Part 2

That house of freedom God hath built for us.

[A drum is heard. People enter bearing a cap upon a pole, followed by a crier. Women and children thronging tumultuously after them.

FIRST WORKMAN. What means the drum? Give heed!

MASTER MASON. Why here's a mumming! And look, the cap,--what can they mean by that?

CRIER. In the emperor's name, give ear!

WORKMEN. Hush! silence! hush!

CRIER. Ye men of Uri, ye do see this cap! It will be set upon a lofty pole In Altdorf, in the market-place: and this Is the lord governor's good will and pleasure, The cap shall have like honor as himself, And all shall reverence it with bended knee, And head uncovered; thus the king will know Who are his true and loyal subjects here: His life and goods are forfeit to the crown, That shall refuse obedience to the order.

[The people burst out into laughter. The drum beats, and the procession passes on.

FIRST WORKMAN. A strange device to fall upon, indeed! Do reverence to a cap! a pretty farce! Heard ever mortal anything like this?

MASTER MASON. Down to a cap on bended knee, forsooth! Rare jesting this with men of sober sense!

FIRST WORKMAN. Nay, were it but the imperial crown, indeed! But 'tis the cap of Austria! I've seen it Hanging above the throne in Gessler's hall.

MASTER MASON. The cap of Austria! Mark that! A snare To get us into Austria's power, by heaven!

WORKMEN. No freeborn man will stoop to such disgrace.

MASTER MASON. Come--to our comrades, and advise with them!

[They retire up.

TELL (to STAUFFACHER). You see how matters stand: Farewell, my friend!

STAUFFACHER. Whither away? Oh, leave us not so soon.

TELL. They look for me at home. So fare ye well.

STAUFFACHER. My heart's so full, and has so much to tell you.

TELL. Words will not make a heart that's heavy light.

STAUFFACHER. Yet words may possibly conduct to deeds.

TELL. All we can do is to endure in silence.

STAUFFACHER. But shall we bear what is not to be borne?

TELL. Impetuous rulers have the shortest reigns. When the fierce south wind rises from his chasms, Men cover up their fires, the ships in haste Make for the harbor, and the mighty spirit Sweeps o'er the earth, and leaves no trace behind. Let every man live quietly at home; Peace to the peaceful rarely is denied.

STAUFFACHER. And is it thus you view our grievances?

TELL. The serpent stings not till it is provoked. Let them alone; they'll weary of themselves, Whene'er they see we are not to be roused.

STAUFFACHER. Much might be done--did we stand fast together.

TELL. When the ship founders, he will best escape Who seeks no other's safety but his own.

STAUFFACHER. And you desert the common cause so coldly?

TELL. A man can safely count but on himself!

STAUFFACHER. Nay, even the weak grow strong by union.

TELL. But the strong man is the strongest when alone.

STAUFFACHER. Your country, then, cannot rely on you If in despair she rise against her foes.

TELL. Tell rescues the lost sheep from yawning gulfs: Is he a man, then, to desert his friends? Yet, whatsoe'er you do, spare me from council! I was not born to ponder and select; But when your course of action is resolved, Then call on Tell; you shall not find him fail.

[Exeunt severally. A sudden tumult is heard around the scaffolding.

MASTER MASON (running in). What's wrong?

FIRST WORKMAN (running forward). The slater's fallen from the roof.

BERTHA (rushing in). Is he dashed to pieces? Run--save him, help! If help be possible, save him! Here is gold.

[Throws her trinkets among the people.

MASTER MASON. Hence with your gold,--your universal charm, And remedy for ill! When you have torn Fathers from children, husbands from their wives, And scattered woe and wail throughout the land, You think with gold to compensate for all. Hence! Till we saw you we were happy men; With you came misery and dark despair.

BERTHA (to the TASKMASTER, who has returned). Lives he? [TASKMASTER shakes his head. Ill-fated towers, with curses built, And doomed with curses to be tenanted!

[Exit.

SCENE IV.

The House of WALTER FURST. WALTER FURST and ARNOLD VON MELCHTHAL enter simultaneously at different sides.

MELCHTHAL. Good Walter Furst.

FURST. If we should be surprised! Stay where you are. We are beset with spies.

