K. Henry. What treasure, uncle?

Exe. 5 Tennis-balls, my liege.

K. Henry. We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us.

His prefent, and your pains, we thank you for.
When we have match'd our rackets to thefe balls,
We will in France, by God's grace, play a fet,
Shall ftrike his father's crown into the hazard.
Tell him, he hath made a match with fuch a wrangler,
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With 7 chaces. And we understand him well,
How he comes o'er us with our wilder days;
Not measuring, what ufe we made of them.
We never valu'd this poor feat of England;
8 And therefore, living hence, did give ourself
To barbarous licence; as 'tis ever common,
That men are merrieit when they are from home.
But tell the Dauphin, I will keep my state;
Be like a king, and fhew my fail of greatnefs

• Tennis-balls, my liege.] In the old play of Henry V. already mentioned, this prefent confifts of a gilded tun of tennis-balls and a carpet. STEEVENS.

We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us.] Thus ftands the anfwer of K. Henry in the fame old play,

My lord, prince Dolphin is very pleasant with me. "But tell him, that instead of balls of leather

"We will tofs him balls of brafs and of iron:

"Yea, fuch balls as never were tofs'd in France. "The proudest tennis-court in France fhall rue it." And the following paffage is in MICHAEL DRAYTON'S Battle of Agincourt;

"I'll fend him balls and rackets if I live,
"That they fuch racket fhall in Paris fee,
"When over line with bandies 1 fhall drive;
"As that, before the fet be fully done,
"France may perhaps into the hazard run."

7 Chace is a term at tennis. JOHNSON.

STEEVENS,

And therefore, living hence,-] This expreffion has ftrength and energy: he never valued England; and therefore lived bence, i. e. as if abfent from it. But the Oxford Editor alters bence to here. WARBURTON,

When

When I do roufe me in my throne of France.
9 For that I have laid by my majesty,
And plodded like a man for working days;
But I will rife there with fo full a glory,
That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
Yea, ftrike the Dauphin blind to look on us.
And tell the pleafant prince, this mock of his
Hath turn'd his balls to gun-ftones; and his foul
Shall ftand fure charged for the wafteful vengeance
That shall fly with them: for many a thousand widows
Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands;
Mock mothers from their fons, mock castles down;
And fome are yet ungotten, and unborn,

That fhall have caufe to curfe the Dauphin's fcorn.
But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal; and in whofe name,
Tell you the Dauphin, I am coming on
To venge me as I may, and to put forth
My rightful hand in a well-hallow'd caufe.
So, get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin,
His jeft will favour but of fhallow wit,

When thousands weep, more than did laugh at it.
-Convey them with fafe conduct.-Fare you well.
[Exeunt Ambafadors.

Exe. This was a merry meffage.

K. Henry. We hope to make the fender blush at it. Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour That may give furtherance to our expedition : For we have now no thought in us, but France, Save thofe to God, that run before our bufinefs. Therefore, let our proportions for thefe wars Be foon collected, and all things thought upon,

For that I have laid by-] To qualify myfelf for this undertaking, I have defcended from my flation, and fludied the arts of life in a lower character. JOHNSON.

I

The quarto 1608 reads-for this. STEEVENS.

his balls to gun-fiones;-] When ordnance was first used, they difcharged balls, not of iron, but of ftone. JOHNSON.

That

That may, with reasonable swiftnefs, add
More feathers to our wings: for, God before,
We'll chide this Dauphin at his father's door.
Therefore, let every man now task his thought,
That this fair action may on foot be brought. [Exeunt.

N

ACT II.

Enter Chorus.

CHORUS.

WOW all the youth of England are on fire 1. And filken dalliance in the wardrobe lies: Now thrvie the armourers, and honour's thought

Reigns

In this place, in all the editions hitherto, is inferted the chorus which I have poftponed. That chorus manifeftly is intended to advertise the fpectators of the change of the fcene to Southampton, and therefore ought to be placed just before that change, and not here, where the fcene is still continued in

London. POPE.

Now all the youth of England-] I have replaced this chorus here, by the authority of the old folios; and ended the firft act, as the poet certainly intended. Mr. POPE removed it, becaufe, fays he, "This chorus manifestly is intended to ad"vertise the spectators of the change of the fcene to South"ampton; and therefore ought to be placed just before that "change, and not here." It is true, the fpectators are to be informed, that, when they next fee the king, they are to suppofe him at Southampton. But this does not imply any neceffity of this chorus being contiguous to that change. On the contrary, the very concluding lines vouch abfolutely againft it.

