University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Timophanes, Echilus.
Ech.
Timoleon has a heart more masculine:
Thou wilt not conquer him, as thou hast done
Thy mother, by her feminine ambition
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? ...
But if, oh heaven! I cease to be thy friend,
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 ...