I am not in the giving vein to-day.

Buck. Why, then resolve me whe'r you will, or no. K.Rich. Thou troublest me; I am not in the vein. [Exeunt K. RICHARD and Train. Buck. And is it thus ? repays he my deep service With such contempt? made I him king for this? O, let me think on Hastings; and be gone To Brecknock, while my fearful head is on.

SCENE III.

The same. Enter TYRREL.

Tyr. The tyrannous and bloody act is done;
The most arch deed of piteous massacre,
That ever yet this land was guilty of.
Dighton, and Forrest, whom I did suborn
To do this piece of ruthless butchery,

[Exit.

Albeit they were flesh'd villains, bloody dogs,
Melting with tenderness and mild compassion,
Wept like two children, in their deaths' sad story.
O thus, quoth Dighton, lay the gentle babes,-
Thus, thus, quoth Forrest, girdling one another
Within their alabaster innocent arms:

Their lips were four red roses on a stalk,
Which, in their summer beauty, kiss'd each other.
A book of prayers on their pillow lay;

Which once, quoth Forrest, almost chang'd my mind;
But, oh, the devil-there the villain stopt ;
When Dighton thus told on,—we smothered
The most replenished sweet work of nature,
That, from the prime creation, e'er she fram'd.—
Hence both are gone with conscience and remorse,
They could not speak; and so I left them both,
To bear this tidings to the bloody king.

Enter King RICHARD.

And here he comes :-All health, my sovereign lord! K.Rich. Kind Tyrrel! am I happy in thy news? Tyr. If to have done the thing you gave in charge Beget your happiness, be happy then,

For it is done.

K. Rich. But didst thou see them dead?

tomatons, and bids him not suspend the stroke on the clock-bell, but strike, that the hour may be past, and himself be at liberty to pursue his meditations. SIR J. HAWKINS.

Tyr. I did, my lord.

K.Rich. And buried, gentle Tyrrel ?

Tyr. The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them; But where, to say the truth, I do not know.

K.Rich. Come to me, Tyrrel, soon, at after supper, When thou shalt tell the process of their death. Meantime, but think how I may do thee good, And be inheritor of thy desire.

Farewel, till then.

[Exit.

Tyr. I humbly take my leave. K.Rich. The son of Clarence have I penn'd up close ;7 His daughter meanly have I match'd in marriage; The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom, And Anne my wife hath bid the world good night. Now, for I know the Bretagne Richmond aims At young Elizabeth, my brother's daughter, And, by that knot, looks proudly on the crown, To her go I, a jolly thriving wooer.

Cate. My lord,

Enter CATESBY.

K.Rich. Good news or bad, that thou com'st in so bluntly?

Cate. Bad news, my lord: Morton is fled to Richmond; And Buckingham, back'd with the hardy Welshmen, Is in the field, and still his power increaseth.

K.Rich. Ely with Richmond troubles me more near,
Than Buckingham and his rash levied strength.
Come,-I have learn'd, that fearful commenting
Is leaden servitor to dull delay ;9

Delay leads impotent and snail-pac'd beggary :
Then fiery expedition be my wing,

Jove's Mercury, and herald for a king!

Go, muster men: My counsel is my shield;

We must be brief, when traitors brave the field. [Exe.

[7] In Sheriff Hutton Castle, Yorkshire; where he remained till the coming of Henry VII, who immediately after the battle of Bosworth sent him to the Tower, and some few years after, most treacherously and barbarously put him to death; being, from a total want of education and commerce with mankind, so ignorant, that he could not, according to Hall, discern a goose from a capon. With this unfortunate young nobleman ended the male line of the illustrious house of Plantagenet. RITSON

[8] Timorous thought and cautious disquisition are dull attendants du delay. JOHNS.

SCENE IV.

The same. Before the Palace. Enter Queen MARGARET.
Q.Mar. So, now prosperity begins to mellow,
And drop into the rotten mouth of death.
Here in these confines slily have lurk'd,
To watch the waining of mine enemies.
A dire induction am I witness to, 9

And will to France; hoping the consequence
Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical.

Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret! who comes here?
Enter Queen ELIZABETH and the Duchess of YORK.
Q.Eliz. Ah, my poor princes! ah, my tender babes
My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets!
If yet your gentle souls fly in the air,
And be not fix'd in doom perpetual,
Hover about me with your airy wings,
And hear your mother's lamentation!

Q.Mar. Hover about her; say, that right for right' Hath dimm'd your infant morn to aged night.

Duch. So many miseries have craz'd my voice, That my woe-wearied tongue is still and mute.Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead?

Q.Mar. Plantagenet doth quit Plantagenet, Edward for Edward pays a dying debt.

