And so the ties are too.

Card. To cut things short,

The Commons will decree, to exclude Navarre
From the succession of the realm of France.

King. Decree, my lord! What! one estate decree?
Where then are the other two, and what am I?
The government is cast up somewhat short,
The clergy and nobility cashiered,
Five hundred popular figures on a row,
And I myself, that am, or should be, king,
An o'ergrown cypher set before the sum:

What reasons urge our sovereigns for the exclusion?
Arch. He stands suspected, sir, of heresy.

King. Has he been called to make his just defence?
Card. That needs not, for 'tis known.
King. To whom?

Card. The Commons.

King. What is't those gods, the Commons, do not know?

But heresy, you churchmen teach us vulgar,
Supposes obstinate, and stiff persisting
In errors proved, long admonitions made,
And all rejected: Has this course been used?
Arch. We grant it has not; but—

I

King. Nay, give me leave,

urge, from your own grant, it has not been. If then, in process of a petty sum,

Both parties having not been fully heard,

No sentence can be given;

Much less in the succession of a crown,

Which, after my decease, by right inherent,
Devolves upon my brother of Navarre.

Card. The right of souls is still to be preferred;

Religion must not suffer for a claim.

King. If kings may be excluded, or deposed,
Whene'er you cry religion to the crowd;
That doctrine makes rebellion orthodox,

And subjects must be traitors, to be saved.
Arch. Then heresy's entailed upon the throne.
King. You would entail confusion, wars, and
slaughters:

Those ills are certain; what you name, contingent.
I know my brother's nature; 'tis sincere,
Above deceit, no crookedness of thought;
Says what he means, and what he says performs;
Brave, but not rash; successful, but not proud;
So much acknowledging, that he's uneasy,
Till every petty service be o'erpaid.
Arch. Some say, revengeful.

King. Some then libel him;

But that's what both of us have learned to bear.
He can forgive, but you disdain forgiveness.
Your chiefs are they no libel must profane;
Honour's a sacred thing in all but kings;
But when your rhymes assassinate our fame,
You hug your nauseous, blundering ballad-wits,
And pay them, as if nonsense were a merit,
If it can mean but treason.

Arch. Sir, we have many arguments to urge-
King. And I have more to answer: Let them know,
My royal brother of Navarre shall stand
Secure by right, by merit, and my love.
God, and good men, will never fail his cause,
And all the bad shall be constrained by laws.
Arch. Since gentle means to exclude Navarre are
vain,

To-morrow, in the States, 'twill be proposed,
To make the duke of Guise lieutenant-general;
Which power, most graciouly confirmed by you,
Will stop this headlong torrent of succession,
That bears religion, laws, and all before it.
In hope you'll not oppose what must be done,
We wish you, sir, a long and prosperous reign.
[Exeunt all but the King.

King. To-morrow Guise is made lieutenant-general;

Why, then, to-morrow I no more am king.
"Tis time to push my slackened vengeance home,
To be a king, or not to be at all.

The vow that manacled my rage is loosed;
Even heaven is wearied with repeated crimes,
Till lightning flashes round, to guard the throne,
And the curbed thunder grumbles to be gone.

Enter GRILLON to him.

Gril. 'Tis just the appointed hour you bid me wait. King. So just, as if thou wert inspired to come; As if the guardian-angel of my throne,

Who had o'erslept himself so many years,
Just now was roused, and brought thee to my rescue.
Gril. I hear the Guise will be lieutenant-general.
King. And canst thou suffer it?

Gril. Nay, if you will suffer it, then well may I. If kings will be so civil to their subjects, to give up all things tamely, they first turn rebels to themselves, and that's a fair example for their friends. 'Slife, sir, 'tis a dangerous matter to be loyal on the wrong side, to serve my prince in spite of him; if you'll be a royalist yourself, there are millions of honest men will fight for you; you; but if you will not, there are few will hang for you.

King. No more: I am resolved.

The course of things can be with-held no longer
From breaking forth to their appointed end:
My vengeance, ripened in the womb of time,
Presses for birth, and longs to be disclosed.
Grillon, the Guise is doomed to sudden death:
The sword must end him :-has not thine an edge?
Gril. Yes, and a point too; I'll challenge him.
King. I bid thee kill him.
Gril. So I mean to do.

[Walking.

King. Without thy hazard.

Gril. Now I understand you; I should murder him: I am your soldier, sir, but not your hangman. King. Dost thou not hate him?

Gril. Yes.

King. Hast thou not said, That he deserves it?

Gril. Yes; but how have I Deserved to do a murder?

King, 'Tis no murder;

'Tis sovereign justice, urged from self-defence. Gril, 'Tis all confest, and yet I dare not do't. King. Go; thou art a coward.

Gril. You are my king.

King. Thou say'st, thou dar'st not kill him.
Gril. Were I a coward, I had been a villain,

And then I durst have done't.

King. Thou hast done worse, in thy long course of arms.

Hast thou ne'er killed a man?

Gril. Yes, when a man would have killed me. King. Hast thou not plundered from the helpless poor?

Snatched from the sweating labourer his food?

Gril. Sir, I have eaten and drank in my own defence, when I was hungry and thirsty; I have plundered, when you have not paid me; I have been content with a farmer's daughter, when a better whore was not to be had. As for cutting off a traitor, I'll execute him lawfully in my own function, when I meet him in the field; but for your chamber-practice, that's not my talent.

King. Is my revenge unjust, or tyrannous? Heaven knows I love not blood.

Gril. No, for your mercy is your only vice. You may dispatch a rebel lawfully, but the mischief is, that rebel has given me my life at the barricadoes,

and, till I have returned his bribe, I am not upon even terms with him.

King. Give me thy hand; I love thee not the

worse:

Make much of honour, 'tis a soldier's conscience. Thou shalt not do this act; thou art even too good; But keep my secret, for that's conscience too.

Gril. When I disclose it, think I am a coward. King. No more of that, I know thou art not one. Call Lognac hither straight, and St Malin; Bid Larchant find some unsuspected means, To keep guards doubled at the council-door, That none pass in or out, but those I call: The rest I'll think on further; so farewell.

Gril. Heaven bless your majesty! Though I'll not kill him for you, I'll defend you when he's killed: For the honest part of the job let me alone *.

[Exeunt severally.

* This famous interview betwixt Grillon and the king deserved to have been brought on the stage, in a nobler strain, and free from the buffoonery, by which the veteran's character is degraded. It is thus told by Davila: Trattandosi delle persone, che avessero da eseguire il fatto, il Re elesse di fidarsene nel Maestro di campo della sua guardia Griglione, uomo feroce e ardito e per molte cagioni nemico del Duca di Guisa. Fattolo perciò venire, gli espose con accomodate parole il suo pensiero, e gli significò aver disegnato, che egli fosse quello, che eseguisse l' impresa, nella quale consisteva tutta la sua salute. Griglione rispose con brevi e significanti parole: Sire, Io sono ben servitore a Vostra Maestà di somma fedeltà e divozione, ma faccio professione di soldato, e di cavaliero; s' ella vuoles ch' io vada a sfidare il Duca di Guisa, e che mi ammazzi a corpo a corpo con lui, son pronto a farlo in questo istesso punto; mà ch' io serva di manigoldo, mentre la giustizia sua determina di farlo morire, questo non si conviene a par mio, nè sono per farlo giammai. Il Re non si stupì molto della libertà di Griglione, noto a lui e a tutta la corte per uomo schietto, e che libramente diceca i suoi sensi senza timore alcuno, e però replicò; che gli bastava, che tenesse segreto