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But hold him up in life, and cheer his soul
With the faint glimmering of a doubtful hope;
Perhaps when we have passed these gloomy hours,
And weathered out the storm that beats upon

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,
While such a cloud of mischief hangs upon us!
But to forget our loves, and drive thee out
From all my thoughts as far as I am able.
Por. What hast thou said! I'm thunderstruck
-recall

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,
And life itself goes out at thy displeasure.
The gods forbid us to indulge our loves;
But, oh! I cannot bear thy hate, and live.

Por. Talk not of love, thou never knew'st its
force.

I've been deluded, led into a dream
Of fancied bliss. Oh, Lucia, cruel maid!

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.
Why are those tears of fondness in thy eyes?
Why heaves thy heart? Why swells thy soul with
sorrow?

It softens me too much-farewell, my Portius;
Farewell, though death is in the word-for ever.
Por. Stay, Lucia, stay? What dost thou say?

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,
And falls again, as loth to quit its hold.

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?
Quick let us part! Perdition's in thy presence,
And horror dwells about thee! Ha! she faints!
Wretch that I am, what has my rashness done!
Lucia, thou injured innocence! thou best
And loveliest of thy sex! awake, my Lucia,
Or Portius rushes on his sword to join thee.
-Her imprecations reach not to the tomb,
They shut not out society in death-
But ah! she moves, life wanders up and down
Through all her face, and lights up every charm.
Luc. Oh, Portius, was this well-to frown on
her

That lives upon thy smiles? To call in doubt
The faith of one expiring at thy feet,
That loves thee more than ever woman loved?
-What do I say? My half-recovered sense
Forgets the vow in which my soul was bound.

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!
Hast thou forgot the vow that I have made?
Are there not heavens, and gods, that thunder
o'er us?

-But see, thy brother Marcus bends this way:
I sicken at the sight. Once more, farewell,
Farewell! and know thou wrong'st me, if thou

think'st

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Enter MARCus.

Marc. Portius, what hopes? How stands she?
Am I doomed

To life or death?

Por. What wouldst thou have me say?
Marc. What means this pensive posture? Thou
appearest

Like one amazed and terrified.

Por. I've reason.

Marc. Thy down-cast looks, and thy disorder-
ed thoughts,

Tell me my fate. I ask not the success
My cause has found.

Por. I'm grieved I undertook it.

Marc. What? does the barbarous maid insult
my heart,

My aching heart, and triumph in my pains?
That I could cast her from my thoughts for ever!
Por. Away, you're too suspicious in your griefs;
Lucia, though sworn never to think of love,
Compassionates your pains, and pities you.
Marc. Compassionates my pains, and pities
me!

What is compassion, when 'tis void of love?
Fool that I was to chuse so cold a friend
To urge my cause !-Compassionates my pains!
Prithee, what art, what rhetoric didst thou use
To gain this mighty boon?-She pities me!
To one that asks the warm returns of love,
Compassion's cruelty, 'tis scorn, 'tis death-
Por. Marcus, no more; have I deserved this
treatment?

Marc. What have I said! Oh, Portius, oh for-
give me!

A soul, exasperated in ills, falls out
With every thing, its friend, itself-but, hah!
What means that shout, big with the sounds of
war?

What new alarm?

Por. A second, louder yet,

Swells in the wind, and comes more full upon us.
Marc. Oh, for some glorious cause to fall in
battle!

Lucia, thou hast undone me; thy disdain
Has broke my heart: 'tis death must give me ease.
Por. Quick, let us hence. Who knows if Ca-
to's life

Stands sure? Oh, Marcus, I am warmed, my
heart

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
blows high;

Be it your care, my friends, to keep it up
In its full fury, and direct it right,

Till it has spent itself on Cato's head.

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[Aside.

Cato. Perfidious men! And will you thus dis-
honour

Your past exploits, and sully all your wars?
Do you confess 'twas not a zeal for Rome,
Nor love of liberty, nor thirst of honour,
Drew you thus far; but hopes to share the spoil
Of conquered towns, and plundered provinces?
Fired with such motives, you do well to join
With Cato's foes, and follow Cæsar's banners.
Why did I 'scape the envenomed aspic's.rage,
And all the fiery monsters of the desert,
To see this day? Why could not Cato fall
Without your guilt? Behold, ungrateful men,
Behold my bosom naked to yonr swords,
And let the man that's injured strike the blow.
Which of you all suspects that he is wronged?
Or thinks he suffers greater ills than Cato?
Am I distinguished from you but by toils,
Superior toils, and heavier weight of cares?
Painful pre-eminence!

Sem. By Heavens they droop!
Confusion to the villains! all is lost!

[Aside.

Cato. Have you forgotten Lybia's burning waste,
Its barren rocks, parched earth, and hills of sand,
Its tainted air, and all its broods of poison?
Who was the first to explore the untrodden path,
When life was hazarded in every step?
Or, fainting in the long laborious march,
When, on the banks of an unlooked for stream,
You sunk the river with repeated draughts,
Who was the last of all your host that thirsted?
Sem. If some penurious source by chance ap-
peared,

Scanty of waters, when you scooped it dry,
And offered the full helmet up to Cato,
Did he not dash the untasted moisture from him?
Did he not lead you through the mid-day sun,
And clouds of dust? Did not his temples glow
In the same sultry winds, and scorching heats?
Cato. Hence, worthless men! hence! and com-
plain to Cæsar,

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,
Appear in every look, and plead for mercy.
Cato. Learn to be honest men, give up your
leaders,

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
Severity, and justice in its rigour:

This awes an impious, bold, offending world,
Commands obedience, and gives force to laws.
When, by just vengeance, guilty mortals perish,
The gods behold the punishment with pleasure,
And lay the uplifted thunderbolt aside.

