MARY.-Will she then dare, regardless of the shame,
Lay my crown'd head upon the fatal block?
MORTIMER. She will most surely dare it, doubt it not.
MARY.-And can she thus roll in the very dust,

Her own, and ev'ry monarch's majesty?

MORTIMER. She thinks on nothing now but present danger,
Nor looks to that which is so far removed.

MARY. And fears she not the dread revenge of France?
MORTIMER. With France she makes an everlasting peace;
And gives to Anjou's Duke her throne and hand.
MARY.-Will not the King of Spain rise up in arms?
MORTIMER. She fears not a collected world in arms,
If with her people she remain at peace.
MARY.-Were this a spectacle for British eyes?

MORTIMER. This land, my Queen, has, in these latter days,
Seen many a royal woman from the throne

Descend, and mount the scaffold:-her own mother
And Cath'rine Howard trod this fatal path;

And was not Lady Grey a crowned head?

MARY [after a pause].-No, Mortimer, vain fears have blinded

you;

'Tis but the honest care of your true heart,
Which conjures up these empty apprehensions.
It is not, Sir, the scaffold that I fear:
There are so many still and secret means,
By which her Majesty of England may
Set all my claims to rest. O, trust me, ere
An executioner is found for me,
Assassins will be hir'd to do their work.
'Tis that which makes me tremble, Mortimer:

I never lift the goblet to my lips

Without an inward shudd'ring, lest the draught
May have been mingled by my sister's love.
MORTIMER. No:-neither open nor disguised murder
Shall e'er prevail against you:-fear no more;
All is prepar'd;-twelve nobles of the land
Are my confed'rates, and have pledg'd to-day,
Upon the Sacrament, their faith to free you,
With dauntless arm, from this captivity.
Count Aubespine, the French Ambassador,

Knows of our plot, and offers his assistance:
'Tis in his palace that we hold our meetings.
MARY.-You make me tremble, Sir, but not for joy;
An evil boding penetrates my heart.

Know you, then, what you risk? Are you not scar'd
By Babington and Tichburn's bloody heads,
Set up as warnings upon London's bridge?

Nor by the ruin of those many victims

Who have, in such attempts, found certain death,
And only made my chains the heavier?

Fly hence, deluded, most unhappy youth!

Fly, if there yet be time for you, before

That crafty spy, Lord Burleigh, track your schemes,
And mix his traitors in your secret plots.

Fly hence-as yet, success hath never smil'd
On Mary Stuart's champions.

MORTIMER.

I'm not scar'd
By Babington and Tichburn's bloody heads,
Set up as warnings upon London's bridge;
Nor by the ruin of those many victims

Who have, in such attempts, found certain death:
They also found therein immortal honor,

And death, in rescuing you, is dearest bliss.

MARY. It is in vain: nor force nor guile can save me:-
My enemies are watchful, and the pow'r

Is in their hands. It is not Paulet only
And his dependent host; all England guards
My prison gates; Elizabeth's free will

Alone can open them.

MORTIMER.

Expect not that.

MARY.-One man alone on earth can open them.
MORTIMER.-O! let me know his name!

MARY.-
MORTIMER.

Lord Leicester.

He! [Starts back in wonder.

The Earl of Leicester! Your most bloody foe,
The fav'rite of Elizabeth!-through him-

MARY.-If I am to be sav'd at all, 'twill be

Through him, and him alone. Go to him, Sir;
Freely confide in him: and, as a proof

You come from me, present this paper to him. [She takes a paper from her bosom; Mortimer draws back,

and hesitates to take it.

It doth contain my portrait:-take it, Sir;
I've borne it long about me: but your uncle's
Close watchfulness has cut me off from all
Communication with him;-you were sent
By my good angel.

MORTIMER.

This mystery.

MARY.

[He takes it.

O, my Queen! explain

Lord Leicester will resolve it.

Confide in him, and he'll confide in you.

Who comes?

KENNEDY [entering hastily].-'Tis Paulet; and he brings with

him

A nobleman from court.

MORTIMER.—

It is Lord Burleigh.

