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Vaugh. Think upon Vaughan; and, with guilty | O, no: alas, I rather hate myself,

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The Ghost of HASTINGS rises.

Ghost. Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake, [To KING RICHARD. And in a bloody battle end thy days! Think on lord Hastings; and despair, and die! Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake! [TO RICHMOND. Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake!

The Ghosts of the two young Princes rise.
Ghosts. 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.

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.

The Ghost of QUEEN ANNE rises.

Ghost. 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,

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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,
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?

Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village 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. Richm. '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 dreams,

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 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
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 justi, 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;
God, and Saint George! Richmond and victory!
[Exeunt.

Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants,

and Forces.

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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 afright 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;
If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.

What shall I say more than I have infer'd?
Remember whom you are to cope withal; -
A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and run-aways,
A scum of Bretagnes, and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'er-cloy'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,

K. Rich. What said Northumberland, as touch- These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives;

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 purpose.
K. Rich. He was i' the right; and so, indeed, it is.

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 of Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen! K. Rich. Then he disdains to shine; for, by the Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! book,

[Clock strikes. Give me a calendar.

Tell the clock there.
Who saw the sun to-day?

Rat.

Not I, my lord.

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

Rat. My lord?
K. Rich. The sun will not be seen to-day;
The sky doth frown and lour upon our army.
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.

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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. 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,

Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!

field.

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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 forward 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 ?

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SCENE IV. - Another Part of the Field. Alarum: Excursions. Enter NORFOLK, and Forces; 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 : horse!

Cate. 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!

Alarums.

[Exeunt.

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-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.

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.

Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births. 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 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 weep 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!
Ezen

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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
As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting
Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring,
(To make that only true we now intend,)
Will leave us never an understanding friend.
Therefore, for goodness' sake, and, as you are known
The first and happiest hearers of the town,

Be sad, as we would make you: Think, ye see
The very persons of our noble story,

As they were living; think, you see them great,
And follow'd with the general throng, and sweat,
Of thousand friends; then, in a moment, see
How soon this mightiness meets misery!
And, if you can be merry then, I'll say,
A man may weep upon his wedding day.

SCENE I. London.

ACT I.

An Ante-chamber in the
Palace.

Enter the DUKE OF NORFOLK, at one door; at the other, the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, and the LORD ABERGAVENNY.

Buck.
I pray you, who, my lord?
Nor. All this was order'd by the good discretior.
Of the right reverend cardinal of York.

Buck. The devil speed him! no man's pie is free'd
From his ambitious finger. What had he
To do in these fierce vanities? I wonder,

uck. Good morrow, and well met. How have That such a keech, can with his very bulk
you done,

Since last we saw in France?

Nor.
I thank your grace:
Healthful; and ever since a fresh admirer
Of what I saw there.

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I was my chamber's prisoner.
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, 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
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. When these suns
(For so they phrase them,) by their heralds challeng'd
The noble spirits to arms, they did perform
Beyond thought's compass; that former fabulous

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

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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,
The honourable board of council out,
Must fetch him in he 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
For this great journey. What did this vanity,
But minister communication of

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Buck.
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;

For France hath flaw'd the league, and hath attach'd
Our merchants' goods at Bourdeaux.

Aber.

The ambassador is silenc'd?

Nor.

Is it therefore

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.

Nor.

'Like it your grace, The state takes notice of the private difference

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