The liberal kind offer of the king. Ver. 'Twere beft, he did. It is not poffible, it cannot be, The king fhould keep his word in loving us ; Who, ne'er fo tame, fo cherish'd, and lock'd up, A hare-brain'd Hotfpur, govern'd by a spleen: And on his father's ;-we did train him on; Ver. Deliver what you will, I'll fay, 'tis fo. Enter Hotspur, and Douglas. Hot. My uncle is return'd;-Deliver up Trimm'd up your praises with a princely tongue; Hot. Coufin, I think, thou art enamoured Better confider what you have to do, Me. My lord, here are letters for you. O gentlemen, the time of life is short; Still ending at the arrival of an hour. An if we live, we live to tread on kings; Mef. My lord, prepare; the king comes on apace. Hot. I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale, Let each man do his best: and here draw I Doug. Arm, gentlemen, to arms! for I have In the adventure of this perilous day. thrown A brave defiance in king Henry's teeth, And, nephew, challeng'd you to single fight. Hot. O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads; Now,-Efperance 5 !Percy!--and fet on.- [The trumpets found. They embrace, then excunt, The King entereth with bis power. Alarum to the Dong. Know then, my name is Douglas; 2 i. e. recital. 3 i. e. was master of. 1 Engag'd is deliver'd as an hostage. prince who played fuch pranks, and was not confined as a madman. battle on Percy's fide, and has always been the motto of the Percy family. prefent motto of the duke of Northumberland, and has been long used by his night wager heaven to earth. Hh3 4 i. c. of any 5 This was the word of Efperance en Dieu is the predeceffors. i. e. one Because Because fome tell me that thou art a king. Blunt. They tell thee true. Blunt. I was not born a yielder, thou proud P. Henry. What, is it a time to jeft and dally now ? [Throws it at him, and exit. Fal. If Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do come in my way, fo: if he do not,-if I come in his, willingly, let him make a carbonado 7 of me. I like not fuch grinning honour as Sir Walter hath : Scot;Give me life: which if I can fave, fo; if not, honour comes unlook'd for, and there's an end. [Exit. SCEN E Fight, Blunt is flain. Enter Hotspur. [thus, Doug. Here. Het. This, Douglas? no, I know this face full A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt ; Semblably furnish'd like the king himself. Dung. A fool go with thy foul, whither it goes! Ht. Up, and away : Our foldiers ftand full fairly for the day. [Exeunt. Fal. Though I could 'fcape thot-free at London, I fear the fhot here; here's no fcoring, but upon the pate.-Soft! who art thou? Sir Waiter IV. K. Henry Harry, withdraw thyfelf; thou Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him. My lord of Weftmoreland, lead him to his tent. your help: And heaven forbid, a fhallow fcratch fhould drive Lan. We breathe too long:-Come, coufin [Exeunt P. John and Weft. P. Henry. By heaven, thou haft deceiv'd me, Lancaster, Blunt ;-there's honour for you: Here's no vani-Our duty this way lies; for heaven's fake, come. ty 3!I am as hot as molten lead, and as heavy too: Heaven keep lead out of me! I need no more weight than mine own bowels.I have led my raggamuffins where they are pepper'd: there's not three of my hundred and fifty left alive; and they are-for the town's end, to beg during life. But who comes here? Enter Pince Henry. I did not think thee lord of fuch a spirit : K. Hemy. I faw him hold lord Percy at the point, P. Hen. What, ftand it thou idle here? lend Of fuch an ungrown warrior. me thy fword: Many a nobleman lies ftark and stiff Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies, Whofe deaths are unreveng'd: lend me thy fword. + heads: awhile.-Turk Gregory never did fuch deeds in I am the Douglas, fatal to all thofe arms, as I have done this day. I have paid Percy, That wear thote colours on them.--What art thou, I have made him fure 5. P. Hon. He is, indeed; and living to kill thee. I pr'ythe, lend me thy fword. Fal. Nay, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou get'i. not my fword; but take my piftol, if thou wilt. That counterfeit'ft the perfon of a king? K. Henry, The king bimfelf: who, Douglas, So many of his fhadows thou haft met, 1 i. e. in re femblance, alike. 2 A play upon fhot, as it means the part of a reckoning, and a millive weapon difcharged from artillery. 3 In our author's time, the negative, in common fpeech, was,ufed to defign, ironically, the excefs of a thing. 4 Meaning Gregory the Seventh, called Hildebrand. Tris fitious far furmounted almot invincible obftacles to deprive the emperor of bis right of invetiture of bithoss, which his prede, elfors had long attempted in vain. Fox, in his Hitory, hath made this Grigory to odiers, that I don't doubt but the good Proteliants of that time were well pleased to hear him, tau's characterized, as uniting the attributes of their two great enemies, the Turk and Pp, in one. 5. Se ha two guidications-certainly diffefed of, and fife. Falftaf pelos it in the me tente; the prince replies to it in the latter. A quibble on the word jack. 7 A carbo2. is a piece of mat cut crois-wile for the gridiron. 