Scene II.—Whitehall.TheQueenandLadyCarlisle.Queen.It cannot be.Lady Carlisle.It is so.Queen.Why, the HouseHave hardly met.Lady Carlisle.They met for that.Queen.No, no!Meet to impeach Lord Strafford? 'Tis a jest.Lady Carlisle.A bitter one.Queen.Consider! 'Tis the HouseWe summoned so reluctantly, which nothingBut the disastrous issue of the warPersuaded us to summon. They'll wreak allTheir spite on us, no doubt; but the old wayIs to begin by talk of grievances:They have their grievances to busy them.Lady Carlisle.Pym has begun his speech.Queen.Where's Vane?—That is,Pym will impeach Lord Strafford if he leavesHis Presidency; he's at York, we know,Since the Scots beat him: why should he leave York?Lady Carlisle.Because the King sent for him.Queen.Ah—but ifThe King did send for him, he let him knowWe had been forced to call a Parliament—A step which Strafford, now I come to think,Was vehement against.Lady Carlisle.The policy144Escaped him, of first striking ParliamentsTo earth, then setting them upon their feetAnd giving them a sword: but this is idle.Did the King send for Strafford? He will come.Queen.And what am I to do?Lady Carlisle.What do? Fail, madam!Be ruined for his sake! what matters how,So it but stand on record that you madeAn effort, only one?Queen.The King awayAt Theobald's!Lady Carlisle.Send for him at once: he mustDissolve the House.Queen.Wait till Vane finds the truthOf the report: then....Lady Carlisle.—It will matter littleWhat the King does. Strafford that lends his armAnd breaks his heart for you!SirH. Vaneenters.Vane.The Commons, madam,Are sitting with closed doors. A huge debate,No lack of noise; but nothing, I should guess,Concerning Strafford: Pym has certainlyNot spoken yet.Queen[toLadyCarlisle]. You hear?Lady Carlisle.I do not hearThat the King's sent for!Vane.Savile will be ableTo tell you more.Hollandenters.Queen.The last news, Holland?Holland.PymIs raging like a fire. The whole House means145To follow him together to WhitehallAnd force the King to give up Strafford.Queen.Strafford?Holland.If they content themselves with Strafford! LaudIs talked of, Cottington and Windebank too.Pym has not left out one of them—I wouldYou heard Pym raging!Queen.Vane, go find the King!Tell the King, Vane, the People follow PymTo brave us at Whitehall!Savileenters.Savile.Not to Whitehall—'Tis to the Lords they go: they seek redressOn Strafford from his peers—the legal way,They call it.Queen.(Wait, Vane!)Savile.But the adage givesLong life to threatened men. Strafford can saveHimself so readily: at York, remember,In his own country: what has he to fear?The Commons only mean to frighten himFrom leaving York. Surely, he will not come.Queen.Lucy, he will not come!Lady Carlisle.Once more, the KingHas sent for Strafford. He will come.Vane.Oh doubtless!And bring destruction with him: that's his way.What but his coming spoilt all Conway's plan?The King must take his counsel, choose his friends,Be wholly ruled by him! What's the result?The North that was to rise, Ireland to help,—What came of it? In my poor mind, a frightIs no prodigious punishment.146Lady Carlisle.A fright?Pym will fail worse than Strafford if he thinksTo frighten him. [To theQueen.] You will not save him then?Savile.When something like a charge is made, the KingWill best know how to save him: and t'is clear,While Strafford suffers nothing by the matter,The King may reap advantage: this in question,No dinning you with ship-money complaints!Queen[toLadyCarlisle]. If we dissolve them, who will pay the army?Protect us from the insolent Scots?Lady Carlisle.In truth,I know not, madam. Strafford's fate concernsMe little: you desired to learn what courseWould save him: I obey you.Vane.Notice, too,There can't be fairer ground for taking fullRevenge—(Strafford's revengeful)—than he'll haveAgainst his old friend Pym.Queen.Why, he shall claimVengeance on Pym!Vane.And Strafford, who is heTo 'scape unscathed amid the accidentsThat harass all beside? I, for my part,Should look for something of discomfitureHad the King trusted me so thoroughlyAnd been so paid for it.Holland.He'll keep at York:All will blow over: he'll return no worse,Humbled a little, thankful for a placeUnder as good a man. Oh, we'll dispenseWith seeing Strafford for a month or two!Straffordenters.147Queen.You here!Strafford.The King sends for me, madam.Queen.Sir,The King....Strafford.An urgent matter that imports the King![ToLadyCarlisle.] Why, Lucy, what's in agitation now,That all this muttering and shrugging, see,Begins at me? They do not speak!Lady Carlisle.'Tis welcome!For we are proud of you—happy and proudTo have you with us, Strafford! You were staunchAt Durham: you did well there! Had you notBeen stayed, you might have ... we said, even now,Our hope's in you!Vane[toLadyCarlisle]. The Queen would speak with you.Strafford.Will one of you, his servants here, vouchsafeTo signify my presence to the King?Savile.An urgent matter?Strafford.None that touches you,Lord Savile! Say, it were some treacherousSly pitiful intriguing with the Scots—You would go free, at least! (They half divineMy purpose!) Madam, shall I see the King?The service I would render, much concernsHis welfare.Queen.But his Majesty, my lord,May not be here, may....Strafford.Its importance, then,Must plead excuse for this withdrawal, madam,And for the grief it gives Lord Savile here.Queen[who has been conversing withVaneandHolland].The King will see you, sir![ToLadyCarlisle.]Mark me: Pym's worst148Is done by now: he has impeached the Earl,Or found the Earl too strong for him, by now.Let us not seem instructed! We should workNo good to Strafford, but deform ourselvesWith shame in the world's eye. [ToStrafford.] His MajestyHas much to say with you.Strafford.Time fleeting, too![ToLadyCarlisle.] No means of getting them away? And She—What does she whisper? Does she know my purpose?What does she think of it? Get them away!Queen[toLadyCarlisle]. He comes to baffle Pym—he thinks the dangerFar off: tell him no word of it! a timeFor help will come; we'll not be wanting then.Keep him in play, Lucy—you, self-possessedAnd calm! [ToStrafford.] To spare your lordship some delayI will myself acquaint the King. [ToLadyCarlisle.] Beware![TheQueen, Vane, Holland, andSavilego out.Strafford.She knows it?Lady Carlisle.Tell me, Strafford!Strafford.Afterward!This moment's the great moment of all time.She knows my purpose?Lady Carlisle.Thoroughly: just nowShe bade me hide it from you.Strafford.Quick, dear child,The whole o' the scheme?Lady Carlisle.