York. My liege, beware; look to thyfelf; Thou haft a traitor in thy prefence there. Boling. Villain, I'll make thee fafe. [Drawing. Aum. Stay thy revengeful hand; Thou haft no caufe to fear. York. Open the door, fecure, fool-hardy king: Shall I, for love, fpeak treafon to thy face? Open the door, or I will break it open. The King opens the door, enter York. Boling. What is the matter, uncle? speak; Recover breath; tell us how near is danger, That we may arm us to encounter it. [know York. Perufe this writing here, and thou fhalt The treafon that my hafte forbids me show. [p.ft; Aum. Remember, as thou read'ft, thy promife I do repent me; read not my name there, My heart is not confederate with my hand. York.'Twas, villain, ere thy hand did fet it down. I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king; Fear, and not love, begets his penitence: Forget to pity him, left thy pity prove A ferpent that will fting thee to the heart. Boling. O heinous, ftrong, and bold confpiracy !— O loyal father of a treacherous fon! Thou fheer, immaculate, and filver fountain, From whence this ftream through muddy paffages Hath held his current, and defil'd himself! Thy overflow of good converts to bad 2; And thy abundant goodness fhall excufe This deadly blot in thy digrefling 3 fon. York. So fhall my virtue be his vice's bawd; Dutch. What ho, my liege! for heaven's fake, 'tis 1. Speak with me, pity me, open the door; Boling. Our fcene is alter'd, from a ferious thing, York. If thou do pardon, whofoever pray, More fins, for this forgivenefs, profper may. This fefter'd joint cut off, the reft refts found; This, let alone, will all the reft confound. Enter Dutchess. Dutch. Oking, believe not this hard-hearted man; Love, loving not itfelf, none other can. [here? York. Thou frantic woman, what doft thou do Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear ? Dutch. Sweet York, be patient; Hear me, gentle liege. Boling. Rife up, good aunt. Dutch. Not yet, I thee befeech: For ever will I kneel upon my knees, And never fee day that the happy fees, 'Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy, By pardoning Rutland, my tranfgrefling boy. Aum. Unto my mother's prayers, I bend my knee. York. Against them both, my true joints bended be. [Kneels. [Kneels. Ill may'ft thou thrive, if thou grant any grace! He prays but faintly, and would be deny'd ; Dutch. Nay, do not fay--stand up; 1 Sheer is pellucid, clear. 2 That is, "The overflow of good in thee is turned to bad in thy fon. 3 To digrefs is to deviate from what is right or regular. 4 Alluding to an interlude well known in sui author's time. FF 3 I never 1 never long'd to hear a word 'till now; Dutch. Doft thou teach pardon pardon to deftroy? Boling. Good aunt, stand up. Boling. I pardon him, as heaven fhall pardon me. Boling. With all my heart Dutch. A god on earth thou art. [the abbot 2, thee new. SCENE IV. Enter Exton, and a Servant. [Exeunt. And here is not a creature but myself, As thus,--Come, little ones; and then again,- Exton. Didft thou not mark the king, what words So is it in the mufic of men's lives. he fpake? Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear? Was it not fo? Serv. Thofe were his very words. [twice, Exton. And, fpeaking it, he wiftly look'd on me; The Prifon at Pomfret-Gafile. Enter King Richard. V. K. Rich. I have been fudying how to compare And here have I the daintinefs of ear, That is, excufe me. 2 The abbot of Weftminfler was an ecclefiaftic; but the brother-in-law meant, was Jon duse of Exeter and carl of Huntingdon (own brother to king Richard II., and who had married with the lady Elizabeth, fifter of Fenry of Bolingbroke. 3 by the word I luppole is meant the Scrip ures. 4 Tojar probably Lere means, to make that noife which is called nicking. Watch feems to be used in a double fenfe, for a quantity of time, and for the initiument which Yey meafures time. 61 c. I like or him, Yet, bleffing on his heart that gives it me! Groom. Hail, royal prince! K. Rich. Thanks, noble peer; Groom. I was a poor groom of thy stable, king, When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York, With much ado, at length have gotten leave How went he under him? Groom. So proudly, as if he difdain'd the ground. That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; Enter Keeper, with a dish. Keep. Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay. Keep. My lord, will 't pleafe you to fall to? hand That ftaggers thus my perfon.