Or thee?-or thee?-or any of your faction?
A plague upon you all! His royal grace,-
Whom God preserve better than you would wish!-
Cannot be quiet scarce a breathing-while,
But you must trouble him with lewd' complaints.
Q. Eliz. Brother of Gloster, you mistake the

matter:

The king, of his own royal disposition,
And not provok'd by any suitor else;
Aiming, belike, at your interior hatred,
That in your outward action shows itself,
Against my children, brothers, and myself,
Makes him to send; that thereby he may gather
The ground of your ill-will, and so remove it.

Glo. I cannot tell;-The world is grown so bad, That wrens may prey where eagles dare not perch. Since every Jack became a gentleman,

There's many a gentle person made a Jack.

Q. Eliz. Come, come, we know your meaning, brother Gloster:

You envy my advancement, and my friends';
God grant, we never may have need of you!
Glo. Meantime, God grants that we have need
of you!

Our brother is imprison'd by your means,
Myself disgraced, and the nobility

Held in contempt; while great promotions
Are daily given, to ennoble those

That scarce, some two days since, were worth a noble.2

Q. Eliz. By him that rais'd me to this careful height

From that contented hap which I enjoy'd,
I never did incense his majesty

Against the duke of Clarence, but have been
An earnest advocate to plead for him.
My lord, you do me shameful injury,
Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects.

Glo. You may deny that you were not the cause
Of my lord Hastings' late imprisonment.
Riv. She may, my lord; for-

Glo. She may, lord Rivers ?-why, who knows

not so?

She may do more, sir, than denying that:
She may help you to many fair preferments;
And then deny her aiding hand therein,
And lay those honors on your high desert.
What may she not? She may,-ay, marry may
she,-

Riv. What, merry, may she?

What you have been ere now, and what you are ; Withal, what I have been, and what I am.

Q. Mar. A murd'rous villain, and so still thou art. Glo. Poor Clarence did forsake his father Warwick,

Ay, and forswore himself,-Which Jesu pardon !— Q. Mar. Which God revenge!

Glo. To fight on Edward's party, for the crown; And, for his meed, poor lord, he is mew'd up:

I would to God, my heart were flint like Edward's, Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine;

I am too childish-foolish for this world.

Q. Mar. Hie thee to hell for shame, and leave this world,

Thou cacodæmon! there thy kingdom is.

Riv. My lord of Gloster, in those busy days, Which here you urge to prove us enemies, We follow'd then our lord, our lawful king; So should we you, if you should be our king.

Glo. If I should be-I had rather be a pedlar : Far be it from my heart, the thought thereof!

Q. Eliz. As little joy, my lord, as you suppose You should enjoy, were you this country's king; As little joy you may suppose in me, That I enjoy, being the queen thereof.

[Advancing.

Q. Mar. A little joy enjoys the queen thereof; For I am she, and altogether joyless. I can no longer hold me patient.Hear me, you wrangling pirates, that fall out In sharing that which you have pill'd' from me: Which of you trembles not, that looks on me: If not, that I, being queen, you bow like subjects; Yet that, by you depos'd, you quake like rebels?— Ah, gentle villain, do not turn away!

Glo. Foul wrinkled witch, what mak'st thou in my sight?

Q. Mar. But repetition of what thou hast marr'd; That will I make, before I let thee go.

Glo. Wert thou not banished on pain of death? Q. Mar. I was; but I do find more pain in ba

nishment,

Than death can yield me here by my abode.
A husband, and a son, thou ow'st to me,-
And thou a kingdom;-all of you allegiance:
This sorrow that I have, by right is yours;
And all the pleasures you usurp are mine.

Glo. The curse my noble father laid on thee, When thou didst crown hiswarlikebrowswith paper, And with thy scorns drew'st rivers from his eyes; And then to dry them, gav'st the duke a clout,

I wis,3 your grandam had a worser match.

