 | The Governour of Cyprus |  |
26
ACT IV.
Scene an Anti-chamber near the Governours Apartment.Phorsano. Jopano.
[disguis'd.
Phors.
So much thy manly port, thy daring aspect,
The Fires which sparkle in thy Eyes have charm'd me,
That neither thy Complexion nor thy Chains,
Can make me think that thou wer't born a Slave:
But hast a Soul above thy vile Condition,
Which to the boldest actions would inspire thee
Were Liberty in view.
Jop.
Is there a Deed more dreadful than the last,
More cruel to be done, at your Command,
Again this Steel shall drench its self in Blood,
And Liberty alone be my Reward.
For nothing's to the Brave so dear as freedom,
Danger and Death for this they will dispise,
And purchase with their Lives their Native right.
Phor.
To One like thee, so sensible of Slavery,
How grievous must it be to drag thy Chain?
Tug at the Oar, and every Minute feel
The Whip plough odious furrows in thy Flesh,
For a Fools Anger or a Drunkards Mirth;
Sure if occasion offer'd thou woud'st choose
To be the Master of thy self, and live
In plenty, rather than to pine with want.
Jop.
What desp'rate talk? What perilous attempt?
What Wonders to be free cou'd I perform?
I shou'd deserve my Bonds, a Villains lash
To labour Ages at the Oar, if Fear
Cou'd daunt me in the way which leads to freedom.
27
How long has Fortune dealt so basely by thee?
Jop.
Too long, if but a Day, to live in Bonds.
Phor.
Who made thee first a Slave?
Jop.
The Man you Love.
He took me in the Ship with one who now
Lyes bury'd in the Deep, till then my Fate
Was kinder, but I must not here complain.
Phor.
Has he distinguish'd thee from other Slaves
To use thee ill? Confess, and I perhaps
May find a way to right thy self and me.
Jop.
If want, incessant toil, if whips and wounds
Are reason of complaint, there's not a wretch
Who less deserv'd or suffer'd more than I;
Till my last Service rais'd me from the Oar
To tast of ease, and to my pains return.
Phor.
From him indeed thou must expect the worst,
Thou know'st his Guilt, and whilst thou liv'st his Soul
Can ne're have peace, nor while he breaths will mine.
Thou canst not hate him, nor art injur'd more
Tho' Prudence, Interest and Revenge require
His Life from thee; or thine is not secure.
This to encourage thee I give thee now:
[Gold.
To Africa or Asia I'll transport thee
With Wealth above thy wish or expectation.
By thee this Night he Dyes.
Jop.
This Night, my Lord.
Phor.
This Hour—I saw him pass to yon Apartment.
Wait his return, be sure thou dost not fail,
And when the deed is done retire to me,
I'le see thee safe, and well reward thy Service.—
[Exit.
Jop.
If 'twere allow'd us to dispute with Heav'n,
We might now argue why the Murd'rer lives,
Why the Earth yawns not to involve him quick,
Why Lightnings do not blast, nor Thunders tear him,
Nor Nature into wild Convulsions start
28
Murder his Friend just clear of his embrace,
With Blessings kind as from a Brothers Lips.
Kill his Virotto! Oh inhumane Governour!
[Enter Issa.
But He and Cypras shall be safe e're Morn.
Issa.
Ha,—Who art thou that in this Hour of Night,
Art meditating Death,—a Moor, and Arm'd?
Whose Fate is next? Whose Murder is resolv'd?
Say, how can Cyprus e're the Morn be safe?
Nay do not start, thy Life is in my pow'r.
Is there a way to free us from the Tyrant?
The treasures of this Isle shall then be thine,
And I who never was esteem'd the least
Will own thee for my Friend.—
Jop.
Oh Woman, Woman!
Issa.
Why dost thou tremble, can an Africk Robber
Bred up with Savages and Beasts of Prey?
Canst thou, by Nature cruel shrink at things,
The softest of her Sex undaunted Names.
Jop.
