ACT II. Enter CHORUS. CHOR. Now all the youth of England' are on fire, And filken dalliance in the wardrobe lies; Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought Reigns folely in the breaft of every man: They fell the pasture now, to buy the horse; Following the mirror of all Chriftian kings, With winged heels, as English Mercuries. For now fits Expectation in the air; And hides a fword, from hilts unto the point, With crowns imperial, crowns, and coronets," Now all the youth of England—] I think Mr. Pope mistaken in tranfpofing this chorus, [to the end of the firft fcene of the fecond act,] and Mr. Theobald in concluding the [firft] act with it. The chorus evidently introduces that which follows, not comments on that which precedes, and therefore rather begins than ends the act; and fo I have printed it. JOHNSON. 6 For now fits Expectation in the air; And hides a ford, from hilts unto the point, With crowns imperial, &c.] The imagery is wonderfully fine, and the thought exquifite. Expectation fitting in the air defigns the height of their ambition; and the word bid from the hilt to the point with crowns and coronets, that all fentiments of danger were loft in the thoughts of glory. WARBURTON. The idea is taken from the ancient reprefentations of trophies in tapestry or painting. Among these it is very common to fee fwords encircled with naval or mural crowns. Expectation is likewife perfonified by Milton. Paradife Loft, Book VI: -while Expectation stood "In horror." STEEVENS. In the Horfe Armoury in the Tower of London, Edward III. is represented with two crowns on his fword, alluding to the two kingdoms, France and England, of both of which he was crowned heir. Perhaps the poet took the thought from a fimilar reprefentation. TOLLET. Promis'd to Harry, and his followers. Shake in their fear; and with pale policy O England!-model to thy inward greatness, What might'ft thou do, that honour would thee do, But fee thy fault! France hath in thee found out men, 8 One, Richard earl of Cambridge; and the fecond, Henry lord Scroop' of Mafham; and the third, Sir Thomas Grey knight of Northumberland,Have, for the gilt of France,2 (O guilt, indeed!) This image, it has been obferved by Mr. Henley, is borrowed from a wooden cut in the first edition of Holinfhed's Chronicle. 7 MALONE. which he-] i. e. the king of France. So, in King John: Hanmer and fome other editors unneceffarily read-he. Though France himself, and fuch another neighbour, "Stood in our way.' MALONE. Richard earl of Cambridge;] was Richard de Coninfbury, younger fon of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York. He was father of Richard Duke of York, father of Edward the Fourth. WALPOLE. 9 Henry lord Scroop-] was a third hufband of Joan Duchefs of York, (the had four,) mother-in-law of Richard Earl of Cambridge. MALONE. 2- the gilt of France,] Gilt, which in our author generally fignifies a difplay of gold (as in this play, "Our gaynefs and our gilt are all befmirch'd") in the prefent inftance means golden money. So, in An Alarum for London, 1602: "To fpend the victuals of our citizens, "Which we can fcarcely compafs now for gilt." STEEVENS. Confirm'd confpiracy with fearful France; 3 this grace of kings- i. e. he who does the greatest honour to the title. By the fame kind of phrafeology the ufurper in Hamlet is called the Vice of kings, i. e. the opprobrium of them. WARBURTON. Shakspeare might have found this phrafe in Chapman's tranflation of the first book of Homer, 1598: with her the grace of kings, "Wife Ithacus afcended Again, in the 24th Book [no date]: "Idæus, guider of the mules, difcern'd this grace of men." STEEVENS. well digeft-] The folio, in which only these choruses are found, reads, and perhaps rightly, we'll digeft. STEEVENS. This emendation was made by Mr. Pope; and the words while we, which are not in the old copy, were fupplied by him. 5 MALONE. while we force a play.] The two firft words were added (as it fhould feem) very properly.-To force a play, is to produce a play by compelling many circumftances into a narrow compafs. STEEVENS. And by their hands this grace of kings muft die, There is the playhouse now,] I fuppofe every one that reads thefe lines looks about for a meaning which he cannot find. There is no connection of fenfe nor regularity of tranfition from one And thence to France shall we convey you safe, 8 thought to the other. It may be fufpected that fome lines are loft, and in that cafe the fenfe is irretrievable. I rather think, the meaning is obfcured by an accidental tranfpofition, which I would reform thus: And by their hands this grace of kings must die, The abufe of diftance, while we force a play. This alteration reftores fenfe, and probably the true fenfe. The lines might be otherwife fanged, but this order pleases me beft. JOHNSON. 7 charming the narrow feas-] Though Ben Jonfon, as we are told, was indebted to the kindness of Shakspeare for the introduction of his firft piece, Every Man in his Humour, on the flage, and though our author performed a part in it, Jonfon in the prologue to that play, as in many other places, endeavoured to ridicule and depreciate him: "He rather prays, you will be pleas'd to fee When this prologue was written, is unknown. The envious author of it, however, did not publish it till 1616, the year of Shakspeare's death. MALONE. 8 We'll not offend one ftomach-] without the qualms of fea-ficknefs. 9 But, till the king come forth,] omitted. Sir T. Hanmer reads: That is, you shall pass the fea Here seems to be something But when the king comes forth,which, as the paffage now ftands, is neceffary. Thefe lines, obfcure as they are, refute Mr. Pope's conjectures on the true place SCENE I. The fame. Eaftcheap. Enter NYм and BARDOLPH. BARD. Well met, corporal Nym. of the chorus; for they fhow that fomething is to intervene before the fcene changes to Southampton. JOHNSON. The Canons of Criticism read: - and but till then." And Mr. Heath approves the correction. STEEVENS. Mr. Roderick would read-and but till then; that is, " till the king appears next, you are to fuppofe the fcene fhifted to Southampton, and no longer; for as foon as he comes forth, it will shift to France." But this does not agree with the fact; for a scene in London intervenes. In The Merchant of Venice, 1600, printed by J. Roberts, but is printed for not: Repent but you that you fhall lofe your friend." and the two words in many other places are confounded. See p. 289, n. 5. I fufpect But is printed for Not in the beginning of the line, and that not has taken the place of but afterwards. If we read: Not till the king come forth, and but till then, the meaning will be: "We will not shift our scene unto Southampton, till the King makes his appearance on the stage, and the fcene will be at Southampton only for the short time while he does appear on the ftage; for foon after his appearance, it will change to France." MALONE. lieutenant Bardolph.] At this fcene begins the connection of this play with the latter part of King Henry IV. The characters would be indiftinct, and the incidents unintelligible, without the knowledge of what paffed in the two foregoing plays. JOHNSON. The author of REMARKS on the laft edition of Shakspeare [1778] wishes to know, where Bardolph acquired this commiffion, (as he is no more than Falstaff's corporal in King Henry IV.) and calls on Mr. Steevens for information on this fubject. If Shakspeare were |