May. Now, fair befall you! he deserv'd his death;

And your good graces both have well proceeded,
To warn false traitors from the like attempts.
I never look'd for better at his hands,
After he once fell in with mistress Shore.

Buck. Yet had we not determin'd he should
Until your lordship came to see his end; [die,
Which now the loving haste of these our
friends,
[ed:
Somewhat against our meaning, hath prevent-
Because, my lord, we would have had you heard
The traitor speak, and timorously confess
The manner and the purpose of his treasons;
That you might well have signified the same
Unto the citizens, who, haply, may
Misconstrue us in him, and wail his death.
May. But, my good lord, your grace's word
shall serve,

As well as I had seen, and heard him speak:
And do not doubt, right noble princes both,
But I'll acquaint our duteous citizens
With all your just proceedings in this case.
Glo. And to that end we wish'd your lordship
here,

To avoid the censures of the carping world: Buck. But since you came too late of our intent,

Yet witness what you hear we did intend: And so, my good lord mayor, we bid farewell. [Exit LORD MAYOR. Glo. Go after, after, cousin Buckingham. The mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post :

There, at your meetest vantage of the time,
Infer the bastardy of Edward's children:
Tell them, how Edward put to death a citizen,
Only for saying-he would make his son
Heir to the crown; meaning, indeed his house,
Which, by the sign thereof, was termed so.
Moreover, urge his hateful luxury,
And bestial appetite in change of lust;
Which stretch'd unto their servants, daughters,
wives,

son:

Even where his raging eye, or savage heart,
Without control, listed to make his prey.
Nay, for a need, thus far come near my per-
[child
Tell them, when that my mother went with
Of that insatiate Edward, noble York,
My princely father, then had wars in France;
And, by just computation of the time,
Found, that the issue was not his begot;
Which well appeared in his lineaments,
Being nothing like the noble duke my father:
Yet touch this sparingly, as 'twere far off;
Because, my lord, you know, my mother lives.
Buck. Doubt not, my lord; I'll play the
orator,

As if the golden fee, for which I plead,
Were for myself: and so, my lord, adieu.
Glo. If you thrive well, bring them to Bay-
nard's castle;

Where you shall find me well accompanied, With reverend fathers, and well-learned bishops.

Buck. I go; and, towards three or four o'clock,

To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight; And to give notice, that no manner of person Have, any time, recourse unto the princes.

SCENE VI-A Street. Enter a SCRIVENER.

[Exit.

Eleven hours I have spent to write it over,
For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me;
The precedent was full as long a doing:
And yet within these five hours Hastings liv'd,
Untainted, unexamin'd, free, at liberty.
Here's a good world the while!-Who is so
That cannot see this palpable device? [gross,
Yet who so bold, but says-he sees it not?
Bad is the world; and all will come to nought,
When such bad dealing must be seen in
thought.
[Exit.

SCENE VII.-The same.-Court of Baynard's

And his contract by deputy in France:
The insatiate greediness of his desires,
And his enforcement of the city wives;
His tyranny for trifles; his own bastardy,-
As being got, your father then in France;
And his resemblance, being not like the duke.
Withal, I did infer your lineaments,-
Being the right idea of your father,
Both in your form and nobleness of mind:
Laid open all your victories in Scotland,
Your discipline in war, wisdom in peace,
Your bounty, virtue, fair humility;
Indeed, left nothing, fitting for your purpose,
Untouch'd, or slightly handled, in discourse.
And, when my oratory grew to an end,

I bade them, that did love their country's good,
Cry-God save Richard, England's royal king!
Glo. And did they so?

Buck. No, so God help me, they spake not a

word;

But, like dumb statues, or breathless stones,
Star'd on each other, and look'd deadly pale.
Which when I saw, I reprehended them;
And ask'd the mayor, what meant this wilful
silence:

His answer was,-the people were not us'd
To be spoke to, but by the recorder.
Then he was urg'd to tell my tale again:
Thus saith the duke, thus hath the duke inferr'd;
But nothing spoke in warrant from himself.
When he had done, some followers of mine

OWD,

Shaw,

[Exeunt LOVEL and CATESBY.

* Original draft.

er GLOSTER, in a Gallery above, hetween two Bishops. CATESBY returns.

This general applause, and cheen show,
Argues your wisdom, and your love to Richard.
And even here broke off and came away.
Glo. What tongueless blocks were they;
Would they not speak? [come?
Will not the mayor then, and his brethren,
Buck. The mayor is here at hand; intend*
some fear;

Be not you spoke with, but by mighty suit:
And look you get a prayer-book in your hand,
And stand between two churchmen, good my
lord;

For on that ground I'll make a holy descant:
And be not easily won to our requests;
Play the maid's part, still answer nay, and

take it.

