Phor. I hope he will not; yet-
Cre. The youth I spake of,
Wilt thou enquire?
Phor. Should Xuthus lay aside
His usual mildness, and assume at once The monarch and the husband, couldst thou then
Cre. In Athens' cause I could resist them all. But cease these vain suspicions. A few hours Will prove thy fears were groundless. Mean while, Phorbas,
Thou wilt find methods to inform thyself
Touching this unknown youth.
Phor. By yonder guards,
The king should be at hand.
Cre. I will retire
To the pavilion, and expect him there.
Yet hear me, Phorbas; let not Xuthus know
Why thou enquirest.
Phor. Xuthus has other cares.
Cre. The priestess too, I would confer with her:
Though that Lycea may perform. Farewell,
And prosper in thy task-Alas, Lycea!
There is a secret labours in my breast,
But fate forbids that I should give it utterance.
This boding heart was early taught to feel
Too sensibly; each distant doubt alarms it;
It starts at shadows-But retire we, maid.
Grief is the unhappy charter of our sex;
The gods, who gave us readier tears to shed,
Gave us more cause to shed them.
SCENE I.-The Laurel Grove.
Enter ALETES and ILYSSUS.
If she proposed, she meant it. Ilys. And wouldst thou
Alet. SEEMED she disturbed when she beheld Advise I should attend her?
A casual good? Thou art thyself, Ilyssus.
Inform me, youth, wouldst thou be what thou
Thus fair, thus brave, thus sensibly alive
To glory's finest feel, or give up all,
To be descended from a line of kings,
The tenth perhaps from Jove? I see thy cheek
Glows a repentant blush-Our greatest heroes,
Those gods on earth, those friends of human kind,
Whose great examples I would set before thee,
Were once unknown, like thee. And yet, if birth
Concern thee, know, prophetic is my speech;
Thy fate is now at work, and a few hours
May shew thee what thou art-My words alarm
Renowned in Greece, Oh, now exert thy power!
No common cause demands it. Kings and states
Are our solicitors, and Athens' fate
Hangs on my lips.
Alet. I know it. And now,
If, as thou sayest, my secret kind advice,
And worn experience in the ways of men,
Have gained thy altars credit, and with gifts
Loaded thy shrines, now, by one grateful act,
Thou mayest repay me all.
Pyth. What act? Oh, speak!
And gladly I obey.
Alet. An act, my Pythia,
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And bless my fate, that, in these sacred shades,
I had nursed up, unknowingly, a king
For my protector. But what then might seem
The consequence, now seems the cause, Aletes:
Will they not say I made the king, to gain
The kind protector?
Alet. So to thee it seems;
But who will say it? The believing many
Will bow with reverence and implicit faith
To what thy shrine ordains; and for the few
Who may suspect the cheat, true policy
Will keep them silent. Should they dare detect
A fraud like this, and spurn at right divine,
Where were their power! The many-headed
Would feel the slackened rein, and from his back
Shake off the lordly rider. Nay, should Athens
Be blind to her own good, the states of Greece,
Thou know'st it well, would arm in thy defence,
And force her to receive the king thou gav'st her.
His form, his unknown birth, his winning soft-
ness,
His education here in Heaven's own eye,
All plead in his behalf. And, as he tells me,
The queen already, with unusual marks
Of favour, has beheld him. For the king,
A pious awe and reverence for the gods
Is his distinguished attribute. Thou seem'st
To weigh my words. To clear thy doubts at once,
Know, many days are past since first I knew
Of their approach. Thou think'st I should have
told thee.
It needed not. I have myself prepared
Each previous circumstance, and found due means
To forward the event. Thy part is easy;
Behold the oracle.
Pyth. [Reads.] "A banished youth is Athens' cause of woe."
Which, though at first it may seem bold and How know'st thou that?
[Looking earnestly at him. Alet. Demand not, but read on.
Pyth. [Reads.]" For that youth, banished Athens must receive
Another youth; and on the young unknown, Who tends my shrine, and whom I call my son, Bestow the imperial wreath, The god declares
Thou shalt ere night know all, and bless with me No more."
Alet. Thou seem'st amazed.
Pyth. I am indeed,
To find thee thus instructed on a theme
Pyth. Here in the laurel grove.
