d
night.

(They both kiss her.)

_Mrs. Cromwell:_
Is Amos Tanner here?

_Bridget:_
Yes, grandmother.

_Mrs. Cromwell:_
Ask him to sing to me. Very quietly. The song he sang that night at
Ely--you remember--when John and Henry were there.

(BRIDGET goes out.)

_Mrs. Cromwell:_
You have been a good son.

_Cromwell:_
Mother, dear.

(BRIDGET returns with AMOS. Very quietly he sings:)

When I shall in the churchyard lie,
Poor scholar though I be,
The wheat, the barley, and the rye
Will better wear for me.

For truly have I ploughed and sown,
And kept my acres clean;
And written on my churchyard stone
This character be seen;

"His flocks, his barns, his gear he made
His daily diligence,
Nor counted all his earnings paid
In pockets full of pence."

(While he is singing MRS. CROMWELL falls asleep and he goes. CROMWELL
stands for a time with BRIDGET, watching his mother asleep.)

_Cromwell:_
Daughter, we must be loving, one with another. No man is sure of
himself, ever. He can but pray for faith.

_Bridget:_
Father, you have done all that a man might do. You have delivered
England.

_Cromwell:_
I have said a word for freedom, a poor, confused word. It was all I
could reach to. We are frail, with our passions. We are beset.

(He prays at his mother's bedside, BRIDGET standing beside him.)

Thou hast made me, though very unworthy, a mean instrument to do the
people some good, and Thee service. And many of them have set too high a
value upon me, though others wish and would be glad of my death. But,
Lord, however Thou dost dispose of me, continue and go on to do good for
them. Give them one heart, and mutual love. Teach those who look too
much upon Thy instrument to depend more upon Thyself. Pardon such as
desire to trample upon the dust of a poor worm, for they are Thy people,
too. And pardon the folly of this short prayer, even for Jesus Christ's
sake. And give us a good night if it be Thy pleasure.

THE SCENE CLOSES

THE END

* * * * *

[Transcriber's Note:

The following text was printed at the beginning of the original book.
It is included here for historical interest only.]

Copyright, 1921, by Houghton Mifflin Company

Dramatic Rights in the United States
Controlled by William Harris, Jr

CAUTION

All dramatic rights for John Drinkwater's _Oliver Cromwell_ in North
America are owned and controlled by