And but a minute's time to get it done in.
Ali. That, that's my grief-'tis I that urge thee on, Thus haunt thee to the toil, sweep thee from earth, And drive thee down this precipice of fate.
Hast. Thy reason is grown wild. Could thy weak
Bring on this mighty ruin? If it could,
What have I done so grievous to thy soul,
So deadly, so beyond the reach of pardon,
That nothing but my life can make atonement?
Alicia. Thy cruel scorn hath stung me to the
heart,
And set my burning bosom all in flames:
Raving and mad I flew to my revenge,
And writ I knew not what-told the Protector,
That Shore's detested wife, by wiles, had won thee
To plot against his greatness-he believ'd it,
(Oh, dire event of my pernicious council!)
And while I meant destruction on her head,
He has turn'd it all on thine.
Hast. Oh, thou inhuman! Turn thy eyes away,
And blast me not with their destructive beams :
Why should I curse thee with my dying breath?
Be gone! and let me die in peace.
Alicia. Canst thou-Oh, cruel Hastings, leave me thus!
Hear me, I beg thee-I conjure thee, hear me!
While, with an agonizing heart, I swear,
By all the pangs I feel, by all the sorrows,
The terrors and despair thy loss shall give me,
My hate was on my rival bent alone.
Oh! had I once divin'd, false as thou art,
A danger to thy life, I would have dy'd.
Hast. Now mark! and tremble at Heaven's just
While thy insatiate wrath and fell
Pursu'd the innocence which never wrong'd thee,
Behold, the mischief falls on thee and me:
Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee,
And everlasting anguish be thy portion.
For me, the snares of death are wound about me,
And now in one poor moment, I am gone.
Oh! if thou hast one tender thought remaining,
Fly to thy closet, fall upon thy knees,
And recommend my parting soul to mercy.
Alicia. Oh! yet, before I go for ever from thee,
Turn thee in gentleness and pity to me, [Kneeling.
And in compassion of my strong affliction,
Say, is it possible you can forgive
The fatal rashness of ungovern'd love?
For, Oh! 'tis certain, if I had not lov'd thee
Beyond my peace, my reason, fame, and life,
This day of horror never should have known us.
Hast. Oh! rise, and let me hush thy stormy sor-
[Raising her. Assuage thy tears, for I will chide no more, No more upbraid thee, thou unhappy fair-one. I see the hand of Heav'n is arm'd against me; And, in mysterious providence, decrees To punish me by thy mistaken hand.
Most righteous doom! for, Oh, while I behold thee,
Thy wrongs rise up in terrible array,
And charge thy ruin on me; thy fair fame,
Thy spotless beauty, innocence, and youth,
Dishonour'd, blasted, and betray'd by me.
Alicia. And does thy heart relent for my undoing?
Oh, that inhuman Gloster could be mov'd,
But half so easily as I can pardon !
Hast. Here then exchange we mutually forgiveness: So may the guilt of all my broken vows, My perjuries to thee, be all forgotten, As here my soul acquits thee of my death. As here I part without one angry thought. As here I leave thee with the softest tenderness, Mourning the chance of our disastrous loves, And begging Heav'n to bless and to support thee.
Rat. My lord, despatch; the Duke has sent to chide
For loit'ring in my duty———
Alicia. Insatiate, savage monster! Is a moment So tedious to thy malice? Oh, repay him,
Thou great Avenger! give him blood for blood: Guilt haunt him! fiends pursue him! lightnings blast him!
That he may know how terrible it is,
To want that moment he denies thee now.
Hast. This rage is all in vain.
Retire, I beg thee;
To see thee thus, thou know'st not how it wounds me;
Thy agonies are added to my own,
And make the burden more than I can bear,
Farewell-Good angels visit thy afflictions,
And bring thee peace and comfort from above.
Alicia. O, stab me to the heart, some pitying hand, Now strike me dead
Hast. One thing I had forgot
I charge thee, by our present common miseries;
By our past loves, if yet they have a name;
By all thy hopes of peace here and hereafter,
Let not the rancour of thy hate pursue
The innocence of thy unhappy friend:
Thou know'st who 'tis I mean.-O, should'st thou wrong her!
Just Heaven shall double all thy woes upon thee,
And make them know no end.-Remember this,
As the last warning of a dying man.
Farewell, for ever! [The GUARDS carry HASTINGS off.
Alicia. For ever!Oh, for ever!-
Oh, who can bear to be a wretch for ever!-
My rival, too! His last thoughts hung on her;
And, as he parted, left a blessing for her.
Shall she be blest, and I be curst, for ever?
No-since her fatal beauty was the cause
Of all my suff'rings, let her share my pains;
Let her, like me, of ev'ry joy forlorn,
Devote the hour when such a wretch was born;
Like me, to deserts and to darkness run,
Abhor the day, and curse the golden sun;
Like me, with cries distracted, fill the air,
Tear her poor bosom, rend her frantic hair;
And prove the torments of the last despair! [Exit.
Enter BELMOUR and DUMONT.
Dum. You saw her then?
Bel. I met her, as returning,
In solemn penance from the public cross:
Before her, certain rascal officers,
Slaves in authority, the knaves of justice,
Proclaim'd the tyrant Gloster's cruel orders.
Around her, numberless, the rabble flow'd,
Should'ring each other, crowding for a view,
Gaping and gazing, taunting and reviling;
Some pitying-but those, alas! how few!-
The most, such iron hearts we are, and such
The base barbarity of human kind,
With insolence and lewd reproach pursu'd her,
Hooting and railing, and with villainous hands
Gathering the filth from out the common ways,
To hurl upon her head!
Dum. Inhuman dogs! How did she bear it?
Bel. With the gentlest patience;
Submissive, sad, and lowly was her look ;
A burning taper in her hand she bore,
And on her shoulders carelessly confus'd,
With loose neglect, her lovely tresses hung;
Upon her cheek a faintish flush was spread:
Feeble she seem'd, and sorely smit with pain.
While bare-foot as she trod the flinty pavement,
Her footsteps all along were mark'd with blood.
Yet silent still she pass'd and unrepining;
Her streaming eyes bent ever on the earth,
Except when in some bitter pang of sorrow,
To Heav'n she seem'd in fervent zeal to raise,
And beg that mercy man deny'd her here.
Dum. When was this piteous sight;
Bel. These last two days.
You know my care was wholly bent on you,
To find the happy means of your deliverance,
Which but for Hastings' death I had not gain'd.
During that time, altho' I have not seen her,
Yet divers trusty messengers I've sent,
To wait about, and watch a fit convenience
To give her some relief, but all in vain;
A churlish guard attends upon her steps,
Who menace those with death, that bring her comfort,
And drive all succour from her.
Dum. Let them threaten;
Let proud oppression prove its fiercest malice;
So Heav'n befriend my soul, as here I vow
To give her help, and share one fortune with her.
Bel. Mean you to see her, thus, in your own form?
Dum. I do.
Bel. And have you thought upon the
Dum. What is there I should fear?
Bel. Have you examin'd
Into your inmost heart, and try'd at leisure
The sev'ral secret springs that move the passions ?
Has mercy fix'd her empire there so sure,
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