University of Virginia Library

Scene 6.

Ula. Ire. Front. Mir. Officers and Souldiers. Fight.
Front.
Ha! Who art thou so young, yet do'st such wonders,
Thou art truly Brave by Heav'n.

Mir.
So Brave, that 'tis a most Opprobrious shame
That he should poorly be opprest by Odds:
My Lord, give orders that your Men retire,
I am alone sufficient.

(Advancing.
Front.
Hold Kinsman, Miramont I charge thee hold.

Ul.
Ha! Miramont!

Mir.
Yes, what hast thou to say to Miramont?

Ul.
Come on, and twice in one Revolving Sun
Receive thy Life from me.

Mir.
Ha! my Preserver?
These are the only Arms I'll use with thee;
(Embraces
Resign thy Sword, and thy Defence to me:
This is Count Frontenac our Captain General,
Allied to me in Blood, allied in Soul,
Dearer then all Relations as my Friend,
And I have made Him Swear my Brave Deliverer
Should be both Safe and Free.

Ul.
This morning by thy Looks I thought thee Honest,
And in thy words a Generous Mind appears,
How comes it that thou Vilely could'st descend
To share the Guilt of this Perfidious act?

Mir.
I share it not,
For I return'd not to attack the Angians,
But to deliver thee:
Know I detested this Perfidious Deed;
But what can one against a Multitude,
Or the Commands of Arbitary sway?
Our General too detests it in his Heart.

Ul.
And yet performs it? What a Riddle's this?

Front.
I dare not disobey Superiour Pow'r.

Ul.
In all new France no Pow'r excells thy own.

Front.
From Europe the severe Command arriv'd.

Ul.
But why this odious Treason?

Front.
Thrice have I orders from the Court receiv'd,
To spare no Force, nor Art, nor Cost, nor Fraud
To seize upon the General of the Angians.

Ul.
Ha! Wherefore?

Front.
'Tis He's the furious Thunderbolt of War,
That maks th' unconquer'd Iroquois so dreadful,
To us more Mortal then a General Plague,
Consumes our Colonies, destroys our Men,
Slaughters our faithful Friends and our Allies;
Nay Vows t' Extirpate all the Gallick Race;
Their very Memories, and their Names from Canada.

Ul.
D'ost thou know Him!

Front.
His Deeds have made him, too much known to France,
But for his Face, I never yet beheld it,
Yet by the Angians obstinate defence
Before this place: I thought to have found him here,
Thou may'st discover where he lies conceal'd,
For the other Slaves are obstinately Dumb.

Ul.
What would'st thou with him?

Front.
When I have got him in my Pow'r, he dies,
For so my Orders from the Court require,
And I have Sworn, he shall not Live an hour.

Ul.
Then rashly hast thou Sworn, and thou art Perjur'd.

Front.
Presumtuous Boy!

Ul.
Yes, thou art Perjur'd
For thou hast Sworn to thy Relation there,
The General of the Angians shou'd be free.

Front.
Yet more presumptuous!
Would'st thou, who art not old enough to serve;
Would thou pretend to lead an Army?

Ul.
Yes;
They whom the Gods Inspire are ne're too young,
And they have set up me, to save my Country;
And drive out Tyrants, from this Indian World.

Front.
I see thou hast a Soul above thy years,
And that exalted Soul must scorn a Lye;
Thou art the General then, since thou hast said it,
Here take him Guards, and lead him to his Fate.

Mir.
Confusion! Hold there! What do you mean my Lord?

Front.
I mean to take his Life.

Mir.
But that you must not.

Front.
How; must not?

Mir.
No; shall not, dare not.

Front.
And who dares hinder me? I here am Absolute.

Mir.
You have given your solemn Oath, and dare not break it.

Front.
I had given the King my Solemn word before:
I'st not the Kings Command?

Mir.
No, 'tis unjust, the King can do no Wrong:
He who Commands injustice, is no King;
Nor are we bound t' Obey.

Front.
Always a Male-content!

Mir.
Am I alone?
Are there not Thousands here in Caneda?
O would you kearken to great Natures call.

Front.
Away! I hear thee not,
But for this Angian, instantly he dies
Take him away there.

