Cate. Withdraw, my lord, I'll help you to a horse.

K. Rich. Slave, I have set my life upon a And I will stand the hazard of the die: [cast, 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-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
[ing?
But tell me first, is young George Stanley liv-
Stan. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester
town;

all:

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, [don. Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Bran

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 her-

self;

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
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

peace,

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.

KING HENRY THE Eighth.

CARDINAL WOLSEY.-CARDINAL CAMPEIUS.
CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from the Emperor,
Charles V.

CRANMER, Archbishop of Canterbury.
DUKE OF NORFOLK.-DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
DUKE OF SUFFOLK.-EARL OF SURREY.
LORD CHAMBERLAIN.-LORD CHANCEllor.
GARDINER, Bishop of Winchester.

BISHOP OF LINCOLN.-LORD ABERGAVENNY.
LORD SANDS.

SIR HENRY Guildford.-SIR THOMAS LOVELL.
SIR ANTHONY DENNY.-SIR NICHOLAS VAUX.
SECRETARIES to Wolsey.

CROMWELL, Servant to Wolsey.
GRIFFITH, Gentleman-Usher to Queen Katha-

rine.

THREE OTHER GENTLEMEN.

DOCTOR BUTTS, Physician to the King. GARTER, King at Arms.

SURVEYOR to the Duke of Buckingham. BRANDON, and a Sergeant at Arms. 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 Queen Katharine.

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.

Palace.

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
Only a show or two, and so agree, [see
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 foot and fight is, beside forfeiting
Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring,
(To make that only true we now intend,t)
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 ye: 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.
+ Pretend.

Laced.

Enter the Duke of NORFOLK, at one door; at the other, the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, and the Lord ABERGAVENNY.

Buck. Good morrow, and well met. How have 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.

Buck. An untimely ague

Stay'd me a prisoner in my chamber, when Those suns of glory, those two lights of men,* Met in the vale of Árde.

Nor. "Twixt Guynes and Arde:

I was then present, saw them salute on horse-
back;
[clung
Beheld them, when they lighted, how they
In their embracement, as they grew together;
Which had they, what four thron'd ones could
have weigh'd
Such a compounded one?

Buck. All the whole time
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,
Henry VIII. and Francis I. king of France.
+ Glittering, shining.

Nor. What, are you chaf'd?

only,

Which your disease requires.

Buck. I read in his looks

Matter against me; and his eye revil'd
Me, as his abject object: at this instant

He bores me with some trick: He's gone to the 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:

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 July, 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
Did break i' the rinsing.
Nor. "Faith, and so it did.

[glass

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 it be: to as much end,
As give a crutch to the dead: But our count-
cardinal

[sey, Has done this, and 'tis well; for worthy WolWho 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 em

amity,

Breed him some prejudice; for from this league

Peep'd harms 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 promis'd; 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, [nal

(As soon he shall by me,) that thus the cardiDoes 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.

Buck. Lo you, my lord,

The net has fallen upon me; I shall perish
Under device and practice.*

Bran. I am sorry

To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on The business present: 'Tis his highness' plea[sure

You shall to the Tower.

Buck. It will help me nothing,

To plead mine innocence; for that die 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 Aberg'any, fare you well.
Bran. Nay, he must bear you company:-
The king
[To ABERGAVENNY.
Is pleas'd you shall to the Tower, till you
How he determines further.
[know
Aber. As the duke said,

The will of heaven be done, and the king's pleasure

By me obey'd.

Bran. Here is a warrant from

The king, to attach lord Montacute; and the bodies

Of the duke's confessor, John de la Court,
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. Q, Nicholas Hopkins?
Brun. He.

Buck. My surveyor is false; the o'er great cardinal

[ready; Hath show'd him gold: my life is spann'd alI am the shadow of poor Buckingham; Whose figure even this instant clouds put on, By dark'ning my clear sun. My lord, farewell. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The Council-Chamber.

