Go to Flint-castle, there I'll pine away :
A King, woe's flave, fhall kingly woe obey:
That Pow'r I have, discharge; and let 'em go
7 To ear the land, that hath fome hope to grow :
For I have none. Let no man fpeak again
To alter this, for counfel is but vain.
Aum. My Liege, one word.
K. Rich. He does me double wrong,
That wounds me with the flatt'ries of his tongue.
Discharge my Foll'wers: let them hence, away,
From Richard's night to Bolingbroke's fair day.
[Exeunt.
SCEN
NE V.
Bolingbroke's Camp near Flint.
Enter with drum and colours, Bolingbroke, York,
Northumberland, and Attendants.
Boling. The Welfomen are difpers'd; and Salisbury
S
Is gone to meet the King, who lately landed
With fome few private friends upon this Coaft.
North. The news is very fair and good, my lord,
Richard, not far from hence, hath hid his head.
York. It would befeem the lord Northumberland,
To fay, King Richard. Ah, the heavy day,
When fuch a facred King fhould hide his head!
North. Your Grace miftakes me; only to be brief,
Left I his Title out.
that by this intelligence we learn,
York. The time hath been,
Would you have been fo brief with him, he would
Have been fo brief with You, to fhorten you,
For taking fo the Head, the whole Head's Length.
Boling. Miftake not, uncle, farther than you fhould.
York. Takenot, good coufin, farther than you should,
7 To ear the land,- -] ear or are, from aro, to plow.
Left you mistake, the heav'ns are o'er your head.
Boling. I know it, uncle, nor oppose my self
Against their will. But who comes here?
Enter Percy.
Welcome, Harry; what, will not this castle yield?
Percy. The caftle royally is mann'd, my lord,
Against your entrance.
Boling. Royally? why, it contains no King?
Percy. Yes, my good lord,
It doth contain a King: King Richard lies
Within the limits of yond lime and stone;
And with him lord Aumerle, lord Salisbury,
Sir Stephen Scroop, befides a clergy-man
Of holy reverence: who, I cannot learn.
North. Belike, it is the bishop of Carlisle.
Boling. Noble lord,
Go to the rude ribs of that ancient castle,
Through brazen trumpet fend the breath of Parle
Into his ruin'd ears, and thus deliver:
Henry of Bolingbroke upon his knees
Doth kifs King Richard's hand, and fends allegiance
And faith of heart unto his royal perfon:
Ev'n at his feet I lay my arms and pow'r,
Provided, that my banishment repeal'd,
And lands restor'd again, be freely granted:
If not, I'll use th' advantage of my pow'r,
And lay the fummer's duft with fhow'rs of blood,
Rain'd from the wounds of flaughter'd Englishmen.
The which, how far off from the mind of Bolingbroke
It is, fuch crimson tempeft fhould bedrench
The fresh green lap of fair King Richard's Land,
My ftooping duty tenderly fhall fhew.
Go fignifie as much, while here we march
Upon the graffie carpet of this Plain ;
Let's march without the noife of threat'ning drum,
That from this Caftle's tatter'd battlements
Our fair appointments may be well perus'd.
Methinks, King Richard and my self should meet
With no lefs terror than the elements
Of fire and water, when their thund'ring Shock,
At meeting, tears the cloudy cheeks of heav'n:
Be he the fire, I'll be the yielding water;
The rage be his, while on the earth I rain
My waters; on the earth, and not on him.
March on, and mark King Richard how he looks.
Parle without, and answer within; then a flourish. Enter, on the walls, King Richard, the Bishop of Carlisle, Aumerle, Scroop and Salisbury.
York. See! fee! King Richard doth himself appear, "As doth the blushing difcontented Sun,
"From out the fiery portal of the East,
"When he perceives, the envious clouds are bent
"To dim his Glory; and to ftain the tract
"Of his bright Paffage to the Occident.
Yet looks he like a King: behold his eye,
As bright as is the Eagle's, lightens forth
Controlling Majefty! alack, for woe,
That any harm fhould ftain fo fair a show!
