University of Virginia Library

ACT V.

SCENE I.

Abdallah and Velasco.
VELASCO.
Before this day she ne'er beheld the boy.
Far from this place in Catalonia bred,
He came to see the famous combat fought.
'Twas he, my Lord, who slew the Moorish chief,
And in his own defence such wonders wrought.
That action to the Princess made him known,
The rest in honour of his valour follow'd.

ABDALLAH.
How dost thou know?

VELASCO.
With admiration struck,
When he stood forth and brav'd a foe, like thee,
Of divers persons curious I enquir'd,
Who, and from whence he was.

ABDALLAH.
Pity it were
To hurt the stripling. 'Tis a noble boy.
I love the outbreak of his Spanish fire
Against the Moors.

VELASCO.
Ay, and against Abdallah,
Whom antient fame and recent glory rais'd,
Above all mortal men. Spare this young plant,
Who makes so fair a shoot.

ABDALLAH.
How can I spare him?
Should their election send him to my sword,
How, good Velasco?

VELASCO.
When the peers return,
The King, the Princess, with their champion chosen;
Then to the wond'ring audience, in the face
Of her that's guilty, let my Lord relate
The truth-mark'd story he to me has told.
Detected thus, confounded and surpris'd,
Pierc'd with a thousand eyes, that gaze upon her,
And dart conviction; can she still deny,
And by denial, make her guilt ambiguous?
But if her sex's genius is so strong,
That she the port of innocence maintains,
And, from the fulness and excess of vice,
Derives a boldness, that may look like virtue,
Then let the sword decide.

ABDALLAH.
What you propose
Is worth the trial. I am loth to spill
The young Alberto's or Costollo's blood:
For they deserve no harm. Ev'n you, my friend,
Before my hand unclasp'd the book of shame,
Her champion would have been.

VELASCO.
Against the world.

ABDALLAH.
I will adopt the counsel of Velasco,
And probe more deeply still her fester'd mind.
I see 'tis better that she should confess
Her guilt, than with her vanquish'd champion fall,
By doom of law, protesting to the last
Her innocence.

VELASCO.
Better a thousand times.
Her dying voice would shake the hearts of men,
And echo thro' the world.

ABDALLAH.
Behold the King,
And young Alberto marching by his side
As if he trod on air.

VELASCO.
See, Ormisinda
With folded hands implores her list'ning sire.

Enter the King, Ormisinda, Teresa, Alberto, Costollo, &c.
KING.
The peers of Spain have judg'd. Stand forth, Alberto!
Behold the champion of my daughter's fame.

ALBERTO.
Before the trumpet's voice unsheaths the sword
Which one of us shall never sheath again,
Permit me, Prince of Persia, to intreat
A moment's audience. Not from fear I speak.
The cause I fight for, and the mind I bear,
Exalt me far above the thoughts of danger;
But from a conscious sense of what is due
To thee, renown'd Abdallah. In the heat
Of our contention, if my tongue has utter'd
One word offensive to thy noble ear,
Which might have been omitted, and the tone
Of firm defiance equally preserv'd;
For that I ask forgiveness.

ABDALLAH.
Less I mark'd
The manner than the matter of thy speech:
If thou dost need forgiveness, freely take it.

KING.
'Twas generously ask'd, and nobly granted:
Such courtesy with valour ever dwells.
Let me too crave for a few words thine ear.
Throughout the trying bus'ness of this day,
Thou art my witness, that my mind upright
Has never been by pow'rful nature bent,
Nor sway'd to favour and opinion form'd,
By long habitual and accustom'd love:
But I with equal hand the balance held
Between thee and my child.

ABDALLAH.
Thou hast indeed.
It is but justice that I should declare it.

KING.
Then to thy candour let me now appeal,
And beg of thee to grant me one request,
Which I do not, but might perhaps, command.

ABDALLAH.
What is it?

KING.
I have search'd my hapless child,
Ev'n to the pith and marrow of her soul,
Have touch'd her to the quick. She never shrinks
Nor wavers in the least. Perhaps, my Lord!
Some fool officious, or some wretch that's worse,
(If there is ought comes between man and wife
That's more pernicious than a medling fool)
Some false designing friend has wrong'd her fame,
And pour'd his poison in Alonzo's ear.
If thou wilt give some scope to her defence,
And bring the charge from darkness into light,
Then she shall forthwith answer on the spot
Where now she stands before us.

