Agis: a tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane.

Table of contents

- [titlepage]

- PROLOGUE,

- DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

- ACT I. SCENE I.

- ACT II. SCENE I.

- ACT III. SCENE I.

- ACT IV. SCENE I.

- ACT V. SCENE I.

- EPILOGUE.

AGIS: A TRAGEDY.

FINIS.

〈1 page duplicate〉

AGIS: A TRAGEDY.

As it is acted at the THEATRE-ROYAL IN DRURY-LANE.

LONDON: Printed for A. MILLAR, in the Strand.

MDCCLVIII.

[Price One Shilling and Sixpence.]

PROLOGUE,

Written by —

Spoken by Mr. GARRICK.

IF in these days of luxury and case,

A tale from Sparta's rigid state can please;

If patriot plans a British breast can warm;

If Kings asserting liberty can charm;

If Virtue still a grateful aspect wear;

Check not at Agis' fall the gen'rous tear.

He view'd his subjects with a parent's love;

With zeal to save a sinking people strove;

Strove their chang'd hearts with glory to inflame;

To mend their Morals; and restore their name:

Till Faction rose with Murder at her side;

Then mourn'd his country; persever'd; and died.

That country once for virtue was rever'd;

Admir'd by Greece; by haughty Asia fear'd.

Then Citizens and Soldiers were the same;

And soldiers heroes; for their wealth was fame.

Then for the Brave the Fair reserv'd her charms;

And scorn'd to clasp a toward in her arms.

The trumpet call'd; she seiz'd the sword and shield;

Array'd in haste her husband for the field;

And sighing whisper'd in a fond embrace,

"Remember!—death is better than disgrace.

The widow'd Mother shew'd her parting son

The race of glory which his sire had run.

"My son, thy fight alone I shall deplore.

"Return victorious!—or return no more!"

While Beauty thus with patriot zeal combin'd,

And round the laurel'd head her myrtle twin'd;

Whilst all confest the Virtuous were the Great;

Fame, Valor, Conquest, grac'd the Spartan state.

Her Pow'r congenial with her Virtue grew,

And freedom's Banner o'er her Phalanx flew;

But soon as Virtue dropt her sick'ning head,

Fame, Valor, Conquest, Pow'r and Freedom fled.

May this sad scene improve each Briton's heart!

Rouse him with warmth to act a Briton's part!

Prompt him with Sparta's noblest sons to vie;

To live in glory; and in freedom die!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

- AGIS, King of Sparta, Mr. MOSSOP.

- Spartans.

- LYSANDER, Mr. GARRICK.

- AMPHARES, Mr. HAVARD.

- Thracians.

- RHESUS, Mr. HOLLAND.

- EUXUS, Mr. DAVIES.

WOMEN.

- AGESISTRATA, Mother of AGIS, Mrs. PRITCHARD.

- SANDANE, Queen to LEONIDAS the exil'd King, Mrs. YATES.

- EUANTHE, an Athenian Lady, Mrs. CIBBER.

Senators, Ephori, Messengers.

ACT I. SCENE I.

A court and hall, common to the palaces of the kings of SPARTA.

Enter SANDANE attended.

HASTEN, ORONTES, to the senate house,

And learn if rumor's voice has spoke the truth.

[Exit Attendant.

The adverse fortune of an exil'd king

Pursues my lord. Achaia's generous aid

Sustains his cause in vain. Why risk a battle,

When the continuance of defensive war

Secur'd success and victory in Sparta?

Would I had never left thy splendid court,

Delightful Sardis! to be Sparta's queen.

Enter AMPHARES.

Welcome, AMPHARES! Have the armies met?

AMPHARES.

They have. This morning, at the break of day,

The Spartan army charged Achaia's host.

This and no more is known. Suspense and fear

Possess the people; to the gates they run,

Then to their houses: the still whisper spreads

Thro' justling multitudes the dread alarm.

SANDANE.

Alas! revenge and empire now depend

On the wild issue of unruly war.

What if the arms of AGIS should prevail?

AMPHARES.

Although he should, the toils of fate surround him.

Dauntless and firm our brave associates stand,

And with impatience wait the destin'd hour

To rush on AGIS. This unlook'd-for battle

Is but a solemn prelude to the act,

Which bold conspiracy will soon perform.

This day shall terminate the reign of AGIS,

And make, O Queen! all power in Sparta thine.

SANDANE.

I see that danger only whets the brave.

But yet, AMPHARES, if my lord is vanquish'd,

Will not the conquering army awe the city?

AMPHARES.

AGIS shall be the surety of our cause,

And hostage for our safety, till we wrest

The sword from proud LYSANDER, if he conquers;

But that I fear not much. New to command

From idle Athens the mock hero comes,

Starts up a soldier, and a statesman too;

Each palm he claims: All honours must adorn

The chosen friend of visionary AGIS.

SANDANE.

May Mars direct him so to guide the war,

As AGIS rules the state: And mutiny

Prove there as fatal as sedition here.

AMPHARES.

This factious state must change its feeble form,

Waver no more beneath a double reign

Of limited, contending, useless kings.

Henceforth our monarch shall in Sparta rule,

As Jove alone in high Olympus reigns.

SANDANE.

S• reign the mighty monarchs of the East;

And such imperial power, I thought, belong'd

To Sparta's king, else I had ne'er been queen.

Young, and deceiv'd, I left my father's court

For Lacedaemon's miserable sceptre.

I did endeavour to extend its sway,

And to ambition rous'd my Spartan lord.

But the vain pupil of the Grecian schools,

Unprincely AGIS, marr'd the brave design.

Chief of the multitude, idol and slave

Of the base populace, he led the herd,

He urged their brutal fury on the king.

AMPHARES.

And now their fury on himself recoils.

Like the unruly elephant, they turn,

And trample down the ranks in which they fought.

SANDANE.

That is their Liberty.

AMPHARES.

Let us employ,

And then suppress, such formidable licence.

My magistracy now is near expir'd;

A king's resentment and a rival's hate

Have long hung over my devoted head:

Farewel to place, to dignity, and power,

Whilst haughty AGIS fills the Spartan throne.

I will not live obscure in Lacedaemon,

Nor roam thro' Grecian states a banish'd man.

If I must set, to rise and shine no more,

A fiery track shall mark my setting sun.

But AGIS comes.

SANDANE.

And AGESISTRATA.

Farewel! Success attend thee, brave AMPHARES!

I will not stay. My soul disdains to hide

Its hatred or its scorn.

[Exit SANDANE.

AMPHARES.

Yet they who mean

To gratify these passions, must conceal them.

This day decides my fate. So let it be,

Such brief conclusion have I ever lov'd.

Assist me, Hermes, God of stratagem,

With artful words, to sooth the mind of AGIS,

And turn him from the track my purpose holds.

Enter AGIS and AGESISTRATA.

AGESISTRATA.

Alas, my son! that bold bad man I dread!

AGIS.

He seems to wait us. At this hour, AMPHARES,

I think that thou of all men shou'dst have shunn'd me.

AMPHARES.

My motive in attending here your presence

Merits a less injurious salutation.

AGIS.

I know thy merits, and I will reward them.

Art thou not author of the woes of Sparta,

Prime mover and inflamer of sedition?

Hast thou not bent the power of thy high office

To the subversion of the state thou serv'st?

At thee this day my indignation burns.

I am dishonour'd—

AMPHARES.

What has dishonour'd thee?

AGIS.

Thou and thy practices, they have compell'd me

To leave the noblest station of a prince.

In time of war where should a king be found

But at his army's head? There AGIS stood,

When you and your presumptuous Ephori

Required my presence here. Ungrateful Spartans!

Had you allow'd me but one other day,

Then had I fought this battle for my country,

And died or conquer'd with her bravest sons.

AGESISTRATA.

Peril, my son! dwells not in camps alone:

In cities, palaces, and courts of justice,

With treachery and treason she inhabits.

Peril attended thus thou must encounter,

More hideous sure than in the ranks of war.

AMPHARES.

I know my actions have incens'd the king

But I imagin'd not that such suspicions

Found entertainment in your royal breasts?

AGIS.

Hast thou not join'd the enemies of AGIS?

Thou who wast once his friend, inconstant man.

AMPHARES.

I have oppos'd the counsel of a foe,

Whose arts depriv'd me of my prince's favour.

AGIS.

Thou hast oppos'd LYCURGUS and the laws,

Which rais'd the name of Sparta to the skies.

The Delphic God inspir'd the deep design:

For more than human was that power of thought

Which join'd the public to the private good,

With such perfection, that each selfish passion

Flow'd in the channel of the common welfare,

And, like one family of sons and sires,

And dearest brothers, a great people liv'd.

In peace they liv'd without or strife or scorn,

In war they fought to conquer, or to die.

Equal and free, our happy fathers knew

No interest but the interest of the state;

No gain but Sparta's glory; proud they bore

That palm aloft, and shar'd the high respect,

The admiration, which consenting Greece

Paid to th' imperial virtue of their country.

AMPHARES.

Revolving time that system overthrew,

And chang'd the manners and the laws of Sparta.

AGIS.

The laws have been neglected, not annull'd,

And corrupt rulers have corrupted manners.

Authority will soon revive the laws,

And great example yet restore the manners,

In spite of those who have oppress'd their country,

Depriv'd the people of their antient rights,

And while the nation sunk beneath their sway,

Still strove for power in a declining kingdom,

Still sought for wealth in an impoverish'd land.

Even at this hour rapacious they persist,

And, like some wretches in a stranded vessel,

Plunder and riot in the midst of ruin.

AMPHARES.

Mov'd by the present perils of the state,

This signal hour I chose, unknown as yet

The fortune of the field, to change my conduct,

And make an offer of my aid to AGIS.

AGIS.

If I should judge the future by the past,

Thou must forgive me, tho' I doubt thy faith.

AGESISTRATA.

Yet hear him, AGIS: in an hour like this

He who assistance offers is a friend.

AGIS.

This hour may yet deceive their country's foes.

I know the base foundation of that hope

Which makes my baffled enemies presume.

LYSANDER's army in its ranks contains

The best and bravest of Laconia's sons;

The faction wish and hope defeat to them,

That Sparta's generous youth may ne'er return

To guard that freedom which has made them brave.

AMPHARES.

The boldness of their hopes their deeds will prove

In the assembly, if Achaia conquer.

AGESISTRATA.

AMPHARES, say, what is their utmost aim?

AMPHARES.

The old dependants of the exil'd king,

And all the venal members of the state,

Won by SANDANE's arts and foreign gold,

Aim to restore LEONIDAS, who comes

With hostile armies to enslave his country:

Therefore SANDANE's proffers I rejected,

Have warn'd the king, and would have serv'd him too;

But since resentment and distrust prevent me,

Neutral I stand, and will not seek that welcome

Which his more artful enemies would give.

