. Glo. Meantime, God grants that we have need of you: Our brother is imprison'd by your means, Myself disgrac'd, and the nobility Held in contempt; while great promotions Are daily given, to ennoble those That scarce, some two days since, were worth a noble. Q. Eliz. By Him, that rais'd me to this careful height From that contented hap which I enjoy'd, I never did incense his majesty Against the duke of Clarence, but have been My lord, you do me shameful injury, Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects. Glo. You may deny that you were not the cause Of my lord Hastings' late imprisonment. Riv. She may, my lord; for Glo. She may, lord Rivers ?—why, who knows not so? She may do more, sir, than denying that: She may help you to many fair preferments; And then deny her aiding hand therein, And lay those honours on your high desert. What may she not ?-She may, ay,-marry, may she,Rio. What, marry, may she? Glo. What, marry, may she? marry with a king, A bachelor, a handsome stripling too : I wis, your grandam had a worser match. Q. Eliz. My lord of Gloster, I have too long borne Your blunt upbraidings, and your bitter scoffs: By heaven, I will acquaint his majesty, Q. Mar. And lessen'd be that small, God, I beseech thee! Thy honour, state, and seat, is due to me.. Glo. What? threat you me with telling of the king? Tell him, and spare not: look, what I have said I will avouch, in presence of the king: I dare adventure to be sent to th' Tower, 'Tis time to speak, my pains are quite forgot.* [4] My labours; my toils JOHNSON. VOL. VII. B Q. Mar. Out, devil! I remember them too well :" Glo. Ere you were queen, ay, or your husband king, I was a pack-horse in his great affairs; A weeder-out of his proud adversaries, A liberal rewarder of his friends; To royalize his blood, I spilt mine own. Q. Mar. Ay, and much better blood than his, or thine. Glo. In all which time, you, and your husband Grey, Were factious for the house of Lancaster ;And, Rivers, so were you :-Was not your husband In Margaret's battle at Saint Alban's slain? Let me put in your minds, if you forget, What you have been ere now, and what you are; Withal, what I have been, and what I am. Q. Mar. A murd'rous villain, and so still thou art. Glo. Poor Clarence did forsake his father Warwick, Ay, and forswore himself,-which Jesu pardon !Q. Mar. Which God revenge! Glo. To fight on Edward's party, for the crown ; I would to God, my heart were flint like Edward's, I am too childish-foolish for this world. Q. Mar. Hie thee to hell for shame, and leave this world, Thou cacodæmon! there thy kingdom is. Riv. My lord of Gloster, in those busy days, Q.Eliz. As little joy, my lord, as you suppose Q. Mar. A little joy enjoys the queen thereof; I can no longer hold me patient. [Advancing. Hear me, you wrangling pirates, that fall out [5] This scene of Margaret's imprecations is fine and artful. She prepares the audience, like another Cassandra, for the following tragic revolutions. WARBURTON Which of you trembles not, that looks on me ? If not, that, I being queen, you bow like subjects; * Glo. Foul wrinkled witch, what mak'st thou in my sight? Q. Mar. But repetition of what thou hast marr'd; That will I make, before I let thee go. Glo. Wert thou not banished on pain of death? Q. Mar. I was; but I do find more pain in banishment, Than death can yield me here by my abode. A husband, and a son, thou ow'st to me,And thou, a kingdom;-all of you, allegiance: This sorrow that I have, by right is yours; And all the pleasures you usurp, are mine. Glo. The curse my noble father laid on thee,When thou didst crown his warlike brows with paper, And with thy scorns drew'st rivers from his eyes; And then, to dry them, gav'st the duke a clout, Steep'd in the faultless blood of pretty Rutland His curses, then from bitterness of soul Denounc'd against thee, are all fallen upon thee; And God, not we, hath plagu'd thy bloody deed. Q. Eliz. So just is God, to right the innocent. Hast. O, 'twas the foulest deed to slay that babe, And the most merciless, that e'er was heard of. Riv. Tyrants themselves wept when it was reported. Dors. No man but prophesy'd revenge for it. Buck. Northumberland, then present, wept to see it. Q. Mar. What! were you snarling all, before I came, Ready to catch each other by the throat, And turn you all your hatred now on me? Did York's dread curse prevail so much with heaven, Could all but answer for that peevish brat? Can curses pierce the clouds, and enter heaven?— [6] The merits of this scene are insufficient to excuse its improbability. Margaret, bullying the court of England in the royal palace, is a circumstance as absurd as the courtship of Gloster in a public street. STEEVENS. [7] To plague, in ancient language, is to punish. Hence the scriptural term-" the plagues of Egypt." STEEVENS. [8] Alluding to his luxurious life. JOHNSON. For Edward, my son, that was prince of Wales, Deck'd in thy rights, as thou art stall'd in mine! Glo. Have done thy charm, thou hateful wither'd hag. Q. Mar. And leave out thee? stay, dog, for thou shalt hear me.. If heaven have any grievous plague in store, On thee, the troubler of the poor world's peace! Q. Mar. Richard! Glo. Ha? Q. Mar. I call thee not. Glo. I cry thee mercy then; for, I did think, [9] The common people in Scotland have still an aversion to those who have any natural defect or redundancy, as thinking them mark'd out for mischief. STEEV. She calls him hog, as an apellation more contemptuous than boar, as he is elsewhere termed from his ensigns armorial. JOHNSON. That thou had'st call'd me all these bitter names. Glo. 'Tis done by me; and ends in-Margaret. Q. Eliz. Thus have you breath'd your curse against yourself. Q. Mar. Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune! Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider,' Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about? Fool, fool! thou whet'st a knife to kill thyself. The day will come, that thou shalt wish for me To help thee curse this pois'nous bunch-back toad. Hast. False-boding woman, end thy frantic curse; Lest, to thy harm, thou move our patience. Q. Mar. Foul shame upon you! you have all mov'd mine. Ri. Were you well serv'd, you would be taught your duty. Q. Mar. To serve me well, you all should do me duty, Teach me to be your queen, and you my subjects: O, serve me well, and teach yourselves that duty. Dors. Dispute not with her, she is lunatic. Q. Mar. Peace, master marquis, you are malapert: What 'twere to lose it, and be miserable! They that stand high, have many blasts to shake them; Glo. Good counsel, marry ;-learn it, learn it, marquis. Our aiery buildeth in the cedar's top, And dallies with the wind, and scorns the sun. Q. Mar. And turns the sun to shade ;-alas! alas !- Whose bright out-shining beams thy cloudy wrath Your aiery buildeth in our aiery's nest : O God, that see'st it, do not suffer it; As it was won with blood, lost be it so! [3] A bottled spider is a large, bloated, glossy spider; supposed to contain venom proportionate to its size. The expression occurs again in Act IV: "That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad." KITSON. [4] Her distress cannot prevent her quibbling. It may be here remarked, that the introduction of Margaret in this place, is against all historical evidence. She was ransomed and sent to France soon after Tewksbury fight, and there passed the re mainder of her wretched life. RITSON. [5] An aiery is a hawk's or an eagle's nest. STEEVENS. |