HENRY THE FIFTH

Act 1 Scene 2

(Enter King Harry, the Dukes of Gloucester, Clarence, and Exeter, and the Earls of Warwick and Westmorland)
l1l	King Harry	 Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury?
l2l	Exeter	Not here in presence.
	King Harry	Send for him, good uncle.
l3l	Westmorland	Shall we call in th’ ambassador, my liege?
l4l	King Harry	Not yet, my cousin. We would be resolved,
l5l		Before we hear him, of some things of weight
l6l		That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.
		(Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely)
l7l	Canterbury	 God and his angels guard your sacred throne,
l8l		And make you long become it.
	King Harry	Sure we thank you.
l9l		My learnèd lord, we pray you to proceed,
l10l		And justly and religiously unfold
l11l		Why the law Salic that they have in France
l12l		Or should or should not bar us in our claim.
l13l		And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,
l14l		That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading,
l15l		Or nicely charge your understanding soul
l16l		With opening titles miscreate, whose right
l17l		Suits not in native colours with the truth#
l18l		For God doth know how many now in health
l19l		Shall drop their blood in approbation
l20l		Of what your reverence shall incite us to.
l21l		Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,
l22l		How you awake our sleeping sword of war#
l23l		We charge you in the name of God take heed.
l24l		For never two such kingdoms did contend
l25l		Without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops
l26l		Are every one a woe, a sore complaint
l27l		’Gainst him whose wrongs gives edge unto the swords
l28l		That makes such waste in brief mortality.
l29l		Under this conjuration speak, my lord,
l30l		For we will hear, note, and believe in heart
l31l		That what you speak is in your conscience washed
l32l		As pure as sin with baptism.
l33l	Canterbury	Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers
l34l		That owe your selves, your lives, and services
l35l		To this imperial throne. There is no bar
l36l		To make against your highness’ claim to France
l37l		But this, which they produce from Pharamond:
l38l		“In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant”—
l39l		“No woman shall succeed in Salic land”—
l40l		Which “Salic land” the French unjustly gloss
l41l		To be the realm of France, and Pharamond
l42l		The founder of this law and female bar.
l43l		Yet their own authors faithfully affirm
l44l		That the land Salic is in Germany,
l45l		Between the floods of Saale and of Elbe,
l46l		Where, Charles the Great having subdued the Saxons,
l47l		There left behind and settled certain French
l48l		Who, holding in disdain the German women
l49l		For some dishonest manners of their life,
l50l		Established there this law: to wit, no female
l51l		Should be inheritrix in Salic land—
l52l		Which Salic, as I said, ’twixt Elbe and Saale,
l53l		Is at this day in Germany called Meissen.
l54l		Then doth it well appear the Salic Law
l55l		Was not devisèd for the realm of France.
l56l		Nor did the French possess the Salic land
l57l		Until four hundred one-and-twenty years
l58l		After defunction of King Pharamond,
l59l		Idly supposed the founder of this law,
l60l		Who died within the year of our redemption
l61l		Four hundred twenty-six# and Charles the Great
l62l		Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French
l63l		Beyond the river Saale, in the year
l64l		Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,
l65l		King Pepin, which deposèd Childeric,
l66l		Did, as heir general—being descended
l67l		Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clotaire—
l68l		Make claim and title to the crown of France.
l69l		Hugh Capet also—who usurped the crown
l70l		Of Charles the Duke of Lorraine, sole heir male
l71l		Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great—
l72l		To fine his title with some shows of truth,
l73l		Though in pure truth it was corrupt and naught,
l74l		Conveyed himself as heir to th’ Lady Lingard,
l75l		Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son
l76l		To Louis the Emperor, and Louis the son
l77l		Of Charles the Great. Also, King Louis the Ninth,
l78l		Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,
l79l		Could not keep quiet in his conscience,
l80l		Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied
l81l		That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother,
l82l		Was lineal of the Lady Ermengarde,
l83l		Daughter to Charles, the foresaid Duke of Lorraine#
l84l		By the which marriage, the line of Charles the Great
l85l		Was reunited to the crown of France.
l86l		So that, as clear as is the summer’s sun,
l87l		King Pepin’s title and Hugh Capet’s claim,
l88l		King Louis his satisfaction, all appear
l89l		To hold in right and title of the female#
l90l		So do the kings of France unto this day,
l91l		Howbeit they would hold up this Salic Law
l92l		To bar your highness claiming from the female,
l93l		And rather choose to hide them in a net
l94l		Than amply to embar their crookèd titles,
l95l		Usurped from you and your progenitors.
l96l	King Harry	May I with right and conscience make this claim?
l97l	Canterbury	The sin upon my head, dread sovereign.
l98l		For in the Book of Numbers is it writ,
l99l		“When the son dies, let the inheritance
l100l		Descend unto the daughter.” Gracious lord,
l101l		Stand for your own# unwind your bloody flag#
l102l		Look back into your mighty ancestors.
