 | Basil |  |
SCENE II.
The ramparts of the town. The soldiers are discovered, drawn up in a disorderly manner, hollaing and speaking loudly, and clashing their arms tumultuously.1st Sol.
No, comrade, no; hell gape and swallow me,
If I do budge for such most dev'lish orders!
2nd Sol.
Huzza! brave comrades! Who says otherwise?
3d Sol.
No one, huzza! confound all treach'rous leaders!
[The soldiers huzza and clash their arms.
4th Sol.
Heav'n dart its fiery light'ning on his head!
We're men, we are not cattle to be slaughter'd!
2nd Sol.
They who do long to caper high in air,
Into a thousand bloody fragments blown,
May follow our brave gen'ral.
1st Sol.
Curse his name!
I've fought for him till my strain'd nerves have crack'd!
2nd Sol.
We will command ourselves: for Milan, comrades.
4th Sol.
Ay, ay, for Milan, valiant hearts, huzza!
[All the soldiers cast up their caps in the air, and huzza.
2nd Sol.
Yes, comrades, tempting booty waits us there,
And easy seryice: keep good hearts, my soldiers!
The gen'ral comes, good hearts! no flinching, boys!
Look bold and fiercely: we're the masters now.
[They all clash their arms and put on a fierce threatening aspect to receive their general, who now enters, followed by Rosinberg and officers. Basil walks close along the front ranks of the soldiers, looking at them very stedfastly; then retires a few paces back, and raising his arm, speaks with a very full loud voice.
Bas.
How is it, soldiers, that I see you thus,
Assembled here, unsummon'd by command?
(A confused murmur is heard amongst the soldiers; some of them call out)
But we command ourselves; we wait no orders.
(A confused noise of voices is heard, and one louder than the rest calls out)
Must we be butcher'd, for that we are brave?
(A loud clamour and clashing of arms, then several voices call out)
Damn hidden treach'ry! we defy thy orders.
Fred'ric shall lead us now —
(Other voices call out)
We'll march where'er we list, for Milan march.
Bas.
(waving his hand, and beckoning them to be silent, speaks with a very loud voice).
Yes, march where'er ye list; for Milan march.
Sol.
Hear him, hear him!
[The murmur ceases — a short pause.
Bas.
Yes, march where'er ye list: for Milan march:
But as banditti, not as soldiers go;
For on this spot of earth I will disband,
And take from you the rank and name of soldiers.
(A great clamour amongst the ranks; some call out)
What wear we arms for?
(Others call out)
No, he dares not do it.
(One voice very loud)
Disband us at thy peril, treach'rous Basil!
[Several of the soldiers brandish their arms, and threaten to attack him; the officers gather round Basil, and draw their swords to defend him.
Bas.
Put up your swords, my friends, it must not be.
I thank your zeal, I'll deal with them alone.
Ros.
What, shall we calmly stand and see thee butcher'd?
Bas.
(very earnestly).
Put up, my friends! (Officers still persist.)
What! are you rebels too?
Will no one here his gen'ral's voice obey?
I do command you to put up your swords.
Retire, and at a distance wait th' event.
Obey, or henceforth be no friends of mine.
[Officers retire very unwillingly. Basil waves them off with his hand till they are all gone, then walks up to the front of his soldiers, who still hold themselves in a threatening posture.
Soldiers! we've fought together in the field,
And bravely fought: i' the face of horrid death,
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Nor do I know the man of all your bands,
That ever poorly from the trial shrunk,
Or yielded to the foe contended space.
Am I the meanest then of all my troops,
That thus ye think, with base unmanly threats,
To move me now? Put up those paltry weapons;
They edgeless are to him who fears them not:
Rocks have been shaken from the solid base;
But what shall move a firm and dauntless mind?
Put up your swords, or dare the threaten'd deed —
Obey, or murder me. —
(A confused murmur — some of the soldiers call out)
March us to Milan, and we will obey thee.
(Others call out)
Ay, march us there, and be our leader still.
Bas.
