University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

THE PALACE OF THE VICEROY.
THE VICEROY, SYLVEYRA.
THE VICEROY.
Yes! thou bright mirror of our martial youth,
In thy brave deeds, which make the veteran's cheek
Turn pale with envy, my exulting heart
Feels a paternal joy:—But O! Sylveyra,
I draw thee now from festive admiration
To speak of doubts, that prey upon my peace,
And ask thy private aid.

SYLVEYRA.
I hold my life
Of value, only as it may repay
Your generous bounty to my orphan youth.

THE VICEROY.
Thy much loved guardian lives again in thee,
Thou art the perfect image of his valour;
And O! thou gallant youth, I hope to find
The very spirit of his friendship in thee;
Warm, active, generous; proud to sacrifice
His own most eager purpose, to promote
The dearer interest of the man he loved:
Have I a right, Sylveyra, to expect
Such services from thee?

SYLVEYRA.
Wrong not, my lord,
This grateful breast by so unkind a question!
If there is aught, that now may prove my zeal,
Name it most quickly! and may glorious danger
Endear the business to my eager heart!

THE VICEROY.
Then answer frankly one important question!

SYLVEYRA.
Falsehood, my lord, has never stained my lips!

THE VICEROY.
Say, on a soldier's faith, is it your purpose
To yield Velora to her distant home?

SYLVEYRA.
My lord, humanity first made the promise,
And honor binds me to its strict performance.

THE VICEROY.
Blest be thy words! their animating power
Dispels my only fear! thy spirit then
Has 'scaped the magic of this fair enchantress.
Now, my Sylveyra, now, without disguise,
I will unfold to thee my secret hopes;
And thou wilt aid the wishes of thy friend.
Know then, I doat upon thy lovely charge
With all the fierce excess of fondest passion!
Thou must engage the excellent Constantia
To be my advocate:—nay! do not start!
Think not, ingenuous youth, I would employ
Thy virtuous parent in a task of shame,
Too gross for utterance! no! my thoughts are bent
On pure designs of honorable love:
I mean to bind Velora to my heart
By all the sanctity of marriage vows.

SYLVEYRA.
My lord, it is impossible.

THE VICEROY.
What dost thou mean?
Why falters thy faint voice? Ha! tell me wherefore
Across thy changing visage does there fly
That sickly cloud?—By Heaven it is the cast
Of rival terror:—Thou dost love Velora:
Thou hast deceived me; all thy coward frame
Declares the fraud, and trembles at detection.

SYLVEYRA.
Indeed, my lord, you're blinded by excess
Of vehement passion:—'tis amazement chains
My failing voice: O! what will Lisbon say?
Lisbon, who loudly talks of Castro's fame!
How will she credit this degrading love,
That makes the noblest of her heroes, stoop
From his proud height, to wed an Indian captive?
How can this wondrous purpose be achieved?
Is not Velora of the Bramin race,
Whose laws condemn such union as a crime,
Which e'en their sacred, purifying stream,
The mighty Ganges, cannot wash away?

THE VICEROY.
And are thy fears awakened by my fame?
Are they the fears of friendship, not of love?
I fain would think so: if they are, perchance
I may relieve thy kind concern by trusting
My brightest hopes to thy congenial heart.

SYLVEYRA.
Your bounty has o'erwhelmed me: witness Heaven,
That I esteem your happiness and glory
Still dearer than my own!

THE VICEROY.
My dear Sylveyra,
My spirit tells me, that the hand of Heaven,
Whose secret agency so oft amazes
The blinded eye of human apprehension,
Has given this wondrous impulse to my soul,
Which passes the weak power of vulgar passion,
And bears the signet of divine controul.
Thou know'st what wrongs this mild and gentle race
Have felt for ages from the fierce Arabian;
And thou hast heard what injuries they suffered
From those, whose avarice abused the power
Of this our great vicegerency.

SYLVEYRA.
Thank Heaven,
The gracious tenor of your mild dominion
Redeems the glory of the Christian name!

THE VICEROY.
Perhaps my union with the dear Velora
May lead to revolutions of such wonder,
As will astonish the unthinking earth:
Perhaps, Sylveyra 'tis reserved for us
To pass the fame of Europe's proudest boast;
To pluck the crescent from this Eastern sphere,
And from the Moors redeem this richer world,
Too long the prey of Mahomet!

SYLVEYRA.
Yet how,
How is it possible, my lord, to move
The mighty bar of disagreeing faith,
That must obstruct the marriage you design?

