SCENE ONE
Enter CHARLES , the French king ; CATHERINE , the Queen-Mother; the KING OF NAVARRE ; MARGARET , Queen of Navarre; the PRINCE OF CONDÉ ; the LORD HIGH ADMIRAL ; the OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE ; with others . CHARLES :
Prince of Navarre, my honourable brother,
Prince Conde, and my good Lord Admiral,
I wish this union and religious league,
Knit in these hands, thus join'd in nuptial rites,
May not dissolve till death dissolve our lives;
And that the native sparks of princely love,
That kindled first this motion in our hearts,
May still be fuell'd in our progeny. NAVARRE :
The many favours which your grace hath shown,
From time to time, but specially in this,
Shall bind me ever to your highness' will,
In what Queen-Mother or your grace commands. CATHERINE :
Thanks, son Navarre. You see we love you well,
That link you in marriage with our daughter here;
And, as you know, our difference in religion
Might be a means to cross you in your love. CHARLES :
Well, madam, let that rest.
And now, my lords, the marriage-rites perform'd,
We think it good to go and consummate
The rest with hearing of a holy mass.
Sister, I think yourself will bear us company. MARGARET :
I will, my good lord. CHARLES :
The rest that will not go, my lords, may stay.
Come, mother,
Let us go to honour this solemnity. CATHERINE ( aside ):
Which I'll dissolve with blood and cruelty.
Exeunt all except the KING OF NAVARRE , CONDÉ , and the ADMIRAL . NAVARRE :
Prince Conde, and my good Lord Admiral,
Now Guise may storm, but do us little hurt,
Having the king, Queen Mother on our sides
To stop the malice of his envious heart,
That seeks to murder all the protestants.
Have you not heard of late how he decreed
(If that the king had given consent thereto)
That all the protestants that are in Paris
Should have been murdered the other night? ADMIRAL :
My lord, I marvel that th' aspiring Guise
Dares once adventure, without the king's consent,
To meddle or attempt such dangerous things. CONDÉ :
My lord, you need not marvel at the Guise,
For what he doth, the Pope will ratify,
In murder, mischief, or in tyranny. NAVARRE :
But He that sits and rules above the clouds
Doth hear and see the prayers of the just,
And will revenge the blood of innocents,
That Guise hath slain by treason of his heart,
And brought by murder to their timeless ends. ADMIRAL :
My lord, but did you mark the Cardinal,
The Guise's brother, and the Duke Dumaine,
How they did storm at these your nuptial rites,
Because the house of Bourbon now comes in,
And joins your lineage to the crown of France? NAVARRE :
And that's the cause that Guise so frowns at us,
And beats his brains to catch us in his trap,
Which he hath pitch'd within his deadly toil.
Come, my lords, let's go to the church, and pray
That God may still defend the right of France,
And make his Gospel flourish in this land.
Exeunt .
SCENE TWO
Enter the DUKE OF GUISE . GUISE :
If ever Hymen lour'd at marriage-rites,
And had his altars deck'd with dusky lights;
If ever sun stain'd heaven with bloody clouds,
And made it look with terror on the world;
If ever day were turn'd to ugly night,
And night made semblance of the hue of hell;
This day, this hour, this fatal night,
Shall fully show the fury of them all.
Apothecary!
Enter APOTHECARY . APOTHECARY :
My lord? GUISE :
Now shall I prove, and guerdon to the full,
The love thou bear'st unto the house of Guise.
Where are those perfum'd gloves which I sent
To be poison'd? Hast thou done them? Speak;
Will every savour breed a pang of death? APOTHECARY :
See where they be, my good lord; and he that smells
But to them, dies. GUISE :
Then thou remainest resolute? APOTHECARY :
I am, my lord, in what your grace commands,
Till death. GUISE :
Thanks, my good friend: I will requite thy love.
Go, then, present them to the Queen Navarre;
For she is that huge blemish in our eye,
That makes these upstart heresies in France.
Be gone, my friend, present them to her straight.
Exit APOTHECARY .
Soldier!
Enter a SOLDIER . SOLDIER :
My lord? GUISE :
Now come thou forth, and play thy tragic part.
Stand in some window, opening near the street,
And when thou see'st the Admiral ride by,
Discharge thy musket, and perform his death,
And then I'll guerdon thee with store of crowns. SOLDIER :
I will, my lord.
Exit . GUISE :
Now, Guise, begins those deep-engender'd thoughts
To burst abroad those never-dying flames
Which cannot be extinguish'd but by blood.
Oft have I levell'd, and at last have learn'd
That peril is the chiefest way to happiness,
And resolution honour's fairest aim.
What glory is there in a common good,
That hangs for every peasant to achieve?
That like I best that flies beyond my reach.
Set me to scale the high Pyramides,
And thereon set the diadem of France;
I'll either rend it with my nails to naught,
Or mount the top with my aspiring wings,
Although my downfall be the deepest hell.
For this I wake, when others think I sleep;
For this I wait, that scorn attendance else.
For this, my quenchless thirst, whereon I build,
Hath often pleaded kindred to the king;
For this, this head, this heart, this hand, and sword,
Contrives, imagines, and fully executes,
Matters of import aimed at by many,
Yet understood by none.
For this, hath heaven engender'd me of earth;
For this, this earth sustains my body's weight,
And with this weight I'll counterpoise a crown,
Or with seditions weary all the world.
For this, from Spain the stately Catholics
Sends Indian gold to coin me French ecues;
For this, have I a largess from the Pope,
A pension, and a dispensation too;
And by that privilege to work upon,
My policy hath fram'd religion.
Religion! O Diabole!
