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Affection to revolt?

King. I thank thee, friend.

There's reason in thy doubt, and I am warned.But think'st thou that my daughter saw this Moor?

Gons. If Osmyn be, as Zara has related, Alphonso's friend, 'tis not impossible But she might wish, on his account, to see him. King. Say'st thou? By Heaven, thou hast roused a thought,

That, like a sudden earthquake, shakes my frame. Confusion! then my daughter's an accomplice, And plots in private with this hellish Moor. Gons. That were too hard a thought

see, she comes-

-but

'Twere not amiss to question her a little,
And try, howe'er, if I've divined aright.
If what I fear be true, she'll be concerned
For Osmyn's deash, as he's Alphonso's friend:
Urge that, to try if she'll solicit for him.

Enter ALMERIA and LEONORA.

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With damned conspirators, to take my life.
Oh, impious parricide! Now canst thou speak?

Alm. O earth, behold, I kneel upon thy bosoin,
And bend my flowing eyes to stream upon
Thy face, imploring thee that thou wilt yield;
Open thy bowels of compassion, take
Into the womb the last and most forlorn
Of all thy race. Hear me, thou common parent,
-I have no parent else-be thou a mother,
And step between me and the curse of him,
Who was who was, but is no more, a father;
But brands my innocence with horrid crimes ;
And, for the tender names of child and daughter,
Now calls me murderer and parricide.

King. Rise, I command thee, rise-and if thou wouldst

Acquit thyself of these detested names,
Swear thou hast never seen that foreign dog,
Now doomed to die, that most accursed Osmyn.
Alm. Never, but as with innocence I might,
And free of all bad purposes. So Heaven's
My witness.

King. Vile equivocating wretch!

With innocence! Oh, patience! hear-she owns

it!

Confesses it! By heaven, I'll have him racked,

King. Your coming has prevented me, Al- Torn, mangled, flayed, impaled-all pains and meria;

I had determined to have sent for you.
Let your attendant be dismissed; Í have

[Leonora retires. To talk with you. Come near; why dost thou shake?

What mean those swollen and red-flecked eyes, that look

As they had wept in blood, and worn the night In waking anguish? Why this on the day Which was designed to celebrate thy nuptials; But that the beams of light are to be stained With reeking gore, from traitors on the rack? Wherefore I have deferred the marriage-rites; Nor shall the guilty horrors of the day Prophane that jubilee.

Alm. All days to ine

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tortures

That wit of man, or dire revenge, can think,
Shall he, accumulated, underbear.

Alm. Oh, I am lost.-There fate begins to wound.

King. Hear me, then; if thou canst reply; know, traitress,

I'm not to learn that cursed Alphonso lives;
Nor am I ignorant what Osmyn is-

Alm. Then all is ended, and we both must die.
Since thou'rt revealed, alone thou shalt not die;
And yet alone would I have died, Heaven knows,
Repeated deaths, rather than have revealed thee.
Yes, all my father's wounding wrath, though each
Reproach cuts deeper than the keenest sword,
And cleaves my heart, I would have borne it all,
Nay all the pains that are prepared for thee;
To the remorseless rack I would have given
This weak and tender flesh, to have been bruised
And torn, rather than have revealed thy being.

King. Hell, hell! Do I hear this, and yet en

dure!

What! darest thou to my face avow thy guilt? Hence, ere I curse-fly my just rage with speed; Lest I forget us both, and spurn thee from me.

Alm. And yet a father! Think, I am your child!

Cursed my own tongue, that could not move his pity;

Cursed these weak hands, that could not hold him here!

For he is gone, to doom Alphonso's death.

Gons. Your too excessive grief works on your

fancy,

And deludes your sense. Alphonso, if living,
Is far from hence, beyond your father's power.
Alm. Hence, thou detested, ill-timed flatterer;

Turn not your eyes away-look on me kneeling;
Now, curse me if you can, now spurn me off.
Did ever father curse his kneeling child?
Never for always blessings crown that posture.
Nature inclines, and half way meets that duty,
Stooping to raise from earth the filial reverence;
For bended knees returning folding arms,
With prayers, and blessings, and paternal love.
Oh, hear me, then, thus crawling on the earth-Source of my woes: thou and thy race be cursed;
King Be thou advised, and let me go, while yet
The light impression thou hast made remains.
Alm. No, never will I rise, nor lose this hold,
'Till you are moved, and grant that he may live.
King. Ha! Who may live? Take heed! No
more of that;

For, on my soul, he dies, though thou and I,
And all, should follow to partake his doom.
Away, off, let me go-
-Call her attendants.
[Leonora and women return.
Alm. Drag me; and harrow the earth with my
bare bosom ;

I will not go 'till you have spared my husband!
King. Ha! What sayest thou
Husband! damnation!

