As to take up mine honour's pawn, then stoop;
By that, and all the rights of knighthood elfe,
Will I make good against thee, arm to arm,
What I have spoke, or thou canst worse devife.
Mob. I take it up; and by that fword I fwear,
Which gently lay'd my knighthood on my fhoulder,
I'll anfwer thee in any
fair degree,

Or chivalrous defign of knightly trial:

And, when I mount, alive may I not light,
If I be traitor, or unjustly fight!

K. Rich. What doth our coufin fay 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 faid, my life fhall

true;

prove it

That Mowbray hath receiv'd eight thousand nobles,
In name of lendings for your highnefs' foldiers;
The which he hath detain'd for lewd imployments,
Like a falfe traitor, and injurious villain,
Besides, I fay, and will in battle prove-
Or here, or elsewhere, to the furtheft verge
That ever was furvey'd by English eye-
That all the treafons for thefe eighteen years,
Complotted and contrived in this land,

Fetch from falfe Mowbray their firft head and spring,
Further, I fay, and further will maintain

Upon his bad life to make all this good,

That he did plot the duke of Gloucester's death,
Suggeft his foon-believing adverfaries;

And, confequently, like a traitor-coward,

Sluic'd out his innocent foul through streams of blood,
Which blood, like facrificing Abel's, cries,
Even from the tonguelefs caverns of the earth,
To me, for juftice, and rough chastisement :
And by the glorious worth of my defcent,
This arm fhall do it, or this life be spent.

K. Rich. How high a pitch his refolution foars !Thomas of Norfolk, what fay'st thou to this?

Mcwb.

Mowb. 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.
Were he our brother, nay, our kingdom's heir,
(As he is but our father's brother's fon)

4

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 firmness of my upright soul.
He is our fubject, Mowbray, fo art thou;
Free fpeech, and fearlefs, I to thee allow.

Mowb. 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 to his highnefs' 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 laft I went to France to fetch his queen :

Now, fwallow down that lie.-For Gloucefter's death-
I flew him not; but, to mine own difgrace,
Neglected my fworn duty in that cafe.-
For you, my noble lord of Lancafter,
The honourable father to my foe,
Once did I lay an ambush for your life,
A trefpafs that doth vex my grieved foul :
But ere I laft receiv'd the facrament,
I did confefs it, and exactly begg'd
Your grace's pardon, and, I hope, I had it.
This is my fault: as for the reft appeal'd,
It iffues from the rancour of a villain,
A recreant and most degenerate traitor :
Which in myself I boldly will defend;

*—my Scepter's awe,-] The reverence due to my feepter.

JOHNSON.

And interchangeably hurl down my gage

Upon this over-weening traitor's foot,

To prove myfelf a loyal gentleman,

Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bofom.
In hafte whereof, moft 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
5 This we prefcribe, though no phyfician;
Deep malice makes too deep incifion:
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.
Gaunt. To be a make-peace fhall become my age:
Throw down, my fon, the duke of Norfolk's
gage.

K. Rich. And, Norfolk, throw down his.
Gaunt. When, Harry? when
Obedience bids, I fhould not bid again.

5 This we prefcribe, 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 talle than all the others, which rather strengthens 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 rhimes, will not connect at all. Read "this paffage as it would ftand corrected by this rule, and we fhall find, when the rhiming part of the dialogue is left out, king Richard begins with diffuading them from the duel, "and, in the very next fentence, 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 rhimes must be retained to make cut the connection. STEEVENS.

K. Rich.

K. Rich. Norfolk, thrown down; we bid; there is no boot 6

Mowb. Myfelf I throw, dread fovereign, at thy foot:

My life thou fhalt command, but not my fhame;
The one my duty owes; but 7 my fair name,
(Defpight of death, that lives upon my grave)
To dark difhonour's use thou shalt not have.
I am difgrac'd, impeach'd, and baffled here;
Pierc'd to the foul with flander's venom'd spear:
The which no balm can cure, but his heart-blood
Which breath'd this poison.

K. Rich. Rage must be withstood.

Give me his gage. Lions make leopards tame.
Mowb. Yea, but not change their spots. Take but
my fhame,

And I refign my gage. My dear, dear lord,
The pureft treasure mortal times afford,
Is fpotlefs reputation; that away,

Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.
A jewel in a ten-times-barr'd-up cheft,
Is a bold fpirit in a loyal breast.

Mine honour is my life; both grow in one;
Take honour from me, and my life is done :
Then, dear my liege, mine honour let me try;
In that I live, and for that will I die.

K. Rich. Coufin, throw down your gage; do you begin.

Boling. Oh, heaven defend my foul from fuch foul fin !

Shall I feem creft-fallen in my father's fight?
Or with pale beggar face impeach my height,

6 no boot.] That is, no advantage, no use, in delay or refufal. JOHNSON.

7

my fair name, &c.] That is, my name that lives on my grave in defpight of death. This easy paffage most of the editors feem to have mistaken. JOHNSON.

Or with pale beggar face-] i. e. with a face of fupplication. But this will not fatisfy the Oxford editor, he turns it to baggard fear. WARBURTON.

2

Before

Before this out-dar'd daftard? Ere my tongue
Shall wound my honour with fuch feeble wrong,
Or found fo base a parle, my teeth fhall tear
9 The flavish motive of recanting fear;
And spit it bleeding, in his high difgrace,

Where fhame doth harbour, even in Mowbray's face.
[Exit Gaunt.
K. Rich. We were not born to fue, but to command:
Which fince we cannot do to make you friends,
Be ready, as your lives fhall anfwer it,
At Coventry upon St. Lambert's day.
There fhall your fwords and lances arbitrate
The fwelling difference of your fettled hate.
Since we cannot atone you, you shall fee
Juftice decide the victor's chivalry.-
Lord marshal, command our officers at arms,
Be ready to direct these home-alarms.

SCENE II.

Changes to the duke of Lancaster's palace.
Enter Gaunt and dutchess of Glocefter.

[Exeunt.

Gaunt. Alas! the part I had 2 in Glofter's blood Doth more folicit me, than your exclaims, To ftir against the butchers of his life. But, fince correction lieth in those hands, Which made the fault that we cannot correct, Put we our quarrel to the will of heaven; Who, when it fees the hours ripe on earth, Will rain hot vengeance on offenders' heads, Dutch. Finds brotherhood in thee no fharper fpur? Hath love in thy old blood no living fire?

The flavish motive-] Motive, for inftrument. WARBUR Rather that which fear puts in motion. JOHNSON.

-the part I had-] That is, my relation of confanguinity to Gloucetter. HANMER.

2

in Glofter's blood] One of the quarto's reads, “in * Woodstock's blood," STEEVENS.

Edward's