Cares with a father's feelings for his troops;
But how the Emperor feels for us, we see.
Ques. His cares and feelings all ranks share
alike,

Nor will he offer one up to another.

Iso. And therefore thrusts he us into the deserts

As beasts of prey, that so he may preserve
His dear sheep fattening in his fields at home.
Ques. [with a sneer.] Count, this comparison
you make, not I.

But. Why, were we all the Court supposes us, "Twere dangerous, sure, to give us liberty.

Ques. You have taken liberty-it was not given you.

And therefore it becomes an urgent duty

To rein it in with curbs.

Oct. [interposing and addressing QUESTENBERG.] My noble friend,

This is no more than a remembrancing

That you are now in camp, and among warriors.
The soldier's boldness constitutes his freedom.
Could he act daringly, unless he dared
Talk even so? One runs into the other.
The boldness of this worthy officer,

[Pointing to Butler.

Which now has but mistaken in its mark,

Preserved, when nought but boldness could pre

serve it,

To the Emperor his capital city, Prague,

In a most formidable mutiny
Of the whole garrison.

Hah! here they come!

[Military music at a distance.

Illo. The sentries are saluting them: this signal Announces the arrival of the Duchess.

Oct. [to QUESTENBERG.] Then my son Max too has returned. "Twas he

Fetched and attended them from Kärnthen hither. Iso. [to ILLO.] Shall we not go in company to greet them?

Illo. Well, let us go.

- Ho! Colonel Butler,

come.

[TO OCTAVIO. You will not forget, that yet ere noon we meet The noble Envoy at the General's palace.

[Exeunt all but QUESTENBERG and OCTAVIO.

SCENE III.-QUESTENBERG and OCTAVIO. Ques. [with signs of aversion and astonishment.] What have I not been forced to hear, Octavio! What sentiments! what fierce, uncurbed defiance! And were this spirit universal

Oct.

Hm !

You are now acquainted with three fourths of the

army.

Ques. Where must we seek then for a second

host

To have the custody of this? That Illo

Thinks worse, I fear me, than he speaks. And then This Butler, too,-he cannot even conceal

The passionate workings of his ill intentions.

Oct. Quickness of temper-irritated pride; "Twas nothing more. I cannot give up Butler. I know a spell that will soon dispossess The evil spirit in him.

Ques. [walking up and down in evident dis-
quiet.] Friend, friend!

O! this is worse, far worse, than we had suffered
Ourselves to dream of at Vienna. There
We saw it only with a courtier's eyes,

Eyes dazzled by the splendour of the throne.
We had not seen 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

camp

Strikes my hopes prostrate.

Oct.

Now you see yourself

Of what a perilous kind the office is,

Which you deliver to me from the Court.

The least suspicion of the General

Costs me my freedom and my life, and would

But hasten his most desperate enterprise.

Ques. Where was our reason sleeping when we

trusted

This madman with the sword, and placed such

power

In such a hand? I tell you he'll refuse,

Flatly refuse, to obey the Imperial orders.

Friend, he can do't, and what he can, he will.
And then the impunity of his defiance—
O! what a proclamation of our weakness!

Oct. 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 some eruption !

Ques.

How shall we hold footing Beneath this tempest, which collects itself And threats us from all quarters? The enemy Of the empire on our borders, now already The master of the Danube, and still farther, And farther still, extending every hour! In our interior the alarum-bells Of insurrection-peasantry in armsAll orders discontented—and the army, Just in the moment of our expectation Of aidance from it-lo! this very army Seduced, run wild, lost to all discipline. Loosened, and rent asunder from the state And from their sovʼreign, the blind instrument Of the most daring of mankind, a weapon Of fearful power, which at his will he wields! Oct. Nay, nay, friend! let us not despair too

soon,

Men's words are ever bolder than their deeds:
And many a resolute, who now appears
Made up to all extremes, will, on a sudden,
Find in his breast a heart he knew not of,
Let but a single honest man speak out
The true name of his crime! Remember, too,
We stand not yet so wholly unprotected.
Counts Altringer and Gallas have maintained
Their little army faithful to its duty,
And daily it becomes more numerous.
Nor can he take us by surprise: you know,
I hold him all encompassed by my listeners.
Whate'er he does, is mine, even while 'tis doing-
No step so small, but instantly I hear it.

Yea, his own mouth discloses it.

Ques.

'Tis quite

Incomprehensible, that he detects not

The foe so near!

Oct.

Beware, you do not think,

That I by lying arts, and complaisant
Hypocrisy, have skulk'd into his graces;
Or with the sustenance of smooth professions
Nourish his all-confiding friendship! No-
Compelled alike by prudence, and that duty
Which we all owe our country, and our sovereign,
To hide my genuine feelings from him, yet
Ne'er have I duped him with base counterfeits!
Ques. It is the visible ordinance of heaven.
Oct. I know not what it is that so attracts
And links him both to me and to my son.