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Show 35*o The SPARTAN DAME. Celo. I fear'd indeed before, but n o w I find The Ephori, thofe Fiends of popular Pow'r, By damning Spellsrhave wrought upon your Soul, Snduc'd you mto a Combination O f their black Plots againft Leonidas: « Leonidas, a King, and Father too! « O lound thofe aweful Words: Methinks there waits- « A Reverence upon the very Names, « That fhould difarm the Refolution « Of every Heart, and Hand, that would rebel, W h y do you turn away? Cleom. O! I muft leave you. Celo I a m your felf, m y Lord. Cleom. Pray let m e go. Celo. Half of your felf, your Wife. Gteom. Y o u are m y Wife. Celo. And in that Right I fpesk, and ftou'd be heard, M y Fame muft live but in your Chronicle: And as your Actions fhow to After-times, M y Memory will be honour'd, or defpis'd; Therefore I fpeak, and therefore muft be heard. Cleom. Then I mull: hear you. Celo. Suffer not, m y Lord, Th' induftrious Malice o our Hiftories, T o take th' Advantage of a Crime like this, T o ftain the glorious Story of our Lives, And curfe our Names to late Pofterity. Ckom. Cl W h y , if the People, as they are irrens'd 41 Againft the King, Ihould offer to depofe him: <c H o w can w e help our felves.? I but ftand out « The next, and lineally fucceeding Heir, " And wo'not loofe m y Right, Celo. " Your Right, m y Lord, «4 Is nothing, the King living, tho'depos'd, « Unlefs you ftand upon the People's Voice, « Preferring their Election to a long " Hereditary Line ot Spartan Kings, «« Deriv'd from the rich Blood of Hercules. « Cleom. I claim in m y deictnt iwm Hercules* « N o other wife, ^ 3?i The SPARTAN DAME. Celo. " O i l have heard you fay, you fcorn'd an Empire, at the publick Price Of ilavifh Thanks, and bafe born Courtefie: . £eep up that Spirit ftill, and do not now | Like a young wfefteful Heir, mortgage thc Hopes «Of Godlike Majefty, on bankrupt terms, L To raife a prefent Pow'r, that's fickly held [ gy the frail Tenure of the Peoples Will. Cleo. Thou wou'dft uot have m e fhnd a Looker on? * Behold the ftrongeft Hand carry the Prize nf Empire from m y Hopes? Celo. M y Soul difdains The Weaknefs of that Thought: No, no, m y Lord, I wou'd not have ycu tame at fuch a time, Boldly alTert the Caufe of Ma}efty, «< The For you rRsi ght of the good King, his Right, and yours 5 is the Succcflion. Cleom. What I 60, ls to fecure it mine. Celo. " O have a care! « Let not Ambition lofe what thus it toils for. \* When once the People get the jadifh Trick « Of throwing off their &ing?, no Ruler's fafe; « Tis in the Nature of ManS Wickednefs, M Tc uop at nothing that will bear Excufe: « And Precedent is more than an Eicufe; »It takes the Force of L a w : H o w then, m y Lord! «If as they would Un-king m y Father n ow H To make your way, their giddy Humour changing, « They drive you out to make another R o o m? « For what has been, they fay, may be again; « And you are made th' Exan;.ple of that Truth, Cleom. " N o more! « This Theam does not become a Woman's mouths Celo. " Indeed it does not, Sir; a King's juft Caufe « Shou'd never plead in poor prcariois Words, " But in the Voice of Thunder: Then w e tremble, * Sink in our Fears, and fall before the Throne; u Then h o w w e roar and promife Loyalty Cleom. " This is a preaching Spirit, give i o'er. Qh, « 0 1 think what 'tis to be the"Peop;es Slave, |