THE VICEROY.
There, my Sylveyra, thou must aid my wishes:
The kind Constantia, whose engaging virtues
I fully know, tho' accident has kept me
A stranger to the graces of her person;
She must exert those virtues to o'ercome
The idle scruples of her Indian guests:
Haste, and inform her, how thy friend entreats,
That to their gentle minds she will display
The bright advantage of so blest a union!
The dear Velora shall from hence be deemed
The guardian goddess of the Indian world:
O haste! and swift to my impatient heart
Return, with flattering presage of success.

SYLVEYRA.
I fain would execute your highness' pleasure;
But, conversant with Brama's rigid laws
I know they cannot bend to your desire:
But ere I go, your highness will allow me
To grant a moment to my brave associates,
Who by their gallant services obtained
My promise to present them to your favor.

(Exit.

SCENE II.

THE VICEROY,
(alone.)
I like not the expression of his features:
No warmth of zeal, no eagerness of friendship
Shines in his downcast eye:—his brow is darkened
With deep distress, and jealous apprehension,
That tempt me still to think, he is my rival:
I must be satisfied: I will remark
His looks more closely in Velora's presence:
My keen observance will detect his eye
In the first flashes of his treacherous love;
And if I see their melting glances meet—
O! the curst image sets my brain on fire.

(He walks disturbed toward the end of the stage,

SCENE III.

SYLVEYRA,
entering with MOLINA and CARASCO.
Brave friends, behold our Viceroy is alone,
And waits to thank you for your gallant deeds,
Of which I made to him most true report!
Some secret orders, that command me hence,
Allow me not a minute of delay.

(Exit.

SCENE IV.

MOLINA, CARASCO, THE VICEROY coming forward.

My resolution's fixt—I'll follow him—
Confusion! I am stopt—Where is Sylveyra?

MOLINA.
My lord, this very instant he departed,
With hasty zeal, on your immediate service.

THE VICEROY.
Insidious speed!—new evidence of passion!
'Tis plain, 'tis fully proved: (aside.)
Most brave Molina,
Forgive me!—I am slow to thank thy valor!
Thou hast done bravely;—Lisbon shall re-echo
Thy great exploits, and thence thou shalt receive
The worthier thanks of a much nobler master!

MOLINA.
Your highness overpays my poor deserts.

THE VICEROY.
Wretch! while I pause, he gains the happy minutes
Of festive joy to seize her melting softness,
Mock my fond hopes, and triumph in his falsehood.
(aside.)
Your pardon! worthy friends! gallant Carasco,
It grieves me, that I want the leisure now
To dwell, as oft with pleasure I have done,
On thy bold services; but cares of moment
Perplex, and call me hence:—yet rest assured,
Your merits shall not perish in my mind.

SCENE V.

MOLINA, CARASCO.
MOLINA.
Amazement! in my life I never saw
His thoughts so troubled, and his steady soul
So shaken from its balance.

CARASCO.
This is nothing:
Your sapient governor, your moral Viceroy,
The saint, whom you have canonized so long,
Will rave, as I am told, from morn to midnight
In praise of poor Sylveyra's Indian girl.

MOLINA.
Peace! thou art splenetic:—I know, Carasco,
Thou lov'st him not: but, as I am a soldier,
I do not think, our country, or the world,
Has e'er produced a man more richly graced
With manly virtues, valor, truth and justice.

CARASCO.
Curse on his justice! for it robbed me once
Of the most luscious beauty, that e'er blest
A soldier's fortune in the chance of war.

MOLINA.
Peace! peace! thy very accusation crowns him
With purest praise.

CARASCO.
Plague on his purity!
'Tis hypocritical—

MOLINA.
Farewell, Carasco,
Thou'rt in the raging fit of envious spleen,
The pest of social pleasure: but if soon
Thou gain'st thy more companionable humour,
Thou'lt find me on the walls.

(Exit.
CARASCO,
(alone.)
If I forgive him, may I ne'er again
Seize the rich plunder of submissive beauty!
I know he is accustomed in disguise
To take his midnight walk of observation,
To pry into the manners of his people;
Perhaps indulging his own secret lust.
My sword is tinged with subtle Indian poison,
Whose slightest touch is mortal, and by Heaven
I will repay him for my wrongs, if e'er
He chance to thwart me in a nightly brawl.

SCENE VI.

The Scene changes, and discovers
VELORA, and SYLVEYRA.
VELORA.
It is the utmost height of human joy
To meet thee thus:—to see my guardian hero
Restored from danger, and with glory crowned.
Blest be the God, who hearing all our vows.
Watched o'er thy precious life, thro' every peril;
And now, in pity to an orphan's prayers,
Places once more the desolate Velora
In the dear circle of thy saving arms!

