Raf. Yes—dear Aseffa—but—(Faints)
Asef. Rafael! Rafael!
Ah dying! O my prating virtue ’s gone!
I care for naught but that my love shall live!
O, Liberty, wilt spare me this one life?
... Ho! Miguel! Up!
Mig. Hey! What! Senora!... Ah!
Lerdo. What ’s here?
Asef. There ’s wine in the general’s tent! Rafael!
My love, my love, look up!... O Mexico,
With all thy veins of gold thou art not worth
One dear drop of his blood!
(Enter General Trevino)
Trev. What ’s this new grief?
Not Rafael!... He faints. ’T is hunger ... hunger.
Miguel! Lerdo! Bear him to my tent.
Give him what food you find there. First the wine!
(Soldiers go out with Rafael. Aseffa follows. As she passes the general she drops to her knees and kisses his hands)
Trev. (Alone) Starvation now or plunder. We ’ll quarter where
We can.... A horseman! If ’t is Ignacio
We shall have news.
(Enter Ignacio, from riding)
Ig. Who ’s here?
Trev. Ignacio?
Ig. (Saluting) Your pardon, sir!
Trev. You’re from the capital?
Ig. Three days ago I left the city. I ’ve slept
On horseback since.
Trev. Your news!
Ig. We fight an empire.
The Austrian is crowned.
Trev. Impossible!
Where are our people? Salas? and LeVal?
Ig. They shouted at his welcome. At Vera Cruz
Began the unholy pageantry, that showed
As Christ had come again and all men knew him!
Each province drained its beauty by the way;
The mules that drew him caught the vanity
And picked their steps on flowers.
Trev. Tell me no more.
O Gratitude, thou hast no home on earth!
Twelve months did Juarez rule, and in twelve months
Did what no man can do but God is with him!
He healed contention’s wounds, set up new schools,
Released the land from priestcraft’s ancient grip,
Rebuilt our credit, destroyed by Miramon,
The robber president, who bonded the land
To France, then set the sword of Europe ’gainst us
Because we could not pay the unjust debt
From treasuries that his own hands had emptied.
O, ’t was a crime too big for Heaven’s eye,
And so God let it pass! France could not know—
But our own people knew—how Juarez toiled
To shape the nation to his noble thought!
Ig. Yes—yes—they knew!
Trev. We ’ll break our swords, my boy.
We have no country.
Ig. Is my uncle yet
In Texas?
Trev. Ay, and we will go to him.
... Ungrateful ground that casts all goodness from it,
And sucks a gilded poison!
(Enter Rafael, Aseffa, Miguel, Lerdo, and others of the camp)
Raf. (To Trevino) Sir, you will miss
Your breakfast, but I pledge my sword you ’ll have
To-morrow’s supper!... Ignacio!
Ig. You here,
My Rafael! (They embrace) Aseffa too!
Asef. Dear friend! (They greet affectionately)
Raf. And Maximilian is crowned?
Ig. Yes ... crowned.
Raf. You saw him?
Ig. In the cathedral, with the empress.
Asef. The empress?
Raf. What looks he like? This Austrian duke
That with a stolen crown mocks majesty!
Ig. He looks like majesty, and yet is graced
With Nature’s gentlest stamp; his countenance
Takes beauty from his smile; his smile, one thinks,
Takes sweetness from a heart that has its own
Nobility from heaven.
Trev. An enemy
Well praised!
Asef. The empress? She bewitched you too?
(Ignacio is silent)
Come, sir! The truth of her!
Ig. The truth? Go ask
The angels. They ’ve tongues for such sweet purpose.
Trev. What!
Ignacio turned squire o’ the empire?
Ig. No.
But I can read a holy woman’s face,
Though she by some strange counterfeit of truth
Would put an empress’ foot upon our necks.
Ig. Like nothing but herself.
She is not gentle, for gentleness is but
Rude servant to that quality in her;
Gracious she ’s not, for grace herself doth serve
A poor handmaiden to her excellence;
Nor beautiful, for Beauty asks her name
To wear but that and know her own no more.
(In the silence that follows a rider rushes up and dismounts)
Messenger. Where is the general, Trevino?
Trev. Here.
Mess. Juarez approaches. (Saluting)
Trev. Juarez! Call up the camp!
Light all the beacons! Juarez! Build up the fires!
Shouts. Juarez! Juarez! Hurrah! El presidente!
Trev. We ’ll let him know the hearts he left i’ the hills
Still beat with loyal blood!
Shouts. Juarez! Juarez! (Enter Juarez. Silence)
Jua. Trevino!
Trev. Your Excellency! (They embrace) You ’ve heard?
Jua. I know.
Now monarchy has spread her gilded sails,
And from the East comes like another sun
To blind our eyes with wonder of a crown
While shackling us by hand and foot to earth.
