Page:Poetical Works of the Right Hon. Geo. Granville.djvu/19

Rh party, who enjoyed a large fortune, which ſhe ſpent in the exerciſe of the moſt entenſive beneficence: ſhe made it her buſineſs to viſit the jails, and the priſoners who were moſt neceſſitous and deſerving ſhe relieved: her houſe was an aſylum for the poor: ſhe lived but for charity, and ſhe had every hour the prayers of the widow and orphan poured out to her. It happened that one of the rebels found ſhelter in her houſe; ſhe ſuffered him to be ſcreened there; ſhe fed and clothed him. The King had often declared that he would rather pardon thoſe who were found in arms againſt him than the people who harboured or ſecretly encouraged them. This miſcreant, who ſometimes ventured out at night to a public houſe, was informed that the King had made ſuch a declaration, and it entered into his baſe heart to betray his benefactreſs. He accordingly went before a magiſtrate, and lodged an information, upon which the lady was ſecured, brought to a trial, and, upon the evidence of this ungrateful villain, caſt for her life. She ſuffered at a ſtake with the moſt reſigned cheerfulneſs; for when a woman is convicted of treaſon, it ſeems ſhe is ſentenced to be burnt. The reader will eaſily judge what ſort of bowels that king muſt have who could permit ſuch a puniſhment to take place upon a woman ſo completely amiable, upon the evidence of a villain ſo