University of Virginia Library

ACT. V.

SCENE The Outward Temple.
Enter Queen, Priests and Priestesses.
1 Pr.
Save us ye eternal Pow'rs that save the Just.

2 Priest.
Protect us, great Diana!

1 Priest.
What dismal Night is this?

2 Pr.
A dreadful Night indeed!

1 Pr.
Sure all the Elements will now be wrack'd,
And 'tis the end of all things.

Queen.
Are you the Sacred Ministers of Heav'n,
And yet afraid of Thunder?

1 Pr.
When Jove's disturb'd, what Mortal dares be calm?

Queen.
I who am conscious of committing nothing,
That may provoke his Anger.
Are all things ready?

Pr.
They are, ev'n now th'adorn the fatal Image.

Queen.
And is Diana's Priestess at the Altar?

Pr.
She is, but languishing and pale, and trembling,
A deadly Horrour has o'ercast her Eyes,
And she is likely to expire,
Before the very Victim.

Queen.
Summon the Prisoner to the Altar then,
And let the Cornets sound th'alarm of Death.
Bless me, what shout is that? Sound on I charge you.
[Flat Trumpets.
Let nothing interrupt this dreadful Ceremony,
Presumptuous Slave!
Enter Scythian.
Art thou not he who strictly wert commanded,
To guide the Victim to the smoaking Altar?
How dost thou dare then on this fatal Summons,
T'appear without thy Prisoner?

Scyth.
Great Queen provide betimes for your Security;
For now, ev'n now before this Sacred Pile,
The Greeks and Scythians wage a doubtful War.

Queen.
Oh! Confusion! Bar the Gates immediately,
And give immediate notice to the Army.
The Grecians are without? And is it possible?
How could they force in spight of your resistance,
Their passage up the Mountain's Steep ascent?

Scyth.
You have heard how first by slow Degrees they ascended,
While as they mounted dusky Clouds arose
And Heaven appear'd to scoul upon th'Attempt,
And lowring blacken'd all their March, while ours
Upon the Margin of the horrid Summet,
With threatning Darts impatiently expected them.
But when within our Javelins reach they arriv'd
Upon the sudden Jove declar'd aloud for them.
The dreadful Thunder from behind them roar'd,
While at our Scythians Eyes the blasting Lightning flew,
The Grecians with a shout that breath'd Defiance,
Receiv'd th'Auspicious Signal; and the Thunder
Seem'd as an Instrument of War t'excite them.
Hear ye Barbarians! Hear great Jove they cryed,
Threatning Destruction to your cursed Race.
And as the Rocks Restor'd the Dreadful cry
Murmuring they clash'd a formidable Din
Upon their flaming Shields, then shook their Horrid Spears,
Their Spears that bristled with th'amazing Beams
Of the Retorted Lightning; Hideous they ascended,
As flaming Furies mounting from the Abyss,
While all our Scythians look'd like pale Offenders,
When they behold Hell's Ghastly Executioners.

Queen.
Infamous Slaves!

Scyth.
This from the adjacent Turret I beheld,
Where I, great Queen, by your Supream Command,
Prepar'd the Victim for th'expected Signal.
When lo the Third, and the last fatal time,
The Mournful Cornets Sound th'alarm of Death:
When in obedience to your Soveraign Charge,
I hurrying drag'd the Victim to his Fate.

Queen.
And where have you bestow'd him?

Scyth.
Not I great Queen, but destiny bestowed him.
As we were Traversing the outward Court,
The Grecians that with their protended Spears,
Had driv'n our Scythians from the Mountains Ridge,
And quite o'ercome the Rocks severe Ascent;
Swift as the Lightning intercept our passage,
And in a Moment, snatch the Victim from us.

Queen.
And thou art alive to tell this?

