Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born.
The owl shrieked at thy birth,-an evil sign!
The night-crow cried,-foreboding* luckless time!
Dogs howled, and hideous tempests shook down trees;
The raven rooked her on the chimney's top,
And chattering pies in dismal discords sung.
Thy mother felt 'more than a mother's pain,
And yet brought forth 'less than a mother's hope;
Teeth hadst thou in thy head, when thou wast born,
To signify, thou cam'st to 'bite the world:

And, if the rest be true which I have heard,

Thou cam'st

Glo. I'll hear no more ;-die, prophet, in thy speech:
For this, amongst the rest, was I 'ordained.

The enraged Richard furiously stabs the defenceless King.†
K. Hen. Ay, and for much more slaughter 'after this.
O! Heaven forgive my sins, and pardon thee.
Glo. What! will the aspiring blood of Lancaster

[Dies.

'Sink in the ground? I thought it would have 'mounted.
See, how my 'sword weeps for the poor king's death!
O, may such 'purple tears be always shed

From those that wish the downfall of our House!-
If any spark of life be yet remaining,

Down, down to hell; and say 'I sent thee thither:
I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.
Indeed, 't is true, what Henry told me of;
For I have often heard my mother say,
When I came in the world, the women cried,
"Good heaven bless us, he is born with teeth!"
And so I was; which plainly signified

[Stabs him

again.

That I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog.
Then, since the 'heavens have shaped my 'body so,
Let 'hell make crook'd my 'mind to answer it.

I have no brother, I am 'like no brother;

And this word Love,-which greybeards call divine,—
Be resident in men like one another,

And not in 'me:-I am 'myself 'alone.—

Clarence, beware: thou keep'st me from the light;
But I will sort a pitchy day for 'thee:
For I will buzz abroad such prophecies,

That Edward shall be fearful of his life;

And then, to purge his fear, I'll be 'thy death.—
King Henry, and the Prince his son, are gone:

*O. R. aboding.

The death of King Henry VI was on May 22d, 1471.

Clarence, 'thy turn is next, and then the 'rest;
Counting myself but bad, till I be 'best.-
I'll throw thy body in another room,

And triumph, Henry, in 'thy day of doom.*

Exit with Lthe body.

King Edward the Fourth is now the undisputed possessor of the English throne; and his Queen-formerly the Lady Elizabeth Grey-has lately presented him with a son, the unfortunate Edward the Fifth of future history. The happy father says:

K. Edw. Once more we sit in England's royal throne,
'Re-purchased with the blood of enemies.

Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy.-
And now what rests, but that we spend the time
With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows,
Such as befits the pleasure of the Court?

Sound, drums and trumpets!-farewell, sour annoy!
For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy.

END OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

REPRINTS.

[Exeunt.

From the First Part of the "Contention betwixt the Two Famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster,"-as printed in 1594.

Enter King and Salsbury, and then the Curtaines be drawne, and the Cardinall is discouered in his bed, rauing and staring as if he were madde:

Car. Oh death, if thou wilt let me liue but one whole yeare, Ile giue thee as much gold as will purchase such another Iland.

Kin. O see my Lord of Salsbury how he is troubled,
Lord Cardinall, remember Christ must saue thy soule.
Car. Why died he not in his bed?

What would you haue me to do then?

Can I make men liue whether they will or no?

Sirra, go fetch me the strong poison which the Pothicary sent me.

Oh see where Duke Humphreys ghoast doth stand, And stares me in the face. Looke, looke, coame downe his haire,

So now hees gone againe: Oh, oh, oh.

Sal. See how the panges of death doth gripe his heart. Kin. Lord Cardinall, if thou diest assured of heauenly

blisse,

Hold vp thy hand and make some signe to vs.

The Cardinall dies.

*For a reprint of this Speech, see the following page: (p. 278).

Oh see he dies, and makes no signe at all.
Oh God forgiue his soule.

Sul. So bad an ende did neuer none behold,

But as his death, so was his life in all.

Kin. Forbeare to iudge, good Salsbury forbeare,

For God will iudge vs all.

Go take him hence, and see his funerals be performde.

[Exet omnes.

From the Second Part of the "Contention "_" The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke and the good King Henrie the Sixt "- as printed in 1595.

