Fear'd am I more than lov'd; - let me be fear'd, And when I frown, make all the court look pale.

60

I view the prince with Aristarchus' eyes,
Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy.
They thrust upon me the protectorship,
And sue to me for that that I desire.
While at the council-table, grave enough,
And not unlike a bashful puritan,
First I complain of imbecility,
Saving it is onus quam gravissimum,1
Till being interrupted by my friends,
Suscepi that provinciam as they term it;
And to conclude, I am Protector now.
Now is all sure: the queen and Mortimer
Shall rule the realm, the king; and none rule us.
Mine enemies will I plague, my friends advance;
And what I list command who dare control?
Major sum quam cui possit fortuna nocere.3
And that this be the coronation-day,
It pleaseth me, and Isabel the queen.

65

70

[Trumpets within.] The trumpets sound, I must go take my place. Enter the young KING, QUEEN [ISABELLA,] the ARCHBISHOP [of CANTERBURY,] Champion and Nobles.

A. of Cant. Long live King Edward, by the grace of God

King of England and Lord of Ireland!

Cham. If any Christian, Heathen, Turk, or Jew,

75

Dares but affirm that Edward's not true king,
And will avouch his saying with the sword,
I am the champion that will combat him.
Y. Mor. None comes, sound trumpets.

[Trumpets sound.]

K. Edw. Third. Champion, here's to thee. [Gives a purse.] Q. Isab. Lord Mortimer, now take him to your charge.

80

K. Edw. Third. Sweet mother, if I cannot pardon him,

Entreat my Lord Protector for his life.

Q. Isab. Son, be content; I dare not speak a word.

95

Enter MATREVIS and GURNEY.

Mat. Gurney, I wonder the king dies not, Being in a vault up to the knees in water, To which the channels of the castle run, From whence a damp continually ariseth, That were enough to poison any man, Much more a king brought up so tenderly.

Gur. And so do I, Matrevis: yesternight I opened but the door to throw him meat, And I was almost stifled with the savour. Mat. He hath a body able to endure

Berkeley Castle.

10

Light. O villains!

K. Edw. And there in mire and puddle have I stood

This ten days' space; and, lest that I should sleep,

60

One plays continually upon a drum.
They give me bread and water, being a king;
So that, for want of sleep and sustenance,
My mind 's distempered, and my body's numb'd,
And whether I have limbs or no I know not.
O, would my blood dropp'd out from every vein,
As doth this water from my tattered robes.
Tell Isabel, the queen, I look'd not thus,
When for her sake I ran at tilt in France,
And there unhors'd the Duke of Cleremont.
Light. O speak no more, my lord! this breaks
my heart.

70

Lie on this bed, and rest yourself awhile. K. Edw. These looks of thine can harbour nought but death:

75

I see my tragedy written in thy brows.
Yet stay awhile; forbear thy bloody hand,
And let me see the stroke before it comes,
That even then when I shall lose my life,
My mind may be more steadfast on my God.
Light. What means your highness to mistrust
me thus ?

K. Edw. What mean'st thou to dissemble with me thus?

Light. These hands were never stain'd with

innocent blood,

80

Light. To rid thee of thy life. - Matrevis,

come!

[Enter MATREVIS and GURNEY.]

106

K. Edw. 1 am too weak and feeble to resist: Assist me, sweet God, and receive my soul! Light. Run for the table.

K. Edw. O spare me, or despatch me in a

trice. [MATREVIS brings in a table.] 110 Light. So, lay the table down, and stamp on it, But not too hard, lest that you bruise his body. [KING EDWARD is murdered.]

Mat. I fear me that this cry will raise the town,

114

And therefore, let us take horse and away.
Light. Tell me, sirs, was it not bravely done?
Gur. Excellent well: take this for thy reward.
GURNEY stabs LIGHTBORN [who dies].
Come, let us cast the body in the moat,
And bear the king's to Mortimer our lord:
Away!
Exeunt [with the bodies].

Y. Mor. Because I think scorn to be accus'd. Who is the man dares say I murdered him? K. Edw. Third. Traitor! in me my loving father speaks,

And plainly saith, 't was thou that murd'redst him.

Y. Mor. But has your grace no other proof than this?

K. Edw. Third. Yes, if this be the hand of Mortimer. [Shewing letter.]

Y. Mor. [Aside.] False Gurney hath betray'd me and himself.

45

VY. Mor. Madam, entreat not, I will rather die,

Than sue for life unto a paltry boy.

K. Edw. Third. Hence with the traitor! with the murderer!

Y. Mor. Base Fortune, now I see, that in thy wheel

Ghost. When this eternal substance of my soul

5

Did live imprison'd in my wanton flesh,
Each in their function serving other's need,
I was a courtier in the Spanish court.
My name was Don Andrea; my descent,
Though not ignoble, yet inferior far
To gracious fortunes of my tender youth:
For there in prime and pride of all my years,
By duteons service and deserving love,
In secret I possess'd a worthy dame,
Which hight sweet Bel-imperia by name.
But in the harvest of my summer joys
Death's winter nipp'd the blossoms of my bliss,
Forcing divorce betwixt my love and me.
For in the late conflict with Portingale
My valour drew me into danger's mouth
Till life to death made passage through my
wounds.

10

15

20

When I was slain, my soul descended straight
To pass the flowing stream of Acheron;
But churlish Charon, only boatman there,
Said that, my rites of burial not perform'd,
I might not sit amongst his passengers.
Ere Sol had slept three nights in Thetis' lap,
And slak'd his smoking chariot in her flood,
By Don Horatio, our knight marshal's son, 25

Two Portuguese.

PEDRINGANO, Bel-imperia's servant. CHRISTOPHIL, Bel-imperia's custodian. Lorenzo's Page.

SERBERINE, Balthazar's servant.

Isabella's Maid.

Messenger.

Hangman.

SOLIMAN, Sultan of Turkey (Balthazar),

ERASTUS, Knight of Rhodes (Lorenzo),

THE BASHAW (Hieronimo),

PERSEDA (Bel-imperia),

In

Hieronimo's

Play.

Three Kings and three Knights in the first Dumb-show.

Hymen and two torch-bearers in the second.

BAZARDO, a Painter,

PEDRO and JAQUES, Hieronimo's

servants,

In the additions to

the play.

Army, Royal Suites, Noblemen, Halberdiers, Officers, Three Watchmen, Servants, etc.]

My funerals and obsequies were done.
Then was the ferryman of hell content
To pass me over to the slimy strand,
That leads to fell Avernus' ugly waves.

There, pleasing Cerberus with honey'd speech, so pass'd the perils of the foremost porch.

I

Not far from hence, amidst ten thousand