Ram. He longs to eat the English. Con. I think, he will eat all he kills. Orl. By the white hand of my lady, he's a gallant prince. Con. Swear by her foot, that she may tread out the oath. Orl. He is, simply, the most active gentleman of France. Con. Doing is activity: and he will still be doing. Orl. He never did harm, that I heard of. Con. Nor will do none to-morrow; he will keep that good name still. Orl. I know him to be valiant. Con. I was told that, by one that knows him better than you. Orl. What's he? Con. Marry, he told me so himself; and he said, he cared not who knew it. Orl. He needs not, it is no hidden virtue in him. Con. By my faith, sir, but it is; never any body saw it, but his lackey: 'tis a hooded valour; and, when it appears, it will bate. Orl. Ill will never said well. Con. I will cap that proverb with-There is flattery in friendship. Orl. And I will take up that with-Give the devil his due. Con. Well placed; there stands your friend for the devil: have at the very eye of that proverb, with-A pox of the devil. Orl. You are the better at proverbs, by how muchA fool's bolt is soon shot. Con. You have shot over. Orl. 'Tis not the first time you were overshot. Enter a Messenger. Mess. My lord high constable, the English lie within fifteen hundred paces of your tent. Con. Who hath measured the ground? Mess. The lord Grandpré. Con. A valiant and most expert gentleman.-Would it were day!—Alas, poor Harry of England! he longs not for the dawning, as we do. Orl. What a wretched and peevish fellow is this king of England, to mope with his fat-brained followers so far out of his knowledge! Con. If the English had any apprehension, they would run away. Orl. That they lack; for if their heads had any intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy headpieces. Ram. That island of England breeds very valiant creatures; their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage. Orl. Foolish curs! that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear, and have their heads crushed like rotten apples: You may as well say,-that's a valiant flea, that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. Con. Just, just; and the men do sympathize with the mastiffs, in robustious and rough coming on, leaving their wits with their wives: and then give them great meals of beef, and iron and steel, they will eat like wolves, and fight like devils. Orl. Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef. Con. Then we shall find to-morrow-they have only stomachs to eat, and none to fight. Now is it time to arm: Come, shall we about it? Orl. It is now two o'clock: but, let me see,-by ten, We shall have each a hundred Englishmen. [Exeunt. ACT IV. Enter CHORUS. Chor. Now entertain conjecture of a time, When creeping murmur, and the poring dark, Fills the wide vessel of the universe. From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, The hum of either army stilly sounds, That the fix'd sentinels almost receive The secret whispers of each other's watch: The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll, So tediously away. The poor condemned English, Sit patiently, and inly ruminate The morning's danger; and their gesture sad, So many horrid ghosts. O, now, who will behold Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent, How dread an army hath enrounded him; His liberal eye doth give to every one, Where, (O for pity!) we shall much disgrace- [Exit. |