Cant. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession : Would they strip from us; being valued thus,— A thousand pounds by the year: thus runs the bill. Ely. This would drink deep. Cant. 'Twould drink the cup and all. Ely. But what prevention ? Cant. The king is full of grace and fair regard. Ely. And a true lover of the holy church. Cant. The courses of his youth promised it not. The breath no sooner left his father's body, But that his wildness, mortified in him, Seem'd to die too: yea, at that very moment, Consideration like an angel came, And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him; To envelope and contain celestial spirits. Never came reformation in a flood, With such a heady currance, scouring faults; So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, Ely. We are blessed in the change. Cant. Hear him but reason in divinity, You would desire the king were made a prelate : The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it, Since his addiction was to courses vain : His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow; Any retirement, any sequestration Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle ; And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best And so the prince obscured his contemplation Cant. It must be so; for miracles are ceased; And therefore we must needs admit the means How things are perfected. Ely. But, my good lord, How now for mitigation of this bill Urged by the commons? Doth his majesty Cant. He seems indifferent; And in regard of causes now in hand, Ely. How did this offer seem received, my lord? Cant. With good acceptance of his majesty ; Save, that there was not time enough to hear (As I perceived his grace would fain have done) The severals, and unhidden passages, Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms; And, generally, to the crown and seat of France, Derived from Edward, his great-grandfather. Ely. What was the impediment that broke this off? Cant. The French ambassador, upon that in stant, Craved audience: and the hour, I think, is come To give him hearing: is it four o'clock ? Ely. It is. Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy; Which I could, with a ready guess, declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. Ely. I'll wait upon you; and I long to hear it. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-The same. A Room of State in the same. Enter KING HENRY, GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, WARWICK, WESTMORELAND, and Attendants. K. Hen. Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury? Exe. Not here in presence. K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. West. Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege? K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin ; we would be resolved, Before we hear him, of some things of weight That task our thoughts, concerning us and France. Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY and BISHOP OF ELY. Cant. God and his angels guard your sacred throne, And make you long become it! K. Hen. Why the law Salique, that they have in France, Or nicely charge your understanding soul How you awake our sleeping sword of war: 'Gainst him whose wrongs give edge unto the swords That make such waste in brief mortality. Cant. Then hear me, gracious sovereign; and you peers, That owe yourselves, your lives, and services, There left behind and settled certain French; Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala, |