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"To inflame your valour I might number up more topics than the Heaven has stars to show or the ocean islands. Your duty to the land of your fathers-your former trophies-your swelling hopes-on a thousand themes like these I might expatiate. But I pass them by. Our CAUSE breathes its own exhortation, and ye will listen to it. One thing alone, I beseech you, one thing ponder well! I, once the leader of your enemies, speak from an experience no Greek has ever had before me. For an Athenian to be daring is twofold more glorious than for a Spartan. No wonder if the Spartan greet with indifference or with joy the death of a soldier! What does he lose, in losing life, but a load of pain and toil? But since ye have a better lot on this side of the grave, a higher praise must follow you beyond it, when in the spirit of a nobler self-devotion ye are brave in the right place—and that right place is HERE!"

With a joyous clashing of their shields, and a still more joyous shout, the warriors answered him. The thunderbolt descends not more inevitably upon the oak it shivers than the Athenians rushed upon the foe.

The longest summer's day has its meridian point at which the sun begins to take its downward course, and oft we hail that point with glad emotions, gratefully anticipating the balmy cool of eve. But, O! how different it is to mark the zenith of a great man's destiny, to see the light of his glory suddenly stand still, and soon "towards Heaven's descent sloping its west'ring wheel." We have reached that point in the life of Alcibiades.

The victory at Andros was not followed by the capture of the town. And "whenever," says the Boeotian biographer, “Alcibiades happened to fail in what he undertook, it was suspected to be from want of inclination, not from want of ability. They thought nothing too hard for him." He was the martyr of his own genius. Fortune, so often his friend, would not be his slave.

Murmurs from the shores of Attica were wafted to him on the wings of Zephyr. He heard them, and laughed. "Pallas herself," he exclaimed, "is subject to Fate. Would they have the protected mightier than his protectress?" His words were in earnest-not so was his laughter.

We must patch again with Plutarch. "Lysander, the Lacedemonian ad. miral, out of the money he received from Cyrus, raised the wages of each mariner from three oboli a-day to four, whereas it was with difficulty that Alcibiades paid his men three. The latter, therefore, went into Caria to raise money, leaving the fleet in charge of Antiochus Expressly commanded by Alcibiades to let no provocation from the enemy induce him to hazard an engagement, yet".

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We will not forestall Scene XX. Only observe that its place is Miletus, its time evening, and the persons Alcibiades, Timandra, Alexion, Menander, with other friends and guests at the table of the chief.

SCENE XX.

A BANQUET.

Alc. Nay, midnight is still far off, and we must greet it when it comes. But this one goblet more, my brothers! 'Tis the last of my Syracusan wine.

Tim. (laughing). The last? That alters the matter. See, I claim a second filling of the cup I have emptied already.

All. And we follow the beautiful Timandra.

Tim. 'Tis but fair, too, that these last cups ring clearer than the rest when we join them. Cheerily, my friends, cheerily ! (They join cups all round).

Alc. The word was never more in
To be plain with you, my

season,

brothers, to-day ye have not altogether contented me. Even this burst of mirth, to which Timandra roused you, broke off too suddenly. All my efforts seemed to fall on you like sparks upon damp tinder. The very plaudits you now and then bestowed sounded not as coming from the heart.

All. No! no!--the son of Clinias for ever!

Alc. Not to me, but to our absent friends be this cup devoted-to Antiochus before them all!

Men. (in spite of himself). O that he could hear of it!

Alc. Hear of it he shall-through my lips and yours. Alex. Ah!

Alc. (surprised). Thou sighest !Wherefore?

Tim. (laughing). A sigh for the Carian maid he loves and leaves behind.

Alc. Take her with thee, friend; take her with thee! If love cannot win her, try stratagem. Rapes are not yet out of fashion; commodious are our ships, and the berths may -widened.

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Alc. (fretfully). Again that sigh! Tell me, I adjure ye, what is the matter? I have sworn a yet more deadly hate to sorrow than to Sparta.

Tim. Even when calamities befall thyself?

Alc. Even then-by all the gods -even then!

