Boling. Thefe differences fhall all rest under gage,
Till Norfolk be repeal'd: repeal'd he fhall be,
And, though mine enemy, reftor'd again

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

Car. That honourable day fhall ne'er be seen.-
Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought
For Jefu Chrift; in glorious Chriftian field
Streaming the enfign of the Chriftian cross,
Againft black pagans, Turks, and Saracens :
And, toil'd with works of war, retir'd himself
To Italy; and there, at Venice, gave
His body to that pleafant country's earth,
And his pure foul unto his captain Christ,
Under whofe colours he had fought fo long.
Boling. Why, bifhop, is Norfolk dead?
Car. As fure as I live, my lord.

Boling. Sweet peace conduct his sweet foul to the bofom Of good old Abraham!-Lords appellants,

Your differences fhall all reft under gage,

Till we affign 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 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.
Car. Marry, God forbid!

Worft in this royal prefence may I fpeak,
Yet beft befeeming me to speak the truth.
Would God, that any in this noble prefence
Were enough noble to be upright judge
Of noble Richard; then true nobleffe would
Learn him forbearance from fo foul a wrong.
What fubject can give fentence 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:

And

And fhall the figure of God's majesty',
His captain, fteward, deputy elect,
Anointed, crowned, planted many years,
Be judg'd by fubject and inferior breath,
And he himself not prefent? O, forbid it, God,
That, in a Chriftian climate, fouls refin'd
Should fhew fo heinous, black, obfcene a deed!
I fpeak to fubjects, and a fubject speaks,
Stirr'd 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 prophefy,-
The blood of English fhall manure the ground,
And future ages groan for this foul act;
Peace fhall go fleep with Turks and infidels,
And, in this feat 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 fculls.
O, if you rear this house against this house,
It will the woefulleft divifion prove,
That ever fell upon this curfed earth:
Prevent, refift it, let it not be fo,

Left child, child's children, cry againft you-woe!
North. Well have you argu'd, fir; and for your pains,
Of capital treafon we arreft you here:-

And fhall the figure, &c.] Here is another proof that our author did not learn in king James's court his elevated notions of the right of kings. I know not any flatterer of the Stuarts, who has expreffed this doctrine in much stronger terms. It must be observed that the poet intends, from the beginning to the end, to exhibit this bishop as brave, pious, and venerable. JOHNSON.

Shakspeare has reprefented the character of the bishop as he found it in Holinfhed, where this famous fpeech, (which contains, in the most exprefs terms, the doctrine of paffive obedience,) is preserved. The politics of the hiftorian were the politics of the poet. STEEVENS.

The chief argument urged by the bishop in Holinshed, is, that it was unjuft to proceed against the king "without calling him openly to his aunfwer and defence." He fays, that none of them were worthie or meete to give judgement to fo noble a prince;" but does not expressly affert that he could not be lawfully depofed. Our author, however, undoubtedly had Holinfhed before him. MALONE.

My

My lord of Weftminster, be it your charge

To keep him fafely till his day of trial 3

May't please you, lords, to grant the commons' fuit? Boling. Fetch hither Richard, that in common view He may furrender; fo we fhall proceed

Without fufpicion.

York. I will be his conduct *.

Boling. Lords, you that are here under our arrest,
Procure your fureties for your days of answer:
Little are we beholding to your love,

And little look'd for at your helping hands.

[Exit.

[to Carlisle.

Re-enter YORK, with king RICHARD, and officers bearing the Regalia.

K. Rich. Alack, why am I fent for to a king, Before I have fhook off the regal thoughts Wherewith I reign'd? I hardly yet have learn'd To infinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my knee :Give forrow leave a while to tutor me

To this fubmiffion. Yet I well remember

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

So Judas did to Chrift: but he in twelve,

Found truth in all, but one; I, in twelve thousand, none. God fave the king!-Will no man say, amen?

