LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 549 106 ft 
 
1855 
 DOBELL COLLECTION 
 
l 
 
THE CASTILIAN. 
 
THE CASTILIAN 
 
 AN HISTORICAL TEAGEDY. 
 
 IN FIVE ACTS. 
 
 bSr f«^^ 
 
 "He for God only, she for God in him." — Milton. 
 
 LONDON : 
 EDWAED MOXON, DOYEE STEEET. 
 
 1853. 
 

 LONDON: 
 IRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. 
 
 205449 
 . '13 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following Drama is founded on the insur- 
 rection of the Commons of Castile against the 
 Regency of the Cardinal Adrian, to whom the 
 Emperor Charles V. committed the government 
 of his Spanish dominions, during his long absence 
 from them in the time occupied by his visits to 
 Germany, England, and Flanders, which followed 
 his acquisition of the imperial crown. The narra- 
 tive of Robertson, which will be found at the 
 commencement of the Third Book of his " History 
 of Charles Y.," appeared to the Author to present 
 some elements of dramatic interest superior to those 
 which the progress and the fate of popular insur- 
 rections usually involve. Although the qualities of 
 the leading persons of this movement are but faintly 
 indicated by the historian, he has afforded glimpses 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 of the character of its leader, Don John de Padilla, 
 which suggest the idea of a soldier deeply imbued 
 with religious faith and devotional feeling — of a 
 leader of rebellion of mind essentially conservative 
 and loyal — which invited an attempt to fill up the 
 outline of his story with circumstances which might, 
 in some degree, reconcile the apparent contradic- 
 tion between his principles and his actions. The 
 speech imputed to him in his last moments by 
 Eobertson, on a fellow- sufferer's expressing indig- 
 nation on hearing him proclaimed a traitor, " That 
 yesterday was the time to have displayed the spirit 
 of gentlemen ; this day to die with the meekness 
 of Christians," and the two letters which, imme- 
 diately before his execution, he addressed to his wife 
 and to the city of Toledo,* suggest an example of 
 
 * Both, letters will be found hi a note of Robertson's History. The 
 following is the letter addressed to the city of Toledo : — 
 
 "To thee, the Crown of Spain, and the light of the whole world, 
 free from the time of the mighty Goths ; to thee, who by shedding the 
 blood of strangers as well as thy own blood, hast recovered liberty for 
 thy self and thy neighbouring cities, thy legitimate son Juan de 
 Padilla gives information how by the blood of his body thy ancient 
 victories may be refreshed. If fate has not permitted my actions to 
 be placed among your successfid and celebrated exploits, the fault 
 hath been in my ill fortune, not in my good will. This I request of 
 thee as a mother to accept, since God hath given me nothing more to 
 
PREFACE, vii 
 
 Christian heroism far beyond the ordinary qualities 
 of chivalrous valour — requiring far higher powers 
 than the Author can command to do them justice, 
 but capable, even in a feeble sketch, of exciting an 
 honest sympathy. His story does not want one 
 common element in the history of popular leaders. 
 Like many other great men invoked by the pas- 
 sions of the multitude to heroic action, he was 
 forsaken for a man of higher aristocratic claim 
 and far lower desert — Don Pedro de Griron — and 
 was recalled to the post of danger when it was too 
 late to repair the consequences of the ingratitude 
 of the insurgents, and the indiscretion of their 
 temporary idol. 
 
 " The abstract and brief chronicle " of Eobertson 
 
 leave for thy sake than that which I am now to relinquish. I am 
 more solicitous about thy good opinion than about my own life. The 
 shiftings of Fortune, which never stands still, are many. But this I 
 see, with infinite consolation, that I, the least of thy children, suffer 
 death for thee, and that thou hast nursed at thy breasts such as may 
 take vengeance for my wrongs. Many tongues will relate the manner 
 of my death, of which I am still ignorant, though I know it to be 
 near. My end will testify what was my desire. My soul I recommend 
 to thee, as the patroness of Christianity. Of my body I say nothing, 
 for it is not mine. I can write nothing more — for, at this very 
 moment, I find the knife at my throat, with greater dread of thy 
 displeasure than apprehension of my own pain." 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 also suggests the character of a woman, strongly 
 contrasted in some respects with that of the hero, 
 in his wife Donna Maria Pacheco, whose un- 
 bounded ambition was refined by an equally un- 
 bounded admiration of her husband. The audacity 
 with which, after Padilla's recal to power, when the 
 troops refused to follow him without payment of 
 their arrears, she seized on the treasures of the 
 shrines in the Cathedral of Toledo, with the show 
 of sorrow — (she, with her retinue of ladies " march- 
 ing to the church in solemn procession, with tears 
 in their eyes, beating their breasts, and falling on 
 their knees to implore the pardon of the saints 
 whose shrines they were about to violate") — 
 seemed capable of being presented in contrast with 
 the disinterested piety and heroism of Padilla, 
 without any violation of the probability of their 
 true relations, and of exhibiting in some variety 
 the aspects of his more simple character. 
 
 But the incident which seemed to the Author 
 most capable of producing an interest less common 
 than that of an ordinary tale of political conspiracy, 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 is the temporary resuscitation of the melancholy 
 Joanna, the mother of the Emperor, from a state 
 of deplorable inanity, to confer for a short time 
 upon the revolt of the Commons the grace of her 
 title and authority — thus giving the sanction of 
 loyal sentiments to the popular cause. This re- 
 markable incident is thus glanced at by Eobertson, 
 after stating the capture of her person at Tor- 
 desillas, where she resided in seclusion : " Padilla 
 " waited immediately on the Queen, and accosting 
 " her with that profound respect she exacted from 
 " the few persons she deigned to admit into her 
 " presence, acquainted her at large with the miser- 
 " able condition of her Castilian subjects under the 
 "government of her son; who, being destitute of 
 " experience himself, permitted his foreign minis- 
 " ters to treat them with such rigour as had obliged 
 " them to take arms in defence of the liberties of 
 " their country. The Queen, as if she had been 
 "awakened out of a lethargy, expressed great 
 " astonishment at what he said, and told him that, 
 " as she had never heard till that moment of the 
 
x PREFACE. 
 
 " death of her father, or known the sufferings of 
 " her people, no blame could be imputed to her ; 
 " but thai* now she would take care to provide a 
 " sufficient remedy ; ' and in the meantime,' added 
 " she, ' let it be your concern to do what is neces- 
 " ' sary for the public welfare.' Padilla, too eager 
 "in forming a conclusion agreeable to his wishes, 
 " mistook this lucid interval of reason for a perfect 
 " return of that faculty ; and acquainting the Junta 
 " with what had happened, advised them to remove 
 "to Tordesillas and hold their meetings at that 
 "place. This was instantly done; but though 
 " Joanna received very graciously an address of the 
 "Junta, beseeching her to take on herself the 
 " government of the kingdom, and in token of her 
 " compliance admitted all the deputies to kiss her 
 "hand; though she was present at a tournament 
 " held on that occasion, and seemed highly satisfied 
 " with both these ceremonies, which were conducted 
 "with great magnificence in order to please her, 
 " she soon relapsed into her former melancholy, 
 "and could never be brought, by argument or 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 " entreaties, to sign any paper relating to the de- 
 " spatch of business." The historian records the 
 enthusiastic joy of the Castilians at the restoration 
 of Isabella's daughter to the throne ; the use made 
 by the insurgents of her authority ; and the dis- 
 appearance of this brief apparition of royalty, when, 
 betrayed by Griron's rashness, the Queen fell into 
 the hands of the Regent, and sunk again into a 
 state of imbecility, from which she never after- 
 wards awoke ; leaving the cause of the revolted 
 subjects of Castile destitute of the sanction given 
 for a short time to their arms. 
 
 The circumstances by which Joanna was sur- 
 rounded give an interest to the aberrations of her 
 intellect of a kind somewhat more elevated than 
 usually attends the workings of mental disease. 
 Her noble birth; her ill-fated marriage, preceded 
 by a voyage of unexpected duration and extreme 
 peril ; her passionate love of her reckless husband ; 
 the solemn recognition by the Cortez at Toledo 
 and Saragossa of her right to succeed the best and 
 greatest of all queens in the crowns of Castile and 
 
xii PREFACE . 
 
 Aragon; her renewed sea-peril in company with 
 Philip, when the ship in which she was conveyed 
 was struck by lightning in a tempest and cast on 
 the English shore at Weymouth, after which the 
 expectant sovereigns of Spain were entertained for 
 three months at "Windsor by our Henry VII. ; her 
 frantic pursuit of her husband to Flanders, and his 
 final desertion of her when she had revenged herself 
 by cutting off the golden locks of his Flemish mis- 
 tress ; her devotion to his corpse, which she kept 
 arrayed in pompous robes, secluded from all eyes 
 but her own, and her conveyance of the body to 
 Grenada by nocturnal journeys for interment ; and 
 her long tearless grief; present, in her story, one 
 of the saddest examples of calamity long endured 
 in the midst of the appliances of greatness. They 
 will be found scattered through the pages of one of 
 the most delightful books in the world — Prescott's 
 " History of the Eeign of Ferdinand and Isabella " 
 — whence the allusions in the only scene upon 
 which the writer has ventured to introduce this 
 illustrious sufferer are chiefly drawn. 
 
PREFACE. xiii 
 
 In attempting to weave the main incidents of 
 this episode in the history of Charles V. into the 
 structure of a drama, the Author has been obliged 
 to adapt some of the localities of the events to the 
 necessities of his own limited powers. He has 
 therefore represented the residence of Joanna as 
 at Avila, the original seat of the revolutionary 
 government of the Holy Junta, instead of Tor- 
 desillas, to which place they removed at Padilla's 
 suggestion to attend her, and has transferred the 
 scenes of Griron's disastrous command, and of 
 Padilla's last struggle and death, to the neighbour- 
 hood of Toledo — the birthplace of both Joanna and 
 Padilla — and has represented those events as im- 
 mediately connected in time, instead of being 
 separated by a few weeks or possibly months ; and 
 in some other respects (as in the death of Griron, 
 who is dismissed to obscurity by Eobertson) he 
 has deviated from the chronicle. If it had been his 
 good fortune to possess and consult the work which 
 has made Englishmen familiar with the glories of 
 Spain — which, under the modest guise of a " Hand- 
 
xiv PREFACE. 
 
 book," is history, statistics, and poetry — the hand- 
 book of the student as well as of the traveller — he 
 would have discovered that he was not far from the 
 truth in representing the residence of Padilla in 
 the vicinity of Toledo, but that he should have 
 placed it within the city on a spot left vacant when 
 it had been levelled by Charles V. after the in- 
 surrection ; but he hopes that his fiction may be 
 reconciled to Mr. Ford's truth, by the supposition 
 that Padilla, besides his house in Toledo, had a 
 villa in the suburbs. He has endeavoured to pre- 
 serve the essential truth of the story as far as he 
 had the means of ascertaining it, supplying such 
 domestic incidents as seemed to him of not im- 
 probable occurrence; and has attained the object 
 of his utmost ambition if he has made some traits 
 of greatness and goodness, which gleam in a piece 
 of history (hitherto, in so far as he is aware, un- 
 touched by a dramatist,) palpable to the mind of 
 an indulgent reader. 
 
PERSONS REPRESENTED. 
 
 MEN. 
 
 The Cardinal Adrian, Regent of Castile, under the Emperor 
 
 Charles V. 
 Don Oliva de Gonsalvo, a Courtier of Adrian. 
 Don Pedro de Giron, a Castilian Nobleman of the highest rank. 
 The Marquis de Villena, Friend of Giron. 
 Don Florez de Carillo, Nephew of Giron. 
 Don John de Padilla, a Castilian Nobleman. 
 The Marquis de Mondeiar, Brother of Padilla's Wife. 
 Alphonso, a Youth, only Son of Padilla. 
 Don Carlos de Tendilla, -. 
 Don Nicholas de Ovando, [ Lilian Noblemen, leaders of the 
 
 Popular Party in Toledo. 
 Don Alvaro de Gomez, J 
 
 Lopez, an old Servant, 
 Florio, a Domestic Page, 
 
 Members of the Holy Junta, Soldiers, Messengers, &c. &c. 
 
 > Servants of Padilla. 
 
 WOMEN. 
 
 The Queen Joanna, Daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and 
 Mother of the Emperor. 
 
 Donna Maria Pacheco, Wife of Padilla. 
 
 Ladies attendant on the Queen Joanna. 
 
 Time 1522. 
 
THE CASTILIAN, 
 
 , * 
 
THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene. — A Terrace in the Garden of the Mansion of Don 
 John de Padilla, in the neighbourhood of Toledo, 
 overlooking the City — in an Alcove, on one side, a Table 
 with covers set for four persons — beyond the City a range 
 of Mountains, through a gorge of which the Tagus flows 
 — approaching Sunset As the ciwtain rises, Lopez, the 
 old Servant, and Florio, a Page, are discovered arrang- 
 ing the Table in the Alcove ; they come forward. 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 Can this be all ? Is this the feast to grace 
 The birthday of our master's only son — 
 And such a son ? This simple fare prepared 
 Only for four ? Well ! in my rustic home 
 A birthday, even my own, though I am youngest 
 Of many peasant children, fill'd our valley 
 With mirth till nightfall. I believed the love 
 Which doats on young Alphonso would find scope 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE CASTILIAN. [act i. 
 
 In such majestic feasting as would win 
 Toledo's wonder, and set loose with joy 
 The hearts of all our household. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Thoughtless child ! 
 And yet I should not blame your careless age, 
 That cannot guess the weight of such regard 
 As fathers like our master bear their sons, 
 Least noted when most prideful ; but no lack 
 Of feasting will be ours ; though, thus apart, 
 The parents and their son, without a guest 
 Except our lady's brother, who partook 
 The first great venture through the western seas, 
 And since has lived as restless as the waves 
 "With which he held long fellowship, will share 
 This frugal banquet ; — we, in the hall, festoon' d 
 With myrtles and full orange boughs, shall drain 
 Cups without stint of generous wine, and keep 
 The dance alive till midnight. 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 Shall all dance ? 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Unless you choose to play the looker-on ; 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILTAN. 
 
 Even I — laugh, if you will — but there are seasons 
 "When all who truly tasted youth resume it, 
 And this is one of mine. 
 
 FLOKIO. 
 
 May a young servant 
 Ask, without blame, if always, on this day, 
 Our gracious master, who so often holds 
 High festival with liberal pomp, contracts 
 His wonted state ? 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 He has kept this birthday thus, 
 Since a fair girl — half of his household's youth — 
 Was taken hence. I have heard her parents tell 
 How she drew after her such earnest thoughts 
 As in this season, which renews their spring-time, 
 Make them almost partakers of the home 
 Where she awaits them. Lovely child ! she bore 
 A regal but unhappy name, derived 
 From glorious Isabella's mournful heiress, 
 And wasted from the world as that great lady 
 Shrunk into solitude. 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 The Queen Joanna ; 
 She who they say is lunatic ? 
 
THE CASTILIAN. [ACT , 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Beware ! 
 Let not y.our master hear you drop a word 
 Which may touch lightly on that sacred grief, 
 Unless you'd rouse a hurricane of wrath 
 Past all you guess of anger. 
 
 FLOEIO. 
 
 How of wrath — 
 Our master seems most gentle ? 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 So he is, 
 And most of all indulgent in respects 
 That touch himself ; -pl aj truant when he needs 
 A page's tending most, neglect to bring 
 His horse when he is bent on speed, forget 
 Half of some urgent message,-if he chide you, 
 It will be in a tone so mild, with look 
 So like a father's smiling on the excess 
 Of a son's heedless mirth, that you shall wait, 
 When he has ceased, as wondering the rebuke 
 Is past, and almost wishing it prolong'd; 
 But let a word or smile betray the lack 
 Of duteous reverence for the things he deems 
 Holy in earth or heaven, and you shall stand 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 Shivering before him with lock'd hands, nor dare 
 To fly, to kneel, or to withdraw your eyes 
 Erom his, or shape a wish but that the earth 
 Would open and enfold you. 
 
 Bun and help 
 To wreath the hall for dancing ; — why you stand 
 Aghast, as if in doubt what dancing means : 
 "What ails you ? 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 Nothing but the fear you raise 
 Of such an anger. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Then be light of heart ; 
 Only continue guileless and obedient 
 As I believe you are, and you will live here 
 In toils as light, and gallant sports as free, 
 As you were born thrice noble. Trip away. 
 
 [Exit Flojeuo. 
 
 The sun declines ; what can detain my master ? 
 Enter the Marquis de Mondeiar. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 What ! Vegetating still with ruddy cheek 
 As twenty summers since — like yonder dial 
 O'er- grown by the huge sycamore, that, touch' d 
 
8 THE CASTILIAN. [act 
 
 No longer by the sunbeam, shows no trace 
 Of coursing time ? My sister comes ; go in, 
 And bicf the house be merry. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Peace be with you. 
 
 [Exit Lopez. 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 I will not say Amen to prayers for peace — 
 Let all break now ! 
 
 Enter Donna Maria de Pachecho. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 The blessings of the day 
 Surround you, sister ! But I look in vain 
 For its young hero and his sire ; 'tis graceless 
 To own impatience in a time so happy, 
 But eager thoughts forestall the approaching night, 
 Which must not veil us without one hour spent 
 "With those I soon may part from. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Eager thoughts- 
 A threat of parting ! — Are you tamed at last, 
 Subdued to beg from some fair conqueror 
 One little evening hour for older loves ? 
 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 So speeds a new-born tyranny ! Dear brother, 
 "Whose absolute beauty rules your time ? 
 
 HOKDEIAR. 
 
 Forbear ! 
 There is a sterner and a nobler mistress 
 Than one of mortal loveliness that rules 
 My anxious moments now : but what impedes 
 Padilla and Alphonso ? I must quaff 
 One ancient round of healths, or my next year 
 Will roll unbless'd. 
 
 maria {'pointing). 
 Do you discern a thread 
 Of white against the sky, that glistens touch' d 
 By the last sunbeams, while the shelving crags, 
 That open to disclose it, lie in shade ? 
 Our boy, who knows it as the loftiest peak 
 Our region boasts, won from his father promise 
 That, on this birthday, he should make the trial 
 To reach its summit ; before dawn they started, 
 And have not yet return' d ; the way is long — 
 Across the city 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 True ; across the city — 
 They may have been detain' d — across the city ? 
 
10 THE CASTILIAN. [act i. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 What then ? There's not a heart within its walls, 
 From £hat which is most quick with generous 
 
 promptings, 
 To vilest outcast's that retains one pulse 
 Of good not wholly numb'd, that would not break 
 To serve Padilla ; no — I cannot fear 
 Aught in Toledo . 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 I spoke not of danger. 
 Hark ! Is there not a rush — a shout — a murmur ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 What is it that you fear ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Fear ? Lest the crowds 
 That throng the streets, with too impatient love, 
 May stay his passage, and before the time 
 Speak their desire. Tou smile, as if your heart, 
 Your high and towering heart, foreknew and hail'd 
 My news unspoken. 'Neath yon glistening roofs 
 Huge thoughts and towering passions wait the hour 
 When they shall rend and scatter to the winds 
 The feeble bonds that curb them. Blistering shame 
 
scenki.] THE CASTILIAN. 11 
 
 For nation, mighty as Castile, transferr'd 
 
 By a slight youth to alien rule, and scorn 
 
 Of his ignoble instruments, have wing'd 
 
 A people's strong conviction, which a day, 
 
 An hour, may see triumphant. Hark ! There's life 
 
 In yonder streets. 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 Gro on — there is no sound — 
 Speak on. 
 
