And, nursed together, make a conqueror;
Divided, but a talker. 'Tis a truth,
That Rome has fled before us twice, and routed;
A truth we ought to crown the gods for, lady,
And not our tongues; a truth is none of ours,
Nor in our ends, more than the noble bearing;
For then it leaves to be a virtue, lady,
And we, that have been victors, beat ourselves,
When we insult upon our honour's subject.
Bond. My valiant cousin, is it foul to say
What liberty and honour bid us do,
And what the gods allow us?
So what we say exceed not what we do.
You call the Romans fearful, fleeing Romans,
"And Roman girls, the lees of tainted pleasures:'
Does this become a doer? are they such?
Bond. They are no more.
Car. Where is your conquest then?
Why are your altars crowned with wreaths of
Mowers?
The beasts with gilt horns waiting for the fire?
The holy Druides composing songs
Of everlasting life to victory?
Why are these triumphs, lady? for a May-game?
For hunting a poor herd of wretched Romans?
Is it no more? Shut up your temples, Britons,
And let the husbandman redeem his heifers,
Put out our holy fires, no timbrel ring,
Let's home and sleep; for such great overthrows
A candle burns too bright a sacrifice,
A glow-worm's tail too full of flame. Oh, Nen-
nius,
Thou hadst a noble uncle, knew a Roman,
And how to speak him, how to give him weight
In both his fortunes.
Bond. By the gods, I think
You doat upon these Romans, Caratach!
Car. Witness these wounds, I do; they were fairly given:
I love an enemy; I was born a soldier;
And he that in the head on's troop defies me,
Bending my manly body with his sword,
I make a mistress. Yellow-tressed Hymen
Ne'er tied a longing virgin with more joy,
Than I am married to that man, that wounds me:
And are not all these Roman? Ten struck battles
I sucked these honoured scars from, and all Ro-
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As ready, and as full of that I brought,
(Which was not fear, nor flight) as valiant,
As vigilant, as wise, to do and suffer,
Ever advanced as forward as the Britons,
Their sleeps as short, their hopes as high as ours,
Ay, and as subtle, lady. 'Tis dishonour,
And, followed, will be impudence, Bonduca,
And grow to no belief, to taint these Romans.
Have not I seen the Britons-
Bond. What?
Car. Disheartened,
Run, run, Bonduca! not the quick rack swifter;
The virgin from the hated ravisher
Not half so fearful; not a flight drawn home,
A round stone from a sling, a lover's wish,
E'er made that haste, that they have. By the gods,
I've seen these Britons, that you magnify,
Run as they would have out-run time, and roaring,
Basely for mercy roaring; the light shadows
That in a thought scur o'er the fields of corn,
Halted on crutches to them.
Bond. Oh, ye powers,
What scandals do I suffer!
Car. Yes, Bonduca,
I've seen thee run too; and thee, Nennius;
Yea, run apace, both; then, when Penius
(The Roman girl!) cut through your armed carts,
And drove them headlong on ye, down the hill;
Then, when he hunted ye like Britain foxes,
More by the scent than sight; then did I see
These valiant and approved men of Britain,
Like boding owls, creep into tods of ivy,
And hoot their fears to one another nightly.
Nen. And what did you then, Caratach?
Car. I fled too,
But not so fast; your jewel had been lost then,
Young Hengo there; he trasht me, Nennius:
For, when your fears out-run him, then stept I,
And in the head of all the Roman fury
Took him, and, with my tough belt, to my back
I buckled him; behind him, my sure shield;
And then I followed. If I say I fought
Five times in bringing off this bud of Britain,
I lie not, Nennius. Neither had you heard
Me speak this, or ever seen the child more,
But that the son of virtue, Penius,
Seeing me steer through all these storms of danger,
My helm still in my hand (my sword,) my prow
Turned to my foe (my face,) he cried out nobly,
'Go, Briton, bear thy lion's whelp off safely;
Thy manly sword has ransomed thee; grow strong,
And let me meet thee once again in arms;
Then, if thou stand'st, thou art mine.' I took his
offer,
And here I am to honour him.
Bond. Oh, cousin,
From what a flight of honour hast thou checked me!
