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which before would not abide looking on.

K. Henry. This moral' ties me over to time, and a hot summer: and so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end, and she must be blind too. Burg. As love is, my lord, before it loves.

K. Henry. It is so: and you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness; who cannot see many a fair French city, for one fair French maid that stands in my way.

511

With envy of each other's happiness,
May cease their hatred; and this dear conjunction
Plant neighbourhood and christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
5 His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France.
All. Amen.

Fr. King. Yes, my lord, you see them per-10
spectively, the cities turn'd into a maid; for they
are all girdled within maiden walls, that war hath

never enter'd.

K. Henry. Shall Kate be my wife?
Fr. King. So please you.

K. Henry. I am content; so the maiden cities you talk of, may wait on her: so the maid, that stood in the way for my wish, shall shew me the way to my will.

That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
K. Henry. Now welcome, Kate:-and bear me
[witness all,

[Flourish.

2. Isa. God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one!
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there 'twixt your kingdoms such a spousal,
That never may ill office, or fell jealousy,

Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms,
15 Which troubles oft the bed of blessed marriage,
To make divorce of their incorporate league;
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
Receive each other!-God speak this Amen!

Fr. King. We have consented to all terms of 20 All. Amen!

reason.

K. Henry. Is't so, my lords of England?

West. The king hath granted every article: His daughter, first; and then in sequel all, According to their firm proposed natures.

Ere. Only, he hath not yet subscribed this:Where your majesty demands, -That the king of France, having any occasion to write for matter of grant, shall name your highness in this form, and

K. Henry. Prepare we for our marriage :-on
which day,

My lord of Burgundy, we'll take your oath
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues.-

25 Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me; -
And may our oaths well kept and prosp'rous be!
[Exeunt.

Enter Chorus.

Thus far, with rough, and all unable pen,

with this addition in French:-Notre tres cher 30 Our bending author hath pursu'd the story;

fil: Henry roy d' Angleterre, heretier de France: and thus in Latin, Præclarissimus filius noster

In little room confining mighty men,

Henricus, rex Angliæ, & hæres Francia.

Fr. King. Yet this I have not, brother, sadeny'd,

Mangling by starts the full course of their glory. Small time, but, in that small, most greatly liv'd This star of England: fortune made his sword;

But your request shall make me let it pass.

K. Henry. I pray you then, in love and dear

alliance,

Let that one article rank with the rest:

35 By which the world's best garden he atchiev'd,
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the sixth, in infant bands crown'd king
Of France and England, did this king succeed;
Whose state so many had the managing,

And, thereupon, give me your daughter.

Fr. King. Take her, fair son: and from her 40 That they lost France, and made his England

blood raise up

Issue to me: that the contending kingdoms [pale
Of France and England, whose very shores look!

bleed:

Which oft our stage hath shewn; and, for their
In your fair minds let this acceptance take.
[sake,

That is, the application of this fable, the moral being the application of a fable.
Meaning, by touching only on select parts.

2 i. e. humble.

FIRST

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Lords, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and several Attendants both on the English and French..

The SCENE is partly in England, and partly in France.

SCENE

Westminster-Abbey.

Dead March. Enter the funeral of King Henry the

Fifth, attended on by the Duke of Bedford, Re- 5 England ne'er lost a king of so much worth.

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Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky;
And with them scourge the bad revolting stars,
That have consented unto Henry's death!
Henry the fifth, too famous to live long!

Glo. England ne'er had a king, until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to command:
His brandish'dsword did blind men with his beams;
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings;
More drove back his enemies.
Than mid-day sun, fierce bent against their faces.

gent of France; the Duke of Gloster, Protector; the Duke of Exeter, and the Earl of Warwick; the Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of Somerset, &c.

Bed. HUNG be the heavens with black, 10 His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire, yield day to night! Comets, importing change of times and states,

Mr. Theobald observes, that, "the historical transactions contained in this play, take in the compass of above thirty years. I must observe, however, that our author, in the three parts of Henry VI. has not been very precise to the date and disposition of his facts; but shuffled thein, backwards and forwards, out of time. For instance; the lord Talbot is kill'd at the end of the fourth act of this play, who in reality did not fall till the 13th of July 1453; and The Second Part of Henry VI. opens with the marriage of the king, which was solemniz'd eight years before Talbot's death, in the year 1445. Again, in the second part, dame Eleanor Cobham is introduced to insult queen Margaret; though her prenance and banishment for sorcery happened three years before that princess came over to England. could point out many other transgressions against history, as far as the order of time is concerned. Indeed, though there are several master-strokes in these three plays, which incontestably betray the workmanship of Shakspeare; yet I am almost doubtful whether they were entirely of his writing. And unless they were wrote by him very early, I should rather imagine them to have been brought to him as a director of the stage; and so have received some finishing beauties at his hand. An accurate ob

in blood?

in black; why mourn we not

Henry is dead, and never shall revive:
Upon a wooden coffin we attend;
And death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,
Like captives bound to a triumphant car.
What? shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory's overthrow?
Or shall we think the subtle-witted French
Conjurers and sorcerers, that, afraid of hini,
By magic verses have contriv'd his end?

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And, whilst a held sh

You are disputing c 5 One would have lin Another would fly s A third man thinks, By guileful fair word Awake, awake, Engl 10 Let not sloth dim yo Cropp'd are the flow Of England's coat or Exe. Were our tea These tidings would

Win. He was a king blest of the King of Kings. 15 Bed. Methey conc

Unto the French the dreadful judgment-day
So dreadful will not be, as was his sight.
The battles of the Lord of Hosts he fought:
The church's prayers made him so prosperous.

