And seems to call upon the gods to pay The debt she owes your virtue: To perform which
As a sure pledge of friendship, she vouchsafes you Her right-band.
Pis. I am paid for all my sufferings.
Now, when you please, pass to your private chamber,
My love and duty, faithful guards, shall keep you [Makes a low courtesy as she goes off. From all disturbance; and when you are sated With thinking of Leosthenes, as a fee Due to my service, spare one sigh for me.
Enter LEOSTHENES and TIMAGOras. Timag. I am so far from envy, I am proud You have outstripped me in the race of honour. Oh! 'twas a glorious day, and bravely won! Your bold performance gave such lustre to Timoleon's wise directions, as the army Rests doubtful, to whom they stand most engaged For their so great success.
Leost. The gods first honoured, The glory be the general's; 'tis far from me To be his rival.
Timag. You abuse your fortune,
To entertain her choice and gracious favours With a contracted brow; plumed victory Is truly painted with a cheerful look, Equally distant from proud insolence, And base dejection.
You only are acquainted with the cause, That loads my sad heart with a hill of lead; Whose ponderous weight, neither my new-got ho-
Assisted by the general applause
The soldiers crown it with, nor all war's glories, Can lessen or remove: and, would you please, With fit consideration, to remember, How much I wronged Cleora's innocence With my rash doubts; and what a grievous pen-
She did impose upon her tender sweetness, To pluck away the vulture jealousy,
That fed upon my liver, you cannot blame me, But call it a fit justice on myself, Though I resolve to be a stranger to The thought of mirth or pleasure. Timag. You have redeemed
The forfeit of your fault with such a ransom Of honourable action, as my sister Must of necessity confess her sufferings VOL. I.
Weighed down by your fair merits; and, when she views you,
Like a triumphant conqueror, carried through The streets of Syracusa, the glad people Pressing to meet you, and the senators Contending who shall heap most honours on you; The oxen, crowned with garlands, led before you, Appointed for the sacrifice; and the altars Smoaking with thankful incense to the gods; The soldiers chaunting loud hymns to your praise; The windows filled with matrons and with virgins, Throwing upon your head, as you pass by, The choicest flowers, and silently invoking The queen of love, with their particular vows, To be thought worthy of you; can Cleora, (Though in the glass of self-love, she behold Her best deserts) but with all joys acknowledge, What she endured was but a noble trial You made of her affection? and her anger, Rising from your too amorous fears, soon drenched In Lethe, and forgotten.
You so set forth, were mine, they might plead for
But I can lay no claim to the least honour Which you with foul injustice ravish from her. Her beauty in me wrought a miracle, Taught me to aim at things beyond my power, Which her perfections purchased, and gave to me From her free bounties; she inspired me with That valour which I dare not call mine own; And, from the fair reflection of her mind, My soul received the sparkling beams of courage. She, from the magazine of her proper goodness, Stocked me with virtuous purposes; sent me forth To trade for honour: and, she being the owner Of the bark of my adventures, I must yield her A just account of all, as befits a factor: And, howsoever others think me happy, And cry aloud, I have made a prosperous One frown of her dislike at my return, (Which, as a punishment for my fault, I look for) Strikes dead all comfort.
Enter PISANDER and TIMANDRA.
Pis. SHE has her health, then? Timan. Yes, sir, and, as often As I speak of you, lends attentive ear To all that I deliver; nor seems tired, Though I dwell long on the relation of
Your sufferings for her, heaping praise on praise On your unequalled temperance, and command You hold o'er your affections.
Have you acquainted her with the defeat
Of the Carthaginians, and with what honours Leosthenes comes crowned home?
Timan. With all care.
Pis. And how does she receive it? Timan. As I guess,
With a seeming kind of joy: but yet appears not Transported, or proud of his happy fortune. But when I tell her of the certain ruin You must encounter with at their arrival In Syracusa, and that death with torments Must fall upon you, which you yet repent not, Esteeming it a glorious martyrdom, And a reward of pure unspotted love, Preserved in the white robe of innocence, Though she were in your power; and, still spur-
Enter TIMOLEON, ARCHIDAMUS, DIPHILUS, LEOSTHENES, TIMAGORAS, and others.
Timol. Thus far we are returned victorious; crowned
With wreaths triumphant, (famine, blood and death
Banished your peaceful confines) and bring home Security and peace. 'Tis therefore fit
That such as boldly stood the shock of war, And with the dear expence of sweat and blood Have purchased honour, should with pleasure reap The harvest of their toil; and we stand bound Out of the first file of the best deservers, (Though all must be considered to their merits) To think of you, Leosthenes, that stand, And worthily, most dear in our esteem, For your heroic valour.
(The labour of so many men and ages) This well-built city, not long since designed To spoil and rapine, by the favour of The gods, and you their ministers, preserved, I cannot, in my height of joy, but offer These tears for a glad sacrifice.
Diph. Sleep the citizens?
Or are they overwhelmed with the excess Of comfort that flows to them?
Leost. We receive
A silent entertainment.
Timag. I have long since
Expected that the virgins and the matrons, The old men striving with their age, the priests, Carrying the images of their gods before them, Should have met us with procession. Ha! the gates Are shut against us!
