Cease, rattling drums; and, Abdilmelec, here
Throw up thy trembling hands to heaven's throne,
Pay to thy God due thanks, and thanks to him
That strengthens thee with mighty gracious arms,
Against the proud usurper of thy right,
The royal seat and crown of Barbary,
Great Amurath, great emperor of the world;
The world bear witness how I do adore
The sacred name of Amurath the Great.
Calsepius Bassa, Bassa Calsepius,
To thee, and to thy trusty band of men
That carefully attend us in our camp,
Pick'd soldiers, comparable to the guard
Of Myrmidons, that kept Achilles' tent,
Such thanks we give to thee, and to them all,
As may concern a poor distressed king,
In honour and in princely courtesy.

BAS. Courteous and honourable Abdilmelec,
We are not come at Amurath's command,
As mercenary men, to serve for pay,
But as sure friends by our great master sent
To gratify and to remunerate

Thy love, thy loyalty, and forwardness,
Thy service in his father's dangerous war;
And to perform, in view of all the world,
The true office of right and royalty :
To see thee in thy kingly chair enthron'd,
To settle and to seat thee in the same,
To make thee Emperor of this Barbary,
Are come the viceroys and sturdy janisaries
Of Amurath, son to Sultan Solimon.

Enter MULY MAHAMET SETH,* RUBIN ARCHIS, ABDIL RAYES, with others.

ABD. RAYES. Long live my lord, the sovereign of my heart,

Lord Abdilmelec, whom the God of kings,
The mighty Amurath hath happy made;
And long live Amurath for this good deed.

MULY MAH. SETH. Our Moors have seen the silver moons to wane,

In banners bravely spreading o'er † the plain,
And in these ‡ semicircles have descried
All in a golden field a star to rise,

A glorious comet that begins to blaze,

Promising happy sorting to us all.

RUB. Brave man at arms, whom Amurath hath

sent,

To sow the lawful true succeeding seed,

In Barbary, that bows and groans withal
Under a proud usurping tyrant's mace,

Right thou the wrongs this rightful king hath borne.
ABDILM. Distressed ladies, and ye dames of Fesse,
Sprung from the true Arabian Muly Xarif,
The loadstar and the honour of our line,
Now clear your watery eyes, wipe tears away,
And cheerfully give welcome to these arms :
Amurath hath sent scourges by his men,

* Seth] Called in the old copy in this scene (but here only) Xeque." There is no end to the confusion of names in this

play.

to'er] Old copy "over."

these] Old copy "this."

To whip that tyrant traitor king from hence,
That hath usurp'd from us, and maim'd you all.
Soldiers, sith rightful quarrels' aid

Successful are, and men that manage them
Fight not in fear as traitors and their feres,*
That you may understand what arms we bear,
What lawful arms against our brother's son,
In sight of heaven, even of mine honour's worth,
Truly I will deliver and discourse

The sum of all. Descended from the line
Of Mahomet, our grandsire Muly Xarif
With store of gold and treasure leaves Arabia,
And strongly plants himself in Barbary,
And of the Moors that now with us do wend
Our grandsire Muly Xarif was the first.
From him well wot ye Muly Mahamet Xeque,
Who in his life time made a perfect law,
Confirm'd with general voice of all his peers,
That in his kingdom should successively
His sons succeed. Abdallas was the first,
Eldest of four,† Abdelmunen the second,
And we the rest, my brother, and myself.
Abdallas reign'd his time; but see the change!,
He labours to invest his son in all,

To disannul the law our father made,

And disinherit us his brethren ;

And in his life-time wrongfully proclaims

His son for king that now contends with us.

* feres] See note † vol. i. p. 7.

+ four] Old copy "fair."

my right,

Therefore I crave to re-obtain

That Muly Mahamet the traitor holds,
Traitor and bloody tyrant both at once,
That murdered his younger brethren both :
But on this damned wretch, this traitor king,

The gods shall pour down showers of sharp revenge.
And thus a matter not to you unknown

I have deliver'd: yet for no distrust
Of loyalty, my well beloved friend,
But that the occasions fresh in memory
Of these incumbers so may move your minds,
As for the lawful true succeeding prince
Ye neither think your lives nor honours dear,
Spent in a quarrel just and honourable.

BAS. Such and no other we repute the cause,
That forwardly for thee we undertake,
Thrice puissant and renowned Abdilmelec,
And for thine honour, safety, and crown,
Our lives and honours frankly to expose
To all the dangers that our war attends,
As freely and as resolutely all,

As any Moor whom thou commandest most.
MULY MAH. SETH. And why is Abdilmelec then
so slow

To chastise him with fury of the sword,

Whose pride doth swell to sway beyond his reach ?^ Follow this pride then with fury of revenge.

RUB. Of death, of blood, of wreak, and deep re

In blood, in death, in murder, and misdeed,
This heaven's malice did begin and end.

ABDILM. Rubin, these rights to Abdelmunen's ghost

Have pierc'd by this to Pluto's grave below:
The bells of Pluto ring revenge amain,

The furies and the fiends conspire with thee,
War bids me draw my weapons for revenge
Of my deep wrongs, and my dear brother's death.
MULY MAH. SETH. Sheath not your swords, you
soldiers of Amurath,

Sheath not your swords, you Moors of Barbary,
That fight in right of your anointed king,
But follow to the gates of death and hell,

Pale death and hell, to entertain his soul;
Follow, I say, to burning Phlegethon,

This traitor tyrant, and his companies.

BAS. Heave up your swords against these stony holds,

Wherein these barbarous rebels are enclos'd:

Call'd for is Abdilmelec by the Gods

To sit upon the throne of Barbary.

ÁBD. RAYES. Bassa, great thanks, the honour of the Turks:

Forward, brave lords, unto this rightful war.
How can this battle but successful be,

Where courage meeteth with a rightful cause?
RUB. Go in good time, my best beloved lord,
Successful in thy work thou undertakes. [Exeunt.