University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

Mustapha and Haly.
Must.
Haly ! thy ready Wit has found the Way
To raise my drooping Heart: a Beam of Light,
Unlook'd for, breaks upon me; yet I doubt
All is not well. Alternate Hope and Fear
Distract my very Soul! I'm all confus'd,
Lost, and bewildred in a Maze of Passions!

Hal.
The common Workings of a Mind in Love!
My Lord, if you retreat, you're lost for ever;
Embrace, Great Mustapha, this kind Occasion,
And I'll ensure my Life on your Success:
But if this Opportunity escapes you,
The amorous Flame that boils within your Veins,
Will never be extinguish'd.

Must.
O! it must,
Or into Ashes soon it will consume me:
On Isabella's heaving snowy Breast
It must be quench'd. Heaven! how her Griefs become her!
With what a Grace she mourns her Loss of Freedom,
And seems a Turtle ruffled in a Tempest;
Her sparkling Eyes, o'ercharg'd with heavenly Dew,
Like glittering Stars reflected in a Fountain;
With sweeter Lustre charm, and piercing Softness.

Hal.
She's wondrous fair! fair as the new-born Light,
When Nature deck'd the smiling Infant World;
When Blossoms, Fruits, and Flowers luxuriant form'd,
With opening Sweets, a bright eternal Spring:
When all look'd gay; when all was Joy and Transport.
Much I'm amaz'd you cou'd so long oppose
Almighty Love, and such a Heaven of Beauty,
Or struggle to repel so sweet a Passion.

Mus.
Thou know'st that I but very seldom see her,
Unless 'tis in the Presence of the Princess;
Whose Argus Eyes are not to be deceiv'd:
Under pretence of Love and Care to her,
She vail'd her secret Jealousy of me,
And kept strict watch about her lovely Charge.
Discovering I refus'd her offer'd Ransom,
She privately obtain'd the Sultan's Order;
And I cou'd no Pretence have found to stay her;
When, by thy means, Alphonso was secur'd:
A lucky Thought it was; thou hast oblig'd me;
And I must study Gratitude to thank thee.

Hal.
Most mighty Visier, all that I am is yours;
Nor longer wish to live, than I can serve you.

Mus.
Yes, I believe thee zealous for my Service;
Or with this Secret dare not I entrust thee,
On which my Interest, nay, my Life depends.

Hal.
Pursue but my Advice, your Work is done:
The Court sets out this Day to meet the Sultan;
And you, with ease, under Pretext of Business,
Might stay behind; who should suspect your Aim?

Mus.
The Princess will: O! she has piercing Eyes;
All must be manag'd open, plain, and fair;
If she but takes the Shadow of a Feint,
And takes th'Alarm, she surely overthrows us.

Hal.
Your quick Complyance with the Sultan's Grant
For Isabella's Freedom, has by this
Lull'd her impatient Jealousies to Rest;
Besides, the Janizaries loud Complaints,
And Achmat's Discontent, will furnish out
A plausible Pretence. You cannot well
Leave Constantinople thus confus'd and murmuring.

Mus.
'Tis well advis'd—but ha! see, Haly, see,
Is not that Isabella?

Hal.
She moves this way.

Mus.
I knew her by the eager beating of my Heart,
E'er yet I saw her Face. Be gone.

Hal.
I fly, my Lord.
[Exit Haly.

Enter Isabella.
Isa.
Pity, my Lord, poor Isabella's Fate,
Mock'd with a Show of Joy to grow more wretched:
But pity, pity more, Alphonso's Error;
He was abus'd with false Intelligence.
Forgive the Rashness of impatient Youth,
The hasty Sallies of transporting Passion:
Turn, gentle Lord, in mild Compassion to him.
Oh let these Tears, this never-ceasing Flood
Of Sorrow melt you into Mercy for him:
Excess of Love has been his only Fault.
Can you be ignorant of the Power of Love?

