University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

CAPITOL. Rienzi, Acciajoli, Petrarca, and Boccaccio.
Boccacio.
If there was ever upon throne one mind
More pure than other, one more merciful,
One better stored with wisdom, of its own
And carried from without, 'tis hers, the queen's.
Exert, my dear Francesco, all that eloquence
Which kings and senates often have obeyed
And nations have applauded.

Petrarca.
My Boccaccio!
Thou knowest Rome, thou knowest Avignon:
Altho' so brief a time the slave of power,
Rienzi is no longer what he was,
Popes are what they have ever been. They all
Have families for dukedoms to obey.

Boccaccio.
O! had each holy father twenty wives
And each wife twenty children! then 'twere hard
To cut out dukedoms for so many mouths,
And the well-furred tiara could not hatch
So many golden goose-eggs under it.

Petrarca.
We must unite our efforts.

Boccaccio.
Mine could add
Little to yours; I am not eloquent.

Petrarca.
Thou never hast received from any court
Favour or place; I, presents and preferments.

Boccaccio.
I am but little known: for dear to me
As fame is, odious is celebrity.

Petrarca.
I see not why it should be.

Boccaccio.
If no eyes
In the same head are quite alike, ours may
Match pretty well, yet somewhat differ too.

Petrarca.
Should days like yours waste far from men and friends?

Boccaccio.
Leave me one flame; then may my breast dilate
To hold, at last, two (or almost two) friends:
One would content me: but we must, forsooth,
Speculate on more riches than we want.
Moreover, O Francesco! I should shrink
From scurril advocate, cross-questioning
Whom knew I in the palace? whence my knowledge?
How long? where first? whence introduced? for what?
Since in all law-courts I have ever entered,
The least effrontery, the least dishonesty,
Has lain among the prosecuted thieves.

Petrarca.
We can not now much longer hesitate;
He hath his eye upon us.

Boccaccio.
Not on me;
He knows me not.

Petrarca.
On me it may be then,
Altho' some years, no few have intervened
Since we last met.

Boccaccio.
But frequent correspondence
Retains the features, nay, brings back the voice;
The very shoe creaks when the letter opens.

Petrarca.
Rienzi was among those friends who sooner
Forget than are forgotten.

Boccaccio.
They who rise
Lose sight of things below, while they who fall
Grasp at and call for anything to help.

Petrarca.
I own I cease to place reliance on him.
Virtue and Power take the same road at first,
But they soon separate, and they meet no more.

Usher.
The Tribune, ser Franceso! claims your presence.

Rienzi.
Petrarca! pride of Italy! most welcome!

Petrarca.
Tribune of Rome! I bend before the fasces.

Rienzi.
No graver business in this capitol,
Or in the forum underneath its walls,
Or in the temples that once rose between,
Engaged the thoughts of Rome. No captive queen
Comes hither, none comes tributary, none
Courting dominion or contesting crown.
Thou knowest who submits her cause before
The majesty that reigns within this court.

Petrarca.
Her, and her father, and his father knew I,
Nor three more worthy of my love and honour
(Tho' born to royalty) adorn our earth.
Del Balzo hath supplied the facts: all doubts
On every side of them hath Acciajoli
Clear'd up.

Rienzi.
But some will spring where others fall,
When intellect is strongly exercised.

Petrarca.
The sources of our intellect lie deep
Within the heart; what rises to the brain
Is spray and efflorescence; they dry up.

Rienzi.
However, we must ponder. So then truly,
Petrarca! thou dost think her innocent?

Petrarca.
Thou knowest she is innocent, Rienzi!
Write then thy knowledge higher than my belief:
The proofs lie there before thee.

Rienzi.
But these papers
Are ranged against them.

Petrarca.
Weigh the characters
Of those who sign them.

Rienzi.
Here the names are wanting.

Petrarca.
Remove the balance then, for none is needed.
Against Del Balzo, upright, stern, severe,
What evidence can struggle?

Rienzi.
From Del Balzo
The Queen herself demands investigation
Into the crime, and bids him spare not one
Partaker.

Petrarca.
Worthy of her race! Now ask
If I believe her guiltless.

Rienzi.
May we prove it!

Acciajoli.
She shall herself, if needful. Should more answers
Be wanted from me, I am here before
That high tribunal where the greatest power
And wisdom are united; where the judge
Gives judgment in the presence of such men
As Rome hath rarely seen in ancient days,
Never in later. What they hear, the world
Will hear thro' future ages, and rejoice
That he was born in this to raise an arm
Protecting such courageous innocence.

Rienzi.
Lord Seneschal of Naples, Acciajoli!
We have examined, as thou knowest, all
The documents before us, and regret
That death withholds from like examination
(Whether as witnesses or criminals)
Some inmates of your court, the most familiar
With queen Giovanna.

Acciajoli.
Did she then desire
Their death? as hidden enemies accuse her
Of one more awful. I presume the names
Of the young Sancia, count Terlizzi's bride,
And hers who educated that pure mind
By pointing out Giovanna, two years older,
Filippa of Catana.

Rienzi.
They are gone
Beyond our reach.

Acciajoli.
Sent off, no doubt, by one
Who loved them most, who most loved her! sent off
After their tortures, whether into Scotland
Or Norway or Laponia, the same hand
Who wrote those unsign'd papers may set forth.

Rienzi.
I cannot know their characters.

Acciajoli.
I know them
Loyal and wise and virtuous.

Rienzi.
But Filippa
Guided, 'tis said, the counsels of king Robert.

Acciajoli.
And were those counsels evil? If they were,
How happens it that both in life and death
The good king Robert was his appellation?

Rienzi.
How many kings are thrust among the stars
Who had become the whipping-post much better?

Acciajoli.
Was Robert one?

Rienzi.
We must confess that Robert
Struck down men's envy under admiration.

Acciajoli.
If then Filippa guided him, what harm?

Rienzi.
She might have fear'd that youth would less obey
Her prudent counsels than experience did.

Acciajoli.
Well might she: hence for many a year her cares
Have been devoted to our queen's instruction,
Together with queen Sancia, not without:
And neither of these ladies (I now speak
As president) have meddled with our councils.

Rienzi.
When women of low origin are guides
To potentates of either sex, 'tis ill.

Acciajoli.
I might have thought so; but Filippa showed
That female wisdom much resembles male;
Gentler, not weaker; leading, not controlling.
Again! O tribune! touching low estate.
More vigorously than off the downier cradle
From humble crib springs up the lofty mind.

Rienzi.
Strong arguments, and cogent facts, are these! [To an Usher.

Conduct the queen of Naples into court.

Acciajoli.
That, by your leave, must be my office, sir!