"Of seven dark and deadly sins,

Like plague-spots on the past — Of seven dark and deadly sins,

I must recount the last :

"There was a maid —a fair young thing — High-born, and undefiled

By thought of sin; so meek, so wise;

In heart so like a child!

"In the beauty of her innocence,
She had no earthly fear:

The blackness of my evil heart
I masked when she was near.

"With subtle mockery of good,
Her pure soul did I win;
And fervent, lying vows I paid,
Ere she was lured to sin.

"I brought destruction on her house-
The blameless and the brave!

And its grey-headed sire went down
Dishonoured to the grave.

"This was the triumph of my art;
This gave her to my power;
Poor slave to passion's tyranny,—
The idol of an hour!

Q

"Vain was her passionate despair,

My callous heart to wring;

I left her to her misery

A lorn, heart-broken thing!

"I took of her no further thought

My life was in its prime;

And in a wild carouse I lived

Of luxury and crime.

"'Twas, staggering from a long debauch,

From some impure retreat,
At midnight, in a dark disguise,

Along the city street,

"And I and my companions saw,

Amid our shameless mirth,

A small train of poor men, who bore
Some child of clay to earth.

"A thought of mad impiety

Rushed through my drunken brain;

I seized the foremost by the arm,
And stopped the funeral train.

"Let's look upon the dead!' I cried;
No answering word they said;
But gazed on me upbraidingly,

And then unveiled the dead!

"The dead! yes, on the dead I looked! Oh, sight of woe to me!

The one I drew as down from heaven,

And cast to infamy!

"From that night, life became a pang:

A dark, upbraiding sprite Seemed ever nigh, for that one sin

Reproaching day and night.

"The gnawing sense of evil done,

Was as a desert beast

Above its prey-my living soul

Its unconsumed feast!

"I plunged into yet madder guilt, To hush the ceaseless cry;

I matched my strength against remorse, And sinned more recklessly!

"Vain, vain! through war, through civil strife;

Kept with me in each place, The broken-hearted wretchedness Of that dead woman's face!

"So, doomed to hopeless misery,
I loathed the light of day;

I loathed the sight of human eye,
And gave the passion way!

"It grew a cruel moodiness;
The tyrant's jealous sense,

To which the joy of other hearts
Becomes a black offence.

"Thus I was hated, feared, and shunned;

And hatred filled my mind

For all my race; and long I lived

In warfare with mankind.

"The cup I drained was a poisoned cup – 'T was red wine at the brim;

I took it from my brother's hand—

I had no fear of him!

"I sank down on the couch to rest,
The while he watched near;

I slept-I woke-oh, awful Judge!
I woke and I am here!"

LADY JANE GREY IN THE TOWER.

"The Queen's bigoted zeal, under colour of tender mercy to the prisoner's soul, induced her to send Dr. Fecknam, afterwards Abbot of Westminster, to reason with her, and endeavour to reconcile her to the Church of Rome; and even a respite of three days was granted, in hopes of accomplishing the design. Other priests also visited her, and harassed her with disputations; but her constancy remained unshaken."

I.

OH! thus it is! the fool, with solemn face,
Stands in the presence of the mighty wise!
Stands full of pity, or of scorn; no trace

Of a high soul before him he descries.

'Tis pure, 't is meek,—'t is simple; and his eyes, Dimmed with the blaze of mortal pageantry,

See not the glory that all time shall see.

II.

Get to thy cell, thou man of empty sound!

Thou tool of State! whose soul doth wear the hue Of the dull creed, or rite with which 't was found Thy yielding youth convenient to imbue.

Go! why wilt thou that bleeding dove pursue?
That stricken, gentle dove, caught in the snare
Of worldly souls, and doomed their crimes to bear.