SCENE 1.Westminster Hall
Enter,as to the Parliament,BOLINGBROKE,AUMERLE,NORTHUMBERLAND,PERCY,FITZWATER,SURREY,the BISHOP OF CARLISLE,the ABBOT OF WESTMINSTER,and others;HERALD,OFFICERS,and BAGOT
BOLINGBROKE.Call forth Bagot.Now,Bagot,freely speak thy mind-What thou dost know of noble Gloucester's death;Who wrought it with the King,and who perform'd The bloody office of his timeless end.BAGOT.Then set before my face the Lord Aumerle.BOLINGBROKE.Cousin,stand forth,and look upon that man.BAGOT.My Lord Aumerle,I know your daring tongue Scorns to unsay what once it hath deliver'd.In that dead time when Gloucester's death was plotted I heard you say 'Is not my arm of length,That reacheth from the restful English Court As far as Calais,to mine uncle's head?'Amongst much other talk that very time I heard you say that you had rather refuse The offer of an hundred thousand crowns Than Bolingbroke's return to England;Adding withal,how blest this land would be In this your cousin's death.AUMERLE.Princes,and noble lords,What answer shall I make to this base man?
Shall I so much dishonour my fair stars On equal terms to give him chastisement?Either I must,or have mine honour soil'd With the attainder of his slanderous lips.There is my gage,the manual seal of death That marks thee out for hell.I say thou liest,And will maintain what thou hast said is false In thy heart-blood,through being all too base To stain the temper of my knightly sword.BOLINGBROKE.Bagot,forbear;thou shalt not take it up.AUMERLE.Excepting one,I would he were the best In all this presence that hath mov'd me so.FITZWATER.If that thy valour stand on sympathy,There is my gage,Aumerle,in gage to thine.By that fair sun which shows me where thou stand'st,I heard thee say,and vauntingly thou spak'st it,That thou wert cause of noble Gloucester's death.If thou deniest it twenty times,thou liest;And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart,Where it was forged,with my rapier's point.AUMERLE.Thou dar'st not,coward,live to see that day.FITZWATER.Now,by my soul,I would it were this hour.AUMERLE.Fitzwater,thou art damn'd to hell for this.PERCY.Aumerle,thou liest;his honour is as true In this appeal as thou art an unjust;And that thou art so,there I throw my gage,To prove it on thee to the extremest point Of mortal breathing.Seize it,if thou dar'st.AUMERLE.An if I do not,may my hands rot of And never brandish more revengeful steel Over the glittering helmet of my foe!ANOTHER LORD.
I task the earth to the like,forsworn Aumerle;And spur thee on with fun as many lies As may be halloa'd in thy treacherous ear From sun to sun.There is my honour's pawn;Engage it to the trial,if thou darest.AUMERLE.Who sets me else?By heaven,I'll throw at all!I have a thousand spirits in one breast To answer twenty thousand such as you.SURREY.My Lord Fitzwater,I do remember well The very time Aumerle and you did talk.FITZWATER.'Tis very true;you were in presence then,And you can witness with me this is true.SURREY.As false,by heaven,as heaven itself is true.FITZWATER.Surrey,thou liest.SURREY.Dishonourable boy!That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword That it shall render vengeance and revenge Till thou the lie-giver and that lie do he In earth as quiet as thy father's skull.In proof whereof,there is my honour's pawn;Engage it to the trial,if thou dar'st.FITZWATER.How fondly dost thou spur a forward horse!If I dare eat,or drink,or breathe,or live,I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness,And spit upon him whilst I say he lies,And lies,and lies.There is my bond of faith,To tie thee to my strong correction.As I intend to thrive in this new world,Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal.Besides,I heard the banish'd Norfolk say That thou,Aumerle,didst send two of thy men To execute the noble Duke at Calais.AUMERLE.
Some honest Christian trust me with a gage That Norfolk lies.Here do I throw down this,If he may be repeal'd to try his honour.BOLINGBROKE.These differences shall all rest under gage Till Norfolk be repeal'd-repeal'd he shall be And,though mine enemy,restor'd again To all his lands and signories.When he is return'd,Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial.CARLISLE.That honourable day shall never be seen.Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field,Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross Against black pagans,Turks,and Saracens;And,toil'd with works of war,retir'd himself To Italy;and there,at Venice,gave His body to that pleasant country's earth,And his pure soul unto his captain,
Christ,Under whose colours he had fought so long.BOLINGBROKE.Why,Bishop,is Norfolk dead?CARLISLE.As surely as I live,my lord.BOLINGBROKE.Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom Of good old Abraham!Lords appellants,Your differences shall all rest under gage Till we assign you to your days of trial.