Enter King Richard, John of Gaunt, with other Nobles and Attendants.
LD John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lan-
cafter,
Haft thou, according to thy oath and bond,
Brought hither Henry Hereford thy bold fon,
Here to make good the boift'rous late ap-
peal,
Which then our leifure 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,
† Appeal, or call, demand, challenge, from appello.
Or worthily, as a good fubject fhould,
On fome known ground of treachery in him?
Gaunt. As near as I could fift him on that argument,
On fome apparent danger feen in him
Aim'd at your highnefs; no invet'rate malice.
K. Rich. Then call them to our prefence; face to face, And frowning brow to brow, our felves will hear Th' accufer, and th' accufed freely speak: High-ftomach'd are they both, and full of ire, In rage, deaf as the fea; hafty as fire.
Enter Bolingbroke and Mowbray.
Boling. May many years of happy days befal
My gracious foveraign, my moft loving liege.
Mowb. Each day ftill better others 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 caufe you come;
Namely t' appeal each other of high treason.
Coufin of Hereford, what doft thou object
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray ?
Boling. First, Heaven be the record to my speech. In the devotion of a fubject's love,
Tend'ring the precious fafety of my Prince,
And free from other mif-begotten hate,
Come I appellant to this princely prefence.
Now Thomas Mowbray do I turn to thee,
And mark my greeting well; for what I fpeak,
My body fhall make good upon this earth,
divine foul answer it in heav'n. Thou art a traitor and a mifcreant. *
Too good to be fo, and too bad to live.
Mowb. Let not my cold words here accufe my zeal ;
Tis not the tryal of a woman's war,
The bitter clamour of two eager tongues,
Can arbitrate this caufe betwixt us twain;
The blood is hot that must be cool'd for this.
Yet can I not of fuch tame patience boast,
As to be hufht, and nought at all to fay.
First the fair rev'rence of your highness curbs me
From giving reins and fpurs to my free speech,
Which elfe would poft, until it had return'd
Thefe terms of treafon a doubled down his throat.
Setting afide his high blood's royalty,
Let him but be no kinfman to my liege,
And I defie him, and I spit at him,
Call him a flanderous 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 fet his foot,
Mean time, let this defend my loyalty,
By all my hopes moft falfly doth he lie.
Boling. Pale trembling coward, there I throw my gage,
Disclaiming here the kindred of a King,
And lay afide 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 c rites of knighthood elfe,
Will I make good against thee, arm to arm,
Since the more fair and crystal is the sky,
The uglier feem the clouds that in it fly;
Once more, the more to aggravate the Note,
With a foul traitor's name stuff I thy throat,
And wish, so please my foveraign, ere I move,
What my tongue fpeaks,my right drawn fword may prove.
What I have spoken, or thou canst devife.
Mowb. I take it up, and by that fword I swear, Which gently laid my knighthood on my fhoulder, I'll answer thee in any fair degree,
Or chivalrous defign of knightly tryal;
And when I mount, alive may I not light,
If I be traitor, or unjustly fight.
K. Rich. What doth our coufin lay to Mowbray's charge?
It must be great that can inherit us
So much as of a thought of ill in him.
Boling. Look what I faid, my life fhall prove it true,
That Mowbray hath receiv'd eight thousand nobles,
In name of lendings for your highness' foldiers,
The which he hath detain'd for lewd imployments;
Like a false traitor and injurious villain.
Befides, I fay, and will in battel prove,
Or here, or elsewhere, to the furtheft verge,.
That ever was furvey'd by English eye;
That all the treasons for thefe eighteen years,
Complotted and contrived in this land,
Fetch from falfe Mowbray their firft head and fpring,
Further, I fay, and further will maintain,
That he did plot the Duke of Gloucester's death,
Suggeft his foon believing adverfaries,
And confequently, like a traitor-coward,
Sluc'd out his inn'cent foul through streams of blood;
Which blood, like facrificing Abel's, cries
Even from the tonguelefs caverns of the earth,
To me, for juftice, and rough chastisement.
And by the glorious worth of my defcent,
This arm fhall do it, or this life be spent.
K. Rich. How high a pitch his refolution foars
Thomas of Norfolk, what fay'st thou to this?
Mowb. O let my foveraign turn away his face,
And bid his ears a little while be deaf,
Till I have told this dfland'rer of his blood,
How God and good men hate fo foul a liar.
K. Rich. Mowbray, impartial are our eyes and ears.
Were he my brother, nay, our kingdom's heis,
As he is but my fathers brother's fon;
Now by my fcepter's awe, I make a vow,
Such neighbour-nearnefs to our facred blood
Should nothing priv'lege him, nor partialize
Th' unftooping firmnefs of my upright foul.
He is our fubject, Mowbray, fo art thou,
Free fpeech and fearless I to thee allow.
Mowb. Then Bolingbroke, as low as to thy heart
Through the falfe paffage of thy throat, thou lieft!
Three parts of that receipt I had for Calais,
Disburst I to his highness' foldiers;
The other part referv'd I by confent,
For that my foveraign liege was in my debt,
Upon remainder of a dear account,
Since last I went to France to fetch his Queen.
Now fwallow down that lie. For Gloucefter's death,
I flew him not, but to mine own difgrace,
Neglected my fworn duty in that cafe.
For you, my noble lord of Lancaster,
The honourable father to my foe,
Once I did lay an ambush for
A trefpafs that doth vex my grieved foul;
But ere I laft receiv'd the facrament,
I did confefs it, and exactly begg'd
Your grace's pardon; and I hope I had it.
This is my fault; as for the reft appeal'd,
It iffues from the rancor of a villain,
A recreant and most degen'rate traitor :
Which in my felf I boldly will defend,
And interchangeably hurle down my gage
Upon this overweening traitor's foot,
To prove my felf a loyal gentleman,
Even in the beft blood chamber'd in his bofom.
In hafte whereof moft heartily I pray
Your highness to affign our tryal day.
K. Rich. Wrath-kindled gentlemen, be rul'd by
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