Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality: Cant. It must be so; for miracles are ceased; Ely. Urged by the commons? Doth his majesty Incline to it, or no? Cant. He seems indifferent, Than cherishing the exhibiters against us; And in regard of causes now in hand, Did to his predecessors part withal. Ely. How did this offer seem received, my lord? Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms ΤΟ 80 Ely. What was the impediment that broke this off? 90 Craved audience; and the hour, I think, is come Ely. It is. Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy; Which I could with a ready guess declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. Ely. I'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. The Presence chamber. Enter KING HENRY, GLOUCESTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, K. Hen. Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury? K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. West. Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege? K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin: we would be resolved, Before we hear him, of some things of weight That task our thoughts, concerning us and France. Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, and the BISHOP OF ELY. Cant. God and his angels guard your sacred throne K. Hen. Why the law Salique that they have in France That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading, Without much fall of blood; whose guiltless drops 'Gainst him whose wrong gives edge unto the swords Under this conjuration speak, my lord; For we will hear, note and believe in heart That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd Cant. Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers, That owe yourselves, your lives and services To this imperial throne. There is no bar To make against your highness' claim to France 10 20 30 40 Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe; Where Charles the Great, having subdued the Saxons, Who, holding in disdain the German women Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala, Idly supposed the founder of this law; Who died within the year of our redemption Four hundred and twenty-six; and Charles the Great 60 Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French Beyond the river Sala, in the year Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say, Did, as heir general, being descended Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair, Of Charles the duke of Lorraine, sole heir male ΤΟ Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught, Of Charles the Great. Also King Lewis the Tenth, Could not keep quiet in his conscience, Daughter to Charles the foresaid duke of Lorraine: So that, as clear as is the summer's sun, 80 90 To bar your highness claiming from the female, K. Hen. May I with right and conscience make this claim? Cant. The sin upon my head, dread sovereign! When the man dies, let the inheritance Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb, O noble English, that could entertain With half their forces the full pride of France Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises. Exe. Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth Do all expect that you should rouse yourself, As did the former lions of your blood. 100 110 120 West. They know your grace hath cause and means and might; So hath your highness; never king of England Had nobles richer and more loyal subjects, Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France. Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege, With blood and sword and fire to win your right: In aid whereof we of the spiritualty Will raise your highness such a mighty sum As never did the clergy at one time Bring in to any of your ancestors. K. Hen. We must not only arm to invade the French, 130 But lay down our proportions to defend Cant. They of those marches, gracious sovereign, Our inland from the pilfering borderers. K. Hen. We do not mean the coursing snatchers only, But fear the main intendment of the Scot, Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us; For you shall read that my great-grandfather Never went with his forces into France But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom Came pouring, like the tide into a breach, With ample and brim fulness of his force, Galling the gleaned land with hot assays, Girding with grievous siege castle and towns; That England, being empty of defence, 140 150 Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood. Cant. She hath been then more fear'd than harm'd, my liege; For hear her but exampled by herself: When all her chivalry hath been in France And she a mourning widow of her nobles, She hath herself not only well defended But taken and impounded as a stray The King of Scots; whom she did send to France, To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner kings As is the ooze and bottom of the sea With sunken wreck and sumless treasuries. West. But there's a saying very old and true, "If that you will France win, Then with Scotland first begin:" For once the eagle England being in prey, Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs, Playing the mouse in absence of the cat, To tear and havoc more than she can eat. Exe. It follows then the cat must stay at home: Yet that is but a crush'd necessity, Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries, And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves. While that the armed hand doth fight abroad, For government, though high and low and lower, 160 170 180 |