What husband! which? Who?

Alm. He, he is my husband.

King. Poison and daggers! Who?
Alm. Oh-

Gons. Help! support her.

Husband!

[Faints.

Alm. Let me go, let me fall, sink deep—I will
dig,

I will dig a grave, and tear up death; I will;
I will scrape, till I collect his rotten bones,
And cloath their nakedness with my own flesh;
Yes, I will strip off life, and we will change:
I will be death! then, though you kill my
band,

hus

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But doubly thou, who couldst alone have policy
And fraud to find the fatal secret out,
And know that Osmyn was Alphonso.
Gons. Ha!

Alm. Why dost thou start? What dost thou see
or hear?

Was it the doleful bell, tolling for death?
Or dying groans from my Alphonso's breast?
See, see, look yonder! where a grizzled, pałe,
And ghastly head glares by, all smeared with
blood,

Gasping as it would speak; and after, see,
Behold, a damp, dead hand has dropped a dag-

ger:

I will catch it-Hark! a voice cries murder! ah!
My father's voice! hollow it sounds, and calls
Me from the tomb-I will follow it; for there
I shall again behold my dear Alphonso.

[Exeunt Almeria and Leonora. Gons. She is greatly grieved; nor am I less surprized.

Osmyn Alphonso! No; she over-rates
My policy; I never suspected it;

Nor now had known it, but from her mistake.
Her husband too! Ha! where is Garcia then?
And where the crown that should descend on
him,

To grace the line of my posterity?
Hold, let me think—if I should tell the king-
Things come to this extremity: his daughter
Wedded already-what if he should yield?
Knowing no remedy for what is past,
And, urged by nature pleading for his child,
With which he seems to be already shaken.
And though I know he hates, beyond the grave,
Anselmo's race; yet if-that If concludes me.
To doubt, when I may be assured, is folly.
But how prevent the captive queen, who means
To set him free? Ay, now 'tis plain. O well
Invented tale! He was Alphonso's friend.
This subtle woman will amuse the king.
If I delay-'twill do-or better so.
One to my wish. Alonzo thou art welcome.

Enter ALONZO.

Alon. The king expects your lordship.
Gons. 'Tis no matter.

I am not in the way at present, good Alonzo.
Alm. If it please your lordship, I will return,
and say
I have not seen you.

Gons. Do, my best Alonzo.

Yet stay, I would-but go; anon will serve-
Yet I have that requires thy speedy help.

I think thou wouldst not stop to do me service.
Alon. I am your creature.

Gons. Say thou art my friend.

I have seen thy sword do noble execution. Alon. All that it can, your lordship shall command.

Gons. Thanks; and I take thee at thy word. Thou hast seen,

Amongst the followers of the captive queen,

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Dumb men, who make their meaning known by Almeria widowed, yet again may wed;

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And I yet fix the crown on Garcia's head,

[Exit.

ACT V.

SCENE I-A Room of State.

Enter KING, PEREZ, and ALONZO.

King. Not to be found! in an ill hour he is absent.

None, say you? none! What, not the favourite

eunuch?

Nor she herself, nor any of her mutes, Have yet required admittance?

Per. None, my lord.

King. Is Osmyn so disposed, as I commanded? Per. Fast bound in double chains, and at full length,

He lies supine on earth; with as much ease
She might remove the centre of this earth,
As loose the rivets of his bonds.

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Entering, he met my eyes, and, starting back,
Frighted, and fumbling one hand in his bosom,
As to conceal the importance of his errand.
[Alonzo follows him, and returns with a paper.
Alon. A bloody proof of obstinate fidelity!
King. What dost thou mean?

Alon. Soon as I seized the man,

He snatched from out his bosom this-and strove, With rash and greedy haste, at once, to cram The morsel down his throat. I caught his arm, And hardly wrenched his hand to bring it from

him;

Which done, he drew a poinard from his side, And, on the instant, plunged it in his breast. King. Remove the body thence, ere Zara see it. Alon. I will be so bold to borrow his attire; 'Twill quit me of my promise to Gonsalez. [Aside. Exit. Per. Whate'er it is, the king's complexion

turns.

King. How is this? My mortal foe beneath my roof! [Having read the letter. VOL. I.

