Mary Stuart

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

ELIZABETH, Queen of England.

MARY STUART, Queen of Scots, a Prisoner in England.

ROBERT DUDLEY, Earl of Leicester.

GEORGE TALBOT, Earl of Shrewsbury.

WILLIAM CECIL, Lord Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer.

EARL OF KENT.

SIR WILLIAM DAVISON, Secretary of State.

SIR AMIAS PAULET, Keeper of MARY.

SIR EDWARD MORTIMER, his Nephew.

COUNT L'AUBESPINE, the French Ambassador.

O'KELLY, Mortimer's Friend.

COUNT BELLIEVRE, Envoy Extraordinary from France.

SIR DRUE DRURY, another Keeper of MARY.

SIR ANDREW MELVIL, her House Steward.

BURGOYNE, her Physician.

HANNAH KENNEDY, her Nurse.

MARGARET CURL, her Attendant.

Sheriff of the County.

Officer of the Guard.

French and English Lords.

Soldiers.

Servants of State belonging to ELIZABETH.

Servants and Female Attendants of the Queen of Scots.

ACT I

SCENE I

A common apartment in the Castle of Fotheringay.

HANNAH KENNEDY, contending violently with PAULET, who is about to break open a closet; DRURY with an iron crown.

KENNEDY

 
   How now, sir? what fresh outrage have we here?
   Back from that cabinet!
 

PAULET

 
                Whence came the jewel?
   I know 'twas from an upper chamber thrown;
   And you would bribe the gardener with your trinkets.
   A curse on woman's wiles! In spite of all
   My strict precaution and my active search,
   Still treasures here, still costly gems concealed!
   And doubtless there are more where this lay hid.
 

[Advancing towards the cabinet.

KENNEDY

 
   Intruder, back! here lie my lady's secrets.
 

PAULET

 
   Exactly what I seek.
 

[Drawing forth papers.

KENNEDY

 
              Mere trifling papers;
   The amusements only of an idle pen,
   To cheat the dreary tedium of a dungeon.
 

PAULET

 
   In idle hours the evil mind is busy.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Those writings are in French.
 

PAULET

 
                   So much the worse!
   That tongue betokens England's enemy.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Sketches of letters to the Queen of England.
 

PAULET

 
   I'll be their bearer. Ha! what glitters here?
 

[He touches a secret spring, and draws out jewels from a private drawer.

 
   A royal diadem enriched with stones,
   And studded with the fleur-de-lis of France.
 

[He hands it to his assistant.

 
   Here, take it, Drury; lay it with the rest.
 

[Exit DRURY.

[And ye have found the means to hide from us Such costly things, and screen them, until now, From our inquiring eyes?]

KENNEDY

 
                Oh, insolent
   And tyrant power, to which we must submit.
 

PAULET

 
   She can work ill as long as she hath treasures;
   For all things turn to weapons in her hands.
 

KENNEDY (supplicating)

 
   Oh, sir! be merciful; deprive us not
   Of the last jewel that adorns our life!
   'Tis my poor lady's only joy to view
   This symbol of her former majesty;
   Your hands long since have robbed us of the rest.
 

PAULET

 
   'Tis in safe custody; in proper time
   'Twill be restored to you with scrupulous care.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Who that beholds these naked walls could say
   That majesty dwelt here? Where is the throne?
   Where the imperial canopy of state?
   Must she not set her tender foot, still used
   To softest treading, on the rugged ground?
   With common pewter, which the lowliest dame
   Would scorn, they furnish forth her homely table.
 

PAULET

 
   Thus did she treat her spouse at Stirling once;
   And pledged, the while, her paramour in gold.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Even the mirror's trifling aid withheld.
 

PAULET

 
   The contemplation of her own vain image
   Incites to hope, and prompts to daring deeds.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Books are denied her to divert her mind.
 

PAULET

 
   The Bible still is left to mend her heart.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Even of her very lute she is deprived!
 

