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With best advantage will deceive the time,
And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms:
But on thy side I may not be too forward,
Lest, being seen, thy brother, tender George,
Be executed in his father's sight.
Farewell: the leisure and the fearful time
Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love
And ample interchange of sweet discourse,
Which so long sunder'd friends shoulddwellupon:
God give us leisure for these rites of love!
Once more, adieu: be valiant, and speed well!
Richm. Goodlords, conduct him to his regiment.
I'll strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap,
Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow,
When I should mount with wings of victory.
Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen.
Exeunt all but RICHMOND.

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Of butcher'd princes fight in thy behalf :
King Henry's issue, Richmond, comforts thee.

The Ghost of King HENRY the Sixth rises. Ghost. To King RICHARD. When I was mortal, my anointed body

By thee was punched full of deadly holes :
Think on the Tower and me; despair, and die!
Harry the Sixth bids thee despair, and die.
To RICHMOND. Virtuous and holy, be thou
conqueror!

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Harry, that prophesied thou should'st be king, Doth comfort thee in sleep: live, and flourish! The Ghost of CLARENCE rises.

Ghost. To King RICHARD. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!

I, that was wash'd to death with fulsome wine, Poor Clarence, by thy guile betray'd to death! To-morrow in the battle think on me,

And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die! TO RICHMOND. Thou offspring of the house of Lancaster,

The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee: Good angels guard thy battle! live, and flourish!

The Ghosts of RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN, rise. Ghost of Rivers. To King RICHARD. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!

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Rivers, that died at Pomfret: despair, and die! Ghost of Grey. To King RICHARD. Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair!

Ghost of Vaughan. To King RICHARD. Think upon Vaughan, and with guilty fear

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Let fall thy lance: despair, and die!
All. To RICHMOND. Awake, and think our
wrongs in Richard's bosom

Will conquer him: awake, and win the day!
The Ghost of HASTINGS rises.

Ghost. To King RICHARD. Bloody and guilty,
guiltily awake;

And in a bloody battle end thy days!
Think on Lord Hastings: despair, and die! 150
TO RICHMOND, Quiet untroubled soul, awake,
awake!

Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake!
The Ghosts of the two young Princes rise.
Ghosts. To King RICHARD. Dream on thy cousins
smother'd in the Tower:

Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard,
And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death!
Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair, and die!
TO RICHMOND. Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace,

and wake in joy;

Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy! Live, and beget a happy race of kings! Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish. 160

The Ghost of Lady ANNE rises.

Ghost. To King RICHARD. Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy wife, That never slept a quiet hour with thee, Now fills thy sleep with perturbations: To-morrow in the battle think on me, And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die! To RICHMOND. Thou, quiet soul, sleep thou a

quiet sleep; Dream of success and happy victory! Thy adversary's wife doth pray for thee. The Ghost of BUCKINGHAM rises. Ghost. To King RICHARD. The first was I that help'd thee to the crown; The last was I that felt thy tyranny. O! in the battle think on Buckingham, And die in terror of thy guiltiness. Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death : Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath! To RICHMOND. I died for hope ere I could lend

thee aid:

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But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismay'd : God and good angels fight on Richmond's side; And Richard falls in height of all his pride.

The Ghosts vanish. King RICHARD starts out of his dream.

K. Rich. Give me another horse! bind up my wounds!

Have mercy, Jesu! Soft! I did but dream. 180 O! coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me. The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What! do I fear myself? there's none else by : Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.

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Is there a murderer here? No. Yes; Iam :
Then fly: what! from myself? Great reason why;
Lest I revenge. What! myself upon myself?
Alack! I love myself. Wherefore? for any good
That I myself have done unto myself?
O! no: alas! I rather hate myself
For hateful deeds committed by myself.
I am a villain. Yet I lie; I am not.
Fool, of thyself speak well: fool, do not flatter.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,

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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 shall 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.

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[ACT V.

A base foul stone, made precious by the foil 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, If you do sweat to put a tyrant down, God will in justice ward you as his soldiers; You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain; Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire; If you do fight against your country's foes, Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors; If you do fight in safeguard of your wives, Your children's children quit it in your age. If you do free your children from the sword, 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

K. Rich. 'Zounds! who is there?
Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face;

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. O Ratcliff! I fear, I fear, Rat. Nay, good my lord, benotafraid 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; 222 Under our tents I'll play the eaves-dropper, To hear if any mean to shrink from me. Exeunt. RICHMOND wakes. Enter OXFORD and Others. Lords. Good morrow, Richmond!

Richm. Cry mercy, lords and watchful gentle

men,

That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here.
Lords. How have you slept, my lord?

Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams

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

murder'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.
How far into the morning is it, lords?
Lords. Upon the stroke of four.
Richm. Why, then 'tis time to arm and give

direction.

His oration to his soldiers.

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.

But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt
The least of you shall share his part thereof.
Sound, drums and trumpets, boldly and cheer-
fully;

God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!

Exeunt.

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Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces; Consisting equally of horse and foot;

K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle; caparison my horse.

