History of Richard III (1592-3)

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Title Variant: The Tragedy of Richard the Third
Online Critical Edition in Progress - Version 1.b.
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Act III, Scene 1

London. A street.

Duke of Buckingham
Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your chamber.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts' sovereign
The weary way hath made you melancholy.

Prince Edward
No, uncle; but our crosses on the way
Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy
I want more uncles here to welcome me.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Sweet prince, the untainted virtue of your years
Hath not yet dived into the world's deceit
Nor more can you distinguish of a man
Than of his outward show; which, God he knows,
Seldom or never jumpeth with the heart.
Those uncles which you want were dangerous;
Your grace attended to their sugar'd words,
But look'd not on the poison of their hearts :
God keep you from them, and from such false friends!

Prince Edward
God keep me from false friends! but they were none.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
My lord, the mayor of London comes to greet you.

Lord Mayor of London
God bless your grace with health and happy days!

Prince Edward
I thank you, good my lord; and thank you all.
I thought my mother, and my brother York,
Would long ere this have met us on the way
Fie, what a slug is Hastings, that he comes not
To tell us whether they will come or no!

Duke of Buckingham
And, in good time, here comes the sweating lord.

Prince Edward
Welcome, my lord: what, will our mother come?

Lord Hastings
On what occasion, God he knows, not I,
The queen your mother, and your brother York,
Have taken sanctuary: the tender prince
Would fain have come with me to meet your grace,
But by his mother was perforce withheld.

Duke of Buckingham
Fie, what an indirect and peevish course
Is this of hers! Lord cardinal, will your grace
Persuade the queen to send the Duke of York
Unto his princely brother presently?
If she deny, Lord Hastings, go with him,
And from her jealous arms pluck him perforce.

Cardinal Bourchier
My Lord of Buckingham, if my weak oratory
Can from his mother win the Duke of York,
Anon expect him here; but if she be obdurate
To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid
We should infringe the holy privilege
Of blessed sanctuary! not for all this land
Would I be guilty of so deep a sin.

Duke of Buckingham
You are too senseless--obstinate, my lord,
Too ceremonious and traditional
Weigh it but with the grossness of this age,
You break not sanctuary in seizing him.
The benefit thereof is always granted
To those whose dealings have deserved the place,
And those who have the wit to claim the place:
This prince hath neither claim'd it nor deserved it;
And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it:
Then, taking him from thence that is not there,
You break no privilege nor charter there.
Oft have I heard of sanctuary men;
But sanctuary children ne'er till now.

Cardinal Bourchier
My lord, you shall o'er-rule my mind for once.
Come on, Lord Hastings, will you go with me?

Lord Hastings
I go, my lord.

Prince Edward
Good lords, make all the speedy haste you may.
[Exeunt CARDINAL and HASTINGS]
Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come,
Where shall we sojourn till our coronation?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Where it seems best unto your royal self.
If I may counsel you, some day or two
Your highness shall repose you at the Tower:
Then where you please, and shall be thought most fit
For your best health and recreation.

Prince Edward
I do not like the Tower, of any place.
Did Julius Caesar build that place, my lord?

Duke of Buckingham
He did, my gracious lord, begin that place;
Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified.

Prince Edward
Is it upon record, or else reported
Successively from age to age, he built it?

Duke of Buckingham
Upon record, my gracious lord.

Prince Edward
But say, my lord, it were not register'd,
Methinks the truth should live from age to age,
As 'twere retail'd to all posterity,
Even to the general all-ending day.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
[Aside] So wise so young, they say, do never
live long.

Prince Edward
What say you, uncle?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
I say, without characters, fame lives long.
[Aside]
Thus, like the formal vice, Iniquity,
I moralize two meanings in one word.

Prince Edward
That Julius Caesar was a famous man;
With what his valour did enrich his wit,
His wit set down to make his valour live
Death makes no conquest of this conqueror;
For now he lives in fame, though not in life.
I'll tell you what, my cousin Buckingham,--

Duke of Buckingham
What, my gracious lord?

Prince Edward
An if I live until I be a man,
I'll win our ancient right in France again,
Or die a soldier, as I lived a king.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
[Aside] Short summers lightly have a forward spring.

Duke of Buckingham
Now, in good time, here comes the Duke of York.

Prince Edward
Richard of York! how fares our loving brother?

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
Well, my dread lord; so must I call you now.

