 | Basil |  |
SCENE III.
A small apartment in the palace.Enter Duke and Gauriecio.
Duke.
The point is gain'd; my daughter is successful;
And Basil is detain'd another day.
Gaur.
But does the princess know your secret aim?
Duke.
No, that had marr'd the whole; she is a woman—
Her mind, as suits the sex, too weak and narrow
To relish deep-laid schemes of policy.
Besides, so far unlike a child of mine,
She holds its subtle arts in high derision,
And will not serve us but with bandag'd eyes.
Gauriecio, could I trusty servants find,
Experienc'd, crafty, close, and unrestrain'd
By silly superstitious child-learnt fears,
What might I not effect?
Gaur.
O any thing!
The deep and piercing genius of your highness,
So ably serv'd, might e'en achieve the empire.
Duke.
No, no, my friend, thou dost o'erprize my parts;
Yet mighty things might be—deep subtle wits,
In truth, are master spirits in the world.
The brave man's courage, and the student's lore,
Are but as tools his secret ends to work,
Who hath the skill to use them.
This brave Count Basil, dost thou know him well?
Much have we gain'd, but for a single day,
At such a time, to hold his troops detain'd;
When, by that secret message of our spy,
The rival pow'rs are on the brink of action:
But might we more effect? Knowst thou this Basil?
Might he be tamper'd with?
Gaur.
That were most dang'rous.—
He is a man, whose sense of right and wrong
To such a high romantic pitch is wound,
And all so hot and fiery in his nature,
The slightest hint, as though you did suppose
Baseness and treach'ry in him, so he'll deem it,
Would be to rouse a flame that might destroy.
Duke.
But int'rest, int'rest, man's all-ruling pow'r,
Will tame the hottest spirit to your service,
And skilfully applied, mean service too;
E'en as there is an element in nature
Which, when subdu'd, will on your hearth fulfil
The lowest uses of domestic wants.
Gaur.
Earth-kindled fire, which from a little spark,
26
Till o'er the lofty fabric it aspires
And rages out its pow'r, may be subdu'd,
And in your base domestic service bound;
But who would madly in its wild career
The fire of heav'n arrest to boil his pot?
No, Basil will not serve your secret schemes,
Though you had all to give ambition strives for.
We must beware of him.
Duke.
His father was my friend, — I wish'd to gain him:
But since fantastic fancies bind him thus,
The sin be on his head; I stand acquitted,
And must deceive him, even to his ruin.
Gaur.
I have prepar'd Bernardo for your service;
To-night he will depart for th' Austrain camp,
And should he find them on the eve of battle,
I've bid him wait the issue of the field.
If that our secret friends victorious prove,
With the arrow's speed he will return again:
But should fair Fortune crown Pescara's arms,
Then shall your soothing message greet his ears;
For till our friends some sound advantage gain,
Our actions still must wear an Austrian face.
Duke.
Well hast thou school'd him. Didst thou add withal,
That 'tis my will he garnish well his speech,
With honied words of the most dear regard,
And friendly love I bear him? This is needful;
And lest my slowness in the promis'd aid
Awake suspicion, bid him e'en rehearse
The many favours on my house bestow'd
By his imperial master, as a theme
On which my gratitude delights to dwell.
Gaur.
I have, an' please your highness.
Duke.
Then 'tis well.
Gaur.
But for the yielding up that little fort
There could be no suspicion.
Duke.
My Governor I have severely punish'd,
As a most daring traitor to my orders.
He cannot from his darksome dungeon tell;
Why then should they suspect?
Gaur.
He must not live, should Charles prove victorious.
Duke.
He's done me service; say not so, Gauriecio.
Gaur.
A traitor's name he will not calmly bear;
He'll tell his tale aloud — he must not live.
Duke.
Well, if it must — we'll talk of this again.
Gaur.