Oh, give me patience, all ye powers! No, rather
Give me new rage, implacable revenge,
And trebled fury-Ha! who's there?

Per. My lord,

King. Hence, slave! how darest thou bide to watch, and pry

Into how poor a thing a king descends?
How like thyself, when passion treads him down!
Ha! stir not, on thy life; for thou wert fixed,
And planted here, to see me gorge this bait,
And lash against the hook-by leaven, you are

all

Rank traitors! thou art with the rest combined:
Thou knewest that Osmyn was Alphonso; knewest
My daughter privately with him conferred;
And wert the spy and pandar to their meeting.
Per. By all that's holy, I am amazed-
King. Thou liest.

Thou art accomplice too with Zara; here
Where she sets down- Still I will set thee free."
[Reading.

That somewhere is repeated- I have power O'er them that are thy guards'-Mark that, thou traitor.

Per. It was your majesty's command I should Obey her order.

King. [Reading.] And still will I set Thee free, Alphonso-Hell! cursed, cursed, Alphonso!

False and perfidious Zara! Strumpet daughter!
Away, begone, thou feeble boy, fond Love!
All nature, softness, pity, and compassion,
This hour I throw ye off, and entertain
Fell hate within my breast, revenge and gall,
By Heaven, I will meet, and counterwork this
treachery.

Hark thee, villain, traitor-answer me, slave!
Per. My service has not merited those titles.
King. Darest thou reply? Take that-thy ser-
vice! thine!
[Strikes him.
What is thy whole life, thy soul, thy all, to my
One moment's ease? Hear my command: and look.
II h

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King. 'Tis well-that when she comes to set him free,

His teeth may grin, and mock at her remorse. [Perez going. Stay thee I have farther thought-I will add to this,

And give her eyes yet greater disappointment:
When thou hast ended him, bring me his robe;
And let the cell, where she will expect to see him,
Be darkened, so as to amuse the sight.

I will be conducted thither-mark me well-
There with his turban, and his robe arrayed,
And laid along, as he now lies, supine,
I shall convict her, to her face, of falsehood.
When, for Alphonso's, she shall take my hand,
And breathe her sighs upon my lips, for his;
Sudden I will start, and dash her with her guilt.

But see, she comes. I will shun the encounter;

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Enter ZARA and SELIM. Zara. The mute not yet returned! ha! it was the king,

The king that parted hence! frowning he went;
His eyes, like meteors, rolled, then darted down
Their red and angry beams; as if his sight
Would, like the raging dog-star, scorch the earth,
And kindle ruin in its course: Dost think
He saw me?

Sel. Yes: but then, as if he thought
His eyes had crred, he hastily recalled
The imperfect look, and sternly turned away.
Zara. Shun me when seen! I fear thou hast
undone me.

Thy shallow artifice begets suspicion,
And, like a cobweb veil, but thinly shades
The face of thy design! alone disguising
What should have ne'er been seen; imperfect

mischief!

Thou, like the adder, venomous and deaf,
Hast stung the traveller, and after hearest
Not his pursuing voice; even when thou thinkst
To hide, the rustling leaves and bended grass
Confess, and point the path which thou hast crept.
Oh, fate of fools! officious in contriving;
In executing, puzzled, lame, and lost.

Sel. Avert it, Heaven, that you should ever suffer
For my defect; or that the means which I
Devised to serve, should ruin your design.
Prescience is Heaven's alone, not given to man;
If I have failed, in what, as being man,
I needs must fail, impute not as a crime
My nature's want, but punish nature in me;
I plead not for a pardon, and to live,

But to be punished and forgiven. Here, strike; I bare my breast, to meet your just revenge.

Zara. I have not leisure now to take so poor
A forfeit as thy life; somewhat of high,
And more important fate, requires my thought.
When I have concluded on myself, if I
Think fit, I will leave thee my command to die.
Regard me well; and dare not to reply
To what I give in charge; for I am resolved.
Give order that the two remaining mutes
Attend me instantly, with each a bowl
Of such ingredients mixed, as will, with speed,
Benumb the living faculties, and give
Most easy and inevitable death.

Yes, Osmyn, yes; be Osmyn or Alphonso,
I will give thee freedom, if thou darest be free:
Such liberty as I embrace myself,

Thou shalt partake. Since fates no more afford;
I can but die with thee, to keep my word.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II-Opening, shews the Prison.

Enter GONSALEZ disguised like a Mute, with a dagger.

