At. If thou wilt go, Licinius, let Attilia At least go with thee.

Lic. No, my gentle love, Too much I prize thy safety and thy peace. Let me entreat thee, stay with Barce here Till our return.

No, my gentle love,

At. Then, ere ye go, in pity Explain the latent purpose of your souls.

Then, ere ye go, in pity

Lic. Soon shalt thou know it all—Farewell! farewell! Let us keep Regulus in Rome, or die.

Hamilcar

Ham. Yes.—These smooth, polish'd Romans shall confess The soil of Afric, too, produces heroes. What, though our pride, perhaps, be less than theirs, Our virtue may be equal: they shall own The path of honour's not unknown to Carthage, Nor, as they arrogantly think, confin'd To their proud Capitol:——Yes—they shall learn The gods look down on other climes than theirs.

——

At. What gone, both gone? What can I think or do? Licinius leaves me, led by love and virtue, To rouse the citizens to war and tumult, Which may be fatal to himself and Rome, And yet, alas! not serve my dearest father. Protecting deities! preserve them both!

Barce. Nor is thy Barce more at ease, my friend; I dread the fierceness of Hamilcar's courage: Rous'd by the grandeur of thy brother's deed, And stung by his reproaches, his great soul Will scorn to be outdone by him in glory. Yet, let us rise to courage and to life, Forget the weakness of our helpless sex, And mount above these coward woman's fears. Hope dawns upon my mind—my prospect clears, And every cloud now brightens into day.

At. How different are our souls! Thy sanguine temper, Flush'd with the native vigour of thy soil, Supports thy spirits; while the sad Attilia, Sinking with more than all her sex's fears, Sees not a beam of hope; or, if she sees it, 'Tis not the bright, warm splendour of the sun; It is a sickly and uncertain glimmer Of instantaneous lightning passing by. It shows, but not diminishes, the danger, And leaves my poor benighted soul as dark As it had never shone.

Barce. Come, let us go. Yes, joys unlook'd-for now shall gild thy days, And brighter suns reflect propitious rays.

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