Enter SALISBURY.

Sal. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed:
The French are bravely in their battles set,
And will with all expedience charge on us.

K.Hen. All things are ready, if our minds be so.
West. Perish the man, whose mind is backward now!
K.Hen. Thou dost not wish more help from England,
cousin?

West. God's will, my liege, 'would you and I alone, Without more help, might fight this battle out!

K.Hen. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men ;*

Which likes me better, than to wish us one.-
You know your places: God be with you all!

Tucket. Enter MONTJOY.

Mont. Once more I come to know of thee, king Harry, If for thy ransome thou wilt now compound, Before thy most assured overthrow :

For, certainly, thou art so near the gulf,

Thou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy,
The constable desires thee-thou wilt mind

Thy followers of repentance; that their souls

May make a peaceful and a sweet retire

From off these fields, where (wretches) their poor bodies Must lie and fester.

K.Hen. Who hath sent thee now?

Mont. The constable of France.

K.Hen. I pray thee, bear my former answer back ; Bid them achieve me, and then sell my bones.

Good God! why should they mock poor fellows thus ?
The man, that once did sell the lion's skin

While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him.
A many of our bodies shall, no doubt,

Find native graves; upon the which, I trust,
Shall witness live in brass of this day's work ;5

And those that leave their valiant bones in France,

Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills,
They shall be fam'd; for there the sun shall greet them,
And draw their honours reeking up to heaven;
Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime,
The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France.

[4] Holinshed makes the English army consist of 15,000, and the French of 60,000 horse, besides foot, &c. in all 100,000; while Walsingham and Harding represent the English as but 9000; and other authors say that the number of the French amouted to 150,000 STEEV.

[5] That is, in brazen plates anciently let into tomb-stones. STEEV.

Mark then abounding valour..in our English;
That, being dead, like to the bullet's grazing,
Break out into a second course of mischief,
Killing in relapse of mortality.

Let me speak proudly ;- -Tell the constable,
We are but warriors for the working-day :
Our gayness, and our gilt, are all besmirch'd
With rainy marching in the painful field;
There's not a piece of feather in our host,
(Good argument, I hope, we shall not fly,)
And time hath worn us into slovenry:
But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim :
And my poor soldiers tell me,-yet ere night
They'll be in fresher robes; or they will pluck
The gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads,
And turn them out of service. If they do this,
(As, if God please, they shall,) my ransome then
Will soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour;
Come thou no more for ransome, gentle herald;
They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints:
Which if they have as I will leave 'em to them,
Shall yield them little, tell the constable.

Mont. I shall, king Harry. And so fare thee well: Thou never shalt hear herald any more. [Exit. K.Hen. I fear, thou'lt once more come again for ran

some.

Enter the Duke of York."

York. My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg The leading of the vaward.

K.Hen. Take it, brave York.- -Now, soldiers, march away :

And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day! [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

The Field of Battle. Alarums, excursions. Enter French Soldier, PISTOL, and Boy.

Pist. Yield, cur.

Fr. Sol. Je pense, que vous estes le gentilhomme de bonne qualité.

Pist. Quality, call you me?—Construe me, art thou a gentleman? What is thy name? discuss.

[7] This personage is the same who appears in our author's King Richard II. by the title of Duke of Aumerle. Richard Earl of Cambridge, who ap pears in the second act of this play, was a younger brother of this Edward Duke of York. MAL.

Fr.Sol. O seigneur Dieu !

Pist. O, signeur Dew should be a gentleman :-
Perpend my words, O signeur Dew, and mark;
O signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox, 8
Except, O signieur, thou do give to me
Egregious ransome.

Fr.Sol. O prennez misericorde! ayez pitié de moy Pist. Moy shall not serve, I will have forty moys; For I will fetch thy rym out at thy throat,

9

In drops of crimson blood.

!

Fr.Sol. Est il impossible d'eschapper la force de ton bras ?

Pist. Brass, cur!'

Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat,

Offer'st me brass?

Fr.Sol. O pardonnez moy!

Pist. Say'st thou me so? is that a ton of moys 2.
Come hither, boy; ask me this slave in French,
What is his name?

Boy. Escoutez ; comment estes vous appellé ?
Fr.Sol. Monsieur le Fer.

Boy. He says, his name is-master Fer.

Pist. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him :-discuss the same in French unto him.

Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk.

Pist. Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat.
Fr.Sol. Que dit-il, monsieur ?

Boy. Il me commande de vous dire que vous faites vous prest; car ce soldat icy est disposé tout à cette heure de couper vostre gorge.