 MONDEIAE. 
 
 No sound ? It may be so, for silence 
 In its depth speaks ; of late the healthy breath 
 Of daily life has stopp'd; the workman casts 
 His tools in restless languor down, and joins 
 Some cluster' d troop of idlers in the sun, 
 Who seek no pastime, but seem met to gaze 
 With wonder on each other ; each surveys 
 The face of each, as if he read strange thoughts, 
 And yet they only speak of common things, 
 And that in hurried whispers ; children stand 
 Perplex' d amid their toys : while mothers cleave, 
 With arms grown rigid, to their husbands' breasts 
 And eyes upturn' d, as if they strove for words 
 To ask the meaning of the nameless fear 
 
12 THE CASTILIAN. [act t. 
 
 That creeps along their heartstrings ; but that silence 
 Shall break ; one war-cry from a leader's lips 
 "Will cHange it into thunder ; but, alas ! 
 The people want a leader. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 You shall lead them. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Not I, Maria ; I can strike and bleed, 
 
 But own no power of sympathy which moulds 
 
 The passions of a mighty nation roused 
 
 For noblest issues. 'Tis not grace to wear 
 
 A life as lightly as a festal plume 
 
 For fortune's breeze to trifle with, and turn 
 
 A panic-stricken legion by exploit 
 
 Of desperate valour, that endows a chief 
 
 For strife like ours : no ; he who would direct 
 
 A people in its rising, must be calm 
 
 As death is, yet respond to every pulse 
 
 Of passion' d millions, — as yon slender moon 
 
 That scarce commends the modest light it sheds 
 
 Through sunset's glory to the gazer's sense, 
 
 In all its changes, in eclipse, in storm, 
 
 Enthroned in azure, or enriching clouds 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 13 
 
 That, in their wildest hurry, catch its softness, 
 "Will sway the impulsive ocean, he must rule 
 By strength allied to weakness, yet supreme, 
 Man's heaving soul, and bid it ebb and flow 
 In sorrow, passion, glory, as he mourns, 
 Struggles, or triumphs. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 You intend my husband ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Yes. Will you urge him to his glorious work ? 
 Let me unfold our cause. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Your cause ! I seek 
 No knowledge of your cause, a thing of words ; 
 It is the Man whose nature Grod arrays 
 In semblance of His greatness that inflames 
 And stamps the cause. Padilla was not born 
 That an adoring household should surmise 
 The might his goodness veils ; let him command, 
 Conquer, and govern, and the cause of earth 
 And heaven shall triumph in his reign. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 It shall ! 
 
14 THE CASTILIAN. [act i. 
 
 I hear his footstep ; we must break all gently 
 If we would see him leader. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 I shall see him ; 
 The hour is come : lie still my bounding heart ; 
 The hour is come. 
 
 [Enter Padilla and Alphonso, followed by Florio. Padilla 
 unbuckles his sword-belt, and gives his sword to Floeio, 
 who goes out with it. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Accuse us not as loiterers ; 
 We made our horses fly, till this gay horseman, 
 Who loves them, I believe, almost as well 
 As he loves us, cried shame upon our speed : 
 Yet sunset chides us. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Was your way delay' d 
 By concourse in Toledo ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No ; its streets 
 Were strangely void, as if its men had fled 
 From portents of a hurricane ; the fault 
 Lay in my judgment that too lightly scann'd 
 The distance of the pinnacle we sought 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 15 
 
 And found entrench'd amidst the hills it crowns 
 
 By rock-cieft gorges ; yet 'twas full reward 
 
 For painful struggles through the granite wilds 
 
 To watch my brave companion, as with step 
 
 Airy and true, he scaled the pillar' d top 
 
 With head erect, while crumbling fragments broke 
 
 To dust beneath each footstep, till he trod 
 
 The glassy summit, never touch' d till then 
 
 Save by the bolt that splinter' d it, serene 
 
 As if a wing, too fine for mortal sight, 
 
 Upbore him, while slant sunbeams graced his brow 
 
 "With diadem of light. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 So may he stand 
 Irradiate, when the crown of old Castile 
 Shall wreathe that brow ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The crown of old Castile ! — 
 The glorious realm of which he is the child — 
 The realm for which, although no oath has yet 
 Laid weight upon his boyhood, all his veins 
 Would proudly pour their blood ! Forbid such thought 
 Wing'd by the demon of a dream should break 
 Through his light slumber ! What is it distracts you ? 
 
16 THE CAST1LIAN. [act i. 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 'Twas but a harmless birthday wish, whicluLove 
 Shaped in delighted sportiveness, and love 
 Alone has listen' d to. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 A harmless wish ! 
 And this from you, Maria ! "Were he born 
 To tread the lowliest course of peasant life 
 It were a false affection to desire 
 His fever' d struggle and his loftier fortune, 
 Instead of calm endeavour to adorn 
 The rank assign'd him by his Grod, with grace 
 That brave obedience nurtures ; but for him — 
 Born a Castilian nobleman in faith 
 Unvex'd by doubt, to duties which are bright 
 "With glorious requisitions and rewards, 
 What can be wish'd, but that he live and die 
 "Worthy his lot, not raised in hope above 
 Nor sunk in deed beneath it ? Tet you wish 
 For such a youth a crown he cannot wear 
 But by the base success of treason ! Brother, 
 Rather than this fair nurseling of Castile 
 Should grasp her crown, I'd see him bend his head 
 In meek submission to her sword upraised 
 
scene i] THE CASTILIAN. 17 
 
 To slay him falsely doom'd. Great Heaven ! lie's pale : 
 A blackness trembles on his face — 'tis gone — 
 What ails you, my Alphonso ? Did my words 
 Sicken your heart with images of death ? 
 Think them most idle. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 JSTo ; I felt not sickness ; 
 Strange were it, if one school' d as I have been, 
 Should quail at thoughts of death, and stranger still 
 When you awake them. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Pale again ! some grief 
 Is struggling through the veil that wraps our Present, 
 In portents — Heaven avert it from the brow 
 Of youth, to strike the elder ! But this birth-night 
 Was meant for joy ; whate'er the future bears, 
 Let gratitude fill this. 
 
 [They turn to the Alcove, and begin to take their places 
 at the table. 
 
 « Enter Lopez. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 A royal officer, 
 Who gives his name Gronsalvo, craves a word 
 With you alone. 
 
L8 THE CASTILIAN. [act i. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Gonsalvo — can it be 
 The same with whom I shared a page's schooling 
 When the great Marquis of Cadiz allow' d us 
 His household's discipline ? Another time 
 Eight gladly had I welcomed him — but now — 
 Comes he alone ? 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 A band of soldiers, rude 
 Of speech, attend him ; they have piled their swords 
 And helmets in the court, as if they thought 
 To sojourn with us. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Give them food and wine, 
 And lead Gronsalvo hither. 
 
 [Exit Lopez. 
 
 If he stands 
 As I have heard, high in the Eegent's favour, 
 He is too prosperous to waste time on me, 
 And soon will leave us to piece out the joy 
 Of this chance-ravell'd hour. 
 
 MONDEIAE. 
 
 Meanwhile I'll find 
 Due welcome for your martial guests. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 19 
 
 [Aside to Maria. Thank Heaven 
 Toledo's ready for them. 
 
 [Aloud. 
 
 Sister, come, 
 We shall find work within. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 You'll find the feast 
 Spread for our household in the hall ; be sure 
 The soldiers are made welcome. 
 
 [Exeunt Mondeiar, Maria, and Alphonso. 
 
 padilla (alone). 
 
 Here's their officer — 
 How alter' d from the bright and wayward boy 
 With whom I often wrestled, sometimes fought, 
 And, though not earnest in affection, liked 
 The better for our conflicts. Shall I seem 
 As changed to him ? 
 
 Enter Gonsalvo. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Old playmate, you are welcome ; 
 You come upon the birthday of my son, 
 Who on this day attains the happy age 
 At which we parted. You must drain one goblet 
 
 c2 
 
20 THE CASTILIAN. [act 
 
 Before you say that anything more urgent 
 
 Than memory of old times has brought you to us. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 No feasting — I am come on sterner business ; 
 I bear commission to unveil and crush 
 Foul treasons in your city. 
 
 In Toledo ? 
 Be jocund, then ; you'll find no painful duties ; 
 There are not truer spirits in Castile 
 Than glow within yon walls. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Tou think them loyal ! 
 I must admire your unsuspecting goodness 
 Rather than praise your wisdom. Is your ear 
 So charm' d, that not a murmur from the craftsmen 
 Has startled it ? Nay, is your sainted sleep 
 So curtain' d by oblivion, that no echo 
 Has wafted through its labyrinth of dreams 
 A whisper of sedition ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Not a breath 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 21 
 
 From a disloyal fantasy has stirr'd 
 Life's placid air around us. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Strange as true. 
 But, if you can, — suppose the crowd you praise 
 As loyal in Toledo, should presume 
 To mutter low complaints that Charles bestows 
 His presence on a foreign court, or doubt 
 His right to choose the E-egent of his realms 
 Save from Castilian blood, — what would you tell them ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Bid them resume the duties God has laid 
 
 On tranquil lowliness, and leave to Him 
 
 By whom kings reign the power to judge of kings 
 
 Who at His bar shall answer. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Bravely said. 
 But, further ; what if they should heave with thoughts 
 That, born in rugged commonwealths of old, 
 Have started from the sceptred sleep of years 
 To shake our monarchies ? Should dream of power 
 To raise a bar in every peasant's soul 
 At which the rulers of the earth shall stand 
 
22 THE CASTILIAX. [act i. 
 
 Arraign'd ; nay, chafing at the sacred curb 
 Of priestly guidance, claim to choose a creed 
 And fashion faith at pleasure ? Do you live 
 "While Luther's words, with lightning flash, assail 
 The majesties of Rome, and hear no clang 
 Of intellect's rebellion, ghastlier far 
 Than that of armies ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I have heard reports 
 Of heresies, but never wasted time 
 To question them ; my days are short enough 
 By light of cloudless faith to do the work 
 "Which simple duty points ; I ask no space 
 Tor my soul's venture but the path that lies 
 Direct 'twixt me and Heaven ; enough for me 
 To soar from earth along that narrow track 
 Which angel-gleamings border : to my Grod 
 Devotion — to my King obedience — these 
 Are simple words that breathe of mighty things 
 Sufficient to endow for life and death 
 A Christian soldier's being. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 It were well 
 Tour friends could hear you talk thus. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 23 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Talk ! what mean you ? 
 You urge me to this service of the tongue 
 And then you scoff at what my nature loathes 
 As much as you despise it ! Why are you here 
 To show me for a braggard of the faith 
 Which every noble of Castile enshrines 
 In heart as true as mine ? Tou smile — great Heaven ! 
 Is my truth doubted ? Are you sent to call 
 My life a lie ? Speak not, but take it ! 
 
 No; 
 The Begent, in his clemency, forbears 
 To claim your life, although your vaunted friends, 
 Eipe in Toledo for revolt, avow 
 Full confidence that brave Padilla's name 
 Will varnish their rebellion. Adrian seeks 
 No more of treason's idol than your cession 
 Prisoner to me ; and, for the present, doom'd 
 To no worse dungeon than this fair domain, 
 Where you may breathe your loyalty in prayers 
 Eor us, whose falchions shall destroy the webs 
 Of treachery you perceive not. 
 
24 THE CASTILIAN. [act i. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Who has wrought this ? 
 Where lurks* the caitiff who has forged the lie 
 That, by the being of a moment, taints 
 My fame for ever ? I have done no wrong 
 With consciousness to mortal — let me know 
 His name, Gronsalvo ! I will work no harm 
 On the poor slave, but look into his eyes 
 And bid him gaze on mine, as now I stand 
 Confronting you : ha ! I perceive your flesh 
 Where the soul's palsy creeps in every line 
 That trembles with its separate cowardice 
 Confessing that the falsehood you unfold 
 Is your own fabric, — for some paltry gaud, 
 An office, or a title, or a smile, 
 You have spread your poisons on an honest life 
 Whose youth your boyhood mated ; — come ! be bold ! 
 Avow it ! Speak ! I wear no sword to guard 
 The bosom you have rack'd — I cannot stab 
 The slander at your heartstrings ! 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Tou remind me 
 That 'tis my duty to demand your sword, 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 25 
 
 In token that you hold yourself a prisoner 
 At the Imperial order. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 At the Emperor's ? 
 Has Charles's warrant authorised this shame ? 
 
 gonsalvo (showing a parchment). 
 You know his hand ? 
 
 padilla (glancing at it and giving it back). 
 
 'Tis true — break heart — end all— 
 Within there ! 
 
 [ Calling. 
 Enter Alphonso. 
 
 padilla. 
 No — not you — bid Lopez come — 
 And bring my sword. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 To-night, sir ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Xes — at once — 
 Why do you gaze upon me ? Go, my boy. 
 
 [Exit Alphonso. 
 
 A gallant youth ; is he your son ? 
 
26 THE CASTILIAN. [act 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Bear with me ; 
 I am sfe-icken in a moment, and should learn 
 Acquaintance with the griefs debasement spreads 
 On all around it ; and my son must share them ; 
 But I am not arm'd, as yet, to bid him look 
 On the enforced surrender of that sword 
 Which I have hoped that he would bear undimm'd 
 Beside my bier, and after use it nobly 
 For Charles, who now by you demands it ; soon- 
 Full soon— my boy must feel the home he honors, 
 A shameful prison. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 No ; a brighter lot 
 Shall wait him than to pace a captive's halls : 
 He shall depart with me. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 With you ? 
 
 GONSALYO. 
 
 With me — 
 A priceless hostage for his father's faith, 
 Train' d in the camp by martial discipline 
 To loyalty as firm as yours will show for 
 While he is with me. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 27 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 In the camp ? Tour camp ? 
 My child — whose opening spirit scarce retains 
 A stain upon the purity it drew 
 
 Prom heaven, when chrysome at the font — whence dust 
 Of earth's pollutions, by the faintest breath 
 Of love's rebuke unsettled, flit in air, 
 And leave it all the angel ? Must he learn 
 The lessons of your guard-room ? Never ! Take 
 His innocent life, and with it the two lives 
 That are sustain' d by his — or, if that grace 
 Exceed your mission, find some loathsome cell — 
 A narrow cell — there are but three of us — 
 Where we may waste together ; — speak, and bless me ! 
 
 GOKSALVO. 
 
 The youth shall go with me. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Wake not the spirit 
 Tour warrant crush' d, to frenzy. Tou and I, 
 Who meet thus strangely on life's downward verge, 
 With hair just whitening, parted in the prime 
 Of boyhood — -joyous, yet not graced as that 
 Tou would make wretched — and though anxious years 
 
28 THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 [ACT I. 
 
 Have since revolved, the memories of our pastimes 
 Have broken on me through their mists— do you 
 Forget them utterly ?— or sterner hours 
 When I have borne the meed your frolics drew 
 Without a murmur ? By those old records 
 Of sweet and sad companionship— spare this, 
 And take all else ! 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Show me a course as sure 
 To keep the loyalty you vaunt unbroken ! 
 'Twas well imagined — bid your son prepare — 
 The light is waning. 
 
 padilla {pacing the stage in great agitation). 
 
 Heaven in grace look down ! 
 I cannot answer him — the air is heavy — 
 The ponderous storm-clouds fall and hem me in 
 With canopy of brass— break— break above me— 
 And let me breathe again ! They part— God's sky 
 In deepest azure opens to my soul, 
 And bids it thus defy thee ! 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Traitor! 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 29 
 
 Enter Maria, Mondeiar, and Alphonso, followed by Lopez 
 with Padilla's sword. Padilla sinks on a bench at 
 the bach of the scene, and covers his face with his hands. 
 
 MARIA (tO GrONSALVO). 
 
 What is this ? 
 What sad news have you brought us ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 You are come 
 To hear this minion of the Regent charge 
 Tour husband with sedition — ask his sword — 
 And, for the hostage of his tainted honour, 
 Demand his precious child. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 You do not grant them ? 
 Speak, speak ! You will not yield ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Never our darling ; 
 All else the Emperor shall command. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 A force 
 Sufficient to compel you to obey 
 My great commission waits ; if you withhold 
 The hostage, I shall call my ready soldiers, 
 Who will enforce your duty. 
 
30 THE CASTILIAN. [act i 
 
 MONDEIAF. 
 
 Call them — call them ! 
 They'll scarcely answer you : surprised, they strive 
 To burst the mansion's gates, which, while they feasted, 
 My friends, who guess' d a shameful purpose, barr'd. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 My Sovereign's troops imprison'd in my halls — 
 lie too soon made true ! 
 
 [TO GONSALVO. 
 
 Withdraw in time — 
 I'll bid your soldiers follow. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Let them go ; 
 They can work little harm without the weapons 
 I've taken charge of. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Give them back. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Arm soldiers 
 To rend our darling from us ? 
 
 alphonso (kneeling to Padilla, who remains seated). 
 Let me die 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 3 
 
 Rather than rive your loyal nature thus, 
 But not in life be parted from you. 
 
 padilla (placing his hands on Alphonso's head, and 
 bending over it). 
 
 Never ; — 
 
 The tyrant shall not dash away the bloom 
 That innocence spreads here ; nor fill these eyes 
 "With bitter tears ; nor bid them glare with fire 
 That desperate pleasure lights ; nor teach these lips 
 To utter thoughts unholy. 
 
 [Rising and addressing Gonsalvo. 
 
 Villain, leave us, 
 Before the passion climbing in my soul 
 Endow these hands with fury to avenge 
 The home your presence violates ! 
 
 Farewell — 
 Your loyalty's right well assured — to-morrow 
 Expect me with a band, too strong for rifling, 
 To vindicate your king. 
 
 [Exit Gonsalvo. 
 MARIA. 
 
 Tou ask'd your sword — 
 'Tis here ; you'll find its use. 
 
 [Padilla takes the sword from Lopez, who goes out. 
 
32 THE CASTILIAN. [act 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I welcome thee ! 
 And tHus unsheath thee in the just defence 
 Of this dear household. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 And shall feebler households 
 "Want its protection ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 They are not profaned 
 By wrongs like ours. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 With insults great as this 
 Castile's poor homes are visited ; the iron 
 Delay'd till now acquaintance with your soul : 
 But it has enter'd thousands of brave natures 
 E'er it pierced yours. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Do multitudes endure 
 Beneath the Regent's sway such wrongs as this ? 
 Am I by some foul dream beset, or roused 
 From deep oblivion of my country's griefs 
 To meet them naked ? Agonies and shames, 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 33 
 
 That crouch' d beneath mild semblances of law, 
 Start up, and chide me for the fond belief 
 I have cherish' d too supinely while I dream' d 
 That I perform' d man's duty. A new world 
 Of strange oppressions startles me, as shapes 
 Of dim humanity, that clustering hung 
 Along the dusky ridges of the "West, 
 Struck Spain's great xldmiral with awe of natures 
 Erom Time's beginning passion' d with desires 
 He had no line to fathom. 
 