MELCHTHAL. Have you no news for me from Unterwald? What of my father? 'Tis not to be borne, Thus to be pent up like a felon here! What have I done of such a heinous stamp, To skulk and hide me like a murderer? I only laid my staff across the fingers Of the pert varlet, when before my eyes, By order of the governor, he tried To drive away my handsome team of oxen.

FURST. You are too rash by far. He did no more Than what the governor had ordered him. You had transgressed, and therefore should have paid The penalty, however hard, in silence.

MELCHTHAL. Was I to brook the fellow's saucy words? "That if the peasant must have bread to eat; Why, let him go and draw the plough himself!" It cut me to the very soul to see My oxen, noble creatures, when the knave Unyoked them from the plough. As though they felt The wrong, they lowed and butted with their horns. On this I could contain myself no longer, And, overcome by passion, struck him down.

FURST. Oh, we old men can scarce command ourselves! And can we wonder youth shall break its bounds?

MELCHTHAL. I'm only sorry for my father's sake! To be away from him, that needs so much My fostering care! The governor detests him, Because he hath, whene'er occasion served, Stood stoutly up for right and liberty. Therefore they'll bear him hard--the poor old man! And there is none to shield him from their gripe. Come what come may, I must go home again.

FURST. Compose yourself, and wait in patience till We get some tidings o'er from Unterwald. Away! away! I hear a knock! Perhaps A message from the viceroy! Get thee in! You are not safe from Landenberger's [6] arm In Uri, for these tyrants pull together.

MELCHTHAL. They teach us Switzers what we ought to do.

FURST. Away! I'll call you when the coast is clear.

[MELCHTHAL retires.

Unhappy youth! I dare not tell him all The evil that my boding heart predicts! Who's there? The door ne'er opens but I look For tidings of mishap. Suspicion lurks With darkling treachery in every nook. Even to our inmost rooms they force their way, These myrmidons of power; and soon we'll need To fasten bolts and bars upon our doors.

[He opens the door and steps back in surprise as WERNER STAUFFACHER enters.

What do I see? You, Werner? Now, by Heaven! A valued guest, indeed. No man e'er set His foot across this threshold more esteemed. Welcome! thrice welcome, Werner, to my roof! What brings you here? What seek you here in Uri?

STAUFFACHER (shakes FURST by the hand). The olden times and olden Switzerland.

FURST. You bring them with you. See how I'm rejoiced, My heart leaps at the very sight of you. Sit down--sit down, and tell me how you left Your charming wife, fair Gertrude? Iberg's child, And clever as her father. Not a man, That wends from Germany, by Meinrad's Cell, [7] To Italy, but praises far and wide Your house's hospitality. But say, Have you come here direct from Flueelen, And have you noticed nothing on your way, Before you halted at my door?

STAUFFACHER (sits down). I saw A work in progress, as I came along, I little thought to see--that likes me ill.

FURST. O friend! you've lighted on my thought at once.

STAUFFACHER. Such things in Uri ne'er were known before. Never was prison here in man's remembrance, Nor ever any stronghold but the grave.

FURST. You name it well. It is the grave of freedom.

STAUFFACHER. Friend, Walter Furst, I will be plain with you. No idle curiosity it is That brings me here, but heavy cares. I left Thraldom at home, and thraldom meets me here. Our wrongs, e'en now, are more than we can bear. And who shall tell us where they are to end? From eldest time the Switzer has been free, Accustomed only to the mildest rule. Such things as now we suffer ne'er were known Since herdsmen first drove cattle to the hills.

FURST. Yes, our oppressions are unparalleled! Why, even our own good lord of Attinghaus, Who lived in olden times, himself declares They are no longer to be tamely borne.

STAUFFACHER. In Unterwalden yonder 'tis the same; And bloody has the retribution been. The imperial seneschal, the Wolfshot, who At Rossberg dwelt, longed for forbidden fruits-- Baumgarten's wife, that lives at Alzellen, He wished to overcome in shameful sort, On which the husband slew him with his axe.

FURST. Oh, Heaven is just in all its judgments still! Baumgarten, say you? A most worthy man. Has he escaped, and is he safely hid?

STAUFFACHER. Your son-in-law conveyed him o'er the lake, And he lies hidden in my house at Steinen. He brought the tidings with him of a thing That has been done at Sarnen, worse than all, A thing to make the very heart run blood!

FURST (attentively). Say on. What is it?

