 | Huniades ; or the Seige of Belgrade |  |
SCENE THIRD.
THE PRINCESS, CORVINUS.CORVINUS
(entering his Casque in his hand).
Heaven, hear her not! but now two faithful hearts Reward.
43
(turning from Corvinus).
Why is this trying moment come?
CORVINUS
(kneeling).
Agmunda! bless the lover who adores you,
And pitying end his woes! When last we parted—
PRINCESS.
We parted then for ever. Rise, my Lord!
(He rises.)
It was not well to invade this holy place,
When my sad heart was communing with Heaven.
The affianc'd bride of brave Matthias grieves,
That you should dare infringe the sacred mound
Of female delicacy, wounding her soul
By searching out those secret, inmost sentiments,
Which duty, time, and absence, will o'ercome.
On earth we meet no more. Regard this moment,
As if, from awful summons, thou stood near
The death-bed of a soon departing friend:
Let my Request, I solemnly adjure thee,
As if it were that dying friend's Request,
Be sacred held. My Brother is thy King;
Take no advantage of the People's love,
Remain his Subject. Then, to her last of life,
With sisterly affection, will Agmunda
Remember thee. Farewell—resign—forget me—
Honour and Fame demand the sacrifice.
(Goes towards the altar, Corvinus following her, she stops, and again comes forward.
44
To call thee mine, is the first honour which
My soul desires. Alas! I once had hopes
That the sweet dreams of childhood were not false.
PRINCESS.
Ah! flattering dreams! they fled with infancy.
Inexorable fate has seal'd our doom;
Nor leaves one hope of happier days to cheer us.
But virtue still is left us midst our woes;
Then let us summon courage to sustain them,
As virtue bids.
CORVINUS.
Heaven first, of each perfection,
Must thee deprive, ere I with courage can.
PRINCESS.
Thy duties all command it. Think, Corvinus!
Reflect on all the reasons, duties, claims,
Thy Father wisely urg'd when he forbad thee
Ever to hope my hand. Chaste honour, conscience,
Filial obedience, a patriot's duty,
And sacred friendship's debt of gratitude,
Have plac'd their adamantine bars against
Thy love. Respect my peace, forbear thy suit.
CORVINUS.
Thy heart can plead for every claim but mine.
My love is sacrific'd to raise thy glory.
Be songs of triumph thine—
45
Unjust Corvinus!
Accuse me not of such vain-glorious pride.
Accuse me not of such vain-glorious pride.
My rank demands the sacrifice I make,
The subject's fealty claims the Prince's love.
To the State's interest I am now devote;
To insure its happiness my own is yielded.
A Nation's welfare, and my Brother's safety,
Bade me forego the choice my heart had made:
'Twas reason's dictate, and made honour's law,
By the strong Oath exacted by thy Father:
To spotless honour sacred be that Oath.
Let thy firm soul resist its present feelings;
Reproach me not—Alas! I know thy woes;
I—I inflict them—but I more than share them.
The subject's fealty claims the Prince's love.
To the State's interest I am now devote;
To insure its happiness my own is yielded.
A Nation's welfare, and my Brother's safety,
Bade me forego the choice my heart had made:
'Twas reason's dictate, and made honour's law,
By the strong Oath exacted by thy Father:
To spotless honour sacred be that Oath.
Let thy firm soul resist its present feelings;
Reproach me not—Alas! I know thy woes;
I—I inflict them—but I more than share them.
CORVINUS.
My anguish canst thou feel, and yet persist?
Let thy relenting pity end my torments.
PRINCESS.
Seek not to melt my heart to vain repentance;
The motives which impell'd forbid retreat.
CORVINUS.
Obdurate Princess! Thou hast never lov'd.
PRINCESS.
Leave me! To see thee thus distress'd, Corvinus!
Adds to the conflict of my tortur'd soul:
46
All dearer ties forget;—think me thy sister;
And urge my duties with a Brother's sternness.
CORVINUS.
Oh! has thy heart no pity for my sufferings?
Forgive the boldness of despair! Thou must
Be mine.
(He seizes her hand wildly; and draws her further from the altar.)
PRINCESS.
Add not thy phrensy to my woes:
I pity, I esteem, I—Oh release me!
(Endeavours to withdraw her hand.)
My hand cannot be thine. My Oath forbids it.
CORVINUS.
Wilt thou not hazard something to redeem me?
PRINCESS.
All! All! but truth and honour: these I dare not.
Strive not to make me hateful to myself—
Oh! what can I, to mitigate thy grief?
CORVINUS.
Let pity plead; be generous, be just:
Recall my doom, and save thyself, sweet excellence!
From our curs'd foe, from treacherous, savage Mahomet,
Who now insulting claims thee for his bride.
47
Detested thought!
CORVINUS.
Prevent the hell I must
Endure to see thee in base Mahomet's arms.
Think what the rage of madness and despair,
Might make me do against us both.
PRINCESS.
No more:
I never will consent to such a sacrifice.
Oh! dire dishonour! wed a Turk! a murderer!
An Infidel! who Christian rites abhors!
When was this fatal proposition made?
CORVINUS.
Even now. Ambassadors attend the Council,
Demanding tribute, and thy hand in marriage,
For price of peace with their inhuman master:
And they will take thee hence this very day,
Unless thou give me sacred right to claim thee.
