University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

Scene. An Antichamber in the Pallace, near the Governours Appartment.
Virotto. IOpano.
Disguis'd like a Moor.
Vir.
Thus far we undiscover'd by his Slaves
Have past, and now have only him to fear
Phorsano knew so little of thy Voice,
Thy Shape, or Person when he sent thee hence
Thy Image in his Mind ere this is Lost:
Yet if his Guilt preserves thee in his Thought,
Who, IOpano, thus disguis'd, cou'd know thee?
To me scarce known, who wear thee next my Hear

IOp.
Scarce to my self, so faln from what I was;
From Love, from Peace and Happiness so faln,
The very Nature of my Soul is chang'd,
Or else they flatter'd me; or I was once
Kind, Noble, Honest, Generous and Sincere
But now, so like this Sable I am grown,
There's not a Savage in the Lybian Woods,
Who thirsts for Blood and Mischief, more than I
Revenge! the Goddess I adore, assist me;
Let me be deaf to ev'ry Voice but thine,
Aid me ye Furies!

Vir.
You forget, my Friend;
This Madness ruins thee, and saves the Tyrant.
Ye patient, fawn, dissemble, praise and sooth him
Till of his Treason and thy Wrongs convinc'd:
A lucky Minute puts him in thy pow,r.
Cyprus amaz'd, will then applaud thy Vengeance;
And those who call it cruel, think it just.

IOp.
Where, Where's this Governour?
Why am I delay'd?
Oh if I meditate on this again
I shall indeed be mad; for now, Vrrotto,
The Traitor revels with my Joys, while I
A sordid Wretch, am waiting here to see him
Come panting from her Arms, and on her Lips
Behold my Kisses wantonly imprest.
Ha!

Vir.
Is it thus that you command your Fury?
Phorsano when he hears of my Arrival
Will soon be with us, to inform his Fears;
By whom, and how he was obey'd. No more,
If he shou'd meet yon in this rage, your Life
Will answer for your Folly.

Iop.
I am calm.
Tho' Vengeance here I feel is in her throws
To bring the dreadful Issue forth, a Birth,
Destructive to the sire of whom 'tis born.

Vir.
Be wise, your Tryal and your Foe approach.

Enter Governour and his Attendants.
Phor.
Welcome to Cyprus and my Arms Virotto,
Not a young Lover to his longing Bride
Not thou, with all thy Wishes to Lucinda
Canst be more welcome than thou art to me.
My Friend, my Brother!

Vir.
'Tis too much my Lord.
Can my poor Services deserve this Honour?
Enough that you accept my Will, and think
My Duty to my utmost Strength perform'd.
What have I done to merit this from you?

Phors.
I owe to thee a Blessing which is dearer
Than Life or Sov'reign Pow'r. My peace of Mind.
Whose is this Moor?

Vir.
He's mine, to him you owe
A Blessing, he believes, deserves reward:
The pleasure of obeying you is mine.

Phor.
I thank you, tho' this Business had been better
Conceal'd to all but you and Me for Gold
Which never fails on mercenary Slaves,
May charm the Secret from a Wretch like him:
No matter, we must now be satisfy'd;
Perhaps there may be ways to keep him silent.
Night wears apace, and you will want Repose,
Too morrow you shall tell me of your Voyage
Your Mistress then with rapture will receive you
She lately has been ill and we have orders
Not to disturb her. Leave the Moor with me,
Of whom he never shall with Cause complain

Vir.
Sheka Farewel, remember what I taught you
Be Wise and Faithful.

Phor.
And in me he'l find
A grateful Master and a generous Friend.

Vir.
Joy to Phorsano.

Phor.
Rest to my Virotto.

Ex. Phor. IOp. attend
Vir.
In vain we wish what neither can possess
No Joy for thee, no Rest for thy Virotto.
Go dream of safety, when thy end is nigh,
For Me—my Soul's so anxious of my Fair,
It ne're can rest till I have seen her safe.
Oh IOpano, whither art thon a going,
Was I't Like a Friend to venture thee alone?
To trust thee with thy Foes, or with thy self.
What will thy Sister think of this and Me?
How can I answer it to Love and Her?
What can I say? That in so much Distress
I leave her to her Fortune and despair
I come, my Charmer, but my boing Heart
Foretells our meeting in a World of Woe.

