I have been long a fleeper; but, I trust,
My abfence doth neglect no great defign,
Which by my prefence might have been concluded.
Buck. Had you not come upon your cue, my lord,
William lord Haftings had pronounc'd your part,—
I mean, your voice,-for crowning of the king.
Glo. Than my lord Haftings, no man might be
bolder;

His lordship knows me well, and loves me well.-
My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,
I faw good strawberries in your garden there;
I do befeech you, fend for föme of them.

8

Ely. Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart. [Exit Ely. Glo. Coufin of Buckingham, a word with you. Catesby hath founded Haftings in our business; And finds the tefty gentleman fo hot,

7 Had you not come upon your cue—] This expreffion is borrowed from the theatre. The cue, queue, or tail of a fpeech, confifts of the laft words, which are the token for an entrance or answer. To come on the cue, therefore, is to come at the proper time. JOHNSON.

8 I faw good ftrawberries] The reason why the bishop was dispatched on this errand, is not clearer in Holinthed, from whom Shakespeare adopted the circumftance, than in this fcene, where it is introduced. Nothing feems to have happened which might not have been tranfacted with equal fecurity in the prefence of the reverend cultivator of thefe ftrawberries, whofe complaifance is likewife recorded by the author of the Latin play on the fame fubject, in the Museum :

Elienfis antiftes venis? fenem quies,
Fuvenem labor decet: ferunt hortum tuum
Decora fraga plurimum producere.

EPISCOPUS ELIENSIS..

Nil tibi claudetur bortus quod meuş
Producit; effet lautius vellem mibi

Quo fim tibi gratus.

This circumftance of afking for the ftrawberries, however, may have been mentioned by the historians merely to fhew the unusual affability and good humour which the diffembling Glofter affected at the very time when he had determined on the death of Haftings.

G 3

STEEVENS.

That

That he will lose his head, ere give consent,
His master's child, as worshipfully he terms it,
Shall lofe the royalty of England's throne.
Buck. Withdraw yourself awhile, I'll go

with you, [Exeunt Glofter, and Buckingham. Stanl. We have not yet fet down this day of triumph. To-morrow, in my judgment, is too fudden; For I myself am not fo well provided, As elfe I would be, were the day prolong'd,

Re-enter Bishop of Ely.

Ely. Where is my lord protector? I have fent For thefe ftrawberries.

Haft. His grace looks chearfully and fmooth this morning;

There's fome conceit or other likes him well,
When he doth bid good morrow with fuch fpirit.
I think, there's ne'er a man in Christendom,
Can leffer hide his love, or hate, than he;
For by his face ftraight fhall you know his heart.
Stanl. What of his heart perceive you in his face,
By any likelihood he fhew'd to-day?

Haft. Marry, that with no man here he is offended; For, were he, he had fhewn it in his looks.

Re-enter Glofter, and Buckingham.

Glo. I pray you all, tell me what they deserve,
That do confpire my death with devilish plots
Of damned witchcraft; and that have prevail'd
Upon my body with their hellish charms?

Haft. The tender love I bear your grace, my lord, Makes me moft forward in this noble prefence

9

likelihood] Semblance; appearance. JOHNSON. So, in another of our author's plays:

-poor likelihoods, and modern feemings. STEEVENS.

To

To doom the offenders: Whofoe'er they be,
I fay, my lord, they have deferved death.

Glo. Then be your eyes the witness of their evil, Look how I am bewitch'd; behold, mine arm Is, like a blasted fapling, wither'd up :

And this is Edward's wife, that monftrous witch, Conforted with that harlot, ftrumpet Shore, That by their witchcraft thus have marked me.

Haft. If they have done this deed, my noble lord,Glo. If thou protector of this damned ftrumpet, Talk'st thou to me of ifs?-Thou art a traitor: Off with his head :-now, by faint Paul I swear, I will not dine until I fee the fame..

'Lovel, and Catefby, look, that it be done ;The reft, that love me, rife, and follow me.

[Exit Council, with Richard and Buckingham. Haft. Woe, woe, for England! not a whit for me; For 1, too fond, might have prevented this: Stanley did dream, the boar did rase his helm ; But I difdain'd it, and did scorn to fly.

