University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

SCENE I.

Enter Edwin and Leolin.
Leo.
Forbid him? yes, when I have Power I will:
But Edwin knows the Throne is Empire's Seat,
The Throne of Elfrid; place me there, and Tudor
Will yield Obedience to his King's Commands:
Sent in your Captive's Name, they would not pass
For his, but yours; the void Effect of Force.

Edw.
O what a Sophister is Pride! but hear me:
Rebellion, bold in your pretended Right,
Advances to beleaguer Verulam:
Renounce it, or your Head, my Mercy's Gift
(For that alone has hitherto preserv'd it)
Shall answer your Contempt.

Leo.
Reserve your Threats
For Slaves, for abject Slaves, for them whose Fears
Make you their Master: know that Leolin
Dares meet his Death, when Edwin dares pronounce it.

Edw.
O glorious Frenzy! what should awe my Justice?
Are you defended by your Father's Guards?

Leo.
No, by a surer Guard, my Father's Wrongs.

Edw.
That Image damps my Rage.
[Aside.
Say, Leolin,
Suppose I laid the Conqueror aside,
Nay and the Monarch, to put on the Friend.

Leo.
The Friend would set me free to execute
My Vengeance vow'd on Elfrid's Murderer.

Edw.
Urge not your Fall by these ungovern'd Starts:
Unwillingly indeed I slew your Father,
But not unjustly.

Leo.
Not unjustly, said you?
Had Elfrid's Coarse been here, those Words had open'd
His Wounds afresh, to let the Remnant out
Of that dear Blood, which, shed by base Surprise,
Defil'd our Houshold Gods, in Violation
Of sacred Trust and hospitable Laws.

Edw.
Those Laws your Father violated first,
Designing on my Liberty or Life,
Beneath a specious Veil and false Pretence
Of friendly Invitation to his Court,
And lasting Union of our jarring Lines.

Leo.
Beneath a false Pretence! by all my Hopes
Of Vengeance, his Destruction was not more
Your Aim and Wish, than was that Union, His.

Edw.
I grant it; for your Marriage with Matilda
Had plac'd a Pledge within his Power, to save him
From the Pursuit of Justice, if I scap'd
The Snare his Malice spread to catch my Life.

Leo.
The Snare to catch your Life! the Dream of Fear,
Or Fiction of Ingratitude and Falshood.

Edw.
Say; was it not propos'd?

Leo.
But not resolv'd.

Edw.
It was.

Leo.
What hinder'd the Performance then?

Edw.
Matilda's Absence: your destroying me
Had been lame Work, without securing her;
Unskilful Mischief.

Leo.
Could you apprehend
That Consequence if I espous'd Matilda,
And yet embrace the Proffer?

Edw.
To promote
The better my Design against your Father,
So fairly justify'd by His on Me.

Leo.
By His on You; for so your Fears inform'd you;
And 'tis but Natural for conscious Guilt
Still to suspect the Treachery abroad,
It always finds a home.

Ed.
Proceed; and since
Your Province is to clear his Fame, deny
His Usurpation of my Father's Crown.
Be warn'd by his Example: Tudor influenc'd
By you to sheath his Sword, my Title own'd,
And past Offence forgot; I place you next me,
The Kinsman of my Throne: if not, you dye:
Death or Matilda: name your Choice, and now.

Leo.
Death or my Crown.

Edw.
Presumptuous Madman! yours?
Can I endure this Arrogance?

Leo.
You cannot,
With greater of your own: the Snarler Pride,
Plac'd by a Mirror, Starts, and Barks and Bites
At its own Image there.

Edw.
It does; and breaks
The Glass: I'll make the Parallel compleat.
A Guard there. Seize, disarm, confine him close.

Leo.
Do; swell thy bloody score; and wing Revenge
Due to my Father's Ghost from Tudor's Sword:
Disarm Him too, or Tyrant thou dost nothing.
[Exit Leolin guarded.

Enter Gomel.
Edw.
Gomel, the Captive here has brav'd my Power,
And rail'd his better Genius from his side:
Mercy its self, rejected with disdain,
Points to the vengeful Ax.

Gom.
'Tis self-Defence;
Your only human means to tame Rebellion,
And kill it at the Root.