Glo. The church! where is it? Ilad not church-20

men pray'd,

Ilis thread of life had not so soon decay'd:
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whoin, like a school-boy, you may over-awe.

Win. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art pro-25

tector;

And lookest to command the prince, and realm. Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe, More than God, or religious church-men, may.

Glo. Namenot religion, for thou lov'st the flesh; And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st, Except it be to pray against thy foes.

Bed. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your minds

in peace!

Let's to the altar:-Heralds, wait on us:-
Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arins;
Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead.-
Posterity, await for wretched years,
When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall suck:
Our isle be made a nourish of salt tears,
And none but women left to wail the dead.-
Henry the fifth! thy ghost I invocate;
Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils!
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!
A far more glorious star thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or bright

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all! Sad tidings bring I to you out of France, Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture: Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans, Paris, Guisors, Poi tiers, are all quite lost. Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Hen

ry's corse?

Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death.

Glo. Is Paris lost? Is Roan yielded up? If Henry were recall'd to life again, [ghost. These news would cause him once more veld the

Give me my steeled
Away with these disg
Wounds I will lend t
To weep their interr
Enter to then

2 Mess. Lords, v
mischance.

France is revolted fr Except some petty to The Dauphin Charle The bastard of Orlea Reignier, duke of A The duke of Alençon Ere. The Dauphi 300, whither shall we f Glo. We will notfiy Bedford, if thou be sla Bed. Gloster, wh wardness?

35 An army have I must Wherewith already F Enter a t

3 Mess. My gracio ments,

40 Wherewith you now b I must inform you of Betwixt the stout lord Win. What! where 3 Mess. O, no; w thrown:

45

The circumstance I'll The tenth of August Retiring from the sieg Having full scarce' si 50 By three and twenty t Was round encompas No leisure had he to He wanted pikes to so Instead whereof, sharp 55 They pitched in the g To keep the horsemen More than three hour Where valiant Talbot Enacted wonders wit

Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was 60 Hundreds he sent to he

us'd?

[money. Mess. No treachery; but want of men and

Here, there, and ever The French exclaim'c

Nourish here signifies a nurse. 2 i. e. their miseries which have had on i. e. scarcely.

Henry the Fifth's death to my coming amongst them.

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Unto his dastard foc-men is betray'd.

3 Mess. O no, he lives; but is took prisoner, 20 Now for the honour of the forlorn French:

And lord Scales with him, and lord Hungerford:
Most of the rest slaughter'd, or took, likewise.

Bed. Hisransom there is none but I shall pay:
I'll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne,
His crown shall be the ransom of my friend;
Four of their lords I'll change for one of ours.-
Farewell, my masters; to my task will I;
Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make,
To keep our great Saint George's feast withal:
Ten thousand soldiers with me I will take,
Whose bloody deeds shall make all Europe quake.
3Mess. So you had need, for Orleans is besieg'd;
The English army is grown weak and faint:
The earl of Salisbury craveth supply;
And hardly keeps his men from mutiny,
Since they, so few, watch such a multitude.

Exe. Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry

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Glo. I'll to the Tower with all the haste I can,

To view the artillery and munition;

25

Him I forgive my death, that killeth me,

When he sees me go back one foot, or fly. [Exeunt. [Here alarum, they are beaten back by the English, with great loss.

Re-enter Charles, Alençon, and Reignier.
Char. Who ever saw the like? what men have
1
[fled,
Dogs! cowards! dastards!-I would ne'er have
But that they left me 'midst my enemies.
30 Reig. Salisbury is a desperate homicide;
He fighteth as one weary of his life.
The other lords, like lions wanting food,
Do rush upon us as their hungry prey.
Alen. Froisard, a countryman of ours, records,

35 England all Olivers and Rowlands 2 bred,
During the time Edward the third did reign.
More truly now may this be verified;
For none but Sampsons, and Goliasses,
It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!
40 Leanraw-bon'drascals! who would e'er suppose
They had such courage and audacity?

And then I will proclaim young Henry king. [Exit. 45 Of old I know them; rather with their teeth

Char. Let's leave this town; for they are hairbrain'd slaves,

And hunger will enforce them to be more eager:

Ere. To Eltham will I, where the young king is,

Being ordain'd his special governor;

And for his safety there I'll best advise. [Exit.
Win. Each hath his place and function to attend:
I am left out; for me nothing remains.
But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office;
The king from Eltham I intend to send,

The walls they'll tear down, than forsake the siege.
Reig. I think, by some odd gimmals 3 or device,
Their arms are set, like clocks, still to strike on;
Else they could ne'er hold out so, as they do.

50 By my consent, we'll e'en let them alone.
Alen. Be it so.

Bast. Where's the Prince Dauphin? I have news for him.

And sit at chiefest stern of public weal. [Exit.

SCENE II.

Before Orleans in France.

Enter Charles, Alençon, and Reignier, marching with a Drum and Soldiers.

Char. Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens,

Enter the Bastard of Orleans.

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i. e. the back part of the ran or front. 2 These were two of the most famous in the list of, Charlemagne's twelvepeers; and their exploits are render'd so ridiculously and equally extravagant by the old romancers, that from thence arose that saying amongst our plain and sensible ancestors, of Rozpland for his Oliver, to signify the matching one incredible lye with another; or, as in

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