University of Virginia Library

ACT I.

SCENE I.

Arnolph, Orbassan, Loredan, Catanio. Ranged as in council.
ARNOLPH.
Illustrious knights, Sicilia's brave avengers,
Who, from regard to my declining years,
Have deign'd beneath my roof to hold your council,
Let vigor prompt your measures! long, too long
Coop'd in our walls, have we oppos'd our tyrants,
With useless courage: Syracuse is lost,
Unless you rise intrepid to defend her!
'Tis time to meet the haughty Mussulman,
And from the fatal wreck that threats our fortunes
To save the best, the only good that's left us,
More sacred even than life to noble minds,
Our sinking liberty!

LOREDAN.
Two powerful foes,
Byzantian Cæsars, and the Saracen,
Who slight the faith of nations, and their rights,
Would bend us to their yoke with proud oppression.
“Messina owns the Greek, and Solyman
“In Agrigentum holds imperious sway,
“O'er the vast plains by lofty Etna crown'd.
Our common tyrants, of each other jealous,
Tho' for our ruin arm'd have prov'd our safety.
Contending for their prize, their strength is wasted,
Their armies thinn'd; their measures disconcerted.
Heaven, to our liberty propitious, opens
A precious moment—

ARNOLPH.
Let us not neglect it.
Too well I know, by inward factions tor'n,
That Syracusa holds precarious freedom;
But let oblivion shade those horrid days,
When on ourselves we furious turn'd our swords,
And stain'd our country with her children's blood.
Let now one wish unite us: Orbassan!
Zeal for the state; 'tis that alone should guide us.
Let our alliance be its firmest base;
If we with envious and with jealous eye
Have view'd our equals, let us now be firm,
And perish rather than admit a master!

ORBASSAN.

CATANIO.
'Tis time to think of safety, and of vengeance,
Too oft has treachery menac'd us with ruin:
Let then that law with vigor be maintain'd,
Which dooms to shameful and immediate death
Whoever dares to hold a secret commerce,
Fatal to Syracusa, with the foe.
As lenity ill tim'd makes traitors bolder,
Let neither sex nor age engage our pity.
From whence does Venice boast her power unshaken?
Caution and rigor are its solid basis.

LOREDAN.
'Tis sure a shame to these degenerate days,
That in Sicilia Solyman should hold
A secret intercourse with venal subjects,
Won from their country by his odious favours;
Who basely watch the moment to betray us.
“By private fraud, or open hostile force:
“Studious to nourish our intestine broils,
“The surest means that lead a state to ruin.
“Our women too, a vain incautious sex!
“Of novelties and heroes ever fond;
“With partial eyes beheld this pompous Moor!
“I blush to think how many even of us,
“Caught by those gaudy arts Arabia boasts of,
“Barter for tinsel, and for modern toys,
“The manly virtues of their rougher fathers!
“Let valour be our science! Let our arts
“Be how to vanquish: I disclaim all others.
“But chiefly I approve that wise severity,
“Our laws and liberty's support and venger.
One bosom traitor may undo a state;
Such there have been and such again may rise.

CATANIO.
Let's set a warning up, so terrible!
That boldest perfidy may tremble at it.
Our country calls, and pity were a crime.
Let the Moor fall, and Tancred be proscrib'd;
His dang'rous race is fatal to our freedom.
A wise and just decree of our last council
Transfer'd to Orbassan his rich inheritance.
His faith and valour well deserv'd the gift,
And thus our lurking enemies shall learn
The fate of rebels, and respect our justice.
“Your sentiments are mine, my lord: let Tancred
“Seek at Byzantium riches, power, protection;
“Let him be honour'd by that odious court,
“He has no right to grace or favor here;
“He has himself renounc'd our sacred ramparts,
“By basely stooping to a foreign master.
“Thrown off for ever, the vile slave of Cæsar
“Has naught to hope for in a brave republic.
“Our laws most firm support is Orbassan,
“Nor for his merit could the state do less.

