ich he lived, resolved to assert that claim to the
crown of France which his great grandfather, King Edward the Third, had
urged with such confidence and success." --_Nicolas's History of the
Battle of Agincourt._

(G) _----the law Salique,_] According to this law no woman was permitted
to govern or be a Queen in her own right. The title only was allowed to
the wife of the monarch. This law was imported from Germany by the
warlike Franks.

(H) _Tennis-balls, my liege._] Some contemporary historians affirm that
the Dauphin sent Henry the contemptuous present, which has been imputed
to him, intimating that such implements of play were better adapted to
his dissolute character than the instruments of war, while others are
silent on the subject. The circumstance of Henry's offering to meet his
enemy in single combat, affords some support to the statement that he
was influenced by those personal feelings of revenge to which the
Dauphin's conduct would undoubtedly have given birth.

(I) _Enter BARDOLPH, NYM, PISTOL, Mrs. QUICKLY, and BOY._] These
followers of Falstaff figured conspicuously through the two parts of
Shakespeare's Henry IV. Pistol is a swaggering, pompous braggadocio; Nym
a boaster and a coward; and Bardolph a liar, thief, and coward, who has
no wit but in his nose.

_Enter CHORUS._

_Cho._ Now all the youth of England are on fire,
And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies:
Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought
Reigns solely in the breast of every man:
They sell the pasture now to buy the horse;
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With winged heels, as English Mercuries;
For now sits expectation in the air.
O England!--model to thy inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart,--
What might'st thou do, that honour would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural!
But see thy fault! France hath in thee found out
A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills[1]
With treacherous crowns; and three corrupted men,--
One, Richard earl of Cambridge;[2] and the second,
Henry lord Scroop of Masham,[3] and the third,
Sir Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland,--
Have, for the gilt of France[4] (O guilt, indeed!),
Confirm'd conspiracy with fearful France;(A)
And by their hands this grace of kings[5] must die,
(If hell and treason hold their promises,)
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.

_The back scene opens a