AGIS.

Thou speak'st more boldly than becomes AMPHARES.

Add that to the offences I forgive.

It is the sacred maxim of my reign,

That in a prince's consecrated breast

Revenge and anger should not long remain.

These passions in a king afflict the state,

By driving rash offenders to despair.

This day decides your character with me.

Now let your actions prove your words sincere.

AMPHARES.

No other terms I ask, and sure I am

Ne'er shall AMPHARES need again forgiveness.

[Exit AMPHARES. Manent AGIS and AGESISTRATA.

AGIS.

Well has he judg'd the season of submission.

He will assist us if LYSANDER conquers.

AGESISTRATA.

May Jove avert the evils which I fear!

I dread the ruin of the Spartan state,

And fear the downfal of our antient house.

The blackest fury of the Stygian realm,

The most destructive, is infernal Discord.

Bath'd in the blood of kings she walks this world,

And tumbles states and empires to the ground.

AGIS.

Nations oft perish by their princes crime;

But now if Sparta's antient state must fall,

Gods and good men shall witness for its king,

That he with fate contended for his people,

And on the ruins of their virtue sell.

AGESISTRATA.

Think not I mean to blame your high design,

Age has not chang'd the tenor of my mind,

Nor pall'd my admiration of true glory.

Sprung, like thy father, from Alcides' blood,

I feel the spirit of the Spartan line.

Only let me adjure thee to beware,

And walk with caution thro' surrounding perils.

Tho' thou despisest every form of danger,

Think what a helpless train attends on thee,

An aged mother, and an infant son.

AGIS.

Divine Alcides will protect his race.

AGESISTRATA.

I will invoke the God; in times like these

Prayers are the arms of our defenceless sex.

A spotless choir of matrons and of virgins,

Who o'er their country mourn, myself will lead

To the high temple of the son of Jove.

He yet may hear the voice of supplication,

And stretch his arm to save the Spartan state.

[Exit AGESISTRATA.

AGIS alone.

Without, the enemy; within, the faction.

What shou'd I think? I have a thousand thoughts

That rise and fall like waves upon the shore.

I need thee now, LYSANDER! O my friend!

I lean on thee, and thou perhaps art fall'n.

Ye ever-living gods, who know my heart,

I trust in you, for righteous are my thoughts,

All bent on raising up long-prostrate Sparta.

With Sparta too, I would be proud to rise,

And gain such glory as my fathers gain'd,

When Persia's tyrant trembled at their arms.

If in this just ambition I should perish,

My name shall go to nations yet unborn.

But I must change my strain; EUANTHE comes.

Alas, LYSANDER, led by love and thee,

She left her Athens for this land of broils.

Enter EUANTHE.

EUANTHE.

No tidings from the camp?

AGIS.

None, fair EUANTHE.

If we had lost the field, the flying rout

Ere this had reach'd our gates.

EUANTHE.

Oh! many a dame,

Matron and virgin, tremble at this hour;

But who has cause like mine? The most forlorn

And desolate of women is EUANTHE!

If—

AGIS.

Small the chance of what EUANTHE fears:

In the long wars of still-contending Greece

Leaders of armies have but rarely fallen.

EUANTHE.

One thing I know, and with prophetic tongue

I speak it, Prince! if Sparta triumph not,

Ne'er shall your eyes again behold LYSANDER.

Disdain in him is fatal as despair.

AGIS.

When he returns victorious from the field,

Then shall he hear who best has spoke his praise.

But I must leave you now: The senate waits me.

Hereafter we shall speak of this, and smile

Like mariners who on the peaceful shore

Sit, and with pleasure talk of tempests past.

[Exit AGIS.

EUANTHE alone.

This stedfast ease is all assum'd, I see;

He staggers at the imminent event.

How dreadful is this interval to me,

Who am bereft and destitute of all

Those aids that stay affliction; and must bear

The weight of woe that's heavier every hour.

The queen, and generous AGIS too, discharge

The dues of kindred with unfeigned love.

But our acquaintance is not old enough

To yield a ripen'd sympathy, whose taste

Alone can comfort such a mind as mine.

Yet I repent me not in this extreme,

That I forsook my country and my friends.

They would have forc'd me to a loathed bed,

And torn me from the noblest of mankind.

If he should fall! my love! my only love!

Shall I survive thee; and return to Athens,

Be humbled there before my haughty kindred,

And hear them blame the ashes of LYSANDER?

Forbid it, fearless love! forbid it, shame!

Forbid it, honour, and my nature's pride;

Death shall forbid it, for I dare to die.

Enter RHESUS.

EUANTHE.

RHESUS, Great Gods! Oh say, how fares LYSANDER?

RHESUS.

As well as glorious victory can make him.

EUANTHE.

Forgive my rash despair, my thanks accept,

Ye gracious powers who guard his daring breast.

Where is he now?

RHESUS.

With AGIS in the senate.

EUANTHE.

Already here; blest be the Gods of Greece!

RHESUS.

Soon as the trumpet from pursuit recall'd

Our conquering Spartans, in the field arriv'd

A weary messenger, by AGIS sent;

LYSANDER strait bespoke the royal band:

"With all the speed of men to Sparta haste,

"Chastise bold treason, and defend your king,"

He said; and call'd to me. With a few horse

I follow'd him: And when he sought the king,

By his command to you I brought these tidings.

EUANTHE.

Most welcome RHESUS. But has Sparta lost

None of her noble youth?

RHESUS.

No man of note

Fell in the field but one, whose loss you'll mourn,

LYSANDER's friend, Athenian POLYDORUS.

EUANTHE.

Alas! alas! my joy is mix'd with woe.

Unhappy youth! on my ill-omen'd head

The blame of thy untimely death will fall.

Conducting me, thou cam'st to distant Sparta.

Fatal the honours Sparta's king bestow'd

Upon the generous guardian of EUANTHE.

RHESUS.

Lady, the people of my native land,

The warlike Thracians, hold it vain to mourn

For men who fall in battle; such they deem

The favourites of MARS, our country's God.

Those they bewail who die by dire disease.

Of youth and vigor full. But most of all

Lament old men, who drink the bitter dregs

Of life and woe, and in decrepit age

(Extremity of dotage) wish to live.

EUANTHE.

Who are those men who near the temple stand?

Uncouth to me their garb, and strange their arms.

RHESUS.

They are Thracians, lady.

EUANTHE.

What seek they here?

RHESUS.

I will accost the herald,

And learn his business.

EUANTHE.

To the palace, RHESUS,

I go the willing messenger of joy.

This victory will free the anxious Queen

From many fears. I pray thee do not tarry,

But come and tell me what yon herald bears,

And what affairs still occupy the senate.

RHESUS.

Depend on the unwearied zeal of RHESUS.

[Exit RHESUS.

Manet EUANTHE.

AGIS and Sparta, and the public cares,

Detain LYSANDER from my longing eyes.

I see the happy change of my condition,

And share the triumphs of the man I love,

But yet the slightest circumstance creates

New fears to me. Why lingers thus LYSANDER!

My mind is not at rest; the winds are hush'd,

But still my bosom quivers from the storm.

[Exit EUANTHE.

End of the first Act.

ACT II. SCENE I.

EUANTHE.

THEIR tedious council now is at an end,

And surely he will hasten to EUANTHE.

What means this clamour?

[Shout of the People behind the Scenes.

Ha! he comes, he comes!

Loud acclamations and the voice of joy

Proclaim the hero.

Enter LYSANDER.

LYSANDER.

O my life! my love!

To meet thee here is happiness compleat.

The Gods have blest me to my utmost wish,

And brought me full of glory to EUANTHE.

EUANTHE.

Thanks to the Gods who have preserv'd LYSANDER.

Athenian Pallas sure has heard my prayers.

LYSANDER.

And mine; for mutual is the lover's prayer.

Another deity I now invoke,

Whose rites the god of war has long delay'd,

With peace well-pleas'd shall golden Hymen come,

And crown at last our long eventful love.

EUANTHE.

Speak not of Hymen now: his torch for me

He shall not light, whilst cruel Discord waves

Her horrid brand, and whilst unburied lies

Thy friend and mine, the generous POLYDORUS.

LYSANDER.

Tho' love and glory both my breast inspire,

And fortune smiles on both, yet sorrow finds

A place to sit in: but 'tis temper'd sorrow;

For never Grecian hero greater died.

EUANTHE.

He fell the victim of his love to thee;

He follow'd thee when thou forsook'st EUANTHE,

Left me the day I touch'd the Spartan shore,

Tho' royal AGIS begg'd thee to remain.

LYSANDER.

Unjust EUANTHE, thus to blame LYSANDER

Who sought the field, the soldier of his love

As of his sacred country: fought to gain,

With liberty, a rank and place of honour,

Such as becomes the husband of EUANTHE;

That tender name, and names that wait upon it,

Awake emotions as implacable

To tyranny, as generous and great,

As ever self-renouncing hero own'd.

When the chief aim is right, all passions else

Of noble kind impell the self-same way.

The lover and the husband rouse and fire

The Spartan and the man.

Of common clay, and in one common mould

Mankind are made; but the celestial fire

That gives them life and soul, is liberty.

And I, Prometheus like, to gain that fire

For Sparta's sons, would brave the bolt of Jove.

EUANTHE.

To me you need not vaunt your daring mind.

Alas! LYSANDER! I am still afraid

Of perils lurking in this troubled state.

O leave me not again to grief and fear,

And to AMPHARIS.

LYSANDER.

Leave thee to AMPHARES!

EUANTHE.

Yes, in thy absence he did talk of love,

Boasted his wealth, his clients, and his power;

Mention'd the ruin of thy father's fortunes,

And spoke contemptuous of thy rash designs.

LYSANDER.

Immortal gods! Did I not hate this man

Enough?

Enter a HELOT.

Whence, HELOT?

HELOT.

Lord, from Celimene.

(Delivers a Letter.)

LYSANDER. (reads)

Let AGIS stand upon his guard to day,

This to LYSANDER from a faithful friend.—

Helot, return, and tell the noble dame

That the remembrance of her generous mind

Shall live for ever in my grateful breast.

EUANTHE.

Who is this faithful friend?

LYSANDER.

A Spartan dame,

A gentle one, tho' wedded to a foe

Of royal AGIS. In her virgin state

She was the constant and the lov'd companion

Of fair DEIDAMIA, AGIS' short-liv'd queen.

Thro' all our various strife, the generous dame

Preserves the friendships of her early days.

This scroll the king must see. Farewel, EUANTHE.

EUANTHE.

Its threatning strain awakes my former fears.

Would you had been, like me, content with love,

And never left Illyssus' flowery banks!

A fairer garland there you might have won,

Than ever war bestow'd, th' immortal wreath

Of PALLAS, queen of arts as well as arms.