Prince Edward
Ay, brother, to our grief, as it is yours:
Too late he died that might have kept that title,
Which by his death hath lost much majesty.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
How fares our cousin, noble Lord of York?

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
I thank you, gentle uncle. O, my lord,
You said that idle weeds are fast in growth
The prince my brother hath outgrown me far.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
And therefore is he idle?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
O, my fair cousin, I must not say so.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
Then is he more beholding to you than I.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
He may command me as my sovereign;
But you have power in me as in a kinsman.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
I pray you, uncle, give me this dagger.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
My dagger, little cousin? with all my heart.

Prince Edward
A beggar, brother?

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
Of my kind uncle, that I know will give;
And being but a toy, which is no grief to give.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
A greater gift than that I'll give my cousin.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
A greater gift! O, that's the sword to it.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
A gentle cousin, were it light enough.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
O, then, I see, you will part but with light gifts;
In weightier things you'll say a beggar nay.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
It is too heavy for your grace to wear.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
I weigh it lightly, were it heavier.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
What, would you have my weapon, little lord?

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
I would, that I might thank you as you call me.

Prince Edward
My Lord of York will still be cross in talk:
Uncle, your grace knows how to bear with him.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
You mean, to bear me, not to bear with me:
Uncle, my brother mocks both you and me;
Because that I am little, like an ape,
He thinks that you should bear me on your shoulders.

Duke of Buckingham
With what a sharp-provided wit he reasons!
To mitigate the scorn he gives his uncle,
He prettily and aptly taunts himself:
So cunning and so young is wonderful.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
My lord, will't please you pass along?
Myself and my good cousin Buckingham
Will to your mother, to entreat of her
To meet you at the Tower and welcome you.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
What, will you go unto the Tower, my lord?

Prince Edward
My lord protector needs will have it so.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower.

Richard Plantagenet - Duke of York
Marry, my uncle Clarence' angry ghost:
My grandam told me he was murdered there.

Prince Edward
I fear no uncles dead.

Prince Edward
An if they live, I hope I need not fear.
But come, my lord; and with a heavy heart,
Thinking on them, go I unto the Tower.
[A Sennet. Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER, BUCKINGHAM]
and CATESBY]

Duke of Buckingham
Think you, my lord, this little prating York
Was not incensed by his subtle mother
To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
No doubt, no doubt; O, 'tis a parlous boy;
Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable
He is all the mother's, from the top to toe.

Duke of Buckingham
Well, let them rest. Come hither, Catesby.
Thou art sworn as deeply to effect what we intend
As closely to conceal what we impart:
Thou know'st our reasons urged upon the way;
What think'st thou? is it not an easy matter
To make William Lord Hastings of our mind,
For the instalment of this noble duke
In the seat royal of this famous isle?

Sir William Catesby
He for his father's sake so loves the prince,
That he will not be won to aught against him.

Duke of Buckingham
What think'st thou, then, of Stanley? what will he?

Sir William Catesby
He will do all in all as Hastings doth.

Duke of Buckingham
Well, then, no more but this: go, gentle Catesby,
And, as it were far off sound thou Lord Hastings,
How doth he stand affected to our purpose;
And summon him to-morrow to the Tower,
To sit about the coronation.
If thou dost find him tractable to us,
Encourage him, and show him all our reasons:
If he be leaden, icy-cold, unwilling,
Be thou so too; and so break off your talk,
And give us notice of his inclination:
For we to-morrow hold divided councils,
Wherein thyself shalt highly be employ'd.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Commend me to Lord William: tell him, Catesby,
His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries
To-morrow are let blood at Pomfret-castle;
And bid my friend, for joy of this good news,
Give mistress Shore one gentle kiss the more.

Duke of Buckingham
Good Catesby, go, effect this business soundly.

Sir William Catesby
My good lords both, with all the heed I may.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Shall we hear from you, Catesby, ere we sleep?

Sir William Catesby
You shall, my lord.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
At Crosby Place, there shall you find us both.

Duke of Buckingham
Now, my lord, what shall we do, if we perceive
Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Chop off his head, man; somewhat we will do:
And, look, when I am king, claim thou of me
The earldom of Hereford, and the moveables
Whereof the king my brother stood possess'd.

Duke of Buckingham
I'll claim that promise at your grace's hands.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
And look to have it yielded with all willingness.
Come, let us sup betimes, that afterwards
We may digest our complots in some form.

Act III, Scene 2

Before Lord Hastings' house.

