DUKE OF EXETER, Uncle to the King.
DUKE OF YORK, Cousin to the King.
CHARLES THE SIXTH, King of France.
LEWIS, the Dauphin.
DUKES OF BURGUNDY, ORLEANS, and BOURBON.
The CONSTABLE OF FRANCE.
RAMBURES, and GRANDPREE, French Lords.
EARLS OF SALISBURY, WESTMORELAND, AND WAR GOVERNOR OF HARFLEUR.
MONTJOY, a French Herald. Ambassadors to the King of England.
ISABEL, Queen of France.
KATHARINE, Daughter of Charles and Isabel. ALICE, a lady attending on the Princess Katharine. QUICKLY, Pistol's Wife, an Hostess.
Lords, Ladies, Officers, French and English Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants.
The Scene, at the beginning of the Play, lies in England; but afterwards wholly in France.
O, for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention !
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and, at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and
fire,
Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all,
The flat unraised spirit, that hath dared,
On this unworthy scaffold, to bring forth
So great an object :-Can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram,
Within this wooden O, the very casquest,
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest, in little place, a million;
And let us, cyphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work:
Suppose, within the girdle of these walls
Are now contined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous, narrow ocean parts asunder.
Piece out your imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance :
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth:
For, 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our
kings,
Carry them here and there jumping o'er times:
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me chorus to this history;
Who, prologue-like, your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
But that the scambling and unquiet time
Did push it out of further question *.
Ely. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now!
Cant. It must be thought on. If it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our possession :
For all the temporal lands, which men devout
By testament have given to the church,
Would they strip from us; being valued thus,-
As much as would maintain, to the king's honour,
Full fifteen earls, and fifteen hundred knights;
Six thousand and two hundred good esquires;
And, to relief of lazars, and weak age,
Of indigent faint souls, past corporal toil,
A hundred alms-houses, right well supplied;
And to the coffers of the king, beside,
A thousand pounds by the year:-Thus runs the bill.
Ely. This would drink deep.
Cant. Twonld drink the cup and all.
Ely. But what prevention?
Cant. The king is full of grace, and fair regard.
Ely. And a true lover of the holy church.
Cant. The courses of his youth promised it not.
The breath no sooner left his father's body,
But that his wildness, mortified in him,
Seem'd to die too: yea, at that very moment,
Consideration like an angel came,
And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him;
Leaving his body as a paradise,
To envelop and contain celestial spirits.
Never was such a sudden scholar made:
Never came reformation in a flood,
With such a heady current, scouring faults;
Nor never Hydra-headed wilfulness
So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
As in this king.
Ely. We are blessed in the change.
Cant. Hear him but reason in divinity,
And, all-admiring, with an inward wish
You would desire, the king were made a prelate:
Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs,
SCENE 1.-London.-An Anti-chamber in the King's You would say,-it hath been all-in-all his study:
Enter the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, and Bishop of ELY.
Cant. My lord, I'll tell you,-that self bill is urged,
Which, in the eleventh year o' the last king's reign Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd,
An allusion to the circular form of the theatre. + Helmets. Powers of fancy.
List+ his discourse of war, and you shall hear
Turn him to any cause of policy,
A fearful battle render'd you in music:
The Gordian knot of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter; that, when he speaks,
The air, a charter'd libertine, is still,
And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears,
To steal his sweet and honied sentences;
So that the art and practic part of life
Must be the mistress to this theoric⚫:
Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it,
Since his addiction was to courses vain:
His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow;
His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports;
And never noted in him any study,
Any retirement, any sequestration
From open haunts and popularity.
Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the net-
tle;
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best,
Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality;
And so the prince obscured his contemplation
Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt,
Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,
Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.
Cant. It must be so: for miracles are ceased;
And therefore we must needs admit the means,
How things are perfected.
Ely. But, my good lord,
How now for mitigation of this bill
Urged by the commons? Doth his majesty
Incline to it, or no?
