Poorly wound up to a mere fit of valour,
To melt away in a weak woman's tear?

Oh! thou dost little know him: know'st but little

Of his exalted soul. With generous ardour
Still will he urge the great, the glorious plan,
And gain the ever honoured, bright reward,
Which fame entwines around the patriot's brow,
And bids for ever flourish on his tomb,
For nations freed, and tyrants laid in dust.
Dion. By Heaven! this night Evander breathes
his last!

Euph. Better for him to sink at once to rest, Than linger thus beneath the gripe of famine, In a vile dungeon, scooped, with barbarous skill, Deep in the flinty rock; a monument

Of that fell malice, and that black suspicion,
That marked your father's reign; a dungeon drear
Prepared for innocence !-Vice lived secure,
It flourished, triumphed, grateful to his heart;
'Twas virtue only could give umbrage; then,
In that black period, to be great and good
Was a state crime; the powers of genius, then,
Were a constructive treason.

Dion. Ha! beware,

Nor with vile calumny provoke my rage.

Euph. Whate'er was laudable, whate'er was
worthy,

Sunk under foul oppression; freeborn men
Were torn in private from their household gods,
Shut from the light of heaven in caverned cells,
Chained to the grunsel edge, and left to pine
In bitterness of soul; while, in the vaulted roof,
The tyrant sat, and, through a secret channel,
Collected every sound; heard each complaint
Of martyred virtue; kept a register
Of sighs and groans by cruelty extorted;
Noted the honest language of the heart;
Then on the victims wreaked his murderous rage,
For yielding to the feelings of their nature.

Dion. Obdurate woman! obstinate in ill! Here ends all parley. Now your father's doom Is fixed, irrevocably fixed.

Euph. Thy doom, perhaps,

May first be fixed: the doom that ever waits The fell oppressor, from a throne usurped Hurled headlong down. Think of thy father's fate

At Corinth, Dionysius!

Dion. Ha! this night

Evander dies; and thou, detested fair!
Thou shalt behold him, while inventive cruelty
Pursues his wearied life through every nerve.
I scorn all dull delay. This very night
Shall sate my great revenge.

Euph. This night, perhaps,

[Exit.

Shall whelm thee down, no more to blast creation.

My father, who inhabit'st with the dead,
Now let me seek thee in the lonely tomb,
And tremble there with anxious hope and fear,

[Exit.

Euph. 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 power supreme! whose all pervading mind Guides this great frame of things; who now be hold'st me,

Who, in that cave of death, art full as perfect
As in the gorgeous palace, now, while night
Broods o'er the world, I'll to thy sacred shrine,
And supplicate thy mercies to my father.
Who's there?-Evander ?-Answer-tell me―
speak-

Enter PHOCION, from the Tomb.
Pho. What voice is that?-Melanthon!
Euph. Ha! those sounds-
Speak of Evander! tell me that he lives,
Or lost Euphrasia dies.

Pho. Heart-swelling transport!
Art thou Euphrasia? 'Tis thy Phocion, love;
Thy husband comes.

Euph. Support me! reach thy hand! Pho. Once more I clasp her in this fond em brace!

Euph What miracle has brought thee to me?

Pho. Love

Why in this place of woe? My tender little one, Say, is he safe? oh! satisfy a mother; Speak of my child, or I grow wild at once! Tell me his fate, and tell me all thy own.

Pho. Your boy is safe, Euphrasia; lives to reign

In Sicily; Timoleon's generous care Protects him in his camp; dispel thy fears; The gods once more will give him to thy arms.

Euph. My father lives sepulchred, ere his time, Here in Eudocia's tomb; let me conduct thee, Pho. I came this moment thence.

Fuph. And saw Evander? Pho. Alas! I found him not. Euph. Not found him there? And have they, then-have the fell murderers-Oh! [Faints away. Pho. 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.

Enter EVANDER and MELANTHON.

Evan. Lead me, Melanthon, guide my aged steps:

Where is he? Let me see him.

Pho. My Euphrasia!

Thy father lives!-Thou venerable man!
Behold-I cannot fly to thy embrace!

Euph. These agonies must end me; ah, my
father!

Again I have him; gracious Powers! again
I clasp his hand, and bathe it with my tears!
Evan. Euphrasia! Phocion too! Yes, both are
here;

Oh! let me thus, thus strain you to my heart.
Pho. Protected by a daughter's tender care,
By my Euphrasia saved! That sweet reflection
Exalts the bliss to rapture.

Euph. Why, my father,

Why thus adventure forth? The strong alarm O'erwhelmed my spirits.

