University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE FIRST.

Timophanes, Echilus.
Tim.
Echilus, no; if at my side the sword
Distain'd with blood thou seest, to use force
I am not led by haughtiness of heart;
The general good impels me thus to act;
The fame of Corinth which in me has placed
Its delegated power.

Ech.
Heaven knows I love thee!
Betwixt us even from our earliest years
The strictest ties of amity were formed,
To which more sanctimonious ties of blood
Were added afterwards. A happier day
I never saw than that on which I gave thee,
As consort, my beloved, only sister.
When against Argos and Pleones fighting,
I witnessed by thy side unheard-of proofs
Of martial valour, thou subduedst me
With wonder that enhanced my former fondness.
Thou canst not, and thou oughtest not to live
Obscure in privacy: but I behold
The most illustrious blood of Corinth spilled
By thee; and thou a tyrant's odious name
Dost thence acquire. Such hitherto I deem
Thou art not; but intense disquietude
In hearing this consumes me.

Tim.
And perchance,
In acting thus, a grief not less intense
Preys on my heart. Yet what else can I do,
If I am forced, in order to secure
The city's quiet, to adopt such measures?
That full four hundred swords should wait my nod,
Even my fellow citizens themselves
Have deemed advisable. I have mown down,
'Tis true, some lives distinguished, but obnoxious,
Which were already equitably due
To public vengeance; and there still remain
Ill-disposed persons of that corrupt seed,
Who, having long been used to sell themselves,
Their city, and their suffrages, complain
Of my authority. That power they find
Too great a hindrance to their venal guilt;
Hence all this envy, tumult, and disturbance.

Ech.
Confusion, discord, and the love of party,
The insolence of the nobles, it is true,
Almost have overwhelmed us. And, perchance,
What form of government would suit us best,
'Twould now perplex me to decide: but all
With me protest, that we will ne'er endure
A form that is not absolutely free.
With more complacency I should behold
Thy methods to secure internal peace,
If they were purchased with less blood.

Tim.
Sometimes
Blood, for the sake of sparing it, is spilled.
If from the infected frame I do not lop
The injured members, can the rest be cured?
From the most corrupt magistrates, in part,
The city I've delivered: it behoves us
To trace so many evils to their source,
And fortify with renovated laws,
Applied with judgment, the infirm republic.
If he is called a tyrant who renews
The laws, I am a tyrant; but to him
Who tramples on them, if this epithet
More properly belong, I am not one.
The wishes of the many are accomplished
By every deed of mine: the few complain;
Let them complain unheeded!

Ech.
If thy brother,
That man of unexampled worth, Timoleon,
Enrol himself among them, canst thou say
That they are few? More than himself he loves thee;
And yet he openly condemns thy conduct.
I fain would think thy objects laudable;
But too impetuous, e'en in a good cause
'Tis more than possible thou may'st adopt
Measures too violent: for one to grasp,
Whatever be his object, sovereign power,
Timophanes, believe me, is an act
Of perilous presumption; and to me
Seems most tremendous; having power to injure,
Alas! most commonly provokes to injure.

Tim.
Thou speakest wisely; but if ardent passions
Push not men on to lofty enterprize,
Calm wisdom never will accomplish it.
In Lacedæmon thou didst see Lycurgus,
Who wished to make his absolute controul
Subservient to the universal good:
Was not e'en he constrained to make himself
A tyrant, to demolish tyranny?
Alas, 'tis force alone then can compel
To virtuous actions a degenerate people.

Ech.
Thou hast that force. May heaven direct thee then
To apply it worthily to worthy ends.