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No more the thirfty entrance of this Soil'
Shall damp her lips with her own children's blood;
No more fhall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowrets with the armed hoofs
Of hostile paces.
+ Those oppofed eyes,

And breathe short-winded ac

cents-] That is, Let us Joften peace to reft a while without difturbance, that she may recover breath to propofe new wars. 3 No more the thirfly entrance of this Soil

Shall damp her lips with her own children's blood:] This nonfense should be read, Shall TREMPE, i. e. moisten, and refers to thirsty, in the preceding line: Trempe, from the French, tremper, properly fignifies the moistnefs made by rain. WARB.

That thefe lines are abfurd is foon discovered, but how this nonfenfe will be made fenfe is not so easily told; furely not by reading trempe, for what means he, that fays, the thirfly entrance of this Soil fhall no more trempe her lips with her children's blood, more than he that fays it fall not damp her lips? To fuppofe the entrance of the foil to mean the entrance of a King upon Dominion, and King Henry to predict that Kings hall enter hereafter without bloodshed, is to give words fuch a latitude of meaning, that no nonfenfe can want a congruous interpretation.

The antient copies neither have trempe nor damp; the first 4to of 1599; that of 1622, the Folio of 1623, and the 40 of 1639, all read,

Which;

No more the thirfly entrance of this foil

Shall daube her lips with her

own children's blood. The Folios of 1632 and 1664 read, by an apparent errour of the prefs, Shall damb her lips, from which the later editors have idly adopted damp. The old reading helps the editor no better than the new, nor can I fatisfactorily reform the paffage. I think that thirfty entrance must be wrong, yet know not what to offer. We may read, but not very elcgantly,

No more the thirfly entrails of this foil

Shall daubed be with her own children's blood.

The relative her, is inaccurately used in both readings; but to regard fenfe more than grammar is familiar to our authour.

We may suppose a verfe or two loft between thefe two lines. This is a cheap way of palliating an editor's inability; but I believe fuch omiffions are more frequent in Shakespeare than is commonly imagined.

Those oppofed eyes,] The fimilitude is beautiful: But, what are eyes meeting in inteftine bocks, and marching all one way? The true reading is, FILES; which appears not only from the integrity of the metaphor, well

befeeming

Which, like the meteors of a troubled heav'n,
All of one nature, of one fubftance bred,
Did lately meet in the inteftine shock
And furious close of civil butchery,
Shall now, in mutual, well-befeeming, ranks
March all one way; and be no more oppos'd
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies;
The edge of war, like an ill-fheathed knife,
No more fhall cut his mafter. Therefore, friends,
As far as to the fepulchre of Christ,
Whofe foldier now, under whose blessed Cross
We are impreffed, and engag'd to fight,
Forthwith a Power of English fhall we levy;
Whofe arms were moulded in their mothers' womb
To chafe these Pagans, in those holy fields
Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet,
Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd
For our advantage on the bitter Crofs.
But this our purpofe is a twelvemonth old,
And bootlefs 'tis to tell you we will go;
Therefore, we meet not now. Then let me hear,
Of you my gentle Coufin Westmorland,

befeeming ranks march all one way; but from the nature of thofe metears to which they are compared; namely long ftreaks of red, which represent the lines of armies; the appearance of which, and their likeness to fuch lines, gave occafion to all the fuperfition of the common people concerning armies in the air, &c. Out of mere contradiction, the Oxford Editor would improve my alteration of files to arms, and fo lofes both the integrity of the metaphor and the likeness of the comparison. WARBURT.

This paffage is not very accurate in the expreffion, but I think nothing can be changed.

5 As far as to the fepulchre,

&c.] The lawfulness and juftice of the holy wars have been much difputed; but perhaps there is a principle on which the queftion may be easily determined. If it be part of the religion of the Mahometans, to extirpate by the fword all other religions, it is, by the law of self-defence, lawful for men of every other religion, and for Christians among others, to make war upon Mahometans, fimply as Mahometans, as men obliged by their own principles to make war upon Chriftians, and only lying in wait till opportunity fhall promife them fuccefs.

PART OF
What yesternight our Council did decree,
In forwarding this dear expedience.