Not you alone this Sable has deceiv'd,
Too fond of your Complexions, you believe
Our looks deform'd, and think our Minds the same:
Yet oft behind this Cloud there shines a Soul,
The brightness of whose Rays wou'd strike you blind.
If you o're heard my vow, you know for what
That Solemn Oath was made: But how can you
The softest of your Sex, and sure the fairest;
How can you yield to dip those hands in Blood?
What are your wrongs?
Issa.
And what art thou that askst me?
Enough that I command it to be done,
Durst thou dispute my Will whose Trade is Death?
If thou art paid what matter's it by whom,
Or in whose Breast the fatal Steel is plung'd?
Jop.
What Barbarous Man can Merit this from you,
29
To punish which, whole Nations ought to Arm;
For once I saw the wonders of your Vertue,
That neither Liberty nor Life cou'd tempt you
To leave the kindest, and the truest Husband.
Issa.
Whence comes it? I forget my Native Pride,
To argue with a wretch below my scorn?
Whence that my Ear delights to hear his Voice,
And my heart listens to him as to one
It long has known, and wou'd again converse with:
Thy looks indeed deceiv'd me, for thy mind
Deserv'd a nobler Dwelling; wert thou then
A witness of my sorrow? tell me, stranger,
Wert thou then there, and didst thou know that Husband?
Jop.
I knew, and tho' he was my Foe ador'd him,
Who that had felt the mighty Pow'r of Love;
And saw his tenderness, his care of you.
Who cou'd forbear to pity your distress?
I then was happy, I had then a Wife
Young and to me, at least, She seem'd a Beauty,
Whom my Soul lov'd above the hopes of Heav'n.
And as I thought, by whom I was belov'd
On her, when I beheld your Fate, I look'd,
I dreaded, that your danger might be Her's,
And fear'd if She could Conquer it like you.
Just were my fears at last the Danger came.
For one I trusted as a Friend, has Rob'd me,
Of all which made my Life, and toil a pleasure.
Issa.
Now by my dismal View of what is past,
His story is as Daggers to my Heart,
Which wounds me with its likeness to my own.
Where is this false one, this ingrate?
Jop.
She fled.
Far with the Ravisher, and liv'd in plenty;
While I to want and Chains abandon'd, pin'd!
30
By Whips and Staves, till Oh the guilty Price!
My freedom by the Noblest blood was purchas'd.
Issa.
What have I heard, it must, it must be his,
Oh all you Pow'rs! whoever was so wretched
To bless my Husbands Butcher with his joys,
And sleep contented in the Traytors Arms.
And how canst thou excuse thy guilt, as done
Without thy knowledge or consent? 'tis false,
Hadst thou consulted with thy reason more,
Or hearkned to the Visions of thy fear,
Which check'd the guilty Raptures of the Night,
And mingled with thy soft polluted Dreams.
This truth had sooner been reveal'd, and Fate
Finish'd; the business of this bloody hour,
Say! and, if Life can tempt thee, be sincere,
Say! was not he whose tenderness and care
Inclin'd thee once to pitty; was not he
The same whose Noble blood thy hand has spilt?
Jop.
Madam, my Life depends upon my silence,
Bound by a sacred Oath to keep the secret;
Which to unsold, wou'd throw you to despair,
Spoil your new Pleasures, and Eternal Peace.
Issa.
I dare not ask him more, for ev'ry word,
Discovers what is death for me to know,
And not to know it worse.
Confess by whose Commission thou hast done
A deed ev'n blacker than thy Odious Form;
Yet have a care to own the Crime was thine,
For by the Horrors of my Guilt, I swear
By him whose gaping wounds are fresh before me;
My vengeance shall be terrible to Fame,
And future Ages tremble at the story.
Speak, is Phorsano, is my Husband guiltless?
Jop.
Her Husband, can I hear that word and live?
31
Tell me; did Jopano dye at Venice,
At Sea, or was he Murder'd?
Jop.
I have said
Too much, tho' since you force me still to speak,
He was, and by the Governours Command.
My self a witness of his Death:
Issa.
For ever blasted be thy sight,
Thy Tongue accurs'd.
