Glo. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law:

But we shall meet, and break our minds at large.

Win. Gloster, we'll meet; to thy dear(39) cost, be sure : Thy heart-blood I will have for this day's work, May. I'll call for clubs, if you will not away :This cardinal's more haughty than the devil.

Glo. Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou mayst. Win. Abominable Gloster! guard thy head;

For I intend to have it ere long, (40)

[Exeunt, severally, Gloster and Winchester with
their Serving-men.

May. See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart.—
Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear (41)
I myself fight not once in forty year.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. France. Before Orleans:

Enter, on the walls, the Master-Gunner and his Son.

M. Gun. Sirrah, thou know'st how Orleans is besieg'd,

And how the English have the suburbs won.

Son. Father, I know; and oft have shot at them, Howe'er, unfortunate, I miss'd my aim.

Be thou rul❜d by me:

M. Gun. But now thou shalt not.
Chief master-gunner am I of this town;
Something I must do to procure me grace."
The prince's 'spials have informed me

How th' English, in the suburbs close intrench'd,
Wont,(42) through a secret grate of iron bars
In yonder tower, to overpeer the city;

(39) dear] Added in the second folio.-Walker (Crit. Exam., &c., vol. iii. p. 149) queries "Gloster, we will meet; to thy cost, be sure,”—the "will" being emphatic.

(40) it ere long] Altered to "it ere be long" in the third folio, to "it, ere't be long" by Capell, and to "it off, ere long" by Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector.

(41) Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear!] i.e. Good God, that these nobles, &c.-Rowe unnecessarily substituted" Good God, that nobles," &c.

(42) Wont,] Tyrwhitt's correction.-The folio has "Went."

And thence discover how with most advantage
They may vex us with shot or with assault.
To intercept this inconvenience,

A piece of ordnance 'gainst it I have plac'd;
And even these three days (43) have I watch'd, if I
Could see them.

Now do thou watch, for I can stay no longer.

If thou spy'st any, run and bring me word;

And thou shalt find me at the governor's.

[Exit.

Son. Father, I warrant you; take you no care;

I'll never trouble you, if I may spy them.

Enter, in an upper chamber of a tower, the Lords SALISBURY and TALBOT, Sir WILLIAM GLANSDALE, Sir THOMAS GARGRAVE, and others.

Sal. Talbot, my life, my joy, again return'd!
How wert thou handled being prisoner,
Or by what means gott'st thou to be releas'd,
Discourse, I prithee, on this turret's top.

Tal. The Duke of Bedford had a prisoner
Called the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles ;(44)
For him was I exchang'd and ransomèd.
But with a baser man-of-arms by far,

Once, in contempt, they would have barter'd me:
Which I, disdaining, scorn'd; and cravèd death

(43) And even these three days, &c.] A corrupted passage. It stands thus in the folio;

"And euen these three dayes haue I watcht,
If I could see them. Now doe thou watch,
For I can stay no longer."

The editor of the second folio reficted it thus;

"And fully even these three dayes have I watcht,
If I could see them. Now Boy doe thou watch,
For I can stay no longer."

(44)

The Duke of Bedford had a prisoner

Called the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles ;]

The folio has "The Earle of Bedford," &c.—I am not sure about the metre of the second line: the folio has "Call'd the braue Lord Ponton de Santrayle;" and see Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, &c., p. 35.

Rather than I would be so vile-esteem'd (45)

In fine, redeem'd I was as I desir'd.

But, O, the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my heart!
Whom with my bare fists I would execute,

If I now had him brought into my power.

Sal. Yet tell'st thou not how thou wert entertain❜d.

Tal. With scoffs, and scorns, and contumelious taunts. In open market-place produc'd they me,

To be a public spectacle to all:

Here, said they, is the terror of the French,
The scarecrow that affrights our children so.
Then broke I from the officers that led me,
And with my nails digg'd stones out of the ground,
To hurl at the beholders of my shame :

My grisly countenance made others fly;

None durst come near for fear of sudden death.

In iron walls they deem'd me not secure;

So great fear of my name 'mongst them was spread,
That they suppos'd I could rend bars of steel,
And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:
Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had,
That walk'd about me every minute-while;
And if I did but stir out of my bed,
Ready they were to shoot me to the heart.

Sal. I grieve to hear what torments you endur'd;
But we will be reveng'd sufficiently.

