What ho--a guard within there--Charles of Bourbon,
I do arrest thee, traitor to the crown.
_Enter Guard_.
Away with yonder wide-mouth'd thunderer;
We'll try if gyves and straight confinement cannot
Check this high eloquence, and cool the brain
Which harbours such unmannerd hopes.
[Bourbon _is forced out_.
Dream ye, my lords, that thus with open ears,
And gaping mouths and eyes, ye sit and drink
This curbless torrent of rebellious madness.
And you, sir, are you slumbering on your throne;
Or has all majesty fled from the earth,
That women must start up, and in your council
Speak, think, and act for ye; and, lest your vassals,
The very dirt beneath your feet, rise up
And cast ye off, must women, too, defend ye?
For shame, my lords, all, all of ye, for shame,--
Off, off with sword and sceptre, for there is
No loyalty in subjects; and in kings,
No king-like terror to enforce their rights.
Meanwhile Lautrec proposes to his sister Françoise, the hand of his friend,
the gallant Laval; whilst the fair maiden is importuned by Francis, who
endeavours to make the poet Clement Marot the bearer of his intrigue. In a
scene between Francis and the poet, the licentious impatience of the King,
and the unsullied honour of Clement are finely contrasted.