Fie, I am asham'd, however that I seem,
To think a word of such a simple sound,
Of so great matter should be made the ground!
The gentle king, whose pleasure uncontroll'd
Weakeneth his body, and will waste his realm,
If I repair not what he ruinates.
Him, as a child, I daily win with words,
So that for proof he barely bears the name;
I execute, and he sustains the blame.
The Mother Queen works wonders for my sake,
And in my love entombs the hope of France,
Rifling the bowels of her treasury,
To supply my wants and necessity.
Paris hath full five hundred colleges,
As monasteries, priories, abbeys, and halls,
Wherein are thirty thousand able men,
Besides a thousand sturdy student Catholics;
And more, ÔÇô of my knowledge, in one cloister keeps
Five hundred fat Franciscan friars and priests.
All this, and more, if more may be compris'd,
To bring the will of our desires to end.
Then, Guise,
Since thou hast all the cards within thy hands,
To shuffle or cut, take this as surest thing,
That, right or wrong, thou deal thyself a king.
Ay, but, Navarre, Navarre, ÔÇô 'tis but a nook of France,
Sufficient yet for such a petty king,
That, with a rabblement of his heretics,
Blinds Europe's eyes, and troubleth our estate.
Him will we ÔÇô ( pointing to his sword ) but first let's follow those in France
That hinder our possession to the crown.
As Caesar to his soldiers, so say I:
Those that hate me will I learn to loathe.
Give me a look, that, when I bend the brows,
Pale death may walk in furrows of my face;
A hand, that with a grasp may gripe the world;
An ear to hear what my detractors say;
A royal seat, a sceptre, and a crown;
That those which do behold, they may become
As men that stand and gaze against the sun.
The plot is laid, and things shall come to pass
Where resolution strives for victory.
Exit .
SCENE THREE
Enter the KING OF NAVARRE , QUEEN MARGARET , the OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE , the PRINCE OF CONDÉ , and the ADMIRAL ; they are met by the APOTHECARY with the gloves, which he gives to the OLD QUEEN . APOTHECARY :
Madam,
I beseech your grace to accept this simple gift. OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Thanks, my good friend.
Hold, take thou this reward.
Gives a purse . APOTHECARY :
I humbly thank your majesty.
Exit . OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Methinks the gloves have a very strong perfume,
The scent whereof doth make my head to ache. NAVARRE :
Doth not your grace know the man that gave them you? OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Not well, but do remember such a man. ADMIRAL :
Your grace was ill-advis'd to take them, then, Considering of these dangerous times. OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Help, son Navarre! I am poison'd! MARGARET :
The heavens forbid your highness such mishap! NAVARRE :
The late suspicion of the Duke of Guise
Might well have mov'd your highness to beware
How you did meddle with such dangerous gifts. MARGARET :
Too late it is, my lord, if that be true,
To blame her highness; but I hope it be
Only some natural passion makes her sick. OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
O, no, sweet Margaret!
The fatal poison
Works within my head; my brain-pan breaks;
My heart doth faint; I die!
Dies . NAVARRE :
My mother poison'd here before my face!
O gracious God, what times are these!
O, grant, sweet God, my days may end with hers,
That I with her may die and live again! MARGARET :
Let not this heavy chance, my dearest lord,
(For whose effects my soul is massacred),
Infect thy gracious breast with fresh supply
To aggravate our sudden misery. ADMIRAL :
Come, my lords, let us bear her body hence,
And see it honoured with just solemnity.
As they are going out, the SOLDIER dischargeth his musket at the ADMIRAL . CONDÉ :
What, are you hurt, my Lord High Admiral? ADMIRAL :
Ay, my good lord, shot through the arm. NAVARRE :
We are betray'd! Come, my lords,
And let us go tell the king of this. ADMIRAL :
These are
The cursed Guisians, that do seek our death.
O, fatal was this marriage to us all.
Exeunt, bearing out the body of the OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE .
SCENE FOUR
Enter KING CHARLES , CATHERINE the Queen-Mother , GUISE , ANJOU , and DUMAINE . CATHERINE :
My noble son, and princely Duke of Guise,
Now have we got the fatal, straggling deer
Within the compass of a deadly toil,
And, as we late decreed, we may perform. CHARLES :
Madam, it will be noted through the world
An action bloody and tyrannical;
Chiefly, since under safety of our word
They justly challenge their protection.
Besides, my heart relents that noble men,
Only corrupted in religion,
Ladies of honour, knights, and gentlemen,
Should, for their conscience, taste such ruthless ends. ANJOU :
Though gentle minds should pity others' pains,
Yet will the wisest note their proper griefs,
And rather seek to scourge their enemies
Than be themselves base subjects to the whip. GUISE :
Methinks, my Lord, Anjou hath well advis'd
Your highness to consider of the thing,
And rather choose to seek your country's good
Than pity or relieve these upstart heretics. CATHERINE :
I hope these reasons may serve my princely son
To have some care for fear of enemies. CHARLES :
Well, madam, I refer it to your majesty,
And to my nephew here, the Duke of Guise.
What you determine, I will ratify. CATHERINE :
Thanks to my princely son. Then tell me, Guise,
What order will you set down for the massacre? GUISE :
Thus, madam. They
That shall be actors in this massacre
Shall wear white crosses on their burgonets,
And tie white linen scarfs about their arms;
He that wants these, and is suspected of heresy,
Shall die, be he king or emperor. Then I'll have
A peal of ordnance shot from the tower, at which
They all shall issue out, and set the streets,
And then,
The watchword being given, a bell shall ring,
Which when they hear, they shall begin to kill,
And never cease until that bell shall cease;
Then breathe a while.