Tim. Well then, I will put thee to the proof. Let us see whether this oath were more serious than thy common love-vows. Son of Clinias, known to thee is that decree of the immortals, whereby rebuking human pride, they have linked, from all eternity, mischance with prosperous fortune; and therefore-

Alc. Ha, what is this? A curse on thee, Timandra-a curse upon our love, if thou torment me more with this prefatory phrasing! Speak, what is it? Be terrible-if so it must bebut be brief!

Tim. Right!-'Tis only my sex such words of preface might beseem. Thine is of sterner stuff. Be then a MAN!-lift up that goblet brimming full, that we may see whether thy heart throbs not, thine arm shakes not, when I tell thee-eighteen ships thou here bestowest on the Athenians; but fifteen has Antiochus-mean whilelost. Thou art mute!-Lift up the goblet, I say, without one shudder, that we may discern in thee the man and the unmovable hero.

Some. (hiding their faces). Ye gods! Alc. (in a solemn tone, having first glanced round the circle, then fixed his eyes upon TIMANDRA). I lift the goblet, and I shake not. I lift it-and may each drop that falls be fire for ever in my soul! Yet I deny it not, thy speech hath pierced my heart like arrows. Fifteen ships lost by Antiochus!-How was it?-Who brought this dreadful news?-Is't sure?—Is't undisputed?

Tim. Not more certain are thy life and my love. A messenger despatched from Samos brought it. He would have burst in upon thee while yet engaged with the Milesian council-I kept him back.

Alc. And why?

Tim. Because I knew not if this intelligence were yet proper for all ears; because I thought 'twould be more supportable by thee, after a merry feast and glowing wine had given thee new force and spirit to endure it. At least this used to be thy way of thinking.

Alc. Used to be, and is !-But, where are the letters?

Tim. Nowhere.

Alc. How?and Antiochus-
Tim. Writes not.

Alc. (disturbed). Writes not?-not at all? Fixedly thou gazest on me— unspoken words are hovering on thy lips. Timandra, I adjure thee—speak! tell! conclude!

Tim. Antiochus forgot thy counsel challenged, with a portion of his fleet, Lysander

Alc. Ha, the senseless-but no! he is still my friend. Go on!

Tim. And Lysander came; at first with a few galleys, that held Antio

chus engaged; then forth came the whole Spartan fleet in line of battle. The Athenians hastened to support their countrymen. They fought bravely, but in broken order. The Spartans conquered. Fifteen ships they have taken; of the crews but few were captured.

Alc. Still one ray of hope! Kind Timandra, I thank thee.-But Antiochus ?

Tim. Proved himself worthy of thy heart. His disgrace and his errors he was not able to-(hesitates)——

Alc. (in agony). Timandra—by all the gods-was not able to do what?

Tim. Survive. He fell like a he ro, who could err, and expiate his crrors-fell in the thickest of the fight!

Alc. (with a cry of despair). Antiochus dead!-dead! He, my first friend and my last! O then, away with hero pride, and hero calmness!

Nature thou triumphest.— -Antiochus dead! Dreadful Jove!-now do I believe in thine omnipotence. This bolt smites deep-through heart and brain.-(Springing up). Brothers, farewell!

All. Whither, Alcibiades-O, whi

ther?

Alc. (turning round). True! that I had forgotten. To-morrow we depart ! See ye to that, my friends. Give ye the orders. Sobs would choke me, did I myself essay it. (Rushes out).

Tim. (calling after him). Whither? Do these tears dishonour thee? Did ever tears of pity misbecome a manthat thou wilt not shed them in our company?-Stay! stay!-He hears me not.-I never saw him thus: but I must follow him-must sound in his ear who and what he was-1 -that Athens may still preserve her guardian, we our friend.

