P. Henry. Poins. Anon, anon, fir.

Fal. Ha! a baftard son of the king's ?—and art not thou Poins, his brother?

P. Henry. Why, thou globe of finful continents, what a life doft thou lead?

Fal. A better than thou; I am a gentleman, thou art a drawer.

P. Henry. Very true, fir; and I come to draw you out by the ears.

Hoft. O, the Lord preferve thy good grace! welcome to London.-Now heaven blefs that sweet face of thine! what, are you come from Wales?

Fal. Thou whorefon mad compound of majefty,by this light flesh and corrupt blood, thou art wel[Leaning his hand upon Doll. Dol. How! you fat fool, I fcorn you.

come.

Poins. My lord, he will drive you out of your revenge, and turn all to a merriment, if you take not the heat.

6

P. Henry. You whorefon candle-mine, you, how vilely did you speak of me even now, before this honeft, virtuous, civil gentlewoman?

Hoft. 'Bleffing o' your good heart! and fo fhe is, by my troth.

Fal. Didft thou hear me?

P. Henry. Yes; and you knew me, as you did when you ran away by Gads-hill: you knew, I was at your back; and spoke it on purpose, to try my patience.

Fal. No, no, no; not fo; I did not think, thou waft within hearing.

P. Henry. I fhall drive you then to confefs the wilful abuse; and then I know how to handle you.

5 Ha! a baftard &c.] The improbability of this fcene is fcarcely balanced by the humour. JOHNSON.

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candle-mine,] Thou inexhaustible magazine of tallow. JOHNSON.

Fal

Fal. No abufe, Hal, on mine honour; no abuse. P. Henry. No! to difpraise me; and call mepantler, and bread-chipper, and I know not what ? Fal. No abufe, Hal:

Poins. No abuse!

Fal. No abufe, Ned, in the world; honeft Ned, none. I difprais'd him before the wicked, that the wicked might not fall in love with him :-in which doing, I have done the part of a careful friend, and a true fubject, and thy father is to give me thanks for it. No abuse, Hal;-none, Ned, none;-no, boys,

none.

P. Henry. See now, whether pure fear, and entire cowardice, doth not make thee wrong this virtuous gentlewoman to clofe with us? Is the of the wicked? Is thine hoftess here of the wicked? Or is the boy of the wicked? or honeft Bardolph, whose zeal burns in his nofe, of the wicked?

Poins. Anfwer, thou dead elm, answer.

Fal. The fiend hath prick'd down Bardolph irrecoverable; and his face is Lucifer's privy-kitchen, where he doth nothing but roaft malt-worms. For the boy, there is a good angel about him; but the devil out-bids him too.

P. Henry. For the women,

Fal. For one of them,-fhe is in hell already, 7 and burns, poor foul! For the other,-I owe her money; and whether the be damn'd for that, I know not. Hoft. No, I warrant you.

Fal. No, I think thou art not; I think, thou art quit for that: Marry, there is another indictment upon thee, for suffering flesh to be eaten in thy house, contrary to the law; for the which, I think, thou wilt howl.

1 and burns, poor foul!] This is fir T. Hanmer's reading. Undoubtedly right. The other editions had, she is in hell already, and burns poor fouls. The venereal disease was called in these times the brennynge or burning. JOHNSON.

Hoft.

Hoft. All victuallers do fo: What's a joint of mutton or two, in a whole Lent?

P. Henry. You, gentlewoman,
Dol. What fays your grace?

Fal. His grace fays that which his flesh rebels againft.

Hoft. Who knocks fo loud at door? look to the door there, Francis.

Enter Peto.

P. Henry. Peto, how now? what news?
Peto. The king your father is at Westminster;
And there are twenty weak and wearied pofts,
Come from the north: and, as I came along,
I met, and overtook, a dozen captains,
Bare-headed, sweating, knocking at the taverns,
And afking every one for fir John Falstaff.

P. Henry. By heaven, Poins, I feel me much to blame,

So idly to profane the precious time;

When tempeft of commotion, like the fouth
Borne with black vapour, doth begin to melt,
And drop upon our bare unarmed heads.

