Colour her working with fuch deadly wounds; Then let him not be flander'd with Revolt. K. Henry. Thou doft belie him, Percy, thou belieft him; He never did encounter with Glendower; He durft as well have met the Devil alone, Art not afham'd? but, firrah, from this hour Send me your prifoners with the fpeedieft means, 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 ftrait, 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 paufe a while; Here comes your uncle. Enter Worcester. Hot. Speak of Mortimer? Yes, I will fpeak of him; and let my fon And fhed my dear blood drop by drop in duft, 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 check look'd pale, And on my face he turn'd an eye of death, Trembling ev'n 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 (Whofe 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: myfelf did hear it. Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his coufin King, folios read downfall. 3 An eye of death.] That is, an eye menacing death. Hot-four feems to defcribe the King as trembling with rage rather than 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 fear. Of murd❜rous Subornation? fhall it be, Wor. Peace, Coufin, fay no more. And now I will unclafp a fecret book, • Difdain'd for disdainful. of a pear.] i. e. of a fpear laid across. On the unfteadfast footing i And let them grapple. O! the blood more ftirs To rouze a Lion, than to start a Hare. 5 By bear'n, methinks, &c] Gildon, a critic of the fize of Dennis, &c. calls this fpeech, without any ceremony, a ridiculous rant and abfolute madness. Mr. Theobald talks in the fame ftrain. The French critics had taught these people juft enough to understand where Shakespeare had tranfgreffed the rules of the Greek tragic writers; and, on thofe occafions, they are full of the poor frigid cant, of fable, fentiment, diction, unities, &c. But it is another thing to get to Shakespeare's fenfe; to do this required a little of their own. For want of which, they could not fee that the poet here ufes an allegorical covering to exprefs a noble and very natural thought. -Hot-fpur, all on fire, exclaims against buckflering and bartering for honour, and dividing it into fhares. O! fays he, could I be fure that when I had purchased honour I should wear her dignities without a Rival-what then? why then, By bean, methinks, it were an eafy leap, To pull bright honour from the pale fac'd Moon: i. e. tho' fome great and fhining character in the most elevated orb was already in poffeffion of her, yet it would, methinks, be eafy, by greater acts, to eclipfe his glory, and pluck all his ho nours from him; i. e. or what is ftill more difficult, tho' there were in the world no great examples to incite and fire my emulation, but that ho nour was quite funk and buried in oblivion, yet would I bring it back into vogue, and render it more illuflrious than ever. So that we fee, tho' the expreffion be fublime and daring, yet the thought is the natural movement of an heroic mind. Euripides at leaft thought fo, when he put the very fame fentiment, in the fame words, into the mouth of Eteocles—I will not, madam, difguise my thoughts; I could fcale heaven, I could defcend to the very entrails of the earth, if fo be that by that price I could obtain a kingdom. WARBURTON. Though I am very far from condemning this fpeech with Gildun and Theobald as abfolute madnels, yet I cannot find in it that profundity of reflection and beauty of allegory which the learned commentator has endeavoured to difplay. This fally of Hot-Spur may be, I think, foberly and rationally vindicated as the violent eruption of a mind inflated with ambition and fired with refentment; as the boastful clamour of a man able to do much, and eager to do more; as the hafty K 3 motion To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd Moon; Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, 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. -Good Coufin, give me audience for a while. Hat. I cry you mercy. Wor. Those fame noble Scots, That are your prifoners Hot. I'll keep them all; By heav'n, he fhall not have a Scot of them; No, if a Scot would fave his foul, he shall not not; I'll keep them, by this hand. Wor. You ftart away, And lend no ear unto my purposes; Hot. I will; that's flat. He faid, he would not ranfom Mortimer, motion of turbulent defire; as Put out upon this half-fac'd felleryhip!] I think this finely expreffed. The image is taken from one who turns from another, fo as to fland before him with a fide face; which implied neither a full conforting, nor a feparation. WARB, I cannot think this word right ly explained. It alludes rather to drefs. A coat is faid to be faced, when part of it, as the fleeves or bofom, is covered with fomething finer and more fplendid than the main substance. The mantua-makers ftill ufe the word. Half-fac'd fellowship is then partnerhip but half adorned, partnerfhip which yet wants half the fere of dignities and honours. a world of figures bere, &c.] Figure is ufed here equivocally. As it is applied to Hot-fpur's speech, it is a rhetorical· mode; as oppofed to form, it means appearance or frape. Nay, |