But you forsook the vale, and left the shade

To climb ambition's bare and rocky height,

To stand the storms and tempests of the world.

LYSANDER.

Your words, like melancholy music, take

My list'ning ear, and cause delusive sadness;

For vain the malice of our baffled foes,

And impotent will prove their last endeavours;

Past are the storms and tempests of our fortune;

Let not EUANTHE heed the rack of clouds,

Nor dread the murmurs of the falling main.

EUANTHE.

Elate with victory, you scorn your foes.

I wish that RHESUS would return again

Before you go to AGIS.

LYSANDER.

Where is RHESUS?

EUANTHE.

I saw some warriors clad in horrid arms

Near yonder temple stand. Strait RHESUS knew

The garb and arms of his own native Thrace,

And, wond'ring at the sight, went forth to learn

Who and from whence they were.

LYSANDER.

That should be known.

In yonder temple sit the Ephori,

Those factious magistrates who love not AGIS.

If RHESUS come to you, detain him not;

Our resolutions may on him depend.

EUANTHE.

LYSANDER, stay; you go again to AGIS,

Perhaps to plan new perils to thy life;

If so, by all that's sacred I conjure thee

To let me know your purpose. Speak with me

Before you execute what you resolve.

The image of the stern AMPHARES haunts me;

Need I entreat thee to defend me from him.

LYSANDER.

No! by the Gods! O urge me not, EUANTHE!

Nor rouse those thoughts a lover cannot bear.

Defend thee from AMPHARES! O my fair!

When thou art wrong'd, LYSANDER lives no more!

But see the king.

EUANTHE.

Let caution shew your love.

LYSANDER goes off towards that side of the stage where AGIS appears.

Manet EUANTHE.

If nature teaches me aright to read

The mind of man, this is a powerful spell

To charm the daring spirit of LYSANDER,

And make him think of me as well as Sparta.

[Exit EUANTHE. Enter AGIS.

LYSANDER.

Regard, O king, the warnings of a friend

Instructed in the counsels of thy foes.

Behold the stedfast faith of CELIMENE.

[Gives the letter.

AGIS.

I cannot think so basely of the people.

For them I have unplum'd the regal power,

And deck'd their freedom with the spoils of kings.

If they betray me; of all creatures, man

Is most ungrateful to his benefactor.

The generous courser and the faithful dog

With true affection love their gentle master;

Nay even the heavy ox, the stubborn mule,

Dullest of beasts, they know the hand that feeds them.

LYSANDER.

Humanity lives in thy breast, O king!

And dictates confidence unlimited;

Virtue approves the generous extreme,

And magnanimity this error loves.

Let private men indulge the glorious fault,

And set their lives and fortunes on the faith

And gratitude of those they have oblig'd;

But let severer prudence guard the heart

Of him whose brows are circled with a crown.

Enter an OFFICER.

OFFICER.

O King! the captain of Amycla's gate

Informs you that he has this hour descried

A band of men who halted near his post;

A thousand Thracians, they report themselves,

Hir'd by AMPHARES for SELEUCUS' service.

AGIS.

A thousand Thracians!

OFFICER.

On their march to Sardis.

LYSANDER.

By whose permission do they march this way?

OFFICER.

Before the troops arriv'd, a herald came

Who to the Ephori a message bore.

AGIS.

Your diligence in duty I commend.

[Exit OFFICER.

LYSANDER.

The veil's withdrawn, and treason stands reveal'd.

Ne'er shall AMPHARES need again forgiveness.

With what a double tongue the traitor spoke!

All-seeing Gods! how little do we know

The greatness of those blessings you confer.

Had we not fought to day, had we not conquer'd,

AGIS and Sparta had been lost for ever.

AGIS.

This victory came like the bolt of Jove,

And levell'd their designs.

LYSANDER.

Yet if they dare

The worst of crimes, their treason may succeed.

Your troops, your conquering troops, are not arriv'd;

Th' assembly meets; unguarded there you stand;

What keeps the traitors from your noble life?

AGIS.

My life! LYSANDER. No, I fear not that.

The ancient annals of this land record,

That barbarous foes revere the race divine,

And turn in battle from a Spartan king.

LYSANDER.

The multitude may still revere their lord

Who from the blood of great Alcides springs;

And yet some impious hand may strike the prince,

Altho' of virtue as of race divine.

AGIS.

I'll change the guards, and place at ev'ry gate

Some men of trust.

LYSANDER.

Mount your Thessalian steed,

And meet the troops that hasten to your aid.

With eager steps the royal band advance,

And wish for nothing but their king to lead them.

Then if the furies in their wrath provoke

Your foes to rise in arms, let arms decide.

Ne'er were the good and bad winnow'd so well,

And sever'd from each other. Such the hosts,

And such will be their fate, as when the rage

Of earth-born giants dar'd the sons of heaven.

AGIS.

Thou reason'st like an anxious friend, LYSANDER:

Thy fears are all for me, mine for my people.

Enter RHESUS.

Hail, gallant RHESUS! know'st thou ought of those

Thy countrymen, who thus unlook'd-for come,

And in a doubtful hour perplex our councils.

RHESUS.

The Thracians are a thousand men compleat.

From snowy Hemus and the northern hills

Of wild Odrysus the fierce warriors come.

RHINALCES leads them, of illustrious birth;

But, stern, imperious, and grown old in arms,

He knows no umpire but the sword, no law

Except obedience to the prince he serves.

AGIS.

Such oft are those that quit a needy home

To serve as hirelings in a tyrant's host.

RHESUS.

Next in command, my brother EUXUS stands,

A Youth to MARS devoted; for he loves

Danger itself, not danger's rich reward.

LYSANDER.

Hast thou yet seen him?

RHESUS.

No.

LYSANDER.

Has he yet heard

That thou art here in Sparta?

RHESUS.

He believes

That I am still in Athens, From the herald

I kept my name and quality conceal'd;

For I suspected that these Thracian troops,

Though hir'd for Asia, were for Sparta meant.

If it prove so, I may be useful here:

My valiant brother bears a generous mind,

And, tho' of arms enamour'd, justice loves.

AGIS.

Haste to your valiant brother, and explain,

With an impartial tongue, the state of Sparta.

Shew him where justice, and where honour stand.

If these are facred, as thou say'st they are,

To gallant EUXUS he may prove a friend.

LYSANDER.

Exert the strong persuasion of a brother;

And tell him, RHESUS, if he loves bright arms,

And that immortal glory valour gains,

No more to wield a mercenary sword,

But plant himself with thee in Sparta's soil,

Where AGIS will his noble nature cherish,

And rear his courage to such lofty deeds,

As antient story tells of Sparta's chiefs.

[Exit RHESUS.

AGIS.

I hope that RHESUS will divide the Thracians:

This favours well the biass of my mind,

Averse to leave the city on suspicion,

And drive the wavering faction to extremes.

LYSANDER.

O generous prince! whom I admire and blame.

The greatest foe, the foe LYSANDER dreads

Is the unequall'd gentleness of AGIS.

Review the story of the Grecian states,

And mark how freedom fell in every land.

The brave asserters of the public cause

Have ever been too mild in evil times;

Have, like indulgent parents, spar'd the rod,

And let the vices of their children live

To kill the virtues. Hence, let AGIS learn

The only lesson that his nature needs.

AGIS.

Uncertain is the peril if I stay,

But certain is the evil if I fly.

I will remain; but to assure my safety,

You must, LYSANDER, to the troops return.

LYSANDER.

And leave my prince alone amidst his foes!—

Revoke the hard command. If you're resolv'd

To brave the peril, then my place I claim

Next to your person; by your side I stand;

Perhaps some noble service I may render,

Receive the mortal wound aim'd at my prince,

And with my life redeem the life of AGIS.

AGIS.

Your great imagination's up in arms;

But hear me, and let calmer reason judge.

I am determin'd not to quit the city,

The guilt of civil war shall not be mine.

LYSANDER's presence here without the troops

Would but embolden and excite my foes,

Who may be tempted by this fair occasion,

This mighty vantage, to surprize us both.

Without delay, once more, LYSANDER, arm,

And ostentatiously pass thro' the gate.

This victory, and the approaching host,

Will hush the threatned storm.

LYSANDER.

So may it prove.

But there is something in my heart rebels

Against this counsel! Oh! I cannot leave you—

Nor ought I now to stay. Let never man

Say in the morning that the day's his own:

Things past belong to memory alone;

Things future are the property of hope.

The narrow line, the isthmus of these seas,

The instant scarce divisible, is all

That mortals have to stand on. O my prince!

LYSANDER leaves you with a heavy heart.

AGIS.

Farewel, thou Spartan of the antient mould,

Dear as the brother of his blood to AGIS!

[They embrace and part.

LYSANDER!

LYSANDER.

Ha! may heaven your purpose change!

AGIS.

My will is fix'd. But though my judgment too

Confirms the secret counsel of my heart,

Yet I may be deceiv'd; perhaps, my friend,

We part this moment ne'er to meet again.

LYSANDER.

Let us not part at all. 'Tis inspiration,

The guardian God, the Demon of the mind,

Thus often presses on the human breast.

AGIS.

Mistake me not, I feel no new impression,

Nor if I did, should I by that be alter'd;

For such presages, be they sad or joyful,

I deem them but the meteors of the mind,

Bred by the inward elemental strife,

When great events perplex and shake the soul.

My thoughts regard the state. If I should fall,

To thee, LYSANDER, I commit my son,

The only pledge of my DEIDAMIA's love.

Train up the boy to walk in the same path

Which we have trod together, the streight path

Of virtue and true glory. If he proves

Of noble nature, and I hope no less,

He will not shun the lofty path of honour,

Tho' fate should mark it with his father's blood.

LYSANDER.

Hear this, immortal Gods! who rule the world,

And guard a prince the image of yourselves!

O never, never may his royal race

LYSANDER's aid require.

[Exit LYSANDER.

AGIS alone.

Affection choaks his words,

His generous heart bursts at this solemn parting.

In times like these of a declining state,

Baseness infects the general race of men;

But yet these trying times rear up a few

More excellent, refin'd, and conscious spirits,

More principled, and fit for all events,

Than any in the good, but equal, mass

Of a far better age. Such is LYSANDER.

The hour draws near.

Enter SENATORS.

SENATORS.

Assembled Sparta waits.

AGIS.

I come, my friends! I will address the people,

Proclaim aloud mine actions which upbraid,

And soon shall silence, my despiteful foes.

My heart shall speak. This sceptre of my fathers,

By long descent hereditary mine,

I would disdain to hold, did I not hope,

That by its sway I might recall those days

When Lacedaemon was the pride of Greece,

The gaze and terror of the wondring world:

For there, as in a chosen temple, dwelt

Valour and virtue, whilst attending same

And glory on the land of heroes shone.

