Most mighty prince, my lord Northumberland,
What says king Bolingbroke? will his majesty
Give Richard leave to live till Richard die ?
You make a leg, and Bolingbroke says-ay.
North. My lord, in the base + court he doth
attend
[down?
To speak with you; may't please you to come
K. Rich. Down, down, I come; like glister-
ing Phaeton,

Wanting the manage of unruly jades.
[NORTH. retires to BOLING.

In the base court? Base court, where kings
grow base,

To come at traitors' calls, and do them grace.
In the base court? Come down? Down, court!
down, king!

For night-owls shriek, where mounting larks
should sing. Exeant, from above.
Boling. What says his majesty?
North. Sorrow and grief of heart
Makes him speak foudly, ‡ like a frantic man :
Yet he is come.

Enter King RICHARD, and his Attendants
below.

Boling. Stand all apart,

And show fair duty to his majesty.—

My gracious lord,

[Kneeling.

Or if of grief, being altogether had,
It adds more sorrow to my want of joy:
For what I have, I need not to repeat;
And what I want, it boots not to complain.
1 Lady. Madam, I'll sing.

Queen 'Tis well that thou hast cause;
But thou should'st please me better, would'st
thou weep.

1 Lady. I could weep, madam, would it do you good.

Queen. And I could weep, would weeping do
me good,

And never borrow any tear of thee.
But stay, here come the gardeners :
Let's step into the shadow of these trees.-

Enter a GARDENER, and two SERVANTS.
My wretchedness unto a row of pins,
They'll talk of state; for every one doth so
Against a change: Woe is forerun with woe.
[QUEEN and LADIES retire.
Gard. Go, bind thou up yon' dangling apri-
cocks,

Which, like unruly children, make their sire
Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight;
Give some supportance to the bending twigs.-
Go thou, and like an executioner,

Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays,

K. Rich. Fair cousin, you debase your prince-That look too lofty in our commonwealth :

ly knee,

To make the base earth proud with kissing it;
Me rather had, my heart might feel your love,
Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy.
Up, cousin, up; your heart is up, I know,
Thus high at least, [Touching his own head.
although your knee be low.

Boling. My gracious lord, I come but for
mine own.

K. Rich. Your own is your's, and I am your's, and all.

Boling. So far be mine, my most redoubted
lord,

As my true service shall deserve your love.
K. Rich, Well you deserve :-They well de-
serve to have,
[get.
That know the strong'st and surest way to
Uncle, give me your hand: nay, dry your eyes;
Tears show their love, but want their reme.
dies.-

Cousin, I am too young to be your father,
Though you are old enough to be my heir.
What you will have, I'll give, and willing too;
For do we must, what force will have us do.-
Set on towards London :-Cousin, is it so?
Boling. Yea, my good lord.

K. Rich. Then I must not say, no.
[Flourish. Exeunt.
SCENE IV.-Langley.-The Duke of YORK's

Garden.

Enter the QUEEN, and two LADIES.

All must be even in our government.-
You thus employ'd, I will go root away
The noisome weeds, that without profit suck
The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers.
1 Serv. Why should we in the compass of a
pale, +

Keep law, and form, and due proportion,
Showing, as in a model, our firm estate?
When our sea-walled garden, the whole land,
Is full of weeds; her fairest flowers chok'd up,
Her fruit-trees all unprun'd, her hedges ruin'd,
Her knots disorder'd, and her wholesome
herbs

Swarming with caterpillars?

Gard. Hold thy peace :

He that hath suffer'd this disorder'd spring,
Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf:
The weeds that his broad-spreading leaves did
shelter,

pity is it,

That seem'd in eating him to hold him up,
Are pluck'd up, root and all, by Bolingbroke
I mean, the earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green.
1 Serv. What, are they dead?
Gard. They are; and Bolingbroke
Hath seiz'd the wasteful king.-Oh! What
(land,
That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his
As we this garden! We at time of year
Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees;
Lest being over-proud with sap and blood,
With too much riches it confound itself:
Had he done so to great and growing men,
They might have liv'd to bear, and he to taste

Queen. What sport shall we devise here in Their fruits of duty. All superfluous branches

this garden,

And you can witness with me, this is true. Surrey. As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is true,

Fitz. Surrey, thon liest.

Surrey, Dishonourable boy!

That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword, That it shall render vengeance and revenge, per-Till thou the lie-giver, and that lie, do lie In earth as quiet as thy father's scull.

In proof whereof, there is my honour's pawn;
Engage it to the trial if thou dar'st.

Fitz. How fondly dost thou spur a forward
horse?

