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First Murd. Why, so he doth, when he delivers you

From this earth's thraldom to the joys of heaven.

Sec. Murd. Make peace with God; for you must die, my lord.

Clar. Have you that holy feeling in your souls,

To counsel me to make my peace with God,

250

And are you yet to your own souls so blind

That you will war with God by murdering me?
O sirs, consider, they that set you on

To do this deed, will hate you for the deed. Sec. Murd. What shall we do?

255

Clar.

Relent, and save your souls.

First Murd. Relent! no, 'tis cowardly and womanish.

Clar. Not to relent is beastly, savage, devilish.

Which of you, if you were a prince's son,

Being pent from liberty, as I am now,

260

If two such murderers as yourselves came to you,
Would not entreat for life?

My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks;

O, if thine eye be not a flatterer,

Come thou on my side, and entreat for me,
As you would beg, were you in my distress!
A begging prince what beggar pities not?

247. First Murd.] 1 Ff; 2 Qq. when] Ff; now Qq.
248. earth's] Ff; worlds Qq. 250.
252. are you.

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265

you] Ff; thee Qq. Have you your souls] Ff; Hast thou your own souls] Ff; art thou ... thy thou wilt Qq. by] for Qq 3-8.

254. O]

thy soule Qq. own soule Qq. 253. you will] Ff; Ff; Ah Qq. they] Ff; he Qq. 255. for the deed] Ff; for this deede Qq. 257-68. First Murd. Relent! no... my lord !] arranged as Steevens (Tyrwhitt conj.), Camb.; Ff. arrange thus, 259, 260, 261, 262, 266, 257, 258, 263, 264, 265, 267, 268; Qq. thus, 257, 258, 263, 264, 265, 267 [omitting 259-62, 266, 268]; Pope as Qq, but omitting 267. 257. no] Ff; omitted Qq. 258. devilish] Q 1, Ff; and diuelish Qq 2-8. 262. Would . life] Would... life, as you would begge, Were you in my distresse F; Would . . . life? Ah! you would beg, Were... distress Theobald. 263. thy] your Qq 6, 8. 264. thine] Ff; thy Qq. 266. As . . . distress] see line 262 above.

self to procure my delivery. So Kyd,
Spanish Tragedy, act iii. :-

My lord, I write as my extremes
require,

That you would labour my de-
livery

and Marlowe, Few of Malta, c. 1589-90,

act iii. :

"It is not yet long since

That I did labour thy delivery."

Compare Eastward Ho, act v.: "I do wonder... that you, being the keeper of a prison, should labour the release of your prisoners."

257-68. See Appendix I.

267. There is perhaps a reminiscence of this line in Chapman (?), Alphonsus, v. 2 (Shepherd, 413), where the Emperor says to his murderer, "Think what I am that beg my life of thee."

Sec. Murd. Look behind you, my lord!

First Murd. Take that, and that! [Stabs him] if all this will

not do,

I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt within.

270

[Exit, with the body.

Sec. Murd. A bloody deed, and desperately dispatch'd!

How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands

Of this most grievous murder

Re-enter First Murderer.

First Murd. How now! what mean'st thou that thou help'st

me not?

By heaven, the duke shall know how slack you have been!

Sec. Murd. I would he knew that I had sav'd his brother!

Take thou the fee, and tell him what I say;
For I repent me that the duke is slain.

First Murd. So do not I: go, coward as thou art!
Well, I'll go hide the body in some hole,
Till that the duke give order for his burial:
And, when I have my meed, I will away;
For this will out, and then I must not stay.

275

[Exit.

280

[Exit.

if all . . . do] Ff; if

269. Take that, and that] Ff; I thus, and thus Qq. this will not serue Qq; and, if this will not serve Capell. 270. drown you] Ff; chop thee Qq. within] Ff; in the next roome Qq. Exit, with the body] Steevens; Exit. Ff; omitted Qq. 271. dispatch'd] Ff; perform'd Qq. hands] Ff; hand Qq 1-7. 273. grievous murder] Ff; grievous guilty murder done Qq. Re-enter. ] Camb.; Enter. Ff; omitted Qq.

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now not] Ff (as prose); Why doest thou not helpe me Qq.

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272.

274. How 275. heaven] Qq 6-8, Ff; heavens Qq 1-5. you have been] Ff (as prose); thou art Qq. 280. Well, I'll go] Ff; Now must I Qq. the body] Ff; his body Qq. 281. Till that] Ff; Vntill Qq. give] Ff; take Qq. 282. will] Ff; must Qq. 283. then] Ff; here Qq. Exit.] Ff; Exeunt. Qq.

272. Compare Richard II. iv. i. 239.

ACT II

SCENE I.-London. The Palace.

Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD sick, QUEEN ELIZABETH, DORSET, RIVERS, HASTINGS, BUCKINGHAM, GREY, and others.

K. Edw. Why, so: now have I done a good day's work.
You peers, continue this united' league :

I every day expect an embassage

From my Redeemer, to redeem me hence;

And now in peace my soul shall part to heaven,
Since I have made my friends at peace on earth.
Rivers and Hastings, take each other's hand;
Dissemble not your hatred, swear your love.

Riv. By heaven, my soul is purg'd from grudging hate;
And with my hand I seal my true heart's love!

Hast. So thrive I, as I truly swear the like!

K. Edw. Take heed you dally not before your king;

5

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ACT 11. SCENE 1. Flourish.] Ff; omitted Qq. Enter King Edward . others.] Enter the King sicke, the Queene, Lord Marquesse Dorset, Riuers, Hastings, Catesby, Buckingham, Wooduill, Ff; Enter King, Queene, Hastings, Ryuers, Dorcet, &c. Qq (Qq 3-8 omit Dorcet). 1. Why, so] Why so Ff; So Qq. have I] Ff; I have Qq. 5. now in peace] Qq; more to peace Ff. part to] Qq 3-8, Ff; part from Qq I, 2. 6. made] Ff; set Qq. 7. Rivers and Hastings] 9. soul] Ff; heart Qq. II. truly] omitted Qq 3-8.

