THE LADY-ERRANT A tragicomedy.  
Written by Mr WILLIAM Cartwright, Late Student of Christ-Church in OXFORD, and Proctor of the university.  
LONDON, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, and are to be sold at his shop at the Sign of the Prince's arms in St Paul's Churchyard. 1651.   

The PROLOGUE.  

SAcred to your Delight  
Be the short Revels of this Night;  
That calm that in yond Myrtles moves,  
Crown all your Thoughts, and Loves:  
And as the fat all Yew-tree shows  
No Spring among those happy Boughs,  
So be all Care quite banished hence  
Whiles easy Quiet rocks your sense.   

We cannot here complain  
Of want of Presence, or of Train;  
For if choice Beauties make the Court,  
And their Light guild the Sport,  
This honoured Ring presents us here  
Glories as rich and fresh as there;  
And it may under Question fall,  
Which is more Court, This, or White-Hall.   

Be't so. But then the Face  
Of what we bring fits not the Place,  
And so we shall pull down what ere  
Your Glories have built here:  
Yet if you will conceive, that though  
The Poem's forced, We are not so;  
And that each Sex keeps to its Part,  
Nature may plead excuse for Art.   

As then there's no Offence  
Given to the Weak or Stubborn hence,  
Being the Female's Habit is  
Her own; and the Male's his:  
So( if great things may steer by less)  
May you the same in looks express:  
Your wear is Smiles, and Gracious Eyes;  
When e'er you frown 'tis but disguise.    

The PERSONS.  
DEmarchus King of Cyprus. Dinomachus King of Crete. Charistus Son to Dinomachus. Philondas Two Lords of Cyprus, the one Husband to Florina, the other to Malthora. Paestanus Olyndus A young Lord of Cyprus, left at home by reason of sickness. Lerinus 3. Courtiers left at home. Ganyctor Iringus 3 Priests Belonging to Apollo's Temple in Crete. Adraste Queen to Demarchus. Lucasia Daughter to them. Florina Two Ladies sadly bearing the Absense of their Lords. Malthora Cosmeta Three busy factious Ladies, and contrary to the two former. Pandena Rhodia Eumela A young Lady Confident to the Princess. Machessa A Lady-Errant for the time. Philaenis Her Page.  
The Scene CYPRUS.   

The Lady-Errant.  


ACT. I. SCEN. I.  Cosmeta, Pandena,( Rhodia between them) busily discoursing in the Myrtle Grove. Cos. 
ANd if you see not Women plead, an judge,  
Raise, and depress, reward, and punish, carry  
Things how they please, and turn the politic door  
Upon new hinges very shortly, never  
Believe the Oracle.  Rhod. 
Could I see't 'twould prove  
An Antidote against old Age, and make me  
Grow younger still without expense or Art.  Pan. 
You sin past pardon Rhodia, if you doubt it.  Cos. 
The plot's most firm and strong.  Pan. 
The Means advised.  Cosm. 
The carriage hitherto successful; we  
Gain daily to our side.  Rhod. 
Do they come in?  Pan. 
As to a Marriage; Offer money, Plate,  
Jewels, and Garments, nay the Images  
Of their Male-Gods.  Cosm. 
The very name of Rule  
Raises their bloods, and makes 'em throw their Wealth  
Away as heartily, as if they were  
Young heirs, or old Philosophers.  Rhod. 
Why then,  
There's one care saved Cosmeta.  Cosm. 
What's that prey?  Rhod. 
I was preparing strong Preservatives  
Against our Lords came home, for fear of fainting  
At their arrival.  Pan. 
They'd have smelled indeed  
Of Labour, Sweat, Dust, Man, and Victory.  Cosm. 
And such gross rustic scents, that a Court nose  
Without the patience of a Stoic, could not  
Have possibly endured them,  Rhod. 
I believe  
They'd have increased the Bill, and some would weekly  
Have died of the Lord's Return from the Cretan War:  
What growth}'s your Plot of Madam?  Cosm. 
O it ripens  
Past expectation! See, Besides ourselves  Pulls out a Roll. 
Eleven Court. Ladies on the Roll already;  
Hyantha then sends word, that ten, or twelve  
Very substantial Countrey-Ladies have  
Subscribed three days ago.  Pan. 
My Province here,  
The City-wives, swarm in, strive, and make means  
Who shall command their Husbands first.  Cosm. 
And then  
Of country Gentlewomen, and their eldest daughters,  
More than can write their Names; 'Tis now past danger.  Rhod. 
But, Madam, how'l you gain the men at home?  Cos. 
For that brace & half of Courtiers there, Ganyctor,  
Lerinus, and Iringus, they are mine,  
Fast in the Net, if I but pitch it only.  Rhod. 
Look where they come, pray swear 'em presently.   

ACT. I. SCEN. II.  Ganyctor, Lerinus, Iringus. Cosm. 
I'Ll give 'em but my hand to kiss, and 'twill  
Bind 'em as fast, as if it were the holiest  
Of the best Sibyls Leaves.  Pan. 
Favour your tongues;  
Let's lie in Ambush here a while, and listen  
What they discourse of.  Rhod. 
Why of Women I warranty'.  Cosm. 
Peace Rhodia, peace, close sweet Pandena, close!  Irin. 
Lerinus, this hath been the worst Spring that  
I ever knew.  Lorin. 
Faith it has', for Flora  
Still challenged it before, but now Bellona  
Hath got the time: Roses and Violets were  
The fruit o'th' Season formerly, but now  
Laying, and raising Sieges: Building up  
And pulling down of Castles; Manning, and  
Demolishing of Forts have signed the Months.  Gan. 
Where beauteous Ladies slumbered, & were guarded  
By the enamoured Lizards( as if Cadmus  
In envy had reserved some serpent's teeth  
And sown 'em there) hard watchings and rough Guards  
Fill and make up the field.  ( Cosm. 
Most smoothly said,  
And like a Cowardly Poet.  Irin. 
There's a fear  
The Women too will rise at home.  Ler. 
Their finger's  
Itch to be tampering with the wheels o'th' State.  Gan. 
'Tis very well my Lord Olyndus then  
Is left at home.  Ler. 
How does his Lordship now?  
Still angry that his Majesty would not let  
His Sickness go against the Enemy?  Irin. 
He finds the hardest Wars at home, he hath  
Visits, and Onsets, that molest him more  
Than all his griefs. He now complains of health;  
The eager Ladies do besiege him hourly,  
Not out of love so much, as want of men;  
Any thing now, that wears but Breeches only,  
Is plotted, and projected for as much  
As a new Fashion, or an Office 'bove Stairs,  Ler. 
They do call this their time of Persecution,  
Swear they are living Martyrs.  Gan. 
Then the Punishment  
Must make 'em so; I'm sure the cause will never.  Ler. 
A man is striven for as eagerly  
As the last loaf in a great depth of Famine.  Irin. 
You won't believe what I shall tell you now;  
Pandena and sweet Rhodia at this instant  
Both love me, hate each other, eager Rivals;  
The one enshrines her melons in pure crystal,  
And as the fruit doth ripen, so her hopes  
Of me do ripen with it—  ( Pan. 
Monstrous fellow!)  Irin. 
The other counts her apricocks, and thinks  
So many kisses grow there; lays 'em naked  
And open to the Sun, that it may freely  
Smile on her vegetable Embraces.  ( Rho. 
Good! do you hear this, Madam?)  Cos. 
Peace and let him on.  Irin. 
The one presents me, and the other presents me  
Gums, Spicknard-boxes, Fruits, and early Roses,  
Figs, Mushrooms, Bulbi, and what not? I am  
More reverenced than their Household-god, and taste  
Their store before him still.  ( Cosm. 
Close yet for my sake.)  Irin. 
And proud Cosmeta—  ( Pan. 
Nay you must hear't out too.)  Irin. 
She, that, if there were Sexes 'bove the Moon,  
Would tempt a Male Idea, and seduce  
A Separate he-substance into Lewdness,  
Hath smiled, glanced, winked, and trod upon my toes,  
Sent smooth Epistles to me, whom I let  
Pass unregarded, as a suing Beauty,  
And one that makes my triumph up—  [ As he speaks Cosmeta and the other two Lady's approach. 
Fair Ladies  
You make my Triumph up in that I see you.  Cosm. 
What? have you been at the wars than Captain?  Irin. 
Madam  
drop reg've stood o'th' shore, and wished well to our Fleet.  Cos. 
If that be all, pray how comes so much Crest,  
And scarf, and Boot to be misplaced on you?  Gan. 
Is't not a time of war, dear Lady?  Pan 
You follow  
The times then, though you won't the Camp.  Ler. 
'Tis fit  
We should be in the Field-fashion however.  Rho. 
'Cause you intend the wars at home perhaps.  Irin. 
Troth the beleagering of you, Lady, will  
Hardly deserve the name of a siege; you'll yield  
So easily on the first approach.  Cosm. 
You do  
Mistake her, Sir, she means, that you intend  
To take great Towns at home—  Pan. 
Demolish Castles,  
And high-built pies at once—  Rho. 
Gain Sconces 'twixt  
The first and second Course—  Cosm. 
And in the virtue  
Of the large Cretan Jar kill men at Table.  Irin. 
No Lady, we do stay at home to make 'em.  Pan. 
The Wars indeed will exhaust the Kingdom much.  Cos. 
And fit 'tis that should some way be supplied.  Irin. 
You won't corrupt me, Madam? pray forbear.  Cos. 
No, Sir, I will not do the State that harm;  
For the Corruption of one Coward must  
Needs be the Generation of another.  Ler. 
I'll warrant th'Issue will be truly valiant.  Rho. 
And how so Captain Stay-by-it?  Pan. 
Madam, he  
Can neither fight nor speak: I'll tell you how.  
That you're a Coward, Sir, is granted: Thus then;  
Either your Father was valiant, or was not.  Irin. 
A very sure division, Lady, that.  Pan. 
If he were valiant, and you a Coward,  
'Tis your son's course next to be valiant;  
But if he were not valiant, and that  
You are a Coward of a Coward, than  
Your lineal Issue must be valiant needs,  
Because two Negatives make an Affirmative.  Cosm. 
A most invincible Argument!  Irin. 
This shall not  
Serve I assure you, say what e'er you will  
You shall not reason me to your bedside.  Rho. 
No, Sir.  Cos. 
Not though we send you melons?  Pan. 
Ripened Hopes?  Rho. 
Apricocks, figs?  Pan. 
Vegetable Embraces.  Cos. 
And smooth Epistles? Go you vile abusers  
Of what you cannot compass; 'cause you nourish  
Desires, you will discharge the sin on us.  Irin. 
Ladies you're much deceived: had you the aphorisms  
Of thou'rt perfect, that each word should go  
With a design, that not an Eye should be  
Lift up, or cast down without mystery—  Ler. 
Could you force sighs, feign passions, manage looks,  
Season your jests, speak with a Manner still—  Gan. 
Should you consult a Decade of Chambermaids,  
And sadly advise with your crystal Oracles,  
In which Attire your Beauties would appear  
Most strong; in what contrivance your sweet Graces  
Would be most fierce, and overcome Spectators,  
You should not have one look to quench the fire.  Ler. 
You shall be Vestals by compulsion still—  Irin. 
You shall make Verses to me e'er drop reg've done;  
Call me your Caelius, your Corinnus, and  
Make me the Man o'th' Book insome Romance,  
And after all I will not yield.  Rho. 
You're got  
Into a safe field of Discourse, where you  
〈◊〉 sure, that modesty will not suffer us  
To answer you in a direct line.  Cosm. 
You were  
Wont to go whining up and down, and make  
Dismal Soliloquies in shady Woods—  Pan. 
Discourse with Trees—  Rho. 
And Dialogue with echoes—  Cos. 
Send Messages by Birds, make discreet Thrushes  
Your trusty Agents 'twixt your Loves and you—  Rho. 
Which Loves you called Nymphs—  Cos. 
When indeed they were  
Milkmaids, or some such Drudges. This your rating  
And prising of yourselves, and standing off,  
Comes not from any bett'ring of your Judgements,  
But from your Mouth's being out of taste.  Pan. 
Pray y' what  
Employment are you fit for?  Ler. 
I'll assure you  
None about you.  Cos. 
Their whole Employment is  
To go ambassadors 'twixt retired Ladies—  Pan. 
To ask how this great Lady's physic wrought—  Rho. 
Give an account o'th' virtue of her Drugs.  Cos. 
Make perfect Audit of the Tale of sighs  
Some little Dog did breath in his first sleep:  
Go you Reproach and Refuse of your country.  Gan. 
You speak most valiantly heroic Lady.  Ler. 
Pray Venus you permit the Lords to rule  
The commonwealth again, when they come home  Pan. 
Know Sir, they shall not—  Cos. 
And you shall consent,  
Aid, and assist us in't in spite of you,  
Willing or ●●willing, all's one.  Irin. 
we'll leave you.  Gan. 
Your Company grows dangerous.  Ler. 
'Tis half Treason  
To hear you talk.  Pan. 
Before you 'tis very safe.  Ex. Gan. Irin. Let, 
You'll never dare t' engage yourselves so much  
I' th' Army, as to inform the King of't.  Rho. 
Come,  
Let us away too.  Cos. 
We will vex 'em through  
All sorts of Torment, meet 'em at each Corner,  
Write Satyrs, and make Libels of 'em, put 'em  
In Shows, & Mock-Shows, Masques, & plays, present 'em  
In all dramatic Poetry: they shall  
Be sung i'th' Markets, we'll not let 'em rest  
till themselves sue to be o'th' Female Covenant.   

