LXVII. WILLIAM TELL.
James Sheridan Knowles (b. 1784, d. 1862), a dramatist and actor, was born in Cork, Ireland. In 1792 his father removed to London with his family. At the age of fourteen, Sheridan wrote an opera called "The Chevalier de Grillon." In 1798 he removed to Dublin, and soon after began his career as an actor and author. In 1835 he visited America. In 1839 an annual pension of 200 Pounds was granted him by the British government. Several years before his death he left the stage and became a Baptist minister. The best known of his plays are "Caius Gracchus," "Virginius," "Leo, the Gypsy," "The Hunchback," and "William Tell," from the last of which the following two lessons are abridged.
SCENE 1.—A Chamber in the Castle. Enter Gesler, Officers, and Sarnem, with Tell in chains and guarded.
Sar. Down, slave! Behold the governor.
Down! down! and beg for mercy.
Ges. (Seated.) Does he hear?
Sar. He does, but braves thy power.
Officer. Why don't you smite him for that look?
Ges. Can I believe
My eyes? He smiles! Nay, grasps
His chains as he would make a weapon of them
To lay the smiter dead. (To Tell.)
Why speakest thou not?
Tell. For wonder.
Ges. Wonder?