And breed a kind of question in our cause:

k

For, well you know, we of the offering fide
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement

And stop all fight-holes, every loop, from whence
of reafon may pry in upon us:

The eye

This absence of your father's 'draws a curtain,
That shews the ignorant a kind of fear
Before not dreamt of.

Hot. You ftrain too far.

I, rather, of his abfence make this use ;-
It lends a luftre, and more great opinion,
A larger dare to our great enterprize,
Than if the earl were here: for men must think,
If we, without his help, can make a head
To push against the kingdom; with his help,
We shall o'erturn it topfy-turvy down.-
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.

Doug, As heart can think there is not fuch a word Spoke of in Scotland, as this term of fear.

Enter Sir Richard Vernon.

Hot. My coufin Vernon! welcome, by my foul. Ver. Pray God, my news be worth a welcome, lord. The earl of Weftmoreland, feven thousand strong, Is marching hitherwards; with him, prince John. Hot. No harm: What more?

Ver. And further, I have learn'd,

The king himself in perfon is set forth,
Or hitherwards intended fpeedily,

With strong and mighty preparation.

Hot. He fhall be welcome too. Where is his fon,

we of the offering fide, &c.]-that we, who are candidates for the public favour, muft keep clear of all objections, of what would offend upon inspection-we that are the affailants, the invaders.

draws a curtain,]-opens a prospect.

m this dream of fear.

The

The nimble-footed mad-cap prince of Wales,
And his comrades, that " daff'd the world aside,
And bid it pass ?

Ver. All furnish'd, all in arms,

• All plum'd like estridges, that with the wind
Bated like eagles having lately bath'd:
Glittering in golden coats, like images ;
As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the fun at midfummer;
Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.
I faw young Harry, with his beaver on,
His 'cuiffes on his thighs, gallantly arm'd,-
Rife from the ground like feather'd Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat,
As if an angel dropt down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,

S

And witch the world with noble horsemanship.

Hot. No more, no more; worse than the fun in March,

This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come;

They come like facrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-ey'd maid of smoky war,
All hot, and bleeding, will we offer them:
The mailed Mars fhall on his altar fit,
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire,
To hear this rich" reprifal is fo nigh,
And

n

yet not ours :-Come, let me take my horfe,

daff'd the world afide,]-put it by with fcorn.

"Canft thou fo daffe me ?"

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Vol. I. p. 510. Leon. All plum'd like eftridges, &c.]-All wearing the oftrich-feather. the badge, or cognizance of the Prince of Wales, which flutter'd in the wind, like an eagle after bathing.

Plike images;]-in the Romish churches.
His cuiffes-armour for the thighs."

t

fire-ey'd maid]-Palles.

W

reprifal]-prize.

S

a beaver up. witch]-bewitch, charm.u mailed]-armed.

Who

Who is to bear me, like a thunder-bolt,

Against the bofom of the prince of Wales ::

Harry to Harry fhall, hot horfe to horse

Meet, and ne'er part, 'till one drop down a corfe.
O, that Glendower were come!

Ver. There is more news:

I learn'd in Worcester, as I rode along,
He cannot draw his power this fourteen days.

Doug. That's the worft tidings that I hear of yet.
Wor. Ay, by my faith, that bears a frofty found,

Hot. What may the king's whole battle reach unto ?j Ver. To thirty thousand.

Hot. Forty let it be ;

My father and Glendower being both away,

The power
Come, let us take a mufter fpeedily:

of us may serve so great a day.

Dooms-day is near; die all, die merrily.

Doug. Talk not of dying; I am out of fear
Of death, or death's hand, for this one half year...

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

A publick Road near Coventry.

Enter Falstaff, and Bardolph.

Fal. Bardolph, get thee before to Coventry; fill me a bottle of fack: our foldiers fhall march through; we'll to Sutton-Colfield to-night.

Bard. Will you give me money, captain?

Fal. Lay out, lay out.

Bard. This bottle makes an angel.

* Harry to Harry fhall,]-be oppofed.

Y battle]-body of forces.

VOL. III.

N n

Fal

Fal. An it do, take it for thy labour; an if it make twenty, take them all, I'll answer the coinage. Bid my lieutenant Peto meet me at the town's end.

a

Bard. I will, captain: farewell.

[Exit.

Fal. If I be not afham'd of my foldiers, I am a fouc'd gurnet. I have mif- us'd the king's prefs damnably. I have got, in exchange of a hundred and fifty foldiers, three hundred and odd pounds. I prefs me none but good houfholders, yeomen's fons: enquire me out contracted batchelors, fuch as had been afk'd twice on the bans ; fuch a commodity of warm flaves, as had as lief hear the devil as a drum; fuch as fear the report of a caliver, worse than a struck fowl, or a hurt wild-duck. I preft me none but fuch toafts and butter, with hearts in their bellies no bigger than pins' heads, and they have bought out their fervices; and now my whole charge confifts of ancients, corporals, lieutenants, gentlemen of companies, flaves as ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth, where the glutton's dogs licked his fores: and fuch as, indeed, were never foldiers; but discarded unjust servingmen, younger fons of younger brothers, revolted tapfters, and oftlers trade-fallen; the cankers of a calm world, and a long peace; ten times more difhonourably ragged, than an old fac'd ancient: and fuch have I, to fill up the rooms of them that have bought out their fervices; that you would think, I had a hundred and fifty tatter'd prodigals, lately come from fwine-keeping, from eating draff and husks. A mad fellow met me on the way, and told

gurnet.]-a fish found in Devonshire.

a caliver, culverin, gun.

↳ ftruck fowl,]—" Alas poor burt few!!"

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Vol. I. p. 458. Bent. -forel-young deer—ftruck foole.

an old fac'd ancient :]—a standard mended with materials of a different colour,

"To face the garment of rebellion

"With fome fine colour."
K. HENRY, p. 556.

me,

d

me, I had unloaded all the gibbets, and prefs'd the dead bodies. No eye hath feen fuch fcare-crows. I'll not march through Coventry with them, that's flat :-Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves on; for, indeed, I had the most of them out of prison. There's but a fhirt and a half in all my company and the half-fhirt is two napkins, tack'd together, and thrown over the fhoulders like a herald's coat without fleeves; and the fhirt, to fay the truth, ftolen from my hoft of faint Albans, or the red-nofe inn-keeper of Daintry.. But that's all one; they'll find linen enough on every hedge.

Enter Prince Henry, and Weftmoreland.

P. Henry. How now, blown Jack? how now, quilt? Fal. What, Hal? How now, mad wag? what a devil dost thou in Warwickshire?—My good lord of Westmoreland, I cry you mercy; I thought, your honour had already been at Shrewsbury.

Weft. 'Faith, fir John, 'tis more than time that I were there, and you too; but my powers are there already : The king, I can tell you, looks for us all; we must away all to-night.

Fal. Tut, never fear me; I am as vigilant, as a cat to fteal cream.

P. Henry. I think, to steal cream indeed; for thy theft hath already made thee butter. But tell me, Jack, Whose fellows are thefe that come after?

Fal. Mine, Hal, mine.

P. Henry. I did never fee fuch pitiful rascals.

Fal. Tut, tut good enough to tofs; food for powder, food for powder; they'll fill a pit, as well as better: tush, man, mortal men, mortal men.

Weft. Ay, but, fir John, methinks, they are exceeding poor and bare; too beggarly.

dgyves]-fetters.

Nn 2

e to tofs;1-with a pike. Fal.