A 
 
 
 <=. I 
 
 
 ^^^^^ ^ 1 
 
 A 
 
 ^^^^^ o 1 
 
 — — <= 1 
 
 
 
 a^aag ~ 1 
 
 m^m m m I 
 
 
 
 
 -r 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^^^^^ m 1 
 
 
 O 1 
 
 4 
 
 ■j^~"~ O 1 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 — — r - 
 
 4 
 
 S^^Si r - 1 
 
 CD 
 
 JO 
 
 
 > 
 
 1 
 
 J 
 
 1 
 
 " ■** 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 DILI 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 PR 
 
 TS5 C3
 
 4) 
 
 
 THE 
 
 CARIB CHIEF: 
 
 A TRAGEDY 
 
 IN FIVE ACTS. 
 
 HORACE TWISS, Esq. 
 
 gbetonb OBiiitton* 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REE*, ORME, AND 
 BROWN, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1819. 
 
 Price Three Shillings.
 
 
 W. Pople, Printer, 1)7, Chancery Lane.
 
 LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 * SAMTA BARBARA 
 
 TO THE 
 
 EARL OF CLARENDON 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 If that high reputation for 
 literary taste, which Your Lordship has sought 
 in vain to conceal among the shades of Your 
 retreat, had been the only argument for pre- 
 senting this drama to Your notice, I might 
 have yielded to a dangerous vanity, in solicit- 
 ing the attention of so accomplished a judge. 
 But it has been my good fortune to know how 
 kindly Your Lordship ever grants, to the defi- 
 ciencies of others, that indulgence, of which 
 You can so little need the return ; and with
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 such an encouragement, I am unable to resist 
 the proud gratification of thus recording, that 
 among the many other proofs of regard, with 
 which I have been honoured by Your Lordship, 
 I have now been thought worthy of the permis- 
 sion to subscribe myself, 
 
 My Lord, 
 Your Lordship's most obliged 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 HORACE TWISS. 
 
 London, May 15, 1819-
 
 PROLOGUE, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF THE TRAGEDY : 
 
 SPOKEN BY 
 
 Mr. H. KEMBLE. 
 
 [The lines marked by inverted commas are omitted in the recitation-] 
 
 When the rude Masters of the early time 
 Pursu'd young nature in her yielding prime, 
 " Threw up her maiden veil, and with blest arms 
 " Rifled the wild abundance of her charms," 
 Then was each brightest, most expressive grace, 
 And loftiest feature of her varying face, 
 Painted from life, in many a breathing line, 
 Warm as herself, and like herself, divine. 
 
 " The bards that follow'd, found their choice for* I ill'd, 
 " And dealt out copies, classically bald, 
 u Till, at third hand, poor nature was become 
 " A flat, evap'rate caput mortuum. 
 " Then, mad for novelty, inventors drew 
 " Things novel, both in art and nature too ; 
 " Persons not human, passions that might seem 
 " The over-wrought convulsions of a dream ; 
 " Left-handed plots, that mov'd but by the start, 
 " And griefs, that reach'd, but to revolt the heart 
 
 Those days are past. If now the means remain 
 To wake the Drama into life again, 
 Where shall we seek them? Not in monstrous woes, 
 The ultra tragedy of spasms and throes ; 
 Nor in faint copies from our father's drafts,
 
 fHE PROLO> i i 
 
 Barren as cuttings of exhausted grafts,-— 
 But in a fresh adventure to explore 
 Nature's own fields, if haply they of yore 
 Have, in their forage of that fair demesne, 
 Left some ungather'd fruit for us to glean. 
 
 Such is our hope to-night. Our simple plol 
 Chooses an unreclaim'd and distant spot : 
 For since the arbiters of taste expect 
 All to be new, yet all to be correct, 
 No course was left us, but to guide the helm, 
 To some remote, but not unfruitful realm — 
 Where no preceding bard had touch'd, to claim 
 Possession in his Sov'reign Muse's name. 
 
 Yet may these sketches of uncultur'd life, 
 Its fiery appetite and stormy strife, 
 Avail to warn, how passions unreprest 
 Usurp, corrode, and desolate the breast ; 
 Drag us* unsatisfied, through lengthen'd years 
 Of impotent desires and carking fears ; ( 
 Or bring at last fruition's fatal joy, 
 Like Jove's embrace, in lightnings that destroy !
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONyE 
 
 Omreah, the Carib Prince of the) ,. r -, 
 
 ... > Mr. Keat/. 
 
 southern district of Dominica 
 
 Ma loch, a native Prince of the, 
 northern district of Dominica ' 
 
 Mr. Holland. 
 
 Carbal, the Chief Priest ofMaloch Mr. D. Fisher. 
 Logamah, Carbal's Brother - - - Mr. Hamblin. 
 
 Brancho, a Priest, follower of ) 
 
 n i ( Mr. Leu. 
 
 Omreah -—-----} -' 
 
 Trefusis, an English General - Mr. H. Kemble. 
 
 Montalbert, Commander of the\ 
 
 French Garrisons in Dominican Mr. Bengough. 
 
 and Guadaloupe - - - - ) 
 Colmar, Lieutenant to Montalbert Mr. R. Phillips. 
 
 D'arcy, an Officer of Montalbert's) ■**- Yiniold 
 Garrison - - - - - - - ) 
 
 Claudina, Montalbert's Bride, of) „, '■ 
 
 T ,. . . £ Mrs- It. West. 
 
 Indian origin - - 
 
 Kathelrade, an Indian Woman, 
 Foster-mother of Montalbert 
 
 Marian, Claudina 's Friend, 
 Daughter of Colmar - - - 
 
 Mlss~Boi/ce, 
 Miss Cooke, 
 
 English and French Soldiers. Attendants, male and 
 female. Carib Priests and Warriors. 
 
 Scene, the Island of Dominica : Time, the beginning of the Reign 
 of Elizabeth.
 
 [ The Author cannot allow this Play to be hurried 
 through the press, without offering his tribute of ad- 
 miration to those splendid exertions of Mr. KEAN, 
 by which its unprecedented success has been atchieved. 
 The interest has been much assisted by the tenderness 
 and delicacy of Mrs. West ; and zthile Miss Boyce, 
 Mr. H. Kemble, Mr. D. Fisher, Mr. Holland, Mr. 
 Bengough, and Mr. Hamblin, in the other principal 
 characters, have so materially contributed their valu- 
 able aid, the Performers at large have, by their di- 
 ligence and propriety, completed the general effect of 
 the representation]
 
 THE 
 
 CARIB CHIEF. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 A Subterraneous Cavern. 
 
 Trefusis rises from a rude seat, and comes for- 
 ward, 
 
 Tre. Days, months, and seasons creep away — 
 
 and still 
 A dungeon cave in Dominica thus 
 Shuts me from light, and love! — And thou, 
 
 Claudina, 
 Dost thou still mourn thy lost, thy vanquish 'd 
 
 soldier ? 
 Or art thou, in this lapse of hopeless years, 
 Wearied at last of thinking upon him 
 Who cannot cease to think and doat on thee ! 
 Trefusis turns up the stage. Carbal en- 
 ters through a wicket gate, which he 
 unlocks. 
 Curb. What hoa ! Trefusis!
 
 2 THl C'AHlh CHI] 
 
 Tre. Carbal ! come again 
 To bring tlie unwelcome sustenance that pro- 
 longs 
 This wretched life of mine ? 
 
 Curb. 1 come to bring 
 What makes life worth the wishing — liberty ! 
 
 Tre. Mock not your prisoner, Carbal ; you 
 were wont 
 To seem my friend. 
 
 Carb. And by my deeds will prove 
 That friendship true. If 1 have risen above 
 My rugged nature, turned the ancient priesthood 
 Which I inherit, to the means of blessing 
 My untaught brethren, and obtained the trust 
 And countenance of our king, 'tis your instruc- 
 tion, 
 Daily bestow'd upon me through your long 
 And hard captivity, that has advanced 
 And blest my fortune. You are free, Trefusis. 
 
 Tre. My freedom, and my past imprisonment. 
 Are equal mysteries. 
 
 Carb. Mvsteries now no more. 
 When, sixteen years ago, Montalbert first 
 Usurp'd for France our hapless Dominica, 
 Two chiefs possess'd its rule. Maloch, our 
 
 prince, 
 By tribute of some threescore slaves to France, 
 Preserved this northern kingdom : while Omreah, 
 The southern chief, resisting, was o'erthrown, 
 And sold to bondage. Peace remain'd, till you, 
 Two summers since, with England's power, as- 
 
 saifd 
 The French possessions here. 
 
 Tre. Pass all the rest, 
 And tel! me why, on waking from the shock
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 Which in the battle stunn'd and laid me low, 
 I found myself a prisoner? 
 
 Carb. When the fight 
 Was over, and the evening breeze sprang up, 
 Maloch, our king, went forth with me to search 
 For one of his fali'n kindred. Finding you 
 Stunn'd as one dead, he bade me bear you hither, 
 And fan the spark of life ; that in his hands 
 The person of so famed an officer 
 Might be a boon for England or for France, 
 As best should suit his interests. He at last 
 Resolved to treat with France : to tell Montal- 
 
 bert 
 The secret of your preservation here, 
 And yield your fate to his disposal. 
 
 Tre. How ! 
 Is it Montaltvert's will that has assign'd me 
 This living burial ? Though our public duty 
 Ranged us in adverse arms, I yet had hoped 
 Our private friendship might survive. 
 
 Carb. But friendship 
 Gives way to love. You were betroth'd, I thinks 
 To that soft, dark-eyed maid, whom in her child- 
 hood 
 Montalbert rescued from a ruffian's grasp — 
 His young Claudina 
 
 Tre. Speak! — my heart grows faint. 
 
 Carb. Montalbert, as it seems, had loved her 
 long : 
 But while he thought you living, had repress'd 
 His inly burning passion. When you fell 
 In battle, he, persuaded of your death, 
 Reveal'd his love. The news of your revival 
 Came like a blight upon him; and he charged us 
 On peril of our lives to keep the secret,
 
 4 THE CAK1B CHIEF : 
 
 And guard you buried in this unknown cell. 
 Thus had two years gone by. 
 
 Tre. And has Claudina ? 
 
 Carb. For those two years, she liv'd but to 
 lament 
 Her slain Trefusis. Time and gratitude 
 At last, though coldly, won Montalbert's suit : 
 And only twelve days since, at Guadaloupe, 
 They were united. 
 
 Tre. Why, farewell then, hope, 
 Life, liberty, farewell ! 
 
 Ca?"h. Life— liberty 
 
 Are precious now, for they will give you ven- 
 geance. 
 I long had wish'd to set you free, and profit 
 By your experience in the arts of war, 
 For shaking off the yoke of France; but Ma 
 
 loch, 
 Our king, restrain' d my will. At length, Omreah, 
 The chieftain of the south, enlarged from bond- 
 age, e 
 Lands on the isle, excites our Carib warriors, 
 And conquers back our southern Dominica : 
 While, on the neighbouring coast of Guadaloupe, 
 Montalbert's nuptial joys have been disturb'd 
 By a strong force of English, which your queen, 
 The bold Elizabeth, has arm'd from Britain. 
 
 Tre. Justice approaches then ! 
 Carb. I urged our king 
 To seize the occasion, and throw oiFthe power 
 Of tyrant France. Omreah's fortune warm'd 
 His cautious Spirit ; but th' appalling strength 
 Of the French fortress on this isle, was still 
 A check to our revolt. 
 
 Tre. And must be ever,
 
 A TRAGfcDV. «* 
 
 Until some good ally shall bring you store 
 Of stout artillery. 
 
 Carb. That have I provided- 
 From England's officers at Guadaloupe. 
 Tre. Who is our general there ? 
 Carb. Fitzjohn, your comrade ; 
 The tidings of your safety gladden'd him : 
 And he has promised, if to-day shall crown 
 The English victory in Guadaloupe, 
 He will, this night, dispatch the aids we need 
 To storm the fortress here ; of which adven- 
 ture 
 He gives command to you. 
 Tre. Could aught revive 
 A heart, benumb' d by such despair as mine, 
 This call to vengeance might awake its pulse, 
 
 And nerve it into act ! 
 
 Carb. Screen'd by the darkness, 
 The English troops will land, and lie conceal'd 
 By the North Headland, till you send a guide 
 To march them tow'rd the fort. And to pre- 
 vent 
 Ambush, or other stratagem by France, 
 Fitzjohn requests the guide, you shall commis- 
 sion, 
 May bear this ring, in token that he comes 
 At your command. 
 
 Tre. I shall observe his caution : — 
 But one word more for my distracted heart, 
 Then I am all my country's. In the siege 
 Of Guadaloupe, how has Claudina fared ? 
 
 Carb. Safely and well. It is Montalbert's 
 purpose, 
 For more security, to send her hither : 
 Perhaps himself to share her flight and refuge
 
 6 
 
 THE CAR Hi CHIEF \ 
 
 Trer. Shall I then breathe again the air that 
 fans her? 
 See her perchance within the crumbling towers 
 Of her false lord, and save her in the assault ? 
 
 Carb. Trust me, whatever else our warriors 
 dare, 
 Claudina shall be sacred. But 'tis time 
 We speed to Maloch's tent. 
 
 Tre. Joy has withdrawn 
 Her sunshine ; but the hope of vengeance, like 
 The swarthy glow of the swoll'n thundercloud, 
 Yet casts a lustre on the darken'd sky, 
 And lights the road to death ! — 
 
 Carb. Away! away! [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The North Headland, overlooking the sea ; a 
 watch-tower at the back of the stage. 
 
 Enter Marian, meeting Claudina, and Colmar, 
 
 Mar. Welcome, dear father, and my much- 
 lov'd friend : 
 Comes not my lord with you ? 
 
 Clau. Montalbert's here, 
 Conferring with his soldiers. 
 
 Enter Montalbert. 
 