Mus.
How moving soft is Beauty in Distress?
Who wou'd not bear all the Fatigues of State,
For this one Satisfaction, to behold
So fair a Creature bending suppliant to him?
Oh boundless Joys of Greatness—Charming Maid!
Beauty, like thine, would sooth the fiercest Temper;
But mine's too apt to take a soft Impression:
There's nothing thou couldst ask, I wou'd refuse;
I have the Will, but not the Power to serve thee.
Alphonso's Fate, the Sultan must command;
At his Return thou must address to him.

Isa.
The Sultan's stern; he's awful and severe;
A Stranger to the soft and gentle Passions:
He has forgot to pity youthful Frailty.
I'm timorous, weak, dejected, and forlorn,
Unpractis'd in the Courtier's winning Art,
The Force and Heats of melting Eloquence.
Oh then espouse my Cause, and plead it to him!
The Cause of injur'd Love and Innocence;
Th'Important Cause, the Cause of my Alphonso!
And may ten thousand Blessings light upon you;
Each prattling Babe shall learn to lisp your Praise,
And every Maid and faithful Lover bless you.

Mus.
A thrilling Joy runs sporting through my Veins,
Whene'er thou talk'st—Ill undertake thy Cause,
O lovely Maid! Nor cou'd I plead in vain,
Wert thou but kind—Death to my Hopes! the Princess!
Now all the Statesman's Subtilty assist me.

Enter Irene.
Irene.
Hail, my dear Lord! 'tis kind and generous in you,
To succour thus the Afflicted and Distrest;
I hope Alphonso may deserve your Pardon.

Mus.
'Tis not in my power to give him one;
You know our holy Laws determine Death,
The least Atonement for a Crime like his.

Isa.
Some dire malignant Planet rul'd my Birth,
And pour'd its baneful Influence on my Head.
Teach me to mourn, ye melancholy Turtles!
Teach me to sigh, ye ever murmuring Winds!
Teach me to weep, ye soft o'erflowing Streams!
For I, of all my Sex, am doom'd to drink
Large bitter Draughts of everlasting Woe.

Mus.
What can be done to comfort thee, I will:
Of this be satisfy'd, he shall not die
Before the Sultan comes.

Isa.
Immortal Blessings crown you!
Swift let me fly to greet him with the News.
[Exit Isabella.

Mus.
Now I may hope your Jealousies are o'er;
I shall no more behold that lovely Brow
Clouded with Frowns; nor hear that heavenly Voice
Untun'd with Rage and discontented Accents:
Say, Shall all now be Love and Joy between us?

Irene.
O the Dissembler! But I'll match his Artifice. [Aside.

Yes, when Alphonso has obtain'd his Pardon,
And he and Isabella are set free,
Then I shall think thou mean'st to do me Right.

Enter Haly.
Hal.
My Lord, the Great Divan is now assembling,
And expect your Presence.

Mus.
Say, I attend them,
[Exit Hal.
They meet for the Examination of Alphonso:
I fear he will be found too guilty; but whate'er
Becomes of him, soon as his Doom is past,
His Isabella is at your Disposal.

Irene.
Now thou art kind indeed, my Mustapha!
And all Returns are poor that I can make thee.
[Exit Mustapha.
I know not how t'interpret this Compliance:
The Turn's too sudden to admit Design,
And yet I cannot think it real: however,
I'll vail the just Suspicions of my Soul,
'Till I disclose the utmost of his Drift;
Then, if I find thou hast deceiv'd me, Mustapha,
Thy Head shall answer for thy Heart's Offence.

[Exit.
SCENE draws to a large Hall. Achmat, Ozmin.
Ach.
Well, Ozmin, can the World match two such Monsters
As Mustapha and Haly?

Ozm.
No; Heaven forbid
That the whole Race of Human Kind shou'd match them:
But 'twas a most unseasonable Rashness,
Just at the Crisis of our great Design,
To lay your Soul so open and unguarded:
Who courts Revenge, must warily behave,
Or ne'er enjoy the Goddess of his Hopes;
She loves the close, but hates the talking Wooer.

