Of Torres were a miserable price - Lord of T. So did the last possessor leave it, sir— - 'Tis a poor price for the rich lands of Torres ! Thos. I'll give you not an hour!-not e'en a The hold of a ship.-Thomas of Torres seated upon an iron chest, and another beside him.- Enter a lady, wrapped in a long cloak and veiled; two younger ones follow, supporting a third-the master of the vessel follows them. Lady. Are these, good sir, the best accommodations? Master: Unless you pay the price of what are better. Lady. throwing back her veil, and showing a fair Sir, I have told you more of our distress But for my youngest child, my dying daughter- And 't would have seemed ungracious to refuse her SCENE VIII. A small chamber in the house of Torres.-Thomas as Is with me night and day. The lord of Torres! poor widow Widow. Pardon, my lord: I am an aged widow, He will be here anon to make his offer; "T is not for me, To make a worthy offering to my lord- [She lays a few small silver coins before Wid. Ten thousand blessings on your noble Is small; but every little addeth to the whole. John [bowing very low.] There is a little field— My noble lord, which brings you little profit Of your estate, I fain would buy it from you. Lord of T. I have no thought to sell that little field. John. My lord, its worth is small to your estate; [He supports the young lady out, and To mine 't is otherwise-and she who rents it the others follow. Thos. Why, yonder is the lady of the pearls- And she is poor, is burdened with three daughters! 'Tis well they 're gone ;-if they had seen me here, Within a lonesome hollow of this field A wandering pedlar was discovered, murdered. Were found within this woman's husband's shed And as was just, he died upon the gallows! best. John. Well, sir, about the business of the field. the field! Serv. Master, good lack! she will be dead ere morning! Lord of T. Then elsewhere let her die! Bethink you fool, 'T would cost a noble, but to bury her! Serv. [going out] Good lord! and he such plenty. Steward. The barns are full, my lord, and there is yet grain to be housed. Lord of T. The cost were great to build more barnslet it be housed under this roof. Stew. My lord! Lord of T. To be sure! the state-rooms are large filled! John. [laying a small bag before him]. But my lords and ladies on the walls! good lord, to me it is an object One hundred marks I'll give you for the field. Lord of T. What doth this hold, sir? is it gold or And others might be murdered in that field; Lord of T. The same! are they not well placed, so that a wain might approach without impediment? Stew. It were a mortal sin! Lord of T. I cannot afford to build new barnsremember the mildew last season, and the cow that died in March these are great losses! Stew. Well, my lord, the harvest is ready, it must be done quickly. Lord of T. A broad door-way making, will not Fire! murder! thieves! my gold! my iron chest! [He takes up the bag. Then all is safe Ha ha! this wealthy purchaser has gold Servant. Master, there is a woman at the door, And two small children; they do cry for bread; Only a little morsel! Lord of T. A murrain on them! Drive them hence! - [He feels for his keys. [He lies down and sleeps. ACHZIB was abundantly satisfied with the result of his second temptation. He had watched the gradual strengthening of the passion; the sealing up, as it were, of the heart against both God and man. "It was not," said Achzib, in great self-gratulation, because the temptation was in itself strong, that I have this time been so successful, but especially be I have warned them hence, cause the tempted was so wisely chosen. Human But master, she is dying; and the cry Drive nature has a strange propensity to extremes; he who wastes his patrimony with profligate indifference, and reduces himself to penury, is of all others the man to become insatiably avaricious. In proportion SCENE I. as he lavished in youth, will he hoard up in age; not from having learned the value of the good he has abused, but from a passionate lust of possession, which, like the extravagance of madness, seems to reverse the very nature of the man." "The world," continued Achzib, "has but little sympathy for the ruined spendthrift; men are slow in giving to him who has not taken care of his own -and thus they assist the reaction of his spirit. He talks of the faithlessness of friends, of the jeers and taunts of the world, and the triumph of enemies, till, exciting himself to hostility against his kind, he commences a warfare upon it, and becomes its scourge and its shame. He gives not to the needy; because, says he, in my need, none gave to me--and he gets all he can by fair means and foul, because in his abundance all, he believes, made a prey of him. Oh, most blind and senseless of passions!