Beareth all things.-2 Cor. xiii, 7.
GENTLY I took that which ungently came, And without scorn forgave :-Do thou the same. A wrong done to thee think a cat's eye spark Thou wouldst not see, were not thine own heart dark. Thine own keen sense of wrong that thirsts for sin, Fear that the spark self-kindled from within, Which blown upon, will blind thee with its glare, Or smother'd, stifle thee with noisome air. Clap on the extinguisher, pull up the blinds, And soon the ventilated spirit finds
Its natural daylight. If a foe have kenn'd, Or worse than foe, an alienated friend, A rib of dry rot in thy ship's stout side, Think it God's message, and in humble pride With heart of oak replace it ;-thine the gains- Give him the rotten timber for his pains!
GOD's child in Christ adopted,-Christ my all,— What that earth boasts were not lost cheaply, rather Than forfeit that blest name, by which I call
The Holy One, the Almighty God, my Father?— Father! in Christ we live, and Christ in Thee— Eternal Thou, and everlasting We.
The heir of heaven, henceforth I fear not death: In Christ I live! in Christ I draw the breath Of the true life!-Let then earth, sea, and sky Make war against me! On my heart I show Their mighty master's seal. In vain they try To end my life, that can but end its woe.— Is that a death-bed where a Christian lies?— Yes! but not his 'tis Death itself there dies.
STOP, christian passer-by!-Stop, child of God, And read with gentle breast. Beneath this sod A poet lies, or that which once seem'd he.- O, lift one thought in prayer for S. T. C., That he who many a year with toil of breath Found death in life, may here find life in death! Mercy for praise-to be forgiven for fame
He ask'd, and hoped, through Christ. Do thou the
MARQUIS VALDEZ, father to the two brothers, and Dona TERESA's guardian.
DON ALVAR, the eldest son.
DON ORDONIO, the youngest son.
MONVIEDRO, a Dominican and inquisitor.
ZULIMEZ, the faithful attendant on ALVAR.
ISIDORE, a Moresco chieftain, ostensibly a Christian. Familiars of the Inquisition.
Moors, Servants, &c.
DONA TERESA, an orphan heiress.
ALHADRA, wife of ISIDORE.
Time-The reign of PHILIP II., just at the close of the civil wars against the Moors, and during the heat of the persecution which raged against them, shortly after the edict which forbade the wearing of Moresco apparel under pain of death.
SCENE I.-The seashore on the coast of Granada.
Don Alvar, wrapt in a boat-cloak, and Zulimez (a Moresco), both as just landed.
Zul. No sound, no face of joy to welcome us! Alv. My faithful Zulimez, for one brief moment Let me forget my anguish and their crimes. If aught on earth demand an unmix'd feeling, Tis surely this after long years of exile, To step forth on firm land, and gazing round us, To hail at once our country, and our birth-place. Hail, Spain! Granada, hail! once more I press Thy sands with filial awe, land of my fathers! Zul. Then claim your rights in it! O, revered Don Alvar;
Yet, yet give up your all too gentle purpose. It is too hazardous! reveal yourself,
And let the guilty meet the doom of guilt!
Alv. Remember, Zulimez! I am his brother, Injured indeed! deeply injured! yet
This sure but gives his guilt a blacker dye.
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