ACT. I. SCEN. III.  To them Eumela. Pan, 
BUt hold, here comes Eumela.  Cos. 
Lady Secretary  
Unto our future State, God give you joy.  Eum. 
You bestow Offices, as City Mothers  
After their Travail, do give Flowers between  
Their House and Juno's Temple, to the next  
They meet, or as you do your ribbons, to  
Entangle, not Reward.  Pan. 
Then you are Wise  
And politic still—  Rho. 
Of the Male-faction Lady?  Cos. 
And you will suffer by Prescription still?  
But to be serious now; what do you do?  Eum. 
That which you would, if you should come to Rule:  
Wake, Sleep, Rise, Dress, Eat, Visit, and Converse,  
And let the State alone.  Cos. 
You're very short.  Eum. 
Indeed I am some what now in haste; I'm going  
To meet a pair of Ladies, that would willing  
Keep their own Sex, and not turn Lords.  Pan. 
You mean  Florina, 
and Malthora, those that are  
Sad now, that one day they may be in History  
Under the name of Turtles.  Cos. 
What Dialect may  
Those Ladies grieve in? Doric or Jonick?  
Do they make Verses yet?  Eum. 
Their Manners are  
A kind of satire upon yours; though they  
Intend it not, the people read 'em so.  Rho. 
'Cause they have laid aside their Jewels, and so  
Blinded their Garments—  Cos. 
'Cause they eat their sweetmeats  
In a black Closet, they are counted faithful,  
The sole Penelope's o'th' time, the Ladies  
Of the chaste Web i'th' absence of their Lords.  Eum. 
Your sadness would be such perhaps, if you  
Would take the pains to show the Art of Mourning.  Rho. 
Is there another way of grieving then?  Eum. 
This is not grief, but stands to be thought grief:  
They are not of such vaunting popular sorrow;  
Their Tapers are not died in dismal hue,  
And set in Ebon Candlesticks; they wear  
No sad black sarsenet Smocks, nor do they smutch  
Their women, to be served by mourning Faces;  
This were to grieve to Ostentation,  
Not ro a real friendship.  Pan. 
Is there friendship  
Think you 'twixt man and wife?  Eum. 
You'll say, perhaps,  
You, and your Husband, have not been friends yet.  Pan. 
Madam, you prophecy.  Eum. 
I might be thought t'have done so,  
Had I foretold a truth to come, but this  
Is History already.  Cos, 
If they do not this,  
Nor wear the day out in a hood winked 100m,  
Where there's no living thing besides the Clock,  
Nor yet take physic to look pale, what do they?  Eum. 
They grieve themselves, their Doctor grieves not for them:  
They do that in the Absence of their Lords  
That you would in the Presence of your own.  Cos. 
You see we look as fat, and fair as ever—  Eum. 
Your kitchen's warm, your Box, and Pencils fail not.  Pan. 
— We are as long in dressing as before—  Eum. 
And have the same romancies read, the same  
Letters brought to you, whilst you're doing it.  Rho. 
— Sleep, and take rest, as then, and altogether  
Speak as much wit as we did before the wars.  Eum. 
And to as little purpose.  Cos. 
Fie Eumela!  
That you should be so obstinate, as to hear  
Wealth, Honour, Pleasure, Rule, and every good  
Knock at your door, and yet not let 'em in.  Eum. 
Madam, I know my looking-glass won't show  
The altering o'th' State, when it presents  
The changes of my Face, and that I cannot  
Order the kingdom, as I do my Hair.  Enter Florina and Malthora. Pan. 
Yonder's your business; Madam, there are three  
Sad things arrived, two Ladies and a Lute.  Cos. 
But shall I write you down before you go  
The thirteenth in the roll of the Asserters  
Of Female Liberty?  Eum. 
If Liberty be the thing  
You so much stand for, pray you give me mine;  
I neither grant, nor yet deny; I will  
Consider.  Cos. 
We dismiss you, Madam, then  
Unto your serious counsel.  Eum. 
Fare you well.  Exeunt Cosm. Pan. Rho.  

ACT I. SCEN. IV.  Eumela goes to Florina and Malthora who are sat in the Grove. Elo. 
OCome, Eumela, thou dost know, without thee  
Our thoughts are deserts, Rocks, and Sands, and all  
That either Nature's absent from, or hath  
Reserved unto herself alone.  Eum. 
I bring you  
Noise, Trouble, Tumult, and the World; but if  
There were that power in my worthless presence,  
That I could cast a day upon your thoughts,  
You should not think of Places that are sacred  
To Night, and Silence: Visits still, and Feasts  
And the whole Ring and Throng of Mirth should stir  
In your delighted Souls.  Mal. 
Prithee Eumela  
Is there no secret ancient Grove, that hath  
Stood from the birth of Nature to this time,  
Whose vast, high, hollow Trees seem each a Temple,  
Whose paths no curious Eye hath yet found out,  
Free from the Foot and Axe.  Eum. 
If I could tell you  
It were found out already.  Flo. 
Hast thou read  
Of any Mountain, whose cold frozen top  
Sees Hail i'th' Bed, not yet grown round, and Snow  
I'th' Fleece, not Carded yet, whose hanging weight  
Archeth some still deep River, that for fear  
Steals by the foot of't without noise.  Eum. 
Alas!  
These are the things, that some poor wretched Lover  
Unpitied by his scornful shepherdess  
Would wish for, after that he had looked up  
Unto the Heavens, and called her cruel thrice,  
And vowed to die.  Flor. 
I prithee pardon me;  
I live without myself.  Eum. 
But I have read  
Of a tall secret Grove, where loving Winds  
Breathing their sighs among the trembling Boughs,  
Blow Odes, and Epods; where a murmuring Brook  
Will let us see the Brother to our Sun,  
And shows another World there under water.  Mal. 
Prithee let's go, and find it out, and live there.  Eum. 
Our Ancient Poet Linus somewhere sings  
Of some such thing.  Mal. 
Thou always dost deceive us;  
Thou toldest us of an echo too, and when  
Thou brought'st us to it, thou hadst put Philaenis  
Behind the Wall, to give us all the Answers.  Flor. 
Yes, and thy bringing in my Father's Dwarf  
With Bow and Wings, and Quiver at his back,  
Instead of Cupid, to convey us Letters  
Through th' Air from hence to Crete, was but a trick  
To put away our sadness. But I had  
Almost forgot what we came for, I prithee  
Take up the Lute there, and let's hear the Ode;  
That thou didst promise us; I hope 'tis sad.  

The Ode sung by Eumela.  
TO carve our Loves in Myrtle rinds,  
And tell our Secrets to the Woods,  
To sennd our Sighs by faithful Winds,  
And trust our Tears unto the floods,  
To call where no man hears,  
And think that Rocks have Ears▪  
To walk, and Rest, to Live, and die,  
And yet not know Whence, How, or Why;  
To have our Hopes with Fears still checked,  
To credit Doubts, and Truth suspect,  
This, this is that we may  
A Lover's Absence say.  
Follies without, are Cares within;  
Where Eyes do fail, there Souls begin.   Mal. 
Thou art a harmless Siren fair Eumela.  Flor. 
'Tis very true indeed; thou feedest at once,  
And dost correct our follies: but wert thou  
As we, thou'dst do the like.  Eum. 
For Love's sake tell me  
Why should you seek out Groves, where the bright Sun  
Can make no day, although he throw upon 'em  
Whole floods of Light, Places where Nature will  
Be blind in spite of Him? Why should you fancy  
Caves fit to write sad Revelations in?  
Or why a Lover stretched on shaggy Moss  
Between two Beds of Poppey to procure  
One Minut's slumber?  Flor. 
These, Eumela, are not  
The journeys but Digressions of our Souls,  
That being once informed with Love, must work,  
And rather wander, than stand still. I know  
There is a wisdom to be shown in Passions;  
And there are stayed and settled griefs: I'll be  
Severe unto myself, and make my Soul  
Seek out a Regular Motion, towards him  
Whom it moves to, and thou shalt shortly see  
Love bleed, and yet stoop to Philosophy.   

ACT I. SCEN. V.  Olyndus and Charystus toward them. Eum. 
MAdam I must away; Olyndus yonder  
Is hasting towards me.  Mal. 
Farewell Eumela,  
Be ever happy.  Flor. 
And may some good God  
Cherish thy Loves, as thou dost cherish others. Ex. Fl & M●.  Eum. 
My Lord Olyndus, what's your business to me?  Olyn. 
Virtuous Eumela, you must do me the favour  
To give this Letter into th' Princess' hands  
With all the speed and secrecy you may.  Eum. 
I carry with me Night, and wings my Lord.  Ex. Cha. 
O my Olyndus, were there not that thing  
That we call Friend, Earth would one desert be,  
And Men Alone still, though in Company.  Exeunt.   


ACT. II. SCENE I.  Machessa, Philaenis, and after a while Cosmeta, Pandena, Rhodia. Mac. 
GIve me my Javelin; hangs my falchion right?  
Three Ladies sayst thou? So! go fetch 'em in now.  
What? goes the Tilting on I mentioned? Is there  En. Pan. Cos. Rho 
No Just, nor tournament yet granted out?  Cos. 
You're well appointed Madam.  Mach. 
How I hate  
That Name of Madam, it befits a Chamber:  
Give me the words o'th' Field, such as you'd give  
To fairer Ladies pricking o'er the Plains  
On foaming Steeds. But I do pardon you.  
Shows not this Scarf and falchion far more comely,  
Than paltry piebald ribbons, and young Bodkins?  Pan. 
You wear a rigid Beauty, fierce Delights.  Rho. 
Your Pleasures threaten, and your stubborn Graces  
Tempt, and defend at once.  Mach. 
Why now y' are right.  
And what sayst thou, my little Noon-tide shadow?  
My trusty Pigmy?  Phil. 
Now indeed, and truly—  Mach. 
Hell o' these simpering Protestations!  
Thou sinful Inch of short Mortality,  
Give Ear to my Instructions: here I swear  
By th' Sacred Order of my Lady-Errantry,  
If thou effeminat'st thy discourse once more  
With these precise, minced, Little▪ Sisters-Vows,  
Thy breath is forfeit.  Phi. 
By that bloody falchion—  Mach. 
I there's a Wench, spit from the mouth of Mavors  
Bellona was thy Nurse.  Phi. 
— And that fierce Javelin,  
I'd rather see a Plume o'ershade your back  
With a large, generous carelessness; than a bunch  
Of fiddling Feathers hang before you, just  
As modest figleaves do in naked Pictures.  Mach. 
Thou little' Vantage of Mankind, thou Grain  
That Nature put into the Scales to make  
Weight to the world, thou tak'st me very much.  Phi. 
The Sable Fan, which you wore last upon  
Your white Lawn-Apron, made you show just like  
The Ace of Clubs, with a black spot i'th' middle.  Mac. 
Why how now little Mischief? is't not knavish  
And waggish, like a very Page o'th' Court?  Cos. 
What use do you mean her for?  Mach. 
Have you not read?  
To summon Knights from th'tops of Castle walls.  Pan. 
I fancy those brave Scythian Heroines;  
Those Noble, valiant Amazons like you.  Mach. 
Nature did show them only as my Types.  Cos. 
There's nothing wanting but adventures: We  
Shall quickly now requite the Errant Knights  
That help distressed Ladies to their wishes.  Mach. 
I'll disoblige our Sex. If that you find  
Any imprisoned, or enchanted  
Tell him Machessa's his deliverance.  
Said I Machessa? Hold! that word Machessa  
Sails through my Lips with too small breath. I'll have  
A Name that Mouths shall travel with: let's see?  
we'll put a Prologue to it: So! I have it;  
It is concluded— Monster-quelling-Woman-  
Obliging-Man-delivering-Machessa,  
She, She is his deliverance: tell him so.  Ph. 
Do she that can; I would you'd change your Name;  
'Tis longer than yourself, and if it were  
Some three foot shorter, 'twere as high as I am.  [ One knocks. Mach. 
See who 'tis knocks; you do not know your Office;  
Bellona, hear my Name, and send Adventures.   

ACT. II. SCEN. II.  To them Ganyctor, Lerinus, Iringus. Cos. 
THe courtier's Madam; work for us! remember.  
Pray stand aside as soon as we begin.  Gan. 
Save you Machessa.  Mach. 
drop reg've a Name besides,  
By which I mean Posterity shall know me;  
The word is grown: 'tis Monster-quelling-Woman-  
Obliging-Man-delivering-Machessa.  Irin. 
Sweet Monster-quelling-Woman-ob-and so forth-  
we've brought a business to you.  Cos. 
Valiant Captain,  
What is th' Affront that's most in fashion now?  Irin. 
why do you ask me Lady?  Pan. 
'Cause you're wont  
To receive most, and so can tell the newest;  
Which now perhaps you come to have redressed.  Rho. 
What is the strength o'th' Subject think you Sir?  Ler. 
Why what know I?  Cos. 
Who should Sir, if not you  
That have so oft been beaten by all sorts,  
And all degrees of men?  Pan. 
Which Lady now  
Sends you most Favours?  Rho. 
Which most melons?  Cos. 
Which  
Most Gums, and Spikenard Boxes?  Rho. 
Who presents you  
With the best Figs?  Pan. 
The plumpest Bulbi?  Gan. 
You,  
And you, and you; you will not worry me?  Cos. 
By your Periwig, Captain, but we will.  Pan. 
By your  
False Teeth we will.  Rho. 
And your glass-eye we will.  Ler. 
For Jove's sake, Madam.  Irin. 
S'heart I'm not breath-proof.  Cos. 
Alas, we han't begun yet.  Gan. 
Let's beseech you.  Pan. 
We will not be beseeched.  Cos. 
Think upon Rest,  
As a past pleasure of your youth—  Pan. 
You shall not  
Be idle quietly in the Presence Chamber.  Rho. 
You shan't tell lies in quiet to the Waiters.  Cos. 
Nor, when you've done, share in their meat in quiet.  Pan. 
we'll meet you at the Bath—  Cos. 
You shall not wash  
Without disturbance.  Pan. 
At the theatre too—  Rho. 
You shall not misconceive good Comedies  
Without vexation—  Cos. 
And at Flora's Park.—  Pan. 
You shall not cheat at little Horse-races  
Without discovery.  Rho. 
In th' Temple then—  Cos. 
You shall not kneel in quiet at the Altars—  Rho. 
we'll hearken, and observe—  Pan. 
You shall not have  
So much free time, as to appoint a meeting  
With her knelt next y'—  Rho. 
If that you're bid to Supper—  Cos. 
we'll stay you, though you've got a warrant to  
Ride post to eat.  Ler. 
Good Madam, be content.  Pan. 
And if you're set—  Irin. 
Hell, and Furies—  Cos. 
You  
Shall rise, and prove perfidious to the hot  
Crammed Fowl upon your trencher.  Gan. 
we'll subscribe—  
Are you content?  Rho. 
And when you're weary of  
All this—  Cos. 
we'll do all this again.  Pan. 
we'll keep you,  
As they do hawks—  Cos. 
Watching until you leave  
Your wildness, and prove inward.  Gan. 
Hear y'Madam—  Ler. 
We will subscribe.  Cos. 
Come quickly then, lest that  Mach. steps in and draws till they all pass out. 
We take a toy, and will not let you.  Mach. 
Stay.  
The Gods have destined this should be the first  
Of my Adventures— go— you're free.  Irin. 
Our thanks  
Will be too small a recompense.  [ Exeunt Gan. Irin. Ler. Mach. 
The Deed  
Will pay itself; virtue's not Mercenary:  
Or, if it be, mine is not. So; I do  
Begin to come in Action now. To do  
And suffer, doth engross whole Nature, and  
I will engross both them; I'll set all free,  
But only Glory; her I'll Captive lead,  
Making her Trumpet only sound my Name,  
That is, the Sexe's. I am all their Fame.  
How goes your business on?  Pan. 
Virtue and Fortune  
Join in it both.  Cos. 
Eumela is come over,  
Hath undertook the machine, and hath promised  
To bring it to that pass, that neither Queen,  
Nor Princess shall gainsay't. Florina, and  
Malthora both have given in their Reasons,  
Which I have answered, and convinced.  Mach. 
If that  
It come to any danger, let me know it.  Exeunt Mach. Phi.  

