And, with fubmiffive loyalty of heart,
Afcribes the glory of his conquest got,
First to my God, and next unto your grace.

K. HEN. Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Glofter,' That hath fo long been refident in France?

GLO. Yes, if it please your majefty, my liege. K.HEN. Welcome, brave captain, and victorious lord!

When I was young, (as yet I am not old,)
I do remember how my father faid,*
A ftouter champion never handled fword.
Long fince we were refolved of your truth,'
Your faithful fervice, and your toil in war;
Yet never have you tafted our reward,

Or been reguerdon'd with fo much as thanks,
Because till now we never faw your face:
Therefore, ftand up; and, for thefe good deferts,
We here create you earl of Shrewsbury;
And in our coronation take your place.

[Exeunt King HENRY, GLOSTER, TALBOT, and
Nobles.

3 Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Glofter,] Sir Thomas Hanmer fupplies the apparent deficiency in this line, by reading

Is this the fam'd lord Talbot, &c.

So, in Troilus and Creffida:

"My well fam'd lord of Troy." STEEVENS.

4 I do remember how my father faid,] The author of this play was not a very correct hiftorian. Henry was but nine months old when his father died, and never faw him. MALONE.

5

refolved of your truth,] i. e. confirmed in opinion of it. So, in the Third Part of this play:

66

- I am refolv'd

"That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue."

STEEVENS.

• Or been reguerdon'd-] i. e. rewarded. The word was obfolete even in the time of Shakspeare. Chaucer ufes it in the Boke of Boethius. STEEVENS.

VER. Now, fir, to you, that were so hot at sea, Difgracing of these colours that I wear"

In honour of my noble lord of York,

Dar'ft thou maintain the former words thou fpak'ft?

BAS. Yes, fir; as well as you dare patronage
The envious barking of your faucy tongue
Against my lord, the duke of Somerfet.

VER. Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.
BAS. Why, what is he? as good a man as York.
VER. Hark ye; not fo: in witnefs, take ye that.
[Strikes bim.

BAS. Villain, thou know'ft, the law of arms is

fuch,

That, who fo draws a fword, 'tis prefent death; 3

7

thefe colours that I wear-] This was the badge of a rofe, and not an officer's fcarf. So, in Love's Labour's Loft. A&t III. fcene the laft:

"And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop,"

TOLLET.

8 That, who fo draws a fword, 'tis prefent death;] Shakspeare

wrote:

draws a fword i'th' prefence 't's death;

i. c. in the court, or in the prefence chamber.

WARBURTON.

This reading cannot be right, becaufe, as Mr. Edwards obferved, it cannot be pronounced. It is, however, a good comment, as it fhows the author's meaning. JOHNSON.

I believe the line fhould be written as it is in the folio:
That, who fo draws a fword,-

i. e. (as Dr. Warburton has obferved) with a menace in the court, or in the prefence chamber. STEEVENS.

Johnfon, in his collection of Ecclefiaftical Laws, has preferved the following, which was made by Ina, king of the Weft Saxons, 693: "If any one fight in the king's houfe, let him forfeit all his eftate, and let the king deem whether he shall live or not." I am told that there are many other ancient canons to the fame purpofe. Grey. STEEVENS.

Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood. But I'll unto his majefty, and crave

I may have liberty to venge this wrong;

When thou shalt fee, I'll meet thee to thy cost.

VER. Well, mifcreant, I'll be there as foon as

you;

And, after, meet you fooner than you would.

[Exeunt.

Sir William Blackstone obferves that, "by the ancient law before the Conqueft, fighting in the king's palace, or before the king's judges, was punished with death. So too, in the old Gothic conftitution, there were many places privileged by law, quibus major reverentia et fecuritas debetur, ut templa et judicia, quæ fancia habebantur,arces et aula regis,-denique locus quilibet prefente aut adventante rege. And at prefent with us, by the Stat. 33 Hen. VIII. c. 12. malicious ftriking in the king's palace, wherein his royal perfon refides, whereby blood is drawn, is punishable by perpetual imprisonment and fine, at the king's pleafure; and alfo with lofs of the offender's right hand, the folemn execution of which fentence is prescribed in the statute at length." Commentaries, Vol. IV. p. 124. By the ancient common law, alfo before the Conqueft, ftriking in the king's court of juftice, or drawing a fword therein, was a capital felony." ibid. p. 125. Reed.

ACT IV. SCENE I.

The fame. A Room of State.

Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WINCHESTER, WARWICK, TALBOT, the Governour of Paris, and Others.

GLO. Lord bishop, fet the crown upon his head. WIN. God fave king Henry, of that name the fixth !

GLO. Now, governour of Paris, take your oath,[Governour kneels. That you elect no other king but him: Efteem none friends, but fuch as are his friends; And none your foes, but fuch as fhall pretend Malicious practices against his ftate:

This fhall ye do, fo help you righteous God! [Exeunt Gov. and his Train.

Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE.

FAST. My gracious fovereign, as I rode from Calais,

To hafte 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!

9

fuch as shall pretend-] To pretend is to defign, to intend. JOHNSON.

So, in Macbeth:

"What good could they pretend?" STEEVENS.

I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,"
[Plucking it off.

(Which I have done) because unworthily
Thou waft inftalled in that high degree.-
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the reft:
This daftard, at the battle of Patay,3-

When but in all I was fix thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,—
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trufty fquire, did run away;
In which affault we loft twelve hundred men;
Myfelf, and divers gentlemen befide,
Were there furpriz'd, and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amifs;
Or whether that fuch cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea, or no.

GLO. To fay the truth, this fact was infamous,

2 To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,] Thus the old copy. STEEVENS.

3

at the battle of Patay,] The old copy has-Poitiers. MALONE.

The battle of Poitiers was fought in the year 1357, the 31st of King Edward III. and the fcene now lies in the 7th year of the reign of King Henry VI. viz. 1428. This blunder may be juftly imputed to the players or tranfcribers; nor can we very well juftify ourfelves for permitting it to continue fo long, as it was too glaring to have escaped an attentive reader. The action of which Shakfpeare is now fpeaking, happened (according to Holinfhed)" neere unto a village in Beauffe called Pataie," which we should read, inftead of Poitiers. "From this battell departed without anie ftroke ftriken, Sir John Faftolfe, the fame yeere by his valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter. But for doubt of mifdealing at this brunt, the duke of Bedford tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter," &c. Holinhed, Vol. II. p. 601. Monftrelet, the French hiftorian, alfo bears witness to this degra dation of Sir John Faftelfe. STEEVENS.