(Ah, he would learn if theyConnive at Pym's procedure! Could they butHave once apprised the King! But there's no timeFor falsehood, now.) Strafford, the whole is known.149Strafford.Known and approved?Lady Carlisle.Hardly discountenanced.Strafford.And the King—say, the King consents as well?Lady Carlisle.The King's not yet informed, but will not dareTo interpose.Strafford.What need to wait him, then?He'll sanction it! I stayed, child, tell him, long!It vexed me to the soul—this waiting here.You know him, there's no counting on the King.Tell him I waited long!Lady Carlisle.(What can he mean?Rejoice at the King's hollowness?)Strafford.I knewThey would be glad of it,—all over once,I knew they would be glad: but he'd contrive,The Queen and he, to mar, by helping it,An angel's making.Lady Carlisle.(Is he mad?) Dear Strafford,You were not wont to look so happy.Strafford.Sweet,I tried obedience thoroughly. I tookThe King's wild plan: of course, ere I could reachMy army, Conway ruined it. I drewThe wrecks together, raised all heaven and earth,And would have fought the Scots: the King at onceMade truce with them. Then, Lucy, then, dear child,God put it in my mind to love, serve, dieFor Charles, but never to obey him more!While he endured their insolence at RiponI fell on them at Durham. But you'll tellThe King I waited? All the anteroomIs filled with my adherents.150Lady Carlisle.Strafford—Strafford,What daring act is this you hint?Strafford.No, no!'Tis here, not daring if you knew? all here![Drawing papers from his breast.Full proof, see, ample proof—does the Queen knowI have such damning proof? Bedford and Essex,Brooke, Warwick, Savile (did you notice Savile?The simper that I spoilt?), Saye, Mandeville—Sold to the Scots, body and soul, by Pym!Lady Carlisle.Great heaven!Strafford.From Savile and his lords, to PymAnd his losels, crushed!—Pym shall not ward the blowNor Savile creep aside from it! The CrewAnd the Cabal—I crush them!Lady Carlisle.And you go—Strafford,—and now you go?—Strafford.—About no workIn the background, I promise you! I goStraight to the House of Lords to claim these knaves.Mainwaring!Lady Carlisle.Stay—stay, Strafford!Strafford.She'll return,The Queen—some little project of her own!No time to lose: the King takes fright perhaps.Lady Carlisle.Pym's strong, remember!Strafford.Very strong, as fitsThe Faction's head—with no offence to Hampden,Vane, Rudyard and my loving Hollis: oneAnd all they lodge within the Tower to-nightIn just equality. Bryan! Mainwaring![Many of hisAdherentsenter.The Peers debate just now (a lucky chance)On the Scots' war; my visit's opportune.151When all is over, Bryan, you proceedTo Ireland: these dispatches, mark me, Bryan,Are for the Deputy, and these for Ormond:We want the army here—my army, raisedAt such a cost, that should have done such good,And was inactive all the time! no matter,We'll find a use for it. Willis ... or, no—you!You, friend, make haste to York: bear this, at once ...Or,—better stay for form's sake, see yourselfThe news you carry. You remain with meTo execute the Parliament's command,Mainwaring! Help to seize these lesser knaves,Take care there's no escaping at backdoors:I'll not have one escape, mind me—not one!I seem revengeful, Lucy? Did you knowWhat these men dare!Lady Carlisle.It is so much they dare!Strafford.I proved that long ago; my turn is now.Keep sharp watch, Goring, on the citizens!Observe who harbors any of the broodThat scramble off: be sure they smart for it!Our coffers are but lean.And you, child, too,Shall have your task; deliver this to Laud.Laud will not be the slowest in thy praise:"Thorough" he'll cry!—Foolish, to be so glad!This life is gay and glowing, after all:'Tis worth while, Lucy, having foes like mineJust for the bliss of crushing them. To-dayIs worth the living for.Lady Carlisle.That reddening brow!You seem....Strafford.Well—do I not? I would be well—I could not but be well on such a day!152And, this day ended, 'tis of slight importHow long the ravaged frame subjects the soulIn Strafford.Lady Carlisle.Noble Strafford!Strafford.No farewell!I'll see you anon, to-morrow—the first thing.—If She should come to stay me!Lady Carlisle.Go—'tis nothing—Only my heart that swells: it has been thusEre now: go, Strafford!Strafford.To-night, then, let it be.I must see Him: you, the next after Him.I'll tell how Pym looked. Follow me, friends!You, gentlemen, shall see a sight this hourTo talk of all your lives. Close after me!"My friend of friends!"[Straffordand the rest go out.Lady Carlisle.The King—ever the King!No thought of one beside, whose little wordUnveils the King to him—one word from me,Which yet I do not breathe!Ah, have I sparedStrafford a pang, and shall I seek rewardBeyond that memory? Surely too, some wayHe is the better for my love. No, no—He would not look so joyous—I'll believeHis very eye would never sparkle thus,Had I not prayed for him this long, long while.Scene III.—The Antechamber of the House of Lords.Many of the Presbyterian Party. TheAdherentsofStrafford, etc.A Group of Presbyterians.—1. I tell you he struck Maxwell: Maxwell sought153To stay the Earl: he struck him and passed on.2. Fear as you may, keep a good countenanceBefore these rufflers.3.Strafford here the first,With the great army at his back!4.No doubt.I would Pym had made haste: that's Bryan, hush—The gallant pointing.Strafford's Followers.—1. Mark these worthies, now!2. A goodly gathering! "Where the carcass isThere shall the eagles"—what's the rest?3.For eaglesSay crows.A Presbyterian.Stand back, sirs!One of Strafford's Followers.Are we in Geneva?A Presbyterian.No, nor in Ireland; we have leave to breathe.One of Strafford's Followers.Truly? Behold how privileged we beThat serve "King Pym"! There's Some-one at WhitehallWho skulks obscure; but Pym struts....The Presbyterian.Nearer.A Follower of Strafford.Higher,We look to see him. [To hisCompanions.] I'm to have St. JohnIn charge; was he among the knaves just nowThat followed Pym within there?Another.The gaunt manTalking with Rudyard. Did the Earl expectPym at his heels so fast? I like it not.Maxwellenters.154Another.Why, man, they rush into the net! Here's Maxwell—Ha, Maxwell? How the brethren flock aroundThe fellow! Do you feel the Earl's hand yetUpon your shoulder, Maxwell?Maxwell.Gentlemen,Stand back! a great thing passes here.A Follower of Strafford[To another].The EarlIs at his work! [ToM.] Say, Maxwell, what great thing!Speak out! [To aPresbyterian.] Friend, I've a kindness for you! Friend,I've seen you with St. John: O stockishness!Wear such a ruff, and never call to mindSt. John's head in a charger? How, the plague,Not laugh?Another.Say, Maxwell, what great thing!Another.Nay, wait:The jest will be to wait.First.And who's to bearThese demure hypocrites? You'd swear they came ...Came ... just as we come![APuritanenters hastily and without observingStrafford'sFollowers.The Puritan.How goes on