thas love me, 'tis time the

5. What my tongue dares nut, tad a fhall fav.

p. Ma lerd, will 't please you to £

B... Tate of it firft, as thou wert woRDS.

F. My lord, I due not: Sr Pierce of Exton,

at came from the king, comminus the case. With nonvof ornicence, and four melahi,

thee

R. The devil take Henry of Lancefter, and Bur here is Cafe lig, to abide

Hin yelved up is body to the grave:

is as frange and uncommon as a brooch, which is now no longer worn.

3 Jaunce and jaunt were fynomous words.

he

in

vas

ad

as

be

play

And

Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawers, two Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants, &c.

The tranfactions contained in this hiftorical drama are comprifed within the period of about ten months; for the action commences with the news brought of Hotipar having defeated the Scots under Archibald earl Douglas at Holmedon (or Halidown-hill), which battle was fought on Holyroodday (the 14th of September) 1402; and it clofes with the defeat and death of Hotfpur at Shrewsbury; which engagement happened on Saturday the 21st of July (the eve of Saint Mary Magdalen) in the year 1403. Dr. Johnfon remarks, that "Shakspeare has apparently defigned a regular connec tion of thefe dramatic hiftories from Richard the Second to Henry the Fifth. King Henry, at the end of Richard the Second, deelares his purpose to vifit the Holy Land, which he refumes in this fpeech. The complaint made by king Henry in the laft act of Richard the Second, of the wildness of his fon, prepares the reader for the frolicks which are here to be recounted, and the characters which are now to be exhibited." 2 Mr. Steevens fays, it fhould be Prince John of Lancaster, and adds, that the perfons of the drama were originally collected by Mr. Rowe, who has given the title of Duke of Lancafter to Prince John, a mistake which Shakspeare has been no where guilty of in the first part of this play, though in the fecond he has fallen into the fame error. K. Henry IV. was himself the last perfon that ever bore the title of Duke of Lancaster. But all his fons ('till they had peerages, as Clarence, Bedford, Gloucester) were diftinguifhed by the name of the royal house, as John of Lantafer, Humphry of Lancaster, &c. and in that proper ftyle, the prefent John (who becaine afterwards fo illuftrious by the title of Duke of Bedford) is always mentioned in the play before us.

And

And furious clofe of civil butchery,

Shall now, in mutual, well-befeeming ranks,
March all one way; and be no more oppos'd
Againft acquaintance, kindred, and alles :
The edge of war, like an ill-theathed knife,
No more fhall cut his matter. Therefore, friends,
As far as to the fepulchre of Christ,
(Whofe foldier now, under whofe blessed cross
We are impreffed and engaged to fight)
Forthwith a power of Englifh fhall we levy ;
Whofe arms were moulded in their mothers' wombs
To chale thefe pagans, in thofe holy fields,
Over whofe acres walk'd those bleafed fect,
Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd,
For our advantage, on the bitter crofs.
But this our purpofe is a twelve-month old,
And bootlefs 'tis to tell you-we will go,

The earl of Douglas is difcomfited;

Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Balk'd in their own blood, did fir Walter fee
On Holmedon's plains: Of prifoners, Hotfpur took
Mordake the earl of Fife, and eldeft fon
To beaten Douglas; and the earls
Of Athol, Murray, Angus, and Menteith.
And is not this an honourable ipoi!?

A gallant prize? h3, coufin, is it not?

Weft. 'Faith, 'tis a conquet for a prince to boast of.
K. Henry. Yea, there thou mak'it me fad, and
mak'it me fin

In envy that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father of fo blett a fon:
A fon, who is the theme of honour's tongue;
Amongft a grove, the very ftraiteft plant;
Who is fweet fortune's minion, and her pride

Therefore we meet not now :-Then let me hear Whilft I, by looking on the praise of him,

Of you, my gentle coufin Weftmoreland,
What yefternight our council did decree,
In forwarding this dear expedience 2.

