University of Virginia Library

ACT. III.

SCENE the flat Pallace.
Enter Cassandra, Astianax, Selena, and Acestes.
Ast.
Methinks, Dear Aunt, there's an Unusual Smile
Sits on your Cheeks I never saw before!

Cass.
No, sweet Astianax?

Ast.
From what strange Cause
Are all these Looks of Joy!

Cass.
Can I want Joys
When I but look on thee; to think I have rais'd
One virtuous Branch from Priam's sickly Root.
Can I be less then pleas'd and charm'd see,
Thy Manly Soul out-strip thy Infant Years.
Thou best fair hope of Troy.

Ast.
These Joys for Me!
No, Madam, no; Me you see every day:
Nor need you wonder at my forward Spring,
When warm'd to Virtue by Divine Cassandra.—
No, there's some other Cause for all these Smiles:
May I not know that Cause, and share your Joys?

Cass.
I prithee do not ask it.

Ast.
Why?

Cass.
Perhaps 'tis more—

Ast.
Then You dare trust me with. Is this young Breast
Too weak a Cabinet, or too unworthy?

Cass.
Nay, say not so, Astianax.

Ast.
I must think so,
When you have Joys you can conce I from me.
Besides to go abroad at this late hour,
And neither tell me where, nor take me with you,
Is so unkind—

Cass.
Alas, my sweet Astianax,
I am going to perform an Evening Sacrifice
T'appease the Gods, and stop the fate of Troy.

Ast.
Nay, take me with you then: I can pray too.
Young tho' I am I know there's a high Heav'n,
The Powr's that light the Day, and rule the World:
And taught by you my Knees can bend like yours;
Do, take me with you then.

Cass.
No more, Young Prince;
You press too far.

Ast.
Nay, then I'll ask no more.

Cass.
Here, good Acestes, and the kind Selena,
For your long faithful Services, I'll trust you
With this Rich Jewel, the best Wealth of Troy.
Here take him to your Care, protect him, cherish him;
Guard him more dearly then your Lives.

Ast.
Hold Madam
You are not taking sure so long a Journey,
That you need leave so strict a Charge behind ye.
What need they Cherish me when I have you
My kind Protectress?

Acest.
If those faithful Services
You are pleas'd to find in us, deserve this Favour,
Let me once more upon my bended Knees,
Implore that Suit you have so long denyed me:
I love the fair Selena, and I think
she hates not me: Oh give her to my Arms!
And Crown our Nuptial Joys.

Cass.
I must confess
That Suit I have long denyed thee. But believe me
It was my Love denyed thee. This dear Favourite
I prize too high to lose.

Acest.
Wou'd she be lost,
Were she made mine! No, that wou'd rather bind us
If possible, more zealous to your Service.
The Crowning of our Loves wou'd cheer our Duty,
No Knee too low to bend to such a Mistress.

Cass.
Acestes, no; when thine, she's mine no more.
Nought but a Virgin Train attends Cassandra.
However, to reward your faithful Loves,
Wait but the Hour till I am call'd to Heav'n
Then take the little Wealth I leave behind me
A Dowry with her Love, and seal her thine.

Selen.
Oh let me kiss the Earth on which you tread
To pay my Thanks to so Divine a Goodness.

Acest.
Must my slow Joys wait till she's call'd to Heav'n!
She's half there already: Some kind Mercury
Post down and fetch the other half.

Cass.
Here, Selena,
Take this young Charge once more. But when I give him thee,
Let me bequeath him with one parting Kiss,
And one soft falling Tear.

Ast.
This is too kind.

Cass.
Good night, my sweet Astianax.—
Oh 'tis a long long Night! A Night! Ah, no,
A long Immortal Day—Yes, great Diana,
'Tis there I go to shine in endless Joy,
An Orient Light to guild the Crown of Troy.
But oh that Angel Innocence!
The only Charm
[looking back to Astianax
That draws me back to Earth! A long farewell.
For one Look more let my weak Eyes turn back.
I must look down from Heav'n the next I take.