Cornets. Enter King HENRY, Cardinal WOLSEY, the Lords of the Council, Sir THOMAS LOVELL, Officers, and Attendants. The KING enters, leaning on the CARDINAL's shoulder.

K. Hen. My life itself, and the best heart of it, [level Thanks you for this great care: I stood i'the Of a full-charg'd confederacy, and give thanks To you that chok'd it.-Let be call'd before us That gentleman of Buckingham's: in person I'll hear him his confessions justify; And point by point the treasons of his master He shall again relate.

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.

A noise within, crying, Room for the Queen. Enter the QUEEN, ushered by the Dukes of NORFOLK and SUFFOLK: she kneels. The KING riseth from his state, takes her up, kisses, and placeth her by him."

Q. Kath. Nay, we must longer kneel; I am a suitor.

K. Hen. Arise, and take place by us:-Half
your suit

Never name to us; you have half our power:
The other moiety, ere you ask, is given;
Repeat your will, and take it.

Q. Kath. Thank your majesty.

That you would love yourself; and, in that love,
Not unconsider'd leave your honour, nor
The dignity of your office, is the point
Of my petition.

K. Hen. Lady, mine!-proceed.

Q. Kath. I am solicited, not by a few, And those of true condition, that your subjects Are in great grievance: there hath been commissions [heart Sent down among them, which have flaw'd the Of all their loyalties:-wherein, although, My good lord cardinal, they vent reproaches Most bitterly on you, as putter-on

Of these exactions, yet the king our master,
(Whose honour heaven shield from soil!) even
he escapes not

Language unmannerly, yea, such which breaks
The sides of loyalty, and almost appears
In loud rebellion.

Nor. Not almost appears,

It doth appear; for, upon these taxations,
The clothiers all, not able to maintain
The many to them 'longing, have put off
The spinsters, carders, fullers, weavers, who,
Unfit for other life, compell'd by hunger
And lack of other means, in desperate manner
Daring the event to the teeth, are all in uproar,
And danger serves among them.

K. Hen. Taxation!

[nal, Wherein? and what taxation?-My lord cardiYou that are blam'd for it alike with us, Know you of this taxation?

Wol. Please you, Sir,

I know but of a single part, in aught
Pertains to the state; and front but in that filet
Where others tell steps with me.

Q. Kath. No, my lord,

to pass,

That tractable obedience is a slave
To each incensed will. I would, your highnes
Would give it quick consideration, for
There is no primer business.

K. Hen. By my life,
This is against our pleasure.
Wol. And for me,

I have no farther gone in this, than by
A single voice; and that not pass'd me, but
By learned approbation of the judges.
If I am traduc'd by tongues, which neither
My faculties, nor person, yet will be [know
The chronicles of my doing,-let me say,
'Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake*
That virtue must go through. We must not
Our necessary actions, in the fear [stint
To copet malicious censurers; which ever,
As ravenous fishes, do a vessel follow
That is new trimm'd; but benefit no further
Than vainly longing. What we oft do best,
By sick interpreters, onces weak ones, is
Not ours, or not allow'd; what worst, as oft,
Hitting a grosser quality, is cried up
For our best act. If we shall stand still,
In fear our motion will be mock'd or carp'd at,
We should take root here where we sit, or sit
State statues only.

K. Hen. Things done well,

And with a care, exempt themselves from fear;
Things done without example, in their issue
Are to be fear'd. Have you a precedent
Of this commission? I believe, not any.
We must not rend our subjects from our laws,
And stick them in our will. Sixth part of each?
A trembling contribution! Why, we take,
From every tree, lop, bark, and part o the tim-
ber;
[hack'd,
And, though we leave it with a root, thus
The air will drink the sap. To every county,
Where this is question'd, send our letters, with
Free pardon to each man that has denied
The force of this commission: Pray, look to't;
I put it to your care.

Wol. A word with you.

[To the SECRETARY. Let there be letters writ to every shire, Of the king's grace and pardon. The griev'd