*The LIFE of
King HENRY V.
An Antechamber in the English Court, at
Kenilworth.
Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop of Ely.
Archbishop of CANTERBURY.
Y lord, I'll tell you; that felf bill is urg'd,
Which, in th' eleventh year o' th' laft King's
reign,
Was like, and had, indeed against us paft,
But that the scambling and unquiet time
Did push it out of further question.
Ely. But how, my lord, fhall we refift it now?
Cant. It must be thought on: if it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our poffeffion :
For all the temporal lands, which men devout
By teftament have given to the Church,
Would they ftrip from us; being valu'd thus,
As much as would maintain, to the King's honour,
Full fifteen Earls and fifteen hundred Knights,
The life of Henry V.] This Play was writ (as appears from a Paf fage in the Chorus to the fifth A&t) at the Time of the Earl of Effex's commanding the Forces in Ireland in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, and not till after Henry the VIth had been played, as may be feen by the Conclufion of this Play. Mr. Pope.
Six thousand and two hundred good Efquires:
And to relief of lazars, and weak age
Of indigent faint fouls, paft corporal toil,
A hundred alms-houses, right well fupply'd;
And to the coffers of the King, befide,
A thousand pounds by th' year. Thus runs the bill.
Ely. This would drink deep.
Cant. 'Twould drink the cup and all.
Ely. But what prevention?
Cant. The King is full of grace and fair regard.
Ely. And a true lover of the holy Church.
Cant. The courfes of his youth promis'd it not;
The breath no fooner left his father's body,
But that his wildnefs, mortify'd in him,
Seem'd to die too; yea, at that very moment,
Confideration, like an angel, came,
And whipt th' offending Adam out of him;
Leaving his Body as a Paradife,
T'invelope and contain celeftial fpirits.
Never was fuch a fudden fcholar made:
Never came reformation in a flood
With fuch a heady current, fcow'ring faults:
Nor ever Hydra-headed wilfulness
So foon did lofe his feat, and all at once,
As in this King.
Ely. We're bleffed in the change.
Cant. Hear him but reafon in divinity,
And, all-admiring, with an inward with
You would defire, the King were made a Prelate.
Hear him debate of common-wealth affairs,
You'd fay, it hath been all in all his ftudy.
Lift his difcourfe of war, and you fhall hear
A fearful battle render'd you in music.
Turn him to any caufe of policy,
The Gordian knot of it he will unloofe,
Familiar as his garter. When he speaks,
The air, a charter'd libertine, is ftill;
And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears,
To fteal his fweet and honied fentences:
So that the Act, and practic part of life,
Must be the mistress to this theorique.
Which is a wonder how his Grace should glean it,
Since his addiction was to courses vain;
His companies unletter'd, rude and fhallow;
His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports;
And never noted in him any ftudy,
Any retirement, any fequeftration
From open haunts and popularity.
Ely. The Strawberry grows underneath the nettle, And wholefome berries thrive, and ripen best, Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality:
And fo the Prince obfcur'd his contemplation
Under the veil of wildnefs; which, no doubt,
Grew like the fummer grass, fastest by night,
Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.
Cant. It must be fo; for miracles are ceas'd:
And therefore we must needs admit the means,
How things are perfected.
Ely. But, my good lord,
How now for mitigation of this bill,
Urg'd by the Commons; doth his Majefty
Incline to it, or no?
Cant. He feems indifferent;
Or rather fwaying more upon our part,
Than cherishing th' exhibiters against us.
For I have made an offer to his Majefty,
Upon our fpiritual Convocation;
And in regard of caufes now in hand,
Which I have open'd to his Grace at large,
As touching France, to give a greater Sum,
Than ever at one time the Clergy yet
Did to his predeceffors part withal.
Ely. How did this offer feem receiv'd, my Cant. With good acceptance of his Majesty: Save that there was not time enough to hear (As, I perceiv'd, his Grace would fain have done)
The feverals, and unhidden paffages
Or his true titles to fome certain Dukedoms,
And, generally, to the Crown of France
Deriv'd from Edward his great grandfather.
Ely. What was th' impediment, that broke this off?
Cant. The French Ambassador upon that instant
Crav'd audience; and the hour, I think, is come
To give him hearing. Is it four o'clock ?
Ely. It is.
Cant. Then go we in to know his embaffy:.
Which I could with a ready guefs declare,
Before the Frenchman speaks a word of it.
Ely. I'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it.
Enter King Henry, Gloucester, Bedford, Clarence, Warwick, Weftmorland, and Exeter.
HERE is my gracious lord of Canterbury?
Exe. Not here in presence.
K. Henry. Send for him, good uncle.
Weft. Shall we call in th' ambaffador, my Liege? K. Henry. Not yet, my coufin; we would be refolv'd,
Before we hear him, of some things of weight, That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.
Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Bishop of Ely.
Cant. God and his angels guard your facred throne, And make you long become it!
K. Henry. Sure, we thank you.
My learned lord, we pray you to proceed;
And juftly and religiously unfold,
Why the law Salike, that they have in France,
Or fhould, or should not, bar us in our claim.
And, God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,
That you should fashion, wreft, or bow your reading;
Or nicely charge your understanding foul
With opening titles mifcreate, whose right
Suits not in native colours with the truth.
For, God doth know, how many now in health
Shall drop their blood, in approbation
Of what your reverence fhall incite us to.
Therefore take heed, how you impawn our perfon;
How you awake our fleeping fword of war:
We charge you in the name of God, take heed.
For never two fuch kingdoms did contend
Without much fall of blood; whofe guiltlefs drops.
Are every one a woe, a fore complaint,
'Gainft him, whofe wrong gives edge unto the swords,
That make fuch wafte in brief mortality.
Under this conjuration, fpeak. my lord;
For we will hear, note, and believe in heart,
That what you speak is in your confcience washt,
As pure as fin with baptifm.
Cant. Then hear me, gracious Sovereign, and
That owe your lives, your faith, and fervices,
To this imperial throne. There is no bar
To make against your Highnefs' claim to France,
But this which they produce from Pharamond;
In terram Salicam Mulieres nè fuccedant;
No Woman Shall fucceed in Salike land:
Which Salike land the French unjustly gloze
To be the realm of France, and Pharamond
The founder of this law and female bar.
Yet their own authors faithfully affirm,
That the land Salike lies in Germany,
Between the floods of Sala and of Elve:
Where Charles the great, having fubdu'd the Saxons, There left behind and fettled certain French:
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