Lords, Meffengers, French and English Soldiers, with other Attendants.

The SCENE, at the Beginning of the Play, lies in England; but afterwards, wholly in France.

1 The tranfactions comprised in this hiftorical play commence about the latter end of the first, and terminate in the eighth year of this king's reign; when he married Katharine princefs of France, and closed up the differences betwixt England and that crown. It was writ (as appears from a paffage in the chorus to the fifth act) at the time of the earl of Effex's commanding the forces in Ireland in the reign of queen Elizabeth, and not 'till after Henry the VIth had been played, as may be feen by the conclufion of this play. 2 This goes upon the notion of the Peripatetic fyftem, which imagines feveral heavens one above another; the laft and higheft of which was one of fire. this wooden circle. 4 The helmets. 5 i. e. your powers of fancy. 6 Perilous narrow, in burlefque and common language, meant no more than very narrow. In old books this mode of expreflion occurs perpetually.

3 i. e.

ACT

An Antichamber in the English Court, at Kenelworth. Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop of Ely.

Cant. My lord, I'll tell you, that felf bill

is urg'd,

I.

A fearful battle render'd you in music:
Turn him to any cause of policy,

Familiar as his garter; that, when he speaks,
The air, a charter'd libertine, is ftill,

The Gordian knot of it he will unloofe,

And the mute wonder laketh in men's ears,

Tofteal his fweet and honey'd fentences;

Which, in the eleventh year o' the laft king's reign, So that the art, and practic part of life
Was like, and had indeed against us past,
But that the fcambling and unquiet time
Did push it out of further question.

1

1

Ely. But how, my lord, fhall we refift it now
Cant. It must be thought on. If it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our possetsion:
For all the temporal lands, which men devout
By teftament have given to the church,
Would they strip from us; being valu'd thus,-
As much as would maintain, to the king's honour,
Full fifteen earls, and fifteen hundred knights;
Six thousand and two hundred good efquires;
And, to relief of lazars, and weak age,
Of indigent faint fouls, past corporal toil,
A hundred alms-houses, right well supply'd ;
And to the coffers of the king, beside,

A thousand pounds by the year: Thus runs the bill.
Ely. This would drink deep.

Cant. 'Twould 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 courfes of his youth promis'd it not.
The breath no fooner left his father's body,
But that his wildnefs, mortify'd in him,
Seem'd to die too: yea, at that very moment,
Confideration like an angel came,

And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him;
Leaving his body as a paradife,

To envelop and contain celeftial spirits.
Never was fuch a fudden fcholar made:
Never came reformation in a flood 2,
With fuch a heady current, fcouring faults;
Nor never Hydra-headed wilfulnes

So foon did lose his feat, and all at once,
As in this king.

Ely. We are blessed in the change.
Cant. Hear him but reafon in divinity,
And, all-admiring, with an inward with

You would defire, the king were made a prelate:
Hear him debate of common-wealth affairs,
You would fay, it hath been all-in-all his study:
Lift his difcourfe of war, and you shall hear

Must be the mistress to this theorique 3:
Which is a wonder, how his grace fhould glean it,
Since his addiction was to courfes vain;

grows underneath the

His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow;
His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, fports;
And never noted in him any study,
Any retirement, any fequeftration
From open haunts and popularity.
Ely. The ftrawberry 4
nettle ;
And wholfome berries thrive, and ripen beft,
Neighbour'd by fruit of bafer quality :
And fo the prince obscur'd his contemplation
Under the veil of wildnefs; which, no doubt,
Grew like the fummer grafs, faiteit by night,
Unfeen, yet crefcive in his faculty 5.

Cant. It must be fo: for miracles are ceas'd;
And therefore we muft needs admit the means,
How things are perfected.

How now for mitigation of this bill
Ely. But, my good lord,
Incline to it, or no?
Urg'd by the commons? Doth his majesty

Cant. He feems indifferent;

Or, rather, fwaying more upon our part,
Than cherishing the exhibiters against us :
For I have made an offer to his majesty,—
Upon our fpiritual convocation;

And in regard of caufes now in hand,
Which I have open'd to his grace at large,
As touching France, to give a greater fum
Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did to his predeceffors part withal.

Ely. How did this offer feem receiv'd, my lord ?
Cant. With good acceptance of his majesty :
Save, that there was not time enough to hear
(As, I perceiv'd, his grace would fain have done)
The feverals, and unhidden paffages,

And, generally, to the crown and feat of France,
Of his true titles to fome certain dukedoms
Deriv'd from Edward, his great grandfather.
Ely. What was the impediment that broke
this off?