PAULET

 
   Because she tuned it to her wanton airs.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Is this a fate for her, the gentle born,
   Who in her very cradle was a queen?
   Who, reared in Catherine's luxurious court,
   Enjoyed the fulness of each earthly pleasure?
   Was't not enough to rob her of her power,
   Must ye then envy her its paltry tinsel?
   A noble heart in time resigns itself
   To great calamities with fortitude;
   But yet it cuts one to the soul to part
   At once with all life's little outward trappings!
 

PAULET

 
   These are the things that turn the human heart
   To vanity, which should collect itself
   In penitence; for a lewd, vicious life,
   Want and abasement are the only penance.
 

KENNEDY

 
   If youthful blood has led her into error,
   With her own heart and God she must account:
   There is no judge in England over her.
 

PAULET

 
   She shall have judgment where she hath transgressed.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Her narrow bonds restrain her from transgression.
 

PAULET

 
   And yet she found the means to stretch her arm
   Into the world, from out these narrow bonds,
   And, with the torch of civil war, inflame
   This realm against our queen (whom God preserve).
   And arm assassin bands. Did she not rouse
   From out these walls the malefactor Parry,
   And Babington, to the detested crime
   Of regicide? And did this iron grate
   Prevent her from decoying to her toils
   The virtuous heart of Norfolk? Saw we not
   The first, best head in all this island fall
   A sacrifice for her upon the block?
[The noble house of Howard fell with him.]
   And did this sad example terrify
   These mad adventurers, whose rival zeal
   Plunges for her into this deep abyss?
   The bloody scaffold bends beneath the weight
   Of her new daily victims; and we ne'er
   Shall see an end till she herself, of all
   The guiltiest, be offered up upon it.
   Oh! curses on the day when England took
   This Helen to its hospitable arms.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Did England then receive her hospitably?
   Oh, hapless queen! who, since that fatal day
   When first she set her foot within this realm,
   And, as a suppliant – a fugitive —
   Came to implore protection from her sister,
   Has been condemned, despite the law of nations,
   And royal privilege, to weep away
   The fairest years of youth in prison walls.
   And now, when she hath suffered everything
   Which in imprisonment is hard and bitter,
   Is like a felon summoned to the bar,
   Foully accused, and though herself a queen,
   Constrained to plead for honor and for life.
 

PAULET

 
   She came amongst us as a murderess,
   Chased by her very subjects from a throne
   Which she had oft by vilest deeds disgraced.
   Sworn against England's welfare came she hither,
   To call the times of bloody Mary back,
   Betray our church to Romish tyranny,
   And sell our dear-bought liberties to France.
   Say, why disdained she to subscribe the treaty
   Of Edinborough – to resign her claim
   To England's crown – and with one single word,
   Traced by her pen, throw wide her prison gates?
   No: – she had rather live in vile confinement,
   And see herself ill-treated, than renounce
   The empty honors of her barren title.
   Why acts she thus? Because she trusts to wiles,
   And treacherous arts of base conspiracy;
   And, hourly plotting schemes of mischief, hopes
   To conquer, from her prison, all this isle.
 

KENNEDY

 
   You mock us, sir, and edge your cruelty
   With words of bitter scorn: – that she should form
   Such projects; she, who's here immured alive,
   To whom no sound of comfort, not a voice
   Of friendship comes from her beloved home;
   Who hath so long no human face beheld,
   Save her stern gaoler's unrelenting brows;
   Till now, of late, in your uncourteous cousin
   She sees a second keeper, and beholds
   Fresh bolts and bars against her multiplied.
 

PAULET

 
   No iron-grate is proof against her wiles.
   How do I know these bars are not filed through?
   How that this floor, these walls, that seem so strong
   Without, may not be hollow from within,
   And let in felon treachery when I sleep?
   Accursed office, that's intrusted to me,
   To guard this cunning mother of all ill!
   Fear scares me from my sleep; and in the night
   I, like a troubled spirit, roam and try
   The strength of every bolt, and put to proof
   Each guard's fidelity: – I see, with fear,
   The dawning of each morn, which may confirm
   My apprehensions: – yet, thank God, there's hope
   That all my fears will soon be at an end;
   For rather would I at the gates of hell
   Stand sentinel, and guard the devilish host
   Of damned souls, than this deceitful queen.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Here comes the queen.
 

