Puc. Belike, your lordship takes us then for fools,

To try if that our own be ours, or no.

Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecate,

But unto thee, Alençon, and the reft;
Will ye, like foldiers, come and fight it out?
Alen. Signior, no.

Tal. Signior, hang!-base muleteers of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

Puc. Away, captains: let's get us from the walls;
For Talbot means no goodness, by his looks.—
God be wi' you, my lord! we came but to tell you
That we are here.

[Exeunt LA PUCELLE, &c. from the walls.

Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long,
Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!-
Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,
(Prick'd on by publick wrongs, sustain'd in France,)
Either to get the town again, or die:
And I, -as fure as English Henry lives,
And as his father here was conqueror;
As sure as in this late-betrayed town
Great Cœur-de-lion's heart was buried;
So fure I swear, to get the town, or die.

Bur. My vows are equal partners with thy vows.
Tal. But, ere we go, regard this dying prince,
The valiant duke of Bedford:-Come, my lord,
We will bestow you in fome better place,
Fitter for fickness, and for crazy age.

Bed. Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me:
Here will I fit before the walls of Rouen,
And will be partner of your weal, or woe.

Bur. Courageous Bedford, let us now perfuade you.
Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once I read,

That stout Pendragon, in his litter, fick,

4

- once I read,

Came

That ftout Pendragon, in bis litter, &c.] This hero was Uther

Pendragon, brother to Aurelius, and father to king Arthur.

Shakspeare, has imputed to Pendragon an exploit of Aurelius, who,

Came to the field, and vanquished his foes:
Methinks, I should revive the foldiers' hearts,
Because I ever found them as myself.

Tal. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!-
Then be it fo:-Heavens keep old Bedford safe!
And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,
But gather we our forces out of hand,
And fet upon our boasting enemy.

[Exeunt BURGUNDY, TALBOT, and forces, leaving BEDFORD, and Others.

Alarum: Excursions. Enter Sir John FASTOLFFE, and

a Captain.

Cap. Whither away, Sir John Fastolffe, in such haste?

Faft. Whither away? to save myself by flight';

We are like to have the overthrow again.

Cap. What! will you fly, and leave lord Talbot ?

Faft. Ay,

All the Talbots in the world, to save my life.

[Exit.

Cap. Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee! [Exit.

fays Holinshed, "even ficke of a flixe as he was, caused himselfe to be carried forth in a litter: with whose presence his people were so incouraged, that encountering with the Saxons they wan the victorie." Hift. of Scotland, p. 99.

Harding, however, in his Chronicle, (as I learn from Dr. Grey) gives the following account of Uther Pendragon:

"For which the king ordain'd a horse-litter
"To bear him so then unto Verolame,
"Where Ocea lay, and Oysa alfo in fear,
"That faint Albones now hight of noble fame,
"Bet downe the walles; but to him forth they came,
"Where in battayle Ocea and Oysa were fslayn.

"The fielde he had, and thereof was full fayne." STEEVENS. -fave myself by flight;] I have no doubt that it was the exaggerated representation of Sir John Fastolfe's cowardice which the author of this play has given, that induced Shakspeare to give the name of Falstaff to his knight. Sir John Faftolffe did indeed fly at the battle of Patay in the year 1429; and is reproached by Talbot, in a subsequent scene, for his conduct on that occafion; but no historian has said that he fled before Rouen. The change of the name had been already made, for throughout the old copy of this play this flying general is crroneously called Falstaffe. MALONE.

Retreat:

Retreat: Excursions. Enter, from the town, LA PUCELLES
ALENÇCON, CHARLES, &c. and Exeunt flying.

Bed. Now, quiet foul, depart when heaven please;
For I have seen our enemies' overthrow.
What is the trust or strength of foolish man?
They, that of late were daring with their scoffs,
Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves.

[Dies, and is carried off in his chair.

Alarum: Enter TALBOT, BURGUNDY, and Others.

Tal. Loft, and recover'd in a day again!