Ach.
That Sycophant had put me past all Patience,
Urg'd me beyond the bearing of a Man.
Bred up to Arms, I have not learn'd the Art
To fawn, to flatter, and conceal my Thoughts,
Swear to preserve, what I wou'd seek to ruin;
And wear a Face of Friendship to destroy.
But all goes wrong; the Princess too, I hear,
Is reconcil'd to her deceiving Husband.

Ozm.
His seeming Grant in part appeas'd her Rage;
But then the Storm returns with double Force,
When she perceives, as soon she will, the Cheat:
But the Bashaws appear! Let us stand firm
To oppose the Visier in Alphonso's Death,
For that I know he aims at, that he may
Unrival'd, and secure, possess his Mistress.

Enter several Bashaws as to Council; they take their Places, Ozmin and Achmat sit, a Chair left for the Visier at the upper End.
Ozm.
My Lords, the Visier summons us together,
T'attend the Examination of a Christian
Surpriz'd in the Seraglio: but see, he comes!

Enter Visier and Haly as in Conference, Guards.
Must.
Let that curs'd Eunuch be empal'd alive,
Who brought the Christian into the Seraglio;
Cut out his Tongue, shou'd he presume to mutter.
[The Visier takes his Place.
Bring forth the Christian, for 'tis highly needful,
Before he suffer Death, he be examin'd;
Death is indeed too mild a Punishment.

Ozm.
Are you acquainted with his Crime, my Lord?

Must.
His Crime is plain: Was he not found i'th'Palace?
And that, without more Evidence, condemns him.

Ach.
Yet if a Stranger to our Laws and Customs,
He ventur'd thither, only led by Love;
The Offence is not so great, but might be pardon'd.

Ozm.
Mercy's the noblest Attribute of Power;
'Tis greater to forgive, than punish Wrongs:
Nor came he hither basely to betray
Our Wives or Daughters, but to seek his own,
His long contracted Bride, unjustly held!

Must.
Unjustly? Ozmin!

Ozm.
Mistake me not, I meant not so,
But speak his Sense, for so it seem'd to him,
Her Friends so often offering to redeem her,
Yet still deny'd that Privilege.

Must.
Can any here believe
So imminent a Danger was incurr'd,
Only to see a Mistress? When youthful Blood,
And wild Desires, enflame us for Possession,
We swear, indeed, Life were too poor a Forfeit
For Love and Beauty; but who believes our Oaths?
The very she they're made to, knows 'em false;
And while she yields, dissembles in her Turn,
Feigning a Confidence her Soul denies.

Ach.
You're wondrous gay! but I must tell you, Visier,
It ill becomes your Lordship's Character,
To sport with the Misfortunes you wou'd doom
As criminal—

Must.
I can be serious, Aga!
As those shall find who contradict my Will.

Ach.
Where Will is lawless, none but Slaves obey.

Ozm.
No more, my Lords, these most untimely Jars;
The Christian comes! let Justice hold the Balance.

Enter Alphonso guarded and chain'd.
Must.
He bears a lofty Mein! by Mahomet,
Tell us, vile Christian, from what curst Impulse
Hast thou attempted this infernal Treason,
What impious Motive, fir'd thee to offend
The Sultan, Heaven's high Sacred Delegate,
The mighty Lord, and Master of the World?

Alp.
Were he indeed the greatest Power on Earth,
Or quite as mighty as you please to stile him,
I wou'd redeem my injur'd Isabella,
And with uncommon Vengeance wrest her from him.

Must.
Thou'rt insolent and desperate. Isabella
Was made his Captive by the Chance of War;
She is his Slave, and thou, and all Mankind.

Alp.
In vain you wou'd make free-born Souls your Slaves;
You've chain'd this Body, but my Mind is free,
Your boasted Pow'r does not extend so far,
As to make that your Slave: King of myself,
I'm great, and free, as your proud Emperor.
I scorn to be unjust, mean, or dishonest,
To gain your Favour, or avoid your Tortures;
Nor shall they make me fawn, or ask a Pardon
For Crimes that I abhor, nor have committed.

