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Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me, 'And given unto the house of York such head, *As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance. *To entail him and his heirs unto the crown, *What is it, but to make thy sepulchre,1 *And creep into it far before thy time? *Warwick is chancellor, and the lord of Calais; Stern Faulconbridge2 commands the narrow seas; The duke is made protector of the realm;

And yet shalt thou be safe? *such safety finds *The trembling lamb, environed with wolves. • Had I been there, which am a silly woman, 'The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes, 'Before I would have granted to that act. * But thou preferr'st thy life before thine honour : And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself, Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed, • Until that act of parliament be repeal'd, Whereby my son is disinherited.

The northern lords, that have forsworn thy colours, Will follow mine, if once they see them spread: And spread they shall be; to thy foul disgrace, And utter ruin of the house of York.

• Thus do I leave thee :-Come, son, let's away; • Our army's ready: Come, we'll after them. K. Hen. Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.

Q. Mar. Thou hast spoke too much already; get

thee gone.

K, Hen. Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with

me?

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her son,

Hath made her break out into terms of rage! Reveng'd may she be on that hateful duke; * Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire, *Will coast3 my crown, and, like an empty eagle, *Tire on the flesh of me, and of my son! *The loss of those three lords torments my heart: * I'll write unto them, and entreat them fair;*Come, cousin, you shall be the messenger. * Ere. And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. A Room in Sandal Castle, near Wakefield in Yorkshire. Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and Montague.

'Rich. Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.

Edw. No, I can better play the orator.
Mont. But I have reasons strong and forcible.

1 The queen's reproach is founded on a position long received among politicians, that the loss of kingly power is soon followed by loss of life.

2 The person here meant was Thomas Nevil, bastard son to the Lord Faulconbridge, 'a man (says Hall) of no lesse corage than audacitie, who for his cruel condicions was such an apte person, that a more meter could not be chosen to set all the world in a broyle, and to put the estate of the realme on an ill hazard.' He had been appointed by Warwick, vice-admiral of the sea, and had in charge so to keep the passage between Dover and Calais, that none which either favoured King Henry or his friends, should escape untaken or undrowned: such, at least, were his instructions with respect to the friends and favourers of King Edward after the rupture between him and Warwick. On Warwick's death, he fell into poverty, and robbed, both by sea and land as well friends as enemies. He once brought his ships up the Thames, and with a considerable body of the men of Kent and Essex, made a spirited assault on the city, with a view to plunder and pillage, which was not repelled but after a sharp conflict, and the loss of many lives; and, had it happened at a more critical period, might have been attended with fatal consequences to Edward. After roving on the sea some little time longer, he ventured to land at Southampton, where he was taken and beheaded. See Hall and Holinshed.-Ritson. 3 To coust is, apparently, to pursue, to hover about

Enter YORK.

York. Why, how now, sons and brother, at :

strife?

'What is your quarrel? how began it first? Edw. No quarrel, but a slight contention. • York. About what?

• Rich. About that which concerns your grace, and us;

'The crown of England, father, which is yours. York. Mine, boy? not till King Henry be dead. * Rich. Your right depends not on his life, or death.

* Edw. Now you are heir, therefore enjoy it now: * By giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe, *It will outrun you, father, in the end.

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'York. I took an oath that he should quietly reign.

Edw. But, for a kingdom, any oath may be broken :"

I'd break a thousand oaths, to reign one year.

Rich. No; God forbid, your grace should be forsworn.

• York. I shall be, if I claim by open war. 'Rich. I'll prove the contrary, if you'll hear me speak.

'York. Thou canst not, son; it is impossible. 'Rich. An oath is of no moment, being not took Before a true and lawful magistrate,

Henry had none, but did usurp the place; 'That hath authority over him that swears; Then, seeing 'twas he that made you to depose, Therefore, to arms. Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous. * And, father, do but think, * How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown; Within whose circuit is Elysium,

Why do we linger thus? I cannot rest, * And all that poets feign of bliss and joy. ✶ Until the white rose, that I wear, be dyed * Even in the lukewarm blood of Henry's heart 'York. Richard, enough; I will be king or die.'Brother, thou shalt to London presently,

And whet on Warwick to this enterprise.

