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More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred:
What comfortable hour canst thou name,
That ever grac'd' me in thy company?

K. Rich. Faith, none, but Humphry Houre',
that call'd your grace

To breakfast once, forth of my company,
If I be so disgracious in your sight,

Let me march on, and not offend you, madam.-
Strike up the drum.

Dutch. I pr'ythee, hear me speak.
K. Rich. You speak too bitterly.
Dutch. Hear me a word;

For I shall never speak to thee again.

K. Rich. So.

[dinance,

Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life,
Whose hands soever lanc'd their tender hearts,
Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction:
No doubt the murderous knife was dull and blunt,
5 Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart,
To revel in the entrails of my lambs.

But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame,
My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys;
Till that my nails were anchor'd in thine eyes;
10 And I, in such a desperate bay of death,
Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft,
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.
K. Rich. Madam, so thrive l'in
my enterprize,
And dangerous success of bloody wars,
As I intend more good to you and yours,
Than ever you or yours by me were harm'd!
Queen. What good is cover'd with the face of
heaven,

20

Dutch. Either thou wilt die, by God's just or-15
Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror;
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish,
And never look upon thy face again.
Therefore, take with thee my most heavy curse;
Which, in the day of battle, tire thee more,
Than all the complete armour that thou wear'st!
My prayers on the adverse party fight;
And there the little souls of Edward's children
Whisper the spirits of thine enemies,
And promise them success and victory!
Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end;
Shame serves' thy life, and doth thy death attend.
[Exit.
Queen. Though far more cause, yet much less
spirit to curse

Abides in ine; I say Amen to her, [Going.
K. Rich. Stay, madam, I must speak a word

with you.

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30

Queen. I have no more sons of the royal blood, For thee to murder: for my daughters, Richard, 35 They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens; And therefore level not to hit their lives.

K.Rich. You have a daughter call'd-Elizabeth, Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.

[live,

Queen. And must she die for this? O, let her 40
And I'll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty;
Slander myself, as false to Edward's bed;
Throw over her the veil of infamy:

So she may live unscarr'd of bleeding slaughter,
I will confess she was not Edward's daughter.
K. Rich. Wrong not her birth, she is of royal
blood.

45

Queen. To save her life, I'll say-she is not so.
K. Rich. Her life is safest only in her birth.
Queen. And only in that safety dy'd her brothers. 50
K. Rich. Lo, at their births good stars were
opposite.
[contrary.
Queen. No, to their lives bad friends were
K. Rich. All unavoided is the doom of destiny.
Queen. True,when avoided grace makes destiny: 55
My babes were destin'd to a fairer death,
If grace had bless'd thee with a fairer life.

K. Rich. You speak, as if that I had slain my
cousins.
[cozen'd
Queen. Cousins, indeed; and by their uncle 60

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To be discover'd, that can do me good?
K. Rich. The advancement of your children,
gentle lady.
[heads,
Queen. Up to some scaffold, there to lose their
K. Rich. No, to the dignity and height of

fortune,

4

The high imperial type of this earth's glory,
Queen, Flatter my sorrows with report of it;
Tell me, what state, what dignity, what honour,
Canst thou demise to any child of mine?

fall,

K. Rich. Even all I have; ay, and myself and
Will I withal endow a child of thine;
So in the Lethe of thy angry soul

Thou drownthe sad remembrance of thosewrongs,
Which, thou supposest, I have done to thee.
Queen. Be brief, lest that the process of thy
kindness

Last longer telling, than thy kindness' date.
K. Rich. Then know, that, from my soul, I

[soul

love thy daughter.
Queen. My daughter's mother thinks it with her.
K. Rich. What do you think? [thy soul;
Queen. That thou dost love my daughter, from
So, from thy soul's love, didst thou love her
brothers;

And, from my heart's love, I do thank thee for it.
K. Rich. Be not so hasty to confound my

meaning:

mean, that with my soul I love thy daughter, And do intend to make her queen of England, Queen. Well then, who dost thou mean shall be

her king?

K. Rich. Even he that makes her queen; Who
else should be?

Queen, What, thou?
[madam ?.
K. Rich. I, even I: What think you of it,.
Queen. How canst thou woo her?
K. Rich. That I would learn of
you,
As one being best acquainted with her humour.
Queen. And wilt thou learn of me?

K, Rich. Madam, with all my heart. [brothers,
Queen. Send to her, by the man that slew her

1i. e. bless'd, or made me happy. 2 Mr. Steevens remarks, that this may probably be an allusion to some affair of gallantry of which the Dutchess had been suspected; or, that the poet's fondness for a quibble may perhaps have induced him at once to personify and christen that hour of the day

5

A pair of bleeding hearts; thereon engrave,
Edward, and York; then, haply, will she weep:
Therefore present to her, as sometime Margaret
Did to thy father, steep'd in Rutland's blood,-
A handkerchief; which, say to her, did drain
The purple sap from her sweet brothers' bodies,
And bid her wipe her weeping eyes withal.
If this inducement move her not to love,
Send her a letter of thy noble deeds;
Tell her, thou mad'st away her uncle Clarence, 10
Her uncle Rivers; ay, and, for her sake,
Mad'st quick conveyance with her good aunt
[the way

Anne.

K. Rich. You mock me, madam; this is not To win your daughter,

Queen. There is no other way; Unless thou could'st put on some other shape, And not be Richard that hath done all this.

15

K. Rich. Say, that I did all this for love of her? Queen. Nay, then indeed, she cannot chuse but 20 hate thee,

Having bought love with such a bloody spoil'. K. Rich. Look, what is done cannot be now amended:

Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes, Which after-hours give leisure to repent.

If I did take the kingdom from your sons,
To make amends, I'll give it to your daughter.
If I have kill'd the issue of your womb,
To quicken your increase, I will beget
Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter.
A grandam's name is little less in love,
Than is the doting title of a mother;
They are as children, but one step below,
Even of your metal, of your very blood;
Of all one pain, save for a night of groans
Endur'd of her, for whom you bid like sorrow.
Your children were vexation to your youth,
But mine shall be a comfort to your age.
The loss you have, is but-a son being king,
And, by that loss, your daughter is made queen.
I cannot make you what amends I would,
Therefore accept such kindness as I can.
Dorset your son, that, with a fearful soul,
Leads discontented steps in foreign soil,
This fair alliance quickly shall call home
To high promotions and great dignity.
Theking,thatcallsyourbeauteousdaughter-wife,
Familiarly shall call thy Dorset-brother;
Again shall you be mother to a king,
And all the ruins of distressful times
Repair'd with double riches of content.
What! we have many goodly days to see:
The liquid drops of tears that you have shed,
Shall come again, transform'd to orient pearl;
Advantaging their loan, with interest
Of ten times double gain of happiness,
Go then, my mother, to thy daughter go;
Make bold her bashful yearswith your experience;
Prepare her ears to hear a wooer's tale;

1i. e. havock.

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145

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Put in her tender heart the aspiring flame
Of golden sov'reignty; acquaint the princess
With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys;
And when this arm of mine hath chastised
The petty rebel, dull-brain'd Buckingham,
Bound with triumphant garlands will I come,
And lead thy daughter to a conqueror's bed;
To whom I will retail my conquest won,
And she shall be sole victress, Cæsar's Cæsar.
Queen. What were I best to say? her father's
brother

Would be her lord? Or shall I say, her uncle?
Or, he that slew her brothers, and her uncles?
Under what title shall I woo for thee,
That God, the law, my honour, and her love,
Can make seem pleasing to her tender years?
K. Rich. Infer fair England's peace by this

alliance.

[ing war, Queen, Which she shall purchase with still lastK. Rich. Tell her, the king, that may command,

entreats

low.

Queen. That at her hands, which the king's King forbids'. [queen, K. Rich. Say, she shall be a high and mighty Queen. To wail the title, as her mother doth. K. Rich. Say, I will love her everlastingly. Queen. But how long shall that title, ever, last? K. Rich. Sweetly in force unto her fair life's end. Queen. But how long fairly shall her sweet life last? [it. K.Rich. As long as heaven, and nature, lengthens Queen. As long as hell, and Richard, likes of it. K, Rich. Say, I, her sov'reign, am her subject [sov'reignty, Queen. But she, your subject, loaths such K. Rich. Be eloquent in my behalf to her. Queen. An honest tale speeds best, being plainly [ving tale. K. Rich. Then, in plain terms tell her my lo Queen. Plain, and not honest, is too harsh a style. K. Rich. Your reasons are too shallow and too quick. [dead;Queen. O, no, my reasons are too deep and Two deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam; that is past. [break. Queen. Harp on it still shall I, 'till heart-strings K. Rich. Now, by my george, my garter, and

told.

