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THE THIRD ORATION OF CICERO AGAINST CATILINE. Addressed to the PEOPLE. - Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), The Works of Sallust (Gordon’s Discourses, Cicero’s Orations against Catiline) [1744]

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The Works of Sallust, translated into English with Political Discourses upon that Author. To which is added, a translation of Cicero’s Four Orations against Catiline (London: R. Ware, 1744).

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THE THIRD ORATION OF CICERO AGAINST CATILINE. Addressed to the PEOPLE.

TO-DAY, Citizens, you behold the Commonwealth, with all your Lives, your Estates and Fortunes, your Wives and Children, nay, Rome itself, the Seat of this resplendent Empire, a City the most flourishing and fair, rescued from the Fury of Fire and Sword, snatched from the Jaws of Perdition, and intirely secured and restored, through the superlative Love of the immortal Deities towards you, and by the Success of my Counsels, and Perils, and Efforts. If the Days from whence we date our Preservation, be distinguished with no less Joy than the Days which give us Birth, because Life saved yields certain Joy; but when we are born, our Lot of Life is uncertain; add, that, though we receive our first Breath without Reflection, we feel Delight in our Deliverance from Death; surely, therefore, when our Zeal for Romulus was such, as to rank and adore him amongst the Deities, for founding this City, signal Respect from you, and your Descendants, is due to the Man who hath preserved the City so founded, and, since, so gloriously inlarged. When the Flames had surrounded you, when they were seizing, and ready to devour, the whole City, with all her Temples and Sanctuaries, all her Bulwarks and Dwellings, I quenched those Flames: I foiled the Arms wielded against the Commonwealth: I repelled the Weapons ready to pierce your Hearts.

As I have disclosed the Whole to the Senate, and there amply proved and explained it, I will now present you, Citizens, with a short Account of it, that you may learn what you yet know not, but claim to know, what dreadful, what manifest Destruction threatened you; as also by what Methods it was discovered and laid open.

When Catiline was fled from Rome, as I found some Days after, that there yet remained behind him the Accomplices of his Treason, and the City still harboured the keenest Champions of this impious War; I constantly watched, and studied, by what means we could possibly secure ourselves against a Train of Machinations so desperate, yet so dark. For, that I drove Catiline out of the City, is an Imputation which I fear not so much, as that he was suffered to leave it alive: I, indeed, presumed, that, upon his Expulsion, either the rest of his Brethren in the Conspiracy would depart with him; or, at least, the Efforts of such as remained, if they made any, would, without Him, be faint and fruitless: But, when I perceived the most Outrageous, the most Ardent for Blood and Mischief, still remaining in the City, still intermixed with us; I then bent my intire Care, Night and Day, to trace and discover all their Transactions and Devices: For, as no Speech of mine might be powerful enough to convince you of a Treason so shocking and incredible, I meant so fully to sift and illustrate the whole Proceeding, that, when your own Eyes beheld the Doom which threatened your very Lives, you would then, at last, employ your Thoughts how to preserve them.

When, therefore, I had discovered, that the Deputies of the Allobrogians had been suborned by Publius Lentulus, to excite a War beyond the Alps, and Insurrections in those Parts of Gaul; that they were withal charged with Letters to those of their own Community, with other Letters and Instructions to Catiline, to be delivered to him in their Way home; that Volturcius, too, was appointed to accompany them, and intrusted with more Letters for Catiline; I inferred, that an Opportunity offered to do what hitherto seemed of insuperable Difficulty, (such as I had ever besought the immortal Gods to remove) namely, to unravel and display the whole Combination to the ample Satisfaction not of myself only, but of the Senate, and of You the Roman People.

