Henry Jones

“ It is enough, my lord, I know it well,
And feel rekindling virtue warm my breast;
Honour and gratitude their force resume
Within my heart, and every wish is yours.
O Cecil, Cecil, what a foe hast thou!
A deadly foe, whilst hated Essex lives!
Bur. I know it well—but can assign no cause.
Not. Ambition's restless hand has wound his thoughts
Too high for England's welfare; nay, the queen
Scarce sits in safety on her throne, while he,
Th' audacious Essex, freely treads at large,
And breathes the common air. Ambition is
The only god he serves ”

“ The core of honesty from virtue's heart,
And plant deceit and rancour in its stead:
Falsehood would trample then on truth and honour,
And envy poison sweet benevolence.
Oh, 'tis a goodly group of attributes,
And well befits some statesman's righteous rule!
Out, out upon such bloody doings!
The term of being is not worth the sin;
No human bosom can endure its dart.
Then put this cruel purpose from thee far,
Nor let the blood of Essex whelm thy soul. ”

“ Not. My lord, I've sought you out with much impatience.
You've had an audience of the queen: what follow'd?
Bur. Soon as I told her, Essex had refused
To yield his dignities, and staff of office,
Against her high command, pronounced by me,
She seem'd deprived of reason for a moment;
Her working mind betray'd contending passions;
She paused, like thunder in some kindling cloud,
Then instant burst with dreadful fury forth:
"And has th' ungrateful wretch defy'd my mandate?
The proud, audacious traitor, scorn'd my power?
He dares not, sure?—He dies—the villain dies!" ”

“ South. Sustain, my noble friend, thy wonted greatness;
Collect thy fortitude, and summon all
Thy soul, to bear with strength this crushing weight,
Which falls severe upon thee; whilst my friendship
Shall lend a helping hand, and share the burden.
I'll hence with speed, and to the queen repair,
And all the power of warmest words employ,
To gain you yet one audience more, and bring
Her majesty to milder thoughts. Farewell. ”

“ Partaking friend.
Enter Lady Rutland.
Rutland, I want thy timely
Counsel. I'm importuned, and urged to punish—
But justice, sometimes, has a cruel sound.
Essex has,
No doubt, provoked my anger, and the laws;
His haughty conduct calls for sharp reproof,
And just correction. Yet I think him guiltless
Of studied treasons, or design'd rebellion.
Then, tell me, Rutland, what the world reports,
What censure says of his unruly deeds.
Rut. The world, with envy's eye, beholds his merit;
Madam, 'tis malice all, and false report.
I know his noble heart, 'tis fill'd with honour ”

“ Exeunt all but Essex and Southampton.
Essex. Disgraced and struck! Damnation! Death were glorious!
Revenge! revenge!
South. Alas, my friend! what would
Thy rage attempt? Consider well the great
Advantage now your rash, ungovern'd temper
Affords your foes. The queen, incensed, will let
Their fury loose.—I dread the dire event!
Essex. Has honest pride no just resentment left?
Nor injured honour, feeling?—Not revenge! ”

“ Where fortune's hand shall never part us more!
In this calm state of innocence and joy,
I'll press thee to my throbbing bosom close.
Ambition's voice shall call in vain; the world,
The thankless world, shall never claim thee more,
And all thy business shall be love and me.
Essex. The queen, incensed at my return, abandons me
To Cecil's malice, and the rage of faction.
[Pg 27] I'm now no more the fav'rite child of fortune:
My enemies have caught me in the toil,
And life has nothing worth my wish but thee. ”

“ From thy departing friend!
[Pg 51]
Lieut. My lord, my warrant
Strictly forbids to grant a moment's time.
South. Oh, must we part for ever? Cruel fortune!
Wilt thou then tear him hence?—Severe divorce!
Let me cling round thy sacred person still,—
Still clasp thee to my bosom close, and keep
Stern Fate at distance.
Essex. Oh, my friend! we'll meet
Again, where virtue finds a just reward!
Where factious malice never more can reach us!
I need not bid thee guard my fame from wrongs:
And, oh! a dearer treasure to thy care
I trust, than either life or fame—my wife! ”

