ELY. We are blessed in the change. CANT. Hear him but reason in divinity, The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it, His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow; Any retirement, any sequestration ELY. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, And so the prince obscur'd his contemplation CANT. It must be so: for miracles are ceas'd; ELY. But, my good lord, How now for mitigation of this bill Urg'd by the commons? Doth his majesty Incline to it, or no? of his editors has noticed it. In "As you Like It," Act III. Sc. 5, where it again occurs,― 66 Who might be your mother? Over the wretched?" That you insult, exult, and all at once some of them have even suspected a misprint, and proposed to read,— It is frequently met with in the old writers. Thus, in "The Fisherman's Tale," 1594, by F. Sabie: "She wept, she cride, she sob'd, and all at once." And in Middleton's "Changeling," Act IV. Sc. 3: "Does love turn fool, run mad, and all at once?" Companies-] That is, companions. 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. It is. CANT. Then go we in, to know his embassy, Which I could with a ready guess declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. 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? K. HEN. Not yet, my cousin; we would be resolv'd, Before we hear him, of some things of weight, That task 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, 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, 'Gainst him, whose wrongs give edge unto the swords Under this conjuration, speak, my lord: For we will hear, note, and believe in heart, 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,— No woman shall succeed in Salique land: 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. b 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, 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, To bar your highness claiming from the female, Than amply to imbare 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." e King Lewis the tenth,-] This should be "Lewis the ninth." Shakespeare adopted the error from Holinshed. d 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,— 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 carth 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. b 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." |