Enter Two Seville Merchants.
1st Mer. Our Duke Eugenio is safe return'd,
Laden with trophies, spoils, and victories.
2d Mer. Those Hectors, too, who launched forth for Tunis,
Have shown their valour, and enrich'd their fortunes,
Which languish'd in despair before this voyage,
Above expectance; rich rixdollars are
Sown like Pactolus' sand: their pockets cramm'd
With Indian ore.
1st Mer. What will not prowess do,
Where hope of honour, promise of reward,
Or country's fame—th' attractiv'st lure of all—
Give spirit to men's actions?
2d Mer. This appears
Instanc'd in them to life:[172] for by their hazard,
Successfully completed, foreign sails
Ne'er came so richly fraughted.
1st Mer. It were well
The rest of our stout myrmidons, whose courage
Stands for the wall, or in a tavern quarrel
Or an highway's surprise, to raise a stock
To feed their debauch'd visits, were so employ'd
It would secure our commerce.
2d Mer. This good duke
Will regulate, no doubt, his state-affairs
With that composure, as no fruitless weed
Shall promise to itself long nourishment
Within the coast of Seville. What means this?
[A noise of clarions, surdons, fifes, plausulets, within.
Messenger. The Duke's approaching in triumphant state.
Herald. Make clear the way; room for his excellence!
Never did Seville show more like herself
Nor beautifi'd with a more graceful presence
Since her foundation.