Go down upon him,-you have power enough,-Speak, captain, for his life, and I will thee
And in a captive chariot, into Rouen
Bring him our prisoner.

Fr. King Therefore, lord constable, haste on to be used.
Moutjoy:

And let him say to England, that we send
To know what willing ransom he will give.-
Prince Dauphin, you shall stay with us in
Rouen.

Dau. Not so, I do beseech your majesty.
Fr. King. Be patient, for you shall remain
with us.-

Now, forth, lord constable, and princes all
And quickly bring us word of England's fall.

Gow. Why, this is an arrant counterfeit rascal; I remember him now; a bawd; a cutpurse. Flu. I'll assure you, 'a utter'd as prave 'ords at the pridge, as you shall see in a summer's day: But it is very well; what he has spoke to me, that is well, I warrant you, when time is

serve.

Gow. Why, 'tis a gull, a fool, a rogue; that now and then goes to the wars, to grace himself, at his return into London, under the form of a commanders' names; and they will learn you soldier. And such fellows are perfect in great and such a sconce, at such a breach, at such a by rote, where services were done :-at such convoy; who came off bravely, who was shot, who disgraced, what terms the enemy stond on; and this they con perfectly in the phrase of And what a beard of the general's cut, and a war, which they trick up with new-tuned oaths: horrid suit of the camp, will do among foaming bottles and ale-washed wits, is wonderful to be thought on! but you must learn to know such slanders of the age, or else you may be marvellous mistook.

perceive, he is not the man that he would gladly Flu. I tell you what, Captain Gower;-I do make show to the 'orld he is; if I find a hole in his coat, I will tell him my mind. Drum heard.] Hark you, the king is coming; and I must speak with him from the pridge.

Enter King Henry, Gloster, and Soldiers. Flu. Got pless your majesty!

K. Hen. How now, Fluellen 7 camest thou from the bridge?

Flu. Ay, so please your majesty The duke

of Exeter has very gallantly maintained the Go, bid thy master well advise himself: pridge: The French is gone off, look you and If we may pass, we will: if we be hinder'd, there is gallant and most prave passages; Marry, We shall your tawny ground with your red blood th' athversary was have possession of the pridge; Discolour: and so, Montjoy, fare you well. but he is enforced to retire, and the duke of The sum of all our answer is but this: Exeter is master of the pridge; I can tell your majesty, the duke is a prave man.

K. Hen. What men have you lost, Fluellen? Flu. The perdition of th' athversary hath been very great, very reasonable great: marry, for my part, I think the duke hath lost never a man, but one that is like to be executed for robbing a church, one Bardolph, if your majesty know the man: his face is all bubukles, and whelks, and March to the bridge; it now draws toward knobs, and flames of fire; and his lips plows at night :his nose, and it is like a coal of fire, sometimes Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves; plue, and sometimes red; but his nose is execu- And on to-morrow bid them march away. ted, and his fire's out.

K. Hen. We would have all such offenders so SCENE VII. The French Camp, near Agincut off:-and we give express charge, that in our marches through the country, there be nothing compelled from the villages, nothing taken but paid for; none of the French upbraided, or abused in disdainful language; For when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner.

Con. You have good judgment in horsemanship.

Dau. Be warned by me then they that ride so, and ride not warily, fall into foul bogs; I had rather have my horse to my mistress.

Con. I had as lief have my mistress a jade. Dau. I tell thee, constable, my mistress wears her own hair.

Con. I could make as true a boast as that, if I had a sow to my mistress.

Dau. Le chien est retourne a son propre vomissement, et la truie lavee au bourbier: thou makest use of any thing.

Con. Yet do I not use my horse for my mistress; or any such proverb, so little kin to the purpose.

Ram. My lord constable, the armour, that I saw in your tent to-night, are those stars, or suns, upon it?

Con. Stars, my lord.

Dau. Some of them will fall to-morrow, I hope. Con. And yet my sky shall not want. Dau. That may be, for you bear a many superfonsly; and 'twere more honour, some were away.

Con. Even as your horse bears your praises; who would trot as well, were some of your brags dismounted.

Dau. 'Would I were able to load him with his desert! Will it never be day? I will trot to-morrow a mile, and my way shall be paved with English faces.

Con. I will not say so, for fear I should be faced out of my way: But I would it were morning, for I would fain be about the ears of the English.

Ram. Who will go to hazard with me for twenty
English prisoners

Con. You must first go yourself to hazard, ere you have them.

Dau. 'Tis midnight, I'll go arm myself.

Orl. The Dauphin longs for morning.
Ram. He longs to eat the English.
Con. I think, he will eat all he kills.

[Exit.

Orl. By the white hand of my lady, he's a gallant prince.

Con. Swear by her foot, that she may tread

out the oath.

