Detested homicide! [Aside.]-And has thy heart Felt for the wretched? Dio. Urgencies of state Abridg'd his liberty; but to his person Eup. The righteous gods Have mark'd thy ways, and will in time repay Dio. If to see your father, If here to meet him in a fond embrace, Will calm thy breast, and dry those beauteous tears, Has touch'd your heart, oh! send me, send me to him. Dio. Control this wild alarm; with prudent care Philotas shall conduct him; here I grant The tender interview. Eup. Disastrous fate! Ruin impends!-This will discover all ; [Aside. Though much I languish to behold my father, Dio. This night, this very hour, you both must meet. Together you may serve the state and me. Thou seest the havoc of wide wasting war; Eup. Oh! give the means, And I will bless thee for it. Dio. From a Greek Torments have wrung the truth. Thy husband, Pho cion Eup. Oh! say, speak of my Phocion!" Hath kindled up this war; with treacherous arts Inflam'd the states of Greece; and now the traitor Comes with a foreign aid to wrest my crown. Eup. And does my Phocion share Timoleon's glory? Dio. With him invests our walls, and bids rebellion Erect her standard here. Eup. Oh! bless him, gods! Where'er my hero treads the paths of war, Lend the fierce whirlwind's rage, that he may come Applaud my hero with a love like mine! Dio. Ungrateful fair! Has not our sovereign will On thy descendants fix'd Sicilia's crown? Have I not vow'd protection to your boy? Eup. From thee the crown! from thee! Euphrasia's children Shall on a nobler basis found their rights; Eup. Ask of thee protection! The father's valour shall protect his boy. Dio. Rush not on sure destruction; ere too late So meanly of my Phocion?-Dost thou deem him Oh! thou dost little know him; know'st but little Still will he urge the great, the glorious plan, For nations freed, and tyrants laid in dust. Dio. By Heav'n, this night Evander breathes his last. Eup. Better for him to sink at once to rest, Of that fell malice, and that black suspicion, Dio. Now your father's doom Eup. Thy doom, perhaps, May first be fix'd; the doom that ever waits Dio. Ha! this night Evander dies; and thou, desested fair! Thou shalt behold him, while inventive cruelty Pursues his wearied life through every nerve. I scorn all dull delay. This very night Eup. This night, perhaps, [Exit. Shall whelm thee down, no more to blast creation. My father, who inhabit'st with the dead, And tremble there with anxious hope and fear. [Exit. SCENE II. The Inside of the Temple. Enter PHOCION and MELANTHON. Phoc. Each step I move, a grateful terror shakes My frame to dissolution. Mel. Summon all Thy wonted firmness; in that dreary vault A living king is number'd with the dead. Phoc. If here [Exit. They both are found; if in Evander's arms Enter EUPHRASIA. Eup. All hail, ye caves of horror!-In this gloom Divine content can dwell, the heartfelt tear, Which, as it falls, a father's trembling hand Will catch, and wipe the sorrows from my eye. Thou Pow'r supreme! whose all-pervading mind Guides this great frame of things; who now behold'st me; Who, in that cave of death, art full as perfect And supplicate thy mercies to my father. speak -Answer-tell me→ Enter PHOCION, from the Tomb. Phoc. What voice is that?-Melanthon! Speak of Evander; tell me that he lives, Phoc. Heart-swelling transport! Art thou Euphrasia? 'tis thy Phocion, love; Eup. Support me ;-reach thy hand. Phoc. Once more I clasp her in this fond embrace! Phoc. Love Inspir'd my heart, and guided all my ways. Eup. Oh, thou dear wanderer! here? But wherefore Why in this place of woe? My tender little one,— Speak of my child, or I go wild at once! Phoc. Your boy is safe, Euphrasia; lives to reign In Sicily: Timoleon's gen'rous care Protects him in his camp :-dispel thy fears; Phoc. Alas! I found him not. And have they then-Have the fell murderers-Oh! [Faints away. Phoc. I've been too rash; revive, my love, revive; Thy Phocion calls; the gods will guard Evander, And save him to reward thy matchless virtue. |