University of Virginia Library

SCENE the Grove adjoining to the Bower.
Enter Antenor and Guards.
Ant.
Here plant your selves, here, on this very Spot,
And from that Cave you'll instantly behold.
Th'impious Traytor which you are to seize,
And bear a Pris'ner to the Royal Fort.
Be not surpriz'd when you behold the Man;
'Tis the King's Order, and you must obey;
The Crime is what deserves no good Man's Pity.

Capt.
Our Bus'ness is not to dispute, my Lord.

Ante.
Now, tow'ring Lord Lorenzo, thou shalt fall;
Thy better Fortune smiles no longer on thee:
The fatal Sisters have resign'd to me
The slender Thread which holds thy mortal Being;
And like an Arrow thro' the yielding Air,
I fly with eager Haste to cut it—Yes,
Thou once remov'd, my Son again shall rise;
When I have prov'd the haughty Princess guilty,
And in a Father's Breast disarm'd her Power,
She'll dare no more t'oppose my purpos'd Greatness.
Be ready, for the Mole begins to work—Seize him.

Lor.
Ha! Villains!

[The Trap opens, and Lorenzo comes up; they seize him.
Capt.
Ha! what do I see?
Oh! why to me gave you this Charge, my Lord?
Wou'd I had dy'd, e'er I had rais'd my Hand.
Against the bravest, best of Men in War.
Set him free again.

[to the Guards.
Ante.
Your every Life shall answer his Escape;
He dies, that dares to mention Freedom for him.

Lor.
Oh, Traytor! art thou there, thou subtil Fiend.
Thou blackest trusty Instrument of Hell?
Nay, then I know my Doom's irrevocable
Now, Fellow-Soldiers, bear your General hence,
To darkest Dungeons, cruel Racks, or Death;
His Sight is worse than all the Pains they bring.

Ante.
Rail on, and see who thou can'st wound with Words;
All other Means are wanting to thee now.

Lor.
No, thou'rt not worth my Breath; and I disdain thee:
Come, my brave Warriors, who so oft have been
My Country's Bulwarks, and her sure Defence;
You, who at my Command have scatter'd Death
As thick as Corn from out the Sower's Hand,
And drove whole Armies o'er the bloody Plain,
Let not my Fate misguide your loyal Minds.
Tho' none can guard against a Villain's Arts,
Fortune can ne'er subdue a brave Man's Soul:
In Love and War, I've reach'd the top-most Summit,
And Ages hence I shall be read with Wonder;
Whilst thou, the most detested of thy Kind,
Shalt be with Horror mention'd—Lead on.

Ante.
Stay, I command you, 'till this Wretch shall know
To me alone he owes this Turn of Fate.
'Twas I that watch'd your Midnight Steps, and found
That dark Conveyance to your wanton Sports.

Lor.
Hold, Monster! Hell-hound; for thy Life, I charge thee,
Touch not a Fame thy Mother never knew;
Nor thy whole Lineage of the Female Race,
E'er since the first created Maid appear'd;
With Care correct thy bold blaspheming Tongue,
Least from the Root I tear the Viper out,
And make thee curse thou e'er hadst Use of Speech.

Ante.
Ha, ha, ha! away with him, and do as I commanded.

Enter Antimora.
Anti.
What horrid Noise invades this peaceful Place?
I promis'd here to meet the lovely Youth.
What do I see? My Brother seiz'd! Oh, say
What fatal Mischief wrought this sudden Change!

Lor.
Where should the fatal Mischief be! but there?
Has Hell a more malicious Fiend than he?
Yet in thy Bosom thou wilt hide his Faults,
Embrace his Blood, that gives thy Brother Death.
Go hang upon the Neck of his aspiring Son,
And kneel for Blessings from th'infectious Sire.
Forget my Choice, thy Family, and Name,
And be th'adopted Child to him I hate;
But from this Moment see my Face no more.

Anti.
Oh, Brother! oh my tortur'd Soul!

Ante.
My Son! Perdition seize him in that Hour
He dares to disobey the Charge I gave;
Never to think of ought belongs to thee,
I'd rather see him on the racking Wheel,
Impal'd, or dead, before my aching Eyes,
Than wedded into any Blood of thine.
Away with him,
And at your Peril lodge him in the Dungeon.

Lor.
Yes, Leonora, I will die for thee,
Without a Groan give up this Puff of Breath:
But when I think what Horror, what Despair
Will rend thy Breast, for thee alone I fear.

[Ex. guarded.
Anti.
Barbarians, hold! Oh! let me speak but to him.
He's gone, and will not deign to look upon me.
What sullen Star has clouded all thy Glory?
Our Family is grown the Sport of Fortune,
That, like a Ball, she tosses to and fro:
This Morning view'd him the Support of Kings;
The Evening shews he wants Support himself.
Oh! the uncertain Favours of a Court!
Let me think—What, is my Brother seiz'd by him
Who gave Learchus Being?—And shall I
Stay here, and listen to his am'rous Tale?
No, Antimora, arm thy tender Breast
With Resolution, and fly hence for ever;
And let thy Fame and Brother fill thy Soul:
But oh! th'Experiment is hard to make,
To hate Learchus for his Father's Sake!

Enter Learchus.
Lear.
My Ears the Eccho caught of sad Despair;
What of Learchus? What of Hate, my Love?
Methinks those Words from Antimora's Tongue,
Blast, like a Northern Wind, the op'ning Buds.

Anti.
No, Hate and thee, Learchus, are become
Inseparable Partners from this Moment;
For oh! there stands a Bar between our Loves,
That from each other severs us for ever.
Be banish'd then both from my Eyes and Heart;
'Tis owing all to thy incidious Father,
By whom my dearest Brother is betray'd.
Curse, curse, Learchus, curse the fatal Hour,
When the soft Passion took Possession first
Of our too easy Breasts, by Fate forbidden:
Curse the rebellious Thought which first inclin'd,
And made us listen to each other's Vows.
But oh! ten thousand Curses on the Cause,
Yes, multiply them, Heav'n, and fix 'em all,
All on thy Father's Guilt, which parts us now!

[Ex.
Lear.
I am astonish'd! Stay, my Love—she's gone,
And left me in such Labyrinths of Thought,
My Senses all seem wilder'd!

Enter Agonistus.
Ago.
My Lord, why stand you musing here alone
When all the Court's in Hurry and Confusion?
Your Father has discover'd to the King
Some horrid Treason by Lorenzo done,
For which he's sent a Pris'ner to the Fort.

Lear.
Say'st thou! A Pris'ner! then I know the Cause
Of Antimora's killing Grief. Away,
And let me learn the Story of his Crimes.

[Exeunt.