Messenger
What, ho! my lord!

Lord Hastings
[Within] Who knocks at the door?

Messenger
A messenger from the Lord Stanley.

Lord Hastings
What is't o'clock?

Messenger
Upon the stroke of four.

Lord Hastings
Cannot thy master sleep these tedious nights?

Messenger
So it should seem by that I have to say.
First, he commends him to your noble lordship.

Lord Hastings
And then?

Messenger
And then he sends you word
He dreamt to-night the boar had razed his helm:
Besides, he says there are two councils held;
And that may be determined at the one
which may make you and him to rue at the other.
Therefore he sends to know your lordship's pleasure,
If presently you will take horse with him,
And with all speed post with him toward the north,
To shun the danger that his soul divines.

Lord Hastings
Go, fellow, go, return unto thy lord;
Bid him not fear the separated councils
His honour and myself are at the one,
And at the other is my servant Catesby
Where nothing can proceed that toucheth us
Whereof I shall not have intelligence.
Tell him his fears are shallow, wanting instance:
And for his dreams, I wonder he is so fond
To trust the mockery of unquiet slumbers
To fly the boar before the boar pursues,
Were to incense the boar to follow us
And make pursuit where he did mean no chase.
Go, bid thy master rise and come to me
And we will both together to the Tower,
Where, he shall see, the boar will use us kindly.

Messenger
My gracious lord, I'll tell him what you say.

Sir William Catesby
Many good morrows to my noble lord!

Lord Hastings
Good morrow, Catesby; you are early stirring
What news, what news, in this our tottering state?

Sir William Catesby
It is a reeling world, indeed, my lord;
And I believe twill never stand upright
Tim Richard wear the garland of the realm.

Lord Hastings
How! wear the garland! dost thou mean the crown?

Sir William Catesby
Ay, my good lord.

Lord Hastings
I'll have this crown of mine cut from my shoulders
Ere I will see the crown so foul misplaced.
But canst thou guess that he doth aim at it?

Sir William Catesby
Ay, on my life; and hopes to find forward
Upon his party for the gain thereof:
And thereupon he sends you this good news,
That this same very day your enemies,
The kindred of the queen, must die at Pomfret.

Lord Hastings
Indeed, I am no mourner for that news,
Because they have been still mine enemies:
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.

Sir William Catesby
God keep your lordship in that gracious mind!

Lord Hastings
But I shall laugh at this a twelve-month hence,
That they who brought me in my master's hate
I live to look upon their tragedy.
I tell thee, Catesby--

Sir William Catesby
What, my lord?

Lord Hastings
Ere a fortnight make me elder,
I'll send some packing that yet think not on it.

Sir William Catesby
'Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord,
When men are unprepared and look not for it.

Lord Hastings
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.

Sir William Catesby
The princes both make high account of you;
[Aside]
For they account his head upon the bridge.

Lord Hastings
I know they do; and I have well deserved it.
[Enter STANLEY]
Come on, come on; where is your boar-spear, man?
Fear you the boar, and go so unprovided?

Sir William Stanley
My lord, good morrow; good morrow, Catesby:
You may jest on, but, by the holy rood,
I do not like these several councils, I.

Lord Hastings
My lord,
I hold my life as dear as you do yours;
And never in my life, I do protest,
Was it more precious to me than 'tis now:
Think you, but that I know our state secure,
I would be so triumphant as I am?

Sir William Stanley
The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from London,
Were jocund, and supposed their state was sure,
And they indeed had no cause to mistrust;
But yet, you see how soon the day o'ercast.
This sudden stag of rancour I misdoubt:
Pray God, I say, I prove a needless coward!
What, shall we toward the Tower? the day is spent.

Lord Hastings
Come, come, have with you. Wot you what, my lord?
To-day the lords you talk of are beheaded.

Sir William Stanley
They, for their truth, might better wear their heads
Than some that have accused them wear their hats.
But come, my lord, let us away.

Lord Hastings
Go on before; I'll talk with this good fellow.
[Exeunt STANLEY and CATESBY]
How now, sirrah! how goes the world with thee?

Pursuivant
The better that your lordship please to ask.

Lord Hastings
I tell thee, man, 'tis better with me now
Than when I met thee last where now we meet:
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 e'er I was.

Pursuivant
God hold it, to your honour's good content!

Lord Hastings
Gramercy, fellow: there, drink that for me.

Pursuivant
God save your lordship!

