He would unhorse the lustiest challenger. [both 10 York. Peruse this writing here, and thou shalt The treason that my haste forbids me show. [past: Aum. Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise I do repent me; read not my name there, My heart is not confederate with my hand. York.'Twas, villain,ere thy hand did set it down.-I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king; Fear, and not love, begets his penitence: Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove A serpent that will sting thee to the heart. Boling.Oheinous, strong, and bold conspiracy!— O loyal father of a treacherous son! Thou sheer', immaculate, and silver fountain, 45 Thy overflow of good converts to bad2; And thy abundant goodness shall excuse This deadly blot in thy digressing' son. York. So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd; And he shall spend mine honour with his shame, As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold. Mine honour lives when his dishonour dies, Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies: Thou kill'st me in his life; giving him breath, The traitor lives, the true man's put to death. let me in. [Dutchess within: Dutch. What ho, my liege! for heaven's sake, Speak with me, pity me, open the door; Boting. Our scene is alter'd, from a serious thing, Boling. Rise up, good aunt. [Kneels. Dutch. Not yet, I thee beseech: For ever will I kneel upon my knees, And never see day that the happy sees, Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy, By pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy. Aum. Unto my mother's prayers, I bend my knee. [Kneels. York. Against them both, my true joints bended be. [Kneels. I may'st thou thrive, if thou grant any grace! He prays but faintly, and would be deny'd; 50 We pray with heart, and soul, and all beside: His weary joints would gladly rise, I know; Ourknees shall kneel 'till to the ground they grow: His prayers are full of false hypocrisy ; Ours, of true zeal and deep integrity. 55 Our prayers do out-pray his; then let them have Dutch. Nay, do not say-stand up; But, pardon, first; and afterwards, stand up; From whence this stream through muddy passages 60 And if I were thy nurse, thy tongue to teach, Hath held his current, and defil'd himself! 2 Pardon-should be the first word of thy speech. 1 Sheer is pellucid, clear. That is, "The overflow of good in thee is turned to bad in thy son." To digress is to deviate from what is right and regular. Alluding to an interlude well known in our author's time. I never I never long'd to hear a word 'till now: Dutch. Dost thou teach pardon pardon to destroy? Pardon is all the suit I have in hand. Boling. I pardon him, as heaven shall pardon me. Boling. With all my heart I pardon him. And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it ;-Yet I'll hammer it out. As thus,-Come, little ones; and then again,- Dutch. A god on earth thou art. [the abbot', With nothing shall be pleas'd, 'till he be eas'd [twice, 45 Serv. Those were his very words. Serv. He did. Exton. And speaking it, he wistly look'd on me. The Prison at Pomfret Castle. K. Rich. I have been studying how to compare! That is, excuse me. Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. 2 The abbot of Westminster was an ecclesiastic; but the brother-in-law meant was John duke of Exeter and earl of Huntingdon (own brother to king Richard II.) and who had married with the lady Elizabeth, sister of Henry of Bolingbroke. By the word I suppose is meant the Scriptures. 4 3 To jar probably here means, to make that noise which is called ticking. Watch seems to be used in a double sense, for a quantity of time, and for the instrument which measures time. i. e. I strike for him. Yet, Yet, blessing on his heart that gives it me! Groom. Hail, royal prince! With much ado, at length have gotten leave K. Rich. Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle friend, How went he under him? That staggers thus my person.-Exton, thy fierce hand [land. Hath with the king's blood stain'd the king's own Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high; 5Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die. [Dies. Exton. As full of valour as of royal blood: Both have I spilt; Oh, would the deed were good! For now the devil, that told me-I did well, 10 Says, that this deed is chronicled in hell. This dead king to the living king I'll bear ;Take hence the rest, and give them burial here. [Exeunt. Flourish. Enter Bolingbroke, York, with other 20 Boling. Kind uncle York,the latest news we hear, Groom. So proudly, as if he disdain'd the ground. 