Evan. I went forth, my child, When all was dark, and awful silence round, To throw me prostrate at the altar's foot, And crave the care of Heaven for thee and thine. Melanthon there

Enter PHILOTAs.

Euph. Philotas! ha! what meansPhil. Inevitable ruin hovers o'er you! The tyrant's fury mounts into a blaze; Unsated yet with blood, he calls aloud

For thee, Evander; thee his rage hath ordered This moment to his presence.

Evan. Lead me to him:

His presence hath no terror for Evander,
Euph. Horror! it must not be.

Phil. No; never, never!

I'll perish rather. But the time demands
Our utmost vigour; with the lightning's speed
Decisive, rapid. With the scorpion stings
Of conscience lashed, despair and horror seize
him,

And guilt but serves to goad his tortured mind
To blacker crimes. His policy has granted
A day's suspense from arms; yet even now
His troops prepare, in the dead midnight hour,
With base surprise, to storm Timoleon's camp.
Evan. And doth he grant a false, insidious

And a whole winter gathers on his brow, Looking tranquillity; even then, beneath, The fuelled entrails summon all their rage, Till the affrighted shepherd round him sees The sudden ru'n, the volcano's burst, Mountains hurled up in air, and molten rocks, And all the land with desolation covered.

Melan. Now, Phocion, now, on thee our hope
depends.

Fly to Timoleon; I can grant a passport;
Rouse him to vengeance; on the tyrant turn
His own insidious arts, or all is lost.

Pho. Evander, thou, and thou, my best Eu phrasia,

Both shall attend my flight.

Melan. It were in vain ;

The attempt would hazard all.
Euph. Together, here,

We will remain, safe in the cave of death;
And wait our freedom from thy conquering arm.
Evan. Oh! would the gods roll back the
stream of time,

And give this arm the sinew that it boasted
At Tauromenium, when its force resistless
Mowed down the ranks of war; I then might

guide

The battle's rage, and, ere Evander die,
Add still another laurel to my brow.

Euph. Enough of laurelled victory your sword Hath reaped in earlier days.

Evan. And shall my sword, When the great cause of liberty invites, Remain inactive, unperforming quite? Youth, second youth rekindles in my veins: Though worn with age, this arm will know its office; Will shew that victory has not forgot Acquaintance with this hand. And yet-O shame! It will not be the momentary blaze Sinks, and expires: I have survived it all; Survived my reign, my people, and myself. Euph. Fly, Phocion, fly; Melanthon will conduct thee,

Melan. And when the assault begins, my faithful cohorts

Shall form their ranks around this sacred dome Pho. And my poor captive friends, my brave

companions

Taken in battle, wilt thou guard their lives? Melan. Trust to my care: no danger shall assail them.

Pho. By Heaven, the glorious expectation swells
This panting bosom! Yes, Euphrasia, yes;
Awhile I leave you to the care of Heaven.
Fell Dionysius, tremble! ere the dawn

Timoleon thunders at your gates; the rage,
The pent-up rage of twenty thousand Greeks,
Shall burst at once, and the tumultuous roar
Alarm the astonished world. The brazen gates
Asunder shall be rent; the towers, the ramparts,
Shall yield to Grecian valour; death and rage
Through the wide city's round shall wade in gore,
And guilty men awake to gasp their last.
Melanthon, come.

Ecan. Yet, ere thou go'st, young man, Attend my words: though guilt may oft provoke,

As now it does, just vengeance on its head,
In mercy punish it. The rage of slaughter
Can add no trophy to the victor's triumph;
Bid him not shed unnecessary blood.
Conquest is proud, inexorable, fierce;
It is humanity ennobles all.

So thinks Evander, and so tell Timoleon.
Pho. Farewell; the midnight hour shall give
you freedom.

[Exit with MELAN. and PHIL.

Euph. Ye guardian deities, watch all his ways! Evan. Come, my Euphrasia, in this interval Together we will seek the sacred altar, And thank the god, whose presence fills the dome,

For the best gift his bounty could bestow, The virtue he has given thee; there we will pour Our hearts in praise, in tears of adoration, For all the wond'rous goodness lavished on us.

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.

Enter DIONYSIUS and CALIPPUS,

Dion. Ere the day closed, while yet the busy

eye

Might view their camps, their stations, and their guards,

Their preparations for approaching night,
Didst thou then mark the motions of the Greeks?
Cal. From the watch-tower I saw them: all
things spoke

A foe secure, and discipline relaxed.
Their arms thrown idly by, the soldiers strayed
To one another's tents; their steeds no more
Stood near at hand caparisoned for war;
And from the lines numbers poured out, to see
The spot where the besieged had sallied forth,
And the fierce battle raged; to view the slain,
That lie in heaps upon the crimson beach.
There the fond brother, the afflicted father,
And the friend, sought some vestige of the face
Of him who died in battle; night came on;
Some slowly gained their tents: dispersed around,
Whole parties loitered, touched with deep re-
gret;

War, and its train of duties, all forgot.