Q. Eliz. My lord of Gloster, I have too long borne Your blunt upbraidings, and your bitter scoffs: By heaven, I will acquaint his majesty, Of those gross taunts I often have endur'd. had rather be a country servant-maid, Than a great queen with this conditionTo be so baited, scorn'd, and storm'd at: Small joy have I in being England's queen.

Enter QUEEN MARGARET, behind.

Q. Mar. And lessen'd be that small, God, I beseech thee!

Thy honor, state, and seat, is due to me.
Glo. What threat you me with telling of the
king?

Tell him, and spare not: look, what I have said
I will avouch, in presence of the king:
I dare adventure to be sent to the Tower.
'Tis time to speak, my pains are quite forgot.

Q. Mar. Out, devil! I remember them too well:
Thou kill'dst my husband Henry in the Tower,
And Edward, my poor son, at Tewksbury.
Glo. Ere you were queen, ay, or your husband
king,

I was a pack-horse in his great affairs;
A weeder-out of his proud adversaries,
A liberal rewarder of his friends;
To royalize his blood, I spilt mine own.

Q. Mar. Ay, and much better blood than his, or thine.

Glo. In all which time, you, and your husband
Grey,

Were factious for the house of Lancaster;-
And, Rivers, so were you:-Was not your husband
In Margaret's battle at Saint Alban's slain?
Let me put in your minds, if you forget,

'Rude, ignorant. A coin rated at 6s. 8d. Think.

His curses, then from bitterness of soul
Denounced against thee, are all fall'n upon thee;
And God, not we, hath plagued thy bloody deed.
Q. Eliz. So just is God, to right the innocent.
Hast. O, 'twas the foulest deed to slay that babe,
And the most merciless, that e'er was heard of.
Riv. Tyrants themselves wept when it was re-
ported.

Dors. No man but prophesied revenge for it.
Buck. Northumberland, then present, wept to

see it.

Though not by war, by surfeit die your king,
As ours by murder, to make him a king!
Edward, thy son, that now is prince of Wales,
For Edward, my son, that was prince of Wales,
Die in his youth, by like untimely violence!
Thyself a queen, for me that was a queen,
Outlive thy glory like my wretched self!
Long mayst thou live, to wail thy children's loss;
And see another, as I see thee now,
Deck'd in thy rights, as thou art stall'd in mine!
Long die thy happy days before thy death;
And after many lengthen'd hours of grief,
Die neither mother, wife, nor England's queen!-
Rivers,-and Dorset,-you were standers by,-
And so wast thou, lord Hastings,-when my son
Was stabb'd with bloody daggers; God, I pray him,
• Corrupt devil.
⚫ Pillaged.

That none of you may live your natural age, But by some unlook'd accident cut off!

Glo. Have done thy charm, thou hateful wither'd hag.

Q. Mar. And leave out thee? stay, dog, for thou shalt hear me.

If heaven have any grievous plague in store,
Exceeding those that I can wish upon thee,
O, let them keep it, till thy sins be ripe,
And then hurl down their indignation

On thee, the troubler of the poor world's peace!
The worm of conscience still be-gnaw thy soul!
Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou liv'st,
And take deep traitors for thy dearest friends!
No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine,
Unless it be while some tormenting dream
Affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils!
Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!
Thou that wast seal'd in thy nativity
The slave of nature, and the son of hell!
Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb!
Thou loathed issue of thy father's loins!
Thou rag of honor! thou detested-
Glo. Margaret!

Q. Mar. Glo.

Q. Mar.

Richard!

Ha?

I call thee not. Glo. I cry thee mercy then; for I did think, That thou hadst call'd me all these bitter names. Mar. Why, so I did; but look'd for no reply: let me make the period to my curse.

0,

Glo. 'Tis done by me; and ends in-Margaret. Q. Eliz. Thus have you breath'd your curse against yourself.

Q. Mar. Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune!

Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider,6
Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about?
Fool, fool! thou whet'st a knife to kill thyself.
The day will come, that thou shalt wish for me
To help thee curse this pois'nous hunch-back'd toad.
Hast. False-boding woman, end thy frantic curse;
Lest, to thy harm, thou move our patience.