Enter the ADMIRAL'S SERVING-MAN . CHARLES :
How now, fellow! What news? SERVING-MAN :
And it please your grace, the Lord High Admiral,
Riding the streets, was traitorously shot;
And most humbly entreats your majesty
To visit him, sick in his bed. CHARLES :
Messenger, tell him I will see him straight.
Exit SERVING-MAN .
What shall we do now with the Admiral? CATHERINE :
Your majesty were best go visit him,
And make a show as if all were well. CHARLES :
Content; I will go visit the Admiral. GUISE :
And I will go take order for his death.
Exeunt CATHERINE and GUISE .
The ADMIRAL discovered in bed . CHARLES :
How fares it with my Lord High Admiral?
Hath he been hurt with villains in the street?
I vow and swear, as I am King of France,
To find and to repay the man with death,
With death delay'd and torments never us'd,
That durst presume, for hope of any gain,
To hurt the noble man their sovereign loves. ADMIRAL :
Ah, my good lord, these are the Guisians,
That seek to massacre our guiltless lives! CHARLES :
Assure yourself, my good Lord Admiral,
I deeply sorrow for your treacherous wrong;
And that I am not more secure myself
Than I am careful you should be preserv'd.
Cousin, take twenty of our strongest guard,
And, under your direction, see they keep
All treacherous violence from our noble friend;
Repaying all attempts with present death
Upon the cursed breakers of our peace.
And so be patient, good Lord Admiral,
And every hour I will visit you. ADMIRAL :
I humbly thank your royal majesty.
Exeunt omnes .
SCENE FIVE
Enter GUISE , ANJOU , DUMAINE , GONZAGO , RETES , MOUNTSORRELL , and SOLDIERS , to the massacre . GUISE :
Anjou, Dumaine, Gonzago, Retes, swear,
By the argent crosses in your burgonets,
To kill all that you suspect of heresy. DUMAINE :
I swear by this, to be unmerciful. ANJOU :
I am disguis'd, and none knows who I am,
And therefore mean to murder all I meet. GONZAGO :
And so will I. RETES :
And I. GUISE :
Away, then! Break into the Admiral's house. RETES :
Ay, let the Admiral be first despatch'd. GUISE :
The Admiral,
Chief standard-bearer to the Lutherans,
Shall in the entrance of this massacre
Be murder'd in his bed.
Gonzago, conduct them thither; and then
Beset his house, that not a man may live. ANJOU :
That charge is mine. Switzers, keep you the streets;
And at each corner shall the king's guard stand. GONZAGO :
Come, sirs, follow me.
Exit GONZAGO with others . ANJOU :
Cousin, the captain of the Admiral's guard,
Plac'd by my brother, will betray his lord.
Now, Guise, shall Catholics flourish once again;
The head being off, the members cannot stand. RETES :
But look, my lord, there's some in the Admiral's house.
The ADMIRAL discovered in bed ; GONZAGO and others in the house . ANJOU :
In lucky time: come, let us keep this lane,
And slay his servants that shall issue out. GONZAGO :
Where is the Admiral? ADMIRAL :
O, let me pray before I die! GONZAGO :
Then pray unto our Lady; kiss this cross.
Stabs him . ADMIRAL :
O God, forgive my sins!
Dies . GUISE :
Gonzago, what, is he dead? GONZAGO :
Ay, my lord. GUISE :
Then throw him down.
The body of the ADMIRAL is thrown down . ANJOU :
Now, cousin, view him well:
It may be 'tis some other, and he escap'd. GUISE :
Cousin, 'tis he; I know him by his look.
See where my soldier shot him through the arm;
He miss'd him near, but we have struck him now.
Ah, base Chatillon and degenerate,
Chief standard-bearer to the Lutherans,
Thus, in despite of thy religion,
The Duke of Guise stamps on thy lifeless bulk! ANJOU :
Away with him! Cut off his head and hands,
And send them for a present to the Pope;
And, when this just revenge is finished,
Unto Mount Faucon will we drag his corse;
And he, that living hated so the Cross,
Shall, being dead, be hang'd thereon in chains. GUISE :
Anjou, Gonzago, Retes, if that you three
Will be as resolute as I and Dumaine,
There shall not a Huguenot breathe in France. ANJOU :
I swear by this cross, we'll not be partial,
But slay as many as we can come near. GUISE :
Mountsorrell, go shoot the ordnance off,
That they, which have already set the street,
May know their watchword; then toll the bell,
And so let's forward to the massacre. MOUNTSORRELL :
I will, my lord.
Exit . GUISE :
And now, my lords, let's closely to our business. ANJOU :
Anjou will follow thee. DUMAINE :
And so will Dumaine.
The ordnance being shot off, the bell tolls . GUISE :
Come, then, let's away.
Exeunt .
SCENE SIX
Enter GUISE , and the rest, with their swords drawn, chasing the Protestants . GUISE :
Tue, tue, tue!
Let none escape! Murder the Huguenots! ANJOU :
Kill them! kill them!
Exeunt .
Enter LOREINE , running ; GUISE and the rest pursuing him . GUISE :
Loreine, Loreine! follow Loreine! ÔÇô Sirrah,
Are you a preacher of these heresies? LOREINE :
I am a preacher of the word of God;
And thou a traitor to thy soul and him. GUISE :
'Dearly beloved brother,' ÔÇô thus 'tis written.
Stabs LOREINE , who dies . ANJOU :
Stay, my lord, let me begin the psalm. GUISE :
Come, drag him away, and throw him in a ditch.
Exeunt with the body .
Enter MOUNTSORRELL , and knocks at SEROUNE'S door . SEROUNE'S WIFE ( within ):
Who is that which knocks there? MOUNTSORRELL :
Mountsorrell, from the Duke of Guise. SEROUNE'S WIFE ( within ):
Husband, come down; here's one would speak with you.
