[Looking towards the dungeon. This man's the property of him who best Can feel his crimes. I have resigned a privi

Mar. Do not fear; Your words are precious to my ears; go on. Her. You will forgive me, but my heart runs

Heaven is just;

Your piety would not miss its due reward;
The little Orphan then would be your succour,
And do good service, though she knew it not.
Her. I turned me from the dwellings of my
Fathers,

Where none but those who trampled on my rights

Seemed to remember me. To the wide world I bore her, in my arms; her looks won pity: She was my Raven in the wilderness,

And brought me food. Have I not cause to love her?

Mar. Yes. Her. More than ever Parent loved a Child? Mar. Yes, yes. Her. I will not murmur, merciful God! I will not murmur; blasted as I have been. Thou hast left me ears to hear my Daugr's

Ost. Herbert confusion! (aside). Here it is, my Friend,

[Presents the Horn. A charming beverage for you to carouse, This bitter night.

Her.

Ha! Oswald! ten bright crosses I would have given, not many minutes gone, To have heard your voice.

Ostu. Your couch, I fear. good Baron, Has been but comfortless; and yet that place, When the tempestuous wind first drove us hither, Felt warm as a wren's nest. You'd better turn And under covert rest till break of day, Or till the storm abate.

(To MARMADUKE aside). He has restored you. No doubt you have been nobly entertained? But soft-how came he forth? The Nightmare Conscience

Has driven him out of harbour?
Mar.

You have guessed right.
Her.

I believe

The trees renew their murmur: Come, let us house together.

[OSWALD conducts him to the dungeon. Osw. (returns). Had I not Esteemed you worthy to conduct the affair To its most fit conclusion, do you think I would so long have struggled with my Nature,

lege;

It now becomes my duty to resume it.
Mar. Touch not a finger--

Ost.
What then must be done?
Mar. Which way soe'er I turn, I am perplexed.
Osw. Now, on my life, I grieve for you. The
misery

Of doubt is insupportable. Pity, the facts
Did not admit of stronger evidence;
Twelve honest men,plain men, would set usright
Their verdict would abolish these weak scruples.
Mar. Weak! I am weak-there does my
torment lie,
Feeding itself.
Ost.
Verily, when he said
How his old heart would leap to hear her steps,
You thought his voice the echo of Idonea's,
Mar. And never heard a sound so terrible.
Ost. Perchance you think so now?
I cannot do it:
Twice did I spring to grasp his wither'd throat,
When such a sudden weakness fell upon me,
I could have dropped asleep upon his breast.

Mar.

Osw. Justice-isthere not thunder in the word? Shall it be law to stab the petty robber Who aims but at our purse; and shall this Parricide

Mar.

Worse is he far, far worse (if foul dishonour
Be worse than death) to that confiding Creature
Whom he to more than filial love and duty
Hath falsely trained - shall he fulfil his purpose?
But you are fallen.
Fallen should I be indeed-
Murder-perhaps asleep, blind, old, alone,
Betrayed, in darkness! Here to strike the blow-
Away! away!- [Flings away his sword.
Osw.
Nay, I have done with you:
We'll lead him to the Convent. He shall live,
And she shall love him With unquestioned title
He shall be seated in his Barony,
And we too chant the praise of his good deeds.
I now perceive we do mistake our masters,
And most despise the men who best can teach us:
Henceforth it shall be said that bad men only
Are brave: Clifford is brave; and that old Man
Is brave.

[Taking MARMADUKE's sword and giving it to

Osw.

him.

To Clifford's arms he would have led His Victim-haply to this desolate house. Mar. advancing to the dungeon). It must be ended!Softly; do not rouse him; He will deny it to the last. He lies Within the Vault, a spear's length to the left. [MARMADUKE descends to the dungeon. (Alone.) The Villains rose in mutiny to destroy

me:

I could have quelled the Cowards, but this
Stripling

Must needs step in, and save my life. The look
With which he gave the boon-I see it now!
The same that tempted me to loathe the gift.-
For this old venerable Grey-beard-faith
'Tis his own fault if he hath got a face
Which doth play tricks with them that look on

it:

'Twas this that put it in my thoughts-that

countenance

His staff-his figure-Murder!-what, of
whom?

We kill a worn-out horse, and who but women
Sigh at the deed? Hew down a wither'd tree,
And none look grave but dotards. He may live
To thank me for this service. Rainbow arches,
Highways of dreaming passion, have too long,
Young as he is, diverted wish and hope
From the unpretending ground we mortals
tread :-

Then shatter the delusion, break it up

And set him free. What follows? I have learned That things will work to ends the slaves o' the world

Do never dream of. I have been what heThis Boy-when he comes forth with bloody hands

Might envy, and am now,- but he shall know What I am now

[Goes and listens at the dungeon. Praying or parleying?-tut! Is he not eyeless? He has been half dead These fifteen years—

Enter female Beggar with two or three of her Companions.