Q. Mar. Foul shame upon you! you have all mov'd mine.

Riv. Were you well serv'd, you would be taught your duty.

Q. Mar. To serve me well, you all should do me duty,

Teach me to be your queen, and you my subjects:
O, serve me well, and teach yourselves that duty.
Dors. Dispute not with her, she is lunatic.
Q. Mar. Peace, master marquis, you are malapert:
Your tire-new stamp of honor is scarce current :7
O, that your young nobility could judge,
What 'twere to lose it and be miserable!
They that stand high, have many blasts to shake
them;

And, if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces. Glo. Good counsel, marry;-learn it, learn it, marquis.

Dors. It touches you, my lord, as much as me. Glo. Ay, and much more: But I was born so high, Our aierys buildeth in the cedar's top,

And dallies with the wind, and scorns the sun.
Q. Mar. And turns the sun to shade;-alas!

alas!

Witness my son, now in the shade of death;
Whose bright out-shining beams thy cloudy wrath
Hath in eternal darkness folded up.
Your aiery buildeth in our aiery's nest :-
O God, that seest it, do not suffer it;
As it was won with blood, lost be it so!
Buck. Peace, peace, for shame, if not for charity.
Q. Mar. Urge neither charity nor shame to me;
Uncharitably with me have you dealt,

And shamefully by you my hopes are butcher'd.
My charity is outrage, life my shame,-
And in my shame still live my sorrow's rage!
Buck. Have done, have done.

Q. Mar. O princely Buckingham, I kiss thy hand,
In sign of league and amity with thee:
Now fair befall thee, and thy noble house!
Thy garments are not spotted with our blood,
Nor thou within the compass of my curse.

Buck. Nor no one here; for curses never pass The lips of those that breathe them in the air. Q. Mar. I'll not believe but they ascend the sky, Alluding to Gloster's form and venom. 'He was just created marquis of Dorset.

• Nest.

And there awake God's gentle-sleeping peace.
O Buckingham, beware of yonder dog;
Look, when he fawns, he bites; and, when he bites
His venom tooth will rankle to the death:
Have not to do with him, beware of him;
Sin, death, and hell have set their marks on him;
And all their ministers attend on him.

Glo. What doth she say, my lord of Buckingham?
Buck. Nothing that I respect, my gracious lord.
Q. Mar. What, dost thou scorn me for my gentle

counsel?

Riv. And so doth mine; I muse,9 why she's at liberty.

Glo. I cannot blame her, by God's holy mother, She hath had too much wrong, and I repent My part thereof, that I have done to her.

Q. Eliz. I never did her any, to my knowledge. Glo. Yet you have all the vantage of her wrong. I was too hot to do some body good, That is too cold in thinking of it now. Marry, as for Clarence, he is well repaid; He is frank'd' up to fatting for his pains;God pardon them that are the cause thereof! Riv. A virtuous and a christian-like conclusion, To pray for them that have done scath2 to us. Glo. So do I ever, being well advis'd;For had I curs'd now, I had curs'd myself. [Aside. Enter CATESBY.

Cates. Madam, his majesty doth call for you,— And for your grace, and you, my noble lords. Q. Eliz. Catesby I come;-Lords, will you go with me?

Riv. Madam, we will attend upon your grace. [Exeunt all but GLOSTER. Glo. I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl. The secret mischiefs that I set abroach, I lay unto the grievous charge of others. Clarence,-whom I, indeed, have laid in dark

ness,

I do beweep to many simple gulls;
Namely, to Stanley, Hastings, Buckingham;
And tell them-'tis the queen, and her allies,
That stir the king against the duke my brother.
Now they believe it; and withal whet me
To be revenged on Rivers, Vaughan, Grey:
But then I sigh, and with a piece of scripture,
Tell them-that God bids us do good for evil:
And thus I clothe my naked villany
With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.
Enter two Murderers.

