University of Virginia Library

ACT the Second.

Enter King, Clothario, and Lodovicus.
Lod.
Give her but time to think, and she'll comply.

King.
Oh! never; with strong Aversion and severe Disdain
She flies my Love, and leaves no glimpse of hope.
Late, as I gently prest on her Retirement,
And urg'd my Tale of irresistless Passion,
With frowning Scorn and firmest Resolution,
Even such as shews she is not to be mov'd,
The cruel Fair repuls'd my eager Fires.

Cloth.
When amorous Night and gentle Silence reign'd,
Inspiring soft Desires and tender Wishes;
When Pride and Reason, careless of their Charge,
Nodded a while and left the Maid Defenceless,
Could she refuse your Majesty?

King.
Refuse!
The word's too Mild; abhor, detest, and loath.
Oh! she is fair and sweet as springing Flowers,
But Cold and Charitless as Winter Frosts.
What shall I do? I burn, and I dispair:
I cannot wait a tedious hated Siege;
My fierce Desire is too impatient grown:
Her Father may Return, or she may fly.

Cloth.
The last I shall be watchful to prevent:
And might I be permitted to advise,
Seize on the Prey while yet 'tis in your Power;
For Opportunity is a captious Goddess,
If once neglected she returns no more.

King.
Thou Counsellest well, by Heaven it shall be so;
I will possess in spite of all her hate:
Snatch the coy Charmer to my longing Arms;
Deaf to her Prayers, as she has been to mine.

Lod.
Yet if I may be heard, forbear a while;
Think on the Event, on her stern Father's Power:
I fear not for Jacincta, but—

King.
For thy self.
Be Dumb, thou Coward, spare thy idle Breath.
As well thou may'st restrain the flowing Tide,
Command the Fire, and controul the Wind,
As once delay the action I have purpos'd.

Lod.
I have done, and am resolv'd to assist your Pleasure.

Cloth.
When once enjoy'd, your Majesty will find
The bright Jacincta lay by all her Rage,
Her rigid Coldness, and her Virgin Fears,
And pay her grateful Offerings to Love.
Oh! she will put on all her melting softness,
And practice every subtile Female Art,
To fix you ever her Imperial Lover.

King.
That I much doubt; but be it as it will,
I'll sum up all my Joys, and with full Transport,
In one Luxurious Hour possess the whole.
Say the Rich Feast should never be renew'd,
Yet the remembrance still shall bless my Soul;
The thinking Faculty shall be indulg'd,
And I'll repeat the Pleasure to my Heart,
Till even Desire be satiated.

Lod.
Yet I am lost,
To think how this may be with secrecy.

King.
Dull as thou art, dost thou pretend to thought?
Assist ye Slaves, and act as I Command,
Nor strain your poor Inventions any farther.
'Tis requisite the Beauteous Friends be parted.
Tell them, that all the Court repine to see
Their noble Births thus peevishly forgot;
Their Youthful Charms thus shrowded in despair:
Tell them, it is of Moment to my Honour,
That they admit the State due to ther Quality.
Say any thing may tempt them to comply;
And if they still refuse, part them by Force.
Clothario, thou art Keeper of this Tower,
Which long has serv'd my Amorous Purposes,
Thither convey Jacincta; for the other,
Confine her where she is.

Cloth.
We shall observe, and readily obey.

King.
In the mean time I will ascend the Tower,
From whence I may discern the distant Camp,
And guess imperfectly how they succeed:
But fly and bring my bright Jacincta here.
Let Heroes mind the Business of the War,
To love and to possess is all my Care.

[Exeunt severally.
Scene changes. Enter Jacincta and Margaretta.
Jac.
Thus like the Children of Despair and Horror,
Weeping and trembling, hopeless of Success,
We walk the mournful Limits of our Prison:
For now we are confin'd with Locks and Bars,
Perhaps design'd a Sacrifice to Violence;
Snce I refus'd the Tyrant's impious Love,
Who knows what black Revenge he may pursue.
Oh! Margaretta, I am lost for ever.
This I foresaw, but could not be believ'd:
My dearest Father, in himself too honest
E'er to suspect another of such Villany,
Was deaf to my Complaint, and chid my Fears.

Mar.
Let not your Soul resign it self to Sorrow,
For we are Guards to one another still.
The King, if ill inclin'd, which Heaven forbid,
Yet dares not openly pursue his Guilt
In these tumultuous Times; it might be fatal
To add one Crime to his polluted Life.

Jac.
Thou, my fair Friend, art all the Guide I've left,
And what art thou 'gainst arbitrary Power?
Yet it is possible we may be safe.
Oh! Theomantius, do'st thou know my Grief?
Sure if thou do'st, 'twill interrupt thy Joy;
The chast, the endless Truth I've vow'd thy Memory,
The spotless Honour I've preserv'd from Childhood,
All, all is now in danger.

