Such poor, fuch base, fuch lewd, fuch mean attempts,
Such barren pleasures, rude fociety,

As thou art match'd withal and grafted to,
Accompany the greatness of thy blood,

And hold their level with thy princely heart?
P. Henry. So please your majefty, I would I could
Quit all offences with as clear excuse,
As well as, I am doubtlefs, I can purge
Myself of many I am charg'd withal.
9 Yet fuch extenuation let me beg,
As, in reproof of many tales devis'd,

Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,
By fmiling pick-thanks and base news-mongers,
I may, for fome things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wander'd, and irregular,

Find pardon on my true fubmiffion.

K. Henry. Heaven pardon thee. Yet let me wonder, Harry,

At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in council thou haft rudely loft,
Which by thy younger brother is fupply'd;
And art almoft an alien to the hearts

Of all the court and princes of my blood.

8

fach levd, fuch mean attempts,]

Shakespeare certainly wrote attaints, i. e. unlawful actions. WARBURTON. Mean attempts are mean, unworthy undertakings. Lewd does not in this place barely fignify wanton, but licentious. So B. Jonfon, in his Poetafter,

great action may be fu'd "'Gainft fuch as wrong mens' fames with verfes lewd.” And again, in Volpone,

66

they are most lewd impoftors, "Made all of terms and fhreds."

STEEVENS.

9 Yet fuch extenuation let me beg, &c.] The construction is fomewhat obfcure. Let me beg fo much extenuation, that, upon confutation of many folje charges, I may be pardoned fome that are true. I fhould read on reproof inftead of in reproof; but concerning Shakespeare's particles there is no certainty.

JOHNSON.

The

men,

The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin'd; and the foul of every man
Prophetically does fore-think thy fall.
Had I fo lavish of my prefence.been,
So common hackney'd in the eyes of
So ftale and cheap to vulgar company;
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had ftill kept loyal to poffeffion;
And left me in reputelefs banishment,
A fellow of no mark, nor likelihood.
By being feldom feen, I could not stir,
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at ;
That men would tell their children, this is he;
Others would fay, where? which is Bolingbroke?

2

I

* And then I ftole all courtesy from heaven,
And dreft myself in fuch humility,

That I did pluck allegiance from mens' hearts,
Loud fhouts and falutations from their mouths,
Even in the prefence of the crowned king.
Thus I did keep my perfon fresh and new;
My prefence, like a robe pontifical,
Ne'er feen, but wonder'd at: and so my
Seldom, but fumptuous, fhewed like a feaft,
And won, by rarenefs, fuch folemnity.
The fkipping king, he ambled up and down
With fhallow jefters, and 3 rash bavin wits,

ftate,

loyal to poffeffion;] True to him that had then poffeffion of the crown. JOHNSON.

And then I ftole all courtesy from heaven,] This is an allufion to the ftory of Prometheus's theft, who stole fire from thence; and as with this he made a man, fo with that Bolingbroke made a king. As the gods were fuppofed jealous in appropriating reafon to themselves, the getting fire from thence, which lighted it up in the mind, was called a theft; and as power is their prerogative, the getting courtesy from thence, by which power is best procured, is called a theft. The thought is exquifitely great and beautiful. WARBURTON.

3

rafh, bavin wits,] Rafb is heady, thoughtless: bavin is brushwood, which, fired, burns fiercely, but is foon Out. JOHNSON.

Soon kindled, and foon burnt: 4 carded his state,
Mingled his royalty with carping fools;

Had his great name profaned with their fcorns;
5 And gave his countenance, against his name,
To laugh at gybing boys, and ftand the push
6 Of every beardlefs, vain comparative:
Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity:

That, being daily fwallow'd by mens' eyes,
They furfeited with honey, and began

To loath the taste of sweetness; whereof a little
More than a little is by much too much.
So, when he had occafion to be seen,
He was but, as the cuckow is in June,
Heard, not regarded; feen, but with fuch eyes,
As, fick and blunted with community,

Afford no extraordinary gaze,

Such as is bent on fun-like majefty,

When it shines feldom in admiring eyes:

But rather drowz'd, and hung their eye-lids down,

carded his ftate,] In former copies,

CARDED his ftate,]

Richard is here reprefented as laying afide his royalty, and mixing himself with common jefters.

reading, which I fuppofe is,

This will lead us to the true

'SCARDED his flate,]

i, e. difcarded, threw off.

