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CATO.
25
With resolution, friendship, Roman bravery,
And all the virtues we can crowd into it;
That heav'n may say it ought to be prolong'd.
Fathers, farewell———The young Numidian Prince
Comes forward, and expects to know our counsels.[Exeunt Senators.
And all the virtues we can crowd into it;
That heav'n may say it ought to be prolong'd.
Fathers, farewell———The young Numidian Prince
Comes forward, and expects to know our counsels.[Exeunt Senators.
SCENE IV.
Cato, Juba.
Cato.Juba, the Roman senate has resolv'd,
'Till time give better prospects, still to keep
The sword unsheath'd, and turn its edge on Cesar.
Juba.The resolution fits a Roman senate.
But, Cato, lend me for a while thy patience,
And condescend to hear a young man speak.
My father, when some days before his death
He order'd me to march for Utica,
(Alas, I thought not then his death so near!)
Wept o'er me, press'd me in his aged arms,
And, as his griefs gave way, My son, said he,
Whatever fortune shall befal thy father,
Be Cato's friend; he'll train thee up to great
And virtuous deeds: Do but observe him well,
Thoul't shun misfortunes, or thoul't learn to bear 'em.
Cato.Juba, thy father was a worthy Prince,
And merited, alas! a better fate;
But heav'n thought otherwise.
Juba.My father's fate,
In spite of all the fortitude that shines
Before my face, in Cato's great example,
Subdues my soul, and fills my eyes with tears.
Cato.It is an honest sorrow, and becomes thee.
Jub.My father drew respect from foreign climes:
The kings of Afric sought him for their friend;
Kings far remote, that rule, as fame reports,
Behind the hidden sources of the Nile,
In distant worlds, on t'other side the sun:
Oft have their black ambassadors appear'd,
Loaden with gifts, and fill'd the courts of Zama.
Cato.Juba, the Roman senate has resolv'd,
'Till time give better prospects, still to keep
The sword unsheath'd, and turn its edge on Cesar.
Juba.The resolution fits a Roman senate.
But, Cato, lend me for a while thy patience,
And condescend to hear a young man speak.
My father, when some days before his death
He order'd me to march for Utica,
(Alas, I thought not then his death so near!)
Wept o'er me, press'd me in his aged arms,
And, as his griefs gave way, My son, said he,
Whatever fortune shall befal thy father,
Be Cato's friend; he'll train thee up to great
And virtuous deeds: Do but observe him well,
Thoul't shun misfortunes, or thoul't learn to bear 'em.
Cato.Juba, thy father was a worthy Prince,
And merited, alas! a better fate;
But heav'n thought otherwise.
Juba.My father's fate,
In spite of all the fortitude that shines
Before my face, in Cato's great example,
Subdues my soul, and fills my eyes with tears.
Cato.It is an honest sorrow, and becomes thee.
Jub.My father drew respect from foreign climes:
The kings of Afric sought him for their friend;
Kings far remote, that rule, as fame reports,
Behind the hidden sources of the Nile,
In distant worlds, on t'other side the sun:
Oft have their black ambassadors appear'd,
Loaden with gifts, and fill'd the courts of Zama.
C
Cato.