For this Purpose, I, Yesterday, had called to me the Two Prætors, Lucius Flaccus, and Caius Pomptinus, gallant Men, and zealous for the Commonwealth: To them I recounted the Whole, and explained what Course I judged best to be taken: The Prætors, whose Notions concerning the Public are all noble and disinterested, complied without Scruple; nay, undertook the Execution without Delay. When the Evening began to close, they reached, unobserved, to the Milvian Bridge: There they parted, and posted themselves in the Villages on each Side the Tiber, so that the Bridge stood between them; for they had led along with them, too, and lodged in the same Stations, several brave Men, without the least Alarm or Suspicion. Besides, in order to strengthen them, I had dispatched, from the Precinct of Reate, a Number of chosen young Men well armed; such as I myself never fail to employ upon all public Exigencies.

Towards the End of the third Watch, as the Allobrogian Deputies, with a great Train, and accompanied by Volturcius, began to pass the Bridge, suddenly an Onset was made upon them, and, on both Sides, Swords were drawn. The Prætors only were trusted with the Design; to all their Followers it was a Secret. Presently, as Pomptinus and Flaccus advanced and appeared, the Conflict, thus begun, was at once appeased: Whatever Letters were found amongst the Retinue of the Deputies, were consigned, unopened, into the Hands of the Prætors; the Deputies themselves were brought before me, at the Dawn of Day. I forthwith sent for Gabinius Cimber, a pestilent Manager in their Treason, but now under no Apprehensions. Then I sent for Lucius Statilius; next, for Cethegus: Lentulus came too, but much slower than the rest; for, I presume, he passed the Night, contrary to Custom, without Sleep, in dispatching Letters to his Correspondents.

Now, though Numbers of the first and most illustrious Persons in the Commonwealth, having heard what passed, came early to me, and offered their Opinion, ‘That the several Letters should be first opened, before I presented them to the Senate; lest, if nothing of Moment were found in them, I should appear to have too precipitately raised such a terrible Alarm in the State;’ yet I refused to take any other Course, than, in a Matter of public Danger, to refer the Whole to the Senate, which was the public Council. The Truth is, Citizens, though the Informations brought to me should have failed, I still supposed, that I needed not fear being over-sedulous, when such Perils threatened the Commonwealth.

Immediately I assembled, as you saw, a full Senate. In the mean time, from a Hint given me by the Allobrogian Deputies, I strait dispatched Caius Sulpicius the Prætor, a brave Man, to bring away what Arms he could find in the House of Cethegus. From thence Sulpicius brought great Store of Swords and Daggers. I introduced Volturcius, without the Gauls, into the Senate; and, for his Security, by their Order, gave him the public Faith: I encouraged him, without all Fear, to reveal whatever he knew: He, hardly yet able to recover himself from his great Affright, declared, that he had received, from Publius Lentulus, Letters for Catiline; as also verbal Instructions, ‘To strengthen himself, by arming the Slaves; as also to advance as fast as possible with his Army towards Rome; that, when they had set the City on Fire in all its Quarters, agreeably to the Plan, and the several Assignments already settled, and when they had made withal an infinite Slaughter of Citizens, he might be at hand, not only to intercept all who strove to escape, but to join the Leaders there.’

The Gauls, when they were introduced, declared, that Publius Lentulus, Cethegus, and Statilius, had delivered Letters to them, for their Nation; together with an Oath of Fidelity, with Orders added by the same Three, in Conjunction with Lucius Cassius, to dispatch a Body of Horse, as soon as possible, into Italy; for of Infantry they should find no Scarcity: That Lentulus had given them Assurances, from the prophetic Records of the Sibyls, and from the Reports and Interpretation of the Augurs, that he was the Third of the Cornelian Race destined by Fate to sway the Sovereignty of this City and Empire; for Cornelius Cinna had already done it; so had Cornelius Sylla: For Confirmation, he had alledged, that this Year of Rome was to prove fatal to her Government, as it was the Tenth Year since the Acquittal of the polluted Vestals, the Twentieth since the Burning of the Capitol. They added, that there was a Contest between Cethegus and his Accomplices; for Lentulus, and the others, chose to have the general Massacre, and Firing of Rome, executed during the Festival of Saturn; and this seemed, to Cethegus, to be too great Delay.

