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SCENE II.

Should the strong serve the weak, the fair deformed ones?

Enter PISANDER and POLIPHRON, bringing forth Or such as know the cause of things, pay tribute

a Table.

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Pis. More wine; pry'thee drink hard, friend, And when we're hot, whatever I propound,

Enter CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, and other Slaves. Second with vehemency.-Men of your words, all welcome!

Slaves use no ceremony; sit down, here's a health. Pol. Let it run round, fill every man his glass. Grac. We look for no waiters: this is wine. Pis. The better,

To ignorant fools? All's but the outward gloss
And politic form that does distinguish us.
Cimbrio, thou art a strong man; if, in place
Of carrying burthens, thou hadst been trained up
In martial discipline, thou might'st have proved
A general, fit to lead and fight for Sicily,
As fortunate as Timoleon.

Cim. A little fighting
Will serve a general's turn.

Pis. Thou, Gracculo,

Hast fluency of language, quick conceit;
And, I think, covered with a senator's robe,
Formally set on the bench, thou wouldst appear
As brave a senator-

Grac. Would I had lands,

Or money to buy a place; and if I did not Sleep on the bench with the drowsiest of 'em,

Strong, lusty wine. Drink deep; this juice will Play with my chain, make us

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And yet defy the whip, if you are men,
Or dare believe you've souls.

Our lords are no gods?

Grac. They are devils to us, I am sure.
Pis. But subject to

Cold, hunger, and diseases.

Grac. In abundance:

Your lord, that feels no ach in his chine at twenty, Forfeits his privilege; how should their chirurgeons build else,

Or ride on their foot-clothes?

Pis. Equal Nature fashioned us

All in one mould: The bear serves not the bear, Nor the wolf the wolf; 'twas odds of strength in tyrants,

That plucked the first link from the golden chain, With which that thing of things bound in the world.

Why then, since we are taught, by their examples, To love our liberty, if not command,

Look on my watch when my guts chim'd twelve, and wear

A state beard, with my barber's help; rank with

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Pis. Is't not pity, then,

Men of such eminent virtues should be slaves? Cim. Our fortune!

Pis. Tis your folly. Daring men Command, and make their fates.--Say, at this instant,

I marked you out a way to liberty;
Possessed you of those blessings our proud lords
So long have surfeited in; and, what is sweetest,
Arm you with power, by strong hand to avenge
Your stripes, your unregarded toil, the pride,
The insolence, of such as tread upon
Your patient sufferings; fill your famished mouths
With the fat and plenty of the land; redeem you
From the dark vale of servitude, and seat you

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Pis. Old men, and such as can make no resist

ance,

Are only left at home.

Grac. And the proud young fool,

My master-If this take, I'll hamper him.

Pis. Their arsenal, their treasure's in our power,
If we have hearts to seize them. If our lords fall
In the present action, the whole country's ours.
Say they return victorious, we have means
To keep the town against them; at the worst
To make our own conditions. Now, if you dare
Fall on their daughters and their wives, break up
Their iron chests, banquet on their rich beds,
And carve yourselves of all delights and pleasures
You have been barred from, with one voice cry
with me,

Liberty, liberty!

All. Liberty, liberty!

Pis. Go then, and take possession: Use all
freedom;

But shed no blood.-So, this is well begun;
But not to be commended till it be done.
[Exeunt all, crying liberty.

ACT III.

Pis. Why, think you that I plot against my... self?

Fear nothing; you are safe: These thickskinned slaves,

I use as instruments to serve my ends,

Some half a dozen turns, and, having offered
To her absent saint a sacrifice of sighs,
She points back to her prison.

Pis. Guide her hither,

And make her understand the slaves revolt;
And with your utmost eloquence enlarge
Their insolence and rapes done in the city.
Forget not, too, I am their chief, and tell her

Pierce not my deep designs; nor shall they dare You strongly think my extreme dotage on her,

To lift an arm against you.

Timan. With will:

your

But turbulent spirits, raised beyond themselves,

With ease are not so soon laid: They oft prove
Dangerous to him that called them up.

Pis. 'Tis true,

In what is rashly undertook. Long since
I have considered seriously their natures,
Proceeded with mature advice, and know
I hold their will and faculties in more awe
Than I can do my own. Now, for their licence,
And riot in the city, I can make

A just defence and use: It may appear, too,
A politic prevention of such ills

As might with greater violence and danger

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ling,

By the citizens and their wives; such a confusion (In a word, not to tire you), as I think

Hereafter be attempted; though some smart for it The like was never read of.

It matters not :-However, I am resolved;
And sleep you with security. Holds Cleora
Constant to her rash vow?

Timan. Beyond belief;

To me that see her hourly, it seems a fable.
By signs I guess at her commands, and serve
them

With silence; such her pleasure is made known
By holding her fair hand thus. She cats little,
Sleeps less, as I imagine: Once a-day
I lead her to this gallery, where she walks

Pis. I share in

The pleasure though I'm absent. This is some
Revenge for my disgrace.

If

Pol. But, sir, I fear,

your authority restrain them not,
They'll fire the city, or kill one another,
They are so apt to outrage; neither know I
Whether you wish it, and came therefore to
Acquaint you with so much.