I Meaning, when every one feambled, i. e. fcrambled and thifted for himfelf as well as he could. 2 Alluding to the method by which Hercules cleanfed the Augeau itables when he turned a river through them. 3 That is, his theory must have been taught by art and practice. Theoric or theorique is what terminates in fpeculation. 4 i. e. The wild fruit fo called, which grows in the woods. $ i. e. Increafing

in its proper power.

6 The paffages of his titles are the lines of fucceffion by which his claims de

fcend. Unhidden is open, clear.

Cant.

That you should fashion, wreft, or bow your To fine his title with fome fhew of truth,

(Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught)
Convey'd bimfelf as heir to the lady Lingare,
Daughter to Charlemain, who was the fon
To Lewis the emperor, and Lewis the fon
Of Charles the great. Alfo king Lewis the ninth,
Who was fole heir to the ufurper Capet,
Could not keep quiet in his confcience,
Wearing the crown of France, 'till fatisfy'd
That fair queen label, his grandmother,
Was lineal of the lady Ermengare,

Daughter to Charles the forefaid duke of Lorain ;)
By the which marriage, the line of Charles the great
Was re-united to the crown of France.

'Gainst him, whose wrong gives edge unto the So that, as clear as is the fummer's fun,

King Pepin's title, and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his fatisfaction, 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 clanning from the female;

Cant. Then hear me, gracious fovereign,-and And rather chufe to hide them in a net,

John Holland, duke of Exeter, was married to Elizabeth the keep our mind bufied with fcruples and laborious difquifitions. proving and fupporting that title which fhall be now fet up. Holinfhed. 6. e. to make it fhewy or fpecious by fome appearance of justice. 7 i. e. lay open, display to view.

Defcend 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 grandfire's tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike fpirit,
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;
Whiles his moft mighty father on a hill
Stood fmiling, to behold his 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 puiffant arm renew their feats:
You are their heir, you fit upon their throne;
The blood and courage that renowned them,
Runs in your veins; and my thrice-puiflant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprizes.

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 fhe did fend to France,
To fill king Edward's fame with prifoner kings;
And make your chronicle as rich with praise,
As is the ouze and bottom of the fea
With funken wreck and fumlefs treafuries.
Exe. But there's a faying very old and true,→
If that you will France win,
Then with Scotland first begin:
For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded neft the weazel Scot
Comes fneaking, and fo fucks her princely eggs;
Playing the mouse, in abfence of the cat,
To taint and havock more than the can eat.

Ely. It follows then, the cat must stay at home:
Yet that is but a curs'd 3 neceffity;
Since we have locks to fafeguard neceffaries,
And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves.
While that the armed hand doth fight abroad,

Exe. Your brother kings and monarchs of the The advised head defends itself at home:

earth

K. Henry. We do not mean the courfing fnatchers
But fear the main intendment of the Scot,
Who hath been still a 2 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
Came pouring, like the tide into a breach,
With ample and brim fulness of his force;
Galling the gleaned land with hot aflays;
Girding with grievous fiege caftles and towns;
That England, being empty of defence,
Hath fhook, and trembled at the ill neighbourhood.
Cant. She hath been then more fear'd than harm'd,
my liege:

For hear her but exampled by herfelf,—

For government, though high, and low, and lower,
Put into parts, doth keep in one confent 4 ;
Congruing in a full and natural clofe,
Like mufick.

Cant. True: therefore doth heaven divide
The ftate of man in divers functions,
Setting endeavour in continual motion;
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,
Obedience : for fo work the honey bees;
Creatures, that, by a rule in nature, teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king, and officers of forts:
Where fome, like magiftrates, correct at home;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
Others, like foldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the fummer's velvet buds;
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tent-royal of their emperor :
Who, bufy'd in his majesty, surveys
The finging mafons building roofs of gold;
The civil citizens kneading up the honey;
The poor mechanick porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;
The fad-ey'd juftice, with his furly hum,
Delivering o'er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone. I this infer,-
That many things, having full reference
To one confent, may work contrariously;
As many arrows, loosed several ways,
Fly to one mark ;

As many feveral ways meet in one town;
As many fresh ftreams run in one self fea;
As many lines clofe in the dial's center;
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 ;

The marches are the borders, the limits, the confines. Hence the Lords Marchers, i, e. the lords presidents of the marches, &c. 2 i. e. inconftant, changeable. 3. e. an unfortunate neceffity, or a neceflity to be execrated. 4 Corfent is unifon. 5 The fenfe is, that all endeavour is to termi nate in obedience, to be fubordinate to the public good and general defign of government.

