Or else this blow fhould broach thy dearest blood.
But I'll unto his majesty, and crave

1 may have liberty to venge this wrong;

When thou shalt fee, I'll meet thee to thy coft.
VER. Well, mifcreant, I'll be there as foon as

Sir William Blackftone obferves that, by the ancient law be. fore the Conqueft, fighting in the king's palace, or before the king's judges, was punished with death. So too, in the old Gothic con. ftitution, there were many places privileged by law, quibus major reverentia fecuritas debetur, ut templa & judicia, quæ fan&ta habebantur,- ——arces & aula regis,—denique locus quilibet presente aut adventante rege. And at present with us, by the Stat. 33 Hen. VIII. c. 12. malicious ftriking in the king's palace, wherein his royal perfon refides, whereby blood is drawn, is punishable by perpetual imprisonment and fine, at the king's pleasure; and also with lofs of the offender's right hand, the folema execution of which fentence is prescribed in the statute at length." Commentaries, Vol. IV. P. 124. " By the ancient common law, alfo before the Conqueft, Atriking in the king's court of juftice, or drawing a fword therein, was a capital felony." ibid. p. 125. REED.

C

ACT IV. SCENE I.

The fame. A Room of State.

Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WINCHESTER, WARWICK, TALBOT, the Governour of Paris, and Others.

GLO. Lord bifhop, fet the crown upon his head. WIN. God fave king Henry, of that name the fixth !

GLO. Now, governour of Paris, take your oath, [Governour kneels. That you elect no other king but him :

Efteem none friends, but fuch as are his friends; And none your foes, but fuch as fhall pretend 9 Malicious practices against his ftate:

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

Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE.

FAST. My gracious fovereign, as I rode from Calais,

To hafte 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!

-fuch as fhall pretend- To pretend is to defign, to intend. JOHNSON.

So, in Macbeth:

"What good could they pretend?" STEEVENS.

I vow'd bafe knight, when I did meet thee next, To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,' [Plucking it off.

3

(Which I have done) becaufe unworthily
Thou waft inftalled in that high degree.-
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the reft:
This daftard, at the battle of Patay,-
When but in all I was fix thousand strong,
And that the French were almoft ten to one,-
Before we met, or that a ftroke was given.
Like to a trusty fquire, did run away;
In which affault we loft twelve hundred men ;
Myself, and divers gentlemen befide,
Were there furpriz'd, and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss:
Or whether that fuch cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea, or no.

GLO. To fay the truth this fact was infamous,

To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,] Thus the old copy.

The laft line fhould run thus:

STEEVENS.

- from thy craven leg,

i. e. thy mean, daftardly leg. WHALLEY.

3

at the battle of Patay,] The old copy has

Poitiers. MALONE.

The battle of Poitiers was fought in the year 1357, the 31ft of King Edward III. and the scene now lies in the 7th year of the reign of King Henry VI. viz. 1428. This blunder may be juftly imputed to the players or tranfcribers; nor can we very well juftify ourfelves for permitting it to continue fo long, as it was too glaring to have escaped an attentive reader. The action of which Shakfpeare is now speaking, happened (according to Holinfhed "neere unto a village in Beauffe called Pataie," which we should read, inftead of Poitiers. "From this battell departed without anie ftroke friken, Sir John Faftolfe, the fame yeere by his valiantneffe elected into the order of the garter. But for doubt of mifdealing at this brunt, the duke of Bedford tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter," &c. Holiafhed, Vol. II. p. 601. Monftrelet, the French hiftorian, alfo bears witnefs to this degra dation of Sir John Faftolfe. STEEVENS.

3

And ill befeeming any common man;
Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.
TAL. When firft this order was ordain'd, my lords,
Knights of the garter were of noble birth;
Valiant, and virtuous, full of haughty courage,
Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death, nor fhrinking for distress,
But always refolute in most extremes." 4
He then, that is not furnish'd in this fort,
Doth but ufurp the facred name of knight,
Profaning this moft honourable order;
And fhould (if I were worthy to be judge.)
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born fwain
That doth prefume to boast of gentle blood.
K. HEN. Stain to thy countrymen! thou hear'st
thy doom:

Be packing therefore, thou that wast a knight;
Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.-
[Exit FASTOLFE.

And now, my lord protector, view the letter
Sent from our uncle duke of Burgundy.

GLO. What means his grace, that he hath chang'd
his file? [ Viewing the fuperfcription.
No more but, plain and bluntly.-To the king?
Hath he forgot, he is his fovereign?
Or doth this churlifh fuperfcription

Pretend fome alteration in good will ? 5

3

haughty courage, ] Haughty is here in its original fenfe for high. JOHNSON.

4

૬.

in moft extremes. ] i. e. in greateft extremities. So, Spenfer:
they all repair'd, both most and least.”

See Vol. XI. p. 246, n. 7. STEEVENS.

5

Pretend fome alteration in good will?] Thus the old copy. To pretend feems to be here used in its Latin sense, i. e. to hold out, to Stretch forward. It may mean, however, as in other places, to defign. Modern editors read-portend. STEVENS.

What's here; I have, upon efpecial caufe,—[Reads.
Mov'd with compaffion of my country's wreck,
Together with the pitiful complaints

Of fuch as your oppreffion feeds upon,—
Forfaken your pernicious faction,

And join'd with Charles, the rightful king of France.
O monftrous treachery! Can this be fo;
That in alliance, amity, and oaths,

There fhould be found fuch falfe diffembling guile? K. HEN. What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt? GLO. He doth, my lord; and is become your foe. K. HEN. Is that the worft, this letter doth contain? GLO. It is the worft, and all, my lord, he writes. K. HEN. Why then, lord Talbot there fhall talk with him,

6

And give him chastisement for this abuse :-
My lord, how fay you? are you not content?
TAL. Content, my liege? Yes; but that I am
prevented,'

I fhould have begg'd I might have been employ'd. K. HEN. Then gather ftrength, and march unto him ftraight:

Let him perceive, how ill we brook his treafon ; And what offence it is, to flout his friends.

6 My lord, how fay you? Old copy

How fay you, my lord?

The tranfpofition is Sir T. Hanmer's. STEEVENS.

Latinifm.

I am prevented,] Prevented is here, anticipated;
MALONE.

a

So, in our Liturgy: "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings." Prior is, perhaps, the laft English poet who ufed this verb in its obfolete fense:

"Elfe had I come, preventing Sheba's queen,
"To fee the comelieft of the fons of men.'
Salomon, Book II.

STEEVENS.