[usurp'd.

my crown,Queen. Profan'd, dishonour'd, and the third K. Rich. I swear.

Queen. By nothing; for this is no oath. The george, profan'd, hath lost his holy honour; The garter, blemish'd, pawn'd his knightly virtue; 55 The crown, usurp'd, disgrac'd his kingly glory: If something thou wouldst swear to be believ'd, Swear then by something that thou hast not wrong'd.

160

K. Rich. Now by the world,— Queen. "Tis full of thy foul wrongs.

2 Bid is in the past sense from bide. Levitical law. See Leviticus xviii. 14.

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K. Rich. My father's death,-
Queen. Thy life hath that dishonour'd.
K. Rich. Then, by myself,-
Queen. Thyself is self-inis-us'd.
K. Rich. Why then, by heaven,—
Queen. Heaven's wrong is most of all.

If thou didst fear to break an oath with heaven,
The unity, the king my husband made,
Had not been broken, nor my brother slain.
If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by him,
The imperial metal, circling now thy head,
Had grac'd the tender temples of my child,
And both the princes had been breathing here,
Which now, two tender bed-fellows for dust,
Thy broken faith hath made a prey for worms.
What canst thou swear by now?

Queen. I go. Write to me very shortly, And you shall understand from me her min K. Rich. Bear her my true love's kiss, an farewell, [Kissing her. Exit 2 5 Relenting fool, and shallow, changing won How now? what news?

10

15

K. Rich. By time to come. fo'erpast;
Queen. That thou hast wronged in the time
For I myself have many tears to wash
Hereafter time, for time past, wrong'd by thee. 20
The children live, whose parents thou hast
slaughter'd,

Ungovern'd youth, to wail it in their age.
The parents live, whose children thou hast but-
cher'd,

Old barren plants, to wail it with their age.
Swear not by time to come; for that thou hast
Misus'd ere us'd, by times ill-us'd o'er-past.

K. Rich. As I intend to prosper, and repent!
So thrive I in my dangerous attempt
Of hostile arms! myself myself confound!
Heaven, and fortune, bar me happy hours!
Day, yield me not thy light; nor, night, thy rest!
Be opposite all planets of good luck
To my proceeding, if, with pure heart's love,
Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts,

I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter!
In her consists my happiness, and thine;
Without her, follows to myself, and thee,
Herself, the land, and many a christian soul,
Death, desolation, ruin, and decay:
It cannot be avoided, but by this;
It will not be avoided, but by this;
Therefore, dear mother, (I must call you so)
Be the attorney of my love to her:
Plead what I will be, not what I have been;.
Not my deserts, but what I will deserve:
Urge the necessity and state of times,
And be not peevish found in great designs.

Queen. Shall I be tempted of the devil thus?
K. Rich. Ay, if the devil tempt thee to do good.
Queen. Shall I forget myself, to be myself?
K. Rich. Ay, if yourself's remembrance wrong
yourself.

Queen. But thou didst kill my children.

K. Rich. But in your daughter's womb I bury

them:

Where, in that nest of spicery', they shall breed Selves of themselves, to your recomforture.

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40

Enter Ratcliff, and Catesby.

Rat. Most mighty sovereign, on the wes

coast

Rideth a puissant navy; to the shore
Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted frien
Unarm'd, and unresolv'd to beat them back
'Tis thought, that Richmond is their admiral
And there they hull, expecting but the aid
Of Buckingham, to welcome them ashore.
K. Rich. Some light-foot friend post to
duke of Norfolk ;—'

Ratcliff, thyself, or Catesby; where is he?
Cates. Here, my good lord.

K. Rich. Catesby, fly to the duke.

Cates. I will, my lord, with all convenient has K.Rich.Ratcliff, come hither: Post to Salisbur Whenthoucom'st thither,--Dull unmindfulvilla [To Cates Why stay'st thou here, and go'st not to the duk Cates. First, mighty liege, tell me your highne pleasure,

What from your grace I shall deliver to him. K. Rich. O, true, good Catesby;-Bid hi levy straight

The greatest strength and power he can make, And meet me suddenly at Salisbury,

Cates. I

go.

[Ex Rat. What, may it please you, shall I do [before I go

Salisbury?

K. Rich. Why, what wouldst thou do ther Rat. Your highness told me, I should po before,

Enter Lord Stanley.

