Till this torn mangled body sink at once Lady J. G. And could thy rash distracted rage thus? Draw thy vain sword against an armed multitude, For see the trial comes! do Enter SUSSEX, GARDINER, OFFICERS and SOLDIers. Suss. Guards, execute your orders; seize the trai Here tors: my commission ends. To you, my lord, [TO GAR. So our great mistress, royal Mary, bids, Gar. Unnumber'd blessings fall upon her head, 2 Suss. The queen is on her entrance, and expects me: My lord, farewell. Gar. Farewell, right noble Sussex : Commend me to the queen's grace; say her bidding Shall be observ'd by her most lowly creature. [Exit SUSSEX. Lieutenant of the Tower, take hence your pris'ners: Be it your care to see them kept apart, That they may hold no commerce with each other. Lady J. G. That stroke was unexpected. Guil. Wilt thou part us? Gar. I hold no speech with heretics and traitors. Lieutenant, see my orders are obey'd. [Exit GAR. Guil. Inhuman, monstrous, unexampled cruelty! Oh, tyrant! but the task becomes thee well; Thy savage temper joys to do death's office; To tear the sacred bands of love asunder, And part those hands which Heav'n itself hath join'd. Duchess S. To let us waste the little rest of life Together, had been merciful. Suff. Then it had not Been done like Winchester. Guil. Thou stand'st unmov'd; Calm temper sits upon thy beauteous brow; Lady J. G. And dost thou think, my Guilford, I can see My father, mother, and ev'n thee my husband, That tugs the strings, that struggles to get loose; Lady J. G. Guilford, no: The time for tender thoughts and soft endearments Ev'n in the hour of death, be more than conq'rors. Lady J. G. Truth and innocence; A conscious knowledge rooted in my heart, Guil. See! we must-must part. Lady J. G. Yet surely we shall meet again. Guil. Oh! Where? Lady J. G. If not on earth, among yon golden stars, Where other suns arise on other earths, And happier beings rest on happier seats: Where with a reach enlarg'd, our soul shall view The great Creator's never-ceasing hand Pour forth new worlds to all eternity, And people the infinity of space. Guil. Fain would I cheer my heart with hopes liké these; But my sad thoughts turn ever to the grave; Lady J.G. "Tis true, by those dark paths our jour- And through the veil of death we pass to life. Where life still springs from death. To us the sun The flow'rs, which winter's icy hand destroy'd, Till nature's genial pow'rs command a birth; [Exeunt severally with GUARDS. ACT THE FIFTH SCENE I. The Tower. Enter GARDINER, as Lord Chancellor, and the LIUTENANT OF THE TOWER. SERVANTS with Lights before them. Lieut. Good morning to your lordship; you rise early. Gar. Nay, by the rood, there are too many sleepers; Some must stir early, or the state shall suffer, Did you, as yesterday our mandate bade, Inform your pris'ners, Lady Jane and Guilford, They were to die this day? Lieut. My lord, I did. Gar. "Tis well. But say, like them? how did your message Lieut. My lord, they met the summons with temper That show'd a solemn, serious sense of death, In short, they heard me with the self-same patience Gar. That dispose As you think fitting. Lieut. The lord Guilford only Implor'd another boon, and urg'd it warmly : And take a last farewell. Gar. That's not much; That grace may be allow'd him. See you to it. Lieut. Not yet four, my lord. Gar. By ten they meet their fate. Yet one thing more. You know 'twas order'd that the Lady Jane [Exit LIEUTENANT. |