 | The Tragedy of Sertorius |  |
SCEN. V.
Bebricius, and two Ambassadors, to Sertorius, &c.Bebr.
Welcom, thou great Triumpher over Rome,
Whose Sword chastises her Tyrannic brood;
The Hinds of Fortune, when thou sound'st to Arms:
See how thy Fame has wing'd, and won the brest
Of Mithridates, who thy Friendship courts;
That untam'd Prince, made for the Roman Scourge,
Whose Empire's spacious, and his pow'r as great.
1. Amb.
Hail mighty Warrior! great as Hanibal!
Thy Name at distance does such terror breed
As when his Camp was in the sight of Rome.
The Lord of Kingdoms does, by us, intreat
Sertorius to his aid: which if he gains,
Pyrrhus, whose deeds were dreadful in the East,
Shall prove but Infant to his killing Sword,
Inur'd to battel, and to Slaughter bred;
Witness the dreadful dayes when it appear'd.
Say thou accept'st this offer, it again
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Then, meeting with the sound thy deeds create,
Unite into a Terror, dread as Death,
And threaten everlasting night to Rome.
2. Amb.
If Asia, torn by Siylla from his Rule,
Thou wilt give back again to his command;
Five thousand Talents of the purest Gold,
And forty Sail of well-built Ships of War,
Whose Prows are Arm'd with mighty beaks of Steel,
Shall plough th'Atlantic Ocean, and be thine:
Under thy Banners shall his Subjects march;
And Mithridates, proud of thy Ally,
Own thee Superior both on Sea and Land.
Sert.
Tell Mithridates, Cappadocia,
And the Bithynian Realms, are his again;
But what the Romans won by force of Arms,
I cannot in my Honor give away;
Or, from that Empire, lop a member off
Which Fimbria won: I'll pledge my faith to him
As far as Honor will permit, no more;
For I will cease to be, e're do a deed
That may disgrace the actions of my life.
Bebricius, see 'em honorably us'd.
If, on the Terms propos'd, your King agrees,
Or your Commissions authorize your pow'r,
We shall assist him as our Friend: This day
We give our selves to plesure; but the next
Is for the safety of this Common-wealth.
Perp.
(Surely the Gods strive to out-vye in gifts;
And all Mankind, not worthy of their care,
Must climb the Precipice of Fortune's wheel,
While blindly here she largely gives away.)
| The Tragedy of Sertorius | |