From the Duke of Guise.
Enter SEROUNE from the house . SEROUNE :
To speak with me, from such a man as he? MOUNTSORRELL :
Ay, ay, for this, Seroune; and thou shalt ha't.
Showing his dagger . SEROUNE :
O, let me pray, before I take my death! MOUNTSORRELL :
Despatch, then, quickly. SEROUNE :
O Christ, my Saviour! MOUNTSORRELL :
Christ, villain!
Why, darest thou to presume to call on Christ,
Without the intercession of some saint?
Sanctus Jacobus , he's my saint; pray to him. SEROUNE :
O, let me pray unto my God! MOUNTSORRELL :
Then take this with you.
Stabs SEROUNE , who dies, and then exit .
SCENE SEVEN
Enter RAMUS , in his study . RAMUS :
What fearful cries comes from the river Seine,
That fright poor Ramus sitting at his book!
I fear the Guisians have pass'd the bridge,
And mean once more to menace me.
Enter TALAEUS . TALAEUS :
Fly, Ramus, fly, if thou wilt save thy life! RAMUS :
Tell me, Talaeus, wherefore should I fly? TALAEUS :
The Guisians are
Hard at thy door, and mean to murder us.
Hark, hark, they come! I'll leap out at the window. RAMUS :
Sweet Talaeus, stay.
Enter GONZAGO and RETES . GONZAGO :
Who goes there? RETES :
'Tis Talaeus, Ramus' bedfellow. GONZAGO :
What art thou? TALAEUS :
I am, as Ramus is, a Christian. RETES :
O, let him go; he is a Catholic.
Exit TALAEUS . GONZAGO :
Come, Ramus, more gold, or thou shalt have the stab. RAMUS :
Alas, I am a scholar! How should I have gold?
All that I have is but my stipend from the king,
Which is no sooner receiv'd but it is spent.
Enter GUISE , ANJOU , DUMAINE , MOUNTSORRELL , and SOLDIERS . ANJOU :
Who have you there? RETES :
'Tis Ramus, the king's Professor of Logic. GUISE :
Stab him. RAMUS :
O, good my lord,
Wherein hath Ramus been so offensious? GUISE :
Marry, sir, in having a smack in all,
And yet didst never sound anything to the depth.
Was it not thou that scoff'st the Organon ,
And said it was a heap of vanities?
He that will be a flat dichotomist,
And seen in nothing but epitomes,
Is in your judgment thought a learned man;
And he, forsooth, must go and preach in Germany,
Excepting against doctors' axioms,
And ipse dixi with this quiddity,
Argumentum testimonii est inartificials .
To contradict which, I say, Ramus shall die:
How answer you that? Your nego argumentum
Cannot serve, sirrah. ÔÇô Kill him. RAMUS :
O, good my lord, let me but speak a word! ANJOU :
Well, say on. RAMUS :
Not for my life do I desire this pause;
But in my latter hour to purge myself,
In that I know the things that I have wrote,
Which, as I hear, one Scheckius takes it ill,
Because my places, being three, contains all his.
I knew the Organon to be confus'd,
And I reduc'd it into better form:
And this for Aristotle will I say,
That he that despiseth him can ne'er
Be good in logic or philosophy;
And that's because the blockish Sorbonnists
Attribute as much unto their works
As to the service of the eternal God. GUISE :
Why suffer you that peasant to declaim?
Stab him, I say, and send him to his friends in hell. ANJOU :
Ne'er was there collier's son so full of pride.
Stabs RAMUS , who dies . GUISE :
My Lord of Anjou, there are a hundred Protestants,
Which we have chas'd into the river Seine,
That swim about, and so preserve their lives.
How may we do? I fear me they will live. DUMAINE :
Go place some men upon the bridge,
With bows and darts, to shoot at them they see,
And sink them in the river as they swim. GUISE :
'Tis well advis'd, Dumaine; go see it straight be done.
Exit DUMAINE .
And in the meantime, my lord, could we devise
To get those pedants from the King Navarre,
That are tutors to him and the Prince of Conde ÔÇô ANJOU :
For that, let me alone: cousin, stay you here
And when you see me in, then follow hard.
ANJOU knocketh at the door; and enter the KING OF NAVARRE and the PRINCE OF CONDÉ , with their two SCHOOLMASTERS .
How now, my lords! How fare you? NAVARRE :
My lord, they say
That all the Protestants are massacred. ANJOU :
Ay, so they are; but yet, what remedy?
I have done what I could to stay this broil. NAVARRE :
But yet, my lord, the report doth run,
That you were one that made this massacre. ANJOU :
Who I? you are deceiv'd; I rose but now.
GUISE , GONZAGO , RETES , MOUNTSORRELL , and SOLDIERS , come forward . GUISE :
Murder the Huguenots! Take those pedants hence! NAVARRE :
Thou traitor, Guise, lay off thy bloody hands! CONDÉ :
Come, let us go tell the king.
Exit with the KING OF NAVARRE . GUISE :
Come sirs,
I'll whip you to death with my poniard's point.
Stabs the SCHOOLMASTERS , who die . ANJOU :
Away with them both!
Exeunt ANJOU and SOLDIERS with the bodies . GUISE :
And now, sirs, for this night let our fury stay.
Yet will we not that the massacre shall end.
Gonzago, post you to Orleans,
Retes to Dieppe, Mountsorrell unto Rouen,
And spare not one that you suspect of heresy.
And now stay
That bell, that to the devil's matins rings.
Now every man put off his burgonet,
And so convey him closely to his bed.
Exeunt .
