 | Regulus |  |
SCENE VII.
Æmilius, Lictors, Regulus, &c.Æmilius.
May Jove, Protector of the Roman State,
Deck with his whitest Omens this blest Day,
That gives to Rome her long-lost Regulus.
Deck with his whitest Omens this blest Day,
That gives to Rome her long-lost Regulus.
Th'assembled Fathers of her awful Senate,
(Sharing the Joy that enters every Breast)
Have, to the Honour of obeying them,
Added the Pleasure of my greeting you;
And thus to Regulus they bid me say
Welcome to Rome and them; more welcome now,
Than when a Triumph crowded up her Gates,
And the loud Pæan sounded thro' whole Rome,
Hailing her Regulus, who fought and conquer'd.
(Sharing the Joy that enters every Breast)
Have, to the Honour of obeying them,
Added the Pleasure of my greeting you;
And thus to Regulus they bid me say
Welcome to Rome and them; more welcome now,
Than when a Triumph crowded up her Gates,
And the loud Pæan sounded thro' whole Rome,
Hailing her Regulus, who fought and conquer'd.
In a full Senate they expect his Presence;
And that he shou'd not pass the Streets of Rome
Less honour'd than when he beheld her last;
These Ensigns of the Dignity he wore,
These sure Preceders of the Consul's Steps
They will him to accept—and that he'd think 'em
Less meant to honour him—than prove Rome grateful.
So Speak the Fathers with united Voice.
And that he shou'd not pass the Streets of Rome
Less honour'd than when he beheld her last;
These Ensigns of the Dignity he wore,
These sure Preceders of the Consul's Steps
They will him to accept—and that he'd think 'em
Less meant to honour him—than prove Rome grateful.
So Speak the Fathers with united Voice.
Regulus.
The Speed of this high Honour of the Senate
So far out-runs the Prospect of Return,
That even Acknowledgment pants breathless after:
Yet good Æmilius, tell the conscript Fathers,
When Regulus last parted from these Walls,
He was Rome's Consul—not the Slave of Carthage:
These Ensigns, that were then his highest Honour,
Are now his worst Reproach:—To fight Æmilius,
In a just Cause, and for our Country's Glory,
Is the best Office of the best of Men;
And to decline it when those Motives urge,
Is Infamy beneath a Coward's Baseness:—'True,
I have fought, and conquer'd for my Country,
And in the Act of Service—paid myself:
But I have fought, and how—Zantippus knows,
Who, from Rome's Consul—led me Slave to Carthage:
Still glows the Brand upon my servile Front,
And while the Mark—or its Remembrance lives,
I am an Alien to such Pomp as this.
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That even Acknowledgment pants breathless after:
Yet good Æmilius, tell the conscript Fathers,
When Regulus last parted from these Walls,
He was Rome's Consul—not the Slave of Carthage:
These Ensigns, that were then his highest Honour,
Are now his worst Reproach:—To fight Æmilius,
In a just Cause, and for our Country's Glory,
Is the best Office of the best of Men;
And to decline it when those Motives urge,
Is Infamy beneath a Coward's Baseness:—'True,
I have fought, and conquer'd for my Country,
And in the Act of Service—paid myself:
But I have fought, and how—Zantippus knows,
Who, from Rome's Consul—led me Slave to Carthage:
Still glows the Brand upon my servile Front,
And while the Mark—or its Remembrance lives,
I am an Alien to such Pomp as this.
Say to th'assembled Fathers, that their Love
Has over-run their Justice; that these Lictors,
Who add true Honours to the Consul's Office,
Wou'd wrong themselves, and but disgrace a Slave.
Has over-run their Justice; that these Lictors,
Who add true Honours to the Consul's Office,
Wou'd wrong themselves, and but disgrace a Slave.
Æmilius.
Misfortune does not always wait on Vice;
Nor is Success the constant Guest of Virtue:
Perhaps the Gods more amiably design,
To shew the Hero struggling in the Toils
Of unforeseen, unmerited Distress;
The great Example beams Instruction forth,
And better serves the Purposes of Heav'n:
As such consider'd—thou art still the same,
As when Success had crested thy Renown,
And Valour rested on the Arm of Conquest.
Regulus.
When Purposes are weigh'd against Events,
Say can we promise Certainty or Truth?
What I am now—the meanest Roman knows,
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Let us not bar their great opposeless Wills,
By seeming more than they wou'd have us be:
So shall the Chain, that links Propriety,
Remain unbroken, and the Nerve of Hope
But brace Obedience to the Will of Heaven.
First Ambassador.
When this Man's Deeds shall reach Posterity,
Will they not want a Name to call 'em by?
Second Ambassador.
And for the Peace that Carthage hopes to gain;
Such I perceive his Sway, and Influence;—
'Tis not as Rome resolves—but Regulus.
Regulus.
Let us set forward—but without that Train—
Dismiss 'em, good Æmilius, or I stir not.
[Æmilius signs to the Lictors, who go off.
Dismiss 'em, good Æmilius, or I stir not.
Martia! My Wife! retire my best-belov'd,
And with our Houshold Gods attend my coming:
Thou know'st (and always hast approv'd it too)
That my first Duty waits upon my Country:
And with our Houshold Gods attend my coming:
Thou know'st (and always hast approv'd it too)
That my first Duty waits upon my Country:
The Lover's Ardor, the fond Parent's Care,
The Husband's soft Endearments strongly move;
But when the Welfare of our Country calls,
These Passions set—and the great Patriot shines.
The Husband's soft Endearments strongly move;
But when the Welfare of our Country calls,
These Passions set—and the great Patriot shines.
[Ex.
| Regulus | |