Enter Lodovicus and Clothario.
Cloth.
Hail ye bright Ornaments of our happy Court,
Ye lovely Miracles of Human Race,
Modest as infant Nature in her Bloom,
And fair as the Inhabitants of Heaven;
The King is still in search, and longs to find
New ways to do our mighty General Honour;
Apartments by his Royal Will assign'd,
Rich with the wealthy Spoil of ransack'd Nations,
And Crouds of kneeling Slaves wait your approach.

Lod.
The Tyrian Purple and the Indian Gold
Curiously interwove by artful Hands,
Large Orient Pearl, and Gems of highest value,
Inferior only to your radient Eyes,
Are plac'd in beauteous Order all around,
While gentle Harmony exerts its Power,
To waft Celestial Strains, worthy your welcom.

Jac.
For whom is this fine Pageantry design'd?
It was my Father's Will, and my Request,
That free from Flatterers, from Noise and Show,
Our silent Hours might pass till his Return.
I pr'ythee go, and from the common Herd
Choose some vain thing that may affect such Trifles;
Leave us our humble Choice.

Cloth.
To chide the officious Servants of your Pleasure
Is something hard, and suits not with your Goodness;
But Beauty hath a Privilege to frown,
The fiery Warriur, and the sage Philosopher,
The ambitious Monarch, all submit to Beauty,
And yield their Reason to your soft Command.

Lod.
Oh, they are form'd for universal Sway,
The Source of Joy, and Idols of the World.

Mar.
Whither does this fine Oratory tend?
On us 'tis lost, we wish to be alone.

Cloth.
We have receiv'd Command from the King
To wait you to your several Apartments,
For so his Sacred Majesty ordains.

Jac.
Hah! Part us! no, that you shall never do;
We have resolv'd to bear our Woes together,
Both Love and Misery have made us one,
The Soul and Body not more closely join'd,
Be sure when we are separate we die.

Mar.
We want no State, no vain destructive Honour;
Content with Privacy, we shun the Croud,
Busy Attendance, and deluding Pomp;
Tumult and Noise is what we most abhor.

Cloth.
The mighty Rhoderique, whose Word is Power,
Commands that fair Jacincta straight remove,
Where all things fitting her high Dignity,
Enough to vie with haughty Eastern Queens,
Fair Noble Maids, Titles and laughing Joy
Attend her.

Jac.
Here will I stay, 'twas here my Father left me.

Lod.
'Tis dangerous to listen to your Words.

Jac.
Oh my Heart!
What can you mean? you will not force me hence.

Mar.
Your Forms are Human and your Souls Immortal.
Away; 'tis most unmanly.

Lod.
You're too fearful;
Believe me, Madam, there's no ill intended,
The King designs much Good and many Favours,
To raise your Beauty and your Father's Valour.
Who waits there? Where are those dependent Slaves?
Conduct that Lady as you are order'd.

[Enter Servants.
Jac.
Hold.
Oh! for a Dagger and a Roman Courage.
Why are we taught Self-murther is a Crime
Then when the Virgin hath no other Refuge?

Mar.
Ah! Whither do they drag my dear Jacincta?

Jac.
Oh! Margaretta! 'tis in vain to weep,
If thou dar'st do a noble friendly Part,
Snatch a Villain's Sword and strike me through;
For there is far less Terror in that Thought
Than what I now expect.

Mar.
Gentle, blest, abhor'd, relentless Villains!
Will nothing move your Hearts?

Jac.
'Tis all in vain:
Yet I will shake the Palace with my Cries,
I may be heard, there is a Power can save me,
At whose Command the subtle Lightning flies,
The Thunder roars, and trembling Earth gapes wide,
Either of these wou'd save me from undoing.
Oh blast the Tyrant, tear him, let him sink,
And free me from these Fears.

Mar.
Oh! my Jacincta! my dear suffering Friend!

Jac.
Farewell.

Mar.
Inhuman Monsters, Fiends of Hell,
Better the Moors shou'd be our Lords than you;
Heaven's severest Justice overtake you;
War, Fire, Famine, and contagious Plagues
Combin'd together in one mighty Curse
Fall on this barbarous infernal Race;
Be this no more a Court, nor Spain a Kingdom,
But gloomy Death and Desolation reign.

[Exit Jacincta forc'd off.
Lod.
Have Peace, here Violence is ended, you are safe.

Mar.
Away, 'tis false, there is no Safety here.

