To day the Lords, you talk of, are beheaded.

Stan. They, for their truth, might better wear their heads,

Than fome, that have 'accus'd them, wear their hats. But come, my Lord, away.

Enter a Purfuivant.

Haft. Go on before, I'll talk with this good fellow. [Exeunt Lord Stanley and Catesby. Sirrah, how now? how goes the world with thee? Purf. The better, that your Lordship please to ask. Haft. I tell thee, man, 'tis better with me now, Than when thou met'ft me laft where now we meet; Then I was going prifoner to the Tower, By the fuggeftion of the Queen's allies. But now I tell thee, (keep it to thyself,) This day those enemies are put to death; And I in better ftate, than e'er I was.

Purf. God hold it to your Honour's good content! Haft. Gramercy, fellow; there, drink that for

me.

Purf. I thank

[Throws him bis purse. your Honour. [Exit Purfuivant.

Enter a Prieft.

Priest. Well met, my Lord, I'm glad to fee

Honour.

your

Haft. I thank thee, good Sir John, with all my

heart;

I'm in your debt for your laft exercise:

Come the next fabbath, and I will content you.

Enter Buckingham.

[He whispers.

Buck. What, talking with a Prieft, Lord Chamberlain?

Your friends at Pomfret they do need a Priest,
Your Honour hath no fhriving work in hand.
Haft. Good faith, and when I met this holy man,

The

The men, you talk of, came into my mind.
What, go you tow'rd the Tower?

Buck. I do, my Lord, but long I fhall not ftay: I fhall return before your Lordship thence.

Haft. Nay, like enough, for I itay dinner there. Buck. And fupper too, altho' thou know'ft it not.

Come, will you go?

Haft. I'll wait upon your Lordship.

[Afide.

[Exeunt.

Changes to Pomfret-Castle.

Enter Sir Richard Ratcliff, with halberds, carrying Lord Rivers, Lord Richard Gray, and Sir Thomas Vaughan to Death.

Rat. COME, bring forth the prisoners.

this,

Riv. Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee

To day fhalt thou behold a fubject die

For truth, for duty, and for loyalty.

Gray. God keep the Prince from all the pack of

you,

A knot you are of damned blood-fuckers.

Vaugh. You live, that shall cry woe for this hereafter.

Rat. Dispatch; the limit of your lives is out. Riv. O Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prifon, Fatal and ominous to noble Peers!

Within the guilty closure of thy walls

Richard the Second, here, was hack'd to death:
And, for more flander to thy dismal seat,

We give to thee our guiltless blood to drink.
Gray. Now Margret's curfe is fall'n upon our heads,
When the exclaim'd on Hastings, you, and I,
For ftanding by when Richard ftab'd her fon.

Riv. Then curs'd the Richard, curs'd the Buckingham,
Then curs'd the Haftings. O remember, God!
To hear her prayer for them, as now for us:
As for my fifter and her princely fons,

Be fatisfy'd, dear God, with our true blood:
Which, as thou know'ft, unjustly must be spilt.
Rat. Make hafte, the hour of death is now expir'd.
Riv. Come, Gray; come, Vaughan; let us all
embrace;

Farewel, until we meet again in heaven.

S CE NE V.

The TOWER.

[Exeunt.

Buckingham, Stanley, Haftings, Bishop of Ely, Catesby, Lovel, with others, at a table.

Haft. NOW, noble Peers, the cause why we are

met

Is to determine of the coronation:

In God's name speak, when is the royal day?
Buck. Are all things ready for that royal time?
Stanl. They are, and want but nomination.
Ely. To morrow then I judge a happy day.
Buck. Who knows the Lord Protector's mind
herein?

Who is most inward with the noble Duke?

Ely. Your Grace, we think, fhould fooneft know his mind.

1

Buck. We know each other's faces; for our hearts, He knows no more of mine, than I of yours; Nor I of his, my Lord, than you of mine: Lord Haftings, you and he are near in love. Haft. I thank his Grace, I know, he loves me well: But for his purpose in the Coronation, I have not founded him; nor he deliver'd His gracious pleasure any way therein:

But

But you, my noble Lord, may name the time,
And in the Duke's behalf I'll give my voice,
Which, I prefume, he'll take in gentle part.

Enter Gloucester.

Ely. In happy time here comes the Duke himself. Glo. My noble Lords and Coufins all, good morrow; I have been long a fleeper; but, I truft,

My abfence doth neglect no great defign;

Which by my presence might have been concluded.
Buck. Had you not come upon your cue, my Lord,
William Lord Haftings had pronounc'd your part;
I mean, your voice for crowning of the King.
Glo. Than my Lord Haftings no man might be
bolder,

His Lordship knows me well, and loves me well.
My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holbourn,
I faw good ftrawberries in your garden there;
I do befeech you, fend for fome of them.

Ely. Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart.
[Exit Ely.
Glo. Coufin of Buckingham, a word with you.
Catesby hath founded Haftings in our business,
And finds the tefty gentleman fo hot,

That he will lofe his head, ere give Confent,
His Master's Son, as worshipfully he terms it,
Shall lofe the Royalty of England's Throne.
Buck. Withdraw yourfelf a while, I'll go with you.
[Exeunt Glo. and Buck.
Stan. We have not yet fet down this day of Triumph:
To morrow, in my judgment, is too fudden;
For I myself am not fo well provided,
As elfe I would be, were the day prolong'd.

Re-enter Bishop of Ely.

Ely. Where is my lord the Duke of Gloucefter? I have fent for thele ftrawberries.

Haft. His Grace looks chearfully and smooth this morning;

There's fome conceit, or other, likes him well,
When that he bids good morrow with fuch fpirit.
'I think, there's ne'er a man in Christendom
Can leffer hide his love, or hate, than he;
For by his face ftrait fhall you know his heart.
Stan. What of his heart perceive you in his face,
By any likelihood he fhew'd to day?

Haft. Marry, that with no man here he is offended: For were he, he had fhewn it in his looks.

Re-enter Gloucester and Buckingham.

Glo. I pray you all, tell me what they deserve,
That do confpire my death with devilish plots
Of damned Witchcraft; and that have prevail'd
Upon my body with their hellifh Charms.

Haft. The tender love I bear your Grace, my lord,
Makes me moft forward in this Princely prefence,
To doom th' offenders, whofoe'er they be:
I fay, my lord, they have deferved death.

Glo. Then be your eyes the witness of their evil;
Look, how I am bewitch'd; behold, mine arm
Is, like a blafted Sapling, wither'd up:

And this is Edward's wife, that monstrous witch,
Conforted with that harlot, ftrumpet Shore,
That by their witchcraft thus have marked me.
Haft. If they have done this deed, my noble lord-
Glo. If? thou Protector of this damned ftrumpet,
Talk'ft thou to me of Ifs? thou art a traitor-
Off with his head-now, by St. Paul I fwear,
I will not dine until I fee the fame.

8 I think, there's ne'er a man &c.] This character is what Ennius gives of himself, and in the fame words, Eo ego ingenio natus fum, amicitiam atque inimicitiam in frontem promptam gero. Ap. Non in Inimic. But this is no imitation: For the thought, which is a common one, could hardly be expreffed otherwife.