Osw. A wretched gift,

With loss of empire, liberty, and love.

Artb. Thy life, thy liberty, thy honour's safe;
Lead back thy Saxons to their ancient Elbe :
I would restore thee fruitful Kent, the gift ›
Of Vortigern for Hengist's ill bought aid,
But that my Britons brook no foreign power,
To lord it in a land sacred to freedom,
And of its rights tenacious to the last.

Osw. Nor more than thou hast offered would I take;
I would refuse all Britain held in homage:
And own no other masters but the gods.

Enter on one fide Merlin, Emmeline, and Matilda, Conon, Aurelius, with British foldiers, bearing King Arthur's standard displayed; on the other fide, Guillamar, and Ofmond, with Saxon foldiers, dragging their colours on the ground.-Arthur going to Emmeline, and embracing her.

Artb. Again, again I have thee in my arms.
Em. We are so fitted for each other's hear,
That heav'n had err'd in making of a third,
To get betwixt and intercept our loves.

Mer. Take hence that monster of ingratitude,
Him who betray'd his master, bear him hence;
And in that loathsome dungeon plunge him deep,
Where he plung'd noble Oswald.

Osm. That indeed is fittest for me,

For there I shall be near my kindred fiends,

And spare my Grimbald's pains to bear me to 'em.

Mer. Away.

[Osmond is carried off.

(To Arth.) Arthur, thou hast acquir'd immortal fame, And of three christian worthies art the first:

And now at once to treat thy sight and soul,
Behold what rolling ages shall produce;
The wealth, the loves, the glories of our isle,
Which yet, like golden ore, unripe in beds,
Expect the warm indulgency of heav'n

To call 'em forth to light

Nor thou, brave Saxon prince, (To Oswald) disdain our

triumph:

Britons and Saxons shall be once one people;

Ове

One common tongue, one common faith shall bind
Our jarring bands in a perpetual peace.

[Merlin waves bis wand, the scene changes and discovers the ocean in a storm.olus in a cloud. above.

Enter NEPTUNE.

Ye blust'ring brethren of the skies,

Whose breath has ruffled all the watʼry plain,

Retire and let Britannia rise,

In triumph o'er the main.

[Æolus ascends, and Britannia rises from the sea

Enter VENUS and CUPID..

SONG.

Fasrest isle, all isles excelling,
Seat of pleasures and of loves;
Venus here will chuse her dwelling,
And forsake her Cyprian groves.
Cupid from his fav'rite nation,
Care and envy will remove;
Jealousy, that poisons passion,
And despair that dies for love.
Gentle murmurs, sweet complaining,
Sighs that blow the fire of love;
Soft repulses, kind disdaining,
Shall be all the pains you prove.
Ev'ry swain shall pay his duty,
Grateful every nymph shall prove;
And as these excel in beauty,

Those shall be renown'd for love.
Mer. These who next enter are ou

our valiant Britons,

Who shall by sea and land repel our foes.

[A march, while the British sailors and grenadiers come to the front of the stage.

Now, look above, and in heaven's high abyss,

Behold what fame attends those future heroes.

[The order of the garter descends.

SONG.

St George, the patron of our isle,
A soldier and a saint,

On that auspicious order smile,
Which love and arms will plant.
Our natives not alone appear
To court this martial prize;
But foreign kings adopted here,
At home their crowns despise.
Our sov'reign high, in awful state,
His honours shall bestow;

And see his scepter'd subjects wait
On his commands below,

[Exeunt omnes.

Τ

Lady Min. IT is not, my dear, that I have the least re

gard Lord; I had no love for him before I married him, and you know, matrimony is no breeder of affection; but it hurts my pride, that he should neglect me, and run after other women.

Miss Tit. Ha, ha, ha! how can you be so hypocritical, Lady Minikin, as to pretend to uneasiness at such trifles: have you made any new discoveries of my Lord's

but p gallantry?

t pray,

Lady Min. New discoveries! why, I saw myself yesterday morning in a hackney-coach, with a minx in a pink cardinal; you shall absolutely burn yours, Tittup, for I shall never bear to see one of that colour again.

Miss Tit. Sure she does not suspect me [aside.] And where was your ladyship, pray, when you saw him? Lady Min. Taking the air with Colonel Tivy in his vis-a-vis.

Miss Tit. But, my dear Lady Minikin, how can you be so angry that my Lord was hurting your pride, as you call it, in the hackney-coach, when you had him so much in your power in the vis-a-vis ?

Lady Min. What, with my lord's friend, and my friend's lover! [takes her by the band.] O fye, Tittup!

Miss

Miss Tit. Pho, pho, love and friendship are very fine names to be sure, but they are mere visiting acquaintances; we know their names indeed, talk of 'em sometimes, and let 'em knock at our doors, but we never let 'em in you know. [Looking at ber. Lady Min. I vow, Tittup, you are extremely polite. Miss Tit. I am extremely indifferent in these affairs, thanks to my education. We must marry, you know, because other people of fashion marry; but I should think very meanly of myself, if after 1 was married, I should feel the least concern at all about my husband.

Lady Min. I hate to praise myself, and yet I may with truth aver, that no woman of quality ever had, can have, or will have, so consummuate à contempt for her lord as I have for my most honourable and puissant Earl of Minikin, Viscount Perriwinkle, and Baron Titmouse-Ha, ha, ha!

Miss Tit. But, is it not strange, Lady Minikin, that merely his being your husband should create such indifference? for certainly in every other eye his lordship has great accomplishments.

Lady Min. Accomplishments! thy head is certainly turn'd; if you know any of 'em, pray let's have 'em; they are a novelty, and will amuse me.

Miss Tit. Imprimis, he is a man of quality.

Lady Min. Which, to be sure, includes all the cardinal virtues poor girl!go on!

Miss Tit. He is a very handsome man.

Lady Min. He has a very bad constitution.

Miss Tit. He has wit.

Lady Min. He is a lord and a little goes a great way.
Miss Tit. He has great good nature.

Lady Min. No wonder he's a fool.

Miss Tit. And then his fortune, you'll allow

Lady Min. Was a great one-but he games, and, if fair ly, he's undone; if not, he deserves to be hang'd-and so, Exit my Lord Minikin. And now, let your wise uncle, and my good cousin Sir John Trotly, baronet, enter: where is he, pray?

Miss Tit. In his own room, I suppose,reading pamphlets and newspapers against the enormities of the times:

if