Glen. Norval,

Let not our variance mar the social hour,
Nor wrong the hospitality of Randolph.
Nor frowning anger, nor yet wrinkled hate,
Shall stain my countenance.

Soothe thou thy brow;

Nor let our strife disturb the gentle dame.

Nor. Think not so lightly, sir, of my resentment. When we contend again, our strife is mortal.-Home.

SCENE-DOUGLAS AND OLD NORVAL.

Douglas. This is the place, the centre of the grove;
Here stands the oak, the monarch of the wood.
How sweet and solemn is this midnight scene!
The silver moon, unclouded, holds her way
Thro' skies where I could count each little star.
The fanning west wind scarcely stirs the leaves !
The river, rushing o'er its pebbled bed,
Imposes silence with a stilly sound

In such a place as this, at such an hour,
If ancestry can be in ought believed,
Descending spirits have conversed with man,
And told the secrets of the world unknown.

Enter OLD NORVAL.

Old Nor. 'Tis he. But what if he should chide me hence?

His just reproach I fear.

Forgive, forgive,

[DOUGLAS turns aside and sees him.

Canst thou forgive the man, the selfish man,
Who bred Sir Malcolm's heir, a shepherd's son ?

Doug. Kneel not to me: thou art my father still:
Thy wish'd for presence now completes my joy.
Welcome to me; my fortunes thou shalt share,
And ever honour'd with thy Douglas live.

Old Nor. And dost thou call me father: Oh, my son ! I think that I could die, to make amends

For the great wrong I did thee. 'Twas my crime

Which in the wilderness so long conceal'd

The blossom of thy youth.

Doug. Not worse the fruit,

That in the wilderness the blossom blow'd.

Amongst the shepherds, in the humble cot,
I learn'd some lessons, which I'll not forget
When I inhabit yonder lofty towers.

I, who was once a swain, will ever prove

The poor man's friend; and when my vassals bow,
Norval shall smooth the crested pride of Douglas.

Nor. Let me but live to see thine exaltation!
Yet grievous are my fears. Oh, leave this place,
And those unfriendly towers!

Doug. Why should I leave them?

Nor. Lord Randolph and his kinsman seek your life.
Doug. How know'st thou that?

Old Nor. I will inform you how :
When evening came, I left the secret place
Appointed for me by your mother's care,
And fondly trod in each accustom'd path
That to the castle leads. Whilst thus I ranged,
I was alarm'd with unexpected sounds
Of earnest voices. On the persons came.
Unseen I lurk'd, and overheard them name
Each other as they talk'd, Lord Randolph this,
And that Glenalvon. Still of you they spoke,
And of the lady; threat'ning was their speech,
Tho' but imperfectly my ear could hear it.
'Twas strange, they said, a wonderful discov'ry;
And ever and anon they vow'd
revenge.

Doug. Revenge! for what?

Old Nor. For being what you are,

Sir Malcolm's heir: how else have you offended?
When they were gone, I hied me to my cottage,
And there sat musing how I best might find
Means to inform you of their wicked purpose,
But I could think of none. At last, perplex'd,
I issued forth, encompassing the tower
With many a wearied step and wishful look.
Now Providence hath brought you to my sight,
Let not your too courageous spirit scorn
The caution which I give.

Doug. I scorn it not.

My mother warn'd me of Glenalvon's baseness;
But I will not suspect the noble Randolph.
In our encounter with the vile assassins,
I mark'd his brave demeanour; him I'll trust.

Old Nor. I fear you will, too far.
Doug. Here in this place

I wait my mother's coming: she shall know
What thou hast told: her counsel I will follow,
And cautions ever are a mother's counsels.

You must depart: your presence may prevent
Our interview.

Old Nor. My blessing rest upon thee!

Oh, may Heav'n's hand, which saved thee from the wave, And from the sword of foes, be near thee still;

Turning, mischance, if ought hangs o'er thy head,

All upon mine!

Doug. He loves me like a parent;

And must not, shall not, lose the son he loves,
Altho' his son has found a nobler father.

Eventful day! how hast thou changed my state!
Once on the cold and winter-shaded side
Of a bleak hill mischance had rooted me,
Never to thrive, child of another soil;
Transplanted now to the gay sunny vale,
Like the green thorn of May my fortune flowers.
Ye glorious stars! high Heav'n's resplendent host!
To whom I oft have of my lot complain'd,

Hear and record my soul's unalter'd wish!

Dead or alive, let me but be renown'd!

May Heav'n inspire some fierce gigantic Dane,
To give a bold defiance to our host!