PAULET

 
               Christ's image in her hand.
   Pride, and all worldly lusts within her heart.
 

SCENE II

The same. Enter MARY, veiled, a crucifix in her hand.

 

KENNEDY (hastening toward her)

 
   O gracious queen! they tread us under foot;
   No end of tyranny and base oppression;
   Each coming day heaps fresh indignities,
   New sufferings on thy royal head.
 

MARY

 
                     Be calm —
   Say, what has happened?
 

KENNEDY

 
                See! thy cabinet
   Is forced – thy papers – and thy only treasure,
   Which with such pains we had secured, the last
   Poor remnant of thy bridal ornaments
   From France, is in his hands – naught now remains
   Of royal state – thou art indeed bereft!
 

MARY

 
   Compose yourself, my Hannah! and believe me,
   'Tis not these baubles that can make a queen —
   Basely indeed they may behave to us,
   But they cannot debase us. I have learned
   To use myself to many a change in England;
   I can support this too. Sir, you have taken
   By force what I this very day designed
   To have delivered to you. There's a letter
   Amongst these papers for my royal sister
   Of England. Pledge me, sir, your word of honor,
   To give it to her majesty's own hands,
   And not to the deceitful care of Burleigh.
 

PAULET

 
   I shall consider what is best to do.
 

MARY

 
   Sir, you shall know its import. In this letter
   I beg a favor, a great favor of her, —
   That she herself will give me audience, – she
   Whom I have never seen. I have been summoned
   Before a court of men, whom I can ne'er
   Acknowledge as my peers – of men to whom
   My heart denies its confidence. The queen
   Is of my family, my rank, my sex;
   To her alone – a sister, queen, and woman —
   Can I unfold my heart.
 

PAULET

 
               Too oft, my lady,
   Have you intrusted both your fate and honor
   To men less worthy your esteem than these.
 

MARY

 
   I, in the letter, beg another favor,
   And surely naught but inhumanity
   Can here reject my prayer. These many years
   Have I, in prison, missed the church's comfort,
   The blessings of the sacraments – and she
   Who robs me of my freedom and my crown,
   Who seeks my very life, can never wish
   To shut the gates of heaven upon my soul.
 

PAULET

 
   Whene'er you wish, the dean shall wait upon you.
 

MARY (interrupting him sharply)

 
   Talk to me not of deans. I ask the aid
   Of one of my own church – a Catholic priest.
 

PAULET

 
   [That is against the published laws of England.
 

MARY

 
   The laws of England are no rule for me.
   I am not England's subject; I have ne'er
   Consented to its laws, and will not bow
   Before their cruel and despotic sway.
   If 'tis your will, to the unheard-of rigor
   Which I have borne, to add this new oppression,
   I must submit to what your power ordains;
   Yet will I raise my voice in loud complaints.]
   I also wish a public notary,
   And secretaries, to prepare my will —
   My sorrows and my prison's wretchedness
   Prey on my life – my days, I fear, are numbered —
   I feel that I am near the gates of death.
 

PAULET

 
   These serious contemplations well become you.
 

MARY

 
   And know I then that some too ready hand
   May not abridge this tedious work of sorrow?
   I would indite my will and make disposal
   Of what belongs to me.
 

PAULET

 
               This liberty
   May be allowed to you, for England's queen
   Will not enrich herself by plundering you.
 

MARY

 
   I have been parted from my faithful women,
   And from my servants; tell me, where are they?
   What is their fate? I can indeed dispense
   At present with their service, but my heart
   Will feel rejoiced to know these faithful ones
   Are not exposed to suffering and to want!
 

PAULET

 
   Your servants have been cared for; [and again
   You shall behold whate'er is taken from you
   And all shall be restored in proper season.]
 

[Going.

