Mary Stuart Read online

  Than, out of all the monarchy, elect

  The very noblest, and appoint them judges

  In this great suit? And were it probable

  That party hatred could corrupt one heart;

  Can forty chosen men unite to speak

  A sentence just as passion gives command?

  MARY (after a short pause).

  I am struck dumb by that tongue's eloquence,

  Which ever was so ominous to me.

  And how shall I, a weak, untutored woman,

  Cope with so subtle, learned an orator?

  Yes truly; were these lords as you describe them,

  I must be mute; my cause were lost indeed,

  Beyond all hope, if they pronounce me guilty.

  But, sir, these names, which you are pleased to praise,

  These very men, whose weight you think will crush me,

  I see performing in the history

  Of these dominions very different parts:

  I see this high nobility of England,

  This grave majestic senate of the realm,

  Like to an eastern monarch's vilest slaves,

  Flatter my uncle Henry's sultan fancies:

  I see this noble, reverend House of Lords,

  Venal alike with the corrupted Commons,

  Make statutes and annul them, ratify

  A marriage and dissolve it, as the voice

  Of power commands: to-day it disinherits,

  And brands the royal daughters of the realm

  With the vile name of bastards, and to-morrow

  Crowns them as queens, and leads them to the throne.

  I see them in four reigns, with pliant conscience,

  Four times abjure their faith; renounce the pope

  With Henry, yet retain the old belief;

  Reform themselves with Edward; hear the mass

  Again with Mary; with Elizabeth,

  Who governs now, reform themselves again.

  BURLEIGH.

  You say you are not versed in England's laws,

  You seem well read, methinks, in her disasters.

  MARY.

  And these men are my judges?

  [As LORD BURLEIGH seems to wish to speak.

  My lord treasurer,

  Towards you I will be just, be you but just

  To me. 'Tis said that you consult with zeal

  The good of England, and of England's queen;

  Are honest, watchful, indefatigable;

  I will believe it. Not your private ends,

  Your sovereign and your country's weal alone,

  Inspire your counsels and direct your deeds.

  Therefore, my noble lord, you should the more

  Distrust your heart; should see that you mistake not

  The welfare of the government for justice.

  I do not doubt, besides yourself, there are

  Among my judges many upright men:

  But they are Protestants, are eager all

  For England's quiet, and they sit in judgment

  On me, the Queen of Scotland, and the papist.

  It is an ancient saying, that the Scots

  And England to each other are unjust;

  And hence the rightful custom that a Scot

  Against an Englishman, or Englishman

  Against a Scot, cannot be heard in judgment.

  Necessity prescribed this cautious law;

  Deep policy oft lies in ancient customs:

  My lord, we must respect them. Nature cast

  Into the ocean these two fiery nations

  Upon this plank, and she divided it

  Unequally, and bade them fight for it.

  The narrow bed of Tweed alone divides

  These daring spirits; often hath the blood

  Of the contending parties dyed its waves.

  Threatening, and sword in hand, these thousand years,

  From both its banks they watch their rival's motions,

  Most vigilant and true confederates,

  With every enemy of the neighbor state.

  No foe oppresses England, but the Scot

  Becomes his firm ally; no civil war

  Inflames the towns of Scotland, but the English

  Add fuel to the fire: this raging hate

  Will never be extinguished till, at last,

  One parliament in concord shall unite them,

  One common sceptre rule throughout the isle.

  BURLEIGH.

  And from a Stuart, then, should England hope

  This happiness?

  MARY.

  Oh! why should I deny it?

  Yes, I confess, I cherished the fond hope;

  I thought myself the happy instrument

  To join in freedom, 'neath the olive's shade,

  Two generous realms in lasting happiness!

  I little thought I should become the victim

  Of their old hate, their long-lived jealousy;

  And the sad flames of that unhappy strife,

  I hoped at last to smother, and forever:

  And, as my ancestor, great Richmond, joined

  The rival roses after bloody contest,

  To join in peace the Scotch and English crowns.

  BURLEIGH.

  An evil way you took to this good end,

  To set the realm on fire, and through the flames

  Of civil war to strive to mount the throne.

  MARY.

  I wished not that:-I wished it not, by Heaven!

  When did I strive at that? Where are your proofs?

  BURLEIGH.

  I came not hither to dispute; your cause

  Is no more subject to a war of words.

