University of Virginia Library

Scene IV.

—The Dwelling-house of the Lord of Occo.
Occo and Van Aeswyn.
Occo.
The mariners, then, are for us?

Aeswyn.
They are ours.

Occo.
And these are of the curriers that thou bring'st?

Aeswyn.
The deacons of that craft—they're backward still:
They're ever harping upon Artevelde,
Who told their worships when they took the oath
If his poor humour govern'd, nothing else
But leathern jerkins should be worn in Ghent.

Occo.
We'll deal with them as with the fullers; go
And bring them in.
[Exit Van Aeswyn.
Well done, Sir Curriers!
These precious moments must be given to you!
The Devil curry you for senseless boors!
Re-enter Van Aeswyn with the two Craftsmen.
Good morrow, Masters—Ha! my valued friend,
Jacob Van Ryk; and if mine eyes see true,
Master—

Aeswyn.
Van Muck.

Occo.
Tush, tush, Sir! tell not me;
Have I forgotten my old friend Van Muck,
Or any of my friends?—though time is short
And we must scant our greetings. Worthy Sirs,
We're in a perilous predicament,
And I should take no step without advice.
Rash were it, and a tempting Providence,
Should I proceed without consulting you.
We see, Sirs, we must see, we can't but own,
That we have no choice left us but of peace
Or else destruction. It is come to that.
Then if we must be subject to the Earl,
I will confess I'm not so subtle-witted
To see much difference 'twixt this hour and that,
The going over to him now at once
With flesh upon our bones, or holding back
Till famine wastes it or steel hacks it off:
I see no difference.

Van Muck.
Truly, Sir, nor I.

Occo.
Ay, but there is a difference, my friends,
Which I forgot. For, hark you in your ear!
Those who go over but when all go over,
If they escape from pains and penalties,
Can scarcely claim much merit with the Earl;
But they who find a guidance for themselves,
Who take a step or two before the herd,
Whilst the will's free. who lead, not follow,—these
Have rightful claims; yes, boldly these may say
Reward us, for the first and foremost we;
Nor will they be unanswer'd, that I know:
“First serve the first,” is what they say at Bruges.

Van Ryk.
'Tis a good proverb, Sir, for early men;
And we have ne'er been slack in things of credit;
But we have scruples here. We see it thus:
If we should but shout peace with half the town
The Earl would scarce take count of us; again,
Should we make haste in raising of our hands
Against our friends, they'd call us renegades,
And blacken us for false and treacherous knaves.

Occo.
Why, look ye now; too surely, should ye shout,
And fail in action, 'twere no singular service;
There's no great guerdon were deserved by that;
The clerkships of the wards (which after peace
Must be new fill'd) would not be won by shouts:
But where's the treachery? My worthy friends,
Look at the matter simply as it is:
Here is a town beleaguer'd in such wise
That it must needs surrender upon terms:
Then come a lot of desperate-minded men,
Who, deeming the rendition gives up them
To punishment, make head against the rest:
These think no shame to say that all must die
To save their one—two—three—half-dozen heads
From certain hazards. Why if fall they must,
And they would rather 'twere by steel than cord,
Let them assail us and let us be men!
Are we not free to choose 'twixt peace and war?
They—they it is that are so treacherous—they,
Who would betray a city to its doom
For private and particular ends of theirs.
Then let us rally round the public weal
And link our names with that.

Van Ryk.
The city's weal
Doth one way beckon us, it must be own'd;
But some of us there are that but last night
Swore fealty to Artevelde.

Occo.
What then?
That was but for the war—not knowing then
That it was ended by your deputies
And peace concluded: answer not so idly.
Swore ye not fealty to the Earl before?
Come, come, my friends—we're all as one, I see;
And let me tell you that the whole of Ghent,
Almost the whole, is minded like yourselves.
Strange is it men shall meditate and muse
In secret all alike, and show no sign
Till a blow's struck, and then they speak it out,
And each man finds in each his counterpart,
And, as a sluice were opened, all shall rush
To find the self-same level and pour on
To the same end. But I forgot, my friends;
We have to think of what particular mark
Should first be aim'd at when the blow is struck.

Van Ryk.
So please you, Sir, a cast at Van den Bosch
Were not amiss, methinks.

Occo.
Well shot, Van Ryk;
But yet not quite the bull's eye.

