BRUTUS. Then harken to your sovereign's latest words, In which I will unto you all unfold Our royal mind and resolute intent:-- When golden Hebe, daughter to great Jove, Covered my manly cheeks with youthful down, Th' unhappy slaughter of my luckless sire, Drove me and old Assarachus, mine eame, As exiles from the bounds of Italy: So that perforce we were constrained to fly To Graecia's Monarch noble Pandrassus. There I alone did undertake your cause, There I restored your antique liberty, Though Graecia frowned, and all Mollossia stormed, Though brave Antigonus, with martial band, In pitched field encountered me and mine, Though Pandrassus and his contributories, With all the route of their confederates, Sought to deface our glorious memory And wipe the name of Trojans from the earth, Him did I captivate with this mine arm, And by compulsion forced him to agree To certain articles which there wedid propound. From Graecia through the boisterous Hellespont, We came unto the fields of Lestrigon, Whereas our brother Corineius was, Since when we passed the Cicillian gulf, And so transfretting the Illirian sea, Arrived on the coasts of Aquitaine, Where with an army of his barbarous Gauls Goffarius and his brother Gathelus Encountering with our host, sustained the foil. And for your sakes my Turnus there I lost, Turnus that slew six hundred men at arms All in an hour, with his sharp battle-axe. From thence upon the strons of Albion To Corus haven happily we came, And quelled the giants, come of Albion's race, With Gogmagog son to Samotheus, The cursed Captain of that damned crew. And in that Isle at length I placed you. Now let me see if my laborious toils, If all my care, if all my grievous wounds, If all my diligence were well employed.
CORINEIUS. When first I followed thee & thine, brave king, I hazarded my life and dearest blood, To purchase favour at your princely hands, And for the same in dangerous attempts In sundry conflicts and in diverse broils, I showed the courage of my manly mind. For this I combated with Gathelus, The brother to Goffarius of Gaul; For this I fought with furious Gogmagog, A savage captain of a savage crew; And for these deeds brave Cornwall I received, A grateful gift given by a gracious King: And for this gift, this life and dearest blood, Will Corineius spend for Brutus good.
DEB. And what my friend, brave prince, hath vowed to you, The same will Debon do unto his end.
BRUTUS. Then, loyal peers, since you are all agreed, And resolute to follow Brutus hosts, Favor my sons, favor these Orphans, Lords, And shield them from the dangers of their foes. Locrine, the column of my family, And only pillar of my weakened age, Locrine, draw near, draw near unto thy sire, And take thy latest blessings at his hands: And for thou art the eldest of my sons, Be thou a captain to thy brethren, And imitate thy aged father's steps, Which will conduct thee to true honor's gate; For if thou follow sacred virtue's lore, Thou shalt be crowned with a laurel branch, And wear a wreath of sempiternal fame, Sorted amongst the glorious happy ones.
LOCRINE. If Locrine do not follow your advise, And bear himself inall things like a prince That seeks to amplify the great renown Left unto him for an inheritage By those that were his ancestors, Let me be flung into the Ocean, And swallowed in the bowels of the earth, Or let the ruddy lightning of great Jove Descend upon this my devoted head.
BRUTUS.
[Taking Gwendoline by the hand.]
But for I see you all to be in doubt, Who shall be matched with our royal son, Locrine, receive this present at my hand, A gift more rich than are the wealthy mines Found in the bowels of America. Thou shalt be spoused to fair Gwendoline; Love her, and take her, for she is thine own, If so thy uncle and her self do please.