The Dynasts: An Epic-Drama of the War with Napoleon Part 5

SECOND Pa.s.sENGER

May we be ready!

FIRST Pa.s.sENGER

Well, we ought to be. We've had alarms enough, G.o.d knows.

[Some companies of infantry are seen ahead, and the coach presently overtakes them.]

SOLDIERS [singing as they walk]

We be the King's men, hale and hearty, Marching to meet one Buonaparty; If he won't sail, lest the wind should blow, We shall have marched for nothing, O!

Right fol-lol!

We be the King's men, hale and hearty, Marching to meet one Buonaparty; If he be sea-sick, says "No, no!"

We shall have marched for nothing, O!

Right fol-lol!

[The soldiers draw aside, and the coach pa.s.ses on.]

SECOND Pa.s.sENGER

Is there truth in it that Bonaparte wrote a letter to the King last month?

FIRST Pa.s.sENGER

Yes, sir. A letter in his own hand, in which he expected the King to reply to him in the same manner.

SOLDIERS [continuing, as they are left behind]

We be the King's men, hale and hearty, Marching to meet one Buonaparty; Never mind, mates; we'll be merry, though We may have marched for nothing, O!

Right fol-lol!

THIRD Pa.s.sENGER

And was Boney's letter friendly?

FIRST Pa.s.sENGER

Certainly, sir. He requested peace with the King.

THIRD Pa.s.sENGER

And why shouldn't the King reply in the same manner?

FIRST Pa.s.sENGER

What! Encourage this man in an act of shameless presumption, and give him the pleasure of considering himself the equal of the King of England--whom he actually calls his brother!

THIRD Pa.s.sENGER

He must be taken for what he is, not for what he was; and if he calls King George his brother it doesn't speak badly for his friendliness.

FIRST Pa.s.sENGER

Whether or no, the King, rightly enough, did not reply in person, but through Lord Mulgrave our Foreign Minister, to the effect that his Britannic Majesty cannot give a specific answer till he has communicated with the Continental powers.

THIRD Pa.s.sENGER

Both the manner and the matter of the reply are British; but a huge mistake.

FIRST Pa.s.sENGER

Sir, am I to deem you a friend of Bonaparte, a traitor to your country---

THIRD Pa.s.sENGER

d.a.m.n my wig, sir, if I'll be called a traitor by you or any Court sycophant at all at all!

[He unpacks a case of pistols.]

SECOND Pa.s.sENGER

Gentlemen forbear, forbear! Should such differences be suffered to arise on a spot where we may, in less than three months, be fighting for our very existence? This is foolish, I say. Heaven alone, who reads the secrets of this man's heart, can tell what his meaning and intent may be, and if his letter has been answered wisely or no.

[The coach is stopped to skid the wheel for the descent of the hill, and before it starts again a dusty horseman overtakes it.]

SEVERAL Pa.s.sENGERS

A London messenger! [To horseman] Any news, sir? We are from Bristol only.