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.
Enter Ratcliff.

Rat. My lord,

K. Rich. Who's there?

[cock

Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village 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! [true? What think'st thou? will our friends prove all Rat. No doubt, my lord. K. Rich.

Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,R. 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, Arm'd 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.
R. 'Cry mercy, lords, and watchful gentlemen,
That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here.
Lords. How have you slept, my lord?
Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding
That ever enter'd in a drowsy head, [dreams
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.
R. Why, then 'tis time to arm, and give direc-

tion.- [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

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 vouchsafe to ward1 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 quit2 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 cheer-
fully;

God, and saint George! Richmond, and victory! [Exeunt.

Re-enter King Richard, Ratcliff, Attendants, and Forces.

K. Rich. What said Northumberland, as touching Richmond?

Rat. That he was never trained up in arms. K. Rich. He said the truth: And what said Surrey, then? [purpose. Rat. He smil'd and said, the better for our K. Rich. He was i' the right; and so, indeed, it is. Tell the clock there.-Give me a calendar.[Clock strikes. Who saw the sun to-day? Rat.

Not I, my lord. K. Rich. Then he disdains to shine; for, by

the book,

He should have brav'd the east an hour ago: A black day will it be to somebody.— Ratcliff,

Rat. My lord?

The sky doth frown and lour upon our army.
K. Rich. The sun will not be seen to-day;
I would, these dewy tears were from the ground.
Not shine to-day! Why, what is that to me,
More than to Richmond? for the self-same
heaven,

That frowns on me, looks sadly upon him.
Enter Norfolk.

Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in
the field.
[horse;
K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle;-Caparison my
Call up lord Stanley, bid him bring his power;-
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain,
And thus my battle shall be order'd.
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. R. [Reads.] Jocky of Norfolk be not too bold,
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 us to't pell-mell;
What shall I say more than I have inferr'd?
Remember whom you are to cope withal;
A sort 2 of vagabonds, rascals, and run-aways,
A scum of Bretagnes, and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'er-cloyed 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, disdain 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 them-
selves:

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

What says lord Stanley? will he bring his power?
Mess. My lord, he doth deny to come.
K. R. 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. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV. ANOTHER PART OF THE FIELD. Alarum: Excursions. Enter Norfolk, and Forces; to him Catesby.

Cate. Rescue, my lord of Norfolk, rescue,

rescue!

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! 1

C. Withdraw, my lord, I'll help you to a horse. K. Rich. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die: I 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! [Exeunt.

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, victorious friends;

The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead.

Stan. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou

acquit thee!

Lo, here, this long-usurp'd 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.

R. 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, [us. Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw Richm. What men of name are slain on either side? [Ferrers, Stan. John duke of Norfolk, Walter lord Sir Robert Brackenbury, and Sir William Brandon. [births. Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their 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 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 heaven'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 Englandweep in streams of blood! Let them not live to taste this land's increase, That would with treason wound this fair land's peace!

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

Nor. 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 it's: To-day, the French, All clinquant,1 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 cherubin, all gilt: the madams too,

Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear

The pride upon them, that their very labour Was to them as a painting: now this mask Was cry'd incomparable; and the ensuing night Made it a fool, and beggar. The two kings Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst, As presence did present them; him in eye, Still him in praise: and, being present both, "Twas said, they saw but one; and no discerner Durst wag his tongue in censure.2 When these [leng'd (For so they phrase them,) by their heralds chalThe noble spirits to arms, they did perform Beyond thought's compass; that former fabulous story,

suns

Surely, sir,

Nor. 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 For high feats done to the crown; neither allied To eminent assistants, but, spider-like, Out of his self-drawing web, he gives us note, The force of his own merit makes his way; A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys A place next to the king.

Aber. I cannot tell What heaven hath given him, let some graver eye Pierce into that; but I can see his pride Peep through each part of him: Whence has he If not from hell, the devil is a niggard; [that?

Or has given all before, and he begins A new hell in himself.

Buck. Why, 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 Too, whom as great a charge as little honour He meant to lay upon: and his own letter,1 The honourable board of council out,2 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. O, many Have broke their backs with laying manors on them

Which is budded out;
For France hath flaw'd the league, and hath
Our merchants' goods at Bordeaux. [attach'd
Aber.
Is it therefore

The ambassador is silenced?
Nor.

Marry, is't.

Aber. A proper title of a peace; and purchas'd At a superfluous rate! Buck.

Why, all this business Our reverend cardinal carried.4 Nor.

'Like it, your grace, 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, it may be said, It reaches far; and where 'twill not extend, Thither he darts it. Bosom up my counsel, You'll find it wholesome. Lo, where comes that That I advise your shunning.

[rock,

Enter Cardinal Wolsey, (the Purse borne before him,)certain of the Guard, and two Secretaries with Papers. The Cardinal in his passage fixeth his eye on Buckingham, and Buckingham on him, both full of disdain.

Wol. The duke of Buckingham's surveyor? ha! Where's his examination? 1 Secr. Here, so please you. Wol. Is he in person ready? 1 Secr.