Orl. He is, simply, the most active gentleman

of France.

Con. Doing is activity; and he will still be doing.

Orl. He never did harm, that I heard of.

Con. Who hath measured the ground?
Mess. The Lord Grandpre.

Con. A valiant and most expert_gentleman.'Would it were day!-Alas, poor Harry of England!-He longs not for the dawning as we do. Orl. What a wretched and peevish fellow is this king of England, to mope with his fat-brained followers so far out of his knowledge! Con. If the English had any apprehension, they would run away.

Orl. That they lack; for if their heads had any intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy head-piece.

Ram. That island of England breeds very valiant creatures; their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage.

Orl. Foolish curs! that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear, and have their heads crushed like rotten apples: You may as well say, that's a valiant flea, that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.

Con. Just, just; and the men do sympathize with the mastiffs, in robustious and rough coming on, leaving their wits with their wives; and then give them great meals of beef, and iron and steel, they will eat like wolves, and fight like devils.

Orl. Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef.

Con. Then we shall find to-morrow-they have only stomachs to eat, and none to fight. Now is it time to arm: Come, shall we about it? Orl. It is now two o'clock: but, let me see,by ten,

We shall have each a hundred Englishmen.

ACT IV.

Enter Chorus.

[Exeunt.

Chor. Now entertain conjecture of a time, When creeping murmur, and the poring dark, Fills the wide vessel of the universe.

From camp to camp, through the foul womb of
night,

The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fix'd sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other's watch:
Fire answers fire; and through their paly flames
Each battle sees the other's umber'd face:
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neigha
Piercing the night's dull ear; and from the tents,
The armourers, accomplishing the knights,

Con. Nor will ao none to-morrow; he will With busy hammers closing rivets up,
keep that good name still.

Orl. I know him to be valiant.

Give dreadful note of preparation.
The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll,

Con. I was told that, by one that knows him And the third hour of drowsy morning name. better than you.

Orl. What's he?

Con. Marry, he told me so himself; and he said, he cared not who knew it.

Orl. He needs not, it is no hidden virtue in him. Con. By my faith, sir, but it is; never any body saw it, but his lackey: 'tis a hooded valour; and, when it appears, it will bate.

Orl. Ill will never said well.

Con. I will cap that proverb with-There is flattery in friendship.

Orl. And I will take up that with-Give the devil his due.

Con. Well placed; there stands your friend for the devil: have at the very eye of that proverb, with-a pox of the devil.

Orl. You are the better at proverbs, by how much-A fool's bolt is soon shot.

Con. You have shot over.

Orl. "Tis not the first time you were overshot.

Enter a Messenger.

Proud of their numbers, and secure in soul,
The confident and over lusty French
Do the low-rated English play at dice;
And chide the cripple tardy-gaited night,
Who, like a foul and ugly witch, doth limp
So tediously away. The poor condemned Eng-
lish,

Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires
Sit patiently, and inly ruminate

The morning's danger; and their gestures zad
Investing lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats,
Presenteth them unto the gazing moon
So many horrid ghosts. O, now, who will be-
hold

The royal captain of this ruin'd band,
Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent,
Let him cry-Praise and glory on his head!
For forth he goes, and visits all his host;
Bids them good morrow, with a modest smile :
And calls them-brothers, friends, and country

men.

Upon his royal face there is no note,

Mess. My lord high constable, the English lie How dread an army hath enrounded him : within fifteen hundred paces of your tent.

Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour

Unto the weary and all-watched night;
But freshly looks, and overbears attaint,
With cheerful semblance, and sweet majesty;
That every wretch, pining and pale before,
Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks:
A largess universal, like the sun,

His liberal eye doth give to every one,

K. Hen. No, I am a Welshman.
Pist. Knowest thou Fluellen?
K. Hen. Yes.

Pist. Tell him, I'll knock his leek about his

pate,
Upon Saint Davy's day.

K. Hen. Do not you wear your dagger in your

Thawing cold fear. Then, mean and gentle all, cap that day, lest he knock that about yours.

Behold, as may unworthiness define,

A little touch of Harry in the night:
And so our scene must to the battle fly:
Where (O for pity!) we shall much disgrace-
With four or five most vile and ragged foils,
Right ill dispos'd, in brawl ridiculous,-
The name of Agincourt: Yet, sit and see;
Minding true things, by what their mockeries be.
[Exit.

SCENE I. The English Camp at Agincourt.
Enter King Henry, Bedford, and Gloster.
K. Hen. Gloster, 'tis true, that we are in great
danger;

The greater therefore should our courage be.
Good morrow, brother Bedford.-God Almighty!
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out;
For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful, and good husbandry:
Besides, they are our outward consciences,
And preachers to us all admonishing,
That we should dress us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed,
And make a moral of the devil himself.