Alet. No place more fit.
I came prepared to mention. The queen's pas- But, oh, be careful, Pythia, that the king
Her lover banished
Alet. What thou secst I know May tell thee I know more. whence
Thou gainest thy intelligence.
Pyth. From one
Observe us not! for 'tis of mighty moment
He should believe this substituted youth
Of race Æolian. To which end, my Pythia,
But say from I have among the priests these few days past,
When they suspected not the approach of Xuthus,
Dropped doubtful hints, as if I had discovered
Some antique marks amid the osier twigs
Which formed Ilyssus's cradle, that denote
He sprang from Eolus. And at the cave
Of great Trophonius, have I taken due care
Such answers should be given, as would induce
One of less faith than Xuthus to expect
An heir of his own family.
Whose zeal may thwart thy schemes; a warm old
And firm in Athens' cause, who came to-day
Before the rest, and, led by my enquiries,
Gave me those hints, on which I thought to build
Prophetic, doubtful answers. But I find
My best instructor here.
Alet. Perhaps thou dost.
Of this rest well assured, I ne'er had asked
Of Pythia aught but what I knew with safety
She might comply with.
Pyth. Tell me what thou know'st.
Pyth. The boy,
Knows he of thy intentions?
Alet. No, nor must,
Till ripening time permit. His fate depends
Upon his ignorance. Soft, who comes here?
Pyth. It is the warm old man, and, as I think,
Alet. Not yet; 'tis better thou remain in ig- Some fair attendant of the queen. Retire;
Till all be finished.. But pronounce the oracle, And leave the rest to me. Dost thou distrust me?
Pyth. I do not. Yet, if on slight hints alone
Thou form'st this weighty fraud, consider well
What may, or may not follow. By thy looks,
There should be something hid. Thy coming
hither
Was much upon the time we found this child;
And since, with what almost paternal care
Thou hast instructed him! Though that, indeed,
Might spring from thy benevolence of heart,
Which I have known is boundless. Say, Aletes,
What should I think? Thou smil'st.
Alet. Wilt thou obey me?
Pyth. I will: and yet, if 'tis a fraud, Aletes,
The warm old man, of whom I spake, detests
A stranger king. Even Xuthus' self, whose worth
He doth acknowledge great, he views with pain
Upon the Athenian throne.
Alet. I know him well;
Tis Phorbas. Do not wonder at my words,
But find a means that I may see the queen
In secret, unobserved by prying eyes,
I would know more, but-Wherefore dost thou
I will inform the queen, and her impatience
Will bring her on the instant. Surely, Phorbas,
Something mysterious lurks beneath her tears,
Her strange anxieties. Since thou wert absent,
This unknown youth alone has filled her thoughts;
Of him alone she talks, recounts his words,
Describes his looks, his gestures, loves to dwell
On each particular. Ere thou wert gone,
She wished, and even expected thy return;
Dispatched me often, though she knew 'twas
vain,
To watch for thy arrival. When the king
Approached, she smoothed her brow, as if to hide
The strugglings of her mind; nay, seemed afraid
He should suspect her sorrows.
And all that old man's fears and rage shall va- She mentioned not this youth?
Of sudden joy spread o'er her face, her tongue
Forgot restraint, and in his praise grew lavish;
They pierce my very soul. Oh, I had hoped! But tell me all; though I believe thee honest, Thy zeal for Athens, and for me, may make thee
Too hasty of belief. Why art thou silent? Phor. Amazement stops my tongue; these starts of passion,
This violence of grief, must have a cause.
Cre. Perhaps they have; perhaps to thee, good Phorbas,
This bursting heart may open all its sorrows. But tell me first, what are thy proofs? From whence
Gain'dst thou this cursed intelligence?
Thy looks, thy words-I know not how to an
Yet if there be offence in what I speak,
My ignorance offends, not I offend.
Know, then, Creusa, from the priests who attend VOL. I.
Confirmed it truth. Has the king mentioned to thee
What promises were given him at the shrine
Of sage Trophonius?
Cre. General promises
Of sure success, no more.
Phor. Know, then, great queen,
As I returned from converse with the priests,
I met his friend and bosom favourite, Lycon.
