West. My liege, this haste was hot in question,
And many limits of the charge set down
palace. But yesternight when, all athwart, there came
A post from Wales, loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was,-that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,
And a thousand of his people butchered:
Upon whose dead corps there was such misuse,
Such beastly, shameless transformation,
By those Welshwomen done, as may not be,
Without much shame, re-told or spoken of.
K. Hen. It seems then, that the tidings of this
broil

To beaten Douglas; and the earls of Athol,
Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith.
And is not this an honourable spoil?
A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not?
West. In faith,

It is a conquest for a prince to boast of.

Fal. Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us, that are squires of the night's body, be called thieves of the day's beauty; let us beDiana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon: And let men say, we be men of good government: being govern'd as the sea is,

K. Hen, Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under

mak'st me sin

In envy that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father of so blest a son:

A son who is the theme of honour's tongue;
Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant;
Who is sweet fortune's minion, and her pride:
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonour stain the brow
Of my young Harry. O, that it could be prov'd,
That some night-tripping fairy had exchang'd
In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,
And call'd mine-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 prisoners,
Which he in this adventure hath surpris'd,"
To his own use he keeps; and sends me word,
I shall have none but Mordake earl of Fife.

West. This is his uncle's teaching, this is Wor-
cester,

Malevolent to you in all aspects;'

Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up
The crest of youth against your dignity.

K. Hen. But I have sent for him to answer this;
And, for this cause, a while we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.

Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we
Will hold at Windsor, so inform the lords :
But come yourself with speed to us again;
For more is to be said, and to be done,
Than out of anger can be uttered.
West. I will, my liege.

whose countenance we-steal.

P. Hen. Thou say'st well; and it holds well too: for the fortune of us, that are the moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the sea; being governed as the sea is, by the moon. As, for proof, now: A purse of gold most resolutely snatch'd on Monday night, and most dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning; got with swearing-lay by ; and spent with crying-bring in: now, in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder; and, by and by, in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows.

Fal. By the Lord, thou say'st true, lad. And is not my hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench? P. Hen. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance ?

Fal. How now, how now, mad wag? what, in thy quips, and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?

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

Fal. Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning, many a time and oft.

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

P. Hen. Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch; and, where it would not, I have used my credit.

Fal. Yea, and so used it, that were it not here apparent that thou art heir apparent,-But, I pr'ythee, sweet wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when thou art king? and resolution thus fobbed as it is, with the rusty curb of old the father antic the law? Do not thou, when thou art

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.-The same. Another room in
palace.
Enter Henry Prince of Wales, and king, hang a thief.
Falstaff.

P. Hen. No; thou shalt.

Fal. Shall I? O rare! By the lord I'll be a brave judge.

P. Hen. Thou judgest false already; I mean, thou shalt have the hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman.

Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour, as well as waiting in the court, I

Fal. Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad? P. Hen. Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou would'st truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of can tell you. sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-colour'd taffeta; I see no reason, why thou should'st be so superfluous to demand the time of the day.

P. Hen. For obtaining of suits?

Fal. Yea, for obtaining of suits: whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib' cat, or a lugged bear. P. Hen. Or an old lion; or a lover's lute. Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. P. Hen. What sayest thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch?

Fal. Indeed, you come near me, now, Hal: for we, that take purses, go by the moon and seven stars; and not by Phoebus,--he, that wandering Fal. Thou hast the most unsavoury similes; and knight so fair. And, I pray thee, sweet wag, art, indeed, the most comparative, rascalliest,when thou art king,-as, God save thy grace sweet young prince,-But, Hal, I pr'ythee, trouble (majesty, I should say; for grace thou wilt have me no more with vanity. I would to God, thou none,)

P. Hen. What, none?

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

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

(1) Points. (2) Trim, as birds clean their feathers. (3) Favourites. (4) Stand still. (5) More wine. (6) The dress of sheriffs' officers,

and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought: An old lord of the council rated me the other day in the street about you, sir; but I marked him not and yet he talked very wisely; but I regarded him not: and yet he talked wisely, and in the street too.

