Oro. Know him? Alonzo? Know him? Our nation's benefactor? The guardian angel of Peru? Piz. By what has he merited that title? Oro. By not resembling thee. Piz. Who is this Rolla, joined with Alonzo in command? Oro. I will answer that; for I love to hear and to repeat the hero's name. Rolla, the kinsman of the king, is the idol of our army; in war, a tiger, chased by the hunter's spear; in peace, more gentle than the unweaned lamb. Cora was once betrothed to him; but finding she preferred Alonzo, he resigned his claim, and, I fear, his peace, to friendship, and to Cora's happiness: yet still he loves her with a pure and holy fire. I shall meet this Rolla soon. Piz. Romantic savage! Oro. Thou'dst better not! would strike thee dead. Dav. Silence, or tremble! The terror of his noble eye Oro. Beardless robber! why should I tremble before man? Why before thee, thou less than man! Dav, Another word, audacious heathen, and I strike! Oro. Strike, christian! Then boast among thy fellows,I, too, have murdered a Peruvian! Dav. Death and vengeance seize thee! (Stabs him.) Dav. Couldst thou longer have endured his insults? Oro. True! Observe, young man, thy unthinking rashness has saved me from the rack; and thou thyself hast lost the opportunity of a useful lesson; thou mightest thyself have seen with what cruelty vengeance would have inflicted torments; and with what patience virtue would have borne them. Piz. Away! Davillo! if thus rash a second time— Piz. No more our guard and guides approach. Follow me, friends! each shall have his post assigned, and ere Peruvia's God shall sink beneath the main, the Spanish banner, bathed in blood, shall float above the walls of vanquished Quito. R. B. SHERIDAN. LESSON CXXI. DISINTERESTED FRIENDSHIP. Alonzo, Sentinel, and Rolla. SCENE. A dungeon; Alonzo in chains; a sentinel walking near. Alonzo. For the last time, I have beheld the shadowed ocean close upon the light. For the last time, through my cleft dungeon's roof, I now behold the quivering luster of the stars. For the last time, oh sun! (and soon the hour,) I shall behold thy rising, and thy level beams melting the pale mists of morn to glittering dew-drops. Then comes my death, and in the morning of my day, I fall, but no, Alonzo, date not the life which thou hast run by the mean reckoning of the hours and days which thou hast breathed. A life spent worthily should be measured by a nobler line; by deeds, not years. Then wouldst thou murmur not, but bless Providence, which, in so short a span, made thee the instrument of wide and spreading blessings to the helpless and oppressed! Though sinking in decrepit age, he prematurely falls, whose memory records no benefit conferred by him on man. They only have lived long, who have lived virtuously. Surely, even now, thin streaks of glimmering light steal on the darkness of the east. If so, my life is but one hour more. I will not watch the coming dawn; but, in the darkness of my cell, my last prayer to thee, Power Supreme! shall be for my wife and child! Grant them innocence and peace; grant health, and purity of mind; all else is worthless. (Enters his cell.) (Rolla enters, disguised as a monk.) Rolla. Inform me, friend, is Alonzo, the Spanish prisoner, confined in this dungeon? Rol. Sen. Rol. Sen. obey. I do entreat thee, but for one moment. Thou entreatest in vain; my orders are most strict. He brought a pass which we are all accustomed to Rol. Look on this wedge of massive gold; look on these precious gems. In thy own land they will be wealth for thee and thine, beyond thy hope or wish. Take them; they are thine. Let me but pass one minute with Alonzo. Sen. Away! Wouldst thou corrupt me? Me? an old Castilian? I know my duty better. Rol. Soldier, hast thou a wife? Sen. I have. Rol. Hast thou children? Sen. Four, honest, lively boys. Rol. was born. Rol. Sen. Rol. Where didst thou leave them? In my native village; even in the cot where myself Dost thou love thy children and thy wife? Do I love them? God knows my heart. I do. Soldier! imagine thou wert doomed to die a cruel death, in a strange land. What would be thy last request? Sen. That some of my comrades should carry my dying blessing to my wife and children. Rol. Oh! but if that comrade were at thy prison gate, and should there be told,-thy fellow soldier dies at sunrise, yet thou shalt not, for a moment, see him, nor