University of Virginia Library

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

—THE PALACE.
MAJONE,
(alone.)
The King will soon regard this awful paper,
(Thanks to the cunning of Sicardi's hand!)
As the last prayer of his expiring son,
And Raymond dies; my hated rival, dies,
And falling, leaves my path to sovereign power
Free from its worst impediment.

SCENE II.

MAJONE, SICARDI.
SICARDI,
(entering hastily.)
My Lord!
I bring you tidings, that surpass the reach
Of warmest expectation. Blind Verino,
Wild with despair, and dread of public shame,
To save his son from a disgraceful death,
Has given him poison.

MAJONE.
By our hopes 'tis great:
Fate seems to labor to fulfil my wishes,
And when in thought I seal my rival's death,
To aid my great designs, obedient nature
Cancels her strongest law, and arms for me
A father's hasty hand to kill his child;
On him then be the blood! But say! did Raymond
Yield such exact obedience to Verino
As not to hesitate?

SICARDI.
That is, my Lord,
What I am yet to learn: the trusty spy,
Whom I had stationed to observe their purpose,
Heard long discourse, but soon as he informed me
Of this its desperate issue, I in haste
Flew to apprise you of this great event,
Ere you could shew that paper to the King,
Which now 'tis better to conceal.

MAJONE.
'Tis true:
Ere Raymond's death be known, I will appear,
His warmest advocate; so shall I keep
The secret motions of my heart disguised,
And 'scape that vengeance, which I else might fear
From those, who may lament him.

SICARDI.
Hark! my Lord,
A sound of tumult!

GUARDS,
(behind the scene)
No! you must not pass.

EUDORA,
(behind the scene.)
Do not forbid affliction to appear
Where justice dwells!

MAJONE.
It is Eudora's voice:
She comes, unknowing of her husband's fate,
To supplicate the King: I could not wish
A better witness of the zeal I mean
To shew for Raymond's life: retire my friend,
And keep a watchful eye upon Verino.

(Exit Sicardi.

SCENE III.

MAJONE, EUDORA entering with LELIO, and OTHER ATTENDANTS.
EUDORA.
How hard the heart of that unfeeling wretch,
Who strives to banish from the ear of power
The plaintive cries of innocence oppressed!

MAJONE.
Tis not in cruelty itself to bar
Eudora's passage: Beauty of such lustre
Shining thro' tears, and lovely in affliction,
Might force obedience from a ruthless savage.
The King, whose presence I am here expecting,
Will surely yield to your resistless prayers,
And clear the honor of your injured Lord.
But see! our Sovereign comes!

SCENE IV.

THE KING, MAJONE, EUDORA, LELIO, and OTHER ATTENDANTS.
THE KING,
(entering.)
Eudora here!

EUDORA.
O do not turn, my gracious liege, from her
Who once was happy in your royal favor!
I come, an humble suppliant, to implore
The blessed spirit of impartial justice,
Whose throne is in the bosom of my King.

THE KING.
I grieve to find my sorrows must receive
Increase from thine; full well Eudora knows
That I have looked on her as on my daughter;
That I was fondly pleased to see her wedded
To an aspiring youth, whom once I thought
Surpassing all in loyalty and honor.

EUDORA.
O think so still! believe me, while I swear
By Heaven's all-seeing power, that not a thought
Of base ingratitude, or blind ambition,
Has stained the virtues, which you once admired:
That Raymond bears, thus injured as he is,
A mind as spotless, and a heart as loyal,
As Sicily can boast.

THE KING.
I am persuaded
Thou think'st so of him, and I would to Heaven
That thou wert not deceived!

EUDORA.
Am I deceived?
Do I not know myself? for O my liege,
Our souls are one, and not a thought e'er rose
In Raymond's mind, which was not known to me.

THE KING.
Thou dost not know the frenzy of ambition.

EUDORA.
O! if my King suspects, that thirst of empire
Can taint a mind, which never sought distinction.
Save what arises from superior virtue,
Banish my Raymond! let us fly together
To some lone spot, some unfrequented wild!
There, like the first inhabitants of earth,
We may securely live, in that sweet peace,
Which ever dwells with innocence and truth.

THE KING.
My mournful soul, tho' loaded with affliction,
Felt every pang redoubled, when I heard
That two, who followed Raymond, have confirmed
The charge against him, and proclaim their lord
The murderer of my son!

EUDORA.
Can there be wretches
So deeply tainted with ungrateful falsehood?
Monsters of perfidy!—as worthy credence
As the base atheist, who denies his maker!

MAJONE.
These slaves may be suborned by envious malice.

