1825.

Schiller's Wilhelm Tell.

Sewa. It is a lovely moonlight night; the lake Lies tranquil as a mirror.

Burk. Our Schwytz friends

Will have an easy passage.
Winkel. Ha! Look there!
Look there! Do you not see?
Meier. What should we see?

Ay, in good truth, a rainbow in the night!
Melch. The moonbeams fashion it.
Klaus. A wondrous sign!

Many now living ne'er saw moonlight rainbow.
Sewa. 'Tis double; there's a fainter bow above.
Baum. A boat now passes underneath the arch.
Melch. Stauffacher's bark; ne'er did that worthy man
Weary his friends with waiting.

Meier. They of Uri

Are the most dilatory.

Burk. They must take

(Goes with Baumgarten to the shore.

A long and tedious mountain path, to cheat

Their Governor's suspicious watchfulness.

(During this time the two men have lighted a fire in the middle
of the meadow.

Melch. (on the shore.) Who goes there? Give the word!
Stauffacher, (below.) Friends of the country!

(All go to the back of the stage to receive the new comers. STAUF-
FACHER and ten others land from the boat.

All. Welcome!

STAUFFACHER and MELCHTHAL come forward, whilst the rest remain greeting each other at the back of the Stage.

Melch. Oh worthy Stauffacher! I've seen

Him, who never more can look upon me.
I've laid my hand upon his darken'd eyes,

And have, from those extinguish'd suns, drank in
Burning, insatiable desire of vengeance.

Stauff. Not vengeance-'Tis not to avenge the past,
But future evils to prevent, we meet.

-Now say, what have you for the common cause

In Unterwalden done? How many gain'd?

How think the peasantry? And how did you
Yourself escape the snares of treachery?

Melch. Across the fearful mountain of Surenne,

Across wide-spreading fields of desert ice,
Where sound there's none except the vulture's cry,
I reach'd the Alpine pasture grounds, where meet
The herdsmen from the Engelberg and Uri,
down
And greeting, let their cattle feed in common.
In the wild foaming torrent that pours
From the eternal ice, I quench'd my thirst;
I rested in, now empty, summer shealings,
Landlord and guest, until I reach'd th' abodes
Of living, social men. Ev'n those lone valleys
Already rang with the atrocity-

-The late committed-and my sufferings
Procured me pious reverence in each hut
I visited upon my pilgrimage.

I found these upright souls full of resentment
Against these new oppressions of our rulers:

For even as their Alps from age to age

Have borne the self-same herbs, their rivers flow'd

very
Along the self-same beds, the
13

clouds

And winds follow'd unchangeably one course,
Ev'n so unalter'd have old forms and customs
Come down from ancestor to late descendant;
They'll notendure to see bold innovation
Intrude on old hereditary usage.

They gave me their hard hands, down from the walls
They reach'd their rusty swords, and when I named
Those names amidst the mountains holiest,
Your own and Walter Furst's, then in their eyes
Lighten'd glad consciousness of valour. What
You should judge right they swore to execute.
They swore to follow you, ev'n unto death.
Thus hurrying, safe beneath the sacred shelter
Of hospitality, from farm to farm,

I reach'd my native valley, where wide-spread
My kindred dwell;--And when I found my father,
Plunder'd and blind, lying on stranger's straw,
Living on alms of charitable men-
Stauff. Merciful Heaven!

Melch. No, I did not weep!

I wasted not in helpless tears, the strength
Of my hot-burning anguish. In my breast
Deeply I lock'd it as a costly treasure,

And thought of nothing but of action, action!
I crept through every mountain cleft and fissure,
No vale so hidden it escaped my search,
Ev'n at th' eternal Gletscher's* ice-clad foot
I sought and found cabins inhabited,

And wheresoe'er my venturous foot could reach

I found abhorrence of this tyranny.

For even there, upon the utmost verge

Of living nature, where the stiffening earth
No longer yields to culture, even there
Plunders the av'rice of our governors.

With stinging words I roused the inmost spirit

Of these plain herdsmen-Heart and soul they're ours!
Stauff. In little time you have achieved great things.