 Mont. My Claudina ! 
 This isle, where I had hoped a shelter for you,
 
 A TRAGEDY. / 
 
 Is scarce more safe than that we've left. Omreah, 
 The untam'd prince o' the south, whom I o'er- 
 
 came, 
 And sold to slavery, having burst his chains, 
 Has rais'd the standard of revolt, and seeks 
 A vengeance just, though late, for that black 
 
 hour, 
 Wherein his wife, child, kin, and all his house, 
 I grieve to tell, were savagely cut off, 
 By our marauding troops. 
 
 Clan. Blest had I been, 
 If, with so many of the wretched stock 
 From whom I sprang, I had in infancy 
 Partaken that destruction ! 
 
 Mont. Say not so : 
 The preservation of your life is all 
 That brightens that dark history. I see you, 
 Imploring with your little hands, the wretch 
 Who grasp' d your throat, as he prepar'd to slay 
 
 you 
 For those fair gems — the very chain that now 
 Adorns your polish'd neck. 
 
 Clan. I wear it ever, 
 In hopes, that it may one day prove a clue 
 To trace my birth. For my sake, dear my lord, 
 Have mercy on my untaught countrymen ; 
 And spare the further shedding of that blood, 
 Whence your Claudina springs ! 
 
 Mont. It must be shed, 
 If we would spare oar own. Omreah's sallies 
 Have sorely gall'd our troops : in vain, rewards 
 Are offer'd for his life : fear spreads his fame ; 
 Heaven seconds him ; and ev'n our garrison, 
 Disheartened by our fall at (uiadaloupe. 
 Quake at his progress.
 
 O THE CARIB CHIEF ! 
 
 Clau. Thrice unhappy daughter 
 Of an unhappy race ! — Where'er I fly, 
 Misfortune travels with me ! 
 
 Mont. We shall yet 
 Outstrip her malice. Colmar, to the fort, 
 And let that native priest, that glozing Carbal, 
 Who was observed at Guadaloupe conveying 
 Dispatches and provision to the English, 
 Be led to-morrow, by the break of day, 
 To execution. 
 
 Clau. Not to-morrow ! Let not 
 Death mark our coming. Think, too, of his 
 
 mother, 
 Your Indian nurse, your faithful Kathelrade, 
 Whose heart will break to lose him. 
 
 Mont. For your sake, 
 For Kathelrade's, I would most gladly spare 
 
 him ; 
 But Dominica is at stake : the traitor 
 Would lose us all ; and at a time like this, 
 A soldier's justice must be exemplary. 
 See it performed ! — [Exit Colmar. 
 
 When sunset cools the air, 
 You too, my love, shall forward to the fort, 
 Whither, when I have duly arm'd this point 
 Against surprise from England, I will follow. 
 
 [Exit MONTALBERT. 
 
 Mar. I hoped to see your bridal visit paid 
 With happier omen. 
 
 Clau. It has one relief, 
 That I can here embrace my childhood's friend^ 
 And open all my aching heart to Marian : 
 For these afflictions, with the earlier griefs 
 Whose cureless pain has wrung my soul so long, 
 Are wasting me to death.
 
 A TRAGEDY 
 
 9 
 
 Mar. The earlier griefs" ? 
 Have not these nuptial rites, the lapse of time, 
 Nor the fresh tumult of this English war, 
 Worn out their memory ? 
 
 Clau. These have but increased 
 My bosom's strife. How may Montalbert's 
 
 bride 
 Dwell without guilt on the too constant love 
 She bore another ? Yet, how chase the thought 
 Of him, whose image, and fond memory 
 This fatal shore so bitterly renews, 
 My slaughtered, brave Trefusis ? Here he fell, 
 In the attempt against an adversary 
 Whom I have wedded — who, till war broke forth 
 *Twixt France and England, had himself de- 
 
 sign'd 
 Trefusis for my husband. 
 
 Mar. Time, Claudina, 
 And your Montalbert's lasting tenderness, 
 Will soften these regrets. 
 
 Clau. Heaven knows how truly 
 I feel Montalbert's goodness. He preserved 
 My infant life : supplied the place of parents, 
 Whom haply that wide massacre destroyed ; 
 But, oh ! it was Trefusis that alone 
 Possess'd my love : the few short liappy hours 
 An orphan girl could know, were made by him, 
 With him were lost for ever. 
 
 Mar. We will speak 
 No further, till refreshment and repose 
 Have cool'd your fever'd pulse. With them re- 
 turn 
 The breathing influence of cheerfulness, 
 And health-restoring hope. 
 
 Claud. Oh, Marian, never, 
 c
 
 I(> the cakib cnirr ' 
 
 Never again for me. Hope's genial dews, 
 So freshly scatter' d at the dawn of youth, 
 Still vanish from us as the burning day 
 Grows fierce ; and we are left at sultry noon, 
 Parching and faint, upon the wastes of life ■ 
 
 [Exeunt into the Watch Tower, 
 
 SCENE TIL 
 
 Wild Scenery, with a Mountain Bridge, 
 
 Enter Brancho, and Logamah, meeting, 
 
 Bra. Who comes? Logamah? 
 
 Log. Aye ! with welcome tidings 
 For prince Omreah. 
 
 Bra. He advances hither 
 With speed, but yet with caution: for the French, 
 Stung by our victories, have proclaim'd Omreah 
 An outlaw, and a rebel : and rewards 
 Are offer' d for his head. At every turn 
 We apprehend an ambush. 
 
 [Wild music at a distance. 
 
 Log. Hark ! — the music 
 Of his approaching march swells on the wind — 
 His warriors cross the bridge, and in their van 
 The prince himself. [Wild music nearer. 
 
 [The Caribs cross the bridge, under the 
 command of Omreah. 
 
 Omr. Halt there, below the crag !—
 
 A TRAGEDY. 11 
 
 Prepare your arms, and be in readiness 
 To march again upon the instant. 
 
 [Omreah re-crosses the bridge, and disap- 
 pears behind the i^ocks, descending toward 
 the gleii where Brancho and Logamah 
 are conversing ; they are supposed to see 
 him as he descends. The report of two 
 musquets is heard.] 
 
 Bra. See! 
 
 What murd'rous spies are those ? — two French- 
 men, lured 
 By the proclaimed reward.— Oh, save him ! save 
 him ! 
 [Brancho rushes toward the spot where Om- 
 reah is supposed to be attached, and be- 
 guts to climb the rocks. The clashing of 
 swords is heard.] 
 Log. He turns!— they strike! — he lights! — ■ 
 lie warms ! — he rages ! 
 The foremost is disarmed — Omreah grasps 
 
 And hurls him down the gulph ! 
 
 Bra. (stopping in his ascent.) His fellow flies 3 
 And leaves the prince in safety! 
 
 Onir. (without) Chase the villain — 
 Quick ! — let him not escape to tell the tale 
 Of our approach — quick — follow ! 
 
 Enter Omreah, not recognizing them, and rush- 
 ing wildly on, as if against an enemy. 
 
 More assassins ! 
 
 What ho, there ! — to the rescue ! 
 
 [Recovering himself, and recognizing 
 Brancho and Logamah.
 
 12 THE CARIB CHIEF.' 
 
 Pi don, friends ! 
 
 I'm chafed, and hunted, till my dizzy sight, 
 Scarce knows its office. Twice within thesesix; 
 
 hours 
 Have I escaped the European bloodhounds 
 Montaibert baits against me. 
 Bra. Thank the gods ! 
 
 Omr. I do ! I do !— - They spare me for their 
 work 
 Of retribution, and I will perform 
 That sacred task of blood, to the last drop 
 That curdles in the veins of him I hate. 
 What! is his guilty soul so much afraid 
 Of open combat with the man he has wrong'd, 
 That he must dodge me thus, and set his hire- 
 lings 
 Upon my path ! — Let them beware of me, 
 For the wild quarry yet may make a spring, 
 And rend his dastard hunters ! 
 
 Log. They have reach'd 
 The end of all their triumph, for I bring you 
 News that confirm your purpose and your power. 
 Omr. What !— from the North ?— ha ! ha ! 
 is Maloch roused ? 
 Has he found heart to join our enterprise ? 
 Log. My brother Carbal spurred him to the 
 venture ; 
 Urging the shock Montaibert has received 
 At Guadaloupe, and this so fair occasion 
 To join and crush the remnant of the French. 
 Omr. 'Twas bravely reason'd : Maloch joins 
 
 us, then ? 
 Log. He does : he knows } f our warriors are in 
 march, 
 And trusts to see you in his tents to-night.
 
 A TRAGEDY. 13 
 
 To-morrow, by the dawn of day, we purpose 
 To pour upon the French. 
 
 Omr. That when the fate 
 Of Guadaloupe drives back Montalbert hither 
 For shelter and repose, yon blazing fortress 
 May be the bonfire of his welcome here, 
 And sudden death his sanctuary — Oh ! 
 Death to himself alone ! — unequal fate ! 
 Why can I reach no further ? Why has he 
 No ties like mine— no wife, no child, on whom 
 I might repay the slaughter of my own, 
 And strike a three-tongued dagger to his heart, 
 Such as now cankers mine ! ■ 
 
 Log. Know you not, then, 
 That he comes here a bridegroom ? 
 
 Omr. Can it be ? 
 
 Can fate relent ? — and brings his bride to us ? 
 
 Log. Perchance to-morrow : therefore we pro- 
 pose 
 To make th' attack at dawn, lest he arrive 
 With further force, and foil us. 
 
 Omr. Why not strike 
 This very night? — there will be work enough 
 Still left for us to-morrow — Back to Maloch ! 
 
 Say we are coming. [Exit Logamah. 
 
 Holy Brancho, pray 
 
 The blessing of our gods : then let the warriors 
 
 March on at once, northward, to Maloch's tents. 
 
 The dusk will veil you as you pass the fort 
 
 March ! 
 
 Bra. You're obey'd. 
 
 [Exit Brancho. Wild music. The Indians 
 disappear from the rocks. 
 
 Omr. Come, great Montalbert ! bring 
 Thy bride ; to see and share the devastation
 
 14 THE CAIUI; CHIEF: 
 
 To-morrow's day-break shall reveal ! — To-mor- 
 row ! 
 Thou know'st it is the consecrated day, 
 The anniversary of that which brought 
 Death on my home. — 'Twas such an eve as this, 
 So soft, so calm, that, sixteen summers since, 
 Usher'd that bloodiest morn. Even now, I feel 
 Hot on my flesh, the fretting of the chains 
 Montalbert lock'd about me ! Even now, 
 The same devouring fever kindles here, 
 
 {striking his head) 
 That madden' d me, when I beheld my child 
 Seiz'd by his ruffians — saw my darling wife, 
 The gracious daughter of a line of kings, 
 Murder 'd before mine eyes ! — No more, no 
 
 more, 
 Or in the whirl of my distemper'd brain, 
 The great revenge I seek will be forgot, 
 And my heart burst too soon ! — Gods of our 
 
 land, 
 Let him but see his bride, like mine, made cap- 
 tive, 
 
 And sacrificed by me, as mine by him 
 
 Then, in whatever shape of bitter death, 
 
 Or bitterer life, it please ye cast my lot, 
 
 Body and soul I give myself unto you, 
 
 A martyr — but a conqueror ! [Exit. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST ACT.
 
 A TRAGEDY* 
 
 15 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 before the French fortress, a woody scene. 
 
 Omreah enters cautiously, and is met by Loga- 
 
 mah. 
 
 Log. Prince Omreah ! 
 So near the hostile fort ? 
 
 Omr. My warriors wind 
 Among these woods to gain the northward pass,- 
 Which leads to Maloch's tent ; while I, alone 
 And unobserved, creep close upon the fort ; 
 Seeing, unseen, what point of its defence 
 Is best assailable. 
 
 Log. Our tribe's suspected. 
 My brother Carbal, for his interview 
 With England's officers at Guadaloupe, 
 Has been arrested ; and at dawn to-morrow 
 Must suffer death 
 
 Omr. Must suffer death ! The sacred 
 Hereditary servant of our gods ! 
 Such sacrifice will only heat our warriors 
 To fiercer fury. Was he mad, to treat 
 With Europeans ? — he deserves his fate. 
 
 Log. But for the aid he has secured from 
 England,
 
 16 the C ak ib chief: 
 
 Our enterprize were vain. 
 
 Omr. I thank you, friend, 
 That I am timely warn'd of this alliance : 
 If I assist the attack, it shall be made 
 Before the hateful sons of Europe come 
 To share our glory, or to thwart our justice ! 
 Log. Soft ! a French guard draws near : we 
 
 must divide 
 
 Omr. Take thou the rocky path ; I will ob- 
 serve 
 Their movements from this thicket : in an hour 
 We'll meet at Maloch's tent. 
 
 [Exit Logamah. Omreah conceals him* 
 self in a thicket. 
 
 Enter D'Arcy and Soldiers, meeting Colmar, ivho 
 is followed by Kathelrade. 
 
 Col. D'Arcy, well met. 
 Our tasks are not completed : with each hour 
 The danger grows upon us. We have news 
 That this dread Carib prince o' the south, Om- 
 reah, 
 For whose rebellious head we have, in vain, 
 Proclaimed so great reward, has left his hills, 
 And marches hither. 
 
 Kath. Hearest thou these dangers, — 
 Know'st thou the terror of Omreah's arms, — 
 And yet wilt slay my son, my guiltless Carbal, 
 The lightest breathing of whose holy voice, 
 Could swell, or still the storm ? 
 
 Col. Peace, woman, peace ! 
 
 D'Arcy, select a guard : hasten to Maloch, 
 Our old ally : dwell on the perilous treason,
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 17 
 
 Whereof his priest, young Carbal, stands con- 
 victed : 
 Flatter his pride —play on his subtle nature, 
 And tell him, if he would preserve our friend- 
 ship, 
 And wipe the stain of treachery from his tribe, 
 He must, o' the instant, raise his northern war- 
 riors, 
 And march them to our aid, by break of day, 
 
 jyArcij. I shall not fail. 
 
