University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

SCENE I.

An Apartment in the Palace.
Enter Darnley and Melville.
Darnley pacing the Apartment.
DARNLEY.
I must see Ruthven, ere I deal with David.
I must possess the matrimonial Crown,
Ere I can think of aught;—aye, e'en of vengeance.
Look from the casement. Is there no one coming?

MELVILLE.
None, please your Majesty!

DARNLEY.
No Ruthven yet!
Go look again. There's not a knave amongst 'em
Who brings me news he thinks will gall my pride,
But seems as if it pleased him.

MELVILLE.
Yonder, Sir,
Lord Ruthven comes at last.

DARNLEY.
'Tis well! 'Tis well!
Comes he like one commissioned with a crown?
Where is he?—'Sdeath! how slow the sick man moves:
But may be 'tis th' intelligence he bears
Is not worth moving to communicate.
Hold! Here he comes: begone, and leave us. Now!
Is the Crown mine?

Ruthven enters as the Attendant goes out.
RUTHVEN.
They have refused it, Sir.

DARNLEY.
Refused! They know my power, and dare they for
Their lives refuse? What reason did they give?
They had some reason, or some pretext which
They called a reason, for adventuring!
What was't?

RUTHVEN.
Let me entreat your Majesty
To be content with what you've heard; 't would rouse
Your anger, and distress my tongue, to trace
Their insolent proceeding further.

DARNLEY.
Nay—
Speak, I command you.

RUTHVEN.
As you'll have it so,
Why so you shall. One of 'em said, the Queen,
When she proclaimed you King, usurp'd a pow'r
Not her's by law. Another charged you with
Truckling to Rizzio, and oppresing him
When you had gained your ends. All were against you.

DARNLEY.
And you heard all, and brought away your sword
Covered up safely in its leathern case!
You should have spurn'd,—denounced their villainy,
Thrust back their foul decision through their teeth.

RUTHVEN.
How, Sir!
I'm not a bravo, nor a cut-throat, hired
To stop men's mouths with murder when they exercise
A civil right.

DARNLEY.
Ha! traitor!

RUTHVEN.
Traitor!

DARNLEY.
Slave!

RUTHVEN.
King, you're ungrateful.

DARNLEY.
Dar'st thou tell me so?
Then take thy fate.

[rushes at him with his sword.
RUTHVEN.
[striking the sword from his hand.
Not from a hand like thine.
Go, Sir! Pick up your sword—you'll find the fragments.

DARNLEY.
[After a pause of great agitation.
What have I done? 'Twas madness drove me to
The desperate act.—Oh, Ruthven! Once my friend,
Canst thou forgive?

RUTHVEN.
If I could not forgive,
Where would be Darnley now?
Enter Morton.
Ha! Morton!—you
Have come in time to reach the King his sword:
But wipe it first;—the blade hath met a stain.

MORTON.
[Takes up the sword, and presents it to the King.
Receive it, Royal Sir. Ruthven, how's this?
Methinks the ground's no place for such a weapon.

RUTHVEN.
Then, Morton, take my word, 'tis better there
Than in bad hands that know not how to use it.
But come; what's past is gone: let's look before us.
You've business, may be, to despatch.

MORTON.
I came
To ask the King what shall be done with Rizzio?

DARNLEY.
Ruthven, our quarrel's healed: you'll not refuse
To lend your counsel?

RUTHVEN.
Sir, the course is plain.
It needs no counsel. Let him have the form
Of trial: by all means the form: what else
He gets, 'twill be for you to take good care of.

DARNLEY.
I'll have him brought before me on the instant.
Go, Morton, see it done.

MORTON.
He waits without:
A moment will suffice to bring him here.

[exit.
RUTHVEN.
It were not wise that we should all assist
In this transaction; therefore I'll withdraw.
I gave my daughter cause t' expect me soon:
But by the time you've heard the charge, I will
Return to meet you.

DARNLEY.
Fail not to attend.
[exit Ruthven.
Now for this whipster who reviles my power,
Usurps my place, and makes his fortune by
His impudence! I'll stop his proud career.

Re-enter Morton, followed by Rizzio, Garcia, George Douglas, Chalmers, Melville, &c.
MORTON.
Stand forward, Rizzio, at the King's command;
And you, George Douglas, the accuser, stand
Opposed to him.

DARNLEY.
(To Rizzio.)
Are you prepared to plead
To the offence whereof you are accused?
Or would you, by a free acknowledgment,
Throw yourself on our mercy?

