Must. Your majesty may lay your soul on't: but for my part, though I am a plain fellow, yet I scorn to be trick'd into paradise: I would he should know it. The troth on't is, an't like you, his reverence bought of me the flower of all the market; these these are but dogs' meat to 'em, and a round price he paid me too, I'll say that for him; but not enough for me to venture my neck for: If I get paradise when my time comes, I can't help myself; but I'll venture nothing before-hand, upon a blind bargain.

M. Mol. Where are those slaves? produce 'em.
Muf. They are not what he says.
M. Mol. No more excuses.

[One goes out to fetch them.
Know, thou may'st better dally
With a dead prophet than a living king.
Muf. I but reserv'd 'em, to present thy great-

ness

An off'ring worthy thee.

Must. By the same token there was a dainty virgin, (Virgin! said I? but I won't be too positive of that neither) with a roguish leering eye! he paid me down for her upon the nail a thousand golden sultanins, or he had never had her, I can tell him that. Now is it very likely he would pay so dear for such a delicious morsel, and give it away out of his own mouth, when it had such a farewel with it too?

Enter SEBASTIAN, conducted in mean habit, with ALVAREZ, ANTONIO, and ALMEYDA: her face veiled with a Barnus.

M. Mol. Ay; these look like the wormanship of Heav'n:

This is the porcelain clay of human kind,
And therefore cast into these noble moulds.
Dor. [Aside, while the Emperor whispers BEN-
DUCAR.] By all my wrongs

'Tis he; damnation seize me but 'tis he!
My heart heaves up and swells; he's poison to

Muf. Our law says plainly, women have no souls.

M. Mol. 'Tis true, their souls are mortal; set her by:

Yet were Almeyda here, though fame reports her
The fairest of her sex, so much, unseen,
I hate the sister of our rival house,
Ten thousand such dry notions of our Alcoran
Should not protect her life; if not immortal,
Die as she could, all of a piece, the better
That none of her remain."

Here an Urn is brought in: the prisoners ap-
proach with great concernment; and among
the rest SEBASTIAN, ALVAREZ, and AN-
TONIO, who come more chearfully.

Dor. Poor abject creatures, how they fear to

die!

[Aside. These never knew one happy hour in life, Yet shake to lay it down: is load so pleasant? Or has heav'n hid the happiness of death, That men may bear to live? -- Now for our heroes. [The three approach. O, these come up with spirits more resolv'd! Old venerable Alvarez, well I know him, The fav'rite once of this Sebastian's father; Now minister; (too honest for his trade) Religion bears him out; a thing taught young, In age ill practis'd, yet his prop in death.O, he has drawn a black, and smiles upon't, As who should say, my faith and soul are white, Though my lot swarthy: Now, if there be here

after,

He's blest; if not, well cheated, and diegolezs'd.
Ant. [Holding his lot in his clenched hand]
Here I have thee;

Be what thou wilt, I will not look too soon.
Thou hast a colour; if thou prov'st not right,
I have a minute good ere I behold thee.
Now, let me roll and grubble thee:
Blind men say white feels smooth, and black feels
rough;

Thou hast a rugged skin; I do not like thee. Dor. There's th' amorous airy spark, Antonio;

The wittiest woman's toy in Portugal.
Lord! what a loss of treats and serenades!
The whole she-nation will be in mourning for him.
Ant. I've a moist sweaty palm; the more's
my sin;

If it be black, yet only dy'd, not odious,
Damn'd natural ebony, there's hope in rubbing
To wash this Ethiop white.-Looks] Pox of
the proverb!

As black as hell: another lucky saying!
I think the devil's in me:-good again!
I cannot speak one syllable, but tends
To death or to damnation. [Holds up his ball.
Dor. He looks uneasy at his future journey;

And wishes his boots off again, for fear
Of a bad road, and a worse inn at night.
Go to bed, fool, and take secure repose,
For thou shalt wake no more.

[Aside.

[SEB. comes up to draw.

