What say you?
ALVA.
Sire! we are silent.
KING (after some thought, to the OFFICER).
Let my guards be ready
And under arms, and order all approach
To that wing of the palace to be stopped.
I fain would have a word with this same ghost.
[Exit OFFICER. Enter a PAGE.
PAGE.
The cardinal inquisitor.
KING (to all present).
Retire!
[The CARDINAL INQUISITOR, an old man of ninety, and blind, enters,
supported on a staff, and led by two Dominicans. The GRANDEES fall
on their knees as he passes, and touch the hem of his garment. He
gives them his blessing, and they depart.
SCENE X.
The KING and the GRAND INQUISITOR. A long silence.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Say, do I stand before the king?
KING.
You do.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
I never thought it would be so again!
KING.
I now renew the scenes of early youth,
When Philip sought his sage instructor's counsel.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Your glorious sire, my pupil, Charles the Fifth,
Nor sought or needed counsel at my hands.
KING.
So much happier he! I, cardinal,
Am guilty of a murder, and no rest--
GRAND INQUISITOR.
What was the reason for this murder?
KING.
'Twas
A fraud unparalleled--
GRAND INQUISITOR.
I know it all.
KING.
What do you know? Through whom, and since what time?
GRAND INQUISITOR.
For years-what you have only learned since sunset.
KING (with astonishment).
You know this man then!
GRAND INQUISITOR.
All his life is noted
From its commencement to its sudden close,
In Santa Casa's holy registers.
KING.
Yet he enjoyed his liberty!
GRAND INQUISITOR.
The chain
With which he struggled, but which held him bound,
Though long, was firm, nor easy to be severed.
KING.
He has already been beyond the kingdom.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Where'er he travelled I was at his side.
KING (walks backwards and forwards in displeasure).
You knew the hands, then, I had fallen into;
And yet delayed to warn me!
GRAND INQUISITOR.
This rebuke
I pay you back. Why did you not consult us
Before you sought the arms of such a man?
You knew him: one sole glance unmasked him to you.
Why did you rob the office of its victim?
Are we thus trifled with! When majesty
Can stoop to such concealment, and in secret,
Behind our backs, league with our enemies,
What must our fate be then? If one be spared
What plea can justify the fate of thousands?
KING.
But he, no less, has fallen a sacrifice.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
No; he is murdered-basely, foully murdered.
The blood that should so gloriously have flowed
To honor us has stained the assassin's hand.
What claim had you to touch our sacred rights?
He but existed, by our hands to perish.
God gave him to this age's exigence,
To perish, as a terrible example,
And turn high-vaunting reason into shame.
Such was my long-laid plan-behold, destroyed
In one brief hour, the toil of many years.
We are defrauded, and your only gain
Is bloody hands.
KING.
Passion impelled me to it.
Forgive me.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Passion! And does royal Philip
Thus answer me? Have I alone grown old?
[Shaking his head angrily.
Passion! Make conscience free within your realms,
If you're a slave yourself.
KING.
In things like this
I'm but a novice. Bear in patience with me.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
No, I'm ill pleased with you-to see you thus
Tarnish the bygone glories of your reign.
Where is that Philip, whose unchanging soul,
Fixed as the polar star in heaven above,
Round its own axis still pursued its course?
Is all the memory of preceding years
Forever gone? And did the world become
New moulded when you stretched your hand to him?
Was poison no more poison? Did distinction
'Twixt good and evil, truth and falsehood, vanish?
What then is resolution? What is firmness?
What is the faith of man, if in one weak,
Unguarded hour, the rules of threescore years
Dissolve in air, like woman's fickle favor?
KING.
I looked into his eyes. Oh, pardon me
This weak relapse into mortality.
The world has one less access to your heart;
Your eyes are sunk in night.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
What did this man
Want with you? What new thing could he adduce,
You did not know before? And are you versed
So ill with fanatics and innovators?
Does the reformer's vaunting language sound
So novel to your ears? If the firm edifice
Of your conviction totters to mere words,
Should you not shudder to subscribe the fate
Of many thousand poor, deluded souls
Who mount the flaming pile for nothing worse?
KING.
I sought a human being. These Domingos--
GRAND INQUISITOR.
How! human beings! What are they to you?
Cyphers to count withal-no more! Alas!
And must I now repeat the elements
Of kingly knowledge to my gray-haired pupil?
An earthly god must learn to bear the want
Of what may be denied him. When you whine
For sympathy is not the world your equal?
What rights should you possess above your equals?
KING (throwing himself into a chair).
I'm a mere suffering mortal, that I feel;
And you demand from me, a wretched creature,
What the Creator only can perform.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
No, sire; I am not thus to be deceived.
I see you through. You would escape from us.
The church's heavy chains pressed hard upon you;
You would be free, and claim your independence.
[He pauses. The KING is silent.
We are avenged. Be thankful to the church,
That checks you with the kindness of a mother.
The erring choice you were allowed to make
Has proved your punishment. You stand reproved!
Now you may turn to us again. And know
If I, this day, had not been summoned here,
By Heaven above! before to-morrow's sun,
You would yourself have stood at my tribunal!
KING.
Forbear this language, priest. Restrain thyself.
I'll not endure it from thee. In such tones
No tongue shall speak to me.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Then why, O king
Call up the ghost of Samuel? I've anointed
Two monarchs to the throne of Spain. I hoped
To leave behind a firm-established wo
rk.
I see the fruit of all my life is lost.
Don Philip's hands have shattered what I built.
But tell me, sire, wherefore have I been summoned?
What do I hear? I am not minded, king,
To seek such interviews again.
KING.
