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THE TRAGEDY OF JANE SHORE

WRITTEN IN IMITATION OF SHAKESPEARE'S STYLE BY NICHOLAS ROWE

Conjunx ubi pristinus illi

Respondet curis.

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I have long lain under the greatest obligations to Your Grace's family, and nothing has been more in my wishes than that I might be able to discharge some part, at least, of so large a debt. But your noble birth and fortune, the power, number, and goodness of those friends you have already, have placed you in such an independency on the rest of the world that the services I am able to render to Your Grace can never be advantageous, I am sure, nor1 necessary to you in any part of your life. However, the next piece of gratitude, and the only one I am 1Q not.

capable of, is the acknowledgment of what I owe; and as this is the most public, and indeed the only way I have of doing it, Your Grace will pardon me if I take this opportunity to let the world know the duty and honor I had for your illustrious father. It is, I must confess, a very tender point to touch upon; and at the first sight may seem an ill-chosen compliment, to renew the memory of such a loss, especially to a disposition so sweet and gentle, and to a heart so sensible of filial piety as Your Grace's has been, even from your earliest childhood. But perhaps this is one of those griefs by which the heart may be made better; and if the remembrance of his death bring heaviness along with it, the honor that is paid to his memory by all good men shall wipe away those tears, and the example of his life set before your eyes shall be of the greatest advantage to Your Grace in the conduct and future disposition of your own.

In a character so amiable as that of the Duke of Queensberry was, there can be no part so proper to begin with as that which was in him, and is in all good men, the foundation of all other virtues, either religious or civil-I mean good nature-good nature, which is friendship between man and man, good breeding in courts, charity in religion, and the true spring of all beneficence in general. This was a quality he possessed in as great a measure as any gentleman I ever had the honor to know. It was this natural sweetness of temper which made him the best man in the world to live with, in any kind of relation. It was this made him a good master to his servants, a good friend to his friends, and the tenderest father to his children. For the last, I can give no better voucher than Your Grace, and for the rest I may appeal to all that have had the honor to know him. There was a spirit and pleasure in his conversation which always enlivened the company he was in,

which, together with a certain easiness and frankness in his disposition, that did not at all derogate from the dignity of his birth and character, rendered him infinitely agreeable. And as no man had a more delicate taste of natural wit, his conversations always abounded in good humor.

For those parts of his character which related to the public, as he was a nobleman of the first rank and a minister of state, they will be best known by the great employments he passed through; all which he discharged worthily as to himself, justly to the prince who employed him, and advantageously for his country. There is no occasion to enumerate his several employments; as, Secretary of State, for Scotland in particular, for Britain in general, or Lord High Commissioner of Scotland; which last office he bore more than once, but at no time more honorably, and (as I hope) more happily, both for the present age and for posterity, than when he laid the foundation for the British Union. The constancy and address which he manifested on that occasion are still fresh in everybody's memory, and perhaps when our children shall reap those benefits from that work which some people do not foresee and hope for now, they may remember the Duke of Queensberry with that gratitude which such a piece of service done to his country deserves.

He showed upon all occasions a strict and immediate attachment to the crown, in the legal service of which no man could exert himself more dutifully nor more strenuously. And at the same time no man gave more bold and more generous evidences of the love he bore to his country. Of the latter, there can be no better proof than the share he had in the late happy revolution; nor of the former than that dutiful respect and unshaken fidelity which he preserved for her present Majesty, ev'n to his last moments.

With so many good and great qualities, it is not at all strange that he possessed so large a share as he was known to have, in the esteem of the Queen and her immediate predecessor; nor that those great princes should repose the highest confidence in him: and at the same time, what a pattern has he left behind him for the nobility in general, and for Your Grace in particular, to copy after.

Your Grace will forgive me if my zeal for your welfare and honor (which nobody has more at heart than myself) shall press you with

some more than ordinary warmth to the imitation of your noble father's virtues. You have, my Lord, many great advantages which may encourage you to go on in pursuit of this reputation. It has pleased God to give you naturally that sweetness of temper which, as I have before hinted, is the foundation of all good inclinations. You have the honor to be born not only of the greatest, but of the best parents; of a gentleman generally beloved, and generally lamented; and of a lady adorned with all the virtues that enter into the character of a good wife, an admirable friend, and a most indulgent mother. The natural advantages of your mind have been cultivated by the most proper arts and manners of education; you have the care of many noble friends, and especially of an excellent uncle, to watch over you in the tenderness of your youth. You set out amongst the first of mankind, and I doubt not but your virtues will be equal to the dignity of your rank.

That I may live to see Your Grace eminent for the love of your country, for your service and duty to your prince, and in convenient time, adorned with all the honors that have ever been conferred upon your noble family; that you may be distinguished to posterity as the bravest, greatest, and best man of the age you live in, is the hearty wish, and prayer of, My Lord,

Your Grace's most obedient, and
Most faithful, humble servant,
N. Rowe

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But were he bid to cry, "God save King Richard,"

Then tell me in what terms he would reply. Believe me, I have proved the man and found him.

I know he bears a most religious reverence
To his dead master Edward's royal memory,
And whither that may lead him is most plain;
Yet more one of that stubborn sort he is
Who, if they once grow fond of an opinion,
They call it honor, honesty, and faith,
And sooner part with life than let it go.
GLOSTER. And yet, this tough, impracti-
cable heart,

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The first and fairest of our English dames
While royal Edward held the sovereign rule.
Now sunk in grief, and pining with despair,
Her waning form no longer shall incite
Envy in woman, or desire in man.
She never sees the sun but thro' her tears,
And wakes to sigh the live-long night away.
GLOSTER. Marry! the times are badly
changed with her

From Edward's days to these. Then all was jollity,

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Feasting and mirth, light wantonness and laughter,

Piping and playing, minstrelsie and masquing,
Till life fled from us like an idle dream,
A show of mummery without a meaning.
My brother-rest and pardon to his soul!-
Is gone to his account; for this his minion,
The revel-rout is done.-But you were
speaking

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Using the warrant of your mighty name, With insolence unjust and lawless power Have seized upon the lands which late she held

By grant from her great master Edward's bounty.

GLOSTER. Somewhat of this, but slightly,

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