I sent thee none.

Or.

And I have done a deed beyond all reach,

Then Bertrand has betray'd me!

Oh! (she falls into her maid's arms.)

All hope of mercy-I have murder'd Rivers.

Julia.

Or. O rich reward which love prepares for murder! Thus hell repays its instruments !

Guild.

Enter GUILDFORD with servants.

Where is he?

Where is this midnight murderer ? this assassin ?

This is the place Orlando's servant nam'd.

Or. The storm comes on. "Tis Guildford, good old

man!

Behold the wretch accurst of Heaven and thee.

Guild. Accurst of both indeed. How, Julia fainting J Or. She's pure as holy truth; she was deceiv'd, And so was I.

Guild.

Who tempted thee to this?

Or. Love, hell, and Bertrand.

Julia. (recovering.) Give me back my Rivers;

I will not live without him. Oh, my father!

Guild. Father! I'm none; am no more a father; I have no child; my son is basely murder'd

And my sweet daughter, at the fatal news,

Is quite bereft of reason.

Or.
Seize me, bind me:
If death's too great a mercy, let me live:

Drag me to some damp dungeon's horrid gloom,
Deep as the centre, dark as my offences;

Come, do your office, take my sword: oh, Bertrand,

Yet, ere I perish, could it reach thy heart!

(They seize ORLANDO I Julia. I will not long survive thee, oh, my Rivers!

Enter RIVERS with the dagger.

Riv. Who calls on Rivers with a voice so sad, So full of sweetness?

Guild.

Julia.

Ah, my son!

'Tis he, 'tis he!

ORLANDO

JULIA and RIVERS run into each other's arms. breaks from the guards, and falls on his knees.

Or. He lives, he lives! the godlike Rivers lives!

Hear it, ye host of heaven! witness, ye saints!
Recording angels, tell it in your songs;
Breathe it, celestial spirits, to your lutes,
That Rivers lives!

Julia.

Explain this wondrous happiness?

Riv. 'Twas Bertrand whom Orlando killed; th

traitor

Has with his dying breath confess'd the whole.

Or. Good sword, I thank thee!

Riv.
In the tangled maze
Orlando miss'd the path he was to take,

And pass'd through that where Bertrand lay conceal'd
To watch th' event: Orlando thought 'twas me,
And that I play'd him false: the walk was dark.
In Bertrand's bloody hand I found this dagger,
With which he meant to take my life; but how
Were you alarm'd?

Guild.

One of Orlando's men,

Whom wealth could never bribe to join in murder-
Or. Murder! I bribe to murder?

Riv.

No; 'twas Bertrand

Brib'd them to that curst deed: he lov'd my sister.
Or. Exquisite villain !

Guild.

Fly to Emmelina,

If any spark of reason yet remain,

Tell her the joyful news. Alas, she's here!
Wildly she flies! Ah, my distracted child!

Enter EMMELINA distracted.

Em. Off, off! I will have way! ye shall not hold

me:

I come to seek my lord; is he not here?

Tell me, ye virgins, have ye seen my love,

Or know you where his flocks repose at noon? My love is comely-sure you must have seen him; 'Tis the great promiser! who vows and swears;

The perjur'd youth! who deals in oaths and breaks them. In truth he might deceive a wiser maid.

I lov'd him once; he then was innocent;

He was no murderer then, indeed he was not;

He had not kill'd my brother.

Riv.

Thy brother lives.

Em.

Nor has now;

I know it-yes, he lives

Among the cherubim. Murd'rers too will live; But where? I'll tell you where-down, down, down, down.

How deep it is! 'tis fathomless 'tis dark!

No-there's a pale blue flame-ah, poor Orlando!
Guild. My heart will burst.

Or.

Pierce mine, and that will ease it.

Em. (comes up to her father.) I knew a maid who lov'd-but she was mad

Fond, foolish girl! Thank Heav'n, I am not mad;
Yet the afflicting angel has been with me;
But do not tell my father, he would grieve;
Sweet, good old man-perhaps he'd weep to hear it :
I never saw my father weep but once;

I'll tell you when it was. I did not weep;

'Twas when-but soft, my brother must not know it, Twas when his poor fond daughter was refused. Guild. Who can bear this?

Or.

I will not live to bear it.

Em. (comes up to ORLANDO.) Take comfort, thou poor wretch! I'll not appear

Against thee, nor shall Rivers; but blood must,
Blood will appear; there's no concealing blood.
What's that? my brother's ghost-it vanishes;

(Catches hold of RIVERS.)

Stay, take me with thee, take me to the skies;
I have thee fast; thou shalt not go without me.
But hold-may we not take the murd'rer with us?
That look says-No. Why then I'll not go with thee.
Yet hold me fast-'tis dark-I'm lost-I'm gone (Dies.)
Or. One crime makes many needful; this day's sin
Blots out a life of virtue. Good old man!
My bosom bleeds for thee; thy child is dead.
And I the cause. "Tis but a poor atonement;
But I can make no other.

(Stabs himself.)

What hast thou done?

Riv.
Or. Fill'd up the measure of my sins. Oh, mercy!
Eternal goodness, pardon this last guilt!

Rivers, thy hand!-farewell! forgive me, Heaven!
Yet is it not an act which bars forgiveness,
And shuts the door of grace for ever?-Oh!

(The curtain falls to soft music.)

(Dies.)

EPILOGUE.

WRITTEN BY R. B. SHERIDAN, ESQ.

SPOKEN BY MR LEE LEWES.

UNHAND me, gentlemen, by Heaven, I say,
I'll make a ghost of him who bars my way.

[Behind the Scenes.

Forth let me come-A Poetaster true,
As lean as Envy, and as baneful too;
On the dull audience let me vent my rage,
Or drive these female scribblers from the stage.
For scene or history, we've none but these,
The law of liberty and wit they seize;

In tragic-comic-pastoral-they dare to please.
Each puny bard must surely burst with spite,
To find that women with such fame can write,
But, oh, your partial favour is the cause,
Which feeds their follies with such full applause.
Yet still our tribe shall seek to blast their fame,
And ridicule each fair pretender's aim;

Where the dull duties of domestic life
Wage with the muse's toils eternal strife.
What motley cares Corilla's mind perplex,
While maids and metaphors conspire to vex !
In studious dishabille behold her sit,
A letter'd gossip, and a housewife wit,
At once invoking, though for different views,
Her gods, her cook, her milliner, and muse,
Round her strew'd room a frippery chaos lies,
A chequer'd wreck of notable and wise;
Bills, books, caps, couplets, combs, a varied mass,
Oppress the toilet, and obscure the glass;
Unfinish'd here an epigram is laid,

And there a mantua-maker's bill unpaid: