KING HENRY V. ACT I. SCENE I.-London. An Ante-chamber in the King's Palace. Enter the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, and Bishop of ELY. Canterbury. My lord, I'll tell you, that self bill is urg'd, Ely. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now? Would they strip from us; being valued thus,- And to the coffers of the king beside, A thousand pounds by th' year: Thus runs the bill, Cant. 'Twould drink the cup and all. Ely. But what prevention ? Cant. The king is full of grace, and fair regard. Cant. The courses of his youth promis'd it not. And whipp'd th' offending Adam out of him; To envelop and contain celestial spirits. So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, Ely. We are blessed in the change. Cant. Hear him but reason in divinity, You would desire, the king were made a prelate ; The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it, His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow; Any retirement, any sequestration From open haunts and popularity.' Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle ; And so the prince obscur'd his contemplation [5] As paradise, when sin and Adam were driven out by the angel, became the habitation of celestial spirits, so the king's heart, since consideration has driven out his follies, is now the receptacle of wisdom and of virtue. JOHNSON. [6] Alluding to the method by which Hercules cleansed the famous stables, when he turned a river through them. Hercules is still in our author's head when he mentions the Hydra. JOHNSON. [7] This line is exquisitely beautiful. JOHNSON. [8] Theoric is what terminates in speculation. STEEVENS. Companies for companions. MALONE. [1] That is plebeian intercourse. STEEVENS. Unseen, yet cressive in his faculty. Cant. It must be so 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 majesty Cant. He seems indifferent; Or, rather, swaying more upon our part, And in regard of causes now in hand, Ely. How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord? Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms ; Ely. What was th' impediment that broke this off? Ely. It is. : Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy; Which I could, with a ready guess, declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. Ely. I'll wait upon you; and I long to hear it. [Exe. SCENE II.-The same. A room of state in the same. Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXEter, WarWESTMORELAND, and Attendants. WICK, K. Hen. Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury? [2] Increasing in its proper power. JOHNSON. "Crescit occulto velut arbor ævo "Fama Marcelli." STEEVENS. [3] This line I suspect of corruption, though it may be fairly enough explained: K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. West. Shall we call in th' ambassador, my liege? That task our thoughts, concerning us and France. K. Hen. Sure, we thank you. My learned lord, we pray you to proceed; Why the law Salique, that they have in France, And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord, That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading, Of what your reverence shall incite us to: 'Gainst him, whose wrongs give edge unto the swords Under this conjuration, speak, my lord: And we will hear, note, and believe in heart, As pure as sin with baptism. Cant. Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers, That owe your lives, your faith, and services, To this imperial throne ;-There is no bar the passages of his titles of the lines of succession by which his claims descended Unhidden is open, clear. JOHNSON. [4] Take heed, lest by nice and subtle sophistry you burthen your knowing soul, or knowingly burthen your soul, with the guilt of advancing a false title, or of maintaining, by specious fallacies, a claim which, if shown in its native and true cofours, would appear to be false. JOHNSON. [5] The allusion here is to the game of chess, and to the disposition of the pawns with respect to the King, at the commencement of this mimetic contest. HENLEY. [6] This whole speech is copied (in a manner verbatim) from Hall's Chronicle, Henry V. year the second, folio iv. xx. xxx, xl. &c. POPE. To make against your highness' claim to France, No woman shall succeed in Salique land: Where Charles the great, having subdued the Saxons, Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say, Did, as heir general, being descended Of Blithild, which was daughter to king Clothair, -- Of Charles the duke of Lorain, sole heir male Glore-Expound, explain, and sometimes comment upon. REED. [8] This is the reading of the quarto of 1680; that of the folio is-To find his title I believe that find is right; the jury finds for the plaintiff, or finds for the defendant: to find his title, is, to determine in favour of his title with some show of truth. STEEVENS. [9] Derived his title. MALONE. VOL. VI. |