University of Virginia Library

Act the Third.

The King seen at a Banquet, holding Alfreda by one hand, gazing on her Face. Ethelwold, as conversing with Ruthin, but turning his head, and looking Reverse on the King, with an angry jealous Countenance. Aldernald in discourse with Matilda. Durzo and Oswold in discourse with Ladies.
SONG.

A DANCE.
King.
She's wonderous Beautiful.
Nature in this fair Original has excell'd;
As most great Artists do, in some one Piece,
All they have done before or after can.

Alfr.
A King is sure on Earth a God.
How great, how glorious are his Looks!

King.
Here I must as on some blessed Vision gaze,
Where still our Sight enlarges our Desires,
And greedy to see more, at last we find
Our Eyes too narrow for the Object,—but still
Unsatisfied, we look, and look, and thus look on.

Alfr.
On his Brow sits Majesty enthron'd,
Whilst his Eyes dart Glories round him,
And from his Form, amazing Greatness flows.
Thus like the Sun, encircled with his Beams,
He dazles with excess of Light.

Ethel.
His Eyes dart pointed beams at hers,
And hers repay 'em with their trembling lustres.
Their Hearts play the Wantons in their Eyes.
O fatal Enterview! I am ruin'd
If it longer last—
Madam, I fear the King is not well.

[To the Queen.
Queen.
Sir, are you not well?

King.
A strange unusual pain on the sudden
Has seiz'd my heart.

Ethel.
How quickly Love takes root!

Dur.
Sure I have seen that face before:
O 'twas in that Picture.

Mat.
What is the Captain doing?

Osw.
Making comparisons 'twixt the Shadow
And the Substance.
I gave him my Sisters Picture,
With a description of her to prepare him for Love.

Mat.
Her Beauty warrants all you cou'd say of it;
If her Carriage holds, 'twill be a fierce Encounter.

Hill.
My heart begins to fail me already,
But I'le huff it out as long as I can.

King.
Now lead the way to cool Walks, and shady Groves.
Madam, your Hand, and thine, Alfreda,
By so much Beauty on every side attended,
No Prince so happy but would envy my Triumphs.

Queen.
Hold, Sir, I am not well.

King.
Ladies, take care of the Queen, be assistant
To her health.—Come, Alfreda.

[Exeunt omnes præt. Queen, Ladies, and Ruthin.
Queen.
So, I thank you all, my Illness is o're.
Ladies, pray retire a while.
O my dear Father, is this my Nuptial Treatment?
This my Welcome to a Throne? are these the Joys
Attend on Crowns! If such they are, who'd sigh to
Be a Bride, or be ambitious to be a Queen?

Ruth.
O my Leonora!

Queen.
Love, the path that leads to Marriage
Is strew'd with Wreaths and Flowers;
And when at distance we behold a Throne,
How pleasant is the prospect! and we ascend to
It by Golden Steps. O cruelty of Nature!
Oh Tyranny of Fate!
To lead to pain through such delightful ways,
And make the Journeys end so differing from the Road.

Ruth.
Afflict not thy self,
Let this thought warm thy breast with Joy;
Though Alfreda usurp his Heart, his Throne
She cannot, thou art still his Partner there.
Fate by Death alone can remove thee thence;
Tho not his Love, thou shar'st his Glory.

Queen.
I willingly wou'd change my Throne for hers,
In his Heart I would reign—

Ruth.
Remember thou art a Queen;
Let this thought inspire a Courage in thee
To own that Title, and maintain its Rights.
If as a Wife, Love softens thee to tears,
Yet be embolden'd by thy Quality.
Exalt thy Looks to awful Greatness
With haughty Frowns, and an Imperious Brow,
Check the advance of that bold Invader:
And with the Grandieur of a Queen
Dispute the Empire of his Heart.

Queen.
Tho she retreat, his heart will not return,
But with the Flames her Eyes have kindled, burn.

Ruth.
Not fed by her, those Flames not long can live.

Queen.
But he'l no new ones from these Eyes receive.
Or'e Hearts we can no second Conquest boast,
A Heart once gone, for ever, ever's lost.
To me I never more shall see him kind.
His Love is as unconstant as the Wind.

Ruth.
But thence some ground for better hopes I find.
For Winds that vere from Point to Point so fast,
Chop round to the same Point they left at last.
Thy longer absence may injurious prove,
Freedom and Privacy do nourish Love.
Joyn with the Earl to hinder their converse,
To stop Love's progress cut off all Commerce.

[Exeunt.
Enter Aldernald, and Matilda. The Scene, the Garden.
Mat.
That Passion's weak that cannot move the Tongue
To court the Object, which the Soul affects:
Or else the Object has no strong attractions.