ARNOLPH.
With joy I view in him a future son:
Dearer than life, I love my daughter too.
Yet most unwillingly I see them share
An orphan's spoils; and 'twas with deep regret—

LOREDAN.
You blame the Senate?

ARNOLPH.
No, but love not rigour
Yet to the sentence awful of the law,
I bow submissive; for the good of all
Should ever be preferr'd to private feelings.

ORBASSAN.
The state, supreme disposer of our fortunes,
Bestows them as it wills—nor did I court
This trifling favour—

ARNOLPH.
'Tis enough, my lord.
Let us now hasten these auspicious nuptials;
And let to-morrow's sun bring on the day,
When this fierce chief of a destroying race
Shall meet a conqueror. In all your rival,
He ask'd and offer'd peace on the high terms
Of my Almida's hand. Presumptuous thought!
Rejected with the scorn he well deserv'd,
He now breathes double vengeance. Be it yours
To level with the dust his tow'ring hopes.
Weakness and age steal on me; and the task
Arduous to govern, asks a firmer hand.
None more than Orbassan deserv'd your choice,
Wise, brave and noble. 'Twill be yet some joy
In my old days to see your valiant deeds,
And ere I die, my country free and happy.

ORBASSAN.
After a youth of virtue, age is sacred;
It fills us with a kind of holy love,
And tender veneration! You, my lord,
Shall be our guide. This day must be victorious,
And by your side we'll meet or death, or conquest.

[Exeunt Knights, &c.

SCENE II.

Arnolph, Orbassan.
ARNOLPH.
Am I at length, brave Orbassan, your father?
Is there no shadow lurking in your heart
Of our resentments past? may I now hope
The tender feelings of a son—

ORBASSAN.

ARNOLPH.
I like this generous spirit in a soldier;
Frankness may please—but not austerity.
I hope Almida, with becoming sweetness,
Will harmonize your soul. Small is the praise
To courage only due; but manly softness
Becomes a hero, and adorns his virtues.
Besides my daughter in her childhood absent,
From our rough scenes, and loud domestic storms,
May shrink perhaps at this apparent harshness,
Which looks like pride, and borders upon rudeness.
Forgive an old man's counsels, and a father's.

ORBASSAN.
Excuse yourself the sternness of my humour;
Bred up in camps, I ever yet preferr'd,
To that false glitter which is call'd politeness,
The cringing arts of flatt'ry and of courts,
The plain but noble manners of republics.
Yet I respect and prize in fair Almida
Her worth, your blood, a name and rank superior.
I hope to merit by my cares her heart,
To see and love in her a father's virtues.

ARNOLPH.
By my order she here advances.

SCENE III.

Arnolph, Orbassan, Almida.
ARNOLPH.

ALMIDA.
Just heaven!

[aside.
ARNOLPH.
In this alliance of itself so brilliant,
Is the least object that attracts.

ORBASSAN.
My lord,
I by your daughter's hand enough am honour'd;
Her sight endears the present to my heart.
May her choice deserving, and your goodness
Prove not unworthy of a gift so precious.

ALMIDA.
I know my father's kind paternal love
Has ever wish'd to make his daughter happy;
And now my hand he destines to a hero—
Thus when those long debates, that vex'd the state,
Are by your soothing wisdom quite subsided;
I am the pledge reserv'd to fix your union,
The intention honors me—it may be useful—
Yet sure—my lord, I hope you will excuse me
[to Orbassan.
If my astonish'd heart, from earliest youth
Accustom'd to the frowns of adverse fortune,
And by the sudden news confus'd, one moment
Wishes for refuge in a father's bosom.

ORBASSAN.
Far be it from me, madam, to oppose
A wish so just, so worthy my esteem.
Nor would I seem intrusive to presume
Upon those rights your goodness has avow'd.
I have obtain'd your hand, and must deserve it.
Our warriors wait me, and I fly to head them.
[Exit Orbassan.

