The misery to die a subject where He reign'd: then let his funeral rites be princely. Yes. Chief of the Ten. Heaven's peace be with him! (A soul by whom you have increased your empire, And not his honour. Chief of the Ten. Lady, we revoke not Chief of the Ten. Best retain it for your children. We Cannot comply with your request. His relics As Doge, but simply as a senator. Mar. I have heard of murderers, who have interr'd Their victims; but ne'er heard, until this hour, O'er those they slew. I've heard of widows' tears- Know you, lady, * The Venetians appear to have had a particular turn for breaking the hearts of their Doges. The following is another instance of the kind in the Doge Marco Barbarigo: he was succeeded by his brother Agostino Bar. barigo, whose chief merit is here mentioned.-Le doge, blessé de trouver constamment un contradicteur et un censeur si amer dans son frère, lui dit un jour en plein conseil; Messire Augustin, vous faites tout votre possible pour hâter ma mort; vous vous flattez de me succéder; mais, si les autres vous connaissent aussi bien que je vous connais, ils n'auront garde de vous élire. Lådessus il se leva, ému de colère, rentra dans son appartement, et mourut quelques jours après. Ce frère, contre lequel il s'était emporté, fut précisément le successeur qu'on lui donna. C'était un mérite dont on aimait à tenir compte; surtout à un parent, de s'être mis en opposition avec le chef de la république." -DARU, Hist. de Venise, t. ii. p. 533. + L'ha pagata. An historical fact. See Hist. de Venise, par P. DARU, t. ii. p. 411. 'Now the Serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.'-GEN. iii. L TO SIR WALTER SCOTT, THIS MYSTERY OF CAIN IS INSCRIBED, BART., BY HIS OBLIGED FRIEND AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. THE following scenes are entitled 'A Mystery,' in conformity with the ancient title annexed to dramas upon similar subjects, which were styled 'Mysteries, or Moralities.' The author has by no means taken the same liberties with his subject which were common formerly, as may be seen by any reader curious enough to refer to those very profane productions, whether in English, French, Italian, or Spanish. The author has endeavoured to preserve the language adapted to his characters; and where it is (and this is but rarely) taken from actual Scripture, he has made as little alteration, even of words, as the rhythm would permit. The reader will recollect that the book of Genesis does not state that Eve was tempted by a demon, but by 'the serpent;' and that only because he was 'the most subtile of all the beasts of the field.' Whatever interpre tation the Rabbins and the Fathers may have put upon this, I take the words as I find them, and reply, with Bishop Watson upon similar occasions, when the Fathers were quoted to him, as Moderator in the schools of Cambridge, Behold the Book!'-holding up the Scripture. It is to be recollected that my present subject has nothing to do with the New Testament, to which no reference can be here made without anachronism. With the poems upon similar topics I have not been recently familiar. Since I was twenty, I have never read Milton; but I had read him so frequently before, that this may make little difference. Gesner's Death of Abel 】 have never read since I was eight years of age, at Aberdeen. The general impression of my recollection is delight; but of the contents I remember only that Cain's wife was called Mahala, and Abel's Thirza: in the following pages I have called them Adah' and 'Zillah,' the earliest female names which occur in Genesis; they were those of Lamech's wives: those of Cain and Abel are not called by their names. Whether, then, a coincidence of subject may have caused the same expression, I know nothing, and care as little. The reader will please to bear in mind (what few choose to recollect), that there is no allusion to a future state in any of the books of Moses, nor indeed in the Old Testament. For a reason for this extraordinary omission, he may consult Warburton's Divine Legation: whether satisfactory or not, no better has yet been assigned. I have therefore supposed it new to Cain, without, I hope, any perversion of Holy Writ. With regard to the language of Lucifer, it was difficult for me to make him talk like a clergyman upon the same subjects; but I have done what I could to restrain him within the bounds of spiritual politeness. If he disclaims having tempted Eve in the shape of the Serpent, it is only because the book