soul! my heart's blood! [Seizes CLEMENT's Coat Laps, and Searches.] I have it 'tis here-I feel it ! Clem. [Defending himself.] Yes, sir, 'tis here. Be pacified. Item. [Assaulting.] I won't! I won't! I'll have it! Give it me! I'll swear a robbery! I'll have you hanged! Clem. [Takes a Book, sealed up, out of his Pocket.} This book, sir, I consider as a sacred trust; and part with it to you I must not. it! Item. You shall part with it, villain! You shall! I'll have your soul! 'Tis mine! I'll have your heart! 'Tis mine! I will have it! I will have it! I will have [Violently assaulting him. Clem. You shall have heart, life, and soul, first! Item. [Falls on his Knees.] My dear nephew! My good boy! My kind Clement! I'll supply all your wants! I'll pay all your debts! I'll never deny any thing you ask! I'll make you my heir ! Clem. You are the agent of Mr Mordent, whom, I fear, you have deeply wronged. I have a painful duty to perform; but justice must be obeyed: nothing must or shall bribe me to betray an injured man. Item. I'll give you ten thousand pounds! I'll give you twenty! I'll give you fifty! Would you rob and ruin your uncle? Would you put him in the pillory? Would you see him hanged? [Falls upon him again.] Villain! I will have it! 'Tis mine! I will! I will! Thieves! Robbers! Murder! Fire! Enter MR MORDENT, Lady Anne, Lennox, Mor. Having received the Book.] I am glad, Mr Item, that your inattention, and your nephew's inflexible honesty, have afforded me the means of doing myself justice: that is all I require. Len. Here is double testimony; your hand writing and your agent. Item. [To GRIME.] Have you impeached, then? Grime. I am a villain, a rascal, a cut-throat! Mor. Mr Clement, your worth and virtue are beyond my praise. Clem. If my conduct escape censure, it is more than I expect. Mor. If it meet not retribution, all sense of justice is lost. Donald! Joanna. [Pressing DONALD'S Hand.] My watchful guide! My never-failing friend! Chev. Your hand, old boy! You and I must settle accounts. I am I know not how many score pounds a-year in your debt. Mor. What then am I? Joanna. And I? Don. Hoot awą! Gin ye wad pay Donald, it mun nae be wi' yeer dirty siller; it mun be wi' yeer affactions. Joanna. True, my noble protector! [Kisses his Hand with great Energy, Don. Why, ay, noo! That's a receipt in foo.-It makes my hairt gi' sic an a bang! Mor. Honest, worthy soul! And now to reconcile Chev. Come, come; make no speeches, I'll settle the business. I am the proper person. I have eight thousand a-year, and ten thousand in my pocket.Ten! [To ITEM.] Is it ten or seventeen? Item. Seventeen! Chev. Joanna shall be queen of joy, pleasure, and happiness. Honesty, here, shall settle all his ill-gotten gains on his nephew: Lennox, as a bachelor's penance, shall marry his housemaid: and you, old Moloch, [To GRIME.] shall go hang yourself. Len. Spoken like an oracle! Lady A. How strange are the vicissitudes of fortune! With what gloom was the dawn overcast! How have the storms of this memorable day arisen, and increased even to horror! And now how bright the prospect; and how glowing the hope that it excites! Cherish it, kind friends, with your smiles; and in the gentle slumbers of the night, let us joyfully dream, that we still merit, and still obtain, your willing favour. [Exeunt THE END. STRANGER; A DRAMA, IN FIVE ACTS; AS PERFORMED AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF KOTZEBUE. BY BENJAMIN THOMPSON, ESQ. PRINTED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MANAGERS FROM THE PROMPT BOOK. WITH REMARKS BY MRS INCHBALD, LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW, |