Part 26 (1/2)

BONNER. Ay--gentle as they call you--live or die!

Pitiful to this pitiful heresy?

I must obey the Queen and Council, man.

Win thro' this day with honour to yourself, And I'll say something for you--so--good-bye.

[_Exit_.

CRANMER. This hard coa.r.s.e man of old hath crouch'd to me Till I myself was half ashamed for him.

_Enter_ THIRLBY.

Weep not, good Thirlby.

THIRLBY. Oh, my Lord, my Lord!

My heart is no such block as Bonner's is: Who would not weep?

CRANMER. Why do you so my--lord me, Who am disgraced?

THIRLBY. On earth; but saved in heaven By your recanting.

CRANMER. Will they burn me, Thirlby?

THIRLBY. Alas, they will; these burnings will not help The purpose of the faith; but my poor voice Against them is a whisper to the roar Of a spring-tide.

CRANMER. And they will surely burn me?

THIRLBY. Ay; and besides, will have you in the church Repeat your recantation in the ears Of all men, to the saving of their souls, Before your execution. May G.o.d help you Thro' that hard hour!

CRANMER. And may G.o.d bless you, Thirlby!

Well, they shall hear my recantation there.

[_Exit_ THIRLBY.

Disgraced, dishonour'd!--not by them, indeed, By mine own self--by mine own hand!

O thin-skinn'd hand and jutting veins, 'twas you That sign'd the burning of poor Joan of Kent; But then she was a witch. You have written much, But you were never raised to plead for Frith, Whose dogmas I have reach'd: he was deliver'd To the secular arm to burn; and there was Lambert; Who can foresee himself? truly these burnings, As Thirlby says, are profitless to the burners, And help the other side. You shall burn too, Burn first when I am burnt.

Fire--inch by inch to die in agony! Latimer Had a brief end--not Ridley. Hooper burn'd Three-quarters of an hour. Will my f.a.ggots Be wet as his were? It is a day of rain.

I will not muse upon it.

My fancy takes the burner's part, and makes The fire seem even crueller than it is.

No, I not doubt that G.o.d will give me strength, Albeit I have denied him.

_Enter_ SOTO _and_ VILLA GARCIA.

VILLA GARCIA. We are ready To take you to St. Mary's, Master Cranmer.

CRANMER. And I: lead on; ye loose me from my bonds.

[_Exeunt_.

SCENE III.--ST. MARY'S CHURCH.

COLE _in the Pulpit_, LORD WILLIAMS OF THAME _presiding_. LORD WILLIAM HOWARD, LORD PAGET, _and others_. CRANMER _enters between_ SOTO _and_ VILLA GARCIA, _and the whole Choir strike up_ 'Nunc Dimittis.' CRANMER _is set upon a Scaffold before the people_.

COLE. Behold him-- [_A pause: people in the foreground_.