Som. My lord, 1 like not of this flight of Edward's:

For doubtless Burgundy will yield him help; And we shall have more wars before 't be long. As Henry's late presaging prophecy

Did glad my heart, with hope of this young Richmond;

So doth my heart misgive me, in these conflicts What may befall him, to his harm and ours: Therefore, lord Oxford, to prevent the worst, Forthwith we'll send him hence to Brittany, Till storms be past of civil enmity.

Oxf. Ay; for if Edward repossess the crown, 'Tis like that Richmond with the rest shall down. Som. It shall be so; he shall to Brittany. Come, therefore, let's about it speedily.

SCENE VII.-Before York.

[Exeunt.

Enter KING EDWARD, GLOSTER, HASTINGS, and Forces.

K. Edw. Now, brother Richard, lord Hastings,
and the rest,

Yet thus far fortune maketh us amends,
And says, that once more I shall interchange
My waned state for Henry's regal crown.
Well have we pass'd, and now repass'd the seas,
And brought desired help from Burgundy:
What then remains, we being thus arriv'd
From Ravenspurg haven before the gates of
York,

But that we enter as into our dukedom?

Glo. The gates made fast!-Brother, I like
not this;

For many men that stumble at the threshold
Are well foretold that danger lurks within.
K. Edo. Tush, man! abodements must not
now affright us:

By fair or foul means we must enter in,
For hither will our friends repair to us.
Hast. My liege, I'll knock once more to
summon them.

Enter on the walls the Mayor of York, and his brethren.

May. My lords, we were forewarned of your
coming,

And shut the gates for safety of ourselves;
For now we owe allegiance unto Henry.

K. Edw. But, master mayor, if Henry be your
king,

Yet Edward, at the least, is duke of York. May. True, my good lord; I know you for no less.

K. Edw. Why, and I challenge nothing but my dukedom,

As being well content with that alone.

Glo. But when the fox hath once got in his

nose,

He'll soon find means to make the body follow. [Aside. Hast. Why, master mayor, why stand in you a doubt?

Open the gates, we are king Henry's friends. May. Ay, say you so? the gates shall then be open'd. [Exeunt from above.

Glo. A wise stout captain, and soon persuaded! a

Hast. The good old man would fain that all were well,

So 't were not 'long of him: but, being enter'd, I doubt not, I, but we shall soon persuade Both him and all his brothers unto reason.

а

Brother, we will proclaim you out of hand;
The bruit a thereof will bring you many friends.
K. Edw. Then be it as you will: For 't is my
right,

And Henry but usurps the diadem.

Mont. Ay, now my sovereign speaketh like himself;

And now will I be Edward's champion. Hast. Sound, trumpet; Edward shall be here proclaim'd:

Come, fellow-soldier, make thou proclamation. [Gives him a paper. Flourish. Sold. [Reads.] Edward the Fourth, by the grace of God, king of England and France, and lord of Ireland,' &c.

Mont. And whosoe'er gainsays king Edward's right,

By this I challenge him to single fight. [Throws down his gauntlet. All. Long live Edward the Fourth! K. Edw. Thanks, brave Montgomery ;-and thanks unto you all.

If fortune serve me I'll requite this kindness.
Now, for this night, let's harbour here in
York:

And, when the morning sun shall raise his car
Above the border of this horizon,
We'll forward towards Warwick, and his mates;
For, well I wot that Henry is no soldier.
Ah, froward Clarence !-how evil it beseems thee
To flatter Henry, and forsake thy brother!
Yet, as we may, we'll meet both thee and War-

SCENE VIII.-London. A Room in the Palace. Enter KING HENRY, WARWICK, CLARENCE, MONTAGUE, EXETER, and OXFORD.

War. What counsel, lords ? Edward from Belgia,

With hasty Germans, and blunt Hollanders, Hath past in safety through the narrow seas, And with his troops doth march amain to London;

And many giddy people flock to him.

Oxf. Let's levy men, and beat him back again.
Clar. A little fire is quickly trodden out;
Which being suffer'd rivers cannot quench.
War. In Warwickshire I have true-hearted
friends,

Not mutinous in peace, yet bold in war;
Those will I muster up: and thou, son Clarence,
Shalt stir up a in Suffolk, Norfolk, and in Kent,
The knights and gentlemen to come with thee:
Thou, brother Montague, in Buckingham,
Northampton, and in Leicestershire, shalt find
Men well inclin'd to hear what thou command'st:
And thou, brave Oxford, wondrous well belov'd,
In Oxfordshire shall muster up thy friends.
My sovereign, with the loving citizens,
Like to his island girt in with the ocean,
Or modest Dian circled with her nymphs,
Shall rest in London, till we come to him.
Fair lords, take leave, and stand not to reply.
Farewell, my sovereign.

K. Hen. Farewell, my Hector, and my Troy's true hope.

Clar. In sign of truth I kiss your highness' hand.

