K. Edw. Is proclamation made, that, who But, if you ever chance to have a child,

Hard favour'd Richard? Richard, where art
thou ?
Thou art not here: Murder is thy alms-deed;
Petitioners for blood thou ne'er put'st back.

K. Edw. Away, I say: I charge ye, bear her
hence.

Q. Mar. So come to you and your's, as to this prince! [Exit, led out forcibly. K. Edw. Where's Richard gone ?

Clar. To London, all in post; and, as I guess, To make a bloody supper in the Tower.

K. Edw. He's sudden, if a thing comes in

his head.

sort

Now march we hence: discharge the common
With pay and thanks, and let's away to London,
And see our gentle queen how well she fares;
By this, I hope, she hath a son for me.
[Exeunt.

SCENE VI.-London. A Room in the
Tower.

King HENRY is discovered sitting with a
Book in his Hand, the Lieutenant attending.
Enter GLOSTER.

Glo. Good day, my lord! What, at your book

so hard?

K. Hen. Ay, my good lord: My lord, I should
say rather-

'Tis sin to flatter, good was little better:
Good Gloster and good devil were alike,
And both preposterous; therefore, not good

lord.

Glo. Sirrah, leave us to ourselves: we must [Exit Lieutenant. K. Hen. So flies the reckless shepherd from

confer.

the wolf:

So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece,
And next his throat unto the butcher's knife. -
What scene of death hath Roscius now to act?

Glo. Suspicion always haunts the guilty
mind;

The thief doth fear each bush an officer.

K. Hen. The bird that hath been limed in a
bush,
With trembling wings misdoubteth f every bush :
And I, the hapless male to one sweet bird,
Have now the fatal object in my eye,
Where my poor young was lim'd, was caught,

and kill'd.

Glo. Why, what a peevish fool was that of
Crete,

That taught his son the office of a fowl ?

And yet, for all his wings, the fool was

drown'd.

K. Hen. I, Dædalus; my poor boy, Icarus
Thy father, Minos, that denied our course;
The sun that sear'd the wings of my sweet boy,
Thy brother Edward; and thyself, the sea,
Whose envious gulf did swallow up his life.
Ah! kill me with thy weapon, not with words!
My breast can better brook thy dagger's point,
Than can my ears that tragic history.-

But wherefore dost thou come? is't for my life?
Glo. Think'st thou, I am an executioner ?
K. Hen. A persecutor, I am sure thou art;
If murdering innocents be executing,
Why, then thou art an executioner.

Glo. Thy son I kill'd for his presumption.

K. Hen. Had'st thon been kill'd, when first

thou didst presume,

Thou hadst not liv'd to kill a son of mine,
And thus I prophesy, that many a thousand,
Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear;
And maný an old man's sigh, and many a wi-
dow's,

And many an orphan's water-standing eye;
Men for their sons, wives for their husbands
fate,
And orphans for their parents' timeless death;

Shall rue the hour that ever thon wast born.
The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign;
The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time;
Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempests shook down

trees;

The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top,
And chattering pies in dismal discords sung.
Thy mother felt more than a mother's pain,
And yet brought forth less than a mother's
hope;

To wit, an indigest deformed lump,
Not like the fruit of such a goodly tree.
Teeth hadst thou in thy head, when thou wast
born,
To signify, thou cam'st to bite the world:
And, if the rest be true which I have heard,
Thou cam'st-

Glo. I'll hear no more;-Die, prophet, in thy
[Stabs him.
speech;
For this, amongst the rest, was I ordain'd.
K. Hen. Ay, and for much more slaughter
after this.

caster

mounted.

O God! forgive my sius, and pardon thee!
[Dies.
Glo. What, will the aspiring blood of Lan-
Sink in the ground? I thought it would have
See, how my sword weeps for the poor king's
O may such purple tears be always shed
From those that wish the downfal of our
house !-

death!

If any spark of life be yet remaining,
Down, down to hell; and say I sent thee thi-
[Stabs him again.
ther,
I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.-
Indeed, 'tis true, that Henry told me of;
For I have often heard my mother say,
I came into the world with my legs forward:
Had I not reason, think ye, to make haste,
And seek their ruin that usurp'd our right ?
The midwife wonder'd; and the women cried
O Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth!
And so I was; which plainly signified

That I should snarl, and bite, and play the
dog.

Then since the heavens have shap'd my body

SCENE VII.-The same. A Room in the
Palace.

King EDWARD is discovered sitting on his
Throne; Queen ELIZABETH with the infant
Prince, CLARENCE, GLOSTER, HASTINGS,
and others, near him.

K. Edw. Once more we sit in England's royal
throne,
Re-purchas'd with the blood of enemies.
What valiant foe-men, like to autumn's corn.
Have we mow'd down, in tops of all their
pride ?

Three dukes of Somerset, threefold renown'd

• To rook, signified to squat down or lodge on am 1 Select. thing.

LIFE AND DEATH

OF

KING RICHARD III.

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.

IN this very popular tragedy, there is another specimen of historical jumble, and poetical license. The second scene commences with the funeral of Henry VI. who is said to have been murdered in May, 1471, whilst the imprisonment of Clarence, which did not take place till 1478, is represented in the first. Thus the real length of time comprised in this drama, (dating from the former event) is fourteen years; as it concludes with the death of Richard, at Bosworth Field, in August, 1485. With respect to Richard's character, though grertly blackened by Lancasterian historians, he was certainly one of the most odious tyrants that ever obtained possession of a throne. Yet it appears from some accounts still preserved in the Exchequer, that King Henry lived twenty-two days after the time assigned for his pretended assassination; that his body lay in state at St. Paul's, and that it was afterwards interred at Chertsey, with much solemnity. Shakspeare has made the usurper deformed in figure, as well as in mind, though popular detestation had probably aggravated the traditionary story of his bodily defects. In this drama, the events appear admirably connected with, and consequential to, each other: the characters and incidents are natural; the sentiment and language free from bombast. But Malone and Dr. Johnson consider it as popular beyond its merits; with "some parts trifling, others shocking, and some improbable:" whilst Stevens maintains, that above all others the tragedy of Richard must command approbation, as it is indefinitely variegated, and comprehends every species of character---" the hero, the lover, the statesman, the buffoon, the hypocrite, and the hardened or repentant sinner." Its present success in representation, is, however, chiefly attributable to the admirable alterations of Colly Cibber, which evince a very extensive and settled knowledge of stage effect, and by which reformations the more valuable parts of the piece, could alone have attained their present effect and consequence. Shakspeare probably formed the play in 1591; though he is not supposed to have been indebted to any of the nume rous existing compositions on the same subject.