If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live, dar-I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness, And spit upon him, whilst I say 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 : Besides, I heard the banish'd Norfolk say, That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men To execute the noble duke at Calais.

Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought
For Jesu Christ, in glorious Christian field,
Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross,
Against 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 pleasant country's earth,
And his pure soul unto his captain Christ,
Under whose colours he had fought so long
Boling. Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead?
Car. As sure as I live, my lord.

Boling. Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul
to the bosom

Of good old Abraham!-Lords appellants,
Your differences shall all rest under gage,
Till we assign 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
soul

Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields
To the possession of thy royal hand:
Ascend his throne, descending now from him,-
And long live Henry, of that name the fourth!
Boling. In God's name, I'll ascend the regal
throne.

Car. Marry, God forbid !—

Worst in this royal presence inay I speak,
Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth.
Would God, that any in this noble presence
Were enough noble to be upright judge
Of noble Richard; then true nobless would
Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong.
What subject can give sentence on his king?
And who sits here, that is not Richard's sub-
ject?

Thieves are not judg'd, but they are by to hear,
Although apparent guilt be seen in them:
And shall the figure of God's majesty,
His captain, steward, deputy elect,
Anointed, crowned, planted many years,
Be judg'd by subject and inferior breath,
And he himself not present? O forbid it, God,
That, in a Christian climate, souls refin'd
Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed!
I speak to subjects, and a subject 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 prophesy,-
The blood of English shall manure the ground,
And future ages groan for this foul act;
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and Infidels,
And, in this seat of peace, tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin, and kind with kiud con-
found?

Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny,
Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd
The field of Golgotha, and dead men's sculls.
Oh! if you rear this house against this house,
It will the woefullest division prove,
That ever fell upon this cursed earth:
Prevent, resist it, let it not be so,
Lest child, child's children, cry against you-
woe! +

North. We'll have you argu'd, Sir; and for
your pains,

Of capital treason we arrest you here:-
My lord of Westminster, be it your charge
To keep him safely till his day of trial.-
May't please you, lords, to grant the commons'

suit.

Procure your sureties for your days of answer :-
Little are we beholden to your love, [To CAR-
LISLE.]

And little look'd for at your helping hands.

Re-enter YORK, with King RICHARD, and
Officers bearing the Crown, &c.'

K. Rich. Alack, why am I sent for to a king,
Before I have shook off the regal thoughts
Wherewith I reign'd? I hardly yet have learn'd
To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my knee;→
Give sorrow leave a while to tutor me

To this submission. Yet I well remember
The favours of these men : Were they uot
mine ?

Did they not sometime cry, all hail! to me?
So Judas did to Christ: but he, in twelve,
Found truth in all, but one: I, in twelve thon
sand, none.

God save the king!-Will no man say, ameu?
Am I both priest and clerk ? well then, ameu.
God save the king! although I be not be:
And yet amen, if heaven do think him me.--
To do what service am I sent for hither ?

York. To do that office, of thine own good
will,

Which tired majesty did make thee offer,--
The resignation of thy state and crown
To Henry Bolingbroke.

K. Rich. Give me the crown :-Here, cousin,
seize the crown;

Here, on this side, iny hand; on that side,
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 grief, whilst you mount up on
bigb.

Boling. I thought you had been willing to re

sign.

K. Rich. My crown, I am; but still my griefs

are mine;

You may my glories and my state depose,
But not my griefs: still am I king of those.
Boling. Part of your cares you give me with
your crown.

K. Rich. Your cares set up, do not pluck my
cares down.

My care is-loss 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 still with me they
stay.

Boling. Are you contented to resign the

crown?

K. Rich. Ay, no ;-no, ay; for I must no-
thing be!

Therefore no no, for I resign to thee.
Now mark me how I will undo myself:-
I give this heavy weight from off my head,
And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,
The pride of kingly sway 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 sacred state,
With mine own breath release all duteous
oaths;

All pomp and majesty I do forswear;
My mauors, rents, revenues, I forego;
My acts, decrees, and statutes, 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 hast all achiev'd!
Long may'st thou live in Richard's seat to sit,
And soon lie Richard in an earthly pit!
God save king Henry, muking'd Richard says,
And send him many years of sunshine days —
What more remains ?

North. No more, but that you read

[Offering a Paper.
These accusations, and these grievous crimes,
Committed by your person and your followers,
Against the state and profit of this land;
That, by confessing them, the souls of men
May deem that you are worthily depos'd.

