Ha! Hath fhe forgot already that brave prince, Edward, her lord, whom I fome three months fince, Young, valiant, wife, and, no doubt, right royal,—— That cropp'd the golden prime of this sweet prince, •whom 1, fome three months fince, Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury ?] Here we have the exact time of this fcene afcertained, namely Auguft 1471. King Edward, however, is in the fecond Act introduced dying. That King died in April 1483; fo there is an interval between this and the next Act of almost twelve years. Clarence, who is reprefented in the preceding fcene as committed to the Tower before the burial of King Henry VI. was in fact not confined nor put to death till seven years afterwards, March, 1477-8. MALONE. 5 Fram'd in the prodigality of nature,] i. e. when nature was in a prodigal or lavish mood. WARBURTON. 6 and, no doubt, right royal,] Of the degree of royalty belonging to Henry the Sixth there could be no doubt, nor could Richard have mentioned it with any fuch hesitation; he could not indeed very properly allow him royalty. I believe we should read : and, no doubt, right loyal. That is, true to her bed. He enumerates the reasons for which she should love him. He was young, wife, and valiant; thefe were apparent and indifputable excellencies. He then mentions another not lefs likely to endear him to his wife, but which he had lefs opportunity of knowing with certainty, and, no doubt, right loyal. JOHNSON. Richard is not fpeaking of King Henry, but of Edward his fon, whom he means to reprefent as full of all the noble properties of a king. No doubt, right royal, may, however, be ironically spoken, alluding to the incontinence of Margaret, his mother. STEEVENS. On me, whofe all not equals Edward's moiety? [Exit. 7 a beggarly denier,] A denier is the twelfth part of a French fous, and appears to have been the usual request of a beggar. So, in The Cunning Northerne Beggar, bl. 1. an ancient ballad : 8 "For ftill will I cry, good your worship, good fir, a marvellous proper man.] Marvellous is here used adverbially. Proper in old language was handfome. See Vol. VII. p. 248, n. 1. MALONE. 9 I'll turn yon' fellow in his grave;] In is here used for into. Thus, in Chapman's verfion of the 24th Iliad : 66 Mercurie fhall guide "His paffage, till the prince be neare. And (he gone) let him ride "Refolv'd, ev'n in Achilles tent." STEEVENS. SCENE III. The fame. A Room in the Palace. Enter Queen ELIZABETH, Lord RIVERS, and Lord GREY. RIV. Have patience, madam; there's no doubt, his majesty Will foon recover his accuftom'd health. GREY. In that you brook it ill, it makes him worfe : Therefore, for God's fake, entertain good comfort, And cheer his grace with quick and merry words. Q. ELIZ. If he were dead, what would betide of me? GREY. No other harm, but lofs of fuch a lord. Q. ELIZ. The lofs of fuch a lord includes all harms. GREY. The heavens have blefs'd you with a goodly fon, To be your comforter, when he is gone. Q. ELIZ. Ah, he is young; and his minority yet: 1 It is determin'd, not concluded yet :] Determin'd fignifies the final conclufion of the will: concluded, what cannot be altered by reafon of fome act, confequent on the final judgment. WARBURTON. Enter BUCKINGHAM and STANLEY. GREY. Here come the lords of Buckingham and Stanley. BUCK. Good time of day unto your royal grace! STAN. God make your majefty joyful as you have been! Q. ELIZ. The countefs Richmond,3 good my lord of Stanley, To your good prayer will scarcely fay-amen. STAN. I do befeech you, either not believe Bear with her weakness, which, I think, proceeds From wayward fickness, and no grounded malice. 2 Here come the lords of Buckingham and Stanley.] [Old copies-Derby.] This is a blunder of inadvertence, which has run through the whole chain of impreffions. It could not well be original in Shakspeare, who was moft minutely intimate with his hiftory, and the intermarriages of the nobility. The perfon here called Derby, was Thomas Lord Stanley, Lord Steward of King Edward the Fourth's houfhold. But this Thomas Lord Stanley was not created Earl of Derby till after the acceffion of Henry the Seventh; and accordingly, afterwards, in the fourth and tifth Acts of this play, before the battle of Bosworth-field, he is every where called Lord Stanley. This fufficiently juftifies the change I have made in his title. THEOBALD. 3 The countess Richmond,] Margaret, daughter to John Beaufort, firft Duke of Somerset. After the death of her first hufband, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, half-brother to King Henry VI. by whom he had only one fon, afterwards King Henry VII. the married first Sir Henry Stafford, uncle to Humphrey Duke of Buckingham. MALONE. Q. ELIZ. Saw you the king to-day, my lord of Stanley ? STAN. But now, the duke of Buckingham, and I, Are come from vifiting his majesty. Q. ELIZ. What likelihood of his amendment, lords? BUCK. Madam, good hope; his grace speaks cheerfully. Q. ELIZ. God grant him health! Did you confer with him? BUCK. Aу, madam : he defires to make atone ment Between the duke of Glofter and your brothers, Q. ELIZ. 'Would all were well!-But that will I fear, our happiness is at the height. Enter GLOSTER, HASTINGS, and DORSET. GLO. They do me wrong, and I will not endure Who are they, that complain unto the king, to warn them-] i. e. to fummon. So, in Julius They mean to warn us at Philippi here." STEEVENS, + ཞ |