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_ ACT IV - SCENE II.
MONELIA and PRIEST.
CHEKITAN.
What do I see? The holy Priest is with her.
MONELIA.
[Struggling with the PRIEST, and trying to disengage herself.]
No, I would sooner die than be dishonour'd--
Cut my own Throat, or drown me in the Lake.
PRIEST.
Do you love Indians better than us white Men?
MONELIA.
Nay, should an Indian make the foul Attempt,
I'd murder him, or kill my wretched Self.
PRIEST.
I must I can, and will enjoy you now.
MONELIA.
You must! You sha'n't, you cruel, barbarous Christian.
CHEKITAN.
Hold, thou mad Tyger--What Attempt is this?
[Seizing him.
Are you a Christian Priest? What do you here?
[Pushes him.]
What was his Will, Monelia? He is dumb.
MONELIA.
May he be dumb and blind, and senseless quite,
That had such brutal Baseness in his Mind.
CHEKITAN.
Base false Deceiver, what could you intend?
[Making towards him.]
MONELIA.
Oh I am faint--You have preserv'd my Honour,
Which he, foul Christian, thirsted to destroy.
[PRIEST attempts to go.]
CHEKITAN.
Stay; leave your Life to expiate your Crime:
Your heated Blood shall pay for your Presumption.
[Offering to strike him with a hatchet.]
PRIEST.
Good Prince, forbear your pious Hand from Blood;
I did not know you was this Maiden's Lover,
I took her for a Stranger, half your Foe.
CHEKITAN.
Did you not know she was King Hendrick's Daughter?
Did you not know that she was not your Wife?
Have you not told us, holy Men like you
Are by the Gods forbid all fleshly Converse?
Have you not told us, Death, and Fire, and Hell
Await those who are incontinent,
Or dare to violate the Rites of Wedlock?
That your God's Mother liv'd and died a Virgin,
And thereby set Example to her Sex?
What means all this? Say you such Things to us,
That you alone may revel in these Pleasures?
PRIEST.
I have a Dispensation from St. Peter
To quench the Fire of Love when it grows painful.
This makes it innocent like Marriage Vows;
And all our holy Priests, and she herself,
Commit no Sin in this Relief of Nature:
For, being holy, there is no Pollution
Communicated from us as from others;
Nay, Maids are holy after we've enjoy'd them,
And, should the Seed take Root, the Fruit is pure.
CHEKITAN.
Oh vain Pretense! Falsehood and foul Deception!
None but a Christian could devise such Lies!
Did I not fear it might provoke your Gods,
Your Tongue should never frame Deceit again.
If there are Gods, and such as you have told us,
They must abhor all Baseness and Deceit,
And will not fail to punish Crimes like yours.
To them I leave you--But avoid my Presence,
Nor let me ever see your hated Head,
Or hear your lying Tongue within this Country.
PRIEST.
Now by St. Peter I must go--He's raging.
[Aside.]
CHEKITAN.
That Day I do, by your great dreadful God,
This Hand shall cleave your Head, and spill your Blood,
Not all your Prayers, and Lies, and Saints shall save you.
PRIEST.
I've got his Father's Secret, and will use it.
Such Disappointment ought to be reveng'd.
[Aside.]
CHEKITAN.
Don't mutter here, and conjure up your Saints,
I value not their Curses, or your Prayers.
[Stepping towards the PRIEST to hurry him.]
PRIEST.
By all the Saints, young Man, thou shalt repent it.
[Exit.]
MONELIA.
Base, false Dissembler--Tyger, Snake, a Christian!
I hate the Sight; I fear the very Name.
O Prince, what has not your kind Presence sav'd me!
CHEKITAN.
It sav'd to me more than my Father's Empire;
Far more than Crowns and Worlds--It sav'd Monelia,
The Hope of whom is more than the Creation.
In this I feel the Triumph of an Hero,
And glory more than if I'd conquer'd Kingdoms.
MONELIA.
Oh, I am thine, I'm more than ever thine;
I am your Captive now, your lawful Prize:
You've taken me in War, a dreadful War!
And snatch'd me from the hungry Tyger's Jaw.
More than my Life and Service is your Due,
And had I more I would devote it to you.
CHEKITAN.
O my Monelia! rich is my Reward,
Had I lost Life itself in the Encounter;
But still I fear that Fate will snatch you from me.
Where is your Brother? Why was you alone?
Enter TORAX, from listening to their discourse.
TORAX.
Here am I: What would you of me?
MONELIA.
Torax!
I've been assaulted by a barbarous Man,
And by mere Accident escap'd my Ruin.
TORAX.
What Foe is here? The English are not come?
MONELIA.
No: But a Christian lurk'd within the Grove,
And every Christian is a Foe to Virtue;
Insidious, subtle, cruel, base, and false!
Like Snakes, their very Eyes are full of Poison;
And where they are not, Innocence is safe.
TORAX.
The holy Priest! Is he so vile a Man?
I heard him mutter Threat'nings as I past him.
CHEKITAN.
I spar'd his guilty Life, but drove him hence,
On Pain of Death and Tortures, never more
To tread the Earth, or breathe the Air with me.
Be warn'd by this to better tend your Charge.
You see how Mischiefs lie conceal'd about us,
We tread on Serpents ere we hear them hiss,
And Tygers lurk to seize the incautious Prey.
I must this Hour lead forth my Troops to Battle,
They're now in Arms, and waiting my Command.
MONELIA.
What Safety shall I have when you are gone?
I must not, cannot, will not longer tarry,
Lest other Christians, or some other Foe,
Attempt my Ruin.
CHEKITAN.
Torax will be your Guard.
My Honour suffers, should I now decline;
It is my Country's Cause; I've pawn'd my Word,
Prevented Philip, to make sure of you.
He stays. 'Tis all in favour to our Love;
We must at present please ourselves with Hopes.
MONELIA.
Oh! my fond Heart no more conceals its Flame;
I fear, my Prince, I fear our Fates are cruel:
There's something whispers in my anxious Breast,
That if you go, I ne'er shall see you more.
CHEKITAN.
Oh! how her Words unman and melt my Soul!
As if her Fears were Prophecies of Fate.
[Aside.]
I will not go and leave you thus in Fears;
I'll frame Excuses--Philip shall command--
I'll find some other Means to turn the King;
I'll venture Honour, Fortune, Life, and Love,
Rather than trust you from my Sight again.
For what avails all that the World can give?
If you're withheld, all other Gifts are Curses,
And Fame and Fortune serve to make me wretched.
MONELIA.
Now you grow wild--You must not think of staying;
Our only Hope, you know, depends on Philip.
I will not fear, but hope for his Success,
And your Return with Victory and Triumph,
That Love and Honour both may crown our Joy.
CHEKITAN.
Now this is kind; I am myself again.
You had unman'd and soften'd all my Soul,
Disarm'd my Hand, and cowardiz'd my Heart:
But now in every Vein I feel an Hero,
Defy the thickest Tempest of the War:
Yes, like a Lion conscious of his Strength,
Fearless of Death I'll rush into the Battle;
I'll fight, I'll conquer, triumph and return;
Laurels I'll gain and lay them at your Feet.
MONELIA.
May the Success attend you that you wish!
May our whole Scheme of Happiness succeed!
May our next Meeting put an End to Fear,
And Fortune shine upon us in full Blaze!
CHEKITAN.
May Fate preserve you as her Darling Charge!
May all the Gods and Goddesses, and Saints,
If conscious of our Love, turn your Protectors!
And the great thundering God with Lightning burn
Him that but means to interrupt your Peace.
[Exeunt.] _
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