K. Rich. My mind is chang'd.-Stanley, wh news with you?

Stanl. None good, my liege, to please yo
with the hearing;

45 Nor none so bad, but well may be reported.
K.Rich, Heyday, a riddle! neither good, nor bad
What need'st thou run so many miles about,
When thou may'st tell thy tale the nearest way
Once more, what news?

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55

Stanl. Richmond is on the seas,

K, Rich. There lét him sink, and be the se

on him!

White-liver'd runagate, what doth he there?
Stanl. I knownot, mightysovereign, but by gues
K. Rich. Well, as you guess?
[Morto
Stanl. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham, an
He makes for England, here to claim the crown
K. Rich. Is the chair empty? is the sword u
sway'd?

Queen. Shall I go win my daughter to thy will? 60 Is the king dead? the empire unpossess'd?
K. Rich, And be a happy mother by the deed. What heir of York is there alive, but we?

Alluding to the nhœniv

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5

K. Rich. Oh, I cry you mercy:
There is my purse, to cure that blow of thine.
Hath any well-advised friend proclaim'd
Reward to him that brings the traitor in? [liege.
3 Mes. Such proclamation hath been made, my
Enter another Messenger.

4 Mes. SirThomas Lovel, and lord marquis Dor
'Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms. [set,
But this good comfort bring I to your highness,
10 The Bretagne navy is dispers'd by tempest:
Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat
Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks,
If they were his assistants, yea, or no;
Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham
Upon his party: he, mistrusting them,
Hois'd sail,and made his course again for Bretagne.

K. Rich. Cold friends to me; What do they in 15 When they should serve their sovereign in the west: Stanl. They have not been commanded,mighty king:

Pleaseth your majesty to give me leave,

I'll muster up my friends; and meet your grace, 20
Where, and what time, your majesty shall please.
K. Rich. Ay, ay, thou wouldst be gone to join
with Richmond:

But I'll not trust you, sir.

Stanl. Most mighty sovereign,
You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful;
I never was, nor never will be false.

K. Rich, Well, go, muster thy men. But, hear
you, leave behind

K. Rich. March on, march on, since we are up If not to fight with foreign enemies, [in arms; Yet to beat down these rebels here at home. Enter Catesby.

Cates, My liege, the duke of Buckingham is taken, That is the best news: That the Earl of Richmond Is with a mighty power landed at Milford,

Is colder news, but yet it must be told. [here, 25 K.Rich. Away towards Salisbury; while we reason A royal battle might be won and lost:Some one take order, Buckingham be brought To Salisbury;-the rest march on with me. [Exeunt.

Efirm,
Your son, George Stanley: look your heart be 30
Or else his head's assurance is but frail.

Stanl. So deal with him, as I prove true to you.
[Exit Stanley.

Enter a Messenger. ¡

Mes. My gracious sovereign,now in Devonshire, 35
As I by friends am well advertised,
Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate,
Bishop of Exeter, his elder brother,
With many more confed'rates, are in arms.
Enter a Messenger.

2 Mes. In Kent, my liege, the Guilfords are
And every hour more competitors' [in arms;
Flock to the rebels, and their power grows strong.
Enter another Messenger.

SCENE V.
Lord Stanley's House.

Enter Lord Stanley, and Sir Christopher Urswick.
Stanl. Sir Christopher', tell Richmond this from
That, in the stye of this most bloody boar [me;-
My son George Stanley is frank'd up in hold;
If I revalt, off goes young George's head;
The fear of that withholds my present aid.
40 But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now?
Chri. At Pembroke, or at Ha'rford-west, in
Stanl. What men of name resort to him? [Wales.
Chri. Sir Walter Herbert, a renown'd soldier;
Sir Gilbert Talbot, and' Sir William Stanley;
Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir James Blunt,
And Rice ap Thomas, with a valiant crew;
And many other of great name and worth:
And towards London do they bend their course,
If by the way they be not fought withal. [to him;

3 Mes, My lord, the army of great Bucking-45
ham-

K. Rich. Out on ye, owls! nothing but songs
of death?
[He strikes him.

There, take thou that, 'till thou bring better news.

3 Mes. The news I have to tell your majesty, 50 Stanl. Well, hie thee to thy lord; commend me

Is, that, by sudden floods and fall of waters,
Buckinghain's army is dispers'd and scatter'd;
And he himself wander'd away alone,

No man knows whither.