the work?Has Pym....A Follower of Strafford.The secret's out at last. Aha,The carrion's scented! Welcome, crow the first!Gorge merrily, you with the blinking eye!"King Pym has fallen!"The Puritan.Pym?A Strafford.Pym!A Presbyterian.Only Pym?Many of Strafford's Followers.No, brother, not Pym only; Vane as well,Rudyard as well, Hampden, St. John as well!A Presbyterian.My mind misgives: can it be true?155Another.Lost! Lost!A Strafford.Say we true, Maxwell?The Puritan.Pride before destruction,A haughty spirit goeth before a fall.Many of Strafford's Followers.Ah now! The very thing! A word in season!A golden apple in a silver picture,To greet Pym as he passes![The doors at the back begin to open, noise and light issuing.Maxwell.Stand back, all!Many of the Presbyterians.I hold with Pym! And I!Strafford's Followers.Now for the text!He comes! Quick!The Puritan.How hath the oppressor ceased!The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked!The sceptre of the rulers, he who smoteThe people in wrath with a continual stroke,That ruled the nations in his anger—heIs persecuted and none hindreth![The doors open, andStraffordissues in the greatest disorder, and amid cries from within of "Void the House!"Strafford.Impeach me! Pym! I never struck, I think,The felon on that calm insulting mouthWhen it proclaimed—Pym's mouth proclaimed me ... God!Was it a word, only a word that heldThe outrageous blood back on my heart—which beats!Which beats! Some one word—"Traitor," did he say,Bending that eye, brimful of bitter fire,Upon me?Maxwell.In the Commons' name, their servantDemands Lord Strafford's sword.156Strafford.What did you say?Maxwell.The Commons bid me ask your lordship's sword.Strafford.Let us go forth: follow me, gentlemen!Draw your swords too: cut any down that bar us.On the King's service! Maxwell, clear the way![ThePresbyteriansprepare to dispute his passage.Strafford.I stay: the King himself shall see me here.Your tablets, fellow![ToMainwaring.]Give that to the King!Yes, Maxwell, for the next half-hour, let be!Nay, you shall take my sword![Maxwelladvances to take it.Or, no—not that!Their blood, perhaps, may wipe out all thus far,All up to that—not that! Why, friend, you seeWhen the King lays your head beneath my footIt will not pay for that. Go, all of you!Maxwell.I dare, my lord, to disobey: none stir!Strafford.This gentle Maxwell!—Do not touch him, Bryan![To thePresbyterians.] Whichever cur of you will carry thisEscapes his fellow's fate. None saves his life?None?[Cries from within of "Strafford!"Slingsby, I've loved you at least: make haste!Stab me! I have not time to tell you why.You then, my Bryan! Mainwaring, you then!Is it because I spoke so hastilyAt Allerton? The King had vexed me.[To thePresbyterians.]You!—Not even you? If I live over this,The King is sure to have your heads, you know!But what if I can't live this minute through?Pym, who is there with his pursuing smile![Louder cries of "Strafford!"157The King! I troubled him, stood in the wayOf his negotiations, was the oneGreat obstacle to peace, the EnemyOf Scotland: and he sent for me, from York,My safety guaranteed—having preparedA Parliament—I see! And at WhitehallThe Queen was whispering with Vane—I seeThe trap![Tearing off the George.I tread a gewgaw underfoot,And cast a memory from me. One stroke, now![His ownAdherentsdisarm him. Renewed cries of "Strafford!"England! I see thy arm in this and yield.Pray you now—Pym awaits me—pray you now![Straffordreaches the doors: they open wide.Hampdenand a crowd discovered, and, at the bar,Pymstanding apart. AsStraffordkneels, the scene shuts.
TheQueenandLadyCarlisle.
Queen.It cannot be.
Lady Carlisle.It is so.
Queen.Why, the HouseHave hardly met.
Lady Carlisle.They met for that.
Queen.No, no!Meet to impeach Lord Strafford? 'Tis a jest.
Lady Carlisle.A bitter one.
Queen.Consider! 'Tis the HouseWe summoned so reluctantly, which nothingBut the disastrous issue of the warPersuaded us to summon. They'll wreak allTheir spite on us, no doubt; but the old wayIs to begin by talk of grievances:They have their grievances to busy them.
Lady Carlisle.Pym has begun his speech.
Queen.Where's Vane?—That is,Pym will impeach Lord Strafford if he leavesHis Presidency; he's at York, we know,Since the Scots beat him: why should he leave York?
Lady Carlisle.Because the King sent for him.
Queen.Ah—but ifThe King did send for him, he let him knowWe had been forced to call a Parliament—A step which Strafford, now I come to think,Was vehement against.
Lady Carlisle.The policy144Escaped him, of first striking ParliamentsTo earth, then setting them upon their feetAnd giving them a sword: but this is idle.Did the King send for Strafford? He will come.
Queen.And what am I to do?
Lady Carlisle.What do? Fail, madam!Be ruined for his sake! what matters how,So it but stand on record that you madeAn effort, only one?
Queen.The King awayAt Theobald's!
Lady Carlisle.Send for him at once: he mustDissolve the House.
Queen.Wait till Vane finds the truthOf the report: then....
Lady Carlisle.—It will matter littleWhat the King does. Strafford that lends his armAnd breaks his heart for you!
SirH. Vaneenters.
Vane.The Commons, madam,Are sitting with closed doors. A huge debate,No lack of noise; but nothing, I should guess,Concerning Strafford: Pym has certainlyNot spoken yet.
Queen[toLadyCarlisle]. You hear?
Lady Carlisle.I do not hearThat the King's sent for!
Vane.Savile will be ableTo tell you more.
Hollandenters.
Queen.The last news, Holland?
Holland.PymIs raging like a fire. The whole House means145To follow him together to WhitehallAnd force the King to give up Strafford.
Queen.Strafford?
Holland.If they content themselves with Strafford! LaudIs talked of, Cottington and Windebank too.Pym has not left out one of them—I wouldYou heard Pym raging!
Queen.Vane, go find the King!Tell the King, Vane, the People follow PymTo brave us at Whitehall!
Savileenters.
Savile.Not to Whitehall—'Tis to the Lords they go: they seek redressOn Strafford from his peers—the legal way,They call it.
Queen.(Wait, Vane!)
Savile.But the adage givesLong life to threatened men. Strafford can saveHimself so readily: at York, remember,In his own country: what has he to fear?The Commons only mean to frighten himFrom leaving York. Surely, he will not come.
Queen.Lucy, he will not come!
Lady Carlisle.Once more, the KingHas sent for Strafford. He will come.
Vane.Oh doubtless!And bring destruction with him: that's his way.What but his coming spoilt all Conway's plan?The King must take his counsel, choose his friends,Be wholly ruled by him! What's the result?The North that was to rise, Ireland to help,—What came of it? In my poor mind, a frightIs no prodigious punishment.
