person:

The image of the king whom I presented,
And struck me in my very seat of judgment;
Whereon, as an offender to your father,
I gave bold way to my authority,
And did commit you. If the deed were ill,
Be you contented, wearing now the garland*,
To have a son set your decrees at nought;
To pluck down justice from your awful bench;
To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword
That guards the peace and safety of your
[image,
Nay, more; to spurn at your most royal
And mock your workings in a second body +.
Question your royal thoughts, make the case
Be now the father, and propose a son: [yours;
Hear your own dignity so much profaned,
See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted,
Behold yourself so by a son disdain'd ;
And then imagine me taking your part,
And, in your power, soft silencing your son :
After this cold considerance, sentence me;
And, as you are a king, speak in your state,
What I have done, that misbecame my place,
My person, or my liege's sovereignty.

King. You are right, justice, and you weigh
this well;

Therefore still bear the balance, and the sword:
And I do wish your honours may increase,
Till you do live to see a son of mine
Offend you, and obey you, as I did.
So shall I live to speak my father's words;-
Happy am I that have a man o bold,
That dares do justice on my proper son:
And not less happy, haring such a son,
That would deliver up his greatness so
Into the hands of justice. You did commit
For which, I do commit into your hand [me:
The unstained sword that you have used to
bear;
[same
With this remembrance,-that you use the
With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit,
As you have done 'gainst ine. There is my hand;
You shall be as a father to my youth: [ear;
My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine
And I will stoop and humble my intents
To your well-practised, wise directions.
And, princes all, believe me, I beseech you ;-
My father is gone wild into his grave,
For in his tomb lie my affections;
And with his spirit sadly I survive,
To mock the expectation of the world;
To frustrate prophecies; and to raze out
Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down
After my seeming. The tide of blood in me
Hath proudly flow'd in vanity, till now:
Now doth it turn, and ebb back to the sea;
Where it shall mingle with the state of floods,
And flow henceforth in formal majesty.
Now call we our high court of parliament:
And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel,
That the great body of our state may go
In equal rank with the best-govern'd nation;
That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us;

* Crown.

In which you, father, shall have foremost
hand.- [To the Lord Chief Justice.
Our coronation done, we will accite,
As I before remember'd, all our state:
And (God consigning to my good intents,)
No prince, nor peer, shall have just cause t›

say,

Heaven shorten Harry's happy life one day. [Exeunt.

SCENE III. Glostershire. The Garden
of Shallow's House.

Enter FALSTAFF, SHALLOW, SILENCE,
BARDOLPH, the Page, and DAVY.

Shal. Nay, you shail see mine orchard: where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year's pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of caraways, and so forth: come, cousin Silence; and then to bed.

Fal. 'Fore God, you have here a goodly dwelling, and a rich.

Shal. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all, sir John :--marry, good air.Spread, Davy; spread, Davy; well said, Davy.

Ful. This Davy serves you for good uses; he is your serving man, and your husbandman.

Shal. A good variet, a good varlet, a very good varlet, sir John.-By the mass, I have drunk too much sack at supper :——— A good varlet. Now sit down, now sit down :-come, cousin.

Sil. Ah, sirrah! quoth-a, we shall
Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer,
[Singing.

And praise heaven for the merry year;
When flesh is cheap and females dear,
And lusty lads roam here and there,
So merrily,

And ever among so merrily.
Ful. There's a merry heart!-Good master
Silence, I'll give you a health for that anon.
Shal. Give master Bardolph some wine,
Davy.

Davy. Sweet sir, sit; [Seating BARDOLPH and the Page at another table.] I'll be with you anon-most sweet sir, sit.- --Master page, good master page, sit: proface! What you want in meat, we'll have in drink. But you must bear; The heart's all. [Exit.

Shul. Be merry, master Bardolph; and my little soldier there, be merry.

Sil. Be merry, be merry, my wife's as all**; [Singing. For women are shrews, both short and tall: 'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all, And welcome merry shrove-tide. Be merry, be merry, &c.

Fal. I did not think, master Silence had been a man of this mettle.

Sil. Who I? I have been merry twice and once, ere now.

Re-enter DAVY.

Davy. There is a dish of leather-coats ++ for [Setting them before BARDOLPH.

you.

+ Treat with contempt your acts executed by a representative.

lu your regal character and office. Gravely. Summons.

Italian, much good

may do you. * As all women are. + Apples commonly called russetines.

Sil. Is't so? Why, then say, an old man tol:-Away, Bardolph. [Exit BARD.]-Come, can do somewhat.

Host. No, thon arrant knave; I would I might die, that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint.