May all the Plagues which ever vext the World,
In one united, on the Murd'rer fall
And ruin universal wait on mine.
Jop.
To them by whom he Dy'd you owe your Power,
Your Glory, Riches and exalted State;
By this you are become the first in Cyprus,
To Live in equal Pomp with Eastern Queens;
Whatever they deserve themselves, their Gift
Sure merits something kinder than a Curse.
Issa.
This Slave may yet be useful in my vengeance.
And I must sooth him, till my work is done.
A dreadful work for Nature and my Sex,
A deadly Potion for my thirsty Soul;
But fixt as Fates unalterable will,
And ends in death the Cure of all my woes.
Forgive me Honest Moor! I was to blame,
Did I not hear thee vow when first we met,
That Cyprus ere the Morning should be safe?
To Night revenge me on my cruel Husband,
Revenge the Murder'd Jopano.
And half this Wealth for thy reward is thine,
I'll be the fair Companion of thy flight;
A gentle Mistress, and a faithful Friend.
[Smiling.
Jop.
She's Infamous by Heav'n! But I must haste,
Time wastes, and Fate has mighty things to do:
So much the promise of your favour won me;
Your will shall be obey'd.
32
That passage there Conducts to my Appartment;
Bring me the welcome News, and when 'tis done,
Thence with the treasure we may both escape.
[Exit.
Jop.
Oh from what height of Vertue is She fal'n,
Into the lowest depths of Sin and Shame!
They Dye—The Traytor and the Traytress Dye;
Her last contrivance puts 'em in my pow'r,
And I on both shall riot my revenge.
Enter Virotto.
Virotto! Why with this dejected mien?
Thou hast no sorrows of thy own; thy heart
Shou'd have no room but for approaching Bliss.
Vir.
Oh Jopano! since, we parted last,
Shou'd I declare the Vision I have seen,
'Twou'd sink thee lower than thou yet art fal'n.
Jop.
Tell me, for I'm to meet the worst prepar'd,
The worst already I have met and heard:
My Wife confess her Treason, Court a Moor
With impious smiles, to kill the Man she hates;
And thus revenge my Death.
Vir.
Or rather thus,
Her self; for I am wrong'd as well as thou:
The Tyrant will not be content with one,
Scarce the whole Sex can cool his hot desires,
But Wives and Virgins to his Lust must yield.
Lucinda is like Issamenea chang'd,
And faithless both as we are both unhappy.
Jo.
Ha! If thou art not of my House asham'd,
Beware Virotto! do not touch that thought,
'Tis poyson to our Friendship.
I yet am willing to believe thee honest,
Tho' the least doubt against my Sisters Honour,
Will force me with the rancour of thy Foe,
To tell thee that 'tis false.
So well I know the secrets of her Heart;
There's not a Saint whose wishes are more pure,
Nor Life more innocent than Hers.
33
So fond am I to think in this like you,
That rather than suspect Lucinda's truth,
To trust my Eyes or Ear I shou'd refuse:
Yet oh! if any one but She had met
The Ravisher alone at Even, and kiss'd
And clasp'd him in the darkness of a Grove.
Had I o're heard her jealous Sister tell her,
She saw their eager Kisses, their Embraces,
And the fair Criminal should answer,
She nere had ventur'd had she known him there.
What Jopano woud'st thou have me think?
Jop.
That Woman was design'd at her Craarion
To be too cunning and too fair for Man:
'Twas to remove thee; I'm imploy'd and paid
To kill thee, by my faithful Consort hir'd
To stab the Adultrer; do I look a Villain
Fit for the mischiefs of this dreadful Night?
Enter Lucinda, Zarma.
Luc.
Hence Zarma, let us leave this horrid Mansion,
And to the next Religious fly for safety;
The Air's contagious and the House accurst:
Whom can I trust, from whom expect defense,
Where look for Justice for my Brother's death?
His Friend forsakes him, and too much I fear,
Forsook him e're he dy'd; he could not else
Have been so cruel, so unjust to me.
Jop.
