Mary Stuart | Page 8

laws of England say I could not.]
It is enacted by the
English laws
That every one who stands arraigned of crime
Shall
plead before a jury of his equals:
Who is my equal in this high
commission?
Kings only are my peers.
BURLEIGH.
But yet you heard
The points of accusation, answered them
Before
the court----
MARY.
'Tis true, I was deceived
By Hatton's crafty counsel:--he advised me,

For my own honor, and in confidence
In my good cause, and my
most strong defence,
To listen to the points of accusation,
And
prove their falsehoods. This, my lord, I did
From personal respect for
the lords' names,
Not their usurped charge, which I disclaim.
BURLEIGH.
Acknowledge you the court, or not, that is
Only a
point of mere formality,
Which cannot here arrest the course of
justice.
You breathe the air of England; you enjoy
The law's
protection, and its benefits;
You therefore are its subject.
MARY.
Sir, I breathe
The air within an English prison walls:
Is that to live
in England; to enjoy
Protection from its laws? I scarcely know
And
never have I pledged my faith to keep them.
I am no member of this
realm; I am
An independent, and a foreign queen.
BURLEIGH.
And do you think that the mere name of queen
Can

serve you as a charter to foment
In other countries, with impunity,

This bloody discord? Where would be the state's
Security, if the stern
sword of justice
Could not as freely smite the guilty brow
Of the
imperial stranger as the beggar's?
MARY.
I do not wish to be exempt from judgment,
It is the judges
only I disclaim.
BURLEIGH.
The judges? How now, madam? Are they then
Base
wretches, snatched at hazard from the crowd?
Vile wranglers that
make sale of truth and justice;
Oppression's willing hirelings, and its
tools?
Are they not all the foremost of this land,
Too independent to
be else than honest,
And too exalted not to soar above
The fear of
kings, or base servility?
Are they not those who rule a generous
people
In liberty and justice; men, whose names
I need but mention
to dispel each doubt,
Each mean suspicion which is raised against
them?
Stands not the reverend primate at their head,
The pious
shepherd of his faithful people,
The learned Talbot, keeper of the
seals,
And Howard, who commands our conquering fleets?
Say,
then, could England's sovereign do more
Than, out of all the
monarchy, elect
The very noblest, and appoint them judges
In this
great suit? And were it probable
That party hatred could corrupt one
heart;
Can forty chosen men unite to speak
A sentence just as
passion gives command?
MARY (after a short pause).
I am struck dumb by that tongue's
eloquence,
Which ever was so ominous to me.
And how shall I, a
weak, untutored woman,
Cope with so subtle, learned an orator?

Yes truly; were these lords as you describe them,
I must be mute; my
cause were lost indeed,
Beyond all hope, if they pronounce me guilty.

But, sir, these names, which you are pleased to praise,

These very
men, whose weight you think will crush me,
I see performing in the
history
Of these dominions very different parts:
I see this high
nobility of England,
This grave majestic senate of the realm,
Like

to an eastern monarch's vilest slaves,
Flatter my uncle Henry's sultan
fancies:
I see this noble, reverend House of Lords,
Venal alike with
the corrupted Commons,
Make statutes and annul them, ratify
A
marriage and dissolve it, as the voice
Of power commands: to-day it
disinherits,
And brands the royal daughters of the realm
With the
vile name of bastards, and to-morrow
Crowns them as queens, and
leads them to the throne.
I see them in four reigns, with pliant
conscience,
Four times abjure their faith; renounce the pope
With
Henry, yet retain the old belief;
Reform themselves with Edward;
hear the mass
Again with Mary; with Elizabeth,
Who governs now,
reform themselves again.
BURLEIGH.
You say you are not versed in England's laws,
You
seem well read, methinks, in her disasters.
MARY.
And these men are my judges?
[As LORD BURLEIGH seems to wish to speak.
My lord treasurer,
Towards you I will be just, be you but just
To me.
'Tis said that you consult with zeal
The good of England, and of
England's queen;
Are honest, watchful, indefatigable;
I will believe
it. Not your private ends,
Your sovereign and your country's weal
alone,
Inspire your counsels and direct your deeds.
Therefore, my
noble lord, you should the more
Distrust your heart; should see that
you mistake not
The welfare of the government for justice.
I do not
doubt, besides yourself, there are
Among my judges many upright
men:
But they are Protestants, are eager all
For England's quiet, and
they sit in judgment
On me, the Queen of Scotland, and the papist.

It is an ancient saying, that the Scots
And England to each other are
unjust;
And hence the rightful custom that a Scot
Against an
Englishman, or Englishman

Against a Scot, cannot be heard in
judgment.
Necessity prescribed this cautious law;
Deep policy oft
lies in ancient customs:
My lord, we must respect them. Nature cast


Into the ocean these two fiery nations
Upon this plank, and she
divided it
Unequally, and bade them fight for it.
The narrow bed of
Tweed alone divides
These daring spirits; often hath the blood
Of
the contending parties dyed