146Lady Carlisle.A fright?Pym will fail worse than Strafford if he thinksTo frighten him. [To theQueen.] You will not save him then?
Savile.When something like a charge is made, the KingWill best know how to save him: and t'is clear,While Strafford suffers nothing by the matter,The King may reap advantage: this in question,No dinning you with ship-money complaints!
Queen[toLadyCarlisle]. If we dissolve them, who will pay the army?Protect us from the insolent Scots?
Lady Carlisle.In truth,I know not, madam. Strafford's fate concernsMe little: you desired to learn what courseWould save him: I obey you.
Vane.Notice, too,There can't be fairer ground for taking fullRevenge—(Strafford's revengeful)—than he'll haveAgainst his old friend Pym.
Queen.Why, he shall claimVengeance on Pym!
Vane.And Strafford, who is heTo 'scape unscathed amid the accidentsThat harass all beside? I, for my part,Should look for something of discomfitureHad the King trusted me so thoroughlyAnd been so paid for it.
Holland.He'll keep at York:All will blow over: he'll return no worse,Humbled a little, thankful for a placeUnder as good a man. Oh, we'll dispenseWith seeing Strafford for a month or two!
Straffordenters.
147Queen.You here!
Strafford.The King sends for me, madam.
Queen.Sir,The King....
Strafford.An urgent matter that imports the King![ToLadyCarlisle.] Why, Lucy, what's in agitation now,That all this muttering and shrugging, see,Begins at me? They do not speak!
Lady Carlisle.'Tis welcome!For we are proud of you—happy and proudTo have you with us, Strafford! You were staunchAt Durham: you did well there! Had you notBeen stayed, you might have ... we said, even now,Our hope's in you!
Vane[toLadyCarlisle]. The Queen would speak with you.
Strafford.Will one of you, his servants here, vouchsafeTo signify my presence to the King?
Savile.An urgent matter?
Strafford.None that touches you,Lord Savile! Say, it were some treacherousSly pitiful intriguing with the Scots—You would go free, at least! (They half divineMy purpose!) Madam, shall I see the King?The service I would render, much concernsHis welfare.
Queen.But his Majesty, my lord,May not be here, may....
Strafford.Its importance, then,Must plead excuse for this withdrawal, madam,And for the grief it gives Lord Savile here.
Queen[who has been conversing withVaneandHolland].The King will see you, sir![ToLadyCarlisle.]Mark me: Pym's worst148Is done by now: he has impeached the Earl,Or found the Earl too strong for him, by now.Let us not seem instructed! We should workNo good to Strafford, but deform ourselvesWith shame in the world's eye. [ToStrafford.] His MajestyHas much to say with you.
Strafford.Time fleeting, too![ToLadyCarlisle.] No means of getting them away? And She—What does she whisper? Does she know my purpose?What does she think of it? Get them away!
Queen[toLadyCarlisle]. He comes to baffle Pym—he thinks the dangerFar off: tell him no word of it! a timeFor help will come; we'll not be wanting then.Keep him in play, Lucy—you, self-possessedAnd calm! [ToStrafford.] To spare your lordship some delayI will myself acquaint the King. [ToLadyCarlisle.] Beware!
[TheQueen, Vane, Holland, andSavilego out.
Strafford.She knows it?
Lady Carlisle.Tell me, Strafford!
Strafford.Afterward!This moment's the great moment of all time.She knows my purpose?
Lady Carlisle.Thoroughly: just nowShe bade me hide it from you.
Strafford.Quick, dear child,The whole o' the scheme?
Lady Carlisle.(Ah, he would learn if theyConnive at Pym's procedure! Could they butHave once apprised the King! But there's no timeFor falsehood, now.) Strafford, the whole is known.
149Strafford.Known and approved?
Lady Carlisle.Hardly discountenanced.
Strafford.And the King—say, the King consents as well?
Lady Carlisle.The King's not yet informed, but will not dareTo interpose.
Strafford.What need to wait him, then?He'll sanction it! I stayed, child, tell him, long!It vexed me to the soul—this waiting here.You know him, there's no counting on the King.Tell him I waited long!
Lady Carlisle.(What can he mean?Rejoice at the King's hollowness?)
Strafford.I knewThey would be glad of it,—all over once,I knew they would be glad: but he'd contrive,The Queen and he, to mar, by helping it,An angel's making.
Lady Carlisle.(Is he mad?) Dear Strafford,You were not wont to look so happy.
Strafford.Sweet,I tried obedience thoroughly. I tookThe King's wild plan: of course, ere I could reachMy army, Conway ruined it. I drewThe wrecks together, raised all heaven and earth,And would have fought the Scots: the King at onceMade truce with them. Then, Lucy, then, dear child,God put it in my mind to love, serve, dieFor Charles, but never to obey him more!While he endured their insolence at RiponI fell on them at Durham. But you'll tellThe King I waited? All the anteroomIs filled with my adherents.
150Lady Carlisle.Strafford—Strafford,What daring act is this you hint?
Strafford.No, no!'Tis here, not daring if you knew? all here!
[Drawing papers from his breast.
Full proof, see, ample proof—does the Queen knowI have such damning proof? Bedford and Essex,Brooke, Warwick, Savile (did you notice Savile?The simper that I spoilt?), Saye, Mandeville—Sold to the Scots, body and soul, by Pym!
Lady Carlisle.Great heaven!
Strafford.From Savile and his lords, to PymAnd his losels, crushed!—Pym shall not ward the blowNor Savile creep aside from it! The CrewAnd the Cabal—I crush them!
Lady Carlisle.And you go—Strafford,—and now you go?—
Strafford.—About no workIn the background, I promise you! I goStraight to the House of Lords to claim these knaves.Mainwaring!
Lady Carlisle.Stay—stay, Strafford!
Strafford.She'll return,The Queen—some little project of her own!No time to lose: the King takes fright perhaps.
Lady Carlisle.Pym's strong, remember!
Strafford.Very strong, as fitsThe Faction's head—with no offence to Hampden,Vane, Rudyard and my loving Hollis: oneAnd all they lodge within the Tower to-nightIn just equality. Bryan! Mainwaring!
[Many of hisAdherentsenter.
The Peers debate just now (a lucky chance)On the Scots' war; my visit's opportune.151When all is over, Bryan, you proceedTo Ireland: these dispatches, mark me, Bryan,Are for the Deputy, and these for Ormond:We want the army here—my army, raisedAt such a cost, that should have done such good,And was inactive all the time! no matter,We'll find a use for it. Willis ... or, no—you!You, friend, make haste to York: bear this, at once ...Or,—better stay for form's sake, see yourselfThe news you carry. You remain with meTo execute the Parliament's command,Mainwaring! Help to seize these lesser knaves,Take care there's no escaping at backdoors:I'll not have one escape, mind me—not one!I seem revengeful, Lucy? Did you knowWhat these men dare!
Lady Carlisle.It is so much they dare!
