HOST Lady, you'll find your Father at the Convent As I have told you: He left us yesterday With two Companions; one of them, as seemed, His most familiar Friend. (Going.) There was a letter Of which I heard them speak, but that I fancy Has been forgotten. IDONEA (to Host) Farewell! HOST Gentle pilgrims, St. Cuthbert speed you on your holy errand. [Exeunt IDONEA and Pilgrims.] [SCENE--A desolate Moor] [OSWALD (alone)] OSWALD Carry him to the Camp! Yes, to the Camp. Oh, Wisdom! a most wise resolve! and then, That half a word should blow it to the winds! This last device must end my work.--Methinks It were a pleasant pastime to construct A scale and table of belief--as thus-- Two columns, one for passion, one for proof; Each rises as the other falls: and first, Passion a unit and _against_ us--proof-- Nay, we must travel in another path, Or we're stuck fast for ever;--passion, then, Shall be a unit _for_ us; proof--no, passion! We'll not insult thy majesty by time, Person, and place--the where, the when, the how, And all particulars that dull brains require To constitute the spiritless shape of Fact, They bow to, calling the idol, Demonstration. A whipping to the Moralists who preach That misery is a sacred thing: for me, I know no cheaper engine to degrade a man, Nor any half so sure. This Stripling's mind Is shaken till the dregs float on the surface; And, in the storm and anguish of the heart, He talks of a transition in his Soul, And dreams that he is happy. We dissect The senseless body, and why not the mind?-- These are strange sights--the mind of man, upturned, Is in all natures a strange spectacle; In some a hideous one--hem! shall I stop? No.--Thoughts and feelings will sink deep, but then They have no substance. Pass but a few minutes, And something shall be done which Memory May touch, whene'er her Vassals are at work. [Enter MARMADUKE, from behind] OSWALD (turning to meet him) But listen, for my peace-- MARMADUKE Why, I _believe_ you. OSWALD But hear the proofs-- MARMADUKE Ay, prove that when two peas Lie snugly in a pod, the pod must then Be larger than the peas--prove this--'twere matter Worthy the hearing. Fool was I to dream It ever could be otherwise!