You may repent it, sir.-My guards, there!-seize This traitor, and convey him to the Tower;

There let him learn obedience.

Enter GUARDS, who seize WARWICK, and endeavour to disarm him.

Warw. Slaves, stand off!

If I must yield my sword, I'll give it him,
Whom it so long has serv'd; there's not a part
In this old faithful steel, that is not stain'd
With English blood in grateful Edward's cause.
Give me my chains! they are the bands of friendship,
Of a king's friendship; for his sake, a while
I'll wear them.

King E. Hence! away with him!

Warw. "Tis well:

Exert your power, it may not last you long;
For know, though Edward may forget his friend,
That England will not.-Now, sir, I attend you.

[Exit. Pemb. Presumptuous rebel!-ah! who's here?

Enter a MESSENGER.

Mess. My liege,

Queen Margret, with the prince, her son, are fled;
In a few hours she hopes, for so we learn

From those who have pursu'd her, to be join'd
By th' Earl of Warwick; in his name, it seems,
She has already rais'd three thousand men.

King E. Warwick in league with her! O, Heav'n! 'tis well

We've crush'd the serpent, ere his poison spread Throughout our kingdom-guard the palace gates, Keep double watch; summon my troops togetherWhere is my brother Clarence, Buckingham,

And Pembroke? we must check this foul rebellion. [Exit MESSENGER.

E

Enter the EARL OF SUFFOLK.

Suf. My liege, the Duke of Clarence-
King E. What of him?

Suf. Hath left the court; this moment I beheld him

In conf'rence deep with Pembroke, who, it seems,
Is Margret's firmest friend; 'tis whisper'd, both
Will join the queen.

King E. Well! 'tis no matter: I

Have deeper cause for grief; he cannot feel
A brother's falsehood, who has lost a friend,
A friend like Warwick.-Suffolk, thou behold'st me
Betray'd, deserted by the man I lov'd;

Treated with indifference by her,

Whom I ador'd, forsaken by my brother,
And threaten'd by the subjects I protect;
Oppress'd on every side; but, thou shalt see,
I have a soul superior to misfortunes.

Though rebel Clarence wrings my tortur'd heart,
And faithless Warwick braves me, we will yet
Maintain our right--Come on, my friend, thou
know'st,

Without his boasted aid, I could have gain'd
The crown-without him now I will preserve it.

[Exeunt.

ACT THE FOURTH.

SCENE I.

The Tower.

Enter the EARL OF WARWICK.

Warw. Mistaken mortals plan delusive schemes
Of bliss, and call futurity their own,
Yet are not masters of a moment-This
Was the appointed time, the very day
Which should have join'd me to Elizabeth
In nuptial bonds:-O, cruel memory,
Do not torment me-if there be a crime
Of deeper dye than all the guilty train
Of human vices, 'tis-ingratitude.
O, for that stoic apathy, which lulls
The drowsy soul to sweet forgetfulness!
But 'twill not be:-Elizabeth, where art thou?
Perhaps with Edward—O, that thought distracts me!
It is, I fear, as Marg'ret said; she's false.

But when I look around me, can I hope
To find one virtue left in human kind?
My Pembroke, too! am I so soon forgotten?
O no; he comes-

Enter PEMBROKE.

Pemb, My friend !

Warw. My Pembroke, welcome!

Thee I have found most just and kind;

But, in the darkness of adversity,

The jewel friendship shines with double lustre.
Pemb. I am not of the insect train, that bask
In fortune's sunshine, and, when ev'ning damps
Arise, are seen no more: no, Warwick, what
I speak, I mean: you have been hardly treated.
Warw. O, Pembroke! didst thou know but half
the wrongs

That I have suffer'd, thou wouldst pity me.

Pemb. I would do more, much more, my Warwick: he,

Who only pities, but insults the wretched :

I come with nobler views; I come to tell thee,
That I have felt thy inj'ries as my own,
And will revenge them too.

Warw. How kind thou art,

To feel for Warwick!

Pemb. Ev'ry honest breast

Must feel the inj'ries that a good man suffers:
Thine is the common cause of all: adieu
To English freedom, when our liberty
Shall be dependent on a sov'reign's nod,
When years of honest service shall be paid
With infamy and chains!

Warw. I've not deserv'd them.

Pemb. Nor shalt thou wear them long; for thou hast great

And powerful friends--the noble Duke of ClarenceWarw. Ha!

Then I am not forsaken: Clarence!

Pemb. Yes:

The gallant youth, with honest zeal, declar'd
He lov'd his brother much, but justice more.

Warw. Then, Edward, I defy thee! gen'rous Clarence!

Thou know'st, the man who thus could treat a friend Would soon forget a brother-but say, Pembroke, How stands the Duke of Buckingham?

Pemb. Fast bound

To Edward; he, and that smooth courtier, Suffolk,
Are the two rotten pillars that support

His tott'ring throne: but Margret-
Warw. Ay; how fares

My new ally? has she escap'd the tyrant?

Pemb. She has: and, by some wondrous means, contriv'd

To free her captive son.
Warw. Though I abhor,

I must admire that enterprising woman:
Her active mind is ever on the wing,
In search of fresh expedients, to recover
The crown she lost.

Pemb. Already she has rais'd

A pow'rful army; all the secret foes

Of York's ambitious line rush forth in crowds,
And join her standard; ere to-morrow's sun
Shall dawn upon us, she will set thee free.
Warw. O, Pembroke! nothing wounds the gen'rous
mind

So deep as obligations to a foe.

Is there no way to liberty, my friend,

But through the bloody paths of civil war?
Pemb. I fear there is not.

Warw. Then it must be so:

could have wish'd-but freedom and revenge

On any other terms are welcome.

Pemb. Here then join we

Our hands

Warw. Our hearts.

Pemb. Now, Warwick, be thou firm
In thy resolves; let no unmanly fears

No foolish fond remembrance of past friendship,
Unnerve thy arm, or shake thy steady purpose.
Warw. No, by my wrongs, it shall not: once, thou

know'st,

I lov'd him but too well, and this vile prison