University of Virginia Library

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

CATILINE, BALBUS.
CATILINE.
'Tis you; well, and what says the high-priest, Balbus?
Has Claudius yet dared to approach the temple?

BALBUS.
The high-priest sides with us, the net is spread;
Yet still the proscript hides him from thy vengeance,
Vainly expected at the temple's porch.

CATILINE.
Run to his freed-man, Sergius; seize his person,
Apply the torture, till th'extorted secret
Reveals th'asylum that conceals his master:
Yet fear I lest his courage brave the torture.
I know he is ambitious; offer him
The Quæstorship. Keep an eye too on Roscius,
Mark well his every step; and seek meanwhile
Again to trace out Lænas, while I here
Await the coming of Valeria.

SCENE II.

CATILINE,
—Alone.
And so it is to me that the Dictator
Entrusts to-day the office and the power
Of seeing that the law is executed:
And I will use that power, ay, e'en beyond
His orders. It is she!

SCENE III.

CATILINE, VALERIA led along by a Lictor.
VALERIA.
Dragged hither by thine order, what new crime
Have I committed, that I see myself
Condemned to undergo thy presence, and
To suffer the affront I deem one look
Of thine imprints upon my forehead?

CATILINE.
Do me
More justice, and control thy hatred. Claudius
Has been found guilty, and his death is certain:
E'en now I see him in his dark retreat,
The framer, leader of an odious treason.

VALERIA.
Think'st thou to throw me off my guard by such
Bye-ways as these? my secret is mine own.

CATILINE.
Stay, hear me yet, and thou shalt know ere long,
If rightly I'm informed. Shall I point out
The very temple where thy Claudius goes,
To offer up his sacrifices at
The shrine of Fortune? shall I point out all
His hopes, his vows, and his accomplices?
And if there's need of witnesses, will't not
Suffice to call on Roscius, or to question
Lænas?

VALERIA.
Lænas!...

CATILINE.
Come, calm thy flurried soul:
I know all, can do all...Hear me, Valeria—
I have my rival's life within my grasp;
The lictors, all-prepared, await my signal.
I cannot but remember that Valeria,
Scorning my passion, is become the wife
Of low-born Claudius; and that she has thus
Blasted the hope of an illustrious house:
And that when I remove a husband so
Unworthy of her, I do but avenge
Sylla and Rome, thy glory, and myself.
But at thy word too I can also banish
Far from my breast the cruel memory
Of that which fed my fury; I can yet
O'er Claudius, whom long punishment awaits,
Extend henceforward a protecting arm:
And soon, perchance, surpassing all his hopes,
Call him to honours, raise him up to power.

VALERIA.
What price sets Catiline upon his mercy?

CATILINE.
You must, abjuring Claudius and your marriage...

VALERIA.
Hold there, unhappy man! who'll e'er believe it?
Thou, who dost reckon by thy crimes thy days—
Thou, the assassin of thy brother—thou,
Foe to thy country's Gods, detested framer
Of all our miseries,—is it thou, whose madness,
Twin-brother to thy fury, comes t'unveil
The horror of some new-coined crime! But know
That I hold Claudius dearer far than life,
And dearer yet my country; and that far
From e'er consenting to another marriage,
Fertile in every horror, to preserve
Our two poor lives, they should be sacrificed;
If it were only that my gratitude
To thy crime-'stablished power owed their deliverance:
If but my thoughts, perforce betraying me,
Must e'er renounce their right of open hatred.
I know alone th'inviolable spot
That offers a retreat to Claudius;
And I alone am guilty. Whether he
Conceives a project to the which my heart
Will lend its every aid, or whether in
His powerless rage does Catiline denounce
To the Dictator plots himself has framed,
Matters not now: Claudius has nought yet form'd
Save vows, but I am able to perfect
His noble plans. Thus, Catiline, thou seest
Thy fatal cunning ne'er can 'vail to shake
The fix'd soul of Valeria.

[She goes out.
CATILINE.
Go, enjoy
The sweets of thy proud triumph,—thou hast come
To set the last seal to thy husband's fate.

SCENE IV.

CATILINE, SYLLA, FAUSTUS, CATULUS, BALBUS.
BALBUS.
It is too true; his sacrilegious hand
Has framed perfidious in the sacred temple
A parricidal plot. The priest himself
Has been before you, and his eager zeal
Answers for his fidelity.