“ Ambition is the spur of all his actions,
Which often drives him o'er his duty's limits;
(At least his enemies would have it so.)
But malice, madam, seldom judges right.
Qu. Eliz. Oh, Nottingham! his pride is past enduring;
This insolent, audacious man, forgets
His honour and allegiance;—and refused
To render up his staff of office, here,
Beneath my very eye.
Not. Presumptuous man!
Your faithful subjects will resent this pride,
This insolence, this treason to their queen;
They must, my gracious sovereign. 'Tis not safe
To shield him longer from their just resentment. ”

“ Qu. Eliz. I grant you, Rutland, all you say; and think
The earl possess'd of many splendid virtues.
What pity 'tis, he should afford his foes
Such frequent, sad occasions to undo him!
Rut. What human heart can, unafflicted, bear
Such manly merit in distress, beset
By cruel foes, and faction's savage cry?
My good, my gracious mistress, stretch, betimes,
Your saving arm, and snatch him from destruction,
From deadly malice, treachery, and Cecil.
Oh, let him live, to clear his conduct up!
My gracious queen, he'll nobly earn your bounty,
And with his dearest blood deserve your mercy. ”

“ Exit Raleigh.
Enter Southampton.
South. Where is the man, whom virtue calls her friend?—
I give you joy, my lord!—Your quenchless fury
At length prevails,—and now your malice triumphs.
You've hunted honour to the toil of faction,
And view his struggles with malicious joy.
Bur. What means my lord?
South. O fraud! shall valiant Essex
Be made a sacrifice to your ambition? ”

“ Bur. 'Tis well, my lord! your words no comment need;
No doubt, they've well explained your honest meaning;
'Tis clear and full. To parts, like yours, discretion
Would be a clog, and caution but incumbrance.
Yet mark me well, my lord; the clinging ivy
With the oak may rise, but with it too must fall.
South. Thy empty threats, ambitious man, hurt not
The breast of truth. Fair innocence, and faith,
Those strangers to thy practised heart, shall shield
My honour, and preserve my friend. In vain,
Thy malice, with unequal arm, shall strive
To tear the applauded wreath from Essex' brow ”

“ The name of Burleigh sounds high as that of Elizabeth, for their glory was equal—but the name alone attaches to the present character; for the great Cecil, by the wisdom of whose measures England was, at the period of this play, in its highest prosperity, died about two years previous to the death of Essex; and this, his son, became the unhappy earl's bitterest foe.
Not even a female character is here introduced from fiction.—Rutland and Nottingham are both well known in history; and though the cruel incident of the ring is not attested by any historian, it is minutely related by them all. ”

“ Oh, 'tis the queen's apartment;
Each precious moment is by fate beset,
And time stands trembling whilst we thus confer.
Essex. Then, let us hence from this detested place;
My rescued soul disdains the house of greatness,
Where humble honesty can find no shelter.
From hence we'll fly, where love and greatness call;
Where happiness invites—that wish of all:
With sweet content enjoy each blissful hour,
Beyond the smiles of fraud, or frowns of power.
[Exeunt.
[Pg 28] ACT THE THIRD. SCENE I. An Apartment in the Palace.
Enter Burleigh and Lady Nottingham. ”

“ At this era, in the short space of two years, the hand of death snatched from the court of Great Britain, all these its most remarkable personages—Essex, Nottingham, and the queen. It is probable, that the decease of the first, hastened that of the second, as well as of the last, character; for the countess's remorse for political stratagem is reported to have been dreadfully severe.
The earl died in his thirty-fourth, and the queen in her seventieth year.—In a subject, her majesty's unseasonable love might have formed a comic, instead of a tragic, drama. ”

“ Essex. To death's concluding stroke, lead on, Lieutenant.—
My wife!—Now reason, fortitude, support me!
For now, indeed, comes on my sorest trial.
Enter Countess of Rutland.
Oh, thou last, dear reserve of fortune's malice!
For fate can add no more,—
Oh, com'st thou now to arrest my parting soul,
And force it back to life?
[Pg 52] Rut. Thou sole delight—
Thou only joy which life could ever give,
Or death deprive me of—my wedded lord! ”

“ The dramatist, who founds his plot and incidents on history, generally adds, from his invention, those scenes, which best describe the power of love. Here it has been otherwise, at least in the character of the queen; whom every distinguished historian has portrayed as more enamoured of her favourite Essex, than even this play will exhibit. ”

