University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

SCENE I.

—THE PALACE.
THE VICEROY, GARCIA.
THE VICEROY.
Garcia no more! thy intercession's vain:
Honor forbids us to recall this mandate
Of just correction.

GARCIA.
Think on whom it falls!
On one whom your fond bounty long has cherished
E'en as your child: the trust of a brave friend,
Who dying left you this rich legacy,
This sacred pledge of confidence and honor
Still to be worn with pride upon the heart.

THE VICEROY.
Away! for all you plead in his defence
Turns to the aggravation of his guilt,
And sanctifies my sentence.

GARCIA.
Think, my lord,
This is no trifling business! it demands
Most deep discussion; for on this award
Hangs all the glory of your life to come,
Nay all your honors past; if these are dear,
You must revoke this wrong, unguarded sentence:
You must, by Heaven, you must.

THE VICEROY.
Garcia, beware!
Relying on our ancient amity,
Thou dost presume too far upon my patience.

GARCIA.
Let fawning flattery be struck dumb with fear,
When her proud idol frowns! 'tis friendship's glory.
In spite of quick resentment's random fire,
To persevere in her most noble duty,
And counter-work the mines of treacherous passion.

THE VICEROY.
And thou art come, most sapient monitor,
To teach us wisdom, honesty and virtue.

GARCIA.
Yes! I will hold a faithful mirror to thee,
And shew thy troubled mind its own distortion;
Will hold it, tho' insulted with thy scorn,
E'en till that mind resume its native features,
And thank me for the service. Noble friend,
I know, thou dost believe thy sentence just:
But dive into thy heart, and thou wilt find
Velora's beauty, is Sylveyra's guilt.

THE VICEROY.
Leave us, presumptuous counsellor! thou canst not
Make firm authority revoke his mandate
By the vain preaching of thy pedant pride.

GARCIA.
No! Castro, no! I cannot, dare not yield thee
To the dominion of this tyrant passion,
Which may—

THE VICEROY.
O! patience Heaven! shall I for ever
Be rated thus by insolent dependants?

GARCIA.
Unhappy Castro! like a drowning wretch,
In a blind struggle, thou dost beat away
The very arm extended for thy safety;
Yes! I will leave thee on thy proud dismission;
May mightier visitation from above
Irradiate thy dark mind! may Isabel,
That blessed saint, that martyr of thy love,
Descend to watch o'er thy disordered spirit!
And dispossess thee of this jealous fiend,
Ere his blind fury gain increasing force,
And hurry thee to deeds of deepest horror!
Farewell! great injured mind, farewell!

THE VICEROY.
Yet stay!
My Garcia, stay!—thou hast pronounced a name,
Whose very sound's a sacred charm, of power
To melt the obdurate pride of fiercest anger.
Oh Isabel! thy wrongs are all revenged,
In the wild horrors of this troubled heart:
Garcia, I think, I know, thou art my friend;
But there's a rigor in thy steady soul,
That will not give thee even power to guess
The agonies of weaker minds:—by Heaven
I hate my own infirmity of nature;
And by my life I am ashamed to tell thee,
How this fierce love has preyed upon my soul,
Absorbing every faculty.

GARCIA,
(aside.)
Now, friendship,
Aid me to make e'en passion's self the means
To work his preservation!

THE VICEROY.
This sweet Indian
Haunts my wild fancy still:—in every change
Of day, of night, of place, of occupation—
I see her in the vacancies of air:
I hear her magic voice in midnight silence:
And find the spirit of my life consumed
In this encreasing flame of fierce desire.

GARCIA.
Now Castro! I perceive a glimpse of hope,
That thy fond wish may yet succeed.

THE VICEROY.
Say how!
Dear Garcia, say! O give me all thy meaning!

GARCIA.
Release Sylveyra!—shew the soft Velora
You scorn the advantage of tyrannic power,
And with a generous rivalship submit
To court her kindness!

