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Cromwell.What dost thou think of me?
Ormond. What dost thou think of me? Say'st thou of thee, Cromwell?
Cromwell.Say on.
Ormond. Say on. Things that one may not write
Save with the sword.
Cromwell. Save with the sword. A trenchant argument:
Its only flaw is this: the gallows doth
Sometimes make answer to the sword.
Ormond. Sometimes make answer to the sword. What odds?
Cromwell.So thou art led by thirst for blood alone?
Ormond.To punish with the sword the regicide
I came.
Cromwell. I came. To punish, prithee, by what right?
Ormond. By the lex talionis.
Cromwell. By the lex talionis. Darest thou
Enter the lion's den?
Ormond. Enter the lion's den? The tiger's, rather.
Cromwell.Venture thy head upon the very spot
Where the Protector has his domicile?
Ormond.I prithee, Cromwell, say the regicide.
Cromwell.The regicide!—always the regicide!
It is their word, their only argument,
Proffered on all occasions, at all times!
Do I deserve that name of regicide?
The people an illegal tax refused;
I was inflexible, Charles ill-advised.
His fall a blessing was, death a mishap.
Virtues he had, and them I venerate.
In fine, it was my fate to smite the King,
While praying for the man.
Ormond. While praying for the man. Out, hypocrite!
Thou dost not cozen me.
Cromwell. Thou dost not cozen me. Upon this point
We differ in opinion, that is clear.