on him. All sounds were hushed.

He began to sing. The song was a lament, describing in plaintive
words and in mournful music, the situation and the sorrows of a
young prince, excluded wrongfully from the throne of his
ancestors.[B] The whole company listened with profound attention,
charmed at first by the artless simplicity of the music, and the
grace and beauty of the boy. As Britannicus proceeded in his song,
and the meaning of it, in its application to his own case, began to
be perceived, a universal sympathy for him was felt, by the whole
assembly, and when he concluded and resumed his seat, the apartment
was filled with suppressed murmurs of applause. The effect of this
scene upon the mind of Nero, was of course only to awaken feelings
of vexation and anger. He looked on in moody silence, uttering
mentally the fiercest threats and denunciations against the object
of his jealousy, whom he was now compelled to look upon, more than
ever before, as a dangerous and formidable rival. He determined, in
fact, that Britannicus should die.

[Footnote B: By some it has been thought that the song which
Britannicus sung on this occasion was one which he had learned
before--one perhaps which he had accidentally seen or heard, and
which had attracted his attention on account of its adaptedness to
his own case; and there is a song of Ennius, an ancient writer,
which is sometimes cited as the one he sang on this occasion. Others
say that the performance was original and extemporaneous; that the
young prince, excited by his wrongs, and by the peculiar
circumstances of the occasion, gave utterance to his own feelings in
words which suggested themselves to him on the spot. To do this
would require, of course great intellectual readiness and
ability,--but the difficulty of such a performance would be somewhat
diminished by the fact, that the ancient poetry was wholly different
from that of modern times, being marked only by a measured cadence,
unconnected with rhyme.]

In considering by what means he should undertake to effect his
purpose, it seemed to Nero most prudent to employ poison. There was
no pretext whatever for any criminal charge against the young
prince, and Nero did not dare to resort to open violence. He
determined, therefore, to resort to poison, and to employ Locusta to
prepare it.

Locusta, the reader will remember, was the woman whom Agrippina had
employed for the murder of her husband, Claudius. She was still