Weft. My liege, this hafte was hot in queftion,
And many limits 3 of the charge fet down
But yefternight: when, all athwart, there came
A poft from Wales, loaden with heavy news;
Whose worft was,-that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,

See riot and ithonour ftain the brow

Of my young Harry. O, that it could be prov'd,
That fome night-tripping fairy had exchang'd
In cradle-cloths our children where they lay,
And call'd raine-Percy, his-Plantagenet!
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts: What think
you, coz',

Of this young Percy's pride? The prifoners,
Which he in this adventure hath furpriz'd,

Was by the rude hands of that Welchman taken,To his own ufe he keeps 7; and fends me word,

And a thousand of his people butchered :

[broil of this [lord; gracious

Upon whofe dead corps there was fuch mifufe,
Such he.ftly, fhameless transformation,
By thofe Welfhwomen done, as may not be,
Without much shame, retold or spoken of.
K. Honry. It feems then that the tidings
Brake off our bufines for the Holy Land.
Weft. This, match with other, did, my
For more uneven and unwelcome news
Came from the north, and thus it did import.
On Holy-rood day, the gallant Hotspur + there,
Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald 5,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot,

I fhall have none but Mord ike earl of Fife *.
Weft. This is his uncle's teaching, this is Wor-
Malevolent to you in all afpects;
[cefter,
Which makes him prune 9 himself, and brittle up
The creft of youth againit your dignity.

K. Henry. But I have fent for him to anfwer this;
And, for this caufe, awhile we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerufalem.
Coufin, on Wednesday next or council we
Will hold at Windfor, fo inform the lords:
But come yourself with speed to us again ;
For more is to be faid, and to be done,
Than out of anger can be uttered.
Weft. I will, my liege.

SCENE

[Exeunt.

II.

An apartment belonging to the Prince.
Fnter Henry, Prince of Wales, and Sir John Falfiaf.
Fal. Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?

P. Henry. Thou art fo fat-witted, with drinking of old fack, and unbuttoning thee after fupper, and fleeping upon benches after noon, that thou haft forgotten to demand that truly which thou would'ft truly know. What a devil haft thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of fack,

4 Ho

Mr. Steevens propofes to read lead for levy. 2 i. e. expedition. 3 Limits for flimates. linfhed in his Hiftory of Scotland Aays, "This Harry Percy was furnamed, for his often pricking, Henry Etfpur, as one that feldom times refled, if there were anie fervice to be done abroad." 5 Aichibald Douglas, earl Douglas. 6 A balk fignifies a bank or kill. Balk'd in their own blood, may therefore mean, lay in heaps or hillocks, in their own blood. 7 Mr. Toilet observes, that by the law of armis, every man who had taken any captive, whole redemption did not exceed ten thoufand crowns, had him clearly for himfelt, either to a quit or raniom, at his pleafure. Whom (Mr. Steevens adds) Percy could not refufe to the king, as being a prince of the blood royal, (fon to the duke of Albany, brother to king Robert III.) and whom Henry might justly claim by his acknowledged ulary prerogative. 9 Dr. Johnson fays, to prune and to flume, Ipoken of a bird, is the fame.

And

and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the figns of leaping-houfes, and the blefied fun himself a fair hot wench in flamecolour'd taffata; I fee no reafon, why thou fhould'ft be fo fuperfluous to demand the time of the day.

Fal. Indeed, you come near me now, Hal: for we, that take puries, go by the moon and feven fars; and not by Pharbus,-he, that wand ring knight fo fair. And, I pray thee, fweet wag, when thou art king,-as, God fave thy grace, (majefty, I fhould day; for grace thou wilt have none.)

P. Henry. What! none?

Fal. No, by my troth; not fo much as will ferve to be prologue to an egg and butter.

P. Henry. Well, how then? come roundly, roundly.

Fal. Marry, then, fweet wag, when thou art king, let not us, that are fquires of the night's body, be call'd thieves of the day's beauty; let us be-Diana's forefters, gentlemen of the fhade, minions of the moon: And let men fay, we be men of good government; being governed as the fea is, by our noble and chafte miftrefs the moon, under whofe countenance wefteal.

thy quips, and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?

P. Henry. Why, what a pox have I to do with my hoftefs of the tavern?

Fal. Well, thou haft call'd her to a reckoning, many a time and oft.