But soft, here come my executioners.-
How now, my hardy, stout-resolved mates?
Are you now going to despatch this thing?
1 Murd. We are, my lord; and come to have
That we may be admitted where he is.
the warrant,

me:

Glo. Well thought upon, I have it here about [Gives the Warrant. When you have done, repair to Crosby-place. But, sirs, be sudden in the execution, Withal obdurate, do not hear him plead; For Clarence is well spoken, and, perhaps, May move your hearts to pity, if you mark him. 1 Murd. Tut, tut, my lord, we will not stand to prate,

Talkers are no good doers; be assured.
We go to use our hands, and not our tongues.
Glo. Your eyes drop mill-stones, when fools'
eyes drop tears:

I like you, lads-about your business straight
Go, go, despatch.
1 Murd.
We will, my noble lord.

[Exeunt.

Clar. How darkly, and how deadly dost thou speak?

Your eyes do menace me: Why look you pale?
Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you come?
Both Murd. To, to, to,-
Clar. To murder me?
Both Murd. Ay, ay.

Clar. You scarcely have the hearts to tell me so, And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it. Wherein, my friends, have I offended you?

1 Murd. Offended us you have not, but the king. Clar. I shall be reconcil'd to him again.

2 Murd. Never, my lord; therefore prepare to die.

Clar. Are you call'd forth from out a world of men,

To slay the innocent? What is my offence?
Where is the evidence that doth accuse me?
What lawful quests have given their verdict up
Unto the frowning judge? or who pronounced
The bitter sentence of poor Clarence' death?
Before I be convict by course of law,

To threaten me with death is most unlawful.
I charge you, as you hope for any goodness,
By Christ's dear blood shed for our grievous sins,
That you depart, and lay no hands on me;
The deed you undertake is damnable.

1 Murd. What we will do, we do upon command. 2 Murd. And he, that hath commanded, is our king.

Clar. Erroneous vassal! the great King of kings
Hath in the table of his law commanded,
That thou shalt do no murder: Wilt thou then
Spurn at His edict, and fulfil a man's?
Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hand,
To hurl upon their heads that break his law.
2 Murd. And that same vengeance doth he hurl
on thee,

For false forswearing, and for murder too:
Thou didst receive the sacrament, to fight
In quarrels of the house of Lancaster.

1 Murd. And like a traitor to the name of God, Didst break that vow; and, with thy treacherous blade,

Unrip'dst the bowels of thy sovereign's son.

2 Murd. Whom thou wast sworn to cherish and defend.

1 Murd. How canst thou urge God's dreadful law to us,

When thou hast broke it in such dear degree?
Clar. Alas! for whose sake did I that ill deed?
For Edward, for my brother, for his sake:
He sends you not to murder me for this;
For in that sin he is as deep as I.
If God will be avenged for the deed,
O, know you, that he doth it publicly;
Take not the quarrel from his powerful arm;
He needs no indirect nor lawless course,
To cut off those that have offended him.

1 Murd. Who made thee then a bloody minister, When gallant-springing, brave Plantagenet, That princely novice, was struck dead by thee? Clar. My brother's love, the devil, and my rage. 1 Murd. Thy brother's love, our duty, and thy fault, Provoke us hither now to slaughter thec.

SCENE I-A Room in the Palace.

Clar. O, no; he loves me, and he holds me dear: Go you to him from me. Both Murd. Ay, so we will. Clar. Tell him,when that our princely father York Bless'd his three sons with his victorious arm, And charged us from his soul to love each other, He little thought of this divided friendship: Bid Gloster think on this, and he will weep.

1 Murd. Ay, mill-stones; as he lesson'd us to weep.

Clar. O, do not slander him, for he is kind.

1 Murd. Right, as snow in harvest.-Come, you deceive yourself;

'Tis he that sends us to destroy you here.

Clar. It cannot be; for he bewept my fortune, And hugged me in his arms, and swore, with sobs, That he would labor my delivery.

1 Murd. Why so he doth, when he delivers you From this earth's thraldom to the joys of heaven. 2 Murd. Make peace with God, for you must die,

my lord.

