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All thin and naked, to the numb-cold night?
All this from my remembrance brutish wrath
Sinfully pluck'd, and not a man of you
Had so much grace to put it in my mind.
But, when your carters, or your waiting-vassals,
Have done a drunken slaughter, and defac'd
The precious image of our dear Redeemer,
You straight are on your knees for pardon, par-
don;

And I, unjustly too, must grant it you :-
But for my brother, not a man would speak,-
Nor I (ungracious) speak unto myself
For him, poor soul. The proudest of you all
Have been beholden to him in his life;
Yet none of you would once plead for his life.-
O God! I fear thy justice will take hold
On me, and you, and mine, and yours, for this.-
Come, Hastings, help me to my closet. O,
Poor Clarence!

[Exeunt King, Queen, Hastings, Rivers,
Dorset, and Grey.

Glo. This is the fruit of rashness !-Mark'd you not,

How that the guilty kindred of the queen
Look'd pale, when they did hear of Clarence'
death?

O! they did urge it still unto the king:
God will revenge it. Come, lords; will you go,
To comfort Edward with our company?
Buck. We wait upon your grace.

SCENE II.-The same.

[Exeunt.

Enter the Duchess of YORK, with a Son and Daughter of CLARENCE.

Son. Good grandam, tell us, is our father dead? Duch. No, boy.

Daugh. Why do you weep so oft? and beat your breast;

And cry-O Clarence, my unhappy son!
Son. Why do you look on us, and shake your
head,

And call us orphans, wretches, cast-aways,
If that our noble father be alive?

Duch. My pretty cousins, you mistake me both;
I do lament the sickness of the king,
As loath to lose him, not your father's death;
It were lost sorrow to wail one that's lost.

Son. Then, grandam, you conclude that he is dead.

The king my uncle is to blame for this:
God will revenge it; whom I will impórtune
With earnest prayers all to that effect.
Daugh. And so will I.

And when my uncle told me so, he wept,
And pitied me, and kindly kiss'd my cheek;
Bade me rely on him, as on my father,
And he would love me dearly as his child.
Duch. Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle
shapes,

And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice!
He is my son, ay, and therein my shame,
Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit.
Son. Think you, my uncle did dissemble,
grandam?

Duch. Ay, boy.

Son. I cannot think it. Hark! what noise is this?

Enter Queen ELIZABETH, distractedly; RIVERS, and DORSET, following her.

Q. Eliz. Ah! who shall hinder me to wail and weep?

To chide my fortune, and torment myself?
I'll join with black despair against my soul,
And to myself become an enemy.

Duch. What means this scene of rude impatience?

Q. Eliz. To make an act of tragic violence:-Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead.Why grow the branches, when the root is gone? Why wither not the leaves, that want their sap? you will live, lament; if die, be brief; That our swift-winged souls may catch the king's ;

If

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death;

How can we aid you with our kindred tears? Daugh. Our fatherless distress was left un◄ moan'd,

Duch. Peace, children, peace! the king doth Your widow-dolour likewise be unwept!

love you well:

Incapable and shallow innocents,
You cannot guess who caus'd your father's death.
Son. Grandam, we can: for my good uncle
Gloster

Told me, the king, provok'd to't by the queen,
Devis'd impeachments to imprison him:

VOL. II.

Q. Eliz. Give me no help in lamentation, I am not barren to bring forth laments : All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes, That I, being govern'd by the watry moon, May send forth plenteous tears, to drown the world!

Ah, for my husband, for my dear lord Edward!

K

Chil. Ah, for our father, for our dear lord Clarence!

Duch. Alas, for both, both mine, Edward and Clarence!

Q. Eliz. What stay had I, but Edward? and he's gone.

Chil. What stay had we, but Clarence? and he's gone.

Duch. What stays had I, but they? and they

are gone.

Q. Eliz. Was never widow, had so dear a loss. Chil. Were never orphans, had so dear a loss. Duch. Was never mother, had so dear a loss. Alas! I am the mother of these griefs; Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general. She for an Edward weeps, and so do I; I for a Clarence weep, so doth not she: These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I; I for an Edward weep, so do not they:Alas! you three, on me, threefold distress'd, Pour all your tears, I am your sorrow's nurse, And I will pamper it with lamentations.

Dor: Comfort, dear mother; God is much displeas'd,

That you take with unthankfulness his doing; In common worldly things, 'tis called-ungrateful,

With dull unwillingness to repay a debt, Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent; Much more to be thus opposite with heaven, For it requires the royal debt it lent you.

Riv. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother,

Of the young prince your son: send straight for him,

Let him be crown'd; in him your comfort lives: Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave, And plant your joys in living Edward's throne.

Enter GLOSTER, BUCKINGHAM, STANLEY,

HASTINGS, RATCLIFF, and Others.

Glo. Sister, have comfort: all of us have cause To wail the dimming of our shining star; But none can cure their harms by wailing them.Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy,

I did not see your grace :-Humbly on my knee I crave your blessing.

