 | Timoleon |  |
ACT THE THIRD.
SCENE THE FIRST.
Demariste, Echilus.Ech.
Oh mother of Timophanes, 'tis time
That thou should'st feel regret for such a son:
At last he has assumed without disguise
The character of tyrant.
Dem.
What has happened?
Where is he? Can I not retrace his steps?
Ech.
What? Know'st thou not? ...
Dem.
I know not; speak.
Ech.
Alas!
By means of his corrupted satellites,
He takes the life ...
Dem.
Of whom?
Ech.
In his own blood
Weltering lies Archidas; the violence
Is most notorious; in the public street
Wounded he dies; nor from the mangled corse
The impious murderers fly; ferociously
The gasping, half-dead body they surround,
And intercept all aid. Each passenger
Affrighted flies, and scarcely dares to weep
Inaudibly. He dies, that noble, just,
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To the degraded magistracy, fame.
Timoleon sees himself in him bereft
Of the unenvying rival of his virtue,
His bosom friend, the only ...
Dem.
Ah! what tidings
Dost thou relate? Oh heaven! now more than ever,
Will peace betwixt my sons be interrupted;
Perhaps 'tis for ever broken. Wretched me! ...
What shall I do?
Ech.
Go where thou hast a right,
And of a mother's power avail thyself.
What reparation of a crime so great
There now remains for him, I scarce can tell,
That may suffice at once to mitigate
The anger of his brother, and of Corinth:
If he will make concessions, and renounce
His guilty power, there may be hope e'en yet.
Timoleon is his brother; I, by blood,
And friendship, am too much united to him:
We thence shall have unmerited aspersions;
Yet perhaps still save him ... but if he have now
Entirely hardened his perverted heart
By his new arbitrary sway of blood,
Tremble for him thyself.
Dem.
What do I hear?
Ech.
I, erewhile blinded to his dawning vices,
Have been the dupe of his atrocious arts.
Though late, I see that now the hour is come,
When with him, my affection, conduct, language,
All, all must change.
Dem.
Ah! hear him first, I pray thee ...
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Nor dare I to defend a deed so guilty; ...
Yet some pretence, at least, of reason, must,
To this, have driven him. Hitherto his sword
Fell only on the guiltiest citizens:
Tremendous, I allow; but to those only
Tremendous, who, though impious, and blamed,
Unpunished stood, refractory to law,
Above all law, which, towards them, was mute:
Such hitherto was he.
Ech.
If thou dost hear him,
I fear that he will give thee arguments
More guilty than his deeds.
Dem.
See; he comes hither.
SCENE THE SECOND.
Timophanes, Demariste, Echilus.Dem.
Oh son; ... alas! ... what hast thou done, oh son?
A deed, more fitted to confirm the blot
Of tyranny, with which thou art aspersed,
Could'st thou have done than this? All shudder at it;
And, by it, thou hast forfeited for ever
Thy brother's love. Alas! who now can tell
What the result will be? ... Thy bosom friend,
Echilus, even him thou hast alienated:
Thou hast made thy mother also weep. Alas!
Too true, too true it is, thou broodest over
Both illegitimate and perilous schemes,
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The bandage, which did blind me in thy favour,
Thou, from my forehead, hast at length removed.
Tim.
Whence this extravagant and frantic grief?
Wherefore? What evil can result to thee?
Was Archidas by amity, or blood,
With thee connected? I perceive it clearly,
Thine is a borrowed grief.
Dem.
To me what evil?
What evils to thyself may thence ...
Ech.
And ought
Thence to result.
Dem.
Call'st thou the public hate,
Which I am forced to share with thee, no evil?
To have thy mother always trembling for thee?
To gain the hatred of my other son?
To see 'twixt you an everlasting discord? ...
Tim.
And must I hear you then, yourselves not vulgar,
Judge with the vulgar? Do thou with thy words,
I, by my actions, try to change my brother.
Archidas had, so long as he had breathed
The breath of life, in him, against myself,
Hatred, and anger, evermore transfused:
Yes, of my brother's fondness he usurped
The better part from me. This finally,
Among his many other crimes, appeared,
To me, the capital delinquency.
Ech.
