20

I thought I should have seen some Hercules,
A second Hector, for his grim aspect,
And large proportion of his strong-knit limbs.
Alas, this is a child, a silly dwarf!

It cannot be this weak and writhled shrimp
Should strike such terror to his enemies.
Tal. Madam, I have been bold to trouble you;

But since your ladyship is not at leisure,
I'll sort some other time to visit you.

Count. What means he now? Go ask him whither he goes.

Mess. Stay, my Lord Talbot; for my lady craves To know the cause of your abrupt depar

ture.

Tal. Marry, for that she's in a wrong belief,
I go to certify her Talbot's here.

Re-enter Porter with keys.

Count. If thou be he, then art thou prisoner.
Tal. Prisoner! to whom?

Count.

30

To me, blood-thirsty lord;
And for that cause I train'd thee to my house.
Long time thy shadow had been thrall to me,
For in my gallery thy picture hangs:
But now the substance shall endure the like,
And I will chain these legs and arms of thine,
That hast by tyranny these many years
Wasted our country, slain our citizens,
And sent our sons and husbands captivate.

40

23. "Writhled" for wrinkled. Thus Spenser: "Her writhled skin as rough as maple rind." And Marston, in his fourth Satire: "Cold writhled eld, his lives web almost spent."-H. N. H.

Tal. Ha, ha, ha!

Count. Laughest thou, wretch? thy mirth shall

turn to moan.

Tal. I laugh to see your ladyship so fond

To think that you have aught but Talbot's shadow

Whereon to practice your severity.

Count. Why, art not thou the man?

I am indeed.

Tal.
Count. Then have I substance too.
Tal. No, no, I am but shadow of myself:
You are deceived, my substance is not here;
For what you see is but the smallest part
And least proportion of humanity:

50

I tell you, madam, were the whole frame here,
It is of such a spacious lofty pitch,

Your roof were not sufficient to contain 't.
Count. This is a riddling merchant for the nonce;
He will be here, and yet he is not here:
How can these contrarieties agree?

Tal. That will I show you presently.

60

[Winds his horn. Drums strike up: a peal of ordnance. Enter Soldiers.

49. "I substance"; Vaughan proposed to read "I shadow, aye and substance."-I. G.

57. The term "merchant," which was often applied to the lowest kind of dealers, seems anciently to have been used on these familiar occasions in contradistinction to gentleman; signifying that the person showed by his behavior he was a low fellow. Thus in Romeo and Juliet, the nurse says, "I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this, that was so full of his ropery?"-"For the nonce" is for the purpose or the occasion.-H. N. H.

"for the nonce"; in Shakespeare's undoubted works this phrase means “fit for the occasion"; here it is rather "without parallel,” "singular in his kind."-C. H. H.

How say you, madam? are you now persuaded
That Talbot is but shadow of himself?

These are his substance, sinews, arms and
strength,

With which he yoketh your rebellious necks, Razeth your cities and subverts your towns And in a moment makes them desolate. Count. Victorious Talbot! pardon my abuse:

I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited,
And more than may be gather'd by thy shape.
Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath; 70
For I am sorry that with reverence

I did not entertain thee as thou art.

Tal. Be not dismay'd, fair lady; nor misconstrue
The mind of Talbot, as you did mistake
The outward composition of his body.
What you have done hath not offended me;
Nor other satisfaction do I crave,

But only, with your patience, that we may
Taste of your wine and see what cates you have;
For soldiers' stomachs always serve them

80

well. Count. With all my heart, and think me honored To feast so great a warrior in my house.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV

London. The Temple-garden.

Enter the Earls of Somerset, Suffolk, and Warwick; Richard Plantagenet, Vernon, and another Lawyer.

Plan. Great lords and gentlemen, what means this silence?

Dare no man answer in a case of truth? Suf. Within the Temple-hall we were too loud; The garden here is more convenient.

Plan. Then say at once if I maintain'd the truth; Or else was wrangling Somerset in the error?

1. This Richard Plantagenet was son to the earl of Cambridge who was overtaken in a plot against the life of Henry V, and executed at Southampton. That earl was a younger brother of Edward, duke of York, who fell at the battle of Agincourt, and had no child to succeed him. So that on his father's side Richard was grandson to Edmund of Langley, the fifth son of Edward III. His mother was Anne, sister of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, and great-granddaughter to Lionel, duke of Clarence, who was the third son of Edward III. In 1425, the fourth year of Henry VI, Richard was restored to the rights and titles that had been forfeited by his father, and was made duke of York. After the death of Bedford, in 1435, he succeeded him as regent of France; was recalled two years later, and appointed again in 1441. Some three years after, being supplanted in that office by his rival, the duke of Somerset, he took the government of Ireland instead, from whence he began to stretch forth his hand to the crown.-H. N. H.

6. The earl of Somerset at this time was John Beaufort, grandson to John of Ghent by Catharine Swynford, and of course nephew to the duke of Exeter and the bishop of Winchester. He was afterwards advanced to the rank of duke, and died in 1432, leaving his title to his brother Edmund; his only surviving child being Margaret, who was married to the earl of Richmond, and thence became the mother of Henry VII. So that there were two dukes of Somerset

Suf. Faith, I have been a truant in the law,

And never yet could frame my will to it; And therefore frame the law unto my will. Som. Judge you, my lord of Warwick, then, be

tween us.

10

War. Between two hawks, which flies the higher

pitch;

Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;

Between two blades, which bears the better tem

per:

Between two horses, which doth bear him best;
Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye;
I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judg-

ment:

But in these nice sharp quillets of the law,
Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw.
Plan. Tut, tut, here is a mannerly forbearance:
The truth appears so naked on my side
That any purblind eye may find it out.

Som. And on my side it is so well apparel'd,

20

in the time of this play, though the Poet does not distinguish them; or rather he prolongs the life of John several years beyond its actual date.-H. N. H.

6. "in the error"; Johnson (adopted by Capell), "; the right"; Hudson, "in error."-I. G.

11. The present earl of Warwick was Richard Beauchamp, surnamed the Good. He was esteemed the greatest of the captains formed in the great school of Henry V. After the death of Exeter, he was appointed governor of the young king in 1426. When York was first recalled from the regency of France, in 1437, Warwick succeeded him, with the title of Lieutenant-general and Governor of France, and died at Rouen in May, 1439. Shakespeare, however. keeps him alive till the end of the play, or at least does not distinguish him from Henry, who succeeded him.-H. N. H.