CATILINE.
Claudius
Is proscript, and ere long will expiate
The crime his impious fury has inflamed.
But of a greater crime do I accuse
The Roman who conceals from punishment
An infamous assassin—but I know him...

SYLLA.
Curse on the traitor who would shield a parricide—
Would shelter Claudius. But, speak, Catiline;
What Roman is it that has given to-day
Support to that conspirator?

CATILINE.
I name,
Though with regret yet with assurance, one,
One too thy noble confidence has honour'd;
'Tis Roscius.—

FAUSTUS.
Heavens! what say'st thou?

SYLLA.
Roscius!...

CATILINE.
I have seen Claudius in the gardens of
Hersilia, and Valeria too was with him.
'Twas by surprise I took them, and he feign'd
Denial of his perfidy;—but vainly...

FAUSTUS.
One single word be mine to justify him;
But 'tis to none but Sylla I would trust
The weighty secret: he alone should know it.

SYLLA.
Leave us, senators.

[They go out.

SCENE V.

SYLLA, FAUSTUS.
SYLLA.
What is the traitor's name?
Oh! fix the doubts that agitate my mind.
When I must punish, 'tis sufficient there
Exists cause of suspicion—and the bolt,
Hurled forth unaimed, might strike more heads than one.
With whom has Claudius dared to brave my law?
Name him—I'd know who has received him.

FAUSTUS.
I.

SYLLA.
What hear I? Faustus, thou betray thy father!

FAUSTUS.
I neither wish to calm, nor brave thine anger:
Yet only hear me with some little pity.
Thy heart so proud, so noble, has known friendship,
And 'tis that generous feeling that now binds me
To Claudius; the decree of the Dictator,
In making his life forfeit, does but aid
The fiendish projects of a cruel foe.
Unconscious of the danger friendship wept,
Claudius came hither ere the dawn of day;
He trembles for my life, and friendship strives
To drag him from the horrible abyss
He has plunged into; he returns no more
To dry the tear that dims Valeria's eye:
Alarm sits brooding o'er his household hearth;
Stern Catiline pursues, and lost is hope.
Friendship commanded me to save his life,
And I have done my duty; yet not less
I to thy sovereign order bow me down—
Go, seize on Claudius.

SYLLA.
Where?

FAUSTUS.
In thine own palace.

SYLLA.
Unhappy man!

FAUSTUS.
Traitor to friendship, I
Indeed am so! The law which punishes,
Will see me justified; can I complain
Of its severity, when the same blow
Must fall on both alike?

SYLLA.
And are, then, these
The noble, generous designs of Faustus?
He fears lest Sylla should escape th'assassins,
E'en whilst the steel is bared to pierce his bosom.

FAUSTUS.
No, thou dost not believe it; the suspicion
Of such a crime as that can never rest
Upon a heart like mine. My father knows
And judges too well of me to demand
That I should justify myself before him.
I see with grief the ills my country suffers;
Son of the favour'd Sylla, the world's ruler,
'Tis I that bear the whole weight of our chains.
But still if Liberty, by thee opprest,
Bids my soul feel a generous regret,
She weakens not a yet more sacred duty—
A sweeter feeling, by Heaven's self inspired.
'Twixt Rome and Sylla, Nature lights my path;
My oath to Rome is due, my life to Sylla.

SYLLA.
Yet is a proscript armed against my life,
And Faustus, my son Faustus 'tis, protects him!
Know'st thou what punishment awaits thy boldness?
Know'st thou the law falls also on thy head,
And asks, inflexible, thy life as forfeit?
That the decree is fixed and I've pronounced it?

FAUSTUS.
I shall know how to bear it; and 'tis fit
(To justify thy words) that I should feel
Its extreme rigour.

SYLLA.
I but see in thee
The hateful 'complice of a false assassin—
Of an audacious traitor.

FAUSTUS.
Catiline
Asserts, and Sylla must perforce believe, it.
Glory, I know, is loved too well by Claudius;
And if he does hate the Dictator, still
Bound to me by the favours I have granted,
I to that hatred have opposed the rights
Of friendship: urged on all sides by despair,
His soul had else conceived some mighty project.
Thy power is hateful to the Romans, Sylla:
Yes, it excites all hearts, and arms all hands.
But yet if e'er should beam the day of vengeance,
It shall still see me fighting by thy side;
Hear then the vows a son has made, and pity....

