The Council-Table.
Enter Wellman, Downright, Dunce, Whimsey, Whiff, and
others.
Well. Come, Mr. Dunce, though you are no Counsellor, yet your Counsel may be good in time of Necessity, as now.
Dun. If I may give worthy Advice, I do not look upon our Danger to be so great from the Indians, as from young Bacon, whom the People have nick-nam’d Fright-all.
Whim. Ay, ay, that same Bacon, I would he were well hang’d: I am afraid that under pretence of killing all the Indians he means to murder us, lie with our Wives, and hang up our little Children, and make himself Lord and King.
Whiff. Brother Whimsey, not so hot; with leave of the honourable Board, my Wife is of opinion, that Bacon came seasonably to our Aid, and what he has done was for our Defence, the Indians came down upon us, and ravish’d us all, Men, Women, and Children.
Well. If these Grievances were not redrest, we had our Reasons for it; it was not that we were insensible, Captain Whiff, of what we suffer’d from the Insolence of the Indians; but all knew what we must expect from Bacon, if that by lawful Authority he had arrived to so great a Command as General; nor would we be hufft out of our Commissions.
Down. ’Tis most certain that Bacon did not demand a Commission out of a design of serving us, but to satisfy his Ambition and his Love; it being no secret that he passionately admires the Indian Queen, and under the pretext of a War, intends to kill the King her Husband, establish himself in her Heart, and on all occasions make himself a more formidable Enemy than the Indians are.
Whim. Nay, nay, I ever foresaw he would prove a Villain.
Whiff. Nay, and he be thereabout, my Nancy shall have no more to do with him.
Well. But, Gentlemen, the People daily flock to him, so that his Army is too considerable for us to oppose by any thing but Policy.
Down. We are sensible, Gentlemen, that our Fortunes, our Honours, and our Lives are at stake; and therefore you are call’d together to consult what’s to be done in this Grand Affair, till our Governour and Forces arrive from England: the Truce he made with the Indians will be out to morrow.
Whiff. Ay, and then he intends to have another bout with the Indians. Let’s have patience, I say, till he has thrumb’d their Jackets, and then to work with your Politicks as soon as you please.
Down. Colonel Wellman has answer’d that point, good Captain Whiff; ’tis the Event of this Battel we ought to dread; and if won or lost, will be equally fatal for us, either from the Indians or from Bacon.
Dun. With the Permission of the honourable Board, I think I have hit upon an Expedient that may prevent this Battel: your Honours shall write a Letter to Bacon, where you shall acknowledge his Services, invite him kindly home, and offer him a Commission for General —
Whiff. Just my Nancy’s Counsel — Dr. Dunce has spoken like a Cherubin, he shall have my Voice for General; what say you, Brother Whimsey?
Down. I say he is a Noble Fellow, and fit for a General.
Dun. But conceive me right, Gentlemen; as soon as he shall have render’d himself, seize him, and strike off his Head at the Fort.
Whiff. Hum! his Head — Brother.
Whim. Ay, ay, Dr. Dunce speaks like a Cherubin.
Well. Mr. Dunce, your Counsel in extremity, I confess, is not amiss; but I should be loth to deal dishonourably with any Man.
Down. His Crimes deserve Death, his Life is forfeited by Law, but shall never be taken by my consent by Treachery: If by any Stratagem we could take him alive, and either send him for England to receive there his Punishment, or keep him Prisoner here till the Governour arrive, I should agree to it; but I question his coming in upon our Invitation.
Dun. Leave that to me.
Whim. Come, I’ll warrant him, the Rogue’s as stout as Hector, he fears neither Heaven nor Hell.
Down. He’s too brave and bold to refuse our Summons, and I am for sending him for England, and leaving him to the King’s Mercy.
Dun. In that you’ll find more difficulty, Sir; to take him off here will be more quick and sudden: for the People worship him.
Well. I’ll never yield to so ungenerous an Expedient. The seizing him I am content in the Extremity wherein we are to follow. What say you, Colonel Downright? shall we send him a Letter now, while this two days Truce lasts, between him and the Indians?
Down. I approve it.
All. And I, and I, and I.
Dun. If your Honours please to make me the Messenger, I’ll use some Arguments of my own to prevail with him.
Well. You say well, Mr. Dunce, and we’ll dispatch you presently.
[Ex. Well. Down. and all but Whim. Whiff. and Dunce.
Whiff. Ah, Doctor, if you could but have persuaded Colonel Wellman and Colonel Downright to have hanged him —
Whim. Why, Brother Whiff, you were for making him a General but now.
Whiff. The Counsels of wise States-men, Brother Whimsey, must change as Causes do, d’ye see.
Dun. Your Honours are in the right; and whatever those two leading Counsellors say, they would be glad if Bacon were dispatch’d: but the punctilio of Honour is such a thing.
Whim. Honour, a Pox on’t; what is that Honour that keeps such a bustle in the World, yet never did good as I heard of?
Dun. Why, ’tis a foolish word only, taken up by great Men, but rarely practis’d. — But if you wou’d be great Men indeed —
Whiff. If we wou’d, Doctor, name, name the way.
Dun. Why, you command each of you a Company — when Bacon comes from the Camp, as I am sure he will, (and full of this silly thing call’d Honour, will come unguarded too) lay some of your Men in Ambush along those Ditches by the Sevana, about a Mile from the Town; and as he comes by, seize him, and hang him up upon the next Tree.
Whiff. Hum — hang him! a rare Plot.
Whim. Hang him! — we’ll do’t, we’ll do’t, Sir, and I doubt not but to be made General for the Action — I’ll take it all upon my self.
[Aside.
Dun. If you resolve upon this, you must about instantly — Thus I shall at once serve my Country, and revenge my self on the Rascal for affronting my Dignity once at the Council-Table, by calling me Farrier.
[Ex. Dr.
Whiff. Do you know, Brother, what we are to do?
Whim. To do! yes, to hang a General, Brother, that’s all.
Whiff. All! but is it lawful to hang any General?
Whim. Lawful, yes, that ’tis lawful to hang any General that fights against Law.
Whiff. But in what he has done, he has serv’d the King and our Country, and preserv’d our Lives and Fortunes.
Whim. That’s all one, Brother; if there be but a Quirk in the Law offended in this Case, though he fought like Alexander, and preserv’d the whole World from Perdition, yet if he did it against Law, ’tis lawful to hang him; why, what, Brother, is it fit that every impudent Fellow that pretends to a little Honour, Loyalty, and Courage, should serve his King and Country against the Law? no, no, Brother, these things are not to be suffer’d in a civil Government by Law establish’d, — wherefore let’s about it.
[Exeunt.