M. Mol. [To BEN.] Mark him who now approaches to the lott❜ry ;

1 He looks secure of death, superior greatness, Like Jove, when he made Fate, and said thou art The slave of my creation; I admire him.

Bend. He looks as man was made, with face erect,

That scorns his brittle corpse, and seems asham'd
He's not all spirit; his eyes, with a dumb pride,
Accusing fortune that he fell not warm;

Yet now disdains to live. [SEB. draws a black.
M. Mol. He has his wish;
And I have fail'd of mine!

Dor. Robb'd of my vengeance, by a trivial
chance!

[Aside.

Fine work above, that their anointed care
Should die such little death: or did his genius
Know mine the stronger demon, fear'd the grap-
ple,

And, looking round him, found this nook of fate To skulk behind my sword!-shall I discover him? Still he would die not mine, no thanks to my Revenge; reserv'd but to more royal shambles. 'Twere base too, and below those vulgar souls, That shar'd his danger, yet not one disclos'd him,

But, struck with rev'rence, kept an awful silence. I'll see no more of this: dog of a prophet!

Exit DOR. M. Mol. One of these three is a whole hecatomb;

And therefore only one of 'em shall die :
The rest are but mute cattle; and when death
Comes, like a rushing lion, couch like spaniels,
With lolling tongues, and tremble at the paw:
Let lots again decide it.

[The three draw again, and the lot fulls on SEB.

Seb. Then there's no more to manage! if I

fall,

It shall be like myself; a setting sun
Should leave a track of glory in the skies.-
Behold Sebastian, king of Portugal!

M. Mol. Sebastian! ha! it must be he; no other

Could represent such suff'ring majesty :
I saw him, as he terms himself, a sun
Struggling in dark eclipse, and shooting day
On either side of the black orb that veil'd him.
Seb. Not less ev'n in this despicable now,
Than when my name fill'd Afric with affrights,
And froze your hearts beneath your torrid zone.
Bend. [To M. MOL.] Extravagantly brave! ev'n
to an impudence
Of greatness.

Seb. Here satiate all your fury;

Let fortune empty her whole quiver on me;
I have a soul, that, like an ample shield,
Can take in all, and verge enough for more.
I would have conquer'd you; and ventur'd only
A narrow neck of land for a third world,
To give my loosen'd subjects room to play.
Fate was not mine,

Nor am I Fate's: Now I have pleas'd my longing,
And trod the ground which I beheld from far,

Of mine shall light, know there Sebastian reigns. M. Mol. What shall I do to conquer thee? Seb. Impossible!

Souls know no conquerors.

M. Mol. I'll show thee for a monster through my Afric.

Seb. No, thou canst only show me for a man: Afric is stor❜d with monsters; man's a prodigy, Thy subjects have not seen.

M. Mol. Thou talk'st as if Still at the head of battle.

Seb. Thou mistak'st, For then I would not talk.

Bend. Sure he would sleep. Seb. Till dooms-day, when the trumpet sounds to rise;

For that's a soldier's call.

M. Mol. Thou'rt brave too late:

Thou should'st have died in battle, like a soldier. Seb. I fought and fell like one, but death deceiv'd me;

I wanted weight of feeble Moors upon me,
To crush my soul out.

M. Mol. Still untameable?

In what a ruin has thy head-strong pride
And boundless thirst of empire plung'd thy people!
Seb. What say'st thou? ha! No more of that.
M. Mol. Behold,

What carcases of thine thy crimes have strew'd,
And left our Afric vultures to devour.

Bend. Those souls were those thy God entrusted with thee,

To cherish, not destroy.

Seb. Witness, O heaven! how much This sight concerns me! Would I had a soul For each of these: How gladly would I pay The ransom down! But since I have but one, 'Tis a king's life, and freely 'tis bestow'd. Not your false prophet, but eternal justice, Has destin'd me the lot, to die for these: 'Tis fit a sovereign so should pay such subjects For subjects such as they are seldom seen, Who not forsook me at my greatest need, Nor for base lucre sold their loyalty, But shar'd my dangers to the last event, And fenc'd 'em with their own: These thanks I [Wipes his eyes.

pay you: And know, that, when Sebastian weeps, his tears Come harder than his blood.