shalt thou bear his dying blessing to his poor children, or his wretched wife,-what wouldst thou think of him who thus could drive thy comrade from the door? Sen. How? Rol. Alonzo has a wife and child. I am come to receive for her, and for her babe, the last blessing of my friend. Sen. Go in. Rol. Oh! holy Nature! thou dost never plead in vain. There is not, of our earth, a creature bearing form, and life, human or savage, native of the forest wild, or giddy air, around whose parent bosom thou hast not a chord entwined of power to tie them to their offspring's claims, and, at thy will, to draw them back to thee. On iron pinions borne, the bloodstained vulture cleaves the storm, yet is the plumage closest to her breast, soft as the cygnet's down, and o'er her unshelled brood the murmuring ring-dove sits not more gently. Yes, now he is beyond the porch, barring the outer gate! Alonzo! Alonzo! my friend; ah! in gentle sleep! Alonzo! rise! Alonzo. How? is my hour elapsed? Well, I am ready. Rol. Alonzo! know me. Al. What voice is that? Rol. "Tis Rolla's. Al. Rolla! my friend! Heavens! how couldst thou pass the guard? Did this habit Rol. There is not a moment to be lost in words: this disguise I tore from the dead body of a friar, as I passed our field of battle: it has gained me entrance to thy dungeon; now, take it, thou, and fly. Al. And Rolla Rol. Will remain here in thy place. Al. And die for me? No! Rather eternal tortures rack me. Rol. I shall not die, Alonzo. It is thy life Pizarro seeks, not Rolla's; and from my prison soon will thy arm deliver me; or, should it be otherwise, I am as a blighted plantain, standing alone amid the sandy desert. Nothing seeks or lives beneath my shelter. Thou art a husband and a father-the being of a lovely wife and helpless infant hangs upon thy life. Go! go, Alonzo! Go, to save, not thyself, but Cora and thy child! Al. Urge me not thus, my friend; I had prepared to die in peace. Rol. To die in peace? devoting her thou hast sworn to live for, to madness, misery, and death? For, be assured, the state I left her in forbids all hope, but from thy quick return. Rol. If thou art yet irresolute, Alonzo, now heed me well. I think thou hast not known that Rolla ever pledged his word, and shrunk from its fulfillment. If thou art proudly obstinate to deny thy friend the transport of preserving Cora's life, in thee, no power that sways the will of man shall stir me hence; and thou'lt but have the desperate triumph of seeing Rolla perish by thy side, with the assured conviction that Cora and thy child are lost forever. Al. Oh, Rolla! Rol. Begone. The dawn approaches. Fear not for me. I will treat with Pizarro, as for surrender and submission. ] shall gain time, no doubt, while thou, with a chosen band, passing the secret way, mayst, at night, return, release thy friend, and bear him back in triumph. Yes, hasten, dear Alonzo! Even now, I hear thy frantic wife, poor Cora, call thee! Haste, Alonzo! Haste! Haste! Al. Rolla! you distract me. Wear you the robe, and, though dreadful the necessity, we will strike down the guard, and force our passage. Rol. What, the soldier on duty here? Al. Yes, else, seeing two, the alarm will be instant death. Rol. For my nation's safety, I would not harm him. That soldier, mark me, is a man! All are not men that wear the human form. He refused my prayers, refused my gold, denying admittance, till his own feelings bribed him. I would not risk a hair of that man's head, to save my heart-strings from consuming fire. But haste! A moment's further pause, and all is lost. Al. Rolla, I fear thy friendship drives me from honor, and from right. Rol. Did Rolla ever counsel dishonor to his friend? Al. Oh! my preserver! Rol. I feel thy warm tears dropping on my cheek. Go! I am rewarded. (Throwing a friar's garment over Alonzo.) There, conceal thy face; and that they may not clank, hold fast thy chains. Now, God be with thee! Al. At night we meet again. Then, so aid me Heaven! I return to save, or perish with thee! (Exit.) Rol. He has passed the outer porch! he is safe! he will soon embrace his wife and child! Now, Cora, didst thou not wrong me? This is the first time, throughout my life, I ever deceived man. Forgive me, God of Truth! if I am wrong. Alonzo flatters himself that we shall meet again! Yes, there! (Lifting his hands to heaven.) Assuredly we shall meet |