Enter Erpingham.

Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham:
A good soft pillow for that good white head
Were better than a churlish tuft of France.
Erp. Not so, my liege: this lodging likes me
better,

Since I may say-now lie I like a king.

K. Hen. 'Tis good for men to love their pre-
sent pains,

Upon example; so the spirit is eased;
And, when the mind is quicken'd, out of doubt,
The organs, though defunct and dead before,
Break up their drowsy grave, and newly move
With casted slough and fresh legerity.
Lend me thy cloak, Sir Thomas.-Brothers both,
Commend me to the princes in our camp;
Do my good morrow to them; and, anon,
Desire them all to my pavilion.
Glo. We shall, my liege.

[Exeunt Gloster and Bedford.
Erp. Shall I attend your grace?
K. Hen.
No, my good knight;
Go with my brothers to my lords of England:
I and my bosom must debate awhile,
And then I would no other company.
Erp. The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble
Harry!
[Erit Erpingham.

Pist. Art thon his friend ?

K. Hen. And his kinsman too.
Pist. The figo for thee then!

K. Hen. I thank you: God be with you!
Pist. My name is Pistol called.

[Erit

K. Hen. It sorts well with your fierceness.
Enter Fluellen and Gower, severally.
Gow. Captain Fluellen !

Flu. So! in the name of Cheshu Christ, speak lower. It is the greatest admiration in the universal 'orld, when the true and anncient prerogatifes and laws of the wars is not kept: if you would take the pains but to examine the wars of Pompey the Great, you shall find, I warrant you, that there is no tiddle taddle, or pibble pabble, in Pompey's camp; I warrant you, you shall find the ceremonies of the wars, and the cares of it, and the forms of it, and the sobriety of it, and the modesty of it, to be otherwise.

Gow. Why, the enemy is loud; you heard him all night.

Flu. If the enemy is an ass, and a fool, and a prating coxcomb, is it meet, think you, that we should also, look you, be an ass, and a fool, and a prating coxcomb; in your own conscience now ?

Gow. I will speak lower.

Flu. I pray you, and beseech you, that you will. [Exeunt Gower and Fluellen. K. Hen. Though it appear a little out of fashion, There is much care and valour in this Welsh

man.

Enter Bates, Court, and Williams. Court. Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which breaks yonder ?

Bates. I think it be but we have no great cause to desire the approach of day."

Will. We see yonder the beginning of the day, but, I think, we shall never see the end of it. Who goes there?

K. Hen. A friend.

Will. Under what captain serve you? K. Hen. Under Sir Thomas Erpingham. Will. A good old commander, and a most kind gentleman: I pray you, what thinks he of our estate?

K. Hen. Even as men wrecked upon a sand, that look to be washed off the next tide.

Bates. He hath not told his thought to the king?

K. Hen. No; nor it is not meet he should. K. Hen. God-a-mercy, old heart! thou speak-For, though I speak it to you, I think, the king

est cheerfully.

Pist. Qui va la?

Enter Pistol.

is but a man, as I am: the violet smells to him,
as it doth to me; the element shows to him, as
it doth to me: all his senses have but human
conditions: his ceremonies laid by, in his naked-
ness he appears but a man; and though his af-
fections are higher mounted than ours, yet, when
they stoop, they stoop with the like wing; there-
fore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his
fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours
are: Yet, in reason, no man should possess him
with any appearance of fear, lest he, by show-

K. Hen. A friend.
Pist. Discuss unto me; Art thou officer;
Or art thou base, common, and popular 7
K. Hen. I am a gentleman of a company.
Pist. Trailest thou the puissant pike?
K. Hen. Even so: What are you?
Pist. As good a gentleman as the emperor.
K. Hen. Then you are a better than the king.ing it, should dishearten his army.
Pist. The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold,
A lad of life, an imp of fame;

Of parents good, of fist most valiant;

I kiss his dirty shoe, and from my heart-strings
I love the lovely bully. What's thy name?
K. Hen. Harry le Roy.

Pist. Le Roy a Cornish name: art thou
Cornish crew?

of

Bates. He may show what outward courage he will: but, I believe, as cold a night as 'tis, he could wish himself in the Thames up to the neck; and so I would he were, and I by him, at all adventures, so we were quit here.

K. Hen. By my troth, I will speak my com science of the king; I think, he would not wis Thimself any where but where he is.

Bates. Then, would he were here alone; so should he be sure to be ransomed, and a many poor men's lives saved.

K. Hen. I dare say, you love him not so ill, to wish him here alone; howsoever you speak this, to feel other men's minds: Methinks, I could not die any where so contented, as in the king's company; his cause being just, and his quarrel honourable.

Will. That's more than we know.

Will. Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully: but, when our throats are cut, he may be ransomed, and we ne'er the wiser.