[Exeunt severally
SCENE the Grecian Camp.
Enter at one Door Phorbas at the Head of a Party of Guards, as a Night Watch. Enter at the other Door Ulysses.
Phor.
Stand, who comes there.

Ulyss.
A Friend!

Phorb.
My Lord Ulysses?

Ulyss.
Phorbas!
How hast thou past the Night!

Phor.
As Vigilance
And Zeal should pass it, Sir, thus nobly posted
The Guards of sleeping Majesty.

Ulyss.
Sleeping Majesty?
Do's the Immortal Jove sleep o'er his Forge of Thunder?
Is this a sleeping time for a Crown'd Head
So near his finisht Vengeance! When before
The Sands of one more Midnight Glass is run,
Troy's Head shall shine wrapt round with Grecian Fires.
But see the King.

Enter Menelaus.
King.
Oh my best Friend and Champion,
How am I Charm'd to think thy Glorious Counsels
Now draw so nigh their Executing Blow?
When wild Ambition strikes with th'Arm of Fate,
The dire Destroyer sure some Pity takes
Of the too Barbarous streaming Wounds he makes.
But when Revenge Burns, Massacres, Destroys,
It gives me Raptures; mine are Bridegroom's Joys.

Ulyss.
Yes, Sir, The Glorious Hymeneal Night draws on,
When Troy's bright Ruin, and your brighter Vengeance
Join in one Blazing Nuptial Fire—Before
The Morning Star Rise twice—

King,
Troy sets for ever.

Enter Neoptolemus.
Neopt.
Great Sir, Your Guards have seiz'd a Trojan Spy;
A Female Wanderer, stol'n by the Covert
And Shrowd of Night ev'n to your Royal Tent.
Her Name she wou'd conceal; but her known Face
Speaks her the Virgin Prophetess of Troy.

King.
The fair Cassandra! Bring her to our Presence:
That Divine Maid, she whose ev'n single Virtue
Bears that Immortal Price, enough, if possible,
T'atone the guilt of Troy, and save her sinking!
Is she the Spy so near us?
Enter Cassandra Guarded.
Royal Virgin,
This Treacherous Visit at this Midnight Hour,
Is it an Office worthy of the Veins,
Or Virtue of Cassandra?

Cass.
Worthy Both.
To shield a Father and betray a Foe,
And save a Bleeding Country, is an Office
Worthy the Veins of Gods: And 'tis the Glory
Of Priam's Daughter, that this mighty Work
She has this Night perform'd.

Ulyss.
Hast thou perform'd it!

Cass.
Beyond my very Wish. Thy Plots, great Statesman,
Thy Arts, thy Engines, now lye all before me.
Whither by Troy's protecting Genius led,
Or what Diviner Guide, I have penetrated
Int' all thy dark Cabals, your whole false Face of Peace,
Your feign'd Retreat, and your returning Fury.
But Oh! I fly, dear Troy, thy blest Deliverer;
Nor think the Infidel World shall now be Deaf
To th'unbeleiv'd Cassandra—No, I'll preach Heav'n no more,
I'll give them Earthly Reasons, Demonstration,
Proof, Ocular Proof. I'll Court their Ears no more,
But give their Eyes my Oracles.

King.
Hold, Cassandra;
Thy Transport runs too far. Thou sing'st thy Triumph
Before thou hast half Conquer'd—Do'st thou not know
Thy Life is my Hands?

Ulyss.
A Life so Forfeited!
A Spy! A Midnight Theif! That Abject Thing!
That Honour, Justice, the whole Law of Arms
Has not even one Poor single Beam of Mercy
To save thee from thy Fate.

King.
Know'st thou all this,
Yet, talk'st with such an Emphasis!

Cass.
I know
My Life is in thy Pow'r. This Dang'rous Spy,
A Grave indeed may hush. But if I live
Troy lives; her guarded Safety, shielded Glory:
Yes King, thy baffled Hopes, discover'd Mines,
And all thy whole defeated Vengeance—

King.
Now I can hear no more—Begone—away with her.
Yet hold, Officious Slaves.

