Fr. K.
Thus come ^note the English with full power upon us;
And more than carefully it us concerns,
To answer royally in our defences.
Therefore the dukes of Berry, and of Bretagne,
Of Brabant, and of Orleans, shall make forth,—
And you, prince dauphin,—with all swift dispatch,
To line, and new repair, our towns of war,
With men of courage, and with means defendant:
For England his approaches makes as fierce,
As waters to the sucking of a gulph.
It fits us then, to be as provident
As fear may teach us, out of late examples
Left by the fatal and neglected ^note English
Upon our fields.

Dau.
My most redoubted father,
It is most meet, we arm us 'gainst the foe:
For peace itself should not so dull a kingdom,
(Though war, nor no known quarrel, were in question)
But that defences, musters, preparations,
Should be maintain'd, assembl'd, and collected,
As were a war in expectation.
Therefore, I say, 'tis meet we all go forth,
To view the sick and feeble parts of France:
And let ^note us do it with no shew ^note of fear;
No, with no more, than if we heard that England
Were busy'd with a whitsun' morris-dance:
For, my good liege, she is so idly king'd,
Her scepter so fantastically born
By a vain, giddy, shallow, humourous youth,
That fear attends her not.

Con.
O, peace, prince dauphin!
You are too much mistaken in this king:

Question your grace the late embassadors,—
With what great state he heard their embassy,
How well supply'd with noble counsellors,
How modest in exception, and, withal,
How terrible in constant resolution,—
And you shall find, his vanities fore-spent
Were but the out-side of the Roman Brutus,
Covering discretion with a coat of folly;
As gard'ners do with ordure hide those roots,
That shall first spring, and be most delicate.

Dau.
Well, 'tis not so, my lord high constable.
But, though we think it so, it is no matter:
In cases ^note of defence, 'tis best to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems,
So the proportions of defence are fill'd;
Which, of a weak and niggardly projection,
Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat, with scanting
A little cloth.

Fr. K.
Think we king Harry strong;
And, princes, look, you strongly arm to meet him.
The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us;
And he is bred out of that bloody strain,
That haunted ^note us in our familiar paths:
Witness our too-much-memorable shame,
When Cressi battle fatally was struck,
And all our princes captiv'd, by the hand
Of that black name, Edward black prince of Wales;
Whiles that14Q0741 his mountain sire ^note,—on mountain standing,
Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun,—
Saw his heroical ^note seed, and smil'd to see him
Mangle the work of nature, and deface
The patterns that by God and by French fathers

Had twenty years been made. This is a stem
Of that victorious stock; and let us fear
The native mightiness and fate of him. Enter a Messenger.

Mes.
Embassadors from Harry king of England
Do crave admittance to your majesty.

Fr. K.
We'll give them present audience.—Go, and bring them. [Exeunt Mes. and certain Lords.
You see, this chace is hotly follow'd, friends.

Dau.
Turn head, and stop pursuit: for coward dogs
Most spend their mouths, when what they seem to threaten
Runs far before ^note them. Good my sovereign,
Take up the English ^note short; and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head:
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin ^note,
As self-neglecting. Re-enter Lords, with Exeter and Train.

Fr. K.
From our brother of England ^note?

Exe.
From him; and thus he greets your majesty.
He wills you, in the name of God almighty,
That you divest yourself, and lay apart
The borrow'd glories, that, by gift of heaven,
By law of nature, and of nations, 'long ^note
To him, and to his heirs; namely, the crown,
And all wide-stretched honours that pertain,
By custom, and the ordinance of times,
Unto the crown of France. That you may know,
'Tis no sinister, nor no aukward claim,
Pick'd from the worm-holes of long-vanish'd days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion rak'd,
He sends you this &dagger2; most memorable line,
In every branch truly demonstrative;

Willing you, over-look this pedigree:
And, when you find him evenly deriv'd
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors,
Edward the third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him the native and true challenger.

Fr. K.
Or else what ^note follows?

Exe.
Bloody constraint; for if you hide the crown
Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it:
And therefore in fierce tempest is he coming,
In thunder, and in earthquake, like a Jove,
That, if requiring fail, he will compel.
He bids ^note you, in the bowels of the Lord,
Deliver up the crown; and to take mercy
On the poor souls, for whom this hungry war
Opens his vasty jaws: and on your head ^note
Turns he14Q0742 the ^note widows' tears, the orphans' cries,
The dead mens' blood, the pining maidens' ^note groans,
For husbands, fathers, and betrothed lovers,
That shall be swallow'd in this controversy.
This is his claim, his threat'ning, and my message;
Unless the dauphin be in presence here,
To whom expresly I bring greeting too.

Fr. K.
For us, we will consider of this further:
To-morrow shall you bear our full intent
Back to our brother of England.

Dau.
For the dauphin,
I stand here for him; What to him from England?

Exe.
Scorn, and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.
Thus says my ^note king: and, if your father's highness

Do not, in grant of all demands at large,
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,
He'll call you to so loud an answer for it ^note,
That caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass, and return your mock
In second accent of his ordinance.

Dau.
Say, if my father render fair reply, ^note
It is against my will: for I desire
Nothing but odds with England; to that end,
As matching to his youth and vanity,
I did present him with those Paris ^note balls.

Exe.
He'll make your Paris Louvre ^note shake for it,
Were it the mistress court of mighty Europe:
And, be assur'd, you'll find a difference,
(As we, his subjects, have in wonder found)
Between the promise of his greener days,
And these he masters ^note now; now he weighs time,
Even to the utmost grain; which you ^note shall read
In your own losses, if he ^note stay in France.

Fr. K.
To-morrow shall you know our mind at full.

Exe.
Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king
Come here himself to question our delay;
For he is footed in this land already.

Fr. K.
You shall be soon dispatch'd, with fair conditions:
A night is but small breath, and little pause,
To answer matters of this consequence. [Exeunt.

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