Dur. You alter strangely, sir.

K. Hen. Alter, lord bishop!

Why, Clifford stabb'd me, or I dream'd he stabb'd

me.

Sirrah, it is a custom with the guilty

To think they set their own stains off, by laying Aspersions on some nobler than themselves:

Lies wait on treasons, as I find it here.

Thy life again is forfeit; I recal

My word of mercy, for I know thou dar'st
Repeat the name no more.

Clif. I dare, and once more,

Upon my knowledge, name Sir William Stanley, Both in his counsel and his purse, the chief Assistant to the feigned duke of York.

Dur. Most strange!

Urs. Most wicked!

K. Hen. Yet again, once more.

Clif. Sir William Stanley is your secret enemy, And, if time fit, will openly profess it.

K. Hen. Sir William Stanley! Who? Sir William Stanley!

My chamberlain, my counsellor, the love,

The pleasure of my court, my bosom friend,
The charge, and the controulment of my person;
The keys and secrets of my treasury;
The all of all I am! I am unhappy.
Misery of confidence,-let me turn traitor
To my own person, yield my sceptre up
To Edward's sister, and her bastard duke!
Dur. You lose your constant temper.

K. Hen. Sir William Stanley!

O do not blame me; he, 'twas only he

Who, having rescued me in Bosworth field From Richard's bloody sword, snatch'd from his head

The kingly crown, and placed it first on mine." He never fail'd me; what have I deserv'd

To lose this good man's heart, or he his own? Urs. The night doth waste, this passion ill becomes you;

Provide against your danger.

K. Hen. Let it be so.

Urswick, command straight Stanley to his chamber.

'Tis well we are i' th' Tower; set a guard on him.

Clifford, to bed; you must lodge here to-night; We'll talk with you to-morrow. My sad soul Divines strange troubles.

Daw. (within.) Ho! the king, the king! I must have entrance.

K. Hen. Dawbeney's voice; admit him. What new combustions huddle next, to keep Our eyes from rest?-the news?

Shakspeare thus notices the circumstance :

"Enter STANLEY bearing the crown.

"Stanley. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee! Lo here, this long usurped royalty

From the dead temples of this bloody wretch

Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal;

Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it.”—Richard III.

Enter DAWBENEY.

Daw. Ten thousand Cornish,

Grudging to pay your subsidies, have gather'd
A head; led by a blacksmith and a lawyer,
They make for London, and to them is join'd
Lord Audley as they march, their number daily
Increases; they are-

K. Hen. Rascals!-talk no more;

Such are not worthy of my thoughts to-night.
To bed—and if I cannot sleep,-I'll wake.—
When counsels fail, and there's in man no trust,
Even then, an arm from heaven fights for the just.

ACT II. SCENE I.

Edinburgh.-The Presence-Chamber in the Palace. Enter above, the Countess of CRAWFORD, Lady KATHERINE, JANE, and other ladies.

Countess. Come, ladies, here's a solemn preparation

For entertainment of this English prince;

The king intends grace more than ordinary; 'Twere pity now, if he should prove a counterfeit. Kath. Bless the young man, our nation would

be laugh'd at

For honest souls through Christendom! my father Hath a weak stomach to the business, madam, But that the king must not be cross'd.

Countess. He brings

A goodly troop, they say, of gallants with him;
But very modest people, for they strive not
To fame their names too much; their godfathers
May be beholding to them, but their fathers
Scarce owe them thanks: they are disguised
princes,'

Brought up it seems to honest trades; no matter,
They will break forth in season.

Jane. Or break out;

For most of them are broken by report. [Music. The king!

Kath. Let us observe them and be silent.

A Flourish.-Enter King JAMES, HUNTLEY, CRAW FORD, DALYELL, and other Noblemen.

K. Ja. The right of kings, my lords, extends not only

To the safe conservation of their own,

But also to the aid of such allies,

As change of time and state hath oftentimes
Hurl'd down from careful crowns, to undergo
An exercise of sufferance in both fortunes:
So English Richard, surnam'd Coeur-de-Lion,
So Robert Bruce, our royal ancestor,
Forced by the trial of the wrongs they felt,
Both sought, and found supplies from foreign kings,
To repossess their own; then grudge not, lords,

they are disguised princes, &c.] The Countess is pleased to be facetious. It appears, however, from better authorities than those before us, that Perkin was very respectably, not to say honourably, attended, on this occasion.

A much distressed prince: king Charles of France, And Maximilian of Bohemia both,

Have ratified his credit by their letters;

Shall we then be distrustful? No; compassion
Is one rich jewel that shines in our crown,
And we will have it shine there.

Hunt. Do your will, sir.

K. Ja. The young duke is at hand; Dalyell, from us

First greet him, and conduct him on; then Craw

ford

Shall meet him next, and Huntley, last of all, Present him to our arms.-(Exit DAL.)-Sound sprightly music,

Whilst majesty encounters majesty.

[Flourish.

Re-enter DALYELL, with PERKIN WARBECK, followed at a distance by FRION, HERON, SKETON, ASTLEY, and JOHN A-WATER. CRAWFORD advances, and salutes PERKIN at the door, and afterwards HUNTLEY, who presents him to the King: they embrace; the Noblemen slightly salute his followers.

War. Most high, most mighty king!' that now there stands

Before your eyes,

in presence of

your peers,

3 War. Most high, most mighty king! &c.] This speech is skilfully abridged from the historian. When it could be done with proper effect, the words are taken with no greater change than was necessary for the metrical arrangement; in other places the poet is content with clothing the sentiments in his own language; but