Beside you!

Gab. (pointing to ULRIC.)
[ULRIC rushes forward to attack GABOR;
SIEGENDORF interposes.

Sieg. Liar and fiend! but you shall not be slain; These walls are mine, and you are safe within them. [He turns to Ulric.

Ulric, repel this calumny, as I
Will do. I avow it is a growth so monstrous,
I could not deem it earth-born: but be calm;
It will refute itself. But touch him not.

[ULRIC endeavours to compose himself.
Gab. Look at him, count, and then hear me.
Sieg. (first to GABOR, and then looking at
ULRIC.)
I hear thee.

My God! you look

Allow me to enquire who profited

The tale is doubtless worthy the relater!
But is it of my father to hear further ?
[TO SIEGENDORF.

Sieg. (takes his son by the hand.)
My son, I know my own innocence, and doubt not
Of yours-but I have promised this man patience;
Let him continue.

Gab.

I will not detain you

By speaking of myself much; I began
Life early-and am what the world has made me.
At Frankfort on the Oder, where I pass'd
A winter in obscurity, it was

My chance at several places of resort
(Which I frequented sometimes but not often)
To hear related a strange circumstance
In February last. A martial force,
Sent by the state, had, after strong resistance,
Secured a band of desperate men, supposed
Marauders from the hostile camp. They proved,

Whom either accident or enterprise

By Stralenheim's death? Was 't I-as poor as ever; However, not to be so-but banditti,
And poorer by suspicion on my name!
The baron lost in that last outrage neither
Jewels nor gold; his life alone was sought,—

A life which stood between the claims of others
To honours and estates scarce less than princely.
Sieg. These hints, as vague as vain, attach no less

To me than to my son.

Gab.

"

I can't help that.
But let the consequence alight on him
Who feels himself the guilty one amongst us.
I speak to you, Count Siegendorf, because
I know you innocent, and deem you just.
But ere I can proceed-dare you protect me P
Dare you command me ?

Had carried from their usual haunt-the forests
Which skirt Bohemia-even into Lusatia.
Many amongst them were reported of
High rank-and martial law slept for a time.
At last they were escorted o'er the frontiers,
And placed beneath the civil jurisdiction
Of the free town of Frankfort. Of their fate,
I know no more.

Sieg.
And what is this to Ulric ?
Gab. Amongst them there was said to be one man
Of wonderful endowments:-birth and fortune,
Youth, strength, and beauty, almost superhuman,
And courage as unrivall'd, were proclaim'd
His by the public rumour; and his sway,
Not only over his associates, but

[SIEGENDORF first looks at the Hungarian, and
then at ULRIC, who has unbuckled his sabre,
and is drawing lines with it on the floor-His judges, was attributed to witchcraft.

still in its sheath.

Ulr. (looks at his father and says)

Let the man go on!

Gab. I am unarm'd, count-bid your son lay down

His sabre.

Such was his influence:-I have no great faith
In any magic save that of the mine-

I therefore deem'd him wealthy.-But my soul
Was roused with various feelings to seek out
This prodigy, if only to behold him.

Sieg. And did you so ?
Gab.

With me at last to be so. You conceal'd me

You'll hear. Chance favour'd me: In secret passages known to yourself,

A popular affray in the public square
Drew crowds together-it was one of those
Occasions where men's souls look out of them,

And show them as they are- even in their faces:
The moment my eye met his, I exclaim'd,

You said, and to none else. At dead of night,
Weary with watching in the dark, and dubious
Of tracing back my way, I saw a glimmer,
Through distant crannies, of a twinkling light:
I follow'd it, and reach'd a door-a secret

"This is the man!" though he was then, as since, Portal-which open'd to the chamber, where, With the nobles of the city. I felt sure

I had not err'd, and watch'd him long and nearly:
I noted down his form-his gesture-features,
Stature, and bearing-and amidst them all,
Midst every natural and acquired distinction,
I could discern, methought, the assassin's eye
And gladiator's heart.

Ulr. (smiling.)

The tale sounds well.

With cautious hand and slow, having first undone
As much as made a crevice of the fastening,
I look'd through and beheld a purple bed,
And on it Stralenheim !

Sieg.

Asleep! and yet

You slew him!-Wretch!

Gab.

He was already slain,

And bleeding like a sacrifice. My own

Gab. And may sound better.-He appear'd to me Blood became ice.`

One of those beings to whom Fortune bends,

As she doth to the daring-and on whom

The fates of others oft depend; besides,

An indescribable sensation drew me

Near to this man, as if my point of fortune
Was to be fix'd by him.-There 1 was wrong.
Sieg. And may not be right now.
Gab.

I follow'd him,

Solicited his notice-and obtain'd it-
Though not his friendship:-it was his intention
To leave the city privately-we left it
Together-and together we arrived

In the poor town where Werner was conceal'd,
And Stralenheim was succour'd--Now we are on
The verge dare you hear further?
Sieg.

