of her dresses-that which was appropriate to the rank of a queen dowager. Her step was firm, and her countenance cheerful. She bore without shrinking the gaze of the spectators, and the sight of the scaffold, the block, and the executioner, and advanced into the hall with that grace and majesty which she had so often displayed in her happier days, and in the palace of her fathers. To aid her as she mounted the scaffold, Paulet offered his arm. "I thank you, sir," said Mary; "it is the las' trouble I shall give you, and the most acceptable service you have ever rendered me." 8. The queen seated herself on a stool which was prepared for her. On her right stood the two earls; on the left the sheriff and Beal, the clerk of the council; in front, the executioner from the Tower, in a suit of black velvet, with his assistant, also clad in black. The warrant was read, and Mary, in an audible voice, addressed the assembly. She would have them recollect, also, that she was a sovereign princess, not subject to the parliament of England, but brought there to suffer by injustice and violence. She, however, thanked her God that he had given her this opportunity of publicly professing her religion, and of declaring, as she had often before declared, that she had never imagined, nor compassed, nor consented to, the death of the English queen, nor ever sought the least harm to her person. After her death, many things, which were then buried in darkness, would come to light. But she pardoned from her heart all her enemies, nor should her tongue utter that which might turn to their prejudice. 9. Here she was interrupted by Dr. Fletcher, dean of l'eterborough, who, having caught her eye, began to preach, and under cover, perhaps, through motives of zeal, contrived to insult the feelings of the unfortunate sufferer. Mary repeated y desired him not to trouble himself and her. He persisted; she turned aside. He made the circuit of the scaffold, and again addressed her in front. An end was put to this extraordinary scene by the Earl of Shrewsbury, who ordered him to pray. His prayer was the echo of his sermon; but Mary heard him act. She was employed at the time in her devotions, repeating with a loud voice, and in the Latin language, passages from the book of Psalms; and, after the dean was reduced to silence, a prayer in French, in which she begged of God to pardon her sins, declared that she forgave her enemies, and protested that she was innocent of ever consenting in wish or deed to the death of her English sister. She then prayed in English for Christ's afflicted church, for her son James, and for queen Elizabeth, and in conclusion, holding up the crucifix, exclaimed,—“ As thy "arms, O God, were stretched out upon the cross, so receive me into the arms of thy mercy, and forgive my sins." 10. When her maids, bathed in tears, began to disrobe their mistress, the executioners, fearing the loss of their usual perquisites, hastily interfered. The queen remonstrated, but instantly submitted to their rudeness, observing to the earls with a smile, that she was not accustomed to employ such grooms, or to undress in the presence of so numerous a company. 11. Her servants, at the sight of their sovereign in this lamentable state, could not suppress their feelings; but Mary, putting her finger to her lips, commanded silence, gave them her blessing, and solicited their prayers. She then seated herself again. Kennedy, taking from her a handkerchief edged with gold, pinned it over her eyes; the executioners, holding her by the arms, led her to the block; and the queen, kneeling down, said repeatedly with a firm voice,-"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." 12. But the sobs and groans of the spectators disconcerted the headsman. He trembled, missed his aim, and inflicted a deep wound in the lower part of the skull. The queen remained motionless; and, at the third stroke, her head was severed from her body. When the executioner held it up, the muscles of the face were so strongly convulsed, that the features could not be recognized. He cried as usual,—“God save queen Elizabeth.” "So perish all her enemies!" subjoined the dean of Peter borough. "So perish all the enemies of the gospel!" exclaimed, in a still louder tone, the fanatical Earl of Kent. Not a voice was heard to cry amen. sorbed in admiration and pity. Party feeling was ab EXERCISE XIII. JEREMY TAYLOR, one of the most eminent of English divines, and often styled the Shakspeare of theological literature, was born in Cambrilge, England, in, or about the year 1602. He was remarkable for learning, piety, and eloquence, and for a style singularly vivid and imaginative. His chief work is entitled "Liberty of Prophesying," by which he meant Liberty of Preaching. The beautiful Fable below forms the close of that famous discourse. He says he found it in the books of the Jews. He died in 1667. A FABLE is a species of Allegory:* being a short fictitious story to convey or enforce a moral. It is sometimes called an APOLOGUE; though this latter name is by some restricted to fables in which brutes and things inanimate are made to talk and act like human beings. TOLERATION:-AN APOLOGUE. JEREMY TAYLOR. 1. When Abraham sat at his tent door, according to his custom, waiting to entertain strangers, he espied an old man stooping and leaning on his staff, weary with age and travel, coming towards him, who was a hundred years of age. 2. He received him kindly, washed his feet, provided supper, and caused him to sit down; but, observing that the old man ate and prayed not, nor begged for a blessing on his meat, asked him why he did not worship the God of Heaven? The old man told him that he worshiped the fire only, and acknowledged. no other God; at which answer Abraham grew so zealously angry, that he thrust the old man out of his tent, and exposed him to all the evils of the night and an unguarded condition. 3. When the old man was gone, God called to Abraham, and asked him where the stranger was? He replied, "I thrust him away because he did not worship Thee": God answered him, "I have suffered him these hundred years, although he dishonored me, and couldst thou not endure him one night, when he gave thee no trouble?" Upon this, saith the story, Abraham fetched him back again, and gave him hospitable entertainment and wise. instruction. Go thou and do likewise, and thy charity will be rewarded by the God of Abraham. *For an analysis of the word Allegory, see page 52. EXERCISE XIV. HENRY WARE, JR., D. D., was born at Hingham, Massachusetts, April 7th, 1794, and died September 22d, 1843. His writings are numerous and important, both in prose and verse. They are mainly on theological and devotional themes, and executed with scholarly taste and ability. ADDRESS TO THE HEAVENLY BODIES. I. HENRY WARE, JE. Tell me, ye splendid orbs! as from your throne Your sway, what beings fill those bright abodes? II. Has War trod o'er them with his foot of fire? And Slavery forged his chains; and Wrath, and Hate, Leagued their base bands to tread out light and truth, Hope never quenched, and age unknown, And death unfeared; while fresh and fadeless youth III. Speak, speak! the mysteries of those living worlds And everlasting silence? Yet the eye May read and understand. The hand of God Has written legibly what man may know, THE GLORY OF THE MAKER. There it shines EXERCISE XV. JOHN GAY, an English poet, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1688, and died in 1732. His "FABLES," to which the following piece is introductory, are among the very best in the language. 1 PLAʼTO, a celebrated Greek philosopher, was born in Athens in the year 429 before Christ, and died in 348. He was a profound thinker. 2 SOC/RATES, a famous Grecian philosopher, was born in Athens 169 B. C., and died in 399. He was an earnest advocate of practical wisdom, and, by his stern moral teachings, made many enemies. These, finally, procured his death upon a charge of corrupting the youth of the city, by introducing new religious opinions and despising the national gods. ULYSSES was one of the early princes of Greece, and greatly celebrated for his wisdom and shrewdness. He was among the fore most of those engaged in the Trojan War. THE SHEPHERD AND THE PHILOSOPHER. I. Remote from cities lived a swain Unvexed with all the cares of gain; II. A deep Philosopher (whose rules. Of moral life were drawn from schools,) JOHN GAY |