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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 Salike lies in Germany,
Between the floods of Sala and of Elve:
Where Charles the great, having fubdu'd the Saxons,
There left behind and fettled certain French:
Who, holding in difdain the German women,
For fome difhoneft manners of their life,
Eftablifht then this law; to wit, no female
Should be inheritrix in Salike land:
Which Salike, as I faid, 'twixt Elve and Sala,
Is at this day in Germany call'd Meifen.
Thus doth it well appear, the Salike law
Was not devised for the realm of France.
Nor did the French poffefs the Salike 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 fay,
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, who ufurp'd the Crown

Of Charles the Duke of Lorain, fole heir male
Of the true line and stock of Charles the great,
To fine his title with fome fhews of truth,

(Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught)
Convey'd himself as heir to th❜lady Lingare,
Daughter to Charlemain, who was the fon
To Lewis th'Emperor, which was the fon
Of Charles the great. Alfo King Lewis the ninth,
Who was fole heir to the ufurper Capet,
Could not keep quiet in his confcience,
Wearing the Crown of France, till fatisfy'd

That

That fair Queen Ifabel, his grandmother,

Was lineal of the lady Ermengere,

Daughter to Charles the forefaid Duke of Lorain:
By the which match the line of Charles the great
Was re-united to the Crown of France.
So that, as clear as is the Summer's fun,
King Pepin's title, and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his Satisfaction, all appear (4)
To hold in right and title of the female.
So do the Kings of France until this day:
Howbeit they would hold up this Salike law,
To bar your Highnefs claiming from the female;
And rather chufe to hide them in a net,

Than amply to imbare their crooked titles, (5)
Ufurpt from you and your progenitors.

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

Cant. The fin upon my head, dread Soveraign! For in the book of Numbers it is writ,

When the fon dies, let the inheritance

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

Go, my dread lord, to your great grandfire's tomb,

(4) King Lewis his Satisfaction,] Thus all the authentick Copies; Mr. Pope in the room of it, either out of a particular Delicacy of Ear, or religious Adherence to the Chronicles, has fubftituted, Poffeffion. But I believe the other to have been the Author's Word, of Choice: he seems to be briefly recapitulating his own Terms, and he had told us just above, that Lewis IX. could not wear the Crown with a quiet Conscience, till fatisfied

That fair Queen Ifabel, his Grandmother, &c.

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(5) Than openly imbrace] This is Mr. Pope's Reading, and not any ways authoriz'd that I can find. But where is the Antithefts betwixt hide in the preceding Line, and imbrace in this? The two old Folio's read, Than amply to imbarre But here is a flight Corruption in the Spelling, by the fuperfluous Reduplication of a Letter. We certainly must either read (as Mr. Warburton advis'd me,)— Than amply to imbare(or, as I had fufpected, unbare ;) i. e. lay open, make naked, difplay to View. I am furpriz'd, Mr. Pope did not ftart this Conjecture, as Mr. Rove has led the way to it in his Edition, who reads;

Than amply to make bare their crooked Titles.

From

From whom you claim; invoke his warlike fpirit,
And your great uncle Edward the black Prince;
Who on the French ground play'd a Tragedy,
Making defeat on the full pow'r of France:
While 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 half their forces the full pow'r of France;
And let another half ftand laughing by,
All out of work, and cold for action!.

Ely. Awake remembrance of thefe 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 enterprises.

Exe. Your brother Kings and Monarchs of the earth
Do all expect that you fhould rouze your felf;
As did the former Lions of your blood.

Weft. They know, your Grace hath cause, and means, and might, (6)

So hath your Highness; 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 field of France.

Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear Liege,
With blood, and fword, and fire, to win your right:
In aid whereof, we of the Spiritualty

Will raise your Highnefs fuch a mighty fum,

As never did the Clergy at one time

Bring in to any of your ancestors.

