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My eyes want force to raise a lover's arm,
Against a tyrant that has dared to wrong me!
Cleo. Madam, like Helen, trust your cause to
Greece.

Her. No; I'll avenge myself! I'll to the temple!
I'll overturn the altar, stab the priest !
I'll hurl destruction, like a whirlwind, round me!
They must not wed! they must not live! they
shall not!

Let me be gone! I have no time to lose!
Stand off! hold me not! I am all distraction!
Oh, Pyrrhus! Tyrant! Traitor! Thou shalt bleed!
Enter ORESTES.

What had he done? What could provoke thy
madness,

To assassinate so great, so brave a man?
Who set thee on?

Orest. Qh, grant me patience, Heaven!
With your own lips did you not curse the tyrant,
Pronounce his death, and urge me to destroy him?
Her. What if, transported by my boundless
passion,

I could not bear to see him wed another,
Were you to obey a jealous woman's frenzy?
You should have dived into
my inmost thoughts ;*
My heart, though full of rage, was free from ma-
lice;

Orest. Madam, 'tis done; your orders are obey- And all my anger was excess of love.

ed:

The tyrant lies expiring at the altar.

Her. Is Pyrrhus slain?

Orest. Even now he gasps in death:
Our Greeks, all undistinguished in the crowd,
Flocked to the temple, and dispersed themselves
On every side the altar. I was there;
Pyrrhus observed me with a haughty eye,
And, proud to triumph over Greece in me,
From his own brows he took the diadem,
And bound it on the temples of his captive;
Receive, said he, my crown; receive my faith;
Mine and my people's sovereign reign for ever.
From this blest hour, a father to your son,
I'll scourge his foes: henceforward be he styled
The Trojan king; I swear it at the altar,
And call the gods to ratify my vows.
His subjects, with loud acclamations, shook
The spacious dome. Our Greeks, enraged, cried
out,

Revenge! revenge! broke through the thronging

press,

And rushed, tumultuous, on the unguarded king;
Their eager fury left no work for me.
Pyrrhus awhile opposed their clashing swords,
And dealt his fatal blows, on every side,
With manly firmness; till, opprest by numbers,
Streaming with blood, all over gashed with wounds,
He reeled, he groaned, and at the altar fell.
--Haste, madam; let us fly! Haste to our ships!
They lie unmoored: our friends attend us there.
Her. What have they done!

Orest. Madam, forgive their rage.

I own your vengeance had been more complete,
Had Pyrrhus fallen by me, and had he known
Hermione chastised him by my arm.

Her. Peace, monster! peace! Go tell thy hor-
rid tale

To savages, and howl it in the desert.
Wouldst thou impute to me thy barbarous guilt?
Me wouldst thou make the accomplice of thy
crimes?

Hence to thy Greeks, and boast thy foul ex-
ploits!

My soul abhors them! I disclaim the deed! Begone! I know thee not! Thou fell barbarian!

VOL. I.

|

Why did you take me at my word! You saw
The struggles of my soul; you heard me rave;
You should have questioned me a thousand times,
Yet still have doubted, and still questioned on,
Before you ventured on a life so precious.

Orest. Hear me but speak: Heaven knows,
against my will-

Her. Why did you not return? Why not con-
sult me

A second time? And, undetermined still,
Again return, and still find new delays?
What had your rash officious Greeks, dire blood-
hounds!

To do with my revenge? What drew you hither?
To bring on me the vengeful woes that haunt
you?

Are these the fruits of your detested love?
Your fatal embassy, your hateful presence,
Drove Pyrrhus to my rival; and destroys
Both him and me. He might have loved me still,
Had you ne'er interposed-Avaunt! Begone!
And leave me in Epirus. I renounce
My friends, my country, Greece, and all man-
kind:

But chiefly I renounce thee! monster, thee!

[Exit. Orest. Am I awake? Where am I? Soft my soul; Be not too rash.

-Was that Hermione?

Why should her anger thunder against me?
Was not this blood shed all by her command ?-
I am, indeed, a most outrageous monster!
A ruffian, murderer, a base assassin !

And all to please a false, ungrateful woman.
Henceforward let the laws of nations cease;
And let the pale, that severs right and wrong,
Things sacred and profane, be broken down;
Gods in their temples, kings upon their thrones,
Are not in safety, while Orestes lives!
Oh! never more shall my torn mind be healed,
Nor taste the gentle comfort of repose!
A dreadful band of gloomy cares surround me,
And lay strong siege to my distracted soul!

Enter PYLADES, attended by Greeks.
Pyl. Haste, prince; let us be gone: 'tis death

to stay.

Tt

Andromache reigns queen: she gives the alarm,
And vows revenge upon the foes of Pyrrhus.
The people arm and muster in the streets:
Our Greeks will not be able long to guard
The palace gates, and to secure our flight.
We must be speedy, sir.

Orest. You may depart,

My friends- -Hermione and I remain-
Her cruelty has quite undone me!-Go,
And leave me to myself I'll find her out.

Pyl. Alas, unhappy princess! she's no more; Forget her, sir, and save yourself with us.

Orest. Hermione no more!—Oh, all ye powers! Pyl. Full of disorder, wildness in her looks, With hands expanded, and dishevelled hair, Breathless and pale, with shrieks she sought the temple;

In the mid-way she met the corpse of Pyrrhus; She started at the sight; then, stiff with horror, Gazed frightful: waked from the dire amaze, She raised her eyes to heaven with such a look, As spoke her sorrows, and reproached the gods: Then plunged a poniard deep within her breast, And fell on Pyrrhus, grasping him in death.

Orest. I thank you, gods-I never could expect

To be so wretched-You have been industrious
To finish your decrees; to make Orestes

A dreadful instance of your power to punish.
I'm singled out to bear the wrath of Heaven.