Van Muck.
By the mass,
He's shot the bull he had his horns of—Ha!
What will Dame Oda say to thee?

Van Ryk.
Come, come!
If that's our archery, Frans Fleisch for thee.

Occo.
My friends, we'll settle all such scores at will.
But is not Ghent more precious than our wives?
And who debauches her? When she was fain
To creep into her long-left Lord's embrace,
Who came at night and whistled her away?
This is the aggravation that most stirs
The choler of the Earl. The other Chiefs,
Men that by accidents and long degrees
Became entangled in rebellion,—them
He can forgive; but he that plunged plump in
And so new troubled what was settling down,
This is the man that he has mark'd for death.
Whoso brings down that head has hit a mark
That's worth five hundred crowns. What say you, friends?
Who strikes a good stroke with his sword for this?
[A pause.
To speak it with no mincing of the sense,
Van Artevelde, you understand, must die;
His life the Earl must have. Who hath the guerdon
Is not of moment save to them that get it;
But truly were the money on my head,
And I as sure to die as Artevelde,
I'd rather men like you should win the prize
Than see it snatch'd by luck; when die we must,
'Tis better that thereby good men should thrive
Than snatchers.

Van Ryk.
Saving your displeasure, Sir,
'Tis said good men ne'er thrive but by good deeds.
Now, were it but the slaying Van den Bosch,
Or Peter Nuitre, or Frans Ackerman,
There's husbands, widows, orphans, all through Ghent
Would say the deed was good: but Artevelde
Has, as it were, a creditable name,
And men would say we struck not for revenge
But only lucre, which were scandalous;
And also, Sir—

Occo
(to a Serving-man who enters).
What, sirrah?—Speak—what now?
[The Serving-man whispers him.
Van Artevelde! what say'st thou?—coming here?
Not now—not now?

Serving-man.
Now, instantly, my Lord.

Occo.
Masters, I wish you both good-day—good-day,
God prosper thee, Van Ryk—Van Muck, farewell.
Why op'st thou not the door, thou villain groom?
Think'st thou the burgesses have time to lose?
Farewell at once, Sirs—not to keep you here
When things are all so stirring in the town;
You're needed at your posts, I know; farewell.

Van Ryk.
My Lord, as touching these five hundred crowns—

Occo.
Just as ye will, Sirs—any way ye please;
I bid God speed you, and so fare ye well.

Van Ryk.
If you would take four hundred from the five,
And set the residue on Van den Bosch,
His head I'd bring you in for that much coin,
And Ackerman's for love and pure good-will.

Van Muck.
And Sir, as touching Artevelde—

Occo.
Nay, nay,
I will not press it further.

Van Muck.
If the crowns—

Occo.
Peace, on your lives, he's here!

Enter Artevelde.
Artevelde.
My Lord of Occo, at your pleasure. Ha!
Attended, too, as I could wish. God's love!
I'd not desire to see a friend of mine
Better accompanied,—no, nor a foe
Better encounter'd, than by men like these.
Jacob Van Ryk, my father loved you much;
No man knew better, Jacob, none than he,
Who were the worthiest of his love and trust,
And I, thou seest, have mounted to his seat.
How the old times come back upon me now!
I was a very little prating child
When thou wert of his escort to and fro
From post to pillar: it was always thou
Whom he would choose from them that brought him home
To ask thy company; and in thine arms
He oft would put me for his more repose,
For I was stillest there. Times change, Van Ryk;
Years shift us up and down; but something sticks;
And for myself, there's nothing as a man
That I love more than what my childhood loved.
Honest Van Muck, thy hand—thou look'st abash'd—
Ah, thou bethink'st thee of thy little debt,
The money that I lent thee for the close.
Why, what of that, man? Didst thou ever hear
An Artevelde would hurt his friend for gold?
Thy debt is cancell'd—think of it no more;
Thou shalt look boldly upward in the world
And care for no man. I will settle that
This instant with a writing.

Occo.
By your leave,
The burgesses are tarried for elsewhere;
They are incontinently going hence;
You will forgive their haste, they cannot stay;
Open the doors. Good-day, Sirs, once again.

Van Muck.
Master Van Artevelde, I'm your debtor more
Than ever I was yet. God guard you, Sir,
And specially in your perils near at hand!