SYLVEYRA.
Come to my heart! and live for ever there!
There shalt thou reign:—it is thy own dominion:
Not all the princes of the earth should tear
Thy sacred form from this unshaken throne.

VELORA.
O! my Sylveyra, in the flood of joy
My fears were drowned; too soon alas its swell
Subsiding, shews the hideous form of danger.
Already thou hast heard, I know thou hast,
Of Castro's love, for in thy looks I read
An anxious terror struggling with delight.
How canst thou shield me from his base designs?

SYLVEYRA.
No! my Velora no! I will not wrong him:
There dwells no baseness in his noble nature;
His love, like all the conduct of his life,
Is open, artless, manly, generous;
Not thinking that the Christian light has dawned
On thy unclouded soul, he has conjured me
To aid his ardent wish:—To vanquish for him
Each obstacle, that Indian laws may raise,
To bar his hopes of marriage with Velora.

VELORA.
What couldst thou answer to such cruel language?
Didst thou reveal the secret of our loves?

SYLVEYRA.
He knows it not: amazement, grief and pity
Robbed me of utterance: yes! by Heaven I pity
The agonies of mind, he must endure:
He loves thee with a fond excess of passion;
His liberal heart would grace thy charms with all
The treasures of the East; and make thy beauty
The worthy partner of imperial power:
And what can I? a needy child of fortune!
Almost a poor dependant on his bounty!
May I, Velora, from a prince seclude
A precious jewel, and in secret wear it,
Bound to my heart? while he would nobly give it
The place, that its unrivalled lustre claims
To charm the admiring world?

VELORA.
Canst thou suspect
That pomp, that splendor, that the wealth of worlds,
Could for a moment, in Velora's mind,
Pretend to competition with thy love?
And couldst thou, tell me, couldst thou, e'en in thought,
Resign Velora to a rival's hand?

SYLVEYRA.
My faithful love! by thy dear self I swear,
I ne'er could see thee in another's arms,
And hold my reason:—madness must ensue:
Should angels call thee to their purer world,
My frantic mind would murmur at its loss,
Unknowing how to yield thee to my God.

VELORA.
Here then, thou second worship of my soul!
I plight to thee my everlasting vow,
To have no law, no lot, no will but thine;
To be the faithful partner of thy fortunes,
Thro' all the chances of this chequered world;
For O! Sylveyra, death will soon dissolve
Those dear, and sacred ties of filial duty,
That only could divide my heart with thee.

SYLVEYRA.
Good angels guard thy father's closing life
From every pang! and make his latest sigh
Soft as an infant's slumber! dear Velora,
Thou must not sink too deeply in thy sorrow;
No! I will raise thee up, thou drooping flower,
Beat to the earth by the injurious tempest!
My love shall watch o'er thy reviving bloom,
And fondly shield it from each future storm.

VELORA.
Alas! Sylveyra, terror joins with grief
To rend my troubled heart: think of the Viceroy!
Think how to ward the dangers, that may rise
E'en to thy precious life, my sole protector,
From all the frenzy of his fatal passion!

SYLVEYRA.
Fear not! my love, for Castro still is noble!
He still regards me with parental kindness.
In some convenient, and propitious hour
I will, with gentlest arts of preparation,
And candid truth, unfold to him—

VELORA.
O! no!
No! I conjure thee! drop that dangerous thought!
Who shall defend thee in the sudden storm
Of jealous fury, armed with boundless power?
By all our mutual vows let me entreat thee
To yield that office to Constantia's care!

SYLVEYRA.
Thou lovely monitor! I yield my heart
To thy kind counsels.

VELORA.
I will fly to summon
The dear Constantia to consult thy safety:
Then to my father! in his close of life
I feel his claims yet stronger on my heart;
Farewell!

SYLVEYRA.
Yet stay! thou dear angelic softness!
Stay yet a moment! let me kiss away
This heavenly dew of filial tenderness,
That glistens on the roses of thy cheek!
Farewell!

(Exit Velora.

SCENE VII.

SYLVEYRA, THE VICEROY.
THE VICEROY
(entering as VELORA goes out.)
Distraction! death! thou treacherous boy!
So young, and so accomplished in deceit!
Thou viper! that I cherish in my bosom
To sting me into madness! have I caught thee?
Surprised thy guilty secrets, and beheld thee
Staining the brilliant ruby of her lip
With thy false breath?

SYLVEYRA.
Just, and noble Castro!
Recover but the firmness of thy soul,
And thou shalt own, that I have ne'er deceived thee!

THE VICEROY.
Oh! insolence of falsehood! not deceived me!
E'en now thy base confusion proves thee false;
And coward guilt denies thy faltering tongue
The power to frame an artful subterfuge,
To give thee e'en the varnish of a villain.

