And say, withal, I think he held the right. Ver. Stay, lords, and gentlemen; and pluck no more, Till you conclude-that he, upon whose side The fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree, Shall yield the other in the right opinion. Som. Good master Vernon, it is well objected ;4 If I have fewest, I subscribe in silence. Plan. And I. Ver. Then, for the truth and plainness of the case, I pluck this pale, and maiden blossom here, Giving my verdict on the white rose side. Som. Prick not your finger as you pluck it off; Ver. If I, my lord, for my opinion bleed, Law. Unless my study and my books be false, The argument you held, was wrong in you; [To SOM. In sign whereof, I pluck a white rose too. Plan. Now, Somerset, where is your argument? Som. Here, in my scabbard; meditating that, Shall dye your white rose in a bloody red. Plan. Mean time, your cheeks do counterfeit our roses; For pale they look with fear, as witnessing Som. No, Plantagenet, 'Tis not for fear; but anger,-that thy cheeks Som. Well, I'll find friends to wear my bleeding-roses, That shall maintain what I have said is true, Where false Plantagenet dare not be seen. Plan. Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand, I scorn thee and thy fashion, peevish boy. Suf. Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet. [8] Properly thrown in our way, justly proposed. JOHNS. Suf. I'll turn my part thereof into thy throat. Som. Away, away, good William De-la-Poole ! We grace the yeoman, by conversing with him. War. Now, by God's will, thou wrong'st him,Somerset : His grandfather was Lionel, duke of Clarence, Third son to the third Edward king of England; Spring crestless yeomen from so deep a root?1 Plan. He bears him on the place's privilege,2 Or durst not, for his craven heart, say thus. Som. By him that made me, I'll maintain my words To scourge you for this apprehension :4 Som. Ay, thou shalt find us ready for thee still : [Exit. Suf. Go forward, and be chok'd with thy ambition! And so farewell, until I meet thee next. Som. Have with thee, Pool.-Farewell, ambitious Richard. [Exit. Plan. How I am brav'd, and must perforce endure it! [9] The author mistakes. Plantagenet's paternal grandfather was Edmund of Langley, Duke of York. His maternal grandfather was Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, who was the son of Philippa the daughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence. The duke therfore was his maternal great great grand. father MAL. [1] .. those who have no right to arms. WARB. [2] The Temple, being a religious house, was an asylum, a place of exemp tion, from violence revenge, and bloodshed. JOHNS. [3] Exempt for excluded. [4] Apprehension, that is opinion, WARB. War. This blot, that they object against your house, Shall be wip'd out in the next parliament, Call'd for the truce of Winchester and Gloster: Plan. Good master Vernon, I am bound to you, Plan. Thanks, gentle sir. Come, let us four to dinner: I dare say, This quarrel will drink blood another day. The same. SCENE V. [Exeunt. A Room in the Tower. Enter MORTIMER,4 Mor. Kind keepers of my weak decaying age, [4] Mr. Edwards in his MS notes observes that Shakspeare has varied from the true history to introduce this scene between Mortimer and Richard Plantagenet. Edmund Mortimer served under Henry V in 1422, and died unconfined in Ireland in 1424. Holinshed says, that Mortimer was one of the mourners at the funeral of Henry the V. STEEV. I am aware, and could easily show, that some of the most interesting events, not only in the Chronicles of Hall and Holinshed, but in the Histories of Rapin, Hume and Smollet, are perfectly fabulous and unfounded, which are nevertheless constantly cited and regarded as incontrovertible facts. But, if modern writers, standing as it were, upon the shoulders of their predecessors, and possessing innumerable other advantages, are not always to be depended on, what allowances ought we not to make for those who had neither Rymer, nor Dugdale, nor. Sandford to consult, who could have no access to the treasuries of Cotton or Harley, nor were permitted the inspection of a public record? If this were the case with the historian, what can be expected from the dramatist? He naturally took for fact what he found in history, and is by no means answerable for the misinformation of his authority. RITSON. [5] Pursuivants. The heralds that, forerunning death, proclaim its apa proach. JOHNS. Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer. These eyes,-like lamps whose wasting oil is spent,- Weak shoulders, overborne with burd'ning grief, That droops his sapless branches to the ground :- But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come? 1 Keep. Richard Plantagenet, my lord, will come : Just death, kind umpire of men's miseries, & That so he might recover what was lost. Enter RICHARD PLANTAGENET. 1 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 bosom spend my latter gasp: O, tell me, when my lips do touch his cheeks, That I may kindly give one fainting kiss. And now declare, sweet stem from York's great stock, Why didst thou say of late thou wert despis'd? Plan. First, lean thine aged back against mine arm; And, in that ease, I'll tell thee my disease. 9. This day, in argument upon a case, Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me: [7] Pith was used for marrow, and figuratively, for strength 4* VOL. V. JOHNS Among which terms he used his lavish tongue, And for alliance sake,-declare the cause Mor. That cause, fair nephew, that imprison'd me, And hath detain'd me, all my flow'ring youth, Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine, Was cursed instrument 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, Of Edward king, the third of that descent: Endeavour'd my advancement to the throne. I was the next by birth and parentage; From Lionel duke of Clarence, the third son But mark as, in this haughty great attempt," |