That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.-
[A noise within; Down with the tawny coats!]
What tumult's this?
War.
An uproar, I dare warrant,
Begun through malice of the bishop's men.

[A noise again; Stones! Stones!]
Enter the Mayor of London, attended.
May. O, my good lords,-and virtuous Henry,
Pity the city of London, pity us!
The bishop's and the duke of Gloster's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble-stones;
And, banding themselves in contrary parts,
Do pelt so fast at one another's pate,

That many have their giddy brains knock'd out.
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we, for fear, compell'd to shut our shops.
Enter, skirmishing, the Retainers of GLOSTER and
WINCHESTER, with bloody pates.

K. Hen. We charge you, on allegiance to ourself, To hold your slaught'ring hands, and keep the peace.

Pray, uncle Gloster, mitigate this strife. 1 Serv. Nay, if we be

Forbidden stones, we'll fall to it with our teeth. 2 Serv. Do what ye dare, we are as resolute. [Skirmish again. Glo. You of my household, leave this peevish broil,

And set this unaccustom'd fight aside.

3 Serv. My lord, we know your grace to be a man Just and upright; and, for your royal birth, Inferior to none but to his majesty:

And ere that we will suffer such a prince,
So kind a father of the commonweal,
To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate,
We, and our wives, and children, all will fight,
And have our bodies slaughter'd by our foes.
1 Serv. Ay, and the very parings of our nails
Shall pitch a field, when we are dead.

[Skirmish again. Glo. Stay, stay, I say! And, if you love me, as you say you do, Let me persuade you to forbear a while. K. Hen. O, how this discord doth afflict my soul!

Can you, my lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears, and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?

Or who should study to prefer a peace.
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?

War. My lord protector, yield;-yield, Winchester;

Except you mean, with obstinate repulse,
To slay your sovereign, and destroy the realm.
You see what mischief, and what murder too,
Hath been enacted through your enmity;.
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
Win. He shall submit, or I will never yield.
Glo. Compassion on the king commands
stoop!

Or, I would see his heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get the privilege of me.

me

War. Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke Hath banish'd moody, discontented fury, As by his smoothed brows it doth appear: Why look you still so stern, and tragical?

Glo. Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.
K. Hen. Fye, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you
preach,

That malice was a great and grievous sin:
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same?
War. Sweet king!-the bishop hath a kindly gird.
For shame, my lord of Winchester! relent;
What, shall a child instruct you what to do?
Win. Well, duke of Gloster, I will yield to thee;
Love for thy love, and hand for hand I give.

Glo. Ay; but, I fear me, with a hollow heart.-
See here, my friends, and loving countrymen;
This token serveth for a flag of truce,
Betwixt ourselves, and all our followers;
So help me God, as I dissemble not!

Win. So help me God, as I intend it not. [Aside. K. Hen. O loving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, How joyful am I made by this contract!

7 Feels an emotion of kindness

Away, my masters! trouble us no more; But join in friendship, as your lords have done. 1 Serv. Content! I'll to the surgeon's. 2 Serv. And so will I. 3 Serv. And I will see what physic the tavern affords. [Exeunt Servants, Mayor, &c. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign, Which, in the right of Richard Plantagenet, We do exhibit to your majesty.

Glo. Well urged, my lord of Warwick;-for, sweet prince,

An if your grace mark every circumstance,
You have great reason to do Richard right:
Especially, for those occasions

At Eltham-place I told your majesty.

K. Hen. And those occasions, uncle, were of force:
Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is,
That Richard be restored to his blood.

So shall his father's wrongs be recompens❜d.
War. Let Richard be restored to his blood;
Win. As will the rest, so willeth Winchester.
K. Hen. If Richard will be true, not that alone,
But all the whole inheritance I give,
That doth belong unto the house of York,
From whence you spring by lineal descent.
Plan. Thy humble servant vows obedience,
And humble service, till the point of death.
K. Hen. Stoop then, and set your knee against
my foot;

And, in reguerdons of that duty done,

I girt thee with the valiant sword of York.
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet;
And rise created princely duke of York.

