Collegue in Brutus's Room, and had built an Houfe on Mount Velia. Which when he underflood, having first made a Funeral Oration in Praife of Brutus, he thus clears himself. Anno ante Chriftum 509. NUNQUAMNE ergo, ulla adeo à vobis, Quirites, fpectata Viftus erit, ut Sufpicione violari nequeat? Ego me, illum acerrimum Regum Hoftem, ipfum Cupiditatis Regni Crimen fubiturum timerem? Ego fi in ipsâ Arce Capitolioque habitarem, metui Me crederem poffe à Civibus meis? Tam levi Momento mea apud vos Fama pendet? Adeóne eft fundata leviter Fides, ut ubi fim, quàm qui fim, magis referat? Non obftabunt Publii Valerii Edes Libertati veftræ, Quirites: Tuta erit vobis Velia. Deferam non in Planum modò Ædes, fed Colli etiam fubjiciam; ut vos fupra fufpectum me Civem habitetis. In Velia ædificent, quibus melius quàm Publio Valerio creditur Libertas. In ENGLISH. WILL there never then, O Romans! be any Virtue fo much approv'd of by you, as to pass untainted with Sufpicion? Should I, who have always been fo bitter an Enemy to Kings, fhould I fear to incur the Crime of being fufpected to covet a Kingdom? Should I, even if I dwelt in the Tarpeian Tower or in the Capitol, fhould I believe that my Fellow-Citizens could be afraid of me? Does my Reputation then among you depend upon fuch a Trifle as this? Is your Confidence in me fo flightly founded, that my Dwelling-place is more regarded than my Perfon? Well! Romans! The Habitation of Valerius fhall no longer by any Means obstruct your Liberty. Velia fhall be your's, and fball poffefs it in Safety. For I will not only bring my Houfe down into the Plain; but will lay it even at the Foot of the Hill: that ye may all dwell above me a fufpected Citizen. Let them build upon Velia, N 2 ye who who can be better trufted with the Liberty of the Romans than Publius Valerius. ORATION III. THE War between the Romans and Albans being agreed to be determined by Three on each Side, viz. the three Horatii and three Curatii; when five of them were killed in the Fight, which is most exquifitely defcribed by Livy, Lib. 1. 25. the furviving Brother Horatius was met, and reproach'd by his own Sifter for killing ber Sweetheart, who was one of the Curatii. Whereupon he ftab'd her, and for the Fact was condemn'd to die: But when brought out to Execution, his Father made this Oration to the People, and fav'd him. HUNCCINE, quem modo decoratum ovantemque Victoriâ incedentem vidiftis, Quirites, eum fub Furcâ vinctum inter Verbera & Cruciatus videre poteftis? Quod vix Albanorum Oculi tam deforme Spectaculum ferre poffent. I, Lictor, colliga Manus, quæ paulò antè armatæ Imperium Populo Romano pepererunt. I, Caput obnube Liberatoris Urbis hujus. Arbori infelici fufpende. Verbera vel intra Pomarium, modò intra illa Pila, & Spolia Hoftium: vel extra Pomarium, modò intra Sepulchra Curatiorum. Quò enim ducere hunc Juvenem poteftis, ubi non fua Decora eum à tanta Fœditate Supplicii vindicent? In ENGLISH. CAN ye fuffer yourselves, O Romans! to fee fuch a Man as this bound under the Gallows, Scourged and tormented, whom just before ye faw march in fuch great Glory, triumphing and adorn'd for Victory? A Sight fo abominable and difgraceful, that even our Enemies. the Albans themselves, if prefent, wou'dn't be able to fee it done. Go, Lictor! Go bind thofe Hands faft, which which but just now conquer'd and brought Dominion to the Romans! Go, I fay, and cover the Face of that Man who fav'd and deliver'd this City from Bondage. Hang him upon an accurfed Tree. Scourge him and Spare not, either within the Circuit of the Walls, fo it be among the Favelings and Spoils of the Enemy: or without the Walls, fo it be among the Sepulchres of the Curiatii. For to what Place can ye carry this young Gentleman, where his