 Col. King Maloch's tents are scarce 
 A short league hence : Before the midnight bell, 
 I look to see you at the fort again. 
 The watchword is, Defend. 
 
 [Exeunt D'Arcy and Soldiers. 
 
 Kath. Defend, — 'tis apt 
 
 For a wrong' d mother's curse is on your heads. 
 Oh, murderers ! were Montalbert here, your 
 
 tongues 
 Had fester'd ere they had presumed to utter 
 The death-doom of my son ! 
 
 Col. Montalbert knows 
 Thy Carbal's guilt. 
 
 Kath. Tis false ! he is not guilty ! 
 
 Col. Nay more ; Montalbert's lips pronounced 
 the judgment, 
 That he should die at dawn. 
 
 Kath. I'll not believe it ! 
 His judgment — Be it so : I am justly punish'd ! 
 I was the bond-slave of Montalbert's mother ; 
 My breast gave suck to him : still, as he grew, 
 I lov'd him as my own : He turned his arms 
 Against my hapless country: all my race 
 Cursed him ; but I was faithful. To this hour 
 I've loved him still ; and he rewards me now 
 
 D
 
 10 THE CAUIB CHIEF: 
 
 By the foul murder of my son, the stay 
 
 Of my lone widowhood. Oh, mercy, mercy ! 
 
 Is there no way to save him r 
 
 Col. Tis decreed. [Going, 
 
 Kath. A moment — 
 Col. Pity struggles against justice ; 
 I must be gone : Omreah is in, force, 
 And active duties call me. Fare thee well : 
 And if thou canst, be patient. [Exit, 
 
 Kath. Patient, say st thou ! 
 Patient to-night, when my son dies at morn- 
 ing ! 
 May heaven's s\\ ift justice overtake Montalbert, 
 For" this last blackest sin ! Montalbert, thee — 
 And all the offspring of usurping Europe t 
 Omr. (stealing forward.) The metal glows to 
 a red heat ; 'tis now 
 That we may fashion it. 
 
 Kath. Come thick upon him 
 Trouble, alarm, and peril ! press him down, 
 Ye English foes, that humble France and him \ 
 And thou, Omreah, kindred of my race, 
 Whose very name makes pale his officers, 
 And scares them thus to cry abroad for help, 
 Come on 3 ere help arrive : rush on the fort, 
 While V/et but half prepared, and in the tumult 
 Unlock the fetters of my Avr etched son ! 
 
 Omr. What would you venture, Kathelrade, 
 
 for this ? 
 Kath. Who art thou, that dost ask me ? 
 Omr. He your prayers 
 Demanded. After sixteen years, you look 
 Once more upon Omreah. 
 
 Kath. Does my sight 
 Deceive me f or do I indeed behold
 
 A • i;,\i.!:nr. ly 
 
 Him who has suffered;, from this fell Montalbert, 
 Wrongs only less than mine ? 
 
 Omr. Thou art an Indian, 
 Whose land white men have ravaged : thou'rt a 
 
 mother, 
 Whose son, e'en now a white man means to 
 
 slay : 
 So stung, wilt thou be patient, till the blow 
 Fall irremediable, or wilt thou rather 
 Advance a purpose that shall right thy country, 
 And save thy son from death ? 
 
 Kath. Shew but the way, 
 And let my wrongs be pledges for my faith ! 
 
 Omr. Then on what errand are those soldiers 
 sent, 
 Who parted hence but now ? 
 
 Kath. To Maloch's quarter, 
 To levy aids against thy fear'd approach. 
 
 Omr. And when return they to the fort ? 
 
 Kath. Ere midnight. 
 
 Omr. 'Tis well — Tis well — their watchword 
 is 
 
 Kath. " Defend. " 
 
 Omr. Enough : you've sworn- 
 
 Kath. I have : what wouldst thou more ? 
 
 Omr. The time cuts off all further parley now: 
 Wait in the outer court-yard of the fortress, 
 At ten to-night, firm in the faith you've pledg'd ; 
 Then shall you know the rest, and see your son 
 Restored to liberty. Now we shall need 
 No English aids, (going.) 
 
 Kath. 'Tis heaven that interposes, 
 To save my son, its holy minister ! 
 
 Omr. (returning.) How many are the centj- 
 nels that guard
 
 20 i ji i CARJ B CH n i : 
 
 The outer gates ? 
 
 Kut'i. But two 
 
 Omr. Ply them with drink : 
 And drug- their goblets with such sleepy herbs 
 As best may lull the senses. Note my words, 
 And fare thee well. [Exit.- 
 
 Kath. Do but preserve my son, 
 And to the last you shall command his mother !■ 
 
 SCENE IT. 
 
 A grassy space ; sunset over the sea, 
 
 Enter Claudina, Marian, and French soldiers. 
 
 Clau. How distant are we, soldiers, from your 
 fort?— 
 
 Sold. Scarce a short mile. 
 
 Clau. It is a lovely sunset ; 
 The evening breeze from land blows healthfully 
 Over my fever'd cheek ; and as it cools 
 The scented turf,-a thousand odours breathe 
 Freshly upon the sense. 
 
 Sold: Aye, gentle lady, 
 You'd little guess, to see these mossy tufts 
 That spring so green, how few short summers 
 
 past, 
 The ground we tread upon lay crimson'd deep,
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 21 
 
 With human gore ! 
 
 Clau. My soul grows chill within me ! 
 What place is this ? 
 
 Sold. The field where, two years since, 
 My lord Montalbert overthrew the English. 
 
 Clau. Here then Trefusis met his fate ? 
 
 Sold. Even so: 
 We sought his body, when the fight was over ; 
 But dust, and smearing wounds baffling our 
 
 search, 
 We made one general grave for all the slain, 
 Where yonder little hillock swells. 
 
 ( He points to the spot. 
 
 Clau. Good friend, 
 Go slowly forward ; I will follow straight. 
 
 Mar. Madam, the path 
 
 Clau. Is easy — I shall find it : 
 I will but pause a moment — dearest Marian — — 
 Nay, I entreat you, grant me this request. 
 
 [Marian and Soldiers retire. 
 
 Clau. Now, now, Trefusis, dear lost lord of all 
 My bosom's tenderness ! uncheck'd, unwitness'd, 
 I may pour forth the gushing tears that choke 
 
 me, 
 And breathe unto thy memory my sighs 
 Of grief, and love eternal. 
 
 Trefusis enters, and looks around ; but does not 
 at first perceive Clau din a. 
 
 Tre. I have foil'd 
 These hot-pursning French; but my poor Carbal 
 Remains their prisoner. This should be my path,
 
 22 THE CARJB CHIEF . 
 
 TowVd Maloch's tents: — Too well do I remem- 
 ber 
 The fatal ground I tread ! 
 
 Clau. ( fVliose face is averted from the side by 
 which Trefusis has entered. J 
 Oh pardon me, 
 
 Montalbert, if I wrong my wedded faith 
 So far, to take this last, last, cold farewell 
 Of my Trefusis, my affianced husband ! 
 But this one sad indulgence ! but this once 
 For all my griefs ! Upon my bended knees 
 Thus let me cleave unto the hallowed earth 
 That doth enshrine him, call on his loved spirit. 
 And weep my soul away ! 
 
 [Claudina throws herself exhausted on the 
 supposed grave of Trefusis, ivho, during 
 the latter part of the preceding speech, 
 has perceived, and anxiously listened to 
 her.'] 
 
 Tre. It is, it is 
 
 My own adored Claudina! — Rise, sweetmourner, 
 Lean on this faithful breast, and rest thee here. 
 Clau. (wildly.) What voice is this, that mocks 
 my ear, as if 
 The stern and silent grave that hides him from 
 
 me, 
 Should yield him back to life and speech again ! 
 Tre. Was I so lov'd, then, only so to lose her? 
 Accursed treachery ! 
 
 Clau. I am wandering ! 
 'Tis but the echo from my own sad heart, 
 That wilder' d with a strange and sorrowful 
 
 dream 
 Over his grave, thus cheats my weary sense, 
 Waking fantastic sounds !
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 •23 
 
 Tre. Look up and bless me, 
 My love, my wife ! 
 
 Clau. Oh, speak that word again 
 
 Call me again your wife ! let me be sure 
 It is no phantom breathes this music to me, 
 But my true lord, that lives, and moves, and 
 
 speaks, 
 And claims me for his own ! 
 
 Tre. It is, indeed ! 
 Gaze on me, dearest, still, and let me drink 
 The light of those sweet looks ! — why dost thou 
 
 start 
 So wildly from me ? Once again I tell thee, 
 'Tis no unreal vision. 
 
 Clau. Would it were ! 
 Oh would my aching sight could think it still 
 Unreal ! — loose me ! — nay, I do beseech, 
 Command you, loose me ' 
 
 Tre. How have I offended, 
 That 1 am grown thus hateful to Claudina ? 
 
 Clau. Oh no ! you are all goodness still — 'tis I, 
 Who in an evil moment 
 
 Tre. I would spare you 
 The painful tale, Claudina : — yes, I know, 
 You are married to Montalbert ! 
 
 Clau. Can it be, 
 . You are informed how deeply I have wrong'd you, 
 And yet speak to me in such gentle accents ? 
 
 Tre. Too well I know the treacherous arts 
 that gain'd you, 
 The forged report of my untimely death, 
 By which we are made wretched ! 
 
 Clau. Forged report ! 
 Oh — forged by whom ? 
 
 Tre. By thy false husband, lady !
 
 34 TJir. CAK1C CH I El ■ 
 
 Clan. Mod I albert ! 
 
 Tre. Aye, by him ! 
 
 Clau. Then heaven forgive him, 
 The darkest, deepest, cruellest deceit 
 That ever braved perdition.— But twelve days ! 
 Oh had we met twelve little days before, 
 We had been happy ! Thankless that I am, 
 Is it not happiness enough for me 
 To know you live ? 
 
 Tre. I do but live in vain, 
 Since not for you ! 
 
 Clau. Strange thoughts flock fast upon me. 
 Why art thou here? where hast thou tarried from 
 
 me 
 So long ? How cam'st thou hither ? Oh, make 
 
 haste 
 To leave these fatal precincts : should my lord 
 Approach, we're both undone ! 
 
 Tre. 'Tis w r ell admonish'd ! 
 This said encounter had almost effaced 
 The memory of what I came to do. 
 
 Clau. Your looks are terrible ! what is't you 
 purpose ? 
 For generous pity 
 
 Tre. Turn those eyes away, 
 Lest their soft influence quite relax the strength 
 Of my wrought nerves, and melt me to a coward. 
 
 Clau. What would you do ? 
 
 Tre. Preserve a life that's dearer 
 Than the rich centre of this new found world, 
 Whose dust is gold. 
 
 Clau. My life! I understand. — 
 You're sent by England to pursue the blow 
 That drove our vanquish'd force from Guada- 
 loupe.
 
 A TRAGEDY", 25 
 
 Oh ! after this long- parting, are you come 
 At last as the invader of the land 
 That gives me shelter ? Silent ?— then my fears 
 Speak but too true. You have surprised the fort ? 
 
 Tre. (taking her hand.) Twere treason should 
 I tell you more. — Fly, fly, 
 And let me save you ! 
 
 Clau. Never ! I can feel 
 The wrong Montalbert has inflicted on me 
 But I am still his wife, and in the hour 
 Of grief and peril, I will not desert him. 
 
 Tre. Generous Claudina ! will no prayers en- 
 gage you 
 To ward the dangers that beset yourself? 
 
 Clau. I care not for my life; but, while it lasts, 
 It shall be faithful to the sacred duties 
 For which heaven gave it. 
 
 Tre. There is yet a way ! 
 Beneath the northern turret of your fort 
 A hidden chamber lies, known but to few 
 Ev'n of your garrison : learn from Montalbert 
 The passage thither, and, when danger threatens, 
 Fly to that shelter. But, I pray you, breathe 
 No hint of this my warning — Should you put 
 The French upon their guard, my life and fame 
 Would pay the forfeit of my fond disclosure. 
 
 Clau. My heart may break — but never shall 
 betray you ! [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE
 
 26 THE CA1UB ClliEt ; 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 Maloch's tent. 
 
 IFild 
 
 music. 
 
 Enter Maloch, and Logamah conversing, pre- 
 ceded by Car ibs. 
 
 Log. At break of day he dies. 
 
 Mai. Unhappy Carbal ! 
 I ever fear'd a danger from his zeal 
 To join these English with us : He has haunted 
 The tents of Europeans, 'till his heart 
 Forgets to hate them. Not that I would have 
 This shew of friendship with the English, thrown 
 Aside as yet. Trefusis, Carbal's friend, 
 May for awhile be useful. 
 
 Log. He arrives. 
 
 Enter Trefusis. 
 
 Mai. You're welcome, European, from the 
 durance 
 Wherein Montalbert has so long detained yon. 
 
 Tre. Hail to king Maloch ! 
 
 Mai. Carbal's late detention 
 Must be redress'd. Omreah will assist us
 
 A TRAGEDV. 27 
 
 To plan the needful measures of attack ; 
 
 And though we chance to find him harsh of 
 
 speech, 
 And ill inclined to European friendships, 
 We must bear with him. 
 
 Tre. I have heard his history, 
 And will not quarrel with the rage that heats 
 His deeply injured spirit. [Shouts behind. 
 
 Tre. Hark ! what shouts 
 Of gladness rend the air ? 
 
 Mai. Omreah conies ; 
 And snuffing at the sport, like hounds of proof, 
 Our warriors yell their joy. 
 
 Enter Omreah, followed by Brancho, and 
 Caribs. 
 
 Omr. Brother, well met in such a cause- 
 though late. 
 
 Mai. Believe me, prince, 
 If I have not with earlier haste adventured 
 In the just quarrel we have now engaged to, 
 No slavish fear repress'd me, nor the weakness 
 Of tardy age ; but long experience, teaching 
 To wait occasion : that the blow, as now, 
 Being struck upon a weaken'd enemy, 
 Might do its work at once. — You have survey'd 
 Their strength : how stand they ? 
 