But from these mountains will arise a queen,
The figure grey of ancient Liberty,
Mourning and wronged, but with the unpaling star
Of God’s own favor set upon her brow:
These two shall meet—and that mock sun go down!
Trev. You still have hope when Mexico deserts us?
Jua. Dost read your country in the smile she shows
Her conqueror? She has a heart beneath!
Ay, sir, did she not prove it at Puebla?
Where dead fell on the dead with gun in hand
Still pointed to the French! Where, hope once lost,
And the enemy pouring through the shattered gates,
Our men blew up their city and themselves
To keep their souls free from Napoleon!
These men have brothers left, and sons,
And they are Mexico!
Soldiers. El presidente!
Liberty and Juarez!
A soldier. (Waving his sword) We ’ll be revenged,
Or spill more blood than hell can drink!
Soldiers. Down with the empire! Death to Maximilian!
Jua. No, not revenge,—but justice. That’s enough.
We ’ve but to wait—and strike. Yon mists now spread
Their fair illusion o’er the eternal mountains
’Till ’t seems they are the world, and the great hills
Are naught. But by to-morrow’s noon-sun see
Their fortunes faded as a dream of night,
While the rock peak looks up as if to say
From the foundation of the world I am!
So will this glamour o’er our godly cause
Pass as a breath, while all the world shall read
Our right and title to unbonded life
In our free bosoms founded and God-set!
A soldier. We ’ll die for freedom!
Jua. Die? That’s the one thing
We can not do. We may lie down in graves,
But from our living dust will spring new challenge
To make in noble minds continual war
Until our race be righted!
Trev. Many fly
From our misfortunes. Amaldo and LeVal—
Jua. Call ’t not misfortune that teaches us our friends.
Now are we sifted and the chaff is known!
... LeVal! ... But Diaz is true?
Trev. On yonder mountain
His fires make answer for him.
Jua. (Looking into distance) Forgive me, comrade!
I know you true, and sooner will yon moon
Make her last change and fall than you change once
From the full circle of a complete man....
(Turns and sees Ignacio)
My nephew here?
Ig. Just from the capital.
Jua. Where you must back again. Rafael, too!
Both my young soldiers! My right arm and my left,—
Though which is which I know not. Ignacio,
You saw the Austrian? No matter. He ’s but
The drift-piece of a rotten monarchy
That thinks to graft upon the living tree
Of our new-sprung republic! We ’ll shake him off
As a June oak a spray of winter wreck,
Nor ever know he clung upon our boughs!
Ig. The church is powerful yet, and seeks to join
Her cause with his.
Jua. The church? Say not the church,
But mockers in Christ’s name, who steal the land
And drain its fruitage into Satan’s purse,
Keeping the poor a race of hopeless slaves
Who worship their own shackles! O, Ignorance,
Thou art the great slave-master! Thy very chains
Are vital and beget themselves; and he
Who strikes them seems the monster of the earth
To the poor serf who thinks it is himself
That bleeds! The church be with our foe, with us
Be God, we ’ll ask no more. Hear me, my men!
The great republic of the North ’s our friend.
When her own war is done you ’ll hear her speak
To France in cannon tones that will make quake
Napoleon on his throne! That great mock-god.
Who seeks to free all men that he may fit
Their necks to his own yoke! (With growing intensity) That adder who
Would coil about the world! That serpent scruffed
With white deceit and low ambition’s slime,
That crept into the garden of my dream
And cankered bud and root, nursed by my toil,
Fed with my dearest blood! Ay, he will quake,
And cry for mercy to a stony Heaven
Whose pity drops long since were drained upon
The woe that he hath made! Ay, he—
Trev. (Touching him) But now,
My friend?
Jua. (Composed) You’re right. No more of that. Nephew!
Ig. Here, sir!
Jua. Your place will be the capital.
We must have eyes there, and a heart to serve us.
This hour set out. Here are instructions. (Gives papers)
Trev. Sir,
He ’s had no rest.
Jua. True ... true....
Ig. And need none when
Juarez commands.
Jua. (Taking his hand) Thou ’rt still my son. My house
Will not fall down when I no longer prop it.
Raf. May I not beg this office, sir?
Trev. Send him!
His heart is in the hills, and he ’ll come back.
Ignacio ’s yet unanchored. Trust him not
To high tides of a court.
Jua. I trust them both.
But my own blood I know. (To Ig.) Kneel for the oath.
(Ignacio kneels. Murmurs around, then silence. Juarez takes a crucifix from his bosom and holds it over Ignacio)
Jua. By this true image of the bleeding Christ,
May you be damned to everlasting fire,
Nor prayers of saints lift up your soul from hell,
If you prove false in what you undertake
This night for Mexico!
Ig. By Christ’s own blood.
I swear, and may that blood be powerless
To save me from the damned if I prove false!
