The noble horse,

With such decorum, as wise law-makers,
From each well-governed private house, derived
The perfect model of a commonwealth.
Humanity then lodged in the hearts of men,
And thankful masters carefully provided
For creatures wanting reason.
That in his fiery youth from his wide nostrils
Neighed courage to his rider, and broke through
Groves of opposed pikes, bearing his lord
Safe to triumphant victory, old or wounded,
Was set at liberty, and freed from service.
The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drew
Marble, hewed for the temples of the gods,
The great work ended, were dismissed, and fed
At the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have found
Their sepulchres; but man, to man more cruel,
Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave;
Since pride stepped in and riot, and overturned
This goodly frame of concord, teaching masters
To glory in the abuse of such as are

To shake our heavy yokes off; and, if redress
Of these just grievances be not granted us,
We'll right ourselves, and by strong hand defend
What we are now possessed of.

Grac. And not leave One house unfired.

Cimb. Or throat uncut of those

We have in our power.

Pol. Nor will we fall alone;
You shall buy us dearly.
Timag. O the gods!
Unheard of insolence?

Timol. What are your demands?

Pis. A general pardon, first, for all offences Committed in your absence: Liberty

To all such as desire to make return

Into their countries; and to those that stay,
A competence of land freely allotted

To each man's proper use; no lord acknowledged;
Lastly, with your consent, to chuse them wives
Out of your families.

Timag. Let the city sink first.

Leost. And ruin seize on all, ere we subscribe To such conditions.

Arch. Carthage, though victorious, Could not have forced more from us. Leost. Scale the wall!

Capitulate after.

Timol. He that wins the top first,
Shall wear a mural wreath.
Pis. Each to his place.

[Exeunt. [Flourish and arms. Or death or victory.-Charge them home, and fear not,

Enter TIMOLEON, ARCHIDAMUS, and Senators.

Timol. We wrong ourselves, and we are justly punished,

To deal with bondmen, as if we encountered
An equal enemy.

Arch. They fight like devils;

And run upon our swords, as if their breasts
Were proof beyond their armour.

Enter LEOSTHENES and TIMAGORAS.
Timag. Make a firm stand.-
The slaves, not satisfied they've beat us off,
Prepare to sally forth.

Timol. They are wild beasts,

And to be tamed by policy.-Each man take
A tough whip in his hand, such as you used
To punish them with as masters: In your looks
Carry severity and awe; 'twill frighten them
More than your weapons: Savage lions fly from
The sight of fire; and these that have forgot
That duty you ne'er taught them with your swords,
When, unexpected, they behold those terrors
Advanced aloft, that they were made to shake at,

"Twill force them to remember what they are, And stoop to due obedience.

Enter CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, ond other Slaves. Arch. Here they come.

Drinking the bitter water of afflictions,
Made loathsome too by our continued fears,
Comfort's a stranger to us.

Leost. Fears? Your sufferings,

For which I am so overgone with grief,

a flea-biting,

Enter PISANDER and TIMANDRA.

Pis. I know I am pursued; nor would I fly, Although the ports were open, and a convoy Ready to bring me off-The baseness of These villains, from the pride of all my hopes, Has thrown me to the bottomless abyss Of horror and despair. Had they stood firm, I could have bought Cleora's free consent With the safety of her father's life and brother's; And forced Leosthenes to quit his claim, And kneel a suitor to me.

Timan. You must not think

The villain's name, that robbed thee of thy ho

nour;

For being trained up in chastity's cold school,
And taught by such a mistress as Cleora,
'Twere impious in me to think Timandra
Fell with her own consent.

Timan. How mean you? Fell, sir!
I understand you not.

Leost. I would thou did'st not,
Or that I could not read upon thy face,
In blushing characters, the story of
Libidinous rape.--Confess it, for you stand not
Accountable for a sin, against whose strength
Your overmatched innocence could make no re-
sitance,

Under which odds I know Cleora fell too,
Heaven's help in vain invoked!-the amazed sun,
Hiding his face behind a mask of clouds,
Not daring to look on it.-In her sufferings
All sorrow's comprehended.-What Timandra,
Or the city, has endured, her loss considered,
Deserves not to be named.

Timan. Pray you, do not bring, sir,
In the chimeras of your jealous fears,
New monsters to affright us.

Leost. O Timandra,

That I had faith enough but to believe thee!
I should receive it with a joy beyond
Assurance of Elysian shades hereafter,
Or all the blessings in this life a mother
Could wish her children crowned with.-But I

must not

Credit impossibilities; yet I strive

To find out that, whose knowledge is a curse,
And ignorance a blessing.-Come, discover
What kind of look he had that forced thy lady,
(Thy ravisher I will enquire at leisure)
That when hereafter I behold a stranger
But near him in aspect, I may conclude

practised,

And suddenly resolve.

Pis. All my poor fortunes

Are at the stake, and I must run the hazard.
Unseen, convey me to Cleora's chamber;
For, in her sight, if it were possible,

I would be apprehended.-Do not enquire
The reason why, but help me.
Timan. Make haste-One knocks.
[Exit Pisander.

Enter LEOSTHENES.

Leost. Thou givest it in a heavy tone.
Timan. Alas! sir,

We have so long fed on the bread of sorrow,

A living funeral) must of force have shrunk at. No danger could compel her to dispense with Her cruel penance; though hot lust came armed

To seize upon her; when one look or accent
Might have redeemed her.