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

Lord Hastings
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.

Duke of Buckingham
What, talking with a priest, lord chamberlain?
Your friends at Pomfret, they do need the priest;
Your honour hath no shriving work in hand.

Lord Hastings
Good faith, and when I met this holy man,
Those men you talk of came into my mind.
What, go you toward the Tower?

Duke of Buckingham
I do, my lord; but long I shall not stay
I shall return before your lordship thence.

Lord Hastings
'Tis like enough, for I stay dinner there.

Duke of Buckingham
[Aside] And supper too, although thou know'st it not.
Come, will you go?

Lord Hastings
I'll wait upon your lordship.

Act III, Scene 3

Pomfret Castle.

Sir Richard Ratcliff
Come, bring forth the prisoners.

Lord (Earl) Rivers
Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this:
To-day shalt thou behold a subject die
For truth, for duty, and for loyalty.

Lord Grey
God keep the prince from all the pack of you!
A knot you are of damned blood-suckers!

Sir Thomas Vaughan
You live that shall cry woe for this after.

Sir Richard Ratcliff
Dispatch; the limit of your lives is out.

Lord (Earl) Rivers
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 thee up our guiltless blood to drink.

Lord Grey
Now Margaret's curse is fall'n upon our heads,
For standing by when Richard stabb'd her son.

Lord (Earl) Rivers
Then cursed she Hastings, then cursed she Buckingham,
Then cursed she Richard. O, remember, God
To hear her prayers for them, as now for us
And for my sister and her princely sons,
Be satisfied, dear God, with our true blood,
Which, as thou know'st, unjustly must be spilt.

Sir Richard Ratcliff
Make haste; the hour of death is expiate.

Lord (Earl) Rivers
Come, Grey, come, Vaughan, let us all embrace:
And take our leave, until we meet in heaven.

Act III, Scene 4

The Tower of London.

Lord Hastings
My lords, at once: the cause why we are met
Is, to determine of the coronation.
In God's name, speak: when is the royal day?

Duke of Buckingham
Are all things fitting for that royal time?

Sir William Stanley
It is, and wants but nomination.

John Morton
To-morrow, then, I judge a happy day.

Duke of Buckingham
Who knows the lord protector's mind herein?
Who is most inward with the royal duke?

John Morton
Your grace, we think, should soonest know his mind.

Duke of Buckingham
Who, I, my lord I we know each other's faces,
But for our hearts, he knows no more of mine,
Than I of yours;
Nor I no more of his, than you of mine.
Lord Hastings, you and he are near in love.

Lord Hastings
I thank his grace, I know he loves me well;
But, for his purpose in the coronation.
I have not sounded him, nor he deliver'd
His gracious pleasure any way therein:
But you, my noble lords, may name the time;
And in the duke's behalf I'll give my voice,
Which, I presume, he'll take in gentle part.

John Morton
Now in good time, here comes the duke himself.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
My noble lords and cousins all, good morrow.
I have been long a sleeper; but, I hope,
My absence doth neglect no great designs,
Which by my presence might have been concluded.

Duke of Buckingham
Had not you come upon your cue, my lord
William Lord Hastings had pronounced your part,--
I mean, your voice,--for crowning of the king.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Than my Lord Hastings no man might be bolder;
His lordship knows me well, and loves me well.

Lord Hastings
I thank your grace.

John Morton
My lord?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
When I was last in Holborn,
I saw good strawberries in your garden there
I do beseech you send for some of them.

John Morton
Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Cousin of Buckingham, a word with you.
[Drawing him aside]
Catesby hath sounded Hastings in our business,
And finds the testy gentleman so hot,
As he will lose his head ere give consent
His master's son, as worshipful as he terms it,
Shall lose the royalty of England's throne.

Duke of Buckingham
Withdraw you hence, my lord, I'll follow you.

Sir William Stanley
We have not yet set down this day of triumph.
To-morrow, in mine opinion, is too sudden;
For I myself am not so well provided
As else I would be, were the day prolong'd.

John Morton
Where is my lord protector? I have sent for these
strawberries.

Lord Hastings
His grace looks cheerfully and smooth to-day;
There's some conceit or other likes him well,
When he doth bid good morrow with such a spirit.
I think there's never a man in Christendom
That can less hide his love or hate than he;
For by his face straight shall you know his heart.

Sir William Stanley
What of his heart perceive you in his face
By any likelihood he show'd to-day?