Cant. He seems indifferent;
Or, rather, swaying more upon our part,
Than cherishing the exhibitors against us:
For I have made an offer to his majesty,-
Upon our spiritual convocation;
And in regard of causes now in hand,
Which I have open'd to his grace at large,
As touching France,-to give a greater sum
Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did to his predecessors part withal.
Ely. How did this offer seem received, my lord?
Cant. With good acceptance of his majesty;
Save, that there was not time enough to hear
(As, Í perceived, his grace would fain have done),
The severals, and unhidden passages,
Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms;
And, generally, to the crown and seat of France,
Derived from Edward, his great grandfather.
Ely. What was the impediment that broke this
Cant. The Frencn ambassador, upon that instant,
Craved audience: and the hour, I think, is come,
To give him hearing: Is't four o'clock ?
Ely. It is.
Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy;
Which I could, with a ready guess declare,
Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.
Ely. I'll wait upon you; and I long to hear it.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 11.-The same.-A Room of State in the
Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER,
WARWICK, WESTMORELAND, and Attendants.
K. Hen. Where is my gracious lord of Canter-
bury?
Exe. Not here in presence.
K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle.
West. Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege?
K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin; we would be re-
solved,
Before we hear him, of some things of weight,
That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.
Enter the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, and Bishop of
Cant. God, and his angels, guard your sacred throne,
And make you long become it!
K. Hen. Sure, we thank you.
My learned lord, we pray you to proceed;
And justly and religiously unfold,
Why the law Salique, that they have in France,
Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim.
And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,
That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading,
Or nicely charge your understanding soul
With opening titles miscreate §, whose right
Suits not in native colours with the truth;
For God doth know, how many now in health,
Shall drop their blood in approbation
Of what your reverence shall incite us to:
Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,
How you awake the sleeping sword of war;
We charge you in the name of God, take heed:
+ Companions.
For never two such kingdoms did contend,
Without much fall of blood; whose guiltless drops
Are every one a woe, a sore complaint,
'Gainst him, whose wrongs give edge unto the
swords
That make such waste in brief mortality.
Under this conjuration, speak, my lord:
And we will hear, note, and believe in heart,
That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd
As pure as sin with baptism.
Cant. Then hear me gracious sovereign,-and
That owe your lives, your faith, and services,
To this imperial throne ;-There is no bar
To make against your highness' claim to France,
But this, which they produce from Pharamond,-
In terram Salicam mulieres nè succedant,
No woman shall succeed in Salique land:
Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze
To be the realm of France, and Pharamond
The founder of this law and female bar.
Yet their own authors faithfully affirm,
That the land Salique lies in Germany,
Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe:
Where Charles the great, having subdued the
Saxons,
There left behind and settled certain French;
Who, holding in disdain the German women,
For some dishonest manners of their life,
Establish'd there this law,-to wit, no female
Should be inheritrix in Salique land;
Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,
Is at this day in Germany call'd-Meisen.
| Thus doth it well appear, the Salique law
Was not devised for the realm of France:
Nor did the French possess the Salique land
Until four hundred one and twenty years
After defunction of king Pharamond,
Idly supposed the founder of this law;
Who died within the year of our redemption
Four hundred twenty-six; and Charles the great
Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French
Beyond the river Sala, in the year
Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,
King Pepin, which deposed Childerick,
Did, as heir general, being descended
Of Blithild, which was daughter to king Clothair
Make claim and title to the crown of France.
Hugh Capet also,-that usurp'd the crown
Of Charles the duke of Lorain, sole heir male
Of the true line aud stock of Charles the great,-
To fine his title with some show of truth,
(Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught,)
Convey'd himself as heir to the lady Lingare,
Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son
Of Charles the great.
To Lewis the emperor, and Lewis the son
Also king Lewis the tenth,
Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,
Could not keep quiet in his conscience,
Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied
That fair queen Isabel, his grandmother,
Was lineal of the lady Ermengare,
Daughter to Charles, the foresaid duke of Lorain:
By the which marriage, the line of Charles the
great
Was re-united to the crown of France.
