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The Scene changes to a Prospect taken from the middle of the Thames; one side of it begins at York-Stairs, thence to VVhite-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 can'st not kill,
And Poysoning 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 boyl
Like flames encreas'd and mounting high with pou'ring Oyl:
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
VVhen Love is ill repay'd;
For at one blow it ends the VVar,
And Cures the Love-sick Maid.

Enter Democracy and Zelota; one represents a Patriot, the other Religion.
Dem.
Let not thy generous passion wast its rage,
But once again restore our golden Age;
Still to weep and to complain,
Does but more provoke disdain.
Let publick good,
Inflame thy Blood;

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VVith Crowds of VVarlike People thou art stor'd,
And heaps of Gold;
Reject thy old,
And to thy Bed receive another Lord.

Zel.
Religion shall thy Bonds release,
For Heav'n can loose, as well as tie all;
And when 'tis for the Nations peace
A King is but a King on Tryal;
VVhen Love is lost, let Marriage end,
And leave a Husband for a Friend.

Dem.
VVith Jealousy swarming
The People are Arming
And frights of oppression invade 'em.

Zelot.
If they fall to relenting,
For fear of repenting,
Religion shall help to perswade 'em.

Aug.
No more, no more Temptations use
To bend my VVill;
How hard a task 'tis to refuse
A pleasing ill?

Dem.
Maintain the seeming duty of a VVife,
A modest show will jealous Eyes deceive,
Affect a fear for hated Albion's Life,
And for imaginary Dangers grieve.

Zelot.
His Foes already stand protected,
His Friends by publick Fame suspected,
Albanius must forsake his Isle:
A Plot Contriv'd in happy hour
Bereaves him of his Royal Pow'r,
For Heav'n to mourn and Hell to smile.

The former Scene continues.
Enter Albion and Albanius with a Train.

[1.]

Then Zeal and Common-wealth infest
My Land again;
The fumes of madness that possest
The Peoples giddy Brain,

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Once more disturb the Nations rest,
And dye Rebellion in a deeper Stain.

2.

Will they at length awake the sleeping Sword,
And force revenge from their offended Lord?
How long, yee Gods, how long
Can Royal patience bear
Th'Insults and wrong
Of Mad-mens jealousies, and causeless fear?

3.

I thought their love by mildness might be gain'd,
By Peace I was restor'd, in Peace I Reign'd:
But Tumults, Seditions,
And haughty Petitions,
Are all the effects of a merciful Nature;
Forgiving and granting,
E're Mortals are wanting,
But leads to Rebelling against their Creator.

Mercury descends.
Merc.
With pity Jove beholds thy State,
But Jove is circumscrib'd by Fate;
Th'o'erwhelming Tide rowls on so fast,
It gains upon this Islands wast:
And is oppos'd too late! too late!

Albion.
What then must helpless Albion do?

Merc.
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 lowd above.


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Mercury ascends.
Albion.
Shall I, t'asswage
Their Brutal rage,
The Regal stem destroy;
Or must I lose,
(To please my Foes,)
My sole remaining joy?
Yee God's 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 Vertue rewarded;
I make of my sufferings a Merit.

Albion.
Since then the Gods, and Thou wilt 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!
Born where the Foamy Billows roar,
On Seas less Dang'rous than the Shoar:
Go, where the Gods thy Refuge have assign'd:
Go from my sight; but never from my Mind.

Alban.
Whatever Hospitable ground
shall be for me, unhappy Exile, found,
Till Heav'n vouchsafe to smile;
What Land so e're,
Tho' none so dear,
As this ungrateful Isle;
O think! O think! no distance can remove
My vow'd Allegiance, and my Loyal Love.

Albion. and Alban.
The Rosy finger'd Morn appears,
And from her Mantle shakes her Tears,

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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 forwards 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.
Apoll.

[1.]

All Hail yee Royal pair!
The God's 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.

2.

My sacred Oracles assure,
The Tempest shall not long indure;
But when the Nations Crimes are purg'd away,
Then shall you both in glory shine;
Apollo goes forward out of sight.
Propitious both, and both Divine:
In Lustre equal to the God of Day.

Neptune rises out of the Water, and a Train of Rivers, Tritons, and Sea Nymphs attend him.
Thames,
Old Father Ocean calls my Tyde:
Come away, come away,
The Barks upon the Billows ride,
The Master will not stay;

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The merry Boson from his side,
His Whistle takes to check and chide
The lingring Lads delay,
And all the Crew alowd has Cry'd,
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're the Main:
Every Maid her Locks is binding,
Every Triton's Horn is winding,
Welcome to the watry Plain.

Chacon.
Two Nymphs and Triton
Sing.
Yee 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,
VVhere 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,

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Till the Gods that defend you,
Restore you again.
The Chacon continues. The Chorus repeat the same Verses, Sports and Pleasure. &c. The Chacon continues. The two Nymphs and Triton Sing.
See at your blest returning
Rage disappears;
The VVidow'd Isle in Mourning
Dries up her Tears,
VVith Flowers the Meads adorning,
Pleasure appears,
And love dispels the Nations causeless fears.

The Chacon continues. The Chorus of Nymphs and Triton 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.