Hot. So it would have done

At the same season, if your mother's cat

Had kitten'd, though yourself had ne'er been born. Glend. I fay, the earth did fhake when I was born. Hot. I fay, the earth then was not of my mind, If you fuppofe, as fearing you, it fhook.

Glend. The heav'ns were all on fire, the earth did tremble.

Hot. O, then the earth fhook to fee the heav'ns on fire,

And not in fear of your nativity.

Diseased Nature oftentimes breaks forth
In ftrange eruptions; and the teeming earth
Is with a kind of colic pinch'd and vext,
By the imprisoning of unruly wind

Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving,
Shakes the old beldame earth, and topples down
High tow'rs and mofs-grown fteeples. At your birth,
Our grandam earth, with this diftemperature,
In paffion fhook.

Glend. Coufin, of many men

I do not bear thefe croffings. Give me leave
To tell you once again, that at my birth
The front of heav'n was full of fiery fhapes;
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were ftrangely clam'rous in the frighted fields.
Thefe figns have mark'd me extraordinary,
And all the courfes of my life do fhew

I am not in the roll of common men.
Where is he living, clipt in with the fea

That chides the banks of England, Wales, or Scotland,

Who calls me pupil, or hath read to me?
And bring him out, that is but woman's fon,
Can trace me in the tedious ways of art,
Or hold me pace in deep experiments.

Hot. I think there is no man ípeaks better Welsh.
-I'li to dinner.

Mort. Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him mad.

Glend. I can call fpirits from the vasty deep.
Hot: Why, fo can I, or fo can any man:

But will they come when you do call for them? Glend. Why, I can teach thee to command the devil.

Hot. And I can teach thee, coz, to fhame the devil, By telling truth; Tell truth, and fame the devil.If thou haft pow'r to raise him, bring him hither, And I'll be fworn I've pow'r to fhame him hence. Oh, while you live, tell truth, and fhame the devil. Mort. Come, come !、

No more of this unprofitable chat.

Glend. Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head

Again my pow'r; thrice from the banks of Wye, And fandy-bottom'd Severn, have I fent

Him bootlefs home, and weather-beaten back.

Hot. Home, without boots, and in foul weather too! How 'fcapes he agues, in the devil's name?

Glend. Come, here's the map: fhall we divide our right,

According to our threefold order ta'en?

Mort. Th' archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits, very equally:

England, from Trent, and Severn hitherto,
By fouth and eaft, is to my part aflign'd;
All weftward, Wales, beyond the Severn fhore,
And all the fertile land within that bound,
To Owen Glendower; and, dear coz, to you
The remnant northward, lying off from Trent.
And our indentures tripartite are drawn,
Which being fealed interchangeably,
(Abufineis that this night may execute),
To-morrow, coufin Percy, you and I,
And my good Lord of Wor'fter, will fet forth,
To meet your father, and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.

My fa.her Glendower is not ready yet,
Nor fhall we need his help thele fourteen days.
-Within that pace you may have drawn together
Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen.
[To Glendower.

Glend. A fhorter time fhall fend me to you, Lords, And in my conduct fhail your Ladies come;

From whom you now muft fteal, and take no leave, For there will be a world of water thed,

Upon the parting of your wives and you.

Hot. Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,

In quantity, equals not one of yours.
See how this river comes me crankling in,
And cuts me from the best of all my land,
A huge half-moon, a monftrous cantle out.
I'll have the current in this place damm'd up:
And here the fiug and filver Trent fhall run
In a new channel, fair and evenly;

It fhall not wind with fuch a deep indent,
To rob me of fo rich a bottom here.

Glend. Not wind? it fhall, it must; you fee it doth. Mort. But mark, he bears his course, and runs me up

With like advantage on the other side,
Gelding th' opposed continent as much
As on the other fide it takes from you.

Wor. Yes, but a little charge will trench him here,
And on this north-fide win this cape of land,
And then he runs ftraight and even.

Hot. I'll have it fo, a little charge will do it.
Glend. I will not have it alter'd.

Hot. Will not you?

Glend. No, nor you shall not.

Hot. Who fhall fay me nay?

Glend. Why, that will I.

Hot. Let me not understand you then, Speak it in Welfh.

Glend. I can speak English, Lord, as well as you,
For I was train'd up in the English Court,
Where, being young, I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty, lovely well,

And gave the tongue a helpful ornament;
A virtue that was never feen in you.

Hot. Marry, and I'm glad of it with all my heart.
I had rather be a kitten, and cry, mew!
Than one of these fame meeter-ballad-mongers;
I'd rather hear a brazen candlestick turn'd,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree,
E

VOL. V.

And that would nothing fet my teeth on edge,
Nothing fo much as mincing poetry;

'Tis like the forc'd gait of a thuffling nag.

Glend. Come, you fhall have Trent turn'd.
Hot. I do not care; I'll give thrice so much land
To any well-deferving friend;

But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.

Are the indentures drawn? fhall we be gone? Glend. The moon fhines fair, you may away by (I'll hafte the writer); and withal,

[night; Break with your wives of your departure hence. I am afraid my daughter will run mad; So much the doteth on her Mortimer.

[Exit.

Mort. Fy, coufin Percy, how you crofs my father!
Hot. I cannot chufe. Sometime he angers me,
With telling of the Moldwarp and the Ant *,
Of dreamer Merlin, and his prophecies;
And of a dragon, and a finlefs fifh,

A clipt-wing Griffin, and a moulting Raven,
A couching Lion, and a ramping Cat,
And fuch a deal of skimble-fkamble stuff
As puts me from my faith. I tell you what;
He held me the last night at least nine hours,
In reck'ning up the feveral devils names
That were his lackeys: I cry'd, hum,—and well,-
But mark'd him not a word. O, he's as tedious
As a tir'd horfe, or as a railing wife;

Worse than a fmoaky house. I'd rather live
With cheese and garlic, in a windmill, far,
Than feed on cates, and have him talk to me,
In any fummer-house in Christendom.

Mort. In faith he is a worthy gentleman;
Exceedingly well read, and profited

In ftrange concealments +; valiant as a lion;

* This alludes to an old prophecy which is faid to have induced Owen Glendower to take arms against King Henry See Hall's Chronicle, folio 20. Pope. + Skilled in wonderful fecrets. Johnson.

And wond'rous affable; as bountiful

As mines of India. Shall I tell you, coufin?
He holds your temper in a high respect,
And curbs himself even of his natural scope,
When you do cross his humour; 'faith he does.
I warrant you that man is not alive

Might so have tempted him as you have done,
Without the taste of danger and reproof.
But do not use it oft, let me intreat you.

Wor. In faith, my Lord, you are too wilful blame, And, fince your coming here, have done enough To put him quite befides his patience.

You must needs learn, Lord, to amend this fault;
Tho' fometimes it fhews greatnefs, courage, blood,
(And that's the dearest grace it renders you)
Yet oftentimes it doth prefent harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain;
The least of which haunting a nobleman,
Lofeth men's hearts, and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts befides,
Beguiling them of commendation.

Hot. Well, I am school'd: good manners be your speed!

Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.

Enter Glendower, with the Ladies.

Mort. This is the deadly spight that angers me, My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh. Glend. My daughter weeps, fhe will not part with you,

She'll be a foldier too, fhe'll to the wars.

Mort. Good father, tell her fhe and my aunt Shall follow in your conduct speedily.

[Percy [Glendower Speaks to her in Welsh, and anfwers him in the fame.

Glend. She's defp'rate here, a peevish self-will'd

harlotry,

That no perfuafion can do good upon.

[Lady Speaks in Welsh.