Dion. Their folly gives them to my sword; are

all

My orders issued?

Cal. All.

Dion. The troops retired,

To gain recruited vigour from repose?

Cal. The city round lies hushed in sleep.
Dion. Anon

Let each brave officer, of chosen valour,
Forsake his couch, and with deliberate spirit,
Meet at the citadel. An hour at farthest
Before the dawn, 'tis fixed to storm their camp;
And whelm their men, their arms, and steeds,
and tents,

In one prodigious ruin. Haste, Calippus,
Fly to thy post, and bid Euphrasia enter.
[Exit CAL.

Evander dies this night: Euphrasia, too,
Shall be disposed of. Curse on Phocion's fraud,
That from my power withdrew their infant boy.
In him the seeds of future kings were crushed,
And the whole hated line at once extinguished.

Enter EUPHRASIA.

Dion. Once more approach, and hear me; 'tis

not now

A time to waste in the vain war of words.
A crisis big with horror is at hand.
I meant to spare the stream of blood, that soon
Shall deluge yonder plains. My fair proposals
Thy haughty spirit has with scorn rejected.
And now, by Heaven, here, in thy very sight,
Evander breathes his last.

Euph. The truce you have granted,
Suspends the rage of

war: mean time, send forth The orators of peace with olive crowned. Timoleon, good and just, and ever willing To conquer rather by persuasive truth, Than by devouring slaughter, will agree In friendly parley to assert his rights, And compromise the war.

Dion. And must I sue

For terms of peace? To an invader sue? Since you, the fiend of Syracuse and Greece, Since you thus urge me on to desperate daring, Your father first-of him I'll be assuredYour father meets his fate.

Euph. If yet there's wanting A crine to fill the measure of thy guilt, Add that black murder to the dreadful list; With that complete the horrors of thy reign.

Dion. Woman, beware: Philotas is at hand, And to our presence leads Evander. All Thy dark complottings, and thy treacherous arts, Have proved abortive.

Euph. Ha! What new event? And is Philotas false? Has he betrayed him? [dside

Dion. Evander's doom is sealed-What, ho!

He heaved a sigh; invoked his daughter's name, Smiled, and expired.

Dion. Bring me his hoary head.

Phil. You'll pardon, sir, my over-hasty zeal.' I gave the body to the foaming surge, Down the steep rock, despised.

Dion. Now rave and shriek,

And rend your scattered hair. No more Evander Shall sway Sicilia's sceptre.

Euph. Mighty gods!

The hardened heart, the man elate with pride,
View with compassion! To the bad extend
Some portion of your mercy; crimes and blood
Have made their souls a seat of desolation,
Of woe, despair, and horror! Turn to them
An eye of pity: whom your bounty formed
To truth, to goodness, and to generous deeds,
On them no more from your bright stores of
bliss

You need dispense: their virtue will support them.

Dion. Now, then, thou feel'st my vengeance.
Euph. Glory in it;

Exult and triumph. The worst shaft is sped. Yet still the unconquered mind with scorn can view thee;

With the calm sunshine of the breast can see
Thy power unequal to subdue the soul,
Which virtue formed, and which the gods protect.
Dion. Philotas, bear her hence; she shall not
live.

This moment bear her hence; you know the rest.
Go, see our will obeyed; that done, with all
A warrior's speed, attend me at the citadel;
There meet the heroes, whom this night shall
lead

To freedom, victory, to glorious havoc,
And the destruction of the Grecian name. [Erit.
Euph. Accept my thanks, Philotas; generous

man!

Cal. 'Tis great occasion calls; Timoleon's ar dour

Comes rushing on; his works rise high in air, Advance each day, and tower above our walls. One brave exploit may free us-Lo! the king, Enter DIONYSIUS.

Dion. Ye brave associates, who so oft have shared

Our toil and danger in the field of glory,
My fellow-warriors, what no god could promise,
Fortune hath given us. In his dark embrace
Lo! sleep envelops the whole Grecian camp.
Against a foe, the outcasts of their country,
Freebooters roving in pursuit of prey,
Success by war, or covert stratagem,
Alike is glorious. Then, my gallant friends,
What need of words? The generous call of free
dom,

Your wives, your children, your invaded rights,
All that can steel the patriot breast with valour,
Expands and rouses in the swelling heart.
Follow the impulsive ardour! follow me,
Your king, your leader; in the friendly gloom
Of night assault their camp; your country's love,
And fame eternal, shall attend the men,
Who marched through blood and horror, to re-
deem,

From the invader's power, their native land.

