But that defences, musters, preparations,

Should be maintain'd, assembled, and collected,
As were a war in expectation.

Therefore, I say, 'tis meet we all go forth,

To view the sick and feeble parts of France :

But let us do it with no show of fear;

No, with no more, than if we heard that England
Were busied with a whitsun morris-dance:

For, my good liege, she is so idly king'd,
Her sceptre so fantastically borne

By a vain, giddy, shallow, humourous youth,
That fear attends her not.

Const. O peace, Prince Dauphin!

You are too much mistaken in this king;
And you shall find, his vanities fore-spent
Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus,
Covering discretion with a coat of folly.

Dau. Well, 'tis not so, my lord high constable;
But, though we think it so, it is no matter:
In cases of defence, 'tis best to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems;
So, the proportions of defence are fill'd.

Fr. King. Think we king Harry strong;
And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him.
The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us;
And he is bred out of that bloody strain,
That hunted us in our familiar paths:
Witness our too much memorable shame,
When Cressy battle fatally was struck,
And all our princes captiv'd, by the hand

Of that black name, Edward, black prince of Wales; Whiles that his mountain sire,-on mountain stand

ing,

Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun,-
Saw his heroical seed, and smil'd to see him

Mangle the work of nature, and deface

The patterns that by Heaven, and by French fathers, Had twenty years been made. This is a stem

Of that victorious stock; and let us fear
The native mightiness and fate of him.

Enter MONTJOY.

Mont. Embassadors from Henry king of England Do crave admittance to your majesty.

and bring them.

Fr. King. We'll give them present audience. Go, [Exit MONTJOY. You see, this chase is hotly follow'd, friends.

Dau. Turn head, and stop pursuit; for coward

dogs

Most spend their mouths, when what they seem to threaten,

Runs far before them. Good my sovereign,

Take up the English short; and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head:

Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin,

As self-neglecting.

Enter MONTJOY, EXETER, and Two ENGLISH LORDS.

Fr. King. From our brother England?

Exe. From him; and thus he greets your majesty,

He wills you, in the awful name of Heav'n,
That you divest yourself, and lay apart,

The borrow'd glories, that,

By law of nature, and of nations, 'long

To him, and to his heirs; namely, the crown,
And all wide-stretched honours that pertain,
By custom and the ordinance of times,

Unto the crown of France. That you may know,
'Tis no sinister, nor no awkward claim,
Pick'd from the worm holes of long-vanish'd days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion rak'd,

[Presents a Pedigree.
He sends you this most memorable line:
Willing you overlook his pedigree:
And, when you find him evenly deriv'd
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors,

Edward the third, he bids

you then resign

Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him, the native and true challenger.
Fr. King. Or else what follows?

Exe. Bloody constraint; for if you hide the crown
E'en in your hearts, there will he rake for it:
And therefore in fierce tempest is he coming,
In thunder, and in earthquake, like a Jove;
That, if requiring fail, he may compell:-
This is his claim, his threat'ning, and my message;
Unless the Dauphin be in presence here,

To whom expressly I bring greeting too.

Fr. King. For us, we will consider of this further; To-morrow shall you bear our full intent Back to our brother England.

Dau. For the Dauphin,

I stand here for him.-What to him from England?
Exe. Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome

The mighty sender, doth he prize you at:
Thus says my king:-and, if your father's highness
Do not, in grant of all demands at large,
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,
He'll call you to so hot an answer for it,
That caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass, and return your mock,
In second accent of his ordinance.

Dau. Say, if my father render fair reply,

It is against my will; for I desire

Nothing but odds with England; to that end,

As matching to his youth and vanity,

I did present him with those Paris balls.

Exe. He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it:

And, be assur'd, you'll find a difference

Between the promise of his greener days,

And these he masters now :-now, he weighs time
E'en to the utmost grain;-which you shall read
In your own losses, if he stay in France.

Fr. King. To-morrow you shall know our mind at

full.

Exe. Despatch us with all speed, lest that our king Come here himself to question our delay;

For he is footed in this land already.

Fr. King. You shall be soon despatch'd, with fair conditions:

A night is but small breath, and little pause,

To answer matters of this consequence.

[Flourish of Drums and Trumpets. Exeunt.

ACT THE THIRD.

SCENE I.

Before the Gates of Harfleur.

Shouts-Alarums-Cannon.

Enter KING HENRY, EXETER, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, WESTMORELAND, GOWER, LORDS, CAPTAIN, and SOLDIERS.

K. Hen. Once more unto the breach, dear friends,

once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead!
Beat in the rondure of their rampar❜d walls,
Or tear the lions out of England's coat!

[Shouts-Charge-Cannon.-Exeunt.

Enter BOY, PISTOL, NYM, and BARDOLPH.

Bard. On, on, on, on, on! to the breach! to the breach!

Nym. 'Pray thee, lieutenant, stay; the knocks are too hot; and, for mine own part, I have not a case of lives: The humour of it is too hot, that is the very plain song of it.

Pist. The plain song is most just; for humours do abound;

Knocks go and come; Heaven's vassals drop and die ; And sword and shield,

In bloody field,

Doth win immortal fame.

Boy. 'Would I were in an ale-house in London! I would give all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety. Enter FLUELlen.

Flu. Up to the preach, you dogs! Avaunt, you [Drives them all off.

cullions!

Enter GoWER.

Gow. Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to the mines; the Duke of Gloster would speak with you.

Flu. To the mines? Tell you the duke, it is not so good to come to the mines; for, look you, the mines is not according to the disciplines of the war; the concavities of it is not sufficient; for, look you, th' athversary (you may discuss unto the duke, look you,) is digt himself four yards under the countermines: I think 'a will plow up all, if there is not petter di

rections.

- [4 Parley sounded.]

Gow. The town sounds a parley.

[Flourish of Drums and Trumpets.]

Enter KING HENRY, with EXETER, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, WESTMORELAND, and his Train.

The GOVERNOR and CITIZENS enter on the Walls.

K. Hen. How yet resolves the governor of the

town?