Caractacus, a Dramatic Poem, Written on the Model of the Ancient Greek Tragedy

Front matter

A

Dramatic Poem.

A

To the Reverend Mr. Hurd

TO

The Revd Mr HURD.

ELEGY.

Friend of my youth, who, when the willing Muse Stream'd o'er my breast her warm poetic rays, Saw'st the fresh seeds their vital powers diffuse, And fed'st them with the fost'ring dew of praise! Whate'er the produce of th' unthrifty soil, The leaves, the flowers, the fruits, to thee belong: The labourer earns the wages of his toil; Who form'd the Poet, well may claim the song. Yes, 'tis my pride to own, that taught by thee My conscious soul superior flights essay'd; Learnt from thy lore the Poet's dignity, And spurn'd the hirelings of the rhyming trade. Say, scenes of Science, say, thou haunted stream! [For oft my Muse-led steps did'st thou behold] How on thy banks I rifled every theme, That Fancy fabled in her age of gold. How oft I cry'd, "O come, thou tragic Queen! "March from thy Greece with firm majestic tread! "Such as when Athens saw thee fill her scene, "When Sophocles thy choral Graces led;

"Saw thy proud pall it's purple length devolve, "Saw thee uplift the glitt'ring dagger high, "Ponder with fixed brow thy deep resolve "Prepar'd to strike, to triumph, and to die. "Bring then to Britain's plain that choral throng, "Display thy buskin'd pomp, thy golden lyre, "Give her historic forms the soul of song, "And mingle Attic art with Shakespear's fire." "Ah what, fond Boy, dost thou presume to claim?" The Muse reply'd. "Mistaken suppliant, know, "To light in Shakespear's breast the dazzling flame "Exhausted all Parnassus could bestow. "True; Art remains; and, if from his bright page "Thy mimic power one vivid beam can seize, "Proceed; and in that best of tasks engage, "Which tends at once to profit, and to please." She spake; and Harewood's Towers spontaneous rose; Soft virgin warblings eccho'd thro' the grove; And fair Elfrida pour'd forth all her woes, The hapless pattern of connubial Love. More awful scenes old Mona next display'd; Her caverns gloom'd, her forests wav'd on high, While flam'd within their consecrated shade The Genius stern of British liberty. And see, my HURD! to thee those scenes consign'd; O! take and stamp them with thy honour'd name. Around the page be friendship's chaplet twin'd; And, if they find the road to honest Fame,

Perchance the candour of some nobler age May praise the Bard, who bad gay Folly bear Her cheap applauses to the busy stage And leave him pensive Virtue's silent tear; Chose too to consecrate his fav'rite strain To Him, who grac'd by ev'ry liberal art, That best might shine amid the learned train, Yet more excell'd in morals, and in heart: Whose equal mind could see vain fortune shower Her flimzy favours on the fawning crew, While in low Thurcaston's sequester'd bower She fixt him distant from Promotion's view: Yet, shelter'd there by calm Contentment's wing; Pleas'd he could smile, and with sage Hooker's eye "See from his mother earth God's blessings spring "And eat his bread in peace and privacy."

20 March 1759. >>W. MASON.

Persons of the Drama

Persons of the Drama.

AULUS DIDIUS, the Roman General.

|VELLINUS, | Sons of Cartismandua.

ELIDURUS,

CHORUS of Druids and Bards.

CARACTACUS.

EVILINA, Daughter to Caractacus.

ARVIRAGUS, Son to Caractacus.

Scene, MONA.

Caractacus, a dramatic poem

CARACTACUS,

A

Dramatic Poem.

<>AULUS DIDIUS, with Romans. This is the secret centre of the isle: Here, Romans, pause, and let the eye of wonder Gaze on the solemn scene; behold yon oak, How stern he frowns, and with his broad brown arms Chills the pale plain beneath him: mark yon altar, The dark stream brawling round it's rugged base, These cliffs, these yawning caverns, this wide circus, Skirted with unhewn stone: they awe my soul, As if the very Genius of the place Himself appear'd, and with terrific tread Stalk'd thro' his drear domain. And yet, my friends, (If shapes like his be but the fancy's coinage) Surely there is a hidden power, that reigns 'Mid the lone majesty of untam'd nature, Controuling sober reason; tell me else, Why do these haunts of barb'rous superstition O'ercome me thus? I scorn them, yet they awe me. Call forth the British Princes: in this gloom I mean to school them to our enterprize. >>Enter Vellinus and Elidurus.

