Boling. Thefe differences fhall all rest under gage, To all his land and fignories; when he's return'd, Car. That honourable day fhall ne'er be seen.- 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,- Boling. In God's name, I'll afcend the regal throne. Worft in this royal prefence may I fpeak, And And fhall the figure of God's majesty', Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd Left child, child's children, cry againft you-woe! 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, 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? 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. York. To do that office, of thine own good will, 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. That owes two buckets filling one another; Drinking my griefs, whilft you mount up on high. 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, My manors, rents, revenues, I forego; God fave king Henry, unking'd Richard fays, 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 Would it not fhame thee, in fo fair a troop, And cracking the strong warrant of an oath,- 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 |