M. Mol. They plead too strongly To be withstood: My clouds are gath'ring too, In kindly mixture with this royal shower.Be safe, and owe thy life, not to my gift, But to the greatness of thy mind, Sebastian: Thy subjects too shall live; a due reward For their untainted faith, in thy concealment. Muf. Remember, sir, your vow. [A general shout.

M. Mol. Do thou remember Thy function, mercy, and provoke not blood. Mul. Zeyd. One of his generous fits; too strong to last. [Aside to BEND.

Bend. The Mufti reddens; mark that holy cheek. [To him. He frets within, froths treason at his mouth, And churns it through his teeth: Leave me to work him.

Seb. A mercy unexpected, undesir'd, Surprises more: You've learnt the art to vanquish :

You could not, give me leave to tell you, sir,
Have giv'n me life but in my subjects' safety:
Kings, who are fathers, live but in their people.
M. Mol. Still great, and grateful, that's thy
character.-

Unveil the woman; I would view the face
That warm'd our Mufti's zeal:
These pious parrots peck the fairest fruit :
Such tasters are for kings.

[Officers go to ALM. to unveil her. Alm. Stand off, ye slaves, I will not be unveil'd.

M. Mol. Slave is thy title: force her.
Seb. On your lives,

Approach her not.

M. Mol. How's this?

Seb. Sir, pardon me,

And hear me speak.

Alm. Hear me; I will be heard:

I am no slave; the noblest blood of Afric
Runs in my veins; a purer stream than thine;
For, though deriv'd from the same source, thy

current

Is puddled and defil'd with tyranny.

M. Mol. What female fury have we here?
Alm. I should be one,

Because of kin to thee: Would'st thou be touch'd

By the presuming hands of saucy grooms?
The same respect, nay more, is due to me:
More for my sex; the same for my descent.
These hands are only fit to draw the curtain.
Now, if thou dar'st, behold Almeyda's face.
[Unveils herself.

Bend. Would I had never seen it! [Aside.
Alm. She whom thy Mufti tax'd to have no
soul!

Let Afric now be judge.

Perhaps thou think'st I meanly hope to 'scape, As did Sebastian when he own'd his greatness; But, to remove that scruple, know, base man, My murder'd father, and my brother's ghost, Still haunt this breast, and prompt it to revenge.

Think not I could forgive, nor dare thou pardon:

M. Mol. Would'st thou revenge thee, trait'ress, hadst thou power?

Whether the toils of battle, unrepair'd
With due repose, or other sudden qualm.
Benducar, do the rest

[Goes off, the court follows him, Bend. Strange; in full health! This pang is of the soul;

The body's unconcern'd: I'll think hereafter.-
Conduct these royal captives to the castle;
Bid Dorax use 'em well, till farther order.

[Going off, stops.
The inferior captives their first owners take,
To sell, or to dispose.-You, Mustapha,
Set ope the market for the sale of slaves.

(Exit BEND.

[The Masters and Slaves come forward, and buyers of several qualities come in and cheffor about the several owners, who make their slaves do tricks.

Must. My chattels are come into my hands again, and my conscience will serve me to sell 'em twice over; any price now, before the Mufti comes to claim 'em.

1 Mer. [To MUST.] What do'st hold that old fellow at?[Pointing to ALVAREZ.] He's tough, and has no service in his limbs.

Must. I confess he's somewhat tough; but i suppose you wou'd not boil him. I ask for him a thousand crowns.

1 Mer. Thou mean'st a thousand marvedi's. Must. Prithee, friend, give me leave to know my own meaning.

1 Merch. What virtues has he to deserve that price?

Must. Marry, come up, sir! Virtues, quotha! I took him in the king's company; he's of a great family, and rich; what other virtues wou'dst thou

1 Merch. I buy him with another man's purse, that's my comfort. My Lord Dorax, the gover nor, will have him at any rate:-There's handsel.