<>AULUS DIDIUS, VELLINUS, ELIDURUS. Ye pledges dear of Cartismandua's faith, Approach! and to my uninstructed ear Explain this scene of horror.

<>ELIDURUS. Daring Roman, Thy footsteps press on consecrated ground: These mighty piles of magic-planted rock, Thus rang'd in mystic order, mark the place Where but at times of holiest festival The Druid leads his train.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. Where dwells the seer?

<>VELLINUS. In yonder shaggy cave; on which the moon Now sheds a side-long gleam. His brotherhood Possess the neighb'ring cliffs.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. Yet up the hill Mine eye descrys a distant range of caves, Delv'd in the ridges of the craggy steep: And this way still another.

<>ELIDURUS. On the left Reside the Sages skill'd in Nature's lore: The changeful universe, it's numbers, powers, Studious they measure, save when meditation Gives place to holy rites: then in the grove Each hath his rank and function. Yonder grots Are tenanted by Bards, who nightly thence,

Rob'd in their flowing vests of innocent white, Descend, with harps that glitter to the moon, Hymning immortal strains. The spirits of air, Of earth, of water, nay of heav'n itself, Do listen to their lay: and oft, 'tis said, In visible shapes dance they a magic round To the high minstrelsy. Now, if thine eye Be sated with the view, haste to thy ships; And ply thine oars; for, if the Druids learn This bold intrusion, thou wilt find it hard To foil their fury.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. Prince, I did not moor My light-arm'd shallops on this dangerous strand, To sooth a fruitless curiosity: I come in quest of proud Caractacus; Who, when our veterans put his troops to flight, Found refuge here.

<>ELIDURUS. If here the Monarch rests, Presumptuous Chief! thou might'st as well essay To pluck him from yon stars: Earth's ample range Contains no surer refuge: underneath The soil we tread, a hundred secret paths, Scoopt thro' the living rock in winding maze, Lead to as many caverns, dark, and deep: 'Mid which the hoary sages act their rites Mysterious, rites of such strange potency, As, done in open day, would dim the sun,

Tho' thron'd in noontide brightness. In such dens He may for life lie hid.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. We know the task Most difficult: yet has thy royal mother Furnish'd the means.

<>ELIDURUS. My mother sayst thou, Roman?

<>AULUS DIDIUS. In proof of that firm faith she lends to Rome, She gave ye up her honour's hostages.

<>ELIDURUS. She did: and we submit.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. To Rome we bear ye; From your dear country bear ye; from your joys, Your loves, your friendships, all your souls hold precious.

<>ELIDURUS. And dost thou taunt us, Roman, with our fate?

<>AULUS DIDIUS. No, Youth, by heav'n, I would avert that fate. Wish ye for liberty?

<>VELLINUS, ELIDURUS. More than for life.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. And would do much to gain it?

<>VELLINUS. Name the task.

<>AULUS DIDIUS. The task is easy. Haste ye to these Druids; Tell them ye come, commission'd by your Queen, To seek the great Caractacus; and call His valour to her aid, against the Legions, Which, led by our Ostorius, now assail Her frontiers. The late treaty she has seal'd Is yet unknown: and this her royal signet, Which more to mask our purpose was obtain'd, Shall be your pledge of faith. The eager king Will gladly take the charge; and, he consenting, What else remains, but to the Meinaï's shore Ye lead his credulous step? there will we seize him: Bear him to Rome, the substitute for you, And give you back to freedom.

<>VELLINUS. If the Druids.—

<>AULUS DIDIUS. If they, or he, prevent this artifice, Then force must take it's way: then flaming brands, And biting axes, weilded by our soldiers, Must level these thick shades; and so unlodge The lurking savage.

<>ELIDURUS. Gods, shall Mona perish?

<>AULUS DIDIUS. Princes, her ev'ry trunk shall on the ground Measure it's magnitude; unless ere dawn, Ye lure this untam'd lion to our toils. Go then, and prosper; I shall to the ships,

And there expect his coming. Youths, remember, He must to Rome to grace great Cæsar's triumph: Cæsar and Fate demand him at your hands. >>Exit Aulus Didius, and Romans.

