By now forswearing that he is forsworn:
He calls us, rebels, traitors; and will scourge
With haughty arms this hateful name in us.
Re-enter DOUGLAS..

Doug. Arm, gentlemen; to arms! for I have thrown A brave defiance in King Henry's teeth,

5

And Westmoreland, that was engag'd, did bear it;
Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.

Wor. The prince of Wales stepp'd forth before the king,

And, nephew, challeng'd you to single fight.

Hot. O, 'would the quarrel lay upon our heads;
And that no man might draw short breath to-day,
But I, and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me,
How show'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt?
Ver. No, by my soul; I never in my life
Did hear a challenge urg'd more modestly,
Unless a brother should a brother dare
To gentle exercise and proof of arms.
He gave you all the duties of a man;
Trimm'd up your praises with a princely tongue;
Spoke your deservings like a chronicle;
Making you ever better than his praise,

By still dispraising praise, valued with you:7

5 And Westmoreland, that was engag'd,] Engag'd is delivered as an hostage. A few lines before, upon the return of Worcester, he orders Westmoreland to be dismissed. Johnson.

6 How show'd his tasking?] Thus the quarto, 1598. The others, with the folio, read-talking. Steevens.

I know not whether tasking is not here used for taxing; i. e. his satirical representation. So, in As you Like it:

66

my taxing, like a wild goose, flies." See p. 309, n. 6. Tasking, however, is sufficiently intelligible in its most usual acceptation. We yet say, " he took him to task.” Malone

By still dispraising praise, valued with you:] This foolish line is indeed in the folio of 1623, but it is evidently the player's nonsense. Warburton.

This line is not only in the first folio, but in all the editions before it, that I have seen. Why it should be censured as nonsense I know not. To vilify praise, compared or valued with merit superior to praise, is no harsh expression. There is another objection to be made. Prince Henry, in his challenge of Percy, had indeed commended him, but with no such byperboles as

And, which became him like a prince indeed,
He made a blushing cital of himself;8
And chid his truant youth with such a grace,
As if he master'd' there a double spirit,
Of teaching, and of learning, instantly.
There did he pause: But let me tell the world,—
If he outlive the envy of this day,

England did never owe so sweet a hope,
So much misconstrued in his wantonness.
Hot. Cousin, I think, thou art enamoured
Upon his follies; never did I hear1

Of any prince, so wild, at liberty: 2

might represent him above praise; and there seems to be no reason why Vernon should magnify the Prince's candour beyond the truth. Did then Shakspeare forget the foregoing scene? or are some lines lost from the Prince's speech? Johnson.

I do not suspect any omission. Our author in repeating letters and speeches of former scenes in his plays, seldom attends minutely to what he had written. I believe, in these cases he always trusted to memory. Malone.

& He made a blushing cital of himself:] Mr. Pope observes, that by cital is meant taxation; but I rather think it means recital. The verb is used in that sense in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV, sc. i:

66 for we cite our faults,

"That they may hold excus'd our lawless lives." Again, in King Henry V, Act V, sc. ii:

9

"Whose want gives growth to the imperfections
"Which you have cited," &c. Collins.

he master'd-] i. e. was master of. Steevens.

1 Upon his follies; never did I hear -] The old copies-on his follies. Mr. Pope introduced the syllable necessary to metre. Mr. Malone, however, tells us, that-hear is used, in this instance, as a dissyllable, and consequently, I suppose, would read the line as follows:

On his follies; never | did I | he-ar. Steevens.

2 Of any prince, so wild, at liberty:] Of any prince that played such pranks, and was not confined as a madman. Johnson.

The quartos, 1598, 1599, and 1608, read-so wild a libertie. Perhaps the author wrote-so wild a libertine. Thus, in Antony and Cleopatra:

"Tie up the libertine in a field of feasts."

The oldest reading, however, may be the true one; for in The Comedy of Errors the same phraseology occurs again:

prating mountebanks,

"And many such like liberties of sin." Steevens.

But, be he as he will, yet once ere night
I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,
That he shall shrink under my courtesy.

Arm, arm, with speed:And, fellows, soldiers, friends,
Better consider what you have to do,

Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord, here are letters for you.
Hot. I cannot read them now.-
O gentlemen, the time of life is short;
To spend that shortness basely, were too long,
́If life did ride upon a dial's point,

Still ending at the arrival of an hour.

An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us!
Now for our conscience, the arms are fair,
When the intent of bearing them is just.
Enter another Messenger.

