But failed him foul without witte or rede.
But to the King he came I understand,
Whereby submitting him unto his royal hand,
Whom then he put to hold in sore prison,

With two men of his own, in Bagington."*

There was perhaps some ground for the doubt about Northumberland's motives which Worcester suggests.

"It will be thought,

By some that know not why he is away,

That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike

Of our proceedings, kept the earl from hence."

It is consistent with the sanguine and fearless character of Hotspur to answer—

"I rather of his absence make this use ;

It lends a lustre and more great opinion,

A larger dare, to our great enterprise,
Than if the earl were here; for men must think
If we, without his help, can make a head
To push against the kingdom, with his help
We shall o'erturn it topsy-turvy down."

Glendower was also absent, but was busily engaged in his country.+ Douglas says of him

And comes not in, o'erruled by prophecies."

I do not find in the usual works Shakspeare's authority for this cause of the Welshman's absence; but it is in good keeping.

* Hardyng, p. 361.

+ Tyler, p. 167.

In this scene, Sir Richard Vernon* brings an account of Prince Henry and his companions, which is worthy of notice in several respects :— Where is his son,

"Hotspur..

The nimble-footed † mad-cap Prince of Wales,
And his comrades, that daff'd the world aside,
And bid it pass ?

Vernon. All furnish'd, all in arms,

All plumed like estridges that wing the wind;
Bated like eagles having lately bathed;
Glittering in golden coats, like images;
As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer

Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls."

This is a description of the chosen companions of the prince; if it stood alone, I should say without doubt that Shakspeare did not intend to place him in low company, but the balance of evidence is the other way, and the poet must have here forgotten himself; for he surely did not liken Falstaff to the ostridge or the eagle, or Bardolph to the month of

* I suppose that this Vernon is Sir Richard of Haddon (ancestor of Lord Vernon). His successor is said to have died about 1425; his own death is not mentioned by Collins (vii. 399), perhaps because he died by the hands of the

executioner.

† Steevens quotes from Stow (p. 342), the mention of Henry's great swiftness of foot. Bosw., 359. It is also mentioned by Elmham, p. 12.

May. I believe the description to be true to history, and Henry to have been (though not at this time) surrounded by smart, brave, gay, and perhaps dissolute young men. It would be wrong to

omit the decription of their leader, though often quoted :

66

I saw young Harry—with his beaver on,

His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armed—
Rise from the ground like feather'd Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat,
As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds,.
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,

And witch the world with noble horsemanship." We are now brought to the "rebel camp near Shrewsbury," when Hotspur, with his characteristic ardour, proposes an immediate attack upon the king; who, while the insurgents are in deliberation, sends Sir Walter Blunt with "gracious offers." The poet has substituted Blunt (who, however, was present with the king's force) for "the Abbot of Shrewsbury, and one of the clerks of the privy seal,”‡ who carried "offers of pardon, if they would come to any reasonable agreement." This scene, and the first and second of the fifth act, are chiefly occupied with the discussion of these offers.

* Act iv. Sc. 3.

+ The ancestor of Mr. Blount, of Mapledurham in Oxfordshire. See Burke's Commoners, iii. 165.

Hol., 25; Wals. 368.

The enumeration of grievances is taken from a slight notice in Holinshed,* and former occurrences noted in those plays, and Shakspeare has copied the error of the Chronicler in respect of the Mortimers. The gravamen of the charge against Henry, in the speeches of the Percies, is that he treated their house with ingratitude; that having sworn that he only came for his own inheritance, he deposed and murdered Richard,† and seized the crown; and that he refused to ransom Mortimer, alleging that he had treacherously given himself up.

Hotspur. The king is kind, and well we know,
the king

Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father, my uncle, and myself,

Did give him that same royalty he wears:

And, when he was not six-and-twenty strong,
Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,

A

poor unminded outlaw, sneaking home,My father gave him welcome to the shore:

And,-when he heard him swear and vow to God,

• P. 23, 25,-Hall (p. 29). gives a manifesto at length, and Hardying, (p. 353,) one which the Editor, Sir Henry Ellis, believes to be more accurate; but Tyler (i. 163) deems this a forgery. I am not prepared with an opinion, but believe that Shakspeare saw neither one of the documents.

+ Walsingham says (p. 368) that the rebels reported that Richard was alive; and Mortimer's letter (noticed in p. 92) refers to the possibility of his being so. This inconsistency is certainly in favour of Tyler's opinion

He came but to be duke of Lancaster, To sue his livery, and beg his peace; With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,My father, in kind heart and pity mov'd, Swore him assistance and perform'd it too. Now, when the lords, and barons of the realm, Perceived Northumberland did lean to him, The more and less came in with cap and knee; Met him in boroughs, cities, villages ; Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes, Laid gifts before him, proffer'd him their oaths, Gave him their heirs; as pages follow'd him, Even at the heels in golden multitudes. He presently, -as greatness knows itself, Steps me a little higher than his vow Made to my father, while his blood was poor, Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurg; And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees, That lay too heavy on the commonwealth : Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep Over his country's wrongs; and by this face This seeming brow of justice, did he win, The hearts of all that he did angle for. Proceeded further; cut me off the heads, Of all the favorites, that the absent king In deputation left behind him here, When he was personal in the Irish war. In short time after, he deposed the king; Soon after that, deprived him of his life,