Lucia, though fworn never to think of love,
Compaffionates your pains, and pities you.

MARCU S.

Compaffionates my pains, and pities me!
What is compaffion when 'tis void of love!
Fool that I was to choose fo cold a friend
To urge my cause! compaffionates my pains!
Prythee, what art, what rhetorick, didst thou use
To gain this mighty boon? She pities me!
To one that afks the warm returns of love,
Compaffion 's cruelty, 'tis fcorn, 'tis death-

PORTIU S.

305

Marcus, no more! have I deferv'd this treatment ?
MARCU S.

What have I faid! O Portius, O forgive me!
A foul exafperated in ills falls out

With every thing, its friend, itself-But ha!

What means that shout, big with the founds of war? What new alarm?

PORTIU S.

A fecond, louder yet,

Swells in the winds, and comes more full upon us.

MARCUS.

Oh, for fome glorious cause to fall in battle! Lucia, thou haft undone me! thy disdain

Has broke my heart: 'tis death muft give me ease.

PORTIU S.

Quick, let us hence; who knows if Cato's life

Stand fure? O Marcus, I am warm'd, my heart Leaps at the trumpet's voice,and burns for glory. [Exeunt

Enter SEMPRONIUS, with the LEADERS of the Mutiny.

SEMPRONIUS.

At length the winds are rais'd, 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 fpent itself on Cato's head.

Mean while I'll herd among his friends, and feem
One of the number, that, whate'er arrive,
My friends and fellow-foldiers may be safe.

FIRST LEADER.

We all are fafe, Sempronius is our friend. Sempronius is as brave a man as Cato.

But hark! he enters.

Bear up boldly to him;

Be fure you beat him down, and bind him fast:
This day will end our toils, and give us rest;
Fear nothing, for Sempronius is our friend.

Enter CATO, SEMPRONIUS, LUCIUS,
PORTIUS, and MARCUS.

САТО.

Where are thefe bold intrepid fons of war, That greatly turn their backs upon the foe, And to their general send a brave defiance?

SEMPRONIUS.

Curfe on their daftard fouls, they stand astonish'd!

САТО.

Perfidious men! and will you thus dishonour Your paft exploits, and fully all your wars ?

[Afide.

Do

Do you confefs '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 conquer'd towns, and plunder'd provinces ?
Fir'd with fuch motives you do well to join
With Cato's foes, and follow Cæfar's banners.
Why did I 'scape th' invenom'd afpic's rage,
And all the fiery monfters of the defart,
To see this day? Why could not Cato fall
Without your guilt? Behold, ungrateful men,
Behold my
bofom naked to your fwords,
And let the man that 's injur'd strike the blow.
Which of you all suspects that he is wrong'd,
Or thinks he fuffers greater ills than Cato?
Am I distinguish'd from you but by toils,
Superior toils, and heavier weight of cares!
Painful pre-eminence !

SEMPRONIUS.

By heavens, they droop!

Confufion to the villains! all is loft.

САТО.

[Afide.

Have you forgotten Libya's burning wafte,
Its barren rocks, parch'd earth, and hills of fand,
Its tainted air, and all its broods of poison?
Who was the first t' explore th' untrodden path,
When life was hazarded in every step ?
Or, fainting in the long laborious march,
When on the banks of an unlook'd-for ftream
You funk the river with repeated draughts,
Who was the last in all your host that thirsted?

X 2

SEMPRONIUS.

SEMPRONIUS.

If fome penurious fource by chance appear'd
Scanty of waters, when you scoop'd it dry,
And offer'd the full helmet up to Cato,

Did not he dash th' untafted moisture from him?
Did not he lead vou through the mid-day fun,
And clouds of duft? Did not his temples glow
In the fame fultry winds, and scorching heats ?
САТО.

Hence, worthless men! hence! and complain to Cæfar You could not undergo the toils of war,

Nor bear the hardships that your leader bore.

LUCIU S.

See, Cato, fee th' unhappy men! they weep! Fear and remorfe, and forrow for their crime, Appear in every look, and plead for mercy.

САТО.

Learn to be honeft men; give up your leaders, And pardon shall defcend on all the rest.

SEMPRONIUS.

Cato, commit thefe wretches to my care.
First let them each be broken on the rack,
Then, with what life remains, impal'd, and left
To writhe at leifure round the bloody ftake.
There let them hang, and taint the southern wind.
The partners of their crime will learn obedience,
When they look up and fee their fellow-traitors
Stuck on a fork, and blackening in the fun.

LUCIUS.

LUCIUS.

Sempronius, why, why wilt thou urge the fate

Of wretched men?

SEMPRONIUS.

How would't thou clear rebellion!

Lucius (good man) pities the poor offenders
That would imbrue their hands in Cato's blood.

САТО.

Forbear, Sempronius !-See they fuffer death,
But in their deaths remember they are men.
Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous.
Lucius, the bafe degenerate age requires
Severity and juftice in its rigour;

This awes an impious, bold, offending world,
Commands obedience, and gives force to laws.
When by juft vengeance guilty mortals perish,
The gods behold their punishment with pleasure,
And lay th' uplifted thunder-bolt afide.

SEMPRONIUS.

Cato, I execute thy will with pleasure.

САТО.

Mean-while we 'll facrifice to liberty.
Remember, O my friends, the laws, the rights,
The generous plan of power deliver'd down,
From age to age, by your renown'd forefathers,
(So dearly bought, the price of so much blood)
O let it never perish in your hands!

Bnt piously transmit it to your children.
Do thou, great Liberty, infpire our fouls,