822.08 NG33 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, By WHEAT & CORNETT, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. D. C. 40 2-4.33 E B THE NEW YORK, TRAGEDIES, A CHOICE COLLECTION OF COMEDIES, WITH FARCES, ETC.. CASTS OF CHARACTERS, STAGE BUSINESS, COSTUMES, RELATIVE POSITIONS, &c., ADAPTED TO THE HOME CIRCLE, PRIVATE THEATRICALS, AND THE AMERICAN STAGE. VOL. 2. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by WHEAT & CORNETT, in the Office NO. 13. EXITS AND ENTRANCES.-R. means Right; L. Left; R. D. Right Door; L. Enter LORD RANDOLPH. Lord R. Again these weeds of woe! say, dost To feed a passion which consumes thy life? Lady R. Silent, alas! is he for whom I mourn; Express the wonted color of thy mind, "Forever dark and dismal. Seven long years "Are pass'd since we were join'd by sacred ties; "Clouds all the while have hung upon thy brow, "Nor broke nor parted by one gleam of joy." D Left Door; 2 E. Second Entrance; U. E. Upper Entrance: M. D. Middle Time, that wears out the trace of deepest anguish, Door. RELATIVE POSITIONS.-R. means Right; L. Left; C. Centre; R. C. ACT I. The Court of a Castle surrounded with Woods. Lady R. Ye woods and wilds, whose melan- .Accords with my soul's sadness, and draws forth "Vied with each other for my luckless love "To his own daughter bow'd his hoary head, "And begg'd thy nobleness not to demand But Randolph comes, whom fate has made my "The grief I cannot cure. To chide my anguish and defraud the dead. "As meeting tides and currents smooth our firth." Lady R. "To such a cause the human mind oft Owes "Its transient calm, a calm I envy not." "Sit down and weep the conquests he has made; Lord R. Sure thou art not the daughter of Sir Lady, farewell; I leave thee not alone- Strong was his rage, eternal his resentment; Lady R. Oh, rake not up the ashes of my fathers! Lord R. Thy grief wrests to its purposes my I never ask'd of thee that ardent love Yonder comes one whose love makes duty light. [Exit. Enter ANNA. Anna. Forgive the rashness of your Anna's love; Urged by affection I have thus presum'd To interrupt your solitary thoughts, And warn you of the hours that you neglect, Lady R. So to lose my hours Is all the use I wish to make of time. Anna. To blame thee, lady, suits not with my state; But sure I am, since death first preyed on man, Anna. Have I distress'd you with officious love, Lady R. Thou dost not think so; woeful as I am, These piteous tears, I'd throw my life away. I love thy merit and esteem thy virtues. Lord R. Straight to the camp, Where every warrior on the tiptoe stands Lady R. Oh, may adverse winds Far from the coast of Scotland drive their fleet! Lord R. Thou speak'st a woman, hear a war rior's wish: Right from their native land, the stormy north, Lady R. "War I detest; but war with foreign "Whose manners, language, and whose looks are strange, "Is not so horrid, nor to me so hateful, "As that with which our neighbors oft we wage. A soldier drop his sword, and doff his arms, Lady R. What power directed thy unconscious To speak as thou hast done? to name- But since my words have made my mistress I will speak so no more, but silent mix Lady R. No, thou shalt not be silent. Anna. What means my noble mistress? If I in early youth had lost a husband? Anna. Oh, lady, most revered! Lady R. Alas, an ancient feud, Of my misfortunes. Ruling fate decreed Had o'er us flown, when my lov'd lord was called Scarce were they gone, when my stern sire was told That the false stranger was Lord Douglas' son. "It's various evils, and on whom they fall. "Alas, how oft does goodness wound itself, "And sweet affection prove the spring of woe!" Thy onward path, altho' the earth should gap, Oh, had I died when my lov'd husband fell! Is easiest to avow. This moral learn, Anna. My dearest lady, many a tale of tears Lady R. In the first days Of my distracting grief, I found myselfAs women wish to be who love their lords. But who durst tell my father? The good priest Who joined our hands, my brother's ancient tutor, With his lov'd Malcolm in the battle fell; They two alone were privy to the marriage. On silence and concealment I resolved,⚫ Till time should make my father's fortune mine. That very night on which my son was born, My nurse, the only confidant I had, Set out with him to reach her sister's house; But nurse nor infant have I ever seen Or heard of, Anna, since that fatal hour. "My murdered child! had thy fond mother fear'd "The loss of thee, she had loud fame defied, "Despised her father's rage, her father's grief, "And wander'd with thee thro' the scorning world." Anna. Not seen nor heard of? then perhaps he lives. Lady R. No. It was dark December; Had beat all night. Across the Carron lay 46 wind Dwell in this world of woe, condemned to walk "Like a guilt-troubled ghost, my painful rounds;" Nor has despiteful fate permitted me The comfort of a solitary sorrow. Tho' dead to love, I was compelled to wed Randolph, who snatched me from a villain's arms; And Randolph now possesses the domains That by Sir Malcolm's death on me devolv'd; Domains that should to Douglas' son have giv'n A baron's title, and a baron's power. "Such were my soothing thoughts while I bewailed "The slaughter'd father of a son unborn. "And when that son came, like a ray from heav'n "Which shines and disappears; alas, my child! "How long did thy fond mother grasp the hope "Of having thee, she knew not how, restored. "Year after year hath worn her hope away; "But left still undiminish'd her desire." Subtle and shrewd, he offers to mankind And he with ease can vary to the taste [Exit. Anna. Oh, happiness! where art thou to be found? I see thou dwellest not with birth and beauty, Tho' grac'd with grandeur and in wealth array'd; Nor dost thou, it would seem, with virtue dwell, Else had this gentle lady miss'd thee not. Enter GLENALVON. Glen. What dost thou muse on, meditating maid? Like some entranced and visionary seer On earth thou stand'st, thy thoughts ascend to heaven. Anna. Would that I were, e'en as thou say'st, a seer, To have my doubts by heav'nly vision clear'd! Glen. What dost thou doubt of? what hast thou to do With subjects intricate? Thy youth, thy beauty, Cannot be question'd; think of these good gifts, And then thy contemplations will be pleasing. Anna. Let women view yon monuments of woe, Then boast of beauty; who so fair as she? But I must fellow; this revolving day Awakes the memory of her ancient woes. [Exit. Glen. So! Lady Randolph shuns me! by-and-bye I'll woo her as the lion woos his brides. The deed's a-doing now that makes me lord Of these rich valleys, and a chief of power. The season is most apt; my sounding steps Will not be heard amidst the din of arms. |