* By that false woman, as this king by thee. 'His father revell'd in the heart of France, And tam'd the king, and made the Dauphin stoop; And, had he match'd according to his state, He might have kept that glory to this day : But, when he took a beggar to his bed, And grac'd thy poor fire with his bridal day; 'Even then that sunshine brew'd a shower for him, 'That wafh'd his father's fortunes forth of France, And heap'd sedition on his crown at home. For what hath broach'd this tumult,5 but thy pride? Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept; And we, in pity of the gentle king, Had flipp'd our claim until another age. GEO. But, when we faw our funshine made thy spring, And that thy fummer bred us no increase, We set the axe to thy ufurping root : And though the edge hath something hit ourselves, Yet, know thou, fince we have begun to strike, * We'll never leave, till we have hewn thee down, Or bath'd thy growing with our heated bloods. EDW. And, in this resolution, I defy thee; Not willing any longer conference, 5 hath broach'd this tumult,] The quarto reads, " hath mov'd this," &c. STEEVENS. 6 we faw our funshine made thy spring, And that thy fummer bred us no increase,] When we faw that by favouring thee we made thee grow in fortune, but that we received no advantage from thy fortune flourishing by our favour, we then resolved to destroy thee, and determined to try some other means, though our first efforts have failed. 1 The quartos read : JOHNSON. "But when we faw our summer brought thee gain, STEEVENS. Since thou deny'st the gentle king to fpeak.Sound trumpets! -let our bloody colours wave!And either victory, or else a grave. Q. MAR. Stay, Edward. EDW. No, wrangling woman; we'll no longer ftay : These words will cost ten thousand lives to-day. [Exeunt. SCENE III. A Field of Battle between Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire. Alarums: Excursions. Enter WARWICK. WAR. Forspent with toil, as runners with a race, I lay me down a little while to breathe: A Field of Battle &c.] We should read near Towton. Shakspeare has here, perhaps, intentionally thrown three different actions into one. The Lord Fitzwater, being stationed by King Edward, to defend the pass of Ferrybridge, was affaulted by the Lord Clifford, and immediately flain, " and with hym" says Hall "the bastard of Salisbury, brother to the earl of Warwycke, a valeaunt yong gentleman, and of great audacitie. When the earl of Warwicke," adds he, "was informed of this feate, he lyke a man desperated, mounted on his hackeney, and came blowing to kyng Edwarde, saiyng: Syr, I praye God have mercy of their foules, which in the beginning of your enterprise hath loft their lyfes, and because I se no fuccors of the world, I remit the vengeance and punishment to God our creator and Redeemer; and with that lighted doune, and flewe his horse with his swourde, saying: let them flye that wyl, for furely I wil tarye with him that wil tarye with me, and kissed the croffe of his swourde." Clifford, in his retreat, was beset with a party of Yorkists, when, "eyther," says the hiftorian, "for heat or payne, putting off his gorget, fodainly with an arrowe (as fome For strokes receiv'd, and many blows repaid, Have robb'd my strong-knit finews of their strength, 'And, spite of spite, needs must I rest awhile. Enter EDWARD, running. EDW. Smile, gentle heaven!1 or strike, ungentle death! For this world frowns, and Edward's fun is clouded. WAR. How now, my lord? what hap? what hope of good? fay) without an hedde [he] was striken into the throte, and incontinent rendered his spirite, and the erle of Westmerlandes brother, and almost all his company were thare slayn, at a place called Dinting-dale, not farr frō Towton." In the afternoon of the next day (Palm Sunday eve 1461) on a plain field between Towton and Saxton, joined the main battles which continued engaged that night, and the greater part of the following day : upwards of 30,000 men, all English (including many of the nobility and the flower of the gentry, especially of the northern parts) being flain on both fides. This battle, says Carte, cided the fate of the house of Lancaster, overturning in one day an ufurpation strengthened by fixty-two years continuance, and established Edward on the throne of England." RITSON. "de An authentick copy of King Edward's account of this battle, together with a lift of the noblemen and knights who were flain in it, may be seen in Sir John Fenn's Collection of the Pasion Letters, Vol. I. p. 216, &c. HENLEY. * Forspent with toil,] Thus the folio. The quartos read " Sore spent," &c. STEEVENS. ? And, spite of spite,] So, in King John : "And, fpite of spite, alone holds up the day." STEEVENS. *Smile, gentle heaven! &c.] Thus the folio. Instead of these lines, the quartos give the following: "Smile, gentle heavens, or strike, ungentle death, "Upon the harmless line of York's true house!" STEEVENS. ، Enter GEORGE. * GEO. Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair; Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us: What counsel give you, whither shall we fly? EDW. Bootless is flight, they follow us with wings; And weak we are, and cannot shun pursuit. Enter RICHARD. RICH. Ah, Warwick, why haft thou withdrawn thyself? Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, * Our hap is loss, &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus : "Come, brother, come, let's to the field again, "For yet there's hope enough to win the day : "Then let us back to cheer our fainting troops, "Left they retire now we have left the field. "War. How now, my lords? what hap? what hope of good?" STEEVENS. Our hap is loss, our hope but fad despair ;) Milton seems to have copied this line: Thus repuls'd, our final hope "Is flat despair." MALONE. 3 Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,] This pafsage, from the variation of the copies, gave me no little perplexity. The old quarto applies this description to the death of Salisbury, Warwick's father. But this was a notorious deviation from the truth of history. For the Earl of Salisbury in the battle at Wakefield, wherein Richard Duke of York loft his life, was taken prifoner, beheaded at Pomfret, and his head, together with the Duke of York's, fixed over York gates. Then the only brother of Warwick, introduced in this play, is the Marquess of Montacute (or Montague, as he is called by our author): but he does not die till ten years after, in the battle at Barnet; where Warwick likewise was killed. The truth is, the 'Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance: 'And, in the very pangs of death, he cried, brother here mentioned is no perfon in the drama, and his death is only an accidental piece of history. Consulting the Chronicles, upon this action at Ferrybridge, I find him to have been a natural fon of Salisbury, (in that respect a brother to Warwick,) and esteemed a valiant young gentleman. THEOBALD. Thy brother's blood &c.] Instead of this speech, which is printed, like almost all the rest of the play, from the folio, the quartos give the following: Thy noble father in the thickest throngs "And many wounds made in his aged breaft. And, as he tottering fat upon his steed, STEEVENS. It is here only necessary to refer to former notes on fimilar variations; See Vol. XIII. p. 210, n. 9; p. 220, n.6; p. 234, n. 1; p. 317, n.3; p. 322, n. 3. Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,] In this line, of which there is no trace in the original play, Shakspeare had probably the facred writings in his thoughts: "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood." Genesis, iv. 11. The old play (as Theobald has observed) applies this description to the death of Salisbury, contrary to the truth of history, for that nobleman was taken prisoner at the battle of Wakefield, and afterwards beheaded at Pomfret. But both Hall and Holinshed, in nearly the fame words, relate the circumstance on which this speech, as exhibited in the folio is founded; and from the latter our author undoubtedly took it. "The Lord Fitzwalter [who had been ftationed to keep the pass of Ferrybridge] hearing the noise, [made by Lord Clifford and a body of light-horsemen, who attacked by furprize the party stationed at the bridge,] fodainly rofe out of his bedde, and unarmed, with a pollax in his hande, thinking that it had bin a fraye amongst his men, came down to appease the fame, but ere he knew what the matter ment, he was flaine, and with him the bastard of Salisbury, |