Ely. We're blessed in the change.
Can. Hear him but reason in divinity,
And, all admiring, with an inward wish

You would desire the king were made a prelate :
Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs,

You would say,-it has been all-in-all his study:
List his discourse of war, and you shall hear
A fearful battle render'd you in music:
Turn him to any cause of policy,

The gordian knot of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter; that, when he speaks,
The air, a charter'd libertine, is still,
And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears,
To steal his sweet and honied sentences;
So that the art, and practic part of life,
Must be the mistress to this theoric:

Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it,
Since his addiction was to courses vain ;

His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow;
His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports;
And never noted in him any study,

Any retirement, any sequestration
From open haunts, and popularity.

Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, And wholesome berries thrive, and ripen best, Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality:

And so the prince obscured his contemplation
Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt,
Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,
Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.—
But, my good lord,

How now for mitigation of this bill,

Urged by the commons?

Incline to it, or no?

Doth his majesty

Can. He is rather swaying more upon our part Than cherishing the exhibitors against us:

For I have made an offer to his majesty,-
As touching France,-to give a greater sum
Than ever at one time the clergy yet

Did to his predecessors part withal.

Ely. How did this offer seem received, my lord? Can. With good acceptance of his majesty;

Save, that there was not time enough to hear (As, I perceived, his grace would fain have done,) The severals, and unhidden passages,

Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms,

And, generally, to the crown of France,
Derived from Edward, his great grandfather.

Ely. What was the impediment that broke this off?
Can. The French embassador, upon that instant,
Craved audience: and the hour, I think, is come,
To give him hearing: Is it four o'clock?
Ely. It is.

Can. Then go we in, to know his embassy.
Ely. I'll wait upon you; and I long to hear it.

SCENE II.-The Audience Chamber.

drums and trumpets.``

KING HENRY discovered on his throne.

[Exeunt, R.

Flourish of

GLOSTER,

BEDFORD, EXETER, WESTMORELAND. CAMBRIDGE, SCROOP, GREY, HERALDS, &c. attending,

K. Hen. Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury? Bed. Not here in presence.

K. Hen. Send for him, good brother.

[Exit a HERAld, r. West. Shall we call in the embassador, my liege? K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin: we would be resolved, Before we hear him, of some things of weight, That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.

Enter HERALD, with the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY and the BISHOP of ELY, R.

Can. Heav'n and his angels guard your sacred throne,

And make you long become it!

K. Hen. Sure, we thank you.

My learned lord, we pray you to proceed;

And justly, and religiously unfold,

Why the law Salique, that they have in France,

Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim.

And heav'n forbid, my dear and faithful lord,

That you should fashion, rest, or bow your reading;
Or nicely charge your understanding soul

With opening titles miscreate, whose right
Suits not in native colours with the truth;

For Heaven doth know, how many, now in health,
Shall drop their blood in approbation

Of what your reverence shall incite to us:
Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,
How you awake the sleeping sword of war;

Pistol. Quiet thy cudgel! thou dost see, I eat.

Act V. Scene 1.

PRINTED FROM THE ACTING COPY, WITH REMARKS,
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL, BY D-G.

To which are added,

A DESCRIPTION OF THE COSTUME,-CAST OF THE CHARACTERS, ENTRANCES AND EXITS,-RELATIVE POSITION OF THE PERFORMERS ON THE STAGE, AND THE WHOLE OF THE STAGE BUSINESS.

As performed at the

THEATRES ROYAL, LONDON,

EMBELLISHED WITH A FINE ENGRAVING,

By MR. WHITE, from a Drawing taken in the Theatre, by
MR. R. CRUIKSHANK.

LONDON:

JOHN CUMBERLAND, 6, BRECKNOCK PLACE,

CAMDEN NEW TOWN.

We charge you, in the name of Heaven, take heed.Under this conjuration, speak, my lord.

Can. Then hear me, gracious sovereign :-
There is no bar

To make against your highness' claim to France,
But this, which they produce from Pharamond;
"No woman shall succeed in Salique land:"
Which Salique 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 Salique lies in Germany,
Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe:
Nor did the French possess the Salique land
Until four hundred one and twenty years
After defunction of king Pharamond,
Idly supposed the founder of this law:
Besides, their writers say,

King Pepin, who deposed Childerick,
Did hold in right and title of the female :
So do the kings of France unto this day:

Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law,

To bar your highness claiming from the female.

K. Hen. May I, with right and conscience, make this claim?

Can. The sin upon my head, dread sovereign! For in the book of Numbers it is writ,

When the son dies, let the inheritance

Descend unto the daughter.

Exe. Gracious lord,

Stand for your own; unwind your bloody flag;
Look back unto your mighty ancestors:

Go, my dread lord, to your great grandsire's tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,
And your great uncle's, Edward the Black Prince:
Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,
Making defeat on the full power of France;
While his most mighty father on a hill

Stood smiling, to behold his lion whelp

Forage in blood of French nobility.

Glost. (R.) O noble English, that could entertain,
With half their forces, the full pride of France,
And let another half stand laughing by,

All out of work, and cold for action!

West. (L.) Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, And with vour puissant arm renew their feats,