Don Carlos (play)

SCENE X.

The KING, and MARQUIS POSA.

The MARQUIS, as soon as he observes the KING, comes forward

and sinks on one knee; then rises and remains standing before

him without any sign of confusion.

KING (looks at him with surprise).

We've met before then?

MARQUIS.

No.

KING.

You did my crown

Some service? Why then do you shun my thanks?

My memory is thronged with suitor's claims.

One only is omniscient. 'Twas your duty

To seek your monarch's eye! Why did you not?

MARQUIS.

Two days have scarce elapsed since my return

From foreign travel, sire.

KING.

I would not stand

Indebted to a subject; ask some favor--

MARQUIS.

I enjoy the laws.

KING.

So does the murderer!

MARQUIS.

Then how much more the honest citizen!

My lot contents me, sire.

KING (aside).

By heavens! a proud

And dauntless mind! That was to be expected.

Proud I would have my Spaniards. Better far

The cup should overflow than not be full.

They say you've left my service?

MARQUIS.

To make way

For some one worthier, I withdrew.

KING.

'Tis pity. When spirits such as yours make holiday,

The state must suffer. But perchance you feared

To miss the post best suited to your merits.

MARQUIS.

Oh, no! I doubt not the experienced judge,

In human nature skilled-his proper study,-

Will have discovered at a glance wherein

I may be useful to him, wherein not.

With deepest gratitude, I feel the favor

Wherewith, by so exalted an opinion,

Your majesty is loading me; and yet--

[He pauses.

KING.

You hesitate?

MARQUIS.

I am, I must confess,

Sire, at this moment, unprepared to clothe

My thoughts, as the world's citizen, in phrase

Beseeming to your subject. When I left

The court forever, sire, I deemed myself

Released from the necessity to give

My reasons for this step.

KING.

Are they so weak?

What do you fear to risk by their disclosure?

MARQUIS.

My life at farthest, sire,-were time allowed

For me to weary you-but this denied-

Then truth itself must suffer. I must choose

'Twixt your displeasure and contempt.

And if I must decide, I rather would appear

Worthy of punishment than pity.

KING (with a look of expectation).

Well?

MARQUIS.

I cannot be the servant of a prince.

[The KING looks at him with astonishment.

I will not cheat the buyer. Should you deem

Me worthy of your service, you prescribe

A course of duty for me; you command

My arm in battle and my head in council.

Then, not my actions, but the applause they meet

At court becomes their object. But for me

Virtue possesses an intrinsic worth.

I would, myself, create that happiness

A monarch, with my hand, would seek to plant,

And duty's task would prove an inward joy,

And be my willing choice. Say, like you this?

And in your own creation could you hear

A new creator? For I ne'er could stoop

To be the chisel where I fain would be-

The sculptor's self. I dearly love mankind,

My gracious liege, but in a monarchy

I dare not love another than myself.

KING.

This ardor is most laudable. You wish

To do good deeds to others; how you do them

Is but of small account to patriots,

Or to the wise. Choose then within these realms

The office where you best may satisfy

This noble impulse.

MARQUIS.

'Tis not to be found.

KING.

How!

MARQUIS.

What your majesty would spread abroad,

Through these my hands-is it the good of men?

Is it the happiness that my pure love

Would to mankind impart? Before such bliss

Monarchs would tremble. No! Court policy

Has raised up new enjoyments for mankind.

Which she is always rich enough to grant;

And wakened, in the hearts of men, new wishes

Which such enjoyments only can content.

In her own mint she coins the truth-such truth!

As she herself can tolerate: all forms

Unlike her own are broken. But is that

Which can content the court enough for me?

Must my affection for my brother pledge

Itself to work my brother injury?

To call him happy when he dare not think?

Sire, choose not me to spread the happiness

Which you have stamped for us. I must decline

To circulate such coin. I cannot be

The servant of a prince.

KING (suddenly).

You are, perhaps,

A Protestant?

MARQUIS (after some reflection).

Our creeds, my liege, are one.

[A pause.

I am misunderstood. I feared as much.

