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Should dare above her sex's narrow limits-
And I will dare-and mis'ry shall assist me
My father! I will be indeed thy daughter!
The hero shall no more disdain his child;
Attilia shall not be the only branch
That yields dishonour to the parent tree.

Enter BARCE.

Bar. Attilia! it is true that Regulus, In spite of Senate, people, augurs, friends, And children, will depart?

Att.

Bar. Oh! what romantic madness!

Att.

Yes, it is true.

You forget

Barce! the deeds of heroes claim respect.

Bar. Dost thou approve a virtue which must lead To chains, to tortures, and to certain death?

Att. Barce! those chains, those tortures, and that death,

Will be his triumph.

Bar.

Thou art pleas'd, Attilia : By heav'n thou dost exult in his destruction! Att. Ah! pitying powers. (weeps.)

Bar.

I do not comprehend thee.

Att. No, Barce, I believe it.-Why, how shouldst thou?

If I mistake not, thou wast born in Carthage,
In a barbarian land, where never child

Was taught to triumph in a father's chains.

Bar. Yet thou dost weep-thy tears at least are honest,

For they refuse to share thy tongue's deceit ;
They speak the genuine language of affliction,
And tell the sorrows that oppress thy soul.

Att. Grief, that dissolves in tears, relieves the heart.

When congregated vapours melt in rain,
The sky is calm'd, and all's serene again.

[Exit.

Bar. Why, what a strange, fantastic land is this! This love of glory's the disease of Rome; It makes her mad, it is a wild delirium, An universal and contagious frenzy ; It preys on all, it spares nor sex nor age: The Consul envies Regulus his chainsHe, not less mad, contemns his life and freedomThe daughter glories in the father's ruinAnd Publius, more distracted than the rest, Resigns the object that his soul adores, For this vain phantom, for this empty glory. This may be virtue; but I thank the gods, The soul of Barce's not a Roman soul.

[Exit.

SCENE-within sight of the Tiber-Ships ready for the embarkation of Regulus and the Ambassador -Tribune and People stopping up the passageConsul and Lictors endeavouring to clear it.

MANLIUS and LICINIUS advance.

Lic. Rome will not suffer Regulus to go. Man. I thought the Consul and the Senators Had been a part of Rome.

Lic.

I grant they are— But still the people are the greater part. Man. The greater, not the wiser.

The less cruel.

Lic.
Full of esteem and gratitude to Regulus,

We would preserve his life.

Man.

Lic. His honour !

Man. Yes. Time presses.

And we his honour.

Words are vain.

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Clear the way, my

friends.

Man. How dares Licinius thus oppose the Consul ? Lic. How dar'st thou, Manlius, thus oppose the Tribune?

Man. I'll shew thee what I dare, imprudent boy! Lictors, force through the passage.

Lic.

Romans, guard it.

Man. Gods! is my power resisted then with arms! Thou dost affront the majesty of Rome.

Lic. The majesty of Rome is in the people; Thou dost insult it by opposing them.

People. Let noble Regulus remain in Rome.

Man. My friends, let me explain this treacherous scheme.

People. We will not hear thee-Regulus shall

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Enter REGULUS, followed by PUBLIUS, ATTILIA,
HAMILCAR, BARCE, &c.

Reg. Let Regulus remain! What do I hear?
Is't possible the wish should come from you?
Can Romans give, or Regulus accept,

A life of infamy? Is't possible?

Where is the ancient virtue of my country?
Rise, rise, ye mighty spirits of old Rome!
I do invoke you from your silent tombs ;
Fabricius, Cocles, and Camillus, rise,

And shew your sons what their great fathers were.
My countrymen, what crime have I committed?
Alas! how has the wretched Regulus

Deserv'd your hatred ?

Lic.

Hatred? ah! my friend,

It is our love would break these cruel chains.

Reg. If you deprive me of my chains, I'm nothing

They are my honours, riches, titles, -all!

They'll shame my enemies, and grace my country;
They'll waft her glory to remotest climes,
Beyond her provinces and conquer'd realms,
Where yet her conq'ring eagles never flew ;
Nor shall she blush hereafter if she find
Recorded with her faithful citizens,

The name of Regulus, the captive Regulus.
My countrymen! what, think you, kept in awe
The Volsci, Sabines, Æqui, and Hernici?

The arms of Rome alone? no, 'twas her virtue;
That sole surviving good, which brave men keep
Though fate and warring worlds combine against

them :

This still is mine-and I'll preserve it, Romans!
The wealth of Plutus shall not bribe it from me!
If you, alas! require this sacrifice,

Carthage herself was less my foe than Rome;
She took my
freedom-she could take no more;
But Rome, to crown her work, would take my
honour.

My friends! if you deprive me of my chains,
I am no more than any other slave:

Yes, Regulus becomes a common captive,
A wretched, lying, perjur'd fugitive!

But if, to grace my bonds, you leave my honour,
I shall be still a Roman, though a slave.

Lic. What faith should be observ'd with savages? What promise should be kept which bonds extort? Reg. Unworthy subterfuge! ah! let us leave To the wild Arab and the faithless Moor These wretched maxims of deceit and fraud: Examples ne'er can justify the coward · The brave man never seeks a vindication, Save from his own just bosom and the gods; From principle, not precedent, he acts:

As that arraigns him, or as that acquits,
He stands or falls; condemn'd or justified.
Lic. Rome is no more, if Regulus departs.
Reg. Let Rome remember Regulus must die!
Nor would the moment of my death be distant,
If nature's work had been reserv'd for nature:
What Carthage means to do, she would have done,
As speedily, perhaps, at least as surely.

My wearied life has almost reach'd its goal;
The once warm current stagnates in these veins,
Or through its icy channels slowly creeps-
View the weak arm; mark the pale, furrow'd
cheek,

The slacken'd sinew, and the dim sunk eye,
And tell me then I must not think of dying!
How can I serve you else? My feeble limbs
Would totter now beneath the armour's weight,
The burthen of that body it once shielded.
You see, my friends, you see, my countrymen,
I can no longer shew myself a Roman,
Except by dying like one.-Gracious Heaven
Points out a way to crown my days with glory;
O do not frustrate then the will of Jove,
And close a life of virtue with disgrace.
Come, come, I know my noble Romans better;
I see your souls, I read repentance in them;
You all applaud me-nay, you wish my chains;
'Twas nothing but excess of love misled
you,
And, as you're Romans, you will conquer that.
Yes! I perceive your weakness is subdued-
Seize, seize the moment of returning virtue;
Throw to the ground, my sons, those hostile arms;
Retard no longer Regulus's triumph;

I do request it of you as a friend,

I call you to your duty as a patriot,

And-were I still your gen'ral, I'd command you. Lic. Lay down your arms-let Regulus depart. (To the People, who clear the way, and quit their

arms.)

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