But where to-morrow ?-Well, all's one for | Fill me a bowl of wine.-Give me a watch :*that. Who hath descried the number of the traitors? Nor. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power. K. Rich. Why, our battalia trebles that ac count: Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength, Richm. The weary sun hath made a golden set, dard. Give me some ink and paper in my tent;- And give him from me this most needful note. Blunt. Upon my life, my lord, I'll undertake it; And so heaven, give you quiet rest to-night! Let us consult upon to-morrow's business; [They withdraw into the Tent. Enter, to his Tent, KING RICHARD, NORFOLK, K. Rich. What is 't o'clock? It's nine o'clock. K. Rich. It's supper time, my lord; I will not sup to-night. Give me some ink and paper.- K. Rich. Good Norfolk, hie thee to thy charge; K. Rich. Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle Norfolk. Nor. I warrant you, my lord. K. Rich. Ratcliff, Rat. My lord? K. Rich. [Exit. Send out a pursuivant at arms To Stanley's regiment; bid him bring his power Before sun-rising, lest his son George fall Into the blind cave of eternal night. [To CATE. Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow.— Look that my staves + be sound, and not too heavy. Ratcliff,Rat. My lord? [Northumberland? K. Rich. Saw'st thou the melancholy Lord Rat. Thomas, the Earl of Surrey, and himself, Much about cock-shut ‡ time, from troop to troop, Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers. K. Rich. I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of I have not that alacrity of spirit, Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.SO, set it down.-Is ink and paper ready? Rat. It is, my lord. [wine: About the mid of night, come to my tent [K. RICH. retires into his Tent. Exeunt RAT. and CATE. RICHMOND's Tent opens, and discovers him and his Officers, &c. Enter STANLEY. Stan. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm! Richm. All comfort that the dark night can afford, Be to thy person, noble father-in-law ! Stan. I, by attorney, bless thee from thy ment: Heaven give us leisure for these friendly rites! Once more, adieu :-Be valiant, and speed well! Richm. Good lords, conduct him to his regiI'll strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap: Lest leaden slumber peise? me down to-morrow, When I should mount with wings of victory: Once more, good night, kind lords and gentle men. [Exeunt Lords, &c., with STAN. O Thou! whose captain I account myself, Look on my forces with a gracious eye; Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath, That they may crush down with a heavy fall The usurping helmets of our adversaries! Make us thy ministers of chastisement, That we may praise thee in thy victory! To thee I do commend my watchful soul, Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes; Sleeping, and waking, O, defend me still. [Sleeps. The Ghost of Prince Edward, Son to Henry the Sixth, rises between the two Tents. Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to morrow! [To K. RICH. 814 KING RICHARD III. Think how thou stab'dst me in my prime of At Tewkesbury; Despair therefore, and die!- morrow! Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul toI, that was wash'd to death with fulsome wine, [To K. RICH. Poor Clarence, by thy guile betray'd to death! To-morrow in the battle think on me, And fall thy edgeless sword; Despair, and die! Thou offspring of the house of Lancaster, The wrong'd heirs of York do pray for thee; [To RICHM. Good angels guard thy battle! Live, and flourish! The Ghosts of Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan rise. Riv. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow, Rivers, that died at Pomfret! Despair, and die! [To K. RICH. Grey. Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair! Vaugh. Think upon Vaughan; and, with guilty [To K. RICH. fear, Let fall thy lance! Despair, and die! ard's bosom All. Awake; and think our wrongs in Rich[To K. RICH. Will conquer him; awake, and win the day! To RICHM. The Ghost of Hastings rises. Ghost. Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake; And in a bloody battle end thy days! [To K. RICH. Think on Lord Hastings; and despair, and die !Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake! Arm, fight, and conquer, Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard, Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy! That never slept a quiet hour with thee, ACT V. The Ghost of Buckingham rises. The last was I that felt thy tyranny: [The Ghosts vanish. K. RICH. starts out of his dream. Have mercy, Jesu!-Soft; I did but dream.K. Rich. Give me another horse,-bind up my [wounds,O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. The lights burn blue.