Cato Part 8

_Cato._ Where are those bold, intrepid sons of war, That greatly turn their backs upon the foe, And to their general send a brave defiance?

_Sem._ Curse on their dastard souls, they stand astonish'd! [_Aside._

_Cato._ Perfidious men! And will you thus dishonour Your past exploits, and sully all your wars?

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 distinguished 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?

_Cato._ Hence, worthless men! hence! and complain to Caesar, You could not undergo the toil of war, Nor bear the hards.h.i.+ps that your leader bore.

_Lucius._ 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 yon leaders, 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 b.l.o.o.d.y stake; There let them hang, and taint the southern wind.

The partners of their crime will learn obedience.

_Cato._ Forbear, Semp.r.o.nius!--see they suffer death, But in their deaths remember they are men; 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 G.o.ds 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, _etc._

_1 Lead._ Semp.r.o.nius, you have acted like yourself.

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, Semp.r.o.nius!

_Sem._ Know, villains, when such paltry slaves presume 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 Semp.r.o.nius head us in our flight, We'll force the gate where Marcus keeps his guard, And hew down all that would oppose our pa.s.sage.

A day will bring us into Caesar's camp.

_Sem._ Confusion! I have fail'd of half my purpose: Marcia, the charming Marcia's left behind!

_Syph._ How! will Semp.r.o.nius turn a woman's slave?

_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 pa.s.sion: When I have gone thus far, I'd cast her off.

_Syph._ Well said! that's spoken like thyself, Semp.r.o.nius!

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 seized off Proserpine, convey'd To h.e.l.l's tremendous gloom th' affrighted maid; There grimly smiled, pleased with the beauteous prize, Nor envied Jove his suns.h.i.+ne 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, Semp.r.o.nius: But which of these has power to charm like Portius?

_Marcia._ Still, I must beg thee not to name Semp.r.o.nius.

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 s.e.x, Any of womankind, but Marcia, happy.