SYLLA.
Hence, and bid Claudius come before me.

[Faustus exit.

SCENE VI.

SYLLA,
—Alone.
'Mid the confusion of the hurried feelings
That swallow up my soul, I dare not ask
Myself the question, what desires inflame me?
Lavish of blood in sacrificing Faustus,
Owe I to Rome th'example of a Brutus?
What say I?—it was Rome, it was his country
That asked the god-like sacrifice of Brutus;
And that decree himself adjudged, though cruel,
Based on their blood-stained tomb the fane of Freedom:
Faustus would march to death as its defender!...
Oh! how can such a sacrifice aid me?
What equal benefit expect I from it?
The Romans are unworthy of my blood.
Vile slaves!—suppose then, from the haughty height
Where Rome now sees me, I should fill the world
With mute astonishment, by an example
Yet nobler; and, spite of mine anger, force
Posterity to breathe upon my name
An immortality!—I'll think of it....

SCENE VII.

SYLLA, CLAUDIUS, FAUSTUS.
Sylla makes a signal to Faustus to withdraw, who, with much inquietude, retires to a distance, after having embraced his friend.
FAUSTUS,
(to CLAUDIUS.)
It is in you that I confide.

CLAUDIUS.
You know me....

SYLLA.
Approach;—admitted to my presence, vainly
Thou seek'st to hide the trouble of thy soul.

CLAUDIUS.
Sylla, thou dost mistake me: my sole trouble
Arises but from horror.

SYLLA.
What can cause it,
Unless that infamous hope which a false virtue
Engenders in thy mind. Am I not Sylla?
And art thou not still Claudius, grandson of
That same Sulpicius, coward tribune, who,
The leader of a frantic populace,
Stained the Republic with so many crimes?...
And yet you live. Whether in pride, or pity
T'wards you, I threw aside my just resentment,
And with due reverence to the ties of youth,
Allowed my son to shield from me thy folly;
And lastly, when I heard that my base foes
Had found, in Claudius found, a willing 'complice,
And ought to have repented my excess
Of mercy, I restrained my vengeance
And only sought thy banishment—I offer'd
Protection to thy flight, and e'en the law,
Deaf to all else, was soften'd down for thee.—
But Claudius' soul, methinks, disdains a favour
That binds him to the donor—yes, a heart
Like thine obeys no lord but its own hatred.
False to a friendship which unites its lot
With thine, thou dost conspire to take the life—
Of whom?—of him the father of thy friend.
Had thy presuming boldness dared, indeed,
In open day, amid th'assembled crowd
To have fulfilled thy threat, it had methinks
Smacked somewhat of the hero—but to stain,
And with my blood, the roof that gave thee shelter,
To which, with culpable imprudence, Friendship
Had led thee—to associate my son
In thy dark scheme of parricide; and, that
The blow might be more sure as more unmanly,
Glide like a vile assassin through my palace!
Thy crime's all worthy of thy hateful race.
Well, why delay'st thou? the time serves thy purpose—
Strike, I'm alone; fulfil thee thy design—
But may be Faustus has disarmed thy hand:
Here, take this dagger.

[Offering one.
CLAUDIUS.
I admire thy courage:
But, Sylla, if I do not wish to take
Advantage of the moment—if I grant
A sad delay to what I wish—'tis not,
'Tis not, you see, because a weapon's wanting.
[Shewing a dagger under his robe.
Thy son, who knows me well, here by my side
All tranquil, was himself the very cause
Thy death was thus deferr'd, by offering me
This place as an asylum.

SYLLA.
So then, Claudius,
Thou dost not deign to offer a defence
Touching this foolish plot....

CLAUDIUS.
I've wished thy death;
Ay, and I wish it yet.

SYLLA.
'Tis well: but if
My clemency should lean to less severe
And more indulgent counsel, and should spare
Thy life!...

