For, well you know, we of the offering' side
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement;
And stop all sight-holes, every loop, from whence
The eye of reason may pry in upon us :
This absence of your father's draws a curtain,2
That shows the ignorant a kind of fear

Before not dreamt of.

Hot. You strain too far. I, rather, of his absence make this use ;It lends a lustre, and more great opinion, A larger dare to our great enterprise, Than if the earl were here: for men must think, If we, without his help, can make a head, To push against the kingdom; with his help, We shall o'erturn it topsy-turvy down.Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole. Doug. As heart can think: there is not such a word

Spoke of in Scotland, as this term3 of fear.

Enter SIR RICHARD VERNON.

Hot. My cousin Vernon! welcome, by my soul. Ver. 'Pray God, my news be worth a welcome, lord.

3

The earl of Westmorland, seven thousand strong,
Is marching hitherwards; with him, Prince John.
Hot. No harm: What more?
Ver.

And further, I have learn'd,
The king himself in person is set forth,
Or hitherwards intended speedily,
With strong and mighty preparation.

Hot. He shall be welcome too. Where is his son, The nimble-footed' mad-cap prince of Wales, And his comrades, that daff'd the world aside, And bid it pass?

Ver.

All furnish'd, all in arms,

All plum'd like estridges that with the wind
Bated, like eagles having lately bath'd;"
Glittering in golden coats, hke images;
As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer;
Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.
I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly arm'd,-
Rise from the ground like feather'd Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat,
As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,

And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
Hot. No more, no more; worse than the sun in
March,

1 The offering side is the assailing side. Baret renders Attentare pudicitiam puellæ, to assaile a maydens chastitie: to offer.'

2 To draw a curtain had anciently the same meaning as to undraw one at present. Thus in the Second Part of King Henry VI. quarto, 1600:- Then the curtaines being drawne, Duke Humphrey is discovered in his

bed."

The folio reads dream of fear.'

Shakspeare rarely hestows his epithets at random. Stowe says of the prince : He was passing swift in running, insomuch that he, with two other of his lords, without hounds, bow, or other engine, would take a wilde bucke, or doe, in a large parke.'

5 This is the reading of all the old copies, which Hanmer not understanding, altered to

All plum'd like estridges, and with the wind Bating like eagles, &c.' Then came Johnson, who supposed that there must be necessity for emendation, as it had already been attempted: he changed it thus :-

All plum'd like estridges, that wing the wind; Bated like eagles, &c.' This reading has been adopted by Malone, and by Steevens, with a voluminous commentary to show its necessity. But surely, if a clear sense can be deduced from the passage as it stands, no conjectural alteration of the text should be admitted. The meaning of the passage is obviously this:- The prince and his comrades were all furnish'd, all in arms, all plumed: like estridges (ostriches) that bated (i. e. flutter or beat) the wind with their wings; like eagles having lately bathed.' Johnson's reading is exceptionable, if it was not an unwarrantable innovation, because to wing the mind and to hate are the same thing: and the difficul

This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come;
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-ey'd maid of smoky war,
All hot, and bleeding, will we offer them:
The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit,
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire,
To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh,

And yet not ours:-Come, let me take my horse,
Who is to bear me, like a thunderbolt,
Against the bosom of the prince of Wales:
Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse,

Meet, and ne'er part, till one drop down a corse.—
O, that Glendower were come!

Forty let it be;

My father and Glendower being both away,
The powers of us may serve so great a day.
Come, let us make a muster speedily:
Doomsday is near; die all, die merrily.

Doug. Talk not of dying; I am out of fear Of death, or death's hand, for this one half year. [Exeunt

SCENE II. A Public Road near Coventry. Enter FALSTAFF and BARDOlph.

Fal. Bardolph, get thee before to Coventry; fill me a bottle of sack; our soldiers shall march through; we'll to Sutton-Colfield to-night.

Bard. Will you give me money, captain?
Fal. Lay out, lay out.

Bard. This bottle makes an angel.

Fal. And if it do, take it for thy labour; and if it make twenty, take them all, I'll answer the coinage. Bid my lieutenant Peto meet me at the town's end Bard. I will, captain: farewell.

[Erit.

