Tham. Removed from servile fear.
Would I could disappear,
And sink below the main;
For commonwealth’s a load,
My old imperial flood
Shall never, never bear again.
A commonwealth’s a load, } THAMES.
and
Our old imperial flood, } AUG. together.
Shall never, never, never, bear again. }
Dem. Pull down her gates, expose her bare;
I must enjoy the proud disdainful fair.
Haste, Archon, haste
To lay her waste[1]!
Zeal. I’ll hold her fast To be embraced!
Dem. And she shall see
A thousand tyrants are in thee,
A thousand thousand more in me!
Archon. to Aug. From the Caledonian
shore
Hither am I come to save thee,
Not to force or to enslave thee,
But thy Albion to restore:
Hark! the peals the people ring,
Peace, and freedom, and a king.
Chorus. Hark! the peals the people ring, Peace, and freedom, and a king.
Aug. and Tham. To arms! to arms!
Archon. I lead the way!
Merc. Cease your alarms!
And stay, brave Archon, stay!
’Tis doomed by fate’s decree,
’Tis doomed that Albion’s dwelling,
All other isles excelling,
By peace shall happy be.
Archon. What then remains for me?
Merc. Take my caduceus! Take this awful
wand,
With this the infernal ghosts I can command,
And strike a terror through the Stygian land.
Commonwealth will want pretences,
Sleep will creep on all his senses;
Zeal that lent him her assistance,
Stand amazed without resistance.
[ARCHON
touches DEMOCRACY with a Wand.
Dem. I feel a lazy slumber lays me down:
Let Albion, let him take the crown.
Happy let him reign,
Till I wake again.
[Falls asleep.
Zeal. In vain I rage, in vain
I rouse my powers;
But I shall wake again,
I shall, to better hours.
Even in slumber will I vex him;
Still perplex him,
Still incumber:
Know, you that have adored him,
And sovereign power afford him,
We’ll reap the gains
Of all your pains,
And seem to have restored him. [ZEAL
falls asleep.
Aug. and Tham. A stupifying sadness
Leaves her without motion;
But sleep will cure her madness,
And cool her to devotion.
A double Pedestal rises: on the Front of it is painted, in Stone-colour, two Women; one holding a double-faced Vizor; the other a Book, representing HYPOCRISY and FANATICISM; when ARCHON has charmed DEMOCRACY and ZEAL with the Caduceus of MERCURY, they fall asleep on the Pedestal, and it sinks with them.
Merc. Cease, Augusta! cease thy mourning,
Happy days appear;
God-like Albion is returning
Loyal hearts to chear.
Every grace his youth adorning,
Glorious as the star of morning,
Or the planet of the year.