l103l		Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire’s tomb,
l104l		From whom you claim# invoke his warlike spirit,
l105l		And your great-uncle’s, Edward the Black Prince,
l106l		Who on the French ground played a tragedy,
l107l		Making defeat on the full power of France,
l108l		Whiles his most mighty father on a hill
l109l		Stood smiling to behold his lion’s whelp
l110l		Forage in blood of French nobility.
l111l		O noble English, that could entertain
l112l		With half their forces the full pride of France,
l113l		And let another half stand laughing by,
l114l		All out of work, and cold for action.
l115l	Ely	Awake remembrance of those valiant dead,
l116l		And with your puissant arm renew their feats.
l117l		You are their heir, you sit upon their throne,
l118l		The blood and courage that renownèd them
l119l		Runs in your veins—and my thrice-puissant liege
l120l		Is in the very May-morn of his youth,
l121l		Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises.
l122l	Exeter	Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth
l123l		Do all expect that you should rouse yourself
l124l		As did the former lions of your blood.
l125l	Westmorland	They know your grace hath cause# and means and might,
l126l		So hath your highness. Never king of England
l127l		Had nobles richer and more loyal subjects,
l128l		Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England
l129l		And lie pavilioned in the fields of France.
l130l	Canterbury	O let their bodies follow, my dear liege,
l131l		With blood and sword and fire, to win your right.
l132l		In aid whereof, we of the spiritualty
l133l		Will raise your highness such a mighty sum
l134l		As never did the clergy at one time
l135l		Bring in to any of your ancestors.
l136l	King Harry	We must not only arm t’ invade the French,
l137l		But lay down our proportions to defend
l138l		Against the Scot, who will make raid upon us
l139l		With all advantages.
l140l	Canterbury	They of those marches, gracious sovereign,
l141l		Shall be a wall sufficient to defend
l142l		Our inland from the pilfering borderers.
l143l	King Harry	We do not mean the coursing snatchers only,
l144l		But fear the main intendment of the Scot,
l145l		Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us.
l146l		For you shall read that my great-grandfather
l147l		Never unmasked his power unto France
l148l		But that the Scot on his unfurnished kingdom
l149l		Came pouring like the tide into a breach
l150l		With ample and brim fullness of his force
l151l		Galling the gleanèd land with hot assays,
l152l		Girding with grievous siege castles and towns,
l153l		That England, being empty of defence,
l154l		Hath shook and trembled at the bruit thereof.
l155l	Canterbury	She hath been then more feared than harmed, my liege.
l156l		For hear her but exampled by herself:
l157l		When all her chivalry hath been in France
l158l		And she a mourning widow of her nobles,
l159l		She hath herself not only well defended
l160l		But taken and impounded as a stray
l161l		The King of Scots, whom she did send to France
l162l		To fill King Edward’s fame with prisoner kings
l163l		And make your chronicle as rich with praise
l164l		As is the ooze and bottom of the sea
l165l		With sunken wrack and sumless treasuries.
l166l	[A Lord]	But there’s a saying very old and true:
l167l		“If that you will France win,
l168l		Then with Scotland first begin.”
l169l		For once the eagle England being in prey,
l170l		To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
l171l		Comes sneaking, and so sucks her princely eggs,
l172l		Playing the mouse in absence of the cat,
l173l		To ’tame and havoc more than she can eat.
l174l	Exeter	It follows then the cat must stay at home.
l175l		Yet that is but a crushed necessity,
l176l		Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries
l177l		And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves.
l178l		While that the armèd hand doth fight abroad,
l179l		Th’ advisèd head defends itself at home.
l180l		For government, though high and low and lower,
l181l		Put into parts, doth keep in one consent,
l182l		Congreeing in a full and natural close,
l183l		Like music.
	Canterbury	True. Therefore doth heaven divide
l184l		The state of man in divers functions,
l185l		Setting endeavour in continual motion#
l186l		To which is fixèd, as an aim or butt,
l187l		Obedience. For so work the honey-bees,
l188l		Creatures that by a rule in nature teach
l189l		The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
l190l		They have a king, and officers of sorts,
l191l		Where some like magistrates correct at home#
l192l		Others like merchants venture trade abroad#
l193l		Others like soldiers, armèd in their stings,
l194l		Make boot upon the summer’s velvet buds,
l195l		Which pillage they with merry march bring home
l196l		To the tent royal of their emperor,
l197l		Who busied in his majesty surveys
l198l		The singing masons building roofs of gold,
l199l		The civil citizens lading up the honey,
l200l		The poor mechanic porters crowding in
l201l		Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,
l202l		The sad-eyed justice with his surly hum
l203l		Delivering o’er to executors pale
l204l		The lazy yawning drone. I this infer:
l205l		That many things, having full reference
l206l		To one consent, may work contrariously.
l207l		As many arrows, loosèd several ways,
l208l		Fly to one mark, as many ways meet in one town,
l209l		As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea,
l210l		As many lines close in the dial’s centre,
l211l		So may a thousand actions once afoot
l212l		End in one purpose, and be all well borne
l213l		Without defect. Therefore to France, my liege.
l214l		Divide your happy England into four,
l215l		Whereof take you one quarter into France,
l216l		And you withal shall make all Gallia shake.
l217l		If we with thrice such powers left at home
l218l		Cannot defend our own doors from the dog,
l219l		Let us be worried, and our nation lose
l220l		The name of hardiness and policy.
l221l	King Harry	Call in the messengers sent from the Dauphin.
		( 221 Exit one or more)
l222l		Now are we well resolved, and by God’s help
l223l		And yours, the noble sinews of our power,
l224l		France being ours we’ll bend it to our awe,
l225l		Or break it all to pieces. Or there we’ll sit,
l226l		Ruling in large and ample empery
l227l		O’er France and all her almost kingly dukedoms,
l228l		Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn,
l229l		Tombless, with no remembrance over them.
l230l		Either our history shall with full mouth
l231l		Speak freely of our acts, or else our grave,
l232l		Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongueless mouth,
l233l		Not worshipped with a waxen epitaph.
		(Enter Ambassadors of France, with a tun)
l234l		Now are we well prepared to know the pleasure
l235l		Of our fair cousin Dauphin, for we hear
l236l		Your greeting is from him, not from the King.
l237l	Ambassador	May ’t please your majesty to give us leave
l238l		Freely to render what we have in charge,
l239l		Or shall we sparingly show you far off
l240l		The Dauphin’s meaning and our embassy?
l241l	King Harry	We are no tyrant, but a Christian king,
l242l		Unto whose grace our passion is as subject
l243l		As is our wretches fettered in our prisons.
l244l		Therefore with frank and with uncurbèd plainness
l245l		Tell us the Dauphin’s mind.
	Ambassador	Thus then in few:
l246l		Your highness lately sending into France
l247l		Did claim some certain dukedoms, in the right
l248l		Of your great predecessor, King Edward the Third.
l249l		In answer of which claim, the Prince our master
l250l		Says that you savour too much of your youth,
l251l		And bids you be advised, there’s naught in France
l252l		That can be with a nimble galliard won:
l253l		You cannot revel into dukedoms there.
l254l		He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit,
l255l		This tun of treasure, and in lieu of this
l256l		Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim
l257l		Hear no more of you. This the Dauphin speaks.
l258l	King Harry	What treasure, uncle?
	Exeter	
		(opening the tun)
		 Tennis balls, my liege.
l259l	King Harry	We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us.
l260l		His present and your pains we thank you for.
l261l		When we have matched our rackets to these balls,
l262l		We will in France, by God’s grace, play a set
l263l		Shall strike his father’s crown into the hazard.
l264l		Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler
l265l		That all the courts of France will be disturbed
l266l		With chases. And we understand him well,
l267l		How he comes o’er us with our wilder days,
l268l		Not measuring what use we made of them.
l269l		We never valued this poor seat of England,
l270l		And therefore, living hence, did give ourself
l271l		To barbarous licence—as ’tis ever common
l272l		That men are merriest when they are from home.
l273l		But tell the Dauphin I will keep my state,
l274l		Be like a king, and show my sail of greatness
l275l		When I do rouse me in my throne of France.
l276l		For that have I laid by my majesty
l277l		And plodded like a man for working days,
l278l		But I will rise there with so full a glory
l279l		That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
l280l		Yea strike the Dauphin blind to look on us.
l281l		And tell the pleasant Prince this mock of his
l282l		Hath turned his balls to gunstones, and his soul
l283l		Shall stand sore chargèd for the wasteful vengeance
l284l		That shall fly from them—for many a thousand widows
l285l		Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands,
l286l		Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down#
l287l		Ay, some are yet ungotten and unborn
l288l		That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin’s scorn.
l289l		But this lies all within the will of God,
l290l		To whom I do appeal, and in whose name
l291l		Tell you the Dauphin I am coming on
l292l		To venge me as I may, and to put forth
l293l		My rightful hand in a well-hallowed cause.
l294l		So get you hence in peace. And tell the Dauphin
l295l		His jest will savour but of shallow wit
l296l		When thousands weep more than did laugh at it.—
l297l		Convey them with safe conduct.—Fare you well.
		(Exeunt Ambassadors)
l298l	Exeter	 This was a merry message.
l299l	King Harry	We hope to make the sender blush at it.
l300l		Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour
l301l		That may give furth’rance to our expedition#
l302l		For we have now no thought in us but France,
l303l		Save those to God, that run before our business.
l304l		Therefore let our proportions for these wars
l305l		Be soon collected, and all things thought upon
l306l		That may with reasonable swiftness add
l307l		More feathers to our wings# for, God before,
l308l		We’ll chide this Dauphin at his father’s door.
l309l		Therefore let every man now task his thought,
l310l		That this fair action may on foot be brought.
		(Flourish. Exeunt)