SYLVEYRA.
My lord! I scorn the unmanly accusation;
I grieve indeed that you have seen our loves,
But my pure lips have never breathed a falsehood
To hide them from your sight: I will avow
It was my wish to keep them still concealed:
Not with a coward's treachery and fear:
No! from a nobler cause, from generous pity.

THE VICEROY.
Thou insolent!—thy pity!—patience, Heaven:
Patience! is Castro then debased so far,
To be the pity of a slave like this?
What! while my generous soul was idly dreaming
Of virtuous love, and purest admiration,
Thou, like a secret sacrilegious thief.
Hast basely robbed the shrine of sacred beauty.

SYLVEYRA.
My lord! my father! grant me patient hearing.

THE VICEROY.
Hear thee! thou traitor to that generous friendship,
Which called thee forth from darkness into glory!
Hear thee! for what? thou canst no longer make me
The easy dupe of thy detested falsehood:
And wouldst thou boast, it has been thine to riot
In the rich plunder of her prostrate beauty,
And teach thy willing wanton to deride
Her nobler claims to a superior station?

SYLVEYRA
My lord! my lord! power has no privilege
To sanctify the infamy of slander;
And thou dost slander innocence itself,
A soul as spotless, as the hand of Heaven
Has e'er inshrined in woman's angel form:
This purity is placed beneath my guard,
And when I want the spirit to defend it,
May I be branded by the public voice!—
For your past bounties to my orphan youth,
I spoke them many and magnificent;
But thus insulted, my indignant honor
Disclaims the debt, these injuries have cancelled.

THE VICEROY.
Thou wretch! who mak'st ingratitude thy glory,
Soon shalt thou feel the power, thou hast provoked:
Velora was thy prisoner, only held
In just dependance on our sovereign pleasure.
I shall resume a grant, so ill deserved,
And made so rashly by deluded bounty.

SYLVEYRA.
Resume thy grant! Velora's free as air;
The voice of justice, and thy own award
Pronounced her free; and I will guard that freedom
E'en with my life, against the uplifted arm
Of majesty itself.

THE VICEROY.
Presumptuous upstart!
What! canst thou threaten too?—by Heaven 'tis well:
I thank thee: thy presumption has restored
My condescending spirit to itself;
It will forget its dignity no more
To join in altercation with thy baseness:
No! I will teach thee, false ungrateful boy!
How poor, how low, how lost a thing thou art,
Stript of that favor, which thy fraud abused.

(Exit.

SCENE VIII.

SYLVEYRA
(alone.)
He's gone in the dark storm of jealous anger,
And sullen vengeance—my indignant spirit
O'erstepped its native bound of moderation—
But 'tis the cause of innocence and virtue!

SCENE IX.

SYLVEYRA, CONSTANTIA, VELORA.
CONSTANTIA.
Alone! my son! did we not hear this moment
The voice of Castro, terrible in anger?

SYLVEYRA.
O! let me banish from your gentle bosoms
This fond excess of fear!

VELORA.
My loved Sylveyra!
You hide the fatal truth!—his frantic passion
Has dared to threaten, your most precious life:
I know it has.

SYLVEYRA.
Believe me, dear Velora—

VELORA.
If this weak beauty can produce such horror,
May Heaven resume its gift, and I will call
Deformity a blessing!

SYLVEYRA.
Teach me, Heaven!
To calm this cruel agony of terror!

CONSTANTIA.
Reflect, dear daughter, that I keep concealed
A mystery of such important nature,
As may preserve us in severer perils!

SYLVEYRA.
Name it! and save her from these killing fears!

CONSTANTIA.
Alas! my son, I have a tale to tell thee
Of such high moment to thy peace and honor,
That it requires long hours of coolest leisure
To unfold it as I ought.

SCENE X.

SYLVEYRA, CONSTANTIA, VELORA; enter OFFICER with GUARDS.
OFFICER.
Gallant Sylveyra,
Obedient to the Viceroy's hard command,
I come, constrained, to bear thee to confinement.

SYLVEYRA.
Has jealousy so drowned thy sense of honor,
Unhappy Castro? by my life I pity
This frenzy of thy soul: Sir, I obey.

VELORA.
Yet stay! 'tis agony to lose thee thus—

CONSTANTIA,
(to the Officer.)
Thou generous servant of a cruel master,
Canst thou, in pity to a mother's tears,
Canst thou allow me one short hour's delay?

OFFICER.
Believe me, lady, on a soldier's truth,
It grieves me sorely to refuse thy prayer;
But if my pity granted thy request,
It would be at the hazard of my life.