So that, as clear as is the summer's sun,
King Pepin's title, and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his satisfaction, all appear
To hold in right and title of the female:
So do the kings of France unto this day;
Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law,
To bar your highness claiming from the female;
And rather choose to hide them in a net,
Than amply to imbare their crooked titles
Usurp'd from you and your progenitors.
K. Hen. May I, with right and conscience, make
this claim?
Cant. The sin upon my head, dread sovereigen!
For in the book of Numbers is it writ,—
When the son dies, let the inheritance
Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,
Stand for your own; unwind your bloody flag;
Look back unto your mighty ancestors:
Go, my dread lord, to your great grandsire's tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,
And your great uncle's, Edward the black prince.
Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,
Making defeat on the full power of France;
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Whiles this most mighty father on a hill
Stood smiling, to behold the lion's whelp
Forage in blood of French nobility.
O noble English, that could entertain
With half their forces the full pride of France;
And let another half stand laughing by,
All out of work, and cold for action!
Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead,
And with your puissant arm renew their feats:
You are their heir, you sit upon their throne;
The blood and courage, that renowned them,
Runs in your veins; and my thrice puissant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprizes.
Exe. Your brother kings and monarchs of the
earth
Do all expect that you should rouse yourself,
As did the former lions of your blood.
West. They know, your grace hath cause, and
means, and might;
So hath your highness; never king of England
Had nobles richer, and more loyal subjects;
Whose hearts have left their bodies here in Eng-
land,
And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.
Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege,
With blood, and sword, and fire, to win your right:
In aid whereof, we of the spirituality
Will raise your highness such a mighty sum,
As never did the clergy at one time
Bring in to any of your ancestors.
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,
Obedience; for so work the honey bees;
Creatures, that, by a rule in nature, teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king, and officers of sorts:
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds;
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tent-royal of their emperor:
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold;
The civil citizens kneading up the honey;
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;
The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o'er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone. I this infer,-
That many things, having full reference
To one concent, may work contrariously;
As many arrows, loosed several ways,
Fly to one mark;
As many several ways meet in one town;
As many fresh streams run in one self seaj
As many lines close in the dial's centre;
So may a thousand actions, once afoot,
End in one purpose, and be all well borne
Without defeat. Therefore to France, my liege
Divide your happy England into four;
Whereof take you one quarter into France,
K. Hen. We must not only arm to invade the And you with all shall make all Gallia shake.
French;
But lay down our proportions to defend
Against the Scot, who will make road upon us
With all advantages.
Cunt. They of those marchest, gracions sove-
reign,
Shall be a wall sufficient to defend
Our inland from the pilfering borderers.
K. Hen. We do not mean the coursing snatchers
only,
But fear the main intendment of the Scot,
Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us;
For you shall read that my great grandfather,
Never went with his forces into France,
But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom
Caine pouring, like the tide into a breach,
With ample and brim fulness of his force;
Galling the gleaned land with hot essays;
Girding with grievous siege, castles and towns;
That England, being empty of defence,
Hath shook, and trembled at the ill neighbour-
hood.
Cant. She hath been then more fear'd
For hear her but exampled by herself,-
When all her chivalry hath been in France,
And she a mourning widow of her nobles,
She hath herself not only well defended,
But taken, and impounded as a stray,
The king of Scots; whom she did send to France,
To fill king Edward's fame with prisoner kings;
And make your chronicle as rich with praise,
As is the ooze and bottom of the sea
With sunken wreck and samless treasuries.
If we, with thrice that power left at home,
Cannot defend our own door from the dog,
Let us be worried; and our nation lose
The name of hardiness, and policy.
K. Hen. Call in the messengers sent from the
Dauphin.
Exit an Attendant.—The King ascends
Now are we well resolved: and,-by God's help;
And yours, the noble sinews of our power,-
France being ours, we'll bend it to our awe,
Or break it all to pieces :-Or there we'll sit,
Ruting, in large and ample empery §,
O'er France, and all her almost kingly dukedoms;
Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn,
Tombless, with no remembrance over them;
Either our history shall, with full mouth,
Speak freely of our acts; or else our grave,
Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongueless mouth,
Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph.
