NOR. O, let my fovereign turn away his face,
And bid his ears a little while be deaf,

Till I have told this flander of his blood,"
How God, and good men, hate fo foul a liar.

K. RICH. Mowbray, impartial are our eyes, and

ears:

8

Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir,
(As he is but my father's brother's fon,)
Now by my scepter's awe I make a vow,
Such neighbour nearness to our facred blood
Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize
The unftooping firmnefs of my upright foul;
He is our fubject, Mowbray, fo art thou;
Free speech, and fearless, I to thee allow.

NOR. Then, Bolingbroke, as low as to thy heart,
Through the falfe paffage of thy throat, thou lieft!
Three parts of that receipt I had for Calais,
Difburs'd I duly to his highness' foldiers:
The other part referv'd I by confent;
For that my fovereign liege was in my debt,
Upon remainder of a dear account,

Since last I went to France to fetch his queen : Now fwallow down that lie. For Glofter's

death,

I flew him not; but, to my own difgrace,
Neglected my fworn duty in that cafe.-
For you, my noble lord of Lancaster,
The honourable father to my foe,
Once did I lay an ambush for your life,
A trespass that doth vex my grieved foul:
But, ere I laft receiv'd the facrament,
I did confefs it; and exactly begg'd

7 this flander of his blood,] i. e. this reproach to his

ancestry. STEEVENS.

Your grace's pardon, and, I hope, I had it.
This is my fault: As for the rest appeal'd,
It iffues from the rancour of a villain,
A recreant and most degenerate traitor :
Which in myself I boldly will defend;
And interchangeably hurl down my gage
Upon this overweening traitor's foot,
To prove myself a loyal gentleman

Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bofom:
In hafte whereof, most heartily I pray

Your highness to affign our trial day.

K. RICH. Wrath-kindled gentlemen, be rul'd by

me;

Let's purge this choler without letting blood:
This we prefcribe, though no physician;"
Deep malice makes too deep incision:
Forget, forgive; conclude, and be agreed;
Our doctors fay, this is no time to bleed.-
Good uncle, let this end where it begun ;
We'll calm the duke of Norfolk, you your fon.

9 This we preferibe, though no physician; &c.] I must make one remark in general on the rhymes throughout this whole play; they are fo much inferior to the reft of the writing, that they appear to me of a different hand. What confirms this, is, that the context does every where exactly (and frequently much better) - connect, without the inferted rhymes, except in a very few places; and juft there too, the rhyming verfes are of a much better tafte than all the others, which rather ftrengthens my conjecture.

POPE.

"This obfervation of Mr. Pope's, (fays Mr. Edwards,) happens to be very unluckily placed here, because the context, without the inferted rhymes, will not connect at all. Read this paffage as it would ftand corrected by this rule, and we shall find, when the rhyming part of the dialogue is left out, King Richard begins with diffuading them from the duel, and, in the very next sentence, appoints the time and place of their combat."

Mr. Edwards's cenfure is rather hafty; for in the note, to which it refers, it is allowed that fome rhymes must be retained to make out the connection. STEEVENS.

e

King Richard the Second.

}

Edmund of Langley, Duke of York; uncles to the John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; King. Henry, furnamed Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, fon to John of Gaunt; afterwards King Henry IV. Duke of Aumerle,' fon to the Duke of York. Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk.

Duke of Surrey.

Earl of Salisbury.

Earl Berkley.'

Lord Rofs.

Lord Willoughby. Lord Fitzwater.

Bishop of Carlisle. Abbot of Westminster.

Lord Marshal; and another lord.

Sir Pierce of Exton. Sir Stephen Scroop.
Captain of a band of Welchmen.

Queen to King Richard.
Duchefs of Glofter.
Duchefs of York.

Lady attending on the Queen.

Lords, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, two Gardeners, Keeper, Messenger, Groom, and other Attendants.

SCENE, difperfedly in England and Wales.

* Duke of Aumerle,] Aumerle, or Aumale, is the French for what we now call Albemarle, which is a town in Normandy. The old historians generally use the French title. STEEVENS.

3 Earl Berkley.] It ought to be Lord Berkley. There was no Earl Berkley till fome ages after. STEEVENS.

4 Lord Rofs.] Now fpelt Roos, one of the Duke of Rutland's titles. STEEVENS.

KING RICHARD II.

ACT I. SCENE I.

London. A Room in the Palace.

Enter King RICHARD, attended; JOHN of GAUNT, and other nobles, with him.

K. RICH. Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lancaster,

Haft thou, according to thy oath and band," Brought hither Henry Hereford thy bold fon; Here to make good the boisterous late appeal, Which then our leifure would not let us hear, Against the duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray? GAUNT. I have, my liege.

K. RICH. Tell me moreover, haft thou founded him,

If he appeal the duke on ancient malice;

2

-thy oath and band,] When thefe public challenges were accepted, each combatant found a pledge for his appearance at the time and place appointed. So, in Spenfer's Fairy Queen, B. IV. C. iii. ft. 3:

"The day was fet, that all might understand, And pledges pawn'd the fame to keep aright." The old copies read band instead of bond. The former is right. So, in The Comedy of Errors:

66

My mafter is arrested on a band." STEEVENS.

Band and Bond were formerly fynonymous. See note on the

Or worthily, as a good fubject should,

On fome known ground of treachery in him? GAUNT. As near as I could fift him on that ar

gument,

On fome apparent danger seen in him,
Aim'd at your highness, no inveterate malice.

K. RICH. Then call them to our prefence; face to face,

And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear
The accufer, and the accufed, freely speak:-
[Exeunt fome Attendants.
High-ftomach'd are they both, and full of ire,
In rage deaf as the fea, hafty as fire.

Re-enter Attendants, with BOLINGBROKE and NORFOLK.

BOLING. Many years of happy days befal My gracious fovereign, my most loving liege! NOR. Each day ftill better other's happiness; Until the heavens, envying earth's good hap, Add an immortal title to your crown!

K. RICH. We thank you both: yet one but flatters

us,

As well appeareth by the cause you come;
Namely, to appeal each other of high treason.-
Coufin of Hereford, what doft thou object
Against the duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray?
BOLING. Firft, (heaven be the record to my
speech!)

In the devotion of a fubject's love,

Tendering the precious fafety of my prince,
And free from other mifbegotten hate,

Come I appellant to this princely prefence.-
Now, Thomas Mowbray, do I turn to thee,