'T was where the madcap duke his uncle kept; Hot. You say true : Why, what a candy deal of courtesy This fawning greyhound then did proffer me ! Wor. Nay, if you have not, to 't again Hot. I have done, in sooth. Wor. Then once more to your Scottish prisoners. Hot. Of York, is 't not ? True; who bears hard His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop. As what I think might be, but what I know Is ruminated, plotted, and set down ; And only stays but to behold the face Upon my life it will do wond'rous well. North. Before the game's a-foot thou still lett'st slip. Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot :— And then the power of Scotland and of York,— To join with Mortimer, ha? And so they shall. Wor. To save our heads by raising of a head : For, bear ourselves as even as we can, The king will always think him in our debt; And see already, how he doth begin To make us strangers to his looks of love. Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him. Than I by letters shall direct your course, To North. When time is ripe, which will be suddenly. I'll steal to Glendower, and lord Mortimer; Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once, To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms, Which now we hold at much uncertainty. North. Farewell, good brother; we shall thrive, I trust. [Exeunt. 124. THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. SHAKSPERE. ["King Henry," says Holinshed, "advertised of the proceedings of the Percies, forthwith gathered about him such power as he might make, and passed forward with such speed that he was in sight of his enemies lying in camp near to Shrewsbury before they were in doubt of any such thing." The Percies, according to the Chronicler, sent to the king the celebrated manifesto which is contained in Hardyng's Chronicle. The interview of Worcester with the king, and its result, are thus described by Holinshed: "It was reported for a truth that now when the king had condescended unto all that was reasonable at his hands to be required, and seemed to humble himself more than was meet for his estate, the Earl of Worcester, upon his return to his nephew, made reation clean contrary to that the king had said: "— "O, no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard,- In the Chroniclers, Hotspur exhorts the troops; Shakspere clothes the exhortation with his own poetical spirit. "Now, Esperancé!-Percy!-and set on," is found in the Chroniclers :—“ The adversaries cried Esperance Percy." The danger of the king, and the circumstance of others being caparisoned like him, are also mentioned by Holinshed. The prowess of Prince Henry in this his first great battle is thus described by Holinshed: "The Prince that day holp his father like a lusty young gentleman, for although he was hurt in the face with an arrow, so that divers noble men that were about him would have conveyed him forth of the field, yet he would in no wise suffer them so to do, lest his departure from his men might haply have stricken some fear into their hearts; and so, without regard of his hurt, he continued with his men, and never ceased, either to fight where the battle was most hottest, or to encourage his men where it seemed most need." The personal triumph of Henry over Hotspur is a dramatic creation, perfectly warranted by the obscurity in which the Chroniclers leave the matter.] SCENE.-King Henry, Prince Henry, Prince John of Lancaster, Sir Walter That you and I should meet upon such terms Of broached mischief to the unborn times? For mine own part I could be well content To entertain the lag end of my life With quiet hours; for, I do protest, I have not sought the day of this dislike. K. Hen. You have not sought it! how comes it then Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it. P. Hen. Peace, chewet, peace. Wor. It pleas'd your majesty to turn your looks Of favour from myself, and all our house; In Richard's time; and posted day and night It was myself, my brother, and his son, That all in England did repute him dead,— Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk, That even our love durst not come near your sight, Sworn to us in your younger enterprise. K. Hen. These things, indeed, you have articulated, With some fine colour, that may please the eye And never yet did insurrection want P. Hen. In both our armies there is many a soul If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew, Of his great name and estimation; And will, to save the blood on either side, Try fortune with him in a single fight. K. Hen. And, prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee, Albeit considerations infinite Do make against it :-No, good Worcester, no, We love our people well; even those we love [Exeunt Worcester and Vernon. P. Hen. It will not be accepted, on my life: K. Hen. Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge; 125.-THE DEATH OF HENRY IV. SHAKSPERE. [The circumstances which preceded the death of Henry IV., including the story of the prince removing the crown, are thus detailed by Holinshed: "In this fourteenth and last year of King Henry's reign, a council was holden in the White Friars in London, at the which, among other things, order was taken for ships and galleys to be builded and made ready, and all other things necessary to be provided, for a voyage which he meant to make into the Holy Land, there to recover the city of Jerusalem from the infidels. The morrow after Candlemas-day, began a Parliament which he had called at London; but he departed this life before the same Parliament was ended: for now that his provisions were ready, and that he was furnished with all things necessary for such a royal journey as he pretended to take into the Holy Land, he was eftsoones taken with a sore sickness, which was not a leprosy (saith Master Hall), as foolish friars imagined, but a very apoplexy. During this, his last sickness, he caused his crown (as some write) to be set on a pillow at his bed's-head, and suddenly his pangs so sore troubled him, that he lay as though all his vital spirits had been from him departed. Such as were about him, thinking verily that he had been departed, covered his face with a linen cloth. The prince his son being hereof advertised, entered into the chamber, took away the crown, and departed. The father being suddenly revived out of that trance, quickly perceived the lack of his crown, and having knowledge that the prince his son had taken it away, caused him to come before his presence, requiring of him what he meant so to misuse himself: the prince with a good audacity answered, Sir, to mine, and all men's judgments, you seemed dead in this world; wherefore I, as your next heir apparent, took that as mine own, and not as yours. Well fair son, said the king (with a great sigh), what right I had to it, God knoweth. Well, quoth the prince, if you die king, I will have the garland, and trust to keep it with the sword against all mine enemies, as you have done. Then, said the king, I commit all to God, and remember you to do well; and with that turned himself in his bed, and shortly after departed to God, in a chamber of the Abbots of Westminster called Jerusalem. We find, that he was taken with his last sickness, while he was making his prayers at Saint Edward's shrine, there as it were to take his leave, and so to proceed forth on his journey: he was so suddenly and grievously taken, that such as were about him feared lest he would have died presently; wherefore, to relieve him, if it were possible, they bare him into a chamber that was next at hand belonging to the Abbot of Westminster, where they laid him on a pallet before the fire, and used all remedies to revive him : at length he recovered his speech and understanding, and perceiving himself in a strange place which he knew not, he willed to know if the chamber had any particular name, whereunto answer was made, that it was called Jerusalem. Then said the king, laudes be given to the Father of Heaven, for now I know that I shall die here in this chamber, according to the prophesy of me declared, that I should depart this life in Jerusalem."] SCENE.-Westminster.-King Henry, Clarence, Prince Humphrey, Warwick, and others. K. Hen. Now, lords, if Heaven doth give successful end To this debate that bleedeth at our doors, We will our youth lead on to higher fields, |