And, in my company, my brother Gloster Upon the hatches; thence we looked toward England, During the wars of York and Lancaster, Methought that Gloster stumbled; and, in falling, O Lord! methought what pain it was to drown! All scattered in the bottom of the sea. Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in those holes Clar. Methought I had; and often did I strive ? Brak. Awaked you not with this sore agony the daughter and heir of the duke of Burgundy; but the match was opposed by Edward, who hoped to have obtained her for his brother-in-law, lord Rivers; and this circumstance has been suggested as the principal cause of the breach between Edward and Clarence. Mary of Burgundy, however, chose a husband for herself, having married, in 1477, Maximilian, son of the emperor Frederic. 1 Unvalued for invaluable. O, then began the tempest to my soul ! The first that there did greet my stranger soul, Brak. No marvel, lord, though it affrighted you! Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these thingsThat now give evidence against my soul For Edward's sake; and, see, how he requites me! Yet execute thy wrath on me alone; O, spare my guiltless wife, and my poor children.I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me; My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep. Brak. I will, my lord; God give your grace good rest! [CLARENCE reposes himself on a chair. Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours, Makes the night morning, and the noontide night. 1 Fleeting or flitting, in old language, was used for uncertain, inconstant, fluctuating. 2 The wife of Clarence died before he was apprehended and confined in the Tower. Princes have but their titles for their glories, They often feel a world of restless cares;1 Enter the Two Murderers. 1 Murd. Ho! who's here? Brak. What wouldst thou, fellow? and how cam'st thou hither? 1 Murd. I would speak with Clarence, and I came hither on my legs. Brak. What, so brief? 2 Murd. O, sir, 'tis better to be brief than tedious.— Let him see our commission; talk no more. [A paper is delivered to BRAKENBURY, who Brak. I am, in this, commanded to deliver That thus I have resigned to you my charge. 1 Murd. You may, sir; 'tis a point of wisdom. Fare you well. [Exit BRAKENbury. 2 Murd. What, shall we stab him as he sleeps? 1 Murd. No; he'll say, 'twas done cowardly, when he wakes. 2 Murd. When he wakes! why, fool, he shall never wake until the great judgment day. 1 Murd. Why, then he'll say, we stabbed him sleeping. 2 Murd. The urging of that word, judgment, hath bred a kind of remorse in me. 1 Murd. What? art thou afraid? 1 They often suffer real miseries for imaginary and unreal gratifications. 2 Murd. Not to kill him, having a warrant for it; but to be damned for killing him, from the which no warrant can defend me. 1 Murd. I thought thou hadst been resolute. 2 Murd. So I am, to let him live. 1 Murd. I'll back to the duke of Gloster, and tell him so. 2 Murd. Nay, I pr'ythee, stay a little. I hope this holy humor of mine will change; it was wont to hold me but while one would tell twenty. 1 Murd. How dost thou feel thyself now? 2 Murd. 'Faith, some certain dregs of conscience are yet within me. 1 Murd. Remember our reward, when the deed's done. 2 Murd. Come, he dies; I had forgot the reward. 1 Murd. Where's thy conscience now? 2 Murd. In the duke of Gloster's purse. 1 Murd. So, when he opens his purse to give us our reward, thy conscience flies out. 2 Murd. 'Tis no matter; let it go; there's few, or none, will entertain it. 1 Murd. What if it come to thee again? 2 Murd. I'll not meddle with it; it is a dangerous thing; it makes a man a coward; a man cannot steal, but it accuseth him; a man cannot swear, but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbor's wife, but it detects him. "Tis a blushing, shame-faced spirit, that mutinies in a man's bosom; it fills one full of obstacles; it made me once restore a purse of gold that by chance I found; it beggars any man that keeps it; it is turned out of all towns and cities for a dangerous thing; and every man that means to live well, endeavors to trust to himself, and live without it. 1 Murd. 'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, persuading me not to kill the duke. 2 Murd. Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not; he would insinuate with thee, but to make thee sigh. 1 Murd. I am strong-framed; he cannot prevail with me. 2 Murd. Spoke like a tall1 fellow, that respects his reputation. Come, shall we fall to work? 1 Murd. Take him over the costard2 with the hilts of thy sword, and then throw him into the malmsey butt, in the next room. 2 Murd. O, excellent devise! and make a sop of him. 1 Murd. Soft! he wakes. 2 Murd. Strike. 1 Murd. No, we'll reason with him. Clar. Where art thou, keeper? give me a cup of wine. 1 Murd. You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon. Clar. In God's name, what art thou? 1 Murd. A man, as you are. Clar. But not, as I am, royal. 1 Murd. Nor you, as we are, loyal. Clar. Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are humble. 1 Murd. My voice is now the king's, my looks, mine own. Clar. How darkly, and how deadly dost thou speak! Your eyes do menace me. Why look you pale? Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you come? Both Murd. To, to, to,Clar. To murder me? Both Murd. Ay, ay. Clar. You scarcely have the hearts to tell me so, And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it. Wherein, my friends, have I offended you? 1 Murd. Offended us you have not, but the king. Clar. I shall be reconciled to him again. 2 Murd. Never, my lord; therefore prepare to die. Clar. Are you called forth from out a world of men, To slay the innocent? What is my offence? Where is the evidence that doth accuse me? What lawful quest3 have given their verdict up 1 i. e. a bold, courageous fellow. 2 Head. 3 Quest was the term for a jury. "A quest of twelve men, Duodecim viratus."-Baret. Shakspeare has followed the current tale of his own time. But the truth is, that Clarence was tried and found guilty by his peers, and a bill |