Page:CromwellHugo.djvu/379

First Citizen.Moreover, royalty has been proscribed.
Overton.You all have equal title to this throne.
First Citizen.'Tis true. Why he more than ourselves, i' faith?
Overton.Hell marks his path. Restore the breed of kings
And the old abuses!
Nahum. And the old abuses! On Jerusalem
Bestow once more its ancient name of Jebus!
Overton.Crush us beneath an execrable throne!
First Woman.Is it not said that he has made a pact
With Satan?
Second Woman. With Satan? Ay, and that his eyes do blaze
At night.
Third Woman. At night. And that he has three rows of teeth.

[The Puritan conspirators enter one by one, except Lambert. They shake hands when they meet and mingle silently with the crowd.

Nahum.The monster, he by St. John heralded.
Second Citizen.He is the beast of the Apocalypse.
The Soldier.Ay.
Overton. Ay. Cromwell brings the nine plagues on our heads.
Nahum.He's an Assyrian!
Overton. He's an Assyrian! Our ills at last
Have reached their climax!
The Tradesman. Have reached their climax! Nothing do I sell!
The Soldier.To go unshod, without a crust, and lie
On the cold ground. Ere long, if this endures,
While Noll his cipher on these pillars hangs,
Nought will remain for us to do, my friends,
Save to make shoe-nails of our useless teeth.
Overton.We shall await his alms about his door.
Nahum.What Cromwell needs is not a gilded throne,