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Show 394 Tbe SPARTAN DAME. Celo. And this muft be m y Triumph! Heav'n and Hell Are reconcile, and join contending P o w rs, T o make m y Ruin infamoufly iure. I ftrove to aid m y King, and fave m y Lord, Yet n o w a m call'd his Murderer, you Gods! And bid to triumph in m y Husband s Blood. Leon. Y o u feem difturb'd. Celo. Was it for this, ye Gods! «• I own'd your Caufe in injur d Majefty ? And ftrove to keep the temperate Balance juft, Between m y different Duties? 'Twas too mucin And you referve thofe Heights of Excellence T o your unrival'd Heaven: I fhould have been Only a Wife, or Daughter: For you dafh, With Jealoufie, attempting Virtue down. That dares beyond your Limits to their Fleflu Leon I thought you would have prais'd me. Celo. O, m y Lord, I muft not curfe you. Leon. Curfe m e for an Ac!:, you w o u d have done your felf1 Celo.I wou'd have done! Murder m y Husband, Sir? Leon. This very Night Y o u had defignd his Death: I k n o w it all. Celo And I too much But cou'd you think me fuch A Monfter, Sir? But, O ! I find you do. Leo. W h y ! did he not defervc his Fate? Celo. O, Sir! , r ,T , I grant he has deferv'd from Heaven, and you, And all good Men, worfe than you can mflift: I have arraign'd and fentenc'd his *>ferts: And I muft think the Gods but juftiry d, Y o u honourably reveng'd, and good Mens Prayers But inftly anfwer'd in a Tyrant's fall: All this I think with you, and you were wrongd: B.tjhow was 1? H o w has he injur d me, T o make m e capable of fuch a Sin, > Barbarous, and yet without a N a m e in Hell, As you imagine, Sir, I had defign d? Js'r not enough that I abhor his Crimes But I muft be his Murderer ? If the Gods., The SPARTAN DAME. 39$ And you, to clear m y Fame, will h w e it fo, If I muft ftrike at him, it muft be here- [Offers tofiab her felf. Leon. O Virtue! *iever to be found again! Thy Husband lives, Cleombrotus ftill lives. Forbear a Violence, which, in thy Breaft Wou'd wound m e deeper than thy Ponyard there. I did but try thee: And in thefe Extreams I find thee ftill fincere to all m y Hopes, Fixt to thy Virtue, and thy Country's Fame, Thy Sexes Glory, and m y Daughter ftill, A Spartan Daughter, and a Spartan Wife. Celo. Thofe Titles raife m e. Leon. I have been abus'd, And thou art innocent: This Letter read At Leifure: Crites knows what it defigns, He fent it, and I muft fufpecl it now. If Treafon be abroad, and Plots defign'd Upon m y Life, M e m a y they only find. d guard, you Gods of Greece! m y faithful Friends From the deftroying Aim of Treachery: Blunt the fharp Arrows, which in Darknefs fly: Difclofe the Midnight Arts, and break the Snares Which fair fac'd Villany's falfe Heart prepares. * Our open Foes w e need not apprehend: « But Providence it felf can fcarce defend « Our fleeping Lives againft a faithlefs Friend. [Exeunt. A C T IV. S C E N E t Cleombrotus. Cleom. T H H U S far I'm uncifcover'd. O frail Fiefht A And Vanity of Fancy! M y Defires, Which mounted m e above m y mortal State, Whofe Rage, I thought, nothing but Age could tame, How have they droopt the Wing, h o w are they funk Into the poor Concerns of Earth again ?. Now, Crites, I can hear thee, Sure there is . Some- |