Gard'ner, for telling me thefe news of woe,

I would, the plants, thou graft'ft, may never grow. [Exeunt Queen and Ladies. Gard. Poor Queen, fo that thy ftate might be no

worse,

I would my fkill were fubject to thy Curfe.
Here did the drop a tear; here, in this place,
I'll fet a bank of Rue, four herb of grace;
Rue, ev'n for ruth, here fhortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping Queen.

[Exeunt Gard. and Serv.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

In LONDON.

Enter, as to the Parliament, Bolingbroke, Aumerle, Northumberland, Percy, Fitzwater, Surry, Bishop of Carlisle, Abbot of Westminster, Herald, Officers, and Bagot.

C

BOLINGBROKE.

ALL Bagot forth: now freely fpeak thy mind What thou doft know of noble Glo'fter's death Who wrought it with the King, and who perform'd The bloody office of his timeless end. 7

;

Bagot. Then fet before my face the lord Aumerle. Boling. Coufin, ftand forth, and look upon that man. Bagot. My Lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue Scorns to unfay, what it hath once deliver❜d. In that dead time when Glofter's death was plotted,

6 I would, the plants, &c.-] This execration of the queen is fomewhat ludicrous, and unfuitable to her condition; the gardener's reflexion is better adapted to the ftate both of his mind and his fortune. Mr. Poje, who has

been throughout this play very diligent to reject what he did not like, has yet, I know not why, fpared the laft lines of this act.

7

his timeless end. ] WARB. I heard

Timeless for untimely.

I heard you fay, "Is not my arm of length,
"That reacheth from the reftful English Court
"As far as Calais to my uncle's head ?"
Amongst much other talk that very time,
I heard you fay, "You rather had refuse,
"The offer of an hundred thousand crowns,
"Than Bolingbroke return to England; adding,
"How bleft this Land would be in this

"death."

your

Coufin's

Aum. Princes, and noble Lords, What anfwer fhall I make to this bafe man? Shall I fo much difhonour my fair stars, On equal terms to give him chastisement ? Either I muft, or have mine honour foil'd With the attainder of his fland'rous lips. There is my Gage, the manual seal of death, That marks thee out for hell. Thou lieft, And I'll maintain what thou haft faid, is false, In thy heart-blood, though being all too base To ftain the temper of my knightly fword. Boling. Bagot, forbear; thou fhalt not take it Aum. Excepting one, I would he were the best In all this prefence that hath mov'd me fo. Fitzw. If that thy valour ftand on fympathies, 9

my fair STARS,] I rather think it fhould be STEM, he being of the royal blood.

WARBURTON.

I think the prefent reading unexceptionable. The birth is fuppofed to be influenced by the fars, therefore our authour with his ufual licence takes ftars for birth.

If that thy valour ftand in ympathies,] Here is a tranflated fenfe much harsher than that of ftars explained in the foregoing note. Aumerle has challenged Bagot with fome hefitation, as not being his equal, and

up.

therefore one whom, according to the rules of chivalry, he was not obliged to fight, as a nobler life was not to be ftaked in duel against a bafer. Fitzwalter then throws down his gage a pledge of battle, and tells him that if he stands upon fympathies, that is, upon equality of blood, the combat is now offered him by a man of rank not inferiour to his own. Sympathy is an affection incident at once to two fubjects. This community of affection implies a likeness or equality of nature, and thence our poet transferred the term to equality of blood.

There

There is my Gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine.
By that fair Sun, that fhews me where thou ftand'st,
I heard thee fay, and vauntingly thou fpak'ft it,
That thou wert caufe of noble Glo'fter's death.
If thou deny'ft it, twenty times thou lieft;
And I will turn thy falfhood to thy heart,
Where it was forged, with my rapier's point.

Aum. Thou dar'ft not, coward, live to fee the day.
Fitzw. Now, by my foul, I would it were this hour.
Aum. Fitzwater, thou art damn'd to hell for this.
Percy. Aumerle, thou lieft; his honour is as true,
In this appeal, as thou art all unjust;
And that thou art fo, there I throw my Gage
To prove it on thee, to th' extreameft point
Of mortal breathing. Seize it, if thou dar'st.
dum. And if I do not, may my hands rot off,
And never brandish more revengeful fteel
Over the glittering helmet of my foe.

