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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The  Works  Of  John Dryden, Vol. 7 (of 18)
+by John Dryden
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The  Works  Of  John Dryden, Vol. 7 (of 18)
+       The Duke of Guise; Albion and Albanius; Don Sebastian
+
+Author: John Dryden
+
+Editor: Walter Scott, Esq.
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2005 [EBook #16402]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE  WORKS  OF  JOHN DRYDEN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Fred Robinson and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                                WORKS
+
+                                  OF
+
+                             JOHN DRYDEN,
+
+                         NOW FIRST COLLECTED
+
+                        _IN EIGHTEEN VOLUMES._
+
+
+
+                             ILLUSTRATED
+
+                             WITH NOTES,
+
+                HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, AND EXPLANATORY,
+
+                                 AND
+
+                        A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,
+
+                                  BY
+
+                          WALTER SCOTT, ESQ.
+
+
+
+                              VOL. VII.
+
+                               LONDON:
+
+            PRINTED FOR WILLIAM MILLER, ALBEMARLE STREET,
+
+                BY JAMES BALLANTYNE AND CO. EDINBURGH
+
+
+                                1808.
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                               CONTENTS
+
+                                  OF
+
+                           VOLUME SEVENTH.
+
+
+The Duke of Guise, a Tragedy
+        Epistle Dedicatory to the Earl of Rochester
+        The Vindication of the Duke of Guise
+
+
+Albion and Albanius, an Opera
+        Preface
+
+
+Don Sebastian, a Tragedy
+        Epistle Dedicatory to the Earl of Leicester
+        Preface
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                            DUKE OF GUISE.
+
+
+                              A TRAGEDY.
+
+
+      Outos de philotimoi physeis en tais politeiais to agan me
+          phylaxamenai, toi agathou meizon to kakon echousi.
+                                   PLUTARCH. IN AGESILAO.
+
+
+
+
+                          THE DUKE OF GUISE.
+
+
+In the latter part of Charles the Second's reign, the stage, as well
+as every other engine which could affect the popular mind, was eagerly
+employed in the service of the contending factions. Settle and
+Shadwell had, in tragedy and comedy, contributed their mite to the
+support of the popular cause. In the stormy session of parliament, in
+1680, the famous bill was moved, for the exclusion of the Duke of
+York, as a papist, from the succession, and accompanied by others of a
+nature equally peremptory and determined. The most remarkable was a
+bill to order an association for the safety of his majesty's person,
+for defence of the protestant religion, for the preservation of the
+protestant liege subjects against invasion and opposition, and for
+preventing any papist from succeeding to the throne of England. To
+recommend these rigid measures, and to keep up that zealous hatred and
+terror of the catholic religion, which the plot had inspired, Settle
+wrote his forgotten tragedy of "Pope Joan," in which he revives the
+old fable of a female pope, and loads her with all the crimes of which
+a priest, or a woman, could possibly be guilty. Shadwell's comedy of
+the "Lancashire Witches" was levelled more immediately at the papists,
+but interspersed with most gross and scurrilous reflections upon the
+English divines of the high church party. Otway, Lee, and Dryden were
+the formidable antagonists, whom the court opposed to the whig poets.
+Thus arrayed and confronted, the stage absolutely foamed with
+politics; the prologues and epilogues, in particular formed channels,
+through which the tenets of the opposite parties were frequently
+assailed, and the persons of their leaders and their poets exposed to
+scandal and derision.
+
+In the middle of these political broils, Dryden was called upon, as he
+informs us, by Lee, to return the assistance which that poet had
+afforded in composing "OEdipus." The history of the Duke of Guise had
+formerly occupied his attention, as an acceptable subject to the court
+after the Restoration. A League, formed under pretence of religion,
+and in defence of the king's authority, against his person, presented
+facilities of application to the late civil wars, to which, we may be
+sure, our poet was by no means insensible. But however apt these
+allusions might have been in 1665, the events which had taken place in
+1681-2 admitted of a closer parallel, and excited a deeper interest.
+The unbounded power which Shaftesbury had acquired in the city of
+London, and its state of factious fermentation, had been equalled by
+nothing but the sway exercised by the leaders of the League in the
+metropolis of France. The intrigues by which the Council of Sixteen
+placed and displaced, flattered or libelled, those popular officers of
+Paris, whom the French call _echevins_, admitted of a direct and
+immediate comparison with the contest between the court and the whigs,
+for the election of the sheriffs of London; contests which attained so
+great violence, that, at one time, there was little reason to hope
+they would have terminated without bloodshed. The tumultuous day of
+the barricades, when Henry the second, after having in vain called in
+the assistance of his guards, was obliged to abandon his capital to
+the Duke of Guise and his faction, and assemble the states of his
+kingdom at Blois, was not entirely without a parallel in the annals of
+1681. The violence of the parliament at London had led to its
+dissolution; and, in order to insure the tractability of their
+successors, they were assembled, by the king, at Oxford, where a
+concurrence of circumstances rendered the royal authority more
+paramount than in any other city of the kingdom. To this parliament
+the members came in an array, which more resembled the parliament of
+the White Bands, in the reign of Edward the second, than any that had
+since taken place. Yet, though armed, and attended by their retainers
+and the more ardent of their favourers, the leaders of opposition
+expressed their apprehensions of danger from the royal party. The
+sixteen whig peers, in their memorable petition against this removal,
+complained, that the parliament would at Oxford be exposed to the
+bloody machinations of the papists and their adherents, "of whom too
+many had crept into his majesty's guards." The aid of ballads and
+libellous prints was called in, to represent this alteration of the
+usual place of meeting as a manoeuvre to throw the parliament, its
+members, and its votes, at the feet of an arbitrary monarch[1]. It is
+probable that this meeting, which rather resembled a Polish diet than
+a British parliament, would not have separated without some signal,
+and perhaps bloody catastrophe, if the political art of Halifax, who
+was at the head of the small moderate party, called Trimmers, joined
+to the reluctance of either faction to commence hostilities against an
+enemy as fully prepared as themselves, had not averted so eminent a
+crisis. In all particulars, excepting the actual assassination, the
+parliament of Oxford resembled the assembly of the States General at
+Blois. The general character of the Duke of Monmouth certainly had not
+many points of similarity to that of the Duke of Guise; but in one
+particular incident his conduct had been formed on that model, and it
+is an incident which makes a considerable figure in the tragedy. In
+September 1679, after the king's illness, Monmouth was disgraced, and
+obliged to leave the kingdom. He retired to Holland, where he resided
+until the intrigues of Shaftesbury assured him the support of a party
+so strongly popular, that he might return, in open defiance of the
+court. In the November following, he conceived his presence necessary
+to animate his partizans; and, without the king's permission for his
+return, he embarked at the Brill, and landed at London on the 27th, at
+midnight, where the tumultuous rejoicings of the popular party more
+than compensated for the obscurity of his departure[2]. This bold step
+was, in all its circumstances, very similar to the return of the Duke
+of Guise from his government to Paris, against the express command of
+Henry the second, together with his reception by the populace, whom he
+came prepared to head in insurrection. Above all, the bill of
+exclusion bore a striking resemblance to the proceedings of the League
+against the King of Navarre, presumptive heir of the throne, whom, on
+account of his attachment to the protestant faith, they threatened to
+deprive of the succession.
+
+The historical passages, corresponding in many particulars with such
+striking accuracy, offered an excellent groundwork for a political
+play, and the "Duke of Guise" was composed accordingly; Dryden making
+use of the scenes which he had formerly written on the subject, and
+Lee contributing the remainder, which he eked out by some scenes and
+speeches adopted from the "Massacre of Paris," then, lying by him in
+manuscript. The court, however, considered the representation of the
+piece as at least of dubious propriety. The parallel was capable of
+being so extended as to exhibit no very flattering picture of the
+king's politics; and, on the other hand, it is possible, that the fate
+of the Duke of Guise, as identified with Monmouth, might shock the
+feelings of Charles, and the justice of the audience.
+
+Accordingly, we learn from the "Vindication," that the representation
+of the piece was prohibited; that it lay in the hands of the lord
+chamberlain (Henry Lord Arlington) from before mid-summer, 1682, till
+two months after that term; and that orders were not finally given for
+its being acted until the month of December in the same year. The
+king's tenderness for the Duke of Monmouth had by this time so far
+given way, that he had ordered his arrest at Stafford; and, from the
+dark preparations on both sides, it was obvious, that no measures were
+any longer to be kept betwixt them. All the motives of delicacy and
+prudence, which had prevented the representation of this obnoxious
+party performance, were now therefore annihilated or overlooked.
+
+Our author's part of the "Duke of Guise" is important, though not of
+great extent, as his scenes contain some of the most striking
+political sketches. The debate of the Council of Sixteen, with which
+the play opens, was his composition; the whole of the fourth act,
+which makes him responsible for the alleged parallel betwixt Guise and
+Monmouth, and the ridicule cast upon the sheriffs and citizens of the
+popular party, with the first part of the fifth, which implicates him
+in vindicating the assassination of Guise. The character and
+sentiments of the king, in these scenes, are drawn very closely after
+Davila, as the reader will easily see, from the Italian original
+subjoined in the notes. That picturesque historian had indeed
+anticipated almost all that even a poet could do, in conveying a
+portraiture, equally minute and striking, of the stormy period which
+he had undertaken to describe; and, had his powers of description been
+inferior, it is probable, that Dryden, hampered as he was, by
+restraints of prudence and delicacy, would not have chosen to go far
+beyond the authority to which he referred the lord chamberlain. The
+language of the play, at least in these scenes, seldom rises above
+that of the higher tone of historical oratory; and the descriptions
+are almost literally taken from Davila, and thrown into beautiful
+verse. In the character of Marmoutiere, there seems to be an allusion
+to the duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, whose influence was always,
+and sometimes successfully, used to detach her husband from the
+desperate schemes of Shaftesbury and Armstrong. The introduction of
+the necromancer, Malicorn, seems to refer to some artifices, by which
+the party of Monmouth endeavoured to call to their assistance the
+sanction of supernatural powers[3]. The particular story of Malicorn
+is said to be taken from a narrative in Rosset's _Histoires
+Tragiques_, a work which the present editor has never seen. In the
+conference between Malicorn and Melanax, Dryden has made much use of
+his astrological knowledge; and its mystical terms give a solemnity to
+the spirit's predictions, which was probably deepened by the poet's
+secret belief in this visionary study. As he borrowed liberally from
+Davila in the other parts of the play, he has not here disdained to
+use the assistance of Pulci, from whose romantic poem he has
+translated one or two striking passages, as the reader will find upon
+consulting the notes. The last scene betwixt the necromancer and the
+fiend is horribly fine: the description of the approach of the Evil
+One, and the effect which his presence produces upon the attendants,
+the domestic animals, and the wizard himself, is an instance, amongst
+many, of the powerful interest which may be produced by a judicious
+appeal to the early prejudices of superstition. I may be pardoned,
+however, when I add, that such scenes are, in general, unfit for the
+stage, where the actual appearance of a demon is apt to excite
+emotions rather ludicrous than terrific. Accordingly, that of Dryden
+failed in the representation. The circumstance, upon which the
+destruction of the wizard turns, is rather puerile; but there are many
+similar fables in the annals of popular superstition[4].
+
+Lee's part of this play is, in general, very well written, and
+contains less rant than he usually puts in the mouths of his
+characters.
+
+The factions have been long at rest which were so deeply agitated by
+the first representation of this performance; yet some pains has been
+taken to trace those points of resemblance, which gave so much offence
+to one party, and triumph to the other. Many must doubtless have
+escaped our notice; but enough remains to shew the singular felicity
+with which Dryden, in the present instance, as in that of "Absalom and
+Achitophel," could adapt the narrative of ancient or foreign
+transactions to the political events of his own time, and "moralize
+two meanings in one word." Altogether abstracted from this
+consideration, the "Duke of Guise," as a historical play, possesses
+merit amply sufficient to rescue it from the oblivion into which it
+has fallen.
+
+The play was first acted 4th December, 1682, and encountered a stormy
+and dubious, if not an unfavourable, reception. But as, the strength
+of the court party increased, the piece was enabled to maintain its
+ground with more general approbation. It was performed by the united
+companies, and printed in 1683.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. I cannot resist transcribing that ballad, which cost poor College,
+   the protestant joiner, so extremely dear. It is extracted from Mr
+   Luttrell's collection, who has marked it thus. "A most scandalous
+   libel against the government, for which, with other things, College
+   was justly executed." The justice of the execution may, I think, be
+   questioned, unless, like Cinna the poet, the luckless ballad-monger
+   was hanged for his bad verses. There is prefixed a cut,
+   representing the king with a double face, carrying the house of
+   commons in a shew-box at his back. In another copartment, he sticks
+   fast in the mud with his burden. In another, Topham, the serjeant
+   of the house of commons, with the other officers of parliament,
+   liberate the members, and cram the bishops into the shew-box.
+
+                            A RAREE SHOW.
+
+              To the tune of--"I am a senseless thing."
+
+             _Leviathan._
+
+     Come hither, Topham, come, with a hey, with a hey;
+     Bring a pipe and a drum, with a ho;
+         Where'er about I go,
+         Attend my raree show,
+     With a hey, trany, nony, nony, no.
+
+             _Topham._
+
+     That monstrous foul beast, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Has houses twain in's chest, with a ho;
+         O Cowper, Hughes, and Snow,
+         Stop thief with raree show,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     For if he should escape, with a hey, with a hey,
+     With Halifaxe's trap, with a ho,
+         He'll carry good Dom. Com.
+         Unto the pope of Rome,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+             _Leviathan._
+
+     Be quiet, ye dull tools, with a hey, with a hey,
+     As other free-born fools, with a ho,
+         Do not all gaping stand
+         To see my slight of hand.
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     'Tis not to Rome that I, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Lug about my trumpery, with a ho,
+         But Oxford, York, Carlisle,
+         And round about the isle,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     But if they would come out, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Let them first make a vote, with a ho.
+         To yield up all they have,
+         And Tower lords to save,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+             _Topham._
+
+     Now that is very hard, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Thou art worse than cut-nose guard, with a ho.
+         And Clifford, Danby, Hide,
+         Halifax does all outride,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     Holy Ghost, in bag of cloak, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Quaking King in royal oak, with a ho.
+         And Rosamond in bower,
+         All badges are of power.
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     And popularity, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Adds power to majesty, with a ho;
+         But Dom. Com. in little ease,
+         Will all the world displease,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+             _Leviathan._
+
+     Let 'um hate me, so they fear, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Curst fox has the best cheer, with a ho;
+         Two states, in blind house pent,
+         Make brave strong government.
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+             _Topham._
+
+     But child of heathen Hobbes, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Remember old Dry Bobs, with a ho,
+         For fleecing England's flocks.
+         Long fed with bits and knocks,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+             _Leviathan._
+
+     What's past is not to come, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Now safe is David's bum, with a ho;
+         Then hey for Oxford ho,
+         Strong government, raree show,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     Raree show is resouled, with a hey, with a hey,
+     This is worse than desouled, with a ho;
+         May the mighty weight at's back
+         Make's lecherous loins to crack,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     Methinks he seems to stagger, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Who but now did so swagger, with a ho;
+         God's fish he's stuck in the mire,
+         And all the fat's in the fire,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     Help Cooper, Hughs, and Snow, with a hey, with a hey,
+     To pull down raree show, with a ho:
+         So, so, the gyant's down,
+         Let's masters out of pound,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     And now you've freed the nation, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Cram in the convocation, with a ho,
+         With pensioners all and some.
+         Into this chest of Rome,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     And thrust in six-and-twenty, with a hey, with a hey.
+     With _not guilties_ good plenty, with a ho,
+         And hoot them hence away
+         To Cologn or Breda,
+     With a hey, &c.
+
+     Haloo, the hunt's begun, with a hey, with a hey,
+     Like father like son, with a ho;
+         Raree show in French lap
+         Is gone to take a nap,
+         And succession has the clap,
+     With a hey, trany, nony, nony, no.
+
+2. "The news of his landing being reported by the watch, it soon
+   spread abroad through the whole city; insomuch, that before
+   day-light they rang the bells at St Giles in the Fields, placing
+   several flambeaus on the top of the steeple, and divers great
+   bonefires were made, two of which were very large, one in the
+   Palace-yard at Westminster, and the other in Thames-street, near
+   the custom-house, which was kindled in the morning, and maintained
+   burning all day till evening, and then the universal joy of the
+   people was expressed in most of the streets throughout London and
+   Westminster by bone-fires, fireworks, and ringing of bells,
+   accompanied with loud acclamations of joy, to the great grief of
+   the papists." _An Account of the heroick Life and magnanimous
+   Actions of the most illustrious Protestant Prince, James, Duke of
+   Monmouth._ London, 1683. p. 95.
+
+3. "A relation was published in the name of one Elizabeth Freeman,
+   afterwards called the mayor of Hatfield, setting forth, that, on
+   the 24th of January, the apparition of a woman, all in white [the
+   Duke of Monmouth's mother was here to be understood], with a white
+   veil over her face, accosted her with these words; 'Sweetheart, the
+   15th of May is appointed for the blood-royal to be poisoned. Be not
+   afraid, for I am sent to tell thee.' That on the 27th the same
+   appearance stood before her again, and she having then acquired
+   courage enough to lay it under the usual adjuration, in the name,
+   &c. it assumed a more glorious shape, and said in a harsher tone of
+   voice, 'Tell King Charles from me, and bid him not remove his
+   parliament (i.e. from London to Oxford), and stand to his council;'
+   adding, 'Do as I bid you.' That on the 26th, it appeared to her a
+   third time, but said only, 'Do your message;' and that on the next
+   night, when she saw it for the last time, it said nothing at all.
+   Those, who depend upon the people for support, must try all manner
+   of practices upon them, and such fooleries as these sometimes
+   operate more forcibly than experiments of a more rational kind.
+   Care was besides taken to have this relation attested by Sir Joseph
+   Jordan, a justice of peace, and the rector of Hatfield, Dr Lee, who
+   was one of the king's chaplains. Nay, the message was actually sent
+   to his majesty, and the whole forgery very officially circulated
+   over the kingdom." RALPH'S _History_ Vol. I. p. 562.
+
+4. In truth, the devil and the conjuror did not always play upon the
+   square, but often took the most unfair advantages of each other.
+   There is more than one instance of bad faith in the history of that
+   renowned enchanter, Peter Fabel. On one occasion, he prevailed upon
+   the devil, when he came to carry him off, to repose himself in an
+   enchanted chair, from which he refused to liberate him, until he
+   had granted him an additional lease of seven years. When this term
+   was also expired, he had the eloquence and art to prevail on the
+   fiend to allow him a farther respite, till a wax taper, then nearly
+   expiring, was burned out. This boon being granted, he instantly put
+   out the light, and deposited the taper in the church at Edmonton.
+   Hence, in Weiver's "Funeral Monuments," he is thus mentioned: "Here
+   (at Edmonton) lieth interred, under a seemly tombe without
+   inscription, the body of Peter Fabell, as the report goes, upon
+   whom this fable was fathered, that he, by his wittie devices,
+   beguiled the devill." p 514. See also the _Book of his Merry
+   Prankes_. Another instance occurs, in the famous history of Friar
+   Bacon, (London 1666) where that renowned conjurer is recorded to
+   have saved a man, that had given himself to the devil on condition
+   of his debts being paid. "The case was referred to the friar.
+   'Deceiver of mankind, said he (speaking to the devil), it was thy
+   bargain never to meddle with him so long as he was indebted to any;
+   now how canst thou demand of him any thing, when he is indebted for
+   all he hath to thee? When he payeth thee thy money, then take him
+   as thy due; till then thou hast nothing to do with him; and so I
+   charge thee to be gone.' At this the devil vanished with great
+   horrour; but Fryar Bacon comforted the gentleman, and sent him home
+   with a quiet conscience, bidding him never to pay the devil's money
+   back, as he tendred his own safety, which he promised for to
+   observe." From these instances, Melanax might have quoted precedent
+   for insisting on the literal execution of his stipulation with
+   Malicorn, since, to give the devil his due, the strict legal
+   interpretation appears always to have been applied to bargains of
+   that nature.
+
+
+
+
+                                  TO
+
+                         THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+
+                              LAWRENCE,
+
+                      EARL OF ROCHESTER, &c.[1]
+
+
+MY LORD,
+
+The authors of this poem present it humbly to your lordship's
+patronage, if you shall think it worthy of that honour. It has already
+been a confessor, and was almost made a martyr for the royal cause:
+but having stood two trials from its enemies,--one before it was
+acted, another in the representation,--and having been in both
+acquitted, it is now to stand the public censure in the reading: where
+since, of necessity, it must have the same enemies, we hope it may
+also find the same friends; and therein we are secure, not only of the
+greater number, but of the more honest and loyal party. We only
+expected bare justice in the permission to have it acted; and that we
+had, after a severe and long examination, from an upright and knowing
+judge, who, having heard both sides, and examined the merits of the
+cause, in a strict perusal of the play, gave sentence for us, that it
+was neither a libel, nor a parallel of particular persons[2]. In the
+representation itself, it was persecuted with so notorious malice by
+one side, that it procured us the partiality of the other; so that the
+favour more than recompensed the prejudice. And it is happier to have
+been saved (if so we were) by the indulgence of our good and faithful
+fellow-subjects, than by our own deserts; because, thereby the
+weakness of the faction is discovered, which, in us, at that time
+attacked the government, and stood combined, like the members of the
+rebellious League, against the lawful sovereign authority. To what
+topic will they have recourse, when they are manifestly beaten from
+their chief post, which has always been popularity, and majority of
+voices? They will tell us,--that the voices of a people are not to be
+gathered in a play-house; and yet, even there, the enemies, as well as
+friends, have free admission: but, while our argument was serviceable
+to their interests, they could boast, that the theatres were true
+protestant; and came insulting to the plays, when their own triumphs
+were represented[3]. But let them now assure themselves, that they can
+make the major part of no assembly, except it be of a meeting-house[4].
+Their tide of popularity is spent; and the natural current of
+obedience is, in spite of them, at last prevalent. In which, my lord,
+after the merciful providence of God, the unshaken resolution, and
+prudent carriage of the king, and the inviolable duty, and manifest
+innocence of his royal highness,--the prudent management of the
+ministers is also most conspicuous. I am not particular in this
+commendation, because I am unwilling to raise envy to your lordship,
+who are too just, not to desire that praise should be communicated to
+others, which was the common endeavour and co-operation of all. It is
+enough, my lord, that your own part was neither obscure in it, nor
+unhazardous. And if ever this excellent government, so well
+established by the wisdom of our forefathers, and so much shaken by
+the folly of this age, shall recover its ancient splendour, posterity
+cannot be so ungrateful as to forget those, who, in the worst of
+times, have stood undaunted by their king and country, and, for the
+safeguard of both, have exposed themselves to the malice of false
+patriots, and the madness of an headstrong rabble. But since this
+glorious work is yet unfinished, and though we have reason to hope
+well of the success, yet the event depends on the unsearchable
+providence of Almighty God, it is no time to raise trophies, while
+the victory is in dispute; but every man, by your example, to
+contribute what is in his power to maintain so just a cause, on which
+depends the future settlement and prosperity of three nations. The
+pilot's prayer to Neptune was not amiss in the middle of the storm:
+"Thou mayest do with me, O Neptune, what thou pleasest, but I will be
+sure to hold fast the rudder." We are to trust firmly in the Deity,
+but so as not to forget, that he commonly works by second causes, and
+admits of our endeavours with his concurrence. For our own parts, we
+are sensible, as we ought, how little we can contribute with our weak
+assistance. The most we can boast of, is, that we are not so
+inconsiderable as to want enemies, whom we have raised to ourselves
+on no other account than that we are not of their number; and, since
+that is their quarrel, they shall have daily occasion to hate us
+more. It is not, my lord, that any man delights to see himself
+pasquined and affronted by their inveterate scribblers; but, on the
+other side, it ought to be our glory, that themselves believe not of
+us what they write. Reasonable men are well satisfied for whose sakes
+the venom of their party is shed on us; because they see, that at the
+same time our adversaries spare not those to whom they owe allegiance
+and veneration. Their despair has pushed them to break those bonds;
+and it is observable, that the lower they are driven, the more
+violently they write; as Lucifer and his companions were only proud
+when angels, but grew malicious when devils. Let them rail, since it
+is the only solace of their miseries, and the only revenge which, we
+hope, they now can take. The greatest and the best of men are above
+their reach; and, for our meanness, though they assault us like
+footpads in the dark, their blows have done us little harm: we yet
+live to justify ourselves in open day, to vindicate our loyalty to
+the government, and to assure your lordship, with all submission and
+sincerity, that we are
+
+  YOUR LORDSHIP'S
+    Most obedient, faithful servants,
+      JOHN DRYDEN.
+      NAT. LEE.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. Lawrence Hyde, created Earl of Rochester in 1682, was the second
+   son of the famous Lord Clarendon, and affords a rare instance of
+   the son of a disgraced minister recovering that favour at court,
+   which had been withdrawn from his father. He was now at the head of
+   the Commissioners for the Treasury, and a patron of our poet; as
+   appears from the terms of Dryden's letter, soliciting his interest
+   in very affecting terms, and from the subsequent dedication of
+   "Cleomenes," where he acknowledges his lordship's goodness during
+   the reign of two masters; and that, even from a bare treasury, his
+   success was contrary to that of Mr Cowley; Gideon's fleece having
+   been moistened, when all the ground was dry around it. The Earl of
+   Rochester was the more proper patron for the "Duke of Guise," as he
+   was a violent opponent of the bill of exclusion. He was Lord High
+   Treasurer in the reign of James II., and died in 1711.
+
+2. Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington, then Lord Chamberlain.
+
+3. Dryden seems here to allude to the triumphant strain in which
+   Shadwell mentions the reception of "The Lancashire Witches:" "I
+   could not imagine," he says, "till I heard that great opposition
+   was designed against the play a month before it was acted, by a
+   party who, being ashamed to say it was for the sake of the Irish
+   priest, pretended that I had written a satire on the Church of
+   England; and several profest Papists railed at it violently before
+   they had seen it, alleging that for a reason, such dear friends
+   they are to our Church: and, notwithstanding all was put out that
+   could any way be wrested to an offence against the Church, yet they
+   came with the greatest malice in the world to hiss it; and many,
+   that called themselves Protestants, joined with them in that noble
+   enterprise.
+
+   "But, for all this, they came resolved to hiss it, right or wrong,
+   and had gotten mercenary fellows, who were such fools they did not
+   know when to hiss; and this was evident to all the audience. It was
+   wonderful to see men of great quality, and gentlemen, in so mean a
+   combination; but, to my great satisfaction, they came off as meanly
+   as I could wish. I had so numerous an assembly of the best sort of
+   men, who stood so generously in my defence for the three first
+   days, that they quashed all the vain attempts of my enemies; the
+   inconsiderable party of hissers yielded, and the play lived in
+   spite of them.
+
+   "Had it been never so bad, I had valued the honour of having so
+   many and such friends as eminently appeared for me, above that of
+   excelling the most admirable Jonson, if it were possible to be done
+   by me."
+
+   This flourish of exultation contains many things which were
+   doubtless offensive to Dryden's jealousy of dramatic fame, as well
+   as to his political principles. Nor was he probably insensible to
+   the affected praise bestowed on Jonson, whose merit, it was
+   fashionable to say, he had attempted to depreciate.
+
+4. The greater, and, perhaps, the most formidable, part of those who
+   now opposed the court, were the remnants of the old fanatics, whose
+   religious principles were shocked by the dissolute manners of
+   Charles and his courtiers. These, of course, added little to the
+   force of the party in the theatres, which they never frequented.
+   Shadwell seems to acknowledge this disadvantage in the epilogue to
+   "The Lancashire Witches:"
+
+     Our Popes and friars on one side offend,
+     And yet, alas! the city's not our friend:
+     The city neither like us nor our wit,
+     They say their wives learn ogling in the pit;
+     They're from the boxes taught to make advances,
+     To answer stolen sighs and naughty glances.
+     We virtuous ladies some new ways must seek,
+     For all conspire our playing trade to break.
+
+   But although the citizens declined to frequent even the plays
+   written on their own side of the question, Armstrong, and the
+   personal followers of Monmouth, were of a gayer complexion, and
+   doubtless, as they were not inferior to the courtiers in the
+   licence assumed by the age, formed the principal part of the
+   audience at the protestant plays. The discovery of the Rye-house
+   Plot broke the strength of this part of the confederacy, and the
+   odium attending that enterprise rendered their opposition to the
+   court in public assemblies both fruitless and dangerous.
+
+
+
+
+                               PROLOGUE
+
+                        WRITTEN BY MR DRYDEN.
+
+                         SPOKEN BY MR SMITH.
+
+
+  Our play's a parallel: the Holy League
+  Begot our Covenant: Guisards got the whig:
+  Whate'er our hot-brained sheriffs did advance,
+  Was, like our fashions, first produced in France;
+  And, when worn out, well scourged, and banished there,
+  Sent over, like their godly beggars, here.
+  Could the same trick, twice played, our nation gull?
+  It looks as if the devil were grown dull;
+  Or served us up, in scorn, his broken meat,
+  And thought we were not worth a better cheat.
+  The fulsome Covenant, one would think in reason,
+  Had given us all our bellies full of treason;
+  And yet, the name but changed, our nasty nation
+  Chews its own excrements, the Association[1].
+  'Tis true, we have not learned their poisoning way,
+  For that's a mode but newly come in play;
+  Resides, your drug's uncertain to prevail,
+  But your true protestant can never fail
+  With that compendious instrument, a flail[2].
+  Go on, and bite, even though the hook lies bare;
+  Twice in one age expel the lawful heir;
+  Once more decide religion by the sword,
+  And purchase for us a new tyrant lord.
+  Pray for your king, but yet your purses spare;
+  Make him not two-pence richer by your prayer.
+  To show you love him much, chastise him more,
+  And make him very great, and very poor.
+  Push him to wars, but still no peace advance;
+  Let him lose England, to recover France.
+  Cry freedom up, with popular noisy votes,
+  And get enough to cut each other's throats.
+  Lop all the rights that fence your monarch's throne;
+  For fear of too much power, pray leave him none.
+  A noise was made of arbitrary sway;
+  But, in revenge, you whigs have found a way
+  An arbitrary duty now to pay.
+  Let his own servants turn to save their stake,
+  Glean from his plenty, and his wants forsake;
+  But let some Judas near his person stay,
+  To swallow the last sop, and then betray.
+  Make London independent of the crown;
+  A realm apart; the kingdom of the town.
+  Let ignoramus juries find no traitors[3],
+  And ignoramus poets scribble satires.
+  And, that your meaning none may fail to scan,
+  Do what in coffee-houses you began,--
+  Pull down the master, and set up the man.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. The association proposed in parliament was, by the royalists, said
+   to be, a revival of the Solemn League and Covenant. But the draught
+   of an association, found in Lord Shaftesbury's cabinet, and
+   produced on his trial, in which that memorable engagement seems to
+   be pretty closely copied, was probably what our poet alludes to.
+
+2. The protestant flail was a kind of bludgeon, so jointed as to fold
+   together, and lie concealed in the pocket. They are supposed to
+   have been invented to arm the insurgents about this period. In the
+   trial of Braddon and Spoke for a misdemeanor, the recorder offered
+   to prove, that Braddon had bragged, that "he was the only inventor
+   of the protestant flails; an instrument you have heard of,
+   gentlemen, and for what use designed." This circumstance was not
+   omitted by Jefferies, in his characteristic address to the
+   prisoner. "But oh what a happiness it was for this sort of people,
+   that they had got Mr Braddon, an honest man and a man of courage,
+   says Mr Speke, a man _a propos_! and pray, says he to his friend,
+   give him the best advice you can, for he is a man very fit for the
+   purpose; and pray secure him under a sham name, for I'll undertake
+   there are such designs upon pious Mr Braddon, such connivances to
+   do him mischief, that, if he had not had his _protestant flail_
+   about him, somebody or other would have knocked him on the head;
+   and he is such a wonderful man, that all the king's courts must
+   needs conspire to do Mr Braddon a mischief. A very pretty sort of
+   man, upon my word, and he must be used accordingly." _State
+   Trials_, Vol. III. p. 897. In one of the scarce medals struck by
+   James II. Justice is represented weighing mural crowns, which
+   preponderate against a naked sword, a serpent, and a protestant
+   flail: on each side of the figure are a head and trunk,
+   representing those of Argyle and Monmouth. An accurate description
+   of this weapon occurs in the following passage from Roger North:
+   "There was much recommendation of silk armour, and the prudence of
+   being provided with it against the time protestants were to be
+   massacred. And accordingly there were abundance of these silken
+   backs, breasts, and pots (i.e. head-pieces), made and sold, that
+   were pretended to be pistol proof; in which any man dressed up was
+   as safe as in a house, for it was impossible any one could go to
+   strike him for laughing. So ridiculous was the figure, as they say,
+   of hogs in armour; an image of derision, insensible but to the
+   view, as I have had it. This was armour of defence; but our sparks
+   were not altogether so tame as to carry their provisions no
+   farther, for truly they intended to be assailants upon fair
+   occasion, and had for that end recommended also to them a certain
+   pocket weapon, which, for its design and efficacy, had the honour
+   to be called a _protestant flail_. It was for street and
+   crowd-work; and the engine lying perdue in a coat pocket, might
+   readily sally out to execution, and by clearing a great hall, a
+   piazza, or so, carry an election by a choice way of polling, called
+   _knocking down_. The handle resembled a farrier's blood-stick, and
+   the fall was joined to the end by a strong nervous ligature, that
+   in its swing fell just short of the hand, and was made of _lignum
+   vitae_, or rather, as the poet termed it, _mortis_." _Examen._ p.
+   572. The following is the first stanza of "The Protestant Flail; an
+   excellent new song, to the tune of, Lacy's Maggot, or the Hobby
+   Horse." It is thus labelled by Luttrell: "A bonny thing, 14 June,
+   1632."
+
+     Listen a while, and I'll tell you a tale
+     Of a new device of a protestant flail;
+          With a thump, thump, thump a thump.
+                 Thump a thump, thump.
+     This flail it was made of the finest wood,
+     All lined with lead, and notable good
+     For splitting of bones, and shedding the blood
+     Of all that withstood,
+                 With a thump, &c.
+
+3. Shaftesbury, College, and others, were liberated by grand juries,
+   who refused to find bills against them, bringing in what are
+   technically called verdicts of _ignoramus_. It was here that the
+   whig sheriffs were of most consequence to their party; for by their
+   means the juries were picked from the very centre of the faction;
+   and although they included many men of eminence, both for rank and
+   talents, yet they were generally such as had made up their minds to
+   cast the bill long before they came into court. This gave great
+   offence to the royalists. North says, "There lay the barrier of the
+   faction; and that stately word (_ignoramus_) became the appellative
+   of the whole corrupt practice, and the infamous title of all the
+   persons concerned in it." In Luttrell's Collection I find,
+   "Ignoramus, an excellent new song, to the tune of Lay by your
+   Pleading, Law lies a Bleeding." 15 Dec. 1681.
+
+         At the Old Bailey,
+         Where rogues flock daily,
+     A greater rogue far than Coleman, White, or Stayley,
+         Was late indicted.
+         Witnesses cited,
+     But then he was set free, so the king was righted.
+         'Gainst princes offences
+         Proved in all senses,
+     But 'gainst a whig there is no truth in evidences;
+         They sham us, and flam us,
+         And ram us, and damn us.
+     And then, in spite of law, come off with ignoramus, &c.
+
+   This song, according to the invariable practice of the scribblers
+   on both sides, was answered by a new Ignoramus.
+
+
+
+
+                          DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
+
+
+  _The King of France._
+  _Duke of_ GUISE.
+  _Duke of_ MAYENNE.
+  GRILLON, _Colonel of the Guard._
+  ALPHONSO CORSO, _a Colonel._
+  BELLEURE, _a Courtier._
+  ABBOT DEL BENE, } _Royalists._
+  M. MONFERT,     }
+  _The Cardinal of_ GUISE.    }
+  _Archbishop of_ LYONS.      }
+  POLIN,                      }
+  AUMALE,                     } _Of Guise's_
+  BUSSY,                      } _Faction._
+  _The Curate of St_ EUSTACE, }
+  MALICORN, _a Necromancer,_  }
+  MELANAX, _a Spirit,_        }
+  _Two Sheriffs,_
+  _Citizens and Rabble, &c._
+
+  _Queen Mother._
+  MARMOUTIERE, _Niece to_ GRILLON.
+
+SCENE,--_Paris._
+
+
+
+
+                          THE DUKE OF GUISE.
+
+
+ACT I.
+
+SCENE I.--_The Council of Sixteen seated; an empty Chair prepared for
+the Duke of Guise._
+
+  BUSSY _and_ POLIN, _two of the Sixteen._
+
+_Buss._ Lights there! more lights! What, burn the tapers dim,
+When glorious Guise, the Moses, Gideon, David,
+The saviour of the nation, makes approach?
+
+_Pol._ And therefore are we met; the whole sixteen,
+That sway the crowd of Paris, guide their votes,
+Manage their purses, persons, fortunes, lives,
+To mount the Guise, where merit calls him, high,
+And give him a whole heaven for room to shine.
+
+  _Enter Curate of St_ EUSTACE.
+
+_Buss._ The curate of St Eustace comes at last:
+But, father, why so late?
+
+_Cur._ I have been taking godly pains to satisfy some scruples raised
+amongst weak brothers of our party, that were staggering in the cause.
+
+_Pol._ What could they find to object?
+
+_Cur._ They thought, to arm against the king was treason.
+
+_Buss._ I hope you set them right?
+
+_Cur._ Yes; and for answer, I produced this book.
+A Calvinist minister of Orleans
+Writ this, to justify the admiral
+For taking arms against the king deceased;
+Wherein he proves, that irreligious kings
+May justly be deposed, and put to death.
+
+_Buss._ To borrow arguments from heretic books,
+Methinks, was not so prudent.
+
+_Cur._ Yes; from the devil, if it would help our cause.
+The author was indeed a heretic;
+The matter of the book is good and pious.
+
+_Pol._ But one prime article of our Holy League
+Is to preserve the king, his power, and person.
+
+_Cur._ That must be said, you know, for decency;
+A pretty blind to make the shoot secure.
+
+_Buss._ But did the primitive Christians e'er rebel,
+When under heathen lords? I hope they did.
+
+_Cur._ No sure, they did not; for they had not power;
+The conscience of a people is their power.
+
+_Pol._ Well; the next article in our solemn covenant
+Has cleared the point again.
+
+_Buss._ What is't? I should be glad to find the king
+No safer than needs must.
+
+_Pol._ That, in case of opposition from any person whatsoever--
+
+_Cur._ That's well, that well; then the king is not excepted, if he
+oppose us.--
+
+_Pol._ We are obliged to join as one, to punish
+All, who attempt to hinder or disturb us.
+
+_Buss._ 'Tis a plain case; the king's included in the punishment, in
+case he rebel against the people.
+
+_Pol._ But how can he rebel?
+
+_Cur._ I'll make it out: Rebellion is an insurrection against the
+government; but they that have the power are actually the government;
+therefore, if the people have the power, the rebellion is in the king.
+
+_Buss._ A most convincing argument for faction.
+
+_Cur._ For arming, if you please, but not for faction:
+For still the faction is the fewest number:
+So what they call the lawful government,
+Is now the faction; for the most are ours.
+
+_Pol._ Since we are proved to be above the king, I would gladly
+understand whom we are to obey, or, whether we are to be all kings
+together?
+
+_Cur._ Are you a member of the League, and ask that question? There's
+an article, that, I may say, is as necessary as any in the creed;
+namely, that we, the said associates, are sworn to yield ready
+obedience, and faithful service, to that head which shall be deputed.
+
+_Buss._ 'Tis most manifest, that, by virtue of our oath, we are all
+subjects to the Duke of Guise. The king's an officer that has betrayed
+his trust; and therefore we have turned him out of service.
+
+_Omn._ Agreed, agreed.
+
+  _Enter the Duke of_ GUISE, _Cardinal of_ GUISE, AUMALE: _Torches
+  before them. The Duke takes the Chair._
+
+_Buss._ Your highness enters in a lucky hour;
+The unanimous vote you heard, confirms your choice.
+As head of Paris and the Holy League.
+
+_Card._ I say amen to that.
+
+_Pol._ You are our champion, buckler of our faith.
+
+_Card._ The king, like Saul, is heaven's repented choice;
+You his anointed one, on better thought.
+
+_Gui._ I'm what you please to call me; any thing,
+Lieutenant-general, chief, or constable,
+Good decent names, that only mean--your slave.
+
+_Buss._ You chased the Germans hence, exiled Navarre,
+And rescued France from heretics and strangers.
+
+_Aum._ What he, and all of us have done, is known.
+What's our reward? Our offices are lost,
+Turned out, like laboured oxen after harvest,
+To the bare commons of the withered field.
+
+_Buss._ Our charters will go next; because we sheriffs
+Permit no justice to be done on those
+The court calls rebels, but we call them saints.
+
+_Gui._ Yes; we are all involved, as heads, or parties;
+Dipt in the noisy crime of state, called treason;
+And traitors we must be, to king, or country.
+
+_Buss._ Why then my choice is made.
+
+_Pol._ And mine.
+
+_Omn._ And all.
+
+_Card._ Heaven is itself head of the Holy League;
+And all the saints are cov'nanters and Guisards.
+
+_Gui._ What say you, curate?
+
+_Cur._ I hope well, my lord.
+
+_Card._ That is, he hopes you mean to make him abbot,
+And he deserves your care of his preferment;
+For all his prayers are curses on the government,
+And all his sermons libels on the king;
+In short, a pious, hearty, factious priest.
+
+_Gui._ All that are here, my friends, shall share my fortunes:
+There's spoil, preferments, wealth enough in France;
+'Tis but deserve, and have. The Spanish king
+Consigns me fifty thousand crowns a-week
+To raise, and to foment a civil war.
+'Tis true, a pension, from a foreign prince,
+Sounds treason in the letter of the law,
+But good intentions justify the deed.
+
+_Cur._ Heaven's good; the cause is good; the money's good;
+No matter whence it comes.
+
+_Buss._ Our city-bands are twenty thousand strong,
+Well-disciplined, well-armed, well-seasoned traitors,
+Thick-rinded heads, that leave no room for kernel;
+Shop-consciences, of proof against an oath,
+Preached up, and ready tined for a rebellion[1].
+
+_Gui._ Why then the noble plot is fit for birth;
+And labouring France cries out for midwife hands.
+We missed surprising of the king at Blois,
+When last the states were held: 'twas oversight;
+Beware we make not such another blot.
+
+_Card._ This holy time of Lent we have him sure;
+He goes unguarded, mixed with whipping friars.
+In that procession, he's more fit for heaven:
+What hinders us to seize the royal penitent,
+And close him in a cloister?
+
+_Cur._ Or dispatch him; I love to make all sure.
+
+_Gui._ No; guard him safe;
+Thin diet will do well; 'twill starve him into reason,
+'Till he exclude his brother of Navarre,
+And graft succession on a worthier choice.
+To favour this, five hundred men in arms
+Shall stand prepared, to enter at your call,
+And speed the work; St Martin's gate was named;
+But the sheriff Conty, who commands that ward,
+Refused me passage there.
+
+_Buss._ I know that Conty;
+A snivelling, conscientious, loyal rogue;
+He'll peach, and ruin all.
+
+_Card._ Give out he's arbitrary, a Navarist,
+A heretic; discredit him betimes,
+And make his witness void.
+
+_Cur._ I'll swear him guilty.
+I swallow oaths as easy as snap-dragon,
+Mock-fire that never burns.
+
+_Gui._ Then, Bussy, be it your care to admit my troops,
+At Port St Honore: [_Rises._] Night wears apace,
+And day-light must not peep on dark designs.
+I will myself to court, pay formal duty,
+Take leave, and to my government retire;
+Impatient to be soon recalled, to see
+The king imprisoned, and the nation free[2].                [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE II.
+
+  _Enter_ MALICORN _solus._
+
+_Mal._ Each dismal minute, when I call to mind
+The promise, that I made the Prince of Hell,
+In one-and-twenty years to be his slave,
+Of which near twelve are gone, my soul runs back,
+The wards of reason roll into their spring.
+O horrid thought! but one-and-twenty years,
+And twelve near past, then to be steeped in fire,
+Dashed against rocks, or snatched from molten lead,
+Reeking, and dropping, piece-meal borne by winds,
+And quenched ten thousand fathom in the deep!--
+But hark! he comes: see there! my blood stands still,
+                                              [_Knocking at the Door._
+My spirits start on end for Guise's fate.
+
+  _A Devil rises._
+
+_Mal._ What counsel does the fate of Guise require?
+
+_Dev._ Remember, with his prince there's no delay.
+But, the sword drawn, to fling the sheath away;
+Let not the fear of hell his spirit grieve,
+The tomb is still, whatever fools believe:
+Laugh at the tales which withered sages bring,
+Proverbs and morals; let the waxen king,
+That rules the hive, be born without a sting;
+Let Guise by blood resolve to mount to power.
+And he is great as Mecca's emperor.
+He comes; bid him not stand on altar-vows,
+But then strike deepest, when he lowest bows;
+Tell him, fate's awed when an usurper springs,
+And joins to crowd out just indulgent kings.              [_Vanishes._
+
+
+SCENE III.
+
+  _Enter the Duke of_ GUISE, _and Duke of_ MAYENNE.
+
+_May._ All offices and dignities he gives
+To your profest and most inveterate foes;
+But if he were inclined, as we could wish him,
+There is a lady-regent at his ear,
+That never pardons.
+
+_Gui._ Poison on her name!
+Take my hand on't, that cormorant dowager
+Will never rest, till she has all our heads
+In her lap. I was at Bayonne with her,
+When she, the king, and grisly d'Alva met.
+Methinks, I see her listening now before me,
+Marking the very motion of his beard,
+His opening nostrils, and his dropping lids.
+I hear him croak too to the gaping council,--
+Fish for the great fish, take no care for frogs,
+Cut off the poppy-heads, sir;--madam, charm
+The winds but fast, the billows will be still[3].
+
+_May._ But, sir, how comes it you should be thus warm,
+Still pushing counsels when among your friends;
+Yet, at the court, cautious, and cold as age,
+Your voice, your eyes, your mien so different,
+You seem to me two men?
+
+_Gui._ The reason's plain.
+Hot with my friends, because, the question given,
+I start the judgment right, where others drag.
+This is the effect of equal elements,
+And atoms justly poised; nor should you wonder
+More at the strength of body than of mind;
+'Tis equally the same to see me plunge
+Headlong into the Seine, all over armed,
+And plow against the torrent to my point,
+As 'twas to hear my judgment on the Germans,
+This to another man would be a brag;
+Or at the court among my enemies,
+To be, as I am here, quite off my guard,
+Would make me such another thing as Grillon,
+A blunt, hot, honest, downright, valiant fool.
+
+_May._ Yet this you must allow a failure in you,--
+You love his niece; and to a politician
+All passion's bane, but love directly death.
+
+_Gui._ False, false, my Mayenne; thou'rt but half Guise again.
+Were she not such a wond'rous composition,
+A soul, so flushed as mine is with ambition,
+Sagacious and so nice, must have disdained her:
+But she was made when nature was in humour,
+As if a Grillon got her on the queen,
+Where all the honest atoms fought their way,
+Took a full tincture of the mother's wit,
+But left the dregs of wickedness behind.
+
+_May._ Have you not told her what we have in hand?
+
+_Gui._ My utmost aim has been to hide it from her,
+But there I'm short; by the long chain of causes
+She has scanned it, just as if she were my soul;
+And though I flew about with circumstances.
+Denials, oaths, improbabilities;
+Yet, through the histories of our lives, she looked,
+She saw, she overcame.
+
+_May._ Why then, we're all undone.
+
+_Gui._ Again you err.
+Chaste as she is, she would as soon give up
+Her honour, as betray me to the king:
+I tell thee, she's the character of heaven;
+Such an habitual over-womanly goodness,
+She dazzles, walks mere angel upon earth.
+But see, she comes; call the cardinal Guise,
+While Malicorn attends for some dispatches,
+Before I take my farewell of the court.                   [_Exit_ MAY.
+
+  _Enter_ MARMOUTIERE.
+
+_Mar._ Ah Guise, you are undone!
+
+_Gui._ How, madam?
+
+_Mar._ Lost,
+Beyond the possibility of hope:
+Despair, and die.
+
+_Gui._ You menace deeply, madam:
+And should this come from any mouth but yours,
+My smile should answer how the ruin touched me.
+
+_Mar._ Why do you leave the court?
+
+_Gui._ The court leaves me.
+
+_Mar._ Were there no more, but weariness of state,
+Or could you, like great Scipio, retire,
+Call Rome ungrateful, and sit down with that;
+Such inward gallantry would gain you more
+Than all the sullied conquests you can boast:
+But oh, you want that Roman mastery;
+You have too much of the tumultuous times,
+And I must mourn the fate of your ambition.
+
+_Gui._ Because the king disdains my services,
+Must I not let him know I dare be gone?
+What, when I feel his council on my neck,
+Shall I not cast them backward if I can,
+And at his feet make known their villainy?
+
+_Mar._ No, Guise, not at his feet, but on his head;
+For there you strike.
+
+_Gui._ Madam, you wrong me now:
+For still, whate'er shall come in fortune's whirl,
+His person must be safe.
+
+_Mar._ I cannot think it.
+However, your last words confess too much.
+Confess! what need I urge that evidence,
+When every hour I see you court the crowd,
+When with the shouts of the rebellious rabble,
+I see you borne on shoulders to cabals;
+Where, with the traitorous Council of Sixteen,
+You sit, and plot the royal Henry's death;
+Cloud the majestic name with fumes of wine,
+Infamous scrolls, and treasonable verse;
+While, on the other side, the name of Guise,
+By the whole kennel of the slaves, is rung.
+Pamphleteers, ballad-mongers sing your ruin.
+While all the vermin of the vile Parisians
+Toss up their greasy caps where'er you pass,
+And hurl your dirty glories in your face.
+
+_Gui._ Can I help this?
+
+_Mar._ By heaven, I'd earth myself,
+Rather than live to act such black ambition:
+But, sir, you seek it with your smiles and bows.
+This side and that side congeing to the crowd.
+You have your writers too, that cant your battles,
+That stile you, the new David, second Moses,
+Prop of the church, deliverer of the people.
+Thus from the city, as from the heart, they spread
+Through all the provinces, alarm the countries,
+Where they run forth in heaps, bellowing your wonders;
+Then cry,--The king, the king's a Hugonot,
+And, spite of us, will have Navarre succeed,
+Spite of the laws, and spite of our religion:
+But we will pull them down, down with them, down[4].        [_Kneels._
+
+_Gui._ Ha, madam! Why this posture?
+
+_Mar._ Hear me, sir;
+For, if 'tis possible, my lord, I'll move you.
+Look back, return, implore the royal mercy,
+Ere 'tis too late; I beg you by these tears,
+These sighs, and by the ambitious love you bear me;
+By all the wounds of your poor groaning country,
+That bleeds to death. O seek the best of kings,
+Kneel, fling your stubborn body at his feet:
+Your pardon shall be signed, your country saved,
+Virgins and matrons all shall sing your fame,
+And every babe shall bless the Guise's name.
+
+_Gui._ O rise, thou image of the deity!
+You shall prevail, I will do any thing:
+You've broke the very gall of my ambition,
+And all my powers now float in peace again.
+Be satisfied that I will see the king,
+Kneel to him, ere I journey to Champaigne,
+And beg a kind farewell.
+
+_Mar._ No, no, my lord;
+I see through that; you but withdraw a while,
+To muster all the forces that you can,
+And then rejoin the Council of Sixteen.
+You must not go.
+
+_Gui._ All the heads of the League
+Expect me, and I have engaged my honour.
+
+_Mar._ Would all those heads were off, so yours were saved!
+Once more, O Guise, the weeping Marmoutiere
+Entreats you, do not go.
+
+_Gui._ Is't possible
+That Guise should say, in this he must refuse you!
+
+_Mar._ Go then, my lord. I late received a letter
+From one at court, who tells me, the king loves me:
+Read it,--there is no more than what you hear.
+I've jewels offered too,--perhaps may take them;
+And if you go from Paris, I'll to court.
+
+_Gui._ But, madam, I have often heard you say,
+You loved not courts.
+
+_Mar._ Perhaps I've changed my mind:
+Nothing as yet could draw me, but a king;
+And such a king,--so good, so just, so great,
+That, at his birth, the heavenly council paused,
+And then, at last, cried out,--This is a man.
+
+_Gui._ Come, 'tis but counterfeit; you dare not go.
+
+_Mar._ Go to your government, and try.
+
+_Gui._ I will.
+
+_Mar._ Then I'll to court, nay--to the king.
+
+_Gui._ By heaven,
+I swear you cannot, shall not,--dare not see him.
+
+_Mar._ By heaven, I can, I dare, nay--and I will;
+And nothing but your stay shall hinder me;
+For now, methinks, I long for't.
+
+_Gui._ Possible!
+
+_Mar._ I'll give you yet a little time to think;
+But, if I hear you go to take your leave,
+I'll meet you there; before the throne I'll stand,--
+Nay you shall see me kneel and kiss his hand.                 [_Exit._
+
+_Gui._ Furies and hell! She does but try me,--Ha!
+This is the mother-queen, and Espernon,
+Abbot Delbene, Alphonso Corso too,
+All packed to plot, and turn me into madness.   [_Reading the Letter._
+
+  _Enter Cardinal_ GUISE, _Duke Of_ MAYENNE, MALICORN, _&c._
+
+Ha! can it be! "Madam, the king loves you."--                [_Reads._
+But vengeance I will have; to pieces, thus,
+To pieces with them all.                          [_Tears the Letter._
+
+_Card._ Speak lower.
+
+_Gui._ No;
+By all the torments of this galling passion,
+I'll hollow the revenge I vow, so loud,
+My father's ghost shall hear me up to heaven.
+
+_Card._ Contain yourself; this outrage will undo us.
+
+_Gui._ All things are ripe, and love new points their ruin.
+Ha! my good lords, what if the murdering council
+Were in our power, should they escape our justice?
+I see, by each man's laying of his hand
+Upon his sword, you swear the like revenge.
+For me, I wish that mine may both rot off--
+
+_Card._ No more.
+
+_May._ The Council of Sixteen attend you.
+
+_Gui._ I go--that vermin may devour my limbs;
+That I may die, like the late puling Francis[5],
+Under the barber's hands, imposthumes choak me,--
+If while alive, I cease to chew their ruin;
+Alphonso Corso, Grillon, priest, together:
+To hang them in effigy,--nay, to tread,
+Drag, stamp, and grind them, after they are dead.           [_Exeunt._
+
+
+ACT II. SCENE I.
+
+  _Enter Queen-Mother, Abbot_ DELBENE, _and_ POLIN.
+
+_Qu. M._ Pray, mark the form of the conspiracy:
+Guise gives it out, he journeys to Champaigne,
+But lurks indeed at Lagny, hard by Paris,
+Where every hour he hears and gives instructions.
+Mean time the Council of Sixteen assure him,
+They have twenty thousand citizens in arms.
+Is it not so, Polin?
+
+_Pol._ True, on my life;
+And, if the king doubts the discovery,
+Send me to the Bastile till all be proved.
+
+_Qu. M._ Call colonel Grillon; the king would speak with him.
+
+_Ab._ Was ever age like this?                           [_Exit_ POLIN.
+
+_Qu. M._ Polin is honest;
+Beside, the whole proceeding is so like
+The hair-brained rout, I guessed as much before.
+Know then, it is resolved to seize the king,
+When next he goes in penitential weeds
+Among the friars, without his usual guards;
+Then, under shew of popular sedition,
+For safety, shut him in a monastery,
+And sacrifice his favourites to their rage.
+
+_Ab._ When is this council to be held again?
+
+_Qu. M._ Immediately upon the duke's departure.
+
+_Ab._ Why sends not then the king sufficient guards,
+To seize the fiends, and hew them into pieces?
+
+_Qu. M._ 'Tis in appearance easy, but the effect
+Most hazardous; for straight, upon the alarm,
+The city would be sure to be in arms;
+Therefore, to undertake, and not to compass,
+Were to come off with ruin and dishonour.
+You know the Italian proverb--_Bisogna copriersi_[6],--
+He, that will venture on a hornet's nest,
+Should arm his head, and buckler well his breast.
+
+_Ab._ But wherefore seems the king so unresolved?
+
+_Qu. M._ I brought Polin, and made the demonstration;
+Told him--necessity cried out, to take
+A resolution to preserve his life,
+And look on Guise as a reclaimless rebel:
+But, through the natural sweetness of his temper,
+And dangerous mercy, coldly he replied,--
+Madam I will consider what you say.
+
+_Ab._ Yet after all, could we but fix him--
+
+_Qu. M._ Right,--
+The business were more firm for this delay;
+For noblest natures, though they suffer long,
+When once provoked, they turn the face to danger.
+But see, he comes, Alphonso Corso with him;
+Let us withdraw, and when 'tis fit rejoin him.              [_Exeunt._
+
+  _Enter King, and_ ALPHONSO CORSO.
+
+_King._ Alphonso Corso.
+
+_Alph._ Sir.
+
+_King._ I think thou lovest me.
+
+_Alph._ More than my life.
+
+_King._ That's much; yet I believe thee.
+My mother has the judgment of the world,
+And all things move by that; but, my Alphonso,
+She has a cruel wit.
+
+_Alph._ The provocation, sir.
+
+_King._ I know it well;
+But,--if thou'dst have my heart within thy hand,--
+All conjurations blot the name of kings.
+What honours, interest, were the world to buy him,
+Shall make a brave man smile, and do a murder?
+Therefore I hate the memory of Brutus,
+I mean the latter, so cried up in story.
+Caesar did ill, but did it in the sun,
+And foremost in the field; but sneaking Brutus,
+Whom none but cowards and white-livered knaves
+Would dare commend, lagging behind his fellows,
+His dagger in his bosom, stabbed his father.
+This is a blot, which Tully's eloquence
+Could ne'er wipe off, though the mistaken man
+Makes bold to call those traitors,--men divine.
+
+_Alph._ Tully was wise, but wanted constancy.
+
+  _Enter Queen Mother, and Abbot_ DELBENE.
+
+_Qu. M._ Good-even, sir; 'tis just the time you ordered
+To wait on your decrees.
+
+_King._ Oh, madam!
+
+_Qu. M._ Sir?
+
+_King._ Oh mother,--but I cannot make it way;--
+Chaos and shades,--'tis huddled up in night.
+
+_Qu. M._ Speak then, for speech is morning to the mind;
+It spreads the beauteous images abroad,
+Which else lie furled and clouded in the soul.
+
+_King._ You would embark me in a sea of blood.
+
+_Qu. M._ You see the plot directly on your person;
+But give it o'er, I did but state the case.
+Take Guise into your heart, and drive your friends;
+Let knaves in shops prescribe you how to sway,
+And, when they read your acts with their vile breath,
+Proclaim aloud, they like not this or that;
+Then in a drove come lowing to the Louvre,
+And cry,--they'll have it mended, that they will,
+Or you shall be no king.
+
+_King._ 'Tis true, the people
+Ne'er know a mean, when once they get the power;
+But O, if the design we lay should fail,
+Better the traitors never should be touched,
+If execution cries not out--'Tis done.
+
+_Qu. M._ No, sir, you cannot fear the sure design:
+But I have lived too long, since my own blood
+Dares not confide in her that gave him being.
+
+_King._ Stay, madam, stay; come back, forgive my fears,
+Where all our thoughts should creep like deepest streams:
+Know, then, I hate aspiring Guise to death;
+Whored Margarita,--plots upon my life,--
+And shall I not revenge?[7]
+
+_Qu. M._ Why, this is Harry;
+Harry at Moncontour, when in his bloom
+He saw the admiral Coligny's back.[8]
+
+_King._ O this whale Guise, with all the Lorrain fry!
+Might I but view him, after his plots and plunges,
+Struck on those cowring shallows that await him,--
+This were a Florence master-piece indeed.
+
+_Qu. M._ He comes to take his leave.
+
+_King._ Then for Champaigne;
+But lies in wait till Paris is in arms.
+Call Grillon in. All that I beg you now,
+Is to be hushed upon the consultation,
+As urns, that never blab.
+
+_Qu. M._ Doubt not your friends;
+Love them, and then you need not fear your foes.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON.
+
+_King._ Welcome, my honest man, my old tried friend.
+Why dost thou fly me, Grillon, and retire?
+
+_Gril._ Rather let me demand your majesty,
+Why fly you from yourself? I've heard you say,
+You'd arm against the League; why do you not?
+The thoughts of such as you, are starts divine;
+And when you mould with second cast the spirit,
+The air, the life, the golden vapour's gone.
+
+_King._ Soft, my old friend; Guise plots upon my life;
+Polin shall tell thee more. Hast thou not heard
+The insufferable affronts he daily offers,--
+War without treasure on the Huguenots;
+While I am forced against my bent of soul,
+Against all laws, all custom, right, succession,
+To cast Navarre from the Imperial line?
+
+_Gril._ Why do you, sir? Death, let me tell the traitor--
+
+_King._ Peace, Guise is going to his government;
+You are his foe of old; go to him, Grillon;
+Visit him as from me, to be employed
+In this great war against the Huguenots;
+And, pr'ythee, tell him roundly of his faults,
+No farther, honest Grillon.
+
+_Gril._ Shall I fight him?
+
+_King._ I charge thee, not.
+
+_Gril._ If he provokes me, strike him;
+You'll grant me that?
+
+_King._ Not so, my honest soldier;
+Yet speak to him.
+
+_Gril._ I will, by heaven, to the purpose;
+And, if he force a beating, who can help it?                  [_Exit._
+
+_King._ Follow, Alphonso; when the storm is up,
+Call me to part them.
+
+_Qu. M._ Grillon, to ask him pardon,
+Will let Guise know we are not in the dark.
+
+_King._ You hit the judgment; yet, O yet, there's more;
+Something upon my heart, after these counsels,
+So soft, and so unworthy to be named!--
+
+_Qu. M._ They say, that Grillon's niece is come to court,
+And means to kiss your hand.                                  [_Exit._
+
+_King._ Could I but hope it!
+O my dear father, pardon me in this,
+And then enjoin me all that man can suffer;
+But sure the powers above will take our tears
+For such a fault--love is so like themselves.               [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE II.--_The Louvre._
+
+  _Enter_ GUISE, _attended with his Family;_ MARMOUTIERE _meeting him
+  new drest, attended, &c._
+
+_Gui._ Furies! she keeps her word, and I am lost;
+Yet let not my ambition shew it to her;
+For, after all, she does it but to try me,
+And foil my vowed design.--Madam, I see
+You're come to court; the robes you wear become you;
+Your air, your mien, your charms, your every grace,
+Will kill at least your thousand in a day.
+
+_Mar._ What, a whole day, and kill but one poor thousand!
+An hour you mean, and in that hour ten thousand.
+Yes, I would make with every glance a murder.--
+Mend me this curl.
+
+_Gui._ Woman!                                                [_Aside._
+
+_Mar._ You see, my lord,
+I have my followers, like you. I swear,
+The court's a heavenly place; but--O, my heart!
+I know not why that sigh should come uncalled;
+Perhaps, 'twas for your going; yet I swear,
+I never was so moved, O Guise, as now,
+Just as you entered, when from yonder window
+I saw the king.
+
+_Gui._ Woman, all over woman!                                [_Aside._
+The world confesses, madam, Henry's form
+Is noble and majestic.
+
+_Mar._ O you grudge
+The extorted praise, and speak him but by halves.
+
+_Gui._ Priest, Corso, devils! how she carries it!
+
+_Mar._ I see, my lord, you're come to take your leave;
+And were it not to give the court suspicion,
+I would oblige you, sir, before you go,
+To lead me to the king.
+
+_Gui._ Death and the devil!
+
+_Mar._ But since that cannot be, I'll take my leave
+Of you, my lord; heaven grant your journey safe!
+Farewell, once more. [_Offers her hand._]
+                                     Not stir! does this become you,--
+Does your ambition swell into your eyes?--
+Jealousy by this light; nay then, proud Guise,
+I tell you, you're not worthy of the grace;
+But I will carry't, sir, to those that are,
+And leave you to the curse of bosom-war.                      [_Exit._
+
+_May._ Is this the heavenly--
+
+_Gui._ Devil, devil, as they are all.
+'Tis true, at first she caught the heavenly form,
+But now ambition sets her on her head,
+By hell, I see the cloven mark upon her.
+Ha! Grillon here! some new court-trick upon me.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON.
+
+_Gril._ Sir, I have business for your ear.
+
+_Gui._ Retire.                                [_Exeunt his Followers._
+
+_Gril._ The king, my lord, commanded me to wait you,
+And bid you welcome to the court.
+
+_Gui._ The king
+Still loads me with new honours; but none greater
+Than this, the last.
+
+_Gril._ There is one greater yet,
+Your high commission 'gainst the Huguenots;
+I and my family shall shortly wait you,
+And 'twill be glorious work.
+
+_Gui._ If you are there,
+There must be action.
+
+_Gril._ O, your pardon, sir;
+I'm but a stripling in the trade of war:
+But you, whose life is one continued broil,
+What will not your triumphant arms accomplish!
+You, that were formed for mastery in war.
+That, with a start, cried to your brother Mayenne,--
+"To horse!" and slaughtered forty thousand Germans[9].
+
+_Gui._ Let me beseech you, colonel, no more.
+
+_Gril._ But, sir, since I must make at least a figure
+In this great business, let me understand
+What 'tis you mean, and why you force the king
+Upon so dangerous an expedition.
+
+_Gui._ Sir, I intend the greatness of the king;
+The greatness of all France, whom it imports
+To make their arms their business, aim, and glory;
+And where so proper as upon those rebels,
+That covered all the state with blood and death?
+
+_Gril._ Stored arsenals and armouries, fields of horse,
+Ordnance, munition, and the nerve of war,
+Sound infantry, not harassed and diseased,
+To meet the fierce Navarre, should first be thought on.
+
+_Gui._ I find, my lord, the argument grows warm,
+Therefore, thus much, and I have done: I go
+To join the Holy League in this great war,
+In which no place of office, or command,
+Not of the greatest, shall be bought or sold;
+Whereas too often honours are conferred
+On soldiers, and no soldiers: This man knighted,
+Because he charged a troop before his dinner,
+And sculked behind a hedge i'the afternoon:
+I will have strict examination made
+Betwixt the meritorious and the base.
+
+_Gril._ You have mouthed it bravely, and there is no doubt
+Your deeds would answer well your haughty words;
+Yet let me tell you, sir, there is a man,
+(Curse on the hearts that hate him!) that would better,
+Better than you, or all your puffy race,
+That better would become the great battalion;
+That when he shines in arms, and suns the field,
+Moves, speaks, and fights, and is himself a war.
+
+_Gui._ Your idol, sir; you mean the great Navarre:
+But yet--
+
+_Gril._ No _yet_, my lord of Guise, no _yet_;
+By arms, I bar you that; I swear, no _yet_;
+For never was his like, nor shall again.
+Though voted from his right by your cursed League.
+
+_Gui._ Judge not too rashly of the Holy League,
+But look at home.
+
+_Gril._ Ha! darest thou justify
+Those villains?
+
+_Gui._ I'll not justify a villain,
+More than yourself; but if you thus proceed,
+If every heated breath can puff away,
+On each surmise, the lives of free-born people,
+What need that awful general convocation,
+The assembly of the states?--nay, let me urge,--
+If thus they vilify the Holy League,
+What may their heads expect?
+
+_Gril._ What, if I could,
+They should be certain of,--whole piles of fire.
+
+_Gui._ Colonel, 'tis very well I know your mind,
+Which, without fear, or flattery to your person,
+I'll tell the king; and then, with his permission,
+Proclaim it for a warning to our people.
+
+_Gril._ Come, you're a murderer yourself within,
+A traitor.
+
+_Gui._ Thou a ---- hot old hair-brained fool.
+
+_Gril._ You were complotter with the cursed League,
+The black abettor of our Harry's death.
+
+_Gui._ 'Tis false.
+
+_Gril._ 'Tis true, as thou art double-hearted:
+Thou double traitor, to conspire so basely;
+And when found out, more basely to deny't.
+
+_Gui._ O gracious Harry, let me sound thy name,
+Lest this old rust of war, this knotty trifler,
+Should raise me to extremes.
+
+_Gril._ If thou'rt a man,
+That didst refuse the challenge of Navarre,
+Come forth[10].
+
+_Gui._ Go on; since thou'rt resolved on death,
+I'll follow thee, and rid thy shaking soul.
+
+  _Enter King, Queen-Mother,_ ALPHONSO, _Abbot, &c._
+
+But see, the king: I scorn to ruin thee,
+Therefore go tell him, tell him thy own story.
+
+_King._ Ha, colonel, is this your friendly visit?
+Tell me the truth, how happened this disorder?
+Those ruffled hands, red looks, and port of fury?
+
+_Gril._ I told him, sir, since you will have it so,
+He was the author of the rebel-league;
+Therefore, a traitor and a murderer.
+
+_King._ Is't possible?
+
+_Gui._ No matter, sir, no matter;
+A few hot words, no more, upon my life;
+The old man roused, and shook himself a little:
+So, if your majesty will do me honour,
+I do beseech you, let the business die.
+
+_King._ Grillon, submit yourself, and ask his pardon.
+
+_Gril._ Pardon me, I cannot do't.
+
+_King._ Where are the guards!
+
+_Gui._ Hold, sir;--come, colonel, I'll ask pardon for you;
+This soldierly embrace makes up the breach;
+We will be sorry, sir, for one another.
+
+_Gril._ My lord, I know not what to answer you;
+I'm friends,--and I am not,--and so farewell.                 [_Exit._
+
+_King._ You have your orders; yet before you go,
+Take this embrace: I court you for my friend,
+Though Grillon would not.
+
+_Gui._ I thank you on my knees;
+And still, while life shall last, will take strict care
+To justify my loyalty to your person.                         [_Exit._
+
+_Qu. M._ Excellent loyalty, to lock you up!
+
+_King._ I see even to the bottom of his soul;
+And, madam, I must say the Guise has beauties,
+But they are set in night, and foul design:
+He was my friend when young, and might be still.
+
+_Ab._ Marked you his hollow accents at the parting?
+
+_Qu. M._ Graves in his smiles.
+
+_King._ Death in his bloodless hands.--
+O Marmoutiere! now I will haste to meet thee:
+The face of beauty, on this rising horror,
+Looks like the midnight moon upon a murder;
+  It gilds the dark design that stays for fate,
+  And drives the shades, that thicken, from the state.      [_Exuent._
+
+
+ACT III. SCENE I.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON _and_ POLIN._
+
+_Gril._ Have then this pious Council of Sixteen
+Scented your late discovery of the plot?
+
+_Pol._ Not as from me; for still I kennel with them.
+And bark as loud as the most deep-mouthed traitor,
+Against the king, his government, and laws;
+Whereon immediately there runs a cry
+Of,--Seize him on the next procession! seize him.
+And clap the Chilperick in a monastery!
+Thus it was fixt, as I before discovered;
+But when, against his custom, they perceived
+The king absented, strait the rebels met,
+And roared,--they were undone.
+
+_Gril._ O, 'tis like them;
+'Tis like their mongrel souls: flesh them with fortune,
+And they will worry royalty to death;
+But if some crabbed virtue turn and pinch them,
+Mark me, they'll run, and yelp, and clap their tails,
+Like curs, betwixt their legs, and howl for mercy.
+
+_Pol._ But Malicorn, sagacious on the point,
+Cried,--Call the sheriffs, and bid them arm their bands;
+Add yet to this, to raise you above hope,
+The Guise, my master, will be here to-day.--
+For on bare guess of what has been revealed,
+He winged a messenger to give him notice;
+Yet, spite of all this factor of the fiends
+Could urge, they slunk their heads, like hinds in storms.
+But see, they come.
+
+  _Enter Sheriffs, with the Populace._
+
+_Gril._ Away, I'll have amongst them;
+Fly to the king, warn him of Guise's coming,
+That he may strait despatch his strict commands
+To stop him.                                            [_Exit_ POLIN.
+
+_1 Sher._ Nay, this is colonel Grillon,
+The blunderbuss o'the court; away, away,
+He carries ammunition in his face.
+
+_Gril._ Hark you, my friends, if you are not in haste,
+Because you are the pillars of the city,
+I would inform you of a general ruin.
+
+_2 Sher._ Ruin to the city! marry, heaven forbid!
+
+_Gril._ Amen, I say; for, look you, I'm your friend.
+'Tis blown about, you've plotted on the king,
+To seize him, if not kill him; for, who knows,
+When once your conscience yields, how far 'twill stretch;
+Next, quite to dash your firmest hopes in pieces,
+The duke of Guise is dead.
+
+_1 Sher._ Dead, colonel!
+
+_2 Sher._ Undone, undone!
+
+_Gril._ The world cannot redeem you;
+For what, sirs, if the king, provoked at last,
+Should join the Spaniard, and should fire your city;
+Paris, your head,--but a most venomous one,--
+Which must be blooded?
+
+_1 Sher._ Blooded, colonel!
+
+_Gril._ Ay, blooded, thou most infamous magistrate,
+Or you will blood the king, and burn the Louvre;
+But ere that be, fall million miscreant souls,
+Such earth-born minds as yours; for, mark me, slaves,
+Did you not, ages past, consign your lives,
+Liberties, fortunes, to Imperial hands,
+Made them the guardians of your sickly years?
+And now you're grown up to a booby's greatness,
+What, would you wrest the sceptre from his hand?
+Now, by the majesty of kings I swear,
+You shall as soon be saved for packing juries.
+
+_1 Sher._ Why, sir, mayn't citizens be saved?
+
+_Gril._ Yes, sir,
+From drowning, to be hanged, burnt, broke o'the wheel.
+
+_1 Sher._ Colonel, you speak us plain.
+
+_Gril._ A plague confound you,
+Why should I not? what is there in such rascals,
+Should make me hide my thought, or hold my tongue?
+Now, in the devil's name, what make you here,
+Daubing the inside of the court, like snails,
+Sliming our walls, and pricking out your horns?
+To hear, I warrant, what the king's a doing,
+And what the cabinet-council; then to the city,
+To spread your monstrous lies, and sow sedition?
+Wild fire choke you!
+
+_1 Sher._ Well, we'll think of this;
+And so we take our leaves.
+
+_Gril._ Nay, stay, my masters;
+For I'm a thinking now just whereabouts
+Grow the two tallest trees in Arden forest.
+
+_1 Sher._ For what, pray, colonel, if we may be so bold?
+
+_Gril._ Why, to hang you upon the highest branches.
+'Fore God, it will be so; and I shall laugh
+To see you dangling to and fro i'the air,
+With the honest crows pecking your traitors' limbs.
+
+_All._ Good colonel!
+
+_Gril._ Good rats, my precious vermin.
+You moving dirt, you rank stark muck o'the world,
+You oven-bats, you things so far from souls,
+Like dogs, you're out of Providence's reach,
+And only fit for hanging; but be gone,
+And think of plunder.--You right elder sheriff,
+Who carved our Henry's image on a table,
+At your club-feast, and after stabbed it through,--[11]
+
+_1 Sher._ Mercy, good colonel.
+
+_Gril._ Run with your nose to earth;
+Run, blood-hound, run, and scent out royal murder.--
+You second rogue, but equal to the first,
+Plunder, go hang,--nay, take your tackling with you,
+For these shall hold you fast,--your slaves shall hang you.
+To the mid region in the sun:
+Plunder! Begone, vipers, asps, and adders!
+                                        [_Exeunt Sheriffs and People._
+
+  _Enter_ MALICORN.
+
+Ha! but here comes a fiend, that soars above;
+A prince o'the air, that sets the mud a moving.
+
+_Mal._ Colonel, a word.
+
+_Gril._ I hold no speech with villains.
+
+_Mal._ But, sir, it may concern your fame and safety.
+
+_Gril._ No matter; I had rather die traduced,
+Than live by such a villain's help as thine.
+
+_Mal._ Hate then the traitor, but yet love the treason.
+
+_Gril._ Why, are you not a villain?
+
+_Mal._ 'Tis confessed.
+
+_Gril._ Then, in the name of all thy brother-devils,
+What wouldst thou have with me?
+
+_Mal._ I know you're honest;
+Therefore it is my business to disturb you.
+
+_Gril._ 'Fore God, I'll beat thee, if thou urge me farther.
+
+_Mal._ Why, though you should, yet, if you hear me after,
+The pleasure I shall take in your vexation,
+Will heal my bruises.
+
+_Gril._ Wert thou definite rogue,
+I'faith, I think, that I should give thee hearing;
+But such a boundless villainy as thine
+Admits no patience.
+
+_Mal._ Your niece is come to court,
+And yields her honour to our Henry's bed.
+
+_Gril._ Thou liest, damned villain.                    [_Strikes him._
+
+_Mal._ So: why this I looked for;
+But yet I swear by hell, and my revenge,
+'Tis true, as you have wronged me.
+
+_Gril._ Wronged thee, villain!
+And name revenge! O wert thou Grillon's match,
+And worthy of my sword, I swear, by this
+One had been past an oath; but thou'rt a worm,
+And if I tread thee, darest not turn again.
+
+_Mal._ 'Tis false; I dare, like you, but cannot act;
+There is no force in this enervate arm.
+Blasted I was ere born--curse on my stars!--
+Got by some dotard in his pithless years,
+And sent a withered sapling to the world.
+Yet I have brain, and there is my revenge;
+Therefore I say again, these eyes have seen
+Thy blood at court, bright as a summer's morn,
+When all the heaven is streaked with dappled fires.
+And flecked with blushes like a rifled maid;
+Nay, by the gleamy fires that melted from her,
+Fast sighs and smiles, swol'n lips, and heaving breasts,
+My soul presages Henry has enjoyed her.
+
+_Gril._ Again thou liest! and I will crumble thee,
+Thou bottled spider, into thy primitive earth,
+Unless thou swear thy very thought's a lie.
+
+_Mal._ I stand in adamant, and thus defy thee!
+Nay, draw, and with the edge betwixt my lips,
+Even while thou rak'st it through my teeth, I'll swear
+All I have said is true, as thou art honest,
+Or I a villain.
+
+_Gril._ Damned infamous wretch!
+So much below my scorn, I dare not kill thee;
+And yet so much my hate, that I must fear thee.
+For should it be as thou hast said, not all
+The trophies of my laurelled honesty
+Should bar me from forsaking this bad world,
+And never draw my sword for Henry more.
+
+_Mal._ Ha! 'tis well, and now I am revenged.
+I was in hopes thou wouldst have uttered treason,
+And forfeited thy head, to pay me fully.
+
+_Gril._ Hast thou compacted for a lease of years
+With hell, that thus thou ventured to provoke me?
+
+_Mal._ Perhaps I have: (How right the blockhead hits!)
+Yet more to rack thy heart, and break thy brain,
+Thy niece has been before the Guise's mistress.
+
+_Gril._ Hell-hound, avaunt!
+
+_Mal._ Forgive my honest meaning.                             [_Exit._
+
+_Gril._ 'Tis hatched beneath, a plot upon mine honour;
+And thus he lays his baits to catch my soul:--
+Ha! but the presence opens; who comes here?
+By heaven, my niece! led by Alphonso Corso!
+Ha, Malicorn! is't possible? truth from thee!
+'Tis plain! and I, in justifying woman,
+Have done the devil wrong.
+
+  _Enter_ ALPHONSO CORSO, _leading in_ MARMOUTIERE.
+
+_Alph._ Madam, the king
+(Please you to sit) will instantly attend you.                [_Exit._
+
+_Gril._ Death, hell, and furies! ha! she comes to seek him!--
+O prostitute!--and, on her prodigal flesh,
+She has lavished all the diamonds of the Guise,
+To set her off, and sell her to the king.
+
+_Mar._ O heavens! did ever virgin yet attempt
+An enterprise like mine? I, that resolved
+Never to leave those dear delightful shades,
+But act the little part that nature gave me,
+On the green carpets of some guiltless grove,
+And having finished it, forsake the world;
+Unless sometimes my heart might entertain
+Some small remembrance of the taking Guise:
+But that far, far from any darkening thought,
+To cloud my honour, or eclipse my virtue.
+
+_Gril._ Thou liest! and if thou hadst not glanced aside,
+And spied me coming, I had had it all.
+
+_Mar._ By heaven! by all that's good--
+
+_Gril._ Thou hast lost thy honour.
+Give me this hand, this hand by which I caught thee
+From the bold ruffian in the massacre,
+That would have stained thy almost infant honour,
+With lust, and blood;--dost thou remember it?
+
+_Mar._ I do, and bless the godlike arm, that saved me.
+
+_Gril._ 'Tis false! thou hast forgot my generous action;
+And now thou laugh'st, to think how thou hast cheated,
+For all his kindness, this old grisled fool.
+
+_Mar._ Forbid it heaven!
+
+_Gril._ But oh, that thou hadst died
+Ten thousand deaths, ere blasted Grillon's glory;
+Grillon, that saved thee from a barbarous world.
+Where thou hadst starved, or sold thyself for bread;
+Took thee into his bosom, fostered thee
+As his own soul, and laid thee in his heart-strings;
+And now, for all my cares, to serve me thus!
+O 'tis too much, ye powers! double confusion
+On all my wars; and oh,--out, shame upon thee!
+It wrings the tears from Grillon's iron heart,
+And melts me to a babe.
+
+_Mar._ Sir! father! hear me!
+I come to court, to save the life of Guise.
+
+_Gril._ And prostitute thy honour to the king.
+
+_Mar._ I have looked, perhaps, too nicely for my sex,
+Into the dark affairs of fatal state;
+And, to advance this dangerous inquisition,
+I listened to the love of daring Guise.
+
+_Gril._ By arms, by honesty, I swear thou lovest him!
+
+_Mar._ By heaven, that gave those arms success, I swear
+I do not, as you think! but take it all.
+I have heard the Guise, not with an angel's temper,
+Something beyond the tenderness of pity,
+And yet, not love.
+Now, by the powers that framed me, this is all!
+Nor should the world have wrought this close confession,
+But to rebate your jealousy of honour.
+
+_Gril._ I know not what to say, nor what to think;
+There's heaven still in thy voice, but that's a sign
+Virtue's departing; for thy better angel
+Still makes the woman's tongue his rising ground,
+Wags there a while, and takes his flight for ever.
+
+_Mar._ You must not go.
+
+_Gril._ Though I have reason, plain
+As day, to judge thee false, I think thee true:
+By heaven, methinks I see a glory round thee!
+There's something says, thou wilt not lose thy honour:--
+Death and the devil! that's my own honesty;
+My foolish open nature, that would have
+All like myself;--but off; I'll hence and curse thee!
+
+_Mar._ O, stay!
+
+_Gril._ I will not.
+_Mar._ Hark! the king's coming.
+Let me conjure you, for your own soul's quiet,
+And for the everlasting rest of mine,
+Stir not, till you have heard my heart's design.
+
+_Gril._ Angel, or devil, I will.--Nay, at this rate,
+She'll make me shortly bring him to her bed.--
+Bawd for him? no, he shall make me run my head
+Into a cannon, when 'tis firing, first;
+That's honourable sport. But I'll retire,
+And if she plays me false, here's that shall mend her.
+                             [_Touching his Dagger, exit._ MARMOUTIERE
+                              _sits. Song and Dance._
+
+  _Enter the King._
+
+_King._ After the breathing of a love-sick heart
+Upon your hand, once more,--nay twice,--forgive me.
+
+_Mar._ I discompose you, sir.
+
+_King._ Thou dost, by heaven;
+But with such charming pleasure,
+I love, and tremble, as at angels' view.
+
+_Mar._ Love me, my lord?
+
+_King._ Who should be loved, but you?
+So loved, that even my crown, and self are vile,
+While you are by. Try me upon despair;
+My kingdom at the stake, ambition starved,
+Revenge forgot, and all great appetites
+That whet uncommon spirits to aspire,
+So once a day I may have leave--
+Nay, madam, then you fear me.
+
+_Mar._ Fear you, sir! what is there dreadful in you?
+You've all the graces that can crown mankind;
+Yet wear them so, as if you did not know them;
+So stainless, fearless, free in all your actions,
+As if heaven lent you to the world to pattern.
+
+_King._ Madam, I find you are no petitioner;
+My people would not treat me in this sort,
+Though 'twere to gain a part of their design;
+But to the Guise they deal their faithless praise
+As fast, as you your flattery to me;
+Though for what end I cannot guess, except
+You come, like them, to mock at my misfortunes.
+
+_Mar._ Forgive you, heaven, that thought! No, mighty monarch,
+The love of all the good, and wonder of the great;
+I swear, by heaven, my heart adores, and loves you.
+
+_King._ O madam, rise.
+
+_Mar._ Nay, were you, sir, unthroned
+By this seditious rout that dare despise you,
+Blast all my days, ye powers! torment my nights;
+Nay, let the misery invade my sex,
+That could not for the royal cause, like me,
+Throw all their luxury before your feet,
+And follow you, like pilgrims, through the world.
+
+_Gril._ Sound wind and limb! 'fore God, a gallant girl!      [_Aside._
+
+_King._ What shall I answer to thee, O thou balm
+To heal a broken, yet a kingly heart!
+For, so I swear I will be to my last.
+Come to my arms, and be thy Harry's angel,
+Shine through my cares, and make my crown sit easy.
