University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

Enter Arvida, Speaking to a Servant.
Arv.
I thank you, Friend, he's here, you may retire.

And.
Good Morning to my noble Guest, you're early!

[Gustavus walks apart.
Arv.
I come to take a short and hasty Leave:
'Tis said, that from the Mountain's neighb'ring Brow,
The Canvas of a thousand Tents appears,
Whitening the Vale—Suppose the Tyrant there;
You know my Safety lies not in the Interview—
Ha! What is he, who in the Shreds of Slavery
Supports a Step, superior to the State,
And Insolence of Ermine?

Gust.
Sure that Voice,
Was once the Voice of Friendship and Arvida!

Arv.
Ha! Yes—'tis he!—ye Pow'rs! it is Gustavus.

Gust.
Thou Brother of Adoption! In the Bond
Of ev'ry Virtue wedded to my Soul,
Enter my Heart, it is thy Property.

Arv.
I'm lost in Joy and wond'rous Circumstance.

Gust.
Yes, wherefore, my Arvida, wherefore is it,
That in a Place, and at a Time like this,
We should thus meet? Can Cristiern cease from Cruelty?
Say, whence is this, my Brother? How escap'd you?
Did I not leave thee in the Danish Dungeon?

Arv.
Of that hereafter. Let me view thee first.
How graceful is the Garb of Wretchedness!
When worn by Virtue? Fashions turn to Folly;
Their Colours tarnish, and their Pomps grow poor
To her Magnificence.

Gust.
Yes, my Arvida.
Beyond the sweeping of the proudest Train
That shades a Monarch's Heel, I prize these Weeds,
For they are sacred to my Country's Freedom.
A mighty Enterprize has been conceiv'd,
And thou art come auspicious to the Birth,
As sent to fix the Seal of Heav'n upon it.

Arv.
Point but thy Purpose—let it be to bleed—

Gust.
Your Hands my Friends!

All.
Our Hearts.

Gust.
I know they're brave.
Of such the Time has need, of Hearts like yours,
Faithful and firm, of Hands inured and strong,
For we must ride upon the Neck of Danger,
And plunge into a Purpose big with Death.

And.
Here let us kneel and bind us to thy Side.
By all—

Gust.
No, hold—if we want Oaths to join us,
Swift let us part, from Pole to Pole asunder.
A Cause like ours is its own Sacrament;
Truth, Justice, Reason, Love, and Liberty,
Th' eternal Links that clasp the World are in it,
And he, who breaks their Sanction, breaks all Law,
And infinite Connection.

Arn.
True, my Lord.

And.
And such the Force I feel.

Arv.
And I.

Arn.
And all.

Gust.
Know then, that 'ere our royal Stenon fell,
While this my valiant Cousin and myself,
By Chains and Treach'ry, lay detain'd in Denmark,
Upon a dark and unsuspected Hour
The bloody Cristiern sought to take my Head.
Thanks to the ruling Pow'r! within whose Eye
Imbosom'd Ills and mighty Treasons roll,
Prevented of their Blackness—I escap'd,
Led by a gen'rous Arm, and some time lay
Conceal'd in Denmark. For my forfeit Head
Became the Price of Crowns, each Port and Path
Was shut against my Passage, 'till I heard
That Stenon, valiant Stenon fell in Battle,
And Freedom was no more. O then what Bounds
Had Pow'r to hem the Desp'rate? I o'erpass'd them,
Travers'd all Sweden, thro' Ten thousand Foes,
Impending Perils, and surrounding Tongues,
That from himself enquir'd Gustavus out.
Witness my Country, how I toil'd to wake
Thy Sons to Liberty! In vain—for Fear,
Cold Fear had seiz'd on all—Here last I came,
And shut me from the Sun, whose hateful Beams
Serv'd but to shew the Ruins of my Country.
When here, my Friends, 'twas here at length I found
What I had left to look for, gallant Spirits,
In the rough Form of untaught Peasantry.

And.
Indeed they once were brave, our Dalecarlians
Have oft been known to give a Law to Kings;
And as their only Wealth has been their Liberty,
From all th' unmeasur'd Graspings of Ambition
Have held that Gem untouch'd—tho' now 'tis fear'd—

Gust.
It is not fear'd—I say they still shall hold it.
I've search'd these Men, and find them like the Soil,
Barren without, and to the Eye unlovely,
But they've their Mines within; and this the Day
In which I mean to prove them.

Arn.
O Gustavus!
Most aptly hast thou caught the passing Hour,
Upon whose critical and fated Hinge
The State of Sweden turns.

