 | The Orphan of China |  |
SCENE VII.
Gengis, Octar, Osman.Osman.
The sacrifice, my Liege, was just prepar'd,
And the guards rang'd in order all around;
But an event, which I expected not,
Demands new orders, and suspends his fate:
A woman all-distract, and bath'd in tears.
Came raving to the guard with out-stretch'd arms;
And pierc'd our ears with her alarming cries.
Stop, 'tis my son you would assassinate:
'Tis my son; they deceive you in the victim.
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Her face, her voice, her cries, and exclamations,
Her rage, intrepid in the midst of grief,
Were the plain marks of nature and a mother.
But then, at our command, appear'd her husband,
Not less distress'd and wretched than herself,
But dark, and all-collected in his grief:
You have, he cried, the last of all our kings,
Strike, that's the child whose blood was your demand.
His eyes, while thus he spoke, ran o'er with tears:
The woman, struck with horror at his words,
Long time remain'd without speech, life, or motion;
But she no sooner felt returning life,
Than, O my son! restore my son! she cry'd.
Griefs so sincere were never counterfeit,
Such bitter tears delusion never shed.
Doubt and confusion overwhelm'd us all,
And here I came to know your dread commands.
Gengis.
I shall discover this weak artifice,
And who deceives me surely feels my vengeance:
What? would this race of slaves delude their Lord?
And must their blood begin to stream again?
Octar.
This woman cannot baffle your high prudence.
The Emp'ror's infant offspring was her care;
Fond of her master's children, love and grief
And fond enthusiasm equals nature.
Her grief so unaffected aids th'imposture:
But soon discovering her hidden purpose,
This cloud of darkness shall clear up before you.
Gengis.
What is this woman?
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Wife, they say, my Lord,
To a grave chief, one of those letter'd sages
All Asia treats with rev'rence and respect;
Who proud of th'honours of their sacred laws,
Upon their vain tribunal dar'd to brave
A hundred kings. Their croud's innumerable;
But now they're all in chains, and own the force
Of laws more sovereign. This haughty slave
Is Zamti call'd, who o'er the infant watch'd
Due to the sacrifice.
Gengis.
Examine them,
And make this guilty pair confess the truth.
Moreover let our guards, their post preserv'd,
Watch, where our prudent caution lately plac'd them.
Let none escape: they talk of a surprise,
And some attempt from Corea. Soldiers too
Upon the river-banks have late been seen.
See, if these wretches will provoke their fate,
And rouze the sleeping lion from his den:
See, if while earth owns Gengis for its Lord,
The rebel world must groan beneath his sword.
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