Bagot. My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue Scorns to unsay what once it hath deliver❜d.

In that dead time when Gloster's death was plotted,
I heard you say,-Is not my arm of length,
That reacheth from the restful English court
As far as Calais, to my uncle's head?
Amongst much other talk, that very time,
I heard you say, that you had rather refuse
The offer of a hundred thousand crowns,
Than Bolingbroke's return to England;
Adding withal, how blest this land would be,
In this your cousin's death.

Aum. Princes, and noble lords,

What answer shall I make to this base man?
Shall I so much dishonour my fair stars,
On equal terms to give him chastisement?
Either I must or have mine honour soil'd
With the attainder of his sland'rous lips.-
There is my gage, the manual seal of death,
That marks thee out for hell: I say, thou liest,
And will maintain, what thou hast said, is false,
In thy heart-blood, though being all too base
To stain the temper of my knightly sword.

Boling. Bagot, forbear, thou shalt not take it up.
Aum. Excepting one, I would he were the best
In all this presence, that hath moved me so.

Fitz. If that thy valour stand on sympathies,
There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine:
By that fair sun that shows me where thou stand'st,
I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it,
That thou wert cause of noble Gloster's death.
If thou deny'st it, twenty times thou liest;
And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart,
Where it was forged, with my rapier's point.

Aum. Thou dar'st not, coward, live to see 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 steel

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 pawn ;

Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st.

Aum. Who sets me else? by heaven I'll throw at all:

I have a thousand spirits in one breast,

To answer twenty thousand such as you.

Surrey. My lord Fitzwater, I do remember well The very time Aumerle and you did talk.

Fitz. My lord, 'tis true: you were in presence 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,

I 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 gage,
That Norfolk lies: here do I throw down this,

If he may be repeal'd to try his honour.

Boling. These differences shall all rest under gage,

Till Norfolk be repeal'd: repeal'd he shall be,
And, though mine enemy, restored again

To all his land and signories; when he's return'd.
Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial.

Car. That honourable day shall ne'er be seen.-
Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought
For Jesu Christ; in glorious Christian field
Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross,
Against black Pagans, Turks, and Saracens:
And toil'd with works of war, retired himself
To Italy; and there, at Venice, gave

His body to that pleasant country's earth,
And his pure soul unto his captain Christ,
Under whose colours he had fought so long.
Boling. Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead?
Car. As sure as I live, my lord.

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.

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 hand:

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 noble Richard; then true nobless* would
Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong.
What subject can give sentence on his king?
And who sits here, that is not Richard's subject?
Thieves are not judged, but they are by to hear,
Although apparent guilt be seen in them:
And shall the figure of God's majesty,
His captain, steward, deputy elect,
Anointed, crown'd, planted many years,
Be judged by subject and inferior breath,
And he himself not present? O, forbid it, God,
That, in a Christian climate, souls refined
Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed!
I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks,
Stirr' 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;
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and Infidels,
And, in this seat of peace, tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin, and kind with kind confound;
Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny,

Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd

The field of Golgotha, and dead men's sculls.
O, if you rear this house against this house,
It 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!

North. We'll have you argued, Sir; and for your pains,

Of capital treason we arrest you here:

My lord of Westminster, be it your charge

To keep him safely till his day of trial.

May't please you, lords, to grant the commons' suit.
Boling. Fetch hither Richard, that in common view
He may surrender; so we shall proceed

Without suspicion.

York. I will be his conduct.

Boling. Lords, you that are here under our arrest, Procure your sureties for your days of answer:

[Exit.

*Nobleness.

Little are we beholden to your love [To CARLISLE],
And little look'd for at your helping hands.

Re-enter YORK, with KING RICHARD, and Officers bearing the Crown, &c.

K. Rich. Alack, why am I sent for to a king, Before I have shook off the regal thoughts Wherewith I reign'd? I hardly yet have learn'd To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my knee :Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me

To this submission. Yet I well remember

The favours of these men: Were they not mine ?*
Did they not sometime cry, all hail! to me?

So Judas did to Christ: but he, in twelve,

Found truth in all, but one; I, in twelve thousand, none.
God save the king!-Will no man say, amen?
Am I both priest and clerk? well then, amen.
God save the king! although I be not he;
And yet, amen, if heaven do think him me.-
To do what service am I sent for hither?

York. To do that office, of thine own good will,
Which tired majesty did make thee offer,-

The resignation of thy state and crown

To Henry Bolingbroke.

K. Rich. Give me the crown: Here, cousin, seize the crown; Here, on the side, my hand; on that side, thine.

Now is this golden crown like a deep well,

That owest two buckets filling one another;

The emptier ever dancing in the air,

The other down, unseen, and full of water:
That bucket down, and full of tears, am I,

Drinking my grief, whilst you mount up on high.
Boling. I thought you had been willing to resign.

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 you contented to resign the crown?
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 I wash away my balm,‡
With mine own hands I give away my crown,

*Countenances.

+ Has.

Oil of consecration.

With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,
With mine own breath release all duteous oaths:
All pomp and majesty I do forswear;

My manors, rents, revenues, I forego;
My acts, decrees, and statutes, I deny:
God pardon all oaths, that are broke to me!
God keep all vows unbroke, are made to thee!
Make me, that nothing have, with nothing grieved;
And thou with all pleased, that hast all achieved!
Long mayst thou live in Richard's seat to sit,
And soon lie Richard in an earthly pit!
God save king Henry, unking'd Richard says,
And send him many years of sunshine days!-
What more remains?

[Offering a Paper.

North. No more, but that you read
These accusations, and these grievous crimes,
Committed by your person, and your followers,
Against the state and profit of this land;
That by confessing them, the souls of men
May deem that you are worthily deposed.

K. Rich. Must I do so? and must I ravel out
My weaved-up follies? Gentle Northumberland,
If thy offences were upon record,

Would it not shame thee in so fair a troop,
To read a lecture of them? If thou wouldst,
There shouldst thou find one heinous article,-
Containing the deposing of a king,

And cracking the strong warrant of an oath,-
Mark'd with a blot, damn'd in the book of heaven:-
Nay all of you, that stand and look upon me,
Whilst that my wretchedness doth bait myself,-
Though some of you, with Pilate, wash your hands,
Showing an outward pity; yet you Pilates
Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross,

And water cannot wash away your sin.

North. My lord, dispatch; read o'er these articles.
K. Rich. Mine eyes are full of tears, I cannot see:

And yet salt water blinds them not so much,
But they can see a sort* of traitors here.
Nay, if I turn mine eyes upon myself,
I find myself a traitor with the rest:
For I have given here my soul's consent,
To undeck the pompous body of a king;
Make glory base; and sovereignty, a slave;
Proud majesty, a subject; state, a peasant.
North. My lord-

K. Rich. No lord of thine, thou haught, insulting man,
Nor no man's lord; I have no name, no title,-

No, not that name was given me at the font,-
But 'tis usurp'd:-Alack the heavy day,

That I have worn so many winters out,