The dramatic works of John Dryden - 1882 Author:John Dryden Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: DON SEBASTIAN. A TRAGEDY. Nec tarda senectus Dclllitat vires animi, mutatque vigorem. Viro. [Don Sebastian. A Tragedy. Acted at the Theatre Royal. Wr... more »itten by Mr. Dryden. Nec tarda senectus Debilitat vires anlmi, mutatque vigorem. Viro. London: Printed for Jo. Hindmarsh, at the Golden Ball, in Cornhill, Mdcxc.—Ed.] DON SEBASTIAN. The following tragedy is founded upon the adventures supposed to have befallen Sebastian, King of Portugal, after the fatal battle of Alcazar. The reader may be briefly reminded of the memorable expedition of that gallant monarch to Africa, to signalise, against the Moors, his chivalry as a warrior, and his faith as a Christian. The ostensible pretext of invasion was the cause of Muly Mahomet, son of Abdalla, Emperor of Morocco; upon whose death, his brother, Muly Moluch, hd seized the crown, and driven his nephew into exile. The armies joined battle near Alcazar. The Portuguese, far inferior in number to the Moors, displayed the most desperate valour, and had nearly won the day, when Muly Moluch, who, though almost dying, was present on the field in a litter, fired with shame and indignation, threw himself on horseback, rallied his troops, renewed the combat, and, being carried back to his litter, immediately expired, with his finger placed on his lips, to impress on the chiefs, who surrounded him, the necessity of concealing his death. The Moors, rallied by their sovereign's dying exertion, surrounded, and totally routed, the army of Sebastian. Mahomet, the competitor for the throne of Morocco, was drowned in passing a river in his flight, and Sebastian, as his body was never found, probably perished in the same manner. But where the region of historical certainty ends, that of romantic tradition commences. The Portuguese, to w...« less