What answer shall I make to this base man? Boling. Bagot, forbear: thou shalt not take it up. Aum. Excepting one, I would he were the best In all this presence, that hath mov'd me so. Fitz. If that thy valour stand on sympathy, There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine. By that fair sun which shows me where thou stand'st, I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it, That thou wert cause of noble Gloster's death. If thou deny'st it twenty times, thou liest; And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart, Where it was forged, with my rapier's point. Aum. Thou dar'st not, coward, live to see that day. Fitz. Now, by my soul, I would it were this hour. Aum. Fitzwater, thou art damn'd to hell for this. Percy. Aumerle, thou liest; his honour is as true In this appeal, as thou art all unjust; And, that thou art so, there I throw my gage, And never brandish more revengeful steel Over the glittering helmet of my foe! [Lord. I task the earth to the like, forsworn Aumerle"; ♦ On equal terms to give HIм chastisement?] The quarto of 1597 has them ; that of 1598, my ; and the quartos of 1608 and 1615, with the folios, read “him.” 5 [I task the earth to the like, forsworn Aumerle ;] This and the seven next And spur thee on with full as many lies From sun to sun. There is my honour's pawn: Aum. Who sets me else? by heaven, I'll throw at all6. I have a thousand spirits in one breast, To answer twenty thousand such as you.] Surrey. My lord Fitzwater, I do remember well The very time Aumerle and you did talk. Fitz. "Tis very true': you were in presence then; And you can witness with me this is true. Surrey. As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is true. Fitz. Surrey, thou liest. Surrey. Dishonourable boy! In proof whereof, there is my honour's pawn: Fitz. How fondly dost thou spur a forward horse! If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live, I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness, And spit upon him, whilst I say he lies, And lies, and lies. There is my bond of faith, To tie thee to my strong correction. As I intend to thrive in this new world, lines, are only in the quarto editions, in the three last of which the reading is, "I take the earth," &c. The expression is difficult, and the explanation uncertain; but the lord may mean that he tasks the earth, when he throws down the weight of his gage upon it. The mere circumstance that "I take the earth" was substituted for "I task the earth" in 1598, seems to show that even then the phrase was not understood. Steevens quoted the following line from Warner's "Albion's England," book iii. c. 16, a poem first printed in 1586 : "Lo! here my gage (he terr'd his glove) thou know'st the victor's meed." Who sets me else? by heaven, I'll throw at all.] Expressions used in games with dice. 7 'Tis very true ;] Thus the quartos: the folio has, superfluously, “ My lord, 'tis very true." Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal : That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men Aum. Some honest Christian trust me with a gage. That Norfolk lies, here do I throw down this, If he may be repeal'd to try his honour. Boling. These differences shall all rest under gage, To all his lands and signories. When he's return'd, Bishop. That honourable day shall ne'er be seen. Boling. Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom Of good old Abraham!-Lords appellants, Your differences shall all rest under gage, Till we assign you to your days of trial. Enter YORK, attended. York. Great duke of Lancaster, I come to thee 8 here do I throw down this,] Steevens remarks that Holinshed says, that on this occasion "he threw down a hood that he had borrowed." 9 As SURELY as I live, my lord.] The quarto of 1598 and all subsequent impressions have " As sure," &c. Malone and other editors have, "As sure as I live," not being aware, perhaps, of the true reading in the 4to, 1597. From plume-pluck'd Richard, who with willing soul Ascend his throne, descending now from him,- Worst in this royal presence may I speak, And he himself not present? O! forfend it, God2, Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed! 10 And long live Henry, of that name the fourth!] Thus the folio: the quartos, less harmoniously, " And long live Henry, fourth of that name." 1 - then true NOBLESS would] So the quarto, 1597, and so the verse requires. All the other quartos and folios have nobleness, which some modern editors have followed, asserting that all the old copies read nobleness. They evidently never saw the first 4to. 2O forfend it, God,] The folio, 1623, in opposition to all the quartos, has "forbid it, God." Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels, Shall kin with kin, and kind with kind confound; Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd The field of Golgotha, and dead men's sculls. That ever fell upon this cursed earth. Lest child, child's children, cry against you-woe! North. Well have you argu'd, sir; and, for your pains, Of capital treason we arrest you here. My lord of Westminster, be it your charge To keep him safely till his day of trial. May it please you, lords, to grant the commons' suit". Boling. Fetch hither Richard, that in common view He may surrender: so we shall proceed Without suspicion. York. I will be his conduct. [Exit. Boling. Lords, you that here are under our arrest, Procure your sureties for your days of answer. Little are we beholding to your love, [To the BISHOP. And little look for at your helping hands. Re-enter YORK, with King RICHARD, and Officers bearing the Crown, &c. K. Rich. Alack! why am I sent for to a king, 3 O, if you RAISE-] The folio, rear: all the quartos, " raise." 4 Prevent it, resist it, let it not be so,] This line, were we authorised so to alter it, would read better, " Prevent, resist it, let it not be so." The folio, 1623, makes it worse than in the 4to. editions, by printing, "Prevent it, resist it, and let it not be so." 5 May it please you, lords, to grant the commons' suit.] This line, and what follows to the line, "That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall,” (p. 193,) were first inserted in the quarto, 1608, and constitute the "new additions" mentioned on the title-page. They were included in all subsequent impressions. 6 Without suspicion.] In the quartos of 1608 and 1615, this and the two preceding lines are made a continuation of the speech of Northumberland. The folio, 1623, first gave them to Bolingbroke. |