Is it not more than shame, to shame it so ? K. Rich. -a lunatic lean-witted fool, Presuming on an ague's privilege, Dar'st with thy frozen admonition Make pale our cheeks; chasing the royal blood, Now by my seat's right royal majesty, Wert thou not brother to great Edward's son, This tongue that runs so roundly in thy head, Should run thy head from thy unreverend shoulders. That blood already, like the pelican, Hast thou tapp'd out, and drunkenly carous'd: That thou respect'st not spilling Edward's blood : Live in thy shame, but die not shame with thee !- [Exit, borne out by his Attendants. K. Rich. And let them die, that age and sullens have ; For both hast thou, and both become the grave. York. 'Beseech your majesty, impute his words To wayward sickliness and age in him : He love's you, on my life, and holds you dear As Harry duke of Hereford, were he here. K. Rich. Right; you say true: as Hereford's love, so his As theirs, so mine; and all be as it is. [9] The reasoning of Gaunt, I think, is this; By setting thy royalties to farm thou hast reduced thyself to a state below sovereignty, thou art now no longer king but landlord of England, subject to the same restraint and limitations as other landlords; by making thy condition a state of law, a condition upon which the common rules of law can operate, thou art become a bondslave to the law; thou hast made thyself amenable to laws from which thou wert originally exempt." JOHNSON. [1] That is, Let them love. JOHNSON. Enter NORTHumberland. North. My liege, old Gaunt commends him to your majesty. K. Rich. What says he now? North. Nay, nothing; all is said: His tongue is now a stringless instrument; Words, life, and all, old Lancaster hath spent. York. Be York the next that must be bankrupt so! K. Rich. The ripest fruit first falls, and so doth he; And for these great affairs do ask some charge, York. How long shall I be patient? Ah, how long Not Gloster's death, nor Hereford's banishment, Of whom thy father, prince of Wales, was first; [2] This alludes to a tradition that St. Patrick freed the kingdom of Ireland from venomous reptiles of every kind. STEEVENS. [3] When the duke of Hereford, after his banishment, went into France, he was honourably entertained at that court, and would have obtained in marriage the only daughter of the duke of Berry, uncle to the French king, had not Richard prevented the match. STEEVENS. His hands were guilty of no kindred's blood, Pardon me, if you please; if not, I pleas'd Seek you to seize, and gripe into your hands, Take Hereford's rights away, and take from time His livery, and deny his offer'd homage,* K. Rich. Think what you will; we seize into our hands His plate, his goods, his money, and his lands. York. I'll not be by, the while : My liege, farewell: What will ensue hereof, there's none can tell; But by bad courses may be understood, That their events can never fall out good. [Exit. K. Rich. Go, Bushy, to the earl of Wiltshire straight; Bid him repair to us to Ely-house, To see this business: To-morrow next We will for Ireland; and 'tis time, I trow : [4] That is, refuse to admit the homage, by which he is to hold his lands. JOHNSON. Come on, our queen: to-morrow must we part ; [Flourish. [Exeunt King, Queen, BUSHY, AUMERLE, North. Well, lords, the duke of Lancaster is dead. North. Richly in both, if justice had her right. Ross. My heart is great; but it must break with silence, Ere't be disburden'd with a liberal tongue. North. Nay, speak thy mind; and let him ne'er speak more, That speaks thy words again, to do thee harm! Willo. Tends that thou'dst speak, to th' duke of Hereford? If it be so, out with it boldly, man; Quick is mine ear, to hear of good towards him. Ross. No good at all, that I can do for him; Unless you call it good, to pity him, Bereft and gelded of his patrimony. North. Now, afore heaven, 'tis shame, such wrongs are borne, In him a royal prince, and many more That will the king severely prosecute 'Gainst us, our lives, our children, and our heirs. Ross. The commons hath he pill'd with grievous taxes, And lost their hearts: the nobles hath he fin'd For ancient quarrels, and quite lost their hearts. Willo. And daily new exactions are devis'd; As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what : But what, o'God's name, doth become of this? North. Wars have not wasted it, for warr'd he hath not, But basely yielded upon compromise That which his ancestors achiev'd with blows: Ross. He hath not money for these Irish wars, His burdenous taxations notwithstanding, But by the robbing of the banish'd duke. North. His noble kinsman: most degenerate king! But, lords, we hear this fearful tempest sing, Yet seek no shelter to avoid the storm: We see the wind sit sore upon our sails, And yet we strike not, but securely perish. Ross. We see the very wreck that we must suffer; And unavoided is the danger now, For suffering so the causes of our wreck. North. Not so; even through the hollow eyes of death, I spy life peering; but I dare not say How near the tidings of our comfort is. Willo. Nay, let us share thy thoughts, as thou dost ours. Ross. Be confident to speak, Northumberland: Thy words are but as thoughts; therefore, be bold. That Harry Hereford, Reignold lord Cobham, [The son of Richard Earl of Arundel,] That late broke from the duke of Exeter, His brother, archbishop late of Canterbury, Sir Thomas Erpingham, sir John Ramston, Sir John Norbery, Sir Robert Waterton, and Francis All these well furnish'd by the duke of Bretagne, [5] To strike the sails is, to contract them when there is too much wind. JOHNSON. [6] Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, brother to the Earl of Arundel who was beheaded in this reign, had been banished by the parliament, and was afterwards deprived by the Pope of his see, at the request of the King; whence he is here called, late of Canterbury. STEEVENS. [7] As this expression frequently occurs in our author, it may not be amiss to explain the original meaning of it. When the wing feathers of a hawk were dropped, or forced out by accident, it was usual to supply as many as were deficient. This operation was called to imp a hank. STEEVEŃS. |