Jua. The stars that hold
The witness angels of the Lord have heard
Thy oath.
Ig. (Rising and looking up)
Let them record it.
Asef. (Fearfully) Ah!
Trev. (Holding out a brand) The brand!
Jua. Not that!
Ig. (Baring his arm) I choose it!
(Trevino quickly brands his arm with a cross. Juarez, too late, dashes the brand from his hand)
Ig. (Throwing up his arm) Sealed to the cause!
(Hurries to go)
Jua. My boy! (Ignacio returns for Juarez’ embrace)
Ig. (Going) Liberty and Juarez!
Soldiers. Juarez!
Liberty and Juarez!
(All but Juarez follow Ignatius out, cheering)
Hurrah! hurrah!
(Juarez draws his grey mantle about him and stands silent. The fires die down. The moon clouds. He looks up invoking)
Jua. Spirit of Montezuma, be thou here
And on thy son drop wisdom out of Heaven,
That these thy children he may lead to peace,
And this thy country give again to him
Who set his iron in the earth and said
“Man, make thy weapon; there shall be no slaves!”
(CURTAIN)
ACT II.
Scene I: Palace of Chapultapec. Hall adjoining ball room. Gaily dressed women, and men in glittering official costumes passing doors. Marquez and Mejia talking.
Mar. You ’ve caught Trevino!
Mejia. Rafael Mendorez too.
Mar. Still better. You ’ll have them shot at once?
Mejia. They ’ve too many friends. I must have the emperor’s warrant.
Mar. He will sign the decree to-night.
Mejia. The Lord be thanked! I ’m tired of risking life and men taking prisoners that his majesty may have the pleasure of pardoning them.
Mar. If he signs the decree he will be sure to reserve the right to pardon. You must try my method.
Mejia. And that?
Mar. Shoot on the spot, and report no captures.
(Enter from the ball room Maximilian, Marshal Bazaine, General Miramon, and Count Charles)
Mir. Your majesty will sign the law to-night?
Max. These men wear the brave name of soldiers; fight
Beneath a flag, and claim the rights of war.
Baz. They borrow war’s fair name to kill and plunder!
Max. It was my dream when I took up this crown
To claim each subject of the land my own.
Mir. And so you may, your majesty. ’T is true.
These men are subjects to no law or nation;
They are not Mexico’s; they are not God’s;
But from the heavenly and the human pale
They have outbarred themselves. Our honest land
Has cast them out as venom to her health!
Nurse not this canker in your realm, my lord!
Max. I do not know ... but here ’s my head and heart,
(Touching Prince Salm-Salm and Count Charles)
And they may answer. Prince, what do you say?
Prince Salm. As friend and soldier to your majesty,
I must advise the passage of the law.
Max. You, Charles?
Char. My lord, if as you say, these men
Fight ’neath a flag, and for supposéd rights,
You violate the law of noble nations
In sentencing to death the prisoners
Of recognizéd war.
Baz. (Sneering) Sir, recognized?
Char. Does not the United States still call Juarez
The president of Mexico?
Baz. Why, count,
You ’d best consult those books of yours again!
Juarez has fled and given up his cause.
These men are robbers! Your majesty will sign?
Max. Forgive me, friends, if I again say no.
Mir. Your majesty, ’t is we should ask your pardon
For having failed to lustre as we should
This seeming-dark decree,—so wise, so just,
And as undoubtedly your duteous act
As though some stern necessity of the stars
Enjoined it.
Max. (Uneasily) Press it not now. The people wait.
(All but Marquez go into ballroom)
Mar. Some fools have sat on crowns but not for long.
He ’ll sign. The Liberals must be dispatched
Fast as we capture them, for we ’ve short time.
The United States will soon be free again
To turn to us, and what we wish to do
Must be well done ere that. Dispatch! Dispatch!
Use Maximilian and the French to crush
The Liberals, then with the church unite
To pull down Maximilian and set up—
Marquez!... The Empress—and Ignacio!
One I suspect,—a half-breed full of pride!
Who ’d have the court forget his Indian mother
And bear in mind his father was a noble!
(Goes aside.
Enter Carlotta and Ignacio, followed by Prince and
Princess Zichy, Prince and Princess Salm-Salm, Princess
Josefa de Varela, Colonel Lopez, making merry with a
fortune teller. The Empress steps apart with Ignacio)
Car. Ignacio! I ’ve met strange looks to-night!
Ig. But not unkind ones, noble madam?
Car. O, such
As can not be distinguished by a word,
Cold, warm, or dark or fair, bitter or kind!
Ah, looks that will not advertise the heart,
And yet betray too much!
Car. A little coldness that might melt to love,
A little pity that might soon be hate,
A fair ‘God with you’ shaping to a curse—
Ig. What eye can harbor evil meeting yours
Where lies a grace that turns all ill to virtue?
