University of Virginia Library

ACT the First.

Alvarez and Carlos.
Alv.
Alliance! ha! and with the Race of Gormaz!
My mortal Foe! The King enjoins it, saydst thou?
Let me not think thou couldst descend to ask it:
Take heed, my Son, nor let the Daughter's Eyes
Succeed in what the Father's Sword has fail'd;
Since I to Age have stood his Hate unmov'd,
Be not thou vanquish'd by her Female Wiles,
Nor stain thy Honour with insulted Love.

Car.
O taint not with so hard a Thought her Vertues,
Which she has prov'd sincere, from Obligations:
'Tis to her Suit, I owe my late Advancement.
You know, my Lord, the Fortune of this Sword
Redeem'd her from the Moors, when late their Captive;
For which, at her return to Court, she swell'd
The Action with such Praises to the King,
He bad her name the Honours cou'd reward it;
She, conscious of our Houses Hate, surpriz'd,
And yet disdaining that her Heart shou'd fall
In Thanks below the Benefit receiv'd,
Warm'd with th'Occasion, begg'd his Royal Favour
Wou'd rank me in the Field, the next her Father.
The King comply'd, and with a Smile insisted,
That from her own fair Hand I shou'd receive
The Grace. This forc'd me then to visit her:
To say what follow'd from our Interview,
Might tire, at least, if not offend your Ear.

Alv.
Not so, my Carlos, but proceed.

Car.
In brief;
The Queen, who now in highest Favour holds
The fair Ximena, soon perceiv'd our Passion,
Approv'd and cherish'd it; our Houses Discord
She knew of old, had often shook the State;
Whereon she kindly to the King propos'd
This happy Union, as the sole Expedient
To cure those Wounds, and fortify his Throne:
Nay, she, Ximena, if I know her Thoughts,
Chiefly to that Regard resigns her Heart.
O! she disclaims, contemns her Beauty's Power,
And builds no Merit but on stable Vertue.

Alv.
If so, I shou'd indeed applaud her Spirit.

Car.
Oh! had you search'd her Soul like me, you would
Repose your Life, your Fame, upon her Truth.

Alv.
On thee at least I'm sure I may; I know
Thou lov'st thy Honour equal to Ximena,
And to that Guard I dare commit thy Love,
Keep but that Union sacred:—

Car.
When I break it,
May your Displeasure, and Ximena's Scorn,
Unite their Force to torture me with Shame:
But see! she comes! her Eye, my Lord, has reach'd you.
[Ximena enters.
Mark her Concern, the Softness of her Fear,
O'ercast with Doubt and Diffidence to meet you;
One gentle Word from you wou'd chace the Cloud,
And let forth all the Lustre of her Soul.

Alv.
Hail fair Ximena—beauteous Brightness, hail,
Propitious be this Meeting to us all,
With equal Joy and Wonder I survey Thee,
How lovely's Vertue in so bright a Form!
Thy Father's Fierceness all is lost in thee;
Well have thy Eyes reproach'd our Houses' Jars,
And calm'd the Tempests that have wreck'd our Peace,
What we with false Resentments but inflam'd,
Thy nobler Vertues have appeas'd with Honour.

Xim.
These Praises from another Mouth, my Lord,
Might dye these glowing Cheeks with crimson Shame;
But as they flow thus kindly from Alvarez,
From the heroick Sire of my Deliverer,
As you bestow 'em, my exulting Heart,
Tho' undeserv'd, receives with Joy the Sound:
But for those Vertues you ascribe to me,
Alas! they are but copy'd all from thence;
Carlos, I saw, was brave, victorious, great,
Compassionate—I am at best but grateful—
Cou'd I be less reduc'd with Obligations?
Cou'd I retain our House's ancient Hate,
When Carlos' Deeds so greatly had forgot it?
If Heav'n had will'd our Feuds shou'd never end,
It wou'd have chose some other Arm to save me:
But if its kinder Providence decrees,
Ximena's yielded Heart shou'd cure those Ills,
And bind our Passions in the Chains of Peace;
Be witness that all gracious Heav'n, I've gain'd
The End, the Haven of my Hopes on Earth,
And fill'd the proudest Sails of my Ambition.

