 | Edward and Eleonora |  |
SCENE III.
Theald, Gloster.Theald.
Whatever Woes, of late, have clouded England;
Yet must I, Gloster, call that Nation happy,
On whose Horizon smiles a dawning Prince
Of Edward's Worth and Virtues.
Gloster.
True, my Friend;
Edward has great, has amiable Virtues,
That Virtue chiefly which befits a Prince:
He loves the People he must one day rule;
With Fondness loves them, with a noble Pride;
Esteems their Good, esteems their Glory his.
One Instance it becomes me to recount,
That shows the genuine Greatness of his Soul.
Tho' I have met him in the bloody Field,
He fighting for his Father, I for Freedom;
Yet bears his Bosom no remaining Grudge
Of those distracted Times: to me his Heart
Is greatly reconcil'd—Virtue! beyond
The little unforgiving Soul of Tyrants!
Edward has great, has amiable Virtues,
That Virtue chiefly which befits a Prince:
He loves the People he must one day rule;
With Fondness loves them, with a noble Pride;
Esteems their Good, esteems their Glory his.
One Instance it becomes me to recount,
That shows the genuine Greatness of his Soul.
6
He fighting for his Father, I for Freedom;
Yet bears his Bosom no remaining Grudge
Of those distracted Times: to me his Heart
Is greatly reconcil'd—Virtue! beyond
The little unforgiving Soul of Tyrants!
Now will I tell thee, Theald, whence I stoop
To wear the gaudy Chains of Court-Attendance,
At these grey Years; that should in calm Retirement
Pass the soft Evening of a bustling Life,
And plume my parting Soul for better Worlds.
Amidst his many Virtues, youthful Edward
Is lofty, warm, and absolute of Temper:
I therefore seek to moderate his Heat,
To guide his fiery Virtues, that, misled,
By dazling Power and flattering Sycophants,
Might finish what his Father's weaker Measures
Have try'd in vain. And hence I here attend him,
In Expeditions which I ne'er approv'd,
In holy Wars—your Pardon, Reverend Father—
I must declare I think such Wars the Fruit
Of idle Courage or mistaken Zeal,
Sometimes of Rapine and religious Rage,
To every Mischief prompt.
To wear the gaudy Chains of Court-Attendance,
At these grey Years; that should in calm Retirement
Pass the soft Evening of a bustling Life,
And plume my parting Soul for better Worlds.
Amidst his many Virtues, youthful Edward
Is lofty, warm, and absolute of Temper:
I therefore seek to moderate his Heat,
To guide his fiery Virtues, that, misled,
By dazling Power and flattering Sycophants,
Might finish what his Father's weaker Measures
Have try'd in vain. And hence I here attend him,
In Expeditions which I ne'er approv'd,
In holy Wars—your Pardon, Reverend Father—
I must declare I think such Wars the Fruit
Of idle Courage or mistaken Zeal,
Sometimes of Rapine and religious Rage,
To every Mischief prompt.
Theald.
You wrong, my Lord,
You wrong them much. To set this Matter only
Upon a Civil Footing: say, what Right
Had Robbers rushing from Arabian Desarts,
Fierce as the Suns that kindled up their Rage,
Thus, in a barbarous Torrent, to bear down
All Asia, Africk, and profane their Altars?
And to repel brute Force by Force is just.
Nay, does not even our Duty, Int'rest, Glory,
The common Honour of the Christian Name,
7
That labours westward still, and threatens Europe?
Gloster.
Yes, when they burst their Limits, let us check them:
And with a firmer hand than those loose Christians,
The most corrupt and abject of Mankind,
Slaves, doubly Slaves, who suffer'd these Arabians,
In Virtue their Superiors as in Valour,
To measure Conquest with a Traveller's Speed.
By Rage and Zeal, 'tis true, their Empire rose:
But now some settled Ages of Possession
Create a Right, than which, I fear, few Nations
Can shew a better. Sure I am 'tis Madness,
Inhuman Madness, thus, from half the World,
To drain our Blood and Treasure, to neglect
Each Art of Peace, to set Mankind adrift:
And all for what? By spreading Desolation,
Rapine and Slaughter o'er the other half,
To gain a Conquest we can never hold.
And with a firmer hand than those loose Christians,
The most corrupt and abject of Mankind,
Slaves, doubly Slaves, who suffer'd these Arabians,
In Virtue their Superiors as in Valour,
To measure Conquest with a Traveller's Speed.
By Rage and Zeal, 'tis true, their Empire rose:
But now some settled Ages of Possession
Create a Right, than which, I fear, few Nations
Can shew a better. Sure I am 'tis Madness,
Inhuman Madness, thus, from half the World,
To drain our Blood and Treasure, to neglect
Each Art of Peace, to set Mankind adrift:
And all for what? By spreading Desolation,
Rapine and Slaughter o'er the other half,
To gain a Conquest we can never hold.
I venerate this Land. Its sacred Hills,
Its Vales, its Cities, trod by Saints and Prophets,
By God himself, the Scenes of heavenly Wonders,
Inspire me with a certain awful Joy.
But the same God, my Friend, pervades, sustains,
Surrounds and fills this universal Frame;
And every Land where spreads his vital Presence,
His all-enlivening Breath, to me is holy.
Its Vales, its Cities, trod by Saints and Prophets,
By God himself, the Scenes of heavenly Wonders,
Inspire me with a certain awful Joy.
But the same God, my Friend, pervades, sustains,
Surrounds and fills this universal Frame;
And every Land where spreads his vital Presence,
His all-enlivening Breath, to me is holy.
Excuse me, Theald, if I go too far:
I meant alone to say, I think these Wars
A kind of Persecution. And when that,
That most absurd and cruel of all Vices,
Is once begun, where shall it find an end?
Each, in his turn, or has or claims a Right
To wield its Dagger, to return its Furies;
And, first or last, they fall upon our selves.
I meant alone to say, I think these Wars
A kind of Persecution. And when that,
That most absurd and cruel of all Vices,
Is once begun, where shall it find an end?
Each, in his turn, or has or claims a Right
To wield its Dagger, to return its Furies;
And, first or last, they fall upon our selves.
8
behind the Scenes.
Inhuman Villain! is thy Message Murder!
Theald.
Ha! heard you not the Prince exclaiming Murder?
Gloster.
Should this Barbarian Messenger—
[Moving towards the Noise.
'Tis so!
| Edward and Eleonora | |