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THE

MASSACRE AT PARIS.

ACT THE FIRST.

SCENE I.

Enter CHARLES, the French King; the QUEEN MOTHER; KING of NAVARRE; MARGARET; the PRINCE of CONDE; the LORD HIGH ADMIRAL; the OLD QUEEN of NAVARRE, and others.

CHAR. Prince of Navarre, my honourable brother,
Prince Condé, 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 fuel'd in our progeny.

NAV. The many favours which your grace has shewn,

From time to time, but specially in this,

Shall bind me ever to your highness' will,

In what Queen Mother or your grace commands. Qu. Mo. Thanks, son Navarre; you see we love you well,

That link you in marriage with our daughter here;

VOL. I.

19

And as you know our difference in religion,
Might be a means to cross you in your love-
CHAR. Well, madam, let that rest.—

And now, my lords, the marriage rites performed,
We think it good to go and consummate

The rest, with hearing of an holy mass.

Sister, I think yourself will bear us company.
MAR. I will, my good lord.

CHAR. The rest that will not go, my lords, may

stay.

Come, mother, let us go to honour this solemnity. Q. Mo. Which I'll dissolve with blood and cruelty.

[Aside. [Exeunt all but Navarre, Condé, and the Lord

High Admiral.

NAV. Prince Condé and my good Lord Admiral, Now Guise may storm, but do us little hurt, Having the king-Queen Mother on our side, 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 giv'n consent thereto,) That all the protestants that are in Paris. Should have been murdered the other night? ADм. My lord, I marvel that th' aspiring Guise, Dares once adventure, without the king's assent, To meddle or attempt such dangerous things.

CON. My lord you need not marvel at the Guise, For what he doth, the Pope will ratify,

In murder, mischief, or in tyranny.

NAV. 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.

ADM. 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. NAV. 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 II.

Enter GUISE.

GUISE. If ever Hymen low'r'd at marriage rites, And had his altars deck'd with dusky lights; If ever sun stain'd heav'n 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.-

Enter the APOTHECARY.

APOTH. 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 late I sent To be poisoned? Hast thou done them? Speak. Will ev'ry savour breed a pang of death?

APOTH. See where they be, my lord; and he that smells

But to them, dies.

GUISE. Then thou remainest resolute?

APOTH.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.
Begone, my friend, present them to her straight.-
Soldier!
[Exit Apoth.

SOL. My lord.

Enter a SOLDIER.

GUISE. Now come thou forth, and play thy tragic

part.

Stand in some window, op'ning 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.
SOL. I will, my lord.

[Exit.

GUISE. Now, Guise, begin 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 ev'ry 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 nought,
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,
Contrive, imagine, and fully execute,

Matters of import aimed at by many,

Yet understood by none.

For this, hath heav'n engender'd me of earth;
For this, the 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 Catholic
Sends Indian gold to coin me French ecus;
For this, have 1 a largess from the pope ;
A pension, and a dispensation too;
And by that privilege to work upon,
My policy hath framed religion.

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