1,533 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, By W HEAT & CORNETT, “That which pieases long, and pleases many, must possess some merit."—DR. JOHNSON. BK DRAMA NEW YORK DI CHOICE COLLECTION '. FARCA FARCES, ETC., WITH CASTS OF CHARACTERS, STAGE BUSINESS, COSTUMES, RELATIVE POSITIONS, &c., ADAPTED TO Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by WHEAT & CORNEIT, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. NO. 13. The Home CIRCLE, PRIVATE THEATRICALS, AND THE AMERICAN STAGE. N Tragedy, in five Acts. Enter LORD RANDOLPH. thou well Lady R. Silent, alas! is he for whom I mourn; Childless, without memorial of his name, He only now in my remembrance lives. “ This fatal day stirs my time-settled sorrow, “Troubles afresh the fountain of my heart.”' Lord Randolph ............ Mr. Pilton. Mr. Jefferson. į Lord R. “When was it pure of sadness? These Glenalcon...... ." J. Wallack, Jr. " Palmer. Old Norval...... ... " J. G. Gilbert. black weeds Young Vorval.. ..Miss Susan Denning.“ Brereton. “Express the wonted color of thy mind, Officer........... Mr. Goldson. “ Forever dark and dismal. Seven long years Servant......... .... ** Collins. " Thompson. Lady Randolph. ..... Miss C. Wemyss. Miss Younge. “ Are pass'd since we were join'd by sacred ties; Anna... .......Mrs. Yeoman. Mrs. Vincent. “ Clouds all the while have hung upon thy brow, “Nor broke nor parted by one gleam of joy." EXITS AND ENTRANCES.-R, means Right; L. Left; R. D. Right Door: L. D. Left Door; ? E. Second Entrance; U. E. Upper Entrance; M. D. Middle ance; U. E. Upper Entrance : M. D. Middle Time, that wears out the trace of deepest anguish, Door, RELATIVE POSITIONS.-R. means Right; L. Lest; c. Centre; R. C. “ As the sea smooths the prints made in the sand," Right Centre; L. C. Left Centre, &c. The reader is supposed to be on the Stage, facing the audience. Has past o'er thee in vain. Lady R. “ If time to come “ Should prove as ineffectual, yet, my lord, The Court of a Castle surrounded with Woods. “ Thou canst not blame me. When our Scottish youth Enter LADY RANDOLPH. • Vied with each other for my luckless love Lady R. Ye woods and wilds, whose melan- « Oft I besought them, I implor'd them all choly gloom “ Not to assail me with my father's aid, The voice of sorrow from my bursting heart, “ For melancholy had congeald my blood, vain, " Besought me to commiserate his age, Within the circle of that wood thou art, " And vow'd he should not, could not die in peace, And with the passion of immortals hear'st “ Unless he saw me wedded, and secur'd My lamentation; hear'st thy wretched wife " From violence and outrage. Then, my lord ! Weep for her husband slain, her infant lost. “ In my extreme distress I call'd on thee, My brother's timeless death I seem to mourn, “ Thee I bespake, profess'd my strong desire Who perished with thee on this fatal day. 66 To lead a single, solitary life, To thee I lift my voice; to thee address “ And begg'd thy nobleness not to demand The plaint which mortal ear has never heard. “ Her for a wife, whose heart was dead to love. Oh, disregard me not; tho' I am call'd 6. How thou persistedst after this, thou know'st, Another's now, my heart is wholly thine. “ And must confess that I am not unjust, Incapable of change, affection lies “Nor more to thee than to myself injurious." Buried, my Douglas, in thy bloody grave. Lord R. " That I confess; yet ever must regret But Randolph comes, whom fate has made my “The grief I cannot cure. Would thou wert not lord, “ Compos'd of grief and tenderness alone, To chide my anguish and defraud the dead. “ But hadst a spark of other passions in thee “Pride, anger, vanity, the strong desire NOTE.--The length of this play necessarily requires curtailments « Of admiration, dear to womankind : on the Stage-the passages thus omitted are those inserted with inverted commas. “These might contend with and allay thy grief, " As meeting tides and currents smooth our firth.” “ Sit down and weep the conquests he has made; Lady R. “To such a cause the human mind oft“Yea, (like a monk) sing rest and peace in Owes heaven “ Its transient calm, a calm I envy not.” “ To souls of warriors in their battles slain.” Lord R. Sure thou art not the daughter of Sir Lady, farewell; I leave thee not aloneMalcolm ! Yonder comes one whose love makes duty light. Strong was his rage, eternal his resentment; [Ecit. For when thy brother fell, he smil'd to hear Enter ANNA. That Douglas' son in the same field