Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

York. You mean, to bear me,not to bear with me:Uncle, my brother mocks both you and me ; Because that I am little, like an ape,

He thinks that you should bear me on your shoul-
ders.1

Buck. With what a sharp provided wit he reasons!
To mitigate the scorn he gives his uncle,
He prettily and aptly taunts himself:

So cunning, and so young, is wonderful.

[blocks in formation]

The earldom of Hereford, and all the movables
Whereof the king my brother was possess'd.

Glo. My gracious lord, will't please you pass along? And, look, when I am king, claim thou of me
Myself, and my good cousin Buckingham,
Will to your mother; to entreat of her,
To meet you at the Tower, and welcome you.

York. What, will you go unto the Tower, my lord?
Prince. My lord protector needs will have it so.
York. I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower.
Glo. Why, sir, what should you fear?
York. Marry, my uncle Clarence' angry ghost;
My grandam told me, he was murder'd there.
Prince. I fear no uncles dead.

Glo. Nor none that live, I hope.

Prince. An if they live, I hope, I need not fear.
But come, my lord, and, with a heavy heart,
Thinking on them, go I unto the Tower.

[Exeunt Prince, YORK, HASTINGS, Cardinal,
and Attendants.

Buck. Think you, my lord, this little prating York
Was not incensed 2 by his subtle mother,
To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously?

Glo. No doubt, no doubt: O, 'tis a parlous boy;
Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable ;3
He's all the mother's, from the top to toe.
Buck. Well, let them rest.—

Come hither, gentle Catesby; thou art sworn
As deeply to effect what we intend,
As closely to conceal what we impart :

Thou know'st our reasons urg'd upon the way;-
What think'st thou? is it not an easy matter
To make William Lord Hastings of our mind,
For the instalment of this noble duke
In the seat royal of this famous isle?

Cate. He for his father's sake so loves the prince,
That he will not be won to aught against him.
Buck. What think'st thou then of Stanley? will

not he?

Cate. He will do all in all as Hastings doth.
Buck. Well then, no more but this: Go, gentle
Catesby,

And, as it were far off, sound thou Lord Hastings,
How he doth stand affected to our purpose;
And summon him to-morrow to the Tower,
To sit about the coronation.

If thou dost find him tractable to us,
Encourage him, and tell him all our reasons:
If he be leaden, icy, cold, unwilling,
Be thou so too; and so break off the talk,
And give us notice of his inclination:
For we to-morrow hold divided councils,
Wherein thyself shalt highly be employ'd.

Glo. Commend me to Lord William: tell him,
Catesby,

His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries
To-morrow are let blood at Pomfret Castle;
And bid my friend, for joy of this good news,
Give mistress Shore one gentle kiss the more.
Buck. Good Catesby, go, effect this business
soundly.

Cate. My good lords both, with all the heed I can.

1 York alludes to the protuberance on Gloster's back, which was commodious for carrying burdens. 2 i. e. incited, instigated.

3 Capable is quick of apprehension, susceptible, intelligent.

Buck. I'll claim that promise at your grace's hand.
Glo. And look to have it yielded with all kindness.
Come, let us sup betimes; that afterwards
We may digest our complots in some form.

SCENE II.$

Mess.

[Exeunt.

Before Lord Hastings' House. Enter a Messenger.

[Knocking.

Mess. My lord, my lord,-
Hast. [Within.] Who knocks?
One from Lord Stanley.
Hast. [Within.] What is't o'clock?
Mess. Upon the stroke of four.

Enter HASTINGS.

Hast.Cannot thy master sleep these tedious nights?
Mess. So it should seem by that I have to say.
First, he commends him to your noble lordship.
Host. And then,-

Mess. And then he sends you word, he dreamt
To-night the boar had rased off his helm:
Besides, he says, there are two councils held;
And that may be determin'd at the one,
Which may make you and him to rue at the other.
Therefore he sends to know your lordship's plea-

sure,

If presently, you will take horse with him,
And with all speed post with him toward the north,
To shun the danger that his soul divines.

