Enter SEMPRONIUS, with the LEADERS of the Mutiny.

SEMPRONIUS.

At length the winds are rais'd, the storm blows high, Be it your care, my friends, to keep it up In its full fury, and direct it right,

Till it has spent itself on Cato's head.

Mean while I'll herd among his friends, and seem
One of the number, that, whate'er arrive,
My friends and fellow-foldiers may be fafe.

FIRST LEADER.

We all are fafe, Sempronius is our friend.
Sempronius is as brave a man as Cato.
But hark! he enters. Bear up boldly to him;
Be fure you beat him down, and bind him fast:
This day will end our toils, and give us reft;
Fear nothing, for Sempronius is our friend.

Enter CATO, SEMPRONIUS, LUCIUS,
PORTIUS, and MARCUS.
САТО.

Where are thefe bold intrepid fons of war, That greatly turn their backs upon the foe, And to their general send a brave defiance?

SEMPRONIUS.

Curfe on their daftard fouls, they stand astonish'd!

САТО.

Perfidious men! and will you thus dishonour Your paft exploits, and fully all your wars?

Afide.

Do

Do you confefs 'twas not a zeal for Rome,
Nor love of liberty, nor thirst of honour,
Drew you thus far; but hopes to fhare the spoil
Of conquer'd towns, and plunder'd provinces ?
Fir'd with fuch motives you do well to join
With Cato's foes, and follow Cæfar's banners.
Why did I 'scape th' invenom'd afpic's rage,
And all the fiery monfters of the defart,
To see this day? Why could not Cato fall
Without your guilt? Behold, ungrateful men,
Behold my bofom naked to your fwords,

And let the man that 's injur'd ftrike the blow.
Which of you all suspects that he is wrong'd,
Or thinks he fuffers greater ills than Cato?
Am I distinguish'd from you but by toils,
Superior toils, and heavier weight of cares!
Painful pre-eminence !

By heavens, they droop!

Confufion to the villains! all is loft.

САТО.

[Afide.

Have you forgotten Libya's burning waste,
Its barren rocks, parch'd earth, and hills of fand,
Its tainted air, and all its broods of poison?
Who was the first t' explore th' untrodden path,
When life was hazarded in every step?
Or, fainting in the long laborious march,
When on the banks of an unlook'd-for stream
You funk the river with repeated draughts,
Who was the laft in all your host that thirsted?

X 2

SEMPRONIUS.

SEMPRONIUS.

If fome penurious fource by chance appear'd
Scanty of waters, when you scoop'd it dry,
And offer'd the full helmet up to Cato,

Did not he dash th' untafted moisture from him?
Did not he lead vou through the mid-day fun,
And clouds of duft? Did not his temples glow
In the fame fultry winds, and scorching heats ?

САТО.

Hence, worthless men! hence! and complain to Cæfar You could not undergo the toils of war,

Nor bear the hardships that your leader bore.

LUCIU S.

See, Cato, fee th' unhappy men! they weep! Fear and remorse, and forrow for their crime, Appear in every look, and plead for mercy.

САТО.

Learn to be honeft men; give up your leaders, And pardon fhall descend on all the reft.

SEMPRONIUS.

Cato, commit these wretches to my care.
First let them each be broken on the rack,
Then, with what life remains, impal'd, and left
To writhe at leifure round the bloody stake.
There let them hang, and taint the fouthern wind.
The partners of their crime will learn obedience,
When they look up and fee their fellow-traitors
Stuck on a fork, and blackening in the fun.

LUCIUS.

LUCIUS.

Sempronius, why, why wilt thou urge the fate

Of wretched men?

SEMPRONIUS.

How would'ft thou clear rebellion!

Lucius (good man) pities the poor offenders
That would imbrue their hands in Cato's blood.
САТО.

Forbear, Sempronius !-See they fuffer death,
But in their deaths remember they are men.
Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous.
Lucius, the bafe degenerate age requires
Severity and justice in its rigour;

This awes an impious, bold, offending world,
Commands obedience, and gives force to laws.
When by juft vengeance guilty mortals perish,
The gods behold their punishment with pleasure,
And lay th' uplifted thunder-bolt aside.

SEMPRONIUS.

Cato, I execute thy will with pleasure.

CATO.

Mean-while we 'll facrifice to liberty.
Remember, O my friends, the laws, the rights,
The generous plan of power deliver'd down,
From age to age, by your renown'd forefathers,
(So dearly bought, the price of fo much blood).
O let it never perish in your hands!

But piously tranfmit it to your children.
Do thou, great Liberty, infpire our fouls,

And make our lives in thy poffeffion happy,
Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence.

[Exeunt CATO, &c,

SEMPRONIUS and the LEADERS of the
Mutiny.

FIRST LEADER.

Sempronius, you have acted like yourself, One would have thought you had been half in earnest.

SEMPRONIUS.

Villain, ftand off! bafe groveling worthless wretches, Mongrels in faction, poor faint-hearted traitors!

SECOND LEADER.

Nay, now you carry it too far, Sempronius: Throw off the mafk, there are none here but friends. SEMPRONIUS.

Know, villains, when fuch paltry slaves presume
To mix in treason, if the plot succeeds,

They're thrown neglected by: but if it fails,
They 're fure to die like dogs, as you shall do.
Here, take these factious monsters, drag them forth
To fudden death.

Enter GUARDS.

FIRST LEADER.

Nay, fince it comes to this

SEMPRONIUS.

Dispatch them quick; but firft pluck out their tongues,

Left with their dying breath they fow sedition.

5

[Exeunt GUARDS with the LEADERS.

Enter