+
+_Mar._ O never, sir.
+
+_King._ What said you, Marmoutiere?
+Why dost thou turn thy beauties into frowns?
+
+_Mar._ You know, sir, 'tis impossible; no more.
+
+_King._ No more?--and with that stern resolved behaviour?
+By heaven! were I a dying, and the priest
+Should urge my last confession, I'd cry out,
+Oh Marmoutiere! and yet thou say'st,--No more!
+
+_Mar._ 'Tis well, sir; I have lost my aim, farewell.
+
+_King._ Come back! O stay, my life flows after you.
+
+_Mar._ No, sir, I find I am a trouble to you;
+You will not hear my suit.
+
+_King._ You cannot go,
+You shall not.--O your suit, I kneel to grant it;
+I beg you take whatever you demand.
+
+_Mar._ Then, sir, thus low, or prostrate if you please,
+Let me intreat for Guise.
+
+_King._ Ha, madam, what!
+For Guise; for Guise! that stubborn arrogant rebel,
+That laughs at proffered mercy, slights his pardon,
+Mocks royal grace, and plots upon my life?
+Ha! and do you protect him? then the world
+Is sworn to Henry's death: Does beauty too,
+And innocence itself conspire against me?
+Then let me tamely yield my glories up,
+Which once I vowed with my drawn sword to wear
+To my last drop of blood.--Come Guise, come cardinal,
+All you loved traitors, come--I strip to meet you;
+Sheathe all your daggers in curst Henry's heart.
+
+_Mar._ This I expected; but when you have heard
+How far I would intreat your majesty,
+Perhaps you'll be more calm.
+
+_King._ See, I am hushed;
+Speak then; how far, madam, would you command?
+
+_Mar._ Not to proceed to last extremities,
+Before the wound is desperate. Think alone,
+For no man judges like your majesty:
+Take your own methods; all the heads of France
+Cannot so well advise you, as yourself.
+Therefore resume, my lord, your god-like temper,
+Yet do not bear more than a monarch should;
+Believe it, sir, the more your majesty
+Draws back your arm, the more of fate it carries.
+
+_King._ Thou genius of my state, thou perfect model
+Of heaven itself, and abstract of the angels,
+Forgive the late disturbance of my soul!
+I'm clear by nature, as a rockless stream;
+But they dig through the gravel of my heart,
+And raise the mud of passions up to cloud me;
+Therefore let me conjure you, do not go;
+'Tis said, the Guise will come in spite of me;
+Suppose it possible, and stay to advise me.
+
+_Mar._ I will; but, on your royal word, no more.
+
+_King._ I will be easy,
+To my last gasp, as your own virgin thoughts,
+And never dare to breathe my passion more;
+Yet you'll allow me now and then to sigh
+As we discourse, and court you with my eyes?
+
+  _Enter_ ALPHONSO.
+
+Why do you wave your hand, and warn me hence?
+So looks the poor condemned,
+When justice beckons, there's no hope of pardon.
+Sternly, like you, the judge the victim eyes,
+And thus, like me, the wretch, despairing, dies.
+                                                [_Exit with_ ALPHONSO.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON.
+
+_Gril._ O rare, rare creature! By the power that made me,
+Wer't possible we could be damned again
+By some new Eve, such virtue might redeem us.
+Oh I could clasp thee, but that my arms are rough,
+Till all thy sweets were broke with my embraces,
+And kiss thy beauties to a dissolution!
+
+_Mar._ Ah father, uncle, brother, all the kin,
+The precious blood that's left me in the world,
+Believe, dear sir, whate'er my actions seem,
+I will not lose my virtue, for a throne.
+
+_Gril._ Why, I will carve thee out a throne myself;
+I'll hew down all the kings in Christendom,
+And seat thee on their necks, as high as heaven.
+
+  _Enter Abbot_ DELBENE.
+
+_Abb._ Colonel, your ear.
+
+_Mar._ By these whispering councils,
+My soul presages that the Guise is coming.
+If he dares come, were I a man, a king,
+I'd sacrifice him in the city's sight.--
+O heavens! what was't I said? Were I a man,
+I know not that; but, as I am a virgin,
+If I would offer thee, too lovely Guise,
+It should be kneeling to the throne of mercy.--
+Ha! then thou lovest, that thou art thus concerned.
+Down, rising mischief, down, or I will kill thee,
+Even in thy cause, and strangle new-born pity!--
+Yet if he were not married!--ha, what then?
+His charms prevail;--no, let the rebel die.
+I faint beneath this strong oppression here;
+Reason and love rend my divided soul;
+Heaven be the judge, and still let virtue conquer.
+Love to his tune my jarring heart would bring,
+But reason over-winds, and cracks the string.                 [_Exit._
+
+_Abb._ The king dispatches order upon order,
+With positive command to stop his coming.
+Yet there is notice given to the city;
+Besides, Belleure brought but a half account,
+How that the Guise replied, he would obey
+His majesty in all; yet, if he might
+Have leave to justify himself before him,
+He doubted not his cause.
+
+_Gril._ The axe, the axe:
+Rebellion's pampered to a pleurisy,
+And it must bleed.                                    [_Shout within._
+
+_Abb._ Hark, what a shout was there!
+I'll to the king; it may be, 'tis reported
+On purpose thus.
+Let there be truth or lies
+In this mad fame, I'll bring you instant word.          [_Exit Abbot._
+
+  _Manet_ GRILLON: _Enter_ GUISE, CARDINAL, MAYENNE, MALICORN,
+  _Attendants, &c. Shouts again._
+
+_Gril._ Death, and thou devil Malicorn, is that
+Thy master?
+
+_Gui._ Yes, Grillon, 'tis the Guise;
+One, that would court you for a friend.
+
+_Gril._ A friend!
+Traitor thou mean'st, and so I bid thee welcome;
+But since thou art so insolent, thy blood
+Be on thy head, and fall by me unpitied.                      [_Exit._
+
+_Gui._ The bruises of his loyalty have crazed him.   [_Shouts louder._
+
+          _Spirit within sings._
+
+  _Malicorn, Malicorn, Malicorn, ho!
+  If the Guise resolves to go,
+  I charge, I warn thee let him know,
+  Perhaps his head may lie too low._
+
+_Gui._ Why, Malicorn.
+
+_Mal._ [_Starting._] Sir, do not see the king.
+
+_Gui._ I will.
+
+_Mal._ 'Tis dangerous.
+
+_Gui._ Therefore I will see him,
+And so report my danger to the people.
+Halt--to your judgment.--[MALICORN _makes signs of Assassination._]
+                                                Let him, if he dare.--
+But more, more, more;--why, Malicorn!--again?
+I thought a look, with us, had been a language;
+I'll talk my mind on any point but this
+By glances;--ha! not yet? thou mak'st me blush
+At thy delay; why, man, 'tis more than life,
+Ambition, or a crown[12].
+
+_Mal._ What, Marmoutiere?
+
+_Gui._ Ay, there a general's heart beat like a drum!
+Quick, quick! my reins, my back, and head and breast
+Ache, as I'd been a horse-back forty hours.
+
+_Mal._ She has seen the king.
+
+_Gui._ I thought she might. A trick upon me; well.
+
+_Mal._ Passion o' both sides.
+
+_Gui._ His, thou meanest.
+
+_Mal._ On hers.
+Down on her knees.
+
+_Gui._ And up again; no matter.
+
+_Mal._ Now all in tears, now smiling, sad at parting.
+
+_Gui._ Dissembled, for she told me this before;
+'Twas all put on, that I might hear and rave.
+
+_Mal._ And so, to make sure work on't, by consent
+Of Grillon, who is made their bawd,--
+
+_Gui._ Away!
+
+_Mal._ She's lodged at court.
+
+_Gui._ 'Tis false, they do belie her.
+
+_Mal._ But, sir, I saw the apartment.
+
+_Gui._ What, at court?
+
+_Mal._ At court, and near the king; 'tis true, by heaven:
+I never play'd you foul, why should you doubt me?
+
+_Gui._ I would thou hadst, ere thus unmanned my heart!
+Blood, battles, fire, and death! I run, I run!
+With this last blow he drives me like a coward;
+Nay, let me never win a field again,
+If, with the thought of these irregular vapours,
+The blood ha'nt burst my lips.
+
+_Card._ Peace, brother.
+
+_Gui._ By heaven, I took thee for my soul's physician,
+And dost thou vomit me with this loathed peace?
+'Tis contradiction: no, my peaceful brother,
+I'll meet him now, though fire-armed cherubins
+Should cross my way. O jealousy of love!
+Greater than fame! thou eldest of the passions,
+Or rather all in one, I here invoke thee,
+Where'er thou'rt throned in air, in earth, or hell,
+Wing me to my revenge, to blood, and ruin!
+
+_Card._ Have you no temper?
+
+_Gui._ Pray, sir, give me leave.
+A moment's thought;--ha, but I sweat and tremble,
+My brain runs this and that way; it will not fix
+On aught but vengeance.--Malicorn, call the people.  [_Shouts within._
+But hark, they shout again: I'll on and meet them;
+Nay, head them to his palace, as my guards.
+Yet more, on such exalted causes borne,
+I'll wait him in his cabinet alone,
+And look him pale; while in his courts without,
+The people shout him dead with their alarms,
+And make his mistress tremble in his arms.                  [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE II.
+
+  _Enter King and Council._                         [_Shouts without._
+
+_King._ What mean these shouts?
+
+_Abb._ I told your majesty,
+The sheriffs have puffed the populace with hopes
+Of their deliverer.                                   [_Shouts again._
+
+_King._ Hark! there rung a peal
+Like thunder: see, Alphonso, what's the cause.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON.
+
+_Gril._ My lord, the Guise is come.
+
+_King._ Is't possible! ha, Grillon, said'st thou, come?
+
+_Gril._ Why droops the royal majesty? O sir!
+
+_King._ O villain, slave, wert thou my late-born heir,
+Given me by heaven, even when I lay a-dying--
+But peace, thou festering thought, and hide thy wound;--
+Where is he?
+
+_Gril._ With her majesty, your mother;
+She has taken chair, and he walks bowing by her,
+With thirty thousand rebels at his heels.
+
+_King._ What's to be done? No pall upon my spirit;
+But he that loves me best, and dares the most
+On this nice point of empire, let him speak.
+
+_Alph._ I would advise you, sir, to call him in,
+And kill him instantly upon the spot.
+
+_Abb._ I like Alphonso's counsel, short, sure work;
+Cut off the head, and let the body walk.
+
+  _Enter_ QUEEN-MOTHER.
+
+_Qu. M._ Sir, the Guise waits.
+
+_King._ He enters on his fate.
+
+_Qu. M._ Not so,--forbear; the city is up in arms;
+Nor doubt, if, in their heat, you cut him off,
+That they will spare the royal majesty.
+Once, sir, let me advise, and rule your fury.
+
+_King._ You shall: I'll see him, and I'll spare him now.
+
+_Qu. M._ What will you say?
+
+_King._ I know not;--
+Colonel Grillon, call the archers in,
+Double your guards, and strictly charge the Swiss
+Stand to their arms, receive him as a traitor.        [_Exit_ GRILLON.
+My heart has set thee down, O Guise, in blood,--
+Blood, mother, blood, ne'er to be blotted out.
+
+_Qu. M._ Yet you'll relent, when this hot fit is over.
+
+_King._ If I forgive him, may I ne'er be forgiven!
+No, if I tamely bear such insolence,
+What act of treason will the villains stop at?
+Seize me, they've sworn; imprison me is the next,
+Perhaps arraign me, and then doom me dead.
+But ere I suffer that, fall all together,
+Or rather, on their slaughtered heaps erect
+My throne, and then proclaim it for example.
+I'm born a monarch, which implies alone
+To wield the sceptre, and depend on none.               [_Exeunt[13]._
+
+
+ACT IV.
+
+SCENE I._--The Louvre._
+
+  _A Chair of State placed; the King appears sitting in it; a Table by
+  him, on which he leans; Attendants on each Side of him; amongst the
+  rest,_ ABBOT, GRILLON, _and_ BELLIEURE. _The_ QUEEN-MOTHER _enters,
+  led by the Duke of_ GUISE, _who makes his Approach with three
+  Reverences to the King's Chair; after the third, the King rises, and
+  coming forward, speaks._
+
+_King._ I sent you word, you should not come.
+
+_Gui._ Sir, that I came--
+
+_King._ Why, that you came, I see.
+Once more, I sent you word, you should not come.
+
+_Gui._ Not come to throw myself, with all submission,
+Beneath your royal feet! to put my cause
+And person in the hands of sovereign justice!
+
+_King._ Now 'tis with all submission,--that's the preface,--
+Yet still you came against my strict command;
+You disobeyed me, duke, with all submission.
+
+_Gui._ Sir, 'twas the last necessity that drove me,
+To clear myself of calumnies, and slanders,
+Much urged, but never proved, against my innocence;
+Yet had I known 'twas your express command,
+I should not have approached.
+
+_King._ 'Twas as express, as words could signify;--
+Stand forth, Bellieure,--it shall be proved you knew it,--
+Stand forth, and to this false man's face declare
+Your message, word for word.
+
+_Bel._ Sir, thus it was. I met him on the way,
+And plain as I could speak, I gave your orders,
+Just in these following words:--
+
+_King._ Enough, I know you told him;
+But he has used me long to be contemned,
+And I can still be patient, and forgive.
+
+_Gui._ And I can ask forgiveness, when I err;
+But let my gracious master please to know
+The true intent of my misconstrued faith.
+Should I not come to vindicate my fame
+From wrong constructions? And--
+
+_King._ Come, duke, you were not wronged; your conscience knows
+You were not wronged; were you not plainly told,
+That, if you dared to set your foot in Paris,
+You should be held the cause of all commotions
+That should from thence ensue? and yet you came.
+
+_Gui._ Sir, will you please with patience but to hear me?
+
+_King._ I will; and would be glad, my lord of Guise,
+To clear you to myself.
+
+_Gui._ I had been told,
+There were in agitation here at court,
+Things of the highest note against religion,
+Against the common properties of subjects,
+And lives of honest well-affected men;
+I therefore judged,--
+
+_King._ Then you, it seems, are judge
+Betwixt the prince and people? judge for them,
+And champion against me?
+
+_Gui._ I feared it might be represented so,
+And came resolved,--
+
+_King._ To head the factious crowd.
+
+_Gui._ To clear my innocence.
+
+_King._ The means for that,
+Had been your absence from this hot-brained town,
+Where you, not I, are king!--
+I feel my blood kindling within my veins;
+The genius of the throne knocks at my heart:
+Come what may come, he dies.
+
+_Qu. M._ [_Stopping the king._] What mean you, sir?
+You tremble and look pale; for heaven's sake think,
+'Tis your own life you venture, if you kill him.
+
+_King._ Had I ten thousand lives, I'll venture all.
+Give me way, madam!
+
+_Qu. M._ Not to your destruction.
+The whole Parisian herd is at your gates;
+A crowd's a name too small, they are a nation,
+Numberless, armed, enraged, one soul informs them.
+
+_King._ And that one soul's the Guise. I'll rend it out,
+And damn the rabble all at once in him.
+
+_Gui._ My fate is now in the balance; fool within,
+I thank thee for thy foresight.                              [_Aside._
+
+_Qu. M._ Your guards oppose them!
+
+_King._ Why not? a multitude's a bulky coward.
+
+_Qu. M._ By heaven, there are not limbs in all your guards,
+For every one a morsel.
+
+_King._ Caesar quelled them,
+But with a look and word.
+
+_Qu. M._ So Galba thought.
+
+_King._ But Galba was not Caesar.
+
+_Gui._ I must not give them time for resolution.--           [_Aside._
+My journey, sir, has discomposed my health,            [_To the king._
+I humbly beg your leave, I may retire,
+Till your commands recall me to your service.             [_Exit[14]._
+
+_King._ So, you have counselled well; the traitor's gone,
+To mock the meekness of an injured king.                  [_To Qu. M._
+Why did not you, who gave me part of life,
+Infuse my father stronger in my veins?
+But when you kept me cooped within your womb,
+You palled his generous blood with the dull mixture
+Of your Italian food, and milked slow arts
+Of womanish tameness in my infant mouth.
+Why stood I stupid else, and missed a blow,
+Which heaven and daring folly made so fair?
+
+_Qu. M._ I still maintain, 'twas wisely done to spare him.
+
+_Gril._ A pox on this unseasonable wisdom!
+He was a fool to come; if so, then they,
+Who let him go, were somewhat.
+
+_King._ The event, the event will shew us what we were;
+For, like a blazing meteor hence he shot,
+And drew a sweeping fiery train along.--
+O Paris, Paris, once my seat of triumph,
+But now the scene of all thy king's misfortunes;
+Ungrateful, perjured, and disloyal town,
+Which by my royal presence I have warmed
+So long, that now the serpent hisses out,
+And shakes his forked tongue at majesty,
+While I--
+
+_Qu. M._ While you lose time in idle talk,
+And use no means for safety and prevention.
+
+_King._ What can I do? O mother, Abbot, Grillon!
+All dumb! nay, then 'tis plain, my cause is desperate.
+Such an overwhelming ill makes grief a fool,
+As if redress were past.
+
+_Gril._ I'll go to the next sheriff,
+And beg the first reversion of a rope:
+Dispatch is all my business; I'll hang for you.
+
+_Abb._ 'Tis not so bad, as vainly you surmise;
+Some space there is, some little space, some steps
+Betwixt our fate and us: our foes are powerful,
+But yet not armed, nor marshalled into order;
+Believe it, sir, the Guise will not attempt,
+Till he have rolled his snow-ball to a heap.
+
+_King._ So then, my lord, we're a day off from death:
+What shall to-morrow do?
+
+_Abb._ To-morrow, sir,
+If hours between slide not too idly by,
+You may be master of their destiny,
+Who now dispose so loftily of yours.
+Not far without the suburbs there are quartered
+Three thousand Swiss, and two French regiments.
+
+_King._ Would they were here, and I were at their head!
+
+_Qu. M._ Send Mareschal Byron to lead them up.
+
+_King._ It shall be so: by heaven there's life in this!
+The wrack of clouds is driving on the winds,
+And shews a break of sunshine--
+Go Grillon, give my orders to Byron,
+And see your soldiers well disposed within,
+For safeguard of the Louvre.
+
+_Qu. M._ One thing more:
+The Guise (his business yet not fully ripe,)
+Will treat, at least, for shew of loyalty;
+Let him be met with the same arts he brings.
+
+_King._ I know, he'll make exorbitant demands,
+But here your part of me will come in play;
+The Italian soul shall teach me how to sooth:
+Even Jove must flatter with an empty hand,
+'Tis time to thunder, when he gripes the brand.             [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE _II.--A Night Scene._
+
+  _Enter_ MALICORN _solus._
+
+_Mal._ Thus far the cause of God; but God's or devil's,--
+I mean my master's cause, and mine,--succeed,
+What shall the Guise do next?                 [_A flash of lightning._
+
+  _Enter the spirit_ MELANAX.
+
+_Mel._ First seize the king, and after murder him.
+
+_Mal._ Officious fiend, thou comest uncalled to-night.
+
+_Mel._ Always uncalled, and still at hand for mischief.
+
+_Mal._ But why in this fanatic habit, devil?
+Thou look'st like one that preaches to the crowd;
+Gospel is in thy face, and outward garb,
+And treason on thy tongue.
+
+_Mel._ Thou hast me right:
+Ten thousand devils more are in this habit;
+Saintship and zeal are still our best disguise:
+We mix unknown with the hot thoughtless crowd,
+And quoting scriptures, (which too well we know,)
+With impious glosses ban the holy text,
+And make it speak rebellion, schism, and murder;
+So turn the arms of heaven against itself.
+
+_Mal._ What makes the curate of St. Eustace here?
+
+_Mel._ Thou art mistaken, master; 'tis not he,
+But 'tis a zealous, godly, canting devil,
+Who has assumed the churchman's lucky shape,
+To talk the crowd to madness and rebellion.
+
+_Mal._ O true enthusiastic devil, true,--
+(For lying is thy nature, even to me,)
+Did'st thou not tell me, if my lord, the Guise,
+Entered the court, his head should then lie low?
+That was a lie; he went, and is returned.
+
+_Mel._ 'Tis false; I said, _perhaps_ it should lie low;
+And, but I chilled the blood in Henry's veins,
+And crammed a thousand ghastly, frightful thoughts,
+Nay, thrust them foremost in his labouring brain,
+Even so it would have been.
+
+_Mal._ Thou hast deserved me,
+And I am thine, dear devil: what do we next?
+
+_Mel._ I said, first seize the king.
+
+_Mal._ Suppose it done:
+He's clapt within a convent, shorn a saint,
+My master mounts the throne.
+
+_Mel._ Not so fast, Malicorn;
+Thy master mounts not, till the king be slain.
+
+_Mal._ Not when deposed?
+
+_Mel._ He cannot be deposed:
+He may be killed, a violent fate attends him;
+But at his birth there shone a regal star.
+
+_Mal._ My master had a stronger.
+
+_Mel._ No, not a stronger, but more popular.
+Their births were full opposed, the Guise now strongest
+But if the ill influence pass o'er Harry's head,
+As in a year it will, France ne'er shall boast
+A greater king than he; now cut him off,
+While yet his stars are weak.
+
+_Mal._ Thou talk'st of stars:
+Can'st thou not see more deep into events,
+And by a surer way?
+
+_Mel._ No, Malicorn;
+The ways of heaven are broken since our fall,
+Gulph beyond gulph, and never to be shot.
+Once we could read our mighty Maker's mind,
+As in a crystal mirror, see the ideas
+Of things that always are, as he is always;
+Now, shut below in this dark sphere,
+By second causes dimly we may guess,
+And peep far off on heaven's revolving orbs,
+Which cast obscure reflections from the throne.
+
+_Mal._ Then tell me thy surmises of the future.
+
+_Mel._ I took the revolution of the year,
+Just when the Sun was entering in the Ham:
+The ascending Scorpion poisoned all the sky,
+A sign of deep deceit and treachery.
+Full on his cusp his angry master sate,
+Conjoined with Saturn, baleful both to man:
+Of secret slaughters, empires overturned,
+Strife, blood, and massacres, expect to hear,
+And all the events of an ill-omened year.
+
+_Mal._ Then flourish hell, and mighty mischief reign!
+Mischief, to some, to others must be good.
+But hark! for now, though 'tis the dead of night,
+When silence broods upon our darkened world,
+Methinks I hear a murmuring hollow sound,
+Like the deaf chimes of bells in steeples touched.
+
+_Mel._ It is truly guessed;
+But know, 'tis from no nightly sexton's hand.
+There's not a damned ghost, nor hell-born fiend,
+That can from limbo 'scape, but hither flies;
+With leathern wings they beat the dusky skies,
+To sacred churches all in swarms repair;
+Some crowd the spires, but most the hallowed bells,     }
+And softly toll for souls departing knells:             }
+Each chime, thou hear'st, a future death foretells,     }
+Now there they perch to have them in their eyes,
+'Till all go loaded to the nether skies[15].
+
+_Mal._ To-morrow then.
+
+_Mel._ To-morrow let it be;
+Or thou deceiv'st those hungry, gaping fiends,
+And Beelzebub will rage.
+
+_Mal._ Why Beelzebub? hast thou not often said,
+That Lucifer's your king?
+
+_Mel._ I told thee true;
+But Lucifer, as he who foremost fell,
+So now lies lowest in the abyss of hell,
+Chained till the dreadful doom; in place of whom
+Sits Beelzebub, vicegerent of the damned,
+Who, listening downward, hears his roaring lord,
+And executes his purpose.--But no more[16].
+The morning creeps behind yon eastern hill,
+And now the guard is mine, to drive the elves,
+And foolish fairies, from their moonlight play,
+And lash the laggers from the sight of day.               [_Descends._
+                                                          [_Exit_ MAL.
+
+
+SCENE III.
+
+  _Enter_ GUISE, MAYENNE, CARDINAL, _and_ ARCHBISHOP.
+
+_May._ Sullen, methinks, and slow the morning breaks,
+As if the sun were listless to appear,
+And dark designs hung heavy on the day.
+
+_Gui._ You're an old man too soon, you're superstitious;
+I'll trust my stars, I know them now by proof;
+The genius of the king bends under mine:
+Environed with his guards, he durst not touch me;
+But awed and cravened, as he had been spelled,
+Would have pronounced, Go kill the Guise, and durst not.
+
+_Card._ We have him in our power, coop'd in his court.
+Who leads the first attack? Now by yon heaven,
+That blushes at my scarlet robes, I'll doff
+This womanish attire of godly peace,
+And cry,--Lie there, Lord Cardinal of Guise.
+
+_Gui._ As much too hot, as Mayenne is too cool.
+But 'tis the manlier fault of the two.
+
+_Arch._ Have you not heard the king, preventing day,
+Received the guards into the city gates,
+The jolly Swisses marching to their fifes?
+The crowd stood gaping, heartless and amazed,
+Shrunk to their shops, and left the passage free.
+
+_Gui._ I would it should be so, 'twas a good horror[17].
+First let them fear for rapes, and ransacked houses;
+That very fright, when I appear to head them,
+Will harden their soft city courages:
+Cold burghers must be struck, and struck like flints,
+Ere their hid fire will sparkle.
+
+_Arch._ I'm glad the king has introduced these guards.
+
+_Card._ Your reason.
+
+_Arch._ They are too few for us to fear;
+Our numbers in old martial men are more,
+The city not cast in; but the pretence,
+That hither they are brought to bridle Paris,
+Will make this rising pass for just defence.
+
+_May._ Suppose the city should not rise?
+
+_Gui._ Suppose, as well, the sun should never rise:
+He may not rise, for heaven may play a trick;
+But he has risen from Adam's time to ours.
+Is nothing to be left to noble hazard?
+No venture made, but all dull certainty?
+By heaven I'll tug with Henry for a crown,
+Rather than have it on tame terms of yielding:
+I scorn to poach for power.
+
+  _Enter a Servant, who whispers_ GUISE.
+
+A lady, say'st thou, young and beautiful,
+Brought in a chair?
+Conduct her in.--                                     [_Exit Servant._
+
+_Card._ You would be left alone?
+
+_Gui._ I would; retire.                     [_Exeunt_ MAY. CARD. _&c._
+
+  _Re-enter Servant with_ MARMOUTIERE, _and exit._
+
+_Starting back._] Is't possible? I dare not trust my eyes!
+You are not Marmoutiere?
+
+_Mar._ What am I then?
+
+_Gui._ Why, any thing but she:
+What should the mistress of a king do here?
+
+_Mar._ Find him, who would be master of a king.
+
+_Gui._ I sent not for you, madam.
+
+_Mar._ I think, my lord, the king sent not for you.
+
+_Gui._ Do you not fear, your visit will be known?
+
+_Mar._ Fear is for guilty men, rebels, and traitors:
+Where'er I go, my virtue is my guard.
+
+_Gui._ What devil has sent thee here to plague my soul?
+O that I could detest thee now as much
+As ever I have loved, nay, even as much
+As yet, in spite of all thy crimes, I love!
+But 'tis a love so mixt with dark despair,
+The smoke and soot smother the rising flame,
+And make my soul a furnace. Woman, woman,
+What can I call thee more? if devil, 'twere less.
+Sure, thine's a race was never got by Adam,
+But Eve played false, engendering with the serpent,
+Her own part worse than his.
+
+_Mar._ Then they got traitors.
+
+_Gui._ Yes, angel-traitors, fit to shine in palaces,
+Forked into ills, and split into deceits;
+Two in their very frame. 'Twas well, 'twas well,
+I saw thee not at court, thou basilisk;
+For if I had, those eyes, without his guards,
+Had done the tyrant's work.
+
+_Mar._ Why then it seems
+I was not false in all: I told you, Guise,
+If you left Paris, I would go to court:
+You see I kept my promise.
+
+_Gui._ Still thy sex:
+Once true in all thy life, and that for mischief.
+
+_Mar._ Have I said I loved you?
+
+_Gui._ Stab on, stab:
+'Tis plain you love the king.
+
+_Mar._ Nor him, nor you,
+In that unlawful way you seem to mean.
+My eyes had once so far betrayed my heart,
+As to distinguish you from common men;
+Whate'er you said, or did, was charming all.
+
+_Gui._ But yet, it seems, you found a king more charming.
+
+_Mar._ I do not say more charming, but more noble,
+More truly royal, more a king in soul,
+Than you are now in wishes.
+
+_Gui._ May be so:
+But love has oiled your tongue to run so glib,--
+Curse on your eloquence!
+
+_Mar._ Curse not that eloquence that saved your life:
+For, when your wild ambition, which defied
+A royal mandate, hurried you to town;
+When over-weening pride of popular power
+Had thrust you headlong in the Louvre toils,
+Then had you died: For know, my haughty lord,
+Had I not been, offended majesty
+Had doomed you to the death you well deserved.
+
+_Gui._ Then was't not Henry's fear preserved my life?
+
+_Mar._ You know him better, or you ought to know him:
+He's born to give you fear, not to receive it.
+
+_Gui._ Say this again; but add, you gave not up
+Your honour as the ransom of my life;
+For, if you did, 'twere better I had died.
+
+_Mar._ And so it were.
+
+_Gui._ Why said you, so it were?
+For though 'tis true, methinks 'tis much unkind.
+
+_Mar._ My lord, we are not now to talk of kindness.
+If you acknowledge I have saved your life,
+Be grateful in return, and do an act,
+Your honour, though unasked by me, requires.
+
+_Gui._ By heaven, and you, whom next to heaven I love,
+(If I said more, I fear I should not lie,)
+I'll do whate'er my honour will permit.
+
+_Mar._ Go, throw yourself at Henry's royal feet,
+And rise not till approved a loyal subject.
+
+_Gui._ A duteous loyal subject I was ever.
+
+_Mar._ I'll put it short, my lord; depart from Paris.
+
+_Gui._ I cannot leave
+My country, friends, religion, all at stake.
+Be wise, and be before-hand with your fortune;
+Prevent the turn, forsake the ruined court;
+Stay here, and make a merit of your love.
+
+_Mar._ No; I'll return, and perish in those ruins.
+I find thee now, ambitious, faithless, Guise.
+Farewell, the basest and the last of men!
+
+_Gui._ Stay, or--O heaven!--I'll force you: Stay--
+
+_Mar._ I do believe
+So ill of you, so villainously ill,
+That, if you durst, you would:
+Honour you've little, honesty you've less;
+But conscience you have none:
+Yet there's a thing called fame, and men's esteem,
+Preserves me from your force. Once more, farewell.
+Look on me, Guise; thou seest me now the last;
+Though treason urge not thunder on thy head,
+This one departing glance shall flash thee dead.              [_Exit._
+
+_Gui._ Ha, said she true? Have I so little honour?
+Why, then, a prize so easy and so fair
+Had never 'scaped my gripe: but mine she is;
+For that's set down as sure as Henry's fall.
+But my ambition, that she calls my crime;--
+False, false, by fate! my right was born with me.
+And heaven confest it in my very frame;
+The fires, that would have formed ten thousand angels,
+Were crammed together for my single soul.
+
+  _Enter_ MALICORN.
+
+_Mal._ My lord, you trifle precious hours away;
+The heavens look gaudily upon your greatness,
+And the crowned moments court you as they fly.
+Brisac and fierce Aumale have pent the Swiss,
+And folded them like sheep in holy ground;
+Where now, with ordered pikes, and colours furled,
+They wait the word that dooms them all to die:
+Come forth, and bless the triumph of the day.
+
+_Gui._ So slight a victory required not me:
+I but sat still, and nodded, like a god,
+My world into creation; now 'tis time
+To walk abroad, and carelessly survey
+How the dull matter does the form obey.         [_Exit with_ MALICORN.
+
+
+SCENE IV.
+
+  _Enter Citizens, and_ MELANAX, _in his fanatic Habit, at the head
+  them._
+
+_Mel._ Hold, hold, a little, fellow citizens; and you, gentlemen of
+the rabble, a word of godly exhortation to strengthen your hands, ere
+you give the onset.
+
+_1 Cit._ Is this a time to make sermons? I would not hear the devil
+now, though he should come in God's name, to preach peace to us.
+
+_2 Cit._ Look you, gentlemen, sermons are not to be despised; we have
+all profited by godly sermons that promote sedition: let the precious
+man hold forth.
+
+_Omn._ Let him hold forth, let him hold forth.
+
+_Mel._ To promote sedition is my business: It has been so before any
+of you were born, and will be so, when you are all dead and damned; I
+have led on the rabble in all ages.
+
+_1 Cit._ That's a lie, and a loud one.
+
+_2 Cit._ He has led the rabble both old and young, that's all ages: A
+heavenly sweet man, I warrant him; I have seen him somewhere in a
+pulpit.
+
+_Mel._ I have sown rebellion every where.
+
+_1 Cit._ How, every where? That's another lie: How far have you
+travelled, friend?
+
+_Mel._ Over all the world.
+
+_1 Cit._ Now, that's a rapper.
+
+_2 Cit._ I say no: For, look you, gentlemen, if he has been a
+traveller, he certainly says true, for he may lie by authority.
+
+_Mel._ That the rabble may depose their prince, has in all times, and
+in all countries, been accounted lawful.
+
+_1 Cit._ That's the first true syllable he has uttered: but as how,
+and whereby, and when, may they depose him?
+
+_Mel._ Whenever they have more power to depose, than he has to oppose;
+and this they may do upon the least occasion.
+
+_1 Cit._ Sirrah, you mince the matter; you should say, we may do it
+upon no occasion, for the less the better.
+
+_Mel._ [_Aside._] Here's a rogue now, will out-shoot the devil in his
+own bow.
+
+_2 Cit._ Some occasion, in my mind, were not amiss: for, look you,
+gentlemen, if we have no occasion, then whereby we have no occasion to
+depose him; and therefore, either religion or liberty, I stick to
+those occasions; for when they are gone, good night to godliness and
+freedom.
+
+_Mel._ When the most are of one side, as that's our case, we are
+always in the right; for they, that are in power, will ever be the
+judges: so that if we say white is black, poor white must lose the
+cause, and put on mourning; for white is but a single syllable, and we
+are a whole sentence. Therefore, go on boldly, and lay on resolutely
+for your Solemn League and Covenant; and if here be any squeamish
+conscience who fears to fight against the king,--though I, that have
+known you, citizens, these thousand years, suspect not any,--let such
+understand that his majesty's politic capacity is to be distinguished
+from his natural; and though you murder him in one, you may preserve
+him in the other; and so much for this time, because the enemy is at
+hand.
+
+_2 Cit._ [_Looking out._] Look you, gentlemen, 'tis Grillon, the
+fierce colonel; he that devours our wives, and ravishes our children.
+
+_1 Cit._ He looks so grum, I don't care to have to do with him; would
+I were safe in my shop, behind the counter.
+
+_2 Cit._ And would I were under my wife's petticoats. Look you,
+gentlemen.
+
+_Mel._ You, neighbour, behind your counter, yesterday paid a bill of
+exchange in glass louis d'ors; and you, friend, that cry, look you,
+gentlemen, this very morning was under another woman's petticoats, and
+not your wife's.
+
+_2 Cit._ How the devil does he know this?
+
+_Mel._ Therefore, fight lustily for the cause of heaven, and to make
+even tallies for your sins; which, that you may do with a better
+conscience, I absolve you both, and all the rest of you: Now, go on
+merrily; for those, that escape, shall avoid killing; and those, who
+do not escape, I will provide for in another world.
+                                [_Cry within, on the other side of the
+                                 stage,_ Vive le Roi, vive le Roi!
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON, _and his Party._
+
+_Gril._ Come on, fellow soldiers, _Commilitones_; that's my word, as
+'twas Julius Caesar's, of pagan memory. 'Fore God, I am no speech
+maker; but there are the rogues, and here's bilbo, that's a word and a
+blow; we must either cut their throats, or they cut ours, that's pure
+necessity, for your comfort: Now, if any man can be so unkind to his
+own body,--for I meddle not with your souls,--as to stand still like a
+good Christian, and offer his weasand to a butcher's whittle,--I say
+no more, but that he may be saved, and that's the best can come on
+him.                                [_Cry on both sides,_ Vive le Roi,
+                                     vive Guise! _They fight._
+
+_Mel._ Hey, for the duke of Guise, and property! Up with religion and
+the cause, and down with those arbitrary rogues there! Stand to't, you
+associated cuckolds. [_Citizens go back._] O rogues! O cowards!--Damn
+these half-strained shopkeepers, got between gentlemen and city wives;
+how naturally they quake, and run away from their own fathers! twenty
+souls a penny were a dear bargain of them.
+                              [_They all run off,_ MELANAX _with them;
+                               the 1st and 2d Citizens taken._
+
+_Gril._ Possess yourselves of the place, Maubert, and hang me up those
+two rogues, for an example.
+
+_1 Cit._ O spare me, sweet colonel; I am but a young beginner, and new
+set up.
+
+_Gril._ I'll be your customer, and set you up a little better,
+sirrah;--go, hang him at the next sign-post:--What have you to say for
+yourself, scoundrel? why were you a rebel?
+
+_2 Cit._ Look you, colonel, 'twas out of no ill meaning to the
+government; all that I did, was pure obedience to my wife.
+
+_Gril._ Nay, if thou hast a wife that wears the breeches, thou shalt
+be condemned to live: Get thee home for a hen-pecked traitor.--What,
+are we encompassed? Nay, then, faces this way; we'll sell our skins to
+the fairest chapmen.
+
+  _Enter_ AUMALE _and Soldiers, on the one side, Citizens on the
+  other._ GRILLON, _and his Party, are disarmed._
+
+_1 Cit._ Bear away that bloody-minded colonel, and hang him up at the
+next sign-post: Nay, when I am in power, I can make examples too.
+
+_Omn._ Tear him piece-meal; tear him piece-meal. [_Pull and haul him._
+
+_Gril._ Rogues, villains, rebels, traitors, cuckolds! 'Swounds, what
+do you make of a man? do you think legs and arms are strung upon a
+wire, like a jointed baby? carry me off quickly, you were best, and
+hang me decently, according to my first sentence.
+
+_2 Cit._ Look you, colonel; you are too bulky to be carried off all at
+once; a leg or an arm is one man's burden: give me a little finger for
+a sample of him, whereby I'll carry it for a token to my sovereign
+lady.
+
+_Gril._ 'Tis too little, in all conscience, for her; take a bigger
+token, cuckold. _Et tu, Brute,_ whom I saved? O the conscience of a
+shopkeeper!
+
+_2 Cit._ Look you, colonel, for your saving of me, I thank you
+heartily, whereby that debt's paid; but for speaking treason against
+my anointed wife, that's a new reckoning between us.
+
+  _Enter_ GUISE, _with a General's Staff in his Hand;_ MAYENNE,
+  _Cardinal, Archbishop,_ MALICORN, _and Attendants._
+
+_Omn._ _Vive_ Guise!
+
+_Gui._ [_Bowing, and bareheaded._]
+I thank you, countrymen: the hand of heaven
+In all our safeties has appeared this day.
+Stand on your guard, and double every watch,
+But stain your triumph with no Christian blood;
+French we are all, and brothers of a land.
+
+_Card._ What mean you, brother, by this godly talk,
+Of sparing Christian blood? why, these are dogs;
+Now, by the sword that cut off Malchus' ear,
+Mere dogs, that neither can be saved nor damned.
+
+_Arch._ Where have you learnt to spare inveterate foes?
+
+_Gui._ You know the book.
+
+_Arch._ And can expound it too:
+But Christian faith was in the nonage then,
+And Roman heathens lorded o'er the world.
+What madness were it for the weak and few,
+To fight against the many and the strong?
+Grillon must die, so must the tyrant's guards,
+Lest, gathering head again, they make more work.
+
+_Mal._ My lord, the people must be fleshed in blood,
+To teach them the true relish; dip them with you,
+Or they'll perhaps repent.
+
+_Gui._ You are fools; to kill them, were to shew I feared them;
+The court, disarmed, disheartened and besieged,
+Are all as much within my power, as if
+I griped them in my fist.
+
+_May._ 'Tis rightly judged:
+And, let me add, who heads a popular cause,
+Must prosecute that cause by popular ways:
+So, whether you are merciful or no,
+You must affect to be.
+
+_Gui._ Dismiss those prisoners.--Grillon, you are free;
+I do not ask your love, be still my foe.
+
+_Gril._ I will be so: but let me tell you, Guise,
+As this was greatly done, 'twas proudly too:
+I'll give you back your life when next we meet;
+'Till then I am your debtor.
+
+_Gui._ That's till dooms-day.           [GRILLON _and his Party exeunt
+                                         one way, Rabble the other._
+Haste, brother, draw out fifteen thousand men,
+Surround the Louvre, lest the prey should 'scape.
+I know the king will send to treat;
+We'll set the dice on him in high demands,
+No less than all his offices of trust;
+He shall be pared, and cantoned out, and clipped
+So long, he shall not pass.
+
+_Card._ What! do we talk
+Of paring, clipping, and such tedious work,
+Like those that hang their noses o'er a potion,
+And qualm, and keck, and take it down by sips!
+
+_Arch._ Best make advantage of this popular rage,
+Let in the o'erwhelming tide on Harry's head;
+In that promiscuous fury, who shall know,
+Among a thousand swords, who killed the king?
+
+_Mal._ O my dear lord, upon this only day
+Depends the series of your following fate:
+Think your good genius has assumed my shape,
+In this prophetic doom.
+
+_Gui._ Peace, croaking raven!--
+I'll seize him first, then make him a led monarch;
+I'll be declared lieutenant-general
+Amidst the three estates, that represent
+The glorious, full, majestic face of France,
+Which, in his own despite, the king shall call:
+So let him reign my tenant during life,
+His brother of Navarre shut out for ever,
+Branded with heresy, and barred from sway;
+That, when Valois consumed in ashes lies,
+The Phoenix race of Charlemain may rise.                    [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE V.--_The Louvre._
+
+  _Enter King, Queen-Mother, Abbot, and_ GRILLON.
+
+_King._ Dismissed with such contempt?
+
+_Gril._ Yes, 'faith, we past like beaten Romans underneath the fork.
+
+_King._ Give me my arms.
+
+_Gril._ For what?
+
+_King._ I'll lead you on.
+
+_Gril._ You are a true lion, but my men are sheep;
+If you run first, I'll swear they'll follow you.
+
+_King._ What, all turned cowards? not a man in France
+Dares set his foot by mine, and perish by me?
+
+_Gril._ Troth, I can't find them much inclined to perishing.
+
+_King._ What can be left in danger, but to dare?
+No matter for my arms, I'll go barefaced,
+And seize the first bold rebel that I meet.
+
+_Abb._ There's something of divinity in kings,
+That sits between their eyes, and guards their life.
+
+_Gril._ True, Abbot; but the mischief is, you churchmen
+Can see that something further than the crowd;
+These musket bullets have not read much logic,
+Nor are they given to make your nice distinctions:
+                                           [_One enters, and gives the
+                                            Queen a Note, she reads--_
+One of them possibly may hit the king
+In some one part of him that's not divine;
+And so that mortal part of his majesty would draw
+the divinity of it into another world, sweet Abbot.
+
+_Qu. M._ 'Tis equal madness to go out or stay;
+The reverence due to kings is all transferred
+To haughty Guise; and when new gods are made,
+The old must quit the temple; you must fly.
+
+_King._ Death! had I wings, yet would I scorn to fly.
+
+_Gril._ Wings, or no wings, is not the question:
+If you won't fly for't, you must ride for't,
+And that comes much to one.
+
+_King._ Forsake my regal town!
+
+_Qu. M._ Forsake a bedlam;
+This note informs me fifteen thousand men
+Are marching to inclose the Louvre round.
+
+_Abb._ The business then admits no more dispute,
+You, madam, must be pleased to find the Guise;
+Seem easy, fearful, yielding, what you will;
+But still prolong the treaty all you can,
+To gain the king more time for his escape.
+
+_Qu. M._ I'll undertake it.--Nay, no thanks, my son.
+My blessing shall be given in your deliverance;
+That once performed, their web is all unravelled,
+And Guise is to begin his work again.                     [_Exit Q.M._
+
+_King._ I go this minute.
+
+  _Enter_ MARMOUTIERE.
+
+Nay, then another minute must be given.--
+O how I blush, that thou shouldst see thy king
+Do this low act, that lessens all his fame:
+Death, must a rebel force me from my love!
+If it must be--
+
+_Mar._ It must not, cannot be.
+
+_Gril._ No, nor shall not, wench, as long as my soul wears a body.
+
+_King._ Secure in that, I'll trust thee;--shall I trust thee?
+For conquerors have charms, and women frailty:--
+Farewell thou mayst behold me king again;
+My soul's not yet deposed:--why then farewell!--
+I'll say't as comfortably as I can:
+But O cursed Guise, for pressing on my time,
+And cutting off ten thousand more adieus!
+
+_Mar._ The moments that retard your flight are traitors.
+Make haste, my royal master, to be safe,
+And save me with you, for I'll share your fate.
+
+_King._ Wilt thou go too?
+Then I am reconciled to heaven again:
+O welcome, thou good angel of my way,
+Thou pledge and omen of my safe return!
+Not Greece, nor hostile Juno could destroy
+The hero that abandoned burning Troy;
+He 'scaped the dangers of the dreadful night,
+When, loaded with his gods, he took his flight.
+                                      [_Exuent, the King leading her._
+
+
+ACT V.
+
+SCENE I.--_The Castle of Blois._
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON, _and_ ALPHONSO CORSO.
+
+_Gril._ Welcome, colonel, welcome to Blois.
+
+_Alph._ Since last we parted at the barricadoes,
+The world's turned upside down.
+
+_Gril._ No, 'faith, 'tis better now, 'tis downside up:
+Our part o'the wheel is rising, though but slowly.
+
+_Alph._ Who looked for an assembly of the States?
+
+_Gril._ When the king was escaped from Paris, and got out of the
+toils, 'twas time for the Guise to take them down, and pitch others:
+that is, to treat for the calling of a parliament, where, being sure
+of the major part, he might get by law what he had missed by force.
+
+_Alph._ But why should the king assemble the States, to satisfy the
+Guise, after so many affronts?
+
+_Gril._ For the same reason, that a man in a duel says he has received
+satisfaction, when he is first wounded, and afterwards disarmed.
+
+_Alph._ But why this parliament at Blois, and not at Paris?
+
+_Gril._ Because no barricadoes have been made at Blois. This Blois is
+a very little town, and the king can draw it after him; but Paris is a
+damned unwieldy bulk; and when the preachers draw against the king, a
+parson in a pulpit is a devilish fore-horse. Besides, I found in that
+insurrection what dangerous beasts these townsmen are; I tell you,
+colonel, a man had better deal with ten of their wives, than with one
+zealous citizen: O your inspired cuckold is most implacable.
+
+_Alph._ Is there any seeming kindness between the king and the duke of
+Guise?
+
+_Gril._ Yes, most wonderful: they are as dear to one another as an old
+usurer, and a rich young heir upon a mortgage. The king is very loyal
+to the Guise, and the Guise is very gracious to the king: Then the
+cardinal of Guise, and the archbishop of Lyons, are the two pendants
+that are always hanging at the royal ear; they ease his majesty of all
+the spiritual business, and the Guise of all the temporal; so that the
+king is certainly the happiest prince in Christendom, without any care
+upon him; so yielding up every thing to his loyal subjects, that he's
+infallibly in the way of being the greatest and most glorious king in
+all the world.
+
+_Alph._ Yet I have heard he made a sharp reflecting speech upon their
+party at the opening of the parliament, admonished men of their
+duties, pardoned what was past, but seemed to threaten vengeance if
+they persisted for the future.
+
+_Gril._ Yes; and then they all took the sacrament together: he
+promising to unite himself to them, and they to obey him, according to
+the laws; yet the very next morning they went on, in pursuance of
+their old commonwealth designs, as violently as ever.
+
+_Alph._ Now, I am dull enough to think they have broken their oath.
+
+_Gril._ Ay, but you are but one private man, and they are the three
+States; and if they vote that they have not broken their oaths, who is
+to be judge?
+
+_Alph._ There's one above.
+
+_Gril._ I hope you mean in heaven; or else you are a bolder man than I
+am in parliament time[18]; but here comes the master and my niece.
+
+_Alph._ Heaven preserve him! if a man may pray for him without
+treason.
+
+_Gril._ O yes, you may pray for him; the preachers of the Guise's side
+do that most formally; nay, you may be suffered civilly to drink his
+health; be of the court, and keep a place of profit under him: for, in
+short, 'tis a judged case of conscience, to make your best of the
+king, and to side against him.
+
+  _Enter_ KING _and_ MARMOUTIERE.
+
+_King._ Grillon, be near me,
+There's something for my service to be done,
+Your orders will be sudden; now, withdraw.
+
+_Gril._ [_Aside._] Well, I dare trust my niece, even though she comes
+of my own family; but if she cuckolds my good opinion of her honesty,
+there's a whole sex fallen under a general rule, without one
+exception.                                 [_Exeunt_ GRIL. _and_ ALPH.
+
+_Mar._ You bid my uncle wait you.
+
+_King._ Yes.
+
+_Mar._ This hour?
+
+_King._ I think it was.
+
+_Mar._ Something of moment hangs upon this hour.
+
+_King._ Not more on this, than on the next, and next.
+My time is all ta'en up on usury;
+I never am beforehand with my hours,
+But every one has work before it comes.
+
+_Mar._ "There's something for my service to be done;"--
+Those were your words.
+
+_King._ And you desire their meaning?
+
+_Mar._ I dare not ask, and yet, perhaps, may guess.
+
+_King._ 'Tis searching there where heaven can only pry,
+Not man, who knows not man but by surmise;
+Nor devils, nor angels of a purer mould,
+Can trace the winding labyrinths of thought.
+I tell thee, Marmoutiere, I never speak,
+Not when alone, for fear some fiend should hear,
+And blab my secrets out.
+
+_Mar._ You hate the Guise.
+
+_King._ True, I did hate him.
+
+_Mar._ And you hate him still.
+
+_King._ I am reconciled.
+
+_Mar._ Your spirit is too high,
+Great souls forgive not injuries, till time
+Has put their enemies into their power,
+That they may shew, forgiveness is their own;
+For else, 'tis fear to punish, that forgives;
+The coward, not the king.
+
+_King._ He has submitted.
+
+_Mar._ In show; for in effect he still insults.
+
+_King._ Well, kings must bear sometimes.
+
+_Mar._ They must, till they can shake their burden off;
+And that's, I think, your aim.
+
+_King._ Mistaken still:
+All favours, all preferments, pass through them;
+I'm pliant, and they mould me as they please.
+
+_Mar._ These are your arts, to make them more secure;
+Just so your brother used the admiral.
+Brothers may think, and act like brothers too.
+
+_King._ What said you, ha! what mean you, Marmoutiere?
+
+_Mar._ Nay, what mean you? that start betrayed you, sir.
+
+_King._ This is no vigil of St Bartholomew,
+Nor is Blois Paris.
+
+_Mar._ 'Tis an open town.
+
+_King._ What then?
+
+_Mar._ Where you are strongest.
+
+_King._ Well, what then?
+
+_Mar._ No more; but you have power, and are provoked.
+
+_King._ O, thou hast set thy foot upon a snake!
+Get quickly off, or it will sting thee dead.
+
+_Mar._ Can I unknow it?
+
+_King._ No, but keep it secret.
+
+_Mar._ Think, sir, your thoughts are still as much your own,
+As when you kept the key of your own breast;
+But since you let me in, I find it filled
+With death and horror: you would murder Guise.
+
+_King._ Murder! what, murder! use a softer word,
+And call it sovereign justice.
+
+_Mar._ Would I could!
+But justice bears the godlike shape of law,
+And law requires defence, and equal plea
+Betwixt the offender, and the righteous judge.
+
+_King._ Yes, when the offender can be judged by laws:
+But when his greatness overturns the scales,
+Then kings are justice in the last appeal,
+And, forced by strong necessity, may strike;
+In which, indeed, they assert the public good,
+And, like sworn surgeons, lop the gangrened limb:
+Unpleasant, wholesome, work.
+
+_Mar._ If this be needful.
+
+_King._ Ha! didst not thou thyself, in fathoming
+The depth of my designs, drop there the plummet?
+Didst thou not say--Affronts so great, so public,
+I never could forgive?
+
+_Mar._ I did; but yet--
+
+_King._ What means, _but yet?_ 'tis evidence so full,
+If the last trumpet sounded in my ears,
+Undaunted I should meet the saints half way,
+And in the face of heaven maintain the fact.
+
+_Mar._ Maintain it then to heaven, but not to me.
+Do you love me?
+
+_King._ Can you doubt it?
+
+_Mar._ Yes, I can doubt it, if you can deny;
+Love begs once more this great offender's life.
+Can you forgive the man you justly hate,
+That hazards both your life and crown to spare him?
+One, whom you may suspect I more than pity,--
+For I would have you see, that what I ask,
+I know, is wondrous difficult to grant,--
+Can you be thus extravagantly good?
+
+_King._ What then? for I begin to fear my firmness,
+And doubt the soft destruction of your tongue.
+
+_Mar._ Then, in return, I swear to heaven and you,
+To give you all the preference of my soul;
+No rebel rival to disturb you there;
+Let him but live, that he may be my convert!
+                                       [_King walks awhile, then wipes
+                                        his eyes, and speaks._
+
+_King._ You've conquered; all that's past shall be forgiven.
+My lavish love has made a lavish grant;
+But know, this act of grace shall be my last.
+Let him repent, yes, let him well repent;
+Let him desist, and tempt revenge no further:
+For, by yon heaven, that's conscious of his crimes,
+I will no more by mercy be betrayed.
+
+  _Deputies appearing at the Door._
+
+The deputies are entering; you must leave me.
+Thus, tyrant business all my hours usurps,
+And makes me live for others.
+
+_Mar._ Now heaven reward you with a prosperous reign,
+And grant, you never may be good in vain!                     [_Exit._
+
+  _Enter Deputies of the Three States: Cardinal of_ GUISE, _and
+  Archbishop of_ LYONS, _at the head of them._
+
+_King._ Well, my good lords, what matters of importance
+Employed the States this morning?
+
+_Arch._ One high point
+Was warmly canvassed in the Commons House,
+And will be soon resolved.
+
+_King._ What was't?
+
+_Card._ Succession.
+
+_King._ That's one high point indeed, but not to be
+So warmly canvassed, or so soon resolved.
+
+_Card._ Things necessary must sometimes be sudden.
+
+_King._ No sudden danger threatens you, my lord.
+
+_Arch._ What may be sudden, must be counted so.
+We hope and wish your life; but yours and ours
+Are in the hand of heaven.
+
+_King._ My lord, they are;
+Yet, in a natural way, I may live long,
+If heaven, and you my loyal subjects, please.
+
+_Arch._ But since good princes, like your majesty,
+Take care of dangers merely possible,
+Which may concern their subjects, whose they are,
+And for whom kings are made--
+
+_King._ Yes; we for them,
+And they for us; the benefits are mutual,
+And so the ties are too.
+
+_Card._ To cut things short,
+The Commons will decree, to exclude Navarre
+From the succession of the realm of France.
+
+_King._ Decree, my lord! What! one estate decree?
+Where then are the other two, and what am I?
+The government is cast up somewhat short,
+The clergy and nobility cashiered,
+Five hundred popular figures on a row,
+And I myself, that am, or should be, king,
+An o'ergrown cypher set before the sum:
+What reasons urge our sovereigns for the exclusion?
+
+_Arch._ He stands suspected, sir, of heresy.
+
+_King._ Has he been called to make his just defence?
+
+_Card._ That needs not, for 'tis known.
+
+_King._ To whom?
+
+_Card._ The Commons.
+
+_King._ What is't those gods, the Commons, do not know?
+But heresy, you churchmen teach us vulgar,
+Supposes obstinate, and stiff persisting
+In errors proved, long admonitions made,
+And all rejected: Has this course been used?
+
+_Arch._ We grant it has not; but--
+
+_King._ Nay, give me leave,--
+I urge, from your own grant, it has not been.
+If then, in process of a petty sum,
+Both parties having not been fully heard,
+No sentence can be given;
+Much less in the succession of a crown,
+Which, after my decease, by right inherent,
+Devolves upon my brother of Navarre.
+
+_Card._ The right of souls is still to be preferred;
+Religion must not suffer for a claim.
+
+_King._ If kings may be excluded, or deposed,
+Whene'er you cry religion to the crowd;
+That doctrine makes rebellion orthodox,
+And subjects must be traitors, to be saved.
+
+_Arch._ Then heresy's entailed upon the throne.
+
+_King._ You would entail confusion, wars, and slaughters:
+Those ills are certain; what you name, contingent.
+I know my brother's nature; 'tis sincere,
+Above deceit, no crookedness of thought;
+Says what he means, and what he says performs;
+Brave, but not rash; successful, but not proud;
+So much acknowledging, that he's uneasy,
+Till every petty service be o'erpaid.
+
+_Arch._ Some say, revengeful.
+
+_King._ Some then libel him;
+But that's what both of us have learned to bear.
+He can forgive, but you disdain forgiveness.
+Your chiefs are they no libel must profane;
+Honour's a sacred thing in all but kings;
+But when your rhymes assassinate our fame,
+You hug your nauseous, blundering ballad-wits,
+And pay them, as if nonsense were a merit,
+If it can mean but treason.
+
+_Arch._ Sir, we have many arguments to urge--
+
+_King._ And I have more to answer: Let them know,
+My royal brother of Navarre shall stand
+Secure by right, by merit, and my love.
+God, and good men, will never fail his cause,
+And all the bad shall be constrained by laws.
+
+_Arch._ Since gentle means to exclude Navarre are vain,
+To-morrow, in the States, 'twill be proposed,
+To make the duke of Guise lieutenant-general;
+Which power, most graciously confirmed by you,
+Will stop this headlong torrent of succession,
+That bears religion, laws, and all before it.
+In hope you'll not oppose what must be done,
+We wish you, sir, a long and prosperous reign.
+                                           [_Exeunt all but the King._
+
+_King._ To-morrow Guise is made lieutenant-general;--
+Why, then, to-morrow I no more am king.
+'Tis time to push my slackened vengeance home,
+To be a king, or not to be at all.
+The vow that manacled my rage is loosed;
+Even heaven is wearied with repeated crimes,
+Till lightning flashes round, to guard the throne,
+And the curbed thunder grumbles to be gone.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON _to him._
+
+_Gril._ 'Tis just the appointed hour you bid me wait.
+
+_King._ So just, as if thou wert inspired to come;
+As if the guardian-angel of my throne,
+Who had o'erslept himself so many years,
+Just now was roused, and brought thee to my rescue.
+
+_Gril._ I hear the Guise will be lieutenant-general.
+
+_King._ And canst thou suffer it?
+
+_Gril._ Nay, if you will suffer it, then well may I. If kings will be
+so civil to their subjects, to give up all things tamely, they first
+turn rebels to themselves, and that's a fair example for their
+friends. 'Slife, sir, 'tis a dangerous matter to be loyal on the wrong
+side, to serve my prince in spite of him; if you'll be a royalist
+yourself, there are millions of honest men will fight for you; but if
+you will not, there are few will hang for you.
+
+_King._ No more: I am resolved.
+The course of things can be with-held no longer
+From breaking forth to their appointed end:
+My vengeance, ripened in the womb of time,
+Presses for birth, and longs to be disclosed.
+Grillon, the Guise is doomed to sudden death:
+The sword must end him:--has not thine an edge?
+
+_Gril._ Yes, and a point too; I'll challenge him.
+
+_King._ I bid thee kill him.                               [_Walking._
+
+_Gril._ So I mean to do.
+
+_King._ Without thy hazard.
+
+_Gril._ Now I understand you; I should murder him:
+I am your soldier, sir, but not your hangman.
+
+_King._ Dost thou not hate him?
+
+_Gril._ Yes.
+
+_King._ Hast thou not said,
+That he deserves it?
+
+_Gril._ Yes; but how have I
+Deserved to do a murder?
+
+_King._ 'Tis no murder;
+'Tis sovereign justice, urged from self-defence.
+
+_Gril._ 'Tis all confest, and yet I dare not do't.
+
+_King._ Go; thou art a coward.
+
+_Gril._ You are my king.
+
+_King._ Thou say'st, thou dar'st not kill him.
+
+_Gril._ Were I a coward, I had been a villain,
+And then I durst have done't.
+
+_King._ Thou hast done worse, in thy long course of arms.
+Hast thou ne'er killed a man?
+
+_Gril._ Yes, when a man would have killed me.
+
+_King._ Hast thou not plundered from the helpless poor?
+Snatched from the sweating labourer his food?
+
+_Gril._ Sir, I have eaten and drank in my own defence, when I was
+hungry and thirsty; I have plundered, when you have not paid me; I
+have been content with a farmer's daughter, when a better whore was
+not to be had. As for cutting off a traitor, I'll execute him lawfully
+in my own function, when I meet him in the field; but for your
+chamber-practice, that's not my talent.
+
+_King._ Is my revenge unjust, or tyrannous?
+Heaven knows I love not blood.
+
+_Gril._ No, for your mercy is your only vice. You may dispatch a rebel
+lawfully, but the mischief is, that rebel has given me my life at the
+barricadoes, and, till I have returned his bribe, I am not upon even
+terms with him.
+
+_King._ Give me thy hand; I love thee not the worse:
+Make much of honour, 'tis a soldier's conscience.
+Thou shalt not do this act; thou art even too good;
+But keep my secret, for that's conscience too.
+
+_Gril._ When I disclose it, think I am a coward.
+
+_King._ No more of that, I know thou art not one.
+Call Lognac hither straight, and St Malin;
+Bid Larchant find some unsuspected means,
+To keep guards doubled at the council-door,
+That none pass in or out, but those I call:
+The rest I'll think on further; so farewell.
+
+_Gril._ Heaven bless your majesty! Though I'll not kill him for you,
+I'll defend you when he's killed: For the honest part of the job let
+me alone[19].                                     [_Exeunt severally._
+
+
+SCENE II.--SCENE _opens, and discovers Men and Women at a Banquet,_
+MALICORN _standing by._
+
+_Mal._ This is the solemn annual feast I keep,
+As this day twelve year, on this very hour,
+I signed the contract for my soul with hell.
+I bartered it for honours, wealth, and pleasure,
+Three things which mortal men do covet most;
+And 'faith, I over-sold it to the fiend:
+What, one-and-twenty years, nine yet to come!
+How can a soul be worth so much to devils?
+O how I hug myself, to out-wit these fools of hell!
+And yet a sudden damp, I know not why,
+Has seized my spirits, and, like a heavy weight,
+Hangs on their active springs. I want a song
+To rouse me; my blood freezes.--Music there.
+
+              A SONG BETWIXT A SHEPHERD AND SHEPHERDESS.
+
+          Shepherdess.
+
+    _Tell me, Thyrsis, tell your anguish,
+    Why you sigh, and why you languish;
+  When the nymph whom you adore,
+      Grants the blessing
+      Of possessing,
+  What can love and I do more?_
+
+          Shepherd.
+
+    _Think it's love beyond all measure,
+    Makes me faint away with pleasure;
+  Strength of cordial may destroy.
+      And the blessing
+      Of possessing,
+  Kills me with excess of joy._
+
+          Shepherdess.
+
+    _Thyrsis, how can I believe you!
+    But confess, and I'll forgive you;
+  Men are false, and so are you,
+      Never nature
+      Framed a creature
+  To enjoy, and yet be true._
+
+          Shepherd.
+
+    _Mine's a flame beyond expiring,
+    Still possessing, still desiring,
+  Fit for love's imperial crown;
+      Ever shining,
+      And refining,
+  Still the more 'tis melted down._
+
+          Chorus together.
+
+    _Mine's a flame beyond expiring.
+    Still possessing, still desiring,
+  Fit for love's imperial crown;
+      Ever shining,
+      And refining,
+  Still the more 'tis melted down._
+
+  _After a Song and Dance, loud knocking at the Door,_
+
+  _Enter a Servant._
+
+_Mal._ What noise is that?
+
+_Serv._ An ill-looked surly man,
+With a hoarse voice, says he must speak with you.
+
+_Mal._ Tell him I dedicate this day to pleasure.
+I neither have, nor will have, business with him.        [_Exit_ SERV.
+What, louder yet? what saucy slave is this?           [_Knock louder._
+
+  _Re-enter Servant._
+
+_Serv._ He says you have, and must have, business with him.
+Come out, or he'll come in, and spoil your mirth.
+
+_Mal._ I will not.
+
+_Serv._ Sir, I dare not tell him so;  [_Knocking again more fiercely._
+My hair stands up in bristles when I see him;
+The dogs run into corners; the spay'd bitch
+Bays at his back, and howls[20].
+
+_Mal._ Bid him enter, and go off thyself.                [_Exit Serv._
+
+  SCENE _closes upon the company._
+
+  _Enter_ MELANAX, _an hour-glass in his hand, almost empty._
+
+How dar'st thou interrupt my softer hours?
+By heaven, I'll ram thee in some knotted oak,
+Where thou shalt sigh, and groan to whistling winds,
+Upon the lonely plain.
+Or I'll confine thee deep in the red sea, groveling on the sands,
+Ten thousand billows rolling o'er thy head.
+
+_Mel._ Hoh, hoh, hoh!
+
+_Mal._ Laughest thou, malicious fiend?
+I'll ope my book of bloody characters,
+Shall rumple up thy tender airy limbs,
+Like parchment in a flame.
+
+_Mel._ Thou can'st not do it.
+Behold this hour-glass.
+
+_Mal._ Well, and what of that?
+
+_Mel._ Seest thou these ebbing sands?
+They run for thee, and when their race is run,
+Thy lungs, the bellows of thy mortal breath,
+Shall sink for ever down, and heave no more.
+
+_Mal._ What, resty, fiend?
+Nine years thou hast to serve.
+
+_Mel._ Not full nine minutes.
+
+_Mal._ Thou liest; look on thy bond, and view the date.
+
+_Mel._ Then, wilt thou stand to that without appeal?
+
+_Mal.._ I will, so help me heaven!
+
+_Mel._ So take thee hell.                       [_Gives him the bond._
+There, fool; behold who lies, the devil, or thou?
+
+_Mal._ Ha! one-and-twenty years are shrunk to twelve!
+Do my eyes dazzle?
+
+_Mel._ No, they see too true:
+They dazzled once, I cast a mist before them,
+So what was figured twelve, to thy dull sight
+Appeared full twenty-one.
+
+_Mal._ There's equity in heaven for this, a cheat.
+
+_Mel._ Fool, thou hast quitted thy appeal to heaven,
+To stand to this.
+
+_Mal._ Then I am lost for ever!
+
+_Mel._ Thou art.
+
+_Mal._ O why was I not warned before?
+
+_Mel._ Yes, to repent; then thou hadst cheated me.
+
+_Mal._ Add but a day, but half a day, an hour:
+For sixty minutes, I'll forgive nine years.
+
+_Mel._ No, not a moment's thought beyond my time.
+Dispatch; 'tis much below me to attend
+For one poor single fare.
+
+_Mal._ So pitiless?
+But yet I may command thee, and I will:
+I love the Guise, even with my latest breath,
+Beyond my soul, and my lost hopes of heaven:
+I charge thee, by my short-lived power, disclose
+What fate attends my master.
+
+_Mel._ If he goes
+To council when he next is called, he dies.
+
+_Mal._ Who waits?
+
+  _Enter Servant._
+
+Go, give my lord my last adieu;
+Say, I shall never see his eyes again;
+But if he goes, when next he's called, to council,
+Bid him believe my latest breath, he dies.--             [_Exit Serv._
+The sands run yet.--O do not shake the glass!--
+                                            [_Devil shakes the glass._
+I shall be thine too soon!--Could I repent!--
+Heaven's not confined to moments.--Mercy, mercy!
+
+_Mel._ I see thy prayers dispersed into the winds,
+And heaven has past them by.
+I was an angel once of foremost rank,
+Stood next the shining throne, and winked but half;
+So almost gazed I glory in the face,
+That I could bear it, and stared farther in;
+'Twas but a moment's pride, and yet I fell,
+For ever fell; but man, base earth-born man,
+Sins past a sum, and might be pardoned more:
+And yet 'tis just; for we were perfect light,
+And saw our crimes; man, in his body's mire,
+Half soul, half clod, sinks blindfold into sin,
+Betrayed by frauds without, and lusts within.
+
+_Mel._ Then I have hope.
+
+_Mal._ Not so; I preached on purpose
+To make thee lose this moment of thy prayer.
+Thy sand creeps low; despair, despair, despair!
+
+_Mal._ Where am I now? upon the brink of life,
+The gulph before me, devils to push me on,
+And heaven behind me closing all its doors.
+A thousand years for every hour I've past,
+O could I 'scape so cheap! but ever, ever!
+Still to begin an endless round of woes,
+To be renewed for pains, and last for hell!
+Yet can pains last, when bodies cannot last?
+Can earthy substance endless flames endure?
+Or, when one body wears and flits away,
+Do souls thrust forth another crust of clay,
+To fence and guard their tender forms from fire?
+I feel my heart-strings rend!--I'm here,--I'm gone!
+Thus men, too careless of their future state,
+Dispute, know nothing, and believe too late.
+                          [_A flash of lightning, they sink together._
+
+
+SCENE III.--_Enter Duke of_ GUISE; _Cardinal, and_ AUMALE.
+
+_Card._ A dreadful message from a dying man,
+A prophesy indeed!
+For souls, just quitting earth, peep into heaven,
+Make swift acquaintance with their kindred forms,
+And partners of immortal secrets grow.
+
+_Aum._ 'Tis good to lean on the securer side:
+When life depends, the mighty stake is such,
+Fools fear too little, and they dare too much.
+
+  _Enter Arch-Bishop._
+
+_Gui._ You have prevailed, I will not go to council.
+I have provoked my sovereign past a pardon,
+It but remains to doubt if he dare kill me:
+Then if he dares but to be just, I die.
+'Tis too much odds against me; I'll depart,
+And finish greatness at some safer time.
+
+_Arch._ By heaven, 'tis Harry's plot to fright you hence,
+That, coward-like, you might forsake your friends.
+
+_Gui._ The devil foretold it dying Malicorn.
+
+_Arch._ Yes, some court-devil, no doubt:
+If you depart, consider, good my lord,
+You are the master-spring that moves our fabric,
+Which once removed, our motion is no more.
+Without your presence, which buoys up our hearts,
+The League will sink beneath a royal name;
+The inevitable yoke prepared for kings
+Will soon be shaken off; things done, repealed;
+And things undone, past future means to do.
+
+_Card._ I know not; I begin to taste his reasons.
+
+_Arch._ Nay, were the danger certain of your stay,
+An act so mean would lose you all your friends,
+And leave you single to the tyrant's rage:
+Then better 'tis to hazard life alone,
+Than life, and friends, and reputation too.
+
+_Gui._ Since more I am confirmed, I'll stand the shock.
+Where'er he dares to call, I dare to go.
+My friends are many, faithful, and united;
+He will not venture on so rash a deed:
+And now, I wonder I should fear that force,
+Which I have used to conquer and contemn.
+
+  _Enter_ MARMOUTIERE.
+
+_Arch._ Your tempter comes, perhaps, to turn the scale,
+And warn you not to go.
+
+_Gui._ O fear her not,
+I will be there.                   [_Exeunt Arch-Bishop and Cardinal._
+What can she mean?--repent?
+Or is it cast betwixt the king and her
+To sound me? come what will, it warms my heart
+With secret joy, which these my ominous statesmen
+Left dead within me;--ha! she turns away.
+
+_Mar._ Do you not wonder at this visit, sir?
+
+_Gui._ No, madam, I at last have gained the point
+Of mightiest minds, to wonder now at nothing.
+
+_Mar._ Believe me, Guise, 'twere gallantly resolved,
+If you could carry it on the inside too.
+Why came that sigh uncalled? For love of me,
+Partly, perhaps; but more for thirst of glory,
+Which now again dilates itself in smiles,
+As if you scorned that I should know your purpose.
+
+_Gui._ I change, 'tis true, because I love you still;
+Love you, O heaven, even in my own despite;
+I tell you all, even at that very moment,
+I know you straight betray me to the king.
+
+_Mar._ O Guise, I never did; but, sir, I come
+To tell you, I must never see you more.
+
+_Gui._ The king's at Blois, and you have reason for it;
+Therefore, what am I to expect from pity,--
+From yours, I mean,--when you behold me slain?
+
+_Mar._ First answer me, and then I'll speak my heart.
+Have you, O Guise, since your last solemn oath,
+Stood firm to what you swore? Be plain, my lord,
+Or run it o'er a while, because again
+I tell you, I must never see you more.
+
+_Gui._ Never!--She's set on by the king to sift me.
+Why, by that never then, all I have sworn
+Is true, as that the king designs to end me.
+
+_Mar._ Keep your obedience,--by the saints, you live.
+
+_Gui._ Then mark; 'tis judged by heads grown white in council,
+This very day he means to cut me off.
+
+_Mar._ By heaven, then you're forsworn; you've broke your vows.
+
+_Gui._ By you, the justice of the earth, I have not.
+
+_Mar._ By you, dissembler of the world, you have.
+I know the king.
+
+_Gui._ I do believe you, madam.
+
+_Mar._ I have tried you both.
+
+_Gui._ Not me, the king you mean.
+
+_Mar._ Do these o'erboiling answers suit the Guise?
+But go to council, sir, there shew your truth;
+If you are innocent, you're safe; but O,
+If I should chance to see you stretched along,
+Your love, O Guise, and your ambition gone,
+That venerable aspect pale with death,
+I must conclude you merited your end.
+
+_Gui._ You must, you will, and smile upon my murder.
+
+_Mar._ Therefore, if you are conscious of a breach,
+Confess it to me. Lead me to the king;
+He has promised me to conquer his revenge,
+And place you next him; therefore, if you're right,
+Make me not fear it by asseverations,
+But speak your heart, and O resolve me truly!
+
+_Gui._ Madam, I've thought, and trust you with my soul.
+You saw but now my parting with my brother,
+The prelate too of Lyons; it was debated
+Warmly against me, that I should go on.
+
+_Mar._ Did I not tell you, sir?
+
+_Gui._ True; but in spite
+Of those imperial arguments they urged,
+I was not to be worked from second thought:
+There we broke off; and mark me, if I live,
+You are the saint that makes a convert of me.
+
+_Mar._ Go then:--O heaven! Why must I still suspect you?
+Why heaves my heart, and overflow my eyes?
+Yet if you live, O Guise,--there, there's the cause,--
+I never shall converse, nor see you more.
+
+_Gui._ O say not so, for once again I'll see you.
+Were you this very night to lodge with angels,
+Yet say not never; for I hope by virtue
+To merit heaven, and wed you late in glory.
+
+_Mar._ This night, my lord, I'm a recluse for ever.
+
+_Gui._ Ha! stay till morning: tapers are too dim;
+Stay till the sun rises to salute you;
+Stay till I lead you to that dismal den
+Of virgins buried quick, and stay for ever.
+
+_Mar._ Alas! your suit is vain, for I have vowed it:
+Nor was there any other way to clear
+The imputed stains of my suspected honour.
+
+_Gui._ Hear me a word!--one sigh, one tear, at parting,
+And one last look; for, O my earthly saint,
+I see your face pale as the cherubins'
+At Adam's fall.
+
+_Mar._ O heaven! I now confess,
+My heart bleeds for thee, Guise.
+
+_Gui._ Why, madam, why?
+
+_Mar._ Because by this disorder,
+And that sad fate that bodes upon your brow,
+I do believe you love me more than glory.
+
+_Gui._ Without an oath I do; therefore have mercy,
+And think not death could make me tremble thus;
+Be pitiful to those infirmities
+Which thus unman me; stay till the council's over;
+If you are pleased to grant an hour or two
+To my last prayer, I'll thank you as my saint:
+If you refuse me, madam, I'll not murmur.
+
+_Mar._ Alas, my Guise!--O heaven, what did I say?
+But take it, take it; if it be too kind,
+Honour may pardon it, since 'tis my last.
+
+_Gui._ O let me crawl, vile as I am, and kiss
+Your sacred robe.--Is't possible! your hand!
+                                            [_She gives him her hand._
+O that it were my last expiring moment,
+For I shall never taste the like again.
+
+_Mar._ Farewell, my proselyte! your better genius
+Watch your ambition.
+
+_Gui._ I have none but you:
+Must I ne'er see you more?
+
+_Mar._ I have sworn you must not:
+Which thought thus roots me here, melts my resolves,         [_Weeps._
+And makes me loiter when the angels call me.
+
+_Gui._ O ye celestial dews! O paradise!
+O heaven! O joys, ne'er to be tasted more!
+
+_Mar._ Nay, take a little more: cold Marmoutiere,
+The temperate, devoted Marmoutiere
+Is gone,--a last embrace I must bequeath you.
+
+_Gui._ And O let me return it with another!
+
+_Mar._ Farewell for ever; ah, Guise, though now we part,
+In the bright orbs, prepared us by our fates,
+Our souls shall meet,--farewell!--and Io's sing above,
+Where no ambition, nor state-crime, the happier spirits prove,
+But all are blest, and all enjoy an everlasting love.
+                                                  [_Exit_ MARMOUTIERE.
+
+  GUISE _solus._
+
+_Gui._ Glory, where art thou? fame, revenge, ambition,
+Where are you fled? there's ice upon my nerves;
+My salt, my metal, and my spirits gone,
+Palled as a slave, that's bed-rid with an ague,
+I wish my flesh were off.                [_Blood falls from his nose._
+What now! thou bleed'st:--
+Three, and no more!--what then? and why, what then?
+But just three drops! and why not just three drops,
+As well as four or five, or five and twenty?
+
+  _Enter a Page._
+
+_Page._ My lord, your brother and the arch-bishop wait you.
+
+_Gui._ I come;--down, devil!--ha! must I stumble too?
+Away, ye dreams! what if it thundered now,
+Or if a raven crossed me in my way?
+Or now it comes, because last night I dreamt
+The council-hall was hung with crimson round,
+And all the ceiling plaistered o'er with black.
+No more!--Blue fires, and ye dull rolling lakes,
+Fathomless caves, ye dungeons of old night,
+Phantoms, be gone! if I must die, I'll fall
+True politician, and defy you all.                            [_Exit._
+
+
+SCENE II.--_The Court before the Council-hall._
+
+  GRILLON, LARCHANT, _Soldiers placed, People crowding_
+
+_Gril._ Are your guards doubled, captain?
+
+_Larch._ Sir, they are.
+
+_Gril._ When the Guise comes, remember your petition.--
+Make way there for his eminence; give back.--
+Your eminence comes late.
+
+  _Enter two Cardinals, Counsellors, the Cardinal of_ GUISE,
+  _Arch-bishop of Lyons, last the_ GUISE.
+
+_Gui._ Well, colonel, are we friends?
+
+_Gril._ 'Faith, I think not.
+
+_Gui._ Give me your hand.
+
+_Gril._ No, for that gives a heart.
+
+_Gui._ Yet we shall clasp in heaven.
+
+_Gril._ By heaven, we shall not,
+Unless it be with gripes.
+
+_Gui._ True Grillon still.
+
+_Larch._ My lord.
+
+_Gui._ Ha! captain, you are well attended:
+If I mistake not, sir, your number's doubled.
+
+_Larch._ All these have served against the heretics;
+And therefore beg your grace you would remember
+Their wounds and lost arrears[21].
+
+_Gui._ It shall be done.--
+Again, my heart! there is a weight upon thee,
+But I will sigh it off.--Captain, farewell.
+                                      [_Exeunt Cardinal,_ GUISE, _&c._
+
+_Gril._ Shut the hall-door, and bar the castle-gates:
+March, march there closer yet, captain, to the door.        [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE III.--_The Council-hall._
+
+_Gui._ I do not like myself to-day.
+
+_Arch._ A qualm! he dares not.
+
+_Card._ That's one man's thought; he dares, and that's another's.
+
+  _Enter_ GRILLON.
+
+_Gui._ O Marmoutiere! ha, never see thee more?
+Peace, my tumultuous heart! why jolt my spirits
+In this unequal circling of my blood?
+I'll stand it while I may. O mighty nature!
+Why this alarm? why dost thou call me on
+To fight, yet rob my limbs of all their use?                [_Swoons._
+
+_Card._ Ha! he's fallen, chafe him. He comes again.
+
+_Gui._ I beg your pardons; vapours, no more.
+
+_Gril._ The effect
+Of last night's lechery with some working whore[22].
+
+  _Enter_ REVOL.
+
+_Rev._ My lord of Guise, the king would speak with you.
+
+_Gui._ O cardinal, O Lyons!--but no more;
+Yes, one word more: thou hast a privilege          [_To the Cardinal._
+To speak with a recluse; O therefore tell her,
+If never thou behold'st me breathe again,
+Tell her I sighed it last.--O Marmoutiere!             [_Exit bowing._
+
+_Card._ You will have all things your own way, my lord.
+By heaven, I have strange horror on my soul.
+
+_Arch._ I say again, that Henry dares not do it.
+
+_Card._ Beware, your grace, of minds that bear like him.
+I know he scorns to stoop to mean revenge;
+But when some mightier mischief shocks his toure,
+He shoots at once with thunder on his wings,
+And makes it air.--but hark, my lord, 'tis doing!
+
+_Guise within._] Murderers, villains!
+
+_Arch._ I hear your brother's voice; run to the door.
+
+  CARD. _and_ ARCH. _run to the door._
+
+_Card._ Help, help, the Guise is murdered!
+
+_Arch._ Help, help!
+
+_Gril._ Cease your vain cries, you are the king's prisoners;--
+Take them, Dugast, into your custody.
+
+_Card._ We must obey, my lord, for heaven calls us.         [_Exeunt._
+
+  _The_ SCENE _draws, behind it a Traverse._
+
+  _The_ GUISE _is assaulted by eight. They stab him in all parts, but
+  most in the head._
+
+_Gui._ O villains! hell-hounds! hold.
+                                     [_Half draws his sword, is held._
+Murdered, O basely, and not draw my sword!--
+Dog, Lognac,--but my own blood choaks me.
+Down, villain, down!--I'm gone,--O Marmoutiere!
+                                 [_Flings himself upon him, dies[23]._
+
+  _The Traverse is drawn._
+
+  _The King rises from his Chair, comes forward with his
+  Cabinet-council._
+
+_King._ Open the closet, and let in the council;
+Bid Dugast execute the cardinal;
+Seize all the factious leaders, as I ordered,
+And every one be answered, on your lives.
+
+  _Enter Queen-Mother followed by the Counsellors._
+
+O, madam, you are welcome; how goes your health?
+
+_Qu. M._ A little mended, sir.--What have you done?
+
+_King._ That which has made me king of France; for there
+The king of Paris at your feet lies dead.
+
+_Qu. M._ You have cut out dangerous work, but make it up
+With speed and resolution[24].
+
+_King._ Yes, I'll wear
+The fox no longer, but put on the lion;
+And since I could resolve to take the heads
+Of this great insurrection, you, the members,
+Look to it; beware, turn from your stubbornness,
+And learn to know me, for I will be king.
+
+_Gril._ 'Sdeath, how the traitors lower, and quake, and droop,
+And gather to the wing of his protection,
+As if they were his friends, and fought his cause!
+
+_King._ [_Looking upon_ GUISE.]
+Be witness, heaven, I gave him treble warning!
+He's gone--no more.--Disperse, and think upon it.
+Beware my sword, which, if I once unsheath,
+By all the reverence due to thrones and crowns,
+Nought shall atone the vows of speedy justice,
+Till fate to ruin every traitor brings,
+That dares the vengeance of indulgent kings.                [_Exuent._
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. The Council of Sixteen certainly offered to place twenty thousand
+   disciplined citizens of Paris at the devotion of the Duke of Guise;
+   and here the intended parallel came close: for Shaftesbury used to
+   boast, that he could raise the like number of brisk boys in the
+   city of London, by merely holding up his finger.
+
+2. During the cabals of the Council of Sixteen, the Duke of Aumale
+   approached Paris with five hundred veteran horse, levied in the
+   disaffected province of Picardy. Jean Conti, one of the sheriffs
+   (_Echevins_) of Paris, was tampered with to admit them by St
+   Martin's gate; but as he refused, the leaguers stigmatised him as a
+   heretic and favourer of Navarre. Another of these officers
+   consented to open to Aumale the gate of St Denis, of which the keys
+   were intrusted to him.
+
+   The conspirators had determined, as is here expressed, to seize the
+   person of the king, when he should attend the procession of the
+   Flagellants, as he was wont to do in time of Lent. But he was
+   apprised of their purpose by Poltrot, one of their number, and used
+   the pretext of indisposition to excuse his absence from the
+   penitential procession. _Davila_, lib. viii.
+
+3. In the year 1565, an interview took place at Bayonne between
+   Catharine of Medicis, her son Charles IX., and the Queen of Spain,
+   attended by the famous Duke of Alva, and the Count of Benevento.