Scyth.
My Life was of Importance to your Service,
And therefore I preserv'd it.
A panick Fear had now dispers'd our Scythians;
Some fell, some fled, but all remain'd Disorder'd.
I by this Voice alone retriev'd the Fainting,
Confirm'd the Doubtful, and recall'd the Flying:
Rallied by me, they still maintain'd their ground,
When I withdrew to inform you of your Danger,
And know your further pleasure.

Queen.
O Death to all my Hopes! [Aside]
Return I charge thee,
If thy Life's dear to thee, with speed Return;
And tell these Scandals to the Scythian Race,
That they had better never have been born,
Than e'er behold my Eyes without the Prisoner?
Tell them, they can but die by Grecian Hands;
And if they die by them, they die with Honour,
And they who die with Honour, die with Pleasure.
But should they owe their Deaths to my Revenge,
[Shout.
Or Thou, O Heaven! that shouts the shout of Triumph,
Read in my Eyes the Rest, and fly to inform them.

[Ex. Scyth.
1 Pr.
The Gods apparently reject this Sacrifice.

Queen.
How durst thou think so?

1 Pr.
The prodigies so lately seen confirm it.
Scarce had the Night upon her Carr ascending,
Thrown her black influence round the Mournful Hemisphere,
When a Mad Whirlwinds Subterranean blast,
Made the Dome tremble from its deep Foundation.
And shook the dreadful glories of its Spires.
The yawning Vault disclos'd its gloomy Entrails,
And labouring from its inmost Caverns groan'd.
And then a Troop of Ghosts bloody and baleful,
And wonderfully pale sprung glaring up.
Then vanishing so ruefully, they shriek'd,
That all the Ghastful Hollow of the Dome,
Multiplying Horrour dismally resounded.
Upon the sudden of their own accord,
These massy Gates with jarring sound flew open,
Grating harsh Thunder on their brasen Hinges;
And last of all a Thundring Voice was heard,
Hear you Barbarians, Hear you accursed Race!
Th'offended Gods depart from you, and then
Prostrate and Trembling on the Ground we heard,
Th'Impetuous rushing sound of their Departure.

Queen.
If this be true,
[Aside.
The fearful Vision of the Nights confirm'd;
And 'tis too plain the Gods reject this Victim,
And loath these Barbarous Rites: But say 'tis true,
Shall this insulting Man return to Greece;
And there in Revels with his Amorous Dames,
Proudly proclaim the Affront he has offer'd me?
He dies first, if the partial Gods refuse him,
He falls a Victim to Revenge and me,
And my fair Fame which his escape would injure;
And then these Barbarous Rites for ever cease.
Old Man, 'tis thy Employment in this Temple,
[To the Priest.
To offer Human gore to our great Goddess,
And not to interpret the Designs of Fate.
Comes this from holy indigested Luxury?
Or art thou with the Greeks Confederate grown?
Why should the Gods Reveal themselves to thee,
Who hast a groveling and an abject Soul;
Yet hide themselves from me, to whom they have given
A Spirit, worthy of their great Vicegerent?
Enter Scythian again.
Ha! Art thou then return'd! What do the Grecians?

Scyth.
The Grecians make a surley slow Retreat.

Queen.
And where's the Victim?

Scyth.
Look where the Scythians guard him towards the Altar.

Queen.
You are just ye pow'rs in all your ways!
Now let the Rites begin.

The flat Scene draws and discovers the Altar, Iphigenia on the one side, and Euphrosine on the other in Mourning postures. The Victim veild is introduced by flat Trumpets, a Train of Priests and

---

48

Priestesses and Guards. The Victim is led to, and plac'd at the Altar; after that a dreadful Symphony, and then the following Ode.
[A shout just as the Ode ends.
Queen.
Oh insolence, audacious, insupportable!
Look out and see who 'tis that dares disturb
The Execution of this dreadful Ceremony.

[Enter Messenger.
Mess.
Great Queen, provide betimes for your security,
The Greeks returning, bear down all before them,
And the next moment will invest the Temple.

Queen.
Are all the Gates made fast?

