FURST.
Heavens! 'Twas beneath this cap my grandson stood!
SEVERAL VOICES.
Destroy the emblem of the tyrant's power!
Let it be burnt!
FURST.
No. Rather be preserved;
'Twas once the instrument of despots—now
'Twill of our freedom be a lasting sign.
[Peasants, men, women, and children, some standing, others sitting upon the beams of the shattered scaffold, all picturesquely grouped, in a large semicircle.]
MELCH.
Thus now, my friends, with light and merry hearts,
We stand upon the wreck of tyranny;
And gloriously the work has been fulfilled,
Which we at Rootli pledged ourselves to do.
FURST.
No, not fulfilled. The work is but begun:
Courage and concord firm, we need them both;
For, be assured, the king will make all speed,
To avenge his Viceroy's death, and reinstate,
By force of arms, the tyrant we've expelled.
MELCH.
Why let him come, with all his armaments!
The foe's expelled, that press'd us from within.
The foe without we are prepared to meet!
RUODI.
The passes to our Cantons are but few;
These with our bodies we will block, we will!
BAUM.
Knit are we by a league will ne'er be rent,
And all his armies shall not make us quail.
[Enter Rosselmann and Stauffacher.]