САТО.

Rafh youth, forbear!

PORTIU S.

O let the prayers, th' entreaties of your friends, Their tears, their common danger, wreft it from you.

CATO.

Wouldst thou betray me? would'st thou give me up A flave, a captive, into Cæfar's hands? Retire, and learn obedience to a father, Or know, young man !-

PORTIUS.

Look not thus fternly on me;

You know I'd rather die than difobey you.

САТО.

'Tis well! again I'm master of myself.
Now, Cæfar, let thy troops beset our gates,
And bar each avenue, thy gathering fleets
O'er-fpread the fea, and ftop up every port;
Cato fhall open to himself a paffage,
And mock thy hopes-

PORTIU S.

O Sir, forgive your fon,

Whofe grief hangs heavy on him! O my father!
How am I fure it is not the last time

I e'er fhall call you fo! Be not displeas'd,
O be not angry with me whilft I weep,

And, in the anguish of my heart, befeech you

To quit the dreadful purpose of your

САТО.

foul.

Thou hast been ever good and dutiful.

[Embracing him.

Weep

Weep not, my fon. All will be well again.
The righteous gods, whom I have fought to please,
Will fuccour Cato, and preferve his children.

PORTIU S.

Your words give comfort to my drooping heart,

CATO.

Portius, thou may'st rely upon my conduct.
Thy father will not act what misbecomes him.
But go, my fon, and fee if aught be wanting
Among thy father's friends: see them embark'd;
And tell me if the winds and feas befriend them.
My foul is quite weigh'd down with care, and asks
The foft refreshment of a moment's fleep.

PORTI U S.

[Exit.

My thoughts are more at eafe,, my heart revives..

Enter MARCIA.

O Marcia, O my fifter, ftill there's hope!*
Our father will not caft away a life

So needful to us all, and to his country.

He is retir'd to reft, and seems to cherish

Thoughts full of peace. He has dispatch'd me hence With orders, that befpeak a mind compos'd,

And studious for the safety of his friends.

Marcia, take care that none disturb his flumbers. [Exit.

MARCI A.

O ye immortal powers, that guard the just,
Watch round his couch, and foften his repofe,
Banish his forrows, and becalm his foul
With eafy dreams; remember all his virtues !*
And how mankind that goodness is your care..

Enter

Enter LUCIA.

LUCIA.

Where is your father, Marcia, where is Cato?

MARCIA.

Lucia, fpeak low ; he is retir'd to reft.
Lucia, I feel a gently-dawning hope

Rife in my foul. We fhall be happy still.
LUCIA.

Alas, I tremble when I think on Cato.
In every view, in every thought, I tremble!
Cato is ftern, and awful as a god;

He knows not how to wink at human frailty,
Or pardon weakness, that he never felt.

MARCIA.

Though ftern and awful to the foes of Rome,
He is all goodness, Lucia, always mild,
Compaffionate, and gentle to his friends.
Fill'd with domeftic tenderness, the best,
The kindeft father! I have ever found him
Easy and good, and bounteous to my wishes.
LUCIA.

'Tis his confent alone can make us blefs'd.
Marcia, we both are equally involv'd
In the fame intricate, perplex'd, diftrefs.
The cruel hand of fate, that has destroy'd

Thy brother Marcus, whom we both lament

MARCIA.

And ever fhall lament, unhappy youth!

LUCIA.

Has fet my foul at large, and now I stand
Loofe of my vow. But who knows Cato's thoughts?

Who knows how yet he may dispose of Portius,
Or how he has determin'd of thyself?

MARCIA.

Let him but live! commit the reft to heaven.

Enter LUCIUS.

LUCIUS.

Sweet are the flumbers of the virtuous man! O Marcia, I have feen thy godlike father: Some power invisible supports his soul, And bears it up in all its wonted greatness. A kind refreshing fleep is fall'n upon him : I faw him ftretch'd at ease, his fancy lost In pleafing dreams; as I drew near his couch, He fmil'd, and cry'd, Cæfar, thou canst not hurt me!

MARCI A.

His mind ftill labours with fome dreadful thought.

LUCIUS.

Lucia, why all this grief, these floods of forrow?

Dry up thy tears, my child; we all are safe
While Cato lives-his presence will protect us.

Enter JUBA.
JUBA.

Lucius, the horsemen are return'd from viewing The number, ftrength, and posture of our foes, Who now encamp within a fhort hour's march.

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On the high point of yon bright western tower
We ken them from afar; the setting fun

Plays on their shining arms and burnish`d helmets,
And covers all the field with gleams of fire.

LUCIU S.

Marcia, 'tis time we should awake thy father. Cæfar is ftill difpos'd to give us terms,

And waits at diftance 'till he hears from Cato.

Enter PORTIUS.

Portius, thy looks speak fomewhat of importance.
What tidings doft thou bring? Methinks I fee
Unusual gladnefs fparkling in thy eyes.

PORTIU S.

As I was hafting to the port, where now My father's friends, impatient for a passage, Accuse the lingering winds, a fail arriv'd

From Pompey's fon, who through the realms of Spain Calls out for vengeance on his father's death,

And rouzes the whole nation up to arms.

Were Cato at their head, once more might Rome

Affert her rights, and claim her liberty.

But hark! what means that groan? O give me way, And let me fly into my father's presence.

LUCIUS.

Cato, amidst his flumbers, thinks on Rome,
And in the wild diforder of his foul

Mourns o'er his country; ha! a fecond groan !---
Heaven guard us all !-

5

MARCIA,