To you! If you are Jopano's Sister;
He dying bad me say, remember well
How tenderly he bred you from a Child,
How much he lov'd, how well he taught your Youth;
And have a care you injure not his name.
Luc.
From him a Message tho' it comes by thee,
Will be most welcome in this hour of woe.
Jop.
Ask her, he cry'd, if She has well observ'd
This Lesson, that 'tis Vertue only makes
34
By those She was Ador'd, she'l be despis'd.
Tell her, if ever she has err'd, my Ghost
By Day shall haunt her walks, by Night her dreams,
If in her secret wishes she has sin'd:
May Sickness waste her Beauty, Scorn her Pride,
And Curses heavy as her Crimes o're take her.
Luc.
Are these the Blessings of a tender Brother?
These the last wishes of a dying Friend?
One who was well acquainted with my heart
And knew it, never cou'd offend in this.
Jop.
Have you preserv'd the riches of your Youth?
Inviolate the Honour of your House,
And spotless as he left, is your Fame?
Luc.
What sawcy wretch usurps aright o're me,
To question me of things my Soul abhors,
A trick the poor invention of Virotto.
Can his base jealousie descend so low,
To see me thus insulted by a Slave?
Jop.
Advance thou witness of her Shame and Falshood,
Confound her with the proofs of her dishonour;
With her, the business of the Night begins
In her Lifes blood I'll wipe away the stain
She fixes on our name. For know Dissembler,
Thy Brother lives in me, thy injur'd Brother;
Who tho' he lov'd thee like a Father once,
Now hates the more than ev'n his perjur'd Wife,
And his just Vengeance thus begins on thee.
Luc.
My Brother!
[falls]
[Offers to stab her.
Vir.
Hold Jopano! hear her e're She dyes;
[Held by Vir.
Who can behold that mourning Beauty thus
And suffer, her to bleed? Who see her tears,
Her Charming sorrow, and not feel his pity,
Melt at the sight, and swear she shall not Dye.
Jop.
Off! if thou woud'st, thy self escape my fury,
35
Leave me Virotto, least I melt like thee,
And to thy ruin I believe her guiltless.
Vir.
Believe me what thou wilt, believe me false,
But thus I'll hold thee, till thy Sister's safe.
Luc.
Thus too I'll hold him, hang about his Knees,
Crawl on the Earth, till he has heard my Vow,
Not that I fear to Dye or wish to Live.
With joy when I have justify'd my Vertue,
I'll meet the threatned wound.
Death will be pleasant by a Brother's Sword,
With my cold Lips I'll kiss his bloody Hands,
And as our Mother Dying blest us, bless him.
Jop.
Off! And for ever let me fling thee from me
Unworthy of my Rage, I'll spurn and leave thee,
To perish by despair. But that I know
The untainted Honour, of the Saint who bore thee,
I shou'd believe thee of a spurious race,
A lustful Mercenary Beggars Brat,
And throw thee as a Viper from my Bosom.
Luc.
Hear me ye Pow'rs! If I have sin'd in word
Or wish, and have not like a Virgin liv'd.
Bless me, or Curse me as I swear for ever.
Speak Zarma! thou wert with me in the Grove,
The sad Companion of my grief; for what
Were we then there?
Zar.
To Mourn a Cruel Brother.
Vir.
to Lucinda.
Hence quickly, Hence, I hear Phorsano's voice
Retire, with us his fatal to be found.
[Phor. within calls to Servants.
Luc.
Were I that guilty one which you pretend
In your Destruction, I might now be safe;
But as I keep the secret, think me true.
Vir.
Say, you just enter'd as the Moor had seiz'd me.
And when he was about to kill me, shriek'd.
[Enter Phor. &c.
Phor.
Whence this Confusion and this Midnight noise?
They Luc.
36
Virotto was assaulted by the Moor;
[struggle. Luc shrieks.
And but your coming hinder'd, had been Murder'd.
Phor.
Away to my Apartment with the Slave,
[Jop carry'd off
By Tortures or Rewards, I'll there indeavour
To know who urg'd him to the desp'rate deed.