Lod.
There is no end of Womens fruitless Rage,
Therefore I go; this Apartment is your Bounds.

[Exit.
Mar.
There's nothing mine but Sorrow.
Here will I lie and meditate a while
On all the various Ills that rend my Heart.
[Lies down.
Let the rude Slaves tread o'er me if they please,
Trample me, kill me, Death is now my Choice,
Lest I shou'd live to prove Jacincta's Wrongs.
My Lord Antonio, why hast thou forgot me?
Where are the expected Couriers which were promis'd,
To bring me hourly News of thy dear Safety?
Methinks I seem neglected and forsaken.
Warm in the youthful Chace of dazling Glory;
Thou hast not leisure to remember me.
Oh, didst thou know what Injuries live here,
Thou wouldst resign thy Plumes and fight no more.
Why talk I thus? when thou perhaps art dead.
Would I could sleep, for thinking will distract me.

Enter Jaquez.
Jaq.
With Industry, a Villain's useful Quality,
[Aside.
I have found the Fair One out.
Ye juster Powers, when all the World's in Joy,
When Victory guilds our Arms and bids us smile,
Do I behold the Wife of great Antonio
Thus prostrate!

Mar.
Ha! do I not know that Voice,
And did it not pronounce Antonio's Name?
Jaquez, say, is my Lord Victorious?
Hath he receiv'd no Hurt, and is he Chearful?
Oh! let me ask a thousand thousand Questions,
Impatient to be satisfied at once,
Yet not allow thee any time to answer.
But tell me, Is he well?

Jaq.
In perfect Health.

Mar.
Then I am satisfy'd; the rest at leisure.

Jaq.
Tho' yet we cannot boast intire Conquest.
We have gain'd many Advantages of the Enemy:
From the fam'd Castle of renown'd Don Gomez
This Morn the Youthful Soldiers sallied forth,
Under the Lord Antonio's lov'd Command.

Mar.
Oh! my Heart beats.

Jaq.
So look'd the God of War,
When Venus self adorn'd him for the Field,
Such were his Charms; the Gems that deck'd his Helmet
Seem'd from his sparkling Eyes to borrow Lustre;
Courage and happy Conduct crown'd his Wishes,
And he return'd Successful.

Mar.
Joyful Sound!

Jaq.
Fifteen waving Flags born from the Foe,
A thousand sooty Prisoners bound in Chains,
Who with their sullen Looks and gnashing Teeth
Express'd the innate Malice of their Souls,
These grac'd the Triumph of the glorious Youth.
Treble the Number in the Skirmish fell,
And with the Spoil rejoic'd the Soldiers Hearts.

Mar.
Now Blessings on thy Tongue for this glad News.
Oh! my Jacincta! Angels protect thy Vertue
A little anxious space of Time, and then
Our God-like Conquerors will set us free.

Jaq.
The Noble Governor, who stands in Fame
Next Julianus, the most worthy Man
Our Kingdom boasts, has one only Daughter,
Gay as the Spring, and fair as new-born Light,
With all her Charms she met the Lord Antonio;
Six beauteous Virgins bore her shining Train,
And six preceding hail'd him from their Mistress,
Strowing with fragrant Roses all the way.

Mar.
'Twas wondrous kind: Eternal Joy be with her.
Tell me her Name, that I may know to bless it
For those dear Honours which she gave my Lord.

Jaq.
Delia. I could be lavish in her Praise,
But your surprising Charms restrain my Language,
Excelling her as far.

Mar.
Flatterer! but proceed.

Jaq.
Her Snowy Hand a Lawrel Crown presented,
Which, kneeling, he as gracefully receiv'd.
Great Julianus and her Father smil'd,
While ecchoing Voices thro' the Pallace rang
The pleasing Names of Delia and Antonio.

Mar.
'Tis well; but I grow sick and wou'd retire.
What Letters hast thou brought me from my Lord?

Jaq.
'Tis right; an angry Blush has dy'd her Cheeks,
And Rage is in her Eyes.

[Aside.
Mar.
Why dost thou pause?

Jaq.
Because I have no Letter nor no Message.
But 'twas his Haste, and therefore most excusable;
He dispatch'd me to the King, and had not time
To think.

Mar.
How! not of me! oh, thou dost wrong him much.
I am his Hourly Thought, as he is mine,
Else I were most miserable.

Jaq.
It may be so:
Yet I had no Command from him to see you.
My Lord Alvarez, Partner of his Victory,
Charg'd me to find you and to tell you all,
Least you should grieve.

Mar.
I thank him; 'twas most kind.
Oh! my Antonio! if I think thee false,
Forgive my Weakness, and remove my Doubts.
Love grown to that Excess I feel
Can scarce shake off the close Attendant, Jealousy.
Be gon, thou rude Disturber of my Peace,
My Lord is true.