THE VICEROY.
I approve thy counsel:
'Tis just, 'tis manly, 'tis like Garcia's soul
Untainted with a shadow of dishonor:
Yes! thou shall see this frail, this feverish heart
Still not unworthy of a friend like thee.
Come! follow me! we'll hasten to Sylveyra,
Declare him free, and let him know how deeply
We both are debtors to thy signal virtue.

AN ATTENDANT,
(entering.)
My lord, this paper will explain my office,
And plead my pardon, while I beg your highness
To grant me private audience.

THE VICEROY,
to GARCIA.
Wait, my friend,
In my apartment! I will join thee there!

(Exit Garcia.

SCENE II.

THE VICEROY, and ATTENDANT.
THE VICEROY,
(examining the letter.)
Confusion! bound by secret, solemn oaths
To marry them in prison, and to-night!
Treacherous Velora! death! what in the moment,
When my fond soul with a forgiving frankness—

ATTENDANT.
My lord! the holy friar has enjoin'd me
To say, his life depends upon your silence.

THE VICEROY.
Go! let him banish fear! tell the good monk
His services are treasured in my heart.

(Exit Attendant.

SCENE III.

THE VICEROY,
(alone.)
To-night appointed for your treacherous union!
Never shall night that consummation see.
These hours are mine, nor will I lose them—hence
Ye dainty scruples, of deluded honor!
Ye made me pause too long.—Love, manly love,
Nature's strong heir, not custom's puny child,
Points my fair prey, and like the hunter's cry
Leads my keen spirit to the chase of joy.

(Exit.

SCENE IV.

PERSOD discovered sleeping on a couch, and VELORA sitting by him.
VELORA.
Ye ministers of peace, O! kindly visit
His troubled slumbers! let not frightened nature
Thus lose the balmy influence of rest.

PERSOD,
(still sleeping.)
Beware my child beware—this cruel Viceroy!

VELORA.
Unhappy father! how it grieves my soul
To see thee shaken by these painful terrors.

PERSOD.
No! tyrant, no! away! away! thou shalt not
Tear her from these weak arms—I clasp her still.
(waking.)
Good Heaven! where am I? O my child! my child!
Do I indeed embrace thee still, my daughter?
Is there no ruffian near?

VELORA.
Be not alarmed,
My gentle father!—'twas a vision only;
Here is no being but thy own Velora.

PERSOD.
Alas! my child, these terrifying phantoms
Tear my weak frame:—they shake me still with horror,
Methought I saw thee in the savage grasp
Of the fierce Viceroy:—hence distracting image!
It haunts me still.

VELORA.
Let thy beloved Velora
Calm these wild fears, and talk them into peace!

PERSOD.
Still! my sweet child, assure my trembling heart,
That when thy old weak guard is severed from thee,
As soon he must be, strong in native virtue,
Thou wilt resist the Viceroy's cruel aims,
That no rich offers of insidious love,
No terrors of the tyrant, shall betray
Thy yielding beauty to his impious arms!

VELORA.
No! by thy tender love, thy hallowed age,
By all the virtues of thy heart, I swear
No powers shall force me to that shameful fate.

PERSOD.
Thanks! my dear child, thy animating words
Breathe thro' my chilly breast a cheering glow,
And warm me with new life—methinks I gain
A new supply of strength; and I will use it
To taste the freshness of the evening air.
Bless thee, my kind attendant.

VELORA.
Still let my arm
Assist your steps!

PERSOD.
No! sweet support, I thank thee,
I will but venture to yon shady palm,
To soothe my troubled thoughts, and recollect
The thousand tender things, paternal love
Has yet to utter, ere our last adieu:
Remain thou here! and I will soon return.

(Exit.

SCENE V.

VELORA,
(alone.)
Spare, gracious Heaven! the weakness of his age
From farther misery! whatever ills
Thy dreadful pleasure may design to pour
Upon our hapless race, O! keep them all
For my devoted head! nor more afflict
This mild, indulgent, helpless, fond old man!
Good Heaven! what voice!—it is our evil genius:
It is the Viceroy—

SCENE VI.

