Dramatis Personæ.

KING Richard the Second.
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, }Uncles to the King.
Bolingbroke, Son to John of Gaunt, afterwards King

Henry the Fourth.
Aumerle, Son to the Duke of York.
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk.
Earl of Salisbury.
Lord Berkley.
Bushy,
Bagot, Servants to King Richard.
Green,
Earl of Northumberland,
Percy, Son to Northumberland,

Friends to Boling-
Ross,

broke..
Willoughby,
Bishop of Carlisle,
Sir Stephen Scroop,

} Friends to King Richard.
Fitzwater,
Surry,

Lords in the Parliament.
Abbot of Westminster,
Sir Pierce of Exton,

Queen to King Richard.
Dutchess of Gloucester.
Dutchess of York.
Ladies, attending on the Queen.
Heralds, two Gardiners, Keeper, Messenger, Groom,

and other Attendants.

SCENE, dispersedly, in several Parts of England.

A CT Í. S CEN E I.

Tbe CO U R T. Enter King Richard, John of Gaunt, with other

Nobles and Attendants.

King RICHARD.
LD Jobn of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lan-

caster,
Haft thou, according to thy oath and

bond, Brought hither Henry Hereford thy bold

fon, Here to make good the boilt'rous late Appeal, Which then our leisure would not let us hear, Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray ? Gaunt. I have, my liege. K. Rich. Tell me moreover, haft thou founded him, "If he appeal the Duke on ancient malice,

! If he appeal the Duke ;] Appeal, i. e. cail, demand, challenge, from appello.

Mr. Pope.

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-ftomach'd are they Both, and full of ire ;
In rage, deaf as the sea; hasty as fire.

S CE N 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,

Thc

The uglier seem the Clouds, that in it fly.
Once more; the more to aggravate the Note,
With a foul Traytor's Name ituff 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 my zeal;
'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,
Fror 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 fpit at him;
Call him a sand'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 durft set his foot.
Mean time, let this defend my Loyalty;
By all my hopes, most falny 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 furthest 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 false 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 conlequently, like a traitor-coward, Sluic'd out his inn'cent soul through streams of blood; Which blood, like facrificing Abel's, cries Even from the tongueless caverns of the earth, To nie, for justice, and rough chastisement. And by the glorious Worth of my Descent, This arm shall do it, or this life be spent.

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

is :lat can I HERIT 5.) We should read, INHABIT,

Mowb.