e

Why could not Cato fall

Without your guilt! Behold, ungrateful men,
Behold my bosom naked to your swords,
And let the man that's injured strike the blow.
Which of you all suspects that he is wrong'd,
Or thinks he suffers greater ills than Cato?
Am I distinguish'd from you but by toils,
Superior toils, and heavier weight of cares?
Painful pre-eminence!

Sem. Confusion to the villains! all is lost! [Aside.
Cato. Have you forgotten Lybia's burning waste,
Its barren rocks, parch'd earth, and hills of sand,
Its tainted air, and all its broods of poison?

Who was the first to explore th' untrodden path,
When life was hazarded in ev'ry step?

Or, fainting in the long laborious march,
When, on the banks of an unlook'd-for stream,
You sunk the river with repeated draughts,
Who was the last of all your host who thirsted?
Sem. Did not his temples glow

In the same sultry winds and scorching heats?
Coto. Hence, worthless men! hence! and com-
plain to Cæsar,

You could not undergo the toil of war,

Nor bear the hardships that your leader bore.
Luc. See, Cato, see the unhappy men: they
weep!

Fear, and remorse, and sorrow for their crime,
Appear in ev'ry look, and plead for mercy.

Cato. Learn to be honest men, give up your lead

ers,

And pardon shall descend on 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,

Cato. Forbear, Sempronius!-see they suffer death, But in their deaths remember they are mens Strain not the laws, to make their tortures grievous, Lucius, the base, degen'rate age requires

Severity.

When by just vengeance guilty mortals perish,
The gods behold the punishment with pleasure,
And lay th' uplifted thunderbolt aside.

Sem. Cato, I execute thy will with pleasure.
Cato. Meanwhile, we'll sacrifice to liberty.
Remember, O my friends! the laws, the rights,
The gen'rous plan of power delivered down
From age to age by your renown'd 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 your

self. One would have thought you had been half in earnest. Sem. Villain, stand off; base, grov'ling, worthless wretches,

Mongrels in faction, poor faint-hearted traitors! 1 Lead. Nay, now you carry it too far, Sempronius!

Sem. Know, villains, when such paltry slaves pre

sume

To mix in treason, if the plot succeeds,

They're thrown neglected by; but, if it fails,
They're 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;

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 fail'd of half my purpose: pose: Marcia, the charming Marcia's left behind!

Syph. How! will Sempronius turn a woman'sslave?
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, Sem-
pronius!

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! Marcia's
my own!

How will my bosom swell with anxious joy,
When I behold her struggling in my arms,
With glowing beauty, and disorder'd charms,
While fear and anger, with alternate grace,
Pant in her breast, and vary in her face!

So Pluto seiz'd off Proserpine, convey'd

To hell's tremendous gloom th' affrighted maid; There grimly smiled, pleased with the beauteous prize, Nor envied Jove his sunshine and his skies.

[Exeunt,

ACT THE FOURTH.

SCENE I.

A Chamber.

Enter LUCIA and MARCIA.

Lucia. Now, tell me, Marcia, tell me from thy soul, If thou believest 'tis possible for woman To suffer greater ills than Lucia suffers?

Marcia. Oh, Lucia, Lucia, might my big swol'n 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.

Lucia. I know thou'rt doom'd alike to be beloved
By Juba, and thy father's friend, Sempronius:
But which of these has power to charm like Portius?
Marcia. Still, I must beg thee not to name Sem-
pronius.

Lucia, I like not that loud, boist'rous man.

Juba, to all the bravery of a hero,

Adds softest love, and more than female sweetness; Juba might make the proudest of our sex,

Any of womankind, but Marcia, happy.

Lucia. And why not Marcia? Come, you strive in

vain

To hide your thoughts from one who knows too well The inward glowings of a heart in love.

Marcia. While Cato lives, his daughter has no right To love or hate, but as his choice directs.

Lucia. But should this father give you to Sempro

nius ?

Mercia. 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 track'd her to her

covert.

How will the young Numidian rave to see
His mistress lost! If aught 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-

Enter JUBA.

Jub. What do I see? Who's this that dares usurp The guards and habits of Numidia's prince?

Sem. One that was born to scourge thy arrogance, Presumptuous youth!

E