He was too patriotic, and too upright;
This was his crime.—But hast thou recollected,
That to their country not exhausted quite,
Timoleon and Echilus yet remain? ...
Infatuate man! ... Ah! whither dost thou rush?
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I am yet faithful; and I thought thee so:
And so thou wert with me at first; a friend
Thou had'st in me, a friend I had in thee ...
By blood alone we are united now;
Ah spare, ah spare, this last remaining tie.
Behold me, I am one that loftily,
And loudly both profess and swear to be
The bitter foe of simulated virtue.—
Tim.
Less fickle than yourselves, I do not change
So suddenly as you my love to hate.
Dear above every thing I held you once,
And still I hold you: to regain my friend,
And brother, every means I will adopt.
Thy frank remonstrances offend me not:
But yet I hope, now that I have removed
The chiefest hindrance, to recover thee.
As to thee, mother, I have long ago
Fully convinced thee, that I would impose
A more efficient government on Corinth.
Let me not have to appease you all at once! ...
Dem.
I am offended for thy brother ...
Ech.
What? ...
Art thou impassive as respects thy country?
Dem.
I am a mother ...
Ech.
Of Timophanes.—
Dem.
Of both ...
Ech.
No, of Timoleon thou art not.
Dem.
Thou hearest him? ... Ah wretched me! ...
Tim.
Permit,
That I alone confront my brother's rage
Before thou hear him. It would be to thee,
To listen to his fierce rebukes, too painful.
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Converts of these: no evil can result
From thence to them: and, spite of his aversion,
I will, that with myself Timoleon share
That power, which now securely I possess.
From me, do not thou, by thyself dissent:
A blind love of thy country sways thee not:
Thou lov'st thy children, thou. Leave me awhile;
Perchance my brother will come here to me;
I would convince him first: and afterwards
Thou in our mutual joy shall bear a part.
Ech.
Is it so possible that he should yield,
As that myself should yield to thee ... ah say:
Art thou resolved, if he should not relent,
To follow thy infatuated schemes?
Think of it; speak ...
Dem.
—Echilus ... in my heart
What horrible presentiment I feel! ...
Ah! son, I pray thee; do not move at least
A step from hence, of which I know not first.
Tim.
I promise this to thee: now go in peace:
Nothing henceforward will I undertake
Without thy approbation: live secure;
I swear that I will not. I feel within me
A certainty that I shall be ere long
To thee the herald of domestic peace
As well established, as our public grandeur.
SCENE THE THIRD.
Timophanes, Echilus.Ech.
Timoleon has a heart more masculine:
Thou wilt not conquer him, as thou hast done
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Conquered already.
Tim.
All the means, in me,
Of conquering all, are placed: believe my words.
Ech.
Now thou dost speak at last; this is a language
Precisely corresponding to thy deeds.
At least I hold thee somewhat less degraded,
Now that thou talkest as a tyrant should,
And I, as should a citizen. I came
Expressly to renounce thy amity.
I grieve not that thou hast deluded me:
Had I deluded thee, my cause for grief
Were more imperious; spotless is my faith.
Tim.
I do not thus with levity renounce
The ancient lofty ties of holy friendship.—
Echilus, hear me.—I would fain convince thee,
In spite of prejudice, that every virtue
In me is not assumed, that rectitude
May be allied to gratified ambition.
If this my thought, to make myself the first,
I kept from thee, if also I denied it,
Had I to thee denied it; would'st thou thence
Have trusted to my silence, or denial?
Did a man e'er abandon sovereign power?
Perhaps thou did'st err in making me thy friend,
While thus I rose to greatness step by step:
But thou would'st err no less, if thou should'st cease
To be so, when my power is now so great.
Ech.
Then was the blood of Archidas decreed
To manifest to me thy turpitude,
Which hitherto I knew not? Can it be,
That thou art thus in bondage to thy crimes? ...
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I yet remain allied to thee ... Ah yes;
By my beloved sister, in thine eyes
Still precious; by those dear and tender babes,
Of which she's made thee father: I beseech thee,
On her, on them take pity, since for us,
And for thyself thou feel'st it not. Not yet
Is Corinth, as thou thinkest, quite struck dumb:
A joy, alas! too transient, for thyself,
Dost thou prepare; for us, eternal tears.