Not to be tedious, O Citizens, I ordered the Letters to be produced severally, according to the Hands from whence they were said to have come. First, I shewed Cethegus his Signet: He owned it. I then cut the Bandage, and read the Letter. It was written with his own Hand, directed to the Allobrogian Senate and People: In it he confirmed his Assurances to their Deputies, to fulfil whatever he had promised them; and besought them to perform, in their turn, whatever the Deputies had undertaken in their Name. Cethegus, who, a little before, had accounted for the Swords and Daggers seized in his Possession, and alledged, that he had always been fond of fine Arms, was now, upon hearing his Letter read, quite dispirited and cast down; he was smitten by his guilty Conscience, and instantly silent. Statilius, who was next introduced, owned both his Signet and his Hand. When his Letter, written almost in the same Strain with the former, was read, he readily acknowledged all.

I then applied to Lentulus, and shewed him his: I asked him, If he avowed the Signet? He assented. It is, in truth, said I to him, a very noted Signet; the Head of thy Grandfather, a celebrated Roman, who cordially loved his Country, and his Fellow-citizens; a Picture which, however mute it be, ought to have restrained thee from such horrible Iniquity. Then his Letter to the Senate and Community of the Allobrogians was recited, in the same Style. I gave him leave to make his Defence, if he had any to make: He, at first, refused: Presently, when the whole Evidence was opened, and appeared undeniable, he rose up, and asked the Gauls, What Commerce he had ever had with them? and for what Cause they had come to his House? He proposed the same Questions to Volturcius. As soon as they had given him a short and resolute Answer, how often they had been there, and by whom introduced, and then desired him to answer, whether he had never entertained them with the Sibylline Oracles in his Behalf? And as he was now, on a sudden, confounded with Remorse, he shewed an Example of the mighty Power of Conscience over the Soul of Man! For, when he might have confidently denied any such Conversation, in a Moment, he disappointed the Opinion of all Men, and confessed it: So intirely was he forsaken, not only by his great Talents, and that Habit of Eloquence in which he always excelled, but even by his bad Heart, and that inimitable Impudence, in which he surpassed all Men: Such was the Effect of conscious Guilt exposed!

Now Volturcius strait caused to be presented and opened the Letter, which, he said, had been given him by Lentulus for Catiline. This proved a dreadful Shock to Lentulus! yet he owned the Signet, and his Hand-writing. It was subscribed by no Name, in the following Style: ‘Who it is that sends thee this, thou wilt learn from him who brings it. Consider thy own desperate Situation, and be sure to acquit thyself like a Man. Recollect what thy Circumstances demand, and seek Assistance from All, even from the Lowest and Basest.’

Gabinius was next introduced. At first he began to answer with notable Assurance: At length he denied not a Tittle of whatever the Gauls accused him.

The Truth is, Citizens, though, to me, their Letters, their Signets, their Hand-writing, nay, the voluntary Confession of each, appeared glaring Proofs of their Treason; yet I found Demonstrations of their Guilt still more sure, in their Eyes, in their changing Colour, in their Looks, and Silence: Indeed, such was their Stupefaction, such their downcast Looks, such the guilty Glances, which, from time to time, they stole at one another, that they appeared not so much to be detected by others, as to detect and arraign themselves.

When all this Evidence was thus exhibited, and appeared thus clear, I applied to the Senate, O Citizens, to know what Resolutions they would please to take, for the Preservation of the State. The leading Senators strait offered several Propositions full of Vigour and Magnanimity; such as the Senate received without any Variation.

Now, seeing that Ordinance of theirs is not yet inrolled, I will, upon Memory, recount to you, O Citizens, all that they then ordained. First of all, they decree their public Thanks to be presented to me in the strongest and most solemn Terms; for that, by my undaunted Conduct, by my Foresight and Counsels, the Commonwealth was rescued from the highest Perils. Next, they heap just and well-merited Commendations upon the Prætors Lucius Flaccus and Caius Pomptinus, for the brave and faithful Assistance which they had given to me. Moreover, they extol the Merit of Caius Antonius, my valiant Collegue, for having kept the Associates in the Conspiracy from all Part in the public Measures, and in his own Measures for the Public. Then they proceed and ordain, that Lentulus (having first divested himself of the Dignity of Prætor) should be committed to Custody; as also Caius Cethegus, Lucius Statilius, and Publius Gabinius, all Three then present.

