Louisa. The consul Collatinus would have complied with the request, but Brutus opposed it. It was then left to the decision of the people, who generously determined that the Tarquins should be put in possession of the estates of their family.
"It was a generosity which those wicked Tarquins did not deserve, I am sure," said Ferdinand; "for whilst the people were employed in loading carriages with their effects, and in selling what could not be carried off, the ambassadors were trying to draw some of the nearest relations of the consuls into a plot against them. Among the conspirators were Titus and Tiberius, the two sons of Brutus. Notwithstanding the secrecy with which they carried on their designs, their plot was discovered by one of their slaves, who disclosed the affair to Valerius. Upon this information, the conspirators were taken prisoners, and their papers, with several letters which they had written to the banished king, seized."
"The trial of these unhappy men was very affecting," said Emily: "early on the following morning, the people being summoned to the hall of justice, the prisoners were brought forth.
"Brutus began with the examination of his two sons. The slave who had discovered their designs, appeared against them, and the letters they had written to the Tarquins were read. The proofs being clear, the prisoners stood quite silent, and pleaded only by their tears. Three times their father called upon them to plead their cause, but tears were still their only answer. Many of the senators were touched with compassion, and implored for their banishment rather than their deaths. All the people stood trembling, in expectation of the sentence. Their stern father at length arose, and with a steady voice, uninterrupted by a single sigh, said: "Lictors, I deliver them over to you; the rest is your part." At these words, the whole assembly groaned aloud; distress showed itself in every face, and the mournful looks of the people pleaded for pity: but neither their intercessions, nor the bitter lamentations of the young men, who called upon their father by the most endearing names, could soften the inflexible judge. The heads of the young men were struck off by the lictors, Brutus all the while gazing on the cruel spectacle, with a steady look and composed countenance."
"Oh! my dear father," exclaimed Ferdinand, "surely Brutus must have been a cruel, hard-hearted man."
"In his feelings as a patriot," returned Mr. Bernard, "those of the father appear to have been absorbed. What became of the other prisoners, Edward?"
Edward. Excepting the ambassadors, they all shared the fate of the sons of Brutus. His severity towards his children, greatly increased his authority in Rome; and when he was, some time after, slain in battle by Aruns, the son of Tarquin, the citizens were inconsolable for his loss. They considered him as a hero, who had restored liberty to his country, who had cemented that liberty by the blood of his own children, and who had died in defending it against the tyrant. The first funeral honours were paid him in the camp; but, the next day, the corpse was brought into the Forum, in a magnificent litter. On this occasion, Valerius gave Rome the first example of those funeral orations, which were ever after made in praise of great men. The ladies distinguished themselves on this occasion: they mourned for him a whole year, as if they had lost a common father.
"The death of such a man was, indeed, a serious misfortune to the state," said Mr. Bernard: "can you tell me what became of the banished Tarquin?"
Emily. After an exile of fourteen years, during which time he made many ineffectual struggles to recover the throne, he died at the advanced age of ninety.
"This, papa, is all we have read at present," said Edward; "I hope my brother and sisters will not go on with the history till my return, for this is a very good place to leave off."