Edw.
Be witness Heaven,
I thirsted not for Blood, and would have spar'd him.
The Rules of Dastard Policy indeed
Require his Head; but I would chuse his Heart,
The Conquest of Benevolence and Grace;
And add one Jewel to a Crown restor'd.
Let Usurpation, that Eternal Slave
To Fear, the Tyrant's greater Tyrant, dy
Her thirsty Purple deep in native Blood;
The lawful Prince, by daring to forgive,
Asserts the great Prerogative of Heaven,
And proves his Claim Divine.

Gom.
Is that your Maxim?
[Aside.
Then if the Wind sits there, though still I steer
A steady Course, 'tis time to shift my Sails.
Compassion and Remorse, Your Biass, Sir,
[to him.
Were always mine: Necessity is still
An odious Plea for Blood, though sometimes just:
And fain I would avoid it.

Edw.
But the Means?

Gom.
Means are at hand, not absolutely sure,
But promising enough to lead your Hopes
Of trying Leolin with more Success
Than you have lately found. Could you engage
Fair Adeliza—

Edw.
How?

Gom.
Would She consent
To undertake him, on my Life he yields
To Her Command, what he denied to yours.

Edw.
Why? why to hers?

Gom.
He never can dispute
Obedience where he loves and is belov'd.

Edw.
Belov'd by Adeliza?

Gom.
And just pardon'd
For Slights resented long, but now forgot
In reconciling Vows of Love renew'd.

Edw.
Perdition!

Gom.
So, it works.

[Aside.
Edw.
I will not bear it:
I cannot.

Gom.
What, my Royal Lord?

Edw.
Hence, Traytor:
Begone and execute him strait; nay rack him:
Tormentor, 'tis thy Office. Have I found
The Way at last to Adeliza's Heart?
I have; and it shall bleed like Edwin's Oh!
The lovely, dear, enchanting—Sorceress.

Enter Matilda and Adeliza.
Ade.
No more: behold the King. I leave you here:
You will be better heard, if I withdraw.

Edw.
Stay, Adeliza: you may safely stay:
Love shall be wav'd. I know it grates your Ears;
From me, I mean. You start.

Mat.
O Royal Sir,
The News of Leolin, dismiss'd but now
With Anger, and adjudg'd to close Confinement—

Edw.
Must please my Sister sure: I would have rais'd him
To dear Matilda's Bed; he spurn'd the Honour;
And Albert now is yours.

Mat.
Your Words have blest me:
And Modesty forbids not the Confession,
Join'd with my Heart's true Thanks. But what becomes
Of Leolin?

Edw.
The present Exigence
Resolves your Question: necessary Justice
Demands his Life: our British Earth abhors
His lawless Claim, and drinks his Blood to-night.
Would you reverse his Doom? or To Gomel,
You? or to Adeliza.
You.
She weeps! the loyal Adeliza weeps!
But there are other Drops, though not so precious,
To answer me for these. Why this is Treason:
I'll look once more: O Treason, Gomel! Treason!

Mat.
Heaven guard the King.

Edw.
The King! nay, 'tis my Title:
You Madam and your Father may dispute it:
[To Adeliza.
But I have Proof: to be supremely wretched
Is to be King indeed. O give me room!
To Arms! no longer shall these Walls confine me;
These Limbs; this Flesh. Rebellion thou art welcome:
I'll bare my Breast to Tudor's Sword; and Elfrid,
All pale and screaming from behind, shall urge
His Arm to plunge it deep within my Heart;
Deep, Adeliza, as your Image there.
Yes Madam, I will dye; and when I'm dead—
But Leolin dies first. Dispatch the Warrant
[To Gomel.
For Execution, and attend me with it.

Ade.
For Execution! hold; I beg you, hold
One Moment.

Edw.
Hence; and see your King's Commands
Perform'd.

[Exit Gomel.
Ade.
O Sir, if you have Pity, spare him:
Thus suppliant at your Feet bath'd in my Tears,
[Kneeling.
I own your Justice; but in Pity spare him.

Edw.
Spare him! Damnation! whom? you cannot mean—

Ade.
I mean my Leolin.

Edw.
Heav'n! She avows it!
Yours, Murd'ress?

Ade.
Mine: his Life or Death are mine.

Edw.
Absolute Woman! off: Oh, could I tear her
Thus from my Heart! but there she cleaves too close.