STAUFFACHER. There dwells in Melchthal, then, Just as you enter by the road from Kearns, An upright man, named Henry of the Halden, A man of weight and influence in the Diet.

FURST. Who knows him not? But what of him? Proceed.

STAUFFACHER. The Landenberg, to punish some offence, Committed by the old man's son, it seems, Had given command to take the youth's best pair Of oxen from his plough: on which the lad Struck down the messenger and took to flight.

FURST. But the old father--tell me, what of him?

STAUFFACHER. The Landenberg sent for him, and required He should produce his son upon the spot; And when the old man protested, and with truth, That he knew nothing of the fugitive, The tyrant called his torturers.

FURST (springs up and tries to lead him to the other side). Hush, no more!

STAUFFACHER (with increasing warmth). "And though thy son," he cried, "Has escaped me now, I have thee fast, and thou shalt feel my vengeance." With that they flung the old man to the earth, And plunged the pointed steel into his eyes.

FURST. Merciful heavens!

MELCHTHAL (rushing out). Into his eyes, his eyes?

STAUFFACHER (addresses himself in astonishment to WALTER FURST). Who is this youth?

MELCHTHAL (grasping him convulsively). Into his eyes? Speak, speak!

FURST. Oh, miserable hour!

STAUFFACHER. Who is it, tell me?

[STAUFFACHER makes a sign to him.

It is his son! All righteous heaven!

MELCHTHAL. And I Must be from thence! What! into both his eyes?

FURST. Be calm, be calm; and bear it like a man!

MELCHTHAL. And all for me--for my mad wilful folly! Blind, did you say? Quite blind--and both his eyes?

STAUFFACHER. Even so. The fountain of his sight's dried up. He ne'er will see the blessed sunshine more.

FURST. Oh, spare his anguish!

MELCHTHAL. Never, never more!

[Presses his hands upon his eyes and is silent for some moments; then turning from one to the other, speaks in a subdued tone, broken by sobs.

O the eye's light, of all the gifts of heaven, The dearest, best! From light all beings live-- Each fair created thing--the very plants Turn with a joyful transport to the light, And he--he must drag on through all his days In endless darkness! Never more for him The sunny meads shall glow, the flowerets bloom; Nor shall he more behold the roseate tints Of the iced mountain top! To die is nothing, But to have life, and not have sight--oh, that Is misery indeed! Why do you look So piteously at me? I have two eyes, Yet to my poor blind father can give neither! No, not one gleam of that great sea of light, That with its dazzling splendor floods my gaze.

STAUFFACHER. Ah, I must swell the measure of your grief, Instead of soothing it. The worst, alas! Remains to tell. They've stripped him of his all; Naught have they left him, save his staff, on which, Blind and in rags, he moves from door to door.

MELCHTHAL. Naught but his staff to the old eyeless man! Stripped of his all--even of the light of day, The common blessing of the meanest wretch. Tell me no more of patience, of concealment! Oh, what a base and coward thing am I, That on mine own security I thought And took no care of thine! Thy precious head Left as a pledge within the tyrant's grasp! Hence, craven-hearted prudence, hence! And all My thoughts be vengeance, and the despot's blood! I'll seek him straight--no power shall stay me now-- And at his hands demand my father's eyes. I'll beard him 'mid a thousand myrmidons! What's life to me, if in his heart's best blood I cool the fever of this mighty anguish.

[He is going.

FURST. Stay, this is madness, Melchthal! What avails Your single arm against his power? He sits At Sarnen high within his lordly keep, And, safe within its battlemented walls, May laugh to scorn your unavailing rage.

MELCHTHAL. And though he sat within the icy domes Of yon far Schreckhorn--ay, or higher, where Veiled since eternity, the Jungfrau soars, Still to the tyrant would I make my way; With twenty comrades minded like myself, I'd lay his fastness level with the earth! And if none follow me, and if you all, In terror for your homesteads and your herds, Bow in submission to the tyrant's yoke, I'll call the herdsmen on the hills around me, And there beneath heaven's free and boundless roof, Where men still feel as men, and hearts are true Proclaim aloud this foul enormity!

