Runs far before them. Good my sovereign,
Take up the English short, and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head: 73
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.
Enter Exeter [with Lords and train].
Fr. King. From our brother of England?
Exe. From him; and thus he greets your majesty. 76
He wills you, in the name of God Almighty,
That you divest yourself, and lay apart
The borrow'd glories that by gift of heaven,
By law of nature and of nations 'long 80
To him and to his heirs; namely, the crown
And all wide-stretched honours that pertain
By custom and the ordinance of times
Unto the crown of France. That you may know
'Tis no sinister nor no awkward claim, 85
Pick'd from the worm-holes of long-vanish'd days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion rak'd,
He sends you this most memorable line, 88
In every branch truly demonstrative;
Willing you overlook this pedigree;
And when you find him evenly deriv'd
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors, 92
Edward the Third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him the native and true challenger.
Fr. King. Or else what follows? 96
Exe. Bloody constraint; for if you hide the crown
Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it:
80 'long: belong
85 sinister: unfair
awkward: perverse
88 line: pedigree
91 evenly deriv'd: directly descended
94 indirectly: wrongfully