Mat.
Can you own that; and see her thus, unmov'd:

Edw.
By all the Magic of afflicted Beauty,
[Raising her.
I never can. O Adeliza, cruel
In your Disdain, more cruel in your Love!

Ade.
Say rather, cruel Fate that governs both.

Edw.
Have you refus'd me for a Rival Foe?
And can you beg the Bane of all my Hopes,
His hated Life? is Mercy yours to ask,
But not to grant?

Ade.
And for that Cause, my Lord,
I blush to ask.

Edw.
Why then—

Ade.
O hear me out:
I blush to ask; I bleed if you deny.

Edw.
To make my Rival happy? 'tis too much:
If Leolin must live, he lives for you.

Ade.
Our mutual Love, and plighted Faith require it.

Mat.
For Prepossession, and not Hatred, barr'd
My Adeliza's Ears to Edwin's Vows.

Edw.
In Favour of my Foe.

Mat.
But not as such:
She loves his Person, but detests his Cause.

Ade.
For Justice held the Scales; and Leolin,
Dear as he is, was found too light to poize
My Sovereign's Claim in Adeliza's Heart.

Mat.
O great Example of prevailing Honour!
Led by so fair a Guide, let Edwin too
Curb his Desire, and cease pursuing her
Whom sacred Vows have made Another's Right.

Edw.
Another's Right, this Hour; the next shall end him;
And Adeliza disengag'd by Death,
Her Lover's Death—

Mat.
May wed his Murderer.

Edw.
How Murderer! when she, ev'n she allows
Justice requires his Blood?

Mat.
I grant it does;
If not already satisfied with Elfrid's.

Edw.
Why nam'd you Elfrid? pass that Image by:
He forc'd his Fate from these forbearing Hands;
And so does Leolin: Necessity
Says he must dye.

Ade.
But when, my Lord?

Edw.
To-day:
This very Hour.

Ade.
If so—

Edw.
Or must I wait
Till Tudor's Standard, in his Name advanc'd,
Ascends my Palace Wall? why let them go
(Since Adeliza's Happiness requires it)
My Crown; my Life: for what are both without her?

Ade.
O hear me Sir, for I abhor the Thought.

Edw.
Yes, I have found your Drift: you would gain Time:
Delay, the last Resource for Leolin,
Saves Him and ruins Me.

Re-enter Gomel.
Ade.
If I have Power
To work on Leolin, it saves ye both.
Suppose him mov'd by Adeliza's Prayers
To quit his Claim, renounce my Father's Arms,
Implore your Mercy, and retire with me
To distant Claims a voluntary Exile?

Edw.
Retire with You? O Torture!

Ade.
To remove
Th'unlucky Object of despairing Passion;
A transient Torture, but a lasting Ease.

Mat.
And yet more lasting Fame.

Ade.
A Fame indeed:
The Fame of saving where you might destroy;
Of Reason temp'ring Love; and Mercy, Power.

Mat.
Of Empire unconfin'd by Space, and stretch'd
O'er human Hearts; the triumph of the Mind.

Ade.
To these more powerful Motives add the Tribute
Of Adeliza's Gratitude and Praise.

Mat.
And more than all, the secret Joy of Virtue
Embrac'd for Virtue's sake.

Ade.
The God-like Pride
Of heaping Blessings where you hope for none;
And doing generous Right without a Bribe.

Edw.
O Force of Truth from Adeliza's Lips!
Why must they charm me thus, and thus alone?
I yield—they heard me not; I may revoke—

Mat.
What said the King?

Edw.
No matter, what; I would
Unsay it.

Gom.
Sir, your Orders are obey'd:
Behold this Instrument.

Edw.
Deliver it
To Adeliza. You are Mistress there
[Exit Gomel.
Of Life or Death to Leolin: I claim
That Paper from your Hands, if he rejects
The Terms demanded in his Name by You:
If he complies, he has his Life; and—Oh!
I cannot speak the rest—the Thought is Hell—
How my Brain glows! now Reason keep thy Seat.
I cool again—no Thanks; but haste away,
E're I recal my Grant. Ay, haste, run, fly;
[Exeunt Matilda and Adeliza.
For 'tis to Leolin; Despair! and Death!
And Furies! 'tis to Leolin from me.