You see the veil torn by my hand aside

From all the mysteries of majesty.

Who can assure you I shall still regard

As sacred that which ceases to alarm me?

I may seem dangerous, because I think

Above myself. I am not so, my liege;

My wishes lie corroding here. The rage

[Laying his hand on his breast.

For innovation, which but serves to increase

The heavy weight of chains it cannot break,

Shall never fire my blood! The world is yet

Unripe for my ideal; and I live

A citizen of ages yet to come.

But does a fancied picture break your rest?

A breach of yours destroys it.

KING.

Say, am I

The first to whom your views are known?

MARQUIS.

You are.

KING (rises, walks a few paces and then stops opposite

the MARQUIS-aside).

This tone, at least, is new; but flattery

Exhausts itself. And men of talent still

Disdain to imitate. So let us test

Its opposite for once. Why should I not?

There is a charm in novelty. Should we

Be so agreed, I will bethink me now

Of some new state employment, in whose duties

Your powerful mind--

MARQUIS.

Sire, I perceive how small,

How mean, your notions are of manly worth.

Suspecting, in an honest man's discourse,

Naught but a flatterer's artifice-methinks

I can explain the cause of this your error.

Mankind compel you to it. With free choice

They have disclaimed their true nobility,

Lowered themselves to their degraded state.

Before man's inward worth, as from a phantom,

They fly in terror-and contented with

Their poverty, they ornament their chains

With slavish prudence; and they call it virtue

To bear them with a show of resignation.

Thus did you find the world, and thus it was

By your great father handed o'er to you.

In this debased connection-how could you

Respect mankind?

KING.

Your words contain some truth.

MARQUIS.

Alas! that when from the Creator's hand

You took mankind, and moulded him to suit

Your own ideas, making yourself the god

Of this new creature, you should overlook

That you yourself remained a human being-

A very man, as from God's hands you came.

Still did you feel a mortal's wants and pains.

You needed sympathy; but to a God

One can but sacrifice, and pray, and tremble-

Wretched exchange! Perversion most unblest

Of sacred nature! Once degrade mankind,

And make him but a thing to play upon,

Who then can share the harmony with you?

KING (aside).

By heaven, he moves me!

MARQUIS.

But this sacrifice

To you is valueless. You thus become

A thing apart, a species of your own.

This is the price you pay for being a god;

'Twere dreadful were it not so, and if you

Gained nothing by the misery of millions!

And if the very freedom you destroyed

Were the sole blessing that could make you happy.

Dismiss me, sire, I pray you; for my theme

Bears me too far; my heart is full; too strong

The charm, to stand before the only man

To whom I may reveal it.

[The COUNT LERMA enters, and whispers a few words

to the KING, who signs him to withdraw, and continues

sitting in his former posture.

KING (to the MARQUIS, after LERMA is gone).

Nay, continue.

MARQUIS (after a pause).

I feel, sire-all the worth--

KING.

Proceed; you had

Yet more to say to me.

MARQUIS.

Your majesty,

I lately passed through Flanders and Brabant,

So many rich and blooming provinces,

Filled with a valiant, great, and honest people.

To be the father of a race like this

I thought must be divine indeed; and then

I stumbled on a heap of burnt men's bones.

[He stops, he fixes a penetrating look on the KING,

who endeavors to return his glance; but he looks on

the ground, embarrassed and confused.

True, you are forced to act so; but that you

Could dare fulfil your task-this fills my soul

With shuddering horror! Oh, 'tis pity that

The victim, weltering in his blood, must cease

To chant the praises of his sacrificer!

And that mere men-not beings loftier far-

Should write the history of the world. But soon

A milder age will follow that of Philip,

An age of truer wisdom; hand in hand,

The subjects' welfare and the sovereign's greatness

Will walk in union. Then the careful state

Will spare her children, and necessity

No longer glory to be thus inhuman.

KING.

When, think you, would that blessed age arrive,

If I had shrunk before the curse of this?

Behold my Spain, see here the burgher's good

Blooms in eternal and unclouded peace.

A peace like this will I bestow on Flanders.

MARQUIS (hastily).

