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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 ordain'd.

[Stabs him.

K. Hen. Ay, and for much more slaughter after this.
O, heaven forgive my sins, and pardon thee!

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 !—

For I have neither pity, love, nor fear.-
Indeed, 'tis true, that Henry told me of;
That I was born with teeth,

And so I was; which plainly signified

[Dies.

[Stabs him again.

That I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog.
Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so,
Let fiends 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:
But I will sort a pitchy day for thee;
For I will buz abroad such prophecies,

That Edward shall be fearful of his life;
And then, to purge his fear, I'll be thy death.
King Henry, and the prince his son, are gone:
Clarence, thy turn is next, and then the rest;
Counting myself but bad, till I be best.-
I'll throw thy body in another room,

And triumph, Henry, in thy day of doom. [Exit with the body.

SCENE VII.-London. 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,
Re-purchas'd with the blood of enemies.

Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy.-
Young Ned, for thee, thine uncles and myself,
Have in our armors watch'd the winter's night;
Went all a-foot in summer's scalding heat,

That thou might'st repossess the crown in peace :
And of our labors thou shalt reap the gain.

Glo. [Aside.] I'll blast his harvest, if your head were laid; For yet I am not look'd on in the world.

This shoulder was ordain'd so thick, to heave;

And heave it shall some weight, or break my back:

Work thou the way, and that shall execute.

K. Edw. Clarence, and Gloster, love my lovely queen; And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both.

Clar. The duty, that I owe unto your majesty,

I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.

K. Edw. Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks. Glo. And, that I love the tree from whence thou sprang'st, Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit.

[Aside.] To say the truth, so Judas kiss'd his master,
And cried-all hail! when as he meant—all harm.
K. Edw. Now am I seated as my soul delights,
Having, my country's peace, and brothers' loves.

Clar. What will your grace have done with Margaret?
Reignier, her father, to the king of France

Hath pawn'd the Sicils and Jerusalem,

And hither have they sent it for her ransom.

K. Edw. Away with her, and waft her hence to France.—
And now what rests, but that we spend the time
With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows,
Such as befit the pleasure of the court?

Sound drums and trumpets!-farewell, sour annoy!
For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy.

[Exeunt.

LIFE AND DEATH OF

KING RICHARD III.

UNDER the title of "The Life and Death of King Richard III.," Shakspeare has given the leading incidents in the last fourteen years of the life of Richard, Duke of Gloster, in almost continuous succession, from the close of the Third Part of Henry VI. In the fuller and more perfect development of Richard's character in this dramatic chronicle, the poet rises to his greatest powers of original sustained conception. The Richard of Shakspeare is incorporated in our minds, as a real picture of the man, notwithstanding the sceptical doubts, thrown by later historians and commentators, as to the faithfulness of the poet's delineation. From this vivid individualism of character may be ascribed the great popularity of this Play, during a period of two hundred and fifty years. It has been, and still is, the most in favor, in the representation, of all his series of Historical Dramas; and that success is not, alone, attributable to the version prepared by Colley Cibber, in the early part of the last century, which still is used in representation; but previous to the adoption of that compiled alteration of Richard III., the Play, as originally given by Shakspeare, held possession of the stage, when most of the poet's other dramas had sunk into disuse.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

KING EDWARD THE FOURTH.

EDWARD, Prince of Wales; afterwards

KING EDWARD V.,

RICHARD, Duke of York,

GEORGE, Duke of Clarence,

RICHARD, Duke of Gloster; afterwards

KING RICHARD III.,

A young Son of CLARENCE.

Sons to the KING.

Brothers to the KING.

HENRY, Earl of Richmond; afterwards KING HENRY VII.
CARDINAL BOUCHIER, Archbishop of Canterbury.

THOMAS ROTHERHAM, Archbishop of York.

JOHN MORTON, Bishop of Ely.

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

DUKE OF NORFOLK. EARL OF SURREY, his Son.

EARL RIVERS, Brother to KING EDWARD'S Queen: MARQUESS OF DORSET, and

LORD GREY, her Sons.

EARL OF OXFORD. LORD HASTINGS.

LORD STANLEY. LORD LOVEL.

Sir THOMAS VAUGHAN.

Sir RICHARD RATCLIFF.

Sir WILLIAM CATESBY. Sir JAMES TYRREL.

Sir JAMES BLOUNT. Sir WALTER HERBERT.

Sir ROBERT BRAKENBURY, Lieutenant of the Tower.
CHRISTOPHER URSWICK, a Priest. Another Priest.
Lord Mayor of London. Sheriff of Wiltshire.
ELIZABETH, Queen of KING EDWARD IV.

MARGARET, Widow of KING HENRY VI.

DUCHESS OF YORK, Mother to KING EDWARD IV., CLARENCE, and GLOSTER. LADY ANNE, Widow of EDWARD, Prince of Wales, Son to KING HENRY VI.; afterwards married to the DUKE OF GLOSTER.

LADY MARGARET PLANTAGENET, a young Daughter of CLARENCE.

Lords, and other Attendants; two Gentlemen, a Pursuivant, Scrivener, Citizens, Murderers, Messengers, Ghosts, Soldiers, &c.

SCENE, ENGLAND.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-London. A Street.

Enter GLOSTER.

Glo. Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds, that lower'd upon our house,
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds,
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, -
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber,

To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.

But I,—that am not shap'd for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;

I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty,
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable,

That dogs bark at me, as I halt by them ;-
Why I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to see my shadow in the sun,
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,—
I am determined to prove a villain,

And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And, if king Edward be as true and just,
As I am subtle, false, and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says-that G

Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.

Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here Clarence comes.
Enter CLARENCE, guarded, and BRAKENBURY.

Brother, good day: what means this armed guard,
That waits upon your grace?

Clar.

His majesty,

Tendering my person's safety, hath appointed
This conduct to convey me to the Tower.

Glo. Upon what cause?
Clar.

Because my name is George.
Glo. Alack, my lord, that fault is none of yours.
He should, for that, commit your godfathers:

O, belike his majesty hath some intent
That you should be new christen'd in the Tower.
But what's the matter, Clarence? may I know?
Clar. Yea, Richard, when I know; for I protest

As yet I do not: but, as I can learn,

He hearkens after prophecies and dreams;
And from the cross-row plucks the letter G,
And says a wizard told him, that by G
His issue disinherited should be;

And, for my name of George begins with G,
It follows in his thought that I am he.

These, as I learn, and such like toys as these,
Have mov'd his highness to commit me now.

Glo. Why, this it is, when men are rul'd by women:

'Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower;

My Lady Grey, his wife, Clarence, 'tis she

That tempers him to this extremity.

We are not safe, Clarence; we are not safe.

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