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SCENE I. The same. The Parliament House." Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, EXETER, GLOSTER, WARWICK, SOMERSET, and SUFFOLK; the Bishop of Winchester, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, and others. GLOSTER offers to put up a Bill Winchester snatches it and tears it.

Win. Com'st thou with deep premeditated lines,
With written pamphlets studiously devis'd,
Humphrey of Gloster? if thou canst accuse,
Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention suddenly;

As I with sudden and extemporal speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.

Glo. Presumptuous priest! this place commauds
my patience,

Or thou should'st find thou hast dishonour'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forg'd, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissensious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer;
Froward by nature, enemy to peace;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree;
And for thy treachery, What's more manifest?
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London Bridge, as at the Tower?
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.
Win. Gloster, I do defy thee.-Lords, vouchsafe
To give me hearing what I shall reply.
If I were covetous, ambitious, or perverse,
As he will have me, How am I so poor?
Or how haps it, I seek not to advance

Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissension, Who preferreth peace
More than I do,-except I be provok'd?
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that, that hath incens'd the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he;
. No one, but he, should be about the king;
And that engenders thunder in his breast,
And makes him roar these accusations forth.
But he shall know, I am as good-

Glo.

As good?

Thou bastard of my grandfather!4-
Win. Ay, lordly sir; For what are you, I pray,
But one imperious in another's throne!

Glo. Am I not the protector, saucy priest?
Win. And am I not a prelate of the church?
Glo. Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps,
And useth it to patronage his theft.
Win. Unreverent Gloster!

Glo.

Thou art reverent Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life.

1 My ill is my ill usage. This sentiment resembles another of Falstaff, in the Second Part of King Henry IV. I will turn diseases to commodity.'

2 This parliament was held in 1426 at Leicester, though here represented to have been held in London. King Henry was now in the fifth year of his age. In the first parliament, which was held at London shortly after "his father's death, his mother Queen Katharine brought the young king from Windsor to the metropolis, and sat on the throne with the infant in her lap.

3 i e. articles of accusation.

IVin. This Rome shall remedy. War.

2

Roam thither then Som. My lord, it were your duty to forbear. War. Ay, see the bishop be not overborne. Som. Methinks, my lord should be religious, And know the office that belongs to such.

War. Methinks, his lordship should be humbler, It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.

Som. Yes, when his holy state is touch'd so near. War. State holy, or unhallow'd, what of that? Is not his grace protector to the king?

Plan. Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue; Lest it be said, Speak, sirrah, when you should; Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords? Else would I have a fling at Winchester. [Aside. K. Hen. Uncles of Gloster, and of Winchester, The special watchmen of our English weal; I would prevail, if prayers might prevail, To join your hearts in love and amity. O, what a scandal is it to our crown, That two such noble peers as ye, should jar! Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell, Civil dissension is a viperous worm, That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.[A noise within; Down with the tawny coats! What tumult's this?

War.

An uproar, I dare warrant, Begun through malice of the bishop's men. [A noise again; Stones! Stones! Enter the Mayor of London, attended. May. O, my good lords,—and virtuous Henry,--Pity the city of London, pity us!

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The bishop and the duke of Gloster's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble-stones;
And, banding themselves in contrary parts,
Do pelt so fast at one another's pate,
That many have their giddy brains knock'd out:
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we, for fear, compell'd to shut our shops.
Enter, skirmishing, the Retainers of GLOSTER and
WINCHESTER, with bloody pates.

K. Hen. We charge you, on allegiance to ourself,

To hold your slaught'ring hands, and keep the peace. Pray, uncle Gloster, mitigate this strife. 1 Serv. Nay, if we be

Forbidden stones, we'll fall to it with our teeth. 2 Serv. Do what ye dare, we are as resolute. [Skirmish again. Glo. You of my household, leave this peevish

broil,

And set this unaccustom'd fight aside.

3 Serv. My lord, we know your grace to be a man Just and upright; and, for your royal birth, Inferior to none, but his majesty:

And ere that we will suffer such a prince,
So kind a father of the commonweal,
To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate,
We, and our wives, and children, all will fight,
And have our bodies slaughter'd by thy foes.

1 Serv. Ay, and the very parings of our nails Shall pitch a field, when we are dead.

[Skirmish again. Glo. Stay, stay, I say! And, if you love me, as you say you do, Let me persuade you to forbear a while. K. Hen. O, how this discord doth afflict my soul!

of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, by Katharine Swynford, whom the duke afterwards married.