Hast. Go, fellow, go, return unto thy lord;
His honour, and myself, are at the one;
Bid him not fear the separated councils:
And, at the other, is my good friend Catesby;
Where nothing can proceed, that toucheth us,
Whereof I shall not have intelligence.
Tell him, his fears are shallow, wanting instance :'
And for his dreams-I wonder, he's so fond
To trust the mockery of unquiet slumbers:
To fly the boar, before the boar pursues,
Were to incense the boar to follow us,
And make pursuit, where he did mean no chase.
Go, bid thy master rise and come to me;
And we will both together to the Tower,
Where, he shall see, the boar will use us kindly.
Mess. I'll go, my lord, and tell him what you say.

Enter CATESBY.

[Erit.

Cate. Many good morrows to my noble lord!
Hast. Good morrow, Catesby; you are early
stirring :

What news, what news, in this our tottering state?
Cate. It is a reeling world, indeed, my lord:
And, I believe, will never stand upright,
Till Richard wear the garland of the realm.
Hast. How! wear the garland? dost thou mean
the crown?

Cate. Aye, my good lord.

5 Every material civcumstance in this scene is from Holinshed, except that a is a knight with whom Hastings converses instead of Buckingham.

4 But the protectoure and the duke after they had sent to the lord cardinal, the Lord Stanley, and the Lord 6 This term rased or rashed, is always given to deHastings, then lord chamberlaine, with many other no-scribe the violence inflicted by a boar. By the boar, blemen, to commune and devise about the coronation in throughout this scene, is meant Gloster, in allusion to one place, as fast were they in another place, contriving his crest. the contrarie to make the protectoure king. The Lord Stanley, that was after earle of Darby, wisely mistrusted it,and said unto the Lord Hastings that he much mislyked these too several councels.-Holinshed, from Sir T. More.

7 This was the usual address to noblemen in Shakspeare's time; it was indifferently used with your lordship. See any old letter or dedication of that age. 8 Instance is here put for motive, cause. 9 Weak, silly.

Hast. I'll have this crown of mine cut from my shoulders,

Before I'll see the crown so foul misplac'd.
But canst thou guess that he doth aim at it?

Purs. The better, that your lordship please to

ask.

Hast. I tell thee, man, 'tis better with me now, Than when thou met'st me last where now we meet:

Cate. Ay, on my life; and hopes to find you for- Then I was going prisoner to the Tower,

ward

Upon his party, for the gain thereof:

And, thereupon, he sends you this good news,-
That, this same very day, your enemies,
The kindred of the queen, must die at Pomfret.

Hast. Indeed, I am no mourner for that news,
Because they have been still my adversaries :
But, that I'll give my voice on Richard's side,
To bar my master's heirs in true descent,
God knows, I will not do it, to the death.

Cate. God keep your lordship in that gracious mind!

Hast. But I shall laugh at this a twelvemonth hence,

That they, who brought me in my master's hate,
I live to look upon their tragedy.

Well, Catesby, ere a fortnight make me older,
I'll send some packing, that yet think not on't.

Cote. "Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, When men are unprepar'd, and look not for it.

Hast. O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey: and so 'twill do With some men else, who think themselves as safe As thou, and I; who, as thou know'st, are dear To princely Richard, and to Buckingham.

Cate. The princes both make high account of you, For they account his head upon the bridge. [Aside. Hast. I know, they do; and I have well deserv'd it. Enter STANLEY.

Come on, come on, where is your boar-spear, man?
Fear you the boar, and go so unprovided?

Stan. My lord, good morrow; and good morrow,
Catesby:-

You may jest on, but, by the holy rood,'

I do not like these several councils, I.

By the suggestion of the queen's allies;
But now I tell thee (keep it to thyself,)
This day those enemies are put to death,
And I in better state than ere I was.

Purs. God hold it, to your honour's good content!

[blocks in formation]

Buck. What, talking with a priest, lord chamberlain?

Your friends at Pomfret, they do need the priest; Your honour hath no shriving work in hand.

Hast. 'Good faith, and when I met this holy man, The men you talk of came into my mind. What, go you toward the Tower?

Buck. I do, my lord; but long I cannot stay there:

I shall return before your lordship thence.
Hast. Nay, like enough, for I stay dinner there.
Buck. And supper too, although thou know'st it
[Aside.
Come, will you go?
Hast.
I'll wait upon your lordship.

not.

[Exeunt,

Hast. My lord, I hold my life as dear as you do SCENE III. Pomfret. Before the Castle. Enter

yours;

And never, in my life, I do protest,

Was it more precious to me than 'tis now:
Think you, but that I know our state secure,

I would be so triumphant as I am?

