But hold him up in life, and cheer his soul us Luc. No, Portius, no; I see thy sister's tears, Thy father's anguish, and thy brother's death, In the pursuit of our ill-fated loves: And, Portius, here I swear, to Heaven I swear, To Heaven and all the powers that judge mankind. Never to mix my plighted hands with thine, Those hasty words, or I am lost for ever. Luc. Has not the vow already passed my lips? The gods have heard it, and 'tis sealed in Heaven. May all the vengeance, that was ever poured On perjured heads, o'erwhelm me, if I break it! Por. Fixed in astonishment, I gaze upon thee, Like one just blasted by a stroke from Heaven, Who pants for breath, and stiffens, yet alive, In dreadful looks; a monument of wrath! Luc. At length I've acted my severest part; I feel the woman breaking in upon me, And melt about my heart; my tears will flow. But, oh, I'll think no more! the hand of fate Has torn thee from me, and I must forget thee. Por. Hard-hearted, cruel maid! Luc. Oh, stop those sounds, Those killing sounds! Why dost thou frown upon me? My blood runs cold, my heart forgets to heave, Por. Talk not of love, thou never knew'st its I've been deluded, led into a dream Destruction stands betwixt us; we must part. Por. Name not the word! my frighted thoughts run back, And startle into madness at the sound. Luc. What wouldst thou have me do? Consider well The train of ills our love would draw behind it. Think, Portius, think thou seest thy dying brother Stabbed at his heart, and all besmeared with blood, Storming at Heaven and thee! Thy awful sire Sternly demands the cause, the accursed cause, That robs him of his son: poor Marcia trembles, Then tears her hair, and, frantic in her griefs, Calls out on Lucia. What could Lucia answer, Or how stand up in such a scene of sorrow? Por. To my confusion, and eternal grief, I must approve the sentence that destroys me. The mist, that hung upon my mind, clears up; And now, athwart the terrors that thy vow Has planted round thee, thou appear'st more fair, More amiable, and risest in thy charms. Loveliest of women! Heaven is in thy soul; Beauty and virtue shine for ever round thee, Brightening each other: thou art all divine. Luc. Portius, no more; thy words shoot through my heart, Melt my resolves, and turn me all to love. It softens me too much-farewell, my Portius; For ever? Luc. Have I not sworn? If, Portius, thy suc cess Must throw thy brother on his fate, farewellOh, how shall I repeat the word! for ever. Por. Thus o'er the dying lamp the unsteady flame Hangs quivering on a point, leaps off by fits, Thy dreadful vow, loaden with death, still sounds-Thou must not go, my soul still hovers o'er thee, In my stunned ears. What shall I say or do? That lives upon thy smiles? To call in doubt And can't get loosc. Luc. If the firm Portius shake To hear of parting, think what Lucia suffers! Por. 'Tis true, unruffled and serene, I've met The common accidents of life; but here Such an unlooked-for storm of ills falls on me, It beats down all my strength. I cannot bear it. We must not part. Luc. What dost thou say? Not part! -But see, thy brother Marcus bends this way: think'st Enter MARCus. Marc. Portius, what hopes? How stands she? To life or death? Por. What wouldst thou have me say? Like one amazed and terrified. Por. I've reason. Marc. Thy down-cast looks, and thy disorder- Tell me my fate. I ask not the success Por. I'm grieved I undertook it. Marc. What? does the barbarous maid insult My aching heart, and triumph in my pains? What is compassion, when 'tis void of love? Marc. What have I said! Oh, Portius, oh for- A soul, exasperated in ills, falls out What new alarm? Por. A second, louder yet, Swells in the wind, and comes more full upon us. Lucia, thou hast undone me; thy disdain Stands sure? Oh, Marcus, I am warmed, my Leaps at the trumpet's voice, and burns for glory. [Exeunt. Enter SEMPRONIUS, with the Leaders of the mutiny. Sem. At length the winds are raised, the storm Be it your care, my friends, to keep it up Till it has spent itself on Cato's head. [Aside. Cato. Perfidious men! And will you thus dis- Your past exploits, and sully all your wars? Sem. By Heavens they droop! [Aside. Cato. Have you forgotten Lybia's burning waste, Scanty of waters, when you scooped it dry, Mean-while I'll herd amongst his friends, and You could not undergo the toil of war, seem Nor bear the hardships that your leader bore. Q q Luc. See, Cato, see the unhappy men; they weep! Fear and remorse, and sorrow for their crime, And pardon shall descend to all the rest. Sem. Cato, commit these wretches to my care: First let them each be broken on the rack, Then, with what life remains, impaled, and left To writhe at leisure round the bloody stake; There let them hang, and taint the southern wind. The partners of their crime will learn obedience, When they look up, and see their fellow-traitors Stuck on a fork, and blackening in the sun. Luc. Sempronius, why, why wilt thou urge the fate Of wretched men? Sem. How! wouldst thou clear rebellion? Lucius good man) pities the poor offenders, That would imbrue their hands in Cato's blood! Cato. Forbear, Sempronius!-see they suffer death, But, in their deaths, remember they are men; Strain not the laws to make their tortures grie vous. Lucius, the base degenerate age requires This awes an impious, bold, offending world, Sem. Cato, I execute thy will with pleasure. Cato. Mean-while we'll sacrifice to Liberty. Remember, O my friends! the laws, the rights, The generous plan of power delivered down From age to age, by your renowned forefathers (So dearly bought, the price of so much blood): Oh, let it never perish in your hands! But piously transmit it to your children. Do thou, great Liberty, inspire our souls, And make our lives, in thy possession, happy, Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence. [Exeunt Cato, &c. 1 Lead. Sempronius, you have acted like yourself. One would have thought you had been half in earnest. To mix in treason, if the plot succeeds, To sudden death! 