 [Shouts and tumult without. 
 Enter Tendilla, Ovando, Gomez, and others. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Mondeiar, we wait you ; 
 The people are in arms ; a swift report 
 Of outrage to their noblest townsman wing'd 
 Their discontents with rage that would not brook 
 An hour's restraint: they come; they shout his 
 name. 
 
 [Nearer shouts, in which the name of Padilla is mingled. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Eoused, said you, by my wrongs, while I stand thus 
 Unheeding theirs ? 
 
 [Shouts still nearer. 
 
34 THE CASTILIAN. [act i. 
 
 MARIA (tO PADILLA). 
 
 You hear that call ? 
 
 1 PADILLA. 
 
 I hear, 
 And fly to answer it — for home ! Tor justice ! 
 
 [Padilla rushes out, followed by Tendilla, Ovando, 
 and others. 
 
 mondeiar (following them). 
 We triumph, sister ! Let your prayers ascend 
 For blessings on our cause ! 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 On him ! on him ! 
 
 [Exeunt severally. 
 
ACT II. 
 
 One night is supposed to elapse between the First and Second Acts, 
 
 d2 
 
ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. — An eminence near the great Gate of Toledo, over- 
 looking the city and the valley of the Tagus. Mondeiar 
 discovered pacing the ground impatiently. 
 
 mondeiar. 
 No voice ! no step ! This spot Padilla named 
 When to each chief he gave his midnight charge 
 For daybreak meeting ; and the jagged nrn 
 Of dawn, which yon divided peaks embrace, 
 Is full of saffron, which bespeaks the sua 
 Just raised on level ocean ; yet the air 
 Is silent, and Toledo lies entranced 
 As weary of brave sports. I know we triumph, 
 Though my dull office lay without the walls, 
 For the long shouts of joy that pierced the skies 
 "Were mingled with no discords. 
 
 The low hills 
 Have caught the sunbeams ; still I gaze alone. 
 Since those age-freighted hours in which I shared 
 
38 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Columbus' watch upon the dismal sea, 
 While the low murmurs of despair were hush'd 
 To dull submission by the solemn light 
 Of the great Captain's eye, as from the helm 
 It beam'd composure, till the world we sought 
 Dawn'd in its flushes ere the headland broke 
 The gloom to common vision, — I have felt 
 ~Nq vacant time so heavy as these moments 
 Which should be throng' d with actions. 
 
 Enter Tendilla. 
 
 Am I right ? 
 
 Is this our place of gathering ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Eight — your news- 
 Why does the glorious madness of the night 
 Lie hush'd in this deep silence ? 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Freedom pants 
 Amazed at victory. My duty lay 
 Sometimes beside our chief, whose sabre's flash 
 Along the streets gave signal to men's souls 
 Eeady to leap from serfdom ; every house 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 39 
 
 Started from darkness into festal lights 
 
 As touch' d by magic finger ; bells rang forth 
 
 In sudden peals ; and three triumphant words, 
 
 Padilla — Liberty— Castile — o'er all 
 
 The glorious clamours floated. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 The Alcazar ? 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Griron, who comes, will tell us ; 'twas his charge 
 To summon it on one side, while Padilla 
 Assail' d it on the other. 
 
 Enter Don Pedro de Giron. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Welcome ! Tell us 
 How sped your enterprise. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 'I was none ; my boast 
 Is that I bore the rabble's breath and live. 
 The throng I should have led, swept me enthrall' d 
 In rude embrace ; till, struggling to their front, 
 I stood before the drawbridge, which upraised 
 Left the trench yawning ; — then my rabble paused, 
 
40 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 While soldiers, roused from slumber, mann'd the walls 
 
 And with join'd sabres, fashioning sheets of steel, 
 
 Defied my dusky forest waving grim 
 
 "With axe and bludgeon ; as I gave the word 
 
 For action, from within the fortress rose 
 
 A frantic yell of triumph, which proclaim' d 
 
 Our work achieved ; the soldiers dropp'd their swords, 
 
 And stretch' d their arms impatient to embrace 
 
 Their rugged foes : the drawbridge fell ; the craftsmen 
 
 In headlong rapture swept across to join 
 
 Padilla's band ; while from the central tower 
 
 The long-furl' d banner of Castile flew out 
 
 Among the stars; one voice exclaim' d, " Thank God !" 
 
 And at the words, the motley hosts kneel' d down 
 
 Like docile children at their mother's call, 
 
 And cross'd their arms in silence. But here comes 
 
 The idol who enchants them, heralded 
 
 Even to our meeting by their clamours. 
 
 [Shouts. 
 Enter Padilla. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 "Welcome ! 
 Beneath the unclouded dome of heaven give thanks 
 For last night's stainless conquest ; if my sword 
 Had not chastised a stripling who mistook 
 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 41 
 
 The time for one of license, 'twere undimm'd 
 By drop of crimson. Who should now complete 
 Our roll of leaders ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 I have friends to name, 
 Guzman, Villena — 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Villena ! must we own 
 That ^reckless gamester ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 If his personal life 
 Is chequer' d with light follies, 'tis derived 
 From fountains ancient and august as fill 
 Castilian veins. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 So bears a shame more flagrant 
 Than his whose frailties, urged by needs, defile 
 A lowlier spring of being. In Castile, 
 The glory that ancestral ages wreathe 
 Around a noble's brow is less his own 
 Than portion of the lustre that arrays 
 His country ; and the baseness that obscures it 
 Combines foul treason to the sacred dead 
 With robbery of the living. 
 
42 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Dare you charge 
 My friend with baseness ! 
 
 PADILLA, 
 
 Yes ; what meaner vice 
 Crawls there than that which no affections urge, 
 And no delights refine ; which from the soul 
 Steals mounting impulses which might inspire 
 Its noblest ventures, for the arid quest 
 Of wealth 'mid ruin ; changes enterprise 
 To squalid greediness, makes heaven-born hope 
 A shivering fever, and, in vile collapse, 
 Leaves the exhausted heart without one fibre 
 Impell'd by generous passion ? And your friend, 
 "Weary of cards and dice, would make our wrongs 
 The counters of his game ! We'll none of him ! 
 
 MONDETAR. 
 
 Brother, be wise ; in such a state as ours, 
 
 "We must not judge thus nicely — Griron's friend 
 
 Must find allowance. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Is it so ? Alas ! 
 WTio else ? 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 43 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 I name Ovando — Gomez 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Brawlers, who without touch of true regard 
 For men of bitter needs, inflame their thoughts 
 By falsehood ; and, for succour, give them hate, 
 The soul's worst poison. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 So I think of them ; 
 But we must work with various instruments, 
 Or perish. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 great Heaven ! I thought our cause 
 Strong in its justice. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 So it is, my brother ; 
 And while a nation's passion sweeps its depths 
 May bear these surface eddies ; as the sheet 
 Of yon broad river, by light breezes touch'd, 
 Breaks into devious ripples as of streams 
 Slanting for various destinies, yet keeps 
 Its single course — so while a cause like ours, 
 Moved by a people's righteous fury, pours 
 Eight onward, these obliquities are lost 
 
44 THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 [ACT II 
 
 In the great current, if we let them skim it, 
 
 Nor break its force to check them. Villena comes ; 
 
 Pray welcome him. 
 
 Enter the Marquis de Villena. 
 villena (offering his hand to Padilla). 
 
 Let me embrace our chief. 
 
 padilla (shudders, but gives his hand). 
 Tour hand. Who follows next ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 My nephew seeks 
 Service and honour with us. 
 
 Enter Carillo with his arm bandaged. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Ha ! he has won 
 A scratch already ; would it were achieved 
 In honour ! Do I see the officer 
 "Who felt my sword last night ? 
 
 CARILLO. 
 
 You see him bow 
 Eepentant to your censure. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Your offence 
 
scene i.] THE CASTTLIAN. 45 
 
 In council must be judged ; till that is past, 
 Eesign your sword and hold yourself a prisoner. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 My kinsman welcomed thus ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 If he had sprung 
 From the noblest blood of earth, he should be judged 
 And sentenced as the meanest. He has stain' d 
 A righteous enterprise which, else, had worn 
 No spot. Amid the tumult of the night 
 One cry of agony alone was heard, 
 And 'twas a woman's, who, from rude embrace, 
 Shriek' d for protection ; happily I was near, 
 Or the most holy outcry of the earth 
 Had been unanswer'd. 
 
 CARILLO. 
 
 Let me hear my sentence 
 At once, from one whose words by justice shaped 
 Bow me with shame. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Serve in the ranks six months. 
 
 GIRON (tO CARILLO). 
 
 Do not endure it. 
 
46 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 CARILLO. 
 
 Uncle, let me serve, 
 And by my prompt obedience win again 
 The rank I had forgotten. 
 
 [To Padilla. 
 
 Sir, assign me 
 A common soldier's trust. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Eelieve the guard 
 At yonder city gate. 
 
 [Exit C ARILLO . 
 
 PADILLA (tO GlRON). 
 
 Tou think me stern, 
 But you will one day thank me. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 I shall thank you 
 In fitting season. 
 
 MONDEIAR 
 
 Part we now to meet 
 An hour hence at the council-house, and shape 
 Our onward course. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Agreed. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Padilla and Mondeiae. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 47 
 
 MONDEIAR,. 
 
 You have made a foe 
 
 Potent and deadly. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I am glad to know it ; 
 His friendship had been worse than deadly — shameful. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 I thought you were more constant in your temper — 
 You are chafed now. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I will subdue this fault 
 By gazing for a moment on the home, 
 Whence the sweet breath of old familiar joys 
 Henceforth will rarely soothe me. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 'Twill unnerve you 
 Tor our stern duties. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 JN~o ; 'twill nurture in me 
 That mighty sense of wrong which only grows 
 From lovely things insulted. Pray you say 
 That I am coming. 
 
 [Exit MONDEIAR. 
 
48 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Padilla {alone). 
 I must gather strength 
 To quell these swellings of indignant nature 
 Among those mighty images which make 
 A desperate venture calm. Loveliest of vales, 
 Spread now before my gaze in childhood's light, 
 Speak to me with the echoes which your rocks 
 Have treasured from vow'd striplings' martial steps, 
 "While they bade frank adieu to sports and hopes 
 And meditated forms which death could wear 
 In our great Christian strife, as thoughts of lovers 
 Dally with shapes of joy ! Castilian banners, 
 That flutter' d in my life's remotest dawn, 
 And made my childish fancy leap to valour, 
 "Wave with such solemn grandeur as shall sweep 
 All meaner angers to augment one rage 
 August against the alien rule which blasts 
 The land you glorify ! Let all delights 
 Of home, which sense of loyal faith made sweeter, 
 Lend their selectest symbols to oppose 
 The power which bids them wither at its grasp, 
 Or sparing makes them slavish, — and invest 
 My soul as with a breastplate ! I am arm'd. 
 
 [Exit Padilla. 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. . 49 
 
 Scene II. — The Terrace in Padilla's garden, as in 1st Act. 
 — Shouts heard at intervals, growing nearer. 
 
 Enter Donna Maria. 
 
 maeia. 
 Shout on ! Eoar on ! My spirit drinks the crash 
 Of furious discords blent in one great hope, 
 As I have listen' d to the mighty cataract, 
 From which the sounds of jagged channels join 
 In one majestic thunder that descends 
 With the same single, music on the ear 
 As at the river's conquest o'er its rocks 
 "When first it made its passage. Eoar, and speak 
 The strong outbursting of a nation's soul 
 At its true master's call ! Is none awake 
 In whom the lonely rapture of my night 
 May find an echo ? I will call my son — 
 Alphonso ! Can he sleep ? 
 
 Enter Lopez. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Where's your young master ? 
 
50 THE CASTILIAN. [act n. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Alas ! I know not ; as, last night, with me 
 He paced our loftiest crags, a wilder cry 
 Than any which our earnest ears had caught, 
 Eose from the city ; — when, without a word, 
 He sprang from the sharp margin of the rock 
 Like bird in air ; scarce touch' d the points that aid 
 The painful climber ; swam the stream which gave 
 A gurgle's notice of his buoyant course ; 
 Leap'd to the meadow ; waved his plume and flew 
 Into the darkness. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Bravely done ; his place 
 Is at his father's side. The shouts draw nearer; 
 Can you not catch one name above them all ? 
 
 Enter Alphonso. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Where have you left Padilla ? 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Left him ! mother, 
 I have sought him through the night, and cried in vain 
 To crowds that circled him to give me way, 
 Though I was near him often ; now they rush, 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 51 
 
 Led by the noblest in Toledo, hither, 
 And, as I think, to crown him. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Heaven assuage 
 The transports of my soul, that I may meet 
 This fortune as befits his wife ! I'll sit 
 And study to be marble. 
 
 [Sits. 
 
 Enter Don Velasco, Prefect of Toledo, with Soldiers 
 and Citizens. 
 
 VELASCO. 
 
 Noble lady, 
 We seek Padilla. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Here ! Then danger's past, 
 Else ye would not expect him in a home 
 "Which only knows its thunders. 
 
 VELASCO. 
 
 It is past ; 
 Toledo's free ; and her delighted citizens 
 Would hail you as a queen. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Me ! Do not waste 
 A moment of this time in wreathing honors 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 For a frail woman, who has only grace 
 As she adores the mighty. My sole claim 
 Is, that I have loved Padilla from his bloom 
 Of glorious youth, not as a love-sick maid 
 Entranced to watch the shadow of a curl 
 On man's bright forehead, in the swimming depths 
 Of hazel eyes with fondness downward bent 
 Reads her own charms reflected ; 'twas his soul, 
 His kingly nature, that I honor' d then 
 And worship now ; if ye shall crown Padilla, 
 Ye will do wisely. But my brother comes — 
 And, after him, my husband. 
 
 Enter Mondeiar — after him Padilla. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 My dear lord, 
 You have return' d in happiest time to give 
 Your gracious answer to Toledo's prayers, 
 Which claim you for a sovereign, whom Castile 
 Will soon confirm her own. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Me? 
 
 VELASCO. 
 
 Our shouts sent up 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 53 
 
 From our full hearts shall answer. He whose name, 
 As by enchantment, shook our fetters from us, 
 Alone shall rule us. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Do you speak the wish 
 Of all the citizens ? 
 
 VELASCO. 
 
 All — save some base ones 
 "Who seek their own advancement. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Is it so ? 
 Is what I welcomed as a noble voice, 
 Sent from a people's spirit to its King's 
 To wake his justice, treason ? Do I stand here 
 A chief of rebels ? JNo, my countrymen, 
 Tour error's but a moment's extasy. 
 Which Heaven will pardon. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 But will Charles forgive ? 
 Does loyalty deceive you with the hope 
 That he whose nature when it verged on manhood 
 Was old in craftiest policy's success 
 Will pardon this revolt — start not — such name 
 
54 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Our acts must carry — or forgive the love 
 With which the people urge you to protect 
 Yourself with them ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 It may be true, I am blasted ; 
 It may be, that in rising to redress 
 Great wrongs, we have snapp'd the holy bond of 
 
 subjects ; 
 But I will bear all shames before the spoil 
 Of such disaster sink with meaner guilt 
 The rebel to the robber. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Husband! lord! 
 Before you fling the proffer' d sceptre from you 
 Think of the strifes its sway alone can charm, 
 The blessings which its touch would waken ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No— 
 The course of right is single. Such a flaw 
 As is created by a chief, whose place 
 Or circumstance leads men to fix their thoughts 
 Upon him with affection, when he swerves 
 From duty, works more mischief to earth's faith 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 55 
 
 Than the victorious recreant can atone 
 By years of wisest policy. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Then perish — 
 He who has burst a nation's chains, must be 
 Its master or its victim. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I am doom'd then ; 
 My choice is made. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 If not for these — or me — 
 Tou think in this great moment, look on him, 
 Sole offspring of our love whom earth retains ! 
 Plead for yourself, Alphonso ! 
 
 VELASCO. 
 
 Noble youth, 
 Plead for us all ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Speak your desire, my son, 
 As freely as to God. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Mother, forgive me ; 
 
56 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii 
 
 My heart is in my father's, and his words 
 
 Should have been mine if I had power to shape them. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 You hear him — through the unsullied lips of youth 
 Heaven's answer breathes. Well said, my noble son! 
 Look up, Maria ! 
 
 [Donna Maria places her hands on Padilla's shoulders, 
 and looks intently on his face. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 I can read the future, 
 "Writ in the furrows of this steadfast face ; 
 The desperate struggle — the ungrateful herd — 
 Sharp death and mangled story. Think again ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I have thought all my life for such an hour — 
 I must act now. Assure me that your courage 
 Will quell this anguish. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 I shall conquer it. 
 
 And smile ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Yes ; if you will it you shall find 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 57 
 
 A smile on this poor face, till death shall fix 
 Its last in wax. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 That's brave ! The Council waits — 
 Thither, my countrymen, I bear this life 
 For you, which had been worthless if enwreath'd 
 With treason's circlet ; Mondeiar, come with me. 
 
 [To Maria. 
 
 Bid me farewell. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Farewell. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Alphonso, wait 
 Upon your mother ; she will be prouder of you 
 Than when she clasp' d you first. 
 
 [Exeunt Padilla and Mondeiar. 
 MARIA. 
 
 My friends, for all 
 The mighty good you proffer' d, take my thanks : 
 Forgive me ; I am faint. 
 
 [Velasco offers to support her ; she takes her son's arm. 
 MARIA. 
 
 Alphonso' s arm 
 Is strong enough to prop me ; Heaven preserve you ! 
 
 [Exeunt severally. 
 
58 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Scene III. — TJie Council-house of Toledo. Giron, Villena, 
 Tendilla, Gomez, Oyando, and others discovered. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Whom wait we for ? Our duty cries dispatch. 
 
 GOMEZ. 
 
 Padilla will be here anon. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Padilla ! 
 At such a moment, must we idly sit 
 Till he has surfeited with speech the rabble 
 That doat upon his footsteps ? Messengers 
 Attend to tell the people's triumphs won 
 In kindred cities. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 Let the first in rank 
 Preside. 
 
 The first in rank ! "Well — for to-day — 
 
 [Aside to Ovando. 
 
 Giron that seat is yours. 
 
scexe in.] THE CASTILIAN. 59 
 
 gikon {having taken the central seat). 
 
 Though slight desert 
 Has raised me to this station, I can grace it 
 With news most happy; — news which proves the 
 
 That triumphs in our city, no chance blaze 
 
 Like that which an old earth-torch waves from cleft 
 
 Of an extinct volcano, but the sign 
 
 Of one huge fire that glows within Castile, 
 
 And has already burst its shallow rind 
 
 In Zamora and Burgos. With your leave, 
 
 I'll ask the tidings of the Messengers 
 
 Who thence wait on us. 
 
 Enter two Messengers. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Who depute you to us ? 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 The townsmen who command in both our cities — 
 Which have one tale for each. Our Deputy, 
 Returning home from Cortez with the shame 
 Of voting for the Emperor's donative, 
 Without an effort to obtain redress 
 For outrages we suffer from the Regent, 
 
60 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Offer' d with words to cozen us ; but hands 
 
 Of sturdy citizens prevented speech, 
 
 Drew the poor sophist to the gate, and left him 
 
 Eree to the elements ; meanwhile, his house 
 
 Was levell'd, and his costly goods were piled 
 
 In glittering heaps, from which the poorest shrink 
 
 As things accursed. The rest is in suspense 
 
 And waits your counsel. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 As the people won 
 This freedom, I advise the people mould it. 
 I move, that, in Toledo, every parish 
 Choose by the votes of all a councillor 
 To rule the city, till our just demands 
 Be satisfied ; and that we urge this course 
 On other cities. 
 
