Alarums. Exeunt Soldiers and Servant, leaving the two Enter CHARLES, ALENÇON, BURGUNDY,

Bodies.

Bastard, LA PUCELLE, and Forces.

Char. Had York and Somerset brought rescue in, We should have found a bloody day of this.

Bast. How the young whelp of Talbot's, raging-wood,
Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen's blood!
Puc. Once I encounter'd him, and thus I said,
Thou maiden youth be vanquish'd by a maid:
But-with a proud, majestical high scorn,-
He answer'd thus; Young Talbot was not born
To be the pillage of a giglot wench :

So, rushing in the bowels of the French,
He left me proudly, as unworthy fight.

Bur. Doubtless, he would have made a noble knight: See, where he lies inhersed in the arms

Of the most bloody nurser of his harms.

Bast. Hew them to pieces, hack their bones asunder; Whose life was England's glory, Gallia's wonder.

Char. O, no; forbear: for that which we have fled During the life, let us not wrong it dead.

Enter Sir WILLIAM LUCY, attended; a French Herald preceding.

Lucy. Herald,

Conduct me to the Dauphin's tent; to know

Who hath obtain'd the glory of the day.

Char. On what submissive message art thou sent? Lucy. Submission, Dauphin? 'tis a mere French word;

We English warriors wot not what it means.

I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta'en,
And to survey the bodies of the dead.

Char. For prisoners ask'st thou? hell our prison is.
But tell me whom thou seek'st.

Lucy. Where is the great Alcides of the field,
Valiant lord Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury?

Created, for his rare success in arms,

Great earl of Washford, Waterford, and Valence;
Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchinfield,

Lord Strange of Blackmere, lord Verdun of Alton,
Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, lord Furnival of Sheffield,
The thrice victorious lord of Falconbridge;
Knight of the noble order of Saint George,
Worthy Saint Michael, and the golden fleece;
Great mareshal to Henry the sixth,

Of all his wars within the realm of France?

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 fly-blown, lies here at our feet.

Lucy. Is Talbot slain; the Frenchmen's only scourge,
Your kingdom's terrour and black Nemesis?

O, were mine eye-balls 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 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.

Char. Go, take their bodies hence.

But from their ashes shall be rear'd

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.

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 immanity 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.

1

K. Hen. Marriage, uncle! alas! my years are young; And fitter is my study and my books,

Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.
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!

Then, I perceive, that will be verified,

Henry the fifth did sometime prophecy,-

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 affec

tion.

And so, my lord protector, see them guarded,