Whereof

Whereof take you one quarter into France,
And you withal fhall make all Gallia shake.
If we, with thrice that power left at home,
Cannot defend our own door from the dog,
Let us be worried; and our nation lofe
The name of hardinefs, and policy.

[Dauphin.
K. Henry. Call in the meffengers fent from the
Now are we well refolv'd: and,--by God's help;
And yours, the noble finew's of our power,-
France being ours, we'll bend it to our awe,
Or break it all to pieces: Or there we'll fit,
Ruling, in large and ample empery 1,
O'er France, and all her almost kingly dukedoms;
Or lay thefe bones in an unworthy urn,
Tomblefs, 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 tonguelefs mouth,
Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph.

Enter Ambajadors of France.

Now we are well prepar'd to know the pleasure
Of our fair coufin Dauphin; for, we hear,
Your greeting is from him, not from the king.
Amb. May't pleafe your majefty, to give us leave
Freely to render what we have in charge;
Or thall we fparingly fhew you far off
The Dauphin's meaning, and our embaffy?

K. Henry. We are no tyrant, but a Christian king;
Cato whofe grace our patlion is as fubject,
As are our wretches fetter'd in our prifons:
Therefore, with frank and with uncurbed plainnefs,
Tell us the Dauphin's mind.

Amb. Thus then, in few.

Your highness, lately fending into France,
Did claim fore certain dukedoms, in the right
Of your great predeceffor, king Edward the third.
In anfwer of which clain, the prince our mafter
Sys-that you favour too much of your youth;
And bids you be advis'd, there's nought in France,
That can be with a nimble-galliard 2 won;
You cannot revel into dukedoms there:
He therefore fends you, meeter for your fpirit,
This tun of treafure; and, in lieu of this,
Defires you, let the dukedoms, that you claim,
Hear no more of you. This the Dauphin fpeaks.
K. Henry. What treafure, uncle?
Fe Tennis-balls, my liege.

[with us;
K. Hony. We are glad the Dauphin is fo pleasant
His prefent, and your pains, we thank you for :
When we have match'd our rackets to thefe balls,
We will, in France, by God's grace, play a fet,
Shall ftrike his father's crown into the hazard:

Tell him, he hath made a match with fuch a
wrangler,

That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With 3 chaces. And we understand him well,
How he comes o'er us with our wilder days,
Not measuring what ufe we made of them.
We never valu'd this poor feat of England;
And therefore, living hence 4, did give ourself
To barbarous licence; as 'tis ever common,
That men are merriest when they are from home.
But tell the Dauphin,-I will keep my ftate;
Be like a king, and fhew my fail of greatnefs,
When I do roufe 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 rife there with fo full a glory,
That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
Yea, ftrike the Dauphin blind to look on us.
And tell the pleasant prince,-this mock of his
Hath turn'd his balls to gun-ftones 5; and his foul
Shall ftand fore charged for the wafteful vengeance
That fhall fly with them: for many a thoufand
widows

Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands
Mock mothers from their fons, mock cattles down;
And fome are yet ungotten, and unborn,
That fhall have caufe to curfe the Dauphin's fcorn
But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal; and in whofe 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 caufe.
So, get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin,
His jeft will favour but of fhallow wit,
When thousands weep, more than did laugh at it.→→
Convey them with fafe conduct.—Fare you well.
[Exeunt Ambafador sa

Exe. This was a merry mtellige.
K. Henry. We hope to make the fender blush at it.
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 thofe to G,d, that run before our business.
Therefore, let our proportions for thefe wars
Be foon collected; and all things thought upon,
That may, with reasonable swiftnefs, add
More feathers to our wings: for, God before,
We'll chide this Dauphin at his father's door.
Therefore, let every man now talk his thought,
That this fair action may on foot be brought.

1 Empery fignifies dominion, but is now an obfolete word, though formerly in general ufe. guard was an ancient dance, now obfolete.

[Exeunt

2 A

3 Chace is a term at tennis. So is the hazard; a place

in the tennis-court into which the ball is fometimes truck. 4. e. not in the court, the place in which he is now speaking. 5 When ordnance was firft ufed, they difcharged balls, not of iron,

but of flone.