QUESTENBERG (walking up and down in evident
O! this is worse, far worse, than we had fuffer'd
Ourselves to dream of at Vienna. There We faw it only with the courtier's eyes,
Eyes dazzled by the fplendor of the throne. We had not feen the War-chief, the Commander, The man all-powerful in his camp. Here, here, 'Tis quite another thing.
Here is no Emperor more-the Duke is Emperor. Alas, my friend alas, my noble friend!
This walk which you have ta'en me through the
Strikes my hopes proftrate.
Now you see yourself
Of what a perilous kind the office is,
you deliver to me from the Court. The leaft fufpicion of the General
Cofts me my freedom and my life, and would But haften his moft defperate enterprise.
Where was our reafon fleeping when we trusted This madman with the fword, and plac'd fuch
In fuch a hand? I tell you, he'll refuse, Flatly refufe, t'obey the Imperial orders. Friend, he can do't, and what he can, he will. ́ And then th' impunity of his defiance-- O! what a proclamation of our weakness !
D'ye think too, he has brought his wife and daughter
Without a purpose hither? Here in camp! And at the very point of time, in which We're arming for the war? That he has taken These, the last pledges of his loyalty, Away from out the Emperor's domains- This is no doubtful token of the nearness Of fome eruption!
QUESTENBERG.
How shall we hold footing
Beneath this tempeft, which collects itself And threats us from all quarters? Th' enemy Of th' empire on our borders, now already The master of the Danube, and still farther, And farther ftill, extending every hour! In our interior the alarum-bells Of infurrection-peafantry in arms- All orders difcontented-and the army, Juft in the moment of our expectation Of aidance from it-lo! this very aríny Seduc'd, run wild, loft to all discipline, Loofen'd, and rent afunder from the ftate And from their fov'reign, the blind instrument Of the most daring of mankind, a weapon Of fearful power, which at his will he wields!
Nay, nay, friend! let us not despair too soon. Men's words are ever bolder than their deeds: And many a refolute, who now appears
Made up to all extremes, will, on a fudden, Find in his breast a heart he wot not of, Let but a fingle honest man speak out The true name of his crime! Remember too, We stand not yet fo wholly unprotected. Counts Altringer and Galas have maintain'd Their little army faithful to it's duty, And daily it becomes more numerous. Nor can he take us by furprize: you know, I hold him all encompafs'd by my lift'ners. Whate'er he does, is mine, even while 'tis doing- No step so small, but inftantly I hear it; Yea, his own mouth discloses it.
Incomprehenfible, that he detects not
Beware, you do not think,
That I by lying arts, and complaifant Hypocrify, have skulk'd into his graces; Or with the fuftenance of fmooth profeffions Nourish his all-confiding friendship! No- Compell'd alike by prudence, and that duty Which we all owe our country, and our fovereign, To hide my genuine feelings from him, yet Ne'er have I dup'd him with base counterfeits !
It is the vifible ordinance of heaven.
I know not what it is that fo attracts
And links him both to me and to my fon. Comrades and friends we always were-long habit, Adventurous deeds perform'd in company, And all thofe many and various incidents. Which store a foldier's memory with affections, Had bound us long and early to each other Yet I can name the day, when all at once His heart rofe on me, and his confidence Shot out in fudden growth. It was the morning Before the memorable fight at Lützner. Urg'd by an ugly dream, I fought him out, To prefs him to accept another charger. At distance from the tents, beneath a tree,
I found him in a fleep. When I had wak'd him, And had related all my bodings to him, Long time he star'd upon me, like a man Aftounded; thereon fell upon my neck, And manifefted to me an emotion
That far outstripp'd the worth of that small service. Since then his confidence has follow'd me
With the fame pace that mine has fled from him.
You lead your fon into the fecret ?
What? and not warn him either what bad hands
His lot has plac'd him in?
Leave him in wardship to his innocence. His young and open foul-diffimulation Is foreign to it's habits! Ignorance Alone can keep alive the cheerful air, The unembarrass'd sense and light free spirit, That make the Duke fecure.
QUESTENBERG. (anxiously)
My honour'd friend! most highly do I deem Of Colonel Piccolomini-yet-if-
Ha! there he is himfelf. Welcome, my father! (He embraces his father. As he turns round, he obferves Queftenberg, and draws back with a cold and referved air.)
You are engag'd, I fee. I'll not disturb you.
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