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 pleasure,—
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;

8

Bid him not fear the separated councils:
His honour, and myself, are at the one;
And, at the other, is my good friend Catesby;9
Where nothing can proceed, that toucheth us,
Whereof I shall not have intelligence.

Tell him, his fears are shallow, wanting instance:1
And for his dreams-I wonder, he 's so fond2
To trust the mockery of unquiet slumbers:
To fly the boar, before the boar pursues,

Protector gave the boare for his cognizance, this dreame made so fearful an impression in his heart, that he was thoroughly determined no longer to tarie, but had his horse readie, if the lord Hastings would go with him," &c. Malone.

8 His honour,] This was the usual address to noblemen in Shakspeare's time. Malone.

See note on Timon of Athens, Act I, sc, i, where the same address occurs: "All happiness to your honour!" Steevens.

9 And, at the other, is my good friend Catesby; &c.] So, in the Legend of Lord Hastings, Mirrour for Magistrates, 1575:

"I fear'd the end; my Catesby being there

65 Discharg'd all doubts; him hold I most entyre."

Malone.

1 wanting instance:] That is, wanting some example or act of malevolence, by which they may be justified: or which, perhaps, is nearer to the true meaning, wanting any immediate ground or reason. Johnson.

This is the reading of the quarto, except that it has-instancie.

Steevens.

Malone.

The folio reads-without instance. Instance seems to mean, symptom or prognostick. We find the word used in a similar sense, in The Comedy of Errors, where Egeon, describing his shipwreck, says:

2

"A league from Epidamnum had we sail'd,

"Before the always wind-obeying deep

"Gave any tragick instance of our harm." M. Mason..

so fond-] i. e. so weak, silly. Thus, in King Lear:

"I am a very foolish, fond old man." Steevens.

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.

Cates. Many good morrows to my roble lord!

[Exit.

Hast. Good morrow, Catesby; you are early stirring: What news, what news, in this our tottering state? Cates. 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?

Cates. Ay, my good lord.

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?

Cates. Ay, on my life; and hopes to find you forward 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.

Cates. God keep your lordship in that gracious mind!
Hast. But I shall laugh at this a twelve-month 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.
Cates. '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.
Cates. 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, ૐ
Catesby:-

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

5

I do not like these several councils, I.

4

Hast. My lord, I hold my life as dear as yours ;6 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'er-cast.

This sudden stab of rancour I misdoubt;7
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.8-Wot you what, my lord?

3

-

and good morrow,] And was supplied by Sir Thoms Hanmer, to assist the measure. Steevens.

4- the holy rood,] i. e. the cross. Candlemas-Day, 1512:

So, in the old mystery of

"Whan hir swete sone shall on a rood deye."

5 I do not like these several councils,] See p. 90, n. 4.

Steevens.

Malone.

6 My lord, I hold my life as dear as yours;] Thus the first folio. The quartos (profoundly ignorant of our author's elliptical mode of expressing himself, and in contempt of metre,)—

71

as dear as you do yours. Steevens.

I misdoubt;] i. e. suspect it of danger. So, in King Henry VI, P. III:

9

have with you.] A familiar phrase in parting, as much as, take something a long with you, or I have something to say to you.

Johnson.

To-day, the lords you talk of are beheaded.

9

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.

Hast. Go on before, I'll talk with this good fellow. [Exeunt STAN. and CATES.

How now,

sirrah? how goes the world with thee? 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: Then was I going prisoner to the Tower,

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,1 to your honour's good content!
Hast. Gramercy, fellow: There, drink that for me.
[Throwing him his Purse,

Purs. I thank your honour.

Enter a Priest.

[Exit Purs.

Pr. Well met, my lord: I am glad to see your honour. Hast. I thank thee, good sir John,2 with all my heart. I am in your debt for your last exercise;3

This phrase so frequently occurs in Shakspeare, that I wonder Johnson should, in his tenth volume, mistake its meaning. It signifies merely "I will go along with you;" and is an expression in use at this day.

In The First Part of King Henry VI, when Suffolk is going out, Somerset says-"Have with you;" and then follows him. In Othello, Iago says:

Captain, will you go?"

"Oth. Have with you."

In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mrs. Ford says:

"Will you go, Mrs. Page?"

To which she replies:

"Have with you." M. Mason.

9 They, for their truth,] That is, with respect to their honesty.

1

hold it,] That is, continue it. Johnson.

2

Johnson.

good sir John,] Sir was formerly the usual address to

the inferior clergy See Vol. III, p. 9, n. 1. Malone.

3

exercise;] Performance of divine service. Johnson:

Come the next sabbath, and I will content you.

Enter BUCKINGHAM.

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.5

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 not.

Come, will you go?

Hast.

[Aside.

I'll wait upon your lordship. [Exeunt.

I rather imagine it meant-for attending him in private to hear his confession. So, in sc. vii:

"To draw him from his holy exercise." Malone. Exercise, I believe, means only religious exhortation, or lecture. So, in Othello:

"Much castigation, exercise devout." Steevens.

4 Enter Buckingham.] From the Continuation of Harding's Chronicle, 1543, where the account given originally by Sir Thomas More is transcribed with some additions, it appears that the person who held this conversation with Hastings was Sir Thomas Howard, who is introduced in the last Act of this play as Earl of Surrey:

"The same morning ere he [Hastings] were up from his bed where Shore's wife lay with him all night there came to him sir Thomas Haward, [Howard] sonne to the lord Haward,—as it were of courtesaie, to accoumpaignie him to the counsaill; but forasmuche as the lord Hastings was not ready, he taried a while for him, and hasted him away. This sir Thomas, while the lord Hastings stayed a while commonyng with a priest whom he met in the Tower strete, brake the lordes tale, saying to him merily, 'What, my lorde, I pray you come on; wherefore talke you so long with the priest? You have no nede of a priest yet:' and laughed upon him, as though he would saye, you shall have neade of one sone " Fol. 59. Malone.

5

shriving work in hand ] Shriving work is confession.

So, in Hamlet:

the bearers put to sudden death, “Not shriving time allow'd." Steevens.

Johnson.