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Call up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power:
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain,
And thus mv battle shall be ordered:
My foreward shall be drawn out all in length,

A bloody tyrant and a homicide;

Richard except, those whom we fight against Had rather have us win than him they follow. For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen,

help him;

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

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thou, Norfolk ?

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His oration to his army. 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 Bretons and base lackey peasants, Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth Todesperate adventures and assur'd destruction. You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest; 322 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 milksop, 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 overweening rags of France,
These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives;
Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit, 332
For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd them-
selves.

If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us,
And not these bastard Bretons, whom our fathers
Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and

thump'd,

And in record, left them the heirs of shame.
Shall these enjoy our lands? lie with our wives?
Ravish our daughters?
Drum afar off.

Hark! I hear their drum.

Fight, at, 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!

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Alarums. Enter King RICHARD and RICHMOND; and exeunt fighting. Retreat and flourish. Reenter RICHMOND, STANLEY bearing the crown, with divers other Lords, and Forces.

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

The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead.

Stan. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee.

Lo! here, this long-usurped royalty
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.

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Richm. Great God of heaven, say amen to all! But tell me, 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.

Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births:

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Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled
That in submission will return to us;
And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose and 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,

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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,
And make poor England weepin streamsof blood!
Let them not live to taste this land's increase,
That would with treason wound this fair land's

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Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again:
That she may long live here, God say amen!

Exeunt.

THE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHTΗ.

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Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb-shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Scribes, Officers,

Guards, and other Attendants.

Spirits.

SCENE.-Chiefly in London and Westminster; once, at Kimbolton.

PROLOGUE.

I come no more to make you laugh: things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
We now present. Those that can pity, here
May, if they think it well, let fall a tear;
The subject will deserve it. Such as give
Their money out of hope they may believe,
May here find truth too. Those that come to see
Only a show or two, and so agree

The play may pass, if they be still and willing,
I'll undertake may see away their shilling
Richly in two short hours. Only they
That come to hear a merry, bawdy play,
A noise of targets, or to see a fellow

In a long motley coat guarded with yellow, Will be deceiv'd; for, gentle hearers, know, To rank our chosen truth with such a show

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As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting

Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring, 20

To make that only true we now intend,

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Will leave us never an understanding friend.

Since last we saw in France?

Nor.

I thank your grace,

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Then you lost

The view of earthly glory: men might say,
Till this time pomp was single, but now married
To one above itself. Each following day
Became the next day's master, till the last
Made former wonders its. To-day the French
All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods,
Shone down the English; and to-morrow they
Made Britain India: every man that stood
Show'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were
As cherubins, all gilt: the madams too,
Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear

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Who did guide,

I mean, who set the body and the limbs
Of this great sport together, as you guess?

Nor. One, certes, that promises no element

In such a business.

Buck.

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I pray you, who, my lord?
Nor. All this was order'd by the good discretion
Of the right reverend Cardinal of York.
Buck. Thedevilspeed him! noman'spieis freed
From his ambitious finger. What had he
To do in these fierce vanities? I wonder
That such a keech can with his very bulk
Take up the rays o' the beneficial sun,

And keep it from the earth.

Nor.

Surely, sir,
There's in him stuff that puts him to these ends;
For, being not propp'd by ancestry, whose grace
Chalks successors their way, nor call'd upon

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If not from hell, the devil is a niggard,
Or has given all before, and he begins
A new hell in himself.
Buck.

Why the devil,
Upon this French going-out, took he upon him,
Without the privity o' the king, to appoint
Who should attend on him? He makes up the

file

Of all the gentry; for the most part such
To whom as great a charge as little honour
He meant to lay upon and his own letter,
The honourable board of council out,
Must fetch him in the papers.
Aber.

I do know
Kinsmen of mine, three at the least, that have
By this so sicken'd their estates, that never
They shall abound as formerly.

Buck.

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O! many Havebroketheir backs with laying manors on'em For this great journey. What did this vanity But minister communication of

A most poor issue?
Nor.

Grievingly I think,

The peace between the French and us not values
The cost that did conclude it.

Buck.

Every man,
After the hideous storm that follow'd, was
A thing inspir'd; and, not consulting, broke
Into a general prophecy: That this tempest,
Dashing the garment of this peace, aboded
The sudden breach on 't.
Nor.

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Which is budded out;

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Our reverend cardinal carried.
Nor.

Like it your grace, 100
The state takes notice of the private difference
Betwixt you and the cardinal. I advise you,
And take it from a heart that wishes towards
you

Honour and plenteous safety, that you read
The cardinal's malice and his potency
Together; to consider further that

What his high hatred would effect wants not
A minister in his power. You know his nature,
That he's revengeful; and I know his sword
Hath a sharp edge: it's long, and 't may be said,
It reaches far; and where 'twill not extend, 111
Thither he darts it. Bosom up my counsel,
You'll find it wholesome. Lo! where comes

that rock

For high feats done to the crown; neither allied | That I advise your shunning.

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