University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

—A Hindoo Temple.
Priests are officiating, and votaries kneeling.
CHORUS OF PRIESTS.
Pour the attar,—more and more!
Flowers, and leaves, and spices heap;
Gums, and oils, and odours pour,
Lest the burning altar sleep!
Look, it sinks—the holy flame!
Why is not the victim brought?
Once, if called, the Hindoo came
Swifter than the flight of thought!

A HINDOO.
I am here, as soon as sought.

OTHERS.
I am here;—and I;—and I:
There are none who shrink or fly.

CHORUS.
Why doth the doomèd victim stay?
Full of sin is base delay:
Quick, or soon shall sound a curse,
Amidst the thunder of our verse.
Call her with resistless voice!

CHIEF PRIEST.
Come!

The Zemindar, Rhaida, and Muttra, are seen approaching.
CHORUS.
She comes. Rejoice, rejoice!

AIR.
Soothe her soul with song,
Like a silver shower,
Sweet, and bright, and strong:
'Tis her conquering hour!
Let the music steal,
Like a hidden river,
Through her, till she feel
Crowned and blessed for ever!

The Zemindar crowns his daughter.
RHAIDA.
Why am I brought here?—Ha! what means the crown?
I am no victim sentenced to the fire.

CHIEF PRIEST.
Come forward!

RHAIDA.
Hark, he calls on some one. Hush!

ZEMINDAR.
He calls on thee!

RHAIDA.
Ah! no, no: kill me not.

[Falls.
CHIEF PRIEST.
Whence comes this! Was she not prepared? 'twas wrong.
The Rajah will himself come here to-day,
And pray for aid in some great enterprise;
Till then we shall not stain the altar foot.
Take her aside, meantime, and counsel her.

[Rhaida is taken out.
VOICES without.
VOLICES
The Rajah comes! the Rajah!

A PRIEST.
Hear'st thou the shouts? he comes.

CHIEF PRIEST.
I hear them, brother.
The bold, freethinking Dhur-Singh, comes, I know;
But here, in our own temple, he must droop
His lion aspect and obey the law.
Hail, Maharajah!

The Rajah enters, attended.
RAJAH
(to an Officer).
See they be secure.
Health to the priests of Siva! I am come
To share your holy rites, and offer prayers,
Woods, leaves, and spices, (for I shed no blood,
Save that of foes,) before a God's great shrine.
Bring here the basket. Look, I offer these;
Myrrh, aloes, sacred oils, rich sandal-wood,
And flowers, which you confess even Siva loves:
Take them; and pray that I may free the land
(Else all at peace,) from murderous men, who've turned
Our holy Ganges to a place of spoil,
Robbed the poor peasant, slain the sucking babe,
Fired happy homes, and wheresoe'er they've been,
Left death, and violation, and despair!

[The presents are offered.
CHIEF PRIEST.
The offerings are accepted. See, they burn.
And now, great Rajah, we will sacrifice
A living creature at the altar foot,
A maid who ne'er was wooed, betrothed, nor won.
Go, fetch the victim.

[Priest goes out.
RAJAH.
Doth she wish to burn?

CHIEF PRIEST.
Her father brings her. On his house a blot
Hath dwelt for a hundred years; no good stays with him;
His acts ne'er prosper; he is loved by none;
His dreams are bad; his peasants starve; his friends—
He hath no friend; and therefore (and because
He loves great Siva) doth he this day bring
His daughter for a maiden sacrifice.

RAJAH.
Methinks himself should smart for his own sins.
And she?

CHIEF PRIEST.
She trembles. Human blood will shake,
Sometimes, in dread of the last agony;
But we will pray such fault may be forgiven,
And bid her father fast for one whole day:
She shall not die in vain.

Priest enters with Rhaida, the Zemindar, &c.
PRIEST.
The maiden's here.

CHIEF PRIEST.
Come forward. Girl, approach.

RHAIDA.
O spare me, spare me!

RAJAH
(tenderly).
Come hither, Rhaida!

RHAIDA
(screams).
Ha!—who spoke to me?