<>ELIDURUS, VELLINUS. And will heav'n suffer it? Will the just gods, That tread yon spangled pavement o'er our heads, Look from their sky and yield them? Will these Druids, Their sage vicegerents, not call down the thunder; And will not instant it's hot bolts be darted In such a righteous cause? Yes, good old king, Yes, last of Britons, thou art heav'ns own pledge; And shalt be such 'till death.

<>VELLINUS. What means my brother, Dost thou refuse the charge?

<>ELIDURUS. Dost thou accept it?

<>VELLINUS. It gives us liberty.

<>ELIDURUS. It makes us traytors. Gods, would Vellinus do a deed of baseness?

<>VELLINUS. Will Elidurus scorn the profer'd boon Of freedom?

<>ELIDURUS. Yes, when such it's guilty price, Brother, I spurn it.

<>VELLINUS. Go then, foolish boy! I'll do the deed myself.

<>ELIDURUS. It shall not be: I will proclaim the fraud.

<>VELLINUS. Wilt thou? 'tis well. Hie to you cave; call loudly on the Druid; And bid him drag to ignominious death The partner of thy blood. Yet hope not thou To 'scape; for thou didst join my impious steps: Therefore his wrath shall curse thee: thou shalt live; Yet shalt thou live an interdicted wretch, All rights of nature cancell'd.

<>ELIDURUS. O Vellinus! Rend not my soul: by heav'n thou know'st I love thee, As fervently as brother e'er lov'd brother: And, loving thee, I thought I lov'd mine honour. Ah! do not wake, dear youth, in this true breast So fierce a conflict.

<>VELLINUS. Honour's voice commands Thou shouldst obey thy mother, and thy queen. Honour and sage religion both conspire To bid thee save these consecrated groves From Roman devastation.

<>ELIDURUS. Horrid thought! Hence let us haste, ev'n to the furthest nook Of this wide isle; nor view the sacrilege.

<>VELLINUS. No, let us stay, and by our prosperous art Prevent the sacrilege. Mark me, my brother, More years, and more experience have matur'd My sober thought; I will convince thy youth, That this our deed has ev'ry honest sanction Cool reason may demand.

<>ELIDURUS. To Rome with reason: Try if 'twill bring her deluging ambition Into the level course of right and justice: Try if 'twill tame these insolent invaders; Who thus, in savageness of conquest, claim Whom chance of war has spar'd. Do this, and prosper. But, pray thee, do not reason from my soul It's inbred honesty: that holy flame How e'er eclips'd by Rome's black influence In vulgar minds, ought still to glow in ours.

<>VELLINUS. Vain talker leave me.

<>ELIDURUS. No, I will not leave thee: I must not, dare not, in these perilous shades. Think, if thy fraud should fail, these holy men, How will their justice rend thy traitrous limbs? If thou succeed'st, the fiercer pangs of conscience,

How will they ever goad thy guilty soul? Mercy, defend us! see, the awful Druids Are issuing from their caves: hear'st thou yon signal? Lo, on the instant all the mountain whitens With slow-descending Bards. Retire, retire; This is the hour of sacrifice: to stay Is death.

<>VELLINUS. I'll wait the closing of their rites In yonder vale: do thou, as likes thee best, Betray, or aid me.

<>ELIDURUS. To betray thee, youth, That love forbids; honour, alas! to aid thee. >>Exeunt.

<>Enter CHORUS.

<>SEMICHORUS. Sleep and Silence reign around; Not a night-breeze wakes to blow; Circle, sons, this holy ground; Circle close, in triple row; And, if mask'd in vapors drear, Any earth-born Spirit dare To hover round this sacred space, Haste with light spells the murky foe to chace. Lift your boughs of vervain blue, Dipt in cold September dew; And dash the moisture chaste, and clear, O'er the ground, and thro' the air. Now the place is purg'd and pure.

Brethren! say, for this high hour Are the milk-white steers prepar'd? Whose necks the rude yoke never scar'd, To the furrow yet unbroke? For such must bleed beneath yon oak.

<>SEMICHORUS. Druid, these, in order meet, Are all prepar'd.

