Almanz. No more; you give me thanks

not owe:

I have been faulty, and repent me now.
But, though our penitence a virtue be,
Mean souls alone repent in misery;

The brave own faults when good success is given, For then they come on equal terms to heaven.

SCENE II.-The Albayzyn.

Enter OZMYN and BENZAYDA.

[Exeunt.

Benz. I see there's somewhat which you fear to tell;

Speak quickly, Ozmyn, is my father well?

Why cross you thus your arms, and shake your head? Kill me at once, and tell me he is dead.

Ozm. I know not more than you; but fear not

less;

press

Twice sinking, twice I drew him from the
But the victorious foe pursued so fast,
That flying throngs divided us at last.
As seamen parting in a general wreck,
When first the loosening planks begin to crack;
Each catches one, and straight are far disjoined,
Some borne by tides, and others by the wind;
So, in this ruin, from each other rent,

With heaved-up hands we mutual farewells sent:
Methought his eyes, when just I lost his view,
Were looking blessings to be sent to you.

Benz. Blind queen of Chance, to lovers too se

vere,

Thou rulest mankind, but art a tyrant there!
Thy widest empire's in a lover's breast:
Like open seas, we seldom are at rest.
Upon thy coasts our wealth is daily cast;
And thou, like pirates, mak'st no peace to last.

To them LYNDARAXA, Duke of ARCOS, and Guards. D. Arcos. We were surprised when least we did suspect,

And justly suffered by our own neglect.

Lyndar. No; none but I have reason to complain!

So near a kingdom, yet 'tis lost again!
O, how unequally in me were joined
A creeping fortune, with a soaring mind!
O lottery of fate! where still the wise

Draw blanks of fortune, and the fools the prize!
These cross, ill-shuffled lots from heaven are sent,
Yet dull Religion teaches us content;

But when we ask it where the blessing dwells,
It points to pędant colleges, and cells;
There shows it rude, and in a homely dress,
And that proud Want mistakes for happiness.
[A trumpet within.

Enter ZULEMA.

Brother! what strange adventure brought you here? Zul. The news I bring will yet more strange ap

pear.

The little care you of my life did show,
Has of a brother justly made a foe;
And Abdelmelech, who that life did save,
As justly has deserved that life he gave.

Lyndar. Your business cools, while tediously it

stays

On the low theme of Abdelmelech's praise. Zul. This I present from Prince Abdalla's hands. [Delivers a letter, which she reads. Lyndar. He has proposed, (to free him from his bands)

That, with his brother, an exchange be made. D. Arcos. It proves the same design which we had laid.

Before the castle let a bar be set;

And when the captives on each side are met,
With equal numbers chosen for their guard,
Just at the time the passage is unbarred,
Let both at once advance, at once be free..
Lyndar, The exchange I will myself in person

see.

Benz. I fear to ask, yet would from doubt be freed,

Is Selin captive, sir, or is he dead?

Zul. I grieve to tell you what you needs must know,→

He is a prisoner to his greatest foe;

Kept with strong guards in the Alhambra tower; Without the reach even of Almanzor's power.

Ozm. With grief and shame I am at once opprest.

Zul. You will be more, when I relate the rest. To you I from Abenamar am sent, [To OZMYN. And you alone can Selin's death prevent. Give up yourself a prisoner in his stead; Or, ere to-morrow's dawn, believe him dead. Benz. Ere that appear, I shall expire with grief. Zul. Your action swift, your counsel must be brief. Lyndar. While for Abdalla's freedom we prepare, You in each other's breast unload your care.

[Exeunt all but OzмYN and BENZAYDA. Benz. My wishes contradictions must imply; You must not go; and yet he must not die. Your reason may, perhaps, the extremes unite; But there's a mist of fate before my sight.

Ozm. The two extremes too distant are, to close; And human wit can no mid way propose.. My duty therefore shows the nearest way To free your father, and my own obey.

Benz. Your father, whom, since yours, I grieve

to blame,

Has lost, or quite forgot, a parent's name;
And, when at once possessed of him and you,
Instead of freeing one, will murder two.

Ozm. Fear not my life; but suffer me to go: What cannot only sons with parents do! "Tis not my death my father does pursue; He only would withdraw my love from you. Benz. Now, Ozmyn, now your want of love I see; For would you go, and hazard losing me?

Ozm. I rather would ten thousand lives forsake;
Nor can you e'er believe the doubt you make.
This night I with a chosen band will go,
And, by surprise, will free him from the foe.
Benz. What foe! ah whither would your virtue.
fall!

It is your father whom the foe you call.
Darkness and rage will no distinction make,
And yours may perish for my father's sake.

Ozm. Thus, when my weaker virtue goes astray,
Yours pulls it back, and guides me in the way:
I'll send him word, my being shall depend
On Selin's life, and with his death shall end.
Benz. 'Tis that, indeed, would glut your father's
rage:

Revenge on Ozmyn's youth, and Selin's age.
Ozm. Whate'er I plot, like Sysiphus, in vain
I heave a stone, that tumbles down again.

Benz. This glorious work is then reserved for me: He is my father, and I'll set him free.

These chains my father for my sake does wear:
I made the fault; and I the pains will bear.
Ozm. Yes; you no doubt have merited these
pains;

Those hands, those tender limbs, were made for chains!

Did I not love you, yet it were too base
To let a lady suffer in my place.

Those proofs of virtue you before did show,
I did admire; but I must envy now.
Your vast ambition leaves no fame for me,
But grasps at universal monarchy.

Benz. Yes, Ozmyn, I shall still this palm pursue; I will not yield my glory even to you.

I'll break those bonds in which my father's tied, Or, if I cannot break them, I'll divide.

What, though my limbs a woman's weakness show; I have a soul as masculine as you;

And when these limbs want strength my chains to

wear,

My mind shall teach my body how to bear.

[Exit BENZ:
Ozm. What I resolve, I must not let her know;
But honour has decreed she must not go.
What she resolves, I must prevent with care;
She shall not in my fame or danger share.
I'll give strict order to the guards which wait,
That, when she comes, she shall not pass the gate.
Fortune, at last, has run me out of breath;

I have no refuge but the arms of death:
To that dark sanctuary I will go;

She cannot reach me when I lie so low.

SCENE III.-The Albayzyn.

[Exit.

Enter, on one side, ALMANZOR, ABDALLA, ABDELMELECH, ZULEMA, HAMET. On the other side, the Duke of ARCOS, BOABDELIN, LYNDARAXA, and their Party. After which the bars are opened; and at the same time BOABDELIN and ABDALLA pass by each other, each to his Party; when AB