THE DYNASTS ACT i
SEMICHORUS II
This, O this is the cramp that grips^ ! And freezes the Emperor s finger-tips From signing a peace with the Land of Ships.
CHORUS
The Universal-empire plot
Demands the rule of that wave-walled spot;
And peace with England cometh not !
THE SCENE REOPENS
A lurid gloom now envelops the Platz and city; and Bonaparte is heard as from the Palace:
VOICE OF NAPOLEON
These monstrous violations being in train
Of law and national integrities
By English arrogance in things marine,
(Which dares to capture simple merchant-craft,
In honest quest of harmless merchandize,
For crime of kinship to a hostile power)
Our vast, effectual, and majestic strokes
In this unmatched campaign, enable me
To bar from commerce with the Continent
All keels of English frame. Hence I decree :—
SPIRIT OF RUMOUR
This outlines his august "Berlin Decree" Maybe he meditates its scheme in sleep, Or hints it to his suite, or syllables it While shaping, to his scribes.
VOICE OF NAPOLEON (continuing)
All England's ports to suffer strict blockade ; All traffic with that land to cease forthwith ; All natives of her isles, wherever met,
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