ACT. II. SCEN. III.  To them Eumela. Rho. 
Eumela welcome; does your business thrive?  Eum. 
Too fast.  Cos. 
What? have you sent to th' Ports?  Eum. 
All's safe.  
Machessa's ours you say—  Pan. 
Yes, and Philandra.  Eum. 
Cleora and Earina busy Sticklers,  
Oenone and Hermione sent as Emissaries  
To try the farther Cities — Paria hath  
A pretty stroke among the Privy Chamber.  Cos. 
You've lost no time.  Eum. 
Nor will, Cosmeta—  
Psecas, and Dorcas, Cloe, and Plecusa,  
Phillis, and Glauca, swore this morning all  
As I was dressing.  Rho. 
On what Book I pray?  Eum. 
On the Greek Epigtams, Madam, or Anacreon,  
I know not which: they bind alike.  Cos. 
What hopes  
Have we o'th' Women of Lapythia?  
How stand the Dames of Salamin affected?  Eum. 
Why Lycus sent to give them a fair largesse  
Of Loaves and Wine, & then, whiles that well cheers 'em,  
Eugenia brings 'em a most promising Answer  
From some corrupted Oracle, and so leads  
The superstitious Souls to what she pleaseth.  
This is a ground, a thing supposed. The Plot  
Is wholly now upon Florina, there  
It knits, and gathers, breaks, and joins again;  
She's Wise, and Noble— we must find a way  
Not thought on yet to gain her.  Pan. 
But the Queen  
And Princess—  Eum. 
They perceive the business ripens,  
That it doth move the limbs, and can for need  
Shift, and defend itself, and therefore do  
By me make promise of a general meeting  
As soon as may be: i'th' mean time, we have  
Full leave to gather any Contributions,  
Gold, Silver, Jewels, Garments, any thing  
Conducing to maintain the public Cause.  Omn. 
Goddess Eumela!  Eum. 
Go, fall off, the Princess  
Is at hand— I'lgoe mingle Counsels.  Exeunt Cos. Rho. Pan.  

ACT. II. SCEN. IV.  Lucasia to Eumela. Luc. 
Eumela you are come most opportunely.  Eu. 
This to your Highness from my L. Olyndus.  [ delivers the Letter.] Luc. 
You're happy that your Love is with you still,  
That you can see, and hear, and speak to him.  
Venus doth favour you more than the whole  
Kingdom Eumela; Mars for her sake's kind to you.  Eum. 
I must confess it happy: but Olyndus  
Cannot be brought to think it so; he fears  
His sickness will by some be construed Love;  
Which, if his Valour in his Country's danger  
Durst give the upper hand, even at the Altar,  
Though Venus did herself look on, he'd pull  
Out of his Breast, and cast aside, as some  
Unhallowed part o'th' Sacrifice.  Luc. 
His King  
Hath found him truly valiant. E'er I open  
This Paper, you must state one Point, Eumela,  
Suppose me busy in the holy Rites  
Of our adored Venus: if by chance  
I cast mine Eye upon some Princely visage,  
And feel a Passion, is the Goddess wronged?  
Or the Religion less?  Eum. 
Our Loves what are they  
But hourly Sacrifices, only wanting  
The press and tumult of Solemnity?  
If then i'th' heat and Achme of Devotion  
We drink a new fiame in, can it be aught  
But to increase the Worship? and what Goddess  
Was ever angry that the holy Priest  
Increased her Fires, and made 'em burn more clear?  Luc. 
True, but suppose the Face then seen doth never  
Appear more after, is not that a sign  
The Goddess is displeased?  Eum. 
That it a while  
Appears not, is to cherish, not extinguish  
The Passion thence conceived: as Persecutions  
Make Piety stronger still, and bring th' Afflicted  
Unto the glory of renowned Martyrs.  Luc. 
But is there then no hope but that? Alas!  
This man perhaps might perish in some War  
As now( But O ye Gods avert the Fate!)  [ to herself. 
And then th' unhappy sighing Virgin fall  
From that her feigned Heaven.  Eum. 
It cannot be;  
Venus destroys her Deity, if she show  
And then delude: she will not lose what once  
Sh' hath made her own; She that knits hearts by th' Eyes,  
Will keep the knot fast by their intercourse;  
If you have once but seen, and loved, permit  
The rest unto the Deity. Will it please  
Your Highness to peruse the Letter? 'tis  
Of moment I presume: why blush you Madam?  
And, while I ask you, why look pale?  Luc. 
Eumela,  
The supposition's truth; lately, thou knowest,  
I did assist at Venus' Sacrifice;  
He, whom I saw, and loved, saw, and loved too,  
And now hath writ— but let Olyndus tell him  
I will not see him, though he were the Soul  
Of all Mankind.  Eum. 
I will.  Luc. 
Hear me— yet if  
He have a true undoubted Friend, he may  
send him, I'll meet him in the Myrtle Grove,  
And tell him more.  Eum. 
I will obey.  Luc. 
But stay—  
And yet that's all.  Eum. 
I go.  [ Exit Eumela. Luc. 
The Soul doth give  
Brightness to th' Eye, and some say, That the Sun,  
If not enlight'ned by th' Intelligence  
That doth inhabit it, would shine no more  
Than a dull Clod of Earth: so Love, that is  
Brighter than Eye, or Sun, if not enlight'ned  
By Reason, would so much of Lustre lose  
As to become but gross, and foul Desire;  
I must refine his Passion; None can woo  
Nobly, but he that hath done Nobly too.   

ACT. III. SCEN. V.  To her Florina and Malthora. Mal. 
YOur Highness here alone?  Luc. 
But so long only  
As gives you leave to ask. What? sad Florina?  
I'd thought your Soul had dwelled within itself,  
Been single a full presence, and that you  
Had set yourself up your own Trophy now  
Full of true Joy.  Flo. 
'tis hard to cast off that  
That we call Passion, we may veil, and cloud it,  
But't will break out at last. True Joy is that  
Which now I cannot have.  Luc. 
How so Florina?  Flo. 
True Joy consists in Looks, and Words, and Letters,  
Which now an Absence, equal to Divorce,  
Hath wholly barred us of.  Luc. 
Looks, Words, and Letters!  
Alas they are but only so much Air  
Diversely form, & so the food of that  
Changeable Creature; not the Viands of  
True constant Lovers.  Flo. 
But, if I see not,  
Is not my Joy grown less, who could not love  
Till I first saw? and if I hear not, can  
I have the perfect Harmony of pleasure,  
Who something owe to words that I first yielded?  Luc. 
Who ever yet was won by words? we come  
Conquered, and when we grant, we do not yield,  
But do confess that we did yield before.  
But be those Senses some Contentments, Madam,  
You must not yet make them the great, and true  
essential Joy that only can consist  
In the bright perfect Union of two Spirits.  Mal. 
But seeing those Spirits cannot work, but by  
The Organs of the Body, 'tis required  
That( to the full perfection of this Joy)  
Bodies should be near-Neighbours too.  Flo. 
I must  
Confess that I subscribe unto the Princess,  
And somewhat too to you: the Presence may  
Convey, and fill, and polish Joy; but yet  
To see, or hear, cannot be joys themselves.  
And where this Presence is denied, the Soul  
Makes use of higher, and more subtle means,  
And by the strength of thought creates a Presence  
Where there is none.  Mal. 
Alas! how we do lose  
Ourselves in speculation of our Loves,  
As if they were unbodyed Essences!  Luc. 
I would  
Eumela now were here; she'd tell us, All  
Is the same Joy, as Love from sight, or thought,  
Is the same Love; and that Love's turning to  
Either of them, is only but a Needle  
Turning to several points, no diverse flame,  
But only divers degrees of the selfsame.  
Come Madam let's away and seek her out.  [ Exeunt.  

ACT II. SCENE VI.  Charistus, Olyndus. Cha. 
NOt see me, say you, though I were the Soul  
Of all Mankind?  Olyn. 
They were the words returned—  
But if he have a true undoubted friend,  
and him, I'll tell him more.  Cha. 
Have I deserted  
my Country, now in danger, where I had  
●ook Honour Captive, and for ever fixed her  
●s an Intelligence unto my Sword,  
to move and guide it? have I scorned my Fortunes,  
and laid aside the Prince? have I contemned  
●hat much prized thing called Life, and wrestled with  
●oth Winds and floods, through which I have arrived  
●ither at last? and all this not to see her?  Olyn. 
Doth she betray, or undisguise you to  
the State? Doth she forbid you, Sir, to love?  
Affection is not wanting, where 'tis wise;  
the only doth forbid you that you see her.  Cha: 
Only forbid me to be happy, only  
●orbids me to enjoy myself; What could  
●he more, were I her Enemy? Olyndus  
●ast thou at no time told her, that there was  
●Cretan called thee Friend?  Olyn. 
Why do you ask?  Cha. 
Perhaps she hath found this way to send for thee.  Oly. 
Though I have thought it worth the boasting, that  
Charistus is my friend, yet by that Word,  
●acred to Noble Souls, I never had  
●o much access to tell her any thing,  
Much less my Friendship.  Cha. 
Thou shalt go Olyndus.  Olyn. 
When my eyes see her, yours do; when I talk,  
'tis you that talk; we are true friends, and one,  
●ay that one interchanged; for I am you.  Cha. 
'Tis true thou art my friend, so much my friend,  
That myself am not more myself, than thou art:  
●f thou dost go, I go— But stay— Didst not  
●hou say mine eyes were thine? thou didst: if that  
●e so, than thou must love her too, and then—  
Olyndus thou must stay.  Olyn. 
She loves you so,  
( As my Eumela doth inform me) that  
No human Image can deface the Print  
That you have drawn i'th' Tablet of her Soul.  Cha. 
If that she loves me so, why then she must  
Love thee so too; for thou and I are one.  Olyn. 
Why then, Sir, if you go yourself, the issue  
Will be the same however, so, when she  
Loves you she'll love me too.  Cha. 
We are both one  
In hearts and minds Olyndus: but those Minds  
Are clothed with Bodies. Bodies that do oft—  
I know not what— yet thou hast an Eumela,  
A fair Eumela trust me— Thou must go—  
But use not any Language, Gesture, Looks,  
That may be construed aught above Respect;  
For thou art young and beautiful, and Valiant,  
And all that Ladies long for.  Olyn. 
When I prove  
So treacherous to my Friend, myself, my fair  
Eumela, mark me with that hateful brand  
That Ignominy hath not discovered yet,  
But doth reserve to fear the foulest Monster  
That shall appear in Nature.  Cha. 
I believe thee:  
Yet something bids me still not let thee go.  
But I'll not hearken to it; though my Soul  
Should tell me 'twere not fit, I'd not believe  
My Soul could think so.  Olyn. 
How resolve you then?  Cha. 
Do what thou wilt. I do believe— and yet  
I do— I know not what— O my Lucasia!  
O my Olyndus! divers ways I bend,  
Divided 'twixt the Lover, and the Friend.  Exeunt.   


