Pist. Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins, we will live.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Southampton. A Council-Chamber.

Enter EXETER, BEDFORD, and WESTMORELAND.

Bed. 'Fore God, his grace is bold, to trust these traitors.

Exe. They shall be apprehended by and by.
West. How smooth and even they do bear them-
selves!

As if allegiance in their bosoms sat,
Crowned with faith, and constant loyalty.

Bed. The king hath note of all that they intend, By interception which they dream not of.

Exe. Nay, but the man that was his bedfellow, Whom he hath cloy'd and grac'd with princely favours,―

That he should, for a foreign purse, so sell
His sovereign's life to death and treachery!

Trumpet sounds.

Enter King HENRY, SCROOP, CAMBRIDGE, GREY, Lords, and Attendants.

K. Hen. Now sits the wind fair, and we will aboard.

My lord of Cambridge,—and my kind lord of Masham,

And you, my gentle knight,--give me your thoughts:

Think you not, that the powers we bear with us, Will cut their passage through the force of France; Doing the execution, and the act,

For which we have in head assembled them? 8 Scroop. No doubt, my liege, if each man do his best.

K. Hen. I doubt not that: since we are well per

suaded,

We carry not a heart with us from hence,
That grows not in a fair consent with ours;
Nor leave not one behind, that doth not wish
Success and conquest to attend on us.

Cam. Never was monarch better fear'd, and lov'd, Than is your majesty; there's not, I think, a subject, That sits in heart-grief and uneasiness

Under the sweet shade of your government.

Grey. Even those, that were your father's enemies,

Have steep'd their galls in honey; and do serve you With hearts create of duty and of zeal.

K. Hen. We therefore have great cause of thankfulness;

And shall forget the office of our hand,
Sooner than quittance of desert and merit,
According to the weight and worthiness.

Scroop. So service shall with steeled sinews toil;
And labour shall refresh itself with hope,
To do your grace incessant services.

K. Hen. We judge no less.-Uncle of Exeter, Enlarge the man committed yesterday, That rail'd against our person: we consider, It was excess of wine that set him on; And, on his more advice,' we pardon him. Scroop. That's mercy, but too much security: Let him be punish'd, sovereign; lest example

For which we have in head assembled them?] In head seems synonymous with the modern military term in force.

9

and zeal.

hearts create-] Hearts compounded or made up of duty

more advice,] On his return to more coolness of mind.

Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.
K. Hen. O, let us yet be merciful.

Cam. So may your highness, and yet punish too. Grey. Sir, you show great mercy, if you give him life,

After the taste of much correction.

K. Hen. Alas, your too much love and care of me Are heavy orisons 'gainst this poor wretch. If little faults, proceeding on distemper,

Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye,3 When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digested,

Appear before us?-We'll yet enlarge that man, Though Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey,-in their dear care,

And tender preservation of our person,

Would have him punish'd. And now to our French

causes;

Who are the late commissioners ?4

Cam. I one, my lord;

Your highness bade me ask for it to-day.
Scroop. So did you me, my liege.
Grey. And me, my royal sovereign.

K. Hen. Then, Richard, earl of Cambridge, there is yours;

There yours, lord Scroop of Masham;-and, sir knight,

Grey of Northumberland, this same is yours:Read them; and know, I know your worthiness.My lord of Westmoreland,—and uncle Exeter,—

proceeding on distemper,] It has been just said by the king, that it was excess of wine that set him on, and distemper may therefore mean intoxication. Distemper'd in liquor is still a common expression.

3 how shall we stretch our eye,] If we may not wink at small faults, how wide must we open our eyes at great?

4 Who are the late commissioners?] That is, as appears from the sequel, who are the persons lately appointed commissioners?

We will aboard to-night.-Why, how now, gentle

men?

What see you in those papers, that you lose

So much complexion?-look ye, how they change! Their cheeks are paper.-Why, what read you there,

That hath so cowarded and chas'd your blood
Out of appearance?

Cam.

I do confess my fault;

And do submit me to your highness' mercy.
Grey. Scroop. To which we all appeal.

K. Hen. The mercy, that was quick in us but late,

By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd:
You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy;
For your own reasons turn into your bosoms,
As dogs upon their masters, worrying them.-
See you, my princes, and my noble peers,
These English monsters! My lord of Cambridge
here,-

You know, how apt our love was, to accord
To furnish him with all appertinents
Belonging to his honour; and this man
Hath, for a few light crowns, lightly conspir'd,
And sworn unto the practices of France,
To kill us here in Hampton: to the which,
This knight, no less for bounty bound to us
Than Cambridge is,-hath likewise sworn.-But O!
What shall I say to thee, lord Scroop; thou cruel,
Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature!

Thou, that did'st bear the key of all my counsels,
That knew'st the very bottom of my soul,
That almost might'st have coin'd me into gold,
Would'st thou have practis'd on me for thy use?
May it be possible, that foreign hire

S quick-] That is, living.

Could out of thee extract one spark of evil,
That might annoy my finger? 'tis so strange,
That, though the truth of it stands off as gross
As black from white, my eye will scarcely see it.
Treason, and murder, ever kept together,
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in a natural cause,
That admiration did not whoop at them:
But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in
Wonder, to wait on treason, and on murder:
And whatsoever cunning fiend it was,
That wrought upon thee so preposterously,
H'ath got the voice in hell for excellence:
And other devils, that suggest by treasons,
Do botch and bungle up damnation

With patches, colours, and with forms being fetch'd
From glistering semblances of piety;

8

But he, that temper'd thee, bade thee stand up, Gave thee no instance why thou should'st do trea

son,

Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor.

If that same dæmon, that hath gull'd thee thus,
Should with his lion gait walk the whole world,
He might return to vasty. Tartar9 back,
And tell the legions-I can never win
A soul so easy as that Englishman's.
O, how hast thou with jealousy infected

6 though the truth of it stands off as gross,

As black from white,] Though the truth be as apparent and visible as black and white contiguous to each other. To stand off is être relevé, to be prominent to the eye, as the strong parts of a picture.

7

so grossly Palpably; with a plain and visible connection of cause and effect.

8

will.

9

he that temper'd thee,] i. e. rendered thee pliable to his

vasty Tartar -] i. e. Tartarus, the fabled place of future punishment.