THE ARGUMENT.

AMONG the great names which have done honor to antiquity in general, and to the Roman republic in particular, that of Marcus Attilius Regulus has, by the general consent of all ages, been considered as one of the most splendid, since he not only sacrificed his labors, his liberty, and his life, for the good of his country, but, by a greatness of soul almost peculiar to himself, contrived to make his very misfortunes contribute to that glorious end.

After the Romans had met with various successes in the first Punic war, under the command of Regulus, victory at length declared for the opposite party-the Roman army was totally overthrown, and Regulus himself taken prisoner by Xantippus, a Lacedæmonian general in the service of the Carthaginians: the victorious enemy, exulting in so important a conquest, kept him many years in close imprisonment, and loaded him with the most cruel indignities. They thought it was now in their power to make their own terms with Rome, and determined to send Regulus thither, with their ambassador, to negotiate a peace, or at least an exchange of captives, thinking he would gladly persuade his countrymen to discontinue a war which necessarily prolonged his captivity. They previously exacted from him an oath to return, should his embassy prove unsuccessful; at the same time giving him to understand, that he must expect to suffer a cruel death if he failed in it: this they artfully intimated, as the strongest motive for him to leave no means unattempted to accomplish their purpose.

At the unexpected arrival of this venerable hero, the Romans expressed the wildest transports of joy, and would have submitted to almost any conditions, to procure his enlargement; but Regulus, so far from availing himself of his influence with the senate to obtain any personal advantages, employed it to induce them to reject proposals so evidently tending to dishonor their country, declaring his fixed resolution to return to bondage and death, rather than violate his oath.

He at last extorted from them their consent; and departed amidst the tears of his family, the importunities of his friends, the applauses of the senate, and the tumultuous opposition of the people; and, as a great poet of his own nation beautifully observes, "he embarked for Carthage as calm and unconcerned, as if, on finishing the tedious lawsuits of his clients, he was retiring to Venafrian fields, or the sweet country of Tarentum."

** This piece is a pretty close imitation of the Attilio Regolo of Metastasio, but enlarged and extended into a tragedy of five acts. Historical truth has in general been followed, except in some less essential instances, particularly that of placing the return of Regulus to Rome posterior to the death of his wife. The writer herself never considered the plot as sufficiently bustling and dramatic for representation.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

REGULUS.

PUBLIUS, his son.

MANLIUS, the Consul.

LICINIUS, a Tribune.

HAMILCAR, the Carthaginian Ambassador.

ATTILIA, daughter of Regulus.

BARCE, a Carthaginian captive.

Guards, Lictors, People, &c.

SCENE-Near the Gates of Rome.

THE

INFLEXIBLE CAPTIVE.

ACT I.

SCENE-A Hall in the Consul's Palace.

Enter LICINIUS, ATTILIA, Lictors, and People.

Lic. ATTILIA waiting here? Is't possible?
Is this a place for Regulus's daughter?
Just gods! must that incomparable maid
Associate here with lictors and plebeians?

Att. Yes; on this threshold patiently I wait
The consul's coming; I would make him blush
To see me here his suitor. O, Licinius,
This is no time for form and cold decorum ;
Five lagging years have crept their tedious round,
And Regulus, alas! is still a slave;

A wretched slave, unpitied and forgotten;

No other tribute paid his memory

Than the sad tears of his unhappy child;

If she be silent, who will speak for Regulus?
Lic. Let not her sorrows make my fair unjust.
Is there in Rome a heart so dead to virtue
That does not beat in Regulus's cause?
That wearies not the gods for his return?
That does not think all subjugated Afric
A slender, unimportant acquisition,
If, in return for this extended empire,
The freedom of thy father be the purchase?
These are the feelings of imperial Rome;
My own, it were superfluous to declare;
For if Licinius were to weigh his merit,
That he's thy father were sufficient glory.
He was my leader, trained me up to arms;
And, if I boast a spark of Roman honor,
I owe it to his precepts and his virtues.

Att. And yet I have not seen Licinius stir.
2

VOL. V.

Lic. Ah! spare me thy reproaches-what, when late A private citizen, could I attempt?

'Twas not the lust of power, or pride of rank,
Which made me seek the dignity of tribune;
No, my Attilia, but I fondly hoped

'Twould strengthen and enforce the just request,
Which, as a private man, I vainly urged;
But now, the people's representative,
I shall demand, Attilia, to be heard.

Att. Ah! let us not too hastily apply
This dangerous remedy; I would not rouse
Fresh tumults 'twixt the people and the senate:
Each views with jealousy the idol, power,
Which, each possessing, would alike abuse.
What one demands, the other still denies.
Might I advise you, try a gentler method;
I know that every moment Rome expects
The ambassador of Carthage; nay, 'tis said
The conscript fathers are already met
To give him audience in Bellona's temple.
There might the consul, at my suit, Licinius,
Propose the ransom of my captive father.

Lic. Ah! think, Attilia, who that consul is,
Manlius, thy father's rival, and his foe;
His ancient rival, and his foe professed:
To hope in him, my fair, were fond delusion.

Att. Yet, though his rival, Manlius is a Roman ;
Nor will he think of private enmities,

Weighed in the balance with the good of Rome.
Let me at least make trial of his honor.

Lic. Be it so, my fair! but elsewhere make thy suit; Let not the consul meet Attilia here,

Confounded with the refuse of the people.

Att. Yes, I will see him here, e'en here, Licinius. Let Manlius blush, not me: here will I speak,

That at this moment I am all the daughter;

The filial feelings now possess my soul,

And other passions find no entrance there.

Lic. O sweet, yet powerful influence of virtue,

That charms though cruel, though unkind subdues,
And what was love exalts to admiration!

Yes, 'tis the privilege of souls like thine

To conquer most when least they aim at conquest.
Yet, ah! vouchsafe to think upon Licinius,
Nor fear to rob thy father of his due ;
For surely virtue and the gods approve
Unwearied constancy and spotless love.

Enter MANLIUS.

[Exit.

Att. Ah! Manlius, stay, a moment stay, and hear me. Man. I did not think to meet thee here, Attilia;

The place so little worthy of the guest.

Att. It would, indeed, have ill become Attilia,
While still her father was a Roman citizen;
But for the daughter of a slave to Carthage,
It surely is most fitting.

Man.

Say, Attilia,

What is the purpose of thy coming hither?

Att. What is the purpose? patience, pitying Heaven!
Tell me, how long, to Rome's eternal shame,
To fill with horror all the wondering world,
My father still must groan in Punic chains,
And waste the tedious hours in cruel bondage?
Days follow days, and years to years succeed,
And Rome forgets her hero, is content
That Regulus be a forgotten slave.
What is his crime? Is it that he preferred
His country's profit to his children's good?
Is it the unshaken firmness of his soul,
Just, uncorrupt, and, boasting, let me speak it,
Poor in the highest dignities of Rome?
Illustrious crime! O glorious poverty!

Man. But know, Attilia—

Att.
O, have patience with me.
And can ungrateful Rome so soon forget?

Can those who breathe the air he breathed forget
The great, the godlike virtues of my father?
There's not a part of Rome but speaks his praise.
The streets-through them the hero passed triumphant-
The forum-there the legislator planned

The wisest, purest laws; the senate house-
There spoke the patriot Roman—there his voice
Secured the public safety: Manlius, yes;

The wisdom of his counsels matched his valor.