King Richard the Second. Edmund of Langley, Duke of York; Uncles to the John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; S King. Henry, surnamed Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, Son to John of Gaunt; afterwards King Henry IV. Duke of Aumerle,' Son to the Duke of York. Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. Duke of Surrey. Earl of Salisbury. Earl Berkley.* Bushy, Bagot, } Green, Creatures to King Richard. Earl of Northumberland: Henry Percy, his Son. Lord Ross.3 Lord Willoughby. Lord Fitzwater. Bishop of Carlisle. Abbot of Westminster. Sir Pierce of Exton. Sir Stephen Scroop. Queen to King Richard. Duchess of Gloster. Lady attending on the Queen. Lords, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Two Gardeners, Keeper, Messenger, Groom, and other Attendants. SCENE, dispersedly in England and Wales. 1 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. 2 Earl Berkley.] It ought to be Lord Berkley. There was no Earl Berkley till some ages after. STEEVENS. 3 Lord Ross.] Now spelt Roos, one of the Duke of Rutland's titles. STEEVENS. SCENE I. London. A Room in the Palace. Enter King RICHARD, attended; JOHN of GAUNT, K. Rich. Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Hast thou, according to thy oath and band,1 K. Rich. Tell me moreover, hast thou sounded If he appeal the duke on ancient malice; Or worthily as a good subject should, On some known ground of treachery in him? On some apparent danger seen in him, Aim'd at your highness, no inveterate malice. K. Rich. Then call them to our presence; face to face, And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear The accuser, and the accused, freely speak:- Re-enter Attendants, with BOLINGBROKE and Boling. May many years of happy days befal K. Rich. We thank you both: yet one but flat ters us, As well appeareth by the cause you come; In the devotion of a subject's love, Tendering the precious safety of my prince, may prove. Nor. Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal: 'Tis not the trial of a woman's war, The bitter clamour of two eager tongues, Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain: And let him be no kinsman to my liege, I do defy him, and I spit at him; Call him-a slanderous coward, and a villain: my gage, Disclaiming here the kindred of a king; Which fear, not reverence, makes thee to except: right-drawn-] Drawn in a right or just cause. * Or chivalrous design of knightly trial: K. Rich. What doth our cousin lay to Mowbray's charge? It must be great, that can inherit us* So much as of a thought of ill in him. Boling. Look, what I speak my life shall true; prove it That Mowbray hath receiv'd eight thousand nobles, Or here, or elsewhere, to the furthest verge Fetch from false Mowbray their first head and spring. Further I say, and further will maintain And, consequently, like a traitor coward, Which blood, like sacrificing Abel's, cries, 4 -that can inherit us, &c.] To inherit is no more than to possess, though such a use of the word may be peculiar to Shak speare. 5 for lewd-] Lewd, in our author, sometimes signifies wicked, and sometimes idle. 6 Suggest- i. e. prompt. |