RIZZIO.
Royal Sir,
Most willingly do I confess my fault
So far as I have erred. But if 'tis meant
(As I collect from what has reached mine ear)
To charge me with the onset in th' assault—
That I deny. The man who charges me—
Young Douglas there—he was the first to strike.
'Tis true I struck again, but then my sword
Was less a weapon to me than a shield.

MELVILLE.
Stand back, my Lords; make way there for the Queen.

DARNLEY.
How's this? The Queen! Madam, I did not look
To meet you here.

Enter Queen, attended by Ladies.
QUEEN.
No, Sir—we seldom meet;
But, as the fickle will of accident
Has thrown us, by some strange mistake, together
I hope we shall agree.

DARNLEY.
I hope so, too,
For the crown's honour and its dignity:
I would support it, tho' I wear it not.

QUEEN.
What is the present stage the cause has reach'd?

DARNLEY.
Douglas accuses Rizzio as th' aggressor
In an assault upon his life; and Rizzio
Admits the assault, but not th' aggression, which
He charges upon Douglas.
Our palace was the scene of violence.
Their witnesses are equal, it appears,
In number, but if rank should turn the scale—

RIZZIO.
Oh, Madam! Pause before you so determine:
Pause, and consider well. Truth has no rule
Of rank: 'twas made for all mankind; and must
Be sought for in th' essential part of man,
The mind, that is the man.

DOUGLAS.
'Tis ever thus
He talks of station with contempt;—there's scarce
A lord in Scotland but has felt his tongue.

RIZZIO.
Say rather there are few but with their tongues
Have injured me. They treat me like a slave;
They call me base musician, mountebank;
They elbow me in court, frown on me in
The streets: they set their menials to insult me.
Oh, 'tis fine pastime for the lordly pack
To tear a poor man's self-respect to pieces!
Then, if I call 'em to account, they jeer
And laugh—that laugh is worse than death to me.

DOUGLAS.
Hark, how he rails against the nobly born!

RIZZIO.
I do not rail against the nobly born
When merit stamps their claim.—I honour worth;
And rank—for aught I know, who cannot boast it—
May help the good that nature must begin.
But, when I see hard hearted pride rejoicing
To crush the weak, by Heaven! it drives me mad
To think that one man should be born for power,
And t' other for oppression.

DARNLEY.
Will you hear
This insolence?

QUEEN.
Not if I thought it such.

DARNLEY.
Then let's decide the cause, and stop the pleading.

QUEEN.
We have no clue to guide us through the maze
Of contrariety.

DARNLEY.
But we can judge
Between the credit due to men of worth
And men of yesterday?

DOUGLAS.
It asks no skill
To weigh the credit of a base Italian.

RIZZIO.
But, wherefore base?—Explain. Was Rome of old
A land of baseness? Were her patriots base?
Were the great Cæsars knaves? and Cicero!
Was he a cheat, and Horace a buffoon?
These were your base Italians!

DOUGLAS.
Nay, you speak
From books—I spoke of living men.

RIZZIO.
And I
Of men who live for ever! Men, whose names
Were, like their souls, immortal!—men who stood
Upon the mountain top of the whole world,
The very Ida of the intellect!
But, look again—I take a later day,
When Italy and base Italians saved
The wreck of learning, and the fountain springs
Of liberty and glory from the Goth.
What can you shew to match that matchless claim?—
The glorious East, that in its bosom wears
The morning, like a jewel, never shone
So bright, as when the gates of Italy
Opened to let the flood of science out
Upon the world, and gilded all the sphere!
You talk of base Italians! Learn to read,
And you'll talk otherwise.

DARNLEY.
The Queen may choose
To hear this boastful language, but it shall not
Turn us from justice, in whose name and by
The weight and power of whose authority
We banish you from Scotland.

QUEEN.
How! my Lord?

DARNLEY.
Rizzio is banished from this land for ever,
Or I am King no more.

QUEEN.
Oh, be a King!
Put on the real crown, the kingly mind,
And spurn injustice, as the antipathy
Of your proud office, which is outraged by
The very sound o' the name.

DARNLEY.
Ha! would you plead,
Before my face, to save him? Thus it is
Your favour to him makes your name a byword
On every ribbald tongue—'Tis time 'twere changed.

QUEEN.
Is this a horrid dream, or a more horrid
Reality? Am I the Queen of Scots,
Or, as I seem to be, some helpless wretch,
Insulted by some high barbarian?
No, Sir; I'm still the Queen, and in the name
Of my prerogative, I here reverse
Your sentence, and deliver David Rizzio
From your injustice! Rizzio, you are free;
Free, as the King himself, to live in Scotland!

RIZZIO.
I know not what to say—My brain! my brain!

QUEEN.
Yet hold! There's yet one chance to save this breach.
[motions back the Lords.
Recall the hasty word your passion spoke;
Revoke the sentence by your own decree,
And I, who set the Crown upon your head,
Will make it grow with greatness!

DARNLEY.
'Tis in vain.
I stand upon my right—You talk to marble.

QUEEN.
I talk to coarser and to harder stone,
That never could be hewn into man's image,—
The rock, the impenetrable rock. Farewell!
From this time forth our fates are separate.

[going.
RIZZIO.
Oh, Madam! Royal Mary! Let me speak
Before you go. And yet, the monstrous charge!
Th'inhuman blasphemy! It shocks my soul
To give it so much entertainment
As to expose it! Sir, you are abused:
Some fiend has whispered in your ear to damn you:
Oh, drive the thought back to the hell it came from.
Look there! look there! even at your Queen and Wife!
Is there no process of conviction quicker
Than lightning strikes, to strike persuasion through you,
Where virtue shines from such a heaven as that,
And makes a doubt a crime?

DARNLEY.
I'll hear no more.

QUEEN.
'Twere useless now, for now I've done with you.

[Exit with Suite.
DARNLEY.
Why stand you there t'insult me with your presence?
Know you not you are free? Begone!
[to Rizzio.
Leave me, my friends.

[Exeunt Conspirators, &c.
RIZZIO.
Farewell, Sir!
The hour will come you'll think of this and weep!

[Exit.
DARNLEY.
The hour is come I'll think of this and vengeance.
Now, where is Ruthven?

Enter Ruthven, followed by Catherine.
RUTHVEN.
At your bidding, Sir,—
With further proof to satisfy your mind.

DARNLEY.
I need no further proof. The Queen has snatched
Her minion from my gripe!

RUTHVEN.
That's strong, indeed!
And yet there's stronger still. 'Twill take you but
A moment's time to hear. Stand forward, Kate.
Look up, and tell the King what you have seen—
For, mark me well! I know what you have seen—
Since you have been at Court.

CATHERINE.
And was't for this
You brought me here? I've seen no wrong at Court,
Or, if I did, 'tis not for me to name it.

RUTHVEN.
Shrink not, my child: I do not ask you for
One word beyond the simple facts you've witnessed;
But justice calls for them.

CATHERINE.
What is't you mean?

RUTHVEN.
There are but two short questions, and the answers
May be as short. In truth a word's a volume.
Was there a play performed at Court, in which
The actors were the Queen and Rizzio?

CATHERINE.
O Heaven! The Queen's undone!

[Aside.
RUTHVEN.
Speak—was there such a play?

CATHERINE.
There was—in harmless mirth.

RUTHVEN.
And was her picture, by the Queen's own hand,
Placed round the neck of Rizzio?

CATHERINE.
'Twas so placed;
But then—

RUTHVEN.
No doubt, in harmless mirth again.

[to Darnley.
DARNLEY.
'Tis proof on proof: their guilt's as clear as day:
So let us make their crime and punishment
A lesson to the world.

CATHERINE.
Oh, Royal Sir,
For mercy's sake impute not guilt to that
Most innocent act! My father was deceived:
He heard it with a false construction
From spies—from fiends, whose devilish art it is,
When they tell truth, to tell it still untruly.

RUTHVEN.
Why will you harm yourself and vex the King?

CATHERINE.
I know not why my heart has grown so bold,
But I could speak before th' assembled earth
In such a cause. Hear me, upon my knees.
Remember, King, your Queen is innocent.
By yon bless'd beam of light, still warm from Heav'n,
That beam is not more innocent of darkness
Than she of guilt.

DARNLEY.
Your facts disprove your oath.

CATHERINE.
No, on my life; no, on my soul, they do not!
Try them in righteous scales; dash the false weight
Of preconceived suspicion to the ground;
Allow for human weakness in the judge,
As well as in th' accus'd, and you'll not find
That facts are traitors to the cause of virtue.

RUTHVEN.
Come, Sir—she wrings my soul.

DARNLEY.
We will not hear her.

CATHERINE.
Justice hears all.
[Exit Darnley. Catherine seizes Ruthven as he is following.
Oh, stay, my father, stay!
Leave me not thus abandoned by the thought
That I have been the cursed cause of mischief
To my kind patroness, the Queen. Speak to me
One gentle word, for I am weak and faint,
And may not long survive to trouble you.

RUTHVEN.
I thought I was all iron, but you've found
The way to melt the ore. Why do you talk
Of weakness? Is't to wound your father's heart?

CATHERINE.
O no, no, no! I love that heart too well.

RUTHVEN.
Then give it credit for an honest purpose.
Nay, loose me, for the King expects me now.
[Darnley calls without “Lord Ruthven.”
He waits! Let go your hold! I must not stay—
Nay—though it break my heart, I must break from thee.

