And intimates eternity to man.

Eternity! thou pleafing, dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untried being,

Through what new fcenes and changes must we pass!
The wide, th' unbounded prospect lies before me;
But fhadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon it.
Here will I hold. If there's a pow'r above us,
(And that there is, all Nature cries aloud
Through all her works,) he, muft delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in, must be happy.
But when, or where -This world was made for Cæfar,
I'm weary of conjectures-this must end 'em.

Thus am I doubly arm'd-My death and life,

My bane and antidote are both before me.
This in a moment brings me to an end;
But this informs me I fhall never die.
The foul, fecur'd in her existence, fmiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point:
The ftars fhall fade away, the fun himself
Grow dim with age, and Nature fink in years;
But thou fhalt flourish in iminortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.

CHAP. IX.

SOUTHAMPTON AND ESSEX.

OFFICER.

My Lord,

We bring an order for your execution,

And hope you are prepar'd; for you must die

This very hour.

SOUTH. Indeed! the time is fudden!

Ess. Is death th' event of all my flatter'd hope? Falfe Sex! and Queen more perjur'd than them all!

CATO.

But

But die I will without the leaft complaint;

My foul fhall vanish filent as the dew
Attracted by the fun from verdant fields

And leaves of weeping flow'rs.-Come, my dear friend,
Partner in fate, give me thy body im

Thefe faithful arms, and O now let me tell thee,
And you, my Lords, and Heav'n my witnefs too,
I have no weight, no heavinefs on iny foul,
But that I've loft my dearest friend his life.

SOUTH. And I proteft, by the fame powers divine, And to the world, 'tis all my happiness,

The greatest blifs of mind yet e'er enjoyed,
Since we must die, my Lord, to die together.
OFFICER. The Queen, my Lord Southampton, his
been pleas'd

To grant particular mercy to your person ;
And has by us fent you a reprieve from death,
With pardon of your treafons, and commands
You to depart immediately from hence.

SOUTH. O my unguarded foul! Sure never was
A man with mercy wounded fo before.

Ess. Then I am loofe to fteer my wand'ring voyage;; Like a bad vessel that has long been cross'd, And bound by adverfe winds, at last gets liberty, And joyfully makes all the fail she can To reach its wifh'd for port-Angels protect The Queen; for her my chiefeft pray'rs fhall be, That as in time she fpar'd my noble friend, And owns his crimes worth mercy, may the ne'er Think fo of me too late when I am deadAgain, Southampton, let me hold thee faft, For 'tis my laft embrace.

SOUTH. O be less kind, my friend, or move lefs pity, Or I shall fink beneath the weight of sadness!

I weep that I am doom'd to live without you,

And should have fmjl'd to share the death of Effex.
Ess. O fpare this tendernefs for one that needs it,
For her that I commit to thee, 'tis all

1 claim of my Southampton.O my wife!
Methinks that very name should stop thy pity,
And make thee covetous of all as loft

That is not meant to her-be a kind friend
lo her, as we have been to one another;
Name not the dying Effex to thy queen,
Left it should coft a tear, nor e'er offend her.

SOUTH. Oftay, my Lord; let me have one word more ; One laft farewel, before the greedy axe

Shall part my friend, my only friend, from me,

And Effex from himself-I know not what
Are call'd the pangs of death, but fure I am

I feel an agony that's worse than death

Farewel.

-Farewel to thee

Ess. Why that's well faid-
Then let us part juft like two travellers,
Take diftant paths, only this difference is,
Thine is the longest, mine the shortest way-
Now let me go-if there's a throne in Heav'n
For the most brave of men and beft of friends,

I will befpeak it for Southampton.

SOUTH. And I, while I have life, will hoard thy memory: When I am dead, we then fhall meet again..

I must be heard, I must have leave to speak !

Thou

334

Thou haft difgrac'd me, Pierre, by a vile blow!
Had not a dagger done thee nobler juftice?
But ufe me as thou wilt, thou canst not wrong me,
For I am fallen beneath the bafeft injuries:

Yet look

me with an upon

eye of mercy; With pity and with charity behold me;

Shut not thy heart against a friend's repentance ;
But, as there dwells a godlike nature in thee,
Liften with mildness to my fupplications.

PIER. What whining monk art thou? what holy cheat,
That would'st encroach upon my credulous ears,
And cant'ft thus vilely? hence! I know thee not.

JAFF. Not know me, Pierre!

PIER. No, know thee not; what art thou?

JAFF. Jaffier, thy friend, thy once lov'd, valu'd friend! Though now deferv'dly fcorn'd, and us'd moft hardly.

PIER. Thou Jaffier! thou my once lov'd, valu'd friend! By Heav'ns thou lieft; the man fo call'd, my friend, Was gen'rous, honest, faithful, just, and valiant, Noble in mind, and in his perfon lovely,

Dear to my eyes, and tender to my heart:

But thou a wretched, bafe, falfe, worthlefs coward,
Poor even in foul, and loathfome in thy afpect:
All eyes muft fhun thee, and all hearts deteft thee.
Prithee avoid, nor longer cling thus round me,
Like fomething baneful, that my nature's chill'd at.
JAFF. I have not wrong'd thee: by thefe tears I have

not;

But ftill am honeft, true, and hope too, valiant;
My mind ftill full of thee, therefore ftill noble.
Let not thy eyes then fhun me, nor thy heart
Deteft me utterly: Oh! look upon me,
Look back and fee my fad, fincere fubmiffion!
How my heart fwells, as e'en 'twould burst my bofom,

Fond

335

Fond of its goal, and lab'ring to be at thee.

What shall I do? what fay to make thee hear me?

PIER.

Haft thou not wrong'd me? dar'ft thou call

thyfelf

That once lov'd, valu'd friend of mine,

And fwear thou haft not wrong'd me? Whence these chains?

Whence the vile death which I may meet this moment? Whence this dishonour but from thee, thou falfe one? JAFF. All's true; yet grant one thing, and I've done afking.

PIER.What's that?

JAFF. To take thy life on fuch conditions The council have propos'd: thou and thy friend May yet live long, and to be better treated.

PIER. Life! ask my life! confefs! record myself A villain for the privilege to breathe,

And

carry up and down this curfed city

A discontented and repining fpirit,

Burdenfome to itself, a few years longer,

To lofe it, may be, at last, in a lewd quarrel

For fome new friend, treach'rous and falfe as thou art!
No, this vile world and I have long been jangling,

And cannot part on better terms than now,

When only men like thee are fit to live in't.

JAFF. By all that's juft

PIER. Swear by fome other pow'rs,

For thou hast broken that facred oath too lately.

JAF. Then by that Hell I merit, I'll not leave thee, Till to thyself at least thou'rt reconcil'd,

However thy refentment deal with me.

PIER.

Not leave me !

JAFF. No; thou shalt not force me from thee;

Ufe me reproachfully, and like a flave;

Tréad on me, buffet me, heap wrongs on wrongs