'You have no children, butchers! if you had, The thought of them would have stirred up remorse; 'But if you ever chance to have a child, Look in his youth to have him so cut off, 'As, deathsmen! you have rid1 this sweet young prince! K. Edw. Away with her; go, bear her hence perforce. Q. Mar. Nay, never bear me hence; despatch me here; Here sheath thy sword; I'll pardon thee my death. What! wilt thou not?-Then, Clarence, do it thou. Clar. By Heaven, I will not do thee so much ease. Q. Mar. Good Clarence, do; sweet Clarence, do thou do it. Clar. Didst thou not hear me swear I would not do it? Q. Mar. Ay, but thou usest to forswear thyself; 'Twas sin before, but now 'tis charity. What! wilt thou not? Where is that devil's butcher, Hard-favored Richard? Richard, where art thou? Thou art not here. Murder is thy alms-deed; Petitioners for blood thou ne'er put'st back. K. Edw. Away, I say; I charge ye, bear her hence. Q. Mar. So come to you, and yours, as to this prince! [Exit, led out forcibly. K. Edw. Where's Richard gone ? • Clar. To London, all in post; and, as I To make a bloody supper in the Tower. guess, K. Edw. He's sudden, if a thing comes in his head. Now march we hence; discharge the common sort With pay and thanks, and let's away to London, And see our gentle queen how well she fares; By this, I hope, she hath a son for me. 1 To rid is to cut off, to destroy. [Exeunt. SCENE VI. London. A Room in the Tower. KING HENRY is discovered sitting with a book in his hand, the Lieutenant attending. Enter GLOSTER. Glo. Good day, my lord. What, at your book so hard? K. Hen. Ay, my good lord. My lord, I should say rather; 'Tis sin to flatter; good was little better: Good Gloster, and good devil, were alike, * And both preposterous; therefore, not good lord. *Glo. Sirrah, leave us to ourselves; we must confer. [Exit Lieutenant. *K. Hen. So flies the reckless shepherd from the wolf: *So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece, * And next his throat unto the butcher's knife.What scene of death hath Roscius now to act? Glo. Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; The thief doth fear each bush an officer. 'K. Hen. The bird, that hath been limed in a bush, • With trembling wings misdoubteth' every bush; And I, the hapless male to one sweet bird, Have now the fatal object in my eye, Where my poor young was limed, was caught, and killed. Glo. Why, what a peevish fool was that of Crete, 'That taught his son the office of a fowl? And yet, for all his wings, the fool was drowned. 1 To misdoubt is to suspect danger, to fear. Than can my ears that tragic history.- K. Hen. A persecutor, I am sure, thou art; 'If murdering innocents be executing, Why, then thou art an executioner. Glo. Thy son I killed for his presumption. K. Hen. Hadst thou been killed, when first thou didst presume, Thou hadst not lived to kill a son of mine. And thus I prophesy,-that many a thousand, • And many an old man's sigh, and many a widow's, • And many an orphan's water-standing eye,— And chattering pies in dismal discords sung. And yet brought forth less than a mother's hope; Not like the fruit of such a goodly tree. 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. [Stabs him. K. Hen. Ay, and for much more slaughter after this. O God! forgive my sins, and pardon thee! 1 Who suspect no part of what my fears presage. [Dies. 2 To rook, or ruck, is to cower down like a bird at roost or on its nest. The word is of very ancient use in our language. Glo. What, will the aspiring blood of Lancaster 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. [Stabs him again. I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.Indeed, 'tis true, that Henry told me of; For I have often heard my mother say, I came into the world with my legs forward: Had I not reason, think ye, to make haste, And seek their ruin that usurped our right? The midwife wondered; and the women cried, O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth; And so I was; which plainly signified 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; 6 And then, to purge his fear, I'll be thy death. I'll throw thy body in another room, 1 Select, choose out. [Exit. SCENE VII. The same. A Room in the Palace. KING EDWARD is discovered sitting on his throne, QUEEN ELIZABETH with the infant Prince, CLAREnce, GLOSTER, HASTINGS, and others, near him. K. Edw. Once more we sit in England's royal throne, Repurchased with the blood of enemies. What valiant foemen, like to autumn's corn, Two Cliffords, as the father and the son, And two Northumberlands; two braver men Ne'er spurred their coursers at the trumpet's sound: With them, the two brave bears, Warwick and Mon tague, That in their chains fettered the kingly lion, Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy.- Glo. I'll blast his harvest, if your head were laid; [Aside. K. Edw. Clarence, and Gloster, love my lovely queen; And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both. 1 Gloucester may be supposed to touch his head and look significantly at his hand. |