K. Hen. If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.

Will. Let it be a quarrel between us, if you live.
K. Hen. I embrace it.

Will. 'Mass, you'll pay him then; That's a perilous shot out of an elder gun, that a poor and private displeasure can do against a monarch! you may as well go about to turn the sun to ice, with fanning in his face with a peaBates. Ay, or more than we should seek after; cock's feather. You'll never trust his word after ! for we know enough, if we know we are the come, 'tis a foolish saying. king's subjects; if his cause be wrong, our obe-K. Hen. Your reproof is something too round; dience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us. I should be angry with you, if the time were Will. But if the cause be not good, the king convenient. himself hath a heavy reckoning to make; when all those legs, and arms, and heads, chopped off in a battle, shall join together at the latter day, and cry all-We died at such a place; some, swearing; some, crying for a surgeon; some, upon their wives left poor behind them; some, upon the debts they owe; some, upon their children rawly left. I am afeard there are few die well, that die in hattle; for how can they charitably dispose of any thing, when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it; whom to disobey were against all proportion of subjection.

Wil. How shall I know thee again? K. Hen. Give me any gage of thine, and I will wear it in my bonnet: then, if ever thou darest acknowledge it, I will make it my quarrel. Will. Here's my glove, give me another of thine.

K. Hen. There.

Will. This will I also wear in my cap: if ever thou come to me and say, after to-morrow, This is my glove, by this hand, I will take thee a box on the ear.

K. Hen. If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it. Will. Thou darest as well be hanged. K. Hen. Well, I will do it, though I take thee in the king's company. Will Keep thy word: fare thee well. Bates. Be friends, you English fools, be friends; we have French quarrels enough, if you could tell how to reckon.

K. Hen. Indeed, the French may lay twenty French crowns to one, they will beat us; for they bear them on their shoulders: But it is no English treason to cut French crowns; and, tomorrow, the king himself will be a clipper.

[Exeunt Soldiers.

Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,
Our debts, our careful wives, our children, and
Our sins, lay on the king;-we must bear all.
O hard condition! twin-born with greatness,
Subjected to the breath of every fool,
Whose sense no more can feel but his own
wringing!

K. Hen. So, if a son, that is by his father sent about merchandise, do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the imputation of his wickedness, by your rule, should be imposed upon his father that sent him: or if a servant, under his master's command, transporting a sum of money, be assailed by robbers, and die in many irreconciled iniquities, you may call the business of the master the author of the servant's damnation -But this is not so: the king is not bound to answer the particular endings of his soldiers, the father of his son, nor the master of his servant; for they purpose not their death, when they purpose their services. Besides, there is no king, be his cause never so spotless, if it come to the arbitrement of swords, can try it out with all unspotted soldiers. Some, peradventure, have on them the guilt of premeditated and contrived murder; some, of beguiling virgins with the broken seals of perjury; some, making the wars their bulwark, that have before gored the gentle bosom of peace with pillage and robbery. Now, if these men have defeated the law, and outrun native punishment, though they can outstrip men, they have no wings to fly from God: war is his beadle, war is his vengeance; so that here men are punished, for before-breach of the king's laws, in now the king's quarrel where they feared the death, they have borne life away; and where they would be safe, they perish: Then if they die unprovided, no more is the king guilty of their damnation, than he was before guilty of those impieties for the which they are now visited. Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own. Therefore should every soldier in the wars do as every sick man in his bed, wash every What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet, mote out of his conscience: and dying so, death But poison'd flattery? O, be sick, great greatis to him advantage; or not dying, the time ness,

What infinite heart's ease must kings neglect,
That private men enjoy 7
And what have kings, that privates have not too,
Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
And what art thou, thou idle ceremony?
What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more
Of mortal griefs, than do thy worshippers?
What are thy rents ? what are thy comings in?
O ceremony, show me but thy worth!
What is thy soul of adoration?
Art thou aught else but place, degree, and form,
Creating awe and fear in other men ?
Wherein thou art less happy, being fear'd,
Than they in fearing.

was blessedly lost, wherein such preparation And bid thy ceremony give thee cure!
was gained and in him that escapes, it were
not sin to think, that making God so free an
offer, he let him outlive that day to see his
greatness, and to teach others how they should
prepare.

Will. "Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill is upon his own head, the king is not to answer for it.

Bates. I do not desire he should answer for me; and yet I determine to fight lustily for him.

Think'st thou, the fiery fever, will go out
With titles blown from adulation?
Will it give place to flexure and low bending?
Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's
knee,

Command the health of it? No, thou proud
dream,

That play'st so subtly with a king's repose:
I am a king, that find thee; and I know,,
"Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball,
The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,

K. Hen. I myself heard the king say, he would The inter-tissued robe of gold and pearl, not be ransomed.

The farced title running fore the king,