Awe. Horror. By force, and at our heels all hell should rise Our conqueror to let loose his boundless rage, In the wide womb of uncreated night, Courage. Anguifh. Terror. 66 Whatever doing, what can we suffer more? Arguing. What can we suffer worse?" * Is this then worst, Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in arms? What, when we fled amain, pursu'd and struck By Heaven's afflicting thunder, and besought The deep to shelter us; this place then seem'd A refuge from those wounds: Or when we lay, Chain'd on the burning lake? That sure was worse. Apprehen. What if the breath, that kindled these grim fires, Horror. Impendent horrors, threat'ning hideous fall Ages of hopeless end!-This would be worse.- My voice dissuades. Anguith. Affirming. Diffuafion. ftrance with contempt. "Shall we then live thus vile! The race of Remon Heaven Thus trampled, thus expell'd, to fuffer here Chains and these torments!" Better these than Dissuasion. worse, By my advice. To suffer, as to do, Our strength is equal; nor the law unjust, The sentence of their conqueror This is now Arguing. Contempt. Our doom; which if with courage we can bear, Encourage. Our foe supreme, in time, may much remit His anger, and, perhaps, thus far remov'd, Not mind us, not offending, satisfy'd With what is punish'd; whence these raging fires flight Submillion. Gratitude. Of future days may bring; what chance, what change, boutill Worth waiting Since our present lot appears, LXXII. SUBMISSION. COMPLAINT. INTREATING. The speech of Seneca the philosopher, to Nero, complaining of the envy of his enemies, and requesting the emperor to reduce him back to his former narrow circumstances, that he might no longer be an object of their malignity, [The substance is taken from Corn. Tacit. ANNAL. xiv.] MAY it please the imperial Majesty of Cæsar favourably to accept the humble submissions and grateful acknowledgements of the weak, though faithful guide of his youth. (1) It is now a great many years since I first had the honour of attending your imperial Majesty as preceptor. And your bounty has rewarded my labours with such affluence, as has drawn Complaint. upon me, what I had reason to expect, the envy of many of those persons, who are always ready to prescribe to their prince, where to bestow, and where to withhold his favours. It is well known, that your illustrious ancestor, Augustus, bestowed on his deserving favourites, Agrippa, and Mæcenas, honours and emoluments, suitable to the dignity of the benefactor and to the services of the receivers; nor has his conduct been blamed. My employment Apology. (1) Seneca was one of Nero's preceptors; and the emperor feemed, during the first part of his reign, to have profited much by his inftructions. The egregious follies, and enormous, unprovoked cruelties he afterwards committed, of which his ordering Seneca to put himself to death, is among the mof flagrant, feem hardly otherwife accountable, than by fuppofing that he loft the ufe of his reafon. about your imperial Majesty, has indeed been purely domestic; I have neither headed your armies, nor assisted at your councils. But you know, Sir, (though there are some, who do not seem to attend to it) that a prince may be served in different ways, some more, others less conspicuous, and that the latter may be, to him, as valuable as the former. "But what," say may enemies, "shall a private person, of equestrian rank, and a provincial by birth, be advanced to an equality with the patricians? Shall an upstart, of no name, nor family, rank with those, who can by the statues, which make the ornament of their palaces, reckon backward a line of ancestors, long enough to tire out the fasti? (1) Shall a philosopher, who has written for others precepts of moderation, and contempt of all that is external, himself live in affluence and luxury? Shall he purchase estates, and lay out money at interest? Shall he build palaces, plant gardens, and adorn a country-seat, at his own expense, and for his own pleasure? Remonft. Pride. Cæsar has given royally, as became imperial Gratitude. magnificence. Seneca has received what his prince Apology. bestowed; nor did he ever ask: he is only guilty of not refusing. Cesar's rank places him above the reach of invidious malignity. Seneca is not, nor can be high enough to despise the envi- Complaint. ous. As the overloaded soldier, or traveller, would be glad to be relieved of his burden, so I, in this last stage of the journey of life, now that I find myself unequal to the lightest cares, beg that Cæsar would kindly ease me of the trouble of my Intreating. unwieldy wealth. I beseech him to restore to the imperial treasury, from whence it came, what is to me superfluous and cumbrous. The time and the attention, which I am now obliged to bestow upon my villa, and my gardens, I shall be glad · (1) The Fafi, or Calendars, or if you please, Almanacs of the ancients, had, as our Almanacs, tables of kings, confuls, &c. to apply to the regulation of my mind.-Cæsar is Gratitude. in the flower of life. Long may he be equal to the toils of government! His goodness will grant Intreating. to his worn out servant, leave to retire. It will Apology. not be derogatory from Casar's greatness, to have it said, that he bestowed favours on some, who, so far from being intoxicated with them, shewed, that they could be happy when (at their own request) divested of them. Plotting. LXXIII. JEALOUSY. IAGO goes on to inflame OTHELLO's jealousy (see Iago. [Alone] I Will in Cassio's lodging drop this handkerchief, That he may find it; then persuade the Moor, Malicious As proofs from holy writ. This will work mis joy. Perturbation chief. Dangerous conceits are in their nature poisons, Burn like the mines of sulphur. [Othello appears.] Look where he comes! Not all the drowsy po tions, That e'er calm'd raging anguish to repose, Shall medicine thee to that blessed sleep, Enter OTHELLO. Does not see Iago. Oth. Ha! false to me! Iago. How now, noble general? No more of that. |