Part 10 (1/2)

Be calm, he shall not die! Rise up--I came To save his life.

_Rut._ 'Tis mercy's voice that speaks!-- My Ess.e.x shall again be mine! My queen, My bounteous, gracious queen, has said the word!

May troops of angels guard thy sacred life!

And, in thy latest moments, waft thy soul, To meet that mercy in the realms of joy, Which, now, thy royal goodness grants to me!

_Enter BURLEIGH._

_Bur._ Madam, your orders came, alas! too late.

Ere they arrived, the axe had fallen on Ess.e.x.

_Rut._ Ha! dead! What h.e.l.l is this, that opens round me?

What fiend art thou, that draws the horrid scene?

Ah! Burleigh! b.l.o.o.d.y murd'rer! where's my husband?

Oh! where's my lord, my Ess.e.x?

Destruction seize, and madness rend my brain!

See,--see they bend him to the fatal block!

Now--now the horrid axe is lifted high-- It falls--it falls!--he bleeds--he bleeds! he dies!

_Qu. Eliz._ Alas! her sorrows pierce my suffering heart!

_Rut._ Eternal discord tear the social world, And nature's laws dissolve! expunge--erase The hated marks of Time's engraving hand, And every trace destroy! Arise, Despair!

a.s.sert thy rightful claim--possess me all!

Bear, bear me to my murder'd lord--to clasp His bleeding body in my dying arms!