Be pleased I may speak in my own dear cause, And think it worthy your consideration, (I have loved truly, cannot say deserved, Since duty must not take the name of merit,) That I so, far prize your content, before All blessings that my hope can fashion to me, That willingly I entertain despair, And, for your sake, embrace it: for I know, This opportunity lost, by no endeavour The like can be recover'd. To conclude, Forget not that I lose myself to save you : For what can I expect but death and torture, The war being ended? and, what is a task Would trouble Hercules to undertake,
I do deny you to myself, to give you, A pure unspotted present, to my rival.
I have said: If it distaste not, best of virgins, Reward my temperance with some lawful favour, Though you contemn my person.
[CLEORA kneels, then pulls of her glove, and
offers her hand to PISANDER.
Timand. See, she kneels ;
And seems to call upon the gods to pay
The debt she owes your virtue: to perform which, As a sure pledge of friendship, she vouchsafes you Her fair right hand.
Pisan. I am paid for all my sufferings. Now, when you please, pass to your private chamber; My love and duty, faithful guards, shall keep you From all disturbance; and when you are sated With thinking of Leosthenes, as a fee Due to my service, spare one sigh for me.
Pisan. BRIEFLY thus, then,
Since I must speak for all; your tyranny Drew us from our obedience. Happy those times When lords were styled fathers of families, And not imperious masters! when they number'd Their servants almost equal with their sons, Or one degree beneath them! when their labours Were cherish'd and rewarded, and a period Set to their sufferings; when they did not press Their duties or their wills beyond the power And strength of their performance! all things order'd With such decorum as wise lawmakers, From each well-govern'd private house derived The perfect model of a commonwealth. Humanity then lodged in the hearts of men, And thankful masters carefully provided
For creatures wanting reason. The noble horse, That, in his fiery youth, from his wide nostrils Neigh'd courage to his rider, and brake through Groves of opposed pikes, bearing his lord Safe to triumphant victory; old or wounded, Was set at liberty, and freed from service. The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drew
Marble, hew'd for the temples of the gods, The great work ended, were dismiss'd, and fed At the public cost; nay, faithful dogs have found Their sepulchres; but man, to man more cruel, Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave; Since pride stepp'd in and riot, and o'erturn'd This goodly frame of concord, teaching masters To glory in the abuse of such as are [ful, Brought under their command; who, grown unuse- Are less esteem'd than beasts.-This you have practised,
Practised on us with rigour; this hath forced us To shake our heavy yokes off; and, if redress Of these just grievances be not granted us, We'll right ourselves, and by strong hand defend What we are now possess'd of.
LEOSTHENES'S RETURN TO CLEORA.
Timandra (the attendant of Cleora). You are welcome, sir.
Leost. Thou givest it in a heavy tone.
Timand. Alas! sir,
We have so long fed on the bread of sorrow, Drinking the bitter water of afflictions, Made loathsome too by our continued fears, Comfort 's a stranger to us.
Leost. Fears! your sufferings :—
For which I am so overgone with grief,
I dare not ask, without compassionate tears, The villain's name that robb'd thee of thy honour: For being train'd up in chastity's cold school, And taught by such a mistress as Cleora, "Twere impious in me to think Timandra Fell with her own consent.
Timand. How mean you, fell, sir? I understand you not.
Leost. I would thou didst not, Or that I could not read upon thy face, In blushing characters, the story of Libidinous rape: confess it, for you stand not Accountable for a sin, against whose strength Your o'ermatch'd innocence could make no resistUnder which odds, I know, Cleora fell too, [ance; Heaven's help in vain invoked; the amazed sun Hiding his face behind a mask of clouds, Not daring to look on it! In her sufferings All sorrow's comprehended: what Timandra, Or the city, has endured, her loss consider'd, Deserves not to be named.
Timand. Pray you, do not bring, sir, In the chimeras of your jealous fears, New monsters to affright us.
Leost. O, Timandra,
That I had faith enough but to believe thee ! I should receive it with a joy beyond Assurance of Elysian shades hereafter, Or all the blessings, in this life, a mother Could wish her children crown'd with ;-but I Credit impossibilities; yet I strive [must not
To find out that whose knowledge is a curse, And ignorance a blessing. Come, discover What kind of look he had that forced thy lady, (Thy ravisher I will inquire at leisure,) That when, hereafter, I behold a stranger But near him in aspéct, I may conclude, Though men and angels should proclaim him honest, He is a hell-bred villain.
Timand. You are unworthy
To know she is preserved, preserved untainted: Sorrow, but ill bestow'd, hath only made
A rape upon her comforts in your absence. Come forth, dear madam. [Leads in CLEORA. [Kneels.
