them, that's flat:-Nay, and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had gyves on; for, indeed, I had the most of them out of prison. There's but a shirt and a half in all my company: and the half shirt is two napkins tacked together, and thrown over the shoulders like a herald's coat without sleeves; and the shirt, to say the truth, stolen from my host at Saint Alban's, or the rednose inn-keeper of Daintry. But that's all one; they'll find linen enough on every hedge. Enter PRINCE HENRY and WESTMORELAND. P. Hen. How now, blown Jack? how now, quilt?

Ful. What, Hal? How now had wag? what a devil dost thou in Warwickshire!-My good lord of Westmoreland, I cry you mercy; I thought your honor had already been at Shrewsbury.

West. 'Faith, sir John, 'tis more than time that I were there, and you too; but my powers are there already: The king, I can tell you, looks for us all: we must away all night.

Fal. Tut, never fear me; I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.

P. Hen. I think to steal cream, indeed; for thy theft hath already made thee butter. But, tell me, Jack; Whose fellows are these that come after? Fal. Mine, Hal, mine.

P. Hen. I did never see such pitiful rascals. Fal. Tut, tut; good enough to toss; food for powder, food for powder; they'll fill a pit, as well as better: tush, man, mortal men, mortal men. West. Ay, but sir John, methinks they are exceeding poor and bare; too beggarly.

Fal. Faith, for their poverty,-I know not where they had that: and for their bareness,-I am sure they never learned that of me.

P. Hen. No, I'll be sworn; unless you call three fingers on the ribs bare. But, sirrah, make haste; Percy is already in the field.

Fal. What, is the king encamped?

West. He is, sir John; I fear we shall stay too long.

Fal. Well,

To the latter end of a fray, and the beginning of a feast,

Fits a dull fighter, and a keen guest. [Exeunt.
SCENE III.-The Rebel Camp near Shrewsbury.
Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, DOUGLAS, and
VERNON.

Hot. We'll fight with him to-night.
Wor.
It may not be.
Doug. You give him then advantage.
Ver.
Not a whit.
Hot. Why say you so? looks he not for supply!
Ver. So do we.
Hot.

His is certain, ours is doubtful.
Wor. Good cousin, be advis'd; stir not to-night.
Ver. Do not, my lord.
Doug.
You do not counsel well;
You speak it out of fear and cold heart.

Ver. Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life, (And I dare well maintain it with my life,) If well respected honor bid me on, I hold as little counsel with weak fear, As you, my lord, or any Scot that lives:Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle, Which of us fears.

Doug. Ver.

Yea, or to-night.

Hot. To-night, say I.

a Fetters.

Content.

• Daventry, pronounced Daintry.

Ver.
Come, come, it may not be.
I wonder much, being men of such great leading,
That you foresce not what impediments
Drag back our expedition: Certain horse
Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up:
Your uncle Worcester's horse came but to-day;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labor tame and dull,
That not a horse is half the half himself.

Hot. So are the horses of the enemy,
In general journey-bated and brought low;
The better part of ours is full of rest.

Wor. The number of the king exceedeth ours: For God's sake, cousin, stay till all come in. [The Trumpet sounds a parley.

Enter Sir WALTER BLUNT.

Blunt. I come with gracious offers from the king,
If you vouchsafe me hearing, and respect.
Hot. Welcome, sir Walter Blunt; And 'would
to God,

You were of our determination!
Some of us love you well: and even those some
Envy your great deserving, and good name;
Because you are not of our quality,
But stand against us like an enemy.

Blunt. And God defend but still I should stand so,
So long as, out of limit, and true rule,
You stand against anointed majesty!
But to my charge.--The king hath sent to know
The nature of your griefs; and whereupon
You conjure from the breast of civil peace
Such bold hostility, teaching this duteous land
Audacious cruelty: If that the king
Have any way your good deserts forgot,-
Which he confesseth to be manifold,-
He bids you name your griefs; and, with all speed,
You shall have your desires, with interest;
And pardon absolute for yourself, and these,
Herein misled by your suggestion.