5 The jingle between roam and Rome is common to other writers.

6 Johnson explains unaccustomed by unseemly, inde. cent; and in a note on Romeo and Juliet he says that he thinks he has observed it used in old books for wonderful, powerful, efficacious. But he could find no instances of either of these strange uses of the word when he compiled his dictionary.

7 i. e. a bookish person, a pedant, applied in contempto a scholar. Inkhornisms and inkhorn-terms were

4 The bishop of Winchester was an illegitimate son I common expressions.

SCENE II.

KING HENRY VL

Can you, my lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears, and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer a peace,
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?

War. My lord protector, yield;-yield, Win-
chester;

Except you mean, with obstinate repulse,
To slay your sovereign, and destroy the realm.
You see what mischief, and what murder too,
Hath been enacted through your enmity;
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
Win. He shall submit, or I will never yield.
Glo. Compassion on the king commands me stoop;
Or, I would see his heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of me.

War. Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke
Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,
As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stern, and tragical?

Glo. Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.
K. Hen. Fye, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you
preach,

That malice was a great and grievous sin:
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same?

War. Sweet king!-the bishop hath a kindly
gird.'

For shame, my lord of Winchester! relent;
What, shall a child instruct you what to do?

Win. Well, duke of Gloster, I will yield to thee;
Love for thy love, and hand for hand I give.

Glo. Ay: but, I fear me, with a hollow heart.-
See here, my friends, and loving countrymen;
This token serveth for a flag of truce,
Betwixt ourselves, and all our followers:
So help me God, as I dissemble not!

Win. So help me God, as I intend it not!

[Aside. K. Hen. O, loving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, How joyful am I made by this contract!Away, my masters! trouble us no more; But join in friendship, as your lords have done. 1 Serv. Content; I'll to the surgeon's. And so will I. 2 Serv. 3 Serv. And I will see what physic the tavern affords. [Exeunt Servants, Mayor, &c. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign; Which, in the right of Richard Plantagenet,

We do exhibit to your majesty.

Plan. And so thrive Richard, as thy foes may fall!
And as my duty springs, so perish they
That grudge one thought against your majesty!
All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty duke of

York!

Som. Perish, base prince, ignoble duke of York!
[Aside.

Glo. Now will it best avail your majesty,
To cross the seas, and to be crown'd in France:
The presence of a king engenders love.
Amongst his subjects, and his loyal friends;
As it disanimates his enemies.

K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, King Henry

goes;

For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
Glo. Your ships already are in readiness.
[Exeunt all but EXETER.
Exe. Ay, we may march in England, or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue;
This late dissension, grown betwixt the peers,
Burns under feigned ashes of forg'd love,'
And will at last break out into a flame:
As fester'd members rot but by degrees,
Till bones, and flesh, and sinews, fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.4
And now I fear that fatal prophecy,
Which in the time of Henry, nam'd the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,-
That Henry, born at Monmouth, should win all;
And Henry, born at Windsor, should lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time.
SCENE II. France. Before Rouen. Enter LA
PUCELLE disguised, and Soldiers dressed like
Countrymen, with Sacks upon their Backs.
Puc. These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,
Through which our policy must make a breach:
Take heed, be wary how you place your words;
Talk like the vulgar sort of market-men,
That come to gather money for their corn.
If we have entrance (as, I hope, we shall,)
And that we find the slothful watch but weak,
I'll by a sign give notice to our friends,
That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.
1 Sold. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city,
And we be lords and rulers over Rouen;
Therefore we'll knock.

Guard. [Within.] Qui est la?
Puc. Paisans, pauvres gens de France:

[Exit.'

[Knocks.

Glo. Well urg'd, my lord of Warwick;-for, sweet | Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn,

prince,

And if your grace mark every circumstance,

You have great reason to do Richard right:
Especially, for those occasions

At Eltham-place I told your majesty.

K. Hen. And those occasions, uncle, were of

force:

Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is,
That Richard be restored to his blood.

War. Let Richard be restored to his blood;
So shall his father's wrongs be recompens'd.
Win. As will the rest, so willeth Winchester.
K. Hen. If Richard will be true, not that alone,
But all the whole inheritance I give,
That doth belong unto the house of York,
From whence you spring by lineal descent.
Plan. Thy humble servant vows obedience,
And humble service, till the point of death.

K. Hen. Stoop then, and set your knee against
my foot;

And, in reguerdon2 of that duty done,

I girt thee with the valiant sword of York:
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet;
And rise created princely duke of York.

