But see his exequies fulfill'd in Rouen:
A braver soldier never couched lance,
A gentler heart did never sway in court;
But kings and mightiest potentates must die,
For that's the end of human misery.

SCENE III.-The Plains near Rouen.

[Exeunt.

Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD, ALENÇON, LA PUCELLE, and Forces.

Puc. Dismay not, princes, at this accident,
Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered:
Care is no cure, but rather corrosive,
For things that are not to be remedied.
Let frantic Talbot triumph for awhile,
And like a peacock sweep along his tail;
We'll pull his plumes and take away his train,
If Dauphin and the rest will be but rul'd.

Char. We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence:
One sudden foil shall never breed distrust.

Bast. Search out thy wit for secret policies,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
Alen. We'll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenc'd like a blessed saint:
Employ thee, then, sweet virgin, for our good.
Puc. Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise:
By fair persuasions, mix'd with sugar'd words,
We will entice the Duke of Burgundy

To leave the Talbot and to follow us.

Char. Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that, France were no place for Henry's warriors;

Nor should that nation boast it so with us,

But be extirped from our provinces.

Alen. For ever should they be expuls'd from France, And not have title of an earldom here.

Puc. Your honours shall perceive how I will work

To bring this matter to the wished end.

[Drums heard.

Hark! by the sound of drum you may perceive

Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.

An English March. Enter, and pass over at a distance,
TALBOT and his Forces.

There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread,
And all the troops of English after him.

A French March. Enter the DUKE OF BURGUNDY and his

Forces.

Now in the rearward comes the duke and his:
Fortune in favour makes him lag behind.
Summon a parley; we will talk with him.

[A parley sounded.

Char. A parley with the Duke of Burgundy!
Bur. Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
Puc. The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.
Bur. What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching hence.
Char. Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words.
Puc. Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France!

Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee.

Bur. Speak on; but be not over-tedious.

Puc. Look on thy country, look on fertile France,

And see the cities and the towns defac'd

By wasting ruin of the cruel foe!

As looks the mother on her lovely babe

When death doth close his tender dying eyes,

See, see the pining malady of France;

Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
Which thou thyself hast given her woeful breast!
O, turn thy edged sword another way;

Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help!
One drop of blood drawn from thy country's bosom
Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore:
Return thee, therefore, with a flood of tears,

And wash away thy country's stained spots.

Bur. Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words, Or nature makes me suddenly relent.

Puc. Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee, Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.

Who join'st thou with but with a lordly nation
That will not trust thee but for profit's sake?
When Talbot hath set footing once in France,
And fashion'd thee that instrument of ill,
Who then but English Henry will be lord,
And thou be thrust out like a fugitive?
Call we to mind,-and mark but this for proof,—
Was not the Duke of Orleans thy foe?
And was he not in England prisoner?
But when they heard he was thine enemy,
They set him free, without his ransom paid,
In spite of Burgundy and all his friends.
See, then, thou fight'st against thy countrymen,

And join'st with them will be thy slaughter-men.
Come, come, return; return, thou wand'ring lord;
Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms.
Bur. I am vanquished; these haughty words of hers
Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot,
And made me almost yield upon my knees.—
Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen!
And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace:
My forces and my power of men are yours:
So, farewell, Talbot; I'll no longer trust thee.

Puc. Done like a Frenchman,-turn, and turn again! Char. Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship makes us fresh.

Bast. And doth beget new courage in our breasts.
Alen. Pucelle hath bravely play'd her part in this,

And doth deserve a coronet of gold.

Char. Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers; And seek how we may prejudice the foe.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-PARIS. A Room in the Palace.

Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, and other Lords, VERNON, BASSET, &c. To them TALBOT and some of his Officers.

Tal. My gracious prince, and honourable peers,

Hearing of your arrival in this realm,

I have awhile given truce unto my wars,

To do my duty to my sovereign:

In sign whereof, this arm,-that hath reclaim'd

To your obedience fifty fortresses,

Twelve cities, and seven walled towns of strength,
Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem,-

Lets fall his sword before your highness' feet,
And with submissive loyalty of heart

Ascribes the glory of his conquest got

First to my God and next unto your grace.

K. Hen. Is this the Lord Talbot, uncle Gloster,

That hath so long been resident in France?

Glo. Yes, if it please your majesty, 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 said
A stouter champion never handled sword.
Long since we were resolved of your truth,
Your faithful service, and your toil in war;
Yet never have you tasted our reward,

Or been reguerdon'd with so much as thanks,
Because till now we never saw your face:
Therefore, stand up; and for these good deserts
We here create you Earl of Shrewsbury;

And in our coronation take your place.

[Exeunt K. HEN., GLO., TAL., and Nobles.

Ver. Now, sir, to you, that were so hot at sea, Disgracing of these colours that I wear

In honour of my noble Lord of York,

Dar'st thou maintain the former words thou spak'st?
Bas. Yes, sir; as well as you dare patronage

The envious barking of your saucy tongue
Against my lord the Duke of Somerset.
Ver. Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.
Bas. Why, what is he? as good a man as York.
Ver. Hark ye; not so: in witness, take ye that.

[Strikes him.
Bas. Villain, thou know'st the law of arms is such
That whoso draws a sword 'tis present death,
Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood.
But I'll unto his majesty, and crave

I may have liberty to venge this wrong;

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

Ver. Well, miscreant, I'll be there as soon as you; And, after, meet you sooner than you would.

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-PARIS. A Room of State.

Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WINCHESTER, WARWICK, TALBOT, the Governor of Paris, and others.

Glo. Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head.
Win. God save King Henry, of that name the sixth !
Glo. Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,—

[Governor kneels.

That you elect no other king but him;
Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,
And none your foes but such as shall pretend
Malicious practices against his state:
This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!

[Exeunt Gov. and his Train.

Enter SIR JOHN FASTOLFE.

Fast. My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais, To haste unto your coronation,

A letter was deliver'd to my hands,

[Plucking it of.

Writ to your grace from the Duke of Burgundy.
Tal. Shame to the Duke of Burgundy and thee!
I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,
Which I have done,-because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.—
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
This dastard, at the battle of Patay,

When but in all I was six thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,—
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire, did run away:
In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;
Myself, and divers gentlemen beside,
Were there surpris'd and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss ;
Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea or no.

Glo. To say the truth, this fact was infamous,
And ill beseeming any common man,

Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.

Tal. When first this order was ordain'd, my lords,

Knights of the garter were of noble birth,

Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage,
Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress,
But always resolute in most extremes.
He, then, that is not furnish'd in this sort
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honourable order,
And should,-if I were worthy to be judge,-
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.

K. Hen. Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear'st thy doom!

Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight:
Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.
And now, my lord protector, view the letter
Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy.

[Exit FAST.

Glo. What means his grace, that he hath chang'd his

style?

[Viewing the superscription.

No more but, plain and bluntly, To the King?