Don Carlos (play)

SCENE V.

The KING alone.

Now give me, gracious Providence! a man.

Thou'st given me much already. Now vouchsafe me

A man! for thou alone canst grant the boon.

Thine eye doth penetrate all hidden things

Oh! give me but a friend: for I am not

Omniscient like to thee. The ministers

Whom thou hast chosen for me thou dost know-

And their deserts: and as their merits claim,

I value them. Their subjugated vices,

Coerced by rein severe, serve all my ends,

As thy storms purify this nether world.

I thirst for truth. To reach its tranquil spring,

Through the dark heaps of thick surrounding error,

Is not the lot of kings. Give me the man,

So rarely found, of pure and open heart,

Of judgment clear, and eye unprejudiced,

To aid me in the search. I cast the lots.

And may I find that man, among the thousands

Who flutter in the sunshine of a court.

[He opens an escritoire and takes out a portfolio.

After turning over the leaves a long time.

Nothing but names, mere names are here:-no note

E'en of the services to which they owe

Their place upon the roll! Oh, what can be

Of shorter memory than gratitude!

Here, in this other list, I read each fault

Most accurately marked. That is not well!

Can vengeance stand in need of such a help?

[He reads further.

Count Egmont! What doth he here? Long ago

The victory of St. Quentin is forgotten.

I place him with the dead.

[He effaces this name and writes it on the other roll

after he has read further.

The Marquis Posa!

The Marquis Posa! I can scarce recall

This person to mind. And doubly marked!

A proof I destined him for some great purpose.

How is it possible? This man, till now,

Has ever shunned my presence-still has fled

His royal debtor's eye? The only man,

By heaven, within the compass of my realm,

Who does not court my favor. Did he burn

With avarice, or ambition, long ago

He had appeared before my throne. I'll try

This wondrous man. He who can thus dispense

With royalty will doubtless speak the truth.