Whom have you lately injur'd?
Vir.
None but him.
Perhaps he fancies I have been severe,
And of his fortune Proud, wou'd now revenge it.
Phor.
The Villain shall be made a dire Example
To fright his fellows from such black Attempts.
To morrow we'll rejoyce in your escape,
And as the Senates last dispatch Commands
Declare you Admiral of our Fleet, 'tis late
For Beautys to be wakeing and abroad.
[to Luc. Angerly.
Farewel!
[Exit without.
Vir.
You see he's careful of your Health and Ease,
'Tis time he thinks, for Beauties to retire,
And rather than your wakening shou'd offend you.
No question, he would lead you to your rest;
Be watchful of your Sleep and bless your Dreams.
Luc.
Is nor my Brothers Fury nor his Wrongs,
His hard Reproaches, sharper to my Ear
Than Daggers to my Heart. Is this from him
Whom living I have found to see him bleed?
This, all too little to destroy my peace
And make me wretched, as thy Soul can wish
The Honour of a Virgin, whom thou seest
Expos'd to Violence and shameful Force,
Shou'd rather urge thee to defend my Vertue,
Than basely thus to wound me with thy malice.
What other Usage cou'd I hope from thee?
Who was it in thy nature to oblige me?
Thou from this Hour woud'st never see more.
Vir.
To part pretences may be found with ease,
37
Cou'd I obey you, I might quickly see
Your change severely by my Foe reveng'd:
But now to leave you cruel as you are
Wou'd more torment my self than punish you.
No, tho' ungrateful! you my service scorn,
This faithful arm to Night shall be your guard,
For Hell's at work and in his Eyes I see
There's mischief in his Soul too foul to name;
Luc.
As Death is not the greatest ill I fear,
I know to dye, and will in that be safe:
If for protection I shou'd fly to you,
Hereafter you'll upbraid me with you Zeal
And ask Rewards; to generous Merit due
To one, who would with equal care defend
My Fame from slander, and my Sex from force.
Vir.
Love will be victor, and I must submit;
Hence with my doubts, the ruin of my hopes.
If woman e're was innocent 'tis she.
Can you—But how shall I implore your Pardon
So much offended, let my Life attone,
For Life without forgiveness is a Curse,
And I have Sinn'd too much to look for Mercy.
Luc.
So early jealous you have made me wise,
And frighted me from trusting one I fear.
Vir.
Is there no way, no hopes of favour left?
Must we be strangers still and Friends no more?
Oh had you lov'd indeed, to see my pains
My fears, my penitence, unfeign'd and just,
'Twou'd move you both to pity and forgive,
And all may be forgot and we be happy.
Luc.
Twice from your friendship I've my Life receiv'd;
Yet he that kill'd me wou'd be more my friend
Than he that Robb'd me of my Virgin Fame;
Whate're was due before this last affront,
Has paid the debt and now I owe you nothing.
38
What Man can love, and yet be always wise,
So nigh the Blessing, who could fear the least
To lose his wish and not grow Mad like me?
Luc.
Must I for your distempers be the talk,
The laughter of the World? But sure this hour
Were better for my Brothers safety spent:
His danger calls you to his speedy aid,
Your care of him will prove your Love to me,
And in your service I forget your Crime.
Vir.
Our Friend this Night's contriving how to get
His Wife aboard the Fleet: If Fortune smiles
To morrow we will part for Venice, all
There to inform the Senate how this Isle
Beneath Phorsano's Tyranny has groan'd.
I'le wait on yours and Jopano's Fate,
I'le seek and watch your Brother, least he turns
The Fury on himself which now
He aims at them: expect me with you soon.
My Duty wakeful as tho Tyrants Lust,
Luc.
May your good Angels guard you from his Treasons;
Nor Earth nor Hell against your cause prevail.
Help 'em ye Saints Propitious to distress,
Direct the Winds to drive us from this shore.
And never may we Land on Cyprus more.
The end of the Fourth Act.
| The Governour of Cyprus | |