Lord Hastings
Marry, that with no man here he is offended;
For, were he, he had shown it in his looks.

Sir William Stanley
I pray God he be not, I say.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
I pray you all, tell me what they deserve
That do conspire my death with devilish plots
Of damned witchcraft, and that have prevail'd
Upon my body with their hellish charms?

Lord Hastings
The tender love I bear your grace, my lord,
Makes me most forward in this noble presence
To doom the offenders, whatsoever they be
I say, my lord, they have deserved death.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Then be your eyes the witness of this ill:
See how I am bewitch'd; behold mine arm
Is, like a blasted sapling, wither'd up:
And this is Edward's wife, that monstrous witch,
Consorted with that harlot strumpet Shore,
That by their witchcraft thus have marked me.

Lord Hastings
If they have done this thing, my gracious lord--

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
If I thou protector of this damned strumpet--
Tellest thou me of 'ifs'? Thou art a traitor:
Off with his head! Now, by Saint Paul I swear,
I will not dine until I see the same.
Lovel and Ratcliff, look that it be done:
The rest, that love me, rise and follow me.

Lord Hastings
Woe, woe for England! not a whit for me;
For I, too fond, might have prevented this.
Stanley did dream the boar did raze his helm;
But I disdain'd it, and did scorn to fly:
Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble,
And startled, when he look'd upon the Tower,
As loath to bear me to the slaughter-house.
O, now I want the priest that spake to me:
I now repent I told the pursuivant
As 'twere triumphing at mine enemies,
How they at Pomfret bloodily were butcher'd,
And I myself secure in grace and favour.
O Margaret, Margaret, now thy heavy curse
Is lighted on poor Hastings' wretched head!

Sir Richard Ratcliff
Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner:
Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head.

Lord Hastings
O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!
Who builds his hopes in air of your good looks,
Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast,
Ready, with every nod, to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep.

Lord Lovel
Come, come, dispatch; 'tis bootless to exclaim.

Lord Hastings
O bloody Richard! miserable England!
I prophesy 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 that shortly shall be dead.

Act III, Scene 5

The Tower-walls.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Come, cousin, canst thou quake, and change thy colour,
Murder thy breath in the middle of a word,
And then begin again, and stop again,
As if thou wert distraught and mad with terror?

Duke of Buckingham
Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian;
Speak and look back, and pry on every side,
Tremble and start at wagging of a straw,
Intending deep suspicion: ghastly looks
Are at my service, like enforced smiles;
And both are ready in their offices,
At any time, to grace my stratagems.
But what, is Catesby gone?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
He is; and, see, he brings the mayor along.

Duke of Buckingham
Lord mayor,--

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Look to the drawbridge there!

Duke of Buckingham
Hark! a drum.

Duke of Buckingham
Lord mayor, the reason we have sent--

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Look back, defend thee, here are enemies.

Duke of Buckingham
God and our innocency defend and guard us!

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Be patient, they are friends, Ratcliff and Lovel.

Lord Lovel
Here is the head of that ignoble traitor,
The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
So dear I loved the man, that I must weep.
I took him for the plainest harmless creature
That breathed upon this earth a Christian;
Made him my book wherein my soul recorded
The history of all her secret thoughts:
So smooth he daub'd his vice with show of virtue,
That, his apparent open guilt omitted,
I mean, his conversation with Shore's wife,
He lived from all attainder of suspect.

Duke of Buckingham
Well, well, he was the covert'st shelter'd traitor
That ever lived.
Would you imagine, or almost believe,
Were't not that, by great preservation,
We live to tell it you, the subtle traitor
This day had plotted, in the council-house
To murder me and my good Lord of Gloucester?

Lord Mayor of London
What, had he so?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
What, think You we are Turks or infidels?
Or that we would, against the form of law,
Proceed thus rashly to the villain's death,
But that the extreme peril of the case,
The peace of England and our persons' safety,
Enforced us to this execution?

Lord Mayor of London
Now, fair befall you! he deserved his death;
And you my good lords, both have well proceeded,
To warn false traitors from the like attempts.
I never look'd for better at his hands,
After he once fell in with Mistress Shore.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Yet had not we determined he should die,
Until your lordship came to see his death;
Which now the loving haste of these our friends,
Somewhat against our meaning, have prevented:
Because, my lord, we would have had you heard
The traitor speak, and timorously confess
The manner and the purpose of his treason;
That you might well have signified the same
Unto the citizens, who haply may
Misconstrue us in him and wail his death.

