him with a thousand crowns for his equipment. Charlemont's resolution goes sadly against the heart of his poor old father. "Mont. I prithee let this current of my tears To promise a succession to my house. As thou hast substance to maintain and bear. Charl. My noble father, The weakest sigh you breathe, had power to turn Obedience; but my affection to the war To every life of all my ancestry. Your predecessors were your precedents; Or hang but like an empty scutcheon And the rich arms of my posterity: There's not a Frenchman of good blood and youth, Is turn'd soldier. Only Charlemont This resolution being immoveable however, he first takes of his friends and then of his mistress. "Charl. My noble mistress, this accomplement Is like an elegant and moving speech, Composed of many sweet persuasive points, So all that now salute my taking leave, But you, dear mistress, being the last and best Possessed my liking, and shall ever live So, mistress, with this kiss I take my leave. Casta. My worthy servant, you mistake th' intent A pair of lovers, but to be the scale Of love, importing by the joining of That we should breath but one contracted life; Castu. O the sad trouble of my fearful soul! That fatally should kill his happiness; And so it came to pass. Methinks my eyes (Sweet heav'n forbid !) are like those weeping clouds, And as their showers presag'd, so do my tears, Some sad event will follow my sad fears." The avarice of the Atheist is not satisfied, and, as Castabella is the heiress to a large estate, he proposes a marriage, between her and his son Rousard, to Belforest her father, who describes beautifully the effect of the proposal on his daughter. “Bel. I entertain the offer of this match, Of blood; whose unmov'd stream was never drawn She is, however, eventually forced to marry Rousard; and on the evening of the ceremony, Borachio, a scoundrel in the employ of D'Amville, disguises himself as a soldier, and announces the death of Charlemont. After describing a battle, he proceeds in these pretty fanciful lines. "Walking next day upon the fatal shore, A man that folds his arms, or wrings his hands This is too much for Montferrers, who is taken suddenly ill, and persuaded, by a hypocritical, pretended clergyman, to make a will in favour of his brother D'Amville. The Atheist now determines to consummate the business by a master-piece of policy, and, with the assistance of Borachio, contrives the murder of Montferrers. The thunder roars, and the lightning flashes around them; but D'Amville, believing in neither good spirit nor bad, white spirit nor grey, exults amidst the war of elements in the success of his stratagems. To deceive the relatives of the deceased, he pretends excessive grief; and, to cheat the world, performs a solemn funeral over Montferrers and Charlemont. Meanwhile, the ghost of Montferrers appears to Charlemont in a dream, apprizes him of his father's death, and admonishes him to return to France. Charlemont awakes and endeavours to argue away his fears. "Charl. O my affrighted soul! what fearful dream Was this that wak'd me? Dreams are but the rais'd Impressions of premeditated things, By serious apprehension left upon Our minds; or else the imaginary shapes Should dream thus, for my mind has not been mov'd Fore-sight and knowledge, ere it understand To come. Why should I think so?-left I not Sol. You dream, sir, I saw nothing. Of things retain'd in them; and make 'em seem Some bloody accident upon my mind; Incorporate, as if his body were The owner of that blood, the subject of That death; when he's at Paris, and that blood The war, An idle apprehension; a vain dream." He, however, obeys the admonition, and on arriving at the church-yard, where his father's remains are deposited, he sees Castabella shedding tears over his own monument. She thus addresses the Deity: "Casta. O thou that knowest me justly Charlemont's, Since from thine own free spirit we receive it, Though our actions may; be not displeas'd, if on My tears. They are the jewels of my love His blasted spring, as April dew upon A sweet young blossom shak'd before the time." The last lines are prettily said-of course the young soldier learns the wrong done to his love. Charlemont's appearance somewhat disconcerts the Atheist: he, however, puts a bold face on the matter, and throws Charlemont into prison for the thousand crowns he had lent him. Castabella solicits the mercy of D'Amville in favour of the prisoner, in terms which would melt any thing that had a heart. "Casta. O father! Mercy is an attribute In goodness. Rich men should transcend the poor, From prison he is released through the means of Sebastian, the second son of D'Amville. Again foiled, he becomes kind in appearance, but rancorous in purpose, and employs his friend Borachio to shoot Charlemont while in the church-yard. |