1 A kindly gird is a kind or gentle reproof. A gird,
properly, is a cutting reply, a sarcasm, or taunting
speech.

2 Reguerdon is recompense, reward. It is perhaps
a corruption of regardum, Latin of the middle ages.
3 Ignes suppositos cineri doloso.'-Hor.

4 i. e. so will the maliguity of this discord propagate
itself, and advance

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Guard. Enter, go in; the market-bell is rung.
[Opens the Gate..
Puc. Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to
the ground. [PUCELLE, &c. enter the City.
Enter CHARLES, Bastard of Orleans, ALENÇON
and Forces.

Char. Saint Dennis bless this happy stratagem!
And once again we'll sleep secure in Rouen.
Bast. Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants;"
Now she is there, how will she specify
Where is the best and safest passage in?

Alen. By thrushing out a torch from yonder
tower;

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Which, once discern'd, shows, that her meaning is,-
No way to that, for weakness, which she enter'd.
Enter LA PUCELLE on a Battlement; holding out a
Torch burning.

Puc. Behold, this is the happy wedding torch,
That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen:
But burning fatal to the Talbotites.

Bast. See, noble Charles! the beacon of our friend,
The burning torch in yonder turret stands.

5 The duke of Exeter died shortly after the meeting of this parliament, and the earl of Warwick was appointed governor or tutor to the king in his room.

6 Rouen was anciently written and pronounced Roan 7 Practice, in the language of the time, was treachery or insidious stratager Practisauts are therefore con federates in treachery.

8 i. e. no way like or compared to that.

Char. Now shine it like a comet of revenge, A prophet to the fall of all our foes!

Alen. Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends; Enter, and cry-The Dauphin !--presently, And then do execution on the watch. [They enter. Alarums. Enter TALBOT, and certain English. Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy

tears,

If Talbot but survive thy treachery.-
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escaped the pride' of France.
[Exeunt to the Town.
Alarum: Excursions. Enter from the Town, BED-
FORD, brought in sick in a Chair, with TALBOT,
BURGUNDY, and the English Forces. Then, enter
on the Walls, LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, Bastard,
ALENGON, and others.

Puc. Good morrow, gallants! want ye corn for bread?

I think, the duke of Burgundy will fast,
Before he'll buy again at such a rate:
"Twas full of darnel ;? Do you like the taste?
Bur. Scoff on, vile
fiend, and shameless cour-
tesan!

I trust, ere long, to choke thee with thine own,
And make thee curse the harvest of that corn.

Char. Your grace may starve, perhaps, before
that time.

Bed. O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason!

Puc. What will you do, good gray-beard? break a lance,

And run a tilt at death within a chair?

Tal. Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite, Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours! Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age, And twit with cowardice a man half dead? Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again, Or else let Talbot perish with this shame. Puc. Are you so hot, sir?-Yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace;

If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.-

[TALBOT, and the rest, consult together. God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker? Tal. Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field? Puc. Belike, your lordship takes us then for fools, To try if that our own be ours, or no.

Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecate,
But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest;
Will like soldiers, come and fight it out?
Alen. Signior, no.

ye,

Tal. Signior, hang!-base muleteers of France! Like peasant footboys do they keep the walls; And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

Puc. Captains, away: let's get us from the walls; For Talbot means no goodness, by his looks.God be wi' you, my lord! we came, sir, but to tell you

That we are here.

[Exeunt LA PUCELLE, &c. from the Walls. Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long, Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house, (Prick'd on by public wrongs, sustain'd in France,) Either to get the town again, or die : And I,-as sure as English Henry lives, And as his father here was conqueror; As sure as in this late-betrayed town

1 Pride signifies haughty power. The same speaker afterwards says, in Act. iv. :—

"And from the pride of Gallia rescued thee.'

2 Darnel (says Gerarde, in his Herbal) hurteth the eyes, and maketh them dim, if it happen either in corne for breade, or drinke.' Hence the old proverb-Lolio victitare, applied to such as were dim-sighted. Thus also Ovid. Fast. i. 691 :

'Et careant loliis oculos vitiantibus agri.' La Pucelle means to intimate that the corn she carried with her had produced the same effect on the guards of Rouen; otherwise they would have seen through her disguise, and defeated her stratagem

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Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once I read, That stout Pendragon, in his litter, sick," Came to the field, and vanquished his foes: Methinks, I should revive the soldiers' hearts, Because I ever found them as myself.