Enter CHARLES , the French king ; CATHERINE , the Queen-Mother; the KING OF NAVARRE ; MARGARET , Queen of Navarre; the PRINCE OF CONDÉ ; the LORD HIGH ADMIRAL ; the OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE ; with others . CHARLES :
Prince of Navarre, my honourable brother,
Prince Conde, and my good Lord Admiral,
I wish this union and religious league,
Knit in these hands, thus join'd in nuptial rites,
May not dissolve till death dissolve our lives;
And that the native sparks of princely love,
That kindled first this motion in our hearts,
May still be fuell'd in our progeny. NAVARRE :
The many favours which your grace hath shown,
From time to time, but specially in this,
Shall bind me ever to your highness' will,
In what Queen-Mother or your grace commands. CATHERINE :
Thanks, son Navarre. You see we love you well,
That link you in marriage with our daughter here;
And, as you know, our difference in religion
Might be a means to cross you in your love. CHARLES :
Well, madam, let that rest.
And now, my lords, the marriage-rites perform'd,
We think it good to go and consummate
The rest with hearing of a holy mass.
Sister, I think yourself will bear us company. MARGARET :
I will, my good lord. CHARLES :
The rest that will not go, my lords, may stay.
Come, mother,
Let us go to honour this solemnity. CATHERINE ( aside ):
Which I'll dissolve with blood and cruelty.
Exeunt all except the KING OF NAVARRE , CONDÉ , and the ADMIRAL . NAVARRE :
Prince Conde, and my good Lord Admiral,
Now Guise may storm, but do us little hurt,
Having the king, Queen Mother on our sides
To stop the malice of his envious heart,
That seeks to murder all the protestants.
Have you not heard of late how he decreed
(If that the king had given consent thereto)
That all the protestants that are in Paris
Should have been murdered the other night? ADMIRAL :
My lord, I marvel that th' aspiring Guise
Dares once adventure, without the king's consent,
To meddle or attempt such dangerous things. CONDÉ :
My lord, you need not marvel at the Guise,
For what he doth, the Pope will ratify,
In murder, mischief, or in tyranny. NAVARRE :
But He that sits and rules above the clouds
Doth hear and see the prayers of the just,
And will revenge the blood of innocents,
That Guise hath slain by treason of his heart,
And brought by murder to their timeless ends. ADMIRAL :
My lord, but did you mark the Cardinal,
The Guise's brother, and the Duke Dumaine,
How they did storm at these your nuptial rites,
Because the house of Bourbon now comes in,
And joins your lineage to the crown of France? NAVARRE :
And that's the cause that Guise so frowns at us,
And beats his brains to catch us in his trap,
Which he hath pitch'd within his deadly toil.
Come, my lords, let's go to the church, and pray
That God may still defend the right of France,
And make his Gospel flourish in this land.
Exeunt .
SCENE TWO
Enter the DUKE OF GUISE . GUISE :
If ever Hymen lour'd at marriage-rites,
And had his altars deck'd with dusky lights;
If ever sun stain'd heaven with bloody clouds,
And made it look with terror on the world;
If ever day were turn'd to ugly night,
And night made semblance of the hue of hell;
This day, this hour, this fatal night,
Shall fully show the fury of them all.
Apothecary!
Enter APOTHECARY . APOTHECARY :
My lord? GUISE :
Now shall I prove, and guerdon to the full,
The love thou bear'st unto the house of Guise.
Where are those perfum'd gloves which I sent
To be poison'd? Hast thou done them? Speak;
Will every savour breed a pang of death? APOTHECARY :
See where they be, my good lord; and he that smells
But to them, dies. GUISE :
Then thou remainest resolute? APOTHECARY :
I am, my lord, in what your grace commands,
Till death. GUISE :
Thanks, my good friend: I will requite thy love.
Go, then, present them to the Queen Navarre;
For she is that huge blemish in our eye,
That makes these upstart heresies in France.
Be gone, my friend, present them to her straight.
Exit APOTHECARY .
Soldier!
Enter a SOLDIER . SOLDIER :
My lord? GUISE :
Now come thou forth, and play thy tragic part.
Stand in some window, opening near the street,
And when thou see'st the Admiral ride by,
Discharge thy musket, and perform his death,
And then I'll guerdon thee with store of crowns. SOLDIER :
I will, my lord.
Exit . GUISE :
Now, Guise, begins those deep-engender'd thoughts
To burst abroad those never-dying flames
Which cannot be extinguish'd but by blood.
Oft have I levell'd, and at last have learn'd
That peril is the chiefest way to happiness,
And resolution honour's fairest aim.
What glory is there in a common good,
That hangs for every peasant to achieve?
That like I best that flies beyond my reach.
Set me to scale the high Pyramides,
And thereon set the diadem of France;
I'll either rend it with my nails to naught,
Or mount the top with my aspiring wings,
Although my downfall be the deepest hell.
For this I wake, when others think I sleep;
For this I wait, that scorn attendance else.
For this, my quenchless thirst, whereon I build,
Hath often pleaded kindred to the king;
For this, this head, this heart, this hand, and sword,
Contrives, imagines, and fully executes,
Matters of import aimed at by many,
Yet understood by none.
For this, hath heaven engender'd me of earth;
For this, this earth sustains my body's weight,
And with this weight I'll counterpoise a crown,
Or with seditions weary all the world.
For this, from Spain the stately Catholics
Sends Indian gold to coin me French ecues;
For this, have I a largess from the Pope,
A pension, and a dispensation too;
And by that privilege to work upon,
My policy hath fram'd religion.
Religion! O Diabole!
Fie, I am asham'd, however that I seem,
To think a word of such a simple sound,
Of so great matter should be made the ground!
