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      SCENE III.

       Table of Contents

      varus, idamas, albinus, Attendants on varus.

      idamas.

       Ere the king,

       My royal master, comes, with gratitude

       To pay thy bounties, and receive from thee

       The holy sceptre, say, wilt thou permit me?—

      varus.

       No more: your king may spare this idle homage,

       These practised arts of visionary friendship

       Amongst the great, drawn forth with pompous splendor

       But to amuse the gaping multitude

       And foreign to the heart: but say, at length

       Rome has consented; Herod is your king;

       Doth he deserve to reign? Is the queen safe,

       And will he spare the blood of innocence.

      idamas.

       May the just gods, who hate the perjured man,

       Open his eyes, now blinded by imposture!

       But who shall dive into his secret thoughts,

       Or trace the emotions of his troubled soul?

       Naught can we draw from him but sullen silence;

       Or if perchance the name of Mariamne

       Escape his lips, he sighs, and raves: this moment

       Gives secret orders, and the next revokes them:

       Herod detests the race from whence she sprang,

       And hates her more because he loved too well.

       Perfidious Zares, by thy order stopped,

       And by thy order freed, the artificer

       Of calumny and fraud, will serve the cause

       Of subtle Salome, whilst Mazael lends

       His secret aid: the jealous Herod listens

       To their suggestions; they besiege him closely;

       And their officious hatred still keeps truth

       At distance from him: this great conqueror,

       Who made so many potent monarchs tremble,

       This king, whose noble deeds even Rome admired,

       Whose name yet fills all Asia with alarms,

       In his own house beholds his glories fade:

       Torn by suspicions, and o’erwhelmed with grief;

       Led by his sister, hated by his wife:

       I pity him, and fear for Mariamne.

       Say, wilt thou not protect her?

      varus.

       ’Tis enough:

       Albinus, follow me, the queen’s in danger:

       Away, for I must save the innocent.

      idamas.

       Will you not wait then for the king?

      varus.

       I know

       I should receive him here: it is my duty,

       For so the senate wills: but other cares

       Inspire me now, and other interests guide:

       ’Tis my first duty to protect the wretched.

       [Exit Varus.

      idamas.

       What storms do I foresee? what new distresses

       Will soon o’ertake us? Now, O Israel’s God,

       Change Herod’s heart!