of Genesis has not the most distant allusion to anything of the kind, but merely to the Serpent in his serpentine capacity. Note. The reader will perceive that the author has partly adopted in this poem the notion of Cuvier, that the world had been destroyed several times before the creation of man. This speculation, derived from the different strata and the bones of enormous and unknown animals found in them, is not contrary to the Mosaic account, but rather confirms it; as no human bones have yet been discovered in those strata, although those of many known animals are found near the remains of the unknown. The assertion of Lucifer, that the pre-Adamite world was also peopled by rational beings much more intelligent than man, and proportionably powerful to the mammoth, etc. etc., is, of course, a poetical fiction to help him to make out his case. I ought to add, that there is a 'tramelogedia' of Alfieri, called Abele.-I have never read that, nor any other of the posthumous works of the writer, except his Life. SCENE I.-The Land without Paradise.-Time, Sunrise. Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Adah, Zillah, offering a sacrifice. Adam. GOD, the Eternal! Infinite! All-wise!Who out of darkness on the deep didst make Light on the waters with a word-all hail ! Jehovah, with returning light, all hail! Eve. God! who didst name the day, and separate Morning from night, till then divided neverWho didst divide the wave from wave, and call Part of Thy work the firmament—all hail! Abel, God! who didst call the elements into Earth, ocean, air, and fire, and with the day And night, and worlds, which these illuminate, Or shadow, madest beings to enjoy them, And love both them and Thee-all hail! all hail! Adah. God, the Eternal! Parent of all things! Who didst create these best and beauteous beings, To be beloved, more than all, save TheeLet me love Thee and them :-All hail! all hail! Zillah. O God! who loving, making, blessing all, Yet didst permit the Serpent to creep in, And drive my father forth from Paradise, Keep us from further evil-Hail! all hail! Adam. Son Cain, my first-born, wherefore art thou silent? Cain. Why should I speak? Adam. Cain. To pray. Have ye not prayed? Adam. We have, most fervently. Cain. Have heard you. And loudly: I Adam. So will God, I trust. The snake spoke truth; it was the tree of know ledge; It was the tree of life: knowledge is good. I fain would be alone a little while. Be on your spirit, brother! The peace of God [Exeunt Abel, Zillah, and Adah. And this is Cain [solus]. Life-Toil! and wherefore should I toil!--because My father could not keep his place in Eden! What had I done in this?-I was unborn: I sought not to be born; nor love the state To which that birth has brought me. Why did he Yield to the serpent and the woman? or, Yielding, why suffer? What was there in this? The tree was planted, and why not for him? If not, why place him near it, where it grew, The fairest in the centre? They have but One answer to all questions, "Twas His will, And He is good.' How know I that? Because He is all-powerful, must all-good, too, follow? I judge but by the fruits-and they are bitterWhich I must feed on for a fault not mine. Whom have we here ?-A shape like to the angel Cain. Who? Lucifer. Cain. Thy sire's Maker, and the earth's. And all that in them is. So I have heard His seraphs sing; and so my father saith. Of being that which I am-and thou art- Cain. As He saith-which I know not, nor believe→ We in our conflict! Goodness would not make Creating worlds, to make eternity Less burthensome to His immense existence Let Him crowd orb on orb: He is alone Could He but crush Himself, 'twere the best boon Spirits and men, at least we sympathize- By the unbounded sympathy of all With all! But He! so wretched in His height. [have swum Cain. Thou speak'st to me of things which long In visions through my thought! I never could Reconcile what I saw with what I heard. My father and my mother talk to me Of serpents, and of fruits and trees: I see A watching shepherd boy, who offers up Than the birds' matins; and my Adah, my For such companionship, I would not now I tempt none, Save with the truth: was not the tree, the tree The Proud One will not so far falsify, That bows to Him, who made things but to bend I thought it was a being: who could do Lucifer. Who? Ah! The Maker-call Him Which name thou wilt; He makes but to destroy. Cain. I knew not that, yet thought it, since I heard Of death: although I know not what it is, |