Timand. Nay, she deserves
The bending of your heart; that, to content you, Has kept a vow, the breach of which a vestal, Though the infringing it had call'd upon her A living funeral, must of force have shrunk at. No danger could compel her to dispense with Her cruel penance, though hot lust came arm'd To seize upon her; when one look or accent Might have redeem'd her.
Leost. Might! O do not show me
A beam of comfort, and straight take it from me. The means by which she was freed? speak, O speak quickly;
Each minute of delay's an age of torment;
O speak, Timandra.
Timand. Free her from her oath ; Herself can best deliver it.
Never did galley-slave shake off his chains, Or look'd on his redemption from the oar, With such true feeling of delight, as now I find myself possess'd of.-Now I behold True light indeed; for, since these fairest stars, Cover'd with clouds of your determinate will, Denied their influence to my optic sense, The splendour of the sun appear'd to me But as some little glimpse of his bright beams Convey'd into a dungeon, to remember
The dark inhabitants there how much they wanted. Open these long-shut lips, and strike mine ears With music more harmonious than the spheres Yield in their heavenly motions; and if ever A true submission for a crime acknowledged, May find a gracious hearing, teach your tongue, In the first sweet articulate sounds it utters, To sign my wish'd-for pardon.
Leost. How greedily I receive this! Stay, best lady,
And let me by degrees ascend the height Of human happiness! all at once deliver❜d, The torrent of my joys will overwhelm me:- So now a little more; and pray excuse me, If, like a wanton epicure, I desire
The pleasant taste these cates of comfort yield me, Should not too soon be swallow'd. Have you not, By your unspotted truth I do conjure you To answer truly, suffer'd in your honour,
By force, I mean, for in your will I free you, Since I left Syracusa ?
This kiss, so help me goodness! which I borrow'd, When I last saw you.
Leost. Miracle of virtue !
One pause more, I beseech you; I am like A man whose vital spirits consumed and wasted With a long and tedious fever, unto whom Too much of a strong cordial, at once taken, Brings death, and not restores him. Yet I cannot Fix here; but must inquire the man to whom I stand indebted for a benefit,
Which to requite at full, though in this hand I grasp all sceptres the world's empire bows to, Would leave me a poor bankrupt. Name him, lady; If of a mean estate, I'll gladly part with My utmost fortunes to him; but if noble, In thankful duty study how to serve him ; Or if of higher rank, erect him altars, And as a god adore him.
Loved me, Leosthenes: nay more, so doated,
(If e'er affections scorning gross desires
May without wrong be styled so,) that he durst not With an immodest syllable or look,
In fear it might take from me, whom he made The object of his better part, discover
I was the saint he sued to.
Leost. A rare temper!
Cleo. I cannot speak it to the worth: all praise I can bestow upon it will appear Envious detraction. Not to rack you further, Yet make the miracle full, though, of all men, He hated you, Leosthenes, as his rival ;
So high yet he prized my content, that knowing You were a man I favour'd, he disdain'd not, Against himself, to serve you.
Leost. You conceal still The owner of these excellencies.
Cleo. 'Tis Marullo, My father's bondman.
Leost. Ha, ha, ha!
Cleo. Why do you laugh?
Leost. To hear the labouring mountain of your
Deliver'd of a mouse.
Cleo. The man deserves not
This scorn, I can assure you. Leost. Do you call
What was his duty, merit?
Cleo. Yes, and place it
As high in my esteem as all the honours Descended from your ancestors, or the glory, Which you may call your own, got in this action, In which, I must confess, you have done nobly, And I could add, as I desired, but that I fear 'twould make you proud.
Leost. Why, lady, can you
Be won to give allowance that your slave Should dare to love you?
Cleo. The immortal gods
Accept the meanest altars that are raised By pure devotions; and sometimes prefer An ounce of frankincense, honey or milk, Before whole hecatombs, or Sabean gums, Offer'd in ostentation.-Are you sick Of your old disease? I'll fit you.
Leost. You seem moved.