But one
One service more-the last-and then in peace
Depart. Let all the past be now forgotten-
Let peace be made between us. We are friends.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
When Philip bends with due humility.
KING (after a pause).
My son is meditating treason.
GRAND INQUISITOR,
Well!
And what do you resolve?
KING.
On all, or nothing.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
What mean you by this all?
KING.
He must escape,
Or die.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Well, sire! decide.
KING.
And can you not
Establish some new creed to justify
The bloody murder of one's only son?
GRAND INQUISITOR.
To appease eternal justice God's own Son
Expired upon the cross.
KING.
And can you spread
This creed throughout all Europe?
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Ay, as far
As the true cross is worshipped.
KING.
But I sin-
Sin against nature. Canst thou, by thy power,
Silence her mighty voice.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
The voice of nature
Avails not over faith.
KING.
My right to judge
I place within your hands. Can I retrace
The step once taken?
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Give him to me!
KING.
My only son! For whom then have I labored?
GRAND INQUISITOR.
For the grave rather than for liberty!
KING (rising up).
We are agreed. Come with me.
GRAND INQUISITOR.
Monarch! Whither
KING.
From his own father's hands to take the victim.
[Leads him away.
SCENE XI.
Queen's Apartment.
CARLOS. The QUEEN. Afterwards the KING and attendants. CARLOS
in monk's attire, a mask over his face, which he is just taking
off; under his arm a naked sword. It is quite dark. He approaches
a door, which is in the act of opening. The QUEEN comes out in
her night-dress with a lighted candle. CARLOS falls on one knee
before her.
CARLOS.
Elizabeth!
QUEEN (regarding him with silent sorrow).
Do we thus meet again?
CARLOS.
'Tis thus we meet again!
[A silence.
QUEEN (endeavoring to collect herself).
Carlos, arise!
We must not now unnerve each other thus.
The mighty dead will not be honored now
By fruitless tears. Tears are for petty sorrows!
He gave himself for thee! With his dear life
He purchased thine. And shall this precious blood
Flow for a mere delusion of the brain?
Oh, Carlos, I have pledged myself for thee.
On that assurance did he flee from hence
More satisfied. Oh, do not falsify
My word.
CARLOS (with animation)
To him I'll raise a monument
Nobler than ever honored proudest monarch,
And o'er his dust a paradise shall bloom!
QUEEN.
Thus did I hope to find thee! This was still
The mighty purpose of his death. On me
Devolves the last fulfilment of his plans,
And I will now fulfil my solemn oath.
Yet one more legacy your dying friend
Bequeathed to me. I pledged my word to him,
And wherefore should I now conceal it from you?
To me did he resign his Carlos-I
Defy suspicion, and no longer tremble
Before mankind, but will for once assume
The courage of a friend; My heart shall speak.
He called our passion-virtue! I believe him,
And will my heart no longer--
CARLOS.
Hold, O queen!
Long was I sunk in a delusive dream.
I loved, but now I am at last awake
Forgotten be the past. Here are your letters,-
Destroy my own. Fear nothing from my passion,
It is extinct. A brighter flame now burns,
And purifies my being. All my love
Lies buried in the grave. No mortal wish
Finds place within this bosom.
[After a pause, taking her hand.
I have come
To bid farewell to you, and I have learned
There is a higher, greater good, my mother,
Than to call thee mine own. One rapid night
Has winged the tardy progress of my years,
And prematurely ripened me to manhood.
I have no further business in the world,
But to remember him. My harvest now
Is ended.
[He approaches the QUEEN, who conceals her face.
Mother! will you not reply!
QUEEN.
Carlos! regard not these my tears. I cannot
Restrain then. But believe me I admire you.
CARLOS.
Thou wert the only partner of our league
And by this name thou shalt remain to me
The most beloved object in this world.
No other woman can my friendship share,
More than she yesterday could win my love.
But sacred shall the royal widow be,
Should Providence conduct me to the throne.
[The KING, accompanied by the GRAND INQUISITOR,
appears in the background without being observed.
I hasten to leave Spain, and never more
Shall I behold my father in this world.
No more I love him. Nature is extinct
Within this breast. Be you again his wife-
His son's forever lost to him! Return
Back to your course of duty-I must speed
To liberate a people long oppressed
From a fell tyrant's hand. Madrid shall bail
Carlos as king, or ne'er behold him more.
And now a long and last farewell--
[He kisses her.
QUEEN.
Oh, Carlos!
How you exalt me! but I dare not soar
To such a height of greatness:-yet I may
Contemplate now your noble mind with wonder.
CARLOS.
Am I not firm, Elizabeth? I hold thee
Thus in my arms and tremble not. The fear
Of instant death had, yesterday, not torn me
From this dear spot.
[He leaves her.
All that is over now,
And I defy my mortal destinies.
I've held thee in these arms and wavered not.
Hark! Heard you nothing!
[A clock strikes.
QUEEN.
Nothing but the bell
That tolls the moment of our separation.
CARLOS.
Good night, then, mother! And you shall, from Ghent,
Receive a letter, which will first proclaim
Our secret enterprise aloud. I go
To dare King Philip to an open contest.
Henceforth there shall be naught concealed between us!
You need not shun the aspect of the world.
Be t
his my last deceit.
[About to take up the mask-the KING stands between them.
KING.
It is thy last.
[The QUEEN falls senseless.
CARLOS (hastens to her and supports her in his arms).
Is the queen dead? Great heavens!
KING (coolly and quietly to the GRAND INQUISITOR).
Lord Cardinal!
I've done my part. Go now, and do your own.
[Exit.
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Don Carlos (play) Page 22