I had begun a drama upon this tale so far back as 1815, (the first I ever attempted, except one at thirteen years old, called "Ulric and Ilvina," which I had sense enough to burn,) and had nearly completed an act, when I was interrupted by circumstances. This is somewhere amongst my papers in England; but as it has not been found, I have re-written the first, and added the subsequent acts. The whole is neither intended, nor in any shape adapted, for the stage[cm]. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. MEN. WERNER. ULRIC. STRALENHEIM. IDENSTEIN. GABOR. FRITZ. HENRICK. ERIC. ARNHEIM. MEISTER. RODOLPH. LUDWIG. WOMEN. JOSEPHINE. IDA STRALENHEIM. SCENE--Partly on the Frontier of Silesia, and partly in Siegendorf Castle, near Prague. Time--_The Close of the Thirty Years' War_[160]. WERNER; OR, THE INHERITANCE. ACT I. SCENE I.--_The Hall of a decayed Palace near a small Town on the Northern Frontier of Silesia--the Night tempestuous_. WERNER _and_ JOSEPHINE, _his Wife_. _Jos._ My love, be calmer! _Wer._ I am calm. _Jos._ To me-- Yes, but not to thyself: thy pace is hurried, And no one walks a chamber like to ours, With steps like thine, when his heart is at rest. Were it a garden, I should deem thee happy, And stepping with the bee from flower to flower; But _here!_ _Wer._ 'Tis chill; the tapestry lets through The wind to which it waves: my blood is frozen. _Jos._ Ah, no! _Wer._ (_smiling_). Why! wouldst thou have it so? _Jos._ I would Have it a healthful current. _Wer._ Let it flow 10 Until 'tis spilt or checked--how soon, I care not. _Jos._ And am I nothing in thy heart? _Wer._ All--all. _Jos._ Then canst thou wish for that which must break mine?