The churchyard's peace! And do you hope to end

What you have now begun? Say, do you hope

To check the ripening change of Christendom,

The universal spring, that shall renew

The earth's fair form? Would you alone, in Europe,

Fling yourself down before the rapid wheel

Of destiny, which rolls its ceaseless course,

And seize its spokes with human arm. Vain thought!

Already thousands have your kingdom fled

In joyful poverty: the honest burgher

For his faith exiled, was your noblest subject!

See! with a mother's arms, Elizabeth

Welcomes the fugitives, and Britain blooms

In rich luxuriance, from our country's arts.

Bereft of the new Christian's industry,

Granada lies forsaken, and all Europe

Exulting, sees his foe oppressed with wounds,

By its own hands inflicted!

[The KING is moved; the MARQUIS observes it,

and advances a step nearer.

You would plant

For all eternity, and yet the seeds

You sow around you are the seeds of death!

This hopeless task, with nature's laws at strife,

Will ne'er survive the spirit of its founder.

You labor for ingratitude; in vain,

With nature you engage in desperate struggle-

In vain you waste your high and royal life

In projects of destruction. Man is greater

Than you esteem him. He will burst the chains

Of a long slumber, and reclaim once more

His just and hallowed rights. With Nero's name,

And fell Busiris', will he couple yours;

And-ah! you once deserved a better fate.

KING.

How know you that?

MARQUIS.

In very truth you did-

Yes, I repeat it-by the Almighty power!

Restore us all you have deprived us of,

And, generous as strong, let happiness

Flow from your horn of plenty-let man's mind

Ripen in your vast empire-give us back

All you have taken from us-and become,

Amidst a thousand kings, a king indeed!

[He advances boldly, and fixes on him a look of

earnestness and enthusiasm.

Oh, that the eloquence of all those myriads,

Whose fate depends on this momentous hour,

Could hover on my lips, and fan the spark

That lights thine eye into a glorious flame!

Renounce the mimicry of godlike powers

Which level us to nothing. Be, in truth,

An image of the Deity himself!

Never did mortal man possess so much

For purpose so divine. The kings of Europe

Pay homage to the name of Spain. Be you

The leader of these kings. One pen-stroke now,

One motion of your hand, can new create

The earth! but grant us liberty of thought.

[Casts himself at his feet.

KING (surprised, turns away his face, then again looks

towards the MARQUIS).

Enthusiast most strange! arise; but I--

MARQUIS.

Look round on all the glorious face of nature,

On freedom it is founded-see how rich,

Through freedom it has grown. The great Creator

Bestows upon the worm its drop of dew,

And gives free-will a triumph in abodes

Where lone corruption reigns. See your creation,

How small, how poor! The rustling of a leaf

Alarms the mighty lord of Christendom.

Each virtue makes you quake with fear. While he,

Not to disturb fair freedom's blest appearance,

Permits the frightful ravages of evil

To waste his fair domains. The great Creator

We see not-he conceals himself within

His own eternal laws. The sceptic sees

Their operation, but beholds not Him.

"Wherefore a God!" he cries, "the world itself

Suffices for itself!" And Christian prayer

Ne'er praised him more than doth this blasphemy.

KING.

And will you undertake to raise up this

Exalted standard of weak human nature

In my dominions?

MARQUIS.

You can do it, sire.

Who else? Devote to your own people's bliss

The kingly power, which has too long enriched

The greatness of the throne alone. Restore

The prostrate dignity of human nature,

And let the subject be, what once he was,

The end and object of the monarch's care,

Bound by no duty, save a brother's love.

And when mankind is to itself restored,

Roused to a sense of its own innate worth,

When freedom's lofty virtues proudly flourish-

Then, sire, when you have made your own wide realms

The happiest in the world, it then may be

Your duty to subdue the universe.

KING (after a long pause).

I've heard you to the end. Far differently

I find, than in the minds of other men,

The world exists in yours. And you shall not

By foreign laws be judged. I am the first

To whom you have your secret self disclosed;

I know it-so believe it-for the sake

Of this forbearance-that you have till now

Concealed these sentiments, although embraced

With so much ardor,-for this cautious prudence.

