Cas. Let it be

A brief one, then.-What wouldst thou?

Fitz-Ed.

Oh, my father!—

The tempest that my slighted speech foretold,
Hath it not burst upon thee!

Cas. And 'tis this

To tell me this, that thou art here-to vaunt
Thy skill in divination?

Fitz-Ed.

No.-I come

To break thy commerce with the midnight wolf—
To pluck thee from the lair where foxes litter :-
Restoring thee to all those social joys

That flow from man's communion with his kind ;-
To place thee once again—

Cas. Beware-beware.

If I thought that-thou knowest my temper-hence,
Nor urge it farther.

Fitz-Ed. Oh, I must, and thou

Must hear me, too. Enough of constancy-
Enough of valor hath thy heart displayed.—
We are a fallen people.-To contend
With fortune now, were desperate vanity.
The sceptre hath departed from our land:-

The kingly sway—

Cas. Patience-oh, patience, heart!

Fitz-Ed. Nay, hear me on.-Is not all lost ?—and thou

Dost thou still singly labor to oppose

The common doom ?-oh, idle all.-There now
Is left thee but one way to save thyself:—
But one-and I must speak it, howsoe'er
It grates against thine ear-it jars within

Thy bosom-I must speak it-'tis submission.

Cas. Heaven!-are thy thunders idle ?-and thou, earth 'That yet endurest his tread!—thou wilt not part

Beneath him, and deep hide his infamy!
No-thou disdainest that such a rank pollution
Should rest within thy bosom !This to me!—
Submission!-Breathes the recreant to confront
Caswallon with such counsel ?-Yes-behold him!-
There—with the uttered wish—the hateful hope
Fresh reeking from his lips, he stands before me-
Endless disgrace!-a Cambrian, and-my son!
Fitz-Ed. Yet-vet I will be patient.

Cas. No--thou blot

On the pure 'scutcheon of thy noble fathers

Thor shalt not plume thee in my fall, nor show me
A humbled spectacle to swell thy pride

With "Lo! my work, and there the untamable !".
I read thy heart's deep purpose.

Fitz-Ed. Dreadful thought!

'Tis not within thy hate's extremest bound
To think me so immeasurably base—
Oh, these hot stinging tears!-

Away, weak heart –

In upright conscious honesty, I stand

And shake thy loose aspersions from my soul,

As lightly as the falcon from her wing

The dews of evening.

Cas. I will not hear thee.-Hence.

Fitz-Ed. Obdurate man, bow thy proud spirit down,
If ta'en thou diest.-Submit, and thou shalt live :-
(Imploringly upon his knees.) Beloved father!
By heaven's whole host, I will not see thee lost!—

(Starting up resolvedly.)
No-if thou scorn to yield, I'll instant hence,
And to the troops that now beset thee round,
Reveal the secret of thy lurking place.

Cas. Reveal!-betray me to-?

But no-thou art

Caswallon's son, and thus far he will trust thee.
Fitz-Ed. Oh, agony of heart!

Cas. (Going.) Nay, follow not.

Attempt to stay me, and a father's curse

Cling to thy soul, and hold thee lost for ever! (Exit.)
Fitz-Ed. Hark!—are there thunders crashing in the air?

Or what is't stirs my brain?—a father's curse!—

It fell not-'tis not that that rages here.
That misery still is spared me. He is gone!

SELECTION X.

VERNER-TELL-PIERRE-THEODORE-SARNEM-MICHAEL

SOLDIERS AND PEOPLE.-Knowles.

(The people have gathered to one side, and look in the opposite direction with apprehension and trouble.)

Verner. Now Tell observe the people.

Tell. Ha! they please me now-I like them now-their looks 1re just in season.

Pierre. 'Tis Sarnem.

Theodore. What is that he brings with him? Pierre. A pole; and on the top of it a cap That looks like Gesler's-I could pick it from A thousand!

Theo. So could I !—My heart hath oft

Leaped at the sight of it. What comes he now
To do?

(Sarnem enters with soldiers bearing Gesler's cap upon a pole, which he fixes into the ground; the people looking on in silence and amazement.)

Sarnem. Ye men of Altorf!