Gon. Nor centinel, nor guard! the doors unbarred! And all as still, as at the noon of night! Sure death already has been busy here. There lies my way; that door, too, is unlocked. [Looking in. Ha! sure he sleeps-all is dark within, save what A lamp, that feebly lifts a sickly flame, By fits reveals his face seems turned, to favour The attempt: I'll steal and do it unperceived. What noise! somebody coming! is it Alonzo? Nobody. Sure he'll wait without-I would 'Twere done-I'll crawl, and sting him to the heart,

Then cast my skin, and leave it there to answer it. [Goes in.

Enter GARCIA and ALONZO.

Gar. Where, where, Alonzo, where's my fa-
ther? where

The king? Confusion! all is on the rout!
All is lost, all ruined by surprize and treachery.
Where, where is he? Why dost thou mislead me?
Alon. My lord, he entered but a moment

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Of these your rash, and ill-timed exclamations. Gar. The eastern gate is to the foe betrayed, Who, but for heaps of slain that choak the pas

sage,

Had entered, long ere now, and borne down all
Before them, to the palace walls. Unless
The king in person animate our men,
Granada's lost; and, to confirm this fear,
The traitor Perez, and the captive Moor,.
Are through a postern fled, and joined the foc.
Gons. Would all were false as that! for whom
you call

The Moor, is dead. That Osmyn was Alphonso;
In whose heart's blood this poniard yet is warm.
Gar. Impossible; for Osmyn was, while fly-
ing,

Pronounced aloud by Perez for Alphonso.

Gons. Enter that chamber, and convince your eyes,

How much report has wronged your easy faith. [Garcia goes in. Alon. My lord, for certain truth, Perez is flęd; And has declared, the cause of his revolt Was to revenge a blow the king had given him. Gar. [Returning.] Ruin and horror! Oh, heart-wounding sight!

Gons. What says my son? What ruin? Ha! what horror?

Gar. Blasted my eyes, and speechless be my tongue,

Rather than or to see, or to relate

This deed-Oh, dire mistake! Oh, fatal blow! The king

Gons. Alon. The king!

Gar. Dead, weltering, drowned in blood. See, see, attired like Osmyn, where he lies.

[They look in. · Oh, whence, or how, or wherefore was this done? But what imports the manner or the cause? Nothing remains to do, or to require, But that we all should turn our swords against Ourselves, and expiate, with our own, his blood. Gons. Oh, wretch! Oh, cursed, rash, deluded fool!

On me, on me turn your avenging swords.
I, who have spilt my royal master's blood,
Should make atonement by a death as horrid,
And fall beneath the hand of mine own son.
Gar. Ha! what! atone this murder with a
greater!

The horror of that thought has damped my rage.
The earth already groans to bear this deed;
Oppress her not, nor think to stain her face
With more unnatural blood. Murder my father!
Better with this to rip up my own bowels,
And bathe it to the hilt, in far less damnable
Self-murder.

Gons. Oh, my son! from the blind dotage
Of a father's fondness these ills arose.
For thee I've been ambitious, base, and bloody:
For thee I've plunged into this sea of sin;
Stemming the tide with only one weak hand,

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While the other bore the crown (to wreath thy brow),

Whose weight has sunk me, ere I reached the shore.

Gar. Fatal ambition! Hark! the foe is entered: (Shout. The shrillness of that shout speaks them at hand. We have no time to search into the cause Of this surprising, and most fatal error. What's to be done? the king's death known, would strike

The few remaining soldiers with despair,
And make them yield to mercy of the conqueror.
Alon. My lord, I've thought how to conceal
the body.

Require me not to tell the means, till done,
Lest you forbid what you may then approve.
[Goes in. Shout.

Gons. They shout again! Whate'er he means

to do,

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Severed the head, and in an obscure corner
Disposed it, muffled in the mute's attire,
Leaving to view of them who enter next,
Alone the undistinguishable trunk;
Which may be still mistaken by the guards
For Osmyn, if, in seeking for the king,
They chance to find it.

Gons. 'Twas an act of horror;
And of a piece with this day's dire misdeeds.
But 'tis no time to ponder or repent.
Haste thee, Alonzo, haste thee hence, with speed,
To aid my son. I'll follow, with the last
Reserve, to reinforce his arms: at least,
I shall make good, and shelter, his retreat.

[Exeunt severally.

Enter ZARA, followed by SELIM, and two Mutes bearing the bowls.

Zara. Silence and solitude are every where. Through all the gloomy ways, and iron doors, That hither lead, nor human face nor voice Is seen or heard. A dreadful din was wont To grate the sense, when entered here, from

groans,

And howls of slaves condemned; from clink of chains,

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