ACT. III. SCENE I.  Olyndus to Lucasia in the Grove. Olyn. 
Mmayed please your Highness, Madam—  
I have a friend so much myself, that I  
Can't say he's absent now, yet he hath sent me  
To be here present for him: we interchange  
Bosoms, and Counsels, Thoughts, and Souls so much,  
That he entreats you to conceive you spoke  
To him in me; All that you shall deposit  
Will be in safe, and faithful Ears; the same  
Trust you expect from him, shall keep your words,  
And the same Night conceal 'em: 'tis Charistus  
The noble Cretan.  Luc. 
When you said your Friend,  
The rest was needless; I conceive him all  
That makes up virtue, all that we call Good  
Whom you Olyndus give your Soul to; yet  
I'd rather court his Valour, than his Love,  
Did he shine bright in Armour, call for Dangers,  
Eager to cut his way through stubborn Troops,  
Even this my softness, armed as he, could follow  
And prompt his Arm, supply him with fresh Fury,  
And dictate higher dangers. Then when Dust  
And blood hath smeared him( a disguise more worthy  
Of Princes far, than that he wears) I could  
Embrace him fresh from Conquest, and conceive him  
As fair as ever any yet appeared  
To longing Virgins in their Amorous Dreams.  Olyn. 
Fury could never from the Den of danger  
Awake that horror yet, that bold Charistus  
Durst not attempt, stand equal with, and then  
Conquer, and trample, and contemn.  Luc. 
Revenge  
And Hate I do confess, may sometimes carry  
The Soul beyond itself to do, and suffer:  
But the things than are Furious, not Great,  
And sign the Actor Headlong, but not virtuous.  Olyn. 
He that can do this, Madam, and Love too,  
Must needs be virtuous; that holy Flame  
Clean and untainted, as the fresh desires  
Of Infant Saints, enters not Souls that are  
Of any foul Complexion. He that Loves,  
Even in that he Loves, is good: and as  
He is no less an Atheist, that denies  
The Gods to be most happy, than the Man  
That dares Affirm there are no Gods at all;  
So he's no less an heretic, that shall  
Deny Love to be virtuous, than he  
That dares Affirm there is no Love at all.  Luc. 
But he hath left his Country now, when that  
Her Wealth, her Name, her Temples, and her Altars,  
Her Gods, and Liberty, stand yet upon  
Th'uncertain Dye; when Danger calls his Arm,  
And Glory should arrest his Spirit there;  
And this to Court one, whom he knows not, whether  
She may think virtue a mere Airy word,  
And Honour but a blast, invented to  
Make catching Spirits dare, and do high things.  Olyn. 
That you are virtuous, is a knowledge, that  
All must confess they have, but only those  
That have not Eyes: For if that Souls frame Bodies,  
And that the Excellence of the Architect  
Appear in the perfection of the Structure,  
Whether you have a Soul enriched with virtues,  
Must be a blind Man's doubt: Nature dares not  
Thrust out so much deceit into the World;  
'Twould make us not believe her works were meant  
For true firm pieces, but Delusions only.  Luc. 
Though I must not agree t' you, to pass by  
What you have said, If I were virtuous,  
You must confess him so far ignorant yet,  
As not to know whether I'd Love, or no.  Oly. 
This Knowledge is of more Extent than th' other.  
For being that to be loved is the Effect  
Of your own worths, you must love all men's Loves  
As a Confession of your Graces, that  
Yourselves have drawn from them. That which your Beauty  
Produceth, is a Birth as dear unto you,  
As are your Children.  Luc. 
Should there more than one  
Love us( if this hold) we must love them too,  
And so that Sacred tie that joins the Soul  
To one, and but to one, were but a Fable,  
A thing in Poetry, not in the Creature.  Olyn. 
One is your Trophy: and he loved as That  
The Rest but Witnesses: thus Princes, when  
They Conquer Princes, though they only count  
Those Names of Glory, and Renown, their Victory,  
Take yet their meaner Subjects in, as fair  
Accesses to their Triumphs, who, although  
They are not the main Prize, are some what yet  
That doth confirm that there was worth, and force,  
To which the Main did justly yield.  Luc. 
Be't then  
That I do love his Love, I am not yet  
Bound to accept it in what shape soever  
It doth appear; the Manner, Time, and Place  
May not be relished, though the thing be liked.  Olyn. 
For these he doth expect your Dictates, with  
As much Religion, as he would the Answers  
Of Sacred Oracles, and with the same  
Vow of Performance.  Luc. 
You must tell him then.  
He must go back, and there do honourably;  
Succour his Country, cheer the soldier, fight,  
Spend, and disburse the Prince, where e'er he goes,  
Get him a Name, and Title upon Cyprus.  
I will not see him till he hath conquered, till  
He hath rid high in Triumph, and when this  
Is done, let him consider then, it is  
My Father, & my Subjects, and my Kingdom  
That he hath conquered.  Olyn. 
I am an Agent only,  
And therefore must be faithful.  Luc. 
But withal  
To show that I reject him not, you may  
Tell him, that being he hath such a friend,  
Whiles he is absent I will love Olyndus  
Instead of him.  [ Exit Lucasia. Olyn. 
But that my Friend is in me  
I should have deemed it Sacrilege, to have had  
A thought like that suggested. My Charistus,  
Were he not something careful in his Love,  
( I will not call him Jealous) were beyond  
The Lot of Man: I must not tell him all,  
Some may be hid; yet how shall I unriddle  
The Mystery of this Answer? But the knots  
That Love doth tie, himself will only find  
The way to lose—   

ACT. III. SCEN. II.  To him Charistus. 
— And here Charistus comes.  
Souls once possessed, as his, are most impatient,  
They meet what they should stay for.  Cha. 
Dear Olyndus,  
Pardon that I expect not, but make haste  
To intercept my Doom Others perhaps  
May wait the punctual Minute, and observe  
The just and even Period: but Charistus  
Doth love too slow, when time, and Sun can bind him  
Unto a regular Motion.  Olyn. 
Would you had  
Been there yourself! would you had drunk in all  
The Looks, Words, Graces, and Divinities  
That I have done! I'm like the Priest that's full  
Of his inspiring God, and am possessed  
With so much rapture, that methinks I could  
Bear up myself without a Wing, or Chariot,  
And hoverc'r the Earth, still dropping something  
That should take root in Kingdoms, and come up  
The Good of people.  Cha. 
Let me ask thee then  
As we do those that do come fresh from Visions,  
What sawest thou there?  Olyn. 
That which I see still, that  
Which will not out; I saw a Face that did  
Seem to participate of Flames, and Flowers;  
Eyes in which Light combined with Jet to make  
Whiteness be thought the Blot, and Black hereafter  
Purchase the Name of Innocence, and Lustre.  
The whole was but one solid Light, and had I  
Not seen our Goddess rising from the floods  
Portrayed less fair, less Goddess, I had thought  
The thing I saw, and talked with, must have been  
The Tutelar Deity of this our Island.  Cha. 
That I should let thee go! that I should be  
So impious to myself, as not to break  
Her great Commands, and so become a Martyr  
By daring to be happy 'gainst her will—  
But on Olyndus.  Olyn. 
You may think this  
The Height, the Acme, and the All of her:  
But when I tell you, that She hath a Mind  
That hides all this, and makes it not appear,  
Disparaging as 'twere, what ever may  
Be seen without her, than you'll thus exclaim;  
Nature, thou wert o'rseen to put so mean  
A frontispiece to such a Building.  Cha. 
Give me,  
O quickly give me the whole Miracle,  
Or presently I am not.  Olyn. 
Think, Charistus,  
Think out the rest, as 'tis, I cannot speak it.  Cha. 
Alas! what should I think?  Olyn. 
Conceive a Fire  
Simple and thin; to which that Light we see,  
And see by, is so far impure, that 'tis  
Only the stain, and blemish of the World;  
And if it could be placed with it in one  
And the same Tablet, would but only serve  
As bound and shadow to it: Then conceive  
A Substance that the Gods have set apart,  
And when they would put generous Motions  
Into a mortal Breast, do take the Soul  
And couch it there, so that what e'er we call  
Virtue in us, is only but a Turning  
And Inclination toward her from whom  
This power was first derived.  Cha. 
What present God  
Lent thee his Eyes, and stood blind by, whiles thou  
Didst gaze, and surfeit on these Glories?  Olyn. 
Others  
Do Love the shape, the Gesture, and the Man,  
But She the virtue. Mark Charistus. She  
says She could Court you ringed about with Dangers,  
dote on you smeared, and stiff with hoftile blood,  
Count and exact your wounds, as a due sum  
You are to pay to Valour; All which when  
I told her was in Love, she said I did  
Present a spark, when she desired a full  
And glorious Constellation— to be short,  
She says you must go back, do honourably,  
Get you a Name upon the Cyprian Forces;  
And bids when you have done all this, consider  
It is her Father, and his Subjects, and  
His kingdom that you conquer—  Cha. 
And herself  
That I shall lose by doing so. If I  
Return, and Crete be conquered, than She will  
Count me spoil, and Luggage; and my Love  
Only a Slave's Affection. If I Conquer,  
And Cyprus follow my Triumphant Chariot,  
My Love will then be Tyranny: and She,  
How can she light an Hymeneal Torch  
From her loved country's Flame? I am rejected,  
Charistus is a Name of scorn.  Olyn. 
What Fates  
Dare throw that Name upon my Friend? To show  
That she rejects you not, because there is  
That Trust, that Faith, and that Confusion of  
Charistus and Olyndus 'twixt us, in the mean  
While he is absent, tell him, saith she, that  
I'll love Olyndus in his stead.  Cha. 
How! Man  
Th' hast dealt dishonourably. This the Light?  
And this the Fire that makes that Light a stain?  Olyn. 
This I foretold myself: my good Charistus  
Let not your Anger carry you beyond  
The bent of Reason; can I give account  
Of others Passions? did I first conceive  
The words myself; then speak'em?  Cha. 
O ye Gods!  
Where is the Faith? where the Olyndus now?  
Th' hast been a Factor for thyself: I'd thought  
I'd sent a Friend, but he's returned a Merchant,  
And will divide the Wealth.  Olyn. 
Far be that Brand  
From your Olyndus! far from your Lucasia!  
She hath a Face hath so much Heaven in it,  
And this Olyndus so much Worship of it,  
That he must first put on another Shape,  
And become Monster, e'er he dare but look  
Upon her with a thought that's Masculine.  Cha. 
Peace Treachery! I am too cold; my Anger  
Is dull and lazy yet. I'll search that Breast,  
And dig out falsehood from the secretest Corner  
In all thy Heart, here, in the very place  
That thou hast wronged me.  Olyn. 
There is nothing here  
That my Charistus knows not. Pray you open,  
And search, and judge; and when you find all true,  
Say you destroyed a Friend.  Cha. 
It is your Art  
I see to woo, but I will make you speak  
Something that is not Flattery.  Olyn. 
Olyndus  
Ne'er loved the Man as friend yet, whom he did  
Feat as an Enemy.' I is one part of Valour  
That I durst now receive, conceal, and help you,  
Here in the bosom of that State, which hath  
Cast out a spear into the Cretan Field,  
And bid you War.  Cha. 
Thou hast already here  
Betrayed my Love; thy falsehood will proceed  
Unto my Person next. I'd thought I'd been  
Clasped in Embraces, but I find I am  
Entangled in a Net.  Olyn. 
You're safe as in  
The bosom of your Father, take this veil  
Of Passion from your Eyes; and you'll behold  
The same Olyndus still.  Cha. 
The same Deceiver,  
The same false perjured Man. Draw, or by Heaven,  
That now should Thunder and revenge my wrongs,  
Thou shalt die sluggishly.  Olyn. 
Recall yourself,  
And do but hear—  Cha. 
What words a Coward will  
Fawn on me with, to keep an abject life,  
Not worth the saving.  Olyn. 
Witness all ye Gods  
That govern Friendship, how unwillingly  
I do untie the Knot.  Cha. 
Draw quickly, lest  
It may be known I am the Cretan Prince,  
And so my juster Fury be not suffered  
To scourge a timorous and perfidious Man.  Oly. 
Though thou stand'st here an Enemy, and we have  
The Pledge of all the Cretan State, yet know  
Though all our Island's People did look on,  
And thou proclaimest thyself to be the Man,  
They should not dare to know the Prince, until  
I'd done this Sacrifice to Honour.  Cha. 
So!  They fight, and wound each other dangerously, and then retire, Charistus to Lucasia's Myrtle, and Olyndus to the next adjoining, and leaning there speak. Olyn. 
I have not long to stay 'mongst Mortals now,  
And then you may search all those Corners that  
You talked of in my Heart. But if you find  
Aught that is falsehood towards you, or more  
Than reverence to Lucasia, may I want  
The Honour of a Grave— Hear O ye Gods,  
( Ye Gods whom( but a while) and I am with)  
Lucasia is as spotless, as the Seat  
That you prepare for Virgin Lovers!  Cha. 
I  
Have wronged thee, my Olyndus, wronged thee much,  
But do not chide me; there's not life enough  
Left in me to make use of Admonition.  Olyn. 
If you survive, love your Lucasia; 'twill  
Make your Olyndus happy; for the good  
Of the surviving Friend, some holy men  
Say, doth pertain unto the Friend Departed.  Cha. 
Virtuous Lucasia! and hadst thou Olyndus  
Not been so too, my Gods had fought for me;  
But I must die — Olyndus.  [ Charistus faints. Olyn. 
Heaven forbid  
That my Charistus perish! I have only  
Strength left to wish: If I can creep yet to thee  
I'll help thee all I can.  [ Olynd. sinks Cha. 
And I will meet thee;  [ They creep one to the other and so embrace.] 
Let us embrace each other yet. The Fates  
Preserve our Friendship, and would have us equal,  
Equal even in our Angers: we shall go  
Down equal to the Shades both, two ways equal,  
As Dead, as Friends. And when Lucasia shall  
Come down unto us( which the Heavens forbid  
Should be as yet) I'll not be Jealous there.   

ACT. III. SCEN. III.  To them as they lie grovelling, and embracing thus, Machessa and Philaenis. Phi. 
O Me! Good Heavens! had you the Balsam, Lady,  
Now that you told me of, 'twould do somegood.  Mach. 
This is Olyndus, that the honoured Stranger;  
Brave Spirits are a Balsam to themselves:  
There is a Nobleness of Mind, that heals  
Wounds beyond Salves— look not, but help Philaenis,  
Gather the Weapons, and the rest up quickly;  
Where two are wronged, I ought to succour both.  Machessa carries 'em out.  

ACT. III. SCEN. IV.  Lucasia, Florina, Malthora Eumela. Lu. 
MAdam, ne'er fear your Dream, for that is only  
The relics of your daytime thoughts, that are  
Preserved by'our Soul, to make a Scene i'th' Night.  Eum. 
Have you not dreamt the like before?  Mal. 
Yes thrice.  Eum. 
Why then Paestanus now hath perished thrice,  
Or else y' have sometimes dreamt in vain.  Flor. 
Eumela,  
I told her this, and that her troubled Sleep;  
Were one Love still waking.  Luc. 
we'll divert  
This anxious fear. Reach me the Lute Eumela.  
Have you not heard how Venus did complain  
For her beloved Adonis? The young Poet,  
That was desited to give a Language to  
Th' afflicted Goddess, thought her words were these.  Cal. 

The Ode.  

wake my Adonis, do not die;  
One Life's enough for thee and I.  
Where are thy words? thy wiles?  
Thy Loves, thy Frowns, thy smiles?  
Alas in vain I call;  
One death hath snatched 'em all:  
Yet Death's not deadly in that Face,  
Death in those Looks itself hath Grace.   