Plan. And so thrive Richard, as thy foes may fall!

And as my duty springs, so perish they
That grudge one thought against your majesty!
All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty duke of
York!

Som. Perish, base prince, ignoble duke of York! [Aside.

Glo. Now will it best avail your majesty,
To cross the seas, and to be crown'd in France:
The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects, and his loyal friends;
As it disanimates his enemies.

K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, king Henry goes;

For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
Glo. Your ships already are in readiness.
[Exeunt all but EXETER.
Exe. Ay, we may march in England, or in France,
Not secing what is likely to ensue:
This late dissension, grown betwixt the peers,
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love,
And will at last break out into a flame:
As fester'd members rot but by degrees,
Till bones, and flesh, and sinews, fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy,
Which, in the time of Henry, named the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,
That Henry, born at Monmouth, should win all;
And Henry, born at Windsor, should lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish

His days may finish ere that hapless time. [Exit

SCENE II.-France. Before Rouen.

Enter LA PUCELLE disguised, and Soldiers dressed like Countrymen, with Sacks upon their backs.

Puc. These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen, Through which our policy must make a breach: Take heed, be wary how you place your words; Talk like the vulgar sort of market-men, That come to gather money for their corn. If we have entrance, (as, I hope, we shall,) And that we find the slothful watch but weak, I'll by a sign give notice to our friends, That Charles the dauphin may encounter them. 1 Sold. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city, And we be lords and rulers over Rouen; Therefore we'll knock.

[Knocks.

Guard. [Within.] Qui est là? Puc. Paisans, pauvres gens de France: Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn. Guard. Enter, go in: the market-bell is rung. [Opens the Gates.

* Recompense.

SCENE I.-Paris. A Room of State. Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WINCHESTER, WARWICK, TALBOT, the Governor of Paris, and others.

Glo. Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head. Win. God save king Henry, of that name the sixth!

Glo. Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,[Governor kneels. That you elect no other king but him: Esteem none friends, but such as are his friends; And none your foes, but such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state: This shall ye do, so help you righteous God! [Exeunt Gov. and his Train.

Enter SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.

Fast. My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais, To hasten 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! I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next, To tear the garter from thy craven's1 leg,

[Plucking it off.

(Which I have done,) because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.-
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
This dastard at the battle of Patay,
When but in all I was six thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,-
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire, did run away;
In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;
Myself, and divers gentlemen beside,
Were there surpris'd, and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss;
Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea, or no.

Glo. To say the truth, this fact was infamous,
And ill beseeming any common man;
Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.

Tal. When first 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 shrinking for distress,
But always resolute in most extremes.
He then, that is not furnish'd in this sort,
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honorable order;
And should (if I were worthy to be judge)
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
That doth presume 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 changed
his style? [Viewing the superscription.
No more but, plain and bluntly,-To the king?
Hath he forgot, he is his sovereign?
Or doth this churlish superscription
Pretend some alteration in good will?

What's here?-I have, upon especial cause,—

[Reads.

Mov'd with compassion of my country's wreck, Together with the pitiful complaints

Of such as your oppression feeds upon,—

Forsaken your pernicious faction,

K. Hen. Is that the worst, this letter doth contain?
Glo. It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
K. Hen. Why then, lord Talbot there shall talk
with him,

And give him chastisement for this abuse:-
My lord, how say you? are you not content?
Tal. Content, my liege? Yes; but that I am pre-
vented,

I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd. K. Hen. Then gather strength, and march unto him straight:

Let him perceive, how ill we brook his treason;
And what oflence it is, to flout his friends.
Tal. I go, my lord; in heart desiring still,
You may behold confusion of your foes.

[Exil.

complain?

First let me know, and then I'll answer you.