P. Henry. Did I ever call thee to pay thy part? Fal. No; I'll give thee thy due, thou haft paid all there.

P. Henry. Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would ftretch; and, where it would not, I have us'd my credit.

Fol. Yea, and fo us'd it, that, were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent,-But, I pr'y, thee, fweet wag, fhall there be gallows ftanding in England when thou art king? and refolution thus fobb'd as it is, with the rufty curb of old father antick the law? Do not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.

P. Henry. No; thou fhalt.

Fal. Shall I O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge.

P. Henry. Thou judgeft falfe already: I mean, thou fhalt have the hanging of the thieves, and fo become a rare hangman.

Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in fome fort it jumps with my humour, as well as waiting in the court, can tell you.

P. Henry. For obtaining of fuits 5?

Fal. Yea, for obtaining of fuits 5; whereof the

P. Henry. Thou fay 'ft well; and it holds well too: for the fortune of us, that are the moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the fea; being go-I vern'd as the fea is, by the moon. As for proof,| now: A purfe of gold moft refolutely fnatch'd on Monday night, and mott diffolutely spent on Tuef-hangman hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as day morning; got with fwearing-lay by 2; and melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugg'd bear. 1pent with crying-bring in now, in as low an P. Henry. Or an old lion; or a lover's lute. ebb as the foot of the ladder; and, by and by, in Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows. P. Henry. What fay'ft thou to a hare7, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch 8 ?

6

Ful. By the Lord, thou fay'ft true, lad. And is not my hoftefs of the tavern a moft fweet wench? | Fal. Thou haft the most unfavoury fimilies; and P. Henry. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of art, indeed, the most comparative, rafcallieft,—And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet sweet young prince,-But, Hal, I pr'ythee, trouble robe of durance + ? me no more with vanity. I would to God, thou Fal. How now, how now, mad wag? what, in and I knew where a commodity of good names

the caftle 3.

3 Warburton,

1 Mr. Stevens is of opinion, that our poet, by the expreffion thieves of the day's beauty, meant only, "Let not us who are body fquires to the night, i. e. adorn the night, be called a difgrace to the day." He afterwards adds, that a fquire of the body fignified originally, the attendant on a knight; the perfon wo bore his head-piece, fpear, and fhield; and that it became afterwards the cant term for a pimp. 2 i. e. fwearing at the paffengers they robbed, Ly by your arms; or rather, lay by was a pitale ti at then ngnihed fand fill, addrelled to thofe who were preparing to rush forward. in comimi ning upon this paifage, fays, "This alludes to the name Shakfpcare firft gave to this buffoon character, which was fir John Oldcafile; and when he changed the name he forgot to strike out tats xpreflion that alluded to it. Treafon of the change was this: One fir John Oldcastle having fattered in the time of Henry the Fifth for the opinions of Wicklif, it gave offence, and therefore the poet altered it to Falitaff." Mr. Steevens, however, has, we think, very fully and fatisfactorily proved that fir John Oldcastle was not a character ever introduced by Shakspeare, nor did he ever occupy the place of Falstaff. The play in which Oldcastle's name occurs, was not, according to Mr. Steevens, the work of our poet, but a defpicable piece, prior to that of Shakspeare, full of ribaldry and impiety from the beginning to the end; and was probably the play fneeringly alluded to in the epilogue to the Second Part of Henry IV.- for Oldcastle died a martyr. rill's officers of thof, times were clad in buff! The meaning therefore of this anfwer of the Prince to kaiftafi's queftion is, whether it will not be a fweet thing to go to prifon by running in debt to this fweet wench." 5 Shakspeare here quibbles upon the word fuit. The prince ufes it to mean a petition; Falstaff, to imply a fuit of deaths. i. e. an old he-cat, Gilbert, or Gib, bein name formerly appropriated to a cat of the male fpecies. 7 Dr. Johnfon fays, that "a hare may be confidered as melancholy, because he is upon her form always folitary; and according to the phyfick of the times, the flesh of it was fuppofed to generate melancholy. 8 Alluding, perhaps, to the melancholy appearance of its flagnant water. 9 i. e. the most quick at comparisons.

6

4 The the

the

were