A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 14 — John Shaqi
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 14
General
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 14
English drama
KING. Which too much overweening insolence
Hath quite ta'en from thee. Eleazar, up,
And from us sway this staff of Regency.
ALL. How's this!
PHIL. Dare sons presume to break their father's will?
KING. Dare subjects countercheck their sovereign's will?
'Tis done, and who gainsays it, is a traitor.
PHIL. I do, Fernando, yet am I no traitor.
MEN. Fernando, I am wrong'd; by Peter's chair,
Mendoza vows revenge. I'll lay aside
My cardinal's hat, and in a wall of steel,
The glorious livery of a soldier,
Fight for my late-lost honour.
KING. Cardinal!
MEN. King! thou shalt be no king for wronging me.
The Pope shall send his bulls through all thy realm,
And pull obedience from thy subjects' hearts,
To put on armour of the Mother Church.
Curses shall fall like lightnings on thy head,
Bell, book, and candle: holy water, prayers,
Shall all chime vengeance to the court of Spain,
Till they have power to conjure down that fiend,
That damn'd Moor, that devil, that Lucifer,
That dares aspire the staff the card'nal sway'd.
ELE. Ha, ha, ha! I laugh yet, that the cardinal's vex'd.
PHIL. Laugh'st thou, base slave! the wrinkles of that scorn
Thine own heart's blood shall fill. Brother, farewell;
Since you disprove the will our father left
For base lust of a loathed concubine.
ELE. Ha! concubine! who does Prince Philip mean?
PHIL. [_To_ ELEAZAR.] Thy wife. [_To_ ALVERO.] Thy daughter.
Base, aspiring lords,
Who to buy honour are content to sell
Your names to infamy, your souls to hell.
And stamp you now? Do, do, for you shall see
I go for vengeance, and she'll come with me.
ELE. Stay, for she's here already, see, proud boy.
[_They both draw._
QUEEN-M. Hold! stay this fury; if you long for blood,
Murder me first. Dear son, you are a king;
Then stay the violent tempest of their wrath.
KING. Shall kings be oversway'd in their desires?
ROD. Shall subjects be oppress'd by tyranny?
QUEEN-M. No state shall suffer wrong; then hear me speak:
Mendoza, you have sworn you love the queen;
Then by that love I charge you leave these arms.
Eleazar, for those favours I have given you,
Embrace the cardinal, and be friends with him.
ELE. And have my wife call'd strumpet to my face!
QUEEN-M. 'Twas rage made his tongue err; do you not know
The violent love Mendoza bears the queen?
Then speak him fair, for in that honey'd breath
I'll lay a bait shall train him to his death.
[_Aside._
Come, come, I see your looks give way to peace;
Lord Cardinal, begin; and [_Aside_] for reward,
Ere this fair setting sun behold his bride,
Be bold to challenge love, yet be denied.
MEN. That promise makes me yield.
[_Aside._]
My gracious lord,
Though my disgrace hath graven its memory
On every Spaniard's eye, yet shall the duty
I owe your sacred highness, and the love
My country challengeth, make me lay by
Hostile intendments, and return again
To the fair circle of obedience.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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