(7) Gib cat, should be lib cat,-a Scotch term at this day for a gelded cat, (8) Croak of a frog,

FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV.

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

387

Fal. Well, may'st thou have the spirit of perFal. O thou hast damnable iteration: and art, thou speakest may move, and what he hears may suasion, and he the ears of profiting, that what indeed, able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done be believed, that the true prince may (for recreamuch harm upon me, Hal,-God forgive thee for tion sake) prove a false thief; for the poor abuses it! Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and of the time want countenance. Farewell: You now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better shall find me in Eastcheap. than one of the wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give it over; by the Lord, an I do not, I am a villain; I'll be damned for never a king's son in Christendom.

P. Hen. Where shall we take a purse to-morrow, Jack?

Fal. Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an do not, call me villain, and baffle me.

P. Hen. I see a good amendment of life in thee; from praying, to purse-taking.

Enter Poins, at a distance.

I

All-hallown summer!"
P. Hen. Farewell, thou latter spring! Farewell,
Poins. Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride
[Exit Falstaf
cannot manage alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto,
with us to-morrow; I have a jest to execute, that I
ready way-laid; yourself, and I, will not be there:
and Gadshill, shall rob those men that we have al-
rob them, cut this head from my shoulders.
and when they have the booty, if you and I do not

P. Hen. But how shall we part with them in setting forth?

Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no them, and appoint them a place of meeting, wherePoins. Why, we will set forth before or after sin for a man to labour in his vocation. Poins!-in it is at our pleasure to fail; and then will they Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match.3 adventure upon the exploit themselves: which O, if men were to be saved by merit, what hole in they shall have no sooner achieved, but we'll set hell were hot enough for him? This is the most upon them. omnipotent villain, that ever cried, Stand, to a

true man.

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

8

P. Hen. Good morrow, Ned. Poins. Good morrow, sweet Hal.-What says monsieur Remorse? What says sir John Sack-tie them in the wood; our visors we will change, Poins. Tut! our horses they shall not see, I'll and-Sugar? Jack, how agrees the devil and thee after we leave them; and, sirrah, I have cases of about thy soul, that thou soldest him on Good-friday buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted outlast, for a cup of Madeira, and a cold capon's leg? ward garments. P. Hen. Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall 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. Else he had been damned for cozening the devil.

P. Hen. But, I doubt, they will be too hard for us. as true-bred cowards as ever turned back; and Poins. Well, for two of them, I know them to be for the third, if he fight longer than he sees reason, the incomprehensible lies that this same fat rogue I'll forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be, at least, he fought with; what wards, what blows, will tell us, when we meet at supper: how thirty, what extremities he endured; and, in the reproof of this, lies the jest.

Poins. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning, by four o'clock, early at Gadshill: There are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purses: I have visors' for you all, you have horses for your-things necessary, and meet me to-morrow night in P. Hen. Well, I'll go with thee: provide us all selves; Gadshill lies to-night in Rochester; I have Eastcheap, there I'll sup. Farewell. bespoke supper to-morrow night in Eastcheap; we may do it as secure as sleep: If you will go, will stuff your purses full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home, and be hanged.

Fal. Hear me, 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?

P. Hen. Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith. Fal. There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee, nor thou camest not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings. P. Hen. Well, then, once in my days I'll be mad-cap.

Fal. Why, that's well said.

a

P. Hen. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home. Fal. By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou art king.

P. Hen. I care not.

Poins. Farewell, my lord.

The unyok'd humour of your idleness:
P. Hen. I know you all, and will a while uphold
[Exit Poins.
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
Yet herein will I imitate the sun;
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
If all the year were playing holidays,
Of vapours, that did seem to strangle him.
To sport would be as tedious as to work;
And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come,
So, when this loose behaviour I throw off,
By how much better than my word I am,
And pay the debt I never promised,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes; 10
And, like bright metal on a sullen' ground,
Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes,
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,

Poins. Sir John, I pr'ythee, leave the prince and
me alone; I will lay him down such reasons for Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
this adventure, that he shall go.

