Even in the afternoon of her best days,
Made prize and purchase of his lustful eye,
Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts
To base declension and loathed bigamy:
By her, in his unlawful bed, he got

190

This Edward, whom our manners term the prince.

More bitterly could I expostulate,

Save that, for reverence to some alive,
I give a sparing limit to my tongue.
Then, good my lord, take to your royal self
This proffer'd benefit of dignity;

If not to bless us and the land withal,
Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry
From the corruption of abusing times,
Unto a lineal true-derived course.

200

May. Do, good my lord, your citizens entreat you. Buck. Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffer'd love. Cate. O, make them joyful, grant their lawful suit! Glou. Alas, why would you heap these cares on me?

I am unfit for state and majesty:

I do beseech you, take it not amiss; I cannot nor I will not yield to you. Buck. If you refuse it,-as, in love and zeal, Loath to depose the child, your brother's son; As well we know your tenderness of heart 210 189. "Bigamy," by a canon of the council of Lyons, A. D. 1274, (adopted by a statute in 4 Edw. I,) was made unlawful and infamous. It differed from polygamy, or having two wives at once; as it consisted in either marrying two virgins successively, or once marrying a widow.-H. N. H.

202, omitted in Qq.—I. G.

And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse,
Which we have noted in you to your kin,
And egally indeed to all estates,—

Yet whether you accept our suit or no,
Your brother's son shall never reign our king
But we will plant some other in the throne,
To the disgrace and downfall of your house:
And in this resolution here we leave you.
Come, citizens: 'zounds! I'll entreat no more.
Glou. O, do not swear, my lord of Buckingham. 220
[Exit Buckingham with the Citizens
Cate. Call them again, my lord, and accept their
suit:

Another. Do, good my lord, lest all the land do rue it.

Glou. Would you enforce me to a world of care! Well, call them again. I am not made of

stones,

But penetrable to your kind entreats,
Albeit against my conscience and my soul.

Re-enter Buckingham and the rest.

Cousin of Buckingham, and you sage, grave

men,

Since you will buckle fortune on my back,
To bear her burthen, whether I will or no,
I must have patience to endure the load:
But if black scandal or foul-faced reproach
Attend the sequel of your imposition,

230

220. Omitted in Ff., where the previous line reads, “Come, citi zens, we will entreat no more."-I. G.

224. "Stones"; the plural as well as the singular is Shakespearea in this sense.-C. H. H.

Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me
From all the impure blots and stains thereof;
For God he knows, and you may partly see,

How far I am from the desire thereof. May. God bless your grace! we see it, and will say it.

Glou. In saying so, you shall but say the truth.
Buck. Then I salute you with this kingly title:

Long live Richard, England's royal king! 240 May. and Cit. Amen.

Buck. To-morrow will it please you to be crown'd? Glou. Even when you please, since you will have

it so.

Buck. To-morrow then we will attend your grace;
And so most joyfully we take our leave.
Glou. Come, let us to our holy task again.

Farewell, good cousin; farewell, gentle friends.

[Exeunt.

240. "Richard, England's royal king”; so Qq.; Ff., "King Richard, England's worthie king."-I. G.

ACT FOURTH

SCENE I

Before the Tower.

Enter, on one side, Queen Elizabeth, Duchess of York, and Marquess of Dorset; on the other, Anne, Duchess of Gloucester, leading Lady Plantagenet, Clarence's young

Margaret
daughter.

Duch. Who meets us here? my niece Plantagenet Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Glouces

ter?

Now, for my life, she's wandering to the
Tower,

On pure heart's love to greet the tender princes.
Daughter, well met.

Anne.

God give your graces both A happy and a joyful time of day! Q. Eliz. As much to you, good sister! Whither away?

"Duchess of Gloster." We have not seen this lady since the second scene of the first Act, in which she promised to meet Richard at Crosby-place. She was married to him about the year 1472.-H. N. H.

2. "Niece"; that is, granddaughter. In Junius' Nomenclator, by Higgins, 1585, Nepos has no other explanation than "a nephew; that is, one's son's or daughter's child." The words grandson or granddaughter never occur in Shakespeare.-H. N. H.

7. “As much to you, good sister! Whither away?” the reading of Ff.; Qq., which omit 11. 2-6, read, "Sister, well met, whether awaie so fast?"-I. G.

Anne. No farther than the Tower, and, as I guess, Upon the like devotion as yourselves,

-10

To gratulate the gentle princes there. Q. Eliz. Kind sister, thanks: we'll enter all together.

Enter Brakenbury.

And, in good time, here the lieutenant comes.
Master lieutenant, pray you, by your leave,
How doth the prince, and my young son of
York?

Brak. Right well, dear madam. By your patience,
I may not suffer you to visit them;

The king hath straitly charged the contrary. Q. Eliz. The king! why, who's that?

Brak. I cry you mercy: I mean the lord protector. Q. Eliz. The Lord protect him from that kingly

title!

20

Hath he set bounds betwixt their love and me?
I am their mother; who should keep me from

them?

Duch. I am their father's mother; I will see them. Anne. Their aunt I am in law, in love their mother:

Then bring me to their sights; I'll bear thy blame,

14. "How doth the prince, and my young son of York?" so Ff.; Qq. read, "How fares the Prince?"-I. G.

15. "Right well, dear Madam. By your patience"; the reading of Ff.; Qq. read, "Well Madam, and in health, but by your leave.”— I. G.

18. "why, who's that?"; the reading of Qq.; Ff., "who's that?” – I. G.

25. "Then bring me to their sights"; so Ff.; Qq. read, “Then feare not thou."-I. G.