АСТ V. SCENE I. The camp, at a small distance from Rome. Enter Lucius with Goths, with drum and foldiers. A LUCIUS, PPROVED warriors, and my faithful friends, I have received letters from great Rome, Which fignify, what hate they bear their emperor, And how defirous of our fight they are. Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness, Goth. Brave flip, fprung from the great Andronicus, Omn. And, as he faith, fo fay we all with him. Luc. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all. But who comes here, led by a lufty Goth? Enter a Goth leading Aaron, with his child in his arms. Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I ftray'd To gaze upon a ruinous monaftery; And To gaze upon a ruinous monaftery.] Shakespeare has fo perpetually offended againft chronology in all his plays, that no very conclufive argument can be deduced from the particular abfurdity of thefe anachronisms, relative to the authenticity of Titus Andro nicus. And as I earnestly did fix mine eye Upon the wafted building, fuddenly I heard a child cry underneath a wall; I made unto the noife, when foon I heard The crying babe controul'd with this difcourfe: "Peace, tawny flave, half me and half thy dam. "Did not thy hue bewray whofe brat thou art, “Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look, Villain, thou might'st have been an emperor; "But where the bull and cow are both milk-white, They never do beget a coal-black calf. "Peace, villain, peace! (even thus he rates the babe) "For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth; "Who, when he knows thou art the emperefs' babe, "Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's fake." With this my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon him, Surpriz'd him fuddenly, and brought him hither, To ufe as you think needful of the man, Luc. O worthy Goth, this is the incarnate devil, That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand; This is the pearl that pleas'd your emperefs' eye, And here's the bafe fruit of his burning luft. Say, wall-ey'd flave, whither would'st thou convey This growing image of thy fiend-like face? Why doft not speak? what! deaf? no! not a word? A halter, foldiers; hang him on this tree, And by his fide his fruit of baftardy. Aar. Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood. Luc. Too like the fire for ever being good. Firft, hang the child, that he may fee it sprawl, A fight to vex the father's foul withal. nicus. And yet the ruined monaftery, the pepish tricks, &c. that Aaron talks of, and the French falutation from the mouth of Titus are altogether fo very much out of place, that I cannot perfuade myfelf even our hafty poet could have been guilty of their infertion, or have permitted them to remain, had he corrected the performance for another. STEEVENS. Get Get me a ladder. Aar. Lucius, fave the child, And bear it from me to the emperefs; If thou do this, I'll fhew thee wond'rous things, I'll speak no more; but vengeance rot you all! Aar. An if it please thee? why, affure thee, Lucius, That granted, how can'ft thou believe an oath ? And haft a thing within thee called confcience, And keeps the oath, which by that God he fwears, Aar. Get me a ladder. Lucius, fave the child.] All the printed editions have given this whole verse to Aaron. But why should the Moor here ask for a ladder, who earnestly wanted to have his child faved? THEOBALD. That That thou ador'ft and haft in reverence, Luc. Even by my God, I swear to thee, I will. Luc. O moft infatiate, luxurious woman! Aar. Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charity, To that which thou shalt hear of me anon. 'Twas her two fons that murder'd Baffianus ; They cut thy fifter's tongue, and ravish'd her, And cut her hands, and trimm'd her as thou faw'ft. Luc. Oh, deteftable villain! call'st thou that trimming? Aar. Why, fhe was washed, and cut, and trimm'd; And 'twas trim fport for them that had the doing of it. Luc. Oh, barbarous beaftly.villains, like thyself! Aar. Indeed, I was the tutor to inftru&t them. That codding fpirit had they from their mother, As fure a card as ever won the fet; That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me, I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand, And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter. As true a dog as ever fought at head;] An allufion to bull-dogs, whofe generality and courage are always fhown by meeting the bull in front, and feizing his nofe. JOHNSON. I pry'd I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall, Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the faying is. And nothing grieves me heartily indeed, Luc. Bring down the devil, for he must not die Aar. Bring down the devil.] It appears, from thefe words, that the audience were entertained with part of the apparatus of an execu |