Demetrius

 
   Was straight distinguished for his knightly feats.
   He shows a trinket which the Czarowitsch
   Once wore, and one that never left his side;
   A written witness, too, by pious hands,
   Gives us assurance of his princely birth;
   And, stronger still, from his unvarnished speech
   And open brow truth makes his best appeal.
   Such traits as these deceit doth never don;
   It masks its subtle soul in vaunting words,
   And in the high-glossed ornaments of speech.
   No longer, then, can I withhold the title
   Which he with circumstance and justice claims
   And, in the exercise of my old right,
   I now, as primate, give him the first voice.
 

ARCHBISHOP OF LEMBERG

 
   My voice goes with the primate's.
 

SEVERAL VOICES

 
                     So does mine.
 

SEVERAL PALATINES

 
   And mine!
 

ODOWALSKY

 
         And mine.
 

DEPUTIES

 
              And all!
 

SAPIEHA

 
                   My gracious sirs!
   Weigh well ere you decide! Be not so hasty!
   It is not meet the council of the realm
   Be hurried on to —
 

ODOWALSKY

 
             There is nothing here
   For us to weigh; all has been fully weighed.
   The proofs demonstrate incontestably.
   This is not Moscow, sirs! No despot here
   Keeps our free souls in manacles. Here truth
   May walk by day or night with brow erect.
   I will not think, my lords, in Cracow here,
   Here in the very Diet of the Poles,
   That Moscow's Czar should have obsequious slaves.
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   Oh, take my thanks, ye reverend senators!
   That ye have lent your credence to these proofs;
   And if I be indeed the man whom I
   Protest myself, oh, then, endure not this
   Audacious robber should usurp my seat,
   Or longer desecrate that sceptre which
   To me, as the true Czarowitsch, belongs.
   Yes, justice lies with me, – you have the power.
   'Tis the most dear concern of every state
   And throne, that right should everywhere prevail,
   And all men in the world possess their own.
   For there, where justice holds uncumbered sway,
   There each enjoys his heritage secure,
   And over every house and every throne
   Law, truth, and order keep their angel watch.
   It is the key-stone of the world's wide arch,
   The one sustaining and sustained by all,
   Which, if it fail, brings all in ruin down.
 

(Answers of SENATORS giving assent to DEMETRIUS.)

DEMETRIUS

 
   Oh, look on me, renowned Sigismund!
   Great king, on thine own bosom turn thine eyes.
   And in my destiny behold thine own.
   Thou, too, hast known the rude assaults of fate;
   Within a prison camest thou to the world;
   Thy earliest glances fell on dungeon walls.
   Thou, too, hadst need of friends to set thee free,
   And raise thee from a prison to a throne.
   These didst thou find. That noble kindness thou
   Didst reap from them, oh, testify to me.
   And you, ye grave and honored councillors,
   Most reverend bishops, pillars of the church,
   Ye palatines and castellans of fame,
   The moment has arrived, by one high deed,
   To reconcile two nations long estranged.
   Yours be the glorious boast, that Poland's power
   Hath given the Muscovites their Czar, and in
   The neighbor who oppressed you as a foe
   Secure an ever-grateful friend. And you,
   The deputies of the august republic,
   Saddle your steeds of fire! Leap to your seats!
   To you expand high fortune's golden gates;
   I will divide the foeman's spoil with you.
   Moscow is rich in plunder; measureless
   In gold and gems, the treasures of the Czar;
   I can give royal guerdons to my friends,
   And I will give them, too. When I, as Czar,
   Set foot within the Kremlin, then, I swear,
   The poorest of you all, that follows me,
   Shall robe himself in velvet and in sables;
   With costly pearls his housings shall he deck,
   And silver be the metal of least worth,
   That he shall shoe his horses' hoofs withal.
 

[Great commotion among the DEPUTIES. KORELA, Hetman of the Cossacks, declares himself ready to put himself at the head of an army.

ODOWALSKY

 
   How! shall we leave the Cossack to despoil us
   At once of glory and of booty both?
   We've made a truce with Tartar and with Turk,
   And from the Swedish power have naught to fear.
   Our martial spirit has been wasting long
   In slothful peace; our swords are red with rust.
   Up! and invade the kingdom of the Czar,
   And win a grateful and true-hearted friend,
   Whilst we augment our country's might and glory.
 

MANY DEPUTIES

 
   War! War with Moscow!
 

OTHERS

 
               Be it so resolved!
   On to the votes at once!
 

SAPIEHA (rises)

 
                Grand marshal, please
   To order silence! I desire to speak.
 

A CROWD OF VOICES

 
   War! War with Moscow!
 

SAPIEHA

 
               Nay, I will be heard.
   Ho, marshal, do your duty!
 

[Great tumult within and outside the hall.

GRAND MARSHAL

 
                 'Tis, you see,
   Quite fruitless.
 

