Glo. Peel'd priest, dost thou command me be shut out?(35)
Win. I do, thou most usurping proditor,
And not protector, of the king or realm.

Glo. Stand back, thou manifest conspirator,
Thou that contriv'dst to murder our dead lord;
Thou that giv'st whores indulgences to sin:
I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat,
If thou proceed in this thy insolence.

Win. Nay, stand thou back; I will not budge a foot: This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain,

To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt.

Glo. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back: Thy scarlet robes as a child's bearing-cloth

I'll use to carry thee out of this place.

Win. Do what thou dar'st; I beard thee to thy face.
Glo. What! am I dar'd, and bearded to my face?—
Draw, men, for all this privilegèd place;

Blue-coats to tawny-coats.-Priest, beware your beard;
I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly:
Under my feet I'll stamp thy cardinal's hat;

In spite of Pope or dignities of church,

Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down.(36)
Win. Gloster, thou wilt answer this before the Pope.
Glo. Winchester goose! I cry, a rope! a rope!—
Now beat them hence; why do you let them stay?

(35) Peel'd priest, dost thou command me be shut out?] The folio has me to be shut out."-The spelling in the folio is "Piel'd Priest," &c. (Here Mr. Collier prints "Pill'd," because "we have had it before in Measure for Measure [act i. sc. 2]:" but there the play on words forbids any other spelling than "piled"- 'as be piled, as thou art piled," &c.; and Mr. Collier in The Merchant of Venice, act i. sc. 3, prints "The skilful shepherd peel'd [old eds. "pil'd "] me certain wands," &c.)

(36)

Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down.]

In the third line the folio has " Vnder my feet I stampe," &c. But the second folio rightly gives (6

Ile stampe," &c.,-Gloster threatening to stamp on the cardinal's hat, just as he threatens to tug his beard, and to drag him by the cheeks.

Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's array.-
Out, tawny-coats!-out, scarlet hypocrite!

Here GLOSTER and his Serving-men attack the other party; and enter in the hurly-burly the Mayor of London and Officers.

May. Fie, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates, Thus contumeliously should break the peace!

Glo. Peace, mayor! thou know'st little of my wrongs: Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king, Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use.

Win. Here's Gloster, a foe to citizens; (37) One that still motions war, and never peace, O'ercharging your free purses with large fines; That seeks to overthrow religion,

Because he is protector of the realm;

And would have armour here out of the Tower,
To crown himself king, and suppress the prince.
Glo. I will not answer thee with words, but blows.
[Here they skirmish again.
May. Naught rests for me, in this tumultuous strife,
But to make open proclamation :-

Come, officer; as loud as e'er thou canst.(38)

Off. [reads] "All manner of men assembled here in arms this day against God's peace and the king's, we charge and command you, in his highness' name, to repair to your several dwellingplaces; and not to wear, handle, or use any sword, weapon, or dagger, henceforward, upon pain of death."

(3) Here's Gloster, a foe to citizens;] The modern editors usually print, with the second folio, "Here's Gloster too, a foe," &c.: but, as Walker (Shakespeare's Versification, &c., p. 236) observes on the passage, "Malè, Folio 2,"—"Gloster" in this line being equivalent to "Gloucester," a trisyllable: so at p. 16,

"Open the gates; 'tis Gloster [=Gloucester] that calls.

It is the noble Duke of Gloster [=Gloucester];

and in Richard the Third, act iii. sc. 4,

"Where is my lord the Duke of Gloster [=Gloucester]?"

(38) Come, officer; as loud as e'er thou canst.] The folio has ". as è're thou canst, cry:"-the colon after "cry" showing that word to be a stagedirection. Besides, the folio has no prefix to "All manner of men," &c.

Glo. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law:

But we shall meet, and break our minds at large.

Win. Gloster, we'll meet; to thy dear(39) cost, be sure : Thy heart-blood I will have for this day's work. May. I'll call for clubs, if you will not away :This cardinal's more haughty than the devil.

Glo. Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou mayst. Win. Abominable Gloster! guard thy head;

For I intend to have it ere long. (40)

[Exeunt, severally, Gloster and Winchester with their Serving-men.

May. See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart.Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear (41) I myself fight not once in forty year.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. France. Before Orleans.

Enter, on the walls, the Master-Gunner and his Son.

M. Gun. Sirrah, thou know'st how Orleans is besieg'd,

And how the English have the suburbs won.

