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Ha!

Hath fhe forgot already that brave prince,

Edward, her lord, whom I fome three months fince,
Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury ?4
A fweeter and a lovelier gentleman,-
Fram'd in the prodigality of nature,5

Young, valiant, wife, and, no doubt, right royal,——
The fpacious world cannot again afford:
And will the yet abafe her eyes on me,

That cropp'd the golden prime of this sweet prince,
And made her dow to a woful bed?

•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.

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On me, whofe all not equals Edward's moiety?
On me, that halt, and am misshapen thus ?
My dukedom to a beggarly denier,"
I do mistake my perfon all this while :
Upon my life, fhe finds, although I cannot,
Myself to be a marvellous proper man.8
I'll be at charges for a looking-glafs;
And entertain a score or two of tailors,
To study fashions to adorn my body:
Since I am crept in favour with myself,
I will maintain it with fome little coft.
But, firft, I'll turn yon' fellow in his grave;"
And then return lamenting to my love.-
Shine out, fair fun, till I have bought a glass,
That I
may fee my fhadow as I pass.

[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,
"Beftow one poor denier, Sir." STEEVENS.

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
Is put unto the truft of Richard Glofter,
A man that loves not me, nor none of you.
RIV. Is it concluded, he shall be protector?
Q. ELIZ. It is determin'd, not concluded
But fo it must be, if the king miscarry.

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.
Yet, Stanley, notwithstanding fhe's your wife,
And loves not me, be you, good lord, affur'd,
I hate not you for her proud arrogance.

STAN. I do befeech you, either not believe
The envious flanders of her falfe accufers;
Or, if he be accus'd on true report,

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,
And between them and my lord chamberlain ;
And fent to warn them 4 to his royal prefence.

Q. ELIZ. 'Would all were well!-But that will
never be ;-

I fear, our happiness is at the height.

Enter GLOSTER, HASTINGS, and DORSET.

GLO. They do me wrong, and I will not endure

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Who are they, that complain unto the king,
That I, forfooth, am ftern, and love them not?
By holy Paul, they love his grace but lightly,
That fill his ears with fuch diffentious rumours.
Because I cannot flatter, and speak fair,
Smile in men's faces, fmooth, deceive, and cog,

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to warn them-] i. e. to fummon. So, in Julius

They mean to warn us at Philippi here." STEEVENS,

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