466

KING HENRY V.

Small time, but, in that small, most greatly liv'd,
This star of England: fortune made his sword;
By which the world's best garden1 he achiev'd,
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd king
Of France and England, did this king succeed;
Whose state so many had the managing,
That they lost France, and made his England
bleed :

Which oft our stage hath shown; and, for their sake,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take. [Exit.

This play has many scenes of high dignity, and many of easy merriment. The character of the (1) France.

king is well supported, except in his courtship, where he has neither the vivacity of Hal, nor the grandeur of Henry. The humour of Pistol is very happily continued: his character has perhaps been the model of all the bullies that have yet appeared on the English stage.

The lines given to the Chorus have many admirers; but the truth is, that in them a little may be praised, and much must be forgiven; nor can it be easily discovered, why the intelligence given by the Chorus is more necessary in this play, than in many others where it is omitted. The great defect of this play is, the emptiness and narrowness of the last act, which a very little diligence JOHNSON. might have easily avoided.