--No; I am too happy to live. See, Madalena, I take his hand, but it
is to place it in yours. All is over. _(sinks into their arms.)_
SCENE FROM PIZARRO.
SCENE I.--A Dungeon.
_Alonzo in chains--A sentinel walking near._
ALONZO. (c.)--For the last time, I have beheld the quivering lustre of the
stars. For the last time, O, sun! (and soon the hour), I shall behold thy
rising, and thy level beams melting the pale mists of morn to glittering
dew drops. Then comes my death, and in the morning of my day, I fall,
which--no, Alonzo, date not the life which thou hast run, by the mean
reckoning of the hours and days, which thou has breathed:--a life spent
worthily should be measured by a nobler line; by deeds, not years. They
only have lived long, who have lived virtuously. Surely, even now, thin
streaks of glimmering light steal on the darkness of the East. If so, my
life is but one hour more. I will not watch the coming dawn; but in the
darkness of my cell, my last prayer to thee, Power Supreme! shall be for my
wife and child! Grant them to dwell in innocence and peace; grant health
and purity of mind--all else is worthless.
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