Why dost thou say king Richard is depos'd ?
Dar'st thou, thou little better thing than earth,
Divine his downfal? Say, where, when, and
[wretch.
how,
Cam'st thou by these ill tidings? speak, thou
Gard. Pardon me, madam: little joy have I,
To breathe this news; yet, what I say, is true.
King Richard, he is in the mighty hold
Of Bolinbroke; their fortunes both are weigh'd:
In your lord's scale is nothing but himself,
And some few vanities that make him light;
But in the balance of great Bolingbroke,
Besides himself, are all the English peers,
And with that odds he weighs king Richard
down.

Post you to London, and you'll find it so;
I speak no more than every one doth know.
Queen. Nimble mischance, that art so light
of foot,

Doth not thy embassage belong to me,
And am I last that knows it? O thou think'st
To serve me last, that I may longest keep
Thy sorrow in my breast.-Come, ladies, go,
To meet at London London's king in woe.-
What, was I born to this! that my sad look
Should grace the triumph of great Boling-
broke ?-

Gardener, for telling me this news of woe,
I would the plants thou graft'st may never grow.
[Exeunt QUEEN and LADIES.
Gard. Poor queen! so that thy state might

be no worse,

I would my skill were subject to thy curse.-
Here did she drop a tear; here, in this place,
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace.
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen.

ACT IV.

[Exeunt.

form'd

that man.

Bagot. My lord Aumerle, I know your ing tongue

that day.

Fitz. Now, by my soul, I would it were this hour.

Aum. Fitzwater, thou art damn'd to hell for

this.

Percy. Aumerle, thou liest; his honour is as true,

In this appeal, as thou art all unjust ;
And, that thou art so there I throw my gage,
To prove it on thee to the extremest point
Of mortal breathing: seize it, if thou dar'st.
Aum. And if I do not, may my hands rot off,
And never brandish more revengeful stcel
Over the glittering helmet of my foe!

Lord. I take the earth to the like, forsworn
Aumerle;
And spur thee on with full as many lies
As may be holla'd in thy treacherous ear
From sun to sun: there is my honour's pawa;
Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st.

Aum. Who sets ine else? by heaven, I'll throw at all;

I have a thousand spirits in one breast,
To answer twenty thousand such as yon.
Surrey. My lord Fitzwater, I do remember
well

The very time Aumerle and you did talk.
Fitz. My lord, 'tis true: you were in presenc
then;

And you can witness with me, this is true.
Surrey. As false, by heaven, as heaven itself
is true,
Fitz. Surrey, thou liest.

Surrey, Dishonourable boy!

That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword,
That it shall render vengeance and revenge,
Till thou the lie-giver, and that lie, do lie
In earth as quiet as thy father's scull.
In proof whereof, there is my honour's pawn;
Engage it to the trial if thou dar'st.

Fitz. How fondly dost thou spur a forward
horse ?

If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live,
dare meet Surrey in a wilderness,
And spit upon him, whilst I say he lies,
And lies, and lies: there is my bond of faith,
To tie thee to my strong correction.-
As I intend to thrive in this new world,
Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal :
Besides, I heard the banish'd Norfolk say,
That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men
To execute the noble duke at Calais.

Aum. Some honest Christian trust me with a

I

Boling. Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom

Of good old Abraham !-Lords appellants,
Your differences shall all rest under gage,
Till we assign you to your days of trial.

Enter YORK, attended.

1

York. Great duke of Lancaster, I come to thee

From plume-pluck'd Richard; who with willing soul

Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields
To the possession of thy royal band:
Ascend his throne, descending now from him,-
And long live Henry, of that name the fourth!
Boling. In God's name, I'll ascend the regal
throne.

Car. Marry, God forbid !

Worst in this royal presence may I speak,
Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth.
Would God, that any in this noble presence..
Were enough noble to be upright judge
Of no le Richard; then true nobless ⚫ would
Learn him ferbearance from so foul a wrong.
What subject can give sentence on his king?
And who sits here, that is not Richard's sub-
ject!

