80

60

Suf. A dower, my lords ! disgrace not so your My noble Lord of Suffolk, or for that
king,

My tender youth was never yet attaint
That he should be so abject, base, and poor, With any passion of inflaming love,
To choose for wealth and not for perfect love. 50 I cannot tell ; but this I am assurd,
Henry is able to enrich his queen,

I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,
And not to seek a queen to make him rich: Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
So worthless peasants bargain for their wives, As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse. Take, therefore, shipping ; post, my lord, to
Marriage is a matter of more worth

France ;
Than to be dealt in by attorneysbip:

Agree to any covenants, and procure
Not whom we will, but whom his grace affects, That Laly Margaret do vouchsafe to come
Must be companion of his nuptial bed ;

To cross the seas to England and be crown'd 9
And therefore, lords, since he affects her most, King Henry's faithful and anointed queen.
It most of all these reasons bindeth us,

For your expenses and sufficient charge,
In our opinions she should be preferr d. Among the people gather up a tenth.
For what is wedlock forced but a hell,

Be gone, I say ; for till you do return
An age of discord and continual strife ?

I rest perplexed with a thousand cares. Whereas the contrary bringeth bliss,

And you, good unele, banish all offence : And is a pattern of celestial peace.

If you do censure me by what you were, Whom should we match with Henry, being a king, Not what you are, I know it will excuse But Margaret, that is danghter to a king ? This sudden execution of my will, Her peerless feature, joined with her birth, And so conduct me, where from company Approves her fit for none but for a king : I may revolve and ruminate my grief. Exit. Her valiant courage and undaunted spirit,

Glou. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last. More than in women commonly is seen,

Ercunt GLOUCESTER and EXETER. Will answer our hope in issue of a king;

Suf. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd; and thus For Henry, son unto a conqueror, Is likely to beget more conquerors,

As did the youthful Paris once to Greece ; If with a lady of so high resolve

With hope to find the like event in lore, As is fair Margaret he be link'd in love.

But prosper better than the Trojan did. Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me Margaret shall now be queen, and rule the That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she.

king; K. Hen. Whether it be through force of your But I will rule both her, the king, and realm. report,

Exit.

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70

he goes,

THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY

THE SIXTH.

DRAMATIS PERSON Æ.

Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Herald; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, etc.

A Spirit.

SCENE.--In various Parts of England.

Flourish of trumpets: then hautboys. Enter, on
one side, King HENRY, Duke of GLOUCESTER,
SALISBURY, WARWICK, and Cardinal BEAU-
FORT; on the other, Queen MARGARET, led in
by SUFFOLK; YORK, SOMERSET, BUCKING-I
HAM, and Others, following.

K. Hea. Her sight did ravish, but her grace | Been crown'd in Paris, in despite of foes?
in speech,

Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,
Makes me from wondering fall to weeping joys;
Such is the fulness of my heart's content.
Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.
All. Long live Queen Margaret, England's
happiness!
Flourish.

And shall these labours and these honours die?
Shall Henry's conquest, Bedford's vigilance,
Your deeds of war and all our counsel die?
O peers of England! shameful is this league,
Fatal this marriage, cancelling your fame,
Blotting your names from books of memory,
Razing the characters of your renown,
Defacing monuments of conquer'd France,
Undoing all, as all had never been.

Car. Nephew, what means this passionate
discourse,

This peroration with such circumstance?
For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still.
Glou. Ay, uncle; we will keep it, if we can;
But now it is impossible we should.
Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast,
Hath given the duchy of Anjou and Maine
Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leanness of his purse.

110

Sal. Now, by the death of him that died for all,
These counties were the keys of Normandy.
But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son?
War. For grief that they are past recovery:
For, were there hope to conquer them again,
My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no

tears.

Q. Mar. We thank you all.

40

Suf. My lord protector, so it please your grace,
Here are the articles of contracted peace
Between our sovereign and the French King
Charles,

For eighteen months concluded by consent.

