Of some brave officers whose worthy services
Deserve promotion: let them, for my sake,
Find favour with your Grace. This is my suit.
KING. It shall be done. Oh that a suit of mine
Could, in return, move thine obdurate bosom !
HEN. What is't, my gracious Master?
KING. If I have been to thee a gracious Master,
Be thou a gracious Liegeman, and restore-
Restore to me that honour of my reign,

That pride, and fence, and bulwark of my land,-
Restore to me again my gallant General,
Henriquez d'Altavera.

HEN. Alphonso of Castile, I've serv'd thee long,—
Yea, though I say it, I have served thee bravely.
Have I from fire, or flood, or havoc shrunk?
What battle have I lost, what town abandon'd,
That now I may not, like a noble Spaniard,
My earthly station quit, from insult spared?
I've owed you service as my rightful King;
I've owed you service as my gracious Master:
But not for man on earth, nor saint in heaven,
Would I submit a loathed life to live,

After the horrid deed that I have done.

FRIAR (laying his hand gently on HENRIQUEZ). My son, my son where is the Christian meekness

Which, at the Throne of Grace, some moments since,

Thou didst devoutly pray for?

HEN. Father, I am reproved: my mortal frailty

Was smother'd, not extinct.

(Turning to the KING.)

I will not, standing on this awful verge,

To mortal greatness bend, else on my knees

I'd crave forgiveness of this new offence (laying his hand sorrowfully on his breast):

An unrein'd mind, offending to the last. (The KING rushes into his arms and embraces him; then turns away, retiring to the bottom of the stage, to conceal strong emotion.)'—vol. i., pp. 363-366.

And Henriquez expiates his crime on the scaffold.

If the general effect of the Sepuration is not even more powerful than that of Henriquez, as we are disposed to think, the opening is unquestionably of more thrilling and commanding interest. The wife of Count Garcio is residing in an ancient castle, which, although the goodliest' of all his ample possessions, the Count himself has always avoided with inexplicable aversion. The Countess has been driven to take up her abode there during the absence of her lord in the wars, by the destruction of their usual residence in an earthquake. The opening of the play shows the

castle

castle in a state of considerable confusion, on account of the dying state of Baldwin, the Count's favourite attendant. Every attempt is made to keep the Countess from the chamber of the dying man, though her charitable disposition had always led her to perform every kind office in person to the lowest menial. The shrieks of the dying man sound through the castle, and one or two appalling lines expressive of his agony are heard before the entrance of the Countess.

'Blood will accuse:-am I not curs'd for this?
I did not murder him '-

While she is on the stage, the still more awful, more explicit sentence breaks forth

'Ulrico's blood was shed by Garcio's hand,

Yet I must share the curse!'

Ulrico was the brother, the only, the beloved brother, of the Countess !

The second act introduces Garcio approaching the castle, accompanied by his friends and his victorious troops, with somewhat more tardiness than might be expected from an ardent husband returning to the arms of a beloved wife, or a father to his only child, on whom he dotes with the most passionate fondness. The reception, first of his friend and then of himself, by the Countess, stunned as she is by the sudden blow, and bewildered by suspicion, doubting yet fearing the guilt of her husband, awakens the jealousy of Garcio. It appears that a former admirer of the Countess, the Marquis of Tortona, had made his appearance in the neighbourhood. But we hasten to the éclaircissement in the third act

• SCENE II.

The Bedchamber of the COUNTESS, who is discovered sitting on a low seat by the side of the Bed, with her head and arms thrown upon the Bed. She raises her head, and, after a thoughtful pause, starts up eagerly.

COUNTESS. It cannot be! The roused and angry deep

Lashes its foaming billows o'er the bark

That bears the accursed freight, till the scared crew

Into its yawning gulf cast forth the murderer.

On the embattled field, in armour cased,

His manly strength to blasted weakness turns.

Yea, in their peaceful homes, men, as by instinct,
From the dark rolling of his eye will turn,
They know not why, so legibly has Nature

Set on his brow the mark of bloody Cain.

And shall I think the prosperous Garcio,—he
Whose countenance allured all eyes, whose smile,

Whose voice was love, whose frame with strong affection

I've seen so dearly moved; who in my arms,
Who in my heart hath lived-No! let dark priests,
From the wild fancies of a dying man,

Accuse him as they will, I'll not believe it.

(After another pause.) Would in this better faith my mind had strength

To hold itself unshaken!

Doubt is misery.
I'll go to him myself, and tell my wretchedness.
O! if his kindling eye with generous ire

Repel the charge ;-if his blest voice deny it,

Though one raised from the dead swore to its truth,
I'll not believe it.

Enter SOPHERA.

What brings thee here again? Did I not charge thee
To go to bed?

SOPHERA. And so I did intend.

But in my chamber, half prepared for rest,
Opening the drawer of an ancient cabinet
To lay some baubles by, I found within-

COUNTESS. What hast thou found?

SOPHERA. Have I not heard you say, that shortly after
Your marriage with the Count, from your apartment,
A picture of your brother, clad in mail,

A strong resemblance, over which your tears

Had oft been shed, was stolen away?

SOPHERA. See! this I have found. (Giving her a picture, which she seizes eagerly.)