-he would even rob himself, to enrich his coffers-he would deny himself even sustenance, were it not that death would sever him from the god of his idolatry!" “And now," said Achzib, “I will try this passion in a modified degree, upon another and a nobler spirit. The sins of Thomas of Torres, comparatively speaking, were sins against society at large. My next victim shall be taken from the bosom of affection; he shall bring desolation upon the domestic hearth, and wither those souls in which he was bound up as in the bundle of life. To accomplish this, I must first sap, if not remove the barriers of sound principle. But once familiarize him with sin; but once induce him to sunder some one tie which has hitherto bound him to virtue, no matter how slight it be,-the most important work is done, and the remaining ties become loosened for the first dereliction of duty, the first swerving aside from the integrity of virtue, is the act by which a human soul becomes the chartered victim of evil." "The mere sordid miser," continued Achzib, recurring once more to his subject, " is a hateful spectacle. The toad hiding itself under a noisome stone, is not more hideous than his moral deformity; but the downfall of a nobler spirit, drawing, as it were, the seventh part of heaven after it, in the darkened pleaEures, the wounded affections of all that clung to it, is an achievement worthy of the Prince of Darkness himself!" THE PIRATE. PERSONS. ALBERT LUBERG, THE PIRATE MADAME LUBERG, HIS MOTHER. CONSTANCE, HER NIECE, AND THE BETROTHED OF ALBERT. ACHZIB, THE CAPTAIN OF THE VESSEL SEAMEN, CREW OF THE WRECK, MERCHANTS, suburbs; Constance sitting in a little room, looking at a miniature. Constance. There is a faint resemblance-but so And yet the eyes in colour are the same — And when I pray for him, my spirit takes Oh no, oh no, thank heaven! Cons. And any lives on board? Mad. L. But two, the helmsman and a cabin-boy; The others were gone out by Albert's leave, To pass the day on shore. God help him now! For there went down his all.-All, all was ventured In that one cargo; he's a beggar now! No longer Albert Luberg the young merchant, On whom the old grey-headed men on 'Change Looked with respect 'cause fortune favoured him! Yet that was the least reason he should win A wise man's grace- was he not good and kind? A prudent, generous captain; loved by all, And served with such devotion, that his crew Symbolled fidelity? and such a son! Oh, there is not a mother in the city, But, when impressing on her child its duty, Says, "be thou but a son like Albert Luberg!" [She weeps. Cons. This is our consolation, not our sorrow! God will not let him want a helping handHe only tries him thus, to prove his virtue. But hark-his step! Oh, 't is his step indeed! Albert. Oh, you shall hear-it is a new romance! On what conditions, sail you with this man? Albert. On strange conditions truly, for himself; Albert. Nay, hear me on. To this I made reply, That I shall hold myself to him subservient. To this I have subscribed; and by a notary [She goes out. Cons. Must we not part! Mad. L. It is a compact that comes o'er my heart The price of blood! Like evil influence. Albert. Oh, foolish, foolish girl! Cons. Oh, take them, take them hence! they are [She falls on his neck and weeps. Albert. My dearest one! look up, and let me kiss Away these idle tears. Cons. Oh, Albert, Albert! I know that some great sorrow hangeth o'er us— Mad. L. [coming in.] Here is a messenger come down in haste To summon you -the boat is at the quay Albert. Truly he keeps quick time !-The moon's There was another ere Noah began; X not up But we must part at last, and farewell's said As easily now as at another time. My dearest love, good bye! Mother, God bless you! Mad. L. Farewell, my son-May God Almighty bless you. [He looks upon them with great tenderness, Albert. I am a fool, a very childish fool, [He embraces her solemnly. Once more, once more farewell! What ails my heart? I never was so much a child before. SCENE II. [Albert rushes out. Who he was, tell me? Tightly and strong Helmsman. Land a-head!-Down with you to the captains below, and don't keep dinning there with your cracked pipes! Enter the CAPTAIN and ALBERT. Cap. The isle I told you of! 't is in our reckoning, But 't is an undiscovered island yet Night.-A vessel on the mid seas; a fine moon shining. By any but myself. In my last - The watch on deck. voyage, Thus standing on the deck, helmsman myself 1st Man. Now, messmate, can you understand And watch, I first discerned it on a night what sort of a trip we are on? Radiant as this, yet do I claim it not — 2nd Man. Trading, I take it. Ar'n't we bound Yours be the honour of discovering it! to the Indies? 1st Man. So they say; but mark me if there is n't some other scheme at bottom. Here have we been tacking about in these seas for the last fifteen days, and a steady wind blowing all the time! The old captain gives orders through the young one-the devil's at the bottom of the business, I say. 2nd Man. And let it be the devil himself!-while he gives the wages he does, and plenty of grog, I'll go round the world with him. Don't you bother your brains with other folks' business; let's have a song! here's mine without asking for, the jolly song of the devil at sea "Let the winds blow 1st Man. Don't be singing that song for ever, or I'll take it for a bad token.-Can't you give us a good hymn, or a song set to a hymn-tune? 2nd Man. Why, one might think you were growmg godly in your old age-ha! ha! ha!- -You're mighty particular for a fellow that uses the can! A hymn-tune, on my conscience-ha! ha! ha! Well, here goes, then Who was the first sailor?-tell me who can; Who was the first sailor?- tell me who can; You shall first give the knowledge to the world Albert. How bright the moonlight falls upon its shores! What slumberous shades lie in those woody valleys-- [The anchor is cast -all hands crowd on Has done me great injustice! Pardon me! I was indeed unjust-I was impatient Cap. [taking his hand eagerly.] No, doubt me not. Albert. I will-I will;-and by yon glorious isle. |