Lysan. And mine; for mutual is the lovers'

prayer.

Another deity I now invoke,

Whose rites the God of war has long delay'd. With peace well pleased shall golden Hymen come, And crown at last our long eventful love.

Euan. Speak not of Hymen now his torch
for me

He shall not light, whilst cruel Discord waves
Her horrid brand, and whilst unburied lies
Thy friend and mine, the generous Polydorus.
Lysan. Though love and glory both my breast
inspire,

And fortune smiles on both, yet sorrow finds
A place to sit in: but 'tis temper'd sorrow;
For never Grecian hero greater died.

Euan. He fell the victim of his love to thee; He follow'd thee when thou forsook'st Euanthe, Left me that day I touch'd the Spartan shore, Though royal Agis begg'd thee to remain.

Lysan. Unjust Euanthe, thus to blame Lysander Who sought the field, the soldier of his love As of his sacred country: fought to gain, With liberty, a rank and place of honour,

Such as becomes the husband of Euanthe;

That tender name, and names that wait upon it, Awake emotions as implacable

To tyranny, as generous and great,

As ever self-renouncing hero own'd.

When the chief aim is right, all passions else
Of noble kind impel the self-same way.
The lover and the husband rouse and fire
The Spartan and the man.

Of common clay, and in one common mould
Mankind are made; but the celestial fire
That gives them life and soul, is liberty.
And I, Prometheus-like, to gain that fire
For Sparta's sons, would brave the bolt of Jove.
Euan. To me you need not vaunt your daring
mind.

Alas, Lysander! I am still afraid

Of perils lurking in this troubled state.
O leave me not again to grief and fear,
And to Amphares!

Lysan. Leave thee to Amphares!

Euan. Yes, in thy absence he did talk of love, Boasted his wealth, his clients, and his power; Mention'd the ruin of thy father's fortunes, And spoke contemptuous of thy rash designs.

Lysan. Immortal Gods! Did Inot hate this man

Hel. Lord, from Celimene. [Delivers a Letter. Lysan. [Reads.] "Let Agis stand

guard to-day,

upon his

This to Lysander from a faithful friend."-
Helot, return, and tell the noble dame,

That the remembrance of her

generous mind

Shall live for ever in my grateful breast.
Euan. Who is this faithful friend ?.
Lysan. A Spartan dame,

A gentle one, though wedded to a foe

Of royal Agis. In her virgin state

She was the constant and the loved companion
Of fair Deidamia, Agis' short-lived queen.
Through all our various strife, the generous dame
Preserves the friendships of her early days.
This scroll the king must see. Farewell, Euanthe.
Euan. Its threatning strain awakes my former
fears.

Would you had been, like me, content with love,
And never left Illyssus' flowery banks!

A fairer garland there you might have won,
Than ever war bestow'd, the immortal wreath
Of Pallas, queen of arts as well as arms.

But
you forsook the vale, and left the shade,
To climb ambition's bare and rocky height,
To stand the storms and tempests of the world.
Lysan. Your words, like melancholy music, take
My list'ning ear, and cause delusive sadness;
For vain the malice of our baffled foes,
And impotent will prove their last endeavours;
Past are the storms and tempests of our fortune;
Let not Euanthe heed the rack of clouds,
Nor dread the murmurs of the falling main.
Euan. Elate with victory, you scorn your foes.
I wish that Rhesus would return again
Before you go to Agis.

Lysan. Where is Rhesus?

Euan. I saw some warriors clad in horrid arms Near yonder temple stand. Strait Rhesus knew The garb and arms of his own native Thrace, And, wond'ring at the sight, went forth to learn Who and from whence they were.

Lysan. That shall be known.

In yonder temple sit the Ephori,

Those factious magistrates who love not Agis.

If Rhesus come to you, detain him not;
Our resolutions may on him depend.

Euan. Lysander, stay; you go again to Agis, Perhaps to plan new perils to thy life;

If so, by all that's sacred I conjure thee

To let me know your purpose. Speak with me Before you execute what you resolve. The image of the stern Amphares haunts me; Need I entreat thee to defend me from him?

Lysan. No! by the Gods! O urge me not,
Euanthe!

Nor rouse those thoughts a lover cannot bear.
Defend thee from Amphares! O my fair!

When thou art wrong'd, Lysander lives no more!
But see, the king.

Euan. Let caution shew

your love.

[LYSANDER goes off towards that side of the stage where AGIS appears.

Manet EUANTHE.

If nature teaches me aright to read
The mind of man, this is a powerful spell
To charm the daring spirit of Lysander,
And make him think of me as well as Sparta.
[Exit EUANTHE.