Brak. Had you such leisure in the time of death, To gaze upon these secrets of the deep? Clar. Methought, I had; and often did I strive Brak. Awak'd you not with this sore agony? Envi. grim ferryman.] The folio reads---four ferryman. STEEVENS. fleeting, perjura Clarence,] Fleeting is the fame as changing frules. Johnson. So, in Antony and Cleopatra : now the fleeting moon No planet is of mine. Clarence broke his oath with the earl of Warwick, and joined the army of his brother king Edward IV. SreeVENS. a legion of foul fiends Environd me, &c.] Milton seems to have thought on this passage where he is describing the midnight fufferings of Our Saviour, in the 4th book of Paradife Regaindi 6 nar Environ'd me, and howled in mine ears Brak. No marvel, lord, that it affrighted you; Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things,- [Clarence feeps. nor yet stay'd the terror there, " Infernal ghosts, and hellish furies, round “ Environ': thee, fome howl'd, fome yell'd, fome shriek'd" STEEVENS. 90 God! if my deep prayers &c.] The four following lines have been added since the first edition. Pope. • Sorrow breaks seasons, &c.] In the common editions, the keeper is made to hold the dialogue with Clarence till this line, And here Brakenbury enters, pronouncing these words; which seem to me a reflection naturally resulting from the foregoing conversation, and therefore continued to be spoken by the same perfon, as it is accordingly in the first edition. POPE. · Princes have but their titles for their glories, An outward honour, for an inward toil;] The first line may be understood in this fenfe, The glories of princes are nothing more than empty titles: but it would more impress the purpose of the speaker, and correspond better with the following lines, if it were read : Princes have but their titles for their troubles. Johnson. And, be And, 3 for unfelt imaginations, Enter the two Murderers. 1 Murd. Ho! who's here? Brak. What would'st thou, fellow ? and how cam'ft thou hither 2 Murd. I would speak with Clarence, and I came hither on my legs. Brak. What, so brief? dious: Brak. I am, in this, commanded to deliver 1 Murd. You may, fir; 'tis a point of wisdom : Fare you well. [Exit Brakenbury. 2 Murd. What, shall we stab him as he sleeps ? 1 Murd. No; he'll say, 'twas done cowardly, when he wakes. 2 Murd. When he wakes! why, fool, he shall never wake until the great judgment day. 1 Murd. Why, then he'll say, we stabb’d him sleeping 2 Murd. The urging of that word, judgment, hath bred a kind of remorse in me. 3 for unfelt imaginations, They often feel a world of refilifs cares:] They often suffer real miseries for imaginary and unreal gratifica, xions. Johnson, I Murd. I Murd. What ? art thou afraid ? 2 Murd. Not to kill him, having a warrant for it; but to be damn'd for killing him, from the which no warrant can defend ine. 1 Murd. I thought, thou had'st been resolute. i Murd. I'll back to the duke of Glofter, and tell him so. 2 Murd. Nay, I pr’ythee, stay a little : I hope, this compassionate humour of mine will change ; it was wont to hold me but while one would tell twenty. 1 Murd. How dost thou feel thyself now? 2 Murd. ʼFaith, some certain dregs of conscience are yet within me. 1 Murd. Remember our reward, when the deed's done. 2 Murd. Come, he dies; I had forgot the reward. 1 Murd. When he opens his purse to give us our reward, thy conscience flies out. 2 Murd. 'Tis no matter; let it go; there's few, or none, will entertain it. 1. Murd. What, if it come to thee again? 2 Murd. I'll not meddle with it, it is a dangerous thing, it makes a man a coward; a man cannot steal, but it aecuseth him; a man cannot swear, but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him : 'Tis a blushing shame-fac'd spirit, that mutinies in a man's bosom ; it fills one full of obstacles : it made me once restore a purse of gold, that by chance I found ; it beggars any man that keeps it : it is turn’d out of all towns and cities for a dangerous thing; and every man, that means to live well, endeavours to trust to himself, and live with out it. 1 Murd. 'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, persuading me not to kill the duke, 2 Murd, 2 Murd. 4 Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not : he would insinuate with thee, but to make thee figh. 1 Murd. I am strong fram’d, he cannot prevail with me. 2 Murd. - Spoke like a tall fellow, that respects his reputation. Come, thall we fall to work ? i Murd. Take him over the coftard with the hilts of thy sword, and then throw him into the malınseybutt, in the next room. 2 Murd. O excellent device ! and make a fop of him. 1 Murd. Soft! he wakes. 2 Murd. Strike. I Murd. No, ? we'll reason with him. Clar. Where art thou, keeper? give me a cup of wine. 1 Murd. You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon. Clar. In God's name, what art thou? 1 Murd. A man, as you are. Clar. But not, as I am, royal. i Murd. Nor you, as we are, loyal. Clar. Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are humble. + Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not: he would infia nuate with thee, &c.] One villain fays, Conscience is at his elbows, persuading him not to kill the duke. Tne other fays, take the devil into thy neärer acquaintance, into thy mind, who will be a match for thy conscience, and believe it not, Gr. It is plain then, that him in both places in the text should be it, namely, conscience. WARBURTON. Shakespeare so frequently uses both these pronouns indiscriminately, that no correction is neceffary. STEEVENS. 5 Spoke like a tall fellow,] The meaning of tall, in old English, is stout, daring, fearless, and strong. Johnson. the costard) i. e. the head, a name adopted from an apple shap'd like a man's head. So, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: « One and two rounds at his costard." Hence likewise the term costar-monger. STEEVENS. we'll reafor-] We'll talk. JOHNSON, I Murd. 6 |