STAUFFACHER (to FURST). 'Tis at its height--and are we then to wait Till some extremity----

MELCHTHAL. What extremity Remains for apprehension, where men's eyes Have ceased to be secure within their sockets? Are we defenceless? Wherefore did we learn To bend the crossbow--wield the battle-axe? What living creature, but in its despair, Finds for itself a weapon of defence? The baited stag will turn, and with the show Of his dread antlers hold the hounds at bay; The chamois drags the huntsman down the abyss; The very ox, the partner of man's toil, The sharer of his roof, that meekly bends The strength of his huge neck beneath the yoke, Springs up, if he's provoked, whets his strong horn, And tosses his tormenter to the clouds.

FURST. If the three Cantons thought as we three do, Something might, then, be done, with good effect.

STAUFFACHER. When Uri calls, when Unterwald replies, Schwytz will be mindful of her ancient league. [8]

MELCHTHAL. I've many friends in Unterwald, and none That would not gladly venture life and limb If fairly backed and aided by the rest. Oh, sage and reverend fathers of this land, Here do I stand before your riper years, An unskilled youth whose voice must in the Diet Still be subdued into respectful silence. Do not, because that I am young and want Experience, slight my counsel and my words. 'Tis not the wantonness of youthful blood That fires my spirit; but a pang so deep That even the flinty rocks must pity me. You, too, are fathers, heads of families, And you must wish to have a virtuous son To reverence your gray hairs and shield your eyes With pious and affectionate regard. Do not, I pray, because in limb and fortune You still are unassailed, and still your eyes Revolve undimmed and sparkling in their spheres; Oh, do not, therefore, disregard our wrongs! Above you, too, doth hang the tyrant's sword. You, too, have striven to alienate the land From Austria. This was all my father's crime: You share his guilt and may his punishment.

STAUFFACHER (to FURST). Do then resolve! I am prepared to follow.

FURST. First let us learn what steps the noble lords Von Sillinen and Attinghaus propose. Their names would rally thousands in the cause.

MELCHTHAL. Is there a name within the Forest Mountains That carries more respect than thine--and thine? To names like these the people cling for help With confidence--such names are household words. Rich was your heritage of manly virtue, And richly have you added to its stores. What need of nobles? Let us do the work Ourselves. Although we stood alone, methinks We should be able to maintain our rights.

STAUFFACHER. The nobles' wrongs are not so great as ours. The torrent that lays waste the lower grounds Hath not ascended to the uplands yet. But let them see the country once in arms They'll not refuse to lend a helping hand.

FURST. Were there an umpire 'twixt ourselves and Austria, Justice and law might then decide our quarrel. But our oppressor is our emperor, too, And judge supreme. 'Tis God must help us, then, And our own arm! Be yours the task to rouse The men of Schwytz; I'll rally friends in Uri. But whom are we to send to Unterwald?

MELCHTHAL. Thither send me. Whom should it more concern?

FURST. No, Melchthal, no; thou art my guest, and I Must answer for thy safety.

MELCHTHAL. Let me go. I know each forest track and mountain pass; Friends too I'll find, be sure, on every hand, To give me willing shelter from the foe.

STAUFFACHER. Nay, let him go; no traitors harbor there: For tyranny is so abhorred in Unterwald No minions can be found to work her will. In the low valleys, too, the Alzeller Will gain confederates and rouse the country.

MELCHTHAL. But how shall we communicate, and not Awaken the suspicion of the tyrants?

STAUFFACHER. Might we not meet at Brunnen or at Treib, Hard by the spot where merchant-vessels land?

FURST. We must not go so openly to work. Hear my opinion. On the lake's left bank, As we sail hence to Brunnen, right against The Mytenstein, deep-hidden in the wood A meadow lies, by shepherds called the Rootli, Because the wood has been uprooted there. 'Tis where our Canton boundaries verge on yours;--

[To MELCHTHAL.

Your boat will carry you across from Schwytz.

[To STAUFFACHER.

Thither by lonely by-paths let us wend At midnight and deliberate o'er our plans. Let each bring with him there ten trusty men, All one at heart with us; and then we may Consult together for the general weal, And, with God's guidance, fix our onward course.

STAUFFACHER. So let it be. And now your true right hand! Yours, too, young man! and as we now three men Among ourselves thus knit our hands together In all sincerity and truth, e'en so Shall we three Cantons, too, together stand In victory and defeat, in life and death.

FURST and MELCHTHAL. In life and death.

