Selected from the rest, let one depart [Exit DIONYSIUS. Mel. Unhappy men! how shall my care protect Your forfeit lives? Philotas, thou conduct them To the deep dungeon's gloon. In that recess, Midst the wild tumult of eventful war, We may ward off the blow. My friends, farewell: That officer will guide your steps. [All follow PHILOTAS, except PHOCION. Phoc. Satisfy my doubts; how fares Euphrasia' Mel. Euphrasia lives, and fills the anxious mo ments With every virtue. Wherefore venture thither? Phoc. Could I refrain? Oh! could I tamely wait Mel. Alas, he lives imprison'd in the rock. Thou must withdraw thee hence; regain once more Timoleon's alarm his slumb'ring rage; camp; Assail the walls; thou with thy phalanx seek The subterraneous path; that way at night The Greeks may enter, and let in destruction On the astonish'd foe. Phoc. By Heav'n I will! My breath shall wake his rage: this very night Mel. Hush Thy pent-up valour: to a secret haunt I'll guide thy steps; there dwell, and in apt time Phoc. Oh! lead me to her; that exalted virtue With firmer nerve shall bid me grasp the javelin; Shall bid my sword with more than lightning's swift ness Blaze in the front of war, and glut its rage With blow repeated in the tyrant's veins. [Exeunt. SCENE II. A Temple, with a Monument in the Middle. Enter EUPHRASIA, ERIXENE, and other Female Eup. This way, my virgins, this way bend your steps. Lo! the sad sepulchre, where, hears'd in death, A weeping pilgrim o'er Eudocia's ashes. Erix. Forbear, Euphrasia, to renew your sorrows. Eup. My tears have dried their source; then let me here Pay this sad visit to the honour'd clay That moulders in the tomb. These sacred viands I'll burn, an offering to a parent's shade, [She goes into the Tomb. Erix. Look down, propitious powrs! behold that virtue, And heal the pangs that desolate her soul. Enter PHILOTAS. Phil. Mourn, mourn, ye virgins; rend your scat- Some dread calamity hangs o'er our heads. The victim dropp'd, ere the divining seer Had gor'd his knife. The brazen statues tremble, And from the marble drops of blood distil. Erir. Now, ye just gods, if vengeance you prepare, Now find the guilty head. Enter EUPHRASIA from the Tomb. Eup. Virgins, I thank you-Oh! more lightly now My heart expands; the pious act is done, And I have paid my tribute to a parent. [Exeunt Virgins. Ah! whither does the tyrant bend his way? Phil. He flies the altar; leaves th' unfinish'd rites. No god there smiles propitious on his cause. Fate lifts the awful balance; weighs his life, The lives of numbers, in the trembling scale. Eup. Despair and horror mark his haggard looks. Do you retire, Retire Philotas; let me here remain, And give the moments of suspended fate Phil. Alas! I fear to yield :-awhile I'll leave thee, And at the temple's entrance wait my coming. [Exit. Eup. Now, then, Euphrasia, now thou mayst indulge The purest ecstasy of soul. Come forth, Thou man of woe, thou man of every virtue. Enter EVANDER, from the Monument. Eva. And does the grave thus cast me up again, With a fond father's love to view thee?. Thus To mingle rapture in a daughter's arms? Eup. How fares my father now? Eva. Thy aid, Euphrasia, Has giv'n new life. Thou from this vital stream Eup. Sprung from Evander, if a little portion Eva. Joy and wonder rise In mix'd emotions!-Though departing hence, To view thy goodness, and applaud thy deeds, Eup. Alas! too much you over-rate your daughter; Nature and duty call'd me- -Oh! my father, How did'st thou bear thy long, long suff'rings? How Endure their barb'rous rage? Eva. My foes but did To this old frame what Nature's hand must do. In the worst hour of pain, a voice still whisper'd me, "Rouse thee, Evander; self-acquitting conscience "Declares thee blameless, and the gods behold thee." I was but going hence by mere decay, Eup. Timoleon too Invites thee back to life. Eva. And does he still Urge on the siege? Eup. His active genius comes To scourge a guilty race. The Punic fleet, Half lost, is swallow'd by the roaring sea. The shatter'd refuse seek the Lybian shore, To bear the news of their defeat to Carthage. Eva. These are thy wonders, Heav'n! Abroad thy spirit Moves o'er the deep, and mighty fleets are vanish'd. Eup. Ha!-Hark !—what noise is that? Some busy footstep beats the hallow'd pavement. Oh! sir, retire-Ye pow'rs!-Philotas !—ha! Enter PHILOTAS. Phil. For thee, Euphrasia, Dionysius calls! Some new suspicion goads him. At yon gate I stopp'd Calippus, as with eager haste He bent his way to seek thee.-Oh! my sovereign, My king, my injur'd master, will you pardon The wrongs I've done thee? [Kneels to EVANder. From the fierce trial of tyrannic pow'r Phil. Oh! forgive My ardent zeal; there is no time to waste. You must withdraw: trust to your faithful friends. Pass but another day, and Dionysius Falls from a throne usurp'd. Eva. But ere he pays The forfeit of his crimes, what streams of blood |