Tal. Well, let them practise and converse with | Now have I paid my vow unto his soul;

spirits:

God is our fortress; in whose conquering name
Let us resolve to scale their flinty bulwarks.
Bed. Ascend, brave Talbot; we will follow thee.
Tal. Not all together: better far, I guess,
That we do make our entrance several ways;
That, if it chance the one of us do fail,
The other yet may rise against their force.
Bed. Agreed: I'll to yon corner.

Bur. And I to this.

For every drop of blood was drawn from him,
There hath at least five Frenchmen died to-night.
And, that hereafter ages may behold
What ruin happen'd in revenge of him,
Within their chiefest temple I'll erect
A tomb, wherein his corpse shall be interr'd:
Upon the which, that every one may read,
Shall be engraved the sack of Orleans;
The treacherous manner of his mournful death,
And what a terror he hath been to France.

Tal. And here with Talbot mount, or make his Cut, lords, in all our bloody massacre,

grave

Now, Salisbury! for thee, and for the right
Of English Henry, shall the night appear
How much in duty I am bound to both.

[The English scale the Walls, crying St. George!
a Talbot and all enter by the Town.
Sent. [Within.] Arm, arm! the enemy doth make
assault !

The French leap over the Walls in their Shirts.-
Enter, several ways, BASTARD, ALENGON,
NIER, half ready, and half unready.

I muse we met not with the Dauphin's grace;
His new-come champion, virtuous Joan of Arc;
Nor any of his false confederates.

Bed. Tis thought, lord Talbot, when the fight be

gan,

Roused on the sudden from their drowsy beds,
They did, amongst the troops of armed men,
Leap o'er the walls for refuge in the field.

Bur. Myself (as far as I could well discern,
For smoke, and dusky vapours of the night,)
REIG-Am sure I scared the Dauphin and his trull;
When arm in arm they both came swiftly running,
Like to a pair of loving turtle-doves,
That could not live asunder day or night.
After that things are set in order here,
We'll follow them with all the power we have.

Alen. How now, my lords? What, all unready so?
Bast. Unready? Ay, and glad we 'scaped so well.
Reig. 'Twas time, I trow, to wake, and leave our
beds,

Hearing alarums at our chamber doors.

Alen. Of all exploits, since first I follow'd arms,
Ne'er heard I of a warlike enterprize
More venturous, or desperate than this.

Bast. I think, this Talbot be a fiend of hell.
Reig. If not of hell, the heavens, sure, favour
him.

Alen. Here cometh Charles; I marvel, how he
sped.

Enter CHARLES and LA PUCELLE.

Bast. Tut! holy Joan was his defensive guard.
Char. Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful dame?
Didst thou at first, to flatter us withal,
Make us partakers of a little gain,

That now our loss might be ten times so much?
Puc. Wherefore is Charles impatient with his
friend?

At all times will you have my power alike?
Sleeping, or waking, must I still prevail,
Or will you blame and lay the fault on me?--
Improvident soldiers? Had your watch been good,
This sudden mischief never could have fallen.
Char. Duke of Alençon, this was your default;
That, being captain of the watch to-night,
Did look no better to that weighty charge.
Alen. Had all your quarters been as safely kept,
As that whereof I had the government,
We had not been thus shamefully surprized.
Bast. Mine was secure.

Reig. And so was mine, my lord.

Char. And, for myself, most part of all this night,
Within her quarter, and mine own precinct,
I was employ'd in passing to and fro,
About relieving of the sentinels:

Then how, or which way, should they first break in?
Puc. Question, my lords, no further of the case,
How, or which way; 'tis sure, they found some

place

But weakly guarded, where the breach was made.
And now there rests no other shift but this,-
To gather our soldiers, scatter'd and dispersed,
And lay new platforms to endamage them.
Alarum. Enter an English SOLDIER, crying a Talbot!
a Talbot! They fly, leaving their Clothes behind.
Sold. I'll be so bold to take what they have left,
The cry of Talbot serves me for a sword;
For I have loaden me with many spoils,
Using no other weapon but his name.

SCENE II-Orleans. Within the Town.

[Exit.

Mess. The virtuous lady, countess of Auvergne,
With modesty admiring thy renown,

By me intreats, good lord, thou wouldst vouchsafe
To visit her poor castle where she lies +;
That she may boast, she hath beheld the man
Whose glory fills the world with loud report.

Bur. Is it even so? Nay, then, I see, our wars
Will turn unto a peaceful comic sport,
When ladies crave to be encounter'd with.-
You may not, my lord, despise her gentle suit.
Tal. Ne'er trust me, then; for, when a world of

men

Could not prevail with all their oratory,
Yet hath a woman's kindness over-ruled:-
And therefore tell her I return great thanks;
And in submission will attend on her.-
Will not your honours bear me company?

Bed. No, truly; it is more than manners will:
And I have heard it said,-Unbidden guests
Are often welcomest when they are gone.

Tal. Well then, alone, since there's no remedy,
I mean to prove this lady's courtesy.
Come hither, captain. [Whispers.]-You perceive
my mind.
Capt. I do, my lord; and mean accordingly.

[Exeunt

SCENE III-Auvergne.-Court of the Castle.

Enter the COUNTESS and her PORTER.
Count. Porter, remember what I gave in charge;
And, when you have done so, bring the keys to me.
Port. Madam, I will.
(Erit.
Count. The plot is laid: if all things fall out right,
I shall as famous be by this exploit,
As Scythian Thomyris by Cyrus' death.
Great is the rumour of this dreadful knight,
And his achievements of no less account:
Fain would mine eyes be witness with mine cars,
To give their censure of these rare reports.
Enter MESSENGER and TALBOT.
Mess. Madam,
According as your ladyship desired,

Enter TALBOT, BEDFORD, BURGUNDY, a CAPTAIN, By message craved, so is lord Talbot come.

and others.

