Chapter XV: Act IV: Scene I

_Syracuse. A Room in_ ARCHIDAMUS'_s House_.

_Enter_ MARULLO _and_ TIMANDRA.

_Mar._ She has her health, then?

_Timand._ Yes, sir; and as often
As I speak of you, lends attentive ear
To all that I deliver; nor seems tired,
Though I dwell long on the relation of
Your sufferings for her, heaping praise on praise
On the unequall'd temperance, and command
You hold o'er your affections.

_Mar._ To my wish:
Have you acquainted her with the defeature[120]
Of the Carthaginians, and with what honours
Leosthenes comes crown'd home with?

_Timand._ With all care.

_Mar._ And how does she receive it?

_Timand._ As I guess,
With a seeming kind of joy; but yet appears not
Transported, or proud of his happy fortune.
But when I tell her of the certain ruin
You must encounter with at their arrival
In Syracusa, and that death, with torments,
Must fall upon you, which you yet repent not,
Esteeming it a glorious martyrdom,
And a reward of pure unspotted love,
Preserved in the white robe of innocence,
Though she were in your power; and, still spurr'd on
By powerful love, you rather chose to suffer
The fury of your lord, than that she should
Be grieved or tainted in her reputation----

_Mar._ Pities she my misfortune?

_Timand._ She express'd
All signs of sorrow which, her vow observed,
Could witness a grieved heart. At the first hearing,
She fell upon her face, rent her fair hair,
Her hands held up to heaven, and vented sighs,
In which she silently seem'd to complain
Of heaven's injustice.

_Mar._ 'Tis enough: wait carefully,
And, on all watch'd occasions, continue
Speech and discourse of me: 'tis time must work her.

_Timand._ I'll not be wanting, but still strive to serve you.
[_Exit._

_Enter_ POLIPHRON.

_Mar._ Now, Poliphron, the news?

_Poliph._ The conquering army
Is within ken.

_Mar._ How brook the slaves the object?

_Poliph._ Cheerfully yet; they do refuse no labour,
And seem to scoff at danger; 'tis your presence
That must confirm them: with a full consent
You are chosen to relate the tyranny
Of our proud masters; and what you subscribe to,
They gladly will allow of, or hold out
To the last man.

_Mar._ I'll instantly among them.
If we prove constant to ourselves, good fortune
Will not, I hope, forsake us.

_Poliph._ 'Tis our best refuge. [_Exeunt._

FOOTNOTE:

[120] _Defeature_,] i. e. _defeat_. The two words were used
indiscriminately by our old writers.

SCENE II.

_Before the Walls of Syracuse._

_Enter_ TIMOLEON, ARCHIDAMUS, DIPHILUS, LEOSTHENES, TIMAGORAS, _and Soldiers_.

_Timol._ Thus far we are return'd victorious; crown'd
With wreaths triumphant, (famine, blood, and death,
Banish'd your peaceful confines,) and bring home
Security and peace. 'Tis therefore fit
That such as boldly stood the shock of war,
And with the dear expense of sweat and blood
Have purchased honour, should with pleasure reap
The harvest of their toil: and we stand bound,
Out of the first file of the best deservers,
(Though all must be consider'd to their merits,)
To think of you, Leosthenes, that stand,
And worthily, most dear in our esteem,
For your heroic valour.

_Archid._ When I look on
The labour of so many men and ages,
This well-built city, not long since design'd
To spoil and rapine, by the favour of
The gods, and you, their ministers, preserved,
I cannot, in my height of joy, but offer
These tears for a glad sacrifice.

_Diph._ Sleep the citizens?
Or are they overwhelm'd with the excess
Of comfort that flows to them?

_Leost._ We receive
A silent entertainment.

_Timag._ I long since
Expected that the virgins and the matrons,
The old men striving with their age, the priests,
Carrying the images of their gods before them,
Should have met us with procession.--Ha! the gates
Are shut against us!

_Archid._ And, upon the walls,
Arm'd men seem to defy us!

_Enter above, on the Walls_, MARULLO, POLIPHRON, CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, _and other Slaves_.

_Diph._ I should know
These faces: they are our slaves.

_Timag._ The mystery, rascals!
Open the ports, and play not with an anger
That will consume you.

_Timol._ This is above wonder.