Q.Eliz. Wilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs, And throw them in the entrails of the wolf?

When didst thou sleep, when such a deed was done? Q.Mar. When holy Harry dy'd, and my sweet son. Duch. Dead life, blind sight, poor mortal-living ghost, Woe's scene, world's shame, grave's due by life usurp'd, Brief abstract and record of tedious days,

Rest thy unrest on England's lawful earth, [Sitting down Unlawfully made drunk with innocent blood!

Q.Eliz. Ah, that thou wouldst as soon afford a grave, As thou canst yield a melancholy seat;

Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here!

Ah, who hath any cause to mourn, but we?

[Sitting down by her. Q.Mar. If ancient sorrow be most reverent, Give mine the benefit of seniory, 2

[9] Induction is preface, introduction, first part.

JOHNS.

[1] Right for right is justice answering to the claims of justice. JOHNS.

[23 Seniory, for seniority. JOHNS.

And let my griefs frown on the upper hand.

If sorrow can admit society, [Sitting down with them. Tell o'er your woes again by viewing mine :

I had an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him ;

I had a husband, till a Richard kill'd him :
Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him ;
Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard kill'd him.

Duch. I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him; I had a Rutland too, thou holp'st to kill him.

Q.Mar. Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard kill'd him.

From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept
A hell-hound, that doth hunt us all to death:
That dog, that had his teeth before his eyes,
To worry lambs, and lap their gentle blood;
That foul defacer of God's handy-work;
That excellent grand tyrant of the earth,..
That reigns in galled eyes of weeping sonls,
Thy womb let loose, to chace us to our graves.—
O upright, just, and true-disposing God,
How do I thank thee, that this carnal cur
Preys on the issue of his mother's body,
And makes her pew-fellow with others' moan !3
Duch. O, Harry's wife, triumph not in my woes;
God witness with me, I have wept for thine..

Q.Mar. Bear with me; I am hungry for revenge,
And now I cloy me with beholding it.

Thy Edward he is dead, that kill'd my Edward;
Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward:
Young York he is but boot, because both they
Match not the high perfection of my loss.

Thy Clarence he is dead, that stabb'd my Edward;
And the beholders of this tragic play,

The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,
Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves.

Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer;
Only reserv'd their factor, to buy souls,

And send them thither: But at hand, at hand,
Ensues his piteous and unpitied end:

Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray,
To have him suddenly convey'd from hence :-
Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray,

[3] Per-fellow seems to be companion. We have now a new phrase, nearly equivalent, by which we say of persons in the same difficulties, that they are in the same box. JOHNS.

[4] Boot is that which is thrown in to mend a purchase.

JOHNS.

That I may live to say, The dog is dead!

my fortune;

Q.Eliz. Oh, thou didst prophesy, the time would come, That I should wish for thee to help me curse That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad. Q.Mar. I call'd thee then, vain flourish of I call'd thee then, poor shadow, painted queen ; The presentation of,but what I was, The flattering index of a direful pageant, 5 One heav'd a high, to be hurl'd down below: A mother only mock'd with two fair babes ; A dream of what thou wast; a garish flag, To be the aim of every dangerous shot ;6 A sign of dignity, a breath, a bubble ; A queen in jest, only to fill the scene.

Where is thy husband now? where be thy brothers?
Where be thy two sons? wherein dost thou joy?
Who sues, and kneels, and says-God save the queen?
Where be the bending peers that flatter'd thee?
Where be the thronging troops that follow'd thee?
Decline all this, and see what now thou art.
For happy wife, a most distressed widow;
For joyful mother, one that wails the name;
For one being su'd to, one that humbly sues;
For queen, a very caitiff crown'd with care;
For one that scorn'd at me, now scorn'd of me ;
For one being fear'd of all, now fearing one ;
For one commanding all, obey'd of none.
Thus hath the course of justice wheel'd about,
And left thee but a very prey to time;
Having no more but thought of what thou wert,
To torture thee the more, being what thou art.
Thou didst usurp my place, And dost thou not
Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow?
Now thy proud neck bears half my burden'd yoke ;
From which even here I slip my wearied head,
And leave the burden of it all on thee.

Farewel, York's wife-and queen of sad mischance-
These English woes shall make me smile in France.

[5] Pageants are dumb shows, and the poet meant to allude to one of these, the index of which promised a happier conclusion, The pageants then displayed on public occasions were generally preceded by a brief account of the order in which the characters were to walk. These indexes were distributed among the spectators, that they might understand the meaning of such allegorical stuff as was usually exhibited. The index of every book was anciently placed before the beginning of it. STEEV.

[6] Alluding to the dangerous situation of those persons to whose care the standards of armies were entrusted. STEEV.

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VOL. V.