The coward Council all desert thy cause:
Except myself, Campestran, and Zilugo,
They are unanimous, sway'd by thy Uncle,
Basely to yield thee to this savage Prince.
PRINCESS.
The people will not: I'll appeal to them;
Invoke their justice, and implore their pity.
Let rank, and proud prerogative, desert me;
48
Still fearless will I urge my freeborn right,
And whilst with conscious virtue glows my breast,
As suff'ring now in their, and honour's, cause,
What more I fear'd, Heaven knows, than death itself,
I will dare hope that worthy, generous hearts
Will not be steel'd when helpless woman pleads.
Though human nature hastily may err,
And with rash judgment to oppression lean,
Mercy and Justice for a while be hush'd;
Their heavenly voice will not be silenc'd long,
But like the glorious Sun will burst the cloud,
Dispel the storm, and with more radiance shine.
A people truly brave are kind and just,
They will protect me till thy father comes.
CORVINUS.
Thy Uncle's emissaries sap their fealty:
Easily led, they to the palace fly
In crowds, and think this marriage their sole hope.
PRINCESS.
Has Heaven withdrawn its attributes from man?
Mercy and Justice, are they fled from earth?
Inhuman people! To devote me thus,
To such a wretch! A more than Moloch Sacrifice!
Let bold rebellion rear its fiend-like arm,
Belie the sacred oath of its allegiance,
And immolate that blood it swore to guard.
My life their swords may take; but to this marriage
Never will I consent; nor be the victim
Of a peace, inglorious and unsafe;
A peace that would dethrone my infant Brother,
And for his kingdom forge eternal chains;
Which crafty Mahomet, as my right, would claim.
Mercy and Justice, are they fled from earth?
Inhuman people! To devote me thus,
To such a wretch! A more than Moloch Sacrifice!
Let bold rebellion rear its fiend-like arm,
Belie the sacred oath of its allegiance,
And immolate that blood it swore to guard.
49
Never will I consent; nor be the victim
Of a peace, inglorious and unsafe;
A peace that would dethrone my infant Brother,
And for his kingdom forge eternal chains;
Which crafty Mahomet, as my right, would claim.
No! with the dauntless spirit of my race,
With firmness will I meet the coming storm.
'Tis but to die;—and for his Prince's welfare,
Bravely each soldier death defies; shall I,
With a dear Brother's cause conjoin'd, dare less
Than the poor peasant, for my anointed King?
With firmness will I meet the coming storm.
'Tis but to die;—and for his Prince's welfare,
Bravely each soldier death defies; shall I,
With a dear Brother's cause conjoin'd, dare less
Than the poor peasant, for my anointed King?
Leave me alone, to meet my dubious fate,
And in thy turn, abandon me, Cornivus!
From coward nobles, an ungrateful people,
From an insidious Uncle, take example.
And in thy turn, abandon me, Cornivus!
From coward nobles, an ungrateful people,
From an insidious Uncle, take example.
CORVINUS.
Honour and love forbid me to obey thee.
Campestran sanctifies, by his consent,
The only means that can from slavery save us.
When duty pleads my cause can love be silent?
Is there no gentle voice that moves thy heart,
To pity, and reward, my tried affection?
PRINCESS.
My hand to thee would be a fatal gift.
My Uncle seeks thine, and thy Father's ruin.
He envies your high fame, and dreads your power:
Were we united, some perfidious act,
50
Would for the victim of his hatred mark thee;
And thou might'st fall; or else, to guard thy life,
Thy sword must be unsheath'd against thy Sovereign;
Perhaps the crown thou from his brow might'st tear—
CORVINUS.
Canst thou suspect my faith? All that I ought
To promise, here I swear. Thy Brother's Throne,
His sacred Person, and his Rights inviolate,
My sword and life shall guard. Myself I must
Protect; but if I ever pass the bounds
Of self-defence against him, then may'st thou,
May Heaven desert me; may its vengeance strike me,
And by that hand which two-fold power would give it,
(Draws a dagger from his bosom.)
By thine—Take this, my honest pledge of faith;
If I invade thy Brother's Rights, or wink
When aught invades them, plunge it in my heart.
(He offers the dagger; the Princess turns aside and retires a step, he still offers the dagger.)
O trust my zeal, my honour, and my loyalty!
Reward my faithful love, or be this night
The Tyrant's Bride.
PRINCESS
(walking from Corvinus.)
What ought I to resolve?
I shrink with terrour from a fate so cruel;
What to avoid, or what to choose, I know not.
51
I know thy love, and I will trust thy honour.
Corvinus! I accept this horrid pledge.
(Takes the dagger.)
If thou betray thy King, know, in my right,
Thou ne'er shalt wear his crown. Great Albert's Daughter
Will use this dagger, as her Father ought,
Against herself, the Accomplice of thy crime,
If she should fail to guard his infant Son,
For giving Thee the power to shake his Throne.
(She puts the dagger into her bosom.)
CORVINUS.
I wish no empire but Agmunda's heart.
My love! my bride! sweet source of ev'ry joy!
My soul exults that thou, at last, art mine.
Devoted to thy cause, my zeal and loyalty
Shall show the rapturous gratitude I feel.
This instant must we plight our mutual faith.
(Corvinus opens the door on the North side of the altar, speaking to Campestran, who comes forward.)
Campestran waits to join our hands. Good father!
| Huniades ; or the Seige of Belgrade | |