S

The Court in London. Enter King Henry, Lord John of Lancaster, Earl of

Westmorland, and others.

King HENRY.
O Maken as we are, so wan with Care,

Find we a'time for frighted peace to pant,
And breathe short-winded accents of new Broils
To be commenc'd in ftronds a-far remote.
No more the thirsty entrance of thiş Soil
* Shall trempe her lips with her own children's blood:
No more shall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowrets with the armed hoofs
Of hoftile paces. Those opposed files,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heav'n,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery,
Shall now, in mutual, well-beseeming, ranks
March all one way; and be no more oppos’d
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies :
The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends,

* Shall damp her lips----] This Nonsense should be read, Shall trempe, i. c. moisten, and refers to thirsty, in the preceding Line : Trempe

, from the French, tremper, properly signifies the Moifness made by Rain.

you we will

As far as to the fepulchre of Christ,
(Whose soldier now, under whose blessed Cross
We are impreffed, and engag'd to fight)
Forthwith a Power of English shall we levy;
Whose arms were moulded in their mother's womb
To chase these Pagans, in those holy fields
Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet,
Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd
For our advantage on the bitter Cross.
But this our purpose is a twelvemonth old,
And bootlefs 'tis to tell

go.
Therefore, we meet not now: Then let me hear,
Of you my gentle Cousin Wesmorland,
What yesternight our Council did decree,
In forwarding this dear expedience.

IVet. My Liege, this halte was hot in question,
And many limits of the Charge set down
But yefternight: when, all athwart, there came
A Poft from Wales, loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer;
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against th' irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken;
A thousand of his people butchered,
Upon whose dead corps there was such misuse,
Such beastly, shameless transformation,
By those Welshwomen done, as may not be,
Without much shame, re-told or fpoken of.

K. Henry. It seems then, that the tidings of this broil
Brake off our business for the holy Land.
Weft. This, matcht with other, did, my gracious

lord;
For more uneven and unwelcome news
Came from the North, and thus it did import.
On holy-rood day, the gallant Hot-spur there,
Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot,
At Holmedon spent a sad and bloody hour :

As

As by discharge of their artillery,
And shape of likelihood, the news was told;
For he, that brought it, in the very heat
And pride of their contention, did take horse,
Uncertain of the issue any way.

K.Henry. Here is a dear and true-industrious friend,
Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse,
Stain'd with the variation of each soil
Betwixt that Holmedon, and this Seat of ours :
And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news.
The Earl of Dowglas is discomfited;
Ten thousand bold Scots, three and twenty Knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter fee
On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hot-spur took
Mordake the Earl of Fife, and eldest son
To beaten Dowglas, and the Earls of Athol,
Of Murry, Angus, and Menteith.
And is not this an honourable spoil?
A gallant prize? ha, confin, is it not?

Weft. In faith, a conqueft for a Prince to boaft of. K. Henry. Yea, there thou mak'st me fad, and

mak’ft me fin
In Envy, that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father of so bleft a fon:
A son, who is the theme of Honour's tongue :
Amongst a grove, the very ftraightest plant;
Who is sweet Fortune's Minion, and her Pride :
Whilft I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonour ftain the brow
Of my young Harry. O could it be prov'd,
That some night-tripping Fairy had exchang'd,
In cradle-clothes, our children where they lay,
And call mine Percy, his Plantagenet ;
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts.—-What think you,

Cousin,
Of this young Percy's pride ? the prisoners,
Which he in this adventure hath surpriz'd,

To his own use he keeps, and sends me word,
I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.

Weft. This is his uncle's teaching, this is Worcester,
Malevolent to you in all aspects;
Which makes him plume himself, and bristle up
The Crest of youth against your Dignity.

K. Henry. But I have sent for him to answer this; And for this cause a while we must neglect Qur holy purpose to Jerusalem. Cousin, on Wednesday next our Council we Will hold at Windsor, so inform the lords: But come yourself with speed to us again ; For more is to be said, and to be done, Than out of anger can be uttered. Weft. I will, my Liege.

(Exeunt.

S CE N E

An Apartment of the Prince's. Enter Henry Prince of Wales, and Sir John Falstaff. Fal. TOW, Hal, what time of day is it, lad ?

P. Henry. Thou art fo fat-witted with drinking old sack, and unbuttoning thee after fupper, and sleeping upon benches in the afternoon, that thou haft forgotten to demand That truly, which thou would'st truly know. What a devil haft thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups

of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the blessed Sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-colourd taffata; I see no reason why thou should it be so superfluous, to demand the time of the day.

Fal. Indeed, you come near me now, Hal. For we, that take purses, go by the moon and seven stars, and not by Phæbus, he, that wand'ring knight so fair. And I

pray thee, sweet wag, when thou art Kingas God save thy Grace, (Majesty, I should say; for grace thou wilt have none.)

P. Henry,

nance we

P. Henry. What! none ?

Fal. No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to be prologue to an egg and butter.

P.Henry. Well, how then ? come,roundly,roundly,

Fal. Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art King, let not us that are fquires of the night's body, be call'd thieves of the day's booty. Let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the Moon; and let men say, we be men of good government, being governed as the Sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress the Moon, under whose counte.

-steal. P. Henry. Thou say'st well, and it holds well too; for the fortune of us, that are the Moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the Sea; being govern'd as the Sea is, by the Moon. As for proof, now: a purse of gold most resolutely snatch'd on Monday night, and most diffolutely spent on Tuesday morning ; * got with swearing, lay by; and spent with crying, bring in: now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder; and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows.

Fal. By the lord, thou fay'st true, lad : and is not mine Hoftess of the tavern a most sweet wench?

P. Henry. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle, and is not a buff-jerkin a most sweet robe of durance ?

Fal. How now, how now, mad wag; what,'in thy quips and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff-jerkin?

P. Henry. Why, what a pox have I to do with my Hostess of the tavern ?

Fal. Well, thou hast call'd her to a reckoning many a time and oft.

* got with swearing, lay by:] i. c. fwearing at the Passengers they robbed, lay by your Arms; or rather, lay ly was a Phrase that then fignified stand still, addressed to those who were prepaving to rush forward.

P. Henry.

BS