Mess.
They'r all with Bars of solid Brass secur'd.

Queen.
Then I'll prevent them, Priestess do thy Duty.

Iph.
Goddess, look down, thy Priestess is thy Victim.

[Offers to stab herself, the Victim throws off his Veil, and wrests the Knife from her, discovering himself to be Pilades; at the same time speaking as follows.
Pil.
Oh hold, 'tis Sacrilege to strike that stroke,
Thy Beauties are the Darling care of Heav'n;
Look up, and see the Wonder it has wrought
On purpose to preserve them.

Queen.
May I believe my Eyes! Amazing sight!

Euph.
Miraculous Events!

Pil.
Thou thought'st to die for the dear Man thou lov'st,
And I, alas, am come to die for him.

Iph.
O all ye Pow'rs whose Wisdom rules the Universe,
Let me adore the Wonders of your Providence!

Queen.
Revenge thy injur'd Handmaid, great Diana!
Revenge thy injur'd self, we're both betray'd,
By my own faithless Subjects we're betray'd.

Pil.
No, cruel Queen, thou see'st I am come to die,
And satisfie you both.

Queen.
Where is thy Friend?

Pil.
Where! at the Head of his Victorious Grecians.

Queen.
Oh, cursed Fate!
What brought thee here, to suffer in his stead?

Pil.
Agreement with your Scythians, and desire
To save the only Man of all the World,
That's fit to be a Friend, by gaining time
Enough for his Embarkment.

Queen.
What hast thou said? Agreement with my Scythians?
Oh the vile Traitors! Why should they agree to it?

Pil.
To save themselves.
After our Greeks had forced my God-like Friends from them,
They who soon found their Victim irretrievable,
And knew what torments they must undergo,
Unless they could make you think they had retriev'd him,
They who with Wonder had beheld the Pow'r
Of sacred Friendship in my Friend and me,
To my Apartment came half dead with fear,
VVhere they inform'd me of our Grecians Valour,
Your Threats, their baseness, and my Friend's escape,
I knowing 'twould gain time for his Embarkment,
Propos'd that I should represent and die for him.

Queen.
How cam'st thou to the Altar thus unbound?

Pil.
'Twas upon that Condition, I agreed with them.
Death for my Friend I eagerly embrac'd,
But the course treatment of a Slave,
My free born Soul disdain'd.

Euph.
Was ever any thing thing so great?

Iph.
And yet so tender and so true?

Queen.
Thou hast deceiv'd me Grecian, but so nobly,
That Truth's not half so beauteous as thy Fraud,
What pity 'tis that thou must die,
For such a God-like Action!

Euph.
Die! Must he die for it?

[To Iph.
Iph.
Forbid it all ye Pow'rs!
Ye who your selves inspir'd this wondrous Virtue,
By me, at least, he ne'er shall die.

Queen.
But die thou must;
Our sacred Rites, and great Revenge require it.
Priestess, do thy Office.

Iph.
Oh never, never!

Queen.
Ah, miserable Creature! think with trembling,
What Vengeance thou art drawing on thy Head.
But the time presses, I shall be prevented,
Take thou the sacred Steel, and strike the Blow.

[To another Priestess.
Scyth.
Make way for the Elder of the Captives there,
Make way.

Queen.
For the Elder of the Captives!

[As the other Priestess is going to strike, Orestes enters, runs between the Dagger and Pilades, and embraces him.
Or.
He lives, he lives, I have him in my Arms,
This turn, ye Pow'rs, has made amends for all.

Queen.
Confusion! I am lost, the Greeks are here,
Strike thro' them both.

Iph.
Ah, cruel sight! Ah, Gods! I cannot bear it.
Thus, let me intercept the barbarous Blow.

[As the other Priestess goes to strike, Iphigenia interposes.
Queen.
O Death and Vengeance! Her, her Heart transfix.

Priest.
Who's the chief Priestess?