  The great majority of forty voices

  Hath found that you have contravened the law

  Last year enacted, and have now incurred

  Its penalty.

  [Producing the verdict.

  MARY.

  Upon this statute, then,

  My lord, is built the verdict of my judges?

  BURLEIGH (reading).

  Last year it was enacted, "If a plot

  Henceforth should rise in England, in the name

  Or for the benefit of any claimant

  To England's crown, that justice should be done

  On such pretender, and the guilty party

  Be prosecuted unto death." Now, since

  It has been proved--

  MARY.

  Lord Burleigh, I can well

  Imagine that a law expressly aimed

  At me, and framed to compass my destruction

  May to my prejudice be used. Oh! Woe

  To the unhappy victim, when the tongue

  That frames the law shall execute the sentence.

  Can you deny it, sir, that this same statute

  Was made for my destruction, and naught else?

  BURLEIGH.

  It should have acted as a warning to you:

  By your imprudence it became a snare.

  You saw the precipice which yawned before you;

  Yet, truly warned, you plunged into the deep.

  With Babington, the traitor, and his bands

  Of murderous companions, were you leagued.

  You knew of all, and from your prison led

  Their treasonous plottings with a deep-laid plan.

  MARY.

  When did I that, my lord? Let them produce

  The documents.

  BURLEIGH.

  You have already seen them

  They were before the court, presented to you.

  MARY.

  Mere copies written by another hand;

  Show me the proof that they were dictated

  By me, that they proceeded from my lips,

  And in those very terms in which you read them.

  BURLEIGH.

  Before his execution, Babington

  Confessed they were the same which he received.

  MARY.

  Why was he in his lifetime not
produced

  Before my face? Why was he then despatched

  So quickly that he could not be confronted

  With her whom he accused?

  BURLEIGH.

  Besides, my lady,

  Your secretaries, Curl and Nau, declare

  On oath, they are the very selfsame letters

  Which from your lips they faithfully transcribed.

  MARY.

  And on my menials' testimony, then,

  I am condemned; upon the word of those

  Who have betrayed me, me, their rightful queen!

  Who in that very moment, when they came

  As witnesses against me, broke their faith!

  BURLEIGH.

  You said yourself, you held your countryman

  To be an upright, conscientious man.

  MARY.

  I thought him such; but 'tis the hour of danger

  Alone, which tries the virtue of a man.

  [He ever was an honest man, but weak

  In understanding; and his subtle comrade,

  Whose faith, observe, I never answered for,

  Might easily seduce him to write down

  More than he should;] the rack may have compelled him

  To say and to confess more than he knew.

  He hoped to save himself by this false witness,

  And thought it could not injure me-a queen.

  BURLEIGH.

  The oath he swore was free and unconstrained.

  MARY.

  But not before my face! How now, my lord?

  The witnesses you name are still alive;

  Let them appear against me face to face,

  And there repeat what they have testified.

  Why am I then denied that privilege,

  That right which e'en the murderer enjoys?

  I know from Talbot's mouth, my former keeper,

  That in this reign a statute has been passed

  Which orders that the plaintiff be confronted

  With the defendant; is it so, good Paulet?

  I e'er have known you as an honest man;

  Now prove it to me; tell me, on your conscience,

  If such a law exist or not in England?

  PAULET.

  Madam, there does: that is the law in England.

  I must declare the truth.

  MARY.

  Well, then, my lord,

  If I am treated by the law of England

  So hardly, when that law oppresses me,

  Say, why avoid this selfsame country's law,

  When 'tis for my advantage? Answer me;

  Why was not Babington confronted with me?

  Why not my servants, who are both alive?

  BURLEIGH.

  Be not so hasty, lady; 'tis not only

  Your plot with Babington--

  MARY.

  'Tis that alone

  Which arms the law against me; that alone

  From which I'm called upon to clear myself.

  Stick to the point, my lord; evade it not.

  BURLEIGH.

  It has been proved that you have corresponded

  With the ambassador of Spain, Mendoza--

  MARY.

  Stick to the point, my lord.

  BURLEIGH.

  That you have formed

  Conspiracies to overturn the fixed

  Religion of the realm; that you have called

  Into this kingdom foreign powers, and roused

  All kings in Europe to a war with England.

  MARY.

  And were it so, my lord-though I deny it-

  But e'en suppose it were so: I am kept

  Imprisoned here against all laws of nations.