Lord Mayor of London
But, my good lord, your grace's word shall serve,
As well as I had seen and heard him speak
And doubt you not, right noble princes both,
But I'll acquaint our duteous citizens
With all your just proceedings in this cause.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
And to that end we wish'd your lord-ship here,
To avoid the carping censures of the world.

Duke of Buckingham
But since you come too late of our intents,
Yet witness what you hear we did intend:
And so, my good lord mayor, we bid farewell.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham.
The mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post:
There, at your meet'st advantage of the time,
Infer the bastardy of Edward's children:
Tell them how Edward put to death a citizen,
Only for saying he would make his son
Heir to the crown; meaning indeed his house,
Which, by the sign thereof was termed so.
Moreover, urge his hateful luxury
And bestial appetite in change of lust;
Which stretched to their servants, daughters, wives,
Even where his lustful eye or savage heart,
Without control, listed to make his prey.
Nay, for a need, thus far come near my person:
Tell them, when that my mother went with child
Of that unsatiate Edward, noble York
My princely father then had wars in France
And, by just computation of the time,
Found that the issue was not his begot;
Which well appeared in his lineaments,
Being nothing like the noble duke my father:
But touch this sparingly, as 'twere far off,
Because you know, my lord, my mother lives.

Duke of Buckingham
Fear not, my lord, I'll play the orator
As if the golden fee for which I plead
Were for myself: and so, my lord, adieu.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
If you thrive well, bring them to Baynard's Castle;
Where you shall find me well accompanied
With reverend fathers and well-learned bishops.

Duke of Buckingham
I go: and towards three or four o'clock
Look for the news that the Guildhall affords.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Go, Lovel, with all speed to Doctor Shaw;
[To CATESBY]
Go thou to Friar Penker; bid them both
Meet me within this hour at Baynard's Castle.
[Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER]
Now will I in, to take some privy order,
To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight;
And to give notice, that no manner of person
At any time have recourse unto the princes.

Act III, Scene 6

The same.

Scrivener
This is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings;
Which in a set hand fairly is engross'd,
That it may be this day read over in Paul's.
And mark how well the sequel hangs together:
Eleven hours I spent to write it over,
For yesternight by Catesby was it brought me;
The precedent was full as long a-doing:
And yet within these five hours lived Lord Hastings,
Untainted, unexamined, free, at liberty
Here's a good world the while! Why who's so gross,
That seeth not this palpable device?
Yet who's so blind, but says he sees it not?
Bad is the world; and all will come to nought,
When such bad dealings must be seen in thought.

Act III, Scene 7

Baynard's Castle.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
How now, my lord, what say the citizens?

Duke of Buckingham
Now, by the holy mother of our Lord,
The citizens are mum and speak not a word.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Touch'd you the bastardy of Edward's children?

Duke of Buckingham
I did; with his contract with Lady Lucy,
And his contract by deputy in France;
The insatiate greediness of his desires,
And his enforcement of the city wives;
His tyranny for trifles; his own bastardy,
As being got, your father then in France,
His resemblance, being not like the duke;
Withal I did infer your lineaments,
Being the right idea of your father,
Both in your form and nobleness of mind;
Laid open all your victories in Scotland,
Your dicipline in war, wisdom in peace,
Your bounty, virtue, fair humility:
Indeed, left nothing fitting for the purpose
Untouch'd, or slightly handled, in discourse
And when mine oratory grew to an end
I bid them that did love their country's good
Cry 'God save Richard, England's royal king!'

Duke of Buckingham
No, so God help me, they spake not a word;
But, like dumb statues or breathing stones,
Gazed each on other, and look'd deadly pale.
Which when I saw, I reprehended them;
And ask'd the mayor what meant this wilful silence:
His answer was, the people were not wont
To be spoke to but by the recorder.
Then he was urged to tell my tale again,
'Thus saith the duke, thus hath the duke inferr'd;'
But nothing spake in warrant from himself.
When he had done, some followers of mine own,
At the lower end of the hall, hurl'd up their caps,
And some ten voices cried 'God save King Richard!'
And thus I took the vantage of those few,
'Thanks, gentle citizens and friends,' quoth I;
'This general applause and loving shout
Argues your wisdoms and your love to Richard:'
And even here brake off, and came away.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
What tongueless blocks were they! would not they speak?