Queen.
Hers, life thy executing Arm, haste, strike,
I'm lost, undone, on every side betray'd,
And the next moment we shall be prevented.

Or.
O hurt not her, by Heav'n and Earth I adjure you,
For I am come alone, and come to die.

Queen.
What say'st thou? 'Tis impossible.

Or.
'Tis certain.

Queen.
Wert thou not Rescued by thy Friends?

Or.
I was.

Queen.
Hast thou been retaken then by our Scythians?

Or.
Your Scythians are dispers'd, and we are Victors.

Queen.
Where are thy Grecians then?

Or.
Upon the horrid sommet of the Cliff,
By my Command, obsequiously they wait.

Queen.
How got you entrance?

Or.
At the Iron Wicket of the Postern, where
Arm'd with a hundred Javelins, Death stands Centry,
And none can there unlicens'd pass and live.

Queen.
What brought thee to this fatal place alone?

Or.
I come to die.

Queen.
Thou com'st to die! the Conquerour comes to die!

Or.
After our Greeks had forced me from your Scythians,
And the short Fury of the Fight was past;
As soon as the Retreat we slowly made,
Had giv'n me time for thought;
My Joy soon vanish'd all, for soon I found
That I had left all that I held most precious,
All that was dear to my afflicted Soul,
Ev'n in the Jaws of Fate,
Strait I prevail'd upon my valiant Friends
T'attempt a second Rescue.
Then to my Friend's Apartment we all flew,
To force his Guards, the Guards indeed we forc'd,
But him we found not, there I grew inform'd
Of his deplorable, tho' God like purpose;
That his inimitable Love for me
Made him to a bloody doom devoted stand,
At these inhumane Altars.
Swift as a Storm we hurried to the Temple,
But when I found the Massy Gates all barr'd,
The dreadful Rites begun, and my poor Friend
At the Altar, and about to breath his last,
To breath his last for me;
Witness ye Pow'rs, that thought I could not bear,
With rigorous Commands I enjoyn'd my Friends
To leave me to the adverse Gods and Fate.
For Gods and Fate cry'd out that I must bleed,
Or else surviving ev'ry minute die.
My Friends unwilling, yet with Tears obey'd;
And here alone the Conquerour's come to die.

Queen.
Unheard of Friendship!

Euph.
Unexampled Faith!

Iph.
O Constancy Divine!

Queen.
Was ever seen so great a sight
Of glorious Woe before!

Euph. to Iph.
Courage, my Princess, for the Gods declare for us,
They are here among us: they are manifest;
For these are plainly more than Human Actions.

Queen.
I am o'recome, I yield y' Almighty Powers,
To hurt such Virtue were to touch your selves,
Such Virtue is Divinity.
Here, set them free immediately.

Pr.
Whom?

Queen.
The Grecians.

Pr.
Both?

Queen.
Both.

Pr.
Then, where's the Victim for our Solemn Rites?

Queen.
The Goddess has herself declar'd her Victim.

Pr.
Whom?

Queen.
Enquire no more, but set thy Prisoners free.

Pr.
They are free.

Queen to Or.
Grecian I need not be asham'd to own
That I am charm'd by thy exalted Virtue.
The Immortal Powers themselves are fond of less.
Twice in one night has it prevail'd upon me
To give thee Life, to give thee Liberty;
But since thou shew'st thou valuest not thy own,
I here bestow thy Friends upon thee too.

Or.
From my soul I thank you.

Queen.
But Custom, which is Scythian Law, requires
That they whom my Prerogative sets free,
Must become Scythians by Espousing Scythians,
Or—

Or.
But Liberty in that too will be necessary.

Queen.
As free as is the Wind shall be thy choice:
Thou shalt be forc'd in nothing, yet permit me
To give thy Wife a Dowry worthy thee.
Thy Souls surpassing greatness I admire!
Which Heaven that form'd it sure design'd for Empire;
Accept of mine, thy wiser nobler Sway
Will polish these Barbarians into Men.
Thine are the vast extended Plains of Tauris.
My self, my Subjects, Men and Women, all
Shall govern'd be by thy unbounded Sway;
The Soveraign Partner of thy Royal Bed
Among a thousand Scythian Beauties choose,
And make her happy who's most worthy thee.
Then I am lost again.