8 Hiltory fays, the prince was wounded in Luc cặc by an arrow. Dong. I fear thou art another counterfeit ; [They fight; the King being in danger, enter P. Henry. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou Never to hold it up again! Th: fpirits Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms: That ever faid, I hearken'd for your death. They wound my thoughts, worfe than thy fword But thought's the flave of life, and life time's fool; P. ilony. For worms, brave Percy: Fare thee Ill-weav'd ambition, how much art thou fhrunk! Is room enough :-This earth, that bears thee dead, If thou wert fenfible of courtefy, I should not make fo great a show of zeal :- [He fies Fall'aff on the ground. K. Heary, Make up to Clifton, I'll to Sir Ni-0, I should have a heavy mifs of thee, cholas Gawfey. [Exit. If I were much in love with vanity. Het. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth. name. Hot. My name is Harry Percy. P. Hny. Why, then I fee A very valiant rebel of that name. I am the prince of Wales; and think not, Percy, Hot. Nor hill it, Harry, for the hour is come And all the budding honours on thy creft Fal. Well faid, Hal! to it, Hal!--Nay, you Het. O, Harry, thou haft robb'd me of my youth: I better brook the lofs of brittle life, Than thofe proud titles thou haft wou of me; Fol. Imbowell'd! if thou imbowel me to-day, I'll give you Leave to powder me 3, and eat me too, to-morrow. 'Sblood, 'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot termagant Scot had paid me foot and lot too. Counterfeit! I lie, I am no counterfelt: To die, is to be a counterfeit; for he is but the counterfeit of a man, who hath not the life of a man: but to counterfeit dying, when a maifthereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed. The better pat of valour is-difcretion; in the which better part, I have faved my life. I am afraid of this guape wder Percy, though he be dead: How if he should counterfeit too, and rife? I am afraid, he would prove the better counterfeit. Therefore I'll make him fure: yea, and I'll fwear I kill'd him.-—-—Why may he not rife, as well as I? Nothing confutes nie but eyes, and no body fees me.Therefore, firrah, with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me. [Tak's Hotpur on his back. Re-enter Prince Henry, and John of Larmaper. P. Hoary. Come, brother John, full bravely haft thou flei'd Dr. Johnfon comments on this paTage thus: "Hotfpur in his laft moments endeavours to confole himself. The glory of the prince wounds his thoughts, but thought, being dependent on life, muit ceafe with it, and will foon be at an end. Life, on winch thought depends, is itfelf of no great value, being the fool and sport of time; of time, which, with all its dominion over fublunary things, mujt itfeif at lalt be flopped.” 2 Sec note 3, p. 461. 3 To powder is to falt. Hh4 Thy Thy maiden fword. Lan. But, foft! who have we here? Did you not tell me, this fat man was dead? faw him dead, breathlefs P. Henry. I did; and bleeding Upon the ground. Art thou alive or is it fantafy That plays upon our eye-fight? I pr'ythee, fpeak; Fal. No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if I be not Jack Falftaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy: [throwing the body down] if your father will do me any honour, fo; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either earl or duke, I can affure you. P. Henry. Why, Percy I kill'd myself, and faw thee dead. Fal. Didft thou-Lord, lord, how this world is given to lying!-I grant you, I was down, and out of breath; and fo was he: but we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewfbury clock. If I may be believ'd, fo: if not, let them, that fhould reward valour, bear the fin upon their own heads. I'll take it upon my death, I gave him this wound in the thigh: if the man were alive, and would deny it, I would make him eat a piece of my fword. Lan. This is the strangest tale that e'er I heard. Come bring your luggage nobly on your back: [Aretreat is founded. Wales, Lord John of Lancaster, Earl of Weft- If, like a chriftian, thou hadst truly borne Wor. What I have done, my fafety urg'd me to; [Exeunt Worcester and Vernon, guarded. How goes the field? K. Hen. With all my heart. P. Hen. Then, brother John of Lancaster, to you Go to the Douglas, and deliver him K. Hen. Then this remains, that we divide You, fon John, and my coufin Westmoreland, To meet Northumberland, and the prelate Scroop, Meeting the check of fuch another day: The trumpets found. Enter King Henry, Prince of Let us not leave 'till all our own be won. [Exeunt, SECOND KING HENRY Rum. I N NDUCTIO N. Enter Rumour, painted full of tongues. PEN your ears; For which of you will OP The vent of hearing, when loud Rumour fpeaks? That the blunt monster with uncounted heads, My well-known body to anatomize IV. Among my houfhold? Why is Rumour here? They bring fmooth comforts falfe, worse than true The tranfactions comprized in this Hiftory take up about nine years. The action commences with the account of Hotspur's being defeated and killed ; and closes with the death of king Henry IV. and the coronation of king Henry V, Enter |