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,

5

The more and less 3 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 straight 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. Hor.

Then, to the point.

5 The MORE and less-] i. e. the greater and the less.

STEEVENS.

Steevens has given the words, the more and less, the only explanation they can bear; but I have little doubt that we ought to read

66

They more and less, came in," &c. M. MASON. 6 Gave him their heirs; as pages follow'd him,] Perhaps we ought to point differently:

"Gave him their heirs as pages; follow'd him," &c.

MALONE.

7 Upon the naked shore, &c.] In this whole speech he alludes again to some passages in Richard the Second. JOHNSON.

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 state9
To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman March
(Who is, if every owner were well plac'd,
Indeed his king,) to be incag'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 2; 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?
Hor. Not so, sir Walter; we'll withdraw awhile.

8 And, in the NECK of that,] So, in Painter's Palace of Pleasure, 1566: "Great mischiefes succedyng one in another's necke." HENDERSON.

9 — TASK'D the whole state:] I suppose it should be tax'd the whole state. JOHNSON.

Task'd is here used for taxed; it was once common to employ these words indiscriminately. Memoirs of P. de Commines, by Danert, folio, 4th edit. 1674, p. 136: "Duke Philip, by the space of many years, levied neither subsidies nor tasks." Again, in Stephen Gosson's School of Abuse, 1579: like a greedy surveiour being sent into Fraunce to govern the countrie, robbed them and spoyled them of all their treasure with unreasonable taskes."

66

Again, in Holinshed, p. 422: "There was a new and strange subsidie or taske granted to be levied for the king's use."

I

STEEVENS.

INCAG'D in Wales,] The old copies have engag'd. Corrected by Mr. Theobald. MALONE.

No change was necessary. Engag'd signifies delivered as a hostage; and is again used in that sense. See p. 389, n. 8.

DOUCE.

2 This head of safety ;] This army, from which I hope for protection. JOHNSON.

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

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 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.
GENT. My good lord,

I

guess their tenor.

ARCH.

Like enough, you do 5.

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,

3 — sealed BRIEF,] A brief is simply a letter. JOHNSON. to the LORD MARSHAL ;] Thomas Lord Mowbray.

4 -

'd

race and

You do

Creunt.

e.

man.

ealed

ste.

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-rul'd by prophecies,)
I fear, the power of Percy is too weak

To wage an instant trial with the king.

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

And lord Mortimer 8.

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,

6

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

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

8 And Mortimer.] Old copies, redundantly:

"And lord Mortimer."

STEEVENS.

JOHNSON.

Yet Mr. Steevens retains lord in the next line, where it is equally redundant. BosWELL.

And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him;
Therefore, make haste: I must go write again
To other friends; and so farewell, 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 FALSTAFF1.

2

K. HEN. How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon busky hill! the day looks pale At his distemperature.

P. HEN.

The southern wind

3

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

9 Act V.] It seems proper to be remarked, that in the editions printed while the author lived, this play is not broken into Acts. The division which was made by the players in the first folio, seems commodious enough; but, being without authority, may be changed by any editor who thinks himself able to make a better. JOHNSON.

In the old and modern editions the Earl of Westmoreland is made to enter here with the King; but, it appears from a passage in the next scene that he was left as a hostage in Hotspur's camp, till Worcester should return from treating with Henry. See p. 388, n. 5. MALONE.

2

BUSKY hill!] Busky is woody. (Bosquet, Fr.) Milton writes the word perhaps more properly, bosky. STEEVENS.

I do not know whether Shakspeare ever surveyed the ground of Battlefield, but he has described the sun's rising over Haughmond hill from that spot, as accurately as if he had. It still merits the name of a busky hill. BLAKEWAY.

3

-

to his purposes ;] That is, to the sun's, to that which the sun portends by his unusual appearance. JOHNSON.