Glo. I go; And if you plead as well for As I can say nay to thee for myself, [them, No doubt we'll bring it to a happy issue. Buck Go, go, up to the leads; the lord mayor knocks. [Exit GLOSTER. Enter the LORD MAYOR, Aldermen, and Citizens. Welcome, my lord; I dance attendance here; I think, the duke will not be spoke withal.-' Enter, from the Castle, CATESBY.

Now, Catesby! what says your lord to my re

quest?

Cate. He doth entreat your grace, my noble To visit him to-morrow, or next day: [lord, He is within, with two right reverend fathers, Divinely bent to meditation;

And in no worldly suit would he be mov'd,
To draw him from his holy exercise.

Buck. Return, good Catesby, to the gracious duke;

Tell him, myself, the mayor, and aldermen,
In deep designs, in matter of great moment,
No less importing than our general good,
Are come to have some conference with his
grace.

Cate. I'll signify so much unto him straight.
[Exit.
Buck. Ah, ha, my lord, this prince is not an
Edward!

He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed,†
But on his knees at meditation;
Not dallying with a brace of courtezans,
But meditating with two deep divines;
Not sleeping, to engross his idle body,
But praying, to enrich his watchful soul:
Happy were England, would this virtuous
prince

Take on himself the sovereignty thereof:
But, sure, I fear, we shall ne'er win him to it.
May. Marry, God defend, his grace should
say us nay!

Buck. I fear, he will: Here Catesby comes
again;-

Re-enter CATESBY.

Now, Catesby, what says his grace?

May. See, where his grace stands 'tween two clergymen !

To stay him from the fall of vanity: [prince,
Buck. Two props of virtue for a Christian
And, see, a book of prayer in his hand;
True ornaments to know a holy man.-
Lend favourable ear to our requests;
Famous Plantagenet, most gracious prince,
And pardon us the interruption

Of thy devotion, and right-Christian zeal.
Glo. My lord, there needs no such apology;
Who, earnest in the service of my God,
I rather do beseech you pardon me,
But, leaving this, what is your grace's pleasure?
Neglect the visitation of my friends.
Buck. Even that, I hope, which pleaseth God
And all good men of this ungovern'd isle.
above,

Glo. I do suspect, I have done some offence,
That seems disgracious in the city's eye;
And that you come to reprehend my ignorance.
Buck. You have, my ford; Would it might

please your grace,

On our entreaties to amend your fault! Glo. Else wherefore breathe I in a Christian land?

Buck. Know, then, it is your fault, that you

resign

The supreme seat, the throne majestical,
The sceptred office of your ancestors,
Your state of fortune, and your due of birth,
The lineal glory of your royal house,
To the corruption of a blemish'd stock:
Whilst, in the mildness of your sleepy thoughts,
(Which here we waken to our country's good,)
The noble isle doth want her proper limbs ;
Her face defac'd with scars of infamy,
Her royal stock graft with ignoble plants,
And almost shoulder'd* in the swallowing gulf
Of dark forgetfulness and deep oblivion.
Which to recure,t we heartily solicit
Your gracious self to take on you the charge
And kingly government of this your land:"
Not as protector, steward, substitute,

Or lowly factor for another's gain:
But as successively from blood to blood,
Your right of birth, your empery, your own.
For this, consorted with the citizens,
Your very worshipful and loving friends,
And by their vehement instigation,
In this just suit come I to move your grace.
Glo. I cannot tell, if to depart in silence,
Or bitterly to speak in your reproof,
Best fitteth my degree, or your condition:
If not to answer, you might haply think,
Tongue-tied ambition, not replying, yielded
To bear the golden yoke of sovereignty,
Which fondly you would here impose on me ;
If to reprove you for this suit of yours,
So season'd with your faithful love to me,

sembled

Such troops of citizens to come to him,
His grace not being warn'd thereof before,
He fears, my lord, you mean no good to him.
Buck. Sorry I am, my noble cousin should
Suspect me, that I mean no good to him:
By heaven, we come to him in perfect love;
And so once more return and tell his grace.
[Exit CATESBY.
When holy and devout religious men
Are at their beads, 'tis hard to draw them
So sweet is zealous contemplation. [thence;
+ Fatten.

* Pretend.

† A couch.

Therefore, to speak, and to avoid the first;
And, then in speaking, not to incur the last,-
Definitively thus I answer you.

