To fuch a person, and in such a place,
At fuch a time, with all the rest retold,
May reasonably die, and never rife
To do him wrong, or any way impeach;
What then he faid, fo he unfay it now.

K. Henry. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners;
But with provifo and exception,-

That we, at our own charge, fhall ransom straight
His brother-in-law, the foolish "Mortimer;
Who, on my foul, hath wilfully betray'd
The lives of thofe, that he did lead to fight
Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower;
Whofe daughter, as we hear, the earl of March
Hath lately marry'd. Shall our coffers then
Be empty'd, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treafon? and indent with fears,
When they have loft and forfeited themselves?
No, on the barren mountains let him ftarve;
For I fhall never hold that man my friend,
Whose tongue fhall afk me for one penny coft
To ranfom home revolted Mortimer.

Hot. Revolted Mortimer!

He never did fall off, my fovereign liege,

* But by the chance of war ;-To prove that true, Needs no more but one tongue, for all thofe wounds, Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took, When, on the gentle Severn's fedgy bank,

In fingle oppofition, hand to hand,

"Mortimer ;]-Edmund, fon of Roger, Earl of March, nephew to Lady Percy, confounded, in this play, with Sir Edmund, her brother. with fears,]-engage in our service thofe, whom with reafon we diftruit for foes-article for their enlargement.

* But by the chance of war ;]-he fell into the enemy's hands. yone tongue,]-one witnefs fpeaking from thofe "mouthed wounds." JULIUS CAESAR, A& III. S. 1. Ant. CORIOLANUS, A&t II. S. 3, 3 Gir.

He

He did confound the best part of an hour

In changing hardiment with great Glendowder:
Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink,
Upon agreement, of fwift Severn's flood;

Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks,

Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,

And hid his crifp head in the hollow bank
Blood-ftained with thefe valiant combatants.
Never did bafe and rotten policy

Colour her working with fuch deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive so many, and all willingly :

Then let him not be flander'd with revolt.

K. Henry. Thou doft belie him, Percy, thou doft belie

him,

He never did encounter with Glendower;

I tell thee, he durft as well have met the devil alone,
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.

Art not ashamed? But, firrah, henceforth

Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer :
Send me your prifoners with the speedieft means,
fhall hear in fuch a kind from me

Or you
As will displease you.-My lord Northumberland,
We license your departure with your fon :-
Send us your prifoners, or you'll hear of it.

[Exit K. Henry.

Hot. And if the devil come and roar for them,
I will not fend them :-I will after straight,
And tell him fo; for I will eafe my heart,

Although it be with hazard of my head.

North. What, drunk with choler? ftay, and pause a while?

Here comes your uncle.

crifp]-curled.

a bare.

Re

Re-enter Worcester.

Hot. Speak of Mortimer?

Yes, I will speak of him; and let my foul
Want mercy, if I do not join with him:
Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins,
And fhed my dear blood drop by drop i'the duft,
But I will lift the down-fall'n Mortimer

b

As high i'the air as this unthankful king,
As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke.

North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad.

[To Worcester.
Wor. Who strook this heat up after I was gone?
Hot. He will, forfooth, have all my prisoners:
And when I urg'd the ranfom once again

Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale;
And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,
Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.

Wor. I cannot blame him; Was he not proclaim'd,
By Richard that dead is, the next of blood?
North. He was; I heard the proclamation:
And then it was, when the unhappy king

(Whose wrongs in us God pardon !) did fet forth Upon his Irish expedition;

From whence he, intercepted, did return

To be depos'd, and, fhortly, murdered.

Wor. And for whofe death, we in the world's wide

mouth

Live fcandaliz'd, and foully spoken of.

Hot. But, foft, I pray you; Did king Richard then

North. He did; myself did hear it.

Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his coufin king,
That wifh'd him on the barren mountains stary'd.
But shall it be, that you,-that fet the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man;
And, for his fake, wear the detefted blot
Of murd❜rous fubornation,-shall it be,
That you a world of curfes undergo;
Being the agents, or base second means,
The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?-
O, pardon me, that I defcend fo low,

To fhew the line, and the predicament,

Wherein you range under this fubtle king.-
Shall it, for shame, be spoken in these days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility, and power,
Did 'gage them both in an unjuft behalf,-
As both of you, God pardon it! have done,-
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?
And fhall it, in more fhame, be further fpoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off
By him, for whom these shames ye underwent ?
No; yet time ferves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again :
Revenge the jeering, and 'difdain'd contempt,
Of this proud king; who studies, day and night,
To answer all the debt he owes to you,
Even with the bloody payment of your deaths.
Therefore, I fay,-

Wor. Peace, coufin, fay no more:

And now I will unclasp a fecret book,

e canker-dog-rofe.

difdain'd]-difdainful.

And

And to your quick-conceiving discontents
I'll read you matter, deep, and dangerous;
As full of peril, and advent'rous fpirit,
As to o'er-walk a current, roaring loud,
On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.

Hot. If he fall in, good night :-or fink or fwim :Send danger from the east unto the west,

So honour cross it from the north to fouth,
And let them grapple ;-O! the blood more stirs,
To rouze a lion, than to start a hare.

North. Imagination of fome great exploit
Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.

Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an eafy leap,
To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon;
Or dive into the bottom of the deep,

Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,
And pluck up drowned honour by the locks;
So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear,
Without corrival, all her dignities:

h

But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!

Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here, But not the form of what he fhould attend.

k

Good coufin, give me audience for a while.

Hot. I cry you mercy.

Wor. Those fame noble Scots,

That are your prifoners,

Hot. I'll keep them all;

By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them;

No, if a Scot would fave his foul, he fhall not:

I'll keep them, by this hand.

of a spear.]-laid across it.

hbalf-fac'd fellowship!]-paltry partnership in honour-coins of fmall value, and thofe of a double reign, were generally impressed in profile only. KING JOHN, p. 272. Phil.

figures here,]-in his imagination, fanciful fhapes.

the form,]-the drift of my propofal.