The image of his power lay then in me:
And, in the administration of his law,
Whiles I was bufy for the commonwealth,
Your highness pleafed to forget my place,
The majefty and power of law and juftice,
The image of the king whom I prefented,
And struck me in my very feat of judgement; '

3

3 And ftruck me in my very feat of judgement;] I do not recollect that any of the editors of our author have thought this remarkable paffage worthy of a note. The Chief Juftice, in this play, was Sir William Gafcoigne, of whom the following memoir may be as acceptable as neceflary.

While at the bar, Henry of Bolingbroke had been his client; and upon the deceafe of John of Gaunt, by the above Henry, his heir, then in banishment, he was appointed his attorney, to fue in the Court of Wards the livery of the eftates defcended to him. Richard II. revoked the letters patent for this purpose, and defeated the intent of them, and thereby furnished a ground for the invafion of his kingdom by the heir of Gaunt; who becoming afterwards Henry IV. appointed Gafcoigne Chief Juftice of the King's Bench in the first year of his reign. In that ftation Gascoigne acquired the character of a learned, an upright, a wise, and an intrepid judge. The ftory fo frequently alluded to of his committing the prince for an infult on his perfon, and the court wherein he prefided, is thus related by Sir Thomas Elyot, in his book entitled The Governour: "The mofte renoumed prince king Henry the fyfte, late kynge of Englande, durynge the lyfe of his father, was noted to be fiers and of wanton courage: it hapned, that one of his feruauntes, whom he fauoured well, was for felony by him committed, arrained at the kynges benche: whereof the prince being aduertifed, and incenfed by lyghte perfones aboute him, in furious rage came haftily to the barre where his feruante ftode as a prifoner, and commaunded him to be vngyued and fet at libertie : wherat all men were abafhed, referved the chiefe Juftice, who humbly exhorted the prince, to be contented, that his feruaunt mought be ordred, accordynge to the aunciente lawes of this realme or if he wolde haue hym faued from the rigour of the lawes, that he fhulde obteyne, if he moughte, of the kynge his father, his gratious pardon, wherby no lawe or juftyce fhulde be derogate. With whiche anfwere the prince nothynge appeafed, but rather more inflamed, endeuored hym felfe to take away his feruant. The iuge confidering the perilous example, and inconuenience that mought therby cafue, with a valyant fpirite and

Whereon, as an offender to your father,
I gave
bold way to my authority,

courage, commanded the prince vpon his alegeance, to leave the prifoner, and depart his way. With which commandment the prince being fet all in a fury, all chafed and in a terrible maner, came vp to the place of iugement, men thynking that he wold haue flayne the iuge, or haue done to hym fome damage: but the iuge fittynge ftyll without mouing, declaring the maieftie of the kynges place of iugement, and with an affured and bolde countenaunce, had to the prince, thefe wordes followyng,

"Syr, remembre yourfelfe, I kepe here the place of the kyng your foueraine lorde and father, to whom ye owe double obedience; wherfore eftfoones in his name, I charge you desyste of your wylfulnes and vnlaufull enterprife, & from hensforth giue good example to thofe, whyche hereafter fhall be your propre fubjectes. And nowe, for your contempte and difobedience, go you to the pryfone of the kynges benche, wherevnto I commytte you, and remayne ye there pryfoner vntyll the pleasure of the kynge your father be further knowen.”

With whiche wordes being abafhed, and alfo wondrynge at the meruaylous gravitie of that worfhypfulle juftyce, the noble prince layinge his weapon aparte, doying reuerence, departed, and wente to the kynges benche, as he was commanded. Wherat his fervauntes difdaynynge, came and fhewed to the kynge all the hole affaire. Whereat he awhyles ftudyenge, after as a man all rauyfhed with gladnes, holdynge his eien and handes vp towarde heuen, abraided, faying with a loude voice, O mercifull God, howe moche am I, aboue all other men, bounde to your infinite goodnes, fpecially for that ye haue gyuen me a iuge, who feareth nat to minifter iuftyce, and also a fonne, who can fuffre femblably, and obeye iuftyce!"

And here it may be noted, that Shakspeare has deviated from hiftory in bringing the Chief Juftice and Henry V. together, for it is exprefsly faid by Fuller, in his Worthies of Yorkshire, and that on the best authority, that Gafcoigne died in the life-time of his father, viz. on the first day of November, 14 Henry IV. See Dugd. Origines Juridic. in the Chronica Series, fol. 54, 56. Neither is it to be prefumed but that this laboured defence of his conduct is a fiction of the poet: and it may justly be inferred from the character of this very able lawyer, whofe name frequently occurs in the year-book of his time, that, having had fpirit and refolution to vindicate the authority of the law, in the punishment of the prince, he disdained a formal apology for an act that is recorded to his honour. Sir J. HAWKINS.

And did commit you. If the deed were ill,
Be you contented, wearing now the garland,
To have a fon fet your decrees at nought;
To pluck down justice from your awful bench;
To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword
That guards the peace and fafety of your perfon:
Nay, more; to fpurn at your most royal image,
And mock your workings in a fecond body.

