Met him in boroughs, cities, villages;
Attended him on bridges, ftood in lanes,

Laid gifts before him, proffer'd him their oaths,
Gave him their heirs; as pages follow'd him,
Even at the heels, in golden multitudes.
He presently, as greatness knows itself,-
Steps me a little higher than his vow
Made to my father, while his blood was poor,
Upon the naked fhore at Ravenspurg; "
And now, forfooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts, and fome ftrait decrees,
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth:
Cries out upon abuses, feems to weep

Over his country's wrongs; and, by this face,
This feeming brow of justice, did he win
The hearts of all that he did angle for.
Proceeded further; cut me off the heads
Of all the favourites, that the absent king
In deputation left behind him here,
When he was perfonal in the Irish war,

BLUNT. Tut, I came not to hear this.

Hor.
Then, to the point.
In short time after, he depos'd the king;
Soon after that, depriv'd him of his life;

And, in the neck of that, tafk'd the whole ftate:'

8 Gave him their heirs; as pages follow'd him,] Perhaps we ought to point differently:

Gave him their heirs as pages; follow'd him, &c. MALONE. 9 Upon the naked fhore &c.] In this whole fpeech he alludes again to fome paffages in Richard the Second. JOHNSON.

2 And, in the neck of that,] So, in Painter's Palace of Pleasure, 1566: "Great mifchiefes fuccedyng one in another's necke."

HENDERSON.

3 — task'd the whole ftate:] I fuppofe it should be tax'd the whole ftate. JOHNSON.

Tafk'd is here ufed for taxed; it was once common to employ thefe words indifcriminately. Memoirs of P. de Commines, by

I

To make that worfe, fuffer'd his kinsman March
(Who is, if every owner were well plac'd,
Indeed his king,) to be incag'd in Wales,'
There without ranfom to lie forfeited:
Difgrac'd me in my happy victories;
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the council-board;
In rage difmifs'd my father from the court;
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong:
And, in conclufion, drove us to seek out
This head of fafety; and, withal, to pry

4

Into his title, the which we find

Too indirect for long continuance.

BLUNT. Shall I return this answer to the king? Hor. Not fo, fir Walter; we'll withdraw a while. Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd Some furety for a fafe return again, And in the morning early fhall mine uncle Bring him our purposes: and fo farewell.

BLUNT. I would, you would accept of grace and

love.

Hor. And, may be, fo we fhall.
BLUNT.

'Pray heaven, you do! [Exeunt.

Danert, folio, 4th edit. 1674, p. 136: "Duke Philip, by the fpace of many years levied neither fubfidies nor tasks.' Again, in Stephen Goffon's School of Abufe, 1579: "like a greedy furveiour being fent into Fraunce to govern the countrie, robbed them and fpoyled them of all their treasure with unreasonable taskes.” Again, in Holinfhed, p. 422: There was a new and ftrange fubfidie or take granted to be levied for the king's use." STEEVENS. 3 incag'd in Wales,] The old copies have engag'd. Corrected by Mr. Theobald. MALONE.

66

No change was necessary. Engag'd fignifies delivered as a hofiage; and is again ufed in that fenfe. See p. 572, n. 9. DOUCE.

4 This head of fafety;] This army, from which I hope for protection. JOHNSON.

SCENE IV.

York. A Room in the Archbishop's Houfe.

Enter the Archbishop of York, and a Gentleman.

ARCH. Hie, good fir Michael; bear this sealed brief,s

With winged hafte, to the lord mareshal;"
This to my cousin Scroop; and all the rest
To whom they are directed: if you knew
How much they do import, you would make hafte.
GENT. My good lord,

I guess their tenor.

ARCH.

Like enough, you do."

To-morrow, good fir Michael, is a day,
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men
Muft 'bide the touch: For, fir, at Shrewsbury,
As I am truly given to understand,

The king, with mighty and quick-raifed power,
Meets with lord Harry: and I fear, fir Michael,-
What with the ficknefs of Northumberland,
(Whose power was in the firft proportion,)
And what with Owen Glendower's abfence thence,

8

-fealed brief,] A brief is fimply a letter. JOHNSON.
to the lord marefhal;] Thomas Lord Mowbray.

7 Gent. My good lord,

8

I guess their tenor.
Arch.

Like enough, you do.] Read:

Gent. My lord, I guess their tenor.

Arch.

MALONE.

Like enough. RITSON.

in the firft proportion,] Whofe quota was larger than that of any other man in the confederacy. JOHNSON.

(Who with them was a rated finew too,"
And comes not in, o'er-rul'd by prophecies,)-
I fear, the power of Percy is too weak
To wage an inftant trial with the king.

GENT. Why, my good lord, you need not fear; there's Douglas,

And Mortimer.R

ARCH.

No, Mortimer's not there.

GENT. But there is Mordake, Vernon, lord Harry
Percy,

And there's my lord of Worcester; and a head
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.

ARCH. And fo there is: but yet the king hath drawn

The fpecial head of all the land together;-
The prince of Wales, lord John of Lancaster,
The noble Westmoreland, and warlike Blunt;
And many more corrivals, and dear men
Of estimation and command in arms.

GENT. Doubt not, my lord, they fhall be well oppos'd.

ARCH. I hope no lefs, yet needful 'tis to fear; And, to prevent the worft, fir Michael, speed: For, if lord Percy thrive not, ere the king Difmifs his power, he means to vifit us,For he hath heard of our confederacy,And 'tis but wifdom to make strong against him; Therefore, make hafte: I muft go write again To other friends; and fo farewell, fir Michael. [Exeunt feverally.

?rated finew too,] A rated finew fignifies a ftrength on which we reckoned; a help of which we made account. JOHNSON. And Mortimer.] Old copies, redundantly,

And lord Mortimer. STEEVENS.

ACT V.9 SCENE I.

The King's Camp near Shrewsbury.

Enter King HENRY, Prince HENRY, Prince JOHN of Lancaster, Sir WALTER BLUNT, and Sir JOHN FALSTAFF.2

K. HEN. How bloodily the fun begins to peer Above yon busky hill!' the day looks pale At his diftemperature.

P. HEN.

The fouthern wind

Doth play the trumpet to his purposes; *
And, by his hollow whistling in the leaves,
Foretells a tempeft, and a blustering day.

K. HEN. Then with the lofers let it fympathize; For nothing can feem foul to those that win.

Trumpet. Enter WORCESTER and VERNON.

How now, my lord of Worcester? 'tis not well,

9 Aa V.] It feems proper to be remarked, that in the editions printed while the author lived, this play is not broken into Acts. The divifion which was made by the players in the first folio, feems commodious enough; but, being without authority, may be changed by any editor who thinks himself able to make a better. JOHNSON.

2 In the old and modern editions the Earl of Westmoreland is made to enter here with the King; but, it appears from a paffage in the next scene that he was left as a hoftage in Hotspur's camp, till Worcefter fhould return from treating with Henry. See p. 571, n. 6. MALONE.

3

bufky bill!] Bufky is woody. (Bofquet, Fr.) Milton writes the word perhaps more properly, boky. STEEVENS.

-to his purposes;] That is, to the fun's, to that which the fun portends by his unusual appearance. JOHNSON.