Pis. I will among them;
But must not long be absent.

Pol. At your pleasure.

SCENE II.

CLEORA, TIMANDRA, a chair, a shout within.

[Exeunt. Not fortune, but affection, marks your slave: [Cleora shakes. Shake not, best lady! for, believe it, you are As far from danger as I am from force: All violence I'll offer, tends no farther af-Than to relate my sufferings, which I dare not Presume to do, till by some gracious sign You shew you're pleased to hear me. Timan. If you are,

Timan. They're at our gates, my heart!
frights and horrors

Increase each 10inute: No way left to save us,
No flattering hope to comfort us, or means
By miracle to redeem us from base lust
And lawless rapine? are there gods, yet suffer
Such innocent sweetness to be made the spoil
Of brutish appetite? Or, since they decree
To ruin Nature's masterpiece (of which
They bave not left one pattern), must they chuse,
To set their tyranny off, slaves to pollute
The spring of chastity, and poison it
With their most loathed embraces? And of those
He that should offer up his life to guard it?
Marullo, cursed Marullo, your own bondman,
Purchased to serve you, and fed by your favours.
[Cleora starts.

Nay, start not: it is he; he, the grand captain
Of these libidinous beasts, that have not left
One cruel act undone, that barbarous conquest
Yet ever practised in a captive city.

He, doating on your beauty, and to have fellows
In his foul sin, hath raised these mutinous slaves,
Who have begun the game by violent rapes,
Upon the wives and daughters of their lords:
And he, to quench the fire of his base lust,
By force comes to enjoy you :-Do not wring
[Cleora wrings her hands.
Your innocent hands, 'tis bootless; use the means
That may preserve you. 'Tis no crime to break
A vow when you are forced to it; shew your face,
And with the majesty of commanding beauty
Strike dead his loose affections. If that fail,
Give liberty to your tongue, and use entreaties;
There cannot be a breast of flesh and blood,
Or heart so made of flint, but must receive
Impression from your words; or eyes so stern,
But from the clear reflection of your tears,
Must melt, and bear them company: will you not
Do these good offices to yourself? Poor I, then,
Can only weep your fortune!-Here he comes.

Enter PISANDER, speaking at the door.
Pis. He that advances

A foot beyond this, comes upon my sword.
You have had your ways, disturb not mine.
Timan. Speak gently,

Her fears may kill her else.

Pis. Now Love inspire me! Still shall this canopy of envious night Obscure my suns of comfort? And those dainties, Of purest white and red, which I take in at My greedy eyes, denied my famished senses? The organs of your hearing are yet open; And you infringe no vow, though you vouchsafe To give them warrant to convey unto Your understanding parts, the story of A tortured and despairing lover whom

Hold forth your right-hand.

[Cleora holds forth her right-hand. Pisan. So, 'tis done; and I

With my glad lips seal humbly on your foot,
My soul's thanks for the favour: I forbear
To tell you who I am, what wealth, what honours
I made exchange of, to become your servant:
And, though I knew worthy Leosthenes
(For sure he must be worthy, for whose love
You have endured so much) to be my rival;
When rage and jealousy counselled me to kill him,
(Which then I could have done with much more
ease,

Than now, in fear to grieve you, I dare speak it)
Love, seconded with duty, boldly told me,
The man I hated, fair Cleora favoured:
And that was his protection.

Timan. See, she bows
Her head, in sign of thankfulness.
Pisan. He removed,

[Cleora bows.

By the occasion of the war (my fires increasing
By being closed and stopt up), frantic affection
Prompted me to do something in his absence,
That might deliver you into my power,
Which you see is effected; and even now,
When my rebellious passions chide my dulness,
And tell me how much I abuse my fortunes;
Now it is in my power to bear you hence,

[Cleora starts.

Or take my wishes here, (nay, fear not, madam,
True love's a servant, brutish lust a tyrant,
I dare not touch those viands that ne'er taste well,
But when they're freely offered): Only thus much,
Be pleased I may speak in my own dear cause.
And think it worthy your consideration
I have loved truly (cannot say deserved;
Since duty must not take the name of merit),
That I so far prize your content, before
All blessings that my hope can fashion to me,
That willingly I entertain despair,
And for your sake embrace it. For I know,
This opportunity lost, by no endeavour
The like can be recovered. To conclude,
Forget not that I lose myself to save you.
For what can I expect but death and torture,
The war being ended? And (what is a task
Would troubie Hercules to undertake),
I do deny you to myself, to give you
A pure unspotted present to my rival.
I've said: If it distaste not, best of virgins,
Reward my temperance with some lawful favour,
Though you contemn my person.

[Cleora kneels, then pulls off her glove,
and offers her hand to Pisander.

Timan. See, she kneels,

And seems to call upon the gods to pay The debt she owes your virtue: To perform which

As a sure pledge of friendship, she vouchsafes you Her right-hand.

Pis. I am paid for all my sufferings.

Now, when you please, pass to your private chamber,

My love and duty, faithful guards, shall keep you
[Makes a low courtesy as she goes off.
From all disturbance; and when you are sated
With thinking of Leosthenes, as a fee
Due to my service, spare one sigh for me.