The gentle king, whose pleasure uncontroll'd
Weakeneth his body, and will waste his realm,
If I repair not what he ruinates.
Him, as a child, I daily win with words,
So that for proof he barely bears the name;
I execute, and he sustains the blame.
The Mother Queen works wonders for my sake,
And in my love entombs the hope of France,
Rifling the bowels of her treasury,
To supply my wants and necessity.
Paris hath full five hundred colleges,
As monasteries, priories, abbeys, and halls,
Wherein are thirty thousand able men,
Besides a thousand sturdy student Catholics;
And more, ÔÇô of my knowledge, in one cloister keeps
Five hundred fat Franciscan friars and priests.
All this, and more, if more may be compris'd,
To bring the will of our desires to end.
Then, Guise,
Since thou hast all the cards within thy hands,
To shuffle or cut, take this as surest thing,
That, right or wrong, thou deal thyself a king.
Ay, but, Navarre, Navarre, ÔÇô 'tis but a nook of France,
Sufficient yet for such a petty king,
That, with a rabblement of his heretics,
Blinds Europe's eyes, and troubleth our estate.
Him will we ÔÇô ( pointing to his sword ) but first let's follow those in France
That hinder our possession to the crown.
As Caesar to his soldiers, so say I:
Those that hate me will I learn to loathe.
Give me a look, that, when I bend the brows,
Pale death may walk in furrows of my face;
A hand, that with a grasp may gripe the world;
An ear to hear what my detractors say;
A royal seat, a sceptre, and a crown;
That those which do behold, they may become
As men that stand and gaze against the sun.
The plot is laid, and things shall come to pass
Where resolution strives for victory.
Exit .
SCENE THREE
Enter the KING OF NAVARRE , QUEEN MARGARET , the OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE , the PRINCE OF CONDÉ , and the ADMIRAL ; they are met by the APOTHECARY with the gloves, which he gives to the OLD QUEEN . APOTHECARY :
Madam,
I beseech your grace to accept this simple gift. OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Thanks, my good friend.
Hold, take thou this reward.
Gives a purse . APOTHECARY :
I humbly thank your majesty.
Exit . OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Methinks the gloves have a very strong perfume,
The scent whereof doth make my head to ache. NAVARRE :
Doth not your grace know the man that gave them you? OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Not well, but do remember such a man. ADMIRAL :
Your grace was ill-advis'd to take them, then, Considering of these dangerous times. OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
Help, son Navarre! I am poison'd! MARGARET :
The heavens forbid your highness such mishap! NAVARRE :
The late suspicion of the Duke of Guise
Might well have mov'd your highness to beware
How you did meddle with such dangerous gifts. MARGARET :
Too late it is, my lord, if that be true,
To blame her highness; but I hope it be
Only some natural passion makes her sick. OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE :
O, no, sweet Margaret!
The fatal poison
Works within my head; my brain-pan breaks;
My heart doth faint; I die!
Dies . NAVARRE :
My mother poison'd here before my face!
O gracious God, what times are these!
O, grant, sweet God, my days may end with hers,
That I with her may die and live again! MARGARET :
Let not this heavy chance, my dearest lord,
(For whose effects my soul is massacred),
Infect thy gracious breast with fresh supply
To aggravate our sudden misery. ADMIRAL :
Come, my lords, let us bear her body hence,
And see it honoured with just solemnity.
As they are going out, the SOLDIER dischargeth his musket at the ADMIRAL . CONDÉ :
What, are you hurt, my Lord High Admiral? ADMIRAL :
Ay, my good lord, shot through the arm. NAVARRE :
We are betray'd! Come, my lords,
And let us go tell the king of this. ADMIRAL :
These are
The cursed Guisians, that do seek our death.
O, fatal was this marriage to us all.
Exeunt, bearing out the body of the OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE .
SCENE FOUR
Enter KING CHARLES , CATHERINE the Queen-Mother , GUISE , ANJOU , and DUMAINE . CATHERINE :
My noble son, and princely Duke of Guise,
Now have we got the fatal, straggling deer
Within the compass of a deadly toil,
And, as we late decreed, we may perform. CHARLES :
Madam, it will be noted through the world
An action bloody and tyrannical;
Chiefly, since under safety of our word
They justly challenge their protection.
Besides, my heart relents that noble men,
Only corrupted in religion,
Ladies of honour, knights, and gentlemen,
Should, for their conscience, taste such ruthless ends. ANJOU :
Though gentle minds should pity others' pains,
Yet will the wisest note their proper griefs,
And rather seek to scourge their enemies
Than be themselves base subjects to the whip. GUISE :
Methinks, my Lord, Anjou hath well advis'd
Your highness to consider of the thing,
And rather choose to seek your country's good
Than pity or relieve these upstart heretics. CATHERINE :
I hope these reasons may serve my princely son
To have some care for fear of enemies. CHARLES :
Well, madam, I refer it to your majesty,
And to my nephew here, the Duke of Guise.
What you determine, I will ratify. CATHERINE :
Thanks to my princely son. Then tell me, Guise,
What order will you set down for the massacre? GUISE :
Thus, madam. They
That shall be actors in this massacre
Shall wear white crosses on their burgonets,
And tie white linen scarfs about their arms;
He that wants these, and is suspected of heresy,
Shall die, be he king or emperor. Then I'll have
A peal of ordnance shot from the tower, at which
They all shall issue out, and set the streets,
And then,
The watchword being given, a bell shall ring,
Which when they hear, they shall begin to kill,
And never cease until that bell shall cease;
Then breathe a while.