The like Sentence was passed upon Lucius Cassius, the Man who had required to himself the Task of setting Rome on Fire; upon Marcus Cæparius, who, as it was proved, had Apulia assigned to him, in order to engage the Boors there to revolt; upon Publius Furius, a Member of the disaffected Colonies transplanted to Fesulæ by Sylla; upon Quintus Manlius Chilo, who had a constant Share with this Furius in suborning the Allobrogian Deputies; lastly, upon Publius Umbrenus, the Son of a Freedman, who plainly appeared to have first introduced these Deputies to Gabinius.

Such, O Citizens, was the extreme Lenity now exercised by the Senate, who, under a Conspiracy so mighty, threatening such Outrage and Desolation, judged, that out of such a Multitude of intestine Enemies, by punishing Nine only, and these the most desperate and abandoned of all, they should be able to secure the Commonwealth, and reclaim the Hearts of all the rest. The same Decree likewise injoined the Celebration of public Thanksgiving, in my Name, to the immortal Deities, for their singular Benignity towards the Republic; a Distinction, Citizens, which, as I still-wore the Civil Robe, fell to me to reap, the first of all Romans since the Founding of Rome: It was expressed in these Words: Because I had saved the City from Flames, the Citizens from Slaughter, and Italy from War. The present public Thanksgiving, Citizens, compared with others past, claims this Difference, that these were appointed for such Romans as had well administered the Commonwealth; this for me, for having preserved the Commonwealth itself.

The Senate also, adhering to strict Rules, saw the Step which required Precedence, first taken. For, though Publius Lentulus, thus convicted by full Evidence, as well as by his own Confession, had, by the Determination of the Senate, not only lost his Right to the Prætorship, but even that of a Roman Citizen; yet he in form divested himself of his Magistracy: So that, in punishing Lentulus as a private Person, we of the Senate scrupulously acquitted ourselves of a Ceremony quite slighted by Caius Marius, a Roman of very high Lustre, who caused Caius Glaucia to be slain whilst yet Prætor, although against his Person in particular no judicial Sentence had passed.

At present, Citizens, since you have thus seized and secured in Bonds the execrable Leaders of a most sanguinary and most dreadful Civil War, you ought to conclude, that all the Forces of Catiline, all his Hopes, all his Resources, are vanished, now that the Dangers threatening the City are repressed. Indeed, whilst I was labouring to drive him from Rome, the Advantage which I foresaw from it, Citizens, was, that when he was gone, there remained to me no Cause of Dread from the vain Dreams of Publius Lentulus, nor from the unwieldy Bulk of Lucius Cassius, nor from the frantic Rage of Cethegus. Catiline alone, of all of them, deserved to be dreaded, but only so long as he resided within our Walls. He was acquainted with all Things, and all Men; he had secured himself Access every-where; he knew how to apply to Men, how to try them, how to tempt and rouse them: All this he knew, all this he dared. He had ready Schemes to facilitate every Enterprize; with Eloquence and Activity to execute every Scheme. Besides, he had several Classes of Men, all properly chosen and qualified for performing several Tasks. Nor did he, therefore, reckon a Thing done, because he had ordered it to be done; there was nothing which he did not attend to in Person, pushing this, obviating that, still vigilant, still making new Efforts. He too had Vigour to undergo Cold, and Thirst, and Hunger.

