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Gard. Yes, and I dare avow it: I advis'd her
To break thro' all'engagements made with heretics,
And keep no faith with such a miscreant crew.

Pemb. Where shall we seek for truth, when ev'n reThe priestly robe and mitred head disclaim it? [ligion, 'But thus bad men dishonour the best cause." I tell thee, Winchester, doctrines like thine Have stain'd our holy church with greater infamy Than all your eloquence can wipe away. Hence 'tis, that those who differ from our faith, Brand us with breach of oaths, with persecution, With tyranny o'er conscience, and proclaim Our scarlet prelates men that thirst for blood, And christian Rome more cruel than the Pagan.

Gard. Nay, if you rail, farewel. The Queen must be Better advis'd, than thus to cherish vipers,

Whose mortal stings are arm'd against her life.
But, while I hold the seal, no pardon passes
For heretics and traitors.

Pemb. 'Twas unlucky

[Exit Gardiner.

To meet and cross upon this froward bigot:
But let me lose the thought on't; let me haste,
Pour my glad tidings forth in Guilford's bosom,

And pay him back the life his friendship sav'd. [Exit.

SCENE II. The Lady Jane's Apartment in

the Tower.

The LADY JANE is discover'd kneeling, as at her devo tion; a light and a book plac'd on a table before her. Enter The LIEUTENANT of the TowER, Lord GUIL FORD,* and LADY JANE'S WOMEN.

Lieut. Let me not press upon your lordship farther, But wait your leisure in the antichamber.

Guil. I will not hold you long.

[Exit Lieut.

The Reader will see from the Editor's Preface, p. 342 that this interview between Lord Guilford Dudley and Lady Jane Gray, is contrary to historical fact.

First Wom. Softly, my Lord!

For yet, behold, she kneels.

• Before the night

• Had reach'd her middle space, she left her bed,

And with a pleasing, sober cheerfulness,

'As for her funeral, array'd herself,

"In those sad solemn weeds. Since then, her knee 'Has known that posture only, and her

eye,

'Or fix'd upon the sacred page before her,

'Or lifted with her rising hopes to heav'n.'*

Guil. See with what zeal those holy hands are rear'd! 'Mark her vermilion lip, with fervour trembling, 'Her spotless bosom swells with sacred ardor, And burns with ecstacy and strong devotion; 'Her supplication sweet, her faithful vows, Fragrant and pure, and grateful to high Heav'n, 'Like incense from the golden censer, rise; Sure blessed angels minister unseen,

Catch the soft sounds, and with alternate office,
Spread their ambrosial wings, then mount with joy,
And waft them upwards to the throne of grace.'
But she has ended, and comes forward.

[Lady Jane rises, and comes towards the front
of the stage.

L. J. Gray, Ha!

Art thou my Guilford? Wherefore dost thou come
To break the settled quiet of my soul?

1 meant to part without another pang,
And lay my weary head down full of peace.

*

the

cannot forbear, in this place, to recall to the Reader's mind very fine picture of Lady Jane Gray the evening before her execution, by Mr. Northcote, and so ably copied in needle-work by Miss Linwood, and set off to so much advantage in her Gallery in Leicester Square. The figure of Lady Jane does justice to the ac counts delivered to us of the beauties of her mind displayed in her person. The following are the words from the Catalogue illustrating the Picture:

Possessing the innocence of childhood, the beauty of youth, the "solidity of maturity, and the gravity of age: the evening before "her execution, she was assailed by bishops and priests, with argu"ments and persuasions to die in obedience to the Church of Rome. "She endured their importunities with exemplary patience and "temper, and returned their anathemas with prayers."

Guil. Forgive the fondness of my longing soul, That melts with tenderness, and leans toward thee: But, if to see thy Guilford give thee pain,

Would I had died, and never more beheld thee.

L. J. Gray. My heart had ended ev'ry earthly care, Had offer'd up its pray'rs for thee and England, And fix'd its hopes upon a rock unfailing;' While all the little bus'ness that remain'd, Was but to pass the forms of death with constancy, And leave a life become indifferent to me: But thou hast waken'd other thoughts within me; Thy sight, my dearest husband and my lord, Strikes on the tender strings of love and nature: My vanquish'd passions rise again, and tell me, 'Tis more, far more than death to part from thee. Enter PEMBROKE.