Mir.
The Dog who first lays hold of him shall Perish;
As long as I have Life, I will defend him.

Front.
Hold there!
That Life is forfeited if I wou'd take it;
But fondly thou presum'st upon my Love.
Ungrateful Miramont! Art thou my Friend?
Who seek'st my Infamy, who seek'st my Ruin?

Mir.
I seek your Honour.

Front.
My Honour! mind your own.

Mir.
I will, I do:
Whose Honour here is more concern'd than mine;
Depending on your Faith, I gave my Honour
To see this Noble youth both Safe and Free;
And 'twas the trust that he repos'd in that.
Made him deliver up his Sword to me:
I have giv'n my Honour, and I will maintain it;
And yours, tho' you neglect it.

Front.
Ha! have a care!

Mir.
I will have no care; here take my Life,
'Tis that I know you Thirst for, and 'tis yours.

Front.
I am but too tender of it.

Mir.
To tenderness thy Souls an utter Stranger:
He tender of my Life, who takes my Honour!

Front.
Upon thy Life no more? Come yet I am thy Friend.

Mir.
You never were.

Front.
O thou wilt Rouse the Lyon till he tears thee.

Mir.
Here let him tear me! What's this wretched Breast,
Without the unsullied Jewel, of the which
You basely would deprive it.

Front.
Ha! Am I then defy'd, here Seize him Guards,
Kill him if he Resists: Hold, Gods he Bleeds!

Mit.
Yes, 'tis the Blood so oft I've shed for you.

Front.
It is indeed; that thought coolls all my rage:
What woulst thou have at last? My utter ruine?
Come, thou shalt have thy wish.
But wilt thou then believe I am thy Friend?

Mir.
How can you think that he desires your Ruine,
Who has so oft shed his best Blood to serve you;
No, I will die before I will see that;
Nay he shall die too:
But come my Lord, consider e're you act;
Behold this noble Youth with all your Eyes,
Reflect upon his Worth, survey his Person.

Front.
I have consider'd all.

Mir.
Is not his Courage more than common?

Front.
Heroick.

Mir.
His Magnanimity?

Front.
Godlike.

Mir.
His Person?

Front.
The pleasure of my Eyes;
And were he not my Country's mortal Foe:
How I could doat on such uncommon worth.

Mir.
Come, come, my Lord, your Country's Foes are they,
Who trample under foot its Native Rights:
Not they who Fight against Tyrannick Sway;
But all this while this Fair one we neglect:
Yet She is Fair—

Front.
A Miracle of Beauty;

Mir.
And seems to have a Soul above her Sex:
Look how her mournful Eyes move melting pity!
In which the greatness of her mind appears,
That strugles to repress her mighty Woe;
So soft, so young, so tender; yet so firm!
By her this wretched Youth should be a Lover.
Is She thy Mistriss or thy Wife?

Ul.
Oh thou hast found a way to break my Heart;
This stubborn Heart which Fate could not subdue!
For when I think of what She undergoes,
In my tumultous Breast it sinks and dies.

Mir.
Is she thy Mistriss or thy Wife? Nay speak.

Ul.
Oh cruel Fate! Was ever Woe like mine?
Alas! She's both my Mistriss and my Wife

Mir.
We are no strangers to the Pow'r of Love,
Nor to the Grief that hapless Love attends;
We know how Cruel 'tis, to be thus torn
From all that's precious to our Bleeding Hearts;
And shall we inflict those piercing woes on others?
My Lord, my Lord, by powerful Love I charge you,
Whose Captive you have been, and yet remain,
Or is the Object of your Flame forgot?

Front.
O Never, never shall she be forgot!

Mir.
Then by great Love, whose Captive you remain,
I here conjure you, spare this Captive pair;
By the remembrance of that Lovely Object,
By all the Bliss you Enjoy'd with her so long;
By all your bitter Woe for her sad Loss,
And by those sighs you now profoundly draw
From your sad Heart, th' Exhaustless source of Woe.

Front.
O Miramont forbear, my Friend forbear,
Thou hast rouz'd the Vultour slumbering in my Breast,
That gnaws my Heart asunder.