Tal. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!Then be it so:-Heavens keep old Bedford safe!— And now no more ado, brave Burgundy, But gather we our forces out of hand, And set upon our boasting enemy.

[Exeunt BURGUNDY, TALBOT, and Forces, leaving BEDFORD, and others. Alarums: Excursions. Enter SIR JOHN FASTOLFE and a Captain.

Cap. Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such

haste?

Fast. Whither away? to save myself by flight; We are like to have the overthrow again.

Cap. What! will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot? Fast.

Ay, All the Talbots in the world to save my life. [Exu. Cap. Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee. [Exit. Retreat: Excursions. Enter, from the Town, LA PUCELLE, ALENÇON, CHARLES, &c. and exeunt, flying.

Bed. Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please; For I have seen our enemies' overthrow. What is the trust or strength of foolish man? They, that of late were daring with their scoffs, Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves.

[Dics, and is carried off in his Chair.* Alarum: Enter TALEOT, BURGUNDY, and others. Tal. Lost, and recover'd in a day again! This is a double honour, Burgundy: Yet, heavens have glory for this victory! Bur. Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy Enshrines thee in his heart; and there erects Thy noble deeds, as valour's monument.

Tal. Thanks, gentle duke. But where is Pucelle now?

I think, her old familiar is asleep:

Now where's the Bastard's braves, and Charles his gleeks?5

What, all a-mort ? Rouen hangs her head for grief,
That such a valiant company are fled.
Now will we take some order in the town,
Placing therein some expert officers;
And then depart to Paris, to the king;
For there young Harry, with his nobles, lies.
Bur. What wills Lord Taibot, pleaseth Burgundy.
Tal. But yet, before we go, let's not forget
The noble duke of Bedford, late deceas'd,
But see his exequies fulfill'd in Rouen;
A braver soldier never couched lance,

3 This is from Harding's Chronicle, who gives this account of Uther Pendragon:

For which the king ordained a horse-litter To beare him so then unto Verolame, Where Occa lay and Oysa also in feer, That Saynt Albons, now hight of noble fame, Bet downe the walles, but to him forthe thei came Wher in battayl Occa and Oyssa were slayne, The felde he had, and thereof was ful fayne.' 4 The Duke of Bedford died at Rouen in September 1435; but not in any action before that town. 5 Scoffs

6 i. e. what quite cast down, or dispirited 7 Make some necessary disposition s

A gentler heart did never sway in court:
But kings and mightiest potentates must die;
For that's the end of human misery. [Exeunt.
SCENE III. The same.
The Plains near the City.
Enter CHARLES, the Bastard, ALENÇON, LA
PUCELLE, and Forces.

Puc. Dismay not, princes, at this accident,
Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered;
Care is no cure, but rather corrosive,
For things that are not to be remedied.
Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while,
And like a peacock sweep along his tail:
We'll pull his plumes, and take away his train,
If Dauphin, and the rest, will be but rul'd.
Char. We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence;
One sudden foil shall never breed distrust.

Bast. Search out thy wit for secret policies,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
Alen. We'll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenc'd like a blessed saint;
Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good."
Puc. Then thus it must be ; this doth Joan devise:
By fair persuasions, mix'd with sugar'd words,
We will entice the duke of Burgundy
To leave the Talbot, and to follow us.

Char. Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that,
France were no place for Henry's warriors;
Nor should that nation boast it so with us,
But be extirped' from our provinces.

Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore;
Return thee, therefore, with a flood of tears,
And wash away thy country's stained spots!

Or nature makes me suddenly relent.
Bur. Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words,

Puc. Besides, all French and France exclaims on
thee,

Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.
Who join'st thou with, but with a lordly nation,
That will not trust thee, but for profit's sake?
When Talbot hath set footing once in France,
And fashion'd thee that instrument of ill,
Who then but English Henry will be lord,
And thou be thrust out, like a fugitive?

Call we to mind,-and mark but this, for proof;-
Was not the duke of Orleans thy foe?
And was he not in England prisoner?
But, when they heard he was thine enemy,
They set him free,' without his ransom paid
In spite of Burgundy, and all his friends.
See then! thou fightest against thy countrymen,
And join'st with them will be thy slaughter-men.
Come, come, restern; return, thou wand'ring lord;
Charles, and the rest, will take thee in their arms.

Bur. I am vanquished: these haughty words of

hers

Have batter'd me like roaring cannon shot,
And made me almost yield upon my knees.-
Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen!
And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace:
My forces and my power of men are yours;

Alen. For ever should they be expuls'd' from So, farewell, Talbot; I'll no longer trust thee.