WARBURTON.

carded his ftate,] The metaphor feems to be taken from mingling coarfe wool with fine, and carding them together, whereby the value of the latter is diminished. The king means that Richard mingled and carded together his royal ftate with carping fools, rash, bavin wits, &C. STEEVENS.

5 And gave his countenance, against his name,] fence injurious to his reputation. JOHNSON.

6

Made his pre

Of every beardless, vain comparative:] Of every boy whofe vanity incited him to try his wit against the king's.

When Lewis XIV. was afked, why, with fo much wit, he never attempted raillery, he anfwered, that he who practifed raillery ought to bear it in his turn, and that to ftand the but of raillery was not fuitable to the dignity of a king. Scudery's Converfation. JOHNSON,

Slept

Slept in his face, and render'd fuch afpect

As cloudy men ufe to their adverfaries;

Being with his prefence glutted, gorg'd, and full.
And in that very line, Harry, ftand'st thou:
For thou haft loft thy princely privilege
With vile participation; not an eye,
But is a-weary of thy common fight,

Save mine, which hath defir'd to fee thee more;
Which now doth, what I would not have it do,
Make blind itfelf with foolish tenderness.

[Weeping. P. Henry I fhall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord, Be more myself.

K. Henry. For all the world,

As thou art at this hour, was Richard then,
When I from France fet foot et Ravenfpurg;
And even as I was then, is Percy now.
Now by my fceptre, and my foul to boot,
"He hath more worthy intereft to the ftate,
Than thou, the fhadow of fucceffion:
For, of no right, nor colour like to right,
He doth fill fields with harnefs in the realm;
Turns head against the lion's armed jaws;
And, being no more in debt to years than thou,
Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on
To bloody battles, and to bruifing arms.
What never-dying honour hath he got
Against renowned Douglas; whofe high deeds,
Whose hot incurfions, and great name in arms,
Holds from all foldiers chief majority,
And military title capital,

Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Chrift!
Thrice hath this Hotfpur, Mars in fwathing cloaths,

7 He hath more worthy intereft to the ftate,

Than thou, the fhadow of fucceffion:] This is obfcure. I believe the meaning is-Hotfpur hath a right to the kingdom more worthy than thou, who haft only the shadowy right of lineal fucceffion, while he has real and folid power. JOHNSON.

This

This infant warrior, in his enterprizes,
Difcomfited great Douglas; ta'en him once,
Enlarged him, and made a friend of him,
To fill the mouth of deep defiance up,

And shake the peace and fafety of our throne.
And what fay you to this? Percy, Northumberland,
The archbishop's grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer,
Capitulate against us, and are up.

8

But wherefore do I tell this news to thee?
Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes,
Which art my near'ft and dearest enemy?
Thou that art like enough, through vassal fear,
Bafe inclination, and the ftart of spleen,
To fight against me under Percy's pay,
To dog his heels, and curt'fy at his frowns,
To fhew how much thou art degenerate.

P. Henry. Do not think fo; you shall not find it so :
And heaven forgive them, that fo much have fway'd
Your majefty's good thoughts away from me!
I will redeem all this on Percy's head.
And, in the clofing of fome glorious day,
Be bold to tell you, that I am your fon.
When I will wear a garment all of blood,
And stain my favours in a bloody mask,

8

dearest-] Deareft is moft fatal, moft mifchievous, JOHNSON.

And flain my favours in a bloody mask,] We fhould read favour, i. e. countenance. WARBURTON, Favours are features. JOHNSON.

I am not certain that favours, in this place, means features, or that the plural number of favour in that fenfe is ever used. I believe favours means only fome decoration ufually worn by knights in their helmets, as a prefent from a mistress, or a trophy from an enemy. So in this play,

Then let my favours hide thy bloody face:

where he must have meant his fkarf.

So in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1626,

"Aruns, thefe crimson favours, for thy fake,
ar upon my forehead mask'd with blood.

STEEVENS