+   Many political discussions took place; and the opinion of Alva, as
+   expressed in the text, is almost literally versified from Davila's
+   account of the conference. "_Il Duca D'Alva, uomo di veemente
+   natura risolutamente diceva, che per distruggere la novita della
+   fede, e le sollevazioni di stato, bisognava levare le teste de'
+   papaveri, pescare i pesci grossi e non si curare di prendere le
+   ranocchie: erano questi i concetti proferiti da lui; perche cessati
+   i venti, l'onde della plebe facilmente si sarebbono da se stesse
+   composte e acquietate: aggiugneva, che un prencipe non puo far cosa
+   piu vituperosa ne piu dannosa a se stesso, quanto il permettere al
+   popolo il vivere secondo la loro coscienza, ponendo tanta varieta
+   di religioni in uno stato, quanto sono i capricci degli huomini e
+   le fantasie delle persone inquiete, aprendo la porta alla discordia
+   e alla confusione: e dimostrava con lunga commemorazione di
+   segnalati esempj, che la diversita della fede aveva sempre messo
+   l'arme in mano ai sudditi, e sempre sollevate atroci perfidie e
+   funeste rebellioni contra i superiori: onde conchiudeva nel fine,
+   che siccome le controversie della fede avevan sempre servito di
+   pretesto e di argumento alle sollevazioni de' mal contenti, cosi
+   era necessario rimovere a primo tratto questa coperta, e poi con
+   severi rimedj, e senza riguardo di ferro, ne di fuoco, purgare le
+   radici di quel male, il quale colla dolcezza e con la sofferenza
+   perniciosamente germogliando si dilatava sempre, e si
+   accresceva._"--Delle Guerre Civili di Francia, lib. iii.
+
+4. The popular arts of the Duke of Monmouth are here alluded to, which
+   his fine person and courteous manners rendered so eminently, and
+   for himself so unfortunately, successful. The lady, in whose mouth
+   these remonstrances are placed, may be supposed to be the duchess,
+   by whose prayers and tears he was more than once induced to suspend
+   his career.
+
+5. Francis II. of France, a prince of delicate health and mean
+   talents, died of an imposthume in the head.
+
+6. When Poltrot had discovered the intentions of the Council of
+   Sixteen against the king's person, it was warmly debated in the
+   council of Henry, whether the persons of the conspirators ought not
+   to be seized at their next meeting. But, upon considering the
+   numbers of the citizens, and their zeal for the League, together
+   with the small number of the king's guards and adherents, this
+   advice was rejected as too hazardous. It was upon this occasion
+   that Catherine quoted the Tuscan proverb in the text,--"_Bisogna
+   copriersi bene il viso inanzi che struzzicare il vespaio;_"
+   Davila, lib. IX.
+
+7. Margaret of Navarre, sister of Henry II., was suspected of an
+   intrigue with the Duke of Guise.
+
+8. Henry II., when Duke of Anjou, defeated the Huguenots, commanded by
+   the famous Admiral Coligni, with very great loss, taking all his
+   artillery and baggage, with two hundred standards and colours,
+   1569.
+
+9. Alluding to a celebrated battle fought near Montargis, in 1587,
+   when Guise, with very disproportioned forces, surprised and cut to
+   pieces a large army of German auxiliaries, who had advanced into
+   France to join the king of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. Upon that
+   occasion, the Duke of Guise kept his resolution to fight a profound
+   secret till the very day of the attack, when, after having dined,
+   and remained thoughtful and silent for a few minutes, he suddenly
+   ordered the trumpets to sound to horse, and, to the astonishment of
+   the Duke of Mayenne, and his other generals, who had never
+   suspected his intention, instantly moved forward against the
+   enemy.--_Davila_, lib. viii.
+
+10. The king of Navarre (Henry IV.), by his manifesto, published in
+   1585, after discussing sundry points of state with the leaguers,
+   defied the Duke of Guise, their loader, to mortal combat, body to
+   body, or two to two, or ten to ten, or twenty to twenty. To this
+   romantic defiance the Duke returned no direct answer; but his
+   partizans alleged, that as the quarrel betwixt the king of Navarre
+   and their patron did not arise from private enmity, it could not
+   become the subject of single combat. _Davila_ lib. vii.]
+
+11. This alludes to the defacing the Duke of York's picture at
+   Guildhall; an outrage stigmatized in the epilogue to "Venice
+   Preserved," where Otway says,
+
+     Nothing shall daunt his pen, when truth does call;
+     No, not the picture-mangler at Guildhall.
+     The rebel tribe, of which that vermin's one.
+     Have now set forward, and their course begun;
+     And while that prince's figure they deface,
+       As they before had massacred his name,
+     Durst their base fears but look him in the face,
+       They'd use his person as they've used his fame;
+     A face, in which such lineaments they read
+     Of that great Martyr's, whose rich blood they shed.
+
+   The picture-mangler is explained by a marginal note to be, "the
+   rascal, that cut the Duke of York's picture." The same circumstance
+   is mentioned in "_Musa Praefica_, or the London Poem, or a humble
+   Oblation on the sacred Tomb of our late gracious Monarch King
+   Charles II., of ever blessed and eternal Memory; by a Loyal
+   Apprentice of the honourable City of London." The writer mentions
+   the Duke of York as
+
+       --loaded with indignity,
+     Already martyred in effigy.
+     O blast the arm, that dared that impious blow!
+       Let heaven reward him with a vengeance meet,
+     Who God's anointed dared to overthrow!
+       His head had suffered, when they pierced his feet.
+
+   Explained to allude to the Duke of York's "picture in Guildhall,
+   cut from the legs downward undiscovered."
+
+   In another tory ballad, we have this stanza in the character of a
+   fanatic:
+
+     We'll smite the idol in Guildhall,
+       And then, as we are wont,
+     We'll cry it was a Popish plot,
+       And swear these rogues have done't.
+
+12. This speech depends on the gesticulation of the sorcerer: Guise
+   first desires him report the danger to the people,--then bids him
+   halt, and express his judgment more fully. Malicorn makes signs of
+   assassination.--Guise goes on--
+
+     --Let him if he dare.
+     But more, more, more;--
+
+   i.e. I have a further reason than state policy for my
+   visit.--Malicorn makes repeated signs of ignorance and discontent;
+   and Guise urges him to speak out on a subject, which he himself was
+   unwilling to open.
+
+13. The business of this scene is taken from the following passage.
+
+   _"Entro il Duca di Guisa in Parigi il Lunedi nono giorno di Maggio,
+   ch' era gia vicino il mezzogiorno, non con maggior comitiva che di
+   sette cavalli tra gentiluomini e servitori: ma come una piccolo
+   palla di neve, che discende dall' erto si va tanto ingrossando, che
+   nel fine diviene quasi una montagna eminente; cosi abandonando il
+   popolo le case e le botteghe, con plauso e con allegrezza, per
+   seguitarlo, non fu a mezzo la citta, che aveva dietro piu di
+   trentamila persone, ed era tanta la calca, che a pena egli medesimo
+   poteva seguitare la sua strada. Andavan le grida del popolo insino
+   al cielo, ne mai fu con tanto plauso gridato, "Vita il Re" con
+   quanto ora si gridava "Vita Guisa." Chi lo sulutava, chi lo
+   ringraziava, chi se gl' inchinava, chi gli baciava le falde de'
+   vestimenti, chi, non potendo accostarsi, con le mani e con i gesti
+   di tutto il corpo dava segui profusi d' allegrezza; e furono veduti
+   di quelli che, adorandolo come santo, lo toccavano con le corone, e
+   le medesime poi o baciavano, o con esse si toccavano gli occhi e la
+   fronte; e sino le donne dalle finestra, spargendo fiori e fronde,
+   onoravano e benedicevano la sua venuta. Egli all' incontro, con
+   viso popolare e con faccia ridente, altri accarezzava con le
+   parole, altri risalutava con i gesti, altri rallegrava con l'
+   occhio, e traversando le caterve del popolo con la testa scoperta,
+   non permetteva cosa alcuna, che fosse a proposito per finire a
+   conciliarsi la benevolenza e l' applauso popolare. In questa
+   maniera, senza fermarsi alla sua casa, ando a dirittura a smontare
+   a Sant' Eustachio al palazzo della Reina Madre, la quale mezza
+   attonita per il suo venire improvviso; perche Monsignor di
+   Bellieure arrivato tre ore innanzi aveva posto in dubbio la sua
+   venuta; lo riceve pallida nel volto, tutta tremante e contra l'
+   ordinario costume della natura sua quasi smarrita. Le dimostrazioni
+   del Duca di Guisa furono piene d' affettuosa umilta e di profonda
+   sommissione: le parole della Reina ambigue, dicendoli; che lo
+   vedeva volentieri, ma che molto piu volontieri l' arebbe veduto in
+   altro tempo; alla quale egli rispose con sembiante modestissimo ma
+   con parole altiere: Ch' egli era buon servitore del Re, e che
+   avendo intese le calunnie date all' innocenza sua, e le cose che si
+   trattavano contra la religione e contra gli uomini dabbene di quel
+   popolo, era venuto, o per divertire il male, e espurgarese stesso,
+   ovvero per lasciar la vita in servizio di Santa Chiesa e della
+   salute universale. La Reina, interrotto il ragionamento, mentre
+   egli salutava, come e solito, le altre Dame della corte, chiamo
+   Luigi Davila suo Gentiluomo d' onore, e gli commise, che facesse
+   intendere al Re, ch' era arrivato il Duca di Guisa, e ch' ella fra
+   poco l' arebbe condotto al Lovero personalmente. Si commosse di
+   maniera il Re, ch' era nel suo gabinetto con Monsignore di
+   Villaclera, con Bellieure e con l' abbate del Bene, che fu
+   costretto appogiarsi col braccio, coprendosi la faccia, al
+   tavolino, e interrogato il Davila d' ogni particolare, gli
+   commando, che dicesse segretamente alla Reina, che framettesse piu
+   tempo che fosse possibile alla venuta. L' Abbate del Bene e il
+   Colonello Alfonso Corso, il quale entro in questo punto nel
+   gabinetto, e era confidentissimo, servitore del Re, e pieno di
+   merito verso la corona, lo consigliavano, che ricevendo il Duca di
+   Guisa nel medesimo gabinetto, lo facese uccidere subito nell'
+   istesso luogo, dicendo l' abbate questo_ Percutiam pastorem, et
+   dispergentur oves_. Ma Villaclera, Bellieure, e il gran Cancelliere
+   che sopravvenne, furono di contrario parere allegando esesr tanta
+   la commozione del popolo, che in caso tale, sprezzando la Maesta
+   regia, e rompendo tutti i vincoli delle leggi, sarebbe corso a
+   precipitosa vendetta, e che non essendo le cose ancora
+   apparecchiate per la difesa propria, e per frenare il furore della
+   citta le forze de' Parigini erano troppo poderose parole per
+   stuzzicarle."_ Lib. ix.
+
+14. For this scene also, which gave great offence to the followers of
+   Monmouth, our author had the authority of Davila in the
+   continuation of the passage already quoted.
+
+   _"Mentre il Re sta dubbioso nell' animo, sopraggiunse la Reina, che
+   conduceva il Duca di Guisa essendo venuta nella sua seggetta, e il
+   Duca accompagnatala sempre a piedi; ma con tanto seguito e
+   frequenza di gente, che tutta la Citta pareva ridotta nel giro del
+   cortile del Lovero e nelle strade vicine. Traversarono fra la
+   spalliera de' soldati, essendo presente Monsignor di Griglione
+   maestro di campo della guardia, il quale uomo libero e militare, e
+   poco amico del Duca di Guisa, mentre egli s' inchina ad ogni
+   privato soldato, fece pochissimo sembiante di riverirlo, il che da
+   lui fu con qualche pallidezza del volto ben osservato, la quale
+   continuo maggiormente, poiche vide gli Suizzeri far spalliera con
+   l'arme a piedi della scala, e nella sala gli arcieri, e nelle
+   camere i gentiluomini tutti radunati per aspettarlo. Entrarono
+   nella camera del Re, il quale mentre il Duca di Guisa con profonda
+   riverenza se gl' inchino, con viso scorrucciato gli disse; Io v'
+   avevo fatto intendere, che non veniste. A queste parole il Duca con
+   l' istessa sommissione, che aveva fatto alla Reina, ma con parole
+   piu ritenute, rispose. Ch' Egli era venuto a mettersi nelle braccia
+   della giustitia di Sua Maesta, per iscolparsi delle calunnie, che
+   gli erano apposte da' suoi nemici, e che nondimeno non sarebbe
+   venuto, quando gli fosse stato detto chiaramente, che Sua Maesta
+   comandata, che non venisse. Il Re rivolto a Bellieure,
+   alteratamente lo domando s' era vero, che gli avesse data
+   commissione di dire al Duca di Guisa, che non venisse, se non
+   voleva esser tenuto per autore delli scandali, e delle sollevazioni
+   de' Parigini. Monseignor di Bellieure si feceinnanzi, e volle
+   render conto dell' ambasciata sua; ma nel principio del parlare, il
+   Re l' interruppe, dicendogli, che bastava, e rivolto al Duca di
+   Guisa disse; che non sapeva, ch' egii fosse stato calunniato da
+   persona alcuna, ma che la sua innocenza sarebbe apparsa chiara,
+   quando dalla sua venuta non fosse nata alcuna novita, e interrotta
+   la quiete del governo, come si prevedeva. La Reina pratica della
+   natura del Re, conoscendolo dalla faccia inclinato a qualche
+   gagliarda risoluzione, lo tiro da parte, e gli disse in sostanza
+   quel che aveva veduto della concorrenza del popolo, e che non
+   pensasse a deliberazioni precipitose, perche non era tempo. Il
+   medesimo soggiunse la Duchessa d' Uzes, che gli era vicina, e il
+   Duca di Guisa osservando attentamente ogni minuzia, come vide
+   questa  fluttazione, per non dar tempo al Re di deliberare, si
+   finse stracco dal viaggio, e licenziandosi brevemente da lui,
+   accompagnato dall' istessa frequenza di popolo, ma da niuno di
+   quelli della corte, si ritiro nella strada di Sant' Antonio alle
+   sue case."_ Lib. ix.]
+
+15. See the speech of Ashtaroth and his companions, on taking leave of
+   Rinaldo, whom they had transported to the field of Roncisvalles:
+
+       _Noi ce n' andremo or, io e Farfarello,
+       Tra le campane, e soneremo a festa,
+       Quando vedrem, che tu farai macello.
+     In Roncisvalle una certa chiesetta
+       Era in quel tempo, ch' avea due campane,
+       Quivi stetton coloro alla veletta,
+       Per ciuffar di quell' anime pagane,
+       Come sparvier tra ramo e ramo aspetta;
+       E bisogno, che menassin le mane,
+       E che e' batessin tutto il giorno l' ali,
+       A presentarle a' guidici infernali._
+                         Il Morgante Maggiore, Canto XXVI. St. 82, 89.
+
+16. See the speech of Ashtaroth to Rinaldo, in the Morgante Maggiore.
+
+     _Noi abbiam come voi principe e duce
+       Giu nell' Inferno, e 'l primo e Belzebue,
+       Chi una cosa, e chi altra conduce,
+       Ognuno attende alle faccende sue;
+       Ma tutto a Belzebu, poi si riduce
+       Perche Lucifer relegato fue
+       Ultimo a tutti, e nel centro piu imo,
+       Poi ch' egli intese esser nel Ciel su primo._
+                                   Canto XV. St. 207.
+
+17. This striking account of the entry of the guards is literally from
+   DAVILA.
+
+   "_La mattina del Giovedi duodecimo giorno di maggio, un' ora
+   innanzi giorno, si sentirono i pifferi e i tamburi degli Suizzeri,
+   che battendo l' ordinanza entrarono nella citta per la porta di
+   Sant' Onorato, precedendo il Maresciallo di Birone a cavallo, e
+   conseguentamente sotto i loro capitani entrarono con le corde
+   accese le compagnie de' Francesi."--"All' entrare della milizia,
+   nota a tutta la citta per lo strepito de' tamburi, il popolo pieno
+   di spavento, e gia certo, che la fama divolgata dell' intenzione
+   del re era piu che sicura, comincio a radunarsi, serrando le porte
+   delle case, e chiudendo l'entrate delle botteghe, che conforme all'
+   uso della citta di lavorare innanzi giorno, gia s' erano cominciare
+   ad aprire, e ognuno si messe a preparare l'armi, apettando l'ordine
+   di quello si dovesse operare._" Lib. IX.
+
+18. It was a frequent complaint of the tories at this period, that the
+   commons, in zeal for their own privileges and immunities, were apt
+   sometimes to infringe the personal liberties of the subject. This
+   is set forth with some humour in a political pamphlet of the day,
+   called, "A Dialogue betwixt Sam, the ferryman of Datchet, Will, a
+   waterman of London, and Tom, a bargeman of Oxford;" upon the king's
+   calling a parliament to meet at Oxford, London, 1681. "As to their
+   own members, they turned them out, and took others in at their will
+   and pleasure; and if they made any fault, they expelled them; and
+   wherever any stood in competition for any town, him they knew would
+   give his vote along with them was admitted, right or wrong. And then
+   they terrified all the sheriffs, mayors, and bailiffs in the
+   kingdom, besides abundance of gentlemen and other honest
+   countrymen. For, on the least complaint of any man's misdemeanour,
+   or information from any member, immediately a serjeant at arms was
+   sent for them, and so much a mile and hour paid, and down on their
+   marrowbones to their worships, and a sound scolding from Mr
+   Speaker, or else to the Tower or Gatehouse they went. The king, God
+   bless him, never took a quarter of that state on him they did ...
+   It was brought to that pass, that two footboys, boxing one day in
+   the Palace-yard, he that was beaten proved to belong to a member,
+   and told the other boy, if he knew his master, he would cause him
+   to be sent for in custody, for keeping such a rogue as he was, that
+   had committed a breach of privilege in beating a member's servant.
+   The boy replied, if it would do him any kindness, he would beat him
+   again, and tell him his master's name into the bargain; and would
+   lay him a crown, that, though his master should bid the Speaker,
+   and all the House of Commons, kiss, &c. they durst not send a
+   serjeant at arms for him. The beaten boy, much nettled at his
+   speech, laid down his money, as the other did: now, said the boy,
+   my master is the king of France, and I am come over with some of
+   his servants to fetch horses out of England; go, bid thy master and
+   the House of Commons send a serjeant at arms to fetch him
+   over.--_Sam._ Before my heart it was a good answer; I hope he won
+   his monies?--_Will._ So he did; but it was put into a waterman's
+   hands, and when it was demanded, says the beaten boy, Sirrah, give
+   it him, if you dare; if his master be the king of France, I'll make
+   you answer it before the House of Commons. The waterman durst do no
+   other, but gave either their own monies. There's no contending with
+   parliament men, or parliament men's men, nor boys."
+
+   Some occasion was given for these reproaches by the summary and
+   arbitrary commitment of many individuals, who had addressed the
+   king in terms expressing their abhorrence of the vehement petitions
+   presented by the other party for the sitting of parliament, and
+   were thence distinguished by the name of Abhorrers. This course was
+   ended by the sturdy resistance of one Stowell, who had, as foreman
+   of the grand jury at Exeter, presented an _abhorring_ address to
+   the king. A serjeant at arms having been sent to apprehend him, he
+   refused to submit, and bid the officer take his course, adding, he
+   knew no law which made him accountable for what he did as a grand
+   juryman. The House were so much embarrassed by his obstinacy, that
+   they hushed up the matter by voting that he was indisposed, and
+   adjourning the debate _sine dic._
+
+19. This famous interview betwixt Grillon and the king deserved to
+   have been brought on the stage, in a nobler strain, and free from
+   the buffoonery, by which the veteran's character is degraded. It is
+   thus told by Davila: _"Trattandosi delle persone, che avessero da
+   eseguire il fatto, il Re elesse di fidarsene nel Maestro di campo
+   della sua guardia Griglione, uomo feroce e ardito e per molte
+   cagioni nemico del Duca di Guisa. Fattolo percio venire, gli espose
+   con accomodate parole il suo pensiero, e gli significo aver
+   disegnato, che egli fosse quello, che eseguisse l' impresa, nella
+   quale consisteva tutta la sua salute. Griglione rispose con brevi e
+   significanti parole: Sire, Io sono ben servitore a Vostra Maesta di
+   somma fedelta e divozione, ma faccio professione di soldato, e di
+   cavuliero; s' ella vuoles ch' io vada a sfidare il Duca di Guisa, e
+   che mi ammazzi a corpo a corpo con lui, son pronto a farlo in
+   questo istesso punto; ma ch' io serva di manigoldo, mentre la
+   giustizia sua determina di farlo morire, questo non si conviene a
+   par mio, ne sono per farlo giammai. Il Re non si stupi molto della
+   liberta di Griglione, noto a lui e a tutta la corte per uomo
+   schietto, e che libramente diceva i suoi sensi senza timore alcuno,
+   e pero replico; che gli bastava, che tenesse segreta questo
+   pensiero, perche non l' aveva communicato ad alcun altro, e
+   divulgandosi egli sarebbe stato colpevole d' averlo palesato. A
+   questo rispose Griglione: Essere servitore di fede, d' onore, ne
+   dover mai ridire i segreti interessi del padrone, e partito lascio
+   il Re grandemente dubbioso di quello dovesse operare."_ Lib. ix.
+
+20. A similar assemblage of terrific circumstances announces the
+   arrival of a fiend upon a similar errand, in the old play,
+   entitled, the "Merry Devil of Edmonton."
+
+     What means the trolling of this fatal chime?
+     O what a trembling horror strikes my heart!
+     My stiffened hair stands upright on my head,
+     As do the bristles of a porcupine.
+            *       *       *       *       *
+     Coreb, is't thou?
+     I know thee well; I hear the watchful dogs,
+     With hollow howling, tell of thy approach.
+     The lights burn dim, affrighted with thy presence,
+     And this distempered and tempestuous night
+     Tells me the air is troubled with some devil!
+
+   Dryden certainly appears to have had the old play in his memory
+   though he has far excelled it.
+
+21. On the evening previous to the assassination, the Seigneur de
+   Larchant accosted the duke as he passed from his own lodging to the
+   king's, accompanied by a body of soldiers, who, he pretended, were
+   petitioners for the duke's interest, to obtain payment of their
+   arrears, and would attend at the door of the council next day, to
+   remind him of their case. This pretext was to account for the
+   unusual number of guards, which might otherwise have excited G
+   uise's suspicion.
+
+22. _Intanto il Duca entrato nel consiglio, e pustosi in una sedia
+   vicina al fuoco si senti un poco di svenimento, o che allora, gli
+   sovcenisse il pericolo, net quale si ritrovava, separato e diviso
+   da tutti i suoi, o che natura, come bene spesso avviene, presaga
+   del mal futuro da se medesima allora si risentizze, o come dissero
+   i suoi malevoli, per essere stato la medesima notte con Madama di
+   Marmoutiere amata grandemente da lui, e essersi soverchiamente
+   debilitato._ Davila, Lib. ix.]
+
+23. The murder of Guise was perpetrated in the Anti-chamber, before
+   the door of the king's cabinet. Lognac, a gentleman of the king's
+   chamber, and a creature of the late duke de Joyeuse, commanded the
+   assassins, who were eight in number. The duke never was able to
+   unsheath his sword, being slain with many wounds as he grappled
+   with Lognac. The king himself was in the cabinet, and listened to
+   the murderous scuffle, till the noise of Guise's fall announced its
+   termination. The cardinal of Guise, and the archbishop of Lyons
+   were also within hearing, and were arrested, while they were
+   endeavouring to call their attendants to Guise's assistance. The
+   cardinal was next day murdered by Da Gast, to whose custody he had
+   been commuted.]
+
+24. Literally from Davila: _"Ora comparse il Re, le dimanda egli
+   primo, come ella stava; al quale avendo risposto che si sentisse
+   meglio, egli ripiglio: Ancor io mi trovo ora molto meglio, perche
+   questa mattina son fatto Re di Francia avendo fatto morire il Re di
+   Parigi. Alle quali parole, replico la Reina: Voi avete fatto morire
+   il Duca di Guisa, ma Dio voglia che non siate ora fatto Re da
+   niente; avete tagliato bene, non so, se cucirete cosi bene. Avete
+   voi preveduti i mali, che sono per succedere? Provvedetevi
+   diligentemente. Due cose sono necessarie, prestezza e
+   risoluzione."_ Lib. ix.]
+
+
+
+
+                              EPILOGUE.
+
+                       WRITTEN BY MR DRYDEN[1].
+
+                         SPOKEN BY MRS COOK.
+
+
+  Much time and trouble this poor play has cost;
+  And, 'faith, I doubted once the cause was lost.
+  Yet no one man was meant, nor great, nor small;
+  Our poets, like frank gamesters, threw at all.
+  They took no single aim:--
+  But, like bold boys, true to their prince, and hearty,
+  Huzza'd, and fired broadsides at the whole party.
+  Duels are crimes; but, when the cause is right,
+  In battle every man is bound to fight.
+  For what should hinder me to sell my skin,     }
+  Dear as I could, if once my hand were in?      }
+  _Se defendendo_ never was a sin.               }
+  'Tis a fine world, my masters! right or wrong,
+  The Whigs must talk, and Tories hold their tongue.
+  They must do all they can,
+  But we, forsooth, must bear a christian mind;
+  And fight, like boys, with one hand tied behind;
+  Nay, and when one boy's down, 'twere wond'rous wise,
+  To cry,--box fair, and give him time to rise.
+  When fortune favours, none but fools will dally;        }
+  Would any of you sparks, if Nan, or Mally,              }
+  Tip you the inviting wink, stand, shall I, shall I?     }
+  A Trimmer cried, (that heard me tell this story)
+  Fie, mistress Cook, 'faith you're too rank a Tory!
+  Wish not Whigs hanged, but pity their hard cases;
+  You women love to see men make wry faces.--
+  Pray, sir, said I, don't think me such a Jew;
+  I say no more, but give the devil his due.--
+  Lenitives, says he, suit best with our condition.--
+  Jack Ketch, says I, is an excellent physician.--
+  I love no blood.--Nor I, sir, as I breathe;
+  But hanging is a fine dry kind of death.--
+  We Trimmers are for holding all things even.--
+  Yes; just like him that hung 'twixt hell and heaven.--
+  Have we not had men's lives enough already?--
+  Yes, sure: but you're for holding all things steady.
+  Now since the weight hangs all on one side, brother,
+  You Trimmers should, to poize it, hang on t'other.
+  Damned neuters, in their middle way of steering,
+  Are neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red-herring:
+  Not Whigs, nor Tories they; nor this, nor that;
+  Not birds, nor beasts; but just a kind of bat:
+  A twilight animal, true to neither cause,
+  With Tory wings, but Whigish teeth and claws[2].
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. There is in Mr Bindley's collection another Epilogue, which appears
+   to have been originally subjoined to the "Duke of Guise." It is
+   extremely coarse; and as the author himself suppressed it, the
+   editor will not do his better judgment the injustice to revive it.
+
+2. The Trimmers, a body small and unpopular, as must always be the
+   case with those, who in violent times declare for moderate and
+   temporising measures, were headed by the ingenious and politic
+   Halifax. He had much of the confidence, at least of the countenance
+   of Charles, who was divided betwixt tenderness for Monmouth, and
+   love of ease, on the one hand, and, on the other, desire of
+   arbitrary power, and something like fear of the duke of York.
+   Halifax repeatedly prevented each of these parties from subjugating
+   the other, and his ambidexter services seem to have been rewarded
+   by the sincere hatred of both. In 1688 was published a vindication
+   of this party, entitled, "the Character of a Trimmer;" and his
+   opinion of,--I. The laws of government. II. Protestant Religion.
+   III. Foreign affairs. By the Hon. Sir William Coventry.
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                             VINDICATION:
+
+                               OR, THE
+
+                               PARALLEL
+
+                                OF THE
+
+                         FRENCH HOLY LEAGUE,
+
+                               AND THE
+
+                     ENGLISH LEAGUE AND COVENANT,
+
+            TURNED INTO A SEDITIOUS LIBEL AGAINST THE KING
+
+                       AND HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS,
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                             THOMAS HUNT,
+
+             AND THE AUTHORS OF THE REFLECTIONS UPON THE
+
+                PRETENDED PARALLEL IN THE PLAY CALLED
+
+                          THE DUKE OF GUISE.
+
+
+            _Turno tempus erit magno cum optaverit emptum
+            Intactum Pallanta: et cum spolia ista, diemque
+            Oderit.--_
+
+
+
+
+                  VINDICATION OF THE DUKE OF GUISE.
+
+
+It was easy to foresee, that a play, which professed to be a
+_broadside_ discharged at the whole popular party, would not long
+remain uncensured. The satire being derived from a historical parallel
+of some delicacy, offered certain facilities of attack to the critics.
+It was only stretching the resemblance beyond the bounds to which
+Dryden had limited it, and the comparison became odious, if not
+dangerous. The whig writers did not neglect this obvious mode of
+attack, now rendered more popular by the encroachment lately attempted
+by the court upon the freedom of the city, whose magistrates had been
+exposed to ridicule in the play.
+
+Our readers cannot but remember, that, in order to break the spirit of
+the city of London, a writ of _quo warranto_ was issued against the
+incorporation, by which was instituted a vexatious and captious
+inquiry into the validity of the charter of London. The purpose of
+this process was to compel the city to resign their freedom and
+immunities into the king's hands, and to receive a new grant of them,
+so limited, as might be consistent with the views of the crown, or
+otherwise to declare them forfeited. One Thomas Hunt, a lawyer of some
+eminence, who had been solicitor for the Viscount Stafford when that
+unfortunate nobleman was tried for high treason, and had written upon
+the side of the tories, but had now altered his principles, stepped
+forward upon this occasion as the champion of the immunities of the
+city of London[1]. The ludicrous light in which the sheriffs are
+placed, during the scene with Grillon in the third act, gave great
+offence to this active partizan; and he gives vent to his displeasure
+in the following attack upon the author, and the performance.
+
+  "They have already condemned the charter and city, and have executed
+  the magistrates in effigy upon the stage, in a play called "The Duke
+  of Guise," frequently acted and applauded; intended most certainly,
+  to provoke the rabble into tumults and disorder. The Roman priest
+  had no success, (God be thanked,) when he animated the people not to
+  suffer the same sheriffs to be carried through the city to the
+  Tower, prisoners. Now the poet hath undertaken, for their being
+  kicked three or four times a-week about the stage to the gallows,
+  infamously rogued and rascalled, to try what he can do towards
+  making the charter forfeitable, by some extravagancy and disorder of
+  the people, which the authority of the best governed cities have not
+  been able to prevent, sometimes under far less provocations.
+
+  "But this ought not to move the citizens, when he hath so
+  maliciously and mischievously represented the king, and the king's
+  son, nay, and his favourite the duke too, to whom he gives the worst
+  strokes of his unlucky fancy.
+
+  "He puts the king under the person of Henry III. of France, who
+  appeared in the head of the _Parisian_ massacre; the king's son
+  under the person of the Duke of Guise, who concerted it with the
+  Queen-mother of France, and was slain in that very place, by the
+  righteous judgment of God, where he and his mother had first
+  contrived it.
+
+  "The Duke of Guise ought to have represented a great prince, that
+  had inserved to some most detestable villany, to please the rage, or
+  lust, of a tyrant.
+
+  "Such great courtiers have been often sacrificed, to appease the
+  furies of the tyrant's guilty conscience, to expiate for his sin,
+  and to atone the people.
+
+  "Besides, that a tyrant naturally stands in fear of ministers of
+  mighty wickedness; he is always obnoxious to them, he is a slave to
+  them, as long as they live they remember him of his guilt, and awe
+  him. These wicked slaves become most imperious masters: they drag
+  him to greater evils for their own impunity, than they first
+  perpetrated for his pleasure, and their own ambition.
+
+  "But such are best given up to public justice, but by no means to be
+  assassinated. Until this age, never before was an assassination
+  invited, commended, and encouraged upon a public theatre.
+
+  "It is no wonder that _Trimmers_ (so they call men of some
+  moderation of that party) displease them; for they seem to have
+  designs for which it behoves them to know their men; they must be
+  perfectly wicked, or perfectly deceived; of the Catiline make; bold,
+  and without understanding; that can adhere to men that publicly
+  profess murders, and applaud the design.
+
+  "Caius Caesar (to give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's) was in
+  the Catiline conspiracy; and then the word was, _he that is not for
+  us is against us;_ for the instruments of wickedness must be men
+  that are resolute and forward, and without consideration; or they
+  will deceive the design, and relent when they enterprize.
+
+  "But when he was made dictator, and had some pretences, and a
+  probability by means less wicked and mischievous to arrive at the
+  government, his words were, _he that is not against us is with us._
+  But to Pompey only it belonged, and to his cause, or the like cause,
+  to the defenders of ancient established governments, of the English
+  monarchy and liberties, to say, they that are not with us are
+  against us. _In internecino bello,_ in attacks upon government,
+  _medii pro hostibus habentur,_ neutral men are traitors, and assist,
+  by their indifferency, to the destruction of the government. As many
+  as applaud this play, ought to be put under sureties of the peace;
+  and yet not one warrant, that we hear of yet, granted by the Lord
+  Chief Justice.
+
+  "But it is not a Duke of Guise to be assassinated, a turbulent,
+  wicked, and haughty courtier; but an innocent and gentle prince, as
+  well as brave, and renowned for noble achievements: a prince, that
+  hath no fault, but that he is the king's son; and the best too of
+  all his sons; such a son, as would have made the best of emperors
+  happy.
+
+  "Except it be, that the people honour him and love him, and every
+  where publicly and loudly show it: But this they do, for that the
+  best people of England have no other way left to show their loyalty
+  to the king, and love to their religion and government, in long
+  intervals of Parliament, than by prosecuting his son, for the sake
+  of the king and his own merit, with all the demonstrations of the
+  highest esteem.
+
+  "But he hath not used his patron Duke much better; for he hath put
+  him under a most dismal and unfortunate character of a successor,
+  excluded from the crown by act of state for his religion, who fought
+  his way to the crown, changed his religion, and died by the hand of
+  a Roman assassinate.
+
+  "It is enough to make his great duke's courage quail, to find
+  himself under such an unlucky and disastrous representation, and
+  thus personated; besides, he hath offered a justification of an act
+  of exclusion against a popish successor, in a Protestant kingdom, by
+  remembering what was done against the king of Navarre.
+
+  "The Popish religion, in France, did, _de facto,_ by act of state,
+  exclude a Protestant prince, who is under no obligation, from his
+  religion, to destroy his Popish subjects.
+
+  "Though a Popish prince is, to destroy his Protestant subjects.
+
+  "A Popish prince, to a Protestant kingdom, without more, must be the
+  most insufferable tyrant, and exceed the character that any story
+  can furnish for that sort of monster: And yet all the while to
+  himself a religious and an applauded prince; discharged from the
+  tortures that ordinarily tear and rend the hearts of the most cruel
+  princes, and make them as uneasy to themselves as they are to their
+  subjects, and sometimes prevail so far as to lay some restraints
+  upon their wicked minds.
+
+  "But this his patron will impute to his want of judgment; for this
+  poet's heroes are commonly such monsters as Theseus and Hercules
+  are, renowned throughout all ages for destroying.
+
+  "But to excuse him, this man hath forsaken his post, and entered
+  upon another province. To "The Observator"[2] it belongs to confound
+  truth and falsehood; and, by his false colours and impostures, to
+  put out the eyes of the people, and leave them without
+  understanding.
+
+  "But our poet hath not so much art left him as to frame any thing
+  agreeable, or _verisimilar_, to amuse the people, or wherewith to
+  deceive them.
+
+  "His province is to corrupt the manners of the nation, and lay waste
+  their morals; his understanding is clapt, and his brains are
+  vitiated, and he is to rot the age.
+
+  "His endeavours are more happily applied, to extinguish the little
+  remains of the virtue of the age by bold impieties, and befooling
+  religion by impious and inept rhymes, to confound virtue and vice,
+  good and evil, and leave us without consciences.
+
+  "And thus we are prepared for destruction.
+
+  "But to give the world a taste of his atheism and impiety, I shall
+  recite two of his verses, as recited upon the stage, viz.
+
+    For conscience, and heaven's fear, religious rules,
+    They are all state-bells to toll in pious fools;
+
+  which I have done the rather, that some honest judge, or justice,
+  may direct a process against this bold impious man; or some honest
+  surrogate, or official, may find leisure to proceed, _ex officio,_
+  against him, notwithstanding at present they are so encumbered with
+  the dissenters.
+
+  "Such public blasphemies against religion, never were unpunished in
+  any country, or age, but this.
+
+  "But I have made too long a digression, but that it carries with it
+  some instructions towards the preserving of the honour of your
+  august city, viz.
+
+  "That you do not hereafter authorise the stage to expose and revile
+  your great officers, and offices, by the indignities yourselves do
+  them; whilst the Papists clap their hands, and triumph at your
+  public disgraces, and in the hopes they conceive thereby of the ruin
+  of your government, as if that were as sure and certain to them, as
+  it is to us, without doubt, that they once fired it.
+
+  "And further, for that it was fit to set forth to the world, of what
+  spirit our enemies are, how they intend to attack us; as also, how
+  bold they are with his majesty, what false and dishonourable
+  representations they make of him, and present to the world upon a
+  public theatre; which, I must confess, hath moved me with some
+  passion."
+
+This angry barrister was not the only adversary whom Dryden had to
+encounter on this occasion. Thomas Shadwell, a man of some talents for
+comedy, and who professed to tread in the footsteps of Ben Jonson, had
+for some time been at variance with Dryden and Otway. He was probably
+the author of a poem, entitled, "A Lenten Prologue, refused by the
+Players;" which is marked by Mr Luttrel, 11th April, 1683, and
+contains the following direct attack on "The Duke of Guise," and the
+author:
+
+  Our prologue wit grows flat; the nap's worn off,
+  And howsoe'er we turn and trim the stuff,
+  The gloss is gone that looked at first so gaudy;
+  'Tis now no jest to hear young girls talk bawdry.
+  But plots and parties give new matters birth,
+  And state distractions serve you here for mirth.
+  At England's cost poets now purchase fame;
+  While factious heats destroy us, without shame,
+  These wanton Neroes fiddle to the flame;
+  The stage, like old rump-pulpits, is become
+  The scene of news, a furious party's drum:
+  Here poets beat their brains for volunteers,
+  And take fast hold of asses by their ears;
+  Their jingling rhimes for reason here you swallow,
+  Like Orpheus' music, it makes beasts to follow.
+  What an enlightening grace is want of bread!
+  How it can change a libeller's heart, and clear a laureat's head;
+  Open his eyes, till the mad prophet see
+  _Plots working in a future power to be!_             (Medal, p. 14.)
+  Traitors unformed to his second sight are clear.
+  And squadrons here and squadrons there appear;
+  Rebellion is the burden of the seer.
+  To Bayes, in vision, were of late revealed,
+  _Whig armies, that at Knightsbridge lay concealed;_
+  And though no mortal eye could see't before,
+  _The battle just was entering at the door._
+  A dangerous association, signed by none,
+  The joiner's plot to seize the king alone.
+  Stephen with College[3] made this dire compact;
+  The watchful Irish took them in the fact.
+  Of riding armed; O traitorous overt act!
+  With each of them an ancient Pistol sided,
+  Against the statute in that case provided.
+  But, why was such a host of swearers pressed?
+  Their succour was ill husbandry at best.
+  Bayes's crowned muse, by sovereign right of satire,
+  Without desert, can dub a man a traitor;
+  And tories, without troubling law or reason,
+  By loyal instinct can find plots and treason.
+
+A more formal attack was made in a pamphlet, entitled, "Some
+Reflections on the pretended parallel in the Play called the Duke of
+Guise." This Dryden, in the following Vindication, supposes to have
+been sketched by Shadwell, and finished by a gentleman of the
+Temple[4]. In these Reflections, the obvious ground of attack,
+occupied by Hunt, is again resumed. The general indecency of a
+theatrical exhibition, which alluded to state-transactions of a grave
+and most important nature; the indecorum of comparing the king to such
+a monarch as Henry III., infamous for treachery, cruelty, and vices of
+the most profligate nature; above all, the parallel betwixt the Dukes
+of Monmouth and Guise, by which the former is exhibited as a traitor
+to his father, and recommended as no improper object for
+assassination--are topics insisted on at some length, and with great
+vehemence.
+
+Our author was not insensible to these attacks, by which his loyalty
+to the king, and the decency of his conduct towards Monmouth, the
+king's offending, but still beloved, son, and once Dryden's own
+patron, stood painfully compromised. Accordingly, shortly after these
+pamphlets had appeared, the following advertisement was annexed to
+"The Duke of Guise:"
+
+  "There was a preface intended to this play in vindication of it,
+  against two scurrilous libels lately printed; but it was judged,
+  that a defence of this nature would require more room than a preface
+  reasonably could allow. For this cause, and for the importunities of
+  the stationers, who hastened their impression, it is deferred for
+  some little time, and will be printed by itself. Most men are
+  already of opinion, that neither of the pamphlets deserve an answer,
+  because they are stuffed with open falsities, and sometimes
+  contradict each other; but, for once, they shall have a day or two
+  thrown away upon them, though I break an old custom for their sakes,
+  which was,--to scorn them."
+
+The resolution, thus announced, did not give universal satisfaction to
+our author's friends; one of whom published the following
+remonstrance, which contains some good sense, in very indifferent
+poetry:
+
+  _An Epode to his worthy Friend_ JOHN DRYDEN, _to advise him not to
+    answer two malicious Pamphlets against his Tragedy called_ "The
+    Duke of Guise." (_Marked by Luttrel, 10 March, 1683/4._)
+
+  Can angry frowns rest on thy noble brow
+    For trivial things;
+  Or, can a stream of muddy water flow
+    From the Muses' springs;
+  Or great Apollo bend his vengeful bow
+    'Gainst popular stings?
+  Desist thy passion then; do not engage
+  Thyself against the wittols of the age.
+
+  Should we by stiff Tom Thimble's faction fall,
+    Lord, with what noise
+  The Coffee throats would bellow, and the Ball
+    O' the Change rejoice,
+  And with the company of Pinner's Hall
+    Lift up their voice!
+  Once the head's gone, the good cause is secure;
+  The members cannot long resist our power.
+
+  Crop not their humours; let the wits proceed
+    Till they have thrown
+  Their venom up; and made themselves indeed
+    Rare fops o'ergrown:
+  Let them on nasty garbage prey and feed,
+    Till all is done;
+  And, by thy great resentment, think it fit
+  To crush their hopes, as humble as their wit.
+
+  Consider the occasion, and you'll find
+    Yourself severe,
+  And unto rashness much more here inclined,
+    By far, than they're:
+  Consider them as in their proper kind,
+    'Tween rage and fear,
+  And then the reason will appear most plain,--
+  A worm that's trod on will turn back again.
+
+  What if they censure without brain or sense,
+    'Tis now the fashion;
+  Each giddy fop endeavours to commence
+    A reformation.
+  Pardon them for their native ignorance,
+    And brainsick passion;
+  For, after all, true men of sense will say,--
+  Their works can never parallel thy play.
+
+  'Twere fond to pamper spleen, 'cause owls detest
+    The light of day;
+  Or real nonsense, which endures no test,
+    Condemns thy play.
+  Lodge not such petty trifles in thy breast,
+    But bar their sway;
+  And let them know, that thy heroic bays
+  Can scorn their censure, as it doth their praise.
+
+  Think not thy answer will their nice reclaim,
+    Whose heads are proof
+  Against all reason, and in spite of shame
+    Will stand aloof;
+  'Twould cherish further libels on thy fame,
+    Should these thee move.
+  Stand firm, my Dryden, maugre all their plots,
+  Thy bays shall flourish when their ivy rots.
+
+  But if you are resolved to break your use,
+    And basely sin,
+  In answer; I'll be sworn some haggard muse
+    Has you in her gin;
+  Or in a fit you venture to abuse
+    Your Polyhymn',
+  You may serve him so far: But if you do,
+  All your true friends, sir, will reflect on you.
+
+The remonstrance of this friendly poet was unavailing; Dryden having
+soon after published the following Vindication.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. "A Defence of the Charter and Municipal Rights of the City of
+   London, and the Rights of other Municipal Cities and Towns of
+   England. Directed to the Citizens of London, by Thomas Hunt.
+
+     _Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur._
+
+   London, printed, and to be sold, by Richard Baldwin." 4to, pages
+   46.
+
+   Wood informs us, that Thomas Hunt, the author, was educated at
+   Queen's College, Cambridge, and was esteemed a person of quick
+   parts, and of a ready fluency in discourse, but withal too pert and
+   forward. He was called to the bar, and esteemed a good lawyer. In
+   1659 he became clerk of the assizes at Oxford circuit, but was
+   ejected from the office at the Restoration, to his great loss, to
+   make room for the true owner. He wrote, "An Argument for the
+   Bishops' right of judging in capital Cases in Parliament, &c.;" for
+   which he expected (says Anthony) no less than to be made lord chief
+   baron of the exchequer in Ireland. But falling short of that
+   honourable office, which he too ambitiously catched at, and
+   considering the loss of another place, which he unjustly possessed,
+   he soon after appeared one of the worst and most inveterate enemies
+   to church and state that was in his time, and the most malicious,
+   and withal the most ignorant, scribbler of the whole herd; and was
+   thereupon stiled, by a noted author, (Dryden, in the following
+   Vindication,) _Magni nominis umbra_. Hunt also published, "Great
+   and weighty Considerations on the Duke of York, &c." in favour of
+   the exclusion. He had also the boldness to republish his high
+   church tract in favour of the bishops' jurisdiction, with a whig
+   postscript tending to destroy his own arguments.--_Ath. Ox._ II, p.
+   728.
+
+2. A tory paper, then conducted with great zeal, and some
+   controversial talent, by Sir Roger L'Estrange.
+
+3. Alluding to the fate of Stephen College, the Protestant joiner; a
+   meddling, pragmatical fellow, who put himself so far forward in the
+   disputes at Oxford, as to draw down the vengeance of the court. He
+   was very harshly treated during his trial; and though in the toils,
+   and deprived of all assistance, defended himself with right English
+   manliness. He was charged with the ballad on page 6. and with
+   coming to Oxford armed to attack the guards. He said he did not
+   deny he had pistols in his holsters at Oxford; to which Jefferies
+   answered, indecently, but not unaptly, he "thought a chissel might
+   have been more proper for a joiner." Poor College was executed; a
+   vengeance unworthy of the king, who might have apostrophised him as
+   Hamlet does Polonius:
+
+     Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell;
+     I took thee for thy betters--take thy fortune.
+     Thou findst, to be too busy is some danger.
+
+4. Anthony Wood is followed by Mr Malone in supposing, that Hunt
+   himself is the Templar alluded to. But Dryden seems obviously to
+   talk of the author of the Defence, and the two Reflectors, as three
+   separate persons. He calls them, "the sputtering triumvirate, Mr
+   Hunt, and the two Reflectors;" and again, "What says my lord chief
+   baron (i.e. Hunt) to the business? What says the livery-man
+   Templar? What says Og, the king of Basan (i.e. Shadwell) to it?"
+   The Templar may be discovered, when we learn, who hired a
+   livery-gown to give a vote among the electors.
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                             VINDICATION
+
+                                  OF
+
+                          THE DUKE OF GUISE.
+
+
+In the year of his majesty's happy Restoration, the first play I
+undertook was the "Duke of Guise;" as the fairest way, which the Act
+of Indemnity had then left us, of setting forth the rise of the late
+rebellion; and by exploding the villainies of it upon the stage, to
+precaution posterity against the like errors.
+
+As this was my first essay, so it met with the fortune of an
+unfinished piece; that is to say, it was damned in private, by the
+advice of some friends to whom I shewed it; who freely told me, that
+it was an excellent subject; but not so artificially wrought, as they
+could have wished; and now let my enemies make their best of this
+confession.
+
+The scene of the Duke of Guise's return to Paris, against the king's
+positive command, was then written. I have the copy of it still by me,
+almost the same which it now remains, being taken verbatim out of
+Davila; for where the action is remarkable, and the very words
+related, the poet is not at liberty to change them much; and if he
+will be adding any thing for ornament, it ought to be wholly of a
+piece. This do I take for a sufficient justification of that scene,
+unless they will make the pretended parallel to be a prophecy, as well
+as a parallel of accidents, that were twenty years after to come.[1]
+Neither do I find, that they can suggest the least colour for it in
+any other part of the tragedy.
+
+But now comes the main objection,--why was it stopt then? To which I
+shall render this just account, with all due respects to those who
+were the occasion of it.
+
+Upon a wandering rumour (which I will divide betwixt malice and
+mistake) that some great persons were represented, or personated in
+it, the matter was complained of to my Lord Chamberlain; who,
+thereupon, appointed the play to be brought to him, and prohibited the
+acting of it until further order; commanding me, after this, to wait
+upon his lordship; which I did, and humbly desired him to compare the
+play with the history, from whence the subject was taken, referring to
+the first scene of the fourth act, whereupon the exception was
+grounded, and leaving Davila (the original) with his lordship. This
+was before midsummer; and about two months after, I received the play
+back again from his lordship, but without any positive order whether
+it should be acted or not; neither was Mr Lee, or myself, any way
+solicitous about it. But this indeed I ever said, that it was intended
+for the king's service; and his majesty was the best judge, whether it
+answered that end or no; and that I reckoned it my duty to submit, if
+his majesty, for any reason whatsoever, should deem it unfit for the
+stage. In the interim, a strict scrutiny was made, and no parallel of
+the great person designed, could be made out. But this push failing,
+there were immediately started some terrible insinuations, that the
+person of his majesty was represented under that of Henry the Third;
+which if they could have found out, would have concluded, perchance,
+not only in the stopping of the play, but in the hanging up of the
+poets. But so it was, that his majesty's wisdom and justice acquitted
+both the one, and the other; and when the play itself was almost
+forgotten, there were orders given for the acting of it.
+
+This is matter of fact; and I have the honour of so great witnesses to
+the truth of what I have delivered, that it will need no other appeal.
+As to the exposing of any person living, our innocency is so clear,
+that it is almost unnecessary to say, it was not in my thought; and,
+as far as any one man can vouch for another, I do believe it was as
+little in Mr Lee's. And now since some people have been so busy as to
+cast out false and scandalous surmises, how far we two agreed upon the
+writing of it, I must do a common right both to Mr Lee and myself, to
+declare publicly, that it was at his earnest desire, without any
+solicitation of mine, that this play was produced betwixt us. After
+the writing of OEdipus, I passed a promise to join with him in
+another; and he happened to claim the performance of that promise,
+just upon the finishing of a poem,[2] when I would have been glad of a
+little respite before the undertaking of a second task. The person,
+that passed betwixt us, knows this to be true; and Mr Lee himself, I
+am sure, will not disown it; So that I did not "seduce him to join
+with me," as the malicious authors of the Reflections are pleased to
+call it; but Mr Lee's loyalty is above so ridiculous a slander. I know
+very well, that the town did ignorantly call and take this to be my
+play; but I shall not arrogate to myself the merits of my friend.
+Two-thirds of it belonged to him; and to me only the first scene of
+the play; the whole fourth act, and the first half, or somewhat more,
+of the fifth.
+
+The pamphleteers, I know, do very boldly insinuate, that, "before the
+acting of it, I took the whole play to myself; but finding afterwards
+how ill success it had upon the stage, I threw as much of it as
+possibly I could upon my fellow." Now here are three damned lies
+crowded together into a very little room; first, that I assumed any
+part of it to myself, which I had not written; wherein I appeal, not
+only to my particular acquaintance, but to the whole company of
+actors, who will witness for me, that, in all the rehearsals, I never
+pretended to any one scene of Mr Lee's, but did him all imaginable
+right, in his title to the greater part of it. I hope I may, without
+vanity, affirm to the world, that I never stood in need of borrowing
+another man's reputation; and I have been as little guilty of the
+injustice, of laying claim to any thing which was not my own. Nay, I
+durst almost refer myself to some of the angry poets on the other
+side, whether I have not rather countenanced and assisted their
+beginnings, than hindered them from rising.[3] The two other falsities
+are, the "ill success of the play," and "my disowning it." The former
+is manifestly without foundation; for it succeeded beyond my very
+hopes, having been frequently acted, and never without a considerable
+audience; and then it is a thousand to one, that, having no ground to
+disown it, I did not disown it; but the universe to a nutshell that I
+did not disown it for want of success, when it succeeded so much
+beyond my expectation. But my malignant adversaries are the more
+excusable for this coarse method of breaking in upon truth and good
+manners, because it is the only way they have to gratify the genius
+and the interest of the faction together; and never so much pains
+taken neither, to so very, very little purpose. They decry the play,
+but in such a manner, that it has the effect of a recommendation. They
+call it "a dull entertainment;" and that is a dangerous word, I must
+confess, from one of the greatest masters in human nature, of that
+faculty. Now I can forgive them this reproach too, after all the rest;
+for this play does openly discover the original and root of the
+practices and principles, both of their party and cause; and they are
+so well acquainted with all the trains and mazes of rebellion, that
+there is nothing new to them in the whole history. Or what if it were
+a little insipid, there was no conjuring that I remember in "Pope
+Joan;" and the "Lancashire Witches" were without doubt the most
+insipid jades that ever flew upon a stage; and even these, by the
+favour of a party, made a shift to hold up their heads.[4] Now, if we
+have out-done these plays in their own dull way, their authors have
+some sort of privilege to throw the first stone; but we shall rather
+chuse to yield the point of dulness, than contend for it, against so
+indisputable a claim.
+
+But "matters of state (it seems) are canvassed on the stage, and
+things of the gravest concernment there managed;" and who were the
+aggressors, I beseech you, but a few factious, popular hirelings, that
+by tampering the theatres, and by poisoning the people, made a
+play-house more seditious than a conventicle; so that the loyal party
+crave only the same freedom of defending the government, which the
+other took beforehand of exposing and defaming it. There was no
+complaint of any disorders of the stage, in the bustle that was made
+(even to the forming of a party) to uphold a farce of theirs.[5] Upon
+the first day, the whole faction (in a manner) appeared; but after one
+sight of it, they sent their proxies of serving-men and porters, to
+clap in the right of their patrons; and it was impossible ever to have
+gotten off the nonsense of three hours for half-a-crown, but for the
+providence of so congruous an audience. Thus far, I presume, the
+reckoning is even, for bad plays on both sides, and for plays written
+for a party. I shall say nothing of their poets' affection to the
+government; unless upon an absolute and an odious necessity. But to
+return to the pretended Parallel.
+
+I have said enough already to convince any man of common sense, that
+there neither was, nor could be, any Parallel intended; and it will
+farther appear, from the nature of the subject; there being no
+relation betwixt Henry the Third and the Duke of Guise, except that of
+the king's marrying into the family of Lorraine. If a comparison had
+been designed, how easy had it been either to have found a story, or
+to have invented one, where the ties of nature had been nearer? If we
+consider their actions, or their persons, a much less proportion will
+be yet found betwixt them; and if we bate the popularity, perhaps none
+at all. If we consider them in reference to their parties, the one was
+manifestly the leader; the other, at the worst, is but misled. The
+designs of the one tended openly to usurpation; those of the other may
+yet be interpreted more fairly; and I hope, from the natural candour
+and probity of his temper, that it will come to a perfect submission
+and reconcilement at last. But that which perfectly destroys this
+pretended Parallel is, that our picture of the Duke of Guise is
+exactly according to the original in the history; his actions, his
+manners, nay, sometimes his very words, are so justly copied, that
+whoever has read him in Davila, sees him the same here. There is no
+going out of the way, no dash of a pen to make any by-feature resemble
+him to any other man; and indeed, excepting his ambition, there was
+not in France, or perhaps in any other country, any man of his age
+vain enough to hope he could be mistaken for him.[6] So that if you
+would have made a Parallel, we could not. And yet I fancy, that where
+I make it my business to draw likeness, it will be no hard matter to
+judge who sate for the picture. For the Duke of Guise's return to
+Paris contrary to the king's order, enough already has been said; it
+was too considerable in the story to be omitted, because it occasioned
+the mischiefs that ensued. But in this likeness, which was only
+casual, no danger followed. I am confident there was none intended;
+and am satisfied that none was feared. But the argument drawn from our
+evident design is yet, if possible, more convincing. The first words
+of the prologue spake the play to be a Parallel, and then you are
+immediately informed how far that Parallel extended, and of what it is
+so: "The Holy League begot the Covenant, Guisards got the Whig, &c."
+So then it is not, (as the snarling authors of the Reflections tell
+you) a Parallel of the men, but of the times; a Parallel of the
+factions, and of the leaguers. And every one knows that this prologue
+was written before the stopping of the play. Neither was the name
+altered on any such account as they insinuate, but laid aside long
+before, because a book called the Parallel had been printed,
+resembling the French League to the English Covenant; and therefore we
+thought it not convenient to make use of another man's title.[7] The
+chief person in the tragedy, or he whose disasters are the subject of
+it, may in reason give the name; and so it was called the "Duke of
+Guise." Our intention therefore was to make the play a Parallel
+betwixt the Holy League, plotted by the house of Guise and its
+adherents, with the Covenant plotted by the rebels in the time of king
+Charles I. and those of the new Association, which was the spawn of
+the old Covenant.
+
+But this parallel is plain, that the exclusion of the lawful heir was
+the main design of both parties; and that the endeavours to get the
+lieutenancy of France established on the head of the League, is in
+effect the same with offering to get the militia out of the king's
+hand (as declared by parliament,) and consequently, that the power of
+peace and war should be wholly in the people. It is also true that the
+tumults in the city, in the choice of their officers, have had no
+small resemblance with a Parisian rabble: and I am afraid that both
+their faction and ours had the same good lord. I believe also, that if
+Julian had been written and calculated for the Parisians, as it was
+for our sectaries, one of their sheriffs might have mistaken too, and
+called him Julian the Apostle.[8] I suppose I need not push this point
+any further; where the parallel was intended, I am certain it will
+reach; but a larger account of the proceedings in the city may be
+expected from a better hand, and I have no reason to forestall it.[9]
+In the mean time, because there has been no actual rebellion, the
+faction triumph in their loyalty; which if it were out of principle,
+all our divisions would soon be ended, and we the happy people, which
+God and the constitution of our government have put us in condition to
+be; but so long as they take it for a maxim, that the king is but an
+officer in trust, that the people, or their representatives, are
+superior to him, judges of miscarriages, and have power of revocation,
+it is a plain case, that whenever they please they may take up arms;
+and, according to their doctrine, lawfully too. Let them jointly
+renounce this one opinion, as in conscience and law they are bound to
+do, because both scripture and acts of parliament oblige them to it,
+and we will then thank their obedience for our quiet, whereas now we
+are only beholden to them for their fear. The miseries of the last war
+are yet too fresh in all men's memory; and they are not rebels, only
+because they have been so too lately. An author of theirs has told us
+roundly the west-country proverb; _Chud eat more cheese, and chad it;_
+their stomach is as good as ever it was; but the mischief on't is,
+they are either muzzled, or want their teeth. If there were as many
+fanatics now in England, as there were christians in the empire, when
+Julian reigned, I doubt we should not find them much inclined to
+passive obedience; and, "Curse ye Meroz"[10] would be oftener preached
+upon, than "Give to Caesar," except in the sense Mr Hunt means it.
+
+Having clearly shewn wherein the parallel consisted, which no man can
+mistake, who does not wilfully, I need not justify myself, in what
+concerns the sacred person of his majesty. Neither the French history,
+nor our own, could have supplied me, nor Plutarch himself, were he now
+alive, could have found a Greek or Roman to have compared to him, in
+that eminent virtue of his clemency; even his enemies must acknowledge
+it to be superlative, because they live by it. Far be it from
+flattery, if I say, that there is nothing under heaven, which can
+furnish me with a parallel; and that, in his mercy, he is of all men
+the truest image of his Maker.
+
+Henry III. was a prince of a mixed character; he had, as an old
+historian says of another, _magnas virtutes, nec minora vitia;_ but
+amongst those virtues, I do not find his forgiving qualities to be
+much celebrated. That he was deeply engaged in the bloody massacre of
+St Bartholomew, is notoriously known; and if the relation printed in
+the memoirs of Villeroy be true, he confesses there that the Admiral
+having brought him and the queen-mother into suspicion with his
+brother then reigning, for endeavouring to lessen his authority, and
+draw it to themselves, he first designed his accuser's death by
+Maurevel, who shot him with a carbine, but failed to kill him; after
+which, he pushed on the king to that dreadful revenge, which
+immediately succeeded. It is true, the provocations were high; there
+had been reiterated rebellions, but a peace was now concluded; it was
+solemnly sworn to by both parties, and as great an assurance of safety
+given to the protestants, as the word of a king and public instruments
+could make it. Therefore the punishment was execrable, and it pleased
+God, (if we may dare to judge of his secret providence,) to cut off
+that king in the very flower of his youth, to blast his successor in
+his undertakings, to raise against him the Duke of Guise, the
+complotter and executioner of that inhuman action, (who, by the divine
+justice, fell afterwards into the same snare which he had laid for
+others,) and, finally, to die a violent death himself, murdered by a
+priest, an enthusiast of his own religion.[11] From these premises,
+let it be concluded, if reasonably it can, that we could draw a
+parallel, where the lines were so diametrically opposite. We were
+indeed obliged, by the laws of poetry, to cast into shadows the vices
+of this prince; for an excellent critic has lately told us, that when
+a king is named, a hero is supposed;[12] it is a reverence due to
+majesty, to make the virtues as conspicuous, and the vices as obscure,
+as we can possibly; and this, we own, we have either performed, or at
+least endeavoured. But if we were more favourable to that character
+than the exactness of history would allow, we have been far from
+diminishing a greater, by drawing it into comparison. You may see,
+through the whole conduct of the play, a king naturally severe, and a
+resolution carried on to revenge himself to the uttermost on the
+rebellious conspirators. That this was sometimes shaken by reasons of
+policy and pity, is confessed; but it always returned with greater
+force, and ended at last in the ruin of his enemies. In the mean time
+we cannot but observe the wonderful loyalty on the other side; that
+the play was to be stopped, because the king was represented. May we
+have many such proofs of their duty and respect! but there was no
+occasion for them here. It is to be supposed, that his majesty himself
+was made acquainted with this objection; if he were so, he was the
+supreme and only judge of it; and then the event justifies us. If it
+were inspected only by those whom he commanded, it is hard if his own
+officers and servants should not see as much ill in it as other men,
+and be as willing to prevent it; especially when there was no
+solicitation used to have it acted. It is known that noble person,[13]
+to whom it was referred, is a severe critic on good sense, decency,
+and morality; and I can assure the world, that the rules of Horace are
+more familiar to him, than they are to me. He remembers too well that
+the _vetus comaedia_ was banished from the Athenian theatre for its too
+much licence in representing persons, and would never have pardoned it
+in this or any play.
+
+What opinion Henry III. had of his successor, is evident from the
+words he spoke upon his deathbed: "he exhorted the nobility," says
+Davila, "to acknowledge the king of Navarre, to whom the kingdom of
+right belonged; and that they should not stick at the difference of
+religion; for both the king of Navarre, a man of a sincere noble
+nature, would in the end return into the bosom of the church, and the
+pope, being better informed, would receive him into his favour, to
+prevent the ruin of the whole kingdom." I hope I shall not need in
+this quotation to defend myself, as if it were my opinion, that the
+pope has any right to dispose of kingdoms; my meaning is evident, that
+the king's judgment of his brother-in-law, was the same which I have
+copied; and I must farther add from Davila, that the arguments I have
+used in defence of that succession were chiefly drawn from the king's
+answer to the deputies, as they may be seen more at large in pages
+730, and 731, of the first edition of that history in English. There
+the three estates, to the wonder of all men, jointly concurred in
+cutting off the succession; the clergy, who were managed by the
+archbishop of Lyons and cardinal of Guise, were the first who promoted
+it; and the commons and nobility afterwards consented, as referring
+themselves, says our author, to the clergy; so that there was only the
+king to stand in the gap; and he by artifice diverted that storm which
+was breaking upon posterity.
+
+The crown was then reduced to the lowest ebb of its authority; and the
+king, in a manner, stood single, and yet preserved his negative
+entire; but if the clergy and nobility had been on his part of the
+balance, it might reasonably be supposed, that the meeting of those
+estates at Blois had healed the breaches of the nation, and not forced
+him to the _ratio ultima regum_, which is never to be praised, nor is
+it here, but only excused as the last result of his necessity. As for
+the parallel betwixt the king of Navarre, and any other prince now
+living, what likeness the God of Nature, and the descent of virtues in
+the same channel have produced, is evident; I have only to say, that
+the nation certainly is happy, where the royal virtues of the
+progenitors are derived on their descendants.[14]
+
+In that scene, it is true, there is but one of the three estates
+mentioned; but the other two are virtually included; for the
+archbishop and cardinal are at the head of the deputies: And that the
+rest are mute persons every critic understands the reason, _ne quarta
+loqui persona laboret_. I am never willing to cumber the stage with
+many speakers, when I can reasonably avoid it, as here I might. And
+what if I had a mind to pass over the clergy and nobility of France in
+silence, and to excuse them from joining in so illegal, and so ungodly
+a decree? Am I tied in poetry to the strict rules of history? I have
+followed it in this play more closely than suited with the laws of the
+drama, and a great victory they will have, who shall discover to the
+world this wonderful secret, that I have not observed the unities of
+place and time; but are they better kept in the farce of the
+"Libertine destroyed?"[15] It was our common business here to draw the
+parallel of the times, and not to make an exact tragedy. For this once
+we were resolved to err with honest Shakespeare; neither can
+"Catiline" or "Sejanus," (written by the great master of our art,)
+stand excused, any more than we, from this exception; but if we must
+be criticised, some plays of our adversaries may be exposed, and let
+them reckon their gains when the dispute is ended. I am accused of
+ignorance, for speaking of the third estate, as not sitting in the
+same house with the other two. Let not those gentlemen mistake
+themselves; there are many things in plays to be accommodated to the
+country in which we live; I spoke to the understanding of an English
+audience. Our three estates now sit, and have long done so, in two
+houses; but our records bear witness, that they, according to the
+French custom, have sate in one; that is, the lords spiritual and
+temporal within the bar, and the commons without it. If that custom
+had been still continued here, it should have been so represented; but
+being otherwise, I was forced to write so as to be understood by our
+own countrymen. If these be errors, a bigger poet than either of us
+two has fallen into greater, and the proofs are ready, whenever the
+suit shall be recommenced.
+
+Mr Hunt, the Jehu of the party, begins very furiously with me, and
+says, "I have already condemned the charter and city, and have
+executed the magistrates in effigy upon the stage, in a play called
+the Duke of Guise, frequently acted and applauded, &c.[16]"
+
+Compare the latter end of this sentence with what the two authors of
+the Reflections, or perhaps the Associating Club of the
+Devil-tavern[17] write in the beginning of their libel:--"Never was
+mountain delivered of such a mouse; the fiercest Tories have been
+ashamed to defend this piece; they who have any sparks of wit among
+them are so true to their pleasure, that they will not suffer dulness
+to pass upon them for wit, nor tediousness for diversion; which is the
+reason that this piece has not met with the expected applause: I never
+saw a play more deficient in wit, good characters, or entertainment,
+than this is."
+
+For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against
+another time. You see, my lord chief baron[18] has delivered his
+opinion, that the play was frequently acted and applauded; but you of
+the jury have found _Ignoramus_, on the wit and the success of it.
+Oates, Dugdale and Turberville, never disagreed more than you do; let
+us know at last, which of the witnesses are true Protestants, and
+which are Irish[19]. But it seems your authors had contrary designs:
+Mr Hunt thought fit to say, "it was frequently acted and applauded,
+because," says he, "it was intended to provoke the rabble into tumults
+and disorder." Now, if it were not seen frequently, this argument
+would lose somewhat of its force. The Reflector's business went
+another way; it was to be allowed no reputation, no success; but to be
+damned root and branch, to prevent the prejudice it might do their
+party: accordingly, as much as in them lay, they have drawn a bill of
+exclusion for it on the stage. But what rabble was it to provoke? Are
+the audience of a play-house, which are generally persons of honour,
+noblemen, and ladies, or, at worst, as one of your authors calls his
+gallants, men of wit and pleasure about the town[20],--are these the
+rabble of Mr Hunt? I have seen a rabble at Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's
+night, and have heard of such a name as true Protestant
+meeting-houses; but a rabble is not to be provoked, where it never
+comes. Indeed, we had one in this tragedy, but it was upon the stage;
+and that's the reason why your Reflectors would break the glass, which
+has shewed them their own faces. The business of the theatre is to
+expose vice and folly; to dissuade men by examples from one, and to
+shame them out of the other. And however you may pervert our good
+intentions, it was here particularly to reduce men to loyalty, by
+shewing the pernicious consequences of rebellion, and popular
+insurrections. I believe no man, who loves the government, would be
+glad to see the rabble in such a posture, as they were represented in
+our play; but if the tragedy had ended on your side, the play had been
+a loyal witty poem; the success of it should have been recorded by
+immortal Og or Doeg[21], and the rabble scene should have been true
+Protestant, though a whig-devil were at the head of it.
+
+In the mean time, pray, where lies the relation betwixt the "Tragedy
+of the Duke of Guise," and the charter of London? Mr Hunt has found a
+rare connection, for he tacks them together, by the kicking of the
+sheriff's. That chain of thought was a little ominous, for something
+like a kicking has succeeded the printing of his book; and the charter
+of London was the quarrel. For my part, I have not law enough to state
+that question, much less decide it; let the charter shift for itself
+in Westminster-hall the government is somewhat wiser than to employ my
+ignorance on such a subject. My promise to honest Nat. Lee, was the
+only bribe I had, to engage me in this trouble; for which he has the
+good fortune to escape Scot-free, and I am left in pawn for the
+reckoning, who had the least share in the entertainment. But the
+rising, it seems, should have been on the true protestant side; "for
+he has tried," says ingenious Mr Hunt, "what he could do, towards
+making the charter forfeitable, by some extravagancy and disorder of
+the people." A wise man I had been, doubtless, for my pains, to raise
+the rabble to a tumult, where I had been certainly one of the first
+men whom they had limbed, or dragged to the next convenient sign-post.
+
+But on second thought, he says, this ought not to move the citizens.
+He is much in the right; for the rabble scene was written on purpose
+to keep his party of them in the bounds of duty. It is the business of
+factious men to stir up the populace: Sir Edmond on horseback,
+attended by a swinging pope in effigy, and forty thousand true
+protestants for his guard to execution, are a show more proper for
+that design, than a thousand stage-plays[22].
+
+Well, he has fortified his opinion with a reason, however, why the
+people should not be moved; "because I have so maliciously and
+mischievously represented the king, and the king's son; nay, and his
+favourite," saith he, "the duke too; to whom I give the worst strokes
+of my unlucky fancy."
+
+This need not be answered; for it is already manifest that neither the
+king, nor the king's son, are represented; neither that son he means,
+nor any of the rest, God bless them all. What strokes of my unlucky
+fancy I have given to his royal highness, will be seen; and it will be
+seen also, who strikes him worst and most unluckily.
+
+"The Duke of Guise," he tells us, "ought to have represented a great
+prince, that had inserved to some most detestable villainy, to please
+the rage or lust of a tyrant; such great courtiers have been often
+sacrificed, to appease the furies of the tyrant's guilty conscience;
+to expiate for his sin, and to attone the people. For a tyrant
+naturally stands in fear of such wicked ministers, is obnoxious to
+them, awed by them, and they drag him to greater evils, for their own
+impunity, than they perpetrated for his pleasure, and their own
+ambition[23]."
+
+Sure, he said not all this for nothing. I would know of him, on what
+persons he would fix the sting of this sharp satire? What two they
+are, whom, to use his own words, he "so maliciously and mischievously
+would represent?" For my part, I dare not understand the villainy of
+his meaning; but somebody was to have been shown a tyrant, and some
+other "a great prince, inserving to some detestable villainy, and to
+that tyrant's rage and lust;" this great prince or courtier ought to
+be sacrificed, to atone the people, and the tyrant is persuaded, for
+his own interest, to give him up to public justice. I say no more, but
+that he has studied the law to good purpose. He is dancing on the rope
+without a metaphor; his knowledge of the law is the staff that poizes
+him, and saves his neck. The party, indeed, speaks out sometimes, for
+wickedness is not always so wise as to be secret, especially when it
+is driven to despair. By some of their discourses, we may guess at
+whom he points; but he has fenced himself in with so many evasions,
+that he is safe in his sacrilege; and he, who dares to answer him, may
+become obnoxious. It is true, he breaks a little out of the clouds,
+within two paragraphs; for there he tells you, that "Caius Caesar (to
+give into Caesar the things that were Caesar's,) was in the catiline
+conspiracy;" a fine insinuation this, to be sneered at by his party,
+and yet not to be taken hold of by public justice. They would be glad
+now, that I, or any man, should bolt out their covert treason for
+them; for their loop-hole is ready, that the Caesar, here spoken of,
+was a private man. But the application of the text declares the
+author's to be another Caesar; which is so black and so infamous an
+aspersion, that nothing less than the highest clemency can leave it
+unpunished. I could reflect on his ignorance in this place, for
+attributing these words to Caesar, "He that is not with us, is against
+us:" He seems to have mistaken them out of the New-Testament, and that
+is the best defence I can make for him; for if he did it knowingly, it
+was impiously done, to put our Saviour's words into Caesar's mouth. But
+his law and our gospel are two things; this gentleman's knowledge is
+not of the bible, any more than his practice is according to it. He
+tells you, he will give the world a taste of my atheism and impiety;
+for which he quotes these following verses, in the second or third act
+of the "Duke of Guise."
+
+  For conscience or heaven's fear, religious rules,
+  Are all state bells, to toll in pious fools.
+
+In the first place, he is mistaken in his man, for the verses are not
+mine, but Mr Lee's: I asked him concerning them, and have this
+account,--that they were spoken by the devil; now, what can either
+whig or devil say, more proper to their character, than that religion
+is only a name, a stalking-horse, as errant a property as godliness
+and property themselves are amongst their party? Yet for these two
+lines, which, in the mouth that speaks them, are of no offence, he
+halloos on the whole pack against me: judge, justice, surrogate, and
+official are to be employed, at his suit, to direct process; and
+boring through the tongue for blasphemy, is the least punishment his
+charity will allow me.
+
+I find it is happy for me, that he was not made a judge, and yet I had
+as lieve have him my judge as my council, if my life were at stake. My
+poor Lord Stafford was well helped up with this gentleman for his
+solicitor: no doubt, he gave that unfortunate nobleman most admirable
+advice towards the saving of his life; and would have rejoiced
+exeedingly, to have seen him cleared[24]. I think, I have disproved
+his instance of my atheism; it remains for him to justify his
+religion, in putting the words of Christ into a Heathen's mouth; and
+much more in his prophane allusion to the scripture, in the other
+text,--"Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's;" which, if it be
+not a profanation of the bible, for the sake of a silly witticism, let
+all men, but his own party, judge. I am not malicious enough to return
+him the names which he has called me; but of all sins, I thank God, I
+have always abhorred atheism; and I had need be a better Christian
+than Mr Hunt has shown himself, if I forgive him so infamous a
+slander.
+
+But as he has mistaken our Saviour for Julius Caesar, so he would
+Pompey too, if he were let alone; to him, and to his cause, or to the
+like cause it belonged, he says, to use these words:--"he that is not
+for us is against us." I find he cares not whose the expression is, so
+it be not Christ's. But how comes Pompey the Great to be a whig? He
+was, indeed, a defender of the ancient established Roman government;
+but Caesar was the whig who took up arms unlawfully to subvert it. Our
+liberties and our religion both are safe; they are secured to us by
+the laws; and those laws are executed under an established government,
+by a lawful king. The Defender of our Faith is the defender of our
+common freedom; to cabal, to write, to rail against this
+administration are all endeavours to destroy the government; and to
+oppose the succession, in any private man, is a treasonable practice
+against the foundation of it. Pompey very honourably maintained the
+liberty of his country, which was governed by a common-wealth: so that
+there lies no parallel betwixt his cause and Mr Hunt's, except in the
+bare notion of a common-wealth, as it is opposed to monarchy; and
+that's the thing he would obliquely slur upon us. Yet on these
+premises, he is for ordering my lord chief justice to grant out
+warrants against all those who have applauded the "Duke of Guise;" as
+if they committed a riot when they clapped. I suppose they paid for
+their places, as well as he and his party did, who hissed. If he were
+not half distracted, for not being lord chief baron, methinks he
+should be lawyer enough to advise my lord chief justice better. To
+clap and hiss are the privileges of a free-born subject in a
+playhouse: they buy them with their money, and their hands and mouths
+are their own property. It belongs to the Master of the Revels to see
+that no treason or immorality be in the play; but when it is acted,
+let every man like or dislike freely: not but that respect should be
+used too, in the presence of the king; for by his permission the
+actors are allowed: it is due to his person, as he is sacred; and to
+the successors, as being next related to him: there are opportunities
+enow for men to hiss, who are so disposed, in their absence; for when
+the king is in sight, though but by accident, a malefactor is
+reprieved from death. Yet such is the duty, and good manners of these
+good subjects, that they forbore not some rudeness in his majesty's
+presence; but when his Royal Highness and his court were only there,
+they pushed it as far as their malice had power; and if their party
+had been more numerous, the affront had been greater.
+
+The next paragraph of our author's is a panegyric on the Duke of
+Monmouth, which concerns not me, who am very far from detracting from
+him. The obligations I have had to him, were those of his countenance,
+his favour, his good word, and his esteem; all which I have likewise
+had, in a greater measure, from his excellent duchess, the patroness
+of my poor unworthy poetry. If I had not greater, the fault was never
+in their want of goodness to me, but in my own backwardness to ask,
+which has always, and, I believe, will ever, keep me from rising in
+the world. Let this be enough, with reasonable men, to clear me from
+the imputation of an ungrateful man, with which my enemies have most
+unjustly taxed me. If I am a mercenary scribbler, the lords
+commissioners of the treasury best know: I am sure, they have found me
+no importunate solicitor; for I know myself, I deserved little, and,
+therefore, have never desired much. I return that slander, with just
+disdain, on my accusers: it is for men who have ill consciences to
+suspect others; I am resolved to stand or fall with the cause of my
+God, my king, and country; never to trouble myself for any railing
+aspersions, which I have not deserved; and to leave it as a portion to
+my children,--that they had a father, who durst do his duty, and was
+neither covetous nor mercenary.
+
+As little am I concerned at that imputation of my back-friends, that I
+have confessed myself to be put on to write as I do. If they mean this
+play in particular, that is notoriously proved against them to be
+false; for the rest of my writings, my hatred of their practices and
+principles was cause enough to expose them as I have done, and will do
+more. I do not think as they do; for, if I did, I must think treason;
+but I must in conscience write as I do, because I know, which is more
+than thinking, that I write for a lawful established government,
+against anarchy, innovation, and sedition: but "these lies (as prince
+Harry said to Falstaff) are as gross as he that made them[25]." More I
+need not say, for I am accused without witness. I fear not any of
+their evidences, not even him of Salamanca; who though he has disowned
+his doctorship in Spain, yet there are some allow him to have taken a
+certain degree in Italy; a climate, they say, more proper for his
+masculine constitution[26]. To conclude this ridiculous accusation
+against me, I know but four men, in their whole party, to whom I have
+spoken for above this year last past; and with them neither, but
+casually and cursorily. We have been acquaintance of a long standing,
+many years before this accursed plot divided men into several parties;
+I dare call them to witness, whether the most I have at any time said
+will amount to more than this, that "I hoped the time would come, when
+these names of whig and tory would cease among us; and that we might
+live together, as we had done formerly." I have, since this pamphlet,
+met accidentally with two of them; and I am sure, they are so far from
+being my accusers, that they have severally owned to me, that all men,
+who espouse a party, must expect to be blackened by the contrary side;
+that themselves knew nothing of it, nor of the authors of the
+"Reflections." It remains, therefore, to be considered, whether, if I
+were as much a knave as they would make me, I am fool enough to be
+guilty of this charge; and whether they, who raised it, would have
+made it public, if they had thought I was theirs inwardly. For it is
+plain, they are glad of worse scribblers than I am, and maintain them
+too, as I could prove, if I envied them their miserable subsistence. I
+say no more, but let my actions speak for me: _Spectemur
+agendo,_--that is the trial.
+
+Much less am I concerned at the noble name of Bayes; that is a brat so
+like his own father, that he cannot be mistaken for any other
+body[27]. They might as reasonably have called Tom Sternhold, Virgil,
+and the resemblance would have held as well.
+
+As for knave, and sycophant, and rascal, and impudent, and devil, and
+old serpent, and a thousand such good morrows, I take them to be only
+names of parties; and could return murderer, and cheat, and
+whig-napper, and sodomite; and, in short, the goodly number of the
+seven deadly sins, with all their kindred and relations, which are
+names of parties too; but saints will be saints, in spite of villainy.
+I believe they would pass themselves upon us for such a compound as
+mithridate, or Venice-treacle; as if whiggism were an admirable
+cordial in the mass, though the several ingredients are rank poisons.
+
+But if I think either Mr Hunt a villain, or know any of my Reflectors
+to be ungrateful rogues, I do not owe them so much kindness as to call
+them so; for I am satisfied that to prove them either, would but
+recommend them to their own party. Yet if some will needs make a merit
+of their infamy, and provoke a legend of their sordid lives, I think
+they must be gratified at last; and though I will not take the
+scavenger's employment from him, yet I may be persuaded to point at
+some men's doors, who have heaps of filth before them. But this must
+be when they have a little angered me; for hitherto I am provoked no
+further than to smile at them. And indeed, to look upon the whole
+faction in a lump, never was a more pleasant sight than to behold
+these builders of a new Babel, how ridiculously they are mixed, and
+what a rare confusion there is amongst them. One part of them is
+carrying stone and mortar for the building of a meeting-house; another
+sort understand not that language; they are for snatching away their
+work-fellows' materials to set up a bawdy-house: some of them
+blaspheme, and others pray; and both, I believe, with equal godliness
+at bottom: some of them are atheists, some sectaries, yet all true
+protestants. Most of them love all whores, but her of Babylon. In few
+words, any man may be what he will, so he be one of them. It is enough
+to despise the King, to hate the Duke, and rail at the succession:
+after this it is no matter how a man lives; he is a saint by
+infection; he goes along with the party, has their mark upon him; his
+wickedness is no more than frailty; their righteousness is imputed to
+him: so that, as ignorant rogues go out doctors when a prince comes to
+an university, they hope, at the last day, to take their degree in a
+crowd of true protestants, and thrust unheeded into heaven[28].
+
+It is a credit to be railed at by such men as these. The charter-man,
+in the very title-page, where he hangs out the cloth of the city
+before his book, gives it for his motto, _Si populus vult decipi,
+decipiatur_[29]; as if he should have said, "you have a mind to be
+cozened, and the devil give you good on't." If I cry a sirreverence,
+and you take it for honey, make the best of your bargain. For shame,
+good Christians, can you suffer such a man to starve, when you see his
+design is upon your purses? He is contented to expose the ears
+representative of your party on the pillory, and is in a way of doing
+you more service than a worn-out witness, who can hang nobody
+hereafter but himself. He tells you, "The papists clap their hands, in
+the hopes they conceive of the ruin of your government:" Does not this
+single syllable _your_ deserve a pension, if he can prove the
+government to be yours, and that the king has nothing to do in your
+republic? He continues, as if that were as sure and certain to them,
+as it is to us, without doubt, that they (the papists) once fired the
+city, just as certain in your own consciences. I wish the papists had
+no more to answer for than that accusation. Pray let it be put to the
+vote, and resolved upon the question, by your whole party, that the
+North-east wind is not only ill-affected to man and beast, but is also
+a tory or tantivy papist in masquerade[30]. I am satisfied, not to
+have "so much art left me, as to frame any thing agreeable, or
+verisimilar;" but it is plain that he has, and therefore, as I ought
+in justice, I resign my laurel, and my bays too, to Mr Hunt; it is he
+sets up for the poet now, and has the only art to amuse and to deceive
+the people. You may see how profound his knowledge is in poetry; for
+he tells you just before, "that my heroes are commonly such monsters
+as Theseus and Hercules; renowned throughout all ages for
+destroying[31]." Now Theseus and Hercules, you know, have been the
+heroes of all poets, and have been renowned through all ages, for
+destroying monsters, for succouring the distressed, and for putting to
+death inhuman arbitrary tyrants. Is this your oracle? If he were to
+write the acts and monuments of whig heroes, I find they should be
+quite contrary to mine: Destroyers indeed,--but of a lawful
+government; murderers,--but of their fellow-subjects; lovers, as
+Hercules was of Hylas; with a journey at last to hell, like that of
+Theseus.
+
+But mark the wise consequences of our author. "I have not," he says,
+"so much art left me to make any thing agreeable, or verisimilar,
+wherewith to amuse or deceive the people." And yet, in the very next
+paragraph, "my province is to corrupt the manners of the nation, and
+lay waste their morals, and my endeavours are more happily applied, to
+extinguish the little remainders of the virtue of the age." Now, I am
+to perform all this, it seems, without making any thing verisimilar or
+agreeable! Why, Pharaoh never set the Israelites such a task, to build
+pyramids without brick or straw. If the fool knows it not,
+verisimilitude and agreeableness are the very tools to do it; but I am
+willing to disclaim them both, rather than to use them to so ill
+purpose as he has done.