Pyl. You hazard your retreat by these delays. The guards will soon beset us. Your complaints Are vain, and may be fatal.

Orest. True, my friend:

And therefore 'twas I thanked the bounteous gods.
My fate's accomplished-I shall die content.
Oh, bear me hence-blow winds!-

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Pyl. Alas! I fear

His ravings will return with his misfortunes. Orest. I am dizzy !--Clouds !-Quite lost in utter darkness.

Guide me, some friendly pilot, through the storm.
I shiver! Oh, I freeze!So;-Light returns;
'Tis the grey dawn!-See, Pylades!-Behold!-
I am encompassed with a sea of blood !-
The crimson billows!-Oh, my brain's on fire !
Pyl. How is it, sir?-Repose yourself on me.
Orest. Pyrrhus, stand off!- -What wouldst

thou?-How he glares! What envious hand has closed thy wounds?

Have at thee.

It is Hermione that strikes-Confusion!
She catches Pyrrhus in her arms.--Oh, save me!
How terrible she looks! She knits her brow!
She frowns me dead! She frights me into mad-
ness!
Where am I? Who are you?

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I blaze again! See there! Look where they come ; A shoal of furies-How they swarm about me! My terror! Hide me! Oh, their snakey locks! Hark, how they hiss! See, see their flaming brands!

Now they let drive full at me! How they grin, And shake their iron whips! My ears! What yelling!

And see, Hermione! She sets them on-
Thrust not your scorpions thus into my bosom!
Oh! I am stung to death! Dispatch me soon!
There-take my heart, Hermione! Tear it out!
Disjoint me! kill me! Oh, my tortured soul!

Pyl. Kind Heaven restore him to his wonted calm!

Oft have I seen him rave, but never thus: Quite spent! Assist me, friends, to bear him off; Our time is short: should his strong rage return, "Twould be beyond our power to force him hence. Away, my friends! I hear the portal open.

[Exeunt.

Enter PHENIX, attended by Guards. Phan. All, all are fled! Orestes is not here! Triumphant villains!—The base, giddy rabble, Whose hands should all have been employed with fire,

To waste the fleet, flocked round the dying princess;

And, while they stand agaze, the Greeks embark.
Oh, 'tis too plain !—this sacrilegious murder
Was authorised. The ambassador's escape
Declares his guilt.Most bloody embassy!
Most unexampled deed!-Where, where, ye gods,
Is majesty secure, if in your temples
You give it no protection!-See, the queen.
[A flourish of trumpets.

Enter ANDROMACHE and CEPHISA.
Andr. Yes, ye inhuman Greeks! the time will

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Ceph. It is the corpse of Pyrrhus. The weeping soldiers bear him on their shields. Andr. Ill-fated prince! too negligent of life, And too unwary of the faithless Greeks! Cut off in the fresh ripening prime of manhood, Even in the pride of life: thy triumphs new, And all thy glories in full blossom round thee! The very Trojans would bewail thy fate.

Ceph. Alas, then, will your sorrows never end! Andr. Oh, never, never! -While I live, my

tears

Will never cease; for I was born to grieve.-
Give present orders for the funeral pomp:
[To Phanix.
Let him be robed in all his regal state;
Place round him every shining mark of honour:
And let the pile, that consecrates his ashes,
Rise like his fame, and blaze above the clouds.
[A flourish of trumpets.

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Glost. I guess the man at whom your words | Till life fled from us like an idle dream, would point:

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you.

Glost. In right good time. Speak out your pleasure freely.

Hast. I am to move your highness in behalf Of Shore's unhappy wife.

Glost. Say you, of Shore?

Hust. Once a bright star, that held her place on high:

The first and fairest of our English dames,
While royal Edward held the sovereign rule.
Now sunk in grief, and pining with despair,
Her waning form no longer shall incite
Envy in woman, or desire in man.

She never sees the sun, but through her tears,
And wakes to sigh the live-long night away.
Glost. Marry the times are badly changed
with her,

From Edward's days to these. Then all was jollity,

Feasting and mirth, light wantonness and laugh

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A shew of mummery without a meaning.
My brother, rest and pardon to his soul !
Is gone to his account; for this his minion,
The revel rout is done-But you were speaking
Concerning her-1 have been told, that you
Are frequent in your visitation to her.
Hast. No farther, my good lord, than friendly
pity,

And tender-hearted charity allow.

Glost. Go to; I did not mean to chide you

for it.

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And though some counsellors of forward zcal,
Some of most ceremonious sanctity,

And bearded wisdom, often have provoked
The hand of justice to fall heavy on her;
Yet still, in kind compassion of her weakness,
And tender memory of Edward's love,

I have withheld the merciless stern law
From doing outrage on her helpless beauty.
Hast. Good Heaven, who renders mercy back
for mercy,

With open-handed bounty shall repay you :
This gentle deed shall fairly be set foremost,
To screen the wild escapes of lawless passion,
And the long train of frailties flesh is heir to.

Glost. Thus far, the voice of pity pleaded only : Our farther and more full extent of grace Is given to your request. Let her attend, And to ourself deliver up her griefs. She shall be heard with patience, and cach wrong At full redressed. But I have other news, Which much import us both; for still my fortunes Go hand in hand with yours: our common foes, The queen's relations, our new-fangled gentry, Have fallen their haughty crests--That for your privacy. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-An apartment in Jane Shore's house.

Enter BELMOUR and DUMONT.

Bel. How she has lived, you have heard my

tale already;

The rest your own attendance in her family, Where I have found the means this day to place

you,

And nearer observation, best will tell you.
Sce, with what sad and sober cheer she comes.
Enter JANE Shore.

Sure, or I read her visage much amiss,
Or grief besets her hard. Save you, fair lady!

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