3

bis day of trial.] After this line, whatever follows, almost to the end of the act, containing the whole procefs of dethroning and debafing king Richard, was added after the firft edition of 1598, and be fore the fecond of 1615. Part of the addition is proper, and part might have been for born without much lofs. The author, I fuppofe, intended to make a very moving scene. JOHNSON.

The addition was first made in the quarto 1608. STEEVENS.

The first edition was in 1597, not in 1598. When it is faid that this scene was added, the reader must understand that it was added by the printer, or that a more perfect copy fell into the hands of the later editor than was published by a former. There is no proof that the whole fcene was not written by Shakspeare at the fame time with the reft of the play, though for political reafons it might not have been exhibited or printed during the life of Queen Elizabeth. See An Attempt to afcertain the order of bis plays. Vol. I. MALONE.

-conduct.] for conductor. See Vol. I. p. 98, n. 7. MALONE. • The favours &c.] The countenances; the features. JOHNSON.

Am

Am I both priest and clerk? well then, amen.
God fave the king! although I be not he;
And yet, amen, if heaven do think him me.-
To do what fervice, am I fent for hither?

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

The refignation of thy ftate and crown

To Henry Bolingbroke.

K. Rich. Give me the crown :-Here, coufin, feize the

crown ;

Here, coufin, on this fide, my hand; on that fide, thine.
Now is this golden crown like a deep well,

That owes 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 griefs, whilft you mount up on high.
Boling. I thought, you had been willing to refign.
K. Rich. My crown, I am, but ftill my griefs are mine:
You may my glories and my ftate depofe,

But not my griefs; ftill am I king of those.

Boling. Part of your cares you give me with your crown. K. Rich. Your cares fet up, do not pluck my cares down. My care is-lofs 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 ftill with me they ftay. Boling. Are you contented to refign the crown? K. Rich. Ay, no;-no, ay;-for I muft nothing be; Therefore no no, for I refign to thee.

Now mark me how I will undo myself:

I give this heavy weight from off my head,

5 The emptier ever dancing-] This is a comparison not easily accommodated to the fubject, nor very naturally introduced. The beft part is this line, in which he makes the ufurper the empty bucket. JOHNS.

6 My care is lofs of care, by old care done;] Shakspeare often obfcures his meaning by playing with founds. Richard feems to fay here, that his cares are not made less by the increafe of Bolingbroke's cares; for this reason, that bis care is the loss of care,—his grief is, that his regal cares are at an end, by the ceffation of the care to which be bad been accuftomed. JOHNSON.

And

And this unweildy fcepter from my hand,
The pride of kingly fway from out my heart;
With mine own tears I wash away my balm,
With mine own hands I give away my crown,
With mine own tongue deny my facred state,
With mine own breath release all duteous oaths:
All pomp and majefty I do forfwear;

My manors, rents, revenues, I forego;
My acts, decrees, and ftatutes, 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 griev'd;
And thou with all pleas'd, that haft all atchiev'd!
Long may'st thou live in Richard's feat to fit,
And foon lie Richard in an earthy pit!

God fave king Henry, unking'd Richard fays,
And fend him many years of fun-fhine days!-
What more remains?

North. No more, but that you read [offering a paper. These accufations, and thefe grievous crimes, Committed by your perfon, and your followers, Against the state and profit of this land; That, by confeffing them, the fouls of men May deem that you are worthily depos'd.

K. Rich. Muft I do fo? and must I ravel out
My weav'd-up follies? Gentle Northumberland,
If thy offences were upon record,

Would it not fhame thee, in fo fair a troop,
To read a lecture of them? If thou would'st,
There should't thou find one heinous article,-
Containing the depofing 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,
Whilft that my wretchednefs doth bait myself,—
Though fome of you, with Pilate, wash your hands,

7-my balm,] The oil of confecration. He has mentioned it before.

JOHNSON.

If thou would,] That is, if thou would't read over a lift of thy own deeds. JOHNSON.

Shewing