His honour3, and myself, are at the one; Tell him, his fears are shallow, wanting instance*: Where, he shall see, the boar will use us kindly. Mess. I'll go, my lord, and tell him what you say. [Exit. Enter CATEsby. Cate. Many good morrows to my noble lord! Hast. Good morrow, Catesby; you are early stirring : What news, what news, in this our tottering state? Cate. 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? Cate. 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. 3 This was the usual address to noblemen in Shakspeare's time; it was indifferently used with your lordship. See any old letter or dedication of that age. 4 Instance is here put for motive, cause. Thus in Hamlet:The instances that second marriage move Are base respects of thrift, but none of love.' 5 Weak, silly. Cate. Ay, on my life; and hopes to find you for ward Upon his party, for the gain thereof: And, thereupon, he sends you this good news,- The kindred of the queen, must die at Pomfret. Cate. God keep your lordship in that gracious Hast. But I shall laugh at this a twelvemonth hence, That they, who brought me in my master's hate, Well, Catesby, ere a fortnight make me older, Hast. O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out Cate. 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 or, 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, yours; life as dear as you do And never, in my life, I do protest, Was it more precious to me than 'tis now: Stan. The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from Were jocund, and suppos'd their states were sure, 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. low. How now, Enter a Pursuivant. Hast. Go on before, I'll talk with this good fel[Exeunt STAN. and CATESBY. 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 I was going prisoner to the Tower, 6 Cross. 7 i.e. suspect it of danger. Thus in King Henry VI. Part III. :— the bird With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush.' 8 Know. By the suggestion of the queen's allies; Purs. God hold it9, to your honour's good con- Hast. Gramercy, fellow: There, drink that for me. [Throwing him his purse. Purs. I thank your honour. [Exit Pursuivant. Enter a Priest. Pr. Well met, my lord; I am glad to see your honour. . Hast. I thank thee, good Sir John 10, with all my heart. I am in your debt for your last exercise 11; Enter BUCKINGHAM 12. Buck. What, talking with a priest, lord chamberlain? Your friends at Pomfret, they do need the priest; Your honour hath no shriving 13 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? 9 That is continue it. 10 See note 1 on the first scene of The Merry Wives of Windsor. 11 Exercise probably means religious exhortation or lecture. Thus in Othello: 'Much castigation exercise devout.' 12 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. 13 Confession. 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. SCENE III. Pomfret. Before the Castle. Enter RATCLIFF, with a guard, conducting RIVERS, GREY1, 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! O 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: 1 Queen Elizabeth Grey is deservedly pitied for the loss of her two sons; but the royalty of their birth has so engrossed the attention of historians, that they never reckon into the number of her misfortunes the murder of this her second son, Sir Richard Grey. It is remarkable how slightly the death of Earl Rivers is always mentioned, though a man invested with such high offices of trust and dignity; and how much we dwell on the execution of the lord chamberlain Hastings, a man in every light his inferior. In truth, the generality draw their ideas of English story from the tragic rather than the historic authors.-Walpole. 2 The limit for the limited time. |