Stan. The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from
London,

Were jocund, and suppos'd their states were sure,
And they, indeed, had no cause to mistrust;
But yet, you see, how soon the day o'ercast.
This sudden stab of rancour I misdoubt;2
Pray God, I say, I prove a needless coward!
What, shall we toward the Tower? the day is
spent.

Hast. Come, come, have with you.-Wot3 you what, my lord?

To-day, the lords you talk of are beheaded. Stan. They, for their truth, might better wear their heads,

Than some, that have accus'd them, wear their hats.

But come, my lord, let's away.

Enter a Pursuivant.

[blocks in formation]

RATCLIFF, with a Guard, conducting RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN, to Execution.

Rat. Come, bring forth the prisoners.

Riv. Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this,To-day, shalt thou behold a subject die, For truth, for duty, and for loyalty.

Grey. God keep the prince from all the pack of you!

A knot you are of damned blood-suckers.
Vaugh. You live, that shall cry woe for this

hereafter.

Rat. Despatch; the limit of your lives is out. Riv. O Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison, Fatal and ominous to noble peers! Within the guilty closure of thy walls, Richard the Second here was hack'd to death And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink. Grey. Now Margaret's curse is fallen upon our heads, When she exclaim'd on Hastings, you, and I, For standing by when Richard stabb'd her son. Riv. Then curs'd she Hastings, then curs'd sho Buckingham,

Then curs'd she Richard :-0, remember, God, To hear her prayers for them, as now for us!

8 Confession.

9 Queen Elizabeth Grey is deservedly pitied for the loss of her two sons; but the royalty of their birth has so engrossed the attention of historians, that they never reckon into the number of her misfortunes the murder of this her second son, Sir Richard Grey. It is remarkable how slightly the death of Earl Rivers is always mentioned, though a man invested with such high offices of trust and dignity; and how much we dwell on the execution of the lord chamberlain Hastings, a man in every light his inferior. In truth, the generality draw their ideas of English story from the tragic rather than the historic authors.-Walpole.

10 The limit for the limited time.

And for my sister, and her princely sons,-
Be satisfied, dear God, with our true bloods,
Which, as thou know'st, unjustly must be spilt!
Rat. Make haste, the hour of death is expiate.'
Riv. Come, Grey,-come, Vaughan,-let us here
embrace:

Farewell, until we meet again in heaven. [Exeunt.
SCENE IV. London. A Room in the Tower.
BUCKINGHAM, STANLEY, HASTINGS, the Bishop
of Ely, CATESBY, LOVEL, and others, sitting at
a Table: Officers of the Council attending.
Hast. Now, noble peers, the cause why we are

[blocks in formation]

Buck. We know each other's faces; for our
hearts,-

He knows no more of mine, than I of yours;
Nor I, of his, my lord, than you of mine:
Lord Hastings, you and he are near in love.
Hast. I thank his grace, I know he loves me well;
But, for his purpose in the coronation,
I have not sounded him, nor he deliver'd
His gracious pleasure any way therein:
But you, my noble lord, may name the time;
And in the duke's behalf I'll give my voice,
Which, I presume, he'll take in gentle part.

Enter GLOSTER.

Ely. In happy time, here comes the duke himself.
Glo. My noble lords and cousins, all, good mor-

row:

I have been long a sleeper; but, I trust,
My absence doth neglect no great design,
Which by my presence might have been concluded.
Buck. Had you not come upon your cue, my lord,
William Lord Hastings had pronounc'd your part,-
I mean, your voice,-for crowning of the king.
Glo. Than my Lord Hastings, no man might be
bolder;

His lordship knows me well, and loves me well.-
My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,
I saw good strawberries in your garden there ;
I do beseech you, send for some of them.
Ely. Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart.
[Exit ELY.

you.

Glo. Cousin of Buckingham, a word with
[Takes him aside.
Catesby hath sounded Hastings in our business;
And finds the testy gentleman so hot,

That he will lose his head, ere give consent,
His master's child, as worshipfully he terms it,
Shall lose the royalty of England's throne.
Buck. Withdraw yourself awhile, I'll go with you.
[Exeunt GLOSTER and BUCKINGHAM.
Stan. We have not yet set down this day of tri-
umph.
To-morrow,
For I myself am not so well provided,
in my judgment, is too sudden;
As else I would be, were the day prolong'd.
Re-enter Bishop of Ely.