I will forget, young man, that I have learned them,

And how I learned them. Rise! I will confute

Your youthful dreams by my matured experience,

Not by my power as king. Such is my will,

And therefore act I thus. Poison itself

May, in a worthy nature, be transformed

To some benignant use. But, sir, beware

My Inquisition! 'Twould afflict me much--

MARQUIS.

Indeed!

KING (lost in surprise).

Ne'er met I such a man as that!

No, marquis, no! you wrong me! Not to you

Will I become a Nero-not to you!-

All happiness shall not be blasted round me,

And you at least, beneath my very eyes,

May dare continue to remain a man.

MARQUIS (quickly).

And, sire, my fellow-subjects? Not for me,

Nor my own cause, I pleaded. Sire! your subjects--

KING.

Nay, if you know so well how future times

Will judge me, let them learn at least from you,

That when I found a man, I could respect him.

MARQUIS.

Oh, let not the most just of kings at once

Be the most unjust! In your realm of Flanders

There are a thousand better men than I.

But you-sire! may I dare to say so much-

For the first time, perhaps, see liberty

In milder form portrayed.

KING (with gentle severity).

No more of this,

Young man! You would, I know, think otherwise

Had you but learned to understand mankind

As I. But truly-I would not this meeting

Should prove our last. How can I hope to win you?

MARQUIS.

Pray leave me as I am. What value, sire,

Should I be to you were you to corrupt me?

KING.

This pride I will not bear. From this day forth

I hold you in my service. No remonstrance-

For I will have it so.

[After a pause.

But how is this?

What would I now? Was it not truth I wished?

But here is something more. Marquis, so far

You've learned to know me as a king; but yet

You know me not as man-

[The MARQUIS seems to meditate.

I understand you-

Were I the most unfortunate of fathers,

Yet as a husband may I not be blest?

MARQUIS.

If the possession of a hopeful son,

And a most lovely spouse, confer a claim

On mortal to assume that title, sire,

In both respects, you are supremely blest.

KING (with a serious look).

That am I not-and never, till this hour,

Have I so deeply felt that I am not so.

[Contemplating the MARQUIS with a look of melancholy.

MARQUIS.

The prince possesses a right noble mind.

I ne'er have known him otherwise.

KING.

I have

The treasure he has robbed me of, no crown

Can e'er requite. So virtuous a queen!

MARQUIS.

Who dare assert it, sire?

KING.

The world! and scandal!

And I myself! Here lie the damning proofs

Of doubtless guilt-and others, too, exist,

From which I fear the worst. But still 'tis hard

To trust one proof alone. Who brings the charge?

And oh! if this were possible-that she,

The queen, so foully could pollute her honor,

Then how much easier were it to believe

An Eboli may be a slanderer!

Does not that priest detest my son and her?

And can I doubt that Alva broods revenge?

My wife has higher worth than all together.

MARQUIS.

And there exists besides in woman's soul

A treasure, sire, beyond all outward show,

Above the reach of slander-female virtue!

KING.

Marquis! those thoughts are mine. It costs too much

To sink so low as they accuse the queen.

The sacred ties of honor are not broken

With so much ease, as some would fain persuade me.

Marquis, you know mankind. Just such a man

As you I long have wished for-you are kind-

Cheerful-and deeply versed in human nature-

Therefore I've chosen you--

MARQUIS (surprised and alarmed).

Me, sire!

KING.

You stand

Before your king and ask no special favor-

For yourself nothing!-that is new to me-

You will be just-ne'er weakly swayed by passion.

Watch my son close-search the queen's inmost heart.

You shall have power to speak with her in private.

Retire.

[He rings a bell.

MARQUIS.

And if with but one hope fulfilled

I now depart, then is this day indeed

The happiest of my life.

KING (holds out his hand to him to kiss).

I hold it not

Amongst my days a lost one.

[The MARQUIS rises and goes. COUNT LERMA enters.

Count, in future,

The marquis is to enter, unannounced.

ACT IV.