SAPIEHA

 
            What? The marshal's self suborned?
   Is this our Diet, then, no longer free?
   Throw down your staff, and bid this brawling cease;
   I charge you, on your office, to obey!
 

[The GRAND MARSHAL casts his baton into the centre of the hall; the tumult abates.

 
   What whirling thoughts, what mad resolves are these?
   Stand we not now at peace with Moscow's Czar?
   Myself, as your imperial envoy, made
   A treaty to endure for twenty years;
   I raised this right hand, that you see, aloft
   In solemn pledge, within the Kremlin's walls;
   And fairly hath the Czar maintained his word.
   What is sworn faith? what compacts, treaties, when
   A solemn Diet tramples on them all?
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   Prince Leo Sapieha! You concluded
   A bond of peace, you say, with Moscow's Czar?
   That did you not; for I, I am that Czar.
   In me is Moscow's majesty; I am
   The son of Ivan, and his rightful heir.
   Would the Poles treat with Russia for a peace,
   Then must they treat with me! Your compact's null,
   As being made with one whose's title's null.
 

ODOWALSKY

 
   What reck we of your treaty? So we willed
   When it was made – our wills are changed to-day.
 

SAPIEHA

 
   Is it, then, come to this? If none beside
   Will stand for justice, then, at least, will I.
   I'll rend the woof of cunning into shreds,
   And lay its falsehoods open to the day.
   Most reverend primate! art thou, canst thou be
   So simple-souled, or canst thou so dissemble?
   Are ye so credulous, my lords? My liege,
   Art thou so weak? Ye know not – will not know,
   Ye are the puppets of the wily Waywode
   Of Sendomir, who reared this spurious Czar,
   Whose measureless ambition, while we speak,
   Clutches in thought the spoils of Moscow's wealth.
   Is't left for me to tell you that even now
   The league is made and sworn betwixt the twain, —
   The pledge the Waywode's youngest daughter's hand?
   And shall our great republic blindly rush
   Into the perils of an unjust war,
   To aggrandize the Waywode, and to crown
   His daughter as the empress of the Czar?
   There's not a man he has not bribed and bought.
   He means to rule the Diet, well I know;
   I see his faction rampant in this hall,
   And, as 'twere not enough that he controlled
   The Seym Walmy by a majority,
   He's girt the Diet with three thousand horse,
   And all Cracow is swarming like a hive
   With his sworn feudal vassals. Even now
   They throng the halls and chambers where we sit,
   To hold our liberty of speech in awe.
   Yet stirs no fear in my undaunted heart;
   And while the blood keeps current in my veins,
   I will maintain the freedom of my voice!
   Let those who think like men come stand by me
   Whilst I have life shall no resolve be passed
   That is at war with justice and with reason.
   'Twas I that ratified the peace with Moscow,
   And I will hazard life to see it kept.
 

ODOWALSKY

 
   Give him no further hearing! Take the votes!
 

[The BISHOP OF CRACOW and WILNA rise, and descend each to his own side, to collect the votes.

MANY

 
   War, war with Moscow!
 

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN (to SAPIEHA)

 
               Noble sir, give way!
   You see the mass are hostile to your views;
   Then do not force a profitless division!
 

IMPERIAL HIGH CHANCELLOR (descends from the throne to SAPIEHA)

 
   The king entreats you will not press the point,
   Sir Waywode, to division in the Diet.
 

DOORKEEPER (aside to ODOWALSKY)

 
   Keep a bold front, and fearless – summon those
   That wait without. All Cracow stands by you.
 

IMPERIAL GRAND MARSHAL (to SAPIEHA)

 
   Such excellent decrees have passed before;
   Oh, cease, and for their sake, so fraught with good,
   Unite your voice with the majority!
 

BISHOP OF CRACOW (has collected the votes on his side)

 
   On this right bench are all unanimous.
 

SAPIEHA

 
   And let them to a man! Yet I say no!
   I urge my veto – I break up the Diet.
   Stay further progress! Null and void fire all
   The resolutions passed —
 

[General commotion; the KING descends from the throne, the barriers are broken down, and there arises a tumultuous uproar. DEPUTIES draw their swords, and threaten SAPIEHA with them. The BISHOPS interpose, and protect him with their stoles.

 
                 Majority?
   What is it? The majority is madness;
   Reason has still ranked only with the few.
   What cares he for the general weal that's poor?
   Has the lean beggar choice, or liberty?
   To the great lords of earth, that hold the purse,
   He must for bread and raiment sell his voice.
   'Twere meet that voices should be weighed, not counted.
   Sooner or later must the state be wrecked,
   Where numbers sway and ignorance decides.
 

ODOWALSKY

 
   Hark to the traitor! —
 

DEPUTIES

 
               Hew him into shreds!
   Down with him!
 

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN (snatches the crucifix out of his chaplain's hand and interposes)

 
           Peace, peace
   Shall native blood be in the Diet shed?
   Prince Sapieha! be advised!
 