Before he speaks it out I will accept ;

Like Douglas conquer, or like Douglas die.-HOME.

[Exit.

LORD ERSKINE AGAINST WILLIAMS, THE PUBLISHER OF PAINE'S

AGE OF REASON.

GENTLEMEN,—It would be useless and disgusting to enumerate all the passages within the scope of the indictment. How any man can rationally vindicate the publication of such a book, in a country where the Christian religion is the very foundation of the law of the land, I am totally at a loss to conceive, and have no ideas for the discussion of! How is a tribunal, whose whole jurisdiction is founded upon the solemn belief and practice of what is denied as falsehood, and reprobated as impiety, to deal with such an anomalous

defence? Upon what principle is it even offered to the court, whose authority is contemned and mocked at? If the religion proposed to be called in question is not previously adopted in belief and solemnly acted upon, what authority has the court to pass any judgment at all of acquittal or condemnation? Why am I now, or at any time, to address twelve of my equals, as I am now addressing you with reverence and submission? Under what sanction are the witnesses to give their evidence, without which there can be no trial? Under what obligations can I call upon you, the jury representing your country, to administer justice? Surely upon no other, than that you are sworn to administer it, under the oaths you have taken. The whole judicial fabric, from the king's sovereign authority to the lowest office of magistracy, has no other foundation. The whole is built, both in form and substance, upon the same oath of every one of its ministers, to do justice, AS GOD SHALL HELP THEM HEREAFTER. What God? and what hereafter? That God undoubtedly, who has commanded kings to rule and judges to decree justice; who has said to witnesses, not only by the voice of nature, but in revealed commandments-THOU SHALT NOT BEAR TESTIMONY AGAINST THY NEIGHBOUR; and who has enforced obedience to them by the revelations of the unutterable blessings which shall attend their observances, and the awful punishment which shall await upon their transgressions.

But it seems, this is an age of reason, and the time and the persons are at last arrived, that are to dissipate the errors which have overspread the past generations of ignorance. The believers in Christianity are many, but it belongs to the few that are wise to correct their credulity. Belief is an act of reason, and superior reason may, therefore, dictate to the weak. In running the mind over the long list of sincere and devout Christians, I cannot help lamenting that Newton had not lived to this day, to have had his shallowness filled up with this new flood of light. But the subject is too awful for irony. I will speak plainly and directly. Newton was a Christian! Newton, whose mind burst forth from the fetters cast by nature upon our finite conceptionsNewton, whose science was truth, and the foundation of whose knowledge of it was philosophy; not those visionary and arrogant presumptions which too often usurp its name, but philosophy resting on the basis of mathematics, which,

like figures, cannot lie-Newton, who carried the line and rule to the utmost barriers of creation, and explored the principles by which, no doubt, all created matter is held together and exists. But this extraordinary man, in the mighty reach of his mind, overlooked, perhaps, the errors which a minuter investigation of the created things on this earth might have taught him, of the essence of his Creator. What shall then be said of the great Mr Boyle, who looked into the organic structure of all matter, even to the brute inanimate substances which the foot treads on?

Such a man may be supposed to have been equally qualified with Mr Paine to look up through nature to nature's God. Yet the result of all his contemplations was the most confirmed and devout belief of all which the other holds in contempt as despicable and drivelling superstition.

But this error might, perhaps, arise from a want of a due attention to the foundations of human judgment, and the structure of that understanding which God has given us for the investigation of truth. Let that question be answered by Mr Locke, who was, to the highest pitch of devotion and adoration, a Christian. Mr Locke, whose office was to detect the errors of thinking, by going up to the foundation of thought, and to direct into the proper track of reasoning the devious mind of man, by showing him its whole process, from the first perceptions of sense to the last conclusion of ratiocination, putting a rein besides upon false opinion_by practical rules for the conduct of human judgment. But these men were only deep thinkers, and lived in their closets, unaccustomed to the traffic of the world, and to the laws which practically regulate mankind.

Gentlemen, In the place where we now sit to administer the justice of this great country, above a century ago, the never-to-be-forgotten Sir Matthew Hale presided, whose faith in Christianity is an exalted commentary upon its truth and reason, and whose life was a glorious example of its fruit in man, administering human justice with a wisdom and purity drawn from the pure fountain of the Christian dispensation, which has been, and will be, in all ages a subject of the highest reverence and admiration. But it is said by the author that the Christian fable is but the tale of the more ancient superstitions of the world, and may be easily detected by a proper understanding of the mythologies of the heathens. Did Milton understand those mythologies?