Duch. God bless thee; and put meekness in thy breast,

Love, charity, obedience, and true duty!

Glo. Amen; and make me die a good old man!

That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing;

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| Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept: Me seemeth good, that, with some little train, Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fetch'd

Hither to London to be crown'd our king.

Riv. Why with some little train, my lord of
Buckingham?

Buck. Marry, my lord, lest by a multitude, The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out; Which would be so much the more dangerous, By how much the estate is green, and yet ungovern'd:

Where every horse bears his commanding rein,
And may direct his course as please himself,
As well the fear of harm, as harm apparent,
In my opinion, ought to be prevented.

Glo. I hope, the king made peace with all of us; And the compact is firm, and true, in me.

Riv. And so in me; and so, I think, in all: Yet, since it is but green, it should be put To no apparent likelihood of breach, Which, haply, by much company might be urg'd: Therefore I say, with noble Buckingham, That it is meet so few should fetch the prince. Hast. And so say I.

Glo. Then be it so; and go we to determine Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlow.

Madam, and you my mother, will you go
To give your censures in this weighty business?

[Exeunt all but Buckingham and Gloster.
Buck. My lord, whoever journeys to the prince,
For God's sake, let not us two stay at home:
For, by the way, I'll sort occasion,
As index to the story we late talk'd of,
To part the queen's proud kindred from the prince.
Glo. My other self, my counsel's consistory,
My oracle, my prophet!-My dear cousin,
I, as a child, will go by thy direction.
Towards Ludlow then, for we'll not stay behind.
[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-The same. A street.

Enter two Citizens, meeting.

1 Cit. Good morrow, neighbour: Whither away so fast?

2 Cit. I promise you, I scarcely know myself: Hear you the news abroad?

1 Cit. Yes; the king's dead.

2 Cit. Ill news, by'r lady; seldom comes the better:

I fear, I fear, 'twill prove a giddy world.

Enter another Citizen.

3 Cit. Neighbours, God speed!

1 Cit. Give you good morrow, sir.

3 Cit. Doth the news hold of good king Edward's death?

2 Cit. Ay, sir, it is too true; God help, the while!

3 Cit. Then, masters, look to see a troublons world.

1 Cit. No, no; by God's good grace, his son shall reign.

3 Cit. Woe to that land that's govern❜d by a child!

2 Cit. In him there is a hope of government; That, in his nonage, council under him, And, in his full and ripen'd years, himself, No doubt, shall then, and till then, govern well. 1 Cit. So stood the state, when Henry the sixth Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old. 3 Cit. Stood the state so? no, no, good friends, God wot;

For then this land was famously enrich'd
With politic grave counsel; then the king
Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace.

1 Cit. Why, so hath this, both by his father and mother.

3 Cit. Better it were, they all came by his father; Or, by his father, there were none at all: For emulation now, who shall be nearest, Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not. 0, full of danger is the duke of Gloster; And the queen's sons, and brothers, haught and proud:

And were they to be rul'd, and not to rule,
This sickly land might solace as before.

1 Cit. Come, come, we fear the worst; all will be well.

3 Cit. When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks;

When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand;
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth :
All may be well; but, if God sort it so,
'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect.

2 Cit. Truly, the hearts of men are full of fear: You cannot reason almost with a man That looks not heavily, and full of dread.

3 Cit. Before the days of change still is it so: By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust Ensuing danger; as, by proof, we see The water swell before a boist'rous storm. But leave it all to God. Whither away?

Cit. Marry, we were sent for to the justices. 3 Cit. And so was I; I'll bear you company. [Exeunt.

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York. If 'twere not she, I cannot tell who told me.

Q. Eliz. A parlous boy: Go to, you are too shrewd.

Arch. Good madam, be not angry with the child.

Q. Eliz. Pitchers have ears.

Enter a Messenger.

Arch. Here comes a messenger: What news?

Mess. Such news, my lord,

As grieves me to unfold.

Q. Eliz. How doth the prince?

Mess. Well, madam, and in health.
Duch. What is thy news?

Mess. Lord Rivers, and lord Grey, are sent

to Pomfret,

With them sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners.
Duch. Who hath committed them?
Mess. The mighty dukes,
Gloster and Buckingham.

Q. Eliz. For what offence?

Mess. The sum of all I can, I have disclos'd;

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Why, or for what, the nobles were committed, Is all unknown to me, my gracious lady.

Q. Eliz. Ah me, I see the ruin of my house! The tiger now hath seiz'd the gentle hind; Insulting tyranny begins to jut

Upon the innocent and awless throne:-
Welcome, destruction, blood, and massacre!
I see, as in a map, the end of all.

Duch. Accursed and unquiet wrangling days!
How many of you have mine eyes beheld!
My husband lost his life to get the crown;
And often up and down my sons were tost,
For me to joy, and weep, their gain and loss:
And being seated, and domestic broils
Clean over-blown, themselves, the conquerors,
Make war upon themselves; brother to brother,

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ACT III.

