Czar monologue (Act 1) — Vera; Or, The Nihilists

(_standing up_) I am sick of being afraid. I have done with terror now. From this day I proclaim war against the people--war to their annihilation. As they have dealt with me, so shall I deal with them. I shall grind them to powder, and strew their dust upon the air. There shall be a spy in every man's house, a traitor on every hearth, a hangman in every village, a gibbet in every square. Plague, leprosy, or fever shall be less deadly than my wrath; I will make every frontier a grave-yard, every province a lazar-house, and cure the sick by the sword. I shall have peace in Russia, though it be the peace of the dead. Who said I was a coward? Who said I was afraid? See, thus shall I crush this people beneath my feet! (_Takes up sword of CZAREVITCH off table and tramples on it._)