+
+Yet even this their celebrated writer knows no more of stile and
+English than the Northern dictator; as if dulness and clumsiness were
+fatal to the name of _Tom_. It is true, he is a fool in three
+languages more than the poet; for, they say, "he understands Latin,
+Greek, and Hebrew," from all which, to my certain knowledge, I acquit
+the other. Og may write against the king, if he pleases, so long as he
+drinks for him, and his writings will never do the government so much
+harm, as his drinking does it good; for true subjects will not be much
+perverted by his libels; but the wine-duties rise considerably by his
+claret. He has often called me an atheist in print; I would believe
+more charitably of him, and that he only goes the broad way, because
+the other is too narrow for him. He may see, by this, I do not delight
+to meddle with his course of life, and his immoralities, though I have
+a long bead-roll of them. I have hitherto contented myself with the
+ridiculous part of him, which is enough, in all conscience, to employ
+one man; even without the story of his late fall at the Old Devil,
+where he broke no ribs, because the hardness of the stairs could reach
+no bones; and, for my part, I do not wonder how he came to fall, for I
+have always known him heavy: the miracle is, how he got up again. I
+have heard of a sea captain as fat as he, who, to escape arrests,
+would lay himself flat upon the ground, and let the bailiffs carry him
+to prison, if they could. If a messenger or two, nay, we may put in
+three or four, should come, he has friendly advertisement how to
+escape them. But to leave him, who is not worth any further
+consideration, now I have done laughing at him,--would every man knew
+his own talent, and that they, who are only born for drinking, would
+let both poetry and prose alone[32]!
+
+I am weary with tracing the absurdities and mistakes of our great
+lawyer, some of which indeed are wilful; as where he calls the
+_Trimmers_ the more moderate sort of tories. It seems those
+politicians are odious to both sides; for neither own them to be
+theirs. We know them, and so does he too in his conscience, to be
+secret whigs, if they are any thing; but now the designs of whiggism
+are openly discovered, they tack about to save a stake; that is, they
+will not be villains to their own ruin. While the government was to be
+destroyed, and there was probability of compassing it, no men were so
+violent as they; but since their fortunes are in hazard by the law,
+and their places at court by the king's displeasure, they pull in
+their horns, and talk more peaceably; in order, I suppose, to their
+vehemence on the right side, if they were to be believed. For in
+laying of colours, they observe a medium; black and white are too far
+distant to be placed directly by one another, without some shadowings
+to soften their contrarieties. It is Mariana, I think, (but am not
+certain) that makes the following relation; and let the noble family
+of Trimmers read their own fortune in it. "Don Pedro, king of Castile,
+surnamed the Cruel, who had been restored by the valour of our Edward
+the Black Prince, was finally dispossessed by Don Henry, the bastard,
+and he enjoyed the kingdom quietly, till his death; which when he felt
+approaching, he called his son to him, and gave him this his last
+counsel. I have (said he,) gained this kingdom, which I leave you, by
+the sword; for the right of inheritance was in Don Pedro; but the
+favour of the people, who hated my brother for his tyranny, was to me
+instead of title. You are now to be the peaceable possessor of what I
+have unjustly gotten; and your subjects are composed of these three
+sorts of men. One party espoused my brother's quarrel, which was the
+undoubted lawful cause; those, though they were my enemies, were men
+of principle and honour: Cherish them, and exalt them into places of
+trust about you, for in them you may confide safely, who prized their
+fidelity above their fortune. Another sort, are they who fought my
+cause against Don Pedro; to those you are indeed obliged, because of
+the accidental good they did me; for they intended only their private
+benefit, and helped to raise me, that I might afterwards promote them:
+you may continue them in their offices, if you please; but trust them
+no farther than you are forced; for what they did was against their
+conscience. But there is a third sort, which, during the whole wars,
+were neuters; let them be crushed on all occasions, for their business
+was only their own security. They had neither courage enough to engage
+on my side, nor conscience enough to help their lawful sovereign:
+_Therefore let them be made examples, as the worst sort of interested
+men, which certainly are enemies to both, and would be profitable to
+neither._"
+
+I have only a dark remembrance of this story, and have not the Spanish
+author by me, but, I think, I am not much mistaken in the main of it;
+and whether true or false, the counsel given, I am sure, is such, as
+ought, in common prudence, to be practised against Trimmers, whether
+the lawful or unlawful cause prevail. Loyal men may justly be
+displeased with this party, not for their moderation, as Mr Hunt
+insinuates, but because, under that mask of seeming mildness, there
+lies hidden either a deep treachery, or, at best, an interested
+luke-warmness. But he runs riot into almost treasonable expressions,
+as if "Trimmers were hated because they are not perfectly wicked, or
+perfectly deceived; of the Catiline make, bold, and without
+understanding; that can adhere to men that publicly profess murders,
+and applaud the design:" by all which villainous names he
+opprobriously calls his majesty's most loyal subjects; as if men must
+be perfectly wicked, who endeavour to support a lawful government; or
+perfectly deceived, who on no occasion dare take up arms against their
+sovereign: as if acknowledging the right of succession, and resolving
+to maintain it in the line, were to be in a Catiline conspiracy; and
+at last, (which is ridiculous enough, after so much serious treason)
+as if "to clap the Duke of Guise" were to adhere to men that publicly
+profess murders, and applaud the design of the assassinating poets.
+
+But together with his villainies, pray let his incoherences be
+observed. He commends the Trimmers, (at least tacitly excuses them)
+for men of some moderation; and this in opposition to the instruments
+of wickedness of the Catiline make, that are resolute and forward, and
+without consideration. But he forgets all this in the next twenty
+lines; for there he gives them their own, and tells them roundly, _in
+internecino bello, medii pro hostibus habentur._ Neutral men are
+traitors, and assist by their indifferency to the destruction of the
+government. The plain English of his meaning is this; while matters
+are only in dispute, and in machination, he is contented they should
+be moderate; but when once the faction can bring about a civil war,
+then they are traitors, if they declare not openly for them.
+
+"But it is not," says he, "the Duke of Guise who is to be
+assassinated, a turbulent, wicked, and haughty courtier, but an
+innocent and gentle prince." By his favour, our Duke of Guise was
+neither innocent nor gentle, nor a prince of the blood royal, though
+he pretended to descend from Charlemagne, and a genealogy was printed
+to that purpose, for which the author was punished, as he deserved;
+witness Davila, and the journals of Henry III. where the story is at
+large related. Well, who is it then? why, "it is a prince who has no
+fault, but that he is the king's son:" then he has no fault by
+consequence; for I am certain, that is no fault of his. The rest of
+the compliment is so silly, and so fulsome, as if he meant it all in
+ridicule; and to conclude the jest, he says, that "the best people of
+England have no other way left, to shew their loyalty to the king,
+their religion and government, in long intervals of parliament, than
+by prosecuting his son, for the sake of the king, and his own merit,
+with all the demonstrations of the highest esteem."
+
+Yes, I can tell them one other way to express their loyalty, which is,
+to obey the king, and to respect his brother, as the next lawful
+successor; their religion commands them both, and the government is
+secured in so doing. But why in intervals of parliament? How are they
+more obliged to honour the king's son out of parliament, than in it?
+And why this prosecution of love for the king's sake? Has he ordered
+more love to be shewn to one son, than to another? Indeed, his own
+quality is cause sufficient for all men to respect him, and I am of
+their number, who truly honour him, and who wish him better than this
+miserable sycophant; for I wish him, from his father's royal kindness,
+what justice can make him, which is a greater honour than the rabble
+can confer upon him.
+
+But our author finds, that commendation is no more his talent, than
+flattery was that of AEsop's ass; and therefore falls immediately, from
+pawing with his fore-feet, and grinning upon one prince, to downright
+braying against another.
+
+He says, I have not used "my patron duke much better; for I have put
+him under a most dismal and unfortunate character of a successor,
+excluded from the crown by act of state, for his religion; who fought
+his way to the crown, changed his religion, and died by the hand of a
+Roman assassinate."
+
+If it please his Royal Highness to be my patron, I have reason to be
+proud of it; because he never yet forsook any man, whom he has had the
+goodness to own for his. But how have I put him under an unfortunate
+character? the authors of the Reflections, and our John-a-Nokes, have
+not laid their noddles together about this accusation. For it is their
+business to prove the king of Navarre to have been a most successful,
+magnanimous, gentle, and grateful prince; in which character they have
+followed the stream of all historians. How then happens this jarring
+amongst friends, that the same man is put under such dismal
+circumstances on one side, and so fortunate on the other, by the
+writers of the same party? The answer is very plain; that they take
+the cause by several handles. They, who will not have the Duke
+resemble the king of Navarre, have magnified the character of that
+prince, to debase his Royal Highness; and therein done what they can
+to shew the disparity. Mr Hunt, who will have it to be the Duke's
+character, has blackened that king as much as he is able, to shew the
+likeness. Now this would be ridiculous pleading at a bar, by lawyers
+retained for the same cause; and both sides would call each other
+fools, because the jury betwixt them would be confounded, and perhaps
+the judges too.
+
+But this it is to have a bad cause, which puts men of necessity upon
+knavery; and that knavery is commonly found out. Well, Mr Hunt has in
+another place confessed himself to be in passion, and that is the
+reason he is so grosly mistaken in opening of the cause. For, first,
+the king of Navarre was neither under dismal, nor unfortunate
+circumstances: before the end of that very sentence, our lawyer has
+confessed, that he fought his way to the crown; that is, he gloriously
+vanquished all his rebels, and happily possessed his inheritance many
+years after he had regained it. In the next place, he was never
+excluded from the crown by act of state. He changed his religion
+indeed, but not until he had almost weathered the storm, recovered the
+best part of his estate, and gained some glorious victories in pitched
+battles; so that his changing cannot without injustice be attributed
+to his fear. Monsieur Chiverny, in his Memoirs of those times, plainly
+tells us, that he solemnly promised to his predecessor Henry III. then
+dying, that he would become a Romanist; and Davila, though he says not
+this directly, yet denies it not. By whose hands Henry IV. died, is
+notoriously known; but it is invidiously urged, both by Mr Hunt and
+the Reflectors: for we may, to our shame, remember, that a king of our
+own country was barbarously murdered by his subjects, who professed
+the same religion; though I believe, that neither Jaques Clement, nor
+Ravaillac, were better papists, than the independents and
+presbyterians were protestants; so that their argument only proves,
+that there are rogues of all religions: _Iliacos infra muros peccatur,
+et extra._ But Mr Hunt follows his blow again, that I have "offered a
+justification of an act of exclusion against a popish successor in a
+protestant kingdom, by remembering what was done against the king of
+Navarre, who was _de facto_ excluded by an act of state." My
+gentleman, I perceive, is very willing to call that an act of
+exclusion, and an act of state, which is only, in our language, called
+a bill; for Henry III. could never be gained to pass it, though it was
+proposed by the three estates at Blois. The Reflectors are more
+modest; for they profess, (though I am afraid it is somewhat against
+the grain,) that a vote of the House of Commons is not an act; but the
+times are turned upon them, and they dare speak no other language. Mr
+Hunt, indeed, is a bold republican, and tells you the bottom of their
+meaning. Yet why should it make the "courage of his Royal Highness
+quail, to find himself under this representation," which; by our
+author's favour, is neither dismal, nor disastrous? Henry IV. escaped
+this dreadful machine of the League; I say dreadful, for the three
+estates were at that time composed generally of Guisards, factious,
+hot-headed, rebellious interested men. The king in possession was but
+his brother-in-law, and at the time publicly his enemy; for the king
+of Navarre was then in arms against him; and yet the sense of common
+justice, and the good of his people so prevailed, that he withstood
+the project of the states, which he also knew was levelled at himself;
+for had the exclusion proceeded, he had been immediately laid by, and
+the lieutenancy of France conferred on Guise; after which the rebel
+would certainly have put up his title for the crown. In the case of
+his Royal Highness, only one of the three estates have offered at the
+exclusion, and have been constantly opposed by the other two, and by
+his majesty. Neither is it any way probable, that the like will ever
+be again attempted; for the fatal consequences, as well as the
+illegality of that design, are seen through already by the people; so
+that, instead of offering a justification of an act of exclusion, I
+have exposed a rebellious, impious, and fruitless contrivance tending
+to it. If we look on the parliament of Paris, when they were in their
+right wits, before they were intoxicated by the League, (at least
+wholly) we shall find them addressing to king Henry III. in another
+key, concerning the king of Navarre's succession, though he was at
+that time, as they called it, a relapsed heretic. And to this purpose
+I will quote a passage out of the journals of Henry III. so much
+magnified by my adversaries.
+
+Towards the end of September, 1585, there was published at Paris a
+bull of excommunication against the king of Navarre, and the prince of
+Conde. The parliament of Paris made their remonstrance to the king
+upon it, which was both grave, and worthy of the place they held, and
+of the authority they have in this kingdom; saying for conclusion,
+that "their court had found the stile of this bull so full of
+innovation, and so distant from the modesty of ancient Popes, that
+they could not understand in it the voice of an Apostle's successor;
+forasmuch, as they found not in their records, nor in the search of
+all antiquity, that the princes of France had ever been subject to the
+justice or jurisdiction of the Pope, and they could not take it into
+consideration, until first he made appear the right which he pretended
+in the translation of kingdoms, established and ordained by Almighty
+God, before the name of Pope was heard of in the world." It is plain
+by this, that the parliament of Paris acknowledged an inherent right
+of succession in the king of Navarre, though of a contrary religion to
+their own. And though, after the duke of Guise's murder at Blois, the
+city of Paris revolted from their obedience to their king, pretending,
+that he was fallen from the crown, by reason of that and other
+actions, with which they charged him; yet the sum of all their power
+to renounce him, and create the duke of Mayenne lieutenant-general,
+depended ultimately on the Pope's authority; which, as you see, but
+three years before, they had peremptorily denied.
+
+The college of Sorbonne began the dance, by their determination, that
+the kingly right was forfeited; and, stripping him of all his
+dignities, they called him plain Henry de Valois: after this, says my
+author, "sixteen rascals (by which he means the council of that
+number) having administered the oath of government to the duke of
+Mayenne, to take in quality of lieutenant-general of the estate and
+crown of France, the same ridiculous dignity was confirmed to him by
+an imaginary parliament, the true parliament being detained prisoners,
+in divers of the city gaols, and two new seals were ordered to be
+immediately made, with this inscription,--the Seal of the Kingdom of
+France." I need not enlarge on this relation: it is evident from
+hence, that the Sorbonnists were the original, and our Schismatics in
+England were the copiers of rebellion; that Paris began, and London
+followed.
+
+The next lines of my author are, that "a gentleman of Paris made the
+duke of Mayenne's picture to be drawn, with a crown imperial on his
+head;" and I have heard of an English nobleman, who has at this day a
+picture of old Oliver, with this motto underneath it,--_Utinam
+vixeris._ All this while, this cannot be reckoned an act of state, for
+the deposing king Henry III., because it was an act of overt rebellion
+in the Parisians; neither could the holding of the three estates at
+Paris, afterwards, by the same duke of Mayenne, devolve any right on
+him, in prejudice of king Henry IV.; though those pretended states
+declared his title void, on the account of his religion; because those
+estates could neither be called nor holden, but by, and under the
+authority of, the lawful king. It would take more time than I have
+allowed for this Vindication, or I could easily trace from the French
+history, what misfortunes attended France, and how near it was to
+ruin, by the endeavours to alter the succession. For first, it was
+actually dismembered, the duke of Mercaeur setting up a principality in
+the dutchy of Bretagne, independent of the crown. The duke of Mayenne
+had an evident design to be elected king, by the favour of the people
+and the Pope: the young dukes of Guise and of Nemours aspired, with
+the interest of the Spaniards, to be chosen, by their marriage with
+the Infanta Isabella. The duke of Lorraine was for cantling out some
+part of France, which lay next his territories; and the duke of Savoy
+had, before the death of Henry III., actually possessed himself of the
+marquisate of Saluces. But above all, the Spaniards fomented these
+civil wars, in hopes to reduce that flourishing kingdom under their
+own monarchy. To as many, and as great mischiefs, should we be
+evidently subject, if we should madly engage ourselves in the like
+practices of altering the succession, which our gracious king in his
+royal wisdom well foresaw, and has cut up that accursed project by the
+roots; which will render the memory of his justice and prudence
+immortal and sacred to future ages, for having not only preserved our
+present quiet, but secured the peace of our posterity.
+
+It is clearly manifest, that no act of state passed, to the exclusion
+of either the King of Navarre, or of Henry the fourth, consider him in
+either of the two circumstances; but Oracle Hunt, taking this for
+granted, would prove _a fortiori_, "that if a protestant prince were
+actually excluded from a popish kingdom, then a popish successor is
+more reasonably to be excluded from a protestant kingdom; because,"
+says he, "a protestant prince is under no obligation to destroy his
+popish subjects, but a popish prince is to destroy his protestant
+subjects:" Upon which bare supposition, without farther proof, he
+calls him insufferable tyrant, and the worst of monsters.
+
+Now, I take the matter quite otherwise, and bind myself to maintain
+that there is not, nor can be any obligation, for a king to destroy
+his subjects of a contrary persuasion to the established religion of
+his country; for, _quatenus_ subjects, of what religion soever he is
+infallibly bound to preserve and cherish, and not to destroy them; and
+this is the first duty of a lawful sovereign, as such, antecedent to
+any tie or consideration of his religion. Indeed, in those countries
+where the Inquisition is introduced, it goes harder with protestants,
+and the reason is manifest; because the protestant religion has not
+gotten footing there, and severity is the means to keep it out; but to
+make this instance reach England, our religion must not only be
+changed, (which in itself is almost impossible to imagine,) but the
+council of Trent received, and the Inquisition admitted, which many
+popish countries have rejected. I forget not the cruelties, which were
+exercised in Queen Mary's time against the protestants; neither do I
+any way excuse them; but it follows not, that every popish successor
+should take example by them, for every one's conscience of the same
+religion is not guided by the same dictates in his government; neither
+does it follow, that if one be cruel, another must, especially when
+there is a stronger obligation, and greater interest to the contrary:
+for, if a popish king in England should be bound to destroy his
+protestant people, I would ask the question, over whom he meant to
+reign afterwards? And how many subjects would be left?
+
+In Queen Mary's time, the protestant religion had scarcely taken root;
+and it is reasonable to be supposed, that she found the number of
+papists equalling that of the protestants, at her entrance to the
+kingdom; especially if we reckon into the account those who were the
+Trimmers of the times; I mean such, who privately were papists, though
+under her protestant predecessor they appeared otherwise; therefore
+her difficulties in persecuting her reformed subjects, were far from
+being so insuperable as ours now are, when the strength and number of
+the papists is so very inconsiderable. They, who cast in the church of
+England as ready to embrace popery, are either knaves enough to know
+they lie, or fools enough not to have considered the tenets of that
+church, which are diametrically opposite to popery; and more so than
+any of the sects.
+
+Not to insist on the quiet and security, which protestant subjects at
+this day enjoy in some parts of Germany, under popish princes; where I
+have been assured, that mass is said, and a Lutheran sermon preached
+in different parts of the same church, on the same day, without
+disturbance on either side; nor on the privileges granted by Henry the
+fourth of France to his party, after he had forsaken their opinions,
+which they quietly possessed for a long time after his death.
+
+The French histories are full of examples, manifestly proving, that
+the fiercest of their popish princes have not thought themselves bound
+to destroy their protestant subjects; and the several edicts, granted
+under them, in favour of the reformed religion, are pregnant instances
+of this truth. I am not much given to quotations, but Davila lies open
+for every man to read. Tolerations, and free exercise of religion,
+granted more amply in some, more restrainedly in others, are no sign
+that those princes held themselves obliged in conscience to destroy
+men of a different persuasion. It will be said, those tolerations were
+gained by force of arms. In the first place, it is no great credit to
+the protestant religion, that the protestants in France were actually
+rebels; but the truth is, they were only Geneva protestants, and their
+opinions were far distant from those of the church of England, which
+teaches passive obedience to all her sons, and not to propagate
+religion by rebellion. But it is further to be considered, that those
+French kings, though papists, thought the preservation of their
+subjects, and the public peace, were to be considered, before the
+gratification of the court of Rome; and though the number of the
+papists exceeded that of the protestants, in the proportion of three
+to one, though the protestants were always beaten when they fought,
+and though the pope pressed continually with exhortations and
+threatenings to extirpate Calvinism, yet kings thought it enough to
+continue in their own religion themselves, without forcing it upon
+their subjects, much less destroying them who professed another. But
+it will be objected, those edicts of toleration were not kept on the
+papists' side: they would answer, because the protestants stretched
+their privileges further than was granted, and that they often
+relapsed into rebellion; but whether or no the protestants were in
+fault, I leave history to determine. It is matter of fact, that they
+were barbarously massacred, under the protection of the public faith;
+therefore, to argue fairly, either an oath from protestants is not to
+be taken by a popish prince; or, if taken, ought inviolably to be
+preserved. For, when we oblige ourselves to any one, it is not his
+person we so much consider, as that of the Most High God, who is
+called to witness this our action; and it is to Him we are to
+discharge our conscience. Neither is there, or can be any tie on human
+society, when that of an oath is no more regarded; which being an
+appeal to God, He is immediate judge of it; and chronicles are not
+silent how often He has punished perjured kings. The instance of
+Vladislaus King of Hungary, breaking his faith with Amurath the Turk,
+at the instigation of Julian the Pope's legate, and his miserable
+death ensuing it, shews that even to infidels, much more to
+Christians, that obligation ought to be accounted sacred[33]. And I
+the rather urge this, because it is an argument taken almost
+_verbatim_ from a papist, who accuses Catharine de Medicis for
+violating her word given to the protestants during her regency of
+France. What securities in particular we have, that our own religion
+and liberties would be preserved though under a popish successor, any
+one may inform himself at large in a book lately written by the
+reverend and learned doctor Hicks, called Jovian, in answer to Julian
+the Apostate[34]; in which that truly Christian author has satisfied
+all scruples which reasonable men can make, and proved that we are in
+no danger of losing either; and wherein also, if those assurances
+should all fail, (which is almost morally impossible,) the doctrine of
+passive obedience is unanswerably demonstrated; a doctrine delivered
+with so much sincerity, and resignation of spirit, that it seems
+evident the assertor of it is ready, if there were occasion, to seal
+it with his blood.
+
+I have done with mannerly Mr Hunt, who is only _magni nominis umbra_;
+the most malicious, and withal, the most incoherent ignorant scribbler
+of the whole party. I insult not over his misfortunes, though he has
+himself occasioned them; and though I will not take his own excuse,
+that he is in passion, I will make a better for him, for I conclude
+him cracked; and if he should return to England, am charitable enough
+to wish his only prison might be Bedlam. This apology is truer than
+that he makes for me; for writing a play, as I conceive, is not
+entering into the Observator's province; neither is it the
+Observator's manner to confound truth with falsehood, to put out the
+eyes of people, and leave them without understanding. The quarrel of
+the party to him is, that he has undeceived the ignorant, and laid
+open the shameful contrivances of the new vamped Association; that
+though he is "on the wrong side of life," as he calls it, yet he
+pleads not his age to be _emeritus_; that, in short, he has left the
+faction as bare of arguments, as AEsop's bird of feathers; and plumed
+them of all those fallacies and evasions which they borrowed from
+jesuits and presbyterians.
+
+Now for my templar and poet in association for a libel, like the
+conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in a fiery sign. What the one wants
+in wit, the other must supply in law. As for malice, their quotas are
+indifferently well adjusted; the rough draught, I take for granted, is
+the poet's, the finishings the lawyer's. They begin,--that in order to
+one Mr Friend's commands, one of them went to see the play. This was
+not the poet, I am certain; for nobody saw him there, and he is not of
+a size to be concealed. But the mountain, they say, was delivered of a
+mouse. I have been gossip to many such labours of a dull fat
+scribbler, where the mountain has been bigger, and the mouse less. The
+next sally is on the city-elections, and a charge is brought against
+my lord mayor, and the two sheriffs, for excluding true electors. I
+have heard, that a Whig gentleman of the Temple hired a livery-gown,
+to give his voice among the companies at Guild-hall; let the question
+be put, whether or no he were a true elector?--Then their own juries
+are commended from several topics; they are the wisest, richest, and
+most conscientious: to which is answered, _ignoramus_. But our juries
+give most prodigious and unheard-of damages. Hitherto there is nothing
+but boys-play in our authors: _My mill grinds pepper and spice, your
+mill grinds rats and mice._ They go on,--"if I may be allowed to
+judge;" (as men that do not poetize may be judges of wit, human
+nature, and common decencies;) so then the sentence is begun with _I_;
+there is but one of them puts in for a judge's place, that is, he in
+the grey; but presently it is--_men_; two more in buckram would be
+judges too. Neither of them, it seems, poetize; that is true, but both
+of them are in at rhime doggrel; witness the song against the bishops,
+and the Tunbridge ballad[35]. By the way, I find all my scribbling
+enemies have a mind to be judges, and chief barons. Proceed,
+gentlemen:--"This play, as I am informed by some, who have a nearer
+communication with the poets and the players, than I have,--". Which
+of the two Sosias is it that now speaks? If the lawyer, it is true he
+has but little communication with the players; if the poet, the
+players have but little communication with him; for it is not long
+ago, he said to somebody, "By G----, my lord, those Tory rogues will
+act none of my plays." Well, but the accusation,--that this play was
+once written by another, and then it was called the "Parisian
+Massacre." Such a play I have heard indeed was written; but I never
+saw it[36]. Whether this be any of it or no, I can say no more than
+for my own part of it. But pray, who denies the unparalleled villainy
+of the papists in that bloody massacre? I have enquired, why it was
+not acted, and heard it was stopt by the interposition of an
+ambassador, who was willing to save the credit of his country, and not
+to have the memory of an action so barbarous revived; but that I
+tempted my friend to alter it, is a notorious whiggism, to save the
+broader word. The "Sicilian Vespers" I have had plotted by me above
+these seven years: the story of it I found under borrowed names in
+Giraldo Cinthio; but the rape in my tragedy of "Amboyna" was so like
+it, that I forbore the writing. But what had this to do with
+protestants? For the massacrers and the massacred were all papists.
+
+But it is observable, they say, that "though the massacre could not be
+acted, as it was first written against papists, yet when it was turned
+upon protestants, it found reception."
+
+Now all is come out; the scandal of the story turns at last upon the
+government: that patronizes popish plays, and forbids protestant[37].
+Ours is to be a popish play; why? Because it exposes the villainy of
+sectaries and rebels. Prove them first to be protestants, and see what
+you will get by it when you have done. Your party are certainly the
+men whom the play attacks, and so far I will help you; the designs and
+actions, represented in the play, are such as you have copied from the
+League; for though you have wickedness enough, yet you wanted the wit
+to make a new contrivance. But for shame, while you are carrying on
+such palpable villainy, do not assume the name of protestants. You
+will tell us, you are friends to the government, and the king's best
+subjects; but all the while you are aspersing both it and him. Who
+shall be judges, whether you are friends or not? The government or
+you? Have not all rebels always sung the same song? Was ever thief or
+murderer fool enough to plead guilty? For your love and loyalty to the
+king, they, who mean him best among you, are no better subjects than
+Duke Trinculo; they would be content he should be viceroy, so they may
+be viceroys over him[38].
+
+The next accusation is particular to me,--"that I, the said Bayes,
+would falsely and feloniously have robbed Nat. Lee of his share in the
+representation of OEdipus." Now I am culprit; I writ the first and
+third acts of OEdipus, and drew the scenery of the whole play:
+whenever I have owned a farther proportion, let my accusers speak:
+this was meant mischievously, to set us two at variance. Who is the
+old serpent and Satan now? When my friends help my barren fancy, I am
+thankful for it: I do not use to receive assistance, and afterwards
+ungratefully disown it.
+
+Not long after, "exemplary punishment" is due to me for this most
+"devilish parallel." It is a devilish one indeed; but who can help it?
+If I draw devils like one another, the fault is in themselves for
+being so: I neither made their horns nor claws, nor cloven feet. I
+know not what I should have done, unless I had drawn the devil a
+handsome proper gentleman, like the painter in the fable, to have made
+a friend of him[39]; but I ought to be exemplarily punished for it:
+when the devil gets uppermost, I shall expect it. "In the mean time,
+let magistrates (that respect their oaths and office)"--which words,
+you see, are put into a parenthesis, as if (God help us) we had none
+such now,--let them put the law in execution against lewd scribblers;
+the mark will be too fair upon a pillory, for a turnip or a rotten egg
+to miss it. But, for my part, I have not malice enough to wish him so
+much harm,--not so much as to have a hair of his head perish, much
+less that one whole side of it should be dismantled. I am no informer,
+who writ such a song, or such a libel; if the dulness betrays him not,
+he is safe for me. And may the same dulness preserve him ever from
+public justice; it is a sufficient thick mud-wall betwixt him and law;
+it is his guardian angel, that protects him from punishment, because,
+in spite of him, he cannot deserve it. It is that which preserves him
+innocent when he means most mischief, and makes him a saint when he
+intends to be a devil. He can never offend enough, to need the mercy
+of government, for it is beholden to him, that he writes against it;
+and he never offers at a satire, but he converts his readers to a
+contrary opinion.
+
+Some of the succeeding paragraphs are intended for very Ciceronian:
+there the lawyer flourishes in the pulpit, and the poet stands in
+socks among the crowd to hear him. Now for narration, resolution,
+calumniation, aggravation, and the whole artillery of tropes and
+figures, to defend the proceedings at Guild-hall. The most minute
+circumstances of the elections are described so lively, that a man,
+who had not heard he was there in a livery-gown, might suspect there
+was a _quorum pars magna fui_ in the case; and multitudes of electors,
+just as well qualified as himself, might give their party the greater
+number: but throw back their gilt shillings, which were told for
+guineas, and their true sum was considerably less. Well, there was no
+rebellion at this time; therefore, says my adversary, there was no
+parallel. It is true there was no rebellion; but who ever told him
+that I intended this parallel so far? if the likeness had been
+throughout, I may guess, by their good will to me, that I had never
+lived to write it. But, to show his mistake, which I believe wilful,
+the play was wholly written a month or two before the last election of
+the sheriffs. Yet it seems there was some kind of prophecy in the
+case; and, till the faction gets clear of a riot, a part of the
+comparison will hold even there; yet, if he pleases to remember, there
+has been a king of England forced by the inhabitants from his imperial
+town. It is true, the son has had better fortune than the father; but
+the reason is, that he has now a stronger party in the city than his
+enemies; the government of it is secured in loyal and prudent hands,
+and the party is too weak to push their designs farther. "They rescued
+not their beloved sheriffs at a time (he tells you) when they had a
+most important use of them." What the importancy of the occasion was,
+I will not search: it is well if their own consciences will acquit
+them. But let them be never so much beloved, their adherents knew it
+was a lawful authority that sent them to the Tower; and an authority
+which, to their sorrow, they were not able to resist: so that, if four
+men guarded them without disturbance, and, to the contempt of their
+strength, at broad noon-day and at full exchange-time, it was no more
+their honesty to stand looking on with their hands in their pockets,
+than it is of a small band of robbers to let a caravan go by, which is
+too strong for them to assault.
+
+After this, I am called, after the old rate, loose and infamous
+scribbler; and it is well I escape so cheap. Bear your good fortune
+moderately, Mr Poet; for, as loose and infamous as I am, if I had
+written for your party, your pension would have been cut off as
+useless. But they must take up with Settle, and such as they can get:
+Bartholomew-fair writers[40], and Bartholemew-close printers; there is
+a famine of wit amongst them, they are forced to give unconscionable
+rates, and, after all, to have only carrion for their money.
+
+Then, I am "an ignorant fellow for not knowing there were no juries in
+Paris." I do not remember to have written any such thing; but whoever
+did, I am confident it was not his ignorance. Perhaps he had a mind to
+bring the case a little nearer home: If they had not juries in Paris,
+we had them from the Normans, who were Frenchmen; and, as you managed
+them, we had as good have had none in London. Let it satisfy you we
+have them now; and some of your loose and infamous scribblers may come
+to understand it a little better.
+
+The next is, the justification of a noble peer deceased; the case is
+known, and I have no quarrel to his memory: let it sleep; he is now
+before another judge. Immediately after, I am said to have intended an
+"abuse to the House of Commons;" which is called by our authors "the
+most august assembly of Europe." They are to prove I have abused that
+House; but it is manifest they have lessened the House of Lords, by
+owning the Commons to be the "more august assembly."--"It is an House
+chosen (they say) by every protestant who has a considerable
+inheritance in England;" which word _considerable_ signifies forty
+shillings _per annum_ of free land. For the interest of the loyal
+party, so much under-valued by our authors, they have long ago
+confessed in print, that the nobility and gentry have disowned them;
+and the yeomanry have at last considered, _queis haec consevimus arva_?
+They have had enough of unlawful and arbitrary power; and know what an
+august assembly they had once without a King and House of Peers.
+
+But now they have me in a burning scent, and run after me full cry:
+"Was ever such licence connived at, in an impious libeller and
+scribbler, that the succession, so solemn a matter, that is not fit to
+be debated of but in parliament, should be profaned so far as to be
+played with on the stage?"
+
+Hold a little, gentlemen, hold a little; (as one of your fellow
+citizens says in "The Duke of Guise,") is it so unlawful for me to
+argue for the succession in the right line upon the stage; and is it
+so very lawful for Mr Hunt, and the scribblers of your party, to
+oppose it in their libels off the stage? Is it so sacred, that a
+parliament only is suffered to debate it, and dare you run it down
+both in your discourses, and pamphlets out of parliament? In
+conscience, what can you urge against me, which I cannot return an
+hundred times heavier on you? And by the way, you tell me, that to
+affirm the contrary to this, is a _praemunire_ against the statute of
+the 13th of Elizabeth. If such _praemunire_ be, pray, answer me, who
+has most incurred it? In the mean time, do me the favour to look into
+the statute-book, and see if you can find the statute; you know
+yourselves, or you have been told it, that this statute is virtually
+repealed, by that of the 1st of king James, acknowledging his
+immediate lawful and undoubted right to this imperial crown, as the
+next lineal heir; those last words are an implicit anti-declaration to
+the statute in queen Elizabeth, which, for that reason, is now omitted
+in our books. The lawful authority of an House of Commons I
+acknowledge; but without fear and trembling, as my Reflectors would
+have it. For why should I fear my representatives? they are summoned
+to consult about the public good, and not to frighten those who chose
+them. It is for you to tremble, who libel the supreme authority of the
+nation. But we knavish coxcombs and villains are to know, say my
+authors, that "a vote is the opinion of that House." Lord help our
+understandings, that know not this without their telling! What
+Englishman, do you think, does not honour his representatives, and
+wish a parliament void of heat and animosities, to secure the quiet of
+the nation? You cite his majesty's declaration against those that dare
+trifle with parliaments; a declaration, by the way, which you
+endeavoured not to have read publicly in churches, with a threatening
+to those that did it. "But we still declare (says his majesty) that no
+irregularities of parliament shall make us out of love with them." Are
+not you unfortunate quoters? why now should you rub up the remembrance
+of those irregularities mentioned in that declaration, which caused,
+as the king informs us, its dissolution?
+
+The next paragraph is already answered; it is only a clumsy
+commendation of the Duke of Monmouth, copied after Mr Hunt, and a
+proof that he is unlike the Duke of Guise.
+
+After having done my drudgery for me, and having most officiously
+proved, that the English duke is no parallel for the French, which I
+am sure he is not, they are next to do their own business, which is,
+that I meant a parallel betwixt Henry III. and our most gracious
+sovereign. But, as fallacies are always couched in general
+propositions, they plead the whole course of the drama, which, they
+say, seems to insinuate my intentions. One may see to what a miserable
+shift they are driven, when, for want of any one instance, to which I
+challenge them, they have only to allege, that the play SEEMS to
+insinuate it. I answer, it does not seem; which is a bare negative to
+a bare affirmative; and then we are just where we were before. Fat
+Falstaff was never set harder by the Prince for a reason, when he
+answered, "that, if reasons grew as thick as blackberries, he would
+not give one." Well, after long pumping, lest the lie should appear
+quite barefaced, they have found I said, that, at king Henry's birth,
+there shone a regal star; so there did at king Charles the Second's;
+therefore I have made a parallel betwixt Henry III. and Charles II. A
+very concluding syllogism, if I should answer it no farther.
+
+Now, let us look upon the play; the words are in the fourth act. The
+conjurer there is asking his devil, "what fortune attended his master,
+the Guise, and what the king?" The familiar answers concerning the
+king,--"He cannot be deposed, he may be killed; a violent fate attends
+him; but, at his birth, there shone a regal star."--_Conj._ "My master
+had a stronger."--_Devil._ "No, not a stronger, but more popular." Let
+the whole scene, (which is one of the best in the tragedy, though
+murdered in the acting) be read together, and it will be as clear as
+day light, that the Devil gave an astrological account of the French
+king's _horoscope_; that the regal star, then culminating, was the sun
+in the tenth house, or mid-heaven; which, _caeteris paribus,_ is a
+regal nativity in that art. The rest of the scene confirms what I have
+said; for the Devil has taken the position of the heavens, or scheme
+of the world, at the point of the sun's entrance into Aries. I dispute
+not here the truth or lawfulness of that art; but it is usual with
+poets, especially the Italians, to mix astrology in their poems.
+Chaucer, amongst us, is frequent in it: but this revolution
+particularly I have taken out of Luigi Pulci; and there is one almost
+the same in Boiardo's "_Orlando Inamorato._" Now, if these poets knew,
+that a star were to appear at our king's birth, they were better
+prophets than Nostradamus, who has told us nothing of it. Yet this
+they say "is treason with a witness," and one of the crimes for which
+they condemned me to be hanged, drawn and quartered. I find they do
+not believe me to be one of their party at the bottom, by their
+charitable wishes to me; and am proud enough to think, I have done
+them some little mischief, because they are so desirous to be rid of
+me. But if Jack Ketch must needs have the handling of us poets, let
+him begin first where he may take the deepest say[41]; let me be
+hanged, but in my turn; for I am sure I am neither the fattest
+scribbler, nor the worst; I'll be judged by their own party. But, for
+all our comforts, the days of hanging are a little out of date; and I
+hope there will be no more treason with a witness or witnesses; for
+now there is no more to be got by swearing, and the market is
+overstocked besides.
+
+But are you in earnest when you say, I have made Henry III. "fearful,
+weak, bloody, perfidious, hypocritical, and fawning, in the play?" I
+am sure an unbiassed reader will find a more favourable image of him
+in the tragedy, whatever he was out of it. You would not have told a
+lie so shameless, but that you were resolved to second it with a
+worse--that I made a parallel of that prince. And now it comes to my
+turn, pray let me ask you,--why you spend three pages and a half in
+heaping up all the villainies, true or false, which you can rake
+together, to blast his memory? Why is all this pains taken to expose
+the person of king Henry III.? Are you leaguers, or covenanters, or
+associators? What has the poor dead man done to nettle you? Were his
+rebels your friends or your relations? Were your Norman ancestors of
+any of those families, which were conspirators in the play? I smell a
+rat in this business; Henry III. is not taken thus to task for
+nothing. Let me tell you, this is little better than an implicit
+confession of the parallel I intended. This gentleman of Valois sticks
+in your stomachs; and, though I do not defend his proceedings in the
+States, any otherwise than by the inevitable necessity which caused
+them, yet acknowledging his crime does not extenuate their guilt that
+forced him to it. It was bad on both sides, but the revenge was not so
+wicked as the treason; for it was a voluntary act of theirs, and a
+compelled one of his. The short on't is, he took a violent course to
+cut up the Covenant by the roots; and there is your quarrel to him.
+
+Now for a long-winded panegyric of the king of Navarre; and here I am
+sure they are in earnest, when they take such overpains to prove there
+is no likeness where they say I intended it. The hero, at whom their
+malice is levelled, does but laugh at it, I believe; and, amongst the
+other virtues of that predecessor, wants neither his justice nor his
+clemency, to forgive all the heads of the League, as fast as they
+submit. As for obliging them, (which our author would fain hook in for
+an ingredient) let them be satisfied, that no more enemies are to be
+bought off with places and preferments; the trial which has been made
+in two kings reigns, will warn the family from so fruitless and
+dangerous an expedient. The rest is already answered, in what I have
+said to Mr Hunt; but I thank them, by the way, for their instance of
+the fellow whom the king of Navarre had pardoned and done good to,
+"yet he would not love him;" for that story reaches home somewhere.
+
+I must make haste to get out of hearing from this Billingsgate
+oratory; and, indeed, to make an end with these authors, except I
+could call rogue and rascal as fast as they. Let us examine the little
+reason they produce concerning the Exclusion.
+
+"Did the pope, the clergy, the nobility and commonalty of France think
+it reasonable to exclude a prince for professing a different religion;
+and will the papists be angry if the protestants be of the same
+opinion? No, sure, they cannot have the impudence."
+
+First, here is the difference of religion taken for granted, which was
+never proved on one side, though in the king of Navarre it was openly
+professed. Then the pope, and the three estates of France had no power
+to alter the succession, neither did the king in being consent to it:
+or afterwards, did the greater part of the nobility, clergy, and
+gentry adhere to the Exclusion, but maintained the lawful king
+successfully against it; as we are bound to do in England, by the
+oaths of allegiance and supremacy, made for the benefit of our kings,
+and their successors? the objections concerning which oath are fully
+answered by Dr Hicks, in his preface to Jovian; and thither I refer
+the reader.
+
+They tell us, that what it concerns protestants to do in that case,
+enough has been heard by us in parliament debates.
+
+I answer, that debates coming not by an act to any issue, conclude,
+that there is nothing to be done against a law established, and
+fundamental of the monarchy. They dare not infer a right of taking up
+arms, by virtue of a debate or vote, and yet they tacitly insinuate
+this. I ask them, what it does concern protestants to do in this case,
+and whether they mean anything by that expression? They have hampered
+themselves before they were aware; for they proceed in the very next
+lines to tell us, they believe "the crown of England being hereditary,
+the next in blood have an undoubted right to succeed, unless God make
+them, or they make themselves uncapable of reigning." So that
+according to them, if either of those two impediments shall happen,
+then it concerns the protestants of England to do that something,
+which, if they had spoken out, had been direct treason. Here is fine
+legerdemain amongst them: they have acknowledged a vote to be no more
+than the opinion of an house, and yet from a debate, which was
+abortive before it quickened into a vote, they argue after the old
+song, "that there is something more to be done, which you cannot chuse
+but guess." In the next place, there is no such thing as incapacity to
+be supposed, in the immediate successor of the crown. That is, the
+rightful heir cannot be made uncapable on any account whatsoever to
+succeed. It may please God, that he may be _inhabilis_, or _inidoneus
+ad gerendam rempublicam_,--unfit or unable to govern the kingdom; but
+this is no impediment to his right of reigning: he cannot either be
+excluded or deposed for such imperfection; for the laws which have
+provided for private men in this case, have also made provision for
+the sovereign, and for the public; and the council of state, or the
+next of blood, is to administer the kingdom for him. Charles the Sixth
+of France, (for I think we have no English examples which will reach
+it) forfeited not his kingdom by his lunacy, though a victorious king
+of England was then knocking at his gates; but all things under his
+name, and by his authority were managed. The case is the same, betwixt
+a king _non compos mentis_, and one who is _nondum compos mentis_; a
+distracted or an infant-king. Then the people cannot incapacitate the
+king, because he derives not his right from them, but from God only;
+neither can any action, much less opinion of a sovereign, render him
+uncapable, for the same reason; excepting only a voluntary resignation
+to his immediate heir, as in the case of Charles the Fifth: for that
+of our Richard the Second was invalid, because forced, and not made to
+the next successor.
+
+Neither does it follow, as our authors urge, that an unalterable
+succession supposes England to be the king's estate, and the people
+his goods and chattels on it. For the preservation of his right
+destroys not our propriety, but maintains us in it. He has tied
+himself by law, not to invade our possessions; and we have obliged
+ourselves as subjects to him, and all his lawful successors: by which
+irrevocable act of ours, both for ourselves and our posterity, we can
+no more exclude the successor, than we can depose the present king.
+The estate of England is indeed the king's; and I may safely grant
+their supposition, as to the government of England: but it follows
+not, that the people are his goods and chattels on it; for then he
+might sell, alienate, or destroy them as he pleased: from all which he
+has tied himself by the liberties and privileges which he has granted
+us by laws.
+
+There is little else material in this pamphlet: for to say, "I would
+insinuate into the king a hatred to his capital city," is to say, he
+should hate his best friends, the last, and the present Lord Mayor,
+our two honourable Sheriffs, the Court of Aldermen, the worthy and
+loyal Mr Common Serjeant, with the rest of the officers, who are
+generally well affected and who have kept out their factious members
+from its government. To say, I would insinuate a scorn of authority in
+the city, is, in effect, to grant the parallel in the play: for the
+authority of tumults and seditions is only scorned in it,--an
+authority which they derived not from the crown, but exercised against
+it. And for them to confess I exposed this, is to confess, that London
+was like Paris.
+
+They conclude with a prayer to Almighty God, in which I therefore
+believe, the poet did not club. To libel the king through all the
+pamphlet, and to pray for him in the conclusion, is an action of more
+prudence in them than of piety. Perhaps they might hope to be
+forgiven, as one of their predecessors was by king James; who, after
+he had railed at him abundantly, ended his lampoon with these two
+verses:
+
+  Now God preserve our king, queen, prince and peers,
+  And grant the author long may wear his ears[42].
+
+To take a short review of the whole.--It is manifest, that there is no
+such parallel in the play, as the faction have pretended; that the
+story would not bear one where they have placed it; and that I could
+not reasonably intend one, so contrary to the nature of the play, and
+so repugnant to the principles of the loyal party. On the other side,
+it is clear that the principles and practices of the public enemies,
+have both formerly resembled those of the League, and continue to hold
+the same resemblance. It appears by the outcry of the party before the
+play was acted, that they dreaded and foresaw the bringing of the
+faction upon the stage: and by the hasty printing of Mr Hunt's libel,
+and the Reflections, before the tragedy was published, that they were
+infinitely concerned to prevent any farther operation of it. It
+appears from the general consent of the audiences, that their party
+were known to be represented; and themselves owned openly, by their
+hissings, that they were incensed at it, as an object which they could
+not bear. It is evident by their endeavours to shift off this parallel
+from their side, that their principles are too shameful to be
+maintained. It is notorious, that they, and they only, have made the
+parallel betwixt the Duke of Guise and the Duke of Monmouth, and that
+in revenge for the manifest likeness they find in the parties
+themselves, they have carried up the parallel to the heads of the
+parties, where there is no resemblance at all; under which colour,
+while they pretend to advert upon one libel, they set up another. For
+what resemblance could they suggest betwixt two persons so unlike in
+their descent, the qualities of their minds, and the disparity of
+their warlike actions, if they grant not, that there is a faction
+here, which is like that other which was in France? so that if they do
+not first acknowledge one common cause, there is no foundation for a
+parallel. The dilemma therefore lies strong upon them; and let them
+avoid it if they can,--that either they must avow the wickedness of
+their designs, or disown the likeness of those two persons. I do
+further charge those audacious authors, that they themselves have made
+the parallel which they call mine, and that under the covert of this
+parallel they have odiously compared our present king with king Henry
+the Third; and farther, that they have forced this parallel expressly
+to wound His Majesty in the comparison: for, since there is a parallel
+(as they would have it) it must be either theirs or mine. I have
+proved that it cannot possibly be mine: and in so doing, that it must
+be theirs by consequence. Under this shadow all the vices of the
+French king are charged by those libellers (by a side-wind) upon ours;
+and it is indeed the bottom of their design to make the king cheap,
+his royal brother odious, and to alter the course of the succession.
+
+Now, after the malice of this sputtering triumvirate (Mr Hunt, and the
+two Reflectors), against the person and dignity of the king, and
+against all that endeavour to serve him (which makes their hatred to
+his cause apparent), the very charging of our play to be a libel, and
+such a parallel as these ignoramuses would render it, is almost as
+great an affront to His Majesty, as the libellous picture itself, by
+which they have exposed him to his subjects. For it is no longer our
+parallel, but the king's, by whose order it was acted, without any
+shuffling or importunity from the poets. The tragedy (cried the
+faction) is a libel against such and such illustrious persons. Upon
+this the play was stopt, examined, acquitted, and ordered to be
+brought upon the stage: not one stroke in it of a resemblance, to
+answer the scope and intent of the complaint. There were some
+features, indeed, that the illustrious Mr Hunt and his brace of
+beagles (the Reflectors) might see resembling theirs; and no other
+parallel either found or meant, but betwixt the French leaguers and
+ours: and so far the agreement held from point to point, as true as a
+couple of tallies. But when neither the king, nor my lord chamberlain,
+with other honourable persons of eminent faith, integrity, and
+understanding, upon a strict perusal of the papers, could find one
+syllable to countenance the calumny; up starts the defender of the
+charter, &c. opens his mouth, and says, "What do ye talk of the king?
+he's abused, he's imposed upon. Is my lord chamberlain, and the
+scrutineers that succeed him, to tell us, when the king and the duke
+of York are abused?" What says my lord chief baron of Ireland to the
+business? What says the livery-man templer? What says Og the king of
+Basan to it? "We are men that stand up for the king's supremacy in all
+causes, and over all persons, as well ecclesiastical as civil, next
+and immediately under God and the people. We are for easing His Royal
+Highness of his title to the crown, and the cares that attend any such
+prospect; and we shall see the king and the Royal Family paralleled at
+this rate, and not reflect upon it?"
+
+But to draw to an end. Upon the laying of matters fairly together,
+what a king have these balderdash scribblers given us, under the
+resemblance of Henry the Third! How scandalous a character again, of
+His Majesty, in telling the world that he is libelled, and affronted
+to his face, told on't, pointed to it; and yet neither he, nor those
+about him, can be brought to see or understand it. There needs no more
+to expound the meaning of these people, than to compare them with
+themselves: when it will evidently appear, that their lives and
+conversations, their writings and their practices, do all take the
+same bias; and when they dare not any longer revile His Majesty or his
+government point blank, they have an intention to play the libellers
+in masquerade, and do the same thing in a way of mystery and parable.
+This is truly the case of the pretended parallel. They lay their heads
+together, and compose the lewdest character of a prince that can be
+imagined, and then exhibit that monster to the people, as the picture
+of the king in the "Duke of Guise." So that the libel passes for
+current in the multitude, whoever was the author of it; and it will be
+but common justice to give the devil his due. But the truth is, their
+contrivances are now so manifest, that their party moulders both in
+town and country; for I will not suspect that there are any of them
+left in court. Deluded well-meaners come over out of honesty, and
+small offenders out of common discretion or fear. None will shortly
+remain with them, but men of desperate fortunes or enthusiasts: those
+who dare not ask pardon, because they have transgressed beyond it, and
+those who gain by confusion, as thieves do by fires: to whom
+forgiveness were as vain, as a reprieve to condemned beggars; who must
+hang without it, or starve with it.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. As the whole passage from Davila is subjoined to the text in the
+   play, the reader may easily satisfy himself of the accuracy of what
+   is here stated. But, although the scene may have been written in
+   1661, we must be allowed to believe, that its extreme resemblance
+   to the late events occasioned its being revived and re-presented in
+   1682.
+
+2. The poem, alluded to, was probably the _Religio Laici_, first
+   published in November l682.
+
+3. Dryden and Shadwell had once been friends. In the preface to "The
+   Humourists," acted, according to Mr Malone, in 1676, Shadwell thus
+   mentions his great contemporary:
+
+   "And here I must make a little digression, and take liberty to
+   dissent from my particular friend, for whom I have a very great
+   respect, and whose writings I extremely admire; and, though I will
+   not say, his is the best way of writing, yet, I am sure his manner
+   of writing is much the best that ever was. And I may say of him, as
+   was said of a celebrated poet, _Cui unquam poetarum magis proprium
+   fuit subito astro incalescere? Quis ubi incaluit, fortius et
+   faeclicius debacchatur_? His verse is smoother and deeper, his
+   thoughts more quick and surprising, his raptures more mettled and
+   higher, and he has more of that in his writings, which Plato calls
+   _sophrona manian_ than any other heroic poet. And those who shall
+   go about to imitate him, will be found to flutter and make a noise,
+   but never to rise."
+
+   Such a compliment, from a rival dramatist, could only have been
+   extracted by previous good offices and kindly countenance.
+   Accordingly we find, that Dryden, in 1678-9, wrote a prologue to
+   Shadwell's play, of "The True Widow."
+
+4. "The Female Prelate, or Pope Joan," is a bombast, silly performance
+   of Elkanah Settle; the catastrophe of which consists in the
+   accouchement of the Pope in the streets of Rome. The aid necessary
+   in the conclusion of an English tragedy, (usually loudly called
+   for, but never brought) is of a surgical nature; but here Lucina
+   was the deity to be implored, and the midwife's assistance most
+   requisite.
+
+   Shadwell's comedy of "The Lancashire Witches," was popular for many
+   years after the Revolution, chiefly, because the papists were
+   reflected upon in the character of Teague O'Divelly, an Irish
+   Priest, the high-church clergy ridiculed under that of Smerk, and
+   the whole Tory faction generally abused through the play. It is by
+   no means one of Shadwell's happiest efforts. The introduction of
+   the witches celebrating their satanical sabbath on the stage,
+   besides that the scene is very poorly and lamely written, is at
+   variance with the author's sentiments, as delivered through Sir
+   Edward Hartfort, "a worthy, hospitable, true English gentleman, of
+   good understanding and honest principles," who ridicules the belief
+   in witches at all. A different and totally inconsistent doctrine is
+   thus to be collected from the action of the piece and the
+   sentiments expressed by those, whose sentiments are alone marked as
+   worthy of being attended to. This obvious fault, with many others,
+   is pointed out in a criticism on the "Lancashire Witches,"
+   published in the Spectator. The paper is said to have been written
+   by Hughes, but considerably softened by Addison.
+
+5. Half-a-crown was then the box price.
+
+     You visit our plays and merit the stocks,
+     For paying half-crowns of brass to our box;
+     Nay, often you swear when places are shewn ye,
+         That your hearing is thick,
+         And so by a love trick,
+     You pass through our scenes up to the balcony.
+                                 _Epilogue to_ "The Man's the Master."
+
+   The farce, alluded to, seems to have been "The Lancashire Witches."
+   See Shadwell's account of the reception of that piece, from which
+   it appears, that the charge of forming a party in the theatre was a
+   subject of mutual reproach betwixt the dramatists of the contending
+   parties.
+
+6. This single remark is amply sufficient to exculpate Dryden from
+   having intended any general parallel between Monmouth and the Duke
+   of Guise. To have produced such a parallel, it would have been
+   necessary to unite, in one individual, the daring political courage
+   of Shaftesbury, his capacity of seizing the means to attain his
+   object, and his unprincipled carelessness of their nature, with the
+   fine person, chivalrous gallantry, military fame, and courteous
+   manners of the Duke of Monmouth. Had these talents, as they were
+   employed in the same cause, been vested in the same person, the
+   Duke of Guise must have yielded the palm. The partial resemblance,
+   in one point of their conduct, is stated by our poet, not to have
+   been introduced as an _intended_ likeness, betwixt the Duke of
+   Guise, and the Protestant Duke. We may observe, in the words of
+   Bertran,
+
+     The dial spoke not--but it made shrewd signs.
+                                   _Spanish Friar._
+
+7. Alluding to a book, called "The Parallel," published by J.
+   Northleigh L.L.B. the same who afterwards wrote "the Triumph of the
+   Monarchy," and was honoured by a copy of verses from our author.
+
+8. "Julian the Apostate, with a short account of his life, and a
+   parallel betwixt Popery and Paganism," was a treatise, written by
+   the Rev. Samuel Johnson, chaplain to Lord Russell, for the purpose
+   of forwarding the bill of exclusion, by shewing the consequences to
+   Christianity of a Pagan Emperor attaining the throne. It would
+   seem, that one of the sheriffs had mistaken so grossly, as to talk
+   of Julian the Apostle; or, more probably, such a blunder was
+   circulated as true, by some tory wit. Wood surmises, that Hunt had
+   some share in composing Julian. _Ath. Ox._ II. p. 729.]
+
+9. This probably alludes to L'Estrange, who answered Hunt in the
+   "Lawyer Outlawed."
+
+10. "Curse ye Meroz," was a text much in vogue among the fanatic
+   preachers in the civil wars. It was preached upon in Guildhall,
+   before the Lord Mayor, 9th May, 1630, by Edmund Hickeringill,
+   rector of All Saints, in Colchester:
+
+     There's Colchester Hickeringil, the fanatic's delight,
+     Who Gregory Greybeard and Meroz did write,
+     You may see who are saints in a pharisee's sight.
+                    _The Assembly of the Moderate Divines, stanza 18._
+
+   Gregory Greybeard was probably some ballad, alluding to the
+   execution of Charles I, who was beheaded by a person disguised by a
+   visor and greybeard. The name of the common hangman, at that time,
+   was Gregory.
+
+11. Jaques Clement, a Jacobin Monk, stabbed Henry III. on the 1st of
+   August, 1589. He expired the following day.
+
+12. "All crowned heads by poetical right are heroes. This character is
+   a flower, a prerogative so certain, so inseparably annexed to the
+   crown as by no poet, no parliament of poets, ever to be invaded."
+   _Rymer's Remarks on the Tragedies of the last age_, p. 6l. This
+   critical dogma, although here and else-where honoured by our
+   author's sanction, fell into disuse with the doctrines of passive
+   obedience, and indefeasible right.
+
+13. The Earl of Arlington, Lord Chamberlain.
+
+14. Charles II. and his brother the Duke of York, were grandchildren
+   of Henry IV. of France, by their mother Henrietta Maria.
+
+15. A very poor imitation of Moliere's "Festin de Pierre;" with the
+   story of which the admirers of mute-shew have since been
+   entertained, under the title of Don Juan. In the preface, Shadwell,
+   after railing abundantly at Settle, is at the pains to assure us,
+   there is no act in the piece which cost him above four days
+   writing, and the last two (the play-house having great occasion for
+   a play) were both written in four days. The Libertine, and his
+   companions, travel by sea and land over the whole kingdom of Spain.
+
+16. See the full passage prefixed to the Vindication.
+
+17. The club alluded to seems to be the same which originally met at
+   the King's-Head tavern, of which North gives the following lively
+   account. "The gentlemen of that worthy society held their evening
+   session continually at the King's-Head tavern, over against the
+   Inner Temple gate. But upon occasion of the signal of a green
+   ribbon, agreed to be worn in their hats in the days of secret
+   engagements, like the coats of arms of valiant knights of old,
+   whereby all the warriors of the society might be distinguished, and
+   not mistake friends for enemies, they were called also the Green
+   Ribbon Club. Their seat was in a sort of carrefour, at
+   Chancery-Lane end, a centre of business and company, most proper
+   for such anglers of fools. The house was double-balconied in front,
+   as may be yet seen, for the clubsters to issue forth, in fresco,
+   with hats and no peruques, pipes in their mouths, merry faces, and
+   diluted throats, for vocal encouragement of the canaglia below, at
+   bonfires, on usual and unusual occasions. They admitted all
+   strangers that were confidingly introduced; for, it was a main end
+   of their institution to make proselytes, especially of the raw
+   estated youths newly come to town. This copious society were, to
+   the faction in and about London, a sort of executive power, and by
+   correspondence all over England. The resolves of the more retired
+   councils and ministry of the faction, were brought in here, and
+   orally insinuated to the company, whether it were lies,
+   defamations, commendations, projects, &c. and so, like water
+   diffused, spread over all the town; whereby that which was digested
+   at the club over night, was, like nourishment, at every assembly,
+   male and female, the next day. And thus the younglings tasted of
+   political administration, and took themselves for notable
+   counsellors." _Examen_, p. 572. The place of meeting is altered by
+   Dryden, from the King's-Head, to the Devil-Tavern, either because
+   he thought the name more appropriate, or wished slightly to
+   disguise what he plainly insinuated.
+
+18. Our author never omits an opportunity of twitting Hunt with his
+   expected preferment of lord chief baron of exchequer in Ireland;
+   L'Estrange, whose ready pen was often drawn for the court, answered
+   Hunt's defence of the charter by a pamphlet entitled "The Lawyer
+   Outlawed," in which he fails not to twit his antagonist with the
+   same disappointment.
+
+19. The foul practice of taking away lives by false witness, casts an
+   indelible disgrace on this period. Oates, Dugdale, and Turberville,
+   were the perjured evidences of the Popish plot. To meet them with
+   equal arms, counter-plots were sworn against Shaftesbury and
+   others, by Haines, Macnamara, and other Irishmen. But the true
+   Protestant juries would only swallow the perjuries which made for
+   their own opinions; nay, although they believed Dugdale, when he
+   zealously forswore himself for the cause of the Protestant faith,
+   they refused him credit when he bore false witness for the crown.
+   "Thus," says Hume, "the two parties, actuated by mutual rage, but
+   cooped up within the narrow limits of the law, levelled with
+   poisoned daggers the most deadly blows against each other's breast,
+   and buried in their factious divisions all regard to truth, honour,
+   and humanity."--
+
+20. In the Dramatis Personae to Shadwell's play of Epsom-Wells, we have
+   Rains, Bevil, Woodly, described as "men of wit and pleasure."
+
+21. Dryden had already distinguished Shadwell and Settle by those
+   names, which were destined to consign the poor wights to a painful
+   immortality, in the second part of Absalom and Achitophel,
+   published in 1682.
+
+22. See note on p. 222. Vol. VI. describing this famous procession.
+
+23. This passage, in Hunt's defence of the charter, obviously alludes
+   to the Duke of York, whom he elsewhere treats with little ceremony,
+   and to the king, whose affection for his brother was not without a
+   mixture of fear, inspired by his more stubborn and resolved temper.
+
+24. William Viscount Stafford, the last who suffered for the Popish
+   plot, was tried and executed in 1680. It appears, that his life was
+   foully sworn away by Dugdale and Turberville. The manly and patient
+   deportment of the noble sufferer went far to remove the woful
+   delusion which then pervaded the people. It would seem that Hunt
+   had acted as his solicitor.
+
+25. A quip at his corpulent adversary Shadwell.
+
+26. The infamous Titus Oates pretended, amongst other more abominable
+   falsehoods, to have taken a doctor's degree at Salamanca. In 1679,
+   there was an attempt to bring him to trial for unnatural practices,
+   but the grand jury threw out the bill. These were frequent subjects
+   of reproach among the tory authors. In the Luttrel Collection,
+   there is "An Address from Salamanca to her unknown offspring Dr
+   T.O. concerning the present state of affairs in England." Also a
+   coarse ballad, entitled, "The Venison Doctor, with his brace of
+   Alderman Stags;"
+
+     Showing how a Doctor had defiled
+     Two aldermen, and got them both with child,
+     Who longed for venison, but were beguiled.
+
+27. Our author has elsewhere expressed, in the same terms, his
+   contempt for the satire of "The Rehearsal." "I answered not the
+   Rehearsal, because I knew the author sat to himself when he drew
+   the picture, and was the very Bayes of his own farce." _Dedication
+   to Juvenal._--The same idea occurs in a copy of verses on the Duke
+   of Buckingham sometimes ascribed to Dryden:
+
+     But when his poet, John Bayes, did appear,
+     'Twas known to more than one-half that were there,
+     That the great'st part was his Grace's character;
+
+     For he many years plagued his friends for their crimes,
+     Repeating his verses in other men's rhymes,
+     To the very same person ten thousand times.
+                                   _State Poems_, Vol. II, p. 216.
+
+28. Besides those who were alarmed for civil liberty, and those who
+   dreaded encroachment on their religion, the whig party, like every
+   one which promises to effect a great political change, was embraced
+   by many equally careless of the one motive or the other; but who
+   hoped to indulge their licentious passions, repair their broken
+   fortunes, or gratify their inordinate ambition amidst a
+   revolutionary convulsion.
+
+29. The motto to Hunt's pamphlet.
+
+30. _Tantivi_ was a cant phrase for furious tories and high-flyers. In
+   one of College's unlucky strokes of humour, he had invented a print
+   called _Mac Ninny_, in which the Duke of York was represented
+   half-jesuit half-devil; and a parcel of tories, mounted on the
+   church of England, were driving it at full gallop, _tantivy_, to
+   Rome. Hickeringill's poem, called "The Mushroom," written against
+   our author's "Hind and Panther," is prefaced by an epistle to the
+   tories and tantivies.
+
+31. This passage is inaccurately quoted. Mr Hunt wrote, "Such monsters
+   as Theseus and Hercules _are_, renowned throughout all ages for
+   destroying." The learned gentleman obviously meant that Dryden's
+   heroes (whom he accounted tyrants) resembled not the demi-gods, but
+   the monsters whom they destroyed. But the comma is so unhappily
+   placed after _are_, as to leave the sense capable of the malicious
+   interpretation which Dryden has put upon it.
+
+32. Shadwell, as he resembled Ben Jonson in extreme corpulence, and
+   proposed him for the model of dramatic writing, seems to have
+   affected the coarse and inelegant debauchery of his prototype. He
+   lived chiefly in taverns, was a gross sensualist in his habits, and
+   brutal in his conversation. His fine gentlemen all partake of their
+   parent's grossness and vulgarity; they usually open their dialogue,
+   by complaining of the effects of last night's debauch. He is
+   probably the only author, who ever chose for his heroes a set of
+   riotous bloods, or _scowerers_, as they were then termed, and
+   expected the public should sympathise in their brutal orgies. True
+   it is, that the heroes are _whig_ scowerers; and, whilst breaking
+   windows, stabbing watchmen, and beating passengers, do not fail to
+   express a due zeal for the Protestant religion, and the liberty of
+   the subject. Much of the interest also turns, it must be allowed,
+   upon the Protestant scowerers aforesaid baffling and beating,
+   without the least provocation, a set of inferior scowerers, who
+   were Jacobites at least, if not Papists. Shadwell is thus described
+   in the "Sessions of the Poets:"
+
+     Next into the crowd Tom Shadwell does wallow,
+     And swears by his guts, his paunch, and his tallow,
+     'Tis he that alone best pleases the age,
+     Himself and his wife have supported the stage.
+     Apollo, well pleased with so bonny a lad,
+     To oblige him, he told him he should be huge glad,
+     Had he half so much wit as he fancied he had.
+     However, to please so jovial a wit,
+     And to keep him in humour, Apollo thought fit
+     To bid him drink on, and keep his old trick
+     Of railing at poets--
+
+   Those, who consult the full passage, will see good reason to think
+   Dryden's censure on Shadwell's brutality by no means too severe.
+
+33. In 1444, Ladislaus king of Hungary, in breach of a treaty solemnly
+   sworn upon the gospel, invaded Bulgaria, at the instigation of the
+   Cardinal Legate. He was slain, and his army totally routed in the
+   bloody battle of Warna, where ten thousand Christians fell before
+   the janissaries of Amurath II. It is said, that while the battle
+   remained undecided, the sultan displayed the solemn treaty, and
+   invoked the God of truth, and the blessed name of Jesus, to revenge
+   the impious infidelity of the Hungarian. This battle would have
+   laid Hungary under the Turkish yoke, had it not been for the
+   exploits of John Corvinus Huniades, the white knight of Walachia,
+   and the more dubious prowess of the famous John Castriot, king of
+   Epirus.
+
+34. In the preface to which the author alleges, that Hunt contributed
+   no small share towards the composition of "Julian the Apostate."
+   See WOOD'S _Ath. Oxon._ v. ii. p. 729.
+
+35. The song against the bishops is probably a ballad, upon their
+   share in throwing out the bill of exclusion, beginning thus:
+
+     The grave house of Commons, by hook, or by crook,
+     Resolved to root out both the pope and the duke;
+     Let them vote, let them move, let them do what they will;
+     The bishops, the bishops, have thrown out the bill.
+
+   It concludes with the following stanza:
+
+     The best of expedients, the law can propose,
+     Our church to preserve, and to quiet our foes,
+     Is not to let lawn sleeves our parliament fill,
+     But throw out the bishops, that threw out the bill.
+                                   _State Poems_, Vol. III. p. 154.
+
+   The Tunbridge ballad, which our author also ascribes to Shadwell or
+   his assistant, I have not found among the numerous libels of the
+   time.
+
+36. The "Massacre of Paris" appears to have been written by Lee,
+   during the time of the Popish plot, and if then brought out, the
+   subject might have been extravagantly popular. It would appear it
+   was suppressed at the request of the French ambassador. Several
+   speeches, and even a whole scene seem to have been transplanted to
+   the "Duke of Guise," which were afterwards replaced, when the
+   Revolution rendered the "Massacre of Paris," again a popular topic.
+   There were, among others, the description of the meeting of Alva
+   and the queen mother at Bayonne; the sentiments expressed
+   concerning the assassination of Caesar, and especially the whole
+   quarrelling scene between Guise and Grillon, which, in the
+   "Massacre of Paris," passes between Guise and the admiral
+   Chastillon. In the preface to the "Princess of Cleves," which was
+   acted in 1689, Lee gives the following account of the transposition
+   of these passages. "The Duke of Guise, who was notorious for a
+   bolder fault, has wrested two whole scenes from the original, (the
+   Massacre just before mentioned,) which, after the vacation, he will
+   be forced to pay. I was, I confess, through indignation, forced to
+   limb my own child, which time, the true cure for all maladies and
+   injustice, has set together again. The play cost me much pains, the
+   story is true, and, I hope, the object will display treachery in
+   its own colours. But this farce, comedy, tragedy, or mere play, was
+   a revenge for the refusal of the other." This last sentence alludes
+   to the suppression of the "Massacre of Paris," which, according to
+   the author's promise, appeared with all its appurtenances restored
+   in 1690, the year following.]
+
+37. When the days of Whiggish prosperity shone forth, Shadwell did his
+   best to retort upon our poet. In the prologue to "Bury Fair," we
+   find the following lines of exultation, on his having regained
+   possession of the stage:
+
+     Those wretched poetitos, who got praise,
+     By writing most _confounded loyal plays_,
+     With viler coarser jests, than at Bear-garden,
+     And silly Grub-street songs, worse than Tom Farthing;
+     If any noble patriot did excel,
+     His own and country's rights defending well,
+     These yelping curs were straight 'looed on to bark,
+     On the deserving man to set a mark;
+     Those abject fawning parasites and knaves.
+     Since they were such, would have all others slaves.
+     'Twas precious _loyalty_, that was thought fit
+     To atone for want of honesty and wit;
+     No wonder common sense was all cried down,
+     And noise and nonsense swaggered through the town;
+     Our author then opprest would have you know it.
+     Was silenced for a non-conformist poet;
+     Now, sirs, since common sence has won the day,
+     Be kind to this as to his last year's play;
+     His friends stood firmly to him, when distressed,
+     He hopes the number is not now decreast.
+     He found esteem from those he valued most;
+     Proud of his friends, he of his foes could boast.
+
+38. "Know then, to prevent the farther shedding of Christian blood, we
+   are all content Ventoso shall be viceroy, upon condition I may be
+   viceroy over him." Tempest, as altered by Dryden, vol. iii. p. 124.
+
+39. The fable alluded to occurs in the _Pia Hilaria_ of Gazaeus, and in
+   Le Grand's _Fabliaux_; it makes the subject of a humorous tale by
+   Mr Robert Southey.
+
+40. Alluding to the well-known catastrophe of poor Settle acting in
+   Bartholomew fair:
+
+     "Reduced at last to hiss in his own dragon."
+
+41. The _say_, or _assay_, is the first cut made on the stag when he
+   is killed. The hunter begins at the brisket, and draws the knife
+   downwards. The purpose is, to ascertain how fat he is:
+
+     "At the assay kitle him, that Lends may se
+     Anon Fat or lene whether that he be."
+                                   _Boke of St Alban's._
+
+   The allusion in the text is to the cruel punishment of high treason
+   by quartering.
+
+42. "And so thou shalt for me," said James, when he came to the
+   passage; "thou art a biting knave, but a witty one."
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                         ALBION AND ALBANIUS:
+
+
+                                  AN
+
+                                OPERA
+
+
+          _Discite justitiam, moniti, et non temnere divos._
+                                   VIRG.
+
+
+
+
+                         ALBION AND ALBANIUS.
+
+
+This opera, like the play which precedes it, had an avowed political
+object. It was intended to celebrate the victory of the crown over its
+opponents, or, as our author would have expressed it, of loyalty over
+sedition and insurrection. The events, which followed the Restoration,
+are rapidly, but obviously and distinctly, traced down to the death of
+Charles, and the quiet accession of his brother, who, after all the
+storms which had threatened to blast his prospects, found himself
+enabled to mount the throne, with ease sufficient to encourage him to
+the measures which precipitated him from that elevation. The leading
+incidents of the busy and intriguing reign of Charles II. are
+successively introduced in the following order. The city of London is
+discovered occupied by the republicans and fanatics, depicted under
+the allegorical personages Democracy and Zeal. General Monk, as
+Archon, charms the factions to sleep, and the Restoration is
+emblematized by the arrival of Charles, and the Duke of York, under
+the names of Albion and Albanius. The second act opens with a council
+of the fiends, where the popish plot is hatched, and Democracy and
+Zeal are dismissed, to propagate it upon earth, with Oates, the famous
+witness, in their train. The next entry presents Augusta, or London,
+stung by a snake, to intimate the revival of the popular faction in
+the metropolis. Democracy and Zeal, under the disguise of Patriotism
+and Religion, insinuate themselves into the confidence of the city,
+and are supposed to foment the parliamentary opposition, which, ending
+on the bill of exclusion, rendered it necessary, that the Duke of York
+should leave the kingdom. We have then, in allegorical representation,
+the internal feuds of the parties, which, from different causes,
+opposed the crown. The adherents of Monmouth, and the favourers of
+republican tenets, are represented as disputing with each other, until
+the latter, by the flight of Shaftesbury, obtains a final ascendancy.
+In the mean while, Charles, or Albion, has recourse to the advice of
+Proteus; under which emblem an evil minded whig might suppose Halifax,
+and the party of Trimmers, to be represented; actuated by whose
+versatile, and time-serving politics, Charles gave way to each wave,
+but remained buoyant amid the tempest. The Rye-house plot is then
+presented in allegory,--an unfit subject for exultation, since the
+dark intrigues of the interior conspirators were made the instruments
+of the fall of Sidney and Russell. The return of the Duke of York,
+with his beautiful princess, and the rejoicings which were supposed to
+take place, in heaven and earth, upon Charles' attaining the pinnacle
+of uncontrolled power, was originally the intended termination of the
+opera; which, as first written, consisted of only one act,
+introductory to the drama of "King Arthur." But the eye and the ear of
+Charles were never to be regaled by this flattering representation: he
+died while the opera was in rehearsal. A slight addition, as the
+author has himself informed us, adapted the conclusion of his piece to
+this new and unexpected event. The apotheosis of Albion, and the
+succession of Albanius to the uncontrouled domination of a willing
+people, debased by circumstances expressing an unworthy triumph over
+deceased foes, was substituted as the closing scene. Altered as it
+was, to suit the full-blown fortune of James, an ominous fatality
+attended these sugared scenes, which were to present the exulting
+recapitulation of his difficulties and triumph. While the opera was
+performing, for the sixth time only, news arrived that Monmouth had
+landed in the west, the audience dispersed, and the players never
+attempted to revive a play, which seemed to be of evil augury to the
+crown.
+
+Our author appears to have found it difficult to assign a name for
+this performance, which was at once to address itself to the eye, the
+ear, and the understanding. The ballad-opera, since invented, in which
+part is sung, part acted and spoken, comes nearest to its description.
+The plot of the piece contains nothing brilliantly ingenious: the
+deities of Greece and Rome had been long hacknied machines in the
+masks and operas of the sixteenth century; and it required little
+invention to paint the duchess of York as Venus, or to represent her
+husband protected by Neptune, and Charles consulting with Proteus. But
+though the device be trite, the lyrical diction of the opera is most
+beautifully sweet and flowing. The reader finds none of these harsh
+inversions, and awkward constructions, by which ordinary poets are
+obliged to screw their verses into the fetters of musical time.
+Notwithstanding the obstacles stated by Dryden himself, every line
+seems to flow in its natural and most simple order; and where the
+music required repetition of a line, or a word, the iteration seems to
+improve the sense and poetical effect. Neither is the piece deficient
+in the higher requisites of lyric poetry. When music is to be "married
+to immortal verse," the poet too commonly cares little with how
+indifferent a yoke-mate he provides her. But Dryden, probably less
+from a superior degree of care, than from that divine impulse which he
+could not resist, has hurried along in the full stream of real poetry.
+The description of the desolation of London, at the opening of the
+piece, the speech of Augusta, in act second, and many other passages,
+fully justify this encomium.
+
+The music of the piece was entrusted to Louis Grabut, or Grabu, the
+master of the king's band, whom Charles, French in his politics, his
+manners, and his taste, preferred to the celebrated Purcell. "Purcell,
+however," says an admirable judge, "having infinitely more fancy, and,
+indeed, harmonical resources, than the Frenchified Tuscan, his
+predecessor, now offered far greater pleasure and amusement to a
+liberal lover of music, than can be found, not only in the productions
+of Cambert and Grabu, whom Charles II., and, to flatter his majesty,
+Dryden, patronised in preference to Purcell, but in all the noisy
+monotony of the rhapsodist of Quinault."--_Burney's History of Music_,
+Vol. III. p. 500.
+
+It seems to be generally admitted, that the music of "Albion and
+Albanius" was very indifferent. From the preface, as well as the stage
+directions, it appears that a vast expence was incurred, in shew,
+dress, and machinery. Downes informs us, that, owing to the
+interruption of the run of the piece in the manner already mentioned,
+the half of the expence was never recovered, and the theatre was
+involved considerably in debt.--_Rosc. Anglic._ p. 40. The whigs,
+against whom the satire was levelled, the rival dramatists of the day,
+and the favourers of the English school of music, united in triumphing
+in its downfall[1].
+
+Mr Luttrell's manuscript note has fixed the first representation of
+"Albion and Albanius" to the 3d of June, 1685; and the laudable
+accuracy of Mr Malone has traced its sixth night to Saturday the 13th
+of the same month, when an express brought the news of Monmouth's
+landing. The opera was shortly after published. In 1687 Grabut
+published the music, with a dedication to James II.[2]
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. The following verses are rather better worthy of preservation than
+   most which have been written against Dryden.
+
+     From Father Hopkins, whose vein did inspire him,
+       Bayes sends this raree-show to public view;
+     Prentices, fops, and their footmen admire him,
+       Thanks patron, painter, and Monsieur Grabu.
+
+     Each actor on the stage his luck bewailing,
+       Finds that his loss is infallibly true;
+     Smith, Nokes, and Leigh, in a fever with railing,
+       Curse poet, painter, and Monsieur Grabu.
+
+     Betterton, Betterton, thy decorations,
+       And the machines, were well written, we knew;
+     But, all the words were such stuff, we want patience,
+       And little better is Monsieur Grabu.
+
+     Damme, says Underhill, I'm out of two hundred,
+       Hoping that rainbows and peacocks would do;
+     Who thought infallible Tom[a] could have blundered?
+       A plague upon him and Monsieur Grabu!
+
+     Lane, thou hast no applause for thy capers,
+       Though all, without thee, would make a man spew;
+     And a month hence will not pay for the tapers,
+       Spite of Jack Laureat, and Monsieur Grabu.
+
+     Bayes, thou wouldst have thy skill thought universal,
+       Though thy dull ear be to music untrue;
+     Then, whilst we strive to confute the Rehearsal,
+       Prithee leave thrashing of Monsieur Grabu.
+
+     With thy dull prefaces still thou wouldst treat us,
+       Striving to make thy dull bauble look fair;
+     So the horned herd of the city do cheat us,
+       Still most commending the worst of their ware.
+
+     Leave making operas and writing of lyricks,
+       Till thou hast ears, and can alter thy strain;
+     Stick to thy talent of bold panegyricks,
+       And still remember--_breathing the vein_[b].
+
+     Yet, if thou thinkest the town will extoll them,
+       Print thy dull notes; but be thrifty and wise:
+     Instead of angels subscribed for the volume,
+       Take a round shilling, and thank my advice.
+
+     In imitating thee, this may be charming,
+       Gleaning from laureats is no shame at all;
+     And let this song be sung next performing,
+       Else, ten to one that the prices will fall.
+
+   Footnotes:
+   a. Thomas Betterton.
+
+   b. An expression in Dryden's poem on the death of Cromwell, which
+      his libeller insisted on applying to the death of Charles I.
+
+2. Langbaine has preserved another jest upon our author's preference
+   of Grabut to the English musicians.
+
+     Grabut, his yokemate, ne'er shall be forgot.
+     Whom th' god of tunes upon a muse begot;
+     Bayes on a double score to him belongs,
+     As well for writing, as for setting songs;
+     For some have sworn the intrigue so odd is laid,
+     That Bayes and he mistook each other's trade,
+     Grabut the lines, and he the music made.
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                               PREFACE.
+
+
+If wit has truly been defined, "a propriety of thoughts and words,[1]"
+then that definition will extend to all sorts of poetry; and, among
+the rest, to this present entertainment of an opera. Propriety of
+thought is that fancy which arises naturally from the subject, or
+which the poet adapts to it; propriety of words is the clothing of
+those thoughts with such expressions as are naturally proper to them;
+and from both these, if they are judiciously performed, the delight of
+poetry results. An opera is a poetical tale, or fiction, represented
+by vocal and instrumental music, adorned with scenes, machines, and
+dancing. The supposed persons of this musical drama are generally
+supernatural, as gods, and goddesses, and heroes, which at least are
+descended from them, and are in due time to be adopted into their
+number. The subject, therefore, being extended beyond the limits of
+human nature, admits of that sort of marvellous and surprising
+conduct, which is rejected in other plays. Human impossibilities are
+to be received as they are in faith; because, where gods are
+introduced, a supreme power is to be understood, and second causes are
+out of doors; yet propriety is to be observed even here. The gods are
+all to manage their peculiar provinces; and what was attributed by the
+heathens to one power, ought not to be performed by any other. Phoebus
+must foretel, Mercury must charm with his caduceus, and Juno must
+reconcile the quarrels of the marriage-bed; to conclude, they must all
+act according to their distinct and peculiar characters. If the
+persons represented were to speak upon the stage, it would follow, of
+necessity, that the expressions should be lofty, figurative, and
+majestical: but the nature of an opera denies the frequent use of
+these poetical ornaments; for vocal music, though it often admits a
+loftiness of sound, yet always exacts an harmonious sweetness; or, to
+distinguish yet more justly, the recitative part of the opera requires
+a more masculine beauty of expression and sound. The other, which, for
+want of a proper English word, I must call the _songish part_, must
+abound in the softness and variety of numbers; its principal intention
+being to please the hearing, rather than to gratify the understanding.
+It appears, indeed, preposterous at first sight, that rhyme, on any
+consideration, should take place of reason; but, in order to resolve
+the problem, this fundamental proposition must be settled, that the
+first inventors of any art or science, provided they have brought it
+to perfection, are, in reason, to give laws to it; and, according to
+their model, all after-undertakers are to build. Thus, in epic poetry,
+no man ought to dispute the authority of Homer, who gave the first
+being to that masterpiece of art, and endued it with that form of
+perfection in all its parts, that nothing was wanting to its
+excellency. Virgil therefore, and those very few who have succeeded
+him, endeavoured not to introduce, or innovate, any thing in a design
+already perfected, but imitated the plan of the inventor; and are only
+so far true heroic poets, as they have built on the foundations of
+Homer. Thus, Pindar, the author of those Odes, which are so admirably
+restored by Mr Cowley in our language, ought for ever to be the
+standard of them; and we are bound, according to the practice of
+Horace and Mr Cowley, to copy him. Now, to apply this axiom to our
+present purpose, whosoever undertakes the writing of an opera, which
+is a modern invention, though built indeed on the foundation of ethnic
+worship, is obliged to imitate the design of the Italians, who have
+not only invented, but brought to perfection, this sort of dramatic
+musical entertainment. I have not been able, by any search, to get any
+light, either of the time when it began, or of the first author; but I
+have probable reasons, which induce me to believe, that some Italians,
+having curiously observed the gallantries of the Spanish Moors at
+their zambras, or royal feasts, where music, songs, and dancing, were
+in perfection, together with their machines, which are usual at their
+_sortija_, or running at the ring, and other solemnities, may possibly
+have refined upon those moresque divertisements, and produced this
+delightful entertainment, by leaving out the warlike part of the
+carousals, and forming a poetical design for the use of the machines,
+the songs, and dances. But however it began, (for this is only
+conjectural,) we know, that, for some centuries, the knowledge of
+music has flourished principally in Italy, the mother of learning and
+of arts[2]; that poetry and painting have been there restored, and so
+cultivated by Italian masters, that all Europe has been enriched out
+of their treasury; and the other parts of it, in relation to those
+delightful arts, are still as much provincial to Italy, as they were
+in the time of the Roman empire. Their first operas seem to have been
+intended for the celebration of the marriages of their princes, or for
+the magnificence of some general time of joy; accordingly, the
+expences of them were from the purse of the sovereign, or of the
+republic, as they are still practised at Venice, Rome, and at other
+places, at their carnivals. Savoy and Florence have often used them in
+their courts, at the weddings of their dukes; and at Turin
+particularly, was performed the "Pastor Fido," written by the famous
+Guarini, which is a pastoral opera made to solemnise the marriage of a
+Duke of Savoy. The prologue of it has given the design to all the
+French; which is a compliment to the sovereign power by some god or
+goddess; so that it looks no less than a kind of embassy from heaven
+to earth. I said in the beginning of this preface, that the persons
+represented in operas are generally gods, goddesses, and heroes
+descended from them, who are supposed to be their peculiar care; which
+hinders not, but that meaner persons may sometimes gracefully be
+introduced, especially if they have relation to those first times,
+which poets call the Golden Age; wherein, by reason of their
+innocence, those happy mortals were supposed to have had a more
+familiar intercourse with superior beings; and therefore shepherds
+might reasonably be admitted, as of all callings the most innocent,
+the most happy, and who, by reason of the spare time they had, in
+their almost idle employment, had most leisure to make verses, and to
+be in love; without somewhat of which passion, no opera can possibly
+subsist.
