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Lady J. G. Oh, rise, my lord, and let me take

your posture.

Life and the world are hardly worth my care,
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.

Pem. To me! forbid it goodness!

All discord and remembrance of offence

Shall be clean blotted out; and for your freedom, Myself have underta'en to be your surety.

Enter LIEUTENANT OF THE TOWER.

Lieut. The lord chancellor

Is come with orders from the

queen.

Enter GARDINER, and ATTENDANTS.

Pem. Ha! Winchester!

Gar. 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.
Lady J.G. What! turn apostate?
Guil. Ha! forego my faith!

Gar. This one condition only seals your pardon:
But if, through 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.

Pem. "Tis false as hell :

The mercy of the queen was free and full.
Think'st thou, that princes merchandize their grace,

As Roman priests their pardons? Do they barter,
Screw up, like you, the buyer to a price,

And doubly sell what was design'd a gift?

Gar. My lord, this language ill beseems your nobleness;

Nor come I here to bandy words with madmen.
Behold the royal signet of the queen,

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.

Pem. Oh! inhuman-But wherefore do I loiter here?

I'll to the queen this moment, and there know
What 'tis this mischief-making priest intends. [Exit.
Gar. 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 ev'ry where around us?
In one poor minute gone; at once they wither'd,
And left their place all desolate behind them!
Lady J. G. Such is this foolish world, and such
the certainty

Of all the boasted blessings it bestows:

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 divine example,
And tread the paths are pointed out by thee:
By thee instructed, to the fatal block

I bend my head with joy, and think it happiness
To give my life a ransom for my faith.

From thee, thou angel of my heart, I learn

That greatest, hardest task, to part with thee.

Lady J. G. Oh, gloriously resolv'd! Heav'n is my witness,

My heart rejoices in thee more ev'n now,

Thus constant as thou art, in death thus faithful,
Than when the holy priest first join'd our hands,
And knit the sacred knot of bridal love.

Gar. The day wears fast; Lord Guilford, have you thought?

Will you lay hold on life?

Guil. What are the terms?

Gar. Death, or the mass, attend you.

Guil. 'Tis determin'd:

Lead to the scaffold.

Gar. Bear him to his fate.

Guil. Oh, let me fold thee once more in my arms,
Thou dearest treasure of my heart, and print
A dying husband's kiss upon thy lip!

Shall we not live again, ev'n in those forms?
Shall I not gaze upon thee with these eyes?

Lady J. G. Oh, wherefore dost thou sooth me with thy softness!

Why dost thou wind thyself about my heart,
And make this separation painful to us?
Here break we off at once; and let us now,
Forgetting ceremony, like two friends
That have a little business to be done,
Take a short leave, and haste to meet again.
Guil. Rest on that hope, my soul—my wife-
Lady J. G. No more.

Guil. My sight hangs on thee-Oh, support me,

Heav'n.

In this last pang-and let us meet in bliss!

[GUILFORD is led off by the GUARD. Lady J. G. Can nature bear this stroke! 1 Wom. Alas, she faints !

Lady J. G. Wilt thou fail nowstroke is past,

And all the bitterness of death is o'er.

[Supporting. The killing

Gar. Here let the dreadful hand of vengeance stay; Have pity on your youth and blooming beauty;

Cast not away the good which Heav'n bestows;
Time may have many years in store for you,
All crown'd with fair prosperity. Your husband
Has perish'd in perverseness.

Lady J. G. Cease, thou raven,

Nor violate, with thy profaner malice,

My bleeding Guilford's ghost-Tis gone, 'tis flown: But lingers on the wing, and waits for me.

[The Scene draws, and discovers a Scaffold hung with Black, EXECUTIONER and GUARDS.

And see my journey's end.

1 Wom. My dearest lady.

2 Wom. Oh, misery!

Lady J. G. Forbear, my gentle maids,

[Weeping.

Nor wound my peace with fruitless lamentations;
The good and gracious hand of Providence

Shall raise you better friends than I have been.
1 Wom. Oh, never, never!-

Lady J. G. Help to disarray,

And fit me for the block: do this last service,

And do it cheerfully.

Now you will see

Your poor unhappy mistress sleep in peace,
And cease from all her sorrows. These few trifles,
The pledges of a dying mistress' love,

Receive and share among you. Thou, Maria,
[To 1 WOMAN.
Hast been my old, my very faithful servant:
In dear remembrance of thy love, I leave thee
This book, the law of everlasting truth:
Make it thy treasure still; 'twas my support,
When all help else forsook me.

Gar. Will you yet

Repent, be wise, and save your precious life?

Lady J. G. Oh, Winchester! has learning taught

thee that:

To barter truth for life?

Gar. Mistaken folly!

You toil and travel for your own perdition,
And die for damned errors.

Lady J. G. Who judge rightly,

And who persist in error, will be known,
Then, when we meet again.

Goodness be ever with you.

Once more, farewell,

[To her WOMEN.

When I'm dead,

Entreat they do no rude, dishonest wrong

To my cold, headless corpse; but see it shrouded, And decent laid in earth.

Gar. Wilt thou then die?

Thy blood be on thy head.

Lady J. G. My blood be where it falls; let the earth hide it;

And may it never rise, or call for vengeance.
Oh, that it were the last shall fall a victim

To zeal's inhuman wrath! Thou, gracious Heaven,
Hear and defend at length thy suffering people;
Raise up a monarch of the royal blood,
Brave, pious, equitable, wise and good,
In thy due season let the hero come,
To save thy altars from the rage of Rome:
Long let him reign, to bless the rescu'd land,
And deal out justice with a righteous hand.
And when he fails, oh, may he leave a son,
With equal virtues to adorn his throne;
To latest times the blessing to convey,
And guard that faith, for which I die to-day.

[LADY JANE goes up to the Scaffold. The
Scene closes.

Enter PEMBROKE.

Pem. Horror on horror! Blasted be the hand That struck my Guilford! Oh, his bleeding trunk Shall live in these distracted eyes for ever! Curse on thy fatal arts, thy cruel counsels!

[To GARDINER. The queen is deaf, and pitiless as thou art.

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