Bed. The day begins to break, and night is fled,
Whose pitchy mantle over-veil'd the earth.
Here sound retreat, and cease our hot pursuit.
Tal. Bring forth the body of old Salisbury;
[Retreat sounded.
And here advance it in the market-place,
The middle centre of this cursed town.-

• Plans, schemes.

Count. And he is welcome. What! is this the man!
Mess. Madam, it is.

Count. Is this the scourge of France ?
Is this the Talbot, so much fear'd abroad,
That with his name the mothers still their babes!
I see, report is fabulous and false:

I thought I should have seen some Hercules,
A second Hector for his grim aspect,

F

That shall maintain what I have said is true,
Where false Plantagenet dare not be seen.
Plan. Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand,
I scorn thee and thy fashion, peevish boy.
Suf. Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet.
Plan. Proud Poole, I will; and scorn both him
and thee.

Suf. I'll turn my part thereof into thy throat.
Som. Away, away, good William De-la-Poole
We grace the yeoman, by conversing with him.
War. Now, by God's will, thou wrong'st him, So-

His grandfather was Lionel, duke of Clarence,
Third son to the third Edward king of England;
Spring crestless yeomen § from so deep a root?

• i. e. Regulate his motions most adroitly.
Tints and deceits: a play on the word.
Justly proposed.

i. e. Those who have no right to arms.

Plan. O, uncle, 'would some part of my young

years

Might but redeem the passage of your age!

Mor. Thou dost then wrong me; as the slaugh
terer doth,

Which giveth many wounds, when one will kill.
Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good;
Only give order for my funeral;

And so farewell; and fair be all thy hopes!
And prosperous be thy life, in peace, and war! [Dies.
Plan. And peace, no war, befal thy parting sou!!
In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage,
And like a hermit overpass'd thy days.-
Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast;
And what I do imagine, let that rest.—
Keepers, convey him hence; and I myself
Will see his burial better than his life.-

[Exeunt Keepers, bearing out Mortimer.
Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer,
Choked with ambition of the meaner sort:-
And, for those wrongs, those bitter injuries,
Which Somerset hath offer'd to my house,-
I doubt not, but with honour to redress :
And therefore haste I to the parliament;
Either to be restored to my blood,

Win. This Rome shall remedy.
War. 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?

[Aside.

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.
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 aniity.
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!
War. An uproar, I dare warrant,
Begun through malice of the bishop's men.

Or make my ill the advantage of my good. [Erit. What tumult's this?

ACT III.

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. Comest thou with deep premeditated lines,
With written pamphlets studiously devised,
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 commands
my patience,

Or thou shouldst 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 forged, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer;
Forward 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?
la 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, ambitions, or perverse,
As he will have me, how am I so poor?
Or how haps it, I seek not to advance

O raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissension, who preferreth peace
More than I do,-except I be provoked?
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that, that hath incensed the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he;
No
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-
Cb. As good?

one,

The bastard of my grandfather!

Win. Ay, lordly Sir; for what are you, 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?
Gle. 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.

.

• Lucky, prosperous.

My ill, is my ill usage.
Articles of accusation.

[A Noise again; Stones! Stones!
Eater the MAYOR OF LONDON, attended.
May. O, my good lords,—and virtuous Henry,-
Pity the city of London, pity us!
The bishop and the duke of Gloster's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
And, banding themselves in contrary parts,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble-stones;
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 Sere. Ay, and the very parings of our nails
Shall pitch a field, when we are dead.

[Skirmish again.

Glo. Stay, stay, I say!
And, it 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!
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 win 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. Fie, 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?

And Henry, born at Windsor, should lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time. [Exit

SCENE II.-France.-Before Roücn.
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,

Win. Well, duke of Gloster, I will yield to That come to gather money for their corn.
thee;

K. Hen: O loving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, How joyful am I made by this contráct!Away, my masters, trouble us no more; Bat join in friendship, as your lords have done. -1 Serv. Content; I'll to the surgeon's. 2 Serv. And so will I.

affords.

3 Serv. And I will see what physic the tavern [Exeunt Servants, Mayor, &c. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign; Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet We do exhibit to your majesty.

Glo. Well urged my lord of Warwick;-for,
sweet prince,

An 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 recompensed.
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 reguerdon + 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.

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 Sol. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city,
And we be lords and rulers over Rouen;
Therefore we'll knock.

[Knocks.

Guard. [Within.] Qui est là?
Puc. Paisans, pauvres gens de France:
Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn.
Guard. Euter, go in: the market bell is rung.

[Opens the Gates.
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 thrusting out a torch from yonder

tower;

Which, once discern'd, shews, that her meaning is,-
No way to that t, 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 toreh in yonder turret stands.
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.—

Plan. And so thrive Richard, as thy foes may Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,

fall!

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 subjests, and his loyal friends;
As it disanimates his enemies.

Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escaped the pride of France.
[Exeunt to the Town.
Alarum:-Excursions.—Enter, from the Town, BID
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?

K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, king I think, the duke of Burgundy will fast,

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 forged 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.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy,
Which, in the time of Henry, named the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,-
That Henry, born at Monmouth, should win all;

Feels an emotion of kind remorse. + Recompence.

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 courtezan!
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 trea son!

Puc. What will you do, good grey-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?

• Confederates in stratagems.
ti. e. No way equal to that.
Haughty power.