Must. Something of a secret, and of the king, I heard him mutter: A pimp I warrant him, for I am sure he is an old courtier. Now to put off t'other remnant of my merchandize. Stir up, sirrah. [To ANTONIO.

Ant. Dog, what would'st thou have! Must. Learn better manners, or I shall serve you a dog-trick; Come, down upon all four immediately; I'll make you know your rider.

Ant. Thou wilt not make a horse of me? Must. Horse or ass, that's as thy mother made thee:-But take earnest in the first place for thy sauciness. [Lashes him with his whip.] Be advis'd, friend, and buckle to thy geers: Behold my ensign of royalty display'd over thee.

Ant. I hope one day to use thee worse in Portugal.

Must. Ay, and good reason, friend; if thou catchest me a conquering on thy side of the water, lay me on lustily, I'll take it as kindly as thou dost this.[Holds up his whip. Ant. [Lying down.] Hold, my dear thrum-cap: I obey thee chearfully; I see the doctrine of non-resistance is never practis'd thoroughly but when a man can't help himself.

Enter a second Merchant.

2 Merch. You, friend, I would see that fel low do his postures. [MUST. bridling ANT.] Now, sirrah, follow, for you have rope enough: To your paces! villain! amble, trot, and gallop:Quick, about there. Leap, the more money's bidden for you, the more your credit. [ANTONIO follows at the end of the bridle, on his hands and feet, and does all his postures. 2 Merch. He's well chined, and has a tolerable good back: that's half in half. [To MusTAPHA.] I would see him strip; has he no diseases about him?

Must. He's the best piece of man's flesh in the market; not an eye-sore in his whole body: Feel his legs, master, neither splint, spavin, nor wind-gall. [Claps him on the shoulder. Mer. [Feeling about him, and then putting his hand to his side.] Out upon him, how his flank heaves! The whoreson's broken-winded.

Must. Thick breath'd a little: Nothing but a Borry cold with lying out at nights in trenches:but sound wind and limb, I warrant him. Try him at a loose trot a little.

[Puts the bridle into his hand, he strokes him. Ant. For heaven's sake, owner, spare me; you know I am but new-broken.

2 Merch. 'Tis but a washy jade, I see: What do you ask for this bauble?

Must. Bauble do you call him? he's a substantial true-bred beast; bravely forehanded; mark

but the cleanness of his shapes too; his dam may be a Spanish Gennet, but a true barb by the sire, or I have no skill in horse-flesh.-Marry, Iask six hundred xeriffs for him.

Enter Mufti.

Muf. What's that you are asking, sirrah? Must. Marry, I ask your reverence six hundred pardons; I was doing you a small piece of service here, putting off your chattel for you. Muf. And putting the money into your own pocket.

Must. Upon vulgar reputation, no, my lord; it was for your profit and emolument. What! wrong the head of my religion? I was sensible you would have damn'd me, or any man that should have injur'd you in a single farthing; for I knew that was sacrifice.

Muf. Sacrilege you mean, sirrah,—and damning shall be the least part of your punishment; I have taken you in the manner, and will have the law upon you.

Must. Good my lord, take pity upon a poor man in this world, and damn me in the next. /Muf. No, sirrah, so you may repent, and 'scape punishment': Did not you sell this very slave amongst the rest to me, and take money for him?

Must. Right, my lord.

Muf. And selling him again? Take money twice for the same commodity? Oh, villain! But did d you not know him to be my slave, sirrah?

Must. Why should I lie to your honour? I did know him: and thereupon, seeing him wander about, I took him up for a stray, and impounded him, with intention to restore him to the right

owner.

Muf. And yet at the same time was selling him to another? How rarely the story hangs together!

Must. Patience, my lord. I took him up, as your heriot, with intention to have made the best of him, and then have brought the whole product of him in a purse to you; for I know you would have spent half of it upon your pious pleasures, have hoarded up the other half, and given the remainder in charities to the poor.

Muf. And what's become of my other slave Thou hast sold him too, I have a villainous sus picion.