CLAUDIUS.
Thou wouldst but render me an ingrate.
I should remain still faithful to my hatred,
Still faithful to the state. How will it aid thee
This tardy kindness? twice five hundred arms
Are raised to strike thy heart—and Rome, though captive,
Will let thee live no longer free and fearless;
No—not while life beats in another's pulse
And bids thine likewise throb.—Bethink thee of
Præneste: how, too, at thy dread command
A nation fell, e'en as it were one mortal!
Thy horrible proscriptions, writ in blood,
Have stampt thy name to immortality.
Obey thy summons—murderer of my country!
Nor by preserving me betray thy glory!

SYLLA.
Thou bidd'st me be again myself, again
Indulge my fury; fear me, coward Romans,
Fear if I live, and tremble if I die!
And hero, thou who burn'st with insolence
To meet thy fit reward, thou shalt indeed
Be satisfied.

CLAUDIUS.
Thou hast fulfill'd my wishes;
Thy death or mine is all that I would ask.

[Sylla calls out—the Lictors enter.
SYLLA.
Lictors! watch well each point, keep fast the gates,
And let the cohorts of my guard be doubled.
Let none to-night depart from forth the palace—
Not Faustus 'self, unless 'tis by my order,
And follow close upon the heels of Claudius.
[To Claudius.
Go, tell th'accomplice in thy guilt, thyself
Hast pointed out thine hour of punishment.

Claudius,
(returning into the interior of the Palace.)
Sylla, adieu! I go...look well around thee!
E'en though I march to death, I leave thee far
Th'unhappier of the two.

SCENE VIII.

SYLLA,
—Alone.
Unhappy, said he!
'Tis true....I am so...and is this to live,
To undergo these torments of my greatness?
To punish, to shed blood, to stifle treasons...
No sleep by night, and no repose by day!—
My mind, for ever led away by sad
Forebodings, like a timid infant, fears
The shades of night!...I'll rest me 'neath this porch;—
More calm methinks I'll here await, till morn
Beams in the eastern sky...Oh! could I sleep!—
Yet whence this weakness? For my son I tremble.
Vain fears, away!—my tenderness shall ne'er
Disarm th'unyielding courage of my soul.
I am a father, say'st thou? No—I am
Dictator; and for what! to march for ever
From crime to crime—Ah! I indeed am tired
Of living on the edge of such a precipice!
I wish—but they will kill me.—What, all mighty,
All glorious as I am, what of the Gods
Henceforward can I ask?—that peace of death
To which I sometimes look, that boundary of
My ills, that end of this long, long delirium.
To die, perchance to sleep!—what are to me
Days whose whole course is one empoison'd tædium?
But I perceive my soul, at length less heavy,
Allows my thoughts to wander unrestrained.
[He lies down.
O unknown blessing! both alike sink down,
O'ercome by gentle sleep, my eyes—my spirits.
[He falls asleep, and whilst dreaming, cries out.
What see I? and what power, in these dark chambers
Reanimates the shades of those my proscripts?
Spirits of the tomb! what would ye have with me?
Is it to me your grizzly band holds forth
The torches of the tomb? Your crimes I've punish'd,
Th'associates of your crimes! and tremble yet
Lest I conduct you to fresh punishments!—
I see you all—your arms raised o'er my couch—
Th'uplifted poniard brandished o'er my breast,
As if prepared to strike—Oh! Heavens! here, lictors!
[He rises up in his sleep.
Here—I've proscribed their heads.—Do I again
Behold them? Chase them hence, these perverse phantoms!
With blood-stained whips hence drive them back to Pluto!
'Tis Sylla wills—commands it—quick, obey!

[He falls down again on the couch.

SCENE IX.

SYLLA, FAUSTUS, Guards.
FAUSTUS.
[Running up to him.
My father!

SYLLA.
Who's that? what would'st thou? who is he so rash
As to disturb my slumbers?

FAUSTUS.
Cries not far....

SYLLA.
I called not...but where am I? is it thou!
Hast dared without my orders to come hither!
You wake me, Faustus—I resume my power;
Resume the wonted empire o'er my heart:
Come then, let's finish what I have resolved,
For I can live no longer in this sad
Uncertainty—there but remains one effort
That can avail to tame the haughty foes
Which this day brings before me—then let's see
Which can the most prevail, Sylla, or they.
Be ready, guards;—Ofella, bid the people,
Army, and senate, here alike assemble;
And, since they wish to learn their destinies,
Await my sovereign orders in the Forum.