Than cherishing the exhibiters against us: And in regard of causes now in hand, ELY. How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord? Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms, ELY. What was the impediment that broke this off? ELY. 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, GLOUCESTER, 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?b K. HEN. Not yet, my cousin; we would be resolv'd, Before we hear him, of some things of weight, That ask our thoughts, concerning us and France. Enter the ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY, and the BISHOP of ELY. CANT. God and his angels guard your sacred throne, And make you long become it! K. HEN. Sure, we thank you. My learned lord, we pray you to proceed, And justly and religiously unfold, Why the law Salique, that they have in France, Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim. The severals, and unhidden passages,-] "This line I suspect of corruption, though it may be fairly enough explained. The passages of his titles are the lines of succession by which his claims descend. Unhidden is open, clear.”—JOHNSON In the quartos the play begins with this speech. And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord, 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, That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd As pure as sin with baptism. CANT. Then hear me, gracious sovereign,-and you peers, (1) That owe your lives, your faith, and services,a To this imperial throne.-There is no bar To make against your highness' claim to France, But this, which they produce from Pharamond, Where Charles the great, having subdued the Saxons, • That owe your lives, your faith, and services,-] The folio reading is-" your selves, your lives," &c. Gloze-] That is, misinterpret, put a false construction on; and not, we believe, as the commentators say, expound, or explain. Who died within the year of our redemption Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say, Did, as heir general, being descended Of Blithild, which was daughter to king Clothair, Of Charles the duke of Lorraine, sole heir male Daughter to Charles, the foresaid duke of Lorraine : So that, as clear as is the summer's sun, Than amply to imbared their crooked titles Usurp'd from you and your progenitors. K. HEN. May I with right and conscience make this claim? (*) First folio, shewes. To fine his title-] The first folio reads, "To find," &c. To fine his title may mean, to embellish, or prank up his title; or to point his title, as Shakespeare makes use of fine in both these and in other senses. Mason conjectured that the metaphor was derived from the fining of liquors, which is also probable. b Convey'd himself as heir to the lady Lingare,-] Thus the quartos. The folio, unmetrically, reads,— "Convey'd himself as th' heir to th' lady Lingare." The sense of convey'd, in this passage, is rendered plainly by Bishop Cooper :-"Conjicere se in familiam; to convey himself to be of some noble family." c King Lewis the tenth,-] This should be "Lewis the ninth." Shakespeare adopted the error from Holinshed." Than amply to imbare-] The folio has, imbarre; the first two quartos, imbace; and the third, embrace. We adopt the accepted reading, which was first suggested by Warburton, and signifies, to lay bare. For in the Book of Numbers is it writ,— * When the son dies, let the inheritance Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb, ELY. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprizes. 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, With blood and sword and fire to win your right: In aid whereof, we of the spiritualty Will raise your highness such a mighty sum, As never did the clergy at one time, 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. And cold for action!] That is, for want of action. They know your grace hath cause and means and might; So, tautologically, reads the passage in the folio, 1623, where alone it appears. We should, perhaps, transpose the words grace and cause, reading : "They know your cause hath grace and means and might;— So hath your highness;" or, retaining their original sequence, substitute haste for hath in the second line;— "So haste, your highness." 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 the ill neighbourhood.a CANT. She hath been then more fear'd 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; whom she did send to France, As is the ooze and bottom of the sea With sunken wreck and sumless treasuries. WEST. But there's a saying, very old and true,- Then with Scotland first begin: For once the eagle England being in prey, Comes sneaking, and so sucks her princely eggs; To spoil and havoc more than she can eat. EXE. It follows then, the cat must stay at home? Yet that is but a crush'de necessity, (*) First folio, tame. At the ill neighbourhood.] The quartos have, "Hath shook and trembled at the bruit hereof;" As Johnson suggested, we ought, probably, to substitute, Yet that is but a crush'd necessity,-] Thus the folio. The quartos have, "a curs'd necessity;" neither affords a perspicuous meaning. Mason proposed to read, "Yet that is not a curs'd necessity." Warburton, "a 'scus'd necessity." Capell, "a crude necessity." |