were to be bought: An old lord of the council | good fellowship in thee, nor thou cam'ft not of rated me the other day in the street about you, fir; the blood royal, if thou dar'ft not ftand for ten but I mark'd him not: and yet he talk'd very fhillings. wifely; but I regarded him not: and yet he talk'd wifely, and in the street too.

P. Henry. Thou didft well; for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man regards it.

Fal. O, thou haft damnable iteration; and art, indeed, able to corrupt a faint. Thou haft done much harm upon me, Hal,-God forgive thee for it! Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I muft give over this life, and I will give it over; by the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain; I'll be damn'd for never a king's fon in Christendom

P. Henry. Well then, once in my days I'll be a mad-cap.

Fal. Why, that's well faid.

P. Henry. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home.

Fal. By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou art king.

P. Henry. I care not.

Pains. Sir John, I pr'ythee, leave the prince and me alone; I will lay him down fuch reafons for this adventure, that he shall go.

Fal. Well, may ft thou have the fpirit of per fuafion, and he the ears of profiting, that what

P. Henry. Where fhall we take a purfe to-thou fpeakeft may move, and what he hears may morrow, Jack? be believed, that the true prince may (for recrea

Fal. Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an Ition fake) prove a falfe thief; for the poor abufes do not, call me villain, and baffle 2 me. of the time want countenance. Farewel: You thall find me in East-cheap.

P. Henry. I fee a good amendment of life in thee; from praying, to purfe-taking.

Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no fin for a man to labour in his vocation. Poins!Now fhall we know, if Gads-hill have fet a match. O, if men were to be fav'd by merit, what hole in hell were hot enough for him?

Enter Poins.

P. Henry. Farewel, thou latter fpring! farewel, All-hallown 3 fummer! [Foxit Folfiaff,

Poins. Now, my good fweet honey lord, ride with us to-morrow; I have a jett to execute, that I cannot manage alone. Falflaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gads-hill, fhall rob thofe men that we have already way-laid; yourself and I will not be

This is the most omnipotent villain, that ever cry'd, there: and when they have the booty, if you and Stand, to a true man.

P. Henry. Good morrow, Ned.

I do not rob them, cut this head from my fhoulders.

P. Henry. But how fhall we part with them in

Poins. Why, we will fet forth before or after

Poins. Good morrow, fweet Hal.-What fays monfieur Remorfe? What fays Sir John Sack-and-fetting forth? Sugar? Jack, how agrees the devil and thee about thy foul, that thou foldeft him on Good-Friday [them, and appoint them a place of meeting, wherelaft, for a cup of Madeira, and a cold capon's leg? P. Henry. Sir John stands to his word, the devil fhall have his bargain; for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs, He will give the devil his due. Poins. Then art thou damn'd for keeping thy word with the devil.

P. Hen y. Elfe he had been damn'd for cozening

the devil.

in it is at our pleafure to fail; and then will they adventure upon the exploit themfelves: which they fhall have no fooner atchieved, but we'll fet upon them.

P. Henry. Ay, but, 'tis like, that they will know us, by our horfes, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves.

Poins. Tut! our horfes they fhall not fee, I'll tie them in the wood; our vifors we will change, after we leave them; and, firrah, I have cafes of buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments.

P. Henry. But, I doubt, they will be too hard

Poins. But my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning, by four o'clock, early at Gads-hill: There are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purfes: 1 have vifors for you all, you have hories for yourfelves: Gads-hill lies to-night in Rochefter; I have for us. bespoke fupper to-morrow night in Eaft-cheap :| we may do it as fecure as fleep: If you will go, 1 will stuff your purfes full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home, and be hang'd.

Fal. Hear ye, Yedward; if I tarry at home, and go not, I'll hang you for going.

Poins. You will, chops?

Fal. Hal, wilt thou make one?

Pour Well, for two of them, I know them to be as true-bred cowards as ever turn'a back; and for the third, if he fight longer than he fees reafon, I'll forfwear arms. The virtue of this jeft will be, the incomprehenfible lies that this fame fat rogue will tell us, when we meet at fupper: Fow thirty, at leaft, he fought with; what wards, what blows, what extremities he endured; and in the reproof 5 of this lies the jett.

