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Against what man thou com'st, and what thy quarrel.
Speak truly, on thy knighthood, and thine oath,
As so defend thee heaven, and thy valour!

Nor. My name is Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk;

Who hither come engaged by my oath,

(Which, God defend', a knight should violate!)
Both to defend my loyalty and truth,

To God, my king, and my succeeding issue',
Against the duke of Hereford that appeals me;
And, by the grace of God and this mine arm,
To prove him, in defending of myself,
A traitor to my God, my king, and me:
And, as I truly fight, defend me heaven!

Trumpets sound. Enter BOLINGBROKE, in armour, preceded by a Herald 3.

K. Rich. Marshal, ask yonder knight in arms',
Both who he is, and why he cometh hither
Thus plated in habiliments of war;
And formally, according to our law,

Depose him in the justice of his cause.

Mar. What is thy name, and wherefore com'st thou hither,

Before King Richard in his royal lists?

Against whom com'st thou? and what is thy quarrel?

6 (Which, GoD defend,] So all the quartos: the folio, "(Which heaven defend,)" &c. Just before, however, it has, "In God's name."

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7 and MY succeeding issue,] The quartos are uniform in reading "my succeeding issue," while the folio, 1623, has his, in which it is followed by the later folio impressions. "Mowbray's issue," as Johnson remarks, was in danger of an attainder, and therefore he might come, among other reasons, for their sake."

• Enter Bolingbroke, in armour, preceded by a Herald.] The old stagedirection in the quarto editions terms Bolingbroke appellant, and omits the herald, a deficiency supplied by the folio.

9 Marshal, ASK yonder knight in arms,] Why not as before, asks Ritson, "Marshal, demand of yonder knight in arms?" Precisely, because Shakespeare might wish to vary the metre. Here we have another instance of an eightsyllable line.

Speak like a true knight, so defend thee heaven!

Boling. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, Am I; who ready here do stand in arms,

To prove by God's grace, and my body's valour,
In lists, on Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk,
That he's a traitor, foul and dangerous,

To God of heaven, king Richard, and to me;
And, as I truly fight, defend me heaven!

Mar. On pain of death no person be so bold,
Or daring hardy, as to touch the lists;
Except the marshal, and such officers
Appointed to direct these fair designs.

Boling. Lord marshal, let me kiss my sovereign's hand,

And bow my knee before his majesty:

For Mowbray and myself are like two men
That vow a long and weary pilgrimage ;
Then let us take a ceremonious leave,

And loving farewell of our several friends.

Mar. The appellant in all duty greets your highness, And craves to kiss your hand, and take his leave.

K. Rich. We will descend, and fold him in our arms. Cousin of Hereford, as thy cause is right10,

So be thy fortune in this royal fight.

Farewell, my blood; which if to-day thou shed,
Lament we may, but not revenge thee dead'.
Boling. O! let no noble eye profane a tear
For me, if I be gor'd with Mowbray's spear.
As confident as is the falcon's flight
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight.-
My loving lord, I take my leave of you;—
Of you, my noble cousin, lord Aumerle;-
Not sick, although I have to do with death,

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as thy cause is RIGHT,] So every 4to: the folio has just.

but not revenge THEE dead.] The quartos of 1597 and 1598 read "the dead;" that of 1608, and subsequent editions, "thee dead," which is doubtless right. Thee was often of old written the.

But lusty, young, and cheerly drawing breath.
Lo! as at English feasts, so I regreet

The daintiest last, to make the end most sweet:
O! thou, [To GAUNT.] the earthly author2 of my blood,-
Whose youthful spirit, in me regenerate,

Doth with a two-fold vigour lift me up

To reach at victory above my head,

Add proof unto mine armour with thy prayers;
And with thy blessings steel my lance's point,
That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat,
And furbish new the name of John of Gaunt,

Even in the lusty 'haviour of his son.

Gaunt. God in thy good cause make thee prosperous! Be swift like lightning in the execution;

And let thy blows, doubly redoubled,
Fall like amazing thunder on the casque

Of thy adverse pernicious enemy:

Rouse up thy youthful blood, be valiant and live.

Boling. Mine innocence, and Saint George to thrive1! Nor. However God, or fortune, cast my lot, There lives or dies, true to king Richard's throne, A loyal, just, and upright gentleman.