[breaks from her, and exit.
CATHERINE.
What shall I do? I'll to the Queen at once—
If I can yet persuade her part from Rizzio,
They may be saved; if not, destruction waits 'em!

[exit.

SCENE II.

A Gallery in the Palace.
Enter Queen, followed by Rizzio, as importuning her. Ladies remain near the door.
QUEEN.
Rizzio, I tell thee, no! I'll stake my throne
Upon this issue. Ere he shall prevail
Against me, kingdom, life, and all shall go.

RIZZIO.
'Tis terrible! If ruin came alone,
I could defy; but to pull thee down too!

QUEEN.
If you go now, they'll say 'twas guilty fear—
The flight of conscious crime. I'll have my will
Obeyed, and not the King's; my pride demands it.
Therefore, no more of that.—But, tell me, Rizzio,
How is't that slander has the power to blast
The fairest fame, and virtue none to save it?

RIZZIO.
Alas! 'twas so ordained. A word, a look
Needs nothing but a foul interpreter
To turn its simple language into shame.
And what can virtue do? 'Tis on the rose
The canker feeds; 'tis in the blossom's core
The ugly worm carouses.—Such is slander!

QUEEN.
Oh, Rizzio! 'tis a fearful thing to look
Upon the naked skeleton of life;
'Tis worse than that of death for all its glare.

Enter Catherine.
CATHERINE.
Where is the Queen? Let me but see the Queen.

QUEEN.
How! Lady Catherine!

CATHERINE.
Madam! I am come
To warn you. Ha! the Signor, too!
[Seeing Rizzio.
Forgive
My boldness—'tis no time to stand on forms
When vengeance is abroad.

QUEEN.
Vengeance!

CATHERINE.
Oh! Madam!
I fear the worst! my father and the King.

QUEEN.
I know their hate, but is a Queen to fear it?

CATHERINE.
'Tis not their hate I'd have you fear, but error
That ruins more than hate. Suspicion has
Possessed them with strange fancies: and what end
May come of it no tongue can tell! O, Signor!
Help me to plead this cause, for you are e'en
The mark of their suspicion:—'tis most true—
Then let me warn you, as my purpose was,
To part for ever.

RIZZIO.
Ha! For ever, say you?
By Heaven, I knew not till I had heard it from
Another's mouth like a death doom announced,
How hard it was to part!

CATHERINE.
Ah! Madam, hear me—You may never hear,
Nor see me more. By nature weak, I feel
My little strength outworn. If, as they say,
[leans on one of the ladies.
'Tis sometimes giv'n the dying to foresee;
There is a horror in th' obscure of time
Dependent on this hour's decision! Part!
I speak it from the threshold of the tomb—
Waste not the time in words, or thoughts—but part!

[Exit.
As Catherine goes off, shouts and sounds of tumult are heard at a distance.
QUEEN.
What dreadful sounds are these?

RIZZIO.
The whole day long
An angry spirit has displayed itself
Among the populace, and now it seems
To rush with louder fury through the air?

QUEEN.
What is the cause?

RIZZIO.
Their hate of foreigners,
But most of me. I am the cause, and, yet
I have not strength to tear myself away,
And seek oblivion in the death of exile.
Hark! There again! The sound grows louder still!
Is't hope that's coming to an end?

QUEEN.
No, no;
Hope has no end, but, even when life is sped,
Leaps on the shadow of another world
And sweeps through all eternity.
[Enter Celine
How now?

CELINE.
Fly, Madam! Save yourself! A mob is at
The gate, demanding vengeance upon those
Who caused your Majesty to sign the league
Of Bayonne.

RIZZIO.
Traitors! Tyrants! Madam, give
My sword but leave to make this cause its own.

QUEEN.
No, Sir; no foreign swords; 'tis not the way
To quiet Scotsmen. But, if outrage should
Approach us in our palace, you shall guard
Our person and our life.

RIZZIO.
I take the charge;
More proud of it than fields where glory grows
But here's another messenger! What news?

Enter Garcia.
GARCIA.
The tumult's at its height, and every moment
'Tis feared the troops must fire to save the palace.

QUEEN.
Let all things else be tried first. Hold! I'll go
And shew myself.

RIZZIO.
Stay, Madam,—Think upon
The risk you run.

QUEEN.
This is no time for thought;
And, as for risk, the way to 'scape's to meet it.

[Exit, followed by Celine.
RIZZIO.
By thee I take my stand, upon the line
That life must pay to pass,—my post is there;
And in my heart I've that will make me fatal.

[Exit.