I

Glen. I'm prepared.

Lord R. No: I command thee, stay;

go alone it never shall be said,

:

That I took odds to combat mortal man.

The noblest vengeance is the most complete.

[Exit.

[GLENALVON makes some steps to the same side of the stage, listens and speaks.

Glen. Demons of death, come settle on my sword, And to a double slaughter guide it home! The lover and the husband both must die.

Lorl R. [Behind the scenes.] Draw, villain! draw! Doug, [Without.] Assail me not, Lord Randolph ;

Not as thou lovest thyself.

Glen. Now is the time

[Clashing of swords. [He runs out.

Enter LADY RANDOLPH, at the opposite side of the stage, faint and breathless.

Lady R. Lord Randolph, hear me; all shall be thine own;

But spare! O spare my son!

Enter DOUGLAS, with a sword in each hand.

Doug. My mother's voice!

I can protect thee still.

Lady R. He lives! he lives!

For this, for this, to heaven eternal praise!

But sure, I saw thee fall.

Doug. It was Glenalvon.

Just as my arm had master'd Randolph's sword,
The villain came behind me; but I slew him.

Lady R. Behind thee! Ah! thou'rt wounded! Oh, my child,

How pale thou look'st! And shall I lose thee now? Doug. Do not despair: I feel a little faintness; [Leans upon his sword.

I hope it will not last.

Lady R. There is no hope!

And we must part! The hand of death is on thee!
O my beloved child! O Douglas, Douglas!

[DOUGLAS growing more and more faint." Doug. Too soon we part: I have not long been Douglas.

O destiny! hardly thou deal'st with me:
Clouded and hid, a stranger to myself,

In low and poor obscurity I've lived

Lady R. Has heaven preserved thee for an end like this?

Doug. Oh, had I fallen as my brave fathers fell, Turning with fatal arm the tide of battle!

Like them I should have smiled and welcomed death; But thus to perish by a villain's hand!

Cut off from nature's and from glory's course,

Which never mortal was so fond to run!

Lady R. Hear, justice, hear! are these the fruits

of virtue ?

[DOUGLAS falls.

Doug. Unknown I die; no tongue shall speak of

me.

Some noble spirits, judging by themselves,

May yet conjecture what I might have proved,
And think life only wanting to my fame :

But who shall comfort thee?

Lady R. Despair, despair!

Doug. Oh, had it pleased high heaven to let me live

A little while!-my eyes, that gaze on thee,

Grow dim apace!-my mother

Enter LORD RANDOLPH and ANNA.

[Dies.

Lord R. Thy words, thy words of truth have pierced

my heart,

I am the stain of knighthood and of arms.

Oh! if my brave deliverer survives

The traitor's sword

Anna. Alas! look there, my lord.

Lord R. The mother and her son! how curst I

am!

Was I the cause? No: I was not the cause

Yon matchless villain did seduce my soul

To frantic jealousy.

Anna. My lady lives.

Lord R. But my deliverer's dead!

Lady R. [Recovering.] Where am I now? Still in:

this wretched world!

Grief cannot break a heart so hard as mine.

Lord R. Oh, misery!

Amidst thy raging grief I must proclaim
My innocence.

Lady R. Thy innocence !

Lord R. My guilt

Is innocence compared with what thou think'st it.
Lady R. Of thee I think not: what have I to do
With thee, or any thing? My son! my son!
My beautiful! my brave! how proud was I
Of thee, and of thy valour! my fond heart
C'erflow'd this day with transport, when I thought
Of growing old amidst a race of thine.

A little while

Was I a wife! a mother not so long!

What am I now ?--I know.-But I shall be

That only whilst I please; for such a son,

And such a husband, make a woman bold. [Runs out.
Lord R. Follow her, Anna: I myself would follow,
But in this rage she must abhor my presence.

[Exit ANNA.
Cursed, cursed Glenalvon, he escaped too well,
Though slain and baffled by the hand he hated.
Foaming with rage and fury to the last,
Cursing his conqueror, the felon died

Enter ANNA.

Anna. My lord! my lord!

Lord R. Speak; I can hear of horror.

1

Anna. Horror, indeed!

Lord R. Matilda?

Anna. Is no more:

She ran, she flew like lightning up the hill,
Nor halted till the precipice she gain'd,
Beneath whose low'ring top the river falls
Ingulf'd in rifted rocks.

Oh, had you seen her last despairing look!
Upon the brink she stood, and cast her eyes
Down on the deep; then lifting up her head
And her white hands to heaven, seeming to say,
Why am I forced to this? she plunged herself
Into the empty air.

Lord R. I will not vent,

In vain complaints, the passion of my soul.
I'll to the battle, where the man, that makes
Me turn aside, must threaten worse than death.
Thou, faithful to thy mistress, take this ring,
Full warrant of my power. Let every rite
With cost and pomp upon their funerals wait
For Randolph hopes he never shall return.

[Exeunt

THE END.

Printed by A. and R. Spottiswoode,
Printers-Street, London.