_Archid._ Our bondmen stand against us!

_Grac._ Some such things
We were in man's remembrance. The slaves are turn'd
Lords of the town, or so--nay, be not angry:
Perhaps, upon good terms, giving security
You will be quiet men, we may allow you
Some lodgings in our garrets or outhouses:
Your great looks cannot carry it.

_Cimb._ The truth is,
We have been bold to rifle your rich chests,
Been busy with your wardrobes.

_Timag._ Can we endure this?

_Leost._ O my Cleora!

_Grac._ A caudle for the gentleman;
He'll die o' the pip else.

_Timag._ Scorn'd too! are you turn'd stone?
Hold parley with our bondmen! force our entrance,
Then, villains, expect----

_Timol._ Hold! You wear men's shapes,
And if, like men, you have reason, show a cause
That leads you to this desperate course, which must end
In your destruction.

_Grac._ That, as please the Fates;
But we vouchsafe----Speak, captain.

_Timag._ Hell and furies!

_Archid._ Bay'd by our own curs!

_Cimb._ Take heed you be not worried.

_Poliph._ We are sharp set.

_Cimb._ And sudden.

_Mar._ 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[121] 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
Brought under their command; who, grown unuseful,
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.

_Grac._ And not leave
One house unfired.

_Cimb._ Or throat uncut of those
We have in our power.

_Poliph._ Nor will we fall alone;
You shall buy us dearly.

_Timag._ O the gods!
Unheard-of insolence!

_Timol._ What are your demands?

_Mar._ A general pardon[122] first, for all offences
Committed in your absence. Liberty
To all such as desire to make return
Into their countries; and, to those that stay,
A competence of land freely allotted
To each man's proper use, no lord acknowledged:
Lastly, with your consent, to choose them wives
Out of your families.

_Timag._ Let the city sink first.

_Leost._ And ruin seize on all, ere we subscribe
To such conditions.

_Archid._ Carthage, though victorious,
Could not have forced more from us.

_Leost._ Scale the walls;
Capitulate after.

_Timol._ He that wins the top first
Shall wear a mural wreath. [_Exeunt._

_Mar._ Each to his place. [_Flourish and alarms._
Or death or victory! Charge them home, and fear not.
[_Exeunt_ MARULLO _and Slaves_.

_Re-enter_ TIMOLEON, ARCHIDAMUS, _and Senators_.

_Timol._ We wrong ourselves, and we are justly punish'd,
To deal with bondmen, as if we encounter'd
An equal enemy.

_Archid._ They fight like devils;
And run upon our swords, as if their breasts
Were proof beyond their armour.

_Re-enter_ LEOSTHENES _and_ TIMAGORAS.

_Timag._ Make a firm stand.
The slaves, not satisfied they have beat us off,
Prepare to sally forth.

_Timol._ They are wild beasts,
And to be tamed by policy. Each man take
A tough whip in his hand, such as you used
To punish them with, as masters: in your looks
Carry severity and awe: 'twill fright them
More than your weapons. Savage lions fly from
The sight of fire; and these, that have forgot
That duty you ne'er taught them with your swords,
When, unexpected, they behold those terrors
Advanced aloft, that they were made to shake at,
'Twill force them to remember what they are,
And stoop to due obedience.

_Archid._ Here they come.

_Enter from the City_, CIMBRIO, GRACCULO, _and other Slaves_.

_Cimb._ Leave not a man alive; a wound's but a flea-biting,
To what we suffer'd, being slaves.

_Grac._ O, my heart!
Cimbrio, what do we see? the whip! our masters!

_Timag._ Dare you rebel, slaves!
[_The Senators shake their whips, the Slaves
throw away their weapons, and run off[123]._

_Cimb._ Mercy! mercy! where
Shall we hide us from their fury?

_Grac._ Fly, they follow.
O, we shall be tormented!

_Timol._ Enter with them,
But yet forbear to kill them: still remember
They are part of your wealth; and being disarm'd,
There is no danger.

_Archid._ Let us first deliver
Such as they have in fetters, and at leisure
Determine of their punishment.

