Rich. Good lords, conduct him to his regiment: I'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 gentlemen.

[Exeunt lords, &c. with STANLEY. 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 Th' 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! 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!

[Sleeps.

[To K. RICH. Think, how thou stab'dst me in my prime of youth At Tewksbury; Despair therefore, and die!Be cheerful, Richmond; for the wronged souls Of butcher'd princes fight in thy behalf: King Henry's issue, Richmond, comforts thee.

The Ghost of King HENRY the Sixth, rises. Ghost. When I was mortal, my anointed body By thee was punched full of deadly holes: [To K. RICH. Think on the Tower, and me; Despair, and die ; Harry the sixth bidst thee despair and die.Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror!

[TO RICHM.

Harry, that prophesied thou should'st be king,
Doth comfort thee in thy sleep; Live, and flourish !

The Ghost of CLARENCE rises.

Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!
I, 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, [To RICHM.
The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee;
Good angels guard thy battle! Live, and flourish!

[8]

To peize, i. e. to weigh down, from peser, Fr. 19 The allusion is to the ancient mace.

HENLEY.

STEEVENS.

The Ghosts of RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN, rise. Riv. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow, [To K. R. Rivers, that died at Pomfret! Despair, and die ! Grey. Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair! [To K. RICH. Vaugh. Think upon Vaughan; and, with guilty fear, Let fall thy lance! Despair, and die!— [To K. RICH. All. Awake! and think, our wrongs in Richard's

bosom

Will conquer him ;-awake, and win the day!

The Ghost of HASTINGS rises.

[TO RICHM

Ghost. Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake; [To K. RICH. And in a bloody battle end thy days!

Think on lord Hastings; and despair, and die !--
Quiet, untroubled soul, awake, awake!

[TO RICHM.

Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake!
The Ghosts of the two young Princes rise.

Ghosts. Dream on thy cousins smother'd in the Tower; Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard,

And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death!
Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair, and die.-

Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy;
Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy!

Live, and beget a happy race of kings!

Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish.
The Ghost of Queen ANNE rises.

Ghost. Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy wife, That never slept a quiet hour with thee,

Now fills thy sleep with perturbations:

To-morrow in the battle think on me,

And fall thy edgeless sword; Despair, and die !--
Thou, quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep; [To RICHM.
Dream of success and happy victory;

Thy adversary's wife doth pray for thee.

The Ghost of BUCKINGHAM rises.

Ghost. The first was I, that help'd thee to the crown;

The last was I that felt thy tyranny:
O, in the battle think on Buckingham,
And die in terror of thy guiltiness!

[To K. RICH.

Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death;
Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath!-
I died for hope, ere I could lend thee aid:
But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismay'd:

[TO RICHM.

God, and good angels fight on Richmond's side,
And Richard falls in height of all his pride.

[The Ghosts vanish. K. RICHARD starts out of his dream. K. Rich. Give me another horse,'-bind up my wounds,

Have

mercy, Jesu!-Soft; I did but dream.

O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!-
The lights burn blue.—It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
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?

I love myself. Wherefore? for any good,
That I myself have done unto myself?

O, no alas, I rather hate myself,

For hateful deeds committed by myself.

I am a villain: Yet I lie, I am not.

Fool, of thyself speak well :-Fool, do not flatter.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree,
Murder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree;
All several sins, all us'd in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all,-Guilty! guilty!
I shall despair.There is no creature loves me ;
And, if I die, no soul will pity me :-

Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.

Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd
Came to my tent and every one did threat
To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard.
Enter RATCLIFF.

Rat. My lord,

[1] There is in this, as in many of our author's speeches of passion, something very trifling, and something very striking. Richard's debate, whether he should quarrel with himself is too long continued, but the subsequent exaggeration of his erimes is truly tragical. JOHNSON.

[2] These lines stand with so little propriety at the end of this speech, that I cannot but suspect them misplaced. Where then shall they be inserted? Perhaps after these words,-"Fool, do not flatter." JOHNSON. Either the two and twenty immediate lines are not Shakespeare's, or are so unworthy of him, that it were to be wished they could with propriety be degraded to the margin. I wonder that Dr. Johnson, who thought the subsequent lines misplaced, did not perceive that their connection with the preceding part of the speech, ending at-trembling flesh, was interrupted solely by this apparent interpolation, which is in the highest degree childish and unnatural. RITSON.

K. Rich. Who's there?

Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I.

The early village cock

Hath twice done salutation to the morn;

Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour.

K. Rich. O, Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful dream!-What thinkest thou? will our friends prove all true? Rat. No doubt, my lord.

K. Rich. Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,—

Rat. Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows.
K. Rich. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard,
Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers,
Armed in proof, and led by shallow Richmond.
It is not yet near day. Come, go with me;
Under our tents I'll play the eaves-dropper,
To hear, if any mean to shrink from me.

RICHMOND wakes. Lords. Good morrow,

[Exe. King RICH. and RATC Enter OXFORD and others. Richmond.

Richm. 'Cry mercy, lords, and watchful gentlemen, That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here.

Lords. How have you slept, my lord?

Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams,

That ever enter'd in a drowsy head,

Have I since your departure had, my lords.

Methought, their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd,
Came to my tent, and cry'd-On! victory!

I promise you, my heart is very jocund
In the remembrace of so fair a dream.
How far into the morning is it, lords?
Lords. Upon the stroke of four.

Richm. Why, then 'tis time to arm, and give direction.

[He advances to the Troops. —More than I have said, loving countrymen,

The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell on : Yet remember this,-
God, and our good cause, fight upon our side;
The prayers of holy saints, and wronged souls,
Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces;
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 ;

One that made means to come by what he hath,'
And slaughter'd those that were the means to help him ;
A base foul stone, made precious by the foil
Of England's chair, where he is falsely set ;*
One that hath ever been God's enemy:
Then, if you fight against God's enemy,
God will, in justice, ward you as his soldiers;
If you do sweat to put a tyrant down,
You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain;
If you do fight against your country's foes,
Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire ;
If you do fight in safeguard of your wives,
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors;
If you do free your children from the sword,
Your childrens' children quit it in your age.
Then, in the name of God, and all these rights,
Advance your standards, draw your willing swords :
For me, the ransom of my bold attempt

Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face;
But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt

The least of you shall share his part thereof.
Sound, drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully;
God, and saint George! Richmond, and victory! [Exe.
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'th' right; and so, indeed, it is.
[Clock strikes.

Tell the clock there.-Give me a kalendar.-
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'd 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;

[3] To make means was, in Shakespeare's time, often used in an unfavourable sense, and signified-to come at any thing by indirect practices. STEEVENS. [4] Nothing has been, or is still more common, than to put a bright coloured foil under a low-prized stone. The same allusion is common to many writers. STE.