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C. Rag. Here before Heaven I dedicate my faith

To the royal line of Andreas.

R. Kiu.

Hark, Ragozzi!

Guilt is a timorous thing ere perpetration :

Despair alone makes wicked men be bold.

Come thou with me! They have heard my voice in flight,
Have faced round, terror-struck, and feared no longer

The whistling javelins of their fell pursuers.

Ha! what is this?

[Black flag displayed from the tower of the Palace: a death bell tolls, &c.

Vengeance of heaven! He is dead.

C. Rag. At length then 'tis announced. Alas' I fear,
That these black death flags are but treason's signals.
R. Kiu. A prophecy too soon fulfilled! See yonder!
O rank and ravenous wolves! the death bell echoes
Still in the doleful air-and see they come.

C. Rag. Precise and faithful in their villany
Even to the moment, that the master traitor
Had pre-ordained them.

R. Kiu.

Was it over-haste,

Or is it scorn, that in this race of treason

Their guilt thus drops its mask, and blazons forth

Their infamous plot even to an idiot's sense.

C. Rag. Doubtless they deem Heaven too usurp'd! Heaven's

justice

Bought like themselves!

Being equal all in crime,

Do you press on, ye spotted parricides !

For the one sole pre-eminence yet doubtful,
The prize of foremost impudence in guilt?

R. Kiu. The bad man's cunning still prepares the way

For its own outwitting. I applaud, Ragozzi!

Ragozzi, I applaud,
In thee, the virtuous hope that dares look onward
And keeps the life-spark warm of future action
Beneath the cloak of patient sufferance.

Act and appear, as time and prudence prompt thee:
I shall not misconceive the part thou playest.

Mine is an easier part-to brave the usurper.

[Enter a procession of Emerick's adherents, nobles, chieftains, and soldiers, with music. They advance toward the front of the stage. Kiuprili makes the signal for them to stop.-The music ceases.

Leader of the Procession. The Lord Kiuprili!-Welcome from

the camp.

R. Kiu. Grave magistrates and chieftains of Illyria,

In good time come ye hither, if ye come

As' loyal men with honorable purpose

To mourn what can alone be mourned; but chiefly
To enforce the last commands of royal Andreas
And shield the Queen, Zapolya: haply making
The mother's joy light up the widow's tears.

Leader. Our purpose demands speed. Grace our procession; A warrior best will greet a warlike king.

R. Kiu. This patent written by your lawful king,

(Lo his own seal and signature attesting)

Appoints as guardians of his realm and offspring,

The Queen, and the Prince Emerick, and myself.

[Voices of Live King Emerick! an Emerick! an Emerick! What means this clamor? Are these madmen's voices?

Or is some knot of riotous slanderers leagued

To infamize the name of the king's brother
With a lie black as Hell? unmanly cruelty,
Ingratitude, and most unnatural treason?
What mean these murmurs? Dare then any here
Proclaim Prince Emerick a spotted traitor?
One that has taken from you your sworn faith,
And given you in return a Judas' bribe

Infamy now, oppression in reversion,

And heaven's inevitable curse hereafter?

[murmurs.

[Loud murmurs, followed by cries-Emerick! No Baby Prince! No Changelings!

Yet bear with me awhile!

Have I for this

Bled for your safety, conquered for your honor!

Was it for this, Illyrians! that I forded

Your thaw-swoln torrents, when the shouldering ice

Fought with the foe, and stained its jagged points

With gore from wounds, I felt not?

Did the blast

Beat on this body, frost-and-famine-numbed,

Tili my hard flesh distinguished not itself
From the insensate mail, its fellow-warrior?
And have I brought home with me Victory,
And with her, hand in hand, firm-footed Peace,
Her countenance twice lighted up with glory,

As if I had charmed a goddess down from Heaven?
But these will flee abhorrent from the throne

Of usurpation!

[Murmurs increase-and cries of onward! onward! Have you then thrown off shame, And shall not a dear friend, a loyal subject, Throw off all fear? I tell ye, the fair trophies Valiantly wrested from a valiant foe, Love's natural offerings to a rightful king, Will hang as ill on this usurping traitor, This brother-blight, this Emerick, as robes Of gold plucked from the images of gods Upon a sacrilegious robber's back.

Enter Lord Casimir.

