University of Virginia Library

SCENE. II.

Enter King and a Gentleman.
King.
Dorenalus kill'd by a Mistake i'th' dark, and by Rheusanes?

Gent.
Here in the Gallery, Sir.

King.
Ghinotto fled to th'Army too?

Gent.
Yes, Sir.

King.
Arriv'd there?

Gent.

So writes my Brother, Sir; he has some small Employment
in your Forces, and thought it was his Duty to
inform your Majesty.

King.

Send to him either to seize or else dispatch the
Villain, and I'll preferr him for his Loyalty.

Gent.
I shall, Sir.

King.
Give order too Rheusanes be secur'd;
Let him not stir beyond the Princes's Lodgings:
Confine Ghinotto's Daughter too;
In the Anti-chamber keep her till I come.

Gent.
It shall be done, Sir.
[Exit Gent.

King.
'Tis good to make 'em sure:
Or let the worst my Fears can threaten come;
Let this Ghinotto with the Army march
Up to my Palace Gates; I easily can quell
The Rebel, if I accept his Daughter for my Bride;
But it must come to that e'er I comply or pardon:
If this man's Brother but dispatches him,
My Jealousy's releas'd.
Enter Oryala.
Oryala in Tears! The Cause which draws this Grief?

Ory.
The fatal Cause I ever fear'd and told you:
Rheusanes Scorn.

King.
Still stubborn?

Ory.
Not only still, but ever will be so;
Upon the Floor he past this tedious Night,
Sighing and mourning o'er Dorenalus;
Whom, his mistaking Arm, he said, destroy'd:
Muttering Revenge; repeating his Deserts,
And cursing the Ingratitude of's Prince.

King.
I do begin to apprehend him now;
And what Dorenalus by chance receiv'd,
I guess, was meant for me.
His Life is, to appease our Laws, requir'd,
Which our Prerogative can spare, if courted;
If not, for want of such Humility
I'll leave him to its rigid Persecution:
I'll humble his Resentments.

Ory.
Oh never, never!
His Woes are swell'd to that prodigious heap,
No Rage can terrify, no Vengeance hurt:
To die is what he sues for; He crav'd, ev'n now,
Some Judgment from the Gods, to separate
His united Sufferings; and finding that they
Did not mind him, swore, they seem'd asham'd,
And could inflict no more.

King.
Her Sorrows trouble me.

[Aside.
Ory.
What Pleasure could you take in such Revenge,
To ruin those who never did you Wrong?

King.
I cannot help my Purposes miscarriage,
But they design'd you well.

Ory.
Oh vain Excuse! you knew he was dispos'd of
To Ghinotto's Daughter, but loving her your self,
You put me on him as a Security
For your own Lust.

King.
Ha!

Ory.
If your hot Blood provok'd you to that height,
That a poor Virgin's Honour must allay't;
Rheusanes sure sufficient Plague had found,
In loosing her; but likewise to be ti'd
To what he loath'd; how could he bear that Weight?
Now I, like him, wish we had never met
And curse the unequal Usage of our Fate.

King.
She strikes my Conscience strangely.

[Aside.
Ory.
Look back upon the Ruines you have made,
And Curse the Will which has dethron'd your Goodness.

King.
I feel Reflections thronging on my Soul,
And Penitence is crowding for Admittance.

Ory.
What Reparation can you make her Vertue?
Or what Amends my Freedom, which you've sold?

King.
I will make Reparation; forbear Oryala!
And let Discretion act the careful Pilot,
To guide thee through this Tempest of Misfortunes:
Thy Wrongs into my Heart have shot my Sin,
And mark'd it for Destruction: Oh man!
Most liable to Vice, therefore most Beast!
When we desire, the Will runs headlong on,
Despising all Instructions of Forbearance;
But Oh! at last betray'd in the sure Snare;
That Will, that forward Will, which ruin'd us,
Converted by Regret to Thoughts impartial,
Too late considers and condemns it self.

Ory.
Think on some means to mitigate your Crimes,
Or your Soul's lost with your pernicious Life.

King.
Oryala, thy Vertues have prevail'd,
And made me see, with Shame, the want of mine:
But if our future Actions can repair,
What our foregoing Measures have disgrac'd,
Such Satisfaction for your Wrongs I'll make,
That every one their full Amends shall speak:
Confess,
That I can give no more, nor they can take.

Ory.
Impossible!

King.
Why dost thou court me to be good,
Yet doubt my Power?

Ory.
I fear 'twill not redress; Death, death I know
Must be my Sorrows Cure.

King.
Talk not of Death, we may live happy yet;
Monarchs Repentance never comes too late:
I'll send Rheusanes hither, you work on him,
And I'll contrive to soften Antelina:
But if our Propositions can't succeed,
'Tis I must die, I who have done this Deed;
My Death alone the mischief can remove;
Which wrong'd her Honour, and Rheusanes Love.

[Exit.
Ory.
He thinks his Flattery will beguile my Griefs;
But the Impression is too deeply cut;
I'm sure his Art will never eat it out:
Oh Rheusanes! Thou much belov'd,
And much of Misery, how wretched are our Fates!
Yet 'tis a Comfort to be Innocent:
If I in ought my self can guilty find,
'Tis loving him perversest of his Kind.

Enter Rheusanes.
Rheu.
Is there no End then of my Miseries?
My Heart's too stubborn for my Wrongs to break;
Nor will the King destroy his Enemy:
Oh Dorenalus! if that Saints can hear
The Intercessions of unhappy Mortals,
Implore the Assistance of the higher Powers,
To seal the Warrant of my Liberty.