[Exit.
Re-enter Gomel with Morvid.
Gom.
Whence came you to find out his Love?

Mor.
I met him
Just leaving Adeliza; and the Joy
Of Reconcilement forc'd the Secret from him,
Unask'd by me.

Gom.
That Secret rightly tim'd
(As I imagin'd) for his Rival's Ear,
Has took a foolish Turn, and ruin'd all;
Unless my last Reserve, your Genius, aids me
To place the Grant of Adeliza's Suit
In so perverse a Light, as may inflame
Her Lover's Jealousy.

Mor.
At your Request
He moves this Way: leave me, my Lord, to work him.

[Exit Gomel.
Enter Leolin guarded.
Leo.
Death has surrounded me; the Siege advances;
And the decisive Breach will soon be made;
Perhaps this Hour: but be it when it will,
My dauntless Soul shall march superior out,
And yield her Ruins up on Terms of Honour.
My Friend!

[Seeing Morvid.
Mor.
My King! for so my Wishes stil'd you.

Leo.
But Fate has order'd otherwise.

Mor.
It has;
Fate and your self.

Leo.
I understand you not:
Are Life and Death at Leolin's Command?

Mor.
Why nam'd you Death?

Leo.
Why not? the Bugbear, Death:
Well may I name the Thing I cannot fear.

Mor.
You cannot fear it now, since Life is granted
To your Request.

Leo.
To mine?

Mor.
'Tis so believ'd:
She could not warrant your Consent unask'd
To such degrading Terms, as begging Life,
Inglorious, private Life, in Banishment.

Leo.
Degrading Terms indeed. She warrant! who?

Mor.
Your Adeliza: nay, I know her Power
O'er You and Edwin both.

Leo.
Her Power o'er Edwin?

Mor.
Why, she has told you: has she not?

Leo.
No, never.

Mor.
A kind Concealment! to have nam'd his Love,
Had been to raise a Jealousie in You,
Perhaps without a Cause.

Leo.
Damn'd, damn'd Perhaps!
Confusion! you have rais'd it now indeed.

Mor.
Why, is it more than a Perhaps in Woman,
For Love to carry it from Interest?
A Sovereign Interest?

Leo.
Accursed Truth!
And has she undertaken to perswade me
To those Conditions? what if I refuse?
She knows I will.

Mor.
If you refuse—but how
Should she know that? 'twere Cruelty indeed
To offer Terms she knows you will refuse,
And poorly trifle with your dying Hours.

Leo.
Proceed: what follows the Denial?

Mor.
Death,
Your Due by Adeliza's own Confession.

Leo.
And worse than Death, her Marriage with my Foe.

Mor.
Nay, wrong her not, my Lord; she promis'd nothing:
But owning Faith engag'd to you, declar'd
She ne'er would listen to another Love,
While you had Breath.

Leo.
O Hell! while I have Breath!
For one long Hour she will not bless my Rival:
But then—that Then is insupportable.
Now, now I miss my Sword; but there are Walls,
And Dungeon Bars.

Mor.
Nay Sir, compose your self:
For Adeliza comes. I take my Leave.
[Ex. Morvid.

Enter Adeliza.
Ade.
O Leolin! the Pangs that tore but now
Your Adeliza's Breast! I could not thus
Have trembled for my self; for still I tremble,
Ev'n though the Tempest is o'erblown; and Death,
Once ready to devour my Love, must wait
(For so my Fondness bodes) a Length of Years.

Leo.
I thank your Father, at the Head of Thousands
Prepar'd to vindicate their Monarch's Cause.
The Hawk, though eager of his Quarry, quits it;
And panting, close within his Covert, cowrs;
When the superior Eagle mounts aloft,
Asserting the Dominion of the Sky.

Ade.
Is Edwin then, my Lord, no better known,
That you can argue thus?

Leo.
To me he is not.
No Madam, 'tis for you to know him better.

Ade.
What says my Leolin?

Leo.
He says, he swears
That Adeliza is as kind as true.

Ade.
You will have Reason to allow me both;
When told that Death, your late impending Doom,
Is respited at my Request.

Leo.
At yours?
Have you an Interest at Court?

Ade.
A greater
Than I deserve.

Leo.
I cannot think it.

Ade.
What?