6 Thou, Richard, shalt unto the duke of Norfolk, And tell him privily of our intent.

'You, Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham, With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise "In them I trust; for they are soldiers,

'Witty and courteous, liberal, full of spirit.While you are thus employ'd, what resteth more, But that I seek occasion how to rise;

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And yet the king not privy to my drift, 'Nor any of the house of Lancaster?

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Enter a Messenger.9

But, stay; What news? Why com'st thou in such post?

'Mess. The queen, with all the northern earls and lords,10

any thing. The old form of the word appears to have been costoye, or costoie, from the French costoyer, to pursue a course alongside an object, to watch it. 4 To tire is to tear; to feed like a bird of prey. 5 i. e. of Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Clif ford, who had left him in disgust.

6 Shakspeare seems to have thought York and Montague brothers-in-law. But Montague was brother to Warwick; Warwick's daughter was married to a son of York, but not during the life of York. Steevens thought that as Shakspeare uses the expression brothers of the war in King Lear, something of the kind might be meant here.

7 The obligation of an oath is here eluded by a very despicable sophistry. A lawful magistrate alone has the power to exact an oath, but the oath derives no part of its force from the magistrate. The plea against the ob ligation of an oath obliging to maintain a usurper, taken from the unlawfulness of the oath itself, in the forego ing play, was rational and just--Johnson.

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8 Of sound judgment.

9 The folio reads 'Enter Gabriel. It was the name of the actor, probably Gabriel Singer, who played this insignificant part. The emendation is from the old play, and was made by Theobald.

10 I know not (says Johnson) whether the author in tended any moral instruction, but he that reads this ha.

• Intend here to besiege you in your castle : • She is hard by with twenty thousand men ; And therefore fortify your hoid, my lord.

* York. Ay, with my sword. What! think'st
thou, that we fear them?-

• Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me;
'My brother Montague shall post to London!
* Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,
* Whom we have left protectors of the king,
* With powerful policy strengthen themselves,
* And_trust not simple Henry, nor his oaths.
* Mont. Brother, I go; I'll win them, fear it
* And thus most humbly I do take my leave. [Exit.
Enter SIR JOHN and SIR HUGH MORTIMER.
York. Sir John, and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine
uncles!

'You are come to Sandal in a happy hour;
The army of the queen mean to besiege us.

Rut. Then let my father's blood open it again; He is a man, and, Clifford, cope with him.

Clif. Had I thy brethren here, their lives, and thine,

Were not revenge sufficient for me;

No, if I digg'd up thy forefathers' graves, And hung their rotten coffins up in chains, It could not slake mine ire, nor ease my heart. The sight of any of the house of York Is as a fury to torment my soul; ' And till I root out their accursed line, not:|_ And leave not one alive, I live in hell. Therefore[Lifting his hand. Rut. O, let me pray before I take my death :To thee I pray; sweet Clifford, pity me! Clif. Such pity as my rapier's point affords. 'Rut. I never did thee harm: Why wilt thou slay me?

Sir John. She shall not need, we'll meet her in the field.

York. What, with five thousand men?
Rich. Ay, with five hundred, father, for a need.
A woman's general; What should we fear?
[A March afar off
Edw. I hear their drums; let's set our men in
order ;

• And issue forth, and bid them battle straight.
'York. Five men to twenty-though the odds
be great,

• I doubt not, uncle, of our victory.
'Many a battle have I won in France,
'When as the enemy hath been ten to one;
'Why should I not now have the like success?
{Alarum. Exeunt.

SCENE III. Plains near Sandal Castle. Ala-
rums: Excursions. Enter RUTLAND, and his

Tutor.1

• Rut. Ah, whither shall I fly to 'scape their hands?

Ah, tutor! look, where bloody Clifford comes!

Enter CLIFFORD, and Soldiers.

Clif. Thy father hath.

Rut.
But 'twas ere I was born."
Thou hast one son, for his sake pity me;
Lest, in revenge thereof,-sith God is just,-
He be as miserably slain as I.

Ah, let me live in prison all my days;
And when I give occasion of offence,
Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause.
Clif. No cause ?

Thy father slew my father; therefore, die.
[CLIFFORD stabs him.
Rut. Dii faciant, laudis summa sit ista tuæ !6

[Dies.

Clif. Plantagenet! I come, Plantagenet! And this thy son's blood cleaving to my blade, Shall rust upon my weapon, till thy blood, Congeal'd with this, do make me wipe off both.

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• Turn back, and fly, like ships before the wind, 'Or lambs pursu'd by hunger-starved wolves.

Clif. Chaplain, away! thy priesthood saves thy My sons--God knows, what hath bechanced

life.

As for the brat of this accursed duke,
Whose father slew my father, 2-he shall die.
Tut. And I, my lord, will bear him company.
Clif. Soldiers, away with him.

Tut. Ah, Clifford! murder not this innocent
child,

Lest thou be hated both of God and man.

[Exit, forced off by Soldiers. Cliff. How now! is he dead already? Or, is it fear,

That makes him close his eyes?--I'll open them.
'Rut. So looks the pent-up lion o'er the wretch
• That trembles under his devouring paws
And so he walks, insulting o'er his prey;

And so he comes to rend his limbs asunder.
Ah, gentle Clifford, kill me with thy sword,
And not with such a cruel threat'ning look.
Sweet Clifford, hear me speak before I die ;-
I am too mean a subject for thy wrath,
Be thou reveng'd on men, and let me live.

C vain thou speak'st, poor boy; my father's

blood

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ground!

And cried,-A crown, or else a glorious tomb '
'A sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre !
With this we charg'd again: but, out, alas!
'We bodg'd again; as I have seen a swan
'With bootless labour swim against the tide,·
' And spend her strength with overmatching waves.
[A short Alarum within.
Ah, hark! the fatal followers do pursue;

' And I am faint, and cannot fly their fury:
The sands are number'd, that make up my life;
And, were I strong, I would not shun their fury:
'Here must I stay, and here my life must end.

5 Since.

6 This line is in Ovid's Epistle from Phillis to Demophoon. The same quotation is in Nash's Have with you to Saffron Walden, 1596.

7 These were two bastard uncles by the mother's side, Sir John and Sir Hugh Mortimer. See Grafton's Chronicle, p. 649.

8 Bodged is probably the same as budged, from bouger, French. Steevens thought that it was the same as boggled, i. e. made bad, or bungling work of the attempt to rally. But the following passage, Coriolanus speaks of his army who had fled from their adversaries, seems decisive :

in which

The mouse ne'er shunn'd the cat, as they did budge From rascals worse than they.'

Enter QUEEN MARGARET, CLIFFORD, NORTH- | Made issue from the bosom of the boy:

UMBERLAND, and Soldiers.

• Come, bloody Clifford,-rough Northumberland,

I dare your quenchless fury to more rage; 'I am your butt, and I abide your shot.

North. Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet. Clif. Ay, to such mercy, as his ruthless arm, With downright payment, show'd unto my father. Now Phaeton hath tumbled from his car, And made an evening at the noontide prick.' York. My ashes, as the Phoenix, may bring forth A bird that will revenge upon you all: And, in that hope, I throw mine eyes to heaven, Scorning whate'er you can afflict me with. 'Why come you not? what! multitudes, and fear? Clif. So cowards fight, when they can fly no further ;

'So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons; So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives, Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers.

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York. O, Clifford, but bethink thee once again, And, in thy thought o'errun my former time: * And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face And bite thy tongue that slanders him with cowardice,

;

'Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this. Clif. I will not bandy with thee word for word; But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one. [Draws. Q. Mar. Hold, valiant Clifford! for a thousand

causes,

I would prolong awhile the traitor's life : Wrath makes him deaf: speak thou, Northumberland.

North. Hold, Clifford; do not honour him so much, To prick thy finger, though to wound his heart: What valour were it, when a cur doth grin, For one to thrust his hand between his teeth, When he might spurn him with his foot away? It is war's prize2 to take all vantages; And ten to one is no impeach of valour.