 VILLENA (to GlRON). 
 
 Do you hear this, Giron ? 
 Is it for this the noblest blood in Spain 
 Is perill'd ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Be content ; Tendilla speaks 
 The spirit of the hour, and I approve 
 
 ___ 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 61 
 
 The scheme he offers. I would only add, 
 As the time presses, that, in every parish, 
 The first in station take the votes, and name 
 The councillor elected. If you all 
 Agree, all rise. 
 
 [All rise — Shouts without. 
 GIRON. 
 
 'Tis well. What means that shout ? 
 Padilla comes — too late. 
 
 Enter Padilla and Mondeiar. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Sit, noble friends. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Tour pardon — an unwelcome crowd too long 
 Detain' d us. Do you meditate a scheme 
 Of government for present need ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 'Tis settled— 
 A council chosen by free votes of all; 
 One for each parish. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 All ? Kenect again — 
 Has not a course of ages which begins 
 
62 THE CASTILIAN. [act ir. 
 
 Beyond the Saracen, matured a power 
 
 Incorporate in Toledo to preside 
 
 In exigence like this ? From, age to age 
 
 Renew'd from busy life, yet graced with honour 
 
 By old heroic story, which imparts 
 
 To citizens beset with care a sense 
 
 Of true communion with the glorious Past 
 
 And hopeful Future, — one of those old guilds 
 
 That through the cities of Castile have nurtured 
 
 Freedom in shapes of loyalty, that stand 
 
 Like living pillars round the throne to guard it, 
 
 And look remonstrance on it. 
 
 Tyrannies, 
 Servile in infancy, in dotage cruel, 
 Hollow in all. "We'll sweep them to the Past, 
 "With which they boast alliance. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Slave ! 
 
 Dost dare 
 Denounce me as a slave ? 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 63 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The worst of slaves — 
 The bondsman of the moment, scarcely free 
 To talk of yesterday. 
 
 MONDEIAR (tO PADILLA). 
 
 Pray you, be calm. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Calm ! — while the whirlpool of the hour engulphs 
 
 The growth of centuries ! Pause ere ye rive, 
 
 With strength of fever, things embedded long 
 
 In social being ; you'll uproot no form 
 
 With which the thoughts and habits of weak mortals 
 
 Have long been twined, without the bleeding rent 
 
 Of thousand ties which to the common heart 
 
 Of nature link it ; wrench'd, perchance you'll mock 
 
 A clumsy relic of forgotten days, 
 
 While you have scatter' d in the dust unseen 
 
 A thousand living crystals. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 We have voted. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Voted ! Will no one join me to implore 
 
.64 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Another thought ? At least, dispatch, at once, 
 Fit mission to our King, whence he may learn 
 That we seek only hearing for such prayers 
 As royal hearts should answer. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 To the King ? 
 Must all end thus ? 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 To the King — the recreant ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 This in my presence — 
 
 [Padii/la lays his hand on his sword, and advances 
 towards Ovando, but is stayed by Mondeiar. 
 
 Am I sunk so low 
 That I must, hear this treason, and not strike 
 The speaker dead ? 
 
 GIEON. 
 
 Ovando, do not raise 
 Contention here : Padilla counsels wisely ; 
 If Charles reject our prayers — 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 He'll not reject them : 
 Mine only be the peril ; let me seek him, 
 
 / 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 65 
 
 And if I bring not home his seal'd assent 
 To all we justly claim, I'll bring this life 
 To pay the forfeit. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 No, — we cannot spare you. 
 Let's number our demands ; first, that the King 
 Dismiss the Eegent, and resume his rule 
 In person over us. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 'Tis just ; he'll grant it. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Next, that he fill all offices of state 
 "With true Castilians ; that the Cortez meet 
 Once in three years ; that every city send 
 Three to compose it, one the Clergy's choice, 
 One from the Nobles, from the Commons one. 
 
 The Commons ! — well ! — so be our prayer. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 The Commons ! 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Be ruled, Villena ; 'tis best so ; what else ? 
 
66 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 That the King's choice in marriage shall await 
 The sanction of the Cortez. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I will perish — 
 Ere I consent to ask my king to yield 
 His eqnal part in the divinest joy 
 Our sins have left us, to the chance caprice 
 Of heartless policy — to become a slave 
 In that respect which masters, who are men, 
 Leave their slaves free to choose in. Do ye mean this ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 We'll speak of that hereafter ; here's more news. 
 Enter Messenger from Segovia. 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 Segovia craves your help, invested closely 
 
 By Adrian's troops, under his judge Eonquillo. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 The war begun ? Has then Segovia risen ? 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 Have ye not heard how Tordesillas died 
 
 On his return from Cortez ? Scorning threats 
 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 67 
 
 That thickly murmur' d as he pass'd, he turn'd 
 In the church porch to speak, and waved his hand 
 "With noble motion to enforce the silence 
 His stately presence claim' d ; but e'er a word 
 Escaped his lips, a hundred massive hands 
 "Were spread to grasp him, and his form was lost 
 Amidst the infuriate crowds who bore him thence 
 Shrieking for mercy with a voice that sank 
 Prom sharpest cry of anguish to faint moan 
 Of wearied infancy ; and though the Priests, 
 Eobed in procession met them, and upraised 
 The Host to win a moment's time for prayer, 
 Swept with him to the gibbet's foot, nor ceased 
 Their madden' d roar, till lifting him to swing 
 Prom the detested beam, they found the work 
 Of death completed, and with sudden awe 
 Grazed on their rescued victim. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Merciful Heaven ! 
 Is this the people's justice ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 It is past. 
 Say on. 
 
 f2 
 
63 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Konquillo came, by Adrian sent 
 To punish, not the reckless crowd alone 
 But all Segovians ; he proclaim'd us outlaws, 
 And now invests our walls ; while Eonseca, 
 Mush'd with Medina's ravage, where he burn'd 
 The labours of a thousand looms, leads veterans 
 To join Ronquillo. If you grant no aid, 
 Segovia's doom is seal'd, and shameful death 
 Awaits the noblest of our citizens 
 Who would have died to stay the rabble's vengeance. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 There's work for me more fit than war of words. 
 Let me depart your soldier, with no troops 
 Save such as, on the instant, choose to join 
 My standard, whether disciplined in arms 
 Or fresh from workman's labour. 
 
 Nobly urged. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 Will you thus arm him to achieve the crown 
 The rabble fain would give him ? 
 
SCENE III.] 
 
 THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 69 
 
 MONDEIAE. 
 
 base fear ! 
 This day, when urged by thousands to accept it, 
 He spurn' d it with a singleness of nature 
 Beyond your reach of guessing. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Brother, peace- 
 Disdain to answer him ; my heart's too full — 
 Castilians ! If ye think that in this mould 
 Along one fibre creeps a wish so vile 
 As this poor gamester in his squalid fancy 
 Deems possible, explore it with your swords ; 
 Here on my knee, with naked breast, I claim 
 Tour quittance or your steel. 
 
 [Kneels. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Eise, noble soldier ; 
 I'll answer for your truth with life, and all 
 Will wager for it their' s as freely. 
 
 The other Councillors, rising. 
 
 All. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Another hour shall see my march began 
 
70 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 Let me but crave one boon ; the Queen Joanna, 
 Amidst the conflicts of the time, may lack 
 Observance 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 Have we leisure to attend 
 
 The humours of distraction ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Leisure ? Yours ? 
 Tour lifetime, if it would outlast the world, 
 Were nobly barter' d for an hour employ'd 
 In chasing from the mirror of that soul 
 One film that dims it. I would pray the council 
 Leave that my wife may tend her, and my son 
 Serve her with page's duty. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Deem this order' d 
 As you desire. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Attend one parting prayer — 
 May strength continue to our cause, to claim 
 Bravely our just demands, and, those achieved, 
 May grace be with it nobly to dissolve 
 In old obedience ! As you keep this hope 
 God prosper you ! Farewell. 
 
 
scene m.] THE CASTILIAN. 7'. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Farewell, great soldier. 
 
 [Exit Padilla. 
 
 At noon we'll meet again ; till then farewell. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Giron and Villena. 
 
 Villena, you must leave our game to me ; 
 
 I comprehend and hate Padilla, you 
 
 Simply detest him. You would play with men 
 
 As with your dice and counters, which may stand 
 
 For vulgar natures, but afford no mark 
 
 By which a noble constancy of soul 
 
 May bear its estimate ; and as a child, 
 
 Moving an unknown power, confounds the wisest, 
 
 So, while you weave your schemes with common 
 
 chances, 
 Greatness perplexes all. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 If he should come 
 Victorious home ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 He will return victorious, 
 But with scarce half the troops he carries hence, 
 And more than half of them rude clowns who leave 
 Their trades, in sudden passion to be school'd 
 
72 THE CASTILIAN. [act ii. 
 
 By discipline they guess not, and to smart 
 
 With wounds, which the train' d soldier having learn' d 
 
 In youth to image with his future, bears 
 
 As ills familiar, but to craftsman's sense 
 
 "Will seem strange sorrows. Then, be sure, that 
 
 Charles 
 Will scorn the missives of revolted subjects, 
 And our proud chief, who fancies that he arms 
 At once for king and rabble, disabused, 
 Will stand aghast, with nature rent in twain 
 And fall to ruin ; meanwhile he and all 
 Who worship him, have left the state to us. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 Say rather to a council rabble-chosen. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Tut ! you as dimly read the common mind 
 As the heroic spirit. Trust me, Marquis, 
 The lower that the soil lies, and the wider 
 The surface it presents, the kindlier strikes 
 The germ of new dominion there ; the rankness 
 Of elements that moulder round its stem 
 Shall shed imperial purple through its flower 
 When it shall flaunt in sunshine. 
 
 [Shouts without. 
 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 73 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 Those shouts hail 
 Padilla's band departing. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Well ! We talk 
 More safely thus protected by their clamour, 
 While they exhaust the passion which inspires it. 
 Believe me, comrade, when the incense floats 
 Most thickly round the idol's shrine, its fire 
 Begins to smoulder. Let us divide the stakes 
 Fairly for once : the glory of the day 
 Padilla justly wins ; its spoils be ours ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
ACT III. 
 
 A Month is supposed to elapse between the Second and Third Acts. 
 The Scene throughout the Third Act lies in Avila. 
 
ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — A Street in Avila. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 You say our fortune ripens ; where is its show 
 Of fruit or blossom to repay our sojourn 
 In this dull Avila ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Have not all cities 
 Which tower throughout Castile embraced our cause, 
 And hither sent their delegates to form 
 The Holy Junta, who this day assemble ? 
 And though Padilla's fame to Mondeiar gave 
 Toledo's voice, do I not sit for Burgos ? 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 And what is won for me but manners curb'd 
 By stricter supervision ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 So you think 
 
78 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 This state will last! 'Twill "break in thousand fragments ; 
 Then he who leads the troops will rule Castile. 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 Such luck will be the General's who returns 
 This hour with fresh-won glories. 
 
 GIKON. 
 
 And this hour 
 The messengers dispatch' d to Charles will meet us 
 And, as I prophesied, without redress. 
 The Junta, who propose to sway men's hearts 
 By solemn plainness, in the open square 
 Sit to claim oaths of fealty to their power, 
 "Without regard of Charles, unless he grant 
 Petitions which, I know, he scorn' d to hear. 
 Padilla will refuse to take that oath, 
 ioid the alternative is exile. Guess 
 Who then will lead the army. 
 
 [ Ti'umpets without. 
 
 Hark ! those sounds 
 Proclaim the Junta sitting. I am late. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 79 
 
 Scene II. — The great Square before the Cathedral of Avila. — 
 The Delegates of the Holy Junta discovered in ivhite robes, 
 seated on stone benches ranged in semi-circle ; Mondeiar, 
 as Delegate of Toledo, presiding. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 'Tis time we should receive the Ambassadors 
 "Whom we dispatch'd to Charles, and who attend us. 
 
 Enter Giron. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 The Delegate of Burgos — have you sworn ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 At dawn beside the altar. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Take your place. 
 
 [Giron sits. 
 Enter Messengers. 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 The General craves admission ! 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Will you give 
 Padilla or the Ambassadors first audience ? 
 
[All bow. 
 
 80 THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 If I may read your wish, we vote Padilla. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Tell the commander we desire his presence. 
 
 [Exit Messenger. 
 
 He'll pay our courtesy. 
 
 Enter Padilla. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Sit, noble brother. 
 
 [Padilla sits. 
 
 Segovia's Delegate prays leave to tell 
 Tour prowess at his city. 
 
 DELEGATE OF SEGOVIA. 
 
 While 'twas circled, 
 And, by Eonquillo, destined for the sword, 
 Padilla, by one mighty onset, dash'd 
 His living wall of soldiers into knots 
 Of wondering cravens, and dispell' d the siege, 
 Before Segovia own'd a throb of hope, 
 Or rose from her despair to breathe a wish 
 Eor blessings on his arms. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Small praise be mine. 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 81 
 
 Bonquillo, sent to punish, not subdue, 
 
 Thought only to meet citizens made feeble 
 
 By conscious guilt of blood ; and from the bands 
 
 That follow'd me, stout hearted though untrain'd, 
 
 Fled staggering with amazement at the might 
 
 Plain honesty confers. Tell your Segovians, 
 
 I wish, instead of stifling me with thanks, 
 
 They had made their gibbets blacken with the leaders 
 
 Of those who stain' d the rising of Castile 
 
 With Tordesillas' murder ; but alas ! 
 
 "With base impunity of crime, revolt 
 
 Confounds all qualities ! 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 This is not a time 
 For such a question : we are met to weigh 
 Tour claims to honour, and the best remains — 
 Proud Ponseca's defeat. 
 
 Account it little — 
 A rush — a charge or two — and hot pursuit 
 Of panic-stricken soldiers, whom to hunt 
 Por sword or capture, was as base an oflice 
 As to chastise a slave. 
 
8 2 THE CASTILIAN. [ a °t hi. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Valladolid— 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Open'd its gates without a blow— or blows 
 
 Swift conquest made forgotten. Thence I bore 
 
 The jewels, sceptres, crowns and regal robes 
 
 Of both the kingdoms, which the' astonish' d Eegent 
 
 Yielded, without a word, and scarcely met 
 
 My glance, while I commanded him to creep 
 
 Away unharm'd, and lead a shameful life 
 
 In the city he had scourged. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Most bravely done. 
 One form alone remains before we render 
 For all our solemn thanks— that you accept 
 The oath of fealty. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Oath — for what ? to whom ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 An oath of fealty to the Holy Junta 
 And ancient customs of Castile. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Small need, 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 83 
 
 Methinks, for such an oath from one who serves 
 With arms, not counsels. Does the oath you claim 
 Consist with oaths already sworn to Charles ? 
 
 MONDEIAK. 
 
 Tes ; we allow of duty to the king, 
 Provided he concede the just demands 
 We laid before him. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 make no reserves — 
 The great soul trusts ! Think how you trusted first, 
 And at whose bidding — his, who from a cell, 
 Savagely framed for cruel penance, stepp'd 
 To the majestic use of courtly arts, 
 Which luxury makes facile, while he wore 
 The purple o'er the sackcloth that inflamed 
 His flesh to torture, with a grace as free 
 As when it floats o'er worshipp'd womanhood 
 Or princely youth ; his who had learn' d in vigils 
 Of lonely night, such wisdom for command 
 Of the world's issues, as if spirits breathed 
 The long experiences of wisest statesmen 
 Into a single breast ; who from a soul, 
 Which men imagined withering like his frame 
 
 g2 
 
84 THE CASTILIAN, [act in. 
 
 In painful age, pour'd, as from living urn, 
 
 Exhaustless courage into soldier's hearts 
 
 And made them heroes. "What a power burst forth 
 
 'From the wan Cardinal's expanding frame, 
 
 "While, with the fluttering voice, that grew as clear 
 
 As note of clarion, he invoked Castile 
 
 To swear allegiance to her stripling prince, 
 
 In faith that he, whom Heaven ordains to rule 
 
 Will have Heaven's aid to govern ! Tou replied, 
 
 As, through Ximenes, Isabella spake, 
 
 And pray'd you, while her daughter's soul should lie 
 
 In cloud, to own her grandson. 
 
 MONDEIAE. 
 
 Noble trust — 
 Foul recompense. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Judge not by common rules 
 
 
 The opening passage of a mighty life ! 
 Think you the youth of him who e'er he reach' d 
 The age a spendthrift stripling sighs for, won 
 The crown of empire in the game of earth, 
 Should be esteem' d like youth which princes lavish 
 In wayward follies, and the servile herd 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 85 
 
 Excuse with fondness, which expands to worship 
 
 When, tired of vapid luxuries, it subsides 
 
 Into the decent pomp that stiffly leads 
 
 A passionless procession ? No ; the nature 
 
 On bitter nutriment of wisdom fed 
 
 In its bright spring-time, starts not from the root 
 
 A graceful sapling, but, with gnarled rind, 
 
 Spreads to unlovely compass, till its boughs 
 
 Shade earth and tower in air. Let us be patient 
 
 Till greatness immature grow ripe, to trace 
 
 In the stern progress of one regal soul 
 
 The infancy of ages. "We are arm'd 
 
 To teach that royal spirit to be just, 
 
 And I'll await the issue.. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 You must choose 
 At once, like us, between the oath and exile. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Exile — for me ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Such is, indeed, the choice 
 Proposed to all. Great Heaven ! you will not leave us 
 Eor such poor scruple ? 
 
86 THE CASTILIAN. [act hi. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Exile — that is to leave 
 My country, in her need, to men who count 
 Her dangers as their chances of high fortune ! 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 You gaze on me — who mean you ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 "Who ? Tour soul, 
 Shivering from thin expanse, which guilty hope 
 Lent its poor compass, knows — and knowing quails 
 for! 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 No more of this ; the embassy attends us. 
 
 padilla (aside). 
 The men return' d from Charles ! Why faints my 
 
 heart ? 
 They may determine all. 
 
 Enter Tendilla and other Ambassadors. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Tendilla, welcome ; 
 "What is the Emperor's answer ? 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 87 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 JN~one — save threats 
 Which, borne by Flemish emissaries, stay'd us 
 Before we reach'd his presence. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Did you fly 
 And leave our prayers unutter'd ? What made death 
 So terrible ? 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 It was not death appall' d us — 
 But shames too vile for a Castilian tongue 
 To utter ; for which Flemish arms were strung 
 And Flemish eyes were greedy. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Lost ! Undone ! 
 
 mondeiar (aside to Padilla). 
 Now, will you hesitate ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Our oath must now 
 Proscribe the Emperor. 
 
 [Padilla, who has been sitting at the extremity of the 
 circle, rises in great agitation, and is about to 
 speak, when a Messenger enters. 
 
88 THE CASTILIAN. [act hi. 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 My lords, a youth, 
 Who styles himself the general's son, craves andience. 
 
 MONDEIAR (tO PaDILLa). 
 