'Twas this, 'twas this I feared  
When thy pale Ghost appeared;  
This I presaged when thundering Jove  
Tore the best Myrtle in my Grove;  
When my sick rosebuds lost theïr smell,  
And from my Temples untouched fell;  
And 'twas for some such thing  
My Dove did hang her Wing.   

Whither art thou my Deity gone?  
Venus in Venus there is none.  
In vain a Goddess now am I  
Only to Grieve, and not to die.  
But I will love my Grief,  
Make Tears my Tears relief;  
And Sorrow shall to me  
A new Adonis be.   

And this no Fates can rob me of, whiles I  
A Goddess am to Grieve. and not to die.    Flor. 
Madam, they say 'twas in this very Grove  
The Goddess thus complained.   

ACT. III. SCEN. V.  To them Philaenis with a couple of Napkins. Eum. 
HOw now Philaenis?  
Are you turned Sewer to the Lady-Errant?  Phi. 
Lady I'm sent to wipe away the blood  
From these two Myrtles.  Eum. 
Bless me! what blood Philaenis?  Luc. 
I hope the Song will not prove ominous.  Phi. 
'Tis fit we have some Wars at home too, else  
My Lady would have no employment left.  Luc. 
What Wars? whose blood?  Phi. 
A pair of froward Lovers,  
Olyndus, and the Stranger, fought, it seems,  
Here till they almost killed themselves: and when  
Neither did fear, but both did faint, it seems  
Olyndus leaned there, and the Stranger there,  
And with their bloods besmeared the Trees a little;  
We did not think your Highness should have seen it.  They rise amazed, the Princess repairs to the Tree where Charistus bled, and Eumela to the Tree where her Olyndus bled. Luc. 
Is this Olyndus way of mingling Souls?  Eum. 
Is this the Others interchange of Breasts?  Luc. 
O Heavens! durst your Olyndus thus?  Eum. 
O heavens',  
And O ye Gods too! durst that other this?  Luc. 
Did he then stay behind for this Eumela?  Eum. 
And did he leave his Country to destroy  
One worth it all, here in our very Bosoms?  Luc. 
He has ruined one, whose like if Nature will  
Show to the World again, she must lay up,  
And gather, till she hath store enough of Graces  
To throw into the World.  Eum. 
Olyndus stood  
As high, and brave as he, his Enemy had  
But this advantage of him, that he was  
A Cretan, as by Birth, so too in Faith.  Luc. 
Were he the Birth of some unsheltered Cottage,  
He were yet fairer in the Eye o'th' World  
Than e'er Olyndus could have been, in that  
He was a Princess' thoughts; 'twas I that loved him.  Eum. 
Although the Name of Princess be upon you,  
And signs you Dread, and sovereign, yet I must  
Tell you that Love's a Princess too in me,  
And stamps as much heroic Majesty  
Upon my Thoughts, as Birth hath done on yours.  Luc. 
Though, as a Princess, I could make thy Love  
And thee forgotten Names, yet I depose  
Myself, and am thy equal.  Eum. 
'Tis no need  
That you descend, Love carries up Eumela  
To be as high as is her Princess, and  
In this sad Fate placeth her equal with  
Her Dread Lucasia.  Luc. 
Hear, hear this brave man!  
And if thou livest revenge it on Olyndus.  Eum. 
And thou the Spirit of my dear Olyndus,  
Be thou still worthy, still thyself. Speak thou  
O Nature, was there not the same clay knead  
To make our Hearts? did not the same Fire kindle  
Our Souls? and thou, O Love, was't not the same  
Metal that wounded both? you must not count  
The Princess into th' worth of your Affection;  
Love when he balanceth the Hearts that come  
Under his Power, casts not in their Births,  
Fortunes, and Titles.  Luc. 
Would some powerful God  
Would change our Persons, and make thee Lucasia,  
And me Eumela, that I might avow  
The justice of my Love in spite of State.  Mal. 
Forbear Eumela.  Flor. 
'Tis the Princess speaks.  Eum. 
Nor Prince, nor Subject speaks, but Love in both.   

ACT. III. SCEN. VI.  They leave their Trees, and repair to Machessa. To them Machessa. Flo. 
HEre's one can tell you all.  Luc. 
Say, good Machessa,  
How doth the Stranger?  Eum. 
Lives Olyndus yet?  Mac. 
Both live, but wounded much, yet hopes of both;  
For they are Friends, and as their Minds have closed,  
Their wounds may shortly too.  Luc. 
How fell they out?  Mach. 
I heard the Stranger, Madam, thus confess,  
As our Olyndus did embrace him; Thou  
Wert honourable, my Olyndus, ever;  
But I was foul, and Jealous: then Olyndus  
Fell on his Neck, told him 'twas only heat,  
And strength of Love; and vowed he'd never tell  
The cause and ground o'th' quarrel: but the Stranger  
Swore by his Gods, and Altars, that he would  
Go find, and tell, and ask the Deity  
Forgiveness first, than him— I heard no more  
But only sighs from either.  Luc. 
'Twas too much—  
That I should throw away my grieffor one  
That durst have such a thought! Charistus, you  
And I are both deceived in one another;  
And, poor Olyndus, dearly hast thou paid  
For both our Errors—  
— Machessa, as you love me  
Be careful of Olyndus, for the other—  
My care hath been more than he's worth already—  [ aside. Flo. 
Eumela,  
The Princess is much troubled, pray heaven your freedom  
Did not offend her Highness.  Eum. 
I hope it did not:  
Madam, if too much Love made me forge;  
And pass the bounds of Duty, humbly, I beg  
Your grace's pardon, beseeching you t'impute  
My folly to my Passion.  Luc. 
Call't not Passion,  
'Twas Reason to Contest: Love's Kingdom is  
Founded upon a Parity; Lord, and Subject,  
Master, and Servant, are Names banished thence;  
They wear one Fetter all, or, all one Freedom.  Eum. 
There was some Spirit spoke within me, 'twas—  Luc. 
Alas! excuse it not: all that do Love,  
In that they love, are equal, and above none,  
None, but those only whom the God denies  
The honour of his Wound — Eumela, hear me,  Whispers her. 
Charistus is grown foul, and thy Olyndus  
Is now my Martyr, for my sake he bleeds,  
And I, for this, will make Charistus know,  
That he, who doubts his Friend, is his own Foe.  Exeunt.   


ACT IV. SCENE I.  Adraste, Lucasia, Malthora, Florina, Eumela, Cosmeta, Pandena, Rhodia, Machessa, sat as at Parliament. Adr. 
MY Lady martial, and the rest mercurial,  
Woman's the Gem of Heaven, in which Nature  
Hath carved the Universe in less Characters;  
A piece of such Invention, and such Art,  
That, where as in one common lazy mould  
Made for dispatch, she casts, and thrusts out Men,  
As some things done in haste, she may be said  
To build, and send forth us; yet( howsoever  
It comes about) in all foretimes and Ages  
Counsels and senates have excluded us,  
Thinking us like those finer Wits, which spin  
Themselves into such subt'le Fancies, that  
They are too Curious to be employed,  
Being as far from Service, as from Grossness:  
But this hath been from error, not from trial:  
Grant me their Composition stronger, grant me  
Their body's ruder, and more fit for Wars,  
Which some yet here do happily contradict,  
I cannot yet conceive, why this should bind us  
To be their Slaves; our Souls are Male, as theirs.  
That we have hitherto forborn t'assume  
And manage Thrones, that hitherto we have not  
Challenged a sovereignty in Arts, and Arms,  
And writ ourselves imperial, hath been  
Men's Tyranny, and our Modesty. Being then  
Nature did mean us sovereigns, but cross Fate  
( Envious of her, willing that nothing should  
Be perfect upon Earth) still kept us under;  
Let us, i'th' name of Honour, rise unto  
The pitch of our Creation. Now's the time;  
The best and ablest men are absent, those  
That are left here behind are either fools,  
Or Wise men overgrown, which is all one  
Assert yourselves into your Liberty then,  
Stand firm, and high, put these good Resolutions  
Forth into Action: then, in spite of Fate,  
A Female Hand shall turn the Wheel of State.  Om. 
Inspired Adraste!  Om. 
Most divine Adraste!  Adr. 
If that you relish this let Mistress Speaker  
On to the rest.  Om. 
On, on, on, on, on, on!  Eum. 
Most Willing, most Agreeing, most Potent,  
And most free Ladies, &c.—  
'Tis fit all things should be reduced unto  
Their Primeve Institution, and first Head;  
Woman was then as much as Man, those Stones  
Which Pyrrha cast, made as fair Creatures as  
Deucalion's did: that his should be set up  
Carved, and adored, but hers kept down, and trampled,  
Came from an ancient Injury; what Oracle, and  
What voice from Heaven commanded that?  Cos. 
Most true!  
Observe that Ladies.  Pan. 
Sibyl's Leaf by Juno!  Eum. 
He that says Woman is not fit for Policy,  
Doth give the Lie to Art; for what man hath  
More sorts of Looks? more Faces? who puts on  
More several Colours? Men, compared in this,  
Are only Dough baked Women; not as once  
Maliciously one called us dough-baked Men.  Cos. 
'Tis no single  
Voice; the whole Sex speaks in her.  Eum. 
Some few yet  
Do speak against our Passions, but with greater;  
Rail at our Lightness, but 'tis out of Humour;  
Rather Disease than Reason; they being such  
As wipe off what they spit. For heaven forbid  
That any should vouchsafe to speak against us  
But rough Philosophers, and rude Divines,  
And such like dull Professions. But we I now  
Show them our Passions are our reason's Edge,  
And that, which they call Lightness, only is  
An Art to turn ourselves to several Points.  
Time, Place, Minds, People, all things now concur  
To re-estate us there where Nature placed us:  
Not a Male more must enter Cyprus now.  Cos. 
No, nor an Eunuch, nothing that hath been  
Male heretofore.  Pan. 
No, nor hermaphrodite;  
Nothing that is half Male. A little Spark  
Hath often kindled a whole Town; we must  
Be cautelous in the least.  Eum. 
That then they may not  
Regain the Island, all the Havens must  
Be stored, and guarded.  Cos. 
Very fit they should.  Eum. 
Next to the Havens, Castles out of hand  
Must be repaired, Bulwarks, and Forts, and Sconces  
Be forthwith reared.  Cos. 
'Tis time we were about them.  Eum. 
Arms than must be bought up, and Forces raised;  
Much, much is to be done—  Pan. 
Why let Machessa  
About it straight.  Eum. 
I see agreeing Minds,  
Your Hearts and Courage very ready, but  
Where is the Nerve and Sinew of this Action?  
Where shall we have the money to do this?  Cos. 
we'll give our hair for Cordage, and our finest  
Linen for Sails, rather than this Design  
Shall be once dashed for want.  Pan. 
There's much already  
Come in—  Cos. 
And more doth daily.  Pan. 
Hearts and Purses  
Concur unto the Action.  Cos. 
We have Notes  
Of the particular Contributions.  Eum. 
Her Majesty would have you read 'em, that  
She may know what to trust to.  Cos. 
From the Temple  [ She reads. 
We do expect ten dozen of Chalices,  
But they are hid, or else already gone—  Eum. 
This is not what you have, but what you've not.  Cos. 
We tell you this, that you mayn't take it ill,  
That we han't borrowed some o'th' Holy Plate.  
Well then, to what we have— First from the Court  
Ten Vessels of Corinthian Brass, with divers  
Pieces of Polyclet, and Phyd●as,  
Parrhasius, Zeuxes, and Protogenes,  
Apelles, and such like great Master-hands.  Eum. 
Statues, and Pictures do but little good  
Against the Enemy.  Cos. 
Pray y' hear it out:  
Rich Cabinets then, which, though they do contain  
Treasure immense and large, have nothing yet  
Within them richer than themselves.  Eum. 
What hold they?  Cos. 
Pearls, Rubies, emeralds, Amethysts, and saphires,  
Crysolits, Jaspers, Diamonds, two whereof  
Do double the twelfth carat: besides Sparks  
Enough to stick the Roof o'th' banqueting House,  
And make it seem an heaven.  Eum. 
Well, on Cosmeta.  Cos. 
Twelve standing Goblets, two more rich and massy,  
The one bears Bacchus sitting on a Vine,  
Squeezing out Purple liquor, Th' other hath  
Silenus' riding on his patient Beast,  
And Satyrs dancing after him. More yet,  
Twelve other less engraven with less Stories,  
As Loves, and Months, and Quarters of the year,  
Nymphs, shepherds, and such like— This from the Court.  Eum. 
What from the City?  Pan. 
Purple Robes, and Furs  [ Pan. reads. 
In great abundance— basins and large Ewers,  
Flagons, and Dishes, Plates, and voiders, all  
Rich and unwieldy. And besides all this,  
Gold Chains, and Caudle-Cups innumerable.  Eum. 
The Contribution's much—  Pan. 
But yet not ended—  
Twelve City Ladies send us word, they have  
Twelve Iron Chests, and ribed with Iron too,  
Wherein they do suspect there lies a Mine,  
That hath not seen the Sun for six Olympiads.  Eum. 
Let 'em be got in suddenly; we must  
Be hot and eager in our undertakings.  
The wealth's enough; the East was overrun  
By the bold Macedonian Boy with less.  
Was't not Machessa? But I pray you nothing  
From the poor Country Villagers?  Pan. 
Very little;  
Hoop-rings, and children's whistles, and some forty  
Or fifty dozen of gilt-Spoons, that's all.  Eum. 
Let it be hastily delivered all  
Into her majesty's Treasury.  Cos. 
Under favour,  
We think Machessa would be very fit  
Both to take in, and to disburse.  Eum. 
It is not  
For any private Interest that She asks it,  
But for the public good.  Pan. 
Perhaps. But yet  
The People will think better, if it be  
Entrusted in a Subject's hand, and Hers  
Especially who never had a Husband—  Cos. 
No, nor a Child as yet.  Adr. 
Why be it so;  
You shall dispose't Machessa.  Mach. 
I consider  
The trust you give me: see the weight, and Nature,  
The Price and Moment of the Cause; Know next  
My Order binds me not to be endowed  
With any Wealth or utensil, besides  
My Steed, my Habit, Arms, and Page; To which  
When I prove false, let him that weaves my Story  
( Whether he be a Courtier, or perhaps  
A Scholar that writes worse) bring me no higher  
Than to scratched Faces, and such Suburb brangles.  
Truth is the Essence of our Order, we  
Who are Errants cannot deceive and Be.  Adr. 
Let us away: though the Male-Gods may frown,  
The Female part of Heaven is sure our own  [ She Whiss. Eu. Eum. 
Noble Machessa all your deeds I see  Ex. Adrast. Cal. &c. Manent Eu. Machessa. 
Tend to the Scope of Honour.  Mach. 
Were she seated  
Upon the top of some high craggy Rock,  
Whose Head were in the Country of the Thunder,  
Guarded with watchful Dragons, I will climb,  
And ravish her from thence, to have my Name  
Turned o'er from Age to Age, as something that  
Ought to outlive the phoenix, and die only  
With Men and Time.  Eum. 
Though you Court Danger thus,  
I hope you will not scorn bright Glory, if  
She come an easier way.  Mach. 
I look to her,  
Not to her clothes, and Habit.  Eum. 
Will you be  
Famous in History then? fill swelling Volumes  
With your sole Name? be read aloud, and high  
I'th' Cyprian Annals? and live fresh upon  
The Tongue of Fame for ever? will you stand  
High on your Steed in Brass, and be at once  
The stop of Strangers, and the Natives Worship,  
By one fair peaceful Action?  Mach. 
Brave Eumela,  
To say I'll do't is lazy; it is done.  Eum. 
'Tis the Queen's suit besides,  
And She shall thank you.  Mach. 
Honour is my Queen,  
And my Deeds thank themselves. But say, Eumela,  
Quickly, what is't?  Eum. 
Why only send this Wealth,  
That's put into your hands, unto the Army,  
And so defeat this folly that they here  
So eagerly pursue.  Mach. 
By heaven I'll first  
Scatter the Ashes of my ancestors,  
Burn and demolish Temples, or pull down  
The Statue of our Goddess, whiles herself  
Stood with the proudest thunder to defend it;  
You ought to thank me, that you have poposed it,  
And yet still live.  Eum. 
But pray you reason it.  Mach. 
Follies of idle Creatures! who e'er heard  
Of Ladies Errant yet that stood to Reason?  
But you that brag of Books, and Reading, and  
I know not what unnecessary Learning,  
Tell me, did brawny Hercules, who wandered  
I'th' Lion's skin, and Club, or well-set Theseus  
That trod his steps, e'er do the like?  Eum. 
No. Women  
Ne'er came to such a pitch of danger yet  
As to be banished all: than who e'er trusted  
Theseus, or Hercules with ten Drachmas? who  
Could know their Minds that way? This single deed  
Will make Machessa go beyond his Pillars,  
And th' other's Fame. They quelled but single Robbers,  
You will defeat thousands of Rebels. They  
Helped some poor Village, or some Town perhaps,  
You will redeem a Nation.  Mach. 
Thousayest something;  
But I shall break my faith  Eum. 
To whom? to those  
That have before broke theirs unto their Prince?  Mach. 
They'll curse me too.  Eum. 
As bold Machessa hunts not  
The Praise of People, so she can contemn  
Their Curse, when she doth well. Consider too  
Nations will curse you more if you assist 'em.  Mach. 
But 'tis against my Order to deceive.  Eum. 
'Tis more against your Order to assist  
Rebellious Persons 'gainst their King. Besides,  
Doth not your Oath enjoin you to relieve  
Distressed men? who more distressed now  
Than is the King, and th' Army? fear not words;  
You are not Treacherous unto them, but faithful  
Unto yourself. Why stands this Helmet here?  
Why do you wear this falchion? to what use  
Carry this Javelin?  Mach. 
Not to help women; no,  
Men are my Oath. All shall be sent Eumela,  
The King must have it: we'll be famous—  Eum. 
But  
You must be secret till it all come in.  Mach. 
And you'll assist me in the sending of't?  Eum. 
Take you no care for that, 'tis done.  Mach. 
But will  
The Queen not take it ill?  Eum. 
'Tis her great fear,  
You'll scarce be brought to yield it up. Away,  
Go, and delude 'em on, y' are safe, and may  
Deceive in Conscience now.  Mach. 
Bellona bless thee!  [ Exit Machessa. Eum. 
But how shall we now convey it to 'em?   