France,

And not have title to an earldom here.

Puc. Your honours shall perceive how I will work, To bring this matter to the wished end.

[Drums heard. Hark! by the sound of drum, you may perceive Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward. An English March. Enter, and pass over at a distance, TALBOT and his Forces.

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Puc. Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France!
Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.

Bur. Speak on; but be not over-tedious.
Puc. Look on thy country, look on fertile France,
And see the cities and the towns defac'd
By wasting ruin of the cruel foe!

As looks the mother on her lowly babe,
When death doth close his tender dying eyes,
Sec, see, the pining malady of France
Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast!
O, turn thy edged sword another way;
Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help!
One drop of blood, drawn from thy country's bosom,

1 i. e. extirputed, rooted out.
2 Expuls'd is expell'd.

3 Another mistake. The duke was not liberated till after Burgundy's decline to the French interest; which did not happen, by the way, till some years after the execution of La Pucelle; nor was that during the regency of York, but of Bedford.

4 Haughty does not mean disdainful, or violent, as Johnson supposed; but elevated, high-spirited.

5 The inconstancy of the French was always the subject of satire. I have read (says Johnson) a dissertaC

Puc. Done like a Frenchman, turn, and turn again!5

Char. Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship

makes us fresh.

Bast. And doth beget new courage in our breasts. Alen. Pucelle hath bravely played her part in this, And doth deserve a coronet of gold.

Char. Now let us on, my lords, and join our

powers;

And seek how we may prejudice the foe. [Exeunt.
SCENE IV. Paris. A Room in the Palace. En-
ter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, and other Lords,
VERNON, BASSET, &c. To them TALBOT, and
some of his Officers.

Tal. My gracious prince,-and honourable peers,-
Hearing of your arrival in this realm,
I have a while given truce unto my wars,
To do my duty to my sovereign:

In sign whereof, this arm-that hath reclaim'd
To your obedience fifty fortresses,
Twelve cities, and seven walled towns of strength,
Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem,
Lets fall his sword before your highness' feet;
And, with submissive loyalty of heart,
Ascribes the glory of his conquest gol,
First to my God, and next unto your grace.

K. Hen. Is this the Lord Talbot, uncle Gloster,
That hath so long been resident in France?
Glo. Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.
K. Hen. Welcome, brave captain, and victorious
lord!

When I was young (as yet I am not old),

I do remember how my father said,"
A stouter champion never handled sword.
Long since we were resolved of your truth,
Your faithful service, and your toil in war;
Yet never have you tasted our reward,
Or been reguerdon'd' with so much as thanks,
Because till now we never saw your face:
Therefore, stand up; and, for these good deserts,
tion written to prove that the index of the wind upon our
steeples was made in form of a cock to ridicule the
French for their frequent changes,'

6 Hanmer supplied the apparent, leficiency in this line, by reading:-

'Is this the fam'd Lord Talbot,' &c.

7 Malone remarks that Henry was but nine months old when his father died, and never saw him.' The poet did not perhaps deenr historical accuracy necessary. 8 Convinced. 9 Rewarded:

We here create you earl of Shrewsbury;
And in our coronation take your place.

[Exeunt KING HENRY, GLOSTER, TALBOT,
and Nobles.

Ver. Now, sir, to you, that were so hot at sea,
Disgracing of these colours that I wear
In honour of my noble lord of York.—
Dar'st thou maintain the former words thou spak'st?
Bas. Yes, sir; as well as you dare patronage
The envious barking of your saucy tongue
Against my lord the duke of Somerset.

Ver. Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.
Bas. Why, what is he? as good a man as York.
Ver. Hark ye; not so: in witness, take ye that.
[Strikes him.
Bas. Villain, thou knowest the law of arms
is such,

That whoso draws a sword, 'tis present death;2
Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood.
But I'll unto his majesty, and crave

I may have liberty to venge this wrong;
When thou shalt see, I'll meet thee to thy cost.
Ver. Well, miscreant, I'll be there as soon as you;
And, after, meet you sooner than you would.

ACT IV.

[Exeunt.

Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea, or no.

Glo. To say the truth, this fact was infamous,
And ill beseeming any common man;
Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.

