England shall give him office, honour, might: O my poor kingdom, sick with civil blows! Peopled with wolves, thy old inhabitants! P. Hen. O, pardon me, my liege! but for my tears, [Kneeling. The moist impediments unto my speech, 8 when riot is thy care?] i. e. Curator. A bold figure. So Eumæus is styled by Ovid, Epist. I: 66 immundæ cura fidelis haræ." Tyrwhitt. One cannot help wishing Mr. Tyrwhitt's elegant explanation to be true; yet I doubt whether the poet meant to say more thanWhat wilt thou do, when riot is thy regular business and occupation? Malone. 9 Which my most true &c.] True is loyal. This passage is obscure in the construction, though the general meaning is clear enough. The order is, this obedience which is taught this exterior bending by my duteous spirit; or, this obedience which teaches this exterior bending to my inwardly duteous spirit. I know not which is right. Johnson. The former construction appears to me the least exceptionable of the two; but both are extremely harsh, and neither of them I think, the true construction. Malone. The latter words--" this prostrate and exterior bending”—appear to me to be merely explanatory of the former words-this obedience. Suppose the intermediate sentence-" which my most true and inward-duteous spirit teacheth"-to be included in a parenthesis, and the meaning I contend for will be evident. M. Mason. I have adopted Mr. M. Mason's regulation. Steevens. And found no course of breath within your majesty, And thus upbraided it. The care on thee depending, Hath fed upon the body of my father; Therefore, thou, best of gold, art worst of gold. Preserving life in med'cine potable:1 But thou, most fine, most honour'd, most renown'd, Thus, my most royal liege, To try with it, as with an enemy, That had before my face murder'd my father,— But if it did infect my blood with joy, Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride; Did, with the least affection of a welcome, Which my most true and inward-duteous spirit Teacheth] i. e. which my loyalty and inward sense of duty prompt me to. The words, "this prostrate and exterior bending," are, I apprehend, put in apposition with "obedience," which is used for obeisance. Malone. 1 in med' cine potable:] There has long prevailed an opinion that a solution of gold has great medicinal virtues, and that the incorruptibility of gold might be communicated to the body impregnated with it. Some have pretended to make potable gold, among other frauds practised on credulity. Johnson. So, in the character of the Doctor of Physicke, by Chaucer, Mr. Tyrwhitt's edit. v. 446: "For gold in phisike is a cordial." Steevens. That gold may be made potable is certain, notwithstanding Dr. Johnson's incredulity. The process is inserted in Abbé Guenee's incomparable work, intitled Lettres de quelques Juifs à M. de Voltaire, 5th edit. Vol. I, p. 416, a work which every person unacquainted with it will be glad to be referred to. Henley. See Dodsley's Collection of old Plays, Vol. VIII, p. 484, edit. 1780. Reed. And make me as the poorest vassal is, K. Hen. O my son! Heaven put it in thy mind, to take it hence, That thou might'st win the more thy father's love, Come hither, Harry, sit thou by my bed; For all the soil2 of the achievement goes My gain of it by their assistances; Which daily grew to quarrel, and to bloodshed, 4 Changes the mode: for what in me was purchas'd," So thou the garland wear'st successively." 2 soil —] Is spot, dirt, turpitude, reproach. Johnson. supposed peace:] Counterfeited, imagined, not real. 3 4 Johnson. all these bold fears,] Fear is here used in the active sense, for that which causes fear. Johnson. These bold fears are these audacious terrors. To fear is often used by Shakspeare for to fright. Steevens. 5 Changes the mode:] Mode is the form or state of things. Johnson. 6 - for what in me was purchas'd,] Purchased seems to be here used in its legal sense, acquired by a man's own act (perquisitio) as opposed to an acquisition by descent. Malone. Purchased, in this place, does not merely signify acquired, but acquired by unjust and indirect methods. Purchase, in Shakspeare, frequently means stolen goods, or goods dishonestly obtained. M. Mason. Yet, though thou stand'st more sure than I could do, 9 I cut them off; and had a purpose now To lead out many to the Holy Land;1 Lest rest, and lying still, might make them look 7 successively.] By order of succession. Every usurper snatches a claim of hereditary right as soon as he can. Johnson. See The Speech of his Highness [Richard Cromwell] the Lord Protector, made to both Houses of Parliament, at their first Meeting, on Thursday the 27th of January, 1658: "—for my own part, being by the providence of God, and the disposition of the law, my father's SUCCESSOR, and bearing the place in the government that I do," &c. Harl. Misc. Vol. I, p. 21. Malone. 8 And all thy friends,] Should not we read?— 9 And all my friends,- Tyrwhitt. which to avoid I cut them off] As this passage stands, the King is advising the Prince to make those persons his friends, whom he has already cut off. We should surely therefore read, "I cut some off," instead of them. M. Mason. 1 To lead out many to the Holy Land;] The sense is: Of those who assisted my usurpation, some I have cut off, and many Iintended to lead abroad. This journey to the Holy Land, of which the King very frequently revives the mention, had two motives, religion and policy. He durst not wear the ill-gotten crown without expiation, but in the act of expiation he contrives to make his wickedness successful. Johnson. I confess, I have no distinct comprehension of the foregoing passage, which is ungrammatical as well as obscure. Dr. Johnson's explanation pre-supposes the existence of such a reading as is since offered by Mr. M. Mason, viz. some instead of them. Steevens. 2 Lest rest, and lying still, might make them look Too near unto my state.] The expedition that Cæsar meditated against the Parthians, immediately before his death, has been ascribed to the same apprehension which dictated to Henry a journey to the Holy Land: "Invidiæ stimulos ergo ut lenire furentis, Be it thy course, to busy giddy minds With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out, You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me; Then plain, and right, must my possession be: Which I, with more than with a common pain, 'Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain. Enter Prince JOHN of LANCASTER, WARWICK, Lords, and Others. K. Hen. Look, look, here comes my John of Lan caster. P. John. Health, peace, and happiness, to my royal father! K. Hen. Thou bring'st me happiness, and peace, son John; But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown Where is my lord of Warwick? P. Hen. My lord of Warwick! K. Hen. Doth any name particular belong Unto the lodging where I first did swoon? War. 'Tis call'd Jerusalem, my noble lord. K. Hen. Laud be to God!-even there my life must end.4 "Civiles; cum jam Crassi vindicta perisset, "Suppliciter petiit." Supplm. Lucani. Lib. VII. Malone. 3 How I came &c.] This is a true picture of a mind divided between heaven and earth. He prays for the prosperity of guilt while he deprecates its punishment. Johnson. 4 Laud be to God!—even there my life must end.] “At length he recovered his speech, and understanding and perceiving himselfe in a strange place, which he knew not, he willed to know if the chamber had anie particular name, whereunto answer was made, that it was called Jerusalem. Then said the king; Lauds be |