“ As that love which is expressed by indirect means, has often the greatest hold upon the attention and sympathy of the spectator; so, many an auditor and reader will feel more interest in the restrained affection of Elizabeth for her paramour, than in the unbridled fondness of Rutland for her husband.—The scene, where the queen bestows the ring, as a pledge of her kindest regard for his safety, is peculiarly affecting, because the strength of her passion is there discoverable, under a demeanour properly dignified ”

“ No public trust becomes the man, who treads,
With scornful steps, in honour's sacred path,
And stands at bold defiance with his duty.
Essex. Away with dignities and hated trust,
With flattering honours, and deceitful power!
Invert th' eternal rules of right and justice;
Let villains thrive, and outcast virtue perish;
Let slaves be raised, and cowards have command.
Take, take your gaudy trifles back, those baits
Of vice, and virtue's bane. 'Tis clear, my queen,
[Pg 35] My royal mistress, casts me off; nay, joins
With Cecil to destroy my life and fame.
Qu. Eliz. Presuming wretch! ”

“ Bur. There spoke the very genius of the sex!
A disappointed woman sets no bounds
To her revenge.—Her temper's form'd to serve me.
Enter Raleigh.
Ral. The Lord Southampton, with ungovern'd rage,
Resents aloud his disappointed measures.
I met him in the outward court; he seeks,
In haste, your lordship; and, forgetting forms,
Pursues me hither, and demands to see you.
Bur. Raleigh, 'tis well! Withdraw—attend the queen—
Leave me to deal with this o'erbearing man. ”

“ The arm parental, and the indulgent blow.
To Heaven's corrective rod submissive bend;
Adore its wisdom, on its power depend;
Whilst ruling justice guides eternal sway,
Let nature tremble, and let man obey. ”

“ Since Essex has a traitor proved to me,
Whose arm hath raised him up to power and greatness;
Whose heart has shared in all his splendid triumphs,
[Pg 37] And feels, ev'n now, his trait'rous deeds with pity?
But hence with pity, and the woman's pangs:
Resentment governs, and the queen shall punish.
Enter Burleigh.
Bur. Illustrious queen! the traitors all are seized. ”

“ No, my gracious queen,
I meant to lay them at your royal feet;
Where life itself a willing victim falls,
If you command.
Qu. Eliz. High swelling words, my lord, but ill supply
The place of deeds, and duty's just demand.
In danger's onset, and the day of trial,
Conviction still on acting worth attends;
Whilst mere professions are by doubts encumber'd.
Essex. My deeds have oft declared in danger's front
How far my duty and my valour lead me.
Allegiance still my thirst of glory fired,
And all my bravely gather'd, envy'd laurels
[Pg 34] Were purchased only to adorn my queen:
Qu. ”

“ The mystic schemes of this aspiring man.
Now fortune, with officious hand, invites us
To her, and opens wide the gates of greatness,
The way to power. My heart exults; I see,
I see, my lord, our utmost wish accomplish'd!
I see great Cecil shine without a rival,
[Pg 10] And England bless him, as her guardian saint.
Such potent instruments I have prepared,
As shall, with speed, o'erturn this hated man,
And dash him down, by proof invincible.
Bur. His day of glory now is set in night;
And all my anxious hopes, at last, are crown'd.
Those proofs against him, Raleigh—
Ral. ”

“ I'll to the queen,
Lay all their envy open to her view,
Confront their malice, and preserve my friend.
[Exit.
[Pg 17] SCENE II. Presence Chamber.
The Queen discovered, sitting on her Throne. Raleigh, Lords, and Attendants.
Qu. Eliz. Without consulting me! presumptuous man!
Who governs here?—What! am not I your queen?
You dared not, were he present, take this step.
Ral. Dread sovereign, your ever faithful commons
Have, in their gratitude and love for you,
Preferred this salutary bill against him.
Enter Burleigh.
Qu. Eliz. You, my Lord Burleigh, must have known of this. ”

“ The queen will listen now, will now believe,
And trust the counsel of her faithful Burleigh.
Dispose them well, till kind occasion calls
Their office forth; lest prying craft meanwhile
May tamper with their thoughts and change their minds:
Let them, like batteries conceal'd, appear
At once, both to surprise and to destroy.
Ral. His headstrong friend, the bold Southampton, too,
Now finds his rash endeavours all defeated,
And storms at thee, and the impeaching commons.
Bur. Let him rave on, and rage. The lion, in
[Pg 11] The toils entangled, wastes his strength, and roars
In vain ”