ACT. IV. SCEN. II.  To her Philondas and Paestanus as having stolen from the Army. 
— Heau'n's of the Plot! No fit men. Jove bless me!  
My Lord Philondas, and my Lord Paestanus!  
This your appearance to me's like the first  
Appearance to a new admitted Priest,  
And I am quite as doubtful now as he,  
Not knowing whether it be my fancy, or  
The God, that makes the Vision.  Phil. 
Dear Eumela,  
Thou know'st we do appear to Ladies still  
In very flesh and blood. Though we may talk  
Of spiritual Love, my Lord, and I, you know,  
Could ne'er creep in at keyholes yet; I'm sure  
We pay for th' opening of the doors, Eumela.  Eum. 
My Lord you make Paestanus blush.  Paest. 
I hope  
I am not so ill bred Eumela.  Eum. 
Troth  
The Camp hath spoiled you both. The Cretan Ladies  
They say are far beyond our Cyprus Dames.  Phi. 
Yes to cleave Logs, and carry burdens.  Eum. 
But  
I mean for Beauty.  Phil. 
In whose Eyes, Eumela?  
In the Town-Buls?  Eum. 
They say the Gods have changed  
Shapes, to come down, and visit 'em.  Paest. 
'Twas that  
They might be like 'em then.  Phi. 
For Jove could never  
Be a fit Husband for 'em, till he had  
Got horns, and hoofs.  Eum. 
Saw you no Children there?  Paest. 
What then Eumela? han't you read of Creatures  
That have conceived by th' Air?—  Phi. 
Don't think of any  
Such thing as man? The Wind and Sun Eumela,  
Get all the Children there; that makes 'em bluster,  
And rage so furiously when they are old.  Paest. 
Come, we lose time; where is Malthora prithee?  Phi. 
Answer him not; by Venus, these young Husbands  
Are as impatient as a hungry Courtier,  
Or a rich Heir come newly to his Means;  
Do you hear me ask for Florina yet?  Eum. 
'Tis not in fashion, Sir, to love your Lady—  Phi. 
At least you ought not to profess it.  Paest. 
I  
Dare swear, though none professeth less, yet none  
Loves more than you my Lord.  Phi. 
'Tis i'th' dark then;  
Daylight and Love are two things. But, Eumela,  
What do they do for Men now we are absent?  
Do they take physic, or else Pray?  Eum. 
My Lord,  
Their Griefs are in your places.  Phi. 
Have their sighs  
Got Limbs, and Bodies? Can their sadness give 'em  
Comfort at Midnight?  Eum. 
They possess it with  
A kind of sweetness, are so tender of it,  
That should they part with it, they'd think they had  
A second loss.  Paest. 
How can they pass away  
Their time with that?  Eum. 
Why 'tis as necessary  
To them as Friend, or Confident:  Paest. 
But tell me  
How does Malthora bear it?  Eum. 
Sir, she finds  
That solitude in herself, that others do  
Look for in deserts.  Paest. 
Come my Lord, let'sgo  
And help 'em to sigh for us.  Eum. 
They're too come  
Hither my Lord: pray stand behind these hangings  
Till I discover the whole Scene; In quickly.  
Here, here they come.  Ex. Paest. and Phi-  

ACT. IV. SCEN. III.  To Her Florina, Malthora. Mal. 
BLess me Eumela! I  
Must get me men's apparel, and go see  
How all things stand abroad; I did but close  
Mine Eyes, and presently me thought the Ghost  
Of my Paestanus did appear before me,  
Wounded, and bloody, and as soon as I  
Went to embrace him, vanished into air.  Eum. 
You are so fearful, Madam, and do fancy  
Danger and death so strongly, that if he  
Were at this instant present here before you  
You'd not believe your Eyes. Madam Florina  
What's that you look on so?  Flor. 
It is, Eumela,  
The Picture of my loved Philondas, as  
He had his Armour on,( and O the heaven's  
That he should ever be in such a Habit)  
But Fates would have it so; 'twas young Protogenes  
Took it before he went. Me thinks it sometimes  
Doth move, and alter Colour, and endeavour  
To get loose, and come out.  Eum. 
Have you the Picture  
Of your Lord Madam too?  Mal. 
Yes here, Eumela,  
Drawn by the same hand: is't not very like him?  Eum. 
Methinks they're neither true: drop reg've both their Statues,  
Though not in Armour, and as I remember  
They don't agree with them.  Flor. 
Pray y' let's examine  
To pass the time a while.  Eum. 
drop reg've newly put 'em  
Both into Habits, and methinks they look  
So fresh, and lively, that I might mistake 'em,  
But that I know they're absent; look you here.  She draws the bangings and shows 'em. 
Does not this look more like Philondas far,  
And this more like Paestanus than the Tablets?  
You must not come too near: I'll leave y' a while  
To view, and judge.  [ Exit Eumela. Flor. 
Good heavens'! my Lord Philondas!  Mal. 
My dear Paestanus!  Phil. 
I am come you see  
A pretty jant here to fulfil the longing  
Of a young Novice-Husband.  Paest. 
The first day  
That Hymen joined us, brought not truer joy  
Unto my Soul than this.   

ACT. IV. SCEN. IV.  To them Eumela. Eum. 
MY Lords, the Queen  
Is come to make a visit to your Ladies:  
What will you do?  Phil. 
Go and conduct her in.  [ Ex. Phil. Paest. Eum. 
Now Madam? does your Husband vanish, when  
You offer to embrace him?  Mal. 
O Eumela  
He's gone already. This his short appearance  
Is only as th' appearance of a Star  
To one that's perishing in a Tempest.  Flor. 
'Tis  
Only to let us die with some more Comfort.  
Were they to stay Eumela—  Eum. 
This disjoining  
Of Bodies, only is to knit your hearts;  
You'll form their Pictures in your Thoughts perhaps,  
And once or twice more look behind the Hangings.  Mal. 
Peace good Eumela! here's the Queen.   

ACT. IV. SCEN. V.  To them Adraste, Philondas, Paestanus. Adr. 
CHaristus,  
Heir to the Cretan Kingdom lost say you?  Phi. 
Yes, and suspected to lie hid in Cyprus.  Adr. 
And this is that doth stop the War?  Paest. 
This, and  
Th' Equality of Forces.  Adr. 
Do our men  
Awake, and rouse themselves?  Phi. 
Rich noble Spirits,  
And Minds that have kept Altars burning still,  
To Glory break out daily, she wing how  
Peace and Religion did not sink, but calm 'em:  
This blast will swell 'em big, and high, and make 'em  
Ride conquerors o'er the floods.  Adr. 
They do not sleep then?  Phi. 
No, nor watch lazily; the World will see,  
He, whose blessed goodness hath kept War from us,  
Hath not took Courage from us too; When his  
Sad studied counsels did remove the danger,  
They did not then remove the Mind. The Arm  
Of this days Cyprus, if provoked, will strike  
As deep as Cyprus six Olympiads backwards,  
And the unquiet Cretan shall appear  
But as he did of old, our Exercise,  
More than our Foe: a people that we suffer  
To breath, and be, to keep ourselves in breath.  Adr. 
What doth the King?  Paest. 
More than the meanest soldier,  
Yet still comes fresh from Actions: his Commands  
Are great, but his Examples greater still.  Phi. 
With his uncovered head he dares the Thunder,  
Slights hail and snow, and wearies out a Tempest,  
Then after all he shakes himself, and gives  
Rain, as the Heavens did before, but with  
A more serene Aspect. He doth exact  
Labour, and hardness, hunger, heat, and cold,  
And dust, as his Prerogatives, and counts them  
Only his serious Pleasures; Others Wars  
Are not so manly as his Exercises,  
And pitched Fields often are more easy service  
Than his mere Preparations.  Adr. 
'Tis enough;  
You've spoke a Composition, so made up  
Of Prince and soldier, that th' admiring World  
May imitate, not equal. Come, my Lords,  
I have a business to employ you back with.  Exeunt.  