Lovel, and Catesby, look, that it be done ;] In former copies:
Lovel, and Ratcliff, look, that it be done.

The scene is here in the Tower; and lord Haftings was cut off on that very day, when Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan fuffered at Pomfret. How then could Ratcliff be both in Yorkshire and the Tower? In the fcene preceding this, we find him conducting thofe gentlemen to the block. In the old quarto, we find it, Exeunt: Manet Catesby with Haftings. And in the next fcene, before the Tower walls, we find Lovel and Catefby come back from the execution, bringing the head of Haftings. THEOBALD. Mr. Theobald fhould have added, that, in the old quarto, no names are mentioned in Richard's fpeech. He only fays" fome fee it done." Nor, in that edition, does Lovel appear in the next scene; but only Catesby, bringing the head of Haftings. The confufion feems to have arifen, when it was thought neceflary, that Catesby fhould be employed to fetch the mayor, who, in the quarto, is made to come without having been fent for. As fome other perfon was then wanted to bring the head of Haftings, the poet, or the players, appointed Lovel and Ratcliff to that office, without reflecting that the latter was engaged in another fervice on the fame day at Pomfret. TYRWHITT.

Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble',
And ftarted, when he look'd upon the Tower,
As loth to bear me to the flaughter-house.
O, now I need the priest that fpake to me:
I now repent I told the purfuivant,
As too triumphing, how mine enemies
To-day at Pomfret bloodily were butcher'd,
And I myself fecure in grace and favour.
O, Margaret, Margaret, now thy heavy curfe
Is lighted on poor Haftings' wretched head.

Catef. Difpatch, my lord, the duke would be at dinner;

Make a short shrift, he longs to fee your head.

Haft. O momentary grace of mortal men, Which we more hunt for than the grace of God! 3 Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks, Lives like a drunken failor on a mast;

Ready, with every nod, to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep.

2 Three times to-day my foot-cloth horfe did stumble, &c.] So, in the Legend of Lord Haftings, by M. D.

My palfrey, in the plaineft paved fireet,

Thrice bow'd his bones, thrice kneeled on the floor,

Thrice fbunn'd (as Balaam's afs) the dreaded tower.

To ftumble was anciently esteem'd a bad omen. So, in the Honeft Lawyer. "And just at the threshold Master Bromley fumbled. Signs! figns!"

The boufings of a horse, and sometimes a horse himself, were anciently denominated a foot-cloth. So, in Ben Jonfon's play called The Cafe is Altered:

"I'll go on my foot-cloth, I'll turn gentleman." Again, in A fair Quarrel, by Middleton, 1617:

66

thou fhalt have a phyfician,

"The best that gold can fetch upon his foot-cloth." Again, in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1610:

nor fhall I need to try

"Whether my well-greas'd tumbling foot-cloth nag
"Be able to out-run a well-breath'd catchpole."

3 Who builds, &c.] So, Horace :

Nefcius auræ fallacis. JOHNSON.

STEEVENS.

Lov. Come, come, difpatch; 'tis bootlefs to exclaim.

Haft. Oh, bloody Richard !-miferable England! I prophefy the fearful'st time to thee,

That ever wretched age hath look'd upon.

Come, lead me to the block, bear him my head; They smile at me, who shortly shall be dead. [Exeunt.

Enter Glofter, and Buckingham, in rufty armour 4, marvellous ill-favour'd.

Glo. Come coufin, canft thou quake, and change thy colour?

Murder thy breath in middle of a word,-
And then again begin, and stop again,

As if thou wert diftraught, and mad with terror?
Buck. Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian;
Speak, and look back, and pry on every fide,
Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,
Intending deep fufpicion: ghaftly looks
Are at my service, like enforced smiles ;
And both are ready in their offices,

At any time, to grace my ftratagems.

But what, is Catesby gone

?

Glo. He is; and, fee, he brings the mayor along.

Enter the Lord Mayor, and Catesby.

Buck. Let me alone to entertain him.- Lord mayor!

-in rufty armour, &c.] Thus Holinshed: "-himselfe with the duke of Buckingham, ftood harneffed in old ill-faring briganders, fuch as no man should weene that they would vouchfafe to have put upon their backes, except that fome fudden neceffitie had conftreined them." STEEVENS.

Glo.