noblest that survives,
The eldest fon of this distressed queen.

Tam. Stay, Roman brethren;-Gracious conqueror, Victorious Titus, rue the tears I fhed,

A mother's tears in passion for her fon :
And, if thy fons were ever dear to thee,
O, think my fon to be as dear to me.
Sufficeth not, that we are brought to Rome,
To beautify thy triumphs, and return,
Captive to thee, and to thy Roman yoke;
But muft my fons be flaughter'd in the streets,
For valiant doings in their country's cause ?
O! if to fight for king and common weal
Were piety in thine, it is in these.
Andronicus, ftain not thy tomb with blood:
Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods ?
Draw near them then in being merciful;
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge;
Thrice-noble Titus, spare my first-born son.

Tit. Patient yourself, madam, and pardon ine.
These are their brethren, whom you Goths beheld
Alive, and dead; and for their brethren flain,
Religiously they ask a facrifice :

To this your fen is mark'd; and die he must,
To appease their groaning fhadows that are gone.
Luc. Away with him! and make a fire straight;

And with our fwords, upon a pile of wood,
Let's hew his limbs, till they be clean confum'd.
[Exeunt LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS, and
MUTIUS, with ALARBUS.

Tam. O cruel, irreligious piety!

Chi. Was ever Scythia half so barbarous ?
Dem. Oppose not Scythia to ambitious Rome.
Alarbus goes to reft; and we survive

To tremble under Titus' threatening look.
Then, madam, stand refolv'd; but hope withal,
The felf-fame gods, that arm'd the queen of Troy
With opportunity of sharp revenge

Upon the Thracian tyrant in his tent,

May favour Tamora, the queen of Goths,

(When Goths were Goths, and Tamora was queen,) To quit the bloody wrongs upon her foes.

Re-enter LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS, and MUTIUS, with their fwords bloody.

Luc. See, lord and father, how we have perform'd
Our Roman rites: Alarbus' limbs are lopp'd,
And entrails feed the facrificing fire,

Whose smoke, like incenfe, doth perfume the sky.
Remaineth nought, but to inter our brethren,
And with loud 'larums welcome them to Rome.
Tit. Let it be fo, and let Andronicus
Make this his latest farewell to their fouls.

[Trumpets founded, and the coffins laid in the tomb,
In peace and honour rest you here, my fons;
Rome's readieft champions, repose you here,
Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!
Here lurks no treason, here no envy fwells,

Here

Here grow no damned grudges; here are no storms,
No noife, but filence and eternal fleep :

Enter LAVINIA.

In peace and honour reft you here my fons!
Lav. In peace and honour live lord Titus long;
My noble lord and father live in fame!
Lo! at this tomb my tributary tears
I render, for my brethren's obfequies;
And at thy feet I kneel, with tears of joy
Shed on the earth, for thy return to Rome :
O, bless me here with thy victorious hand,
Whose fortunes Rome's best citizens applaud.
Tit. Kind Rome, that haft thus lovingly referv'd
The cordial of mine age to glad my heart!—
Lavinia, live; outlive thy father's days,
And fame's eternal date, for virtue's praise!

Enter MARCUS ANDRONICUS, SATURNINUS, BASSIANUS, and Others.

Mar. Long live lord Titus, my beloved brother, Gracious triumpher in the eyes of Rome!

Tit. Thanks, gentle tribune, noble brother Marcus.
Mar. And welcome, nephews, from fuccessful wars,
You that furvive, and you that fleep in fame.
Fair lords, your fortunes are alike in all,

That in your country's fervice drew your fwords:
But fafer triumph is this funeral pomp,
That hath afpir'd to Solon's happiness,
And triumphs over chance, in honour's bed.-
Titus Andronicus, the people of Rome,
Whose friend in justice thou hast ever been,
Send thee by me, their tribune, and their truft,

This palliament of white and spotlefs hue;
And name thee in election for the empire,
With these our late-deceased emperor's fons:
Be candidatus then, and put it on,

And help to set a head on headless Rome.

Tit. A better head her glorious body fits,
Than his, that shakes for age and feebleness :*
What! fhould I don this robe, and trouble you?
Be chofen with proclamations to-day;
To-morrow, yield up rule, resign my life,
And fet abroad new business for you all?
Rome, I have been thy foldier forty years,
And led my country's ftrength fuccessfully;
And buried one and twenty valiant fons,
Knighted in field, flain manfully in arms,
In right and fervice of their noble country :
Give me a staff of honour for mine age,
But not a scepter to control the world:
Upright he held it, lords, that held it last.

Mar. Titus, thou fhalt obtain and ask the empery. Sat. Proud and ambitious tribune, canft thou tell?— Tit. Patience, prince Saturnine.

Sat.
Romans, do me right;—
Patricians, draw your fwords, and sheath them not
Till Saturninus be Rome's emperor :-

Andronicus, 'would thou wert fhipp'd to hell,
Rather than rob me of the people's hearts.

Luc. Proud Saturnine, interrupter of the good

That noble-minded Titus means to thee!

Tit. Content thee, prince; I will restore to thee The people's hearts, and wean them from themselves. Baf. Andronicus, I do not flatter thee,

But honour thee, and will do till I die ;

My faction if thou ftrengthen with thy friends,..