- It is now dead midnight. What do I fear? myself? there's none else by: Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I. Is there a murderer here? No;-Yes; I am: Then fly,-What, from myself? Great reason: Why? Lest I revenge. What? Myself on myself? Methought the souls of all that I had murder'd Rat. My lord, K. Rich. Who's there? [eock Hath twice done salutation to the morn; K. Rich. Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,- [dows. That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here. Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding [dreams, B Have I since your departure had, my lords. Methought their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd, Came to my tent, and cried-On! victory! ̧ direction. [He advances to the Troops. Richard except, those whom we fight against, Had rather have us win, than him they follow. For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen, A bloody tyrant, and a homicide; One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd; A base foul stone, made precious by the foil For me, the ransom of my bold attempt God and Saint George! Richmond and victory! [Exeunt. Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants, and Forces. K. Rich. What said Northumberland, as touching Richmond? Rat. That he was never trained up in arms. K. Rich. He said the truth: And what said 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. K. Rich. Then he disdains to shine; for, by the book, Not I, my lord. I would these dewy tears were from the ground. That frown on me, looks sadly upon him. Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign.— This found I on my tent this morning. [Giving a Scroll. K. Rich. "Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold, [Reads. For Dickon thy master is bought and sold." March on, join bravely, let us to 't pell-mell; They would restrain the one, distain the other. Felt so much cold as over shoes in snow? If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen! Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves! Enter a Messenger. What says Lord Stanley? will he bring his power? Mess. My lord, he doth deny to come. [head. K. Rich. Off instantly with his son George's 4 Nor. My lord, the enemy is pass'd the marsh; After the battle let George Stanley die. K. Rich. A thousand hearts are great within Advance our standards, set upon our foes; Cate. Rescue, my lord of Norfolk, rescue, The king enacts more wonders than a man, 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! [horse. Cate. Withdraw, my lord, I'll help you to a 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! [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 Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty, Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal [us. Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their peace, O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth, Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again: INTRODUCTION TO KING HENRY THE EIGHTH. THIS drama commences in the twelfth year of Henry's reign, with the arrest of the Duke of Buckingham, in April, 1521, and terminates with the birth of the Princess Elizabeth, on the 7th of September, 1533; thus including a period of twelve years. Queen Katharine lived until 1536, three years after the birth of Elizabeth; but, for the sake of dramatic effect, the poet anticipates her death. denying Henry's supremacy in ecclesiastical government. Many writers consider that Shakespeare has rendered Henry sufficiently detestable. We cannot think so. It is a portrait in which the most repulsive features are omitted; certainly the poet has made his hypocrisy transparent enough: he shows plainly that it was adulterous longings, and not religious scruples, that made him repudiate the noble-minded Katharine; but he pauses here, and leaves Henry's grim cruelties untouched. In Katharine's dying moments she was not even permitted to see her own daughter -a request which she many times repeated; and the unhappy queen whom he had discarded for the embraces of a younger beauty, terminated her days in sadness, uncheered even by the voice of her own child. There is less satisfaction felt in contemplating this play, than is to be derived from any of Shakespeare's acknowledged and mature works. Some very fine writing there is in it: the meek sorrows of Katharine arrest our attention, and engage our sympathy; and the gorgeous" kingcardinal" is drawn with metaphysical skill: but the subject defeated our poet. It was unsafe fairly to expose and dissect the character of the tyrant who was the father of his sovereign and Anne Bullen had been bred in the gay court patroness. Shakespeare has exhibited the las-of France, and, when she attracted the notice of civious savage in the only point of view in which he does not excite shuddering and disgust. To have given a true portrait of Henry, he should have embraced a longer period of his history; have at least