The king was puzzled how
to act. He was divided between a regard for the laws, and a desire to
save the young warrior, who had rendered him such important service.
_Mr. B._ How did Tullus extricate himself from this difficulty, Emily?
_Emily_. He turned it into a state crime, and appointed two
commissioners to try him as a traitor. As the fact was so publicly
known, and Horatius did not deny it, he was found guilty, and condemned
to be executed; but, by the king's advice, he appealed to an assembly of
the people, whose authority was superior to that of the monarch himself;
and they, from admiration of his courage, rather than the justice of his
cause, revoked the sentence that had been passed against him. However,
that he might not go wholly unpunished, they condemned him to pass under
the yoke, a disgrace to which prisoners of war were subject.
_Mr. B_. What was the yoke, Ferdinand?
_Ferdinand_. It was a kind of gallows, papa, in the shape of a door-
case.
_Mr. B._ Did Horatius, then, receive no honour for his victory, Louisa?
_Louisa_. Yes, papa: a square column was erected in the middle of the
Forum, and the spoils of the Curiatii were hung upon it.
_Mr. B._ Did the Romans continue at peace, after the victory of
Horatius?
_Edward_. No, father: they went to war, successively, with the
Fidenates, Latins, and Sabines; in all of which the Romans were
successful.
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