S. Stay! one word more before we proceed elsewhere. Mark me, ye
malicious executioners of my barbarous nod! from this moment I cease to
be your captain.*

*[The acting edition reads,--"Banditti! we are quits. This
bleeding corpse cancels my bond to you forever. From your own I
set you free." ROBBERS. "We are again your slaves till death!"
CHARLES. "No, no, no! We have done with each other. My genius
whispers me, 'Go no further, Moor. Here is the goal of humanity--
and thine!' Take back this bloody plume (throws it at their feet).
Let him who seeks to be your captain take it up."]

With shame and horror I here lay down the bloody staff, under which you
thought yourselves licensed to perpetrate your crimes and to defile the
fair light of heaven with deeds of darkness. Depart to the right and to
the left. We shall never more have aught in common.

THE ROBBERS. Ha! coward! where are thy lofty schemes? were they but
soap-bubbles, which disperse at the breath of a woman?*

*[In lieu of this soliloquy and what follows, to the end, the
acting edition has:--

R. MOOR. Dare not to scrutinize the acts of Moor. That is my last
command. Now, draw near--form a circle around me, and receive the
last words of your dying captain. (He surveys them attentively for
some time.) You have been devotedly faithful to me, faithful
beyond example. Had virtue bound you together as firmly as vice,
you would have been heroes, and your names recorded by mankind with
admiration. Go and offer your services to the state. Dedicate
your talents to the cause of a monarch who is waging war in
vindication of the rights of man. With this blessing I disband
you. Schweitzer and Kosinsky, do you stay. (The others disperse
slowly, with signs of emotion.)]

SCENE VIII.

R. MOOR, SCRWETTZER, and KOSINSKY.

R. MOOR. Give me thy right hand, Kosinsky--Schweitzer thy left.
(He takes their hands, and stands between, them; to KOSINSKY,)
Young man, thou art still pure-amongst the guilty thou alone art
guiltless! (To SCHWEITZER.) Deeply have I imbrued thy hand in
blood. 'Tis I who have done this. With this cordial grasp I take
back mine own. Schweitzer! thou art purified! (He raises their
hands fervently to heaven.) Father in heaven! here I restore them
to thee. They will be more devoted to thy service than those who
never fell. Of that I fee