Alv.
O Carlos! Carlos! we are both subdu'd!
Where can such heav'nly Sweetness find a Foe?
What Gormaz may resolve, his Heart can tell,
But mine no longer can resist such Vertue;
His Pride perhaps may triumph o'er my Weakness,
And wrong Ximena to insult Alvarez:
Be mine that Shame, but then be mine this Glory.
[He joins their Hands.
That I surrender to his Daughter's Merit
All that her Heart demands, or mine can give:
If he's obdurate, let her Wrongs reproach him.
[Don Sanchez and Alonzo observing 'em.
No Thanks, my Fair; for both or neither are
Oblig'd: Whatever may be due to me,
Let Love, and mutual Gratitude repay.

D. San.
(Apart.)
Death to my Eyes! Alvarez joins their Hands!

Alon.
(Apart.)
Forbear! is this is a Time for Jealousy?

D. San.
(Apart.)
Thou, that hast Patience then, relieve my Torture.

Car.
O Ximena! how my Heart's oppress'd with Shame,
Thou giv'st me a Confusion equal to
My Joy, I yet am Laggard in my Duty,
I must despair to reach with equal Vertues
Dread Gormaz' Heart, as thou hast touch'd Alvarez.

Xim.
That Hope we must to Providence resign;
The King intends this Day to sound his Temper,
Which, tho' severe, I know is generous,
In Honour great, as in Resentments warm,
Fierce to the Proud, but to the Gentle Yielding;
The Goodness of Alvarez must subdue him.

Alon.
My Lord, I heard the King enquiring for you.

Alv.
Sir, I attend his Majesty—I thank you.

Xim.
Saw you the Count, my Father, in the Presence?

Alon.
Madam, I left him with the King this Instant,
Withdrawn to th'Window, and in Conference.

Xim.
'Twas his Command I shou'd attend him there.

Alv.
Come fair Ximena,if thy Father's Ear
Inclines like mine, unprejudic'd to hear:
His Hate subdu'd will publick Good regard,
And crown thy Virgin Vertues with Reward.

[Exit. Alv. Car. Zim.
D. San.
Help me Alonzo, help me, or I sink,
Th'Oppression is too great for Nature's Frame,
And all my Manhood reels beneath the Load;
O Rage: O! Torment of successless Love!

Alon.
Alas! I warn'd you of this Storm before,
Yet you, incredulous and deaf, despis'd it;
But since your Hopes are blasted in their Bloom,
Since vow'd Ximena never can be yours,
Forget the Folly, and resume your Reason:
Recover to your Vows your Love betroth'd,
Return to Honour, and the wrong'd Belzara.

D. San.
Why dost thou still obstruct my Happiness,
And thwart the Passion, that has seiz'd my Soul?
A Friend shou'd help a Friend in his Extreams,
And not create, but dissipate his Fears.
'Tis true, I see Ximena's Heart is given,
But then her Person's in a Father's Power;
He, I've no Cause to fear, will slight my Offers.
Thou know'st, th'Aversion that he bears Alvarez
Bars like a Rock her Wishes from their Harbour:
While Carlos has a Fear, shall I despair?
Has not the Count his Passions too to please,
And will he starve his Hate to feed her Love?
May I not hope he rather may embrace
The fair Occasion of my timely Vows,
To torture Carlos with a sure Despair,
And force Ximena to assist his Triumph.
Nay, she perhaps, when his Commands are fix'd,
In Pride of Vertue may resist her Love,
Suppress the Passion, and resign to Duty.

Alon.
Why will you tempt such Seas of wild Disquiet,
When Honour courts you in a Calm to Joy?
Belzara's Charms are yielded to your Hopes,
Contracted to your Vows, and warm'd to Love;
Ximena scarce has Knowledge of your Flame,
Without Reproach she racks you with Despair,
And must be perjur'd cou'd her Heart relieve you.

D. San.
Let her relieve me, I'll forgive the Guilt,
Forget it, smother in her Arms the Thought,
And drown the charming Falshood in the Joy.

