Exeter.
Shall I call in Thambassadors my Liege?

King.
Not yet my Cousin, til we be resolude
Of some serious matters touching vs and France.

Bi.
God and his Angels guard your sacred throne,
And make you long become it.

King.
Shure ^note we thank you. And good my Lord proceed
Why the Lawe Salicke which they haue in France,
Or should or should not, stop vs in ^note our clayme:
And God forbid my wise and learned Lord,
That you should fashion, frame, or wrest the same.
For God doth know how many now in health,
Shall drop their blood in approbation,
Of what your reuerence shall incite vs too.
Therefore take heed how you impawne our person,
How you awake the sleeping sword of warre:
We charge you in the name of God take heed.
After this coniuration, speake my Lord:
And we will iudge, note, and beleeue in heart,
That what you speake, is washt as pure
As sin in baptisme. [Bish.

Then ^note heare me gracious soueraigne, and you peeres,
Which owe your liues, your faith and seruices
To this imperiall throne.
There is no bar to stay your highnesse claime to France
But one, which they produce from Faramount,
No female shall succeed in salicke land,
Which salicke land the French vniustly gloze
To be the realme of France:
And Faramont the founder of this law and female barre:
Yet their owne writers faithfully affirme
That the land salicke lyes in Germany,
Betweene the flouds of Sabeck and of Elme,
Where Charles the fift hauing subdude the Saxons,
There left behind, and setled certaine French,
Who holding in disdaine the Germaine women,
For some dishonest maners of their liues,
Establisht there this lawe. To wit,
No female shall succeed in salicke land:
Which salicke land as I ^note said before,
Is at this time in Germany called Mesene:
Thus doth it well appeare the salicke lawe
Was not deuised for the realme of France,
Nor did the French possesse the salicke land,
Vntill 400. one and twentie yeares
After the function of king Faramont,
Godly supposed the founder of this lawe:
Hugh Capet also that vsurpt the crowne,
To fine his title with some showe of truth,
When in pure truth it was corrupt and naught:
Conuaid ^note himselfe as heire to the Lady Inger,
Daughter to Charles, the foresaid Duke of Lorain,
So that as cleare as is the sommers Sun,
King Pippins title and Hugh Capets claime,
King Charles his satisfaction all appeare,
To hold in right and title of the female:
So do the Lords of France vntil this day,
Howbeit they would hold vp this salick lawe
To bar your highnesse claiming from the female,
And rather choose to hide them in a net,
Then amply to imbace ^note their crooked causes,
Vsurpt from you and your progenitors.

K.
May we with right & conscience make this claime?

Bi.
The sin vpon my head dread soueraigne.
For in the booke of Numbers is it ^note writ,
When the sonne dyes, let the inheritance
Descend vnto the daughter.
Noble Lord stand for your owne,
Vnwinde your bloody flagge,
Go my dread Lord to your great graunsirs ^note graue,
From whom you clayme:
And your great Vncle Edward the blacke Prince,
Who on the French ground playd a Tragedy
Making defeat on the full power of France,
Whilest his most mighty father on a hill,
Stood smiling to behold his Lyons whelpe,
Foraging blood ^note of French Nobilitie.
O Noble English that could entertaine
With halfe their Forces the full power of France:
And let an other halfe stand laughing by,
All out of worke, and cold for action.

King.
We must not onely arme vs against ^note the French,
But lay downe our proportion for ^note the Scot,
Who will make rode vpon vs with all aduantages.

Bi.
The Marches gracious soueraigne, shalbe sufficient
To guard your England from the pilfering borderers.

King.
We do not meane the coursing sneakers onely,
But feare the mayne entendement of the Scot,
For you shall read, neuer my great grandfather
Vnmaskt his power for France,
But that the Scot on his vnfurnisht Kingdome,
Came pouring like the Tide into a breach,
That England being empty of defences,
Hath shooke and trembled at the brute hereof.

Bi.
She hath bin then more feared then hurt my Lord:
For heare her but examplified by her selfe,
When all her chiualry hath bene in France
And she a mourning widow of her Nobles,
She hath her selfe not only well defended,
But taken and impounded as a stray, the king of Scots,
Whom like a caytiffe she did leade to France,
Filling your Chronicles as rich with praise
As is the owse and bottome of the sea
With sunken wrack and shiplesse treasurie.

Lord.
There is a saying very old and true,
If you will France win,
Then with Scotland first begin:
For once the Eagle, England being in pray,
To his vnfurnish ^note nest the weazel Scot
Would suck her egs, playing the mouse in absence of the cat:
To spoyle and hauock more then she can eat.

Exe.
It followes then, the cat must stay at home,
Yet that is but a curst necessitie,
Since we haue trappes to catch the petty theeues:
Whilste that the armed hand doth fight abroad
The aduised head controlles at home:
For gouernment though high or lowe, being put into ^note parts,
Congrueth with a mutuall consent like musicke.

