_Manuel._ He disapproves--and 'twere of no avail-- He changes rapidly. _Her._ 'Twill soon be over. _Manuel._ Oh! what a death is this! that I should live To shake my gray hairs over the last chief Of the house of Sigismund.--And such a death! Alone--we know not how--unshrived--untended-- With strange accompaniments and fearful signs-- I shudder at the sight--but must not leave him. _Manfred._ (_speaking faintly and slowly._) Old man! 'tis not so difficult to die. [MANFRED _having said this expires._ _Her._ His eyes are fixed and lifeless.--He is gone.-- _Manuel._ Close them.--My old hand quivers.--He departs-- Whither? I dread to think--but he is gone! [Footnote 1: It will be perceived that, as far as this, the original matter of the third Act has been retained.] [Footnote 2: "Raven-stone (Rabenstein), a translation of the German word for the gibbet, which in Germany and Switzerland is permanent, and made of stone."] [Footnote 3: This fine soliloquy, and a great part of the subsequent scene, have, it is hardly necessary to remark been retained in the present form of the Drama.] [Footnote 4: Altered in the present form, to "some strange things in them, Herman."] * * * * * LETTER 278. TO MR. MURRAY. "Rome, May 9. 1817. "Address all answers to Venice; for there I shall return in fifteen days, God willing. "I sent you from Florence 'The Lament of Tasso,' and from Rome the third Act of Manfred, both of which, I trust, will duly arrive. The terms of these two I mentioned in my last, and will repeat in this, it is three hundred for each, or _six_ hundred guineas for the two--that is, if you like, and they are good for any thing. "At last one of the parcels is arrived. In the notes to Childe Harold there is a blunder of yours or mine: you talk of arrival at _St. Gingo_, and, immediately after, add--'on the height is the Chateau of Clarens.' This is sad work: Clarens is on the _other_ side of the Lake, and it is quite impossible that I should have so bungled. Look at the MS.; and at any rate rectify it. "The 'Tales of my Landlord' I have read with great pleasure, and perfectly understand now why my sister and aunt are so very positive in the very erroneous persuasion that they must have been written by me. If you knew me as well as they do, you would have fallen, perhaps, into the same mistake. Some day or other, I will explain to you _why_--when I have time; at present, it does not much matter; but you must have thought this blunder of theirs very odd, and so did I, till I had read the book. Croker's letter to you is a very great compliment; I shall return it to you in my next.