Enter AMBASSADORS of FRANCE.
Now are we well prepared to know the pleasure
Of our fair cousin Dauphin; for, we hear,
Your greeting is from him, not from the king.
Amb. May it please your majesty, to give us
leave
Freely to render what we have in charge;
Or shall we sparingly shew you far off
The Dauphin's meaning, and our embassy?
K. Hen. We are no tyrant, but a Christian king;
Unto whose grace our passion is as subject,
As are our wretches fetter'd in our prisons:
true,-Therefore, with frank and with uncurbed plainness,
Tell us the Dauphin's mind.
West. But there's a saying, very old and
If that you will France win,
Then with Scotland first begin:
For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking, and so sucks her princely eggs;
Playing the moase, in absence of the cat,
To spoil and havock more than she can eat.
Ere. It follows then, the cat must stay at home:
Yet that is but a cursed necessity:
Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries,
And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves.
While that the armed hand doth fight abroad,
The advised head defends itself at home:
For government, though high, and low, and lower,
Put into parts, doth keep in one consent;
Congruing in a full and natural close,
Like music.
Cant. True: therefore doth heaven divide
The state of man in divers functions,
Setting endeavour in continual motion;
At the battle of Cressy.
The borders of England and Scotland. t General disposition. § Frightened. Harmony. Agreeing.
Your highness, lately sending into France,
Did claim some certain dukedoms, in the right
Of your great predecessor, king Edward the third.
In answer to which claim, the prince our master
Says, that you savour too much of your youth;
And bids you be advised, there's nought in France,
That can be with a nimble galliard || won;
You cannot revel into dukedoms there :
He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit,
This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this,
Desires you, let the dukedoms, that you claim,
This the Dauphin speaks.
Hear no more of yon.
K. Hen. What treasure, uncle?
Ere. Tennis-balls, my liege.
K. Hen. We are glad, the Dauphin is so pleasant
His present, and your pains, we thank you for:
When we have match'd our rackets to these balls,
We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set,
Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard⚫ : Tell him, he hath made a match with such a wrangler,
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With chacest. And we understand him well,
How he comes o'er us with our wilder days,
Not measuring what use we made of them.
We never valued this poor seat of England;
And therefore, living hence§, did give ourself
To barbarous license: as 'tis ever common,
That men are merriest when they are from home.
But tell the Dauphin,-I will keep my state;
Be like a king, and shew my sail of greatness,
When I do rouse me in my throne of France:
For that I have laid by my majesty,
And plodded like a man for working-days;
But I will rise there with so full a glory,
That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
Yea, strike the Dauphin blind to look on us.
And tell the pleasant prince,-this mock of his
Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones; and his soul
Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance
That shall fly with them: for many a thousand
Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands;
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;
And some are yet ungotten, and unborn,
That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn.
But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal; and in whose 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 cause.
So get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin,
His jest will savour but of shallow wit,
When thousands weep, more than did laugh at it.-
Convey them with safe conduct.-Fare you well.
[Exeunt Ambassadors.
Ere. This was a merry message.
K. Hen. We hope to make the sender blush at it.
[Descends from his Throne.
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 those to God, that run before our business.
Therefore, let our proportions for these wars
Be soon collected; and all things thought upon,
That may, with reasonable swiftness, 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.
Chor. Now all the youth of England are on fire,
And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies;
Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought
Reigns solely in the breast of every man :
They sell the pasture now, to buy the horse;
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With winged heels, as English Mercuries.
For now sits Expectation in the air;
And hides a sword, from hilts unto the point,
With crowns imperial, crowns, and coronets,
Promised to Harry, and his followers.
The French, advised by good intelligence
Of this most 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'st thou do, that honour would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural!
But see thy fault! France hath in thee found out
A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills
With treacherous crowns: and three corrupted
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(If hell and treason hold their promises,)
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on; and well digest
The abuse of distance, while we force a play.