ZEMINDAR.
The Rajah spoke. (Aside.)
Methinks I know his voice.

RHAIDA.
Where? Where? The Rajah? Ha, Meignoun! 'Tis he!
I'm safe, I'm safe!

[Sinks on her knees.
RAJAH.
Did they not say this girl
Was unaffianced?

CHIEF PRIEST.
Ay, unwooed, unsought.

RAJAH.
They told thee false, and they deserve to die.
She is affianced; nay, she should have been
This night a bride.

CHIEF PRIEST.
Whose bride, O Rajah?

RAJAH.
Mine.
Come forward, Rhaida. Look! I take her hand,
And in your holy temple own her mine.
Priest, seek some other victim.

(Kemaun enters by stealth, and mixes with the crowd. The place is surrounded by troops.)
CHIEF PRIEST
(pauses).
Mighty Rajah,
I grieve that 't should be thus; but she is doomed!
The God himself, in his own voice, hath asked
A victim, and I dare not disobey:
I dare not offer one of less degree.

RAJAH.
Then must we strait do justice. Stand apart!
[Kneels.
Terrible Siva! if this maid be thine,
Devoted, and not slain by human hate,
Speak to thy servant, who now kneels before thee.

CHIEF PRIEST.
Arise! The marble hath a thousand tongues,
And might, if so it willed, now answer thee.

RAJAH.
Peace, holy man, do I not know't? The God,
Whose strong divinity is masked in stone,
Is free as air; his spirit still hath power
To will, and make his marble limbs obey,
His marble tongue to speak. Is it not so?

CHIEF PRIEST.
'Tis so.

RAJAH.
Then speak, O Siva! If thy wrath
Demand this maiden for thy altar fires,
Speak, and she comes. But, if no word of thine
Be heard in answer, I pronounce her—free!
Behold her! She was lured by falsehood hither;
And they who brought her have affronted thee,
By offering a false martyr. She is wooed,
Won, almost wed; and by thy awful law,
Is unfit for the altar. Terrible God,
If thou delightest, as 'tis said, in blood,
Yet sure thou lov'st it most when justly shed.
Know, we have now a victim fit for thee;
One who, though priest and saint, deserves to die.
Spare, then, this innocent maid!—Once more, if thou
Speak'st not, she's free. No answer? Maid, approach!
The God whom now we worship gives no sign.

CHIEF PRIEST.
The sign you call for, yesternight was made;
And I did see it.

RAJAH.
Was the victim named?

CHIEF PRIEST.
No name: a victim only.

RAJAH.
He shall have
A saintly victim, who is doomed to die;
Doomed by the law and me.

[Claps his hands. Muttra and Kemaun are secured.
PRIESTS.
This place is sacred, Prince.

RAJAH.
Peace, peace, vain men.
Justice is done in heaven; why not here?
Bring forth the prisoners. Men, stained black with crimes,
(All by confession and strong proofs made plain)
Prepare, for ye must die! Kemaun, thou hast
One lonely virtue, an undaunted mind:
For this (so much I reverence valiant hearts),
I give thee choice how thou wilt die to-day.
Speak, and begone!

KEMAUN.
The robber's death for me.
A tamer end would blot the fame I've earned:
Death and renown be mine!

RAJAH.
Take him away.
[Kemaun exit, guarded.
For thee, thou baser villain, death by fire:
That is thy doom, which none shall mitigate.
(To Officer.)
Stay thou, and see it done. He is the worst,
More base, more false, more without touch of pity,
Than ever I did think a man could be.
One more there is; her father.

OFFICER.
Must he die?

RAJAH.
No; let him live; but in a foreign land.
We will not touch a hair that's kin to her.
[Turns towards Rhaida.
And now, thou tenderest heart, and loveliest bride,
That ever made the world more beautiful,
Bright'ning with smiles the aye-recurring Spring,
What shall be done with thee? Why, thou must go
Unto a prison; look! to these fond arms;
Whilst I, thy Prince, shall feel more honoured,—more,
With thee thus near me, sweet,—than were I crowned
With garlands, red with conquest, or now hailed
By all wide India as her chosen King!