Must.
Proud Christian! is't no Crime, in thy Religion,
To enter privately an Emperor's Palace,
Arm'd as a Traytor, as a vile Assassin?

Alp.
Learn to be honest, and throw off the Statesman,
You over-act the Hypocrite; thou know'st,
If from thy Soul thou durst confess the Truth,
I neither am a Traytor nor Assassin!
Him who betray'd me there, that treacherous Eunuch,
Deserves those Titles; I disdain their Meaning.

Ozm.
Haly?

Alp.
Yes, Haly; for a Bribe I scorn to mention,
First gave me Entrance into the Seraglio;
And then, for Ends best known to his vile Heart,
Betray'd me.

Ozm.
Most base!

Ach.
Monstrous!

Hal.
My Lords, if ever—

Must.
No more.
This is the Coinage of despairing Villany;
Finding no Means whereby t'acquit thyself,
Wou'd drag the Innocent to Perdition with thee.

Hal.
Yet give me leave, most mighty Visier!
My honest Soul even shudders at the Thought:
Have I thus long preserv'd my Loyalty
Untainted by th'infectious Blasts of Faction,
To hear myself at last impeach'd and tax'd
Before this great Assembly, O holy Prophet!
As an Accomplice in a Traytor's Guilt?
But, till his Seizure, if I ever saw
This perjur'd Christian, may just Heaven look down,
And rain in Storms its heavy'st Vengeance on me.

Alp.
To answer thee, vile Slave! wou'd be to fall
To an Indignity below my Chains;
The Jew who brought me to thee knows thy Crimes,
And may in time appear to thy Confusion.

Ozm., Ach.
What Jew?

Must.
Some new Invention! we'll hear no more!
Give him the Rack, till he recants his Treasons.

Alp.
Your Racks and impious Tortures I despise,
Nor can I die but once; no matter how:
And better once, than ever live in Misery:
What can your Malice more? I'm proof against
Even Death itself: Perhaps, too, I can bear
More Pain than you'll inflict.

Must.
Presumptuous Wretch!
Stung with Remorse, and urg'd by wild Despair,
Thou talk'st in such a daring Tone—but know
There is a wide essential Difference
Betwixt the slighting Death, and bravely dying;
One is Fool-hardiness, the other Courage.
You wish to die, because asham'd to live:
Some Reasons thou may'st have to hate thy Life,
Tho none to covet Death; but in thy Fancy,
What thou think'st brave, is stupid Rashness only.

Alp.
Let Slaves to Fear shrink at the King of Terrors,
And guilty Cowards look aghast and tremble,
I am no Criminal; no conscious Shame
Of secret Injuries confound my Soul,
And make my Life seem burdensome or odious.
I could sustain Toil, Poverty, or Scorn,
Hunger and Cold, and all the Ills of Life,
So much abhorr'd, and shun'd by Human Kind,
Blest in my Love, secure of Isabella;
But if I must lose her, I wish to die.

Must.
Give him his Wish: speak, Lords, is it not just?
Give me your Voices, or from this time forward
Let none presume to mutter.

All Bashaws.
He ought to die.

Ozm.
to Ach.
'Tis vain to oppose when Numbers are against us.

Must.
I thank you all. Go lead him to the Dungeon,
Set a strong Guard, but ease him of his Chains;
That I'll permit for Isabella's sake,
And let the Mutes attend for further Orders.

[Exeunt all but Mustapha and Haly.
Hal.
A Task well over: How mean you to proceed?

Must.
Just as my Fortune points, to Joys immortal!
To Extasies, beyond the reach of Sense!
To Bliss, without a Name, in Isabella's Arms!
Alphonso, in seeming Mercy, I'll reprieve,
And make a Merit of my Pity for him,
Ensnare her with the specious Show of Friendship;
Then, when her gentle Soul is melted down
With tender Gratitude, I'll seize the Charmer,
And print Love's Image on the yielding Softness.