Ely. Where is my lord protector? I have sent
For these strawberries.

Hast. His grace looks cheerfully and smooth this
morning;

There's some conceit or other likes him well,
When he doth bid good morrow with such spirit.
I think, there's ne'er a man in Christendom,
Can lesser hide his love, or hate, than he;
For by his face straight shall you know his heart.
Stan. What of his heart perceive you in his face,
By any likelihood' he show'd to-day?

Hast. Marry, that with no man here he is of
fended;

For, were he, he had shown it in his looks.

Re-enter GLOSTER and BUCKINGHAM,
Glo. I pray you all, tell me what they deserve
That do conspire my death with devilish plots
Of damned witchcraft, and that have prevail'd
Upon my body with their hellish charms?

Hast. The tender love I bear your grace, my lord,
Makes me most forward in this noble presence
To doom the offenders: Whosoe'er they be,
I say, my lord, they have deserved death.

Glo. Then be your eyes the witness of their evil,
Look how I am bewitch'd; behold mine arm
Is, like a blasted sapling, wither'd up:
And this is Edward's wife, that monstrous witch,
Consorted with that harlot, strumpet Shore,
That by their witchcraft thus have marked me.
Hast. If they have done this deed, my noble

lord,

Glo. If thou protector of this damned strumpet,
Talk'st thou to me of ifs ?--Thou art a traitor:-
Off with his head: now, by Saint Paul, I swear,
I will not dine until I see the same.
Lovel, and Catesby, look, that it be done;
The rest that love me, rise, and follow me.

[Exeunt Council, with GLO. and BUCK.
Hast. Woe, woe, for England! not a whit for me;
For I, too fond, might have prevented this:
Stanley did dream the boar did raise his helm;
But I disdain'd it, and did scorn to fly.
Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble,
And startled, when he look'd upon the Tower,
As loath to bear me to the slaughter-house.
O, now I want the priest that spake to me:
I now repent I told the pursuivant,

1 We have this word in the saine sense again in ix of the clocke, saluting them curtesly, and excusing Shakspeare's twenty-second Sonnet :

Then look I death my days should expiate.

I cannot but think with Steevens that it is an error of the press for expirute.

2 Dr. John Morton, who was elected to the see of Ely in 1479. He was advanced to the see of Canterbury in 1486, and appointed lord chancellor in 1487. He died in the year 1500. This prelate first devised the scheme of putting an end to the long contests between the houses of York and Lancaster, by a marriage between Henry earl of Richmond, and Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Edward IV.; and was a principal agent in procuring Henry, when abroad, to enter into a covenant for the purpose.-See More's Life of Richard III.

3 The only thing wanting is appointment of a particular day for the ceremony.

4 Intimate, confidential.

5 See note on Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 2.

6 This circumstance of asking the bishop for some of his strawberries seems to have been mentioned by the old historians merely to show the unusual affability and good humour which the dissembling Gloster affected at the very time he had determined on the death of Hastings. It originates with Sir Thomas More, who menBone the protector's entrance to the council 'fyrste about

himself that he had ben from them so long, sajeng merily that he had been a slepe that day. And after a little talking with them he said unto the bishop of Elye, my lord, you have very good strawberries at your gar dayne in Holberne, I require you let us have a messe of them.' It is remarkable that this bishop (Morton) is supposed to have furnished Sir Thomas More with the materials of his history, if he was not the original au thor of it. See Preface to More's Life of Richard III. ed. 1821.

7 i. e. semblance, appearance.

8 For foot-cloth see note on King Henry VI. Part 2. Act iv. Sc. 7. A foot-cloth horse was a paffrey covered with such housings, used for state; and was the usual mode of conveyance for the rich, at a period when carriages were unknown.

This is from Holinshed, who copies Sir Thomas More: In riding toward the Tower the same morning in which he [Hastings] was beheaded, his horse twice or thrice stumbled with him, almost to the falling; which thing, albeit each man wot well daily happeneth to them to whome no such mischance is toward: yet hath it beene of an old rite and custome observed as a token oftentimes notablie foregoing some great misfortune.

