The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie Complete in One Volume |
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| II. |
| III. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. | SCENE III. |
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 | The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie |  |
SCENE III.
A crowded amphitheatre: Nero and the senators discovered in the background sitting in state; Portia, by the side of Nero, in the act of supplication.Enter Sulpicius on the front, meeting with another noble Roman.
Sul.
(eagerly).
Is he advancing?
Noble Roman.
Yes, and close at hand,
Surrounded by a group of martial friends.
Oft have I seen him on a day of battle
March to the charge with noble portly gait;
But now he treads the ground with buoyant steps
Which from its surface spring, as though he press'd
Substance of renovating power. His form
Seems stately and enlarged beyond its wont;
And in his countenance, oft turn'd to heaven,
There is a look as if some god dwelt in him.
Sul.
How do the people greet him?
Noble Roman.
Every face
Gazing upon him, turns, with transit quick,
Pity to admiration. Warlike veterans
Are shedding tears like infants. As he pass'd
The legion he commanded in Armenia,
They raised a shout as if a victor came,
Saluting him with long and loud applause,
None daring to reprove them.
[Noise without of shouting.
Hark! he comes.
Enter Cordenius, followed by Orceres and Sylvius, and attended by other friends, with guards, &c.
Sul.
(advancing eagerly to meet him).
Cordenius, Cordenius, hear a friend,
A faithful ancient friend; thy Portia's father!
At Nero's footstool she is pleading for thee,
And will not plead in vain, if thou wilt testify
A yielding mind, a willingness to live.
Cor.
I am so pleased to die, and am so honour'd
In dying for the pure and holy truth,
That nature's instinct seems in me extinguish'd.
But if the Emperor freely pardon me,
I shall believe it is the will of God
That I should yet on earth promote His service,
And, so believing, am content to live;
Living or dying, to His will resign'd.
Enter Portia on the front, and catching hold of Cordenius with eagerness and great agitation.
Portia.
Cordenius, thou art pardon'd! Nero spares thee,
If thou wilt only say thou art a Roman,
In heart and faith, as all thy fathers were,
Or but forbear to say thou art a Christian.
Cor.
Thanks, gentle Portia! life preserved by thee,
E'en to be spent in want and contumely,
Rather than grieve thy kind and tender heart,
My dearest, gentlest friend! I had accepted:
But to deny my God, and put dishonour
Upon the noblest, most exalted faith
That ever was to human thoughts reveal'd,
A noble Roman, and a soldier too,
I dare not do. Let Nero have this answer.
Portia.
No, not this answer, Maro; not this answer!
Cast not life from thee, dear, most dear Cordenius!
Life, too, which I should spend my life in cheering,
Cast it not from thee like a worthless thing.
Cor.
Because it is not worthless but most precious,
And now, when dear to thee, more precious far
Than I have e'er esteem'd it, 'tis an offering
More meet for God's acceptance;
Withheld from Him, not even thyself, sweet maid,
Couldst cheer its course, nor yet couldst thou be happy.
Portia.
Nay, but I could!—to see thee still alive,
And by my side, mine own redeemed friend,
Should I not then be happy?
Cor.
I should be by thy side, dear love! but thou,
With all thy excellence, couldst have no happiness,
Mated with one, whose living form alone
Could move upon the earth, while far adrift
His mind would dwell by ceaseless meditation,
In other worlds of blessedness or woe;
Lost to the one, and to the other link'd
By horrid sympathy, till his wrench'd nature
Should to a demon's fell and restless spirit
At last be changed.
Portia.
Alas, alas! and dost thou then believe
That nought remains for thee but death or misery?
Cor.
No, gentle Portia! firmly I believe
That I shall live in endless happiness,
And with the blest hereafter shall behold
Thy blessed self with ecstasy of love,
Exceeding every thought of earth-born passion,
As the fair morning star in lovely brightness
Excels a night-fly, twinkling through the gloom.
Live in this hope, dear Portia! hold it fast;
And may His blessing rest upon thy head,
Who loves the loving and the innocent!
Farewell, in love and hope! farewell, in peace!
Farewell, in quick'ning faith,—in holy joy!
Portia
(clasping his knees).
Nay, let me yet conjure thee!
Make me not wretched, I who once was happy,
And happiest of all in loving thee.
Cor.
This is my anguish and my suffering!
O, good Sulpicius, bear her to her home.
Sul.
(leading her gently away, while she still clings to him).
Forbear, my child, thy tears are all in vain.
Enter a Lictor.
Lictor.
Cæsar forbids all further interruption
To his imperial sentence. Let Cordenius
Forthwith prepare him for the fatal fight.
This is mine office, and I must perform it.