Or I have heard too much.

Gab.

Sieg.
But he was all alone!
You saw none else? You did not see the-
[He pauses, from agitation.

Gab.

No!

He, whom you dare not name, nor even I
Scarce dare to recollect, was not then in
The chamber.

Sieg. (to ULRIC.) Then, my boy! thou art guiltless
Thou bad'st me say I was so once-Oh! now [still-
Do thou as much!

Gab.
Be patient! I can not
Recede now, though it shake the very walls
Which frown above us. You remember,-or
If not, your son does,-that the locks were changed
Beneath his chief inspection on the morn

I must do so~~ Which led to this same night: how he had enter'd
He best knows-but within an antechamber,

I saw in you
A man above his station--and if not
So high, as now I find you, in my then
Conceptions, 't was that I had rarely seen
Men such as you appear'd in height of mind
In the most high of worldly rank; you were
Poor, even to all save rags: I would have shared
My purse, though slender, with you-you refused it.
Sieg. Doth my refusal make a debt to you,
That thus you urge it?

Gab.
Still you owe me something,
Though not for that; and I owed you my safety,
At least my seeming safety, when the slaves
Of Stralenheim pursued me, on the grounds
That I had robb'd him.

The door of which was half ajar, I saw

A man who wash'd his bloody hands, and oft,
With stern and anxious glance, gazed back upon
The bleeding body-but it moved no more.
Sieg. Oh! God of fathers!

Gab.
I beheld his features
As I see yours-but yours they were not, though
Resembling them-behold them in Count Ulric's!
Distinct as I beheld them, though the expression
Is not now what it then was;-but it was so
When I first charged him with the crime-so lately.
Steg. This is so-

Gab. (interrupting him.) Nay-but hear me to

the end!

Now you must do so.-I conceived myself
Betray'd by you and him (for now I saw
There was some tie between you) into this
Pretended den of refuge, to become

The victim of your guilt; and my first thought
Was vengeance: but though arm'd with a short
poniard

(Having left my sword without), I was no match
For him at any time, as had been proved
That morning-either in address or force.

I turn'd, and fled-i' the dark: chance rather than
Skill made me gain the secret door of the haft.
And thence the chamber where you slept: ifl
Had found you waking, Heaven alone can tell
What vengeance and suspicion might have prompt-
But ne'er slept guilt as Werner slept that night. [ed;
Sieg. And yet I had horrid dreams! and such brief
sleep,

The stars had not gone down when I awoke.
Why didst thou spare me ? I dreamt of my father—I
And now my dream is out!

Gab.
'Tis not my fault.
If I have read it.-Well! I fled and hid me→
Chance led me here after so many moons-
And show'd me Werner in Count Siegendorf!
Werner, whom I had sought in huts in vain,
Inhabited the palace of a sovereign!

You sought me and have found me-now you know
My secret, and may weigh its worth.

Gab. Not quite. You think me venal, and scarce
'Tis no less true, however, that my fortunes [true:
Have made me both at present. You shall aid me:
I would have aided you-and also have
Been somewhat damaged in my name to save
Yours and your son's. Weigh well what I have said.
Sieg. Dare you await the event of a few minutes'
Deliberation ?

Gab. (casts his eyes on ULRIC, who is leaning
against a pillar.) If l-should do so?
Sieg. I pledge my life for yours. Withdraw into
This tower.
[Opens a turret door.
Gab. (hesitatingly.) This is the second safe asy-
You have offer'd me.
[lum
Sieg.

And was not the first so?

Gab. I know not that even now-but will approve
The second. I have still a further shield:-
:-
I did not enter Prague alone; and should I

(1) Gab. I have yet an additional security-I did not enter Prague a solitary individual; and there are tongues without that will speak for me, although I should even share the fate of Stralenheim. Let your deliberation be short.'-Sieg. 'My promise is solemn, sacred, irrevocable: it extends not, however, beyond these walls."" Miss Lee.

(2) "I am ready to allow every fair license to dramatic verse, but still it must have more than the bare typographic impress of

Be put to rest with Stralenheim, there are
Some tongues without will wag in my behalf.
Be brief in your decision!(1)
I will be so.-

Sieg.

My word is sacred and irrevocable
Within these walls, but it extends no further.
Gab. I'll take it for so much.

Sieg. (points to ULRIC'S sabre still upon the ground.) Take also that— saw you eye it eagerly, and him Distrustfully.

Gab. (takes up the sabre.) I will; and so provide To sell my life-not cheaply.

[GABOR goes into the turret, which SIEGENDORF

closes.

Sieg. (advances to ULRIC.) Now, Count Ulric! For son I dare not call thee—What say'st thou? Ulr. His tale is true.

father!

For trifling or dissembling. I have said
His story's true; and he too must be silenced.
Sieg. How so?

Ulr.