[They lay hands on YORK, who struggles. Clif. Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin. North. So doth the coney struggle in the net. [YORK is taken prisoner. York. So triumph thieves upon their conquer'd booty;

So true men3 yield, with robbers so o'ermatch'd. North. What would your grace have done unto him now?

.

And, if thine eyes can water for his death,
Alas, poor York! but that I hate tnee deadly,
I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal.
I should lament thy miserable state.

I pr'ythee, grieve, to make me merry, York;
Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance.
What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails
That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death?
*Why_art_thou patient, man? thou should'st be
mad;

Thou would'st be fee'd I see, to make me sport ;
* And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus.
York cannot speak, unless he wear 2 crown.-
A crown for York ;-and, lords, bow low to him...
Hold you his hands, whilst I do set it on.-

Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king!
[Putting a paper Crown on his Head!
Ay, this is he that took King Henry's chair:
And this is he was his adopted heir.--
But how is it that great Plantagenet
As I bethink me, you should not be king,
Is crown'd so soon, and broke his solemn oath?

Till our King Henry had shook hands with death.
And rob his temples of the diadem,
And will you pale" your head in Henry's glory
O, 'tis a fault too too un a:donable !—
Now in his life, against your holy oath?
Off with the crown; and, with the crown, his head;
And, whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead."
Clif. That is offre,
my
for father's sake.
my
Q. Mar. Nay, sta; let's hear the orisons he

makes.

York. She wolf o France, but worse than wolves of France,

How ill beseeming, is it in thy sex, "Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth!

To triumph like an Amazonian trull,

Upon their woes, whom fortune captivates? But that thy fac: is, visorlike, unchanging, Made impudent with use of evil deeds,

I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush. To tell thee whence thou cam'st, of whom deriv'd, Were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not

shameless.

Of both the Sicils, and Jerusalem;
Thy father bears the type of king of Naples,
Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman.
Hath that peor monarch taught thec to insult?
Unless the adage must be verified,--
It needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen;

Q. Mar. Brave warriors, Clifford and Northum-Tis beauty, that doth oft make women proud;

That beggars, mounted, run their horse to death.

berland,

Come make him stand upon this molehill here;
That raught at mountains with outstretched arms,
Yet parted but the shadow with his hand.-

* What! was it you that would be England's king?
Was't you that revell'd in our parliament,
And made a preachment of your high descent ?
Where are your mess of sons to back you now?
The wanton Edward, and the lusty George?

And where's that valiant crookback prodigy,
Dicky, your boy, that, with his grumbling voice,
Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies?
Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland ?
Look, York; I stain'd this napkin with the blood
That valiant Clifford, with his rapier's point,

1 Noontide point on the dial.

2 Prize here must have the same meaning as prise in French, or presa in Italian, i. e. a hold or advantage that may be taken. Unless we can imagine that it signifies licitum est, 'it is prized or esteemed lawful in war,' &c. Price, prise, and prize were used indiscriminately by our ancestors.

3 Honest men.

But, God he knows, thy share thereof is small :
'Tis virtue, that doth make them most admir'd ;
The contrary doth make thee wonder'd at :
The want thereof makes thee aborninable :
'Tis government, 10 that makes them seem divine ;
Thou art as opposite to every good,
As the Antipodes are unto us,

Or as the south to the septentrion.11
O, tyger's heart, wrapp'd in a woman's hide!
How could'st thou drain the life-blood of the child,
To bid the father wipe his eyes withal,
And yet be seen to bear a woman's face?
Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible;
'Thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless.

upon a molehill, on whose heade they put a garland in stead of a crown, which they had fashioned and made of segges or bulrushes, and having so crowned him with that garlande, they kneeled down afore him, as the Jews did to Christe, in scorne, saying to him, Hayle king without rule, hayle, king without heritage, hayle, duke and prince without people or possessions. And, at length, having thus scorned hym with these and diverse other the like despitefull woordes, they strooke

4 Reached. Vide note on Part II. of this play, Act ii. off his heade, which (as ye have heard) they presented

Sc. 3.

