As by discharge of their artillery,

And fhape of likelihood, the news was told;
For he, that brought it, in the very

heat

And pride of their contention, did take horse,
Uncertain of the iffue any way.

K.Henry. Here is a dear and true-induftrious friend,
Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse,
Stain'd with the variation of each foil

Betwixt that Holmedon, and this Seat of ours:

And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news.
The Earl of Dowglas is difcomfited;

Ten thousand bold Scots, three and twenty Knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter fee
On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hot-fpur took
Mordake the Earl of Fife, and eldest son

To beaten Dowglas, and the Earls of Athol,
Of Murry, Angus, and Menteith.

And is not this an honourable spoil?
A gallant prize? ha, confin, is it not?

Weft. In faith, a conquest for a Prince to boast of.
K. Henry. Yea, there thou mak'ft me fad, and
mak'ft me fin

In Envy, that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father of fo bleft a fon:

A fon, who is the theme of Honour's tongue:
Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant;
Who is fweet Fortune's Minion, and her Pride:
Whilft I, by looking on the praife of him,
See riot and difhonour ftain the brow

Of my young Harry. O could it be prov'd,
That fome night-tripping Fairy had exchang'd,
In cradle-clothes, our children where they lay,
And call mine Percy, his Plantagenet;

Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts.-
-What think you,

Coufin,

Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners,
Which he in this adventure hath furpriz'd,

B 4

Το

To his own use he keeps, and fends me word,
I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.

Weft. This is his uncle's teaching, this is Worcester, Malevolent to you in all aspects;

Which makes him plume himself, and briftle up
The Crest of youth against your Dignity.

K. Henry. But I have sent for him to answer this;
And for this caufe a while we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerufalem.

Coufin, on Wednesday next our Council we
Will hold at Windfor, fo inform the lords:
But come yourself with speed to us again;
For more is to be said, and to be done,
Than out of anger can be uttered.

Weft. I will, my Liege.

SCENE

II.

An Apartment of the Prince's.

[Exeunt.

Enter Henry Prince of Wales, and Sir John Falstaff.

Fal.

JOW, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?

Now

P. Henry. Thou art fo fat-witted with drinking old fack, and unbuttoning thee after fupper, and fleeping upon benches in the afternoon, that thou haft forgotten to demand That truly, which thou would't truly know. What a devil haft thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of fack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping-houses, and the bleffed Sun himfelf a fair hot wench in flame-colour'd taffata; I fee no reason why thou should'st be so superfluous, to demand the time of the day.

Fal. Indeed, you come near me now, Hal. For we, that take purfes, go by the moon and seven stars, and not by Phabus, he, that wand'ring knight fo fair. And I pray thee, fweet wag, when thou art King— as God fave thy Grace, (Majefty, I should say; for grace thou wilt have none.).

P. Henry.

P. Henry. What! none?

Fal. No, by my troth, not fo much as will ferve to be prologue to an egg and butter.

P.Henry. Well,how then? come,roundly,roundlyFal. Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art King, let not us that are squires of the night's body, be call'd thieves of the day's booty. Let us be Diana's forefters, gentlemen of the fhade, minions of the Moon; and let men fay, we be men of good government, being governed as the Sea is, by our noble and chafte mistress the Moon, under whofe counte. -fteal.

nance we

P. Henry. Thou fay'ft well, and it holds well too; for the fortune of us, that are the Moon's men, doth ebb and flow like the Sea; being govern'd as the Sea is, by the Moon. As for proof, now: a purse of gold moft refolutely fnatch'd on Monday night, and moft diffolutely fpent on Tuesday morning; *got with fwearing, lay by; and fpent with crying, bring in: now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder; and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows.

Fal. By the lord, thou fay'ft true, lad: and is not mine Hoftefs of the tavern a moft fweet wench?

P. Henry. As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the caftle; and is not a buff-jerkin a moft fweet robe of durance?

Fal. How now, how now, mad wag; what, in thy quips and thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff-jerkin?

P. Henry. Why, what a pox have I to do with my Hoftefs of the tavern?

Fal. Well, thou haft call'd her to a reckoning many a time and oft.

got with fwearing, lay by ;] i. e. fwearing at the Paffengers they robbed, lay by your Arms; or rather, lay by was a Phrafe that then fignified ftand still, addreffed to those who were preparing to rush forward.

P. Henry. Did I ever call thee to pay thy part? Fal. No, I'll give thee thy due, thou haft paid all there.

P. Henry. Yea, and elfewhere, fo far as my coin would ftretch; and where it would not, I have us'd my credit.

Fal. Yea, and fo us'd it, that were it not here apparent, that thou art heir apparent-But, I pr`ythee, fweet wag, fhall there be Gallows ftanding in England, when thou art King? and refolution thus fobb'd as it is, with the rufty curb of old father antic, the law? Do not thou, when thou art a King, hang a thief.

P. Henry. No: thou fhalt.

Fal. Shall 1? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge.

P. Henry. Thou judgeft falfe already: I mean, thou fhalt have the hanging of the thieves, and fo become a rare hangman.

Fal. Well, Hal, well; and in fome fort it jumps with my humour, as well as waiting in the Court, I can tell you.

P. Henry. For obtaining of fuits?

Fal. Yea, for obtaining of suits; whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gib cat, or a lugg'd bear.

P. Henry. Or an old Lion, or a lover's lute.

Fal. Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe. P. Henry. What say'ft thou to a Hare, or the melancholy of Moor-ditch?

Fal. Thou haft the moft unfavoury fimilies; and art, indeed, the most incomparative, rafcallieft, fweet young Prince-But, Hal, 1 pr'ythee, trouble me no more with vanity; I would to God, thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought: an old lord of the Council rated me the other day in the freet about you, Sir; but I mark'd him not, and yet he talk'd very wifely, and in the ftreet too. P. Henry.

P. Henry. Thou didft well; for wifdom cries out in the ftreets, and no man regards it.

Fal. O, thou haft damnable attraction, and art, indeed, able to corrupt a faint. Thou haft done much harm unto me, Hal, God forgive thee for it! Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over his life, and I will give it over; by the lord, an I do not, I am a villain. I'll be damn'd for never a King's fon in

christendom.

P. Henry. Where shall we take a purse to-morrow, Jack?

Fal. Where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one; an I do not, call me villain, and baffle me.

P. Henry. I fee a good amendment of life in thee, from praying to purfe-taking.

Fal. Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal. 'Tis no fin for a Man to labour in his vocation. Poins!-Now fhall we know, if Gads-hill have set a match. O, if men were to be faved by merit, what hole in hell were hot enough for him!

This is the moft omnipotent Villain, that ever cry'd, Stand, to a true Man.

P. Henry. Good-morrow, Ned.

Poins. Good-morrow, fweet Hal. What fays Monfieur Remorfe? what fays Sir John Sack and Sugar? Jack! how agree the devil and thou about thy foul, that thou foldeft him on Good-Friday laft, for a cup Madeira, and a cold capon's leg?

P. Henry. Sir John ftands to his word; the devil fhall have his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs; He will give the devil his due.

Poins. Then thou art damn'd for keeping thy word with the devil.