Arch. And upon the walls Armed men seem to defy us!
Enter above PISANDER, POLIPHRON, CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, &c.
Diph. I should know
These faces. They are our slaves.
Timag. The mystery, rascals?
Open the ports, and play not with an anger That will consume you.
Timol. This is above wonder!
Arch. Our bondmen stand against us? Grac. Some such things
We were in man's remembrance.-The slaves are turned
Lords of the town, or so.-Nay, be not angry: Perhaps, on good terms, giving security
We've been bold with your wives, toyed with your Practised on us with rigour; this hath forced us
Leost. O my prophetic soul?
Grac. Rifled your chests,
Been busy with your wardrobes.
Timag. Can we endure this! Leost. O! my Cleora?
Grac. A caudle for the gentleman!
He'll die of the pip else.
Timag. Scorned too! Are you turned stone?
Hold parley with our bondmen? Force our en
In your destruction.
Grac. That, as please the fates; But we vouchsafe.-Speak, captain, Timag. Hell and furies!
Arch. Bayed by our own curs!
Cimb. Take heed you be not worried, Pol. We are sharp set. Cimb. And sudden.
Pis. Briefly thus then,
Since I must speak for all.-Your tyranny Drew us from our obedience. Happy those times When lords were styled fathers of families, And not imperious masters! when they num- bered
Their servants almost equal with their sons, Or one degree beneath them; when their labours Were cherished and rewarded, and a period Set to their sufferings; when they did not press Their duties or their wills beyond the power And strength of their performance; all things ordered
With such decorum, as wise law-makers, From each well-governed private house, derived The perfect model of a commonwealth. Humanity then lodged in the hearts of men, And thankful masters carefully provided For creatures wanting reason. The noble horse, That in his fiery youth from his wide nostrils Neighed courage to his rider, and broke through Groves of opposed pikes, bearing his lord Safe to triumphant victory, old or wounded, Was set at liberty, and freed from service. The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drew Marble, hewed for the temples of the gods, The great work ended, were dismissed, and fed At the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have found Their sepulchres; but man, to man more cruel, Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave; Since pride stepped in and riot, and overturned This goodly frame of concord, teaching masters To glory in the abuse of such as are
To shake our heavy yokes off; and, if redress Of these just grievances be not granted us, We'll right ourselves, and by strong hand defend What we are now possessed of.
Grac. And not leave
One house unfired.
Cimb. Or throat uncut of those
We have in our power.
Pol. Nor will we fall alone; You shall buy us dearly. Timag. O the gods! Unheard of insolence?
Timol. What are your demands?
Pis. A general pardon, first, for all offences Committed in your absence: Liberty
To all such as desire to make return
Into their countries; and to those that stay, A competence of land freely allotted
To each man's proper use; no lord acknowledged; Lastly, with your consent, to chuse them wives Out of your families.
Timag. Let the city sink first.
Leost. And ruin seize on all, ere we subscribe To such conditions.
Arch. Carthage, though victorious, Could not have forced more from us. Leost. Scale the wall!
Enter LEOSTHENES and TIMAGORAS. Timag. Make a firm stand. The slaves, not satisfied they've beat us off, Prepare to sally forth.
Tomol. They are wild beasts, And to be tamed by policy. Each man take A tough whip in his hand, such as you used To punish them with as masters: In your looks Carry severity and awe; 'twill frighten them More than your weapons; Savage lions fly from The sight of fire; and these that have forgot That duty you ne'er taught them with your swords, When, unexpected, they behold those terrors Advanced aloft, that they were made to shake at,
Twill force them to remember what they are, And stoop to due obedience.
Enter CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, ond other Slaves.
Arch. Here they come.
Drinking the bitter water of afflictions, Made loathsome too by our continued fears, Comfort's a stranger to us.
Leost. Fears? Your sufferings,
For which I am so overgone with grief,
Cimb. Leave not a man alive: A wound is but I dare not ask, without compassionate tears,
To what we suffered being slaves. Grac. O, my heart!
Cimbrio, what do we see? the whip! our masters! Timag. Dare you rebel, slaves? [Senators shake their whips, and they throw away their weapons, and run off. Cimb. Mercy! mercy! where Shall we hide us from their fury! Grac. Fly! they follow.
Oh! we shall be tormented.
Timol. Enter with them,
But yet forbear to kill them. Still remember They are part of your wealth; and being disarmed, There is no danger.
Arch. Let us first deliver
Such as they have in fetters, and at leisure Determine of their punishment.
I leave the disposition of what's mine: I cannot think I am safe without your sister. She's only worth my thought: and till I see What she has suffered I am on the rack, And furies my tormentors.
Enter PISANDER and TIMANDRA. Pis. I know I am pursued; nor would I fly, Although the ports were open, and a convoy Ready to bring me off-The baseness of These villains, from the pride of all my hopes, Has thrown me to the bottomless abyss Of horror and despair. Had they stood firm, I could have bought Cleora's free consent With the safety of her father's life and brother's; And forced Leosthenes to quit his claim, And kneel a suitor to me.