Scene Lucinda's apartment, she is discover'd sleeping on a Couch, a Taper by her; Issamenea enters with a Dagger.
Issam.
She sleeps, and dreaming o're her Conquest, smiles:
So much like Innocence she looks, I fear
My pity, if I gaze again, wou'd save her
Ah! Issamenea, what art thou become
A Murd'rer? ha! who is it thou woud'st kill?
The Sister of thy Lord, thy IOpano.
How wou'd he thank thee were he living? Down,
Down, ye remains of Vertue, you're too late,
And rise untimely on my Soul.
Can I endure to be reproacht and left?
Loath'd by the Vertuous, by the Wicked scorn'd
Can I with Patience see her Charms ador'd?
While I, neglected, live a publick Jest,
A common Story for the mirth of Slaves.
Oh false Ambition why hast thou betray'd me
To deeds injurious to my former Glory,
Now to forsake me when I want thee most?

Luc.
Defend me all ye Pow'rs!
[Lucinda waking sees the dagger.
Defend my Innocence and suff'ring vertue.

Issa.
Hast thou not rob'd me of my Husbands Heart?
And dost thou not deserve
That I should search thy Breast to find him there?

Luc.
Look not thus furious—Hide the fatal Steel:
You won'not kill me—Sure you have not lost
The dear Remembrance of my Brothers Love.
And cannot wound his living Image here.

Issa.
What, thou'rt afraid to die, thou young Dissembler!
Too much transported with the Sweets of Life,
To look on Death with pleasure. By my hopes
Of dreadful Justice, if I find thee guilty
This minute I'll have Peace, or thou shalt die.

Luc.
Strike, kill me rather than mistrust my Honour.
'Tis all, since IOpano's Death, is left me:
Think not by Threats to force me to confess
What I abhorr, what you so lately loath'd.
Oh Issamenea! Oh my once lov'd Sister!
Where is your boasted Constancy? Oh where
The fond, the faithful, tender IOpano
Cou'd you so soon forget his wondrous Friendship
So soon your Innocence and haughty Vertue,
Which tendred you as lovely as your Charms.

Issa.
I scorn thy vile Reproaches, and will prove
How falsely I'm accus'd, How justly thou.

Luc.
Why was my Brother then dispatcht to Venice.

Issa.
Ask those that govern why the state commands
Such Christians as are found among their Foes
Before they're set at Liberty, be sent
To Venice and examin'd by the Senate.

Luc.
Natives of Spain, Confederate in the War,
The Priviledge of Friends we might expect
Tho', by a Rover, taken in our Voyage,
Virotto found us in a Turkish Ship.
He brought us here for safety, as a Port
Where passage soonest would present for Cales;
The Winds have oft been fair and Vessels sail'd;
Yet still detain'd, we think no more of Spain;
The Loss of Friends contented we endure.
How when a Wife, to make you room, was slain.
Oh Issamenea, how cou'd you in Peace
Receive the Murderer to your Bed?

Issa.
The Syren. But this Murderer since it seems
Virotto enters, is surpriz'd, remains unseen.
Has found the way to win on more Than me.
This Steel which is to punish thee design'd.
If from my Duty I have err'd and thou
Thy self shalt be the Judge, Be this my Portion,

Vir.
(aside)
And Heav'n reward thee if thy words are Truth
For sudden Fate is in the Secret Lodg'd.

Issa.
Say, and I dare thy utmost Malice Thou
Who knowst the Actions of my spotless Life
Say if they were not blameless.

Luc.
If you had still continu'd thus your Fame,
Had been a bright example to our Sex.

Issa.
What by necessity I since have done,
Is rather my Misfortune than my Guilt.
The day Emilia dy'd a Ship arriv'd
Which brought the News of IOpano,s Death.
I hasten'd, with my Sorrows, to my Bed,
Where mourning o're the mem'ry of my Lord.
At dead of night I saw Phorsano enter,
His Hands a Dagger and a Taper held:
He sigh'd and pray'd, he caught me to his Arm
And swore since, what oppos'd him was remov'd
If I refus'd to be his Wife, by force
That minute he wou'd seize the Marriage Joy,
And as he strove to act as he had sworn.
I, to prevent him, promis'd to be his,
Made him my Husband and secur'd my Honour.

Luc.
Who cou'd have thought, that you whom neither Want,
Nor chains, nor death cou'd Frighten from your duty
Who cou'd have thought a night wou'd be too long
For you to languish on a Widow'd Bed
And weep for One who lov'd you more than Life.

Issa.
Compell'd to what I did, if I have sinn'd
What canst thou say in thy defence, what Plea
Hast thou for wronging me and him to whom
Thou art by solemn Oaths Contracted

Vir.
(aside)
Ha! what has Hell been doing here?

Issa.
Virotto lives, and comes to claim thy Vow,
What canst thou Say to him and what tome.
To meet my Husband by thy self, of Choice
In the dark Covert of a Grove at Evn
Did I not see him in thy Arms, these Eyes
Behold thy warm Caresses saw thy Cheeks
Lean wantonly on his, thy conscious Blushes
Confess'd thy Pleasure and thy Guilt.