5 Handkerchief.

6 According to Hall the paper crown was not placed on York's head till after he was dead; but Holinshed, after having copied Hall, says: Some write that the luke was taken alive and in derision caused to stand

to the queen.'

7 Impale, encircle with a crown.

3 Kill him. 9 i. e. the crown, the emblem or symbol of royalty. 10 Government, in the language of the time signified evenness of temper, and decency of manners 11 The north.

'Bidd'st thou me rage, why, now thou hast thy|* Or, had he 'scap'd, methinks, we should have

wish :

'Would'st have me weep? why, now thou hast
thy will:

For raging wind blows up incessant showers.
And, when the rage allays, the rain begins.1
These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies;
And every drop cries vengeance for his death,
''Gainst thee, fell Clifford,-and thee, false French-

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woman.

North. Beshrew me, but his passions2 move
So,

That hardly can I check my eyes from tears.
York. That face of his the hungry cannibals

heard

The happy tidings of his good escape.
'How fares my brother? why is he so sad?
Rich. I cannot joy, until I be resolv'd
Where our right valiant father is become.
I saw him in the battle range about;
And watch'd him how he singled Clifford forth.
Methought, he bore him in the thickest troop,
As doth a lion in a herd of neat :6

me* Or as a bear, encompass'd round with dogs,
* Who having pinch'd a few, and made them cry,
* The rest stand all aloof, and bark at him.
* So far'd our father with his enemies :

Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd* So fled his enemies my warlike father;

with blood:

But you are more inhuman, more inexorable,-
O, ten times more,-than tigers of Hyrcania.
See, ruthless queen, a hapless father's tears:
This cloth thou dipp'dst in blood of my sweet boy,
And I with tears do wash the blood away.
Keep thou the napkin, and go boast of this :

[He gives back the Handkerchief.

And, if thou tell'st the heavy story right,
Upon my soul, the hearers will shed tears 3
Yea, even my foes will shed fast-falling tears,
And say,-Alas, it was a piteous deed!-
There, take the crown, and, with the crown,

curse;

And, in thy need, such comfort come to thee,
As now I reap at thy too cruel hand!

Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world
My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads!

my

'Methinks, 'tis prize" enough to be his son.
See, how the morning opes her golden gates,
And takes her farewell of the glorious sun!
* How well resembles it the prime of youth,
* Trimm'd like a younker, prancing to his love!
Edw. Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns‹
Rich. Three glorious suns, each one a perfcct

sun

Not separated with the racking clouds, 10
But sever'd in a pale clear-shining sky.
See, see! they join, embrace, and seem to kiss,
As if they vow'd some league inviolable:
Now are they but one lamp, one light, one sun.
In this the heaven figures some event.

* Edw. "Tis wondrous strange, the like yet never
heard of.

I think, it cites us, brother, to the field;
That we, the sons of brave Plantagenet,

North. Had he been slaughterman to all my kin,' Each one already blazing by our meeds,11

'I should not for my life but weep for him, To see how inly sorrow gripes his soul.

Q. Mar. What, weeping-ripe, my Lord umberland?

Should, notwithstanding, join our lights together, 'And overshine the earth, as this the world. North-Whate'er it bodes, henceforward will I bear Upon my target three fair shining suns.

Think but upon the wrong he did us all,
And that will quickly dry thy melting tears.
Clif. Here's for my oath, here's for my father's*
death.
[Stabbing him.
Q. Mar. And here's to right our gentle-hearted
king.
[Stabbing him.
York. Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God!
My soul flies through these wounds to seek out
thee.
[Dies.
Q. Mar. Off with his head,and set it on York gate;
So York may overlook the town of York.^

ACT II.

[Exeunt.

Rich. Nay, bear three daughters;-by your
leave I speak it,

You love the breeder better than the male.
Enter a Messenger.