Must. I know you have, my lord; but while I was managing this young robustous fellow, that old spark, who was nothing but skin and bone, and, by consequence, very nimble, slipt through my fingers like an eel, for there was no hold fast of him, and ran away to buy himself a new mas

ter.

Muf. [To ANT.] Follow me home, sirrah: [ToMUST.] Ishall remember you some other time, [Exit Mufti with ANTONIO,

Must. I ́never doubted your lordship's memory, for an ill turn: And I shall remember him too in the next rising of the mobile, for this act of

resumption; and more especially for the ghostly counsel he gave me before the emperor, to have hang'd myself in silence, to have sav'd his reverence. The best on't is, I am beforehand with him, for selling one of his slaves twice over.And if he had not come just in the nick, I might have pocketed up t'other: For what should a poor man do, that gets his living by hard labour, but pray for bad times when he may get it easily?

O, for some incomparable tumult! Then should I naturally wish, that the beaten party might prevail, because we have plundered t'other side already, and there's nothing more to get of 'em. Both rich and poor for their own interest pray, 'Tis ours to make our fortunes while we may; For kingdoms are not conquer'd every day. [Exit MUSTAPHA.

SCENE I-Supposed to be a Terrace Walk, on the Side of the Castle of Alcasar.

Emperor, BENDUCAR.

Emp. Still 'tis strange

To me: I know my soul as wild as winds,
That sweep the deserts of our moving plains;
Love might as well be sow'd upon our sands,
As in a breast so barren:

To love an enemy, the only one
Remaining too, whom yester sun beheld
Must'ring her charms, and rolling, as she past
By every squadron, her alluring eyes,

To edge her champions' swords, and urge my ruin,

The shouts of soldiers, and the burst of cannon,
Maintain ev'n still a deaf and murm'ring noise;
Nor is heav'n yet recover'd of the sound
Her battle rous'd; Yet spite of me I love.
Bend. What then controuls you?
Her person is as prostrate as her party.
Emp. A thousand things controul this con-
queror;

My native pride to own th' unworthy passion,
Hazard of int'rest, and my people's love.
To what a storm of fate am I expos'd!
What if I had her murder'd? 'tis but what
My subjects all expect, and she deserves.
Would not th' impossibility

Of ever, ever seeing, or possessing,
Calm all this rage, this hurricane of soul?
Bend. That ever, ever,-

I mark'd the double,-shows extreme reluc

tance

To part with her for ever.

Emp. Right, thou hast me;

I would, but cannot kill: I must enjoy her:
I must, and what I must, be sure I will.
What's royalty but pow'r to please myself?
And if I dare not, then am I the slave,
And my own slaves the sovereigns,—'tis re-
solv'd:

Weak princes flatter when they want the pow'r
To curb their people; tender plants must bend;
But when a government is grown to strength,
Like some old oak, rough with its armed bark,
It yields not to the tug, but only nods,

And turns to sullen state.

Bend. Then you resolve

To implore her pity, and to beg relief?

Emp. Death! must I beg the pity of my slave Must a king beg? Yes, love's a greater king; A tyrant, nay a devil, that possesses me: He tunes the organs of my voice, and speaks Unknown to me within me; pushes me, And drives me on by force.

Say I should wed her, would not my wise subjects

Take check, and think it strange? perhaps revolt?

Bend. I hope they would not.

Emp. Then thou doubt'st they would?
Bend. To whom?

Emp. To her

Perhaps, or to my brother, or to thee.

Bend. [In disorder.] To me! me did you mention? how I tremble! The name of treason shakes my honest soul. If I am doubted, sir,

Secure yourself this moment, take my life.
Emp. No more: if I suspected thee-I would.
Bend. I thank your kindness:-Guilt had al-
most lost me!
[Aside.

Emp. But clear my doubts: think'st thou they
may rebel?
Bend. [Aside.] This goes as I would wish:-
[To the Emp.] 'Tis possible.

A secret party still remains, that lurks
Like embers rak'd in ashes; wanting but