SCENE IV.

Almida, Arnolph.
ARNOLPH.
Thou seem'st confus'd, abash'd; why is that eye,
With tears suffus'd, averted from thy father?
Thy bosom laboring with a smother'd sigh
Seems to reproach me; a repining heart
Seconds but ill th'obedience of the lips.

ALMIDA.
Alas! my father, little did I think
Your past misfortunes and dissensions over,
You would espouse the cause of Orbassan,
Or that this hand was destin'd to unite ye!
Must then these arms be open to your foe?
Can I forget how from your houshold gods,
The rage of civil war unpitying drove you?
How forc'd, unwilling, my lost mother flew,
And sought for safety on a foreign shore.
Torn by my fate from your protecting arms,
Sad witness and companion of her woes,
Long did I share them at the court of Cæsar.
Even from my cradle, train'd in sorrow's school,
Early I learn'd beneath a hapless parent,
Wand'ring and fugitive to bear with exile,
And the sad fate of out-casts: to support
The frown disdainful of a haughty court;
The cruel mockery of false compassion,
Bitterer than insult; yet amidst my woes,
The bright example of a mother's virtues,
Deep in my bosom fix'd a sense of honor;
Depriv'd too soon of her maternal care,
Like the weak reed, shook by regardless winds,
Friendless I stood alone and unprotected!
Your fortunes chang'd, and trembling for her safety,
Ungrateful Syracuse recall'd you to her.
Your ravish'd wealth and honors she restor'd,
Trusted her armies to your brave command,
And from her frighted walls repuls'd the foe.
Shelter'd once more in your paternal bosom,
From whence no common miseries had torn me,
I only come perhaps to prove fresh sorrows.
“Too well I see the aim, the hope that leads you,
“To light the torch of this ill suited hymen:
“Long have I been the victim of your foes,
“And now at last am yours;
For trust me, Sir,
This day ill-omen'd leads to new misfortunes.

ARNOLPH.
Banish thy fears, this day shall make thee bless'd.
Trust to a father's word. Thou know'st how dear
Thy peace, thy honor must be to my heart.
The lustre of this marriage will efface
Th'affront from haughty Solyman receiv'd,
Who dar'd to ask thy hand. You wed a hero,
My rival once, now my support and friend.

ALMIDA.
He your support! Ah what an empty claim
Pride without justice makes to our esteem!
'Tis sure a pity that this valiant hero
Despoils the innocent to swell his greatness!

ARNOLPH.
Severely prudent it is true the council
In Tancred punishes a foreign race;
Which overbearing long abus'd its power;
But now detested—

ALMIDA.
I am misinform'd,
Or Tancred still is lov'd in Syracuse.

ARNOLPH.
That he is brave even hatred must allow.
Illyria lately by his arm subdued
Proclaims his valor: but the fame he gathers,
Beneath the eagles of those hated Cæsars.
Serves but to make him more detested here,
And by an edict banish'd from our ramparts—

ALMIDA.
How! Tancred banish'd?

ARNOLPH.
Yes, they fear his presence.
If thou hast seen him when in Cæsar's court,
Thou know'st the hate, the enmity he bears us.

ALMIDA.
Alas! I thought not so, nor did my mother;
Nay more, she spoke with wonder of his virtues;
Virtues which might have sav'd this sinking state
Had not a faction triumph'd—

ARNOLPH.
'Tis enough,
The counsel of a father ought to guide thee;
To time, to place, with prudent virtue yield:
Tancred, and Solyman, and Cæsar's court,
Alike are objects of aversion here.
I for my country sixty years have fought;
Unjust I serv'd it, and ungrateful love it:
Adopt my sentiments; my stormy days
Are hast'ning to their end; my only hope,
By sorrow unextinguish'd, is thy bliss!
Could I behold thee happy, one fair gleam
Would brighten my last hour!