Your love deserves my thanks; but my desert
Unmeritable, shuns your high request.
First, if all obstacles were cut away,
And that my path were even to the crown,
As the ripe revenue and due of birth;
Yet so much is my poverty of spirit,
That I would rather hide me from my great-
So mighty, and so many, my defects, [ness,-
Being a bark to brook no mighty sea,—

Than in my greatness covet to be hid,
And in the vapour of my glory smother'd,
But, God be thank'd, there is no need of me;
(And much I need* to help you, if need
were ;)

The royal tree hath left us royal fruit,
Which, mellow'd by the stealing hours of time,
Will well become the seat of majesty,
And make, no doubt, us happy by his reign.
On him I lay what you would lay on me,
The right and fortune of his happy stars,-
Which, God defend, that I should wring from

him!

Buck. My lord, this argues conscience in

your grace;

But the respects thereof are nicet and trivial,
All circumstances well considered.

You say, that Edward is your brother's son ;
So say we too, but not by Edward's wife:
For first he was contract to lady Lucy,
Your mother lives a witness to his vow;
And afterwards by substitute betroth'd'
To Bona, sister to the king of France.
These both put by, a poor petitioner,
A care-craz'd mother to a many sons,
A beauty-waning and distressed widow,
Even in the afternoon of her best days,
Made prize and purchase of his wanton eye,
Seduc'd the pitch and height of all his thoughts
To base declension and loath'd bigamy:
By her, in his unlawful bed, he got [prince.
This Edward, whom our manners call-the
More bitterly could I expostulate,
Save that, for reverence to some alive,
I give a sparing limit to my tongue.
Then, good my lord, take to your royal self
This proffer'd benefit of dignity:
If not to bless us and the land withal,
Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry
From the corruption of abusing time,
Unto a lineal true-derived course.

May. Do, good my lord; your citizens entreat you.

Buck. Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffer'd love.

Cate. O, make them joyful, grant their lawful suit.

Glo, Alas, why would you heap those cares on me?

I am unfit for state and majesty:-
I do beseech you, take it not amiss;
I cannot, nor I will not, yield to you.

Buck. If you refuse it,-as in love and zeal,
Loath to depose the child, your brother's son;
As well we know your tenderness of heart,
And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse,t
Which we have noted in you to your kindred,
And equally, indeed, to all estates,-
Yet know, whe'r you accept our suit or no,
Your brother's son shall never reign our king;
But we will plant some other in your throne,
To the disgrace and downfal of your house.
And, in this resolution, here we leave you;
Come, citizens, we will entreat no more.

[Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and Citizens. Cate. Call them again, sweet prince, accept their suit;

If you deny them, all the land will rue it.
Glo. Will you enforce me to a world of

cares?

Well, call them again; I am not made of stone,
But penetrable to your kind entreaties,
[Exit CATESBY.
Albeit against my conscience and my soul.-

Re-enter BUCKINGHAM and the rest. Cousin of Buckingham,-and sage, grave

men,

Since you will buckle fortune on my back,
To bear her burden, whe'r I will, or no,
But if black scandal, or foul-fac'd reproach,
I must have patience to endure the load:
Attend the sequel of your imposition,
Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me
From all the impure blots and stains thereof;
How far I am from the desire of this.
For God he knows, and you may partly see,

May. God bless your grace! we see it, and will say it.

Glo. In saying so, you shall but say the truth.

Buck. Then I salute you with this royal title,[king! Long live king Richard, England's worthy All. Amen!

Buck. To-morrow may it please you to be crown'd?

Glo. Even when you please, since you will have it so.

Buck. To-morrow then we will attend your grace;

And so, most joyfully we take our leave. Glo. Come, let us to our holy work again:[To the Bishops. Farewell, good cousin;-farewell, gentle [Exeunt.

friends.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-Before the Tower.

Enter on one side, Queen ELIZABETH, Duchess of YORK, and Marquis of DORSET; on the other, ANNE, Duchess of GLOSTER, leading Lady MARGARET PLANTAGENET, CLARENCE'S young Daughter.

Duch. Who meets us here?-my niece Plan

tagenet

Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Gloster ?
Now, for my life, she's wand'ring to the Tower,
On pure heart's love, to greet the tender
prince.-
Daughter, well met.

Anne. God give your graces both
A happy and a joyful time of day!

Q. Eliz. As much to you, good sister! Whither away?

Anne. No further than the Tower; and, as
I guess,

Upon the like devotion as yourselves,
To gratulate the gentle princes there.

Q. Eliz. Kind sister, thanks; we'll enter all together:

Enter BRAKENBURY. And, in good time, here the lieutenant comes.Master lieutenant, pray you, by your leave, How doth the prince, and my young son of York?

Brak. Right well, dear madam: By your patience,

I may not suffer you to visit them;
The king hath strictly charg'd the contrary.
Q. Eliz. The king! who's that?
Brak. I mean, the lord protector.
Q. Eliz. The Lord-protect him from that
kingly title!
[me?
Hath he set bounds between their love, and
I am their mother, who shall bar me from

What say'st thou now! speak suddenly, be brief.

Buck. Your grace may do your pleasure. K. Rich. Tut, tut, thou art all ice, thy kindness freezes:

Say, have I thy consent, that they shall die? Buck. Give me some breath, some little pause, dear lord,

Before I positively speak in this : I will resolve your grace immediately. [Exit BUCKINGHAM. Cate. The king is angry; see, he gnaws his lip. [Aside. K. Rich. I will converse with iron-witted fools, [Descends from his Throne. And unrespective boys: none are for me, That look into me with considerate eyes;High-reaching Buckingham grows circumBoy, [spect.

Page. My lord.

K. Rich. Know'st thou not any, whom corrupting gold

Would tempt unto a close exploit of death? Page. I know a discontented gentleman, Whose humble means match not his haughty Gold were as good as twenty orators, [mind: And will, no doubt, tempt him to any thing. K. Rich. What is his name?

Page. His name, my lord, is-Tyrrel. K. Rich. I partly know the man; Go, call him hither, boy.- [Exit PAGE. The deep-revolving witty Buckingham No more shall be the neighbour to my counsels:

Hath he so long held out with me untir'd, And stops he now for breath ?—well, be it so.

How

Enter STANLEY.

now, lord Stanley? what's the news? Stan. Know, my loving lord, The marquis Dorset, as I hear, is fled To Richmond, in the parts where he abides. K. Rich. Come hither, Catesby: rumour it abroad,

That Anne, my wife, is very grievous sick;
I will take order for her keeping close..
Inquire me out some mean-born gentleman,
Whom I will marry straight to Clarence's
daughter:-

The boy is foolish, and I fear not him.-
Look, how thou dream'st!-I say again, give

out,

me.

That Anne my queen is sick, and like to die :
About it; for it stands me much upon,§
To stop all hopes, whose growth may damage
[Exit CATESBY.
I must be married to my brother's daughter,
Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass:-
Murder her brothers, and then marry her!
Uncertain way of gain! But I am in
So far in blood, that sin will pluck on sin.
Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye.-

Re-enter PAGE, with TYRREL.

Is thy name-Tyrrel?

Tyr. James Tyrrel, and your most obedient subject.

K. Rich. Art thou, indeed?

Tyr. Prove me, my gracious lord.

K. Rich. Dar'st thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?

Tyr. Please you; but I had rather kill two

enemies.

K. Rich. Why, then thou hast it; two deep enemies, [turbers, Foes to my rest, and my sweet sleep's disAre they that I would have thee deal upon: Tyrrel, I mean those bastards in the Tower. Tyr. Let me have open means to come to them,

And soon I'll rid you from the fear of them.
K. Rich. Thou sing'st sweet music. Hark,
come hither, Tyrrel;
Go, by this token :-Rise, and lend thine ear:
[Whispers.
There is no more but so:-Say, it is done,
And I will love thee, and prefer thee for it.
Tyr. I will despatch it straight.

Re-enter BUCKINGHAM.

[Exit.

The late demand that you did sound me in. K. Rich. Well, let that rest. Dorset is fled to Richmond.

Buck. I hear the news, my lord.

K. Rich. Stanley, he is your wife's son:Well, look to it.

promise,

Buck. My lord, I claim the gift, my due by [pawn'd; For which your honour and your faith is The earldom of Hereford, and the moveables, Which you have promised I shall possess.

K. Rich. Stanley, look to your wife; if she convey Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it. Buck. What says your highness to my just request?

K. Rich. I do remember me,-Henry the sixth Did prophesy, that Richmond should be king, When Richmond was a little peevisht boy. A king!--perhaps-

Buck. My lord,

K. Rich. How chance, the prophet could not at that time,

[him? Have told me, I being by, that I should kill Buck. My lord, your promise for the eari

dom,

K. Rich. Richmond!-When last I was at

Exeter,

And call'd it-Rouge-mont: at which name, I The mayor, in courtesy, show'd me the castle, started;

Because a bard of Ireland told me once,
I should not live long after I saw Richmond.
Buck. My lord,-

K. Rich. Ay, what's o'clock?
Buck. I am thus bold

[me.

To put your grace in mind of what you promis'd
K. Rich. Well, but what is't o'clock?
Buck. Upon the stroke

Of ten.

K. Rich. Well, let it strike.
Buck. Why, let it strike?

K. Rich. Because that, like a Jack, thou keep'st the stroke

Betwixt thy begging and my meditation.
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 King RICHARD, and Train. Buck. And is it thus? repays he my deep

service

With such contempt? made I him king for this?

* Act. + Foolish. An image like those at St. Dunstan's church in Fleet.

street.