Car. Would all were true as you, Ignacio!
(Looks to ballroom and shudders)
Those eyes! Would I looked not so deep in eyes!
... You love my lord?
Ig. I do, your majesty.
Car. Above all other men? (He is silent) Nay, do not answer!
’T was wrong to ask, for you have kinsmen maybe,
Brother, or uncle, some one dear in blood
Whom Heaven bids you cherish. But you will guard
Your Emperor! You ’ll watch with me for foes?
For foes? He has none! How the thought
Blasphemes his excellence! But ’t is a world
Where whitest merit draws the darkest souls
To prey upon it, while mere indifferent good
Escapes!... Ignacio, is it true, Juarez
Is not in Mexico?
Ig. O, madam!
Car. Ah!
Is ’t true the Liberals are disbanded?
Ig. True?
Car. You do not answer, sir!
Ig. It is not true.
Car. You know it! You? And they still hope?
Ig. They do.
Car. Then we are playing with an enemy!
How do you know?... You traitor, too!... O Heaven!
’T is time now to be up or treachery
Will take us all asleep! (Goes from him)
Ig. (Following her) O madam! madam!
My heart is all your own!
Car. (Turning to him) Forgive me, friend,
And I will wrong no more these honest eyes.
But there is danger here, and we must strike!
We hold a nation’s future in our hands,
And now defence is virtue, patience crime!
Ig. Your majesty—
Car. (Not heeding) Shall we stand here and smile
Till rebel blows have shattered life and throne?
... Dupin shall drive these desperate people back—
This law be signed—
Ig. (With horror) Dear Christ!
Car. What do you mean?
Ig. Will Maximilian pass a law of death,
Condemning patriots to a robber’s grave?
O, Empress, sue upon your knees that he
Do not this thing, for every act of his
Not marked with justice to his enemies
Will rob him of the pity they would show
When victory is theirs! He writes his doom
As certainly as he doth set his name
To that black law, and gives Dupin his will
Among our helpless people!
Princess Zichy. (From group about the gipsy, as all laugh)
Your majesty,
You heard?
Car. I heard. (To Ignacio, much disturbed) Go join them! Go! (Ignacio joins group) He ’s true!
My lord in danger!
Princess de Varela. Now mother, my hand next!
(Gipsy scans her hand)
Car. ‘Rob him of pity!’ ‘When victory is theirs!’
I know the pity given to the fallen
In this blood-drunken land! There ’s but one way...
We must not fall!... ’T is war, then,—war! Not for
An empire, no,—but Maximilian’s life!
And we must use the weapons in our hands!
Gip. (Reading)
Days of brightness, days of smiles,
Read I here or Fate beguiles!
Princess S. O these fortunes are like lines from a fairy book! Surely we are not all going to be happy!
Gip. I ’ll read for you, madam.
Princess S. But let not your change of song begin with me, dark mother!
Gip. (Reading)
Days of darkness, days of moan!
A friend shall sigh, a friend shall fall,
And wring thy bosom more than all
The sorrow that thou yet hast known!
Princess S. O think better of it, mother!
Gip. Your sweet eyes deserve a better portion than tears, and I read too,
But ere thy last hour be nigh
Sorrow from thy breast shall fly!
Princess S. A friend, you say? I thank you, ’t was not my husband!
Gip.
And yet a husband he,
And many tears thou ’lt see!
Car. (Aside) A friend—a husband—and a fall!
Gip. Shall I read for her majesty?
Lopez. She has peeped into Fate’s urn, madam, I assure you!
Car. Nay, I ’m content. What I choose for myself I will abide, and what I choose not is the gift of God and I ’ll abide that too!
Prince Zichy. I congratulate you! Majesty is not always able to show such noble indifference to the future, and lesser mortals—never!
Gip. Please the stars, may I read for you, sir?
Prince Zichy. I give you a proxy,—Senor Ignacio. If the fortune be fair, I take it, if not, I leave it with him.
Ladies. O, hear Ignacio’s fortune! (They crowd about him and the gypsy)
Car. (To Lopez) A favor, sir! Will you take a message to his majesty?
Lopez. I am twice blest—to bear your message—and bear it to the emperor. (They talk apart)
Gip. Here ’s a secret matter, sir. Shall I speak it out?
Ig. O spare me! Come aside!
Ladies. Nay, nay, Ignacio! You heard our fortunes!
Ig. But yours were fair and innocent, and mine is dark and guilty—maybe with crime!
Ladies. Oh! A crime!
Ig. Come, witch! (They go aside, near where Marquez is stationed unseen) Aseffa!
Asef. Rafael is prisoner at Savarro! Trevino is taken, too!
Ig. O Heaven! (To ladies) Stay back! ’T is crime indeed!