ACT. IV. SCEN. VI.  Lucasia, Eumela, Charistus, Olyndus. Luc. 
I must confess, had not this Action been  
Tainted with private Interest, but born  
From zeal unto the public, than it might  
Have been read Valour, as it is, it will  
Be styled but Fury.  Eum. 
Madam it had then  
Been only Valour, now 'tis Love and Valour.  Luc. 
Where those Religious Names, King, Country, Father,  
Are trampled over, can you call it Valour?  Cha. 
If trampled o'er for you. To hazard all  
These holy Names, of Subject unto King,  
Of Prince to Country, and of Son to Father,  
And whilst I spared to shed the smallest drop  
Of blood, that might be once called yours, to have  
That ignominious Name of Coward hurled on me,  
And take up all their Places; what else is it  
But to esteem yourself a Prize, that doth  
Absolve me from all these, and make me stand  
Above the rate of mortals.  Olyn. 
Father, Country,  
State, Fortunes, Common wealth, they're Names that Love  
Is not concerned it; that looks higher still,  
And oversees all these.  Luc. 
It is not Love then;  
For that, as it is Valiant, so it is  
Just, Temperate, Prudent, summons all those Noble  
Heroic Habits into one rich Mass,  
And stamps them Honour.  Eum. 
But that Honour is  
A Valour beyond that of Mortals, striving  
Who shall possess most of this molehill Earth.  Olyn. 
That Honour is a Justice, that doth see  
Measures, and Weights, Axes, and Rods below it.  Eu. 
A Temperance not concerned in Meats, and Wines.  Olyn. 
A Prudence that doth write Charistus now  
A better Patriot, than the soberest Statesman  
That plots the good of Crete.  Luc. 
If he that cares not  
For things, be thence above them; if he sees  
More nobly, that doth draw the veil before  
His Eyes to Lower Objects, than Charistus  
Soars high, and nothing escapes him.  Cha. 
Fair Lucasia,  
I am not so immodest, as to challenge  
The least of these myself: but yet in that  
I love your virtues, they are all mine own.  Luc. 
And yet you feared I was another's, whom  
I durst not publicly avow. Do y'think  
My Love could should stoop to such Contrivances?  
Or if I meant a subject of such worth,  
I needed to pretend a Prince?  Olyn. 
It is not  
Lucasia's Love, that dares not call the Eye  
Of Day to try it: But where Love's engaged  
To such a Treasure as yourself, what can  
Be thought secure? It stands and watches still,  
And fears it's very helps; could any love  
Lucasia and be careless, 'twere a fault  
Would make him not deserve her.  Luc. 
Could you then  
Think I could be so impious unto Love  
As to divide Eumela and Olyndus?  
Or else so treacherous unto Friendship, as  
To part Eumela and myself? Being Hearts  
Are Temples, and both sorts of Love most Sacred,  
To have wronged either had been Sacrilege  
Worthy the horridest Thunder.  Eum. 
Love drinks in  
All that may feed suspicion, but is deaf  
To what may clear it; 'tis engaged so much  
To th' Object, that it views the Object only,  
And weighs not what attends it.  Luc. 
Where the Heart  
Offends, you blame the Passion. Love itself  
Is never undiscreet, but he that Loves.  Cha. 
Wisdom and Love at once were never yet  
Permitted to a God, I must not then  
Presume they meet in me. If Love admits  
Discretion, if it Ponder, and Consider,  
Search, and Compare, and Judge, and then Resolve,  
'Tis Policy, not Affection: give it Eyes,  
Counsel, and Order, and it ceaseth. What  
Though it first broke from out the Chaos? 'twas  
To make another in the Creature. Distance,  
Figure, and Lineament are things that come  
From something more advised; Love never leads,  
It still transports. The Motions which it feels  
Are Fury, Rapture, ecstasy, and such  
As thrust it out full of Instinct, and Deity,  
To meet what it desires.  Luc. 
Alas I itself  
Hath Eyes, but 'tis our Blindness that doth veil them:  
If Love could not consist with wisdom, than  
The World were governed by one general Malness.  Olynd. 
'Tis not denied but that we may have Wisdom  
Before we Love, as men may have good Eyes  
Before they fix them on the Sun: but dwell they  
A while upon it, and they straight grow blind  
From those admired Beauties.  Luc. 
But if Love  
Do not consider, why then doth it fear?  
Why doth it form chimeras to itself,  
And set up Thought 'gainst Thought? why is' c alike  
Tortured with Truth, and falsehood? why afflicted  
As much from Doubts, as Certainties?  Cha. 
This is  
Not from Distrust, but Care; Love is not perfect  
Till it begins to fear. It doth not know  
The worth of that it seeks, unless it be  
Anxious, and troubled for it: And this is  
Not any thought of Blemish in the thing  
It loves, but only Study to preserve it.  Lu. 
Who puts a Snake 'mongst Flowers to preserve 'em▪  
Or who pours poison into crystal that  
It may be kept from cracking? Jealous  
What art thou? thou couldst not come down from heaven;  
For no such Monsters can inhabit there.  Eum. 
Nor can it spring from Hell; for it is born  
Of Love, and there is nought but Hate.  Luc. 
Pray y' tell me  
Who joined it unto Love? who made them swear  
So firm a Friendship?  Olyn. 
The same Deity  
That joined the Sun and Light, the same that knits  
The Life and Spirit.  Luc. 
These preserve each other:  
But that doth twine and wreath itself about  
Our growing Loves, as Ivy 'bout the Oak;  
We think it shelters, when( alas!) we find  
It weakens, and destroys.  Eum. 
It is not jealousy  
That ruins Love, but we ourselves, who will not  
Suffer that fear to strengthen it; Give way  
And let it work, 'twill fix the Love it springs from  
In a staid centre.  Luc. 
What it works I know not,  
But it must needs suppose Defect in one,  
Either Defect of Merit in the Lover,  
Or in the loved, of Faith; you cannot think  
That I give Others Favours, when yourself  
Boast such a store of Merits.  Cha. 
O Lucasia,  
Rather than be so impious as to think  
That you want Faith, I must confess a want  
Of Merit in myself;( which would there were not.)  
And being it is so, I was compelled  
To fear lest one more worthy than myself  
Might throw me from my happiness. Consider  
That you are born t' enrich the Earth, and then  
If you will have one Love and not be Jealous,  
You must convert your Eye upon your Eye,  
Make your own Heart Court your own Heart, and be  
Yourself a servant to yourself.  Luc. 
But doth not  
This Passion cease at last?  Olyn. 
It ceaseth to  
Disturb, but still remains to quicken Love;  
As Thunder ceaseth when it hath purged the Air,  
And yet the Fire which caused it still remains  
To make it move the livelier.  Luc. 
Were it quiet,  
What Hand, Charistus, would More sweetly move  
The Orbs of this our Island? who fetch in  
More frequent Conquests? and who more become  
The Triumphs than yourself?  Cha. 
Believe Charistus  
Dreams; errors, false Opinions, slippery Hopes,  
And Jealous Fears are now his spoil, his Captives,  
And follow Love's Triumphant Chariot, which  
His Soul sits high in, and o'rlooks the vain  
Things of this lower World.  Luc. 
Lucasia did  
Only retire, not fly; Let's to the Grove,  
And by the Consummation of our Loves  
Under those Myrtles( which as yet perhaps  
Preserve the blushing Marks of those your Angers)  
Appease th' offended Goddess.  Olyn. 
This your Union  
Will make your Kingdoms join; Cyprus and Crete  
Will meet in your Embraces.  Eum. 
Our Hearts are  
Love's ordinary Employment: 'tis a Dart  
Of a more scattering metal that strikes you;  
When he wounds Princes, he wounds Nations too.  Exeunt   


ACT V. SCENE I.  Pandena, Cosmeta, Rhodia, meeting Machessa and Philaenis. Cos. 
LAdy Machessa, opportunely met.  Pan. 
What store of Arms prepated?  Mach. 
The Country's laid;  
Spits, Andirons, Racks, and such like Utensils  
Are in the very Act of Metamophosis;  
Art is now sitting on them, and they will  
Be hatched to engines shortly.  Pan. 
Pray y' how doth  
The muster-roll increase?  Mach. 
As fast as Chloe  
Can take their Names; we shall be all great Women.  Phil. 
Pray y' what Reward shall you and I have Lady?  Mach. 
Why I will be the Queen o'th' Amazons,  
And thou o'th' pygmies.  Phil. 
Ay, but who shall place us  
In the Amazonian, and Pigmean Throne?  Mach. 
Who but our Swords Philaenis? when we have  
Settled the Government here at home, we will  
Lead out an Army 'gainst those Warlike Dames,  
And make 'em all our Vassals.  Phil. 
These left handed  
Ladies are notable Politicians.  
The King of Monomotapa you may  
Be sure will be your Enemy, or else  
The Book deceives me. But the agag's they  
Will sure be for you.  Cas. 
Who may the agag's be?  Phi. 
Why a black ugly People, that do turn  
The inside of their eyelids outward, that  
They may look lovely; if they catch the Amazons,  
They souse 'em straight, as we do Pig, by quarters,  
Or else do pickle 'em up for Winter salads.  Mac. 
How did you come by all this Knowledge Phil?  
You are a learned Page.  Phil. 
Lady, do y' think  
I never read to th' Women in the Nurs'ry?  
But will you lose one of your Breasts? 'tis pity  
That your left Pap should be burnt off.  Mach. 
Why girl?  
What use will there be of it?  Phi. 
To give suck.  
You must go seek out some brave Alexander,  
And beg some half a dozen of Children of him,  
Or else you'll be no true bred Amazon.  Pan. 
Must they have Macedonian Fathers then?  Phil. 
I think the Amazonian Queen doth swear  
To no such Article when She is crowned;  
But ord'narily they do so; yet howe'er  
Your Grace may send for the three Courtiers,  
That you delivered from these Ladies here,  
They would be glad to be employed in any  
Such State-affairs. But I'd almost forgot  
The pigmy's Conquest.  Pho. 
Have you read of them too?  Phil. 
Though some say that their Souls are only stopped  
Into their Bodies, just as so much quicksilver  
Is put into hot Loves, to make 'em dance  
As long as th' heat continues; yet, believe it,  
They are a subt'le Nation, a most shrewd  
Advising People.  Cos. 
How'i you then subdue them?  Phil. 
By Policy, set Hays, and Traps, and Springs,  
And pitfalls for 'em. And if any do  
Dwell in the Rocks, make holes upon the top  
As deep as Cups, and fill 'em up with Wine;  
You shall have one come presently, and sip,  
And when he finds the sweetness, cry Chin, Chin:  
Then all the rest good Fellows straight come out,  
And tipple with him till they fall asleep;  
Then we may come and pack 'em up in Hampers,  
Or else in Hand-baskets, and carry 'em whither  
We please ourselves.  Mach. 
A notable Stratagem!  
You'll never leave your Policies Phil.  Phi. 
But yet  
We must draw out some soldiers howe'er.  Cos. 
There's no great need of soldiers; Their Camp's  
No larger than a gingerbread Office.  Pan. 
And the Men little bigger.  Phil. 
What half heretic  
Book tells you that?  Rho. 
The greatest sort they say  
Are like stone-pots with Beards that do reach down  
Unto their knees.  Cos. 
They're carried to the Wars then  
As Chickens are to Market, all in Dorsers,  
Some thirty Couple on a Horse.  Phil. 
You read  
Only apocryphal History. Believe me  
They march most formally: I know't there will  
Be work enough for soldiers.  Mach 
we'll train up  
All the young Wenches of the City here  
On purpose for this Expedition,  
A●d't shall be called the Female War.  Phil. 
I fear  
They won't be strong enough to go against 'em;  
They have an Enemy doth vex 'em more  
Than Horse or Man can.  Mach. 
Who, the Cranes you mean?  
I'll beg a Patent of Her Majesty  
To take up all that fly about the Country,  
For the Pigmean Service  Phil. 
Ay, but who  
Shall's have to Discipline 'em so, that we  
May fly 'em at them off our fists?  Mach. 
They fly  
In a most warlike Figure naturally:  
However we may have a Net cast o'er  
Th' artillery Yard, and send for th' Gentleman  
That bridles Stags, and makes 'em draw Caroches,  
he'll exercise 'em in a Month or two,  
And bring 'em to it easily.  Phil. 
We must carry  
Six or seven hundred of Bird-Cages  
And Cony-Coopes along with us.  Mach. 
For what?  Phil. 
T' imprison Rebels, and there feed 'em up  
With Milk, and Dazy-roots. I will so yerk  
The little Gentlemen.  Cos. 
You must not play  
The Tyrant o'er the Wretches.  Phil. 
You shall see  [ Draws her Sword. 
How I'll behave myself. This foreside blow  
Cuts off thrice three, this backblow thrice three more,  
This foreright thrust spits half a dozen of 'em,  
Bucklers and all, like so many larks with Sage  
Between them; then this downright cleaves a stubborn  
Two-footed rebel from the Crown o'th' head  
Down to the twist, and makes him double forked  
Like a Turn style, or some such engine. Others  
I'll knock pall-mall, and make the wretched Caitiffs  
Measure their length upon their Mother Earth,  
And so bestride 'em, and cry Victory.  Mach. 
And what'l you do, when you are seated in  
The Throne, to win your Subjects Love Philenis?  Phil. 
I'll stand upon a Cricket, and there make  
Fluent Orations to 'em; call 'em Trusty  
And Well-beloved, loyal, and True Subjects,  
And my good People: Then I'll mount on Horseback,  
Shew'em my little Majesty, and scatter  
Five or six hundred single pence among 'em,  
Teach 'em good Language by cloven sticks, and bayleafs,  
And Civilize 'em finally by Puppet-Plays.  Cos. 
Most studied, and advised!  Pan. 
The heart of wisdom!  Rho. 
And Soul of Policy!  Mach. 
Come little Queen,  
we'll go and make her Majesty acquainted  
With all the Plot; 'twill take her certainly.  Exeunt.  

ACT. V. SCEN. II.  Adraste, Lucasia, Charistus, Olyndus, Eumela, Florina, Malthora, in Myrtle wreathes. Adr. 
Was all the Treasure shiped?  Eum. 
All, but the Pictures,  
And Statues, they're reserved. I saw the Luxury,  
And wealth of Cyprus sail. The soldier doth  
By this time gaze upon't.  Adr. 
The news, Charistus,  
Of your Adventures here, I dare presume  
Hath joined both Armies now. Me thinks I see  
The Cyprians standing here, the Cretans there,  
And, in a space between them, both King's meeting  
In a most strong Embrace, and so provoking  
Clamours and shouts from both sides, and a joyful  
Clattering of Weapons.  Cha. 
Beauteous Queen, your virtues  
Are greater far than Fame; and you yourself  
Greater than them! Though Gold and Purple do  
Adorn your head, yet you have weave yourself  
Far richer Diadems from your royal Acts,  
And made yourself immortal by producing  
Immortal things. But though your wreath of virtue  
Hath made what e'er the sun beholds in all  
His course enamoured by you, yet if I  
May pull one single one from out the rest,  
There's none, for which you have more Altars raised  
Unto your Name, than for that Noble Love,  
Whose flames you keep still burning in yourself,  
And cherish in all others.  Adr. 
Sir, you have conquered  
A Princess, and in her a Queen: I am  
Th' addition to your Triumph. We owe much  
To you Olyndus.  Olyn. 
I can challenge nothing  
But my Charistus Friendship. 'Tis to him  
You owe these seeds of Peace. Although his Father  
Appeared so tender of him, that when he  
Came hither secretly to view the Rites  
Of Venus, which Lucasia then performed,  
The aged Man hasted to th' Oracle  
To know what Fortune should attend his Son,  
And, for an unexpected answer, did  
Banish those Priests for which our King now fights:  
Yet for all this, even in this heat of danger,  
H'hath made another Venture, and the Kingdom  
Now grieves his second loss.  Adr. 
Do you know the answer  
That the God gave to his enquiring Father,  
For which the King did banish all the Priests?  Olyn. 
I may repeat it now, th' Event assures me  
It meant you no Misfortune. It was this;  
Charistus shall his Country save,  
If he become his enemy's Slave.  Adr. 
I hope th' Event will not fulfil it.  Olyn. 
'Tis  
Fulfilled enough to make an Oracle true.  Adr. 
I hope you have no Enemies, and for Slave  
The Gods avert it!  Olyn. 
He's Lucasia's Servant,  
There's that fulfilled; Cyprus is now reputed  
The Enemy to Crete; but as for true  
And real Enemies to you Charistus,  
The World hath none so Barbarous; your virtues  
Have under this disguise showed so much Prince,  
That they betrayed you still to any Eye  
That could discern.  Cha. 
Honoured Olyndus, you  
Out do me still. Friends should be always equal:  
You must take off, and pare your virtues, that  
You may go even with me. I owe much  
To you, Eumela, too.  Adr. 
Her service hath  
Preserved the Kingdom, and refounded Cyprus.  Cha. 
Two sceptres are her debtors.  Adr. 
But, Eumela,  
You might have told me sooner, that Lucasia  
Began to feel a Passion; you ne'er knew  
That I destroyed true virtuous Loves; it is  
A pleasure to me to perceive their Buddings,  
To know their Minutes of increase, their Stealths,  
And silent Growings; and I have not spared  
To help, and bring them on.  Eum. 
You have so favoured  
Agreeing Souls, that all the world confesseth  
Your own is perfect Harmony. But where  
The God is Blind, should not the Creature be  
Silent, and Close? That which is bred by whispers  
Would die if once proclaimed.  Cal. 
If it were any,  
It was a fault of Trust; 'tis more Injustice  
To betray secret Love, than to make known  
Counsels of State. Cupid hath his Cabinet,  
To which, if any prove unfaithful, he  
Straight wounds him with the Leaden Shaft, and so  
They live tormented, and die scorned.  Adr. 
No more;  
'Tis well: I meant not to Accuse, but Praise.  
Have you set some to watch, and signify  
The King's Return?  Eum. 
Three peaceful Courtiers,  
Lerinus, and Ganyctor, and Iringus,  
Desired that they might bring the News, and so  
Are gone unto the Port.  Adr. 
My Ladies, you  
I hope will clear up now.  Flor. 
I have too much  
Joy to express it.  Mal. 
Could you see my heart,  
You'd view a Triumph there.   

