1

Queen. 'Tis nothing less: 1 conceit is still derived
From some forefather grief; 2 mine is not so;
For nothing had begot my something grief,
Or something hath the nothing 3 that I grieve;
'Tis in reversion that I do possess ;

But what it is, that is not yet known; what,
I cannot name; 'tis nameless woe, I wot.

Enter GREEN.

Green. Heaven save your majesty! - and well met, gentlemen :

I hope the king is not yet shipped for Ireland.

Queen. Why hop'st thou so? 'tis better hope he is; For his designs crave haste, his haste good hope; Then wherefore dost thou hope he is not shipped?

Green. That he, our hope, might have retired his power, And driven into despair an enemy's hope, Who strongly hath set footing in this land: The banished Bolingbroke repeals himself, And with uplifted arms is safe arrived At Ravenspurg.

Queen.

Now God in heaven forbid !

Green. O, madam, 'tis too true; and, that 5 is worse,

1 'Tis nothing less] Nothing can be less so; it is any thing but conceit. In this sense the words were anciently quite familiar. Thus in Latimer's Sermons, Many things were taken for prayer when they were nothing less.' 'Such outward acts seem to be done with

a good heart, when it is nothing less.' See the Editor's ' 'Summary of Bacon's Advancement of Learning,' foot of p. 69.

2 Conceit is still derived, &c.] Conception of grief is always derived from some actual grief.

3 Something hath the nothing] Some future thing contains the present nothing.

4 Retired his power] Brought back his army.

That] Which,

The lord Northumberland, his son, young Henry Percy,
The lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby,
With all their powerful friends, are fled to him.

Bushy. Why have you not proclaimed Northumberland And the rest of the revolted faction traitors?

Green. We have: whereupon the earl of Worcester 1 Hath broke his staff, resigned his stewardship,

And all the household servants fled with him

To Bolingbroke.

Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woc,
And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir:

Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy
And I, a gasping new-delivered mother,
Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow, joined.
Bushy. Despair not, madam.

Queen.

I will despair, and be at enmity

Who shall hinder me?

With cozening hope; he is a flatterer,
A parasite, a keeper-back of death,

Who gently would dissolve the bands of life
Which false hope lingers in extremity.2

Enter YORK.

Green. Here comes the duke of York.

Queen. With signs of war 3 about his aged neck; O, full of careful 4 business are his looks!

The Earl of Worcester] Thomas Percy, brother of the Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Steward of the king's household.

2 Lingers in extremity] Causes to linger in a condition of extreme misery.

Signs of war] Defensive armour: the military gorget.

Careful] Anxious. The ordinary meaning in old times. See, in Scripture, Luke x. 41, ‘Thou art careful and troubled about many things.'

Uncle, for Heaven's sake, speak comfortable words.
York. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts:
Comfort's in heaven; and we are on the earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, cares, and grief.
Your husband he is gone to save far off,
Whilst others come to make him lose at home:
Here am I left to underprop his land;
Who, weak with age, cannot support myself:
Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made;
Now shall he try his friends that flattered him.

Enter a Servant.

1

Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came.
York. He was?-Why, so !2-go all which way it will!
The nobles they are fled, the commons they are cold,
And will, I fear, revolt on Hereford's side.-

Sirrah, get thee to Plashy, to my sister Gloster ;-
Bid her send me presently a thousand pound:
Hold, take my ring.

Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship:
To-day, as I came by, I called there ;-

But I shall grieve you to report the rest.

York. What is it, knave? 3

Serv. An hour before I came, the duchess died.
York. Heaven for his mercy! what a tide of woes

Comes rushing on this woeful land at once!

I know not what to do:-I would to Heaven,

The sick hour, &c.] Compare K. Lear, i. 2, 'When we are sick in fortune-often the surfeit of our own behaviour.'

2 So] Such is the case; be it so. In The Merchant of Venice, i. 3, Shylock says, 'If he will take it, so; if not, adieu.'

3 Knave] Fellow. The word originally meant a boy. Chaucer calls a male infant a knave child. See the Editor's Julius Cæsar, p. 115, note 1.

D

(So my untruth had not provoked1 him to it,)
The king had cut off my head with my brother's.
What, are there no posts despatched for Ireland ?-
How shall we do for money for these wars?—

Come, sister-cousin, I would say: pray, pardon me.—
Go, fellow [to the Servant], get thee home, provide some
carts,

And bring away the armour that is there.- [Exit Servant.
Gentlemen, will you go muster men? If I know
How or which way to order these affairs,
Thus disorderly thrust into my hands,
Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen ;-
The one is my sovereign, whom both my
And duty bids defend; the other again
Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wronged,
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right.
Well, somewhat we must do.-

oath

Come, cousin, I'll dispose of you:-Gentlemen,
Go muster up your men, and meet me presently
At Berkley castle. I should to Plashy too;
But time will not permit :-All is uneven.
And everything is left at six and seven.

[Exeunt YORK and QUEEN.

Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go to Ireland, But none returns. For us to levy power,

Proportionable to the enemy,

Is all unpossible.

Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love, Is near 2 the hate of those love 3 not the king.

Bagot. And that's the wavering commons: for their love

1 So my untruth, &c.] Provided no disloyalty in me had proToked, &c.

2 Is near] Places us in near exposure to.

3 Love] That love. See p. 5, note 9.

Lies in their purses; and whoso empties them,
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate.

Bushy. Wherein the king stands generally condemned. Bagot. If judgment lie in them, then so do we,1 Because we ever have been near the king.

Green. Well, I'll for refuge straight to Bristol castle;

The Earl of Wiltshire is already there.

Bushy. Thither will I with you: for little office
The hateful commons will perform for us;
Except, like curs, to tear us all to pieces.-
Will you go along with us?

Bagot. No; I will to Ireland to his majesty.
Farewell: if heart's presages be not vain,
We three here part, that ne'er shall meet again.

Bushy. That's as York thrives to beat back Bolingbroke. Green. Alas, poor duke! the task he undertakes Is numbering sands, and drinking oceans dry; Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly. Farewell at once; for once, for all, and ever. Bushy. Well, we may meet again. Bagot.

I fear me,3 never.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-The Wilds in Gloucestershire.

Enter BOLINGBROKE and NORTHUMBERLAND, with Forces.

Boling. How far is it, my lord, to Berkley now ?
North. Believe me, noble lord,

1 If judgment, &c.] If they have power of judgment, then so do we stand condemned.

2 Hateful] Full of hate.

I fear me] This reflexive use of the verb fear is very common in Shakspeare.