Ladies. Villain!
Asef. Help me to Maximilian! O, I must see him! You called him gentle! When I tell him what Rafael is—the fairest soul man ever called a foe—
Ig. Softly, Aseffa! You can not see the emperor to-night.
Asef. I must! To-morrow ’t will be too late! He dies at sunrise!
Ig. Rafael! My friend! my brother!—
Asef. Quiet! quiet! Smile, Ignacio! Ha! ha! I ’ll pray it be not true, sir!
Ig. But you can see Count Charles. He ’s Maximilian’s very heart, and once you win him the Emperor is won. Go in! Go in! I ’ll bring you to the count! Be light of heart! Our Rafael is safe!
Asef. Ignacio, the Empress is all you said.
Prayers on their way to Heaven meeting her
Would think their journey ended. Can you be true?
Ig. (Touching his arm)
I bear the seal.
Asef. God help thee!
Ig. Go!
(To ladies) ’T is done!
I know my sins!
Princess de V. But what a smiling sinner!
Princess Salm. A cloud is hovering. Come, sir! I shall know it!
(Takes his arm. Mexican national dance begins. All go into ballroom, the Empress with Lopez)
Mar. Ignacio a Liberal! And branded!
He ’s finished! But I ’ll pick my hour for it!
Mendorez safe! Ay, if he ’s bullet-proof!
(Re-enter Carlotta with Archbishop Labastida)
Lab. I thank your Highness for this gracious moment!
Most holy Empress—
Car. Not holy, sir, and yet
I hope with touch of God’s anointment on me.
Lab. Did it but rest with you His love would soon
Like cloud of rose veil Mexico in beauty.
Car. But rest with me?
Lab. Ay, noble lady, you.
I bear a letter from his Holiness,
In which he says his Empress daughter’s zeal
Is jewelled in his heart,—but urges me
To speak to Maximilian of his strange
Reluctance to fulfill his promise.
Car. Promise?
Lab. To give the Church the olden glory that
She shone with here! Restore her rights—
Car. ’T is true
He promised that, and he has kept his word
As an account with God. He is convinced
The rights claimed by the Church are stolen rights
She wrung from ignorance for her earthly glory,
And he ’s resolved to maintain Juarez’ law
So far as it accords with justice.
Lab. Madness!
Call back Juarez to power! Yield the throne
To the republican! For ’t will so end
If Maximilian scorns us and our help!
Car. He does not scorn you, sir, but seeks to find
Where the division comes ’tween you and Christ
And set himself upon the side of Heaven.
Lab. You will divorce the favor of the pope,
Without whose help you may not hope to stand.
Plead with your lord again to probe our claim,
And find therein some wise and prudent reason
To give us aid,—and thereby keep his crown.
Car. Yes, I will speak; but I shall not forget,
Whate’er I say, he is an Emperor! (Exit)
Mar. (Coming forward) A pair of fools are jiggling with a crown.
Lab. You heard, Marquez?
Lab. And you are patient?
Mar. Maximilian
Means France, and France we must keep ours,—at least
Till we have finished with the Liberals,—
Lab. And then?
Mar. We need not go so far to make
A wiser choice.
Lab. (Looking at him meaningly)
Not far indeed!
Mar. I thank you.
But that’s hereafter. Come with me, your grace.
I ’d speak of something more immediate.
(Exeunt left)
(Enter from ballroom General Miramon, Marshal Bazaine and Colonel Dupin, the last a large, vain, blustering man, gorgeously and expensively arrayed from head to foot. A sombrero wonderfully trimmed with gold and silver is carried in his hand and used in sweeping salutations)
Dup. At last I am called to court! I thought his majesty would soon or late have need of my experience in throat-cutting.
Mir. But, my dear Dupin, it is not in your capacity of throat-cutter that we introduce you. These towns that have given aid to the Liberals must be punished without the Emperor’s knowledge. You will make an example of them?
Dup. Will I? Hear him, Marshal! Will I?
Mir. But not a word to the Emperor!
Dup. Softish, eh?
Mir. His spongy heart is filled with water of compassion. Touch it anywhere it pours!
Baz. I ’m not going to throw away the lives of any more Frenchmen just to give him a chance to play at clemency! An emperor should be a sort of vitalized stone, capable of action but incapable of impression.
Dup. Then I ’m the man for emperor! I ’ve always suspected my qualifications for the part. By the lord, I ’ve made women who were hungry enough to eat their own children watch my soldiers throw bread into the sea! And when I was with the French and English in old Chinee—well, they ’ve called me the ‘Tigre’ since then. You ’ve heard about that! (Struts and sings)
I ’m the tigre of the East,
Got my claws in old Pekin
When the yellow kids we fleeced
And held up the mandarin!O we caught him by the queue,
As he from our captains flew,
That quaking little, shaking little mandarin.
