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ACT V. SCEN. I.

CATO folus, &c.

SIC, fic fe habere rem neceffe prorfus eft,

Ratione vincis, do lubens manus, Plato.
Quid enim dediffet, quae dedit fruftra nihil,
Aeternitatis infitam cupidinem

Natura? Quorfum haec dulcis expectatio;
Vitaeque non explenda melioris fitis?
Quid vult fibi aliud ifte redeundi in nihil
Horror, fub imis quemque agens praecordiis?
Cur territa in fe refugit anima, cur tremit
Attonita, quoties, morte ne pereat, timet ?
Particula nempe eft cuique nafcenti indita
Divinior; quae corpus incolens agit;
Hominique fuccinit: tua eft aeternitas.
Aeternitas! O lubricum nimis afpici,
Mixtumque duici gaudium formidine!

Quae demigrabitur alia hinc in corpora?
Quae terra mox incognita, quis orbis novus,
Manet incolendus? Quanta erit mutatio ?
Haec intuenti Spatia mihi quaqua patent
Immenfa: fed caliginofa nox premit ;
Nec luce clara vult videri fingula.
Figendus hic pes; certa funt haec hactenus:
Si quod gubernet numen humanum genus,
(At quod gubernet, effe clamant omnia)
Virtute non gaudere certe non poteft:
Nec effe non beata, qua gaudet poteft.
Sed qua beata fede? Quove in tempore?
Haec quanta quanta terra, tota eft Caefaris.
Quid dubius haeret animus ufque adeo? Brevi
Hic nodum hic omnem expediet. Arma en induor.

(Ensi manum admovens,

IT

ACT V. SCENE I.

CATO alone, &c.

T must be fo-Plato, thou reason'st well-
Elfe whence this pleafing hope, this fond defire,
This longing after immortality?

Or whence this fecret dread, and inward horror,
Of falling into nought? Why fhrinks the foul
Back on herself, and ftartles at deftruction?
'Tis the divinity that ftirs within us;

'Tis heav'n itself, that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man.

Eternity! thou pleafing, dreadful, thought!

Through what variety of untry'd being, Through what new fcenes and changes muft we pass! The wide, th' unbounded profpect, lies before me; But fhadows, clouds, and darkness reft upon it. Here will I hold. If there's a pow'r above us. (And that there is, all nature cries aloud

Through all her works) He must delight in virtue;

And that which he delights in must be happy.

But when! or where!

This world was made for Cafar;

'm weary of conjectures This must end 'em.

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(Laying his hand on his sword.)

In utramque partem facta; quaeque vim inferant,
Et quae propulfent! Dextera intentat necem,
Vitam finiftra; vulnus haec dabit manus;
Altera medelam vulneris: hic ad exitum
Deducet, ictu fimplici; haec vetant mori.
Secura ridet anima mucronis minas,
Enfefque ftrictos, interire nefcia.
Extinguet aetas fidera diuturnior:
Aetate languens ipfe fol obfcurius
Emittet orbi confenefcenti jubar:
Natura ipfa fentiet quondam vices
Aetatis; annis ipfa deficiet gravis;
At tibi juventus, at tibi immortalitas;
Tibi parta divum eft vita. Periment mutuis
Elementa fefe interibunt ictibus:
Tu permanebis fola femper integra,
Tu cunéta rerum quaffa, cuncta naufraga,
Jam portu in ipfo tuta, contemplabere.
Compage rupta, corruent in fe invicem,
Orbefque fractis ingerentur orbibus ;
Illaefa tu fedebis extra fragmina.

Thus am I doubly arm'd; my death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me.

This in a moment brings me to an end;
But this informs me, I fhall never die.
The foul, fecur'd in her existence, fmiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
The ftars fhall fade away, the fun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature fink in years;
But thou fhalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,

The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.

9

THE fame faculty of reafon and understanding, which placeth us above the brute part of the creation, doth alfo fubject our minds to greater and more manifold difquiets than creatures of an inferior rank are fenfible of. It is by this that we anticipate future disasters, and oft create to ourselves real pain from imaginary evils, as well as multiply the pangs arifing from those which cannot be avoided.

It behoves us therefore to make the best use of that fublime talent, which, fo long as it continues the inftrument of paffion, will ferve only to make us more miferable, in proportion as we are more excellent than other beings.

It is the privilege of a thinking being to withdraw from the objects that folicit his fenfes, and turn his thoughts inward on himself. For my own part, I often mitigate the pain arifing from the little misfortunes and disappointments that chequer human life by this introverfion of my faculties, wherein I regard my own foul as the image of her Creator, and receive great confolation from beholding those perfections which teftify her divine original, and lead me into fome knowledge of her everlasting archetype.

But there is not any property or circumftance of my being that I contemplate with more joy than my immortality. I can easily overlook my present momentary forrow, when I reflect that it is in my power to be happy a thousand years hence. If it were not for this thought, I had rather be an oyster than a man, the most stupid and

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