University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

Sakia, Okima, Beaufort.
Sak.
You're welcome, worthy Beaufort.

Okim.
They who bring Victory are always welcome.

Sak.
Had he been vanquish'd he had been more welcome.
Is Ulamar arriv'd?

Beauf.
Each Minute he's expected.

Sak.
Well, you have conquer'd then.

Beauf.
Yes; impartial Heav'n has heard our just Appeal,
And has supported Innocence and Faith,
Against Injustice, Treason, Violence,
Against Oppression, Perjury and Fraud,
And all the Crimes of the perfidious French.

Sak.
They needs must conquer for whom Heav'n declares,
In spight of all the Valour of their Foes.

Beauf.
Madam, their Valour much you over rate,
They know themselves, and to themselves are just,
While they are false to all the World beside.
They feel themselves too guilty to be brave.
'Tis a shrewd Sign their Valour they mistrust,
Who still on Treason or on Odds depend.
But against Odds and Treasons both we conquer'd,
Such Force deriv'd we from the just Disdain
That Honour, Innocence, and heavenly Truth,
Should yield to Falshood, and to Hell-born Crimes,
That Thought alone sustain'd our sinking Troops,
That Thought inflam'd them in extreme Distress,
When one of them cried suddenly aloud,
Lifting his wounded, wearied Arms to Heav'n,
Thou Maker of the World to whom we bow,
If it be Thou and not blind Chance that governs,
To thee we appeal, here manifest thy Justice.

Okim.
Now by that Pow'r thou hast set my Soul on Fire,
What follow'd?

Beauf.
Not the last Trumpet that must rowse the dead,
To them more sudden Vigour shall convey,
Than did to ours that animating Voice,
All thought that Heav'n declar'd it self aloud,
Strange Sights were seen, and wondrous Sounds were heard,
'Tis said a Flame descended upon Ulamar,
And round his Temples spread its lambent Glory;
But this is sure, his Deeds were more than Human.
And Conquest lightning in his Eyes, and Thundring in his Arm,
Rows'd all our Vigour in our fainting Troops,
And struck a fatal Damp upon the Foe.

Sak.
Beaufort, thou art too partial to thy Friend.

Beauf.
I am not partial, I am barely just.

Sak.
He who is so magnanimously just,
Must have done greater Wonders of his own:
Do Justice to thy self then.

Beauf.
What I perform'd I did not in the dark,
But Earth and conscious Heav'n were both Spectators,
I therefore need not speak.

Sak.
Remember the Reward.
Think on Irene.

Beauf.
She's always in my Thoughts.

Sak.
And do you love her?

Beauf.
Have I my sight? To see her is to love her.

Sak.
And can you poorly quit her to another?

Beauf.
No, nor would I basely win her.

Sak.
Yet you exalt your Rival to the Skies.

Beauf.
That Rival is your Son and is my Friend.
And still is partial when he mentions me.

Sak.
Think of what Love requires.

Beauf.
There is a Duty due to Friendship too;
A thousand Lovers worship fair Irene,
But who but I has such a Friend as Ulamar?

Sak.
The greatest Friendship you can shew my Son
Is to deprive him of this fatal Beauty.
I had rather see him in the Arms of Death,
Than of Zephario's Daughter.

Beauf.
But he had rather die than not possess her.

Sak.
Then let him die, no, let him live, ye Pow'rs!
But let him live without her.
You love Irene, tell me, would you win her?

Beauf.
I would, by Heav'n, but would not loose my Ulamar.

Sak.
Then let us jointly urge him to desist.

Beauf.
On what Pretence?

Sak.
On that of Gratitude.
The strongest in the World to a brave Spirit,
Can he be said to bear a grateful Mind,
Who strives against his Benefactor's Bliss?
Remind him of his Obligations.

Beauf.
What Obligations?

Sak.
He well remembers them tho' you forget,
Too generous Beaufort.
Who snatch'd the Dagger from his Infant Breast,
In that accursed Hour that made us Captives?
When only we of all the Slaves were sav'd.
Who forc'd the Iroquois to give us Liberty,
At least a shew of Liberty?
Who since instructed him in glorious Arms?
Instructed him in European Arts?
To whose dear Friendship is his Glory owing,
His noble Acts, and his accomplish'd Greatness?
Tell him aloud he owes all this to Beaufort.

Beauf.
Why should I tell him this?

Sak.
To urge him,
By the remembrance of these mighty Benefits,
To quit his fond Pretensions to Irene,
And not impeach his Happiness, to whom,
Whate'er he has, whate'r he is he owes.

Beauf.
He owes his Greatness to himself alone,
And carries an Instructor in his Breast,
Beyond what all the World can e'er supply;
For Ulamar seems sent express from Heav'n,
To civilize this rugged Indian Clime;
But grant to me alone he ow'd his Greatness,
How base, how barb'rous would it be to upbraid him?
Besides all this, how vain? for know your Sons
No vulgar Passion is that force acquires,
By just Degrees, and kindles into Flame;
His the first moment blasted him, like Lightning
That falls from Heav'n when Jove with his own Fire,
That Tree that's sacred to himself consumes.

Sak.
I but too well remember it.

Beauf.
Immediately he had recourse to me,
Who saw, and therefore lov'd Irene first;
Then Sorrow streaming from his humid Eyes,
That sparkled with Desire, my Friend, says he,
I come to take my leave, for I must die,
Since only Death can make me just to Beaufort;
For only his cold Hand can quench the Flame
That is injurious to my Friend, to whom
The best of Mothers and my self I owe,
And then I love, said he, with faltring Tongue,
And with a Heart about to break with Grief,
I love Irene, and for Beaufort die.

Sak.
And how receiv'd you this?

Beauf.
With some Surprise, but yet with firm Resolve,
In height of Friendship not to be surpass'd,
But rather chuse to hazard her than lose
So faithful and so brave a Friend as Ulamar.

Sak.
O noble Friendship! Unexampl'd Rivalship!
Were all thy Countrymen like thee, brave Beaufort,
The Sun himself in all his shining Round,
Since first his Progress from the East began,
Would ne'er have seen a greater nobler People.
But still my Soul from this disastrous Love
Forebodes much Mischief.