Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.1 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 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 titles2 to some certain dukedoms; Ely. What was the 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. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-The same. A room of State in the same. Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, WARWICK, WESTMORELAND, and Attendants. K. Hen. Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury? Exe. Not here in presence. K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. West. Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege? ¡ (1) Crescive in his faculty; i. e. increasing in its proper power and nature. (2) The severals and unhidden passages, Of his true titles, i. e. The details and the clear lines of succession by which his claims descend. K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin; we would be resolv'd, Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY and BISHOP OF ELY. Cant. God and his angels guard your sacred throne, And make you long become it! K. Hen. And justly and religiously unfold, Why the law Salique, that they have in France, 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: For 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 yourselves, your lives, and services, To this imperial throne :-There is no bar To make against your highness' claim to France, (1) Or nicely charge your understanding soul, i. e. Beware lest you burthen your knowing soul with nice and subtle sophistry in this matter. (2) How you impawn our person. Impawn is here used for engage: i. e. Take care how you engage us in difficulties or fallacies. Yet their own authors faithfully affirm Where Charles the Great, having subdued the Saxons, Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say, Of Blithild, which was daughter to king Clothair, Was lineal of the lady Ermengare, Daughter to Charles the foresaid duke of Loraine : So that, as clear as is the summer's sun, (1) Lewis the tenth. This is a mistake which Shakspeare copied from Holinshed Lewis the ninth, commonly called S Lewis, is here intended. King Pepin's title, and Hugh Capet's claim, K. Hen. May I, with right and conscience, make this claim? Cant. The sin upon my head, dread sovereign! For in the book of Numbers is it writ, When the man dies, let the inheritance Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb, O noble English, that could entertain All out of work, and cold for action! 1 Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises. Exe. Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth Do all expect that you should rouse yourself, As did the former lions of your blood. West. They know your grace hath cause, and means, and might: So hath your highness; never king of England Had nobles richer, and more loyal subjects; Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England, And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France. Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege, (1) Cold for action, i. e. cold for want of action; opposed to hot for action. Р With blood, and sword, and fire, to win your right: Will raise your highness such a mighty sum, Bring in to any of your ancestors. K. Hen. We must not only arm to invade the French, But lay down our proportions to defend Against the Scot, who will make road upon us With all advantages. Cant. They of those marches,' gracious sovereign, Shall be a wall sufficient to defend Our inland from the pilfering borderers. K. Hen. We do not mean the coursing snatchers only, That England, being empty of defence, Hath shook and trembled at th' ill neighbourhood. Cant. She hath been then more fear'd2 than harm'd, my liege : For hear her but exampled by herself, When all her chivalry hath been in France, And she a mourning widow of her nobles, The king of Scots;3 whom she did send to France, As is the ooze and bottom of the sea With sunken wrack and sumless treasuries. Then with Scotland first begin." For once the eagle England being in prey, (1) They of those marches, i. e. those who inhabit the marches or border tracts between England and Scotland. (2) More fear'd. Fear'd here means frightened. (3) The king of Scots. When Edward III. was in France, the Scots, taking advantage of his absence, invaded England; but they were met by Queen Philippa at Neville's Cross, where they were defeated, and David their king was taken prisoner. |