+
+It is almost needless to speak any thing of that noble language, in
+which this musical drama was first invented and performed. All, who
+are conversant in the Italian, cannot but observe, that it is the
+softest, the sweetest, the most harmonious, not only of any modern
+tongue, but even beyond any of the learned. It seems indeed to have
+been invented for the sake of poetry and music; the vowels are so
+abounding in all words, especially in terminations of them, that,
+excepting some few monosyllables, the whole language ends in them.
+Then the pronunciation is so manly, and so sonorous, that their very
+speaking has more of music in it than Dutch poetry and song. It has
+withal derived, so much copiousness and eloquence from the Greek and
+Latin, in the composition of words, and the formation of them, that
+if, after all, we must call it barbarous, it is the most beautiful and
+most learned of any barbarism in modern tongues; and we may, at least,
+as justly praise it, as Pyrrhus did the Roman discipline and martial
+order, that it was of barbarians, (for so the Greeks called all other
+nations,) but had nothing in it of barbarity. This language has in a
+manner been refined and purified from the Gothic ever since the time
+of Dante, which is above four hundred years ago; and the French, who
+now cast a longing eye to their country, are not less ambitious to
+possess their elegance in poetry and music; in both which they labour
+at impossibilities. It is true, indeed, they have reformed their
+tongue, and brought both their prose and poetry to a standard; the
+sweetness, as well as the purity, is much improved, by throwing off
+the unnecessary consonants, which made their spelling tedious and
+their pronunciation harsh: but, after all, as nothing can be improved
+beyond its own _species_, or farther than its original nature will
+allow; as an ill voice, though ever so thoroughly instructed in the
+rules of music, can never be brought to sing harmoniously, nor many an
+honest critic ever arrive to be a good poet; so neither can the
+natural harshness of the French, or their perpetual ill accent, be
+ever refined into perfect harmony like the Italian. The English has
+yet more natural disadvantages than the French; our original Teutonic,
+consisting most in monosyllables, and those incumbered with
+consonants, cannot possibly be freed from those inconveniencies. The
+rest of our words, which are derived from the Latin chiefly, and the
+French, with some small sprinklings of Greek, Italian, and Spanish,
+are some relief in poetry, and help us to soften our uncouth numbers;
+which, together with our English genius, incomparably beyond the
+trifling of the French, in all the nobler parts of verse, will justly
+give us the pre-eminence. But, on the other hand, the effeminacy of
+our pronunciation, (a defect common to us and to the Danes,) and our
+scarcity of female rhymes, have left the advantage of musical
+composition for songs, though not for recitative, to our neighbours.
+
+Through these difficulties I have made a shift to struggle in my part
+of the performance of this opera; which, as mean as it is, deserves at
+least a pardon, because it has attempted a discovery beyond any former
+undertaker of our nation; only remember, that if there be no
+north-east passage to be found, the fault is in nature, and not in me;
+or, as Ben Jonson tells us in "The Alchymist," when projection had
+failed, and the glasses were all broken, there was enough, however, in
+the bottoms of them, to cure the itch; so I may thus be positive, that
+if I have not succeeded as I desire, yet there is somewhat still
+remaining to satisfy the curiosity, or itch of sight and hearing. Yet
+I have no great reason to despair; for I may, without vanity, own some
+advantages, which are not common to every writer; such as are the
+knowledge of the Italian and French language, and the being conversant
+with some of their best performances in this kind; which have
+furnished me with such variety of measures as have given the composer,
+Monsieur Grabut, what occasions he could wish, to shew his
+extraordinary talent in diversifying the recitative, the lyrical part,
+and the chorus; in all which, not to attribute any thing to my own
+opinion, the best judges and those too of the best quality, who have
+honoured his rehearsals with their presence, have no less commended
+the happiness of his genius than his skill. And let me have the
+liberty to add one thing, that he has so exactly expressed my sense in
+all places where I intended to move the passions, that he seems to
+have entered into my thoughts, and to have been the poet as well as
+the composer. This I say, not to flatter him, but to do him right;
+because amongst some English musicians, and their scholars, who are
+sure to judge after them, the imputation of being a Frenchman is
+enough to make a party, who maliciously endeavour to decry him. But
+the knowledge of Latin and Italian poets, both which he possesses,
+besides his skill in music, and his being acquainted with all the
+performances of the French operas, adding to these the good sense to
+which he is born, have raised him to a degree above any man, who shall
+pretend to be his rival on our stage. When any of our countrymen excel
+him, I shall be glad, for the sake of old England, to be shewn my
+error; in the mean time, let virtue be commended, though in the person
+of a stranger[3].
+
+If I thought it convenient, I could here discover some rules which I
+have given to myself in writing of an opera in general, and of this
+opera in particular; but I consider, that the effect would only be, to
+have my own performance measured by the laws I gave; and,
+consequently, to set up some little judges, who, not understanding
+thoroughly, would be sure to fall upon the faults, and not to
+acknowledge any of the beauties; an hard measure, which I have often
+found from false critics. Here, therefore, if they will criticise,
+they shall do it out of their own _fond_; but let them first be
+assured that their ears are nice; for there is neither writing nor
+judgment on this subject without that good quality. It is no easy
+matter, in our language, to make words so smooth, and numbers so
+harmonious, that they shall almost set themselves. And yet there are
+rules for this in nature, and as great a certainty of quantity in our
+syllables, as either in the Greek or Latin: but let poets and judges
+understand those first, and then let them begin to study English. When
+they have chewed a while upon these preliminaries, it may be they will
+scarce adventure to tax me with want of thought and elevation of fancy
+in this work; for they will soon be satisfied, that those are not of
+the nature of this sort of writing. The necessity of double rhimes,
+and ordering of the words and numbers for the sweetness of the voice,
+are the main hinges on which an opera must move; and both of these are
+without the compass of any art to teach another to perform, unless
+nature, in the first place, has done her part, by enduing the poet
+with that nicety of hearing, that the discord of sounds in words shall
+as much offend him, as a seventh in music would a good composer. I
+have therefore no need to make excuses for meanness of thought in many
+places: the Italians, with all the advantages of their language, are
+continually forced upon it, or, rather, affect it. The chief secret is
+the choice of words; and, by this choice, I do not here mean elegancy
+of expression, but propriety of sound, to be varied according to the
+nature of the subject. Perhaps a time may come when I may treat of
+this more largely, out of some observations which I have made from
+Homer and Virgil, who, amongst all the poets, only understood the art
+of numbers, and of that which was properly called _rhythmus_ by the
+ancients.
+
+The same reasons, which depress thought in an opera, have a stronger
+effect upon the words, especially in our language; for there is no
+maintaining the purity of English in short measures, where the rhime
+returns so quick, and is so often female, or double rhime, which is
+not natural to our tongue, because it consists too much of
+monosyllables, and those, too, most commonly clogged with consonants;
+for which reason I am often forced to coin new words, revive some that
+are antiquated, and botch others; as if I had not served out my time
+in poetry, but was bound apprentice to some doggrel rhimer, who makes
+songs to tunes, and sings them for a livelihood. It is true, I have
+not been often put to this drudgery; but where I have, the words will
+sufficiently shew, that I was then a slave to the composition, which I
+will never be again: it is my part to invent, and the musician's to
+humour that invention. I may be counselled, and will always follow my
+friend's advice where I find it reasonable, but will never part with
+the power of the militia[4].
+
+I am now to acquaint my reader with somewhat more particular
+concerning this opera, after having begged his pardon for so long a
+preface to so short a work. It was originally intended only for a
+prologue to a play of the nature of "The Tempest;" which is a tragedy
+mixed with opera, or a drama, written in blank verse, adorned with
+scenes, machines, songs, and dances, so that the fable of it is all
+spoken and acted by the best of the comedians; the other part of the
+entertainment to be performed by the same singers and dancers who were
+introduced in this present opera. It cannot properly be called a play,
+because the action of it is supposed to be conducted sometimes by
+supernatural means, or magic; nor an opera, because the story of it is
+not sung.--But more of this at its proper time.--But some intervening
+accidents having hitherto deferred the performance of the main design,
+I proposed to the actors, to turn the intended Prologue into an
+entertainment by itself, as you now see it, by adding two acts more to
+what I had already written. The subject of it is wholly allegorical;
+and the allegory itself so very obvious, that it will no sooner be
+read than understood. It is divided, according to the plain and
+natural method of every action, into three parts. For even Aristotle
+himself is contented to say simply, that in all actions there is a
+beginning, a middle, and an end; after which model all the Spanish
+plays are built.
+
+The descriptions of the scenes, and other decorations of the stage, I
+had from Mr Betterton, who has spared neither for industry, nor cost,
+to make this entertainment perfect, nor for invention of the ornaments
+to beautify it.
+
+To conclude, though the enemies of the composer are not few, and that
+there is a party formed against him of his own profession, I hope, and
+am persuaded, that this prejudice will turn in the end to his
+advantage. For the greatest part of an audience is always
+uninterested, though seldom knowing; and if the music be well
+composed, and well performed, they, who find themselves pleased, will
+be so wise as not to be imposed upon, and fooled out of their
+satisfaction. The newness of the undertaking is all the hazard. When
+operas were first set up in France, they were not followed over
+eagerly; but they gained daily upon their hearers, till they grew to
+that height of reputation, which they now enjoy. The English, I
+confess, are not altogether so musical as the French; and yet they
+have been pleased already with "The Tempest," and some pieces that
+followed, which were neither much better written, nor so well composed
+as this. If it finds encouragement, I dare promise myself to mend my
+hand, by making a more pleasing fable. In the mean time, every loyal
+Englishman cannot but be satisfied with the moral of this, which so
+plainly represents the double restoration of His Sacred Majesty.
+
+
+                             POSTSCRIPT.
+
+This preface being wholly written before the death of my late royal
+master, (_quem semper acerbum, semper honoratum, sic dii voluistis,
+habebo_) I have now lately reviewed it, as supposing I should find
+many notions in it, that would require correction on cooler thoughts.
+After four months lying by me, I looked on it as no longer mine,
+because I had wholly forgotten it; but I confess with some
+satisfaction, and perhaps a little vanity, that I found myself
+entertained by it; my own judgment was new to me, and pleased me when
+I looked on it as another man's. I see no opinion that I would retract
+or alter, unless it be, that possibly the Italians went not so far as
+Spain, for the invention of their operas. They might have it in their
+own country; and that by gathering up the shipwrecks of the Athenian
+and Roman theatres, which we know were adorned with scenes, music,
+dances, and machines, especially the Grecian. But of this the learned
+Monsieur Vossius, who has made our nation his second country, is the
+best, and perhaps the only judge now living. As for the opera itself,
+it was all composed, and was just ready to have been performed, when
+he, in honour of whom it was principally made, was taken from us.
+
+He had been pleased twice or thrice to command, that it should be
+practised before him, especially the first and third acts of it; and
+publicly declared more than once, that the composition and choruses
+were more just, and more beautiful, than any he had heard in England.
+How nice an ear he had in music, is sufficiently known; his praise
+therefore has established the reputation of it above censure, and made
+it in a manner sacred. It is therefore humbly and religiously
+dedicated to his memory.
+
+It might reasonably have been expected that his death must have
+changed the whole fabric of the opera, or at least a great part of it.
+But the design of it originally was so happy, that it needed no
+alteration, properly so called; for the addition of twenty or thirty
+lines in the apotheosis of Albion, has made it entirely of a piece,
+This was the only way which could have been invented, to save it from
+botched ending; and it fell luckily into my imagination; as if there
+were a kind of fatality even in the most trivial things concerning the
+succession: a change was made, and not for the worse, without the
+least confusion or disturbance; and those very causes, which seemed to
+threaten us with troubles, conspired to produce our lasting happiness.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. This definition occurs in the preface to the "State of Innocence;"
+   but although given by Dryden, and sanctioned by Pope, it has a very
+   limited resemblance to that which is defined. Mr Addison has,
+   however, mistaken Dryden, in supposing that he applied this
+   definition exclusively to what we now properly call _wit_. From the
+   context it is plain, that he meant to include all poetical
+   composition.--_Spectator_, No. 62. The word once comprehended human
+   knowledge in general. We still talk of the wit of man, to signify
+   all that man can devise.
+
+2. The first Italian opera is said to have been that of "Dafne,"
+   performed at Florence in 1597.--_See_ BURNEY'S _History of Music_,
+   Vol. iv. p. 17.
+
+3. This passage gave great offence, being supposed to contain an
+   oblique reflection on Purcell and the other English composers.
+
+4. Alluding to the disputes betwixt the King and Parliament, on the
+   important point of the command of the militia.]
+
+
+
+
+                               PROLOGUE
+
+
+  Full twenty years, and more, our labouring stage
+  Has lost, on this incorrigible age:
+  Our poets, the John Ketches of the nation,
+  Have seemed to lash ye, even to excoriation;
+  But still no sign remains; which plainly notes,
+  You bore like heroes, or you bribed like Oates.--
+  What can we do, when mimicking a fop,
+  Like beating nut-trees, makes a larger crop?
+  'Faith, we'll e'en spare our pains! and, to content you,
+  Will fairly leave you what your Maker meant you.
+  Satire was once your physic, wit your food;
+  One nourished not, and t'other drew no blood:
+  We now prescribe, like doctors in despair,
+  The diet your weak appetites can bear.
+  Since hearty beef and mutton will not do,
+  Here's julep-dance, ptisan of song and show:
+  Give you strong sense, the liquor is too heady;
+  You're come to farce,--that's asses milk,--already.
+  Some hopeful youths there are, of callow wit,
+  Who one day may be men, if heaven think fit;
+  Sound may serve such, ere they to sense are grown,
+  Like leading-strings, till they can walk alone.--
+  But yet, to keep our friends in countenance, know,
+  The wise Italians first invented show;
+  Thence into France the noble pageant past:
+  'Tis England's credit to be cozened last.
+  Freedom and zeal have choused you o'er and o'er;     }
+  Pray give us leave to bubble you once more;          }
+  You never were so cheaply fooled before:             }
+  We bring you change, to humour your disease;
+  Change for the worse has ever used to please:
+  Then, 'tis the mode of France; without whose rules,
+  None must presume to set up here for fools.
+  In France, the oldest man is always young,
+  Sees operas daily, learns the tunes so long,
+  Till foot, hand, head, keep time with every song:
+  Each sings his part, echoing from pit and box,
+  With his hoarse voice, half harmony, half pox[1].
+  _Le plus grand roi du monde_ is always ringing,
+  They show themselves good subjects by their singing:
+  On that condition, set up every throat;
+  You whigs may sing, for you have changed your note.
+  Cits and citesses, raise a joyful strain,
+  'Tis a good omen to begin a reign;
+  Voices may help your charter to restoring,
+  And get by singing, what you lost by roaring.
+
+
+Footnote:
+1. This practice continued at the opera of Paris in the time of Gay.
+   It could hardly have obtained any where else.
+
+       "But, hark! the full orchestra strikes the strings,
+     The hero struts, and the whole audience sings;
+     My jarring ear harsh grating murmurs wound.
+     Hoarse and confused, like Babel's mingled sound.
+     Hard chance had placed me near a noisy throat,
+     That, in rough quavers, bellowed every note:
+     "Pray, Sir," said I, "suspend awhile your song,
+     The opera's drowned, your lungs are wondrous strong;
+     I wish to hear your Roland's ranting strain,
+     When he with rooted forests strews the plain."--
+     "_Monsieur assurement n'aime pas la musique._"
+     Then turning round, he joined the ungrateful noise,
+     And the loud chorus thundered with his voice."
+                         _Epistle to the Right Hon. William Pulteney._
+
+
+
+
+            Names of the Persons, represented in the same
+              order as they appear first upon the stage.
+
+  MERCURY.
+  AUGUSTA. _London._
+  THAMESIS.
+  DEMOCRACY.
+  ZELOTA. _Feigned Zeal._
+  ARCHON. _The General._
+  JUNO.
+  IRIS.
+  ALBION.
+  ALBANIUS.
+  PLUTO.
+  ALECTO.
+  APOLLO.
+  NEPTUNE.
+  NEREIDS.
+  ACACIA. _Innocence._
+  TYRANNY.
+  ASEBIA. _Atheism,_ or _Ungodliness._
+  PROTEUS.
+  VENUS.
+  FAME.
+  _A Chorus of Cities._
+  _A Chorus of Rivers._
+  _A Chorus of the People._
+  _A Chorus of Furies._
+  _A Chorus of Nereids and Tritons._
+  _A grand Chorus of Heroes, Loves, and Graces._
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                            FRONTISPIECE.
+
+
+The curtain rises, and a new frontispiece is seen, joined to the great
+pilasters, which are seen on each side of the stage: on the flat of
+each basis is a shield, adorned with gold; in the middle of the
+shield, on one side, are two hearts, a small scroll of gold over them,
+and an imperial crown over the scroll; on the other hand, in the
+shield, are two quivers full of arrows saltyre, &c.; upon each basis
+stands a figure bigger than the life; one represents Peace, with a
+palm in one, and an olive branch in the other hand; the other Plenty,
+holding a cornucopia, and resting on a pillar. Behind these figures
+are large columns of the Corinthian order, adorned with fruit and
+flowers: over one of the figures on the trees is the king's cypher;
+over the other, the queen's: over the capitals, on the cornice, sits a
+figure on each side; one represents Poetry, crowned with laurel,
+holding a scroll in one hand, the other with a pen in it, and resting
+on a book; the other, Painting, with a pallet and pencils, &c.: on the
+sweep of the arch lies one of the Muses, playing on a bass-viol;
+another of the Muses, on the other side, holding a trumpet in one
+hand, and the other on a harp. Between these figures, in the middle of
+the sweep of the arch, is a very large pannel in a frame of gold; in
+this pannel is painted, on one side, a Woman, representing the city of
+London, leaning her head on her hand in a dejected posture, showing
+her sorrow and penitence for her offences; the other hand holds the
+arms of the city, and a mace lying under it: on the other side is a
+figure of the Thames, with his legs shackled, and leaning on an empty
+urn: behind these are two imperial figures; one representing his
+present majesty; and the other the queen: by the king stands Pallas,
+(or wisdom and valour,) holding a charter for the city, the king
+extending his hand, as raising her drooping head, and restoring her to
+her ancient honour and glory: over the city are the envious devouring
+Harpies flying from the face of his majesty: By the queen stand the
+Three Graces, holding garlands of flowers, and at her feet Cupids
+bound, with their bows and arrows broken, the queen pointing with her
+sceptre to the river, and commanding the Graces to take off their
+fetters. Over the king, in a scroll, is this verse of Virgil,
+
+   _Discite justitiam, moniti, et non temnere divos._
+
+Over the queen, this of the same author,
+
+  _Non ignara mali, miscris succurrere disco._
+
+
+
+
+                         ALBION AND ALBANIUS.
+
+                                  AN
+
+                                OPERA.
+
+
+              DECORATIONS OF THE STAGE IN THE FIRST ACT.
+
+_The Curtain rises, and there appears on either side of the Stage,
+next to the Frontispiece, a Statue on Horseback of Gold, on Pedestals
+of Marble, enriched with Gold, and bearing the Imperial Arms of
+England. One of these Statues is taken from that of the late King at
+Charing-cross; the other from that figure of his present Majesty (done
+by that noble Artist, Mr. Gibbons) at Windsor._
+
+_The Scene is a Street of Palaces, which lead to the Front of the
+Royal-Exchange; the great Arch is open, and the view is continued
+through the open part of the Exchange, to the Arch on the other side,
+and thence to as much of the Street beyond, as could possibly be
+taken._
+
+            MERCURY DESCENDS IN A CHARIOT DRAWN BY RAVENS.
+
+_He comes to Augusta and Thamesis. They lie on Couches at a distance
+from each other in dejected postures; She attended by Cities, He by
+Rivers._
+
+_On the side of Augusta's Couch are painted towers falling, a Scarlet
+Gown, and a Gold Chain, a Cap of Maintenance thrown down, and a Sword
+in a Velvet Scabbard thrust through it, the City Arms, a Mace with an
+old useless Charter, and all in disorder. Before Thamesis are broken
+Reeds, Bull-rushes, Sedge, &c. with his Urn Reverst._
+
+
+ACT I.
+
+  MERCURY _Descends._
+
+_Mer._ Thou glorious fabric! stand, for ever stand:
+Well worthy thou to entertain
+The God of Traffic, and of Gain,
+To draw the concourse of the land,
+And wealth of all the main.
+But where the shoals of merchants meeting?
+Welcome to their friends repeating,
+Busy bargains' deafer sound?
+Tongue confused of every nation?
+Nothing here but desolation,
+Mournful silence reigns around.
+
+_Aug._ O Hermes! pity me!
+I was, while heaven did smile,
+The queen of all this isle,
+Europe's pride,
+And Albion's bride;
+But gone my plighted lord! ah, gone is he!
+O Hermes! pity me!
+
+_Tham._ And I the noble Flood, whose tributary tide
+Does on her silver margent smoothly glide;
+But heaven grew jealous of our happy state,
+And bid revolving fate
+Our doom decree;
+No more the King of Floods am I,
+No more the Queen of Albion, she!
+                                [_These two Lines are sung by Reprises
+                                 betwixt_ AUGUSTA _and_ THAMESIS.
+
+_Aug._ O Hermes! pity me!  } _Sung by_ AUG. _and_
+                           } THAM. _together._
+_Tham._ O Hermes! pity me! }
+
+_Aug._ Behold!
+
+_Tham._ Behold!
+
+_Aug._ My turrets on the ground,
+That once my temples crowned!
+
+_Tham._ The sedgy honours of my brows dispersed!
+My urn reversed!
+
+_Merc._ Rise, rise, Augusta, rise!
+And wipe thy weeping eyes:
+Augusta!--for I call thee so:
+'Tis lawful for the gods to know
+Thy future name,
+And growing fame.
+Rise, rise, Augusta, rise.
+
+_Aug._ O never, never will I rise,
+Never will I cease my mourning,
+Never wipe my weeping eyes,
+Till my plighted lord's returning!
+Never, never will I rise!
+
+_Merc._ What brought thee, wretch, to this despair?
+The cause of thy misfortune show.
+
+_Aug._ It seems the gods take little care
+Of human things below,
+When even our sufferings here they do not know.
+
+_Merc._ Not unknowing came I down,
+Disloyal town!
+Speak! didst not thou
+Forsake thy faith, and break thy nuptial vow?
+
+_Aug._ Ah, 'tis too true! too true!
+But what could I, unthinking city, do?
+Faction swayed me,
+Zeal allured me,
+Both assured me.
+Both betrayed me!
+
+_Merc._ Suppose me sent
+Thy Albion to restore,--
+Can'st thou repent?
+
+_Aug._ My falsehood I deplore!
+
+_Tham._ Thou seest her mourn, and I
+With all my waters will her tears supply.
+
+_Merc._ Then by some loyal deed regain
+Thy long-lost reputation,
+To wash away the stain
+That blots a noble nation,
+And free thy famous town again
+From force of usurpation.
+
+_Chorus of all._ We'll wash away the stain
+That blots a noble nation,
+And free this famous town again
+From force of usurpation.        [_Dance of the Followers of_ MERCURY.
+
+_Aug._ Behold Democracy and Zeal appear;
+She, that allured my heart away,
+And he, that after made a prey.
+
+_Merc._ Resist, and do not fear!
+
+_Chorus of all._ Resist, and do not fear!
+
+  _Enter_ DEMOCRACY _and_ ZEAL _attended by_ ARCHON.
+
+_Democ._ Nymph of the city! bring thy treasures,
+Bring me more
+To waste in pleasures.
+
+_Aug._ Thou hast exhausted all my store,
+And I can give no more.
+
+_Zeal._ Thou horny flood, for Zeal provide
+A new supply; and swell thy moony tide,
+That on thy buxom back the floating gold may glide.
+
+_Tham._ Not all the gold the southern sun produces,
+Or treasures of the famed Levant,
+Suffice for pious uses,
+To feed the sacred hunger of a saint!
+
+_Democ._ Woe to the vanquished, woe!
+Slave as thou art,
+Thy wealth impart,
+And me thy victor know!
+
+_Zeal._ And me thy victor know.
+Resistless arms are in my hand,
+Thy bars shall burst at my command,
+Thy tory head lie low.
+Woe to the vanquished, woe!
+
+_Aug._ Were I not bound by fate
+For ever, ever here,
+My walls I would translate
+To some more happy sphere,
+Removed from servile fear.
+
+_Tham._ Removed from servile fear.
+Would I could disappear,
+And sink below the main;
+For commonwealth's a load,
+My old imperial flood
+Shall never, never bear again.
+A commonwealth's a load,               } THAMES. _and_
+Our old imperial flood,                } AUG. _together._
+Shall never, never, never, bear again. }
+
+_Dem._ Pull down her gates, expose her bare;
+I must enjoy the proud disdainful fair.
+Haste, Archon, haste
+To lay her waste[1]!
+
+_Zeal._ I'll hold her fast
+To be embraced!
+
+_Dem._ And she shall see
+A thousand tyrants are in thee,
+A thousand thousand more in me!
+
+_Archon._ to _Aug._ From the Caledonian shore
+Hither am I come to save thee,
+Not to force or to enslave thee,
+But thy Albion to restore:
+Hark! the peals the people ring,
+Peace, and freedom, and a king.
+
+_Chorus._ Hark! the peals the people ring,
+Peace, and freedom, and a king.
+
+_Aug._ and _Tham._ To arms! to arms!
+
+_Archon._ I lead the way!
+
+_Merc._ Cease your alarms!
+And stay, brave Archon, stay!
+'Tis doomed by fate's decree,
+'Tis doomed that Albion's dwelling,
+All other isles excelling,
+By peace shall happy be.
+
+_Archon._ What then remains for me?
+
+_Merc._ Take my caduceus! Take this awful wand,
+With this the infernal ghosts I can command,
+And strike a terror through the Stygian land.
+Commonwealth will want pretences,
+Sleep will creep on all his senses;
+Zeal that lent him her assistance,
+Stand amazed without resistance.
+                            [ARCHON _touches_ DEMOCRACY _with a Wand._
+
+_Dem._ I feel a lazy slumber lays me down:
+Let Albion, let him take the crown.
+Happy let him reign,
+Till I wake again.                                    [_Falls asleep._
+
+_Zeal._ In vain I rage, in vain
+I rouse my powers;
+But I shall wake again,
+I shall, to better hours.
+Even in slumber will I vex him;
+Still perplex him,
+Still incumber:
+Know, you that have adored him,
+And sovereign power afford him,
+We'll reap the gains
+Of all your pains,
+And seem to have restored him.                   [ZEAL _falls asleep._
+
+_Aug._ and _Tham._ A stupifying sadness
+Leaves her without motion;
+But sleep will cure her madness,
+And cool her to devotion.
+
+  _A double Pedestal rises: on the Front of it is painted, in
+  Stone-colour, two Women; one holding a double-faced Vizor; the other
+  a Book, representing_ HYPOCRISY _and_ FANATICISM; _when_ ARCHON _has
+  charmed_ DEMOCRACY _and_ ZEAL _with the Caduceus of_ MERCURY, _they
+  fall asleep on the Pedestal, and it sinks with them._
+
+_Merc._ Cease, Augusta! cease thy mourning,
+Happy days appear;
+God-like Albion is returning
+Loyal hearts to chear.
+Every grace his youth adorning,
+Glorious as the star of morning,
+Or the planet of the year.
+
+_Chor._ Godlike Albion is returning, &c.
+
+_Merc._ to _Arch._ Haste away, loyal chief, haste away,
+No delay, but obey;
+To receive thy loved lord, haste away.                    [_Ex._ ARCH.
+
+_Tham._ Medway and Isis, you that augment me,
+Tides that increase my watery store,
+And you that are friends to peace and plenty,
+Send my merry boys all ashore;
+Seamen skipping,
+Mariners leaping,
+Shouting, tripping,
+Send my merry boys all ashore!
+
+  _A dance of Watermen in the King's and Duke's Liveries._
+
+  _The Clouds divide, and_ JUNO _appears in a Machine drawn by
+  Peacocks; while a Symphony is playing, it moves gently forward, and
+  as it descends, it opens and discovers the Tail of the Peacock,
+  which is so large, that it almost fills the opening of the Stage
+   between Scene and Scene._
+
+_Merc._ The clouds divide; what wonders,
+What wonders do I see!
+The wife of Jove! 'Tis she,
+That thunders, more than thundering he!
+
+_Juno._ No, Hermes, no;
+'Tis peace above
+As 'tis below;
+For Jove has left his wand'ring love.
+
+_Tham._ Great queen of gathering clouds,
+Whose moisture fills our floods,
+See, we fall before thee,
+Prostrate we adore thee!
+
+_Aug._ Great queen of nuptial rites,
+Whose power the souls unites,
+And fills the genial bed with chaste delights,
+See, we fall before thee,
+Prostrate we adore thee!
+
+_Juno._ 'Tis ratified above by every god,
+And Jove has firmed it with an awful nod,
+That Albion shall his love renew:
+But oh, ungrateful fair,
+Repeated crimes beware,
+And to his bed be true!
+
+  IRIS _appears on a very large Machine. This was really seen the 18th
+  of March, 1684, by Captain_ Christopher Gunman, _on Board his R.H.
+  Yacht, then in Calais Pierre: He drew it as it then appeared, and
+  gave a Draught of it to us. We have only added the Cloud where the
+  Person of_ IRIS _sits._
+
+_Juno._ Speak, Iris, from Batavia, speak the news!
+Has he performed my dread command,
+Returning Albion to his longing land,
+Or dare the nymph refuse?
+
+_Iris._ Albion, by the nymph attended,
+Was to Neptune recommended;
+Peace and Plenty spread the sails,
+Venus, in her shell before him,
+From the sands in safety bore him,
+And supplied Etesian gales.                             [_Retornella._
+Archon, on the shore commanding,
+Lowly met him at his landing,
+Crowds of people swarmed around;
+Welcome rang like peals of thunder;
+Welcome, rent the skies asunder;
+Welcome, heaven and earth resound.
+
+_Juno._ Why stay we then on earth,
+When mortals laugh and love?
+'Tis time to mount above,
+And send Astraea down,
+The ruler of his birth,
+And guardian of his crown.
+'Tis time to mount above,
+And send Astraea down.
+
+_Mer. Jun. Ir._ 'Tis time to mount above,
+And send Astraea down.                    [MER. JU. _and_ IR. _ascend._
+
+_Aug._ and _Tham._ The royal squadron marches,
+Erect triumphal arches,
+For Albion and Albanius;
+Rejoice at their returning,
+The passages adorning:
+The royal squadron marches,
+Erect triumphal arches
+For Albion and Albanius.
+
+  _Part of the Scene disappears, and the Four Triumphal arches,
+  erected on his Majesty's Coronation, are seen._
+
+  ALBION _appears,_ ALBANIUS _by his Side, preceded by_ ARCHON,
+  _followed by a Train, &c._
+
+_Full Chorus._ Hail, royal Albion, Hail!
+
+_Aug._ Hail, royal Albion, hail to thee,
+Thy longing people's expectation!
+
+_Tham._ Sent from the gods to set us free
+From bondage and from usurpation!
+
+_Aug._ To pardon and to pity me,
+And to forgive a guilty nation!
+
+_Tham._ Behold the differing Climes agree,
+Rejoicing in thy restoration.
+
+  Entry. _Representing the Four Parts of the World, rejoicing at the
+  Restoration of_ ALBION.
+
+
+ACT II.
+
+  _The Scene is a Poetical Hell. The Change is total; The Upper Part
+  of the House, as well as the Side-Scenes. There is the Figure of_
+  PROMETHEUS _chained to a Rock, the Vulture gnawing his Liver;_
+  SISYPHUS _rolling the Stone; the_ BELIDES, _&c. Beyond, Abundance of
+  Figures in various Torments. Then a great Arch of Fire. Behind this,
+  three Pyramids of Flames in perpetual Agitation. Beyond this,
+  glowing Fire, which terminates the Prospect._
+
+  PLUTO, _and the_ FURIES; _with_ ALECTO, DEMOCRACY, _and_ ZELOTA.
+
+_Plu._ Infernal offspring of the night,
+Debarred of heaven your native right,
+And from the glorious fields of light,
+Condemned in shades to drag the chain,
+And fill with groans the gloomy plain;
+Since, pleasures here are none below,
+Be ill our good, our joy be woe;
+Our work to embroil the worlds above,
+Disturb their union, disunite their love,
+And blast the beauteous frame of our victorious foe.
+
+_Dem._ and _Zel._ O thou, for whom those worlds are made,
+Thou sire of all things, and their end,
+From hence they spring, and when they fade,
+In shuffled heaps they hither tend;
+Here human souls receive their breath,
+And wait for bodies after death.
+
+_Dem._ Hear our complaint, and grant our prayer.
+
+_Plu._ Speak what you are,
+And whence you fell?
+
+_Dem._ I am thy first-begotten care,
+Conceived in heaven, but born in hell.
+When thou didst bravely undertake in fight
+Yon arbitrary power,
+That rules by sovereign might,
+To set thy heaven-born fellows free,
+And leave no difference in degree,
+In that auspicious hour
+Was I begot by thee.
+
+_Zel._ One mother bore us at a birth,
+Her name was Zeal before she fell;
+No fairer nymph in heaven or earth,
+'Till saintship taught her to rebel:
+But losing fame,
+And changing name,
+She's now the Good Old Cause in hell.
+
+_Plu._ Dear pledges of a flame not yet forgot,
+Say, what on earth has been your lot?
+
+_Dem._ and _Zel._ The wealth of Albion's isle was ours,
+Augusta stooped with all her stately towers.
+
+_Dem._ Democracy kept nobles under.
+
+_Zel._ Zeal from the pulpit roared like thunder.
+
+_Dem._ I trampled on the state.
+
+_Zel._ I lorded o'er the gown.
+
+_Dem._ and _Zel._ We both in triumph sate,
+Usurpers of the crown.
+But oh, prodigious turn of fate!
+Heaven controuling,
+Sent us rolling, rolling down.
+
+_Plu._ I wondered how of late our Acherontic shore
+Grew thin, and hell unpeopled of her store;
+Charon, for want of use, forgot his oar.
+The souls of bodies dead flew all sublime,
+And hither none returned to purge a crime:
+But now I see, since Albion is restored,
+Death has no business, nor the vengeful sword.
+  'Tis too, too much that here I lie
+  From glorious empire hurled;
+  By Jove excluded from the sky;
+  By Albion from the world.
+
+_Dem._ Were common-wealth restored again,
+Thou shouldst have millions of the slain
+To fill thy dark abode.
+
+_Zel._ For he a race of rebels sends,
+And Zeal the path of heaven pretends,
+But still mistakes the road.
+
+_Plu._ My labouring thought
+At length hath wrought
+A bravely bold design,
+In which you both shall join.
+In borrowed shapes to earth return;
+Thou, Common-wealth, a Patriot seem,
+Thou, Zeal, like true Religion burn,
+To gain the giddy crowd's esteem.--
+Alecto, thou to fair Augusta go,
+And all thy snakes into her bosom throw.
+
+_Dem._ Spare some, to fling
+Where they may sting
+The breast of Albion's king.
+
+_Zel._ Let jealousies so well be mixed,
+That great Albanius be unfixed.
+
+_Plu._ Forbear your vain attempts, forbear:
+Hell can have no admittance there;
+The people's fear will serve as well,
+Make him suspected, them rebel.
+
+_Zel._ You've all forgot
+To forge a plot,
+In seeming care of Albion's life;
+Inspire the crowd
+With clamours loud,
+To involve his brother and his wife.
+
+_Alec._ Take, of a thousand souls at thy command,
+The basest, blackest of the Stygian band,
+One, that will swear to all they can invent,
+So thoroughly damned, that he can ne'er repent:
+One, often sent to earth,
+And still at every birth
+He took a deeper stain:
+One, that in Adam's time was Cain;
+One, that was burnt in Sodom's flame,
+For crimes even here too black to name:
+One, who through every form of ill has run:
+One, who in Naboth's days was Belial's son;
+One, who has gained a body fit for sin;
+Where all his crimes
+Of former times
+Lie crowded in a skin[2].
+
+_Plu._ Take him,
+Make him
+What you please;
+For he can be
+A rogue with ease.
+One for mighty mischief born;
+He can swear, and be forsworn.
+
+_Plu._ and _Alect._ Take him, make him what you please;
+For he can be a rogue with ease.
+
+_Plu._ Let us laugh, let us laugh, let us laugh at our woes,
+The wretch that is damned has nothing to lose.--
+Ye furies, advance
+With the ghosts in a dance.
+'Tis a jubilee when the world is in trouble;
+When people rebel,
+We frolic in hell;
+But when the king falls, the pleasure is double.
+                                 [_A single entry of a Devil, followed
+                                  by an entry of twelve Devils._
+
+_Chorus._ Let us laugh, let us laugh, let us laugh at our woes,
+The wretch that is damned hath nothing to lose.
+
+  _The Scene changes to a Prospect taken from the middle of the
+  Thames; one side of it begins at York-Stairs, thence to White-Hall,
+  and the Mill-bank, &c. The other from the Saw-mill, thence to the
+  Bishop's Palace, and on as far as can be seen in a clear day._
+
+  _Enter_ AUGUSTA: _She has a Snake in her Bosom hanging down._
+
+_Aug._ O jealousy, thou raging ill,
+Why hast thou found a room in lovers' hearts,
+Afflicting what thou canst not kill,
+And poisoning love himself, with his own darts?
+I find my Albion's heart is gone,
+My first offences yet remain,
+Nor can repentance love regain;
+One writ in sand, alas, in marble one.
+I rave, I rave! my spirits boil
+Like flames increased, and mounting high with pouring oil;
+Disdain and love succeed by turns;
+One freezes me, and t'other burns; it burns.
+Away, soft love, thou foe to rest!
+Give hate the full possession of my breast.
+Hate is the nobler passion far,
+When love is ill repaid;
+For at one blow it ends the war,
+And cures the love-sick maid.
+
+  _Enter_ DEMOCRACY _and_ ZELOTA; _one represents a Patriot, the
+  other, Religion._
+
+_Dem._ Let not thy generous passion waste its rage,
+But once again restore our golden age;
+Still to weep and to complain,
+Does but more provoke disdain.
+Let public good
+Inflame thy blood;
+With crowds of warlike people thou art stored.
+And heaps of gold;
+Reject thy old,
+And to thy bed receive another lord.
+
+_Zel._ Religion shall thy bonds release,
+For heaven can loose, as well as tie all;
+And when 'tis for the nation's peace,
+A king is but a king on trial;
+When love is lost, let marriage end,
+And leave a husband for a friend.
+
+_Dem._ With jealousy swarming,
+The people are arming,
+The frights of oppression invade them.
+
+_Zel._ If they fall to relenting,
+For fear of repenting,
+Religion shall help to persuade them.
+
+_Aug._ No more, no more temptations use
+To bend my will;
+How hard a task 'tis to refuse
+A pleasing ill!
+
+_Dem._ Maintain the seeming duty of a wife,
+A modest show with jealous eyes deceive;
+Affect a fear for hated Albion's life,
+And for imaginary dangers grieve.
+
+_Zel._ His foes already stand protected,
+His friends by public fame suspected,
+Albanius must forsake his isle;
+A plot, contrived in happy hour,
+Bereaves him of his royal power,
+For heaven to mourn, and hell to smile.
+
+  _The former Scene continues._
+
+  _Enter_ ALBION _and_ ALBANIUS _with a train._
+
+_Alb._ Then Zeal and Common-wealth infest
+My land again;
+The fumes of madness, that possest
+The people's giddy brain,
+Once more disturb the nation's rest,
+And dye rebellion in a deeper stain.
+
+  II.
+
+Will they at length awake the sleeping sword,
+And force revenge from their offended lord?
+How long, ye gods, how long
+Can royal patience bear
+The insults and wrong
+Of madmen's jealousies, and causeless fear?
+
+  III.
+
+I thought their love by mildness might be gained,
+By peace I was restored, in peace I reigned;
+But tumults, seditions,
+And haughty petitions,
+Are all the effects of a merciful nature;
+Forgiving and granting,
+Ere mortals are wanting,
+But leads to rebelling against their creator.
+
+  MERCURY _descends._
+
+_Mer._ With pity Jove beholds thy state,
+But Jove is circumscribed by fate;
+The o'erwhelming tide rolls on so fast,
+It gains upon this island's waste;
+And is opposed too late! too late!
+
+_Alb._ What then must helpless Albion do?
+
+_Mer._ Delude the fury of the foe,
+And, to preserve Albanius, let him go;
+For 'tis decreed,
+Thy land must bleed,
+For crimes not thine, by wrathful Jove;
+A sacred flood
+Of royal blood
+Cries vengeance, vengeance, loud above.            [MERCURY _ascends._
+
+_Alb._ Shall I, to assuage
+Their brutal rage,
+The regal stem destroy?
+Or must I lose,
+To please my foes,
+My sole remaining joy?
+Ye gods, what worse,
+What greater curse,
+Can all your wrath employ!
+
+_Alban._ Oh Albion! hear the gods and me!
+Well am I lost, in saving thee.
+Not exile or danger can fright a brave spirit,
+With innocence guarded,
+With virtue rewarded;
+I make of my sufferings a merit.
+
+_Alb._ Since then the gods and thou will have it so,
+Go; (Can I live once more to bid thee?) go,
+Where thy misfortunes call thee, and thy fate;
+Go, guiltless victim of a guilty state!
+In war, my champion to defend,
+In peaceful hours, when souls unbend,
+My brother, and, what's more, my friend!
+Borne where the foamy billows roar,
+On seas less dangerous than the shore;
+Go, where the gods thy refuge have assigned,
+Go from my sight; but never from my mind.
+
+_Alban._ Whatever hospitable ground
+Shall be for me, unhappy exile, found,
+'Till heaven vouchsafe to smile;
+What land soe'er,--
+Though none so dear
+As this ungrateful isle,--
+O think! O think! no distance can remove
+My vowed allegiance, and my loyal love.
+
+_Alb._ and _Alban._ The rosy-fingered morn appears,
+And from her mantle shakes her tears,
+In promise of a glorious day;
+The sun, returning, mortals chears,
+And drives the rising mists away,
+In promise of a glorious day.                           [_Ritornelle._
+
+  _The farther part of the heaven opens, and discovers a Machine; as
+  it moves forward, the clouds which are before it divide, and shew
+  the person of_ APOLLO, _holding the Reins in his Hand. As they fall
+  lower, the Horses appear with the Rays, and a great glory about_
+  APOLLO.
+
+_Apol._ All hail, ye royal pair,
+The Gods' peculiar care!
+Fear not the malice of your foes;
+Their dark designing,
+And combining,
+Time and truth shall once expose:
+Fear not the malice of your foes.
+
+  II.
+
+My sacred oracles assure,
+The tempest shall not long endure;
+But when the nation's crimes are purged away,
+Then shall you both in glory shine;
+Propitious both, and both divine;
+In lustre equal to the god of day.
+                                  [APOLLO _goes forward out of sight._
+
+  NEPTUNE _rises out of the Water, and a Train of Rivers, Tritons, and
+  Sea-Nymphs attend him._
+
+_Tham._ Old father Ocean calls my tide;
+Come away, come away;
+The barks upon the billows ride,
+The master will not stay;
+The merry boatswain from his side
+His whistle takes, to check and chide
+The lingering lads' delay,
+And all the crew aloud have cried,
+Come away, come away.
+
+See, the god of seas attends thee,
+Nymphs divine, a beauteous train;
+All the calmer gales befriend thee,
+In thy passage o'er the main;
+Every maid her locks is binding,
+Every Triton's horn is winding;
+Welcome to the watry plain!
+
+          CHACON[3].
+
+  _Two Nymphs and Tritons sing._
+
+Ye Nymphs, the charge is royal,
+      Which you must convey;
+Your hearts and hands employ all,
+      Hasten to obey;
+When earth is grown disloyal,
+Shew there's honour in the sea.
+
+  _The_ CHACON _continues._
+
+  _The Chorus of Nymphs and Tritons repeat the same Verses._
+
+  _The_ CHACON _continues._
+
+  _Two Nymphs and Tritons._
+
+Sports and pleasures shall attend you
+      Through all the watry plains,
+      Where Neptune reigns;
+Venus ready to defend you,
+      And her nymphs to ease your pains,
+      No storm shall offend you,
+        Passing the main;
+Nor billow threat in vain
+      So sacred a train,
+'Till the gods, that defend you,
+      Restore you again.
+
+  _The_ CHACON _continues._
+
+  _The Chorus repeat the same Verses,_ Sports and Pleasures _&c._
+
+  _The_ CHACON _continues._
+
+  _The two Nymphs and Tritons sing._
+
+See, at your blest returning,
+      Rage disappears;
+The widowed isle in mourning
+      Dries up her tears;
+    With flowers the meads adorning,
+      Pleasure appears,
+And love dispels the nation's causeless fears.
+
+  _The_ CHACON _continues._
+
+  _The Chorus of Nymphs and Tritons repeat the same   Verses,_ See at
+  your blest returning, _&c._
+
+  _The_ CHACON _continues._
+
+  _Then the Chorus repeat,_ See the god of Seas, _&c.   And this
+  Chorus concludes the Act._
+
+
+ACT III.
+
+  _The Scene is a View of Dover, taken from the Sea. A row of Cliffs
+  fill up each Side of the Stage, and the Sea the middle of it, which
+  runs into the Pier; Beyond the Pier, is the town of Dover; On each
+  side of the Town, is seen a very high hill; on one of which is the
+  Castle of Dover; on the other, the great stone which they call the
+  Devil's-Drop. Behind the Town several Hills are seen at a great
+  distance, which finish the View._
+
+  _Enter_ ALBION _bare-headed;_ ACACIA _or_ INNOCENCE _with him._
+
+_Alb._ Behold, ye powers! from whom I own
+A birth immortal, and a throne;
+See a sacred king uncrowned,
+See your offspring, Albion, bound;
+The gifts, you gave with lavish hand,
+Are all bestowed in vain;
+Extended empire on the land,
+Unbounded o'er the main.
+
+_Aca._ Empire o'er the land and main,
+Heaven, that gave, can take again;
+But a mind, that's truly brave,
+Stands despising
+Storms arising,
+And can ne'er be made a slave.
+
+_Alb._ Unhelped I am, who pitied the distressed,
+And, none oppressing, am by all oppressed;
+Betrayed, forsaken, and of hope bereft.
+
+_Aca._ Yet still the gods, and Innocence are left.
+
+_Alb._ Ah! what canst thou avail,
+Against rebellion armed with zeal,
+And faced with public good?
+O monarchs, see
+Your fate in me!
+To rule by love,
+To shed no blood,
+May be extolled above;
+But here below,
+Let princes know,
+'Tis fatal to be good.
+
+_Chorus of both._ To rule by love, _&c._
+
+_Aca._ Your father Neptune, from the seas,
+Has Nereids and blue Tritons sent,
+To charm your discontent.
+
+  _Nereids rise out of the Sea, and sing; Tritons dance._
+
+From the low palace of old father Ocean,
+Come we in pity your cares to deplore;
+Sea-racing dolphins are trained for our motion,
+Moony tides swelling to roll us ashore.
+
+  II.
+
+Every nymph of the flood, her tresses rending,
+Throws off her armlet of pearl in the main;
+Neptune in anguish his charge unattending,
+Vessels are foundering, and vows are in vain.
+
+  _Enter_ TYRANNY, DEMOCRACY, _represented by Men, attended by_ ASEBIA
+  _and_ ZELOTA, Women._
+
+_Tyr._ Ha, ha! 'tis what so long I wished and vowed:
+Our plots and delusions
+Have wrought such confusions,
+That the monarch's a slave to the crowd.
+
+_Dem._ A design we fomented,--
+
+_Tyr._ By hell it was new!
+
+_Dem._ A false plot invented,--
+
+_Tyr._ To cover a true.
+
+_Dem._ First with promised faith we flattered.
+
+_Tyr._ Then jealousies and fears we scattered.
+
+_Aseb._ We never valued right and wrong,
+But as they served our cause.
+
+_Zel._ Our business was to please the throng,
+And court their wild applause;
+
+_Aseb._ For this we bribed the lawyer's tongue.
+And then destroyed the laws.
+
+_Cho._ For this, &c.
+
+_Tyr._ To make him safe, we made his friends our prey;
+
+_Dem._ To make him great, we scorned his royal sway,--
+
+_Tyr._ And to confirm his crown, we took his heir away.
+
+_Dem._ To encrease his store,
+We kept him poor;
+
+_Tyr._ And when to wants we had betrayed him,
+To keep him low,
+Pronounced a foe,
+Whoe'er presumed to aid him.
+
+_Aseb._ But you forget the noblest part,
+And master piece of all your art,--
+You told him he was sick at heart.
+
+_Zel._ And when you could not work belief
+In Albion of the imagined grief;
+Your perjured vouchers, in a breath,
+Made oath, that he was sick to death;
+And then five hundred quacks of skill
+Resolved, 'twas fit he should be ill.
+
+_Aseb._ Now hey for a common-wealth,
+We merrily drink and sing!
+'Tis to the nation's health,
+For every man's a king.
+
+_Zel._ Then let the mask begin,
+The Saints advance,
+To fill the dance,
+And the Property Boys come in.
+
+  _The Boys in white begin a Fantastic Dance[4]._
+
+_Cho._ Let the saints ascend the throne.
+
+_Dem._ Saints have wives, and wives have preachers,
+Gifted men, and able teachers;
+These to get, and those to own.
+
+_Cho._ Let the saints ascend the throne.
+
+_Aseb._ Freedom is a bait alluring;
+Them betraying, us securing,
+While to sovereign power we soar.
+
+_Zel._ Old delusions, new repeated,
+Shews them born but to be cheated,
+As their fathers were before.
+
+  _Six Sectaries begin a formal affected Dance; the two gravest
+  whisper the other four, and draw them into the Plot; they pull out
+  and deliver Libels to them, which they receive._
+
+_Dem._ See friendless Albion there alone,
+Without defence
+But innocence;
+Albanius now is gone.
+
+_Tyr._ Say then, what must be done?
+
+_Dem._ The gods have put him in our hand[5].
+
+_Zel._ He must be slain.
+
+_Tyr._ But who shall then command?
+
+_Dem._ The people; for the right returns to those.
+Who did the trust impose.
+
+_Tyr._ 'Tis fit another sun should rise,
+To cheer the world, and light the skies.
+
+_Dem._ But when the sun
+His race has run,
+And neither cheers the world, nor lights the skies,
+'Tis fit a common-wealth of stars should rise.
+
+_Aseb._ Each noble vice
+Shall bear a price,
+And virtue shall a drug become;
+An empty name
+Was all her fame,
+But now she shall be dumb.
+
+_Zel._ If open vice be what you drive at,
+A name so broad we'll ne'er connive at.
+Saints love vice, but, more refinedly,
+Keep her close, and use her kindly.
+
+_Tyr._ Fall on.
+
+_Dem._ Fall on; e'er Albion's death, we'll try,
+If one or many shall his room supply.
+
+  _The White Boys dance about the Saints; the Saints draw out the
+  Association, and offer it to them; they refuse it, and quarrel about
+  it; then the White Boys and Saints fall into a confused dance,
+  imitating fighting. The White Boys, at the end of the dance, being
+  driven out by the Sectaries, with Protestant Flails.[6]_
+
+_Alb._ See the gods my cause defending,
+When all human help was past!
+
+_Acac._ Factions mutually contending,
+By each other fall at last.
+
+_Alb._ But is not yonder Proteus' cave,
+Below that steep,
+Which rising billows brave?
+
+_Acac._ It is; and in it lies the god asleep;
+And snorting by,
+We may descry
+The monsters of the deep.
+
+_Alb._ He knows the past,
+And can resolve the future too.
+
+_Acac._ 'Tis true!
+But hold him fast,
+For he can change his hue.[7]
+
+  _The Cave of_ PROTEUS _rises out of the Sea; it consists of several
+  arches of Rock-work adorned with mother-of-pearl, coral, and
+  abundance of shells of various kinds. Through the arches is seen the
+  Sea, and parts of Dover-pier; in the middle of the Cave is_ PROTEUS
+  _asleep on a rock adorned with shells, &c. like the Cave._ ALBION
+  _and_ ACACIA _seize on him; and while a symphony is playing, he
+  sinks as they are bringing him forward, and changes himself into a
+  Lion, a Crocodile, a Dragon, and then to his own shape again; he
+  comes forward to the front of the stage, and sings._
+
+        SYMPHONY.
+
+_Pro._ Albion, loved of gods and men,
+Prince of peace, too mildly reigning,
+Cease thy sorrow and complaining;
+Thou shall be restored again:
+Albion, loved of gods and men.
+
+  II.
+
+Still thou art the care of heaven,
+In thy youth to exile driven;
+Heaven thy ruin then prevented,
+'Till the guilty land repented.
+In thy age, when none could aid thee,
+Foes conspired, and friends betrayed thee;
+To the brink of danger driven,
+Still thou art the care of heaven.
+
+_Alb._ To whom shall I my preservation owe?
+
+_Pro._ Ask me no more; for 'tis by Neptune's foe.[8]
+
+  PROTEUS _descends._
+
+  DEMOCRACY _and_ ZELOTA _return with their faction._
+
+_Dem._ Our seeming friends, who joined alone,
+To pull down one, and build another throne,
+Are all dispersed and gone;
+We brave republic souls remain.
+
+_Zel._ And 'tis by us that Albion must be slain;
+Say, whom shall we employ
+The tyrant to destroy?
+
+_Dem._ That Archer is by fate designed,
+With one eye clear, and t'other blind.
+
+_Zel._ He comes inspired to do't.
+
+_Omnes._ Shoot, holy Cyclop, shoot.
+
+  _The one-eyed Archer advances, the rest follow. A fire arises
+  betwixt them and_ ALBION.[9]
+                                                          [_Ritornel._
+
+_Dem._ Lo! heaven and earth combine
+To blast our bold design.
+What miracles are shewn!
+Nature's alarmed,
+And fires are armed,
+To guard the sacred throne.
+
+_Zel._ What help, when jarring elements conspire,
+To punish our audacious crimes?
+Retreat betimes,
+To shun the avenging fire.
+
+_Chor._ To shun the avenging fire.                           [_Ritor._
+
+  _As they are going back, a fire arises from behind; they all sink
+  together._[10]
+
+_Alb._ Let our tuneful accents upwards move,
+Till they reach the vaulted arch of those above;
+Let us adore them;
+Let us fall before them.
+
+_Acac._ Kings they made, and kings they love.
+When they protect a rightful monarch's reign,
+The gods in heaven, the gods on earth maintain.
+
+_Both._ When they protect, &c.
+
+_Alb._ But see, what glories gild the main!
+
+_Acac._ Bright Venus brings Albanius back again,
+With all the Loves and Graces in her train.
+
+  _A machine rises out of the sea; it opens, and discovers_ VENUS
+  _and_ ALBANIUS _sitting in a great scallop-shell, richly adorned._
+  VENUS _is attended by the Loves and Graces,_ ALBANIUS _by Heroes;
+  the shell is drawn by dolphins; it moves forward, while a symphony
+  of flutes-doux, &c. is playing, till it lands them on the stage, and
+  then it closes and sinks._
+
+  VENUS _sings._
+
+Albion, hail! the gods present thee
+All the richest of their treasures,
+Peace and pleasures,
+To content thee,
+Dancing their eternal measures.    [_Graces and Loves dance an entry._
+
+_Venus._ But, above all human blessing,
+Take a warlike loyal brother,
+Never prince had such another;
+Conduct, courage, truth expressing,
+All heroic worth possessing.   [_Here the Heroes' dance is performed._
+
+_Chor. of all._ But above all, &c.                           [_Ritor._
+
+  _Whilst a Symphony is playing, a very large, and a very glorious
+  Machine descends; the figure of it oval, all the clouds shining with
+  gold, abundance of Angels and Cherubins flying about them, and
+  playing in them; in the midst of it sits_ APOLLO _on a throne of
+  gold; he comes from the machine to_ ALBION.
+
+_Phoeb._ From Jove's imperial court,
+Where all the gods resort,
+In awful counsel met,
+Surprising news I bear;
+Albion the great
+Must change his seat,
+For he is adopted there.
+
+_Venus._ What stars above shall we displace?
+Where shall he fill a room divine?
+
+_Nept._ Descended from the sea-gods' race,
+Let him by my Orion shine.
+
+_Phoeb._ No, not by that tempestuous sign;
+Betwixt the Balance and the Maid,
+The just,
+August,
+And peaceful shade,
+Shall shine in heaven with beams displayed,
+While great Albanius is on earth obeyed.
+
+_Venus._ Albanius, lord of land and main,
+Shall with fraternal virtues reign;
+And add his own,
+To fill the throne;
+Adored and feared, and loved no less;
+In war victorious, mild in peace,
+The joy of man, and Jove's increase.
+
+_Acac._ O thou! who mountest the aethereal throne,
+Be kind and happy to thy own;
+Now Albion is come,
+The people of the sky
+Run gazing, and cry,--Make room,
+Make room, make room,
+Make room for our new deity!
+
+  _Here_ ALBION _mounts the machine, which moves upward slowly._
+
+  _A full chorus of all that_ ACACIA _sung._
+
+_Ven._ Behold what triumphs are prepared to grace
+Thy glorious race,
+Where love and honour claim an equal place;
+Already they are fixed by fate,
+And only ripening ages wait.
+
+  _The Scene changes to a Walk of very high trees; at the end of the
+  Walk is a view of that part of Windsor, which faces Eton; in the
+  midst of it is a row of small trees, which lead to the Castle-Hill.
+  In the first scene, part of the Town and part of the Hill. In the
+  next, the Terrace Walk, the King's lodgings, and the upper part of
+  St George's chapel, then the keep; and, lastly, that part of the
+  Castle beyond the keep._
+
+  _In the air is a vision of the Honours of the Garter; the Knights in
+  procession, and the King under a canopy; beyond this, the upper end
+  of St George's hall._
+
+  FAME _rises out of the middle of the Stage, standing on a Globe, on
+  which is the Arms of England: the Globe rests on a Pedestal; on the
+  front of the Pedestal in drawn a Man with a long, lean, pale face,
+  with fiends' wings, and snakes twisted round his body; he is
+  encompassed by several fanatical rebellious heads, who suck poison
+  from him, which runs out of a tap in his side._[11]
+
+_Fame._ Renown, assume thy trumpet!
+From pole to pole resounding
+Great Albion's name;
+Great Albion's name shall be
+The theme of Fame, shall be great Albion's name,
+Great Albion's name, great Albion's name.
+Record the garter's glory;
+A badge for heroes, and for kings to bear;
+For kings to bear!
+And swell the immortal story,
+With songs of Gods, and fit for Gods to hear;
+And swell the immortal story,
+With songs of Gods, and fit for Gods to hear;
+For Gods to hear.
+
+  _A full Chorus of all the Voices and Instruments; trumpets and
+  hautboys make Ritornello's of all_ FAME _sings; and twenty-four
+  Dancers, all the time in a chorus, and dance to the end of the
+  Opera._
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1.  The reader must recollect the orders of the Rump parliament to
+   general Monk, to destroy the gates and portcullises of the city of
+   London; which commission, by the bye, he actually executed, with
+   all the forms of contempt, although, in a day or two after, he took
+   up his quarters in the city, apologized for what had passed, and
+   declared against the parliament.
+
+2. Dr. Titus Oates, the principal witness to the Popish Plot, was
+   accused of unnatural and infamous crimes. He was certainly a most
+   ineffably impudent, perjured villain.
+
+3. The Chacon is supposed by Sir John Hawkins to be of Moorish or
+   Saracenic origin. "The characteristic of the Chacone is a bass, or
+   ground, consisting of four measures, wherein three crotchets make
+   the bar, and the repetition thereof with variations in the several
+   parts, from the beginning to the end of the air, which in respect
+   of its length, has no limit but the discretion of the composer. The
+   whole of the twelfth sonata of the second opera of Corelli is a
+   Chacone." _Hist. of Music_, vol. iv. p. 388. There is also, I am
+   informed, a very celebrated Chacon composed by Jomelli.
+
+4. By the _White Boys_ or _Property Boys_, are meant the adherents of
+   the Duke of Monmouth, who affected great zeal for liberty and
+   property, and assumed white badges, as marks of the innocence of
+   their intentions. When the Duke came to the famous Parliament held
+   at Oxford, "he was met by about 100 Batchellors all in white,
+   except black velvet caps, with white wands in their hands, who
+   divided themselves, and marched as a guard to his person." _Account
+   of the Life of the Duke of Monmouth_, p. 107. In the Duke's tour
+   through the west of England, he was met at Exeter, by "a brave
+   company of brisk stout young men, all cloathed in linen waistcoats
+   and drawers, _white and harmless,_ having not so much as a stick in
+   their hands; they were in number about 900 or 1000." _ibid._ p.
+   103. See the notes on Absalom and Achitophel. The saints, on the
+   other hand, mean the ancient republican zealots and fanatics, who,
+   though they would willingly have joined in the destruction of
+   Charles, did not wish that Monmouth should succeed him, but aimed
+   at the restoration of the commonwealth. Hence the following dispute
+   betwixt Tyranny and Democracy.
+
+5. The atrocious and blasphemous sentiment in the text was actually
+   used by the fanatics who murdered Sharpe, the archbishop of St
+   Andrews. When they unexpectedly met him during their search for
+   another person, they exclaimed, that "the Lord had delivered him
+   into their hands."
+
+6. It is easy to believe, that, whatever was the, nature of the
+   schemes nourished by Monmouth, Russel, and Essex, they could have
+   no concern with the low and sanguinary cabal of Ramsay, Walcot, and
+   Rumbold, who were all of them old republican officers and
+   commonwealth's men. The flight of Shaftesbury, whose bustling and
+   politic brain had rendered him the sole channel of communication
+   betwixt these parties, as well as the means of uniting them in one
+   common design, threw loose all connection between them; so that
+   each, after his retreat, seems to have acted independantly of, and
+   often in contradiction to the other.
+
+7. The reader may judge, whether some distant and obscure allusion to
+   the trimming politics of Halifax, to whom the Duke of York, our
+   author's patron, was hostile, may not be here insinuated. During
+   the stormy session of his two last parliaments, Charles was much
+   guided by his temporising and camelion-like policy.
+
+8. That is by fire. See next note.
+
+9. The allegory of the one-eyed Archer, and the fire arising betwixt
+   him and Albion, will be made evident by the following extracts from
+   Sprat's history of the Conspiracy. In enumerating the persons
+   engaged in the Rye-house plot, he mentions "Richard Rumbold,
+   maltster, an old army officer, a desperate and bloody Ravaillac."
+   After agitating several schemes for assassinating Charles, the
+   Rye-house was fixed upon as a spot which the king must necessarily
+   pass in his journey trom Newmarket, and which, being a solitary
+   moated house, in the actual occupation of Rumbold, afforded the
+   conspirators facility of previous concealment and subsequent
+   defence. "All other propositions, as subject to far more casualties
+   and hazards, soon gave place to that of the Rye, in Herefordshire,
+   a house then inhabited by the foresaid Richard Rumbold, who
+   proposed that to be the seat of the action, offering himself to
+   command the party, that was to do the work. Him, therefore, as the
+   most daring captain, and by reason of a blemish in one of his eyes,
+   they were afterwards wont, in common discourse, to call Hannibal;
+   often drinking healths to _Hannibal and his boys_, meaning Rumbold
+   and his _hellish crew_.
+
+   "Immediately upon the coaches coming within the gates and hedges
+   about the house, the conspirators were to divide into several
+   parties; some before, in the habit of labourers, were to overthrow
+   a cart in the narrowest passage, so as to prevent all possibility
+   of escape: others were to fight the guards, Walcot chusing that
+   part upon a punctilio of honour; others were to shoot at the
+   coachman, postillion, and horses; others to aim only at his
+   Majesty's coach, which party was to be under the particular
+   direction of Rumbold himself; the villain declaring beforehand,
+   that, upon that occasion, he would make use of a very good
+   blunderbuss, which was in West's possession, and blasphemously
+   adding, that Ferguson should first consecrate it." ... "But whilst
+   they were thus wholly intent on this barbarous work, and proceeded
+   securely in its contrivance without any the least doubt of a
+   prosperous success, behold! on a sudden, God miraculously
+   disappointed all their hopes and designs, by the terrible
+   conflagration unexpectedly breaking out at Newmarket. In which
+   extraordinary event there was one remarkable passage, that is not
+   so generally taken notice of, as, for the glory of God, and the
+   confusion of his Majesty's enemies, it ought to be.
+
+   "For, after that the approaching fury of the flames had driven the
+   king out of his own palace, his Majesty, at first, removed into
+   another quarter of the town, remote from the fire, and, as yet,
+   free from any annoyance of smoke and ashes. There his Majesty,
+   finding he might be tolerably well accommodated, had resolved to
+   stay, and continue his recreations as before, till the day first
+   named for his journey back to London. But his Majesty had no sooner
+   made that resolution, when the wind, as conducted by an invisible
+   power from above, presently changed about, and blew the smoke and
+   cinders directly on his new lodging, making them in a moment as
+   untenable as the other. Upon this, his Majesty being put to a new
+   shift, and not finding the like conveniency elsewhere, immediately
+   declared, he would speedily return to Whitehall, as he did; which
+   happening to be several days before the assassins expected him, or
+   their preparations for the Rye were in readiness, it may justly
+   give occasion to all the world to acknowledge, what one of the very
+   conspirators could not but do, _that it was a providential
+   fire._"--Pages 51_ et seq._
+
+   The proprietor of the Rye-house (for Rumbold was but a tenant)
+   shocked at the intended purpose, for which it was to have been
+   used, is said to have fired it with his own hand. This is the
+   subject of a poem, called the Loyal Incendiary, or the generous
+   _Boute-feu_.
+
+10. The total ruin of those, who were directly involved in the
+   Rye-house, was little to be regretted, had it not involved the fate
+   of those who were pursuing reform, by means more manly and
+   constitutional,--the fate of Russel, Essex, and Sidney.
+
+   Rumbold, "the one-eyed archer," fled to Holland, and came to
+   Scotland with Argyle, on his ill-concerted expedition. He was
+   singled out and pursued, after the dispersion of his companions in
+   a skirmish. He defended himself with desperate resolution against
+   two armed peasants, till a third, coming behind him with a
+   pitch-fork, turned off his head-piece, when he was cut down and
+   made prisoner, exclaiming, "Cruel countryman, to use me thus, while
+   my face was to mine enemy." He suffered the doom of a traitor at
+   Edinburgh, and maintained on the scaffold, with inflexible
+   firmness, the principles in which he had lived. He could never
+   believe, he said, that the many of human kind came into the world
+   bridled and saddled, and the few with whips and spurs to ride them.
+   "His rooted ingrained opinion, says Fountainhall, was for a
+   republic against monarchy, to pull down which he thought a duty,
+   and no sin." At his death, he declared, that were every hair of his
+   head a man, he would venture them all in the good old cause.
+
+11. "I must not," says Langbaine, "take the pains to acquaint my
+   reader, that by the man on the pedestal, &c. is meant the late Lord
+   Shaftesbury. I shall not pretend to pass my censure, whether he
+   deserved this usage from our author or no, but leave it to the
+   judgments of statesmen and politicians." Shaftesbury having been
+   overturned in a carriage, received some internal injury which
+   required a constant discharge by an issue in his side. Hence he was
+   ridiculed under the name of _Tapski_. In a mock account of an
+   apparition, stated to have appeared to Lady Gray, it says, "Bid
+   Lord Shaftesbury have a care to his spigot--if he is tapt, all the
+   plot will run out." _Ralph's History_, vol. i. p. 562. from a
+   pamphlet in Lord Somers' collection. There are various allusions to
+   this circumstance in the lampoons of the time. A satire called "The
+   Hypocrite," written by Carryl, concludes thus:
+
+     His body thus and soul together vie.
+     In vice's empire for the sovereignty;
+     In ulcers shut this does abound in sin,
+     Lazar without and Lucifer within.
+     The silver pipe is no sufficient drain
+     For the corruption of this little man;
+     Who, though he ulcers have in every part,
+     Is no where so corrupt as in his heart.
+
+   At length, in prosecution of this coarse and unhandsome jest, a
+   sort of vessel with a turn-cock was constructed for holding wine,
+   which was called a Shaftesbury, and used in the taverns of the
+   royal party.
+
+
+
+
+                               EPILOGUE
+
+
+  After our AEsop's fable shown to-day,
+  I come to give the moral of the play.
+  Feigned Zeal, you saw, set out the speedier pace;
+  But the last heat, Plain Dealing won the race:
+  Plain Dealing for a jewel has been known;
+  But ne'er till now the jewel of a crown.
+  When heaven made man, to show the work divine,
+  Truth was his image, stamped upon the coin:
+  And when a king is to a God refined,
+  On all he says and does he stamps his mind:
+  This proves a soul without alloy, and pure;
+  Kings, like their gold, should every touch endure.
+  To dare in fields is valour; but how few
+  Dare be so throughly valiant,--to be true!
+  The name of great, let other kings affect:
+  He's great indeed, the prince that is direct.
+  His subjects know him now, and trust him more
+  Than all their kings, and all their laws before.
+  What safety could their public acts afford?
+  Those he can break; but cannot break his word.
+  So great a trust to him alone was due;
+  Well have they trusted whom so well they knew.
+  The saint, who walked on waves, securely trod,
+  While he believed the beck'ning of his God;
+  But when his faith no longer bore him out,
+  Began to sink, as he began to doubt.
+  Let us our native character maintain;
+  'Tis of our growth, to be sincerely plain.
+  To excel in truth we loyally may strive,
+  Set privilege against prerogative:
+  He plights his faith, and we believe him just;
+  His honour is to promise, ours to trust.
+  Thus Britain's basis on a word is laid,
+  As by a word the world itself was made[1].
+
+
+Footnote:
+1. From this Epilogue we learn, what is confirmed by many proofs
+   elsewhere, that the attribute for which James desired to be
+   distinguished and praised, was that of openness of purpose, and
+   stern undeviating inflexibility of conduct. He scorned to disguise
+   his designs, either upon the religion or the constitution of his
+   country. He forgot that it was only the temporising concessions of
+   his brother which secured his way to the throne, when his
+   exclusion, or a civil war, seemed the only alternatives. His
+   brother was the reed, which bent before the whirlwind, and
+   recovered its erect posture when it had passed away; and James, the
+   inflexible oak, which the first tempest rooted up for ever.
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                            DON SEBASTIAN.
+
+
+                                  A
+
+                               TRAGEDY.
+
+
+                _--Nec tarda senectus
+              Debilitat vires animi, mutatque vigorem._
+                                   VIRG.
+
+
+
+
+                            DON SEBASTIAN.
+
+
+The following tragedy is founded upon the adventures supposed to have
+befallen Sebastian, king of Portugal, after the fatal battle of
+Alcazar. The reader may be briefly reminded of the memorable
+expedition of that gallant monarch to Africa, to signalize, against
+the Moors, his chivalry as a warrior, and his faith as a Christian.
+The ostensible pretext of invasion was the cause of Muly Mahomet, son
+of Abdalla, emperor of Morocco; upon whose death, his brother, Muly
+Moluch, had seized the crown, and driven his nephew into exile. The
+armies joined battle near Alcazar. The Portuguese, far inferior in
+number to the Moors, displayed the most desperate valour, and had
+nearly won the day, when Muly Moluch, who, though almost dying, was
+present on the field in a litter, fired with shame and indignation,
+threw himself on horseback, rallied his troops, renewed the combat,
+and, being carried back to his litter, immediately expired, with his
+finger placed on his lips, to impress on the chiefs, who surrounded
+him, the necessity of concealing his death. The Moors, rallied by
+their sovereign's dying exertion, surrounded, and totally routed, the
+army of Sebastian. Mahomet, the competitor for the throne of Morocco,
+was drowned in passing a river in his flight, and Sebastian, as his
+body was never found, probably perished in the same manner. But where
+the region of historical certainty ends, that of romantic tradition
+commences. The Portuguese, to whom the memory of their warlike
+sovereign was deservedly dear, grasped at the feeble hope which the
+uncertainty of his fate afforded, and long, with vain fondness,
+expected the return of Sebastian, to free them from the yoke of Spain.
+This mysterious termination of a hero's career, as it gave rise to
+various political intrigues, (for several persons assumed the name and
+character of Sebastian,) early afforded a subject for exercising the
+fancy of the dramatist and romance writer. "The Battle of Alcazar[1]"
+is known to the collectors of old plays; a ballad on the same subject
+is reprinted in Evans's collection; and our author mentions a French
+novel on the adventures of Don Sebastian, to which Langbaine also
+refers.
+
+The situation of Dryden, after the Revolution, was so delicate as to
+require great caution and attention, both in his choice of a subject,
+and his mode of treating it. His distressed circumstances and lessened
+income compelled him to come before the public as an author; while the
+odium attached to the proselyte of a hated religion, and the partizan
+of a depressed faction, was likely, upon the slightest pretext, to
+transfer itself from the person of the poet to the labours on which
+his support depended. He was, therefore, not only obliged to chuse a
+theme, which had no offence in it, and to treat it in a manner which
+could not admit of misconstruction, but also so to exert the full
+force of his talents, as, by the conspicuous pre-eminence of his
+genius, to bribe prejudice and silence calumny. An observing reader
+will accordingly discover, throughout the following tragedy, symptoms
+of minute finishing, and marks of accurate attention, which, in our
+author's better days, he deigned not to bestow upon productions, to
+which his name alone was then sufficient to give weight and privilege.
+His choice of a subject was singularly happy: the name of Sebastian
+awaked historical recollections and associations, favourable to the
+character of his hero; while the dark uncertainty of his fate removed
+all possibility of shocking the audience by glaring offence against
+the majesty of historical truth. The subject has, therefore, all the
+advantages of a historical play, without the detects, which either a
+rigid coincidence with history, or a violent contradiction of known
+truth, seldom fail to bring along with them. Dryden appears from his
+preface to have been fully sensible of this; and he has not lost the
+advantage of a happy subject by treating it with the carelessness he
+sometimes allowed himself to indulge.
+
+The characters in "Don Sebastian" are contrasted with singular ability
+and judgment. Sebastian, high-spirited and fiery; the soul of royal
+and military honour; the soldier and the king; almost embodies the
+idea which the reader forms at the first mention of his name. Dorax,
+to whom he is so admirable a contrast, is one of those characters whom
+the strong hand of adversity has wrested from their natural bias; and
+perhaps no equally vivid picture can be found, of a subject so awfully
+interesting. Born with a strong tendency to all that was honourable
+and virtuous, the very excess of his virtues became vice, when his own
+ill fate, and Sebastian's injustice, had driven him into exile. By
+comparing, as Dryden has requested, the character of Dorax, in the
+fifth act, with that he maintains in the former part of the play, the
+difference may be traced betwixt his natural virtues, and the vices
+engrafted on them by headlong passion and embittering calamity. There
+is no inconsistence in the change which takes place after his scene
+with Sebastian; as was objected by those, whom the poet justly terms,
+"the more ignorant sort of creatures." It is the same picture in a new
+light; the same ocean in tempest and in calm; the same traveller, whom
+sunshine has induced to abandon his cloak, which the storm only forced
+him to wrap more closely around him. The principal failing of Dorax is
+the excess of pride, which renders each supposed wound to his honour
+more venomously acute; yet he is not devoid of gentler affections,
+though even in indulging these the hardness of his character is
+conspicuous. He loves Violante, but that is a far subordinate feeling
+to his affection for Sebastian. Indeed, his love appears so inferior
+to his loyal devotion to his king, that, unless to gratify the taste
+of the age, I see little reason for its being introduced at all. It is
+obvious he was much more jealous of the regard of his sovereign, than
+of his mistress; he never mentions Violante till the scene of
+explanation with Sebastian; and he appears hardly to have retained a
+more painful recollection of his disappointment in that particular,
+than of the general neglect and disgrace he had sustained at the court
+of Lisbon. The last stage of a virtuous heart, corroded into evil by
+wounded pride, has been never more forcibly displayed than in the
+character of Dorax. When once induced to take the fatal step which
+degraded him in his own eyes, all his good affections seem to be
+converted into poison. The religion, which displays itself in the
+fifth act in his arguments against suicide, had, in his efforts to
+justify his apostacy, or at least to render it a matter of no moment,
+been exchanged for sentiments approaching, perhaps to atheism,
+certainly to total scepticism. His passion for Violante is changed
+into contempt and hatred for her sex, which he expresses in the
+coarsest terms. His feelings of generosity, and even of humanity, are
+drowned in the gloomy and stern misanthropy, which has its source in
+the self-discontent that endeavours to wreak itself upon others. This
+may be illustrated by his unfeeling behaviour, while Alvarez and
+Antonio, well known to him in former days, approach, and draw the
+deadly lot, which ratifies their fate. No yielding of compassion, no
+recollection of former friendship, has power to alter the cold and
+sardonic sarcasm with which he sketches their characters, and marks
+their deportment in that awful moment. Finally, the zealous attachment
+of Alonzo for his king, which, in its original expression, partakes of
+absolute devotion, is changed, by the circumstances of Dorax, into an
+irritated and frantic jealousy, which he mistakes for hatred; and
+which, in pursuing the destruction of its object, is almost more
+inveterate than hatred itself. Nothing has survived of the original
+Alonzo at the opening of the piece, except the gigantic passion which
+has caused his ruin. This character is drawn on a large scale, and in
+a heroic proportion; but it is so true to nature, that many readers
+must have lamented, even within the circle of domestic acquaintance,
+instances of feelings hardened, and virtues perverted, where a high
+spirit has sustained severe and unjust neglect and disgrace. The whole
+demeanour of this exquisite character suits the original sketch. From
+"the long stride and sullen port," by which Benducar distinguishes him
+at a distance, to the sullen stubbornness with which he obeys, or the
+haughty contempt with which he resists, the commands of the peremptory
+tyrant under whom he had taken service, all announce the untamed pride
+which had robbed Dorax of virtue, and which yet, when Benducar would
+seduce him into a conspiracy, and in his conduct towards Sebastian,
+assumes the port and dignity of virtue herself. In all his conduct and
+bearing, there is that mixed feeling and impulse, which constitutes
+the real spring of human action. The true motive of Alonzo in saving
+Sebastian, is not purely that of honourable hatred, which he proposes
+to himself; for to himself every man endeavours to appear consistent,
+and readily find arguments to prove to himself that he is so. Neither
+is his conduct to be ascribed altogether to the gentler feelings of
+loyal and friendly affection, relenting at the sight of his
+sovereign's ruin, and impending death. It is the result of a mixture
+of these opposite sensations, clashing against each other like two
+rivers at their conflux, yet urging their united course down the same
+channel. Actuated by a mixture of these feelings, Dorax meets
+Sebastian; and the art of the poet is displayed in that admirable
+scene, by suggesting a natural motive to justify to the injured
+subject himself the change of the course of his feelings. As his
+jealousy of Sebastian's favour, and resentment of his unjust neglect,
+was chiefly founded on the avowed preference which the king had given
+to Henriquez, the opportune mention of his rival's death, by removing
+the cause of that jealousy, gives the renegade an apology to his own
+pride, for throwing himself at the feet of that very sovereign, whom a
+moment before he was determined to force to combat. They are little
+acquainted with human passions, at least have only witnessed their
+operations among men of common minds, who doubt, that at the height of
+their very spring-tide, they are often most susceptible of sudden
+changes; revolutions, which seem to those who have not remarked how
+nearly the most opposite feelings are allied and united, the most
+extravagant and unaccountable. Muly Moluch is an admirable specimen of
+that very frequent theatrical character,--a stage tyrant. He is fierce
+and boisterous enough to be sufficiently terrible and odious, and that
+without much rant, considering he is an infidel Soldan, who, from the
+ancient deportment of Mahomed and Termagaunt, as they appeared in the
+old Mysteries, might claim a prescriptive right to tear a passion to
+tatters. Besides, the Moorish emperor has fine glances of savage
+generosity, and that free, unconstrained, and almost noble openness,
+the only good quality, perhaps, which a consciousness of unbounded
+power may encourage in a mind so firm as not to be totally depraved by
+it. The character of Muly Moluch, like that of Morat, in
+"Aureng-Zebe," to which it bears a strong resemblance, was admirably
+represented by Kynaston; who had, says Cibber, "a fierce lion-like
+majesty in his port and utterance, that gave the spectator a kind of
+trembling admiration." It is enough to say of Benducar, that the cool,
+fawning, intriguing, and unprincipled statesman, is fully developed in
+his whole conduct; and of Alvarez, that the little he has to say and
+do, is so said and done, as not to disgrace his common-place character
+of the possessor of the secret on which the plot depends; for it may
+be casually observed, that the depositary of such a clew to the
+catastrophe, though of the last importance to the plot, is seldom
+himself of any interest whatever. The haughty and high-spirited
+Almeyda is designed by the author as the counterpart of Sebastian. She
+breaks out with the same violence, I had almost said fury, and
+frequently discovers a sort of kindred sentiment, intended to prepare
+the reader for the unfortunate discovery, that she is the sister of
+the Portuguese monarch.
+
+Of the diction, Dr Johnson has said, with meagre commendation, that it
+has "some sentiments which leave a strong impression," and "others of
+excellence, universally acknowledged." This, even when the admiration
+of the scene betwixt Dorax and Sebastian has been sanctioned by that
+great critic, seems scanty applause for the _chef d'oeuvre_ of
+Dryden's dramatic works. The reader will be disposed to look for more
+unqualified praise, when such a poet was induced, by every pressing
+consideration, to combine, in one effort, the powers of his mighty
+genius, and the fruits of his long theatrical experience: Accordingly,
+Shakespeare laid aside, it will be perhaps difficult to point out a
+play containing more animatory incident, impassioned language, and
+beautiful description, than "Don Sebastian." Of the former, the scene
+betwixt Dorax and the king, had it been the only one ever Dryden
+wrote, would have been sufficient to insure his immortality. There is
+not,--no, perhaps, not even in Shakespeare,--an instance where the
+chord, which the poet designed should vibrate, is more happily struck;
+strains there are of a higher mood, but not more correctly true; in
+evidence of which, we have known those, whom distresses of a gentler
+nature were unable to move, feel their stubborn feelings roused and
+melted by the injured pride and deep repentance of Dorax. The burst of
+anguish with which he answers the stern taunt of Sebastian, is one of
+those rare, but natural instances, in which high-toned passion assumes
+a figurative language, because all that is familiar seems inadequate
+to express its feelings:
+
+  _Dor._ Thou hast dared
+  To tell me, what I durst not tell myself:
+  I durst not think that I was spurned, and live;
+  And live to hear it boasted to my face.
+  All my long avarice of honour lost,
+  Heaped up in youth, and hoarded up for age!
+  Has honour's fountain then sucked back the stream?
+  He has; and hooting boys may dry-shod pass,
+  And gather pebbles from the naked ford.
+  Give me my love, my honour; give them back--
+  Give me revenge, while I have breath to ask it!
+
+But I will not dwell on the beauties of this scene. If any one is
+incapable of relishing it, he may safely conclude, that nature has not
+merely denied him that rare gift, poetical taste, but common powers of
+comprehending the ordinary feelings of humanity. The love scene,
+betwixt Sebastian and Almeyda, is more purely conceived, and expressed
+with more reference to sentiment, than is common with our author. The
+description which Dorax gives of Sebastian, before his appearance,
+coming from a mortal enemy, at least from one whose altered love was
+as envenomed as hatred, is a grand preparation for the appearance of
+the hero. In many of the slighter descriptive passages, we recognize
+the poet by those minute touches, which a mind susceptible of poetic
+feeling is alone capable of bringing out. The approach of the emperor,
+while the conspirators are caballing, is announced by Orchan, with
+these picturesque circumstances:
+
+  I see the blaze of torches from afar,
+  And hear the trampling of thick-beating feet--
+  This way they move.--
+
+The following account, given by the slave sent to observe what passed
+in the castle of Dorax, believed to be dead, or dying, is equally
+striking:
+
+  _Haly._ Two hours I warily have watched his palace:
+  All doors are shut, no servant peeps abroad;
+  Some officers, with striding haste, past in;
+  While others outward went on quick dispatch.
+  Sometimes hushed silence seemed to reign within;
+  Then cries confused, and a joint clamour followed;
+  Then lights went gliding by, from room to room,
+  And shot like thwarting meteors cross the house.
+  Not daring further to inquire, I came
+  With speed to bring you this imperfect news.
+
+The description of the midnight insurrection of the rabble is not less
+impressive:
+
+  _Ham._ What you wish:
+  The streets are thicker in this noon of night,
+  Than at the mid-day sun: A drouzy horror
+  Sits on their eyes, like fear, not well awake:
+  All crowd in heaps, as, at a night alarm,
+  The bees drive out upon each others backs,
+  T'imboss their hives in clusters; all ask news:
+  Their busy captain runs the weary round
+  To whisper orders; and, commanding silence,
+  Makes not noise cease, but deafens it to murmurs.
+
+These illustrations are designedly selected from the parts of the
+lower characters, because they at once evince the diligence and
+success with which Dryden has laboured even the subordinate points of
+this tragedy.