Vir.
(aside)
Oh horror!
Sink me at once or strike me deaf for ever.

Luc.
I meet your Husband! Had I known him there
I sooner wou'd have met a certain Death.
He sound me in the Silence of the Shade
Alone complaining to the Woods and Winds
And mourning o're a poor unhappy Brother.

Issa.
He rather found thee waiting with Impatience.
The Hour appointed for my Ruin there.
You kist, you toy'd, you prest him to your Bosom.
While I was in your intervals of Joy
Your Mirth, your Laughter, but this Hour is mine
And thus—
She flings away the Dagger, Virotto comes forward.
Ha Cruel! whom woud'st thou have murder'd?
I met my IOpano to her Eyes,
And pitty at that Sight, and Love disarm,d me
No; this is not the way to right my Wrongs.
I'l stab her in her tender Part Phorsano,
How mad is my despair to hope for Peace
By adding Blood and Murder to my shame.
But Innocence and Reason went together
And Horrors growing on my Soul distract me.
Virotto! thou art come to do me Justice
And rid me of my Foe.

Vir.
As Guilty as she is, you coud'n hurt Her
By seeing in her Looks her Brother's Likeness
A Brother whom you have not us'd too well.
How cou'd you hope then I wou'd serve your rage
On one whose Image in my Bosom reigns.

Issa.
Dull as thou art, go, take her to thy arms
The Relicks of Phorsano's sated Love.
For me—My Beauty wou'd regain his Heart,
If I were fond of getting what I loath

[Exit.
Lucin.
You seem as if you hearkned to her Malice
And what her Jealousy inspi'rd, believ'd
Cou'd I imagin that Virotto's Soul
Was capable of thinking me so base,
My Vertue should be prov'd by my disdain,
There's not a shackl'd Wretch whom I wou'd scorn
Like him, or think he less deserv'd my Heart

Vir.
Who trusts himself to Women or the Waves,
Shou'd never hazard what he fears to lose;
For he that ventures all his hopes like me
On the frail promise of a Womans Smiles,
Like me will be deceiv'd and Curse his Folly.

Lucin.
Curse, Curse, your Folly, Curse your credulous Nature,
And by your Vile Suspicions be deceiv'd.
If thus before the Marriage Rites are past,
Before Possession if you use me thus,
What from your Jealousy must I expect
When you've no more to ask, nor I to grant.

Vir.
Sure thus we did not think to meet Lucinda
When last we parted, when you Wept and Sigh'd,
And vow'd Eternal truth, Oh racking Thought!
You suffer'd me to Seal it on your Lips
And Smiling bad me haste to make you Happy:
For my own Peace too late I am return'd
Too soon for yours.
My Fate in this, more wretched then my Friends
If Issamenea had not thought him Dead
She ner'e had chang'd and he had ne'er complaind.
While I

Lucin.
The most abus'd of all Mankind
Betray'd Forsaken for a Murd'rer left
This you wou'd tell me Cou'd I deign to hear you
And wou'd not tho I Swore twere false believe me
Yet if a word would prove my Innocence.
My silence shou'd confirm your doubts, and I
Your Love and Fears with equal Passion Scorn.

Viro.
Where will this end? Oh Was there not sufficient?
Of sorrow in my Friends dispair to sink us,
But this must swell the flood and bear us down,
When by the foaming Billows I was tost:
When the fierce Pyrates ratled from their Ships,
A Storm of Sulphur, like the Mouth of Hell.
In expectation of this Hour my Soul
Dispis'd the danger, to the Winds I cry'd,
Swell out the Sails, and let us drive amain.
It wafts me to Lucinda: I in her
Shall find the fury of the Tempest chang'd
To Sighs, soft murmurings and to Tides of Love.
Oh how deceitful were my hopes? how vain?
As Men in Feavers dream of fanning Breezes,
Of Chrstal Springs, and burning wake in Fire.

Lucinda.
Thy Treason has no need of this excuse,
To make my Guilt a base pretence for thine.
But how can I whom higher cares employ,
Dispute with one so little worth my thought?
Think what thou wilt since I no more shall see thee,
And Conscious to my self of nothing ill.
Thy Fears and Falshood shall no more disturb me.

Viro.
She's gone, and parted as she went a frown.
Exit.
Too piercing to be born
But if an angry look can wound me thus,
What must it be to see her smile on him
And shoot at me disdain. Oh Jopano,
I who to day was soothing thee to Peace,
Must add the burthen of my grief to thine,
And urge thee to Revenge.
Nor Guards nor Armies shall secure the Traytor
To punish Tyrants and in Vengeance still,
He seldom wants the Pow'r who has the Will.