Glou. Imprimis, It is agreed between the French King Charles and William de la Pole, Marquess of Suffolk, ambassador for Henry King of England, that the said Henry shall espouse the Lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier King of Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem, and crown her Queen of England ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing. Item, That the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine shall be released and delivered to the king her father- 51 Lets the paper fall.

K. Hen. Uncle, how now!
Glou.
Pardon me, gracious lord;
Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart
And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.
K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on.
Car. Item, It is further agreed between them, that
the duchies of Anjou and Maine shall be released
and delivered over to the king her father, and she
sent over of the King of England's own proper cost
and charges, without having any dowry.

60

K. Hen. They please us well. Lord marquess,
kneel down:

We here create thee the first Duke of Suffolk,
And gird thee with the sword. Cousin of York,
We here discharge your grace from being regent
I' the parts of France, till term of eighteen
months

Be full expir'd. Thanks, uncle Winchester,
Gloucester, York, Buckingham, Somerset,
Salisbury, and Warwick;

We thank you all for this great favour done,
In entertainment to my princely queen.
Come, let us in, and with all speed provide
To see her coronation be perform'd.

York. For Suffolk's duke, may he be suffocate,
That dims the honour of this war-like isle !
France should have torn and rent my very heart
Before I would have yielded to this league.
I never read but England's kings have had
Large sums of gold and dowries with their
wives;
And our King Henry gives away his own,
To match with her that brings no vantages.

132

Glou. A proper jest, and never heard before,
That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth
For costs and charges in transporting her!
She should have stay'd in France, and starv'd
in France,
Before-

Car. My Lord of Gloucester, now ye grow too
hot:

It was the pleasure of my lord the king.

To you Duke Humphrey must unload his grief,
Your grief, the common grief of all the land.
What did my brother Henry spend his youth,
His valour, coin, and people, in the wars?
Did he so often lodge in open field,

In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat,
To conquer France, his true inheritance?
And did my brother Bedford toil his wits,
To keep by policy what Henry got?
Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham,
Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick,
Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy?
Or hath mine uncle Beaufort and myself,
With all the learned council of the realm,
Studied so long, sat in the council-house
Early and late, debating to and fro

Glou. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind:
"Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,
But 'tis my presence that doth trouble ye.
Rancour will out: proud prelate, in thy face'
I see thy fury. If I longer stay
We shall begin our ancient bickerings.
Lordings, farewell; and say, when I am gone,
I prophesied France will be lost ere long. hit.
Car. So, there goes our protector in a rage.
'Tis known to you he is mine enemy,
Nay, more, an enemy unto you all,
And no great friend, I fear me, to the king.
Consider, lords, he is the next of blood,
And heir apparent to the English crown:
Had Henry got an empire by his marriage,
And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,
There's reason he should be displeas'd at it.
Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing words

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe? Bewitch your hearts; be wise and circumspect.
And hath his highness in his infancy

91

What though the common people favour him,

70

Exeunt KING, QUEEN, and SUFFOLK. Glou. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,

80

100

Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both;
Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer:
And are the cities, that I got with wounds.
Deliver'd up again with peaceful words?
Mort Dieu!

120

141

150

Calling him 'Humphrey, the good Duke of
Gloucester,'

Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice
'Jesu maintain your royal excellence!'
With 'God preserve the good Duke Humphrey !'
I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss, 161
He will be found a dangerous protector.

Buck. Why should he then protect our
sovereign,

He being of age to govern of himself?
Cousin of Somerset, join you with me,
And all together, with the Duke of Suffolk,
We'll quickly hoise Duke Humphrey from his seat.
Car. This weighty business will not brook
delay;
I'll to the Duke of Suffolk presently. Exit.
Som. Cousin of Buckingham, though Hum-
phrey's pride

170

And greatness of his place be grief to us,
Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal:
His insolence is more intolerable
Than all the princes' in the land beside:
If Gloucester be displac'd, he 'll be protector.
Buck. Or thou or I, Somerset, will be protector,
Despite Duke Humphrey or the cardinal.