And we dragged him out to view
By that most convenient queue,
When we sacked the summer palace at Pekin!
My friends, if you will excuse me, there are several dozens of ladies in the ball room waiting for a dance with the costume par excellence of the evening. I am not always sure of a welcome for my face, but my costume is never in doubt. Ah, sweet woman! you can please me twice. I can dance with you—and I can kill you! When the Emperor asks for me I shall not decline an introduction,—though he was not born an emperor and I was born Dupin! (Exit)
Baz. Is he as villainous as his conversation?
Mir. His talk is but the mildest prologue to his deeds.
Baz. Then he ’s the man for us. We shall never drive back the Liberals but by methods of unmitigated severity.
Mir. There is no barbarity too great for the intimidation of these towns.
Baz. The only absolutely safe plan is to raze them from the earth.
Mir. Trust Dupin! (They go into ballroom. Enter, right, Count Charles and Aseffa. Her disguise is thrown back revealing her beauty)
Asef. You help me though a Liberal and your foe!
Char. A foe! Dear lady, when you besought my aid
Methought it was divinity that spoke,
So sacred sweet seemed the request. I ’ll save
Your brother.
Asef. Ah, dearer than a brother, sir.
It is my husband!
Char. Husband!
Asef. Yes, my lord.
And dearer than—You have a wife?
Char. No, lady.
Asef. O, then you can not know! But you have loved?
Char. I love.
Asef. A lover—not a husband. Ah!
Add to thy love a thousand dearer loves
And take their sum a thousand times a thousand,
’T will be the smallest part divisible
Of my dear love for Rafael! You ’ll save him?
Char. Yes—I will save him. Do you trust me?
Asef. Trust you?
As I would Heaven! (Kisses his hands and goes out, right)
Char. Gone! Aseffa! Gone?
No, never gone! Her kisses here! O lips
That swept like drifting roses o’er my hands—
Both hands,—sweet equity! Still are they warm
As they were dipped in summer, though her touch
Was maiden light nor robbed him of a jot
Who should have all. Her husband—’t was a word
She used to slay me with!... Even in sorrow
She is more fair than any other fair
Met on a holiday. But when she smiled
She seemed like Fortune giving away a world.
So gracious was her splendor. Thou art revenged,
O little demon god so long my scorn!
Would I had given my heart by piecemeal out
Since I was ten than to have lost it so,
For going all at once it takes my life
And I must lose my life or follow it.
Ah, love should come like waves unto a shore,
Soft creeping up and back and up again.
Till taught to stand receptive we are firm
When the last, highest wave envelops us.
... May God restore me!... O her beauty burns
As she were limned by lightning on the night!
Her eyes are torches that Eternity
Lends life to read her dreams! Her cheek
Is June within a bud! Her veins have caught
The falling sun that in them strives to rise
To a new dawn!... And I must save him—save him!
This unknown man that holds the flaming sword
Above my paradise!... If this decree
Is signed she will be widowed ... (Stops in horror)
I am mad!...
... She will be free ... Away, sweet hell, whose face
Is masked like heaven!... Let solid earth be air,
The air be lead, light change to dark, and dark
Be as the sun, ’t will be no miracle
When murder finds a welcome in my heart!
(Enter Maximilian, Bazaine, Miramon, Dupin, Berzabal, Ruiz, Estrada, Ignacio)
Max. (To Dupin) We’re glad to welcome you. ’T will be your charge to guard the unprotected towns now suffering from the raids of Liberals.
Mir. Of men, your majesty, who steal that title to grace a brigand’s life!
Max. So we’re assured.
Dup. I ’ll see to it, sir, that these towns play no love-tricks with the enemy!
Baz. Sh!
Max. No danger that way. Your duty is to protect them!
Dup. No offense, I hope. But treason is a lively beast and hard to keep low. As your majesty’s officer I must cudgel it down wherever I find it.
Max. If unhappily you find it, sir—
Dup. I ’ll cut the throat of every man dog of ’em!
Max. Sir? (Turns to Bazaine) The Colonel’s speech is very figurative, good Marshal. (To Dupin) All instances of treason, (and God forbid there should be one!) will be reported to me for careful investigation.
Dup. A thousand pardons, your Highness! I was swept away by my devotion to your majesty! I shall remember that you wish me to observe the mildest temperance in dealing with your majesty’s enemies. (As the emperor looks questioningly at Bazaine, Dupin snarls, then repeats suavely) The mildest temperance in dealing with your majesty’s enemies.
Max. That is our wish. The mildest temperance. And this decree, Colonel Dupin? Would you advise its passage?
Dup. I should be so hot to sign it, sir, my zeal would boil the ink in the bottle!
Max. Very figurative, Marshal! (To Dupin) As yet we have not reconciled the matter with our conscience.