P. Henry. Who, I rob? I a thief? Not I, by P. Henry. Well, I'll go with thee: provide us "Fal. There's neither honefty, manhood, nor all things neceflary, and meet me to-morrow night

my faith.

2 See

The meaning, according to Dr. Johnfon, is, thou haft a wicked trick of repeating and apply. ing holy texts; alluding to the prince having faid in the preceding fpeech, wifdem cries out, &c. All-junts' day, which is the first of November. Shakspeare's allusion is deigned to ridicule an old man with youthful paflious. 4 i. e fer the occafion. 5 i. e, confutation.

Role 2, p. 415.

31. C.

He should, or he should not ;--for he made me mad,
Hot-To fee him thine io britk, and smell to fweet,
And talk fo like a waiting-gentic woman, [mark!)
Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (God fave the
And telling me, the fovereign't thing on earth
Was pirmacity, for an inward brule;
And, that it was great pity, fo it was,
That villainous fult-petre inould be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the hermlets earth,·
Which many a good till fellow had deftroy'd
So cowardly; and, but for thefe vile guns,
Me would himfelf have been a foldier.
This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord,
I anfwer'd indirectly, as I faid;
And, I befeech you, let not his report
Come current for an accufation,
Betwixt my love and your high majesty. [lord,
Blunt. The circumstance confider'd, good my

K. Heny. Worcester, get thee gone, for I do fee Whatever Harry Percy then had faid,
Danger and difobedience in thine eye :

O, fir, your prefence is too bold and peremptory,
And majefty might never yet endure
The moody frontier 3 of a fervant brow.

You have good leave to leave us; when we need
Your ufe and counfel, we fhall fend for you.-
[Exit Worcefter.
[To Northumberland.

You were about to speak.

North. Yea, my good lord,
Thofe prifoners in your highnefs' name demanded,
Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,

1 i. e. exceed men's expectations. 2 i. e. I will from henceforth rather put on the character that becomes me, and exert the refentment of an injured king, than full continue in the inactivity and milducfs of my natural difpofition. 3 Moody is angry. Frontier was anciently used for forehead. • A fmall box for mufk or other perfumes then in fathion; the lid of which, being cut with open work, gave it its name; from poinfoner, to prick, pierce, or engrave. 5 Snuff is equivocally used for anger, and a powder taken up the note. A popinjay is a parrot.

Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower;
Whose daughter, as we hear, the earl of March
Hath lately marry'd. Shall our coffers then
Be empty'd, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treafon? and indent with fears,
When they have loft and forfeited themfelves?
No, on the barren mountains let him ftarve;
For I fhall never hold that man my friend,
Whofe tongue fhall afk me for one penny coft
To ranfom home revolted Mortimer.

Hot. Revolted Mortimer!

He never did fall off, my fovereign liege,
But by the chance of war :-To prove that true,
Needs no more but one tongue, for all thofe wounds,
Thofe mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took,
When, on the gentle Severn's fedgy bank,
In fingle oppofition, hand to hand,

He did confound the heft part of an hour
In changing hardiment with great Glendower :
Three times they breath'd, and three times did
they drink,

Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood;
Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks,
Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,
And hid his crifp 2 head in the hollow bank
Blood-ftained with thefe valiant combatants.
Never did bare and rotten policy

Colour her working with fuch deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive fo many, and all willingly :

Then let him not be flander'd with revolt.

North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew [To Worcester.

mad.

Wor. Who ftrook this heat up after I was gone?
Hot. He will, forfooth, have all my prifoners:
And when I urg'd the ranfom once again
Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale;
And on my face he turn'd an eye of death 3,
Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.

Wor. I cannot blame him; Was he not proclaim'd,
By Richard that dead is, the next of blood?

North. He was; I heard the proclamation:
And then it was, when the unhappy king
Upon his Irith expedition;
(Whofe wrongs in us God pardon !) did fet forth

From whence he, intercepted, did return
To be depos'd, and, fhortly, murdered.

Wor. And for whofe death, we in the world's
wide mouth

Live fcandaliz'd, and foully spoken of.

