HENRY V. AFTER THE VICTORY OF AGINCOURT.

King Henry. O God, thy arm was here;
And not to us, but to thy arm alone,1
Ascribe we all! When, without stratagem,
But in plain shock and even play of battle,
Was ever known so great and little loss

On one part and on the other? Take it, God,
For it is none but thine!

Exeter.

'Tis wonderful!

K. Hen. Come, go we in procession to the village : And be it death proclaimed through our host

To boast of this or take that praise from God

Which is his only.

King Henry V., Act iv. Sc. 8, 1. III.

Even now

You may imagine him upon Blackheath ;

;

Where that his lords desire him to have borne
His bruised helmet and his bended sword

Before him through the city: he forbids it,

Being free from vainness and self-glorious pride;
Giving full trophy, signal, and ostent,

Quite from himself to God.

King Henry V., Act v. Prol. l. 15.

1 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. — Psalm xliv. 3.

The Just and Unjust contrasted.

Not easy is it to resist the just.

A righteous tongue has with it mightiest strength.
Be not afraid: speak thou the truth, and then

Thou shalt not fail.

WHAT

SOPHOCLES, Fragments, 99, 101, 513.

HAT stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though lock'd up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.

Second Part of King Henry VI., Act iii. Sc. 2, l. 232.

Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind;
The thief doth fear each bush an officer.

Third Part of King Henry VI., Act v. Sc. 6, 1. 11.

Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. The good I stand

on is my truth and honesty :

If they shall fail, I, with mine enemies,

Will triumph o'er my person; which I weigh not,

Being of those virtues vacant.

King Henry VIII., Act v. Sc. 1, l. 123.

1 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment. - Prov. xii. 19.

Character not to be judged by Appearances.

Among mankind we are all born alike
Of father and of mother. None excels
Another in his nature, but the fate
Of evil chance holds some of us, and some
Good fortune favours, and necessity
Holds some in bondage.

SOPHOCLES, Fragments, l. 518.

STRANGE is it that our bloods,

Of colour, weight, and heat, pour'd all together,
Would quite confound distinction, yet stand off
In differences so mighty. If she be

All that is virtuous, save what thou dislikest,
A poor physician's daughter, thou dislikest

Of virtue for the name: but do not so:

From lowest place when virtuous things proceed,
The place is dignified by the doer's deed:
Where great additions swell 's, and virtue none,
It is a dropsied honour. Good alone

Is good without a name.

All's Well that Ends Well, Act ii. Sc. 3, l. 126.

CHARACTER NOT TO BE JUDGED BY APPEARANCES. 29

We will unto your father's

Even in these honest mean habiliments :

Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor;
For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich;
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,
So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
What, is the jay more precious than the lark,
Because his feathers are more beautiful?

Or is the adder better than the eel,

Because his painted skin contents the eye?

O, no, good Kate; neither art thou the worse
For this poor furniture and mean array.

The Taming of the Shrew, Act iv. Sc. 3, l. 171.

Once or twice

I was about to speak and tell him plainly,
The selfsame sun that shines upon his court
Hides not his visage from our cottage, but
Looks on alike.1

The Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 4, 1. 454.

1 He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. — Matt. v. 45. Compare Job xxxiv. 19.

Unrighteous Judges.

One of the Seven was wont to say, that laws were like cobwebs; where the small flies were caught and the great brake through.

SIR FRANCIS BACON, Apothegms, 181.

O PERILOUS mouths,

That bear in them one and the self-same tongue,

Either of condemnation or approof!

Bidding the law make court'sy to their will;

Hooking both right and wrong to the appetite,
To follow as it draws!

Measure for Measure, Act ii. Sc. 4, l. 172.

Norfolk. He [Cardinal Wolsey] dives into the king's soul, and there scatters

Dangers, doubts, wringing of the conscience,

Fears, and despairs; and all these for his marriage :

And out of all these to restore the king,

He counsels a divorce; a loss of her
That, like a jewel, has hung twenty years
About his neck, yet never lost her lustre ;
Of her that loves him with that excellence
That angels love good men with; even of her
That, when the greatest stroke of fortune falls,
Will bless the king.

King Henry VIII., Act ii. Sc. 2, 1. 27.