Now it is supper-time in Orleans:

Here, through this secret grate, I count each one,(46)
And view the Frenchmen how they fortify:

(45) so vile-esteem'd.] The folio has " so pil'd esteem'd,"—evidently a mistake for "so vild esteem'd" (with its usual inconsistency in spelling, the folio has in some places "vild," in others "vile").

(46) Here, through this secret grate, I count each one,] The word "secret" is not in the folio.-The editor of the second folio thus restored the line to at least its proper dimensions; "Here, through this grate, I can count every one," &c.: but his corrections are, of course, merely arbitrary; and the alteration of "I count" [i.e. I am in the habit of counting] to "I can count," is a more than doubtful change.-Malone and some other editors have fancied that all is set right by printing " Here thorough this grate I count each one," &c. !—(As to the reading which I now give, compare, in p. 20, "Wont, through a secret grate of iron bars," &c.)

Let us look in; the sight will much delight thee.—
Sir Thomas Gargrave and Sir William Glansdale,
Let me have your express opinions

Where is best place to make our battery next.

Gar. I think, at the north gate; for there stand lords. Glan. And I, here, at the bulwark of the bridge. Tal. For aught I see, this city must be famish'd, Or with light skirmishes enfeebled.

[Shot from the town. Salisbury and Sir Thomas
Gargrave fall.

Sal. O Lord, have mercy on us, wretched sinners!
Gar. O Lord, have mercy on me, woful man!

Tal. What chance is this that suddenly hath cross'd us?—
Speak, Salisbury; at least, if thou canst speak:
How far'st thou, mirror of all martial men?

One of thy eyes and thy cheek's side struck off!-
Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand

That hath contriv'd this woful tragedy!
In thirteen battles Salisbury o'ercame;

Henry the Fifth he first train'd to the wars;
Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck up,
His sword did ne'er leave striking in the field.—
Yet liv'st thou, Salisbury? though thy speech doth fail,
One eye thou hast, to look to heaven for grace:
The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.—
Heaven, be thou gracious to none alive,
If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hands!—
Bear hence his body; I will help to bury it.-
Sir Thomas Gargrave, hast thou any life?
Speak unto Talbot; nay, look up to him.-
Salisbury, cheer thy spirit with this comfort;
Thou shalt not die whiles-

He beckons with his hand, and smiles on me,
As who should say, "When I am dead and gone,
Remember to avenge me on the French."-

Plantagenet, I will; and, Nero-like,(47)

(47) and, Nero-like,] So the second folio, except that it adds "will" to these words.-The first folio has merely "and like thee;" and hence Malone gives "and like thee, Nero:" but, as Steevens observes, "Surely

Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn:
Wretched shall France be only in my name.

[Thunder heard; afterwards an alarum.

What stir is this? what tumult's in the heavens ?
Whence cometh this alarum and this (49) noise?

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord, my lord, the French have gather'd head: The Dauphin, with one Joan la Pucelle join'd,—

A holy prophetess new risen up,—

Is come with a great power to raise the siege.

[Salisbury lifts himself up and groans.

Tal. Hear, hear how dying Salisbury doth groan!
It irks his heart he cannot be reveng'd.—
Frenchmen, I'll be a Salisbury to you:-
Pucelle or puzzel, dolphin or dogfish,

Your hearts I'll stamp out with my horse's heels,
And make a quagmire of your mingled brains.-

Convey me Salisbury into his tent:

Then we'll try what these dastard Frenchmen dare. (50)

[Exeunt, bearing out the bodies.

SCENE V. Before one of the gates of Orleans.

Alarums. Skirmishings. Enter TALBOT, pursuing the Dauphin, drives him in, and exit: then enter LA PUCELLE, driving Englishmen before her, and exit after them: then re-enter TALBOT.

Tal. Where is my strength, my valour, and my force? Our English troops retire, I cannot stay them;

there is some absurdity in making Talbot address Plantagenet and invoke Nero in the same line." Walker, who (Crit. Exam., &c., vol. iii. p. 150) pronounces the reading "and like thee, Nero" to be "certainly wrong," conjectures "and like the Roman."

(48) my name] Walker (Crit. Exam., &c., vol. iii. p. 150) says, “Perhaps, thy name.'

(49) this] The folio has "the."

(50) Then we'll try what these dastard Frenchmen dare.] The folio has "And then," &c.-Steevens proposes " Then try we what," &c.; Walker (Crit. Exam., &c., vol. iii. p. 150), “And then try what," &c.