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Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company,
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd-the feast of Crispian 5:
He, that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He, that shall live this day, and see old age
Will yearly on the vigil' feast his friends,
And say-to-morrow is Saint Crispian:

Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars,
And say, these wounds I had on Crispin's day".
Old men forget; yet all9 shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages',

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5 of CRISPIAN:] The battle of Agincourt was fought upon the 25th of October [1415], St. Crispin's day. The legend upon which this is founded, follows:-" Crispinus and Crispianus were brethren, born at Rome; from whence they travelled to Soissons, in France, about the year 303, to propagate the Christian religion; but because they would not be chargeable to others for their maintenance, they exercised the trade of shoemakers; but the governor of the town discovering them to be Christians, ordered them to be beheaded about the year 303. From which time, the shoemakers made choice of them for their tutelar saints." Wheatley's Rational Illustration, folio edit. p. 76. See Hall's Chronicle, fol. 47. GREY.

6 He, that shall LIVE this day, and SEE old age,] The folio reads:

"He that shall see this day and live old age." The transposition (which is supported by the quarto) was made by Mr. Pope. MALONE.

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the VIGIL] i. e. the evening before this festival.

STEEVENS. Crispin's day.] This line I The preceding line appears MALONE.

And say, these wounds I had on have restored from the quarto, 1600. to me abrupt and imperfect without it. 9 — YET all -] I believe we should read—yea, all, &c.

MALONE.

1-with advantages,] Old men, notwithstanding the natural forgetfulness of age, shall remember "their feats of this day,"

What feats he did that day: Then shall our names,
Familiar in their mouths 2 as household words,-
Harry the king, Bedford, and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloster,-
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd:
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he, to-day that sheds his blood with me,
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition *:

and remember to tell them "with advantage." Age is commonly boastful, and inclined to magnify past acts and past times.

JOHNSON.

2 Familiar in THEIR MOUTHS -] i. e. in the mouths of the old man ("who has outlived the battle and come safe home,") and "his friends." This is the reading of the quarto, which I have preferred to that of the folio,-his mouth; because their cups, the reading of the folio in the subsequent line, would otherwise appear, if not ungrammatical, extremely aukward. The quarto reads-in their flowing bowls; and there are other considerable variations in the two copies. MALONE.

3 From this day to the ending] It may be observed that we are apt to promise to ourselves a more lasting memory than the changing state of human things admits. This prediction is not verified; the feast of Crispin passes by without any mention of Agincourt. Late events obliterate the former: the civil wars have left in this nation scarcely any tradition of more ancient history. JOHNSON.

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gentle his condition :] This day shall advance him to the rank of a gentleman. JOHNSON.

King Henry V. inhibited any person but such as had a right by inheritance, or grant, to assume coats of arms, except those who fought with him at the battle of Agincourt; and, I think, these last were allowed the chief seats of honour at all feasts and publick meetings. TOLLET.

That Mr. Tollet is right in his account, is proved by the original writ to the Sheriff of Southampton and others, printed in Rymer's Fœdera, anno 5 Henry V. vol. ix. p. 457. And see more fully on the subject Anstis's Órder of the Garter, vol. ii. p. 108,

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And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,

Shall think themselves accurs'd, they were not here; And hold their manhoods cheap, while any speaks, That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day".

Enter SALISBURY.

SAL. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed:

The French are bravely in their battles set,
And will with all expedience' charge on us.

K. HEN. All things are ready, if our minds be so. WEST. Perish the man, whose mind is backward now!

K. HEN. Thou dost not wish more help from England, cousin?

WEST. God's will, my liege, 'would you and I

alone,

Without more help, might fight this battle out $ ! K. HEN. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thou

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who mentions it, and observes thereon, citing Gore's Catalog. Rei Herald. Introduct. and Sandford's Geneal. Hist. p. 283.

VAILLANT.

s-upon Saint Crispin's day.] This speech, like many others of the declamatory kind, is too long. Had it been contracted to about half the number of lines, it might have gained force, and lost none of the sentiments. JOHNSON.