Leost. Might? O do not shew me

A beam of comfort, and straight take it from me.
-The means by which she was freed?-Speak,
O speak quickly!

Each minute of delay's an age of torment:
O! speak, Timandra!

Timan. Free her from the oath;

Herself can best deliver it. [Takes off the scarf.
Least. O blest office!

Never did galley-slave shake off his chains,
Or look on his redemption from the oar,
With such true feeling of delight as now
I find myself possessed of.-Now I behold
True light indeed: For, since these fairest stars
(Covered with clouds of your determinate will)
Denied their influence to my optic sense,
The splendor of the sun appeared to me
But as some little glimpse of his bright beams
Conveyed into a dungeon, to remember
The dark inhabitants there how much they wanted.
Open these long-shut lips, and strike mine ears
With music more harmonious than the spheres
Yield in their heavenly motions: And, if ever
A true submission for a crime acknowledged
May find a gracious hearing, teach your tongue,
In the first sweet articulate sounds it utters,
To sign my wished-for pardon.

Cleora. I forgive you.

He was a lover.

Leost. Not yours, lady?

Cleora. Yes;

lady,

And let me by degrees ascend the height
Of human happiness! All at once delivered,
The torrent of my joys will overwhelm me;—
So, now a little more; and pray excuse me,
If, like a wanton epicure, I desire

The pleasant taste these cares of comfort yield

me,

Should not too soon be swallowed. Have you not (By your unspotted truth I do conjure you To answer truly) suffered in your honour, (By force, I mean, for in your will I free you) Since I left Syracusa ?

Cleora. I restore

The object of his better part, discover
I was the saint he sued to.
Leost. A rare temper!

Cleora. I cannot speak it to the worth: All praise
I can bestow upon it, will appear
Envious detraction. Not to rack you further,
Yet make the miracle full; though, of all men,
He hated you, Leosthenes, as his rival;
So high yet prized he my content, that, knowing
You were a man I favoured, he disdained not
Against himself to serve you.

Leost. You conceal still
To owner of these excellencies.
Cleora. Tis Marullo,

rowed

When I last saw you.

Leost. Miracle of virtue!

One pause more, I beseech you :---I am like

A man, whose vital spirit, consumed and wasted
With a long and tedious fever, unto whom
Too much of a strong cordial at once taken,
Brings death, and not restores him. Yet I can-

not

Fix here; but must enquire the man to whom
I stand indebted for a benefit,

Which to requite at full, though in this hand
I grasped all scepters the world's empire bows to,
Would leave me a poor bankrupt.-Name him,
lady;

If of a mean estate, I'll gladly part with

Leost. Ha, ha, ha!

Cleora. Why do you laugh?

Leost. To hear the labouring mountain of your praise

Delivered of a mouse.

Cleora. The man deserves not This scorn, I do assure you.

Leost. Do you call What was his duty merit?

Cleora. Yes, and place it

As high in my esteem, as all the honours
Descended from your ancestors, or the glory,
Which you may call your own, got in this action,
In which, I must confess, you have done nobly,
And, I would add, as I desired;—but that
I fear 'twould make you proud.

In that I find, beyond my hopes, no sign Of riot in my house, but all things ordered As if I had been

present.

Cleora. May that move you

To pity poor Marullo.

Arch. Tis my purpose

To do him all the good I can, Cleora:
But this offence, being against the state,
Must have a public trial. In the mean time,
Be careful of yourself, and stand engaged
No further to Leosthenes, than you may
Come off with honour: for, being once his wife,
You are no more your own, nor mine, but must
Resolve to serve and suffer his commands,
And not dispute them; ere it be too late,
Consider it duly. I must to the senate.

[Exit Arch.
Cleora. I am much distracted; in Leosthenes
I can find nothing justly to accuse,
But this excess of love, which I have studied
To cure with more than common means; yet still
It grows upon him. And, if I may call

His sufferings merit, I stand bound to think on Marullo's dangers; though I save his life,

confess,

His love is unrewarded.
Both have deserved me; yet of force I must be
Unjust to one-such is my destiny.

Enter TIMANDRA.

How now? whence flow these tears?

Timan. I have met, madam,

An object of such cruelty, as would force
A savage to compassion.

Cleora. Speak! What is it?

Timan. Men pity beasts of rapine, if over

matched,

Though baited for their pleasure: but these mon

sters,

Upon a man that can make no resistance,
Are senseless in their tyranny. Let it be granted,
Marullo is a slave; he is still a man ;

A capital offender; yet in justice

Not to be tortured, till the judge pronounce
His punishment.

Cleora. Where is he?

Timan. Dragged to prison

With more than barbarous violence; spurned and spit on

By the insulting officers, his hands

Pinioned behind his back; loaden with fetters; Yet, with a saint-like patience, he still offers His face to their rude buffets.

Cleora. O my grieved soul ! By whose command?

Timan. It seems, my lord your brother,
For he is a looker on: and it takes from
Honoured Leosthenes to suffer it,

For his respects to you, whose name in vain
The grieved wretch loudly calls on.

Cleora. By Diana,

'Tis base in both, and to their teeth I will tell them

That I am wronged in it.

Timan. What will you do? [As going forth. Cleora. In person

Visit and comfort him.