 Omr. You shall better learn 
 From certain messengers of theirs, whose course 
 I have with pains outrun ; upon my risk 
 Make prisoners of them all : the moment 
 presses,
 
 28 THE CAKIB CHIEF I 
 
 For lo. they cdiiic : I'll answer 'I when 'tis 
 done. 
 
 Enter D'Arcy, and French soldiers. 
 
 D'Arcy. How now ? — what means this throng 
 
 of armed men? 
 Mai. Hast thou not heard Omreah's force is 
 
 up ? 
 Twas fit we arm'd to meet him. 
 D'Arcy. Why, well spoken : 
 And therefore I have sought you, to request, 
 As you would keep our customed amity, 
 That, with such force as you can raise o' the in- 
 stant, 
 You join our garrison ere break of day. 
 Mai. We shall be duly there. 
 jyArcy. This welcome answer 
 Shall straightway be returned. [Going, 
 
 Omr. Less hurry, sir ; 
 Evening begins to close : The dews are damp, 
 And, lest they chance to chill you, 'twill be fit 
 You rest you here to-night. You are our pri- 
 soners. 
 [Meanwhile Omreah's attendants have been 
 surrounding D'Akcy and the French sol- 
 diers with a guard of Caribs ; and, as 
 Omreah concludes, the French party are 
 made prisoners.^ 
 Omr. At last, the work begins: — to it, and 
 
 prosper ! 
 IfArcy. What snare is this ? 
 Omr. One that may lime, ere long, 
 A bird of stronger wing. Lead them apart ;
 
 A TRAGEDY. 29 
 
 And v strip from each his armour and his habit. 
 [Exeunt Caribs, and French soldie?*s pri- 
 soners. 
 I, and some certain of my warriors, must 
 Assume the arms and covering of these French:. 
 And, cloak'd in that disguise, speed through the 
 
 dusk 
 Unto their fort. The watchword is, " Defend," 
 Which, being whisper'd to the drowsy sentinel, 
 We gain the fort within — 
 Mai. What is't you purpose ? 
 Omr. There waits a guide, whose woman's 
 heart a sting 
 Keeps vigilant — the mother of your Carbal : . 
 She will conduct our steps, where we may 
 
 crouch 
 Till sleep has made all quiet : then spring forth, 
 Strike down the guard, and throwing wide the 
 
 gates, 
 Let in your stormy multitude. The cloak 
 And sword ! — Come, bring them in ! 
 
 [Re-enter Caribs, ivith the cloaks and arms 
 of the French soldiers. 2 
 Tre. It is a masque, 
 Bespeaking bloody revel ! 
 
 Mai. Your device 
 Is hasty, prince. 
 
 Omr. I meant it should be so, 
 That we may not require your English friends 
 From Guadaloupe. Would ye be fools, and 
 
 fight, 
 Faint, bleed, in working off one master's yoke, 
 To let another grind you ? 
 Tre. Calmly, warrior ; 
 Temper the splenetic courage, that sits on you
 
 30 
 
 THE CARIB CHIEF 
 
 So proud and wanton, and take heed in time 
 What precipice it spurs to. 
 
 Omr. (turning suddenly round.) What art 
 thou ? 
 
 A white man ! — Why, I know thee then ; and 
 knowing-, 
 I hate and spurn thee. 
 
 Tre. I am slow to anger, 
 Were this a time for discord ; but the hour 
 Calls for close fellowship : and he amongst us 
 That stirs a finger out of concert now, 
 Loses his cause and country ! 
 
 Med. He says well ; 
 And has a voice in this our enterprize, 
 As potent as our own. 
 
 Omr. Is't so ? A white man 
 Associate in command ? Why then, farewell ! 
 Call off my forces ! — call them off! — I'll make 
 No league with such confederates. Let their 
 
 fort 
 Remain : I can defy their puny children 
 In my wild glens, old nature's fortresses, 
 Where they would quake to climb. 
 
 Mai. Be patient, cbief ! 
 By his assistance 
 
 Omr. Why was I deceived ? 
 You knew, had such a partner been proposed, 
 I should have scorn'd your league ! 
 
 Tre. Our common object 
 Is to destroy our common enemy, 
 And set our Carbal free. Your stratagem 
 Bids fair, and you shall find no jealousy 
 Thwart its accomplishment. 
 
 Mai. How savs Omreah ?
 
 A TRAGEDY*. 31 
 
 Omr. Is it a natural hate that sets these white 
 men 
 At one another's throats ?— Out ! out ! decoys, 
 To sell us to our foe. 
 
 Mal. You are too sudden : 
 What's to be done ? 
 
 Omr. Do as you list, I care not. 
 
 Mai. (aside, IoTre.) Your- presence ruffles him: 
 if you will leave us, 
 He may be led more aptly. (Aloud.) Be your 
 
 task, 
 To post our warriors for the assault, without 
 The fort, and watch the unclosing of the gates. 
 
 Tre. Let me have cautious comrades — 
 
 Omr. Give him safe ones, 
 Who if the cloak of 's honesty should slip 
 A rent, will make so bold to gather it 
 Up with a dagger's point. 
 
 Mal. Here is your guide. 
 
 [ Presenting one of the Carihs. 
 
 Tre. I will make haste to seek some covert 
 ground, 
 Where, in safe readiness, my valiant band 
 May wait Omreah's signal for the assault. 
 If I come safely off, we shall again, 
 Ere midnight, change a greeting by the blaze 
 O' the enemy's fort : if I am doom'd to fall, 
 There is no quarry death can strike more apt, 
 When all the sweetness I had wish'd to live for, 
 Blesses another's lip. [Exit with Caribs. 
 
 Mal. Just spirits aid you ! 
 
 Omr. Let him go ! venture ! perish ! Where's 
 the matter, 
 If, for the myriads of our brethren murder'd 
 To glut the European throats with gore,
 
 32 THE CA RIB CHIEF : 
 
 One white man die to profit us ? — One die ! — 
 Why should one live ! — To spawn in our warm 
 
 sun, 
 To taint the free air of our isle, and hiss 
 His green infections on us, whose rank crest 
 We have the strength to crush? 
 
 Mai. Is my fair show 
 Put on so well, that it deceives Omreah ? 
 Like you, I loathe them all : like you, I groan 
 For sweet revenge ; but mean to take it wisely : 
 For age, and the example of our tyrants, 
 Have taught me, to give hate its way no further 
 Than interest travels with it. 
 
 Omr. Cry you mercy ! 
 I'm of a downright temper, and unvers'd 
 In politic turns. 
 
 Mai. It were not safe, thus early 
 To drop the guise of friendship : should we fail 
 In this attempt to-night, our only refuge 
 Would be the English aids from Guadaloupe. 
 Therefore be wary yet : lull this Trefusis 
 With cordial seeming : second him i' the fight, 
 As you shall find his skill and hardihood 
 Worthily bear you out ; and let revenge, 
 Which is the wise man's servant, not his master, 
 Wait for its turn, and check its thirsty lip, 
 Till safety pledge the draught. 
 
 Omr. I will not do it : 
 You, if you will, may wear a double face ; 
 For you've so long been leagued with these de- 
 ceivers, 
 Taking their stamp, speech, customs, arts, and 
 
 seemings, 
 (As might indeed behove their subject king,) 
 That you can play the traitor, as if born to ? t :
 
 A THAOinV. .*}.*> 
 
 But I, whose only converse with their tribe 
 Has been disgrace and torture — J, with whom 
 They never used more kind interpreter 
 Than ruthless force, the fetter, and the scourge — 
 I will not palter with my honest hate, 
 By stooping, even in show, to treat with bandits, 
 Whom my mind scorns, as my free heart abhors 
 them ! 
 
 Mai. Nay, use your pleasure. 
 
 Omr. I have none but vengeance. 
 
 [Turns up the stage. 
 
 Enter a Carib messenger, who speaks aside to 
 Maloch. 
 
 Mai. Be patient, and that vengeance is your 
 own: 
 For here is one with tidings, that Montalbert, 
 The cause of all your wrongs, is with his bride 
 Come to the Headland, and this very night 
 Sleeps in the fort. — Now, will Omreah quit 
 The league we've made ? 
 
 Omr. (turning round, and rushing forward. ) 
 Come with his bride ? — what here, 
 In Dominica? — This was what I pray'd for ! — 
 In person ! — But shall I be sure of him ? 
 Shall I be sure, that when I have him down, 
 No white allies shall interpose betwixt 
 Me and my prize, — to enforce for one another 
 That civilized, that christian law of mercy, 
 Our dusky children never yet partook ? 
 
 Mai. You shall be satisfied. 
 
 Omr. By heaven, I will ! 
 Where is the daughter of my youthful strength, 
 
 F
 
 34 THE CARIE CHIEF '. 
 
 My little smiling daughter? Did they spare 
 Her harmless infancy ? Where is my wife ? 
 Was she spared to me, when Montalbert's ruffians 
 Swept like a hurricane o'er these summer isles, 
 And blasted all my race ? — His wife is come ! 
 Let him look to her ! — a new married wife, 
 Not cold yet in his love ! Let him look to her ; 
 For the fierce sun, that lights to-morrow's sky, 
 Shall shew her for the last time to his eyes 
 A lifeless body ! Up, ye hardy spirits 
 That own me for your leader ! — whet your fangs, 
 And follow while I cheer you to a prey 
 Shall flesh them deep — Break up, I say, and fol- 
 low ! {Exeunt. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND ACT,
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 35 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 A quadrangle within the fort, surrounded by 
 cloisters. 
 
 Enter Rathe lrade, ushering in Omreah, Lo- 
 gamah, and several Cai*ibs, in the disguise of 
 French soldiers. 
 
 Omr. We're safe ; the watch suspect us not. 
 Kath. Omreah, 
 I half repent me. Tis a bloody purpose, 
 
 And if you ope the gates 
 
 Omr. Amid the tumult 
 Your son escapes : if not, he perishes ; 
 That's all. — No more : we trifle. Is it time ? 
 Kath. Not yet: the twinkling lights that still 
 appear 
 Across the court-yard from the upper casements, 
 Shew there remain some watchers. I must bring 
 
 you 
 To the accustom'd quarters of those soldiers 
 Whom you thus personate. 
 
 Omr. They're safely stow'd : 
 They'll not reclaim their lodging. 
 Kath. Get you in. 
 
 \ Exeunt Logamah and Caribs. The firing 
 of guns is heard.
 
 •5C3 jii e CAiyB cm 1:1 : 
 
 Omr. What's this ? Am I betray'd ? 
 
 (grasping her wrist.) 
 
 Ka/i'-f. Release me. 
 
 Omr. Whither 
 Would you depart ? 
 
 Kath. To seek Montalbert. Listen — 
 Those guns announce his coming. 
 
 Omr. He is welcome. 
 
 At last my foe is given into my band ! 
 
 Montalbert cro-ses the cloisters, with Colmak. 
 
 Aye ! there he passes ! sixteen years bave wrought 
 But little change in him. I feel bis presence 
 Upon my breast, as if a reptile crawi'd 
 Athwart the shrinking flesh. 
 
 Kath. (endeavouring to pass Omreah.) He 
 may relent — 
 He may repair my wrongs. 
 
 Omr. Is this the bate, 
 Vow'd everlasting? — this the unquenchable 
 And deadly flame of injured woman's rage ? 
 Can be repair my wrongs ? Can he repair 
 The wrongs of our dear country? Nay, 'tis vain 
 To struggle thus. 
 
 Kath. Let me but see him once, 
 And try his mercy. — Set me free, I say ! 
 Or with my cries I'll wake the garrison, 
 And yield you prisoner. 
 
 Omr. If one sound escape thee, 
 Tis thine own death-note — aye, and Cai i;ai's too ! 
 
 (drawing his dagger.) 
 
 Kath. Thy looks and words bave more than 
 human horror!
 
 A TRAGEDY. 37 
 
 Omr. Logamah ! lead that wayward woman 
 hence, 
 And keep her with you, safe, and silent too, 
 Until the signal of this horn awake 
 The echoes of the fort. • 
 
 Logamah re-enters, and takes Kathelrade by 
 
 the hand. 
 
 Katli. Remorse and terror 
 Possess me wholly. — Was there no redemption 
 For the son's life, but in the mother's treason ? 
 Oh, Carbal! I have sear'd my heart to save thee ! 
 
 [Exit, with Logomah. 
 
 Omr. Why then 
 I'll not delay : her soul-sick fantasies 
 May rise again, and strangle our attempt. 
 The lights have disappear'd : the fort is quiet : 
 Let me but view these courts, and their defence, 
 Then wake the blast of death ! [Exit. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 Montalbert's apartment in the fort. 
 
 Enter Montalbert with a map. Colmar 
 attending. 
 
 Mont. Here, take the map, 
 And in the morning let our men begin 
 The reparations I have noted there. 
 
 [E.vit Colmar.
 
 38 THE C A ft IB CHILL' : 
 
 The Caribs gather strength : The English 
 
 threaten : 
 And these redoubts, half weatherworn, afford 
 A frail defence. Such are the auspices 
 Of my long-courted wedlock, which to compass, 
 I have reached so far in guilt. From his deep cell 
 The curses ofTrefusis seem to rise, 
 And vindicate the bride, whom but her faith 
 In my suggestion of his death has drawn 
 Unwilling to my arms. — My gentle wife ! 
 
 Knter Claudina. 
 
 Clau. Your wife in name, yet not indeed your 
 wife. 
 
 Mont. You wander, love : fatigue has overcome 
 you. 
 
 Clau. Not so, my lord : a witness is alive, 
 Who but too quickly may confirm the truth 
 Of what I speak : — Trefusis may confirm it ! 
 
 Mont. What sayst thou ? 
 
 Clau. Start not : they that have been buried 
 Are not the dead alone. — You are confused — 
 Confused, my lord, and shun your wife's obser- 
 vance. — 
 Fatal deceit, that plucks from wedded love 
 Its fairest grace and flow'r, sweet confidence, 
 Abashing the clear front of blushing honour, 
 To vouch a falsehood ! I repeat, Trefusis 
 Alive, and bent on vengeance ! 
 
