LESSON XXXII. A Dialogue.-COOPER. [The time is the evening after the battle of Lexington. The scene is the house of Seth Sage in Boston, which serves for the quarters of the king's officers. Captain McFuse, of the Royal Grenadiers, is taking a cold supper at a side table, and occasionally tossing a fragment of his meal into the hat of the idiot, Job Pray; who is also eating, with great unconcern, while his friend Sage stands in one corner of the room, a prisoner, with his hands tied before him, having been captured by the British on their return from Lexington. Soldiers are in attendance.] [Enter the British officers, Major Lincoln and Captain Polwarth.] Lincoln. What have we here? Of what offence has Mr. Sage been guilty, that he bears these bonds? M'Fuse. Of the small crimes of treason and homicide, if shooting at a man, with a hearty mind to kill him, can make a murder. Sage. It can't; a man must kill, with wicked intent, to commit murder. M'F. Hear to the blackguard, detailing the law, as if he were my Lord Chief Justice of the King's bench! And what was your intention, ye skulking vagabond, but to kill me? I'll have you tried and hung for the same act. Sage. It's ag'in reason to believe that any jury will convict one man, for the murder of another, that an't dead; there's no jury to be found in the Bay-colony, to do it. M'F. Bay-colony! ye murdering thief and rebel! I'll have ye transported to England; ye shall both be transported and hung. I'll carry ye back to Ireland with me, and I'l hang ye up in the green Island itself, and bury ye, in the heart of winter, in a bog. Lin. But what is the offence, that calls forth these severe threats? M'F. The scoundrel has been out! Lin. Out? M'F. Ay, out, sir. Has not the whole country been like so many bees in search of a hive? Is your memory so short. that ye forget, already, Major Lincoln, the tramp, the blackguards have given you over hill and dale, through thick and thin ? Lin. And was Mr. Sage, then, found among our enemies Jay? M'F. Didn't I see him pull trigger on my own stature, three times, within as many minutes? And didn't he break the handle of my sword? And havn't I a bit of lead, he calls a buckshot, in my shoulder as a present from the thief? Job. It's ag'in all law to call a man a thief unless you can prove it upon him; but it an't ag'in law, to go in and out of Boston as often as you choose. M'F. Do you hear the rascals? They know every angle of the law as well, or better, than I do myself, who am the son of a Cork Counsellor. I dare say, you were among them too, and that ye deserve the gallows as well as your commendable companion, there. Lin. How is this? Did you not only mingle in this rebellion, Mr. Sage, but also attempt the life of a gentleman, who may be said, almost, to be an inmate of your own house? Sage. I conclude, it's best not to talk too much, seeing that no one can foretell what may happen. M'F. Hear to the cunning reprobate! He has not the grace to acknowledge his own sins, like an honest man. But I can save him that small trouble-I got tired, you must know, Major Lincoln, of being shot at, like noxious vermin, from morning till night, without making some return to the compliments of those gentlemen, who are out on the hills; and I took advantage of a turn, ye see, to double on a party of the uncivilized demons; this lad, here, got three good pulls at me, before we closed and made an end of them with the steel, all but this fellow, who having a becoming look for a gallows, I brought him in, as you see, for an exchange, intending hang him the first favourable opportunity. Lin. If this be true, we must give him into the hands of the proper authorities, for it remains to be seen yet, what course will be adopted with the prisoners in this singular con test. M'F. I should think nothing of the matter, if the reprobate had not treated me like a beast of the field, with his buckshot, and taking his aim each time, as though I had been a mad dog. Ye villain, do you call yourself a man, and aim at a fellow-creature as you would at a brute? Sage. Why, when a man has pretty much made up his mind to fight, I conclude it's best to take aim, in order to save ammunition and time. Lin. You acknowledge the charge, then? Sage. As the Major is a moderate man, and will hear to reason, I will talk the matter over with him rationally. see I had a small call to Con'curd early this morning Lin. Concord! Sage. Yes, Con'curd. It lies here-away, say twenty, or one-and-twenty miles- (pointing) Is Polwarth. Hang your Concords and your miles too! there a man in the army, who can forget the deceitful place? Go on with your defence, without talking to us of the distance, who have measured