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LADY JANE GREY'S LAST HOURSSource: Advocate of Peace (1847-1884), New Series, Vol. 10, No. 2 (AUG. AND SEPT., 1879), p.16Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27906035 .

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16 THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE.

THE SEVEN WONDERS OP THE WORLD, The seven wonders of the world were: 1. The Egyptian Pyramids ; the largest of these is

693 feet square and 449 teet high, and its base covers

ll? acres of ground. 2. The Mausoleum, erected to Mausolus, a king of Caria, by his widow, Artemisia; it was 63 feet long and 35 feet high. 3. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus ; this was 425 feet in length and 220 feet in breadth. 4. The Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon ; these walls are stated, by Hero dotus, to have been 87 feet thick, 350 feet high, aifflh 60 miles in length, and the statement is deemed credi table by modern antiquarians. 5. The Colossus of Rhodes ; this was a brazen statue of Apollo, 105 feet in height, standing at the mouth of the harbor of Rhodes. 6. The statue of Jupiter Olympus, at Athens, which was made of gold and ivory, and was wonderful for its beauty rather than for its size. 7.

The Pharos of Ptolemy Philadelphus ; this was a light house 500 feet high, on the island of Pharos at Alex andria, in Egypt- A fire of wood was kept burning on its summit during the night, to guide ships to the harbor.

The seven wonders of the world are now given as

follows :?The steam engine, the electric telegraph, the printing-press, the telescope, the microscope, the

chemical laboratory, and the photograph. We see much in the works of men's hands to awaken

wonder and admiration. But when the reflective mind

looks into the great book of nature everywhere open before us, we may behold with admiration the handi

works of God, though all are marred and blighted by sin.

The lofty mountains, the majestic forest, the bound ing streams, the peaceful rivers, the far-stretching ocean with its rolling billows and white-crested waves, the waving grass, the smiling flower by our pathway, the ripening grain, and the fruit upon thousands of trees and running vines,?all proclaim the goodness and wisdom of God, and should lead us to lift our hearts in gratitude and adoration to Him.

LADY JANE GREY'S LAST HOURS. She did not wish to die?at seventeen no one wants

to die?but death, in her present adverse state, ap

peared as a benign angel rather than a messenger of gloom and wrath.

Racked with anguish at the shameful apostasy of Northumberland to Romanism just before he was exe

cuted, she cried out in holy wrath, "Like as his life was wicked, so was his end. I pray God that neither I nor friend of mine die so ! " And kindling with re viewed fervor she added,

" Should I, who am so young .-and in my fewer teens, forsake my faith for love of life ?

Nay, God forbid ; and much more he should not, whose fatal course, though he had lived for years, could not

long have continued. But life is sweet . . . God be merciful to us !

" . . .

On the fatal morning of February 9, 1553, dressed with extreme care in a black velvet gown, Lady Jane came forth from her prison, a prayer-book in her hand, a heavenly smile on her face, a tender light in her gray eyes. She walked modestly across the green, passed the files of soldiers, mounted the scaffold, and then,

turning her beautiful face toward the spectators, calmly said :

kt Good people, I am come hither to die. The fact

against the queen's highness was unlawful, but touch

ing the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on

my behalf, I will wash my hands guiltless thereof, and deliver to my God a soul as pure from such trespass as it is innocent from injustice ; but only for that I con sented to the thing I was inforced unto, constraint

making the law believe that which I never under stood."

\ She paused as if to put away from her the world, then she added :

"I pray y?u all, good Christian people, to bear me witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that I look to be saved by no other means than the mercy of God, in the merits of the blood of his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, good people, while I am alive I pray you to assist me with your prayers."

Kneeling down she said to Feckenbam, the only divine whom Mary would allow to come near her :

(i Shall I say this psalm?" The prelate" faltered,

" Yes." On which she repeated in a clear voice the noble

psalm : " Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness ; according to the multitude of thy mercies do away with mine offences "

When she had come to the last line, she rose on her feet, took off her gloves and kerchief, which she gave to her gentlewoman. The Book of Psalms she gave to Thomas Brydges, the lieutenant's deputy, in which she had written the-e lines : " Call upon God to incline

your heart to his laws, to quicken you in his way, and not to take the word of truth utterly out of your mouth."

Then she untied her gown, and took off her bridal

gear ; the headsman offered to assist her, but she put his hands gently aside, and drew a white kerchief round her eyes. She whispered in his ear a few soft words of pity and pardon as the figure of the veiled exe cutioner sank at her feet and begged for forgiveness. In a distinct voice she said to the executioner,

" Pray,

dispatch me quickly." Being blinded and unable to see the block on which to lay her young head, she was seen to feel about for it with her hands, and was heard to say, confused, *l

O, what shall Ido? Where is it?" The guard and Feckenham led her to the right place, and as she laid her noble head upon the fatal block, before the death-stroke could reach her, the sweet lips were heard to murmur,

?' Lord, into thy hands I com

mend my spirit." With these divine words, the soul of Lady Jane Grey passed into its everlasting rest, and the fairest, wisest head in all the English realm fell from under the gleaming axe."?National Repository*

BEAUTIFUL PICTURES FOR ALL. The Great Art Publishing House of George Stinson

& Co., of Portland, Maine, moves steadily on the even tenor of its way, apparently not feeling the dull times.

During the year 1878 they sold over four million pic tures of all descriptions. Those who need pleasant, profitable work, should correspond with them. Ameri can homes should be made beautiful, and the tendency of this will be to make more refined and beautiful the lives of all dwellers therein.

See advertisement.

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