The service that I truly did his life,

Hath left me open to all injuries.

War. Indeed, I think the young King 'loves you not.
Ch. Just. I know he doth not, and do arm myself

To welcome the condition of the time.

Prince John, Prince Humphrey, Clarence, Westmoreland, and others enter.

P. John. Good morrow, cousin Warwick.

P. Humph., Clar. Good morrow, cousin.

P. John.... We meet like men that had 'forgot to speak. War. We do 'remember; but our argument

Is all too heavy to admit much 'talk.

P. John. Well, peace be with 'him that 'made us heavy!
Ch. Just. Peace be with 'us, lest we be 'heavier!

Sweet princes, what I did, I did in 'honour.
If truth and upright innocency 'fail me,
I'll to the King my master that is 'dead,
And tell him 'who hath sent me after him.
Enter King Henry the Fifth, attended.
and Heaven save your majesty!
King. This new and gorgeous garment, majesty,
Sits not so easy on me as you think.—

Good morrow,

Brothers, you mix your 'sadness with some 'fear:
But entertain no more of it, good brothers,
Than a 'joint burden laid upon us 'all.
For me, by Heaven, I bid you be assured
I'll be your 'father and your brother too;

Let me but bear your 'love, I 'll bear your 'cares:
'Yet weep that Harry's 'dead, and so will I;
But Harry 'lives; that shall convert those 'tears,
By number, into 'hours of 'happiness.

the C.

P. John. We hope no other from your majesty. King.... You all look 'strangely on me :-[] and 'you 'most;

You are, I think, 'assured I love you not?

Ch. Just. I am assured, if I be measured 'rightly,
Your majesty hath no just cause to 'hate me.

King. No? How might a prince of my great hopes 'forget
So great indignities you laid upon me?

What! rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison The immediate heir of England! Was this easy? May 'this be washed in Lethe,* and 'forgotten? Ch. Just. I 'then did use the person of your 'father; The image of 'his power lay then in 'me:

* The river of forgetfulness in hell.

And, in the administration of his law,

Your highness then pleased to forget my place,
And 'struck me in my very seat of judgment;
Whereon, as an offender to your 'father,
I gave bold way to my authority,

And did 'commit you. If the deed were ill,
Be 'you contented,-wearing 'now the garland,-
To have a son set 'your decrees at naught,
To pluck down justice from 'your awful bench,
To 'trip the course of law, and 'blunt the sword
That guards the peace and safety of your person;
Nay, more; to spurn at your most royal 'image,
And mock 'your workings in a 'second body.
Question your royal thoughts; make the case 'yours;
Behold 'yourself so by a son disdained;—
And then imagine me taking 'your part,
And, in 'your power, soft silencing your son:
Now, as you are a King, speak, in your state,
What I have done that 'misbecame my place,
My person, or my liege's sovereignty.

King. You are 'right, Justice, and you weigh this well;
Therefore 'still bear the balance and the sword:
And I do wish your honours may 'increase,
Till you do live to 'see a son of mine
Offend you-and 'obey you, as 'I did.

:

So shall I live to speak my 'father's words :-
Happy am I, that have a man so bold

66

That dares do justice on my proper 'son;
And not 'less happy, 'having such a son,
That would deliver-up his greatness so

Into the hands of justice."-You did 'commit me—
For which, 'I do commit, into your hand,

The unstained sword that you have used to bear;
With this remembrance,-That you use the same
With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit
As you have done 'gainst 'me.

There is my hand.

You shall be as a 'father to my youth:
And I will stoop and humble my intents
To your well-practised, wise directions.-
And, Princes all, believe me, I beseech you ;
My father is gone sadly* to his grave,
And in his tomb lie all my 'past affections;
And, with his spirit, sadly I survive
To 'mock the expectation of the world;

*O. R. wilde into.

To 'frustrate prophecies; and to raze out
Rotten opinion.-which hath writ me down
After my 'seeming. The tide of blood in me
Hath proudly flowed in 'vanity, till now:
Now doth it 'turn, and ebb back to the sea.-
Now call we our High Court of Parliament:
And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel,
That the great body of 'our state may go
In equal rank with the 'best-governed nation;
That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us ;-

In which, Lord Justice, you'll have foremost hand.—
And, (Heaven consigning to my good intents,)
No prince, nor peer, shall have 'just cause to say,
Heaven 'shorten Harry's happy life one day.

[Exeunt.

We return to the garden of Justice Shallow's house, where we see Falstaff, Shallow, Silence, Bardolph, the Page, and Davy.

Shal. Nay, you shall see mine 'orchard; where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year's pippin of my own graffing, with a dash of caraways, and so forth:-Come, cousin Silence ;-and then to bed.

Fal. You have here a goodly dwelling, and a rich.
Shal. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all, Sir
John: marry, good 'air.--Spread, Davy; spread, Davy;
well laid, Davy.