Gallant Deeds can't guard him from fo unworthy and shameful a Punishment? ORATION IV. ORIOLANUS, a Noble Roman, whofe Life is exquifitely wrote by Plutarch, being unjustly banifh'd from his Country, gather'd an Army of the Volfcians, and march'd directly to befiege Rome; but was met and prevented by his Wife Volumnia and Mother Veturia, the latter of whom made to him this Oration. SINE, priufquam Complexum accipio, fciam ad Hoftem an ad Filium venerim; Captiva, Matérve in tuis Caftris fim? In hoc me longa Vita & infælix Senectus traxit, ut Exulem te, deinde Hoftem viderim? Potuifti populari hanc Terram qua quæ te genuit atque aluit? Nonne tibi, quamvis infefto Animo & minaci perveneras, ingredienti Fines Ira cecidit? Nonne, cum in Confpectu Roma fuit, fuccurrit, Intra illa Mænia Domus & Pænates mei funt, Mater, Conjux, Liberique? Ergò, Ego nifi peperiffem, Roma non oppugnaretur? Nifi Filium haberem, libera in liberâ Patriâ mortua effem? Sed ego Nihil jam pati nec tibi turpius, nec mihi miferius poffum: Nec ut fim miferrima, diù futura fum. De his videris: quos, fi pergis, aut immatura Mors, aut longa Servitus manet. Thus Thus Imitated in HEROICS by BARLÆUS, a Dutch Poet. QUO Malefane ruis? Patriæque haud tale merenti Quid Latium, quid Roma, in te committere tantum VI. A THEME in English and Greek. The Μεγάλη ἡ ̓Αλήθεια, και ιχυροτέρα παρά πάνα. PROP.TE RUTH is great and mighty above all Things. All the Earth calleth upon it, the Heaven bleffeth it, All Works shake and tremble at it, and with it is no unrighteous Thing. REAS. Because with her there is no Accepting of Perfons, or Rewards; but fhe doeth the Things that are right to all, both to the Juft and Unjuft; and all Men approve of her Works. CONFIRM. For in her Judgment, there's no Unrighteousness; and fhe is the Strength, Dominion, Power, and Majefty of all Ages. SIMILE. Yea, Even as God the great Creator is greater than the Great Earth, the High Heaven, or or the Swift Sun that compaffeth the Heavens and returns to his own Place in one Day; fo is Truth · greater and stronger than all Things. EXAMP. Hence it is that David fo frequently calls God, a God of Truth. The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer; Pfalm xviii, 2. I have hated them that confide in lying Vanities; but I trust in the Lord: O Lord God of Truth; Pfalm xxxi. 5, 6. TESTIMONY. And our Saviour Chrift himfelf, to fhew the Greatnefs, Superiority, and Eternity of Truth, calls himself the Truth. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; John xiv. 6. CONCLUSION. Since therefore, All other Things that Men count lafting, great and ftrong, are found to be frail, weak and wicked; Wine is wicked, Kings are wicked, Women are wicked, All the Children of Men are wicked, and fuch are all their wicked Works, all which must perish; but as for Truth, it endureth, and is always ftrong; it liveth, and conquereth for evermore: I conclude, and cry out that Great is the TRUTH, and mighty above all Things. Bleffed be the GOD of Truth. THE SAME THEME IN GREEK. PROP. Μεγάλη ἡ ̓Αλήθεια, και ιχυροτέρα παρά πάντα. Great is the TRUTH, and Stronger than all Things. H Αλήθεια μεγάλη, κι ισχυροτέρα παρά πάντα, Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ - Αλήθειαν καλῶ, καὶ ὁ ἐρανὸς αὐτ τὴν εὐλογεῖ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔργα σείεται και τρέμει, καὶ ἐκ ἔσι μετ ̓ αὐτῆς ἄδικον ἐδέν. REAS. Ὅτι ἐκ ἔσι παρ' αὐτὴν λαμβάνειν πρόσωπα, ἐδὲ διάφορα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖ τοῖς δικαίοις καὶ πονηροῖς πάντες δδοκέσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτῆς, CONFIRM. Ούνεκα ἐκ ἔσιν ἐν τῇ κρίσει αὐτῆς ἰδὲν ἄδι κον· καὶ αὕτη, ἡ ἰσχὺς, καὶ τὸ βασίλειον, καὶ ἡ ἐξεσία, καὶ ἡ με γαλειότης τῶν πάντων αιώνων. SIMILE. |