1 Orders.

3 An old romance.

6 Lump of fat.

Ay, please your grace. 3 (Note him down for duty.)

2 (The council unconsulted.) 4 Conducted.

Wol. Well, we shall then know more; and Shall lessen this big look. [Buckingham [Exeunt Wolsey, and Train. B.This butcher's cur1 is venom-mouth'd, and I Have not the power to muzzle him: therefore best Not wake him in his slumber. A beggar's book Out-worths a noble's blood.

Nor. What, are you chaf'd? Ask heaven for temperance; that's the appliance Which your disease requires. [only: Buck. I read in his looks Matter against me; and his eye revil'd Me, as his abject object: at this instant He bores2 me with some trick: He's gone to the I'll follow, and out-stare him. [king;

Nor. Stay, my lord, And let your reason with your choler question What 'tis you go about: To climb steep hills Requires slow pace at first: Anger is like A full-hot horse; who being allow'd his way, Self-mettle tires him. Not a man in England Can advise me like you; be to yourself As you would to your friend. Buck.

I'll to the king, And from a mouth of honour quite cry down This Ipswich fellow's insolence; or proclaim, There's difference in no persons.

Nor.

Be advis'd:

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself: We may out-run,
By violent swiftness, that which we run at,
And lose by over-running. Know you not,
The fire, that mounts the liquor till it run o'er,
In seeming to augment it, wastes it? Be advis'd:
I say again, there is no English soul
More stronger to direct you than yourself;
If with the sap of reason you would quench,
Or but allay, the fire of passion.

Buck.

Sir,

I am thankful to you: and I'll go along
By your prescription:--but this top-proud fellow,
(Whom from the flow of gall I name not, but
From sincere motions,) by intelligence,
And proofs as clear as founts in Júly, when
We see each grain of gravel, I do know
To be corrupt and treasonous.
Nor.
Say not, treasonous.
Buck. To the king I'll say't; and make my
vouch as strong

As shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox,
Or wolf, or both, (for he is equal ravenous,
As he is subtle; and as prone to mischief,
As able to perform it: his mind and place
Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally,)
Only to show his pomp as well in France
As here at home, suggests the king our master
To this last costly treaty, the interview,
That swallow'd so much treasure, and like a glass
Did break i' the rinsing.
Nor.
'Faith, and so it did.
Buck. Pray, give me favour, sir. This cunning
cardinal

The articles o' the combination drew,
As himself pleas'd; and they were ratified,
As he cried, Thus let be: to as much end,

As give a crutch to the dead: But our countcardinal

1 He was the son of a butcher. 2 Stabs. 8 Incites.

Has done this, and 'tis well; for worthy Wolsey,
Who cannot err, he did it. Now this follows,
(Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy
To the old dam, treason,)-Charles the emperor,
Under pretence to see the queen his aunt,
(For 'twas, indeed, his colour; but he came
To whisper Wolsey,) here makes visitation :
His fears were, that the interview, betwixt
England and France, might, through their amity,
Breed him some prejudice; for from this league
Peep'd arms that menac'd him: He privily
Deals with our cardinal; and, as I trow,-
Which I do well; for, I am sure, the emperor
Paid ere he promised; whereby his suit was
granted,

Ere it was ask'd;-but when the way was made,
And pav'd with gold, the emperor thus desir'd;-
That he would please to alter the king's course,
And break the aforesaid peace. Let the king know,
(As soon he shall by me,) that thus the cardinal
Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases,
And for his own advantage.
Nor.
I am sorry
To hear this of him; and could wish he were
Something mistaken in't.

Buck.

No, not a syllable; I do pronounce him in that very shape, He shall appear in proof.

Enter Brandon; a Sergeant at Arms before him, and two or three of the Guard.

Bran. Your office, sergeant; execute it.
Serg.

Sir,

My lord the duke of Buckingham, and earl
Of Hereford, Stafford, and Northampton, I
Arrest thee of high treason, in the name
Of our most sovereign king.

Bran.

Buck. Lo you, my lord, The net has fall'n upon me; I shall perish Under device and practice.1 I am sorry To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on The business present: 'Tis his highness' pleasure You shall to the Tower. Buck. It will help me nothing, To plead mine innocence; for that dye is on me, Which makes my whitest part black. The will of heaven

Be done in this and all things!-I obey.O my lord Aberga'ny, fare you well. Bran. Nay, he must bear you company:-The king [To Abergavenny. Is pleas'd, you shall to the Tower, till you know How he determines further.

Aber. As the duke said, The will of heaven be done, and the king's By me obey'd. [pleasure

Bran. Here is a warrant from The king, to attach lord Montacute; and the Of the duke's confessor, John de la Court, [bodies One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor,Buck. So, so; These are the limbs of the plot: no more, I hope. Bran. A monk o' the Chartreux. Buck. O, Nicholas Hopkins? Bran. He.

Bu. My surveyor is false;the o'er-greatcardinal 1 Unfair stratagem.