6- bravely-] Is splendidly, ostentatiously. JOHNSON.
Rather-gallantly. So, in The Tempest:

"Bravely the figure of this harpy hast thou
"Perform'd, my Ariel!" STEEVENS.

7- expedience-] i. e. expedition. So, in King Richard II. : "Are making hither with all due expedience." STEEVENS. 8 - MIGHT fight this battle our!] Thus the quarto. The folio reads:

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· could fight this royal battle." MALONE.

9 — thou hast unwish'd five thousand men ;] By wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thousand men away. Shakspeare never thinks of such trifles as numbers. In the last scene the French are said to be full threescore thousand, which Exeter

Which likes me better, than to wish us one.-
You know your places: God be with you all!

Tucket. Enter MONTJOY.

MONT. Once more I come to know of thee, king
Harry,

declares to be five to one; but, by the king's account, they are twelve to one. JOHNSON.

Holinshed makes the English army consist of 15,000, and the French of 60,000 horse, besides foot, &c. in all 100,000; while Walsingham and Harding represent the English as but 9000; and other authors say that the number of French amounted to 150,000. STEEVENS.

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Dr. Johnson, I apprehend, misunderstood the King's words. He supposes that Henry means to say, that Westmoreland, wishing himself and Henry alone to fight the battle out with the French, had wished away the whole English army, consisting of five thousand men. But Henry's meaning was, I conceive, very different. Westmoreland had before expressed a wish that ten thousand of those who were idle at that moment in England were added to the King's army; a wish, for which, when it was uttered, Henry, whether from policy or spirit, reprimanded him. Westmoreland now says, he should be glad that he and the King alone, without any other aid whatsoever, were to fight the battle out against the French. Bravely said, (replies Henry,) you have now half atoned for your former timid wish for ten thousand additional troops. You have unwished half of what you wish'd before." The King is speaking figuratively, and Dr. Johnson understood him literally. Shakspeare therefore, though often inattentive to "such trifles as numbers," is here not inaccurate. He undoubtedly meant to represent the English army, (according to Exeter's state of it,) as consisting of about twelve thousand men ; and according to the best accounts this was nearly the number that Henry had in the field. Hardyng, who was himself at the battle of Agincourt, says that the French army consisted of one hundred thousand; but the account is probably exaggerated.

MALONE.

Fabian says the French were 40,000, and the English only 7000. Mr. Malone, in a very elaborate note, has endeavoured to prove that Westmoreland, by wishing that he and the King alone, without more help, might fight the battle out, did not wish away the whole of the army, but 5000 men only. But I must confess that I cannot comprehend his argument, and must therefore concur with Johnson, in his observation on the poet's inattention.

M. MASON.

If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,
Before thy most assured overthrow :

For, certainly, thou art so near the gulf,

Thou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy,
The Constable desires thee-thou wilt mind1

Thy followers of repentance; that their souls
May make a peaceful and a sweet retire

From off these fields, where (wretches) their poor

bodies

Must lie and fester.

K. HEN.

Who hath sent thee now?

MONT. The Constable of France.

K. HEN. I pray thee, bear my former answer

back;

Bid them achieve me, and then sell my bones. Good God! why should they mock poor fellows thus?

The man, that once did sell the lion's skin

While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him. A many of our bodies shall, no doubt,

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Find native graves; upon the which, I trust,
Shall witness live in brass of this day's work:
And those that leave their valiant bones in France,
Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills,
They shall be fam'd; for there the sun shall greet
them,

And draw their honours reeking up to heaven;
Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime,
The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France.
Mark then abounding valour in our English*;

1

mind,] i. e. remind. So, in Coriolanus:

"I minded him how royal 'twas to pardon." STEEVENS. 2 A many-] Thus the folio. The quarto—“ And many. STEEVENS.

3 in brass-] i. e. in brazen plates anciently let into tombstones. STEEVENS.

4 Mark then a BOUNDING valour in our English ;] The old

folios

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