<>SEMICHORUS. But tell me yet, Cadwall! did thy step profound Dive into the cavern deep, Twice twelve fathom under ground, Where our sage fore-fathers sleep? Thence with reverence hast thou born, From the consecrated chest, The golden sickle, scrip, and vest, Whilom by old Belinus worn?

<>SEMICHORUS. Druid, these, in order meet, Are all prepar'd.

<>SEMICHORUS. But tell me yet, From the grot of charms and spells, Where our matron sister dwells, Brennus! has thy holy hand Safely brought the druid wand? And the potent adder-stone, Gender'd 'fore th' autumnal moon? When, in undulating twine,

The foaming snakes prolific join; When they hiss, and when they bear Their wond'rous egg aloof in air; Thence, before to earth it fall, The Druid, in his hallow'd pall, Receives the prize; And instant flys, Follow'd by th' envenom'd brood, 'Till he cross the crystal flood.

<>SEMICHORUS. Druid, these, in order meet, Are all prepar'd.

<>SEMICHORUS. Then all's compleat. And now let nine of the selected band, Whose greener years befit such station best, With wary circuit pace around the grove: And guard each inlet; watchful, lest the eye Of busy curiosity profane Pry on our rites: which now must be as close As done i'th' very central womb of earth. Occasion claims it; for Caractacus This night demands admission to our train. He, once our king, while ought his power avail'd To save his country from the rod of tyrants; That duty past, does wisely now retire To end his days in secrecy and peace; Druid with Druids, in this chief of groves, Ev'n in the heart of Mona. See, he comes! How awful is his port! mark him, my friends!

He looks, as doth the tower, whose nodding walls, After the conflict of heav'n's angry bolts, Frown with a dignity unmark'd before, Ev'n in it's prime of strength. Health to the king!

<>CARACTACUS, EVILINA, CHORUS. This holy place, methinks, doth this night wear More than it's wonted gloom: Druid, these groves Have caught the dismal colouring of my soul, Changing their dark dun garbs to very sable, In pity to their guest. Hail, hallow'd oaks! Hail, British born! who, last of British race, Hold your primæval rights by nature's charter; Not at the nod of Cæsar. Happy foresters, Ye wave your bold heads 'mid the liberal air; Nor ask, for priviledge, a prætor's edict. Ye, with your tough and intertwisted roots, Grasp the firm rocks ye sprung from; and, erect In knotty hardihood, still proudly spread Your leafy banners 'gainst the tyrannous north, Who Roman like assails you. Tell me, Druid, Is it not better to be such as these, Than be the thing I am?

<>CHORUS. To be the thing, Eternal wisdom wills, is ever best.

<>CARACTACUS. But I am lost to that predestin'd use Eternal wisdom will'd, and fitly therefore

May wish a change of being. I was born A king; and Heav'n, who bade these warrior oaks Lift their green shields against the fiery sun, To fence their subject plain, did mean, that I Should, with as firm an arm, protect my people, Against the pestilent glare of Rome's ambition. I fail'd; and how I fail'd, thou know'st too well; So does the babbling world: and therefore, Druid, I would be any thing save what I am.

<>CHORUS. See, to thy wish, the holy rites prepar'd, Which, if heav'n frown not, consecrate thee Druid: See to the altar's base the victims led, From whose free-gushing blood ourself shall read Its high behests; which if assenting found, These hands around thy chosen limbs shall wrap The vest of sanctity; while at the act Yon white-rob'd bards, sweeping their solemn harps, Shall lift their choral warblings to the skies, And call the gods to witness. Mean-while, Prince, Bethink thee well if ought on this vain earth Still holds too firm an union with thy soul, Estranging it from peace.

<>CARACTACUS. I had a queen: Bear with my weakness, Druid! this tough breast Must heave a sigh, for she is unreveng'd. And can I taste true peace, she unreveng'd? So chaste, so lov'd a queen? ah, Evilina!

Hang not thus weeping on the feeble arm That cou'd not save thy mother.

<>EVILINA. To hang thus Softens the pang of grief; and the sweet thought, That a fond father still supports his child, Sheds, on my pensive mind, such soothing balm, As doth the blessing of these pious seers, When most they wish our welfare. Would to heav'n A daughter's presence could as much avail, To ease her father's woes, as his doth mine.