Jaq.
Of all Discourse Antonio is the Theam,
For he's the very Darling of the War,
Successful in the Field as in his Love.

Mar.
By Heaven, I wish him all he can desire;
Bright Honour, boundless Wealth, and full Delight;
And, if there be a Blessing yet superior,
Bestow it on the excellent Antonio.
What mean these rising Tears! why do I tremble!
Surely it boads me ill; I'll not believe it.
'Tis poor Jacincta that distracts my Mind,
And all my Fears proceed from tender Friendship.
Come, and I'll give the Letters to my Lord:
Alvarez has commended thy Fidelity,
And on that Score I know it was resolv'd
Thou should'st be trusted and employ'd between us.
I hope thou art a faithful Messenger.

Jaq.
Much rather let me die than be suspected.

Mar.
Indeed thou art not, for I think thee honest;
Tho', since Hypocrisy is grown an Art,
We scarce discern 'twixt Falshood and Desert.

[Exeunt.
Enter Clothario.
Clo.
Oh! Whither shall I fly to lose my Fears?
The fair Jacincta is undone for ever.
I saw her kneel, and weep, and beg in vain:
The angry King perceiv'd my pitying Looks,
And with a Frown commanded me away,
Dragging her himself along the Floor.
Methinks I see the Cholerick General
Draw up his Myrmidons against the Pallace.
But I have largely drank to drown these Thoughts,
And will be wise and Sleep; who knows but things
May wear a better Face when I awake.
I'm safe enough, none but the King can pass
While these are mine, the Lady is secure.

[Exit.
Enter Jacincta.
Jac.
Come back, thou Tyrant! barbarous Ravisher!
And let me vent the Fury of my Soul.
Remorse, Disease, Ruin and Infamy
Revenge my Wrongs, and haunt thee to thy Grave.
Oh! I will range, like a mad Bacchonal,
Thro' all thy Realms proclaim my Injuries,
And teach thy listning Subjects to abhor thee.
Ungrateful King!
Is this the Recompence thou giv'st my Father
For all his painful Years of Blood and Conquest?
And were his treacherous Honours and his Life
A Train to ruin his unhappy Daughter?
Oh! if I think I shall grow impious,
And blame the Authors of my wretched Being.
Thou hop'st, vain King, I shou'd conceal my Wrongs;
But I'll proclaim them both to Heaven and Earth;
I will pursue thee with incessant Cries,
Waking and watchful as thy evil Genius;
I'll seek new ways to terrify thy Soul,
Pale restless Ghosts with me shall stalk their Rounds,
And help to break thy downy midnight Slumbers,
Sleep shall forsake thy Eyes, and Peace thy Mind:
Thou hast undone my Virgin Innocence,
Therefore no more of Life, 'tis Shame and Torture.
But hear me, if thou wou'dst preserve thy own,
Come back and kill me; so all's well again,
And my dear Father still shall fight thy Battels,
Unknowing of his hapless Daughter's Fate.
Oh Julianus! thou most wrong'd of Men!
How is thy Loyal Faith deluded now,
Whilst thou art winning Trophies from Spain's Enemies
Spain has dishonour'd and imprison'd me.
Thou understand'st not this, unless the Winds
Upon their fleeting Murmurs bear it to thee.
Oh! Gracious Heaven, to whom shall I complain?
My Father, Theomantius, Margaretta,
Living and Dead to me are all alike;
What if the Grave contain them or the Camp,
Or say they be imprison'd in a Pallace,
I have no Aid, no Comfort from their Loves.
I cannot bear this load of Infamy.
Oh Death! thou gloomy Path which most wou'd shun,
Trembling I seek thee with unwearied Steps,
And court thee to receive me in thy Shade:
I'll search these hated Rooms in hopes to find thee.

[Exit.
Scene changes, where Clothario is discover'd sleeping. Re-enter Jacincta.
Jac.
All, all is bar'd;
Nothing left to assist my wild Despair.
Hah! what Wretch is this who ventures to sleep here?
Now, by my Wrongs, the Pandar of the King;
And can he sleep, quiet, secure and Fearless,
When I must never hope to rest again?
Oh! ye impartial Powers, is it Just
That Guilt should be at Peace, when Vertue suffers?
What's here? his Keys drop'd from his drowsie Hand:
Had I a Murdering Heart, these wou'd instruct me,
And with his Office I cou'd take his Life;
But I have better thoughts, these set me free.
Welcome Release: But whither shall I sly?
No matter where my wandering Feet shall stray,
Alas! the wretched cannot lose their way.

[Exit.