Such was the Man! and had I not driven this Man from his treasonable Machinations at Rome, into his Camp of Free-booters, a Man so keen, so quick, so determined, one so artful, so vigilant to do mighty Mischief, so indefatigable in his desperate Pursuits, I will tell you what I sincerely think, Citizens, that I should not easily have averted a Calamity so tragical from falling upon your Heads. He, had he been here, would not have fixed the Execution of his Design on the Festival of Saturn, nor assigned a Day for the final Perdition of the State, so long before it was to take place; neither would he have so managed, that his very Signet, that a Letter written with his own Hand, nay, that living Evidence against him, should be all seized and secured, thus undeniably to manifest his Guilt: But such hath been the Management of his Party without him, that no Theft in any private Family was ever so notoriously detected, as this mighty Conspiracy against the Commonwealth has been detected and exposed.

Now, suppose Catiline had continued in the City to this time; though, as long as he continued in it, I still obviated, still marred all his Devices; yet, to say the least that can be said, we must have been engaged in a constant Conflict with him; nor, so long as he remained in Rome, could we have relieved the Commonwealth from such mighty Perils, in a Manner so peaceable, or with so much Leisure, or in so much Silence.

Assuredly, Citizens, upon all my Proceedings on this Occasion, there appear such Traces of divine Direction, as if the Whole had been concerted and executed by the Premonition and Counsel of the Deities; since we cannot conceive how any human Wisdom could be able to controul Transactions of such infinite Darkness and Difficulty. Indeed, during all this Conjuncture, the Gods have been so manifestly with us, that we might almost behold them in Person encompassing us with their Aid and Protection. For, to omit what has been lately perceived, blazing Meteors by Night from the West, the Firmament all on Fire, roaring Thunder, Earthquakes, and all the other Prodigies which happened under my Consulship, in such Numbers, that thence the immortal Deities seemed prophetically to reveal to us all that is now in Agitation amongst us; surely, what I am now about to recount to you, Citizens, is neither to be suppressed nor slighted.

In truth, you cannot but remember, how, during the Consulship of Cotta and Torquatus, divers Towers upon the Capitol were shattered with Lightning, the Figures of the Gods overthrown, the Statues of antient Heroes cast down, the brazen Tables of the Laws dissolved; nay, the Image of him who founded this our City, was struck, even the Image of Romulus, whose gilt Figure you remember, placed in the Capitol, representing him as a Child sucking a Wolf. When, upon this Occasion, a Consultation was held of Soothsayers assembled from all Parts of Etruria, they foretold public Slaughter and Conflagration, the Extinction of the Laws, Civil Discord, intestine Wars, with the intire Overthrow of this our State and Empire; Calamities all ripe and approaching, unless the immortal Deities could be, by all Sorts of Means and Applications, so appeased, as to interpose their Almighty Power, and divert even the Course of Fate itself.

In Compliance with these their Reports, public Games were solemnized during Ten Days, nor was aught omitted which tended to pacify the Gods. These Soothsayers likewise ordered the Statue of Jupiter to be made larger than before, to be placed on high, and, contrary to his former Position, with his Face to the East. They declared withal their Hopes, if his Statue, which you yonder perceive, O Citizens, stood so as to behold the rising Sun, the Place of public Resort, and Court of the Senate, the Effect would be, that all Machinations secretly framed against the Well-being of this City and Empire, would be so effectually brought to Light, as to be clearly perceived by the Senate and People of Rome: The then Consuls, therefore, undertook so to place it; but such has been the Slowness of the Work, that it was neither executed under the late Consulship, nor under mine, till this very Day.

Now, Citizens, can there be a Man here so prejudiced against Truth, so abandoned, so berest of Reason, as to deny this whole visible World, particularly this State, to be controuled by the Pleasure and Power of the immortal Deities? For, as the Report of the Soothsayers was express, that public Slaughter, Conflagration, and the utter Overthrow of the Republic, were at hand, all concerted by Members of the Republic, (Events, which, from the amazing Size of such Iniquities, seemed to some incredible) you have yet beheld these Iniquities to be not only devised by detestable Citizens, but even pushed towards Execution.