[To the BISHOPS.

 
                  Bring him away,
   And interpose your bosoms as his shield!
   Through this side door remove him quietly,
   Or the wild mob will tear him limb from limb!
 

[SAPIEHA, still casting looks of defiance, is forced away by the BISHOPS, whilst the ARCHBISHOPS OF GNESEN and LEMBERG keep the DEPUTIES at bay. Amidst violent tumult and clashing of arms, the hall is emptied of all but DEMETRIUS, MEISCHEK, ODOWALSKY, and the Hetman of the Cossacks.

ODOWALSKY

 
   That point miscarried, —
   Yet shall you not lack aid because of this:
   If the republic holds the peace with Moscow,
   At our own charges we shall push your claims.
 

KORELA

 
   Who ever could have dreamed, that he alone
   Would hold his ground against the assembled Diet?
 

MEISCHEK

 
   The king! the king!
 

[Enter KING SIGISMUND, attended by the LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR, the GRAND MARSHAL, and several BISHOPS.

KING

 
              Let me embrace you, prince!
   At length the high republic does you justice;
   My heart has done so long, and many a day.
   Your fate doth move me deeply, as, indeed,
   What monarch's heart but must be moved by it?
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   The past, with all its sorrows, is forgot;
   Here on your breast I feel new life begin.
 

KING

 
   I love not many words; yet what a king
   May offer, who has vassals richer far
   Than his poor self, that do I offer you.
   You have been witness of an untoward scene,
   But deem not ill of Poland's realm because
   A tempest jars the vessel of the state.
 

MEISCHEK

 
   When winds are wild the steersman backs his helm,
   And makes for port with all the speed he may.
 

KING

 
   The Diet is dissolved. Although I wished,
   I could not break the treaty with the Czar.
   But you have powerful friends; and if the Pole,
   At his own risk, take arms on your behalf,
   Or if the Cossack choose to venture war,
   They are free men, I cannot say them nay.
 

MEISCHEK

 
   The whole Rocoss is under arms already.
   Please it but you, my liege, the angry stream
   That raved against your sovereignty may turn
   Its wrath on Moscow, leaving you unscathed.
 

KING

 
   The best of weapons Russia's self will give thee;
   Thy surest buckler is the people's heart.
   By Russia only Russia will be vanquished.
   Even as the Diet heard thee speak to-day,
   Speak thou at Moscow to thy subjects, prince.
   So chain their hearts, and thou wilt be their king.
   In Sweden I by right of birth ascended
   The throne of my inheritance in peace;
   Yet did I lose the kingdom of my sires
   Because my people's hearts were not with me.
 

Enter MARINA.

MEISCHEK

 
   My gracious liege, here, kneeling at your feet,
   Behold Marina, youngest of my daughters;
   The prince of Moscow offers her his heart.
   Thou art the stay and pillar of our house,
   And only from thy royal hand 'tis meet
   That she receive her spouse and sovereign.
 

[MARINA kneels to the KING.

KING

 
   Well, if you wish it, cousin, gladly I
   Will do the father's office to the Czar.
 

[To DEMETRIUS, giving him MARINA'S hand.

 
   Thus do I bring you, in this lovely pledge,
   High fortune's blooming goddess; and may these
   Old eyes be spared to see this gracious pair
   Sit in imperial state on Moscow's throne.
 

MARINA

 
   My liege, I humbly thank your grace, and shall
   Esteem me still your slave where'er I be.
 

KING

 
   Rise up, Czaritza! This is not a place
   For you, the plighted bridesmaid of the Czar;
   For you, the daughter of my foremost Waywode.
   You are the youngest of your sisters; yet
   Your spirit wings a high and glorious course,
   And nobly grasps the top of sovereignty.
 

DEMETRIUS

 
   Be thou, great monarch, witness of my oath,
   As, prince to prince, I pledge it here to you!
   This noble lady's hand I do accept
   As fortune's dearest pledge, and swear that, soon
   As on my father's throne I take my seat,
   I'll lead her home in triumph as my bride,
   With all the state that fits a mighty queen.
   And, for a dowry, to my bride I give
   The principalities Pleskow and Great Neugart,
   With all towns, hamlets, and in-dwellers there,
   With all the rights and powers of sovereignty,
   In absolute possession evermore;
   And this, my gift, will I as Czar confirm
   In my free city, Moscow. Furthermore,
   As compensation to her noble sire
   For present charges, I engage to pay
   A million ducats, Polish currency.
   So help me God, and all his saints, as I
   Have truly sworn this oath, and shall fulfil it.
 

KING

 
   You will do so; you never will forget
   For what you are the noble Waywode's debtor;
   Who, for your wishes, perils his sure wealth,
   And, for your hopes, a child his heart adores,
   A friend so rare is to be rarely prized!