A bond upon the soul against disgrace!
'Tis no vain pride that looketh to their honours,
And taketh thence a high security
That we prove not unworthy of such names.
ARREZI (Aside).
CASTRUCCIO.
I like this gallery much—our history,
Our Lucca's history, is on its walls;
Her noblest, and her bravest, and her best,
Keep the time-honour'd life of memory.
Now, if a man had plann'd some low vile deed,
He dared not act it here.
1st noble (Aside).
CASTRUCCIO.
'Tis now some fifty years—I know the face.
The public monument the public raised
In gratitude for a long life of service.
His statue looks upon the town he ruled,
An honour unto both. It is the past
Redeems the present, and that bids us look
To the dim future with a lofty hope.
Cold and unworthy were the actual hours,
If they look'd only to themselves; but life
Is conscious of its immortality,
Urged by high duty—animate by power;
The present, in the shadow of the past,
