Ran. A dreadful instance of the last remorse! May all our woes end here!

0. Wil. O would they end

A thousand ages hence, I then should suffer
Much less than I deserve.
Yet let me say,

You'll do but justice to inform the world,
This horrid deed, that punishes itself,
Was not intended, thinking him our son;
For that we knew not, till it was too late.
Proud and impatient under our afflictions,
While Heaven was labouring to make us happy,
We brought this dreadful ruin on ourselves.
Mankind may learn-but-oh!—

[Dies.

Rev. Edward Young, D. D.

THE REVENGE.

ZANGA, a noble Moor, is taken captive by DoN ALONZO, by whom he is held in Servitude. He narrates the history of his Wrongs to his Wife ISABELLA.

Battlements, with a Sea Prospect.

Enter ZANGA.

Zan. Whether first nature, or long want of peace,

Has wrought my mind to this, I cannot tell;

But horrors now are not displeasing to me:

I like this rocking of the battlements.

[Thunder.

Rage on, ye winds; burst, clouds; and waters, roar!
You bear a just resemblance of my fortune,

And suit the gloomy habit of my soul.

Enter ISABElla.

Who's there? My love!

Isa. Why have you left my bed?

Your absence more affrights me than the storm.

Zan. The dead alone in such a night can rest, And I indulge my meditation here.

Woman, away.

I choose to be alone.

Isa. I know you do, and therefore will not leave you; Excuse me, Zanga, therefore dare not leave you. Is this a night for walks of contemplation? Something unusual hangs upon your heart, And I will know it; by our loves, I will.

Ask I too much, to share in your distress?

Zan. In tears? thou fool! then hear me, and be plunged In hell's abyss, if ever it escape thee.

To strike thee with astonishment at once

I hate Alonzo. First recover that,

And then thou shalt hear further.

Isa. Hate Alonzo !

I own, I thought Alonzo most your friend,
And that he lost the master in that name.

Zan. Hear then. 'Tis twice three years since that great

man

(Great let me call him, for he conquered me)

Made me the captive of his arm in fight.
He slew my father, and threw chains o'er me,
While I with pious rage pursued revenge.

I then was young; he placed me near his person,
And thought me not dishonoured by his service.
One day (may that returning day be night,
The stain, the curse, of each succeeding year!)

For something, or for nothing, in his pride
He struck me. (While I tell it, do I live?)
He smote me on the cheek-I did not stab him,
For that were poor revenge. E'er since, his folly
Has strove to bury it beneath a heap

Of kindnesses, and thinks it is forgot.
Insolent thought! and like a second blow!

Affronts are innocent, where men are worthless ;

And such alone can wisely drop revenge.

Isa. But with more temper, Zanga, tell your story;

To see your strong emotions startles me.

Zan. Yes, woman, with the temper that befits it. Has the dark adder venom?

So have I

When trod upon.
Proud Spaniard, thou shalt feel me!
For from that day, the day of my dishonour,
From that day have I cursed the rising sun,
Which never failed to tell me of my shame.
From that day have I blessed the coming night,
Which promised to conceal it; but in vain;
The blow returned forever in my dream.
Yet on I toiled, and groaned for an occasion
Of ample vengeance; none has yet arrived.
Howe'er, at present, I conceive warm hopes
Of what may wound him sore in his ambition,
Life of his life, and dearer than his soul.
By nightly march he purposed to surprise
The Moorish camp; but I have taken care
They shall be ready to receive his favour.
Failing in this, a cast of utmost moment,
Would darken all the conquests he has won.

Isa. Just as I entered, an express arrived.
Zan. To whom?

Isa. His friend, Don Carlos.

Zan. Be propitious,

O Mahomet! on this important hour,
And give at length my famished soul revenge
What is revenge, but courage to call in
Our honour's debts, and wisdom to convert
Others' self-love into our own protection?
But see, the morning dawn breaks in upon us;
I'll seek Don Carlos, and inquire my fate.

!

[Exeunt.

ZANGA, to carry out his revenge, infuses jealousy into the mind of ALONZO, by persuading him that his Wife LEONORA, Daughter of ALVAREZ, has proved false to her marriage-vows, with Don Carlos. ALONZO taxes LEONORA with infidelity; and she, maddened by the imputation, kills herself. The final catastrophe is developed in the following Scene.

ZANGA.

Zan. How stands the great account 'twixt me and vengeance?

Though much is paid, yet still it owes me much,

And I will not abate a single groan.

Ha! that were well-but that were fatal too.

Why, be it so-Revenge so truly great,

Would come too cheap, if bought with less than life.

Enter I8ABELla.

Isa. Ah, Zanga, see me tremble! Has not yet

Thy cruel heart its fill? Poor Leonora

Zan. Welters in blood, and gasps for her last breath.

What then? We all must die.

Isa. Alonzo raves,

And, in the tempest of his grief, has thrice

Attempted on his life. At length, disarmed,

He calls his friends, that save him, his worst foes,
And importunes the skies for swift perdition.
Thus in his storm of sorrow: after pause,
He started up, and called aloud for Zanga;

For Zanga raved; and see, he seeks you here,

To learn that truth, which most he dreads to know.
Zan. Begone. Now, now, my soul, consummate all.

Enter ALONZO.

Alon. Oh, Zanga!

Zan. Do not tremble so: but speak.

Alon. I dare not.

Zan. You will drown me with your tears.

Alon. Have I not cause?

Zan. As yet, you have no cause.

[Exit ISABELLA.

[Falls on him.

Alon. Dost thou too rave?

Zan. Your anguish is to come :

You much have been abused.

Alon. Abused! by whom?

Zan. To know, were little comfort.

Alon. Oh, 'twere much!

Zan. Indeed!

Alon. By Heaven! oh, give him to my fury!

Zan. Born for your use, I live but to oblige you.

Know, then, 'twas-I.

Alon. Am I awake?

Zan. Forever.

Thy wife is guiltless-that's one transport to me;

And I, I let thee know it-that's another.

I urged Don Carlos to resign his mistress,

I forged the letter, I disposed the picture;
I hated, I despised, and I destroy!