Hot. The king is kind; and, well we know, the king

Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father, and my uncle, and myself,
Did give him that same royalty he wears:
And,-when he was not six-and-twenty strong,
Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,
poor unminded outlaw sneaking home,-
My father gave him welcome to the shore:
And,-when he heard him swear, and vow to
God,

A

He came but to be duke of Lancaster,
To sue his livery,' and beg his peace;
With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,-
My father, in kind heart and pity mov'd,
Swore him assistance, and perform'd it too.
Now, when the lords and barons of the realm
Perceiv'd Northumberland did lean to him,
The more and less' came in with cap and knee;
Met him in boroughs, cities, villages;
Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes,
Laid gifts before him, proffered him their oaths,
Gave him their heirs; as pages followed him,
Even at the heels, in golden multitudes.
He presently,-
-as greatness knows itself,-
Steps me a little higher than his vow
Made to my father, while his blood was poor
Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurg;
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees,
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth:

Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
Over his country's wrongs; and, by this face,
This seeming brow of justice, did he win
The hearts of all that he did angle for.
Proceeded further; cut me off the heads
Of all the favorites, that the absent king
In deputation left behind him here,
When he was personal in the Irish war.
Blunt. Tut, I came not to hear this.
Hot.
Then, to the point.-
In short time after, he depos'd the king;
Soon after that, depriv'd him of his life;
And, in the neck of that, task'd the whole state:
To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman, March,
(Who is, if every owner were well placed,
Indeed his king,) to be incaged in Wales,
There without ransom to lie forfeited:
Disgraced me in my happy victories;
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the council-board;

In rage dismiss'd my father from the court;
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong:
And, in conclusion, drove us to seek out
This head of safety; and, withal, to pry
Into his title, the which we find

Too indirect for long continuance.

Blunt. Shall I return this answer to the king? Hot. Not so, sir Walter; we'll withdraw awhile. Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd Some surety for a safe return again, And in the morning early shall mine uncle Bring him our purposes: and so farewell.

To-morrow, good sir Michael, is a day,
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men
Must 'bide the touch: For, sir, at Shrewsbury,
As I am truly given to understand,
The king, with mighty and quick-raised power,
Meets with lord Harry: and I fear, sir Michael,—
What with the sickness of Northumberland,
(Whose power was in the first proportion,)
And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,
(Who with them was a rated sinew too,
And comes not in, o'er-rul'd by prophecies,)
I fear the power of Percy is too weak
To wage an instant trial with the king.

Gent. Why, good my lord, you need not fear; there's Douglas,

And Mortimer.

love.

Hot. And, may be, so we shall.
Blunt.

'Pray heaven you do! [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-York. A Room in the Archbishop's House.

Enter the Archbishop of York, and a Gentleman. Arch. Hie, good sir Michael! bear this sealed brief,'

With winged haste to the lord mareshal;
This to my cousin Scroop; and all the rest

Gent. Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well oppos'd.

Arch. I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear; And, to prevent the worst, sir Michael, speed: For, if lord Percy thrive not, ere the king Dismiss his power, he means to visit us,For he hath heard of our confederacy,And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him; Therefore, make haste: I must go write again To other friends; and so farewell, sir Michael. [Exeunt severally.

SCENE I.-The King's Camp near Shrewsbury. Enter KING HENRY, PRINCE HENRY, PRINCE JOHN of LANCASTER, Sir WALTER BLUNT, and Sir JOHN FALSTAFF.

K. Hen. How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon bosky hill! the day looks pale At his distemperature.

P. Hen.

The southern wind Doth play the trumpet to his purposes; And, by his hollow whistling in the leaves, Foretells a tempest, and a blustering day.

K. Hen. Then with the losers let it sympathize; For nothing can seem foul to those that win.Trumpet. Enter WORCESTER and VERNON. How now, my lord of Worcester? 'tis not well, That you and I should meet upon such terms As now we meet: You have deceiv'd our trust; And made us doff our easy robes of peace, To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel: This is not well, my lord, this is not well. What say you to't? will you again unknit

This churlish knot of all-abhorred war-
And move in that obedient orb again,
Where you did give a fair and natural light;
And be no more an exhaled meteor,
A prodigy of fear, and a portent

Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
Wor. Hear me, my liege:

For mine own part, I could be well content
To entertain the lag-end of my life
With quiet hours; for, I do protest,

I have not sought the day of this dislike.
K. Hen. You have not sought for it! how comes
it then?

Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it. P. Hen. Peace, chewet,' peace.

Wor. It pleas'd your majesty, to turn your looks
Of favor from myself, and all our house;
And yet I must remember you, my lord,
We were the first and dearest of your friends.
For you, my staff of office did I break
In Richard's time; and posted day and night

A strength on which they reckoned.
A chattering bird, a pie.

Enter HOTSPUR and DOUGLAS; and Officers and Soldiers, behind.

Hot. My uncle is return'd:-Deliver up My lord of Westmoreland.-Uncle, what news? Wor. The king will bid you battle presently. Doug. Defy him by the lord of Westmoreland. Hot. Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so. Doug. Marry, and shall, and very willingly. [Exit. Wor. There is no seeming mercy in the king. Hot. Did you beg any? God forbid!

Wor. I told him gently of our grievances, Of his oath-breaking; which he mended thus,By now forswearing that he is forsworn: He calls us rebels, traitors; and will scourge With haughty arms this hateful name in us. Re-enter DouGLAS.

Doug. Arm, gentlemen; to arms! for I have thrown

A brave defiance in king Henry's teeth,
And Westmoreland, that was engaged, did bear it;
Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.
Wor. The prince of Wales stepped forth before
the king,

And, nephew, challenged you to single fight.

Hot. O, 'would the quarrel lay upon our heads; And that no man might draw short breath to-day, But I, and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me, How show'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt?

Ver. No, by my soul; I never in my life
Did hear a challenge urged more modestly,
Unless a brother should a brother dare
To gentle exercise and proof of arms.
He gave you all the duties of a man;
Trimm'd up your praises with a princely tongue;
Spoke your deservings like a chronicle;
Making you ever better than his praise,
By still dispraising praise, valued with you:
And, which became him like a prince indeed,
He made a blushing cital' of himself;

And chid his truant youth with such a grace,
As if he master'd there a double spirit,
Of teaching, and of learning, instantly.
There did he pause: But let me tell the world,-
If he outlive the envy of this day,
England did never owe so sweet a hope,
So much misconstrued in his wantonness.

Hot. Cousin, I think, thou art enamored
Upon his follies; never did I hear
Of any prince, so wild, at liberty:-
But, be he as he will, yet once ere night
I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,
That he shall shrink under my courtesy.-
Arm, arm, with speed:-And, fellows, soldiers,
friends,

Better consider what you have to do,
Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord, here are letters for you.
Hot. I cannot read them now.--

O gentlemen, the time of life is short;
To spend that shortness basely, were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour.
An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us!
Now for our conscience,-the arms are fair,
When the intent of bearing them is just.

Enter another Messenger.

Hot. I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale,
For I profess not talking; Only this—
Let each man do his best; and here draw I
A sword, whose temper I intend to stain
With the best blood that I can meet withal

In the adventure of this perilous day.
Now, Esperance !-Percy!-and set on.-
Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
And by that music let us all embrace:
For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall
A second time do such a courtesy.

[The Trumpets sound. They embrace, and

exeunt.

SCENE III.-Plain near Shrewsbury. Excursions, and Parties fighting. Alarum to the Battle. Then enter DOUGLAS and BLUNT, meeting.

Blunt. What is thy name, that in the battle thus Thou crossest me? what honor dost thou seek

Upon my head?
Doug. Know then, my name is Douglas;
And I do haunt thee in the battle thus,
Because some tell me that thou art a king.
Blunt. They tell thee true.

Doug. The lord of Stafford dear to-day hath

Hot.

Up, and away; Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day. [Exeunt.

Other Alarums. Enter FALSTAFF. Fal. Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here; here's no scoring, but upon the pate.-Soft! who art thou? Sir Walter Blunt; -there's honor for you: Here's no vanity!! am as hot as molten lead, and as heavy too: God keep lead out of me! I need no more weight than mine own bowels.-I have led my raggamuffins where they are pepper'd: there's but three of my hundred and fifty left alive; and they are for the town's end, to beg during life. But who comes here?