[Iph. aside.
Pil.
Art thou not mov'd?

Or.
Amaz'd, confounded, Gods! Are these the words
Of a Barbarian, of a Savage Scythian?
But, be she what she will
Such generous Passion I ne'r knew till now,
No, not in Greece, but oh its Artful modesty!

Queen.
What, no reply?
My Present sure deserves at least your Thanks.

Or.
Oh! It deserves much more than I can pay!
Oh! It deserves my Heart, my very Soul:
And now, ev'n now I ought to be beheld
Paying my Adorations at your Feet;
And off'ring all my self with fervent Vows.
But oh! have pitty on so lost a Creature,
Who has no Heart, no Soul, no Vows to pay,
Who has given all these, who has given himself away
A Voluntary Slave, one so accurst,
That though he mortally detests Ingratitude,
Yet wants the power, nay wants the very will
To pay th'Immense acknowledgment he owes.

Queen.
Suppose some God should free you from this Passion?

Or.
I wish not to be free:

Queen.
Yet put the Case you were this moment free,
Might I expect to find you grateful then?
For Grecian, I am loth to think you hate me.

Or.
Hate you! O Heaven! of all your lovely Sex
You I esteem, and you I most admire,
Should I say more, I basely should deceive you.
To wrong you in that Nature, that indeed
Would be the height of black Ingratitude.
For all my softer thoughts another claims;
Who, though the tenderest of her gentle Sex,
Yet has a Tyrants force upon my Soul.
But were I not prevented by that Passion,
Now Prostrate at your Feet you should behold me,
Prouder to obey your absolute Commands
Than to Controul th'extended Plains of Tauris.

Queen.
May I believe thee?

Or.
Yes, could I haue resolv'd to say what's false,
You had heard a falshood that would more have pleas'd you.

Queen.
But swear.

Or.
Propose the Oath.

Queen.
Swear by the dreadful Altar you have escap'd.

Or.
By this Tremendous Altar then I swear.

Queen.
This Altar then shall free thee from a Passion
That's so unworthy thee, here take the Priestess,
[To the Ministers.
For her the Goddess has declar'd her Victim.
Here, take her, bind her, drag her to the Altar,
And in her Bosome plunge the Sacred Steel.

Pr.
O Heaven! The Priestess!

Or.
Impious Proposal!

Pil.
Think not that we will e're endure that sight.

Queen.
Think not that you'll endure it! Think where you are.
You both are in my power.

Pil.
They who dare die are always in their own.
Our Breasts shall intercept th'accursed blow.

Queen.
Guards, 'tis your Duty to take care of that.

Or.
No barbarous power can force us to survive her.

Queen.
Die then, and prove the Plagues which for the Perjur'd
The direful Goddesses prepare below,
As soon as she expires, thou to be mine
Hast by th'inviolable Altar sworn.

Or.
In what a Mase, O Fate, am I entangled!
But think, reflect, by all the Gods I adjure you.
And Oh regard that lovely dying Face,
Meek and resign'd in these extreamest Sufferings.
Oh look and stop th'Abominable Blow!
Mercy, sweet Mercy will it self
Be murder'd by that Blow.
Look, cast your Eyes around, behold a sight
Enough to dissolve Flint, see these Barbarians
Whose Eyes have been inur'd to ghastly Murder,
Whose Crimson Arms are dy'd with horrid Grain,
Ev'n they Dissolve, they melt, their Eyes shed Tears,
Those Cruel Eyes that never wept before.
Look how they're seiz'd with sudden Horror all!
But above all look up, behold your Goddess!
Think that you see her with a wrathful Frown
Denouncing Plagues on your Devoted Heads!
Think that already her avenging Arms
Are lifted, and prepare the dreadful Judgments
That must be pour'd on this accursed Race,
Revenging with its utter extirpation,
Her Priestess Murder'd, and here Shrine prophan'd.

