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Phil. Madam, it shall be our care.

[Exeunt CHRIS. and PHIL.

Cal. Being alone, Penthea, you have, granted,

The opportunity you sought, and might

At all times have commanded.

Pen. 'Tis a benefit

Which I shall owe your goodness even in death for:

My glass of life, sweet princess, hath few minutes
Remaining to run down; the sands are spent ;
For by an inward messenger I feel

The summons of departure short and certain.
Cal. You feed too much your melancholy.
Pen. Glories

Of human greatness are but pleasing dreams,
And shadows soon decaying; on the stage
Of my mortality, my youth hath acted
Some scenes of vanity, drawn out at length
By varied pleasures, sweeten'd in the mixture,
But tragical in issue: beauty, pomp,
With every sensuality our giddiness
Doth frame an idol, are unconstant friends,
When any troubled passion makes assault

On the unguarded castle of the mind.

Cal. Contemn not your condition, for the proof Of bare opinion only: to what end Reach all these moral texts?

Pen. To place before you

A perfect mirror, wherein you may see
How weary I am of a lingering life,

Who count the best a misery.

Cal. Indeed

You have no little cause; yet none so great
As to distrust a remedy.

Pen. That remedy

Must be a winding-sheet, a fold of lead,
And some untrod-on corner in the earth.-
Not to detain your expectation, princess,
I have an humble suit.

Cal. Speak;' I enjoy it.

Pen. Vouchsafe, then, to be my executrix,
And take that trouble on you, to dispose
Such legacies as I bequeath, impartially;
I have not much to give, the pains are easy;
Heav'n will reward your piety, and thank it
When I am dead; for sure I must not live;
I hope I cannot.

Cal. Now, beshrew thy sadness,
Thou turn'st me too much woman.
Pen. Her fair eyes

[Weeps.

Melt into passion.-[Aside.]-Then I have assur

ance

Encouraging my boldness. In this paper

My will was character'd; which you, with pardon,
Shall now know from mine own mouth.
Cal. Talk on, prithee;

It is a pretty earnest.

Pen. I have left me

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But three poor jewels to bequeath. The first is
My Youth; for though I am much old in griefs,
In years I am a child.

Čal. To whom that?

Pen. To virgin-wives, such as abuse not wedlock
By freedom of desires; but covet chiefly
The pledges of chaste beds for ties of love,
Rather than ranging of their blood: and next
To married maids, such as prefer the number
Of honourable issue in their virtues

Before the flattery of delights by marriage;
May those be ever young!

Čal. A second jewel

You mean to part with?

Pen. "T is my Fame; I trust,

By scandal yet untouch'd: this I bequeath
To Memory, and Time's old daughter, Truth.
If ever my unhappy name find mention,

1 i. e. proceed: I take pleasure in it.

When I am fall'n to dust, may it deserve
Beseeming charity without dishonour!

Cal. How handsomely thou play'st with harmless

sport

Of mere imagination! speak the last;
I strangely like thy will.

Pen. This jewel, madam,

Is dearly precious to me; you must use
The best of your discretion to employ
This gift as I intend it.

Cal. Do not doubt me.

Pen. "T is long agone since first I lost my heart: Long have I lived without it, else for certain

I should have given that too; but instead

Of it, to great Calantha, Sparta's heir,
By service bound, and by affection vow'd,
I do bequeath, in holiest rites of love,
Mine only brother, Ithocles.

Cal. What saidst thou?

Pen. Impute not, heaven-blest lady, to ambition A faith as humbly perfect as the prayers

Of a devoted suppliant can endow it:

Look on him, princess, with an eye of pity;
How like the ghost of what he late appear'd,
He moves before you.

Cal. Shall I answer here,

Or lend my ear too grossly?
Pen. First his heart

Shall fall in cinders, scorch'd by your disdain,
Ere he will dare, poor man, to ope an eye
On these divine looks, but with low-bent thoughts
Accusing such presumption; as for words,
He dares not utter any but of service:

Yet this lost creature loves you.-Be a princess
In sweetness as in blood; give him his doom,
Or raise him up to comfort.

Cal. What new change

Appears in my behaviour, that thou dar'st
Tempt my displeasure?

Pen. I must leave the world

To revel [in] Elysium, and 't is just

To wish my brother some advantage here;
Yet by my best hopes, Ithocles is ignorant
Of this pursuit: but if you please to kill him,
Lend him one angry look, or one harsh word,
And you shall soon conclude how strong a power
Your absolute authority holds over

His life and end.

Cal. You have forgot, Penthea, How still I have a father.

Pen. But remember

I am a sister, though to me this brother
Hath been, you know, unkind; oh, most unkind!
Cal. Christalla, Philema, where are you?-Lady,
Your check lies in my silence.

Enter CHRISTALLA and PHILEMA.

Both. Madam, here.

Cal. I think you sleep, you drones: wait on Penthea

Unto her lodging.-Ithocles! wrong'd lady! [Aside. Pen. My reckonings are made even; death or fate

Can now nor strike too soon, nor force too late.

[Exeunt.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

The Palace. ITHOCLES's Apartment.

Enter ITHOCLES and ARMOSTES.

Ith. Forbear your inquisition; curiosity
Is of too subtle and too searching nature:
In fears of love too quick; too slow of credit.-
I am not what you doubt me.

Arm. Nephew, be then

As I would wish ;—all is not right.-Good heaven

Confirm your resolutions for dependence
On worthy ends, which may advance your quiet!
Ith. I did the noble Orgilus much injury,
But griev'd Penthea more; I now repent it,
Now, uncle, now; this Now is now too late.
So provident is folly in sad issue,

That after-wit, like bankrupts' debts, stands tallied,
Without all possibilities of payment.

Sure he's an honest, very honest gentleman;
A man of single meaning.1

Arm. I believe it.

Yet, nephew, 't is the tongue informs our ears;
Our eyes can never pierce into the thoughts,
For they are lodged too inward: but I question
No truth in Orgilus.-The princess, sir.

Ith. The princess? ha!

Arm. With her the prince of Argos.

Enter NEARCHUS, leading CALANTHA; AMELUS, CHRISTALLA, PHILEMA.

Near. Great fair one, grace my hopes with any instance

Of livery, from the allowance of your favour;
This little spark-

[Attempts to take a ring from her finger.

Cal. A toy!

Near. Love feasts on toys,

For Cupid is a child;-vouchsafe this bounty:
It cannot be denied.

Cal. You shall not value,

Sweet cousin, at a price, what I count cheap:

So cheap, that let him take it who dares stoop for 't,

1 A man of single meaning,] i. e. plain, open, sincere, unreserved. It appears, notwithstanding the disavowal of Armostes, that he did not altogether adopt the fatal error of his nephew.-GIFFORD.

2 Grace my hopes with any instance

Of livery,] i. e. favour me with some badge, some ornament from your person, to show that you have condescended to enrol me among your servants. This was the language of courtship; and was derived from the practice of distinguishing the followers and retainers of great families by the badge or crest of the house.-GIFFORD

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