the road by inches. Sage. The Captain is hasty and rash! But being there, I went out of the town, with some company that I happened in with; and after a time we concluded to returnand so, as we came to a bridge, about a mile beyond the place, we received pretty considerable rough treatment from some of the king's troops, who were standing there. Lin. What did they? Sage. They fired at us, and killed two of our company, besides other threatening doings. There were some among us, that took the matter up in considerable earnest, and there was a sharp toss about, for a few minutes; though finally the law prevailed. Lin. The law? Sage. Certain-'tis ag'in all law, I believe the Major will own, to shoot peaceable men on the publick highway! Lin. Proceed with your tale, your own way. Sage. That is pretty much the whole of it. The people rather took that, and some other things, that happened at Lexington, to heart, and I suppose the Major knows the rest. McF. But what has all this to do with your attempt to murder me, you hypocrite? Confess the whole, ye thief! that I may hang you with an aisy conscience. Lin. Enough. The man has acknowledged sufficient already, to justify us in transferring him to the custody of others. Let him be taken to the main-guard, and delivered, as a prisoner of this day. Sage. I hope the Major will look to the things. I shall hold him accountable for all. Lin. Your property shall be protected, and I hope your life may not be in jeopardy. (Exit Sage, conducted by guards.) Job. The king can't hang Seth Sage for firing back, when the rascally soldiers began first. McF. Perhaps you were out too, master Solomon, amusing yourself at Concord, with a small party of select friends! Job. Job didn't go any further than Lexington, and he hasn't got any friends except old Nab. McF. The demon has possessed the minds of the people! Lawyers and doctors, priests and sinners, old and young, big and little, beset us in our march, and here is a fool, to be added among the number! I dare say that fellow, now, has attempted murder in his day too. Job. Job scorns such wickedness! He only shot one granny, and hit an officer in the arm. McF. (jumping from his seat.) D'ye hear that, Major Lincoln! D'ye hear that shell of a man, that effigy, boasting of having killed a grenadier! Lin. (catching McFuse by the arm.) Hold! remember, we are soldiers, and that the boy is not a responsible being. No tribunal would ever sentence such an unfortunate creature to a gibbet; and, in general, he is as harmless as a babe McF. Out upon such babes! A pretty fellow is he to kill a man of six feet! and with a ducking gun, I'll engage. I'll not hang the rascal, Major Lincoln, since it is your particular wish-I'll only have him buried alive. (Exit Mc Fuse, Polwarth, and attendants.) Lin. Foolish boy! did I not warn you, that wicked men might endanger your life? How was it that I saw you in arms today against the troops? Job. How came the troops in arms ag'in Job? They needn't think to wheel about the Bay-Province, clashing their drums and trumpets, burning housen, and shooting people, and find no stir about it. Lin. Do you know that your life has been twice forfeited within twelve hours, by your own confession; once for murder, and again for treason against your king? You have acknowledged killing a man! Job. Yes, Job shot the granny; but he didn't let the people kill Major Lincoln. Lin. True, true--I owe my life to you, and that debt shall be cancelled at every hazard. But why have you put yourself in the hands of your enemies so thoughtlessly? What brings you here to-night? Job. Ralph told me to come; and if Ralph told Job to go into the king's parlour, he would go. Lin. Ralph! Where is he? Job. In the old warehouse, and he has sent me to tell you to come to him--and what Ralph says, must be done. Lin. He here too! Is the man crazed? Would not his fears teach him Job. Fears! You can't frighten Ralph! The grannies couldn't frighten him, nor the light-infantry couldn't hit him, though he eat nothing but their smoke all day! Ralph is a proper warriour! Lin. And he waits me, you say, in the tenement of your mother? Job. Job don't know what tenement means, but he's in the old warehouse. Lin. Come, then, let us go to him. I must save him from the effects of his own rashness, though it cost my commission! [Exeunt. LESSON XXXIII. The Gladiator.-JONES. They led a lion from his den, The lord of Afric's sun-scorched plain ; There's not of all Rome's heroes, ten That dare abide this game. His bright eye nought of lightning lacked: They brought a dark-haired man along, Blithely he stepped among the throng, A dark eye, such as courts the path Then shouted the plebeian crowd- |