ACT II.

SCENE I.-Glasgow-Archbishop's Castle.

(Time-Evening.)

MURRAY and GLENCAIRN.

Glen. The Queen's force doubles ours;

And, for the town,

I've seen a sheep-fold with as stout a wall.

In Stirling we might wait the expected succours.

I vote retreat.

Mur. You think not what a palsying power there is In that poor word retreat. Let us present

A show of confidence; let us at least
Await my son's return: Perhaps the terms
We've offered may procure at least delay.
He must be here ere long.

Glen. He might have gone and come twice ere this time.

I think 'twas hardly noon when he departed.

Mur. Unless unlooked mischance has happened him, He will be here anon.

Glen. It were no wonder if Mary's counsellors Should violate their own safe conduct.

Mur. Aye, think you so?---No, no, it cannot be. Though wicked, they are wise, and must forecast The possibility of a reverse.

And yet I wish I saw my son again.

Enter STEWArt.

What staid thee, boy? I would not bear
One hour of such disquietude

(Think not, forsooth, it was on thy account)

For Scotland's crown itself.

Stew. I have had much to see, and hear, and say.

Mur. Now thou hast but to say; without more pre

face,

Give us a full relation of thy mission.

Stew. When I arrived at Hamilton, the Queen

Mur. What mean you by the Queen ?

Stew. Well, Mary Stewart, if so be your will,

Was at the palace gate.

Mur. I ask not where she was; I want to know What friends were with her.

Stew. She had some noble ladies in her suite, Besides some gallant gentlemen: She seemedMur. I ask not what she seemed; tell me at once

Who seemed to be most in her confidence.

Stew. Lord Hamilton he held her horse's rein;

And Douglas led her down the palace stair.
Mur. Where was the Earl of Arran ?

Stew. The barons, with their vassals, were arrayed
Upon the plain where Aven joins the Clyde:
The Queen was going thither.

Mur. The Queen!

Stew. Lord Hamilton, to whom I told my errand, Permitted me to follow in the train,

And promised me an answer should be given
Soon as the muster of the host was o'er. I went-
Glen. 'Twas fortunate you went-you'll know their
numbers.

Mur. Glencairn, thou'rt always thinking of their

numbers:

I'd rather ask how armed, how disciplined;
Whether their hearts and souls are in the cause?

Stew. As for their discipline, it seemed but rude;
But for their hearts, I am concerned to say,
In number many, they are yet but one,
Glowing with zeal in Mary Stewart's cause:
And well they may;

For well she knows, and practises each art
To win mens' love. She wore a crown of bays
Begemmed with primroses; and in the front
A thistle-sprig appeared, as if to say,
This emblem, dear to Scotland, still I prize
The brightest jewel of my diadem:

In her right hand, ungloved, a sword she bore,
While with her left she reined her pawing steed,
As passed the several clans. She knew the name
Of every chief; to each one's homage bowed,
Then kissed her hilt: But when the Douglasses
Advanced, she stooped so low, her lovely locks,
Disordered with the wind, were seen to join
Her charger's flowing mane. When all had passed,
They formed a ring around this fair Bellona;
Then she harangued them with a modest boldness:
She spoke of English arts, and English gold;
And vowed she would not see her realm reduced
To be a province of a foreign queen.

Mur. How were these lies received?

Stew. By all with mute attention; you might have heard

The gentle kissing of the joining streams.

Even those beyond the hearing of her words
Did bend their heads, delighted with the music:
The sound was pleasant, though unknown the strain.
Mur. I think the sorceress hath bewitched thee too.
Stew. None, while they look on her, may say they
hate.

Mur. She is a hypocrite.

Stew. She said, For Scotland I would shed my blood, As Wallace did, upon an English scaffold,

As did my grandsire upon Flodden field,

As did your ancestors at Bannockburn.

At this, as if one impulse ruled the whole,
Ten thousand swords flashed in the setting sun:
She, starting at the friendly gleam, betrayed
That still she was no heroine at heart.

Mur. I see thou'rt tainted; I will not believe
Thy overcharged account; thou but describest
The feelings of thy own perverted mind.

But say,

what homage next was paid

This patriot Queen? It could be nothing less
Than bearing home her Highness on their shields.
Stew. No, she returned on horseback, as she went.

I saw her now and then amid the throng:
'Mong the dark-visaged Douglasses, she seemed
A lonely star amid the hurrying clouds,
Seen but by glimpses.

Mur. Spare thy similitudes, and give us facts,
What were their numbers?

Stew. Some twelve or thirteen thousand.

Mur. 'Tis false, they are not five.—

[Pausing.

The Lennox-men will sure be here ere morning.

think, my you

What do
Lords! They'll sure be here—
Glen. Not quite so soon.

Mur. But what said Mary Stewart to our terms?

Stew. She called me gentle cousin; and, when I

kneeled,

She took me by the hand, and bid me rise: