6

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,

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,
And hid his crifpe head in the hollow bank,
Blood-ftained with thefe valiant Combatants.
• Never did bare and rotten Policy

8

makes this correction his own, at the fmall expence of changing 'bides to bore. WARBURTON. The plain meaning is, he came not into the enemy's power but by the chance of war: To 'bide the chance of war may well enough fignify to land the hazard of a battle, but can scarcely mean to endure the feverities of a prifon. The King charged Mortimer that he wilfully betrayed his army, and, as he was then with the enemy, calls him revolted Mortimer. Hotpur replies, that he never fell off, that is, fell into Glendower's hands, but by the chance of war. I fhould not have explained thus tediously a paffage fo hard to be miftaken, but that two Editors have already mistaken it,

to prove that true, Needs no more but one tongue, For all thofe wounds, &c.] This paffage is of obfcure conftruction. The later editors point it, as they understood that VOL. IV.

for the wounds a tongue was needful, and only one tongue. This is harfh. I rather think it is a broken fentence. To prove the loyalty of Mortimer, fays Hot Spur, one speaking witness is fufficient, for his wounds proclaim his loyalty, thofe mouthed wounds,

&c.

Who then affrighted, &c.] This paffage has been cenfured as founding nonfenfe, which reprefents a stream of water as capable of fear. It is misunderftood. Severn is here not the flood, but the tutelary power of the flood, who was frighted, and hid his head in the hollow bank.

8 Never did bare and rotten

policy.] All the quarto's which I have feen read bare in this place. The first folio, and all the fubfequent editions, have bafe. I believe bare is right: never did policy lying open to detection fo colour its workings.

Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer

Receive fo many, and all willingly;

Then let him not be flander'd with Revolt.

K. Henry. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou belieft

him;

He never did encounter with Glendower;

He durft as well have met the Devil alone,
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.

9

Art not afham'd? but, firrah, from this hour
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer.

Send me your prifoners with the speediest means,
Or you fhall hear in fuch a kind from me
As will displease you.-My Lord Northumberland,
We licence 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'll after strait,

And tell him fo; for I will ease my heart,

'Although it be with hazard of my head.

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

Here comes your uncle.

Enter Worcester.

Hot. Speak of Mortimer?

Yes, I will speak of him; and let my fon
Want mercy, if I do not join with him.
In his behalf, I'll empty all these veins,

9

but, firrah, from this hour.] The Oxford Editor is a deal more courtly than his old plain Elizabeth author. He changes firrah therefore to Sir: And punctilios of this kind he very carefully difcharges throughout his edition: which it may be enough once

1

for all just to have taken notice of. WARBURTON. Although it be with hazard, &c.] So the first folio, and all the following editions. The quarto's read,

Although make a hazard of my head.

And

And shed my dear blood drop by drop in dust,
2 But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer
Ås high i'th' Air as this unthankful King,
As this ingrate and cankred Bolingbroke.

North. Brother, the King hath made your Nephew mad. [To Worcester Wor. Who ftrook this heat up, after I was gone? Hot. He will, forfooth, have all my prifoners; 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 3 eye of death, Trembling ev'n at the name of Mortimer.

3

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 murthered.

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

Live fcandaliz'd, and foully fpoken of.

Hot. But foft, I pray you. Did King Richard then Proclaim my brother Mortimer

Heir to the Crown?

North. He did: myself did hear it.

Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin King,
That wish'd him on the barren mountains starv'd.
But fhall it be, that you, that set the Crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man,
And for his fake wear the detefted blot

2 But I will lift the downfall'n Mortimer] The quarto of 1599 reads down-trod Mortimer : which is better. WARB. All the quartos that I have feen read down trod, the three

folios tead downfall.
3 An eye of death.] That is,
an eye menacing death. Hot-pur
feems to defcribe the King as
trembling with rage rather than
fear.

Of murd❜rous Subornation? fhall it be,
That you a world of curfes undergo,
Being the agents or bafe fecond 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 fhame 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 unjust behalf,
As Both of you, God pardon it! have done,
To put down Richard, that fweet lovely Rofe,
And plant this Thorn, this Canker Bolingbroke?
And fhall it in more fhame be further spoken,
That you are fool'd, difcarded, and shook off
By him, for whom thefe fhames ye underwent?
No; yet times ferves, wherein you may redeem
Your banifh'd honours, and reftore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again.
Revenge the jeering, and difdain'd contempt
Of this proud King, who ftudies day and night
To answer all the debt he owes unto you,
Ev'n with the bloody payments of your deaths:
Therefore, I fay

Wor. Peace, Coufin, fay no more.

And now I will unclafp a fecret book,
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,
4 On the unfteadfast 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 crofs it from the north to fouth,

*Difdain'd for disdainful.

of a spear.] i. e. of a fpear laid across.

4 On the unfteadfast footing WARBURTON.

And

And let them grapple.- O! the blood more ftirs To rouze a Lion, than to start a Hare.

North. Imagination of fome great exploit

Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.

Hot. By heav'n, methinks, it were an eafy leap,