So will I triumph o'er this wanton king ;
And he shall follow my proud chariot's wheels.
Now do I but begin to look about,

And all my former time was spent in vain.
Hold, sword,

For in thee is the Duke of Guise's hope.

Re-enter THIRD MURDErer.

Villain, why dost thou look so ghastly? speak. THIRD MURD. Oh, pardon me, my Lord of Guise! GUISE. Pardon thee! why, what hast thou done? THIRD MURD. Oh, my lord, I am one of them that is set to murder you!

GUISE. To murder me, villain!

THIRD MURD. Ay, my lord: the rest have ta'en their standings in the next room; therefore, good my lord, go not forth.

GUISE. Yet Cæsar shall go forth.

Let mean conceits, and baser men fear death:
Tut, they are peasants; I am Duke of Guise;
And princes with their looks engender fear.

FIRST MURD. [within.] Stand close; he is coming;
I know him by his voice.

GUISE. As pale as ashes!

look about.

nay, then, 'tis time to

* As pale as ashes!] A little above, Guise has said to the Third Murderer, "Why dost thou look so ghastly ?" but, most probably, he is now speaking of his own appearance, which we may suppose that he sees in a mirror. “A peine il [Guise] fut entré, que, soit indisposition naturelle, soit frayeur, fruit

Enter FIRST and SECOND Murderers.

FIRST and SEC. MURDERERS. Down with him, down with him! [They stab GUISE. GUISE. Oh, I have my death's wound! give me leave to speak.

SEC. MURD. Then pray to God, and ask forgiveness of the king.

GUISE. Trouble me not; I ne'er offended him,
Nor will I ask forgiveness of the king.

Oh, that I have not power to stay my life,
Nor immortality to be reveng❜d!
To die by peasants, what a grief is this!
Ah, Sextus, be reveng'd upon the king!
Philip and Parma, I am slain for you!
Pope, excommunicate, Philip, depose

The wicked branch of curs'd Valois his line!
Vive la messe! perish Huguenots!

Thus Cæsar did go forth, and thus he died. [Dies.

Enter the CAPTAIN of the Guard.

CAP. What, have you done?

Then stay a while, and I'll go call the king.
But see, where he comes.

de la réflexion, il devint pâle, et se plaignit d'un mal de cœur. Quelques confortatifs le remirent," &c. Anquetil,—Hist. de France, t. v. 463, ed. 1817.

+ Enter First, &c.] Here (as is evident from what precedes and follows) the scene is supposed to be changed to the adjoining room.

Enter KING HENRY, EPERNOUN, and Attendants.

My lord, see, where the Guise is slain.

HENRY. Ah, this sweet sight is physic to my soul ! Go, fetch his son for to behold his death.

[Exit an Attendant. Surcharg'd with guilt of thousand massacres, Monsieur of Lorraine, sink away to hell! And, in remembrance of those bloody broils, To which thou didst allure me, being alive, And here, in presence of you all, I swear, I ne'er was king of France until this hour. This is the traitor that hath spent my gold In making foreign wars and civil broils. Did he not draw a sort* of English priests From Douay to the seminary at Rheims, To hatch forth treason 'gainst their natural queen? Did he not cause the king of Spain's huge fleet To threaten England, and to menace me? Did he not injure Monsieur that's deceas'd? Hath he not made me, in the Pope's defence, To spend the treasure, that should strength my land, In civil broils between Navarre and me?

Tush, to be short, he meant to make me monk,

Or else to murder me, and so be king.

Let Christian princes, that shall hear of this,
(As all the world shall know our Guise is dead,)
Rest satisfied with this, that here I swear,

sort] i. e. set.

Ne'er was there king of France so yok'd as I!
EPER. My lord, here is his son.

Enter GUISE'S SON.

HENRY. Boy, look, where your father lies.

G.'s SON. My father slain! who hath done this deed ?

HENRY. Sirrah, 'twas I that slew him; and will

slay

Thee too, an thou prove such a traitor.

G.'s SoN. Art thou king, and hast done this bloody deed?

I'll be reveng'd.

[Offers to throw his dagger. HENRY. Away to prison with him! I'll clip his

wings

Or ere he pass my hands. Away with him!

[Some of the Attendants bear off GUISE'S SON. But what availeth that this traitor's dead, When Duke Dumaine, his brother, is alive, And that young cardinal that is grown so proud? Go to the governor of Orleans,

And will* him, in my name, to kill the duke.

[To the CAPTAIN of the GUARD.

Get you away, and strangle the cardinal.

[To the MURDerers.

[Exeunt CAPTAIN of the GUARD and MURDERErs.

These two will make one entire Duke of Guise,

Especially with our old mother's help.

* will] i. e. desire.

EPER. My lord, see, where she comes, as if she droop'd

To hear these news.

HENRY. And let her droop; my heart is light
enough.

Enter CATHERINE the QUEEN Mother.
Mother, how like you this device of mine?
I slew the Guise, because I would be king.
CATH. King! why, so thou wert before:
Pray God thou be a king now this is done!
HENRY. Nay, he was king, and countermanded me:
But now I will be king, and rule myself,
And make the Guisians stoop that are alive.
CATH. I cannot speak for grief.-When thou wast
born,

I would that I had murder'd thee, my son!
My son! thou art a changeling, not my son:
I curse thee, and exclaim thee miscreant,
Traitor to God and to the realm of France!

HENRY. Cry out, exclaim, howl till thy throat be hoarse!

The Guise is slain, and I rejoice therefore:
And now will I to arms.-Come, Epernoun,
And let her grieve her heart out, if she will.

[Exit with EPernoun.

CATH. Away! leave me alone to meditate.

[Exeunt Attendants.

Sweet Guise, would he had died, so thou wert here! To whom shall I bewray my secrets now,