Ver. Well, miscreant, I'll be there as soon as you; And, after, meet you sooner than you would. [Exeunt. ACT IV. SCENE I. The same. 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, Writ to your grace from the duke of Burgundy. [Plucking it off. (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, In which assault we lost twelve hundred men; 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 parking therefore, thou that wast a knight; [Exit FASTOLfe. And now, my lord protector, view the letter Sent from our uncle duke of Burgundy. Glo. What means his grace, that he hath chang'd his style? [Viewing the superscription. No more but, plain and bluntly, To the king? Hath he forgot, he is his sovereign? Or doth this churlish superscription What's here? — I have upon especial cause, [Reads. Mov'd with compassion of my country's wreck, Of such as your oppression feeds upon,- And join'd with Charles, the rightful king of France. O monstrous treachery! Can this be so; That in alliance, amity, and oaths, There should be found such false dissembling guile? And give him chastisement for this abuse:- Tal. Content, my liege? Yes; but that I am prevented, I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd. Let him perceive, how ill we brook his treason; Tal Enter VERNON and BASSET. [Exit. Ver. Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign! Say, gentlemen, What makes you thus exclaim? First let me know, and then I'll answer you. Bas, Crossing the sea from England into France, Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves Ver. And that is my petition, noble lord: Yet know, my lord, I was provok'd by him; that the paleness of this flower Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart. K. Hen. Good lord! what madness rules in brain sick men; When, for so slight and frivolous a cause, York. There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset. Let me persuade you, take a better course. Exe. It grieves his highness;- Good my lords, be friends. K. Hen. Come hither, you that would be combatants: Henceforth, I charge you, as you love our favour, Quite to forget this quarrel, and the cause.-And you, my lords, remember where we are; In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation: If they perceive dissension in our looks, And that within ourselves we disagree,' How will their grudging stomachs be provok'd To wilful disobedience, and rebel? Beside, What infamy will there arise, When foreign princes shall be certified, That, for a toy, a thing of no regard, King Henry's peers, and chief nobility, Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France? O, think upon the conquest of my father, My tender years; and let us not forego Thai for a trifle, that was bought with blood! I see no reason, if I wear this rose, [Pulling on a red Rose. That any one should therefore be suspicious 1 more incline to Somerset, than York: Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both: And therefore, as we hither came in peace, Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot; Your angry choler on your enemies. From thence to England; where I hope ere long With Charles, Alencon, and that traitorous rout. [Flourish. Exeunt K. HEN. GLO. SOM. WIN. SUF, and BASSET. War. My lord of York, I promise you, the king Prettily, methought, did play the orator. York. And so he did; but yet I like it not, In that he wears the badge of Somerset. War. Tush! that was but his fancy, blame him not; I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm. York. And if I wist he did, but let it rest; Other affairs must now be managed. [Exeunt YORK, WARWICK, and VERNON, Exe. Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice: For, had the passions of thy heart burst out, I fear we should have seen decipher'd there' More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils, But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees This should'ring of each other in the court, 'Tis much, when sceptres are in children's hands; There comes the ruin, there begins confusion.' [Exit. |