Gard. Yes, and I dare avow it: I advis'd her
To break thro' all'engagements made with heretics,
And keep no faith with such a miscreant crew.

Pemb. Where shall we seek for truth, when ev'n re-
The priestly robe and mitred head disclaim it? [ligion,
• But thus bad men dishonour the best cause."
I tell thee, Winchester, doctrines like thine
Have stain'd our holy church with greater infamy
Than all your eloquence can wipe away.
Hence 'tis, that those who differ from our faith,
Brand us with breach of oaths, with persecution,
With tyranny o'er conscience, and proclaim
Our scarlet prelates men that thirst for blood,
Aud christian Rome more cruel than the Pagan.

Gurd. Nay, if you rail, farewel. The Queen must be Better advis'd, than thus to cherish vipers, Whose mortal stings are arm'd against her life. But, while I hold the seal, no pardon passes For heretics and traitors.

[Exit Gardiner. Pemb. 'Twas unlucky To meet and cross upon this froward bigot: But let me lose the thought on't; let me baste, Pour my glad tidings forth in Guilford's bosom, And pay him back the life his friendship say'do' [Exit.

SCENE II. The Lady Jane's Apartment in

the Tower.

The Lady JANE is discover'd kneeling, as at her dedo.

tion ; a light and a book plac'd on a table before her. Enter The LIEUTENANT of the Tower, Lord Guil.

FORD,* and LADY JANE's Wonen. Lieut. Let me not press upon your lordship farther, But wait your leisure in the antichamber. Guil. I will not hold you long.

[Exit Lieut. First Wom. Softly, my Lord! For yet, behold, she kneels.

s Before the night • Had reach'd her middle space, she left her bed, * And with a pleasing, spber cheerfulness,

As for her funeral, array'd herself, "In those sad solemn weeds. Since then, her knee ‘llas known that posture only, and her eye, " Or fix'd

upon the sacred page before her, Or lifted with her rising hopes to heav'n:**

Guil. See with what zeal those holy hands are rearld! Mark her vermilion lip, with fervonr trembling,

Her spotless bosom swells with sacred ardor, • And burns with ecstacy and strong devotion;

Her supplication sweet, her faithful vows,
Fragraat and pure, and grateful to high Heav'n,

Like incense from the golden censer, rise;
"Sure blessed angels minister upseer,
. Catch the soft sounds, and with alternate office,

Spread their ambrosial wings, then mount with joy, • And waft them upwards to the throne of grace.' But she has ended, and comes forward.

[Lady June rises, and comes towards the front

of the stage.
L.J. Gray. Ha!
Art thou my Guitford? Wherefore dost thou come
To break the settled quiet of

my

soul? I meant to part without another pang, And lay my weary head down full of peace.

Guil. Forgive the fondness of my longing soul,
That melts with tenderness, and leans toward thee :
But, if to see thy Guilford give thee pain,
Would I had died, and never more beheld thee.

L. J. Gray. My heart had ended ev'ry earthly care,
Had offer'd up its pray’rs for thee and England,
• And fix'd its hopes upon a rock unfailing ;'
While all the little bus'ness that remain'd,
Was but to pass the forms of death with constancy,
And leave a life become indifferent to me:
But thou hast waken’d other thoughts within me;
Thy sight, my dearest husband and my lord,
Strikes on the tender strings of love and nature :
My vanquish'd passions rise again, and tell me,
'Tis
more, far more than death to part from thee.

Enter PEMBROKE. Pemb. Oh, let me fly, bear me, thou swift impatience, And lodge me in my faithful Guilford's arms,

[Embracing. That I may snatch thee from the greedy grave, That I may warm his gentle heart with joy, And talk to him of life, of life and pardon.

Guil. What means my dearest Penıbroke?

Pemb. Oh, my speech
Is choak'd with words that crowd to tell my tidings!
But I have sav'd thee-and--Oh, joy unutterable!
The Queen, my gracious, my forgiving mistress,
Has giv'n not only thee to my request;
But she, she too, in whom alone thou liv'st,
The partner of thy heart, thy love is safe.

Guil. Millions of blessings wait her!-- Ilas she
Oh! has she spar'd my wife?

[tell me, Pemb. Both, both are pardon'd. But haste, and do thou lead me to thy saint, That I may cast myself beneath her feet, And beg her to accept this poor

amends For all I've done against her-Thou fair excellence,

[Kneeling. Canst thou forgive the hostile hand that arm'd Against thy, cause, and robb’d thee of a crowa?.

your thanks.

L. J. Gray. Ob, rise, my lord, and let me take your
Life and the world are hardly worth my care; [posture,
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.

Pemb. To me! forbid it goodness! if I live,
Somewhat I will do shall deserve
All discord and remembrance of offence
Shall be clean blotted out; and for your freedom,

Myself have underta’en to be your caution.'
Hear me, great God, and aid my pious purpose;
These that deserve so much, this wond'rous pair,
Let these be happy : ev'ry joy attend them;
A fruitful bed, a chain of love unbroken,
' A good old age, to see their children's children,'*
A holy death, and everlasting memory;t

While I resign to them my share of happiness,
« Contented still to want what they enjoy,
And singly to be wretched.'

Enter LIEUTENANT of the Tow ER.
Lieut. The Lord Chancellor
Is come with orders from the Queen,

Enter GARDINERI and attendants.
Pemb. Ha! Winchester!

Gard. 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.

L.J. Gray. What! turn apostate?
Guil. Ha! forego my faith?

Gurd. This one condition only seals your pardon:
But if, thro' 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.

Pemb. 'Tis false, 'tis false.
The mercy of the Queen was free and full.
Think'st thou that princes merchandize their grace,
As Roman priests their pardon? Do they barter,
Screw

up,
like

you, the buyer to a price, And doubly sell what was design'd a gift?'

Gard. My lord, this language ill beseems your nobleNor come I here to bandy words with madmen.

[ness; 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.

Pemb. Must they ?-But wherefore do I loiter here? I'll to the Queen this moment, and there koow What 'tis this mischief-making bigot aims at. [Exit.

Gard. 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 every where around us? In one poor minute gone: 'at once they wither'd, • And left their place all-desolate behind them.'

L. J. Gray. Such is this foolish world, and such the
Of all the boasted blessings it bestows : [certainty
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 most bright example,
And tread the paths thus pointed out by thee:
By thee instructed, to the fatal block