(1) Citation of holy texts.

(2) Treat me with ignominy.

(3) Made an appointment.

(5) Masks.

(4) Honest.

(6) The value of a coin called real or royal,

I'll so offend, to make offence a skill:
Redeeming time, when men think least I will. [Ex.

(7) Fine weather at All-hallown-tide (i. e. All Saints, Nov. 1st) is called an All-hallown summer. (8) Occasion.

(9) Confutation, (10) Expectations, (11) Dull

SCENE III-The same. Another room in the Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, palace. Enter King Henry, Northumberland, Which many a good tall' fellow had destroy'd Worcester, Hotspur, Sir Walter Blunt, and So cowardly; and, but for these vile guns, others. He would himself have been a soldier.

K. Hen. My blood hath been too cold and tem- This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord,

perate,

Unapt to stir at these indignities,

And you have found me; for, accordingly,
You tread upon my patience: but, be sure,
I will from henceforth rather be myself,
Mighty, and to be fear'd, than my condition;1
Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down,
And therefore lost that title of respect,
Which the proud soul ne'er pays, but to the proud.
Wor. Our house, my sovereign liege, little de-

serves

The scourge of greatness to be used on it;
And that same greatness too which our own hands
Have holp to make so portly.

North. My lord,

K. Hen. Worcester, get thee gone, for I see
danger

And disobedience in thine eye: O, sir,
Your presence is too bold and peremptory,
And majesty might never yet endure
The moody frontier of a servant brow.
You have good leave to leave us; when we need
Your use and counsel, we shall send for you.-
[Exit Worcester.
[To North.
Yea, my good lord.
Those prisoners in your highness' name demanded,
Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,
Were, as he says, not with such strength denied
As is deliver'd to your majesty:
Either envy, therefore, or misprision
Is guilty of this fault, and not my son.

You were about to speak.
North.

Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners.
But, I remember, when the fight was done,
When I was dry with rage, and extreme toil,
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd,
Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin, new reap'd,
Show'd like a stubble-land at harvest-home;
He was perfumed like a milliner;

And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon
He gave his nose, and took't away again;-
Who, therewith angry, when it next came there,
Took it in snuff:-and still he smil'd, and talk'd';
And, as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,
He call'd them-untaught knaves, unmannerly,
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holiday and lady terms

He question'd me; among the rest demanded
My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf.

I then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold,

To be so pester'd with a popinjay,
Out of my grief and my impatience,
Answer'd neglectingly, I know not what;
He should, or he should not ;-for he made me mad,
To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman,
Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (God save the
mark!)

And telling me, the sovereign'st thing on earth
Was parmaceti, for an inward bruise;

And that it was great pity, so it was,

That villanous salt-petre should be digg'd

I answer'd indirectly, as I said;
And, I beseech you, let not his report
Come current for an accusation,
Betwixt my love and your high majesty.
Blunt. The circumstance consider'd, good my
lord,

To such a person and in such a place,
Whatever Harry Percy then had said,
At such a time, with all the rest re-told,
May reasonably die, and never rise
To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he said, so he unsay it now.

K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners;
But with proviso, and exception,-

That we, at our own charge, shall ransom straight
His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer;
Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd
The lives of those that he did lead to fight
Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower;
Whose daughter, as we hear, the earl of March
Hath lately married. Shall our coffers then
Be emptied, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treason? and indents with fears,
When they have lost and forfeited themselves?
No, on the barren mountains let him starve;
For I shall never hold that man my friend,
Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost
To ransom home revolted Mortimer.
Hot. Revolted Mortimer!