Bas. Crossing the sea from England into France, This fellow here, with envious carping tongue, Upbraided me about the rose I wear; Saying-the sanguine color of the leaves Did represent my master's blushing cheeks, When stubbornly he did repugn the truth, About a certain question in the law, Argued betwixt the duke of York and him; With other vile and ignominious terms: In confutation of which rude reproach, And in defence of my lord's worthiness, I crave the benefit of law of arms.

Ver. And that is my petition, noble lord:
For though he seem, with forged quaint conceit,
To set a gloss upon his bold intent,

Yet know, my lord, I was provok'd by him:
And he first took exceptions at this badge,
Pronouncing-that the paleness of this flower
Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart.

York. Will not this malice, Somerset, be left? Som. Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out,

Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it.
K. Hen. Good lord! what madness rules in brain-
sick men!

When, for so slight and frivolous a cause,
Such factious emulations shall arise!
Good cousins both, of York and Somerset,
Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.

York. Let this dissension first be tried by fight;
And then your highness shall command a peace.
Som. The quarrel toucheth none but us alone;
Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.
York. There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset.
Ver. Nay, let it rest where it began at first.
Bas. Confirm it so, mine honorable lord.
Glo. Confirm it so? confounded be your strife,
And perish ye, with your audacious prate!
Presumptuous vassals! are you not ashamed,
With this immodest clamorous outrage

To trouble and disturb the king and us?
And you, my lords,-methinks, you do not well,
To bear with their perverse objections;

France.

O monstrous treachery! Can this be so;
That in alliance, amity, and oaths,
There should be found such false dissembling guile?
K. Hen. What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
Glo. He doth, my lord; and is become your foc.
2 High.

• Design.

1 Mean, dastardly.

To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves;
Let me persuade you take a better course.
Exe. It grieves his highness;-Good my lords, be
friends.

K. Hen. Come hither, you that would be combatants;

Henceforth, I charge you, as you love our favor,
Quite to forget this quarrel, and the cause.-
And you, my lords, remember where we are;
In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:
If they perceive dissension in our looks,
And that within ourselves we disagree,
How will their grudging stomachs be provok'd
To willful disobedience, and rebel?
Beside, what infamy will there arise,
When foreign princes shall be certified,
That, for a toy, a thing of no regard,
King Henry's peers, and chief nobility,
Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France?
O, think upon the conquest of my father,
My tender years; and let us not forego
That for a trifle, that was bought with blood!
Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife.
I see no reason, if I wear this rose,

[Putting on a red Rose.
That any one should therefore be suspicious
I more incline to Somerset, than York:
Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both:
As well they may upbraid me with my crown,
Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd.
But your discretions better can persuade,
Than I am able to instruct or teach:
And therefore, as we hither came in peace,
So let us still continue peace and love.-
Cousin of York, we institute your grace
To be our regent in these parts of France:-

And good my lord of Somerset, unite

Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot;
And, like true subjects, sons of your progenitors,
Go cheerfully together, and digest
Your angry choler on your enemies.
Ourself, my lord protector, and the rest,
After some respite, will return to Calais;
From thence to England; where I hope ere long
To be presented, by your victories,
With Charles, Alençon, and that traitorous rout.
[Flourish. Exeunt KING HENRY, GLO., SOM.,
WIN., SUF., and BASSET.

War. My lord of York, I promise you, the king Prettily, methought, did play the orator.

York. And so he did; but yet I like it not. In that he wears the badge of Somerset.

War. Tush! that was but his fancy, blame him not;

I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm. York. And, if I wist he did,-But let it rest; Other affairs must now be managed.

[Exeunt YORK, WARWICK, and VERNON. Exe. Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy

voice;

For, hath the passions of thy heart burst out,
I fear we should have seen decipher'd there
More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,
Than yet can be imagin'd or suppos'd.
But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees
This jarring discord of nobility,

This should'ring of each other in the court,
This factious bandying of their favorites,
But that it doth presage some ill event.

'Tis much, when sceptres are in children's hands; But more, when envy breeds unkind division; There comes the ruin, there begins confusion. [Exit.