_Leost._ Friend, to you
I leave the disposition of what's mine:
I cannot think I am safe without your sister,
She is only worth my thought; and, till I see
What she has suffer'd, I am on the rack,
And Furies my tormentors. [_Exeunt._

FOOTNOTES:

[121] _As_ is, in this passage, an ellipsis of _that_, as usual. Some
of the incidents mentioned in this speech, Massinger derived from
Plutarch--GIFFORD.

[122] Mar. _A general pardon_, &c.] It is evident, from the
unreasonable nature of these demands, that Pisander does not wish
them to be accepted. The last article, indeed, has a reference to
himself, but he seems desirous of previously trying the fortune of
arms. See, however, the next scene, and his defence in the last
act.--GIFFORD.

[123] Herodotus relates this tale, and Justin repeats it. Massinger
may have taken it from Purchas's Pilgrims, a book that formed the
delight of our ancestors; and in which it is said, that the
Boiards of Noviorogod reduced their slaves, who had seized the
town, by the whip, just as the Scythians are said to have done
theirs.

SCENE III.

_Syracuse. A Room in_ ARCHIDAMUS'_s House_.

_Enter_ MARULLO _and_ TIMANDRA.

_Mar._ I know I am pursued; nor would I fly,
Although the ports were open, and a convoy
Ready to bring me off: the baseness of
These villains, from the pride of all my hopes,
Hath thrown me to the bottomless abyss
Of horror and despair: had they stood firm,
I could have bought Cleora's free consent
With the safety of her father's life, and brother's;
And forced Leosthenes to quit his claim,
And kneel a suitor for me.

_Timand._ You must not think
What might have been, but what must now be practised,
And suddenly resolve.

_Mar._ All my poor fortunes
Are at the stake, and I must run the hazard.
Unseen, convey me to Cleora's chamber;
For in her sight, if it were possible,
I would be apprehended: do not inquire
The reason why, but help me. [_Knocking within._

_Timand._ Make haste,--one knocks.
[_Exit_ MARULLO.
Jove turn all to the best!

_Enter_ LEOSTHENES.

You are welcome, sir.

_Leost._ Thou giv'st 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:--[124]
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 resistance;
Under which odds, I know, Cleora fell too,
Heaven's help in vain invoked; the amazed sun
Hiding his face behind a mask of clouds,
Nor 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 must not
Credit impossibilities; yet I strive
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 aspect, 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.

_Leost._ Ha! [_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,[125] 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.

_Leost._ O blest office! [_Unbinds her eyes._
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 possessed 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[126]
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.

_Cleo._ I forgive you.

_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?

_Cleo._ I restore
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.

_Cleo._ If that goodness,
And noble temperance, the queen of virtues,
Bridling rebellious passions, to whose sway,
Such as have conquer'd nations have lived slaves,
Did ever wing great minds to fly to heaven,
He, that preserved mine honour, may hope boldly
To fill a seat among the gods, and shake off
Our frail corruption.

_Leost._ Forward.

_Cleo._ Or if ever
The Powers above did mask in human shapes,
To teach mortality, not by cold precepts
Forgot as soon as told, but by examples,
To imitate their pureness, and draw near
To their celestial natures, I believe
He's more than man.

_Leost._ You do describe a wonder.

_Cleo._ Which will increase, when you shall understand
He was a lover.

_Leost._ Not yours, lady?

_Cleo._ Yes;
Loved me, Leosthenes; nay, more, so doted,
(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 praise
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 't would 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 Sabæan gums,
Offer'd in ostentation.--Are you sick
Of your old disease? I'll fit you. [_Aside._

_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 tyrannize, 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 violence,
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,
And kiss'd my hand, which I could not deny him,
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. [_Exit._

_Leost._ What a bridge
Of glass I walk upon, over a river
Of certain ruin, mine own weighty fears
Cracking what should support me! and those helps,
Which confidence lends to others, are from me
Ravish'd by doubts, and wilful jealousy. [_Exit._

FOOTNOTES:

[124] Leost. _Fears! your sufferings_:--] The character of Leosthenes
is every where preserved with great nicety. His jealous
disposition breaks out in this scene with peculiar
beauty.--GIFFORD.

[125] _Though the infringing it had call'd upon her
A living funeral_, &c.] The poet alludes to the manner in which
the Vestals, who had broken their vow of chastity, were punished.
They had literally a _living funeral_, being plunged alive into a
subterraneous cavern, of which the opening was immediately closed
upon them, and walled up. The confusion of countries and customs
may possibly strike the critical reader; but of this, as I have
already observed, our old dramatists were either not aware or not
solicitous.--GIFFORD.

