Cate. Ay, on my life; and hopes to find

ward

Upon his party, for the gain thereof:

you

And thereupon he sends you this good news, -
That this same very day your enemies,

for

The kindred of the queen, must die at Pomfret.
Hast. Indeed, I am no mourner for that news,
Because they have been still my adversaries;
But, that I'll give my voice on Richard's side,
To bar my master's heirs in true descent,
God knows, I will not do it, to the death.

Cate. God keep your lordship in that gracious mind!

Hast. But I shall laugh at this a twelvemonth hence,

That they which brought me in my master's hate,
I live to look upon their tragedy. -

Well, Catesby, ere a fortnight make me older,
I'll send some packing that yet think not on't.
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
To princely Richard, and to Buckingham.

.

Cate. The princes both make high account of you; Aside.] For they account his head upon the bridge. 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?

Stan. My lord, good morrow:-good morrow Catesby.

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,
And they, indeed, had no cause to mistrust;
But yet, you see, how soon the day o'ercast.
'This sudden stab of rancour I misdoubt:
Pray God, I say, I prove a needless coward!
What! shall we toward the Tower? the day is spent.
Hast. Come, come, have with you.

what, my lord?

Wot you

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.

low.

Enter a Pursuivant.

Hast. Go on before; I'll talk with this good fel· [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 mett'st me last, where now we meet

So in the folio, meaning, of course, “as dear as you do yours,” which is in fact the reading of the quartos. In the next line the quartos have life instead of days.

H.

6 So the folio; the quartos, -"Was it more precious to me

than 'tis now."

H.

Then was I going prisoner to the Tower,
By the suggestion 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 state than ere I was.

Purs. God hold it,' to your honour's good con tent!

Hast. Gramercy, fellow: There, drink that for

me.

[Throwing him his Purse.

[Exit.

Purs. I thank your honour.

Enter a Priest.

Priest. Well met, my lord; I am glad to see your honour.

8

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

heart.

I am in your debt for your last exercise;'
Come the next Sabbath, and I will content you.
Priest. I'll wait upon your lordship.

That is, God continue it. The incident of this passage is told with great spirit by the historian: " Upon the verie Tower wharfe, so neare the place where his head was off soone after, there met he with one Hastings, a pursevant of his owne name And at their meeting he was put in remembrance of another time in which it had happened them before to meet in the same place And therefore he said,. - Ha! Hastings, art thou remembred when I met thee here once with an heavie heart? Yea, my good lord, quoth he, that I remember well, and thanked be God, they gat no good, nor you no harme thereby. Thou wouldest say so, quoth he, if thou knewest as much as I know, which few know else as yet, and mo shall shortlie. That meant he by the lords of the queenes kinred, that should that daie be beheaded at Pomfret. In faith, man, quoth he, I was never so sorie, nor never stood in so great dread in my life, as I did when thou and I met here. And lo, how the world is turned! now stand mine enimies in the danger, and I never in my life so merrie, nor never in so great suertie."

See The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i. sc. 1, note 1. • Exercise probably means religious instruction.

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Enter BUCKINGHAM.

Buck. What! talking with a priest, lord chamberlain?

Your friends at Pomfret, they do need the priest: Your honour hath no shriving work in hand.

Hast. 'Good faith, and when I met this holy man, The men you talk of came into my mind. What! go you toward the Tower?

Buck. I do, my lord; but long I cannot stay there :

I shall return before your lordship thence.

Hast. Nay, like enough, for I stay dinner there. Buck. [Aside.] And supper too, although thou know'st it not.

Come, will you go?
Hast.

I'll wait upon your lordship." [Exeunt.

10 More relates this interview as occurring between Hastings and a knight whose name is not given, describing him as " a meane man at that time, and now of great authoritie:" "This knight, when it happened the lord chamberlaine by the waie to staie his horsse and common a while with a priest whome he met in the Tower street, brake his tale, and said merilie to him,- What, my lord! I pray you, come on; whereto talke you so long with that priest? you have no need of a priest yet; and therewith he laughed upon him, as though he would say,-Ye shall have soone. But so little wist the tother what he ment, and so little mistrusted that he was never merier, nor never so full of good hope in his life, which self thing is oft seene a signe of change." It appears. from other authority, that the knight, whose part is here assigned to Buckingham, was Sir Thomas Howard, afterwards earl of Surrey.

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1

SCENE III. Pomfret. Before the Castle.

Enter RATCLIFF, with a Guard, conducting RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN, to Execution.

Riv. Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this, To-day shalt thou behold a subject die For truth, for duty, and for loyalty.

1

Grey. God bless the prince from all the pack of you!

A knot you are of damned blood-suckers.

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

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:

And, for more slander to thy dismal seat,

We give to thee our guiltless blood to drink.
Grey. Now Margaret's curse is fallen upon our
heads,

When she exclaim'd on Hastings, you, and I,
For standing by when Richard stabb'd her son.
Riv. Then curs'd she Richard, then curs'd she
Buckingham,

Then curs'd she Hastings:-O, remember, God,
To hear her prayer for them, as now for us!

166

1. So the folio; the quartos, "God keep the prince." - In the quartos this scene opens with Ratcliff saying, - Come, bring forth the prisoners." In the folio the stage-direction is such as to dispense with the line, and it is omitted accordingly. This line and the preceding are not in the quartos The same of the second line in Grey's next speech.

2 Limit for limited time.

H.

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