Through what variety of untried being,
Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!
The wide, th' unbounded prospect lies before me}
But shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it.
Here will I hold. If there's a power above us,
(And that there is, all Nature cries aloud
Through all her works,) he must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy.
But when, or where This world was made for
Cæsar.
I'm weary of conjectures-this must end 'em.
Thus am I doubly arm'd-My death and life,
My bane
ne and antidote are both before me.
'T'his in a moment brings me to an end;
But this informs me I shall never die.
The Soul, secur'd in her existence, smiles,
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point :
The stars shall fade away, the Sun himself
Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.
OFFICER MY Lord,
We bring an order for your execution,
And hope you are prepar❜d; for
SOUTH. Indeed! the time is sudden!
Ess. Is death th' event of all my flatter'd hope? False sex! and Queen more perjur'd than them all! But die I will without the least complaint
My soul shall vanish silent as the dew
Attracted by the sun from verdant fields
And leaves of weeping flow'rs. Come, my dear friend,
Partner in fate, give me thy body in
These faithful arms, , and now let me tell thee,
And you, my Lords, and Heav'n 'my witness too,
I have no weight, no heariness on my soul,
Put that Pve lost my dearest friend his life.
SOUTH. And I protest, by the same powers divine,
And to the world, is all my happiness,
The greatest bliss of mind yet e'er,enjoyed,
Since we must die, my Lord, to die together.
Oppies The Queen, my Lord Southampton,
has been pleap'd
To grant particular mercy to your person;
And has by us sent you a reprieve from death,
With pardon of your treasons, and commands
You to depart immediately from hence,
SOUTH O my unguarded soul.! sure never was A man with mercy wounded so before.
ESSEX. Then I am loose to steer my wand'ring
voyage
Like a bad vessel, that has long been cross'd,
And bound by adverse winds, at last gets liberty,
And joyfully makes all the sail she can
To reach her wish'd for port-Angels protect
The Queen; for her my chiefest pray'rs shall be,
That as in time she spar'd my noble friend,
And owns his crimes worth mercy, may she ne'er
Think so of me too late when I am dead-
Again, Southampton, let me hold thee fast,
For 'tis my last embrace.
SOUTH. O be less kind, my friend, or move less pity
Or 1 shall sink beneath the weight of sadness!
I weep that I am doom'd to live without you,
And should have smil'd to share the death of Essex.
Ess. O spare this tenderness for one that needs it,
For her that I commit to thee, 'tis all
I claim of my Southampton
O my wife!
Methinks that very name should stop thy pity,
And make thee covetous of all as lost,
That is not meant to her--be a kind friend
To her, as we have been to one another;
Name not the dying Essex to thy queen,
Lest it should cost a tear, nor e'er offend her.
SOUTH. O stay, my Lord; let me have one word
One last farewell, before the greedy axe
Shall part my friend, my only friend, from me,
And Essex from himself-1 know not what
Ale call'd the pangs of death, but sure I am,
I feel an agony that's worse than death-
Ess. Why that's well said-Farewell to thee
Then let us part just like two travellers,
Take distant paths, only this diff'rence is,
Thine is the longest, mine the shortest way-
Now let me go-if there's a throne in Heav'n
For the most brave of men and best of friends,
I will bespeak it for Southampton-
SOUTH. And I, while I have life, will hoard thy
memory:
When I am dead, we then shall meet again.
Ess. Till then, Farewell.
SOUTH. Till then, Farewell.
JAFF BY Heav'n, you stir not,
I must be heard, I must have leave to speak!
Thou hast disgrac'd me, Pierre, by a vile blow!
Had not a dagger done thee nobler justice?mi
But use me as thon wilt, thou canst not wrong me,
For I am fall'n beneath the basest injuries :
Yet look upon me with an eye of mercy;
With pity and with charity behold me;
-Shut not thy heart against a friend's repentance!;!
Dd3
But, as there dwells a godlike nature in thee,
Listen with mildness to my supplications..
PIER. What whining monk art thou? what holy cheat,
That would'st encroach upon my cred'lous ears, And cant'st thus vilely hence! I know thee not. JAFF. Not know me Pierre !
PIER. No, know thee not; what art thou?
JAFF, Jaffer, thy friend, thy once lov'd, valu'd friend!
Though now deserv'dly scorn'd, and us'd most hardly PIER. Thou Jaffier I thou my once lov'd, valu'd friend!
By Heav'ns thou liest: the man so call'd, my friend, Was gen'rous, honest, faithful, just, and valiant, Noble in mind, and in his person lovely
Dear to my eyes, and tender t
But thou, a wretched, base, false, worthless coward,
Poor even in soul, and loathsome in thy aspect :
All eyes must shun thee, and all hearts detest thee.
Prithee avoid, nor longer cling thus round me,
Like something baneful, that my nature's chill'd at
JFF. I have not wrong'd thee: by these tears
I have not ;.
But still am honest, true, and hope too, valiant;
My mind still full of thee, therefore still noble.
Let not thy eyes then shun me, nor thy heart
Detest me utterly: Oh! look upon me,
Look hack and see my sad, sincere submission ! How my heart swells, as e'en 'twould burst my bosom,
Fond of its goal, and lab'ring to be at thee.
What shall I do? what say to make thee hear me?
PIER. Hast thou not wrong'd me? dai'st thou
concall thyself
That once belov'd, valu'd friend of mine,
And swear thou hast not wrong'd me Whence these chains? vi
Whence the vile death, which I may meet this mo
Whence this dishonour, but from, thee, thou false
All's true; yet grant one thing, and I've done asking.
JAFF. To take thy life on such conditions
The council have propos'd: thou and thy friend
May yet live long, and to be better treated.
PIER. Life ask my life! confess! record myself
A villian for the privilege to breathe,
And carry up and down this cursed city.
A discontented and repining spirit,
Burdensome to itself, a few years longer,
To lose it, may be, at last, in a lewd quarrel
For some new friend, treacherous and false as thou
No, this vile world and I have long been jangling,
And cannot part on better terms than now,
When only men like thee are fit to live in't.
JAFF By all that's just t
PIER. Swear by some other powers,
For thou hast broke that sacred oath too lately. › JAFF. Then by that hell I merit, I'll not leave Kathee,
Till to thyself at least thou'rt reconcil'd,
However thy resentment deal with me.
PIER. Not leave me !
JAFF. No; thou shalt not force me from thee
Use me reproachfully, and like a slave;
Tread on me, buffet me, heap wrongs on wrongs
On my poor head; I'll bear it all with patience;
I'll weary out thy most unfriendly cruelty:
Lie at thy feet and kiss'em, tho' they spurn me,
Till wounded by my sufferings thou relent,
And raise me to thy arms with dear forgiveness.
PIER. Art thou not-
JAFF What
PER A traitor?
JAFF. Yes
PIER. A villain?
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