Ah! hear me ... See, I weep; for thee I weep.—
Thou art not yet so far advanced in guilt
That every obstacle thou hast surmounted,
Nor art thou innocent enough to fear none.
Many more lives must yet be sacrificed,
Ere thou canst fix the basis of thy throne;
And perhaps the hardened guilt thou hast not yet,
Required for such a process ... Thou beholdest;
How I address thee as a man; methinks,
That in thy bosom thou retainest still
Some sparks of human feeling. Many steps,
There are, from loving as I once loved thee,
To abhorring thee: ... and it will cost me much
To make the change ... Ah! force me not to this.
Tim.
Thou art the best of men; ah wert thou not
The most deceived! But yet for this, oh no!
I love thee not the less.—But I behold
Timoleon coming ...
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SCENE THE FOURTH.
Timoleon, Echilus, Timophanes.Tim.
Ah! grant thou to me,
That first I speak to thee, one word alone.
Thou shalt speak afterwards ...
Timol.
I deemed thou wert
A tyrant, but at least a lofty one;
But base as any other tyrant art thou.
Fool that I was! Is there in all the world
A tyrant of an uncorrupted heart?—
I myself bring, to the sublime assassin
Of each good citizen, one of the best
That still remains: Archidas lives in me:
Thou hast committed unavailing crimes;
Collected Corinth breathes in me; in this
Most free, most noble, energetic soul,
Me, me thou slayest; thou art silent; now
Nothing remains for thee to say to me;
It only now remains for thee to kill me.
Tim.
Now, hear the new professions of a tyrant.—
This my life is thy gift: thou, brother, thou
Preserved'st it for me; resume thy gift:
I am not hedged around by armed guards:
Here is my dagger: plunge it in my breast.
Behold I bear my bosom yet defenceless;
No timid mail is there; secure I stand,
Secure as thou.—Why dost thou now delay?
Quickly strike thou. The hate that in thy breast
Thou cherishest 'gainst tyrants, in my blood
Now vent it all: if thy just hate I merit,
I am no more thy brother.—This my power
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Thou, thou alone, and with impunity,
Canst take my life.
Timol.
No, if thou slayest me not,
Thou ne'er shalt keep that execrable power.
Already art thou wallowing deep in blood;
Wilt thou now halt midway? Proceed, proceed:
Only through this my breast to Corinth's throne
Canst thou ascend: there is no other way.
Tim.
I sit on it already, and thou art
Unhurt. My city, and my force, I know;
And I already have advanced too far
Now to recede. There are none equal here
To me, except thyself. 'Twould be in me
Consummate infamy to make myself
Again e'en less than my inferiors.
Than thee, I may; and if thou wilt, I will.
Trust me, that here, the hydra-headed monster
Of popular freedom, ne'er shall rise again.
To thee the government of one seems guilty:
But, if exemplarily just, that one
By practice might refute thy theories.
That one, be thou; profit by my misdeeds;
Thus Corinth, more than I have taken from her,
In thee will reacquire; and I shall feel
A pride in being second to thyself.
Timol.
Thy words with keener punctures wound my heart,
Than could that dagger, with whose reeking point
Thou hast restored my Archidas to freedom.
Yet slay; slay on: but do not thou presume,
To teach the arts of arbitrary sway,
Or servitude, to one by birth a Grecian.
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Have, it is true, disfigured every state
Of this clime sacred to the cause of freedom:
But here has blood been always cleansed by blood;
Nor has the sword of vengeance ever slumbered.
Tim.
And let the traitrous sword come when it may,
And fall upon my breast: but, while I breathe,
Corinth and Greece shall see, that, evermore
The sway of one is not corrupt: shall see,
That a prince raised by bloodshed to the throne,
Can make his people happy with wise laws;
Each man secure; internal peace enjoyed;
His subjects' fear enhancing their obedience;
Strong in himself, the envy of his neighbours.
Timol.
What would'st thou teach us? are not kingly crimes
To all men known? Does not degraded Asia
Exhibit every day their dire effects?