ORMISINDA.
If I fail
To clear my fame ev'n in Abdallah's sight;
If but one dark suspicious speck remains
To make mine honour dim, let me be held
Guilty of all. Before-hand I renounce
The right of combat, and submit to die.

ABDALLAH.
Thy wish is fatal, but it shall be granted,
This instant too.

ORMISINDA.
Blessings upon thy head!
Ten thousand blessings! O! thou dost not know
How happy thou hast made me. On my breast
A mountain lay: Thy hand has heav'd it off;
And now I breathe again.

ABDALLAH.
O woman! woman!
A little way from hence my people wait;
With them remains a necessary witness.
Thither I go, and quickly will return
To ring thy knell.

[Exit Abdallah.]
ORMISINDA.
The knell of all my woes!
My heart knocks at my side, as if 'twould burst
Itself a passage outwards. Yet a while;
Poor suff'ring heart, and thou shalt beat no more.
Shortly for what I am I shall be known,
Then let my doom be squar'd to my desert
Without indulgence.

KING.
I can trust thee, now:
Thine eye secure beams innocence and honour.
Thou art my daughter still.

ALBERTO.
I fear, O King!
Some practice vile, some infamous imposture,
Supported by false witness. Still I wish
The fair decision of the honest sword.

Enter Abdallah in a Spanish Dress as Alonzo,
KING.
God of my soul! What mockery is this?
Unless my eyes deceive me, 'tis Alonzo.

ORMISINDA.
My husband! Ah!

[Runs to embrace him, he repulses her.]
ALONZO.
Away, thy husband's shame,
Shame to thy sex, reproach of womankind!

ORMISINDA.
O! shield me, Heav'n! Abdallah was Alonzo.

ALONZO.
To Heav'n appeal not.

ORMISINDA.
I appeal to Heav'n,
Justice on earth will come too late for me.

KING.
[To Alonzo.]
Hast thou no other witness than thyself?

ALONZO.
I have no other, and none else require.

KING.
Unfeeling man, to trifle with our sorrows,
And like a pageant play a mimic scene:
This is thy hatred of Pelagio's house,
Thy passion to confound a rival race.
Would I were young again!

ALBERTO.
[To Alonzo.]
Defend thyself.
I can no longer hold me from thy breast.

PELAGIO.
Sound, trumpet, sound! and Heav'n defend the right!

ALONZO.
[Drawing his Sword.]
His blood be on your heads.

[Ormisinda throws herself between their Swords.]
ORMISINDA.
Hold! Strike thro' me!
You know not what you do, unhappy both!
This combat must not, nor it shall not be.
The Sun in Heav'n would backward turn his course,
And shrink from such a spectacle as this,
More horrid than the banquet of Thyestes.
You have no quarrel. I'll remove the cause.
A Roman matron, to redeem her fame,
Before her husband's and her father's eyes
Plung'd in her breast the steel.

[Stabs herself, and falls.]
KING.
O! Desp'rate deed!
What fury urg'd thy hand?

ORMISINDA.
Condemn me not.
There was no other way to save—but that
Must not as yet be told. My husband! hear
My dying voice! my latest words believe,
Whose truth my blood hath seal'd: I'm innocent.
As I for mercy hope at that tribunal
Where I shall soon appear, I never wrong'd thee.
When that is manifest, remember me
As love like mine deserv'd, and to this youth,
Who is—

ALONZO.
Who is this youth! All-seeing God!
A secret horror comes upon my soul.
Who is this youth!

ORMISINDA.
He is thy son.

ALONZO.
My son!

ORMISINDA.
Whom thy forsaken wife in sorrow bore,
And gave in secret to Costollo's care.

ALBERTO.
Art thou my mother! Dost thou die for me?

ORMISINDA.
I die with pleasure to be just to thee.
O! if that Power which did inspire my soul
To rush between your swords, would let me live,
To prove my innocence. Alonzo speak!
Whilst I have breath to answer.

ALONZO.
Tho' disarm'd
And soften'd, even if guilty to forgive thee,
Thy solemn call I instantly obey.
That night appointed for our last farewel,
That fatal night for ever curst—thou know'st
What happen'd then.

ORMISINDA.
I know thou didst not come,
Forlorn thou lefted'st me.

