Mess. So it appears by that I have to say. First, he commends him to your noble self. Hast. What then? Mess. Then certifies your lordship, that this night He dreamt the boar had rased off his helm: Besides, he says, there are two councils kept; And that may be determin'd at the one, Which may make you and him to rue at th' other. Therefore, he sends to know your lordship's plea sure, If you will presently take horse with him, And with all speed post with him toward the north, Hast. Go, fellow, go; return unto thy lord. Tell him, his fears are shallow, without instance: say. 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. 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. Cate. Ay, on my life; and hopes to find you forward Upon his party for the gain thereof: And thereupon he sends you this good news,— Cate. God keep your lordship in that gracious mind. Hast. But I shall laugh at this a twelve-month hence, That they which brought me in my master's hate. Well, Catesby, ere a fortnight make me older, Cate. 'Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, When men are unprepar'd, and look not for it. Hast. O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey; and so 'twill do With some men else, who think themselves as safe As thou, and I; who, as thou know'st, are dear Cute. 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? 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 days, I do protest, Was it so precious to me as '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. 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 STANLEY and CATESBY. 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, 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: Grey. Now Margaret's curse is fall'n upon our heads, When she exclaim'd on Hastings, you, and I, Then curs'd she Hastings :-O, remember, God, Farewell, until we meet again in heaven. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-London. A Room in the Tower. 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 : 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; 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 But you, my honourable lords, may name the time; Enter GLOSTER. Ely. In happy time here comes the duke himself. Glo. My noble lords and cousins, all, good mor row. I have been long a sleeper; but, I trust, William lord Hastings had pronounc'd your part, Glo. Than my lord Hastings, no man might be His lordship knows me well, and loves me well. To-morrow, in my judgment, is too sudden; Re-enter the Bishop of ELY. Ely. Where is my lord, the duke of Gloster? I have sent for these strawberries. Hast. His grace looks cheerfully and smooth this morning: There's some conceit or other likes him well, By any livelihood 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 princely presence Glo. Then, be your eyes the witness of their evil. Look how I am bewitch'd; behold mine arm Glo. If! thou protector of this damned strumpet, [Exeunt Council, with GLOSTER and BUCK INGHAM. Hast. Woe, woe, for England! not a whit for me; For I, too fond, might have prevented this. Rat. Come, come; despatch, the duke would be at dinner: Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head. Hast. O, momentary grace of mortal men! Which we more hunt for than the grace of God. Who builds his hope in air of your good looks, Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast; Ready with every nod to tumble down Into the fatal bowels of the deep. Lov. Come, come, despatch: 'tis bootless to exclaim. Hast. O, bloody Richard!-miserable England! I prophesy the fearfull'st time to thee, ¡Exeunt thy colour, Murder thy breath in middle of a word, As if thou wert distraught, and mad with terror? At any time to grace my stratagems. Glo. He is; and, see, he brings the mayor along. Enter the Lord Mayor, and CATESBY. Buck. Lord mayor,— Glo. Look to the drawbridge there! Hark! a drum. Glo. Catesby, o'erlook the walls. Enter LovEL, and RATCLIFF, with HASTINGS' head. Glo. Be patient, they are friends; Ratcliff, and Lovel. Lov. Here is the head of that ignoble traitor, The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings. Glo. So dear I lov'd the man, that I must weep. I took him for the plainest harmless creature, So smooth he daub'd his vice with show of virtue, I mean his conversation with Shore's wife, He liv'd from all attainder of suspects. Buck. Well, well, he was the covert'st shelter'd traitor That ever liv'd.— Would you imagine, or alinost believe, Glo. What! think you we are Turks, or infidels? May. Now, fair befal you! he deserv'd his death; And your good graces both have well proceeded, To warn false traitors from the like attempts. Buck. I never look'd for better at his hands, After he once fell in with mistress Shore; Yet had we not determin'd he should die, Until your lordship came to see his end; Which now the loving haste of these our friends, Something against our meanings, hath prevented: Because, my lord, I would have had you heard The traitor speak, and timorously confess The manner and the purpose of his treasons; That you might well have signified the same Misconstrue us in him, and wail his death. May. But, my good lord, your grace's words shall serve, As well as I had seen, and heard him speak: With all your just proceedings in this case. To avoid the censures of the carping world. Glo. Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham. Tell them, how Edward put to death a citizen, Heir to the crown; meaning, indeed, his house, And bestial appetite in change of lust; wives, Even where his raging eye, or savage heart, Glo. If you thrive well, bring them to Baynard's castle; Where you shall find me well accompanied, [Exit BUCKINGHAM. Glo. Go, Lovel, with all speed to doctor Shaw,Go thou-[To CATESBY.]-to friar Penker:-bid them both Meet me within this hour at Baynard's castle. Now will I go, to take some privy order, SCENE VI.-A Street. Enter a Scrivener. Scriv. Here is the indictment of the good lord Which in a set hand fairly is engross'd, And yet within these five hours Hastings liv'd, [Exit. SCENE VII.-The Same. The Court of Baynard's Castle. Enter GLOSTER at one door, and BUCKINGHAM at another. Glo. How now, how now! what say the citizens? Buck. Now by the holy mother of our Lord, The citizens are mum, say not a word. GLO. Touch'd you the bastardy of Edward's children? Glo. Touch'd you the bastardy of Edward's children? Buck. I did; with his contract with Lady Lucy, And his contract by deputy in France: The insatiate greediness of his desires, And his enforcement of the city wives; His tyranny for trifles; his own bastardy, As being got, your father then in France; And his resemblance, being not like the duke. Withal I did infer your lineaments, Being the right idea of your father, Both in your form and nobleness of mind: Laid open all your victories in Scotland, I bade them that did love their country's good, Buck. No, so God help me, they spake not word; But, like dumb statues, or breathing stones, |