Or worthily, as a good Subject should,
On some known ground of treachery in him ?
Gaunt. As near as I could sift him on that argu.

ment,
On some apparent Danger seen in him
Aim'd at your Highness; no invet'rate malice.
K. Rich. Then call them to our presence; face to

face,
And frowning brow to brow, Our selves will hear
Th' accuser, and th' accused freely speak :
High-stomach'd are they Both, and full of ire ;
In rage, deaf as the sea; hafty as fire.

S CE N

N E E II.
Enter Bolingbroke and Mowbray.
Boling. May many years of happy days befal
My gracious Sovereign, my most loving Liege!

Mowb. Each day still better other's happiness;
Until the heavens, envying earth's good hap,
Add an immortal title to your Crown!

K. Rich. We thank you both, yet one but flatters us,
As well appeareth by the cause you come;
Namely, t'appeal each other of high Treason.
Cousin of Hereford, what dost thou object
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray ?

Boling. First (Heaven be the record to my speech!)
In the devotion of a Subject's love,
Tend'ring the precious safety of my Prince,
And free from other mis-begotten hate,
Come I Appellant to this princely presence.
Now, Thomas Mowbray, do I turn to thee,
And mark my Greeting well; for what I speak,
My body shall make good upon this earth,
Or my divine foul answer it in heav'n.
Thou art a traitor and a miscreant ;
Too good to be so, and too bad to live;
Since, the more fair and crystal is the Sky,

The

a

my zeal;

The uglier seem the Clouds, that in it fly.
Once more, the more to aggravate the Note,
With a foul Traytor's Name stuff I thy throat;
And wish, so please my Sov'reign, ere I move,
What my Tongue speaks, my Right-drawn Sword

may prove.
Mowb. Let not my cold words here accuse
'Tis not the tryal of a woman's war,
The bitter clamour of two eager tongues,
Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain;
The blood is hot; that must be cool'd for this.
Yet can I not of such tame patience boast,
As to be husht, and nought at all to say.
First, the fair Rev'rence of your Highness curbs me,
From giving reins and spurs to my free speech ;
Which else would post, until it had return'd
These terms of Treason doubled down his throat.
Setting aside his high blood's Royalty,
And let him be no kinsman to my Liege,
I do defie him, and I spit at him;
Call him a sland'rous coward, and a villain ;
Which to maintain, I would allow him odds,
And meet him, were I ty'd to run a-foot
Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps,
Or any other ground inhabitable,
Where never Englishman durst fet his foot.
Mean time, let this defend my Loyalty ;
By all my hopes, most fally doth he lie.
Boling. Pale trembling Coward, there I throw my

Gage, Disclaiming here the kindred of a King, And lay aside my high blood's Royalty : (Which fear, not rev'rence, makes thee to except :) If guilty Dread hath left thee so much strength, As to take up mine Honour's pawn, then stoop. By that, and all the rights of Knighthood else, Will I make good against thee, arm to arm,

What

B 3

What I have spoken, or thou canst devise.

Mowb. I take it up, and by that Sword I swear, Which gently laid my Knighthood on my shoulder, I'll answer thee in any fair degree, Or chivalrous design of knightly tryal ; And when I mount, alive may I not light, If I be traitor, or unjustly fight! K. Rich. What doth our Cousin lay to Mowbray's

charge! It must be great, ' that can inhabit us So much as of a thought of Ill in him.

Boling. Look, what I said, my life shall prove it true; That Mowbray hath receiv'd eight thousand nobles, In name of lendings for your Highness' soldiers, The which he hath detain'd for lewd imployments; Like a false traitor and injurious villain. Besides, I say, and will in battel prove, Or here, or elsewhere, to the furtheft verge, That ever was survey'd by English eye; That all the treasons for these eighteen years, Complotted and contrived in this Land, Fetch from falfe Mowbray their first head and spring. Further, I say, and further will maintain Upon his bad Life to make all This good, That he did plot the Duke of Gloucester's death Suggest his foon-believing adversaries; And consequently, like a traitor-coward, Sluic'd out his inn'cent soul through streams of blood; Which blood, like facrificing Abels, cries Even from the tongueless caverns of the earth, To me, for justice, and rough chastisement, And by the glorious Worth of

of my Defcent, This arm shall do it, or this life be spent.

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

a that can INHERIT Xs.] Wc Mould read, INHABIT.

Mowb.

Mowb. O, let my Sovereign turn away his face, And bid his ears a little while be deaf, Till I have told this Slander of his blood, How God and good men hate so 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 son ; Now by my Scepter's awe, I make a vow, Such neighbour-nearness to our sacred blood Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize Th' unstooping firmness of my upright soul. He is our Subject, Mowbray, so art thou; Free speech, and fearless, I to thee allow.

Mowb. Then, Bolingbroke, as low as to thy heart, Through the false passage of thy throat, thou liest! Three parts of that Receipt I had for Calais, Disburst I to his Highness' foldiers ; The other part reserv'd I by confent, For that my sovereign Liege was in my debt; Upon remainder of a dear account, Since last I went to France to fetch his Queen. Now, swallow down that Lie.--For Gloucester's death, I flew him not; but, to mine own disgrace, Neglected my sworn duty in that cafe. For you, my noble lord of Lancaster, The honourable father to my foe, Once did I lay an ambush for your life, A trespass that doth vex my grieved soul; But ere I last receiv'd the Sacrament, I did confess it, and exactly begg'd Your Grace's pardon ; and, I hope, I had it. This is my fault ; as for the rest appeald, It issues from the rancor of a villain, A recreant and most degen’rate traitor : Which in my self I boldly will defend, And interchangeably hurle down my gage Upon this overweening traitor's foot ;

To prove my self a loyal gentleman,
Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bosom,
In haste whereof, most heartily I pray
Your Highness to assign our tryal-day.

K. Rich. Wrath-kindled Gentlemen, be rul'd by me;
Let's purge this Choler without letting blood :
3 This we prescribe, though no physician ;
Deep malice makes too deep incision;
Forget, forgive, conclude and be agreed ;
Our Doctors say, this is no time to bleed.
Good Uncle, let this end where it begun;
We'll calm the Duke of Norfolk, you your Son.

Gaunt. To be a make-peace shall become my age;
Throw down, my Son, the Duke of Norfolk's gage.

K. Rich. And, Norfolk, throw down his,
Gaunt. When, Harry, when?
Obedience bids, I should not bid again.
K. Rich. Norfolk, throw down, we bid; there is no

boot.
Mowb. My self ļ throw, dread Sovereign, at thy

foot.
My life thou shalt command, but not my Shame;
The one my duty owes ; but my fair Name,
(Despight of death, That lives upon my Grave,)
To dark dishonour's use thou shalt not have.
I am disgrac'd, impeach'd, and baffled here,
Pierc'd to the soul with Nander's venom'd spear :
The which no balme can cure, but his heart-blood
Which breath'd this poison,

3 This we prescribe, though no physician, &c ] I must make one remark, in general, on the Rhymes throughout this whole play ; they are so much inferior to the rest 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 inserted rhymes, except in a very few places ; and just there too, the rhyming verses are of a much better taste than all the others, which rather strengthens my conjecture.

Mr. Pope.
K, Rich.