1 Bead. The constables have delivered ber over to me; and she shall have whipping cheer enough, I warrant her: There hath beeu a man or two lately killed about her.

Dol. Nut-hook, nut-hook ý, you lie. Come

He who drank a bumper on his knees to the health
It should be Domingo;
A term of reproach for a catchpoll.

of his mistress was dubb'd a knight for the evening it is part of a song in one of Nashe's plays.

n; I'll tell thee what, thou damned tripevisaged rascal; an the child I now go with, do miscarry, thou hadst better thou hadst struck thy mother, thou paper-faced villain. Host. O the Lord, that sir John were come! he would make this a bloody day to somebody. But I pray God the fruit of her womb iniscarry!

1 Bead. If it do, you shall have a dozen of cushions* again: you have bnt eleven now. Come, I charge you both go with me; for the man is dead, that you and Pistol beat among you.

Dol. I'll tell thee what, thou thin man in a censer! I will have you as soundly swinged for this, you blue-bottle roguet! you filthy famished correctioner! if you be not swinged, I'll forswear half-kirtlesį.

1 Bead. Come, come, you she knight-errant,

come.

Host. O, that right should thus overcome might! Well; of sufferance comes ease.

Dol. Come, you rogue, come; bring me to a justice.

Host. Ay; come, you starved blood-hound.
Dol. Goodman death! goodman bones!
Host Thon stame thank

བ་་པས “༤.2

Dol. Come,you thin thing; come, you rascal! A Beud. Very well. [Exeunt. SCENE V. A Public Place near West minster Abbey.

Enter Two Grooms, strewing Rushes. 1 Groom. More rushes, more rushes. 2 Groom. The trumpets have sounded twice. 1 Groom. It will be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation: Despatch, despatch. [Exeunt Grooms. Enter FALSTAFF, SHALLOW, PISTOL, BARDOLPH, and the Page.

Pist. 'Tis semper idem, for absque hoc nihil est : 'Tis all in every part. Shal. Tis so, indeed.

[liver, Pist. My knight, I will inflame thy noble And make thee rage.

Thy Doll, and Helen of thy noble thoughts,
Is in base durance, and contagious prison;
Haul'd thither

By most mechanical and dirty hand:-
Rouse up revenge from ebon den with fell
Alecto's snake,

For Doll is in; Pistol speaks nought but truth.
Fal. I will deliver her.

[Shouts within, and the Trumpets sound.
Pist. There roar'd the sea, and trumpet-
clangor sounds.

Enter the King and his Train, the Chief
Justice among them.

Fal. God save thy grace, king Hal! my royal Hal!

Pist. The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame!

vain man.

Ful. God save thee, my sweet boy!
King. My lord chief justice, speak to that
[what 'tis you speak?
Ch. Just. Have you your wits? know you
Fal. My king! my Jove! I create in theo
[thy prayers;

my heart!

King, I know thee not, old man: Fall to
I have long dream'd of such a kind of man,
How ill white hairs become a fool, and jester!
So surfeit-swell'd, so old, and so profane;
But, being awake, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body, hence, and more thy
grace;
[gape

Leave gormandizing; know, the grave doth
For thee thrice wider than for other men:-
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest;
Presume not, that I am the thing I was:
For heaven doth know, so thall the world
perceive,

Fal. Stand here by me, master Robert Shallow; I will make the king do you grace: That I have turn'd away my former self; I will leer upon him, as 'a comes by; and do So will I those that kept me company. but mark the countenance that he will give ine. When thou dost hear I am as I have been, Pist. God bless thy lungs, good knight. Approach me; and thou shalt be as thou wast, Ful. Come here, Pistol; stand behind me-- The tutor and the feeder of my riots: O, if I had had time to have made new live-Till then, I banish thee, on pain of death,→→ ries, I would have bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. [To SHALLOW.] But 'tis no matter; this poor show doth better: this doth infer the zeal I had to see him. Shal. It doth so.

Fal. It shows my earnestness of affection.
Shul. It doth so.

Fal. My devotion.

Shal. It doth, it doth, it doth.

Fal. As it were, to ride day and night; and not to deliberate, not to remember, not to have patience to shift me.

Shut. It is most certain.

Fal. But to stand stained with travel, and sweating with desire to see him: thinking of nothing else; putting all affairs else in oblivion; as if there were nothing else to be done, but to see him.

As I have done the rest of my misleaders,-
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life, I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evil:
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
We will, according to your strength, and
qualities,--
[my lord,
Give
you advancement.-Be it your charge,
To see perform'd the tenor of our word.-
Set on. [Exeunt King, and hiş Train.
Ful. Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand
pound.
Shal. Ay, marry, sír John; which I beseech
you to let me have home with me.