Alder.
All that is excellent may justly be attributed
To her Honour, Beauty, Virtue, and what e're can enter
In the perfect composition of a Woman.

Mat.
Much Commendation does much Love discover;
O were he not in Love, or else my Lover.

Alder.
In every limb and feature I read the greatness
Of her Soul, a Form so rare and beautiful
She has, that where I fix my eye, I stand amaz'd,
And think my Love wou'd grow Presumption
If I exceed a silent admiration.

Mat.
A Gallant man should not his Flame conceal;
Should you the Sent'ments of your Soul reveal,
Fame, and your own great Deeds wou'd nobly plead
Your cause, no other Orators you need.
Were she like me a Princess, nay were't me,
Were't me you lov'd; and I as fair as she,
Tho I perhaps cou'd not accept your flame,
Yet shou'd your Love less than your Silence blame.

Alder.
Madam, suppose 'twere you I lov'd?

Mat.
That Supposition does my blushes raise,
Because I know I merit not such praise.

Alder.
You blame my silence now, because you know
I love some other, and that 'tis not you.

Mat.
I wish this truth had not so plain been told,
But now I think on't, Love may be too bold.

Alder.
My hopes are dasht agen, Joys came so fast
[Aside.
And thick, I knew they were too great to last.
In that good mind had she one minute longer stayd,
My too rash tongue had my presumptuous Love betray'd.

Mat.
Since I am not the Mistress of his Vows,
[Aside.
Still may he fear the Secret to disclose.
[Aside.
But tell me, what your Resolutions are,
Will you love one, and not your Love declare?

Alder.
I still must love, but know not what to do;
I'le not discover't to her.—

Mat.
Never?

Alder.
No.
Never, unless I'me counsell'd to't by you.
This shall be silenc'd too, this I design'd,
[Shews a Letter.
Because my Tongue durst not, shou'd tell my mind.

Mat.
To read that Letter what wou'd I not give?
My Love's grown curious and inquisitive,
I guess there's much of Passion in your stile.

Alder.
It is too mean a trifle for your sight.
Yet if you think it will reward your pains

Mat.
If it no secret but your love contains.

Alder.
I have no Secret which from you I'le hide,
For in my love I chose you for my Guide.

[She takes the Letter, and reads the Super.
Mat.
To your fair Self.—

[Starts.
Alder.
Madam, what makes you start?

Mat.
To me?

Alder.
Madam, to her that has my Heart.

Mat.
That is not I.
[Aside.
One dull as I am this might well surprize.

Alder.
When to her hands I 'ad given this—my Eyes
Would at first instant the Contents discover,
She'd in my looks first read I was her Lover.

Mat.
'Tis true, Love cannot be conceal'd by Art,
A Lover's Eye reveals a Lover's Heart,
And gives of Love the first Intelligence.

Alder.
Then sure I have no Love, or she no Sence.

Mat.
How dull!

Alder.
How ignorant!

Mat.
By Love besotted, he can nothing learn.

Alder.
That read, she cannot but my Love discern.
Madam, the King.

Mat.
Let us remove to the next Walk,
I'le read it there.

[Exeunt Ald. & Mat.
Enter Alfreda and the King.
King.
Alfreda, wert thou a Queen, and absolute,
That in thy breast didst bear a secret flame,
For some one Gallant and deserving Subject;
How would you treat the Lady you had rais'd
To the high honour of your Confident,
If perfidiously she should expose
Her Charms, and by treacherous enticements
Deprive you of that onely man, whom now,
Tho you can't have, you cannot chuse but love.

Alfr.
Great persons should do great things,—if a Queen,
My deeds shou'd not receive a lustre
From that name, but add new Glories to it.
I would forget the flame, and fault forgive.

King.
That generous Act wou'd too much encourage
Subjects to grow bold. Since Ambition
Is a Passion not less powerful than Love.
They that dare snatch from your heart a Lover,
Wou'd from your head a Crown.—

Alfr.
Crowns admit of a precedent claim,
But Love, like new-found Land, is theirs
That first can get possession of it.
Here, shou'd I punish the Offender's crime,
'Twou'd make me guilty of the same.
For the offence is, not that she lov'd him,
But that her Love depriv'd me of him.

King.
No, the punishment is not due, because
She depriv'd you of your Lover,
But him of those Glories he with your Love
Might have enjoy'd.

Alfr.
But since a man in all Estates, not finds
But makes his Happiness, he may not think
Her Love has injur'd him. Then I ought to act
The Generous Lover, and for the satisfaction
He enjoys, pardon my Rival's fault, for in her Love
He meets content, then crowns a greater blessing.