(Lopez enters and comes up to the Emperor)
Lop. (Handing him a slip of paper) Your majesty, the Empress sends you this.
(Maximilian reads aside:) ‘Sign the decree.’
Max. (Aside) What has she heard?
Dup. (At a distance, in rear of Maximilian, folds his hands meekly on his breast and whistles softly)
‘When we sacked the summer palace at Pekin!’ (Mimics) ‘As yet we have not reconciled the matter with our conscience.’ Does he think he can govern Mexico with a prayer-book? Put him in his cradle and sing by-lo-baby!
Max. (To Miramon, who has spoken to him) There ’s only one left to oppose it—Charles.
Mir. My lord, you ’d set a scholar’s word against
A general’s in matters of the field?
The count’s opinion, born within a closet,
Would die in open air but for your nursing.
Max. Come, Count, defend your cause.
Char. My cause, my lord?
Max. You are but one against the government.
Canst talk above so big a head? If not,
I fear we ’ll pass this law of blood. Come, come!
Be eloquent! My heart would have you win!
Char. (Very pale and hesitating)
Your majesty—I beg—
Max. Goes it so deep
To your good heart?
Mir. My lord—
Max. Forgive me, Charles,
For pressing you so much. We ’ll rest to-night.
To-morrow there ’ll be time.
Char. (Hastily) No! Not to-morrow!
Sign the decree! Sign it to-night!
(Maximilian looks with the greatest astonishment at his now flushed face and eager manner, then thinks he understands)
Max. Ah, Charles,
This tender heart of yours will kill you yet.
No more of this. I ’ll keep you at your books.
Char. (Recovering, proceeds with suavity, completely sold to his desire)
My mind has cleared with deeper thought, my lord,
Discord, the ancients tell us, was at first
So small a gnat did give her birth, but grew
So great her feet o’erturned proud cities while
Her head upset the gods in council. So this
Small trouble may o’ercast your destiny—
And is ’t not better, sir, to pass a law,
However dreaded, ’gainst the rebel few
Than that the nation trusted to your care
Should be broad cursed with civil slaughter?
Max. Better?
If such a danger threatens ’t is a crime
Not to forfend it!
(Enter Marquez and Archbishop Labastida)
Lab. Gracious sovereign!
Max. Most reverend father, you would counsel us?
Lab. We would, your majesty. If yet the wish
Of Heaven has power over you; and Christ
Be your most high example, you will prove
A careful guardian to your trusting people,
And crush this villainous and robber race
Now preying on the true and innocent,
Swelling each day more poisonous and foul!
Max. We are decided. Are we not, good Charles?
Mar. (Hastily) Nay, sire—
Max. We are decided—to pass this law.
Convinced that ’t is the honest course.
(All surprised and relieved but Ignacio, who starts with horror)
Ig. My God!
Mir. Blest majesty, we thank you!
Lab. You do but set
Your name where Heaven’s seal already shines.
Ig. The seal of Hell! O noblest man that breathes
This corrupt air, take back that word of death
Ere it is stamped in black upon your soul!
Mir. (After a silence) An Aztec, sire, and nephew to Juarez.
Max. You think that is a sin? Among our friends
Are many whose nearest kinsmen nobly served
The lost Republic. Hear us, Ignacio.
This law is subject to a firm condition:
Each officer shall make report to us,
And every captive who deserves not death
Shall have our pardon.
Ig. Then, you ’ll pardon two
Now at Savarro, Trevino and Mendorez,
Both doomed to die at sunrise!
Mir. Ravagers!
Brigands! Ay, murderers!
Ig. No! Patriots!
Soldiers! And martyrs if they die! My lord,
If they have plundered, ’t was to feed an army;
If they have killed,—that is the aim of war.
They are your foes, but noble ones,—and men,
Not creatures to be caught in traps and shot
Like beasts!
Max. We ’ll look to this. Marquez, at once
Send a dispatch commanding they be held
As prisoners of war until we ’ve time
To examine them.
Mar. I will, your majesty.
Ig. My lord, at Callovalla when the French
Had routed the Republicans, there came
At night some student priests into the field
To help the wounded and to cheer the dying.
This man, Marquez, set on them with his troop
And made them prisoners. The morning sun
Beheld each saintly minister shot dead.
And you would trust this devil with the life
Of captive foes? A man whose hands are red
With God’s own blood?
Mar. He lies! Your majesty,
I ’ll prove him traitor to your very eyes!
Ig. Traitor?
Mar. Ay, sir, and spy! Lay bare his arm,
And see the branded cross!—the sacred mark
Of those who ’ve sworn to die in Juarez’ cause!
(Snatches at Ignacio’s arm as if he would expose it)
Ig. Liar and devil! do not touch me!
Mar. Spy!
Lop. The proof is easy, sire. Expose his arm!
