Mrs. Arnold. [Rings. To servant.]
Whate'er he asks for, get it quickly for him,
But make no questions.
[Arnold speaks to servant in dumb-show. Exit servant.]
Arnold. The very coat I did the treason in,
By accident preserved, and then,—and then—
I could not cast it off: it clung to me—
Waiting this day. It lay there like a dog,
Patient against a master's drunkenness,
Watching his face.
[Enter servant with the coat of the American uniform, and the sword-knots.]
Thou one unbroken link with all the men
I walked with on the mountain heights of youth,
When glory shone, and trumpets heralded,
And drums were rolling! We were patriots then,
Warren, and Putnam, Lincoln, Knox, and Schuyler,
Morgan, and Stark, Montgomery, Sullivan—
And scores of faces burnished by the winds,
That shone with glory—
[He takes off the coat of his British uniform, the servant assisting, and puts on the coat of his old American uniform.]
Never weep, dear wife.
I seek the truth you teach me. It is thus
Your thoughts do guide me;—and I must go back
To where I lost the way.
[Showing sword-knots.] That ornament
Washington gave me,—with such words of praise
As must preserve it till the judgment day
Against corruption. Should I meet that man,
Will his reluctant and offended shade
Pass sadly on? Or will he greet me there,—
There, but not here. There, there, but never here!
On toward that shadowy spot I blindly go,
Claiming the past.
[He lies down on the couch, and Mrs. Arnold kneels by his side. Exit Death.]
Both Choruses. Surely the past must be allowed to all men; and not to him alone. What good there was in us cannot be lost.
God forgets not the virtue of those who have failed; and why should man seek to judge them? Verily all courage is immortal: the man himself cannot kill it.