As Stralenheim is. Are you so dull
As never to have hit on this before?
When we met in the garden, what except
Discovery in the act could make me know
His death? Or had the prince's household been
Then summon'd, would the cry for the police
Been left to such a stranger? Or should I
Have loiter'd on the way? Or could you, Werner,
The object of the baron's hate and fears,
Have fled, unless by many an hour before
Suspicion woke? I sought and fathom'd you,
Doubting if you were false or feeble: I
Perceived you were the latter; and yet so
Confiding have I found you, that I doubted
At times your weakness. (2)
Sieg.
Parricide! no less
Than common stabber! What deed of my life,
Or thought of mine, could make you deem me fit
For your accomplice?
Ulr.

Father, do not raise

metre. Ten syllables, counted by finger and thumb, will not do.
None of us imagine-

Day and Martin,
Το prevent fraud, request purchasers to
Look on the signature on the patent Blacking
Bottles, etc.-

to be versification, and the great majority of the lines in this
tragedy are just as harmonious:-e. g. Ul. He too must be

This

The devil you cannot lay between us.
Is time for union and for action, not
For family disputes. While you were tortured,
Could I be calm? Think you that I have heard
This fellow's tale without some feeling ?-You
Have taught me feeling for you and myself;
For whom or what else did you ever teach it?

Sieg. Oh! my dead father's curse! 'tis working

now.

You stand high with the state; what passes here
Will not excite her too great ouriosity:
Keep your own secret, keep a steady eye,
Stir not, and speak not ;-leave the rest to me:
We must have no third babblers thrust between us.
[Exit ULRIC.

Sieg. (solus.) Am I awake? are these my father's
halls ?

And yon-my son? My son! mine! who have ever

Ulr. Let it work on! the grave will keep it down! Abhorr'd both mystery and blood, and yet Ashes are feeble foes: it is more easy

To baffle such, than countermine a mole,

Am plunged into the deepest hell of both!
I must be speedy, or more will be shed-

Which winds its blind but living path beneath you. The Hungarian's! Ulric-he hath partisans,

Yet hear me still! If you condemn me, yet
Remember who hath taught me (once too often)
To listen to him! Who proclaim'd to me

That there were crimes made venial by the occa-
That passion was our nature ? that the goods [sion?
Of Heaven waited on the goods of fortune?
Who show'd me his humanity secured
By his nerves only? Who deprived me of
All power to vindicate myself and race

In open day? By his disgrace which stamp'd
(It might be) bastardy on me, and on
Himself a felon's brand! The man who is
At once both warm and weak invites to deeds
He longs to do, but dare not. Is it strange
That I should act what you could think? We have
done

With right and wrong; and now must only ponder
Upon effects, not causes. Stralenheim,
Whose life I saved from impulse, as, unknown,
I would have saved a peasant's or a dog's, I slew
Known as our foe-but not from vengeance. He
Was a rock in our way which I cut through,
As doth the bolt, because it stood between us
And our true destination-but not idly.
As stranger I preserved him, and he owed me
His life: when due, I but resumed the debt.
He, you, and I stood o'er a gulf wherein

I have plunged our enemy. You kindled first
The torch-you show'd the path; now trace me that
Of safety-or let me !

silenced. Wer. How so?-Ul. As Stralenheim is. Are you so dull as never to have hit on this before? When we met in the garden, what except discovery in the act could make me know his death? Or had the prince's household been then summoned, would the cry for the police been left to such a stranger? [Pretty English this last sentence, by the by!] Or should I have loitered on the way? Or could you, Werner, the object of the baron's

It seems: I might have guess'd as much. Oh fool'
Wolves prowl in company. He hath the key
(As I too) of the opposite door which leads
Into the turret. Now then! or once more
To be the father of fresh crime, no less
Than of the criminal! Ho! Gabor! Gabor!
[Exit into the turret, closing the door after him.

Sieg.

What am I to do

Whate'er you will:
: sell them, or hoard,
And prosper; but delay not, or you are lost!
Gab. You pledged your honour for my safety!
Sieg.

Must thus redeem it. Fly! I am not master,
It seems, of my own castle-of my own
Retainers-nay, even of these very walls,
Or I would bid them fall and crush me! Fly!
Or you will be slain by-

Gab.
Is it even so ?
Farewell, then! Recollect, however, count,
You sought this fatal interview!
Sieg.
I did:
Let it not be more fatal still!-Begone!
Gab. By the same path I enter'd ?
Sieg.

And

Yes; that's safe still:

hate and fears, have fled-unless by many an hour before suspicion woke? I sought and fathom'd you, doubting if you were false or feeble: I perceived you were the latter; and yet so confiding bave I found you, that I doubted at times your weakness,” etc. etc. There are other passages still more prosaic. Why they are printed for verse, I cannot for the life of me conjecture; they are as plain prose as a turnpike act." Dr. Maginn.

The wretch hath slain Them both!-My Josephine! we are now alone!

Denounced-dragg'd, it may be, in chains; and all Would we had ever been so!-All is over