He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,
But by the chance of war ;-To prove that true,
Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds,
Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took,
When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank,
In single opposition, hand to hand,

He did confound the best 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 crisp head in the hollow bank
Blood-stained with these valiant combatants.
Never did bare and rotten policy

Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive so many, and all willingly:
Then let him not be slander'd with revolt.
K. Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost
belie him,

He never did encounter with Glendower;
I tell thee,

e durst as well have met the devil alone,

As Owen Glendower for an enemy.
Art not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth
Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer:
Or you shall hear in such a kind from me
As will displease you.-My lord Northumberland,
We license your departure with your son:
Send us your prisoners, or you'll hear of it.

[Exeunt King Henry, Blunt, and train.
Hot. And if the devil ccme and roar for them,
I will not send them:-I will after straight,

(5) Parrot. (6) Pain,
(8) Sign an indenture.
(10) Hardiness,

(7) Brave.
(9) Expend.
(11) Curled,

And tell him so; for I will ease my heart,
Although it be with hazard of my head.

And now I will unclasp a secret book,
And to your quick-conceiving discontents

North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and I'll read you matter deep and dangerous;

pause a while;

Here comes your uncle.

Re-enter Worcester.

Hot.
Speak of Mortimer?
Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul
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.
North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew
[To Worcester.
Wor. Who struck this heat up, after I was gone?
Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners;
And when I urg'd the ransom once again
Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale;
And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,
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?

mad.

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

From whence he, intercepted, did return
To be depos'd, and shortly, murdered.
Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's
wide mouth

Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of.
Hot. But, soft, I pray you: Did king Richard

then

Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer
Heir to the crown?
North.
He did myself did hear it.
Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king,
That wish'd him on the barren mountains starv'd.
But shall it be, that you,-that set the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man;
And, for his sake, wear the detested blot
Of murd❜rous subornation,-shall it be,
That you a world of curses undergo;
Being the agents, or base second means,
The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?
O, pardon me, that I descend so low,
To show the line, and the predicament,
Wherein you range under this subtle king.-
Shall it, for shame, be spoken in these days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility and power
Did gage them both in an unjust behalf,-
As both of you, God pardon it! have done,-
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker,2 Bolingbroke?
And shall it, in more shame, be farther spoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off
By him, for whom these shames ye underwent ?
No; yet time serves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again :
Revenge the jeering, and disdain'd3 contempt,

As full of peril, and advent'rous spirit,
As to o'er-walk a current, roaring loud,
On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.

Hot. If he fall in, good night :-or sink or swim
Send danger from the east unto the west,
So honour cross it from the north to south,
And let them grapple ;-O! the blood more stirs,
To rouse a lion, than to start a hare.

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

Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy 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,4 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 cousin, give me audience for a while.
Hot. I cry you mercy.
Wor.
Those same noble Scots,
That are your prisoners,——
Hot.

I'll keep them all;
By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them:
No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not:
I'll keep them, by this hand.
Wor.
You start away,
And lend no ear unto my purposes.-
Those prisoners you shall keep.

Hot.

Nay, I will; that's flat:-
He said, he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear, I'll holla-Mortimer!
Nay,
I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him,
To keep his anger still in motion.

Wor.

Cousin, a word.

Hear you,

Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy,"
Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:
And that same sword-and-buckler prince of
Wales,-

But that I think his father loves him not,
And would be glad he met with some mischance,
I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale.

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

North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient
fool

Art thou, to break into this woman's mood;"
Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own?

Hot. Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourg'd
with rods.

Nettled, and stung with pismires, 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 Gloucestershire ;-
'Twas where the mad-cap duke his uncle kept;

Of this proud king; who studies, day and night,His uncle York ;-where I first bowed my knee

To answer all the debt he owes to you,

Even with the bloody payment of your deaths.

Therefore, I say,

Wor.

Peace, cousin, say no more:

(2) The dog-rose.

(4) A rival. (5) Friendship.

(6) Shapes created by his imagination.

Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke,

When you and he came back from Ravenspurg.
North. At Berkley castle.

Hot. You say truc :

(7) Refuse.

(8) The term for a blustering quarrelsome fellow. (9 Mind, humour.