Page:Works of Sir John Suckling.djvu/248

228 And pray him set his hand, about

This distance; his seal, too

Gao. If't be no more

Mel. Tell him that Iphigene and I desire it.

I'll send by Strathocles his servant

A letter to Morat thus sign'd and seal'd,

That shall inform the sudden execution;

Command him, as the only means

To save his life, to sally out this night

Upon his quarters, and endeavour prisoners.

Name you as most secure and slightest guarded,

Best pledge of safety; but charge him that he kill

Not any, if it be avoidable;

Lest 't should enrage the king yet more, and make

His death more certain.

Gao. He understands you not, he says, but he

Has sent it.

Mel. So.

Iph. But should Morat mistrust now, or this miscarry?

Mel. Come,

Leave it to me: I'll take the pilot's part,

And reach the port, or perish in the art.

Alm. Sleep is as nice as woman: the more I court it,

The more it flies me. Thy elder brother will

Be kinder yet: unsent-for death will come.

To-morrow! well, what can to-morrow do?

'Twill cure the sense

Of honour lost: I and my discontents

Shall rest together. What hurt is there in this?

But death against the will

Is but a slovenly kind of potion;

And, though prescrib'd by heaven, it goes against

Men's stomachs.