Page 272 - Shakespeare - Vol. 1

ACT V IT

Scene I IT

Sennet. Enter King, Gloucester, and Exeter [attended].

KING HENRY

Have you perused the letters from the Pope,
The Emperor, and the Earl of Armagnac?

GLOUCEST ER

I have, my lord, and their intent is this:
They humbly sue unto your excellence
To have a godly peace concluded of [5]
Between the realms of England and of France.

KING HENRY

How doth your grace affect their motion?

GLOUCEST ER

Well, my good lord, and as the only means
To stop effusion of our Christian blood,
And stablish quietness on every side. [10]

KING HENRY

Ay, marry, uncle, for I always thought
It was both impious and unnatural
That such immanity and bloody strife
Should reign among professors of one faith.

GLOUCEST ER

Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect [15]
And surer bind this knot of amity,
The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,
Proffers his only daughter to your grace