Ratcliff, thyself,

or Catesby; where is he?

Cate. Here, my good Lord.

K. Rich. Catesby, fly to the Duke.

Cate. I will, my Lord, with all convenient

haste.

K. Rich. Ratcliff, come hither; Post to Salis

bury;

When thou com'st hither,

Dull unmindful villain, [TO CATESRY.

Why stay'st thou here, and go'st not to the Duke? Cate. First, mighty Liege, tell me your Highness' pleasure,

What from your Grace I shall deliver to him.
K. Rich. O, true, good Catesby;

levy straight

Bid him

The greatest strength and power he can make,
And meet me suddenly at Salisbury.

Cate. I go.

[Exit. Rat. What, may it please you, shall I do at

Salisbury?

K. Rich, Why, what would'st thou do there, before I go?

Rat. Your Highness told me,

before.

Enter STANLEY,

I should post

K. Rich. My mind is chang'd.—Stanley, what

news with you?

Stan. None good, my Liege, to please you with the hearing;

Nor none so bad, but well may be reported. K. Rich. Heyday, a riddle! neither good, nor bad!

What need'st thou run so many miles about,

When thou may'st tell thy tale the nearest way?
Once more, what news?

Stan. Richmond is on the seas.

K. Rich. There let him sink, and he the seas on him!

White-liver'd runagate, what doth he there?
Stan. I know not, mighty Sovereign, but by

guess.

K. Rich, Well, as you guess?,

Stan. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham, and, Morton,

He makes for England, here to claim the crown. K. Rich. Is the chair empty? is the sword unsway'd?

Is the King dead? the empire unpossess'd?
What heir of York is there alive, but we?.
Aud who is England's King, but great York's
heir ?

Then, tell me, what makes he upon the seas? Stan. Unless for that, my Liege, I cannot guess.

K. Rich. Unless for that he comes to be your

>

Liege,

You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes. Thou wilt revolt, and fly to him, I fear.

Stan. No, mighty Liege; therefore mistrust

me not.

K. Rich. Where is thy power then, to beat him back?

Where be thy tenants, and thy followers?
Are they not now upon the western shore,
Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships?

Stan. No, my good Lord, my friends are in the north.

A

K. Rich. Cold friends to me: What do they in the north:

When they should serve their Sovereign in the

west?

Stan. They have not been commanded, mighty
King:

Pleaseth your Majesty to give me leave,

I'll muster up my friends; and meet your Grace, Where and what time your Majesty shall please. K. Rich, Ay, ay, thou would'st be gone to join with Richinond:

I will not trust you, Sir.

Stan. Most mighty Sovereign,

You have no cause to hold my friendship doubt

ful;

But, hear

I never was, nor never will be false.
K. Rich. Well, go, muster men.
you, leave behind

Your son, George Stanley look your heart be

firin,

Or else his head's assurance is but frail.

Stan. So deal with him, as I prove true to you. [Exit STANLEY.

Enter a Messenger.

Mes. My gracious Sovereign, now in Devonshire,

As I by friends am well advertised,

Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty Prefate, Bishop of Exeter, his elder brother,

With many more confederates, are in arms.

Enter another Messenger.

2. Mes. In Kent, my Liege, the Guildfords are

in arms;

And every hour more competitors

`Flock to the rebels,

and their power grows strong.

Enter another Messenger.

3. Mes. My Lord, the army of great Bucking

ham

K. Rich. Out on ye, owls! nothing but songs of death?

[He strikes him. There, take thou that, till thou bring better news. 3. Mes. The news have to tell your Majesty, that, by sudden floods and fall of waters, Buckingham's army is dispers'd and scatter'd; And he himself wander'd away alone,

Is,

No man knows whither.

K. Rich. O, I cry you mercy:

There is my purse, to cure that blow of thine.
Hath any well-advised friend proclaim'd
Reward to him that brings the traitor in?

3. Mes. Such proclamation hath been made,
my Liege.

Enter another Messenger.

4. Mes. Sir Thomas Lovel, and lord Marquis Dorset,

'Tis said, my Liege, in Yorkshire are in arms.
But this good comfort bring I to your Highness,
The Bretagne navy is dispers'd by tempest:
Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat
Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks,
If they were his assistants, yea, or no;
Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham
Upon his party: he, mistrusting them,

Hois'd sail, and made his course again for Bre

K. Rich. March on,

tagne. march

on,

since we are

up in arms;

If not to fight with foreign enemies,

Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.

Enter CATesby.

Cate. My Liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken,

That is the best news; That the Earl of Richmond

Is with a mighty power landed at Milford,
Is colder news, but yet they must be told.
K. Rich. Away towards Salisbury; while we
reason here,
A royal battle might be won and 'lost:

Some one take order, Buckingham be brought
To Salisbury;
the rest march on with me.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V.

A Room in Lord Stanley's House.

Enter STANLEY and Sir Christopher URSWICK.

Stan. Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this

That, in the sty of this most bloody boar,
My son George Stanley is frank'd up in hold;
If I revolt, off goes young George's head;
The fear of that withholds any present aid.
But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now?