was slain. Anna. Forgive the rashness of your Anna's Lady R. Oh, rake not up the ashes of my fathers! love; Implacable resentment was their crime, Urged by affection I have thus presum'd And grievous has the expiation been. To interrupt your solitary thoughts, And lose in sadness. Anna. To blame thee, lady, suits not with my I had not been the last of all my race. state: Lord R. Thy grief wrests to its purposes my But sure I am, since death first preyed on man, words; Never did sister thus a brother mourn. I never ask'd of thee that ardent love What had your sorrows been if you had lost, Which in the breasts of fancy's children burns. In early youth, the husband of your heart? Decent affection, and complacent kindness Lady R. Oh! Were all I wish'd for ; but I wish'd in vain. Anna. Have I distress'd you with officious love, Hence with the less regret my eyes behold And ill-tim'd mention of your brother's fate ? The mind I bear partakes not of my fortune; Matilda would not shed one tear the more. So fervently I love you, that to dry Lady R. Thou dost not think so; woeful as I am, These piteous tears, I'd throw my life away. I love thy merit and esteem thy virtues. Lady R. What power directed thy unconscious But whither go'st thou now? tongue Lord R. Straight to the camp, To speak as thou hast done? to nameWhere every warrior on the tiptoe stands Anna. I know not; Of expectation, and impatient asks But since my words have made my mistress Each who arrives, if he is come to tell tremble, The Danes are landed. I will speak so no more, but silent mix My tears with hers. I'll trust thy faithful love, and thou shalt be Henceforth th' instructed partner of my woes. Lord R. Thou speak'st a woman, hear a war But what avails it? Can thy feeble pity rior's wish : Roll back the flood of never-ebbing time? Right from their native land, the stormy north, Compel the earth and ocean to give up May the wind blow, till every keel is fix'd Their dead alive? Immovable in Caledonia's strand ! Anna. What means my noble mistress? Then shall our foes repent their bold invasion, Lady R. Didst thou not ask what had my sorAnd roving armies shun the fatal shore. rows been ? Lady R. “War I detest; but war with foreign If I in early youth had lost a husband ? foes, In the cold bosom of the earth is lodged, " Whose manners, language, and whose looks are Mangled with wounds, the husband of my youth; strange, And in some cavern of the ocean lies “ Is not so horrid, nor to me so hateful, My child and his. " As that with which our neighbors oft we wage. | Anna. Oh, lady, most revered ! “ A river here, there an ideal line, The tale wrapt up in your amazing words " By fancy drawn, divides the sister kingdoms. Deign to unfold. "On each side dwells a people similar Lady R. Alas, an ancient feud, - As twins are to each other; valiant both Hereditary evil was the source “ Both for their valor famous through the world. Of my misfortunes. Ruling fate decreed " Yet will they not unite their kindred arms, That my brave brother should in battle save " And, if they must have war, wage distant war, The life of Douglas' son, our house's foe; “ But with each other fight in cruel conflict. The youthful warriors vowed eternal friendship. " Gallant in strife, and noble in their ire, To see the vaunted sister of his friend, 6. The battle is their pastime. They go forth Impatient Douglas to Balarmo came, “ Gay in the morning, as to summer sport; Under a borrowed name. My heart he gained; “When ev'ning comes, the glory of the morn, Nor did I long refuse the hand he begged; “ The youthful warrior, is a clod of clay. My brother's presence authorized our marriage. “ Thus fall the prime of either bapless land, Three weeks, three little weeks, with wings of 66 And such the fruit of Scotch and English wars." down, Lord R. “ I'll hear no more; this melody would Had o'er us flown, when my lov'd lord was called make To fight his father's battles; and with him, " A soldier drop his sword, and doff his arms, In spite of all my tears, did Malcolm go. Scarce were they gone, when my stern sire was Anna. “ The hand that spins th’ uneven thread told of life, That the false stranger was Lord Douglas' son. “May smooth the jength that's yet to come of Frantic with rage the baron drew his sword, yours." And questioned me. Alone, forsaken, faint, Lady R. “Not in this world; I have consider'd Kneeling beneath his sword, falt'ring I took well An oath equivocal, that I ne'er would " It's