Enter Prince HENRY and Westmoreland. P. HEN. How now, blown Jack? how now, quilt? FAL. What, Hal? How now, mad wag? what a devil dost thou in Warwickshire ?-My good lord of Westmoreland, I cry you mercy; I thought, your honour had already been at Shrewsbury.

WEST. 'Faith, sir John, 'tis more than time that I were there and you too; but my powers are there already: The king, I can tell you, looks for us all; we must away all night 5.

FAL. Tut, never fear me: I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.

P. HEN. I think, to steal cream indeed; for thy theft hath already made thee butter. But tell me, Jack; Whose fellows are these that come after? FAL. Mine, Hal, mine.

P. HEN. I did never see such pitiful rascals.

FAL. Tut, tut; good enough to toss"; food for powder, food for powder; they'll fill a pit, as well as better tush, man, mortal men, mortal men.

march to purloin, is noticed by a writer contemporary with Shakspeare. Barnabie Rich says, "Fyrst by the way as they travayle through the countrey where they chaunce to lye all night, the good wyfe hath spedde well if shee fynde hyr sheetes in the morning, or if this happe to fayle, yet a coverlet or curtens from the bed, or a carpet from the table, some bed clothes or table napkins, or some other thing must needs packe away with them, there comes nothing amisse if it will serve to by drinke." A Right Excellent and Pleasaunt Dialogue betwene Mercury and an English Souldier, &c. 1574, bl. 1. sig. H. 5. REED.

5 we must away all night.]

night. M. MASON.

Read-" we must away all to

Perhaps Westmoreland means- we must travel all night."

STEEVENS.

6 good enough to toss ;] That is, to toss upon a pike.

So, in King Henry VI. Part III.:

JOHNSON.

"The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes,
"Before I would have granted," &c. STEEVENS.

WEST. Ay, but, sir John, methinks they are exceeding poor and bare; too beggarly.

FAL. 'Faith, for their poverty,-I know not where they had that: and for their bareness,-I am sure, they never learned that of me.

P. HEN. No, I'll be sworn; unless you call three fingers on the ribs, bare. But, sirrah, make haste; Percy is already in the field.

FAL. What, is the king encamped?

WEST. He is, sir John; I fear we shall stay too long.

FAL. Well,

To the latter end of a fray, and the beginning of a

Not a whit.

DOUG. You give him then advantage.
VER.

Hor. Why say you so ? looks he not for supply?
VER. So do we.

Hor.

His is certain, ours is doubtful. WOR. Good cousin, be advis'd; stir not to-night.

VER. Do not, my lord.

DOUG.

You do not counsel well;

You speak it out of fear, and cold heart.

VER. Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life, (And I dare well maintain it with my life,)

If well-respected honour bid me on,

hey are

not the

I am s

I hold as little counsel with weak fear,

As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives":-
Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle,
Which of us fears.

VER.

Come, come, it may not be.

I wonder much, being men of such great leading as

you are,

That you foresee not what impediments
Drag back our expedition: Certain horse
Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up:
Your uncle Worcester's horse came but to-day;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is half the half of himself 9.
Hor. So are the horses of the enemy

In general, journey-bated, and brought low:
The better part of ours is full of rest.

WOR. The number of the king exceedeth ours:
For God's sake, cousin, stay till all come in.

[The Trumpet sounds a parley.

Enter Sir WALTER BLUNT.

BLUNT. I come with gracious offers from the king, If you vouchsafe me hearing, and respect.

7 As you, my lord, or any Scot that lives :] The old copies :
that this day lives." STEEVENS.

66

We should omit the words, this day, which weaken the sense and destroy the measure. M. MASON.

8 -such great leading,] Such conduct, such experience in martial business. JOHNSON.

such great leading as you are."

By the advice of Mr. Ritson I have omitted the words-as you are, which only serve to destroy the metre.

STEEVENS.

- half himself.] Old copies" half of himself."

STEEVENS.

Hor. Welcome, sir Walter Blunt; And would to

God,

You were of our determination!

Some of us love you well: and even those some Envy your great deserving, and good name; Because you are not of our quality',

But stand against us like an enemy.

BLUNT. And God defend, but still I should stand

So,

So long as, out of limit, and true rule,
You stand against anointed majesty !

But, to my charge.-The king hath sent to know
The nature of your griefs; and whereupon
You conjure from the breast of civil peace
Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land
Audacious cruelty: If that the king

Have any way your good deserts forgot,

Which he confesseth to be manifold,

He bids you name your griefs; and, with all speed,

You shall have your desires, with interest;

And pardon absolute for yourself, and these,

Herein misled by your suggestion.

Hor. The king is kind; and, well we know, the
king

Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father, and my uncle, and myself,

I of our QUALITY,] Quality, in our author's time, was frequently used in the sense of fellowship or occupation. So, in The Tempest: "Task Ariel and all his quality," i. e. all those who were employed with Ariel in similar services or occupations; his fellows. Again, in Hamlet: "—give me a taste of your quality." MALONE.

2 -

of your GRIEFS ;] That is, grievances. So, in A Declaration of the Treasons of the late Earle of Essex, &c. 1601: "The Lord Keeper required the Earle of Essex, that if he would not declare his griefs openly, yet that then he would impart them privately." MALONE.

Did give him that same royalty he wears
And, when he was not six and twenty strong,
Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,
A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home,
My father gave him welcome to the shore:
And, when he heard him swear, and vow to God,
He came but to be duke of Lancaster,

To sue his livery, and beg his peace;
With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,

3 My father, and my uncle, and myself,

Did give him that same royalty he wears:] The Percies were in the highest favour with King Henry the Fourth for some time after his accession. Thomas Earl of Worcester was appointed Governour to the Prince of Wales, and was honoured with the custody of Isabel, widow of King Richard the Second, when she was sent back to France after that king's deposition. Hotspur, who accompanied him on that occasion, in the presence of the Ambassadors of both nations, who met between Calais and Boulogne, protested "upon his soul" that she was a virgin, "sound and entire even as she was delivered to King Richard, and if any would say to the contrary, he was ready to prove it against him by combat." Speed, p. 753. MALONE.

4 To sue his livery,] This is a law phrase belonging to the feudal tenures; meaning, to sue out the delivery or possession of his lands from those persons who on the death of any of the tenants of the crown, seized their lands, till the heir sued out his livery. STEEVENS.

Before the 32d year of King Henry the Eighth, wardships were usually granted as court favours, to those who made suit for, and had interest enough to obtain them. RITSON.

During the existence of the feudal tenures, on the death of any of the King's tenants, an inquest of office, called inquisitio post mortem, was held, to inquire of what lands he died seized, who was his heir, of what age he was, &c. and in those cases where the heir was a minor, he became the ward of the crown; the land was seized by its officers, and continued in its possession, or that of the person to whom the crown granted it, till the heir came of age, and sued out his livery, or ousterlemaine, that is, the delivery of the land out of his guardian's hands. To regulate these inquiries, which were greatly abused, many persons being compelled to sue out livery from the crown, who were by no means tenants thereunto, the Court of Wards and Liveries was erected by Stat. 32 Hen. VIII. c. 46. See Blackstone's Comm. I 61. III. 258.

MALONE.