Enter the ADMIRAL'S SERVING-MAN . CHARLES :
How now, fellow! What news? SERVING-MAN :
And it please your grace, the Lord High Admiral,
Riding the streets, was traitorously shot;
And most humbly entreats your majesty
To visit him, sick in his bed. CHARLES :
Messenger, tell him I will see him straight.
Exit SERVING-MAN .
What shall we do now with the Admiral? CATHERINE :
Your majesty were best go visit him,
And make a show as if all were well. CHARLES :
Content; I will go visit the Admiral. GUISE :
And I will go take order for his death.
Exeunt CATHERINE and GUISE .
The ADMIRAL discovered in bed . CHARLES :
How fares it with my Lord High Admiral?
Hath he been hurt with villains in the street?
I vow and swear, as I am King of France,
To find and to repay the man with death,
With death delay'd and torments never us'd,
That durst presume, for hope of any gain,
To hurt the noble man their sovereign loves. ADMIRAL :
Ah, my good lord, these are the Guisians,
That seek to massacre our guiltless lives! CHARLES :
Assure yourself, my good Lord Admiral,
I deeply sorrow for your treacherous wrong;
And that I am not more secure myself
Than I am careful you should be preserv'd.
Cousin, take twenty of our strongest guard,
And, under your direction, see they keep
All treacherous violence from our noble friend;
Repaying all attempts with present death
Upon the cursed breakers of our peace.
And so be patient, good Lord Admiral,
And every hour I will visit you. ADMIRAL :
I humbly thank your royal majesty.
Exeunt omnes .
SCENE FIVE
Enter GUISE , ANJOU , DUMAINE , GONZAGO , RETES , MOUNTSORRELL , and SOLDIERS , to the massacre . GUISE :
Anjou, Dumaine, Gonzago, Retes, swear,
By the argent crosses in your burgonets,
To kill all that you suspect of heresy. DUMAINE :
I swear by this, to be unmerciful. ANJOU :
I am disguis'd, and none knows who I am,
And therefore mean to murder all I meet. GONZAGO :
And so will I. RETES :
And I. GUISE :
Away, then! Break into the Admiral's house. RETES :
Ay, let the Admiral be first despatch'd. GUISE :
The Admiral,
Chief standard-bearer to the Lutherans,
Shall in the entrance of this massacre
Be murder'd in his bed.
Gonzago, conduct them thither; and then
Beset his house, that not a man may live. ANJOU :
That charge is mine. Switzers, keep you the streets;
And at each corner shall the king's guard stand. GONZAGO :
Come, sirs, follow me.
Exit GONZAGO with others . ANJOU :
Cousin, the captain of the Admiral's guard,
Plac'd by my brother, will betray his lord.
Now, Guise, shall Catholics flourish once again;
The head being off, the members cannot stand. RETES :
But look, my lord, there's some in the Admiral's house.
The ADMIRAL discovered in bed ; GONZAGO and others in the house . ANJOU :
In lucky time: come, let us keep this lane,
And slay his servants that shall issue out. GONZAGO :
Where is the Admiral? ADMIRAL :
O, let me pray before I die! GONZAGO :
Then pray unto our Lady; kiss this cross.
Stabs him . ADMIRAL :
O God, forgive my sins!
Dies . GUISE :
Gonzago, what, is he dead? GONZAGO :
Ay, my lord. GUISE :
Then throw him down.
The body of the ADMIRAL is thrown down . ANJOU :
Now, cousin, view him well:
It may be 'tis some other, and he escap'd. GUISE :
Cousin, 'tis he; I know him by his look.
See where my soldier shot him through the arm;
He miss'd him near, but we have struck him now.
Ah, base Chatillon and degenerate,
Chief standard-bearer to the Lutherans,
Thus, in despite of thy religion,
The Duke of Guise stamps on thy lifeless bulk! ANJOU :
Away with him! Cut off his head and hands,
And send them for a present to the Pope;
And, when this just revenge is finished,
Unto Mount Faucon will we drag his corse;
And he, that living hated so the Cross,
Shall, being dead, be hang'd thereon in chains. GUISE :
Anjou, Gonzago, Retes, if that you three
Will be as resolute as I and Dumaine,
There shall not a Huguenot breathe in France. ANJOU :
I swear by this cross, we'll not be partial,
But slay as many as we can come near. GUISE :
Mountsorrell, go shoot the ordnance off,
That they, which have already set the street,
May know their watchword; then toll the bell,
And so let's forward to the massacre. MOUNTSORRELL :
I will, my lord.
Exit . GUISE :
And now, my lords, let's closely to our business. ANJOU :
Anjou will follow thee. DUMAINE :
And so will Dumaine.
The ordnance being shot off, the bell tolls . GUISE :
Come, then, let's away.
Exeunt .
SCENE SIX
Enter GUISE , and the rest, with their swords drawn, chasing the Protestants . GUISE :
Tue, tue, tue!
Let none escape! Murder the Huguenots! ANJOU :
Kill them! kill them!
Exeunt .
Enter LOREINE , running ; GUISE and the rest pursuing him . GUISE :
Loreine, Loreine! follow Loreine! ÔÇô Sirrah,
Are you a preacher of these heresies? LOREINE :
I am a preacher of the word of God;
And thou a traitor to thy soul and him. GUISE :
'Dearly beloved brother,' ÔÇô thus 'tis written.
Stabs LOREINE , who dies . ANJOU :
Stay, my lord, let me begin the psalm. GUISE :
Come, drag him away, and throw him in a ditch.
Exeunt with the body .
Enter MOUNTSORRELL , and knocks at SEROUNE'S door . SEROUNE'S WIFE ( within ):
Who is that which knocks there? MOUNTSORRELL :
Mountsorrell, from the Duke of Guise. SEROUNE'S WIFE ( within ):
Husband, come down; here's one would speak with you.