To any one that may venture in the lapse of ages yet unborn to take up this subject after Meissner and us, we recommend matter for four most superior Tableaux between the preceding scene and that which is about to follow. In one let Timandra-not pour unheeded consolation into her lover's ears-but "chastise him with the valour of her tongue," until all his soul be roused to vengeance. In another, let the baffled man be seen, having come back from Ephesus to Samos, after a vain attempt to provoke Lysander to the combat: let him receive a letter from Aspasia (we have half a mind to try our own hand upon that), announcing that his ruin is again plotted at Athens, and warning him to flee: let him hint to Timandra, and the friends that still adhere to him, that he has a refuge prepared in Thrace. A third should show the flight begun :-let

Alcibiades and Timandra have the boards to themselves in the first instance_ but Diophantes, too fond of both to forego their company, contrives to be included in the party. A fourth may bring the exile to his Thracian castle, near Bisanthe. And once there-stand aside, good Mr Merriman--we must buckle to this gear in our own proper person.

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Tim. Excellent!-And that point is? Dioph. Love! It would be but paying him back in his own coin-no more. O Timandra, not equal to thee for how could that be possible? -but at least like thee was the damsel I once found in his arms, and who until that hour had reposed in mine. Only by way of retaliation

Tim. (austerely). I am in earnest, Diophantes, when I tell thee-back! You men appear to think you must babble of nought but love, when you find us alone. Come now, rehearse me your adventures.

Dioph. Has he not done that already?

Tim. How should he, when you returned so late at night, and he is still asleep?

Dioph. (enthusiastically). O Timandra, what a man is that! Numberless, says some one or other with truth, are the wonders of nature: but, at the same time, boundless is the space she has to work in. How narrow, on the contrary, is the lodging of this spirit, and yet, by the eternal powers, its wonders too are infinite.

Tim. Very true, and by me readily admitted! Only, what incites thee at present to this Pindaric eulogy?

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Dioph. Proudly, as is the fashion of the country, did Seuthes eye him. Not longer than one second looked he Then was astonishment his first, admiration his second emotion. He advanced to meet him; offered him hand and lips; and the Son of Clinias returned the pressure and the kiss, as if he had received-not a special favour, but a common salutation. The prince placed him next himself. Their talk was of war and of the chase. Every sentence that dropped from the mouth of Alcibiades was uttered in wisdom, and strengthened by experience. In order to display his treasures, Seuthes ordered the horses to

be brought forth. In them, as you know, consists the Thracian's greatest wealth, and in training of them his highest art. Hence you may guess how beautiful were the horses of Seuthes. Alcibiades pronounced on them with the look and tone of an adept; above all the rest he rated one of them, that trod the earth with a majestyglanced round him with a fire-as if he had been wont to draw the chariot of the war-god himself to battle.

Tim. (smiling). O keep to prose, my good Diophantes!

Dioph. He too-thy lover-generally so sparing of his praise, was now extravagant in the expressions of his admiration. "And yet it is only his shape," answered Seuthes, "that determines me to keep him. It is impossible to break the animal. I myself have never mounted him: one only individual will he bear as rider."

Dioph. Experience of the last eight days. Lo now, I had known him already in good fortune and in bad, in war and in jollity, in feasting and in exile; among Spartans, Athenians, and Persians. He was never the same, and yet always like himself. Simple, compared to him, were the colours of the rainbow, and yet would" And this individual?"-" Is the he seem as smooth and limpid as the waters of some breezeless pool. But now-now! O, by the gods of Greece, his last part was not his easiest.

Tim. What then was he playing? That of Thracian, without doubt.

Dioph. And to what perfection!Here, too, the first of all! First at the court of Seuthes, as once at the court of Tissaphernes. You remember how we laughed, when he exchanged the graceful garb of Attica for the barbarous raiment of these parts-arming his back with bow and quiver, his thigh with a Thracian scymitar. But you should have seen him when he entered the prince's hall in this costume: then would you have owned that even such rusticity sat nobly on him.

Tim. O I do believe it-believe it readily.

man who bred him."-" Ha! a peculiarity," cried Alcibiades, and his cheeks already glowed;-" that makes this noble creature yet nobler in my eyes! Seuthes, Seuthes, I ask thee but a single favour. Suffer me to mount him."

Tim. May I pass for more mendacious than Cassandra, if I foresaw not this request.