 Mont. Who has seen him ? 
 
 Clau. I have, and talked with him, and learnt 
 from him 
 All you would hide.
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 39 
 
 Mont. Then Carbal has betrayed me ! 
 
 Clau. Dost thou complain of that ? thou, that 
 art worst, 
 Of all betrayers ! with what new device 
 Wilt thou acquit thee of thy treachery 
 To me, and to my own betrothed lord? 
 
 Mot/t. Hast thou then no forgiveness for a fault, 
 Which love of thee has prompted ? 
 
 Clau. Love of me ! 
 Love without truth ! Oh, do not so profane 
 The sacred name. Love knows no dark deceit, 
 No frozen, false reserve — In love's communion, 
 Heart beats to heart, and soul to soul transfused, 
 As meeting rivulets, in whose pure confluence 
 Each lucid drop commingles ! 
 
 Mont. If my life, 
 Through all its future years devoted only 
 To confidence and thee, might yet repair 
 One only crime, and win thy heart again — 
 
 Clau. Banish the hope ! my hand thou dost 
 possess, 
 For thou hast gained it from me by a fraud : 
 But not thy sum of years can ever win thee 
 That heart which thou hast stabb'd ; nor stifle 
 
 here 
 The hapless, hopeless love, which thou thyself 
 Didst pledge to my true lord ! 
 
 Mont. There's no reproach 
 For the deceit by which I have undone thee, 
 But finds an answering pang within my breast, 
 Of deep sincere repentance. 
 
 Clau. What avails it ? 
 If with thy floods of tears thou couldst wash out 
 All trace of memory, or dissolve the bonds, 
 The unhallow'd bonds, that knit our fates toge- 
 ther,
 
 40 THE CARIE CHIEF : 
 
 There were a virtue in thy penitence- 
 Nay, could'st thou turn aside the punishment, 
 Which heav'n but now sends down on thee and 
 thine, 
 
 Through him whom thou hast wrong'd 
 
 Mont. Vain threats, Glaudina. 
 
 Clau. Nay, I speak true. — yet what I speak, I 
 
 know not. 
 Mont. Explain. 
 
 Clau. I may not, cannot tell thee more 
 
 [Omreah's horn is heard without. 
 There — there it comes ! 
 
 Mont. Trust me, some weak imposture. 
 
 [The horn is again heard. 
 Again ! what shouts are these ? 
 
 [The Cards' yell is heard without. 
 Clau. Oh, fly with me 
 To the sunk chamber, which, I'm told, extends 
 Beneath the northern turret. — 
 
 Mont. Your Trefusis 
 Counsell'd you this ! what, he would brand my 
 
 fame 
 With flight ! No ! it shall shelter thee ; but I, 
 Whate'er the shock, wiil brave it. 
 
 Clau. Quickly, then, 
 Or all is lost ! 
 
 [Exit Glaudina. Montalbert turns, on 
 hearing the voice (jf Colm An behind hi???. 
 Colm. (without.) General, defend your life. 
 Mont. I am prepared. 
 
 Colmar enters. 
 
 Now, which way lies the danger ? 
 
 Colm. The fort's in flames : a sudden enemy 
 Has forced the gates.
 
 A TRAGEDY. 
 
 41 
 
 Mont. Who are the foes ? The English 
 From Guadaloupe ? 
 
 Colm. The Caribs : and Omreah 
 Their leader !— in they pour, by the red light, 
 In many a dusky swarm, blackening the fort ! 
 
 Mont. Conduct my wife to the recess, beneath 
 The northern tow'r — I'll give the rallying word, 
 France, and the King ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 Before the jort. The j'ort on fire. Battle. 
 
 Enter Kathelrade, Carbal, and Logamah. 
 
 Kath. Didst thou in sooth then plot 
 The treason, from whose penalty thy mother 
 Has dared so much to save thee ? 
 
 Car. Yes ; if truly 
 It be a treason to assist my country 
 Against a foreign tyrant. You, my mother, 
 Are guilty of like treason, in preserving 
 Your death-devoted son. 
 
 Kath. Tis but too true : 
 For your deliverance, I have sacrificed 
 One hardly less beloved — my foster-son, 
 My lord and master. 
 
 [Skirmish. Drums and trumpets. 
 
 Car. Lo ! the battle thickens : 
 Bear we our mother to some safer spot. 
 
 Log, She is secure. Montalbert has com- 
 mended
 
 42 THE CAR IB CJ1I LI '. 
 
 His Coster parent to the especial care 
 
 Of all his followers — marry, little guessing, 
 
 How much he owes her. 
 
 Kuih. Were his thoughts so kind 
 To his betrayer ? Shall I fly to him, 
 Confess my treaeh'ry, and implore his pardon r 
 No 5 he will not believe, the breast that nurs'd 
 
 him 
 Could have been steel'd to such a hard extreme ! 
 Car. Live for your country, and your sons, 
 and banish 
 The thought of him who was the foe of all. 
 Kath. Yet I will seek, and speak to him, and 
 tell him 
 All I have done and suffer' d — oh for power 
 To rescue him, as I have rescued you ! 
 
 [As she is going, Carbal attempts to with- 
 hold her.'] 
 Your leave — The war that shakes yon battle- 
 ments 
 
 Is peace to that within my burning heart 
 
 I will not be detain'd. [Edit. 
 
 Car. Ever extreme 
 In love, as hate ! This is^n extasy, 
 May need our watching. [E.veunf. 
 
 '[The flames ascend. Part of the fort is heard 
 to fall in. Shouts, martial music, and the 
 clashing of weapons^] 
 
 Enter Malock, from among the for tif cations. - 
 
 Mai. The assault has stirred me. 
 This arm, unshrunk, albeit for many a year 
 Disused from blood, rejoices in its strength,
 
 A THAGF.DY. 43 
 
 And longs for fresh encounter. Now, Trefusis, 
 How fare their boasted bulwarks? 
 
 Enter r f refusis. 
 
 Tre. All's in flame. 
 Our wild troops, dashing through the smoke, 
 
 hunt down 
 Th v astonish' d French ; and mingling with the 
 
 rear 
 Of crackling fire, Omreah's merciless yell 
 Comes thundering hoarse, as drunkenly he plies 
 His sword in their best blood. 
 
 Mai. Where fights Mont albert ? 
 
 Tre. At yonder portal, with some thir y fol- 
 lowers : 
 The rest, with desp'rate energy, defend 
 The northern tow'r, the only point that's proof 
 Against the spreading fire. To gain that tow'r 
 I've cut my way thus far. [Exit, 
 
 Mai. No doubt the bride, 
 For whom Montalbert shut him from the world, 
 Is placed within its walls. Why, be it so. 
 It is by private springs, the public engine 
 Works to advantage. All but that one pile, 
 Thanks to Omreah's stratagem, we've gain'd, 
 Without the English guns. 
 
 Enter Montalbert. 
 
 Mont. It is in vain 
 To rally my dishearten'd fugitives : 
 I can but seek the tow'r that yet holds out, 
 And perish in its ruins.
 
 44 THE CARIB CHIEF I 
 
 Mai. Turn, Montalbert, 
 And perish here ! 
 
 Mont. Thou subtle traitor, hence ! 
 Thou, on whose aid our confidence relied, 
 Kv'n as upon a brothers ; — dost thou face me? 
 Mai. Fool ! thatcouldst hope assistance in thy 
 need, 
 From forced allies, and take our fear for friend- 
 ship, 
 If thou hast yet so much of hope in thee, 
 To think thy life worth struggling for, defend it. 
 Mont. Nay then, commend thee to the gods 
 thou serv'st, 
 For thy last hour draws near. 
 
 \They fight. Maloch falls. 
 Mai. Why did I arm 
 In this too sudden quarrel ? Thou prevail'st, 
 Usurper! but there comes a comfort yet - 3 — 
 
 Enter Omreah. 
 
 For this my brother will not let my bones 
 Bleachuto the scorching sunbeam, unrefresh'd 
 With my destroyer's blood. [Dies. 
 
 Omr. I need no spur 
 To vindicate thy death ! For my own wrongs, 
 Wrongs all too countless for my tongue to speak, 
 Boil in my blood, and thus I spring upon him ! 
 
 Mont. Hold off thy hand! sure I should know 
 thine aspect ! 
 
 Omr. Thou should'st, indeed ; for not a feature 
 here, 
 But in its pale and careworn lineaments 
 Bears damning trace of thee !
 
 A TRAGEDY. 45 
 
 Mont. Hear me, Omreah : 
 
 I fain would spare 
 
 Omr. No parley ! — there was none 
 When thou didst swoop upon my peaceful realm, 
 With faulchion, and with flame ! I'll have no 
 respite ! 
 [They fight : Montalbert strikes the sword 
 out of Omreah s hand. 
 Mont. Now, savage, wilt thou sue for terms ? 
 Omr. (Leaping upon Montalbert, snatching 
 his szcord, and bringing him upon one 
 knee, ) Nor grant them — 
 For I have made thee sure ! 
 
 [He stands over Montalbert. 
 
 Enter Carbal, Logamah, Brancho, and Caribs. 
 
 Applaud me, warriors ! 
 For lo, my arm has overcome Montalbert — 
 The head, the spring of all our country's woes, 
 The dread Montalbert ! Priests, draw near, and 
 
 curse 
 The slayer of your king ! 
 
 Curb. The king !— alas ! 
 
 [Perceiving the body of Maloch.] 
 Raise and give due observance to the body. 
 
 Omr. Aye, we will solemnize its obsequies 
 With fitting honours. Here's my offering, 
 The blood, that on the altar of the dead 
 Shall make the wliolesoin'st savour. 
 
 [ The body of Maloch is lifted. 
 
 Mont. If yon sword 
 Were in my grasp again, that I might have 
 Some partner in my death ■
 
 46 THE carib chief: 
 
 Omr. Why, so thou shalt ; 
 Think'st thou I mean, so early in thy wedlock, 
 To part the bridegroom from the bride? 
 
 Mont. My bride! 
 Shall not her innocent life be sacred to you ! 
 
 Omr. I have sent to seek her for thee. It is 
 ever 
 Our custom, European, when we seize 
 A prisoner in our wars, to give his manhood 
 The fair occasion to approve itself, 
 In varied sufferance of our cunning'st tortures: 
 And (for I would not have it thought, the pri- 
 soner 
 On whom I build my glory, is but nerv'd 
 Like common men,) I will illustrate thee 
 With more than common penance : I will try 
 How well thy fortitude will bear the groans 
 Of her thou doat'st upon, as she receives 
 Her fate before thine eyes. 
 
 Mont. From what fell demon 
 Learndst thou this damned subtlety of torture ? 
 
 Omr. It is in thee I hail my great instructor ! 
 From thee I had it all ! — and if it give 
 Thy breast but half that deep devouring anguish, 
 Which, to my shame, too much has shaken me, 
 The restless spirits of my wife and babe 
 Will have been well revenged. Lead him away, 
 And keep strict watch upon him. 
 
 Log. To the tow'r, 
 Where we have chain'd the rest o' the prisoners? 
 
 Omr. To whatsoever den affords most safety. 
 Look you to that ; for if he break his bonds, 
 Your lives shall answer it. 
 
 [Exit Montalbert, guarded.
 
 A TRAGEDY. 47 
 
 Omr. Now for the tow'r, 
 Where, as it seems, this bride, through whom 
 
 my vengeance 
 Must be fulliird upon him, has been placed 
 For safety. On them, my brave people ! on 
 
 them ! 
 Make no more prisoners, but let ravage loose, 
 For the avenging gods have given this night 
 To your long craving, that without remorse 
 You may strike home, strike deep, make sure, 
 
 and spare not ! \_Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE IV. 
 
 'V 
 
 The vault under the northern tower ; Claudina 
 alone. 
 
 Clan. Oh, what an hour has pass'd! Each 
 crash, each cry 
 Shoots to my heart ! In all events I'm wretched. 
 Montalbert's victory, is Trefusis' death— - 
 And if Trefusis conquer, where's the hope 
 Of mercy for my husband — my betrayer, 
 Yet still my benefactor ! — Soft, the noise 
 Ceases ! This silence is more dreadful yet: 
 It is the calm of death !
 
 48 THE CARIB chief: 
 
 Enter Trefusis. 
 
 Tre. Justice has triumph' d ; 
 And you, beloved Claudina 
 
 Clau. Is Montalbsrt 
 Alive ? 
 
 Tre. As yet he is. 
 
 Clau. Then he is safe ! 
 You will not harm an unresisting- captive ? 
 
 Tre. And yet I would rtot stand that captive's 
 hazard 
 For his whole nation's wealth. 
 
 Clau. Hear me, Trefusis 
 
 [Trefusis turns away. 
 He is my husband ; — hear me but a moment — 
 I know it — you've been wrong'd— . but he's my 
 husband 
 
 Tre. And therefore is a traitor — is he not ? 
 In the near'st point, a false, abandon'd traitor, 
 Whose punishment will set you free. 
 
 Clau. Oh, horror ! 
 Trefusis — if, as my fond heart once dream'd, 
 You've loved me truly, by that influence 
 I pray — nay, on my knees I thus adjure you, 
 Ev'n though for him you have no pity, yet 
 Have mercy upon me, his wretched wife ! — 
 Will set me free ! what, make a wife the cause 
 And accessary in her husband's murder ! 
 No, no, you will not whelm that guilt upon 
 
 me, 
 That deep, condemn'd remorse ! 
 
 Tre. I have no tongue
 
 A TRAGEDY. 49 
 
 To vent the struggles of my passionate heart, 
 And give it ease. Claudink ! though those tears 
 Are pour'd for one who has most injured me; — 
 Nay, though his death would make thee mine 
 
 once more — 
 I will not harm thy husband ! 
 
 Clau. Blessings on thee ! 
 
 Tre. The only hope is in escape. 
 
