University of Virginia Library

SCEN. III.

Tribunius, Crassus, Norbanus, Ligurius, Sertorius, &c.
Trib.
Hail, mighty Lord! Imperial Conqueror!
Great in thy deeds, as Phœbus is for light!
Give leave, that we attend thee to the Feast:
VVhile that Perpenna of the favor proud,
Envies the Thrones of Friendship that we have.

Sert.
I will not go: do not inquire the cause;
Let it suffice it is my will.

Trib.
'Tis true
That people whisper; here I find it now;
Sertorius doubts the constancy and faith
Of men, devoted wholly to his Fame;
Men, which have sworn in death to follow thee;
Men, which have left the Roman State for thee:
To ashes turn'd the Tables Sylla sent,
With ample restitution, and full honor.
I see the hate thou bear'st us, in thy eyes:
Oh, would they had the pow'r of Basilisks,
To kill the Villain who infected thee!

Sert.
Mistake me not, Tribunius: I'm not well,
And do not like the fierceness of the Air.

Trib.
Mistake me not, Sertorius; nor believe
Thy secret thoughts are hid: I see 'em there,
There, in thy eyes; and hear 'em in thy words;
And curse my Stars I ever liv'd to hear.
Crassus, Ligurius, and Norbanus, com,
Draw all your Daggers, and compleat our doom:
To live suspected, by the man we love,
Is worse than death.

Sert.
What means Tribunius?

Trib.
Thou shalt read here, and glut thee with the Character,
Writ with these Pens of Steel, upon our hearts.
But, Oh! the wretched State of human things!
On what false Basis do we build our hopes;
Thus subject to the blast of every wind?
Know, thou Sertorius, that I hate to live
Under the very Igno'miny of thought.

Nor.
View all these Scars, the badges of my love,
Gain'd by thy side, in Battel; call to mind
How oft I've interpos'd 'twixt thee and death:
This single arm, as glorying in thy sight,
Has made a Lane in the opposing Foes.
What have I ever don, to merit this?
What action, in my life has made a crime?
Did I but think my Soul could harbor one
Against my Friend, by Heav'n I'd stab that too.

Lig.
Believe me, General, that I court thy worth,
A Servant to thy Virtue; and this Steel,
Hasting to let our life when so revil'd,
Shall pierce as deep into a Loyal heart:
Nay, I believe, that man, who loves me not,
Would be a pledg in Honor for my faith.

Bebr.
Why nam'st thou me, Ligurius? well thou know'st,
When darkness summons all the World to rest,
You're waking at Perpenna's, loath all sleep,
And there confederate: at such hours of Night,
No good can e're be hatch'd; but Treason may.

Lig.
Thou ly'st, base man. Now, by the Thunderer,
Wert thou not safe within this sacred place,
Had'st thou as many lives as Hydra heads,
I'd kill 'em one by one. From hence it springs,
Here takes it Source; and, like a Plague, Infects.
Bind me, Sertorius; lead me where no light
E're shot its Beams; and, if you find it truth,
Invent a Torment new, and terrible,
Exceeding all the labors of the Damn'd:
But, till I'm justly doom'd, believe my brest,
Like Chrystal, casts this poyson in his Teeth.

Sert.
What thinks Terentia now? how can I doubt
Such Friends as these? Com, we will go, my Fair:
Banish distrust; and think the Prodigies
Were only to amuse, not to Predict.
Let not these men know of our inward grief;
Apart to Terentia.
But bear it with the patience of a God.

Ter.
Yet there is something dictates in my brest
This visit will be fatal; and I see,
Like dying men, prospect of mighty things:
From fear they cannot com; to me, they seem
Like Meteors fix'd, not flying forms of Air.

Sert.
Com, my Bebricius, do like me, believe
Not one of all these Romans can be false.
Ligurius, com, forgive the hasty words;
Age has its faults, as well as fiery youth:
The one must bear th'other's Infirmities.
And credit me, such is the great esteem,
If in the scope of Rule you cast an eye
To any part which raises strong desire;
Command Sertorius, who no Tresure knows
Beyond th'intrinsic value of a Friend.

[Exeunt.