K. Hen. Well-minded Clarence, be thou for

6

THE defection of Clarence from the cause of his orother has been worked up by the poet into a sudden resolve;-it was probably the result of much contrivance slowly operating upon a feeble mind, coupled with his own passion for the daughter of Warwick. What is rapid and distinct in the play is slow and obscure in the Chronicles. Warwick and Clarence in the play are quickly transformed into enemies to the brother and the ally; in the Chronicles we have to trace them through long courses of intrigue and deception. When Warwick possessed himself of the person of Edward, it is difficult, from the contemporary historians, to understand his real intentions. Hall, however, who compiles with a picturesque eye, tells the story of his capture and release in a manner which was not unfitted to be expanded into dramatic effect :-"All the king's doings were by espials declared to the Earl of Warwick, which, like a wise and politic captain, intending not to lose so great an advantage to him given, but

trusting to bring all his purposes to a final end and determination by only obtaining this enterprise, in the dead of the night, with an elect company of men of war, as secretly as was possible, set on the king's field, killing them that kept the watch, and or the king were ware (for he thought of nothing less than of that chance that happened), at a place called Wolney, four miles from Warwick, he was taken prisoner, and brought to the castle of Warwick. And to the intent that the king's friends might not know where he was, nor what was chanced of him, he caused him by secret journeys in the night to be conveyed to Middleham Castle in Yorkshire, and there to be kept under the custody of the Archbishop of York his brother, and other his trusty friends, which entertained the king like his estate, and served him like a prince. But there was no place so far off but that the taking of the king was shortly known there with the wind, which news made many men to fear and greatly to dread, and

many to wonder and lament the chance. King Edward, being thus in captivity, spake ever fair to the archbishop and to the other keepers; but, whether he corrupted them with money or fair promises, he had liberty divers days to go on hunting; and one day on a plain there met with him Sir William Stanley, Sir Thomas of Borogh, and divers other of his friends, with such a great band of men, that neither his keepers would nor once durst move him to return to prison again."

In the beginning of 1471 Edward was a fugitive, almost without a home. The great Earl of Warwick had placed Henry again in the nominal seat of authority; a counter-revolution had been effected. By one of those bold movements which set aside all calculation of consequences Edward leaped once more into the throne of England. In an age when perjury and murder were equally resorted to, Edward, on landing, did not hesitate to disguise his real objects, and to maintain that he was in arms only to enforce his claims as Duke of York. The scene before the walls of York is quite borne out by the contemporary historians; and especially in that most curious 'Historie of the arrival of Edward IV. in England,' published by the Camden Society. Shakspere evidently went to Hall as his authority :-"King Edward, without any words spoken to him, came peaceably near to York, of whose coming when the citizens were certified, without delay they armed themselves and came to defend the gates, sending to him two of the chiefest aldermen of the city, which earnestly admonished him on their behalf to come not one foot nearer, nor temerariously to enter into so great a jeopardy, considering that they were fully determined and bent to compel him to retract with dint of sword. King Edward, marking well their message, was not a little troubled and unquieted in his mind, and driven to seek the farthest point of his wit; for he had both two mischievous and perilous chances even before his eyes, which were hard to be evaded or repelled :one was, if he should go back again he feared lest the rural and common people, for covetousness of prey and spoil, would fall on him, as one that fled away for fear and dread; the other was, if he should proceed any farther in his journey, then might the citizens of York issue out with all their power, and suddenly circumvent him and take him. Wherefore he determined to set forward,

neither with army nor with weapon, but with lowly words and gentle entreatings, requiring most heartily the messengers that were sent to declare to the citizens that he came neither to demand the realm of England nor the superiority of the same, but only the duchy of York, his old inheritance; the which duchy if he might by their means readopt and recover, he would never pass out of his memory so great a benefit and so friendly a gratuity to him exhibited. And so, with fair words and flattering speech, he dismissed the messengers; and with good speed he and his followed so quickly after, that they were almost at the gates as soon as the ambassadors. The citizens, hearing his good answer, that he meant nor intended nothing prejudicial to King Henry nor his royal authority, were much mitigated and cooled, and began to commune with him from their walls, willing him to convey himself into some other place without delay, which if he did, they assured him that he should have neither hurt nor damage. But he, gently speaking to all men, and especially to such as were aldermen, whom he called worshipful, and by their proper names them saluted, after many fair promises to them made, exhorted and desired them that, by their favourable friendship and friendly permission, he might enter into his own town, of the which he had both his name and title. All the whole day was consumed in doubtful communication and earnest interlocution. The citizens, partly won by his fair words, and partly by hope of his large promises, fell to this pact and convention, that if King Edward would swear to entertain his citizens of York after a gentle sort and fashion, and hereafter to be obedient and faithful to all King Henry's commandments and precepts, that then they would receive him into their city, and aid and comfort him with money. King Edward (whom the citizens called only Duke of York), being glad of this fortunate chance, in the next morning, at the gate where he should enter, a priest being ready to say mass, in the 'mass time, receiving the body of our blessed Saviour, solemnly swearing to keep and observe the two articles above mentioned and agreed upon, when it was far unlike that he either intended or purposed to observe any of them, which afterwards was to all men manifest."