Fear is the only principle of rule,

Which man, like other animals, obeys.

[Exit SANDANE.

Manet AMPHARES.

Amph. Why tarries Euxus now?

I must applaud

Enter EUXUS.

Thy countrymen for discipline and care,

As well as valour; they have seiz'd a spy,

Who mix'd with them, disguised in Thracian arms.

Euxus. In Thracian arms !

Amph. Yes, to pass to Agis.

Some bold adventurer of the royal band,

Whose life-Why art thou troubled? Has Lysander

Escaped the guards?

Euxus. No. I am pale with anger,

At the reproachful terms, the bitter taunts, Which I have suffer'd from incensed Lysander,

In execution of thy late commands.

Amph. Is that the cause?

[Gives the gorget,

He soon shall be no object of thy wrath.

[Exit AMPHARES.

Manent Euxus.

Euxus. My brother seized! I hesitate no more,

The voice of nature in my breast exclaims
Against the rigour of those guilty laws,

Which bind a soldier blindly to obey.
Son of my mother! Brother of my blood!
I fly to save thee.-Now I'm thine, Lysander.
[Goes to the gate of the tower.

Chief of Sparta!

Enter LYSander.

Lysan. Is Euxus yet resolved?

Euxus. That thou shalt see, thy enemies are

mine.

Rhesus is taken.

Lysan. My contagious fate

Infects my friends! my brave, my generous Rhesus! Euxus. Friend of my brother! first I set thee

free.

An officer of mine commands that gate

At which the Thracians enter'd; haste thee thither,

Array'd like one of those whom I will send

To guide thy steps.

Lysan. Ye guardian gods of Greece !

Whose ways mysterious rashly I arraign'd, Forgive my rashness! Prosper now my swordWhere are my arms?

[Whilst LYSANDER speaks, EUXUS beckons one of his soldiers.

Euxus. Here enter, and obey

Without reply. [Exeunt LYSANDER and the

Thracian to the tower.

The soldiers' hearts are mine.

Their various toils and perils I have shared,
Nay more than shared,' the first in hard extremes,
When signal danger claims a leader's sword.
No spoil, no treasure, have I e'er reserved;
The wealth I covet is the soldier's love.
My bold Odrysians are a faithful band;
In this distress I'll throw myself on them;
They will support me.

Enter a Spartan Messenger.

Mess. Leader of Thracian bands!

Amphares and the magistrates of Sparta,
Met in the senate-house, expect thy presence.

Euxus. I will attend them. [Exit Messenger.

Surely they have learn'd,

That I am brother to ill-fated Rhesus.

Enter LYSANDER, in Thracian dress and arms.

Lysan. Once more at liberty! Once more in arms!

To thee, brave Thracian

Euxus. I am summon'd hence

To meet the Ephori. I fear, my lord,
They have discover'd Rhesus is my brother.
Lysan. That secret in your breast and his is
lodged:

Nor can his alter'd features now betray him.

In early youth he left his native land;

The heat of summer, and the winter's cold,

In many a hard campaign, have chaced his bloom. Euxus. Indeed I knew him not.

Lysan. Then who could know him?

Calm and determined to the senate go:

Here I'll remain, and wait your quick return.
To know what they design imports us much.
Euxus. Your stay is full of danger; risk it not.
Lysan. All necessary dangers must be risk'd.
Perhaps I am the subject of their councils.

Perhaps I may be call'd before the senate!
If I appear not, you must be discover'd,
And my escape too soon to them be known.

Euxus. Your reasons are of force. I am con

vinced.

Here, take my sword.

My troops obey you.

Then, if we are betray'd, Now, my bold Sithontes,

[To one of his Thracians.

Draw your battalion nearer to the square,
And guard the person of this Spartan chief
As you would guard myself. If I'm detain❜d,
Follow to death or victory Lysander.

[Exit EUXUS.

Lysan. Shall I obey the impulse of my heart,
And lead these Thracians to the tower that holds
My lost Euanthe? No, let reason rule.
Amphares will not, dares not wrong her honour,
Whilst undecided is the fate of Agis.

'Tis night, but never shall the morning rise
On-Who can know the secret will of heav'n!
Down, down, enthusiasm! my heart be calm!
A little while, and thou shalt beat no more.
Oft have I wish'd for perilous occasions;
And, wand'ring in the academic grove,
Have roused myself with strong imagination