1 Mur. We are, my lord; and come to have the warrant,

That we may be admitted where he is,

Glo. Well thought upon, I have it here about me; When you have done, repair to Crosby-place. But, firs, be fudden in the execution, Withal obdurate, do not hear him plead; For Clarence is well fpoken, and, perhaps, May move your hearts to pity, if you mark him. 1 Mur. Tut, tut, my lord, we will not ftand to prate,

Taikers are no good doers; be affur'd,

We go to ufe our hands, and not our tongues,
Glo, Your eyes drop mill-ftones, when fools' eyes
drop tears:

I like you, lads;-about your business straight;
Go, go, difpatch.

Į Mur. We will, my noble lord,

SCENE IV,

An apartment in the Tower.

Enter Clarence, and Brakenbury.

[Exeunt

Brak, Why looks your grace fo heavily to-day?
Clar. O, I have past a miserable night,
So full of fearful dreams, of ugly fights,
That, as I am a chriftian faithful man,

3

I would not fpend another fuch a night,
Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days;
So full of difmal terror was the time.

2 Your eyes drop mill-flones, when fools' eyes drop tears;] This, I believe, is a proverbial expreffion. It is ufed again in the tragedy of Cafar and Pompey, 1607:

3

"Men's eyes muft mill-flones drop, when fools fhed tears."

-faithful man,] Not an infidel, JOHNSON.

STEEVENS.

Brak,

Brak. What was your dream, my lord? I pray you, tell me.

Clar. Methought, that I had broken from the
Tower,

And was embark'd to crofs to Burgundy;
And, in my company, my brother Glofter:
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches; thence we look'd towards Eng-
land,

And cited up a thousand heavy times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster
That had befall'n us. As we pac'd along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought, that Glofter ftumbled; and, in falling,
Struck me, that thought to stay him, over-board,
Into the tumbling billows of the main.

O Lord! methought, what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noife of water in mine ears!
What fights of ugly death within mine eyes!
Methought, I faw a thoufand fearful wrecks;
A thousand men, that fifhes gnaw'd upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Ineftimable ftones, unvalued jewels 4,

All scatter'd in the bottom of the fea.

Some lay in dead men's fkulls; and, in those holes,
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept,
(As 'twere in fcorn of eyes) reflecting gems,
That woo'd the flimy bottom of the deep,.
And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by.

4 Inestimable ftones, unvalued jewels,] Unvalu'd is here used for invaluable. So, in Lovelace's Pofthumous Poems, 1659:

Again:

66

-the unvalew'd robe she wore

"Made infinite lay lovers to adore."

"And what fubftantial riches I poffefs,

"I muft to these unvalew'd dreams confefs." MALONE. 5 That woo'd the flimy bottom- ] By feeming to gaze

upon it; or, as we now fay, to ogle it. JOHNSON.

D 4

Brak.

Brak. Had you fuch leifure in the time of death, To gaze upon thefe fecrets of the deep?

Clar. Methought, I had; and often did I ftrive To yield the ghoft: but ftill the envious flood Kept in my foul, and would not let it forth To feek the empty, vaft, and wand'ring air; But fmother'd it within my panting bulk, Which almoft burft to belch it in the fea.

Brak. Awak'd you not with this fore agony?
Clar. O, no, my dream was lengthen'd after life;
O, then began the tempeft to my foul!

I pafs'd, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that grim ferryman" which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.

The first that there did greet my stranger foul,
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick;
Who cry'd aloud,-What Scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford falfe Clarence?
And fo he vanish'd: Then came wand'ring by
A fhadow like an angel, with bright hair.
Dabbled in blood; and he fhriek'd out aloud,-
Clarence is come,-falfe, fleeting, perjur'd Clarence,-
That ftabb'd me in the field by Tewksbury;-
Seize on him, furies, take him to your torments!-
With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends

6

Envie

grim ferryman.] The folio reads-four ferryman. STEEVENS.

fleeting, perjur'd Clarence,] Fleeting is the fame as changing fides. JOHNSON.

So, in Antony and Cleopatra:

now the fleeting moon

No planet is of mine.

Clarence broke his oath with the earl of Warwick, and joined the army of his brother king Edward IV. STEEVENS,

8 a legion of foul fiends
Environ'd me, &c.]

Milton feems to have thought on this paffage where he is defcribing the midnight fufferings of Our Saviour, in the 4th book of Paradife Regain'd:

nor

Environ'd me, and howled in mine ears
Such hideous cries, that, with the very noife,
I trembling wak'd, and, for a feafon after,
Could not believe but that I was in hell;
Such terrible impreffion made my dream.
Brak. No marvel, lord, that it affrighted you;
I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it.

Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things,That now give evidence against my foul,For Edward's fake; and, fee, how he requites me! O God! if my deep prayers cannot appeafe thee, But thou wilt be aveng'd on my mifdeeds,

Yet execute thy wrath on me alone :

O, fpare my guiltlefs wife, and my poor children!I pray thee, gentle keeper, ftay by me;

My foul is heavy, and I fain would fleep.

Brak. I will, my lord; God give your grace good

reft!

[Clarence fleeps. 'Sorrow breaks feafons, and repofing hours,

Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night.
Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil;

nor yet stay'd the terror there,

"Infernal ghofts, and hellish furies, round

Environ'd thee, fome howl'd, fome yell'd, fome fhriek'd-" STEEVENS.

O God! if my deep prayers &c.] The four following lines have been added fince the first edition. POPE.

• Sorrow breaks feasons, &c.] In the common editions, the keeper is made to hold the dialogue with Clarence till this line, And here Brakenbury enters, pronouncing these words; which seem to me a reflection naturally refulting from the foregoing converfation, and therefore continued to be spoken by the fame per fon, as it is accordingly in the first edition. POPE.

2 Princes have but their titles for their glories,

An outward honour, for an inward toil;]

The first line may be understood in this fenfe, The glories of princes are nothing more than empty titles: but it would more impress the purpose of the fpeaker, and correspond better with the following lines, if it were read:

Princes have but their titles for their troubles. JOHNSON.

And,

3

And, for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of restless cares :

So that, between their titles, and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.

Enter the two Murderers.

1 Murd. Ho! who's here?

Brak. What would'ft thou, fellow ? and how cam'st thou hither?

2 Murd. I would speak with Clarence, and I came hither on my legs.

Brak. What, fo brief?

1 Murd. O, fir, 'tis better to be brief, than tedious:

Shew him our commiffion, talk no more.

Brak. I am, in this, commanded to deliver
The noble duke of Clarence to your hands :-
I will not reafon what is meant hereby,
Because I will be guiltlefs of the meaning..
Here are the keys;-there fits the duke asleep:
I'll to the king; and fignify to him,

That thus I have refign'd to you my charge.

1 Murd. You may, fir; 'tis a point of wifdom: Fare you well. [Exit Brakenbury. 2 Murd. What, fhall we stab him as he fleeps ? 1 Murd. No; he'll say, 'twas done cowardly, when he wakes.

2 Murd. When he wakes! why, fool, he fhall never wake until the great judgment day.

I Murd. Why, then he'll fay, we stabb'd him sleeping.

2 Murd. The urging of that word, judgment, hath bred a kind of remorfe in me.

3 for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of reflefs cares:]

They often fuffer real miferies for imaginary and unreal gratifica tions. JOHNSON,

1 Murd.