As if thy heart were full of some sad meaning
Thou could'st not speak!

7. Sh.

Forgive me! - but forgive me! Sh. Be witness for me, ye celestial host, Such mercy and such pardon as my soul Accords to thee, and begs of heav'n to shew

thee,

May such befal me at my latest hour,

And make my portion blest or curst for ever.
7. Sh. Then all is well, and I shall sleep in

peace

'Tis very dark, and I have lost you now
Was there not something I wou'd have be-
queath'd you?

But I have nothing left me to bestow,

Nothing but one sad sigh. Oh mercy, heav'n!

Bel. There fled the soul,

And left her load of misery behind.

Dies.

Sh. Oh my heart's treasure! Is this pale sad

visage

All that remains of thee? Are these dead eyes
The light that cheer my soul? Oh heavy hour!
But I will fix my trembling lips to thine,
Till I am cold and senseless quite, as thou art.
(To the Guards, taking him away.) What, must
we part then?
- will you

424 heav'n. F omits the rest of the Act.

415

420

425

430

(Kissing her.) Fare thee well

Now execute your tyrant's will, and lead me
To bonds or death, 't is equally indifferent.

Bel. Let those who view this sad example, know,

435

What fate attends the broken marriage vow;
And teach their children in succeeding times,
No common vengeance waits upon these crimes,
When such severe repentance could not save, 440
From want, from shame, and an untimely grave.
Exeunt.

FINIS

Finis. In the 1714 ed. follows an Advertisement to the British Gentry concerning a translation of Monsieur Wicquefort's Ambassador. The announcement of a page and a half, by Bernard Lintoth, is dated Jan. 28, 1713-14.'

EPILOGUE; SPOKEN BY MRS. Oldfield.

Ye modest matrons all, ye virtuous wives,
Who lead with horrid husbands decent lives,
You who for all you are in such a taking
To see your spouses drinking, gaming, raking,
Yet make a conscience still of cuckold-making,
What can we say your pardon to obtain?
This matter here was prov'd against poor Jane:
She never once deny'd it, but in short,
Whimper'd, and cry'd,

sorry for 't.

sweet sir, — I'm

'Twas well she met a kind, good natur'd soul,
We are not all so easy to controul :

I fancy one might find in this good town
Some wou'd ha' told the gentleman his own;
Have answer'd smart,

tend,

To what do you pre

Blockhead! As if I must n't see a friend:

Tell me of hackney-coaches

city

5

ΙΟ

15

jaunts to th'

Where shou'd I buy my china - Faith, I'll

fit ye

Our wife was of a milder, meeker spirit:

You!

lords and masters!—was not that some merit?

Don't you allow it to be virtuous bearing,
When we submit thus to your domineering?
Well, peace be with her, she did wrong most surely,
But so do many more who look demurely :
Nor shou'd our mourning madam weep alone,
There are more ways of wickedness than one.
If the reforming stage shou'd fall to shaming
Ill-nature, pride, hypocrisy, and gaming;
The poets frequently might move compassion,
And with she tragedies o'er-run the nation.
Then judge the fair offender, with good nature;
And let your fellow-feeling curb your satyr.
What, if our neighbours have some little failing,
Must we needs fall to damning and to railing:
For her excuse too, be it understood,
That if the woman was not quite so good,
Her lover was a king, she flesh and blood.
And since she has dearly paid the sinful score,
Be kind at last, and pity poor Jane Shore.

20

25

30

35

Notes to Jane Shore

Title-page. Conjux . . . Curis. "Where her former husband answers her every mood.' (Aeneid, vi, 473-74.)

III. Duke of Queensberry. Charles Douglas, third Duke of Queensberry (1698-1778), was born at Edinburgh. In 1720 he married Lady Catherine Hyde, second daughter of Henry, Earl of Clarendon and Rochester, a very striking and brilliant figure in the literary society of London. She was a particular friend of the poet Gay, is supposed to have had a great influence over Pitt, and was, with her husband, the friend of Congreve, Pope, Prior, and Walpole. On the accession of George III, the Duke was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and Lord Chief Justice. Rowe dedicates the play to this young Duke of Queensberry because of the support and friendship which the Duke's father had shown to Rowe, as recounted in the dedication. Rowe was under secretary to the Duke's father when the latter was Secretary of State for Scotland.

Dramatis Personae. Duke of Gloster. The Duke of Gloster was brother to Edward IV, who left two sons at his death. These princes the Duke of Gloster caused to be murdered in the Tower. He then succeeded to the throne as King Richard III. Vid. Richard III.

Dramatis Personae. Sir Richard Ratcliffe. He was one of the Duke of Gloster's most trusted followers. He fell by his side on Bosworth Field. Sir Thomas More describes him thus: a "knight whose service the Protector specially used in the execution of such lawless enterprises as a man that had been long secret with him, - bold in mischief, as far from pity as from all fear of God." More's Works, 1x (1834 ed.), 262.

Dramatis Personae. Sir William Catesby. He was another of Gloster's henchmen who carried out legitimate and illegitimate measures for the Protector.

119, 3. The queen and all her upstart race. The Queen referred to is Elizabeth Woodville, widow of Edward IV.