+
+"Don Sebastian" has been weighed, with reference to its tragic merits,
+against "Love for Love;" and one or other is universally allowed to be
+the first of Dryden's dramatic performances. To the youth of both
+sexes the latter presents the most pleasing subject of emotion; but to
+those whom age has rendered incredulous upon the romantic effects of
+love, and who do not fear to look into the recesses of the human
+heart, when agitated by darker and more stubborn passions, "Don
+Sebastian" offers a far superior source of gratification.
+
+To point out the blemishes of so beautiful a tragedy, is a painful,
+though a necessary, task. The style, here and there, exhibits marks of
+a reviving taste for those frantic bursts of passion, which our author
+has himself termed the "Dalilahs of the theatre." The first speech of
+Sebastian has been often noticed as an extravagant rant, more worthy
+of Maximin, or Almanzor, than of a character drawn by our author in
+his advanced years, and chastened taste:
+
+  I beg no pity for this mouldering clay;
+  For if you give it burial, there it takes
+  Possession of your earth:
+  If burnt and scatter'd in the air, the winds,
+  That strew my dust, diffuse my royalty,
+  And spread me o'er your clime; for where one atom
+  Of mine shall light, know, there Sebastian reigns.
+
+The reader's discernment will discover some similar extravagancies in
+the language of Almeyda and the Emperor.
+
+It is a separate objection, that the manners of the age and country
+are not adhered to. Sebastian, by disposition a crusading
+knight-errant, devoted to religion and chivalry, becomes, in the hands
+of Dryden, merely a gallant soldier and high-spirited prince, such as
+existed in the poet's own days. But, what is worse, the manners of
+Mahometans are shockingly violated. Who ever heard of human
+sacrifices, or of any sacrifices, being offered up to Mahomet[2]; and
+when were his followers able to use the classical and learned
+allusions which occur throughout the dialogue! On this last topic
+Addison makes the following observations, in the "Guardian," No. 110.
+
+  "I have now Mr Dryden's "Don Sebastian" before me, in which I find
+  frequent allusions to ancient poetry, and the old mythology of the
+  heathens. It is not very natural to suppose a king of Portugal would
+  be borrowing thoughts out of Ovid's "Metamorphoses," when he talked
+  even to those of his own court; but to allude to these Roman fables,
+  when he talks to an emperor of Barbary, seems very extraordinary.
+  But observe how he defies him out of the classics in the following
+  lines:
+
+    Why didst not thou engage me man to man,
+    And try the virtue of that Gorgon face,
+    To stare me into statue?
+
+  "Almeyda, at the same time, is more book-learned than Don Sebastian.
+  She plays an Hydra upon the Emperor, that is full as good as the
+  Gorgon:
+
+    O that I had the fruitful heads of Hydra,
+    That one might bourgeon where another fell!
+    Still would I give thee work, still, still, thou tyrant,
+    And hiss thee with the last.
+
+  "She afterwards, in allusion to Hercules, bids him 'lay down the
+  lion's skin, and take the distaff;' and, in the following speech,
+  utters her passion still more learnedly:
+
+    No; were we joined, even though it were in death,
+    Our bodies burning in one funeral pile,
+    The prodigy of Thebes would be renewed,
+    And my divided flame should break from thine.
+
+  "The emperor of Barbary shews himself acquainted with the Roman
+  poets as well as either of his prisoners, and answers the foregoing
+  speech in the same classic strain:
+
+    Serpent, I will engender poison with thee:
+    Our offspring, like the seed of dragon's teeth,
+    Shall issue armed, and fight themselves to death.
+
+  "Ovid seems to have been Muley-Moloch's favourite author; witness
+  the lines that follow:
+
+    She, still inexorable, still imperious,
+    And loud, as if, like Bacchus, born in thunder.
+
+  "I shall conclude my remarks on his part with that poetical
+  complaint of his being in love; and leave my reader to consider, how
+  prettily it would sound in the mouth of an emperor of Morocco:
+
+    The god of love once more has shot his fires
+    Into my soul, and my whole heart receives him.
+
+  "Muley Zeydan is as ingenious a man as his brother Muley Moloch; as
+  where he hints at the story of Castor and Pollux:
+
+    May we ne'er meet;
+    For, like the twins of Leda, when I mount,
+    He gallops down the skies.
+
+  "As for the Mufti, we will suppose that he was bred up a scholar,
+  and not only versed in the law of Mahomet, but acquainted with all
+  kinds of polite learning. For this reason he is not at all surprised
+  when Dorax calls him a Phaeton in one place, and in another tells him
+  he is like Archimedes.
+
+  "The Mufti afterwards mentions Ximenes, Albornoz, and cardinal
+  Wolsey, by name. The poet seems to think, he may make every person,
+  in his play, know as much as himself, and talk as well as he could
+  have done on the same occasion. At least, I believe, every reader
+  will agree with me, that the above-mentioned sentiments, to which I
+  might have added several others, would have been better suited to
+  the court of Augustus than that of Muley Moloch. I grant they are
+  beautiful in themselves, and much more so in that noble language,
+  which was peculiar to this great poet. I only observe, that they are
+  improper for the persons who make use of them."
+
+The catastrophe of the tragedy may be also censured, not only on the
+grounds objected to that of "OEdipus," but because it does not
+naturally flow from the preceding events, and opens, in the fifth act,
+a new set of persons, and a train of circumstances, unconnected with
+the preceding action. In the concluding scene, it was remarked, by the
+critics, that there is a want of pure taste in the lovers dwelling
+more upon the pleasures than the horrors of their incestuous
+connection.
+
+Of the lighter scenes, which were intended for comic, Dr Johnson has
+said, "they are such as that age did not probably commend, and as the
+present would not endure." Dryden has remarked, with self-complacency,
+the art with which they are made to depend upon the serious business.
+This has not, however, the merit of novelty; being not unlike the
+connection between the tragic and comic scenes of the "Spanish Friar."
+The persons introduced have also some resemblance; though the gaiety
+of Antonio is far more gross than that of Lorenzo, and Morayma is a
+very poor copy of Elvira. It is rather surprising, that when a gay
+libertine was to be introduced, Dryden did not avail himself of a real
+character, the English Stukely; a wild gallant, who, after spending a
+noble fortune, became the leader of a band of Italian Condottieri,
+engaged in the service of Sebastian, and actually fell in the battle
+of Alcazar. Collier complains, and with very good reason, that, in the
+character of the Mufti, Dryden has seized an opportunity to deride and
+calumniate the priesthood of every religion; an opportunity which, I
+am sorry to say, he seldom fails to use with unjustifiable inveteracy.
+The rabble scenes were probably given, as our author himself says of
+that in Cleomenes, "to gratify the more barbarous part of the
+audience." Indeed, to judge from the practice of the drama at this
+time, the representation of a riot upon the stage seems to have had
+the same charms for the popular part of the English audience, which
+its reality always possesses in the streets.
+
+Notwithstanding the excellence of this tragedy, it appears to have
+been endured, rather than applauded, at its first representation;
+although, being judiciously curtailed, it soon became a great
+favourite with the public[3]; and, omitting the comic scenes, may be
+again brought forward with advantage, when the public shall be tired
+of children and of show. The tragedy of "Don Sebastian" was acted and
+printed in 1690.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. "The Battle of Alcazar, with Captain Stukely's death, acted by the
+   Lord High Admiral's servants, 1594," 4to. Baker thinks Dryden might
+   have taken the hint of "Don Sebastian" from this old play.
+   Shakespeare drew from it some of the bouncing rants of Pistol, as,
+  "Feed, and be fat; my fair Callipolis," &c.
+
+2. In a Zambra dance, introduced in the "Conquest of Granada," our
+   author had previously introduced the Moors bowing to the image of
+   Jupiter; a gross solecism, hardly more pardonable, as Langbaine
+   remarks, than the introduction of a pistol in the hand of
+   Demetrius, a successor of Alexander the Great, which Dryden has
+   justly censured.
+
+3. Langbaine says, it was acted "with great applause;" but this must
+   refer to its reception after the first night; for the author's own
+   expressions, that "the audience endured it with much patience, and
+   were weary with much good nature and silence," exclude the idea of
+   a brilliant reception on the first representation. See the
+   beginning of the Preface.
+
+
+
+
+                                  TO
+
+                         THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+
+                               PHILIP,
+
+                      EARL OF LEICESTER, &c.[1]
+
+
+Far be it from me, my most noble lord, to think, that any thing which
+my meanness can produce, should be worthy to be offered to your
+patronage; or that aught which I can say of you should recommend you
+farther to the esteem of good men in this present age, or to the
+veneration which will certainly be paid you by posterity. On the other
+side, I must acknowledge it a great presumption in me, to make you
+this address; and so much the greater, because by the common suffrage
+even of contrary parties, you have been always regarded as one of the
+first persons of the age, and yet not one writer has dared to tell you
+so; whether we have been all conscious to ourselves that it was a
+needless labour to give this notice to mankind, as all men are ashamed
+to tell stale news; or that we were justly diffident of our own
+performances, as even Cicero is observed to be in awe when he writes
+to Atticus; where, knowing himself over-matched in good sense, and
+truth of knowledge, he drops the gaudy train of words, and is no
+longer the vain-glorious orator. From whatever reason it may be, I am
+the first bold offender of this kind: I have broken down the fence,
+and ventured into the holy grove. How I may be punished for my profane
+attempt, I know not; but I wish it may not be of ill omen to your
+lordship: and that a crowd of bad writers do not rush into the quiet
+of your recesses after me. Every man in all changes of government,
+which have been, or may possibly arrive, will agree, that I could not
+have offered my incense, where it could be so well deserved. For you,
+my lord, are secure in your own merit; and all parties, as they rise
+uppermost, are sure to court you in their turns; it is a tribute which
+has ever been paid your virtue. The leading men still bring their
+bullion to your mint, to receive the stamp of their intrinsic value,
+that they may afterwards hope to pass with human kind. They rise and
+fall in the variety of revolutions, and are sometimes great, and
+therefore wise in men's opinions, who must court them for their
+interest. But the reputation of their parts most commonly follows
+their success; few of them are wise, but as they are in power; because
+indeed, they have no sphere of their own, but, like the moon in the
+Copernican system of the world, are whirled about by the motion of a
+greater planet. This it is to be ever busy; neither to give rest to
+their fellow-creatures, nor, which is more wretchedly ridiculous, to
+themselves; though, truly, the latter is a kind of justice, and giving
+mankind a due revenge, that they will not permit their own hearts to
+be at quiet, who disturb the repose of all beside them. Ambitious
+meteors! how willing they are to set themselves upon the wing, and
+taking every occasion of drawing upward to the sun, not considering
+that they have no more time allowed them for their mounting, than the
+short revolution of a day; and that when the light goes from them,
+they are of necessity to fall. How much happier is he, (and who he is
+I need not say, for there is but one phoenix in an age) who, centering
+on himself, remains immoveable, and smiles at the madness of the dance
+about him? he possesses the midst, which is the portion of safety and
+content. He will not be higher, because he needs it not; but by the
+prudence of that choice, he puts it out of fortune's power to throw
+him down. It is confest, that if he had not so been born, he might
+have been too high for happiness; but not endeavouring to ascend, he
+secures the native height of his station from envy, and cannot descend
+from what he is, because he depends not on another. What a glorious
+character was this once in Rome! I should say, in Athens; when, in the
+disturbances of a state as mad as ours, the wise Pomponius transported
+all the remaining wisdom and virtue of his country into the sanctuary
+of peace and learning. But I would ask the world, (for you, my lord,
+are too nearly concerned to judge this cause) whether there may not
+yet be found a character of a noble Englishman, equally shining with
+that illustrious Roman? Whether I need to name a second Atticus? or
+whether the world has not already prevented me, and fixed it there,
+without my naming? Not a second, with a _longo sed proximus
+intervallo_; not a young Marcellus, flattered by a poet into the
+resemblance of the first, with a _frons laeta parum, et dejecto lumina
+vultu_, and the rest that follows, _si qua fata aspera rumpas, tu
+Marcellus eris_; but a person of the same stamp and magnitude, who
+owes nothing to the former, besides the word Roman, and the
+superstition of reverence, devolving on him by the precedency of
+eighteen hundred years; one who walks by him with equal paces, and
+shares the eyes of beholders with him; one who had been first, had he
+first lived; and, in spite of doating veneration, is still his equal:
+both of them born of noble families, in unhappy ages of change and
+tumult; both of them retiring from affairs of state; yet not leaving
+the commonwealth, till it had left itself; but never returning to
+public business, when they had once quitted it, though courted by the
+heads of either party. But who would trust the quiet of their lives
+with the extravagancies of their countrymen, when they are just in the
+giddiness of their turning; when the ground was tottering under them
+at every moment; and none could guess whether the next heave of the
+earthquake would settle them on the first foundation, or swallow it?
+Both of them knew mankind exactly well, for both of them began that
+study in themselves, and there they found the best part of human
+composition; the worst they learned by long experience of the folly,
+ignorance, and immorality of most beside them. Their philosophy, on
+both sides, was not wholly speculative, for that is barren, and
+produces nothing but vain ideas of things which cannot possibly be
+known, or, if they could, yet would only terminate in the
+understanding; but it was a noble, vigorous and practical philosophy,
+which exerted itself in all the offices of pity, to those who were
+unfortunate, and deserved not so to be. The friend was always more
+considered by them than the cause; and an Octavius, or an Antony in
+distress, were relieved by them, as well as a Brutus or a Cassius; for
+the lowermost party, to a noble mind, is ever the fittest object of
+good-will. The eldest of them, I will suppose, for his honour, to have
+been of the academic sect, neither dogmatist nor stoick; if he were
+not, I am sure he ought, in common justice, to yield the precedency to
+his younger brother. For stiffness of opinion is the effect of pride,
+and not of philosophy; it is a miserable presumption of that knowledge
+which human nature is too narrow to contain; and the ruggedness of a
+stoick is only a silly affectation of being a god,--to wind himself up
+by pullies to an insensibility of suffering, and, at the same time, to
+give the lie to his own experience, by saying he suffers not, what he
+knows he feels. True philosophy is certainly of a more pliant nature,
+and more accommodated to human use; _Homo sum, humani a me nihil
+alienum puto._ A wise man will never attempt an impossibility; and
+such it is to strain himself beyond the nature of his being, either to
+become a deity, by being above suffering, or to debase himself into a
+stock or stone, by pretending not to feel it. To find in ourselves the
+weaknesses and imperfections of our wretched kind, is surely the most
+reasonable step we can make towards the compassion of our
+fellow-creatures. I could give examples of this kind in the second
+Atticus. In every turn of state, without meddling on either side, he
+has always been favourable and assisting to opprest merit. The praises
+which were given by a great poet to the late queen-mother, on her
+rebuilding Somerset Palace, one part of which was fronting to the mean
+houses on the other side of the water, are as justly his:
+
+  For the distrest and the afflicted lie
+  Most in his thoughts, and always in his eye[2].
+
+Neither has he so far forgotten a poor inhabitant of his suburbs,
+whose best prospect is on the garden of Leicester House, but that more
+than once he has been offering him his patronage, to reconcile him to
+a world, of which his misfortunes have made him weary[3]. There is
+another Sidney still remaining, though there can never be another
+Spenser to deserve the favour. But one Sidney gave his patronage to
+the applications of a poet; the other offered it unasked. Thus,
+whether as a second Atticus, or a second Sir Philip Sidney, the latter
+in all respects will not have the worse of the comparison; and if he
+will take up with the second place, the world will not so far flatter
+his modesty, as to seat him there, unless it be out of a deference of
+manners, that he may place himself where he pleases at his own table.
+
+I may therefore safely conclude, that he, who, by the consent of all
+men, bears so eminent a character, will out of his inborn nobleness
+forgive the presumption of this address. It is an unfinished picture,
+I confess, but the lines and features are so like, that it cannot be
+mistaken for any other; and without writing any name under it, every
+beholder must cry out, at first sight,--this was designed for Atticus;
+but the bad artist has cast too much of him into shades. But I have
+this excuse, that even the greatest masters commonly fall short of the
+best faces. They may flatter an indifferent beauty; but the
+excellencies of nature can have no right done to them; for there both
+the pencil and pen are overcome by the dignity of the subject; as our
+admirable Waller has expressed it,
+
+  The heroe's race transcends the poet's thought.
+
+There are few in any age who can bear the load of a dedication; for
+where praise is undeserved, it is satire; though satire on folly is
+now no longer a scandal to any one person, where a whole age is dipt
+together. Yet I had rather undertake a multitude one way, than a
+single Atticus the other; for it is easier to descend than it is to
+climb. I should have gone ashamed out of the world, if I had not at
+least attempted this address, which I have long thought owing: and if
+I had never attempted, I might have been vain enough to think I might
+have succeeded in it. Now I have made the experiment, and have failed
+through my unworthiness, I may rest satisfied, that either the
+adventure is not to be atchieved, or that it is reserved for some
+other hand.
+
+Be pleased, therefore, since the family of the Attici is and ought to
+be above the common forms of concluding letters, that I may take my
+leave in the words of Cicero to the first of them: _Me, O Pomponi,
+valde paenitet vivere: tantum te oro, ut quoniam me ipse semper amasti,
+ut eodem amore sis; ego nimirum idem sum. Inimici mei mea mihi non
+meipsum ademerunt. Cura, Attice, ut valeas._
+
+  Dabam. Cal.
+  Jan. 1690.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. In order to escape as far as possible the odium, which after the
+   Revolution was attached to Dryden's politics and religion, he seems
+   occasionally to have sought for patrons amongst those Nobles of
+   opposite principles, whom moderation, or love of literature,
+   rendered superior to the suggestions of party rancour; or, as he
+   himself has expressed it in the Dedication of "Amphitryon," who,
+   though of a contrary opinion themselves, blamed him not for
+   adhering to a lost cause, and judging for himself what he could not
+   chuse but judge. Philip Sidney, the third earl of Leicester, had
+   taken an active part against the king in the civil wars, had been
+   named one of his judges, though he never look his seat among the
+   regicides, and had been one of Cromwell's Council of State. He was
+   brother of the famous Algernon Sidney, and although retired from
+   party strife, during the violent contests betwixt the Whigs and
+   Tories in 1682-3, there can be no doubt which way his inclinations
+   leaned. He died 6th March, 1696-7, aged more than eighty years. Mr
+   Malone has strongly censured the strain of this Dedication, because
+   it represents Leicester as abstracted from parties and public
+   affairs, notwithstanding his active share in the civil wars. Yet
+   Dryden was not obliged to draw the portrait of his patron from his
+   conduct thirty years before; and if Leicester's character was to be
+   taken from the latter part of his life, surely the praise of
+   moderation is due to him, who, during the factious contests of
+   Charles II's. reign, in which his own brother made so conspicuous a
+   figure, maintained the neutrality of Pomponius Atticus.
+
+2. When Henrietta Maria, widow of Charles I. and queen-dowager of
+   England, visited her son after the Restoration, she chose
+   Somerset-House for her residence, and added all the buildings
+   fronting the river. Cowley, whom she had long patronised, composed
+   a poem on the "Queen's repairing Somerset-House," to which our
+   author refers. Mr Malone's accuracy has detected a slight
+   alteration in the verses, as quoted by Dryden, and as written by
+   Cowley:
+
+     If any prouder virtuoso's sense
+     At that part of my prospect take offence,
+     By which the meaner cabanes are descried
+     Of my imperial river's humbler side;
+     If they call that a blemish, let them know,
+     God and my godlike mistress think not so;
+     For the distressed and the afflicted lie
+     Most in _their care_, and always in _their_ eye.
+
+3. Our poet's house was in Gerard-Street, looking upon the gardens of
+   Leicester-House.
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+
+                               PREFACE.
+
+
+Whether it happened through a long disuse of writing, that I forgot
+the usual compass of a play, or that, by crowding it with characters
+and incidents, I put a necessity upon myself of lengthening the main
+action, I know not; but the first day's audience sufficiently
+convinced me of my error, and that the poem was insupportably too
+long. It is an ill ambition of us poets, to please an audience with
+more than they can bear; and supposing that we wrote as well as vainly
+we imagine ourselves to write, yet we ought to consider, that no man
+can bear to be long tickled. There is a nauseousness in a city-feast,
+when we are to sit four hours after we are cloyed. I am therefore, in
+the first place, to acknowledge, with all manner of gratitude, their
+civility, who were pleased to endure it with so much patience; to be
+weary with so much good-nature and silence; and not to explode an
+entertainment which was designed to please them, or discourage an
+author, whose misfortunes have once more brought him, against his
+will, upon the stage. While I continue in these bad circumstances,
+(and, truly, I see very little probability of coming out) I must be
+obliged to write; and if I may still hope for the same kind usage, I
+shall the less repent of that hard necessity. I write not this out of
+any expectation to be pitied, for I have enemies enow to wish me yet
+in a worse condition; but give me leave to say, that if I can please
+by writing, as I shall endeavour it, the town may be somewhat obliged
+to my misfortunes for a part of their diversion. Having been longer
+acquainted with the stage than any poet now living, and having
+observed how difficult it was to please; that the humours of comedy
+were almost spent; that love and honour (the mistaken topics of
+tragedy) were quite worn out; that the theatres could not support
+their charges; that the audience forsook them; that young men, without
+learning, set up for judges, and that they talked loudest, who
+understood the least; all these discouragements had not only weaned me
+from the stage, but had also given me a loathing of it. But enough of
+this: the difficulties continue; they increase; and I am still
+condemned to dig in those exhausted mines.
+
+Whatever fault I next commit, rest assured it shall not be that of too
+much length: Above twelve hundred lines have been cut off from this
+tragedy since it was first delivered to the actors. They were indeed
+so judiciously lopped by Mr Betterton, to whose care and excellent
+action I am equally obliged, that the connection of the story was not
+lost; but, on the other side, it was impossible to prevent some part
+of the action from being precipitated, and coming on without that due
+preparation which is required to all great events: as, in particular,
+that of raising the mobile, in the beginning of the fourth act, which
+a man of Benducar's cool character could not naturally attempt,
+without taking all those precautions, which he foresaw would be
+necessary to render his design successful. On this consideration, I
+have replaced those lines through the whole poem, and thereby restored
+it to that clearness of conception, and (if I may dare to say it) that
+lustre and masculine vigour, in which it was first written. It is
+obvious to every understanding reader, that the most poetical parts,
+which are descriptions, images, similitudes, and moral sentences, are
+those which of necessity were to be pared away, when the body was
+swollen into too large a bulk for the representation of the stage. But
+there is a vast difference betwixt a public entertainment on the
+theatre, and a private reading in the closet: In the first, we are
+confined to time; and though we talk not by the hour-glass, yet the
+watch often drawn out of the pocket warns the actors that their
+audience is weary; in the last, every reader is judge of his own
+convenience; he can take up the book and lay it down at his pleasure,
+and find out those beauties of propriety in thought and writing, which
+escaped him in the tumult and hurry of representing. And I dare boldly
+promise for this play, that in the roughness of the numbers and
+cadences, (which I assure was not casual, but so designed) you will
+see somewhat more masterly arising to your view, than in most, if not
+any, of my former tragedies. There is a more noble daring in the
+figures, and more suitable to the loftiness of the subject; and,
+besides this, some newnesses of English, translated from the beauties
+of modern tongues, as well as from the elegancies of the Latin; and
+here and there some old words are sprinkled, which, for their
+significance and sound, deserved not to be antiquated; such as we
+often find in Sallust amongst the Roman authors, and in Milton's
+"Paradise" amongst ours; though perhaps the latter, instead of
+sprinkling, has dealt them with too free a hand, even sometimes to the
+obscuring of his sense.
+
+As for the story, or plot, of the tragedy, it is purely fiction; for I
+take it up where the history has laid it down. We are assured by all
+writers of those times, that Sebastian, a young prince of great
+courage and expectation, undertook that war, partly upon a religious
+account, partly at the solicitation of Muley Mahomet, who had been
+driven out of his dominions by Abdelmelech, or, as others call him,
+Muley Moluch, his nigh kinsman, who descended from the same family of
+Xeriffs, whose fathers, Hamet and Mahomet, had conquered that empire
+with joint forces, and shared it betwixt them after their victory;
+that the body of Don Sebastian was never found in the field of battle,
+which gave occasion for many to believe, that he was not slain[1];
+that some years after, when the Spaniards, with a pretended title, by
+force of arms, had usurped the crown of Portugal from the house of
+Braganza, a certain person, who called himself Don Sebastian, and had
+all the marks of his body and features of his face, appeared at
+Venice, where he was owned by some of his countrymen; but being seized
+by the Spaniards, was first imprisoned, then sent to the gallies, and
+at last put to death in private. It is most certain, that the
+Portuguese expected his return for almost an age together after that
+battle, which is at least a proof of their extreme love to his memory;
+and the usage they had from their new conquerors, might possibly make
+them so extravagant in their hopes and wishes for their old master[2].
+
+This ground-work the history afforded me, and I desire no better to
+build a play upon; for where the event of a great action is left
+doubtful, there the poet is left master. He may raise what he pleases
+on that foundation, provided he makes it of a piece, and according to
+the rule of probability. From hence I was only obliged, that Sebastian
+should return to Portugal no more; but at the same time I had him at
+my own disposal, whether to bestow him in Afric, or in any other
+corner of the world, or to have closed the tragedy with his death; and
+the last of these was certainly the most easy, but for the same reason
+the least artful; because, as I have somewhere said, the poison and
+the dagger are still at hand to butcher a hero, when a poet wants the
+brains to save him. It being therefore only necessary, according to
+the laws of the drama, that Sebastian should no more be seen upon the
+throne, I leave it for the world to judge, whether or no I have
+disposed of him according to art, or have bungled up the conclusion of
+his adventure. In the drawing of his character, I forgot not piety,
+which any one may observe to be one principal ingredient of it, even
+so far as to be a habit in him; though I shew him once to be
+transported from it by the violence of a sudden passion, to endeavour
+a self-murder. This being presupposed, that he was religious, the
+horror of his incest, though innocently committed, was the best reason
+which the stage could give for hindering his return. It is true, I
+have no right to blast his memory with such a crime; but declaring it
+to be fiction, I desire my audience to think it no longer true, than
+while they are seeing it represented; for that once ended, he may be a
+saint, for aught I know, and we have reason to presume he is. On this
+supposition, it was unreasonable to have killed him; for the learned
+Mr Rymer has well observed, that in all punishments we are to regulate
+ourselves by poetical justice; and according to those measures, an
+involuntary sin deserves not death; from whence it follows, that to
+divorce himself from the beloved object, to retire into a desert, and
+deprive himself of a throne, was the utmost punishment which a poet
+could inflict, as it was also the utmost reparation which Sebastian
+could make. For what relates to Almeyda, her part is wholly
+fictitious. I know it is the surname of a noble family in Portugal,
+which was very instrumental in the restoration of Don John de
+Braganza, father to the most illustrious and most pious princess, our
+queen-dowager. The French author of a novel, called "Don Sebastian,"
+has given that name to an African lady of his own invention, and makes
+her sister to Muley Mahomet; but I have wholly changed the accidents,
+and borrowed nothing but the supposition, that she was beloved by the
+king of Portugal. Though, if I had taken the whole story, and wrought
+it up into a play, I might have done it exactly according to the
+practice of almost all the ancients, who were never accused of being
+plagiaries for building their tragedies on known fables. Thus,
+Augustus Caesar wrote an "Ajax," which was not the less his own,
+because Euripides had written a play before him on that subject. Thus,
+of late years, Corneille writ an "OEdipus" after Sophocles; and I have
+designed one after him, which I wrote with Mr Lee; yet neither the
+French poet stole from the Greek, nor we from the Frenchman. It is the
+contrivance, the new turn, and new characters, which alter the
+property, and make it ours. The _materia poetica_ is as common to all
+writers, as the _materia medica_ to all physicians. Thus, in our
+Chronicles, Daniel's history is still his own, though Matthew Paris,
+Stow, and Hollingshed writ before him; otherwise we must have been
+content with their dull relations, if a better pen had not been
+allowed to come after them, and writ his own account after a new and
+better manner.
+
+I must further declare freely, that I have not exactly kept to the
+three mechanic rules of unity. I knew them, and had them in my eye,
+but followed them only at a distance; for the genius of the English
+cannot bear too regular a play: we are given to variety, even to a
+debauchery of pleasure. My scenes are therefore sometimes broken,
+because my underplot required them so to be, though the general scene
+remains,--of the same castle; and I have taken the time of two days,
+because the variety of accidents, which are here represented, could
+not naturally be supposed to arrive in one: but to gain a greater
+beauty, it is lawful for a poet to supersede a less.
+
+I must likewise own, that I have somewhat deviated from the known
+history, in the death of Muley Moluch, who, by all relations, died of
+a fever in the battle, before his army had wholly won the field; but
+if I have allowed him another day of life, it was because I stood in
+need of so shining a character of brutality as I have given him; which
+is indeed the same with that of the present emperor Muley-Ishmael, as
+some of our English officers, who have been in his court, have
+credibly informed me.
+
+I have been listening--what objections had been made against the
+conduct of the play; but found them all so trivial, that if I should
+name them, a true critic would imagine that I played booty, and only
+raised up phantoms for myself to conquer. Some are pleased to say--the
+writing is dull; but, _aetatem habet, de se loquatur._ Others, that the
+double poison is unnatural: let the common received opinion, and
+Ausonius his famous epigram, answer that[3]. Lastly, a more ignorant
+sort of creatures than either of the former maintain, that the
+character of Dorax is not only unnatural, but inconsistent with
+itself: let them read the play, and think again; and if yet they are
+not satisfied, cast their eyes on that chapter of the wise Montaigne,
+which is intitled, _De l'Inconstance des Actions humaines_. A longer
+reply is what those cavillers deserve not; but I will give them and
+their fellows to understand, that the earl of Dorset was pleased to
+read the tragedy twice over before it was acted, and did me the favour
+to send me word, that I had written beyond any of my former plays, and
+that he was displeased any thing should be cut away. If I have not
+reason to prefer his single judgment to a whole faction, let the world
+be judge; for the opposition is the same with that of Lucan's hero
+against an army; _concurrere bellum, atque virum_.
+
+I think I may modestly conclude, that whatever errors there may be,
+either in the design, or writing of this play, they are not those
+which have been objected to it. I think also, that I am not yet
+arrived to the age of doting; and that I have given so much
+application to this poem, that I could not probably let it run into
+many gross absurdities; which may caution my enemies from too rash a
+censure, and may also encourage my friends, who are many more than I
+could reasonably have expected, to believe their kindness has not been
+very undeservedly bestowed on me. This is not a play that was huddled
+up in haste; and, to shew it was not, I will own, that, besides the
+general moral of it, which is given in the four last lines, there is
+also another moral, couched under every one of the principal parts and
+characters, which a judicious critic will observe, though I point not
+to it in this preface. And there may be also some secret beauties in
+the decorum of parts, and uniformity of design, which my puny judges
+will not easily find out: let them consider in the last scene of the
+fourth act, whether I have not preserved the rule of decency, in
+giving all the advantage to the royal character, and in making Dorax
+first submit. Perhaps too they may have thought, that it was through
+indigence of characters that I have given the same to Sebastian and
+Almeyda, and consequently made them alike in all things but their sex.
+But let them look a little deeper into the matter, and they will find,
+that this identity of character in the greatness of their souls was
+intended for a preparation of the final discovery, and that the
+likeness of their nature was a fair hint to the proximity of their
+blood.
+
+To avoid the imputation of too much vanity, (for all writers, and
+especially poets, will have some,) I will give but one other instance,
+in relation to the uniformity of the design. I have observed, that the
+English will not bear a thorough tragedy; but are pleased, that it
+should be lightened with underparts of mirth. It had been easy for me
+to have given my audience a better course of comedy, I mean a more
+diverting, than that of Antonio and Morayma; but I dare appeal, even
+to my enemies, if I, or any man, could have invented one, which had
+been more of a piece, and more depending on the serious part of the
+design. For what could be more uniform, than to draw from out of the
+members of a captive court, the subject of a comical entertainment? To
+prepare this episode, you see Dorax giving the character of Antonio,
+in the beginning of the play, upon his first sight of him at the
+lottery; and to make the dependence, Antonio is engaged, in the fourth
+act, for the deliverance of Almeyda; which is also prepared, by his
+being first made a slave to the captain of the rabble.
+
+I should beg pardon for these instances; but perhaps they may be of
+use to future poets, in the conduct of their plays; at least, if I
+appear too positive, I am growing old, and thereby in possession of
+some experience, which men in years will always assume for a right of
+talking. Certainly if a man can ever have reason to set a value on
+himself, it is when his ungenerous enemies are taking the advantage of
+the times upon him, to ruin him in his reputation. And therefore, for
+once, I will make bold to take the counsel of my old master Virgil,
+
+  _Tu ne cede mails, sed contra audentior ito._
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. There was a Portuguese prophecy to this purpose, which they applied
+   to the expected return of Sebastian:
+
+     _Vendra et Incubierto,
+     Vendra cierto;
+     Entrera en el huerto,
+     Per el puerto,
+     Questa mas a ca del muro;
+     Y'lo que paresce escuro,
+     Se vra claro e abierto._
+
+   Two false Sebastians, both hermits, laid claim to the throne of
+   Portugal. One was hanged, and the other died in the galleys. Vide
+   _Le Quien's Histoire Generale de Portugal_.--There are two tracts
+   which appear to regard the last of these impostors, and which may
+   have furnished our author with some slight hints; namely, "The true
+   History of the late and lamentable Adventures of Don Sebastian,
+   King of Portugal, after his imprisonment at Naples until this
+   present day, being now in Spain, at San Lucar de Barrameda.--1602;"
+   and, "A continuation of the lamentable and admirable Adventures of
+   Don Sebastian, King of Portugal, with a Declaration of all his time
+   employed since the Battle in Africk against the Infidels, 1578,
+   until this present year 1603. London, 1603." Both pieces are
+   reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany, Vols IV. and V.
+
+2. The uncertainty of his fate is alluded to by Fletcher:
+
+     _Wittypate._ In what service have ye been, sir?
+
+     _Ruinous._ The first that fleshed me a soldier, sir,
+     Was that great battle at Alcazar, in Barbary,
+     Where the noble English Stukely fell, and where
+     The royal Portugal Sebastian ended
+     His untimely days.
+
+     _Wittypate._ Are you sure Sebastian died there?
+
+     _Ruinous._ Faith, sir, there was some other rumour hoped
+     Amongst us, that he, wounded, escaped, and touched
+     On his native shore again, where finding his country at home
+     More distressed by the invasion of the Spaniard
+     Than his loss abroad, forsook it, still supporting
+     A miserable and unfortunate life,
+     Which where he ended is yet uncertain.
+                                   _Wit at several Weapons._
+
+   I have printed this quotation as I find it in the edition of 1778;
+   though I am unable to discover what pretensions it claims to be
+   arranged as blank verse.
+
+3.   _Toxica zelotypo dedit uxor maecha marito,
+       Nec satis ad mortem credidit esse datum.
+     Micuit argenti letalia pondera vivi;
+       Cogeret ut celerem vis geminata necem.
+     Dividat haec si quis, faciunt discreta venenum:
+       Antidotum sumet, qui sociata bibet.
+     Ergo inter sese dum noxia pocula certant,
+       Cessit letalis noxa salutiferae.
+     Protinus et vacuos alvi petiere recessus
+       Lubrica dejectis qua via nota cibis.
+     Quam pia cura deum! prodest crudelior uxor,
+       Et quum fata volunt, bina venena juvant._
+
+
+
+
+                               PROLOGUE
+
+
+ SENT TO THE AUTHOR BY AN UNKNOWN HAND, AND PROPOSED TO BE SPOKEN BY
+              MRS MOUNTFORD, DRESSED LIKE AN OFFICER[1].
+
+  Bright beauties, who in awful circle sit,
+  And you, grave synod of the dreadful pit,
+  And you the upper-tire of pop-gun wit,
+
+  Pray ease me of my wonder, if you may;
+  Is all this crowd barely to see the play;
+  Or is't the poet's execution-day?
+
+  His breath is in your hands I will presume,
+  But I advise you to defer his doom,
+  Till you have got a better in his room;
+
+  And don't maliciously combine together,
+  As if in spite and spleen you were come hither;
+  For he has kept the pen, tho' lost the feather[2].
+
+  And, on my honour, ladies, I avow,
+  This play was writ in charity to you;
+  For such a dearth of wit who ever knew?
+
+  Sure 'tis a judgment on this sinful nation,
+  For the abuse of so great dispensation;
+  And, therefore, I resolve to change vocation.
+
+  For want of petticoat, I've put on buff,
+  To try what may be got by lying rough:
+  How think you, sirs? is it not well enough?
+
+  Of bully-critics I a troop would lead;
+  But, one replied,--Thank you, there's no such need,
+  I at Groom-Porter's, sir, can safer bleed.
+
+  Another, who the name of danger loaths,
+  Vow'd he would go, and swore me forty oaths,
+  But that his horses were in body-clothes.
+
+  A third cried,--Damn my blood, I'll be content
+  To push my fortune, if the parliament
+  Would but recal claret from banishment.
+
+  A fourth (and I have done) made this excuse--
+  I'd draw my sword in Ireland, sir, to chuse;
+  Had not their women gouty legs, and wore no shoes.
+
+  Well, I may march, thought I, and fight, and trudge,
+  But, of these blades, the devil a man will budge;
+  They there would fight, e'en just as here they judge.
+
+  Here they will pay for leave to find a fault;
+  But, when their honour calls, they can't be bought;
+  Honour in danger, blood, and wounds is sought.
+
+  Lost virtue, whither fled? or where's thy dwelling
+  Who can reveal? at least, 'tis past my telling,
+  Unless thou art embarked for Inniskilling.
+
+  On carrion-tits those sparks denounce their rage,
+  In boot of wisp and Leinster frise engage;
+  What would you do in such an equipage[3]?
+
+  The siege of Derry does you gallants threaten;
+  Not out of errant shame of being beaten,
+  As fear of wanting meat, or being eaten.
+
+  Were wit like honour, to be won by fighting,
+  How few just judges would there be of writing!
+  Then you would leave this villainous back-biting.
+
+  Your talents lie how to express your spite;
+  But, where is he who knows to praise aright?
+  You praise like cowards, but like critics fight.
+
+  Ladies, be wise, and wean these yearling calves,
+  Who, in your service too, are meer faux braves;
+  They judge, and write, and fight, and love--by halves.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. The humour of this intended prologue turns upon the unwillingness
+   displayed to attend King William into Ireland by many of the
+   nobility and gentry, who had taken arms at the Revolution. The
+   truth is, that, though invited to go as volunteers, they could not
+   but consider themselves as hostages, of whom William did not chuse
+   to lose sight, lest, while he was conquering Ireland, he might,
+   perchance, lose England, by means of the very men by whom he had
+   won it. The disbanding of the royal regiment had furnished a
+   subject for the satirical wit of Buckingham, at least, such a piece
+   is printed in his Miscellanies; and for that of Shadwell, in his
+   epilogue to Bury-fair. But Shadwell was now poet-laureat, and his
+   satire was privileged, like the wit of the ancient royal jester.
+   Our author was suspected of disaffection, and liable to
+   misconstruction: For which reason, probably, he declined this
+   sarcastic prologue, and substituted that which follows, the tone of
+   which is submissive, and conciliatory towards the government.
+   Contrary to custom, it was spoken by a woman.
+
+2. In allusion to his being deprived of the office of poet laureat.
+
+3. The Inniskilling horse, who behaved with great courage against King
+   James, joined Schomberg and King William's forces at Dundalk, in
+   1689, rather resembled a foreign frey-corps, than regular troops.
+   "They were followed by multitudes of their women; they were uncouth
+   in their appearance; they rode on small horses, called _Garrons_;
+   their pistols were not fixed in holsters, but dangled about their
+   persons, being slung to their sword-belts; they offered, with
+   spirit, to make always the forlorn of the army; but, upon the first
+   order they received, they cried out, 'They could thrive no longer,
+   since they were now put under orders.'--_Memoirs_, Vol. II. p. 133.
+   The allusion  in the next verse is to the dreadful siege of
+   Londonderry, when the besieged suffered the last extremities of
+   famine. The account of this memorable leaguer, by the author just
+   quoted, is a most spirited piece of historical painting.
+
+
+
+
+                              PROLOGUE,
+
+                          SPOKEN BY A WOMAN.
+
+
+  The judge removed, though he's no more my lord,
+  May plead at bar, or at the council-board:
+  So may cast poets write; there's no pretension
+  To argue loss of wit, from loss of pension.
+  Your looks are chearful; and in all this place
+  I see not one that wears a damning face.
+  The British nation is too brave, to show
+  Ignoble vengeance on a vanquished foe.
+  At last be civil to the wretch imploring;
+  And lay your paws upon him, without roaring.
+  Suppose our poet was your foe before,
+  Yet now, the business of the field is o'er;
+  'Tis time to let your civil wars alone,
+  When troops are into winter-quarters gone.
+  Jove was alike to Latian and to Phrygian;
+  And you well know, a play's of no religion.
+  Take good advice, and please yourselves this day;
+  No matter from what hands you have the play.
+  Among good fellows every health will pass,
+  That serves to carry round another glass:
+  When with full bowls of Burgundy you dine,          }
+  Though at the mighty monarch you repine,            }
+  You grant him still Most Christian in his wine.     }
+    Thus far the poet; but his brains grow addle,
+  And all the rest is purely from this noddle.
+  You have seen young ladies at the senate-door,
+  Prefer petitions, and your grace implore;
+  However grave the legislators were,
+  Their cause went ne'er the worse for being fair.
+  Reasons as weak as theirs, perhaps, I bring;
+  But I could bribe you with as good a thing.
+  I heard him make advances of good nature;
+  That he, for once, would sheath his cutting satire.
+  Sign but his peace, he vows he'll ne'er again
+  The sacred names of fops and beaus profane.
+  Strike up the bargain quickly; for I swear,
+  As times go now, he offers very fair.
+  Be not too hard on him with statutes neither;         }
+  Be kind; and do not set your teeth together,          }
+  To stretch the laws, as coblers do their leather.     }
+  Horses by Papists are not to be ridden,
+  But sure the muses' horse was ne'er forbidden;
+  For in no rate-book it was ever found
+  That Pegasus was valued at five pound[1]:
+  Fine him to daily drudging and inditing:
+  And let him pay his taxes out in writing.
+
+
+Footnote:
+1. Alluding to the act for disarming the Catholics, by which, _inter
+   alia_, it is enacted, "that no Papist, or reputed Papist, so
+   refusing, or making default, as aforesaid, at any time after the
+   15th of May, 1689, shall, or may have, and keep in his own
+   possession, or in the possession of any other person for his use,
+   or at his disposition, any horse or horses, which shall be above
+   the value of L.5."--1st William and Mary, c. 15.
+
+
+
+
+                          DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
+
+
+  _Don_ SEBASTIAN, _King of Portugal._
+  MULEY-MOLUCH, _Emperor of Barbary._
+  DORAX, _a noble Portuguese, now a renegade; formerly Don_ ALONZO DE
+      SYLVERA, _Alcade, or Governor of Alcazar._
+  BENDUCAR, _chief Minister, and favourite to the Emperor._
+  _The Mufti_ ABDALLA.
+  MULEY-ZEYDAN, _brother to the Emperor._
+  _Don_ ANTONIO, _a young, noble, amorous Portuguese; now a slave._
+  _Don_ ALVAREZ, _an old counsellor to Don_ SEBASTIAN; _now a slave also._
+  MUSTAPHA, _Captain of the Rabble._
+  _Two Merchants._
+  _Rabble._
+  _A Servant to_ BENDUCAR.
+  _A Servant to the Mufti._
+
+  ALMEYDA, _a captive Queen of Barbary._
+  MORAYMA, _daughter to the Mufti._
+  JOHAYMA, _chief wife to the Mufti._
+
+SCENE,--_In the Castle of Alcazar._
+
+
+
+
+                            DON SEBASTIAN,
+
+                          KING OF PORTUGAL.
+
+
+ACT I. SCENE I.
+
+  _The scene at Alcazar, representing a market-place under the
+  Castle._
+
+  _Enter_ MULEY-ZEYDAN _and_ BENDUCAR.
+
+_M. Zey._ Now Africa's long wars are at an end,
+And our parched earth is drenched in Christian blood;
+My conquering brother will have slaves enow,
+To pay his cruel vows for victory.--
+What hear you of Sebastian, king of Portugal?
+
+_Bend._ He fell among a heap of slaughtered Moors,
+Though yet his mangled carcase is not found.
+The rival of our threatened empire, Mahomet,
+Was hot pursued; and, in the general rout,
+Mistook a swelling current for a ford,
+And in Mucazar's flood was seen to rise:
+Thrice was he seen: At length his courser plunged,
+And threw him off; the waves whelmed over him,
+And, helpless, in his heavy arms he drowned.
+
+_M. Zey._ Thus, then, a doubtful title is extinguished;
+Thus Moluch, still the favourite of fate,
+Swims in a sanguine torrent to the throne,
+As if our prophet only worked for him:
+The heavens, and all the stars, are his hired servants;
+As Muley-Zeydan were not worth their care,
+And younger brothers but the draff of nature.
+
+_Bend._ Be still, and learn the soothing arts of court:
+Adore his fortune, mix with flattering crowds;
+And, when they praise him most, be you the loudest.
+Your brother is luxurious, close, and cruel;
+Generous by fits, but permanent in mischief.
+The shadow of a discontent would ruin us;
+We must be safe, before we can be great.
+These things observed, leave me to shape the rest.
+
+_M. Zey._ You have the key; he opens inward to you.
+
+_Bend._ So often tried, and ever found so true,
+Has given me trust; and trust has given me means
+Once to be false for all. I trust not him;
+For, now his ends are served, and he grown absolute,
+How am I sure to stand, who served those ends?
+I know your nature open, mild, and grateful:
+In such a prince the people may be blest,
+And I be safe.
+
+_M. Zey._ My father!                                 [_Embracing him._
+
+_Bend._ My future king, auspicious Muley-Zeydan!
+Shall I adore you?--No, the place is public:
+I worship you within; the outward act
+Shall be reserved till nations follow me,
+And heaven shall envy you the kneeling world.--
+You know the alcade of Alcazar, Dorax?
+
+_M. Zey._ The gallant renegade you mean?
+
+_Bend._ The same.
+That gloomy outside, like a rusty chest,
+Contains the shining treasure, of a soul
+Resolved and brave: He has the soldiers' hearts,
+And time shall make him ours.
+
+_M. Zey._ He's just upon us.
+
+_Bend._ I know him from afar,
+By the long stride, and by the sullen port.--
+Retire, my lord.
+Wait on your brother's triumph; yours is next:
+His growth is but a wild and fruitless plant;
+I'll cut his barren branches to the stock,
+And graft you on to bear.
+
+_M. Zey._ My oracle!                                   [_Exit_ M. ZEY.
+
+_Bend._ Yes, to delude your hopes.--Poor credulous fool!
+To think that I would give away the fruit
+Of so much toil, such guilt, and such damnation!
+If I am damned, it shall be for myself.
+This easy fool must be my stale, set up
+To catch the people's eyes: He's tame and merciful;
+Him I can manage, till I make him odious
+By some unpopular act; and then dethrone him.
+
+  _Enter_ DORAX.
+
+Now, Dorax.
+
+_Dor._ Well, Benducar.
+
+_Bend._ Bare Benducar!
+
+_Dor._ Thou would'st have titles; take them then,--chief minister,
+First hangman of the state.
+
+_Bend._ Some call me, favourite.
+
+_Dor._ What's that?--his minion?--
+Thou art too old to be a catamite!--
+Now pr'ythee tell me, and abate thy pride,
+Is not Benducar, bare, a better name
+In a friend's mouth, than all those gaudy titles,
+Which I disdain to give the man I love?
+
+_Bend._ But always out of humour,--
+
+_Dor._ I have cause:
+Though all mankind is cause enough for satire.
+
+_Bend._ Why, then, thou hast revenged thee on mankind.
+They say, in fight, thou hadst a thirsty sword,
+And well 'twas glutted there.
+
+_Dor._ I spitted frogs; I crushed a heap of emmets;
+A hundred of them to a single soul,
+And that but scanty weight too. The great devil
+Scarce thanked me for my pains; he swallows vulgar
+Like whipped cream,--feels them not in going down.
+
+_Bend._ Brave renegade!--Could'st thou not meet Sebastian?
+Thy master had been worthy of thy sword.
+
+_Dor._ My master!--By what title?
+Because I happened to be born where he
+Happened to be king?--And yet I served him;
+Nay, I was fool enough to love him too.--
+You know my story, how I was rewarded
+For fifteen hard campaigns, still hooped in iron,
+And why I turned Mahometan. I'm grateful;
+But whosoever dares to injure me,
+Let that man know, I dare to be revenged.
+
+_Bend._ Still you run off from bias:--Say, what moves
+Your present spleen?
+
+_Dor._ You marked not what I told you.
+I killed not one that was his maker's image;
+I met with none but vulgar two-legged brutes:
+Sebastian was my aim; he was a man:
+Nay,--though he hated me, and I hate him,
+Yet I must do him right,--he was a man,
+Above man's height, even towering to divinity:
+Brave, pious, generous, great, and liberal;
+Just as the scales of heaven, that weigh the seasons.
+He loved his people; him they idolized;
+And thence proceeds my mortal hatred to him;
+That, thus unblameable to all besides,
+He erred to me alone:
+His goodness was diffused to human kind,
+And all his cruelty confined to me.
+
+_Bend._ You could not meet him then?
+
+_Dor._ No, though I sought
+Where ranks fell thickest.--'Twas indeed the place
+To seek Sebastian.--Through a track of death
+I followed him, by groans of dying foes;
+But still I came too late; for he was flown,
+Like lightning, swift before me to new slaughters.
+I mowed across, and made irregular harvest,
+Defaced the pomp of battle, but in vain;
+For he was still supplying death elsewhere.
+This mads me, that perhaps ignoble hands
+Have overlaid him,--for they could not conquer:
+Murdered by multitudes, whom I alone
+Had right to slay. I too would have been slain;
+That, catching hold upon his flitting ghost,
+I might have robbed him of his opening heaven,
+And dragged him down with me, spite of predestination.
+
+_Bend._ 'Tis of as much import as Africk's worth,
+To know what came of him, and of Almeyda,
+The sister of the vanquished Mahomet,
+Whose fatal beauty to her brother drew
+The land's third part, as Lucifer did heaven's.
+
+_Dor._ I hope she died in her own female calling,
+Choked up with man, and gorged with circumcision.
+As for Sebastian, we must search the field;
+And, where we see a mountain of the slain,
+Send one to climb, and, looking down below,
+There he shall find him at his manly length,
+With his face up to heaven, in the red monument,
+Which his true sword has digged.
+
+_Bend._ Yet we may possibly hear farther news;
+For, while our Africans pursued the chace,
+The captain of the rabble issued out,
+With a black shirtless train, to spoil the dead,
+And seize the living.
+
+_Dor._ Each of them an host,
+A million strong of vermin every villain:
+No part of government, but lords of anarchy,
+Chaos of power, and privileged destruction.
+
+_Bend._ Yet I must tell you, friend, the great must use them
+Sometimes, as necessary tools of tumult.
+
+_Dor._ I would use them
+Like dogs in times of plague; outlaws of nature,
+Fit to be shot and brained, without a process,
+To stop infection; that's their proper death.
+
+_Bend._ No more;--
+Behold the emperor coming to survey
+The slaves, in order to perform his vow.
+
+  _Enter_ MULEY-MOLUCH _the Emperor, with Attendants; the Mufti, and_
+  MULEY-ZEYDAN.
+
+_M. Mol._ Our armours now may rust; our idle scymiters
+Hang by our sides for ornament, not use:
+Children shall beat our atabals and drums,
+And all the noisy trades of war no more
+Shall wake the peaceful morn; the Xeriff's blood
+No longer in divided channels runs,
+The younger house took end in Mahomet:
+Nor shall Sebastian's formidable name
+Be longer used to lull the crying babe.
+
+_Muf._ For this victorious day, our mighty prophet
+Expects your gratitude, the sacrifice
+Of Christian slaves, devoted, if you won.
+
+_M. Mol._ The purple present shall be richly paid;
+That vow performed, fasting shall be abolished;
+None e'er served heaven well with a starved face:
+Preach abstinence no more; I tell thee, Mufti,
+Good feasting is devout; and thou, our head,
+Hast a religious, ruddy countenance.
+We will have learned luxury; our lean faith
+Gives scandal to the christians; they feed high:
+Then look for shoals of converts, when thou hast
+Reformed us into feasting.
+
+_Muf._ Fasting is but the letter of the law,
+Yet it shews well to preach it to the vulgar;
+Wine is against our law; that's literal too,
+But not denied to kings and to their guides;
+Wine is a holy liquor for the great.
+
+_Dor._ [_Aside._] This Mufti, in my conscience, is some English
+renegado, he talks so savourily of toping.
+
+_M. Mol._ Bring forth the unhappy relicks of the war.
+
+  _Enter_ MUSTAPHA, _Captain of the Rabble, with his followers of the
+  Black Guard, &c. and other Moors; With them a Company of Portuguese
+  Slaves, without any of the chief Persons._
+
+_M. Mol._ These are not fit to pay an emperor's vow;
+Our bulls and rams had been more noble victims:
+These are but garbage, not a sacrifice.
+
+_Muf._ The prophet must not pick and chuse his offerings;
+Now he has given the day, 'tis past recalling,
+And he must be content with such as these.
+
+_M. Mol._ But are these all? Speak you, that are their masters.
+
+_Must._ All, upon my honour; if you will take them as their fathers
+got them, so; if not, you must stay till they get a better generation.
+These christians are mere bunglers; they procreate nothing but out of
+their own wives, and these have all the looks of eldest sons.
+
+_M. Mol._ Pain of your lives, let none conceal a slave.
+
+_Must._ Let every man look to his own conscience; I am sure mine shall
+never hang me.
+
+_Bend._ Thou speak'st as if thou wert privy to concealments; then thou
+art an accomplice.
+
+_Must._ Nay, if accomplices must suffer, it may go hard with me: but
+here's the devil on't, there's a great man, and a holy man too,
+concerned with me; now, if I confess, he'll be sure to escape between
+his greatness and his holiness, and I shall be murdered, because of my
+poverty and rascality.
+
+_Muf._ [_Winking at him._]
+Then, if thy silence save the great and holy,
+'Tis sure thou shalt go straight to paradise.
+
+_Must._ 'Tis a fine place, they say; but, doctor, I am not worthy
+on't. I am contented with this homely world; 'tis good enough for such
+a poor, rascally Mussulman, as I am; besides, I have learnt so much
+good manners, doctor, as to let my betters be served before me.
+
+_M. Mol._ Thou talk'st as if the Mufti were concerned.
+
+_Must._ Your majesty may lay your soul on't. But, for my part, though
+I am a plain fellow, yet I scorn to be tricked into paradise; I would
+he should know it. The truth on't is, an't like you, his reverence
+bought of me the flower of all the market: these--these are but
+dogs-meat to them; and a round price he paid me, too, I'll say that
+for him; but not enough for me to venture my neck for. If I get
+paradise when my time comes, I can't help myself; but I'll venture
+nothing before-hand, upon a blind bargain.
+
+_M. Mol._ Where are those slaves? produce them.
+
+_Muf._ They are not what he says.
+
+_M. Mol._ No more excuses.              [_One goes out to fetch them._
+Know, thou may'st better dally
+With a dead prophet, than a living king.
+
+_Muf._ I but reserved them to present thy greatness
+An offering worthy thee.
+
+_Must._ By the same token there was a dainty virgin, (virgin, said I!
+but I wont be too positive of that, neither) with a roguish leering
+eye! he paid me down for her upon the nail a thousand golden
+sultanins, or he had never had her, I can tell him that; now, is it
+very likely he would pay so dear for such a delicious morsel, and give
+it away out of his own mouth, when it had such a farewell with it too?
+
+  _Enter_ SEBASTIAN, _conducted in mean Habit, with_ ALVAREZ, ANTONIO,
+  _and_ ALMEYDA, _her Face veiled with a Barnus._
+
+_M. Mol._ Ay; these look like the workmanship of heaven;
+This is the porcelain clay of human kind,
+And therefore cast into these noble moulds.
+
+_Dor._ By all my wrongs,
+                        [_Aside, while the Emperor whispers Benducar._
+'Tis he! damnation seize me, but 'tis he!
+My heart heaves up and swells; he's poison to me;
+My injured honour, and my ravished love,
+Bleed at their murderer's sight.
+
+_Ben._ [_Aside to Dor._]
+The emperor would learn these prisoners' names;
+You know them?
+
+_Dor._ Tell him, no;
+And trouble me no more--I will not know them.
+Shall I trust heaven, that heaven which I renounced,
+With my revenge? Then, where's my satisfaction?
+No; It must be my own, I scorn a proxy.                      [_Aside._
+
+_M. Mol._ 'Tis decreed;
+These of a better aspect, with the rest,
+Shall share one common doom, and lots decide it.
+For every numbered captive, put a ball
+Into an urn; three only black be there,
+The rest, all white, are safe.
+
+_Muf._ Hold, sir; the woman must not draw.
+
+_M. Mol_ O Mufti,
+We know your reason; let her share the danger.
+
+_Muf._ Our law says plainly, women have no souls.
+
+_M, Mol._ 'Tis true; their souls are mortal, set her by;
+Yet, were Almeyda here, though fame reports her
+The fairest of her sex, so much, unseen,
+I hate the sister of our rival-house,
+Ten thousand such dry notions of our Alcoran
+Should not protect her life, if not immortal;
+Die as she could, all of a piece, the better
+That none of her remain.    [_Here an Urn is brought in; the Prisoners
+                             approach with great concernment, and
+                             among the rest,_ SEBASTIAN, ALVAREZ,
+                            _and_ ANTONIO, _who come more chearfully._
+
+_Dor._ Poor abject creatures, how they fear to die!
+These never knew one happy hour in life,
+Yet shake to lay it down. Is load so pleasant?
+Or has heaven hid the happiness of death,
+That men may dare to live?--Now for our heroes. [_The Three approach._
+O, these come up with spirits more resolved.
+Old venerable Alvarez;--well I know him,
+The favourite once of this Sebastian's father;
+Now minister, (too honest for his trade)
+Religion bears him out; a thing taught young,
+In age ill practised, yet his prop in death.
+O, he has drawn a black; and smiles upon't,
+As who should say,--My faith and soul are white,
+Though my lot swarthy: Now, if there be hereafter,
+He's blest; if not, well cheated, and dies pleased.
+
+_Anton._ [_Holding his lot in his clenched hand._]
+Here I have thee;
+Be what thou wilt, I will not look too soon:
+Thou hast a colour; if thou prov'st not right,
+I have a minute good ere I behold thee.
+Now, let me roll and grubble thee:
+Blind men say, white feels smooth, and black feels rough;
+Thou hast a rugged skin, I do not like thee.
+
+_Dor._ There's the amorous airy spark, Antonio,
+The wittiest woman's toy in Portugal:
+Lord, what a loss of treats and serenades!
+The whole she-nation will be in mourning for him.
+
+_Anton._ I've a moist sweaty palm; the more's my sin:
+If it be black, yet only dyed, not odious
+Damned natural ebony, there's hope, in rubbing,
+To wash this Ethiop white.--[_Looks._] Pox o'the proverb!
+As black as hell;--another lucky saying!
+I think the devil's in me;--good again!
+I cannot speak one syllable, but tends
+To death or to damnation.                        [_Holds up his ball._
+
+_Dor._ He looks uneasy at his future journey,                [_Aside._
+And wishes his boots off again, for fear
+Of a bad road, and a worse inn at night.
+Go to bed, fool, and take secure repose,
+For thou shalt wake no more.            [SEBASTIAN _comes up to draw._
+
+_M. Mol._ [_To Ben._] Mark him, who now approaches to the lottery:
+He looks secure of death, superior greatness,
+Like Jove, when he made Fate, and said, Thou art
+The slave of my creation.--I admire him.
+
+_Bend._ He looks as man was made; with face erect,
+That scorns his brittle corpse, and seems ashamed
+He's not all spirit; his eyes, with a dumb pride,
+Accusing fortune that he fell not warm;
+Yet now disdains to live.                    [SEBAST. _draws a black._
+
+_M. Mol._ He has his wish;
+And I have failed of mine.
+
+_Dor._ Robbed of my vengeance, by a trivial chance!          [_Aside._
+Fine work above, that their anointed care
+Should die such little death! or did his genius
+Know mine the stronger daemon, feared the grapple,
+And looking round him, found this nook of fate,
+To skulk behind my sword?--Shall I discover him?--
+Still he would not die mine; no thanks to my
+Revenge; reserved but to more royal shambles.
+'Twere base, too, and below those vulgar souls,
+That shared his danger, yet not one disclosed him,
+But, struck with reverence, kept an awful silence.
+I'll see no more of this;--dog of a prophet!            [_Exit_ DORAX.
+
+_M. Mol._ One of these three is a whole hecatomb,
+And therefore only one of them shall die:
+The rest are but mute cattle; and when death
+Comes like a rushing lion, couch like spaniels,
+With lolling tongues, and tremble at the paw:
+Let lots again decide it.              [_The Three draw again; and the
+                                        Lot falls on_ SEBASTIAN.
+
+_Sebast._ Then there's no more to manage: if I fall,
+It shall be like myself; a setting sun
+Should leave a track of glory in the skies.--
+Behold Sebastian, king of Portugal.
+
+_M. Mol._ Sebastian! ha! it must be he; no other
+Could represent such suffering majesty.
+I saw him, as he terms himself, a sun
+Struggling in dark eclipse, and shooting day
+On either side of the black orb that veiled him.
+
+_Sebast._ Not less even in this despicable now,
+Than when my name filled Afric with affright,
+And froze your hearts beneath your torrid zone.
+
+_Bend._ [_To M. Mol._]
+Extravagantly brave! even to an impudence
+Of greatness.
+
+_Sebast._ Here satiate all your fury:
+Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me;
+I have a soul, that, like an ample shield,
+Can take in all, and verge enough for more.
+I would have conquered you; and ventured only
+A narrow neck of land for a third world,
+To give my loosened subjects room to play.
+Fate was not mine,
+Nor am I fate's. Now I have pleased my longing,
+And trod the ground which I beheld from far,
+I beg no pity for this mouldering clay;
+For, if you give it burial, there it takes
+Possession of your earth;
+If burnt and scattered in the air, the winds,
+That strow my dust, diffuse my royalty,
+And spread me o'er your clime: for where one atom
+Of mine shall light, know, there Sebastian reigns.
+
+_M. Mol._ What shall I do to conquer thee?
+
+_Sebast._ Impossible!
+Souls know no conquerors.
+
+_M. Mol._ I'll shew thee for a monster through my Afric.
+
+_Sebast._ No, thou canst only shew me for a man:
+Afric is stored with monsters; man's a prodigy,
+Thy subjects have not seen.
+
+_M. Mol._ Thou talk'st as if
+Still at the head of battle.
+
+_Sebast._ Thou mistakest,
+For then I would not talk.
+
+_Bend._ Sure he would sleep.
+
+_Sebast._ Till doomsday, when the trumpet sounds to rise;
+For that's a soldier's call.
+
+_M. Mol._ Thou'rt brave too late;
+Thou shouldst have died in battle, like a soldier.
+
+_Sebast._ I fought and fell like one, but death deceived me;
+I wanted weight of feeble Moors upon me,
+To crush my soul out.
+
+_M. Mol._ Still untameable!
+In what a ruin has thy head-strong pride,
+And boundless thirst of empire, plunged thy people!
+
+_Sebast._ What sayst thou? ha! no more of that.
+
+_M. Mol._ Behold,
+What carcases of thine thy crimes have strewed,
+And left our Afric vultures to devour.
+
+_Bend._ Those souls were those thy God intrusted with thee,
+To cherish, not destroy.
+
+_Sebast._ Witness, O heaven, how much
+This sight concerns me! would I had a soul
+For each of these; how gladly would I pay
+The ransom down! But since I have but one,
+'Tis a king's life, and freely 'tis bestowed.
+Not your false prophet, but eternal justice
+Has destined me the lot, to die for these:
+'Tis fit a sovereign so should pay such subjects;
+For subjects such as they are seldom seen,
+Who not forsook me at my greatest need;
+Nor for base lucre sold their loyalty,
+But shared my dangers to the last event,
+And fenced them with their own. These thanks I pay you;
+                                                    [_Wipes his eyes._
+And know, that, when Sebastian weeps, his tears
+Come harder than his blood.
+
+_M. Mol._ They plead too strongly
+To be withstood. My clouds are gathering too,
+In kindly mixture with his royal shower.
+Be safe; and owe thy life, not to my gift,
+But to the greatness of thy mind, Sebastian.
+Thy subjects too shall live; a due reward
+For their untainted faith, in thy concealment.
+
+_Muf._ Remember, sir, your vow.                    [_A general shout._
+
+_M. Mol._ Do thou remember
+Thy function, mercy, and provoke not blood.
+
+_Mul. Zeyd._ One of his generous fits, too strong to last.
+                                                 [_Aside to_ BENDUCAR.
+
+_Bend._ The Mufti reddens; mark that holy cheek.            [_To him._
+He frets within, froths treason at his mouth,
+And churns it thro' his teeth; leave me to work him.
+
+_Seb._ A mercy unexpected, undesired,
+Surprises more: you've learnt the art to vanquish.
+You could not,--give me leave to tell you, sir,--
+Have given me life but in my subjects' safety:
+Kings, who are fathers, live but in their people.
+
+_M. Mol._ Still great, and grateful; that's thy character.--
+Unveil the woman; I would view the face,
+That warmed our Mufti's zeal:
+These pious parrots peck the fairest fruit:
+Such tasters are for kings. [_Officers go to_ ALMEYDA _to unveil her._
+
+_Alm._ Stand off, ye slaves! I will not be unveiled.
+
+_M. Mol_ Slave is thy title:--force her.
+
+_Sebast._ On your lives, approach her not.
+
+_M. Mol._ How's this!
+
+_Sebast._ Sir, pardon me,
+And hear me speak.--
+
+_Aim._ Hear me; I will be heard.
+I am no slave; the noblest blood of Afric
+Runs in my veins; a purer stream than thine:
+For, though derived from the same source, thy current
+Is puddled and defiled with tyranny.
+
+_M. Mol._ What female fury have we here!
+
+_Aim._ I should be one,
+Because of kin to thee. Wouldst thou be touched
+By the presuming hands of saucy grooms?
+The same respect, nay more, is due to me:
+More for my sex; the same for my descent.
+These hands are only fit to draw the curtain.
+Now, if thou dar'st, behold Almeyda's face.        [_Unveils herself._
+
+_Bend._ Would I had never seen it!                           [_Aside._
+
+_Alm._ She whom thy Mufti taxed to have no soul;
+Let Afric now be judge.
+Perhaps thou think'st I meanly hope to 'scape,
+As did Sebastian, when he owned his greatness.
+But to remove that scruple, know, base man,
+My murdered father, and my brother's ghost,
+Still haunt this breast, and prompt it to revenge.
+Think not I could forgive, nor dar'st thou pardon.
+
+_M. Mol._ Wouldst thou revenge thee, trait'ress, hadst thou power?
+
+_Alm._ Traitor, I would; the name's more justly thine;
+Thy father was not, more than mine, the heir
+Of this large empire: but with arms united
+They fought their way, and seized the crown by force;
+And equal as their danger was their share:
+For where was eldership, where none had right
+But that which conquest gave? 'Twas thy ambition
+Pulled from my peaceful father what his sword
+Helped thine to gain; surprised him and his kingdom,
+No provocation given, no war declared.
+
+_M. Mol._ I'll hear no more.
+
+_Alm._ This is the living coal, that, burning in me,
+Would flame to vengeance, could it find a vent;
+My brother too, that lies yet scarcely cold
+In his deep watery bed;--my wandering mother,
+Who in exile died--
+O that I had the fruitful heads of Hydra,
+That one might bourgeon where another fell!
+Still would I give thee work; still, still, thou tyrant,
+And hiss thee with the last.
+
+_M. Mol._ Something, I know not what, comes over me:
+Whether the toils of battle, unrepaired
+With due repose, or other sudden qualm.--
+Benducar, do the rest.             [_Goes off, the court follows him._
+
+_Bend._ Strange! in full health! this pang is of the soul;
+The body's unconcerned: I'll think hereafter.--
+Conduct these royal captives to the castle;
+Bid Dorax use them well, till further order.      [_Going off, stops._
+The inferior captives their first owners take,
+To sell, or to dispose.--You Mustapha,
+Set ope the market for the sale of slaves.               [_Exit_ BEND.
+                            [_The Masters and Slaves come forward, and
+                             Buyers of several Qualities come in, and
+                             chaffer about the several Owners, who
+                             make their slaves do Tricks[1]._
+
+_Must._ My chattels are come into my hands again, and my conscience
+will serve me to sell them twice over; any price now, before the Mufti
+come to claim them.
+
+_1st Mer._ [_To_ MUST.] What dost hold that old fellow at?--[_Pointing
+to_ ALVAR.] He's tough, and has no service in his limbs.
+
+_Must._ I confess he's somewhat tough; but I suppose you would not
+boil him, I ask for him a thousand crowns.
+
+_1st Mer._ Thou mean'st a thousand marvedis.
+
+_Must._ Pr'ythee, friend, give me leave to know my own meaning.
+
+_1st Mer._ What virtues has he to deserve that price?
+
+_Must._ Marry come up, sir! virtues, quotha! I took him in the king's
+company; he's of a great family, and rich; what other virtues wouldst
+thou have in a nobleman?
+
+_1st Mer._ I buy him with another man's purse, that's my comfort. My
+lord Dorax, the governor, will have him at any rate:--There's hansel.
+Come, old fellow, to the castle.
+
+_Alvar._ To what is miserable age reserved!                  [_Aside._
+But oh the king! and oh the fatal secret!
+Which I have kept thus long to time it better,
+And now I would disclose, 'tis past my power. [_Exit with his Master._
+
+_Must._ Something of a secret, and of the king, I heard him mutter: a
+pimp, I warrant him, for I am sure he is an old courtier. Now, to put
+off t'other remnant of my merchandize.--Stir up, sirrah!    [_To_ ANT.
+
+_Ant._ Dog, what wouldst thou have?
+
+_Must._ Learn better manners, or I shall serve you a dog-trick; come
+down upon all-four immediately; I'll make you know your rider.
+
+_Ant._ Thou wilt not make a horse of me?
+
+_Must._ Horse or ass, that's as thy mother made thee: but take
+earnest, in the first place, for thy sauciness.--[_Lashes him with his
+Whip._]--Be advised, friend, and buckle to thy geers: Behold my ensign
+of royalty displayed over thee.
+
+_Ant._ I hope one day to use thee worse in Portugal.
+
+_Must._ Ay, and good reason, friend; if thou catchest me a-conquering
+on thy side of the water, lay on me lustily; I will take it as kindly
+as thou dost this.--                             [_Holds up his Whip._
+
+_Ant._ [_Lying down._] Hold, my dear Thrum-cap: I obey thee
+cheerfully.--I see the doctrine of non-resistance is never practised
+thoroughly, but when a man can't help himself.
+
+  _Enter a second Merchant._
+
+_2d Mer._ You, friend, I would see that fellow do his postures.
+
+_Must._ [_Bridling_ ANT.] Now, sirrah, follow, for you have rope
+enough: To your paces, villain, amble trot, and gallop:--Quick about,
+there.--Yeap! the more money's bidden for you, the more your credit.
+                                  [ANTONIO _follows, at the end of the
+                                   Bridle, on his Hands and Feet, and
+                                   does all his Postures._
+
+_2d Mer._ He is well chined, and has a tolerable good back; that is
+half in half.--[_To_ MUST.]--I would see him strip; has he no diseases
+about him?
+
+_Must._ He is the best piece of man's flesh in the market, not an
+eye-sore in his whole body. Feel his legs, master; neither splint,
+spavin, nor wind-gall.                   [_Claps him on the Shoulder._
+
+_Mer._ [_Feeling about him, and then putting his Hand on his Side._]
+Out upon him, how his flank heaves! The whore-son is broken-winded.
+
+_Must._ Thick-breathed a little; nothing but a sorry cold with lying
+out a-nights in trenches; but sound, wind and limb, I warrant
+him.--Try him at a loose trot a little.     [_Puts the Bridle into his
+                                             Hand, he strokes him._
+
+_Ant._ For heaven's sake, owner, spare me: you know I am but new
+broken.
+
+_2d Mer._ 'Tis but a washy jade, I see: what do you ask for this
+bauble?
+
+_Must._ Bauble, do you call him? he is a substantial true-bred beast;
+bravely forehanded. Mark but the cleanness of his shapes too: his dam
+may be a Spanish gennet, but a true barb by the sire, or I have no
+skill in horseflesh:--Marry, I ask six hundred xeriffs for him.
+
+  _Enter_ MUFTI.
+
+_Mufti._ What is that you are asking, sirrah?
+
+_Must._ Marry, I ask your reverence six hundred pardons; I was doing
+you a small piece of service here, putting off your cattle for you.
+
+_Mufti._ And putting the money into your own pocket.
+
+_Must._ Upon vulgar reputation, no, my lord; it was for your profit
+and emolument. What! wrong the head of my religion? I was sensible you
+would have damned me, or any man, that should have injured you in a
+single farthing; for I knew that was sacrifice.
+
+_Mufti._ Sacrilege, you mean, sirrah,--and damning shall be the least
+part of your punishment: I have taken you in the manner, and will have
+the law upon you.
+
+_Must._ Good my lord, take pity upon a poor man in this world, and
+damn me in the next.
+
+_Mufti._ No, sirrah, so you may repent and escape punishment: Did not
+you sell this very slave amongst the rest to me, and take money for
+him?
+
+_Must._ Right, my lord.
+
+_Mufti._ And selling him again? take money twice for the same
+commodity? Oh, villain! but did you not know him to be my slave,
+sirrah?
+
+_Must._ Why should I lie to your honour? I did know him; and
+thereupon, seeing him wander about, took him up for a stray, and
+impounded him, with intention to restore him to the right owner.
+
+_Mufti._ And yet at the same time was selling him to another: How
+rarely the story hangs together!
+
+_Must._ Patience, my lord. I took him up, as your herriot, with
+intention to have made the best of him, and then have brought the
+whole product of him in a purse to you; for I know you would have
+spent half of it upon your pious pleasures, have hoarded up the other
+half, and given the remainder in charities to the poor.
+
+_Mufti._ And what's become of my other slave? Thou hast sold him too,
+I have a villainous suspicion.
+
+_Must._ I know you have, my lord; but while I was managing this young
+robustious fellow, that old spark, who was nothing but skin and bone,
+and by consequence very nimble, slipt through my fingers like an eel,
+for there was no hold-fast of him, and ran away to buy himself a new
+master.
+
+_Muft._ [_To_ ANT.] Follow me home, sirrah:--[_To_ MUST.] I shall
+remember you some other time.                [_Exit_ MUFTI _with_ ANT.
+
+_Must._ I never doubted your lordship's memory for an ill turn: And I
+shall remember him too in the next rising of the mobile for this act
+of resumption; and more especially for the ghostly counsel he gave me
+before the emperor, to have hanged myself in silence to have saved his
+reverence. The best on't is, I am beforehand with him for selling one
+of his slaves twice over; and if he had not come just in the nick, I
+might have pocketed up the other; for what should a poor man do that
+gets his living by hard labour, but pray for bad times when he may get
+it easily? O for some incomparable tumult! Then should I naturally
+wish that the beaten party might prevail; because we have plundered
+the other side already, and there is nothing more to get of them.
+  Both rich and poor for their own interest pray,
+  'Tis ours to make our fortune while we may;
+  For kingdoms are not conquered every day.                   [_Exit._
+
+
+ACT II.
+
+SCENE I.--_Supposed to be a Terrace Walk, on the side of the Castle of
+Alcazar._
+
+  _Enter_ EMPEROR _and_ BENDUCAR.
+
+_Emp._ And thinkst thou not, it was discovered?
+
+_Bend._ No:
+The thoughts of kings are like religious groves,
+The walks of muffled gods: Sacred retreat,
+Where none, but whom they please to admit, approach.
+
+_Emp._ Did not my conscious eye flash out a flame,
+To lighten those brown horrors, and disclose
+The secret path I trod?
+
+_Bend._ I could not find it, till you lent a clue
+To that close labyrinth; how then should they?
+
+_Emp._ I would be loth they should: it breeds contempt
+For herds to listen, or presume to pry,
+When the hurt lion groans within his den:
+But is't not strange?
+
+_Bend._ To love? not more than 'tis to live; a tax
+Imposed on all by nature, paid in kind,
+Familiar as our being.
+
+_Emp._ Still 'tis strange
+To me: I know my soul as wild as winds,
+That sweep the desarts of our moving plains;
+Love might as well be sowed upon our sands,
+As in a breast so barren.
+To love an enemy, the only one
+Remaining too, whom yester sun beheld
+Mustering her charms, and rolling, as she past
+By every squadron, her alluring eyes,
+To edge her champions' swords, and urge my ruin.
+The shouts of soldiers, and the burst of cannon,
+Maintain even still a deaf and murmuring noise;
+Nor is heaven yet recovered of the sound,
+Her battle roused: Yet, spite of me, I love.
+
+_Bend._ What then controuls you?
+Her person is as prostrate as her party.
+
+_Emp._ A thousand things controul this conqueror:
+My native pride to own the unworthy passion,
+Hazard of interest, and my people's love.
+To what a storm of fate am I exposed!--
+What if I had her murdered!--'tis but what
+My subjects all expect, and she deserves,--
+Would not the impossibility
+Of ever, ever seeing, or possessing,
+Calm all this rage, this hurricane of soul?
+
+_Bend._ That _ever, ever,_--
+I marked the double,--shows extreme reluctance
+To part with her for ever.
+
+_Emp._ Right, thou hast me.
+I would, but cannot kill: I must enjoy her:
+I must, and what I must, be sure I will.
+What's royalty, but power to please myself?
+And if I dare not, then am I the slave,
+And my own slaves the sovereigns:--'tis resolved.
+Weak princes flatter, when they want the power
+To curb their people; tender plants must bend:
+But when a government is grown to strength,
+Like some old oak, rough with its armed bark,
+It yields not to the tug, but only nods,
+And turns to sullen state.
+
+_Bend._ Then you resolve
+To implore her pity, and to beg relief?
+
+_Emp._ Death! must I beg the pity of my slave?
+Must a king beg?--Yes; love's a greater king;
+A tyrant, nay, a devil, that possesses me:
+He tunes the organs of my voice, and speaks,
+Unknown to me, within me; pushes me,
+And drives me on by force.--
+Say I should wed her, would not my wise subjects
+Take check, and think it strange? perhaps revolt?
+
+_Bend._ I hope they would not.
+
+_Emp._ Then thou doubtst they would?
+
+_Bend._ To whom?
+
+_Emp._ To her
+Perhaps,--or to my brother,--or to thee.
+
+_Bend._ [_in disorder._]
+To me! me, did you mention? how I tremble!
+The name of treason shakes my honest soul.
+If I am doubted, sir,
+Secure yourself this moment, take my life.
+
+_Emp._ No more: If I suspected thee--I would.
+
+_Bend._ I thank your kindness.--Guilt had almost lost me.    [_Aside._
+
+_Emp._ But clear my doubts:--thinkst thou they may rebel?
+
+_Bend._ This goes as I would wish.--                         [_Aside._
+'Tis possible:
+A secret party still remains, that lurks
+Like embers raked in ashes,--wanting but
+A breath to blow aside the involving dust,
+And then they blaze abroad.
+
+_Emp._ They must be trampled out.
+
+_Bend._ But first be known.
+
+_Emp._ Torture shall force it from them.
+
+_Bend._ You would not put a nation to the rack?
+
+_Emp._ Yes, the whole world; so I be safe, I care not.
+
+_Bend._ Our limbs and lives
+Are yours; but mixing friends with foes is hard.
+
+_Emp._ All may be foes; or how to be distinguished,
+If some be friends?
+
+_Bend._ They may with ease be winnowed.
+Suppose some one, who has deserved your trust,
+Some one, who knows mankind, should be employed
+To mix among them, seem a malcontent,
+And dive into their breasts, to try how far
+They dare oppose your love?
+
+_Emp._ I like this well; 'tis wholesome wickedness.
+
+_Bend._ Whomever he suspects, he fastens there,
+And leaves no cranny of his soul unsearched;
+Then like a bee bag'd with his honeyed venom,
+He brings it to your hive;--if such a man,
+So able and so honest, may be found;
+If not, my project dies.
+
+_Emp._ By all my hopes, thou hast described thyself:
+Thou, thou alone, art fit to play that engine,
+Thou only couldst contrive.
+
+_Bend._ Sure I could serve you:
+I think I could:--but here's the difficulty;
+I am so entirely yours,
+That I should scurvily dissemble hate;
+The cheat would be too gross.
+
+_Emp._ Art thou a statesman,
+And canst not be a hypocrite? Impossible!
+Do not distrust thy virtues.
+
+_Bend._ If I must personate this seeming villain,
+Remember 'tis to serve you.
+
+_Emp._ No more words:
+Love goads me to Almeyda, all affairs
+Are troublesome but that; and yet that most.                 [_Going._
+Bid Dorax treat Sebastian like a king;
+I had forgot him;--but this love mars all,
+And takes up my whole breast.                         [_Exit_ EMPEROR.
+
+_Bend._ [_To the_ EMP.] Be sure I'll tell him--
+With all the aggravating circumstances                       [_Alone._
+I can, to make him swell at that command.
+The tyrant first suspected me;
+Then with a sudden gust he whirled about,
+And trusted me too far:--Madness of power!
+Now, by his own consent, I ruin him.
+For, should some feeble soul, for fear or gain.
+Bolt out to accuse me, even the king is cozened,
+And thinks he's in the secret.
+How sweet is treason, when the traitor's safe!
+
+  _Sees the_ MUFTI _and_ DORAX _entering, and seeming to confer._
+
+The Mufti, and with him my sullen Dorax.
+That first is mine already:
+'Twas easy work to gain a covetous mind,
+Whom rage to lose his prisoners had prepared:
+Now caught himself,
+He would seduce another. I must help him:
+For churchmen, though they itch to govern all,
+Are silly, woeful, aukward politicians:
+They make lame mischief, though they mean it well:
+Their interest is not finely drawn, and hid,
+But seams are coarsely bungled up, and seen.
+
+_Muf._ He'll tell you more.
+
+_Dor._ I have heard enough already,
+To make me loath thy morals.
+
+_Bend._ [_To_ DOR.] You seem warm;
+The good man's zeal perhaps has gone too far.
+
+_Dor._ Not very far; not farther than zeal goes;
+Of course a small day's journey short of treason.
+
+_Muf._ By all that's holy, treason was not named:
+I spared the emperor's broken vows, to save
+The slaves from death, though it was cheating heaven;
+But I forgave him that.
+
+_Dor._ And slighted o'er
+The wrongs himself sustained in property;
+When his bought slaves were seized by force, no loss
+Of his considered, and no cost repaid.                  [_Scornfully._
+
+_Muf._ Not wholly slighted o'er, not absolutely.--
+Some modest hints of private wrongs I urged.
+
+_Dor._ Two-thirds of all he said: there he began
+To shew the fulness of his heart; there ended.
+Some short excursions of a broken vow
+He made indeed, but flat insipid stuff;
+But, when he made his loss the theme, he flourished,
+Relieved his fainting rhetoric with new figures,
+And thundered at oppressing tyranny.
+
+_Muf._ Why not, when sacrilegious power would seize
+My property? 'tis an affront to heaven,
+Whose person, though unworthy, I sustain.
+
+_Dor._ You've made such strong alliances above,
+That 'twere profaneness in us laity
+To offer earthly aid.
+I tell thee, Mufti, if the world were wise,
+They would not wag one finger in your quarrels.
+Your heaven you promise, but our earth you covet;
+The Phaetons of mankind, who fire that world,
+Which you were sent by preaching but to warm.
+
+_Bend._ This goes beyond the mark.
+
+_Muf._ No, let him rail;
+His prophet works within him;
+He's a rare convert.
+
+_Dor._ Now his zeal yearns
+To see me burned; he damns me from his church,
+Because I would restrain him to his duty.--
+Is not the care of souls a load sufficient?
+Are not your holy stipends paid for this?
+Were you not bred apart from worldly noise,
+To study souls, their cures and their diseases?
+If this be so, we ask you but our own:
+Give us your whole employment, all your care.
+The province of the soul is large enough
+To fill up every cranny of your time,
+And leave you much to answer, if one wretch
+Be damned by your neglect.
+
+_Bend._ [_To the_ MUFTI.] He speaks but reason.
+
+_Dor._ Why, then, these foreign thoughts of state-employments,
+Abhorrent to your function and your breedings?
+Poor droning truants of unpractised cells,
+Bred in the fellowship of bearded boys,
+What wonder is it if you know not men?
+Yet there you live demure, with down-cast eyes,
+And humble as your discipline requires;
+But, when let loose from thence to live at large,
+Your little tincture of devotion dies:
+Then luxury succeeds, and, set agog
+With a new scene of yet untasted joys,
+You fall with greedy hunger to the feast.
+Of all your college virtues, nothing now
+But your original ignorance remains;
+Bloated with pride, ambition, avarice,
+You swell to counsel kings, and govern kingdoms.