SCENE III.

[Exeunt.

Enter LEOSTHENES and TIMAGORAS. Timag. I am so far from envy, I am proud You have outstripped me in the race of honour. Oh! 'twas a glorious day, and bravely won! Your bold performance gave such lustre to Timoleon's wise directions, as the army Rests doubtful, to whom they stand most engaged For their so great success.

Leost. The gods first honoured,

The glory be the general's; 'tis far from me
To be his rival.

Timag. You abuse your fortune,

To entertain her choice and gracious favours
With a contracted brow; plumed victory
Is truly painted with a cheerful look,
Equally distant from proud insolence,
And base dejection.

Leost. O Timagoras!

You only are acquainted with the cause,
That loads my sad heart with a hill of lead;
Whose ponderous weight, neither my new-got ho-

nour,

Assisted by the general applause

The soldiers crown it with, nor all war's glories,
Can lessen or remove: and, would you please,
With fit consideration, to remember,
How much I wronged Cleora's innocence
With my rash doubts; and what a grievous pen-

ance

She did impose upon her tender sweetness,
To pluck away the vulture jealousy,

That fed upon my liver, you cannot blame me,
But call it a fit justice on myself,
Though I resolve to be a stranger to
The thought of mirth or pleasure.
Timag. You have redeemed

The forfeit of your fault with such a ransom
Of honourable action, as my sister
Must of necessity confess her sufferings
VOL. I.

Weighed down by your fair merits; and, when she views you,

Like a triumphant conqueror, carried through
The streets of Syracusa, the glad people
Pressing to meet you, and the senators
Contending who shall heap most honours on you;
The oxen, crowned with garlands, led before you,
Appointed for the sacrifice; and the altars
Smoaking with thankful incense to the gods;
The soldiers chaunting loud hymns to your praise;
The windows filled with matrons and with virgins,
Throwing upon your head, as you pass by,
The choicest flowers, and silently invoking
The queen of love, with their particular vows,
To be thought worthy of you; can Cleora,
(Though in the glass of self-love, she behold
Her best deserts) but with all joys acknowledge,
What she endured was but a noble trial
You made of her affection? and her anger,
Rising from your too amorous fears, soon drenched
In Lethe, and forgotten.

Leost. If those glories

You so set forth, were mine, they might plead for

me:

But I can lay no claim to the least honour
Which you with foul injustice ravish from her.
Her beauty in me wrought a miracle,
Taught me to aim at things beyond my power,
Which her perfections purchased, and gave to me
From her free bounties; she inspired me with
That valour which I dare not call mine own;
And, from the fair reflection of her mind,
My soul received the sparkling beams of courage.
She, from the magazine of her proper goodness,
Stocked me with virtuous purposes; sent me forth
To trade for honour: and, she being the owner
Of the bark of my adventures, I must yield her
A just account of all, as befits a factor:
And, howsoever others think me happy,
And cry aloud, I have made a prosperous
One frown of her dislike at my return,
(Which, as a punishment for my fault, I look for)
Strikes dead all comfort.

voyage,

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SCENE I.

Enter PISANDER and TIMANDRA.

ACT IV.

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Pis. How brook the slaves the object? Pol. Cheerfully yet; they do refuse no labour, And seem to scoff at danger: 'Tis your presence That must confirm them; with a full consent You're chosen to relate the tyranny

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Enter TIMOLEON, ARCHIDAMUS, DIPHILUS, LEOSTHENES, TIMAGORAS, and others.

Timol. Thus far we are returned victorious; crowned

With wreaths triumphant, (famine, blood and death

Banished your peaceful confines) and bring home
Security and peace. 'Tis therefore fit

That such as boldly stood the shock of war,
And with the dear expence of sweat and blood
Have purchased honour, should with pleasure reap
The harvest of their toil; and we stand bound
Out of the first file of the best deservers,
(Though all must be considered to their merits)
To think of you, Leosthenes, that stand,
And worthily, most dear in our esteem,
For your heroic valour,

Arch. When I look on

(The labour of so many men and ages)
This well-built city, not long since designed
To spoil and rapine, by the favour of
The gods, and you their ministers, preserved,
I cannot, in my height of joy, but offer
These tears for a glad sacrifice.

Diph. Sleep the citizens?

Or are they overwhelmed with the excess
Of comfort that flows to them?

Leost. We receive

A silent entertainment.

Timag. I have long since

Expected that the virgins and the matrons,
The old men striving with their age, the priests,
Carrying the images of their gods before them,
Should have met us with procession. Ha! the gates
Are shut against us!

Arch. And upon the walls
Armed men seem to defy us!

Enter above PISANDER, POLIPHRON, CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, &c.

Diph. I should know

These faces. They are our slaves.

Timag. The mystery, rascals?

Open the ports, and play not with an anger
That will consume you.

Timol. This is above wonder!

Arch. Our bondmen stand against us?
Grac. Some such things

We were in man's remembrance. The slaves are

turned

Lords of the town, or so.-Nay, be not angry :

Of our proud masters; and what you subscribe to Perhaps, on good terms, giving security

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