Dioph. Seuthes gravely shook his head; all we Greeks pressed anxiously round Alcibiades; with the most emphatic earnestness I adjured him, in the Persian tongue, not to draw upon himself such needless danger. He laughed, and remained unmoved. "Seuthes," he said, "hadst thou described to me this horse as quite untameable, my entreaty had been frenzy, or at least fool-hardiness. But the horse that endures one rider, will en

dure yet more-of such as he finds worthy to cross him. No doubt but that lordly animal would amble meekly under thee. But since thou seek est not to prove him, allow me to show my hardihood-with one condition, nevertheless-that the groom he has been accustomed to carry shall first bestride him."

Tim. How fine the compliment! and how wise the condition!

The

Dioph. Seuthes assented. groom mounted the horse. Closely did Alcibiades observe how he curbed and governed him. As soon as his own turn was come, he approached with a friendly air; caressed and praised him much and long. The animal appeared to understand the compliment. More proudly did it arch its neck, pawed the ground, and loudly neighed. With a bound the daring rider was on its back-and sharply at first did the courser prove his horsemanship!-rearing, plunging, wheeling round and round, were the least of its furious efforts. Firm he sat, as if horse and man were one. In a few minutes the contest was over, and the noble animal went under him more tamely than under its accustomed trainer. Then pealed from every side the shout of admiration. He received it with as much indifference as if

Tim. O, well do I know the impostor's cunning! His heart was throbbing with delight; but not an inkling of that upon his countenance! Was this the same horse he brought back with him?

Dioph. The very same. As soon as he dismounted, Seuthes insisted he should keep what he alone could manage. He declined it long. "Only on condition," he said at last, "that I may fight on him, in the next battle, by thy side. Against thee I dare not be so mounted. He would know and shrink from his old master." Then for the second time did the prince throw his arms round the neck of his friend. "A covenant!" he cried, "long wished, and gladly hailed!" Again rose the shouts of the circle, while thus the chiefs embraced.

Tim. A glorious triumph!

Dioph. And not long his only one. Sumptuous was the feast that Seuthes spread before us. But the Thracian luxury as you must know-lies more in drinking than in eating. They

hold him the best man on such occasions who drains the deepest bowl. With wild and terrible cries they pass it to their neighbours. What a contrast to our jocund meals, where the myrtle-branch and song go round, where even the lowest note of a Timandra's silver voice is not unheard! To the rest of us Athenians, what they called mirth seemed raving. He alone, far from showing wonder by even a look, caroused, revelled, rioted, as if, instead of the pupil of Aspasia, he had been a semi-barbarian. Not a cup did he allow to pass him. For Anacreon's songs he howled out some Thracian gibberish. In noise, nonsense, and horse-laughter he left them all behind him.

Tim. I see him before my eyes.

Dioph. The banquet seemed to us to be over, when up rose a Thracian; in stature half a giant, and in mind a whole savage. It was more like a wine-cask than a goblet that he heaved up, with a mighty effort, in both hands. "Noble Alcibiades!" he exclaimed, "thou has borne thyself this day more manfully than ever Athenian did before thee. Pledge me but in this, to the health of King Seuthes, and I will confess-thou deservest to have had Thracia for thy birth-place." We all laughed loud at this challenge. Alcibiades only smiled. "Drink it out," said he," and I follow thee." No sooner said than done. A wretch perishing of thirst drains not more greedily his first cup of water, than did the Son of Clinias that monstrous bowl. More quickly yet he had filled it again, and cried," forget not, my friend, that King Seuthes has a QUEEN." All eyes were fastened on him in amazement. What a shout there was, when a second time he set down the vessel empty! With an uncertain hand the Thracian seized it: with one almost trembling he poured in the wine. applied his lips to it; but suddenlythe goblet tumbled, still half full, out of his grasp, and the toper fell senscless to the ground, while our friend rose up unflustered, and marched off with a firm step to his chambers.

He

Tim. A hero-feat, that would not have shamed Father Bacchus himself!

Dioph. Now, we thought, every glory had been won that can be won in Thrace. The sequel showed us there was yet another. It must be

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