Is it not, therefore, apparent to you, that the sovereign Will of Jupiter, all-great, all-good, interposes in your Behalf; when, as the Conspirators, and the Discoverers of the Conspiracy, were this very Morning led, by my Order, through the Forum to the Temple of Concord, during that very Juncture, his Statue was erected and fixed? By its being thus placed with his Face turned towards you and the Senate, both the Senate and you have seen all the secret Mischiefs, devised for the Perdition of you all, discovered and exposed to open Day. Hence the Guilty merit the greater Abhorrence, and severer Doom, they who endeavoured to subject, not only your Houses and Dwellings, but even the Temples and Seats of the Deities, to diabolical and devouring Flames. Were I to tell you, that I alone quenched those Flames, I should assume too much, and my Vanity would be insupportable. It was He, it was Jupiter himself, who quenched them: It was He, who interposed to save the Capitol; He, to save all these Temples; He, to save this City; He, to save you all. By the Inspiration of the immortal Gods only, I gained so much Spirit, and such Resolution: By their Guidance only, Citizens, I procured such surprising Discoveries. Lentulus and his Accomplices could not have thus ventured to tempt and corrupt the Allobrogian Deputies; nor could Designs of such infinite Moment have been by them wildly imparted to Strangers and Barbarians; nor surely would Letters, under their Hands, have ever been trusted to such Conveyance, unless the immortal Gods had purposely bereft these daring Traitors of all Understanding and Precaution. Who indeed can gainsay it? When warlike Gauls, Men of a Nation scarce yet reduced to Terms of Peace; and the only People left, who seem at once able, and not averse, to wage War with the Romans, yet rejected the Temptation of independent Rule, with all the Baits of Affluence and Grandeur offered them, without asking, by powerful Patricians; when these Gauls thus preferred your Safety to their own Ease and Abundance; can you judge all this to proceed from aught but a Power altogether divine; especially as they might have vanquished us, without Arms, only by keeping Silence?

Now, therefore, Citizens, as public Thanksgiving is appointed at the Shrines of all the Gods, zealously solemnize the Festival; you, and your Wives, and your Children. For, though many Solemnities have been frequently performed to the Deities, all justly due, therefore all very reasonable; surely none were ever more reasonable than now: Since by them you are snatched from the most merciless and most tragical Doom; snatched from it without Slaughter, even without Bloodshed; without an Army, nay, without one Conflict. Whilst you were yet cloathed in the peaceable Habit of Citizens, you proved Conquerors, with me only for your Leader, a Conqueror too, still wearing the City Robe!

Here, O Citizens, take a Review of all our civil Ruptures and Dissensions past, not only those of which you have heard, but such too as you yourselves remember, and have seen. Lucius Sylla subdued Publius Sulpicius, drove Marius out of Rome, (Marius, who had been the Preserver of this our State) forced many other brave Romans into Exile, and slaughtered many. Cneius Octavius, when Consul, by Force of Arms, expulsed Cinna his Collegue out of the City; and all this great Space, where we now stand, was filled with Piles of Carcases, and flowed with the Blood of Citizens. Next, Cinna proved Conqueror, aided by Marius; a Revolution accompanied with the Butchery of so many Romans of principal Lustre and Fame, that the great Luminaries of the State were thence extinguished. For this cruel Victory of theirs, Sylla took Vengeance; with what infinite Havock of Citizens, and what crying Calamity to the State, I need not recount. Marcus Lepidus quarrelled with Quintus Catulus, that very illustrious, very magnanimous Roman; and met his Fate, a Fate not so deplorable to the Commonwealth, as that of others, who perished with him.

Yet all these civil Broils, O Citizens, were such as tended, not so much to abolish the State, as to change the Government of the State. The Authors meant not, that there should be no Commonwealth, but that, the Commonwealth continuing, they should controul it; not to burn Rome to Ashes, but to bear Sway in Rome. The Result, however, of all such Dissensions was, that, though none of them aimed at the Overthrow of the Republic, yet they never terminated in the Reconcilement and Union of Parties, but ever in the Massacre of Citizens.