Hot. But, foft, I pray you; Did King Richard
[then
Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer
Heir to the crown?

North. He did; myfelf did hear it.

Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his coufin king,
That with'd him on the barren mountains starv'd.
But fhall it be, that you,-that fet the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man ;
And, for his fake, wear the detefted blot
Of murd'rous fubornation,-shall it be,
That you a world of curfes undergo ;
Being the agents, or base second means,

K. Henry. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou doft The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?

belie him,

He never did encounter with Glendower;

O, pardon me, that I defcend fo low,
To fhew the line, and the predicament,

I tell thee, he durft as well have met the devil alone, Wherein you range under this fubtle king.

As Owen Glendower for an enemy.

Art not ashamed? But, firrah, henceforth
Let me not hear you fpeak of Mortimer :
Send me your prifoners with the speediest means,
Or you fhall hear in fuch a kind from me
As will difpleafe you.-My lord Northumberland,
We licenfe your departure with your fon :—
Send us your prifoners, or you'll hear of it.

Hot. And if the devil come and roar for them,
[Exit K. Henry.

I will not fend them :--I will after straight,
And tell him fo; for I will eafe my heart,

Although it be with hazard of my head.

Shall it, for fhame, be fpoken in thefe days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility, and power,
Did 'gage them both in an unjuft behalf,-
To put down Richard, that fweet lovely rofe,
As both of you, God pardon it! have done,-
And plant this thorn, this canker 4, Bolingbroke?
And fhall it, in more shame, be further spoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off
By him, for whom thefe fhames ye underwent ?
No; yet time ferves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and reftore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again:

North. What, drunk with choler? ftay, and Revenge the jeering, and difdain'd 5 contempt,

paufe a while;

Here comes your uncle.

Re-enter Worcester.

Hot. Speak of Mortimer ?

Yes, I will speak of him; and let my foul
Want mercy, if I do not join with him:
Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins,
And shed my dear blood drop by drop i' the dust,
But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer
As high i' the air as this unthankful king,
As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke.

Of this proud king; who ftudies, day and night,
To answer all the debt he owes to you,
Even with the bloody payment of your deaths.
Therefore, I fay,-

Wor. Peace, coufin, fay no more:
And now I will unclasp a secret book,
And to your quick-conceiving discontents
I'll read you matter, deep, and dangerous;
As full of peril, and advent'rous spirit,
As to o'er-walk a current, roaring loud,
On the unfteadfast footing of a spear 6.

1 The reafon why he fays, bargain and article with fears, meaning with Mortimer, is, because he fuppofed Mortimer had wilfully betrayed his own forces to Glendower, out of fear, as appears from his next speech. 2 i. e. curled.

dog-rok. 5. e. difdainful.

3. e. an eye menacing death.

6 i. e. of a fpear laid acrofs.

4 The canker-role is the

Hot.

Hɔt. If he fall in, good night :--or fink or swim :-

Send danger from the east unto the weft,
So honour crofs it from the north to fouth,

North. At Berkley castle.

Hot. You fay true:---

Why, what a candy'd deal of courtesy

And let them grapple;--O! the blood more ftirs, This fawning greyhound then did proffer me! To rouze a lion, than to ftart a hare.

North. Imagination of fome great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.

Hat. By heaven, methinks, it were an eafy leap,
To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon;
Or dive into the bottom of the deep,

Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,
And pluck up drowned honour by the locks ;
So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear,
Without corrival, all her dignities:
But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!

Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here,
But not the form of what he should attend.--
Good coufin, give me audience for a while.
Hat. I cry you mercy.

Wor. Thofe fame noble Scots,

That are your prifoners,

Hat. I'll keep them all;

By heaven, he fhall not have a Scot of them;

No, if a Scot would fave his foul, he thall not:

I'll keep them, by this hand.

Wer. You ftart away,

And lend no ear unto my purpofes.-
Thofe prifoners you shall keep.

Het. Nay, I will; that's flat :

He faid, he would not ranfom Mortimer;
Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
But I will find him when he lies afleep,
And in his ear I'll holla-Mortimer!

Nay, I'll have a ftarling fhall be taught to speak
Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him,
To keep his anger ftill in motion.