25 That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; Keep, Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay. North. First to thy sacred state wish I all happiThe next news is,-I have to London sent The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent: 30 The manner of their taking may appear At large discoursed in this paper here. 35 40 shall say, Keep. My lord, will't please you to fall to? K. Rich. Taste of it first, as thou wert wont to do. 45 Keep. My lord, I dare not ; Sir Pierce of Exton, Who late came from the king, commands the contrary. [thee! K. Rich. The devil take Henry of Lancaster, and Patience is stale, and I am weary of it. [Beats the Keep. Keep. Help, help, help! Enter Exton, and Servants. K. Rich. How now? what means death in this rude assault? 50 [ment. 55 Villain, thine own hand yields thy death's instru[Snatching a weapon, and killing one. Gothou,and fill another room in hell. [Kills another [Exton strikes him down. That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire, [Presenting a paper. Boling. We thank thee,gentle Percy,for thy pains; And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. Enter Fitzwater. Filz. My lord, I have from Oxford sent to The heads of Brocas, and Sir Bennet Seely; Enter Percy, with the Bishop of Carlisle. Percy. The grand conspirator, abbot of Westminster, With clog of conscience, and sour melancholy, But here is Carlisle living, to abide Thy kingly doom, and sentence of his pride." Chuse out some secret place,some reverend room, Exter Exton, with a coffin. Exton. Great king, within this coffin I present 60 Thy bury'd fear: herein all breathless lies 2 1i. e. is as strange and uncommon as a brooch, which is now no longer worn. grave, gloomy villain, who brings, &c. Jaunce and jaunt were synonimous words. Meaning, that The The mightiest of thy greatest enemies, A deed of slander, with thy fatal hand, The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour, With Cain go wander through the shade of night, And never shew thy head by day nor light.Lords, I protest, my soul is full of woe, hat blood should sprinkle me, to make me grow: 5 Come, mourn with me for what I do lament, And put on sullen black incontinent; I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land, To wash this blood off from my guilty hand:— March sadly after; grace my mournings here, 10 In weeping after this untimely bier. [Exeunt omnes. 1 Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawers, two Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants, &c.. SCENE, England. SCENE I. The Court in London. ACT I. Enter King Henry, Earl of Westmoreland, Sir K. Hen.SO shaken as we are, so wan with care, And breathe short-winded accents of new broils To be commenc'd in stronds afar remote. The transactions contained in this historical drama are comprised within the period of about ten months: for the action commences with the news brought of Hotspur having defeated the Scots under Archibald earl Douglas at Holmedon, (or Halidown-hill), which battle was fought on Holyrood-day (the 14th of September) 1402; and it closes with the defeat and death of Hotspur at Shrewsbury; which engagement happened on Saturday the 21st of July (the eve of St. Mary Magdalen) in the year 1403. Dr. Johnson remarks, that "Shakspeare has apparently designed a regular connection of these dramatic histories from Richard the Second to Henry the Fifth. King Henry, at the end of Richard the Second, declares his purpose to visit the Holy Land, which he resumes in this speech. The complaint made by king Henry in the last act of Richard the Second, of the wildness of his son, prepares the reader for the frolicks which are here to be recounted, and the characters which are now to be exhibited." Mr. Steevens says, it should be Prince John of Lancaster, and adds, that the persons of the drama were originally collected by Mr. Rowe, who has given the title of Duke of Lancaster to Prince John, a mistake which Shakspeare has been no where guilty of in the first part of this play, though in the second he has fallen into the same error. K. Henry IV. was himself the last person that ever bore the title of Duke of Lancaster. But all his sons ('till they had peerages, as Clarence, Bedford, Gloucester) were distinguished by the name of the royal house, as John of Lancaster, Humphry of Lancaster, &c. and in that proper style, the present John (who became afterwards so illustrious by the title of Duke of Bedford) is always mentioned in the play before us. 2 And |