Gust.
And to this Hour
I've therefore held me in this darksome Womb,
That sends me forth as to a second Birth
Of Freedom, or thro' Death to reach Eternity.
This Day return'd with ev'ry circling Year,
In Thousands pours the Mountain Peasants forth,
Each with his batter'd Arms and rusty Helm,
In sportive Discipline well train'd, and prompt
Against the Day of Peril—thus disguis'd,
Already have I stirr'd their latent Sparks
Of slumb'ring Virtue, apt as I cou'd wish
To warm before the lightest Breath of Liberty.

Arn.
How will they kindle when confess'd to View
Once more their lov'd Gustavus stands before them,
And pours his Blaze of Virtues on their Souls.

Arv.
It cannot fail.

And.
It has a glorious Aspect.

Arv.
Now Sweden! rise and re-assert thy Rights,
Or be for ever fall'n.

And.
Then be it so.

Arn.
Lead on, thou Arm of War,
To Death or Victory.

Gust.
Let us embrace.
Why thus, my Friends, thus join'd in such a Cause,
Are we not equal to a Host of Slaves!
You say the Foe's at Hand—Why let them come,
Steep are our Hills nor easy of Access,
And few the Hours we ask for their Reception.
For I will take these rustic Sons of Liberty
In the first Warmth and Hurry of their Souls;
And shou'd the Tyrant then attempt our Heights,
He comes upon his Fate—Arise thou Sun!
Haste, haste to rouze thee to the Call of Liberty,
That shall once more salute thy Morning Beam,
And hail thee to thy Setting.

Arn.
O bless'd Voice!
Prolong that Note but one short Day thro' Sweden,
And tho' the Sun and Life should set together,
It matters not—we shall have liv'd that Day.

Arv.
Were it not worth the Hazard of a Life
To know if Cristiern leads his Pow'rs in Person,
And what his Scope intends? Be mine that Task,
Ev'n to the Tyrant's Tent I'll win my Way,
And mingle with his Councils.

Gust.
Go, my Friend.
Dear as thou art, whene'er our Country calls,
Friends, Sons, and Sires should yield their Treasure up,
Nor own a Sense beyond the publick Safety.
But tell me, my Arvida, 'ere thou goest,
Tell me what Hand has made thy Friend its Debtor,
And giv'n thee up to Freedom and Gustavus?

Arv.
Ha! let me think of that, 'tis sure she loves him.
[Aside.
Away thou skance and jaundice Eye of Jealousy,
That tempts my Soul to sicken at Perfection;
Away! I will unfold it—To thyself
Arvida owes his Freedom.

Gust.
How, my Friend?

Arv.
Some Months are pass'd since in the Danish Dungeon
With Care emaciate, and unwholsome Damps
Sick'ning I lay, chain'd to my flinty Bed,
And call'd on Death to ease me—strait a Light
Shone round, as when the Ministry of Heav'n
Descends to kneeling Saints. But O! the Form
That pour'd upon my Sight—Ye Angels speak!
For ye alone are like her; or present
Such Visions pictur'd to the nightly Eye
Of Fancy trans'd in Bliss. She then approach'd,
The softest Pattern of embodied Meekness,
For Pity had divinely touch'd her Eye,
And harmoniz'd her Motions—Ah, she cry'd,
Unhappy Stranger, art not thou the Man
Whose Virtues have endear'd thee to Gustavus?

Gust.
Gustavus did she say?

Arv.
Yes, yes, her Lips
Breath'd forth that Name with a peculiar Sweetness.
Loos'd from my Bonds, I rose, at her Command,
When, scarce recov'ring Speech, I would have kneel'd,
But haste thee, haste thee for thy Life, she cry'd;
And O, if e'er thy envied Eyes behold
Thy lov'd Gustavus; say, a gentle Foe
Has giv'n thee to his Friendship.

Gust.
You've much amaz'd me! Is her Name a Secret?

Arv.
To me it is—but you perhaps may guess.

Gust.
No, on my Word.

Arv.
You too had your Deliv'rer.

Gust.
A kind, but not a fair one—Well, my Friends!
Our Cause is ripe, and calls us forth to Action.
Tread ye not lighter? Swells not ev'ry Breast
With ampler Scope to take your Country in,
And breathe the Cause of Virtue? Rise, ye Swedes!
Rise greatly equal to this Hour's Importance.
On us the Eyes of future Ages wait,
And this Day's Arm strikes forth decisive Fate;
This Day, that shall for ever sink—or save;
And make each Swede a Monarch—or a Slave.