7 Recital.

• Own.

The motto of the Percy family.

Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies, Whose deaths are unrevenged: Pr'ythee, lend thy sword.

Fal. O Hal, I pr'ythee, give me leave to breathe a while.-Turk Gregory never did such deeds in arms, as I have done this day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure.

P. Hen. He is, indeed; and living to kill thee. Lend me thy sword, I pr'ythee.

Fal. Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou get'st not my sword; but take my pistol, if thou wilt.

P. Hen. Give it me: What, is it in the case? Fal. Ay, Hal; 'tis hot, 'tis hot! there's that will sack a city. [The PRINCE draws out a bottle of sack. P. Hen. What, is't a time to jest and dally now? [Throws it at him, and exit. Fal. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do come in my way, so: if he do not, if I come in his, willingly, let him make a carbonado' of me. I like not such grinning honor, as sir Walter hath: Give me life: which if I can save, so; if not, honor comes unlook'd for, and there's an end. [Exit.

SCENE IV. Another Part of the Field. Alarums. Excursions. Enter the KING, PRINCE HENRY, PRINCE JOHN, and WESTMORELAND.

K. Hen. I pr'ythee,

Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much :Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.

P. John. Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too. P. Hen. I do beseech your majesty, make up, Lest your retirement do amaze your friends. K. Hen. I will do so:

My lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.
West. Come, my lord, I will lead you to your tent.
P. Hen. Lead me, my lord? I do not need your
help:

And heaven forbid, a shallow scratch should drive
The prince of Wales from such a field as this;
Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,
And rebels' arms triumph in massacres !

P. John. We breathe too long:-Come, cousin
Westmoreland,

Our duty this way lies: for God's sake, come.

[Exeunt PRINCE JOHN and WESTMORELAND. P. Hen. By heaven, thou hast deceiv'd me, Lan

Alarums. Enter DOUGLAS. Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads: I am the Douglas, fatal to all those That wear those colors on them.-What art thou, That counterfeit'st the person of a king?

K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves
at heart,

So many of his shadows thou hast met,
And not the very king. I have two boys
Seek Percy and thyself, about the field:
But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,
I will assay thee; so defend thyself.

Doug. I fear, thou art another counterfeit ; And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king: 1 A piece of meat cut crosswise for the gridiron.

But mine, I am sure, thou art, whoe'er thou be, And thus I win thee.

[They fight; the KING being in danger, enter PRINCE HENRY.

P. Hen. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like

Never to hold it up again! the spirits
Of Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:
It is the prince of Wales, that threatens thee;
Who never promiseth, but he means to pay.-

[They fight; DoUGLAS flies.
Cheerly, my lord; how fares your grace?—
Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succor sent,
And so hath Clifton; I'll to Clifton straight.
K. Hen. Stay, and breathe a while:-
Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion;
And show'd thou mak'st some tender of my life,
In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.

P. Hen. O, heaven! they did me too much injury, That ever said, I hearken'd for your death. If it were so, I might have let alone The insulting hand of Douglas over you; Which would have been as speedy in your end, As all the poisonous potions in the world, And sav'd the treacherous labor of your son. K. Hen. Make up to Clifton, I'll to sir Nicholas Gawsey. [Exit KING HENRY.

I am the prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,
To share with me in glory any more:
Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;
Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy, and the prince of Wales.

Hot. Nor shall it, Harry, for the hour is come
To end the one of us; And 'would to God,
Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!
P. Hen. I'll make it greater, ere I part from thee;
And all the budding honors on thy crest
I'll crop to make a garland for my head.
Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities.
[They fight.

Enter FALSTAFF.

Fal. Well said, Hal! to it, Hal!-Nay, you shall find no boy's play here, I can tell you. Enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls.

Hot. O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth;
I better brook the loss of brittle life,
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts, worse than thy sword my
flesh;-

But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;
And time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,
But that the earthy and cold hand of death
Lies on my tongue:-No, Percy, thou art dust,
And food for-
[Dies.

P. Hen. For worms, brave Percy; Fare thee well, great heart!

Ill-weav'd ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit.
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;
But now, two paces of the vilest earth

Is room enough.-This earth that bears thee dead,