MARY

 
   And will you leave my presence thus again,
   And not relieve my fearful, anxious heart
   From the fell torments of uncertainty?
   Thanks to the vigilance of your hateful spies,
   I am divided from the world; no voice
   Can reach me through these prison-walls; my fate
   Lies in the hands of those who wish my ruin.
   A month of dread suspense is passed already
   Since when the forty high commissioners
   Surprised me in this castle, and erected,
   With most unseemly haste, their dread tribunal;
   They forced me, stunned, amazed, and unprepared,
   Without an advocate, from memory,
   Before their unexampled court, to answer
   Their weighty charges, artfully arranged.
   They came like ghosts, – like ghosts they disappeared,
   And since that day all mouths are closed to me.
   In vain I seek to construe from your looks
   Which hath prevailed – my cause's innocence
   And my friends' zeal – or my foes' cursed counsel.
   Oh, break this silence! let me know the worst;
   What have I still to fear, and what to hope.
 

PAULET

 
   Close your accounts with heaven.
 

MARY

 
                    From heaven I hope
   For mercy, sir; and from my earthly judges
   I hope, and still expect, the strictest justice.
 

PAULET

 
   Justice, depend upon it, will be done you.
 

MARY

 
   Is the suit ended, sir?
 

PAULET

 
                I cannot tell.
 

MARY

 
   Am I condemned?
 

PAULET

 
            I cannot answer, lady.
 

MARY

[Sir, a good work fears not the light of day.

PAULET

 
   The day will shine upon it, doubt it not.]
 

MARY

 
   Despatch is here the fashion. Is it meant
   The murderer shall surprise me, like the judges?
 

PAULET

 
   Still entertain that thought and he will find you
   Better prepared to meet your fate than they did.
 

MARY (after a pause)

 
   Sir, nothing can surprise me which a court
   Inspired by Burleigh's hate and Hatton's zeal,
   Howe'er unjust, may venture to pronounce:
   But I have yet to learn how far the queen
   Will dare in execution of the sentence.
 

PAULET

 
   The sovereigns of England have no fear
   But for their conscience and their parliament.
   What justice hath decreed her fearless hand
   Will execute before the assembled world.
 

SCENE III

The same. MORTIMER enters, and without paying attention to the QUEEN, addresses PAULET.

MORTIMER

 
   Uncle, you're sought for.
 

[He retires in the same manner. The QUEEN remarks it, and turns towards PAULET, who is about to follow him.

MARY

 
                 Sir, one favor more
   If you have aught to say to me – from you
   I can bear much – I reverence your gray hairs;
   But cannot bear that young man's insolence;
   Spare me in future his unmannered rudeness.
 

PAULET

 
   I prize him most for that which makes you hate him
   He is not, truly, one of those poor fools
   Who melt before a woman's treacherous tears.
   He has seen much – has been to Rheims and Paris,
   And brings us back his true old English heart.
   Lady, your cunning arts are lost on him.
 

[Exit.

SCENE IV

MARY, KENNEDY.

KENNEDY

 
   And dare the ruffian venture to your face
   Such language! Oh, 'tis hard – 'tis past endurance.
 

MARY (lost in reflection)

 
   In the fair moments of our former splendor
   We lent to flatterers a too willing ear; —
   It is but just, good Hannah, we should now
   Be forced to hear the bitter voice of censure.
 

KENNEDY

 
   So downcast, so depressed, my dearest lady!
   You, who before so gay, so full of hope,
   Were used to comfort me in my distress;
   More gracious were the task to check your mirth
   Than chide your heavy sadness.
 

MARY

 
                   Well I know him —
   It is the bleeding Darnley's royal shade,
   Rising in anger from his darksome grave
   And never will he make his peace with me
   Until the measures of my woes be full.
 

KENNEDY

 
   What thoughts are these —
 

MARY

 
                Thou may'st forget it, Hannah;
   But I've a faithful memory – 'tis this day
   Another wretched anniversary
   Of that regretted, that unhappy deed —
   Which I must celebrate with fast and penance.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Dismiss at length in peace this evil spirit.
   The penitence of many a heavy year,
   Of many a suffering, has atoned the deed;
   The church, which holds the key of absolution,
   Pardons the crime, and heaven itself's appeased.
 

MARY

 
   This long-atoned crime arises fresh
   And bleeding from its lightly-covered grave;
   My husband's restless spirit seeks revenge;
   No sacred bell can exorcise, no host
   In priestly hands dismiss it to his tomb.
 

