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 ;1 And I am come to feek that name in England: And I must find that title in your tongue, Before I make reply to aught you fay.

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

To raze one title of your honour out :3—
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 message is

The words to you, only ferve to deftroy 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 Lancafter. MALONE.

8 To raze one title of your honour out:] "How the names of them which for capital crimes against 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 abfent time,"

And fright our native peace with felf-born arms.

Enter YORK, attended.

BOLING. I fhall not need tranfport 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; 4- -Why have they dar'd to

2

march

-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 howers; 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 first quarto, 1597, which in the second, and all the fubfequent copies, was corrupted thus: But more than why. The expreffion of the text, though a fingular one, was, I have no doubt,

So many miles upon her peaceful bosom;
Frighting her pale-fac'd villages with war,
And oftentation of defpifed 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,
Refcued 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, chástise thee,
And minifter correction to thy fault!

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

A fimilar expreffion occurs in Twelfth Night:

"More than I love thefe 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 person 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 master 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 boastful display 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 fovereign.

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

But as I come, I come for Lancaster.
And, noble uncle, I beseech 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 shall stand 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 kinfman;
Had you first died, and he been thus trod down,
He fhould have found his uncle Gaunt a father,

6 On what condition] It should 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. Johnfon's conjecture:

"Even in condition," &c.

MALONE.

7 Look on my aurongs 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 purpose ferves birth and lineal fucceffion? I am duke of Lancaster by the fame right of birth as the king is king of England. JOHNSON.

To roufe his wrongs, and chase them to the bay.
I am denied to fue my livery here,2

And yet my letters-patent give me leave:
My father's goods are all diftrain'd, and fold;
And these, and all, are all amifs employ'd.
What would you have me do? I am a fubject,
And challenge law: Attornies are denied me;
And therefore perfonally I lay my claim
To my inheritance of free descent.

NORTH. The noble duke hath been too much abus'd.

Ross. It ftands your grace upon, to do him right.'

WILLO. Bafe men by his endowments are made great.

YORK. My lords of England, let me tell you this,

I have had feeling of my coufin's wrongs,
And labour'd all I could to do him right:
But in this kind to come, in braving arms,
Be his own carver, and cut out his way,
To find out right with wrong,-it may not be ;
And you, that do abet him in this kind,
Cherish rebellion, and are rebels all.

9 To roufe his wrongs, and chafe them to the bay.] By his wrongs are meant the persons who wrong him. M. MASON.

2-to fue my livery here,] A law phrafe belonging to the feudal tenures. See notes on K. Henry IV. P. I. A&t IV. fc. iii. STEEVENS.

3 It ftands your grace upon, to do him right.] i. e. it is your intereft, it is matter of confequence to you. So, in K. Richard III: -it ftands me much upon,

"To stop all hopes whofe growth may danger me."

Again, in Antony and Cleopatra:

66

-It only fands

"Our lives upon, to use our strongest hands." STEEVENS.