+
+_Muf._ He prates as if kings had not consciences,
+And none required directors but the crowd.
+
+_Dor._ As private men they want you, not as kings;
+Nor would you care to inspect their public conscience,
+But that it draws dependencies of power
+And earthly interest, which you long to sway;
+Content you with monopolizing heaven,
+And let this little hanging ball alone:
+For, give you but a foot of conscience there,
+And you, like Archimedes, toss the globe.
+We know your thoughts of us that laymen are,
+Lag souls, and rubbish of remaining clay,
+Which heaven, grown weary of more perfect work,
+Set upright with a little puff of breath,
+And bid us pass for men.
+
+_Muf._ I will not answer,
+Base foul-mouthed renegade; but I'll pray for thee,
+To shew my charity.                                     [_Exit_ MUFTI.
+
+_Dor._ Do; but forget not him who needs it most:
+Allow thyself some share.--He's gone too soon;
+I had to tell him of his holy jugglings;
+Things that would startle faith, and make us deem
+Not this, or that, but all religions false.
+
+_Bend._ Our holy orator has lost the cause.                  [_Aside._
+But I shall yet redeem it.--[_To_ DORAX.] Let him go;
+For I have secret orders from the emperor,
+Which none but you must hear: I must confess,
+I could have wished some other hand had brought them.
+When did you see your prisoner, great Sebastian?
+
+_Dor._ You might as well have asked me, when I saw
+A crested dragon, or a basilisk;
+Both are less poison to my eyes and nature,
+He knows not I am I; nor shall he see me,
+Till time has perfected a labouring thought,
+That rolls within my breast.
+
+_Bend._ 'Twas my mistake.
+I guessed indeed that time, and his misfortunes,
+And your returning duty, had effaced
+The memory of past wrongs; they would in me,
+And I judged you as tame, and as forgiving.
+
+_Dor._ Forgive him! no: I left my foolish faith,
+Because it would oblige me to forgiveness.
+
+_Bend._ I can't but grieve to find you obstinate,
+For you must see him; 'tis our emperor's will,
+And strict command.
+
+_Dor._ I laugh at that command.
+
+_Bend._ You must do more than see; serve, and respect him.
+
+_Dor._ See, serve him, and respect! and after all
+My yet uncancelled wrongs, I must do this!--
+But I forget myself.
+
+_Bend._ Indeed you do.
+
+_Dor._ The emperor is a stranger to my wrongs;
+I need but tell my story, to revoke
+This hard commission.
+
+_Bend._ Can you call me friend,
+And think I could neglect to speak, at full,
+The affronts you had from your ungrateful master?
+
+_Dor._ And yet enjoined my service and attendance!
+
+_Bend._ And yet enjoined them both: would that were all!
+He screwed his face into a hardened smile,
+And said, Sebastian knew to govern slaves.
+
+_Dor._ Slaves are the growth of Africk, not of Europe.--
+By heaven! I will not lay down my commission;
+Not at his foot, I will not stoop so low:
+But if there be a part in all his face
+More sacred than the rest, I'll throw it there.
+
+_Bend._ You may; but then you lose all future means
+Of vengeance on Sebastian, when no more
+Alcayde of this fort.
+
+_Dor._ That thought escaped me.
+
+_Bend._ Keep your command, and be revenged on both:
+Nor sooth yourself; you have no power to affront him;
+The emperor's love protects him from insults;
+And he, who spoke that proud, ill-natured word,
+Following the bent of his impetuous temper,
+May force your reconcilement to Sebastian;
+Nay, bid you kneel, and kiss the offending foot,
+That kicked you from his presence.--
+But think not to divide their punishment;
+You cannot touch a hair of loathed Sebastian,
+While Muley-Moluch lives.
+
+_Dor._ What means this riddle?
+
+_Bend._ 'Tis out;--there needs no OEdipus to solve it.
+Our emperor is a tyrant, feared and hated;
+I scarce remember, in his reign, one day
+Pass guiltless o'er his execrable head.
+He thinks the sun is lost, that sees not blood:
+When none is shed, we count it holiday.
+We, who are most in favour, cannot call
+This hour our own.--You know the younger brother,
+Mild Muley-Zeydan?
+
+_Dor._ Hold, and let me think.
+
+_Bend._ The soldiers idolize you;
+He trusts you with the castle,
+The key of all his kingdom.
+
+_Dor._ Well; and he trusts you too.
+
+_Bend._ Else I were mad,
+To hazard such a daring enterprize.
+
+_Dor._ He trusts us both; mark that!--Shall we betray him;
+A master, who reposes life and empire
+On our fidelity:--I grant he is a tyrant,
+That hated name my nature most abhors:
+More,--as you say,--has loaded me with scorn,
+Even with the last contempt, to serve Sebastian;
+Yet more, I know he vacates my revenge,
+Which, but by this revolt, I cannot compass:
+But, while he trusts me, 'twere so base a part,
+To fawn, and yet betray,--I should be hissed,
+And whooped in hell for that ingratitude.
+
+_Bend._ Consider well what I have done for you.
+
+_Dor._ Consider thou, what thou wouldst have me do.
+
+_Bend._ You've too much honour for a renegade.
+
+_Dor._ And thou too little faith to be a favourite.
+Is not the bread thou eat'st, the robe thou wear'st,
+Thy wealth, and honours, all the pure indulgence
+Of him thou would'st destroy?
+And would his creature, nay, his friend, betray him?
+Why then no bond is left on human kind!
+Distrusts, debates, immortal strifes ensue;
+Children may murder parents, wives their husbands;
+All must be rapine, wars, and desolation,
+When trust and gratitude no longer bind.
+
+_Bend._ Well have you argued in your own defence;
+You, who have burst asunder all those bonds,
+And turned a rebel to your native prince.
+
+_Dor._ True, I rebelled: But when did I betray?--
+Indignities, which man could not support,
+Provoked my vengeance to this noble crime;
+But he had stripped me first of my command,
+Dismissed my service, and absolved my faith;
+And, with disdainful language, dared my worst:
+I but accepted war, which he denounced.
+Else had you seen, not Dorax, but Alonzo,
+With his couched lance, against your foremost Moors;
+Perhaps, too, turned the fortune of the day,
+Made Africk mourn and Portugal triumph.
+
+_Bend._ Let me embrace thee!
+
+_Dor._ Stand off, sycophant,
+And keep infection distant.
+
+_Bend._ Brave and honest!
+
+_Dor._ In spite of thy temptations.
+
+_Bend._ Call them, trials;
+They were no more. Thy faith was held in balance,
+And nicely weighed by jealousy of power.
+Vast was the trust of such a royal charge:
+And our wise emperor might justly fear,
+Sebastian might be freed and reconciled,
+By new obligements, to thy former love.
+
+_Dor._ I doubt thee still: Thy reasons were too strong,
+And driven too near the head, to be but artifice:
+And, after all, I know thou art a statesman,
+Where truth is rarely found.
+
+_Bend._ Behold the emperor:--
+
+  _Enter Emperor,_ SEBASTIAN, _and_ ALMEYDA.
+
+Ask him, I beg thee,--to be justified,--
+If he employed me not to ford thy soul,
+And try the footing, whether false or firm.
+
+_Dor._ Death to my eyes, I see Sebastian with him!
+Must he be served?--Avoid him: If we meet,
+It must be like the crush of heaven and earth,
+To involve us both in ruin.                                   [_Exit._
+
+_Bend._ 'Twas a bare saving game I made with Dorax;
+But better so than lost. He cannot hurt me;
+That I precautioned: I must ruin him.--
+But now this love; ay, there's the gathering storm!
+The tyrant must not wed Almeyda: No!
+That ruins all the fabric I am raising.
+Yet, seeming to approve, it gave me time;
+And gaining time gains all.                                  [_Aside._
+                         [BENDUCAR _goes and waits behind the Emperor.
+                          The Emperor,_ SEBASTIAN, _and_ ALMEYDA,
+                          _advance to the front of the stage: Guards
+                          and Attendants._
+
+_Emp._ to _Seb._ I bade them serve you; and, if they obey not,
+I keep my lions keen within their dens,
+To stop their maws with disobedient slaves.
+
+_Seb._ If I had conquered,
+They could not have with more observance waited:
+Their eyes, hands, feet,
+Are all so quick, they seem to have but one motion,
+To catch my flying words. Only the alcayde
+Shuns me; and, with a grim civility,
+Bows, and declines my walks.
+
+_Emp._ A renegade:
+I know not more of him, but that he's brave,
+And hates your Christian sect. If you can frame
+A farther wish, give wing to your desires,
+And name the thing you want.
+
+_Seb._ My liberty;
+For were even paradise itself my prison,
+Still I should long to leap the crystal walls.
+
+_Emp._ Sure our two souls have somewhere been acquainted
+In former beings; or, struck out together,
+One spark to Afric flew, and one to Portugal.
+Expect a quick deliverance: Here's a third,     [_Turning to_ ALMEYDA.
+Of kindred sold to both: pity our stars
+Have made us foes! I should not wish her death.
+
+_Alm._ I ask no pity; if I thought my soul
+Of kin to thine, soon would I rend my heart-strings,
+And tear out that alliance; but thou, viper,
+Hast cancelled kindred, made a rent in nature,
+And through her holy bowels gnawed thy way,
+Through thy own blood, to empire.
+
+_Emp._ This again!
+And yet she lives, and only lives to upbraid me!
+
+_Seb._ What honour is there in a woman's death!
+Wronged, as she says, but helpless to revenge;
+Strong in her passion, impotent of reason,
+Too weak to hurt, too fair to be destroyed.
+Mark her majestic fabric; she's a temple
+Sacred by birth, and built by hands divine;
+Her souls the deity that lodges there;
+Nor is the pile unworthy of the god.
+
+_Emp._ She's all that thou canst say, or I can think;
+But the perverseness of her clamourous tongue
+Strikes pity deaf.
+
+_Seb._ Then only hear her eyes!
+Though they are mute, they plead; nay, more, command;
+For beauteous eyes have arbitrary power.
+All females have prerogative of sex;
+The she's even of the savage herd are safe;
+And when they snarl or bite, have no return
+But courtship from the male.
+
+_Emp._ Were she not she, and I not Muley-Moluch,
+She's mistress of inevitable charms,
+For all but me; nor am I so exempt,
+But that--I know not what I was to say--
+But I am too obnoxious to my friends,
+And swayed by your advice.
+
+_Seb._ Sir, I advised not;
+By heaven, I never counselled love, but pity.
+
+_Emp._ By heaven thou didst; deny it not, thou didst:
+For what was all that prodigality
+Of praise, but to inflame me?
+
+_Seb._ Sir--
+
+_Emp._ No more;
+Thou hast convinced me that she's worth my love.
+
+_Seb._ Was ever man so ruined by himself?                    [_Aside._
+
+_Alm._ Thy love! That odious mouth was never framed
+To speak a word so soft:
+Name death again, for that thou canst pronounce
+With horrid grace, becoming of a tyrant.
+Love is for human hearts, and not for thine,
+Where the brute beast extinguishes the man.
+
+_Emp._ Such if I were, yet rugged lions love,
+And grapple, and compel their savage dames.--
+Mark my Sebastian, how that sullen frown,               [_She frowns._
+Like flashing lightning, opens angry heaven,
+And, while it kills, delights!--But yet, insult not
+Too soon, proud beauty! I confess no love.
+
+_Seb._ No, sir; I said so, and I witness for you,
+Not love, but noble pity, moved your mind:
+Interest might urge you too to save her life;
+For those, who wish her party lost, might murmur
+At shedding royal blood.
+
+_Emp._ Right, thou instruct'st me;
+Interest of state requires not death, but marriage,
+To unite the jarring titles of our line.
+
+_Seb._ Let me be dumb for ever; all I plead,                 [_Aside._
+Like wildfire thrown against the winds, returns
+With double force to burn me.
+
+_Emp._ Could I but bend, to make my beauteous foe
+The partner of my throne, and of my bed--
+
+_Alm._ Still thou dissemblest; but, I read thy heart,
+And know the power of my own charms; thou lov'st,
+And I am pleased, for my revenge, thou dost.
+
+_Emp._ And thou hast cause.
+
+_Alm._ I have, for I have power to make thee wretched.
+Be sure I will, and yet despair of freedom.
+
+_Emp._ Well then, I love;
+And 'tis below my greatness to disown it;
+Love thee implacably, yet hate thee too;
+Would hunt thee barefoot, in the mid-day sun,
+Through the parched desarts and the scorching sands,
+To enjoy thy love, and, once enjoyed, to kill thee.
+
+_Alm._ 'Tis a false courage, when thou threaten'st me;
+Thou canst not stir a hand to touch my life:
+Do not I see thee tremble, while thou speak'st?
+Lay by the lion's hide, vain conqueror,
+And take the distaff; for thy soul's my slave.
+
+_Emp._ Confusion! How thou view'st my very heart!
+I could as soon
+Stop a spring-tide, blown in, with my bare hand,
+As this impetuous love:--Yes, I will wed thee;
+In spite of thee, and of myself, I will.
+
+_Alm._ For what? to people Africa with monsters,
+Which that unnatural mixture must produce?
+No, were we joined, even though it were in death,
+Our bodies burning in one funeral pile,
+The prodigy of Thebes would be renewed,
+And my divided flame should break from thine.
+
+_Emp._ Serpent, I will engender poison with thee;
+Join hate with hate, add venom to the birth:
+Our offspring, like the seed of dragons' teeth,
+Shall issue armed, and fight themselves to death.
+
+_Alm._ I'm calm again; thou canst not marry me.
+
+_Emp._ As gleams of sunshine soften storms to showers,
+So, if you smile, the loudness of my rage
+In gentle whispers shall return but this--
+That nothing can divert my love but death.
+
+_Alm._ See how thou art deceived; I am a Christian:
+'Tis true, unpractised in my new belief,
+Wrongs I resent, nor pardon yet with ease;
+Those fruits come late, and are of slow increase
+In haughty hearts, like mine: Now, tell thyself
+If this one word destroy not thy designs:
+Thy law permits thee not to marry me.
+
+_Emp._ 'Tis but a specious tale, to blast my hopes,
+And baffle my pretensions.--Speak, Sebastian,
+And, as a king, speak true.
+
+_Seb._ Then, thus adjured,
+On a king's word 'tis truth, but truth ill-timed;
+For her dear life is now exposed anew,
+Unless you wholly can put on divinity,
+And graciously forgive.
+
+_Alm._ Now learn, by this,
+The little value I have left for life,
+And trouble me no more.
+
+_Emp._ I thank thee, woman;
+Thou hast restored me to my native rage,
+And I will seize my happiness by force.
+
+_Seb._ Know, Muley Moluch, when thou darest attempt--
+
+_Emp._ Beware! I would not be provoked to use
+A conqueror's right, and therefore charge thy silence.
+If thou wouldst merit to be thought my friend,
+I leave thee to persuade her to compliance:
+If not, there's a new gust in ravishment,
+Which I have never tried.
+
+_Bend._ They must be watched;                                [_Aside._
+For something I observed creates a doubt.     [_Exeunt Emp. and_ BEND.
+
+_Seb._ I've been too tame, have basely borne my wrongs,
+And not exerted all the king within me:
+I heard him, O sweet heavens! he threatened rape;
+Nay, insolently urged me to persuade thee,
+Even thee, thou idol of my soul and eyes,
+For whom I suffer life, and drag this being.
+
+_Alm._ You turn my prison to a paradise;
+But I have turned your empire to a prison:
+In all your wars good fortune flew before you;
+Sublime you sat in triumph on her wheel,
+Till in my fatal cause your sword was drawn;
+The weight of my misfortunes dragged you down.
+
+_Seb._ And is't not strange, that heaven should bless my arms
+In common causes, and desert the best?
+Now in your greatest, last extremity,
+When I would aid you most, and most desire it,
+I bring but sighs, the succours of a slave.
+
+_Alm._ Leave then the luggage of your fate behind;
+To make your flight more easy leave Almeyda:
+Nor think me left a base, ignoble prey,
+Exposed to this inhuman tyrant's lust;
+My virtue is a guard beyond my strength,
+And death, my last defence, within my call.
+
+_Seb._ Death may be called in vain, and cannot come;
+Tyrants can tie him up from your relief;
+Nor has a Christian privilege to die.
+Alas, thou art too young in thy new faith:
+Brutus and Cato might discharge their souls,
+And give them furloughs for another world;
+But we, like sentries, are obliged to stand
+In starless nights, and wait the appointed hour[2].
+
+_Alm._ If shunning ill be good
+To those, who cannot shun it but by death,
+Divines but peep on undiscovered worlds,
+And draw the distant landscape as they please;
+But who has e'er returned from those bright regions,
+To tell their manners, and relate their laws?
+I'll venture landing on that happy shore
+With an unsullied body and white mind;
+If I have erred, some kind inhabitant
+Will pity a strayed soul, and take me home.
+
+_Seb._ Beware of death! thou canst not die unperjured,
+And leave an unaccomplished love behind.
+Thy vows are mine; nor will I quit my claim:
+The ties of minds are but imperfect bonds,
+Unless the bodies join to seal the contract.
+
+_Alm._ What joys can you possess, or can I give,
+Where groans of death succeed the sighs of love?
+Our Hymen has not on his saffron robe;
+But, muffled up in mourning, downward holds
+His drooping torch, extinguished with his tears.
+
+_Seb._ The God of Love stands ready to revive it,
+With his etherial breath.
+
+_Alm._ 'Tis late to join, when we must part so soon.
+
+_Seb._ Nay, rather let us haste it, ere we part;
+Our souls, for want of that acquaintance here,
+May wander in the starry walks above,
+And, forced on worse companions, miss ourselves.
+
+_Alm._ The tyrant will not long be absent hence;
+And soon I shall be ravished from your arms.
+
+_Seb._ Wilt thou thyself become the greater tyrant,
+And give not love, while thou hast love to give?
+In dangerous days, when riches are a crime,
+The wise betimes make over their estates:
+Make o'er thy honour, by a deed of trust,
+And give me seizure of the mighty wealth.
+
+_Alm._ What shall I do? O teach me to refuse!
+I would,--and yet I tremble at the grant;
+For dire presages fright my soul by day,
+And boding visions haunt my nightly dreams;
+Sometimes, methinks, I hear the groans of ghosts,
+Thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams;
+Then, like a dying echo, from afar,
+My mother's voice, that cries,--Wed not, Almeyda!
+Forewarned, Almeyda, marriage is thy crime.
+
+_Seb._ Some envious demon to delude our joys;
+Love is not sin, but where 'tis sinful love.
+
+_Alm._ Mine is a flame so holy and so clear,
+That the white taper leaves no soot behind;
+No smoke of lust; but chaste as sisters' love,
+When coldly they return a brother's kiss,
+Without the zeal that meets at lovers' mouths[3].
+
+_Seb._ Laugh then at fond presages. I had some;--
+Famed Nostradamus, when he took my horoscope,
+Foretold my father, I should wed with incest.
+Ere this unhappy war my mother died,
+And sisters I had none;--vain augury!
+A long religious life, a holy age,
+My stars assigned me too;--impossible!
+For how can incest suit with holiness,
+Or priestly orders with a princely state?
+
+_Alm._ Old venerable Alvarez--                             [_Sighing._
+
+_Seb._ But why that sigh in naming that good man?
+
+_Alm._ Your father's counsellor and confident--
+
+_Seb._ He was; and, if he lives, my second father.
+
+_Alm._ Marked our farewell, when, going to the fight,
+You gave Almeyda for the word of battle.
+'Twas in that fatal moment, he discovered
+The love, that long we laboured to conceal.
+I know it; though my eyes stood full of tears,
+Yet through the mist I saw him stedfast gaze;
+Then knocked his aged breast, and inward groaned,
+Like some sad prophet, that foresaw the doom
+Of those whom best he loved, and could not save.
+
+_Seb._ It startles me! and brings to my remembrance,
+That, when the shock of battle was begun,
+He would have much complained (but had not time)
+Of our hid passion: then, with lifted hands,
+He begged me, by my father's sacred soul,
+Not to espouse you, if he died in fight;
+For, if he lived, and we were conquerors,
+He had such things to urge against our marriage,
+As, now declared, would blunt my sword in battle,
+And dastardize my courage.
+
+_Alm._ My blood curdles,
+And cakes about my heart.
+
+_Seb._ I'll breathe a sigh so warm into thy bosom,
+Shall make it flow again. My love, he knows not
+Thou art a Christian: that produced his fear,
+Lest thou shouldst sooth my soul with charms so strong,
+That heaven might prove too weak.
+
+_Alm._ There must be more:
+This could not blunt your sword.
+
+_Seb._ Yes, if I drew it, with a curst intent,
+To take a misbeliever to my bed:
+It must be so.
+
+_Alm._ Yet--
+
+_Seb._ No, thou shalt not plead,
+With that fair mouth, against the cause of love.
+Within this castle is a captive priest,
+My holy confessor, whose free access
+Not even the barbarous victors have refused;
+This hour his hands shall make us one.
+
+_Alm._ I go, with love and fortune, two blind guides,
+To lead my way, half loth, and half consenting.
+If, as my soul forebodes, some dire event
+Pursue this union, or some crime unknown,
+Forgive me, heaven! and, all ye blest above,
+Excuse the frailty of unbounded love!                       [_Exeunt._
+
+
+SCENE II.--_Supposed a Garden, with lodging rooms behind it, or on the
+sides._
+
+  _Enter_ MUFTI, ANTONIO _as a slave, and_ JOHAYMA _the_ MUFTI'S
+  _wife._
+
+_Muf._ And how do you like him? look upon him well; he is a personable
+fellow of a Christian dog. Now, I think you are fitted for a gardener.
+Ha, what sayest thou, Johayma?
+
+_Joh._ He may make a shift to sow lettuce, raise melons, and water a
+garden-plat; but otherwise, a very filthy fellow: how odiously he
+smells of his country garlick! fugh, how he stinks of Spain.
+
+_Muf._ Why honey bird, I bought him on purpose for thee: didst thou
+not say, thou longedst for a Christian slave?
+
+_Joh._ Ay, but the sight of that loathsome creature has almost cured
+me; and how can I tell that he is a christian? an he were well
+searched, he may prove a Jew, for aught I know. And, besides, I have
+always longed for an eunuch; for they say that's a civil creature, and
+almost as harmless as yourself, husband.--Speak, fellow, are not you
+such a kind of peaceable thing?
+
+_Ant._ I was never taken for one in my own country; and not very
+peaceable neither, when I am well provoked.
+
+_Muf._ To your occupation, dog; bind up the jessamines in yonder
+arbour, and handle your pruning-knife with dexterity: tightly I say,
+go tightly to your business; you have cost me much, and must earn it
+in your work. Here's plentiful provision for you, rascal; salading in
+the garden, and water in the tank, and on holidays the licking of a
+platter of rice, when you deserve it.
+
+_Joh._ What have you been bred up to, sirrah? and what can you
+perform, to recommend you to my service?
+
+_Ant._ [_Making Legs._] Why, madam, I can perform as much as any man,
+in a fair lady's service. I can play upon the flute, and sing; I can
+carry your umbrella, and fan your ladyship, and cool you when you are
+too hot; in fine, no service, either by day or by night, shall come
+amiss to me; and, besides I am of so quick an apprehension, that you
+need but wink upon me at any time to make me understand my duty. [_She
+winks at him._]--Very fine, she has tipt the wink already.   [_Aside._
+
+_Joh._ The whelp may come to something in time, when I have entered
+him into his business.
+
+_Muf._ A very malapert cur, I can tell him that; I do not like his
+fawning--You must be taught your distance, sirrah.     [_Strikes him._
+
+_Joh._ Hold, hold. He has deserved it, I confess; but, for once, let
+his ignorance plead his pardon; we must not discourage a beginner.
+Your reverence has taught us charity, even to birds and beasts:--here,
+you filthy brute, you, take this little alms to buy you plasters.
+                                        [_Gives him a piece of money._
+
+_Ant._ Money, and a love-pinch in the inside of my palm into the
+bargain.                                                     [_Aside._
+
+  _Enter a Servant._
+
+_Serv._ Sir, my lord Benducar is coming to wait on you, and is already
+at the palace gate.
+
+_Muf._ Come in, Johayma; regulate the rest of
+my wives and concubines, and leave the fellow to
+his work.
+
+_Joh._ How stupidly he stares about him, like a calf new come into the
+world! I shall teach you, sirrah, to know your business a little
+better. This way, you awkward rascal; here lies the arbour; must I be
+shewing you eternally?                           [_Turning him about._
+
+_Muf._ Come away, minion; you shall shew him nothing.
+
+_Joh._ I'll but bring him into the arbour, where a rose-tree and a
+myrtle-tree are just falling for want of a prop; if they were bound
+together, they would help to keep up one another. He's a raw gardener,
+and 'tis but charity to teach him.
+
+_Muf._ No more deeds of charity to-day; come in, or I shall think you
+a little better disposed than I could wish you.
+
+_Joh._ Well, go before, I will follow my pastor.
+
+_Muf._ So you may cast a sheep's eye behind you? in before me;--and
+you, sauciness, mind your pruning-knife, or I may chance to use it for
+you.                                      [_Exeunt Mufti and_ JOHAYMA.
+
+_Ant._ [_Alone._] Thank you for that, but I am in no such haste to be
+made a mussulman. For his wedlock, for all her haughtiness, I find her
+coming. How far a Christian should resist, I partly know; but how far
+a lewd young Christian can resist, is another question. She's
+tolerable, and I am a poor stranger, far from better friends, and in a
+bodily necessity. Now have I a strange temptation to try what other
+females are belonging to this family: I am not far from the women's
+apartment, I am sure; and if these birds are within distance, here's
+that will chuckle them together. [_Pulls out his Flute._] If there be
+variety of Moors' flesh in this holy market, 'twere madness to lay out
+all my money upon the first bargain. [_He plays. A Grate opens, and_
+MORAYMA, _the Mufti's Daughter, appears at it._]--Ay, there's an
+apparition! This is a morsel worthy of a Mufti; this is the relishing
+bit in secret; this is the mystery of his Alcoran, that must be
+reserved from the knowledge of the prophane vulgar; this is his
+holiday devotion.--See, she beckons too.        [_She beckons to him._
+
+_Mor._ Come a little nearer, and speak softly.
+
+_Ant._ I come. I come, I warrant thee; the least twinkle had brought
+me to thee; such another kind syllable or two would turn me to a
+meteor, and draw me up to thee.
+
+_Mor._ I dare not speak, for fear of being overheard; but if you think
+my person worth your hazard, and can deserve my love, the rest this
+note shall tell you. [_Throws down a Handkerchief._] No more, my heart
+goes with you.                                 [_Exit from the Grate._
+
+_Ant._ O thou pretty little heart, art thou flown hither? I'll keep it
+warm, I warrant it, and brood upon it in the new nest.--But now for my
+treasure trove, that's wrapt up in the handkerchief; no peeping here,
+though I long to be spelling her Arabic scrawls and pot-hooks. But I
+must carry off my prize as robbers do, and not think of sharing the
+booty before I am free from danger, and out of eye-shot from the other
+windows. If her wit be as poignant as her eyes, I am a double slave.
+Our northern beauties are mere dough to these; insipid white earth,
+mere tobacco pipe clay, with no more soul and motion in them than a
+fly in winter.
+  Here the warm planet ripens and sublimes
+  The well-baked beauties of the southern climes.
+  Our Cupid's but a bungler in his trade;
+  His keenest arrows are in Africk made.                      [_Exit._
+
+
+ACT III.
+
+SCENE I.--_A Terrace Walk; or some other public place in the castle of
+Alcazar._
+
+  _Enter Emperor_ MULEY-MOLUCH, _and_ BENDUCAR.
+
+_Emp._ Married! I'll not believe it; 'tis imposture;
+Improbable they should presume to attempt,
+Impossible they should effect their wish.
+
+_Bend._ Have patience, till I clear it.
+
+_Emp._ I have none:
+Go bid our moving plains of sand lie still,
+And stir not, when the stormy south blows high:
+From top to bottom thou hast tossed my soul,
+And now 'tis in the madness of the whirl,
+Requir'st a sudden stop? unsay thy lie;
+That may in time do somewhat.
+
+_Bend._ I have done:
+For, since it pleases you it should be forged,
+'Tis fit it should: far be it from your slave
+To raise disturbance in your sacred breast.
+
+_Emp._ Sebastian is my slave as well as thou;
+Nor durst offend my love by that presumption.
+
+_Bend._ Most sure he ought not.
+
+_Emp._ Then all means were wanting:
+No priest, no ceremonies of their sect;
+Or, grant we these defects could be supplied,
+How could our prophet do an act so base,
+So to resume his gifts, and curse my conquests,
+By making me unhappy? No, the slave,
+That told thee so absurd a story, lied.
+
+_Bend._ Yet till this moment I have found him faithful:
+He said he saw it too.
+
+_Emp._ Dispatch; what saw he?
+
+_Bend._ Truth is, considering with what earnestness
+Sebastian pleaded for Almeyda's life,
+Enhanced her beauty, dwelt upon her praise--
+
+_Emp._ O stupid, and unthinking as I was!
+I might have marked it too; 'twas gross and palpable.
+
+_Bend._ Methought I traced a lover ill disguised,
+And sent my spy, a sharp observing slave,
+To inform me better, if I guessed aright.
+He told me, that he saw Sebastian's page
+Run cross the marble square, who soon returned,
+And after him there lagged a puffing friar;
+Close wrapt he bore some secret instrument
+Of Christian superstition in his hand:
+My servant followed fast, and through a chink
+Perceived the royal captives hand in hand;
+And heard the hooded father mumbling charms,
+That make those misbelievers man and wife;
+Which done, the spouses kissed with such a fervour,
+And gave such furious earnest of their flames,
+That their eyes sparkled, and their mantling blood
+Flew flushing o'er their faces.
+
+_Emp._ Hell confound them!
+
+_Bend._ The reverend father, with a holy leer,
+Saw he might well be spared, and soon withdrew:
+This forced my servant to a quick retreat,
+For fear to be discovered.--Guess the rest.
+
+_Emp._ I do: My fancy is too exquisite,
+And tortures me with their imagined bliss.
+Some earthquake should have risen and rent the ground,
+Have swallowed him, and left the longing bride
+In agony of unaccomplished love.                  [_Walks disorderly._
+
+  _Enter the Mufti._
+
+_Bend._ In an unlucky hour
+That fool intrudes, raw in this great affair,
+And uninstructed how to stem the tide.--                     [_Aside._
+[_Coming up the Mufti,--aside._]
+The emperor must not marry, nor enjoy:--
+Keep to that point: Stand firm, for all's at stake.
+
+_Emp._ [_Seeing him._]
+You druggerman[4] of heaven, must I attend
+Your droning prayers? Why came ye not before?
+Dost thou not know the captive king has dared
+To wed Almeyda? Cancel me that marriage,
+And make her mine: About the business, quick!--
+Expound thy Mahomet; make him speak my sense,
+Or he's no prophet here, and thou no Mufti;
+Unless thou know'st the trick of thy vocation,
+To wrest and rend the law, to please thy prince.
+
+_Muf._ Why, verily, the law is monstrous plain:
+There's not one doubtful text in all the alcoran,
+Which can be wrenched in favour to your project.
+
+_Emp._ Forge one, and foist it into some bye-place
+Of some old rotten roll: Do't, I command thee!
+Must I teach thee thy trade?
+
+_Muf._ It cannot be;
+For matrimony being the dearest point
+Of law, the people have it all by heart:
+A cheat on procreation will not pass.
+Besides, [_In a higher tone._] the offence is so exorbitant,
+To mingle with a misbelieving race,
+That speedy vengeance would pursue your crime,
+And holy Mahomet launch himself from heaven,
+Before the unready thunderbolts were formed.
+                          [_Emperor, taking him by the throat with one
+                           hand, snatches out his sword with the
+                           other, and points it to his breast._
+
+_Emp._ Slave, have I raised thee to this pomp and power,
+To preach against my will?--Know, I am law;
+And thou, not Mahomet's messenger but mine!--
+Make it, I charge thee, make my pleasure lawful;
+Or, first, I strip thee of thy ghostly greatness,
+Then send thee post to tell thy tale above.
+And bring thy vain memorials to thy prophet,
+Of justice done below for disobedience.
+
+_Muf._ For heaven's sake hold!--The respite of a moment!--
+To think for you--
+
+_Emp._ And for thyself.
+
+_Muf._ For both.
+
+_Bend._ Disgrace, and death, and avarice, have lost him!     [_Aside._
+
+_Muf._ 'Tis true, our law forbids to wed a Christian;
+But it forbids you not to ravish her.
+You have a conqueror's right upon your slave;
+And then the more despite you do a Christian,
+You serve the prophet more, who loathes that sect.
+
+_Emp._ O, now it mends; and you talk reason, Mufti.--
+But, stay! I promised freedom to Sebastian;
+Now, should I grant it, his revengeful soul
+Would ne'er forgive his violated bed.
+
+_Muf._ Kill him; for then you give him liberty:
+His soul is from his earthly prison freed.
+
+_Emp._ How happy is the prince who has a churchman,
+So learned and pliant, to expound his laws!
+
+_Bend._ Two things I humbly offer to your prudence.
+
+_Emp._ Be brief, but let not either thwart my love.
+
+_Bend._ First, since our holy man has made rape lawful,
+Fright her with that; Proceed not yet to force:
+Why should you pluck the green distasteful fruit
+From the unwilling bough,
+When it may ripen of itself, and fall?
+
+_Emp._ Grant her a day; though that's too much to give
+Out of a life which I devote to love.
+
+_Bend._ Then, next, to bar
+All future hopes of her desired Sebastian,
+Let Dorax be enjoined to bring his head.
+
+_Emp._ [_To the Mufti._]
+Go, Mufti, call him to receive his orders.--            [_Exit Mufti._
+I taste thy counsel; her desires new roused,
+And yet unslaked, will kindle in her fancy,
+And make her eager to renew the feast.
+
+_Bend._ [_Aside._] Dorax, I know before, will disobey:
+There's a foe's head well cropped.--
+But this hot love precipitates my plot,
+And brings it to projection ere its time.
+
+  _Enter_ SEBASTIAN _and_ ALMEYDA, _hand in hand; upon sight of the
+  Emperor, they separate, and seem disturbed._
+
+_Alm._ He breaks at unawares upon our walks,
+And, like a midnight wolf, invades the fold.
+Make speedy preparation of your soul,
+And bid it arm apace: He comes for answer,
+And brutal mischief sits upon his brow.
+
+_Seb._ Not the last sounding could surprise me more,
+That summons drowsy mortals to their doom,
+When called in haste to fumble for their limbs,
+And tremble, unprovided for their charge:
+My sense has been so deeply plunged in joys,
+The soul out-slept her hour; and, scarce awake,
+Would think too late, but cannot: But brave minds,
+At worst, can dare their fate.                               [_Aside._
+
+_Emp._ [_Coming up to them._] Have you performed
+Your embassy, and treated with success?
+
+_Seb._ I had no time.
+
+_Emp._ No, not for my affairs;
+But, for your own, too much.
+
+_Seb._ You talk in clouds; explain your meaning, sir.
+
+_Emp._ Explain yours first.--What meant you, hand in hand?
+And, when you saw me, with a guilty start,
+You loosed your hold, affrighted at my presence.
+
+_Seb._ Affrighted!
+
+_Emp._ Yes, astonished and confounded.
+
+_Seb._ What mak'st thou of thyself, and what of me?
+Art thou some ghost, some demon, or some god,
+That I should stand astonished at thy sight?
+If thou could'st deem so meanly of my courage,
+Why didst thou not engage me man for man,
+And try the virtue of that Gorgon face,
+To stare me into statue?
+
+_Emp._ Oh, thou art now recovered; but, by heaven,
+Thou wert amazed at first, as if surprised
+At unexpected baseness brought to light.
+For know, ungrateful man, that kings, like gods,
+Are every where; walk in the abyss of minds,
+And view the dark recesses of the soul.
+
+_Seb._ Base and ungrateful never was I thought;
+Nor, till this turn of fate, durst thou have called me:
+But, since thou boast'st the omniscience of a god,
+Say in what cranny of Sebastian's soul,
+Unknown to me, so loathed a crime is lodged?
+
+_Emp._ Thou hast not broke my trust, reposed in thee!
+
+_Seb._ Imposed, but not received.--Take back that falsehood.
+
+_Emp._ Thou art not married to Almeyda?
+
+_Seb._ Yes.
+
+_Emp._ And own'st the usurpation of my love?
+
+_Seb._ I own it, in the face of heaven and thee;
+No usurpation, but a lawful claim,
+Of which I stand possessed.
+
+_Emp._ She has chosen well,
+Betwixt a captive and a conqueror.
+
+_Alm._ Betwixt a monster, and the best of men!--
+He was the envy of his neighbouring kings;
+For him their sighing queens despised their lords;
+And virgin daughters blushed when he was named.
+To share his noble chains is more to me,
+Than all the savage greatness of thy throne.
+
+_Seb._ Were I to chuse again, and knew my fate,
+For such a night I would be what I am.
+The joys I have possessed are ever mine;
+Out of thy reach; behind eternity;
+Hid in the sacred treasure of the past:
+But blest remembrance brings them hourly back.
+
+_Emp._ Hourly indeed, who hast but hours to live.
+O, mighty purchase of a boasted bliss!
+To dream of what thou hadst one fugitive night,
+And never shalt have more!
+
+_Seb._ Barbarian, thou canst part us but a moment!
+We shall be one again in thy despite.
+Life is but air,
+That yields a passage to the whistling sword,
+And closes when 'tis gone.
+
+_Alm._ How can we better die than close embraced,
+Sucking each other's souls while we expire?
+Which, so transfused, and mounting both at once,
+The saints, deceived, shall, by a sweet mistake,
+Hand up thy soul for mine, and mine for thine.
+
+_Emp._ No, I'll untwist you:
+I have occasion for your stay on earth.
+Let him mount first, and beat upon the wing,
+And wait an age for what I here detain;
+Or sicken at immortal joys above,
+And languish for the heaven he left below.
+
+_Alm._ Thou wilt not dare to break what heaven has joined?
+
+_Emp._ Not break the chain; but change a rotten link,
+And rivet one to last.
+Think'st thou I come to argue right and wrong?--
+Why lingers Dorax thus? Where are my guards,
+                                           [BENDUCAR _goes out for the
+                                            Guards, and returns._
+To drag that slave to death?--                     [_Pointing to_ SEB.
+Now storm and rage;
+Call vainly on thy prophet, then defy him
+For wanting power to save thee.
+
+_Seb._ That were to gratify thy pride. I'll shew thee
+How a man should, and how a king dare die!
+So even, that my soul shall walk with ease
+Out of its flesh, and shut out life as calmly
+As it does words; without a sign to note
+One struggle, in the smooth dissolving frame.
+
+_Alm._ [_To the Emp._]
+Expect revenge from heaven, inhuman wretch!
+Nor hope to ascend Sebastian's holy bed.
+Flames, daggers, poisons, guard the sacred steps:
+Those are the promised pleasures of my love.
+
+_Emp._ And these might fright another, but not me;
+Or me, if I designed to give you pleasure.
+I seek my own; and while that lasts, you live.--
+
+  _Enter two of the Guards._
+
+Go, bear the captive to a speedy death,
+And set my soul at ease.
+
+_Alm._ I charge you hold, ye ministers of death!--
+Speak my Sebastian;
+Plead for thy life; Oh, ask it of the tyrant:
+'Tis no dishonour; trust me, love, 'tis none.
+I would die for thee, but I cannot plead;
+My haughty heart disdains it, even for thee.--
+Still silent! Will the king of Portugal
+Go to his death like a dumb sacrifice?
+Beg him to save my life in saving thine.
+
+_Seb._ Farewell; my life's not worth another word.
+
+_Emp._ [_To the Guards._] Perform your orders.
+
+_Alm._ Stay, take my farewell too!
+Farewell the greatness of Almeyda's soul!--
+Look, tyrant, what excess of love can do;
+It pulls me down thus low as to thy feet;            [_Kneels to him._
+Nay, to embrace thy knees with loathing hands,
+Which blister when they touch thee: Yet even thus,
+Thus far I can, to save Sebastian's life.
+
+_Emp._ A secret pleasure trickles through my veins:
+It works about the inlets of my soul,
+To feel thy touch, and pity tempts the pass:
+But the tough metal of my heart resists;
+'Tis warmed with the soft fire, not melted down.
+
+_Alm._ A flood of scalding tears will make it run.
+Spare him, Oh spare! Can you pretend to love,
+And have no pity? Love and that are twins.
+Here will I grow;
+Thus compass you with these supplanting cords,
+And pull so long till the proud fabrick falls.
+
+_Emp._ Still kneel, and still embrace: 'Tis double pleasure,
+So to be hugged, and see Sebastian die.
+
+_Alm._ Look, tyrant, when thou nam'st Sebastian's death,
+Thy very executioners turn pale.
+Rough as they are, and hardened in their trade
+Of death, they start at an anointed head,
+And tremble to approach.--He hears me not,
+Nor minds the impression of a god on kings;
+Because no stamp of heaven was on his soul,
+But the resisting mass drove back the seal.--
+Say, though thy heart be rock of adamant,
+Yet rocks are not impregnable to bribes:
+Instruct me how to bribe thee; name thy price;
+Lo, I resign my title to the crown;
+Send me to exile with the man I love,
+And banishment is empire.
+
+_Emp._ Here's my claim,             [_Clapping his Hand to his Sword._
+And this extinguished thine; thou giv'st me nothing.
+
+_Alm._ My father's, mother's, brother's death, I pardon;
+That's somewhat sure; a mighty sum of murder,
+Of innocent and kindred blood struck off.
+My prayers and penance shall discount for these,
+And beg of heaven to charge the bill on me:
+Behold what price I offer, and how dear,
+To buy Sebastian's life!
+
+_Emp._ Let after-reckonings trouble fearful fools;
+I'll stand the trial of those trivial crimes:
+But, since thou begg'st me to prescribe my terms,
+The only I can offer are thy love,
+And this one day of respite to resolve.
+Grant, or deny; for thy next word is fate,
+And fate is deaf to prayer.
+
+_Alm._ May heaven be so,                                 [_Rising up._
+At thy last breath, to thine! I curse thee not;
+For, who can better curse the plague, or devil,
+Than to be what they are? That curse be thine.--
+Now, do not speak, Sebastian, for you need not;
+But die, for I resign your life.--Look, heaven,
+Almeyda dooms her dear Sebastian's death!
+But is there heaven? for I begin to doubt;
+The skies are hushed, no grumbling thunders roll.--
+Now take your swing, ye impious; sin unpunished;
+Eternal Providence seems overwatched,
+And with a slumbering nod assents to murder.
+
+  _Enter_ DORAX, _attended by three Soldiers._
+
+_Emp._ Thou mov'st a tortoise-pace to my relief.
+Take hence that once a king; that sullen pride,
+That swells to dumbness: lay him in the dungeon,
+And sink him deep with irons, that, when he would,
+He shall not groan to hearing; when I send,
+The next commands are death.
+
+_Alm._ Then prayers are vain as curses.
+
+_Emp._ Much at one
+In a slave's mouth, against a monarch's power.
+This day thou hast to think;
+At night, if thou wilt curse, thou shalt curse kindly;
+Then I'll provoke thy lips, lay siege so close,
+That all thy sallying breath shall turn to blessings.--
+Make haste, seize, force her, bear her hence.
+
+_Alm._ Farewell, my last Sebastian!
+I do not beg, I challenge justice now.--
+O Powers, if kings be your peculiar care,
+Why plays this wretch with your prerogative?
+Now flash him dead, now crumble him to ashes,
+Or henceforth live confined in your own palace;
+And look not idly out upon a world,
+That is no longer yours. [_She is carried off struggling; Emperor and_
+                          BENDUCAR _follow._ SEBASTIAN _struggles in
+                          his Guards' arms, and shakes off one of
+                          them; but two others come in, and hold him;
+                          he speaks not all the while._
+
+_Dor._ I find I'm but a half-strained villain yet;
+But mongrel-mischievous; for my blood boiled,
+To view this brutal act; and my stern soul
+Tugged at my arm, to draw in her defence.                    [_Aside._
+Down, thou rebelling Christian in my heart!
+Redeem thy fame on this Sebastian first;              [_Walks a turn._
+Then think on other wrongs, when thine are righted.
+But how to right them? on a slave disarmed,
+Defenceless, and submitted to my rage?
+A base revenge is vengeance on myself:--               [_Walks again._
+I have it, and I thank thee, honest head,
+Thus present to me at my great necessity.--  [_Comes up to_ SEBASTIAN.
+You know me not?
+
+_Seb._ I hear men call thee Dorax.
+
+_Dor._ 'Tis well; you know enough for once:--you speak too;
+You were struck mute before.
+
+_Seb._ Silence became me then.
+
+_Dor._ Yet we may talk hereafter.
+
+_Seb._ Hereafter is not mine:
+Dispatch thy work, good executioner.
+
+_Dor._ None of my blood were hangmen; add that falsehood
+To a long bill, that yet remains unreckoned.
+
+_Seb._ A king and thou can never have a reckoning.
+
+_Dor._ A greater sum, perhaps, than you can pay.
+Meantime, I shall make bold to increase your debt;
+                                               [_Gives him his Sword._
+Take this, and use it at your greatest need.
+
+_Seb._ This hand and this have been acquainted well:   [_Looks on it._
+It should have come before into my grasp,
+To kill the ravisher.
+
+_Dor._ Thou heard'st the tyrant's orders; guard thy life
+When 'tis attacked, and guard it like a man.
+
+_Seb._ I'm still without thy meaning, but I thank thee.
+
+_Dor._ Thank me when I ask thanks; thank me with that.
+
+_Seb._ Such surly kindness did I never see.
+
+_Dor._ [_To the Captain of his Guards._]
+Musa, draw out a file; pick man by man.
+Such who dare die, and dear will sell their death.
+Guard him to the utmost; now conduct him hence,
+And treat him as my person.
+
+_Seb._ Something like
+That voice, methinks, I should have somewhere heard;
+But floods of woes have hurried it far off,
+Beyond my ken of soul.         [_Exit_ SEBASTIAN, _with the Soldiers._
+
+_Dor._ But I shall bring him back, ungrateful man!
+I shall, and set him full before thy sight,
+When I shall front thee, like some staring ghost,
+With all my wrongs about me.--What, so soon
+Returned? this haste is boding.
+
+  _Enter to him Emperor,_ BENDUCAR, _and_ MUFTI.
+
+_Emp._ She's still inexorable, still imperious,
+And loud, as if, like Bacchus, born in thunder.
+Be quick, ye false physicians of my mind;
+Bring speedy death, or cure.
+
+_Bend._ What can be counselled, while Sebastian lives?
+The vine will cling, while the tall poplar stands;
+But, that cut down, creeps to the next support,
+And twines as closely there.
+
+_Emp._ That's done with ease; I speak him dead:--proceed.
+
+_Muf._ Proclaim your marriage with Almeyda next,
+That civil wars may cease; this gains the crowd:
+Then you may safely force her to your will;
+For people side with violence and injustice,
+When done for public good.
+
+_Emp._ Preach thou that doctrine.
+
+_Bend._ The unreasonable fool has broached a truth,
+That blasts my hopes; but, since 'tis gone so far,
+He shall divulge Almeyda is a Christian;
+If that produce no tumult, I despair.                        [_Aside._
+
+_Emp_ Why speaks not Dorax?
+
+_Dor._ Because my soul abhors to mix with him.
+Sir, let me bluntly say, you went too far,
+To trust the preaching power on state-affairs
+To him, or any heavenly demagogue:
+'Tis a limb lopt from your prerogative,
+And so much of heaven's image blotted from you.
+
+_Muf._ Sure thou hast never heard of holy men,
+(So Christians call them) famed in state affairs!
+Such as in Spain, Ximenes, Albornoz;
+In England, Wolsey; match me these with laymen.
+
+_Dor._ How you triumph in one or two of these,
+Born to be statesmen, happening to be churchmen!
+Thou call'st them holy; so their function was:
+But tell me, Mufti, which of them were saints?--
+Next sir, to you: the sum of all is this,--
+Since he claims power from heaven, and not from kings,
+When 'tis his interest, he can interest heaven
+To preach you down; and ages oft depend
+On hours, uninterrupted, in the chair.
+
+_Emp._ I'll trust his preaching, while I rule his pay;
+And I dare trust my Africans to hear
+Whatever he dare preach.
+
+_Dor._ You know them not.
+The genius of your Moors is mutiny;
+They scarcely want a guide to move their madness;
+Prompt to rebel on every weak pretence;
+Blustering when courted, crouching when opprest;
+Wise to themselves, and fools to all the world;
+Restless in change, and perjured to a proverb.
+They love religion sweetened to the sense;
+A good, luxurious, palatable faith.
+Thus vice and godliness,--preposterous pair!--
+Ride cheek by jowl, but churchmen hold the reins:
+And whene'er kings would lower clergy-greatness,
+They learn too late what power the preachers have,
+And whose the subjects are; the Mufti knows it,
+Nor dares deny what passed betwixt us two.
+
+_Emp._ No more; whate'er he said was my command.
+
+_Dor._ Why, then, no more, since you will hear no more;
+Some kings are resolute to their own ruin.
+
+_Emp._ Without your meddling where you are not asked,
+Obey your orders, and dispatch Sebastian.
+
+_Dor._ Trust my revenge; be sure I wish him dead.
+
+_Emp._ What mean'st thou? What's thy wishing to my will?
+Dispatch him; rid me of the man I loath.
+
+_Dor_ I hear you, sir; I'll take my time, and do't.
+
+_Emp._ Thy time! What's all thy time? What's thy whole life
+To my one hour of ease? No more replies,
+But see thou dost it; or--
+
+_Dor._ Choke in that threat; I can say _or_ as loud.
+
+_Emp._ 'Tis well; I see my words have no effect,
+But I may send a message to dispose you.              [_Is going off._
+
+_Dor._ Expect an answer worthy of that message.
+
+_Muf._ The prophet owed him this;
+And, thanked be heaven, he has it.                           [_Aside._
+
+_Bend._ By holy Alla, I conjure you stay,
+And judge not rashly of so brave a man.
+                         [_Draws the Emperor aside, and whispers him._
+I'll give you reasons why he cannot execute
+Your orders now, and why he will hereafter.
+
+_Muf._ Benducar is a fool, to bring him off;
+I'll work my own revenge, and speedily.                      [_Aside._
+
+_Bend._ The fort is his, the soldiers' hearts are his;
+A thousand Christian slaves are in the castle,
+Which he can free to reinforce his power;
+Your troops far off, beleaguering Larache,
+Yet in the Christians' hands.
+
+_Emp._ I grant all this;
+But grant me he must die.
+
+_Bend._ He shall, by poison;
+'Tis here, the deadly drug, prepared in powder,
+Hot as hell fire: Then, to prevent his soldiers
+From rising to revenge their general's death,
+While he is struggling with his mortal pangs,
+The rabble on the sudden may be raised
+To seize the castle.
+
+_Emp._ Do't;--'tis left to thee.
+
+_Bend._ Yet more;--but clear your brow, for he observes.
+                                                [_They whisper again._
+
+_Dor._ What, will the favourite prop my falling fortunes?
+O prodigy of court!                                           [_Aside_
+                                    [_Emp. and_ BEND. _return to_ DOR.
+
+_Emp._ Your friend has fully cleared your innocence;
+I was too hasty to condemn unheard,
+And you, perhaps, too prompt in your replies.
+As far as fits the majesty of kings,
+I ask excuse.
+
+_Dor._ I'm sure I meant it well.
+
+_Emp._ I know you did:--This to our love renewed.--    [_Emp. drinks._
+Benducar, fill to Dorax.     [BEND. _turns, and mixes a Powder in it._
+
+_Dor._ Let it go round, for all of us have need
+To quench our heats: 'Tis the king's health, Benducar,   [_He drinks._
+And I would pledge it, though I knew 'twere poison.
+
+_Bend._ Another bowl; for what the king has touched,
+And you have pledged, is sacred to your loves.
+                                        [_Drinks out of another Bowl._
+
+_Muf._ Since charity becomes my calling, thus
+Let me provoke your friendship; and heaven bless it,
+As I intend it well.          [_Drinks; and, turning aside, pours some
+                               drops out of a little vial into the
+                               Bowl; then presents it to_ DORAX.
+
+_Dor._ Heaven make thee honest;
+On that condition we shall soon be friends.                 [_Drinks._
+
+_Muf._ Yes, at our meeting in another world;
+For thou hast drunk thy passport out of this.
+Not the Nonacrian font, nor Lethe's lake,
+Could sooner numb thy nimble faculties,
+Than this, to sleep eternal.                                 [_Aside._
+
+_Emp._ Now farewell, Dorax; this was our first quarrel,
+And, I dare prophecy, will prove our last.
+                                 [_Exeunt Emp._ BEND. _and the Mufti._
+
+_Dor._ It may be so.--I'm strangely discomposed;
+Quick shootings thro' my limbs, and pricking pains,
+Qualms at my heart, convulsions in my nerves,
+Shiverings of cold, and burnings of my entrails,
+Within my little world make medley war,
+Lose and regain, beat, and are beaten back,
+As momentary victors quit their ground.--
+Can it be poison! Poison's of one tenor,
+Or hot, or cold; this neither, and yet both.
+Some deadly draught, some enemy of life,
+Boils in my bowels, and works out my soul.
+Ingratitude's the growth of every clime;
+Africk, the scene removed, is Portugal.
+Of all court service, learn the common lot,--
+To-day 'tis done, to-morrow 'tis forgot.
+Oh, were that all! my honest corpse must lie
+Exposed to scorn, and public infamy;
+My shameful death will be divulged alone;
+The worth and honour of my soul unknown.                      [_Exit._
+
+
+SCENE II.--_A Night-Scene of the Mufti's Garden, where an Arbour is
+discovered._
+
+  _Enter_ ANTONIO.
+
+_Ant._ She names herself Morayma; the Mufti's only daughter, and a
+virgin! This is the time and place that she appointed in her letter,
+yet she comes not. Why, thou sweet delicious creature, why torture me
+with thy delay! Dar'st thou be false to thy assignation? What, in the
+cool and silence of the night, and to a new lover?--Pox on the
+hypocrite, thy father, for instructing thee so little in the sweetest
+point of his religion.--Hark, I hear the rustling of her silk mantle.
+Now she comes, now she comes:--no, hang it, that was but the whistling
+of the wind through the orange-trees.--Now, again, I hear the
+pit-a-pat of a pretty foot through the dark alley:--No, 'tis the son
+of a mare, that's broken loose, and munching upon the melons.--Oh, the
+misery of an expecting lover! Well, I'll e'en despair, go into my
+arbour, and try to sleep; in a dream I shall enjoy her, in despite of
+her.                           [_Goes into the Arbour, and lies down._
+
+  _Enter_ JOHAYMA, _wrapt up in a Moorish mantle._
+
+_Joh._ Thus far my love has carried me, almost without my knowledge
+whither I was going. Shall I go on? shall I discover myself?--What an
+injury am I doing to my old husband! Yet what injury, since he's old,
+and has three wives, and six concubines, besides me! 'tis but stealing
+my own tithe from him.        [_She comes a little nearer the Arbour._
+
+_Ant._ [_Raising himself a little, and looking._] At last 'tis she;
+this is no illusion, I am sure; 'tis a true she-devil of flesh and
+blood, and she could never have taken a fitter time to tempt me.
+
+_Joh._ He's young and handsome--
+
+_Ant._ Yes, well enough, I thank nature.                     [_Aside._
+
+_Joh._ And I am yet neither old nor ugly: Sure he will not refuse me.
+
+_Ant._ No; thou may'st pawn thy maidenhead upon't, he wont.  [_Aside._
+
+_Joh._ The Mufti would feast himself upon other women, and keep me
+fasting.
+
+_Ant._ O, the holy curmudgeon!                               [_Aside._
+
+_Joh._ Would preach abstinence, and practise luxury! but, I thank my
+stars, I have edified more by his example than his precept.
+
+_Ant._ [_Aside._] Most divinely argued; she's the best casuist in all
+Africk. [_He rushes out, and embraces her._] I can hold no longer from
+embracing thee, my dear Morayma; the old unconscionable whoreson, thy
+father, could he expect cold chastity from a child of his begetting?
+
+_Joh._ What nonsense do you talk? do you take me for the Mufti's
+daughter?
+
+_Ant._ Why, are you not, madam?            [_Throwing off her barnus._
+
+_Joh._ I find you had an appointment with Morayma.
+
+_Ant._ By all that's good, the nauseous wife!                [_Aside._
+
+_Joh._ What! you are confounded, and stand mute?
+
+_Ant._ Somewhat nonplust, I confess, to hear you deny your name so
+positively. Why, are not you Morayma, the Mufti's daughter? Did not I
+see you with him: did not he present me to you? were you not so
+charitable as to give me money? ay, and to tread upon my foot, and
+squeeze my hand too, if I may be so bold to remember you of past
+favours?
+
+_Joh._ And you see I am come to make them good; but I am neither
+Morayma, nor the Mufti's daughter.
+
+_Ant._ Nay, I know not that: but I am sure he is old enough to be your
+father; and either father, or reverend father, I heard you call him.
+
+_Joh._ Once again, how came you to name Morayma?
+
+_Ant._ Another damned mistake of mine: for, asking one of my
+fellow-slaves, who were the chief ladies about the house, he answered
+me, Morayma and Johayma; but she, it seems, is his daughter, with a
+pox to her, and you are his beloved wife.
+
+_Joh._ Say your beloved mistress, if you please; for that's the title
+I desire. This moonshine grows offensive to my eyes; come, shall we
+walk into the arbour? there we may rectify all mistakes.
+
+_Ant._ That's close and dark.
+
+_Joh._ And are those faults to lovers?
+
+_Ant._ But there I cannot please myself with the sight of your beauty.
+
+_Joh._ Perhaps you may do better.
+
+_Ant._ But there's not a breath of air stirring.
+
+_Joh._ The breath of lovers is the sweetest air; but you are fearful.
+
+_Ant._ I am considering indeed, that, if I am taken with you--
+
+_Joh._ The best way to avoid it is to retire, where we may not be
+discovered.
+
+_Ant._ Where lodges your husband?
+
+_Joh._ Just against the face of this open walk.
+
+_Ant._ Then he has seen us already, for aught I know.
+
+_Joh._ You make so many difficulties, I fear I am displeasing to you.
+
+_Ant._ [_Aside._] If Morayma comes, and takes me in the arbour with
+her, I have made a fine exchange of that diamond for this pebble.
+
+_Joh._ You are much fallen off, let me tell you, from the fury of your
+first embrace.
+
+_Ant._ I confess I was somewhat too furious at first, but you will
+forgive the transport of my passion; now I have considered it better,
+I have a qualm of conscience.
+
+_Joh._ Of conscience! why, what has conscience to do with two young
+lovers that have opportunity?
+
+_Ant._ Why, truly, conscience is something to blame for interposing in
+our matters: but how can I help it, if I have a scruple to betray my
+master?
+
+_Joh._ There must be something more in't; for your conscience was very
+quiet when you took me for Morayma.
+
+_Ant._ I grant you, madam, when I took you for his daughter; for then
+I might have made you an honourable amends by marriage.
+
+_Joh._ You Christians are such peeking sinners! you tremble at a
+shadow in the moonshine.
+
+_Ant._ And you Africans are such termagants, you stop at nothing. I
+must be plain with you,--you are married, and to a holy man, the head
+of your religion: go back to your chamber; go back, I say, and
+consider of it for this night, as I will do on my part: I will be true
+to you, and invent all the arguments I can to comply with you; and who
+knows but at our next meeting the sweet devil may have more power over
+me? I am true flesh and blood, I can tell you that for your comfort.
+
+_Joh._ Flesh without blood, I think thou art; or, if any, it is as
+cold as that of fishes. But I'll teach thee, to thy cost, what
+vengeance is in store for refusing a lady who has offered thee her
+love.--Help, help, there! will nobody come to my assistance?
+
+_Ant._ What do you mean, madam? for heaven's sake, peace; your husband
+will hear you; think of your own danger, if you will not think of
+mine.
+
+_Joh._ Ungrateful wretch, thou deservest no pity!--Help, help,
+husband, or I shall be ravished! the villain will be too strong for
+me! Help, help, for pity of a poor distressed creature!
+
+_Ant._ Then I have nothing but impudence to assist me: I must drown
+her clamour, whatever comes on't.  [_He takes out his Flute, and plays
+                                    as loud as he can possibly, and
+                                    she continues crying out._
+
+  _Enter the_ MUFTI, _in his Night-gown, and two Servants._
+
+_Muf._ O thou villain, what horrible impiety art thou committing!
+what, ravishing the wife of my bosom!--Take him away; ganch him[5],
+impale him, rid the world of such a monster!    [_Servants seize him._
+
+_Ant._ Mercy, dear master, mercy! hear me first, and after, if I have
+deserved hanging, spare me not. What have you seen to provoke you to
+this cruelty?
+
+_Muf._ I have heard the outcries of my wife; the bleatings of the poor
+innocent lamb.--Seen nothing, sayst thou? If I see the lamb lie
+bleeding, and the butcher by her with his knife drawn, and bloody, is
+not that evidence sufficient of the murder? I come too late, and the
+execution is already done.
+
+_Ant._ Pray think in reason, sir; is a man to be put to death for a
+similitude? No violence has been committed; none intended; the lamb's
+alive: and, if I durst tell you so, no more a lamb than I am a
+butcher.
+
+_Joh._ How's that, villain, dar'st thou accuse me?
+
+_Ant._ Be patient, madam, and speak but truth, and I'll do any thing
+to serve you: I say again, and swear it too, I'll do any thing to
+serve you.                                                   [_Aside._
+
+_Joh._ [_Aside._] I understand him; but I fear it is now too late to
+save him:--Pray, hear him speak, husband; perhaps he may say something
+for himself; I know not.
+
+_Muf._ Speak thou, has he not violated my bed, and thy honour?
+
+_Joh._ I forgive him freely, for he has done nothing. What he will do
+hereafter to make me satisfaction, himself best knows.
+
+_Ant._ Any thing, any thing, sweet madam: I shall refuse no drudgery.
+
+_Muf._ But did he mean no mischief? was he endeavouring nothing?
+
+_Joh._ In my conscience, I begin to doubt he did not.
+
+_Muf._ It's impossible:--then what meant all those outcries?
+
+_Joh._ I heard music in the garden, and at an unseasonable time of
+night; and I stole softly out of my bed, as imagining it might be he.
+
+_Muf._ How's that, Johayma? imagining it was he, and yet you went?
+
+_Joh._ Why not, my lord? am not I the mistress of the family? and is
+it not my place to see good order kept in it? I thought he might have
+allured some of the she-slaves to him, and was resolved to prevent
+what might have been betwixt him and them; when, on the sudden, he
+rushed out upon me, caught me in his arms with such a fury--
+
+_Muf._ I have heard enough.--Away with him!
+
+_Joh._ Mistaking me, no doubt, for one of his fellow-slaves: with
+that, affrighted as I was, I discovered myself, and cried aloud; but
+as soon as ever he knew me, the villain let me go; and I must needs
+say, he started back as if I were some serpent; and was more afraid of
+me than I of him.
+
+_Muf._ O thou corrupter of my family, that's cause enough of
+death!--once again, away with him.
+
+_Joh._ What, for an intended trespass? No harm has been done, whatever
+may be. He cost you five hundred crowns, I take it.
+
+_Muf._ Thou say'st true, a very considerable sum: he shall not die,
+though he had committed folly with a slave; it is too much to lose by
+him.
+
+_Ant._ My only fault has ever been to love playing in the dark; and
+the more she cried, the more I played, that it might be seen I
+intended nothing to her.
+
+_Muf._ To your kennel, sirrah; mortify your flesh, and consider in
+whose family you are.
+
+_Joh._ And one thing more,--remember from henceforth to obey better.
+
+_Muf._ [_Aside._] For all her smoothness, I am not quite cured of my
+jealousy; but I have thought of a way that will clear my doubts.
+                              [_Exit_ MUF. _with_ JOH. _and Servants._
+
+_Ant._ I am mortified sufficiently already, without the help of his
+ghostly counsel. Fear of death has gone farther with me in two
+minutes, than my conscience would have gone in two months. I find
+myself in a very dejected condition, all over me; poor sin lies
+dormant; concupiscence is retired to his winter-quarters; and if
+Morayma should now appear,--I say no more; but, alas for her and me!
+                                    [MORAYMA _comes out of the Arbour,
+                                     she steals behind him, and claps
+                                     him on the Back._
+
+_Mor._ And if Morayma should appear, as she does appear,--alas! you
+say, for her and you.
+
+_Ant._ Art thou there, my sweet temptation! my eyes, my life, my soul,
+my all!
+
+_Mor._ A mighty compliment! when all these, by your own confession,
+are just nothing.
+
+_Ant._ Nothing, till thou camest to new create me; thou dost not know
+the power of thy own charms: Let me embrace thee, and thou shalt see
+how quickly I can turn wicked.
+
+_Mor._ [_Stepping back._] Nay, if you are so dangerous, it is best
+keeping you at a distance, I have no mind to warm a frozen snake in my
+bosom; he may chance to recover, and sting me for my pains.
+
+_Ant._ Consider what I have suffered for thy sake already, and make me
+some amends; two disappointments in a night: O cruel creature!
+
+_Mor._ And you may thank yourself for both. I came eagerly to the
+charge before my time, through the back-walk behind the arbour; and
+you, like a fresh-water soldier, stood guarding the pass before. If
+you missed the enemy, you may thank your own dulness.
+
+_Ant._ Nay, if you will be using stratagems, you shall give me leave
+to make use of my advantages, now I have you in my power: we are
+fairly met; I'll try it out, and give no quarter.
+
+_Mor._ By your favour, sir, we meet upon treaty now, and not upon
+defiance.
+
+_Ant._ If that be all, you shall have _carte blanche_ immediately; for
+I long to be ratifying.
+
+_Mor._ No; now I think on't, you are already entered into articles
+with my enemy Johayma:--"Any thing to serve you, madam; I shall refuse
+no drudgery:"--Whose words were those, gentleman? was that like a
+cavalier of honour?
+
+_Ant._ Not very heroic; but self-preservation is a point above honour
+and religion too. Antonio was a rogue, I must confess; but you must
+give me leave to love him.
+
+_Mor._ To beg your life so basely, and to present your sword to your
+enemy; Oh, recreant!
+
+_Ant._ If I had died honourably, my fame indeed would have sounded
+loud, but I should never have heard the blast:--Come, don't make
+yourself worse-natured than you are; to save my life, you would be
+content I should promise any thing.
+
+_Mor._ Yes, if I were sure you would perform nothing.
+
+_Ant._ Can you suspect I would leave you for Johayma?
+
+_Mor._ No; but I can expect you would have both of us. Love is
+covetous; I must have all of you; heart for heart is an equal trick.
+In short, I am younger, I think handsomer, and am sure I love you
+better. She has been my stepmother these fifteen years: You think that
+is her face you see, but it is only a daubed vizard; she wears an
+armour of proof upon it; an inch thick of paint, besides the wash. Her
+face is so fortified, that you can make no approaches to it without a
+shovel; but, for her constancy, I can tell you for your comfort, she
+will love till death, I mean till yours; for when she has worn you
+out, she will certainly dispatch you to another world, for fear of
+telling tales, as she has already served three slaves, your
+predecessors, of happy memory, in her favours. She has made my pious
+father a three-piled cuckold to my knowledge; and now she would be
+robbing me of my single sheep too.
+
+_Ant._ Pr'ythee, prevent her then; and at least take the shearing of
+me first.
+
+_Mor._ No; I'll have a butcher's pennyworth of you; first secure the
+carcase, and then take the fleece into the bargain.
+
+_Ant._ Why, sure, you did not put yourself and me to all this trouble
+for a dry come-off; by this hand--                       [_Taking it._
+
+_Mor._ Which you shall never touch, but upon better assurances than
+you imagine.                                 [_Pulling her hand away._
+
+_Ant._ I'll marry thee, and make a Christian of thee, thou pretty
+damned infidel.
+
+_Mor._ I mean you shall; but no earnest till the bargain be made
+before witness: there is love enough to be had, and as much as you can
+turn you to, never doubt; but all upon honourable terms.
+
+_Ant._ I vow and swear by Love; and he's a deity in all religions.
+
+_Mor._ But never to be trusted in any: he has another name too, of a
+worse sound. Shall I trust an oath, when I see your eyes languishing,
+your cheeks flushing, and can hear your heart throbbing? No, I'll not
+come near you: he's a foolish physician, who will feel the pulse of a
+patient, that has the plague-spots upon him.
+
+_Ant._ Did one ever hear a little moppet argue so perversely against
+so good a cause! Come, pr'ythee, let me anticipate a little of my
+revenue.
+
+_Mor._ You would fain be fingering your rents before-hand; but that
+makes a man an ill husband ever after. Consider, marriage is a painful
+vocation, as you shall prove it; manage your incomes as thriftily as
+you can, you shall find a hard task on't to make even at the year's
+end, and yet to live decently.
+
+_Ant._ I came with a Christian intention to revenge myself upon thy
+father, for being the head of a false religion.
+
+_Mor._ And so you shall; I offer you his daughter for your second. But
+since you are so pressing, meet me under my window to-morrow night,
+body for body, about this hour; I'll slip down out of my lodging, and
+bring my father in my hand.
+
+_Ant._ How, thy father!
+
+_Mor._ I mean, all that's good of him; his pearls and jewels, his
+whole contents, his heart and soul; as much as ever I can carry! I'll
+leave him his Alcoran, that's revenue enough for him; every page of it
+is gold and diamonds. He has the turn of an eye, a demure smile, and a
+godly cant, that are worth millions to him. I forgot to tell you, that
+I will have a slave prepared at the postern gate, with two horses
+ready saddled.--No more, for I fear I may be missed; and think I hear
+them calling for me.--If you have constancy and courage--
+
+_Ant._ Never doubt it; and love in abundance, to wander with thee all
+the world over.
+
+_Mor._ The value of twelve hundred thousand crowns in a casket!--
+
+_Ant._ A heavy burden, heaven knows! but we must pray for patience to
+support it.
+
+_Mor._ Besides a willing titt, that will venture her corps with you.
+Come, I know you long to have a parting blow with me; and therefore,
+to shew I am in charity--                            [_He kisses her._
+
+_Ant._ Once more for pity, that I may keep the flavour upon my lips
+till we meet again.
+
+_Mor._ No, frequent charities make bold beggars; and, besides, I have
+learned of a falconer, never to feed up a hawk when I would have him
+fly. That's enough; but, if you would be nibbling, here's a hand to
+stay your stomach.                                [_Kissing her hand._
+
+_Ant._ Thus conquered infidels, that wars may cease,
+Are forced to give their hands, and sign the peace.
+
+_Mor._ Thus Christians are outwitted by the foe;
+You had her in your power, and let her go.
+If you release my hand, the fault's not mine;
+You should have made me seal, as well as sign.
+                      [_She runs off, he follows her to the door; then
+                       comes back again, and goes out at the other._
+
+
+ACT IV.
+
+SCENE I.--BENDUCAR'S _Palace, in the Castle of Alcazar._
+
+  BENDUCAR _solus._
+
+_Bend._ My future fate, the colour of my life,
+My all, depends on this important hour:
+This hour my lot is weighing in the scales,
+And heaven, perhaps, is doubting what to do.
+Almeyda and a crown have pushed me forward:
+'Tis fixed, the tyrant must not ravish her;
+He and Sebastian stand betwixt my hopes;
+He most, and therefore first to be dispatched.
+These, and a thousand things, are to be done
+In the short compass of this rolling night;
+And nothing yet performed,
+None of my emissaries yet returned.
+
+  _Enter_ HALY, _first Servant._
+
+Oh Haly, thou hast held me long in pain.
+What hast thou learnt of Dorax? is he dead?
+
+_Haly._ Two hours I warily have watched his palace;
+All doors are shut, no servant peeps abroad;
+Some officers, with striding haste, passed in,
+While others outward went on quick dispatch.
+Sometimes hushed silence seemed to reign within;
+Then cries confused, and a joint clamour, followed;
+Then lights went gliding by, from room to room,
+And shot, like thwarting meteors, cross the house.
+Not daring further to inquire, I came
+With speed, to bring you this imperfect news.
+
+_Bend._ Hence I conclude him either dead, or dying.
+His mournful friends, summoned to take their leaves,
+Are thronged about his couch, and sit in council.
+What those caballing captains may design,
+I must prevent, by being first in action.--
+To Muley-Zeydan fly with speed, desire him
+To take my last instructions; tell the importance,
+And haste his presence here.--                           [_Exit_ HALY.
+How has this poison lost its wonted way?
+It should have burnt its passage, not have lingered
+In the blind labyrinths and crooked turnings
+Of human composition; now it moves
+Like a slow fire, that works against the wind,
+As if his stronger stars had interposed.--
+
+  _Enter_ HAMET.
+
+Well, Hamet, are our friends, the rabble, raised?
+From Mustapha what message?
+
+_Ham._ What you wish.
+The streets are thicker in this noon of night,
+Than at the mid-day sun; a drowsy horror
+Sits on their eyes, like fear, not well awake;
+All crowd in heaps, as, at a night alarm,
+The bees drive out upon each others backs,
+To imboss their hives in clusters; all ask news;
+Their busy captain runs the weary round,
+To whisper orders; and, commanding silence,
+Makes not noise cease, but deafens it to murmurs.
+
+_Bend._ Night wastes apace; when, when will he appear!
+
+_Ham._ He only waits your summons.
+
+_Bend._ Haste their coming.
+Let secrecy and silence be enjoined
+In their close march. What news from the lieutenant?
+
+_Ham._ I left him at the gate, firm to your interest,
+To admit the townsmen at their first appearance.
+
+_Bend._ Thus far 'tis well: Go, hasten Mustapha.        [_Exit_ HAMET.
+
+  _Enter_ ORCHAN, _the third Servant._
+
+O, Orchan, did I think thy diligence
+Would lag behind the rest!--What from the Mufti?
+
+_Orc._ I sought him round his palace; made inquiry
+Of all the slaves; in short, I used your name,
+And urged the importance home; but had for answer,
+That, since the shut of evening, none had seen him.
+
+_Bend._ O the curst fate of all conspiracies!
+They move on many springs; if one but fail,
+The restiff machine stops. In an ill hour he's absent;
+'Tis the first time, and sure will be the last,
+That e'er a Mufti was not in the way,
+When tumults and rebellion should be broached.
+Stay by me; thou art resolute and faithful;
+I have employment worthy of thy arm.                         [_Walks._
+
+  _Enter_ MULEY-ZEYDAN.
+
+_Mul. Zeyd._ You see me come, impatient of my hopes,
+And eager as the courser for the race:
+Is all in readiness?
+
+_Bend._ All but the Mufti.
+
+_Mul. Zeyd._ We must go on without him.
+
+_Bend._ True, we must;
+For 'tis ill stopping in the full career,
+Howe'er the leap be dangerous and wide.
+
+_Orc._ [_Looking out._]
+I see the blaze of torches from afar,
+And hear the trampling of thick-beating feet;
+This way they move.
+
+_Bend._ No doubt, the emperor.
+We must not be surprised in conference.
+Trust to my management the tyrant's death,
+And haste yourself to join with Mustapha.
+The officer, who guards the gate, is yours:
+When you have gained that pass, divide your force;
+Yourself in person head one chosen half,
+And march to oppress the faction in consult
+With dying Dorax. Fate has driven them all
+Into the net; you must be bold and sudden:
+Spare none; and if you find him struggling yet
+With pangs of death, trust not his rolling eyes
+And heaving gasps; for poison may be false,--
+The home thrust of a friendly sword is sure.
+
+_Mul. Zeyd._ Doubt not my conduct; they shall be surprised.
+Mercy may wait without the gate one night,
+At morn I'll take her in.
+
+_Bend._ Here lies your way;
+You meet your brother there.
+
+_Mul. Zeyd._ May we ne'er meet!
+For, like the twins of Leda, when I mount,
+He gallops down the skies.                          [_Exit_ MUL. ZEYD.
+
+_Bend._ He comes:--Now, heart,
+Be ribbed with iron for this one attempt;
+Set ope thy sluices, send the vigorous blood
+Through every active limb for my relief;
+Then take thy rest within thy quiet cell,
+For thou shalt drum no more.
+
+  _Enter Emperor, and Guards attending him._
+
+_Emp._ What news of our affairs, and what of Dorax?
+Is he no more? say that, and make me happy.
+
+_Bend._ May all your enemies be like that dog,
+Whose parting soul is labouring at the lips.
+
+_Emp._ The people, are they raised?
+
+_Bend._ And marshalled too;
+Just ready for the march.
+
+_Emp._ Then I'm at ease.
+
+_Bend._ The night is yours; the glittering host of heaven
+Shines but for you; but most the star of love,
+That twinkles you to fair Almeyda's bed.
+Oh, there's a joy to melt in her embrace,
+Dissolve in pleasure,
+And make the gods curse immortality,
+That so they could not die.
+But haste, and make them yours.
+
+_Emp._ I will; and yet
+A kind of weight hangs heavy at my heart;
+My flagging soul flies under her own pitch,
+Like fowl in air too damp, and lugs along,
+As if she were a body in a body,
+And not a mounting substance made of fire.
+My senses, too, are dull and stupified,
+Their edge rebated:--sure some ill approaches,
+And some kind sprite knocks softly at my soul,
+To tell me, fate's at hand[6].
+
+_Bend._ Mere fancies all.
+Your soul has been before-hand with your body,
+And drunk so deep a draught of promised bliss,
+She slumbers o'er the cup; no danger's near,
+But of a surfeit at too full a feast.
+
+_Emp._ It may be so; it looks so like the dream
+That overtook me, at my waking hour,
+This morn; and dreams, they say, are then divine,
+When all the balmy vapours are exhaled,
+And some o'erpowering god continues sleep.
+'Twas then, methought, Almeyda, smiling, came,
+Attended with a train of all her race,
+Whom, in the rage of empire, I had murdered:
+But now, no longer foes, they gave me joy
+Of my new conquest, and, with helping hands,
+Heaved me into our holy prophet's arms,
+Who bore me in a purple cloud to heaven[7].
+
+_Bend._ Good omen, sir; I wish you in that heaven
+Your dream portends you,--
+Which presages death.                                        [_Aside._
+
+_Emp._ Thou too wert there;
+And thou, methought, didst push me from below,
+With thy full force, to Paradise.
+
+_Bend._ Yet better.
+
+_Emp._ Ha! what's that grizly fellow, that attends thee?
+
+_Bend._ Why ask you, sir?
+
+_Emp._ For he was in my dream,
+And helped to heave me up.
+
+_Bend._ With prayers and wishes;
+For I dare swear him honest.
+
+_Emp._ That may be;
+But yet he looks damnation.
+
+_Bend._ You forget
+The face would please you better. Do you love,
+And can you thus forbear?
+
+_Emp._ I'll head my people,
+Then think of dalliance when the danger's o'er.
+My warlike spirits work now another way,
+And my soul's tuned to trumpets.
+
+_Bend._ You debase yourself,
+To think of mixing with the ignoble herd;
+Let such perform the servile work of war,
+Such who have no Almeyda to enjoy.
+What, shall the people know their god-like prince
+Skulked in a nightly skirmish? Stole a conquest,
+Headed a rabble, and profaned his person,
+Shouldered with filth, borne in a tide of ordure,
+And stifled with their rank offensive sweat?
+
+_Emp._ I am off again; I will not prostitute
+The regal dignity so far, to head them.
+
+_Bend._ There spoke a king.
+Dismiss your guards, to be employed elsewhere
+In ruder combats; you will want no seconds
+In those alarms you seek.
+
+_Emp._ Go, join the crowd;--                         [_To the Guards._
+Benducar, thou shalt lead them in my place.          [_Exeunt Guards._
+The God of Love once more has shot his fires
+Into my soul, and my whole heart receives him.
+Almeyda now returns with all her charms;
+I feel her as she glides along my veins,
+And dances in my blood. So when our prophet
+Had long been hammering, in his lonely cell,
+Some dull, insipid, tedious Paradise,
+A brisk Arabian girl came tripping by;
+Passing she cast at him a side-long glance,
+And looked behind, in hopes to be pursued:
+He took the hint, embraced the flying fair,
+And, having found his heaven, he fixed it there.      [_Exit Emperor._
+
+_Bend._ That Paradise thou never shalt possess.
+His death is easy now, his guards are gone,
+And I can sin but once to seize the throne;
+All after-acts are sanctified by power.
+
+_Orc._ Command my sword and life.
+
+_Bend._ I thank thee, Orchan,
+And shall reward thy faith. This master-key
+Frees every lock, and leads us to his person;
+And, should we miss our blow,--as heaven forbid!--
+Secures retreat. Leave open all behind us;
+And first set wide the Mufti's garden gate,
+Which is his private passage to the palace;
+For there our mutineers appoint to meet,
+And thence we may have aid.--Now sleep, ye stars,
+That silently o'erwatch the fate of kings!
+Be all propitious influences barred,
+And none but murderous planets mount the guard.   [_Exit with_ ORCHAN.
+
+
+SCENE II.--_A Night-Scene of the Mufti's Garden._
+
+  _Enter the Mufti alone, in a Slave's Habit, like that of_ ANTONIO.
+
+_Muf._ This it is to have a sound head-piece; by this I have got to be
+chief of my religion; that is, honestly speaking, to teach others what
+I neither know nor believe myself. For what's Mahomet to me, but that
+I get by him? Now for my policy of this night: I have mewed up my
+suspected spouse in her chamber;--no more embassies to that lusty
+young stallion of a gardener. Next, my habit of a slave; I have made
+myself as like him as I can, all but his youth and vigour; which when
+I had, I passed my time as well as any of my holy predecessors. Now,
+walking under the windows of my seraglio, if Johayma look out, she
+will certainly take me for Antonio, and call to me; and by that I
+shall know what concupiscence is working in her. She cannot come down
+to commit iniquity, there's my safety; but if she peep, if she put her
+nose abroad, there's demonstration of her pious will; and I'll not
+make the first precedent for a churchman to forgive injuries.
+
+  _Enter_ MORAYMA, _running to him with a Casket in her hand, and
+  embracing him._
+
+_Mor._ Now I can embrace you with a good conscience; here are the
+pearls and jewels, here's my father.
+
+_Muf._ I am indeed thy father; but how the devil didst thou know me in
+this disguise? and what pearls and jewels dost thou mean?
+
+_Mor._ [_Going back._] What have I done, and what will now become of
+me!
+
+_Muf._ Art thou mad, Morayma?
+
+_Mor._ I think you'll make me so.
+
+_Muf._ Why, what have I done to thee? Recollect thyself, and speak
+sense to me.
+
+_Mor._ Then give me leave to tell you, you are the worst of fathers.
+
+_Muf._ Did I think I had begotten such a monster!--Proceed, my dutiful
+child, proceed, proceed.
+
+_Mor._ You have been raking together a mass of wealth, by indirect and
+wicked means: the spoils of orphans are in these jewels, and the tears
+of widows in these pearls.
+
+_Muf._ Thou amazest me!
+
+_Mor._ I would do so. This casket is loaded with your sins; 'tis the
+cargo of rapines, simony, and extortions; the iniquity of thirty years
+muftiship converted into diamonds.
+
+_Muf._ Would some rich railing rogue would say as much to me, that I
+might squeeze his purse for scandal!
+
+_Mor._ No, sir, you get more by pious fools than railers, when you
+insinuate into their families, manage their fortunes while they live,
+and beggar their heirs, by getting legacies, when they die. And do you
+think I'll be the receiver of your theft? I discharge my conscience of
+it: Here, take again your filthy mammon, and restore it, you had best,
+to the true owners.
+
+_Muf._ I am finely documented by my own daughter!
+
+_Mor._ And a great credit for me to be so: Do but think how decent a
+habit you have on, and how becoming your function to be disguised like
+a slave, and eaves-dropping under the women's windows, to be saluted,
+as you deserve it richly, with a piss-pot. If I had not known you
+casually by your shambling gait, and a certain reverend awkwardness
+that is natural to all of your function, here you had been exposed to
+the laughter of your own servants; who have been in search of you
+through the whole seraglio, peeping under every petticoat to find you.
+
+_Muf._ Pr'ythee, child, reproach me no more of human failings; they
+are but a little of the pitch and spots of the world, that are still
+sticking on me; but I hope to scour them out in time. I am better at
+bottom than thou thinkest; I am not the man thou takest me for.
+
+_Mor._ No, to my sorrow, sir, you are not.
+
+_Muf._ It was a very odd beginning though, methought, to see thee come
+running in upon me with such a warm embrace; pr'ythee, what was the
+meaning of that violent hot hug?
+
+_Mor._ I am sure I meant nothing by it, but the zeal and affection
+which I bear to the man of the world, whom I may love lawfully.
+
+_Muf._ But thou wilt not teach me, at this age, the nature of a close
+embrace?
+
+_Mor._ No, indeed; for my mother-in-law complains, that you are past
+teaching: But if you mistook my innocent embrace for sin, I wish
+heartily it had been given where it would have been more acceptable.
+
+_Muf._ Why this is as it should be now; take the treasure again, it
+can never be put into better hands.
