Butler. Dispatch in service pleases sovereigns. 35
Gordon. No honest man's ambitious to press forward
To the hangman's service.
Butler. And no brave man loses
His colour at a daring enterprize.
Gordon. A brave man hazards life, but not his conscience.
Butler. What then? Shall he go forth anew to kindle 40
The unextinguishable flame of war?
Gordon. Seize him, and hold him prisoner—do not kill him.
Butler. Had not the Emperor's army been defeated,
I might have done so.—But 'tis now past by.
Gordon. O, wherefore opened I the strong hold to him! 45
Butler. His destiny and not the place destroys him.
Gordon. Upon these ramparts, as beseemed a soldier,
I had fallen, defending the Emperor's citadel!