ACT. V. SCEN. III.  To them Philaenis. Phil. 
an't please your Highness  
There are three Ladies wait without, who, if  
You have a vacant Ear, are come t' inform you  
Of something near concerns the State.  Adr. 
The old  
Vexation's busy still — Pandena and  
Cosmeta, and the other— are they not?  
Tell 'em they may come in— How shall we do,  
Eumela, now to stop their Clamour?  [ Ex. Phi. Eum. 
'Tis easy;  
There's nothing yet provided; the Return  
O'th' King being now so sudden, 'twill amaze 'em,  
And make 'em kneel for mercy to you, if  
You do but threaten to disclose the Plot.   

ACT. V. SCEN. IV.  To them Cosmeta, Pandena, Rhodia. Adr. 
YOur business Ladies?  Cos. 
Please you to dismiss  
Those Faces that have Beards?  Adr. 
Fear not, they shall not  
Betray your Counsels.  Cos. 
Please your Highness then,  
There's fear that our Design will come to nought,  
Our Trust is falsified.  Adr. 
How so?  Cos. 
We came  
To ask Machessa about weapons, and  
She presently demands, how many cases  
Of Knives, what Forks we have, toasting, or Carving?  Pan. 
Talk we of Swords, she asks what Crisping Pins  
And Bodkins we could guess might easily be  
Raised through the commonwealth?  Rho. 
We spoke of Armour,  
She straight replies, send in your steel Combs, with  
The Steels you see your Faces in, we'll quickly  
Convert 'em into Greaves, and Gorgets.  Cos. 
If  
This be not treason 'gainst the Female State,  
Believe not Policy, nor me.  Eum. 
Why she  
Was your own choice; you cried her up as one  
That having neither Child, nor Husband, would  
Take to herself the Commonwealth as both.  Cos. 
We do suspect your sadness sweet Florina.  Rho. 
And your retiredness too Malthora,( as  
Demure as you stand here) is deep engaged.  Pan. 
Nor is Eumela free.  Mal. 
Whence do you gather it?  Cos. 
Pray y' why those Myrtle wreaths? why your Gates dressed?  
And your Doors crowned?  Flo. 
In hope our Lords will shortly  
Enter, and Crown 'em more.  Cos. 
Most evident!  
Can there be bolder falsehood? Did we not  
Agree to keep out Husbands from our City  
And our Minds too? And yet behold there are  
Garlands and Flowers prepared; and they to be  
Received as Lovers. Husband's are at best  
But a sad kind of pleasure; one good Look,  
And a Salute's enough at any time  
For the goodman o'th' Family.  Flo. 
Pray y' allow  
Affection more Expressions; Love doth cease  
To be, when that it breaks not out into  
Those signs of Joy; as Souls cease to be Souls  
When they leave off to show their Operations.  Pan. 
This is no time for vain Philosophy,  
We are to have a fine State of it shortly,  
When Ladies once begin to utter Axioms,  
And raise a Faction 'gainst the seven Sages.   

ACT. V. SCEN. V.  Machessa. Mac. 
an't please your Highness, three ambassadors,  
Sent from the Cretan State, do crave admittance.  Adr. 
Usher'em in.  [ Ex. Ma. [ Eum. whispers the Qu. Cos. 
There's life you see i'th' business;  
Let's yet be true. The fame of our Exploit  
Already makes us sought to. There's an Honour  
Not usual too th'th' Number of 'em; when  
Arrived there three before from the same State?  
an't please you, let Pandena, Rhodia, and I,  
Manage their Entertainment?  Adr. 
Do so.  Pan. 
It shall  
All be to th'honour of the Female State.  Cos. 
Prepare yourself Pandena; here they come.   

ACT V. SCENE VI.  To them Machessa ushering Lerinus, Iringus, and Ganyctor, as ambassadors. Ler. 
MOst gracious, most Renowned, and most beauteous.  Cos. 
Pray y' be not troublesome; We're taken up  
Wholly with the Affairs o'th' Kingdom now.  Irin. 
When will your ladyship have a Vacancy?  Pan. 
You are Impertinen; True Politicians  
Do never use to answer on the sudden.  Rho. 
It is not now as heretofore; the times  
Are grown more wise, and more reserved; there are  
Matters on foot far greater; you must wait—  
You are ambassadors.  Gan. 
We should not think so,  
But that you're pleased to tell us so; your usage  
Hath a far different Dialect from your Tongue.  Cos. 
Were there not women in your Kingdom fit  
For this employment? I perceive your State  
Is utterly unfurnished, that it cannot  
Send forth three Female Agents.  Irin. 
'Tis not, Madam,  
The custom of our Master to commit  
His Kingdom's secrets to a piece of crystal;  
That were not to Negotiate, but Betray.  Pa. 
You shall meet women here, that are not Crystal,  
Those that will find out you, and hide themselves.  Rho. 
You shall not need the help of an Interpreter  
When we give Audience; Speak what Tongue you will  
You shall be understood, each one of us  
Hath more than one.  Ler. 
We easily believe it,  
Though you should speak none else besides your Native.  Cos. 
Pray stand you by, and wait a while.  Ler. 
We obey.  Cos. 
Now will they think the better of us; 'tis  
The way to bring ourselves in Credit by  
Neglecting of 'em thus. I'd have 'em know  
We were to be saluted at their coming.  Pan. 
Their State is very unhappy, that it is  
So unprovided: I believe these are  
The very wisest in the Kingdom; for  
They have no Manners.  Rho. 
You guess rightly, Madam;  
The greatest Counsellors and Lawyers scarce  
Know how to make a Leg.   

ACT. V. SCEN. VII.  To them Philaenis. Phil. 
ARm, arm, arm, arm,  
The King, and Lords are within sight. Here Madam,  
Pray take my Sword, and Helmet.  Cos. 
Worthy Gentlemen,  
d'ye come to proffer aid from th' Cretan King  
To help us 'gainst the Men?  Irin. 
No Ladies: we  
Come but to tell you that the King is Landed,  They discover themselves. 
We are your fellow-Subjects.  Cos. 
Fellow-Villaines  
Among yourselves. Eumela, we may thank  
You for all this.  Pan. 
But Sister of the Sword,  
Great Lady Stickler—  Mach. 
Be patient pray y' a while— Take you this Helmet,  
And you this falchion Sir, and you this Lance;  
Ambassadors still must be dismissed with Presents.  Rho. 
Where is our Plate?  Pan. 
Our Wealth?  Cos. 
Our Jewels?  Mach. 
Folly!  
Did not my Order bind me to assist  
Distressed men?  Cos 
Who would e'er trust a woman?  Mach. 
The Queen will give y' a fair account.  Adr. 
'Tis no  
Time to debate things now. The truth is, all  
Was shiped, and sent the King, as one great Present  
From all the Cyprian women. If you do  
Desire that he should know how it was raised,  
For what intended, by what means diverted,  
I'll bid him spare his thanks, and tell him 'twas  
Not Bounty, but Misfortune that directed  
This vast Supply to him.  Cos. 
We hope your Highness  
Will be so gracious to us, as to let us  
Make the best use yet of our Evils. 'Twill  
Be something, if that, which was meant Sedition,  
May now be took for Contribution,  
And we esteemed Relievers of the Army.  Adr. 
I do engage my royal word, you shall  
Be put in th' Annals as good Members of  
The Cyprian Commonwealth. But hark, the noise!  
The Horses, Trumpets, Priests! They come! stand off.   

ACT. V. SCEN. VIII.  To them 3 Priests of Apollo with wreaths of laurel, Demarchus and Dinomachus hand in hand, Paestanus, Philondas, soldiers. The Priests standing on one side, and the Ladies on the other, leaving a free space between 'em, in which Demarchus and Adraste first meet. Then Dinomachus and Adraste receive Charistus and Lucasia; Then Philondas meets Malthora; Then the King and Queen join Olyndus and Eumela; The rest than salutè, and receive one another with Welcome; While they all thus meet, the Priests on the one side, and the Ladies on the other, sing thus interchangeably. 1 Priest, 
APollo, who foretell'st what shall ensue,  
None speaks more Dark than thou, but none More true;  
If Heard, Obscure; but yet if Seen, most Bright;  
Day's in thy Visage, in thy Sayings Night.  Pr. Cho. 
Day's in thy Visage, in thy Sayings Night.  1 Lady. 
Venus makes good what he Decrees,  
And Love sulfils what he foresees,  
Thus God's help Gods, thus Mortals owe  
Much to the bays, much to the Bow.  La. Cho. 
Much to the bays, much to the Bow.  2 Priest. 
Phoebus as present shows us future things,  
Our Trivets' counsel give, our Trees teach Kings,  
And whilst our Oracle instructs the State,  
What e'er the Priest shall say the God makes Fate.  Pr. Cho. 
What e'er the Priest shall say the God makes Fate.  2 Lady. 
What are your Trivets to Loves wings?  
They Teach, but these do Conquer Kings:  
Venus to Fate adds all the bliss,  
She that makes Doves, makes Kingdoms kiss.  La. Cho. 
She that makes Doves makes Kingdoms kiss.  La. & Pr. 
Thus than the Myrtle and the bays we join.  Chorus. 
And in one Wreath Wisdom and Love Combine.  Dem. 
I never reigned till now. You needed not  
Have sent that Ample Treasure; I had all  
Wealth in your Loves. Come, Great Dinomachus,  
As they joined Voices, so let us join Hearts.  Dino. 
Sir, your Embraces vanquish far beyond  
Your Sword, though happy; you march conqueror  
More by a Glorious Peace, than if your Arm  
Had scattered Deaths still as you passed; your Throne  
Grows hence; you've gained what e'er you have not ruined;  
Your power rules Cyprus, but your Fame the World.  Dem. 
Hate only is between th' Ignoble, when  
The Good dissent, 'tis only difference,  
●●malice; virtue flames in both, and so  
●●●…hmust the other Love; their Discords are  
More blameless than th' Embraces of the Bad;  
'Tis to stand off, rather than bear a Grudge.  
And if they fight, when e'er they do lay down  
Their weapons, they lay down their Anger too.  
As we affect then to seem good, and are so,  
Let one Oblivion wrap up what hath past  
On either side.  Dino. 
But I must first ask Pardon;  
drop reg've wronged a Deity. Great Apollo, be  
Thou still propitious. Here I do restore  
Thy Blameless Priests. What was but only Darkness,  
I thought Contrivance; and the Priest not loyal,  
Because the God was pleased to be obscure:  
But now th' Event lends light to that, and Me;  
And my Charistus doth his Country save  
By being thus become his Enemi's Slave.  
Peace rest upon 'em both; Apollo spoke it,  
And Venus hath performed it.  Dem. 
As they joined  
To make us happy, so let us pay back  
United Thanks, and join their Deities in  
A double Feast. It is not men's Lot only  
To need each other; even the powers themselves  
Give and take help. Affection brings about  
What counsel cannot. Thus the Gods have lent  
Love unto wisdom for an Instrument.  Exeunt Omnes.    

The EPILOGUE.  

THough we well know the Neighbouring Plain  
Can strike from Reeds as high a Strain,  
And that the Scrip, and Crook  
May worst our Poet's Book;  
Like fairies yet we here could stay  
Till Village Cocks proclaim the Day:  
And whiles your Pleasure is the theme,  
Feed and keep up the Dream.   

But Sleep beginning now to shed  
Poppies on every Bed,  
Love stayed his hands, and said our Eyes  
This Night were made his Prize:  
And now( instead of Poppies) flings  
These wishes on you from his wings.   

The Calm of Kingdoms new made Friends,  
When both enjoy their Hopes, and Ends,  
The like in you Create,  
And make each Mind a State:  
The thoughts of Princes, when they do  
Meet Princes to coin Princes too,  
Possess your Breasts with Fire and Youth,  
And make each dream a Truth:  
The joys of Friendship after Fight,  
Of Love's first happy Night,  
Of Lords returned, make you still greet,  
As when you first did meet.  
And, quitted thus from Grief and Fear,  
Think you enjoy a Cyprus here.