Pr.
Scythians, 'tis true.
These Judgments we must fearfully expect
If we lay Impious Hands upon the Priestess.

All Scyth.
Unbind the Priestess, set her free immediately.

Queen.
Hear me first, Scythians, and you Grecians hear!
Scythians, what slavish Doubt has seiz'd your Souls?
What fear you? To provoke the dreadful Goddess!
This is her Victim; she her self has claim'd her;
Nay, and with so much vehemence has claim'd her,
She left th'Immortal Mansions of blest Beings
On purpose to demand her, and too long
This Priestess has already liv'd Devoted to her.
I till this hour, forgive it awful Goddess,
I by a Tender weakness mov'd, preserv'd her;
And Heaven best knows how I have been rewarded.
Now for you, Grecians, you too shall be satisfi'd.

Pil.
No, never, if she dies.

Queen.
Yes, though she dies, for when you know this Priestess
You will your selves demand and urge her Fate.
At least if you're the Sons of those brave Grecians
Who carried their Heroick Arms to Asia,
And with a thousand Sail Beleaguer'd Troy.
With one accord your Fathers urg'd her Fate,
Nay her own Father to the Altar doom'd her,
Because the severe Goddess had exacted her.

Pil.
May I believe my Sense? Am I awake!

Or.
O all y' Immortal Powers! How am I tortur'd
By the fierce pangs of wondrous Expectation!

Queen.
But Death by her Mothers Artifice she escap'd,
While a young Lesbian Slave in Shape and Size
And Age resembling hers, in a long Veil
Was at the Altal offer'd in hear stead.

Or.
Support me! Gods! Support me!

Queen.
Why dost thou thus exclaiming interrupt me?

Or.
Oh! I have most amazing things to tell you!
But first Important Questions I must ask.
I have Important things t'enquire of her.
And Queen, assure thy self on what I say
Thy Peace, thy lasting Happiness depends.

Queen.
Speak, but be short then, what are the Gods doing!

Or.
Say then, poor, lost, abandon'd Virgin, say,
Didst thou from bleeding at a Grecian Altar
By thy fond Mothers Artifice escape!

Iph.
I did, and thank the Gods a thousand times for it;
By that escape I have liv'd to dye for thee.

Or.
Talk not of Death, alas, but answer me,
O thou art sure the Darling Care of Providence,
And it has wrought prodigious things to save thee!
How comes it that thy strange Escape, in Greece
Was never heard or talk'd of?

Iph.
Of Grecians only my two wretched Parents
Were conscious to it, and you this night inform'd me
They sadly both by a dire Fate expir'd.

Or.
O Miracle of Providence! O Transport!

Iph.
My Sisters both were in their Infancy,
My Brother scarce had seen the seventh Summer.

Or.
By Heav'n and Earth it can be none but she,
See Helens Form upon that lovely Front!
[Aside.
Answer but one thing more, say from what Altar
Didst thou escape, and by what Artifice?

Iph.
Alas 'tis a long Story,
And my weak Spirits, by my Grief opprest,
Will let me say no more.
But in my Cabinet at large 'tis written,
Yet grant me this, my first and last Request,
To Greece transport the Writing.

Or.
Talk not of Writings, Writings may be lost;
But tell me in a word what I must say,
What and to whom?

Iph.
Inform my Friends and Kindred then at Argos,
That the forlorn abandon'd Iphigenia—

Or.
O supreme Jove, whose Providence has wrought this!

Iph.
What makes you lift your Eyes to Heaven,
And starting thus exclaim?

Or.
Was ever Vision of the Night so strange,
So wonderful as this! Say on, say on.

