The robes of honour by plebeians worn,

From Rome's reluctant lords by force were torn; 490
Commotion ever follow'd the demand,
And civil discord rent the jarring land:
Resolv'd to keep, and eager to acquire,

These strongly guard what fiercely those desire;
When with the Great their proud pretensions fail'd,
Then clamour, menace, and revolt prevail'd; 496
Illustrious ancestry one Order pleads;

The other, right, from more illustrious deeds.
Sacred the consul's toga still remain'd,

As yet by the inferior tribes unstain'd;

But by a woman's tears at last was gain'd.*

Two daughters sprung from Fabius, Hymen led, Pleas'd, to a noble, and plebeian bed;

The elder shar'd Sulpicius' lofty state,

And wealthy Stolo was the younger's mate:

505

Enfin les larmes d'une femme emporterent ce que l'eloquence, les brigues, et les cabales des tribuns n'avoient pu obtenir.

The warrior-tribune's ensigns grac'd the one ;5

By no distinction was the other known,
But riches, and obscurity of worth,
Unblazon'd by high titles or high birth.

It chanc'd, the humbler wife, as yet content,

510

To visit her proud sister's mansion went;
There, while her thrifty hands the loom employs,
Alarm'd, she hears an unaccustom'd noise ;
The rattling rods, which on the tribune wait,
Proclaim'd his pompous entrance at the gate.
Her simple mind some danger near believ'd,
Not by her conscious sister unperceiv'd.

515

Fabia, (she cried) these sounds are new to thee, By custom long familiariz'd to me;

"These are my husband's train, who walk before, "And wait the tribune's entrance at his door. "Such sounds your quiet dwelling ne'er molest, "More humble doubtless, tho' perhaps more bless'd:

'Military tribunes, more in number (which fluctuated) than the consuls, had among them the same power.

"Some

"Some discontent must every station share,
"Nor is our dignity exempt from care..
"But come, dismiss this low, plebeian fear,
"My lord's rude lictors never enter here;

"In the same house I keep a separate home,

Where, uninvited, not ev'n he may come.”

525

Deep sinks the taunt.-Nor joy, nor wonted rest, 530
Find harbour in the insulted Fabia's breast.
To her scorn'd home, dejected, she returns;
Now pines with envy, now with anger burns;
Health's vermeil hue her fading cheeks forsook,
And Niobe seem'd pictur'd in her look.
Her sire, and doating husband, long in vain
Tried to explore the secret source of pain;
Each grasps her hand, repeats his tender fears,
Entreats to know:-she answers but with tears.

535

With streaming eyes at last the cause she tells, 540 And her patrician sister's scorn reveals:

"But never shall this bosom comfort know,

"Never these ceaseless streams forbear to flow,

"Till

"Till Rome's proud lords hear shouting Rome proclaim

"Your right, like their's, to every rank the same; "And that ennobled dame be forc'd to see

“ Her spirit quell'd, and state surpass'd by me.”
Thus spoke she weeping. By her grief impress'd,
The ambitious project swell'd her husband's breast:
Invoking every sacred Power, he swears
The insult to avenge, and dry her tears.

550

555

To aid the purpose labouring in his mind
With his own strength confederate force he join'd.
Old Fabius too, by grey experience wise,
Maturer counsels to their youth supplies;
One common interest all their hopes inspir'd,
One vow engag'd them, and one ardour fir'd.
Besides, the scent of mischief lur'd along
(The scum of towns) a numerous noisy throng;
Bellowers, unfit to govern or obey,

Who little heed the cause, but love the fray;

560

Wholesome

Wholesome restraint they call the chain of slaves, Their reason in their roar, and rhet'rick in their

staves.

565

In vain to check their rage the nobles try'd;
"Let us be consuls," still the people cry'd.
Increasing zeal increasing numbers found;
The forum rent, return'd no second sound.
At length, the weary chiefs, o'erpower'd, retreat,
Desert their tower, and own the full defeat.
Of like success though like endeavours fail'd, 570
In pride's contention female pride prevail'd:
Fabia retorts her scoffing sister's scorn,

And, smiling, sees her humbled in her turn.
Years after years had eloquence, in vain,
And art and force this honour toil'd to gain; 575
But Fortune, still averse, reserv'd the prize
To prove the matchless power of woman's eyes.3

ROMAN

"I have willingly adopted this sisterly quarrel, as the cause of an important change in the internal policy of Rome; firft, because it has a complexion