[Begins to disrobe Cordenius, while Portia shrieks aloud, and is carried off in the arms of her father.
Disrobe thee, Maro, of those martial weeds.
Cor.
Gladly! for Him I serve;—my glorious Master
Hath braced me with an armour that defies
All hostile things; in which I'll strive more proudly
Than I have ever fought in field or breach
With Rome's or Nero's foes.
Lictor.
Cæsar desires thee also to remember,
That no ignoble audience, e'en thy Emperor,
And all the states of Rome, behold thy deeds.
Cor.
Tell him my deeds shall witness'd be by those
Compared to whom the Emperor of Rome,
With all her high estates, are but as insects
Hov'ring at mid-day o'er some tainted marsh.
I know full well that no ignoble audience
Are present, though from mortal eyes conceal'd.
Farewell, my friends! kind, noble friends, farewell!
[Apart to Sylvius, while Orceres goes off, re-appearing in another part of the theatre.
Sylvius, farewell! If thou shouldst e'er be call'd
To die a holy martyr for the truth,
God give thee then the joy which now I feel.
But keep thy faith conceal'd, till useful service
Shall call thee to maintain it. God be with thee!
(Looking round.)
Where is Orceres gone? I thought him near me.
Sylvius.
'Tis but a moment since he left thy side
With eager haste.
Cor.
He would not see my death. I'm glad he's gone.
Say I inquired for him, and say I bless'd him.
—Now I am ready. Earthly friends are gone.
Angels and blessed spirits! to your fellowship
A few short pangs will bring me.
—O, Thou, who didst upon the cross for us
A willing suff'rer die, receive my soul!
Almighty God and Sire, supreme o'er all,
Pardon my sins and take me to Thyself!
Accept the last words of my earthly lips:
High hallelujah to Thy holy name!
[A lion now appears, issuing from a low door at the end of the stage, and Cordenius, advancing to meet it, enters the arena, when Orceres from a lofty stand amongst the spectators, sends an arrow from his bow, which pierces Cordenius through the heart. He then disappears, and re-entering below, catches hold of his hand as Sylvius supports him from falling to the ground.
Or.
(to Cordenius).
Have I done well, my friend?—this is a death
More worthy of a Roman.
I made a vow in secret to my heart,
For gazing crowds and Nero's ruthless eye.
Sylvius.
That dying look, which almost smiles upon thee,
Tells thee thou hast done well; though words no more
May pass from these clos'd lips, whose last, bless'd utterance
Was the soul's purest and sublimest impulse.
[The curtain drops.
For the better understanding of different allusions in the foregoing drama. I beg to transcribe a few passages from Fox's History of Martyrs, taken from Book I., which contains an account of the ten persecutions of the primitive church.
He says, on the authority of Justin Martyr,—“And whether earthquake, pestilence, or whatever public calamity befell, it was attributed to the Christians;” (then is added) “over and beside all these, a great occasion that stirred up the emperors against the Christians came by one Publius Tarquinius, the chief prelate of the idolatrous sacrifices, and Mamertinus, the chief governor of the city, in the time of Trajanus, who, partly with money, partly with sinister, pestilent counsaile, partly with infamous accusations, (as witnesseth Nauclerus,) incensed the mind of the emperor so much against God's people.”
In the account of the third persecution (AN. 100, Eustasius, a great and victorious captain, is mentioned as suffering martyrdom, by order of the Emperor Adrian, who went to meet him on his return from conquest over the barbarians, but, upon Eustasius's refusing on the way to do sacrifice to Apollo for his victory, brought him to Rome and had him put to death.
In the fourth persecution (AN. 162), it is mentioned that many Christian soldiers were found in the army of Marcus Aurelius:—
“As these aforesaid were going to their execution, there was a certain souldiour who in their defence took part against those who rayled upon them, for the which cause the people crying out against him, he was apprehended, and being constant in his profession, was forthwith beheaded.”
In the persecutions of Decius, several soldiers are mentioned as martyrs, some of whom had before concealed their faith: and in the tenth persecution, Mauritius, the captain of the Theban band, with his soldiers, to the number of 6666 (a number probably greatly exaggerated), are recorded as having been slain as martyrs by the order of Maximinian.
Tertullian, in his Apology for the Christians, mentions the slanderous accusations against them, of putting to death children and worshipping an ass's head. And when we consider how fond the ignorant are of excitement, arising from cruel, absurd, and wonderful stories, and how easily a misap-prehended and detached expression may be shaped by conjecture into a detailed transaction, such accusations were very probable and might be naturally expected; particularly when the unoffending meekness of their behaviour made supposed hidden atrocities more necessary for the justification of their persecutors.
| The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie | |