Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard 7:
Tell him, he hath made a match with such a wrangler,
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With chaces. And we understand him well,
How he comes o'er us with our wilder days,
Not measuring what use we made of them.
We never valu'd this poor seat 9 of England;
And therefore, living hence ', did give ourself
To barbarous license; As 'tis ever common,
That men are merriest when they are from home.
But tell the dauphin, — I will keep my state;
Be like a king, and show my sail of greatness,
When I do rouse me in my throne of France:
For that I have laid by my majesty,
And plodded like a man for working-days;
But I will rise there with so full a glory,
That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
Yea, strike the dauphin blind to look on us.
And tell the pleasant prince, this mock of his
Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones; and his soul
Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance
That shall fly with them: for many a thousand widows
Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands;
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;
And some are yet ungotten, and unborn,
That shall have cause to curse the dauphin's scorn.
But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal; and in whose name,
Tell you the dauphin, I am coming on,
To venge me as I may, and to put forth
My rightful hand in a well-hallow'd cause.
So, get you hence in peace; and tell the dauphin,
His jest will savour but of shallow wit,
When thousands weep, more than did laugh at it.
Convey them with safe conduct. Fare you well.
[Exeunt Ambassadors.
Ere. This was a merry message.
K. Hen. We hope to make the sender blush at it.
[Descends from his Throne.
Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour,
That may give furtherance to our expedition:
For we have now no thought in us but France;
Save those to heaven, that run before our business.
Therefore, let our proportions for these wars
Be soon collected and all things thought upon,
That may with reasonable swiftness, add
More feathers to our wings; for, God before,
We'll chide this dauphin at his father's door.
Therefore, let every man now task his thought,
That this fair action may on foot be brought.
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton : fire,There is the playhouse now, there must you And thence to France shall we convey you safe, And bring you back, charming the narrow seas To give you gentle pass; for, if we may, We'll not offend one stomach with our play. But, till the king come forth, and not till then, Unto Southampton do we shift our scene.
Chor. Now all the youth of England are on
And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies;
Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought
Reigns solely in the breast of every man :
They sell the pasture now, to buy the horse;
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With winged heels, as English Mercuries.
For now sits Expectation in the air;
And hides a sword, from hilts unto the point,
With crowns imperial, crowns, and coronets,
Promis'd to Harry, and his followers.
The French advis'd by good intelligence
Of this most dreadful preparation,
Shake in their fear; and with pale policy
Seek to divert the English purposes.
O England! - model to thy inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart,
What might'st thou do, that honour would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural!
But see thy fault! France hath in thee found out
A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills
With treacherous crowns: and three corrupted men,-
One, Richard earl of Cambridge; and the second,
Henry lord Scroop of Masham; and the third,
Sir Thomas Grey knight of Northumberland,
Have, for the gilt of France, (O guilt, indeed!)
Confirm'd conspiracy with fearful France;
And by their hands this grace of kings must die,
(If hell and treason hold their promises,)
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on; and well digest
The abuse of distance, while we force a play.
The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed;
The king is set from London; and the scene
7 A place in the tennis-court, into which the ball is sometimes struck. A term at tennis, 9 The throne. Withdrawing from the court.
Before Quickly's House in Eastcheap.
Enter NYм and BARDOLPH.
Bard. Well met, corporal Nym.
Nym. Good morrow, lieutenant Bardolph. Bard. What, are ancient Pistol and you friends yet? Nym. For my part, I care not; I say little: but when time shall serve, there shall be smiles; -but that shall be as it may. I dare not fight; but I will wink, and hold out mine iron: It is a simple one; but what though? it will toast cheese; and it will endure cold as another man's sword will: and there's the humour of it.
Bard. I will bestow a breakfast, to make you friends; and we'll be all three sworn brothers to France; let it be so, good corporal Nym.
Nym. 'Faith, I will live so long as I may, that's the certain of it; and when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I may that is my rest, that is the rendezvous of it.
Bard. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly: and, certainly she did you wrong; for you were troth-plight to her.
Nym. I cannot tell; things must be as they may: men may sleep, and they may have their throats about them at that time; and some say, knives have
edges. It must be as it may: though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell.
Enter PISTOL and Mrs. QUICKLY. Bard. Here comes ancient Pistol, good corporal, be patient here. mine host Pistol?
Pist. Base tike 4, call'st thou me
Now, by this hand, I swear, I scorn the term;
Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.
Quick. No, by my troth, not long: [NYм draws his sword.] O well-a-day, Lady, if he be not drawn now! O Lord! here's corporal Nym's- -now shall we have wilful murder committed. Good lieutenant Bardolph, - good corporal, offer nothing here. Nym. Pish!
Pist. Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou cur of Iceland!
Quick. Good corporal Nym, show the valour of a man, and put up thy sword.
Nym. Will you shog off? I would have you solus. [Sheathing his sword. Pist. Solus, egregious dog? O viper vile! The solus in thy most marvellous face; The solus in thy teeth, and in thy throat, And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy. Nym. I am not Barbason; you cannot conjure I have an humour to knock you indifferently well: If you grow foul with me, Pistol, I will scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair terms: and that's the humour of it.
Pist. O braggard vile, and desp'rate furious
wight!
The grave doth gape, and doting death is near;
Therefore exhale.7
[PISTOL and NYм draw.
Bard. Hear me, hear me what I say: he that
strikes the first stroke, I'll run him up to the hilts,
[Draws.
Pist. An oath of mickle might; and fury shall
abate.
Give me thy fist, thy fore-foot to me give;
Thy spirits are most tall.
Nym. I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair terms; that is the humour of it.
Pist. Coupe le gorge, that's the word?- I thee
O hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get?
I have, and I will hold, the quondam 9 Quickly
For the only she; and- Pauca, there's enough.
Nym. That now I will have; that's the humour of it.
Pist. As manhood shall compound; Push home. Bard. By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I'll kill him; by this sword, I will.
Pist. Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course.
Bard. Corporal Nym, an thou wilt be friends, be friends an thou wilt not, why then be enemies with me too. Pr'ythee, put up.
Nym. I shall have my eight shillings, I won of you at betting?
Pist. A noble? shalt thou have, and present pay;
And liquor likewise will I give to thee,
And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood:
I'll live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me;
Is not this just? for I shall sutler be
Unto the camp, and profits will accrue.
Give me thy hand.
Nym. I shall have my noble?
Pist. In cash most justly paid.
Nym. Well, then, that's the humour of it.
Re-enter Mrs. QUICKLY.
Quick. As you ever came of women, come in quickly to sir John: Ah, poor heart! he is so shaked of a burning quotidian tertian, that it is most. lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him.
Nym. The king hath run bad humours on the knight, that's the even of it.
Pist. Nym, thou hast spoke the right;
His heart is fracted and corroborate.
Nym. The king is a good king: but it must be as
it may; he passes some humours, and careers.
Pist. Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins,
we will live.
[Exeunt.
SCENE II. - Southampton. A Council-Chamber.
Enter EXETER, BEDFORD, and WESTMORELAND.
Bed. By heaven, his grace is bold, to trust these
traitors.
Exe. They shall be apprehended by and by.
West. How smooth and even they do bear them-
selves!
As if allegiance in their bosoms sat,
Crowned with faith, and constant loyalty.
Bed. The king hath note of all that they intend,
By interception which they dream not of.
Exe. Nay, but the man that was his bedfellow, Whom he hath cloy'd and grac'd with princely fa
His sovereign's life to death and treachery !
That he should, for a foreign purse, so sell
Trumpet sounds. Enter KING HENRY, SCROOP,
CAMBRIDGE, GREY, Lords and Attendants.
K. Hen. Now sits the wind fair, and we will
aboard.
My lord of Cambridge, and my kind lord of
And you, my gentle knight,
Masham,-
give me your
Think you not, that the powers we bear with us,
thoughts:
Will cut their passage through the force of France;
Doing the execution, and the act,
For which we have in head assembled them?
Scroop. No doubt, my liege, if each man do his best.
2 A coin, value six shillings and eight-pence.
3 Force.
K. Hen. I doubt not that: since we are well per- | By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd:
We carry not a heart with us from hence,
That grows not in a fair consent with ours;
Nor leave not one behind, that doth not wish
Success and conquest to attend on us
Cam. Never was monarch better fear'd, and lov'd,
Than is your majesty; there's not, I think, a subject,
That sits in heart-grief and uneasiness
Under the sweet shade of your government.
Grey. Even those, that were your father's enemies,
Have steep'd their galls in honey; and do serve you
With hearts create of duty and of zeal.
K. Hen. We therefore have great cause of thank-
fulness;
And shall forget the office of our hand,
Sooner than quittance of desert and merit,
According to the weight and worthiness.
You must not dare for shame, to talk of mercy;
For your own reasons turn into your bosoms,
As dogs upon their masters, worrying them.
See
you my princes, and my noble peers,
These English monsters! My lord of Cambridge
here,
You know, how apt our love was, to accord
To furnish him with all appertinents
Belonging to his honour; and this man
Hath, for a few light crowns, lightly conspir'd
And sworn unto the practices of France,
To kill us here in Hampton: to the which,
This knight, no less for bounty bound to us
Than Cambridge is, - hath likewise sworn-But O!
What shall I say to thee, lord Scroop; thou cruel,
Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature!
Thou, that didst bear the key of all my counsels,
Scroop. So service shall with steeled sinews toil; That knew'st the very bottom of my soul,
And labour shall refresh itself with hope;
To do your grace incessant services.
K. Hen. We judge no less. — Uncle of Exeter,
Enlarge the man committed yesterday,
That rail'd against our person: we consider,
It was excess of wine that set him on ;
And, on his more advice, we pardon him.
Scroop. That's mercy, but too much security:
Let him be punish'd, sovereign; lest example
Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.
K. Hen. O, let us yet be merciful.
Cam. So may your highness, and yet punish too.
Grey. You show great mercy, if you give him life,
After the taste of much correction.
K. Hen. Alas, your too much love and care of me
Are heavy orisons' 'gainst this poor wretch.
If little faults, proceeding on distemper,
Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye,
When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and di-
gested,
Appear before us? — We'll yet enlarge that man,
Though Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, in their
That almost mightst have coin'd me into gold,
Wouldst thou have practis'd on me for thy use?
May it be possible, that foreign hire
Could out of thee extract one spark of evil,
That might annoy my finger? 'tis so strange,
That though the truth of it stands off as gross
As black from white, my eye will scarcely see it.
Treason, and murder, ever kept together,
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in a natural cause,
That admiration did not whoop at them:
But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in
Wonder, to wait on treason, and on murder :
And whatsoever cunning fiend it was,
That wrought upon thee so preposterously,
Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treas on,
Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor.
If that same dæmon, that hath gull'd thee thus,
Should with his lion gait, walk the whole world,
He might return to vasty Tartar 9 back,
And tell the legions I can never win
A soul so easy as that Englishman's.
O, how hast thou with jealousy infected
The sweetness of affiance! Show men dutiful?
Seem they grave and learned?
Why, so didst thou: Come they of noble family?
Why, so didst thou: Seem they religious?
Why, so didst thou: Or are they spare in diet;
Free from gross passion, or of mirth, or anger;
Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood;
Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement ';
Not working with the eye, without the ear,
And, but in purged judgment, trusting neither?
Such, and so finely bolted?, didst thou seem:
And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot,
To mark the full-fraught man, and best indued,
With some suspicion. I will weep for thee;
For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like
Another fall of man. - Their faults are open,
Arrest them to the answer of the law;
And heaven acquit them of their practices!
Ere. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name
of Richard earl of Cambridge.
And tender preservation of our person,
Would have him punish'd. And now to our Why, so didst thou:
Who are the late 6 commissioners?
Cam. I one, my lord;
Your highness bade me ask for it to-day.
Scroop. So did you me, my liege.
Grey. And me, my royal sovereign.
K. Hen. Then, Richard, earl of Cambridge, there is yours;
There yours, lord Scroop of Masham ; — and, sir
knight,
Grey of Northumberland, this same is yours: —
Read them; and know, I know your worthiness.
My lord of Westmoreland, — and uncle Exeter,
We will aboard to-night. Why, how now, gentle-
What see you in those papers, that you lose
So much complexion?-look ye, how they change!
Their cheeks are paper.
- Why, what read you there,
That hath so cowarded and chas'd your blood
Out of appearance?
And do submit me to your highness' mercy.
Grey. Scroop. To which we all appeal.
I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of
Henry lord Scroop of Masham.
I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of
Thomas Grey, knight of Northumberland.
Scroop. Our purposes God justly hath discover'd;
K. Hen. The mercy, that was quick 7 in us but late, And I repent my fault, more than my death;
Which I beseech your highness to forgive, Although my body pay the price of it.
God, God! three or four times: now I, to comfort him, bid him, 'a should not think of God; I hoped,
the gold of France did not there was no need to trouble himself with any such
Although I did admit it as a motive,
The sooner to effect what I intended :
But heaven be thanked for prevention;
Which I in sufferance heartily will rejoice,
Beseeching God, and you, to pardon me.
Grey. Never did faithful subject more rejoice
At the discovery of most dangerous treason,
Than I do at this hour joy o'er myself,
Prevented from a damned enterprize :
My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign.
K. Hen. God quit you in his mercy! Hear your
You have conspir'd against our royal person,
Join'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from his coffers
Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death;
Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter,
His princes and his peers to servitude,
His subjects to oppression and contempt,
And his whole kingdom unto desolation.
Touching our person, seek we no revenge;
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender,
Whose ruin you three sought, that to her laws
We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence,
Poor miserable wretches, to your death:
The taste whereof, God. of his mercy, give you
Patience to endure, and true repentance
Of all your dear offences! Bear them hence.
[Exeunt Conspirators, guarded.
Now, lords, for France; the enterprize whereof
Shall be to you, as us, like glorious.
We doubt not of a fair and lucky war;
Since heaven so graciously hath brought to light
This dangerous treason, lurking in our way,
To hinder our beginnings, we doubt not now,
But every rub is smoothed on our way.
Then forth, dear countrymen; let us deliver
Our puissance into the hand of God,
Putting it straight in expedition.
Cheerly to sea; the signs of war advance :
No king of England, if not king of France.
[Exeunt. SCENE III.- Mrs. Quickly's House in Eastcheap.
Enter PISTOL, Mrs. QUICKLY, NYM, BARDOLPH, and Boy.
Quick. Pr'ythee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines.
Pist. No; for my manly heart doth yearn. 3. Bardolph, be blithe; - Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins ;
Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead, And we must yearn therefore.
Bard. 'Would, I were with him, wheresome'er he is.
Quick. Nay, sure, he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. 'A made a finer end, and went away, an it had been any christom child; 'a parted even just between twelve and one, e'en at turning o'the tide: for after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his finger's ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green fields. How now, sir John? quoth I: what, man! be of good cheer. So 'a cried out- God,
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thoughts yet: So, 'a bade me lay more clothes on
his feet: I put my hand into the bed, and felt them,
and they were as cold as any stone; then I felt to
his knees, and all was as cold as any stone.
Nym. They say, he cried out of sack.
Quick. Ay, that 'a did.
Bard. And of women.
Quick. Nay, that 'a did not.
Boy. Yes, that 'a did; and said, they were devils incarnate.
Quick. 'A could never abide carnation; 'twas a colour he never liked.
Bard. Well, he is gone, and all the riches I got in his service.
Nym. Shall we shog off? the king will be gone from Southampton.
-My love, give me thy
Look to my chattels, and my moveables:
Let senses rule; the word is, Pitch and pay;
Trust none;
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer cakes,
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck;
Therefore, caveto be thy counsellor.
Go, clear thy crystals.
Yoke-fellows in arms, Let us to France! like horse-leeches, my boys; To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck! Boy. And that is but unwholesome food, they say. Pist. Touch her soft mouth and march. Bard. Farewell, hostess.
[Kissing her. Nym. I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it; but, adieu.
Pist. Let housewifery appear; keep close, I thee command.
Quick. Farewell; adieu.
SCENE IV. — France. A Room in the French
Enter the French King attended; the DAUPHIN, the
DUKE OF BURGUNDY, the CONSTABLE, and others.
Fr. King. Thus come the English with full power
upon us;
And more than carefully it us concerns,
Therefore the dukes of Berry, and of Bretagne,
To answer royally in our defences.
Of Brabant, and of Orleans, shall make forth,
And you, prince dauphin, — with all swift despatch,
To line, and new repair, our towns of war,
With men of courage, and with means defendant:
For England his approaches makes as fierce,
As waters to the sucking of a gulph.
It fits us then, to be as provident
As fear may teach us, out of late examples
Left by the fatal and neglected English
Upon our fields.
My most redoubted father
It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe:
For peace itself should not so dull 5 a kingdom,
(Though war, nor no known quarrel, were in ques-
tion,)
But that defences, musters, preparations,
Should be maintain'd, assembled, and collected,
As were a war in expectation.
Therefore, I say, 'tis meet we all go forth,
To view the sick and feeble parts of France:
5 Render it callous, insensible.
And let us do it with no show of fear;
No, with no more, than if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morrice-dance:
For, my good liege, she is so idly king'd,
Her scepter so fantastically borne
By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth,
That fear attends her not.
Con.
O peace, prince dauphin!
You are too much mistaken in this king:
Question your grace the late ambassadors, –
With what great state he heard their embassy,
How well supplied with noble counsellors,
How modest in exception 6, and, withal,
How terrible in constant resolution,
And you shall find, his vanities fore-spent
Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus,
Covering discretion with a coat of folly.
Dau. Well, 'tis not so, my lord high constable, But though we think it so, it is no matter: In cases of defence, 'tis best to weigh The enemy more mighty than he seems, So the proportions of defence are fill'd; Which, of a weak and niggardly projection, Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat, with scanting A little cloth.
Think we king Harry strong; And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him. The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us; And he is bred out of that bloody strain7, That haunted us in our familiar paths: Witness our too much memorable shame, When Cressy battle fatally was struck, And all our princes captiv'd, by the hand
Of that black name, Edward black prince of Wales; Whiles that his mountain sire on mountain standing,
Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun, -
Saw his heroical seed, and smil'd to see him
Mangle the work of nature.
Of that victorious stock; and let us fear The native mightiness and fate of him.
Mess. Ambassadors from Henry king of England Do crave admittance to your majesty. Fr. King. We'll give them present audience. Go, and bring them.
[Exeunt Mess. and certain Lords. You see this chase is hotly follow'd, friends. Dau. Turn head, and stop pursuit: for coward dogs
Most spend their mouths, when what they seem to threaten,
Runs far before them. Good my sovereign,
Take up the English short; and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head:
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.
Re-enter Lords, with EXETER and Train.
And all wide-stretched honours that pertain,
By custom and the ordinance of times,
Unto the crown of France.
That you may know,
'Tis no sinister, nor no awkward claim,
Pick'd from the worm-holes of long-vanish'd days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion rak'd,
He sends you this most memorable line,
In every branch truly demonstrative;
Willing you overlook this pedigree:
And, when you find him evenly deriv'd
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors,
Edward the third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him, the native and true challenger.
Fr. King. Or else, what follows?
Ere. Bloody constraint; for if you hide the crown Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it: And therefore in fierce tempest is he coming, In thunder, and in earthquake, like a Jove; (That, if requiring fail, he will compel ;) And bids you, in the bowels of the Lord, Deliver up the crown; and to take mercy On the poor souls, for whom this hungry war Opens his vasty jaws: and on your head Turns he the widows' tears, the orphans' cries, The dead men's blood, the pining maidens' groans, For husbands, fathers, and betrothed lovers, That shall be swallow'd in this controversy. This is his claim, his threat'ning, and my message; Unless the dauphin be in presence here, To whom expressly I bring greeting too.
Fr. King. For us, we will consider of this further: To-morrow shall you bear our full intent Back to our brother England.
I stand here for him; What to him from England?
Exe. Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.
Thus says my king: and, if your father's highness
Do not, in grant of all demands at large,
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,
He'll call you to so hot an answer for it,
That caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass, and return your mock
In second accent of his ordnance.
Dau. Say, if my father render fair reply,
It is against my will: for I desire
Nothing but odds with England: to that end,
As matching to his youth and vanity,
I did present him with those Paris balls.
Ere. He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it, Were it the mistress court of mighty Europe: And, be assur'd, you'll find a difference, (As we, his subjects, have in wonder found,) Between the promise of his greener days, And these he masters now: now he weighs time, Even to the utmost grain; which you shall read In your own losses, if he stay in France.
Fr. King. To-morrow shall you know our mind at full.
Ere. Despatch us with all speed, lest that our king Come here himself to question our delay; For he is footed in this land already.
Fr. King. You shall be soon despatch'd with fair conditions:
A night is but small breath, and little pause,
To answer matters of this consequence.
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