Glo. What? will the aspiring bloud of Lancaster

Sinke into the ground, I had thought it would haue
mounted,

See how my sword weepes for the poore kings death.
Now maie such purple teares be alwaies shed,
For such as seeke the downefall of our house.

If anie sparke of life remaine in thee, [Stab him againe.
Downe, downe to hell, and saie I sent thee thither.
I that haue neither pittie, loue nor feare.
Indeed twas true that Henry told me of,
For I haue often heard my mother saie,

That I came into the world with my legs forward,
And had I not reason thinke you to make hast,
And seeke their ruines that vsurpt our rights?
The women wept and the midwife cride,
O Iesus blesse vs, he is borne with teeth.
And so I was indeed, which plainelie signifide,
That I should snarle and bite, and plaie the dogge.
Then since Heauen hath made my bodie so,
Let hell make crookt my mind to answere it.

I had no father, I am like no father,

I haue no brothers, I am like no brothers,

And this word Loue which greybeards tearme diuine,
Be resident in men like one another,

And not in me, I am my selfe alone.

Clarence beware, thou keptst me from the light,
But I will sort a pitchie daie for thee.
For I will buz abroad such prophesies,
As Edward shall be fearefull of his life,
And then to purge his feare, Ile be thy death.

Henry and his sonne are gone, thou Clarence next,
And by one and one I will dispatch the rest,
Counting my selfe but bad, till I be best.
Ile drag thy bodie in another roome,

And triumph Henry in thy daie of doome.

[Exit.

KING RICHARD III.

The Tragedy of Richard the Third may be considered Shakespeare's first original English historical play, although it owes much of its dramatic colouring to the older play of The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York, which was printed in 1595, and which Shakespeare embodied in the Third Part of King Henry the Sixth.

Shakespeare's Richard the Third was first printed in 1597, with the following title: "The Tragedy of King Richard the Third: containing-His treacherous Plots against his brother Clarence: the pitiful murther of his innocent Nephewes: his tyrannicall vsurpation : with the whole course of his detested life, and most deserued death. As it hath been lately acted by the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlain his Servants." In the folio of 1623, it is called "The Tragedy of Richard the Third, with the Landing of Earle Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth Field."

The Tragedy was for a long time very popular on the stage; but now-as an acted drama—it is not directly taken from the poet's text, but is a compilation chiefly from the Third Part of King Henry the Sixth-very effectively selected and augmented by Colley Cibber (in 1700,) and since then adopted by nearly all our eminent actors. In the earlier years of the performance of Cibber's version, the greater part of the First Act was suppressed by the dramatic licenser, on the plea that the murder of the imprisoned King Henry might suggest to the English malcontents a similar fate either for William, the King over the land, or for James, the King over the water. As soon as the fear of assassination ceased, the restriction was withdrawn, and the sword of every modern Roscius still " weeps for the poor King's death."

In the Tragedy of Richard III, historical facts have been frequently blended with tradition—a very fruitful source of error. Under the lynx-eyed jealousy of the Tudor-queen Elizabeth, it was policy to paint this hero of the House of York in the darkest colours; not only to prove the poet's attachment to the political principles of the Lancastrian race, but to compliment the succeeding dynasty of the Tudors; by presenting, under the appearance of Virtue in opposition to Vice, a fair if not a plausible claim to public estimation; in having delivered a suffering nation from a tyrannical monster, to make way for the accession of King Henry the Seventh. There is, here, therefore, "no scandal against Queen Elizabeth."

The Dramatis Personæ retained in this Condensation are:

The Time of the entire Play extends from the murder of King Henry VI, in 1471, to the accession of Henry VII, in 1485: the intervening reigns were those of Edward IV, (died 1483,) and Edward V, (murdered in the same year). The reign of King Richard III began in 1483 and was terminated by his death, in 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth-field.

The Scene of the Action is wholly in England.

We have before us a Street (in London) in which the Duke (of Gloster is moodily walking, while waiting the arrest of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, who is to be led this way.

Glo. Now is the ' Winter of our dis-content

Made glorious 'Summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds, that loured upon our House,
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are 'our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruiséd 'arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern 'alarums changed to 'merry meetings,
Our dreadful 'marches to 'delighful measures.

Grim-visaged War hath smoothed his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barbéd steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,—
He capers nimbly, in a lady's chamber,
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.