Bi.
True: therefore doth heauen diuide the fate of man in diuers functions.
Whereto is added as an ayme or but, obedience:
For so liue the honey Bees, creatures that by awe
Ordaine an act of order to a peopeld Kingdome:
They haue a King and officers of sort,
Where some like Magistrates correct at home:
Others like Marchants venture trade abroad:
Others like souldiers armed in their stings,
Make boote vpon the sommers veluet bud:
Which pillage they with mery march bring home
To the tent royall of their Emperour;
Who busied in his maiestie, behold
The singing masons building roofes of gold:
The ciuell citizens lading vp the honey,
The sad eyde Iustice with his surly humme,
Deliuering vp to executors pale, the lazy caning Drone.
This I infer, that 20. actions once a foote,
May all end in one moment.
As many Arrowes losed seuerall wayes, flye to one marke:
As many seuerall wayes meete in one towne:
As many fresh streames run in one selfe sea:
As many lines close in the dyall center:
So may a thousand actions once a foote,
End in one moment, and be all well borne without defect.
Therefore my Liege to France,
Diuide your happy England into foure,
Of which take you one quarter into France,
And you withall, shall make all Gallia shake.

If we with thrice that power left at home,
Cannot defend our owne doore from the dogge,
Let vs be beaten, and from henceforth lose
The name of pollicy and hardinesse.

Ki.
Call in the messenger sent fr&obar; the Dolphin.
And by your ayde, the noble sinewes of our land,
France being ours, weele bring it to our awe,
Or breake it all in peeces:
Eyther our Chronicles shal with full mouth speak
Freely of our acts,
Or else like toonglesse mutes
Not worshipt with a paper Epitaph: Enter Thambassadors from France.
Now are we well prepared to know the Dolphins pleasure,
For we heare your comming is from him.

Ambassa.
Pleaseth your Maiestie to giue vs leaue
Freely to render what we haue in charge:
Or shall I sparingly shew a farre off,
The Dolphins pleasure and our Embassage?

King.
We are no tyrant, but a Christian King,
To whom our spirit is as subiect,
As are our wretches fettered in our prisons.
Therefore freely and with vncurbed boldnesse
Tell vs the Dolphins minde.

Ambas.
Then this in fine the Dolphin saith,
Whereas you clayme certaine Townes in France,
From your predecessor king Edward the third,
This he returnes.
He saith, theres nought in France that can be with a nimble
Galliard wonne: you cannot reuel into Dukedomes there:
Therefore he sendeth meeter for your study,
This tunne of treasure: and in lieu of this,
Desires to let the Dukedomes that you craue
Heare no more from you: This the Dolphin saith.

King.
What treasure Vncle?

Exe.
Tennis balles my Liege.

King.
We are glad the Dolphin is so pleasant with vs,
Your message and his present we accept:
When we haue matched our rackets to these balles,
We will by Gods grace play ^note such a set,
Shall strike his fathers crowne into the hazard.
Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler,
That all the Courts of France shall be disturbd with chases.

And we vnderstand him well, how he comes ore vs
With our wilder dayes, not measuring what vse we made of them.
We neuer valued this poore seate of England.
And therefore gaue our selues to barbarous licence:
As tis common seene that men are merriest when they are from home.
But tell the Dolphin we will keepe our state,
Be like a King, mightie and commaund,
When we do rowse vs in ^note throne of France:
For this haue we ^note laid by our Maiestie:
And plodded lide ^note a man for working dayes.
But we will rise there with ^note so full of glory,
That we will dazell all the eyes of France,
I strike the Dolphin blinde to looke on vs,
And tell him this, his mock hath turnd his balles to gun stones,
And his soule shall sit sore charged for the wastfull vengeance
That shall flye from them. For this his mocke
Shall mocke any a wife out of their deare husbands.
Mocke mothers from their sonnes, mocke Castles downe,
I some are yet vngotten and vnborne,
That shall haue cause to curse the Dolphins scorne.
But this lyes all within the wil of God, to whom we doo appeale,
And in whose name tel you the Dolphin we are c&obar;ming on
To venge vs as we may, and to put forth our hand
In a rightfull ^note cause: so get you hence, and tell your Prince,
His Iest will sauour but of shallow wit,
When thousands weepe, more then did laugh at it.
Conuey them with safe conduct: see them hence.

Exe.
This was a merry message.

King.
We hope to make the sender blush at it:
Therfore let our collecti&obar; for the wars be soone prouided:
For God before, weell check the Dolphin at his fathers doore.
Therefore let euery man now taske his thought,
That this faire action may on foote be brought. Exeunt omnes.

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