Melch. I have done more-What our bold peasants dread

Are those two fortresses, Rossberg and Sarnen;
Shelter'd behind their battlements, the foe
Securely sits, and ravages the land.

Their strength with my own eyes to ascertain

I went to Sarnen, and explored the castie.

Stauff. Sought you the tiger in his very cour

Melch I pgria garb disguised, thither I went,

Adi at i is revels saw the Governor.

Judge if I know my feelings to control!

I say my enemy and slew him not.

Stauff. Your boldness was indeed by 1 ortune favour'd.

(The other cou, trymu come forward to them.

But tell me now what upright friends you bring.

Let me know all, in perfect confidence

That afterwards we may 1. fold our hearts.

Meier. Excellent man! Through the three provinces

Who knows not thee? Meier of Sarnen, I,

And this my nephew, Struth of Winkelried.

Stauff. You speak no unknown name; a Winkelried

* The German name for glaciere, which, there being no corresponding English word, has been preserved, in preference to using another equally foreign expression.

Destroy'd the dragon in the Weiler marsh,
Purchasing victory even with his life.

Winkel. My ancestor, most worthy Stauffacher.

Melch. (shewing two men.) In villeinage, upon the convent lands Of Engelberg, these dwell behind the forest,

You will not scorn them for their servile state,

Because they live not free-men on the land

Like us?—They love their country, and they bear
A good report.

Stauff (to both.) Give me your hands! Let him
Enjoy his happiness who owes not service
To any upon earth; but honesty

In all conditions thrives.

Hunn. Here's Master Reding,
Our former Landamman.

Meier. I know him well;

My adversary who contends with me

For an inheritance. Good Master Reding,

We're foes before our judges,—here we're friends.

Stauff. That's frankly spoken.

Winkel. Hark! They come; I hear

The horn of Uri.

(They shake hands.)

(To the right and left armed men appear, descending the rocks with lanterns.)

Hans. See the worthy priest,

The pious minister of God, comes with them.

He shrinks nor from the terrors of the night,
Nor from the arduous way.-A faithful shepherd
Watching his flock.

Baum. Next comes the Sacristan,

And Walter Furst; but William Tell I see not.

WALTER FURST and ten others come down from the Mountains. The whole thirty-three assemble round the Fire.

Furst. So must we, on our own inheritance,

On our paternal soil, like murderers

Steal secretly together, and beneath

The shades of night, whose darksome cloak, or guilt,

Or black conspiracy shunning the light,

Alone should cover, must we cautiously

Seek those just rights, that are as pure and clear

As is the noontide sun's resplendent beam.

Melch. Be satisfied that what dark night has brooded,

Freely and fearlessly shall meet the sun.

Rosselman, the Priest. Confederates, hear words that God inspires!

In substitution for a lawful diet

We are assembled, and may represent

The universal nation; let us then,

According to the ancient usages

Practised in happier times, rule our proceedings.

What in our meeting is irregular,

Our bitter need must justify-Our God,

Wherever justice is observed, is present;

And here, beneath his Heav'n we stand.

Stauff. Be't so;

According to old usages proceed,

And through night's darkness our good cause shall shine.
Melch. Our numbers are imperfect, but all hearts,

And our best men, are here.

Hunn. Our books are wanting,

But their contents are on our hearts engraved.

Rossel. Then form the ring, and plant the swords of power Within't.

Hans. First, take the Landamman his post,

And station his associates at his side.

Sacristan. Three provinces are present; which enjoys The right to give a chief to this assembly?

Meier. Uri and Schwytz may for that right contend, We men of Unterwalden yield it freely.

Melch. We yield it. We are the petitioners Who call upon our stronger friends for help.

Stauff. Let Uri take the sword then; Uri's banner Precedes our own, upon the solemn march

To Rome, for the imperial coronation.

Furst. The honour of the sword belongs to Schwytz, Since we from Schwytz all boast our origin.

Rossel. This gen'rous controversy let me end;

Schwytz shall in council lead, Uri in war.

Furst, (giving the sword to Stauffacher.) Receive it, then.
Stauff. Not unto me, to age

That honour's due.

George. Ulrick the smith is oldest.

Hans. The man is worthy, but not free by birth; No villain can be judge in Schwytz.

