Nor no man's lord; I have no name, no title,
No, not that name was given me at the font,
But 'tis usurp'd: alack the heavy day,
That I have worn so many winters out,
And know not now what name to call myself!
O that I were a mockery king of snow,
Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke,
To melt myself away in water drops !

Good king, great king, and yet not greatly good,
An if my word be sterlings yet in England,
Let it command a mirror hither straight,
That it may show me what a face I have,
Since it is bankrupt of his majesty.

Boling. Go some of you and fetch a looking-glass. [Exit an attendant. North. Read o'er this paper while the glass doth

come.

K. Rich. Fiend, thou torment'st me ere I come to hell!

Boling. Urge it no more, my Lord Northumberland. North. The Commons will not then be satisfied. K. Rich. They shall be satisfied: I'll read enough, When I do see the very book indeed

Where all my sins are writ, and that's myself.
Re-enter Attendant, with a glass.

Give me the glass, and therein will I read.
No deeper wrinkles yet? hath sorrow struck
So many blows upon this face of mine,

And made no deeper wounds? O flattering glass,
Like to my followers in prosperity,

Thou dost beguile me! Was this face the face
That every day under his household roof
Did keep ten thousand men? was this the face
That, like the sun, did make beholders wink?

Was this the face that faced so many follies,
And was at last out-faced by Bolingbroke?
A brittle glory shineth in this face:

As brittle as the glory is the face;

[Dashes the glass against the ground.

For there it is, crack'd in a hundred shivers.
Mark, silent king, the moral of this sport,
How soon my sorrow hath destroy'd my face.
Boling. The shadow of your sorrow hath destroy'd
The shadow of your face.

K. Rich.
Say that again.
The shadow of my sorrow! ha! let's see:
'Tis very true, my grief lies all within;
And these external manners of laments

Are merely shadows to the unseen grief

That swells with silence in the tortured soul;
There lies the substance: and I thank thee, king,
For thy great bounty, that not only givest
Me cause to wail but teachest me the way
How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon,
And then begone and trouble you no more.
Shall I obtain it?

Boling.

Name it, fair cousin.

K. Rich. Fair cousin'? I am greater than a king: For when I was a king, my flatterers

Were then but subjects; being now a subject,

I have a king here to my flatterer.

Being so great, I have no need to beg.

Boling. Yet ask.

K. Rich, Whither you will, so I were from your sights.

N

9

Boling. Go, some of you convey him to the Tower. K. Rich. O, good! convey? conveyers are you all, That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall.

[Exeunt King Richard, some Lords and a Guard. Boling. On Wednesday next 10 we solemnly set down Our coronation: lords, prepare yourselves.

Shakespeare.

XXXV.

THE CORONATION OF HENRY IV.*

ON September the 30th, 1399, parliament assembled in the great hall, "which they had hung and trimmed sumptuously, and had caused to be set up a royal chair on purpose to choose a new king, near to which the prelates were sat; on the other side sat the lords; and, after the commons, in order, first sat the Duke of Lancaster, then the Duke of York, and after him other great dukes and earls; but the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland sat not, but went up and down, ofttimes kneeling, in doing their offices," says our informant, John Stow, whose pictorial narrative we here chiefly follow. Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, preached a sermon in Latin on the blessing of Jacob by his father; after which a doctor of law stood up and read an instrument, to the effect that Richard, by his own confession, was unworthy to reign, and would resign the crown to

* From Shades and Echoes of Old London, by kind permission of the Religious Tract Society.

any one fitted to wear it. Then the archbishop persuaded them to proceed to the election of some one to occupy the vacant throne, which those present deemed very proper, except about four of Richard's party, who durst not speak. Then came the delicate question, Who should the new sovereign be? "Shall it be the Duke of York?" asked the arch-prelate; and they answered, "No." Then he inquired, if they would have his eldest son, the Duke of Aumerle? and they said, "No." Would they have his youngest son? and they said, "No." Others were named, and were likewise rejected. So, staying awhile, at last His Grace asked if they would have the Duke of Lancaster, and then all answered that they would have no other. The demand was made thrice, and then certain instruments and charters were read in the presence of all. Then the archbishops, coming to the duke, fell on their knees, declaring to him that he was chosen king, and wished him to say if he would consent thereto. Then the duke, being on his knees, rose and declared he accepted the realm, since it was ordained of God. According to the parliament rolls, he also asserted that he had a right to the crown. "In the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"-so runs the record of his declaration-"I, Henry of Lancaster, challenge this realm of England, and the crown, with all the members and appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line of the blood, coming from the good lord King Henry III., and through the right that God, of His grace, hath sent me, with

help of my kin, and of my friends, to recover it, the which realm was in point to be undone for default of governance and undoing of the good laws."

He

The archbishop, Stow goes on to tell, read what the new king was bound unto, and with certain ceremonies signed him with the cross; then he kissed the archbishop, and they took the ring with which the kings of England are wedded to the realm, and bare it to the Lord Percy, who was Constable; and he receiving it, showed it to the whole assembly, and then put it on the king's finger. The king kissed the constable, and then the archbishops led the king up into the empty throne. The king made his prayers on his knees before it, and then delivered a speech, first to the prelates, and then to the lords, and then to the commons, and so sat him down on his seat. sat a good while in silence, and so did all the rest, for they were in prayer for his prosperity; and when they had ended, he filled up such offices of state as had become vacant. After this, the archbishop spake certain things in Latin, praying for the king's prosperity and for the realm's; and afterwards, in English, he exhorted all present to pray the like, after which every man sat down. With all this, there were shouts and acclamations, and it was announced that a parliament should be held in the same place on the Monday next following, and that on St. Edward's day the coronation should be celebrated.

Dr. Stoughton.