Nay, if I am your leader, I'll command ye;
And where I do command, there shall you go,
But not to Milan. No, nor shall you deviate
E'en half a furlong from your destin'd way,
To seize the golden booty of the East.
Think not to gain, or temporise with me;
For should I this day's mutiny survive,
Much as I've lov'd you, soldiers, ye shall find me
Still more relentless in pursuit of vengeance;
Tremendous, cruel, military vengeance.
There is no mean — a desp'rate game ye play;
Therefore, I say, obey, or murder me.
Do as ye will, but do it manfully.
He is a coward who doth threaten me:
The man who slays me, but an angry soldier;
Acting in passion, like the frantic son,
Who struck his sire and wept.
(Soldiers call out)
It was thyself who sought to murder us.
1st Sol.
You have unto the emp'ror pledg'd your faith,
To lead us foremost in all desp'rate service:
You have agreed to sell your soldiers' blood,
And we have shed our dearest blood for you.
Bas.
Hear me, my soldiers —
2d Sol.
No, hear him not, he means to cozen you.
Fred'rick will do you right —
[Endeavouring to stir up a noise and confusion amongst them.
Bas.
What cursed fiend art thou, cast out from hell
To spirit up rebellion? damned villain!
[Seizes upon 2d soldier, drags him out from the ranks, and wrests his arms from him; then takes a pistol from his side, and holds it to his head.
Stand there, damn'd meddling villain, and be silent;
For if thou utt'rest but a single word,
A cough or hem, to cross me in my speech,
I'll send thy cursed spirit from the earth,
To bellow with the damn'd!
[The soldiers keep a dead silence. After a pause, Basil resumes his speech.
Listen to me, my soldiers. —
You say that I am to the emp'ror pledg'd
To lead you foremost in all desp'rate service,
For now you call it not the path of glory;
And if in this I have offended you,
I do indeed repent me of the crime.
But new from battles, where my native troops
So bravely fought, I felt me proud at heart,
And boasted of you, boasted foolishly.
I said, fair glory's palm ye would not yield
To e'er the bravest legion train'd to arms.
I swore the meanest man of all my troops
Would never shrink before an armed host,
If honour bade him stand. My royal master
Smil'd at the ardour of my heedless words,
And promis'd when occasion claim'd our arms,
To put them to the proof.
But ye do peace, and ease, and booty love,
Safe and ignoble service — be it so—
Forgive me that I did mistake you thus,
But do not earn with savage mutiny,
Your own destruction. We'll for Pavia march,
To join the royal army near its walls,
And there with blushing forehead will I plead,
That ye are men with warlike service worn,
Requiring ease and rest. Some other chief,
Whose cold blood boils not at the trumpet's sound,
Will in your rearward station head you then,
And so, my friends, we'll part. As for myself,
A volunteer, unheeded in the ranks,
I'll rather fight, with brave men for my fellows,
Than be the leader of a sordid band.
(A great murmur rises amongst the ranks, soldiers call out)
We will not part! no, no, we will not part!
(All call out together)
We will not part! be thou our gen'ral still!
Bas.
How can I be your gen'ral? ye obey
As caprice moves you; I must be obey'd,
As honest men against themselves perform
A sacred oath.—
Some other chief will more indulgent prove —
You're weary grown — I've been too hard a master.
Soldiers.
Thyself, and only thee, will we obey.
Bas.
But if you follow me, yourselves ye pledge
Unto no easy service: — hardships, toils,
The hottest dangers of most dreadful fight
Will be your portion; and when all is o'er,
Each, like his gen'ral, must contented be
Home to return again, a poor brave soldier.
How say ye now? I spread no tempting lure—
A better fate than this, I promise none.
Soldiers.
We'll follow Basil.
Bas.
What token of obedience will ye give?
[A deep pause.
Soldiers, lay down your arms!
[They all lay down their arms.
If any here are weary of the service,
Now let them quit the ranks, and they shall have
A free discharge, and passport to their homes;
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The well-earn'd pay their royal master owes them.