Van Ryk.
Master Van Artevelde, God grant you grace
To read men's hearts,—the gift your father had.
Look for your friends amongst the Commons ever;
An 'twere not for Lord Occo standing here,
I'd bid you trust in ne'er a Lord of Ghent.

[Exeunt the Craftsmen.
Artevelde
(after a pause).
These are ambiguous knaves.

Occo.
True craftsmen both!
Ever suspicious of nobility.

Artevelde.
That am not I. You had some news to tell,
So your Lieutenant said.

Occo.
Intelligence
Has reach'd me of the terms the Earl will grant;
A guarantee of franchises and rights
Conditional on some three hundred souls
Being surrender'd to his mercy.

Artevelde.
Ay;
Of whom then is this number?

Occo.
Whom the Earl
May please to name hereafter; but meanwhile
The lists are written out, though not divulged;
And what is worthiest note, upon the file
Your name appears not.

Artevelde.
By my faith, that's strange!
But are the tidings sure?

Occo.
Beyond all doubt.

Artevelde.
How came you by them, if they be so sure?

Occo.
They're rumour'd—confidently rumour'd—Nay,
I had them also from my spies at Bruges;
A most sagacious spy—he saw the lists;
He never vet deceived me—there's no doubt.

Artevelde.
And what do you advise, if this be truth?

Occo.
Why, if the town be obstinately bent
On making peace, my counsel to yourself,
Whose life peace places not in jeopardy,
Would be to leave the forward part to us
Whose only safety lies in holding out;
So that, if we should fall, you still may stand,
Whatever turn things take. And bear in mind,
If there be danger and the crafts revolt,
To throw yourself among the mariners:
There's none of all the crafts so wholly with us?

Artevelde.
With which of us, my Lord?

Occo.
With one and all.

Artevelde.
Ay, say you so? And my part, as you think,
Is to stand back and see you play the game.
I have a notion of a leader's part
That looks another way. Your counsel asked
Not wholly without profit have I heard:
Now I will give you mine; and be you pleased
To profit in like sort lest worse befall you
I too have had my spies upon the watch,
And what they brought me sounded in my ears
A note of warning link'd with names well known,
Now known for traitors' names. I hereupon
Took order for a numerous company
Selected for their hardihood and faith
To be for ever close upon the heels
Of these same traitors at all guild-assemblies,
And use their weapons on a sign from me.
Which matters recommending to your care
I counsel you to stay at home. Farewell.

[Exit.
Enter Van Aeswyn.
Aeswyn.
My Lord, Sir Guisebert is impatient much,
And sends one message on another's heels
To ask why tarry you?

Occo.
I am not well.

Aeswyn.
But they must needs set forth at once; ere this
The market-place is full; they cannot wait.

Occo.
Hark you! he knows it all.

Aeswyn.
Van Artevelde?

Occo.
Knows everything.

Aeswyn.
And what is to be done?

Occo.
I'm ill at ease; I know not; what think'st thou?

Aeswyn.
If he but knew it half-an-hour too soon,
His knowledge is of small account.

Occo.
God's death!
But who can tell how long he's known it—nay,
How many he have practised with and gain'd—
How many may have falsely seem'd to swerve
By his direction, only to delude
And so embolden me to my defeat.
I would this hour were over!

Aeswyn.
Choose your course;
Take one part or the other, lest it pass,
And leave you ruined both ways.

Occo.
Ruin'd! Ruin'd!
He told me if I ventured to the Square
His followers should slay me.

Aeswyn.
Yours may him;
'Tis a fair challenge, let us fight it out.

Occo.
Why, that is bravely said. Then be it so;
Thou shalt have warranty to fight it out;
And if we're beaten, I shall stand prepared
To fly to Bruges with any that way bent.
And hark you, friend! not empty-handed, no,
We'll take what's worth our ransom ten times told,—
A damsel whom thou wot'st of. Pick me out
Ten of the sturdiest of my body-guard,
Van Truckler and Van Linden at their head;
Bid them have horses and a litter near.
Shouldst thou be worsted in the market-place
I will be nigh thee to protect thy flight
Till thou mayst reach the gates. God speed thee well!

[Exit.
Aeswyn.
The dastard! when the service touches life
The follower must lead, and venture all
For him that ventures nothing. Are we fools?