SYLVEYRA.
Sir, I attend you—ministers of mercy,
Descend to soothe these dear unhappy mourners

VELORA.
Stay! my Sylveyra, take me to thy prison!
Am I not sworn thy partner to the grave?

SYLVEYRA.
My faithful love! O! melt not my firm soul
With these fond tears! no! by our hopes I beg thee
To call forth all thy latent powers, that arm
Thy own great mind, and aid our dear Constantia,
Absorbed in grief, and petrified with terrors.
Farewell! farewell!

(Exit with Officer and Guards.

SCENE XI.

CONSTANTIA, VELORA.
VELORA.
Preserve him, righteous Heaven!

CONSTANTIA.
Yes! I will fly, and fall before his father;
That, that must save him.

VELORA.
Dear Constantia! speak!
She hears me not:—alas! unhappy mother!
There is a wildness in her looks and language,
That pierces to my heart.

CONSTANTIA.
And yet 'tis dangerous:
I know the fierceness of his cruel father.
O! I am plunged again in doubt's dark sea.

VELORA.
Guard her, ye angels! for excess of sorrow
Has robbed her tortured spirit of its reason.

CONSTANTIA.
No! my sweet child, I am not yet so lost:
But there's a secret conflict in my soul,
To which thou art a stranger—I will fly,
And kneel for entrance at his prison door:
For thou, my son, thou only canst decide
This agonizing doubt: thy voice alone
Must guide me in this crisis of our fate.

SCENE XII.

CONSTANTIA, VELORA, MOLINA, CARASCO.
CONSTANTIA.
O! good Molina lead me to my son!

MOLINA.
We come to calm your fears; this sudden mandate
Is but a momentary start of anger;

CONSTANTIA.
Now I conjure thee gain me instant entrance
Into Sylveyra's prison!

MOLINA.
Gentle friend,
As yet it is impossible:—but soon—

CONSTANTIA.
Ah! talk not of delay! thou canst not know it,
But I a secret must impart to him,
Of power, to make e'en frantic murder pause.

MOLINA.
I will attend you to the citadel—

CONSTANTIA.
Come, let us haste, my generous friend! and thou
Noble Carasco, be Velora's guard!

(Exit with Molina.

SCENE XIII.

VELORA, CARASCO.
CARASCO.
Vain is their hope: but if Velora's courage
Is equal to the task, I will instruct her
To baffle this base Viceroy, and preserve
The injured youth, who claims her fondest care.

VELORA.
Then speak! and trust me, that no forms of danger
Shall shake the firmness of Velora's soul.

CARASCO.
Blest be thy spirit, for it merits all
The fond profusion of Sylveyra's love!
I know your mutual hopes:—now let my friendship
Accelerate your marriage, marked by Heaven
The happiness of both, and, in this crisis,
Your sole protection from the crimes of Castro!

VELORA.
How may this be?

CARASCO.
By night I will secure
A faithful priest, who, in disguise shall lead you
Into Sylveyra's prison, and unite
Your willing hands—still from your father's weakness
Conceal the secret!—To the baffled Viceroy
Let your blest lord, with joyous pride, proclaim
That holy vows have made you his for ever!
The foiled oppressor will no more pursue
Your hallowed beauties, but renounce a treasure
Thus guarded from his grasp, nor to be purchased
But by the price of complicated crimes.

VELORA.
I yield me to thy friendly guidance—hark!
It was my father's voice: attend me to him,
And still support me with thy generous counsel!

CARASCO.
Yet keep this project secret in thy breast,
E'en from Constantia, for her fond affection
Would hesitate, and tell us of thy danger!

VELORA.
We'll not alarm the kindness of her nature,
And for myself, come danger as it may,
I have no fears:—Carasco, you beheld
The young Orissa perish in the bloom
Of widowed beauty: you beheld her march,
Fondly observant of our Indian rites,
Nor moved by the dissuasive cries of friendship,
Thrice round the pile, which held the hallowed corse
Of her departed lord; then far within
The leafy bower, whose arches crowned the pile,
Take her firm seat as on a throne of glory,
With dignity undaunted, while her hand
Unshaken, kindled the consuming fire.

CARASCO.
It was a sight, that memory cannot lose.

VELORA.
You saw her with a smile of triumph, mock
The mounting blaze, which thro' her wasted frame
Shot thrilling agony, yet failed to force
One plaintive sigh from her superior soul:
Think of this scene, the subject of your wonder,
And know Velora's willing heart would bear
Those tortures twentyfold to save Sylveyra!
But to my father!

CARASCO.
Noble, fearless girl,
I worship thy warm heart; and by my sword
Will freely stake my safety for thy service.