K. Rich. Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold, [Reads. For Dickon thy master is bought and sold. A thing devised by the enemy. Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge: And not these bastard Bretagnes; whom our fathers 1 Company. 2 To restrain is to abridge, to diminish, to withhold from. 3 Thus Holinshed:-" You see further, how a company of traitors, thieves, outlaws, and runagates, be aiders and partakers of this feate and enterprise. And to begin with the earl of Richmond, captaine of this rebellion, he is a Welsh milksop, brought up by my moother's means and mine, like a captive in a close cage in the court of Francis duke of Britaine," p. 756. Holinshed copied this verbatim from Hall, edit. 1548, fol. 54; but his printer has given us, by accident, the word moother instead of brother; as it is in the original, and ought to be in Shakspeare. In the first edition of Holinshed the word is rightly printed brother. So that this circumstance not only shows that the Poet follows Holinshed, but points out the edition used by him. Have in their own land beaten, bobbed, and thumped, Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen! Enter a Messenger. What says lord Stanley? will he bring his power? K. Rich. Off instantly with his son George's head. Nor. My lord, the enemy is passed the marsh;1 After the battle let George Stanley die. K. Rich. A thousand hearts are great within my bosom. Advance our standards, set upon our foes; [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Another Part of the Field. Alarum. Excursions. Enter NORFOLK, and Forces; to him CATESBY. Cate. Rescue, my lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue! The king enacts more wonders than a man, Daring an opposite to every danger; 2 His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, 1 There was a large marsh in Bosworth plain between the two armies. Henry passed it, and made such a disposition of his forces that it served to protect his right wing. By this movement he gained also another point, that his men should engage with the sun behind them, and in the faces of his enemies; a matter of great consequence when bows and arrows were in use. 2 i. e. daringly opposing himself to every danger. Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death: Alarum. Enter KING RICHARD. K. Rich. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! I think there be six Richmonds in the field; 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 praised, victorious friends; The day is ours; the bloody dog is dead Stan. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee! Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty, From the dead temples of this bloody wretch Richm. Great God of heaven, say, Amen, to all!But, tell me first, is young George Stanley living? Stan. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town; Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us. Richm. What men of name are slain on either side? 1 Richard, according to Polydore Virgil, was determined if possible to engage with Richmond in single combat. For this purpose he rode furiously to that quarter of the field where the earl was; attacked his standard bearer, sir William Brandon, and killed him; then assaulted sir John Cheny, whom he overthrew. Having thus at length cleared his way to his antagonist, he engaged in single combat with him, and probably would have been victorious, but at that instant sir William Stanley, with three thousand men, joined Richmond's army, and the royal forces fled with great precipitation. Stan. John duke of Norfolk, Walter lord Ferrers, Sir Robert Brakenbury, and sir William Brandon. Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births. Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled, That in submission will return to us; O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth, 2 1 i. e. diminish, or take away. [Exeunt. 2 To reduce is to bring back; an obsolete sense of the word. "THIS is one of the most celebrated of our author's performances; yet I know not whether it has not happened to him as to others, to be praised most when praise is not most deserved. That this play has scenes noble in themselves, and very well contrived to strike in the exhibition, cannot be denied. But some parts are trifling, others shocking, and some improbable."-JOHNSON. Malone says, he " agrees with Dr. Johnson in thinking that this play, from its first exhibition to the present hour, has been estimated greatly beyond its merits." He attributes its popularity to the detestation in which Richard's character was held at the time that Shakspeare wrote, and to the patronage of queen Elizabeth, " who was pleased at seeing king Henry VII. placed in the only favorable light in which he could be placed on the scene." Steevens, in the following note, has stated the true grounds of the perpetual popularity of the play, which can only be attributed to one cause-the wonderful dramatic effect produced by the character of Richard. "I most cordially join with Dr. Johnson and Mr. Malone in their >pinions; and yet, perhaps, they have overlooked one cause of the success of this tragedy. The part of Richard is, perhaps beyond all others, variegated, and consequently favorable to a judicious performer. It comprehends, indeed, a trait of almost every species of character on the stage. The hero, the lover, the statesman, the buffoon, the hypocrite, the hardened and repenting sinner, &c., are to be found within its compass. No wonder, therefore, that the discriminating powers of a Burbage, a Garrick, and a Henderson, should at different periods have given it a popularity beyond other dramas of the same author."-STEEVENS. |