'Tis of that soil a plant: there it takes root;
There less than men it makes men; banished hence
It makes the Grecians like the gods themselves.
We are the loftiest people of the earth.—
What dost thou covet for thyself? To be
A king exempted from the lot of kings?—
Of every good man thou art now the foe,
And wilt be more and more so; of each virtue
The invidious contemner; flattered, feared,
Abhorred; to others an exceeding burthen,
A torment to thyself; unworthy praise
Evermore craving, in thyself convinced
That thou deservest only execrations.
Fears in thy heart; restlessness in thine eye;
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Eternal prey; an everlasting thirst
For blood and gold, and never satisfied;
Deprived thyself, of what thou takest from others,
Sweet peace of mind; to no one in the world
By blood and friendship joined; of fettered slaves,
The still more fettered lord; the first in rank,
The least in heart of all ... Ah! tremble; tremble:
Such wilt thou be: if such thou'rt not already.
Ech.
Ah! no; the pure divinity of freedom
Never yet breathed into a mortal heart
Words more divine, more warm, more true, more strong.
Already by the fury, that transports him,
Is my full bosom seized. Canst thou resist,
Infatuated man, a portraiture,
At once so accurate, and horrible,
Of the impious life, in which thou'rt plunged?
Tim.
—Ah! perhaps,
Ye speak the truth.—But now there are no words,
Strong howsoe'er they be, that can avail
To wrest me from my purpose. It is past,
For ever past, the time for me to be
A faithful citizen. My master passion,
My sole, immutable, and lofty wish
To reign, is now become my whole of life ...
Brother, I have already told thee so:
Thou canst alone correct me by the sword;
All other means are vain ...
Timol.
And I to thee
Repeat it: thou shalt never have the sceptre,
Except thou kill me first.
Ech.
And me with him.
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I feel already in myself succeed
An ardent, strong, atrocious enmity.
Yes, thou shalt find in me an enemy
No less embittered, fierce, implacable,
Than I was once a friend both fond and hearty:
And recollect, that I am not, like him,
To thee a brother.—In the tyrant's presence
I here meanwhile to thee, Timoleon, swear
Eternal fealty of blood. I swear
By thy side, for my country, to confront
The worst extremities: and if at last
Our labours should be vain, I further swear
That I will not survive her one brief moment.
Timol.
Behold, thou mad and criminal aspirant,
If so much be resolved by one that is
Thy bosom friend, and also bound to thee
By ties of blood, what will so many others,
Incensed by thee, perform?
Tim.
Enough, enough;
I fain would have you friends; but fear you not
As my opponents. Now exert yourselves
For her, ye generous champions of your country.
SCENE THE FIFTH.
Timoleon, Echilus.Timol.
Ah, ill-advised, infatuated brother!
Could I save thee as I feel confident
To save my country!
Ech.
In his mercenaries
He does confide; he knows that other troops
Corinth has not now to oppose to his.
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With this last massacre he has contrived
To intimidate the people; but their hate
A thousand times he has augmented thence;
And he has not in every heart extinguish'd
Courage, and resolutions of revenge.
Already by a secret embassy
Sent to Mycenœ, have the people sought
Immediate aid: his very satellites
In part are disaffected. Wretched man!
In his own snares he will be surely caught! ...
Ah! were there yet a remedy! ... But he
Has robb'd me of my friend, and, dearer far,
My liberty ... But yet, ... he is my brother;
Yet do I pity him ... Could any one
Somewhat persuade him ...
Ech.
This his mother might,
Were not her heart corrupted: but too much ...
Timol.
She also for the last time now shall hear me.
Ere I do this, I fly to supplicate
My friends, that they alone would grant him,
What of this day remains, for penitence;
Forthwith I shall return; and every means,
That he may change, will I in turn adopt;
Entreaties, tears, fear, menaces, his mother.—
Ah, come thou also; let us means contrive
By which the uplifted sword may be awhile
Suspended o'er his head, and yet no loss
His country thence sustain. Let us to-day
Render to him the latest offices
Of friends and relatives: but citizens,
If this avail not, are we, and shall be
Constrain'd, though weeping, such to prove ourselves.
| Timoleon | |