This is a double honour, Burgundy :
Yet, heavens have glory for this victory!

Bur. Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy
Enshrines thee in his heart; and there erects
Thy noble deeds, as valour's monument.

Tal. Thanks, gentle duke. But where is Pucelle now ?
I think, her old familiar is asleep :
Now where's the Bastard's braves, and Charles his gleeks?
What, all a-mort? Rouen hangs her head for grief,
That such a valiant company are fled.
Now will we take some order in the town,
Placing therein some expert officers;
And then depart to Paris, to the king;
For there young Henry, with his nobles, lies.
Bur. What wills lord Talbot, pleaseth Burgundy.
Tal. But yet, before we go, let's not forget

The noble duke of Bedford, late deceas'd,
But see his exequies fulfill'd in Rouen;
A braver foldier never couched lance,
A gentler heart did never fway in court:

6 Now, quiet soul, depart, &c.] So, in St. Luke, ii. 29. "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have feerr thy salvation." STEEVENS.

7 Dies, &c.] The Duke of Bedford died at Rouen in September, 1435, but not in any action before that town. MALONE.

But

But kings, and mightiest potentates, must die;
For that's the end of human mifery.

SCENE III.

The fame. The Plains near the city.

[Exeunt.

Enter CHARLES, the Bastard, ALENÇON, LA PUCELLE,

and forces.

Puc. Dismay not, princes, at this accident,
Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered:
Care is no cure, but rather corrofive,
For things that are not to be remedy'd.
Let frantick Talbot triumph for a while,
And like a peacock sweep along his tail;
We'll pull his plumes, and take away his train,
If Dauphin, and the rest, will be but rul'd.

Char. We have been guided by thee hitherto,
And of thy cunning had no diffidence;
One sudden foil shall never breed diftrust.

Baft. Search out thy wit for fecret policies,
And we will make thee famous through the world.
Alen. We'll set thy statue in some holy place,
And have thee reverenc'd like a blessed saint;
Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good.
Puc. Then thus it must be; this doth Joan devise:
By fair perfuafions, mix'd with sugar'd words,
We will entice the duke of Burgundy
To leave the Talbot, and to follow us.

Char. Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that,
France were no place for Henry's warriors ;
Nor should that nation boast it so with us,

But be extirped & from our provinces.

Alen. For ever should they be expuls'd from France 9,

And

$ But be extirped-] To extirp is to root out. So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603:

"The world shall gather to extirp our name." STEEVENS. -expuls'd from France,] i. e. expelled. So, in Ben Jonfon's Sejanus 1

"The

And not have title of an earldom here.
Puc. Your honours shall perceive how I will work,

(Drums beard.

To bring this matter to the wished end.
Hark! by the found of drum, you may perceive
Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward.

An English March. Enter and pass over, at a distance,
TALBOT and his forces.

There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread;
And all the troops of English after him.

A French March. Enter the Duke of BURGUNDY and

forces.

Now, in the rereward, comes the duke, and his;
Fortune, in favour, makes him lag behind.

Summon a parley, we will talk with him.

[A parley founded.

Char. A parley with the duke of Burgundy.
Bur. Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?
Puc. The princely Charles of France, thy countryman.
Bur. What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching

hence.

Char. Speak, Pucelle; and enchant him with thy words.
Puc. Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France!

Stay, let thy humble hand-maid speak to thee.
Bur. Speak on; but be not over-tedious.

Puc. Look on thy country, look on fertile France,
And fee the cities and the towns defac'd
By wasting ruin of the cruel foe!
As looks the mother on her lowly babe',
When death doth close his tender dying eyes,
See, fee, the pining malady of France;
Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,
Which thou thyself haft given her woful breast!

"The expulfed Apicata finds them there."

Again, in Drayton's Muses Elizium :

"And if you expulse them there, "They'll hang upon your braided hair." STEEVENS. 1-on ber lowly babe,] i. e. lying low in death. JOHNSON.

O, turn