MARMADUKE For this purpose Should he resolve to taint her Soul by means Which bathe the limbs in sweat to think of them; Should he, by tales which would draw tears from iron, Work on her nature, and so turn compassion And gratitude to ministers of vice, And make the spotless spirit of filial love Prime mover in a plot to damn his Victim Both soul and body-- WALLACE 'Tis too horrible; Oswald, what say you to it? LACY Hew him down, And fling him to the ravens. MARMADUKE But his aspect It is so meek, his countenance so venerable. WALLACE (with an appearance of mistrust) But how, what say you, Oswald? LACY (at the same moment) Stab him, were it Before the Altar. MARMADUKE What, if he were sick, Tottering upon the very verge of life, And old, and blind-- LACY Blind, say you? OSWALD (coming forward) Are we Men, Or own we baby Spirits? Genuine courage Is not an accidental quality, A thing dependent for its casual birth On opposition and impediment. Wisdom, if Justice speak the word, beats down The giant's strength; and, at the voice of Justice, Spares not the worm. The giant and the worm-- She weighs them in one scale. The wiles of woman, And craft of age, seducing reason, first Made weakness a protection, and obscured The moral shapes of things. His tender cries And helpless innocence--do they protect The infant lamb? and shall the infirmities, Which have enabled this enormous Culprit To perpetrate his crimes, serve as a Sanctuary To cover him from punishment? Shame!--Justice, Admitting no resistance, bends alike The feeble and the strong. She needs not here Her bonds and chains, which make the mighty feeble. --We recognise in this old Man a victim Prepared already for the sacrifice. LACY By heaven, his words are reason!