King.
But in your love, this fancied blessing had come
Attended with the Glories of a Throne.

Alfr.
Love is a bliss so absolute, and high,
It no additions does from Accidents receive,
But like an Infinite, is uncapable
Of change, to more or less.
Thus he being in her love not less happy
Than in mine, I ought to think him so;
And thus as a Lover I am always
Debarr'd from punishing the Offender.

King.
You have subt'ly mannag'd the Argument,
To shew the Excellency of your wit.
Wit, like a towring Hawk, flies high in Speculative notions,
Whilst Judgment, like the Hound, pursues his Game,
And follows Truth upon the level
Now, Alfreda, tell me thy real thoughts,
Do you apprehend you should
So perfect a Contentment find
In any Subjects love, not to imagine
You might more happy in a Monarch's be?

Alfr.
The flame ascends not more naturally,
Than to a Throne our Thoughts aspire.
If free, I think I cou'd not force my self
To refuse the bright temptations of a Crown:
But my heart being before engag'd,
As now it is, I cannot, as I am,
Resolve; but if I were in that condition,
And the very person, I could, because I should
Then know my own thoughts.

King.
Know then, thou art in that condition.
False Ethelwold snatch'd thee from my Embrace;
Now can you resolve the Question?

Alfr.
Sir, I can.—
If I had been acquainted with your love,
It should have been as absolute in my breast,
As you are in your Kingdoms.

King.
You strangely bless me, in but discovering
That you cou'd have lov'd me,

Alfr.
Hold Sir—
The same temper that had inclin'd me then
To have receiv'd your flame, permits not now
I shou'd so much as think I might have been
More happy, much less declare it.

King.
If thou art not miserable, I am,
And though you may not declare it, I must.

Alfr.
But I must not hear it.

King.
Hear it, and pity me.

Alfr.
Pity for a King, is in a Subject's breast Presumption.

King.
A Duty rather.

Alfr.
In others it may, but in me 'twoud be a Crime.

King.
Alas, Alfreda, if you are rigorous
I shall hate Ethelwold: your Pity shou'd,
Like healing Balm be powr'd into the wounds he made.

Alfr.
That Pity would not heal your wounds,
But make 'em fester, and deeper to my Honour give.
Tho I may be sorry for his fault,
I must not be concern'd at your Complaints,
My Honour suffers if I longer stay.

[Turns from the King and meets Ethelwold.
Enter Ethelwold.
Ethel.
What, Alfreda, does my coming fright you hence?

Alfr.
No, nor wou'd your departure much please me.

Ethel.
I know you had a good Game,
You had no reason to throw up your Cards.

Alfr.
Do you play my Hand out,
And anon tell me, what you are a winner.
[Exit Alfreda.

King.
How much the Remedy she gives to cure,
Encreases my disease.
While she appears thus charming fair,
Thus exactly virtuous, and thus truly great,
With what temper can I bear the loss of her?
Ethelwold, thou hast robb'd me of a Woman,
So made to be my Queen
Thou seem'st to have foyl'd Destiny,
And prevented Fates disposal of her. Speak,
Why did you tell me she was not beautiful?

Ethel.
I judg'd her Beauty by your Greatness.
I did not think it merited the honour
To be plac'd in so great a Monarch's Throne.

King.
The world contains not such another Woman.

Ethel.
If I am guilty, your Opinion is my Crime;
For Fancy gives beauty its estimate.

King.
In meaner beauties what you say is true;
But Alfreda has Excellencies so much
Above the rest of woman-kind, that none
Could behold her matchless Charms, and not know
She was and is the fairest of her Sex.
This was the reason why you depriv'd me of her.

Ethel.
I requested not Alfreda of you 'cause she was
Fair, but because I lov'd her.

King.
If it be true that you deceiv'd me
'Cause you lov'd her, it is also true
That you lov'd her 'cause you thought her beautiful.

Ethel.
I humbly askt your leave to marry her.

King.
Yes, after thou had'st profan'd her beauty,
And said she had more than her Equals here.

Ethel.
If Sir, I thought—

King.
The Thought was Blasphemy, and blacks thy Soul,
But this was an arch peice of Treachery.
Look there, then there: two Copies how different,
Yet from the same Original! This to th'Eye
Belies, profanes, blasphemes Divinity.

Ethel.
If, Sir, the Painter err'd, must I be blam'd?

