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 [Flourish. [Exeunt King, Queen, BUSHY, AUMERLE, GREEN, and BAGOT. North. Well, lords, the duke of Lancaster is dead. Ross. And living too; for now his son is duke. Willo. Barely in title, not in revenue. North. Richly in both, if justice had her right. Ross. My heart is great; but it must break with silence, Ere't be disburdened 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 wouldst speak, to the duke of Hereford? If it be so, out with it boldly, man; Quick is mine ear, to hear of good towards 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 pilled' with grievous taxes, 1 Pillaged. 1 And quite lost their hearts; the nobles hath he fined But basely yielded, upon compromise, That which his ancestors achieved with blows. Ross. The earl of Wiltshire hath the realm in farm. man. North. Reproach, and dissolution, hangeth over him. Ross. He hath not money for these Irish wars, His burdenous taxations notwithstanding, But by the robbing of the banished duke. North. His noble kinsman; most degenerate king! But, lords, we hear this fearful tempest sing, Yet seek no shelter to avoid the storm. 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: We three are but thyself; and, speaking so, Thy words are but as thoughts; therefore, be bold. North. Then thus:-I have from Port le Blanc, a bay 1 Stow records that Richard II. "compelled all the religious, gentlemen, and commons, to set their seales to blankes, to the end he might, if it pleased him, oppress them severally, or all at once; some of the commons paid him 1000 marks, some 1000 pounds," &c. In Brittany, received intelligence, That Harry Hereford, Reignold lord Cobham, All these well furnished by the duke of Bretagne, Ross. To horse, to horse! Urge doubts to them that fear. Willo. Hold out my horse, and I will first be there. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Room in the Palace. Enter Queen, BUSHY, and BAGOT. Bushy. Madam, your majesty is too much sad. You promised, when you parted with the king, To lay aside life-harming heaviness, And entertain a cheerful disposition. 1 The line in brackets, which was necessary to complete the sense, has been supplied upon the authority of Holinshed. Something of a similar import must have been omitted by accident in the old copies. 2 When the wing-feathers of a hawk were dropped or forced out by any accident, it was usual to supply as many as were deficient. This operation was called "to imp a hawk." Queen. To please the king, I did; to please myself, Which show like grief itself, but are not so; seen; Or if it be, 'tis with false sorrow's eye, Which, for things true, weeps things imaginary. As-though, in thinking, on no thought I think2——— Bushy. 'Tis nothing but conceit, my gracious lady. 1 This may have reference to that kind of optical delusion called anamorphosis; which is a perspective projection of a picture, so that at one point of view, it shall appear a confused mass, or different to what it really is; in another, an exact and regular representation. Sometimes it is made to appear confused to the naked eye, and regular when viewed in a glass or mirror of a certain form. 2 The old copies have "on thinking," which is an evident error: we should read, "As though in thinking;" i. e. "though musing, I have no idea of calamity." The involuntary and unaccountable depression of the mind which every one has sometimes felt, is here very forcibly described. From some forefather grief; mine is not so; But what it is, that is not yet known; what Enter GREEN. Green. God save your majesty!—and well met, gentlemen. I hope the king is not yet shipped for Ireland. And driven into despair an enemy's hope, Who strongly hath set footing in this land. Queen. Now, God in heaven forbid! Green. O, madam, 'tis too true; and that is worse,The lord Northumberland, his young son Henry Percy, The lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby, And all the rest of the revolted faction, traitors? 2 1 Retired, i. e. drawn it back; a French sense. 2 The first quarto, 1597, reads: "And all the rest of the revolted faction, traitors?" The folio, and the quarto of 1598 and 1608: "And the rest of the revolting faction, traitors?" |