alluded to the numerous fires in Smithfield, and shown that protestants were burnt for heresy, while catholics were hanged for Not four Henry, was in her twentieth_year. The two most finished characters in this play are Queen Katharine and Cardinal Wolsey. Shakespeare robes the former with great dignity, both of mind and person. She is a perfect model of a noble matron: patient towards her sovereign and oppressor, yet jealous of her own dignity; and, in her deepest dejection, relying upon Eternal Justice "Heaven is above all yet; there sits a Judge That no king can corrupt." Her death-scene is exceedingly affecting; her generous care for her dependents, touching and womanly. The poet endeavours to compensate for her trials and sufferings here, by showing her, through the means of a dream, at the very portals of paradise. Wolsey is a singular compound of opposing qualities-grasping, yet profusely liberal; supercilious and haughty, yet parasitical and mean; courageous and capable in prosperity, yet timid and helpless in adversity. His talent for magnificence amounts to genius. He gives way to pleasure; is gay and cheerful; he covers his craftiness with an air of blunt frankness. The avarice of the king urged Wolsey to impose unprecedented taxes on the people, and paved the way for his fall. Then he is at once crushed, and grovels in the earth the proud cardinal, with his princely palaces and his kingly retinue, sinks instantly inco the abject and supplicating priest. Then follows his compelled and questionable repentance; and, in the anguish of his spirit, he utters that memorable sentence which Shakespeare, recognising as earnest and passionate poetry which no art could exalt, took from the lips of the fallen statesmen-" Had I but served my God as diligently as I have served the king, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs." The nobie advice which Wolsey, after his fall, gives to Cromwell, had not been the guide of his own conduct; but it is natural in a declining statesman to preach lofty principles, and even to persuade himself that he had practised them. The two opposite estimates of his character by Queen Katharine and her attendant Griffith, after the cardinal's death, are profound analysations of a remarkable mind, and show what opposing portraits of the same object may be taken from different points of view. After praise and blame, cometh the truth; and Shakespeare has given us a singularly accurate picture of the luxurious and powerful cardinal. Whatever were Wolsey's faults, it is probable that he restrained the tyranny of the king; for Henry did not plunge into his revolting cruelties until after the death of his great minister. One thing which strikes the reader of this drama, is the slavish meanness of the nobility, in comparison with their turbulent defiance of the crown during the reign of the peaceful Henry the Sixth. Indeed, this play has a far more modern air and appearance than its predecessors at the period to which it refers, society was in a transition state; the iron barons of the old age had passed away, and the birth of our intellectual era was rapidly approaching. We cannot conclude this notice without directing attention to the exquisite adulation to Queen Elizabeth, with which the play terminates; a piece of flattery which may be excused on account of its elegance and appropriateness. The few lines introduced into it, in eulogy of James the First, are doubtless the work of Ben Jonson, and although not without power, spoil the unity and integrity of the speech. Malone attributes the production of this play to the year 1601-two years previous to the death of the poet's patron, Elizabeth. King Henry the Eighth. Persons Represented. KING HENRY THE EIGHTH. CARDINAL WOLSEY. CARDINAL CAMPEIUS. Garter, King at Arms. Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham. CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from the Emp. Charles V. BRANDON, and a Sergeant-at-Arms. DUKE OF NORFOLK. DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. DUKE OF SUFFOLK. Lord Chamberlain. EARL OF SURREY. Lord Chancellor. GARDINER, Bishop of Winchester. BISHOP OF LINCOLN. LORD ABERGAVENNY. LORD SANDS. Sir HENRY GUILDFORD. Sir THOMAS LOVELL. CROMWELL, Servant to Wolsey. GRIFFITH, Gentleman Usher to Queen Katharine. DOCTOR BUTTS, Physician to the King. Door-keeper of the Council Chamber. Page to Gardiner. A Crier. QUEEN KATHARINE, Wife to King Henry, after- ANNE BULLEN, her Maid of Honour; afterwards An Old Lady, Friend to Anne Bullen. Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb Shows: SCENE.-Chiefly in London and Westminster: once, at Kimbolton. Prologue. I COME no more to make you laugh; things That bear a weighty and a serious brow, | The subject will deserve it. Such as give to see Only a show or two, and so agree, The play may pass; if they be still, and willing, |