COLONEL

As I was Commanded by your Highness, so I did. Sir, I was not Wanting in the least partly of my commission. At the first unkindly, Because you would not take them as a guard To safe conduct your person, yet when I Enforced your love by binding arguments, They did submit unto your will, and stood No longer to dispute it. Not so much my Lord For their own Fortune's, as for yours appeared they Troubled in mind, for when I drew them all Into a Ring, and told your mind unto them, From every common soldiers eye, gushed forth Rivers of tears, and after from their hearts, Brake forth these exclamations: Oh my Prince, My dearest Prince, why should the partial heavens Deal so unjustly with thee, or their malice Injure thy goodness? why wilt thou depart So weakly guarded, and expose thy self Yet longer naked to the stroke of fortune? Why should we be excluded thy pre ence? Yet since it is his pleasure, we'll no longer Dispute the reasons why, but yield unto it: Heavens prove propitious, let his smiling stars Shed pleasing influences over his head, And guide his journey, let the froward fates See and repent the wrong they did unto him, And recompense his lose with interest For all his sufferings: Oh what cause have we To grieve for him, for never in any age, Have Subject's boasted a sweeter Prince. I kiss those hands That deign me such a favour—dresses him. Strange unexpected news we have received, The Persian army is at hand and ready To enter in the deserts, and are marching In hostile manner to the Arabian Court, Burning and spoiling all the land before them. How? heavens defend, What impious hand hath done so f ule and act? Speak Noble Prince, speak quickly. Farewell brave Prince, we thy unworthy Subject's Can but lament thy lose, and curse the fates For their unjust decrees; Oh could they not Have spared the chief of Princes to give lustre Unto the world? could not they see his beauty And virtue shining in their glorious Orbs? His youth fair blooming? cruel destinies! Come now your shoulders honour with his Coarse Sweeter then all the perfumes of the Realm, Some to bring Consolarios body off; We'll see this fatal Land Arabia shall Provide them both a royal Funeral, Fair Princess, we Intend to travel back unto Damascus, Where we first breathed, there to surrender up Our breath again unto the Land that gave it. The Tartars swords, we hope will cut it off. Neither Sir, But and assault alas upon Damascus, A soldier that escaped, told me the manner, And thus it was: After the enemy Had sprung their Mine, which leveled the rampire, And made a breach that eight might march in front: They did assault it with their multitudes, And furiously fell on: thrice the besieged, Though hunger-sterv'd, repulsed them, thrice they were Enforced to quit the breach, some had their brains Dashed out with stones and beams, others with flails Received their death's, and some whose limbs were rend To pieces with granades, but at length, Fresh succours from the quarters coming down, And Hydra -Like increasing, they prevailed, When all our men were slain in the defence, Before they entered: only this poor soldier Escaped while they were pillaging the town, From whom I learned this sad intelligence. Villain forsake thy master, that thou shalt not my sword shall keep thee in thy true obedience, He's dead sweet Prince and passed recovery.