What wouldst thou make me, Caratach?
Car. See, lady,
The noble use of others in our losses.
Does this afflict you? Had the Romans cried this,
And, as we have done theirs, sung out these
fortunes,
Railed on our base condition, hooted at us, Made marks as far as the earth was ours, to shew us
Nothing but sea could stop our flights, despised
And held it equal, whether banquetting
Or beating of the Britons were more business,
It would have galled you.
Bond. Let me think we conquered.
Car. Do; but so think, as we may be conquered; And, where we have found virtue, though in those,
That came to make us slaves, let's cherish it.
There's not a blow we gave, since Julius landed,
That was of strength and worth, but like records,
They file to after-ages. Our registers
The Romans are, for noble deeds of honour;
And shall we brand their mentions with upbraid-
ings?
Bond. No more; I see myself. Thou hast made me, cousin,
More than my fortunes durst; for they abused
And wound me up so high, I swelled with glory:
Thy temperance has cured that tympany,
And given me health again, nay more, discretion.
Shall we have peace? for now I love these Ro-
Car. Thy love and hate are both unwise ones, lady.
Bond. Your reason?
Nen. Is not peace the end of arms?
Car. Not where the cause implies a general
conquest:
Had we a difference with some petty isle,
Or with our neighbours, lady, for our landmarks,
The taking in of some rebellious lord,
Or making head against some slight commotions,
After a day of blood, peace might be argued;
But where we grapple for the ground we live on,
The liberty we hold as dear as life,
The gods we worship, and next those, our ho
And with those swords, that know no end of battle: Those men, beside themselves, allow no neighbour;
Those minds, that where the day is, claim inheritance,
And where the sun makes ripe the fruits, their harvest,
And where they march, but measure out more
ground
To add to Rome, and here i'th' bowels on us;
It must not be. No, as they are our foes,
And those, that must be so, until we tire them,
Let's use the peace of honour, that's fair dealing,
But in our hands our swords. That hardy Roman,
That hopes to graft himself into my stock,
Must first begin his kindred under-ground,
And be allied in ashes.
As thou hast nobly spoken, shall be done;
And Hengo to thy charge I here deliver:
The Romans shall have worthy wars.
Car. They shall :
Pet. Come, it is drink; I know it is drink.
Jun. 'Tis no drink.
Pet. I say, it is drink; for what affliction
Can light so heavy on a soldier,
Thou shalt have drink.
To dry him up as thou art, but no drink?
Jun. Prithee, Petillius
Pet. And, by mine honour, much drink, valiant
drink:
Like a true friend, into thy wants; 'tis drink;
Never tell me, thou shalt have drink. I see,
Especially of that dry nature, hang me.
And, when I leave thee to a desolation,
Jun. Why do you do this to me?
Pet. For I see,
Which sits as sweetly on a soldier
Although your modesty would fain conceal it,
As an old side-saddle-
Jun. What do you see?
Pet. I see as fair as day, that thou want’st
Did I not find thee gaping, like an oyster
drink.
For a new tide? Thy very thoughts lie bare,
Like a low ebb; thy soul, that rid in sack,
Lies moored for want of liquor. Do but see
Into thyself; for, by the gods, I do;
For all thy body's chapped and cracked like timber,
For want of moisture: What is it thou want'st
An if it be not drink?
there, Junius,
Jun. You have too much on't.
Pet. It may be a whore too. Say it be, come
Thou shalt have both; a pretty valiant fellow,
Die for a little lap and lechery?
Pet. No, it shall ne'er be said in our country,
Thou diedst of the chin-cough. Hear, thou noble
The son of her that loves a soldier,
Hear what I promised for thee! thus I said:
Lady, I take thy son to my companion;
Lady, I love thy son, thy son loves war,
For officers, and men of action !),
And those so clipt by master mouse, and rotten--(For understand them French beans, where the fruits
The war loves danger, danger drink, drink dis- Are ripened like the people, in old tubs)
Which is society and lechery;
For mine own part, I say, I am starved already,
Not worth another bean, consumed to nothing,
These two beget commanders: Fear not, lady; Nothing but flesh and bones left, miserable: Thy son shall lead.
