_Mr. B_. Well, Louisa, what reception did this proposition meet?
_Louisa_. The consul Collatinus would have complied with the request,
but Brutus opposed it. It was then left to the decision of the people,
who generously determined that the Tarquins should be put in possession
of the estates of their family.
"It was a generosity which those wicked Tarquins did not deserve, I am
sure," said Ferdinand; "for whilst the people were employed in loading
carriages with their effects, and in selling what could not be carried
off, the ambassadors were trying to draw some of the nearest relations
of the consuls into a plot against them. Among the conspirators were
Titus and Tiberius, the two sons of Brutus. Notwithstanding the secrecy
with which they carried on their designs, their plot was discovered by
one of their slaves, who disclosed the affair to Valerius. Upon this
information, the conspirators were taken prisoners, and their papers,
with several letters which they had written to the banished king,
seized."
"The trial of these unhappy men was very affecting," said Emily: "early
on the following morning, the people being summoned to the hall of
justice, the prisoners were brought forth.
"Brutus began with the examination of his two sons. The slave who had
discovered their designs, appeared against them, and the letters they
had written to the Tarquins were read.
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