Leo.
That Adeliza's Interest in Edwin
Outweighs her Merit.

Ade.
What it is, it serv'd
My Zeal for you.

Leo.
Your Zeal to save my Life
On honourable Terms.

Ade.
I think them such;
And so will you, if Reason may be heard.

Leo.
O Adeliza, have a care of Reason:
'Tis an unwieldy Weapon, double edg'd,
To wound the Female Hand that rashly draws,
Or plays too freely with it.

Ade.
Well, my Lord;
You silence Reason; but let Love prevail,
And guide our Steps to unfrequented Scenes
Of rural Freedom, Innocence, and Ease:
Your Passions, hush'd on Adeliza's Bosom,
Ambition, Hate, Revenge shall die away;
And these fond folding Arms bound all your Wishes:
In Peace we'll pass the Day, in Love the Night,
Safe from the Storms that rock the World around us;
And dwelling with the Villager, Content,
Laugh at the gilded Thorns that plant a Crown.

Leo.
Is this the tow'ring Adeliza's sure
She speaks in Sport, and cannot condescend
To lose her Part on so obscure a Stage.

Ade.
And where besides, oh where can you expect
To meet with true Repose?

Leo.
In endless Sleep;
The sleep of Death: in Life 'twere fond to seek it.
Give me pursuit and bus'ness; keep my Mind
Awake with Expectation, or Enjoyment
Of real Pleasure, and of active Good;
If you would make me blest. I'll ne'er be buried
Alive in your imagin'd Indolence;
Your gloomy Sloth mistaken for Repose.
The working Soul, unexercis'd abroad,
Like martial Nations, turns its numerous Powers
Upon its self; and sunk by native Weight,
Begins intestine Broils, and War at Home.

Ade.
Ah Leolin! the Fever of Ambition
Hangs on you still.

Leo.
And that of Vengeanee more.

Ade.
Suppose your Quarrel just, I grant it specious;
Still you are in his Power, and must forgive.

Leo.
Must, Adeliza! were I so inclin'd,
That grating Must would whet my Rage anew:
No, Madam; the Necessity to pardon,
I ne'er can pardon That.

Ade.
And will you die?
Will you, my Leolin? oh most unkind,
That I should try in vain to smooth your Soul,
And win you to accept of Life and Me!

Leo.
On such Conditions too.

Ade.
You know them then.

Leo.
I know they must be noble, since obtain'd
By Edwin's Fav'rite, Adeliza.

Ade.
How?

Leo.
You boasted of his Grace; pronounc'd it more
Than you deserv'd; and could not fail to push it
In my Behalf: and then for him, my Foe;
Goodness and he are one.

Ade.
And so they are.

Leo.
Nay Adeliza, you espous'd his Cause
From the beginning; and still blacken'd mine;
Ev'n when it had an Advocate; a tried one;
Your Sex's Idol, Power.

Ade.
Rash Leolin!

Leo.
False Adeliza! come, I know the Terms:
And as you could not dream that I should e'er
Digest such rank Disgrace; I take aright
Your savage Insult on my lowly State;
That insolent Pretence for breach of Faith,
The Faith from which I freely now release you.

Ade.
Where will you drive? Astonishment! O stop.

Leo.
You shall not linger, 'till the fatal Stroke
(If he dares strike it) makes th'Engagement void.
Go, tell this Moment your new Lover, Edwin,
(For know, the Secret you conceal'd with Care,
Is now disclos'd) he has a fairer Claim
To You than to the Crown: I will dispute
To my last Breath, that purchase of His Treach'ry;
But freely quit what he derives from Yours,
Your Hand, your Heart.

Ade.
Is this my Recompence?
The promis'd Fruit of supplicating Love?
And have its Throes, its Pangs, its Travail serv'd
To bring the Monster forth, Ingratitude,
And raise a Blush on Adeliza's Cheek?
O Heaven, my rebel Tears! they swell, they flow:
This is Disgrace indeed. But thus I wipe
The Woman from my Eyes; and in that Sigh
The Dæmon Leolin was dispossess'd.
Exit Leolin.
Go Wretch for ever lost, but not alone!
The Curse is common, though the Crime his own;
The cruel Crime that cancels his Reprieve,
Condemning him to dye, and me to live.

[Exit.