Jun. 'Tis a strange thing, Petillius,
That so ridiculous and loose a mirth
Can master your affections.
And any way, of any subject, Junius,
Is better than unmanly mustiness.
What harm is in drink? in a good wholesome
I do beseech you, sir, what error? Yet
It cannot out of my head handsomely,
But thou wouldst fain be drunk: come, no more
fooling;
The general has new wine, new come over.
Jun. He must have new acquaintance for it too,
For I will none, I thank ye.
Pet. None, I thank you?" A short and touchy answer! you?"
You do not scorn it, do you?
Jun. Gods defend, sir!
I owe him still more honour.
Pet. None, I thank you?'
Now, if this musty provender can prick me
To honourable matters of atchievement, gentle
'None, I thank You, corporal Curry-comb, what will your fight
No company, no drink, no wench, I thank you?"
You shall be worse entreated, sir.
As thou art honest, leave me !
Pet. None, I thank you?
A modest and a decent resolution,
And well put on. Yes; I will leave you, Junius,
And leave you to the boys, that very shortly
Shall all salute you, by your new sirname,
Of Junius' None I thank you.' I would starve
Hang, drown, despair, deserve the forks, lie open
To all the dangerous passes of a wench,
Bound to believe her tears, wed her aches,
Ere I would own thy follies. I have found you,
Your lays, and out-leaps, Junius, haunts, and
lodges:
I have viewed you, and I have found you, by my
skill,
To be a fool of the first head, Junius,
And I will hunt you: You are in love, I know it;
You are an ass, and all the camp shall know it;
A peevish idle boy, your dame shall know it;
A wronger of my care, yourself shall know it.
Enter JUDAS and four Soldiers.
Judas. A bean? a princely diet, a full banquet,
To what we compass.
1 Sold. Fight like hogs for acorns?
2 Sold. Venture our lives for pig-nuts?
Pet. What ail these rascals?
3 Sold. If this hold, we are starved.
Judas. For my part, friends,
Which is but twenty beans a day (a hard world
Judas. Or notable receipt to live by nothing.
Pet. Out with your table-books!
Jun. Is this true friendship?
And must my killing griefs make other's Maygames!
Stand from my sword's point, slaves! your poor starved spirits
Can make me no oblations; else, oh, love, Thou proudly-blind destruction! I would send thee
Whole hetacombs of hearts, to bleed my sor
Enter SUETONIUS, DEMETRIUS, DECIUS,
drum and colours.
Suet. Demetrius, is the messenger dispatched
To Penius, to command him to bring up
The Volans regiment?
Dem. He is there by this time.
Suet. And are the horse well viewed, we
brought from Mona?
Dec. The troops are full and lusty.
Suet. Good Petillius,
Look to those eating rogues, that bawl for victuals,
And stop their throats a day or two: Provision
Waits but the wind to reach us.
I have been tampering with their stomachs, which I find
As deaf as adders to delays: Your clemency Hath made their murmurs, mutinies; nay rebellions;
Now, an they want but mustard, they are in uproars!
No oil but Candy, Lusitanian figs,
And wine from Lesbos, now can satisfy them; The British waters are grown duil and muddy, The fruit disgustful; Orontes must be sought for, And apples from the happy isles; the truth is, They are more curious now, in having nothing, Than if the sea and land turned up their trea
This lost the colonies, and gave Bonduca
(With shame we must record it) time and strength
To look into our fortunes; great discretion
To follow offered vict'ry; and last, full pride
To brave us to our teeth, and scorn our ruins.
My will to conquer Mona, and long stay
Suet. Nay, chide not, good Petillius! I confess
To execute that will, let in these losses:
All shall be right again, and as a pine
Rent from Oeta by a sweeping tempest,
Jointed again, and made a mast, defies
Those angry winds, that split him; so will I,
Pieced to my never-failing strength and fortune,
Steer through these swelling dangers, plow their
prides up,
And bear like thunder through their loudest tem-
pests.
They keep the field still?
Dem. Confident and full.