'Turning abruptly). "Ha! speak—what Thing art thou? Recognises her). Heavens! my good friend! To her. Beg. Forgive me, gracious Sir!Osw. (to her companions). Begone, ye Slaves, or I will raise a whirlwind And send ye dancing to the clouds, like leaves [They retire affrighted. Beg. Indeed we meant no harm; we lodge

sometimes

You a protector of humanity!
Avenger you of outraged innocence!

Mar. 'Twas dark-dark as the grave; yet did I see,

Saw him his face turned toward me; and I tell thee

Idonea's filial countenance was there
To baffle me-it put me to my prayers.
Upwards I cast my eyes, and, through a crevice,
Beheld a star twinkling above my head,
And, by the living God, I could not do it.

[Sinks exhausted. Osw. (to himself). Now may I perish if this turn do more

Than make me change my course.
(To MARMADUKE.)
Dear Marmaduke,
My words were rashly spoken: I recal them:
I feel my error; shedding human blood
Is a most serious thing.
Mar.
Not I alone,
Thou too art deep in guilt.
Osw.

Been most presumptuous.
this,

We have indeed There is guilt in

Else could so strong a mind have ever known
These trepidations? Plain it is that Heaven
Has marked out this foul Wretch as one whose
crimes

Must never come before a mortal judgment-seat,
Or be chastised by mortal instruments.
Mar. A thought that's worth a thousand
worlds! [Goes towards the dungeon.
Osw.
I grieve
That, in my zeal, I have caused you so much
pain.

Mar. Think not of that! 'tis over-we are safe.

Osw. (as if to himself, yet speaking aloud. The truth is hideous, but how stifle it? [Turning to MARMADUKE. Give me your sword-nay, here are stones and fragments.

The least of which would beat out a man's brains:

Or you might drive your head against that wall.
No! this is not the place to hear the tale:
It should be told you pinioned in your bed,
Or on some vast and solitary plain

Blown to you from a trumpet.
Mar.
Why talk thus?
Whate'er the monster brooding in your breast
I care not fear I have none, and cannot
fear-

[The sound of a horn is heard.
That horn again-Tis some one of our Troop;
What do they here? Listen!
Osw.

What! dogged like thieves! Enter WALLACE and LACY, &c. Lacy. You are found at last, thanks to the vagrant Troop

For not misleading us.

Lacy.
The whole visible world
Contains not such a Monster !
Mar.
For this purpose
Should he resolve to taint her Soul by means
Which bathe the limbs in sweat to think of them;
Should he, by tales which would draw tears
from iron,

Work on her nature, and so turn compassion
And gratitude to ministers of vice,
And make the spotless spirit of filial love
Prime mover in a plot to damn his Victim
Both soul and body-
Wal.

'Tis too horrible;

Greybeard

I'd rather see my father's ghost. Lacy to MARMADUKE).

My Captain, Belike

We come by order of the Band.
You have not heard that Henry has at last
Dissolved the Barons' League, and sent abroad
His Sheriffs with fit force to reinstate
The genuine owners of such Lands and
Baronies

As, in these long commotions, have been seized.
His Power is this way tending. It befits us
To stand upon our guard, and with our swords
Defend the innocent.

Mar.

Lacy! we look

But at the surfaces of things; we hear
Of towns in flames, fields ravaged, young and
old

Driven out in troops to want and nakedness;
Then grasp our swords and rush upon a cure
That flatters us, because it asks not thought:
The deeper malady is better hid;
The world is poisoned at the heart.
Lacy.
What mean you?
Wal. (whose eye has been fixed suspiciously
upon OSWALD). Ay, what is it you mean?
Mar.
Harkee, my Friends;-
[Appearing gay.
Were there a Man who, being weak and help.

Lacy. Hew him down, And fling him to the ravens. Mar. But his aspect It is so meek, his countenance so venerable. Wal. (with an appearance of mistrust. But how, what say you, Oswald?

Lacy (at the same moment), Stab him, were it Before the Altar.

Mar.

What, if he were sick,

Tottering upon the very verge of life,
And old, and blind-

Lacy.

Blind, say you?

Osw. (coming forward).

Are we Men,
Or own we baby Spirits? Genuine courage
Is not an accidental quality,

A thing dependent for its casual birth
On opposition and impediment.

