You have good leave to leave us when we need You were about to speak. North. [Exit WORCESTER. [TO NORTH. Yea, my good lord. Those prisoners in your highness' name demanded, Either envy, therefore, or misprision5 Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners; And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held He gave his nose, and took't away again; Who, therewith angry, when it next came there, With many holiday and lady terms 1583,"Then on the edges of their bolstered hair, which standeth crested round their frontiers, and hanging over their faces," &c. 5 Either envy, therefore, or misprision] This is the reading of every quarto ; but the folio, without the slightest necessity, and to the injury of the sense, prints this line as follows: "Who either through envy or misprision:" there is here nothing for the relative who to agree with. 6 A pouncet-box,] "A small box," says Warburton, "for musk or other perfumes then in fashion the lid of which, being cut with open work, gave it its name; from poinsoner, to prick, pierce, or engrave." He question'd me; among the rest, demanded I then, all smarting, with my wounds being cold, Out of my grief and my impatience, Answer'd neglectingly, I know not what, He should, or he should not; for he made me mad, And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman, Of guns, and drums, and wounds, God save the mark! And telling me, the sovereign'st thing on earth Betwixt my love and your high majesty. Blunt. The circumstance consider'd, good my lord, Whate'er Lord Harry Percy then had said3, To such a person, and in such a place, At such a time, with all the rest re-told, K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners, 7 THIS villainous salt-petre-] So every quarto: the folio, 1623, That. The oldest reading seems on every account preferable. 8 Whate'er LORD Harry Percy then had said,] So the original quarto of 1598. All the later quartos spoil the line by omitting " Lord," and the folio of 1623 remedies the defect of the metre by reading Whatever. Blunt in Percy's presence would hardly omit his title. That we, at our own charge, shall ransom straight Hot. Revólted Mortimer! He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, But by the chance of war: to prove that true, Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds, Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took, When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank, In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour In changing hardiment with great Glendower. Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink, Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds, 9 Against THAT great magician,] So the quartos previous to that of 1608 : the rest, and the folio, have "the great magician." In the next line, the quarto, 1598, properly reads, "that earl of March," i. e. Mortimer. 17 and indent with FEARS,] i. e. subscribe an indenture, as if under apprehension. This interpretation accords with what Hotspur afterwards says of the king's "trembling even at the name of Mortimer." "They," in the next line, refers to Mortimer, and others taken with him. This passage seems to have puzzled nearly all the commentators; and Warburton, Johnson, and Steevens, have given explanations equally wide of the mark. Never did base and rotten policy3 Colour her working with such deadly wounds; Receive so many, and all willingly: Then, let him not be slander'd with revolt. K.Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him: He never did encounter with Glendower. I tell thee, He durst as well have met the devil alone, Art thou not asham'd? But, sirrah, henceforth [Exeunt King HENRY, BLUNT, and Train. Hot. And if the devil come and roár for them, I will not send them.-I will after straight, And tell him so; for I will ease my heart, Albeit I make a hazard of my head'. North. What! drunk with choler? stay, and pause awhile: Here comes your uncle. Hot. Re-enter WORCESTER. Speak of Mortimer!ont 'Zounds! I will speak of him"; and let my soul Want mercy, if I do not join with him: 3 Never did BASE and rotten policy] "Base" is the reading of the folio: bare, the reading of the quartos, would seem to be a misprint. Johnson says, that all editions after the folio, 1623, adopted base; such was not the case with the quarto of 1639. ALBEIT I MAKE A hazard of my head.] This is the reading of every quarto; and there seems no reason to vary from it in order to read with the folio, "Although it be with hazard of my head,"-a poorer and less expressive line. $ 'ZOUNDS! I will speak of him ;] How poor, tame, and uncharacteristic is the folio, "Yes, I will speak of him." All the quartos support our text. Perhaps "'zounds" was struck out by the Master of the Revels. VOL. IV. R Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins, And shed my dear blood drop by drop i' the dust, As high i' the air as this unthankful king, North. Brother, [To WORCESTER.] the king hath made your nephew mad. Wor. Who struck this heat up after I was gone? Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners; And when I urg'd the ransom once again Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale, Wor. I cannot blame him. Was he not proclaim'd, And then it was when the unhappy king (Whose wrongs in us God pardon!) did set forth Upon his Irish expedition; From whence he intercepted did return To be depos'd, and shortly murdered. Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's wide mouth Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of. Hot. But, soft! I pray you, did king Richard, then, Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer Heir to the crown? North. He did myself did hear it. Hot. Nay then, I cannot blame his cousin king, And for his sake wear the detested blot 6 Yea, ON HIS PART,] The folio, “On his behalf." Two lines lower the folio prints the original word " down-trod" downfall. 7 That wish'd him on the barren mountains STARVE.] i. e. to starve: the folio 1623, in opposition to all the quartos, has starr'd. Northumberland is repeating the words used by the king. |