Fal. This Davy serves you for good uses.

Shal. A good varlet, a good varlet, a 'very good varlet, Sir John:-By the mass, I have drunk too much sack at supper:-a good varlet. Now sit down, now sit down:-Come, cousin.

Silence, under the influence of after-supper potations, has become jolly, talkative, and given to singing.

Sil. Ah, sirrah! quoth-a,-we shall

[Singing.] Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer.

And praise heaven for the merry year;

When bread is cheap and drink is dear,
And jolly lads roam there and here,
So merrily,

And ever along so merrily.

Fal. There's a merry heart!-Good Master Silence, I'll give you a health for that anon.

Shal. Give Master 'Bardolph some wine, Davy. Be merry, Master Bardolph ;-and my little soldier there, [the] be merry.

Sil. [Singing Be merry, be merry; my wife has all;

For women are shrews, both short and tall:
'Tis merry in hall when beards wag all,
And welcome merry Shrove-tide.

Fal. I did not think Master Silence had been a man of 'this

mettle.

Sil. Who, I? I 'have been merry twice and once, ere now. [Singing.] Fill the cup and let it come;

I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom.

Davy says to Bardolph :

Davy. I hope to see London 'once ere I die.
Bard. If 'I might see you there, Davy,—

Shallow interrupts :

Shal. By the mass, you 'll crack a quart together,-ah! will you not, Master Bardolph?

Bard. Yea, sir, in a 'pottle-pot.*

Shal. I thank thee:-the knave will stick by thee, I can assure thee that.

Bard. And I'll stick by 'him, sir.

Exit

Davy.

Shal. Why, there spoke a 'king! Lack nothing: be merry.
Knocking] Look, who's at door there, Davy!
W] Why, 'now have done me right.
Sil. Is 't so? Why, then say, an 'old man can do 'somewhat.

Fal. Carin

To Silence, who'
drinks a bumper

you

Davy re-enters.

Davy. If it please your worship, there's one Pistol come

from the Court with news.

Fal. From the Court! let him come in.-[ Pistol

Pistol?

Pist. Sir John, Heaven save you!

Fal. What wind blew you 'hither, Pistol?

Leuters.] How now,

Pist. Not the 'ill wind which blows 'no man to good.Sweet knight, thou art now one of the greatest men in the realm.

Sil. By 'r lady, I think he be;-butt goodman Puff of Barson.
Pist. Puff!

Puff in thy teeth, most recreat coward base !—
Sir John, I am thy Pistol, and thy friend,

And helter-skelter have I rode to thee;

And tidings do I bring, and 'golden times!

* A measure of two quarts.

+ Except.

Fal. I pr'ythee now deliver them like a man of the 'world. Pist. A 'foutra* for the world, and worldings base!

Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons ?†

And shall good news be 'baffled?

Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies' lap!

Shallow hiccups to Pistol :

Shal. Honest gentleman, I know not your breeding.
Pist. Why then, lament there-fore.

Shal. Give me pardon, sir:-If, sir, you come with news from the Court, I take it, there's but two ways;either to 'utter them, or to 'conceal them. 'I am, sir, under the King, in some authority.

Pist. Under 'which king, Bezonian ? speak, or die.
Shal. Under King Harry.

Pist.

Shal. Harry the Fourth.
Pist.

Harry the Fourth? or Fifth?

A foutra* for thine office!—

Sir John, thy tender 'lambkin now is King!
Harry the 'Fifth 's the man! I speak the truth!
Fal. What! is the old king dead?
Pist. As nail in door.

The things 'I speak are just. Fal. Away, Bardolph! saddle my horse.-Master Robert Shallow, choose what office thou wilt in the land, 't is thine.-Pistol, I will 'double-charge thee with dignities. Bard. O joyful day!—I would not take a 'knighthood for 'my fortune.

Exit

Fal. Carry Master Silence to bed.-Master Shallow-my 'Lord Shallow! be what thou wilt, I am Fortune's steward. Get on thy boots: we 'll ride all night.—O sweet Pistol!-Away, Bardolph. [Bardolph] Come, Pistol, utter 'more to me; and, withal, devise something to do 'thyself good.-Boot, boot, Master Shallow: I know the young King is 'sick for me. Let us take 'any man's horses; the laws of England are at 'my commandment. Happy are they which have been my 'friends;—and woe to my Lord Chief Justice! Pist. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also! "Where is the life that 'late I led?" say they ; Why 'here it is!-Welcome this pleasant day!

[Exeunt.

We hasten, with Falstaff and his companions, to London, and join the crowd waiting for the young King's return from his coronation in Westminster Abbey. Falstaff says:

* A term of contempt.

†A sacred mountain in Boeotia.

‡A term of contempt frequently used by the old dramatists.