Malicious practices against his state:

This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!

[Exeunt Gov. and his Train.

Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE.

Fast. My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais, To haste unto your coronation,

A letter was deliver❜d to my hands,

Writ to your grace from the duke of Burgundy.
Tal. Shame to the duke of Burgundy, and thee!
I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,

8

[Plucking it off.

(Which I have done) because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.—
Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
This dastard, at the battle of Patay,-
When but in all I was six thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,-
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire, did run away;

In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;

7

such as shall pretend-] To pretend is to design, to intend.

So, in Macbeth:

"What good could they pretend?" Steevens.

Johnson.

8 To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,] Thus the old copy.

The last line should run thus:

Steevens.

-from thy craven leg,

i. e. thy mean, dastardly leg. Whalley.

9 — at the battle of Patay,] The old copy has—Poictiers.

Malone.

The battle of Poictiers was fought in the year 1357, the 31st of King Edward III, and the scene now lies in the 7th year of the reign of King Henry VI, viz. 1428. This blunder may be justly imputed to the players or transcribers; nor can we very well justify ourselves for permitting it to continue so long, as it was too glaring to have escaped an attentive reader. The action of which Shakspeare is now speaking, happened (according to Holinshed) "neere unto a village in Beausse called Pataie," which we should read, instead of Poictiers. "From this battell departed without anie stroke striken, Sir John Fastolfe, the same ycere by his valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter. But for doubt of misdealing at this brunt, the duke of Bedford tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter," &c. Holin

Myself, and divers gentlemen beside,

Were there surpriz'd, and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss;
Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea, or no.

Glo. To say the truth, this fact was infamous,
And ill beseeming any common man;
Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.

Tal. When first this order was ordained, my lords,
Knights of the garter were of noble birth;
Valiant, and virtuous, full of haughty courage,1
Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,
But always resolute in most extremes.2 worst
He then, that is not furnish'd in this sort,
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honourable order;
And should (if I were worthy to be judge)
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain.
That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.

K. Hen. Stain to thy countrymen! thou hear'st thy

doom:

Be packing therefore, thou that wast a knight;
Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.-

And now, my lord protector, view the letter
Sent from our uncle duke of Burgundy.

[Exit FAST.

Glo. What means his grace that he hath chang'd his [Viewing the superscription.

style?

No more but, plain and bluntly,-To the king?

Hath he forgot, he is his sovereign?

Or doth this churlish superscription "Pretend"some alteration in good will?3 Portend

shed, Vol. II, p. 601. Monstrelet, the French historian, also bears witness to this degradation of Sir John Fastolfe. Steevens. haughty courage,] Haughty is here in its original sense for high. Johnson.

1

2 in most extremes.] i. e. in greatest extremities. So, Spenser:

they all repair'd, both most and least."

See Vol. VII, p. 226, n. 5. Steevens.

3 Pretend some alteration in good will?] Thus the old copy. To pretend seems to be here used in its Latin sense, i. e. to hold out,

What's here?-I have, upon especial cause,- [Read's.
Mov'd with compassion of my country's wreck,
Together with the pitiful complaints

Of such as your oppression feeds upon,-
Forsaken your pernicious faction,

And join'd with Charles, the rightful king of France.
O monstrous treachery! Can this be so;
That in alliance, amity, and oaths,

There should be found such false dissembling guile?
K. Hen. What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
Glo. He doth, my lord; and is become your foe.
K. Hen. Is that the worst, this letter doth contain?
Glo. It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
K. Hen. Why then, lord Talbot there shall talk with
him,

And give him chastisement for this abuse :

My lor, how say you? are you not content?

5

Tal. Content, my liege? Yes; but that I am prevented,
I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd.
K. Hen. Then gather strength, and march unto him
straight:

Let him perceive, how ill we brook his treason;
And what offence it is, to flout his friends.
Tal. I go, my lord; in heart desiring still,
You may behold confusion of your foes.

Enter VERNON and BASSET.

[Exit.

Ver. Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign!
Bas. And me, my lord, grant me the combat too!
York. This is my servant, Hear him, noble prince!
Som. And this is mine; Sweet Henry, favour him!

to stretch forward. It may mean, however, as in other places, to design. Modern editors read-portend. Steevens.

4 My lord, how say you?] Old copy

How say you, my lord?

The transposition is Sir T. Hanmer's. Steevens.

5 I am prevented,] Prevented is here, anticipated; a Latinism. Malone.

So, in our Liturgy: "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings." Prior is, perhaps, the last English poet who used this verb in its obsolete sense:

"Else had I come, preventing Sheba's queen,
"To see the comeliest of the sons of men."

Solomon, Book II. Steevens.

K. Hen. Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak.

Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim?
And wherefore crave you combat? or with whom?
Ver. With him, my lord; for he hath done me wrong.
Bab. And I with him; for he hath done me wrong.
K. Hen. What is that wrong whereof you both com
plain?

First let me know, and then I'll answer you.

6

Bas. Crossing the sea from England into France,
This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,
Upbraided me about the rose I wear;
Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves
Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,
When stubbornly he did repugn the truth,
About a certain question in the law,
Argu'd betwixt the duke of York and him;
With other vile and ignominious terms:
In confutation of which rude reproach,
And in defence of my lord's worthiness,
I crave the benefit of law of arms.

Ver. And that is my petition, noble lord:
For though he seem, with forged quaint conceit,
To set a gloss upon his bold intent,

Yet know, my lord, I was provok'd by him;
And he first took exceptions at this badge,
Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower
Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart.

York. Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?
Som. Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out,
Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it.

K. Hen. Good Lord! what madness rules in brain-sick

men;

When, for so slight and frivolous a cause,
Such factious emulations"shall arise: still
Good cousins both, of York and Somerset,
Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.

York. Let this dissention first be try'd by fight,

And then your highness shall command a peace.

6

- did repugn the truth,] To repugn is to resist. The word is used by Chaucer. Steevens.

It is found in Bullokar's English Expositor, 8vo. 1616. Malone,

.

Som. The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

York. There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset.

Ver. Nay, let it rest where it began at first.

Bas. Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.

Glo. Confirm it so? Confounded be your strife!
And perish ye, with your audacious prate!
Presumptuous vassals! are you not asham'd,
With this immodest clamorous outrage
To trouble and disturb the king and us?
And you, my lord,—methinks, you do not well,
To bear with their perverse objections;
Much less, to take occasion from their mouths
To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves;

Let me persuade you take a better course.

Exe. It grieves his highness;-Good my lords, be friends.

K. Hen. Come hither, you that would be combatants:
Henceforth, I charge you, as you love our favour,
Quite to forget this quarrel, and the cause.-
And you, my lords, remember where we are;
In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:
If they perceive dissention in our looks,
And that within ourselves we disagree,
How will their grudging stomachs be provok'd
To wilful disobedience, and rebel?

Beside, What infamy will there arise,
When foreign princes shall be certify'd,
That, for a toy, a thing of no regard,
King Henry's peers, and chief nobility,
Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France?
O, think upon the conquest of my father,

My tender years; and let us not forego

That for a trifle, that was bought with blood!

Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife.

I see no reason if I wear this rose, [Putting on a red Ròse.
That any one should therefore be suspicious

I more incline to Somerset, than York:
Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both:
As well they may upbraid me with my crown,
Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd.
But your discretions better can persuade,
Than I am able to instruct or teach: