King. This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, And wear it in my heart. Why then, be sad: P. John, &c. We hope no other from your majesty. King. You all look strangely on me:-and you most; [To the CHIEF JUSTICE. You are, I think, assur'd, I love you not. Ch. Just. I am assur'd, if I be measur'd rightly, Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me. King. No! How might a prince of my great hopes forget What! rate, rebuke, and roughly sent to prison Ch. Just. I then did use the person of your father; And did commit you. If the deed were ill, King. You are right, Justice, and you weigh this well; Therefore still bear the balance and the sword: 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, That dares do justice on my proper son; My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear; To frustrate prophecies; and to raze out Emperor of the Turk's, died in 1596; his son, who succeeded him, had all his brothers strangled. In your regal character and office. | Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down say, [Exeunt. SCENE III.-Gloucestershire. The Garden of Shallow's House. Enter FALSTAFF, SHALLOW, SILENCE, BARDOLPH, the Page, and Davy. Shal. Nay, you shall see mine orchard: where, in an arbor, we will eat a last year's pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of carraways, and so forth;come, cousin Silence; and then to bed. Fal. 'Fore God, you have here a goodly dwelling, and a rich. Shal. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all, sir John:-marry, good sir.-Spread, Davy; spread, Davy well said, Davy. Fal. This Davy serves you for good uses; he is your serving-man, and your husbandman. 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. Sil. Ah, sirrah! quoth-a,-we shall Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer, And ever among 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. Davy. Sweet sir, sit; [Seating BARDOLPH and the Page at another table.] I'll be with you anon;— most sweet sir, sit.- Master page, good master page, sit: proface! What you want in meat, we'll have in drink. But you must bear; the heart's all. [Exit. Shal. Be merry, master Bardolph:-and my little soldier there, be merry. Sil. Be merry, be merry, my wive's as all; [Singing. For woman are shrews, both short and tall; 'Tis merry in hall, when beards wag all, And welcome merry shrove-tide. Be merry, be merry, &c. Fal. I did not think master Silence had been a man of this mettle. Sil. Who, I? I have been merry twice and once, Shal. Honest Bardolph, welcome: If thou wantest any thing, and wilt not call, beshrew thy heart.Welcome, my little tiny thief; [To the Page.] and welcome, indeed, too.-I'll drink to master BarJolph, and to all the cavaleroes about London. Davy. I hope to see London once ere I die. Bard. An I might see you there, Davy,Shal. By the mass, you'll crack a quart together. Ha! will you not, master Bardolph?" Bard. Yes, sir, in a pottle pot. Shal. I thank thee:-The knave will stick by thee, I can assure thee that: he will not out: he is true bred. Bard. And I'll stick by him, sir. Shal. Why, there spoke a king. Lack nothing: be merry. [Knocking heard. ] Look who's at door there: Ho! who knocks! [Exit DAVY. Fal. Why, now you have done me right. [TO SILENCE, who drinks a bumper. Sil. Do me right, [Singing. And dub me knight: Samingo. Is't not so? Fal. 'Tis so. 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 these pleasant days. [Exeunt SCENE IV. London. A Street. Enter Beadles, dragging in HOSTESS QUICKLY, and DOLL TEAR-SHEET. Host. No, thou arrant knave; I would, I might die, that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint. 1 Bead. The constables have delivered her over to me; and she shall have whipping-cheer enough, I warrant her: there had been a man or two lately killed about her. Doll. Nut-hook, nut-hook,1 you lie. Come, on! Sil. Is't so? Why, then say, an old man can do I'll tell thee what, thou damned tripe-visaged rascal; 'somewhat. Puff in thy teeth, most recreant coward base!- And helter-skelter have I rode to thee; Fal. I pr'ythee now, deliver them like a man of this world. Pist. A foutra for the world, and worldlings base! I speak of Africa, and golden joys. Fal. O base Assyrian knight, what is thy news? Let king Cophetua know the truth thereof. Sil. And Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John. [Sings. Pist. Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons? And shall good news be baffled? Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies' lap. Shal. Honest gentleman, I know not your breeding. Pist. Why then, lament therefore. Shal. Give me pardon, sir;-If, sir, you come with news from the court, I take it, there is but two ways; either to utter them, or conceal them. I am, sir, under the king, in some authority. Pist. Under which king, Bezonian? speak, or die. Shal. Under king Harry. Pist. Harry the fourth? or fifth? Shal. Harry the fourth. Pist. A foutra for thine office!Sir John, thy tender lambkin now is king; Harry the fifth's the man. I speak the truth: When Pistol lies, do this; and fig me, like The bragging Spaniard. 