War. Hear you, coufin; a word.

Hot. All ftudies here I folemnly defy 2,
Sve how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:
And that fame fword-and-buckler prince of
Wales 3,-

But that I think his father loves him not,
And would be glad he met with fome raifchance,
I'd have him poifon'd with a pot of ale 4.

Wor. Farewel, kinfman! I will talk to you,
When you are better temper'd to attend.

North. Why, what a wafp-ftung and impa-
tient fool

Art thou, to break into this woman's mood;
Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own?
H. Why, look you, I am whipp'd and fcourg'd
with rods,

Nettled, and ftung with pifmires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.
In Richard's time,-What do you call the place?
A plague upon't!-it is in Glofterfhire ;-
'Twas where the mad-cap duke his uncle kept
His uncle York; where I firit bow'd my knee
Unto this king of fmiles, this Bolingbroke,
When you and he came back from Ravenfpurg.

Look, when his infant fortune came to age,
Aud, gentle Harry Percy,-and, kind coufin,-
O, the devil take fuch cozeners!God forgive
Good uncle, tell your tale, for I have done. [me !--
Wor. Nay, if you have not, to't again;
We'll stay your leifure.

Hot. I have done, i' faith.

Wor. Then once more to your Scottish prifoners.
Deliver them up without their ranfom ftraight,
And make the Douglas' fon your only mean
For powers in Scotland; which,-for divers
reafons,

Which I fhall fend you written,-be affur'd,
Will eafily be granted.---You,my lord,-[To North.
Your fon in Scotland being thus employ'd,—
Shall fecretly into the bofom creep

Of that fame noble prelate, well belov'd,
The archbishop.

Hot. Of York, is't not?

Wor. True: who bears hard

His brother's death at Briftol, the lord Scroop.
I fpeak not this in eftim..tion 5,

As what I think might be, but what I know
Is ruminated, plotted, and fet down;
And only stays but to behold the face

Of that occafion that fhall bring it on.

Hot. I fmell it; upon my life, it will do well.
North. Before the game's afoot, thou ftill let'it

flip 6.

Hot. Why, it cannot chufe but be a noble plot : And then the power of Scotland, and of York, To join with Mortimer, ha?

Wor. And fo they fhell.

Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.
Wor. And 'tis no little reafon bids us fpeed,
To fave our heads by raifing of a head 7 :
For, bear ourfelves as even as we can,
The king will always think him in our debt;
And think we think ourselves unfatisfy'd,
'Till he hath found a time to pay us home.
And fee already, how he doth begin
To make us ftrangers to his looks of love.

Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him.
Wor. Coufin, farewel:- No further go in this,
Than I by letters fhall direct your courfe.
When time is ripe, (which will be faddenly)
I'll steal to Glendower, and lord Mortimer;
Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once,
(As I will fathion it) fhall happily meet,
To bear our fortunes in our own ftrong arms,
Which now we hold at much uncertainty.
North. Farewel, good brother: We fhall thrive,
I trust.

Hot. Uncle, adieu:-O, let the hours be short, 'Till fields, and blows, and groans applaud our fport

[Exeunt,

Warburton thinks, that "this is probably a paffage from fome bombaft play, and afterwards ufed as a common burlesque phrafe for attempting impoffibilities." 2 i. e. refute. 3 A turbulent fellow, who fought in taverns, or railed diforders in the fireets, was called a fwah-buckler. Alluding, probably, to the low company (drinkers of ale) with whom the prince fpent fo much of his time.

i. e. conjecture. To let flip, is to loofe the greyhound.

7 i. c. 4

body of forces. ACT

.

SCENE I.

ACT

An Inn Yard at Rochefier.

Enter a Carrier, with a lanthorn in his hand.

1 Car.

HE

EIGH ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hang'd: Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horfe not pack'd. What, oftier!

Oft. [within.] Anon, anon.

1 Gar. I pr'ythee, Tom, beat Cut's faddle, put a few flocks in the point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cefs 1.

Enter another Carrier.

II..

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thine.