Strafford.I proved that long ago; my turn is now.Keep sharp watch, Goring, on the citizens!Observe who harbors any of the broodThat scramble off: be sure they smart for it!Our coffers are but lean.And you, child, too,Shall have your task; deliver this to Laud.Laud will not be the slowest in thy praise:"Thorough" he'll cry!—Foolish, to be so glad!This life is gay and glowing, after all:'Tis worth while, Lucy, having foes like mineJust for the bliss of crushing them. To-dayIs worth the living for.
Lady Carlisle.That reddening brow!You seem....
Strafford.Well—do I not? I would be well—I could not but be well on such a day!152And, this day ended, 'tis of slight importHow long the ravaged frame subjects the soulIn Strafford.
Lady Carlisle.Noble Strafford!
Strafford.No farewell!I'll see you anon, to-morrow—the first thing.—If She should come to stay me!
Lady Carlisle.Go—'tis nothing—Only my heart that swells: it has been thusEre now: go, Strafford!
Strafford.To-night, then, let it be.I must see Him: you, the next after Him.I'll tell how Pym looked. Follow me, friends!You, gentlemen, shall see a sight this hourTo talk of all your lives. Close after me!"My friend of friends!"
[Straffordand the rest go out.
Lady Carlisle.The King—ever the King!No thought of one beside, whose little wordUnveils the King to him—one word from me,Which yet I do not breathe!Ah, have I sparedStrafford a pang, and shall I seek rewardBeyond that memory? Surely too, some wayHe is the better for my love. No, no—He would not look so joyous—I'll believeHis very eye would never sparkle thus,Had I not prayed for him this long, long while.
Many of the Presbyterian Party. TheAdherentsofStrafford, etc.
A Group of Presbyterians.—1. I tell you he struck Maxwell: Maxwell sought153To stay the Earl: he struck him and passed on.2. Fear as you may, keep a good countenanceBefore these rufflers.3.Strafford here the first,With the great army at his back!4.No doubt.I would Pym had made haste: that's Bryan, hush—The gallant pointing.
Strafford's Followers.—1. Mark these worthies, now!2. A goodly gathering! "Where the carcass isThere shall the eagles"—what's the rest?3.For eaglesSay crows.
A Presbyterian.Stand back, sirs!
One of Strafford's Followers.Are we in Geneva?
A Presbyterian.No, nor in Ireland; we have leave to breathe.
One of Strafford's Followers.Truly? Behold how privileged we beThat serve "King Pym"! There's Some-one at WhitehallWho skulks obscure; but Pym struts....
The Presbyterian.Nearer.
A Follower of Strafford.Higher,We look to see him. [To hisCompanions.] I'm to have St. JohnIn charge; was he among the knaves just nowThat followed Pym within there?
Another.The gaunt manTalking with Rudyard. Did the Earl expectPym at his heels so fast? I like it not.
Maxwellenters.
154Another.Why, man, they rush into the net! Here's Maxwell—Ha, Maxwell? How the brethren flock aroundThe fellow! Do you feel the Earl's hand yetUpon your shoulder, Maxwell?
Maxwell.Gentlemen,Stand back! a great thing passes here.
A Follower of Strafford[To another].The EarlIs at his work! [ToM.] Say, Maxwell, what great thing!Speak out! [To aPresbyterian.] Friend, I've a kindness for you! Friend,I've seen you with St. John: O stockishness!Wear such a ruff, and never call to mindSt. John's head in a charger? How, the plague,Not laugh?
Another.Say, Maxwell, what great thing!
Another.Nay, wait:The jest will be to wait.
First.And who's to bearThese demure hypocrites? You'd swear they came ...Came ... just as we come!
[APuritanenters hastily and without observingStrafford'sFollowers.
The Puritan.How goes on the work?Has Pym....
A Follower of Strafford.The secret's out at last. Aha,The carrion's scented! Welcome, crow the first!Gorge merrily, you with the blinking eye!"King Pym has fallen!"
The Puritan.Pym?
A Strafford.Pym!
A Presbyterian.Only Pym?
Many of Strafford's Followers.No, brother, not Pym only; Vane as well,Rudyard as well, Hampden, St. John as well!
A Presbyterian.My mind misgives: can it be true?
155Another.Lost! Lost!
A Strafford.Say we true, Maxwell?
The Puritan.Pride before destruction,A haughty spirit goeth before a fall.
Many of Strafford's Followers.Ah now! The very thing! A word in season!A golden apple in a silver picture,To greet Pym as he passes!
[The doors at the back begin to open, noise and light issuing.
Maxwell.Stand back, all!
Many of the Presbyterians.I hold with Pym! And I!
Strafford's Followers.Now for the text!He comes! Quick!
The Puritan.How hath the oppressor ceased!The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked!The sceptre of the rulers, he who smoteThe people in wrath with a continual stroke,That ruled the nations in his anger—heIs persecuted and none hindreth!
[The doors open, andStraffordissues in the greatest disorder, and amid cries from within of "Void the House!"
Strafford.Impeach me! Pym! I never struck, I think,The felon on that calm insulting mouthWhen it proclaimed—Pym's mouth proclaimed me ... God!Was it a word, only a word that heldThe outrageous blood back on my heart—which beats!Which beats! Some one word—"Traitor," did he say,Bending that eye, brimful of bitter fire,Upon me?
Maxwell.In the Commons' name, their servantDemands Lord Strafford's sword.
156Strafford.What did you say?
Maxwell.The Commons bid me ask your lordship's sword.
Strafford.Let us go forth: follow me, gentlemen!Draw your swords too: cut any down that bar us.On the King's service! Maxwell, clear the way!
[ThePresbyteriansprepare to dispute his passage.
Strafford.I stay: the King himself shall see me here.Your tablets, fellow![ToMainwaring.]Give that to the King!Yes, Maxwell, for the next half-hour, let be!Nay, you shall take my sword!
[Maxwelladvances to take it.
Or, no—not that!Their blood, perhaps, may wipe out all thus far,All up to that—not that! Why, friend, you seeWhen the King lays your head beneath my footIt will not pay for that. Go, all of you!
Maxwell.I dare, my lord, to disobey: none stir!
Strafford.This gentle Maxwell!—Do not touch him, Bryan![To thePresbyterians.] Whichever cur of you will carry thisEscapes his fellow's fate. None saves his life?None?
[Cries from within of "Strafford!"
Slingsby, I've loved you at least: make haste!Stab me! I have not time to tell you why.You then, my Bryan! Mainwaring, you then!Is it because I spoke so hastilyAt Allerton? The King had vexed me.[To thePresbyterians.]You!—Not even you? If I live over this,The King is sure to have your heads, you know!But what if I can't live this minute through?Pym, who is there with his pursuing smile!
[Louder cries of "Strafford!"