First SENATOR.

O Gods above! How happy were our fires,

In those bright days of antient glory born.

AGIS.

Those days shall yet return, Olympian Jove!

Or low in dust shall Spartan AGIS lie.

[Sound of musical instruments.

First SENATOR.

What means this musick?

AGIS.

To the Gods of Greece

And Sparta's guardian deities it sounds.

Let us begone, nor stop the holy train.

[Exeunt. Enter a Procession. AGESISTRATA, EUANTHE, Priests of JUPITER and HERCULES.
CHORUS of Matrons and Virgins.

Woes approach, till now unknown;

Discord shakes the Spartan throne.

Heav'n avert the ills we fear!

Jove, from high Olympus, hear!

Priests of JUPITER.

This day our foes embattled came,

And vow'd to end the Spartan name:

Embattled near our gates they fought;

But Jove for us deliverance wrought.

He smote Achaia's host with fear,

He thunder'd in their trembling rear;

Jove's lightning flam'd from Sparta's spear.

CHORUS of Matrons and Virgins.

Ever may his mighty arm

Save the Spartan state from harm!

Ne'er may proud Invader boast

Glory from our glory lost.

Light, O Jove, that sacred fire

Which did Sparta's sons inspire,

When the prince and people strove,

Burning with their country's love.

Xerxes, lord of great alarms,

Xerxes rous'd the world to arms.

Priests of JUPITER.

The earth was troubled at his host,

The springs were dried, the rivers lost;

But Spartan valour check'd his pride,

A slender band his host defy'd:

Thermopylae (immortal name!)

Beheld the Persian tyrant's shame.

CHORUS of all.

There the brave three hundred dy'd,

Faithful, by their prince's side:

There they conquer'd, tho' they dy'd.

Priests of HERCULES.

On earth below, in Heav'n above,

Rever'd, victorious, son of Jove!

Hear, Alcides, hear our prayer,

Thy godlike offspring claims thy care.

CHORUS of all.

Bend thy bow, Tyrinthius, bend,

Lightly on the earth descend.

Fix an arrow on the string,

Stand beside the Spartan king,

AGIS of thy race divine,

Tried in labours like to thine.

Undaunted, like thee, with monsters he strives;

The fiercest of Hydras in faction revives.

If he falls a sacrifice,

Never more shall Sparta rise!

[Exeunt.] As the procession goes off. Enter AMPHARES.

Thus may my pious foes for ever strive.

Be theirs the airy aid of fabled Jove.

In nearer and more certain force I trust:

Of human race, I fight with mortal arms.

Yet prais'd be Fortune, goddess of my vows,

'Tis she whose happy hand leads forth these dames;

Ne'er to the palace shall their steps return.

The net I've spread now covers all my foes,

Except LYSANDER. O had he been here!

Then I had stood, like mighty Atlas, firm;

Fate but reserves him to another day.

The time is almost come; my Thracians now

Have reach'd their posts; and many a daring eye

Looks for the signal. Here it is—my sword.

When I appear thus arm'd, the furies rise;

This is the comet, the fierce blazing star,

On which commotion, change, and death attend.

[Exit AMPHARES.

End of the second Act.

ACT III. SCENE I.

Enter EUANTHE.

ATHENIAN Pallas! O my native Gods!

Protect your suppliant in a foreign land,

Where shall I fly? O AGIS! O LYSANDER!

Enter SANDANE.

O Queen! a stranger thy protection claims,

Altho' thy lord, thy friends, are foes to mine,

Yet thou wilt sympathize with thy own sex,

And save me from the violence I fear.

SANDANE.

Where is thy lover to defend thee now?

Where is the conquering valour of LYSANDER?

And virtuous AGIS? the reforming king

Whom thou wast wont to praise. Let me advise thee,

On brave AMPHARES try thy boasted charms;

So young, so fair a captive may subdue

The victor's heart.

EUANTHE.

Are these a woman's words?

SANDANE.

They are, and suited to a light adventurer,

Who left her parents, and her native land,

To seek a lover. Sure her roving mind,

True to its passion, may the object change,

And, pleas'd, accept AMPHARES for LYSANDER.

EUANTHE.

Thou speak'st thy thoughts, and judgest of EUANTHE

By the deceitful standard of thy heart.

Too soon thou hast betray'd thy secret soul.

I am not yet a captive; I may live

To shew thee, Queen, that pity thou deny'st me.

LYSANDER comes to rescue, or revenge.

SANDANE.

LYSANDER soon shall be as AGIS is.

Thy wretched arrogance my soul contemns.

An enemy I have, the Spartan Queen,

Whose bitter tongue has often wrong'd my fame;

Her will I seek, and triumph o'er the ruin

Of her, and of her peace.

EUANTHE.

Had'st thou e'er felt

Sincere affection, thou would'st not insult me;

And hadst thou ever known a mother's pains,

Thou could'st not bear to grieve a mother's heart.

SANDANE.

Minion, for this expect! thou pageant! thou!

That dar'st to brave, exasperate a Queen.

Thou shalt repent thy pride, and kneel in vain.

[Exit SANDANE.

EUANTHE.

The anger that supported me is gone.

I feel my weakness, and her threatnings fear.—

Enter LYSANDER in a HELOT's garb.

HELOT, if pity, or if gold—

LYSANDER.

EUANTHE!

EUANTHE.

O Heav'n and earth! LYSANDER!

LYSANDER.

Yes, my love!

Thou see'st LYSANDER, miserable man!

Does AGIS live?

EUANTHE.

Amidst the clash of arms,

And cries of fighting men, I heard them shout

The name of AGIS. By-and-by a Spartan,

Flying and wounded, as he pass'd call'd out,

"The king is safe; the king has gain'd the temple."

LYSANDER.

Then all is safe; for Sparta lives in him.

EUANTHE.

But the good Queen!

LYSANDER.

Her sex, her age protects her.

EUANTHE.

Heaven grant they may; an impious band in arms

Pursu'd the holy train. Fear gave me speed,

For I outstript them all. But now, LYSANDER,

Betray'd, encompass'd, now what shall we do?

LYSANDER.

Wert thou but safely plac'd, LYSANDER knows

What he should do. I must not tarry here.

There is a temple in this spacious city,

For sanctity above all others fam'd,

To Juno sacred, the avenging Queen!

Thither a trusty slave of AGIS' house

Will guide thy steps; by my command he waits

Without the palace.

EUANTHE.

Whither dost thou go?

LYSANDER.

In this inglorious garb disguis'd, I wait

Till night and darkness come; then I attempt

The wall where'er I find it slightly guarded.

What mortal arm shall then oppose my way,

Urg'd as I am? Alas, my lov'd EUANTHE!

From my compliance with thy fond request

Springs the worst evil of this dreadful hour.

I have betray'd the confidence of AGIS:

But I'll repair my fault.

EUANTHE.

What dost thou mean?

LYSANDER.

AGIS commanded me to leave the city,

And thinks, would to the Gods he thought aright!

That his LYSANDER heads the Spartan troops,

In whom his only hope of safety lies.

But I, EUANTHE! partial to thy will,

Sought thee in vain. In that unhappy time

They seiz'd the gates, and shut me up in Sparta.

Fate punishes with too severe a doom

The human weakness of indulgent love.

AGIS! I come!—For the deep voices now

Of duty, friendship, gratitude, and glory,

Sound thro' my breast, and from my beating heart

Their echo rings. Farewel! my love, farewel!

EUANTHE.

Not yet, LYSANDER! AGIS is opprest,

And Sparta too. Does duty, or does honour,

Require LYSANDER, like an eastern slave,

To fall attendant on the royal pile?

What can you do? The army will betray you:

So with the few, the faithful few that love you,

You'll do some desperate action, and be slain.

If you despise your life, yet think of me,

The prey of curst AMPHARES.

LYSANDER.

Infernal Gods!

Let me not think of that. Retire, EUANTHE,

And in the hallow'd temple rest secure.

This night I'll force ill guarded Sparta's gates,

And save my prince, my country, and EUANTHE.

EUANTHE.

Thy prince, thy country are already lost.

O listen, and preserve thyself and me:

The ship that bore me to the Spartan shore

Rides still at anchor: leave this wretched land.

Where'er thou goest I will attend thy steps;

Thy gods shall be my gods; thy people, mine.

LYSANDER.

Alas! EUANTHE does not see the shame,

The ruin of that counsel love inspires.

Th' eternal gods repose this hour in me

No common trust: Upon my deeds depend

The fate of AGIS, and the fate of Sparta.

My soldiers too, my brave, my faithful soldiers,

The meanest warrior of the royal band

Freely devotes his life to godlike AGIS.

And shall their leader, shall the friend of AGIS;

Forsake his prince? I will forget thy words;

Repeat them not.

EUANTHE.

Is this LYSANDER's love?

Must I not speak? Is my reward reproach?

For you I left my friends and native land,

Defy'd all danger, and all censure scorn'd;

Now in my sore distress I call on thee

For whom I suffer, to protect my honour,

And in my sore distress dost thou upbraid me?

If ever maid, like credulous EUANTHE,

Bursts all the bonds of nature for one man,

Let her beware that he be not a Spartan!

O wretched maid! O Athens lost in vain!

[Ready to faint.

LYSANDER.

All-ruling powers! why am I thus distrest?

Why come calamities so thick upon me?

EUANTHE, hear me; you shall be obey'd.

I'll bear thee hence, and go with thee to Athens,

Restore thee to thy country and thy friends,

Of whom thou dost complain I have bereft thee.

LYSANDER will acquit himself to thee,

And to mankind—

EUANTHE.

Delude me not. Alas!

Thy tongue speaks comfort; but thy voice, thy looks,

Wild and unsettled, drive me to despair:

For thou, methinks, art desperate, LYSANDER.

Those lips that quiver, and those eyes that roll

Like dragon's eyes, those are not signs of love!

Thou say'st that thou wilt bear me back to Athens;

Will that acquit thee, if thou leav'st me there?

Is that thy purpose?

LYSANDER.

Yes. I'll leave the world,

And death shall wipe dishonour from my name;

AGIS and Sparta shall forgive me then,

And every debt be paid.

EUANTHE.

LYSANDER, no.

Love's victims are not of your sterner sex.

It is the destiny of womankind

Constant to live, and desolate to die.

To strong necessity EUANTHE yields.

If I should tear you from the side of AGIS,

I see my fate: you ne'er would love me more:

Tho' you should live, yet you would die to me.

But I will rather stay and perish here

Than live without thee. Go, and fight for AGIS;

But in the hour of danger think of me!

Calm in the rear direct the course of battle,

The dreadful van let other warriors lead,

In whom nor AGIS nor EUANTHE lives.

LYSANDER.

These words become my idoliz'd EUANTHE!