King.
For this conspiracy you'l both be damn'd.
Traytor, thy Crimes shall not go unpunish'd.
Guards there—
[Enter Guards.
Ruthin, Queen, Alfreda (from one side,) Aldernald, Matilda, (from the other.)
Seize that Traitor.
In Dungeons thou shalt celebrate thy Nuptials.
Chains shall embrace thee, not Alfredas armes.
And that thou may'st even in this life be damn'd,
Thou shalt quite be depriv'd o'th' sight of her.
Still may her Beauty haunt thy restless mind,
Despair be the attendant of each thought.
This Heaven of Beauty in thy hopeless fancy see,
A Heaven that ne're shall be possest, enjoy'd, by thee.

Alfr.
Sir, on my knees—

King.
Away to prison with him.

Alfr.
Brother, Madam, my Lord, will no one speak?

Ruth.
His offence—

King.
You shou'd be the last shou'd speak.
You was his Counsellour, and shar'd his Guilt.
He was by Love, you by Ambition led;
Yo've rais'd your Daughter to my Throne and Bed.
But your ambitious ends I'le thus destroy,
Shee shall my Throne, but not my Bed enjoy.
Thou to a Crown shalt not be long ally'd,
With her ends thy Ambition, and thy Pride.
Madam—
To you Respect and Honour I will pay,
Though not my Heart, you shall my Scepter sway.
You in the Grandeur of a Queen shall move,
Depriv'd of nothing but the Rights of Love.
To punish him, those joys must be deny'd,
[Points at Ruthin.
But shall by a kind friendship be supply'd.

Queen.
Unhappy Woman, that art made wretched
To be great!

King.
The first proof of my friendship this shall be,
For the Queens sake enjoy your liberty.

[Exeunt K. Q.
Alfr.
I am resolv'd the King shall hear me speak.

Alder.
To Ethelwold I will a visit make,
And tell him that his cause you undertake.

[Exeunt Ald. and Alfreda severally.
Ruth.
The Watchful Chymist, that with pregnant hopes
Waits the Return of his long labours,
And in that minute he expects should give
Perfection to the precious Elixir,
Sees the Stills fall, and all the rich Production
Buried in the ruins, receives not a defeat
Than this more unexpected.—
Fortune to th'Wise, and the industrious shews
Her spight, but unto Fools success allows.

[Exit.
Enter Durzo, Hillaria, Alicia meeting him.
Alic.
O here's your man of War.

Hill.
Captain, you look as if you were not well.

Dur.
I am not, I have Wild-fire in my veins,
My bloud is a Circulating Flame,
Hot as the Current of melted Metals,
That flows from the Entrails of burning Mountains;
It spouts against the upper Region of my Brain,
Like a tempestuous Hurricane; I have a red-hot Devil in me.

Alic.
O Terrible!

Hill.
Do you know what this strange Disease is?

Dur.
Know? I know nothing.
But Nature is at war within me:
My Brain's revers'd, all, my Senses on the Rack.

Hill.
We had best begone, he'l beat us presently.

Alic.
By the description, this should be Love.

Hill.
Yes Love, Captain, that's the little hot Devil
You talk of.

Alic.
He plays mad Reaks, when first he enters a
Breast, and finds Resistance.

Hill.
Love, like the small Pox, as any seldom escape it,
So the longer we live without it, the more
Dangerous 'tis when it comes.

Enter Oswold.
Osw.
Hillaria, what execution have you done?

Hill.
I have discharg'd my upper Teer;
I have pepper'd him with small Shot.

Osw.
How is't, Captain, are you in Love yet?

Hill.
Yes, yes, he is furiously infected with Love.

Alic.
But can you tell him how to cure this Disease?

Osw.
To cure Love, he must look for Love again,
Bear up close, speak to her, Captain.

Dur.
I cou'd speak better to the great Guns
Of an Armada, that answer in leaden syllables,
Whose Oratory is nothing but fire and noise.

Osw.
Bear up with the little Pinnace,
Clap her aboard briskly.

Dur.
If I was but once Master of her Fore-deck!

Osw.
That's easie, she's leaky, Captain, she's leaky.

Dur.
Then she'l founder in the Hold anon.

Osw.
Come, I'le bring you both to Grapling,
Get clear of one another as you can.

[Oswold brings them together.
Alic.
Here will be an excellent Scene of Love.

Osw.
Let us sheere off, and give 'em Sea-room.

Exeunt Osw. Alic.
Dur.
Can you love?

Hill.
Yes, Captain.

Dur.
Me? say but that word, and this Sword,
[Draws his Sword.
If you command, shall unpeople half the World
To give us and our Progeny Elbow-room.
Discharge but that word from your mouth,
And command me to still Tempests, to split Rocks asunder.
Lady, do but feel the weight on't;
See, is't not an excellent Blade?