THE VICEROY, VELORA.
THE VICEROY,
(entering)
Guards attend without.
Thanks be to love: I hold thee once again,
Bewitching beauty! and I know thee now:
Yes! under this soft veil of artless youth
Lies all the finished artifice of woman:
Thou canst forget thy Indian laws, and yield
This sacred treasure to an alien's arms:
With a refining spirit of delight,
Thou canst convert a dungeon to a scene
Of midnight bliss.

VELORA,
(aside.)
Our purpose is betrayed!

THE VICEROY.
Yet have thy charms the fascinating power
To melt the fiercest wrath; I will forget
The cruel pangs thy treachery inspires,
If cancelling the offence, thou yet wilt grant me,
The dear rich recompense, for which my soul
So keenly pants with agony of passion.

VELORA.
Never! never!

THE VICEROY.
Perverse, fantastic girl!
Canst thou still doat upon an abject slave,
When royalty's extended arms would press
Thy beauty into rapture?

VELORA.
Yes! proud tyrant,
This constant heart will idolize for ever
That hero, whom thy crimes have made a prisoner:
Velora's firm and faithful soul, would rather
Embrace his bondage, than partake thy power,
E'en had thy pride the privilege of Heaven
To make its reign immortal.

THE VICEROY.
Rash Velora!
Thou dost provoke my wild insulted love
To sieze this golden minute, and repay
My tortured senses with a sweet revenge.
Come! thou shalt bless me.

VELORA.
Help! O! help me Heaven!

SCENE VII.

THE VICEROY, VELORA; PERSOD, (entering and throwing himself before the Viceroy.)
Turn! thou base tyrant! hear a father's voice!
Behold his weakness prostrate at thy feet!
Release! release my child! nor by this outrage
Wound sacred nature in a parent's soul!

THE VICEROY.
Distracting interruption! By my life
His reverend form, and his white hairs have struck
Blank awe thro' all my veins—
My trembling sinews have not power to take her
From his weak hold—and yet by Heaven she must not
Compleat the triumph of her treacherous love.
Guards there without!

Enter GUARDS.
PERSOD.
O mercy! mighty Castro,
Thou wilt not force my innocent child away,
While these paternal arms are stretched to save her.

THE VICEROY,
to the Guards.
Reasons of state compel me to divide
These faithless captives: Soldiers! on your duty
I charge ye, part them with the gentlest violence,
And lead Velora to the western tower!

(Exit.

SCENE VIII.

VELORA, PERSOD, GUARDS.
VELORA.
Most cruel mandate! most inhuman Castro!

PERSOD.
No! ye vile slaves ye shall not tear her from me:
No! I will hang upon her darling form,
E'en 'till my heart strings break.

SOLDIER.
Old man, forbear
Thy sorrows grieve us—but we must obey—

PERSOD.
Curse my weak age!

VELORA.
My father! O! my father!

SCENE IX.

As the Guards force off VELORA, CONSTANTIA enters with an Attendant, speaking as she enters.
Mercy! they sieze! they tear Velora from us—
Unhappy father! whence this horrid outrage?

PERSOD.
Now, mighty Sieb! great avenging spirit!
Now, now exert thy power! it is thy servant;
It is a father calls, a father robbed,
Most basely robbed, in his enfeebled age,
Of his dear daughter, of his darling child.
Blast this fell ravisher!—with lightning's speed
Let death's fierce summons seize his haggard soul!
And if he has a child, O! make him feel
What tortures—mercy heaven! I faint—

(He falls.
CONSTANTIA.
O! save him!
Alas his feeble strings of life are broken
By this inhuman violence.—He breathes—
Now bear him gently hence!—in pity's name
Watch him with tenderest care till my return;
For I must hasten to preserve his child!
(they bear off Persod.
Now, Castro it is time thou shouldst behold
Thy Isabel yet lives; for thou art tost
On a tempestuous flood, and little know'st
What hidden rocks of horror thou art near:
My voice must point them to thy blinded spirit,
Ere thy wild passions plunge us in a gulf
Of deepest ruin, misery, and guilt.