Lards, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and several Attendants both on the English and French. The SCENE is partly in Englard, and partly in France. A CT. I. SCENE I. Brandith your crystal treffes in the sky; And with them fcourge the bad revolting stars, Dead March. Enter the Fune al of King Henry the That have confented unto Henry's death! Fifib, attended on by the Duke of Bedford, Re-Henry the fifth, too famous to live long! England ne'er loft a king of fo much worth. gent of France; the Duke of Glofter, Protector; the Duke of Exeter, and the Earl of Warwick the Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of So merfet, &c. Bed. Hie UNG be the heavens with black, Comets, importing change of times and states, Virtue he had, deferving to command: Glo. England ne'er had a king, until his time. I Mr. Theobald obferves, that "the historical tranfactions contained in this play, take in the compass of above thirty years. I muft obferve, however, that our author, in the three parts of Henry VI. has not been very precife to the date and difpofition of his facts; but shuffled them, backwards and forwards, out of time. For inftance; the lord Talbot is kill'd at the end of the fourth act of this play, who in reality did not fall till the 13th of July 1453; and The Second Part of Henry VI opens with the marriage of the king, which was folemnized eight years before Talbot's death, in the year 1445. Again, in the fecond part, dame Eleanor Cobham is introduced to infult queen Margaret; though her penance and banishment for forcery happened three years before that princefs came over to England. I could point out many other tranfgreffions against history, as far as the order of time is concerned. Indeed, though there are several matter-ftrokes in thefe three plays, which inconteftably betray the workmanship of Shakspeare; yet I am almoft doubtful, whether they were entirely of his writing. And unlefs they were wrote by him very early, I fhould rather imagine them to have been brought to him as a director of the stage; and fo have received fome finishing beauties at his hand. An accurate obferver will eafly fee, the diction of them is more obfolete, and the nuinpers more mean and profaical, than in the generality of his genuine compofitions.” What What should I fay? his deeds exceed all speech: Henry is dead, and never fhall revive: Win. He was a king bleft of the King of Kings. Glo. The church! where is it? Had not church- His thread of life had not fo foon decay'd : And lookest to command the prince, and realm. Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'ft the flesh; And ne'er throughout the year to church thou goft, Except it be to pray against thy foes. Bed. Ceafe, ceafe thefe jars, and rest your minds | in peace! Let's to the altar :-) When at their mothers' moift eyes habes fhall fuck; Enter a Meflenger. Meff. My honourable lords, health to you all! Sad tidings bring I to you out of France, Of lofs, of flaughter, and difcomfiture: Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans, Paris, Guyfors, Poictiers, are all quite loft. Bed. What fay it thou, man, before dead Henry's corfe? Speak foftly; or the lofs of thofe great towns Among the foldiers this is muttered,→→ One would have ling ring wars, with little coft: Fre. Were our tears wanting to this funeral, Thefe tidings would call forth their flowing tides. Bed. Me they concern; regent I am of France :Give me my fteeled coat, I'll fight for France.Away with thefe difgraceful wailing robes! Wounds I will lend the French, inttead of eyes, To weep their intermiffive 2 miteries. Enter to them another Messenger. 2 Meff. Lords, view these letters, full of bad France is revolted from the English quite; [Exit. Exe. The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to O, whither fhall we fly from this reproach? [him! Glo.We will not fly,but to our enemies' throats:Bedford, if thou be flack, I'll fight it out. Bed. Glofter, why doubt'it thou of my forwardness? An army have 1 mufter'd in my thoughts, 3 Mell. My gracious lords,-to add to your laments, Wherewith you now bedew king Henry's hearfe,I must inform you of a difmal fight, Betwixt the ftout lord Talbot and the French. Win. What! wherein Talbot overcame ? is't fo? 3 Meff. O, no; wherein lord Talbot was o'erthrown: The circumstance I'll tell you more at large. Nourish here fignifies a nurse. i. c. their miseries, which have had only a fhort intermiffion from Henry the Fittir's death to my coming amongit them. 3 i. c. fcareely. All All the whole army stood agaz'd on him: Bed. Is Talbot flain? then I will flay myself, 3 Meff. O no, he lives; but is took prifoner, And lord Scales with him, and lord Hungerford: Moft of the rest flaughter'd, or took, likewife. Bed. His ranfom there is none but I fhall pay : I'll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne, His crown fhall be the ranfom of my friend; Four of their lords I'il change for one of ours.Farewel, my mafters; to my task will I; Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make, To keep our great Saint George's feast withal: Ten thousand foldiers with me I will take, Whofe bloody deeds thall make all Europe quake. 