Puc. Here is a silly stately style indeed!
The Turk, that two and fifty kingdoms hath,
Writes not so tedious a style as this.-

Him, that thou magnifiest with all these titles,
Stinking and flyblown, lies here at our feet.

Lucy. Is Talbot slain; the Frenchman's only scourge,

Your kingdom's terror and black Nemesis?

O, were mine eyeballs into bullets turn'd,
That I, in rage, might shoot them at your faces!
O, that I could but call these dead to life!
It were enough to fright the realm of France:
Were but his picture left among you here,
It would amaze 10 the proudest of you all.
Give me their bodies; that I may bear them hence,
And give them burial as beseems their worth.

Puc. I think, this upstart is old Talbot's ghost, He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit. For God's sake, let him have 'em; to keep them here, They would but stink, and putrefy the air.

I'll bear them hence:

Char. Go, take their bodies hence. Lucy. But from their ashes shall be rear'd 11 A phoenix that shall make all France afeard. Char. So we be rid of them, do with 'em what thou

wilt.

And now to Paris, in this conquering vein;

All will be ours, now bloody Talbot's slain.

[Exeunt.

A

10 To amaze is to dismay, to throw into consternation. citie amazed or astonied with feare. Urbs lymphata horroribus.' BARET. Thus in Cymbeline :

'I am amaz'd with matter.'

11 A word is wanting to complete the metre, which Hanmer thus supplied::

But from their ashes, Dauphin, shall be rear'd.'

ACT V.

SCENE I. London. A Room in the Palace.

Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, and EXETER.

K. Hen. Have you perus'd the letters from the pope, The emperor, and the earl of Armagnac?

Glo. I have, my lord; and their intent is this,They humbly sue unto your excellence, To have a godly peace concluded of,

Between the realms of England and of France.

K. Hen. How doth your grace affect their motion? Glo. Well, my good lord; and as the only means To stop effusion of our Christian blood, And 'stablish quietness on every side.

K. Hen. Ay, marry, uncle; for I always thought, It was both impious and unnatural,

That such immanity1 and bloody strife

Should reign among professors of one faith.

Glo. Beside, my lord,—the sooner to effect,
And surer bind, this knot of amity,--
The earl of Armagnac-near knit to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,—
Proffers his only daughter to your grace

In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.
K. Hen. Marriage, uncle! alas! my years are
young 2;

And fitter is my study and my books,

Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.

1 Immanity (immanitas, LAT.) outrageousness, cruelty, excess. BLOUNT. A belluine kind of immanity never raged so amongst men. Howell's Letters, iii. 15.

2 The king was, however, twenty-four years old.

Yet, call the ambassadors; and, as you please,
So let them have their answers every one:
I shall be well content with any choice,
Tends to God's glory, and my country's weal.

Enter a Legate, and Two Ambassadors, with WINCHESTER, in a Cardinal's Habit.

Exe. What! is my lord of Winchester install'd, And call'd unto a cardinal's degree 3!

Then, I perceive, that will be verified,
Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy,—
If once he come to be a cardinal,

He'll make his cap co-equal with the crown.

K. Hen. My lords ambassadors, your several suits Have been consider'd and debated on. Your purpose is both good and reasonable: And, therefore, are we certainly resolv'd To draw conditions of a friendly peace; Which, by my lord of Winchester, we mean Shall be transported presently to France.

Glo. And for the proffer of my lord your master,I have inform'd his highness so at large, As-liking of the lady's virtuous gifts, Her beauty, and the value of her dower,He doth intend she shall be England's queen.

K. Hen. In argument and proof of which contract, Bear her this jewel, [To the Amb.] pledge of my

affection.

And so, my lord protector, see them guarded,

3 The poet has here forgot himself. In the first act Gloster says:

'I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat.'

And it is strange that Exeter should not know of his advancement. It appears that he would imply that Winchester obtained his hat only just before his present entry. He in fact obtained it in the fifth year of Henry's reign.

And safely brought to Dover; where, inshipp'd, Commit them to the fortune of the sea.

[Exeunt KING HENRY and Train; GLOSTER, EXETER, and Ambassadors.

Win. Stay, my lord legate; you shall first receive The sum of money, which I promised

Should be deliver'd to his holiness

For clothing me in these grave ornaments.

Leg. I will attend upon your lordship's leisure. Win. Now, Winchester will not submit, I trow, Or be inferior to the proudest peer.

Humphrey of Gloster, thou shalt well perceive,
That, neither in birth, or for authority,

The bishop will be overborne by thee:
I'll either make thee stoop, and bend thy knee,
Or sack this country with a mutiny.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. France. Plains in Anjou.

Enter CHARLES, BURGUNDY, ALENÇON, LA PUCELLE, and Forces, marching.

Char. These news, my lords, may cheer our drooping spirits:

'Tis said, the stout Parisians do revolt,

And turn again unto the warlike French.

Alen. Then march to Paris,royal Charles of France, And keep not back your powers in dalliance. Puc. Peace be amongst them, if they turn to us; Else, ruin combat with their palaces!

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. Success unto our valiant general,

And happiness to his accomplices!

Char. What tidings send our scouts? I pr'ythee speak.

Mess. The English army, that divided was
Into two parts, is now conjoin'd in one;
And means to give you battle presently.

Char. Somewhat too sudden, sirs, the warning is; But we will presently provide for them.

Bur. I trust, the ghost of Talbot is not there; Now he is gone, my lord, you need not fear.

Puc. Of all base passions, fear is most accurs'd:Command the conquest, Charles, it shall be thine; Let Henry fret, and all the world repine.

Char. Then on, my lords; And France be fortunate!

[Exeunt.

SCENE III. The same. Before Angiers.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter LA PUCelle.

Puc. The regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly.

Now help, ye charming spells, and periapts 1;
And ye choice spirits that admonish me,

And give me signs of future accidents! [Thunder.
You speedy helpers, that are substitutes
Under the lordly monarch of the north2,
Appear, and aid me in this enterprise!

1 Periapts were certain written charms worn about the person as preservatives from disease and danger. Of these the first chapter of St. John's Gospel was deemed the most efficacious. See Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, 1584, p. 230, &c. The following story is related in Wits, Fits, and Fancies, 1595:- A cardinal seeing a priest carrying a cudgel under his gown, reprimanded him. His excuse was, that he only carried it to defend himself against the dogs of the town. Wherefore, I pray you, replied the cardinal, serves St. John's Gospel? Alas, my lord, said the priest, these curs understand no Latin.'

2 The monarch of the north was Zimimar, one of the four principal devils invoked by witches. The north was supposed to be the particular habitation of bad spirits. Milton assembles the rebel angels in the north.