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, 'tis thine.-Pistol, I will double-charge thee with dignities. Bard. O joyful day!-I would not take a knighthood for my fortune. Pist. What? I do bring good news? an the child I now go with, do miscarry, thou had'st better thou had'st struck thy mother, thou paper faced villain! Host. O the Lord, that sir John were come! he would make this a bloody day to somebody. But I pray God, the fruit of her womb miscarry! 1 Bead. If I do, you shall have a dozen of cushions 2 again; you have but eleven now. Come, I charge you both go with me; for the man is dead, that you and Pistol beat among you. Doll. I'll tell thee what, thou thin man in a censer! I will have you as soundly swinged for this, you blue-bottle rogue! you filthy famished correctioner! if you be not swinged, I'll forswear halfkirtles. 1 Bead. Come, come, you she knight-errant, come. Host. O, that right should thus overcome might! Well; of sufferance comes ease. Doll. Come, you rogue, come; bring me to a justice. Host. Ay; come, you starved blood-hound. Doll. Come, you thin thing; come, you rascal! 1 Bead. Very well. [Exeunt. SCENE V.-A public Place near Westminster Abbey. Enter two Grooms, strewing Rushes. 1 Groom. More rushes, more rushes. 2 Groom. The trumpets have sounded twice. 1 Groom. It will be two o'clock ere they come from the coronation: Despatch, despatch. [Exeunt Grooms. Enter FALSTAFF, SHALLOW, PISTOL, BARDOLPH, and the Page. Fal. Stand here by me, master Robert Shallow; I will make the king do you grace: I will leer upon him, as 'a comes by; and do but mark the countenance that he will give me. Pist. God bless thy lungs, good knight. Fal. Come here, Pistol; stand behind me.-0, if I had had time to have made new liveries, I would have bestowed the thousand pound I borrowed of you. [To SHALLOW.] But 'tis no matter; this poor show doth better: this doth infer the zeal I had to see him. Shal. It doth so. Fal. It shows my earnestness of affection. Shal. It doth so. Fal. My devotion. Shal. It doth, it doth, it doth. Fal. As it were, to ride day and night; and not to deliberate, not to remember, not to have patience to shift me. Shal. It is most certain. Fal. But to stand stained with travel, and sweatwith desire to see him: thinking of nothing else; putting all affairs else in oblivion; as if there were nothing else to be done, but to see him. 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:-ing O, sweet Pistol:-Away, Bardolph.-[Exit BARD.] He who drank a bumper on his knees, to the health of his mistress, was dubbed a knight for the evening. It should be Domingo: it is part of a song in one of Nashe's plays. 1 A term of reproach for a catchpoll. 2 To stuff her out to counterfeit pregnacy. Beadles usually wore a blue livery 4 Short cloaks. Pist. My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver, And make thee rage. Thy Doll, and Helen of thy noble thoughts, By most mechanical and dirty hand: Rouse up revenge from ebon den with fell Alecto's snake, For Doll is in; Pistol speaks nought but truth. [Shouts within, and the Trumpets sound. Pist. There roar'd the sea, the trumpet-clangor sounds. Enter the KING and his Train, the Chief Justice among them. Fal. God save thy grace, king Hal! my royal Hal! Pist. The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame! Fal. God save thee, my sweet boy! man. Ch. Just. Have you your wits? know you what 'tis you speak? Fal. My king! my Jove! I speak to thee, my heart! King. I know thee not, old man: Fall to thy prayers; jest; How ill white hairs become a fool, and jester! And, as we hear you do reform yourselves, We will, according to your strength, and qualities, Give you advancement.-Be it your charge, my lord, To see perform'd the tenor of our word.Set on. [Exeunt KING, and his Train. Fal. Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pound. Shal. Ay, marry, sir John; which I beseech you to let me have home with me. Fal. That can hardly be, master Shallow. Do not you grieve at this; I shall be sent for in private to him: look you, he must seem thus to the world. Fear not your advancement; I will be the man yet that shall make you great. Shal. I cannot perceive how; unless you give me your doublet, and stuff me out with straw. 1 beseech you, good sir John, let me have five hun dred of my thousand. Fal. Sir, I will be as good as my word: this that you heard, was but a color. Shal A color, I fear, that you will die in, sir John. Fal. Fear no colors; go with me to dinner. Come, lieutenant Pistol;-come, Bardolph:-I shall be sent for soon at night. [Exeunt. Re-enter PRINCE JOHN, the Chief Justice, Officers, &c. Ch. Just. I cannot now speak: I will hear you Take them away. soon. EPILOGUE.