Guil, And can'ft thou bear this fudden Turn of Fate With fuch unfhaken Temper?

L. J. Gray. For my felf,

If I cou'd form a Wish for Heav'n to grant,

It thould have been, to rid me of this Crown.

And thou O'er-ruling, Great, All-knowing Power!
Thou, who difcern'ft our Thoughts, who fee'ft 'em rifing
And forming in the Soul; Oh judge me, Thou!
If e'er Ambition's guilty Fires have warm'd me,
If e'er my Heart inclin'd to Pride, to Power,
Or join'd in being a Queen. I took the Sceptre
To fave this Land, thy People, and thy Altars:
And now, behold, I bend my grateful Knee,
In humble Adoration of that Mercy,
Which quits me of the vast unequal Task.

[Enter the Duthess of Suffolk.]

(Kneeling.

Dutc. Suff. Nay, keep that Posture ftill; and let us join
Fix all our Knees by thine, lift up our Hands,
And feek for Help and Pity from Above,

For Earth and faithlefs Man will give us none.

L. J. Gray. What is the worft our cruel Fate ordains us? Dutc. Suff. Curs'd be my fatal Counfel, curs'd my Tongue, That pleaded for thy Ruin, and perfuaded

Thy guiltless Feet to tread the Paths of Greatness!

My Child!

-I have undone thee! →→→

I.. J. Gray. Oh my Mother!

Shou'd I not bear a Portion in your Sorrows?

Dutc. Suff. Alas! thou haft thy own, a double Portion.

Mary is come, and the revolting Londoners,

Who beat the Heav'ns with thy applauded Name,

Now

Now croud to meet, and hail her as their Queen:
Sussex is enter'd here, commands the Tower,

Has plac'd his Guards around: And this fad Place,
So late thy Palace, is become our Prifon.

I faw him bend his Knee to cruel Gardiner,

Who, freed from his Confinement, ran to meet him,
Embrac'd and bleft him with a Hand of Blood.
Each haft'ning Moment I expect 'em here,

To feize, and pafs the Doom of Death upon us.
Guil. Ha! feiz'd! Shalt thou be feiz'd! and fhall I stand,
And tamely fee thee born away to Death?

Then blasted be my Coward Name for ever.
No, I will fet my felf to guard this Spot,
To which our narrow Empire now is fhrunk,
Here will I grow the Bulwark of my Queen;
Nor fhall the Hand of Violence profane thee,
Until my Breaft have born a Thoufand Wounds,
Till this torn mangled Body fink at once

A Heap of Purple Ruin at thy Feet.

?

L. J. Gray. And could thy rash distracted Rage do thus? Draw thy vain Sword against an armed Multitude, Only to have my poor Heart split with Horror, To fee thee ftabb'd and butcher'd here before me Oh, call thy better nobler Courage to thee, And let us meet this adverfe Fate with Patience! Greet our infulting Foes with equal Tempers, With even Brows, and Souls fecure of Death Here ftand unmov'd; as once the Roman Senate Receiv'd fierce Brennus, and the conquering Gauls, Till ev'n the rude Barbarians stood amaz'd

At fuch fuperior Virtue. Be thy felf,

For fee the Trial comes.

[Enter

[Enter Suffex, Gardiner, Officers and Soldiers.]

Suff. Guards, execute your Orders; feize the Traitors: Here my Commiffion ends. To you, my Lord,

So our great Miftrefs, Royal Mary, bids,

I leave the full Difpofal of thefe Pris'ners

[To Gardiner.

To your wife Care the pious Queen commends
Her facred Self, her Crown, and what's yet more,
The Holy Roman Church; for whofe dear Safety,
She wills your utmoft Diligence be fhewn,
To bring Rebellion to the Bar of Justice.
Yet farther, to proclaim how much she trufis
In Winchester's deep Thought, and well-try'd Faith,
The Seal attends to grace thofe rev'rend Hands;
And when I next falute you, I must call you
Chief Minifter and Chancellor of England.

Gar. Unnumber'd Bleffings fall upon her Head,

My ever-gracious Lady! to remember

With fuch full Bounty her old humble Beadfman!
For thefe her Foes, leave me to deal with them.

Suff. The Queen is on her Entrance, and expects me,

My Lord, farewel

Gar. Farewel, Right Noble Suffex:

Commend me to the Queen's Grace; fay, her Bidding

Shall be obferv'd by her most lowly Creature.

[Exit Suffex.

Pris'ners

Lieutenant of the Tower, take hence your
Be it your Care to fee 'em kept apart,
That they may hold no Commerce with each other.

L. J. Gray. That Stroke was unexpected.

Guil, Wo't thou part us?

Gar. I hold no Speech with Hereticks and Traitors. Lieutenants fee my Orders be obey'd. [Exit Gardiner, Gail. Inhumane, monftrous, unexampl'd Cruelty!

Oh, Tyrant! but the Task becomes thee well;
Thy Savage Temper joys to do Death's Office;
To tear the facred Bands of Love afunder,

And part thofe Hands which Heav'n it felf had join'd.
Dutc, Suff. To let us wafte the little reft of Life
Together, had been merciful.

Suff. Then it had not
Been done like Winchester..

Guil. Thou ftand'st unmov'd;

Calm Temper fits upon thy beauteous Brow;
Thy Eyes, that flow'd fo faft for Edward's Lofs,
Gaze unconcern'd upon the Ruin round thee;
As if thou had'ft refolv'd to brave thy Fate,
And triumph in the midft of Defolation.]
Ha! fee, it fwells, the liquid Crystal rises,
It starts, in fpight of thee, but I will catch it;
Nor let the Earth be wet with Dew fo rich.

LJ, Gray. And doft thou think, my Guilford, I can fee
My Father, Mother, and ev'n thee my Husband,
Torn from my Side without a Pang of Sorrow?
How art thou thus unknowing in my Heart!
Words cannot tell thee what I feel. There is
An agonizing Softnefs bufy here,

That tuggs the Strings, that struggles to get loofe,
And pour my Soul in Wailings out before thee.

Guil.

Guil, Give Way, and let the gushing Torrent come:
Behold the Tears we bring to fwell the Deluge,
Till the Flood rife upon the guilty World,
And make the Ruin common:

L.J. Gray, Guilford! no:

The Time for tender Thoughts and foft Endearments
Is fled away and gone, Joy has forfaken us ;
Our Hearts have now another Part to play;

They must be fteel'd with fome uncommon Fortitude,
That, fearless, we may tread the Paths of Horror;
And in defpite of Fortune and our Foes,

Ev'n in the Hour of Death, be more than Conquerors.
Guil, Oh, teach me! fay, what Energy Divine
Infpires thy fofter Sex, and tender Years,
With fuch unshaken Courage?

L. J. Gray. Truth and Innocence 5

A confcious Knowledge rooted in my Heart,
That to have fav'd my Country was my Duty.

Yes, England, yes, my Country, I would fave thee;
But Heav'n forbids, Heav'n difallows my Weakness,
And to fome dear felected Hero's Hand

Referves the Glory of thy great Deliverance.

Lieut. My Lords, my Orders

L.J. Gray. Yet furely we shall meet again.

Guil. Oh! Where?

L. J. Gray. If not on Earth, among yon golden Stars,

Where other Suns arife on other Earths,

And happier Beings rest on happier Seats:

Where, with a Reach enlarg'd, the Soul shall view

The great Creator's never-ceafing Hand