And honour now approves the voice of love.

O thou first object of my young desires,

And thro' each period of my ripening years

Still more maturely and intensely lov'd,

Hear and believe my words.—Beware—Beware.

Enter AMPHARES. [To his people.]

'Tis she, by Venus! halt. Fear not, my fair,

Nor meditate escape from your AMPHARES.

EUANTHE.

My AMPHARES!

AMPHARES.

Thine, and thine alone!

Thou low'ring slave, begone! Haste! urge me not

To stain my sword with thy ignoble blood.

[Exit LYSANDER.

EUANTHE.

Is this thy love? Imperious, and in arms,

Recent from blood and treason, dost thou come

To take by force and violence my heart?

AMPHARES.

The love of thee, more powerful than ambition,

Inslam'd me to attempt the Spartan throne.

Thy beauty is the torch that lights the war:

For thee I conquer—Smile not thus in scorn,

Deign to accept my hand and Sparta's crown.

EUANTHE.

Dost thou bestow the diadem of Sparta?

Where is thy lawful prince?

AMPHARES.

LEONIDAS?

EUANTHE.

AGIS.

AMPHARES.

That AGIS is no more a king;

A suppliant, surrounded by my troops,

In Juno's temple, with the priests he dwells.

LEONIDAS, by me restor'd to power,

Will gladly share with me divided empire.

Or, if I please to reign alone, I may.

Thro' dark conspiracy and open strife,

For thee I strove; thou wilt reward my love.

Beauty, like thine, pertains not to the vanquish'd,

But still triumphant reigns the victors' queen.

EUANTHE.

Thinkst thou there is no truth in human breasts,

No faithful loyalty, no constant love?

Soon shalt thou learn thine error. I begin

To teach thee first. Thee and thy love I scorn!

And may the gods reward thy base ambition

As I reward thy love.

AMPHARES.

O womankind!

How well your passions teach us to be just!

You love LYSANDER still; a little time

Will from your mind erase the memory

Of that vain-glorious, lost, and ruin'd man,

Who was my rival.

EUANTHE.

Was! whate'er he was

He is, and more. Thou and thy crimes contribute

To make him more illustrious, more belov'd,

Thou giv'st him scope and vantage to his virtue.

Speak'st thou of crowns whilst royal AGIS reigns?

Of power in Sparta whilst LYSANDER lives?

The short dominion of this day is thine,

But vengeance and LYSANDER come tomorrow.

AMPHARES.

Thou do'st instruct me. If my time is short

We should not part. I'll see thee safely placed

Where I command.

EUANTHE.

I will not go with thee.

AMPHARES.

Yield to necessity; for on my call

Compulsion waits. No other hand than mine

Should touch EUANTHE.

[Seizes her hand.]

EUANTHE.

Help, Spartans! help!

If any hear me who regard LYSANDER.

Enter LYSANDER with a dagger, and runs at AMPHARES, who retires.

AMPHARES.

Assist me, friends. Surround him—'Tis LYSANDER.

Take him alive.

[To his people who enter.]

LYSANDER.

No. That they cannot, traitor!

[Snatches a sword from one of the soldiers.

Now I am better arm'd.

AMPHARES.

Kill him, EUXUS,

Unless he yield his sword.

LYSANDER.

Come, brave AMPHARES!

Come to the front, and there direct my fate.

AMPHARES.

Kill him!

EUANTHE.

That would dishonour me for ever.

Advance on all sides, and close in upon him.

LYSANDER.

Strangers, give way, and let the Spartan chiefs

Fight their own quarrels. I will give you all

The wealth of Sparta.

AMPHARES.

Ha! he grows upon them!

Throw down year weapons, or I'll pierce her heart!

[Points his sword to EUANTHE'S breast.

EUXUS.

Renown'd LYSANDER! give thy sword to EUXUS.

EUANTHE.

Defend thy noble life! Regard not mine.

[AMPHARES lifts his arm.

LYSANDER.

Hold, hold.

AMPHARES.

Thou know'st me.—Choose.

LYSANDER.

I cannot bear to see EUANTHE die!

[Throws down his sword.

O AGIS! O my prince!

AMPHARES.

Victorious chief,

Statesman and soldier, learned Athens' boast,

Where are thy glories now?

LYSANDER.

The strife of tongues

I shun, as thou didst shun the strife of arms.

AMPHARES.

Yet let thy haughtiness grant one request.

Tell me what brought the great LYSANDER hither?

Some stratagem profound; which none but he

Could have contriv'd to hasten his destruction,

And add disgrace and ridicule to ruin.

LYSANDER.

Hadst thou not fled, thou coward, from my sword,

And shriek'd for help, this arm, this single arm,

Had baffled all the craft of false AMPHARES.

AMPHARES.

This pride becomes thee, and thy lost condition.

LYSANDER.

In this condition it becomes me best

To brave AMPHARES. Had he been a captive

I should have pitied him.

AMPHARES.

Plead'st thou for pity?

LYSANDER.

For none that thou can'st give. Hear me, then judge,

If what I speak is meant to win thy favour.

I should have pitied thee by fate subdued:

Opprest with crimes, thy spirit would have shrunk

Under calamity, and guilt have marr'd

The noble vigor and the port of manhood.

Amidst thy triumph, does it not confound thee,

To think thou ow'st it to excess of baseness?

Thou hast prevail'd, because the generous AGIS

Would not believe there could be such a traitor.

AMPHARES.

Oft have I heard, and often seen thy folly,

But now to rail is madness. With one word

I could impose on thee eternal silence.

LYSANDER.

And would—I know thee—if thou thought'st it wise.

Even then, as now, I should contemn thy power:

But know, I fear thee not. The king is safe,

And his victorious troops at break of day

Will thunder in thine ears: thou and thy band

Will ill sustain the shock of such an host.

My life is in thy hands, but yet beware,

Thy fate depends on mine. In Lacedaemon

A prince like AGIS soon will find LYSANDERS.

AMPHARES.

Uncertain thy predictions of the future:

Small is thy prescience, witness thy condition.

EUXUS, conduct him to you corner tower.

EUANTHE.

LYSANDER!

LYSANDER.

Oh! I have withdrawn mine eyes

From thee, and to contention turn'd my heart.

EUANTHE.

Yet look on me before we part for ever.

LYSANDER.

At looks or words of tenderness, he'll smile,

And o'er the sorrows of our love rejoice:

Forgive me still, I must not, cannot speak.

EUANTHE.

But I will speak, and earth and heaven shall hear me.

AMPHARES too shall hear; for it will gaul him,

To hear EUANTHE now avow her love

And faith to her LYSANDER. Powerful words,

Emblems and figures of firm constancy,

Such as fond lovers lavishly employ

To sooth the pangs of parting and of absence.

Such music vows accord not with our state,

Our dreadful state: yet do not grieve thy heart,

Thy noble heart, too full of other sorrows,

With thoughts of what may happen to EUANTHE.

Nothing shall happen to debase EUANTHE.

The bondage and the shame that women suffer,

Who live the slave of those who slew their lords,

I ne'er shall know, I never will endure.

If cruel destiny decrees thy fall,

Unspotted to the shades I'll follow thee,

For whom alone on earth I'd wish to live.

LYSANDER.

Lead on. Farewel, EUANTHE.

EUANTHE.

Gods above!

AMPHARES.

Conduct her to the tower where late you lodg'd

The captive queen.

EUANTHE.

Alas! no guarded tower,

Or vaulted dungeon, ever yet contain'd

Two more unhappy, or more helpless captives!

[Exeunt guarded.

AMPHARES.

LYSANDER's fierce demeanour and his threats,

Proud as he is, spring not from pride alone;

I must stretch forth my arms to shelter'd AGIS.

If I accomplish not this night his ruin,

Tomorrow's rising sun may see my fall.

Curst be the temples! curst the priests of Sparta!

Now I am like a man who has adventur'd

To cross the flats forsaken by the main,

And looking back sees not the shore he left;

Thro' deeps and shallows, rocks, and quaking sands

On he must go. To stop is sure perdition.

Enter SANDANE.

Hail to the queen of Sparta!

SANDANE.

Yes, AMPHARES!

Now fortune seems to smile upon SANDANE.

I saw the sullen captive led along,

His gloomy eye-balls fix'd upon the earth.

AMPHARES.

This night, O queen! must see the bold conclusion

Of a design, thus far so bravely borne.

On hollow and deceitful ground we tread,

Whilst AGIS lives.

SANDANE.

Thou speakst my very thoughts.

Seasons there are, AMPHARES, which suspend

All sanctimonious reverence and respect.

AMPHARES.

Temples, and priests, and altars shall not save him,

If fate should drive us to the last extreme.

Meanwhile, I will employ more gentle means

To gain our ends: For sacrilege would rouse

The zealous multitude to rage and arms.

The temple is begirt with Thracian bands,

Who all access forbid; and AGIS knows not

What has befallen LYSANDER. I will send

A subtle Spartan in LYSANDER's name,

Who may by specious arguments persuade him

To quit the sanctuary; and then, O queen!

With all solemnity of pomp and form,

Th' assembled Ephori shall pass his doom,

And in the same decree include LYSANDER.

SANDANE.

Think'st thou the Ephori will give the sanction

Of their authority to AGIS' death?

AMPHARES.

They will. At midnight the stern judges meet

In Terror's temple; they have charg'd a herald

With orders to the troops not to advance

On pain of treason. The astonish'd people

Will crouch and tremble at that awful power,

Which draws the sword of justice on a king.

Then shall your lord's authority revive;

And like the sun, when bursting from a cloud,

With greater power and brighter splendor shine.

[Exeunt.

End of the third Act.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

LYSANDER as a Prisoner, the Thracian Guards at a distance.

LYSANDER musing, advances and speaks.

HAS virtue no prerogative on earth?

And can the Gods permit the fall of AGIS?

They can. 'Tis man's own arrogance arrays him

In gorgeous titles of excelling nature,

Care of the Gods, and centre of creation.

I fear, I fear man's life is but a dream;

His soul a subtile essence of the blood,

A rainbow beauty, made to shine a space,

Then melt and vanish into air.

Ye mighty minds of sages and of heroes!

Epaminondas, Plato, great Lycurgus!

Who once with such transcendent glory shone,

Brighter than all the stars that deck the heavens,

Is your celestial fire for ever quench'd,

And nought but ashes left, the sport of chance,

Which veering winds still blow about the world?

I will not think so! Yet, alas! the while

I see and feel presages that alarm.

If they prove true. If man is like the leaf,

Which falling from the tree revives no more,

I shall be shortly dust. That will not hear

EUANTHE weep, nor see the shame of Sparta!

Now I'm a living man, my mind is free,

And, whilst I live and breathe, by heaven I'll act

As if I were immortal.

