CLARENCE, prisoner in the Tower of London.
Enter BRAKENBURY.

Brakenbury. WHY looks your grace so heavily to-day?
Clarence. O, I have pass'd a miserable night,
So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,
That, as I am a Christian, faithful man,

I would not spend another such a night,

Though 't were to buy a world of happy days,
So full of dismal terror was the time.

Brak. What was your dream, my lord? I pray you tell me.

Clar. Methought that I had broken from the Tower,

And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy;

And, in my company, my brother Gloster;
Who, from my cabin, tempted me to walk

Upon the thatches; whence we look'd toward England,
And tcited up a thousand heavy times,

During the wars of York and Lancaster,

That had befallen us. As we pac'd along

Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,

Methought, that Gloster stumbled; and, in falling,
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main,

O then, methought, what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of water in mine ears!
What sights of ugly death within mine eyes!
Methought, I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;
A thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
+Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,

All scatter'd in the bottom of the sea.

Some lay in dead men's skulls; and, in those holes
Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept
(As 't were in scorn of eyes) reflecting gems,
That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep

And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by.

Brak. Had you such leisure, in the time of death,

To gaze upon these secrets of the deep?

Clar. Methought I had; and often did I strive To yield the ghost: but still the tenvious flood

Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth
To seek the empty, vast, and wandering air;
But smother'd it within my panting bulk;
Which almost burst to belch it in the sea.

Brak. Awak'd you not with thy sore agony?

Clar. O no; my dream was lengthen'd after life?
O, then began the tempest to my soul!

I pass'd, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that grim ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.

The first, that there did greet my stranger soul,
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick;
Who cried aloud, "What scourge for *perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?
And so he vanish'd.

Then came wandering by

A shadow, like an angel with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he shriek'd out aloud:
"Clarence is come! false, fleeting, perjur'd Clarence!
That stabb'd me in the fleld by Tewksbury:

Sieze on him, furies, take him to your torments!"
With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends
+Environ'd me, and howled in mine ears
Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise,
I, trembling, wak'd, and, for a season after,
Could not believe but that I was in hell;
Such terrible impression made my dream.

"

Brak. No marvel, lord, that it affrighted you; I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it.

Clar. O, Brakenbury, I have done these things,
That now give evidence against my soul,

For Edward's sake, and see how he requites me!
O God! if my deep prayers can not appease thee,
But thou wilt be taveng'd on my misdeeds,

Yet execute thy wrath on me alone:

O, spare my guiltless wife and my poor children!
I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me;

My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep.

Brak. I will, my lord: God give your grace good rest! [CLARENCE reposes himself on a chair.

Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,

Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night.

1. WHEN Hercules was in that part of his youth, in which it was natural for him to consider what course of life he ought to pursue, he one day retired into a desert, where the silence and the solitude of the place very much favored his *meditations. As he was musing on his present condition, and very much perplexed in himself on the state of life which he should choose, he saw two women of larger stature than ordinary, approaching him.

2. One of them had a very noble air and graceful deportment; her beauty was natural and easy, her person clean and unspotted, her eyes cast toward the ground with an agreeable reserve, her motion and behavior full of modesty, and her raiment as white as snow. The other had a great deal of health and floridness in her countenance, which she had helped with an artificial white and red; and she endeavored to appear more graceful than ordinary in her mein, by a mixture of affectation in all her gestures. She had a wonderful confidence and assurance in her looks, and all the variety of colors in her dress, that she thought were the most proper to show hér complexion to advantage. She cast her eyes upon herself, then turned them on those that were present, to see how they liked her, and often looked on the figure she made in her own shadow. Upon her approach to Hercules, she stepped before the other lady, who came forward with a regular composed carriage, and running up to him, accosted him after the following manner:

3. "My dear Hercules, I find you are very much divided in your thoughts upon the way of life that you ought to choose: be my friend, and follow me: I will lead you into the possession of pleasure, and out of the reach of pain, and remove you from all the noise and disquietude of business. The affairs of either war or peace shall have no power to disturb you. Your whole employment shall be to make your life easy, and entertain every sense with its proper gratifications. +Sumptuous tables, beds of roses, clouds of prefumes, *concerts of music, crowds of beauties, are all in readiness to

receive you. Come along with me into this region of delights, this world of pleasure, and bid farewell forever to care, to pain, to business." Hercules, hearing the lady talk after this manner, desired to know her name; to which she answered, “My friends and those who are well acquainted with me, call me Happiness: but my enemies and those who would injure my *reputation, have given me the name of Pleasure."

4. By this time, the other lady had come up, and addressed herself to the young hero in a very different manner. "Hercules," said she, "I offer myself to you, because I know you are descended from the gods, and give proofs of that descent, by your love of virtue, and application to the studies proper for your age. This makes me hope that you will gain, both for yourself and me, an immortal reputation. But before I invite you into my society and friendship, I will be open and sincere with you; and must lay this down as an established truth, that there is nothing truly valuable which can be purchased without pains and labor. The gods have set a price upon every real and noble pleasure. If you would gain the favor of Deity, you must be at the pains of worshiping him; if the friendship of good men, you must study to oblige them; if you would be honored by your country, you must take care to serve it; in short, if you would be eminent in war or peace, you must become master of all the qualifications that can make you so. These are the only terms and conditions upon which I can promise happiness."

5. The goddess of Pleasure here broke in upon her discourse; "You see," said she, "Hercules, by her own confession, the way to her pleasures is long and difficult, whereas that which I propose is short and easy." "Alas!" said the other lady, whose visage glowed with scorn and pity, “what are the pleasures you propose? To eat before you are hungry, drink before you are thirsty, sleep before you are tired; to gratify appetites before they are raised, and raise such appetites as nature never planted. You never heard the most +delicious music, which is the praise of yourself; or saw the most beautiful object, which is the work of your own hands. Your votaries pass away their youth in a dream of mistaken pleasures; while they are hoarding up anguish, torment, and remorse, for old age.

6. "As for me, I am the friend of the gods and of good men; an agreeable companion of the artisan; a household guardian to the fathers of families; a patron and protector of servants; an associate in all true and generous friendships. The banquets of my votaries are never costly, but always delicious; for none eat or drink at them, who are not invited by hunger and thirst. Their slumbers are sound, and their wakings cheerful. My young men have the pleasure of hearing themselves praised by those who are in years: and those who are in years, of being honored by those who are young. In a word, my followers are favored by the gods, beloved by their acquaintance, esteemed by their country, and, after the close of their labors, honored by posterity."

7. We know, by the life of this memorable hero to which of these two ladies he gave up his heart; and, I believe, every one who reads this, will do him the justice to approve of his choice.

1. WHAT is ambition? 'Tis a glorious cheat.
It seeks the chamber of the gifted boy,
And lifts his humble window and comes in.
The narrow walls texpand, and spread away
Into a kingly palace, and the roof

Lifts to the sky, and unseen fingers work
The ceiling with rich +blazonry, and write
His name in burning letters over all.
And ever as he shuts his wilder'd eyes,
The phantom comes, and lays upon his lips
A spell that murders sleep, and in his ear
Whispers a deathless word, and on his brain
Breathes a fierce thirst no waters will allay.

2. He is its slave henceforth. His days are spent
In chaining down his heart, and watching where
To rise by human weaknesses. His nights
Bring him no rest in all their blessed hours;
His kindred are forgotten or *estrang'd;
Unhealthful fires burn constant in his eye.