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,
They're thrown neglected by: but if it fails,
They are sure to die like dogs, as you shall do.
Here, take these factious monsters, drag them
forth

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.
My troops are mounted; their Numidian steeds
Snuff up the wind, and long to scour the desert:
Let but Sempronius head us in our flight,

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.
Syphax, I long to clasp that haughty maid,
And bend her stubborn virtue to my passion :
When I have gone thus far, I'd cast her off.

Syph. Well said! that's spoken like thyself,
Sempronius.

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-
cia's my own!

How will my bosom swell with anxious joy,
When I behold her struggling in my arms,

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,
Pant in her breast, and vary in her face!
So Pluto seized of Proserpine, conveyed
To hell's tremendous gloom the affrighted maid;
There grimly smiled, pleased with the beauteous
prize,

Nor envied Jove his sunshine and his skies.

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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;
Juba, to all the bravery of a hero,

Adds softest love, and more than female

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[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:
Let us retire, and try if we can drown
Each softer thought in sense of present danger :
When love once pleads admission to our hearts,
In spite of all the virtues we can boast,
The woman, that deliberates, is lost.

[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,
Rush in at once, and seize upon your prey.
Let not her cries or tears have force to move you.
-How will the young Numidian rave to see
His mistress lost! If ought could glad my soul,
Beyond the enjoyment of so bright a prize,
Twould be to torture that young, gay barbarian.
-But hark! what noise! Death to my hopes!

'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!
Hence let us carry off those slaves to Cato,
That we may there at length unravel all
This dark design, this mystery of fate.

[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
blood and murder!

Ha! a Numidian! Heaven preserve the prince!
The face lies muffled up within the garment,
But, ha! death to my sight! a diadem,
And royal robes! O gods! 'tis he, 'tis he!
Juba, the loveliest youth that ever warmed
A virgin's heart, Juba lies dead before us!

Luc. Now, Marcia, now call up to thy assist

ance

Thy wonted strength and constancy of mind!
Thou can'st not put it to a greater trial.

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!

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Whatever maid could wish, or man admire :
Delight of every eye; when he appeared,
A secret pleasure gladdened all that saw him;
But when he talked, the proudest Roman blush-
ed

To hear his virtues, and old age grew worse.
Juba. I shall run mad-

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
him.

Lucia, who knows but his poor bleeding heart,
Amidst its agonies, remembered Marcia,
And the last words he uttered, called me cruel!
Alas! he knew not, hapless youth, he knew not
Marcia's whole soul was full of love and Juba!

Juba. Where am I? Do I live? or am indeed
What Marcia thinks? All is Elysium round me !
Mar. Ye dear remains of the most loved of
men,

Nor modesty nor virtue here forbid
A last embrace, while thus-

Juba. See, Marcia, see,

Am rapt with joy to see my Marcia's tears.

Mar. I've been surprised in an unguarded hour,
But must not now go back; the love, that lay
Half smothered in my breast, has broke through
all

Its weak restraints, and burns in its full lustre.
I cannot, If I would, conceal it from thee.
Juba. I'm lost in ecstacy! and dost thou love,
Thou charming maid?-

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
thee dead,

I did not know myself how much I loved thee.
Juba. Oh, fortunate mistake!

Mar. O happy Marcia!

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The vital blood, that had forsook my heart,
Returns again in such tumultuous tides,
It quite o'ercomes me. Lead to my apartment-
Oh, prince! I blush to think what I have said,
But fate has wrested the confession from me;
Go
on, and prosper in the paths of honour.
Thy virtue will excuse my passion for thee,
And make the gods propitious to our love.

[Exeunt Mar. and Luc.

Juba. I am so blest, I fear 'tis all a dream.
Fortune, thou now hast made amends for all
Thy past unkindness: I absolve my stars.
What though Numidia add her conquered towns
And provinces to swell the victor's triumph,
Juba will never at his fate repine:

Let Cæsar have the world, if Marcia's mine

[Exti.

A march at a distance.-Enter CATO and
LUCIUS.

Luc. I stand astonished! What, the bold
Sempronius,

That still broke foremost through the crowd of
patriots,

As with a hurricane of zeal transported,

[Throwing himself before her. And virtuous even to madness

The happy Juba lives! He lives to catch
That dear embrace, and to return it too
With mutual warmth and eagerness of love.
Mar. With pleasure and amaze I stand tran-
sported!

Sure 'tis a dream! dead and alive at once!
If thou art Juba, who lies there?

Juba. A wretch,

Disguised like Juba on a cursed design.
The tale is long, nor have I heard it out:
Thy father knows it all. I could not bear
To leave thee in the neighbourhood of death,
But flew, in all the haste of love, to find thee;

Cato. Trust me, Lucius,

Our civil discords have produced such crimes,
Such monstrous crimes! I am surprised at no-

thing.

—Oh, Lucius, I am sick of this bad world!
The day-light and the sun grow painful to me.

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.

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