Are every one a woe, a fore complaint,

'Gainst him, whose wrong gives edge unto the fword. That makes fuch wafte in brief mortality'.

2 Under this conjuration, fpeak, my lord;

For we will hear, note, and believe in heart,
That what you fpeak is in your confcience wafh'd
As pure as fin with baptifm.

Cant. Then hear me, gracious fovereign, and you

peers,

That owe your lives, your faith, and fervices,
To this imperial throne ;-There is no bar 3
To make against your highness' claim to France,
But this, which they produce from Pharamond,~
In terram Salicam mulieres nè fuccedant 4,
No woman fhall fucceed in Salique land:

Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze
To be the realm of France, and Pharamond
The founder of this law and female bar.
Yet their own authors faithfully affirm,
That the land Salique lies in Germany,

Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe;

S

Where Charles the great, having fubdu'd the Saxons,
There left behind and fettled certain French;
Who, holding in difdain the German women,

brief mortality.]

"Nulla brevem dominum fequetur."

Hor. STEEVENS.

2 Under this conjuration,] The 4tos 1600 and 160S, read: After this conjuration. STEEVENS.

3

-There is no bar, &c.] This whole fpeech is copied (in a manner verbatim) from Hall's Chronicle, Henry V. year the second, folio 4. xx. xxx. xl, &c. In the first edition it is very imperfect, and the whole hiflory and names of the princes are confounded; but this was afterwards fet right, and corrected from his original, Hall's Chronicle. POPE.

This fpeech (together with the Latin paffage in it) may as well be faid to be taken from Holinfhed as from Hall. STEEVENS. gloze] Expound, explain, and fometimes comment upon. So in Troilus and Creffida, vol. ix. p, 61.

you have both faid well;

And on the cause and queftion now in hand
Have gloz'd but fuperficially. EDITOR.

VOL. VI

erficially.

For

For some dishonest manners of their life,
Establish'd there this law,-to wit, no female
Should be inheritrix in Salique land;

Which Salique, as I faid, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,
Is at this day in Germany call'd-Meifen.
Thus doth it well appear, the Salique law
Was not devised for the realm of France:
Nor did the French poffefs the Salique land
Until four hundred one and twenty years
After defunction of king Pharamond,
Idly fuppos'd the founder of this law;
Who died within the year of our redemption
Four hundred twenty-fix; and Charles the great,
Subdu'd the Saxons, and did feat the French
Beyond the river Sala, in the year

Eight hundred five. Befides, their writers say,
King Pepin, which depofed Childerick,
Did, as heir general, being defcended

Of Blithild, which was daughter to king Clothair,
Make claim and title to the crown of France.
Hugh Capet alfo,-that ufurp'd the crown
Of Charles the duke of Lorain, fole heir-male
Of the true line and ftock of Charles the great,-
To fine his title with fome fhew of truth,

(Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught)

6 To fine bis title, &c.] This is the reading of the quarto of 1608, that of the folio is, To find his title. I would read:

To line bis title with fome fhew of truth.

To line may fignify at once to decorate and to strengthen. In Macbeth:

"

"He did line the rebels with hidden help and vantage." Dr. Warburton fays, that to fine bis title, is to refine or improve it. The reader is to judge.

I now believe that find is right; the jury finds for the plaintiff, or finds for the defendant: to find his title is, to determine in faour of his title with fome fhew of truth. JOHNSON.

Both the quartos, 1600 and 1608, read-To fine his title, i. e. to make it bety or Specious by fome appearance of justice.

STEEVENS.

Convey'd

Convey'd himself as heir to the lady Lingare 7,
Daughter to Charlemain, who was the fon
To Lewis the emperor, and Lewis the fon
Of Charles the great. Alfo king Lewis the tenth,
Who was fole heir to the ufurper Capet,
Could not keep quiet in his confcience,
Wearing the crown of France, 'till fatisfy'd
That fair queen Ifabel, his grandmother,
Was lineal of the lady Ermengare,

Daughter to Charles the forefaid duke of Lorain;
By the which marriage, the line of Charles the great
Was re-united to the crown of France.
So that, as clear as is the fummer's fun,
King Pepin's title, and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his fatisfaction, all appear
To hold in right and title of the female:
So do the kings of France unto this day;
Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law,
To bar your highness claiming from the female:
And rather chufe to hide them in a net,

Than amply to imbare their crooked titles",
Ufurp'd from you and your progenitors.

