Henry the fifth,' too famous to live long!'
England ne'er lost a king of so much worth.

Glo. England ne'er had a king, until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to conimand:
His brandith'd sword did blind men with his beams;
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings;
His sparkling eyes replete with wrathful fire,
More dazzled and drove back his enemies,
Than mid-day sun, fierce bent against their faces.
What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:
He ne'er lift up his hand, but conquered,
Exe. We mourn in black; Why mourn we not

in blood?

and in The Chances, Antonio, speaking of the wench who robbed him, says:

And also the fiddler who was consenting with her." meaning the fiddler that was her accomplice.

The word appears to be used in the fame sense in she fifth scego of this aa, where Talbot says to his troops:

" You all consented unto Salisbury's death,
is for none would strike a stroke in his revenge."

M. MASON. Gansent, in all th¢ books of the age of Elizabeth, and long afterwards, is the usual spelling of the word concent. Sec Vol. Xi. p. 85, n. 3; and Vol. XIII. p. 211, n. 2. In' other places I have adopted the modern and more proper spelling; but, in the presegt instance, I apprehend, the word was used in its ordinary sense. In the second ad, Talbot, reproaching the soldiery, uses the same expreflion, certainly without any idea of a malignant configuras tion:

" You all confented unto Salisbury's death." MALONE. Henry the fifth, ) Old copy, redundantly,–King Heory &c.

STEEVENS too famous to live long!] So, in King Richard III: “ So wise so young, they say, do ne'er live long."

STEEVENS. ? His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings ; ] So, in Troilus and Grefsida : “ The dragon wing of night o'er

Speads the earth."

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1

Henry is dead, and never shall revive:
Upon a wooden coifin we attend;
and death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,
Like captives bound to a triumphant car.
What? shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory's overthrow?
Or shall we think the subtle-witted French
Conjurers and sorcerers, that, afraid of him,
By magick verses have contriv'd his end?

Win. He was a king bless'd of the King of kings.
Unto the French the dreadful judgement day
So dreadful will not be, as was his fight.
The battles of the Lord of hosts he fought:
The church's prayers made him so prosperous.
Glo. The church! where is it? Had not church-

men pray'd,
His thread of life had not fo foon decay'd:
None do you like but an effeminate prince.
Whom, like a schoolboy, you may over-awe.

Win. Glofter, whate'er we like, thou art protector;
And lookes to command the prince, and realm.
Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe,
More than God, or religious churchmen, may.

Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh;
And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st,
Except it be to pray against thy foes.

the subtle-witted French &c. ) There was a notion prevalent a long time, ihat life might be taken away by metrical charms.

As luperftition grew weaker, these charms were imao gined only to have power on irrational animals. In our author's time it was supposed that the Irish could kill rats by a song.

JOHNSON, So, in Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584: " The Irishmen addict themselves, &c, yea they will not flicke to affirme that they can rime either man or beast to death." STEEVENS.

6

Bed. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your minds

in peace! Let's to the altar:-Heralds, wait on us: Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms; Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead. Posterity, await for wretched years. When at their mothers' moift eyes' babes shall fuck; Our isle be made a nourish of salt tears, 8 And none but women left to wail the dead. Henry the fifth! thy ghost I invocate;

8

7

moift eyes -- ] Thus the second folio. The first, redundantly,--moisten'd. STEEVENS.

: Our ille be made a nourish of falt lears,] Mr. Pope._marish. All the old copies read, a nourish : and considering it is said in the line immediately preceding, tbat babes shall suck at their mothers' moist eyes, it seems very probable that our author wrote, a nourice, i. e. that the whole ise Thould be one common nurse, or nourisher, of tears: and those be the nourilhment of its miserable issue.

THEOBALD. Was there ever such nonsense! But bę did not know that marish is an old word for marsh or fen; and therefore very judicioully thus corre&ted by Mr. Pope. WARBURTON. We should certainly read_marish. So, in The Spanish Tragedy: " Made mountains marsh, with spring-tides of my tears."

Ritson. I have been informed, that what we call at present a flow, in which fish are preserved alive, was anciently called a nourish. Nourice, however, Fr. a nurse, was anciently (pelt many different

among which nourish was one. So, in Syr Eglamour of Artois, bl. 1. no date :

1. Of that chylde she was blyth,

“ After noryshes the sent belive."
A nourish therefore in this passage of our author may signify a nurse,
as it apparently does in the Tragedies of John Bochas, by Lydgate,
B. I. c. xii:

" Atbeoes whan it was in his floures
". Was called nourish of philosophers wise."
- Jubæ tellus generat, leonum

Arida nutrix. STEEVENS.
Spenser, in his Ruins of Time, uses nourice as an English word:

Chaucer, the nourice of aotiquity." MALONE.

ways,

Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils !
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!
A far more glorious ftar thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or brights-

Enter a Messenger. Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all! Sad tidings bring I to you out of France, Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture; Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans," Paris, Guysors, Poiciers, are all quite loft.

& Than Julius Cæfar, or bright- -] I can't guess the occa. fion of the hemiftich and imperfe& sense in this place; 'tis not imposible it might have been filled up with— Francis Drake, though that were a terrible anachronism (as bad as Hedor's quoting Aristotle in Troilus and Cressida); yet perhaps at the time that brave Englishman was in his glory, to an English-hearted audience, and pronounced by some favourite a&or, the thing might be popu. lar, though not judicious; and, therefore, by some critic in favour of the author afterwards ftruck out. But this is a mere flight conjeâure. Pope.

To confute the flight conjeâure of Pope, a whole page of vehement opposition is annexed to this passage by Theobald. Sir Thomas Hanmer has stopped at Cæfar-perhaps more judiciously. It might, however, have been written, -or bright Berenice.

JOHNSON. Pope's conje&ure is confirmed by this peculiar circumftance, that two blazing itars (the Julium fidus ) are part of the arms of the Drake family. It is well known that families and arms were much more attended to in Shakspeare's time, than they are at this day.

M. MASON. This blank undoubtedly arose from the transcriber's or compofitor's not being able to make out the name. So, in a subsequent passage the word Nero was omitted for the same reason. See the Dissertation at tbe end of the third part of King Henry VI.

MALONE. Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans, ) This verse might be completed by the insertion of Roiien among the places loft, as

Glofter in his next speech infers that it had been mentioned with I the reft. STEEVENS.

Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's

corse? Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns Will inake him burst his lead, and rise from death.

Glo. Is Paris lost? is Rouen yielded ap? If Henry were recall'd to life again, These news would cause him once more yield the

ghoft. Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was

usid? Mess. No treachery; but want of men and money. Among the foldiers this is mattered, That here you maintain several factions; And, whilft a field should be despatch'd and fought. You are disputing of your generals. One would have ling'ring wars, with little cost; Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings; A third man thinks,“ without expence at all, By guileful fair words peace may be obtain'd. Awake, awake, English nobility! Let not sloth dim your honours, new-begot: Cropp'd are the flower-de-laces in your arms; Of England's coat one half is cat away.

Exe. Were our tears wanting to this funeral, These tidings would call forth her flowing tides.'

Bed. Me they concern ; regent I am of France:Give me my steeled coat, I'll fight for France.Away with these disgraceful wailing-robes! Wounds I will lend the French, instead of eyes, To weep their intermiffive miseries. 4.

? A third man thinks, ] Thus the second falio, The first omits the word man, and consequently leaves the verse imperfe&.

Steevens. her flowing tides. ] i, e. England's Aowing tides. their intermisive miferies. ] i. e. their miseries, which have

niy

3

MALONE.