University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

Sakia, Ulamar.
Ulam.
My Mother!

Sak.
My Son!
Oh may the Bounty of th' eternal Mind
Show'r down his choicest Blessings on my Ulamar!

Ulam.
Oh may he but prolong the present Blessing!
That I may long behold the best of Mothers.

Sak.
And yet you could desert this Mother, Ulamar,
And could resist her absolute Commands,
And all her soft Entreaties could despise;
And I behold thee here in spight of both,
All dismal with the pretious Blood of Hurons
And their Allies, Heav'n knows, alas, whose Blood!
Why would'st thou thus against my softest Pray'rs,
Do an unnatural Deed that thus should pierce
The tender Bowels of the Wretch that bore thee?

Ulam.
And how could I avoid it? how resist
Th' Almighty Voice of God, and the great Call
Of Nature urging me to repel Force
By Force, and to defend my self and you?

Sak.
O name not me! for me thou hast undone.

Ulam.
And how could I resist my Country's Call?
That awful Call that in extreme Distress
Aloud implor'd my Aid?

Sak.
Thy Country! Ah! thou fought'st against it, Ulamar,
And hast embru'd thy Hands in its dear Blood.

Ulam.
My Hands are nobly painted with the Blood
Of Hurons and of French, its mortal Foes.

Sak.
And canst thou then so utterly forget
That thou wert born upon th' Huronian Lake?

Ulam.
No, but I know that I am an Angian now,
My Hand, my Heart, my Soul are Angians all.

Sak.
And has a twelve Years Bondage so estrang'd thee,
That thou esteem'st thy Countrymen thy Foes?
O Weakness to be pitied or despis'd!

Ulam.
For ever blest be that eternal Pow'r
That gave me a human comprehensive Soul,
That can look down upon all narrow Principles.
For every brave Man's Country is the Universe,
His Countrymen Mankind, but chiefly those
Who wish the Happiness of all the rest,
And who are Friends to all their Fellow Creatures:
And such are all the brave Iroquian Tribes,
Such are th' unconquer'd English, free themselves,
And loving all who actually are free,
And all who sadly sigh for Liberty;
But hating Tyrants and their Slaves alike,
And equally contemning both as fall'n
Below the Dignity of Human Nature.

Sak.
Tyrants are odious, Slaves are to be pitied,
Our own sad Fate has told us so.

Ulam.
To me all Slaves are odious as their Tyrants,
I mean all Slaves who are the Tools of Tyrants,
They are true Slaves, who have the Souls of Slaves,
And worse than Beasts make use of their own Hands,
To clinch the Chains which first their Masters tied.
Such tame and wretched things are all your Hurons,
No Countrymen for me who here disown them,
Such are those Pests of Human Race the French,
Damn'd to eternal Slavery themselves,
And therefore would like Devils damn Mankind.

Sak.
The Hurons thou disown'st, disown them still,
But know amongst them are thy dear Relations,
Whom God and Nature charges thee to cherish:
How canst thou tell that in the late fought Field
Thou didst not meet thy Father in thy Foe?
Yes, how canst thou be sure thou didst not lift
Thy impious Head against his sacred Life,
And stabbing me in him in whom I live,
Act in one blow a double paracide!

Ulam.
When e'er I cease to hearken to the Dictates
Of the World's Ruler and his Servant Nature,
I shall deserve to be a thing accurst;
In the late Fight that I might spare my Kindred,
I shun'd your Hurons and attack'd the French,
And urging thro' their troops my glorious Way,
I made a slaughter of their bravest Chiefs,
Which they will long with bitter Woe remember.

Sak.
Ha! have a care! thou sayest Mankind's thy Kindred,
Among the French too thou might'st find Relations.

Ulam.
'Tis true we were created Brothers all,
And all descend from one eternal Sire;
But whom the Father for his Sons disowns,
I own not for my Brethren; no, the Brave
And Just are only Brethren worthy me,
And such I shall respect where e'er I find them.

Sak.
And canst thou fondly think there are no such
Among the Squadrons of the warlike French?

Ulam.
I know there are.
When first in the late Fight with my good Sword,
I carried Death among the Faithless French;
One of their foremost Leaders I observ'd,
Who mow'd our Iroquois like ripen'd Corn,
Extending them in Ranks along the Plain;
With him went all his Souldiers Hearts and Eyes;
And long live Miramont aloud they cry'd.

Sak.
Ha! Miramont! Ah Gods! [Apart]
speak that again!

Ulam.
Yes, long live Miramont aloud they cry'd.

Sak.
Speak on, [Apart]
tho' something dire is on thy Tongue.

Ulam.
In short, that Frenchman shew'd himself so brave,
That he appear'd a Conquest worthy me.

Sak.
By Heav'n the very dismal thing I fear'd.

[Apart.
Ulam.
With Indignation stung I on him flew,
And in my first Attack was so successful,
That from his wounded Arm his Weapon dropt.

Sak.
What will become of the forlorn Sakia!

[Apart.
Ulam.
Then with Revenge inflam'd I on him rush'd,
And my good Sword presenting to his Heart.

Sak.
O Heav'n and Earth! O Nature canst thou bear it!

[Apart.
Ulam.
Die, die, said I, perfidious Villain die!

Sak.
O Miramont, thou Darling of my Soul,
Would I had never heard of thee again!
[Apart.
O wretched Father! and O cursed Son!

Ulam.
Madam, you tremble, and a deadly Pale
O'erspreads your Face; what strange Disorder's this?

Sak.
I'm always on the wrack when Blood is spilt.

Ulam.
Then now be calm, for here no Blood was spilt.

Sak.
How's that? indeed! is't possible! just Heav'n.

Ulam.
Madam, 'tis certain.
For looking sternly in the Frenchman's Face,
While Fate stood threatning on my lifted Arm,
Thro' his undaunted Eyes I saw his Soul,
So great, so awful and so truly noble,
That I rever'd the Sight, and check'd my Hand,
And gave him Liberty, the Salt of Life,
And sent him to his own; and now you see,
I can acknowledge Virtue in a Foe,
And can respect it, and reward it too.

Sak.
Ha! what a turn of wondrous Fate is here?
And how shall I conceal my impetuous Joy?
Miramont lives, my Soul's Desire is near me,
[Apart.
And Happiness begins to dawn from Heav'n;
He lives; and Love and I shall meet again.
Oh! unexpected ravishing return,
To Bliss, too swift and mighty to be born!
'Twas but last moment that I felt Despair,
The very worst of ills; and now I hope,
Ay now I entertain the charming Hope,
Of holding him of whom my Soul is fond,
Of holding him in these desiring Arms,
And I shall see, O I shall die with Joy!
Yes, I shall see my Love, my Life again.
O let me see him, Gods, and let me die!

Ulam.
Madam, your Looks discover great Disorder.
She hears me not, nor sees me; now her Eyes
Seem deeply fix'd upon some absent object;
And now they wildly rowl.
What mean these Musings, and these sudden Starts?
And these Convulsions that thus shake her Soul!
Heav'n long preserve my Mother! Madam hear me,
Some body comes, retire before they appproach,
And be not seen in this extreme Disorder.

[Leads her out, and returns.