Pet. In such a number, one would swear they
The hills are wooded with their partizans,
And all the vallies overgrown with darts,
As moors are with rank rushes; no ground left us
And our endeavours bring us into them,
To charge upon, no room to strike. Say fortune
They are so infinite, so ever-springing,
We shall be killed with killing; of desperate wo
That neither fear or shame e'er found, the devil
Has ranked amongst them multitudes; say the
They'll poison us with their petticoats; say they
men fail,
They've priests enough to pray us into nothing. Suet. These are imaginations, dreams of nothing;
The man, that doubts or fears
Dec. I am free of both.
Dem. The self-same I.
Pet. And I as free as any;
As careless of my flesh, of that we call life,
So I may lose it nobly, as indifferent
As if it were my diet. Yet, noble general,
It was a wisdom learned from you, I learned it,
And worthy of a soldier's care, most worthy,
To weigh with most deliberate circumstance
The ends of accidents, above their offers;
How to go on and get; to save a Roman,
Whose one life is more worth in way of doing,
Than millions of these painted wasps: how, view-
ing,
To find advantage out; how, found, to follow it
With counsel and discretion, lest mere fortune
Should claim the victory.
Suet. 'Tis true, Petillius,
And worthily remembered: The rule is certain,
Their uses no less excellent; but where time
Cuts off occasions, danger, time and all
Tend to a present peril, 'tis required
Our swords and manhoods be best counsellors,
Our expeditions, precedents, To win is nothing,
Where Reason, Time, and Counsel are our camp-
But there to bear the field, then to be conquerors,
Where pale destruction takes us, takes us beaten,
In wants and mutinies, ourselves but handfulls,
And to ourselves our own fears, needs a new way,
A sudden and a desperate execution:
Here, how to save, is loss; to be wise, dangerous;
Only a present well-united strength,
And minds made up for all attempts, dispatch it:
Disputing and delay here cool the courage;
Necessity gives time for doubts; (things infinite,
According to the spirit they are preached to :)
Rewards like them, and names for after-ages,
Must steel the soldier, his own shame help to arm
him;
And having forced his spirit, ere he cools,
Fling him upon his enemies; sudden and swift,
Like tigers amongst foxes, we must fight for it:
Fury must be our fortune ; shame, we have lost,
Spurs ever in our sides to prick us forward:
There is no other wisdom nor discretion
Due to this day of ruin, but destruction ;
The soldier's order first, and then his anger.
Dem. No doubt they dare redeem all.
Suet. Then no doubt
The day must needs be ours. That the proud
Is infinite in number better likes me,
Than if we dealt with squadrons; half her army Shall choke themselves, their own swords dig their
I'll tell you all my fears; one single valour,
The virtues of the valiant Caratach,
More doubts me than all Britain: He's a soldier
So forged out, and so tempered for great fortunes,
So much man thrust into him, so old in dangers,
So fortunate in all attempts, that his mere name
Fights in a thousand men, himself in millions,
To make him Roman: But no more. Petillius,
How stands your charge?
Pet. Ready for all employments, To be commanded too, sir.
Suet. 'Tis well governed;
To-morrow we'll draw out and view the cohorts:
I' th' mean time, all apply their offices.
Where's Junius?
Pet. In's cabin, sick o' th' mumps, sir.
Suet. How?
Pet. In love, indeed in love, most lamentably
loving,
To the tune of Queen Dido.
Dec. Alas, poor gentleman!
Suet. Twill make him fight the nobler. With
what lady?
I'll be a spokesman for him.
Pet. You'll scant speed, sir.
Suet. Who is it?
Pet. The devil's dam, Bonduca's daughter, Her youngest cracked i'th' ring.
Suet. I'm sorry for him:
But sure his own discretion will reclaim him;
He must deserve our anger else. Good captains,
Apply yourselves in all the pleasing forms
Ye can, unto the soldiers; fire their spirits,
And set them fit to run this action;
Mine own provisions shall be shared amongst
them,
'Till more come in; tell them, if now they conquer,
The fat of all the kingdom lies before them.
Their shames forgot, their honours infinite,
And want for ever banished. Two days hence,
Our fortunes, and our swords, and gods be for us!
[Exeunt.
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