Inca.  Thou art but grown a rebel by success,
And I, that scorned Orazia should be tied
To thee my slave, must now esteem thee less: 
Rebellion is a greater guilt than pride.

Mont.  Princes see others’ faults, but not their own;
’Twas you that broke that bond, and set me free: 
Yet I attempted not to climb your throne,
And raise myself; but level you to me.

Oraz.  O, Montezuma, could thy love engage
Thy soul so little, or make banks so low
About thy heart, that thy revenge and rage,
Like sudden floods, so soon should overflow? 
Ye gods, how much I was mistaken here! 
I thought you gentle as the gall-less dove;
But you as humoursome as winds appear,
And subject to more passions than your love.

Mont.  How have I been betrayed by guilty rage,
Which, like a flame, rose to so vast a height,
That nothing could resist, nor yet assuage,
Till it wrapt all things in one cruel fate. 
But I’ll redeem myself, and act such things,
That you shall blush Orazia was denied;
And yet make conquest, though with wearied wings,
Take a new flight to your own fainting side.

Inca.  Vain man, what foolish thoughts fill thy swelled mind! 
It is too late our ruin to recall;
Those, that have once great buildings undermined,
Will prove too weak to prop them in their fall.

Enter TRAXALLA, with the former soldiers.

1 Sold.  See, mighty sir, where the bold stranger stands, Who snatched these glorious prisoners from our hands.

Trax.  ’Tis the great Inca; seize him as my prey, To crown the triumphs of this glorious day.

Mont.  Stay your bold hands from reaching at what’s mine,
If any title springs from victory;
You safer may attempt to rob a shrine,
And hope forgiveness from the deity.

Enter ACACIS.

Trax.  O, my dear prince, my joys to see you live Are more than all that victory can give.

Aca.  How are my best endeavours crost by fate! 
Else you had ne’er been lost, or found so late. 
Hurried by the wild fury of the fight,
Far from your presence, and Orazia’s sight,
I could not all that care and duty show,
Which, as your captive, mighty prince, I owe.

Inca.  You often have preserved our lives this day,
And one small debt with many bounties pay. 
But human actions hang on springs, that be
Too small, or too remote, for us to see. 
My glories freely I to yours resign,
And am your prisoner now, that once were mine.

Mont.  These prisoners, sir, are mine by right of war; And I’ll maintain that right, if any dare.

Trax.  Yes, I would snatch them from thy weak defence;
But that due reverence, which I owe my prince,
Permits me not to quarrel in his sight;
To him I shall refer his general’s right.