Wor. Good cousin, be advis'd; stir not to-night.
Ver. Do not, my lord..
Doug.

You do not counsel well;
You speak it out of fear, and cold heart.

Ver. Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life,
(And I dare well maintain it with my life,)
If well-respected honour bid me on,

I hold as little counsel with weak fear,
As you, my lord, or any Scot that lives +:
Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle,
Which of us fears.

Doug.

Yea, or to-night.

'Ver.

Content.

Hot. To-night, say I.

Ver.

Come, come, it may not be

I wonder much, being men of such great leading 3,
That you foresee not what impediments
Drag back our expedition: Certain horse

Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up:
Your uncle Worcester's horse came but to-day;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is half the half himself ‡.
Hot. So are the horses of the enemy
In general, journey-bated, and brought low;
The better part of ours is full of rest.

Wor. The number of the king exceedeth ours :
For God's sake, cousin, stay till all come in.

[The Trumpet sounds a Parley.

Enter Sir WALTER BLUNT.

Blunt. I come with gracious offers from the king, If you vouchsafe me hearing, and respect.

+"Scot that this day lives :"- Malone.

3 --

such great leading,] Such conduct, such experience in martial business. Malone reads "such great leading as you

Hot. Welcome, sir Walter Blunt; And 'would to

God,

You were of our determination!

Some of us love you well: and even those some
Envy your great deserving, and good name;
Because you are not of our quality',

But stand against us like an enemy.

Blunt. And God defend, but still I should stand so,
So long as, out of limit, and true rule,
You stand against anointed majesty!

But, to my charge.-The king hath sent to know
The nature of your griefs'; and whereupon
You conjure from the breast of civil peace.
Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land
Audacious cruelty: If that the king

Have any way your good deserts forgot,—

Which he confesseth to be manifold,—

He bids you name your griefs; and, with all speed,
You shall have your desires, with interest;

And pardon absolute for yourself, and these,

Herein misled by your suggestion.

Hot. The king is kind; and, well we know, the king
Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father, and my uncle, and myself,

Did give him that same royalty he wears:
And,-when he was not six and twenty strong,
Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,
A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home,—
My father gave him welcome to the shore:
And,-when he heard him swear, and vow to God,
He came but to be duke of Lancaster,

To sue his livery, and beg his peace;

4 of our quality,] Quality, in our author's time, was frequently used in the sense

of fellowship or occupation.

That is, grievances.

To sue his livery,] This is a law phrase belonging to the feudal tenures; meaning to sue out the delivery or possession of his lands from those persons who, on the death of any of the te

With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,—
My father, in kind heart and pity mov'd,
Swore him assistance, and perform'd it too.
Now, when the lords and barons of the realm
Perceiv'd Northumberland did lean to him,
The more and less' came in with cap and knee;
Met him in boroughs, cities, villages;
Attended him on bridges, stood 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 shore at Ravenspurg;
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees,
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth :
Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
Over his country's wrongs; and, by this face,
This seeming 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 personal in the Irish war.
Blunt. Tut, I came not to hear this.

Then, to the point.

Hot.
In short time after, he depos'd the king;

Soon after that, depriv'd him of his life ;

And, in the neck of that, task'd the whole state":
To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman March
(Who is, if every owner were well plac'd,

nants of the crown, seized their lands, till the heir sued out his livery.

7 The more and less —] i. e. the greater and the less.

8 task'd the whole state:] Task'd is here used for taxed; it was once common to employ these words indiscriminately.

Indeed his king,) to be incag'd in Wales,
There without ransome to lie forfeited:
Disgrac'd me in my happy victories;
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the council-board;
In rage dismiss'd my father from the court;
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong :
And, in conclusion, drove us to seek out
This head of safety'; and, withal, to pry
Into his title, the which we find

Too indirect for long continuance.

Blunt. Shall I return this answer to the king?
Hot. Not so, sir Walter; we'll withdraw awhile.
Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd
Some surety for a safe return again,

And in the morning early shall mine uncle
Bring him our purposes; and so farewell.

Blunt. I would, you would accept of grace and love.
Hot. And, may be, so we shall.

Blunt.

'Pray heaven, you do!

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV

York. A Room in the Archbishop's House.

Enter the Archbishop of York, and a Gentleman.

Arch. Hie, good sir Michael; bear this sealed brief', With winged haste, 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 haste.

This head of safety;] This army, from which I hope for

protection.

1

sealed brief,] A brief is simply a letter.

Arch.

Like enough, you do.

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

The king, with mighty and quick-raised power,
Meets with lord Harry: and I fear, sir Michael,-
What with the sickness of Northumberland,
(Whose power was in the first proportion,)
And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,
(Who with them was a rated sinew too,
And comes not in, o'er-ruled by prophecies,)—
I fear, the power of Percy is too weak

To wage an instant trial with the king.

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

And Mortimer t.

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 so there is: but yet the king hath drawn The special head of all the land together ;

The prince of Wales, lord John of Lancaster,
The noble Westmoreland, and warlike Blunt;
And many more cor-rivals, and dear men.

Of estimation, and command in arms.

Gent. Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well oppos'd.
Arch. I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear;

And, to prevent the worst, sir Michael, speed:
For, if lord Percy thrive not, ere the king
Dismiss his power, he means to visit us,-

2

in the first proportion,] Whose quota was larger than that of any other man in the confederacy.

3

rated sinew too,] A rated sinew signifies a strength on which we reckoned; a help of which we made account.

"And lord Mortimer."-MALONE.