Of long-forgotten liberty: when I

44

Oped his young eye to bear the blaze of greatness; Shew'd him where empire tower'd, and bade him

strike

The noble quarry.

Gods! then was the time To shrink from danger; fear might then have worn The mask of prudence; but a heart like mine, A heart that glows with the pure Julian fire, 50 If bright ambition from her craggy seat Display the radiant prize, will mount undaunted, Gain the rough heights, and grasp the dangerous

56

honour. [steps, ACER. Thro' various life I have pursued your Have seen your soul, and wonder'd at its daring: Hence rise fears. Nor am I yet to learn my How vast the debt of gratitude which Nero To such a mother owes; the world, you gave him, Suffices not to pay the obligation.

I well remember too (for I was present) When in a secret and dead hour of night, Due sacrifice perform'd with barb'rous rites Of mutter'd charms, and solemn invocation, You bade the Magi call the dreadful powers, That read futurity, to know the fate

"Hæc (exclamat) mihi pro tanto
Munere reddis præmia, gnate?

Hac sum, fateor, digna carinâ

Quæ te genui, quæ tibi lucem
Atque imperium, nomenque dedi
Cæsaris, amens.'

60

65

Agrippina's Speech in Seneca's Octavia, ver. 333.

V. 64. On Nero's Magical studies, consult Plinii. Nat. Hist. lib. xxx. cap. 5.

Impending o'er your son: their answer was,
If the son reign, the mother perishes.

Perish (you cried) the mother! reign the son!
He reigns, the rest is heav'n's; who oft has bade,
Ev'n when its will seem'd wrote in lines of blood, 70
Th' unthought event disclose a whiter meaning.
Think too how oft in weak and sickly minds
The sweets of kindness lavishly indulg'd
Rankle to gall; and benefits too great
To be repaid, sit heavy on the soul,
As unrequited wrongs. The willing homage
Of prostrate Rome, the senate's joint applause,
The riches of the earth, the train of pleasures
That wait on youth, and arbitrary sway:
These were your gift, and with them you bestow'd
The very power he has to be ungrateful.

75

81

AGRIP. *Thus ever grave and undisturb'd reflection

Pours its cool dictates in the madding ear

Of rage, and thinks to quench the fire it feels not. Say'st thou I must be cautious, must be silent, 85 And tremble at the phantom I have raised? Carry to him thy timid counsels. He

Perchance may heed 'em: tell him too, that one Who had such liberal power to give, may still

* In Gray's MS. Agrippina's was one continued speech from this line to the end of the scene. Mr. Mason informs us, that he has altered it to the state in which it now stands.

V. 91. Et c'est trop respecter l' ouvrage de mes mains." Britannicus, act iii. sc. 3.

V. 98. "And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies."

Hen. V. act ii. Chor. Rogers.

With equal power resume that gift, and raise 90 A tempest that shall shake her own creation

To its original atoms

tell me! say

This mighty emperor, this dreaded hero,
Has he beheld the glittering front of war?

Knows his soft ear the trumpet's thrilling voice, 95
And outcry of the battle? Have his limbs
Sweat under iron harness? Is he not

The silken son of dalliance, nurs'd in ease
And pleasure's flow'ry lap?- Rubellius lives,
And Sylla has his friends, though school'd by fear
To bow the supple knee, and court the times 101
With shows of fair obeisance; and a call,
Like mine, might serve belike to wake pretensions
Drowsier than theirs, who boast the genuine blood
Of our imperial house.
[passion,
ACER. Did I not wish to check this dangerous
I might remind my mistress that her nod
Can rouse eight hardy legions, wont to stem
With stubborn nerves the tide, and face the rigour
Of bleak Germania's snows. Four, not less brave,
That in Armenia quell the Parthian force
Under the warlike Corbulo, by you
Mark'd for their leader: these, by ties confirm'd,
Of old respect and gratitude, are yours.
Surely the Masians too, and those of Egypt, u15

107

111

V. 99. v. Senecæ Octav. 437. Nero enters, "Perage imperata, mitte qui Plauti mihi, Sullæque cæsi referat abscissum caput.' i. e. Plauti Rubellii.

V. 110. But Tacitus says: "Sed Corbuloni plus molis adversus ignaviam militum, quam contra perfidium hostium, erat." v. Annales, xiii. 35.

Have not forgot your sire: the eye of Rome,
And the Prætorian camp, have long rever'd,
With custom'd awe, the daughter, sister, wife,
And mother of their Cæsars.

AGRIP.

Ha! by Juno,

120

125

It bears a noble semblance. On this base
My great revenge shall rise; or say we sound
The trump of liberty; there will not want,
Even in the servile senate, ears to own
Her spirit-stirring voice; Soranus there,
And Cassius; Vetus too, and Thrasea,
Minds of the antique cast, rough, stubborn souls,
That struggle with the yoke. How shall the spark
Unquenchable, that glows within their breasts,
Blaze into freedom, when the idle herd
(Slaves from the womb, created but to stare,
And bellow in the Circus) yet will start,
And shake 'em at the name of liberty,
Stung by a senseless word, a vain tradition,
As there were magic in it? Wrinkled beldams
Teach it their grandchildren, as somewhat rare
That anciently appear'd, but when, extends
Beyond their chronicle
oh! 'tis a cause

V. 118.

"Et moi, qui sur le trône ai suivi mes ancêtres,
Moi, fille, femme, sœur, et mere de vos maitres."

130

136

Britannicus, act i. sc. 2. V. 124. "The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife." Othello, act iii. sc. 3.

"the spirit-stirring form

Of Cæsar, raptur'd with the charms of rule." Dyer. Rome.

V. 147. "The swarm that in thy noontide beam were born." Bard.

To arm the hand of childhood, and rebrace
The slacken'd sinews of time-wearied age.

Yes, we may meet, ungrateful boy, we may! Again the buried Genius of old Rome Shall from the dust uprear his reverend head, Rous'd by the shout of millions: there before His high tribunal thou and I appear.

Let majesty sit on thy awful brow,

And lighten from thy eye: around thee call
The gilded swarm that wantons in the sunshine
Of thy full favour; Seneca be there
In gorgeous phrase of labour'd eloquence

141

145

To dress thy plea, and Burrhus strengthen it 150 With his plain soldier's oath, and honest seeming. Against thee, liberty and Agrippina :

The world, the prize; and fair befall the victors.

155

But soft! why do I waste the fruitless hours In threats unexecuted? Haste thee, fly These hated walls that seem to mock my shame, And cast me forth in duty to their lord.

ACER. 'Tis time to go, the sun is high advanc'd, And, ere mid-day, Nero will come to Baia.

V. 148. "Hi rectores imperatoriæ juventæ, et pari in societate potentiæ, concordes, diversâ arte, ex æquo pollebant. Burrus militaribus curis, et severitate morum: Seneca præceptis eloquentiæ, et comitate honestâ." Taciti Annales, xiii. c. 2.

V. 149. See Seneca Octav. v. 377.

V. 150. So in the speech of Burrhus in the Britannicus of Racine, act i. sc. 2:

"Je répondrai, madame; avec la liberté

D'un soldat, que sait mal farder la vérité."

And again, act i. sc. 2:

"Burrhus pour le mensonge, eut toujours trop d'horreur."

K