Has driven him out of harbor?

Mar.

You have guessed right.

I believe

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

blowAway! away i

Osw.

[Flings away his sword. Nay, I have done with you:

We'll lead him to the Convent. He shall

[Taking MARMADUKE'S sword and giving it to 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!

Osw.

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 Gray-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

[Goes and listens at the dungeon. Praying or parleying ?-tut! Is he not eyeless? He has been half dead These fifteen yearsEnter female Beggar with two or three of her Companions.

friend!

(Turning abruptly.) Ha! speak-what Thing art thou? (Recognizes her.) Heavens! my good [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

In this deserted Castle-I repent me.

[OSWALD goes to the dungeon-listens-returns to the Beggar. Osw. Woman, thou hast a helpless Infant-keep

Thy secret for its sake, or verily That wretched life of thine shall be the forfeit.

Beg. I do repent me, Sir: I fear the

curse

Pshaw! Never to these eyes Will retribution show itself again With aspect so inviting. Why forbid me To share your triumph?

Mar.

Yes, her very look.

Smiling in sleep--
Osw.
A pretty feat of Fancy
Mar. Though but a glimpse, it sent me
to my prayers.
Osw. Is he alive?

Shall be proclaimed: brave Men, they all shall hear it.

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 towards 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 recall them:

I feel my error; shedding human blood
Is a most serious thing.

Mar.

Not I alone,

We have indeed There is guilt

Thou too art deep in guilt. Osw. Been most presumptuous. in this, Else could so strong a mind have ever known [Heaven These trepidations? Plain it is that Has marked out this foul Wretch as one whose crimes

Must never come before a mortal judgmentseat,

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 finioned 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.

Osw. (looking at WALLACE). That subtle Graybeard

I'd rather see my father's ghost.

Lacy (to MARMADUKE). My Captain, We come by order of the Band. Belike 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
[seized.
As, in these long commotions, have been
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 suspicious-
ly upon OSWALD). Ay, what is it you
mean?

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 recognize 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 !

Passion a unit and against us-proof—
Nay, we must travel in another path,
Or we're stuck fast forever;-passion, then,
Shall be a unit for us; proof-no, passion!
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,
They have no substance. Pass but a few
minutes,

but then

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.
It even could be otherwise!

Fool was I to dream
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. The blind Man
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,
"She is right willing-strange if she were
not!-

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