Fal. If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused gurnet. I have misused the king's press damnably. I have got, in exchange of a hundred and fifty soldiers, three hundred and odd pounds. I press me none but good householders, yeomen's sons: inquire me out contracted bachelors, such as had been asked twice on the bans; such a commoties of an elliptical construction are not avoided by it

Malone's notion, that a line had been omitted, has not ny concurrence. Nor do I think with Mr. Douce, that by estridges, estridge falcons are here meant, though the word may be used in that sense in Antony and Cleopatra. The ostridge's plumage would be more likely to occur to the poet, from the circumstance of its being the cognizance of the prince of Wales. So in Drayton's Polyolbion, Song 22:

'Prince Edward all in gold, as he great Jove had been, The Mountford's all in plumes like estridges were seen Bating, or to bate, in falconry, is the unquiet flutterit of a hawk. To beat the wing, batter bale, Ital. All birds bate, i. e. flutter, beat, or flap their wings to dry their feathers after bathing; and the mode in which the ostrich uses its wings, to assist itself in running with the wind, is of this character; it is a fluttering or a flapping, not a flight. The fluttering motion and flapping of the plumed crests of the prince and his associates naturally excited these images. Bated refers both to the flapping of the plumes, and of the wings of the ostrich; the plumage of that bird is displayed to more advantage when its wings are in motion, than when at rest; and hence the propriety of representing the feathers of the helmets flouting the air to the plumage of the ostrich when its wings were in motion, or when it bated the air, like eagles lately bathed.'

6 The beaver of a helmet was a moveable piece, which lifted up or down to enable the wearer to drink or take breath more freely. It is frequently, though improperly, used to express the helmet itself. 7 Armour for the thighs.

8 The quartos of 1598 and 1599 read taste.

9 The gurret, or gurnard, was a fish of the piper kind. It was probably deemed a vulgar dish when soused or pickled, hence soused gurnet was ▾ ́ommon term of reproach.

He came but to be duke of Lancaster,
To sue his livery,' and beg his peace;
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 less2 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.
Hot.
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, task'd the whole state:
To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman March
(Who is, if every owner were well plac'd,
Indeed his king) to be engag'd' in Wales,
There without ransom 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.

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 Lord Mortimer.

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,For he hath heard of our confederacy.And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him; Therefore, make haste: I must go write again To other friends; and so fareweli, Sir Michael. [Exeunt severally.

ACT V.

SCENE I. The King's Camp near Shrewsbury. Enter KING HENRY, PRINCE HENRY, PRINCE JOHN of Lancaster, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.

K. Hen. How bloodily the sun begins to peer

love.

Hot. And, may be, so we shall.
Blunt.

'Pray heaven, you do! [Exeunt. SCENE IV. 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 marshal;"
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.

1 That is, to sue out the delivery or possession of his lands. This law term has been already explained in King Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 1.

2 The greater and the less.

3 The whole of this speech alludes to passages in King Richard II.

4 So in Painter's Palace of Pleasure: Great mischiefes succedyng one in another's necke.' Tusk'd is here used for taxed: it was common to use these words indiscriminately, says Steevens. Taskes were tributes or subsidies, and should not be confounded with tares, which are carefully distinguished by Baret. He interprets telonium, the place where tasks or tributes are paied. Philips, in his World of Words, says, Tasck is an old British word, signifying tribute, from whence haply cometh our word task, which is a duty or labour imposed upon any one.'

At his distemperature.

P. Hen.

The southern wind

Doth play the trumpet to his purposes:
And, by his hollow whistling in the leaves,
Foretells a tempest, ar.d a blustering day.

K. Hen. Then with the losers let it sympathize; For nothing can seem foul to those that win.

Trumpet. Enter WORCESTER and VERNON. How now, my lord of Worcester? 'tis not well, That you and I should meet upon such terms As now we meet: You have deceiv'd our trust; And made us doff our easy robes of peace, To crush our old limbs 10 in ungentle steel;

5 The old copies read engag'd, which Theobald al tered to incag'd, without reason: to be engaged is to he pledged as an hostage.

6 A brief is any short writing, as a letter, &c. 7 Thomas Lord Mowbray.

8 A strength on which we reckoned, a help of which we made account.

9 I do not know (says Mr. Blakeway) whether Shakspeare ever surveyed the ground of Battlefield, but he has described the sun's rising over Haughmound Hill from that spot as accurately as if he had. It still merits the name of a busky hill. Milton writes the word, per haps more properly, bosky, it is from the French bos cageur, woody.

10 Shakspeare forgot that he was not at this time old, it was only four years since the deposition of King

Richard

This is not well, my lord, this is not well.
What say you to't? will you again unknit
This churlish knot of all-abhorred war?
And move in that obedient orb again,
Where you did give a fair and natural light;
And be no more an exhal'd meteor,
A prodigy of fear, and a portent

Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
Wor. Hear me, my liege;

For mine own part, I could be well content
To entertain the lag-end of my life
With quiet hours; for, I do protest,

I have not sought the day of this dislike.

K. Hen. You have not sought for it! how comes it then?

Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it. P. Hen. Peace, chewet, peace.

