 | Regulus |  |
v
PROLOGUE. Spoken by the Author.
You've
seen one Patriot, in his Country's Cause
Stand forth, and die with her expiring Laws;
In Cæsar's Reign he saw great Freedom's Grave,
And perish'd with the Rights—he cou'd not save:
Great is thy Praise, O Cato! great thy Name!
And yet to Night we bring an honest Claim,
To more than Cato ever did for Fame.
Stand forth, and die with her expiring Laws;
In Cæsar's Reign he saw great Freedom's Grave,
And perish'd with the Rights—he cou'd not save:
Great is thy Praise, O Cato! great thy Name!
And yet to Night we bring an honest Claim,
To more than Cato ever did for Fame.
'Tis Regulus appears—Methinks the Sound
Infuses reverential Pleasure round:
Methinks I hear amongst this free-born Crowd,
The Sons of Liberty cry out aloud—
“Give Regulus the Way—Is't not more great
“To save a People—than to share their Fate?”
Such was the honest Motive of this Man;
He for his Country's Glory form'd his Plan,
One dy'd—when he no longer cou'd be free—
The other—to preserve Rome's Liberty:
Cato, indignant, spurn'd at Cæsar's Chain,
Deserting Laws—he cou'd no more maintain;—
Ours for the common Cause a Victim stood;—
In one 'twas Pride—In this—'twas publick Good.
Infuses reverential Pleasure round:
Methinks I hear amongst this free-born Crowd,
The Sons of Liberty cry out aloud—
“Give Regulus the Way—Is't not more great
“To save a People—than to share their Fate?”
Such was the honest Motive of this Man;
He for his Country's Glory form'd his Plan,
One dy'd—when he no longer cou'd be free—
The other—to preserve Rome's Liberty:
Cato, indignant, spurn'd at Cæsar's Chain,
Deserting Laws—he cou'd no more maintain;—
Ours for the common Cause a Victim stood;—
In one 'twas Pride—In this—'twas publick Good.
Ye generous Britons judge the Aim of both,
And then distinguish the superior Worth.
And then distinguish the superior Worth.
As for the Author—hither I am come,
Not to prevent or deprecate his Doom;
To your impartial Judgments he appeals,
Let Truth prevail, and Justice fix the Seals:
If Merit shines, Merit will make her Claim,
And find a Passport to the Realms of Fame;
Your Approbation too will swell her Sail,
And unforc'd Praise prove a propitious Gale.
Not to prevent or deprecate his Doom;
To your impartial Judgments he appeals,
Let Truth prevail, and Justice fix the Seals:
If Merit shines, Merit will make her Claim,
And find a Passport to the Realms of Fame;
vi
And unforc'd Praise prove a propitious Gale.
But if unnerv'd, if spiritless, and mean
Appears to you the ill-concerted Scene;
Let no false Pity harbour in your Breast—
But damn him for a Warning to the rest.
Appears to you the ill-concerted Scene;
Let no false Pity harbour in your Breast—
But damn him for a Warning to the rest.
| Regulus | |