Whereto my finger, like a dial's point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.
Now, sir, the sounds that tell what hour it is,
Are clamorous groans, that strike upon my heart,
Which is the bell: So sighs, and tears, and groans,
Show minutes, times, and hours: but my time
Runs posting on in Bolingbroke's proud joy.
This musick mads me, let it sound no more;
For, though it have holpe madmen to their wits,
In me, it seems it will make wise men mad.
Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me!
For 'tis a sign of love; and love to Richard
Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world.
Enter Groom.

Groom. Hail, royal prince!

K. Rich. What art thou? and how comest thou SCENE VI.
hither,

Where no man never comes, but that sad dog
That brings me food, to make misfortune live?

Groom. I was a poor groom of thy stable, king,
When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York,
With much ado, at length have gotten leave
To look upon my sometime master's face.
O, how it yearn'd my heart, when I beheld,
In London streets, that coronation day,
When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary!
That horse, that thou so often hast bestrid;
That horse, that I so carefully have dress'd!

K. Rich. Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle
friend,

How went he under him?

Groom. So proudly, as if he disdain'd the ground.
K. Rich. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his
back!

That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand;
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him.
Would he not stumble? Would he not fall down,
(Since pride must have a fall,) and break the neck
Of that proud man that did usurp his back?
Forgiveness, horse! why do I rail on thee,
Since thou, created to be aw'd by man,
Wast born to bear? I was not made a horse;
And yet I bear a burden like an ass,
Spur-gall'd, and tir'd, by jauncing Bolingbroke.

Enter Keeper, with a Dish.

Keep. Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay. [To the Groom.

K. Rich. If thou love me, 'tis time thou wert
away.

Groom. What my tongue dares not, that my heart
shall say.
[Exit.

Keep. My lord, will't please you to fall to?
K. Rich. Taste of it first, as thou art wont to do.
Keep. My lord, I dare not; sir Pierce of Exton,
who

Lately came from the king, commands the contrary:
K. Rich. The devil take Henry of Lancaster, and

thee!

Flourish.

- Windsor.

[Exeunt.

A Room in the Castle.

Enter BOLINGBROKE, and YORK, with
Lords, and Attendants.

Boling. Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear
Is-that the rebels have consum'd with fire
Our town of Cicester in Glostershire;

But whether they be ta'en, or slain, we hear not.

Enter NORTHUMBERLAND.

Welcome, my lord: What is the news?

North. First, to thy sacred state wish I all hap-
piness,

The next news is, I have to London sent
The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent:
The manner of their taking may appear
At large discoursed in this paper here.

[Presenting a paper.

Boling. We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy

pains;

And to thy worth will add right worthy gains.

Enter FITZWater.

Fitz. My lord, I have from Oxford sent to London
The heads of Brocas, and sir Bennet Seely;
Two of the dangerous consorted traitors,
That sought at Oxford thy dire overthrow.
Boling. Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot;
Right noble is thy merit, well I wot.

Enter PERCY, with the BISHOP OF CARLISLE. Percy. The grand conspirator, abbot of Westminster,

With clog of conscience, and sour melancholy,
Hath yielded up his body to the grave;
But here is Carlisle living to abide
Thy kingly doom, and sentence of his pride.
Boling. Carlisle, this is your doom:
Choose out some secret place, some reverend room,
More than thou hast, and with it joy thy life;
So, as thou liv'st in peace, die free from strife:
For though mine enemy thou hast ever been,
High sparks of honour in thee have I seen.

Enter EXTON, with Attendants bearing a Coffin.
Exton. Great king, within this coffin I present
Thy buried fear: herein all breathless lies
The mightiest of thy greatest enemies,
Richard of Bourdeaux, by me hither brought.
Boling. Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast
wrought

A deed of slander, with thy fatal hand,
Upon my head, and all this famous land.
Bb 4

FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY IV.

PREFACE OF THE EDITOR TO THE TWO PARTS OF HENRY IV.

My late excellent friend, Mrs. Montagu, in her Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakspeare, has paid particular attention to Henry the IVth. In this, as in every part of her work, good principles, judicious argument, and refined taste, appear in all her observations; but I confine myself to the more immediate objects of the present publication, purity, and decency of expression.

Every person must be sensible, that of all the historical plays, the Two Parts of Henry the IVth are the most difficult to render fit for family reading. To clear them of all indecent, and indelicate expressions, without destroying the wit and spirit of Falstaff, and without injuring the narrative, is indeed an arduous undertaking; but I hope I may remove many objectionable passages, though I may not be able to render the work perfect. "Est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra." Feeling the difficulty of the task, I take as a guide the following extract from the just observations of my deceased friend: "There are delicacies of decorum in one age unknown to another age: but whatever is immoral, is equally blameable in all ages; and every approach to obscenity, is an offence, for which wit cannot atone, nor the barbarism or the corruption of the times afford an excuse. Mine hostess Quickly is of a species not extinct. It may be said, the author there sinks from comedy to farce; but she helps to complete the character of Falstaff, and some of the dialogues in which she is engaged are diverting. Every scene in which Doll Tearsheet appears, is indecent; and therefore not only indefensible, but inexcusable."

After the foregoing quotation, my readers will not be surprised, if the name of the last-mentioned person is not to be found in the following plays.

The

I hope that all obscenity is equally banished from
them. I wish it were in my power in like manner
to exclude every expression which approaches to
vulgarity or indelicacy; but this I fear, cannot be
done, unless the whole of those scenes are omitted
in which any of the comic characters appear.
present publication may possibly be censured by
two classes of readers, of very different sentiments.
Those persons who are unwilling to be deprived of
any part of the wit of Falstaff (whatever may be the
expense of retaining it) will perhaps be displeased
at the omission of the evening scene between him
and Doll Tearsheet, and their followers. To them
I reply, that consistently with the design of the
present edition of Shakspeare, the omission was
unavoidable; but I regret n the less, because, as was
suggested in my preface, those readers can gratify
their taste by having recourse to former editions of
the Second Part of Henry the IVth.

Other persons may possibly complain that there still remain in this work some expressions which are not consistent with that perfect delicacy of sentiment, with which it were desirable that every publication should be conducted. To this objection I fear that I can give no answer that will be quite satisfactory. I can only say, that I have endeavoured to render the speeches of Falstaff and his companions ar correct as they could be rendered, without losing sight of their characters and dispositions. Those persons who still object to their language, cannot I believe do better, than confine their reading to the serious parts of the three following plays, which possess such merit, as can hardly be equalled in any other dramatic poet, and is seldom exceeded by our own immortal bard.