And lands reftor'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 crímfon tempeft fhould bedrench
The fresh green lap of fair King Richard's Land,
My ftooping duty tenderly fhall fhew.

Go fignify as much, while here we march
Upon the graffy 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 felf fhould 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 Kichard, the Bishop of Carlisle, Aumerle, Scroop and Salisbury.

8

York. See! fee! King Richard doth himself appear, As doth the blufhing 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.

& See! fee! King Richard dath bimfelf 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 belon; to York.

WA" B.

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 should stain fo fair a fhow!

K. Rich. We are amaz'd, and thus long have we ftood

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

Το 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
Can gripe the facred handle of our Scepter,
Unless he do prophane, fteal, 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,
Yet know,My Master, God omnipotent,
Is muft'ring in his clouds on our behalf
Armies of Peftilence; and they fhall 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
That every ftride he makes upon my Land
Is dangerous treafon. He is come to ope
The purple Teftament of bleeding War;
But ere the Crown, he looks for, live in peace,

9 But e'er the Crown, be locks
for, live in Peace,
Ten thousand bloody Crowns of
Mothers' Sons

Shall ill become the Flow'r of
England's face;] Tho' I
have not disturb'd the Text here,
I cannot but think it liable to
Sufpicion. A Crown living in

Tea

Peace, as Mr. Warburton juftly obferv'd to me, is a very odd Phrafe. He fuppofes;

But e'er the Crown, he looks for, light in Peace,

. e. descend and fettle upon Bolingbroke's Head in Peace. Again, I have a fmall Quarrel to the third Line quoted. Would

the

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 fcarlet 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 rush'd upon! no, thy thrice-noble coufin,
Harry of Bolingbroke, doth kiss thy hand,
And by the honourable tomb he swears,
That ftands 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 bury'd hand of warlike Gaunt,'
And by the worth and honour of himself,
Comprising all that may be fworn, or faid,
His Coming hither hath no farther fcope,

i. e. Shall make a difmal Spectacle on the Surface of the Kingdom's Earth. THEOBALD.

Shall ill Lecome 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. The facer of England's face, to defign her choiceft Youth, is a fine and noble expreffion. Peridles, 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."
Which means-
what.

-I know not WARBURTON.

Dr. Warburton has inferted

light in peace in the text of his own edition, but love in peace is more fuitable to Richard's intention, which is to tell him that though he fhould get the cown by rebellion, it will be long before it will live in peace,be fo jettled as to be firm. The flow'r of England's face, is very happily explained, and any alteration is therefore needless.

And by the bury'd hand of warlike Gaunt.] It should be read just the other way, And by the warlike hand of bury'd Gaunt. WARBURT. I fee no great difference.

Then

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 rust;
His barbed feeds to ftables; and his heart
To faithful fervice of your Majefty.

This fwears he, as he is a Prince, is just;
And as I am a Gentleman, I credit him.

[turns:

K. Rich. Northumberland, fay-Thus the King reHis 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 haft, Speak to his gentle Hearing kind Commends.

Exit North. 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

2

On yond proud man, fhould 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,

Or not remember what I must be now!

Swell'ft thou, proud heart? I'll give thee fcope to beat, Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me.

Aum. Northumberland comes back from Bolingbroke. K. Rich. What muft the King do now? must he fubmit?

The King fhall do it. Muft he be depos'd?

2 With words of footh;] or foftnefs, a fignification yet reSooth is feet as well as true. In tained in the verb to footh. this place footh means feetnes VOL. IV.

F

The

3

The King shall be contented: must he lose
The name of King? o' God's name, let it go.
I'll give my jewels for a fet of beads;
My gorgeous palace, for a hermitage;
My gay apparel, for an alms-man's gown;
My figur'd goblets, for a difh of wood;
My fcepter, for a palmer's walking staff;
My fubjects, for a pair of carved faints;
And my large Kingdom, for a little Grave;
A little, little Grave;an obfcure Grave;
Or I'll be bury'd in the King's high way,
Some way of common Trade, where Subjects' feet
May hourly trample on their Sovereign's head; ✦
For on my heart they tread now, whilst I live;
And, bury'd once, why not upon my head?
Aumerle, thou weep'ft; my tender-hearted coufin!
We'll make foul weather with despised tears;
Our fighs, and they, fhall lodge the fummer corn,
And make a dearth in this revolting Land.
Or fhall we play the Wantons with our woes,
And make fome pretty match, with fhedding tears?
As thus, to drop them ftill upon one place,
Till they have fretted us a pair of Graves