Timan. You must not think
The villain's name, that robbed thee of thy ho
For being trained up in chastity's cold school, And taught by such a mistress as Cleora, Twere impious in me to think Timandra Fell with her own consent.
Timan. How mean you? Fell, sir! I understand you not.
Leost. I would thou did'st not, Or that I could not read upon thy face, In blushing characters, the story of Libidinous rape.-Confess it, for you stand not Accountable for a sin, against whose strength Your overmatched innocence could make no re sitance,
Under which odds I know Cleora fell too, Heaven's help in vain invoked!—the amazed sun, Hiding his face behind a mask of clouds, Not daring to look on it.-In her sufferings All sorrow's comprehended.-What Timandra, Or the city, has endured, her loss considered, Deserves not to be named.
Timan. Pray you, do not bring, sir, In the chimeras of your jealous fears, New monsters to affright us.
Leost. O Timandra,
That I had faith enough but to believe thee! I should receive it with a joy beyond Assurance of Elysian shades hereafter,
Or all the blessings in this life a mother Could wish her children crowned with.-But I
Credit impossibilities; yet I strive
To find out that, whose knowledge is a curse, And ignorance a blessing.-Come, discover What kind of look he had that forced thy lady, (Thy ravisher I will enquire at leisure) That when hereafter I behold a stranger But near him in aspect, I may conclude
What might have been, but what must now be (Though men and angels should proclaim him ho
And suddenly resolve.
Pis. All my poor fortunes
Are at the stake, and I must run the hazard. Unseen, convey me to Cleora's chamber; For, in her sight, if it were possible,
I would be apprehended.-Do not enquire The reason why, but help me. Timan. Make haste-One knocks. [Exit Pisander.
He is a hell-bred villain.
Timan. You are unworthy
To know she is preserved, preserved untainted. Sorrow (but ill bestowed) hath only made
A rape upon her comforts in your absence. [Exit, and returns with Cleora. Come forth, dear madam. [Kneels.
Timan. Nay, she deserves
The bending of your heart, that to content you, Has kept a vow, the breach of which a vestal
Jove turn all to the best!-You are welcome, sir. Though the infringing it had called upon her
Leost. Thou givest it in a heavy tone. Timan. Alas! sir,
We have so long fed on the bread of sorrow,
A living funeral) must of force have shrunk at. No danger could compel her to dispense with iler cruel penance; though hot lust came armed
To seize upon her; when one look or accent Might have redeemed her.
Leost. Might? O do not shew me
A beam of comfort, and straight take it from me. -The means by which she was freed ?-Speak, O speak quickly!
Each minute of delay's an age of torment: O! speak, Timandra!
Timan. Free her from the oath;
Herself can best deliver it. [Takes off the scarf. Leost. O blest office!
Never did galley-slave shake off his chains, Or look on his redemption from the oar, With such true feeling of delight as now I find myself possessed of.-Now I behold True light indeed: For, since these fairest stars (Covered with clouds of your determinate will) Denied their influence to my optic sense, The splendor of the sun appeared to me But as some little glimpse of his bright beams Conveyed into a dungeon, to remember The dark inhabitants there how much they wanted. Open these long-shut lips, and strike mine cars With music more harmonious than the spheres Yield in their heavenly motions: And, if ever A true submission for a crime acknowledged May find a gracious hearing, teach your tongue, In the first sweet articulate sounds it utters, To sign my wished-for pardon.
Least. How greedily I receive this! Stay, best lady,
And let me by degrees ascend the height Of human happiness! All at once delivered, The torrent of my joys will overwhelm me ;- So, now a little more; and pray excuse me, If, like a wanton epicure, I desire
The pleasant taste these cares of comfort yield
Cleora. I cannot speak it to the worth: All praise I can bestow upon it, will appear Envious detraction. Not to rack you further, Yet make the miracle full; though, of all men, He hated you, Leosthenes, as his rival ;
So high yet prized he my content, that, knowing You were a man I favoured, he disdained not Against himself to serve you.
Leost. You conceal still
To owner of these excellencies. Cleora. 'Tis Marullo,
This kiss, (so help me, goodness!) which I bor- My father's bondman.
When I last saw you.
Leost. Miracle of virtue!
One pause more, I beseech you :-I am like
A man, whose vital spirit, consumed and wasted With a long and tedious fever, unto whom Too much of a strong cordial at once taken, Brings death, and not restores him. Yet I can-
Fix here; but must enquire the man to whom I stand indebted for a benefit, Which to requite at full, though in this hand I grasped all scepters the world's empire bows to, Would leave me a poor bankrupt.-Name him, lady;
If of a mean estate, I'll gladly part with
Leost. Ha, ha, ha!
Cleora. Why do you laugh?
Leost. To hear the labouring mountain of your praise
Delivered of a mouse.
Cleora. The man deserves not This scorn, I do assure you. Leost. Do you call What was his duty merit?
Cleora. Yes, and place it
As high in my esteem, as all the honours Descended from your ancestors, or the glory, Which you may call your own, got in this action, In which, I must confess, you have done nobly, And, I would add, as I desired;—but that I fear 'twould make you proud.
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