And use it for my haste. Come, come away!
The sun is high, and we outwear the day.

SCENE III.

The English Camp.

[Exeunt.

Enter the English Host; GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, SALISBURY, and WESTMORELAND.

9

Glo. Where is the king?

Bed. The king himself is rode to view their battle. West. Of fighting men they have full threescore thousand.

Exe. There 's five to one; besides, they all are fresh. Sal. God's arm strike with us! 'tis a fearful odds. God be wi' you, princes all; I'll to my charge: If we no more meet, till we meet in heaven, Then, joyfully,-my noble lord of Bedford,— My dear lord Gloster,-and my good lord Exeter,And my kind kinsman,1-warriors all, adieu!

Bed. Farewel, good Salisbury; and good luck go with

thee!

Exe. Farewel, kind lord; fight valiantly to-day:

And yet I do thee wrong, to mind thee of it,
For thou art fram'd of the firm truth of valour.2

[Exit SAL.

him." The Constable, being the principal leader of the French army, had, without doubt, like Henry, his guard also, one of whom bore before him, as we may collect from Hall, the banner-royal of France. Malone.

9

Salisbury,] Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury.

Malone.

1 And my kind kinsman,] This must be addressed to Westmoreland: but how was that nobleman related to Salisbury? True it is, that the latter had married one of the sisters and coheirs of Edmund Earl of Kent, and that another of them was wife to Westmoreland's eldest son. Salisbury's daughter was likewise married to a younger son of Westmoreland's, who, in her right, was afterwards Earl of Salisbury, and appears in the Second and Third Parts of King Henry VI. The present speaker is Thomas Montacute, who is killed by a shot in the next play. But these connexions do not seem to make him akin to Westmoreland.

Ritson.

2 Bed. Farewel, good Salisbury; &c.] Thus the old edition: [i. e. the first folio:]

"Bed. Farewel, good Salisbury, and good luck go with

thee;

Bed. He is as full of valour, as of kindness;

Princely in both.

West.

O that we now had here 3

Enter King HENRY.

But one ten thousand of those men in England,
That do no work to-day!

K. Hen.

What's he, that wishes so?

My cousin Westmoreland?4-No, my fair cousin :
If we are mark'd to die, we are enough

To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man morė.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold;
Nor care I, who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not, if men my garments wear;

"And yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it,
"For thou art fram'd of the firm truth of valour.

"Exe. Farewel, kind lord: fight valiantly to-day." What! does he do Salisbury wrong to wish him good luck? The ingenious Dr. Thirlby prescribed to me the transposition of the verses, which I have made in the text: and the old quartos plainly lead to such a regulation. Theobald.

I believe this transposition to be perfectly right, for it was already made in the quartos, 1600 and 1608, as follows:

"Farewell, kind lord; fight valiantly to-day,
"And yet in truth I do thee wrong,

"For thou art made on the true sparks of honour."

Steevens.

30 that we now had here &c.] From Holinshed: “It is said also, that he should heare one of the hoste utter his wishe to another, that stood next to him, in this wise: I would to God there were present here with us this day so many good souldiers as are at this hour within the realme of England; whereupon the kyng answered: I would not wishe a man more here than I have," &c. Malone.

My cousin Westmoreland?] In the quartos, 1600 and 1608, this speech is addressed to Warwick. Steevens.

5 By Jove,] The King prays like a christian, and swears like a heathen. Johnson.

I believe the player-editors alone are answerable for this monstrous incongruity. In consequence of the Stat. 3 James I, c. xxi, against introducing the sacred name on the stage, &c. they omitted it where they could; and in verse, (where the metre would not allow omission,) they substituted some other word in its place. The author, I have not the least doubt, wrote here-By heaven, Malone.

Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But, if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.

No, 'faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour,
As one man more, methinks, would share from me,
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more:7
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he, which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company,
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd-the feast of Crispian: 8
He, that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,9
Will yearly on the vigil1 feast his friends,
And say-to-morrow is Saint Crispian:

Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars,
And say, these wounds I had on Crispin's day.2

6 It yearns me not,] To yearn is to grieve or vex. So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: "She laments for it, that it would yearn your heart to see it." Steevens.

7

O, do not wish one more:] Read (for the sake of metre) -Wish not one more. Ritson.