  I came not into England sword in hand;

  I came a suppliant; and at the hands

  Of my imperial kinswoman I claimed

  The sacred rights of hospitality,

  When power seized upon me, and prepared

  To rivet fetters where I hoped protection.

  Say, is my conscience bound, then, to this realm?

  What are the duties that I owe to England?

  I should but exercise a sacred right,

  Derived from sad necessity, if I

  Warred with these bonds, encountered might with might,

  Roused and incited every state in Europe

  For my protection to unite in arms.

  Whatever in a rightful war is just

  And loyal, 'tis my right to exercise:

  Murder alone, the secret, bloody deed,

  My conscience and my pride alike forbid.

  Murder would stain me, would dishonor me:

  Dishonor me, my lord, but not condemn me,

  Nor subject me to England's courts of law:

  For 'tis not justice, but mere violence,

  Which is the question 'tween myself and England.

  BURLEIGH (significantly).

  Talk not, my lady, of the dreadful right

  Of power: 'tis seldom on the prisoner's side.

  MARY.

  I am the weak, she is the mighty one:

  'Tis well, my lord; let her, then, use her power;

  Let her destroy me; let me bleed, that she

  May live secure; but let her, then, confess

  That she hath exercised her power alone,

  And not contaminate the name of justice.

  Let her not borrow from the laws the sword

  To rid her of her hated enemy;

  Let her not clothe in this religious garb

  The bloody daring of licentious might;

  Let not these juggling tricks deceive the world.

  [Returning the sentence.

  Though she may murder me, she cannot judge me:

  Let her no longer strive to join the fruits

  Of vice with virtue's fair and angel show;

  But let her dare to seem the thing she is.

  [Exit.

  SCENE VIII.

  BURLEIGH, PAULET.

  BURLEIGH.

  She scorns us, she defies us! will defy us,

  Even at the scaffold's foot. This haughty heart

  Is not to be subdued. Say, did the sentence

  Surprise her? Did you see her shed one tear,

  Or even change her color? She disdains

  To make appeal to our compassion. Well

  She knows the wavering mind of England's queen.

  Our apprehensions make her bold.

  PAULET.

  My lord,

  Take the pretext away which buoys it up,

  And you shall see this proud defiance fail

  That very moment. I must say, my lord,

  Irregularities have been allowed

  In these proceedings; Babington and Ballard

  Should have been brought, with her two secretaries,

  Before her, face to face.

  BURLEIGH.

  No, Paulet, no.

  That was not to be risked; her influence

  Upon the human heart is too supreme;

  Too strong the female empire of her tears.

  Her secretary, Curl, if brought before her,

  And called upon to speak the weighty word

  On which her life depends, would straight shrink back

  And fearfully revoke his own confession.

  PAULET.

  Then England's enemies will fill the world

  With evil rumors; and the formal pomp

  Of these proceedings to the minds of all

  Will only signalize an act of outrage.

  BURLEIGH.

  That is the greatest torment of our queen,

  [That she can never 'scape the blame. Oh God!]

  Had but this lovely mischief died before

  She set her faithless foot on English ground.

  PAULET.

  Amen, say I!

  BURLEIGH.

  Had sickness but consumed her!

  PAULET.

  England had been secured from such misfortune.
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  BURLEIGH.

  And yet, if she had died in nature's course,

  The world would still have called us murderers.

  PAULET.

  'Tis true, the world will think, despite of us,

  Whate'er it list.

  BURLEIGH.

  Yet could it not be proved?

  And it would make less noise.

  PAULET.

  Why, let it make

  What noise it may. It is not clamorous blame,

  'Tis righteous censure only which can wound.

  BURLEIGH.

  We know that holy justice cannot 'scape

  The voice of censure; and the public cry

  Is ever on the side of the unhappy:

  Envy pursues the laurelled conqueror;

  The sword of justice, which adorns the man,

  Is hateful in a woman's hand; the world

  Will give no credit to a woman's justice

  If woman be the victim. Vain that wo,

  The judges, spoke what conscience dictated;

  She has the royal privilege of mercy;

  She must exert it: 'twere not to be borne,

  Should she let justice take its full career.

  PAULET.

  And therefore--

  BURLEIGH.

  Therefore should she live? Oh, no,

  She must not live; it must not be. 'Tis this,

  Even this, my friend, which so disturbs the queen,

  And scares all slumber from her couch; I read

  Her soul's distracting contest in her eyes: