And that fame greatness too, which our own hands
Have help'd to make fo portly.
North. My good Lord-
K. Henry. Hence, Worcester, get thee gone; for I do fee Danger and difobedience in thine eye.
O Sir, your prefence is too bold and peremptory,
And Majefty might never yet endure
The moody frontier of a fervant brow.
You have good leave to leave us.
Your ufe and counsel, we shall fend for you. [Exit Wor.
North. Yes, my good Lord.
Those prifoners in your Highness' name demanded,
Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,
Were, as he lays, not with fuch strength deny'd
As was deliver'd to your Majesty.
Or envy therefore, or misprifion,
Is guilty of this fault, and not my fona,
Hot. My Liege, I did deny no prisoners.
But I remember, when the fight was done,
When I was dry with rage, and extream toil,
Breathlefs, and faint, leaning upon my sword;
Came there a certain Lord, neat, trimly drefs'd:
Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin new-reap'd
Shew'd like a ftubble-land at harvest-home.
He was perfumed like a milliner,
And 'twixt his finger and his thumb, he held
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon
He gave his nofe: * and still he fmil'd and talk'd;
And as the foldiers bear dead bodies by,
He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly,
To bring a flovenly, unhandfore coarfe
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holiday and lady terms
He queftion'd me: among the reft, demanded
My prifoners, in your Majesty's behalf.
I, then all-fmarting with my wounds being cold,
....... nofe, and took't away again;
Who therewith angry, when it next came there,
Took it in fnuff. And till he fmil'd, &c.
To be fo pefter'd with a popinjay,
Out of my grief and my impatience,
Anfwer'd neglectingly, I know not what;
He should or should not; for he made me mad,
To fee him fhine fo brifk, and fmell so fweet,
And talk fo like a waiting-gentlewoman,
Of guns, and drums, and wounds; (God fave the mark! }
And telling me, the fovereign'ft thing on earth
Was Parmacity, for an inward bruife;
And that it was great pity, fo it was,
This villainous falt-petre fhould be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good, tall fellow had deftroy'
So cowardly: And but for these vile guns,
He would himself have been a foldier.
This bald, unjointed chat of his, my Lord,
I anfwer'd indirectly, as I faid;
And befeech you, let not this report
Come currant for an accufation,
Betwixt my love and your high Majesty.
Blunt. The circumftance confider'd, good my Lord,
Whatever Harry Percy then had faid,
To fuch a perfon, and in fuch a place.
At fuch a time, with all the rest retold,
May reasonably die and never rife
To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he faid, fo he unfay it now.
K. Henry. Why, yet he doth deny his prifoners,
But with provifo and exception,
That we at our own charge fhall ransom ftrait
His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer,
Who, on my foul, hath wilfully betray'd
The lives of thofe, that he did lead to fight
Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower;
Whofe daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March
Hath lately marry'd. Shall our coffers then
Be empty'd, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treason? and * indent with foes,
• Indent, for article, bargain.
B 2
When they have loft and forfeited themselves?
No; on the barren mountains let him ftarve;
For I fhall never hold that man my friend,
Whose tongue fhall ask me for one penny coft
To ransom home revolted Mortimer.
Hot. Revolted Mortimer?
He never did fall off, my sovereign Liege,
But bore the chance of war; to prove that true,
Needs no more but one tongue for all thofé wounds
Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took,
When on the gentle Severn's fedgie bank,
In fingle oppofition hand to hand,
He did confound the best part of an hour
In changing hardiment with great Glendower:
Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink,
Upon agreement of fwift Severn's flood;
Who then affrighted with their bloody looks,
Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,
And hid his crifp'd head in the hollow bank,
Blood-ftained with these valiant combatants.
Never did bafe and rotten policy
Colour her working with fuch deadly wounds;
Nor ever could the noble Mortimer
Receive so many, and all willingly.
Then let him not be flander'd with revolt.
K. Henry. Thou doft belie him, Percy, thou belieft him; He never did encounter with Glendower;
He durft as well have met the devil alone,
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.
Art not afham'd? but from this hour, Sir,
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer.
Send me your prifoners with the speedieft means,
Or you fhall hear in such a kind from me
As will difplease you. Lord Northumberland,
We licence your departure with your fon.
Send us your prifoners, or you'll hear of it.
[Exit K. Henry. Hot. And if the devil' come and roar for them
I will not fend them. I will after strait,
And tell him fo; for I will ease my heart,
Although it be with hazard of my head.
North. What, drunk with choler? ftay and pause a while; Here comes your uncle.
Enter Worcester.
Hot. Speak of Mortimer ?
Yes, I will fpeak of him, and let my foul
Want mercy, if I do not join with him.
In his behalf, I'll empty all these veins,
And shed my dear blood drop by drop in duft,
But I will lift the downfall'n Mortimer
As high i'th' Air as this unthankful King,
As this ingrate and cankred Bolingbroke.
North. Brother, the King hath made your hephew mad.
[To Worcester.
Wor. Who ftrook this heat up after I was gone?
Hot. He will, forfooth, have all my prisoners;
And when I urg'd the ransom once again
Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale,
And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,
Trembling ev'n at the name of Mortimer.
Wor. I cannot blame him; was he not proclaim'd
By Richard that dead is, the next of blood?
North. He was: I heard the proclamation;
And then it was, when the unhappy King
(Whose wrongs in us God pardon) did fet forth
Upon his Irish expedition;
From whence he intercepted did return
To be depos'd, and fhortly murthered.
Wor. And for whofe death, we in the world's wide mouth
Live fcandaliz'd, and foully fpoken of.
Hot. But foft, I pray you; did King Richard then Proclaim my brother Mortimer as lawful
Heir to the crown?
North. He did; my self did hear it.
Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his coufin King,
That wifh'd him on the barren mountains ftarv'd.
But fhall it be, that you that fet the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man,
And for his fake wear the detefted blot
Of murd'rous fubornation, fhall it be,
That you a world of curfes undergo,
Being the agents or bafe fecond means,
The cords, the ladder, or the hangmen rather,
(O pardon me, that I defcend fo low,
To fhew the line and the predicament
Wherein you range under this subtle King)
Shall it for hame be spoken in thefe days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility and power
Ingag'd them both in an unjust behalf;
(As both of you, God pardon it, have done,}
To put down Richard, that fweet lovely rofe,
And plant this thorn, this canker Bolingbroke?
And fhall it in more fhame be further spoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and fhook off
By him, for whom these fhames ye underwent ?
No; yet time ferves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and restore your felves
Into the good thoughts of the world again.
Revenge the jeering and difdain'd contempt
Of this proud King, who ftudies day and night
To answer all the debt he owes unto you,
Ev'n with the bloody payments of your deaths:
Therefore I fay
Wor. Peace, coufin, fay no more.
And now I will unclafp a fecret book,
And to your quick-conceiving discontents
I'll read you matter, deep and dangerous;
As full of peril and advent'rous fpirit,
As to o'er-walk a current roaring loud,
On the unfteadfast footing of a fpear.
Hot. If we fall in, good night, or fink or swim:
Send Danger from the east unto the west,
So Honour crofs it from the north to fouth;
And let them grapple. O! the blood more stirs
To rouze a Lion, than to ftart a Hare.
North. Imagination of fome great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.
Hot. By heav'n, methinks it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd Moon;
|