It is far otherwise in this present War against the Public; a War the most tremendous and merciless ever remembered; such a War as the greatest Barbarians never once waged with those of their own Nation; a War, where it was an essential Rule, settled by Lentulus, Catiline, Cassius, and Cethegus, that all, who for their own Safety were interested in saving the City, were deemed to be Enemies. In this War, Citizens, I have so acquitted myself, as to have preserved you all: At a Conjuncture when these your Enemies had concluded, that no more of you should survive, than could escape their unlimited Massacre; and that just so much of Rome should remain as universal Flames could not devour; I have preserved both City and Citizens safe and intire.

For all these signal Services, I ask of you, Citizens, no Compensation, as due to the Merit of them; no other Distinction of Honour, no other Monument of Applause, than the perpetual Remembrance of this Day. It is in your Affections I study to found and establish all my Triumphs, all the Trappings of my Glory, all my Fame and Splendor. No Monument void of Life, nothing passive and mute, indeed nothing of this sort attainable by Men of mean Merit, can bring me Delight. My Story and Deserts shall be for ever cherished in your Memories, O Citizens; be for ever flourishing in popular Fame, and confirmed and eternized in your Annals. I consider, therefore, this Anniversary, which I hope will prove eternal, as the joint Commemoration of the Deliverance of the State, and of my Consulship; together with the Merit of two Citizens contemporary in the Commonwealth; one who carried the Limits of your Empire as far as those of the Earth, and left it bounded only by the Skies; another who preserved the Seat and Capital of that very Empire.

But, since the same Lot and Advantages, attending those who have conducted foreign Wars, attend not my Conduct and Proceedings at home; because I am obliged to live amongst Men whom I have overcome and reduced; whilst the former leave the Enemy either utterly cut off, or utterly crushed; it is your Part, Citizens, to provide, that, as the worthy Services of others turn to their Benefit, mine may at no time tend to my Detriment. It has been my Care, that the bloody and execrable Purposes of the most determined Criminals should not possibly annoy you: It rests upon you to take care, that they hurt not me. In truth, to me in particular, Citizens, no Hurt can accrue from these Men. For, surely, powerful is the Protection of worthy Men, a Protection which is for ever assured to me; powerful is my Authority in the Commonwealth, such as, without uttering a Word, will always defend me; powerful is the Controul of Conscience; so powerful, that they, who despise it, when they would assault me, will betray themselves. Such, too, Citizens, is the Vigour of my own Spirit, that I not only never shrink in my Pursuit of the most desperate Criminal, but even voluntarily pursue all the Guilty to Justice.

Now, suppose the whole Rage of our domestic Enemies, after I have diverted it from you, should recoil upon me alone; it will belong to you, Citizens, to consider, in what Situation you will, for the future, leave those, who, for your Preservation, expose themselves to personal Hate, and all kinds of Danger.

To myself, what further remains to be now attained, to heighten the Enjoyment of Life? For, when you have thus honoured me with this high Dignity, when such Glory too crowns the Merit of my Administration, can I possibly behold any thing yet nobler to tempt me to aspire still higher?

One thing, Citizens, I shall certainly do; I shall in a private Station maintain and dignify all my Proceedings in the Consulship; that if I have incurred any Rancour by preserving the Commonwealth, it may only serve to gall the Rancorous, and to heighten my Praise. To sum up all; in all my future Conduct in the State, I shall ever have before my Eyes my past Services to it, and so behave, that they may appear to have been the Effects of public Spirit, and not produced at random.

As it is now Night, Citizens, be it your Part to pay your Adorations to Jupiter, (yonder represented) the Guardian of this City, and your Guardian; then depart to your several Abodes; and, though all Danger be already averted, yet secure them with the same Watch and Guard as on the Night past. That you be not longer obliged to that Task, nay, that, for the future, you continue in uninterrupted Repose, I, Citizens, undertake to provide.