ALONZO.
Thou wast not forlorn,
In the dark wood with thee there was a youth.

ORMISINDA
, (After a pause.)
O heaven and earth, a youth! It was Teresa.

ALONZO.
Teresa!

TERESA.
Yes, that memorable night,
My brother's sword and helmet plum'd I wore.

ALONZO.
Great God! the snares of hell have caught my soul.

TERESA.
The night before, the Princess, as she went,
Was fright'ned in the wood, and I assumed
That warlike form, to seem—

ALONZO.
No matter why?
I saw thee then, and thought thee what thou seem'dst.

KING.
She's innocent; like gold try'd in the fire,
Her honour shines: Would I had died for thee!

[To Ormisinda.
ORMISINDA.
Why didst thou never till this moment speak?

[To Alonzo.
ALONZO.
Because I'm born and destin'd to perdition.
Had I a voice like Ætna when it roars;
For in my breast is pent as hot a fire:
I'd speak in flames.

ORMISINDA.
My Lord!

ALONZO.
Do not forgive me.
Do not oppress me with such tender looks:
I will not be forgiven.

[Ormisinda raising herself and stretching out her arms.
ORMISINDA.
Come to my arms
And let me sooth thine anguish. Had I been
What I to thee appear'd, thy rage was just.
A Spaniard's temper, and a Prince's pride,
A Lover's passion, and a Husband's honour,
Prompted no less.

ALONZO.
Hear, men and angels hear.
Let me fall down and worship.
[Throws himself into her arms.
Oh I loved thee!
I lov'd thee all the while, to madness loved.

ORMISINDA.
My husband! dear as ever to my heart!
In my last moments dear!

ALONZO.
My heart is torn.
My head, my brain! How blest I might have been!
With such a wife, with such a son!

ORMISINDA.
To him
Pay all the debt of love thou ow'st to me:
Embrace thy son before mine eyes are clos'd:
Let me behold him in his father's arms.

ALONZO.
Thou brave defender of thy mother's fame!

ORMISINDA.
He's gentle too; his soul dissolves in grief.

ALONZO.
My falt'ring tongue dares scarcely call thee son.
Canst thou endure the touch of such a father?

ALBERTO.
My bursting heart, amidst its grief is proud
Of such a father. Let me clasp thy knees,
And help to reconcile thee to thyself.

[They embrace.
ORMISINDA.
This pleasing sight subdues the pains of death,
My son!

ALBERTO.
My mother, Oh!

ORMISINDA.
My dearest husband—

ALONZO.
What would'st thou say. Alas! thine eye grows dim;
Thy voice begins to fail.

ORMISINDA.
Remember me
When I am dead; remember how I lov'd you.
And thou, Alonzo, live to guard thy son,
To fix the Spanish scepter in—

[Dies looking at her son.
Alonzo remains silent, with his eyes fixed upon Ormisinda.
ALBERTO.
My father!
Under thy gather'd brows I see despair:
Have pity on thy son, who liv'd so long
In total ignorance of what he was:
Who has already seen one parent die,
And for the sad survivor trembles now.
My mother's last request!

ALONZO.
I'm mindful of it,
And to her sacred memory will be just.
Hang not on me, my son! go to the King
And pay thy duty there.

[The King embraces Alberto.
KING.
My child, my all!
I lov'd thee at first sight.

ALONZO.
'Tis well; 'tis well.
The good old King hath still some comfort left.
Now is my time.
[Draws his sword.
Oft have I struck with thee,
But never struck a foe with better will
Than now myself.

[Stabs himself and falls.
VELASCO, COSTOLLO.
Alas!

(Alberto turning.)
ALBERTO.
'Twas this I fear'd.

ALONZO.
There was good cause to fear. I would have liv'd
For thee, if I with honour could have liv'd.
My son! thy fathers were renown'd in arms:
The valour of our warlike race is thine:
But guard agains against the impulse of their blood.
Take warning by my fate.

PELAGIO.
Thou might'st have liv'd,
Renown'd Alonzo; even I forgave
And pitied thee.

ALONZO.
I am more just than thou—
For I did not forgive, nor would I live,
Upon the alms of other men; their pity—
Farewel, my son! O! Ormisinda, stay
'Till I o'ertake thee.

[Dies.
(The King to Alberto.)
PELAGIO.
Dwell not on this sight,
Prince of Asturia! leave the scene of sorrow.