Tell him, the queen hath heartily consented
He shall espouse Elizabeth her daughter.
These letters will resolve him of my mind.
Farewell.
[Exeunt.

1i. e. opponents. 2 The person who is called Sir Christopher here, appears by the Chronicles to have been Christopher Urswick, a batchelor in divinity; and chaplain to the countess of Richmond, who had intermarried with the lord Stanley. This priest, the history tells us, frequently went backwards and forwards, unsuspected, on messages betwixt the countess of Richmond and her husband, nd the young earl of Richmond, whilst he was preparing to make his descent on England. Dr. Johnaan has observed, that Sir was anciently a title assumed by graduates.

ACT

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Sher. No, my good lord; therefore be patient.
Buck. Hastings, and Edward's children, Rivers,
Holy king Henry, and thy fair son Edward, [Grey,
Vaughan, and all that have miscarried
By underhand corrupted foul injustice;
If that your moody discontented souls
Do through the clouds behold this present hour,
Even for revenge mock my destruction!-
This is All-Souls' day, fellows, is it not?
Sher. It is, my lord.

10

[doomsday.15

Buck. Why, then All-Souls' day is my body's
This is the day, which, in king Edward's time,
I wish'd might fall on me, when I was found
False to his children, or his wife's allies:
This is the day, wherein I wish'd to fall
By the false faith of him whom most I trusted;
This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul,
Is the determin'd respite of my wrongs'.
That high All-seer whom I dally'd with,
Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head,
And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men
To turn their own points on their masters' bosoms:
Thus Margaret's curse falls heavy on my neck,-
When he, quoth she, shall split thy heart with sor-
Remember Margaret was a prophetess. [row,
Come, sirs, convey me to the block of shame;
Wrong hath butwrong, and blame the due of blame.
[Exeunt Buckingham, &c.

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SCENE II.
Tamworth, on the borders of Leicestershire. A camp.
Enter Henry Earl of Richmond, Earl of Oxford,
Sir James Blunt, Sir Walter Herbert, and 40
others, with drum and colours.

Richm. Fellows in arms, and my most loving
Bruis'd underneath the yoke of tyranny, [friends,
Thus far into the bowels of the land

Have we march'd on without impediment;
And here receive we from our father Stanley
Lines of fair comfort and encouragement.
The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar,
That spoil'd your summer fields,and fruitful vines,
Swills your warm blood like wash, and makes his
trough

In your embowell'd' bosoms,-this foul swine
Lies now even in the centre of this isle,
Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn :

In God's name, chearly on, courageous friends,
To reap the harvest of perpetual peace
By this one bloody trial of sharp war.

Orf. Every man's conscience is a thousand
To fight against that bloody homicide

swords,

Herb. I doubt not, but his friends will turn to us.
Blunt. He hath no friends, but who are friends

for fear;

Which, in his dearest need, will fly from him. Richm. All for our vantage. Then, in God's name march:

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings; Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. [Exeunt.

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[lord.

Nor. We must both give and take, my loving
K. Rich. Up with my tent: Here will I lie to
night;
[that.-
30
But where, to-morrow?-Well, all's one for
Who hath desery'd the number of the traitors?
Nor. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power.
K. Rich. Why, our battalia trebles that account:
Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength,
Which they upon the adverse faction want.-
Up with the tent.-Come, noble gentlemen,
Let us survey the vantage of the ground;-
Call for some men of sound direction*:-
Let's want no discipline, make no delay;
For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day. [Exeunt.
Enter, on the other side of the field, Richmond, Sir
William Brandon, Oxford, Dorset, &c.
Richm. The weary sun hath made a golden set,
45 And, by the bright track of his fiery car,
Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow.--
Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard.--
Give me some ink and paper in my tent;
I'll draw the form and model of our battle,
50 Limit each leader to his several charge,
And part in just proportion our small power.
My lord of Oxford,-you, Sir William Brandon,-
And you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me:-
The earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment;-

From Tamworth thither, is but one day's march. 55 Good captain Blunt, bear my good night to him,

The reason why the duke of Buckingham solicited an interview with the king, is explained in K. Henry VIII. Act I. 2i. e. the time to which the punishment of his wrongs was respited Wrongs here means wrongs done, or injurious practices. i. e. ripped up. i, e. true judge. ment; tried military skill."

And

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