 Will you confer with him apart ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Not I— 
 His mission's not for me ; although these eyes 
 Have not embraced him since I went to battle, 
 I know he would not seek me in this hour 
 Of solemn duty. 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 No ; he prays the Junta 
 To hear his tidings. 
 
 mondeiar (to the Junta). 
 
 Are you pleased to hear them ? 
 
 {All bow. 
 
 Bid him approach. 
 
 {Exit Messenger. 
 
 I'll answer for his bearing. 
 
 Enter Alphonso. 
 
 padilla (aside). 
 He does not rush into my arms ; that's right — 
 He does not glance this way ; well done. 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 89 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 My Lords, 
 The service you permitted me to pay 
 The Queen Joanna makes me bold to bring 
 News of a change which, for three days, has fill'd 
 Her household with amazement. The dull sorrow 
 That weigh' d her silken lashes down has fled, 
 And eyes, which rarely caught the sunbeam, spread 
 With wild intelligence. Her ashy lips 
 Long seal'd in sullen silence, or unclosed 
 Only to murmur indistinct despair, 
 Part flush' d with crimson ; and, in rapid change, 
 The broken music of her queenly life 
 Breathes and commands her childhood's scenes to live 
 In brightness that appals us, yet, to her, 
 Seen through the parted foldings of the mists 
 That have o'erwhelm'd her spirit, they appear 
 As starting from a depth of years she thinks 
 Have pass'd upon her lonely state. My mother, 
 Who day and night keeps watch beside her couch, 
 Believes her soul is kindling. 
 
 padilla {starting up). 
 
 It shall kindle ! 
 Heaven does not mock us ! When we swore to serve 
 
90 THE CASTILIAN. [act hi. 
 
 Joanna's son, we saved the mother's right 
 If sense should visit her ; and now it dawns 
 In happiest season. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 'Tis most true, our oath 
 Bore such exception. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Else we had been traitors, 
 JSTot only to the stricken princess living, 
 But to the dead, whom each Castilian holds 
 Sacred above all living womanhood ; — 
 Her from whose veins Joanna's life was drawn : 
 Who, o'er the rage of battles and the toils 
 Of empire, bent an aspect more imbued 
 "With serious beauty earth partakes with heaven, 
 Than cloister nurtured in the loveliest saint 
 It shrined from human cares. Her daughter wakes, 
 As from the sleep of death, to claim her throne, 
 And ye sit mute, and do not bend a knee 
 To bless your Grod ! 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Must we disturb the course 
 Of our momentous duties to enquire 
 How madness glares or nickers ? E'er ye deem this 
 
scene it.] THE CASTILIAN. 91 
 
 More than the gossip of a weary chamber, 
 
 Think in what sad abasement of disease 
 
 Joanna's spirit lies — how all regards 
 
 Of parents, kindred, country, rank, were lost 
 
 In childish adoration of the form 
 
 A /reckless husband wore ; for whose slight image 
 
 Cold, tempests, dangers, injuries and scorns 
 
 Were pass'd unheeded, till her spirit, stung 
 
 By jealous fury, dock'd 'mid laughter's rage, 
 
 The locks that in their golden meshes held 
 
 Her truant lord ; how, tranced in grief, she bore 
 
 A child unconscious, while her thoughts were fix'd 
 
 On her far distant scorner : how, when dead, 
 
 She cherish'd him as living, till from dreams 
 
 Of frightful rapture startled, to a tomb 
 
 Beneath Granada's walls by night she bore him, 
 
 And cursed the torches when the tempest blew 
 
 Their flames athwart death's panoply ! And this lady 
 
 Ye seek to rule these kingdoms ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Shallow scorner ! 
 There's not a deed you cast on her as shame 
 That does not prove her noble. If, on ship-board, 
 The pictured likeness of her plighted lord 
 
92 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 Then unbeheld, grew precious as it charm'd 
 Her perilous bridal voyage, till she embraced 
 The living idol who in grace outshone 
 The vision of the desolate sea, and thus 
 The mein so sigh'd for, so assured, became, 
 In spite of wrongs and scorn, an image set 
 So deeply in affection, that no guilt 
 Could ruffle it, no falsehood dim, nor death 
 Touch with decay, — I tell your lordly wisdom, 
 There is more royalty in such a love 
 Supremely seated in a woman's heart 
 Than in the power of monarchs. Grod alone 
 Knows what she bore in that self- tyranny 
 Which to the sweet rebellion of a tear 
 Denied its license ; but through all she made 
 Of grief a lonely throne ; whence she shall rise 
 In majesty relumined ! 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 'Tis delusion, — 
 It may be falsehood. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Lords — I will not smite him — 
 Hear me ! I wager all I have and am 
 On this great issue. See ! I draw my sword, 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 93 
 
 And swear allegiance to Castilian laws 
 And to my rightful Queen, Joanna ! 
 
 [Draws. 
 GIRON. 
 
 Treason! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 So be it answer' d if I fail to show 
 
 The Queen restored to govern. Give me, Lords, 
 
 A day — an hour — to wake the royal pulse 
 
 That lives in her great nature ; if I fail, 
 
 I will confess this charge of treason just, 
 
 And crave a traitor's sentence. 
 
 MONDEIAR (tO PADILLA). 
 
 Be not rash. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I follow Heaven that points ; at this hour's close 
 Attend Joanna's palace ; let the scaffold 
 Meanwhile be furnish' d for me ; and if, then, 
 Te do not own her queen, let me ascend it. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Grant his mad prayer. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Dear brother, pause — your foe 
 Echoes your wish. 
 
94 THE CASTILIAN. [act hi. 
 
 PADTLLA. 
 
 The voice of the Eternal, 
 That breathes through organs which seem framed to 
 
 mock it, 
 Speaks now in G-iron's. 
 
 [ To the Junta. 
 
 If you accept my life 
 In pledge, stand up. 
 
 \A 11 rise. 
 
 I shall not ask a moment 
 Beyond the hour, to hail the Queen or die. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Adjourn the sitting. Brother, I will seek you 
 At Queen Joanna's palace. Grod uphold you ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 He will — He does. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Padilla and Alphonso. 
 
 padilla {embracing Alphonso). 
 
 Alphonso, you have brought 
 Tidings more glad than on the thirsty ear 
 Of dying hope have pour'd since fortune's game 
 Had empire for a prize. My nature, shiver' d 
 To fragments from its centre, closes whole 
 As flawless crystal. I will circle in 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 95 
 
 The powers of new-born freedom with a band 
 Firmly expanding as they grow within it, 
 Beneath a diadem whence steadfast rays 
 Shall, through the fiercest struggles of the realm, 
 Shed reconciling calm. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 But if this hope 
 Should fail? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 My work in this world will be done, 
 And I shall pass absolved ; but do not dream it ; 
 Let not such fear impede your bounding feet 
 "Which should be wing'd with joy ! Among the spoils 
 Brought from Valladolid, you'll find the crowns, 
 Sceptres, and robes, and jewels of Castile 
 And Aragon ; see them, at once, disposed 
 Around the inner chamber of the Queen 
 That's curtain'd from her sight — send me a Captain 
 Fit to direct my soldiers — then expect me 
 To wait your royal mistress. Ply ! 
 
 [Exit Alphonso. 
 
 padilla (alone). 
 
 My soul 
 
 Quivers with triumph ; yes; the woman's shatter' d 
 
96 THE CASTILIAN. [act hi. 
 
 But the Queen lives! The infant through whose 
 
 dreams 
 Attendant homage shed obsequious hues 
 Which made them purple, and who, waking, saw 
 The brow that wore the fairest crown of earth 
 Bent with a mother's earnest love, received 
 A sense of royalty which touch' d will wake 
 Midst the mind's ruin. Though in deep abyss 
 Perturb' d the fountain of its reason heaves, 
 If I can bid the shows of queenly power 
 Nod o'er its waters, they will spread serene 
 To give the steady reflex to the day 
 Erom majesty's still mirror. 
 
 Enter a Captain. 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 I attend you 
 At your son's bidding. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Eight ; you know the palace 
 "Where the Queen rests in Avila? 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 The Queen ?— 
 She who is sunk in madness ? 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 97 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 She who, this day 
 Bestored, shall bless Castile. Draw up your soldiers, 
 So that they line her courtyard ; keep them voiceless, 
 Till you behold aloft a banner wave — 
 Then raise the shouts of triumph ; bid each man 
 Fling up his helm, and cry, " Long live the Queen ! " 
 And rush with all your officers to throng 
 Her chamber, that she may assume her state 
 Girt with Castilian heroes. 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 May your hopes 
 Prove true ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 They shall prove true ; make haste — away ! 
 
 [Exit Captain. 
 padilla (alone). 
 My life — my honour's life — my country's life 
 Hang on this hour. Spirit of Isabella, 
 Whom the strong peril of thy loved Castile 
 Constrains to listen, shine into the soul 
 Of thy distracted daughter with such look 
 As after my first skirmish, 'neath the towers 
 Of old Grenada, thou didst lavish on me 
 
98 THE CASTILIAN. [act hi. 
 
 A stripling, gash'd and fluster' d to thy tent 
 Conducted to receive more charming praise 
 Than manhood ever wins ; when golden locks 
 Stray' d from the heroic forehead into films 
 Of sunlight, and a slender, Jewell' d hand 
 That lightly fell upon my bending head 
 Shot ecstacy through all my frame ! I see 
 That aspect beam ; I feel that touch ; I come ! 
 
 [Exit Padilla. 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 99 
 
 Scene III. — An Antechamber in the Palace of the Queen 
 Joanna. — Ladies waiting. 
 
 Enter Maria. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Is the Queen sleeping still ? 
 
 LADY. 
 
 Yes ; but she smiled 
 Just now in sleep, and murmur' d out your name. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 My name ? She has not known me through the weeks 
 I have attended her. 
 
 LADY. 
 
 I am sure she named you ; 
 And yet she stirr'd not while your son disposed 
 Sceptres, robes, crowns, and gems beyond the curtains 
 That fall around her. 
 
 Enter Padilla. 
 maria {running to Padilla). 
 
 My dear husband — 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Hold— 
 h2 
 
100 THE CASTILIAN. [act 
 
 I dare not clasp you to rny heart till Heaven 
 Assure our triumph. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 How ? 
 
 padilla (to the attendant Ladies). 
 
 Please you to watch 
 The Queen's awaking. When she stirs, let music, 
 A lute touch'd softly to some old dull tune 
 She may have heard in Flanders, meet her ear. 
 
 [Exeunt Ladies. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Maria, on this hour depends the fate 
 Not of our household only, but Castile, 
 Which lives or withers as Joanna's heart 
 Shall glow or fail. Be near her when she wakes; 
 Strive to dispel ignoble memories from her, 
 While I abide your summons. 
 
 [Exit Maria. Soft music within. 
 
 padilla (alone). 
 
 Hark the music 
 Bespeaks her waking ; now be with us Heaven ! 
 
 [Exit Padilla. 
 
sceue iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 101 
 
 Scene IV. — The Chamber of the Queen Joanna. — A royal 
 Chamber, divided by curtains which fall in a crescent 
 round a couch on which the Queen Joanna is reclining. 
 At the head of the couch is placed a Chair of State, beside 
 which Donna Makia and Alphonso are standing — at its 
 foot an Attendant Lady is sitting on a low stool with a 
 lute, on tvhich she is playing. — She ceases to play as the 
 scene opens. 
 
 joanna {waling). 
 Whence is that air ? I think I heard it play'd 
 Long since ; was it by you ? 
 
 No, madam, never ; 
 'Tis of my country, Flanders. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Flanders ? True— 
 I now remember, years — long years — ago 
 In your gay land I heard it. I was a bride then, 
 And the most glorious face that Nature shaped 
 In ecstacy, look'd down with love on mine ; 
 You well may wonder — 'tis a tale so old — 
 To see me living still. 
 
102 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 MAKIA. 
 
 Tour Highness' age 
 Leaves years of life to come. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Ay years, years, years — 
 For I am doom'd, to wear a wondrous life, 
 Far off, it dawn'd in lustre ; then 'twas pall'd 
 In blackness streak' d with horrors ; now it bursts 
 From sleep by fits, when long past things flash out 
 In shapes that crowd the chambers of my brain 
 To agony that spends its force in throbbing ; 
 And then I sleep again — long dreamless sleeps — 
 Which must endure for years ; so Time sweeps by 
 And leaves me a dull monument to keep 
 His saddest records ; none would own me now 
 For Isabella's daughter. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 All who knew 
 Her image living, trace it in your Highness. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 JSTo ; I alone of those that breathe have known her ; 
 
 And I can tell you things no living eye 
 
 But mine beheld. When the world's mighty strife 
 
scene iv.] THE CAST1LIAN. 103 
 
 'Twixt Moor and Christian, in which radiant saints 
 
 Vouchsafed to mingle with our hosts, was crown' d 
 
 By cession, in earth's breathless silence, made 
 
 Of tamed Grenada, by my mother's side 
 
 I sat, and saw the enormous towers unscathed 
 
 As still defying siege, beneath the range 
 
 Of ice-clad mountains, which with peaks of fire 
 
 Look'd pinnacled for angels' feet. Our veterans 
 
 Stood like mail'd statues, till the giant cross 
 
 Of virgin silver, which my father raised 
 
 Before him in his battles, shone erect 
 
 Against heaven's azure, on the Alhambra's top, 
 
 Flinging its sacred shadow on the dome 
 
 Which sullenly heaved under it ; then all 
 
 Fell on their knees, and down scar-furrow' d cheeks 
 
 Large tears roll'd slowly, as the hymn of praise 
 
 Floated on air ; but none advanced a step 
 
 Toward the surrender' d gates, till thence appear' d 
 
 Hundreds of Christian captives freed from depths 
 
 Of Moorish dungeons, shrinking in strange sunlight, 
 
 "Who totter' d to my mother's feet to bless 
 
 Her face, like those, they said, which beam'd in sleep 
 
 That follow' d torture. Then, what shouts arose ! 
 
 "What endless torrent of plumed troops swept by us, 
 
104 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 With cataract roar ! It rushes on my brain- 
 It racks me — lay me down. 
 
 [Maria assists Joanna to lie down and adjusts the pillows. 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Your touch is gentle — 
 What are you call'd ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Maria de Pacheco ; 
 I've watch'd a month beside your Highness. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Ha! 
 
 I think I heard — it must be long ago 
 
 You call'd an infant by my slighted name ; 
 Hoes she live still ? 
 
 maria (bursting into tears). 
 In heaven. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Tie ! do not weep, 
 You see I do not weep who outlive all ; 
 I have not shed a tear since that long night 
 Which I endured beside Medina's postern, 
 When, while the snow weigh'd down the fluttering rob. 
 That clad me, I defied the minion lords 
 
scene iv.] THE CA8TILIAN. 105 
 
 Who strove to win me back to the sad couch 
 
 I left to make my lonely way to him 
 
 Whose soul was pledged to mine ; they tore me thence ; 
 
 But I escaped their feeble bonds again, 
 
 And traversed land and sea to find — to find — 
 
 A Flemish wanton snaring Philip's soul 
 
 With golden tresses. See ! She kneels and prays 
 
 With baby prettiness and honied words 
 
 For pardon — never ! Doff those glistening locks 
 
 And stand, unshaded by a curl, the gaze 
 
 Of her you have stabb'd ! I am a Princess still 
 
 And will have justice ! What if Philip frown? 
 
 I like him best when frowning — 
 
 Do I wander ? 
 I am far sunk in years, and age has licence 
 To babble of old times. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 All women shared 
 The wrongs you bore from Philip. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Shared ? what mean you ? 
 When did I crave a partner for my grief, 
 Or talk of wrongs ? I was too wan for Philip — 
 
106 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 The beautiful ! He gazes ou me now — 
 Smile — smile — so for eternity ! 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 In death 
 Be all his frailties shrouded ! 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Death ! You are fair, 
 Yet, from your lips, the dismal echo breathes 
 Of the world's lie. This cold and barren earth 
 And the dull roof of clouds that clip it round, 
 Leaden and low, to shroud it from God's azure, 
 King with that falsehood ; he was sick and lay 
 In trance, and all who envied me conspired 
 To call it death, and laid him in a grave — 
 But thence I pluck' d him — pale — but not more pale 
 Than I have seen him when I watch' d his couch 
 After long revels, whence he woke to know me, 
 And sometimes thank me. This poor heart still beats, 
 And, by its beating, I'm assur'd he lives. 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 Since you so fervently desire his life 
 
 I'll wish him living ; but yourself entomb' d him 
 
 In marble at Grenada. 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 107 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 So — you have heard 
 That rare device ; how, through each day eucamp'd, 
 I curtain' d him, and bore him on by night, 
 Loathing all roofs, that I might laugh at those 
 Who watch' d his waking. 'Tis a dismal journey — 
 The torches nicker through its mists — the sleet 
 Descends to quench them — I'll not track it on — 
 Tell me how fares the world, what path your husband 
 Treads of its dusty ways ? 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 He is one whose name 
 Tour Highness may have heard — John de Padilla — 
 Whose youth won glory in the Moorish war, 
 And whose life now awaits your Highness' service. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 I knew a boy so named, whose dawning valour 
 My parents cherish' d when they lived in camp 
 At Medun ; can he live still ? 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 He attends 
 Your gracious bidding. 
 
108 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Let him come this instant ; 
 I little dream'd a nobleman who knew me 
 In my bright childhood lives. 
 
 MARIA (to ALPHONSO). 
 
 Inform Padilla 
 The Queen commands his presence. 
 
 [Exit Alphonso. 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Queen ! I'll take 
 My state to welcome him ; set me my chair, 
 I'll fill it like a throne, and shame my mockers. 
 
 [Maria places the Chair of State in front, and assists 
 Joanna to take it. 
 
 Enter Padilla, followed by Alphonso. 
 
 padilla (kneeling before Joanna). 
 I pray your Majesty to look with grace 
 On your distracted subjects. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Mine ? You mock me ; 
 I am only sovereign of these rooms, — these ladies 
 My few poor subjects. Let me look upon you ; 
 'Tis said you are the glorious youth who won 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 109 
 
 Two crescent standards 'neath Grenada's walls 
 With marvellous prowess ; rise ; it cannot be — 
 Those battles have been hush'd an age, and you 
 Are in your prime still ; yet you are like the boy 
 My mother loved to praise. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I am the same 
 Whom that rich guerdon bless' d. Let me assure 
 My own the happy brow on which it lighted 
 By one most sacred memory which none other 
 Of my degree can cherish. When the sovereigns, 
 After Grenada's capture, held their court 
 In radiant Seville, I once shared the feast 
 Of their small household, and when sunset closed 
 The pastimes gracious Royalty had plann'd 
 For festal youth, and I was shrinking homeward 
 Full of delight, I saw the Queen with smile 
 That lent authority's augustest presence 
 The charm of angel, beckon me to wait 
 Upon her steps ; — I follow' d to the shrine 
 At which, with her, the royal children kneel' d 
 In vesper adoration. Softest light 
 Shed by one silver lamp reveal' d the walls 
 
110 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 Of alabaster, storied with the deeds 
 
 Of saints and martyrs, carved in white as stainless 
 
 As the fantastic wonders nature shapes 
 
 In Alpine caverns. By your side was John, 
 
 Tour rosy brother ; opposite to him 
 
 Tour sister Isabella bent a head 
 
 So stately and so sad, as if she felt 
 
 Chill shadow of her destiny to wear 
 
 The crown of Portugal with speedy change 
 
 For cypress and for amaranth. With arm 
 
 Tightening about her neck, and eye upturn 'd, 
 
 Stood Kate the youngest. 
 