Tal. When first this order was ordain'd, my lords,
Knights of the garter were of noble birth:
Valiant, and virtuous, full of haughty courage,
Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,
But always resolute in most extremes."
He then, that is not furnish'd in this sort,
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honourable order;
And should, (if I were worthy to be judge,)
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.
K. Hen. Stain to thy countrymen! thou hear'st
thy doom:

Be packing therefore, thou that wast a knight;
Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.-
And now, my lord protector, view the letter
[Exit FASTOLfe.
Sent from our uncle duke of Burgundy.
Glo. What means his grace, that he hath chang'd
his style? [Viewing the superscription.
No more but, plain and bluntly,-To the king?
Hath he forgot, he is his sovereign?
Pretend" some alteration in good will?
Or doth this churlish superscription
SUF-What's here ?—I have upon especial cause,—

SCENE I. The same. A Room of State. Enter
KING HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK,
FOLK, SOMERSET, WINCHESTER, WARWICK,
TALBOT, the Governor of Paris, and others.
Glo. Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head.
Win. God save King Henry, of that name the
sixth!

Glo. Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,
[Governor kneels.
That
you elect no other king but him:
Esteem none friends, but such as are his friends;
And none your foes, but such as shall pretend3
Malicious practices against his state:
This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!
[Exeunt Gov. and his Train,

Enter SIR JOHN FASTOLFfe.

Fast. My gracious sovereign, as I rode from
Calais,

To haste unto your coronation,
A letter was deliver'd to my hands,
Writ to your grace from the duke of Burgundy.

Tal. Shame to the duke of Burgundy, and thee!
I vow'd base knight, when I did meet thee next,
To tear the garter from thy craven's1 leg,

[Plucking it off.

(Which I have done,) because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.-
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
This dastard, at the battle of Patay,"
When but in all I was six thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,-
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire, did run away;
In which assault we lost twelve hundred men ;
Myself, and divers gentlemen beside,
Were there surpris'd and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss;
1 i. e. the badge of a rose.

2 By the ancient law before the conquest, fighting in the king's palace, or before the king's judges, was punished with death. And still by the Stat. 33 Hen. VIII. c. xii. maliciously striking in the king's palace, whereby blood is drawn, is punishable by perpetual imprisonment and fine, at the king's pleasure, and also with loss of the offender's right hand. Stowe gives a circumstantial account of Sir Edmond Knevet being found guilty of this offence, with the ceremonials for carrying the sentence into execution. He petitioned the king to take his left hand instead of his right; and the king was pleased to pardon him altogether.-Annals, edit. 1605, p. 979.

3 To pretend is to intend, to design.

4 Warburton would read thy craven leg. Craven is mean, dastardly.

[Reads.
Mov'd with compassion of my country's wreck,
Together with the pitiful complaints
Of such as your oppression feeds upon,—
Forsaken
your pernicious faction,

And join'd with Charles, the rightful king of
France.

O monstrous treachery! Can this be so;
That in alliance, amity, and oaths,

There should be found such false dissembling guile?
K. Hen. What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
Glo. He doth, my lord; and is become your
K. Hen. Is that the worst this letter doth contam!
Glo. It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
K. Hen. Why then, Lord Talbot there shall talk
with him,

And give him chastisement for this abuse :-
My lord, how say you? are you not content?
Tal. Content, my liege? Yes; but that I am
prevented,"

I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd.
K. Hen. Then gather strength, and march unto
him straight:
Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason;
And what offence it is, to flout his friends.
Tal. I go, my lord; in heart desiring still,
You may behold confusion of your foes. (Exit.

Enter VERNON and BASSET.
Ver. Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign!
Bas. And me, my lord, grant me the combat too!
York. This is my servant; hear him, noble prince!
Som. And this is mine; Sweet Henry, favour him!
K. Hen. Be patient, lords; and give them leave

to speak.-

Say, gentlemen, What makes you thus exclaim?
And wherefore crave you combat? or with whom?

battle of Poictiers was fought in 1357, the 31st of King
5 The old copy has Poictiers instead of Patay. The
Edward III. and the scene now lies in the 7th of King
Henry VI. viz. 1428. The action happened (according
to Holinshead) neere unto a village in Beausse, called
Pataie.-From this battel departed, without any stroke
stricken, Sir John Fastolfe, the same yeere by his va-
liantnese elected into the order of the garter. But for
doubt of misdealing at this brunt, the duke of Bedford
tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter,'
&c.

6 Vide note 8 on p. 13; and note 4 on p. 17.

7 i. e. in greatest extremities. More and most were used by our ancestors for greater and greatest.

8 See note 3.

9 Prevented is anticipated.

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