<>CARACTACUS. Ever most gentle! come unto my bosom: Dear pattern of the precious prize I lost, Lost, so inglorious lost; my friends, these eyes Did see her torn from my defenceless camp; Whilst I, hemm'd round by squadrons, could not save her: My boy, still nearer to the darling pledge, Beheld her shrieking in the ruffian's arm; Beheld, and fled.

<>EVILINA. Ah! Sir, forbear to wound My brother's fame; he fled, but to recall His scatter'd forces to pursue and save her.

<>CARACTACUS. Daughter, he fled. Now, by yon gracious moon, That rising saw the deed, and instant hid Her blushing face in twilight's dusky veil, The flight was parricide.

<>EVILINA. Indeed, indeed, I know him valiant; and not doubt he fell 'Mid slaughter'd thousands of the haughty foe, Victim to filial love. Arviragus, Thou hadst no sister near the bloody field, Whose sorrowing search, led by yon orb of night, Might find thy body; wash with tears thy wounds; And wipe them with her hair.

<>CHORUS. Peace, virgin, peace: Nor thou, sad prince, reply; whate'er he is, Be he a captive, fugitive, or corse, He is what heav'n ordain'd: these holy groves Permit no exclamation. 'gainst heav'n's will To violate their echoes: Patience, here, Her meek hands folded on her modest breast, In mute submission lifts th' adoring eye, Ev'n to the storm that wrecks her.

<>EVILINA. Holy Druid, If ought my erring tongue has said pollutes This sacred place, I from my soul abjure it. And will these lips bar with eternal silence, Rather than speak a word, or act a deed Unmeet for thy sage daughters; blessing first This hallow'd hour, that takes me from the world, And joins me to their sober sisterhood.

<>CHORUS. 'Tis wisely said. See, prince, this prudent maid, Now, while the ruddy flame of sparkling youth Glows on her beauteous cheek, can quit the world Without a sigh, whilst thou——

<>CARACTACUS. Would save my queen From a base ravisher; would wish to plunge This falchion in his breast, and so avenge Insulted royalty. O holy men! Ye are the sons of piety and peace; Ye never felt the sharp vindictive spur, That goads the injur'd warrior; the hot tide, That flushes crimson on the conscious cheek Of him, who burns for glory; else indeed Ye much would pity me: would curse the fate That coops me here inactive in your groves, Robs me of hope, tells me this trusty steel Must never cleave one Roman helm again, Never avenge my queen, nor free my country.

<>CHORUS. 'Tis heav'n's high will——

<>CARACTACUS. I know it, reverend fathers! 'Tis heav'n's high will, that these poor aged eyes Shall never more behold that virtuous woman, To whom my youth was constant, 'twas heav'n's will To take her from me at that very hour, When best her love might sooth me; that black hour, [May memory ever raze it from her records]

When all my squadrons fled, and left their king Old and defenceless: him, who nine whole years Had stemm'd all Rome with their firm phallanx: yes, For nine whole years, my friends, I bravely led The valiant veterans, oft to victory, Never 'till then to shame. Bear with me, Druid, I've done: begin the rites.

<>CHORUS. O would to heav'n A frame of mind, more fitted to these rites, Possest thee, Prince! that Resignation meek, That dove-ey'd Peace, handmaid of Sanctity, Approach'd this altar with thee: 'stead of these, See I not gaunt Revenge, ensanguin'd Slaughter, And mad Ambition, clinging to thy soul, Eager to snatch thee back to their domain, Back to a vain and miserable world; Whose misery, and vanity, tho' try'd, Thou still hold'st dearer than these solemn shades, Where Quiet reigns with Virtue? Try we yet What Holiness can do; for much it can: Much is the potency of pious prayer: And much the sacred influence convey'd By sage mysterious office: when the soul, Snatch'd by the power of musick from her cell Of fleshly thraldom, feels herself upborn On plumes of extasy, and boldly springs, 'Mid swelling harmonies and pealing hymns, Up to the porch of heav'n. Strike, then, ye Bards! Strike all your strings symphonious; wake a strain

May penetrate, may purge, may purify, His yet unhallow'd bosom; call ye hither The airy tribe, that on yon mountain dwell, Ev'n on majestic Snowdon: they, who never Deign visit mortal men, save on some cause Of highest import, but, fublimely shrin'd On it's hoar top in domes of crystaline ice, Hold converse with those spirits, that possess The skies pure sapphire, nearest heav'n itself.