Alon.
What wild Extravagance of youthful Heat
Obscures your Honour, and destroys your Reason?

D. San.
I am not of that Lifeless Mould of Men,
That plod the beaten Road of vertuous Love;
With me 'tis Joyous, Beauty gives Desire,
Desire by Nature gives Instinctive Hope;
The Phœnix Woman sets her self on Fire,
Hope gives us Love, our Love makes them desire,
And in the Flames they raise, themselves expire:

Alon.
Nor Love, nor Hope can give you here Success.

D. San.
Let those despair, whose Passions have their Bounds,
Whose Hopes in Hazards, or in Dangers die:
Shew me the Object worthy of my Flame,
Let her be barr'd by Obligations, Friends.
By Vows engag'd, by Pride, Aversion, all
The Common Letts, that give the Vertuous Awe,
My Love wou'd mount the tow'ring Falcon's Height,
Cut thro' them All, like yielding Air, my Way,
And downwards dart me rapid on the Quarry.

Alon.
Farewel, my Lord, some other Time perhaps
This Rapture may subside, and want a Friend;
I shall be glad to advise, when you can hear.
But see, Belzara comes, with Eyes confus'd,
That speak some new Disorder in her Heart.
Wou'd you be Happy, Friend, be Just; preserve
Inviolate the Honest Vows you've made her.
Farewel, I leave you to embrace th'Occasion.

[Exit.
Enter Belzara.
Bel.
I come, Don Sanchez, to inform you of
A Wrong, that near concerns our Mutual Honour;
'Tis whisper'd thro' the Court, that you retract
Your solemn Vows by Contract seal'd to me,
And with a perjur'd Heart pursue Ximena;
Such false Reports shou'd perish in their Birth:
I've done my Honest Part, and disbeliev'd 'em,
Do your's, and by your Vows perform'd destroy them.

D. San.
Madam, this tender Care of me deserves
Acknowledgments beyond my Power to pay;
But Vertue always is the Mark of Malice,
Contempt the best Return that we can make it.

Bel.
Vertue shou'd have so strict a Guard, as not
To suffer ev'n Suspicion to approach it.
For tho', Don Sanchez, I dare think you Just,
Yet while the envious World believes you False,
I feel their Insults, and endure the Shame.

D. San.
Malice succeeds when its Report's believ'd,
Seem you to slight it, and the Monster's mute.

Bel.
I cou'd have hop'd some Cause to make me slight it,
This cold Concern to satisfy my Fears,
Proclaims the Danger, and confirms them True:

D. San.
Then you believe me False?

Bel.
Believe it! Heav'n!
Am I to doubt? What ev'n your Looks, your Words,
Your faint Evasions faithlessly confess?
Ungrateful Man! when you betray'd my Heart,
You shou'd have taught me too to bear the Wrong.

D. San.
When Tears with Menaces relieve their Grief,
They flow from Pride, not Tenderness distrest.

Bel.
Insulting, horrid Thought! am I accus'd
Of Pride complaining from a Breaking Heart?

D. San.
Behold th'unthrifty Proof of Woman's Love!
Pursue you with the Sighs of faithful Passion,
You starve our pining Hopes with painted Coyness;
But if our Honest Hearts disdain the Yoke,
Or seek from sweet Variety, Relief,
Alarm'd to lose, what you despis'd secure,
Your tremb'ling Pride retracts its haughty Air,
And yields to Love, pursuing when we fly.
These lavish Tears when I deserv'd your Heart,
Had held me sighing to be more your Slave;
But to bestow them when that Heart's broke loose,
When more I merit your Contempt than Love,
Arraigns your Justice, and acquits my Falshood.