COUNTESS. Indeed, indeed it is! (After gazing mournfully on it.) Retire, I pray thee, nor, till morning_break,

Return again, for I must be alone. [Exit SOPHERA.]

(After gazing again on the picture)

Alas! that lip, that eye, that arching brow;

That thoughtful look which I have often mark'd,

So like my noble father! (Kissing it.)

This for his dear, dear sake, and this for thine:

Ye sleep i' the dust together.

Alas! how sweetly mantled thus thy cheek

At sight of those thou lovedst!-What things have been,

What hours, what years of trouble have gone by,

Since thus in happy careless youth thou wert

Dearest and nearest to my simple heart. (Kisses it again and presses

it to her breast, while GARCIO, who has entered behind by a concealed door at the bottom of the stage, comes silently upon her, and she utters a scream of surprise.)

GARCIO. This is thy rest, then, and the quiet sleep

That

That should restore thy health: thou givest those hours
To the caressing of a minion's image

Which to a faithful husband are denied.

Oh, oh! they but on morning vapour tread,

Who ground their happiness on woman's faith.

Some reptile too! (Stamping on the ground.) A paltry, worthless minion!

COUNTESS. Ha! was it jealousy so much disturb'd thee?

If this be so, we shall be happy still.

The love I bear the dead, dear though it be,

Surely does thee no wrong.

GARCIO. No, artful woman! give it to my hand. (Snatching at the picture.)

That is the image of a living gallant.

COUNTESS. O would it were! (Gives it to him, and he, starting as he looks upon it, staggers back some paces, till he is arrested by the pillar of the bed, against which he leans in a kind of stupor, letting the picture fall from his hands.)

Merciful God! he's guilty!-am I thus?

Heaven lend me strength! I'll be in doubt no longer. (Running up to him, and clasping her hands together.)

Garcio, a fearful thing is in my mind,

And curse me not that I have harbour'd it,
If that it be not so.-The wretched Baldwin,
Upon his deathbed, in his frenzied ravings,
Accused thee as the murderer of my brother;
O pardon me that such a monstrous tale
Had any power to move me !-Look upon me!

Say that thou didst it not, and I'll believe thee. (A pause.)

Thou dost not speak. What fearful look is that?

That blanching cheek! that quivering lip!-O horrible! (Catching hold of his clothes.)

Open thy lips! relieve me from this misery!

Say that thou didst not do it. (He remains silent, making a rueful motion of the head.)

O God! thou didst, thou didst! (Holds up her hands to heaven in despair, and then, recoiling from him to a distant part of the chamber, stands gazing on him with horror. GARCIO, after great agitation, begins to approach her irresolutely.)

I've shared thy love, been in thy bosom cherish'd,
But come not near me! touch me not! the earth
Yawning beneath my feet will shelter me

From thine accursed hand.'

Miss Baillie, by this bold and perilous situation, had involved herself in very considerable difficulty. She had to mitigate our horror and detestation towards Garcio-the murderer! The husband of the countess must still be an object of interest. The authoress had judiciously thrown into Garcio's character, on his

first appearance, an uncommon tenderness of parental feeling; still the crime must be accounted for in such a manner, as neither to palliate it so much as to diminish the terror of the scene, or to make the stern resolution adopted by the countess unjustifiable or unnatural-nor on the other hand to deprive Garcio of all claims on our compassion, to abandon him to unreserved abhorrence. She has extricated herself with considerable ingenuity and skill from this embarrassing position. Garcio thus proceeds to describe the motive and the execution of his crime :

'GARCIO. Thou know'st too well with what fierce pride Ulrico Refused, on thy behalf, my suit of love;

Deeming a soldier, though of noble birth,

Even his own blood, possessing but his arms

And some slight wreaths of fame, a match unmeet

For one whom lords of princely territory

Did strive to gain :-and here, indeed, I own

He rightly deem'd; my suit was most presumptuous.

COUNTESS. Well, pass this o'er ;-I know with too much pride

He did oppose thy suit.

GARCIO. That night! It was in dreary, dull November, When, at the close of day, with faithful Baldwin,

I reach'd this castle with the vain intent

To make a last attempt to move his pity.

I made it, and I fail'd. With much contempt
And aggravating passion, he dismiss'd me
To the dark night.

COUNTESS.

You left him then? You left him?
GARCIO. O yes! I left him. In my swelling breast
My proud blood boil'd. Through the wild wood I took
My darkling way. A violent storm arose;

The black dense clouds pour'd down their torrents on me ;
The roaring winds aloft with the vex'd trees
Held strong contention, whilst my buffeted breast
The crashing tangled boughs and torn-up shrubs
Vainly opposed. Cross lay the wildering paths.
I miss'd the road; and after many turnings,
Seeing between the trees a steady light
As from a window gleam, I hasten'd to it.
It was a lower window, and within,

The lighted chamber show'd me but too well

We had unwittingly a circuit made

Back to the very walls from whence we came.

COUNTESS. Ah, fated, fatal error! most perverse!

GARCIO. But, oh! what feelings, think'st thou, rose within me?

What thoughts, what urging thoughts, what keen suggestions

Crowded upon me like a band of fiends,

When, on a nearer view, within the chamber,

Upon an open couch, alone and sleeping,

I saw Ulrico ?

COUNTESS.