I tell thee, rev'rend Lord, to that one bliss, Then, to be robb'd at once, and unsuspecting, It was not to be borne.' Gard. Have you not heard of what has happen'd since? Pemb. I have not had a minute's peace of mind, A moment's pause, to rest from rage, or think. Gard. Learn it from me, then: But or ere I speak, I warn you to be master of yourself. Though, as you know, they have confin'd me long, Within the Tower, and hold free speech with any, Pemb. Married! who? -What mean you? Gard. Lord Guilford Dudley, and the Lady Jane. Pemb. The news is death to me. Gard. Nay, my good Lord, Restrain this sinful passion; all's not lost In this one single woman. Pemb. I have lost More than the female world can give me back. * See Eccles. XII. 7. quoted in p. 372. Note. Gard. She was a wonder, Detraction must allow. Pemb. The virtues came, Sorted in gentle fellowship, to crown her, Or her own Platot taught. A wonder! Winchester!' Gard. Your state is not so bad as you would make it; Nor need you thus abandon ev'ry hope. Pemb. Ha! wo't thou save me, snatch me from despair, And bid me live again? Gard. She may be yours. Suppose her husband die. Pemb. O vain, vain hope! Gard. Truly, I do not hold that hope so vain. These heretics have had their golden days, And lorded it at will: with proud despite, Have trodden down our holy Roman faith, Ransack'd her shrines, and driv'n her saints to exile. But, if my divination fail me not, Their haughty hearts shall be abas'd ere long, And feel the vengeance of our Mary's reign. Pemb. And would'st thou have my fierce impatience Bid me lie bound upon a rack, and wait + See The Editor's Preface, p. 325. [stay? The original reads These Gospellers. But, as I very much object to using a word, which ought to be considered with respect, as a term of reproach, I have altered it. In the same manner, in these times, we hear the term Gospel (a Gospel sermon) assumed as an exclusive title by some, and used as a term of reproach in return by others, and also the words Evangelical and Saint. Whereas, these being terms really good in themselves, it is, I think, wrong ever to use them with disrespect. When it is necessary to make use of the term, as used by others in controversy, it might be done by a periphrasis, as What a particular set of persons call exclusively a GOSPEL Sermon, -Those who call themselves exclusively the EVANGELICAL Clergy, &c. Can love attend on politicians' schemes, Gard. To-day, or I am ill-inform'd, Northumberland, For traitors, and consuming flames for heretics. Howe'er the fawning sire, old Dudley, court you. Pemb. Ha! join with them! the hated Dudley's race! Gard. I would not have you-Hie you to the city, And doubt not but her grateful hand shall give you Pemb. No; keep your blessing back, and give me Give me to tell that soft deceiver Guilford, [vengeance; Thus, traitor, hast thou done, thus hast thou wrong'd And thus thy treason finds a just reward. [me, Gard. But soft! no more! the Lords o' th' Council come. Ha! look you there, the bride and bridegroom too! Oh! love, what have I lost!-Oh! rev'rend Lord! 6 Pity this fond, this foolish weakness in me! Methinks, I go like our first wretched father, When from his blissful garden he was driv'n: Like me he went despairing, and like me, Thus at the gate stopt short for one last view; Then with the cheerless partner of his woe, "He turn'd him to the world that lay below: There, for his Eden's happy plains, beheld A barren, wild, uncomfortable field; 'He saw, 'twas vain the ruin to deplore, "He tried to give the sad remembrance o'er; The sad remembrance still return'd again, And his lost paradise renew'd his pain.' [Exeunt Pembroke and Gardiner. Enter Lord GUILFORD and Lady JANE. Guil. What shall I say to thee, my lovely bride! How teach my tongue to tell thee what I feel; To pour the transports of my bosom forth, And make thee partner of the joy dwells there? For thou art comfortless, full of affliction, 'Heavy of heart as the forsaken widow, And desolate as orphans.' Oh, my fair one! Thy Edward (fear not).shines amongst the saints, And yet thy sorrows seek him in the grave. L.J. Gray. Alas, my dearest Lord! a thousand griefs Beset my anxious heart; and yet, as if The burden were too little, I have added The weight of all thy cares; and, like the miser, 6 It dawns not to me, like my virgin days, But brings new thoughts and other fears upon me;' I tremble, and my anxious heart is pain'd, Lest ought but good should happen to my Guilford. L. J. Gray. Why came we hither? This Tow'r, so often stain'd with royal blood? Is this the place allotted for rejoicing? The bow'r adorn'd to keep our nuptial feast in? Guil. In safety here, The Lords o' th' Council have this morn decreed The feeble tott'ring state.' To thee, my Princess, L. J. Gray. How! from me! Alas, my Lord!-But, sure, thou mean'st to mock me? To intercept my story: she shall tell thee; Enter the Duchess of SUFFOLK. [more, Duch. Suff. No more complain, indulge thy tears no Thy pious grief has giv'n the grave its due: Let thy heart kindle with the highest hopes; Expand thy bosom, let thy soul enlarg'd' Make room to entertain the coming glory; For Majesty and purple greatness court thee: Homage and low subjection wait: A crown, "And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the "heart of one man". 2 Samuel XIX. 14 |