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,
Catesby :-

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

I do not like these several councils, I.

Hast. My lord, I hold my life as dear as 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'er-cast.
This sudden stab of rancour I misdoubt;
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.-Wot 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.

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, 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, with all my heart.

I am in your debt for your last exercise;

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.

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.

Enter 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! Ŏ 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 she Buckingham,

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

brace:

Farewel, until we meet again in heaven.

SCENE IV.

London. A Room in the Tower.

[Exeunt.

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 met Is to determine of the coronation:

In God's name, speak, when is the royal day?
Buck. Are all things ready for that royal time?
Stan. They are; and wants but nomination.
Ely. To-morrow then I judge a happy day.
Buck. Who knows the lord protector's mind herein?
Who is most inward with the noble duke?

Ely. Your grace, we think, should soonest know his

mind.

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 morrow: 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.

Glo. Cousin of Buckingham, a word with you.

[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 GLO. and Buck. Stan. We have not yet set down this day of triumph. To-morrow, in my judgment, is too sudden; For I myself am not so well provided, 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 morn

ing;

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 offended; 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: