• Where fins are judg'd, will damn the tempting devil, More deep than thofe he tempted.'

Bert. If princes not protect their ministers,

What man will dare to ferve them?

Qu. None will dare

To ferve them ill, when they are left to laws;
But, when a counfellor, to fave himself,
Would lay mifcarriages upon his prince,
Expofing him to public rage and hate,
O, 'tis an act as infamoufly base,

As, fhould a common foldier fculk behind,
And thrust his general in the front of war:
It fhews, he only serv'd himself before,
And had no fenfe of honour, country, king;
But center'd on himself; and us'd his master,
As guardians do their wards, with fhews of care,
But with intent to fell the public fafety,
And pocket up his prince.

Ped. [Afide.] Well faid, i'faith.

This fpeech is e'en too good for an ufurper.
Bert. I fee for whom I must be sacrific'd ;
And had I not been fotted with my zeal,
I might have found it fooner.

Qu. From my fight!

The prince who bears an infolence like this,
Is fuch an image of the powers above,
As is the ftatue of the thundering god,
Whofe bolts the boys may play with.
Bert. Unreveng'd

I will not fall, nor fingle.

Qu. [To Ray. who kiffes her hand.]

I faw you not before: one honeft lord

[Exit cum fuis. Welcome, wel[come;

Is hid with ease among a crowd of courtiers;

How can I be too grateful to the father

Of fuch a fon as Torrifmond?

Ray. His actions were but duty.

Qu. Yet, my Lord,

All have not paid that debt, like noble Torrifiond.
You hear, how Bertran brands me with a crime,

Of which, your fon can witness, I am free ;

C

I fent to stop the murder, but too late;
• For crimes are swift, but penitence is flow,'

F 3

The

The bloody Bertran, diligent in ill,

Flew to prevent the foft returns of pity.
Ray. O curfed hafte, of making fure a fin!
Can you forgive the traitor?

Qu. Never, never:

'Tis written here in characters fo deep,

That seven years hence (till then should I not meet him) And in the temple then, I'll drag him thence,

Ev'n from the holy altar to the block.

Ray. [Afide.] She's fir'd, as I would with her. Aid me, Juftice,

As all my ends are thine, to gain this point;

And ruin both at once.

It wounds indeed,

[To her.

To bear affronts, too great to be forgiven,

And not have power to punish.
There is to ruin Bertran.

22. O, there's none;

Yet one way

• Except an hoft from Heaven can make such hafte
To fave my crown, as he will do to feize it.'
You faw, he came furrounded with his friends,
And knew befides, our army was remov'd
To quarters too remote for fudden use.
Ray. Yet you may give commiffion

To fome bold man, whofe loyalty you trust,
And let him raise the train-bands of the city.

Qu. Grofs feeders, lion-talkers, lamb-like fighters.
Ray. You do not know the virtues of your city,
What pufhing force they have: fome popular chief,
More noify than the reft, but cries halloo,
And in a trice, the bellowing herd come out ;
The gates are barr'd, the ways are barricado'd,
And one and all's the word; true cocks o'th' game,
That never afk, for what, or whom, they fight;
But turn 'em out, and flew 'em but a foe,
Cry liberty, and that's a caufe for quarrel.

Qu. There may be danger, in that boift'rous rout: Who knows, when fires are kindled for my foes,. But some new blast of wind may turn thofe flames Againit my palace-walls?

Ray. But fill their chief

Muft be fome one, whofe loyalty you truß.

Qu. And who more proper for that trust than you,
Whose interests, though unknown to you, are mine?
Alphonfo, Pedro, hafte to raise the rabble,
He fhall appear to head 'em.

Ray. [Afide to Alph. and Ped.] Firft seize Bertran,
And then infinuate to them, that I bring

Their lawful prince to place upon the throne.
Alph. Our lawful prince?

Ray. Fear not: I can produce him.

• Ped. [To Alph.] Now we want your fon Lorenzo what a mighty faction

'Would he make for us of the city wives,
With, O, dear husband, my fweet honey hufband,
Won't you be for the Colonel? If you love me,
'Be for the Colonel? O, he's the finest man!'

[Exit.

Ray. [Afide.] So, now we have a plot behind the plot; She thinks, fhe's in the depth of my defign,

And that it's all for her; but time shall show,

She only lives to help me ruin others,

And laff, to fall herself.

Qu. Now to you, Raymond: can you guess no reason Why I repofe fuch confidence in you?