+
+_Mor._ Yes, to my knowledge, but it might. I have confessed my soul to
+you, if you can understand me rightly. I never disobeyed you till this
+night; and now, since, through the violence of my passion, I have been
+so unfortunate, I humbly beg your pardon, your blessing, and your
+leave, that, upon the first opportunity, I may go for ever from your
+sight; for heaven knows, I never desire to see you more.
+
+_Muf._ [_Wiping his eyes._] Thou makest me weep at thy unkindness;
+indeed, dear daughter, we will not part.
+
+_Mor._ Indeed, dear daddy, but we will.
+
+_Muf._ Why, if I have been a little pilfering, or so, I take it
+bitterly of thee to tell me of it, since it was to make thee rich; and
+I hope a man may make bold with his own soul, without offence to his
+own child. Here, take the jewels again; take them, I charge thee, upon
+thy obedience.
+
+_Mor._ Well then, in virtue of obedience, I will take them; but, on my
+soul, I had rather they were in a better hand.
+
+_Muf._ Meaning mine, I know it.
+
+_Mor._ Meaning his, whom I love better than my life.
+
+_Muf._ That's me again.
+
+_Mor._ I would have you think so.
+
+_Muf._ How thy good nature works upon me! Well, I can do no less than
+venture damning for thee; and I may put fair for it, if the rabble be
+ordered to rise to-night.
+
+  _Enter_ ANTONIO, _in a rich African habit._
+
+_Ant._ What do you mean, my dear, to stand talking in this suspicious
+place, just underneath Johayma's window?--[_To the Mufti._] You are
+well met, comrade; I know you are the friend of our flight: are the
+horses ready at the postern gate?
+
+_Muf._ Antonio, and in disguise! now I begin to smell a rat.
+
+_Ant._ And I another, that out-stinks it. False Morayma, hast thou
+thus betrayed me to thy father!
+
+_Mor._ Alas! I was betrayed myself. He came disguised like you, and I,
+poor innocent, ran into his hands.
+
+_Muf._ In good time you did so; I laid a trap for a bitch-fox, and a
+worse vermin has caught himself in it. You would fain break loose now,
+though you left a limb behind you; but I am yet in my own territories,
+and in call of company; that's my comfort.
+
+_Ant._ [_Taking him by the throat._] No; I have a trick left to put
+thee past thy squeaking. I have given thee the quinsy; that ungracious
+tongue shall preach no more false doctrine.
+
+_Mor._ What do you mean? you will not throttle him? consider he's my
+father.
+
+_Ant._ Pr'ythee, let us provide first for our own safety; if I do not
+consider him, he will consider us, with a vengeance, afterwards.
+
+_Mor._ You may threaten him for crying out; but, for my sake, give him
+back a little cranny of his windpipe, and some part of speech.
+
+_Ant._ Not so much as one single interjection.--Come away,
+father-in-law, this is no place for dialogues; when you are in the
+mosque, you talk by hours, and there no man must interrupt you. This
+is but like for like, good father-in-law; now I am in the pulpit, it
+is your turn to hold your tongue. [_He struggles._] Nay, if you will
+be hanging back, I shall take care you shall hang forward.
+                                     [_Pulls him along the Stage, with
+                                      his Sword at his Reins._
+
+_Mor._ The other way to the arbour with him; and make haste, before we
+are discovered.
+
+_Ant._ If I only bind and gag him there, he may commend me hereafter
+for civil usage; he deserves not so much favour by any action of his
+life.
+
+_Mor._ Yes, pray bate him one,--for begetting your mistress.
+
+_Ant._ I would, if he had not thought more of thy mother than of thee.
+Once more, come along in silence, my Pythagorean father-in-law.
+
+_Joh._ [_At the Balcony._] A bird in a cage may peep, at least, though
+she must not fly.--What bustle's there beneath my window? Antonio, by
+all my hopes! I know him by his habit. But what makes that woman with
+him, and a friend, a sword drawn, and hasting hence? This is no time
+for silence:--Who's within? call there, where are the servants? why,
+Omar, Abedin, Hassan, and the rest, make haste, and run into the
+garden; there are thieves and villains; arm all the family, and stop
+them.
+
+_Ant._ [_Turning back._] O that screech owl at the window! we shall be
+pursued immediately; which way shall we take?
+
+_Mor._ [_Giving him the Casket._] 'Tis impossible to escape them; for
+the way to our horses lies back again by the house, and then we shall
+meet them full in the teeth. Here, take these jewels; thou mayst leap
+the walls, and get away.
+
+_Ant._ And what will become of thee, then, poor kind soul?
+
+_Mor._ I must take my fortune. When you are got safe into your own
+country, I hope you will bestow a sigh on the memory of her who loved
+you.
+
+_Ant._ It makes me mad to think, how many a good night will be lost
+betwixt us! Take back thy jewels; 'tis an empty casket without thee:
+besides, I should never leap well with the weight of all thy father's
+sins about me; thou and they had been a bargain.
+
+_Mor._ Pr'ythee take them, 'twill help me to be revenged on him.
+
+_Ant._ No, they'll serve to make thy peace with him.
+
+_Mor._ I hear them coming; shift for yourself at least; remember I am
+yours for ever.                    [_Servants crying,_ "this way, this
+                                    way," _behind the Scenes._
+
+_Ant._ And I but the empty shadow of myself without thee!--Farewell,
+father-in-law, that should have been, if I had not been curst in my
+mother's belly.--Now, which way, Fortune?
+                               [_Runs amazedly backwards and forwards.
+                                Servants within,_ "Follow, follow;
+                                yonder are the villains."
+O, here's a gate open; but it leads into the castle; yet I must
+venture it.                        [_A shout behind the Scenes, where_
+                                    ANTONIO _is going out._
+There's the rabble in a mutiny; what, is the devil up at midnight!
+However, 'tis good herding in a crowd.
+                                 [_Runs out._ MUFTI _runs to_ MORAYMA,
+                                  _and lays hold on her, then snatches
+                                  away the Casket._
+
+_Muf._ Now, to do things in order, first I seize upon the bag, and
+then upon the baggage; for thou art but my flesh and blood, but these
+are my life and soul.
+
+_Mor._ Then let me follow my flesh and blood, and keep to yourself
+your life and soul.
+
+_Muf._ Both, or none; come away to durance.
+
+_Mor._ Well, if it must be so, agreed; for I have another trick to
+play you, and thank yourself for what shall follow.
+
+  _Enter Servants._
+
+_Joh._ [_From above._] One of them took through the private way into
+the castle; follow him, be sure, for these are yours already.
+
+_Mor._ Help here quickly, Omar, Abedin! I have hold on the villain
+that stole my jewels; but 'tis a lusty rogue, and he will prove too
+strong for me. What! help, I say; do you not know your master's
+daughter?
+
+_Muf._ Now, if I cry out, they will know my voice, and then I am
+disgraced for ever. O thou art a venomous cockatrice!
+
+_Mor._ Of your own begetting.               [_The Servants seize him._
+
+_1 Serv._ What a glorious deliverance have you had, madam, from this
+bloody-minded Christian!
+
+_Mor._ Give me back my jewels, and carry this notorious malefactor to
+be punished by my father.--I'll hunt the other dry-foot.
+                               [_Takes the jewels, and runs out after_
+                                ANTONIO _at the same passage._
+
+_1 Serv._ I long to be hanselling his hide, before we bring him to my
+master.
+
+_2 Serv._ Hang him, for an old covetous hypocrite; he deserves a worse
+punishment himself, for keeping us so hardly.
+
+_1 Serv._ Ay, would he were in this villain's place! thus I would lay
+him on, and thus.                                        [_Beats him._
+
+_2 Serv._ And thus would I revenge myself of my last beating.
+                               [_He beats him too, and then the rest._
+
+_Muf._ Oh, ho, ho!
+
+_1 Serv._ Now, supposing you were the Mufti, sir.--
+                                                   [_Beats him again._
+
+_Muf._ The devil's in that supposing rascal!--I can bear no more; and
+I am the Mufti. Now suppose yourselves my servants, and hold your
+hands: an anointed halter take you all!
+
+_1 Serv._ My master!--You will pardon the excess of our zeal for you,
+sir: Indeed we all took you for a villain, and so we used you.
+
+_Muf._ Ay, so I feel you did; my back and sides are abundant
+testimonies of your zeal.--Run, rogues, and bring me back my jewels,
+and my fugitive daughter; run, I say.
+                                 [_They run to the gate, and the first
+                                  Servant runs back again._
+
+_1 Serv._ Sir, the castle is in a most terrible combustion; you may
+hear them hither.
+
+_Muf._ 'Tis a laudable commotion; the voice of the mobile is the voice
+of heaven.--I must retire a little, to strip me of the slave, and to
+assume the Mufti, and then I will return; for the piety of the people
+must be encouraged, that they may help me to recover my jewels, and my
+daughter.                                [_Exeunt Mufti and Servants._
+
+
+SCENE III.--_Changes to the Castle Yard,_
+
+  _And discovers_ ANTONIO, MUSTAPHA, _and the Rabble shouting. They
+  come forward._
+
+_Ant._ And so at length, as I informed you, I escaped out of his
+covetous clutches; and now fly to your illustrious feet for my
+protection.
+
+_Must._ Thou shalt have it, and now defy the Mufti. 'Tis the first
+petition that has been made to me since my exaltation to tumult, in
+this second night of the month Abib, and in the year of the
+Hegira,--the Lord knows what year; but 'tis no matter; for when I am
+settled, the learned are bound to find it out for me; for I am
+resolved to date my authority over the rabble, like other monarchs.
+
+_Ant._ I have always had a longing to be yours again, though I could
+not compass it before; and had designed you a casket of my master's
+jewels too; for I knew the custom, and would not have appeared before
+a great person, as you are, without a present: But he has defrauded my
+good intentions, and basely robbed you of them; 'tis a prize worthy a
+million of crowns, and you carry your letters of marque about you.
+
+_Must._ I shall make bold with his treasure, for the support of my new
+government.--[_The people gather about him._]--What do these vile
+raggamuffins so near our person? your savour is offensive to us; bear
+back there, and make room for honest men to approach us: These fools
+and knaves are always impudently crowding next to princes, and keeping
+off the more deserving: Bear back, I say.--[_They make a wider
+circle._]--That's dutifully done! Now shout, to shew your loyalty. [_A
+great shout._]--Hear'st thou that, slave Antonio? These obstreperous
+villains shout, and know not for what they make a noise. You shall see
+me manage them, that you may judge what ignorant beasts they are.--For
+whom do you shout now? Who's to live and reign; tell me that, the
+wisest of you?
+
+_1 Rabble._ Even who you please, captain.
+
+_Must._ La, you there! I told you so.
+
+_2 Rabble._ We are not bound to know, who is to live and reign; our
+business is only to rise upon command, and plunder.
+
+_3 Rabble._ Ay, the richest of both parties; for they are our enemies.
+
+_Must._ This last fellow is a little more sensible than the rest; he
+has entered somewhat into the merits of the cause.
+
+_1 Rabble._ If a poor man may speak his mind. I think, captain, that
+yourself are the fittest to live and reign; I mean not over, but next,
+and immediately under, the people; and thereupon I say, _A Mustapha, a
+Muatapha!_
+
+_Omnes._ A Mustapha, a Mustapha!
+
+_Must._ I must confess the sound is pleasing, and tickles the ears of
+my ambition; but alas, good people, it must not be! I am contented to
+be a poor simple viceroy. But prince Muley-Zeydan is to be the man: I
+shall take care to instruct him in the arts of government, and in his
+duty to us all; and, therefore, mark my cry, _A Muley-Zeydan, a
+Muley-Zeydan!_
+
+_Omnes._ A Muley-Zeydan, a Muley-Zeydan!
+
+_Must._ You see, slave Antonio, what I might have been?
+
+_Ant._ I observe your modesty.
+
+_Must._ But for a foolish promise, I made once to my lord Benducar, to
+set up any one he pleased.--
+
+  _Re-enter the Mufti, with his Servants._
+
+_Ant._ Here's the old hypocrite again.--Now stand your ground and bate
+him not an inch. Remember the jewels, the rich and glorious jewels;
+they are designed to be yours, by virtue of prerogative.
+
+_Must._ Let me alone to pick a quarrel; I have an old grudge to him
+upon thy account.
+
+_Muf._ [_Making up to the Mobile._] Good people, here you are met
+together.
+
+_1 Rabble._ Ay, we know that without your telling: But why are we met
+together, doctor? for that's it which no body here can tell.
+
+_2 Rabble._ Why, to see one another in the dark; and to make holiday
+at midnight.
+
+_Muf._ You are met, as becomes good Mussulmen, to settle the nation;
+for I must tell you, that, though your tyrant is a lawful emperor, yet
+your lawful emperor is but a tyrant.
+
+_Ant._ What stuff he talks!
+
+_Must._ 'Tis excellent fine matter, indeed, slave Antonio! He has a
+rare tongue! Oh, he would move a rock, or elephant!
+
+_Ant._ What a block have I to work upon! [_Aside._]--But still,
+remember the jewels, sir; the jewels.
+
+_Must._ Nay, that's true, on the other side; the jewels must be mine.
+But he has a pure fine way of talking; my conscience goes along with
+him, but the jewels have set my heart against him.
+
+_Muf._ That your emperor is a tyrant, is most manifest; for you were
+born to be Turks, but he has played the Turk with you, and is taking
+your religion away.
+
+_2 Rabble._ We find that in our decay of trade. I have seen, for these
+hundred years, that religion and trade always go together.
+
+_Muf._ He is now upon the point of marrying himself, without your
+sovereign consent: And what are the effects of marriage?
+
+_3 Rabble._ A scolding domineering wife, if she prove honest; and, if
+a whore, a fine gaudy minx, that robs our counters every night, and
+then goes out, and spends it upon our cuckold-makers.
+
+_Muf._ No; the natural effects of marriage are children: Now, on whom
+would he beget these children? Even upon a Christian! O, horrible! how
+can you believe me, though I am ready to swear it upon the Alcoran!
+Yes, true believers, you may believe, that he is going to beget a race
+of misbelievers.
+
+_Must._ That's fine, in earnest; I cannot forbear hearkening to his
+enchanting tongue.
+
+_Ant._ But yet remember--
+
+_Must._ Ay, ay, the jewels! Now again I hate him; but yet my
+conscience makes me listen to him.
+
+_Muf._ Therefore, to conclude all, believers, pluck up your hearts,
+and pluck down the tyrant. Remember the courage of your ancestors;
+remember the majesty of the people; remember yourselves, your wives,
+and children; and, lastly, above all, remember your religion, and our
+holy Mahomet. All these require your timeous assistance;--shall I say,
+they beg it? No; they claim it of you, by all the nearest and dearest
+ties of these three P's, self-preservation, our property, and our
+prophet.--Now answer me with an unanimous cheerful cry, and follow me,
+who am your leader, to a glorious deliverance.
+
+_Omnes._ A Mufti, a Mufti!             [_Following him off the stage._
+
+_Ant._ Now you see what comes of your foolish qualms of conscience;
+the jewels are lost, and they are all leaving you.
+
+_Must._ What, am I forsaken of my subjects? Would the rogue purloin my
+liege people from me!--I charge you, in my own name, come back, ye
+deserters, and hear me speak.
+
+_1 Rabble._ What, will he come with his balderdash, after the Mufti's
+eloquent oration?
+
+_2 Rabble._ He's our captain, lawfully picked up, and elected upon a
+stall; we will hear him.
+
+_Omnes._ Speak, captain, for we will hear you.
+
+_Must._ Do you remember the glorious rapines and robberies you have
+committed? Your breaking open and gutting of houses, your rummaging of
+cellars, your demolishing of Christian temples, and bearing off, in
+triumph, the superstitious plate and pictures, the ornaments of their
+wicked altars, when all rich moveables were sentenced for idolatrous,
+and all that was idolatrous was seized? Answer first, for your
+remembrance of all these sweetnesses of mutiny; for upon those grounds
+I shall proceed.
+
+_Omnes._ Yes, we do remember, we do remember.
+
+_Must._ Then make much of your retentive faculties.--And who led you
+to those honey-combs? Your Mufti? No, believers; he only preached you
+up to it, but durst not lead you: He was but your counsellor, but I
+was your captain; he only looed you, but, 'twas I that led you.
+
+_Omnes._ That's true, that's true.
+
+_Ant._ There you were with him for his figures.
+
+_Must._ I think I was, slave Antonio. Alas, I was ignorant of my own
+talent!--Say then, believers, will you have a captain for your Mufti,
+or a Mufti for your captain? And, further, to instruct you how to cry,
+will you have _A mufti_, or _No mufti_?
+
+_Omnes._ No Mufti, no Mufti!
+
+_Must._ That I laid in for them, slave Antonio--Do I then spit upon
+your faces? Do I discourage rebellion, mutiny, rapine, and plundering?
+You may think I do, believers; but, heaven forbid! No, I encourage you
+to all these laudable undertakings; you shall plunder, you shall pull
+down the government; but you shall do this upon my authority, and not
+by his wicked instigation.
+
+_3 Rabble._ Nay, when his turn is served, he may preach up loyalty
+again, and restitution, that he might have another snack among us.
+
+_1 Rabble._ He may indeed; for it is but his saying it is sin, and
+then we must restore; and therefore I would have a new religion, where
+half the commandments should be taken away, the rest mollified, and
+there should be little or no sin remaining.
+
+_Omnes._ Another religion, a new religion, another religion!
+
+_Must._ And that may easily be done, with the help of a little
+inspiration; for I must tell you, I have a pigeon at home, of
+Mahomet's own breed; and when I have learnt her to pick pease out of
+my ear, rest satisfied till then, and you shall have another. But, now
+I think on't, I am inspired already, that 'tis no sin to depose the
+Mufti.
+
+_Ant._ And good reason; for when kings and queens are to be discarded,
+what should knaves do any longer in the pack?
+
+_Omnes._ He is deposed, he is deposed, he is deposed!
+
+_Must._ Nay, if he and his clergy will needs be preaching up
+rebellion, and giving us their blessing, 'tis but justice they should
+have the first-fruits of it.--Slave Antonio, take him into custody;
+and dost thou hear, boy, be sure to secure the little transitory box
+of jewels. If he be obstinate, put a civil question to him upon the
+rack, and he squeaks, I warrant him.
+
+_Ant._ [_Seizing the Mufti._] Come, my _quondam_ master, you and I
+must change qualities.
+
+_Muf._ I hope you will not be so barbarous to torture me: we may
+preach suffering to others, but, alas! holy flesh is too well pampered
+to endure martyrdom.
+
+_Must._ Now, late Mufti, not forgetting my first quarrel to you, we
+will enter ourselves with the plunder of your palace: 'tis good to
+sanctify a work, and begin a God's name.
+
+_1 Rabble._ Our prophet let the devil alone with the last mob.
+
+_Mob._ But he takes care of this himself.
+
+  _As they are going out, enter_ BENDUCAR, _leading_ ALMEYDA: _he with
+  a sword in one hand;_ BENDUCAR'S _Slave follows, with_
+  MULEY-MOLUCH'S _head upon a spear._
+
+_Must._ Not so much haste, masters; comeback again; you are so bent
+upon mischief, that you take a man upon the first word of plunder.
+Here is a sight for you; the emperor is come upon his head to visit
+you. [_Bowing._] Most noble emperor, now I hope you will not hit us in
+the teeth, that we have pulled you down; for we can tell you to your
+face, that we have exalted you.                     [_They all shout._
+
+_Bend._ Think what I am, and what yourself may be,
+                                                [_To_ ALMEYDA _apart._
+In being mine: refuse not proffered love,
+That brings a crown.
+
+_Alm._ [_To him._] I have resolved,
+And these shall know my thoughts.
+
+_Bend._ [_To her._] On that I build.--   [_He comes up to the Rabble._
+Joy to the people for the tyrant's death!
+Oppression, rapine, banishment, and blood,
+Are now no more; but speechless as that tongue,
+That lies for ever still.
+How is my grief divided with my joy,
+When I must own I killed him! Bid me speak;
+For not to bid me, is to disallow
+What for your sakes is done.
+
+_Must._ In the name of the people, we command you speak: but that
+pretty lady shall speak first; for we have taken somewhat of a liking
+to her person.--Be not afraid, lady, to speak to these rude
+raggamuffians; there is nothing shall offend you, unless it be their
+stink, an't please you.                               [_Making a leg._
+
+_Alm._ Why should I fear to speak, who am your queen?
+My peaceful father swayed the sceptre long,
+And you enjoyed the blessings of his reign,
+While you deserved the name of Africans.
+Then, not commanded, but commanding you,
+Fearless I speak: know me for what I am.
+
+_Bend._ How she assumes! I like not this beginning.          [_Aside._
+
+_Alm._ I was not born so base to flatter crowds,
+And move your pity by a whining tale.
+Your tyrant would have forced me to his bed;
+But in the attempt of that foul brutal act,
+These loyal slaves secured me by his death.   [_Pointing to_ BENDUCAR.
+
+_Bend._ Makes she no more of me than of a slave?--           [_Aside._
+Madam, I thought I had instructed you                   [_To_ ALMEYDA.
+To frame a speech more suiting to the times:
+The circumstances of that dire design,
+Your own despair, my unexpected aid,
+My life endangered by his bold defence,
+And, after all, his death, and your deliverance,
+Were themes that ought not to be slighted o'er.
+
+_Must._ She might have passed over all your petty businesses, and no
+great matter; but the raising of my rabble is an exploit of
+consequence, and not to be mumbled up in silence, for all her
+pertness.
+
+_Alm._ When force invades the gift of nature, life,
+The eldest law of nature bids defend;
+And if in that defence a tyrant fall,
+His death's his crime, not ours,
+Suffice it, that he's dead; all wrongs die with him;
+When he can wrong no more, I pardon him:
+Thus I absolve myself, and him excuse,
+Who saved my life and honour, but praise neither.
+
+_Bend._ 'Tis cheap to pardon, whom you would not pay.
+But what speak I of payment and reward!
+Ungrateful woman, you are yet no queen,
+Nor more than a proud haughty christian slave:
+As such I seize my right.                 [_Going to lay hold of her._
+
+_Alm._ [_Drawing a Dagger._] Dare not to approach me!--
+Now, Africans,
+He shows himself to you; to me he stood
+Confessed before, and owned his insolence
+To espouse my person, and assume the crown,
+Claimed in my right; for this, he slew your tyrant;
+Oh no! he only changed him for a worse;
+Embased your slavery by his own vileness,
+And loaded you with more ignoble bonds.
+Then think me not ungrateful, not to share
+The imperial crown with a presuming traitor.
+He says, I am a Christian; true, I am,
+But yet no slave: If Christians can be thought
+Unfit to govern those of other faith,
+'Tis left for you to judge.
+
+_Bend._ I have not patience; she consumes the time
+In idle talk, and owns her false belief:
+Seize her by force, and bear her thence unheard.
+
+_Alm._ [_To the People._]
+No, let me rather die your sacrifice,
+Than live his triumph.
+I throw myself into my people's arms;
+As you are men, compassionate my wrongs,
+And, as good men, protect me.
+
+_Ant._ Something must be done to save her. [_Aside to_ MUST.] This is
+all addressed to you, sir: she singled you out with her eye, as
+commander in chief of the mobility.
+
+_Must._ Think'st thou so, slave Antonio?
+
+_Ant._ Most certainly, sir; and you cannot, in honour, but protect
+her: now look to your hits, and make your fortune.
+
+_Must._ Methought, indeed, she cast a kind leer towards me. Our
+prophet was but just such another scoundrel as I am, till he raised
+himself to power, and consequently to holiness, by marrying his
+master's widow. I am resolved I'll put forward for myself; for why
+should I be my lord Benducar's fool and slave, when I may be my own
+fool and his master?
+
+_Bend._ Take her into possession, Mustapha.
+
+_Must._ That's better counsel than you meant it: Yes, I do take her
+into possession, and into protection too. What say you, masters, will
+you stand by me?
+
+_Omnes._ One and all, one and all.
+
+_Bend._ Hast thou betrayed me, traitor?--Mufti, speak, and mind them
+of religion.                                 [_MUFTI shakes his head._
+
+_Must._ Alas! the poor gentleman has gotten a cold with a sermon of
+two hours long, and a prayer of fear; and, besides, if he durst speak,
+mankind is grown wiser at this time of day than to cut one another's
+throats about religion. Our Mufti's is a green coat, and the
+Christian's is a black coat; and we must wisely go together by the
+ears, whether green or black shall sweep our spoils.
+                                          [_Drums within, and shouts._
+
+_Bend._ Now we shall see whose numbers will prevail:
+The conquering troops of Muley-Zeydan come,
+To crush rebellion, and espouse my cause.
+
+_Must._ We will have a fair trial of skill for it, I can tell him
+that. When we have dispatched with Muley-Zeydan, your lordship shall
+march, in equal proportions of your body, to the four gates of the
+city, and every tower shall have a quarter of you.
+                              [ANTONIO _draws them up, and takes_ ALM.
+                               by_ the hand. Shouts again, and Drums._
+
+  _Enter_ DORAX _and_ SEBASTIAN, _attended by African Soldiers and
+  Portugueses._ ALMEYDA _and_ SEBASTIAN _run into each others arms,
+  and both speak together._
+
+_Seb._ and _Alm._ My Sebastian! my Almeyda!
+
+_Alm._ Do you then live?
+
+_Seb._ And live to love thee ever.
+
+_Bend._ How! Dorax and Sebastian still alive!
+The Moors and Christians joined!--I thank thee, prophet.
+
+_Dor._ The citadel is ours; and Muley-Zeydan
+Safe under guard, but as becomes a prince.
+Lay down your arms; such base plebeian blood
+Would only stain the brightness of my sword,
+And blunt it for some nobler work behind.
+
+_Must._ I suppose you may put it up without offence to any man here
+present. For my part, I have been loyal to my sovereign lady, though
+that villain Benducar, and that hypocrite the Mufti, would have
+corrupted me; but if those two escape public justice, then I and all
+my late honest subjects here deserve hanging.
+
+_Bend._ [_To_ DOR.] I'm sure I did my part to poison thee,
+What saint soe'er has soldered thee again:
+A dose less hot had burst through ribs of iron.
+
+_Muf._ Not knowing that, I poisoned him once more,
+And drenched him with a draught so deadly cold,
+That, hadst not thou prevented, had congealed
+The channel of his blood, and froze him dry.
+
+_Bend._ Thou interposing fool, to mangle mischief,
+And think to mend the perfect work of hell!
+
+_Dor._ Thus, when heaven pleases, double poisons cure[8].
+I will not tax thee of ingratitude
+To me, thy friend, who hast betrayed thy prince:
+Death he deserved indeed, but not from thee.
+But fate, it seems, reserved the worst of men
+To end the worst of tyrants.--
+Go, bear him to his fate,
+And send him to attend his master's ghost.
+Let some secure my other poisoning friend,
+Whose double diligence preserved my life.
+
+_Ant._ You are fallen into good hands, father-in-law; your sparkling
+jewels, and Morayma's eyes, may prove a better bail than you deserve.
+
+_Muf._ The best that can come of me, in this condition, is, to have my
+life begged first, and then to be begged for a fool afterwards[9].
+                           [_Exeunt_ ANTONIO, _with the Mufti; and, at
+                            the same time,_ BENDUCAR _is carried off._
+
+_Dor._ [_To_ MUST.]
+You, and your hungry herd, depart untouched;
+For justice cannot stoop so low, to reach
+The groveling sin of crowds: but curst be they,
+Who trust revenge with such mad instruments,
+Whose blindfold business is but to destroy;
+And, like the fire, commissioned by the winds,
+Begins on sheds, but, rolling in a round,
+On palaces returns. Away, ye scum,
+That still rise upmost when the nation boils;
+Ye mongrel work of heaven, with human shapes,
+Not to be damned or saved, but breathe and perish,
+That have but just enough of sense, to know
+The master's voice, when rated, to depart.
+                                      [_Exeunt_ MUSTAPHA _and Rabble._
+
+_Alm._ With gratitude as low as knees can pay      [_Kneeling to him._
+To those blest holy fires, our guardian angels,
+Receive these thanks, till altars can be raised.
+
+_Dor._ Arise, fair excellence, and pay no thanks,   [_Raising her up._
+Till time discover what I have deserved.
+
+_Seb._ More than reward can answer.
+If Portugal and Spain were joined to Africa,
+And the main ocean crusted into land,
+If universal monarchy were mine,
+Here should the gift be placed.
+
+_Dor._ And from some hands I should refuse that gift.
+Be not too prodigal of promises;
+But stint your bounty to one only grant,
+Which I can ask with honour.
+
+_Seb._ What I am
+Is but thy gift; make what thou canst of me,
+Secure of no repulse.
+
+_Dor._ [_To_ SEB.] Dismiss your train.--
+[_To_ ALM.] You, madam, please one moment to retire.
+                            [SEBASTIAN _signs to the Portugueses to go
+                             off;_ ALMEYDA, _bowing to him, gives off
+                             also. The Africans follow her._
+
+_Dor._ [_To the Captain of the Guard._]
+With you one word in private.            [_Goes out with the Captain._
+
+_Seb._ [_Solus._] Reserved behaviour, open nobleness,
+A long mysterious track of stern bounty:
+But now the hand of fate is on the curtain,
+And draws the scene to sight.
+
+  _Re-enter_ DORAX, _having taken off his Turban, and put on a Peruke,
+  Hat, and Cravat._
+
+_Dor._ Now, do you know me?
+
+_Seb._ Thou shouldst be Alonzo.
+
+_Dor._ So you should be Sebastian:
+But when Sebastian ceased to be himself,
+I ceased to be Alonzo.
+
+_Seb._ As in a dream,
+I see thee here, and scarce believe mine eyes.
+
+_Dor._ Is it so strange to find me, where my wrongs,
+And your inhuman tyranny, have sent me?
+Think not you dream; or, if you did, my injuries
+Shall call so loud, that lethargy should wake,
+And death should give you back to answer me.
+A thousand nights have brushed their balmy wings
+Over these eyes; but ever when they closed,
+Your tyrant image forced them ope again,
+And dried the dews they brought:
+The long expected hour is come at length,
+By manly vengeance to redeem my fame;
+And, that once cleared, eternal sleep is welcome.
+
+_Seb._ I have not yet forgot I am a king,
+Whose royal office is redress of wrongs:
+If I have wronged thee, charge me face to face;--
+I have not yet forgot I am a soldier.
+
+_Dor._ 'Tis the first justice thou hast ever done me.
+Then, though I loath this woman's war of tongues,
+Yet shall my cause of vengeance first be clear;
+And, honour, be thou judge.
+
+_Seb._ Honour befriend us both.--
+Beware I warn thee yet, to tell thy griefs
+In terms becoming majesty to hear:
+I warn thee thus, because I know thy temper
+Is insolent, and haughty to superiors.
+How often hast thou braved my peaceful court,
+Filled it with noisy brawls, and windy boasts;
+And with past service, nauseously repeated,
+Reproached even me, thy prince?
+
+_Dor._ And well I might, when you forgot reward,
+The part of heaven in kings; for punishment
+Is hangman's work, and drudgery for devils.--
+I must, and will reproach thee with my service,
+Tyrant!--It irks me so to call my prince;
+But just resentment, and hard usage, coined
+The unwilling word; and, grating as it is,
+Take it, for 'tis thy due.
+
+_Seb._ How, tyrant?
+
+_Dor._ Tyrant.
+
+_Seb._ Traitor!--that name thou canst not echo back;
+That robe of infamy, that circumcision
+Ill hid beneath that robe, proclaim thee traitor;
+And, if a name
+More foul than traitor be, 'tis renegade.
+
+_Dor._ If I'm a traitor, think,--and blush, thou tyrant,--
+Whose injuries betrayed me into treason,
+Effaced my loyalty, unhinged my faith,
+And hurried me, from hopes of heaven, to hell.
+All these, and all my yet unfinished crimes,
+When I shall rise to plead before the saints,
+I charge on thee, to make thy damning sure.
+
+_Seb._ Thy old presumptuous arrogance again,
+That bred my first dislike, and then my loathing.--
+Once more be warned, and know me for thy king.
+
+_Dor._ Too well I know thee, but for king no more.
+This is not Lisbon; nor the circle this,
+Where, like a statue, thou hast stood besieged
+By sycophants and fools, the growth of courts;
+Where thy gulled eyes, in all the gaudy round,
+Met nothing but a lie in every face,
+And the gross flattery of a gaping crowd,
+Envious who first should catch, and first applaud,
+The stuff of royal nonsense: When I spoke,
+My honest homely words were carped and censured
+For want of courtly style; related actions,
+Though modestly reported, passed for boasts;
+Secure of merit if I asked reward,
+Thy hungry minions thought their rights invaded,
+And the bread snatched from pimps and parasites.
+Henriquez answered, with a ready lie,
+To save his king's,--the boon was begged before!
+
+_Seb._ What say'st thou of Henriquez? Now, by heaven,
+Thou mov'st me more by barely naming him,
+Than all thy foul unmannered scurril taunts.
+
+_Dor._ And therefore 'twas, to gall thee, that I named him.
+That thing, that nothing, but a cringe and smile;
+That woman, but more daubed; or, if a man,
+Corrupted to a woman; thy man-mistress.
+
+_Seb._ All false as hell, or thou.
+
+_Dor._ Yes; full as false
+As that I served thee fifteen hard campaigns,
+And pitched thy standard in these foreign fields:
+By me thy greatness grew, thy years grew with it,
+But thy ingratitude outgrew them both.
+
+_Seb._ I see to what thou tend'st: but, tell me first,
+If those great acts were done alone for me?
+If love produced not some, and pride the rest?
+
+_Dor._ Why, love does all that's noble here below;
+But all the advantage of that love was thine.
+For, coming fraughted back, in either hand
+With palm and olive, victory and peace,
+I was indeed prepared to ask my own,
+(For Violante's vows were mine before:)
+Thy malice had prevention, ere I spoke;
+And asked me Violante for Henriquez.
+
+_Seb._ I meant thee a reward of greater worth.
+
+_Dor._ Where justice wanted, could reward be hoped?
+Could the robbed passenger expect a bounty
+From those rapacious hands, who stripped him first?
+
+_Seb._ He had my promise, ere I knew thy love.
+
+_Dor._ My services deserved thou shouldst revoke it.
+
+_Seb._ Thy insolence had cancelled all thy service:
+To violate my laws, even in my court,
+Sacred to peace, and safe from all affronts;
+Even to my face, and done in my despite,
+Under the wing of awful majesty,
+To strike the man I loved!
+
+_Dor._ Even in the face of heaven, a place more sacred,
+Would I have struck the man, who, prompt by power,
+Would seize my right, and rob me of my love:
+But, for a blow provoked by thy injustice,
+The hasty product of a just despair,
+When he refused to meet me in the field,
+That thou shouldst make a coward's cause thy own!
+
+_Seb._ He durst; nay more, desired, and begged with tears,
+To meet thy challenge fairly: 'Twas thy fault
+To make it public; but my duty, then,
+To interpose, on pain of my displeasure,
+Betwixt your swords.
+
+_Dor._ On pain of infamy,
+He should have disobeyed.
+
+_Seb._ The indignity, thou didst, was meant to me:
+Thy gloomy eyes were cast on me with scorn,
+As who should say,--the blow was there intended:
+But that thou didst not dare to lift thy hands
+Against anointed power. So was I forced
+To do a sovereign justice to myself,
+And spurn thee from my presence.
+
+_Dor._ Thou hast dared
+To tell me, what I durst not tell myself:
+I durst not think that I was spurned, and live;
+And live to hear it boasted to my face.
+All my long avarice of honour lost,
+Heaped up in youth, and hoarded up for age!
+Has honour's fountain then sucked back the stream?
+He has; and hooting boys may dry-shod pass,
+And gather pebbles from the naked ford.--
+Give me my love, my honour; give them back--
+Give me revenge, while I have breath to ask it!
+
+_Seb._ Now, by this honoured order which I wear,
+More gladly would I give, than thou dar'st ask it;
+Nor shall the sacred character of king
+Be urged, to shield me from thy bold appeal.
+If I have injured thee, that makes us equal;
+The wrong, if done, debased me down to thee.
+But thou hast charged me with ingratitude;
+Hast thou not charged me? speak!
+
+_Dor._ Thou know'st I have:
+If thou disown'st that imputation, draw,
+And prove my charge a lie.
+
+_Seb._ No; to disprove that lie, I must not draw.
+Be conscious to thy worth, and tell thy soul,
+What thou hast done this day in my defence.
+To fight thee after this, what were it else
+Than owning that ingratitude thou urgest?
+That isthmus stands between two rushing seas;
+Which, mounting, view each other from afar,
+And strive in vain to meet.
+
+_Dor._ I'll cut that isthmus.
+Thou know'st I meant not to preserve thy life,
+But to reprieve it, for my own revenge.
+I saved thee out of honourable malice:
+Now, draw;--I should be loth to think thou dar'st not:
+Beware of such another vile excuse.
+
+_Seb._ O patience, heaven!
+
+_Dor._ Beware of patience, too;
+That's a suspicious word. It had been proper,
+Before thy foot had spurned me; now 'tis base:
+Yet, to disarm thee of thy last defence,
+I have thy oath for my security.
+The only boon I begged was this fair combat:
+Fight, or be perjured now; that's all thy choice.
+
+_Seb._ Now can I thank thee as thou would'st be thanked.   [_Drawing._
+Never was vow of honour better paid,
+If my true sword but hold, than this shall be.
+The sprightly bridegroom, on his wedding night,
+More gladly enters not the lists of love:
+Why, 'tis enjoyment to be summoned thus.
+Go, bear my message to Henriquez ghost;
+And say, his master and his friend revenged him.
+
+_Dor._ His ghost! then is my hated rival dead?
+
+_Seb._ The question is beside our present purpose:
+Thou seest me ready; we delay too long.
+
+_Dor._ A minute is not much in either's life,
+When there's but one betwixt us; throw it in,
+And give it him of us who is to fail.
+
+_Seb._ He's dead; make haste, and thou may'st yet o'ertake him.
+
+_Dor._ When I was hasty, thou delayed'st me longer--
+I pr'ythee let me hedge one moment more
+Into thy promise: For thy life preserved,
+Be kind; and tell me how that rival died,
+Whose death, next thine, I wished.
+
+_Seb._ If it would please thee, thou shouldst never know;
+But thou, like jealousy, enquir'st a truth,
+Which, found, will torture thee.--He died in fight;
+Fought next my person; as in concert fought;
+Kept pace for pace, and blow for every blow;
+Save when he heaved his shield in my defence,
+And on his naked side received my wound.
+Then, when he could no more, he fell at once;
+But rolled his falling body cross their way,
+And made a bulwark of it for his prince.
+
+_Dor._ I never can forgive him such a death!
+
+_Seb._ I prophesied thy proud soul could not bear it.--
+Now, judge thyself, who best deserved my love?
+I knew you both; and (durst I say) as heaven
+Foreknew, among the shining angel host,
+Who would stand firm, who fall.
+
+_Dor._ Had he been tempted so, so had he fallen;
+And so had I been favoured, had I stood.
+
+_Seb._ What had been, is unknown; what is, appears.
+Confess, he justly was preferred to thee.
+
+_Dor._ Had I been born with his indulgent stars,
+My fortune had been his, and his been mine.--
+O worse than hell! what glory have I lost,
+And what has he acquired, by such a death!
+I should have fallen by Sebastian's side,
+My corps had been the bulwark of my king.
+His glorious end was a patched work of fate,
+Ill sorted with a soft effeminate life;
+It suited better with my life than his,
+So to have died: Mine had been of a piece,
+Spent in your service, dying at your feet.
+
+_Seb._ The more effeminate and soft his life,
+The more his fame, to struggle to the field,
+And meet his glorious fate. Confess, proud spirit,
+(For I will have it from thy very mouth)
+That better he deserved my love than thou?
+
+_Dor._ O, whither would you drive me? I must grant,--
+Yes, I must grant, but with a swelling soul,--
+Henriquez had your love with more desert.
+For you he fought, and died: I fought against you;
+Through all the mazes of the bloody field,
+Hunted your sacred life; which that I missed
+Was the propitious error of my fate,
+Not of my soul: My soul's a regicide.
+
+_Seb._ [_More calmly._]
+Thou might'st have given it a more gentle name.
+Thou meant'st to kill a tyrant, not a king:
+Speak, didst thou not, Alonzo?
+
+_Dor._ Can I speak!
+Alas, I cannot answer to Alonzo!--
+No, Dorax cannot answer to Alonzo;
+Alonzo was too kind a name for me.
+Then, when I fought and conquered with your arms,
+In that blest age, I was the man you named:
+Till rage and pride debased me into Dorax,
+And lost, like Lucifer, my name above.
+
+_Seb._ Yet twice this day I owed my life to Dorax.
+
+_Dor._ I saved you but to kill you: There's my grief.
+
+_Seb._ Nay, if thou can'st be grieved, thou can'st repent;
+Thou could'st not be a villain, though thou would'st:
+Thou own'st too much, in owning thou hast erred;
+And I too little, who provoked thy crime.
+
+_Dor._ O stop this headlong torrent of your goodness!
+It comes too fast upon a feeble soul,
+Half drowned in tears before: Spare my confusion;
+For pity spare; and say not first, you erred;
+For yet I have not dared, through guilt and shame,
+To throw myself beneath your royal feet.--       [_Falls at his feet._
+Now spurn this rebel, this proud renegade;
+'Tis just you should, nor will I more complain.
+
+_Seb._ Indeed thou should'st not ask forgiveness first;
+But thou prevent'st me still, in all that's noble.   [_Taking him up._
+Yes, I will raise thee up with better news.
+Thy Violante's heart was ever thine;
+Compelled to wed, because she was my ward,
+Her soul was absent when she gave her hand;
+Nor could my threats, or his pursuing courtship,
+Effect the consummation of his love:
+So, still indulging tears, she pines for thee,
+A widow, and a maid.
+
+_Dor._ Have I been cursing heaven, while heaven blest me?
+I shall run mad with extacy of joy:
+What! in one moment, to be reconciled
+To heaven, and to my king, and to my love!--
+But pity is my friend, and stops me short,
+For my unhappy rival:--Poor Henriquez!
+
+_Seb._ Art thou so generous, too, to pity him?
+Nay, then, I was unjust to love him better.
+Here let me ever hold thee in my arms;               [_Embracing him._
+And all our quarrels be but such as these,
+Who shall love best, and closest shall embrace.
+Be what Henriquez was,--be my Alonzo.
+
+_Dor._ What, my Alonzo, said you? my Alonzo!
+Let my tears thank you, for I cannot speak;
+And, if I could,
+Words were not made to vent such thoughts as mine.
+
+_Seb._ Some strange reverse of fate must sure attend
+This vast profusion, this extravagance
+Of heaven, to bless me thus. 'Tis gold so pure,
+It cannot bear the stamp, without alloy.--
+Be kind, ye powers! and take but half away:
+With ease the gifts of fortune I resign;
+But let my love and friend be ever mine.                    [_Exeunt._
+
+
+ACT V. SCENE I.
+
+_The Scene is, a Room of State._
+
+  _Enter_ DORAX _and_ ANTONIO.
+
+_Dor._ Joy is on every face, without a cloud;
+As, in the scene of opening paradise,
+The whole creation danced at their new being,
+Pleased to be what they were, pleased with each other,
+Such joy have I, both in myself and friends;
+And double joy that I have made them happy.
+
+_Ant._ Pleasure has been the business of my life;
+And every change of fortune easy to me,
+Because I still was easy to myself.
+The loss of her I loved would touch me nearest;
+Yet, if I found her, I might love too much,
+And that's uneasy pleasure.
+
+_Dor._ If she be fated
+To be your wife, your fate will find her for you:
+Predestinated ills are never lost.
+
+_Ant._ I had forgot
+To inquire before, but long to be informed,
+How, poisoned and betrayed, and round beset,
+You could unwind yourself from all these dangers,
+And move so speedily to our relief?
+
+_Dor._ The double poisons, after a short combat,
+Expelled each other in their civil war,
+By nature's benefit, and roused my thoughts
+To guard that life which now I found attacked.
+I summoned all my officers in haste,
+On whose experienced faith I might rely;
+All came resolved to die in my defence,
+Save that one villain who betrayed the gate.
+Our diligence prevented the surprise
+We justly feared: So Muley-Zeydan found us
+Drawn up in battle, to receive the charge.
+
+_Ant._ But how the Moors and Christian slaves were joined,
+You have not yet unfolded.
+
+_Dor._ That remains.
+We knew their interest was the same with ours:
+And, though I hated more than death Sebastian,
+I could not see him die by vulgar hands;
+But, prompted by my angel, or by his,
+Freed all the slaves, and placed him next myself,
+Because I would not have his person known.
+I need not tell the rest, the event declares it.
+
+_Ant._ Your conquests came of course; their men were raw,
+And yours were disciplined.--One doubt remains,
+Why you industriously concealed the king,
+Who, known, had added courage to his men?
+
+_Dor._ I would not hazard civil broils betwixt
+His friends and mine; which might prevent our combat.
+Yet, had he fallen, I had dismissed his troops;
+Or, if victorious, ordered his escape.--
+But I forgot a new increase of joy
+To feast him with surprise; I must about it:
+Expect my swift return.                                       [_Exit._
+
+  _Enter a Servant._
+
+_Serv._ Here's a lady at the door, that bids me tell you, she is come
+to make an end of the game, that was broken off betwixt you.
+
+_Ant._ What manner of woman is she? Does she not want two of the four
+elements? has she any thing about her but air and fire?
+
+_Serv._ Truly, she flies about the room as if she had wings instead of
+legs; I believe she's just turning into a bird:--A house bird I
+warrant her:--And so hasty to fly to you, that, rather than fail of
+entrance, she would come tumbling down the chimney, like a swallow.
+
+  _Enter_ MORAYMA.
+
+_Ant._ [_Running to her, and embracing her._] Look, if she be not here
+already!--What, no denial it seems will serve your turn? Why, thou
+little dun, is thy debt so pressing?
+
+_Mor._ Little devil, if you please: Your lease is out, good master
+conjurer, and I am come to fetch your soul and body; not an hour of
+lewdness longer in this world for you.
+
+_Ant._ Where the devil hast thou been? and how the devil didst thou
+find me here?
+
+_Mor._ I followed you into the castle-yard, but there was nothing but
+tumult and confusion: and I was bodily afraid of being picked up by
+some of the rabble; considering I had a double charge about me,--my
+jewels, and my maidenhead.
+
+_Ant._ Both of them intended for my worship's sole use and property.
+
+_Mor._ And what was poor little I among them all?
+
+_Ant._ Not a mouthful a-piece: 'Twas too much odds, in conscience!
+
+_Mor._ So, seeking for shelter, I naturally ran to the old place of
+assignation, the garden-house; where, for the want of instinct, you
+did not follow me.
+
+_Ant._ Well, for thy comfort, I have secured thy father; and I hope
+thou hast secured his effects for us.
+
+_Mor._ Yes, truly, I had the prudent foresight to consider, that, when
+we grow old, and weary of solacing one another, we might have, at
+least, wherewithal to make merry with the world; and take up with a
+worse pleasure of eating and drinking, when we were disabled for a
+better.
+
+_Ant._ Thy fortune will be even too good for thee; for thou art going
+into the country of serenades and gallantries, where thy street will
+be haunted every night with thy foolish lovers, and my rivals, who
+will be sighing and singing, under thy inexorable windows, lamentable
+ditties, and call thee cruel, and goddess, and moon, and stars, and
+all the poetical names of wicked rhime; while thou and I are minding
+our business, and jogging on, and laughing at them, at leisure
+minutes, which will be very few; take that by way of threatening.
+
+_Mor._ I am afraid you are not very valiant, that you huff so much
+beforehand. But, they say, your churches are fine places for
+love-devotion; many a she-saint is there worshipped.
+
+_Ant._ Temples are there, as they are in all other countries, good
+conveniences for dumb interviews. I hear the protestants are not much
+reformed in that point neither; for their sectaries call their
+churches by the natural name of meeting-houses. Therefore I warn thee
+in good time, not more of devotion than needs must, good future
+spouse, and always in a veil; for those eyes of thine are damned
+enemies to mortification.
+
+_Mor._ The best thing I have heard of Christendom is, that we women
+are allowed the privilege of having souls; and I assure you, I shall
+make bold to bestow mine upon some lover, whenever you begin to go
+astray; and, if I find no convenience in a church, a private chamber
+will serve the turn.
+
+_Ant._ When that day comes, I must take my revenge, and turn gardener
+again; for I find I am much given to planting.
+
+_Mor._ But take heed, in the mean time, that some young Antonio does
+not spring up in your own family; as false as his father, though of
+another man's planting.
+
+  _Re-enter_ DORAX, _with_ SEBASTIAN _and_ ALMEYDA, SEBASTIAN _enters
+  speaking to_ DORAX, _while in the mean time_ ANTONIO _presents_
+  MORAYMA _to_ ALMEYDA.
+
+_Seb._ How fares our royal prisoner, Muley-Zeydan?
+
+_Dor._ Disposed to grant whatever I desire,
+To gain a crown, and freedom. Well I know him,
+Of easy temper, naturally good,
+And faithful to his word.
+
+_Seb._ Yet one thing wants,
+To fill the measure of my happiness;
+I'm still in pain for poor Alvarez' life.
+
+_Dor._ Release that fear, the good old man is safe;
+I paid his ransom,
+And have already ordered his attendance.
+
+_Seb._ O bid him enter, for I long to see him.
+
+  _Enter_ ALVAREZ _with a Servant, who departs when_ ALVAREZ _is
+  entered._
+
+_Alv._ Now by my soul, and by these hoary hairs,
+                      [_Falling down, and embracing the King's knees._
+I'm so o'erwhelmed with pleasure, that I feel
+A latter spring within my withering limbs,
+That shoots me out again.
+
+_Seb._ Thou good old man,                              [_Raising him._
+Thou hast deceived me into more, more joys,
+Who stood brim-full before.
+
+_Alv._ O my dear child,--
+I love thee so, I cannot call thee king,--
+Whom I so oft have dandled in these arms!
+What, when I gave thee lost, to find thee living!
+'Tis like a father, who himself had 'scaped
+A falling house, and, after anxious search,
+Hears from afar his only son within;
+And digs through rubbish, till he drags him out,
+To see the friendly light.
+Such is my haste, so trembling is my joy,
+To draw thee forth from underneath thy fate.
+
+_Seb._ The tempest is o'erblown, the skies are clear,
+And the sea charmed into a calm so still,
+That not a wrinkle ruffles her smooth face.
+
+_Alv._ Just such she shows before a rising storm;
+And therefore am I come with timely speed,
+To warn you into port.
+
+_Alm._ My soul forebodes
+Some dire event involved in those dark words,
+And just disclosing in a birth of fate.                      [_Aside._
+
+_Alv._ Is there not yet an heir of this vast empire,
+Who still survives, of Muley-Moluch's branch?
+
+_Dor._ Yes, such a one there is a captive here,
+And brother to the dead.
+
+_Alv._ The powers above
+Be praised for that! My prayers for my good master,
+I hope, are heard.
+
+_Seb._ Thou hast a right in heaven.
+But why these prayers for me?
+
+_Alv._ A door is open yet for your deliverance.--
+Now you, my countrymen, and you, Almeyda,
+Now all of us, and you, my all in one,
+May yet be happy in that captive's life.
+
+_Seb._ We have him here an honourable hostage
+For terms of peace; what more he can contribute
+To make me blest, I know not.
+
+_Ah._ Vastly more;
+Almeyda may be settled in the throne,
+And you review your native clime with fame.
+A firm alliance and eternal peace,
+The glorious crown of honourable war,
+Are all included in that prince's life.
+Let this fair queen be given to Muley-Zeydan,
+And make her love the sanction of your league.
+
+_Seb._ No more of that; his life's in my dispose,
+And prisoners are not to insist on terms;
+Or, if they were, yet he demands not these.
+
+_Alv._ You should exact them.
+
+_Alm._ Better may be made,
+These cannot: I abhor the tyrant's race,--
+My parents' murderers, my throne's usurpers.
+But, at one blow, to cut off all dispute,
+Know this, thou busy, old, officious man,--
+I am a Christian; now be wise no more;
+Or, if thou wouldst be still thought wise, be silent.
+
+_Alv._ O, I perceive you think your interest touched:
+'Tis what before the battle I observed;
+But I must speak, and will.
+
+_Seb._ I pr'ythee, peace;
+Perhaps she thinks they are too near of blood.
+
+_Alv._ I wish she may not wed to blood more near.
+
+_Seb._ What if I make her mine?
+
+_Alv._ Now heaven forbid!
+
+_Seb._ Wish rather heaven may grant;
+For, if I could deserve, I have deserved her:
+My toils, my hazards, and my subjects' lives,
+Provided she consent, may claim her love;
+And, that once granted, I appeal to these,
+If better I could chuse a beauteous bride.
+
+_Ant._ The fairest of her sex.
+
+_Mor._ The pride of nature.
+
+_Dor._ He only merits her, she only him;
+So paired, so suited in their minds and persons,
+That they were framed the tallies for each other.
+If any alien love had interposed,
+It must have been an eye-sore to beholders,
+And to themselves a curse.
+
+_Alv._ And to themselves
+The greatest curse that can be, were to join.
+
+_Seb._ Did not I love thee past a change to hate,
+That word had been thy ruin; but no more,
+I charge thee, on thy life, perverse old man!
+
+_Alv._ Know, sir, I would be silent if I durst:
+But if, on shipboard, I should see my friend
+Grown frantic in a raging calenture,
+And he, imagining vain flowery fields,
+Would headlong plunge himself into the deep,--
+Should I not hold him from that mad attempt,
+Till his sick fancy were by reason cured?
+
+_Seb._ I pardon thee the effects of doting age,
+Vain doubts, and idle cares, and over-caution;
+The second nonage of a soul more wise,
+But now decayed, and sunk into the socket;
+Peeping by fits, and giving feeble light.
+
+_Alv._ Have you forgot?
+
+_Seb._ Thou mean'st my father's will,
+In bar of marriage to Almeyda's bed.
+Thou seest my faculties are still entire,
+Though thine are much impaired. I weighed that will,
+And found 'twas grounded on our different faiths;
+But, had he lived to see her happy change,
+He would have cancelled that harsh interdict,
+And joined our hands himself.
+
+_Alv._ Still had he lived and seen this change,
+He still had been the same.
+
+_Seb._ I have a dark remembrance of my father:
+His reasonings and his actions both were just;
+And, granting that, he must have changed his measures.
+
+_Alv._ Yes, he was just, and therefore could not change.
+
+_Seb._ 'Tis a base wrong thou offer'st to the dead.
+
+_Alv._ Now heaven forbid,
+That I should blast his pious memory!
+No, I am tender of his holy fame;
+For, dying, he bequeathed it to my charge.
+Believe, I am; and seek to know no more,
+But pay a blind obedience to his will;
+For, to preserve his fame, I would be silent.
+
+_Seb._ Crazed fool, who would'st be thought an oracle,
+Come down from off the tripos, and speak plain.
+My father shall be justified, he shall:
+'Tis a son's part to rise in his defence,
+And to confound thy malice, or thy dotage.
+
+_Alv._ It does not grieve me, that you hold me crazed;
+But, to be cleared at my dead master's cost,
+O there's the wound! but let me first adjure you,
+By all you owe that dear departed soul,
+No more to think of marriage with Almeyda.
+
+_Seb._ Not heaven and earth combined can hinder it.
+
+_Alv._ Then witness heaven and earth, how loth I am
+To say, you must not, nay, you cannot, wed:
+And since not only a dead father's fame,
+But more, a lady's honour, must be touched,
+Which, nice as ermines, will not bear a soil,
+Let all retire, that you alone may hear
+What even in whispers I would tell your ear.     [_All are going out._
+
+_Alm._ Not one of you depart; I charge you, stay!
+And were my voice a trumpet loud as fame,
+To reach the round of heaven, and earth, and sea,
+All nations should be summoned to this place,
+So little do I fear that fellow's charge:
+So should my honour, like a rising swan,
+Brush with her wings the falling drops away,
+And proudly plough the waves.
+
+_Seb._ This noble pride becomes thy innocence;
+And I dare trust my father's memory,
+To stand the charge of that foul forging tongue.
+
+_Alv._ It will be soon discovered if I forge.
+Have you not heard your father in his youth,
+When newly married, travelled into Spain,
+And made a long abode in Philip's court?
+
+_Seb._ Why so remote a question, which thyself
+Can answer to thyself? for thou wert with him,
+His favourite, as I oft have heard thee boast,
+And nearest to his soul.
+
+_Alv._ Too near, indeed; forgive me, gracious heaven,
+That ever I should boast I was so near,
+The confident of all his young amours!--
+And have not you, unhappy beauty, heard,                    [_To ALM._
+Have you not often heard, your exiled parents
+Were refuged in that court, and at that time?
+
+_Alm._ 'Tis true; and often since my mother owned,
+How kind that prince was to espouse her cause;
+She counselled, nay enjoined me on her blessing,
+To seek the sanctuary of your court;
+Which gave me first encouragement to come,
+And, with my brother, beg Sebastian's aid.
+
+_Seb._ Thou helpst me well to justify my war:
+[_To ALM._] My dying father swore me, then a boy,
+And made me kiss the cross upon his sword,
+Never to sheath it, till that exiled queen
+Were by my arms restored.
+
+_Alm._ And can you find
+No mystery couched in this excess of kindness?
+Were kings e'er known, in this degenerate age,
+So passionately fond of noble acts,
+Where interest shared not more than half with honour?
+
+_Seb._ Base grovelling soul, who know'st not honour's worth,
+But weigh'st it out in mercenary scales!
+The secret pleasure of a generous act
+Is the great mind's great bribe.
+
+_Alv._ Show me that king, and I'll believe the Phoenix.
+But knock at your own breast, and ask your soul,
+If those fair fatal eyes edged not your sword
+More than your father's charge, and all your vows?
+If so,--and so your silence grants it is,--
+Know king, your father had, like you, a soul,
+And love is your inheritance from him.
+Almeyda's mother, too, had eyes, like her,
+And not less charming; and were charmed no less
+Than yours are now with her, and hers with you.
+
+_Alm._ Thou liest, impostor! perjured fiend, thou liest!
+
+_Seb._ Was't not enough to brand my father's fame,
+But thou must load a lady's memory?
+O infamous! O base, beyond repair!
+And to what end this ill-concerted lie,
+Which palpable and gross, yet granted true,
+It bars not my inviolable vows?
+
+_Alv._ Take heed, and double not your father's crimes;
+To his adultery do not add your incest.
+Know, she's the product of unlawful love,
+And 'tis your carnal sister you would wed.
+
+_Seb._ Thou shalt not say thou wer't condemned unheard;
+Else, by my soul, this moment were thy last.
+
+_Alm._ But think not oaths shall justify thy charge,
+Nor imprecations on thy cursed head;
+For who dares lie to heaven, thinks heaven a jest.
+Thou hast confessed thyself the conscious pandar
+Of that pretended passion;
+A single witness infamously known,
+Against two persons of unquestioned fame.
+
+_Alv._ What interest can I have, or what delight,
+To blaze their shame, or to divulge my own?
+If proved, you hate me; if unproved, condemn.
+Not racks or tortures could have forced this secret,
+But too much care to save you from a crime,
+Which would have sunk you both. For, let me say,
+Almeyda's beauty well deserves your love.
+
+_Alm._ Out, base impostor! I abhor thy praise.
+
+_Dor._ It looks not like imposture; but a truth,
+On utmost need revealed.
+
+_Seb._ Did I expect from Dorax this return?
+Is this the love renewed?
+
+_Dor._ Sir, I am silent;
+Pray heaven my fears prove false!
+
+_Seb._ Away! you all combine to make me wretched.
+
+_Alv._ But hear the story of that fatal love,
+Where every circumstance shall prove another;
+And truth so shine by her own native light,
+That, if a lie were mixt, it must be seen.
+
+_Seb._ No; all may still be forged, and of a piece.
+No; I can credit nothing thou canst say.
+
+_Alv._ One proof remains, and that's your father's hand,
+Firmed with his signet; both so fully known,
+That plainer evidence can hardly be,
+Unless his soul would want her heaven awhile,
+And come on earth to swear.
+
+_Seb._ Produce that writing.
+
+_Alv._ [_To DORAX._] Alonzo has it in his custody;
+The same, which, when his nobleness redeemed me,
+And in a friendly visit owned himself
+For what he is, I then deposited,
+And had his faith to give it to the king.
+
+_Dor._ Untouched, and sealed, as when intrusted with me,
+                                 [_Giving a sealed Paper to the King._
+Such I restore it with a trembling hand,
+Lest aught within disturb your peace of soul.
+
+_Seb._ Draw near, Almeyda; thou art most concerned,
+For I am most in thee.--                    [_Tearing open the Seals._
+Alonzo, mark the characters;
+Thou know'st my father's hand, observe it well;
+And if the impostor's pen have made one slip
+That shews it counterfeit, mark that, and save me.
+
+_Dor._ It looks indeed too like my master's hand:
+So does the signet: more I cannot say;
+But wish 'twere not so like.
+
+_Seb._ Methinks it owns
+The black adultery, and Almeyda's birth;
+But such a mist of grief comes o'er my eyes,
+I cannot, or I would not, read it plain.
+
+_Alm._ Heaven cannot be more true, than this is false.
+
+_Seb._ O couldst thou prove it with the same assurance!
+Speak, hast thou ever seen my father's hand?
+
+_Alm._ No; but my mother's honour has been read
+By me, and by the world, in all her acts,
+In characters more plain and legible
+Than this dumb evidence, this blotted lie.--
+Oh that I were a man, as my soul's one,
+To prove thee traitor, and assassinate
+Of her fame! thus moved, I'd tear thee thus,--   [_Tearing the Paper._
+And scatter o'er the field thy coward limbs,
+Like this foul offspring of thy forging brain.
+                                              [_Scattering the Paper._
+
+_Alv._ Just so shalt thou be torn from all thy hopes;
+For know, proud woman, know, in thy despite,
+The most authentic proof is still behind,--
+Thou wear'st it on thy finger: 'Tis that ring,
+Which, matched to that on his, shall clear the doubt.
+'Tis no dumb forgery, for that shall speak,
+And sound a rattling peal to either's conscience.
+
+_Seb._ This ring, indeed, my father, with a cold
+And shaking hand, just in the pangs of death,
+Put on my finger, with a parting sigh;
+And would have, spoke, but faultered in his speech,
+With undistinguished sound.
+
+_Alv._ I know it well,
+For I was present.--Now, Almeyda, speak,
+And truly tell us how you came by yours.
+
+_Alm._ My mother, when I parted from her sight
+To go to Portugal, bequeathed it to me,
+Presaging she should never see me more.
+She pulled it from her finger, shed some tears,
+Kissed it, and told me 'twas a pledge of love,
+And hid a mystery of great importance,
+Relating to my fortunes.
+
+_Alv._ Mark me now,
+While I disclose that fatal mystery:--
+Those rings, when you were born and thought another's,
+Your parents, glowing yet in sinful love,
+Bid me bespeak: a curious artist wrought them.
+With joints so close, as not to be perceived,
+Yet are they both each other's counterpart;
+Her part had _Juan_ inscribed, and his had _Zayda_,
+(You know those names are theirs,) and in the midst
+A heart divided in two halves was placed.
+Now, if the rivets of those rings inclosed
+Fit not each other, I have forged this lie;
+But, if they join, you must for ever part.
+                            [SEBASTIAN _pulling off his Ring,_ ALMEYDA
+                             _does the same, and gives it to_ ALVAREZ,
+                             _who unscrews both the Rings, and fits
+                             one half to the other[10]._
+
+_Seb._ Now life, or death.
+
+_Alm._ And either thine, or ours.--
+I'm lost for ever.     [_Swoons.  The Women and_ MORAYMA _take her up,
+                        and carry her off._ SEBASTIAN _here stands
+                        amazed without motion, his eyes fixed upward._
+
+_Seb._ Look to the queen, my wife; for I am past
+All power of aid to her, or to myself.
+
+_Alv._ His wife! said he, his wife! O fatal sound!
+For, had I known it, this unwelcome news
+Had never reached their ears:
+So they had still been blest in ignorance,
+And I alone unhappy.
+
+_Dor._ I knew it, but too late, and durst not speak.
+
+_Seb._ [_Starting out of his amazement._]
+I will not live, no not a moment more;
+I will not add one moment more to incest;
+I'll cut it off, and end a wretched being:
+For, should I live, my soul's so little mine,
+And so much hers, that I should still enjoy.--
+Ye cruel powers,
+Take me, as you have made me, miserable;
+You cannot make me guilty; 'twas my fate,
+And you made that, not I.    [_Draws his Sword._ ANTONIO _and_ ALVAREZ
+                              _lay hold on him, and_ DORAX _wrests the
+                              Sword out of his hand._
+
+_Ant._ For heaven's sake hold, and recollect your mind!
+
+_Alv._ Consider whom you punish, and for what;
+Yourself unjustly; you have charged the fault
+On heaven, that best may bear it.
+Though incest is indeed a deadly crime,
+You are not guilty, since unknown 'twas done,
+And, known, had been abhorred.
+
+_Seb._ By heaven, you're traitors all, that hold my hands.
+If death be but cessation of our thought,
+Then let me die, for I would think no more.
+I'll boast my innocence above,
+And let them see a soul they could not sully,
+I shall be there before my father's ghost,
+That yet must languish long in frosts and fires,
+For making me unhappy by his crime.--
+Stand oft, and let me take my fill of death;      [_Struggling again._
+For I can hold my breath in your despite,
+And swell my heaving soul out when I please.
+
+_Alv._ Heaven comfort you!
+
+_Seb._ What, art thou giving comfort!
+Wouldst thou give comfort, who hast given despair?
+Thou seest Alonzo silent; he's a man.
+He knows, that men, abandoned of their hopes,
+Should ask no leave, nor stay for sueing out
+A tedious writ of ease from lingering heaven,
+But help themselves as timely as they could,
+And teach the Fates their duty.
+
+_Dor._ [_To_ ALV. _and_ ANT.] Let him go;
+He is our king, and he shall be obeyed.
+
+_Alv._ What, to destroy himself? O parricide!
+
+_Dor._ Be not injurious in your foolish zeal,
+But leave him free; or, by my sword, I swear
+To hew that arm away, that stops the passage
+To his eternal rest.
+
+_Ant._ [_Letting go his hold._] Let him be guilty of his own death, if
+he pleases; for I'll not be guilty of mine, by holding him.
+                                           [_The King shakes off_ ALV.
+
+_Alv._ [_To_ DOR.] Infernal fiend,
+Is this a subject's part?
+
+_Dor._ 'Tis a friend's office.
+He has convinced me, that he ought to die;
+And, rather than he should not, here's my sword,
+To help him on his journey.
+
+_Seb._ My last, my only friend, how kind art thou,
+And how inhuman these!
+
+_Dor._ To make the trifle, death, a thing of moment!
+
+_Seb._ And not to weigh the important cause I had
+To rid myself of life!
+
+_Dor._ True; for a crime
+So horrid, in the face of men and angels,
+As wilful incest is!
+
+_Seb._ Not wilful, neither.
+
+_Dor._ Yes, if you lived, and with repeated acts
+Refreshed your sin, and loaded crimes with crimes,
+To swell your scores of guilt.
+
+_Seb._ True; if I lived.
+
+_Dor._ I said so, if you lived.
+
+_Seb._ For hitherto was fatal ignorance,
+And no intended crime.
+
+_Dor._ That you best know;
+But the malicious world will judge the worst.
+
+_Alv._ O what a sophister has hell procured,
+To argue for damnation!
+
+_Dor._ Peace, old dotard.
+Mankind, that always judge of kings with malice,
+Will think he knew this incest, and pursued it.
+His only way to rectify mistakes,
+And to redeem her honour, is to die.
+
+_Seb._ Thou hast it right, my dear, my best Alonzo!
+And that, but petty reparation too;
+But all I have to give.
+
+_Dor._ Your, pardon, sir;
+You may do more, and ought.
+
+_Seb._ What, more than death?
+
+_Dor._ Death! why, that's children's sport; a stage-play death;
+We act it every night we go to bed.
+Death, to a man in misery, is sleep.
+Would you,--who perpetrated such a crime,
+As frightened nature, made the saints above
+Shake heavens eternal pavement with their trembling
+To view that act,--would you but barely die?
+But stretch your limbs, and turn on t'other side.
+To lengthen out a black voluptuous slumber,
+And dream you had your sister in your arms?
+
+_Seb._ To expiate this, can I do more than die?
+
+_Dor._ O yes, you must do more, you must be damned;
+You must be damned to all eternity;
+And sure self-murder is the readiest way.
+
+_Seb._ How, damned?
+
+_Dor._ Why, is that news?
+
+_Alv._ O horror, horror!
+
+_Dor._ What, thou a statesman,
+And make a business of damnation
+In such a world as this! why, 'tis a trade;
+The scrivener, usurer, lawyer, shopkeeper,
+And soldier, cannot live but by damnation.
+The politician does it by advance,
+And gives all gone beforehand.
+
+_Seb._ O thou hast given me such a glimpse of hell,
+So pushed me forward, even to the brink
+Of that irremeable burning gulph,
+That, looking in the abyss, I dare not leap.
+And now I see what good thou mean'st my soul,
+And thank thy pious fraud; thou hast indeed
+Appeared a devil, but didst an angel's work.
+
+_Dor._ 'Twas the last remedy, to give you leisure;
+For, if you could but think, I knew you safe.
+
+_Seb._ I thank thee, my Alonzo; I will live,
+But never more to Portugal return;
+For, to go back and reign, that were to show
+Triumphant incest, and pollute the throne.
+
+_Alv._ Since ignorance--
+
+_Seb._ O, palliate not my wound;
+When you have argued all you can, 'tis incest.
+No, 'tis resolved: I charge you plead no more;
+I cannot live without Almeyda's sight,
+Nor can I see Almeyda, but I sin.
+Heaven has inspired me with a sacred thought,
+To live alone to heaven, and die to her.
+
+_Dor._ Mean you to turn an anchorite?
+
+_Seb._ What else?
+The world was once too narrow for my mind,
+But one poor little nook will serve me now,
+To hide me from the rest of human kind.
+Africk has deserts wide enough to hold
+Millions of monsters; and I am, sure, the greatest.
+
+_Alv._ You may repent, and wish your crown too late.
+
+_Seb._ O never, never; I am past a boy:
+A sceptre's but a plaything, and a globe
+A bigger bounding stone. He, who can leave
+Almeyda, may renounce the rest with ease.
+
+_Dor._ O truly great!
+A soul fixed high, and capable of heaven.
+Old as he is, your uncle cardinal
+Is not so far enamoured of a cloister,
+But he will thank you for the crown you leave him.
+
+_Seb._ To please him more, let him believe me dead,
+That he may never dream I may return.
+Alonzo, I am now no more thy king,
+But still thy friend; and by that holy name
+Adjure thee, to perform my last request;--
+Make our conditions with yon captive king;
+Secure me but my solitary cell;
+'Tis all I ask him for a crown restored.
+
+_Dor._ I will do more:
+But fear not Muley-Zeydan; his soft metal
+Melts down with easy warmth, runs in the mould,
+And needs no further forge.                             [_Exit_ DORAX.
+
+  _Re-enter_ ALMEYDA _led by_ MORAYMA, _and followed by her
+  Attendants._
+
+_Seb._ See where she comes again!
+By heaven, when I behold those beauteous eyes,
+Repentance lags, and sin comes hurrying on.
+
+_Alm._ This is too cruel!
+
+_Seb._ Speak'st thou of love, of fortune, or of death,
+Or double death? for we must part, Almeyda.
+
+_Alm._ I speak of all,
+For all things that belong to us are cruel;
+But, what's most cruel, we must love no more.
+O 'tis too much that I must never see you,
+But not to love you is impossible.
+No, I must love you; heaven may bate me that,
+And charge that sinful sympathy of souls
+Upon our parents, when they loved too well.
+
+_Seb._ Good heaven, thou speak'st my thoughts, and I speak thine!
+Nay, then there's incest in our very souls,
+For we were formed too like.
+
+_Alm._ Too like indeed,
+And yet not for each other.
+Sure when we part, (for I resolved it too,
+Though you proposed it first,) however distant,
+We shall be ever thinking of each other,
+And the same moment for each other pray.
+
+_Seb._ But if a wish should come athwart our prayers!
+
+_Alm._ It would do well to curb it, if we could.
+
+_Seb._ We cannot look upon each other's face,
+But, when we read our love, we read our guilt:
+And yet, methinks, I cannot chuse but love.
+
+_Aim._ I would have asked you, if I durst for shame,
+If still you loved? you gave it air before me.
+Ah, why were we not born both of a sex?
+For then we might have loved without a crime.
+Why was not I your brother? though that wish
+Involved our parents' guilt, we had not parted;
+We had been friends, and friendship is no incest.
+
+_Seb._ Alas, I know not by what name to call thee!
+Sister and wife are the two dearest names,
+And I would call thee both, and both are sin.
+Unhappy we! that still we must confound
+The dearest names into a common curse.
+
+_Alm._ To love, and be beloved, and yet be wretched!
+
+_Seb._ To have but one poor night of all our lives;
+It was indeed a glorious, guilty night;
+So happy, that--forgive me, heaven!--I wish,
+With all its guilt, it were to come again.
+Why did we know so soon, or why at all,
+That sin could be concealed in such a bliss?
+_Alm._ Men have a larger privilege of words,
+Else I should speak; but we must part, Sebastian,--
+That's all the name that I have left to call thee;--
+I must not call thee by the name I would;
+But when I say Sebastian, dear Sebastian,
+I kiss the name I speak.
+
+_Seb._ We must make haste, or we shall never part.
+I would say something that's as dear as this;
+Nay, would do more than say: One moment longer,
+And I should break through laws divine and human,
+And think them cobwebs spread for little man,
+Which all the bulky herd of nature breaks.
+The vigorous young world was ignorant
+Of these restrictions; 'tis decrepit now;
+Not more devout, but more decayed, and cold.--
+All this is impious, therefore we must part;
+For, gazing thus, I kindle at thy sight,
+And, once burnt down to tinder, light again
+Much sooner than before.
+
+  _Re-enter_ DORAX.
+
+_Alm._ Here comes the sad denouncer of my fate,
+To toll the mournful knell of separation;
+While I, as on my deathbed, hear the sound,
+That warns me hence for ever.
+
+_Seb._ [_To_ DOR.] Now be brief,
+And I will try to listen,
+And share the minute, that remains, betwixt
+The care I owe my subjects, and my love.
+
+_Dor._ Your fate has gratified you all she can;
+Gives easy misery, and makes exile pleasing.
+I trusted Muley-Zeydan as a friend,
+But swore him first to secrecy: He wept
+Your fortune, and with tears not squeezed by art,
+But shed from nature, like a kindly shower:
+In short, he proffered more than I demanded;
+A safe retreat, a gentle solitude,
+Unvexed with noise, and undisturbed with fears.
+I chose you one--
+
+_Alm._ O do not tell me where;
+For, if I knew the place of his abode,
+I should be tempted to pursue his steps,
+And then we both were lost.
+
+_Seb._ Even past redemption;
+For, if I knew thou wert on that design,
+(As I must know, because our souls are one,)
+I should not wander, but by sure instinct
+Should meet thee just half-way in pilgrimage,
+And close for ever; for I know my love
+More strong than thine, and I more frail than thou.
+
+_Alm._ Tell me not that; for I must boast my crime,
+And cannot bear that thou should'st better love.
+
+_Dor._ I may inform you both; for you must go,
+Where seas, and winds, and deserts will divide you.
+Under the ledge of Atlas lies a cave,
+Cut in the living rock by Nature's hands,
+The venerable seat of holy hermits;
+Who there, secure in separated cells,
+Sacred even to the Moors, enjoy devotion;
+And from the purling streams, and savage fruits.
+Have wholesome beverage, and unbloody feasts.
+
+_Seb._ 'Tis penance too voluptuous for my crime[11].
+
+_Dor._ Your subjects, conscious of your life, are few;
+But all desirous to partake your exile,
+And to do office to your sacred person.
+The rest, who think you dead, shall be dismissed.
+Under safe convoy, till they reach your fleet.
+
+_Alm._ But how am wretched I to be disposed?--
+A vain enquiry, since I leave my lord;
+For all the world beside is banishment.
+
+_Dor._ I have a sister, abbess in Terceras,
+Who lost her lover on her bridal day.
+
+_Alm._ There fate provided me a fellow-turtle,
+To mingle sighs with sighs, and tears with tears.
+
+_Dor._ Last, for myself, if I have well fulfilled
+My sad commission, let me beg the boon,
+To share the sorrows of your last recess,
+And mourn the common losses of our loves.
+
+_Alv._ And what becomes of me? must I be left,
+As age and time had worn me out of use?
+These sinews are not yet so much unstrung,
+To fail me when my master should be served;
+And when they are, then will I steal to death,
+Silent and unobserved, to save his tears.
+
+_Seb._ I've heard you both;--Alvarez, have thy wish;--
+But thine, Alonzo, thine is too unjust.
+I charge thee with my last commands, return,
+And bless thy Violante with thy vows.--
+Antonio, be thou happy too in thine.
+Last, let me swear you all to secrecy;
+And, to conceal my shame, conceal my life.
+
+_Dor. Ant. Mor._ We swear to keep it secret.
+
+_Alm._ Now I would speak the last farewell, I cannot.
+It would be still farewell a thousand times;
+And, multiplied in echoes, still farewell.
+I will not speak, but think a thousand thousand.
+And be thou silent too, my last Sebastian;
+So let us part in the dumb pomp of grief.
+My heart's too great, or I would die this moment;
+But death, I thank him, in an hour, has made
+A mighty journey, and I haste to meet him.
+                           [_She staggers, and her Women hold her up._
+
+_Seb._ Help to support this feeble drooping flower.
+This tender sweet, so shaken by the storm;
+For these fond arms must thus be stretched in vain,
+And never, never must embrace her more.
+'Tis past:--my soul goes in that word--farewell.
+                            [ALVAREZ _goes with_ SEBASTIAN _to one end
+                             of the Stage; Women, with_ ALMEYDA, _to
+                             the other:_ DORAX _coming up to_ ANTONIO
+                             _and_ MORAYMA, _who stand on the middle
+                             of the Stage._
+
+_Dor._ Haste to attend Almeyda:--For your sake
+Your father is forgiven; but to Antonio
+He forfeits half his wealth. Be happy both;
+And let Sebastian and Almeyda's fate
+This dreadful sentence to the world relate,--
+That unrepented crimes, of parents dead,
+Are justly punished on their children's head.
+
+
+Footnotes:
+1. This whimsical account of the Slave-market is probably taken from
+   the following passage in the "Captivity and escape of Adam Elliot,
+   M.A."--"By sun-rising next morning, we were all of us, who came
+   last to Sallee, driven to market, where, the Moors sitting
+   taylor-wise on stalls round about, we were severally run up and
+   down by persons who proclaimed our qualities or trades, and what
+   might best recommend us to the buyer. I had a great black who was
+   appointed to sell me; this fellow, holding me by the hand, coursed
+   me up and down from one person to another, who called upon me at
+   pleasure to examine what trade I was of, and to see what labour my
+   hands had been accustomed to. All the seamen were soon bought up,
+   but it was mid-day ere I could meet with a purchaser."--See _A
+   modest Vindication of Titus Oates_, London, 1682.
+
+2.   The knight much wondered at his sudden wit;
+     And said, The term of life is limited,
+     Ne may a man prolong nor shorten it;
+     The soldier may not move from watchful sted,
+     Nor leave his stand until his captain bed.
+                                   _Fairy Queen, Book i. Canto 9._
+
+3. The same artifice is used in "OEdipus," vol. vi. p. 149. to
+   impress, by a description of the feelings of the unfortunate pair
+   towards each other, a presentiment of their fatal relationship. The
+   prophecy of Nostradamus is also obviously imitated from the
+   response of the Delphic Pythoness to OEdipus.--_Ibid. See_ p. 156.
+
+4. For, interpreter; more usually spelled dragoman.
+
+5. A horrid Moorish punishment. The criminal was precipitated from a
+   high tower upon iron scythes and hooks, which projected from its
+   side. This scene Settle introduces in one of his tragedies.
+
+6. These presages of misfortune may remind the reader of the ominous
+   feelings of the Duke of Guise, in the scene preceding his murder.
+   The superstitious belief, that dejection of spirits, without cause,
+   announces an impending violent death, is simply but well expressed
+   in an old ballad called the "Warning to all Murderers:"
+
+     And after this most bad pretence,
+       The gentleman each day
+     Still felt his heart to throb and faint,
+       And sad he was alway.
+
+     His sleep was full of dreadful dreams,
+       In bed where he did lie;
+     His heart was heavy in the day,
+       Yet knew no reason why.
+
+     And oft as he did sit at meat,
+       His nose most suddenly
+     Would spring and gush out crimson blood,
+       And straight it would be dry.
+
+7. There is great art in rendering the interpretation of this ominous
+   dream so ingeniously doubtful. The latter circumstance, where the
+   Emperor recognises his murderer as a personage in his vision, seems
+   to be borrowed from the story of one of the caliphs, who, before
+   his death, dreamed, that a sable hand and arm shook over his head a
+   handful of red earth, and denounced, that such was the colour of
+   the earth on which he should die. When taken ill on an expedition,
+   he desired to know the colour of the earth on which his tent was
+   pitched. A negro slave presented him with a specimen; and in the
+   black's outstretched arm, bared, from respect, to the elbow, as
+   well as in the colour of the earth, the caliph acknowledged the
+   apparition he had seen in his sleep, and prepared for immediate
+   death.
+
+8. _Et quum fata volunt, bina venena juvant._--AUSONIUS.
+
+9. Idiots were anciently wards of the crown; and the custody of their
+   person, and charge of their estate, was often granted to the suit
+   of some favourite, where the extent of the latter rendered it an
+   object of plunder. Hence the common phrase of being _begged for a
+   fool._
+
+10. This incident seems to be taken from the following passage in the
+   _Continuation of the Adventures of Don Sebastian_.
+
+   "In Moran, an island some half league from Venice, there is an
+   abbot called Capelo, a gentleman of Venice, a grave personage, and
+   of great authority, hearing that the king laid wait for certain
+   jewels that he had lost, (hoping thereby to recover some of them,)
+   having a diamond in his keeping with the arms of Portugal, came to
+   the town to the conventicles of St Francis, called Frari, where the
+   king lay concealed, for that he was pursued by some that meant him
+   no good, who no sooner beheld the ring, but he said, 'Verily this
+   is mine, and I either lost the same in Flanders, or else it was
+   stolen from me.' And when the king had put it upon his finger, it
+   appeared otherwise engraven than before. The abbot enquiring of him
+   that brought him the ring, how he came by it? he answered, it is
+   true that the king hath said. Hence arose a strange rumour of a
+   ring, that, by turning the stone, you might discern three great
+   letters engraven, S.R.P. as much as to say, _Sebastianus Rex
+   Portugallix."--Harl. Mis._ vol. v. p. 462.
+
+11. It is said, in the pamphlets alluded to, that Don Sebastian, out
+   of grief and shame for having fought against the advice of his
+   generals, and lost the flower of his army, took the resolution of
+   never returning to his country, but of burying himself in a
+   hermitage; and that he resided for three years as an anchorite, on
+   the top of a mountain in Dalmatia.
+
+
+
+
+                              EPILOGUE,
+
+                  SPOKEN BETWIXT ANTONIO AND MORAYMA
+
+
+  _Mor._ I quaked at heart, for fear the royal fashion
+  Should have seduced us two to separation:
+  To be drawn in, against our own desire,
+  Poor I to be a nun, poor you, a friar.
+
+  _Ant._ I trembled, when the old man's hand was in,
+  He would have proved we were too near of kin:
+  Discovering old intrigues of love, like t'other,     }
+  Betwixt my father and thy sinful mother;             }
+  To make us sister Turk and Christian brother.        }
+
+  _Mor._ Excuse me there; that league should have been rather
+  Betwixt your mother and my Mufti father;
+  'Tis for my own and my relations' credit,
+  Your friends should bear the bastard, mine should get it.
+
+  _Ant._ Suppose us two, Almeyda and Sebastian,
+  With incest proved upon us--
+
+  _Mor._ Without question,
+  Their conscience was too queazy of digestion.
+
+  _Ant._ Thou wouldst have kept the counsel of thy brother,
+  And sinned, till we repented of each other.
+
+  _Mor._ Beast as you are, on Nature's laws to trample!
+  'Twere fitter that we followed their example.
+  And, since all marriage in repentance ends,
+  'Tis good for us to part when we are friends.
+  To save a maid's remorses and confusions,
+  E'en leave me now before we try conclusions.
+
+  _Ant._ To copy their example, first make certain
+  Of one good hour, like theirs, before our parting;
+  Make a debauch, o'er night, of love and madness;
+  And marry, when we wake, in sober sadness.
+
+  _Mor._ I'll follow no new sects of your inventing.
+  One night might cost me nine long months repenting;
+  First wed, and, if you find that life a fetter,
+  Die when you please; the sooner, sir, the better.
+  My wealth would get me love ere I could ask it:
+  Oh! there's a strange temptation in the casket.
+  All these young sharpers would my grace importune,
+  And make me thundering votes of lives and fortune[1].
+
+
+Footnote:
+1. Alluding to the addresses upon the Revolution.
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                      END OF THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
+
+
+                              Edinburgh:
+
+                  Printed by James Ballantyne & Co.
+
+
+
+
+
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