Enter RHESUS and EUXUS.

RHESUS.

See where he stands! behold him!—O my brother!

The bravest and the best of human kind.—

Opprest with grief and shame, and fatal love,

Indignant virtue but augments his pain.

Will not my EUXUS give his aid to heave

This noble vessel from the rock it beats on?

[Goes up to LYSANDER.

My lord! my leader! Oh!

LYSANDER.

My faithful RHESUS!

Com'st thou to share the ruin the LYSANDER

Has brought upon himself, his prince, his country?

RHESUS.

I come more eager and more proud to share

Thy present fortune, than thy former glory.

Alas, my lord! 'twou'd make a stranger weep,

To see the chief, whom conquest crown'd to day,

A captive.

LYSANDER.

RHESUS, thou hast nam'd the least

Of my calamities. I could endure,

With Spartan fortitude, my own disasters;

Bear to be hurled from meridian glory,

And, like a falling star, be seen no more.

But oh! the king!—and desolate EUANTHE!—

RHESUS.

Do not despair.

LYSANDER.

Thou art my only hope.

This day thy generous brother sav'd my life;

At his request I yielded up my sword,

Eise had LYSANDER like a soldier fall'n.

Thou art my friend in noble perils prov'd.

My fate, the fate of Sparta, and of AGIS,

Is in the hands of EUXUS—

RHESUS.

Ah! my brother!

EUXUS.

O chief of Sparta! EUXUS is distrest

On every side. Thy virtue, thy misfortunes

Have touch'd my heart: but here in trust I stand.

Would I had never seen the walls of Sparta!

LYSANDER.

The Gods, the guardian Gods of Lacedaemon,

Have brought you hither to preserve a people,

And save from traitors' hands the best of kings.

Altho' at first you rashly drew the sword

In blind obedience to a leader's will,

The gallant EUXUS will not sure persist

In error known, in manifest injustice.

Thy trade is war, brave soldier; this is not

An office for thy sword.

EUXUS.

True are thy words.

I was indeed deceiv'd, and came not here

To mix in Sparta's strife; but honour now—

RHESUS.

I will not hear thee plead so bad a cause.

Is there a bond in nature like the tie

Which binds the hearts of brothers? And will EUXUS,

From vain ideas of fidelity

To that detested traitor, false AMPHARES,

His brother murder?

EUXUS.

No.

RHESUS.

Then let thy arms

Defend LYSANDER. By our country's Gods

I swear, and by our warlike father's soul,

Whose well-beloved son thou ever wert,

That with the Spartan chief thy brother dies.

LYSANDER.

Might you not favour the escape of AGIS?

The guards are Thracians.

EUXUS.

I might favour thine.

My power extends not to the guards of AGIS.

RHESUS.

And wilt thou not?

EUXUS.

Command thyself, my brother.

RHESUS.

How canst thou hesitate?

EUXUS.

I must beware,

Inferior in command to bold RHINALCES,

And ever view'd by him with jealous eyes.

Whilst I deliberate no time is lost.

The light of day suits not with your designs;

Before the night comes on, I will determine.

LYSANDER,

'Tis almost night, the sun hath left the heavens,

And doubtful twilight ushers in the gloom.

Perhaps the enemies of AGIS wait

The darkness of the night to cover deeds

They dare not act by day. This night I dread—

RHESUS.

The Ephori have sent a herald forth,

Charg'd with some solemn menace, and command

To stop the army's march.

LYSANDER.

If they obey,

The fane of Juno guards the king no more!

Eternal Gods! how wretched is LYSANDER!

From me that herald should have heard his answer.

Cannot my RHESUS find one gallant Spartan

To bear my orders to the royal band

To storm the city?

RHESUS.

I myself will bear

These orders to the camp.

LYSANDER.

Another task,

More difficult and dangerous, is thine.

Assume the arms and vesture of thy country,

And thro' the Thracians win thy way to AGIS.

RHESUS, the generous spirit of that prince

Is of a nature that excludes all fear,

Consideration, and respect of Self:

On earth he acts as if he were a God,

Immortal, and incapable of harm.

Think how the artful falsehood of AMPHARES

May operate on such a royal mind.

[Enter a Thracian.

THRACIAN.

The Spartan lord draws near.

EUXUS.

AMPHARES comes.

Retire, my lord, whilst I advance to meet him:

Our intercourse might lead him to suspicion.

LYSANDER.

Nor vigilance nor care I recommend

To thee, my RHESUS! But let caution rule

Thy forward zeal.

RHESUS.

It shall, my noble lord:

My heart beats high with hope to see thee rise

Once more, like Mars, in arms.

LYSANDER.

Eternal Gods!

In Thracian breasts the Spartan virtue lives.

[LYSANDER enters into the tower. [Exit RHESUS.

Manet EUXUS. Enter AMPHARES.

How does the haughty captive brook confinement?

EUXUS.

Full of inquietude he seems, and sadness.

Now in some pensive posture sits a-while,

Then smites his breast, and, starting from his seat,

Walks to and fro with a disorder'd pace.

AMPHARES.

Admit no Spartan of whatever sex,

Or whatsoe'er affinity they claim.

EUXUS.

That strict command hath been already given.

AMPHARES.

'Tis needful, EUXUS; for his furious mind,

In this extreme, will snatch at slight occasions

To make incredible and wild attempts.

Renew the charge; then go and search LYSANDER

For secret weapons. On his breast he wears

A curious gorget, rich with precious stones,

And a small portrait of surpassing beauty,

The image of the fair Athenian maid,

Drawn by an artist who has vied with nature

In sweet expression of her matchless charms:

That I must have.

EUXUS.

You shall without delay.

[Exit EUXUS.

Monet AMPHARES.

Let other men deprive themselves of pleasure,

And toil for bare ambition; I'll provide

A more luxurious banquet to my taste.

What tho' as yet EUANTHE loves me not,

It is the nature of her sex to change.

With wondrous ease the female kind submit

To destiny; and soon are reconcil'd

To persons and conditions once abhorr'd.

Like birds new caught, who flutter for a time,

And struggle with captivity in vain;

But by-and by they rest; they smooth their plumes,

And to new masters sing their former notes.

This facile temper of the beauteous sex

Great Agamemnon, brave Pelides, prov'd:

They sack'd the cities, and they slew the sires,

The brothers, and the lovers of the fair,

Who weep'd awhile, then wip'd their watry eyes,

And lost their sorrows in the hero's arms.

Enter SANDANE.

The herald is return'd. The royal band,

Inflam'd with rage and scorn, the mandate tore;

And to the city bend their rapid march.

AMPHARES.

Let them advance. They hasten to their fate.

A secret stratagem I have devis'd

To check these warriors in their bold career.

SANDANE.

The Ephori in resolution faint—

AMPHARES.

Their courage I'll restore; for AGIS yields

To the fallacious counsellor I sent.

DEMOCHARES, in sacerdotal robes,

As if disguis'd t' elude the Thracian guards,

Past in by my permission, and conjur'd

AGIS to quit the fane's uncertain shelter,

And seek the sure protection of the camp:

Himself he offer'd as his faithful guide.

This in LYSANDER's name. AGIS at first,

Irresolute and doubtful, balanc'd much:

At last this thought sprung up, and turn'd the scale:

That his escape would force us to submission,

And end the strife without the shock of arms.

DEMOCHARES at midnight is appointed

To come again; and goes with an addition

That will give certain credence to his words;

The gorget of LYSANDER.

SANDANE.

Now, AMPHARES,

I see the snares of death are wrapt around him;

Our hated foe stands on the verge of fate:

He who despis'd SANDANE, and permitted,

With most insulting courtesy, my stay;

I would not have remain'd one day in Sparta,

But for the hope I had to work his ruin.

He is the root, with him the branches fall.

AMPHARES.

Altho' his son is safe in Orchomenos,

Yet there in hopeless exile he must live.

But AGESISTRATA—

SANDANE.

Shall not survive

To travel suppliant thro' the states of Greece,

And shew her hoary hairs with ashes strew'd,

To move compassion in the giddy Greeks.

She's old, and fit to die.

Enter a Spartan messenger.

The Thracian troops

Who guard the temple, faithful to their charge,

Have seiz'd a spy; who, cloath'd and arm'd like them,

Attempted to pass thro' their ranks to AGIS.

RHINALCES for a while delay'd the doom

That martial law decrees, till you yourself

Discourse and judge the captive.

AMPHARES.

I approve

The vigilance and conduct of RHINALCES.

[Exit Messenger.

SANDANE.

Still flows the tide of fortune; I'll dispatch

ORONTES to my lord. Joyful he comes

To re-assume his sceptre and his throne.

Farewel, restraint, and laws that bind a prince.

The people's majesty, the senate's power,

Shall shrink beneath their awful monarch's sword.

Fear is the only principle of rule,

Which man, like other animals, obeys.

[Exit SANDANE.

Manet AMPHARES.

Why tarries EUXUS now?

Enter EUXUS.

I must applaud

Thy countrymen for discipline and care,

As well as valour; they have seiz'd a spy,

Who' mix'd with them, disguis'd in Thracian arms.

EUXUS.

In Thracian arms!

AMPHARES.

Yes, to pass to AGIS.

Some bold adventurer of the royal band,

Whose life—Why art thou troubled? Has LYSANDER

Escap'd the guards?

EUXUS.

No. I am pale with anger,

At the reproachful terms, the bitter taunts,

Which I have suffer'd from incens'd LYSANDER,

In execution of thy late commands.

[Gives the gorget.

AMPHARES.

Is that the cause?

He soon shall be no object of thy wrath.

[Exit. AMPHARES.

Manet EUXUS.

My brother seiz'd! I hesitate no more.

The voice of nature in my breast exclaims

Against the rigour of those guilty laws,

Which bind a soldier blindly to obey.

Son of my mother! Brother of my blood!

I fly to save thee.—Now I'm thine, LYSANDER.

[Goes to the gate of the tower.

Chief of Sparta!

Enter LYSANDER.

Is EUXUS yet resolv'd?

EUXUS.

That thou shalt see, thy enemies are mine.

RHESUS is taken.

LYSANDER.

My contagious fate

Infects my friends! my brave, my generous RHESUS!

EUXUS.

Friend of my brother! first I set thee free.

An officer of mine commands that gate

At which the Thracians enter'd; haste thee thither,

Array'd like one of those whom I will send

To guide thy steps.

LYSANDER.

Ye guardian Gods of Greece!

Whose ways mysterious fondly I arraign'd,

Forgive my rashness! Prosper now my sword—

Where are my arms?

[Whilst LYSANDER speaks, EUXUS beckons one of his soldiers.

EUXUS.

Here enter, and obey

Without reply.

[Exeunt LYSANDER and the Thracian to the tower.

The soldiers hearts are mine.

