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Brak. Had you fuch leifure in the time of death, To gaze upon thefe fecrets of the deep?

Clar. Methought, I had; and often did I ftrive
To yield the ghoft: but ftill the envious flood
Kept in my foul, and would not let it forth
To feek the empty, vaft, and wand'ring air;
But fmother'd it within my panting bulk,
Which almoft burst to belch it in the fea.

Brak. Awak'd you not with this fore agony?
Clar. O, no, my dream was lengthen'd after life;
O, then began the tempeft to my foul!

I pafs'd, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that grim ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.

The first that there did greet my ftranger foul,
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick;
Who cry'd aloud,-What Scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford falje Clarence?
And so he vanish'd: Then came wand'ring by
A fhadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he fhriek'd out aloud,-
Clarence is come,-falfe, fleeting, perjur'd Clarence,-
That ftabb'd me in the field by Tewksbury;-
Seize on him, furies, take him to your torments!-
With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends *

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Envi

grim ferryman.] The folio reads four ferryman. STEEVENS.

-fleeting, perjur'd Clarence,] Fleeting is the fame as changing fides. 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. STEEVENS.

a legion of foul fiends Environ'd me, &c.]

Milton feems to have thought on this paffage where he is defcribing the midnight fufferings of Our Saviour, in the 4th book of Paradife Regain'd:

66 -nar

Environ'd me, and howled in mine ears
Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise,
I trembling wak'd, and, for a feafon after,
Could not believe but that I was in hell;
Such terrible impreffion made my dream.
Brak. No marvel, lord, that it affrighted you;
I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it.

Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things,That now give evidence against my soul,

For Edward's fake; and, fee, how he requites me! 9 O God! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee, But thou wilt be aveng'd on my misdeeds,

Yet execute thy wrath on me alone :

O, fpare my guiltlefs wife, and my poor children!I pray thee, gentle keeper, ftay by me;

My foul is heavy, and I fain would fleep.

Brak. I will, my lord; God give your grace good reft![Clarence fleeps. Sorrow breaks feafons, and repofing hours,

Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night. 2 Princes have but their titles for their glories,

An outward honour for an inward toil ;

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nor yet stay'd the terror there,

"Infernal ghofts, and hellish furies, round

Environ'd thee, fome howl'd, fome yell'd, fome fhriek'd-" STEEVENS.

9 O God! if my deep prayers &c.] The four following lines have been added fince the first edition. PoPE.

• Sorrow breaks feafons, &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 feem to me a reflection naturally refulting from the foregoing converfation, and therefore continued to be fpoken by the fame perfon, as it is accordingly in the first edition. POPE.

2 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 imprefs the purpose of the speaker, and correspond better with the following lines, if it were read:

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Princes have but their titles for their troubles. JOHNSON.

And,

And, for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of restless cares:
So that, between their titles, and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.

Enter the two Murderers.

1 Murd. Ho! who's here?

Brak. What would'st thou, fellow ? and how cam'st thou hither?

2 Murd. I would fpeak with Clarence, and I came hither on my legs.

Brak. What, so brief?

1 Murd. O, fir, 'tis better to be brief, than tedious:

Shew him our commiffion, talk no more.

Brak. I am, in this, commanded to deliver
The noble duke of Clarence to your hands:-
I will not reafon what is meant hereby,
Because I will be guiltlefs of the meaning.
Here are the keys;-there fits the duke asleep:
I'll to the king; and fignify to him,

That thus I have refign'd to you my charge.

1 Murd. You may, fir; 'tis a point of wisdom : Fare you well. [Exit Brakenbury. 2 Murd. What, fhall we ftab him as he fleeps? 1 Murd. No; he'll fay, 'twas done cowardly, when he wakes.

2 Murd. When he wakes! why, fool, he fhall never wake until the great judgment day.

1 Murd. Why, then he'll fay, we ftabb'd him sleeping.

2 Murd. The urging of that word, judgment, hath bred a kind of remorfe in me.

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-for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of refilefs cares:]

They often fuffer real miferies for imaginary and unreal gratifica, sions. JOHNSON.

1 Murd.

1 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 me.

I Murd. I thought, thou had'ft been refolute.

2 Murd. So I am, to let him live.

1 Murd. I'll back to the duke of Glofter, and tell him fo.

2 Murd. Nay, I pr'ythec, ftay a little: I hope, this compaffionate humour of mine will change; it was wont to hold me but while one would tell twenty.

I Murd. How doft thou feel thyself now?

2 Murd. 'Faith, fome certain dregs of conscience are yet within me.

i Murd. Remember our reward, when the deed's done.

2 Murd. Come, he dies; I had forgot the reward. 1 Murd. Where's thy confcience now?

2 Murd. In the duke of Glofter's purse.

I Murd. When he opens his purfe to give us our reward, thy confcience 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 fteal, but it accuseth him; a man cannot fwear, but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him: 'Tis a blufhing fhame-fac'd spirit, that mutinies in a man's bofom; it fills one full of obftacles: 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 truft to himself, and live without it.

1 Murd. 'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, perfuading me not to kill the duke,

2 Murd.

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2 Murd. Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him not he would infinuate with thee, but to make thee figh.

1 Murd. I am strong fram'd, he cannot prevail with me.

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2 Murd. Spoke like a tall fellow, that refpects his reputation. Come, fhall we fall to work?

1 Murd. Take him over the coftard with the hilts of thy fword, and then throw him into the malmfeybutt, in the next room.

2 Murd. O excellent device! and make a fop of him.

1 Murd. Soft! he wakes.

2 Murd. Strike.

1 Murd. No, 7 we'll reason with him.

Clar. Where art thou, keeper? give me a cup of wine.

1 Murd. You fhall have wine enough, my lord,

anon.

Clar. In God's name, what art thou?

I Murd. A man, as you are.

Clar. But not, as I am, royal.

1 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 infinuate with thee, &c.] One villain fays, Confcience is at his elbows, perfuading him not to kill the duke. The other fays, take the devil into thy nearer acquaintance, into thy mind, who will be a match for thy confcience, and believe it not, &c. It is plain then, that bim in both places in the text should be it, namely, confcience. WARBURTON.

Shakespeare fo frequently ufes both these pronouns indifcriminately, that no correction is neceffary. STEEVENS.

5 Spoke like a tall fellow,] The meaning of tall, in old English, is fout, daring, fearless, and frong. JOHNSON.

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6 the coftard] i. e. the head, a name adopted from an apple fhap'd like a man's head. So, in Arden of Feversham, 1592: "One and two rounds at his coftard.' Hence likewife the term coftar-monger. STEEVENS. we'll reafon] We'll talk, JOHNSON.

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1 Murd.

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