'But what art thou, whose heavy looks foretell
Some dreadful story hanging on thy tongue?
Mess. Ah, one that was a woful looker on,
When as the noble duke of York was slain,
* Your princely father, and my loving lord.
'Edw. O, speak no more! for I have heard too
much.12

*

'Rich. Say how he died, for I will hear it all.
'Mess. Environed he was with many foes;

* And stood against them as the hope of Troy13
* Against the Greeks, that would have enter'd Trov.
And many strokes, though with a little axe,
* But Hercules himself must yield to odds;
Hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd oak.
• By many hands your father was subdu'd;
But only slaughter'd by the ireful arm
'Of unrelenting Clifford, and the queen :
'Who crown'd the gracious duke in high despite,
'Laugh'd in his face; and, when with grief he wept,
'The ruthless queen gave him, to dry his cheeks,

SCENE I. A Plain near Mortimer's Cross in*
Herefordshire. Drums.
Drums. Enter EDWARD and
RICHARD, with their Forces, marching.
* Edw. I wonder, how our princely father 'scap'd;
* Or whether he be 'scap'd away, or no,
* From Clifford's and Northumberland's pursuit ;
* Had he been ta'en, we should have heard the news;
Had he been slain, we should have heard the news;
1 We meet with the same thought in Shakspeare's
Rape of Lucrece :-

"This windy tempest, till it blow up rain,
Held back his sorrow's tide, to make it more:
At last it rains, and busy winds give o'er,
Then son and father weep with equal strife,
Who should weep most for daughter or for wife.'
2 Passions for griefs.

3 'Tell thou the lamentable tale of me,

6 Neat cattle, cows, oxen, &c.

7 Prize is here again used for estimation.

8 Aurora takes for a time her farewell of the sun, when she dismisses him to his diurnal course.

9 This circumstance is mentioned both by Hall and Holinshed. At which tyme the sun (as some write) appeared to the earl of March like three sunnes, and sodainely joyned altogether in one; upon whiche sight hee tooke such courage, that he fiercely setting on his enemyes put them to flight; and for this cause menne ymagined that he gave the sun in his full bryghtnesse for his badge or cognizance.'-Holinshed.

10 i. e. the clouds floating before the wind like a reek or vapour. This verb, though now obsolete, was for merly in common use; and it is now provincially com mon to speak of the rack of the weather.

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And send the hearers weeping to their beds.' 4 This gallant prince fell by his own imprudence, in consequence of leading an army of only five thousand men to engage with twenty thousand, and not waiting for the arrival of his son the earl of March, with a large body of Welshmen. He and Cecily his wife, with his son Edmund, earl of Rutland, were originally buried in the chancel of Fotheringay church. Peacham, in his 11 Meed anciently signified merit as well as reward, Complete Gentleman, 1627, p. 153, gives an account of and is so explained by Cotgrave, Philips, and others the destruction of their monuments, of the disinterment, 12 The generous tenderness of Edward, and savage &c.; and of their reinterment in the church,by command fortitude of Richard. are well distinguished by their dif of Queen Elizabeth, under a mea i monument of plaster.ferent reception of their father's death.

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'A napkin steeped in the harmless blood 'Of sweet young Rutland, by rough Clifford slain And, after many scorns, many foul taunts, They took his head, and on the gates of York 'They set the same; and there it doth remain, The saddest spectacle that e'er I view'd. Edw. Sweet duke of York, our prop to lean upon; Now thou art gone, we have no staff, no stay!* O Clifford, boist'rous Clifford, thou hast slain * The flower of Europe for his chivalry * And treacherously hast thou vanquish'd him, For, hand to hand, he would have vanquish'd thee!

Now my soul's palace is become a prison:

That robb'd my soldiers of their hated spleen;
Or whether 'twas report of her success;

Or more than common fear of Clifford's rigour,
'Who thunders to his captives-blood and death
I cannot judge: but, to conclude with truth,
Their weapons like to lightning came and went,
Our soldiers'-like the night-owl's lazy flight,
'Or like a lazy thrasher with a flail,-
Fell gently down, as if they struck their friends.
I cheer'd them up with justice of our cause,
With promise of high pay, and great rewards:
But all in vain; they had no heart to fight,
And we, in them, no hope to win the day,
So that we fled; the king, unto the queen;

Ah, would she break from hence! that this my body Lord George your brother, Norfolk, and myself, 'Might in the ground be closed up in rest:

For never henceforth shall I joy again, 'Never, O never, shall I see more joy.