Ig. I scorn such proof! And with my sword I ’ll meet
Who dares lay hand upon me!
Lab. Justice, sire!
Command him to lay bare his arm!
(Silence. Maximilian approaches Ignacio slowly and lays his hand on his arm)
Max. (Turning to Marquez, his hand still on Ignacio)
You are a soldier, able and honorable.
I trust you with my captives.... Ignacio,
You are no traitor,—and I trust you with
My confidence. Both are deceived. ’T is I
Must study how to heal this sad division.
... But now, we ’ll sign this necessary law.
Come in with me, my friends. (Exeunt all but Ignacio)
Ig. Too noble soul!
Too gentle heart! O foul, most foul betrayal!
He dooms himself. O, Maximilian,
We go on different ways, but each to death!
The truest heart about thee is my own,
And I ’m a spy—death-vowed to be thy foe!
I ’ll warn the empress!... No. Sealed to the cause.
Dead I may guard her. Death alone may give
Me to her service. There ’s no oath can bind
The disembodied spirit. (Takes paper from his pocket) Here ’s set down
All I have learned of the Imperial plans.
(Burns paper in candle flame)
’T is fixed in memory, and if I live
Juarez shall hear it all,—and—if I die—
The grave is asked no questions. (Suddenly) Rafael!
This signed to-night, to-morrow Rafael dies.
Marquez will cut off all reprieve. One way
Is left.... I ’ll go. With life already lost
Who would not fling the corpse to save a friend?
My honor ’s bound to freedom and Juarez,
My heart bound to the Empress and her lord.
O, love, while I have life thou must command me,
Then to save honor ... let me die!... Ah, could
I save thee too, Carlotta! O, what woe
Awaits thy heart, madonna, saint ... and love!
Might I but say farewell before I go,
Then I could spur to death with happy heart,
And I must travel fast to reach Savarro.
(Takes a lady’s glove from his bosom)
My treasure, come!
(Enter Carlotta)
Car. It must be signed ... it must ... (Sees Ignacio)
Ig. O, little finger casements, do you mourn
Your pretty tenants lost?—five rose-sweet nuns
That pray at one white shrine! (Kisses glove)
Car. (Advancing) I hope, my friend,
She ’s worthy of your noble love.
Ig. O, madam,
In her doth Heaven on earth make sweet beginning.
And aspirations tend her from the skies.
Car. And she is beautiful as good?
Ig. O, fair
As olden marble walking down to us.
Or that immortal Helen on whose lip
Poets still feed the dream that’s never fed!
Car. She must be fair indeed. I hope she loves
As much as she ’s beloved.
Ig. Nay, she dreams not
Of my poor worship.
Car. You must tell her, sir.
Ig. With her I have no tongue, and can not woo.
To see her is to think in hurrying dreams
That move about some new desire of God.
Nay, she ’s the picture finished, vision complete,
That perfect stands where dream no farther goes
And shuts the gates to prophecy!
Car. Would you
But woo her thus you ’d win her, never fear!
We women would be beautiful, and love
The tongue that makes us so. Go, talk to her
As you have talked to me.
Ig. ’T is not the same.
There ’s something in your smile inviteth speech.
Were she but you then would I kneel and say, (kneels)
O rest me ’neath the heaven of your eye
That gathers blessings as the sun his dews
To give again to earth, and let your heart
Throb once with pity sweeter than the love
That other women give, and yet be dumb,
That this sweet moment’s balm may wrap my heart
Till death bids it be still. O, love me not,
But on my head lay thy madonna hand,
And bless me as a mother would her child
Who goes to death in going from her eyes!
Car. (Laying her hand on his head)
And I will bless thee, too, as she would do,
True knight of love, gentle Ignacio!
And yet I hope you will ask more of her,
And she will grant it.
Ig. (Rising) More is too much. Farewell.
I leave the court to-night,—but go content,—
Ay, happy! (Exit)
Car. He leaves the court!... What a strange youth!
But very true and noble, and well deserves
The fairest woman’s love. (Picks up glove dropped by Ignacio) He ’s lost her glove.
I ’ll send it after him. (Calls attendant) Andorro!... Ah!
It is my own! Yes ... yes ... the same ... here is—
My own indeed!... And that is why he leaves
The court!... Poor youth! (She drops glove. Enter Andorro) Ignacio just passed out.
He dropped this glove. His lady’s favor maybe.
I ’m sure ’t is prized. Haste, take it after him.
And. (Picks up glove)
Your pleasure, royal madam! (Going)
Car. No—that way.
(Exit Andorro)
... Unhappy boy!... I ’m glad I sent the glove.
(Enter Maximilian and ministers)
Car. (Going to him and taking his arm)
’T is signed?
Max. ’T is signed, my love. Come, friends! This act
Of wisdom passed gives me a lighter heart!