And made their court to faction by his ruin. Alt. Oh, great Sciolto! Oh, my more than father! Let me not live, but at thy very name, 20 My eager heart springs up, and leaps with joy. Hor. So open, so unbounded was his goodness, 40 Alt. By Heav'n he found my fortunes so abandon'd, That nothing but a miracle could raise 'em : My father's bounty, and the state's ingratitude, Had stripp'd him bare, nor left him ev❜n a grave. Undone myself and sinking with his ruin, I had no wealth to bring, nothing to succour him, But fruitless tears. Hor. Yet what thou could'st, thou didst, And didst it like a son; when his hard creditors, Urg'd and assisted by Lothario's father, (Foe to thy house, and rival of their greatness) By sentence of the cruel law forbid His venerable corpse to rest in earth, Thou gav'st thyself a ransom for his bones; Thy hopeful youth to slaves who ne'er knew mercy, 60 Alt. But see he comes, the author of my happiness, The man who sav'd my life from deadly sorrow, Who bids my days be blest with peace and plenty, And satisfies my soul with love and beauty. Enter SCIOLTO; he runs to ALTAMONT, and embraces him. Sci. Joy to thee, Altamont! Joy to myself! Joy to this happy morn that makes thee mine; That kindly grants what nature had denied me, And makes me father of a son like thee. Alt. My father! Oh, let me unlade my breast, Pour out the fulness of my soul before you; Shew every tender, every grateful thought, This wond'rous goodness stirs. But 'tis impossible, And utterance all is vile; since I can only Swear you reign here, but never tell how much. "Sci. It is enough; I know thee, thou art honest; "Goodness innate, and worth hereditary "Are in thy mind; thy noble father's virtues "Spring freshly forth, and blossom in thy youth. "Alt. Thus Heav'n from nothing rais'd his faint creation, "And then, with wondrous joy, beheld its beauty, "Well pleas'd to see the excellence he gave." 81 Sci. O, noble youth! I swear since first I knew thee, Ev'n from that day of sorrows when I saw thee, Adorn'd and lovely in thy filial tears, The mourner and redeemer of thy father, I set thee down, and seal'd thee for my own: [Embraces Hor. All are my children, and shall share my heart. One kind remembrance in Calista's breast, 100 Last night, Calista yielded to my happiness, A rising storm of passion shook her breast, I begg'd to be a sharer in her grief: But she, with looks averse, and eyes that froze me, Sci. Away! it is the cozenage of their sex; One of the common arts they practise on us : To sigh and weep then when their hearts beat high With expectation of the coming joy. 121 Thou hast in camps and fighting fields been bred, Loth. The father, and the husband! Ros. Let them pass. They saw us not. Loth. I care not if they did; Ere long I mean to meet 'em face to face, C And gall 'em with my triumph o'er Calista. Loth. I lik'd her, would have marry'd her, Ros. She, gentle soul, was kinder than her father. Loth. She was, and oft in private gave me hearing; Till, by long list'ning to the soothing tale, At length her easy heart was wholly mine. Ros. I've heard you oft describe her, haughty, insolent, And fierce with high disdain: it moves my wonder, Loth. Hear then, I'll tell thee: Once in a lone and secret hour of night, Loth. Oh, 'twas great! I found the fond, believing, love-sick maid, As peaceful seas that know no storms, and only 160 |