K. Henry. We must not only arm t'invade the French, But lay down our proportions to defend

(6) They know your Grace hath cause, and means and might ;

So hath your highness, never King of England

Had Nobles richer,-] Thus has this Speech hitherto been moft ftupidly pointed, without any regard to common Senfe. As I have regulated it, we see the Poet's Drift, and come at an eafy and natural Reasoning.

Against

Against the Scot, who will make road upon us
With all advantages.

Cant. They of thofe Marches, gracious Sovereign,
Shall be a wall fufficient to defend

Our Inland from the pilfering borderers.

K. Henry. We do not mean the courfing fnatchers only, But fear the main intendment of the Scot,

Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us:
For you shall read, that my great grandfather
Never went with his forces into France,
But that the Scot on his unfurnisht kingdom
Came pouring, like a tide into a breach,
With ample and brim fulness of his force;
Galling the gleaned land with hot affays;
Girding with grievous fiege caftles and towns;
That England, being empty of defence,

Hath fhook, and trembled, at th'ill neighbourhood.
Cant. She hath been then more fear'd than harm'd,
my Liege;

For hear her but exampled by her felf;
When all her chivalry hath been in France,
And she a mourning widow of her Nobles,
She hath her felf not only well defended,
But taken and impounded as a stray

The King of Scots; whom fhe did fend to France,
To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner Kings;
And make his chronicle as rich with praise,
As is the ouzy bottom of the fea

With funken wrack and fumless treasuries.
Ely. But there's a faying very old and true,

If that you will France win, then with Scotland firft begin.
For once the Eagle England being in prey,

To her unguarded neft the Weazel, Scot,
Comes fneaking, and fo fucks her princely eggs;
Playing the Moufe in abfence of the Cat,

To taint, and havock, more than fhe can eat. (7)

(7) To tear and havock more than she can eat.] 'Tis not much the Qua lity of the Moufe to tear the Food it comes at, but to run over and defile it. The old 4to reads, Spoile; and the two firft folio's, tame: from which laft corrupted Word, I think, I have retriev'd the Poet's genuine Reading, taint.

Exe.

Exe. It follows then, the Cat muft ftay at home,
Yet that is but a 'scus'd neceffity; (8)
Since we have locks to fafeguard neceffaries,
And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves.
While that the armed hand doth fight abroad,
Th'advised head defends it felf at home :

For Government, though high, and low, and lower, (9)
Put into parts, doth keep in one confent;
Congreeing in a full and natural clofe,

Like mufick.

Cant. Therefore heaven doth divide
The ftate of man in divers functions,
Setting endeavour in continual motion:
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,
Obedience; for fo work the honey Bees;
Creatures, that by a rule in nature teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a King, and officers of fort;
Where fome, like magiftrates, correct at home :
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad :
Others, like foldiers, armed in their ftings,
Make boot upon the fummer's velvet buds:
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tent-royal of their Emperor :
Who, bufied in his majefty, furveys
The finging mafon building roofs of gold;
The civil citizens kneading up the honey;
The poor mechanick porters crowding in
Their heavy burthens at his narrow gate:

(8) Yet that is but a curs'd Neceffity ;] So the old 4to. The folio's read crush'd: Neither of the Words convey any tolerable Idea; but give us a counter-reafoning, and not at all pertinent. 'Tis Exeter's bufiness to shew, there is no real Neceffity for staying at home: he muft therefore mean, that tho there be a feeming Neceffity, yet it is one that may be well excus'd, and got over. Mr. Warburton.

(9) For Government, though high, and low, and lower,] The Foundation and Expreffion of this Thought feem to be borrow'd from Cicero, de Republica, lib. 2. Sic ex fummis, & mediis, & infimis interjectis Ordinibus, ut fonis, moderatam ratione Civitatem, Confenfu diffimiliorum concinere ; & quæ Harmonia à Muficis dicitur in Cantu, eam effe in Civitate Concordiam.

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