K. Rich. Must I do so? and must I ravel

out

My weav'd-up follies? Gentle Northumberland,
If thy offences were upon record,

Would it not shame thee in so fair a troop,
To read a lecture of them? If thou would'st,
There should'st thou find one heinous article,-
Containing the deposing of a king,
And cracking the strong warrant of an oath,-
Mark'd with a blot, damn'd in the book of
heaven :-

Was this the face, that fac'd so many follies,
And was at last out-fac'd by Bolingbroke?
A brittle glory shineth in this face:
As brittle as the glory is the face:

[Dashes the glass against the ground.
For there it is, crack'd in a hundred shivers.—
Mark, silent king, the moral of this sport,-
How soon my sorrow hath destroy'd my face.
Boling. The shadow of your sorrow hath
destroy'd

The shadow of your face.

K. Rich. Say that again.
The shadow of my sorrow? Ha! let's see :-
'Tis very true, my grief lies all within;
And these external manners of lament
Are merely shadows to the unseen grief,
That swells with silence in the tortur'd soul;
There lies the substance: and I thank thee, king,
For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st
my-Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way
How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon,
your And then be gone, and trouble you no more.
Shall I obtain it?

Nay, all of you, that stand and look upon me, Whilst that my wretchedness doth bait self.

Though some of you, with Pilate, wash
hands,

Showing an outward pity: yet you Pilates
Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross,
And water cannot wash away your sin,
North. My lord, despatch; read o'er these
articles,

K. Rich. Mine eyes are full of tears, I cannot

see:

And yet salt water blinds them not so much,
But they can see a sort of traitors here.
Nay, if I turu mine eyes upon myself,
I find myself a traitor with the rest :
For 1 have given here my soul's consent,
To undeck the pompous body of a king;
Make glory base; and sovereignty a slave;
Proud majesty a subject; state a peasant.
North. My lord,--

K. Rich. No lord of thine, thou haught, + in-
sulting man,

Nor no man's lord; I have no name, no title,
No, not that name was given me at the font,-
But 'tis usurp'd :-Alack the heavy day,
That I have worn so many winters out,
And know not now what name to call myself!
O that I were a mockery king of snow,
Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke,
To melt myself away in water-drops!
Good king,-great king,-(and yet not greatly
good,)

An if my word be sterling yet in England,
Let it command a mirror hither straight;
That it may show me what a face I have,
Since it is bankrupt of his majesty.

Boling. Name it, fair cousin.

K. Rich. Fair cousin? Why, I am greater than
a king:

For, when I was a king, my flatterers
Were then but subjects: being now a subject,
I have a king here to my flatterer.
Being so great, I have no need to beg.
Boling. Yet ask.

K. Rich. And shall I have ?

Boling. You shall.

K. Rich. Then give me leave to go.
Boling. Whither?

K. Rich. Whither you will, so I were from

your sights.

Boling. Go, some of you, convey him to the

Tower.

K. Rich. O good! Convey ?-Conveyers
you all,

That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall.

are

[Exeunt K. RICHARD, Some Lords, and a Guard.

Boling. On Wednesday next, we solemnly set down

Our coronation: lords, prepare yourselves.

[Exeunt all but the ABBOT, Bishop of CARLISLE, and AUMERLE. Abbot. A woeful pageant have we here beheld.

Car. The woe's to come; the children yet un-
born

Shall feel this day as sharp to them as thorn.
Aum. You holy clergymen, is there no plot

Boling. Go some of you, and fetch a looking-To rid the realm of this pernicious blot?
glass.
[Exit an Attendant.
North. Read o'er this paper, while the glass
doth come.

K. Rich. Fiend! thou torment'st me ere 1
come to hell.

Boling. Urge it no more, my lord Northum. berland.

North. The commons will not then be satis

Abbot. Before I freely speak my mind herein,
You shall not only take the sacrament
To bury mine intents, but to effect
Whatever I shall happen to devise :-
I see your brows are full of discontent,
Your hearts of sorrow, and your eyes of tears:
Come home with me to supper; I will lay
A plot, shall show us all a merry day.

ACT V.

[Exeunt.

SCENE 1-London.-A Street leading to the Tower.

Enter QUEEN, and Ladies.

Queen. This way the king will come; this is
the way

To Julins Cæsar's ill-erected tower,
To whose flint bosom my condemned Jord
Is doom'd a prisoner, by proud Bolingbroke :
Here let us rest if this rebellious earth

Have any resting for her true king's queen.

• Jugglers. + Conceal. The tower of London is, traditionally, said to have been raised by Julius Cæsar.

K. Rich. A king of beasts, indeed; if aught Since, wedding it, there is such length in grief.