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Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
Loseth men's hearts, and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.

HOTSPUR.

Well, I am school'd; good manners be your speed! Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.

SHAKESPEARE, "Henry IV," Part 1.

LONGING FOR SLEEP.

About 1404.

Henry IV, after his usurpation, cannot sleep for cares and anxieties. He thus reflects :

How many thousands of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! Sleep, gentle Sleep!
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh mine eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?

Why, rather, Sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,

Upon uneasy pallets' stretching thee,

And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,

1 Straw beds.

Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,

And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody?
O thou dull god,1 why liest thou with the vile
In loathsome beds, and leav'st the kingly couch
A watch-case' 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 surge,

And in the visitation of the winds,

Who take the ruffian billows by the top,

Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them
With deaf'ning clamour in the slippery clouds,
That with the hurly death itself awakes-
Canst thou, O partial Sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude,
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,*
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down-
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

SHAKESPEARE, "Henry IV," Part 2.

1 Adopting the classic license that made Morpheus god of sleep.

2 A place in which to keep watch (to be in, understood).

3 Hurly-burly, confusion..

4 Besides.

5 Take care to pronounce this "happy low, lie down," not "happy low lie down." The king means that the poor are happy.

THE PRINCE AND THE CROWN.

1413.

Since the last scene Hotspur has been defeated and slain at Shrewsbury; but a fresh rebellion has broken out, headed by Archbishop Scrope of York, and the Earls of Northumberland and Worcester. This has also been quelled, and the Archbishop has been beheaded. Henry IV. is greatly disabled by illness, and grieved by the wild conduct of his eldest son Henry. His third son John is absent putting down the remains of the rebellion, and the king is represented in Westminster Palace, surrounded by his sons, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, Humfrey, Duke of Gloster, the Earl of Warwick and other attendants.

KING HENRY.

Now, lords, if Heaven doth give successful end
To this debate that bleedeth at our doors,
We will our youth lead on to higher fields,
And draw no swords but what are sanctified.1
Our navy is address'd,2 our power collected,
Our substitutes, in absence well invested,"
And everything lies level to our wish:
Only, we want a little personal strength;
And pause us till these rebels, now afoot,
Come underneath the yoke of government.

WARWICK.

Both which we doubt not but your Majesty
Shall soon enjoy.

1 Henry fully meant to have gone on a crusade.

2 In order.

3 Those who were to govern in his stead.

KING.

Humfrey, my son of Gloster,

Where is the prince your brother?

HUMFREY.

I think he's gone to hunt, my lord, at Windsor.

And how accompanied ?

KING.

HUMFREY.

I do not know, my lord.

KING.

Is not his brother, Thomas of Clarence, with him?

HUMFREY.

No, my good lord, he is in presence here.

CLARENCE.

What would my lord and father?

KING.

Nothing but well to thee, Thomas of Clarence.
How chance thou art not with the prince thy brother?
He loves thee, and thou dost neglect him, Thomas;
Thou hast a better place in his affection

Than all thy brothers: cherish it, my boy;

And noble offices thou may'st effect
Of mediation, after I am dead,

Between his greatness and thine other brethren;
Therefore, omit him not, blunt not his love,
Nor lose the good advantage of his grace
By seeming cold and careless of his will;
For he is gracious if he be observed:'
He hath a tear for pity, and a hand
Open as day for melting charity:

Yet, notwithstanding, being incensed, he's flint,2
As humorous as winter, and as sudden
As flaws congealèd1 in the spring of day.
His temper therefore must be well observed:
Chide him for faults, and do it reverently,
When you perceive his blood inclined for mirth;
But being moody, give him time and scope,
Till that his passions, like a whale on ground,
Confound themselves with working. Learn this,

Thomas,

And thou shalt prove a shelter to thy friends,
A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in:
That the united vessel of their blood,
Mingled with venom of suggestion,
(As, force perforce, the age will pour it in,)

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