SCENE II.-France. Before Bourdeaux.

Enter TALBOT, with his Forces. Tal. Go to the gates of Bourdeaux, trumpeter, Summon their general unto the wall. Trumpet sounds a Parley. Enter, on the Walls, the General of the French Forces, and others. English John Talbot, captains, calls you forth, Servant in arms to Harry, king of England; And thus he would,-Open your city gates, Be humble to us; call my sovereign yours, And do him homage as obedient subjects, And I'll withdraw me and my bloody power: But, if you frown upon this protler'd peace, You tempt the fury of my three attendants, Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire; Who, in a moment, even with the earth Shall lay your stately and air-braving towers, If you forsake the offer of their love.

Gen. Thou ominous and fearful owl of death, Our nation's terror, and their bloody scourge!

The period of thy tyranny approach.eth.
On us thou canst not enter but by death:
For, I protest, we are well fortified,
And strong enough to issue out and fight:
If thou retire, the dauphin, well appointed,
Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee:
On either hand thee there are squadrons pitch'd.
To wall thee from the liberty of flight;
And no way canst thou turn thee for redress,
But death doth front thee with apparent spoil,
And pale destruction meets thee in the face.
Ten thousand French have ta'en the sacrament,
To rive their dangerous artillery

Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot.
Lo! there thou stand'st, a breathing valiant man,
Of an invincible unconquer'd spirit:
This is the latest glory of thy praise,
That I, thy enemy, due thee withal;
For ere the glass, that now begins to run,
Finish the process of this sandy hour,
These eyes, that see thee now well colored,
Shall see thee wither'd, bloody, pale, and dead.
[Drum afar of
Hark! hark! the dauphin's drum, a warning bell,
Sings heavy music to thy timorous soul;
And mine shall ring thy dire departure out.

[Exeunt General, &c., from the Walls.
Tal. He fables not, I hear the enemy;-
Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their wings.-
O, negligent and heedless discipline!

How are we park'd, and bounded in a pale;
A little herd of England's timorous deer,
Maz'd with a yelping kennel of French curs!
If we be English deer, be then in blood:
Not rascal-like, to fall down with a pinch;
But rather moody-mad, and desperate stags,
Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel,
And make the cowards stand aloof at bay:
Sell every man his life as dear as mine,
And they shall find dear deer of us, my friends.-
God, and saint George! Talbot, and England's
right!

Prosper our colors in this dangerous fight!

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-Plains in Gascony. Enter YORK, with Forces; to him a Messenger. That dogg'd the mighty army of the dauphin? York. Are not the speedy scouts return'd again,

Mess. They are return'd, my lord; and give it out, That he is march'd to Bourdeaux with his power, To fight with Talbot: As he march'd along, By your espials were discovered

Two mightier troops than that the dauphin led: Which join'd with him, and made their march for Bourdeaux.

York. A plague upon that villain Somerset;
That thus delays my promised supply

Of horsemen, that were levied for this siege!
Renowned Talbot doth expect my aid;
And I am lowted by a traitor villain,
And cannot help the noble chevalier:
God comfort him in his necessity!
If he miscarry, farewell wars in France.
Enter SIR WILLIAM LUCY.

Lucy. Thou princely leader of our English strength,

Never so needful on the earth of France,
Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot;'
Who now is girdled with a waist of iron,
And hemm'd about with grim destruction:
To Bourdeaux, warlike duke! to Bourdeaux, York!
Else, farewell Talbot, France, and England's honor.
York. O God! that Somerset-who in proud heart
Doth stop my cornets-were in Talbot's place!
So should we save a valiant gentleman,
By forfeiting a traitor and a coward.
Mad ire, and wrathful fury, makes me weep,
That thus we die, while remiss traitors sleep.
Lucy. O, send some succor to the distress'd lord!
York. He dies, we lose; I break my warlike word:
We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get;
All 'long of this vile traitor Somerset.
Lucy. Then, God take mercy on brave Talbot's
soul!