Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields Ascend the throne, descending now from him,- Bolingbroke declares, in God's name, his intention to ascend the throne :-the bishop of Carlisle instantly rises and speaks: [Carlisle.] God forbid! Worst in the royal presence may I speak, Of noble Richard: then, true nobleness would And he himself not present? Oh forbid it, Heaven, I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks, Lest children's children cry against you-woe! Northumberland advances. [Northum.] Well have you argued, sir; and for your pains, Of capital treason we arrest you here. My lord Abbot of Westminster to you The charge belongs, to keep him till his trial. This suit, which is for the deposition of Richard, is of course granted. Richard is sent to Pomfret Castle: and Bolingbroke summons the lords for an early day to his coronation. Some time must be supposed to pass, before we find Bolingbroke, now Henry the Fourth, surrounded by his courtiers at Windsor Castle, and speaking thus: [K. Henry.] Can no man tell of my unthrifty son? 'Tis full three months since I did see him last: I would to Heaven, my lords, he might be found. Even such, they say, as beat our watch, and rob; So dissolute a crew. The young Harry Percy speaks to the king. [Hotspur.] My lord, some two days since I saw the prince, And told him of the triumphs held at Oxford. [K. Henry.] And what said the gallánt? [Hotspur.] His answer was, he would into the streets, And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, And wear it as a favour; and with that He would unhorse the lustiest challenger. [K. Henry.] As dissolute as desperate: yet, through both, I see some sparkles of a better hope, Which elder days may happily bring forth. But who comes hither? [a pause.] Welcome, my lord Northumberland: What news? [North.] First to thy sacred state, all happiness: Have lost their heads that did oppose thy seat. [K. Henry.] Let him choose out some secret place afar, At this moment we may imagine that the king's eye lights upon two or three men, who, in the distant gloom of the chamber, are waiting to address him; they bear among them a burthen covered with a pall: the king makes a sign to the one who appears their chief, and he approaches; it is Sir Pierce Exton, who, having gained the king's ear, speaks in an under tone : [Exton.] Great king, within that coffin I present Thy buried fear: therein all breathless lies The mightiest of thy greatest enemies, Richard of Bourdeaux, brought from Pomfret hither. [K. Henry.] Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast done A deed that must bring slander on my head, And on the land. [Exton.] From words of your own speaking Did I conceive and execute this deed. [K. Henry.] They love not poison that do poison need: I'll put on sullen black incontinent, And none than I shall more this act lament: To wash this blood from off my guilty hand: THE BATTLE OF HOLMEDON (OR HOMELDON), THE DEFECTION OF THE PERCIES, AND OTHER EVENTS IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE REIGN OF HENRY IV., INDICATED BY SCENES SUPPOSED TO TAKE PLACE IN THE PALACE AT LONDON. HISTORICAL MEMORANDA. The battle of Homeldon in the north part of Northumberland, was fought in the autumn of 1402: Henry Bolingbroke became king in the latter part of 1399. During the intervening time, the conspiracy of the earls of Rutland, Kent, Huntingdon, and lord Spenser, who had been degraded from the respective titles of Albemarle, Surrey, Exeter, and Glocester, was discovered, and the several parties, except Rutland, who proved a traitor to the rest, were executed. Rutland soon after succeeded to the title of York by the death of the old duke, Edmund of Langley. The insurrection in Wales was another of the intervening events. In a battle fought against Glendower, the leader of the insurrection, Sir Edward Mortimer, uncle to Mortimer the young earl of Marche, had been taken prisoner. The youth was descended by a daughter from Lionel duke of Clarence, the second son of Edward III.: but Shakspeare, as in many other cases, has joined two persons in one character, the uncle of the youth and the youth himself: they both fell into the hands of the Welsh chieftain. The speakers in the following scene are King Henry, and the earl of Westmorland: other noblemen are in attendance: the king first speaks: [K. Henry.] So shaken as we are, so wan with care, Find we a time for frighted peace to pant. No more our native soil Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood: But they who met in the intestine shock Shall now in mutu'al, well-beseeming ranks E Therefore we meet not now.-Then let me know What yesternight our council did decree [Westm.] My liege this point was hot in question, Leading the men of Herefordshire, to fight Was by the rude hands of the Welshman taken. [K. Henry.] It seems then that the tidings of this broil, Broke off our business to the holy land. [Westm.] This match'd with other did, my gracious lord: For more uneven and unwelcome news Came from the north, by one who, in the heat [K. Henry.] Here is a friend, Sir Walter Blunt, who brings From Holmedon hither, smooth and welcome news. The earl of Douglas is discomfited: Of prisoners, Hotspur took Mordake the earl of Fife, and eldest son [Westm.] It is a conquest for a prince to boast of. [K. Henry.] Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and makʼst me In envy that my lord Northumberland A son who is the theme of honour's tongue, [sin Of my young Harry :-let him from my thoughts :- Of this young Percy's pride? The prisoners |