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Percy. Because your lordship was proclaimed traitor. But he, my lord, is gone to Ravenfpurg,

To offer fervice to the duke of Hereford ;
And fent me o'er by Berkley, to discover

What power the duke of York had levy'd there;
Then with directions to repair to Ravenfpurg.

North. Have you forgot the duke of Hereford, boy?
Percy. No, my good lord, for that is not forgot,
Which ne'er I did remember: to my knowledge,
I never in my life did look on him.

North. Then learn to know him now; this is the duke.

Percy. My gracious lord, I tender you my fervice, Such as it is, being tender,,raw, and young; Which elder days fhall ripen, and confirm To more approved fervice and defert.

Boling. I thank thee, gentle Percy: and be sure, I count myself in nothing elfe fo happy, As in a foul remembring my good friends; And as my fortune ripens with thy love, It fhall be ftill thy true love's recompence: My heart this covenant makes, my hand thus feals it. North. How far is it to Berkley? And what ftir Keeps good old York there, with his men of war? Percy. There ftands a caftle by yon tuft of trees, Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard: And in it are the lords of York, Berkley, and Sey

mour;

None else of name and noble estimate.

Enter Rofs and Willoughby.

North. Here come the lords of Rofs and Willoughby, Bloody with fpurring, fiery-red with haste.

Boling. Welcome, my lords: I wot, your love purfues

A banish'd traitor; all my treafury

Is

yet but unfelt thanks, which, more enrich'd, Shall be your love and labour's recompence.

Rofs.

Rofs. Your prefence makes us rich, most noble lord,
Willo. And far furmounts our labour to attain it.
Boling. Evermore, thanks, the exchequer of the
poor,

Which, till my infant fortune comes to years,
Stands for my bounty. But who comes here?-
Enter Berkley.

North. It is my lord of Berkley, as I guess.
Berk. My lord of Hereford, my meffage is to you.
Boling. My lord, my anfwer is to Lancaster;
And I am come to feek that name in England:
And I must find that title in your tongue,
Before I make reply to aught you fay.

Berk. Miftake me not, my lord, 'tis not my meaning

To raze one title of your honour out :

To you, my lord, I come (what lord you will)
From the most glorious of this land,

The duke of York; to know, what pricks you on
To take advantage of the abfent time 2,

And fright our native peace with felf-born arms.
Enter York, attended.

Boling. I fhall not need tranfport my words by you.
Here comes his grace in perfon. My noble uncle!
[Kneels.
York. Shew me thy humble heart, and not thy knee,
Whofe duty is deceivable and falfe.
Boling. My gracious uncle !

York. Tut, tut!

Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle:-
I am no traitor's uncle; and that word grace,

In an ungracious mouth, is but prophane.

2

the abfent time,] For unprepared. Not an inelegant fynecdoche. WARBURTON.

He means nothing more than, time of the king's al fence.

JOHNSON.

Why

Why have those banish'd and forbidden legs
Dar'd once to touch a duft of England's ground?
But more than why; why, have they dar'd to march
So many miles upon her peaceful bofom,
Frighting her pale-fac'd villages with war,

3 And oftentation of defpifed arms?

Com'st thou becaufe the anointed king is hence?
Why, foolish boy, the king is left behind,
And in my loyal bofom lies his power.
Were I but now the lord of fuch hot youth,
As when brave Gaunt, thy father, and myself
Refcu'd the Black Prince, that young Mars of men,
From forth the ranks of many thoufand French;
Oh! then, how quickly fhould this arm of mine,
Now prifoner to the palfy, chaftize thee,
And minifter correction to thy fault.

Boling. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault; 4 On what condition ftands it, and wherein ?

York. Even in condition of the worst degree,

In grofs rebellion, and detefted treafon.
Thou art a banish'd man, and here art come,
Before the expiration of thy time,

In braving arms against thy fovereign.

Boling. As I was banifh'd, I was banish'd Hereford ; But as I come, I come for Lancaster.