 Clau. Oh, yes ! 
 I will console his flight, will follow him 
 In banishment and sorrow, to repay 
 The debt I owe him, and repair the harshness 
 Of my too sharp reproaches. 
 
 Tre. I will strive 
 To aid the virtue which I fain would copy. 
 Through every corner of the tow'r that stands 
 Above these vaults, Omreah at this instant 
 Is seeking you ; but these retreats will mock 
 His search. When he departs, the Indian priest, 
 Carbal, in whom I trust, shall guide your path 
 To that same cave on the sea-side, where late 
 I was imprisoned. 
 
 Clau. But, Montalbert — what 
 Shall be devised for him ? 
 
 Tre. Be that my care ; 
 I can, on my authority as leader 
 Of Maloch's warriors, change his guard, and 
 
 speed him 
 To the North Headland, where with you this 
 
 morning 
 He came on shore. Thence, by the coast, he soon 
 May row the boat that brought you, to the cave, 
 Where you will wait his coming; and from which 
 To Martinico, southerly, will be 
 A short day's voyage. 
 
 H
 
 50 the car us chief: 
 
 Clau. Faithful, much loved friend ! 
 Nobly hast thou redeemed thy promise to me ! 
 We part, 'tis like, for ever. The wide wastes 
 Of ocean will divide us : and I pray thee, 
 As we shall never, never meet again, 
 Strive thou, like me, to banish the remembrance 
 Of what has been ; of thoughts, whose images, 
 Too dearly loved, must be indulged no more. 
 We must be firm ; we must forget each other ! 
 Tre. Forget ! that word has more of anguish 
 
 in it, 
 Than all we have endured ! Forget, Claudina ! 
 Clau. Yes, it must be. Fortune may ravish 
 
 from us 
 All joys external ; but it leaves us still 
 The godlike power to suffer, and to do, 
 As heav'n commands ; — as thou hast done, Tre- 
 
 fusis ! 
 
 END OF THE THIRD ACT.
 
 A TRAGEDY. 51 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 Montalbert's apartment in the fort. Montal- 
 bert jet te red, walking backward and forward . 
 
 Enter Trefusis. 
 
 Mont, (not perceiving Jtim.) Death were to me 
 a boon ; but for Claudina — 
 'Tis there I feel the pressure of my fate, 
 Trefusis ! 
 
 Tre. Somewhat worn, perhaps, by years 
 Of drear captivity to great MontaJbert ; 
 Yet still that same Trefusis, whom, in clays 
 Of happier note, while yet our hostile countries 
 Preserved the bond of peace, Montalbert loved 
 With friendship not unrecompens'd. 
 
 Mont. Thou dost 
 But plant another dagger in a heart 
 Already pierced to death. 
 
 Tre. Aye, that Trefusis, 
 Whom, not content to strip him of his freedom^ 
 Thou hast despoiPd of more than life itself — 
 Of his betrothed wife ! 
 
 Mont. Go on ; go on — 
 I have deserv'd it all ! 
 
 Tre. That same Trefusis,
 
 .V2 THE CAR1 B CHIEF : 
 
 Who, now that fortune leaves thy falling cause, 
 And thou thyself becom'st in turn a pris'ner, 
 Has sought thee thus, to reap a full revenge ! 
 
 Mont. Thou canst not take my life so willingly 
 As I shall lose it. I have wrong'd — immure I 
 
 thee 
 Two tedious years. — Then strike. I will not 
 
 shrink. 
 I have betray'd thy friendship — Still in doubt ? 
 Nay, I have robb'd thee of thy love, Trefusis — 
 [Trefusis half unsheaths his sword ; but 
 after a momentary straggle with him- 
 self, returns it to its scabbard^] 
 Now, now, strike home, and search my heart ! 
 
 Tre. I will, 
 Intrepid foe, but not with such a weapon, 
 As thou prepar'st for. Tis revenge enough 
 For me, to let thee know thy life and freedom 
 Are in my hand — that I restore them to thee — 
 That thy lov'd wife is sav'd to bless thy lot — 
 And that 'tis I have saved her ! 
 
 Mont. Saved her, say you ? 
 Is the command with you, and will you use it, 
 For my Claiulina? Now you are indeed 
 Reveng'd ! 'Twas fit I should be humbled thus, 
 Thus feel the virtue of the man I've wrong'd 
 Ascendant over me, and owe him more 
 Than life itself. 
 
 Tre. Rather owe all to her, 
 For whose dear sake this blow is warded from 
 
 you. — 
 But your departure hence must be immediate, 
 Before Omreah guess it. Haste you straight 
 To theNortb Headland, where you left your bark, 
 And steer it down the coast to the same cave 
 Where I was prisoner. In that lone retreat,
 
 A TRAGEDY. 53 
 
 Claudina is awaiting your arrival 
 To sail for Martinique. I have removed 
 Your guards ; and in the darkness of the night 
 You'll gain the path securely. 
 Mont. I would thank you, 
 But want the voice. Yet, one thing more I 
 
 need — 
 A trusty guide athwart these tangled glens 
 To the North Headland. 
 
 Enter Kathelrade. 
 
 Kath. Is it here they guard 
 My foster son, my wrong'd Montalbert ? 
 
 Mont. Com'st thou 
 To triumph in my fall? Oh, Kathelrade, 
 I knew the lot of war was made of strange 
 And fearful chances ; but I deem'd that woman 
 Was faithful still. 
 
 Kath. I am — I am ! — Conld / 
 Have died ten thousand deaths, I'd not have 
 
 spared them 
 In thy behalf— but my son'slife depending 
 On my one word — how could a mother's voice 
 Withhold it ? —Think of this, and you may yet 
 Forgive poor Kathelrade. 
 
 Mont. You time this aptly. 
 Inexorable justice would but ill 
 Become Montalbert now. 
 
 Tre. It is a wild 
 And wayward disposition. But she knows 
 Each mazy path o' th' island, and you oeed 
 A guide upon the sudden —May you trust her ?
 
 54 THE CARIB CHIEF. 
 
 Kath. Oh yes ! tell me but how to save or 
 serve you, 
 And with my life I will redeem my crime. 
 
 Mont. I must accept her guidance, or abandon 
 All chance of flight, all hope of my Claudina. 
 
 Tre. Be circumspect ; an English force will 
 land 
 About this hour; and though with them your life 
 Would be secure, your liberty were hopeless. 
 No thanks, but on. 
 
 Mont. Farewell, my generous foe ! 
 
 [Exeunt Montalbert and Kath. 
 
 Tre. This was indeed to my distracted heart 
 The sole revenge : for what extremity 
 Of harsh amends could have compensated 
 Such wrongs as mine, or brought to my relief, 
 Forgetfulness, or hope ? {Exit. 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 The 2uandr angle in the fort. 
 
 Enter Omreah, and Corbal. 
 
 Omr. 'Twas in this tower, 
 Montalbert, as they say, conceal'd the women : 
 And I have sent for you, that, as we know not 
 The person of his wife, you may point out, 
 Among the female prisoners here assembled, 
 Which is Claudina,— Let the captives enter. 
 
 [The female prisoners , and Marian, are 
 brought w.]
 
 A TRAGEDY. 55 
 
 Unveil ! — Now, priest 
 
 Curb. Claudina is not here. 
 
 Omr. Not here ! You play upon me ! Look 
 once more ! 
 Not here ? 
 
 Carb. I say; not here. 
 
 Omr. It is in vain 
 She strives to foil my search : If I heat up 
 Each thicket of the isle, she shall not 'scape me. 
 Send out our scouts to seek her ; and let these, 
 And all the other captives who may come 
 Within your reach, be taken to the spot 
 Where we have stored the spoils, the spot ad- 
 joining 
 My tent, that I may have the earliest note 
 Of her detention. What's their number? — ten — 
 'Tis well : let them be presently brought in. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Mar. Alas ! already, in this wild assault, 
 Claudina may have perish'd. 
 
 Carb. Fear not, Marian ; 
 She's yet secure, within the secret chamber 
 Beneath this tow'r: where, had the time permitted, 
 You and these trembling- women should have 
 
 shar'd 
 Her hidden refuge. To my care Trefusis 
 Has trusted her, while he himself provides 
 Montalbert's safety. It is time to bring her 
 From her retreat : but, by our evil fortune, 
 The only passage to the cave wherein 
 I am to place her, is by that same tent 
 Whither Omreah has but now repair'd. [Exit. 
 Mar. Her griefs and dangers almost chase the 
 thought 
 Of my own perils.
 
 56 the CARi-te 0h*ef : 
 
 Re-enter Carbal, with Claudina. 
 
 Clau. Do we once again 
 Meet and embrace ? 
 
 Carb. We must away. 
 
 Mar. But if, 
 To gain the cave you're bound to, you must pass 
 Omreah's tent, by what device propose you 
 To shun his lynx-eyed watch ? 
 
 Carb. By your assistance. — 
 He has survey'd you all : has counted over 
 Your band, and is assured Montalbert's bride 
 Is not among these ten. Let her then take 
 Your station in the rank, and pass his tent 
 As one of those he has already view'd ; 
 While, that the numbers may be still alike, 
 You shall remain behind. 
 
 Mar. Most joyfully. 
 
 Clau. Seek my own safety at my Marian's risk ! 
 Oh, never ! 
 
 Mar. I am not the more endanger'd,- 
 It is not my destruction they desire. 
 Do not reject this little aid. 
 
 Clau. My own 
 Too faithful Marian ! 
 
 Carb. Marshal then your train, 
 And let us forward. — In the midst— even thus. 
 
 [Exeunt.
 
 A TRACK I) V. 
 
 57 
 
 SCENE III. 
 Omreah's tent. A rocky amphitheatre. 
 
 Enter Omreah and Caribs. 
 
 Omr. There, where the winding rocks have 
 made an inlet, 
 Place ye the spoils and prisoners, under guard. 
 Now, bring- you tidings of my enemy's bride ? 
 
 Enter Brancho. 
 
 Bra. I am assured that she was seen to enter 
 The tower Trefusis storm'd, the northern tower; 
 And, if not still conceal'd within its walls, 
 By his permission must have been releas'd. 
 
 Omr. Then, though the mystery of her strange 
 concealment 
 Be buried in his heart, I'll dig it forth — 
 
 Enter Trefusis, and Lidians. 
 
 Bra. These are the warriors who besieged the 
 tow'r — 
 The secret lies among them. 
 
 Omr. Which ot you 
 Has dared release my captive ? 
 
 Tre. You may spare 
 Your threatening gestures, prince : for it is I 
 Have given Claudina liberty * which here 
 
 i
 
 5tf THE GARIB CIIIF.F : 
 
 I do again, before the assembled host, 
 Proclaim and ratify. 
 
 Omr. By Maloch's soul, 
 I say, she dies, although a thousand white men, 
 All arm VI like thee, stood threatening at thyback, 
 To force her from me. 
 
 Tie. I am resolute 
 In what I have declared. Our arms have earn'd 
 Much spoil in common : of which prize I claim 
 No costly share for my reward, but only 
 That captive, whom at all risks I will keep. 
 
 Omr. What ! Is't for spoil that I have sold mv 
 blood ? 
 Blood for base ore, as you do ! I have girt 
 The sword upon my body for revenge, 
 And here it must be taken ! For yourself, 
 If your own life be dear, produce the captive ; 
 For her, as best becomes a duteous wife,' 
 She shall partake her husband's speedy death, 
 In Maloch's funeral sacrifice. 
 
 Tre. Thou'rt foil'd, 
 Insatiate savage ! I have snatch'd the prey 
 From those curs'd fangs, and marr'd thy feast of 
 
 blood : 
 And while thou ravs't, and lift'st thy clenched 
 
 hands, 
 And mutterest inward blasphemies against 
 Thy impious gods, Montalbert, with his bride, 
 Spreads his free sail to ocean's morning wind, 
 And, safe beyond thy reach of malice, scorns 
 Thy threats and thee— as I do ! 
 
 Omr. They are safe — 
 Safe arc they, traitor? — Let them ! thou art left !-— 
 Why stand you all like stocks, and fear to seize 
 him ?
 
 A TRAGEDY. 59 
 
 Hear you not, how his sacrilegious hand 
 Has freed the victim, destin'd to appease 
 The spirit of your loved, your murder'd king ? 
 [7'hc ( 'arib.s seize and disarm Tkefusis. 
 
 Tre. (struggling.) What, like a felon ! If thy 
 savage nature, 
 That riots in the blood of enemies, 
 Fear not the shedding of thine own, release me, 
 And let our equal blows end manfully 
 Our equal quarrel. 
 
 Omr. What, release thee now, 
 A self-convicted traitor to our cause ! 
 Is't thus that Europeans use to deal ? 
 
 Tre. Yet pause ere you proceed ! the setting 
 stars 
 Fade from the waning night, and tell the ap- 
 proach 
 Of those who shall repay this wrong upon you, 
 With fearful reck'ning — the expected force 
 Of powerful England. 
 
 Omr. I will brave the hazard — 
 
 Enter Carbal, xvilh Claudina, and the captives . 
 
 So, priest! you have engaged a hopeful comrade- 
 Car. A pris'ner ! how is this ? or what's his 
 
 crime ? 
 Omr. The rescue of Montalbert and his bride — 
 A crime against us all : against the spirits 
 Of your slain king, and of my murder'd mate 
 And innocent babe, to whom I owe the death 
 Of their destroyer's wife. 
 
 Clan. "Would that atonement 
 Content thee?
 
 60 the ca Ri 15 chief : 
 
 Omr. Who is this? 
 
 Carb. (agitated.) One of the captives, 
 Whom you before examined in the tow'r. 
 
 Omr, Speak, woman ! hast thou tidings of 
 Claudina ? 
 
 Tre. No ; she deceives you : she can tell you 
 nothing. 
 
 Clan. Hear me. 
 
 Omr. I will : there's something in thy face, 
 That strikes upon my soul, and seems to bring me 
 A lost reflection of departed thoughts, 
 And things loved long ago. Speak ! I will hear 
 thee. 
 