Never did captive with a freer heart

Cast off his chains of bondage, and embrace
His golden uncontroll'd enfranchisement,
More than my dancing soul doth celebrate
This feast of battle with mine adversary.-
Most mighty liege, and my companion peers,
Take from my mouth the wish of happy years:

2 EARTHLY author-] The folio of 1623 reads earthy. A few lines lower it misprints "furbish," the word in all the quartos, furnish.

3 GOD in thy good cause-] All the quartos have "God," which is doubtless what Shakespeare wrote, and is therefore to be preferred. The folio, 1623, as already shown, is by no means consistent in this particular, but sometimes has "God," and sometimes hearen. Lower down, the folio reads amaz'd for "adverse."

Mine INNOCENCE, and Saint George to thrive !] This is the word in every old copy, and not innocency, as the verse has been amended by Capel and the rest of the modern editors. Surely " Mine innocence, and St. George to thrive !" is much more forcible than "Mine innocency," &c.

As gentle and as jocund, as to jest,

Go I to fight. Truth hath a quiet breast.
K. Rich. Farewell, my lord: securely I espy
Virtue with valour couched in thine eye.-
Order the trial, marshal, and begin.

Mar. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby,
Receive thy lance; and God defend the right!
Boling. Strong as a tower in hope, I cry, amen.
Mar. Go bear this lance [To an Officer.] to Thomas,
duke of Norfolk.

1 Her. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby,
Stands here for God, his sovereign, and himself,
On pain to be found false and recreant,

To prove the duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray,
A traitor to his God, his king, and him;
And dares him to set forward to the fight.

2 Her. Here standeth Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk,

On pain to be found false and recreant,
Both to defend himself, and to approve
Henry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby,
To God, his sovereign, and to him, disloyal;
Courageously, and with a free desire,

Attending but the signal to begin.

Mar. Sound, trumpets; and set forward, combatants.

[A Charge sounded.

Stay, the king hath thrown his warder down".

K. Rich. Let them lay by their helmets and their

spears,

And both return back to their chairs again.

Withdraw with us; and let the trumpets sound,

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defend THE right!] So the 4to, 1597, correctly: subsequent editions "thy right."

6 hath thrown his WARDER down.] A warder, says Steevens, appears to have been a kind of truncheon carried by the person who presided at these single combats. So, in Daniel's "Civil Wars," 1595, in reference to this transaction, book i. st. 63 :

"When, lo! the king chang'd suddenly his mind,

Casts down his warder, and so stays them there."

While we return these dukes what we decree.

[A long flourish. Draw near, [To the Combatants.] and list, what with our

council we have done.

For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd
With that dear blood which it hath fostered;
And for our eyes do hate the dire aspect

Of civil wounds plough'd up with neighbours' swords;
[And for we think the eagle-winged pride
Of sky-aspiring and ambitious thoughts,
With rival-hating envy, set on you

To wake our peace, which in our country's cradle
Draws the sweet infant breath of gentle sleep';]
Which so rous'd up with boisterous untun'd drums,
With harsh resounding trumpets' dreadful bray,
And grating shock of wrathful iron arms,

Might from our quiet confines fright fair peace,
And make us wade even in our kindred's blood:
Therefore, we banish you our territories: -
You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of life,
Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields,
Shall not regreet our fair dominions,

But tread the stranger paths of banishment.

Boling. Your will be done. This must my comfort be, That sun that warms you here shall shine on me; And those his golden beams, to you here lent, Shall point on me, and gild my banishment.

K. Rich. Norfolk, for thee remains a heavier doom,

7 Draws the sweet infant breath of gentle sleep ;] It is not easy to discover why this and the four preceding lines, within brackets, were omitted in the folio, 1623 nothing can be more beautiful. They are fortunately preserved in all the quartos, and the sense is incomplete without them. Capel inserts these lines, but omits the five which follow them.

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upon pain of LIFE,] i. e. of the loss of life. Thus all the quarto editions, and afterwards, when the king addresses Norfolk: the folio 1623, with some inconsistency, has "upon pain of death" in one place, and "upon pain of life" in another. Malone followed the folio, but does not seem to have been aware that it was opposed to the quartos, which in both instances have "upon pain of life." It is obvious that it ought to be "upon pain of life," or upon pain of death," in both sentences.

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