7

the lady Lingare,

Daughter to Charlemain, who was the fon.
To Lewis the emperor, and Lewis the fon
Of Charles the great.]

K. Henry.

But Charlemain and Charles the great were one and the fame perfon. Charlechauve was indeed the fon of Lewis the emperor: but who the lady Lingare was, hath not been discovered. Shakfpeare, however, gives the information juft as he found it in Hall and Hollinfhed. REMARKS.

Alfo king Lewis the ninth,] The word ninth has been inferted by fome of the modern editors. The old copies read tenth. Ninth is certainly wrong, and ten:b certainly right. Ifabel was the wife of Philip the fecond, father of Lewis the ninth, and grandfather of Lewis the tenth. REMARKS.

-imbare their crooked titles,] Mr. Pope reads:

Than openly imbrace] But where is the antithefis betwixt bide in the preceding line, and imbrace in this? The two old fo lios read, Than amply to imbarre.We certainly must read, a

C 2

Mr.

K. Heary. May I, with right and confcience, make
this claim?

Cant. The fin upon my head, dread fovereign!
For in the book of Numbers is it writ-
When the fon dies, let the inheritance

Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,
Stand for your own; unwind your bloody flag;
Look back unto your mighty ancestors:

Go, my dread lord, to your great grandfire's tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,
And your great uncle's, Edward the black prince;
Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,
Making defeat on the full power of France;
Whiles his moft mighty father on a hill,
Stood fmiling, to behold his lion's whelp
Forage in blood of French nobility.-
O noble English, that could entertain

With

Mr. Warburton advised me, Than amply to imbare-lay open, difplay to view. I am furpriz'd Mr. Pope did not ftart this conjecture, as Mr. Rowe had led the way to it in his edition; who reads:

Than amply to make bare their crooked titles. THEOBALD. Mr. Theobald might have found, in the quarto of 1608, this reading :

Than amply to embrace their crooked causes;

out of which line Mr. Pope formed his reading, erroneous in deed, but not merely capricious. JOHNSON.

The 4to 1600, reads-imbace.

I know of no fuch word as imbare. To unbar is to open, which I fuppofe to be the word fet down by the poet, and was probably ppposed to bar.

So, in the first scene of Timon, the poet fays, "I'll unbolt to you.” To embar, however, feems, from the following paffage in the first book of Stanyhurit's translation of Virgil, 1582, to fignify to break or cut off abruptly:

"Heere Venus embarring his taie, &c."

Yet, as to bar, in Much Ado about Nothing, is to ftrengthen,-that is ftronger made

"Which was before barr'd up with ribs of iron.-——” So, amply to unbar may mean to weaken by an open display of invalidity. STEEVENS.

Imbare

KING HENRY V.

With half their forces the full pride of France;
And let another half ftand laughing by,

All out of work, and cold for action '!

Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead,
And with your puiffant arm renew their feats :
You are their heir, you fit upon their throne;
The blood and courage, that renowned them,
Runs in your veins; and my thrice-puiffant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprizes.

21

Exe. Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth Do all expect that you should rouse yourself,

As did the former lions of

2

your blood.

Weft. They know, your grace hath cause, and
means and might;

So hath your highnefs; never king of England
Had nobles richer, and more loyal fubjects;
Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England,
And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.

Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege3, With blood, and fword, and fire, to win your right:

Imbare is, I believe, the true reading, and means no more than to bare or lay upon. It is formed like impaint, impawn, and many other words ufed by Shakspeare. MALONE,

-cold for action! The next ipeeches of Ely, Exeter, Westmoreland, and Canterbury, were added after the quartos 1600 and 1608. STEEVENS.

2 They knew your grace hath caufe, and means, and might, So bath your highness; —

We should read:

your race had caufe

-}

which is carrying on the fenfe of the concluding words of Exeter :

As did the former lions of your blood;

meaning Edward III. and the black prince. WARBURTON.

I do not fee but the prefent reading may stand as I have pointed it. JOHNSON.

3 Thefe two lines Dr. Warburton gives to Westmoreland, but with fo little reason that I have continued them to Canterbury. The credit of old copies, though not great, is yet more than nothing. JOHNSON.