 Clau. If I give up Claudina to your power, 
 Will you bestow upon me in exchange, 
 The life and pardon of such other captive 
 As I shall ask ? 
 
 Omr. I will — I will— discover 
 My enemy's bride, and — 
 
 Clau. Swear then, by the gods ! 
 
 Omr. I swear ! 
 
 Tre. She raves — she knows not what she says. 
 
 Omr. Silence — my oath is pledged. 
 
 Clau. I am Claudina. 
 
 Omr. Art thou Montalbert's bride ? Thank 
 heav'n, that made thee 
 So much resemble her for whose lov'd memory 
 Thou art to suffer ! 
 
 Clau. Now for my reward. 
 
 Omr. Claim it. 
 
 Clau. I claim the freedom of Trefusis. 
 
 Omr. Trefusis! 
 
 Clau. You have sworn. 
 
 Omr. 'Twas a rash oath —
 
 A TRAGEDY, 61 
 
 But 'twas Omreah's, and it must be sacred — 
 Release the European. 
 
 Tre. Oh Claudina, 
 What hast thou ventured, and for whom ? 
 
 Clau. For him 
 Who has done all for me. 
 
 Enter a Carib. 
 
 Omr, Now, whence art thou ? 
 
 Carib. From the North Headland, where I 
 have kept watch 
 For the expected landing of the English 
 From Guadaloupe. 
 
 Tre. Well, are they come ? 
 
 Carib. They're landed, 
 And lie close ranged behind their vessels, waiting 
 Till duly summon'd hither. 
 
 Omr. (To TrefusisJ Tarry yet : 
 (To LogamahJ Force off that ring he wears. 
 
 Tre. What further outrage, 
 Monster ! 
 
 Omr. There is no Maloch now, to clog 
 With creeping policy my fixed resolve, 
 T'extirpate root and branch. (To Logamah.) 
 
 Produce the ring- 
 To the commander of these white allies : 
 It is the token, which, as Maloch told me, 
 They would expect, lest France should gain some 
 
 note 
 Of their arrival, and send false conductors, 
 To snare them. Say you-had it from Trefusis : 
 They will accept you for their guide, and follow 
 What road you point.
 
 62 
 
 THE CAR! B C H1EF 
 
 Log. The cover* d swamp of reeds ? 
 Omr. Thou hast it ! excellent comrade, thou 
 forstall'st 
 My very thought ! the darkness of the night, 
 The wildly broken paths, and sudden turns 
 By copse and precipice, will cheat them on 
 To that invisible peril, where they fall 
 Ere they have time to fear. Once in, they plunge 
 And strive in vain : The thick engulphing quag- 
 mire 
 Swells round them with their bulk, and chokes 
 
 down, 
 While' you, that know the ground, will straight- 
 way gain 
 The narrow bridge of stones that threads the 
 
 swamp, 
 And bring the tidings. [E.vit Logamah. 
 
 Tref. Dost thou think my country 
 So poor of strength, or so debased of spirit, 
 To brook a deed like this ? 
 
 Omr. I have pronounced it. 
 We are the masters now; and when we've clear d 
 These white pests from our land, and made it sure 
 With our own forts, and all those arts of war 
 The experience of your murderous tribe has 
 
 taught us, 
 We'll keep our native isle, or, losing, die for % 
 Caribs. Long live Omreah ! Let him reigu 
 
 among us ! 
 Omr. Yet -further : Lest some babbler reach 
 the English, 
 Disclose the snare my guides are sent to frame, 
 And bring a force to take this victim from me, — 
 Station a guard to stop the pass, that leads 
 Tow'rd the North Headland, When the earn (ice
 
 A TRAGEDY. 63 
 
 Is over, not before, set this man free. 
 
 [He gives directions to several Indians, 
 
 'a ho gO OUt.~\ 
 
 Tre. I scorn a freedom so conferr'd! bestow it 
 Upon this innocent captive. 
 
 Omi\ Shall I quit 
 The instinct heav'n has planted in all hearts, 
 The generous lust of natural, sweet revenge ? 
 While Europe's wise and civilized savages 
 Cut throats, as artificial passions prompt, 
 Still, still let us, the sons of purer skies, 
 Placed here at nature's sources, where her spring 
 Bursts fresh and unpolluted, follow only 
 The genuine pulse she wakes, and freely feast 
 The inborn appetites of our fiercer spirits. 
 
 Ciau. (to Tref.) Do not incense him to recall 
 his oath, 
 Nor waste for me the life you owe your country. 
 I am mark'd out for an especial pain, 
 And am prepar'd to die ; — but not to bear 
 The death of those I love. 
 
 Omr. And, that no chance 
 May frustrate my intentions, and preserve 
 The English from my toils, to interrupt 
 These vengeful obsequies, — hasten the rites ! 
 And yonder, on the spot where stood their fort, 
 Pile up an altar for the sacrifice. 
 Half my revenge Mcntalbert's flight cuts off: 
 But, having her, I have his heart in pledge, 
 And will exact the forfeit. — She shall die, 
 And die by me ! and he shall know that death, 
 And own at last Omreah's pow'r has reach'd him ! 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Tre. To perish thus, almost in sight of succour, 
 Aggravates death itself.
 
 .64 THE CARIB CHIEF : 
 
 Carb. The only way 
 To reach the English, lies across the pass 
 Which he has sent to guard — all hope is lost ! 
 Clau. I have abandon'd hope. (/oTre.) Friend, 
 do not leave me : 
 Your lofty spirit will sustain my strength ! 
 Trc. And what, Claudina, shall sustain my 
 
 spirit ? 
 Clau. Come, to my prison. We've been parted 
 long, 
 And have but met again to part for ever ! 
 Support me — I am faint— a sickening mist 
 Spreads on my swimming eyes, and closes from 
 
 me 
 The scene of life I'm leaving. — Lead me on. 
 
 [Exeunt, 
 
 END OF THE FOURTH ACT,
 
 A TRAGEDY. fl5 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 SCENE I. 
 
 The Northern Headland, 
 
 Enter Kathelrade and Montalbert. 
 
 Katli. Here ends our march: this is the North- 
 ern Headland ; 
 And yonder lies the boat which must transport 
 
 you 
 To Martinique. 
 
 Mont. Ere this, I trust Claudina 
 Has reached the cave, and waits my coming- 
 there. 
 Hark ! there's a murmur of voices — Haply 
 The English force Trefusis told us of. 
 If I encounter them, I shall be made 
 Their prisoner; therefore do thou climb the rock, 
 And keep strict watch, while I unmoor the boat. 
 Kath. Gently— the lightest plashing of the 
 oars 
 Betrays you. 
 
 [Montalbert turns up the stage ; Kathel- 
 rade, going off at the side, is observed 
 by Logamah, asjic enters.'] 
 Log. Who goes there ? 
 Kath. My son, Logamah ? 
 
 K
 
 GO THE CARIB CHIEF : 
 
 Log. Aye, mother ! whither tend you thus 
 betimes ? 
 
 Kath. (Aside) I must not own my errand, (to 
 him). I am here 
 By order of Trefusis, to await 
 The expected coming of the English force, 
 And send him instant warning. 
 
 Log. I shall spare you 
 That task, good mother: 
 
 [Montalbert appears tit the bade of the 
 stage; Kathelrade motions to him to 
 conceal himself^] 
 
 We have laid an ambush 
 Which they will scarce escape. 
 
 Kath. An ambush ! 
 
 Log. Aye — 
 Omreah has made prisoners of Trefusis 
 And of Montalbert's wife, and one or both 
 Are doom'd to die as Maloch's funeral victims ; — 
 Whose rescue to prevent, and clear the isle 
 For ever from these white men, Prince Omreah 
 lias sent me hither, a pretended guide, 
 To snare their soldiers into yon morass, 
 Where, to a man, they perish. And, to aid 
 The project, I have here a ring, which we 
 Have wrested from Trefusis, as a voucher 
 That I am sent from him. 
 
 Kath. Beware, my son ; 
 I had been well nigh robb'd of thy poor brother, 
 My gentle Carbal. Having rescued him, 
 Let me not thus, by thy too daring spirit, 
 Lose my Logamah too. 
 
 Log. Doubt me not, mother ; 
 My own escape is well provided. Turn thee 
 Back to ojir tents, and let Omreah know
 
 A TRAGEDY. 67 
 
 I'm thus far on my way. {Exit. 
 
 Mont, f Coining fonvard.) Thank heav'n, that 
 yet. 
 I may avert this mischief. 
 
 Kath. How? B y* warning 
 The English of this plot ? 
 
 Mont. 'Tis the sole hope 
 To save my wife and friend. 
 
 Kath. I pray you, go not ; 
 They will but make you prisoner : Tuist to me ; 
 Let me inform the English officers, 
 And leave you here secure. 
 
 Mont. You are unknown : 
 Against the strong credential of that ring, 
 You will not be believed. But when I greet 
 
 them, 
 My name and character will be a pledge 
 That I deceive them not ; and if I risk 
 My own captivity, I risk but little, 
 To save Claudina's life. 
 
 Kath. You are too eager. [Holding him. 
 
 Mont. Oppose me not : if I delay my purpose, 
 The rescue may arrive too late to serve them. 
 Carbal, as chief among your native priesthood, 
 Will have the conduct of the sacrifice : 
 Return, and urge him, for Trefusis' sake, 
 To make such hindrance of the bloody rite, 
 As may give time to warn the English troops, 
 And bring them to the rescue. 
 
 Kath. But, my son, 
 Logamah 
 
 Mont. Fear not for him ; I will see 
 To his security. 
 
 Kath. I shall obey thee : 
 But look thou to my son ! [Exeunt
 
 (>8 THE CAR IB CHIEF : 
 
 SCENE II. 
 
 A narrow pass between rocks ; Caribs guarding it. 
 
 Enter Carbal. 
 
 Carb. This is the pass 
 That leads to the North Headland ; it is guard- 
 ed ; 
 But I will try the venture. Could I reach 
 The English force, and whisper but a word 
 Of these sad news, the blow might yet be stay'd. 
 So, — stand aside. [To the guard. 
 
 1st Carib. Omreah's word is strict, 
 That none may pass that way. 
 
 Carb. What recompence 
 Should tempt you to transgress the order ? 
 
 1st Carib. None; 
 We're watch'd too strictly : Brancho goes the 
 
 rounds, 
 To see we do our duty. He approaches — 
 Stand back. 
 
 Carb. You are a trusty sentinel, 
 And I will praise your vigilance to Omreah. 
 
 Enter Brancho. 
 
 Bra. All is secure. Our sentries are alert, 
 And no tale-bearing messenger can no^r
 
 A TRAGtDY. 
 
 69 
 
 Make way, to warn the English of our purpose. 
 When meet we for the sacrifice ? 
 
 Garb. Alas ! 
 I fear too soon. 
 
 Bra. Thou, that so long hast borne 
 Our sacred garb, dost thou begin at las 
 To tremble at the task religion dictates ? 
 
 Carb. I tremble at the task of blood, although 
 Religion gloss the murder. 
 
 Bra. Fantasy ! 
 Is it not enemies' blood thou art to shed ? 
 I'll tell thee, friend : I am no more possess'd 
 Than thou art, with crude appetite to kill, 
 For slaughter's sake ; but what Omreah wills, 
 I hold it wise to further. 
 Carb. What he wills ! 
 What grace is in his will, that it should shape 
 My free act with it ? 
 
 Bra. Can'st thou not discern 
 What star is rising ? He has gain'd the people, 
 And they have hail'd him king in Maloch's 
 stead. 
 Carb. I venerate the king ; but venerate hea- 
 ven 
 Yet more. 
 
 Bra. Wliose servants if we would remain, 
 His pleasure must be done who can uphold 
 us. 
 Carb. Heaven will uphold us, if we arc its 
 servants ; 
 If not, some other hand than mine, must d<> 
 Omreah's pleasure. 
 
 Bra. You have timely notice: 
 It has been still the task of our chief priest 
 To wield the sacred knife : and if you now 
 Desert this solemn use, for childish pity.
 
 70 THE CARH3 CHJ EF : 
 
 Your head may answer't, Carbal. [Exit. 
 
 Curb. How avoid 
 This dreadful office ? I have held the priesthood 
 In the fond hope to mingle with its laws 
 The milder spirit of thai better creed, 
 Which Europe's sons have taught me : but this 
 
 day 
 Revives our foulest rites ! 
 
 Kathelrade appears behind the pass. 
 
 Id Carib. Who comes ? 
 Kath. A friend : 
 Why is this streight thus guarded? 
 
 2d Carib. To prevent 
 All passage outward ; yon, that come this way, 
 May have free entrance. 
 
 [Kathelrade passes, and comes forward 
 to Carbal.] 
 Kath. Hope revives ! Ere this 
 The tidings of the -intended sacrifice 
 Have been reported to the English force ; 
 And if you can retard its execution 
 A single hour, your friends are saved. 
 Car. Indeed ! 
 Kath. Within that hour the English must be 
 
 here. 
 Car. Who is the messenger dispatched to seek 
 
 them ? 
 Kath. A zealous and a prudent one — Montal- 
 
 bert ! 
 Curb. Then I will take the office which before 
 I had resolved to shun : I will preside 
 At this dire ceremonial, and contrive 
 Whatever may delay it.
 
 A TRAGEDY. 71 
 
 Kath. Haste thee then, 
 And warn Trefusis : I will keep my watch 
 Around this pass, and bring you instant notice 
 When the expected rescue comes in sight. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 SCENE III. 
 
 The ruins of the fort. 
 
 Enter Claudina, Trefusis, Brancho, Prisoners 
 and Caribs. 
 
 Clau. Frail Nature's agony is almost past : 
 But one short hour, and life, and pain, and sor- 
 row, 
 Will cease together. 
 
 Tre. What shall comfort thee, 
 Claudina, best beloved ? 
 
 Clau. There is indeed 
 No tie to knit me with the world I leave ; 
 No hope that might with longer cherishing 
 Have budded into joy. — I have but wander d, 
 As in a painful and perplexed dream, 
 Through a dark vale of tears : and now at last, 
 Sound, quiet sleep, comes on. 
 