various evils, and on whom they fall. Wed one of Douglas' name. Sincerity, " Alas, how oft does goodness wound itself, Thou first of virtues, let no mortal leave “And sweet affection prove the spring of woe!" Thy onward path, altho' the earth should gap, Oh, had I died when my lov'd husband fell! And from the gulf of hell destruction cry Had some good angel op'd to me the book To take dissimulation's winding way! Of providence, and let me read my life, Anna. Alas, how few of woman's fearful kind My heart had broke when I beheld the sum Durst own a truth so hardy! Of ills, which one by one I have endur'd. Lady R. The first truth Anna. That power whose ministers good angels Is easiest to avow. This moral learn, are, This precious moral, from my tragic tale Hath shut the book in mercy to mankind. In a few days the dreadful tidings came, But we must leave this theme; Glenalvon comes; That Douglas and my brother both were slain. I saw him bend on you his thoughtful eyes, My lord, my life, my husband! Mighty heaven! And hitherwards he slowly stalks his way. What had I done to merit such affliction? Lady R. I will avoid him. An ungracious Anna. My dearest lady, many a tale of tears person I've listen’d to; but never did I hear Is doubly irksome in an hour like this. A tale so sad as this. Anna. Why speaks my lady thus of Randolph's Lady R. In the first days heir ? Of my distracting grief, I found myself Lady R. Because he's not the heir of Randolph's As women wish to be who love their lords. virtues. And he with ease can vary to the taste “ And master of his appetites he seems; Till time should make my father's fortune mine. “But his fierce nature, like a fox chain'd up, That very night on which my son was born, “ Watches to seize unseen the wished-for prey. My purse, the only confidant I had, “Never were vice and virtue pois'd so ill, Set out with him to reach her sister's house ; “As in Glenalvon's unrelenting mind.” But nurse nor infant bave I ever seen Yet is he brave and politic in war, Or heard of, Anna, since that fatal hour. And stands aloft in these unruly times. " My murdered child! had thy fond mother fear'd Why I describe him thus I'll tell hereafter; 6. The loss of thee, she had loud fame defied, Stay and detain him till I reach the castle. " Despised her father's rage, her father's grief, [Exit. “ And wander'd with thee throw the scorning Anna. Oh, happiness! where art thou to be world." found ? Anna. Not seen nor heard of? then perhaps he I see thou dwellest not with birth and beauty, lives. Tho' grac'd with grandeur and in wealth array'd; Lady R. No. It was dark December; wind Nor dost thou, it would seem, with virtue dwell, and rain Else had this gentle lady miss'd thee not. Enter GLENALVON. Glen. What dost thou muse on, meditating maid? “Oh, hapless son of a most hapless sire! Like some entranced and visionary seer “But they are both at rest; and I alone On earth thou stand'st, thy thoughts ascend to - Dwell in this world of woe, condemned to walk heaven. “ Like a guilt-troubled ghost, my painful rounds;" Anna. Would that I were, e'en as thou say'st, Nor has despiteful fate permitted me a seer, The comfort of a solitary sorrow. To have my doubts by heav'nly vision clear'd! Tho' dead to love, I was compelled to wed Glen. What dost thou doubt of what hast Randolph, who snatched me from a villain's arms; thou to do And Randolph now possesses the domains With subjects intricate? Thy youth, thy beauty, That by Sir Malcolm's death on me devolv'd; Cannot be question'd ; think of these good gifts, Domains that should to Douglas' son have giv'n And then thy contemplations will be pleasing. A baron's title, and a baron's power. Anna. Let women view yon monuments of woe, “ Such were my soothing thoughts while I be- Then boast of beauty; who so fair as she? wailed But I must fellow; this revolving day * The slaughter'd father of a son unborn. Awakes the memory of her ancient woes. [Exit. “And when that son came, like a ray from heav'nGlen. So! Lady Randolph shuns me! by-and-bye 66 Which shines and disappears; alas, my child! I'll woo her as the lion woos his brides. " How long did thy fond mother grasp the hope. The deed's a-doing now that makes me lord “Of having thee, she knew not how, restored. Of these rich valleys, and a chief of power. “Year after year hath worn her hope away; The season is most apt; my sounding steps " But left still undiminish'd her desire." Will not be heard amidst the din of arms. |