Fool, of thyself speak well :-Fool, do not flatter.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree;
Murder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree;
All several sins, all us'd in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all,-Guilty! guilty!
I shall despair.-There is no creature loves me;
And, if I die, no soul will pity me:-

Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.

Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd
Came to my tent: and every one did threat
To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard.

Rat. My lord,

Enter Ratcliff.

K. Rich. Who's there?

Of England's chair,' where he is falsely set;
One that hath ever been God's enemy:
Then, if you fight against God's enemy,
God will, in justice, ward' you as his soldiers;
If you do sweat to put a tyrant down,
You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain;
If you do fight against your country's foes,
Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire;
If you do fight in safeguard of your wives,
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors;
If you do free your children from the sword,
Your children's children quit' it in your age.
Then, in the name of God, and all these rights,
Advance your standards, draw your willing swords;
For me, the ransom of my bold attempt

Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face;
But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt
The least of you shall share his part thereof.
Sound, drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully;

Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village God, and Saint George! Richmond, and victory!

cock

Hath twice done salutation to the morn;
Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour.

K. Rich. O, Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful
dream!

What thinkest thou? will our friends prove all true?
Rat. No doubt, my lord.
K. Rich.
Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,-
Rat. Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows.
K. Rich. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard,
Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers,
Armed in proof, and led by shallow Richmond.
It is not yet near day. Come, go with me;
Under our tents I'll play the eaves-dropper,
To hear, if any mean to shrink from me.

[Exeunt King Richard and Ratcliff.

Richmond wakes. Enter Oxford and others.
Lords. Good morrow, Richmond.
Richin. 'Cry mercy, lords, and watchful gentle-

men,

Thit you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here.
Lords. How have you slept, my lord?
Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding
dreams,

That ever enter'd in a drowsy head,
Have I since your departure had, my lords.
Methought, their souls, whose bodies Richard mur-
der'd,

Came to my tent, and cried-On! victory!
I promise you, my heart is very jocund
In the remembrance of so fair a dream.
II w far into the morning is it, lords?
Lors. Upon the stroke of four.

Richm. Why, then 'tis time to arm, and give di-
rection.- [He advances to the troops.
More than I have said, loving countrymen,
The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell on: Yet remember this,--
God, and our good cause, fight upon our side;
The prayers of holy saints, and wronged souls,
Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces;
Richard except, those, whom we fight against,
Had rather have us win, than him they follow.
For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen,
A bloody tyrant, and a homicide;
One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd;
One that made means to come by what he hath,
And slaughter'd those that were the means to help

him;

A base foul stone, made precious by the foil

(1) Throne. (2) Guard. (3) Requite.

[Exeunt. Re-enter King Richard, Ratcliff, attendants, and forces.

K. Rich. What said Northumberland, as touch-
ing Richmond?

Rat. That he was never trained up in arms.
K. Rich. He said the truth: And what said
Surrey then?

Rat. He smil'd and said, the better for our pur

Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the field.

K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle;-Caparison my
horse ;-

Call up lord Stanley, bid him bring his power:-
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain,
And thus my battle shall be ordered.
My foreward shall be drawn out all in length,
Consisting equally of horse and foot;
Our archers shall be placed in the midst :
John duke of Norfolk, Thomas earl of Surrey,
Shall have the leading of this foot and horse.
They thus directed, we ourself will follow
In the main battle; whose puissance on either side
Shall be well winged with our chiefest horse.
This, and Saint George to boot!-What think'st
thou, Norfolk?

Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign.—
This found I on my tent this morning.

[Giving a scroll. K. Rich. Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold, [Reads. For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.

A thing devised by the enemy.

Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge:
Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls;
Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe;
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.
March on, join bravely, let's to't pell-mell;
If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.

What shall I say more than I have inferr'd?
Remember whom you are to cope withal ;-
A sort' of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways,
A scum of Bretagnes, and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'er-clcy'd country vomits forth
To desperate ventures and assur'd destruction.
You sleeping safe, they bring you to unrest;
You having lands, and bless'd with beauteous wives,
They would restrain the one, distain the other.
And who doth lead them, but a paltry fellow,
Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost?
A milk-sop, one that never in his life.
Felt so much cold as over-shoes in snow?
Let's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again;
Lash hence these over-weening rags of France,
These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives;
Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit,
For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd themselves:
If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us,

And not these bastard Bretagnes; whom our fathers
Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd,
And, on record, left them the heirs of shame.
Shall these enjoy our lands? lie with our wives?
Ravish our daughters ?-Hark, I hear their drum.
[Drum afar off
Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen!
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head!
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood;
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves !?

Enter a Messenger.

K. Rich. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die:

think, there be six Richmonds in the field; Five have I slain to-day, instead of him :A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! [Exe. Alarums. Enter King Richard and Richmond; and exeunt fighting. Retreat, and flourish. Then enter Richmond, Stanley, bearing the crown, with divers other Lords, and forces.

Richm. God, and your arms, be prais'd, victo
rious friends;

The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead.
Stan. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou
Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty,
acquit thee!

From the dead temples of this bloody wretch
Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal;
Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it.

Richm. Great God of heaven, say, Amen, to all :-
But, tell me first, is young George Stanley living?

Stan. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town; Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us. Richm. What men of name are slain on either

side?,

Stan. John duke of Norfolk, Walter lord Ferrers,
Sir Robert Brakenbury, and sir William Brandon.
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled,
Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births.
That in submission will return to us;
And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose with the red:-
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,
That long hath frown'd upon their enmity!-
What traitor hears me, and says not,-Amen?
England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself;
The brother blindly shed the brother's blood,
The father rashly slaughter'd his own son,
The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire;
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided, in their dire division.—
O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each royal house,
By God's fair ordinance conjoin together!
And let their heirs (God, if thy will be so,)
Enrich the time to come with smooth-fac'd peace,
With smiling plenty, and fair prosperous days!
Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord,
That would reduce these bloody days again,
[Exeunt. And make poor England weep in streams of blood!
Alar-That would with treason wound this fair land's
Let them not live to taste this land's increase,
forces;
peace!

What says lord Stanley? will he bring his power?
Mess. My lord, he doth deny to come.
K. Rich. Off instantly with his son George's head.
Nor. My lord, the enemy is pass'd the marsh;
After the battle let George Stanley die.

K. Rich. A thousand hearts are great within my
bosom:

Advance our standards, set upon our foes;
Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George,
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!
Upon them! Victory sits on our helms.
SCENE_IV.—Another part of the field.
ums: Excursions. Enter Norfolk, and
to him Catesby.

Cate. Rescue, my lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite to every danger;
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death:
Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!

Alarum. Enter King Richard.

K. Rich. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

Cate. Withdraw, my lord, I'll help you to a horse.

(1) Company.

Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again;
That she may long live here, God say-Amen.
[Exeunt,

This is one of the most celebrated of our author's performances; yet I know not whether it has not happened to him as to others, to be praised most, when praise is not most deserved. That this play has scenes noble in themselves, and very well contrived to strike in the exhibition, cannot be denied. But some parts are trifling, others shocking, and JOHNSON.

(2) Fright the skies with the shivers of your lances. Isome improbable.

VOL. II.

2 E

KING HENRY VIII.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

I COME no more to make you laugh; things SCENE I-London. An ante-chamber in the