FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY I V.

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PERSONS REPRESENTED.

RING HENRY THE FOURTH.
HENRY, Prince of Wales, some to
Prince John of Lancaster, }
Earl of Westmoreland, ) Friends to the King.
SIR WALTER BLUNT,
THOMAS PERCY, Earl of Worcester.
HENRY PERCY, Earl of Northumberland.
HENRY PERCY, surnamed Hotspur, his Son.
EDWARD MORTIMER, Earl of March.
SCROOP, Archbishop of York.
ARCHIBALD, Earl of Douglas
OWEN GLENDOWER.
SIR RICHARD VERNON.
SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.
Poins. GADSHILL.
PETO. BARDOLPH.

LADY PERCY, Wife to Hotspur, and sister to Moro

timer. LADY MORTIMER, Daughter to Glendower, and

Wife to Mortimer. MRS. QUICKLY, Hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap.

Lords, Officers, Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawo

ers, two Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants.

SCENE. England.

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FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY THE FOURTH.- ,

ACT I.

SCENE I. London. A Room in the Palace. Enter KING HENRY, WESTMORELAND, SIR WALTER BLUNT,

and others. King Henry. So shaken as we are, so wan with care, Find me a time for frighted peace to pant, And breathe short-winded accents of new broils To be commenced in stronds afar remote. No more the thirsty entrance of this soil Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood; No more shall trenching war channel her fields, Nor bruise her flow'rets with the armed hoofs Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes, Which — like the meteors of a troubled heaven, All of one nature, of one substance bredDid lately meet in the intestine shock And furious close of civil butchery, Shall now, in mutual, well-beseeming ranks, March all one way; and be no more opposed Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies. The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife, No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends, As far as to the sepulchre of Christ, (Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross We are impressed and engaged to fight,) Forthwith a power of English shall we levy, Whose arms were moulded in their mother's womb, To chase these pagans, in those holy fields, Over whose acres walked those blessed feet, Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nailed,

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For our advantage, on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose is a twelvemonth old,
And bootless 'tis to tell you — we will go;
Therefore we meet not now.—Then let me hear
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,
What yesternight our council did decree,
In forwarding this dear expedience.

West. My liege, this haste was hot in question,
And many limits of the charge set down
But yesternight; when, all athwart, there came
A post from Wales, loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was,- that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,
And a thousand of his people butchered;
Upon whose dead corpses there was such misuse,
Such beastly, shameless transformation,
By those Welsh women done, as may not be,
Without much shame, retold or spoken of.

K. Hen. It seems, that the tidings of this broil
Brake off our business for the Holy Land.

West. This, matched with other, did, my gracious lord; For more uneven and unwelcome news Came from the north, and thus it did import. On Holyrood-day, the gallant Hotspur there, Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald, That ever-valiant and approved Scot, At Holmedon met, Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour; As, by discharge of their artillery, And shape of likelihood, the news was told; For he that brought them, in the very heat And pride of their contention, did take horse, Uncertain of the issue any way.

K. Hen. Here is a dear and true-industrious friend, Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse, Stained with the variation of each soil Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours; And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news. The earl of Douglas is discomfited; Ten thousand bold Scots, two-and-twenty knights, Balked in their own blood, did sir Walter see On IIolmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hotspur took Mordake the earl of Fife, and eldest son To beaten Douglas, and the earls of Athol,

Of Murray, Angus, and Monteith.
And is not this an honorable spoil ?
A gallant prize ? ha, cousin, is it not?

West. In faith,
It is a conquest for a prince to boast of.

K. Hen. Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and mak'st me sin
In envy that my lord Northumberland
Should be the father of so blest a son;
A son, who is the theme of honor's tongue;
Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant;
Who is sweet fortune's minion, and her pride :
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,

See riot and dishonor stain the brow
· Of my young Harry. O that it could be proved,

That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged
In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,
And called mine — Percy, his — Plantagenet !
Then I would have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts.—What think you, coz,
Of this young Percy's pride ? the prisoners,
Which he in this adventure hath surprised,
To his own use he keeps; and sends me word,
I shall have none but Mordake, earl of Fife.

West. This is his uncle's teaching; this is Worcester,
Malevolent to you in all aspécts;
Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up
The crest of youth against your dignity.

K. Hen. But I have sent for him to answer this;
And, for this cause, awhile we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.
Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we
Will hold at Windsor; so 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.
West. I will, my liege.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. The same. Another Room in the Palace.

Enter Henry, Prince of Wales, and FALSTAFF.
Fal. Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad ?

P. Hen. Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. What the devil hast