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You already know, what a dreadful calamity Lentulus has brought at once upon himself and us, by his slowness and lifeless conduct: you know how, by waiting for succours from Rome, I was prevented from marching into Gaul. At present all of you see, as well as I, our sad situation. Two armies of the enemy press us, and obstruct our motions; one from Rome, another from Gaul. To abide any longer in our present station, were it ever so much our choice, is utterly denied us, by our scarcity of provisions, and of other necessaries; and whithersoever you choose to remove, you must open yourselves a passage with your swords.

Hence I warn and conjure you to exert your courage, like men determined and undaunted; and to remember, when you engage, that in your hands you carry wealth, dignity, and glory; nay, your liberty and your country. If we overcome, we shall ascertain our own safety on every side; we shall have store of provision; the muni cipal cities and colonies will be open to receive us. But if we shrink, through fear, we shall, in all these particu lars, see ourselves utterly crossed and distressed: nor will they whom their arms could not defend, find defence from any station, or from any friends.

You are besides to remember, that you, my fellow. soldiers, and the opposite army, are by no means urged to engage by the same or equal motives. Our native country, our common liberty, nay, our lives are the prizes for which we combat. Their task is idle and un. interesting, whilst they fight to support the lordly domi. nion of a few. Let this rouse you to attack them the more undauntedly, still remembering your former valour and atchievements.

We might, indeed, have passed our days, with infinite infamy, in banishment. Some of you might have stáid at Rome, reduced to beggary, and to be dependants upon the affluence of others. As such wretched conditions of life appeared intolerable to brave men, you determined to follow the present course. If you desire to forsake this course, still you must exert your courage undauntedly in war he only who conquers can change it for peace. In truth, to hope for safety from flight, is downright madness; for then you turn from the enemy those very arms which serve for your defence against him,

During battle, he who is in most fear, is ever in most danger: courage serves for a wall of defence.

When I consider your characters, my fellow-soldiers, and recollect your past exploits, high are the hopes which I entertain of victory; encouraged as I am by your resolution, your age, your heroic virtue, and even by our common necessity; that necessity which makes cowards brave. The straitness of our situation secures us from being encompassed by our enemies, however numerous. Should fortune desert you in envy to your bravery, be sure not to lose your lives, without ample vengeance upon your foes; nor suffer yourselves to be taken, and slaughtered like cattle: rather die fighting like men, and thus leave to the enemy a bloody and mournful victory.

PART III.

JUDICIAL.

I. Sforza, duke of Milan, pleading his cause before the emperor Charles V.

Sforza. I COME not, emperor, t' invade thy mercy, By fawning on thy fortune; nor bring with me Excuses, or denials. I profess

(And with a good man's confidence, ev'n this instant
That I am in thy pow'r) I was thine enemy;
Thy deadly and vow'd ́enemy; one that wish'd
Confusion to thy person and estates;

And with my utmost pow'rs and deepest counsels,
Had they been truly follow'd, further'd it;
Nor will I now, although my neck were under
The hangman's axe, with one poor syllable
Confess, but that I honour'd the French kin
More than thyself, and all men.
Now, give me leave

(My hate against thyself, and love to him
Freely acknowledg'd) to give up the reasons
That made me so affected. In my wants
I ever found him faithful: had supplies
Of men and monies from him; and my hopes,
Quite sunk, were, by his grace, buoy'd up again:
He was, indeed, to me as my good angel,
To guard me from all dangers. I dare speak
(Nay must and will) his praise now, in as high
And loud a key, as when he was thy equal.
The benefits he sow'd in me, met not
Unthankful ground, but yielded him his own
With fair increase, and I still glory in it.

And, though my fortunes (poor, compar'd to his,
And Milan, weigh'd with France, appear as nothing)
Are in thy fury burnt; let it be mention'd,
They serv'd but as small tapers to attend
The solemn flame at this great funeral;
Aud with them I will gladly waste myself,
Rather than undergo the imputation
Of being base or unthankful.

If that, then, to be grateful

For courtesies received, or not to leave
A friend in his necessities, be a crime
Amongst you Spaniards, (which other nations
That like you, aim'd at empire, lov'd and cherish'd
Where'er they found it,) Sforza brings his head
To pay the forfeit. Nor come I as a slave,
Pinion'd and fetter'd, in a squalid weed,
Falling before thy feet, kneeling and howling,
For a forestall'd remission: that were poor,
And would but shame thy victory; for conquest
Over base foes, is a captivity,

And not a triumph. I ne'er fear'd to die,
More than I wish'd to live.

When I had reach'd

My ends in being a duke, I wore these robes,

This crown upon my head, and to my side

This sword was girt: and, witness truth, that, now 'Tis in another's power, when I shall part

With them and life together, I'm the same:

My veins then did not swell with pride; nor now They shrink for fear.-Know, sir, that Sforza stands Prepar'd for either fortune.

But, if example

Of my fidelity to the French (whose honours,
Titles, and glories, are now mix'd with yours;
As-brooks, devour'd by rivers, lose their names)
Has power to invite you to make him a friend
That hath given evident proof, he knows to love,
And to be thankful, this my crown, now your's,
You may restore me, and in me instruct

These brave commanders (should your fortune change,
Which now I wish not) what they may expect

From noble enemies for being faithful.

The charges of the war I will defray,

And, what you may (not without hazard) force,

Bring freely to you: I'll prevent the cries
Of murder'd infants, and of ravish'd maids,
Which, in a city sack'd, call on heaven's justice,
And stop the course of glorious victories.

And, when I know the captains and the soldiers,
That have in the late battle done best service,
And are to be rewarded, I myself,
According to their quality and merits,
Will see them largely recompens'd.-
And now expect my sentence.

Charles.

Thou hast so far

-I've said,

Outgone my expectation, noble Sforza,
(For such I hold thee,) and true constancy,
Rais'd on a brave foundation, bears such palm
And privilege with it, that, where we behold it,
Though in an enemy, it does command us
To love and honour it.-By my future hopes
I'm glad for thy sake, that, in seeking favour,
Thou didst not borrow of vice her indirect,
Crooked, and abject means; and for mine own,
That (since my purposes must now be chang'd
Touching my life and fortunes) the world cannot
Tax me of levity in my settled councils;
I being neither wrought by tempting bribes,
Nor servile flattery; but forc'd unto it
By a fair war of virtue.

All former passages of hate be buried
For thus with open arms meet thy love,
And as a friend embrace it; and so far
I am from robbing thee of the least honour,
That with my hands, to make it sit the faster,
I set thy crown once more upon thy head;
And do not only style thee duke of Milan,
But vow to keep thee so: yet, not to take
From others to give only to thyself,
I will not hinder your magnificence
To my commanders, neither will I urge it;
But in that, as in all things else, I leave you.
To be your own disposer.