 I behold them all — 
 I see you kneeling with us ; and a strain 
 Wafted from childhood murmurs through my heart 
 And makes it lighter. 
 
 I think I must have dream' d 
 Strange, heavy dreams ;— for it seems yesterday 
 "When we were ranged beneath my mother's eye 
 Obedient children ; Kate scarce totter' d then- 
 She may live still ; oh tell me, is there one 
 To call me sister ? 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. Ill 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Katherine is queen in England. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 England ? I was in England once — three months 
 Eeasted at Windsor, by a monarch styled 
 The Seventh Henry. Oh that I had perish' d 
 Before I touch' d its shore ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I pray you, wherefore ? 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Because death then had clasp' d me in an hour 
 
 Of Philip's love. Eor weeks we had been toss'd 
 
 Upon the wintry seas, from Elanders bound 
 
 Eor Spain, with no companions but our sailors, 
 
 Eough, weather-beaten men, with grizzly locks 
 
 And tawny limbs, whose kindness raised my wonder, 
 
 Eor never from my women's tenderest care 
 
 Eelt I such true observance as wild ocean 
 
 Had taught her mates ; and Philip's heart was soften' d 
 
 By dear remorse that made me bless the storms 
 
 That waken' d it, till lightning struck our mast 
 
 In the black valley of two mountain seas, 
 
 Lit into hungry crimson by strange fire 
 
112 THE CASTILIAN. [act ra. 
 
 That reveU'd in the dripping cordage ; changed 
 
 The sails to sheets of tatter' d flame, and show'd 
 
 Gaunt visages of brave men whom the fate 
 
 That yawn'd and glared around us struck to shape*-. 
 
 Immovable with horror; in that instant 
 
 By flash of a huge splinter, as it fell, 
 
 I saw my husband's face bent down on mine 
 
 With such remorseful beauty as o'erpaid 
 
 My years of weary sorrow. How I cursed 
 
 The dismal beach of Weymouth, where I woke 
 
 Prom happy trance to find myself in life ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Lady, you then were on your way to Spain 
 To solemnise your heirship of the crown 
 Which now is yours. Oh let it from your brow 
 Shine on Castile ! 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 My brow ? — you cannot mean it — 
 My crown ?— how mine ? Where is my brother John ? 
 Is he not heir of all ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Prom noblest hopes 
 A nation ever cherish' d in its prince, 
 
 
scene iv. 2 THE CASTILIAN. 1 1 3 
 
 Ere his first year of bridal joy had flown, 
 Grod call'd him, and the youth unmurmuring left 
 Earth's fairest lot ; and, in his tomb, a babe, 
 The blighted fruit of happy love, awaits 
 A two-fold waking. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Now I see it all ; 
 My crown is wrested from me by a father, 
 And he is mighty. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Ferdinand is dead. 
 
 Dead ? When he died, did no one urge my right ? 
 
 You said my sister Isabella died — 
 
 Where was my son — on whom I have not gazed 
 
 Since his stern beauty fill'd my wasted arms ? 
 
 It rises on me now with face that frown' d 
 
 In answer to the smiles my poor heart lavish' d, 
 
 To smite it ! Charles usurps his mother's throne — 
 
 Tell me no more ; let me lie down again, 
 
 And dream away my days. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 He held the crown 
 
114 THE CASTILIAN. [act m 
 
 For you, till mercy should dispel the clouds 
 Which now are melting in the gracious sunlight 
 Shed on your spirit. We had honour' d still 
 His glorious youth, but that he left Castile 
 To foreign minions ; against these we rose ; 
 And from their grasp we have redeem' d the crown 
 For you, our sovereign lady, whom we pray 
 To wear it. 
 
 joanna (starting from the chair). 
 Won for me ? 
 
 [At a sign from Padilla, Alphonso draws aside the 
 curtains which had divided the chamber, disclosing 
 a magnificent saloon furnished with large mirrors 
 — terminating in a balcony, beyond which the 
 towers of the Cathedral are seen — the sceptres, 
 crown, and regalia of Castile and Arayon dis- 
 posed around the saloon. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Behold— 
 The ancient symbols of the regal power 
 Eescued for you ! 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Can this be real ? 
 
 [Alphonso presents the Crown of Castile kneeling io 
 Joanna, who takes it in her hand; her fingers 
 play hurriedly over the jewels. 
 
 'Tis real ; 
 This is the crown which great Ximenes placed 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 1 1 5 
 
 Upon my forehead in Toledo's square, 
 When I was hail'd as heiress of these realms ; 
 How the vast pomp expands before my soul, 
 Which swells to compass it ! And this is mine ! 
 My own ! Brave soldier, place it on my head ! 
 
 padilla (placing the Crown on Joanna's 
 Forgive me ; my hands tremble with delight ; 
 Permit my wife to fix that robe. [To Alphonso] The 
 
 signal ! 
 
 [Alphonso waves a banner from the balcony; Maria 
 arrays Joanna in one of the royal robes ; as she 
 does so Joanna catches a view of herself in a 
 mirror and stands gazing with delight. Shouts 
 arise without and cries of " Long live the Queen ! " 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Is that my form — the form I thought decay'd 
 And shrunk in age ? What shouts are those ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The voice 
 Of your enraptured people. 
 
 IShouts continue — martial music — Padilla's Captain 
 rushes in with the Banner of Castile and ivaves it 
 over the Queen — The room becomes full of Officers 
 and Soldiers. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 See the flag 
 Of your Castile ! 
 
 i2 
 
116 THE CASTILIAN. [act in. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 I bless it. Let the gates 
 Be thrown wide open ; let my subjects throng 
 My palace, and approve me while I swear 
 To reign for them. 
 
 [ In a pause of the shouts the distant music of the Cathedral 
 organ is heard. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 Pray you one moment — hush — 
 Those sounds refresh my thirsty soul — forgive me— 
 Thank Glod I weep again ! 
 
 [Members of the Holy Junta enter and kneel to the Queen 
 — Shouts n 
 
 PADILLA, 
 
 The Holy Junta 
 Who have preserved your kingdoms, claim your 
 blessing. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 They have it ; I must ask their wisdom's aid 
 To teach me how to rule. 
 
 [Alphonso bears to Joanna the Sceptre of Aragon. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The holy sceptre 
 Of Aragon. 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 117 
 
 joanna (taking it). 
 Yes ; this at Saragossa 
 I swore to wield in mercy, when I deem'd it 
 A gorgeous plaything. I will keep that oath. 
 
 [Mondeiar brings forward the Banner of Toledo ; and 
 is about to lay it at Joanna' s/eei. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The Delegate from your own Toledo lays 
 Its banner at your feet. 
 
 JOANNA. 
 
 No ; let it float 
 On the proud air — the banner of my birthplace, 
 That I may hail its star of gold that flash' d 
 Upon me in my infancy with hope 
 Of grandeur now fulfill'd. 
 
 [Mondeiae waves the Banner of Toledo. 
 
 Beloved Toledo — 
 Your Queen shall fill you with her state ! — for there 
 I'll fix my Court. Meanwhile behold my general 
 
 [To Padilla. 
 
 To whom I trust my armies ; my chief lady 
 
 [To Maria. 
 
 Who shall direct my household. 
 
 [Padilla and Maria kneel on each side of the Queen, 
 and kiss her hands — Soldiers and Citizens pour in 
 — the organ swells into triumphant music — banners 
 are waved in different parts of the Saloon. 
 
118 THE CASTILIAN. 
 
 [ACT III. 
 
 joanna stands in the front with her hands clasped and 
 exclaims 
 
 Mother, bend 
 
 From your eternal seat to reign with me ! 
 
 [The drop-scene falls. 
 
ACT IV. 
 
 Month is supposed to elapse between the Third and Fourth Acts. 
 The Scenes of the Fourth Act lie throughout in Toledo. 
 

ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. — An Antechamber in the Alcazar of Toledo, now the 
 Palace of the Queen Joanna; in the middle of the bach- 
 scene folding doors guarded by Sentinels. 
 
 Enter Donna Maeia — she attempts to pass. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Give me free passage to the Queen. 
 
 SENTINEL. 
 
 My orders 
 Preclude all passage. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Orders! who dares give them? 
 Who has empower' d you to deny to me, 
 Wife of the Queen's Commander, while he sweeps 
 Her foes before him, leave to pay her service ? 
 
 SENTINEL. 
 
 Don Giron has directed that none pass, 
 
122 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Save those who bear a summons to the council 
 The Queen this hour will hold. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 The Queen hold council ! 
 Do'st mean that Griron represents the Queen 
 Fit to embody royal will in acts ? 
 I must pass to her. 
 
 SENTINEL. 
 
 Griron comes ; if he 
 Accord you access, I shall gladly yield it. 
 
 Enter Giron. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 You are well met, Don Griron, to assure me 
 If, by your order, I am denied free way 
 To attend my royal mistress ? 
 
 
 Yes. — When trifles 
 Of womanly observance claim your aid 
 You shall have leave to render it ; this hour 
 The state requires the Queen's unruffled wisdom ; 
 And I must pray you to defer attendance 
 Till graver duties be fulfill' d. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 123 
 
 MAKIA. 
 
 O mockery 
 Of council ! Well you know her mournful spirit, 
 Expanded for awhile by generous warmth, 
 Has closed in foldings that admit no access 
 To knowledge of state matters ; and you seize 
 The moment when the afflicted sense has shrunk 
 Most deeply into gloom, and when the chief 
 Whose accents might recal it, is detain' d 
 By duty from her court, to practise on her 
 Some most ignoble treachery. 
 
 I respect 
 Tour privilege to rail ; but weightier cares 
 Oblige me to entreat you wait my leisure 
 For apt reply. 
 
 Enter Soldier. 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 The general just arrived 
 Desires to see Don Griron. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 My dear husband ? 
 
124 THE CASTILIAN, [act iv. 
 
 GIEON. 
 
 Tell him his lady waits, and though I wish 
 
 A speedy conference with him on state matters, 
 
 I will not mar their meeting. 
 
 {Exit Soldier. 
 
 Farewell, lady, 
 Soon you will know me better. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Know thee better — 
 No, Giron ; I may see thy giant webs 
 Immesh our fortunes in their threads, or crush' d 
 To atoms by an honest hand's chance grasp, 
 But for the soul that weaves them, no event 
 Can show it clearer. 
 
 Enter Padilla. 
 maria (embracing him). 
 
 "What delight to clasp you 
 After four weary weeks of absence, cheer' d 
 Only by such dim knowledge of your triumphs 
 As rumour bore ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Have you received no letters ? 
 Oh wicked craft ! — But tell me of your charge, 
 In which I live or die — how fares the Queen ? 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 125 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Alas ! there lies our grief. The courtly grace 
 
 With which she bless' d your banners when we parted 
 
 Shone through that evening's festival and charm' d 
 
 Her wondering guests ; and during the five days 
 
 She after spent in Avila, her carriage 
 
 Remain' d most noble ; though sometimes she sat 
 
 Abstracted, as if truant fancies play'd 
 
 With distant things as present, if a word 
 
 Eeminded her of regal state, her soul 
 
 Collected in a moment all its strength 
 
 And started into majesty. She seem'd 
 
 Eapt in delicious musing through the journey 
 
 Thence to this city of her youth, and vow'd, 
 
 Before she sought repose to pay her thanks 
 
 In that august Cathedral where the Church 
 
 Embraced her soul in Baptism. As she kneel' d 
 
 Before the venerable font, her face 
 
 Shone with soft ecstasy, which so possess' d 
 
 Her frame in its composure, that men gazed 
 
 In awe, as if a bodiless spirit shed 
 
 Celestial thoughts among them. When we reach' d 
 
 This palace of her infancy, wild change 
 
 Came over her ; she bounded with delight 
 
126 THE CASTILIAN. [act 
 
 Like that of a young peasant girl return' d 
 Home from first service and array'd as queen 
 Of village feast ; now she some relic kiss'd 
 Of baby times : now burst out into sobs 
 Mingled with laughter ; last in vivid speech 
 Told of august Columbus arid the birds 
 Of dazzling colours that he brought from realms 
 Ear westward, till her fancy seem'd to ache 
 With its own splendour, and, worn out, she slept 
 The gentle sleep of childhood ; whence, alas ! 
 She woke still more estranged. 
 
 Did she not sit 
 Queen of the tournament our city held 
 In honour of her coming ? 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 As an image 
 Shaped by the sculptor in unconscious semblance 
 Of majesty ; her soul but once awoke 
 From heaviest dreaming ; — when the conqueror kneel' d 
 Before her for his crown, a smile as faint 
 As sparkle that the moon's young crescent casts 
 On stedfast water circled on her face 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 127 
 
 In flickering sweetness. Never has she sat 
 In council till this hour, when Giron dares 
 Usurp her name for summons. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 So dissolves 
 The snow-wreath which I thought a sacred band 
 To gird our cause ! Giron has stamp' d her seal 
 On orders which have drawn away my soldiers, 
 Troop after troop, till I was left as bare 
 As a thick grove in winter, sadly deck'd 
 By some few desperate friends that like dank leaves, 
 Which, in their fluttering yellow, cleave through rain 
 And frost to moss-clad boughs, would not forsake me ; 
 But I would stand alone against the world 
 If my Queen's soul were clear. 
 
 Enter Soldier. 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 My lord, the troops 
 The Eegent has combined, in mighty force, 
 Advance upon Toledo. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 "Who commands them ? 
 
128 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 'Tis said the Count de Haro. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 A great captain — 
 How many soldiers have we near Toledo ? 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 The Junta's troops — 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The Junta's — say the Queen's. 
 
 • SOLDIER. 
 
 I rather should say Griron's, for his friends 
 Command each band, and all obey his orders ; 
 They number scarce six thousand. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Tell Don Giron 
 
 That I await him here. 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 My lord— 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Obey me, 
 Or my own sword shall teach you duty ; surely 
 I am your general still. 
 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 129 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 My lord, he comes. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Leave us ; and you, my love, withdraw awhile ; 
 I must unmask the traitor. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Smite him down 
 With one proud look of goodness. 
 
 [Exit Maria. 
 Enter Giron. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 "Welcome home ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Before I take your greeting, answer me ; 
 Why, while our enemies remain unquell'd, 
 Were all my veteran soldiers order' d hither 
 And officer' d afresh ? Why was I left 
 To learn, on chanced return, what dim report 
 Had scarce suggested, that an army raised 
 To sweep the Queen's battalions from Castile 
 Bursts on Toledo ? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 I shall make reply 
 To no one save the Queen, from whom I hold 
 
130 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Supreme commission to command the troops 
 And curb the citizens, — and with it hold 
 The right to counsel you to seek the shelter 
 Tour neighbouring mansion offers. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Am I awake ? 
 Commission from the Queen ? Supreme commission ? 
 The power to bid me shrivel into sloth 
 While the war thunders ? JSTo ; some desperate fraud 
 Gives semblance of authority to wrong 
 That passes fancy. 
 
 giron {showing a scroll). 
 
 There is my commission ; 
 Gaze on it ; you will find it bears true impress. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The same that drew my soldiers from my camp 
 To wait your orders, but 'twas not impress'd 
 By the Queen's will ; I'll learn this very instant, 
 Prom her own lips, if her most noble nature 
 Sanction this deed. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 She is reposing now ; 
 You cannot see her. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 131 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 This atrocious scroll 
 Bears date this day ; if she could do this act 
 She can avow it. Sentinels, make way — 
 He bleeds who stops me. 
 
 [Padilla rushes past the Sentinels through the folding 
 doors. 
 
 giron (alone). 
 
 G-o — you will find her lips 
 Quivering with Giron' s name if I have train' d 
 Her feeble sense aright ; else they'll be dumb. 
 
 Enter a Captain of Giron's guard. 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 My lord, the Eegent's army like a flood 
 Pours down the black declivities that front 
 The northern gate ; your soldiers stand in arms, 
 Impatient for their leader. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 He is ready — 
 My armour ! (CaUing.) 
 
 [Giron's Squire enters with his armour, and arms him 
 while he s% 
 
 Do my captains hold the posts 
 I order'd ? 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 All is as you wish. 
 
 giron (speaking in yreat excitement). 
 
 How light 
 This armour sits ! Methinks the blood that springs 
 Prom Spain's remotest heroes never rush'd 
 Through any of my glorious ancestors 
 "With such triumphant prophesy as now 
 It swells in mine. My horse — my noblest horse — 
 Is he attired for war ? 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 At the Alcazar gate 
 In conscious pomp he waits you. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 G-lorious steed ! 
 I have reserved thy mettle for this conflict, 
 Which shall avenge us both on restless hours 
 When, in the gentleness of arrowy speed, 
 I have felt thy hidden valour under me, 
 And known thee panting for a leader's form 
 Thou shalt soon carry — for thy master comes 
 No slight lieutenant, but a chief to win 
 An empire in thy saddle. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 133 
 
 Enter Padilla with the scroll. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 May I take 
 My Queen's commission ? 
 
 padilla (giving the scroll). 
 
 Take it ; by what spell, 
 What wicked blandishment, you snared her sense 
 I know not ; but her lips, when I implored 
 That she would name her general, murmur' d — Giron ; 
 Take it — my life goes with it. 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Seek your home — 
 I will protect it. 
 
 FADILLA. 
 
 You? 
 
 GIRON. 
 
 Yes— I— 
 
 Before this night shall fall, your slow- won glories 
 
 Shall pale before the triumphs that await 
 
 Castile's first son in arms. I feel them crown me ! 
 
 [Exit Gtiron followed by the Captain. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Yet stay ! — I would have pray'd to serve beneath you! 
 
 
 
134 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 May Grod protect the brave men you command 
 From swift destruction ! 
 
 Enter Maria. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 What has Griron dared ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 His daring is made legitimate ; he holds 
 The Queen's commission superseding mine, 
 And has gone forth to lead our mortal conflict 
 Against the Eegent. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 You'll not suffer it — 
 Joanna means it not. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Alas ! I sought her 
 And in such tremulous accents as my ear, 
 Attent with agony could catch, she gave 
 The monstrous parchment sanction. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Trample on it ! 
 Proclaim it filch' d by most unrighteous practice 
 From a distracted mind which Grod absolves 
 From reason's duty ! 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 135 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Never ; I staked all — 
 My life, my honour, my dear country's peace, 
 On the Queen's waken' d spirit ; with her title 
 Graced the wild tumults of the crowd, and made 
 Rebellion consecrate : and while a thread 
 Of consciousness within her soul can shape 
 A mandate, I will honour it as law 
 Announced by voice of angel. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Is it so ? 
 You were not made for times like these. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Not made 
 For any time Maria, but for life 
 Of which this is the threshold whence the gates 
 Of the eternal open. Hark ! the streets 
 
 [Loud tumult without. 
 
 Are throng' d with battle. 
 
 Enter Mondeiae. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Brother, you see how wildly 
 Change courses over us in this slight world, 
 For, in a little fragment of an hour, 
 
136 THE CASTILIAN. [act it. 
 
 You find me stripp'd of station, trust, command, 
 By arts of Giron. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 This same hour has brought 
 Deep retribution. Giron, drunk with joy 
 Of base success, impell'd the unsteady soldiers 
 Whom he had parcell'd out to silken captains, 
 Blindly against the Regent's troops, who, wing'd 
 With impulse from the mountain, broke their lines 
 At the first charge ; they fled, and left our gates 
 Tree to the victors, who are rushing through them 
 To threaten the Alcazar. Hark ! They come ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 The spoilers in Toledo ! sword, come forth ; 
 I ask no warrant now to draw thee ! 
 
