By smiling pick-thanks and base news-mongers,
I may, for fome things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wander'd and irregular,

Find pardon on my true fubmiffion.

K. Henry. Heaven pardon thee!-yet let me wonder,
Harry,

S

blood:

At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in council thou haft rudely loft,
Which by thy younger brother is fupply'd;
And art almoft an alien to the hearts
Of all the court and princes of my
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin'd; and the foul of every man
Prophetically does fore-think thy fall.
Had I fo lavish of my prefence been,
So common-hackney'd in the
eyes of men,
So ftale and cheap to vulgar company;
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had ftill kept loyal to poffeffion;
And left me in reputelefs banishment,
A fellow of no mark, nor likelihood.
By being feldom feen, I could not stir,
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at:

That men would tell their children, This is he;
Others would fay,-Where? which is Bolingbroke?
And then I ftole all courtesy from heaven,
And drefs'd myself in fuch humility,

That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,

*pick-thanks]-officious parafites.

• rudely loft]-by ftriking Judge Gafcoign (Sir William)

I fole all courtesy, &c.]-as Promotheus did fire, whereby he formed a man, and I made myfelf a king.-I engroffed the devotion and reverence of all men to myself, and thus robbed heaven of its worship, and the king of the allegiance of his fubjects.

Loud

Loud fhouts and falutations from their mouths,
Even in the prefence of the crowned king.
Thus did I keep my perfon fresh, and new;
My prefence, like "a robe pontifical,
Ne'er feen but wonder'd at: and fo my state,
Seldom but fumptuous, fhewed like a feast;
And won, by rarenefs, fuch folemnity.

W

The skipping king, he ambled up and down
With fhallow jesters, and rash bavin wits,
Soon kindled, and foon burnt: carded his ftate;
Mingled his royalty with 2 carping fools;
Had his great name profaned with their fcorns;

a

And gave his countenance, against his name,

To laugh at gybing boys, and ftand the push
Of every beardless vain comparative :
Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity:

That, being daily swallow'd by men's eyes,
They furfeited with honey; and began
To loath the taste of sweetness, whereof a little
More than a little is by much too much.

So, when he had occafion to be seen,

He was but as the cuckow is in June,

Heard, not regarded; feen, but with such eyes,
As, fick and blunted with community,

Afford no extraordinary gaze,

a robe pontifical]-in which the Pope officiates at high mass. bavin wits]-flafhy, that, like brush-wood, burn fiercely, but are foon quenched.

Y carded his flate ;]-fet it to hazard, play'd it away as at cards.--jcarded-difcarded, threw off. 2 carping]-prattling, jocular wags.

And gave his countenance, &c.]—And condeicended, to the injury of his reputation, to engage in a trial of wit with every young coxcomb, that was vain enough to be his competitor.

Enfeoff'd himself to]-made himself the flave of.

community,]-the familiarity of the object.

VOL. III.

M m

Such

1

Such as is bent on fun-like majesty

When it shines feldom in admirig eyes:

But rather drowz'd, and hung their eye-lids down,
Slept in his face, and render'd such aspect

As cloudy men ufe to their adverfaries;

Being with his prefence glutted, gorg'd, and full

And in that very line, Harry, ftand'st thou:
For thou haft loft thy princely privilege,
• With vile participation; not an eye
But is a-weary of thy common fight,

Save mine, which hath defir'd to see thee more;
Which now doth what I would not have it do,
Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.

P. Henry. I fhall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord, Be more myself.

K. Henry. For all the world,

As thou art to this hour, was Richard then
When I from France fet foot at Ravenspurg;
And even as I was then, is Percy now.
Now by my fceptre, and my foul to boot,
* He hath more worthy intereft to the state,
Than thou, the fhadow of fucceffion :
For, of no right, nor colour like to right,
He doth fill fields with harness in the realm;
Turns head against the lion's armed jaws;
And, being no more in debt to years than thou,
Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on,
To bloody battles, and to bruifing arms.
What never-dying honour hath he got
Against renowned Douglas; whofe high deeds,

& With vile participation ;]-By herding with vile allociates. He bath more, &c.]-Hath a better claim to the kingdom from merit, than thou from the fhadowy pretenfion of lineal fucceffion. of no right,]-under no plea of right.

Whole

Whofe hot incurfions, and great name in arms,
Holds from all foldiers chief majority,
And military title capital,

Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Chrift?
Thrice hath this Hotspur Mars in fwathing cloaths,
This infant warrior, in his enterprizes
Discomfited great Douglas; ta'en him once,
Enlarged him, and made a friend of him,
To fill the mouth of deep defiance up,

And shake the peace and fafety of our throne.
And what fay you to this? Percy, Northumberland,
The archbishop's grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer,
* Capitulate against us, and are up.

But wherefore do I tell these news to thee?

Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes,
Which art my near'ft and dearest enemy?
Thou that art like enough,-through vaffal fear,
Base inclination, and the start of spleen,
To fight against me under Percy's pay,
To dog his heels, and curt'fy at his frowns,
To shew how much thou art degenerate.

P. Henry. Do not think so, you shall not find it fo: And heaven forgive them, that fo much have sway'd Your majesty's good thoughts away from me!

I will redeem all this on Percy's head,
And, in the clofing of fome glorious day,
Be bold to tell you, that I am your fon;
When I will wear a garment all of blood,
And ftain' my favours in a bloody mask,

met.

Capitulate]-Make head, combine, confederate.
deareft]-molt deadly.

"dearest foe."

HAMLET, A&I. S. z. Ham.

my favours in a bloody mask,]—Mistress's presents in a bloody hel

66

-pluck a glove,

"And wear it as a favour."

RICHARD II. Vol. III. p. 450. Percy.

favour-face.

Mm 2

Which,

Which, wash'd away, fhall fcour my fhame with it.
And that shall be the day, whene'er it lights,
That this fame child of honour and renown,
This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight,
And your unthought-of Harry, chance to meet :
For every honour fitting on his helm,

'Would they were multitudes; and on my head
My fhames redoubled! for the time will come,
That I fhall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.
Percy is but my factor, good my lord,

behalf;

To engross up glorious deeds on my
And I will call him to fo ftrict account,
That he shall render every glory up,
Yea, even the flightest worship of the time,
Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart.
This, in the name of God, I promise here:
The which if he be pleas'd I fhall perform,
I do beseech your majefty, may falve
The long-grown wounds of my intemperance:
If not, the end of life cancels all bands;
And I will die a hundred thousand deaths,
Ere break the fmalleft parcel of this vow.

K. Henry. A hundred thousand rebels die in this :Thou shalt have charge, and fovereign truft, herein.

Enter Blunt.

How now, good Blunt? thy looks are full of speed.
Blunt. So is the business that I come to speak of.
* Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath fent word,-
That Douglas, and the English rebels, met,
The eleventh of this month, at Shrewsbury:

Lord Mortimer of Scotland]—mistaken for George Dunbar earl of

March in Scotland: there was no Lord Mortimer of Scotland.

A mighty