Mir.
If Seperations hard to you my Lord,
Who long possest the Darling of your Heart,
And who from Life's Meridian now decline;
What must it be to him, whose Youthful Blood
Feels all the stings, of violent Desire?
To him my Lord, to whom Possessions new;
He and his Wife, in their first Charming Bloom,
Can never have Enjoy'd each other long,
How long hast thou been Marry'd?

Ul.
Ye Gods, ye Gods, let me not think of it!

Mir.
Nay answer me, I ask it but to serve thee.

Ul.
Thou seest that I am ready for my Fate;
But let me Dye, as I have Liv'd, a Man,
For thou wilt make a Woman of me,
This very fatal Ev'ning joyn'd our Hands.

Mir.
This night! this very night! O Earth and Heav'n,
I'st possible? No ne're was Woe like thine!
Thy Wife is then a Virgin, yet untouch'd,
And that thou Lov'st her more than Life it self,
Thy ardent, and thy melting Eyes declare:
Thou for this Night perhaps hast languish'd long,
Or long hast been upon the painful Wreck,
Been tost Alternately, from eager hope
To Mortal fear; from Fear to Hope again,
And we surpriz'd thee in the last Impatience;
Eager for Bliss, and panting to the Goal;
And must Death cut off all thy charming Hope,
Ev'n in th' enchanting height of Expectation?
This is unheard of, this is monstrous Cruelty.
Come, you must melt, my Lord, you shall, you do,
We shall not else be look'd upon as Men;
As men, the very Lyon and the Tyger
Wou'd be less Barbarous, would be less Inhumane,
And here's a sight, that in their Savage breasts
Might raise a tender sense of humane Woe.

Front.
This is indeed deplorable.

Mir.
My Lord, my Lord, you utterly forget,
That we our selves have Wives and Children too,
That languish if they Live in hard Captivity,
Tho' where we know not; yet the Powr's above
Behold them, and prepare with dreadful Plagues
To visit our Crimes upon their Innocence,
And all th' injustice, and the crying Cruelty
Which we inflict on this unhappy Pair,
On those poor Innocents will be Reveng'd!

Front.
I'll hear no more;
For thou wilt melt me, to my Ruin Miramont;
And these by my Distruction thou would'st Save;
Thou know'st the Kings Commands are most severe.

Mir.
And most unjust.
But Arbitrary Kings, are always Slaves
To Interest: their Implicit grand Command
To all their Subjects, is to advance that,
To which all Orders are suppos'd to tend;
But 'tis the apparent Interest of the King,
To spare this Valiant Youth, which when you shew.

Front.
But how can I shew that?

Mir.
Why would the King destroy him?

Front.
Once more I tell thee;
Because he is his Mortal Foe declar'd,
And is besides the universal Soul
That warms, and moves, and animates these Nations,
T' oppose his vast Designs, whom when they loose
The very Spirit, that supports them gone.

Mir.
If he declares for us, they loose him more
Than if he Dies; because we gain him then.

Front.
But he's too Lofty, and too Fierce for that,
He'll ne're declare for us.

Mir.
(apart)
I would not have him, but I must gain time,
Which if I compass, I may yet preserve him
[To Front.]
Not Instantly; His Souls too great for that;
But give him time my Lord.

Front.
The English may return, the Angians Rally,
And then, he may be wrested from our hands;
How shou'd I answer that?

Mir.
Before the Morning they can ne're return;
Give him till point of Day, and let this Fair one
Try her persuasive Pow'r.

Front.
Captain?

Offi.
My Lord!

Front.
The Charge of these two Prisoners must be yours;
But keep your Guard, for Half an Hour at distance;
That their Discourse may not be overheard
If in that time he will declare for us,
Let him be left here with his Beauteous Bride;
But place a guard without that may protect them.
If he refuses, bring him strait to me
And her Convey to th' other Female Captives.
Now Angian, Life or Death are in thy choice;
If thou wilt Swear t' embrace our Interests,
A Glorious Instrument thou mayst become
To make these Nations Subject to our Sway,
And then thou shalt be Happy, shalt be great,
And under us Rule all th' Jroquian Tribes:
If thou Refusest thou shalt surely Die.