Ful. That can hardly be, master Shallow. Do not you grieve at this; I shall be sent for in private to him: look you, he must seem thus to the world. Fear not your advancement; I

To stuff her out to counterfeit pregnancy. cloaks. 'Tis all in all, and all in every part.

Beadles usually wore a blue livery. + Short
Child, offspring. Heuceforward.

will be the man yet, that shall make you great.

Shal. I cannot perceive how; unless you give me your doublet, and stuff me out with straw. I beseech you, good sir John, let me have five hundred of my thousand.

Fal. Sir, I will be as good as my word:
this that you heard, was but a colour.
Shal. A colour, I fear, that you will die in,
sir John.

Fal. Fear no colours; go with me to dinner.
Come, lieutenant Pistol;-come, Bardolph:-
I shall be sent for soon at night.
Re-enter Prince JOHN, the Chief Justice,
Officers, &c.

Ch. Just. Go, carry sir John Falstaff to the
Take all his company along with him. [Fleet;
Fal. My lord, my lord,

Ch. Just. I cannot now speak: I will hear Take them away. [you soon, Pist. Si fortuna me tormenta, spero mé contenta. [Exeunt FAL., SHAL., PIST.,

BARD., Page, and Officers.

P. John. I like this fair proceeding of the
He hath intent, his wonted followers [king's:
Shall all be very well provided for ;
But all are banish'd, till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world.
Ch. Just. And so they are. [ment, my lord.
P. John. The king hath call'd his parlia
Ch. Just. He hath.
[expire,

P. John. I will lay odds,-that, ere this year
We bear our civil swords, and native fire,
As far as France: I heard a bird so sing,
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the king.
Come, will you hence?
[Exeunt.

EPILOGUE SPOKEN BY A DANCER.

First, my fear; then, my court'sy: last, my speech. My fear is, your displeasure, my court'sy, my duty; and my speech, to beg your pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me: for what I have to say, is of mine own making; and what, indeed, I should say, will, I doubt, prove mine own marring. But to the purpose, and so to the venture.-Be it known to you, (as it is very well,) I was lately here in the end of a displeasing play, to pray your patience for it, and to promise you a better. I did mean, Indeed, to pay you with this: which, if, like an il venture, il come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle creditors, lose. Here, I promised you, I would be, and here I commit my body to your mercies: bate me some, and I will pay you some, and, as most debtors do, promise you infinitely.

If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you command me to use my legs! and yet that were but light payment,-to dance out of your debt. But a good conscience will make any possible satisfaction, and so will I. All the gentlewomen here have forgiven me; if the gentlemen will not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the gentlewomen, which was never seen before in such an assembly.

One word more, i beseech you. If you be not too much cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the story, with Sir John in it, and made you merry with fair Catharine of France: where, for any thing I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man. My tongue is weary; when my legs are too. I will bid you good night: and so kneel down before you ;-but, indeed, to pray for the queen*.

• Most of the ancient interludes conclude with a prayer for the King or Queen. Hence, perhaps, the Vivant Rex et Regina, at the bottom of our modern play-bills.

I fancy every reader, when he ends this play, cries out with Desdemona, "O most lame and impotent conclusion!" As this play was not, to our knowledge, divided into Acts by the author, I could be content to conclude it with the death of Henry the Fourth;

"In that Jerusalem shall Harry die."

These scenes, which now make the fifth Act of Henry the Fourth, might then be the first of Henry the Fifth; but the truth is, that they do not quite very commodiously to either play. When these play's were represented, I believe they ended as they are now ended in the books but Shakspeare seems to have designed that the whole series of action, from the beginning of Richard the Second, to the end of Henry the Fifth, should be considered by the reader as one work upon oue plan, only broken into parts by the necessity of exhibition,

Mr. Upton thinks these two plays improperly called the First and Second Parts of Henry the Fourth. The first play ends, he says, with the peaceful settlement of Henry in the king dom by the defeat of the rebels. This is hardly true: for the rebels are not yet finally sup pressed. The second, he tells us, shows Henry the Fifth in the various lights of a good-natured rake, till, on his father's death, he assumes a more manly character. This is true; but this representation gives us no idea of a dramatic action. These two plays will appear to every reader, who shall peruse them without ambition of critical discoveries, to be so connected, that the second is merely a sequel to the first; to be two only because they are too long to be

one,-JOHNSON.

KING HENRY V.

Persons represented.