'Rich. I cannot weep; for all my body's moisture Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart: *Nor can my tongue unload my heart's great burden;

* For selfsame wind, that I should speak withal, *Is kindling coals, that fire all my breast, *And burn me up with flames that tears would quench.

*To weep, is to make less the depth of grief: *Tears, then, for babes; blows, and revenge, for me!

• Richard, I bear thy name, I'll venge thy death, 'Or die renowned by attempting it.

Edw. His name that valiant duke hath left with

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tears :

your

And now to add more measure to your woes,
I come to tell you things since then befall'n.
After the bloody fray at Wakefield fought,
Where brave father breath'd his latest gasp,
Tidings, as swiftly as the posts could run,
Were brought me of your loss, and his depart.
I then in London, keeper of the king,
Muster'd my soldiers, gather'd flocks of friends,
And very well appointed, as I thought,

March'd towards Saint Albans to intercept the queen,
Bearing the king in my behalf along:
For by my scouts I was advertised,
That she was coming with a full intent
To dash our late decree in parliament,
Touching King Henry's oath, and your succession.
Short tale to make,-we at Saint Albans met,
Our battles join'd, and both sides fiercely fought :
But, whether 'twas the coldness of the king,
Who look'd full gently on his warlike queen,

1 Thus in Spenser's Hymn of Heavenly Beauty :-
like the native bird of eagle's kind,
On that bright sun of glory fix thine eyes.'

2 This meeting was at Chipping Norton, according to W. Wyrcester, p. 488.

3 A common ancient expression for killed; from the French faire mourir.

In haste, posthaste, are come to join with you;
For in the marches here, we heard you were,
Making another head to fight again.

• Edw. Where is the duke of Norfolk, gentle Warwick?

And when came George from Burgundy to England? ' War. Some six miles off the duke is with the soldiers :

And for your brother, he was lately sent
From your kind aunt, duchess of Burgundy,
With aid of soldiers to this needful war.

Rich. 'Twas odds, belike, when valiant Warwick fled:

Oft have I heard his praises in pursuit,
But ne'er, till now,
his scandal of retire.
War. Nor now my scandal, Richard, dost thou
hear:

For thou shalt know this strong right hand of mine
Can pluck the diadem from faint. Henry's head,
And wring the awful sceptre from his fist ;
Were he as famous and as bold in war,
As he is fam'd for mildness, peace, and prayer.
Rich. I know it well, Lord Warwick: blame me

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out;

And therefore comes my brother Montague.
Attend me, lords. The proud insulting queen,
With Clifford, and the haught Northumberland,
And of their feather, many more proud birds,
Have wrought the easy-melting king like wax.
He swore consent to your succession,
His oath enrolled in the parliament;
And now to London all the crew are gone,
To frustrate both his oath, and what beside
May make against the house of Lancaster.
'Their power, I think, is thirty thousand strong
Now, if the help of Norfolk, and myself,

you

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With all the friends that thou, brave earl of March, Amongst the loving Welshmen canst procure,

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Will but amount to five and twenty thousand, Why, Via! to London will we march amain; And once again bestride our foaming steeds, 'And once again cry-Charge upon our foes! But never once again turn back, and fly. Rich. Ay, now, methinks, I hear great Warwick speak:

Ne'er may he live to see a sunshine day, "That cries-Retire, if Warwick bid him stay. Edw. Lord Warwick, on thy shoulder will I lean

of December, 1460, when Edward was in his nineteenth year, Rutland in his eighteenth, George of York, afterwards duke of Clarence, in his twelfth, and Richard only in his ninth year.

5 This circumstance is not warranted by history. Cla rence and Gloster (as they were afterwards created) were sent into Flanders immediately after the battle of 4 The ages of the duke of York's children will show Wakefield, and did not return until their brother Edward how far historic truth is departed from in the present had got possession of the crown. The duchess of Burplay The battle of Wakefield was fought on the 29thgundy was not their aunt, but a third cousin

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