University of Virginia Library

Scene II.

Enter Mal. Mero.
Mal.]
The noble Lyon's hunted to the Toil,
There let him foam, and roar and gnaw the Chain,
Which he shall never break.

Mer.]
The King this Minute has pronounc'd his Doom,
To lose his Head to Morrow in the Forum.

Mal.]
The King's so fickle and unfixt in Temper,
There's no depending on his Sentance;
To Day condemns, to Morrow will forgive;
'Tis good to be secure; Are all to mount the Guard
To Night, our Friends?

Mer.]
Your Creatures all in every Post of Trust.

Mal.]
Good Meroan, go see that all's secure,
The Time approaches to reward thy Service.
[Exit Mero.
Mal. Solus.
What is Ambition but Desire of Greatness?
And what is Greatness but Extent of Power?
If Power then's the Object of my Wish,
I vainly seek, what I possess already;
A Crown can give me nothing that I want,
Since I have all the Good, tho' not the Name;
But Lust of Power's a Dropsie of the Mind,
Whose Thirst increases, while we drink to quench it,
'Till swoln, and stretcht by the repeated Draught,
We burst, and perish.

Enter Albazar.
Alb.]
May all your Fortune thus, my Lord, succeed,
May all your Foes the Fate of Rodomond meet,
Like him secur'd, and in your Power.

Mal.]
To Morrow's Sun his headless Trunk beholds;
Then, then, Albazar, we will seize our Wishes,
The Spoils of Empire, and the Charms of Love.

Alb.]
I beg, my Lord, you wou'd vouchsafe one Boon:
Bestow on me Euphelia.

Mal.]
I am engag'd to Meroan.

Alb.]
Engag'd, my Lord?

Mal.]
Yes, Albazar, he has that Favour askt,
And I have past my Word; but be content,
There will be Spoil to gratifie thy Wishes.

Alb.]
I long have lov'd that beauteous Maid: Methinks,
My Lord, my Services shou'd not be weigh'd
With Meroan's.

Mal.]
I am engag'd, and never will recede;
You must submit; whoever thinks
His Services unpaid, will soon repent them.

[Exit.
Alb.]
If so imperious while he only hopes,
How will he swell when Master of a Crown?
He shall repent it.

Enter King, Gonz. Roder. &c.
King.]
Tho' Royal Blood flows in thy Noble Veins,
And forty Camps with Lawrels plant thy Brows,
Thy Son's Presumption merits Death, Gonzalvo;
He is not worthy of my Crown and Daughter.

Gonz.]
O, Sir, forgive the Folly of his Love;
I never did support, nor knew his Passion:
If Services, tho' past, may Mercy claim,
At once my Age commiserate, and his Youth.

King.]
His Doom be chang'd within Ravenna's Walls;
If found to Morrow, he shall dye.

Enter Armida.
Arm.]
I come, unhappy King, to save thy Guilt,
Whose fatal Love thy Reason has misled,
To pass a Sentence, that will shake thy Throne,
Destroy thy Honour, and thy Peace.

King.]
Blame not Armida, what these Eyes have forc'd:
You might have hinder'd what you now deplore,
By condescending to my Love; and you
Can only now retrieve his Fate.

Arm.]
I will revenge your Quarrel on these Eyes,
Whose inauspicious Charms have thus destroy'd
The King, my self, and what I hold more dear:
I will retire excluded from the World;
I never more my Rodomond will see,
Wou'd you his Life preserve and Liberty restore.

King.]
You to your self can your own Wishes grant;
Give me that Hand, and Rodomond shall live.

Arm.]
To save my Lover's, and my Brother's Life,
I will my Hopes of Happiness resign,
But cannot change the Object of my Love;
Consum'd to Ashes in the fragrant Nest,
My Phœnix Passion nobly shall expire,
But ne're revive the Species to renew.

King.]
Thy Coldness kills not, but preserves my Flame,
As Winter Snows the freezing North defend,
And tender Plants keep warm. O Armida!
Thy very Cruelty has all the Charm
That Kindness gives the rest of Womankind;
Disdain'd we still love on.

Arm.]
Your Passion only centers in your self,
Or you wou'd wretched be, to make me blest;
Wou'd to my Happiness devote your own,
In generous Friendship, and sublimer Love,
That part of Bliss is least which we receive,
The nobler Pleasure springs from what we give.

King.]
Return Armida, to behold thy Fate:
[Is going.
Here, Malespine, my Royal Signet take,
The Warrant of his Death; go see
The Sentence executed strait.

Arm.]
Hold, hold, inhuman Tyrant, hold;
Canst thou consent to take that precious Life,
Whose Loss will leave no Vertue among Men?

King.]
'Tis fixt as Fate, and never can be chang'd;
You may these Words remember.

[Going.
Arm.]
I yield, I yield: Here, take the curs'd Armida,
To save my Rodomond, I will live another's:
Be doom'd to Life more terrible than Death.

King.]
Armida yields; Gonzalvo, Malespine, Albazar,
Partake the Joy; I want the Strength to bear
To either Pole: Let Seas and Winds convey
The welcome Sound, and all Mankind be happy:
A thousand manumitted Slaves shall owe
Their Freedom to this Day; shall ever bless
The happy Hour Armida saw the Light.
Thou shining Excellence, thou best of Women,
[To Arm.
I leave thee to dispel these gloomy Clouds,
And to assume a brighter Face of Joy:
Prepare, Armida, for this glorious Night;
In all my Triumphs thou shalt bear a part,
Divide my Scepter, and Possess my Heart.

Manent Giv. Arm.
[Ex. Kin. Mal. Roder. &c.
Arm.]
Recal the King, for I recal my Word;
I cannot, will not, must not keep it: But then
My Rodomond dies; I will, I will;
I will be miserable, O my Father;
I cannot bear this mighty Weight of Woe;
Thou never more must see thy wretched Daughter.

Gon.]
The Gods thus punish your intemperate Love.

Arm.]
My Flame is virtuous, innocent, and pure,
And rather claims Protection.

Gon.]
All Passions in excess are Crimes;
Submit thy Fate to Heaven's indulgent Care,
Tho' all seem lost, 'tis impious to despair;
The Tracts of Providence like Rivers wind,
Here run before us, then retreat behind,
And tho' immerg'd in Earth from human Eyes,
Again break forth, and more conspicuous rise.

[Exit.