Is it not fair writ?-Is the writing not legible? writ very common in Shakespeare, where we should now use the form written. This iron age.-A play upon the word iron; it means hard, unfeeling. There may be also a reference to the four ages of the poets. His.-Its. His was used with both masculine and neuter nouns. Angerly. Angrily. That precious sense. The eye. The utterance of a brace of tongues, &c.-Two tongues would not be sufficient to plead for a pair of eyes. The fire is dead with grief, &c.—The fire, which is intended for comfort, is dead with grief that it should be turned to such unworthy purpose. Tarre him on.-Urge him on, excite him. Deny their office.--Refuse to do what they are intended to do. Only you.-Emphatic. You alone are deficient in that mercy which is shown even by fire and iron, things usually employed in the work of destruction, and not of mercy. Owes.-Possesses, a very common meaning of the word in Doubtless.-Free from doubt or anxiety. Five moons, &c.-It was a common opinion that calamities A tailor's news.-Tailors have always been regarded by the poets as great gossips. The description of the tailor, who had, in his haste, thrust his slippers wrongly on, is inimitable. Tailors usually work either in their stockings or in slippers; seldom in shoes. Embattailed.-Arranged in order of battle. To possess me.-To inform me of; to make me a sharer in these fears. None had.-An expression of astonishment. Had I no cause? only you provoked me. Provoke me.-Stir me up; incite me. Humours.-Whims, caprices. The winking of authority, &c.-To interpret a mere hint given by those in authority, as if it were a law they were bound to obey. Upon humour than advised respect.-More from mere caprice than from any settled, well-considered conviction. Damnation.-Condemnation. Quoted and signed.-Bearing on your very countenance the stamp and sign of a man that could do a desperate deed. John retracts these words when he finds that Hubert's heart was better than his look. "Forgive the comment that my passion made upon thy feature." Faintly. In an indirect, round-about way. Parley with sin.-Come to terms with. Sin is regarded as an enemy; and Hubert, not in express words, but by signs, agreed to do the sinful deed. With ranks of foreign powers.-On the invitation of the nobles, a French army had landed in England. In the body of this fleshly land, &c.—In his own soul, in his own body, there was a civil war. Conscience was up in arms against him for young Arthur's death. Exteriorly. In outward appearance. II. KING RICHARD II. [RICHARD II., son of Edward, Prince of Wales, commonly called the Black Prince, and grandson of Edward III., began to reign in the year 1377, when he was only eleven years old. He proved a weak sovereign, whose chief delight was in fine dress and vain display. Like all weak princes, he was greatly under the influence of favourites. In order to In procure money for these favourites, and for his own John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, an uncle of the King, had a son, the Duke of Hereford, called in this play, Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke charged Thomas Mowbray with being a traitor to the King, and with having applied to his own purpose some of the money of the state. This Mowbray denied, and it was agreed, according to the custom of the age, to settle the dispute by duel, or wager of battle, as it was called.] SCENE London-A Room in the Palace. Enter KING RICHARD, attended: JOHN OF GAUNT, and other Nobles. King Richard. Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Hast thou, according to thy oath and band, K. Rich. Tell me, moreover, hast thou sounded him, If he appeal the duke on ancient malice; Or worthily, as a good subject should, On some known ground of treachery in him? Gaunt. As near as I could sift him on that argu On some apparent danger seen in him Aim'd at your highness-no inveterate malice. [ment K. Rich. Then call them to our presence; face to face, And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear The accuser and the accused freely speak :— [Exeunt some Attendants. High-stomach'd are they both, and full of ire, In rage deaf as the sea, hasty as fire. Re-enter Attendants, with BOLINGBROKE and NORFOLK. K. Rich. We thank you both: yet one but flatters us, As well appeareth by the cause you come; Namely, to appeal each other of high treason.- Tendering the precious safety of my prince, What my tongue speaks, my right-drawn sword may prove. Nor. Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal : 'Tis not the trial of a woman's war, The bitter clamour of two eager tongues, Call him a slanderous coward and a villain : Disclaiming here the kindred of the king; Which fear, not reverence, makes thee to except : Or chivalrous design of knightly trial: And when I mount, alive may I not light, If I be traitor or unjustly fight! K. Rich. What doth our cousin 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 said my life shall prove it true; That Mowbray hath received eight thousand nobles, |