PART SECOND
SECOND CITIZEN
The sadly-seen mistake this country made
Was that of grounding hostile arms at all.
We should have fought irreconcilably —
Have been consistent as the English are,
The French are our hereditary foes,
And this adventurer of the saucy sword,
This sacrilegious slighter of our shrines,
Stands author of our ills . . .
Our harvest fields and fruits he tramples on,
Accumulating ruin in our land.
Think of what mournings in the last sad war
'Twas his to instigate and answer for !
Time never can efface the glint of tears
In palaces, in shops, in fields, in cots,
From women widowed, sonless, fatherless,
That then oppressed our eyes. There is no salve
For such deep harrowings but to fight again ;
Th* enfranchisement of Europe hangs thereon,
And long she has lingered for the sign to crush him :
That signal we have given ; the time is come !
(Thumping on the tables.)
FIFTH CITIZEN (at another table, looking up from his paper and speaking across)
I see that Russia has declined to aid us, AiSd says she knows that Prussia likewise must; So that the mission of Prince Schwarzenberg To Alexander's Court has closed in failure.
THIRD CITIZEN
Ay—through his being honest—fatal sin!— Probing too plainly for the Emperor's ears His ominous friendship with Napoleon.
285