 | Charles The First |  |
SCENE I.
The Painted Chamber. A table at which are seated Commissioners, Lawyers, &c.; a gothic window behind the table, through which objects that pass may be seen.Bradshaw, Fairfax, Ireton, Downes, Cook, Marten, Tichburn, &c. Fairfax comes forward, followed by Bradshaw, Ireton, and Downes.
Fairfax.
Soon as the day be fixed, apprize me, Sirs;
The halberdiers shall wait ye.
Bradshaw.
Good my lord
Thou wilt not leave us? When did Fairfax fly
A post of danger? and his honoured name
Stands foremost in our roll.
Fair.
Sir, I am sworn
The soldier of the Commons, and as soldier
Obey them loyally. All that ye need
For state or for defence in this sad pageant
Our camp shall furnish. Save their General,
You may command the army. For this trial
I like it not. I am no gownsman. Sirs,
The halberdiers shall wait ye.
(Exit Fairfax.
18
What a nice
And peevish conscience Fairfax bears! Will send
Arms, horses, men, to escort the prisoner, line
The Court, defend the judges, guard the scaffold—
If so our wisdom wills—yet hold himself
Content and harmless, so his single voice
Swell not the general doom.
Dow.
Yet 'tis a wise
And noble gentleman.
Brad.
Tush! a good sword-blade,
Keen in the field, but at the council dull
And heavy as the scabbard.
Enter Cromwell.
Lo! where comes
One whose bright spirit knows no dimness. Cromwell!
Crom.
Hear ye the news my masters? Harrison,
That bold and zealous soldier of our Israel,
Is here.
Brad.
Where is the King?
Crom.
The King of Kings
Delivers him unto us. Harrison
Awaits his landing. We must be prepared
For instant trial. Glad am I and proud
To greet with looks so firm and resolute
This full and frequent council.
Brad.
Yet you met
A great one who forsakes us.
Crom.
The Lord General?
Why on the battle-day such loss might cause
An hour's perplexity. Now—Hark ye Sirs!
Passing awhile Lord Fairfax' door I saw
The Queen.
19
In England! Didst thou see her face?
Crom.
No. But I knew her by the wanton curls,
The mincing delicate step of pride, the gait
Erect and lofty. 'Twas herself, I say,
Vain Jezabel!
Dow.
At Fairfax' gate! Alas!
Poor lady!
Crom.
(Aside)
Ha! And must we watch thee too?
No word of this good Sirs.
(Going to the table)
Why master Cook
What needs this long indictment? Seems to me
Thou dost mistake our cause. The crime is not
A trivial larceny, where some poor thief
Is fenced and hemmed in by a form of words
In tedious repetition, endless links
Of the strong chain of law, lest at some loophole
The paltry wretch escape. We try a King,
In the stern name of Justice. Fling aside
These cumbering subtleties, this maze of words,
And in brief homely phrase, such as the soldier
May con over his watchfire, or the milk-maid
Wonderingly murmur as she tends her kine,
Or the young boy trace in his first huge scroll,
Or younger girl sew in her sampler, say
That we arraign Charles Stuart King of England
For warring on his people. Let this deed
Be clear and open as beseems the men
On whom the Lord hath set his seal. Besides
That will let loose thy stream of eloquence
Ice-bound by this cold freezing plea. What says
Our learned President?
20
Thou art right. Thou art right.
Our fair intent needs not a veil. Be sure
He shall have noble trial and speedy, such
As may beseem a King.
Dow.
What is his bearing?
Crom.
Resolved and confident. Lately at Windsor
Eating a Spanish melon of choice flavour,
He bade his servant Herbert send the seeds
To be sowed straight at Hampton.
Mar.
Many men
Plant acorns for their successors; this King sets
A gourd.
Crom.
The Prophet's gourd. We are all mortal.
Sow but a grain of mustard, the green thing
Which soonest springs from death to life, and thou
Shalt wither ere the leaflets shoot.
Ire.
The King
Deems that ye dare not try him.
Brad.
Dare not! Cromwell
How soon dost think—
Crom.
Was't not the plash of oars?
Brad.
Cromwell!
Ire.
He hears thee not. His sense rejects
All sound save that for which with such intense
And passionate zeal he listens. See his cheek
Quivers with expectation. Its old hue
Of ruddy brown is gone.
Crom.
Hark! Hark! my masters!
He is come! He is come! We are about to do
A deed which shall draw on us questioning eyes
From the astonied nations. Men shall gaze
Afeared and wondering on this spot of earth,
As on a comet in the Heavens, fatal
To kings of old. Start ye? Why at the first
21
Sees indistinct and terrible grim forms
Of death and danger float before his glazed
And wondering eyes; but then as one who wakes
The inspiring light fell on me, and I saw
The guiding hand of Providence visibly
Beckoning to the great combat. We are His soldiers
Following the Cloud by day, the Fire by night:—
And shall we not be constant? We are arrayed
Against the stiff combined embodied spirits
Of prelacy and tyranny:—Shall we not
Be bold?
(The King, Herbert, Harrison, &c. pass the window.)
See! See! he passes! So shall pass
The oppressor from the earth. His very shadow
The very traces of his foot are gone,
And the English ground is free, the English air
Free, free!—All praise be to His mighty name!
This is the crowning work.
(The Scene closes.)
| Charles The First | |