From the Duke of Guise.
Enter SEROUNE from the house . SEROUNE :
To speak with me, from such a man as he? MOUNTSORRELL :
Ay, ay, for this, Seroune; and thou shalt ha't.
Showing his dagger . SEROUNE :
O, let me pray, before I take my death! MOUNTSORRELL :
Despatch, then, quickly. SEROUNE :
O Christ, my Saviour! MOUNTSORRELL :
Christ, villain!
Why, darest thou to presume to call on Christ,
Without the intercession of some saint?
Sanctus Jacobus , he's my saint; pray to him. SEROUNE :
O, let me pray unto my God! MOUNTSORRELL :
Then take this with you.
Stabs SEROUNE , who dies, and then exit .
SCENE SEVEN
Enter RAMUS , in his study . RAMUS :
What fearful cries comes from the river Seine,
That fright poor Ramus sitting at his book!
I fear the Guisians have pass'd the bridge,
And mean once more to menace me.
Enter TALAEUS . TALAEUS :
Fly, Ramus, fly, if thou wilt save thy life! RAMUS :
Tell me, Talaeus, wherefore should I fly? TALAEUS :
The Guisians are
Hard at thy door, and mean to murder us.
Hark, hark, they come! I'll leap out at the window. RAMUS :
Sweet Talaeus, stay.
Enter GONZAGO and RETES . GONZAGO :
Who goes there? RETES :
'Tis Talaeus, Ramus' bedfellow. GONZAGO :
What art thou? TALAEUS :
I am, as Ramus is, a Christian. RETES :
O, let him go; he is a Catholic.
Exit TALAEUS . GONZAGO :
Come, Ramus, more gold, or thou shalt have the stab. RAMUS :
Alas, I am a scholar! How should I have gold?
All that I have is but my stipend from the king,
Which is no sooner receiv'd but it is spent.
Enter GUISE , ANJOU , DUMAINE , MOUNTSORRELL , and SOLDIERS . ANJOU :
Who have you there? RETES :
'Tis Ramus, the king's Professor of Logic. GUISE :
Stab him. RAMUS :
O, good my lord,
Wherein hath Ramus been so offensious? GUISE :
Marry, sir, in having a smack in all,
And yet didst never sound anything to the depth.
Was it not thou that scoff'st the Organon ,
And said it was a heap of vanities?
He that will be a flat dichotomist,
And seen in nothing but epitomes,
Is in your judgment thought a learned man;
And he, forsooth, must go and preach in Germany,
Excepting against doctors' axioms,
And ipse dixi with this quiddity,
Argumentum testimonii est inartificials .
To contradict which, I say, Ramus shall die:
How answer you that? Your nego argumentum
Cannot serve, sirrah. ÔÇô Kill him. RAMUS :
O, good my lord, let me but speak a word! ANJOU :
Well, say on. RAMUS :
Not for my life do I desire this pause;
But in my latter hour to purge myself,
In that I know the things that I have wrote,
Which, as I hear, one Scheckius takes it ill,
Because my places, being three, contains all his.
I knew the Organon to be confus'd,
And I reduc'd it into better form:
And this for Aristotle will I say,
That he that despiseth him can ne'er
Be good in logic or philosophy;
And that's because the blockish Sorbonnists
Attribute as much unto their works
As to the service of the eternal God. GUISE :
Why suffer you that peasant to declaim?
Stab him, I say, and send him to his friends in hell. ANJOU :
Ne'er was there collier's son so full of pride.
Stabs RAMUS , who dies . GUISE :
My Lord of Anjou, there are a hundred Protestants,
Which we have chas'd into the river Seine,
That swim about, and so preserve their lives.
How may we do? I fear me they will live. DUMAINE :
Go place some men upon the bridge,
With bows and darts, to shoot at them they see,
And sink them in the river as they swim. GUISE :
'Tis well advis'd, Dumaine; go see it straight be done.
Exit DUMAINE .
And in the meantime, my lord, could we devise
To get those pedants from the King Navarre,
That are tutors to him and the Prince of Conde ÔÇô ANJOU :
For that, let me alone: cousin, stay you here
And when you see me in, then follow hard.
ANJOU knocketh at the door; and enter the KING OF NAVARRE and the PRINCE OF CONDÉ , with their two SCHOOLMASTERS .
How now, my lords! How fare you? NAVARRE :
My lord, they say
That all the Protestants are massacred. ANJOU :
Ay, so they are; but yet, what remedy?
I have done what I could to stay this broil. NAVARRE :
But yet, my lord, the report doth run,
That you were one that made this massacre. ANJOU :
Who I? you are deceiv'd; I rose but now.
GUISE , GONZAGO , RETES , MOUNTSORRELL , and SOLDIERS , come forward . GUISE :
Murder the Huguenots! Take those pedants hence! NAVARRE :
Thou traitor, Guise, lay off thy bloody hands! CONDÉ :
Come, let us go tell the king.
Exit with the KING OF NAVARRE . GUISE :
Come sirs,
I'll whip you to death with my poniard's point.
Stabs the SCHOOLMASTERS , who die . ANJOU :
Away with them both!
Exeunt ANJOU and SOLDIERS with the bodies . GUISE :
And now, sirs, for this night let our fury stay.
Yet will we not that the massacre shall end.
Gonzago, post you to Orleans,
Retes to Dieppe, Mountsorrell unto Rouen,
And spare not one that you suspect of heresy.
And now stay
That bell, that to the devil's matins rings.
Now every man put off his burgonet,
And so convey him closely to his bed.
Exeunt .
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