l! And this group--atoms of England, and parts of
England's heart--without such guards as these, they dared not pray for
him.

Thus Mr Rose prayed:--

"O Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders! whose
way is in the sea, and whose path in the great waters, and whose
footsteps are not known! We kneel before Thee this dread morrow, to
beseech Thee on behalf of Edward Seymour, by Thy grace and providence
Duke of Somerset. For causes unknown to us, but known to Thine
unfathomable wisdom, Thou hast given leave to his enemies to triumph
over him; and in Thy wise, and good, and just allowing and ordering of
men's ways, he is as this day cast for death. We know, O Lord, that Thy
judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness dost afflict and
chasten man, whether for sin, or for correction and instruction in
righteousness. Therefore we would not beseech Thee to remove Thine hand
from him--as, even at the last moment, Thou wert able to do--but rather
so to order this Thy very awful providence, that he may be strengthened
for death, and enabled to put his whole trust in Thy mercy, and in the
alone merits of the bitter cross and passion of Thy Son our Lord.
Suffer him not to depart from Thy fear, nor to lose his full and entire
confidence in Thy mercy. Let not the malice of the Devil, neither the
traitorousness and perfidiousness of his own evil heart, cause him to
fall short of Thy heavenly calling. O Lord God most holy, O Lord God
most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, suffer him not, in his last
hour, for any pains of death, to fall from Thee!"

He paused a moment, and all responded--"Amen." Yet he rose not. But
while they knelt, from within the wall of the Tower enclosure came a
sudden tumult, rushings to and fro, and shouts and cries of "Jesu, save
us!" After a few minutes all was quiet.

And when all was quiet, Mr Rose went on.

"Lord, bow down Thine ear, and hear! Open, Lord, Thine eyes, and see!
Reveal unto this dying man the glory of Thy kingdom, the beauty of
Thyself, that so he may count all things but loss that he may win
Christ. Open unto him the gates of pearl, which the righteous shall
enter into--make him to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of Thee, O
Father. Grant him to endure this his cross for Thy love, and in Thy
strength, and after to reign with Thee in glory evermore."

He made another pause--a longer one; and again all responded, "Amen."
During his silence