Iph.
Tell them at Argos, that poor Iphigenia,
Whom fondly they believ'd at Aulis sacrific'd,
Escap'd the Altar there; but that the Goddess
Upon the Shore of Tauris found her Victim.
And wish, O wish my Brother, my Orestes,
A much more gentle Fate!

Or.
Thus, thus, thy Brother, thy Orestes thanks thee.

[Embraces.
Iph.
My Brother! Oh!

Or.
My dearest Sister!

Iph.
Can it be true!
Or does my Sense, grown wild with Grief, delude me?

Qu.
Her Brother! is it possible! her Brother!

Eup.
Her Brother! and the powerful King of Argos.

Qu.
Is't possible! O the transporting Joy!
Impetuous Flood of unexpected Rapture!
Whether I live or no I cannot tell.
Haste, Scythians, haste, upon your knees unbind her.

Pil.
Hold off your barbarous hands, presumptuous Slaves,
And let a Prince be honour'd with that Task.

[unbinds her.
Or.
O Queen! O Friend! O Sister!
Was ever Night like this!

Pil.
Thus to these lovely Limbs I Liberty restore.
O would but the good Gods and she consent
That I for ever might remain a Captive.

Qu. to Iph.
Canst thou forgive me all this cruel Usage,
Of which Love only could have made me guilty?
Canst thou, thou tend'rest of all Humankind?

Iph.
Can you so much as ask it? all my Soul
Is to transporting Tenderness resign'd.

Qu.
Thou art all Goodness; in this strict Embrace
Let all Unkindness be forgot for ever.

Or.
Now, how shall we pay equal Thanks to Heav'n,
For this so great, so wonderful Deliverance?
Chiefly with flaming Zeal our Thanks to thee,
To thee our Thanks we pay, Divine Apollo!
And thy unerring Oracle adore.
Next, let me pay my Debt to thee, my Pilades,
And with the best of Sisters let me bless
The kindest, truest and the best of Friends.
She cannot now be mine, and ne'er shall be anothers,
Take her my Friend, thou art my very self,
The other, dearer Half of thy Orestes.
Take her, and with her take ten thousand Joys,
All the high Raptures thy fierce Passion promises.
Thou answer'st not.

Pil.
Oh, I want Breath to speak, I die with Ecstasie!
And my tumultuous Thoughts above all Words are rais'd.
Here let me with dumb Eloquence express 'em,
Here pour out the abundance of my Soul.

[Kissing her Hand.
Or.
And next to you, great Queen, I pay my Acknowledgments,
And now with Joy accept this Realm of Tauris,
That at your Feet you may behold a Slave
With two Imperial Sceptres.
And now prepare to leave this barbarous Clime,
Here but by Deputy henceforward reign,
The Gods such Worth design'd to govern Greece,
To shine the Glory of the bravest Nation,
And give example to a Race of Heroines,
Who have Force to follow so sublime a Pattern.
Your Goddess is the Partner of your Voyage.
Whose Image great Apollo's Delphick Oracle
Has with reiterated Voice demanded.

Qu.
The Prodigies of this stupendous Night,
And Vision of the last confirm that Oracle.
With me the Goddess shall to Greece remove,
And these inhumane Rites shall cease for ever.

Or.
The Gods are good, and Lovers of Mankind.
And that Religion that allows of Cruelty
Is not divine, but impious and abominable.
Lastly our Thanks once more we pay to thee,
Son of immortal Jove, divine Apollo,
Who hast made good thy bounteous Oracles.
We are preserv'd, and mighty Love preserves us.
Now, from this wond'rous Night let Mortals learn,
When in obedience to the Gods they tread
The doubtful Paths of Destiny, to affront
The dreadfullest Dangers with a dauntless Spirit.
Let 'em not ev'n in worst Extreams despair;
For while they keep to Virtue's narrow Paths,
With Guards invincible they march surrounded.
The Gods who surely guide them on the way,
From them no more than from themselves can stray,
For Virtue's of Divinity a Ray.