3 And oftentation of DESPISED arms?] But fure the oftentation of defpifed arms would not fright any one. We should read,

—— DISPOSED arms, i. e. forces in battle array. WARBURTON.

This alteration is harfh. Sir T. HANMER reads delightful. Mr. UPTON gives this paffage as a proof that our author ufes the paffive participle in an active fenfe. The copies all agree. Perhaps the old duke means to treat him with contempt as well as with feverity, and to infinuate that he defpifes his power, as being able to mafter it. In this fenfe all is right. JOHNSON. So in this play,

We'll make foul weather with defpifed tears. STEEVENS. 4 On what condition-] It should be, in what condition, i. e. in what degree of guilt. The particles in the old editions are of little credit. JOHNSON.

And,

And, noble uncle, I beseech your grace,
Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye.
You are my father, for, methinks, in you
I fee old Gaunt alive: O then, my father!
Will you permit, that I fhall ftand condemn'd
A wand'ring vagabond; my rights and royalties
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away
To upftart unthrifts? 5 Wherefore was I born?
If that my coufin king be king of England,
It must be granted I am duke of Lancaster.
You have a fon, Aumerle, my noble kinfinan;
Had you first dy'd, and he been thus trod down,
He fhould have found his uncle Gaunt a father,
To roufe his wrongs, and chase them to the bay.
I am deny'd to fue my livery here,

And yet my letters patents give me leave:
My father's goods are all diftrain'd, and fold,
And these, and all, are all amifs employ'd.
What would you have me do? I am a fubject,
And challenge law attornies are deny'd me;
And therefore perfonally I lay my claim
To my inheritance of free defcent.

North. The noble duke hath been too much abus'd.
Rofs. It ftands your grace upon, to do him right.
Willo. Bafe men by his endowments are made great.
York. My lords of England, let me tell you this-
I have had feeling of my coufin's wrongs,
And labour'd all I could to do him right.
But, in this kind to come, in braving arms,
Be his own carver, and cut out his way,

To find out right with wrongs, it may not be ;
And you, that do abet him in this kind,

Cherish rebellion, and are rebels all.

North. The noble duke hath fworn, his coming is But for his own: and, for the right of that,

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Wherefore was I born?] To what purpofe ferves birth and lineal fucceffion? I am dule of Lancafter by the fame right of birth as the king is king of England. JOHNSON.

VOL. V.

L

We

We all have ftrongly fworn to give him aid;
And let him ne'er fee joy that breaks that oath.
York. Well, well, I fee the iffue of thefe arms;
I cannot mend it, I must needs confefs,
Because my power is weak, and all ill left :
But if I could, by him that gave me life,
I would attach you all, and make you stoop
Unto the fovereign mercy of the king:
But fince I cannot, be it known to you,
I do remain as neuter. So fare
So fare you well-
Unless you please to enter in the castle,
And there repofe you for this night.

Boling. An offer, uncle, that we will accept.
But we must win your grace to go with us
To Bristol-castle, which, they fay, is held
By Bushy, Bagot, and their complices,
The caterpillars of the common-wealth,
Which I have fworn to weed, and pluck away.
York. It may be, I will go with you. But
But yet
pause,

For I am loath to break our country's laws.
Nor friends nor foes, to me welcome you are:
Things past redrefs are now with me past care.

SCENE IV.

In Wales.

Enter Salisbury and a captain..

I'll

[Exeunt.

Cap. My lord of Salisbury, we have staid ten days, And hardly kept our countrymen together,

And

Here is a scene fo unartfully and irregularly thruft into an improper place, that I cannot but fufpect it accidentally transpoed; which, when the fcenes were written on fingle pages, might eafily happen in the wildnefs of Shakespeare's drama. This dialogue was, in the author's draught, probably the second fcene in the enfuing act, and there I would advise the reader to infert it, though I have not ventured on fo bold a change. My

conjecture

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