[They hold their hands clasped together for some moments in silence.

MELCHTHAL. Alas, my old blind father! Thou canst no more behold the day of freedom; But thou shalt hear it. When from Alp to Alp The beacon-fires throw up their flaming signs, And the proud castles of the tyrants fall, Into thy cottage shall the Switzer burst, Bear the glad tidings to thine ear, and o'er Thy darkened way shall Freedom's radiance pour.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

The Mansion of the BARON OF ATTINGHAUSEN. A Gothic hall, decorated with escutcheons and helmets. The BARON, a gray-headed man, eighty-five years old, tall, and of a commanding mien, clad in a furred pelisse, and leaning on a staff tipped with chamois horn. KUONI and six hinds standing round him, with rakes and scythes. ULRICH OF RUDENZ enters in the costume of a knight.

RUDENZ. Uncle, I'm here! Your will?

ATTINGHAUSEN. First let me share, After the ancient custom of our house, The morning-cup with these my faithful servants!

[He drinks from a cup, which is then passed round.

Time was I stood myself in field and wood, With mine own eyes directing all their toil, Even as my banner led them in the fight, Now I am only fit to play the steward; And, if the genial sun come not to me, I can no longer seek it on the mountains. Thus slowly, in an ever-narrowing sphere, I move on to the narrowest and the last, Where all life's pulses cease. I now am but The shadow of my former self, and that Is fading fast--'twill soon be but a name.

KUONI (offering RUDENZ the cup). A pledge, young master! [RUDENZ hesitates to take the cup. Nay, sir, drink it off! One cup, one heart! You know our proverb, sir!

ATTINGHAUSEN. Go, children, and at eve, when work is done, We'll meet and talk the country's business over.

[Exeunt Servants.

Belted and plumed, and all thy bravery on! Thou art for Altdorf--for the castle, boy?

RUDENZ. Yes, uncle. Longer may I not delay----

ATTINGHAUSEN (sitting down). Why in such haste? Say, are thy youthful hours Doled in such niggard measure that thou must Be chary of then to thy aged uncle?

RUDENZ. I see, my presence is not needed here, I am but as a stranger in this house.

ATTINGHAUSEN (gazes fixedly at him for a considerable time). Alas, thou art indeed! Alas, that home To thee has grown so strange! Oh, Uly! Uly! I scarce do know thee now, thus decked in silks, The peacock's feather [9] flaunting in thy cap, And purple mantle round thy shoulders flung; Thou lookest upon the peasant with disdain, And takest with a blush his honest greeting.

RUDENZ. All honor due to him I gladly pay, But must deny the right he would usurp.

ATTINGHAUSEN. The sore displeasure of the king is resting Upon the land, and every true man's heart Is full of sadness for the grievous wrongs We suffer from our tyrants. Thou alone Art all unmoved amid the general grief. Abandoning thy friends, thou takest thy stand Beside thy country's foes, and, as in scorn Of our distress, pursuest giddy joys, Courting the smiles of princes, all the while Thy country bleeds beneath their cruel scourge.

RUDENZ. The land is sore oppressed; I know it, uncle. But why? Who plunged it into this distress? A word, one little easy word, might buy Instant deliverance from such dire oppression, And win the good-will of the emperor. Woe unto those who seal the people's eyes, And make them adverse to their country's good; The men who, for their own vile, selfish ends, Are seeking to prevent the Forest States From swearing fealty to Austria's house, As all the countries round about have done. It fits their humor well, to take their seats Amid the nobles on the Herrenbank; [10] They'll have the Caesar for their lord, forsooth, That is to say, they'll have no lord at all.

ATTINGHAUSEN. Must I hear this, and from thy lips, rash boy!

RUDENZ. You urged me to this answer. Hear me out. What, uncle, is the character you've stooped To fill contentedly through life? Have you No higher pride, than in these lonely wilds To be the Landamman or Banneret, [11] The petty chieftain of a shepherd race? How! Were it not a far more glorious choice To bend in homage to our royal lord, And swell the princely splendors of his court, Than sit at home, the peer of your own vassals, And share the judgment-seat with vulgar clowns?

ATTINGHAUSEN. Ah, Uly, Uly; all too well I see, The tempter's voice has caught thy willing ear, And poured its subtle poison in thy heart.