157The King! I troubled him, stood in the wayOf his negotiations, was the oneGreat obstacle to peace, the EnemyOf Scotland: and he sent for me, from York,My safety guaranteed—having preparedA Parliament—I see! And at WhitehallThe Queen was whispering with Vane—I seeThe trap!
[Tearing off the George.
I tread a gewgaw underfoot,And cast a memory from me. One stroke, now!
[His ownAdherentsdisarm him. Renewed cries of "Strafford!"
England! I see thy arm in this and yield.Pray you now—Pym awaits me—pray you now!
[Straffordreaches the doors: they open wide.Hampdenand a crowd discovered, and, at the bar,Pymstanding apart. AsStraffordkneels, the scene shuts.
Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall
The history of the fourth act deals with further episodes of Strafford's trial, especially with the change in the procedure from Impeachment to a Bill of Attainder against Strafford. The details of this great trial are complicated and cannot be followed in all their ramifications here. There was danger that the Impeachment would not go through. Strafford, himself, felt confident that in law his actions could not be found treasonable.
After Strafford's brilliant defense of himself, it was decided to bring in a Bill of Attainder. New evidence against Strafford con158tained in some notes which the younger Vane had found among his father's papers were used to strengthen the charge of treason. In these notes Strafford had advised the King to act "loose and absolved from all rules of government," and had reminded him that there was an army in Ireland, ready to reduce the Kingdom. These notes were found by the merest accident. The younger Vane who had just been knighted and was about to be married, borrowed his father's keys in order to look up some law papers. In his search he fell upon these notes taken at a committee that met immediately after the dissolution of the short Parliament. He made a copy and carried it to Pym who also made a copy.
According to Baillie, the "secret" of the change from the Impeachment to the Bill was "to prevent the hearing of the Earl's lawyers, who give out that there is no law yet in force whereby he can be condemned to die for aught yet objected against him, and therefore their intent by this Bill to supply the defect of the laws therein." To this may be added the opinion of a member of the Commons. "If the House of Commons proceeds to demand judgment of the Lords, without doubt they will acquit him, there being no law extant whereby to condemn him of treason.159Wherefore the Commons are determined to desert the Lord's judicature, and to proceed against him by Bill of Attainder, whereby he shall be adjudged to death upon a treason now to be declared."
One of the chief results in this change of procedure, emphasized by Browning in an intense scene between Pym and Charles was that it altered entirely the King's attitude towards Strafford's trial. As Baillie expresses it, "Had the Commons gone on in the former way of pursuit, the King might have been a patient, and only beheld the striking off of Strafford's head; but now they have put them on a Bill which will force the King either to be our agent and formal voicer to his death, or else do the world knows not what."
For the sake of a gain in dramatic power, Browning has once more departed from history by making Pym the moving power in the Bill of Attainder, and Hampden in favor of it; while in reality they were opposed to the change in procedure, and believed that the Impeachment could have been carried through.
The relentless, scourging force of Pym in the play, pursuing the arch-foe of England as he regarded Wentworth to the death, once he is convinced that England's welfare demands160it, would have been weakened had he been represented in favor of the policy which was abandoned, instead of with the policy that succeeded. But Pym is made to intimate that he will abandon the Bill unless the King gives his word that he will ratify it, and further, Pym declares, should he not ratify the Bill his next step will be against the King himself.
EnterHampdenandVane.Vane.O Hampden, save the great misguided man!Plead Strafford's cause with Pym! I have remarkedHe moved no muscle when we all declaimedAgainst him: you had but to breathe—he turnedThose kind calm eyes upon you.[EnterPym, theSolicitor-GeneralSt. John, theManagersof the Trial,Fiennes, Rudyard, etc.Rudyard.Horrible!Till now all hearts were with you: I withdrawFor one. Too horrible! But we mistakeYour purpose, Pym: you cannot snatch awayThe last spar from the drowning man.Fiennes.He talksWith St. John of it—see, how quietly![To otherPresbyterians.] You'll join us? Strafford may deserve the worst:But this new course is monstrous. Vane, take heart!This Bill of his Attainder shall not haveOne true man's hand to it.Vane.Consider, Pym!Confront your Bill, your own Bill: what is it?You cannot catch the Earl on any charge,—161No man will say the law has hold of himOn any charge; and therefore you resolveTo take the general sense on his desert,As though no law existed, and we metTo found one. You refer to ParliamentTo speak its thought upon the abortive massOf half-borne-out assertions, dubious hintsHereafter to be cleared, distortions—ay,And wild inventions. Every man is savedThe task of fixing any single chargeOn Strafford: he has but to see in himThe enemy of England.Pym.A right scruple!I have heard some called England's enemyWith less consideration.Vane.Pity me!Indeed you made me think I was your friend!I who have murdered Strafford, how removeThat memory from me?Pym.I absolve you, Vane.Take you no care for aught that you have done!Vane.John Hampden, not this Bill! Reject this Bill!He staggers through the ordeal: let him go,Strew no fresh fire before him! Plead for us!When Strafford spoke, your eyes were thick with tears!Hampden.England speaks louder: who are we, to playThe generous pardoner at her expense,Magnanimously waive advantages,And, if he conquer us, applaud his skill?Vane.He was your friend.Pym.I have heard that before.Fiennes.And England trusts you.Hampden.Shame be his, who turnsThe opportunity of serving her162She trusts him with, to his own mean account—Who would look nobly frank at her expense!Fiennes.I never thought it could have come to this.Pym.But I have made myself familiar, Fiennes,With this one thought—have walked, and sat, and slept,This thought before me. I have done such things,Being the chosen man that should destroyThe traitor. You have taken up this thoughtTo play with, for a gentle stimulant,To give a dignity to idler lifeBy the dim prospect of emprise to come,But ever with the softening, sure belief,That all would end some strange way right at last.Fiennes.Had we made out some weightier charge!Pym.You sayThat these are petty charges: can we comeTo the real charge at all? There he is safeIn tyranny's stronghold. ApostasyIs not a crime, treachery not a crime:The cheek burns, the blood tingles, when you speakThe words, but where's the power to take revengeUpon them? We must make occasion serve,—The oversight shall pay for the main sinThat mocks us.Rudyard.But his unexampled course,This Bill!Pym.By this, we roll the clouds awayOf precedent and custom, and at onceBid the great beacon-light God sets in all,The conscience of each bosom, shine uponThe guilt of Strafford: each man lay his handUpon his breast, and judge!Vane.I only seeStrafford, nor pass his corpse for all beyond!163Rudyard and others.Forgive him! He would join us, now he findsWhat the King counts reward! The pardon, too,Should be your own. Yourself should bear to StraffordThe pardon of the Commons.Pym.Meet him? Strafford?Have we to meet once more, then? Be it so!And yet—the prophecy seemed half fulfilledWhen, at the Trial, as he gazed, my youth,Our friendship, divers thoughts came back at onceAnd left me, for a time.... 