<>ODE.

<>I. 1. Mona on Snowdon calls: Hear, thou King of mountains, hear; Hark, she speaks from all her strings; Hark, her loudest echo rings; King of mountains, bend thine ear: Send thy spirits, send them soon, Now, when Midnight and the Moon Meet upon thy front of snow: See, their gold and ebon rod, Where the sober sisters nod, And greet in whispers sage and slow. Snowdon mark! 'tis Magic's hour; Now the mutter'd spell hath pow'r; Pow'r to rend thy ribs of rock, And burst thy base with thunder's shock; But to thee no ruder spell Shall Mona use, than those that dwell

In music's secret cells, and lie Steep'd in the stream of harmony.

<>I. 2. Snowdon has heard the strain: Hark, amid the wond'ring grove Other harpings answer clear, Other voices meet our ear, Pinnions flutter, shadows move, Busy murmurs hum around, Rustling vestments brush the ground; Round, and round, and round they go, Thro' the twilight, thro' the shade, Mount the oak's majestic head, And gild the tufted misseltoe. Cease, ye glittering race of light, Close your wings, and check your flight: Here, arrang'd in order due, Spread your robes of saffron hue; For lo, with more than mortal fire, Mighty Mador smites the lyre: Hark he sweeps the master-strings; Listen all——

<>CHORUS. Break off; a sullen smoak involves the altar; The central oak doth shake; I hear the sound Of steps prophane: Caractacus, retire; Bear off the victims; Mona is polluted.

<>SEMICHORUS. Father, as we did watch the eastern side, We spied and instant seiz'd two stranger youths,

Who, in the bottom of a shadowy dell, Held earnest converse: Britons do they seem, And of Brigantian race.

<>CHORUS. Haste, drag them hither.

<>VELLINUS, ELIDURUS, CHORUS. O spare, ye sage and venerable Druids! Your countrymen and sons.

<>CHORUS. And are ye Britons? Unheard of profanation! Rome herself, Ev'n impious Rome, whom conquest makes more impious, Would not have dar'd so rashly. O! for words, Big with the fiercest force of execration, To blast the deed, and doers.

<>ELIDURUS. Spare the curse, Oh spare our youth!

<>CHORUS. Udolphov1p128Is it not now the hour, The holy hour, when to the cloudless height Of yon starr'd concave climbs the full-orb'd moon, And to this nether world in solemn stillness Gives sign, that to the list'ning ear of Heav'n Religion's voice should plead; the very babe Knows this, and, chance awak'd, his little hands Lifts to the gods, and on his innocent couch Calls down a blessing. Shall your manly years Plead ignorance, and impiously presume To press, with vile unconsecrated feet,

On Mona's hallow'd plain? know, wretches, know, At any hour such boldness is a crime, At this 'tis sacrilege.

<>VELLINUS. Were Mona's plain More hallow'd still, hallow'd as is Heav'n's self, The cause might plead our pardon.

<>ELIDURUS. Mighty Druid! True, we have rashly dar'd, yet, forc'd by duty, Our sov'reign's mandate——

<>VELLINUS. Elder by my birth, Brother, I claim, in right of eldership, To open our high embassy.

<>CHORUS. Speak then; But see thy words answer in honest weight To this proud prelude. Youth! they must be weighty, T' atone for such a crime.

<>VELLINUS. If then to give New nerves to vanquish'd valour, if to do, What, with the blessing of the Gods, may save A bleeding country from oppression's sword, Be weighty business, know, on our commission, And on it's hop'd success, that weight depends.

<>CHORUS. Declare it then at once, briefly and boldly.

<>VELLINUS. Caractacus is here.

<>CHORUS. Say'st thou, proud boy? 'Tis boldly said, and, grant 'twere truly said, Think'st thou he were not here from fraud or force As safe as 'midst a camp of conquerors? Here, youth, he would be guarded by the gods; Their own high hostage; and each sacred hair Of his selected head, would in these caverns Sleep with the unsunn'd silver of the mine, As precious and as safe; record the time, When Mona e'er betray'd the hapless wretch, That made her groves his refuge.