2 Car. Ay, when, canft tell?-Lend me thy lanthorn, quoth a ?-marry, I'll fee thee hang'd first. come to London? Gads. Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to

I warrant thee.-Come, neighbour Mugges, we'll
2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle,
call up the gentlemen; they will along with com-
pany, for they have great charge. [Exeunt Carriers,
Enter Chamberlain.

Gads. What, ho! chamberlain !
Cham. At hand, quoth pick-purfe 5.

2 Car. Pease and beans are as dank 2 here as a the chamberlain: for thou varieft no more from Gads. That's even as fair as-at hand, quoth dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the picking of purses, than giving direction doth from bots 3 this house is turn'd upfide down, fince Ro-labouring; thou lay'st the plot how.

bin oftler dy'd.

Cham. Good morrow, mafter Gads-hill. It

1 Car. Poor fellow ! never joy'd fince the price holds current, that I told you yefternight: There's of oats rofe; it was the death of him.

2 Car. I think, this be the most villainous houfe in all London road for fleas : I am stung like a tench. I Car. Like a tench? by the mafs, there is ne'er a king in Chriftendom could be better bit than I have been fince the first cock.

2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jourden, and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach 4.

1 Car. What, oftler! come away, and be hang'd, come away.

2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two razes of ginger, to be deliver'd as far as Charingcrofs.

1 Car. 'Odfbody! the turkies in my pannier are quite ftarv'd.-What, oftler !-A plague on thee! haft thou never an eye in thy head? canít not hear? An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.-Come, and be hang'd-Haft no faith in thee?

Enter Gads-bill.

three hundred marks with him in gold: I heard
a franklin in the wild of Kent, hath brought
him tell it to one of his company, laft night at fup-
per; a kind of auditor; one that hath abundance
of charge too, God knows what. They are up
away prefently.
already, and call for eggs and butter: They will

Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with faint Nicholas' clerks 7, I'll give thee this neck.

Cham. No, I'll none of it: 1 prythee, keep thip'ft faint Nicholas as truly as a man of falfhood that for the hangman; for, I know, thou wormay.

If I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows: for, if Gads. What talk'ft thou to me of the hangman? I hang, old fir John hangs with me; and, thou know'ft, he's no ftarveling. Tut! there are other Trojans $ that thou dream'ft not of, the which, for fport fake, are content to do the profeflion fome grace; that would, if matters thould be look'd into, for their own credit fake, make all

Gads. Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock whole.
Car. I think, it be two o'clock.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lanthorn, to fee my gelding in the stable.

1 Car. Nay, foft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i' faith.

I am join'd with no foot land-rakers, mad, muftachio, purple-hu'd malt-worms: but no long-ftaff, fix-penny ftrikers; none of thefe great oneyers 10; fuch as can hold in; fuch as with nobility, and tranquillity; burgomasters, and will strike fooner than fpeak, and fpeak fooner

than

1 i. e. out of all meafure; the phrafe being taken from a cefs, tax, or fubfidy; which being by regular and moderate rates, when any thing was exorbitant, or out of meafure, it was faid to be out of all cefs. 2 i. e. wet, rotten. burton explains this by the Scotch word lech, a lake; while Mr. Steevens thinks, that the carrier 3 Bots are worms in the ftomach of a horse. 4 Warmeans to fay- fleas as big as a losch, i. e. refenabling the fith fo called, in fize. verbial expreffion often used in the writings of that time, where the cant of low converfation is s This is a propreferved. • Franklin is a little gentleman. Nicholas, or Old Nick, is a cant name for the devil. Hence he equivocally calls robbers, St. Nicho7 St. Nicholas was the patron faint of fcholars: and las' clerks. 8 Trojan, in this and other paffages of our author's plays, has a cant fignification, and perhaps was only a more creditable term for a thief. No long-ftaff. fix-penny firikers, no fellows that infeft the roads with long itaffs, and knock men down i. e. with no padders, no wanderers on foot. for fix-pence. None of thofe mad, mustachio, purple-hu'd malt-worms,red with drinking ale. o Mr. Theobald fubitituted for oneyers, moneyers, which he fays might -none of thole whofe faces are either allude to an officer of the mint, or to bankers, and his emendation was adopted by Warburton. Dr. Johnson thinks no change is necellary; "Gad's-hill tells the chamberlain that he is joined