'Tis very sad!To-morrow we discuss the points of lawWith Lane—to-morrow?Vane.Not before to-morrow—So, time enough! I knew you would relent!Pym.The next day, Haselrig, you introduceThe Bill of his Attainder. Pray for me!Scene III.—Whitehall.TheKing.Charles.My loyal servant! To defend himselfThus irresistibly,—withholding aughtThat seemed to implicate us!We have doneLess gallantly by Strafford. Well, the futureMust recompense the past.She tarries long.I understand you, Strafford, now!The scheme—Carlisle's mad scheme—he'll sanction it, I fear,For love of me. 'Twas too precipitate:Before the army's fairly on its march,He'll be at large: no matter.Well, Carlisle?164EnterPym.Pym.Fear me not, sir:—my mission is to save,This time.Charles.To break thus on me! Unannounced!Pym.It is of Strafford I would speak.Charles.No moreOf Strafford! I have heard too much from you.Pym.I spoke, sir, for the People; will you hearA word upon my own account?Charles.Of Strafford?(So turns the tide already? Have we tamedThe insolent brawler?—Strafford's eloquenceIs swift in its effect.) Lord Strafford, sir,Has spoken for himself.Pym.Sufficiently.I would apprise you of the novel courseThe People take: the Trial fails.Charles.Yes, yes:We are aware, sir: for your part in itMeans shall be found to thank you.Pym.Pray you, readThis schedule! I would learn from your own mouth—(It is a matter much concerning me)—Whether, if two Estates of us concedeThe death of Strafford, on the grounds set forthWithin that parchment, you, sir, can resolveTo grant your own consent to it. This BillIs framed by me. If you determine, sir,That England's manifested will should guideYour judgment, ere another week such willShall manifest itself. If not,—I castAside the measure.Charles.You can hinder, then,The introduction of this Bill?165Pym.I can.Charles.He is my friend, sir: I have wronged him: mark you,Had I not wronged him, this might be. You thinkBecause you hate the Earl ... (turn not away,We know you hate him)—no one else could loveStrafford: but he has saved me, some affirm.Think of his pride! And do you know one strange,One frightful thing? We all have used the manAs though a drudge of ours, with not a sourceOf happy thoughts except in us; and yetStrafford has wife and children, household cares,Just as if we had never been. Ah sir,You are moved, even you, a solitary manWed to your cause—to England if you will!Pym.Yes—think, my soul—to England! Draw not back!Charles.Prevent that Bill, sir! All your course seems fairTill now. Why, in the end, 'tis I should signThe warrant for his death! You have said muchI ponder on; I never meant, indeed,Strafford should serve me any more. I takeThe Commons' counsel; but this Bill is yours—Nor worthy of its leader: care not, sir,For that, however! I will quite forgetYou named it to me. You are satisfied?Pym.Listen to me, sir! Eliot laid his hand,Wasted and white, upon my forehead once;Wentworth—he's gone now!—has talked on, whole nights,And I beside him; Hampden loves me: sir,How can I breathe and not wish England well,And her King well?Charles.I thank you, sir, who leave166That King his servant. Thanks, sir!Pym.Let me speak!—Who may not speak again; whose spirit yearnsFor a cool night after this weary day:—Who would not have my soul turn sicker yetIn a new task, more fatal, more august,More full of England's utter weal or woe.I thought, sir, could I find myself with you,After this trial, alone, as man to man—I might say something, warn you, pray you, save—Mark me, King Charles, save——you!But God must do it. Yet I warn you, sir—(With Strafford's faded eyes yet full on me)As you would have no deeper question moved—"How long the Many must endure the One,"Assure me, sir, if England give assentTo Strafford's death, you will not interfere!Or——Charles.God forsakes me. I am in a netAnd cannot move. Let all be as you say!EnterLadyCarlisle.Lady Carlisle.He loves you—looking beautiful with joyBecause you sent me! he would spare you allThe pain! he never dreamed you would forsakeYour servant in the evil day—nay, seeYour scheme returned! That generous heart of his!He needs it not—or, needing it, disdainsA course that might endanger you—you, sir,Whom Strafford from his inmost soul....[SeeingPym.]Well met!No fear for Strafford! All that's true and braveOn your own side shall help us: we are nowStronger than ever.167Ha—what, sir, is this?All is not well! What parchment have you there?Pym.Sir, much is saved us both.Lady Carlisle.This Bill! Your lipWhitens—you could not read one line to meYour voice would falter so!Pym.No recreant yet!The great word went from England to my soul,And I arose. The end is very near.Lady Carlisle.I am to save him! All have shrunk beside;'Tis only I am left. Heaven will make strongThe hand now as the heart. Then let both die!
EnterHampdenandVane.
Vane.O Hampden, save the great misguided man!Plead Strafford's cause with Pym! I have remarkedHe moved no muscle when we all declaimedAgainst him: you had but to breathe—he turnedThose kind calm eyes upon you.
[EnterPym, theSolicitor-GeneralSt. John, theManagersof the Trial,Fiennes, Rudyard, etc.
Rudyard.Horrible!Till now all hearts were with you: I withdrawFor one. Too horrible! But we mistakeYour purpose, Pym: you cannot snatch awayThe last spar from the drowning man.
Fiennes.He talksWith St. John of it—see, how quietly![To otherPresbyterians.] You'll join us? Strafford may deserve the worst:But this new course is monstrous. Vane, take heart!This Bill of his Attainder shall not haveOne true man's hand to it.
Vane.Consider, Pym!Confront your Bill, your own Bill: what is it?You cannot catch the Earl on any charge,—161No man will say the law has hold of himOn any charge; and therefore you resolveTo take the general sense on his desert,As though no law existed, and we metTo found one. You refer to ParliamentTo speak its thought upon the abortive massOf half-borne-out assertions, dubious hintsHereafter to be cleared, distortions—ay,And wild inventions. Every man is savedThe task of fixing any single chargeOn Strafford: he has but to see in himThe enemy of England.
Pym.A right scruple!I have heard some called England's enemyWith less consideration.
Vane.Pity me!Indeed you made me think I was your friend!I who have murdered Strafford, how removeThat memory from me?
Pym.I absolve you, Vane.Take you no care for aught that you have done!
Vane.John Hampden, not this Bill! Reject this Bill!He staggers through the ordeal: let him go,Strew no fresh fire before him! Plead for us!When Strafford spoke, your eyes were thick with tears!
Hampden.England speaks louder: who are we, to playThe generous pardoner at her expense,Magnanimously waive advantages,And, if he conquer us, applaud his skill?
Vane.He was your friend.
Pym.I have heard that before.
Fiennes.And England trusts you.
Hampden.Shame be his, who turnsThe opportunity of serving her162She trusts him with, to his own mean account—Who would look nobly frank at her expense!
Fiennes.I never thought it could have come to this.