Thieves are not judg'd, but they are by to hear,
Altborb apparent guilt be seen in them:
And shall the figure of God's majesty,
His captain, steward, deputy elect,
Apoisted, crowned, planted many years,
Be judg'd by subject and inferior breath,
And be himself not present? O forbid it, God,
That, in a Christian climate, souls retin'd
Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed!
Isp ak to subjects, and a subject speaks,
Surr'd up by heaven thus boldly for his king.
My lord of Hereford here, whom you call king,
Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king:
And if you crown him, let me prophesy,-
The blood of English shall manure the ground,
And future ages groan for this foul act;
Prace shall go sleep with Turks and Infidels,
And, in this seat of peace, tumultuous wars
Swall kin with kin, and kind with kiud con-
found?

Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny,
Fhali here inhabit, and this land be call'd
The field of Golgotha, and dead men's sculls.
On! if you rear this house against this house,
I will the woefullest division prove,
That ever fell upon this cursed earth;
Prevent, resist it, let it not be so,
Lest child, child's children, cry against you-

woe! +

thine.

K. Rich. My crown, I am; but still my griefs are mine;

You may my glories and my state depose,
But not my griefs: still am I king of those.
Boling. Part of your cares you give me with
your crown.

K. Rich. Your cares set up, do not pluck my cares down.

My care is-loss of care, by old care done; Your care is-gain of care, by new care won: The cares I give, I have, though given away; They tend the crown, yet still with me they stay. Boling. Are crown?

you contented to resign the

K. Rich. Ay, no;-no, ay; for I must nothing be!

Therefore no no, for I resign to thee.
Now mark me how I will undo myself :-
I give this heavy weight from off my head,
And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,
The pride of kingly sway from out my heart;
With mine own tears wash away my balm,
With mine own hands I give away my crown,
With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,
With mine own breath release all duteous

oaths;

To be o'erpower'd; and wilt thou, pupil-like,
Take thy correction mildly? kiss the rod;
And fawn on rage with base humility,
Which art a lion, and a king of beasts ?

K. Rich. Twice for one step I'll groan, the way being short,

And piece the way out with a heavy heart,
Come, come, in wooing sorrow let's be brief,

but beasts,

1 had been still a happy king of men.

France:

Think I am dead; and that even here thou

tak'st,

As from my death-bed, my last living leave.
In winter's tedious nights, sit by the fire
With good old folks; and let them tell thee tales
Of woful ages, long ago betid: +

And, ere thou bid good night, to quit their grief,

Tell thou the lamentable fall of me,

And send the bearers weeping to their beds.
For why, the senseless brands will sympathize
The heavy accent of thy moving tongue,
And, in compassion, weep the fire out:
And some will mourn in ashes, some coal-black,
For the deposing of a rightful king.

Enter NORTHUMBERLAND attended. North. My lord, the mind of Bolingbroke is chang'd;

You must to Pomfret, not unto the Tower.-
And, madam, there is order ta'en for you;
With all swift speed you must away to France.
K. Rich. Northumberland, thou ladder where-
withal

The mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne,
The time shall not be many hours of age
More than it is, ere foul sin, gathering head,
Shall break into corruption: thou shalt think,
Though he divide the realm, and give thee half,
It is too little, helping him to all;

And he shall think that thou, which know'st the

[They kiss. Queen. Give me mine own again; 'twere no good part,

To take on me to keep, and kill thy heart.

tops,

Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head.

York. Then, as I said, the duke, great Bolingbroke,

Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed,
Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know.--
With slow but stately pace, kept on his course,
While all tongues cried-God save thee, Bol-
ingbroke!

You would have thought the very windows spake,

So many greedy looks of young and old Through casements darted their desiring eyes Upon his visage; and that all the walls, With painted imag'ry, had said at once,-

• All-hallows, i. e. All-saints, Nov. 1. Never the nigher.

1 Tapestry hung from the windows.