Such poor, fuch base, fuch lewd, fuch mean attempts, As thou art match'd withal and grafted to, And hold their level with thy princely heart? Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear, Find pardon on my true fubmiffion. K. Henry. Heaven pardon thee. Yet let me wonder, Harry, At thy affections, which do hold a wing 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 2 I * And then I ftole all courtesy from heaven, That I did pluck allegiance from mens' hearts, 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, Had his great name profaned with their fcorns; That, being daily fwallow'd by mens' eyes, To loath the taste of sweetness; whereof a little 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. Save mine, which hath defir'd to fee thee more; [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, Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Chrift! 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, And shake the peace and fafety of our throne. 8 But wherefore do I tell this news to thee? P. Henry. Do not think fo; you shall not find it so : 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, STEEVENS |