The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed;
The king is set from London; and the scene
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton:
There is the playhouse now, there must yon sit:
And thence to France shall we convey you sale,
And bring you back, charming the narrow seas
To give you gentle pass; for, if we may,
We'll not offend one stomach with our play.
But, till the king come forth, and not till then.
Unto Southampton do we shift our scene.
SCENE I-The sume.-Eastcheap.
Enter NYM and BARDOLPH.
Bard. Well met, corporal Nym.
Nym. Good morrow, lieutenant Bardolph. Bard. What, are ancient Pistol and you friends yet?
Nym. For my part I care not: I say little; but when time shall serve, there shall be smiles;but that shall be as it may. I dare not fight; but I will wink, and hold out mine iron: it is a simple one; but what though? it will toast cheese; and it will endure cold as another man's sword will: and there's the humour of it.
Bard. I will bestow a breakfast, to make you friends; and we'll be all three sworn brothers to France: let it be so, good corporal Nym.
Nym. 'Faith, I will live so long as I may, that's the certain of it; and when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I may; that is my rest, that is the rendezvous of it.
Bard. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly and certainly she did you wrong; for you were troth-plight to her.
Nym. I cannot tell; things must be as they may: men may sleep, and they may have their throats about them at that time; and, some say, knives have edges. It must be as it may: though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell.
Enter PISTOL and Mistress QUICKLY.
Bard. Here comes ancient Pistol and his wife:
-Good corporal, be patient here.-How now, mine
host Pistol?
Pist. Base tike †, call'st thou me-host?
Now, by this hand, I swear, I scorn the term;
Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.
Quick. No, by my troth, not long: for we cannot lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen, that live honestly by the prick of their needles, but it will be thought we keep a bawdy-house straight. [Nym draws his Sword.] 0, well-a-day, lady, if he be not drawn now! O Lord! here's corporal Nym's-now shall we have wilful adul tery and murder committed. Good lieutenant Bardolph,-good corporal, offer nothing here. Nym. Pish!
Pist. Pish for thee, Iceland dog! Thou prickear'd cur of Iceland!
Quick. Good corporal Nym, shew the valour of a man, and put up thy sword.
Nym. Will you shog off? I would have you solus. [Sheathing his Sword. Pist. Solus, egregious dog? O viper vile!
The solus in thy most marvellous face;
The solus in thy teeth, and in thy throat,
And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy ;
And, which is worse, within thy nasty mouth!
I do retort the solus in thy bowels:
For I can take, and Pistol's cock is up,
And flashing fire will follow.
Nym. 1 am not Barbason§; you cannot conjure I have an humour to knock you indifferently me. well if you grow foul with me, Pistol, I will scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair terms: if you would walk off, I would prick your guts a little, in good terms, as I may; and that's the humour of it. Pist. O braggard vile, and damned furious wight! The grave doth gape, and doting death is near; Therefore exhale. [Pistol and Nym draw. Bard. Hear me, hear me what I say :-He that
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strikes the first stroke, I'll ran him up to the hilts,
as I am a soldier.
{Draws.
Pist. An oath of nickle might; and fury shall
abate.
Give me thy fist, thy fore-foot to me give;
Thy spirits are most tall.
Nyin. I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair terms; that is the humour of it.
Pist. Coupe le gorge, that's the word?-I thee
dely again.
O hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get?
No; to the spital + go,
And from the powdering tub of infamy
Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind †,
Doll Tear-sheet she by name, and her espouse:
I have, and I will hold, the quondam Quickly
For the only she; and-Pauca, there's enough.
Quick. By my troth, he'll yield the crow a pud. ding one of these days: the king has kill'd his heart.-Good husband, come home presently.
Ere. Nay, but the man that was his bed-fellow, Whom he hath cloy'd and graced with princely favours,
That he should, for a foreign purse, so scil
His sovereign's life to death and treachery!