Their various toils and perils I have shar'd,

And more than shar'd, the first in hard extremes,

When signal danger claims a leader's sword.

No spoil, no treasure, have I e'er reserv'd;

The wealth I covet is the soldier's love.

My bold Odrysians are a faithful band;

In this distress I'll throw myself on them,

They will support me.

Enter a Spartan messenger.

MESSENGER.

Leader of Thracian bands!

AMPHARES and the magistrates of Sparta,

Met in the senate-house, expect thy presence.

EUXUS.

I will attend them.

[Exit messenger.

Surely they have learned,

That I am brother to ill-fated RHESUS.

Enter LYSANDER in Thracian dress and arms.

LYSANDER.

Once more at liberty! Once more in arms!

To thee, brave Thracian—

EUXUS.

I am summon'd hence

To meet the Ephori. I fear, my lord,

They have discover'd RHESUS is my brother.

LYSANDER.

That secret in your breast and his is lodg'd:

Nor can his alter'd features now betray him.

In early youth he left his native land;

The heat of summer, and the winter's cold,

In many a hard campaign, have chas'd his bloom.

EUXUS.

Indeed, I knew him not.

LYSANDER.

Then who could know him?

Calm and determin'd to the senate go:

Here I'll remain, and wait your quick return.

To know what they design imports us much.

EUXUS.

Your stay is full of danger; risk it not.

LYSANDER.

All necessary dangers must be risk'd.

Perhaps I am the subject of their councils,

Perhaps I may be call'd before the senate.

If I appear not, you must be discover'd,

And my escape too soon to them be known.

EUXUS.

Your reasons are of force. I am convinc'd.

Here, take my sword. Then, if we are betray'd,

My troops obey you. Now, my bold SITHONTES,

[To one of his Thracians.

Draw your battalion nearer to the square,

And guard the person of this Spartan chief

As you would guard myself. If I'm detain'd,

Follow to death or victory LYSANDER.

[Exit EUXUS.

LYSANDER.

Shall I obey the impulse of my heart,

And lead these Thracians to the tower that holds

My lost EUANTHE? No, let reason rule.

AMPHARES will not, dares not, wrong her honour,

Whilst undecided is the fate of AGIS.

'Tis night, but never shall the morning rise

On—Who can know the secret will of heaven!

Tell me, ye inextinguishable fires,

That light the counsels of eternal Jove,

Have you, since Time began his long career,

Beheld a mortal like LYSANDER tost?

Down, down, enthusiasm! my heart be calm!

A little while, and thou shalt beat no more.

Oft have I wish'd for perilous occasions;

And, wandring in the academic grove,

Have rous'd myself with strong imagination

Of great exploits by ardent valour done:

But ne'er did fancy's tempest match the truth,

The strong reality of such a storm.

O did I combat but for life alone,

Were Sparta and EUANTHE safe spectators,

How gaily should LYSANDER take the field.—

EUXUS draws near—Upon the insect wing

Of a small moment ride th' eternal fates.

Enter EUXUS.

My fears were vain. The secret is unknown.

But RHESUS is condemn'd to die to-morrow.

LYSANDER.

To-morrow! Ere to-morrow men shall die

Who are not yet condemn'd.

EUXUS.

'Tis true by heaven!

Mortal designs and enterprizes rise▪

On every side. The Ephori resolve

At midnight to surprize the royal band,

And order'd me to hold my troops prepar'd

Their forces to sustain.

LYSANDER.

'Tis well! 'tis wondrous well!

They urge me now, and point the line of action.

Under the high up-lifted arm of fate

I'll rush, and strike before their blow can fall.

I'll storm the city while they force the camp.

Your troops—

EUXUS.

Shall join you at the gate. The word?

LYSANDER.

AGIS. Farewel! Now I shall save thee, AGIS,

Or leave my blood upon the stones of Sparta.

[Exeunt LYSANDER and EUXUS.

End of the fourth Act.

ACT V. SCENE I.

AMPHARES and the Ephori with the Officers, &c.

The gate of the prison seen at a distance.

First EPHORE.

THE hour is past.

Second EPHORE.

I fear—

AMPHARES.

Silence. He comes.

I hear the steps of wary treading feet.

Enter a Spartan, AGIS following.

AGIS.

This way conducts not to Amycla's gate.

Ha! whither dost thou lead me?

AMPHARES.

To thy death.

The Ephori of Sparta have condemn'd thee.

AGIS.

I am betray'd! What mockery is this

Of sacred justice? Lay aside the robes

And ensigns of authority prophan'd:

The pomp of magistracy suits not treason.

AMPHARES.

The licence of thy tongue affronts the laws,

Whose awful reverence our office guards.

AGIS.

Know ye not this, ye guardians of the laws,

The meanest citizen of Lacedaemon

Without free trial cannot be condemn'd;

Much less your king. What law have I transgress'd?

Point out my crime; produce my bold accusers.

AMPHARES.

Thy crime is tyranny.

AGIS.

Is that my crime?

Had AGIS been a tyrant, thou had'st been

His fawning slave, thou enemy of freedom.

AMPHARES.

Behold the stubborn spirit of this man:

He breathes his native arrogance, and still

Insults his judges, and avows his crimes.

AGIS.

Who made you judges of the life of AGIS?

But you have judg'd: yourselves, and earth, and heaven,

Know how unjustly. To the Gods above,

The sure avengers of a murder'd king,

I make my last appeal. Their messenger

Is on the wing; LYSANDER comes apace;

And NEMESIS directs his righteous sword.

AMPHARES.

Proceeds this boldness from thy trust in him?

Thy great avenger is, like thee, a captive,

And under the same mortal sentence lies.

AGIS.

Ye powers above! LYSANDER too a captive!

Where was he taken?

AMPHARES.

In the streets of Sparta,

Clad in the servile garment of a Helot.

AGIS.

Alas! alas! LYSANDER! O my friend!

Thy love for me, thy generous, fearless love,

Has wrought thy fall. For me thou cam'st to Sparta,

And▪ like the parent bird hov'ring too near

Its captive young, thy noble life is lost!—

Forgive these tears, my country! AGIS weeps

For thee. Alas! thy brave defender's gone!

O Lacedaemon•• thou art fallen for ever!

Thy bad estate shall every day grow worse;

Successive tyrants shall exhaust thy strength,

Till all thy generous youths have bled in vain;

At last the consummation of thy woes

Shall come upon thee; some ambitious foe

Shall stretch the iron arm of conquest forth,

And grasp thee in the circle of his empire.

My native land, the kingdom of my fathers,

Shall be no more a nation! O my country,

How irretrievable is thy condition!

The Macedonian vulture hovers o'er thee,

Soon to descend, and on thy vitals prey.

AMPHARES.

Thou may'st delay, perhaps avoid, thy death.

Send forth thy mandate to the royal band,

To halt till further orders.

AGIS.

Ha! No more

I trust thee, traitor. Would I had ever been

Thus deaf to thee! No, let the royal band

Revenge their gallant leader and their king.

First EPHORE.

Thou tempt'st thy fate.

AGIS.

I scorn it. Since my hope

Of Sparta's lost, and my beloved friend

Has perish'd in my cause, why should I live?

In any period of my former days

I rather would have chose to die attempting

The glorious design, which you have ruin'd,

Than live the prince of a degenerate people,

The tame spectator of a falling empire.

First EPHORE.

To Reason hearken.

AGIS.

Reason bids me die,

As I have liv'd, unalter'd in my love

To Sparta, and unconquer'd in my purpose.

You mean to take advantage of my state,

Without spectator, counsellor, or friend:

You think I dread the stern approach of death,

Because the blooming season of my life

Still promises a long extent of years:

But my forefathers blood is in my veins,

The blood of heroes, and of Spartan kings,

Less only than the Gods. I dare your worst,

And with my dying breath acquit my people.

The people rose; they hearken'd to the voice

Of Liberty, and blest the name of AGIS.

But you, the nobles, an inglorious race,

Base as the dastard and unarmed Helots,

With foreign arms and mercenary aid,

Bore down the people, and opprest your prince,

Whom death delivers. AGIS shall not see

The last convulsions of expiring Freedom.

For in the first he dies.

AMPHARES.

We'll hear no more

Of these invectives. Bear him to the place

Of execution. Officers, advance

And do your duty.

OFFICERS.

This is not our duty.

AMPHARES.

What!

OFFICERS.

Murder of a king is not our duty.

AMPHARES.

Mutinous flaves! for you I'll find a time.

Sir.

[To AGIS.]

AGIS.

Touch me not, for uncompell'd I go

To meet my destiny. Weep not for me,

[To an officer.

O! thou whose nature suits not thy employment,

Weep not for me! I would not change conditions

With these bad men. I shall not feel the woes

That thou and all must feel, the woes of Sparta!

O! might my death avail my much-lov'd country,

I'd die as joyful then, as fearless now.

[Exit AGIS guarded.

AMPHARES.

Atone your insolence by prompt obedience,

Or death's your portion.

[To an Officer. [Exeunt with AGIS. Manet AMPHARES, &c.

AMPHARES.

Magistrates of Sparta!

This painful work of necessary justice

Will quickly end the troubles of the state.

LEONIDAS, who owes his crown to you,

Your faithful zeal and service will reward.

[Exeunt Ephori. Manet AMPHARES and the Spartan who entered with AGIS.

AMPHARES.

Haste to the Thracian captain, and require him

To send his prisoner LYSANDER hither.

[Exit Spartan.

AGIS remov'd, and turbulent LYSANDER,

Like snow along the shore, their army melts.

Enter Messenger from the dungeon.

MESSENGER.

The executioners refuse their office:

Sacred they hold the person of a king,

A Spartan king descended from the Gods.

AMPHARES.

Again those fables of the villain priests

Rise up to thwart me. Now, my trusty servant,

Approve thy faith, and win my lasting favour.

Each instant of delay is big with peril

Whilst AGIS lives Let thy good sword fulfil

The sentence of the law, and thy own tongue

Shall name the recompense.

MESSENGER.

Shall it, my lord?

I am your instrument, and bind myself

By this bold deed still faster to your fortunes.

[Exit.

AMPHARES.

Ye sons of bold ambition, learn of me:

Trust not the survey of another's eye:

Your dangerous voyage needs a pilot's care

Who never quits the helm.

Enter SPARTAN.

SPARTAN.

We are betray'd.

LYSANDER—

AMPHARES.

What of him? Speak—faulter not.

SPARTAN.

Is fled.

AMPHARES.

Whither? With whom?—Eternal Gods!

SPARTAN.

The guards have set him free, the open gates

I saw, and ent'ring search'd the empty tower.

AMPHARES.

That traitor EUXUS!—Now let me resolve

And quickly too.

SPARTAN.

The people are alarm'd,

And gather to their tribes.

AMPHARES.

