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

2

Brak. I will, my lord; God give your grace good [Clarence fleeps.

reft!-

Sorrow breaks feasons, and repofing hours,

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

An outward honour for an inward toil;

nor yet ftay'd the terror there,

Infernal ghofts, and hellish furies, round

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

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

2 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 thefe 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.

3 Princes have but their titles for their glories,

An outward honour, for an inward toil;]

The firft 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 fpeaker, and correfpond better with the following lines, if it were read:

Princes have but their titles for their troubles. JoHNSON.

And,

4

And, for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of reftlefs 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'ft thou, fellow? and how cam'st thou hither?

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

Brak. What, fo brief?

I Murd. O, fir, 'tis better to be brief, than te◄ dious:

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 afleep:
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 fleeping.

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

4

for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of reflefs cares :]

They often fuffer real miferies for imaginary and unreal gratifi cations. JOHNSON.

1 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 me.

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

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

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

2 Murd. Nay, I pr'ythee, ftay a little: I hope, this compaffionate humour of mine will change; it was went to hold me but while one would tell twenty. 1 Murd. How doft thou feel thyself now?

2 Murd. Faith, fome certain dregs of confcience "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. Where's thy confcience now?

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

1 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 steal, but it accufeth 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 fhamefac'd fpirit, that mutinies in a man's bofom; it fills one full of obftacles: it made me once reftore a purfe 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 without it.

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

"

2 Murd.

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.

2 Murd. Spoke like a tall fellow, that respects 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 malmseybutt, in the next room.

2 Murd. O excellent device! and make a sop 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 fhall 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.

1 Murd. Nor you, as we are, loyal.

Clar. Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are humble.

5 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 him in both places in the text should be it, namely, confcience. WARBURTON.

Shakspeare fo frequently uses both these pronouns indifcriminately, that no correction is neceffary. STEEVENS.

6

Spoke like a tall fellow,] The meaning of tall, in old Eng

lifh, is ftout, daring, fearless, and frong. JOHNSON.

7

-the coltard] . e. the head. See Note on Love's Labour

Loft, A&t III. Sc. I. Vol. II. p. 433. STEEVENS.

we'll reason] We'll talk. See Vol. I. p. 162.

JOHNSON.

1 Murd.

Murd. My voice is now the king's, my looks

mine own.

Clar. How darkly, and how deadly doft thou speak!

Your eyes do menace me: Why look you pale? Who fent you hither? Wherefore do you come? 2 Murd. To, to, to,

Clar. To murder me?

Both. Ay, ay.

Clar. You fcarcely have the hearts to tell me fo, And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it. Wherein, my friends, have I offended you?

1 Murd. Offended us you have not, but the king.
Clar. I fhall be reconcil'd to him again.

2 Murd. Never, my lord; therefore prepare to die.
Clar. 'Are you call'd forth from out a world of men,
To flay the innocent? What is my offence?
Where is the evidence that doth accufe me?
What lawful 'queft have given their verdict up
Unto the frowning judge? or who pronounc'd
The bitter fentence of poor Clarence' death?
Before I be convict by courfe of law,
To threaten me with death, is moft unlawful.
I charge you, as you hope to have redemption *,
That you depart, and lay no hands on me;
The deed you undertake is damnable.

1 Murd. What we will do, we do upon command.

9 Are you call'd forth from out a world of men,] I think it may be better read:

Are ye cull'd forth

The folio reads:

JOHNSON.

Are you drawn forth among a world of men.

'I adhere to the reading now in the text. So, in Nobody and Somebody, 1598:

2

-as

"Art thou call'd forth amongst a thousand men "To minifter this foveraign antidote?" STEEVENS. * What lawful queft-] Queft is inqueft or jury. JOHNSON. as you hope to have redemption,] The folio readsyou hope for any goodnefs. The quarto likewife adds: By Chriil's dear blood shed for our grievous fins. STEEVENS. 2 Murd.