KENNEDY

 
   You did not murder him; 'twas done by others.
 

MARY

 
   But it was known to me; I suffered it,
   And lured him with my smiles to death's embrace.
 

KENNEDY

 
   Your youth extenuates your guilt. You were
   Of tender years.
 

MARY

 
            So tender, yet I drew
   This heavy guilt upon my youthful head.
 

KENNEDY

 
   You were provoked by direst injuries,
   And by the rude presumption of the man,
   Whom out of darkness, like the hand of heaven,
   Your love drew forth, and raised above all others.
   Whom through your bridal chamber you conducted
   Up to your throne, and with your lovely self,
   And your hereditary crown, distinguished
   [Your work was his existence, and your grace
   Bedewed him like the gentle rains of heaven.]
   Could he forget that his so splendid lot
   Was the creation of your generous love?
   Yet did he, worthless as he was, forget it.
   With base suspicions, and with brutal manners,
   He wearied your affections, and became
   An object to you of deserved disgust:
   The illusion, which till now had overcast
   Your judgment, vanished; angrily you fled
   His foul embrace, and gave him up to scorn.
   And did he seek again to win your love?
   Your favor? Did he e'er implore your pardon?
   Or fall in deep repentance at your feet?
   No; the base wretch defied you; he, who was
   Your bounty's creature, wished to play your king,
   [And strove, through fear, to force your inclination.]
   Before your eyes he had your favorite singer,
   Poor Rizzio, murdered; you did but avenge
   With blood the bloody deed —
 

MARY

 
                  And bloodily,
   I fear, too soon 'twill be avenged on me:
   You seek to comfort me, and you condemn me.
 

KENNEDY

 
   You were, when you consented to this deed,
   No more yourself; belonged not to yourself;
   The madness of a frantic love possessed you,
   And bound you to a terrible seducer,
   The wretched Bothwell. That despotic man
   Ruled you with shameful, overbearing will,
   And with his philters and his hellish arts
   Inflamed your passions.
 

MARY

 
                All the arts he used
   Were man's superior strength and woman's weakness.
 

KENNEDY

 
   No, no, I say. The most pernicious spirits
   Of hell he must have summoned to his aid,
   To cast this mist before your waking senses.
   Your ear no more was open to the voice
   Of friendly warning, and your eyes were shut
   To decency; soft female bashfulness
   Deserted you; those cheeks, which were before
   The seat of virtuous, blushing modesty,
   Glowed with the flames of unrestrained desire.
   You cast away the veil of secrecy,
   And the flagitious daring of the man
   O'ercame your natural coyness: you exposed
   Your shame, unblushingly, to public gaze:
   You let the murderer, whom the people followed
   With curses, through the streets of Edinburgh,
   Before you bear the royal sword of Scotland
   In triumph. You begirt your parliament
   With armed bands; and by this shameless farce,
   There, in the very temple of great justice,
   You forced the judges of the land to clear
   The murderer of his guilt. You went still further —
   O God!
 

MARY

 
       Conclude – nay, pause not – say for this
   I gave my hand in marriage at the altar.
 

KENNEDY

 
   O let an everlasting silence veil
   That dreadful deed: the heart revolts at it.
   A crime to stain the darkest criminal!
   Yet you are no such lost one, that I know.
   I nursed your youth myself – your heart is framed
   For tender softness: 'tis alive to shame,
   And all your fault is thoughtless levity.
   Yes, I repeat it, there are evil spirits,
   Who sudden fix in man's unguarded breast
   Their fatal residence, and there delight
   To act their dev'lish deeds; then hurry back
   Unto their native hell, and leave behind
   Remorse and horror in the poisoned bosom.
   Since this misdeed, which blackens thus your life,
   You have done nothing ill; your conduct has
   Been pure; myself can witness your amendment.
   Take courage, then; with your own heart make peace.
   Whatever cause you have for penitence,
   You are not guilty here. Nor England's queen,
   Nor England's parliament can be your judge.
   Here might oppresses you: you may present
   Yourself before this self-created court
   With all the fortitude of innocence.
 

MARY

 
   I hear a step.
 

KENNEDY

 
           It is the nephew – In.