Curst be their tribes.

The deed is done already. Yet I have

One pledge of value.

SPARTAN.

AGESISTRATA.—

AMPHARES.

This hour she dies. I've sent a trusty slave

To end her woes. But the Athenian maid,

Her I'll bear off in spite of frowning fortune.

Go to the turret, and conduct her hither.

[Exit Spartan.

Manet AMPHARES.

Malignant powers! or blind unerring Fate,

This is your work: now you assert your empire.

Enter MESSENGER.

My lord, the troops of EUXUS have revolted.

RHINALCES visited this night each post,

And near Amycla's gate some Thracians met,

Whose leader, question'd, answer'd with his sword.

AMPHARES.

By heaven and earth, LYSANDER!—Ha! proceed.

MESSENGER.

The sudden onset, and the cloud of night

The traitors favour'd; some escap'd our swords,

But many more in the sharp combat fell.

AMPHARES.

Did their fierce leader fall?

MESSENGER.

Above the rest

Conspicuous he fought; at him each sword

Was pointed. If he fell not on the spot,

Sure he received wounds that must fatal prove.

AMPHARES.

Confirm me that, and I will mock at fate.

Command my troops, that in the Forum watch,

To join RHINALCES. I myself will follow.

[Exit MESSENGER. Enter EUANTHE.

How beautiful she is! Should he survive,

Those charms divine he never shall enjoy.

EUANTHE.

Why hast thou call'd me hither to afflict

And torture me with spectacles of woe?

The Gate of the Prison opens, and AMPHARES's Slave advances.

Eternal powers! Why yawn yon dreadful gates?

And from what horrid deed stalks yonder villain?

MESSENGER.

Thy orders are obey'd. He lives no more.

EUANTHE.

Barbarian monster! hast thou kill'd LYSANDER?—

But I will not reproach thee, nor complain

To the regardless Gods. My doom is past;

There is one only refuge for EUANTHE.

Once more I follow where LYSANDER leads,

Where murder and AMPHARES cannot come,

To part us more.

She runs towards th dunge on, AMPHARES seizes her.

AMPHARES.

Some other season choose.

There is no leisure now for lamentation.

Forthwith conduct her to th' Arcadian gate:

There with the horsemen wait.

Enter MESSENGER.

MESSENGER.

My Lord, my Lord,

The royal band by Thracian EUXUS led—

(Shout.)

AMPHARES.

My enemy prevails.—This way with me.

My steps pursue, or by the Gods of Hell!—

EUANTHE.

I will not leave this place. Draw forth thy sword,

And try if death can terrify despair.

AMPHARES.

Drag her along.

(Shout.)

Again!—the foe draws near.

(Shout from the other side, AGIS and Liberty.)

AMPHARES.

I am encompast; yet I'll mar their triumph.

Runs at EUANTHE with his sword. Enter LYSANDER followed by RHESUS.

Infernal dog, turn and behold LYSANDER.

Fly, RHESUS, to the king. Traitor accurst! Exit RHESUS.

Down, down, to Tartarus; there, villain, howl.

[AMPHARES falls.

EUANTHE.

Amazing powers! alive! victorious! Oh!

LYSANDER.

And have I come to fave thee, O EUANTHE!

But oh! I fear, I come too late for AGIS.

The dungeon-mouth is open.

Enter RHESUS.

Tell me, RHESUS.

RHESUS.

The king is murder'd, in yon vault he lies.

LYSANDER.

My prince! my friend! thy goodness, and thy virtue,

Thy clemency, thy mildness, have undone thee!

Fatal to nations is the dread example!

Hence monarchs, who with iron sceptre rule,

Will justify their treatment of mankind;

And virtuous princes, born in evil times,

Will hesitate to stem corruption's tide,

Lest they should be like AGIS overwhelm'd.

AMPHARES.

He who preferr'd LYSANDER to AMPHARES,

Has paid me with his life. My dying hand

Hath sow'd the seeds of discord and distraction.

Peace ne'er shall dwell in Sparta. Plagues on plagues

Shall rise to curse you, as—

(Dies.)

LYSANDER.

Thy soul is curst.

There the fell spirit of AMPHARES fled

In imprecations. Prophet of disasters,

Upon the dismal banks of Acheron,

Amidst the wailing ghosts, still curse thy country,

And end a speech the damn'd will hate to hear.—

Behold the mother of our murder'd king.

Enter AGESISTRATA and EUXUS.

AGESISTRATA.

Alas! I need not ask the fate of AGIS:

Your looks, your silence say, I have no son!

Yet speak to me, for I can hear the worst,

I have been long familiar with affliction;

I am the widow of the fire of AGIS.

LYSANDER.

There lies the bloody author of his death

Slain by my hand.

AGESISTRATA.

Alas! alas! my son!

Oft has my anxious mind this hour foreseen,

And warn'd thee oft. But thou the danger scorn'd,

When Sparta's glory was the price of peril.

O! son of Jove, great author of our race,

Sustain my soul. For he who was my stay,

My comfort, and my strength, is now no more.

Yet in the path his generous spirit chose,

He fell; and conscious virtue crown'd his fall.

LYSANDER.

So fell not false AMPHARES.

EUXUS.

And SANDANE.

LYSANDER.

SANDANE dead!

EUXUS.

And dreadful was her death.

She fled, for refuge from the people's rage,

To the same turret where AMPHARES' troops

Guarded the queen, whose mantle on the ground

She spied, and wrapt it round her wretched head;

When suddenly a stern assassin came,

And stabb'd her, as that queen whose robe she wore.

Arriving then, I heard her shriek for help,

Implore her country's Gods, with bitter cries,

And, in her agony divulge her crimes.

It was no wonder that she fear'd to die.

AGESISTRATA.

O guilt! thou'rt worst of all; he knew thee not,

For whom I mourn. Untimely was his fate;

Yet fall of high and pleasing thoughts he fell.

Great-hearted Virtue, in its swelling hour,

Scarce feels the blow that strikes at brittle life.

The painful part is mine, in grief to live.

Would I had dy'd for thee, my son! my son!

EUANTHE.

EUANTHE's tears shall ever flow with yours,

For her protector and her gentle friend.

Mysterious are the counsels of the Gods;

Together AGIS and AMPHARES fall.

LYSANDER.

The son of AGIS lives, his infant years

Require a mother's care. Without delay

Proclaim the son of AGIS king of Sparta.

To him, the offspring of my prince ador'd,

Descend the love and faith I bore to AGIS.

Ye generous Thracians, who this day have shewn

The matchless worth and honour of your minds,

Henceforth be Spartans. And, ye Spartan youths

Whom AGIS lov'd, and for whose rights he died,

Display the spirit of your dear-bought freedom;

With grateful valour guard the hero's son,

And prove that AGIS perish'd not in vain.

AGESISTRATA.

Conduct me, Spartans, to his dear remains.

LYSANDER.

Forbear awhile yon dismal vault.—

Enter MESSENGER.

MESSENGER.

My Lord,

The people, headed by the priests of Jove

And Hercules, in long procession come,

Bearing the body of their royal lord,

From that base dungeon to the sculptur'd tomb

Which guards the sacred dust of Sparta's kings.

Enter the Procession with the Body of AGIS.

LYSANDER.

O Destiny supreme!

EUANTHE.

O sad remains

Of youth and majesty!

AGESISTRATA.

My son! my son!

Nature is thwarted here; thou shouldst have borne

Thy aged parent to the silent tomb.

CHORUS.

Mourn, ye sons of Sparta, mourn,

Pour the sad lamenting strain.

Wretched people! Land forlorn!

Mourn the best of princes slain.

Priest of JUPITER.

He fell not as the warrior falls,

Whose breast defends his native walls.

To treason Agis bow'd his head,

And by his guilty subjects bled:

Betray'd by those his mercy spar'd;

Ingratitude was his reward.

CHORUS.

Shame is mix'd with Sparta's woe,

Blood of kings the city stains.

Ever let our sorrows flow,

Shame indelible remains.

Priest of JUPITER.

Yet AGIS triumph'd in his fall;

For Virtue triumphs over all:

Great, superior to his fate,

He only griev'd for Sparta's state.

When Jove decrees a nation's doom,

He calls their heroes to the tomb.

Fearless they fall, immortal rise,

And claim the freedom of the skies.

CHORUS.

AGIS triumph'd in his fall,

Virtue triumphs over all!

Such a king shall ne'er return:

Our country and ourselves we mourn.

Priest of HERCULES.

AGIS fell, by fraud o'ercome;

A like was great Alcides' doom.

Yet then most worthy of his fire,

The son of Jove, when wrapt in fire,

Victorious crown'd his labours past:

His noblest labour was the last.

CHORUS of all.

Now in peace our hero lies,

Ceas'd his toil, his race is run;

Freedom is the glorious prize

Agis for his people won.

EPILOGUE.

Spoken by Mrs. PRITCHARD.

A King in bloom of youth, for freedom die!

Our bard, tho' bold, durst not have soar'd so high.

This is no credulous admiring age;

But sacred sure the faith of Plutarch's page.

In simple stile that antient sage relates

The tale of Sparta, chief of Grecian states:

Eight hundred years it flourish'd, great in arms,

On dangers rose, and grow amidst alarms.

Of Sparta's triumph you have heard the cause,

More strong, more noble than Lycurgus' laws:

How Spartan Dames, by glory's charms inspir'd,

The son, the lover, and the husband fir'd.

Ye Fair of Britain's isle, which justly claims

The Grecian title, land of lovely dames,

In Britain's cause exert your matchless charms,

And rouse your lovers to the love of arms.

Hid, not extinct, the spark of valour lies;

Your breath shall raise it f•aming to the skies.

Now Mars his bloody banner hangs in air,

And bids Britannia's s•ns for war prepare.

Let each lov'd maid, •ach mother bring the shield,

And arm their country's champions for the field.

Arm'd and inflam'd each British breast shall burn,

No youth unlaurel'd shall to you return.

Then shall we cease t'exult at trophies won,

In glory's field, by Heroes—not our own.

France yet shall tremble at the British sword,

And dread the Vengeance of her antient Lord.

Information about this book

Title statement

Agis: a tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane.

Home, John, 1722-1808.

Publication

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University of Oxford Text Archive
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ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/3458

ID [isbn10]

1106004574

ID [isbn13]

9781106004574

ID [TCP]

K009952.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3312050625

ID [ECLL]

0159101400

Availability

Distributed by the University of Oxford under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Source

— Agis: a tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane., Home, John, 1722-1808.. [4],71,[1]p. ; 8⁰. London :: printed for A. Millar,. 1758.. [Anonymous. By John Home.] [In this edition the second line on the recto of the second leaf reads: "written by -".] [Reproduction of original from the Harvard University Houghton Library.] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCN15838.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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