Fool, of thysel speak well :-Fool, do not flatter. Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd Rat. My lord, Enter Ratcliff. K. Rich. Who's there? ||Of England's chair, where he is falsely set; 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. What thinkest thou? will our friends prove all true? [Exeunt King Richard and Ratcliff. That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here. Lords. How have you slept, my lord? dreams 'That ever enter'd in a drowsy head, Came to my tent, and cried-On! victory! One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd; A base foul stone, made precious by the foil [Exeunt. Re-enter King Richard, Ratcliff, attendants, and forces. K. Rich. What said Northumberland, as touch- Rat. That he was never trained up in arms. 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. [Clock strikes. Tell the clock there-Give me a calendar.Who saw the sun to-day? Rat. Not I, my lord. Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the field. K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle;-Caparison my Call up lord Stanley, bid him bring his power:- Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign.- [Giving a scroll: K. Rich. Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold, [Reads. For Dickon thy master is bought and sold. (4) Made it splendid. The ancient familiarization of Richard. 2 E A thing devised by the enemy. Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge: What shall I say more than I have inferr'd? 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! The king enacts more wonders than a man, Daring an opposite to every danger; His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, 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. 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! [Exe. Alarums. Enter King Richard and Richmond; and exeunt fighting. Retreat, and flourish. Then enter Pichinond, 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 Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty, 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 subinission 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. [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 some improbable. JOHNSON. KING HENRY VIII. King Henry the Eighth. PERSONS REPRESENTED. Cardinal Wolsey. Cardinal Campeius. Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop of Lincoln. Lord Abergavenny. Lord Sir Henry Guildford. Sir Thomas Lovell. Cromwell, servant to Wolsey. Griffith, gentleman-usher to queen Katharine. Doctor Butts, physician to the king. Surveyor to the duke of Buckingham. Door-keeper of the council-chamber. Porter, and his Man. Page to Gardiner. A Crier. Queen Katharine, wife to king Henry, afterwards divorced. Anne Bullen, her maid of honour; afterwards queen. An old lady, friend to Anne Bullen. Patience, woman to Katharine. queen Several Lords and Ladies in the dumb shows; Women attending upon the queen; Spirits, which appear to her; Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants. 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, The play may pass; if they be still, and willing, In a long motley coat, guarded with yellow, known The first and happiest hearers of the town, As they were living; think, you see them great, 'Twixt Guynes and Arde: I was then present, saw them salute on horseback; All the whole time (3) Henry VIII. and Francis I. king of France. (4) Glittering, shining. Made Britain, India: every man, that stood, The noble spirits to arms, they did perform Beyond thought's compass; that former fabulous story, Being now seen possible enough, got credit, Nor. As I belong to worship, and affect In honour honesty, the tract of every thing Would by a good discourser lose some life, Which action's self was tongue to. All was royal ;] To the disposing of it nought rebell'd; Order gave each thing view; the office did Distinctly his full function. Buck. Who did guide, Nor. One, certes,3 that promises no element Buck. I pray you, who, my lord? Nor. All this was order'd by the good discretion Of the right reverend cardinal of York. Buck. The devil speed him! no man's pie is freed From his ambitious finger. What had he To do in these fierces vanities? I wonder, That such a keech6 can with his very bulk Take up the rays o'the beneficial sun, And keep it from the earth. Surely, sir, upon 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 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. I cannot tell Aber. 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? 'Like it your grace, The state takes notice of the private difference That I advise your shunning. 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. Ay, please your grace. Wol. Well, we shall then know more; and Buckingham Shall lessen this big look. [Exe. Wolsey, and train. Buck. This butcher's cur10 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 God for temperance; that's the appliance only, Which your disease requires. Buck. I read in his looks Matter against me; and his eye revil'd (8) Sets down in his letter without consulting the council. (9) Conducted. (10) Wolsey was the son of a butcher. He bores1 me with some trick: He's gone to the || (As soon he shall by me,) that thus the cardinal king; I'll follow, and out-stare him. 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 outrun, 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: say again, there is no English soul I 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 my By your prescription :-but this top-proud fellow, Nor. 'Faith, and so it did. Bran. He. Buck. My surveyor is false; the o'er-great cardinal Buck. Pray, give me favour, sir. This cunning Hath show'd him gold: my life is spann'd1 already : cardinal The articles o'the combination drew, As himself pleas'd; and they were ratified, emperor (1) Stabs. (2) Excites. (3) Unfair stratagem. I am the shadow of poor Buckingham; SCENE II-The council-chamber. Cornets. K. Hen. My life itself, and the best heart of it, Thanks you for this great care: I stood i'the level of a full-charg'd confederacy, and give thanks that chok'd it.-Let be call'd before us That gentleman of Buckingham's: in person I'll hear him his confessions justify; Το you And point by point the treasons of his master The King takes his state. The Lords of the Council take their several places. The Cardinal places himself under the King's feet, on his right side. |