-Exton, thy fierce [land. Hath with the king's blood ftain'd the king's own Mount, mount, my foul! thy feat is up on high; Whilft my grofs flesh finks downward, here to die. [Dies. Exton. As full of valour, as of royal blood : SCE NE VI. Flourish: Enter Bolingbroke, York, with other Lords and Attendants. Boling. Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear, Is that the rebels have confum'd with fire Our town of Cicefter in Gloftershire; But whether they be ta'en, or flain, we hear not. Enter Northumberland. Welcome, my lord: What is the news? North. First to thy facred state with I all happiness. The next news is, I have to London fent The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent: The manner of their taking may appear At large difcourfed in this paper here. [Prefenting a paper. Boling. We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains; And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. Enter Fitzwater. Fitz. My lord, I have from Oxford sent to The heads of Brocas, and Sir Bennet Seely; Enter Percy, with the Bishop of Carlife. Percy. The grand confpirator, abbot of Weftminiter, With clog of confcience, and four melancholy, Hath yielded up his body to the grave: Bur here Carlisle living, to abide Thy kingly doom, and fentence of his pride. Boling. Carlifle, this is your doom :— Chufe out fome fecret place, fome reverend room, More than thou haft, and with it joy thy life; K. Rich. How now ? what means death in this So, as thou liv'ft in peace, die free from trife: [Beats the Keeper Keep. Help, help, help! Enter Exton, and Servants. rude affault? Villain, thine own hand yields thy death's inftrument. [Snatching a weapon, and killing one. Go thou, and fill another room in hell. [Kills another. [Exton ftrikes him down. That hand fhall burn in never-quenching fire, For tho' mine enemy thou haft ever been, Exton. Great king, within this coffin I prefent Thy bury'd fear: herein all breathlefs lies 1 i. e. is as ftrange and uncommon as a brooch, which is now no longer worn. grace, glomy ville in, who brings, &c. 3 Jaunce and jaunt were fynonimous words. Ff 4 2 Meaning, that The With Cain go wander through the fhade of night, FIRST Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawers, two Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants, &c. To be commenc'd in ftronds afar remote. The Court in London. No more the thirsty entrance of this foil Enter King Henry, Earl of Westmoreland, Sir Walter No more fhall trenching war channel her fields, K. Henry. S Blunt, and others. fhaken as we are, fo wan with care, Find we a time for frighted peace to pant, And breathe short-winded accents of new broils Nor bruife her flowrets with the armed hoofs The tranfactions contained in this hiftorical drama are comprifed within the period of about ten months; for the action commences with the news brought of Hotspar having defeated the Scots under Archibald earl Douglas at Holmedon (or Halidown-hill), which battle was fought on Holyroodday (the 14th of September) 1402; and it clofes with the defeat and death of Hotfpur at Shrewsbury; which engagement happened on Saturday the 21st of July (the eve of Saint Mary Magdalen) in the year 1403. Dr. Johnfon remarks, that "Shakspeare has apparently designed a regular connection of thefe dramatic hiftories from Richard the Second to Henry the Fifth. King Henry, at the end of Richard the Second, declares his purpose to vifit the Holy Land, which he refumes in this Speech. The complaint made by king Henry in the laft act of Richard the Second, of the wildness of his fon, prepares the reader for the frolicks which are here to be recounted, and the characters which are now to be exhibited." 2 Mr. Steevens fays, it fhould be Prince John of Lancaster, and adds, that the perfons of the drama were originally collected by Mr. Rowe, who has given the title of Duke of Lancaster to Prince John, a mistake which Shakspeare has been no where guilty of in the first part of this play, though in the fecond he has fallen into the fame error. K. Henry IV. was himself the last perfon that ever bore the title of Duke of Lancaster. But all his fons ('till they had peerages, as Clarence, Bedford, Gloucester) were diftinguished by the name of the royal houfe, as John of Lancaster, Humphry of Lancaster, &c. and in that proper ftyle, the prefent John (who be came afterwards fo illuftrious by the title of Duke of Bedford) is always mentioned in the play before us. And |