As too triumphing, how mine enemies,
To-day at Pomfret bloodily were butcher'd,
And I myself secure in grace and favour.
O, Margaret, Margaret, now thy heavy curse
Is lighted on poor Hastings' wretched head.
Cate. Despatch, my lord, the duke would be at
dinner;

Make a short shrift, he longs to see your head.
Hast. O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!
Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks,'
Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast;
Ready, with every nod, to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep.

Lov. Come, come, despatch; 'tis bootless to ex-
claim.

Hast. O, bloody Richard !-miserable England!
I prophesy the fearful'st time to thee,
That ever wretched age hath look'd upon.
Come, lead me to the block, bear him my head;
They smile at me, who shortly shall be dead.2

[Exeunt. SCENE V. The Same. The Tower Walls. Enter GLOSTER and BUCKINGHAM, in rusty arand marvellous ill-favoured.

mour,

Glo. Come, cousin, canst thou quake, and change
thy colour?

Murder thy breath in middle of a word,-
And then again begin, and stop again,

As if thou wert distraught, and mad with terror?
Buck. Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian;
Speak, and look back, and pry on every side,
Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,
Intending deep suspicion: ghastly looks
Are at my service, like enforced smiles;
And both are ready in their offices,
At any time, to grace my stratagems.
But what, is Catesby gone?

Glo. He is; and, see, he brings the mayor along.

Enter the Lord Mayor and CATESBY.
Buck. Let me alone to entertain him.--Lord

[blocks in formation]

Enter LovEL and RATCLIFF,4 with HASTINGS's
Head.

Glo. Be patient, they are friends; Ratcliff, and
Lovel.

Lov. Here is the head of that ignoble traitor,
The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings.
Glo. So dear I lov'd the man, that I must weep.
I took him for the plainest harmless creature,
That breath'd upon the earth a Christian;
Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded
The history of all her secret thoughts:

So smooth he danb'd his vice with show of virtue,
That, his apparent open guilt omitted,-
I mean, his conversations with Shore's wife,-
He liv'd from all attainder of suspect.

1

'Nescius auræ fallacis.'-Horace. William Lord Hastings was beheaded on the 13th of June, 1493. His eldest son by Catherine Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, and widow of William Lord Bonville, was restored to his honours and estate by King Henry VII. in the first year of his reign. The daughter of Lady Hastings, by her first husband, was married to the marquis of Dorset, who appears in the present play.

2 Those who now smile at me shall shortly be dead themselves.

3 i. e. pretending

4 The quarto has Enter Cateshy with Hastings's head. For this absurd alteration, by which Ratcliff is represented at Pomfret and in London at the same time, it is probable the editors of the folio have to answer.

Buck. Well, well, he was the covert'st shelter'd

traitor

That ever liv'd.-Look you, my lord mayor,
Would you imagine, or almost believe,
(Were't not, that by great preservation
We live to tell it you, the subtle traitor
This day had plotted in the council-house,
To murder me, and my good lord of Gloster?
May. What! had he so?

Glo. What! think you we are Turks, or infi-
dels?

Or that we would, against the form of law,
Proceed thus rashly in the villain's death;
But that the extreme peril of the case,
The peace of England, and our persons' safety,
Enforc'd us to this execution?

May. Now, fair befall you! he deserv'd his death:
And your good graces bo, 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 die,
Which now the loving haste of these our friends,
Until your lordship came to see his end;
Somewhat against our meaning, hath prevented:
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 ford 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,

Even where his lustful eye, or savage heart,
Without control, listed to make his prey.
Nay, for a need, thus far come near my person :-
Tell them when that my mother went with child
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,

5 i. e. familiar intercourse: what is now called 'criminal conversation.'

6 Too late of our intent. In common speech a similar phrase is sometimes used; viz. to come short of a thing. Mason would have changed of to for.

7 This person was one Walker, a substantial citizen and grocer, at the Crown in Cheapside. These topics of Edward's cruelty, lust, unlawful marriage, &c. are enlarged upon in that most extraordinary invective, the petition presented to Richard before his accession, which was afterwards turned into an act of parliament. Parl. Hist. 2. p. 396. See also the duke of Buckingham's speech to the citizens in More's History, as copied by the Chronicles.

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 Baynard'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,
Look for the news that the Guildhall affords.