Bel.
Injurious, false, and barbarous Reproach.
Have I with-held my Pity from your Sighs,
Or us'd with Rigour my once boundless Power?
Am I not sworn by testify'd Consent,
By solemn Vows contracted, yielded your's?
But what avails the Force of Truth's Appeal,
Where th'Offender is himself the Judge?
But yet, remember, Tyrant, while you Triumph,
I am Don Henrick's Daughter, whom you dare betray;
Henrick, whose fam'd Revenge of injur'd Honour,
Dares step as deep in Blood, as you in Provocations:

D. San.
Since then your seeming Grief's with Rage reliev'd,
Hear me with Temper, Madam, once for all.
You urge our solemn Contract sworn, I own
The Fact, but must deny the Obligation;
'Twas not to me, but to a Father's Will,
To Henrick's dread Commands your Pride submitted:
Since then your Merit's to Obedience due,
Seek your Reward from Duty, not from Sanchez:
Your Slights to me live yet recorded here,
Nor can your forc'd Submissions now remove them:
Ximena's softer Heart has rais'd me to
A Flame, that gives at once Revenge, and Rapture:
How far Don Henrick may resent the Change,
I neither know, nor with Concern shall hear.
Nay, trust your injur'd Patience to inflame him.

Bel.
Inhumane, vain Provoker of my Heart,
I need not urge the Ills that must o'ertake Thee,
Thy giddy Passions will without my Aid
Punish their Guilt, and to themselves be fatal.
Ximena's Heart is fixt as far above
Thy Hopes, as Truth and Vertue from thy Soul.
To her avenging Scorn I yield thy Love;
There, faithless Wretch, indulge thy vain Desires,
And starve, like tortur'd Tantalus, in Plenty;
Gaze on her Charms forbidden to thy Taste,
Famisht and pining at the tempting Feast,
Still rackt, and reaching at the flying Fair,
Pursue thy Falshood, and embrace Despair.

[Exit.
D. San.
So raging Winds in furious Storms arise,
Whirl o'er our Heads, and are when past forgotten.

Enter Alonzo.
Alon.
Why, Sanchez, are you still resolv'd on Ruin?
I met Belzara in disorder'd Haste,
At Sight of me she stopt, and wou'd have spoke,
But Grief alas was grown too strong for Words:
When turning from my View her mournful Eyes,
She burst into a Show'r of gushing Tears,
And in the Conflict of her Shame retir'd:
O yet collect your Temper into Thought,
And shun the Precipice that gapes before you:
A Moment hence, convinc'd, your Eyes will see
Ximena parted from your Hopes for ever.

D. San.
Why dost thou double thus my new Disquiets?
For Pains foreseen are felt before they come.

Enter King, Gormaz, Alvarez, Carlos, Ximena, &c.
Alon.
Behold the King, Alvarez, and her Father,
Be wise, tho' late, and profit from the Issue:

King.
Count Gormaz you, and you Alvarez, hear,
Tho' in the Camp your Swords, in Court your Counsel,
Have justly rais'd your Fame to envy'd Heights,
Yet let me still deplore your Race and you,
That from a long Descent of Lineal Heat,
Your private Feuds as oft have shook the State,
And what's the Source of this upheld Defiance?
Alas! the stubborn Claim of ancient Rank,
Held from a Two Days antedated Honour,
Which gave the younger House Preheminence.
How many valiant Lives have eas'd our Foes
Of Fear, destroy'd by this contested Title;
And what's decided by this endless Valour,
Whose Honour yet confesses the Superior?
While both dare dye, the Quarrel is Immortal:
Or say that Force on one Part has prevail'd,
Is there such Merit in unequal Strength?
If Violence is Vertue, Brutes may boast it:
Lions with Lions grapple, and dispute;
But Men are only Great, truly Victorious,
When with superior Reason they subdue.
Can you then think you are in Honour bound
To Heir the Follies of your Ancestors?
Since they have left you Vertues and Renown,
Transmit not to Posterity their Blame.

Alv. and Gor.
My Gracious Lord—

King.
Yet hold, I'll hear you Both.
Of your Compliance, Gormaz, I've no doubt,
This Quarrel in your Nobler Breast was dying,
Had not, Alvarez, you reviv'd it:

Alv.
I?
Wherein, my Gracious Lord, stand I suspected?

