But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come?
Keep. Richard Plantagenet, my Lord, will come;
We fent unto the Temple, to his chamber,
And anfwer was return'd that he will come.

Mor. Enough; my foul then shall be satisfy'd.
Poor gentleman, his wrong doth equal mine.
Since Henry Monmouth first began to reign,
Before whofe glory I was great in arms,
This loathfom fequeftration have I had;
And ev❜n fince then hath Richard been obfcur'd,
Depriv'd of honour and inheritance;

But now the arbitrator of defpairs,

Juft death, kind umpire of men's miferies,
With fweet enlargement doth difmifs me hence.
I would, his troubles likewife were expir'd,
That so he might recover what was lost.

Enter Richard Plantagenet.

Keep. My Lord, your loving nephew now is come. Mor. Richard Plantagenet, my friend? Is he come ? Plan. Ay, noble uncle, thus ignobly us❜d,

Your nephew, late despised Richard, comes.

Mor. Direct mine arms, I may embrace his neck, And in his bofom spend my latest gafp.

Oh, tell me, when my lips do touch his cheeks,
That I may kindly give one fainting kiss.

And now declare, fweet ftem from York's great stock,
Why didft thou fay, of late thou wert defpis'd?

Plan. Firft, lean thine aged back against mine arm,
And in that ease I'll tell thee my + Disease.
This day, in argument upon a cafe,

Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me,
Amongst which terms he us'd his lavish tongue,
And did upbraid me with my father's death,
Which obloquy fet bars before my tongue,

* Umpire of mifery.] That is, he that terminates or concludes mifery. The expreffion -VOL. IV.

is harsh and forced.
+ Difeafe feems to be here
uneafinefs or discontent.
M m

Elfe

Elfe with the like I had requited him.
Therefore, good uncle, for my father's fake,
In honour of a true Plantagenet,

And for alliance' fake, declare the cause
My father Earl of Cambridge loft his head.

Mor. This caufe, fair nephew, that imprison'd me,
And hath detain❜d me all my flow'ring youth
Within a loathfome dungeon there to pine,
Was curfed inftrument of his decease.

Plan. Discover more at large what cause that was,
For I am ignorant and cannot guess.

Mor. I will, if that my fading breath permit,
And death approach not, ere my tale be done.
Henry the Fourth, grandfather to this King,
Depos'd his coufin Richard, Edward's fon
The firft-begotten, and the lawful heir
Of Edward King, the third of that descent.
During whofe reign the Percies of the north,
Finding his ufurpation moft unjust,

Endeavour'd my advancement to the throne.
The reafon mov'd these warlike Lords to this,
Was, for that young King Richard thus remov'd,
Leaving no heir begotten of his body,

I was the next by birth and parentage,

For by my mother I derived am

*

From Lyonel Duke of Clarence, the third fon
To the third Edward; whereas Bolingbroke
From John of Gaunt doth bring his pedigree,
Being but the Fourth of that heroick Line.
Eut mark; as in this haughty great attempt
They laboured to plant the rightful heir;
I loft my liberty, and they their lives.
Long after this, when Henry the Fifth
After his father Bolingbroke did reign,
Thy father, earl of Cambridge, then deriv'd
From famous Edmund Langley, Duke of York,
Marrying my fifter, that thy mother was;
Again in pity of my hard difttress,

Levied

Levied an army, weening to redeem
And re-inftal me in the Diadem:
But as the rest so fell that noble Earl,
And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers,
In whom the title refted, were fuppreft.

Plan. Of which, my Lord, your honour is the last.
Mor. True; and thou seest, that I no iffue have;
And that my fainting words do warrant death.
Thou art my heir. The reft I wish thee gather;
But yet be wary in thy ftudious care.

Plan. Thy grave admonishments prevail with me;
But yet, methinks, my father's execution
Was nothing less than bloody tyranny.

Mor. With filence, nephew, be thou politick;
Strong-fixed is the Houfe of Lancaster,
And, like a mountain, not to be remov'd.
But now thy uncle is removing hence,

As Princes do their Courts when they are cloy'd
With long continuance in a fettled place.

Plan. Ŏ uncle, would fome part of my young years Might but redeem the paffage of your age!

Mor. Thou doft then wrong me, as that flaugh-
t'rer doth,

Which giveth many wounds when one will kill.
Mourn not, except thou forrow for my good;
Only give order for my funeral.

9

And fo farewel; and fair be all thy hopes,

And profp❜rous be thy life, in peace and war! [Dies. Plan. And peace, no war, befal thy parting foul! In prison haft thou spent a pilgrimage,

And, like a hermit, over-pait thy days.

Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast,
And what I do imagine, let that rest.
Keepers, convey him hence; and I myself
Will fee his burial better than his life.
'Here dies the dufky torch of Mortimer,
2 Choak'd with ambition of the meaner fort.
And for those wrongs, thofe bitter injuries,
Which Somerfet hath offer'd to my House,
I doubt not but with honour to redress,
And therefore hafte I to the Parliament;
Either to be reftored to my blood,

3 Or make my Ill th' advantage of my Good. [Exit.

Here DIES the dusky torchThe image is of a torch juft extinguifhed, and yet fmoaking. But we should read LIES inftead of DIES. For when a dead man is represented by an extinguished torch, we muft fay the torch lies: when an extinguished torch is compared to a dead man, we must fay the torch dies. The reafon is plain, because integrity of metaphor requires that the terms proper to the thing illuftrating, not the thing illuftrated, be employed. WARBURTON. 2 Choak'd with ambition of the meaner fort. ] We are to understand the speaker as reflect

ing on the ill fortune of Mortimer, in being always made a tool of by the Percies of the north in their rebellious intrigues; rather than in afferting his claim to the crown, in fupport of his own princely ambition.

WARBURTON 3 In the former Editions: Or make my Will th' Advan

tage of my Good.] So all the printed Copies: but with very little regard to the Poet's Meaning. I read,

Or make my Ill th' Advantage

of my Good. Thus we recover the Antithefis of the Expreffion. THEOBALD.

ACT

ACT III.

SCENE I.

The PARLIAMENT.

Flourish. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Gloucefter, Wincefter, Warwick, Somerfet, Suffolk, and Richard Plantagenet. Gloucester offers to put up a Bill: Winchester Snatches it, and tears it.

COM

WINCHESTER.

OM'ST thou with deep premeditated lines,
With written pamphlets ftudiously devis'd,
Humphrey of Glo'fter? If thou can't accufe,
Or aught intend'ft to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention fuddenly;

As I with fudden and extemporal fpeech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.

Glou. Prefumptuous Prieft, this place commands my patience,

Or thou fhouldft find, thou haft difhonour'd me.
Think not, altho' in writing I prefer'd

The manner of thy vile outragious crimes,
That therefore I have forg'd, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen.
No, Prelate, fuch is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, peftif'rous, and diffentious pranks,
The very Infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a moft pernicious ufurer,
Froward by nature, enemy to peace,
Lafcivious, wanton, more than well befeems
A man of thy profeffion and degree.
And for thy treach'ry, what's more manifeft?
In that thou laid'ft a trap to take my life,
As well at London-bridge, as at the Tower.
Befide, I fear me, if thy thoughts were fifted,

Mm 3

The