Hot. I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.

Lady P. Would'st thou have thy head broken?
Hot. No.

Lady P. Then be still.

Hot. Neither; 'tis a woman's fault.

Lady P. Now God help thee!

Hot. To the Welsh lady's bed.
Lady P. What's that?

Hot. Peace! she sings.

A Welsh SONG sung by Lady M.

Hot. Come, Kate, I'll have your song too.
Lady P. Not mine, in good sooth.

Hot. Not yours, in good sooth! 'Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker's wife! Not you, in good sooth; and, As true as I live; and, As God shall mend me; and, As sure as day:

And giv'st such sarcenet surety for thy oaths,
As if thou never walk'dst further than Finsbury."
Swear me, Kate, like a lady, as thou art,

A good mouth-filling oath; and leave in sooth,
And such protest of pepper-gingerbread,
To velvet-guards,' and Sunday-citizens.
Come, sing.

Lady P. I will not sing.

Hot. 'Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreast teacher. An the indentures be drawn, I'll away within these two hours; and so come in when ye will. [Exit.

8 As if thou never walk'dst further than Finsbury.] Open walks and fields near Chiswell-street, London-wall, by Moorgate; the common resort of the citizens, as appears from many of our ancient comedies.

velvet-guards,] To such as have their clothes adorned with shreds of velvet, which was, I suppose, the finery of cockneys. JOHNSON.

Glend. Come, come, lord Mortimer; you are as

slow,

As hot lord Percy is on fire to go.

By this our book's drawn;' we'll but seal, and then To horse immediately.

Mort.

With all my heart.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

London. A Room in the Palace.

Enter King HENRY, Prince of Wales, and Lords. K. Hen. Lords, give us leave; the Prince of Wales and I,

Must have some conference: But be near at hand, For we shall presently have need of you.

[Exeunt Lords.

I know not whether God will have it so,
For some displeasing service I have done,
That in his secret doom, out of my blood
He'll breed revengement and a scourge for me;
But thou dost, in thy passages of life,
Make me believe,—that thou art only mark'd
For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven,
To punish my mis-treadings. Tell me else,
Could such inordinate, and low desires,

Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts,

Such barren pleasures, rude society,

As thou art match'd withal, and grafted to,
Accompany the greatness of thy blood,

And hold their level with thy princely heart?

1

our book's drawn;] i. e. our articles. Every composition, whether play, ballad, or history, was called a book, on the registers of ancient publications.

P. Hen. So please your majesty, I would, I could
Quit all offences with as clear excuse,
As well as, I am doubtless, I can purge
Myself of many I am charg'd withal:
Yet such extenuation let me beg,'

As, in reproof of many tales devis'd,-
Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,-
By smiling pick-thanks and base newsmongers,
I may, for some things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wander'd and irregular,

Find pardon on my true submission.

K. Hen. God pardon thee !-yet let me wonder,
Harry,

At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost,3
Which by thy younger brother is supplied;
And art almost an alien to the hearts
Of all the court and princes of my blood:
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin'd; and the soul of every man
Prophetically does forethink thy fall.
Had I so lavish of my presence been,
So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men,
So stale and cheap to vulgar company;
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,

2 Yet such extenuation let me beg, &c.] The construction is somewhat obscure. Let me beg so much extenuation, that, upon confutation of many false charges, I may be pardoned some that are true. I should read on reproof, instead of in reproof; but concerning Shakspeare's particles there is no certainty. JOHNSON.

3 Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost,] Our author has, I believe, here been guilty of an anachronism. The prince's removal from council in consequence of his striking the Lord Chief Justice Gascoigne, was some years after the battle of Shrewsbury, (1403). His brother, Thomas Duke of Clarence, was appointed President of the Council in his room, and he was not created a duke till the 13th year of King Henry IV. (1411). MALONE.

Had still kept loyal to possession;*
And left me in reputeless banishment,
A fellow of no mark, nor likelihood.
By being seldom seen, I could not stir,
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at:

That men would tell their children, This is he;
Others would say,-Where? which is Bolingbroke?
And then I stole all courtesy from heaven,
And dress'd myself in such humility,

That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,
Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,
Even in the presence of the crowned king.
Thus did I keep my person fresh, and new;
My presence, like a robe pontifical,

Ne'er seen, but wonder'd at: and so my state,
Seldom, but sumptuous, showed like a feast;
And won, by rareness, such solemnity.
The skipping king, he ambled up and down
With shallow jesters, and rash bavin wits,"
Soon kindled, and soon burn'd: carded his state;"
Mingled his royalty with capering fools;
Had his great name profaned with their scorns;
And gave his countenance, against his name,7
To laugh at gibing boys, and stand the push
Of every beardless vain comparative :

loyal to possession;] True to him that had then possession of the crown. JOHNSON.

rash bavin wits,] Rash, is heady, thoughtless: bavin is brushwood, which, fired, burns fiercely, but is soon out.

6 carded his state;] The metaphor seems to be taken from mingling coarse wool with fine, and carding them together, whereby the value of the latter is diminished. The King means, that Richard mingled and carded together his royal state with capering fools, &c.

And gave his countenance, against his name,] i. e. favoured and encouraged things that were contrary to his dignity and reputation."

Of every beardless vain comparative:] Comparative means here,

Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity:9

That being daily swallow'd by men's eyes,
They surfeited with honey; and began

To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little
More than a little is by much too much.
So, when he had occasion to be seen,

He was but as the cuckoo is in June,

Heard, not regarded; seen, but with such eyes,
As, sick and blunted with community,

Afford no extraordinary gaze,

Such as is bent on sun-like majesty

When it shines seldom in admiring eyes:

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

As cloudy men use to their adversaries;

Being with his presence glutted, gorg'd, and full.
And in that very line, Harry, stand'st thou:
For thou hast lost thy princely privilege,

With vile participation; not an eye

But is a-weary of thy common sight,

Save mine, which hath desir'd to see thee more;
Which now doth that I would not have it do,

Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.

P. Hen. I shall hereafter, my thrice-gracious lord,

Be more myself.

K. Hen.

For all the world,

As thou art to this hour, was Richard then
When I from France set foot at Ravenspurg;
And even as I was then, is Percy now.
Now by my scepter, and my soul to boot,
He hath more worthy interest to the state,

one who affects wit, a dealer in comparisons: what Shakspeare calls, somewhere else, a similie-monger.

9 Enfeoff'd himself to popularity:] To enfeoff is a law term, signifying to invest with possession.