Collect yourself, my Queen, and strive to hear

The news he brings, with equanimity.

[He retires through a side door, and Kennedy follows him.

Scene VII.The Same

Enter Lord Burleigh and Paulet.

PAULET [to Mary].-You wish'd to-day, assurance of your fate;

My Lord of Burleigh brings it to you now;
Hear it with resignation, as beseems you.

MARY.-I hope with dignity, as it becomes

My innocence, and my exalted station.

BURLEIGH. I come deputed from the court of justice.
MARY.-Lord Burleigh lends that court his willing tongue,
Which was already guided by his spirit.

PAULET. You speak as if no stranger to the sentence.
MARY.-Lord Burleigh brings it; therefore do I know it.
PAULET. It would become you better, Lady Stuart,

To listen less to hatred.

MARY.

I but name

My enemy: I said not that I hate him.
But to the matter, Sir.

BURLEIGH.

You have acknowledg'd
The jurisdiction of the two-and-forty.
MARY.-My Lord, excuse me, if I am oblig'd

So soon to interrupt you. I acknowledg'd,
Say you, the competence of the commission?
I never have acknowledg'd it, my Lord;
How could I so? I could not give away
My own prerogative, th' intrusted rights
Of my own people, the inheritance
Of my own son, and ev'ry monarch's honor
The very laws of England say I could not.
It is enacted by the English laws,

That ev'ry one who stands arraign'd of crime
Shall plead before a jury of his equals:
Who is my equal in this high commission?
Kings only are my peers.

BURLEIGH.

The points of accusation, answer'd them
Before the court-

MARY.

But yet you heard

'Tis true, I was deceiv'd

By Hatton's crafty counsel:-he advis'd me,

For my own honor, and in confidence

In my good cause, and my most strong defence,
To listen to the points of accusation,

And prove their falsehood. This, my Lord, I did
From personal respect for the lords' names,
Not their usurped charge, which I disclaim.
BURLEIGH.-Acknowledge you the court, or not, that is
Only a point of mere formality,

Which cannot here arrest the course of justice.
You breathe the air of England; you enjoy

The law's protection, and its benefits;

You therefore are its subject.

MARY.

Sir, I breathe

The air within an English prison walls:

Is that to live in England; to enjoy

Protection from its laws? I scarcely know

And never have I pledg'd my faith to keep them.

I am no member of this realm; I am

An independent, and a foreign Queen.

BURLEIGH.-And do you think that the mere name of Queen Can serve you as a charter to foment

In other countries, with impunity,

This bloody discord? Where would be the state's
Security, if the stern sword of justice

Could not as freely smite the guilty brow
Of the imperial stranger, as the beggar's?

MARY.-I do not wish to be exempt from judgment,
It is the judges only I disclaim.

BURLEIGH.-The judges? How now, Madam! Are they then
Base wretches, snatch'd at hazard from the crowd?
Vile wranglers, that make sale of truth and justice;
Oppression's willing hirelings, and its tools?

Are they not all the foremost of this land,
Too independent to be else than honest,

And too exalted not to soar above

The fear of Kings, or base servility?

Are they not those, who rule a gen'rous people
In liberty and justice; men, whose names

I need but mention, to dispel each doubt,

Each mean suspicion which is rais'd against them?
Stands not the rev'rend Primate at their head,
The pious shepherd of his faithful people,

The learned Talbot, Keeper of the Seals,

And Howard, who commands our conqu'ring fleets?
Say, then, could England's sovereign do more

Than, out of all the monarchy, elect

The very noblest, and appoint them judges

In this great suit? And were it probable
That party hatred could corrupt one heart;
Can forty chosen men unite to speak

A sentence just as passion gives command?

MARY [after a short pause].-I am struck dumb by that

tongue's eloquence,

Which ever was so ominous to me.

And how shall I, a weak, untutor'd woman,

Cope with so subtle, learn'd an orator?

Yes, truly; were these lords as you describe them,

I must be mute; my cause were lost indeed,

Beyond all hope,, if they pronounc'd me guilty.