Trumpet sounds.-Enter King HENRY, SCROOP,
CAMBRIDGE, GREY, Lords and Attendants.
K. Hen. Now sits the wind fair, and we will My lord of Cambridge,—and my kind lord of Ma aboard.
And you, my gentle knight, give me your
thoughts:
Think you not, that the powers we bear with us,
Will cut their passage through the force of France,
Doing the execution, and the act,
For which we have in head assembled them?
Scroop. No doubt, my liege, if each man do his
best.
K Hen. I doubt not that: since we are well We carry not a heart with us from hence, persuaded, That grows not in a fair consent with ours; Nor leave not one behind, that doth not wi Success and conquest to attend on us. Cam. Never was monarch better fear'd and loved, is your majesty; there's not, I think, a subject
[Exeunt Mistress Quickly and Boy.Than Bard. Come, shall I make you two friends? We must to France together; why, the devil should we keep knives to cut one another's throats? Pist. Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food how! on!
Nym. You'll pay me the eight shillings I wou of you at betting?
Pist. Base is the slave that pays.
Nym. That now I will have; that's the humour of it.
Pist. As manhood shall compound; push home. Bard. By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I'll kill him; by this sword, I will.
Pist. Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course.
Bard. Corporal Nym, an thou wilt be friends, be friends; an thou wilt not, why then be enemies with me too. Pr'ythee, put up.
Nym. I shall have my eight shillings I won of you at betting?
Pist. A noble shalt thou have, and present pay;
And liquor likewise will I give to thee,
And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood;
I'll live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me-
Is not this just ?-for I shall sutler be
Unto the camp, and profits will accrue.
Give me thy hand.
Nym. I shall have my noble?
Pist. In cash most justly paid.
Nym. Well then, that's the humour of it.
Re-enter Mistress QUICKLY.
Quick. As ever you came of women, come in quickly to Sir John: Ah, poor heart! he is so shaked of a burning quotidian tertian, that it is most lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him.
That sits in heart-grief and uneasiness
Under the sweet shade of your government.
Grey. Even those, that were your father's ene
mies,
Have steep'd their galls in honey; and do serve
With hearts create + of duty and of zeal.
K. Hen. We therefore have great cause of thank-
fulness;
And shall forget the office of our hand,
ooner than quittance of desert and merit,
According to the weight and worthiness.
Scroop. So service shall with steeled sinews toil;
And labour shall refresh itself with hope,
To do your grace incessant services.
K. Hen. We judge no less.-Uncle of Exeter,
Enlarge the man committed yesterday,
That rail'd against our person: we consider,
It was excess of wine that set him on ;
And, on his more advice §, we pardon him.
Scroop. That's mercy, but too much security:
Let him be punish'd, sovereign; lest example.
Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.
K. Hen. O, let us yet be merciful.
Cam. So may your highness, and yet punish too. Grey. Sir, you shew great mercy, if you give him life,
After the taste of much correction.
K. Hen. Alas, your too much love and care of
Are heavy orisons || 'gainst this poor wretch.
If little faults, proceeding on distemper,
Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our
When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digest'd,
Nym. The king hath run bad humours on the Appear before us?-We'll yet enlarge that man, knight, that's the even of it.
Pist. Nym, thou hast spoke the right; His heart is tracted and corroborate.
Nym. The king is a good king: but it must be as it may; he passes some humours and careers. Pist. Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins, we will live.
SCENE II.-Southampton.-A Council-Chamber.
Enter EXETER, BEDFORD, and WESTMORELAND.
Bed. 'Fore God, his grace is bold, to trust these
Though Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey,-in their
And tender preservation of our person,-
Would have him punish'd. And now to our French
Ere. They shall be apprehended by and by.
West. How smooth and even they do bear them-Grey
of Northumberland, this same is yours :-
Read them; and know, I know your worthiness-
My lord of Westmoreland,-and uncle Exeter,-
We will aboard to-night.-Why, how now, gen.
What see you in those papers, that you lose
So much complexion?-Look ye, how they change!
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