Joy sparkled in his eyes, and his vain tongue
O'erflowed with transport. I observed it well,
And gave the torrent passage, nay, with art,
Even led it blindly forward; till at length
He opened his whole soul, and, under seal
Of firmest secrecy, told me the king
Would find an heir at Delphi, such an heir
As would rejoice the unapparent shades
Of his great ancestors. At that I started.
He found his error then, and told me, glozing,
That great Trophonius had almost proclaimed,
Though not expressly, Xuthus here should find
An heir of his own race.
Phor. So said he. Whether great Trophonius spake
This oracle, I know not; but I know
Too well whose oracle to me declared it.
Cre. Think'st thou this youth-
Phor. Grant it were only done
To try my zeal, why should they try it now,
Unless some close design required that trial?
Yes, mighty queen, I do believe this youth
Is our intended king. But, by yon Heaven,
If it be he, or any other he
Of Xuthus' race, he shall not reign in Athens!
This poignard first shall drink his blood.
Cre. Forbear!
That thought distracts me-Though perhaps 'tis just
Oh, Phorbas! 'Twas my hope, my wish, my
Shall 'scape your lips of all your queen de- | And doubt shall be no more. Then, Phorbaş,
Should he presume to place on Athens' throne His alien race, nay, though this beauteous youth, This dear resemblance of my murdered lord, Should be the fatal choice, by that dear shade, Which perished as it reached the gates of life, I will-I think I will-assist thy vengeance
Cre. Oh, my full heart! Thy mother, my Ly- Soft! who comes here? 'Tis he! how innocent,
Knew all the fatal process of my woes,
And was their only solace. Phorbas, yes,
I had a son; but, witness every god,
Whose genial power presides o'er nuptial leagues,
Nicander was my wedded lord. That night,
That fatal night, which drove him forth from
Athens,
Forced from my swelling womb, ere yet mature,
Its precious burthen. To thy mother's cares,
I owed my life. In secret she assuaged
My piercing pangs, and to Nicander's arms,
In secret, she conveyed the wretched infant.
What followed well thou know'st. Nicander fell,
And with him, doubtless, fell the dear, dear
charge
Consigned to his protection. Yet, good Phorbas,
When I beheld this youth, his looks, his voice,
His age, his unknown birth, all, all conspired
To cheat me into hopes. Alas, how fallen!
How blasted all!
Phor. Great queen, my tears confess,
An old man's tears, which rarely fall, confess
How much I share your anguish. Had I known
Nicander was your lord, by earth and Heaven
I would have raised all Athens in his cause,
Nay, been a rebel to the best of masters,
Ere the dear pledge of your unspotted loves
Should thus have fallen untimely. Now, alas!
I have not even one flattering hope to give thee.
Till now, I oft have wondered why so far
Their rage pursued Nicander. 'Tis too plain
They knew the precious burthen which he bore,
And for the hapless child the father died.
Cre. Oh, gods! I feel the truth of what thou
utter'st,
And my heart dies within me. Oh, Lycea!
Who, who would be a mother?
And turn thy grief to rage. Shall aliens sport
With thy misfortunes? Shall insulting spoilers
Smile o'er the ruins of thy hapless state,
While all the golden harvest is their own?
Shall Xuthus triumph? Shall his race succeed,
While thine (I mean not to provoke thy tears)
Thy tender blossoms, are torn rudely off,
Almost or ere they bloom?
No, ye immortal powers! Yet let us wait
Till the dire truth glare on us. One short hour,
How winning soft he looks! whate'er it be, He knows not the deceit. Look on him, Phor. bas;
Nay, thou shalt question him.
Phor. Not I. Great queen, Resume yourself, nor let this fond persuasion Betray you to a weakness you should blush at. Cre. If possible, I will.
Perhaps you needed there no advocate.
Phorbas, lead on. My resolution melts,
And all my sex returns. One look from him
Outweighs a thousand proofs. Phorbas, lead on,
Or I am lost in weakness.
[Exeunt Creusa and Phorbas.
Ilys. [Stopping Lycea.] Gentle maid,
Stay yet a moment. Wherefore does the queen
Look coldly on me? Know'st thou if in aught
I have offended?
Lyc. Things of mightiest import At present fill her mind, nor leave they room For less affairs. My duty calls me hence. [Erit. Ilys. I hope it is no more; yet each appear
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