Weft. My Liege, this hafte was hot in question,
"And many limits of the Charge fet down
But yefternight: when, all athwart, there came
A Poft from Wales, loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordfire to fight
Against th' irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken;
A thousand of his people butchered,

Upon whofe dead corps there was fuch mifufe,
Such beaftly, fhamelefs transformation,
By thofe Welfbivomen done, as may not be,
Without much fhame, re-told or spoken of.

K. Henry. It feems then, that the tidings of this broil

Brake off our bufinefs for the holy Land.

Weft. This, matcht with other, did, my gracious

lord;

For more uneven and unwelcome news

Came from the North, and thus it did import.
On holy-rood day, the gallant Hot-fpur there,
Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot,
At Holmedon spent a fad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery,

And fhape of likelihood, the news was told;
For he, that brought it, in the very heat
And pride of their contention, did take horfe,
Uncertain of the iffue any way.

K. Henry, Here is a dear and true-induftrious friend,
Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horfe,
Stain'd with the variation of each foil

Betwixt that Holmedon, and this Seat of ours:

this dear expedience.]
WARBURTON.

For expedition.

And many limits --] Limits for eftimates. WARBURT.

And he hath brought us fmooth and welcome news.
The Earl of Douglas is difcomfited;

Ten thousand bold Scots, three and twenty Knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter fee
On Holmedon's plains. Of prifoners, Hot-fpur took
Mordake the Earl of Fife, and eldest fon

To beaten Dowglas, and the Earls of Athol,
Of Murry, Angus, and Menteith.

And is not this an honourable spoil?

A gallant prize? ha, coufin, is it not?

Weft. In faith, a conqueft for a Prince to boast of.
K. Henry. Yea, there thou mak'st me fad, and
mak'st me fin

In Envy, that my lord Northumberland

Should be the father of fo bleft a son,

A fon, who is the theam of Honour's tongue,
Amongst a grove, the very streightest plant,
Who is fweet Fortune's Minion, and her Pride,
Whilft I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and difhonour ftain the brow

Of my young Harry. O could it be prov'd,
That fome night-tripping Fairy had exchang'd,
In cradle-cloaths, our children where they lay,
And call mine Percy, his Plantagenet;

Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts.- -What think you,
Coufin,

Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners,
Which he in this adventure hath furpriz'd,
To his own ufe he keeps, and fends me word,
I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.

Weft. This is his uncle's teaching, this is Worcester,
Malevolent to you in all afpects,

Which makes him plume himself, and bristle up

The

Which makes him PRUNE

this the Oxford Editor gives his
WARBURTON.

bimfelf,-] Doubtlefs Shake- fiat.

Heare wrote PLUME. And to I am not fo confident as those

VOL. IV.

I

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The Creft of youth against your Dignity.

K. Henry. But I have feat for him to answer this
And for this caufe a while we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerufalem.

Coufin, on Wednesday next our Council we
Will hold at Windfor, fo inform the lords:
But come yourself with speed to us again;
For more is to be faid, and to be done,
"Than out of anger can be utter'd.
Weft. I will, my Liege.

SCENE II.

An Apartment of the Prince's.

[Exeunt.

Enter Henry Prince of Wales, and Sir John Falstaff.

TOW, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?

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P. Henry. Thou art fo fat-witted with drinking old fack, and unbuttoning thee after fupper, and fleeping upon benches in the afternoon, that thou haft forgotten to demand that truly, which thou would't truly know. What a devil haft thou to do with the time of the day? Unlefs hours were cups of fack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the figns of leaping-houfes, and the bleffed Sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-colour'd talfata. Ifee no reafon why thou thould't be fo fuperfluous, to demand the time of the day.

two editors. The metaphor is taken from a cock who in his pride prunes himself; that is picks off the loote feathers to fmooth the reft. To prune and to plume, spoken of a bird, is

the fame.

9 Than out of anger can be uttered.] That is, More is

to be faid than anger will fuffer me to Jay: More than can ifue from a mind difturbed like mine.

To demand that truly, which thou wouldst truly know.] The Prince's objection to the question feems to be, that Falstaff had asked in the night what was the time of day.

Fal.

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