176.-THOMAS OF TORRES.

SCENE. A foreign city. A miserable den-like room, surrounded with iron chests, secured with heavy padlocks-the door and windows grated and barred.-Thomas of Torres sitting at a desk, with pen and ink before him.

Enter a fine gentleman.

Gent. Good morrow, most excellent sir!

Thos. Humph!

Gent. I have the misfortune, sir, to need a thousand gold pieces, and knowing your unimpeachable honour, I have pleasure in asking the loan from you.

Thos. Humph !

Gent. Your rate of interest, sir, is?

Thos. Thirty per cent. for spendthrift heirs, and two

responsible sureties.

Gent. The terms are hard, sir.

Thos. They are the terms !

Gent. Sir, twenty per cent. is high interest: elsewhere

Thos. Then go elsewhere!

[The gentleman turns on his heel, and goes

out whistling.

Thos. The jackanapes!

Enter a grim-looking man.

Man. He cannot pay, sir; he declares it impossible, and prays you to have patience ;-and in the mean time leaves in your hand this casket.

Thos. [opening it] Baubles!-Can't pay!-impossible! -I say I will be paid!

Man. His ship was lost in the squall-he must sell the furniture of his house to cover your demand, and he prays you to have mercy on his wife and children!

Thos. Wife and children! talk not to me of wives and children! I'll have my money!

Man. I tell you, sir, it is impossible, without you seize his goods.

Thos. Then take the city bailiff, and get them appraised. Man. I cannot do it, sir! - You shall see him yourself. [Aside.] The nether millstone is running water compared to his heart! [He goes out

Thos. Twenty thousand gold pieces, and seven months

interest and give that up because a man has wife and children.-Ha! ha! ha!

[He resumes his pen, and calculates interest

Enter a Gentleman, with a depressed countenance.

Gent. Sir, my misfortunes are unparallel'd

My ship was stranded in the squall last week,
And now my wife is at the point of death!

Thos. Produce your sureties!

Gent.

They have proved false

Alas! they proved themselves false friends indeed!

They left the city ere I knew my loss,

And are not to be found.

Thos.

Thou wast a fool

To put thy trust in friends; all friends are false !

Gent. [pointing to the casket.] This casket, sir, I sent

to you in pledge;

It holds the jewels of my dying wife,

She will not need them more!

Thos.

I'll not accept it!

I'll have my money, every doit of it,

Principal and interest, paid down this day!

Gent. Inhuman wretch!-will you profane the chamber

Of my poor dying wife !

Thos.

I'll have my money!

[The gentleman, in great agitation, lays down a bundle of parchments before him.

Thos. Well, what of these!

Gent.

Give me the further sum

Of twenty thousand pieces on these lands

These parchments will be surety for the whole !

Thos. [glancing over them.] The land of Torres! ha!

ha! ha ! and you're?

Gent. The lord of Torres.

Thos.

How shall I be sure

Of the validity of these same deeds ?

Lord of T. I've heard it said that you are of that

country;

If so, the signatures of its late lords,

Father and son, may be well known to you,

Thos. [carefully examining them.] I had some knowledge of them-these are theirs :

And you give up your right unto this lordship
For the consideration of the sum

Of twenty thousand pieces?

Lord of T.

That doth exceed my meaning.

Thos.

No, no, sir;

Then pay down

The original sum, with interest, or a prison

Shall be your home this night.

Lord of T. 'Twould be unjust

To give away my children's patrimony !

Thos. Sir, take your choice. - Resign this petty lordship,

Or go you to the prison!

[He resumes his pen, and sits down doggedly to

his calculations.

Lord of T.

Ah, my wife,

My little innocent and helpless children!

Thos. Your home shall be a dungeon on the morrow!

Lord of T. Thou cruel bloodsucker! thou most inhu

man,

Most iron-hearted scrivener!

Thos.

Spare your tongue

Ill words obtain not men's consideration

Pay down the principal and interest!

