Of this one thing be sure. A little time,
A little hour, in the span of years
That history devours, we submit
To bow before the flail of tyranny;
Ay, it may strike us down, and we may die
With Europe passive round our Calvary;
Yet that for which we stand, for liberty,
For equal justice, and the right of laws
Purely administered, can never die,
Being of the nature of eternity;
Nor all the blood that Austria has shed
Mar the indelibility of truth;
Nor all the graves that Austria has dug
Bury it deep enough; nor all the lies
That coward hearts have bandied to and fro,
And coward hearts received to trick themselves,
Smother the face of it.
There remains to be particularly noted the poet's gift of realizing character. It is seen at its best in Mary Queen of Scots, where the unfortunate Queen is very strikingly recreated. Out of the diverse and stormy elements of her nature she is made to live again with a clear unity and completeness which are amazing. That is largely the reason why this play is the most powerful of the five, from the point of view of pure drama. Its theme is unerringly chosen, for drama inheres in Mary's being. The seeds of tragedy lurk in her contrasted weakness and strength, excess and defect, nobility and baseness. And, because she has been so brilliantly studied, this play moves at every step to the majestic truth that character is destiny.
The broad lines of Mary's personality are established in the first act, revealing at once the springs of action. The sensuous basis of her nature, her strong will and quick temper, may be seen to set in motion the forces which will presently overwhelm her. Her widowed state is irksome—therefore she will marry. She hates authority—therefore she will make her own choice in the matter of a husband. And finer threads already begin to complicate the issues. She is really fond of Darnley, the weak youth whom she is determined to marry; but that motive is intricately mixed with the satisfaction of insulting Elizabeth through him; while her ready wit gives a spice to her malice which, in dialogue at least, is very refreshing. When she enters the audience-chamber she calls Darnley to her side and, with a gesture towards the gloomy faces of the disaffected nobles, says in merry mockery:
... look you there
On these good gentlemen, all friends of ours,
The earls of Morton, Ruthven, and Argyll:
For friends they are—upon their countenance
We see it written.
She turns to the English ambassador:
... Here's Sir Nicholas.
What news of our dear cousin? Has she come
At last to give that virgin heart away
Into another's keeping, that brave Archduke,
Who'd bite your hand, they say, as soon as kiss it—
Such manners are in Austria—or Charles,
My dear French brother, who is well enough,
And only fourteen years her junior?
Not yet the happy moment? Patience, then,
Another day you'll have that news for us.
Sir Nicholas states formally Elizabeth's objections to Darnley, who interjects:
By my beard!
Mary. No! No!
Not by your beard, dear Henry, or your oath
Is emptier than a prince's promises—
Some princes we have heard of, we would say,
Though cannot think it truth. Nay, let me hear
What is it that my sister Princess wills
Out of the largeness of her heart for me?