SCENE I.-The same. A street.

The trumpets sound. Enter the Prince of WALES, GLOSTER, BUCKINGHAM, Cardinal BOURCHIER, and Others.

Buck. Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your chamber.

Glo. Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts' sovereign:

The weary way hath made you melancholy.

Prince. No, uncle; but our crosses on the way Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy : I want more uncles here to welcome me.

Glo. Sweet prince, the untainted virtue of your years

Hath not yet div'd into the world's deceit :
No more can you distinguish of a man,
Than of his outward show; which, God he
knows,

Seldom, or never, jumpeth with the heart.
Those uncles, which you want, were dangerous;
Your grace attended to the sugar'd words,
But look'd not on the poison of their hearts:
God keep you from them, and from such false
friends!

Prince. God keep me from false friends! but they were none.

Glo. My lord, the mayor of London comes to greet you.

Enter the Lord Mayor, and his Train. May. God bless your grace with health and happy days!

Prince. I thank you, good my lord; and thank you all.- [Exeunt Mayor, &c. I thought my mother, and my brother York, Would long ere this have met us on the way: Fye, what a slug is Hastings! that he comes not To tell us, whether they will come, or no.

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Is this of hers ?-Lord cardinal, will your grace
Persuade the queen to send the duke of York
Unto his princely brother presently?

If she deny,-lord Hastings, go with him,
And from her jealous arms pluck him perforee.
Card. My lord of Buckingham, if my weak
oratory

Can from his mother win the duke of York,
Anon expect him here: But if she be obdurate
To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid
We should infringe the holy privilege
Of blessed sanctuary! not for all this land,
Would I be guilty of so deep a sin.

Buck. You are too senseless obstinate, my lord,
Too ceremonious, and traditional :
Weigh it but with the grossness of this age,
You break not sanctuary in seizing him.
The benefit thereof is always granted
To those whose dealings have deserv'd the place,
And those who have the wit to claim the place:
This prince hath neither claim'dit, nor deserv'dit;
And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it:
Then, taking him from thence, that is not there,
You break no privilege nor charter there.
Oft have I heard of sanctuary men ;
But sanctuary children, ne'er till now.

Card. My lord, you shall o'er-rule my mind for once.

Come on, lord Hastings, will you go with me? Hast. I go, my lord.

Prince. Good lords, make all the speedy haste

you may. [Exeunt Card. and Hastings. Say, uncle Gloster, if our brother come, Where shall we sojourn till our coronation? Glo. Where it seems best unto your royal self. If I may counsel you, some day, or two, Your highness shall repose you at the Tower: Then where you please, and shall be thought most fit

For your best health and recreation.

Prince. I do not like the Tower, of any place: Did Julius Cæsar build that place, my lord? Glo. He did, my gracious lord, begin that place;

Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified. Prince. Is it upon record? or else reported Successively from age to age he built it?

Buck. Upon record, my gracious lord. Prince. But say, my lord, it were not register'd; Methinks, the truth shall live from age to age, As 'twere retail'd to all posterity, Even to the general all-ending day.

Glo. So wise so young, they say, do ne'er live long.

Prince. What say you, uncle?

[Aside.

Glo. I say, without characters, fame lives long. Thus, like the formal vice, Iniquity, I moralize two meanings in one word. Aside. Prince. That Julius Cæsar was a famous man; With what his valour did enrich his wit, His wit set down to make his valour live: Death makes no conquest of this conqueror; For now he lives in fame, though not in life.I'll tell you what, my cousin Buckingham. Buck. What, my gracious lord? Prince. An if I live until I be a man, I'll win our ancient right in France again, Or die a soldier, as I liv'd a king.

Glo. Short summers lightly have a forward spring. [Aside.

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Glo. O, my fair cousin, I must not say so. York. Then is he more beholden to you, than I. Glo. He may command me, as my sovereign; But you have power in me, as in a kinsman. York. I pray you, uncle, then, give me this dagger.

Glo. My dagger, little cousin! with all my heart.

Prince. A beggar, brother?

York. Of my kind uncle, that I know will give; And, being but a toy, which is no grief to give. Glo. A greater gift than that I'll give my cousin. York. A greater gift! O, that's the sword to it? Glo. Ay, gentle cousin, were it light enough. York. O then, I see, you'll part but with light gifts;

In weightier things you'll say a beggar, nay.
Glo. It is too weighty for your grace to wear.
York. I weigh it lightly, were it heavier.
Glo. What, would you have my weapon,
little lord ?

York. I would, that I might thank you as you call me.

Glo. How?

York. Little.

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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
shoulders.

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.

Glo. My gracious lord, will't please you pass along?

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, Car◄ dinal, and Attendants. Buck. Think you, my lord, this little prating York

Was not incensed by his subtle mother,
To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously?
Glo, No doubt, no doubt: O,'tis a parlous boy;

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