harlot Shore,
And other like confed'rate midnight hags,
By force of potent spells, of bloody characters,
And conjurations horrible to hear,
Call fiends and spectres from the yawning deep,
And set the ministers of hell at work,
To torture and despoil me of my life.

_Lord H._ If they have done this deed----

_Glos._ If they have done it!
Talk'st thou to me of ifs, audacious traitor!
Thou art that strumpet witch's chief abettor,
The patron and complotter of her mischiefs,
And join'd in this contrivance for my death.
Nay start not, lords--What ho! a guard there, sirs!

_Enter Guards._

Lord Hastings, I arrest thee of high treason.
Seize him, and bear him instantly away.
He sha' not live an hour. By holy Paul,
I will not dine before his head be brought me.
Ratcliffe, stay thou, and see that it be done:
The rest, that love me, rise and follow me.
[_exeunt Gloster and Lords._

_Lord Hastings, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, and Guards, remain._

_Lord H._ What! and no more but this--How! to the scaffold!
O, gentle Ratcliffe! tell me, do I hold thee?
Or, if I dream, what shall I do to wake,
To break, to struggle, through this dread confusion?
For surely death itself is not so painful
As is this sudden horror and surprise.

_Sir R._ You heard the duke's commands to me were absolute.
Therefore, my lord, address you to your shrift,
With all good speed you may. Summon your courage,
And be yourself; for you must die this instant.

_Lord H._ Yes, Ratcliffe, I will take thy friendly counsel,
And die as a man should; 'tis somewhat hard,
To call my scatter'd spirits home at once:
But since what must be, must be--let necessity
Supply the place of time and preparation,
And arm me for the blow. 'Tis but to die,
'Tis but to venture on the common hazard,
Which many a time in battle I have run;
'Tis but to close my eyes and shut out day-light,
To view no more the wicked ways of men,
No longer to behold the tyrant Gloster,
And be a weeping witness of the woes,
The desolation, slaughter, and calamities,
Which he shall bring on this unhappy land.

_Enter Alicia._

_Alic._ Stand off, and let me pass--I will, I must,
Catch him once more in these despairing arms,
And hold him to my heart.--O, Hastings! Hastings!

_Lord H._ Alas! why com'st thou at this dreadful moment,
To fill me with new terrors, new distractions;
To turn me wild with thy distemper'd rage,
And shock the peace of my departing soul?