 [Draws. 
 
 (To Maria.) Dearest, 
 Attend the Queen ; keep from her ear the crime 
 And anguish of this hour. Ancestral city, 
 I will deliver thee or die ! 
 
 [Padilla rushes out, followed by Mondeiar — tumult continues. 
 
 maria {alone). 
 
 In arms ! 
 Heaven only grant that he remain in arms, 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 137 
 
 Sustain this righteous impulse of his valour, 
 And let what men call Fortune hurl its blows 
 Madly against us. 
 
 Enter Sentinel. 
 
 SENTINEL. 
 
 Lady, we are betray' d ; 
 While at the Northern Grate the battle raged, 
 A band of soldiers through the Alcazar's portal 
 That opens on the Tagus, left unbarr'd 
 By treachery as I think, with furtive steps, 
 Found entrance to the chamber where the treasures 
 Of regal state lie heap'd, and thence approach 
 The person of the Queen ; I have no force 
 To meet them — pray you fly. 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 " Fly," saidst thou, craven ? 
 My place is with my Queen. 
 
 SENTINEL. 
 
 Oh that our captains 
 Had mettle such as yours ! 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 No speech — come with me. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
!38 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Scene II. — The great Square before the Cathedral of Toledo ; 
 Citizens flying up the steps of the Cathedral followed by 
 Soldiers in confix 
 
 Enter Padilla, with sword 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Turn, recreants, or my sword shall make yon know 
 The coward's peril worst. Do my eyes dazzle, 
 Or is there a plumed officer who shares 
 This shameful flight ? 
 
 [Seizes Villena in the crowd. 
 
 I'll give thee judgment here — 
 Die! 
 
 VILLENA. 
 
 Have mercy, brave Padilla ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Faugh ! Yillena — 
 Thou art not worthy such a death, and thus 
 I fling thee back again to reptile being — 
 Live, craven gamester! 
 
 [Flings Villena from him. 
 
 I will waste no breath 
 On soldiers train' d in arms — let them fly on 
 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 139 
 
 And cowering wait with yonder palsied wretch 
 The conqueror's lash. Craftsmen of brave Toledo, 
 Through whose stout hearts these glory-cinctured 
 
 towers 
 Have shed the mighty thoughts of ages, guard them 
 With your rude weapons ! Do not seek for swords ; 
 And if you have no axe or bludgeon, use 
 The naked energy of arms grown strong 
 From weakness they have circled, to defend 
 Your wives and sisters stricken dumb with fear 
 Of woes they dare not shape, — and strike with me ! 
 
 [Padilla mshes out, followed by the People. 
 
140 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Scene III. — Tlie Antechamber of the Alcazar, as before. 
 
 Enter Maria. 
 
 maeia (alone). 
 Snatch'd from us in a moment, with her reason 
 Darken' d for this life ! Melancholy Queen, 
 Why wert thou startled from thy world of dreams 
 To emptier mockeries. 
 
 Enter Mondeiar. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Is the Queen safe ? 
 
 G-one, — 
 And all the regal gauds. 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Sad chance ! Padilla, 
 Turning the tide of battle through the streets, 
 Caught an uncertain rumour from the crowd 
 Of danger menacing the Queen, and sent me 
 Hither to shield her. 
 
 
scene ur.l THE CASTILIAN. 141 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Giron's treacherous art 
 Has miss'd its aim, but in its failure, given 
 Our royal lady to the conqueror's grasp, 
 Which will consign her to a living tomb 
 "Whence never voice shall issue. 
 
 Enter Soldier. 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 Our city's saved: 
 Its streets are freed from spoilers, and its gates 
 Secured and sentinell'd ; beyond all's lost. 
 Don Griron, when surrounded, madly spurr'd 
 His fiery courser up the rocky steeps 
 Which boldest climbers shun ; and though his horse 
 Leap'd with heroic rage from crag to crag, 
 Striking strange fire that flash' d beneath his hoofs 
 Like lightning, near the topmost ridge the steed, 
 Trampling on slender ledge that shiver' d, fell ; 
 And the infuriate general of an hour 
 Lies crush' d beneath him. 
 
 [Exit Soldier. 
 MARIA. 
 
 Then my husband stands 
 
142 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Supreme, alone, and from the cloud of treachery 
 The hero shall emerge ! 
 
 Enter Tendilla and Captains. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Is Padilla yet 
 Eeturn'd from victory ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Not yet; he stops not 
 While any toils of nobleness remain 
 To count those done. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 We'll heap new honours on him 
 Giron is dead ; our foes command the heights 
 A furlong from our gates, and our sole hope 
 Is his consent to lead us. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 He shall give it. 
 Will all the troops acknowledge him as leader, 
 Sole and supreme ? 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 All who from martial virtue 
 Eequire the sense of honour, will be proud 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 143 
 
 Erankly to lay aside all claims for duty 
 To him in whose clear sovereignty of soul 
 They place implicit trust ; but there are veterans 
 With sinews firm and courage nicely temper' d 
 By discipline and use, who want the touch 
 Of valour's generous impulse ; these complain 
 Of long arrears of pay, and will not serve 
 Without some present largess. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 I have jewels. 
 Take and divide them. Could I coin my life-blood, 
 How gladly would I pour it forth to win 
 Padilla means of glory ! 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Noble lady, 
 If the imparadised spirits of our saints 
 Now read the generous promptings of your soul, 
 How must they wish the treasures of their shrines 
 Devoted to sustain them ! 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 True — the shrines — 
 I'll make it piety to borrow thence 
 Aid for this mighty need. Padilla comes — 
 
144 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 No word to him, if you would have him yours, 
 Of the "base hirelings' claims, or of the treasures 
 "Which, well I know, he would not touch in thought 
 To win earth's throne ; for he holds endless ruin 
 Lies in such sacrilege. 
 
 Enter Padilla. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Has danger reach' d 
 The person of the Queen ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 She is borne hence 
 By soldiers who, it seems, found noiseless entrance 
 Through treachery of her guards. 
 
 Did she endure 
 The outrage tamely ? Did no flashing rage 
 Confound the traitors ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 jNo ; I flung my arms 
 Around her, and conjured the men who throng' d 
 Her chamber to retire, and saw them falter 
 A moment in their purpose. Then her eyes, 
 "Which had been glazed in vacant dulness, swam 
 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 145 
 
 In sad affection for me ; but they caught 
 The blaze of jewels in the sceptre raised 
 Before her couch, and flicker' d into joy 
 "Weak as the pleasure which a toy awakes 
 In a sick infant. So she pass'd away 
 Smiling and silent, with the glittering symbols 
 Of majesty around her, which the robbers 
 Obsequious bore. Alas ! her reason's sunk 
 Into a slumber which will break no more 
 Till seraph harps disperse it. 
 
 padilla {flinging down Ms sword). 
 
 There — lie there — 
 My sword has lost its sovereign ; it has won 
 Toledo's freedom from this night's foul ravage, 
 And shall be drawn no more. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 It shall be drawn 
 To save Castile ; you have no rival left ; 
 Griron is dead. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Dead — rival — how these sounds 
 Expound each other ! Rivalry with us 
 
146 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 "Was but a race for death, which Griron wins 
 A little foremost. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 All the Captains, moved 
 By one strong impulse, in our utmost need, 
 Pray you to lead the troops. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Against my king ? 
 No refuge left — no thin disguise — to veil 
 The front of treason ? 
 
 MONDEIAK. 
 
 You already wear 
 Its ban ; for Charles himself pronounces all 
 Who join'd this quarrel traitors, and his Regent 
 "Who in the councils of the camp presides, 
 By this day's proclamation, offers pardon, 
 Treasure, and honour, and release of captives, 
 To any who shall bring you to atone 
 Treason with instant death. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I have long felt 
 My course would have this issue, and long musings 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 147 
 
 Have braced me to endure it ; I am ready ; 
 My work on earth is done. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Think upon us ! 
 
 MOKDEIAR. 
 
 Think of the sacred things these walls enfold, 
 Huge relics of Art's infancy that speak 
 The great Castilian soul before the Saracen 
 Struggling from dense barbaric gloom to make 
 Valour and beauty deathless ; tombs that breathe 
 Of deeds unchronicled, and marbles worn 
 By kneeling saints, in which our fathers traced 
 Old martyrdoms and crowns ! Before you drop 
 The sword that rescued these from this day's rapine 
 Guess the triumphant insults of to-morrow ! 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 Feel for the citizens of your famed birthplace 
 
 And peasants born in neighbouring fields now shelter' d 
 
 Beneath its towers, who drink their native air 
 
 With prouder joy because your childhood breathed it; 
 
 Men who so prized your fame that when you gave 
 
 Adhesion to our enterprise, embraced it, 
 
 L 2 
 
148 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Asking no reason for the strife which one 
 So loved thought righteous — who, if now forsaken 
 By him they trusted, must endure the doom 
 The Regent threatens. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 What? 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 His order runs 
 That one of every ten who took arms with you, 
 Chosen by lot, shall on the gibbet die ; 
 While public scourging, dealt by soldiers' arms 
 Brand the more cursed survivors — for the crime 
 Of thinking you their father ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Have I done this ? 
 passion wing'd to pierce a state's repose 
 How little, at the moment, seems the touch 
 That breaks the placid water, and how vast 
 The eddies that sweep round it ! I cannot leave 
 Those who so trusted me, but will win peace 
 For them, or perish with them. I accept 
 The post you offer ; let me have an hour 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 149 
 
 Eor household cares, and I will order all things 
 For one great sally. 
 
 TJENDILLA. 
 
 I shall cheer the hearts 
 Of thousands with this news. 
 
 (Aside to Maria.) Lady, the rest 
 We trust to you. 
 
 MARIA, 
 
 Pear not. 
 
 [Exit Tendilla and Captain. 
 
 My noble husband, 
 Let me embrace you with a heart more proud 
 Than yet has leap'd to yours. Tou stand apart 
 In your own majesty, a tower of refuge 
 Which beams from Heaven illumine. 
 
 Say I stand 
 Upon the arid sands a desolate mark 
 For the next lightning ; look I as of yore ? 
 Lives in my voice one old familiar tone ? 
 I am all rebel now. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 No, true ; most true 
 To your own greatness and your country's need. 
 
150 THE CASTILIAN. [act iv. 
 
 Alphonso seeks us ; do not cloud his spirit 
 "With your unjust misgivings. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Tou are right ; 
 I will not mar the precious gift of youth 
 To know disaster only when it strikes, 
 Not when it threatens. 
 
 Enter Alphonso. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 My dear son, we left 
 Your birthday feast untasted ; we'll renew it ; 
 We four are join'd again, and we'll ensure 
 One hour of hme-fraught comfort. From the ramparts, 
 Where I will have our evening banquet spread, 
 We shall behold the flowering shrubs that droop' d 
 Over our household feasts. That sunset time 
 In which our old domestic joys were shatter'd 
 When foulest outrage summon' d me to arm, 
 Returns with heavenly lustre that bespeaks 
 Its golden peace. Mondeiar, inform the captains 
 Soon after sunset, I will ask their aid 
 To fix the morning's battle ; then come to us. 
 
 [Exit Mondeiar. 
 
 Each pathway of our garden lives before me, 
 
scene in.] THE CAST1LIAN. 151 
 
 In such distinct reality, that sense 
 Like that of touch embraces it, and sunbeams 
 That burst triumphant through yon watery clouds 
 "Will pierce the woods that shade it, till we seem 
 To wander through the glades, and feel the arm 
 About the waist, and head in sport reclined 
 Upon the shoulder ; come we must not lose 
 A moment of this hour ; its glory deepens ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
ACT V. 
 
 A Night is supposed to elapse between the Fourth and Fifth Acts. 
 The Scenes of this Act lie in the city and neighbourhood of Toledo. 
 

ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — The Battlements of the Alcazar of Toledo. — 
 Stormy Sunrise. 
 
 Enter Padilla, followed by Flokio. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Not here ! Maria stole away at dawn, 
 And I have search' d for her in vain to win 
 One word of comfort e'er I go to battle ; 
 Boy, have you seen your mistress ? 
 
 I Seeing Flobio, 
 FLORIO. 
 
 She went forth, 
 And, as I heard, met other noble ladies 
 Bent on some pious care. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Heaven bless her in it ! 
 How happy am I that, 'midst fortune's storms, 
 My little household, morticed in the rock 
 
156 THE CASTILTAN. [act v. 
 
 That shall outlast the visible world, uplifts 
 A pinnacle that, on its slender summit, 
 Reflects unrisen dawn ! Yet I'd not miss 
 Maria's valiant smile. Run with best speed, 
 And pray her join me on this height made dear 
 By last night's feast. 
 
 [Exit Floeio. 
 
 Those ponderous clouds that drew 
 An awful splendour from last evening's sun 
 Spread now a black pavilion, where the storm 
 Waits to make noon-tide terrible. 
 
 Enter Alphonso. 
 padilla. 
 
 My son, 
 I must inquire at last, are you prepared 
 For orphan' d ruin, which this battle lost 
 Must bring on your young head ? You look serene 
 As if on some heroic pastime bent, 
 Contemplating its prize. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Such a desire 
 Throbs in my eager heart, and hopeful waits 
 My father's sanction. 
 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 157 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 What have I to grant 
 Except my prayers ? 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 The noblest of all boons, 
 Tour leave to fight beside you. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 And so risk 
 The only treasure of a doom'd man's widow ! 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Oh do not speak so sadly ! How the tales 
 
 Which you made bright with shapes of boyish valour, 
 
 While at your knee I stood, reproach me now ! 
 
 Can I forget how children of the house 
 
 Of the great Marquis of Cadiz achieved 
 
 Scars from the infidel, e'er thirteen summers 
 
 Flush' d in their cheeks ? How King Alphonso's heir 
 
 At tenderer age, with eager heart, exchanged 
 
 The rare felicities of princely youth 
 
 For arid battle, and, expiring, strove 
 
 To trace in bloody dust consoling words 
 
 Whence might be sent assurance to his home 
 
 That he died happy ? These, and dearer tales, 
 
mmHmni 
 
 158 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 Which veterans oft with swimming eyes have told me, 
 Of your own deeds before you reached my age, 
 Proclaim me laggard. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 If with cheerful heart 
 I went to this day's battle, you should share it ; 
 But this will be my last. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 And should it be, 
 Let me not miss the last occasion left me ; 
 How shall I ever mix in glorious war 
 "Without one living lesson from my father ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Are you prepared to die ? 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 I think I am — 
 Perhaps more fit than if my age were riper. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Have your desire ; go to the priest who oifers 
 Prayers for us in the chapel ; make confession 
 As for your dying hour — it will not need 
 To hold him long ; then hither bring the sword 
 
scene!.] THE CASTILIAN. 159 
 
 I gave to you for sport, and I will gird it, 
 And we will go together. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Thank you, father ; 
 I'll prove no hindrance. 
 
 [Exit Alphonso. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 He has chosen bravely, 
 And has a right to choose, for on his life 
 Lies nothing that should make death fearful. 
 
 [Shouts from the city. 
 
 Shouts — 
 Hollow and f reckless — 
 
 In their pause I hear 
 A deep, low ponderous sound, — the very sound 
 Of the cathedral's funeral bell when heard 
 On yonder mountains through the evening air 
 In far-off years. 
 
 [Shouts renewed. 
 
 Those clamours surely rise 
 From some unhallow'd revel :— dreadful pleasure 
 At such a crisis ! 
 
 Enter Florio. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 "Whence are those wild shouts ? 
 What means that funeral knell ? 
 
160 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 I heard no knell ; 
 The shouts rise from the veteran bands who share 
 Among them heaps of gold and gems dispersed 
 From the cathedral's chapels. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 From the shrines ? 
 The treasures dedicate to Heaven profaned 
 To pay my soldiers ! "Who has pull'd this curse 
 On my last struggle ! Tell me, that my sword 
 May deal swift justice on the guilty ! Speak ! 
 I see you know the robbers — do not shiver — 
 But speak, if you would live. 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 A train of ladies 
 Attired in shroud-like vestments, moving slow 
 With spectral pageantry and saddest music 
 Besought the saints to pity and forgive 
 A deed compell'd by such sad urgency 
 As will assure its pardon. 
 
 padilla (grasping his sivord). 
 Urgency ! 
 How durst you — 
 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 161 
 
 PLORIO 
 
 Spare me — I have meant no ill. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No ill ! — Stand up — You meant no ill — alas ! 
 
 So soon corrupted by the sophist world 
 
 To use its basest words ! You think those treasures 
 
 Which fatal sacrilege has rifled, shows 
 
 For idle gazers — nay perhaps have learn' d 
 
 To hold the honor' d dead who heap'd them fools 
 
 Thus to bestow their wealth beyond return 
 
 Of mortal use. Oh child ! They are the offerings 
 
 "Which prodigality of boundless love 
 
 And grateful adoration, wanting words 
 
 For utterance, sought amidst the precious things 
 
 Earth holds, to speak in beauty to the future ; 
 
 And on each gift a radiant angel waits 
 
 To guard devotion's symbol ! I must fight, 
 
 By these abandon' d! — you beheld the spoilers — 
 
 Who led them ? Answer — or my sword shall search 
 
 That quivering heart — speak ! — I implore you, speak ! 
 
 Say — it was not Oh mercy ! 
 
 [Shouts renewed. 
 Enter Maria. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Can it be ? 
 
162 THE CASTILIAN, [act v. 
 
 You have no portion in this impious daring ? — 
 Say so and bless ine ! 
 
 MAEIA. 
 
 I have acted boldly 
 In firm belief that pardon will attend 
 A deed which brings the treasures of the saints 
 To aid a cause which, living, they had died for. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 So ! I am alone ; there is a gulf divides us — 
 All lost! 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 How lost ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 For this world ; but that's little ; 
 I thought till now, however lapsed in duty 
 To my anointed sovereign, I maintain' d 
 My fealty to Heaven's eternal Law 
 And Him who sits beyond it ; — that is gone — 
 And death's no refuge. 
 
 maria (kneeling). 
 
