Some wept at the remembrance of past sufferings, other rejoiced in the
idea that their sorrows were about to end, and all called for arms. The
senate passed a decree, depriving Tarquin of every right belonging to
the regal authority, and condemning him and all his posterity to
perpetual banishment.
"Can you tell me, Edward, how Tarquin acted upon this change of
fortune," said Mr. Bernard.
_Edward_. He was not in Rome at the time it occurred, but, upon hearing
that Brutus was endeavouring to excite a tumult against him, he hastened
to the city, attended by his friends and his three sons; but finding the
gates shut, and the people in arms upon the walls, he returned with all
speed, to the camp. During his absence, however, short as it was, he
found that the conspirators had gained over the army to their party.
Thus, driven from his capitol and rejected by his troops, he was forced,
at the age of seventy-six, to fly for refuge, with his wife and sons, to
Gabii, in hopes the Latines would come forward and espouse his cause;
but being disappointed in this expectation, he retired into Etruria, the
country of his mother's family, where he hoped to find more friends, and
still entertained expectations of recovering his throne. Having wandered
from city to city, he at length fixed his residence in Tarquinia, and so
far raised the compassion of the inhabitants, as to induce them to send
an embassy to Rome, with a modest, submissive letter from himself,
directed to the Roman people.
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