3. But this new republic, however, which seemed so grateful to the
people, had like to have been destroyed in its very commencement. A
party was formed in favour of Tarquin. Some young men of the principal
families in the state, who had been educated about the king, and had
shared in all the luxuries and pleasures of the court, undertook to
re-establish monarchy. 4. This party secretly increased every day; and
what may create surprise, the sons of Bru'tus himself, and the
Aqui'lii, the nephews of Collati'nus, were among the number, 5.
Tarquin, who was informed of these intrigues in his favour, sent
ambassadors from Etru'ria to Rome, under a pretence of reclaiming the
estates of the exiles; but, in reality, with a design to give spirit
to his faction. 6. The conspiracy was discovered by a slave who had
accidentally hid himself in the room where the conspirators used to
assemble. 7. Few situations could have been more terribly affecting
than that of Bru'tus: a father placed as a judge upon the life and
death of his own children, impelled by justice to condemn, and by
nature to spare them.
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