Pym.But I have made myself familiar, Fiennes,With this one thought—have walked, and sat, and slept,This thought before me. I have done such things,Being the chosen man that should destroyThe traitor. You have taken up this thoughtTo play with, for a gentle stimulant,To give a dignity to idler lifeBy the dim prospect of emprise to come,But ever with the softening, sure belief,That all would end some strange way right at last.
Fiennes.Had we made out some weightier charge!
Pym.You sayThat these are petty charges: can we comeTo the real charge at all? There he is safeIn tyranny's stronghold. ApostasyIs not a crime, treachery not a crime:The cheek burns, the blood tingles, when you speakThe words, but where's the power to take revengeUpon them? We must make occasion serve,—The oversight shall pay for the main sinThat mocks us.
Rudyard.But his unexampled course,This Bill!
Pym.By this, we roll the clouds awayOf precedent and custom, and at onceBid the great beacon-light God sets in all,The conscience of each bosom, shine uponThe guilt of Strafford: each man lay his handUpon his breast, and judge!
Vane.I only seeStrafford, nor pass his corpse for all beyond!
163Rudyard and others.Forgive him! He would join us, now he findsWhat the King counts reward! The pardon, too,Should be your own. Yourself should bear to StraffordThe pardon of the Commons.
Pym.Meet him? Strafford?Have we to meet once more, then? Be it so!And yet—the prophecy seemed half fulfilledWhen, at the Trial, as he gazed, my youth,Our friendship, divers thoughts came back at onceAnd left me, for a time.... 'Tis very sad!To-morrow we discuss the points of lawWith Lane—to-morrow?
Vane.Not before to-morrow—So, time enough! I knew you would relent!
Pym.The next day, Haselrig, you introduceThe Bill of his Attainder. Pray for me!
TheKing.
Charles.My loyal servant! To defend himselfThus irresistibly,—withholding aughtThat seemed to implicate us!We have doneLess gallantly by Strafford. Well, the futureMust recompense the past.She tarries long.I understand you, Strafford, now!The scheme—Carlisle's mad scheme—he'll sanction it, I fear,For love of me. 'Twas too precipitate:Before the army's fairly on its march,He'll be at large: no matter.Well, Carlisle?
164EnterPym.
Pym.Fear me not, sir:—my mission is to save,This time.
Charles.To break thus on me! Unannounced!
Pym.It is of Strafford I would speak.
Charles.No moreOf Strafford! I have heard too much from you.
Pym.I spoke, sir, for the People; will you hearA word upon my own account?
Charles.Of Strafford?(So turns the tide already? Have we tamedThe insolent brawler?—Strafford's eloquenceIs swift in its effect.) Lord Strafford, sir,Has spoken for himself.
Pym.Sufficiently.I would apprise you of the novel courseThe People take: the Trial fails.
Charles.Yes, yes:We are aware, sir: for your part in itMeans shall be found to thank you.
Pym.Pray you, readThis schedule! I would learn from your own mouth—(It is a matter much concerning me)—Whether, if two Estates of us concedeThe death of Strafford, on the grounds set forthWithin that parchment, you, sir, can resolveTo grant your own consent to it. This BillIs framed by me. If you determine, sir,That England's manifested will should guideYour judgment, ere another week such willShall manifest itself. If not,—I castAside the measure.
Charles.You can hinder, then,The introduction of this Bill?
165Pym.I can.
Charles.He is my friend, sir: I have wronged him: mark you,Had I not wronged him, this might be. You thinkBecause you hate the Earl ... (turn not away,We know you hate him)—no one else could loveStrafford: but he has saved me, some affirm.Think of his pride! And do you know one strange,One frightful thing? We all have used the manAs though a drudge of ours, with not a sourceOf happy thoughts except in us; and yetStrafford has wife and children, household cares,Just as if we had never been. Ah sir,You are moved, even you, a solitary manWed to your cause—to England if you will!
Pym.Yes—think, my soul—to England! Draw not back!
Charles.Prevent that Bill, sir! All your course seems fairTill now. Why, in the end, 'tis I should signThe warrant for his death! You have said muchI ponder on; I never meant, indeed,Strafford should serve me any more. I takeThe Commons' counsel; but this Bill is yours—Nor worthy of its leader: care not, sir,For that, however! I will quite forgetYou named it to me. You are satisfied?
Pym.Listen to me, sir! Eliot laid his hand,Wasted and white, upon my forehead once;Wentworth—he's gone now!—has talked on, whole nights,And I beside him; Hampden loves me: sir,How can I breathe and not wish England well,And her King well?
Charles.I thank you, sir, who leave166That King his servant. Thanks, sir!
Pym.Let me speak!—Who may not speak again; whose spirit yearnsFor a cool night after this weary day:—Who would not have my soul turn sicker yetIn a new task, more fatal, more august,More full of England's utter weal or woe.I thought, sir, could I find myself with you,After this trial, alone, as man to man—I might say something, warn you, pray you, save—Mark me, King Charles, save——you!But God must do it. Yet I warn you, sir—(With Strafford's faded eyes yet full on me)As you would have no deeper question moved—"How long the Many must endure the One,"Assure me, sir, if England give assentTo Strafford's death, you will not interfere!Or——
Charles.God forsakes me. I am in a netAnd cannot move. Let all be as you say!
EnterLadyCarlisle.
Lady Carlisle.He loves you—looking beautiful with joyBecause you sent me! he would spare you allThe pain! he never dreamed you would forsakeYour servant in the evil day—nay, seeYour scheme returned! That generous heart of his!He needs it not—or, needing it, disdainsA course that might endanger you—you, sir,Whom Strafford from his inmost soul....[SeeingPym.]Well met!No fear for Strafford! All that's true and braveOn your own side shall help us: we are nowStronger than ever.167Ha—what, sir, is this?All is not well! What parchment have you there?
Pym.Sir, much is saved us both.
Lady Carlisle.This Bill! Your lipWhitens—you could not read one line to meYour voice would falter so!
Pym.No recreant yet!The great word went from England to my soul,And I arose. The end is very near.
Lady Carlisle.I am to save him! All have shrunk beside;'Tis only I am left. Heaven will make strongThe hand now as the heart. Then let both die!
In the last act Browning has drawn upon his imagination more than in any other part of the play. Strafford in prison in the Tower is the center around which all the other elements of the drama are made to revolve. A glimpse, the first, of the man in a purely human capacity is given in the second scene with Strafford and his children. From all accounts little Anne was a precocious child and Browning has sketched her accordingly. The scene is like a gleam of sunshine in the gathering gloom.
The genuine grief felt by the historical Charles over the part he played in the ruin of Strafford is brought out in an interview between Strafford and Charles, who is represented as coming disguised to the prison. Strafford who has been hoping for pardon168from the King learns from Hollis, in the King's presence, that the King has signed his death warrant. He receives this shock with the remark which history attributes to him.