[126] _To remember_,] i. e. _to remind_, in which sense it frequently
occurs in our old writers.

SCENE IV.

_Another Room in the same._

_Enter_ TIMAGORAS, CLEON, ASOTUS, CORISCA, _and_ OLYMPIA.

_Cleon._ But are you sure we are safe?

_Timag._ You need not fear;
They are all under guard, their fangs pared off:
The wounds their insolence gave you, to be cured
With the balm of your revenge.

_Asot._ And shall I be
The thing I was born, my lord?

_Timag._ The same wise thing.
'Slight, what a beast they have made thee! Afric never
Produced the like.

_Asot._ I think so:--nor the land
Where apes and monkeys grow, like crabs and walnuts,
On the same tree. Not all the catalogue
Of conjurers or wise women bound together
Could have so soon transform'd me, as my rascal
Did with his whip; for not in outside only,
But in my own belief, I thought myself
As perfect a baboon----

_Timag._ An ass thou wert ever.

_Asot._ And would have given one leg, with all my heart,
For good security to have been a man
After three lives, or one and twenty years,
Though I had died on crutches.

_Cleon._ Never varlets
So triumph'd o'er an old fat man: I was famish'd.

_Timag._ Indeed you are fallen away.

_Asot._ Three years of feeding
On cullises and jelly, though his cooks
Lard all he eats with marrow, or his doctors
Pour in his mouth restoratives as he sleeps,
Will not recover him.

_Timag._ But your ladyship looks
Sad on the matter, as if you had miss'd
Your ten-crown amber possets, good to smooth
The cutis, as you call it.

_Coris._ Pray you, forbear;
I am an alter'd woman.

_Timag._ So it seems;
A part of your honour's ruff stands out of rank too.

_Coris._ No matter, I have other thoughts.

_Timag._ O strange!
Not ten days since it would have vex'd you more
Than the loss of your good name.

_Enter_ LEOSTHENES _and_ DIPHILUS _with a Guard_.

How now, friend!
Looks our Cleora lovely?

_Leost._ In my thoughts, sir.

_Timag._ But why this guard?

_Diph._ It is Timoleon's pleasure:
The slaves have been examined, and confess
Their riot took beginning from your house;
And the first mover of them to rebellion
Your slave Marullo. [_Exeunt_ DIPH. _and Guard_.

_Leost._ Ha! I more than fear.

_Timag._ They may search boldly.

_Enter_ TIMANDRA, _speaking to the Guard within_.

_Timand._ You are unmanner'd grooms.
To pry into my lady's private lodgings:
There's no Marullos there.

_Re-enter_ DIPHILUS, _and Guard, with_ MARULLO.

_Timag._ Now I suspect too.
Where found you him?

_Diph._ Close hid in your sister's chamber.

_Timag._ Is that the villain's sanctuary?

_Leost._ This confirms
All she deliver'd, false.

_Timag._ But that I scorn
To rust my good sword in thy slavish blood,
Thou now wert dead.

_Mar._ He's more a slave than fortune
Or misery can make me, that insults
Upon unweapon'd innocence.

_Timag._ Prate you, dog?

_Mar._ Curs snap at lions in the toil, whose looks
Frighted them, being free.

_Timag._ As a wild beast,
Drive him before you.

_Mar._ O divine Cleora!

_Leost._ Darest thou presume to name her?

_Mar._ Yes, and love her;
And may say, have deserved her.

_Timag._ Stop his mouth,
Load him with irons too.
[_Exit Guard with_ MARULLO.

_Cleon._ I am deadly sick
To look on him.

_Asot._ If he get loose, I know it,
I caper like an ape again: I feel
The whip already.

_Timand._ This goes to my lady. [_Exit._

_Timag._ Come, cheer you, sir; we'll urge his punishment
To the full satisfaction of your anger.

_Leost._ He is not worth my thoughts. No corner left
In all the spacious rooms of my vex'd heart,
But is fill'd with Cleora: and the rape
She has done upon her honour, with my wrong,
The heavy burden of my sorrow's song. [_Exeunt._