Cleo. Zealous, I grant, in the defence of virtue. Why, good Leosthenes, though I endured A penance for your sake, above example;
I have not so far sold myself, I take it,
To be at your devotion, but I may Cherish desert in others, where I find it.. How would you tyrannise, if you stood possess'd of That which is only yours in expectation, That now prescribe such hard conditions to me? Leost. One kiss, and I am silenced. Cleo. I vouchsafe it;
Yet, I must tell you 'tis a favour that Marullo, when I was his, not mine own, Durst not presume to ask: no; when the city Bow'd humbly to licentious rapes and lust, And when I was of men and gods forsaken, Deliver❜d to his power, he did not press me To grace him with one look or syllable, Or urged the dispensation of an oath
Made for your satisfaction:-the poor wretch, Having related only his own sufferings,
The oracles of the gods than question what Your innocence delivers; and, as far As justice and mine honour can give way, He shall have favour. Bring him in unbound: [Exeunt Officers. And though Leosthenes may challenge from me, For his late worthy service, credit to All things he can allege in his own cause, Marullo, so, I think, you call his name, Shall find I do reserve one ear for him, [Enter CLEON, ASOTUS, DIPHILUS, OLYMPIA, and CORISCA. To let in mercy. Sit and take your places; The right of this fair virgin first determined, Your bondmen shall be censured.
Cleon. With all rigour,
We do expect.
Coris. Temper'd, I say, with mercy.
Enter at one door LEOSTHENES and TIMAGORAS; at the other, Officers with PISANDER and TIMANDRA.
Timol. Your hand, Leosthenes: I cannot doubt,
And kiss'd my hand, which I could not deny him, You, that have been victorious in the war,
Defending me from others, never since
Solicited my favours.
Leost. Pray you, end;
The story does not please me.
Cleo. Well, take heed
Of doubts and fears ;-for know, Leosthenes, A greater injury cannot be offer'd
To innocent chastity, than unjust suspicion. I love Marullo's fair mind, not his person; Let that secure you. And I here command you, If I have any power in you, to stand
Between him and all punishment, and oppose His temperance to his folly; if you fail-
No more; I will not threaten.
Should, in a combat fought with words, come off But with assured triumph.
If, without arrogance, I may style them such, Arm me from doubt and fear.
Timol. 'Tis nobly spoken.
Nor be thou daunted (howsoe'er thy fortune Has mark'd thee out a slave) to speak thy merits: For virtue, though in rags, may challenge more Than vice set off with all the trim of greatness.
Pisan. I had rather fall under so just a judge, Than be acquitted by a man corrupt And partial in his censure.
Archid. Note his language;
It relishes of better breeding than His present state dares promise.
Timol. I observe it.
Place the fair lady in the midst, that both, Looking with covetous eyes upon the prize They are to plead for, may, from the fair object, Teach Hermes eloquence.
Leost. Am I fallen so low?
My birth, my honour, and what's dearest to me, My love, and witness of my love, my service, So undervalued, that I must contend With one, where my excess of glory must Make his o'erthrow a conquest? Shall my fulness Supply defects in such a thing, that never Knew anything but want and emptiness, Give him a name, and keep it such, from this Unequal competition? If my pride, Or any bold assurance of my worth,
Has pluck'd this mountain of disgrace upon me, I am justly punish'd, and submit; but if I have been modest, and esteem'd myself More injured in the tribute of the praise, Which no desert of mine, prized by self-love, Ever exacted, may this cause and minute For ever be forgotten. I dwell long Upon mine anger, and now turn to you, Ungrateful fair one; and, since you are such, 'Tis lawful for me to proclaim myself, And what I have deserved.
Cleo. Neglect and scorn
From me, for this proud vaunt. Leost. You nourish, lady,
Your own dishonour in this harsh reply, And almost prove what some hold of your sex; You are all made up of passion for if reason Or judgment could find entertainment with you, Or that you would distinguish of the objects You look on, in a true glass, not seduced By the false light of your too violent will, I should not need to plead for that which you With joy should offer. Is my high birth a blemish? Or does my wealth, which all the vain expense Of women cannot waste, breed loathing in you, The honours I can call mine own thoughts, scandals? Am I deform'd, or, for my father's sins, Mulcted by nature? If you interpret these As crimes, 'tis fit I should yield up myself Most miserably guilty. But, perhaps, (Which yet I would not credit,) you have seen This gallant pitch the bar, or bear a burden Would crack the shoulders of a weaker bondman; Or any other boisterous exercise,
Assuring a strong back to satisfy
Your loose desires, insatiate as the grave. Cleo. You are foul-mouth'd.
Archid. Ill-manner'd too.
Leost. I speak
In the way of supposition, and entreat you, With all the fervour of a constant lover,
That you would free yourself from these aspersions, Or any imputation black-tongued slander Could throw on your unspotted virgin whiteness:
To which there is no easier way, than by Vouchsafing him your favour; him, to whom Next to the general, and the gods and fautors, The country owes her safety.
Timag. Are you stupid?
'Slight! leap into his arms, and there ask pardon- Oh! you expect your slave's reply; no doubt We shall have a fine oration! I will teach My spaniel to howl in sweeter language, And keep a better method.
