A crown, my daughter, England's crown attends, L. J. Gray. Amazement chills my veins! What says my mother? Duch. Suff. 'Tis Heav'n's decree; for our expiring When now, just struggling to his native skies, L. J. Gray. Could Edward do this? Could the dying 6 we dream. 6 A thousand and a thousand bars oppose me, Rise in my way and intercept my passage. [saint Ev'n you, my gracious mother, what must you be, Ere I can be a Queen?" Duch. Suff. That, and that only, € Thy mother; fonder of that tender name, To see thee rais'd, thou darling of my heart, L. J. Gray. Support me, Guilford; Enter SUFFOLK, NORTHUMBERLAND, Lords, and others of the Privy-Council.* North. Hail, our liege Princess! sprung from ancient kings, Our England's dearest hope, undoubted offspring * Consisting of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury (Cranmer) The Lord Chancellor (Goodrick Bp. of Ely;) the Marquisses of Winchester and Northampton; the Earls of Arundel, Shrewsbury, Huntingdon, Bedford and Pembroke; The Lords Cobham and Darey; Sir Thomas Cheyney; Sir Robert Cotton; Sir William Petre, Sir William Cecil, Sir John Cheek, Sir John Mason, Sir Edward North, and Sir Robert Bowes, See Burnet, Vol. 11. p. 235, By whose bright zeal, by whose victorious faith, Guarded and fenc'd around, our pure religion, That lamp of truth which shines upon our altars, Shall lift its golden head, and flourish long; < Beneath whose awful rule and righteous sceptre, The plenteous years shall roll in long succession; Law shall prevail, and ancient right take place, Fair Liberty shall lift her cheerful head, Fearless of tyranny and proud oppression; No sad complaining in our streets shall cry, * But justice shall be exercis'd in mercy." Hail, royal Jane! behold, we bend our knees, [They kneel. The pledge of homage, and thy land's obedience; With humblest duty, thus, we kneel, and own thee Our liege, our sov'reign-lady, and our Queen. L. J. Gray. Oh, rise! My father, rise! And you, my father, too! Rise, all! nor cover me with this confusion. [They rise. What means this mock, this masquing-shew of greatness? Why do you hang these pageant-glories on me, And dress me up in honours not my own? North. The daughters of our late great master Henry, Stand both by law excluded from succession. To make all firm, And fix a pow'r unquestion'd in your hand, Edward, by will, bequeath'd his crown to you: Have ratified the gift. L. J. Gray. Are crowns and empire, • The government and safety of mankind,' North. Forgive me, princely lady, if my wonder Seizes each sense, each faculty of mind, "That there be no decay, no leading into captivity, and no "complaining in our streets." Psalm CXLIV. 14. To see the utmost wish the great can form, A crown, thus coldly met: A crown! which slighted, Of blood unkindred to your royal house, L. J. Gray. Where art thou now, thou partner of my cares? [Turning to Guilford. Come to my aid, and help to bear this burthen: Oh! save me from this sorrow, this misfortune, Which, in the shape of gorgeous greatness, comes To crown, and make a wretch of me for ever.' Guil. Thou weep'st, my Queen, and hang'st thy drooping head, 'Like nodding poppies, heavy with the rain, That bow their weary necks, and bend to earth.' North. Oh! stay this inauspicious stream of tears, Beneath your feet, the kingdom's great degrees L. J. Gray. You turn to view the painted side of And cover all the cares that lurk beneath. Is it, to be a Queen, to sit aloft, A pageant, for the wond'ring crowd to gaze at? [royalty, And make the world subservient to my pleasure? Is it not rather, to be greatly wretched, And at my hand, I know, thou shalt require them?'* Alas, Northumberland!-My father! Is it not To live a life of care; and, when I die, Have more to answer for before my judge, Duch. Suff. Ev'ry state Allotted to the race of man below, Is, in proportion, doom'd to taste some sorrow; Exempt from care: and yet, who would not bear it? They liv'd not for themselves. How many blessings, Suff. Behold, we stand upon the brink of ruin, That fiend of Rome and hell, prepares her tortures; • Matrons and husbands, with their new-born infants, Shall burn promiscuous; a continu'd peal Of lamentations, groans, and shrieks shall sound C Through all our purple ways.' * Guil. Amidst that ruin, "I have made thee a watchman" &c. "his blood will I require "at thine hand." Ezek. 111. 17, 18. +"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints. "and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Revel, XVII. 6. Think thou behold'st thy Guilford's head laid low, L. J. Gray. Oh! spare the dreadful image! Guil. Oh! would the misery be bounded there, My life were little; but the rage of Rome Demands whole hecatombs, a land of victims. • With Superstition comes that other fiend, That bane of peace, of arts, and virtue, Tyranny; That foe of justice, scorner of all law; That beast, which thinks mankind were born for one, And made by Heav'n to be a monster's prey; • That heaviest curse of groaning nations, Tyranny? Mary shall, by her kindred Spain, be taught To bend our necks beneath a brazen yoke, And rule o'er wretches with an iron sceptre. L. J. Gray. Avert that judgment, Heav'n! Whate'er thy providence allots for me, In mercy spare my country. Guil. Oh! my Queen! Does not thy great, thy gen'rous heart relent, How have thy noblest sons, with stubborn valour, Be tamely yielded up, the spoil, the slaves Of hair-brain'd zeal, and cruel coward Papists?' like thine, At ev'ry danger which invades our England; Or whence my pow'r to save? Can Edward's will, |