And blood be shed to wash out this day's stain.
[Exeunt soldiers, silent and dejected.
Enter Frederick, who starts back on seeing Basil alone.
Bas. Advance, lieutenant; wherefore shrink ye back?
I've ever seen you bear your head erect,
And front your man, tho' arm'd with frowning death.
Have you done ought the valiant should not do?
I fear you have.(Fred. looks confused.)
With secret art, and false insinuation,
The simple untaught soldiers to seduce
From their sworn duty, might become the base,
Become the coward well; but O! what villain
Had the dark pow'r t'engage thy valiant worth
In such a work as this!
Fred. Is Basil, then, so lavish of his praise
On a neglected pitiful subaltern?
It were a libel on his royal master;
A foul reproach upon fair fortune cast,
To call me valiant:
And surely he has been too much their debtor
To mean them this rebuke.
Bas. Is nature then so sparing of her gifts,
That it is wonderful when they are found
Where fortune smiles not?
Thou art by nature brave, and so am I,
But in those distant ranks moves there not one
(Pointing off the stage.)
