“I greet you all, supporters of my throne,
  Most welcome comrades of my victories,
  I greet you all.”

Seldom has the sun shone upon a politer Turk than this Soliman, who, to be sure, afterward throws around not only his oaths but his dagger.  That it is no merit of Koerner if we behold in his Soliman a hero and a Turk, must be evident to every one; but let us now examine whether he has succeeded any better in representing the commander-in-chief and the tyrant.  We find both in the third scene of the third act.  Mehmed reports to the Sultan that the assault has been repulsed.

“A curse upon thee!”

answers the latter; then he inquires who gave the order for the retreat; Mehmed answers that he did; the Janizaries had been slaughtered by the thousands, but in vain, the army was exhausted, and it had been impossible to wrest the victory from the enemy; he intended, however, to bombard the castle the next night and was persuaded that the walls must give way.  Soliman flies into a passion: 

  “But I from them will wrest it (the victory namely), must
  wrest it!”

In very truth an excellent commander-in-chief, who is not to be persuaded by reasons such as Mehmed advanced, and who differs from a child who is denied his will only in that he bellows where the child screams.  But—­perhaps we have the tyrant before us where I thought I perceived the nullity of the commander-in-chief.  Let us read on: 

  ALI.

  “Remember Malta!

  SOLIMAN.

  Death and Hell!  Ali! 
  Remind me not of Malta, if thy head
  Is dear to thee.  More I endure from thee
  Than does befit the great lord Soliman!”

Really the beginning promises well.

  ALI.

  “My life is in thy hands, my Emperor!

  SOLIMAN.

  Since thou dost know that, yet didst freely speak
  Thy heart’s thought to me, I’ll forgive thee. 
  For I love truth which knows no fear of death. 
  In token then of my imperial grace,
  Thy council shall prevail; I’ll not attack!”

I think we do not need to tremble before a tyrant whose fury could be appeased by Ali’s paltry words.  “My life is in thy hands, my Emperor!” which must have been said to him often enough before.  Let no one reproach me if, henceforth, I keep silence on the subject of Soliman.  Offenses of this kind are not mere blunders, they are the sign of complete incompetency on the part of the poet, and solely out of curiosity, not because it is necessary to demonstrate my argument, I shall continue to analyze Zriny, Helena, and the other marionettes.