ALMIDA.
Your goodness, Sir.
Wakes all my soul to filial love and duty.
My life, my wishes, are to you devoted,
But if indeed you wish to see me happy,
Urge not this marriage. A prophetic terror
Runs freezing thro' my breast, and warns me from it.
Whence springs for Orbassan your suddden fondness?
His boasted credit may not last for ever;
Fortune may change; may soon withdraw her smiles;
Perhaps this hero is too sure, too hasty,
To vaunt himself your son, and my proud master.

ARNOLPH.
How! Thou dost not sure presume—

ALMIDA.
This boldness
May seem an outrage, and perhaps offend you.
Too well I know, that in a stern republic
Our sex is crampt by harsh ungentle rules;
Not as at Byzantium honor'd; for your rough laws
Exact obedience, and forbid a murmur.
These stubborn Mussulmen, too long your masters,
Have taught to Sicily their barb'rous manners;
But who shall rob me of a father's kindness?

ARNOLPH.
None but thyself. Something mysterious lurks
Beneath thy words; I would not pierce their meaning.
A short delay my fondness grants, but mark me,
Presume not I will suffer thy refusal;
My word is past; no power on earth shall loose it.
Avert kind gods these inauspicious omens!
Smile on this union! Be it thine, Almida,
To claim from heaven protection by thy virtue,
And may thy days be happier than thy father's.
[Ex. Arnolph.

SCENE V.

Almida alone.
ALMIDA.
Tancred!
My soul's best love! shall I then be vile,
To break my vows—for thy dire foe to break them?
“Than him more cruel, faithless even to meanness,
Thy ravish'd fortunes share with thy oppressor,
Shall I—

SCENE VI.

Almida, Sophia.
ALMIDA.
Sophia, I'm undone! my father
Destines my hand, but this repugnant heart
Ruin or death prefers to Orbassan.

SOPHIA.
Too well I guess how this must pain your heart.
I know it's feelings, tender, firm and noble.
Nothing that fortune or a court could offer,
Had power to tempt it. Solyman and Tancred
With equal ardor lov'd you—
But Tancred's virtues, his superior merit,
All that can grace a hero, gain'd your heart,
And hearts like yours once touch'd, are fix'd for ever.

ALMIDA.
Tancred they banish, strip, and load with wrongs.
Envy and hatred is the hero's lot;
But this still binds him closer to my soul!
Know too he is still regretted in these walls,
The people love him—

SOPHIA.
Banish'd in his youth,
The worldly friends of his forgotten father,
Shrunk from the son, and left him to his fate.
Few hearts like yours resist the pow'r of absence;
The great no idol but their interest know;
Oft are the people kinder—

ALMIDA.
And more just.

SOPHIA.
Alas! they are depress'd; our friends are hidden,
Or dare not speak in favor of an exile.
A tyrant senate rules, all pow'rful here.

ALMIDA.
All pow'rful yes, when Tancred is away.

SOPHIA.
Ah! could he shew himself, we yet might hope,
But far from hence—

ALMIDA.
Assist me heav'n! Sophia,
In thy kind bosom let me place my trust;
Know then, that Tancred is not distant far,
And whilst his proud oppressors plan his ruin,
'Tis time he should appear, and bid them tremble.
Tancred is in Messina.

SOPHIA.
Can it be?
And dares another to your hand aspire?

ALMIDA.
Perish the hated thought! nay soon perhaps,
My foes and I shall own one common lord.
I'll tell thee all—but we must greatly dare.
This yoke is shameful, I will shake it off.
“How vile in me if meanly I betray'd him!
Obedience here would be a cloak for falshood.
Ah! let him come to sooth this trembling heart!
Let him be mine! Well does my faith deserve him.
Bound to a tyrant, shall I timid slave
Poorly submit, a mean unhappy victim,
And veil my treach'ry with the name of duty!
No, love and honor kindle all my soul,
Exalt it far beyond my sex's weakness;
If in this enterprize, there should be dangers,
Joyful I'll meet them, they are all for Tancred.

[Exeunt.