And join'st with them will be thy slaughter-men. Come, come, return; return, thou wand'ring lord; Charles, and the rest, will take thee in their arms. Bur. I am vanquished: these haughty words of hers

4

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;-
So, farewell, Talbot; I'll no longer trust thee.
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.

Enter 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,

4 Haughty does not mean disdainful, or violent, as Johnson supposed; but elevated, high spirited. Vide note 9, p. 52. At the first interview with Joan the Dauphin says:

Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high terms.'

i. e. what Burgundy calls her haughty words. Haught and hault were used in the same manner; from hault and haultain, old French.

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

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 got,
First to my God, and next unto your grace.
K. Hen. Is this the Lord Talbot, uncle Gloster 6,
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'd9 with so much as thanks,
Because till now we never saw your face:
Therefore, stand up; and, for these good deserts,
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,

6 Hanmer supplied the apparent deficiency 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 deem historical accuracy necessary.

8 Convinced. Vide note on page 12. 9 Rewarded. Vide note on page 61.

Disgracing of these colours 10 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 know'st, the law of arms is such, That, whoso draws a sword, 'tis present death 11; 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.

10 i. e. the badge of a rose.

[Exeunt.

11 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. malicious 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. 978.

ACT IV.

SCENE I. The same. A Room of State.

Enter KING HEnry, Gloster, Exeter, York, SUFFOLK, 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 pretend1 Malicious practices against his state:

This shall ye do, so help you righteous God! [Exeunt Gov. and his Train,

Enter SIR JOHN FASTOLFE,

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's 2 leg,

[Plucking it off.

To pretend is to intend, to design. Thus in Macbeth :

'What good could they pretend.'

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

(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 3,
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;
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,

4

Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,
But always resolute in most extremes 5.
He then, that is not furnish'd in this sort,
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,

3 The old copy has Poictiers instead of Patay. The battle of Poictiers was fought in 1357, the 31st of King Edward III. and the scene now lies in the 7th of King Henry VI. viz. 1428. The action happened (according to Holinshed) 'neere unto a village in Beausse called Pataie. From this battel departed, without any stroke striken, Sir John Fastolfe, the same yeere by his valiantnesse 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. Vol. ii. p. 601. Monstrelet mentions the degradation of Sir John Fastolfe.

4 Vide note 9 on p. 52; and note 4 on p. 71.

5 i. e. in greatest extremities. More and most were used by our ancestors for greater and greatest. Vide note on Macbeth, Act v. Sc. 4, p. 315.