Qq; Dorset and Riuers Ff.

5. now in peace] Ff have evidently a printer's error for "". more in peace,' which is Steevens' reading.

7. Rivers and Hastings] Ff here are clearly wrong. The editor was probably misled by some marginal correction in his MS. Rivers and Hastings had been on bad terms. Rivers and Dorset, on the contrary, were uncle and nephew, and the leaders of the Woodville party. It is curious that the editor, who added

64

line 25 below, did not see that the present alteration was inappropriate.

8. Dissemble not your hatred] The meaning is obvious; but the phrase is capable of another interpretation. Malone's explanation is needlessly elaborate. The line may be paraphrased thus: Do not hide your hatred beneath a mere show of friendship; but swear truly to be friends.

Lest He that is the supreme King of kings
Confound your hidden falsehood, and award
Either of you to be the other's end.
Hast. So prosper I, as I swear perfect love!
Riv. And I, as I love Hastings with my heart!
K. Edw. Madam, yourself is not exempt from this,
Nor you, son Dorset ; Buckingham, nor you :
You have been factious one against the other.
Wife, love Lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand;
And what you do, do it unfeignedly.

Q. Eliz. There, Hastings; I will never more remember
Our former hatred, so thrive I and mine!

K. Edw. Dorset, embrace him; Hastings, love lord mar

quess.

Dor. This interchange of love, I here protest

Upon my part, shall be inviolable.

Hast. And so swear I.

15

20

25

[They embrace.

30

K. Edw. Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou this league

With thy embracements to my wife's allies,

And make me happy in your unity.

Buck. [To the Queen.] Whenever Buckingham doth turn his

hate

Upon your grace, but with all duteous love
Doth cherish you and yours, God punish me
With hate in those where I expect most love!

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35

from this] Ff; in this Qq. 19. you,] Ff; your Qq. 25. K. Edw. Dorset . . . marquess] King. Dorset Marquesse (two lines) Ff; omitted Qq. 26. This] 27. inviolable] Ff; unuiolable Qq. 28. swear I.] Qq. They embrace] Capell. 32. To the Queen.] grace] Ff; On you or yours Qq. but with all] and

20. factious] Johnson explains as "active" or urgent.' Mr. Craig suggests that the meaning here is "in active opposition." Probably the derived meaning "guilty of faction" is really implied.

ΙΟ.

30. embracements] Used again, Comedy of Errors, 1. i. 44; Troilus and Cressida, IV. V. 148; Henry VIII. 1. i. Decker, Bel-Man of London, speaks of branches of trees that "in their embracements held so fast together,

that their boughs made a goodlie greene roofe."

32-34. Pope's emendation of 34, mentioned above, avoids the difficulty of the passage, which seems to arise from the attempt to combine two strong asseverations, whose meaning is opposed, in one connected sentence. The doubtful passage in Winter's Tale, 1. ii. 459, 460, may be explained by a similar attempt to combine two opposite thoughts together.

When I have most need to employ a friend,
And most assured that he is a friend,
Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile,
Be he unto me! This do I beg of God,
When I am cold in love to you or yours.

40

[They embrace.

K. Edw. A pleasing cordial, princely Buckingham,
Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart.
There wanteth now our brother Gloucester here,
To make the blessed period of this peace.
Buck. And, in good time, here comes the noble duke.

Enter GLOUCESTER.

Glou. Good morrow to my sovereign king and queen;
And, princely peers, a happy time of day!

K. Edw. Happy indeed, as we have spent the day.
Gloucester, we have done deeds of charity,
Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate,
Between these swelling wrong-incensed peers.
Glou. A blessed labour, my most sovereign lord.
Among this princely heap, if any here,
By false intelligence, or wrong surmise,

40. love] Ff; zeale Qq.

45

50

39. God] Qq; heauen Ff. 44. blessed] Ff; perfect Qq. 45. And... duke] Qq; And in good time, Heere comes Sir Richard Ratcliffe, and the Duke (two lines) Ff. Enter Gloucester.] Qq (before 45); Enter Ratcliffe, and Gloster. Ff. 49. Gloucester] Gloster Ff; Brother Qq. 52. my] omitted Qq 3-8. lord] Ff; liege Qq.

37. most assured] i.e. I am most assured. The construction is ellip

tical.

45. The alteration in Ff of this line and the stage-direction following seems unnecessary. Ratcliff says and does nothing in what follows; nor is it likely that his name would be mentioned before Gloucester's, unless the metre made it unavoidable. But, since a whole line which was metrically perfect had to be altered into a line and a half, in order to introduce Ratcliff's name, the editor of F I must have had some ground to go upon. Probably his MS. contained the name of Ratcliff. But Ratcliff's silent part may have been omitted in the stage

53. Among] Ff; Amongst Qq.

performance, when there were not too many actors to spare; and so the passage passed into Qq, metrically emended, and in a more satisfactory form.

51. swelling] Compare Othello, II. iii. 57. But the metaphor in the present case is "swelling with wrath " rather than "swelling with ambition." See below, II. ii. 117.

53. heap] assembly (O.E. heap, a multitude). Compare Julius Cæsar, 1. iii. 23; Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, A. 575: "The wisdom of an heep of lerned men." New Eng. Dict. quotes Earl Rivers, Dictes and notable Wise Sayings of the Philosophers, 1477, p. 105: "A great heep of sheep."

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