[Exit BUCKINGHAM.
Glo. Go, Lovel, with all speed to doctor Shaw,-
Go thou [To CAT.] to friar Penker ;-bid them both
Meet me, within this hour, at Baynard's Castle.
[Exeunt LOVEL and CATESBY.
Now will I in, to take some privy order
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. [Exit.
SCENE VI. A Street. Enter a Scrivener.
Scriv. Here is the indictment of the good Lord
Hastings;

Which in a set hand fairly is engross'd,
That it may be to-day read o'er in Paul's.
And mark how well the sequel hangs together:-
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 gross,
That cannot see this palpable device?
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 Castle. Enter GLOSTER and BUCKINGHAM, meeting. Glo. How now, how now? what say the citizens? Buck. Now by the holy mother of our Lord, The citizens are mum, say not a word.

Glo. Touch'd you the bastardy of Edward's children?

Buck. I did; with his contract with Lady Lucy,' 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,

1 Baynard's Castle was originally built by Baynard, a nobleman who (according to Stowe) came in with the conqueror. It had belonged to Richard duke of York, but was now Edward the Fifth's. This edifice, which stood in Thames Street, has been long pulled down; it is said that parts of its strong foundations may be seen at low water.

2 Edward Earl of Warwick, who, the day after the battle of Bosworth, was sent by Richard from his confinement at Sheriff-Hutton Castle to the Tower, without even the shadow of an allegation against him, and who was afterwards cruelly sacrificed to a scruple of Ferdinand king of Spain, who was unwilling to marry his daughter Katharine to Arthur prince of Wales while he lived, conceiving that his claim might interfere with Arthur's succession to the crown. He was beheaded in 1499. Margaret, afterwards married to Sir Richard Pole, the last princess of the house of Lancaster, who was restored in blood in the fifth year of Henry VIII. and afterwards, in the thirty-first year of his reign (1540,] barbarously led to the block at the age of seventy, for some offence conceived at the conduct of her son Cardinal Pole.

3 i. e. the original draft from which the engrossment was made. This circumstance, like the others, in the play, is taken from Holinshed, who follows Sir Thomas More.

4 i. e. seen in silence, without notice or detection. 5 The king had been familiar with this lady before his marriage, to obstruct which his mother alleged a precontract between them. But Elizabeth Lucy, being worn to speak the truth, declared that the king had not been affianced to her, though she owned she had been

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 statuas, 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 own,
At lower end o'the hall, hurl'd up their caps,
And some ten voices cried, God save King Richard!
And thus I took the vantage of those few,-
Thanks, gentle citizens, and friends, quoth I;
This general applause, and cheerful shout,
Argues your wisdom, and your love to Richard:
And even here brake off and came away.

Glo. What tongueless blocks were they: Would they not speak?

Will not the mayor then, and his brethren, come? Buck. The mayor is here at hand; intends 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 them,
As I can say nay to thee for myself,
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 ys your lord to my request? Cate. He doth entreat your grace, my noble lord, To visit him to-morrow, or next day: He is within, with two right reverend fathers, his concubine. Edward, however, had been married to Lady Eleanor Butler, widow of Lord Butler of Sudely, and daughter to the great earl of Shrewsbury. On this ground his children were declared illegitimate by the only parliament assembled by King Richard III.; but no mention was made of Elizabeth Lucy.

6 This tale is supposed to have been first propagated by the duke of Clarence when he obtained a settlement of the crown on himself and his issue after the death of Henry VI. Sir Thomas More says that the duke of Gloster,soon after Edward's death,revived this scandal. Walpole thinks it highly improbable that Richard should have urged such a topic to the people, or start doubts of his own legitimacy, which was too much connected with that of his brothers, to be tossed and bandied about before the multitude.' He has also shown that Richard lived in perfect harmony with his mother, and lodged with her in her palace at this very time.'-Historic Doubts, 4to. 1768.

7 It would not be difficult (says Mr. Reed) to fill whole pages with instances to prove that statue was formerly a word of three syllables; and there are several passages in Shakspeare where it is necessary so to pronounce it. It has been thought advisable in these instances to adhere to the old orthography, statua, which distinguishes it as a trisyllable, as in the present instance.

8 Pretend.

9 Buckingham is to plead for the citizens; and if (says Richard) you speak for them as plausibly as I in my own person, or for my own purposes shall seem to deny your suit, there is no doubt we shall bring all to a happy issue.

« AnteriorContinuar »