Already then thy time was to resign.
But thou didst not, and now a vengeful fate,
Or, much I fear, thy master's base designs
Have placed thee, where a new embarrassment,
Still more a source of danger, joins thy others.
Thou shalt—such is thy stern superior's will—
Oppress the colonists, thy countrymen,
Shalt act the tyrant's part to those whose hearts,
As thine should do, detest that very name,
And shalt oppose the will of Providence,
Which here through them intends to found a state,
As free and glorious as their native Union.
Against such odds thy might cannot prevail.
E'en though thine army numbered many millions;
Thou must succumb, with—what is worst—disgrace.
Bradburn.
Who gave thee such ideas? To found a state
With such materials as they here exist?
Such thoughts dwell only on the lips and brains
Of men who in disorder and rebellion
Expect to reap the harvest of their schemes.
Of demagogues, such as that William Travis,
That Patrick Jack, that Munroe Edwards are.
Elsie.
Nought is beknown to me of Jack or Edwards,
Though people tell me they are worthy men;
[Fervidly.]
