20

Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled
That in submission will return to us;
And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose and the red.
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,
That long have frown'd upon their enmity!
What traitor hears me, and says not amen?
England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself;
The brother blindly shed the brother's blood,
The father rashly slaughtered his own son,
The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire.
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided in their dire division,

.25

30

O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each royal house,
By God's fair ordinance conjoin together!
And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so,
Enrich the time to come with smooth-fac'd Peace,
With smiling Plenty and fair prosperous days!
Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord,
That would reduce these bloody days again,
And make poor England weep in streams of blood!
Let them not live to taste this land's increase
That would with treason wound this fair land's

peace!

35

Now civil wounds are stopp'd, Peace lives again; That she may long live here, God say amen!

M

41

Exeunt.

Notes

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Summary of Historical Facts. In 1452 began the Wars of the Roses, the contest between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne of England. The reigning king, Henry VI, held the throne by right of his grandfather, Henry IV, who was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III. Henry IV had obtained the crown by deposing Richard II, son of the first son of Edward III. York's claim to the throne rested upon descent from the third son of Edward III, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, whose great-great-grandson was Richard, Duke of York. October 2, 1452, was born York's son, who became Richard III. In 1455 York was victorious in the first battle of St. Albans. In 1460, as a compromise between the parties, York was declared by Parliament heir to the throne, to succeed upon the death of Henry. This unsatisfactory settlement was again followed by war; and on December 30, 1460, York was defeated and slain, with his son Rutland, in the battle of Wakefield. is young sons, George (Clarence) and Richard, were at once sent by their mother to Utrecht for safety. Their elder brother, Edward, now succeeded to his father's claim and effort. In the battle of Mortimer's Cross, 1461, he was victorious: in the second battle of St. Albans he was defeated by the forces of Queen Margaret. He reached London, however, and assumed the crown as Edward IV; and in the battle of Towton won a great victory and drove Henry into Scotland. George

and Richard now returned to England. In 1464, Margaret, who had formed an alliance with France, returned to the contest; but the Lancastrians were defeated in the battle of Hexham, Henry was imprisoned in the Tower, and Margaret fled to France. In the same year Edward married Elizabeth Grey, thereby estranging Warwick, who, upon commission of the king, had arranged for him a marriage with Bona, sister of the Queen of France. In 1469 Clarence abandoned his brother for Warwick, whose eldest daughter, Isabel, he married. In 1470 Warwick and Clarence espoused Margaret's cause, Edward was driven over seas, Henry was restored to the throne, and Clarence was declared his heir, should the direct heir, Prince Edward, fail. In 1471 Edward again took up the strife, won Clarence over, and in the battle of Barnet defeated and killed Warwick. In this battle, his first appearance in the war, Richard led his brother's van. In the next month, Margaret having returned to England, came the battle of Tewksbury, Richard again leading the forces of York. Margaret's troops were defeated, Prince Edward was killed, and Edward and Richard arrived together in London, May 21, 1471. On the same day died Henry VI, in the Tower. Margaret was confined in the Tower until 1475, and was then banished to France, whence she never returned, and where she died in 1482.

In 1473 Richard married Anne, younger daughter of Warwick and formerly the betrothed, not wife, of Edward, son of Henry VI. Clarence excited the suspicion of the king, and in 1478 was by the king's orders attainted and executed for treason, his heirs being barred from any

In 1483 occurred the

claim to succession to the throne. death of Edward IV. Prince Edward was brought from Wales to London, and on the way Rivers, his uncle, and Grey, his stepbrother, who were charged with intending to rule affairs through the young king in opposition to Richard, who had been named Protector in the will of Edward IV, were captured, and subsequently executed. Richard's appointment as Protector was confirmed by the Council; and the young Duke of York was taken to his brother in the Tower. On June 26, with the consent of the peers, Richard mounted the throne. His coronation took place July 6. In the same year followed the death of the princes, the unsuccessful revolt of Buckingham, the real cause of which is still unknown, and the first, unsuccessful, attempt of Richmond to land in England.__Richmond was the son of Edmund Tudor, half-brother of Henry VI, and thus a representative of the house of Lancaster. His exceedingly remote claim to the throne he strengthened by attacking Richard as a usurper and tyrant, and subsequently by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, thus uniting the two houses. In 1485 Richard's queen, Anne, died; and he is said by some authorities have proposed marriage with Elizabeth, his niece. But the second and successful attempt of Richmond followed at once; and on August 22 was fought the battle of Bosworth, in which Richard was slain. Richmond then mounted the throne as Henry VII.

A list of Dramatis Persone was first added by Rowe in 1709. The acts and scenes are indicated in the Folio, except III. v, vi, vii; IV. iii; V. iii, iv, v. Place indications are by modern editors.