K. Rich. We are amaz'd, and thus long have we To watch the fearful bending of thy knee, [To North. Because we thought our felf thy lawful King; And, if we be, how dare thy joints forget To pay their awful duty to our prefence? If we be not, fhew us the hand of God, That hath difmifs'd us from our Stewardship. For well we know, no hand of blood and bone
8 See! fee! King Richard doth himself appear,] The following fix lines are abfurdly given to Bolingbroke, who is made to condemn his own conduct and difculp the King's. It is plain thefe fix and the four following all belong to York,
Can gripe the facred handle of our Scepter,
Unless he do prophane, steal, or ufurp.
And though you think, that all, as you have done,
Have torn their fouls, by turning them from us,
And we are barren, and bereft of friends:
My Mafter, God omnipotent,
Is must'ring in his clouds on our behalf
Armies of Peftilence; and they shall strike
Your children yet unborn, and unbegot,
That lift your vaffal hands against my head,
And threat the Glory of my precious Crown.
Tell Bolingbroke, (for yond, methinks, he is)
That every stride he makes upon my Land
Is dangerous treafon. He is come to ope
The purple Testament of bleeding War;
But ere the Crown, he looks for, light in peace,
Ten thousand bloody crowns of mothers' fons
'Shall ill become the flow'r of England's face;
Change the complexion of her maid-pale peace
To scarlet indignation; and bedew
Her Pasture's grafs with faithful English blood.
North. The King of heav'n forbid, our lord the King
Should fo with civil and uncivil arms
Be rufh'd upon! no, thy thrice-noble coufin,
Harry of Bolingbroke, doth kifs thy hand,
And by the honourable tomb he fwears,
LIVE in peace,] We fhould read
LIGHT in peace,
i. e. defcend and fettle upon Bolingbroke's head in peace.
I Shall ill become the flow'r of England's face ;] By the flow'r of England's face, is meant the choiceft youths of England, who fhall be flaughter'd in this quarrel, or have bloody crowns. flower of England's face, to defign her choicest Youth, is a fine and noble expreffion. Pericles, by a fimilar thought, faid that the deftruction of the Athenian youth was a fatality like cutting off the Spring from the Year. Yet the Oxford Editor, who did not apprehend the figure, alters the line thus,
"Shall misbecome the flow'ry England's face.
I know not what.
That stands upon your royal grandfire's bones,
And by the Royalties of both your bloods,
(Currents, that fpring from one moft gracious head>
And by the warlike hand of bury'd Gaunt,
And by the worth and honour of himself,
Comprising all that may be fworn, or faid,
His Coming hither hath no farther scope,
Than for his lineal Royalties, and to beg
Infranchisement immediate on his knees:
Which on thy royal party granted once,
His glitt❜ring arms he will commend to ruft;
His barbed steeds to ftables; and his heart
To faithful fervice of your Majefty.
This fwears he, as he is a Prince, is juft;
And as I am a Gentleman, I credit him.
K. Rich. Northumberland, fay, thus the King returns: His noble Coufin is right-welcome hither, And all the number of his fair demands Shall be accomplish'd without contradiction. With all the gracious utterance thou hast, Speak to his gentle Hearing kind Commends. We do debase our felf, Coufin, do we not, [To Aum. To look fo poorly, and to speak fo fair? Shall we call back Northumberland, and fend
Defiance to the traitor, and fo die?
Aum. No, good my lord, let's fight with gentle words, Till time lend friends, and friends their helpful fwords. K. Rich. Oh God, oh God! that e'er this tongue of mine,
That laid the Sentence of dread Banifhment
On yond proud man, should take it off again
With words of Sooth; oh, that I were as great
As is my grief, or leffer than my name!
Or that I could forget what I have been,
2 And by the bury'd hand of warlike Gaunt,] It should be read juft the other way,
And by the warlike hand of bury'd Gaunt.
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