Westminster. The Jerusalem Chamber.
 Enter the KING, carried in a chair, WARWICK, Thomas Duke of CLARENCE,
 Humphrey Duke of GLOUCESTER, and OTHERS.

King Henry IV	Now, lords, if God doth give successful end
	To this debate that bleedeth at our doors,
	We will our youth lead on to higher fields,
	And draw no swords but what are sanctified.
	Our navy is addressed, our power collected,
	Our substitutes in absence well invested,
	And everything lies level to our wish;
	Only we want a little personal strength,
	And pause us till these rebels now afoot
	Come underneath the yoke of government.

Warwick	Both which we doubt not but your majesty
	Shall soon enjoy.

King Henry IV						Humphrey, my son of Gloucester,
	Where is the prince your brother?

Gloucester	I think he's gone to hunt, my lord, at Windsor.

King Henry IV	And how accompanied?

Gloucester							I do not know, my lord.

King Henry IV	Is not his brother Thomas of Clarence with him?

Gloucester	No, my good lord, he is in presence here.

Clarence	What would my lord and father?

King Henry IV	Nothing but well to thee, Thomas of Clarence.
	How chance thou art not with the prince thy brother?
	He loves thee, and thou dost neglect him, Thomas.
	Thou hast a better place in his affection
	Than all thy brothers: cherish it, my boy,
	And noble offices thou mayst effect
	Of mediation, after I am dead,
	Between his greatness and thy other brethren.
	Therefore omit him not; blunt not his love,
	Nor lose the good advantage of his grace
	By seeming cold or careless of his will.
	For he is gracious, if he be observed:
	He hath a tear for pity, and a hand
	Open as day for melting charity;
	Yet notwithstanding, being incensed, he is flint,
	As humorous as winter, and as sudden
	As flaws congeald in the spring of day.
	His temper therefore must be well observed:
	Chide him for faults, and do it reverently,
	When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth;
	But, being moody, give him time and scope,
	Till that his passions, like a whale on ground,
	Confound themselves with working. Learn this, Thomas,
	And thou shalt prove a shelter to thy friends,
	A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in,
	That the united vessel of their blood,
	Mingled with venom of suggestion,
	- As force perforce the age will pour it in - 
	Shall never leak, though it do work as strong
	As aconitum or rash gunpowder.

Clarence	I shall observe him with all care and love.

King Henry IV	Why art thou not at Windsor with him, Thomas?

Clarence	He is not there today; he dines in London.

King Henry IV	And how accompanied? Canst thou tell that?

Clarence	With Poins and other his continual followers.

King Henry IV	Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds,
	And he, the noble image of my youth,
	Is overspread with them; therefore my grief
	Stretches itself beyond the hour of death.
	The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape
	In forms imaginary th' unguided days
	And rotten times that you shall look upon
	When I am sleeping with my ancestors.
	For when his headstrong riot hath no curb,
	When rage and hot blood are his counsellors,
	When means and lavish manners meet together,
	O, with what wings shall his affections fly
	Towards fronting peril and opposed decay!

Warwick	My gracious lord, you look beyond him quite:
	The prince but studies his companions
	Like a strange tongue, wherein, to gain the language,
	'Tis needful that the most immodest word
	Be looked upon and learned, which, once attained,
	Your highness knows, comes to no further use
	But to be known and hated. So, like gross terms,
	The prince will in the perfectness of time
	Cast off his followers; and their memory
	Shall as a pattern or a measure live
	By which his grace must mete the lives of others,
	Turning past evils to advantages.

King Henry IV	'Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her comb
	In the dead carrion.

                           Enter WESTMORELAND.

							Who's here? Westmoreland?

Westmoreland	Health to my sovereign, and new happiness
	Added to that that I am to deliver!
	Prince John your son doth kiss your grace's hand:
	Mowbray, the Bishop Scroop, Hastings, and all
	Are brought to the correction of your law.
	There is not now a rebel's sword unsheathed,
	But Peace puts forth her olive everywhere.
	The manner how this action hath been borne
	Here at more leisure may your highness read,
	With every course in his particular.

King Henry IV	O Westmoreland, thou art a summer bird
	Which ever in the haunch of winter sings
	The lifting up of day.

                             Enter HARCOURT.

								Look, here's more news.

Harcourt	From enemies heaven keep your majesty;
	And when they stand against you may they fall,
	As those that I am come to tell you of!
	The Earl Northumberland and the Lord Bardolph,
	With a great power of English and of Scots,
	Are by the sheriff of Yorkshire overthrown.
	The manner and true order of the fight
	This packet, please it you, contains at large.

King Henry IV	And wherefore should these good news make me sick?
	Will fortune never come with both hands full,
	But write her fair words still in foulest letters?
	She either gives a stomach, and no food - 
	Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast,
	And takes away the stomach - such are the rich
	That have abundance and enjoy it not.
	I should rejoice now at this happy news,
	And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy.
	O me! Come near me, now I am much ill.

Gloucester	Comfort, your majesty!

Clarence								O my royal father!

Westmoreland	My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself, look up.

Warwick	Be patient, princes; you do know these fits
	Are with his highness very ordinary.
	Stand from him, give him air; he'll straight be well.

Clarence	No, no, he cannot long hold out these pangs.
	Th' incessant care and labour of his mind
	Hath wrought the mure that should confine it in
	So thin that life looks through and will break out.

Gloucester	The people fear me, for they do observe
	Unfathered heirs and loathly births of nature.
	The seasons change their manners, as the year
	Had found some months asleep and leaped them over.

Clarence	The river hath thrice flowed, no ebb between;
	And the old folk, time's doting chronicles,
	Say it did so a little time before
	That our great-grandsire Edward sicked and died.

Warwick	Speak lower, princes, for the king recovers.

Gloucester	This apoplexy will certain be his end.

King Henry IV	I pray you take me up, and bear me hence
	Into some other chamber. Softly, pray.