But while with anxious care and crafty wiles
You would enlarge the limits of your state,
Your highness must beware lest inward broils
Bring danger near at hand: your northern subjects
E'en now are discontented and unquiet.
Duke.
What, dare the ungrateful miscreants thus return
The many favours of my princely grace?
'Tis ever thus; indulgence spoils the base;
Raising up pride, and lawless turbulence,
Like noxious vapours from the fulsome marsh
When morning shines upon it.—
Did I not lately with parental care,
When dire invaders their destruction threaten'd,
Provide them all with means of their defence?
Did I not, as a mark of gracious trust,
A body of their vagrant youth select
To guard my sacred person? till that day
An honour never yet allow'd their race.
Did I not suffer them, upon their suit,
T' establish manufactures in their towns?
And after all some chosen soldiers spare
To guard the blessings of interior peace?
Gaur.
Nay, please your highness, they do well allow,
That when your enemies, in fell revenge,
Your former inroads threaten'd to repay,
Their ancient arms you did to them restore,
With kind permission to defend themselves:
That so far have they felt your princely grace,
In drafting from their fields their goodliest youth
To be your servants: that you did vouchsafe,
On paying of a large and heavy fine,
Leave to apply the labour of their hands
As best might profit to the country's weal:
And to encourage well their infant trade,
Quarter'd your troops upon them. — Please your grace,
All this they do most readily allow.
Duke.
They do allow it, then, ungrateful varlets!
What would they have? what would they have, Gauriecio?
Gaur.
Some mitigation of their grievous burdens,
Which, like an iron weight around their necks,
Do bend their care-worn faces to the earth,
Like creatures form'd upon its soil to creep,
Not stand erect and view the sun of heav'n.
Duke.
But they beyond their proper sphere would rise;
Let them their lot fulfil as we do ours.
Society of various parts is form'd;
They are its grounds, its mud, its sediment,
And we the mantling top which crowns the whole.
Calm, steady labour is their greatest bliss;
To aim at higher things beseems them not.
To let them work in peace my care shall be;
To slacken labour is to nourish pride.
Methinks thou art a pleader for these fools:
What may this mean, Gauriecio?
Gaur.
They were resolv'd to lay their cause before you,
And would have found some other advocate
Less pleasing to your Grace, had I refus'd
Duke.
Well, let them know, some more convenient season
I'll think of this, and do for them as much
As suits the honour of my princely state.
Their prince's honour should be ever dear
To worthy subjects as their precious lives.
Gaur.
I fear, unless you give some special promise,
They will be violent still —
Duke.
Then do it, if the wretches are so bold,
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'Tis of small consequence. Go see Bernardo,
And come to me again.
Gaur.
(solus).
O happy people! whose indulgent lord Exit.
From ev'ry care, with which increasing wealth,
With all its hopes and fears, doth ever move
The human breast, most graciously would free,
And kindly leave you nought to do but toil!
This creature now, with all his reptile cunning,
Writhing and turning through a maze of wiles,
Believes his genius form'd to rule mankind;
And call his sordid wish for territory
That noblest passion of the soul, ambition.
Born had he been to follow some low trade,
A petty tradesman still he had remain'd,
And us'd the art with which he rules a state
To circumvent his brothers of the craft,
Or cheat the buyers of his paltry ware.
And yet he thinks — ha, ha, ha, ha! — he thinks
I am the tool and servant of his will.
Well, let it be; through all the maze of trouble
His plots and base oppression must create,
I'll shape myself away to higher things:
And who will say 'tis wrong?
A sordid being, who expects no faith
But as self-interest binds; who would not trust
The strongest ties of nature on the soul,
Deserves no faithful service. Perverse fate!
Were I like him, I would despise this dealing:
But being as I am, born low in fortune,
Yet with a mind aspiring to be great,
I must not scorn the steps which lead to it:
And if they are not right, no saint am I:
I follow nature's passion in my breast,
Which urges me to rise in spite of fortune.
[Exit.
| Basil | |