King.
What else cou'd mean that sullen Gloom you wore,
That conscious Discontent so ill conceal'd
In your abrupt Retirement from our Court,
When late the valiant Count was made our General?
Was't not your own Request, you might resign it?
Which tho', 'tis true, you long had fill'd with Honour,
Was it for you to circumscribe our Choice?
T'oppose from private Hate, the publick Good,
And in his Case, whose Merit had prefer'd him?
When his fierce Temper, from Reflection calm,
Inclin'd to let the Embers of his Heat expire,
Was it well done thus to revive the Flame,
To wake his jealous Honour to Resentment,
And shake that Union we had laid to Heart?
If thou hast ought to urge, that may defend
Thy late Behaviour, or accuse his Conduct,
Unfold it free, we are prepar'd to hear.

Alv.
Alas, my Lord, the World misjudges me,
My Hate suppos'd is not so deeply rooted,
Age has allay'd those Feavers of my Honour,
And weary Nature now wou'd rest from Passions.
The Noble Count, whose warmer Blood may boil,
Perhaps is still my Foe: I am not his,
Nor envy him those Honours of his Merit.
Where Vertue is, I dare be just, and see it.
Your Majesty has spoke your Wisdom in
Your Choice, for I have seen his Arm deserve it,
In all the Sieges, Battles I have won,
I knew not better to Command, than he
To Execute: Those Wreaths of Victory
That flourish still upon this hoary Brow,
Impartial I confess, his active Sword
Has lopt from Heads of Moors, and planted there.

King.
How has Report, my Gormaz, wrong'd this Man?

Alv.
Nor was the Cause of my Retirement more,
Than that I found it Time to ease my Age,
Unfit for farther Action, and bequeath
My Son the needless Pomp of my Possessions.

King.
Is't possible? Coud'st thou conceal this Goodness?
Cou'd secret Vertue take so firm a Root,
While Slander like a Canker kill'd its Beauties?
Gormaz, if yet thou art not Passion's Slave.
Take to thy self the Glory to reward him.

Gor.
My Lord, the Passions, that have warm'd this Breast,
Yet never stir'd but in the Cause of Honour.
Honour's the Spring that moves my active Life,
And Life's a Torment, while that Right's invaded.
Shew me the Man whose Merit claims my Love,
Whose milder Virtues modestly assail me,
And Honour throws me at his Feet submissive.
In Proof of this, there needs but now to own,
The generous Advances of Alvarez,
Have turn'd my fierce Resentments into Shame.
What can I more? My Words but faintly speak me.
But since my King seems pleas'd with my Conversion,
My Heart and Arms are open to embrace him.

King.
Receive him, Soldier, to thy Heart, and give
Your King this Glory of your Mutual Conquest.

[They embrace.
Xim.
Auspicious Omen!

Car.
O transporting Hope!

D. San.
Adders and Serpents mix in their Embraces.

[Apart.
King.
O Gormaz! O Alvarez! stop not here,
Confine not to your selves your stinted Vertue,
But in this noble Ardour of your Hearts,
Secure to your Posterity your Peace:
[Carlos and Ximena kneel.
Behold the lifted Hands, that beg the Blessing,
The Hearts that burn to ratify the Joy,
And to your Heirs unborn transmit the Glory.

Gor.
Receive her, Carlos, from a Father's Hand,
Whose Heart by Obligations was subdu'd:

Alv.
Accept, Ximena, all my Age holds dear,
Not to my Bounty, but thy Merit due.

King.
O manly Conquest! O exalted Worth!
What Honours can we offer to applaud it?
To grace this Triumph of Ximena's Eyes,
Let Publick Jubilee conclude the Day.
Sound all our sprightly Instruments of War,
Fifes, Clarions, Trumpets, speak the general Joy.

Alv.
Raise high the Clangor of your lofty Notes,
Sound Peace at Home—

Gor.
And Terror to our Foes.

King.
Let the loud Cannon from the Ramparts roar,

Gor.
And make the frighted Shores of Africk ring,

Car.
Long live! and ever Glorious live, the King.

[Trumpets and Volleys at a Distance.
Alv.
O may this glorious Day for ever stand
Fam'd in the Rolls of late Recorded Time.

King.