Pemb. Oh, let me fly, bear me, thou swift impatience, And lodge me in my faithful Guilford's arms,

[Embracing.
That I may snatch thee from the greedy grave,.
That I may warm his gentle heart with joy,
And talk to him of life, of life and pardon.
Guil. What means my dearest Pembroke?
Pemb. Oh, my speech

Is choak'd with words that crowd to tell my tidings!
But I have sav'd thee-and-Oh, joy unutterable!
The Queen, my gracious, my forgiving mistress,
Has giv'n not only thee to my request,

But she, she too, in whom alone thou liv'st,
The partner of thy heart, thy love is safe.

Guil. Millions of blessings wait her!-Has she

Oh! has she spar'd my wife?

Pemb. Both, both are pardon'd.

But haste, and do thou lead me to thy saint,
That I may cast myself beneath her feet,
And beg her to accept this poor amends

[tell me,

For all I've done against her-Thou fair excellence,

[Kneeling.

Canst thou forgive the hostile hand that arm'd
Against thy cause, and robb'd thee of a crown?.

L. J. Gray. Oh, rise, my lord, and let me take your Life and the world are hardly worth my care; [posture, But you have reconcil'd me to them both.

Then let me pay my gratitude, and for
This free, this noble, unexpected mercy,
Thus low I bow to Heav'n, the Queen, and you.
Pemb. To me! forbid it goodness! if I live,
Somewhat I will do shall deserve your thanks.
All discord and remembrance of offence
Shall be clean blotted out; and for your freedom,
C Myself have underta'en to be your caution.'
Hear me, great God, and aid my pious purpose;
These that deserve so much, this wond'rous pair,
Let these be happy ev'ry joy attend them;
A fruitful bed, a chain of love unbroken,
A good old age, to see their children's children,
A holy death, and everlasting memory ;+
While I resign to them my share of happiness,
'Contented still to want what they enjoy,
And singly to be wretched.'

Enter LIEUTENANT of the TOWER.

Lieut. The Lord Chancellor

Is come with orders from the Queen.

Enter GARDINER‡ and attendants.

Pemb. Ha! Winchester!

Gard. The Queen, whose days be many,
By me confirms her first-accorded grace;
But, as the pious Princess means her mercy
Should reach e'en to the soul as well as body,
By me she signifies her royal pleasure,

That thou, Lord Guilford, and the Lady Jane,
Do instantly renounce, abjure your heresy,
And yield obedience to the see of Rome.

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*Yea, that thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon "Israel." Psalm CXXVIII. 7.

"The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." Psalm cx11. 6.

It appears from History that Feckenham was the person who attempted to convert Lady Jane to the Church of Rome, and who attended her to the scaffold, see Preface, p. 340 and 343.

L. J. Gray. What! turn apostate?

Guil. Ha! forego my faith?

Gard. This one condition only seals your pardon:
But if, thro' pride of heart, and stubborn obstinacy,
With wilful hands you push the blessing from you,
• And shut your eyes against such manifest light,'
Know ye, your former sentence stands confirm'd,
And you must die to-day.

Pemb. 'Tis false, 'tis false.

The mercy of the Queen was free and full.

Think'st thou that princes merchandize their grace,
As Roman priests their pardon?

Do they barter,

'Screw up, like you, the buyer to a price,

And doubly sell what was design'd a gift?'

Gard. My lord, this language ill beseems your nobleNor come I here to bandy words with madmen.

Behold the royal signet of the Queen,

[ness;

Which amply speaks her meaning. You, the pris'ners, Have heard, at large, its purport, and must instantly Resolve upon the choice of life or death.

Pemb. Must they?—But wherefore do I loiter here? I'll to the Queen this moment, and there know What 'tis this mischief-making bigot aims at.

[Exit.

Gard. Your wisdom points you out a proper course.

A word with you, Lieutenant.

[Talks with the Lieutenant aside.

Guil. Must we part, then?

What are those hopes that flatter'd us but now; Those joys, that, like the spring, with all its flow'rs, Pour'd out their pleasures every where around us? In one poor minute gone: at once they wither'd, And left their place all-desolate behind them.'

L. J. Gray. Such is this foolish world, and such the Of all the boasted blessings it bestows: [certainty Then, Guilford, let us have no more to do with it; Think only how to leave it as we ought; 'But trust no more, and be deceiv'd no more.' Guil. Yes, I will copy thy most bright example, And tread the paths thus pointed out by thee:' By thee instructed, to the fatal block

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