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O. Man. Kneel down, and ask its mercy.

Tyke. I dare not, father! I dare not! Oh, if I durst but just

thank it for thy life!

O. Man. Angels will sing for joy.

Tyke. What!-may I, think you? May I-may I?

[By degrees he tremblingly falls on his knees, and clasps his hands with energetic devotion.

Scene closes.

SCENE FROM THE EARL OF WARWICK.

DR. FRANCKLIN.

[Dr. Thomas Francklin was born in 1721. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, of which university he subsequently became Greek professor. He translated Lucian, Sophocles, and other classic authors, and wrote "The Earl of Warwick," and other tragedies. He obtained successively the livings of Ware, Thundridge, and Brasted, and was made King's Chaplain. Died 1784.]

KING EDWARD.

CHARACTERS:

THE EARL OF WARWICK.

THE EARL OF SUFFOLK

Enter KING EDWARD and the EARL OF SUFFOLK.

K. Edw. I fear we've gone too far: th' indignant Warwick

Ill brook'd our steady purpose; mark'd you, Suffolk,

With what an eye of scorn he turn'd him from us,

And low'r'd defiance: that prophetic woman!

Half of her curse already is fulfill'd,

And I have lost my friend.

Suf. Some friends, perhaps,

Are better lost: you'll pardon me, my liege;

But, were it fitting, I could tell a tale

Would soon convince you Warwick is as weak.-
K. Edw. As Edward, thou wouldst say.
Suf. But 'twill distress

Thy noble heart too much: I dare not, sir:
Yet one day you must know it.

K. Edw. Then, by thee

Let it be told me, Suffolk! thy kind hand

Will best administer the bitter draught:

Go on, my Suffolk; speak, I charge thee, speak.

Suf. That rival whom thou wish'st me to discover

K. Edw. Ay, what of him? quick, tell me hast thou found

The happy traitor ? give me but to know,

That I may wreak my speedy vengeance on him.
Suf. Suppose that rival were the man whom most
You lov'd, the man, perhaps, whom most you fear'd;
Suppose 'twere-Warwick.

K. Edw. Ha! it cannot be:

I would not think it for a thousand worlds.
Warwick in love with her, impossible!

Now, Suffolk, do I fear thou speak'st from envy
And jealous hatred of the noble Warwick,
Not from the love of justice or of Edward:
Where didst thou learn this falsehood?
Suf. From the lips

Of truth, from one whose honour and whose word
You will not question: from-Elizabeth.

K. Edw. From her! nay, then, I fear it must be so.
Suf. When last I saw her, for again I went
By your command, though hopeless of success,
With all the little eloquence that I

Was master of, I urg'd your ardent passion;
Told her how much, how tenderly you lov'd her,
And press'd with eagerness to know the cause
Of her unkind refusal; till at length,
Reluctantly, with blushes she confess'd
There was a cause : she thank'd you for
your goodness,
'Twas more, she said, much more than she deserv'd,
She ever should revere her king and if
She had a heart to give, it should be-Edward's.
K. Edw. So kind, and yet so cruel: well, go on.
Suf. Then told me all the story of her love,
That Warwick long had woo'd her: that her hand
Was promis'd; soon as he return'd from France,
Though once her father cruelly oppos'd it,
They were, by his consent, to be united.

K. Edw. Oh! nev er Suffolk, may I live to see
That dreadful hour! Designing hypocrite!
Are these his arts, is this the friend I lov'd ?
By heaven! she shall be mine; I will assert
A sov'reign's right, and tear her from him. What
If he rebel-another civil war!
'Tis terrible. Oh! that I could

This cumbrous garb of majesty

:

shake off

that clings

So close around me, meet him man to man,
And try who best deserves her but when kings
Grow mad, their guiltless subjects pay the forfeit.
Horrible thought! Good Suffolk, for awhile
I would be private; therefore, wait without;
Let me have no intruders; above all,

Keep Warwick from my sight.

Enter the EARL OF WARWICK.

War. Behold him here;

No welcome guest, it seems, unless I ask

My Lord of Suffolk's leave: there was a time
When Warwick wanted not his aid to gain
Admission here.

[Exit SUFFOLK

K. Edw. There was a time, perhaps,

When Warwick more desir'd and more deserv'd it.
War. Never; I've been a foolish faithful slave:
All my best years, the morning of my life,
Hath been devoted to your service: what
Are now the fruits ? disgrace and infamy;
My spotless name, which never yet the breath
Of calumny had tainted, made the mock
For foreign fools to carp at: but 'tis fit
Who trust in princes should be thus rewarded.
K. Edw. I thought, my lord, I had full well repaid
Your services with honours, wealth, and pow'r
Unlimited: thy all-directing hand

Guided in secret ev'ry latent wheel

Of government, and mov'd the whole machine:
Warwick was all in all, and pow'rless Edward
Stood like a cipher in the great account.

War. Who gave that cipher worth, and seated thee
On England's throne? thy undistinguish'd name
Had rotted in the dust from whence it sprung,
And moulder'd in oblivion, had not Warwick
Dug from its sordid mine the useless ore,
And stamp'd it with a diadem. Thou know'st,
This wretched country, doom'd, perhaps, like Rome,
To fall by its own self-destroying hand,
Tost for so many years in the rough sea
Of civil discord, but for me had perish'd.
In that distressful hour I seiz'd the helm,

Bade the rough waves subside in peace, and steer'd
Your shatter'd vessel safe into the harbour.
You may despise, perhaps, that useless aid

Which you no longer want; but know, proud youth,
He who forgets a friend, deserves a foe.

K. Edw. Know, too, reproach for benefits receiv'd,
Pays ev'ry debt, and cancels obligation.

War. Why, that, indeed, is frugal honesty,

A thrifty saving knowledge, when the debt

Grows burthensome, and cannot be discharg'd,

A sponge will wipe out all, and cost you nothing.

K. Edw. When you have counted o'er the numerous trair

Of mighty gifts your bounty lavish'd on me,

You may remember next the injuries

Which I have done you, let me know them all,

And I will make you ample satisfaction.

War. Thou canst not; thou hast robb'd me of a jewel

It is not in thy power to restore:

I was the first, shall future annals say,

That broke the sacred bond of public trust
And mutual confidence; ambassadors,

In after times, mere instruments, perhaps,

Of venal statesmen, shall recall my name
To witness that they want not an example,
And plead my guilt to sanctify their own.
Amidst the herd of mercenary slaves

That haunt your court, could none be found but Warwick
To be the shameless herald of a lie?

K. Edw. And wouldst thou turn the vile reproach on me? If I have broke my faith, and stain'd the name Of England, thank thy own pernicious counsels That urg'd me to it, and extorted from me A cold consent to what my heart abhorr❜d.

War. I've been abus'd, insulted, and betray'd; My injur'd honour cries aloud for vengeance;

Her wounds will never close!

K. Edw. These gusts of passion

Will but inflame them; if I have been right
Inform'd, my lord, besides these dang❜rous scars
Of bleeding honour, you have other wounds
As deep, though not so fatal; such, perhaps,
As none but fair Elizabeth can cure.

War. Elizabeth!

K. Edw. Nay, start not, I have cause
To wonder most: I little thought, indeed,
When Warwick told me I might learn to love,
He was, himself, so able to instruct me:
But I've discover'd all.

War. And so have I;

Too well I know thy breach of friendship there ;
Thy fruitless, base endeavours to supplant me.

K. Edw. I scorn it, sir; Elizabeth hath charn.~,
And I have equal right with you t' admire them:
Nor see I aught so godlike in the form,

So all-commanding in the name of Warwick,
That he alone should revel in the charms
Of beauty, and monopolize perfection.
I knew not of your love.

War. By heav'n! 'tis false;

You knew it all, and meanly took occasion,
Whilst I was busied in the noble office
Your grace thought fit to honour me withal,
To tamper with a weak, unguarded woman,
To bribe her passions high, and basely steal

A treasure which your kingdom could not purchase.
K. Edw. How know you that? But be it as it may,

I had a right, nor will I tamely yield

My claim to happiness, the privilege

To choose the partner of my throne and bed:

It is a branch of my prerogative.

War. Prerogative! what's that? the boast of tyrants: A borrow'd jewel, glitt'ring in the crown

With specious lustre, lent but to betray;
You had it, sir, and hold it from the people.

K. Edw. And therefore do I prize it; I would guard
Their liberties, and they shall strengthen mine:
But when proud faction and her rebel crew
Insult their sov'reign, trample on his laws,
And bid defiance to his pow'r, the people,
In justice to themselves, will then defend
His cause, and vindicate the rights they gave.
War. Go to your darling people, then;
for soon,
If I mistake not, 'twill be needful; try
Their boasted zeal, and see if one of them
Will dare to lift his arm up in your cause,
If I forbid them.

K. Edw. Is it so, my lord?

Then mark my words: I've been your slave too long,
And you have rul'd me with a rod of iron;

But henceforth know, proud peer, I am thy master,

And will be so: the king who delegates

His pow'r to others' hands but ill deserves
The crown he wears.

War. Look well, then, to your own;

It sits but loosely on your head; for know,
The man who injur'd Warwick never pass'd
Unpunish'd yet.

K. Edw. Nor he who threaten'd Edward:
You may repent it, sir. My guards, there; seize
This traitor and convey him to the Tower!
There let him learn obedience.

Enter GUARDS.

War. Slaves, stand off;

If I must yield my sword, I'll give it him
Whom it so long has serv'd; there's not a part
In this old faithful steel that is not stain'd

With English blood in grateful Edward's cause.
Give me my chains, they are the bands of friendship,
Of a king's friendship; for his sake, awhile,

I'll wear them.

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Exert your pow'r, it may not last you long;

For know, though Edward may forget his friend,

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[Exit the KING, R.

[Exeunt WARWICK and GUARDS, L.

NORVAL AND GLENALVON.

THE REV. JOHN HOME.

[John Home was born in Roxburghshire in 1724. He was educated for the Church, but in the rebellion of 1745, entered the Royal army, and was taken

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