Propounds to this grave Senate, the bestowing
Upon the man he loves, honor'd Sejanus,
The tribunitial dignity and power:
Here are his letters, signed with his signet.
What pleaseth now the Fathers to be done?
"Senators. Read, read them, open, publicly read them.
Cotta. Cæsar hath honor'd his own greatness much
In thinking of this act.
Trio. It was a thought
Happy, and worthy Cæsar.
Latiaris. And the lord
As worthy it, on whom it is directed!
Haterius. Most worthy!
Sanquinius. Rome did never boast the virtue
That could give envy bounds, but his: Sejanus—
1st Sen. Honor'd and noble!
2d Sen. Good and great Sejanus!
Prœcones. Silence!"[536]
Tiberius's letter is read. First, long, obscure, and vague phrases, mingled with indirect protestations and accusations, foreboding something and revealing nothing. Suddenly comes an insinuation against Sejanus. The fathers are alarmed, but the next line reassures them. A word or two further on the same insinuation is repeated with greater exactness. "Some there be that would interpret this his public severity to be particular ambition; and that, under a pretext of service to us, he doth but remove his own lets: alleging the strengths he hath made to himself, by the praetorian soldiers, by his faction in court and Senate, by the offices he holds himself, and confers on others, his popularity and dependents, his urging (and almost driving) us to this our unwilling retirement, and lastly, his aspiring to be our son-in-law." The fathers rise: "This is strange!" Their eager eyes are fixed on the letter, on Sejanus, who perspires and grows pale; their thoughts are busy with conjectures, and the words of the letter fall one by one, amidst a sepulchral silence, caught up as they fall with all devouring and attentive eagerness. The senators anxiously weigh the value of these shifty expressions, fearing to compromise themselves with the favorite or with the prince, all feeling that they must understand, if they value their lives.
"'Your wisdoms, conscript fathers, are able to examine, and censure
these suggestions. But, were they left to our absolving voice, we durst
pronounce them, as we think them, most malicious.'
Senator. O, he has restor'd all; list.
Prœco. 'Yet are they offered to be averr'd, and on the lives of the
informers.'"[537]
At this word the letter becomes menacing. Those next Sejanus forsake him. "Sit farther.... Let's remove!" The heavy Sanquinius leaps panting over the benches. The soldiers come in; then Macro. And now, at last, the letter orders the arrest of Sejanus.
"Regulus. Take him hence;
And all the gods guard Cæsar!
Trio. Take him hence.
Haterius. Hence.
Cotta. To the dungeon with him.
Sanquinius. He deserves it.
Senator. Crown all our doors with bays.
San. And let an ox,
With gilded horns and garlands, straight be led
Unto the Capitol.
Hat. And sacrific'd
To Jove, for Cæsar's safety.
Tri. All our gods
Be present still to Cæsar!...
Cot. Let all the traitor's titles be defac'd.
Tri. His images and statues be pull'd down....
Sen. Liberty, liberty, liberty! Lead on,
And praise to Macro that hath saved Rome!"[538]
It is the baying of a furious pack of hounds, let loose at last on him, under whose hand they had crouched, and who had for a long time beaten and bruised them. Jonson discovered in his own energetic soul the energy of these Roman passions; and the clearness of his mind, added to his profound knowledge, powerless to construct characters, furnished him with general ideas and striking incidents, which suffice to depict manners.
[SECTION IV.—Comedies]
Moreover, it was to this that he turned his talent. Nearly all his work consists of comedies, not sentimental and fanciful as Shakespeare's, but imitative and satirical, written to represent and correct follies and vices. He introduced a new model; he had a doctrine; his masters were Terence and Plautus. He observes the unity of time and place, almost exactly. He ridicules the authors who, in the same play,
"Make a child now swaddled, to proceed
Man, and then shoot up, in one beard and weed,
Past threescore years; or, with three rusty swords,
And help of some few foot and half-foot words,
Fight over York and Lancaster's long jars....
He rather prays you will be pleas'd to see."[539]