see.

That blast which my ambitious spirit swellid,
See by how weak a tenure it was held !
I only stay to save the innocent;
Oh envy not my soul its last content !

Ind. No, let me die; I'm doubly summond now;
First by my Aureng-Zebe, and since by you.
My soul grows hardy, and can death endure;
Your convoy makes the dangerous way secure.

Mel. Let me at least a funeral marriage crave, Nor grudge my cold embraces in the

grave. I have too just a title in the strife ; By me, unhappy me, he lost his life : I call'd him hither, 'twas my fatal breath, And I the screech-owl that proclaim'd his death.

[Shout within. Abas. What new alarms are these? I'll haste and

[Exit. Nour. Look up and live; an empire shall be thine. Mor. That I condemn'd, even when I thought it

mine. Oh, I must yield to my hard destinies, [T. IND. And must for ever cease to see your eyes !

Mel. Ah turn your sight to me, my dearest lord ! Can you not one, one parting look afford ? Even so unkind in death?_but 'tis in vain ; I lose my breath, and to the winds complain. Yet 'tis as much in vain your cruel scorn; Still I can love, without this last return. For fate, nor you, can my vow'd faith controul; Dying, I follow your disdainful soul : A ghost, I'll haunt your ghost; and, where you go, With mournful murmurs fill the plains below.

Mor. Be happy, Melesinda; cease to grieve,
And for a more deserving husband live :-
Can you forgive me?

Mel. Can I? Oh, my heart !
Have I heard one kind word before I part ?

I can, I can forgive: Is that a task
To love like mine? Are you so good to ask ?
One kiss-Oh, 'tis too great a blessing this !

[Kisses him. I would not live to violate the bliss.

Re-enter ABAS. Abas. Some envious devil has ruind us yet more: The fort's revolted to the Emperor ; The gates are open'd, the portcullis drawn, And deluges of armies from the town Come pouring in: I heard the mighty flaw, When first it broke; the crowding ensigns

saw,
Which choked the passage; and, what least I feard,
The waving arms of Aureng-Zebe appeard,
Display'd with your Morats :
In either's flag the golden serpents bear
Erected crests alike, like volumes rear,
And mingle friendly hissings in the air.
Their troops are join'd, and our destruction nigh.

Nour. "T'is vain to fight, and I disdain to fly.
I'll mock the triumphs which our foes intend,
And, spite of fortune, make a glorious end.
In poisonous draughts my liberty I'll find,
And from the nauseous world set free

my

mind.

[Exit. At the other end of the Stage enter AURENG-ZEBE,

DIANET, and Attendants. AURENG-ZEBE turns
back, and speaks entering:
Aur. The lives of all, who cease from combat,

spare ;
My brother's be your most peculiar care :
Our impious use no longer shall obtain ;
Brothers no more by brothers shall be slain.-

[Seeing INDÁMORA and MORAT. Ha! do I dream ? Is this my hoped success ? I grow a statue, stiff and motionless.

Look, Dianet; for I dare not trust these eyes ;
They dance in mists, and dazzle with surprise.

Dia. Sir, 'tis Morat; dying he seems, or dead ;
And Indamora's hand-
Aur. Supports his head.

[Sighing Thou shalt not break yet, heart, nor shall she know My inward torments by my outward show: To let her see my weakness were too base ; Dissembled quiet sit upon my face: My sorrow to my eyes no passage find, But let it inward sink, and drown my mind. Falsehood shall want its triumph : I begin To stagger, but I'll prop myself within. The spacious tower no ruin shall disclose, Till down at once the mighty fabric goes. Mor. In sign that I die yours, reward my love,

[TO IND. And seal my passport to the bless'd above.

[Kissing her hand. Ind. Oh stay; or take me with you

when you go; There's nothing now worth living for below.

Mor. I leave you not; for my expanded mind Grows up to heaven, while it to you is join'd : Not quitting, but enlarged! A blazing fire, Fed from the brand.

[Dies. Mel. Ah me! he's gone! I die! [Swoons.

Ind. Oh, dismal day! Fate, thou hast ravish'd my last hope away! [She turns, and sees AURENG-ZEBE standing

by her, and starts. O heaven! my Aureng-Zebe What strange sur

prise ! Or does my willing mind delude my eyes, And shews the figure always present there? Or liv'st thou ? am I bless'd, and see thee here? Aur. My brother's body, see convey'd with care,

[Turning from her, to her Attendants.

Where we may royal sepulture prepare.
With speed to Melesinda bring relief :
Recal her spirits, and moderate her grief-

[Half turning to Ind. I go, to take for ever from your view, Both the loved object, and the hated too.

[Going away after the bodies, which are

carried off Ind. Hear me! yet think not that I beg your stay;

[Laying hold of him. I will be heard, and, after, take your way. Go; but your late repentance shall be vain :

[He struggles still : she lets him go. I'll never, never see your face again.

[Turning away. Aur. Madam, I know whatever you can say: You might be pleased not to command my stay. All things are yet disorder'd in the fort ; I must crave leave your audience may be short.

Ind. You need not fear I shall detain you long : Yet you may tell me your pretended wrong.

Aur. Is that the business ? then my stay is vain.
Ind. How are you injured ?
Aur. When did I complain ?

Ind. Leave off your forced respect,
And shew your rage in its most furious form :
I'm arm'd with innocence to brave the storm.
You heard, perhaps, your brother's last desire,
And, after, saw him in my arms expire ;
Saw me, with tears, so great a loss bemoan;
Heard me complaining my last hopes were gone.
Aur. “ Oh stay, or take me with you when you

go, “ There's nothing now worth living for below.” Unhappy sex! whose beauty is your snare: Exposed to trials ; made too frail to bear.

-I grow a fool, and shew my rage again : 'Tis nature's fault, and why should I complain ?

Ind. Will you yet hear me ?

Aur. Yes, till you relate What powerful motives did your change create. You thought me dead, and prudently did weigh Tears were but vain, and brought but youth's decay. Then, in Morat, your hopes a crown design'd; And all the woman work'd within your mind. I rave again, and to my rage return, To be again subjected to your scorn.

Ind. I wait till this long storm be over-blown.

Aur. I'm conscious of my folly : I have done. I cannot rail ; but silently I'll grieve. How did I trust! and how did you deceive ! Oh, Arimant, would I had died for thee! I dearly buy thy generosity.

Ind. Alas, is he then dead ?

Aur. Unknown to me, He took my arms; and, while I forced my way Through troops of foes, which did our passage stay, My buckler o'er my aged father cast, Still fighting, still defending as I past, The noble Arimant usurpd my name ; Fought, and took from me, while he gave me, fame. To Aureng-Zebe, he made his soldiers cry, And, seeing not, where he heard danger nigh, Shot, like a star, through the benighted sky, A short, but mighty aid : At length he fell. My own adventures ’twere lost time to tell ; Or how my army, entering in the night, Surprised our foes; the dark disorder'd fight : How my appearance, and my father shown, Made peace; and all the rightful monarch own. I've summ'd it briefly, since it did relate The unwelcome safety of the man you hate.