8

of Crispian:] The battle of Agincourt was fought upon the 25th of October, St. Crispin's day. The legend upon which this is founded, follows:-" Crispinus and Crispianus were brethren, born at Rome; from whence they travelled to Soissons in France, about the year 303, to propagate the Christian religion; but because they would not be chargeable to others for their maintenance, they exercised the trade of shoemakers; but the governor of the town discovering them to be Christians, ordered them to be beheaded about the year 303. From which time, the shoemakers made choice of them for their tutelar saints." Wheatley's Rational Illustration, folio, edit. p. 76. See Hall's Chronicle, fol. 47. Grey.

9 He, that shall live this day, and see old age,] The folio reads: He that shall see this day and live old age.

The transposition (which is supported by the quarto) was made by Mr. Pope. Malone.

1

the vigil-] i. e. the evening before this festival.

Old men forget; yet all3 shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,*

What feats he did that day: Then shall our names,
Familiar in their mouths as household words,-
Harry the king, Bedford, and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloster,-
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd:
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he, to-day that sheds his blood with me,,
Shall be my brother; be he neʼer so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:"

2 And say, these wounds I had on Crispin's day.] This line I have restored from the quarto, 1600. The preceding line appears to me abrupt and imperfect without it. Malone.

3

yet all-] I believe we should read-yea, all &c.

Malone. 4 with advantages,] Old men, notwithstanding the natural forgetfulness of age, shall remember their feats of this day, and remember to tell them with advantage. Age is commonly boastful, and inclined to magnify past acts and past times. Johnson.

5 Familiar in their mouths] i. e. in the mouths of the old man ("who has outlived the battle and come safe home,") and "his friends." This is the reading of the quarto, which I have preferred to that of the folio,-his mouth; because their cups, the reading of the folio in the subsequent line, would otherwise appear, if not ungrammatical, extremely awkward. The quarto reads-in their flowing bowls; and there are other considerable variations in the two copies. Malone.

6 From this day to the ending —] It may be observed that we are apt to promise to ourselves a more lasting memory than the changing state of human things admits. This prediction is not verified; the feast of Crispin passes by without any mention of Agincourt. Late events obliterate the former: the civil wars have left in this nation scarcely any tradition of more ancient his. tory. Johnson.

7 - gentle his condition:] This day shall advance him to the rank of a gentleman. Johnson.

King Henry V inhibited any person but such as had a right by inheritance, or grant, to assume coats of arms, except those who fought with him at the battle of Agincourt; and, I think, these last were allowed the chief seats of honour at all feasts and pub. lick meetings. Tollet.

And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,

Shall think themselves accurs'd, they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap, while any speaks,
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Enter SALISBURY.

8

Sal. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed: The French are bravely9 in their battles set, And will with all expedience1 charge on us.

K. Hen. All things are ready, if our minds be so. West. Perish the man, whose mind is backward now! K. Hen. Thou dost not wish more help from England, cousin?

West. God's will, my liege, 'would you and I alone, Without more help, might fight this battle out!2

K. Hen. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men; 3

That Mr. Tollet is right in his account, is proved by the original writ to the Sheriff of Southampton and others, printed in Rymer's Fadera, anno 5 Henry V, Vol. IX, p. 457. And see more fully on the subject Anstis's Order of the Garter, Vol. II, p. 108, who mentions it, and observes thereon, citing Gore's Catalog. rei Herald. Introduct. and Sandford's General Hist. p. 283. Vaillant.

8 upon Saint Crispin's day.] This speech, like many others of the declamatory kind, is too long. Had it been contracted to about half the number of lines, it might have gained force, and lost none of the sentiments. Johnson.

9

bravely —] is splendidly, ostentatiously. Johnson. Rather-gallantly. So, in The Tempest:

1

2

reads:

3

"Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou
"Perform'd, my Ariel!" Steevens.

expedience-] i. e. expedition. So, in King Richard II: "Are making hither with all due expedience." Steevens. might fight this battle out!] Thus the quarto. The folio

could fight this royal battle. Malone.

thou hast unwish'd five thousand men;] By wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thousand men away. Shakspeare never thinks of such trifles as numbers. In the last scene the French are said to be full threescore thousand, which Exeter declares to be five to one; but, by the king's account, they are twelve to one. Johnson.

Holinshed makes the English army consist of 15,000, and the French of 60,000 horse, besides foot, &c. in all 100,000; while Walsingham and Harding represent the English as but 9000; and other authors say that the number of French amounted to 150,000. Steevens.