 Tre. Death has no sting 
 For thee, on whose clear mind cv'n passing 
 
 thought 
 Ne'er cast a breath of harm. 
 
 Clau. The last sharp pang 
 Is past : and I am ready for my fate.
 
 72 TH E C A R I B G H I F, F : 
 
 [During the last sentence, Carbal has en- 
 tered^ and spoken aside with Trefusis.] 
 Tre. ( Aside to Carbal.) It is a hope too joy- 
 ful to be trusted ; 
 A thousand crosses may prevent them ! Pr'ythee, 
 Let not Claudina know this chance of rescue, 
 Lest disappointment aggravate her doom. 
 
 Enter CKmreah. 
 
 Omr. Now, to the sacrifice — Are all things 
 ready? 
 
 Car. All things are ready. 
 
 Omr. Lead her to the altar. 
 You, holy priests, to which of you belongs 
 The ministry of offerings Jo the dead ? 
 
 Car. To me, as chief, that awful task pertains. 
 
 Omr. Come then, draw forth the consecrated 
 steel ; 
 And ye, fire-worship'd deities, that guard 
 This aboriginal and heav'n born race, 
 Give virtue to the blade, that as it draws 
 The heart's blood of the sacrifice, that stream 
 May pour a cleansing tide, and its red stain 
 Be on the ternper'd edge for ever more, 
 A talisman against the pow'rs of Europe ! 
 Lead her away ! the altar waits. 
 
 Car. So soon ! 
 Grant her a moment's time, but to prepare 
 For this hard doom, (aside) No sign of Kathel- 
 
 rade, 
 Nor of the English ! 
 
 Omr. Heard you not my words ? 
 
 Curb. I did— bul vet —
 
 A TRAGEDY. 73 
 
 Omr. But what ? It seems I'm chosen 
 Your king, in name alone, and not in power, 
 That thus I'm disobey'd. 
 
 Carb. It is in vain,- 
 I cannot do it. 
 
 Omr. What device is this ? 
 Do they conspire to mock me with a pageant i 
 Or have her woman's fears infected thee, 
 That thou dost quail to lift the lawful knife, 
 Thou recreant minister of indignant heav'n, 
 Against its foes and ours ? 
 
 Carb. She's not our foe ; (to the Caribs) 
 Behold her, warriors ! does not the bright tint 
 Of that soft olive skin bespeak her rather 
 Our kindred ? 
 
 Omr. (to the Caribs.) Is she not Montalbert's 
 wife? 
 Friends — husbands —fathers —men ! — have six- 
 teen years 
 Effaced th' engrain'd remembrance from our 
 
 souls, 
 How at their lordly feet we begg'd for mercy, 
 And found it not? have our faint hearts forgotten 
 How women knelt, and infants shriek'd in vain, 
 As the smear'd murderers raged from hut to hut 
 Amid our mountain homes, till the steep paths 
 Grew slippery with our blood, and bursting 
 
 flames 
 Finish'd the havock of the unslaked sword ? 
 
 Car. Yet hear — 
 
 Omr. Who loosed — who led those fiends ? 
 Montalbert ! 
 Who sold us into bondage ? rooted out 
 Through all the south our homes — rights -ho- 
 nours — rule, 
 
 L
 
 74 
 
 I HE I A RIB CHIEF 
 
 And very name } wrung tribute from the north, 
 
 Tribute of brutish slavery, — till we rose 
 
 Thus in our wrath and crush'd him ? Nay, look 
 
 there ; 
 Who was it, but to-night, that smote the life, 
 The royal life, of him whose reverend form 
 Lies on yon pile in stark cold death before 
 
 Claiming that victim due? still, still Montal- 
 
 bert ; 
 That victim's husband ! Let her die, then, war- 
 riors, 
 Ere heav'n's displeasure wing the shaft at us ; 
 For the vext ghost of our unburied Maloch 
 Hovers upon us like a holy curse, 
 And claims this due atonement ! 
 
 1.?/. Car lb. Let her die ; 
 Why should we brave religion's ban ? if Carbal 
 Refuse the office, Brancho can fulfil it 
 With hand as holy. 
 
 Bra. What religion wills, 
 And the king sanctions, I will execute. 
 
 Omr. Thou art a faithful servant — take the 
 weapon, 
 That nerveless arm renounces. 
 
 Tre. They arrive not ; — 
 Each moment seems an age. 
 
 Car. Oh yet, have pity— 
 Look at her clasped hands, her beauteous eyes, 
 Streaming their silent grief — 
 
 Clau. Nay, gentle Carbal, 
 Thou but mak'st suit unto the flinty rock ! 
 
 Omr. (to Carbal.) What! thou'rt enamour'*! 
 of those lucid eyes, 
 That soft complexion, and the slender grace 
 Of that enwreathed form ! Why, such a one,
 
 A TRAGEDY. 75 
 
 My heart once loved, and must this hour 
 
 avenge ! 
 Yes, such was once the fond wife of my bosom : 
 She had that tint, those eyes, that waving form ; 
 So sweetly look'd—so passionately wept, 
 And called on me for help, when in my sight, 
 Bound as I was, Montalbert's soldiers stabb'd 
 
 her! 
 Such, had she 'scaped, were now my blooming 
 
 daughter, 
 Whom they pluck'd from me, as her little arms 
 Clung round my neck, imploring— Oh, those 
 
 wounds 
 Of years long past, still, still they rankle deep, 
 Still cry within me for their last relief — 
 Vengeance ! 
 
 [Kathalrade rushes down the stage. 
 Kalh. They come, they come ! Hold off your 
 hands ! 
 The English are in sight upon the hill, 
 And we are yet in time ! 
 
 Tre. It is — I see them — 
 The morning twilight glimmers on their arms, 
 And shews them to be near ! 
 Omr. Nay then, no more 
 Of superstitious doubt and weak delay. 
 Hurry her to the altar ; there are yet 
 Some few short moments, which shall be our own. 
 Priest, do thine office— thus, thus, through her 
 
 heart 
 We strike to his ! 
 
 [They hurry her to an altar at the hack of 
 the stage : in her struggle, she drops her 
 necklace, which falls at Omr eatis feet \ she 
 is surrounded at the back of the stage, so 
 as not to be seen by the audience. Tre-
 
 76 the cakm: mi El 
 
 fusts sl7'kcs in rain to hi caL fi om ih'dse 
 who hold him. Omreah remains in front ^\ 
 Omr. (continuing. J Be the blow deadly tohint— 
 And widowed desolation, such as mine, 
 Lie cureless on his bosom ! 
 
 Kath. No ! ye dare ndt ! — 
 Ye dare not do it — they are close at hand — 
 Th' avengers are upon you ! — 
 
 Tie. Murderous outlaw ! 
 Claudina ! Sure my coward limbs grow faint, 
 Or I could dash these brutal slaves aside, 
 And force the way to succour and redress ! 
 Omr. What, it has gall'd thee, then ? Merciful 
 heaven ! 
 What's this ? this jewel ? — Stay, officious priest, 
 Stay your unhallow'd hands ! I must speak with 
 
 her 
 Before she dies ! 
 
 Carb. (from the crowd.) Your mercy comes 
 in vain ; 
 She bleeds to death ! 
 Omr. Accursed haste — 
 
 [She is ted forward, toward Trei usjs. 
 Cldu. Support me 
 Forward. Dear friend, once more farewell ! 
 
 Omr. This chain — 
 How and whence hadst it thou ? 
 
 Clau. If in thy nature 
 There's any touch of pity, keep the jewels, 
 That if my parents live, and ever hear 
 My fatal story, they may know their child 
 Was poor Claudina. 
 
 Omr. Girl — who were thy parents ? 
 Clau. I know not ; for I was an infant yet, 
 When, on the first invasion of this isle,
 
 A TKACiKPV 
 
 77 
 
 Montalbert saved me, in the southern forest, 
 From a French soldier, who had raised his sword 
 To slay me for these gems. I'm faint ! 
 
 Omr. It is, 
 It is — the time — the place — thy mother's voice — 
 Her look — her very features — 'tis my daughter ! 
 
 Clau. Can it be so? Am I Omreah's offspring? 
 Trefusis — 
 
 Tre. Monster ! Heaven has turned thy rancour 
 On thine own head ! 
 
 Omr. And is it thus the parent 
 Regains his long-lost child ? 
 
 Clan. Farewell, my father ! 
 Embrace me ere I die, (She sinks to the ground. 
 
 He kneels.) and in this kiss, 
 Receive the last forgiveness of a heart 
 Whose pulse now stops for ever. [Dies. 
 
 Omr. Daughter, speak ! 
 Speak to me ; let me hear that voice again, 
 So like thy mother's ! — silent still ! quite dead ! 
 My child, my child ! (Throws himself on the body. 
 
 Enter Montalbert with an English force. 
 
 Kath. Alas ! you come too late : 
 I cannot tell the tale — let your own eyes 
 Behold it there, and then be blind for ever ! 
 Mont. What horrors here ? my wife ! my own 
 Claudina ! 
 Who has done this ? 
 
 Omr. {starting up.) Thou, thou hast done it all — 
 Be that thy recompence ; 
 
 [Omreah attempts to stab Montalbert ; but 
 the soldiers interposing, strike the blade 
 out of its direction. Omreah recovers him- 
 self instantly, and looks round him. \ 
 Am I oulnumber'd r
 
 78 THE CARIB CHIEF : 
 
 Mont. Aye, and our pris'ner. 
 Omr. Even so ? then thus 
 I free myself for ever, (stabs himielf) Pardon me, 
 Great gods, if for a moment the weak grief 
 Of a fond father shook my nature's firmness ! 
 "Tis past, and I am nerved again. Ha ! ha ! 
 Confess that I have triumph' d o'er thee, Chris- 
 tian ! 
 I have redeem'd my amplest pledge of hate 
 Upon thy aching heart, which, now, I thank 
 
 them 
 They would not let me pierce — since I would 
 
 have thee 
 Still live — and bear my dying curses with thee ! 
 
 (dies.) 
 Mont. Thou hast said truly. On my head, in- 
 deed, 
 Is all this load of wretchedness and guilt ! 
 Trefusis, I am master here no more : 
 To you, and yours, this wasted land belongs ; 
 And for myself, I will remain your pris'ner, 
 Till peace returning, give me pow'r to choose 
 Some monast'ry, where, in lone prayer and pe- 
 nance, 
 I may wear out the remnant of my days. 
 
 Tie. Thou'rt free, Montalbert : Carbal, raise 
 the bodies, 
 And when we shall have shed our parting tears 
 Upon the early grave of that sweet flower, 
 We will again to sea, and leave the isle, 
 Thus by heav'n's aid delivered from our foes, 
 To its own heirs, the children of the soil. 
 
 THE END.
 
 EPILOGUE, 
 
 WRITTEN BY THE HON. W. R. SPENCER. 
 
 SPOKEN BY MRS. MARDYN. 
 
 " Tis not in authors to command success. 
 
 But to deserve it,'s more." — No, no — 'tis less. 
 
 Our authors have no selfish joy in view — 
 
 And only please themselves in pleasing you. 
 
 They deem no laurel worthy their pursuit, 
 
 Unless 'tis grafted with nutritious fruit : 
 
 One aim is theirs (though some affect to scoff it), 
 
 Call'd by the gods, Renown ; by mortals — Profit. 
 
 When you with loud acclaim the bards admire, 
 
 Fame through her trumpet blows — their kitchen fire; 
 
 Making (sweet recompence of classic toil !) 
 
 At once their hearts to glow — their pots to boil ! 
 
 Fame — Fame is all — and if they fail to win her, 
 
 They may get their desert — but where's their dinner ? 
 
 But how to catch — (aye, there's the rub !) — the power 
 To please a taste that varies every hour ? 
 Our elders were high-fliers from their birth, 
 Whilst we, more filial, cling to mother earth ; — 
 All in their dance was caper, vault, and bound, 
 Whilst our teetotum waltz just skims the ground. 
 ,To take the air, how different are our courses — 
 They climb'd balloons, — we mount on — wooden horses. 
 The students now all lectures disregard, 
 Not for the stable, but the limber-yard.
 
 THE EPILOGUE. 
 
 In vain Old Bucks may vaunt their " bits of blood" 
 Whilst every Dandy boasts " his bit of wood." 
 In forests, not in pastures, breeders vie; 
 And clumps, not haras, future studs supply, 
 While sanguine jockies see, where'er they rove, 
 Saplin Eclipses sprout in every grove. 
 New terms must now old similes replace, 
 New sporting gibes be learnt : — at hunt, or race, 
 " That nag's a stick" what connoiscur will utler ? 
 " Lame as a tree, what groom will dare to mutter ? 
 Our cocknies now will fear no break-neck tumble, 
 On steeds that never start, and seldom stumble ; 
 And hunters only one small danger find, 
 To break their horses' zcheels, and not their zeind. 
 Then for our letters — oh, the sweet invention ! 
 And Johnson well deserves a Palmer's pension ! 
 Bus'ness or Love may travel by express, 
 With speed far greater, and expence far less ; 
 On wood scarce thicker than a witch's broomstick. 
 Laden with- news, I see the Hobby groom-stick 
 Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul, 
 And waft a sigh o'er England — on a pole! 
 Our " wooden walls'" were long the patriot toast- 
 Soon, wooden cavalry shall be our boast ; 
 And when some Wellington to conquest leads 
 Our new-built squadron of — Velocipedes, 
 What foe will dare our prowess to withstand, 
 Borne on our native oak o'er sea and land ! 
 
 W. Pom., Printe r » (57, Chancery Lane 
 
 Q
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 001 424 117 
 
 A A 
 
 8 
 
 
 j 
 
 3 1205 02091 8502 
 
 PR 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 $760 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 T^y C *? Santa Barbara 
 
 STACK COLLECTION 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 10m-6,'62(C9724s4 ) I7t'.l>