YORK. What feal is that, that hangs without thy bofom?

2

Yea, look'ft thou pale? let me fee the writing.' AUм. My lord, 'tis nothing.

YORK.

No matter then who fees it: I will be fatisfied, let me fee the writing.

AUM. I do befeech your grace to pardon me; It is a matter of fmall confequence,

Which for some reasons I would not have seen. YORK. Which for fome reasons, fir, I mean to fee. I fear, I fear,

DUCH.

What should you fear? 'Tis nothing but fome bond, that he is enter'd into For gay apparel, 'gainst the triumph day.

YORK. Bound to himself? what doth he with a bond That he is bound to? Wife, thou art a fool.Boy, let me fee the writing.

AUM. I do befeech you, pardon me; I may not

fhow it.

YORK. I will be fatisfied; let me fee it, I fay. [Snatches it, and reads. Treafon! foul treafon!-villain! traitor! flave! DUCH. What is the matter, my lord?

YORK. Ho! who is within there? [Enter a Servant.] Saddle my horse.

God for his mercy! what treachery is here!

2 What feal is that, that hangs without thy bofom?] The seals of deeds were formerly imprefled on flips or labels of parchment, appendant to them. MALONE.

3 Yea, look'ft thou pale? let me fee the writing.] Such harsh and defective lines as this, are probably corrupt, and might be cafily fupplied, but that it would be dangerous to let conjecture loofe on fuch flight occafions. JOHNSON.

Perhaps Shakspeare wrote-Boy, let me fee the writing. York ufes thefe words a little lower. MALONE.

YORK. Give me my boots, I fay; faddle my

horfe :

Now by mine honour, by my life, my troth,

I will appeach the villain.

DUCH.

[Exit Servant.

What's the matter?

YORK. Peace, foolish woman.

DUCH. I will not peace:-What is the matter,

fon?

AUM. Good mother, be content; it is no more Than my poor life muft answer.

DUCH,

Thy life anfwer!

Re-enter Servant, with boots.

YORK. Bring me my boots, I will unto the king. DUCH. Strike him, Aumerle.-Poor boy, thou art amaz'd: +

Hence, villain; never more come in my fight.[To the Servant.

YORK. Give me my boots, I fay.

DUCH. Why, York, what wilt thou do? Wilt thou not hide the trefpafs of thine own? Have we more fons? or are we like to have? Is not my teeming date drunk up with time? And wilt thou pluck my fair fon from mine age, And rob me of a happy mother's name?

Is he not like thee? is he not thine own?

4

amaz'd:] i. e. perplexed, confounded. So, in The Merry Wives of Windfor: "That cannot choose but amaze him. If he be not amazed, he will be mocked; if he be amazed, he will every way be mocked." STEEVENS.

TORK. Thou fond mad woman,

Wilt thou conceal this dark confpiracy?

A dozen of them here have ta'en the facrament, And interchangeably fet down their hands,

To kill the king at Oxford.

DUCH.

He fhall be none;

We'll keep him here: Then what is that to him?
YORK. Away,

Fond woman! were he twenty times my fon,
I would appeach him.

: DUCH.

Hadft thou groan'd for him,

As I have done, thou'dft be more pitiful.

But now I know thy mind; thou doft suspect,
That I have been difloyal to thy bed,

And that he is a bastard, not thy fon:

Sweet York, fweet husband, be not of that mind:
He is as like thee as a man may be,
Not like to me, or any of my kin,

And yet I love him.

YORK.

Make way, unruly woman.

[Exit.

DUCH. After, Aumerle; mount thee upon his

horse;

Spur, poft; and get before him to the king,
And beg thy pardon ere he do accuse thee.
I'll not be long behind; though I be old,

To hill the hing at Oxford.] That the dukes of Exeter anft Surry, and the Earl of Salisbury entered into a confpiracy for this purpofe is unquestionable; but Hall's narrative, copied by Ho infhed and St John Hayward, is by no means to be dependel pon. Aumerle, in particular is not charged by any contemporary writer, unless it be the writer of a romance, as having the left concern in it. See a "Requiem to the Confpirators," in A Cl Lion of Ancient Songs, lately published, where may be found in thentic account of the plot from writers of authority

Since the foregoing Note was printed off, I have satisfied myself that. This band was written, not on the conspiracy against Henry IV but on the death of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, who was aken and beheaded by the captain of a ship called Nicholas of the Tower, in May, 1450, when it appears to have been composed, and is consequently to be regarded as a satire upon the ministers of coure-party of that time. RisÓN.

I doubt not but to ride as faft as York:
And never will I rife up from the ground,
Till Bolingbroke have pardon'd thee: Away;
Begone.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Windfor. A Room in the Caftle.

Enter BOLINGBROKE as King; PERCY, and other
Lords.

BOLING. Can no man tell of my unthrifty fon? 'Tis full three months, fince I did fee him laft:If any plague hang over us, 'tis he.

I would to God, my lords, he might be found:
I Enquire at London, 'mongft the taverns there,
For there, they fay, he daily doth frequent,
With unrestrained loofe companions;

Even fuch, they fay, as ftand in narrow lanes,
And beat our watch, and rob our passengers;
While he, young, wanton, and effeminate boy,
Takes on the point of honour, to support

So diffolute a crew.

PERCY. My lord, fome two days fince I faw the prince;

And told him of these triumphs held at Oxford.

5 Enquire at London, &c.] This is a very proper introduction to the future character of Henry the Fifth, to his debaucheries in his youth, and his greatnefs in his manhood. JOHNSON.

Shakspeare feldom attended to chronology. The prince was at this time but twelve years old, for he was born in 1388, and the confpiracy on which the prefent fcene is formed, was discovered in the beginning of the year 1400.-He fcarcely frequented taverns or stews at fo early an age. MALONE.

6 While be,] All the old copies read-Which he. STEEVENS. The correction was made by Mr. Pope. MALONE.

BOLING. And what faid the gallant?

PERCY. His anfwer was,-he would unto the
ftews;

And from the common'ft creature pluck a glove,
And wear it as a favour; and with that
He would unhorse the luftieft challenger.

BOLING. As diffolute, as defperate: yet, through both

I fee fome sparkles of a better hope,8
Which elder days may happily bring forth.
But who comes here?

Enter AUMERLE, baftily.

AUM.

BOLING.

Where is the king?

What means

Our coufin, that he ftares and looks fo wildly? AUM. God fave your grace. I do befeech your majesty,

To have fome conference with your grace alone. BOLING. Withdraw yourfelves, and leave us here alone.- [Exeunt PERCY and Lords. What is the matter with our coufin now?

7 -pluck a glove,] So, in Promos and Caffandra, 1578, Lamia, the ftrumpet, fays:

heaft:

"Who loves me once is lymed to my "My colour fome, and fome shall wear my glove." Again, in The Shoemaker's Holyday, or Gentle Craft, 1600: "Or fhall I undertake fome martial sport

Wearing your glove at turney or at tilt,

And tell how many gallants I unhors'd?" STEEVENS.

* I fee fome sparkles of a better hope,] The folio reads: fparks of better hope.

The quarto, 1615:

·fparkles of better hope. STEEVENS.

The first quarto has-sparkes of better hope. The article was inferted by Mr. Steevens. MALONE.