^{2 note}

^note in Henry V. and though this character does not exist in our play, we find it in the other, which, for the reasons already enumerated, I suppose to have been prior to this.

This anonymous play of Henry V. is neither divided into acts or scenes, is uncommonly short, and has all the appearance of having been imperfectly taken down during the representation. As much of it appears to have been omitted, we may suppose that the author did not think it convenient for his reputation to publish a more ample copy.

There is, indeed, a play, called Sir John Oldcastle, published in 1600, with the name of William Shakespeare prefixed to it. The prologue being very short, I shall quote it, as it serves to prove, that a former piece, in which the character of Oldcastle was introduced, had given great offence:

Which, in the eleventh year o' the last king's reign
Was like, and had indeed against us past,

But that the scambling and unquiet time^{3 note}

Ely.
But how, my lord, shall we resist it now?

Cant.
It must be thought on. If it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our possession:
For all the temporal lands, which men devout
By testament have given to the church,
Would they strip from us; being valu'd thus,—
As much as would maintain, to the king's honour,
Full fifteen earls, and fifteen hundred knights;
Six thousand and two hundred good esquires;
And, to relief of lazars, and weak age,
Of indigent faint souls, past corporal toil,
A hundred alms-houses, right well supply'd;
And to the coffers of the king, beside,
A thousand pounds by the year: Thus runs the bill.

Ely.
This would drink deep.

Cant.
'Twould drink the cup and all.

Ely.
But what prevention?

Cant.
The king is full of grace, and fair regard.

Ely.
And a true lover of the holy church.

Cant.
The courses of his youth promis'd it not.
The breath no sooner left his father's body,
But that his wildness, mortify'd in him,
Seem'd to die too: yea, at that very moment,

^{4 note}Consideration like an angel came,
And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him;
Leaving his body as a paradise,
To envelop and contain celestial spirits.
Never was such a sudden scholar made:
Never came reformation in a flood^{5 note},
With such a heady current, scouring faults;
Nor never Hydra-headed wilfulness
So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
As in this king.

Ely.
We are blessed in the change.

Cant.
Hear him but reason in divinity^{6 note}

And, all-admiring, with an inward wish
You would desire, the king were made a prelate:
Hear him debate of common-wealth affairs,
You would say,—it hath been all-in-all his study:
List his discourse of war, and you shall hear
A fearful battle render'd you in music:
Turn him to any cause of policy,
The Gordian knot of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter; that, when he speaks,
^{7 note}

Must be the mistress to this theorique^{9 note}

Ely.
The strawberry grows underneath the nettle^{1 note};
And wholsome berries thrive, and ripen best,
Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality:
And so the prince obscur'd his contemplation
Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt,
Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,

Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty^{2 note}

Cant.
It must be so: for miracles are ceas'd;
And therefore we must needs admit the means,
How things are perfected.

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?

Cant.
He seems indifferent;
Or, rather, swaying more upon our part, 9Q0762
Than cherishing the exhibiters against us:
For I have made an offer to his majesty,—
Upon our spiritual convocation;
And in regard of causes now in hand,
Which I have open'd to his grace at large,
As touching France,—to give a greater sum
Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did to his predecessors part withal.

Ely.
How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord?

Cant.
With good acceptance of his majesty:
Save, that there was not time enough to hear
(As, I perceiv'd, his grace would fain have done)
The severals, and unhidden passages^{3 note},
Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms;
And, generally, to the crown and seat of France,
Deriv'd from Edward, his great grandfather.

Ely.
What was the impediment that broke this off?

Cant.
The French ambassador, upon that instant,
Crav'd audience: and the hour, I think, is come,
To give him hearing; Is it four o'clock?

Ely.
It is.

Cant.
Then go we in, to know his embassy;
Which I could, with a ready guess, declare,
Before the Frenchman speaks a word of it.

Ely.
I'll wait upon you; and I long to hear it. [Exeunt.

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