Behold the emblem of your master's power
And dignity. This is the cap of Gesler,
Your governor; let all bow down to it
Who owe him love and loyalty. To such
As shall refuse this lawful homage, or
Accord it sullenly, he shows no grace,
But dooms them to the penalty of bondage
Till they're instructed-'tis no less their gain
Than duty, to obey their master's mandate.
Conduct the people hither, one by one,
To bow to Gesler's cap.

Tell.

Have I my hearing?

Ver. Away! away!

Tell. Or sight? They do it, Verner!
They do it! Look! Ne'er call me man again!
I'll herd with the baser animals!

Look!-Look! Have I the outline of that caitiff

Who to the servile earth doth bend the crown

His god did rear for him to heaven?

Ver. Away,

Before they mark us.

Tell. No! no!-since I've tasted,

I'll e'n feed on.

A spirit's in me likes it.

Sar. (Striking a person.) Bow lower, slave!

Tell. Do you feel that blow-my flesh doth tingle with it.

I would it had been I!

Ver. You tremble, William; come-you must not stay. (Enter Michael through the crowd.)

Sar. Bow, slave.

Michael. For what?

Sar. Obey, and question then.

Mich.

Tell.

I'll question now, perhaps not then obey.
A man! a man!

Sar. 'Tis Gesler's will that all

Bow to that cap.

Mich. Were it thy lady's cap,

I'd courtesy to it.

Sar. Do you mock us, friend?

Mich. Not I. I'll bow to Gesler, if you please;

But not his cap, nor cap of any he

In christendon.

Tell. Well done!

The lion thinks as much of cowering.
Sar. Once for all bow to that cap.

Do you hear me, slave?

Mich. Slave!

Tell. A man! I'll swear a man! Don't hold me, Verner. Sar. Villain, bow

To Gesler's cap!

Mich. No! not to Gesler's self.

Seize him. (Soldiers come forward.)

Tell. (Rushing forward.) Off, off, you base and hireling

pack!

Lay not your brutal touch upon the thing

God made in his own image.

Sar. What! shrink you, cowards?

Your duty for you?

Tell. Let them stir-I've scattered

A flock of wolves did outnumber them

Must I do

For sport I did it.-Sport!-I scattered them

With but a staff, not half so thick as this.

(Wrests Sarnem's weapon from him—Sarnem and Soldiers fly.) Men of Altorf,

What fear ye! See what things you fear-the show

And surfaces of men. Why stand you wondering there?
Why gaze you still with blanched cheeks upon me?

Lack you

the manhood even to look on,

And see bold deeds achieved by others' hands?

Or is't that cap still holds

your thralls to fear?

(Dashes down the pole.)

Be free then.-There! Thus do I trample on
The insolence of Gesler.

SELECTION XI.

DRUID-ELIDURUS-ARVIRAGUS.-Mason.

Druid. Say, thou false one!

What doom befits the slave who sells his country?
Elidurus. Death-sudden death!

Druid. No! lingering piecemeal death;
And to such death thy brother and thyself
We now devote. Villain, thy deeds are known;
"Tis known, ye led the impious Romans hither
To slaughter us even on our holy altars.

Elid. That on my soul doth lie some secret grief,
These looks perforce will tell: it is not fear,
Druid, it is not fear that shakes me thus;
The great gods know it is not: ye can never:
For, what though wisdom lifts ye next those gods,
Ye cannot like to them, unlock men's breasts,
And read their inward thoughts. Ah! that
Arviragus. What hast thou done?
Elid. What, prince, I will not tell.
Druid. Wretch, there are means-
Elid. I know, and terrible means;

ye

could.

And 'tis both fit that you should try those means,
And I endure them; yet, I think, my patience

Will for some space baffle your torturing fury.
Druid. Be that best known when our inflicted goads
Harrow thy flesh!

Arvi. Stranger, ere this be tried,

Confess the whole of thy black perfidy;

So black, that when I look upon thy youth,
Read thy mild eye, and mark thy modest brow,
I think, indeed, thou durst not.

Elid. Such a crime

Indeed I durst not; and would rather be

The very wretch thou seest.

Druid. Brethren, 'tis so.

This youth has been deceived.
Elid. Yet, one word more.

I'll speak no more.

You say, the Romans have invaded Mona.
Give me a sword, and twenty honest Britons,
And I will quell those Romans. Vain demand!
Alas! you cannot; ye are men of peace:
Religion's self forbids.

Lead then to torture.