You needs must think,

There's fome more powerful caufe than loyalty:

Will

you not fpeak, to fave a lady's blush?

Muft I inform you, 'tis for Torrifmond,

That all this grace is fhewn?

Ray. [Afide.] By all the powers, worfe, worse than what I fear'd.

Qu. And yet, what need I blush at fuch a choice.
I love a man whom I am proud to love,
And am well pleas'd my inclination gives
What gratitude would force. • O pardon me;
• I ne'er was covetous of wealth before;

⚫ Yet think fo vast a treasure as your fon,

Too great for any private man's poffeffion;
And him too rich a jewel to be fet

In vulgar metal, or for vulgar use.
'Ray. Arm me with patience, Heaven!
2u. How, patience, Raymond?

• What exercise of patience have you here?
What find you in my crown to be contemn'd,

OF

'Or in my perfon loath'd? Have I, a queen, Pafs'd by my fellow-rulers of the world, Whofe vying crowns lays glittering in my way, As if the world were pav'd with diadems? • Have I refus'd their blood, to mix with yours, And raife new kingdoms from fo obfcure a race, Fate fcarce knew where to find them when I call'd? "Have I heap'd on my perfon, crown and state, To load the fcale, and weigh'd myself with earth, For you to spurn the balance ?

'Ray. Bate the last, and 'tis what I would fay: Can I, can any loyal fubject, fee

bed;

With patience fuch a stoop from fovereignty,
'An ocean pour'd upon a narrow brook ?
My zeal for you must lay the father by,
And plead my country's caufe against my fon.
• What tho' his heart be great, his actions gallant,
• He wants a crown to poife against a crown,
Birth to match birth, and power to balance power.
Qu. All these I have, and these I can bestow.
But he brings worth and virtue to my
•And virtue is the wealth which tyrants want,
• I ftand in need of one whofe glories may
• Redeem my crimes, ally me to his fame,
• Difpel the factions of my foes on earth,
• Difarm the juftice of the powers above-
Ray. The people never will endure this choice.
Qu. If I endure it, what imports it you?
Go raife the minifters of my revenge,

Guide with your breath this whirling tempeft round,
And fee its fury fall where I defign;

At laft a time for juft revenge is given;
Revenge, the darling attribute of Heav'n:

◄ But man, unlike his Maker, bears too long;
Still more expos'd, the more he pardons wrong;

• Great in forgiving, and in fuffering brave,
To be a faint, he makes himself a flave.' [Exit,
Ray. Marriage with Torrifmond! it must not be ;
By Heaven, it must not be; or, if it be,
Law, juftice, honour bid farewel to earth,
For Heaven leaves all to tyrants.

Enter

Enter Torrifmond, who kneels to him.
Tor. O, ever welcome, Sir,

But doubly now! You come in fuch a time,
As if propitious Fortune took a care,

To fwell my tide of joys to their full height,
And leave me nothing farther to defire.

Ray. I hope I come in time, if not to make,
At leaft, to fave your fortune and your honour:
Take heed
you fteer your veffel right, my fon;
This calm of Heaven, this mermaid's melody,
Into an unfeen whirlpool draws you fast,
And in a moment finks you.

Tor. Fortune cannot,

And Fate can fcarce; I've made the port already,
And laugh fecurely at the lazy ftorm

That wanted wings to reach me in the deep.
Your pardon, Sir; my duty calls me hence;
I go to find my queen, my earthly goddefs,
To whom I owe my hopes, my life, my love.
Ray. You owe her more perhaps than you imagine;
Stay, I command you stay, and hear me first.
This hour's the very crifis of your fate,
Your good or ill, your infamy or fame,
And all the colour of your life depends
On this important now.

Tor. I fee no danger;

The city, army, court efpoufe my caufe,

And, more than all, the Queen, with public favour,
Indulges my pretenfions to her love.

Ray. Nay, if poffeffing her can make you happy, 'Tis granted, nothing hinders your defign.

• Tor. If the can make me bleft? fhe only can :
Empire, wealth, and all the brings befide,
Are but the train and trappings of her love:
'The sweetest, kindest, truest of her sex,
In whofe poffeffion years roll round on years,
And joys in circles meet new joys again:
Kiffes, embraces, languishing, and death
Still from each other to each other move,
To crown the various seasons of our love:

And doubt you if fuch love can make me happy?

Ray. Yes, for I think you love your honour more.

Ter