Archid. You forget
The dignity of the place. Diph. Silence!
Timol. [To Pisander.] Speak boldly.
Pisan. "Tis your authority gives me a tongue, I should be dumb else; and I am secure, I cannot clothe my thoughts, and just defence, In such an abject phrase, but "twill appear Equal, if not above my low condition.
I need no bombast language, stolen from such As make nobility from prodigious terms The hearers understand not; I bring with me No wealth to boast of, neither can I number Uncertain fortune's favours with my merits; I dare not force affection, or presume To censure her discretion, that looks on me As a weak man, and not her fancy's idol. How I have loved, and how much I have suffer'd, And with what pleasure undergone the burthen Of my ambitious hopes, (in aiming at The glad possession of a happiness, The abstract of all goodness in mankind
Can at no part deserve,) with my confession Of mine own wants, is all that can plead for me. But if that pure desires, not blended with Foul thoughts, that, like a river, keeps his course, Retaining still the clearness of the spring From whence it took beginning, may be thought Worthy acceptance; then I dare rise up, And tell this gay man to his teeth, I never Durst doubt her constancy, that, like a rock, Beats off temptations, as that mocks the fury Of the proud waves; nor, from my jealous fears, Question that goodness to which, as an altar Of all perfection, he that truly loved Should rather bring a sacrifice of service, Than raze it with the engines of suspicion : Of which, when he can wash an Æthiop white, Leosthenes may hope to free himself; But, till then, never.
I long haverea disguised! [Throws off his disguise.] that, when they know
Whom they have injured, they may faint with horror
Of my revenge, which, wretched men, expect,
As sure as fate, to suffer.
Leost. Ha! Pisander!
Timag. 'Tis the bold Theban!
Asot. There's no hope for me then :
I thought I should have put in for a share, And borne Cleora from them both; but now This stranger looks so terrible, that I dare not So much as look on her.
Pisan. Now as myself,
Thy equal at thy best, Leosthenes.
For you, Timagoras, praise heaven you were born Cleora's brother, 'tis your safest armour. But I lose time.-The base lie cast upon me, I thus return: Thou art a perjured man, False, and perfidious, and hast made a tender Of love and service to this lady, when Thy soul, if thou hast any, can bear witness, That thou were not thine own: for proof of this, Look better on this virgin, and consider, This Persian shape laid by, and she appearing In a Greekish dress, such as when first you saw her, If she resemble not Pisander's sister,
One call'd Statilia ?
Leost. 'Tis the same! my guilt So chokes my spirits, I cannot deny My falsehood, nor excuse it.
Pisan. This is she,
To whom thou wert contracted: this the lady, That, when thou wert my prisoner, fairly taken In the Spartan war, that begg'd thy liberty, And with it gave herself to thee, ungrateful! Statil. No more, Sir, I entreat you: I perceive True sorrow in his looks, and a consent To make me reparation in mine honour; And then I am most happy.
Pisan. The wrong done her
Drew me from Thebes, with a full intent to kil} But this fair object met me in my fury,
And quite disarm'd me. Being denied to have her, By you, my lord Archidamus, and not able To live far from her; love, the mistress of All quaint devices, prompted me to treat With a friend of mine, who, as a pirate, sold me For a slave to you, my lord, and gave my sister As a present to Cleora.
Timol. Strange meanders!
Giov. There's no evasion, Lidia,
To gain the least delay, though I would buy it At any rate. Greatness, with private men Esteem'd a blessing, is to me a curse;
And we, whom, for our high births, they conclude The only freemen, are the only slaves. Happy the golden mean! had I been born In a poor sordid cottage, not nursed up With expectation to command a court, I might, like such of your condition, sweetest, Have ta'en a safe and middle course, and not, As I am now, against my choice, compell'd Or to lie grovelling on the earth, or raised So high upon the pinnacles of state,
That I must either keep my height with danger, Or fall with certain ruin.
Lid. Your own goodness Will be your faithful guard.
Giov. O, Lidia.
Cont. So passionate!
Giov. For, had I been your equal,
I might have seen and liked with mine own eyes, And not, as now, with others; I might still, And without observation, or envy, As I have done, continued my delights With you, that are alone, in my esteem, The abstract of society: we might walk In solitary groves, or in choice gardens; From the variety of curious flowers Contemplate nature's workmanship, and wonders; And then, for change, near to the murmur of Some bubbling fountain, I might hear you sing, And, from the well-tuned accents of your tongue, In my imagination conceive
With what melodious harmony a choir Of angels sing above their Maker's praises.
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