Wisdom, if Justice speak the word, beats down
The giant's strength; and, at the voice of
Justice,

Spares not the worm. The giant and the

worm

She weighs them in one scale. The wiles of first

woman,

And craft of age, seducing reason,
Made weakness a protection, and obscured
The moral shapes of things. His tender cries
And helpless innocence-do they protect
The infant lamb? and shall the infirmities,
Which have enabled this enormous Culprit
To perpetrate his crimes, serve as a Sanctuary
To cover him from punishment? Shame!-
Justice,

Admitting no resistance, bends alike

The feeble and the strong. She needs not here Her bonds and chains, which make the mighty feeble.

-We recognise in this old Man a victim
Prepared already for the sacrifice.

Lacy. By heaven, his words are reason!
Osw.
Yes, my Friends,

His countenance is meek and venerable;
And, by the Mass, to see him at his prayers!--
I am of flesh and blood, and may I perish
When my heart does not ache to think of it!--
Poor Victim! not a virtue under heaven
But what was made an engine to ensnare thee;
But yet I trust, Idonea, thou art safe.
Lacy. Idonea !
Wal.

How! what? your Idonea?
[To MARMADUKE,
Mine;
But now no longer mine. You know Lord
Clifford;

Mar.

He is the Man to whom the Maiden-pure
As beautiful, and gentle and benign,
And in her ample heart loving even me--

Was to be yielded up. Lacy.

Now, by the head

Of my own child, this Man must die; my hand,
A worthier wanting, shall itself entwine
In his grey
hairs!-

Mar. (to LACY). I love the Father in thee.
You know me, Friends; I have a heart to feel,
And I have felt, more than perhaps becomes me
Or duty sanctions.
Lacy.
We will have ample justice.
Who are we, Friends? Do we not live on
ground

Where Souls are self-defended, free to grow
Like mountain oaks rocked by the stormy wind?
Mark the Almighty Wisdom, which decreed
This monstrous crime to be laid open-here,
Where Reason has an eye that she can use,
And Men alone are Umpires. To the Camp
He shall be led, and there, the Country round
All gathered to the spot, in open day
Shall Nature be avenged.

Osw.
'Tis nobly thought;
His death will be a monument for ages.
Mar. (to LACY). I thank you for that hint.
He shall be brought

Before the Camp, and would that best and wisest

Of every country might be present. There, His crime shall be proclaimed; and for the rest It shall be done as Wisdom shall decide: Meanwhile, do you two hasten back and see That all is well prepared.

Wal. We will obey you.

(Aside). But softly! we must look a little nearer. Mar. Tell where you found us. At some [Exeunt.

future time

I will explain the cause.

Of which I heard them speak, but that I fancy
Has been forgotten.
Idon. (to Host).
Host.

Farewell!

We'll not insult thy majesty by time,
Person, and place-the where, the when, the
how,

And all particulars that dull brains require
To constitute the spiritless shape of Fact,
They bow to, calling the idol, Demonstration.
A whipping to the Moralists who preach
That misery is a sacred thing: for me,
I know no cheaper engine to degrade a man,
Nor any half so sure. This Stripling's mind
Is shaken till the dregs float on the surface;
And, in the storm and anguish of the heart,
He talks of a transition in his Soul,
And dreams that he is happy. We dissect
The senseless body, and why not the mind?-
These are strange sights--the mind of man,
upturned,

Is in all natures a strange spectacle;

In some a hideous one-hem! shall I stop? No.-Thoughts and feelings will sink deep, but then

They have no substance. Pass but a few minutes,

And something shall be done which Memory
May touch, whene'er her Vassals are at work.
Enter MARMADUKE, from behind.
Osw. (turning to meet him). But listen, for
my peace
Mar.
Why, I believe you.
Osw. But hear the proofs-
Mar.

Ay, prove that when two peas
Lie snugly in a pod, the pod must then
Be larger than the peas-prove this 'twere

matter

Worthy the hearing. Fool was I to dream
It ever could be otherwise !
Osw.
Last night
When I returned with water from the brook,
I overheard the Villains-every word
Like red-hot iron burnt into my heart.
Said one, "It is agreed on.
Shall feign a sudden illness, and the Girl,
Who on her journey must proceed alone,
Under pretence of violence, be seized.
She is," continued the detested Slave,

The blind Man

She is tight willing-strange if she were rot!They say, Lord Clifford is a savage man ; But, faith, to see him in his silken tunic, Fitting his low voice to the minstrel's harp, There's witchery in't. I never knew a maid That could withstand it. True," continued he, "When we arranged the affair, she wept a little (Not the less welcome to my Lord for that) And said, 'My Father he will have it so.' Mar. I am your hearer.