Wor. It pleas'd your majesty, to turn your looks
Of favour, from myself, and all our house;
And yet I must remember you, my lord,
We were the first and dearest of your friends.
For you, my staff of office did I break

In Richard's time; and posted day and night
To meet you on the way, and kiss your hand,
When yet you were in place and in account
Nothing so strong and fortunate as I.
It was myself, my brother, and his son,
That brought you home, and boldly did outdare
The dangers of the time: You swore to us,-
And you did swear that oath at Doncaster,-
That you did nothing purpose 'gainst the state;
Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n right,
The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster:
To this we swore our aid. But, in short space,
It rain'd down fortune showering on your head;
And such a flood of greatness fell on you,-
What with our help: what with the absent king!
What with the injuries of a wanton time;
The seeming sufferances that you had borne;
And the contrarious winds, that held the king
So long in his unlucky Irish wars,
That all in England did repute him dead,--
And, from this swarm of fair advantages,
You took occasion to be quickly woo'd
To gripe the general sway into your hand:
Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster;
And, being fed by us, you us'd us so
As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird,
Useth the sparrow: did oppress our nest;
Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk,
That even our love durst not come near your sight,
For fear of swallowing: but with nimble wing
We were enforc'd, for safety sake, to fly
Out of your sight, and raise this present head:
Whereby we stand opposed by such means
As you yourself have forg'd against yourself;
By unkind usage, dangerous countenance,
And violation of all faith and troth
Sworn to us in your younger enterprise.

K. Hen. These things, indeed, you have articulated,"

Proclaim'd at market-crosses, read in churches;
To face the garment of rebellion

With some fine colour, that may please the eye
Of fickle changelings, and poor discontents,
Which gape, and rub the elbow, at the news
Of hurlyburly innovation:

And never yet did insurrection want

1 A chewet was (as Theobald justly observes) a noisy chattering bird, a pie or jackdaw; called also in French chouette. This simple and satisfactory explanation would not do for Steevens and Malone, who finding that chewets were also little round pies made of minced meat, thought that the prince compared Falstaff, for his unseasonable chattering, to a minced pie! The word Is a diminutive of chough, pronounced chouh, from the Saxon ceo. Graculus Monedula. Belon, in his History of Birds, describes the chouette as the smallest kind of chough or crow, and this will account for the diminutive termination of its name.

Such water colours, to impaint his cause; Nor moody beggars, starving' for a time Of pellmell havoc and confusion.

P. Hen. In both our armies, there is many a sou: Shall pay full dearly for this encounter,

If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew,
The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world
In praise of Henry Percy: By my hopes,—
This present enterprise set off his head,-
I do not think, a braver gentleman,
More active-valiant, or more valiant-young,
More daring, or more bold, is now alive,
To grace this latter age with noble deeds.
For my part, I may speak it to my shame,
I have a truaut been to chivalry;
And so, I hear, he doth account me too.
Yet this before my father's majesty,-
I am content, that he shall take the odds
Of his great name and estimation;
And will, to save the blood on either side,
Try fortune with him in a single fight.

K. Hen. And, prince of Wales, so dare we ven-
ture thee,

Albeit, considerations infinite

Do make against it :-No, good Worcester. no,
We love our people well: even those we love,
That are misled upon your cousin's part:
And, will they take the offer of our grace,
Both he, and they, and you, yea, every man
Shall be my friend again, and I'll be his:
So tell your cousin, and bring me word
What he will do:--But if he will not yield,
Rebuke and dread correction wait on us,
And they shall do their office. So, be gone;
We will not now be troubled with reply:
We offer fair, take it advisedly.

[Exeunt WORCESTER and VERNON. P. Hen. It will not be accepted, on my life The Douglas and the Hotspur both together Are confident against the world in arms. K. Hen. Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge;

For, on their answer, will we set on them:
And God befriend us, as our cause is just!

[Exeunt KING, BLUNT, and PRINCE JOHN. Fal. Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and bestride me, so; 'tis a point of friendship.

P. Hen. Nothing but a colossus can do thee that friendship. Say thy prayers, and farewell.

Fal. I would it were bed-time, Hal, and all well. P. Hen. Why, thou owest God a death. [Exit. Fal. 'Tis not due yet; I would be loath to pay him before his day. What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me? Well, 'tis no matter; Honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I come on? how then? Can honour set to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery then? No. What is honour? A word. What is in that word, honour? What is that honour? Air. A trim reckoning-Who hath it? He that died o’Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it insensible then? Yea to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it :-there fore I'll none of it: Honour is a mere scutcheon, and so ends my catechism. [Exit.

of another bird:-and this she doth so long, untill the young cuckow being once fledge and readie to flie abroad, is so bold as to seize upon the old titling, and eat up her that hatched her.'-Pliny's Nat. Hist. by Holland, b. x. ch. 9.

3 i. e. we stand in opposition to you.

4 The quartos read articulate. To articulate is to set down in articles.

5 i. e. anxiously expecting a time. 6 That is, taken from his account

7 Mason suggests that we should read 'know good Worcester, know, &c.'

8 In the battle of Agincourt, Henry, when king, did this act of friendship for his brother the duke of Glou