Cas. Who is this factious insolent, that dares brand The elected King, our chosen Emerick?

My father!

R. Kiu. Casimir! He, he a traitor!

Too soon, indeed, Ragozzi! have I learnt it.

Cas. My father and my lord!

I know thee not!

[aside

R. Kiu.
Leader. Yet the remembrancing did sound right filial.
R. Kiu. A holy name and words of natural duty

Are blasted by a thankless traitor's utterance.

Cas. O hear me, Sire! not lightly have I sworn
Homage to Emerick. Illyria's sceptre
Demands a manly hand, a warrior's grasp.
The queen Zapolya's self-expected offspring
At least is doubtful and of all our nobles,
The king inheriting his brother's heart,

Hath honored us the most. Your rank, my lord!
Already eminent, is-all it can be-

Confirmed and me the king's grace hath appointed

Chief of his council and the lord high steward.

R. Kiu. (Bought by a bribe!) I know thee now still less

Cas. So much of Raab Kiuprili's blood flows here, That no power, save that holy name of father,

Could shield the man who so dishonored me.

R. Kiu. The son of Raab Kiuprili a bought bond-slave, Guilt's pander, treason's mouth-piece, a gay parrot,

School'd to shrill forth his feeder's usurp'd titles,

And scream, Long live king Emerick!

Leaders.

Aye, king Emerick!

Stand back, my lord! Lead us, or let us pass.
Soldier. Nay, let the general speak!

Soldiers.

R. Kiu.

Hear him! hear him!

Assembled lords and warriors of Illyria,
Hear and avenge me!

Hear me,

Twice ten years have I
Stood in your presence, honored by the king;
Beloved and trusted. Is there one among you
Accuses Raab Kiuprili of a bribe?

Or one false whisper in his sovereign's ear?
Who here dares charge me with an orphan's rights
Outfaced, or widow's plea left undefended?
And shall I now be branded by a traitor,

A bought, bribed wretch, who, being called my son,
Doth libel a chaste matron's name, and plant
Hensbane and aconite on a mother's grave?
The underling accomplice of a robber,
That from a widow and a widow's offspring
Would steal their heritage? To God a rebel,
And to the common father of his country

A recreant ingrate !

Cas.

Sire! your words grow dangerous. High-flown romantic fancies ill-beseem

Your age and wisdom. 'Tis a statesman's virtue,

To guard his country's safety by what means

It best may be protected-come what will

Of these monk's morals!

R. Kiu. (aside.)

Made his soul iron, though his sons repented,

Ha! the elder Brutus

They boasted not their baseness.

[draws his sword.

Infamous changeling ;

Recant this instant, and swear loyalty,

And strict obedience to thy sovereign's will;

Or, by the spirit of departed Andreas,

Thou diest

[Chiefs, &c., rush to interpose; during the tumult, enter Emerick, alarmed.

Eme. Call out the guard! Ragozzi! seize the assassin.

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Pass on, friends! to the palace.

[Music recommences.-The Procession passes into the Palace.

Eme. What? Raab Kiuprili! What! a father's sword Against his own son's breast?

R. Kiu.

'Twould best excuse him,

Were he thy son, Prince Emerick. I abjure him.

Eme. This is my thanks, then, that I have commenced

A reign to which the free voice of the nobles

Hath called me, and the people, by regards

Of love and grace to Raab Kiupili's house?

R. Kiu. What right hadst thou, Prince Enerick, to bestow them?

Eme. By what right dares Kiuprili question me?

R. Kiu. By a right common to all loyal subjects

To me a duty! As the realm's co-regent
Appointed by our sovereign's last free act,
Writ by himself.-(Grasping the Patent.)
Eme. Ay-Writ in a delirium!

R. Kiu. I likewise ask, by whose authority
The access to the sovereign was refused me?

Eme. By whose authority dared the general leave

His camp and army, like a fugitive?

R. Kiu. A fugitive, who, with victory for his comrade,

Ran, open-eyed, upon the face of death!

A fugitive, with no other fear, than bodements

To be belated in a loyal purpose

At the command, Prince! of my king and thine,
Hither I came and now again require

Audience of Queen Zapolya; and (the States
Forthwith convened) that thou dost show at large,
On what ground of defect thou'st dared annul
This thy King's last and solemn act-hast dared

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