They thus directed, we will follow

In the main battle, whose puissance on either side
Shall be well wingèd with our chiefest horse.

This, and Saint George to boot! What think'st thou,
Norfolk ?

Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign.

SCENE IV. Another part of the field. Alarum; excursions. Enter Norfolk and forces fighting; to him Catesby.

Cate. Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue!
The king enacts more wonders than a man,
Daring an opposite 1 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!

(Alarums. 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!

1 daring to oppose himself.

[Exeunt.

various pretenders.

PERKIN WARBECK

JOHN FORD

HENRY VII. had much ado to keep the crown upon his head. Richard III. had left no heir, but the Yorkist party gave their support to The most notable of these was Perkin Warbeck, a Flemish trader of courtly face and manners, who succeeded in convincing the Irish friends of the House of York that he was Richard, the

younger son of Edward IV. He landed in Cornwall (1497), and

attempted to rouse the English in his behalf, but he met with little encouragement. The people had grown weary of bloodshed and were too well content with a king who was able to restore law and order to be willing to renew the dynastic controversy. Parliament had made good all defects in the hereditary title of the Tudors by vesting the crown in Henry VII. and his heirs, and men gladly accepted this settlement as final.

ACT V
SCENE II.

(Enter Lord Dawbeney, with a Guard, leading in Perkin Warbeck and his Followers, chained.)

Daw. Life to the king, and safety fix his throne!
I here present you, royal sir, a shadow
Of majesty, but in effect a substance
Of pity; a young man, in nothing grown
To ripeness but the ambition of your mercy,
Perkin, the Christian world's strange wonder.
K. Hen.
Dawbeney,

We observe no wonder: I behold, 'tis true,
An ornament of nature, fine and polished,
A handsome youth indeed, but not admire him.
How came he to thy hands?

Daw.

From sanctuary

At Bewley, near Southampton; registered,

With these few followers, for persons privileged.

K. Hen. I must not thank you, sir; you were to blame

T' infringe the liberty of houses sacred:

Dare we be irreligious?

'Twas very, very well. Turn now thine eyes,
Young man, upon thyself and thy past actions;
What revels in combustion through our kingdom.
A frenzy of aspiring youth hath danced,

Till, wanting breath, thy feet of pride have slipt
To break thy neck!

War.

But not my heart; my heart Will mount till every drop of blood be frozen

By death's perpetual winter: if the sun
Of majesty be darkened, let the sun
Of life be hid from me in an eclipse

Lasting and universal. Sir, remember

There was a shooting-in of light when Richmond,
Not aiming at a crown, retired, and gladly,
For comfort to the Duke of Bretaine's court.
Richard, who swayed the sceptre, was reputed
A tyrant then; yet then a dawning glimmered.
To some few wandering remnants, promising day
When first they ventured on a frightful shore
At Milford Haven;

Daw.

Whither speeds his boldness?

Check his rude tongue, great sir.

K. Hen.

O, let him range:

The player's on the stage still, 'tis his part;

He does but act.

War.

What followed?

Bosworth Field;

Where, at an instant, to the world's amazement,

A morn to Richmond, and a night to Richard,
Appeared at once: the tale is soon applied;
Fate, which crowned these attempts when least assured,
Might have befriended others like resolved.
K. Hen. A pretty gallant!

*

*

Urswick, command the dukeling and these fellows

(They rise.)

To Digby, the lieutenant of the Tower:
With safety let them be conveyed to London.
It is our pleasure no uncivil outrage,
Taunts or abuse be suffered to their persons;

They shall meet fairer law than they deserve.
Time may restore their wits, whom vain ambition
Hath many years distracted.

War.

Noble thoughts

Meet freedom in captivity: the Tower, —

Our childhood's dreadful nursery!

K. Hen.

No more!

Urs. Come, come, you shall have leisure to be

think ye.

[Exit Urswick with Perkin Warbeck and his Followers, guarded.

K. Hen. Was ever so much impudence in forgery? The custom, sure, of being styled a king

Hath fastened in his thought that he is such; But we shall teach the lad another language: 'Tis good we have him fast.

(Enter Constable and Officers, Perkin Warbeck, Urswick, followed by the rabble. Enter Sheriff with Warbeck's Followers, halters about their necks.)

Oxf. Look ye; behold your followers, appointed To wait on ye in death!

We'll lead 'em on courageously: I read

A triumph over tyranny upon
Their several foreheads. -

Faint not in the moment

Of victory! our ends, and Warwick's head,
Innocent Warwick's head, — for we are prologue
But to his tragedy, - conclude the wonder
Of Henry's fears; and then the glorious race
Of fourteen kings, Plantagenets, determines
In this last issue male; Heaven be obeyed!
Impoverish time of its amazement, friends,
And we will prove as trusty in our payments
As prodigal to nature in our debts.

Death? pish! 'tis but a sound; a name of air;