3 Me. So you had need; for Orleans is befieg'd; The English army is grown weak and faint: The earl of Salisbury craveth fupply; And hardly keeps his men from mutiny, Since they, fo few, watch fuch a multitude. Exe. Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry Either to quell the Dauphin utterly, Bid. I do remember it; and here take leave, [Exit. Glo. I'll to the Tower with all the hafte I can, To view the artillery and munition; And then I will proclaim young Henry king. [Exit. Exe. To Eltham will I, where the young king is, Being ordain'd his special governor; And for his fafety there I'll beft devife. So in the earth, to this day is not known: Alen. They want their porridge, and their fat Either they must be dieted, like mules, Now for the honour of the forlorn French :- Re-enter Charles, Alencon, and Reigrier. Char. Who ever faw the like? what men have I- Reg. Salisbury is a defperate homicide; Alen. Froifard, a countryman of ours, records, It fendeth forth to fkirmish. One to ten! Char. Let's leave this town; for they are hair brain'd flaves, And hunger will enforce them to be more eager : Of old I know them; rather with their teeth The walls they'll tear down, than forfake the fiege. Reig. I think, by fome odd gimimals 3 or device, [Exit. Their arms are fet, like clocks, ftill to frike on; Win. Each hath his place and function to attend : Elfe they could ne'er hold out fo, as they do. I am left out; for me nothing remains. But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office; The king from Eltham I intend to end, And fit at chiefett ftern of public weal. SCENE 11. [Exit. Before Orleans in France. Enter Charles, Alencon, and Reignier, marching with a Drum and Soldiers. Char. Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens, By my confent, we'll e'en let them alone. Enter the Baftard of Orleans. Baft. Where's the prince Dauphin? I have news for him. Dau. Baftard of Orleans, thrice welcome to us. Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence? 1 i. e. the back part of the van or front. 2 Thefe were two of the most famous in the lift of Charlemagne's twelve peers; and their exploits are render'd fo ridiculously and equally extravagant by the old romancers, that from thence arole that faying amongst our plain and fenfible ancestors, of giving one & Rowland for his Oliver, to fignify the matching one incredible lye with another; or, as in the modern acceptation of the proverb, to give a perfon as good a one as he brings. 3 A gimmal is a piece of jointed work, where one piece moves within another, whence it is taken at large for an engine. It is now vulgarly caled gimcrack. 4 Chear is cour tenance, appearance. A holy maid hither with me I bring, And drive the English forth the bounds of France. Dan. Go, call her in: But firit, to try her ikill, Reig. Fair maid, is't thou wilt do thefe wondrous Reig. She takes upon her bravely at firft dath. daughter, My wit untrain'd in any kind of art. Heaven, and our Lady gracious, hath it pleas'd And, whereas I was black and twart before, Dau. Then come o' God's name, I fear no we man. Pucel. And, while I live, I'll never fly no man. Pacel. Chrift's mother helps ne, elfe I were too Dau. Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that muit My heart and hands thou haft at once fubdu’d. Pucel. I must not vield to any rites of love, thrall. Reig. My lord, methinks, is very long in talk. Elfe ne'er could he fo long protract his speech. Reg. Shall we difturb him, fince he keeps no Alen. He may mean more than we poor men do Shall we give over Orleans, or no? Pucel. Why, no, I fay, diftruftful recreants! it out. Pucel. Affign'd I am to be the English scourge. Till, by broad spreading, it difperie to nought Dau. Thou haft aftonith'd me with thy high Now am I like that proud infulting ship, terms: Only this proof I'll of thy valour make,-- Pucel. I am prepar'd: here is my keen-edg'd Deck'd with fine flower-de-luces on each fide; The which, at Torraine in Saint Katharine's churchyard, Out of a deal of old iron I chose forth. Which Caefar and his fortune bare at once. Dau. Was Mahomet infpired with a dove 4 ? Alen. Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege. Drive them from Orleans, and be immortaliz'd. I There were no nire fibyls of Rome; but our author confounds things, and miftakes this for the nine books of Sibylline oracles, brought to one of the Tarquins. 2 It should be read, believe her words. 3 That is, expe& profperity after misfortune, like fair weather at Martlemas, after winter has begun. 4 Mahomet had a dove, which he uted to feed with wheat out of his ear; which dove, when it was hungry, lighted on Mahomet's fhoulder, and thruft its bill in to find it's breakfaft; Maomet perfuading the rude and fimple Arabians, that it was the Holy Gholl that gave him advice. Meaning, the four daughters of Philip mentioned in the Ads. |