TALBOT.
When first this Order was ordain’d, my lords,
Knights of the Garter were of noble birth,
Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage,
Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
Not fearing death nor shrinking for distress,
But always resolute in most extremes.
He then that is not furnish’d in this sort
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honourable Order,
And should, if I were worthy to be judge,
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.
KING HENRY.
Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear’st thy doom!
Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight;
Henceforth we banish thee on pain of death.
[Exit Fastolf.]
And now, my Lord Protector, view the letter
Sent from our uncle, Duke of Burgundy.
GLOUCESTER.
What means his Grace, that he hath changed his style?
No more but, plain and bluntly, “To the King”!
Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
Or doth this churlish superscription
Pretend some alteration in good will?
What’s here? [Reads] “I have, upon especial cause,
Moved with compassion of my country’s wrack,
Together with the pitiful complaints
Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
Forsaken your pernicious faction
And join’d with Charles, the rightful King of France.”
O monstrous treachery! Can this be so,
That in alliance, amity, and oaths,
There should be found such false dissembling guile?
KING HENRY.
What! Doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
GLOUCESTER.
He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.
KING HENRY.
Is that the worst this letter doth contain?
GLOUCESTER.
It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
KING HENRY.
Why, then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him
And give him chastisement for this abuse.
How say you, my lord, are you not content?