Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds, Which thou thyfelf haft given her woful breast! O, turn thy edged fword another way;

Strike those that hurt, and hurt not thofe that help! One drop of blood, drawn from thy country's bo

fom,

Should grieve thee more than ftreams of foreign

gore;

Return thee, therefore, with a flood of tears,

And wash away thy country's ftained spots!

BUR.

Either fhe hath bewitch'd me with her words,

Or nature makes me fuddenly relent.

Puc. Befides, all French and France exclaims on thee,

Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny.

Who join'ft thou with, but with a lordly nation,
That will not truft thee, but for profit's fake?
When Talbot hath fet footing once in France,
And fashion'd thee that inftrument of ill,
Who then, but English Henry, will be lord,
And thou be thruft out, like a fugitive?

Call we to mind,-and mark but this, for proof;-
Was not the duke of Orleans thy foe?
And was he not in England prifoner?
But, when they heard he was thine enemy,
They fet him free, without his ransom paid,
In spite of Burgundy, and all his friends.
See then! thou fight'ft against thy countrymen,
And join'ft with them will be thy flaughtermen.

They fet him free, &c.] A mistake: The duke was not liberated till after Burgundy's decline to the French intereft; which did not happen, by the way, till fome years after the execution of this very Joan la Pucelle; nor was that during the regency of York, But of Bedford. RITSON.

return, thou wand'ring

Come, come, return;

lord;

Charles and the reft, will take thee in their

arms.

BUR. I am vanquifhed; thefe haughty words of hers

Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot, 3
And made me almoft yield upon my knees.-
Forgive me, country, and fweet countrymen!
And, lords, accept this hearty kind`embrace :
My forces and my power of men are yours ;-
So, farewell, Talbot; I'll no longer truft thee.
Puc. Done like a Frenchman; turn, and turn.
again! 4

3 thefe haughty words of hers

How thefe lines

Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-fhot, ] came hither I know not; there was nothing in the fpeech of Joan haughty or violent, it was all foft entreaty and mild expoftulation. JOHNSON.

Haughty does not mean violent in this place, but elevated, highfpirited. It is used in a similar sense, in two other paffages in this very play. In a preceding fcene Mortimer fays:

"But mark; as in this haughty, great attempt, "They laboured to plant the rightful heir-—.” And again, in the next fcene, Talbot fays:

Knights of the Garter were of noble birth, Valiant, and virtuous; full of haughty courage.' At the firft interview with Joan, the Dauphin fays:

Thou haft aftonish'd me with thy high terms;" meaning, by her high terms, what Burgundy here calls her haughty words. M. MASON.

4 Done like a Frenchman; turn, and turn again!] The inconftaucy of the French was always the subject of satire. I have read a differtation written to prove that the index of the wind upon our feeples was made in form of a cock, to ridicule the French for their frequent changes. JOHNSON.

So afterwards:

"In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation—."

MALONE.

CHAR. Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship makes us fresh.

BAST. And doth beget new courage in our breafts.

ALEN. Pucelle hath bravely play'd her part in

this,

And doth deferve a coronet of gold.

CHAR. Now let us on, my lords, and join our

powers;

And feek how we may prejudice the foe..

Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Paris. A Room in the Palace.

Enter King HENRY, GLOSTER, and other Lords, VERNON, BASSET, &c. To them TALBOT, and fome of his Officers.

TAL. My gracious prince,-and honourable

peers,

Hearing of your arrival in this realm,

I have a while given truce unto my wars,
To do my duty to my fovereign:

In fign whereof, this arm-that hath reclaim'd

To your obedience fifty fortreffes,

Twelve cities, and feven walled towns of ftrength,

Befide five hundred prifoners of esteem,

Lets fall his fword before your highness' feet;

In Othello we have the fame phrase:

"Sir, the can turn, and turn, and yet go on,

"And turn again.'

STEEVENS.

1

And, with fubmiffive loyalty of heart,
Afcribes the glory of his conquest got,
First to my God, and next unto your grace.
K. HEN Is this the lord Talbot, uncle Glofter,
That hath fo long been refident in France?
GLO. Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege,
K. HEN. Welcome, brave captain, and victorious
lord!

When I was young, (as yet I am not old,)
I do remember how my father faid, 4

5

A ftouter champion never handled fword.
Long fince we were refolved of your truth,'
Your faithful fervice, and your toil in war;
Yet never have you tafted our reward,

6

Or been reguerdon'd with fo much as thanks,
Because till now we never faw your face:
Therefore, ftand up; and, for thefe good deferts,
We here create you earl of Shrewsbury;
And in our coronation take your place.

[Exeunt King HENRY, GLOSTER, TALBOT, and
Nobles.

3 Is this the lord Talbot uncle Glofter, Sir Thomas Hanmer fupplies the apparent deficiency in this line, by reading

Is this the fam'd lord. Talbot, &c.

So, in Troilus and Creffida:

"My well fam'd lord of Troy--.' STEEVENS.

I do remember how my father faid,] The author of this play was not a very corred hiftorian. Henry was but nine months old when his father died, and never faw him. MALONE.

5 —— resolved of your truth,] i. e. confirmed in opinion of it. So, in the Third Part of this playa

I am refolu'd

"That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue."

STEEVENS.

6 Or been reguerdon'd —] i, e. rewarded. The word was obfolete even in the time of Shakspeare. Chaucer uses it in the Boke of Boethius. STEEVENS.

VER. Now, fir, to you, that were so hot at sea, Difgracing of thefe colours that I wear'

In honour of my noble lord of York,

Dar'ft thou maintain the former words thou fpak'n?

BAS. Yes, fir; as well as you dare patronage
The envious barking of your faucy tongue
Against my lord, the duke of Somerset.

VER. Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is.
BAS. Why, what is he? as good a man as York.
VER. Hark ye; not fo: in witness, take ye that.
[Strikes him.
BAS. Villain, thou know'ft, the law of arms is

fuch,

That, who fo draws a fword, 'tis present death;

9

7 · thefe colours that I wear-] This was the badge of a rose, and not an officer's fcarf. So, in Love's Labour's Loft. Aа III. fcene the laft:

"And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop."

TOLLET.

That, who fo draws a fword, 'tis prefent death;] Shakspeare

wrote:

i. e.

draws a fword i'th' prefence 't's death; in the court, or in the prefence chamber.

WARBURTON.

This reading cannot be right, because, as Mr. Edwards observed, it cannot be pronounced. It is, however, a good comment, as it fhows the author's meaning. JOHNSON.

I believe the line fhould be written as it is in the folio:
That, who fo draws a fword,--

i. e. (as Dr. Warburton has obferved) with a menace in the court, or in the prefence chamber. STEEVENS.

Johnson, in his collection of Ecclefiaftical Laws, has preferved the following, which was made by Ina, king of the Weft Saxons, 693: If any one fight in the king's houfe, let him forfeit all his eftate, and let the king deem whether he shall live or not." I arm told that there are many other ancient canons to the fame purpole. Grey. STEEVENS.