Ory.
Rheusanes!

Rheu.
What are your Orders, Madam?

Ory.
Say rather my Desires, which entreat
A happy Reconcilement to your Love.

Rheu.
Alass, the King has ravish'd all my Love;
Nor have I for my self so much
As to preserve my Life.

Ory.
Hast thou no Pity then?

Rheu.
If your ill us'd Affection can desire
A wretched Share in a disorder'd Heart,
Command my Crimes immediate Punishment;
Let Death reward the merits of my Folly,
Which can despise the Offers of such Goodness,
And till I'm dead I'll bless the noble Mercy.

Ory.
Why? wouldst thou die then?

Rheu.
With as much Joy I would receive my Doom,
As the dishonour'd Antelina:
For since Dorenalus and she are lost,
There are no Plagues my Sufferings can receive,
To match the miseries of a Reprieve.

Ory.
Here then, Rheusanes, feast thy Scorn and Hate;
If thou wilt die, season thy Dagger first,
In the uneasy Bosom of Oryala.

[Offers him a Dagger.
Rheu.
Your cruel Fate, by all those Woes I grieve,
Could wish that Antelina you had been;
Or, that I'd Antelina never seen.

Ory.
Oh! talk not of her; her very Name,
Withers my Hopes, and blasts me with Despair.

Rheu.
All ours you did destroy.

Ory.
I did not, 'twas the King; had I but known
The evil meanings of his Soul, Rheusanes;
Or that my Fondness would have met this Usage,
I never had destroy'd my Peace or yours.

Rheu.
You knew I was engag'd.

Ory.
The more ungrateful and unjust, Rheusanes,
Knowing the merits of my Obligations:
Let my preceding Actions come in view;
The faithful Diligence my Love has us'd,
Particularly to advance your Cause,
Might easily perswade you my Designs
Courted your Inclinations to reward 'em.

Rheu.
I do acknowledge all my Honours yours,
Confess my self your Bounty's Creditor;
But my Endeavours in my Countries Service,
I hop'd in time might cancel all those Bonds.

Ory.
To th'King, but not to me:
Vertues when secret kept are none at all;
Kings know not, but by Favorites, who deserve:
Had not my Love encourag'd your Deserts,
By kind Entreaties to your Prince to try 'em,
Your Name had never conquer'd Antelina;
You had remain'd indifferent to the World.

Rheu.
Would I have liv'd a Stranger to it ever,
Since I want Power to recompence your Goodness.

Ory.
You do not want it.

Rheu.
Oh! I do; my Vows to Antelina bind my Heart;
And tho I never can be happy in her,
I hear her sighing to my Soul, take heed,
This Conference seems a Violation,
And she upbraids my Conscience for the Sufferance;
There is a strugling Contest in my Breast,
Even now betwixt my Love and Gratitude;
Both seize my Heart, and tugg for the Possession,
Let me depart, or it will split between 'em.

Ory.
Give me my Share then.

Rheu.
Divide it with thy Dagger.

Ory.
No, let thy Gratitude but combat for me;
Weigh but my Friendship, and I yet shall conquer.

Rheu.
It will not be; off, or I must be rude.

Ory.
Thus I release thee then, and right my self.

[Stabs her self.
Rheu.
Oh! whither has thy barbarous Honour led thee?

Ory.
To everlasting Freedom; my tedious Lease of Life
Is out, and I shall groan beneath thy Scorn no more.

Rheu.
Why wouldst thou do thus rashly?

Ory.
Why wouldst thou hate so long?

Rheu.
Heaven might have chang'd the purpose of my Soul,
For certainly thy Faith had wondrous merit.

Ory.
Not equal to thy Antelina's tho;
Yet I have got the start of her in Love,
And in Rheusanes cause I perish first.

Rheu.
Oh Nature! lend a Life to mend this Breach,
And Death shall have a Thousand in its room;
I'll heal it with my own.

[He snatches the Dagger: She holds him.
Ory.
Forbear, I do conjure thee,
By thy Antelina hold thy fatal Arm:
Oh Rheusanes! my Lord, my Life, my Husband
And my Soul.

Rheu.
What would my dear Vexation?

Ory.
When Fate shall Summon thee to leave this Life,
Give order that thy Bones may fleep with mine;
Though we have lived at distance in this World,
I hope we shall be nearer in the next.

Rheu.
Curse on my froward Soul.

Ory.
Oh do not curse thy self my Senses Blessing,
Believe I loved you, I desire no more.

Rheu.
Too sadly you have engaged my Credit.

Ory.
May Heaven be Judge 'twixt me and Antelina,
And give Rheusanes to the best deserving:
Oh! I'm going, the light of Peace is glimmering
On my Soul, and Heaven is in its view; give
Me thy Hand, or thou wilt lose thy Way.

[Dies.
Rheu.
Stay then, Oh stay,
Thou mighty Sufferer, in the cross Paths, which lead
Our giddy Souls to everlasting Joy or Woe:
Stay to direct me; the Soul is out of call,
I'll not be long behind thee; the King, the King,
Who has done all this mischief must give me Death:
For him my Friend was in the dark destroy'd;
By him my Love was barbarously enjoy'd;
By him this worthy Princess was betray'd;
By him my Honours in Disgrace are laid;
By him then let these Debts to Heaven be paid:
For since he only can be tryed by you,
Do Justice, or, like him, you'll want it too.
[Exit Rheusanes.