 Kill me here, and live 
 Assoil'd from guilt my desperate love brings on thee ! 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 163 
 
 Do not transfix me with those eyes of stone, 
 Bnt slay me ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Slay ! who spoke that dreadful word ? 
 Slay ! you should live for ages to implore 
 The saints for pardon ! Slay ! That word means death ; 
 And, in that death, which I esteem'd a haven 
 Of golden rest, the shadow of this hour 
 Will follow with its vengeance. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Then divorce me ; 
 Sever your lot from mine ; if I have sinn'd 
 Beyond forgiveness, cast me off, and keep 
 Your right to blessing,— so you let me kiss 
 Your hand once more, and hear one gentle word 
 Before we part for ever. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No, Maria, 
 I will not separate my lot from your's, 
 Here or hereafter. Eise, and look with love 
 Upon your blasted husband. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Blasted ! Spurn me. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 padilla (raising and embracing Maria). 
 No ; thus, once more, I join my soul with yours 
 For ever. I remember when we stood 
 Before the Priest to consecrate the state 
 In which the holiest ecstasy of earth 
 Enriches the immortal, and exchanged 
 The common vow of constancy " till death 
 Should part us," which gay brides and bridegrooms 
 
 take 
 And keep without reproach till parting comes 
 According to the word, and then forget 
 Their loss in other contracts which they seal 
 With the same brief formality, and pass 
 In decent round of duty, till the grave 
 Sets the survivor free to wed again, 
 As if the marriage of pure hearts had bonds 
 For mortal life alone ; I felt your hand, 
 Which had been tremulous in mine, grow firm 
 And your eye flash' d a question on my soul 
 Which from that soul I answer' d, — with disdain 
 Of the poor limitation of a span 
 For such great bargain, and a pledge that ours 
 Was for both worlds. I own that bond and pray 
 That I may share your doom. 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 165 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 I cannot weep, 
 For my heart's iron. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Do you not hear a knell 
 As from a distant church ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 No — any sound 
 Were better than the silence. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 A funeral knell ; 
 Yet softer than before you came : its portent 
 Seems fraught with solemn mercy. 
 
 [Enter Alphonso gaily, with a helmet on, and sword in his hand. 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 I am ready ; 
 The troops wait in the Square. 
 
 padilla (to Maria). - 
 
 He goes with me. 
 
 Oh not to-day !- 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Hold ! — not a word to him. 
 
] 66 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Oh not to-day ; all things in earth and sky- 
 Are charged with terror ; see the river's mists 
 Rise like huge shrouds to veil your battle-field 
 And the air's fill'd with storm. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 "We must abide it ; 
 My army will to-morrow be dissolved 
 Unless to-day it conquers. 
 
 [Girding the sword on Alphonso. 
 
 Let me arm you ; 
 The sword fits well ; embrace your mother. 
 
 [Alphonso kisses Makia, who stands abstracted. 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Cold 
 As marble ! Do not fear for me; I go 
 To win my knighthood. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Gro — I dare not bless you. 
 
 padilla (embracing Maria). 
 Farewell, my dear one ; let me see you smile ; 
 That's well ; be hopeful. Now, young soldier, tread 
 With lightest foot, for there's no freer heart 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 167 
 
 In all the thousands that share this day's peril 
 Than that you carry. 
 
 [Exeunt Padilla and Alphonso. — Trumpets below sound a salute. 
 
 maria (alone). 
 Grone — those trumpets greet them — 
 Time rushes to its cataract. 
 
 [Looking over the battlements on thick mists rising from the Tagus. 
 
 Part, clouds, 
 And let me see the squadrons of our foes 
 To mate these phantoms of despair ! 
 
 [Lightning. 
 
 That flash 
 Came at my call to show in jagged fire 
 The plumes down-pouring from the mountain brow 
 And streaming swords. 
 
 [Lightning. 
 
 Another flash — they are gone — 
 Already in the narrow vale where Death 
 Is busy, while the tempest veils his work. 
 Oh for a moment's glance of yonder conflict 
 The mists conceal, or for one battle sound 
 Above the thunder ! 
 
 [Storm rages nearer. 
 Enter Lopez. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Madam, will you seek 
 
168 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 The chapel where the Friar with ceaseless prayer 
 Implores the Saints to aid us. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Saints ! I am barr'd 
 From intercession of the martyr' d dead 
 And from all sacred roofs ; but here, in right 
 Of my remorse and wretchedness, I cry 
 To the bare Heaven for succour ! 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 Yet descend — 
 The winds impel a deluge which will sweep 
 In a few moments hither. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Let it come, 
 And wrap me in its fury. 
 
 LOPEZ. 
 
 As my master pass'd 
 He pray'd me, as if life hung on the word, 
 To urge you to take shelter ; and my hand 
 Prest as in final parting. 
 
 [Weeps. 
 MARIA. 
 
 Good old servant — 
 
scene i.] THE CASTILIAN. 169 
 
 You weep ; I thank you ; for your tears dissolve 
 The iron at my heart, and bid it yield 
 Obedience to its lord. Lead where you please. 
 
 [Exeunt Maria and Lopez. Storm continues. 
 
170 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 Scene II. — The Tent of the Regent Adrian pitched on the 
 eminence of the first Scene of the Second Act. — Storm 
 raging. 
 
 The Regent and G-onsalvo. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 The elements fight for us, but is it certain 
 That they will conquer ? If the battle hangs 
 In doubt, I'll not be absent from the field, 
 But brave the tempest. 
 
 Be assured, Lord Cardinal, 
 Of such a victory as shall quench for ever 
 The smouldering embers of revolt : the veterans, 
 Struck by the loss of the distracted Queen, 
 Whose presence gilded treason, deem the storm, 
 That dash'd against them at their onset, wing'd 
 By Heaven to scourge rebellion, and forsake 
 The accursed banners to accept the pardon 
 Tour mercy offers ; while Toledo's craftsmen, 
 Though stout of heart, unused to war, will falter, 
 Confused by double terrors. 
 
scene ii.] THE CASTILIAN. 171 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Yet I'll go forth— 
 The storm subsides. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 Here's one whose news may solve 
 All doubts. 
 
 Enter Soldier. 
 
 GONSALVO. 
 
 How stands the battle ? 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 'Tis a flight- 
 When the storm burst in fury from the heights 
 And our ranks swept down with it, panic seized 
 Padilla's choicest soldiers, and they fled 
 Or cried for quarter, while the heroic craftsmen 
 Struggling with desperate valour at his call 
 To flank us towards the mountain, in the marsh 
 That stretches eastward at the Tagus side, 
 Sinking knee-deep, were captured, or endured 
 Our swords unflinching. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Do you bring me news 
 
172 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 Of the arch-rebel, in whose death alone 
 This treason will expire ? 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 No — but the offer 
 Of pardon his betrayer may assure 
 For many traitors, with great largess, scatter'd 
 By spies among the quailing troops, must bring 
 Padilla to your judgment. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Judgment is pass'd — 
 That he, and chiefs who fought with him, shall die 
 "Within an hour of capture. Let the block 
 Be planted on the loftiest rock that stands 
 Direct before Toledo, that their deaths 
 May freeze the hearts they snared. 
 
 [Trumpets without. 
 
 Those sounds proclaim 
 Our victory complete ; their blood shall seal it. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 -■- " 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 1/3 
 
 Scene III. — A Hall in the Alcazar of Toledo. — Padilla 
 enters hastily, throws his helmet on a table, and sits 
 beside it. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 All lost except these walls, which scarce will hold 
 Eor time to breathe and die ! But where' s my son- 
 He was nnharm'd beside me at the gate 
 When I protected the last gallant craftsmen 
 That sought its shelter ; — is he left without ? 
 Or here before me ? Grant me strength to ask — 
 Within there ! 
 
 Enter Florio. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Is he here ? 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 Who? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Who ! my boy — 
 I mean Alphonso. 
 
 FLORIO. 
 
 I have not beheld him, 
 
174 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 But at the gate, a wounded soldier prays 
 
 That you would hear his tidings, which, I think, 
 
 Are of your son. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Let him be tended hither : 
 Now Grod grant courage ! 
 
 [C aeillo is brought in, wearing the uniform of a common 
 soldier, supported. 
 
 You have tidings for me ; 
 You are hurt — you are sinking — what a wretch am I 
 To torture you with question ! Yet I implore you 
 Utter one word — what know you of my son ? 
 
 CARILLO. 
 
 I am most happy that I caught these wounds 
 In warding from his brow the swords that flash'd 
 Around it, and so saved him. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Then he lives ? 
 
 CAEILLO. 
 
 Lives, but borne captive. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 To the camp of Adrian ! 
 Worse fate ! yet let me not be thankless to thee ! 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. 175 
 
 I saw thee stem the flying crowd with valour 
 Which, shared by chieftains' hearts, had changed the 
 
 fortune 
 Of this last combat ; what's thy name ? 
 
 CARILLO. 
 
 'Tis mangled. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I know thee now ; thou art the youth Carillo 
 Who bore my censure ; well hast thou redeem' d 
 Thy honor ; oh that thou mayst live ! Help ! Help ! 
 
 I die contented with thy praise ; may Heaven 
 Preserve and bless thee !. 
 
 [Me is lorne out. 
 
 Be thy frailties pardon' d ! 
 My child in Adrian's power ! Most cruel duty 
 That chains me to my station when my life, 
 With its last desperate energy, might serve 
 To win his freedom ! Yet I must not leave 
 The dreadful post I fill, whatever agonies 
 Burn midst my heartstrings. I must suffer in it 
 Till death release me. 
 
176 THE CASTILIAN. [act n 
 
 Enter Ovando, hastily. 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 Do you hear the cry 
 
 That rends the city ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 JN~o ; what cry ? 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 For you ; 
 The crowd, in terror's frenzy, call for him 
 Who led them forth to slaughter ; they will see you. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 How — what said you ? 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 That the infuriate people 
 Demand your presence. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I obey their call : 
 Forgive me ; I was for a moment lost ; 
 My son is yonder. 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 Captive ? 
 
SCENE III.] 
 
 THE CASTILTAN. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 So. 
 
 OVANDO. 
 
 
 
 I am 
 
 heartstruck 
 
 I was too rude. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 
 
 Not so ; I have no 
 
 right 
 
 To muse on private grief. 
 
 
 
 Enter Tendtlla. 
 
 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 
 
 Forgive 
 
 my errand ; 
 
 It shames me. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Pray speak on. 
 
 
 177 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 The Council, met 
 In desperate haste, have voted that you stand 
 Twixt them and mercy, and require your name 
 To act of resignation of your power 
 As general of the army. 
 
 [Tendilla produces a parchment while Padilla eagerly speaks. 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Will they take 
 All office from me ? Strip me of my rank ? 
 
178 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 Cancel the bond of duty with command ? 
 Dismiss me to the common herd of men 
 Naked and lonely ? 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 It is even so. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Give me the scroll. 
 
 [He eagerly signs and returns tJiejcroll. 
 
 There ! you have done your work 
 
 Briefly and well. 
 
 Forgive it. 
 
 TENDILLA. 
 
 My office was a sad one ; 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Forgive ! I thank you ; leave me to myself, 
 But take my blessing with you. 
 
 [Exeunt Tendilla and Ovando. 
 
 I am free — 
 I shall not die in vain. The Regent's offer 
 Of pardons at the will of him who gives 
 Padilla to the axe, shall be embraced 
 This hour ; the holy father, who prays for us 
 "Within, shall bless my mission and array me 
 In reverend semblance, which will give free passage 
 
scene in.] THE CASTILIAN. J 79 
 
 To Adrian's camp, to strike a noble bargain 
 And to fulfil it gladly. 
 
 Enter Flokio. 
 
 flokio. 
 
 Will you see 
 My lady for a moment ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No ; not now ; 
 Tell her I am busy — but quite calm — and soon- 
 Yes ; very soon, shall meet her. 
 
 [Exit Flokio. 
 
 It is hard 
 To leave her unembraced, yet on a moment 
 Hangs the last issue. Heaven vouchsafe my son 
 Life till I reach him, and I'll cast aside 
 This robe of frail mortality, with joy 
 More eager than, when flush' d in summer's noon 
 With martial sports, I threw my vestments off 
 To cleave the lucid Tagus. Youth's sweet spring 
 Throbs in my veins as then ; I trample air. 
 
 [Exit Padilla. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 The Last Scene. — The Tent of the Regent. — The Storm di 
 persing. — Adrian discovered with Officers of his staff. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Bring forth the noblest prisoners ; they shall first 
 Atone their treason. 
 
 [Mondeiar brought in guarded. 
 
 "Who is this ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 My name 
 Is Mondeiar. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Do I, in you, behold the brother 
 Of the arch-rebel's wife ? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 You see the brother 
 Of an heroic lady who exults 
 In the affection of the noblest soldier 
 Castile has nurtured, — who, if his loyal heart 
 Had not refused to listen to our prayers, 
 Would have, ere this, been rebel to such end 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 181 
 
 That you had pray'd him, on your knees, to take 
 From you the anointing oil. I wait my doom. , 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 You see it ; yonder hillock bounds the course 
 Of your life's journey. 
 
 [Alphonso is brought in guarded. 
 
 Who is this — a stripling ? 
 Set him before me. Tou are very young 
 To choose revolt ; it may be older traitors 
 Constrain' d you ; if it was so, and you answer 
 My questions frankly, I may show you grace. 
 Who took you into battle ? 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 My free heart, 
 Following a glorious father. 
 
 Enter Soldier. 
 
 SOLDIER. 
 
 My lord, a priest 
 Who says that, if you grant his terms, he'll give 
 Padilla to your justice, craves admission. 
 
 Admit him instantly. 
 
182 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 A priest so vile ! 
 
 ADRIAN (to ALPHONSO). 
 
 Your speech, is bold, but your faint heart belies it ; 
 You tremble and grow pale ; 'tis well; there's hope 
 Your stubbornness may yield. 
 
 Enter Padilla in the disguise of a Friar. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Are you the priest 
 Who can betray Padilla ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I will place him 
 Within your grasp, if you accept my terms. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Name them. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 First, pardon for these prisoners. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 These ? 
 Why care for them ? 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILTAN. 183 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No matter ; 'tis my will. 
 
 alphonso Recognising Padilla's voice). 
 That voice ! Do not believe this Friar's rash promise ; 
 Send him away, and let your sentence fall 
 At once upon my life. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Peace — lest I curse you. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Be silent, boy. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 He'll not offend 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 I pledge my word for their release ; what else ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Your promise that Toledo shall be free 
 
 From spoil and insult, and her sons from vengeance. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 If you consign Padilla to the axe, 
 
 The great example shall not be obscured 
 
 By meaner acts of punishment. 
 
184 THE CASTIL1AN. [act v. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Enough. 
 Thus I resign him to you. 
 
 [Padilla throws of the Friar's dress. 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 'Tis himself — 
 My knees sink under me as if constrain' d 
 To bend before him. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 You will keep your word ? 
 
 In all things. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Let me clasp my son and die. 
 
 [Alphonso rushes into Padilla's arms. 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Why did you rescue me ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 To live for Spain. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Tour son ! If you would speak apart, you may. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 I thank you ; I can teach him nothing more : 
 
sckne iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 185 
 
 He has seen Lis father's life ; he'll see his death ; 
 He'll learn no other lesson. Let me gaze 
 One moment on my glorious birth-place, clad 
 In solemn beauty by the storm that yields 
 Her towers to fill my vision's grasp. Toledo, 
 The crown of Spain ; fortress of Christian faith, 
 That from the ages of the mighty Goths, 
 Hath kept thy liberties unblemish'd, take 
 Fond benediction of thy dying son, 
 John de Padilla, — who in death enjoys 
 The sense that his last hour has served thee well, 
 And, with strength of life's last rally, prays 
 Duration for thy grandeurs while the rocks 
 On which thou sitt'st in queenly state shall last, 
 And glory for thy children while Castile 
 Shall tower among the nations ! 
 
 MARIA (without). 
 
 I am his wife — 
 Padilla' s wife — make way. 
 
 'Tis my wife's voice 
 Pray let her pass ; she will less trouble you 
 Hereafter if she see me. 
 
186 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Let her pass ; 
 She must not hold you long. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Fear not ; she'll speed me. 
 Enter Maria, who embraces Padilla. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Forgive me that I stole away to save 
 Our son ; he is pardon' d. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 At what cost ? Tour life ! 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 He would have laid down his young life to add 
 An hour to mine, which I have nobly used, 
 Not worth the purchase of a day, to save him 
 To you for many years. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Ay ; many years. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 They will appear like moments when we meet 
 Beyond those sunbreaks. 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 18/ 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Then you think me pardon' d ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 As certainly, Maria, as I stand 
 Enfolding you, and presently shall die ; 
 In the serenity that nils my soul 
 I recognise assurance for us both 
 Of full remission. 
 
 adrian {to his Officers). 
 Why was such a heart 
 A traitor's? 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 Do you dare to call him traitor ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Forbear, my brother ; when in arms, 'twas meet 
 To hurl such imputation back, but now 
 Meek resignation to the will of Him 
 "Who calls me to His bar, alone should rule 
 The parting throbs of life. I would not tax 
 The Eegent's patience further; so, at once, 
 Farewell. Rejoice to think that e'er yon cloud, 
 That waits upon the sun, shall drink its light 
 
188 THE CASTILIAN. [act v. 
 
 Our own Joanna's little face will shine 
 Direct upon her father's. 
 
 (To Adrian.) You'll give passage 
 For these to their old home ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Not there ! — the joys 
 Our dear abode has nurtured, crush' d on earth, 
 Will have no portion in etherial realms 
 "Where we shall meet ; and I must henceforth breathe 
 To dream of the Eternal. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Think not, dearest, 
 Our old delights will fail us ; no — I feel 
 Upon this giddy margin of two worlds, 
 That there is nothing beautiful in this 
 The passion' d soul has clasp' d, but shall partake 
 Its everlasting essence ; not a scent 
 Of rain-drench' d flower, nor fleece of evening cloud 
 Which blended with a thought that rose to Heaven 
 Shall ever die ; but link'd with joy that drew 
 Colour and shape from this fair world, shall shed 
 Familiar sweetness through the glorious frame 
 After a thousand ages. 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 189 
 
 MONDEIAR. 
 
 "Will you speak 
 Nothing of public import ; — of your course ? 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 Nothing — my course is of the past — afar 
 Already I survey it, as I stand 
 Assoil'd from mortal strife, in hope to win 
 Eternal peace. So take at once farewell. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Let me go with you to the end. 
 
 PADILLA. 
 
 No farther ; 
 The way I see is short. Farewell for this world.. 
 
 [Exit Padilla, guarded. 
 
 [Donna Maria remains standing in the centre of the 
 scene, gazing after Padilla and supporting 
 Alphonso. 
 
 ADRIAN. 
 
 Lead her away ; thence she will see him die. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 Lead me away ! Think you I fear the block, 
 The headsman, and the axe ? No — I behold 
 A sainted hero turn those ghastly shapes 
 To images of triumph ; while it lasts 
 
190 THE CAST1LIAN. [act v. 
 
 These eyes shall drink his mortal greatness in ; 
 Kneel down, iny son, and gaze with me ; you'll see 
 Nothing so beautiful on this side heaven. 
 
 [Alphonso falls on his knees before Mabia, but covers 
 his face with his hands; she stands erect fixedly 
 gazing in the same direction. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 Forgive me ; 'tis not possible. 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 He treads 
 Lightly as on the evening when I changed 
 Love's vow for his ; he lays his robe aside 
 With airiest grace ; he turns his head — thank God 
 I caught that look and know it met my own — 
 He kneels before me ; while the sun sheds forth 
 A slanting glory through the lurid clouds 
 That falls upon him as a visible track 
 Prom earth to heaven ; and now the headsman wields 
 His feeble axe in air. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 It falls ? It falls ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 No — it has caught the sunbeam — and revolves 
 Above him like a crown of glory sent 
 
scene iv.] THE CASTILIAN. 191 
 
 To wreathe his head. He spreads his hands ; his soul 
 Breathes prayer through parted lips that keep the hue 
 They wore in freshest youth. 
 
 ALPHONSO. 
 
 And now ? 
 
 MARIA. 
 
 With God. 
 
 THE END. 
 
5KADBURY -A>"D EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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