Son. Father, I know; and oft have shot at them,

Howe'er, unfortunate, I miss'd my aim.

M. Gun. But now thou shalt not. Be thou rul❜d by me: Chief master-gunner am I of this town;

Something I must do to procure me grace.

The prince's 'spials have informed me

How th' English, in the suburbs close intrench'd,
Wont,(42) through a secret grate of iron bars
In yonder tower, to overpeer the city;

(39) dear] Added in the second folio.-Walker (Crit. Exam., &c., vol. iii. p. 149) queries "Gloster, we will meet; to thy cost, be sure," the "will" being emphatic.

(40) it ere long] Altered to "it ere be long" in the third folio, to "it, ere't be long" by Capell, and to "it off, ere long" by Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector.

(41) Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear!] i.e. Good God, that these nobles, &c.-Rowe unnecessarily substituted "Good God, that nobles," &c.

(4) Wont,] Tyrwhitt's correction.-The folio has "Went."

And thence discover how with most advantage
They may vex us with shot or with assault.
To intercept this inconvenience,

A piece of ordnance 'gainst it I have plac'd;
And even these three days (43) have I watch'd, if I
Could see them.

Now do thou watch, for I can stay no longer.

If thou spy'st any, run and bring me word;

And thou shalt find me at the governor's.

[Exit.

Son. Father, I warrant you; take you no care;

I'll never trouble you, if I may spy them.

Enter, in an upper chamber of a tower, the Lords SALISBURY and TALBOT, Sir WILLIAM GLANSDALE, Sir THOMAS GARGRAVE, and others.

Sal. Talbot, my life, my joy, again return'd!
How wert thou handled being prisoner,
Or by what means gott'st thou to be releas'd,
Discourse, I prithee, on this turret's top.

Tal. The Duke of Bedford had a prisoner
Called the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles ;(44)
For him was I exchang'd and ransomèd.
But with a baser man-of-arms by far,

Once, in contempt, they would have barter'd me:
Which I, disdaining, scorn'd; and craved death

(43) And even these three days, &c.] A corrupted passage. It stands thus in the folio;

"And euen these three dayes haue I watcht,

If I could see them. Now doe thou watch,
For I can stay no longer."

The editor of the second folio reficted it thus ;

"And fully even these three dayes have I watcht,
If I could see them. Now Boy doe thou watch,
For I can stay no longer."

(44) The Duke of Bedford had a prisoner

Called the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles ;]

The folio has "The Earle of Bedford,” &c.—I am not sure about the metre of the second line: the folio has "Call'd the braue Lord Ponton de Santrayle ;" and see Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, &c., p. 35.

Rather than I would be so vile-esteem'd.(45)

In fine, redeem'd I was as I desir'd.

But, O, the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my heart!
Whom with my bare fists I would execute,

If I now had him brought into my power.

Sal. Yet tell'st thou not how thou wert entertain'd.

Tal. With scoffs, and scorns, and contumelious taunts. In open market-place produc'd they me,

To be a public spectacle to all:

Here, said they, is the terror of the French,

The scarecrow that affrights our children so.
Then broke I from the officers that led me,
And with my nails digg'd stones out of the ground,
To hurl at the beholders of my shame :

My grisly countenance made others fly;

None durst come near for fear of sudden death.
In iron walls they deem'd me not secure;

So great fear of my name 'mongst them was spread,
That they suppos'd I could rend bars of steel,
And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:
Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had,
That walk'd about me every minute-while;
And if I did but stir out of my bed,
Ready they were to shoot me to the heart.

Sal. I grieve to hear what torments you endur'd;
But we will be reveng'd sufficiently.

Now it is supper-time in Orleans:

Here, through this secret grate, I count each one,
And view the Frenchmen how they fortify:

(45) so vile-esteem'd.] The folio has " so pil'd esteem'd,”—evidently a mistake for "so vild esteem'd" (with its usual inconsistency in spelling, the folio has in some places "vild," in others "vile ").

(46) Here, through this secret grate, I count each one,] The word "secret" is not in the folio.-The editor of the second folio thus restored the line to at least its proper dimensions; “Here, through this grate, I can count every one," &c.: but his corrections are, of course, merely arbitrary; and the alteration of "I count" [i.e. I am in the habit of counting] to "I can count." is a more than doubtful change.—Malone and some other editors have fancied that all is set right by printing "Here thorough this grate I count each one," &c. !—(As to the reading which I now give, compare, in p. 20, "Wont, through a secret grate of iron bars," &c.)