Which he in this adventure hath furpris'd,

To his own ufe he keeps, and fends me word,
I fhall have none but Mordac 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 bristle up
The creft of youth against your dignity.

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

Coufin, on Wednesday next our council we
Will hold at Windsor, 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..

[Exeunt

SCENE II. An apartment of the Prince's.

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

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 figns of leaping-houses, and the bleffed fun himself a fair hot wench in flame-colour'd taffata; I fee no reason why thou fhould't be fo fuperfluous, 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 feven ftars, and not by Phoebus, he, that wand'ring knight fo fairt. And I pray thee, fweet wag, when thou art King- as God fave thy Grace, (Majefty I fhould fay; for grace thou wilt have none)—

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.

A line of an old ballad.

P. Henry. Well, how then? come, roundly, roundlyFal. Marry, then, fweet wag, when thou art King, let not us that are fquires 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 say, we be men of good government, being governed as the fea is, by our noble and chafte miftrefs the moon, under whofe countenance wefteal.

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 fea, being govern'd as the fea is by the moon. As for proof, now: A purfe of gold moft refolutely fnatch'd on Monday night, and muit 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't 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 moit 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.

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 elsewhere so 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 appa

rent,

This alludes to the name Shakespeare first gave to this buffoon character, which was Sir John Oldcastle: and when he changed the name, he forgot to ftrike out this expreffion that alluded to it. The reafon of the change was this; one Sir John Oldcastle having fuffere in the time of Henry V. for the opinions of Wickliffe, it gave offence; and therefore the poet altered it to Falstaff, and endeavours to remove the fcandal in the epilogue to the second part of Henry IV. Mr. Warburton.

apparent

-But, I pr'ythee,

rent, that thou art heir 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 I? 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 fuits, whereof the hangman hath no lean wardrobe.

'Sblood, I am as melan»

choly 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 fays 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, I pr'ythee, trouble me no more with vanity,; I would to God thou and J knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought. An old Lord of the council rated me the other day in the street about you, Sir; but I mark'd him not, and yet he talk'd very wifely, and in the street too.

P. Henry. Thou didst well; for wifdom cries out in the streets, 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 fhould speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this 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 fhall we take a purfe to-morrow, Jack?

Fal.

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 purse-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!

SCENE III. Enter Poins.

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 of Madeira, and a cold capon's leg?

P. Henry. Sir John stands to his word; the devil shall 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.

P. Henry. Elfe he had heen damn'd for cozening the devil.

Poins. But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning by four o'clock, early at Gads-hill; there are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat purfes. I have vizards for you all; you have horfes for yourfelves: Gads-hill lies to-night in Rochefter; I have befpoke fupper to-morrow night in Eaft-cheap; we may do it as fecure as fleep: if you will go, I will ftuff your purfes full of crowns; if you will not, tarry at home and be hang'd.

Fal. Hear ye, Yedward; if I tarry at home, and go not, I'll hang you for going.

Poins. You will, chops?

Fal. Hal, wilt thou make one?

P. Henry. Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith."
Fal. There is neither honefty, manhood, nor goods

fellowship

fellowship in thee, nor thou cam'ft not of the blood-royal, if thou dar'it not cry, Stand, for ten fhillings.

P. Henry. Well then, once in my days I'll be a mad

cap.

Fal. Why, that's well faid.

P. Henry. Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home. Fal. By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then when thou art King.

P. Henry. I care not.

Poins. Sir John, I pr'ythee, leave the Prince and me alone; I will lay him down fuch reafons for this adventure, that he fhall

go.

Fal. Well, may'ft thou have the spirit of perfuafion, and he the ears of profiting, that what thou speak'st may move, and what he hears may be believ'd: that the true Prince may (for recreation fake) prove a false thief; for the poor abufes of the time want countenance. Farewell, you fhall find me in East-cheap.

P. Henry. Farewell, thou latter fpring! Farewell, allhallown fummer! [Exit Fal. Poins. Now, my good fweet honey Lord, ride with us to-morrow. I have a jeft to execute, that I cannot manage alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gads-hill, fhall rob thofe men that we have already way-laid; yourfelf and I will not be there; and when they have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut this head from off my fhoulders.

P. Henry. But how shall we part with them in fetting forth?

Poins. Why, we will fet forth before or after them; and appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleafure to fail; and then they will adventure upon the exploit themfelves, which they have no fooner atchiev'd, but we'll fet upon them.

P. Henry. Ay; but 'tis like they will know us by our horfes, by our habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves.

Poins. Tut, our horfes they fhall not fee; I'll tie them in the wood; our vizards we will change after we leave them; and, firrah, I have cafes of buckram for the nonce, to inmaík our noted outward garments.

P. Henry. But I doubt they will be too hard for us,

Poins.