THE

CAPTIVES.

A C T I.

SCENE, The Palace.

HYDARNES, CONSPIRATORS.

At Confpirator.

'S night near spent?

2d Confp. 'Tis yet the dead of night; And not a glimm'ring ray behind yon hills Fore-runs the morning's dawn.

ift Confp. Thus far w'are safe.

2d Confp. Silence and fleep throughout the palace reign.

ft Confp. Succefs is now fecure.

2d Confp. Are all affembled ?

ift Confp. Our number's not complete.

2d Confp. What, not yet come !

Those two were over-zealous. It looks ill.

ift Confp. Why fear ye? I'm their pledge. I know
them brave.

They'll foon be with us and partake our glory.
Hyd. What mean these murmurs ?

ift Confp. If mistrust divide us,

Our enterprize is foil'd, and we are lost.

Hyd. My vengeful heart pants for the glorious deed, And my thirst quickens for Phraortes' blood. Why ftops the lazy night?-O morning, rife; Call up the drowsy priests to the day's task;

The king to day the holy hill afcends,
And proftrate falls before the rising fun.

Ift Confp. The fun fhall rife, but rife to him no more. For as he pafles from the royal chamber

This ftrikes him home.

2d Confp. Let each man give him death. We cannot be too fure.

Hyd. Revenge is mine.

By him my father fell, by him my brothers;
They fail'd, they perish'd in the great defign:
Succefs and vengeance are referv'd for me.
My father led the Median hofts to battle,
And all the hofts of Media fung his triumphs.
ft Confp. The people's hearts were his.
Hyd. The people faw

His royal virtues. He, to please his country,
Grafp'd at the fceptre which Phraortes holds.
For this he fuffer'd ignominious death:

His houfe was raz'd; my brave, unhappy brothers
Fell in his ruin; I alone efcap'd;

In banishment I've figh'd whole years away,
Unknown, forgot.-But now, even in his glory,
Now, while he leads the Perfian princes captive,
And overflows whole nations with his armies,
I'll ftab him to the heart.

2d Confp. What found was that?

1ft Confp. Lights pafs across the rooms, and hafty steps

Move to the king's apartment. Sleep is filed,
And all the palace lives; Phraortes wakes.

2d Confp. Hufh! hark again!

1ft Confp. The ecchoes of the night

Catch ev'ry whisper.

2d Confp. Some have overheard us. ift Confp. It must be fo.

alarm.

The guards have took th'

Our lives, (what's worfe) our enterprize is loft!

2d Confp. Retreat, my friends; let us referve ourselves For fome more profp'rous hour.

Hyd. You raife up phantoms,

Then ftart at them yourfelves. Some fickly qualm

Has wak'd the king too foon. Hence Spring your fears,

Hence grows this mean furprize. Are these your boasts ?
Danger but whets the edge of refolution,
And at each noife I grafp my dagger fafter.

Is every thing difpos'd to give th' alarm
Among the Perfian captives? Hope of freedom
Will arm them on our fide.

ift Confp. Were the blow ftruck,

The reft would follow.

Hyd. See a gleam of light

Darts from the king's apartment. Man your hearts, Be firm, be ready. Let not trembling fear Mifguide your aim; let ev'ry wound be mortal.

ift Confp. This way and that way danger preffes

near us.

Where shall we fly? The tread of nimble feet
Hurries from room to room, and all the palace
Swarms as at noon.

2d Confp. Let us confult our fafety.

1ft Confp. To ftay and to be taken is despair; And what's defpair? but poor, mean cowardice. By timely caution heroes are preferv'd

For glorious enterprize, and mighty kingdoms
Are levell'd with the duft.

Hyd. Withdraw yourselves.

Be ftill, and liften. Thefe will beft inform us
If still it may be done; or if the blow

Must be deferr'd. But hufh, they come upon us.

Enter Orbafius, Araxes, at one door; two Magi at the other, fervants with lights. Hydarnes and Confpirators liftning.

Ara. Whence come ye, rev'rend fathers; why these looks

Of terror and amaze? why gaze ye back

As if the ftrides of Death stalk'd close behind you? ift Mag. The king ev'n at this folemn hour of night Sent privately to call us to his prefence.

Ye Gods preferve him!

Ara. Why this wild confufion?

In ev'ry paffing face I read fufpicion,

[People crofing the stage.

And haggard fear. Has fickness feiz'd the king,

And groans he with the latest pang of death?
Speak forth your terrors.

2d Mag. May Phraortes live!

Orba. Tell us the caufe. If violence or treachery, Our duty bids us interpofe our lives

Between the king and death. O heaven, defend him! 1ft Mag. The king, disturb'd by vifionary dreams, Bade the most learn'd magicians ftand before him. We ftood before the king; and the king trembled While he declar'd his dream; and thus I spoke : may the great Phraories live for ever!

Avert the dire prefages of the dream!
This night the Gods have warn'd thee to beware
Of deep-laid treafons, ripe for execution;
Affaflination lurks within the palace,

And murder grafps the dagger for the blow.
If the king truft his fteps beyond his chamber,
I fee him bleed! I hear his dying groan!

Obey the voice of Heaven.

2d Mag. The king is wife;

And therefore to the will of Heaven affented;
Nor will he truft his life, a nation's safety,
From out the royal chamber. See the dawn
Breaks in the Eaft, and calls us to devotion.
It is not man, but 'tis the Gods he fears. [Ex. Magi.
Hyd. Let's quit the palace while retreat is fafe.
The deed must be deferr'd. Revenge, be calm.
This day is his, to-morrow fhall be ours.

[Ex. Confpirators on one fide. Enter guards on the other.
Orba. See that each centinel is on ftrict watch.
Let all the guards be doubled; bar the gates,
That not a man pafs forth without obfervance.

[Ex. a party of foldiers. Go you; and with the utmost vigilance Search ev'ry room; for treafon lies in wait.

[Ex. a party of foldiers. Ara. Divide yourselves this instant o'er the palace, Think Media is in danger; and remember That he who takes a traytor, faves the king.

[Exeunt foldiers.

Orba. Whence can these dangers threaten?
Ara. From the Perfians.

Captivity's a yoke that galls the shoulders