Ulyss.
How Sir!

King.
Where am I going!

Ulyss.
To punish Treason, check insulting Insolence,
And do a Noble Justice to your Self
And all Mankind.

King.
Ah no, Ulysses:
What will the World say of me!

Ulyss.
Say, Sir!

King.
When I shall dip my too unmanly Vengeance
In a poor Virgin's Blood. Stain'd with that Crimson;
Those Veins, those Virtues, that all Angel Piety
My too ignoble Sacrifice!

Cass.
Oh King,
I read a melting Pity in thy Eyes,
And thou wilt bid me Live.—Thou generous Enemy,
In Gratitude for such a Gift as Life,
I'll pay thee back thy Thanks, in thy—Confusion.
Yes, my Dear Troy, 'tis not a Bribe of Life,
Nor Lure of Mercy, that can draw me off
From thy Protection; and thy Foes Destruction.—
No, King, hither I came thy Sworn Destroyer,
And must return without one shrinking Nerve
In the great Cause that brought me: Troy's bright Head
Shall be, uprais'd above thy feeble Vengeance,
And the low Grecian Shame trod down to Dust.

King.
By all my Glories, this Illustrious Bravery,
Thy dauntless Courage and unshaken Loyalty,
Have set thee fairer in my dazled Eyes,
Than all my Charms of Vengeance. Troy in Flames,
And dying Helen's Groans, not half the Musick
Of such all-charming Virtue—Hast, away with her.

Ulyss.
Yes, Slaves, to Death, to Death.—

King.
No, black Ulysses,
To Liberty and Life.

Ulyss.
What says the King!

King.
What a King's Honour says. Take this fair Charge,
And Guard her as you would your darling Lives,
Back to her Troy, safe to her Fathers Arms.

Ulyss.
Oh Sir! What blind Infatuation Reigns,
To let such Danger live.

King.
By all thy Fears
She lives and lives Immortal,

Ulyss.
Oh consider—
To save that Life!

King.
Be thou thy self her Judge.
What has she done that can deserve to dye?
She loves her Country, hates her Enemies,
Would save a Father, Guard her Native Kingdom,
As thou and I, and all great Souls wou'd do.
Oh Statesman! Statesman! Were thy poorer Veins,
But to one Spark of such true Glory born,
How wou'd'st thou Copy that Divine Original?

Ulyss.
Oh Sir! You wander from your Darling safety.
If Death's a Fate too gentle, keep her safe
Immur'd in Chains, secur'd in Shades and Darkness.

King.
Her Chains, vile Chains! Nor Jayls nor Graves, Barbarian.
Free as the Air, and unconfin'd as Light,
By all my Hopes, not one rude Hand shall touch
A single Hair of that Celestial Head.

Cass.
Now Troy thou art lost Indeed!—Oh great Diana
Where's now the Virgin Sacrifice!

Ulyss.
Yet Sir, Wake!
Wake from this fond Lethargick Dream of Honour,
And steer by Natures great Original Law,
Your own dear Preservation.

King.
Ev'n those Laws
Protect her sacred Life. I tell thee, hungry Blood-hound,
Ev'n Policy it self, wou'd save that Life,
For Oh the Guilt of that fair suffering Virtue
Would set more Barrs to my defeated Cause,
And arm the Gods more fatally against me,
Then her protected Life can do:
Then in my own Defence I bid her Live.
Yes, Glorious Heroine, go thy Country's Champion;
A Crowns Protectress, and thy Troy's Defender;
Wake all her Guardians, thou their leading Light:
Arm thou thy Gods, and I'le trust mine, Cassandra.