Clar. Hast thou that holy feeling in thy soul,
To counsel me to make my peace with God,
And art thou yet to thy own soul so blind,
That thou wilt war with God, by murd'ring me?
Ah, sirs, consider, he that set you on

To do this deed, will hate you for the deed.
2 Murd. What shall we do?
Clar.

Relent, and save your souls.

1 Murd. Relent! 'tis cowardly, and womanish. Clar. Not to relent, is beastly, savage, devilish.Which of you, if you were a prince's son, Being pents from liberty, as I am now,

Iftwo such murderers as yourselves came to you,-
Would not entreat for life?-

My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks;
O, if thine eye be not a flatterer,

Come thou on my side, and entreat for me,
As you would beg, were you in my distress.
A begging prince what beggar pities not!
2 Murd. Look behind you, my lord.

1 Murd. Take that, and that; if all this will not
do,
[Stabs him.

I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt within.

[Exit with the body.

Enter KING EDWARD, (led in sick,) QUEEN ELIZABETH, DORSET, RIVERS, HASTINGS, BUCKINGHAM, GREY, and others.

day's work;

You peers continue this united league:

I every day expect an embassage

From my Redeemer to redeem me hence;

And more in peace my soul shall part to heaven,

Hast. So thrive I, as I truly swear the like! K. Edw. Take heed, you dally not before your king Lest he, that is the supreme King of kings, Confound your hidden falsehood, and award Either of you to be the other's end. • Shut up

1 Reward.

Hast. So prosper I, as I swear perfect love! Riv. And I, as I love Hastings with my heart! K. Edw.Madam, yourself are not exempt in this,Nor your son Dorset,-Buckingham, nor you;You have been factious one against the other. Wife, love lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand; And what you do, do it unfeignedly.

Q. Eliz. There, Hastings;-I will never more remember

Our former hatred; So thrive I, and mine!

K. Edw. Dorset, embrace him,-Hastings, love lord marquis.

Dor. This interchange of love, I here protest, Upon my part shall be inviolable.

Hast. And so swear I. [Embraces DORSET. K. Edw. Now princely Buckingham, seal thou this league,

With thy embracements to my wife's allies,
And make me happy in your unity.

Buck. Whenever Buckingham doth turn his hate Upon your grace, [To the QUEEN.] but with all

duteous love

Doth cherish you, and yours, God punish me
With hate in those where I expect most love!
When I have most need to employ a friend,
And most assured that he is a friend,
Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile,
Be he unto me! this do I beg of heaven,
When I am cold in love to you or yours.

[Embracing RIVERS, &c. K. Edw. A pleasing cordial, princely Bucking

ham,

Glo. Good morrow to my sovereign king, and queen;

And, princely peers, a happy time of day!
K. Edw. Happy, indeed, as we have spent the
day:-

Brother, we have done deeds of charity;
Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate,
Between these swelling wrong-incensed peers.
Glo. A blessed labor, my most sovereign liege.-
Among this princely heap, if any here,
By false intelligence, or wrong surmise,
Hold me a foe;

If I unwittingly, or in my rage,

Have aught committed that is hardly borne
By any in this presence, I desire

To reconcile me to his friendly peace
'Tis death to me to be at enmity;

I hate it, and desire all good men's love.-
First, madam, I entreat true peace of you,
Which I will purchase with my duteous service;-
Of you, my noble cousin Buckingham,

If ever any grudge were lodg'd between us;
Of you, lord Rivers, and, lord Grey, of you,
That all without desert have frown'd on me ;-
Dukes, earls, lords, gentlemen; indeed, of all.
I do not know that Englishman alive,
With whom my soul is any jot at odds,
More than the infant that is born to-night;
I thank my God for my humility.

Q. Eliz. A holy-day shall this be kept hereafter.
I would to God, all strifes were well compounded.-
My sovereign lord, I do beseech your highness
To take our brother Clarence to your grace.
Glo. Why, madam, have I offer'd love for this,
To be so flouted in this royal presence?
Who knows not, that the gentle duke is dead?
[They all start.
You do him injury to scorn his corse.
K. Edw. Who knows not he is dead! who knows
he is?