This I caught, and more That may not be retold to any ear. The obstinate bolt of a small iron door Detained them near the gateway of the Castle. By a dim lantern's light I saw that wreaths Of flowers were in their hands, as if designed For festive decoration; and they said, With brutal laughter and most foul allusion, That they should share the banquet with their Lord And his new Favourite.

Mar.

Osw.

Misery!-

I knew How you would be disturbed by this dire news, And therefore chose this solitary Moor, Here to impart the tale, of which, last night,

I strove to ease my mind, when our two Comrades,

Commissioned by the Band, burst in upon us. Mar. Last night, when moved to lift the avenging steel,

I did believe all things were shadows-yea,
Living or dead all things were bodiless,
Or but the mutual mockeries of body,

Till that same star summoned me back again.
Now I could laugh till my ribs ached. Oh Fool!
To let a creed, built in the heart of things,
Dissolve before a twinkling atom!--Oswald,
I could fetch lessons out of wiser schools
Than you have entered, were it worth the pains.
Young as I am, I might go forth a teacher,
And you should see how deeply I could reason
Of love in all its shapes, beginnings, ends;
Of moral qualities in their diverse aspects;
Of actions, and their laws and tendencies.
Os. You take it as it merits-
Mar.

One a King,
General or Cham, Sultan or Emperor,
Strews twenty acres of good meadow-ground
With carcases, in lineament and shape
And substance, nothing differing from his own,
But that they cannot stand up of themselves;
Another sits i' th' sun, and by the hour
Floats kingcups in the brook-a Hero one
We call, and scorn the other as Time's spend-
thrift;

But have they not a world of common ground
To occupy-both fools, or wise alike,
Each in his way?

Osw.

Troth, I begin to think so.

Mar. Now for the corner-stone of my philosophy:

I would not give a denier for the man

Who, on such provocation as this earth

That creeps along the bells of the crisp heather.
Alas! 'tis cold-I shiver in the sunshine-
What can this mean? There is a psalm that
speaks

Of God's parental mercies-with Idonea
I used to sing it-Listen!- what foot is there?
Enter MARMADUKE.

Mar aside-looking at HERBERT). And I have loved this Man! and she hath loved him! And I loved her, and she loves the Lord Clifford! And there it ends;-if this be not enough To make mankind merry for evermore, Then plain it is as day, that eyes were made For a wise purpose-verily to weep with! [Looking round.

A pretty prospect this, a masterpiece Of Nature, finished with most curious skill! (To HERBERT). Good Baron, have you ever practised tillage?

Pray tell me what this land is worth by the acre? Her. How glad I am to hear your voice! I know not

Wherein I have offended you :-last night
I found in you the kindest of Protectors;
This morning, when I spoke of weariness,
You from my shoulder took my scrip and threw
it

About your own; but for these two hours past
Once only have you spoken, when the lark
Whirred from among the fern beneath our feet,
And I, no coward in my better days,
Was almost terrified.

chin,

And send it with a fillip to its grave.
Ost. Nay, you leave me behind.
Mar.
That such a One,
So pious in demeanour! in his look
So saintly and so pure!-Hark'ee, my Friend,
I'll plant myself before Lord Clifford's Castle,
A surly mastiff kennels at the gate,
And he shall howl and I will laugh, a medley
Most tunable.
Ost.

In faith, a pleasant scheme;

But take your sword along with you, for that Might in such neighbourhood find seemly use.But first, how wash our hands of this old Man? Mar. Oh yes, that mole, that viper in the path;

Plague on my memory, him I had forgotten. Ost. You know we left him sitting-see him yonder.

pshaw !

Her. For mercy's sake, is nobody in sight? No traveller, peasant, herdsman? Mar. Not a soul: Here is a tree, ragged, and bent, and bare, That turns its goat's-beard flakes of pea-green

moss

From the stern breathing of the rough sea-wind;
This have we, but no other company:
Commend me to the place. If a man should die
And leave his body here, it were all one
As he were twenty fathoms underground.
Her. Where is our common Friend?

Mar.
A ghost, methinks--
The Spirit of a murdered man, for instance--
Might have fine room to ramble about here,
A grand domain to squeak and gibber in.

Her. Lost Man! if thou have any close-pent guilt

Pressing upon thy heart, and this the hour
Of visitation-
Mar.

A bold word from you!
Her. Restore him, Heaven!
Mar. The desperate Wretch!-A Flower,
Fairest of all flowers, was she once. but now

They have snapped her from the stem--Poh!

let her lie

Besoiled with mire, and let the houseless snail Feed on her leaves. You knew her well-ay, there,

Old Man! you were a very Lynx, you knew The worm was in her

C