Part 8 (1/2)

_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!