PERCY. My gracious lord, I tender you my fervice,

Such as it is, being tender, raw, and young;
Which elder days fhall ripen, and confirm
To more approved fervice and defert.

BOLING. I thank thee, gentle Percy; and be fure,
I count myself in nothing else fo happy,
As in a foul rememb'ring my good friends;
And, as my fortune ripens with thy love,
It shall be still thy true love's recompenfe:
My heart this covenant makes, my hand thus feals
it.

NORTH. How far is it to Berkley? And what ftir Keeps good old York there, with his men of war? PERCY. There ftands the caftle, by yon tuft of

trees,

Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard: And in it are the lords of York, Berkley, and Sey

mour;

None else of name, and noble estimate.

Enter Ross and WILLOUGHBY.

NORTH. Here come the lords of Rofs and Wil

loughby,

Bloody with spurring, firy-red with haste.

A

BOLING. Welcome, my lords: I wot, your love pursues

A banifh'd traitor; all my treasury

Is yet but unfelt thanks, which, more enrich'd,
Shall be your love and labour's recompenfe.

Ross. Your prefence makes us rich, most noble

lord.

WILLO. And far furmounts our labour to attain

e

BOLING. Evermore thanks, the exchequer of the

poor;

Which, till my infant fortune comes to years,
Stands for my bounty. But who comes here?

Enter BERKLEY.

NORTH. It is my lord of Berkley, as I guess. BERK. My lord of Hereford, my meffage is to you."

BOLING. My lord, my answer is-to Lancaster;" And I am come to seek that name in England: And I must find that title in your tongue, Before I make reply to aught you say.

BERK. Miftake me not, my lord; 'tis not my meaning,

To raze one title of your honour out:

8

To you, my lord, I come, (what lord you will,)
From the most glorious regent of this land,"
The duke of York; to know, what pricks you on

6 My lord of Hereford, my message is to you.] I fufpect that our author defigned this for a fpeech rendered abrupt by the impatience of Bolingbroke's reply; and therefore wrote:

My lord of Hereford, my meffage is

The words to you, only ferve to destroy the metre. STEEVENS.

7 my answer is to Lancafter;] Your meffage, you fay, is to my lord of Hereford. My answer is, It is not to him; it is to the Duke of Lancaster. MALONE.

8 To raze one title of your honour out:] "How the names of them which for capital crimes againft majeftie were erazed out of the publicke records, tables, and registers, or forbidden to be borne by their pofteritie, when their memorie was damned, I could fhow at large." Camden's Remains, p. 136, edit. 1605. MALONE.

9 From the most glorious regent of this land,] Thus the first quarto, 1597. The word regent was accidentally omitted in the quarto, 1598, which was followed by all the fubfequent copies.

MALONE

To take advantage of the absent time,"

And fright our native peace with felf-born arms.

Enter YORK, attended.

BOLING. I fhall not need transport my words by

you;

Here comes his grace in perfon.-My noble un

cle!

[Kneels. YORK. Show me thy humble heart, and not thy

knee,

Whofe duty is deceivable and falfe.

BOLING. My gracious uncle!

YORK. Tut, tut!

Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle: 3
I am no traitor's uncle; and that word-grace,
In an ungracious mouth, is but profane.
Why have those banish'd and forbidden legs
Dar'd once to touch a duft of England's ground?
But then more why ;+- Why have they dar'd to

march

2- the abfent time,] i. e. time of the king's abfence.

JOHNSON. 3 Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle:] In Romeo and Juliet we have the fame kind of phrafeology:

"Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds.' Again, in Microcynicon, Six fnarling Satires, &c. 16mo. 1599: "Hower me no bowers; howers break no fquare."

The reading of the folio is preferable:

MALONE.

Tut, tut! grace me no grace, nor uncle me. RITSON. 4 But then more why;] This feems to be wrong. We might read:

But more than this; why, &c. TYRWHITT.

But then more why;] But, to add more queftions. This is the reading of the firft quarto, 1597, which in the fecond, and all the fubfequent copies, was corrupted thus: But more than why. The expreflion of the text, though a fingular one, was, I have no doubt,

So many miles upon her peaceful bofom
Frighting her pale-fac'd villages with war,
And oftentation of despised arms?"

Com'st thou because the anointed king is hence?
Why, foolish boy, the king is left behind,
And in my loyal bofom lies his power.
Were I but now the lord of fuch hot youth,
As when brave Gaunt, thy father, and myself,
Rescued the Black Prince, that young Mars of

men,

From forth the ranks of many thousand French;
O, then, how quickly fhould this arm of mine,
Now prifoner to the palfy, cháftife thee,
And minifter correction to thy fault!

the author's. It is of a colour with those immediately preceding: "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle."

A fimilar expreffion occurs in Twelfth Night:

"More than I love these eyes, more than my life,
"More, by all mores, than I fhall e'er love wife."

MALONE.

There seems to be an error in this paffage, which I believe fhould run thus:

But more then: Why? why have they dar'd, &c. This repetition of the word why, is not unnatural for a perfon fpeaking with much warmth. M. MASON.

5 And oftentation of defpifed arms?] But fure the oftentation of defpifed arms would not fight any one. We should read: difpofed arms, i. e. forces in battle array.

WARBURTON.

This alteration is harsh. Sir T. Hanmer reads defpightful. Mr. Upton gives this paffage as a proof that our author ufes the paffive participle in an active fenfe. The copies all agree. Perhaps the old duke means to treat him with contempt as well as with severity, and to infinuate that he defpifes his power, as being able to mafter it. In this fenfe all is right. JOHNSON.

So, in this play:

"We'll make foul weather with despised tears.”

STEEVENS. The meaning of this probably is-a boaftful difplay of arms which we defpife. M. MASON.

BOLING. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault;

On what condition' ftands it, and wherein?

YORK. Even in condition of the worst degree,In grofs rebellion, and detefted treason: Thou art a banish'd man, and here art come, Before the expiration of thy time,

In braving arms against thy sovereign.

BOLING. As I was banish'd, I was banish'd Hereford;

But as I come, I come for Lancaster.
And, noble uncle, I befeech your grace,
Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye:"
You are my father, for, methinks, in you
I fee old Gaunt alive; O, then, my father!
Will you permit that I fhall ftand condemn'd
A wand'ring vagabond; my rights and royalties
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away
To upftart unthrifts? Wherefore was I born?
If that my coufin king be king of England,
It must be granted, I am duke of Lancaster.
You have a fon, Aumerle, my noble kinsman;
Had you first died, and he been thus trod down,
He fhould have found his uncle Gaunt a father,

8

6 On what condition] It fhould be, in what condition, i. e. in what degree of guilt. The particles in the old editions are of little credit. JOHNSON.

York's reply fupports Dr. Johnson's conjecture:

"Even in condition," &c. MALONE.

66

Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye :] i. e. with an impartial eye. Every juryman (fays Sir Edward Coke) ought to be impartial and indifferent." MALONE.

8Wherefore was I born?] To what purpofe ferves birth and lineal fucceffion? I am duke of Lancaster by the fame right of birth as the king is king of England. JOHNSON.