-Spoken by a DANCER. FIRST, my fear; then, my court'sy; last, my speech. My fear is, your displeasure; my court'sy, my duty; and my speech, to beg your pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me: for what I have to say is of mine own making; and what, indeed, I should say, will, I doubt, prove mine own marring. But to the purpose, and so to the venture:-Be it known to you, (as it is very well,) I was lately here in the end of a displeasing play, to pray your patience for it, and to promise you a better. I did mean, indeed, to pay you with this, which, if, like an ill venture, it come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle creditors, lose. Here, I promised you, I would be, and here I commit my body to your mercies: bate me some, and I will pay you some, and as most debtors do, promise you infinitely. If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you command me to use my legs? and yet 'Tis all in all, and all in every part. * Henceforward. that were but light payment,-to dance out of your debt. But a good conscience will make any possible satisfaction, and so will I. All the gentlewo men here have forgiven me; if the gentlemen will not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the gentlewomen, which was never seen before in such an assembly. One word more, I beseech you. If you be not too much cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the story, with sir John in it, and make you merry with fair Katharine of France: where, for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man. My tongue is weary, when my legs are too, I will bid you good night and so kneel down before you;-but, indeed, to pray for the queen. 7 Most of the ancient interludes conclude with a prayer for the king or queen. Hence, perhaps, the Vivant Rer & Regina, at the bottom of our modern play-bills. DUKE OF EXETER, Uncle to the King. DUKE OF YORK, Cousin to the King. A Herald. Chorus. CHARLES THE SIXTH, King of France. LEWIS, the Dauphin. EARLS OF SALISBURY, WESTMORELAND, and WAR- DUKES OF BURGUNDY, ORLEANS, and BOUrbon. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. WICK. BISHOP OF ELY. EARL OF CAMBRIDGE, LORD SCROOP, SIR THOMAS GREY, The CONSTABLE of France. RAMBURES, and GRANDPRE, French Lords. Conspirators against the MONTJOY, a French Herald. King. Ambassadors to the King of England. ISABEL, Queen of France. KATHARINE, Daughter of Charles and Isabel. ALICE, a Lady attending on the Princess Katharine. QUICKLY, Pistol's Wife, an Hostess. Lords, Ladies, Officers, French and English .Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants. The SCENE, at the beginning of the play, lies in England; but afterwards wholly in France. Enter CHORUS. O, for a muse of fire that would ascend Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all, ACT I. SCENE I.-London. An Ante-chamber in the | But that the scambling and unquiet time King's Palace. Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, and BISHOP OF ELY. Cant. My lord, I'll tell you,-that self bill is urged, Which, in the eleventh year o' the last king's reign, Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd, 1 An allusion to the circular form of the theatre. 2 Helmets. 364 Did push it out of further question. Ely. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now? Cant. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession: Ely. This would drink deep. And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him; To envelop and contain celestial spirits. With such a heady current, scouring faults; So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, Ely. We are blessed in the change. And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy; SCENE II-A Room of State in the same. Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, Exe. Not here in presence. K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. West. Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege? sely'd, Before we hear him, of some things of weight, Cant. God, and his angels, guard your sacred And make you long become it! Of what your reverence shall incite us to: 'Gainst him, whose wrongs give edge unto the swords Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it, Are every one a woe, a sore complaint, Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle; And so the prince obscur'd his contemplation Cant. It must be so: for miracles are ceas'd; Ely. But, my good lord, Cant. He seems indifferent, Or, rather, swaying more upon our part, And in regard of causes now in hand, Ely. How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord? Cant. The French ambassador, upon that instant, Listen to. That make such waste in brief mortality. Cant. Then hear me, gracious sovereign,-and That owe your lives, your faith, and services, ons, There left behind and settled certain French; |