University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

—The Mountains.
Enter Hertman, 2 E. L. H.
Hert.
Hillio! hillio! Albert, hillio!

Enter Albert, 2 E. L. H.
Alb.
Tush, man! I am not deaf, that you should shout
So lustily as though you wished to bring
An avalanche upon our witless heads.
Did'st ever look upon so fair a scene? [Looking off, L.]


Hert.
On many, and oft on this. Marry, I love not
Your bleak unmannered mountains,
Whose boisterous storms shew not more favour
To the velvet mantle than the rustic cloth.
The sprinkling Old Pontius gave us but just now
Hath set me shaking like the Knapstein rock—
So let us on, or Stantz will not welcome us
To-night. See, the sun is in yon valley.

Alb.
(Who has been attentively looking at the prospect.)
Thirteen broad lakes! By Heaven, I marvel not
These Swiss are jealous of their rights and name,
Had I been born one, I had been more proud
Of these wild hills than all the marble dwellings
Kings are housed in.

Hert.
Methinks, Count Rudolph
Would not be over grateful for such thoughts.
But, prithee, on; I must to night be found
At Stantz. Come, Albert! thour't like a foolish girl
That loves whate'er is newest.

Alb.
I'faith, not I—
I love but what is nature. When could man
With all his reason's art, so grand a pile
Erect or fashion, as her gigantic thought,
Hath rais'd in these high hills? Where a carpet spread
Of such bright hues, or yielding texture,
As her luxuriant fancy
Hath wowen for these valleys? Where a dome
More lofty or more fair than these tall pine tops?

Hert.
A truce to sentiment. If thy philosophy
Can make these stones good cheer,
These streams convert to palatable wine,
Then would I tarry, shouldst thou preach till midnight
But as I doubt its power, I'd fain be stirring.

Alb.
Have with thee, then! Thou hast a soul too small
To gather pleasure but from sensual things;
That which can feed thy body's appetite,
And tend to profit, hath all charms for thee.
Hertman, thou'lt thrive when I shall be a beggar.

Hert.
Give me substantial things: they're my philosophy.

[Exeunt 1 E. R. H.