Pist. Ouy, couper gorge, par ma foy, pesant,
Unless thou give me crowns, brave crowns;
Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword.

Fr.Sol. O, je vous supplie pour l'amour de Dieu, me hardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison; gardez ma vie. & je vous donneray deux cents escus.

[8] Fox is an old cant word for sword.

STEEV.

[9] I should suppose ryno, instead of rym, to be the true reading. MASON. [] Either Shakspeare had very little knowledge in the French language, or his over-fondness for punning led him, in this place, contrary to his own judgment, into an error. Almost every one knows that the French word bras is pronounced brau; and what resemblance of sound does this bear to brass, that Pistol should reply, Brass, cur? The joke would appear to a reader, but could scarce be discovered in the performance of the play. SIR W. RAWLINSON.. [2] Moy is a piece of money; whence moi d'or or moi of gold. JOHNS.

Pist. What are his words?

Boy. He prays you to save his life: he is a gentleman of a good house; and, for his ransome, he will give you two hundred crowns.

Pist. Tell him,-my fury shall abate, and I

The crowns will take.

Fr.Sol. Petit monsieur, que dit-il ?

Boy. Encore qu'il est contre son jurement, de pardonner aucun prisonnier, neantmoins, pour les escus que vous l'avez promis, il est content de vous donner la liberté le franchisement.

Fr.Sol. Sur mes genoux, je vous donne mille remerciemens et je m'estime heureux que je suis tombé entre les mains d'un chevalier, je pense, le plus brave, valiant, & tres distingué seigneur d'Angleterre.

Pist. Expound unto me, boy.

Boy. He gives you, upon his knees, a thousand thanks and he esteems himself happy, that he hath fallen into the hands of (as he thinks) the most brave, valorous, and thrice worthy signieur of England. Pist. As I suck blood, I will some mercy show.Follow me, cur. [Exit PISTOL. Boy. Suivez vous le grand capitaine. [Ex. Fr. Sol. I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true,-The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. Bardolph, and Nym, had ten times more valour than this roaring devil i' the old play, 3 that every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger; and they are both hanged; and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing advent'rously. I must stay with the lackeys, with the luggage of our camp: the French might have a good prey of us, if he knew of it; for there is none to guard it, but boys.. [Exit:

SCENE V.

Another part of the Field of Battle. Alarums. Enter Dauphin, ORLEANS, BOURBON, Constable, RAMBURES, and others. Con. O diable!

Orl. O seigneur !-le jour est perdu, tout est perdu !! Dau. Mort de ma vie ! all is confounded, all! Reproach and everlasting shame

[3] In modern puppet-shows, which seem to be copied from the old farces. Punch sometimes fights the devil, and always overcomes him. I suppose the vice of the old farce to whom Punch succeeds, used to fight the devil with a wooden dagger. JOHNS.

36*

VOL. IV..

Sits mocking in our plumes.-0 meschante fortune !— Do not run away. [A short alarum.

Con. Why, all our ranks are broke.
Dau. O perdurable shame!-let's stab ourselves.
Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for ?
Orl. Is this the king we sent to for his ransome?
Bour. Shame, and eternal shame, nothing but shame!
Let us die instant: Once more back again;

And he that will not follow Bourbon now,
Let him go hence, and, with his cap in hand,
Like a base pander, hold the chamber-door,
Whilst by a slave, no gentler than my dog,
His fairest daughter is contaminate.

Con. Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now! Let us, in heaps, go offer up our lives

Unto these English, or else die with fame.

Orl. We are enough, yet living in the field,

To smother up the English in our throngs,

If any order might be thought upon.

Bour. The devil take order now! I'll to the throng; Let life be short; else shame will be too long. [Exeunt.

SCENE VI.

Another Part of the Field. Alarums Enter King HENRY, and Forces; EXETER, and others.

K.Hen. Well have we done, thrice valiant countrymen: But all's not done, yet keep the French the field.

Exe.The duke of York commends him to your majesty.
K.Hen. Lives he, good unclę? thrice, within this hour,
I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting;
From helmet to the spur, all blood he was.

Exe. In which array (brave soldier,) doth he lie,
Larding the plain: and by his bloody side,
(Yoke-fellow to his honour-owing wounds,)
The noble earl of Suffolk also lies.

Suffolk first died; and York, all haggled over,
Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteep'd,
And takes him by the beard; kisses the gashes,
That bloodily did yawn upon his face ;

And cries aloud,-Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk !
My soul shall thine keep company to heaven;
Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly a-breast;

[4] The Constable of France is throughout the play represented as a brave and generous enemy. STEEV.