Hal.
Most excellent! this is to be a Man!
Not pine for Joys which are within your Reach.
But I had almost forgot: the Eunuch Slave
Who brought the Christian into the Seraglio,
Before he suffers Death, entreats your Ear;
He has, he says, a Secret to deliver
Which will concern you nearly.

Must.
Admit him:
If't be Complaints, we can dispatch him easily.

[Mutes go out, and return with Daraxa.
Hal.
Fearless he seems of Death, but yet perplex'd,
As if a greater Loss than Life disturb'd him;
All his Deportment is above his Station,
And strikes my Soul with an unusual Wonder:
Mark what becoming Pride sits on his Brow;
Methinks I read strange Meanings in his Eyes.

Must.
I shou'd trace something there I'm well acquainted with;
But what I know not—speak thy Business.

Dar.
Not to beg Life, for that I know were vain;
For his Security I ought to die,
[pointing to Haly.
As 'twas for yours I only wish'd to live:
But tho this Garb has hid me from the World,
And shrowded the Dishonours of my Life;
In Death I wou'd not be conceal'd from thee,
Nor can my ever-faithful Soul forsake
Its dwelling here, unwarning thee of Foes,
Of bloody Foes, that seek thy Ruin, Mustapha!

Must.
I am amaz'd! what mean'st thou?

Dar.
First, I'll be just,
And punish the Betrayer of my Honour;
This fond, this foolish Heart that has undone me,
[Stabs herself.
Bleed, bleed Seducer! Expiate thy Offence;
Such Tears as these can only wash my Shame away,
And give me Courage to appear Daraxa!

Must.
Daraxa! O why hast thou done this Deed?

Dar.
What could I less have done? Wretch that I am!
My Fame, my Glory, and my Peace of Mind,
Thou, Mustapha! long since, hast basely murder'd:
And what has Life to boast when they are gone.
Like some poor discontented Ghost I've watch'd,
With bleeding Heart, and aking Eyes, thy Steps,
Seen all the Labyrinths of thy mazy Passions,
And now wou'd caution thee to shun thy Fate;
For oh! thou stand'st as on a Precipice,
Whence the least Push may hurl thee to Destruction.

Must.
Whom should I fear?

Dar.
Can'st thou ask that, and know
How many thousand Curses are upon thee?
My Strength begins to fail, and Life's last Stream
Is almost ebb'd: Beware a jealous Wife!
And the false Friendship of designing Ozmin!
Achmat, revengeful for his Brother's Death,
Is thirsty for thy Blood—Here in thy Breast,
O too much lov'd, and too ungrateful Man,
Here, where my Shame began, here let it end;
Farewell—farewell for ever! oh!—

[Dies.
Hal.
She's gone!
Rouze, rouze, my Lord, and quit this Scene of Horror.

Must.
When I reflect how once I lov'd this Maid,
How much I doated on her every Charm,
And wish'd no Paradise but in her Arms;
I seem a Monster even to myself:
What a strange Creature's Man? through what various Paths.
Does fickle Fancy lead our vain Desires?
Restless and still unsatisfied we roam,
For perfect Happiness was never found:
One Wish obtain'd, another still succeeds,
And Hopes and Fears, in an alternate Round,
Weary out Life, and mock our best Resolves.

Hal.
My noble Lord! be not thus lost in Thought.

Must.
The Sight has shock'd me, wou'd she had dy'd in private.

Hal.
The Calls of Business summon you away;
Improve the Hint she has so timely given,
Ozmin and Achmat—

Must.
Something must be done;
Eternal Hurries wait upon the Great.
Dangers without, Horrors within perplex him.
In vain o'er Slaves we boast an envy'd Sway,
While we ourselves are our own Passions Prey;
We're less unconquer'd, and more lost than they.

[Exeunt.