The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 06Dryden, John
General
The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 06
Dryden, John
English literature
_Bert._ If princes not protect their ministers,
What man will dare to serve them?
_Leo._ None will dare
To serve them ill, when they are left to laws;
But, when a counsellor, to save himself,
Would lay miscarriages upon his prince,
Exposing him to public rage and hate;
O, 'tis an act as infamously base,
As, should a common soldier sculk behind,
And thrust his general in the front of war:
It shews, he only served himself before,
And had no sense of honour, country, king,
But centered on himself, and used his master,
As guardians do their wards, with shews of care,
But with intent to sell the public safety,
And pocket up his prince.
_Ped._ Well said, i'faith;
This speech is e'en too good for an usurper. [_Aside._
_Bert._ I see for whom I must be sacrificed;
And, had I not been sotted with my zeal,
I might have found it sooner.
_Leo._ From my sight!
The prince, who bears an insolence like this,
Is such an image of the powers above,
As is the statue of the thundering god,
Whose bolts the boys may play with.
_Bert._ Unrevenged
I will not fall, nor single. [_Exit._
_Leo._ Welcome, welcome! [_To_ RAYM. _who kisses her hand._
I saw you not before: One honest lord
Is hid with ease among a crowd of courtiers.
How can I be too grateful to the father
Of such a son as Torrismond?
_Raym._ His actions were but duty.
_Leo._ Yet, my lord,
All have not paid that debt, like noble Torrismond.
You hear, how Bertran brands me with a crime,
Of which, your son can witness, I am free.
I sent to stop the murder, but too late;
For crimes are swift, but penitence is slow:
The bloody Bertran, diligent in ill,
Flew to prevent the soft returns of pity.
_Raym._ O cursed haste, of making sure of sin!--
Can you forgive the traitor?
_Leo._ Never, never:
'Tis written here in characters so deep,
That seven years hence, ('till then should I not meet him,)
And in the temple then, I'll drag him thence,
Even from the holy altar to the block.
_Raym._ She's fired, as I would wish her; aid me, justice, [_Aside._
As all my ends are thine, to gain this point,
And ruin both at once.--It wounds, indeed, [_To her._
To bear affronts, too great to be forgiven,
And not have power to punish; yet one way
There is to ruin Bertran.
_Leo._ O, there's none;
Except an host from heaven can make such haste
To save my crown, as he will do to seize it.
You saw, he came surrounded with his friends,
And knew, besides, our army was removed
To quarters too remote for sudden use.
_Raym._ Yet you may give commission
To some bold man, whose loyalty you trust,
And let him raise the train-bands of the city.
_Leo._ Gross feeders, lion talkers, lamb-like fighters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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