And but a minute's time to get it done in.

thee

Ali. That, that's my grief-'tis I that urge Thus haunt thee to the toil, sweep thee from earth, And drive thee down this precipice of fate.

on,

Hast. Thy reason is grown wild. Could thy weak hand

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 award :

While thy insatiate wrath and fell revenge
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-

rows.

[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 in terrible array,

up

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

me,

For loit'ring in my duty

Hast. I obey.

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.
Oh, for ever!

Alicia. 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