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ALBION AND ALBANIUS:
AN
OPERA
_Discite justitiam, moniti, et non temnere divos._
VIRG.
ALBION AND ALBANIUS.
This opera, like the play which precedes it, had an avowed political
object. It was intended to celebrate the victory of the crown over its
opponents, or, as our author would have expressed it, of loyalty over
sedition and insurrection. The events, which followed the Restoration,
are rapidly, but obviously and distinctly, traced down to the death of
Charles, and the quiet accession of his brother, who, after all the
storms which had threatened to blast his prospects, found himself
enabled to mount the throne, with ease sufficient to encourage him to
the measures which precipitated him from that elevation. The leading
incidents of the busy and intriguing reign of Charles II. are
successively introduced in the following order. The city of London is
discovered occupied by the republicans and fanatics, depicted under
the allegorical personages Democracy and Zeal. General Monk, as
Archon, charms the factions to sleep, and the Restoration is
emblematized by the arrival of Charles, and the Duke of York, under
the names of Albion and Albanius.
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