K. Rich. Norfolk, we must have knocks; ha! must we not?.

Nor. We must both give and take, my gracious lord.

K. Rich. Up with my tent there! here will I lie to-night:

But where to-morrow? Well, all's one for that.
Who hath descried the number of the foe?

Nor. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power.
K. Rich. Why, our battalion trebles that account:
Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength,
Which they upon the adverse party want.
Up with my tent there! Valiant gentlemen,
Let us survey the vantage of the field;
Call for some men of sound direction:
Let's want no discipline, make no delay;
For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day.

[Exeunt.

(Reënter King Richard, Ratcliff, Attendants, and Forces.)

K. Rich. What said Northumberland as touching Richmond?

Rat. That he was never trainèd up in arms.

K. Rich. He said the truth: and what said Surrey, then?

Rat. He smiled and said, "The better for our purpose."

K. Rich. He was in the right; and so indeed it is. (The clock striketh.)

Tell the clock there. Give me a calendar.
Who saw the sun to-day?

Rat.

Not I, my lord.

K. Rich. Then he disdains to shine; for by the

book

He should have brav'd1 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 2 the ground.
Not shine to-day! Why, what is that to me
More than to Richmond? for the selfsame heaven
That frowns on me looks sadly upon him.

(Reënter Norfolk.)

Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the field.

K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle.

horse.

Caparison my

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 foreward 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.

1 made glorious.

2 away from.

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?

Daw.

Gracious lord,

They voluntarily resigned themselves

Without compulsion.

K. Hen.

So? 'twas very well;

'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;-