Stauff. Is not

Our farmer Landamman amongst us here?

Seek you a worthier than Irel Reding?

Furst. Be Reding of our diet president.

You who agree with me, hold up your hands.

(All hold up their right hands.)

Reding, (advancing into the centre.) I cannot lay my hand upon our books;

Therefore, by those eternal stars in heaven,

I swear I will not deviate from strict justice!

(The two swords are placed before him, a circle is formed round him; Schwytz in the middle, Uri on the right, Unterwalden on the left. He stands leaning upon his battle-sword.)

Now say, wherefore the mountain-races meet

Here, on the lake's inhospitable shore,

In the dark hour when spirits walk the earth?

Say, what the purport of the new alliance

We here contract, beneath the starry sky?

Stauff. (coming forward.) 'Tis not a new alliance we contract; "Tis an old union, form'd by our forefathers,

We would renew. Observe, confederates!

Although the mountains and the lake divide us,
And each, a separate people, rules itself,

Yet are we but one race, sprung from one blood,
And, from one home, together we came here.

Winkel. Then truly do our ancient legends tell
That we from distant regions wander'd hither?
Prithee impart what of the tale you know,
Strengthening our new alliance with old ties.

Stauf. Hear, then, what hoary-headed herdsmen tell:
A mighty nation dwelt far north from hence,
And suffer'd from a famine grievously;
The people, in their need assembling, order'd
That each tenth citizen, by lot, should quit
His country. They obey'd! A mighty army,
Husbands and wives, lamenting, towards the sun
They went, fighting their way through Germany,
Even to these mountains; nor upon their march
They wearied, till, within a savage valley,

Where, amidst meadows, now, the Muotta flows,
They stood. No traces there of men appear'd;
Save that one hut stood lonely on the shore,
Where sat a ferryman, for passengers

Patiently waiting. But the lake swell'd high
Its billows, nor allowed the wanderers passage.
More closely then they view'd the land, beheld
The richness of its forests and its fountains,
And almost deem'd it their loved native country.
With that they fix'd to settle there; they built
The good old village Schwytz, and many a day
Of weary toil endured, ere they subdued

The strong, wide-spreading roots of the old forest.
Then, when the soil no more could feed their numbers,
They traversed the black mountain far as Weissland,
Where, hid behind th' eternal wall of ice,

Another nation speaks another tongue.

They built the village Stanz, beside the Kernwald,
The village Altdorf, on the Reuss's banks-
But ever mindful of their origin,

Amidst the many tribes of foreigners

Who have, since then, establish'd colonies

Throughout the land, the men of Schwytz remain

Distinguish'd. Heart and blood proclaim themselves.

(Giving his hands to right and left.)

Haus. Oh yes, yes! All are of one blood, one heart!
All, (taking hands.) We are one people, and will act in unison!
Stauff. The other nations bear a foreign yoke;

They have submitted to the conqueror.

Nay, on our borders dwell there some, who stoop
To render villein-services, bequeathing

Their children slav'ry as their heritage.

But we, who from the pure and ancient stock

Of Schwytz are sprung, untainted hold our freedom!
We never bent the knee to princes, we

Chose freely the protection of the Emperor.

Rossel. It was the Empire that we freely chose
Our guard and our protection: 'tis express'd
Clearly in Emperor Fredric's ancient charter.
Stauff. Without a sovereign not the freest men
Can live; there must be a superior judge
By whose decision strife may be appeased.
Thence, for their lands recover'd from the waste,
Our ancestors did honour to the Emperor,
The Lord of Germany and Italy;

And, like the other freemen in his empire,
They swore to render him the warrior's service.
For 'tis the single duty of the free

To guard the empire, that protects themselves.
Melch. All beyond that is slavery.
Stauff. Whene'er

The feudal army march'd, our fathers follow'd

The Emperor's banner, and his battles fought;

In arms they guarded him through Italy,

To place upon his brow th' Imperial crown;
At home, by their old laws and usages,

Gladly they ruled themselves. The Emperor's right
Was only to pronounce the doom of such
As merited to die. For that he named
Some mighty Count inhabiting our land,
VOL. XVII.
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