Mess. My lord, prepare; the king comes on apace.
Hot. I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale,

For I profess not talking; Only this

Let each man do his best: and here draw I
A sword, whose temper I intend to stain
With the best blood that I can meet withal
In the adventure of this perilous day.

-

Now, Esperance!3-Percy!—and set on.—
Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
And by that musick let us all embrace:

3 Now,-Esperance!] This was the word of battle on Percy's side. See Hall's Chronicle, folio 22. Pope.

Esperance, or Esperanza, has always been the motto of the Percy family. Esperance en Dieu is the present motto of the Duke of Northumberland, and has been long used by his predecessors. Sometimes it was expressed Esperance ma Comforte, which is still legible at Alnwick castle over the great gate. Percy.

Our author found this word of battle in Holinshed. He seems to have used Esperance as a word of four syllables. So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor:

“And Honi soit qui mal y pensé, write.” - Malone.

In French metre, the e final always makes a syllable, though it does not in prose. M. Mason.

For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall

A second time do such a courtesy.

[The Trumpets sound. They embrace, and exeunt.

SCENE III.

Plain near Shrewsbury.

Excursions, and Parties fighting.

Alarum to the Battle.

Then enter DoUGLAS and BLUNT, meeting.

Blunt. What is thy name, that in the battles thus Thou crossest me? what honour dost thou seek Upon my head?

Doug.

Know then, my name is Douglas;

And I do haunt thee in the battle thus,

Because some tell me that thou art a king.

Blunt. They tell thee true.

Doug. The lord of Stafford dear to-day hath bought

Thy likeness; for, instead of thee, king Harry,

This sword hath ended him: so shall it thee,

Unless thou yield thee as my prisoner.

Blunt. I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot; And thou shalt find a king that will revenge

Lord Stafford's death. [They fight, and BLUNT is slain. Enter HOTSpur.

Hot. O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus, I never had triúmph'd upon a Scot.

Doug. All's done, all 's won; here breathless lies the king.

Hot. Where?
Doug. Here.

Hot. This, Douglas? no, I know this face full well: A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt; Semblably furnish'd like the king himself.”

▲ For, heaven to earth,] i. e. one might wager heaven to earth. Warburton.

5 in the battle-] The, which is not in the old copies, was added for the sake of the measure, by Sir T. Hanmer. Malone. 6 I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot;] The folio reads, I think, better:

I was not born to yield, thou haughty Scot. Ritson. 7 Semblably furnish'd &c.] i. e. in resemblance, alike. This word occurs in The Devil's Charter, 1607:

Doug. A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes!
A borrow'd title hast thou bought too dear.
Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?

Hot. The king hath many marching in his coats.
Doug. Now, by my sword, I will kill all his coats;
I'll murder all his wardrobe, piece by piece,
Until I meet the king.

Hot.

Up, and away;

Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day.
Other Alarums. Enter FALSTAFF.

[Exeunt.

9

Fal. Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here; here 's no scoring, but upon the pate.-Soft! who art thou? Sir Walter Blunt ;-there's honour for you: Here 's no vanity!'-I am as hot as

"So, semblably doth he with terror strike."

Again, in The Case is alter'd, by Ben Jonson, 1609:

Semblably prisoner to your general." Steevens.

8 A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes!] The old copies read: Ah, fool, go with thy soul, &c. but this appears to be nonsense. I have ventured to omit a single letter, as well as to change the punctuation, on the authority of the following passage in The Merchant of Venice:

"With one fool's head I came to woo,

"But I go away with two."

Again, more appositely, in Promos and Cassandra, 1578:

"Go, and a knave with thee."

See a note on Timon of Athens, Act V, sc. ii.

Steevens.

Mr. Steevens has but partially eradicated the nonsense of this passage. Read:

A fool go with thy soul, where-e'er it goes. Whither, I believe, means-to whatever place.

But hark you, Kate;

Ritson.

So, p. 216:

"Whither I go, thither shall you go too." Steevens.

9 shot-free at London,] A play upon shot, as it means the part of a reckoning, and a missive weapon discharged from artillery. Johnson.

So, in Aristippus, or the Jovial Philosopher, 1630: ".

the best

shot to be discharged is the tavern bill; the best alarum is the sound of healths."

Again, in The Play of the Four P's, 1569:

"Then after your drinking, how fall ye to winking?
"Sir, after drinking, while the shot is tinking."

Again, Heywood, in his Epigrams on Proverbs:

1

"And it is yll commynge, I have heard say,

"To the end of a shot, and beginnyng of a fray." Steevens. - Here's no vanity!] In our author's time thè negative,