KING Henry the Fourth. Henry, Prince of Wales, } Sons to the King. Worcester. Northumberland. Archbishop of York. Owen Glendower. Sir Walter Blunt,. Gads-hill. Peto. Bardolph. Lady Percy, Wife to Hot-fpur. Lady Mortimer, Daughter to Glendower, and Wife to Mortimer. Hoftefs Quickly. Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawers, two Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants. The perfons of the drama were first collected by Rowe. SCENE, ENGLAN D. Of this play the Editions are, III. 1608, for Matthew Law. V. 1622, T. P. fold by Mat the Law. All in quarto. VIII. Folio 1632, &c. HENRY IV. ACT I. SCENE 1. The Court in London. Enter King Henry, Lord John of Lancaster, Earl of Westmorland, and others. King HENRY. O fhaken as we are, fo wan with Care, 2 Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, And breathe short-winded accents of new Broils To be commenc'd in ftronds a-far remote. The 1ft Part of Henry IV.] The Tranfactions, contained in this historical Drama, are comprized within the Period of about 10 Months: For the Action commences with the News brought of Hofpur having defeated the Scots under Archibald Earl Dowglas at Holmedon, (or Halidownhill) which Battle was fought on Holyrood day, (the 14th of September,) 1402 and it clofes with the Defeat and Death of Hur at Shrewfoury; which Engagement happened on Saturday the 21ft of July (the Eve of St. Mary Magdalen) in the Year 1403. THEOBALD. No Shakespeare has apparently defigned a regular connection of thefe dramatick hiftories from Richard the f.cond to Henry the fifth. King Henry, at the end of Richard the fecond, declares his purpose to visit the Holy Land, which he refumes in this fpecch. The complaint made by king Henry in the laft act of Richerd the fecond, 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 Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, Lind No more the thirsty entrance of this Soil & Shall damp her lips with her own children's blood; And breathe fport-winded accents-] That is, Let us foften peace to reft a while without difturbance, that she may recover breath to propofe new wars. 3 No more the thirsty entrance of this Soil Shall damp her lips with her own children's blood:] This nonfense should be read, Shall TREMPE, i. e. moiften, and refers to thirsty, in the preceding line: : Trempe, from the French, tremper, properly fignifies the moiftnefs made by rain. WAR B. That thefe lines are abfurd is foon discovered, but how this nonfenfe will be made fenfe is not so easily told; furely not by reading trempe, for what means he, that fays, the thirty entrance of this Soil shall no more trempe her lips with her children's blood, more than he that fays it fhall not damp her lips? To fuppofe the entrance of the foil to mean the entrance of a King upon Dominion, and King Henry to predict that Kings hall enter hereafter without bloodshed, is to give words fuch a latitude of meaning, that no nonfenfe can want a congruous interpretation. The antient copies neither have trempe nor damp; the firft 4to of 1599, that of 1622, the Folio of 1623, and the 4to of 1639, all read, Which, No more the thirsty entrance of this foil Shall daube her lips with her own children's blood. The Folios of 1632 and 1664 read, by an apparent errour of the prefs, Shall damb her lips, from which the later editors have idly adopted damp. The old reading helps the editor no better than the new, nor can I fatisfactorily reform the paffage. I think that thirfly entrance must be wrong, yet know not what to offer. We may read, but not very elegantly, No more the thirty entrails of this foil Shall daubed be with her own children's blood. The relative her, is inaccurately used in both readings; but to regard fenfe more than grammar is familiar to our authour. We may fuppofe a verse or two loit between these two lines. This is a cheap way of palliating an editor's inability; but I believe fuch omiffions are more frequent in Shakespeare than is commonly imagined. 4 Thefe opp fed eyes, ] The fimilitude is beautiful: But, what are eges meeting in inteftine shocks, and marching all one way? The true reading is, FILES; which appears not only from the integrity of the metaphor, well befeeming York. Speak it in French, King; fay, Pardonnez moy. Dutch. Doft thou teach pardon, pardon to destroy? Ah, my fow'r husband, my hard-hearted lord, That fet'st the word it felf, against the word; Speak pardon, as 'tis current in our land, The chopping French we do not understand. Thine eye begins to fpeak, fet thy tongue there, Or, in thy piteous heart, plant thou thine ear; That, hearing how our plaints and prayers do pierce, Pity may move thee pardon to rehearse. Boling. With all my heart I pardon him. Dutch. A God on earth thou art. Boling. But for our trufty Brother-in-law, the With all the reft of that conforted crew, Your mother well hath pray'd, and prove you true. Dutch. Come, my old fon; I pray heav'n make [Exeunt. 8 thee new. Pardonnez mey.] That is, excufe me, a phrafe ufed when any thing is civilly denied. This whole paffage is fuch as I could well wifh away. 9 But for our trufty Brother-in law-the Abbot-] The Abbot of Westminster was an Ec VOL. IV. H SCENE |