<>VELLINUS. Holy Druid! Think not so harshly of our enterprize. Can force, alas! dwell in our unarm'd hands? Can fraud in our young bosoms? No, dread seer, Our business told, I trust thou'lt soon disclaim The vain suspicion; and thy holy ear (Be brave Caractacus or here or absent) Shall instant learn it. From the north we come; The sons of her, whose heav'n-intrusted sway Blesses the bold Brigantes; men who firmly Have three long moons withstood those Roman powers, Which, led by fell Ostorius, still assail Our frontiers: yet so oft have our stout swords Repell'd their hot assault, that now, like falcons, They hang suspended, loth to quit their prey,

Nor daring yet to seize it. Such the state Of us and Rome; 'mid which our prudent mother, Revolving what might to her people's weal Best sink the dubious scale, gave us swift charge To seek the great Caractacus, and call His valour to her aid, to lead her bands, To fight the cause of liberty and Britain, And quell these ravagers. >>Caractacus starts from behind the altar.

<>CARACTACUS, VELLINUS, ELIDURUS, CHORUS. And ye have found me; Friends, ye have found me: lead me to your Queen, And the last purple drop in these old veins Shall fall for her and Britain.

<>CHORUS. Rash, rash Prince!

<>VELLINUS. Ye blest immortal pow'rs! is this the man, The more than man, who for nine bloody years Withstood all Rome? He is; that war-like front, Seam'd o'er with honest scars, proclaims he is: Kneel, brother, kneel, while in his royal hand We lodge the signet: this, in pledge of faith, Great Cartismandua sends, and with it tells thee She has a nobler pledge than this behind; Thy Queen—

<>CARACTACUS. Guideria!

<>VELLINUS. Safely with our mother.

<>CARACTACUS. How, when, where rescued? mighty Gods, I thank ye. For it is true, this signet speaks it true. O tell me briefly.

<>VELLINUS. In a sally, Prince, Which, wanting abler chiefs, my gracious mother Committed to my charge, our troops assail'd One outwork of the camp; the mask of night Favour'd our arms, and there my happy hand Was doom'd 'mid other prisoners to release The captive matron.

<>CARACTACUS. Let me clasp thee, youth, And thou shalt be my son; I had one, stranger, Just of thy years; he look'd like thee right honest; Had just that freeborn boldness on his brow, And yet he fail'd me. Were it not for him, Who, as thou seest, ev'n at this hour of joy, Draws tears down mine old cheek, I were as blest As the great gods. Oh, he has all disgrac'd His high-born ancestry! But I'll forget him. Haste, Evelina, barb my knotty spear, Bind fast this trusty falchion to my thigh, My bow, my target—

<>CHORUS. Rash Caractacus! What hast thou done? What dost thou mean to do?

<>CARACTACUS. To save my country.

<>CHORUS. To betray thyself. That thou hast done; the rest thou canst not do, If Heav'n forbids; and of it's awful will Thy fury recks not: Has the bleeding victim Pour'd a propitious stream? the milk-white steeds Unrein'd and neighing pranc'd with fav'ring steps? Say, when these youths approach'd, did not a gust Of livid smoak involve the bickering flame? Did not the forest tremble? every omen Led thee to doubt their honesty of purpose; And yet, before their tongues could tell that purpose, Ere I had tender'd, as our laws ordain, Their test of faith, thy rudeness rush'd before me, Infringing my just rights.

<>CARACTACUS. Druid, methinks, At such a time, in such a cause, Reproof Might bait it's sternness. Now, by Heav'n, I feel, Beyond all omens, that within my breast, That marshals me to conquest; something here That snatches me beyond all mortal fears, Lifts me to where upon her jasper throne Sits flame-rob'd Victory, who calls me son, And crowns me with a palm, whose deathless green Shall bloom when Cæsar's fades.

<>CHORUS. Vain confidence!

<>CARACTACUS. Yet I submit in all—

<>CHORUS. 'Tis meet thou should'st. Thou art a King, a sov'reign o'er frail man; I am a Druid, servant of the Gods; Such service is above such sov'reignty, As well thou know'st: if they should prompt these lips To interdict the thing thou dar'st to do, What would avail thy daring?

<>CARACTACUS. Holy man! But thou wilt bless it; Heav'n will bid thee bless it; Thou know'st that, when we fight to save our country, We fight the cause of Heav'n. The man that falls, Falls hallow'd; falls a victim for the Gods; For them and for their altars.