SCENE vr PART FIRST
All this had been averted.—I must go. Tis sure, 'tis sure, I labour but in vain !
MALMESBURY accompanies him to the door, and PITT walks away disquietedly towards Whitehall, the other two regarding him as he goes.
MULGRAVE
Too swiftly he declines to feebleness,
And these things well might shake a stouter frame!
MALMESBURY
Of late the burden of all Europe's cares, Of hiring and maintaining half her troops, His single pair of shoulders has upborne, Thanks to the obstinacy of the King.— His thin, strained face, his ready irritation, Are ominous signs. He may not be for long.
MULGRAVE He alters fast, indeed,—as do events.
MALMESBURY
His labour's lost; and all our money gone !
It looks as if this doughty coalition
On which we have lavished so much pay and pains
Would end in wreck.
MULGRAVE
All is not over yet ; The gathering Russian forces are unbroke.
MALMESBURY
Well; we shall see. Should Boney vanquish these, And silence all resistance on that side, His move will then be backward to Boulogne, And so upon us,
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