Let those who follow me their arms resume,
[They all resume their arms.
(Basil, holding up his hands).
High heaven be prais'd!
I had been griev'd to part with you, my soldiers.
Here is a letter from my gracious master,
With offers of preferment in the north,
Most high preferment, which I did refuse,
For that I would not leave my gallant troops.
[Takes out a letter, and throws it amongst them.
(A great commotion amongst the soldiers; many of them quit their ranks, and crowd about him, calling out)
Our gallant gen'ral!
(Others call out)
We'll spend our hearts' blood for thee, noble Basil!
Bas.
And so you thought me false? this bites to the quick!
My soldiers thought me false!
[They all quit their ranks, and crowd eagerly around him. Basil, waving them off with his hands.
Away, away, you have disgusted me!
[Soldiers retire to their ranks.
'Tis well — retire, and hold yourselves prepar'd
To march upon command; nor meet again
Till you are summon'd by the beat of drum.
Some secret enemy has tamper'd with you,
For yet I will not think that in these ranks
There moves a man who wears a traitor's heart.
[The soldiers begin to march off, and music strikes up.
Bas.
(holding up his hand).
Cease, cease, triumphant sounds;
Which our brave fathers, men without reproach,
Rais'd in the hour of triumph! but this hour
To us no glory brings —
Then silent be your march — ere that again
Our steps to glorious strains like these shall move,
A day of battle o'er our heads must pass,
And blood be shed to wash out this day's stain.
[Exeunt soldiers, silent and dejected.
Enter Frederic, who starts back on seeing Basil alone.
Bas.
Advance, lieutenant; wherefore shrink you back?
I've ever seen you bear your head erect,
And front your man, though arm'd with frowning death.
Have you done aught the valiant should not do?
I fear you have.
[Fred. looks confused.
With secret art, and false insinuation,
The simple untaught soldiers to seduce
From their sworn duty, might become the base,
Become the coward well; but O! what villain
Had the dark pow'r t' engage thy valiant worth
In such a work as this?
Fred.
Is Basil, then, so lavish of his praise
On a neglected pitiful subaltern?
It were a libel on his royal master;
A foul reproach upon fair fortune cast,
To call me valiant:
And surely he has been too much their debtor,
To mean them this rebuke.
Bas.
Is nature then so sparing of her gifts,
That it is wonderful when they are found
Where fortune smiles not?
Thou art by nature brave, and so am I;
But in those distant ranks moves there not one
[Pointing off the stage.
Of high ennobled soul, by nature form'd
A hero and commander, who will yet
In his untrophied grave forgotten lie
With meaner men? I dare be sworn there does.
Fred.
What need of words? I crave of thee no favour.
I have offended, 'gainst arm'd law offended,
And shrink not from my doom.
Bas.
I know thee well, I know thou fearst not death;
On scaffold or in field with dauntless breast
Thou wilt engage him; and if thy proud soul,
In sullen obstinacy, scorns all grace,
E'en be it so. But if with manly gratitude
Thou truly canst receive a brave man's pardon,
Thou hast it freely.
Fred.
It must not be. I've been thine enemy —
I've been unjust to thee —
Bas.
I know thou hast;
But thou art brave, and I forgive thee all.
Fred.
My lord! my gen'ral! Oh, I cannot speak!
I cannot live and be the wretch I am!
Bas.
But thou canst live and be an honest man
From error turn'd, — canst live and be my friend.
[Raising Fred. from the ground.
Forbear, forbear! see where our friends advance:
They must not think thee suing for a pardon;
That would disgrace us both. Yet ere they come,
Tell me, if that thou mayst with honour tell,
What did seduce thee from thy loyal faith?
Fred.
No cunning traitor did my faith attempt,
For then I had withstood him: but of late,
I know not how — a bad and restless spirit
Has work'd within my breast, and made me wretched.
I've lent mine ear to foolish idle tales,
Of very zealous, though but recent friends.
Bas.
Softly, our friends approach — of this again.
[Exeunt.
| Basil | |