1 Lead. Nay, since it comes to this Sem. Dispatch them quick, but first pluck out their tongues, Lest, with their dying breath, they sow sedition. [Exeunt guards, with their leaders. Enter SYPHAX. Syph. Our first design, my friend, has proved abortive : Still there remains an after-game to play. We'll force the gate where Marcus keeps his guard, And hew down all that would oppose our passage. A day will bring us into Cæsar's camp. Sem. Confusion! I have failed of half my pur pose : Marcia, the charming Marcia's left behind! Syph. How! will Sempronius turn a woman's slave? Sem. Think not thy friend can ever feel the soft Unmanly warmth and tenderness of love. Syph. Well said! that's spoken like thyself, What hinders, then, but that thou find her out, And hurry her away by manly force? Sem. But how to gain admission? For access Is given to none but Juba, and her brothers. Syph. Thou shalt have Juba's dress, and Juba's guards; The doors will open when Numidia's prince Seems to appear before the slaves that watch them. Sem. Heavens, what a thought is there! Mar- How will my bosom swell with anxious joy, Sem. Villain, stand off, base, grovelling, worth-With glowing beauty, and disordered charms, less wretches, Mongrels in faction, poor faint-hearted traitors! 2 Lead. Nay, now you carry it too far, Sempronius; Throw off the mask; there are none here but friends. Sem. Know, villains, when such paltry slaves presume While fear and anger, with alternate grace, Nor envied Jove his sunshine and his skies. ACT IV. SCENE I. Enter LUCIA and MARCIA. He must be murdered, and a passage cut Through those his guards-Ha! dastards, do you tremble; Luc. Now tell me, Marcia, tell me from thy Or act like men, or by yon azure heaven soul, If thou believest 'tis possible for woman To suffer greater ills than Lucia suffers? Mar. Oh, Lucia, Lucia, might my big swoln heart, Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow, Marcia could answer thee in sighs, keep pace With all thy woes, and count out tear for tear. Luc. I know thou art doomed alike to be beloved By Juba, and thy father's friend, Sempronius: But which of these has power to charin like Portius! Mar. Still I must beg thee not to name Sempronius ; Lucia, I like not that loud boisterous man; Adds softest love, and more than female [Sem. fulls. His guards surrender. Sem. Curse on my stars! Am I then doomed to fall By a boy's hand, disfigured in a vile sweet-Numidian dress, and for a worthless woman? Gods, I'm distracted! This my close of life! Oh! for a peal of thunder, that would make Earth, sea, and air, and heaven, and Cato, tremble! [Dies. strive To hide your thoughts from one who knows too well The inward glowings of a heart in love. Mar. While Cato lives, his daughter has no right To love or hate, but as his choice directs. Luc. But should this father give you to Sempronius? Mar. I dare not think he will: but if he shouldWhy wilt thou add, to all the griefs I suffer, Imaginary ills, and fancied tortures? I hear the sound of feet! They march this way: [Exeunt. Enter SEMPRONIUS, dressed like JUBA, with Numidian guards... Sem. The deer is lodged, I've tracked her to her covert. Be sure you mind the word, and, when I give it, 'tis he, 'Tis Juba's self! there is but one way left Juba. With what a spring his furious soul broke loose, And left the limbs still quivering on the ground! [Exit Juba, with prisoners, &c. Enter LUCIA and MARCIA. Luc. Sure 'twas the clash of swords: my troubled heart Is so cast down, and sunk amidst its sorrows, It throbs with fear, and aches at every sound. Oh, Marcia, should thy brothers, for my sake!I die away with horror at the thought. Mar. See, Lucia, see! here's blood! here's Ha! a Numidian! Heaven preserve the prince! Luc. Now, Marcia, now call up to thy assist ance Thy wonted strength and constancy of mind! Mar. Lucia, look there, and wonder at my patience; Have I not cause to rave, and beat my breast, To rend my heart with grief, and run distracted! Luc. What can I think or say to give thee comfort? Mar. Talk not of comfort! 'tis for lighter ills: | I found thee weeping, and confess this once, Behold a sight that strikes all comfort dead! Whatever maid could wish, or man admire : To hear his virtues, and old age grew worse. Mar. Oh, Juba! Juba! Juba! Juba. What means that voice? Did she not call on Juba? Mar. Why do I think on what he was! he's dead! He's dead, and never knew how much I loved Lucia, who knows but his poor bleeding heart, Juba. Where am I? Do I live? or am indeed Nor modesty nor virtue here forbid Juba. See, Marcia, see, Am rapt with joy to see my Marcia's tears. Mar. I've been surprised in an unguarded hour, Its weak restraints, and burns in its full lustre. Mur. And dost thou live to ask it? Juba. This, this is life indeed! life worth preserving, Such life as Juba never felt 'till now! Mar. Believe me, prince, before I thought I did not know myself how much I loved thee. Mar. O happy Marcia! The vital blood, that had forsook my heart, [Exeunt Mar. and Luc. Juba. I am so blest, I fear 'tis all a dream. Let Cæsar have the world, if Marcia's mine [Exti. A march at a distance.-Enter CATO and Luc. I stand astonished! What, the bold That still broke foremost through the crowd of As with a hurricane of zeal transported, [Throwing himself before her. And virtuous even to madness The happy Juba lives! He lives to catch Sure 'tis a dream! dead and alive at once! Juba. A wretch, Disguised like Juba on a cursed design. Cato. Trust me, Lucius, Our civil discords have produced such crimes, thing. —Oh, Lucius, I am sick of this bad world! Enter PORTIUS. But see where Portius comes: what means this haste? Why are thy looks thus changed? Por. My heart is grieved, I bring such news as will affect my father. |