But till the king come forth, and not till then,

. Unto Southampton do we fhift our fcene.

For how abfurd is fuch a notice, if the fcene is to change, fo foon as ever the chorus quits the ftage? Befides, unless this chorus be prefixed to the fcene betwixt Nym, Bardolph, &c. we fhall draw the poet into another abfurdity. Piftol, Nym, and Bardolph are in this feene talking of going to the wars of France: but the king had but juft, at his quitting the ftage, declared his refolutions of commencing this war: and without

the

Reigns folely in the breaft of every man :
They fell the pasture now to buy the horse;
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With winged heels, as English Mercuries.
2 For now fits Expectation in the air,
And hides a fword from hilts unto the point
With crowns imperial, crowns, and coronets,
Promis'd to Harry, and his followers.
The French, advis'd by good intelligence
Of this moft dreadful preparation,
Shake in their fear; and with pale policy
Seek to divert the English purposes.

O England! model to thy inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart,

What might'ft thou do, that honour would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural !

But fee, thy fault! France hath in thee found out
A neft of hollow bofoms, which he fills

With treacherous crowns: and three corrupted men,
One, Richard earl of Cambridge; and the fecond,

the interval of an act, betwixt the fcene and the comic characters entering, how could they with any probability be informed of this intended expedition? THEOBALD.

I think Mr. POPE mistaken in tranfpofing this chorus, and Mr. THEOBALD in concluding the act with it. The chorus evidently introduces that which follows, not comments on that which precedes, and therefore rather begins than ends the act, and so I have printed it. Dr. WARBURON follows Mr. POPE. JOHNSON,

2 For now fits Expectation in the air,

And hides a ford from bilts unto the point

With crowns imperial, &c.] The imagery is wonderfully fine, and the thought exquifite. Expectation fitting in the air defigns the height of their ambition; and the word hid from the hilt to the point with crowns and coronets, that all fentiments of danger were loft in the thoughts of glory. WARBURTON.

The idea is taken from the ancient reprefentations of trophies in tapestry or painting. Among these it is very common to fee fwords encircled with naval or mural crowns. Expectation is likewife perfonified by Milton, Par. Loft, book vi.

-

while Expectation stood
STEEVENS,

In horror

Henry

Henry lord Scroop of Mafham; and the third,
Sir Thomas Grey knight of Northumberland,
Have for the gilt of France (O guilt, indeed!)
Confirm'd confpiracy with fearful France;

3 And by their hands this 4 grace of kings must die, (If hell and treason hold their promises)

Ère he take ship for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on, and well digeft
The abuse of distance, while we force a play,
The fum is paid; the traitors are agreed;

3 And by their hands this grace of kings muft die,
If hell and treafon hold their promifes,
Ere he take fhip for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on, and well digeft
The abuse of distance, while we force a play.
The fum is paid, the traitors are agreed,
The king is fet from London, and the Scene

Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton:

There is the play-boufe now,-] I fuppofe every one that reads these lines looks about for a meaning which he cannot find. There is no connection of fenfe nor regularity of tranfition from one thought to the other. It may be fufpected that fome lines are loft, and in that cafe the fenfe is irretrievable. I rather think the meaning is obfcured by an accidental transpofition, which I would reform thus:

And by their hands this grace of kings muft die,
If hell and treafon hold their promifes.
The fum is paid, the traitors are agreed,
The king is fet from London, and the Scene
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton,
Ere he take fhip for France. And in Southampton,
Linger your patience on, and well digeft

The abufe of diftance, while we force a play.
There is the play-boufe now-

This alteration reftores fenfe, and probably the true fenfe. The lines might be otherwife ranged, but this order pleases me beft. JOHNSON.

41

✦ — this grace of kings-] i. c. he who does greatest honour to the title. By the fame kind of phrafeology the ufurper in Hamlet is called the Vice of kings, i. e. the opprobrium of them. WARBURTON,

5- while we -] Thefe two words have been added by the modern editors, and (as it fhould feem) very properly. 7.

STEEVENS.

The