Hill.
I have no great skill.

Dur.
Feel, has it not a brave edge, and
What a point is here!

Hill.
'Tis dangerous medling with edg-tools,
Pray put it up.

Dur.
Have you any Enemies? if you have
I'le make their bodies Scabberds.

Hill.
No Captain, put it up.

Dur.
Will you love me then?

Hill.
I love not danger, any thing but killing.

Dur.
Did you ever see one kill'd?

Hill.
No.

Dur.
Heaven, had you been with me in our last
Engagement, you might have seen a sight, that would have
Made a Coward in love with death; there you might
Have seen our Enemies bear up in a half Moon,
Exposing to our view the terrour of their Wooden Castles,
The mouths of their great Guns, which were made
To swallow leaden morsels that might lie heavy on
Their stomachs, 'till they were disgorg'd in our faces.

Hill.
Faugh, faugh.

Dur.
We with Top-sails out, Flags and Streamers
Flourishing in the Wind, and Trumpets sounding
Unite our force, then like Thunder fall in amongst 'em:
There like the Sons of Terrour we are seen
In Clouds of fire and Smoak, Slaughter puts on
Her Purple Robes.—

Hill.
Hold, good Captain.

Dur.
We play at Tennis with Iron Balls, and death comes
Whizzing by our Ears: Heads take fire in their
Brain-pans, and burst asunder like Granadoes,
Scattering the Wild-fire of their Brains
In their Fellow Soldiers faces.

Hill.
You fright me horribly.

Dur.
Other heads fly from one Ship with the bullets
That saluted them, to visit their friends in another.
Limbs like Langrel-shot, mount scattering in the air,
And hands that cou'd not reach the Enemy before,
Now fly into distant Vessels to give their foes a box
Of the ear; other hands grasping their swords,
Clear a whole Deck in the flight.

Hill.
What shall I do?

Dur.
We are now in a confusion, the Fireships
Flame, and their half-Moon is divided
Into blazing Stars.—

Hill.
Enough, good Captain.

Dur.
Some burn, the men leap over board,
And drown themselves to save their lives,
Other Ships reel, drunk with the Sea-brine,
And at last sink to the bottom, to follow
Those brave men, who fought in 'em
With as much courage as they drank.

Hil.
Have you yet done?

Dur.
The Flags and Streamers—

Hil.
Yet more?

Dur.
That hung wantonly playing in the air,
Now on the Deck lie stain'd in bloud,
And their tall Masts lie in their Hulls
As in Coffins. How like you it? is it not brave?

Hil.
I am almost dead with fear.

Dur.
I thought you valiant.

Hil.
Yes, Captain, in Land matters a very Lioness,
But in Sea-affairs a meer Coward.
The very Terms are Bullets to me;
I wou'd not hear such another Relation.

Dur.
Not hear! Can you fear when I stand by?
My voice is gentle, but I have something
That can speak louder to your Enemies,
[Shews a Pistol.
See—

Hil.
What's that, a Pistol?

Dur.
'Tis the Spawn of a Cannon, a little Spit-Devil.

Hil.
Pray conjure him down again.

Dur.
Frighted at my voice, you shall hear
What a brave Language this speaks.
[Fires.
Sure she'l love me anon.

Enter Oswold, Matilda, Alicia.
Osw.
What warning-piece was that?

Mat.
Alas, poor Hillaria, how thou trembl'st!

Hill.
O Madam, the Captain's in his hot Fit,
And I am in my cold.

Osw.
What has he done to you?

Hil.
Frighted me horribly, he has not spoke a word
But what was terrible as the roaring of Cannons.

Alic.
The Captain wou'd be a rare Physician to cure
Ladies of the Ague, if frighting will do't.

Mat.
What was you doing Captain?

Osw.
Only saluting his Mistress.

Dur.
Right, I gave her a Gun, and that's Sea-Courtship.

Alic.
Your Complement was very loud.

Mat.
Hillaria, admit him agen into your Service,
He will forget he is a Soldier, and turn
Courtier for your sake.

Hil.
No, let him still retain his valour,
But not o'reshoot himself in his Complements,
And express his Love in such terrible Rhetorick.

Dur.
I know not how to court you in a Silken phrase,
But in down-right Reality I will do't.
I am your Friend Star-board and Lar-board.

Hil.
Then Captain, out with your Sails again;
Top and Top-gallant you shall be my Lover.

Mat.
Well perform'd, Hillaria.

Hil.
Whilst I my heart under your Conduct steer,
No coasting Pyrate Lovers I, nor Rovers fear.