Q. Eliz. All-seeing heaven, what a world is this! Buck. Look I so pale, lord Dorset, as the rest? Dor. Ay, my good lord; and no man in the pre

sence,

But his red color hath forsook his cheek.

K. Edw. Is Clarence dead? the order was revers'd.

Glo. But he, poor man, by your first order died, And that a winged Mercury did bear; Some tardy cripple bore the countermand, That came too lag to see him buried:

God grant, that some, less noble, and less loyal,
Nearer in bloody thoughts, and not in blood,
Deserve not worse than wretched Clarence did,
And yet go current from suspicion!
Enter STANLEY.

Stan. A boon, my sovereign, for my service done.
K. Edw. I pr'ythee, peace; my soul is full of

sorrow.

Stan. I will not rise unless your highness hear me. K. Edw. Then say at once, what is it thou request'st.

Stan. The forfeit, sovereign, of my servant's life; Who slew to-day a riotous gentleman, Lately attendant on the duke of Norfolk.

K. Edw. Have I a tongue to doom my brother's death,

And shall that tongue give pardon to a slave?
My brother kill'd no man, his fault was thought,
And yet his punishment was bitter death.
Who sued to me for him? who, in my wrath,
Kneel'd at my feet, and bade me be advised?
Who spoke of brotherhood? who spoke of love?
Who told me, how the poor soul did forsake
The mighty Warwick, and did fight for me?
Who told me, in the field of Tewksbury,
When Oxford had me down, he rescued me,
And said, Dear brother, live, and be a king!
Who told me, when we both lay in the field,
Frozen almost to death, how he did lap me
Even in his garments; and did give himself,
All thin and naked, to the numb-cold night?
All this from my remembrance brutish wrath
Sinfully pluck'd, and not a man of you

Had so much grace to put it in my mind.
But when your carters or your waiting-vassals,
Have done a drunken slaughter, and defaced
The precious image of our dear Redeemer,
You straight are on your knees for pardon, pardon;
And I, unjustly too, must grant it you.-
But for my brother, not a man would speak,-
Nor I (ungracious) speak unto myself
For him, poor soul.-The proudest of you all
Have been beholden to him in his life;

Yet none of you would once plead for his life.—
O God! I fear thy justice will take hold
On me, and you, and mine, and yours, for this.-
Come, Hastings, help me to my closet. 0,

Poor Clarence!

[Exeunt KING, QUEEN, HASTINGS, RIVERS, DORSET, and GREY.

Glo. This is the fruit of rashness!-Mark'd you not,

How that the guilty kindred of the queen
Look'd pale, when they did hear of Clarence'death?
O! they did urge it still unto the king;
God will revenge it. Come, lords; will you go,
To comfort Edward with our company ?
Buck. We wait upon your grace.

SCENE II.-The same.

[Exeunt.

Enter the DUCHESS OF YORK, with a Son and Daughter of CLARENCE.

Son. Good grandam, tell us, is our father dead? Duch. No, boy.

Daugh. Why do you weep so oft? and beat your breast;

And cry-O Clarence, my unhappy son!
Son. Why do you look on us, and shake your head,
And call us-orphans, wretches, cast-aways,
If that our noble father be alive?

Duch. My pretty cousins, you mistake me both.
I do lament the sickness of the king,
As loath to lose him, not your father's death;
It were lost sorrow, to wail one that's lost.

Son. Then, grandam, you conclude that he is dead The king my uncle is to blame for this. God will revenge it; whom I will importune With earnest prayers all to that effect. Daugh. And so will I.

Duch. Peace, children, peace! the king doth love you well:

Incapables and shallow innocents,
You cannot guess who caus'd your father's death.

Son. Grandam, we can; for my good uncle Gloster
Told me, the king, provok'd to't by the queen,
Devised impeachments to imprison him:
And when my uncle told me so, he wept,
And pitied me, and kindly kiss'd my cheek;

⚫ Ignorant.