Give me my fword, and cloak :-Falstaff, good night. [Exeunt Prince, and Poins. Fal. Now comes in the fweeteft morfel of the night, and we must hence, and leave it unpick'd. More

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-all victuallers do fo:] The brothels were formerly skreened under pretext of being victualling houfes and taverns.

So, in Webster and Rowley's Cure for a Cuckold:

"This informer comes into Turnbull Street to a victualling boufe, and there falls in league with a wench, &c.", Now Sir this fellow, in revenge, informs against the bawd that kept the houfe, &c."

Again, in Gascoigne's Glafs of Government, 1575:

66 -at a houfe with a red lattice you fhall find an old bawa called Pandarina, and a young damfel called Lamia." Barrett in his Alvearie, 1580, defines a victualling houfe thus: "A tavern where meate is eaten out of due feafon." STEEVENS.

knocking at the door?-How now? what's the

matter?

Bard. You must away to court, fir, presently; a dozen captains ftay at door for you.

Fal. Pay the muficians, firrah [To the Page].-Farewel, hoftefs;-farewel, Doll.-You fee, my good wenches, how men of merit are fought after: the undeserver may sleep, when the man of action is call'd on. Farewel, good wenches :-If I be not fent away poft,. I will fee you again ere I go.

Dol. I cannot fpeak;-If my heart be not ready to burft:-Well, fweet Jack, have a care of thyself.

Fal. Farewel, Farewel. [Exeunt Fal. and Bard. Hoft. Well, fare thee well: I have known thee these twenty nine years, come pefcod-time; but an honefter, and truer-hearted man,-Well, fare thee well. Bard. [within] Mistress Tear-fheet,

Hoft. What's the matter?

Bard. Bid miftrefs Tear-fheet come to my master. Hoft. O run, Doll, run; run, good Doll. [Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I.

The palace.

Enter king Henry in his night-gown, with a Page.

K. Henry. Go, call the earls of Surrey and of War

wick;

But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read thefe letters,

90 run, Doll, run; run good Doll.] Thus the folio. The quarto reads, O run, Doll run, run: Good Doll, come: he comes blubber'd: Yea, will you come, Doll? STEEVENS.

• This first scene is not in my copy of the first edition. JOHNSON. There are two copies of the fame date; and in one of these, the fcene has been added. STEEVENS.

And

And well confider of them: Make good speed.
[Exit Page.

How many thousand of my pooreft fubjects
Are at this hour afleep!-O fleep, O gentle fleep,
Nature's foft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eye-lids down,
And steep my fenfes in forgetfulness?

Why rather, fleep, ly'ft thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneafy pallets ftretching thee,

And hufh'd with buzzing night-flies to thy flumber;
Than in the perfum'd chambers of the great,

Under the canopies of coftly state,

And lull'd with founds of sweetest melody ?
O thou dull god, why ly'ft thou with the vile,
In loathfome beds; and leav'ft the kingly couch,
A watch-cafe, or a common larum bell?
Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast
Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious furge;
And in the vifitation of the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top,
Curling their monftrous heads, and hanging them
With deaf'ning clamours in the flippery clouds,
That,

A watch-cafe, &c.] This alludes to the watchman fet in garrifon-towns upon fome eminence attending upon an alarum-bell, which he was to ring out in case of fire, or any approaching danger. He had a cafe or box to fhelter him from the weather, but at his utmost peril he was not to fleep whilft he was upon duty. These alarum-bells are mentioned in several other places of Shakepeare. HANMER.

3ippery clouds,] The modern editors read browds. The old сору, in the flippery clouds; but I know not what advantage is gained by the alteration, for browds had anciently the fame meaning as clouds. I could bring many inftances of this ufe of the word from Drayton. So in his Miracles of Mofes:

"And the fterne thunder from the airy browds,
"To the fad world, in fear and horror fpake."

Again, in Ben Jonfon's Poem on Inigo Jones:
"And peering forth of Iris in the browds."

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