EUDORA.
Can the bold falsehood of unblushing traitors,
Can oaths, like theirs, confound the voice of truth,
And in the bosom of a King outweigh
The nobler witness of a soul well tried,
Untainted honor, and a life of glory?
O hapless virtue! where art thou secure,
When man is partial to each foe of thine,
And quick to credit every monstrous tale,
Which art can frame, and villany suggest?

THE KING.
Thou wrong'st me much: but I forgive, and love
Thy generous warmth: yet know me for thy friend!
By Heaven I swear, that wretched as I am,
'Twould give me truest joy, to see thy Raymond
Clear every doubt, and rise again to fame.

EUDORA.
Eternal blessings on the noble mind,
Which forms that virtuous wish!—Beware my liege!
Beware of treacherous art! nor think I plead
For Raymond's life alone! I plead for you:
For think! O think what agonies of soul
Must rend your bosom, if, by fraud misled,
You doom my Lord to death, and find too late,
That you have slaughtered, as your son's assassin,
The gallant soldier, who preserved that son,
The man who honored, and the friend who loved him!
O think of this! and grant me one request!
That on the cunning semblances of guilt,
Which frontless perjury may cast on Raymond,
You will not hastily decide, but swear,
For the small space of only three short months,
To hold his life as sacred!

MAJONE.
Let Majone
Join in this just request! I dare affirm,
At hazard of my life, that Raymond bears
A heart too noble, and too firm a spirit
To wrong his sovereign by a timorous flight.

EUDORA.
Generous Majone! may that power reward thee,
Who pours his blessings on the sons of pity!

THE KING.
Yes! my Eudora, thy request is granted:
But, till the time, thou pray'st for, is expired,
See me no more! I would be left to dwell
In silent sorrow on the loved idea
Of my unhappy child. I must retire,
And try to reconcile my tortured mind
To Heaven's most dreadful sentence; oh farewell!
And be thy virtuous wishes crowned with peace!
(Exit the King.

SCENE V.

MAJONE, EUDORA, LELIO, and ATTENDANTS,
EUDORA.
Good Angels visit thee with Heavenly comfort!
Thou faithful Lelio! seek my Lord Verino!
Raise him to happier thoughts, and bid him haste
To shed the tears of joy on Raymond's breast,
In thankful adoration of that power,
Which has preserved us from impending horror;
(Exit Lelio.
Which gives us now to think, our youthful hero
Will rise superior to the wounds of slander,
And run with glory, the full course of life!

(Exit with her attendants.

SCENE VI.

MAJONE,
(alone.)
Hence! and indulge, deluded as thou art,
Thy momentary triumph! on thy steps
The powerful genius of Majone waits,
To pay me amply for thy transient pleasure,
And for the lively beams of flattering hope,
To pour the darkness of despair upon thee!

SCENE VII.

To MAJONE, enter SICARDI.
MAJONE.
Whence, my Sicardi, this disordered haste?

SICARDI.
Alas! my lord, our better plans are blasted:
Raymond still lives: Eudora's piety,
With fond entreaties, and prevailing tears,
Awaked him from despair; taught him to scorn
The desperate remedy of self-destruction,
And trust his being to the power who gave it.

MAJONE.
Curse on her saintly pride! it ever springs
To thwart my great designs: but 'twill not be;
The glorious aim of spirits like to mine
Is not defeated by a doleful prayer—
This paper still shall urge the troubled King
To break his promise, and the very suit,
In which I lent my voice, to aid Eudora,
Shall, as my instrument of vengeance, serve
To hasten Raymond's death.—But say my friend,
What learn you of Verino?

SICARDI.
Now retired,
He broods in silence o'er his violent deed,
As yet unknowing that Eudora's tears
Prevailed on Raymond to neglect his present,
He thinks him poisoned.

MAJONE.
Let him think so still!
It shall be now my first, my greatest care
To keep him thus deceived—hence may arise
Most glorious mischief, and of this at least
We shall be sure, that while Verino thus
Laments the fancied murder of his son,
He cannot mar the arts, I now must use
To ruin Raymond with the King.—But time
Calls us my friend to seize the golden minute,
Which hastes to crown us with our great reward!

(Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.

AN APARTMENT IN VERINO'S HOUSE.
VERINO,
alone.
What art thou now, my child? thy gentle spirit
Is fled—ah whither fled?—
Mysterious, unknown terrors croud upon me—
This trembling withered body would impart
Its weakness to my soul; but thou support me!
Thou! who, delivered from this treacherous world,
Art free to range with spirits like thyself!
Now, thou blest being! now assist thy father,
Who fondly conscious of thy spotless virtue,
Racked his own heart, and strained the powers of nature
To save that virtue from accurst oppression!
Teach me to find thee thro' those dreary paths,
That mock the searches of inquiring man!
Look down, my Raymond while—

SCENE IX.