*Another Lord. I take the earth to the like, forfworn Aumerle,

And fpur thee on with full as many lies

As may be hollow'd in thy treach'rous ear
From fin to fin. Here is my honour's pawn,

Engage it to the trial if thou dar'ft.

dum. Who fets me elfe? by heav'n, I'll throw at all. I have a thousand fpirits in my breast,

To answer twenty thoufand fuch as you.

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

was not feen in England till two centuries afterwards.

Fitzw. MyLord, 'tis true; you were in presence then ; my rapier's point.] Shakespeare deferts the manners of the age in which his drama is placed very often, without neceflity or advantage. The edge of a fword had ferved his purpofe as well as the point of a rapier, and he had then efcaped the impropriety of giving the Eng fb nobles a weapon which

This fpeech I have restored from the firit edition in humble imitation of former editors, though, I believe, against the mind of the authour. For the earth I fuppofe we ft.ould read, thy oath.

And

And you can witnefs with me, this is true.

Surry. As falfe, by heav'n, as heav'n itself is true.

Fitz. Surry, thou lieft.

Surry. Difhonourable boy,

That Lie fhall lye fo heavy on my sword,
That it fhall render vengeance and revenge,
Till thou the lie-giver, and that Lie, rest
In earth as quiet, as thy father's fcull.

In proof whereof, there is mine honour's pawn;
Engage it to the tryal, if thou dar'sft.

Fitz. How fondly doft thou spur a forward horse? If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live,

'I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness,

And fpit upon him, whilft I fay, 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.

Befides I heard the banish'd Norfolk fay,

That thou, Aumerle, didft fend two of thy men
To execute the noble Duke at Calais.

Aum. Some honeft chriftian truft me with a gage,
That Norfolk lies. Here do I throw down this,
If he may be repeal'd, to try his honour.

Boling. Thefe Diff'rences fhall all reft under gage, Till Norfolk be repeal'd; repeal'd he fhall be, And, though mine enemy, reftor'd again To all his Signiories; when he's return'd, Against Aumerle we will enforce his tryal. Carl. That honourable day fhall ne'er be seen. Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought For Jefu Chrift, in glorious chriftian field

⚫ I dare meet Surrey in a wilde nefs.] I dare meet him where no Help can be had by me against him. So in Macbeth, -O be alive again, And dare me to the defert with by sword,

3 In this new world] In this world where I have just begun to be an actor. Surrey has, a few Lines above, called him boy.

Stream

Streaming the Enfign of the chriftian Crofs,
Against black Pagans, Turks, and Saracens :
Then, toil'd with works of war, retir'd himself
To Italy, and there at Venice gave

His body to that pleasant Country's earth,
And his pure foul unto his captain Christ,
Under whofe Colours he had fought so long.
Boling. Why, Bishop, is Norfolk dead?
Carl. Sure as I live, my lord.

Boling. Sweet peace conduct his foul

To th' befom of good Abraham!-Lords appealants, Your diff'rences fhall all reft under gage,

Till we affign you to your days of tryal.

York. Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee
From plume-pluckt Richard, who with willing foul
Adopts thee Heir, and his high Scepter yields
To the Poffeffion of thy royal hand.

Afcend his Throne, defcending now from him,
And long live Henry, of that name the Fourth!
Boling. In God's name, I'll afcend the regal throne.
Carl. Marry, heav'n forbid !

Worft in this royal prefence may I fpeak,
* Yet best befeeming me to fpeak the truth.
Would God, that any in this noble presence
Were enough noble to be upright judge
Of noble Richard; then true Noblenefs would
Learn him forbearance from fo foul a wrong.
What Subject can give Sentence on his King?
And who fits here, that is not Richard's Subject?
Thieves are not judg'd, but they are by to hear,
Although apparent Guilt be feen in them.

4 Yet beft befeeming me 10 Jprak the truth.] It might be read more grammatically,

Yet beft befeems it me to speak

the truth.

But I do not think it is printed otherwife than as Shakespeare wrote it.

And