Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise,
I trembling wak'd, and, for a season after,
Could not believe but that I was in hell;
Such terrible impression made my dream.
Brak. No marvel, lord, that it affrighted you;
I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it.

Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things, That now give evidence against my foul,For Edward's fake; and, fee, how he requites me! O God! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee, But thou wilt be aveng'd on my mifdeeds, Yet execute thy wrath on me alone: O, spare my guiltless wife, and my poor children!I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me; My foul is heavy, and I fain would fleep.

Brak. I will, my lord; God give your grace good [Clarence fleeps.

reft!

* Sorrow breaks seasons, and repofing hours, Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night. Princes have but their titles for their glories,

An outward honour for an inward toil;

"nor yet stay'd the terror there,
"Infernal ghosts, and hellish furies, round
" Environ'd thee, some howl'd, some yell'd, some

shriek'd" STEEVENS.

O God! if my deep prayers &c.) The four following lines have been added since the first edition. POPE.

Sorrow breaks seasons, &c.] In the common editions, the keeper is made to hold the dialogue with Clarence till this line. And here Brakenbury enters, pronouncing these words; which feem to me a reflection naturally resulting from the foregoing conversation, and therefore continued to be spoken by the fame person, as it is accordingly in the first edition. POPE. 3 Princes have but their titles for their glories, An outward honour, for an inward toil;]

The first line may be understood in this sense, The glories of princes are nothing more than empty titles: but it would more impress the purpose of the speaker, and correspond better with the following lines, if it were read :

Princes have but their titles for their troubles. JOHNSON.

And,

And, for unfelt imaginations,
They often feel a world of restless cares :
So that, between their titles, and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.

Enter the two Murderers.

1 Murd. Ho! who's here?

Brak. What would'st thou, fellow? and how cam'st

thou hither?

2 Murd. I would speak with Clarence, and I came hither on my legs.

Brak. What, so brief?

I Murd. O, fir, 'tis better to be brief, than te

dious:

Shew him our commission, talk no more.

Brak. I am, in this, commanded to deliver
The noble duke of Clarence to your hands:---
I will not reason what is meant hereby,
Because I will be guiltless of the meaning.
Here are the keys;-there fits the duke afleep:
I'll to the king; and signify to him,
That thus I have resign'd to you my charge.

1 Murd. You may, fir; 'tis a point of wisdom : Fare you well. [Exit Brakenbury. 2 Murd. What, shall we stab him as he fleeps? 1 Murd. No; he'll say, 'twas done cowardly, when

he wakes.

2 Murd. When he wakes! why, fool, he shall ne ver wake until the great judgment day.

ing.

1 Murd. Why, then he'll fay, we stabb'd him fleep

2 Murd. The urging of that word, judgment, hath bred a kind of remorse in me.

4 for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of restless cares:] They often fuffer real miseries for imaginary and unreal gratifications. JOHNSON.

I Murd. I Murd. What! art thou afraid?

2 Murd. Not to kill him, having a warrant for it; but to be damn'd for killing him, from the which no warrant can defend me.

I Murd. I thought, thou had'st been refolute.

2 Murd. So I am, to let him live.

1 Murd. I'll back to the duke of Glofter, and tell him fo.

2 Murd. Nay, I pr'ythee, stay a little: I hope, this compassionate humour of mine will change; it was went to hold me but while one would tell twenty. I Murd. How dost thou feel thyself now? 2 Murd. Faith, some certain dregs of confcience are yet within me.

1 Murd. Remember our reward, when the deed's done.

2 Murd. Come, he dies; I had forgot the reward.

1 Murd. Where's thy confcience now?

2 Murd. In the duke of Glofter's purse.

1 Murd. When he opens his purse to give us our

reward, thy confcience flies out.

2 Murd. 'Tis no matter; let it go; there's few, or none, will entertain it.

1 Murd. What, if it come to thee again?

1

2 Murd. I'll not meddle with it, it is a dangerous thing, it makes a man a coward; a man cannot steal, but it accuseth him; a man cannot swear, but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him: 'Tis a blushing shamefac'd fpirit, that mutinies in a man's bofom; it fills one full of obstacles: it made me once restore a purse of gold, that by chance. I found; it beggars any man that keeps it: it is turn'd out of all towns and cities for a dangerous thing; and every man, that means to live well, endeavours to trust to himself, and live without it.

I Murd. 'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, perfuading me not to kill the duke.

2 Murd. Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not: he would infinuate with thee, but to make thee figh.

I Murd. I am strong fram'd, he cannot prevail with me.

2 Murd. Spoke like a tall fellow, that respects his reputation. Come, shall we fall to work?

1 Murd. Take him over the costard with the hilts of thy sword, and then throw him into the malmseybutt, in the next room.

2 Murd. O excellent device! and make a sop of him.

1 Murd. Soft! he wakes.

2 Murd. Strike.

1 Murd. No, & we'll reason with him.

Clar. Where art thou, keeper? give me a cup of wine.

1 Murd. You shall have wine enough, my lord,

anon.

Clar. In God's name, what art thou?

1 Murd. A man, as you are.

Clar. But not, as I am, royal.

1 Murd. Nor you, as we are, loyal.

Clar. Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are

humble.

5 Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not; he would infinuate with thee, &c.] One villain says, Conscience is at his elbows, perfuading him not to kill the duke. The other fays, take the devil into thy nearer acquaintance, into thy mind, who will be a match for thy confcience, and believe it not, &c. It is plain then, that him in both places in the text should be it, namely, confcience. WARBURTON.

Shakspeare so frequently uses both these pronouns indiscriminately, that no correction is necessary. STEEVENS.

6

Spoke like a tull fellow, The meaning of tall, in old Eng

lish, is ftout, daring, fearless, and trong. JOHNSON.

7-the cottard] 1. e. the head. See Note on Love's Labour Loft, Act III. Sc. I. Vol. II. p. 433. STEEVENS.

we'll reafin) We'll talk. See Vol. I. p. 162.

JOHNSON.

I Murd.

1

1 Murd. My voice is now the king's, my looks mine own.

Clar. How darkly, and how deadly dost thou

speak!

Your eyes do menace me: Why look you pale?
Who fent you hither? Wherefore do you come?

2 Murd. To, to, to,

Clar. To murder me?

Both. 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?

I 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 flay the innocent? What is my offence?
Where is the evidence that doth accuse me?
What lawful quest have given their verdict up
Unto the frowning judge ? or who pronounc'd
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 to have redemption,
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.

9 Are you call'd forth from out a world of men,] I think it

may be better read :

Are ye cull'd forth

The folio reads:

JOHNSON.

Are you drawn forth among a world of men.

'I adhere to the reading now in the text. So, in Nobody and Somebody, 1598:

"Art thou call'd forth amongst a thousand men

"To minister this soveraign antidote?" STEEVENS. * What lawful quest-] Quest is inquest or jury. JOHNSON.

2

-as you hope to have redemption,) The folio reads as

you hope for any goodness. The quarto likewife adds:

By Chriil's dear blood shed for our grievous sins. STEEVENS.
2 Murd.

1

1