Duke of Buckingham
No, by my troth, my lord.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Will not the mayor then and his brethren come?

Duke of Buckingham
The mayor is here at hand: intend some fear;
Be not you spoke with, but by mighty suit:
And look you get a prayer-book in your hand,
And stand betwixt two churchmen, good my lord;
For on that ground I'll build a holy descant:
And be not easily won to our request:
Play the maid's part, still answer nay, and take it.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
I go; and if you plead as well for them
As I can say nay to thee for myself,
No doubt well bring it to a happy issue.

Duke of Buckingham
Go, go, up to the leads; the lord mayor knocks.
[Exit GLOUCESTER]
[Enter the Lord Mayor and Citizens]
Welcome my lord; I dance attendance here;
I think the duke will not be spoke withal.
[Enter CATESBY]
Here comes his servant: how now, Catesby,
What says he?

Sir William Catesby
My lord: he doth entreat your grace;
To visit him to-morrow or next day:
He is within, with two right reverend fathers,
Divinely bent to meditation;
And no worldly suit would he be moved,
To draw him from his holy exercise.

Duke of Buckingham
Return, good Catesby, to thy lord again;
Tell him, myself, the mayor and citizens,
In deep designs and matters of great moment,
No less importing than our general good,
Are come to have some conference with his grace.

Sir William Catesby
I'll tell him what you say, my lord.

Duke of Buckingham
Ah, ha, my lord, this prince is not an Edward!
He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed,
But on his knees at meditation;
Not dallying with a brace of courtezans,
But meditating with two deep divines;
Not sleeping, to engross his idle body,
But praying, to enrich his watchful soul:
Happy were England, would this gracious prince
Take on himself the sovereignty thereof:
But, sure, I fear, we shall ne'er win him to it.

Lord Mayor of London
Marry, God forbid his grace should say us nay!

Duke of Buckingham
I fear he will.
[Re-enter CATESBY]
How now, Catesby, what says your lord?

Sir William Catesby
My lord,
He wonders to what end you have assembled
Such troops of citizens to speak with him,
His grace not being warn'd thereof before:
My lord, he fears you mean no good to him.

Duke of Buckingham
Sorry I am my noble cousin should
Suspect me, that I mean no good to him:
By heaven, I come in perfect love to him;
And so once more return and tell his grace.
[Exit CATESBY]
When holy and devout religious men
Are at their beads, 'tis hard to draw them thence,
So sweet is zealous contemplation.
[Enter GLOUCESTER aloft, between two Bishops.]
CATESBY returns]

Lord Mayor of London
See, where he stands between two clergymen!

Duke of Buckingham
Two props of virtue for a Christian prince,
To stay him from the fall of vanity:
And, see, a book of prayer in his hand,
True ornaments to know a holy man.
Famous Plantagenet, most gracious prince,
Lend favourable ears to our request;
And pardon us the interruption
Of thy devotion and right Christian zeal.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
My lord, there needs no such apology:
I rather do beseech you pardon me,
Who, earnest in the service of my God,
Neglect the visitation of my friends.
But, leaving this, what is your grace's pleasure?

Duke of Buckingham
Even that, I hope, which pleaseth God above,
And all good men of this ungovern'd isle.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
I do suspect I have done some offence
That seems disgracious in the city's eyes,
And that you come to reprehend my ignorance.

Duke of Buckingham
You have, my lord: would it might please your grace,
At our entreaties, to amend that fault!

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Else wherefore breathe I in a Christian land?