Cal. Lead to the onset; Greece shall find we

bear

Hearts prodigal of blood, when honour calls,
Resolved to conquer or to die in freedom.

Dion. Thus I've resolved: when the declining

moon

Hath veiled her orb, our silent march begins.
The order thus:-Calippus, thou lead forth
Iberia's sons, with the Numidian bands,
And line the shore. Perdiccas, be it thine
To march thy cohorts to the mountain's foot,
Where the wood skirts the valley: there make halt
Till brave Amyntor stretch along the vale.
Ourself, with the embodied cavalry

Clad in their mailed cuirass, will circle round
To where their camp extends its furthest line;
Unnumbered torches there shall blaze, at once,
The signal of the charge; then, oh! my friends,
On every side let the wild uproar loose;
Bid massacre and carnage stalk around,
Unsparing, unrelenting; drench your swords
In hostile blood, and riot in destruction,
Enter an Officer.

Ha! speak; unfold thy purpose.

Offi. Instant arm;

To arms, my liege; the foe breaks in upon us; The subterraneous path is theirs; that way Their band invades the city, sunk in sleep.

Dion. Treason's at work; detested, treacherous villains!

Is this their promised truce? Away, my friends,
Rouse all the war; fly to your several posts,
And instant bring all Syracuse in arms.
[Exeunt.-Warlike music,

SCENE III.—The Inside of the Temple. A Monument in the Middle.

Enter EUPHRASIA, ERIXENE, and Female
Attendants.

Euph. Which way, Erixene, which way, my virgins,

Shall we direct our steps? What sacred altar
Clasp on our knees? .

Erir. Alas! the horrid tumult

Spreads the destruction wide. On every side The victor's shouts, the groans of murdered wretches,

In wild confusion rise. Once more descend
Eudocia's tomb; there thou may'st find a shelter.
Euph. Anon, Erixene, I mean to visit,
Perhaps, for the last time, a mother's urn.
This dagger there, this instrument of death,
Should fortune prosper the fell tyrant's arms,
This dagger, then, may free me from his power,

And that drear vault intomb us all in peace. [Puts up the dagger.

Hark! how the uproar swells! Alas! what numbers

In Dionysius' cause shall yield their throats
To the destructive sword! Aloft I climbed
The temple's vaulted roof; the scene beneath
Is horrible to sight; the domes and palaces
Blaze to the sky; and where the flames forbear,
The Greeks, enraged, brandish the gleaming
sword.

From the high roofs, to shun the raging fire,
Wretches precipitate their fall. But, oh!
No pause, no mercy; to the edge of the sword
They give their bodies; butchered, gashed with
wounds,

They die in mangled heaps, and, with their limbs,
Cover the sanguine pavement.

Erix. Hark! Euph. The din

Hark!

Of arms with clearer sound advances.
That sudden burst! Again! They rush upon us!
The portal opens; lo! see there; behold!
War, horrid war invades the sacred fane;
No altar gives a sanctuary now. [Warlike music.
Enter DIONYSIUS and CALIPPUS, with several
Soldiers.

Dion. Here will I mock their siege; here stand at bay,

And brave them to the last.
Cal. Our weary foes
Desist from the pursuit.

Dion. Though all betray me,
Though every god conspire, I will not yield.
If I must fall, the temple's ponderous roof,
The mansion of the gods combined against me,
Shail first be crushed, and lie in ruin with me,
Euphrasia here! Detested, treacherous woman!
For my revenge preserved! By Heaven 'tis well;
Vengeance awaits thy guilt, and this good sword
Thus sends thee to atone the bleeding victims,
This night has massacred.

Cul. Holding DIONYSIUS's arm.] My liege, for. bear;

Her life preserved may plead your cause with Greece,

And mitigate your fate.

Dion. Presumptuous slave!

My rage is up in arms; by Heaven she dies!

Enter EVANDER from the Tomb. Evan. Horror! forbear! Thou murderer, hold thy hand!

The gods behold thee, horrible assassin !
Restrain the blow; it were a stab to Heaven;
All nature shudders at it! Will no friend
Arm, in a cause like this, a father's hand?
Strike at this bosom rather. Lo! Evander
Prostrate and grovelling on the earth before thee;
He begs to die; exhaust the scanty drops
That lag about his heart; but spare my child!
Dion. Evander!-Do my eyes once more be

hold him!

May the fiends seize Philotas! Treacherous slave!