King Richard II [To Northumberland.] ‘We are amaz’d ; and thus long have we stood to watch the fearful bending of thy knee, because we thought ourself thy lawful king ; and if we be, how dare thy joints forget to pay their awful duty to our presence? If we be not, show us the hand of God that hath dismiss’d us from our stewardship ; for well we know, no hand of blood and bone can gripe the sacred handle of our sceptre, unless he do profane, steal, or usurp.’
– Reed International Books Ltd. 1992. The Illustrated Stratford Shakespeare London, Great Britain: Chancellor Press (1996) p. 377
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