180

And common profit of his country!

York. Aside. And so says York, for he hath greatest cause.

Sal. Then let's make haste away, and look
unto the main.

War. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost!
That Maine which by main force Warwick did
win,
And would ave kept so long as breath did last :
Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant

Suffolk concluded on the articles,
The peers agreed, and Henry was well pleas'd
To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair
daughter.

210

Maine,
Which I will win from France, or else be slain.
Exeunt WARWICK and SALISBURY.
York. Anjou and Maine are given to the
French;
Paris is lost; the state of Normandy
Stands on a tickle point now they are gone.

I cannot blame them all what is 't to them?
'Tis thine they give away, and not their own.
Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their
pillage,

230

Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and SOMERSET. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. While these do labour for their own preferment, Behoves it us to labour for the realm. I never saw but Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, Did bear him like a noble gentleman. Oft have I seen the haughty cardinal More like a soldier than a man o' the church, As stout and proud as he were lord of all, Swear like a ruffian and demean himself Unlike the ruler of a commonweal. Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age, Thy deeds, thy plainness, and thy house-keeping, Hath won the greatest favour of the commons, Excepting none but good Duke Humphrey : 191 And, brother York, thy acts in Ireland, In bringing them to civil discipline, Thy late exploits done in the heart of France, When thou wert regent for our sovereign, Have made thee fear'd and honour'd of the people. Join we together for the public good, In what we can to bridle and suppress The pride of Suffolk and the cardinal, With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition; And, as we may, cherish Duke Humphrey's deeds, While they do tend the profit of the land. War. So God help Warwick, as he loves the SCENE II.-The Same. A Room in the Duke of land, GLOUCESTER'S House.

202

And purchase friends, and give to courtezans,
Still revelling like lords till all be gone;
While as the silly owner of the goods
Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands,
And shakes his head, and trembling stands aloof,
While all is shar'd and all is borne away,
Ready to starve and dare not touch his own :
So York must sit and fret and bite his tongue
While his own lands are bargain'd for and sold.
Methinks the realms of England, France, and
Ireland

200

Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood,
As did the fatal brand Althæa burn'd,
Unto the prince's heart of Calydon.
Anjou and Maine both given unto the French!
Cold news for me, for I had hope of France,
Even as I have of fertile England's soil.
A day will come when York shall claim his own;
And therefore I will take the Nevils' parts
And make a show of love to proud Duke
Humphrey,

And, when I spy advantage, claim the crown, 200
For that 's the golden mark I seek to hit.
Nor shall proud Lancaster usurp my right,
Nor hold the sceptre in his childish fist,
Nor wear the diadem upon his head,
Whose church-like humours fit not for a crown.
Then, York, be still awhile, till time do serve :
Watch thou and wake when others be asleep,
To pry into the secrets of the state;
Till Henry, surfeiting in joys of love,
With his new bride and England's dear-bought
queen,

930

And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars:
Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rose,
With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfum'd,
And in my standard bear the arms of York,
To grapple with the house of Lancaster ;
And, force perforce, I'll make him yield the

crown,

Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England down. Exit.

Enter GLOUCESTER and the DUCHESS. Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd

corn,

Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load? Why doth the great Duke Humphrey knit his brows,

As frowning at the favours of the world?
Why are thine eyes fix'd to the sullen earth,
Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight?
What seest thou there? King Henry's diadem
Enchas'd with all the honours of the world!
If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face,
Until thy head be circled with the same.
Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold.
What! is 't too short? I'll lengthen it with mine;
And, having both together heav'd it up,

14

You do prepare to ride unto Saint Alban's,
Where as the king and queen do mean to hawk.
Glow. I go. Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?
Duch. Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently.
Exeunt GLOUCESTER and Messenger.
Follow I must; I cannot go before,
While Gloucester bears this base and humble with him. I'll be the first, sure.

61