VERINO, enter LELIO.
VERINO.
Ah! what art thou,
Who dar'st, in scorn of my express command,
To break upon my privacy? Begone!

LELIO.
My gracious Lord, the tidings that I bear
Will plead in my excuse.

VERINO.
Ah! thou art come
But to repeat a melancholy tale,
I know too well: yet say! didst thou behold
That injured spirit take its joyful flight
From this accursed earth?

LELIO.
Your words my Lord
Amaze and terrify.—

VERINO.
Dost thou not bring
A last farewell from my expiring son
To his fond father? Speak!

LELIO.
My gracious Lord,
I have not seen Lord Raymond; but I come
With joy to tell you, that your dear Eudora
Has taught our royal master to respect
His injured virtue, and almost restore him
To full possession of suspended honor;
Then fear not for his life!

VERINO.
Slave! wouldst thou mock me?
But I perceive thee villain! thou art sent
By some insidious foe to rack my brain,
And torture me to madness!

LELIO.
Can my Lord
Suspect that faith, he has so oft acknowledged?
By many years of duty well approved,
By the loved virtues of your son I swear,
I heard, and heard with joy unspeakable,
Our generous sovereign pledge his royal word
To your dear daughter, that he yet would hold
Lord Raymond's life as sacred as his own.

VERINO.
Then am I curst beyond the reach of Heaven.
My son! my innocent, my murdered son!
Oh! I have plunged into a gulf of horror,
Whence not the mercy of a pitying God
Could snatch my sinking soul! O Raymond! Raymond!

(Falls into the arms of Lelio.
LELIO.
What means this dreadful agony, which thus
Shakes his enfeebled age? I fear the shock
Of his son's late dishonor has o'erwhelmed
His troubled reason. But reviving strength
Dawns in his face. How fares my worthy lord?

VERINO,
(recovering)
My faithful Lelio! ah!

LELIO.
Let me support
Your faltering steps, and guide them to your son,
Who free from danger, and restored to fame,
Wants but your presence to complete his triumph.

VERINO.
I have no son: why, Heaven? why had I ever!
Haste, haste to fly me, nor disgrace thyself
By shameful kindness to a wretch, whose pride
Has burst the bonds of nature, and destroyed
The worthiest son, that ever blest a father!
I, I have murdered Raymond!

LELIO.
Heaven forbid!

VERINO.
Yet he may live—some blessed chance may yet
Keep my infernal present from his lips:
Ah no, false flattering hope!—He never knew
His father form a wish, how wild soever,
But with the fervor of a fond obedience
He hasted to fulfil it: and that father,
That honored, much-loved father in return
Has murdered him!

LELIO.
If there is room to doubt,
Still think the watchful and o'er-ruling power,
Which guards the virtuous, has preserved your son;
Still hope my lord!

VERINO.
Oh blessed heavenly sound!
Yes I will hope:—But let us fly to clear
The dreadful doubt!—now mercy! mercy Heaven!

SCENE X.

MAJONE, VERINO, LELIO.
VERINO,
as he is going out, meets Majone.
O say, my friend, canst thou inform me aught
Concerning Raymond?

MAJONE.
Would to Heaven I had not
So sad a tale of misery to tell!

VERINO.
O! lost again! beyond recovery lost!

MAJONE.
Ill fated youth! now when thy King resolved
To shield thy valor from the shafts of envy!
How hard to perish by a base assassin!
Curse on the envious wretch, the hellish fiend,
Who robbed the world of thy unequalled virtue.

VERINO.
Curse on for ever! search thro' earth and hell
For curses never merited till now!
And pour them all on this devoted head!
I am that wretch! I am that hellish fiend!
I murdered Raymond, I destroyed my son—

MAJONE,
aside.
Blind credulous fool! I leave thee to thy frenzy.
Since I have nothing now to dread from thee,
I haste secure to end the mighty work
Of vengeance and ambition!
(Exit Majone.

SCENE XI.

VERINO, LELIO.
VERINO.
Earth gape wide!
And instant hide me—

LELIO.
O! my wretched Lord!

VERINO.
To kill a child so loving, and so loved!—
Nor earth, nor air, nor the dark sea contain,
A monster so abhorred.—

LELIO.
O grant him patience!

VERINO.
(distracted)
Hark! hark! a voice! it is my Raymond speaks!
See! to a synod of enquiring angels
He tells the dreadful tale:—they stand aghast:
They call for vengeance equal to the crime:
But see! he pleads, my generous child! for me:
He pleads for mercy on the hand, that slew him,
The murdering father!

LELIO.
My good lord retire!
No! no! it must not be—Vengeance divine
Denies the suit—Hark! how she calls Verino!
See! see! she beckons—let her victim go!
I own her justice; and I haste to meet it.