Duke of Buckingham
Then know, it is your fault that you resign
The supreme seat, the throne majestical,
The scepter'd office of your ancestors,
Your state of fortune and your due of birth,
The lineal glory of your royal house,
To the corruption of a blemished stock:
Whilst, in the mildness of your sleepy thoughts,
Which here we waken to our country's good,
This noble isle doth want her proper limbs;
Her face defaced with scars of infamy,
Her royal stock graft with ignoble plants,
And almost shoulder'd in the swallowing gulf
Of blind forgetfulness and dark oblivion.
Which to recure, we heartily solicit
Your gracious self to take on you the charge
And kingly government of this your land,
Not as protector, steward, substitute,
Or lowly factor for another's gain;
But as successively from blood to blood,
Your right of birth, your empery, your own.
For this, consorted with the citizens,
Your very worshipful and loving friends,
And by their vehement instigation,
In this just suit come I to move your grace.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
I know not whether to depart in silence,
Or bitterly to speak in your reproof.
Best fitteth my degree or your condition
If not to answer, you might haply think
Tongue-tied ambition, not replying, yielded
To bear the golden yoke of sovereignty,
Which fondly you would here impose on me;
If to reprove you for this suit of yours,
So season'd with your faithful love to me.
Then, on the other side, I cheque'd my friends.
Therefore, to speak, and to avoid the first,
And then, in speaking, not to incur the last,
Definitively thus I answer you.
Your love deserves my thanks; but my desert
Unmeritable shuns your high request.
First if all obstacles were cut away,
And that my path were even to the crown,
As my ripe revenue and due by birth
Yet so much is my poverty of spirit,
So mighty and so many my defects,
As I had rather hide me from my greatness,
Being a bark to brook no mighty sea,
Than in my greatness covet to be hid,
And in the vapour of my glory smother'd.
But, God be thank'd, there's no need of me,
And much I need to help you, if need were;
The royal tree hath left us royal fruit,
Which, mellow'd by the stealing hours of time,
Will well become the seat of majesty,
And make, no doubt, us happy by his reign.
On him I lay what you would lay on me,
The right and fortune of his happy stars;
Which God defend that I should wring from him!

Duke of Buckingham
My lord, this argues conscience in your grace;
But the respects thereof are nice and trivial,
All circumstances well considered.
You say that Edward is your brother's son:
So say we too, but not by Edward's wife;
For first he was contract to Lady Lucy--
Your mother lives a witness to that vow--
And afterward by substitute betroth'd
To Bona, sister to the King of France.
These both put by a poor petitioner,
A care-crazed mother of a many children,
A beauty-waning and distressed widow,
Even in the afternoon of her best days,
Made prize and purchase of his lustful eye,
Seduced the pitch and height of all his thoughts
To base declension and loathed bigamy
By her, in his unlawful bed, he got
This Edward, whom our manners term the prince.
More bitterly could I expostulate,
Save that, for reverence to some alive,
I give a sparing limit to my tongue.
Then, good my lord, take to your royal self
This proffer'd benefit of dignity;
If non to bless us and the land withal,
Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry
From the corruption of abusing times,
Unto a lineal true-derived course.

Lord Mayor of London
Do, good my lord, your citizens entreat you.

Duke of Buckingham
Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffer'd love.

Sir William Catesby
O, make them joyful, grant their lawful suit!

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Alas, why would you heap these cares on me?
I am unfit for state and majesty;
I do beseech you, take it not amiss;
I cannot nor I will not yield to you.

Duke of Buckingham
If you refuse it,--as, in love and zeal,
Loath to depose the child, Your brother's son;
As well we know your tenderness of heart
And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse,
Which we have noted in you to your kin,
And egally indeed to all estates,--
Yet whether you accept our suit or no,
Your brother's son shall never reign our king;
But we will plant some other in the throne,
To the disgrace and downfall of your house:
And in this resolution here we leave you.--
Come, citizens: 'zounds! I'll entreat no more.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
O, do not swear, my lord of Buckingham.

Sir William Catesby
Call them again, my lord, and accept their suit.

Another
Do, good my lord, lest all the land do rue it.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Would you enforce me to a world of care?
Well, call them again. I am not made of stone,
But penetrable to your. kind entreats,
Albeit against my conscience and my soul.
[Re-enter BUCKINGHAM and the rest]
Cousin of Buckingham, and you sage, grave men,
Since you will buckle fortune on my back,
To bear her burthen, whether I will or no,
I must have patience to endure the load:
But if black scandal or foul-faced reproach
Attend the sequel of your imposition,
Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me
From all the impure blots and stains thereof;
For God he knows, and you may partly see,
How far I am from the desire thereof.

Lord Mayor of London
God bless your grace! we see it, and will say it.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
In saying so, you shall but say the truth.

Duke of Buckingham
Then I salute you with this kingly title:
Long live Richard, England's royal king!

Lord Mayor of London
[with citizens] Amen.

Duke of Buckingham
To-morrow will it please you to be crown'd?

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Even when you please, since you will have it so.

Duke of Buckingham
To-morrow, then, we will attend your grace:
And so most joyfully we take our leave.

Humphrey of Lancaster - Duke of Gloucester
Come, let us to our holy task again.
Farewell, good cousin; farewell, gentle friends.

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© Copyright 2017-2026 Shakespeare Network - Maximianno Cobra - All rights reserved.