No part remained; but, from afar, our sight
Discovered in the air long tracts of light;
Of charming notes we heard the last rebounds,
And music dying in remoter sounds.

Mar. And dost thou think

This lame account fit for a love-sick king?
Go, from the other world a better bring.

[Kills him, then sets his foot on him, and speaks on. When in my breast two mighty passions strove, Thou had'st erred better in obeying love. Tis true, that way thy death had followed too, But I had then been less displeased than now. Now I must live unquiet for thy sake; And this poor recompence is all I take.

[Spurns the body.

Here the Scene opens, and discovers BERENICE on a scaffold, the guards by her, and amongst them PORPHYRIUS and ALBINUS, like Moors, as all the guards ure. PLACIDIUSs enters, and whispers the Emperor whilst PORPHYRIUS speaks.

Por. From Berenice I cannot go away,

But, like a ghost, must near my treasure stay.
Alb. Night and this shape secure them from their

eyes.

Por. Have courage then for our bold enterprize. Duty and faith no tie on me can have, Since I renounced those honours which he gave.

Max. The time is come we did so long attend,

[TO BER. Which must these discords of our marriage end. Yet Berenice, remember you have been

An

empress, and the wife of Maximin.

Ber. I will remember I have been your wife; And therefore, dying, beg from heaven your life:

Be all the discords of our bed forgot,
Which, virtue witness, I did never spot.
What errors I have made, though while I live
You cannot pardon, to the dead forgive.

Max. How much she is to piety inclined!
Behead her, while she's in so good a mind.

Por. Stand firm, Albinus; now the time is come To free the empress.

Alb. And deliver Rome.

Por. Within I feel my hot blood swell my heart, And generous trembling in each outward part. "Tis done, tyrant, this is thy latest hour.

[PORPHYRIUS and ALBINUS draw, and are making at the Emperor.

Ber. Look to yourself, my lord the emperor ! Treason, help, help, my lord!

[MAXIMIN turns and defends himself, the Guards set on PORPHYRIUS and ALBINUS.

Max. Disarm them, but their lives I charge you spare. [After they are disarmed. Unmask them, and discover who they are. -Good Gods, is it Porphyrius whom I see! Plac. I wonder how he gained his liberty. Mar. Traitor!

Por. Know, tyrant, I can hear that name,
Rather than son, and bear it with less shame.
Traitor's a name, which, were my arm yet free,
The Roman senate would bestow on thee.
Ah, madam, you have ruined my design, [To BER.
And lost your life; for I regard not mine.

Too ill a mistress, and too good a wife.
Ber. It was my duty to preserve his life.
Mar. Now I perceive

[TO POR. In what close walk your mind so long did move : You scorned my throne, aspiring to her love.

Ber. In death I'll own a love to him so pure, As will the test of heaven itself endure;

A love so chaste, as conscience could not chide;
But cherish it, and keep it by its side.
A love, which never knew a hot desire,
But flamed as harmless as a lambent fire;

A love, which pure from soul to soul might pass,
As light transmitted through a crystal glass;
Which gave Porphyrius all without a sin,
Yet kept entire the right of Maximin.

Mar. The best return that I to both can make, Shall be to suffer for each other's sake.

Por. Barbarian, do not dare her blood to shed,
Who from my vengeance saved thy cursed head;
A flight, no honour ever reached before,
And which succeeding ages will adore.
Ber. Porphyrius, I must die!

That common debt to nature paid must be;
But I have left a debt unpaid to thee.
To Maximin

I have performed the duty of a wife;
But, saving his, I cast away thy life.

Ah, what ill stars upon our loves did shine,
That I am more thy murd'rer, than he mine!
Mar. Make haste.

Por. So hasty none in execution are,
But they allow the dying time for

Farewell, sweet saint! my prayer Prayer.

be to you :
My love has been unhappy, but 'twas true.
Remember me!-Alas, what have I said?
You must die too!

But yet remember me when you are dead.
Ber. If I die first, I will

Stop short of heaven, and wait you in a cloud;
For fear we lose each other in the crowd.

Por. Love is the only coin in heaven will go :
Then take all with you, and leave none below.
Ber. 'Tis want of knowledge, not of love, I fear;
Lest we mistake when bodies are not there.

O, as a mark, that I could wear a scroll,
With this inscription,-Berenice's soul.

Por. That needs not, sure, for none will be so bright,

So pure, or with so small allays of light.

Max. From my full eyes fond tears begin to

start;

Dispatch,—they practise treason on my

heart.

Por. Adieu: This farewell sigh I as my last bequeath;

Catch it, 'tis love expiring in a breath.

Ber. This sigh of mine shall meet it half the way, As pledges given that each for other stay.

Enter VALERIA and CYDON.

Val. What dismal scene of death is here prepar'd! Max. Now strike.

Val. They shall not strike till I am heard.

Max. From whence does this new impudence proceed,

That you dare alter that which I decreed?

Val. Ah, sir, to what strange courses do you fly, To make yourself abhorred for cruelty! The empire groans under your bloody reign, And its vast body bleeds in every vein. Gasping and pale, and fearing more, it lies; And now you stab it in the very eyes: Your Cæsar and the partner of your bed! Ah, who can wish to live when they are dead? If ever gentle pity touch'd your breastI cannot speak-my tears shall speak the rest. [Weeping and sobbing.

Por. She adds new grief to what I felt before, And fate has now no room to put in more. Max. Away, thou shame and slander of my blood! [To VALERIA. Who taught thee to be pitiful or good?

Val. What hope have I,

The name of virtue should prevail with him,
Who thinks even it, for which I plead, a crime?—
Yet nature, sure, some argument may be;

If them you cannot pity, pity me.

Mar. I will, and all the world shall judge it so : I will the excess of pity to you shew.

You ask to save

A dangerous rebel, and disloyal wife;
And I in mercy-will not take your life.
Val. You more than kill me by this cruelty,
And in their persons bid your daughter die.
I honour Berenice's virtue much;

But for Porphyrius my love is such,

I cannot, will not live, when he is gone.
Mar. I'll do that cure for you, which on myself
is done.

You must, like me, your lover's life remove;
Cut off your hope, and you destroy your love.
If it were hard, I would not bid you try
The medicine; but 'tis but to let him die.
Yet since you are so soft, (which you call good,)
And are not yet confirmed enough in blood,
To see his death;

Your frailty shall be favoured with this grace,
That they shall suffer in another place.
If, after they are dead, their memory
By any chance into your mind be brought,
Laugh, and divert it with some other thought.
Away with them.

[Exeunt BERENICE, PORPHYRIUS, and ALBINUS, carried off by Guards.

Val. Since prayers nor tears can bend his cruel [Looking after POR. Farewell, the best and bravest of mankind!

mind,

How I have loved, heaven knows; but there's a fate, Which hinders me from being fortunate.