Cass.
Oh King! this wondrous Honour has undon me,
I am sav'd, and Troy is lost. Oh poor Cassandra!
Where's all thy Virgins! Where's thy Robes! Where's now
The floury Garlands for thy nuptial Brow!
Sables and Shade are now thy only Pride,
A Mourning Widow, not a smiling Bride.
Oh my dear Country! Poor hard fated Troy!
To this sick Heart what Torments dost thou give,
When 'tis all Pain, all Wounds, all Death to Live.

[Exit.
Ulyss.
Was this well don?

King.
So well, that even
The single Merit of this glorious Justice
Shall draw all Heav'n a Champion in my Cause;
Till my keen Vengeance cuts the Trojan Graves,
And ev'n destroys where fair Cassandra saves.

[Exeunt.
The Scene opens and discovers Paris and Helen seated upon Thrones between the Scenes; &c. In the middle of the Scenes, and under the second Grand-Arch, a painted Curtain hangs down to the Ground, reaching upwards only thirteen Foot and the like in width, the whole Prospect of the Roof of the Scenes being seen about Eleven Foot over it.—Before this Curtain, upon two Rich Couches, lye two painted Cupids as big as the Life.
Par.
Now my fair Helen, whilst the kneeling Trojans
Pay their cold Rites to their great Virgin Deity,
To th'Amorous God our warmer Joys we'll pay:
Th'Immortal Boy, great Love, reigns Lord to day.

Here a Symphony playes, and immediately the two Cupids start from their Couches, and flying up, take hold of the upper Corners of the Curtain and draw it up; two more Cupids of the same Bulk absconded before behind the Couches rising with the Curtain at the two lower Corners.
Here is discovered a small set of Scenes, being 12 Foot high, and the like Breadth, consisting of three pair of Wings, and a flat Scene; the Object being a Pallace of Cupid, with Blue Pillars, with Silver Bases and Capitals, hung round with Wreaths of Flowers, the inner Prospect terminating in Bowers, Fountains, &c.
The Symphony still continuing, out of this set are drawn forth on each side, two more sets of Senes exactly Unison with the Inner set, the first set being no ways diminisht, and the whole three Prospectives now reaching to Twenty five Foot width. Here the Curtain advances yet higher, and discovers a fourth set of Scenes, over the middle set, in which Cupid sits in Glory; while from the sides of this set spring two Scenes, which cover the two outmost Pallaces. This Machine now filling the whole House, and reaching 24 Foot high, making so many Visto's of Pallace-Work.
Cupid's Song.

CHORUS.
To Love we'll sing, great Love to Thee
All humane Race must bend a Knee:
Love do's the whole Creation move,
And all Mankind's the Work of Love.
The Great, the Fair, the Rich, the Poor,
Love Natures Lord must all adore:
Let Jove the Worlds proud Scepter sway;
Love finds him Subjects to obey.

A Dialogue between a Mother and a Daughter.
Moth.
I charge ye Daughter once agen,
To fly those dangerous things call'd Men.

Daugh.
And why so dang'rous, tell me why;
Where, Mother, do's the danger lie?

Moth.
O Child! they cheat, deceive, betray,
A thousand treacherous Arts they play,
And all to steal your Hearts away.

Daugh.
Are Men those Thieves? I'le ne'er believe;
What need they Rob, or Steal, or Thieve,
Those Hearts which we are so free give?

Moth.
You know not Man so well as I,
Dear Child, from that destroyer fly:

Daugh.
Can Men those dreadful Creatures be,
That we poor frighted Maids should flee
I hope my Father was a Man,
And had your self so frighted ran,
I am sure you had ne're had me.

Moth.
But that false Sex, their treacherous Smiles,
Decoying Snares, deluding Wiles.

Daugh.
No Mother, no, those Shams won't do,
I'le fear a man no more than You.

Par.
How faintly do these languid Pleasures Charm,
'Tis only those fair Eyes my Soul can Warm.
From Feasts of airy Sounds and empty Noise,
Oh let's retire to more substantial Joys!
Farewel thou Pageant God, and painted Throne,
Immortal Love is in these Arms alone.

[Exeunt