Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood. I may have liberty to venge this wrong; When thou shalt see, I'll meet thee to thy cost. Ver. Well, miscreant, I'll be there as soon as you; And, after, meet you sooner than you would. [Exeunt. ACT IV..... SCENE I. The same. A Room of State. Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, EXETER, YORK, SUF- Glo. Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head. That you elect no other king but him: [Gov. kneels. Esteem none friends, but such as are his friends; draws a sword i' th' presence 't's death; i. e. in the court, or in the presence chamber. Warburton. This reading cannot be right, because as Mr. Edwards ob. served, it cannot be pronounced. It is, however, a good comment, as it shows the author's meaning. Johnson. Sir William Blackstone observes that, "by the ancient law before the Conquest, fighting in the king's palace, or before the king's judges, was punished with death. So too, in the old Gothic constitution, there were many places privileged by law, quibus major reverentia et securitas debetur, ut templa et judicia, que sancta habebantur,arces et aula regis,-denique locus quilibet presente aut adventante rege. And at present with us, by the Stat. 33 Hen. VIII, c. xii, malicious striking in the king's palace, wherein his royal person resides, whereby blood is drawn, is punishable by perpetual imprisonment and fine, at the king's pleasure, and also with loss of the offender's right hand, the solemn execution of which sentence is prescribed in the statute at length." Commentaries, Vol. IV, p. 124. "By the ancient common law, also before the Conquest, striking in the king's court of justice, or drawing a sword therein, was a capital felony." Ibid. p. 125. Reed. VOL. X. H Malicious practices against his state: This shall ye do, so help you righteous God! [Exeunt Gov. and his Train. Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE. Fast. My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais, To haste unto your coronation, A letter was deliver'd to my hands, Writ to your grace from the duke of Burgundy. 8 [Plucking it off. (Which I have done) because unworthily In which assault we lost twelve hundred men; 7 such as shall pretend-] To pretend is to design, to intend. So, in Macbeth: "What good could they pretend?" Steevens. Johnson. To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,] Thus the old copy. The last line should run thus: - from thy craven leg, Steevens. i. e. thy mean, dastardly leg. Whalley. 9 at the battle of Patay,] The old copy has-Poictiers. Malone. The battle of Poictiers was fought in the year 1357, the 31st of King Edward III, and the scene now lies in the 7th year of the reign of King Henry VI, viz. 1428. This blunder may be justly imputed to the players or transcribers; nor can we very well justify ourselves for permitting it to continue so long, as it was too glaring to have escaped an attentive reader. The action of which Shakspeare is now speaking, happened (according to Holinshed) "neere unto a village in Beausse called Pataie," which we should read, instead of Poictiers. "From this battell departed without anie stroke striken, Sir John Fastolfe, the same yeere by his valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter. But for doubt of misdealing at this brunt, the duke of Bedford tooke from him the image of St. George and his garter," &c. Holin Myself, and divers gentlemen beside, Were there surpriz'd, and taken prisoners. Glo. To say the truth, this fact was infamous, Tal. When first this order was ordained, my lords, K. Hen. Stain to thy countrymen! thou hear'st thy doom: Be packing therefore, thou that wast a knight; [Exit FAST. And now, my lord protector, view the letter Glo. What means his grace that he hath chang'd his [Viewing the superscription. style? No more but, plain and bluntly,-To the king? Hath he forgot, he is his sovereign? shed, Vol. II, p. 601. Monstrelet, the French historian, also bears witness to this degradation of Sir John Fastolfe. Steevens. haughty courage,] Haughty is here in its original sense for high. Johnson. 1 2 Spenser: in most extremes.] i. e. in greatest extremities. So, they all repair'd, both most and least." See Vol. VII, p. 226, n. 5. Steevens. 3 Pretend some alteration in good will?] Thus the old copy. pretend seems to be here used in its Latin sense, i. e. to hold out, What's here?—I have, upon especial cause,— Of such as your oppression feeds upon,- [Reads. And join'd with Charles, the rightful king of France. There should be found such false dissembling guile? And give him chastisement for this abuse : My lor, how say you?4 are you not content? Tal. Content, my liege? Yes; but that I am prevented," Let him perceive, how ill we brook his treason; Enter VERNON and BASSET. [Exit. Ver. Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign! to stretch forward. It may mean, however, as in other places, to design. Modern editors read-portend. Steevens. 4 My lord, how say you?] Old copy How say you, my lord? The transposition is Sir T. Hanmer's. ism. Steevens. I am prevented,] Prevented is here, anticipated; a LatinMalone. So, in our Liturgy: "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings." Prior is, perhaps, the last English poet who used this verb in its obsolete sense: "Else had I come, preventing Sheba's queen, Solomon, Book II. Steevens. K. Hen. Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak. Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim? First let me know, and then I 'll answer you. Bas. Crossing the sea from England into France, Saying the sanguine colour of the leaves Ver. And that is my petition, noble lord: Yet know, my lord, I was provok'd by him; York. Will not this malice, Somerset, be left? K. Hen. Good Lord! what madness rules in brain-sick men; When, for so slight and frivolous a cause, York. Let this dissention first be try'd by fight, 6 did repugn the truth,] To repugn is to resist. The word is used by Chaucer. Steevens. It is found in Bullokar's English Expositor, 8vo. 1616. Malone |