Lord of T. Sir, forty thousand pieces for the lordship

Of Torres were a miserable price

Too cheap were it at sixty thousand pieces!

Thos. I know these lands of Torres-sore run out:
Woods fell'd-house fallen to decay-I know it;
A ruin'd, a dilapidated place!

Lord of T. So did the last possessor leave it, sir-
A graceless spendthrift heir, so did he leave it;
'Tis now a place of beauty--a fair spot,
None fairer under the broad face of heaven?

Thos. Sir, I am no extortioner, God knows;
I love fair, upright dealings! I will make
The twenty thousand pieces you have asked
A thousand pieces more, and drop my claim
To the whole sum of interest which is due!

Lord of T. Forty-one thousand pieces, and five hunLord of T. Give me till night to turn it in my thoughts. Thos. I'll give you not an hour!-not e'en a minute! [He stamps on the floor with his foot.

Enter a Boy.

Quick, fetch the notary!

[Exit Boy.

[The lord of Torres covers his face with his hands -Thomas of Torres resumes his calculations.

177.-LAST SCENE OF THOMAS OF TORRES.

A chamber lighted by a small iron lamp, the lord of Torres in his night-cap and dressing-gown-a closet with an iron door is beside his bed; he has a bunch of keys in his hand.

Enter an old Servant.

Servant. Master, there is a woman at the door,

And two small children; they do cry for bread;

Only a little morsel !

Lord of T.

A murrain on them!

Serv.

Drive them hence!

I have warn'd them hence,

But, master, she is dying; and the cry

Of those poor little children wrings my heart!

Lord of T. Liars they are, and thieves! Drive them away! Serv. Master, good lack! she will be dead ere morning!

Lord of T. Then elsewhere let her die! Bethink, you fool,

'Twould cost a noble, but to bury her!

Serv. [going out. Good lord! and he such plenty!

Enter Steward.

Steward. The barns are full, my lord, and there is yet grain to be housed.

Lord of T. The cost were great to build more barnslet it be housed under this roof.

Stew. My lord !

Lord of T. To be sure! the state-rooms are large and lofty-and to me they are useless, let them be filled!

Stew. What! with the gilt cornices, and the old lords and ladies on the walls !

Lord of T. The same! are they not well placed, so that a wain might approach without impediment?

Stew. It were a mortal sin!

Lord of T. I cannot afford to build new barns-remember the mildew last season, and the cow that died in March-these are great losses !

Stew. Well, my lord, the harvest is ready, it must be done quickly.

Lord of T. A broad door-way making, will not cost much; send me a builder to-morrow, and let us have an estimate-these people require being tied down to the farthing! [The steward goes out.

[The lord of Torres unlocks his iron door, counts
his bags, puts his keys under his pillow, and
then lies down-after some time, he starts up.

Fire! murder! thieves! my gold! my iron chest!
They will break in, and rob my iron chest!

[He rubs his eyes, and looks around him.

Was it a dream? thank heaven, it was a dream!

Then all is safe-my iron chest is safe !

[He feels for his keys.

Ay, they are safe, the keepers of my treasures-
Now let me sleep-I've much to do to-morrow.
I must be wary in this estimate.

One half the sum he asks will be enough!

[He lies down and sleeps.

[An awful voice passes through the chamber. "Thou fool, this night thy soul will be required from thee; then whose will those things be which thou has provided?" HOWITT.

178. THE BULLY.

Young Kno'well, with Master Matthew, Captain Bobadil, and Stephen

Mat. SIR, did your eyes ever taste the like clown of him, where we were to-day, Mr. Wellbred's half-brother? I think the whole earth cannot show his parallel, by this daylight.

Young K. We are now speaking of him. Captain Bobadil tells me he is fallen foul o' you, too.

Mat. O! ay, sir! he threatened me with the bastinado. Capt. B. Ay, but I think I taught you prevention this morning for that. You shall kill him, beyond question, if you be so generously minded