In the foregoing account of this tranfaction, there is no mention of the Prince's having ftruck Gafcoigne, the Chief Juftice. Holinfhed, however, whom our author copied, fpeaking of the "wanton paftime" in which Prince Henry paffed his youth, fays, that "where on a time bee ftroke the chiefe juftice on the face with his fifte, for emprifoning one of his mates, he was not only committed to ftraighte prifon himfelfe by the fayde chief justice, but alfo of his father put out of the privie counfell and banished the courte." Holinfhed has here followed Hall. Our author (as an anonymous writer has obferved) [Mr. Ritfon] might have found the fame circumftance in the old play of K. Henry V.

With refpect to the anachronifm, Sir William Gafcoigne certainly died before the acceffion of Henry V. to the throne, as appears from the infcription which was once legible on his tombftone, in Harwood church in Yorkshire, and was as follows: "Hic jacet Wil'mus Gafcoigne, nuper capit. juftic. de banco, Hen. nuper regis Angliæ quarti, qui quidem Wil'mus ob. die domi'ca 17. die Decembris. an dom. 1412, 14. Henrici quarti. factus iudex, 1401." See Gent. Magazine, Vol. LI. P. 624.

to

Shakspeare, however, might have been misled on the authority of Stowe, who in a marginal note, I Henry V. erroneously afferts that "William Gafcoigne was chief juftice of the Kings Bench from the fixt of Henry IV. to the third of Henry the Fift:" or, (which is full as probable,) Shakspeare might have been careless about the matter. MALONE.

4 To trip the course of law,] To defeat the process of justice; a metaphor taken from the act of tripping a runner.

So, in Hamlet:

JOHNSON.

"Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven."

STEEVENS.

And mock your workings in a fecond body.] To treat with contempt your acts executed by a reprefentative. JOHNSON.

yours;

Question your royal thoughts, make the cafe
Be now the father, and propose a son:"
Hear your own dignity fo much profan'd,
See your most dreadful laws fo loosely flighted,
Behold yourself fo by a fon difdained;
And then imagine me taking your part,
And, in your power, foft filencing your fon:
After this cold confiderance, fentence me;
And, as you are a king, speak in your state,—
What I have done, that mifbecame my place,
My perfon, or my liege's fovereignty.

KING. You are right, juftice, and you weigh this well;

Therefore ftill bear the balance, and the fword:
And I do with your honours may increase,
Till you do live to fee a fon of mine
Offend you, and obey you, as I did.
So fhall I live to speak my father's words;-
Happy am I, that have a man fo bold,
That dares do juftice on my proper fon:
And not lefs happy, having fuch a fon,
That would deliver up his greatness fo

Into the hands of justice.—You did commit me:3
For which, I do commit into your hand

The unftained fword that you have us'd to bear;

6 —

66

and propose a fon :] i. e. image to yourself a son, contrive for a moment to think you have one. So, in Titus Andronicus: a thoufand deaths I could propofe." STEEVENS. in your ftate,] In your regal character and office, not with the paffion of a man interefted, but with the impartiality of a legiflator. JoHNSON.

7

8 You did commit me: &c.] So, in the play on this subject, antecedent to that of Shakspeare:

"You fent me to the Fleet; and for revengement,

"I have chofen you to be the protector

"Over my realm." STEIVENS.

With this remembrance,9-That you use the fame With the like bold, juft, and impartial fpirit,

As you have done 'gainst me.

There is my hand;

You shall be as a father to my youth:

My voice fhall found as you do prompt mine ear;
And I will stoop and humble my intents

To your well-practis'd, wife directions.-
And, princes all, believe me, I beseech you ;-
My father is gone wild' into his grave,
For in his tomb lie my affections;
And with his fpirit fadly I furvive,'
To mock the expectation of the world;
To fruftrate prophecies; and to raze out
Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down
After my feeming. The tide of blood in me

9 remembrance,] That is, admonition. JOHNSON.

2 My father is gone wild-] Mr. Pope, by fubftituting wail'd for wild, without fufficient confideration, afforded Mr. Theobald much matter of oftentatious triumph. JOHNSON.

The meaning is-My wild difpofitions having ceafed on my father's death, and being now as it were buried in his tomb, he and wildness are interred in the fame grave.

A paffage in King Henry V. Act I. fc. i. very ftrongly confirms this interpretation:

"The courfes of his youth promis'd it not:
"The breath no fooner left his father's body,
"But that his wildness, mortified in him,
"Seem'd to die too."

So, in King Henry VIII:

"And when old time fhall lead him to his end,

Goodness, and he, fill up one monument.”

A kindred thought is found in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: "And fo fuppofe am I; for in his grave "Affure thyfelf my love is buried."

MALONE.

3 with his fpirit fadly I furvive,] Sadly is the fame as foberly, feriously, gravely. Sad is oppofed to wild.

JOHNSON.

The quarto and firft folio have Spirits. The correction was made by the editor of the third folio. MALONE.