Reig. Speaks Suffolk as he thinks? Suff Fair Margaret knows, That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign. Reig. Upon thy princely warrant, I descend, To give thee answer of thy just demand. [Exil, from the walls. Suff. And here I will expect thy coming. Trumpets sounded. Enter Reignier, below. Reig. Welcome, brave earl, into our territories; Command in Anjou what your honour pleases. Fit to be made companion with a king: To be the princely bride of such a lord; Enjoy mine own, the county Maine, and Anjou, Suff. That is her ransom, I deliver her; Reig. And I again,-in Henry's royal name, kingly [Aside. Because this is in traffic of a king: Reig. I do embrace thee, as I would embrace The Christian prince, king Henry, were he here. Mar. Farewell, my lord! Good wishes, praise, and prayers, Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret. [Going. Suff. Farewell, sweet madam! But, hark you, Margaret; No princely commendations to my king? Mar. Such commendations as become a maid, A virgin, and his servant, say to him. Suff. Words sweetly plac'd, and modestly di SCENE IV.-Camp of the Duke of York, in Anjou. Enter York, Warwick, and others. York. Bring forth that sorceress, condemn'd to burn. Enter La Pucelle, guarded, and a Shepherd. Shep. Ah, Joan! this kills thy father's heart outright! Have I sought every country far and near, I did beget her, all the parish knows: She was the first fruit of my bachelorship. War. Graceless! wilt thou deny thy parentage York. This argues what her kind of life hath been, Wicked and vile; and so her death concludes. Shep. Fie, Joan! that thou wilt be so obstacle 1 God knows thou art a collop of my flesh; And for thy sake have I shed many a tear: Deny me not, I pr'ythee, gentle Joan. Puc. Peasant, avaunt!-You have suborn'd this man, On purpose to obscure my noble birth. Shep. 'Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest, The morn that I was wedded to her mother.Kneel down and take my blessing, good my girl. Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time Of thy nativity! I would, the milk Thy mother gave thee, when thou suck'dst her breast, Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake! Puc. First, let me tell you whom you have condemn'd: Not me begotten of a shepherd swain, To work exceeding miracles on earth. Puc. Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts?. Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity; (6) A corruption of obstinate. (7) No, ve misconceivers, ye who mistake me and my qualities.' That warranteth by law to be thy privilege.- War. The greatest miracle that e'er ye wrought: Puc. You are deceiv'd; my child is none of his; York. Alençon! that notorious Machiavel! It dies, an if it had a thousand lives. Puc. O, give me leave, I have deluded you; 'Twas neither Charles, nor yet the duke I nam'd, But Reignier, king of Naples, that prevail'd. War. A married man! that's most intolerable. York. Why, here's a girl! I think, she knows not well, By sight of these our baleful2 enemies. Alen. Must he be then as shadow of himself? Char. 'Tis known already, that I am possess'd There were so many, whom she may accuse. Puc. Then lead me hence ;-with whom I leave my curse: May never glorious sun reflex his beams Enter Cardinal Beaufort, attended. Car. Lord regent, I do greet your excellence York. Is all our travail turn'd to this effect? Char. Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed, The hollow passage of my poison'd voice, (1) Compassion. (2) Baneful. (s) Coronet is here used for crown. York. Insulting Charles! hast thou by secret means Used intercession to obtain a league; Alen. To say the truth, it is your policy, And therefore take this compact of a truce, War. How say'st thou, Charles? shall our Char. It shall: Only reserv'd, you claim no interest In any of our towns of garrison. York. Then swear allegiance to his majesty, [Charles, and the rest, give tokens of fealty. K. Hen. Your wond'rous rare description, noble Of beauteous Margaret hath astonish'd me: (4) Be content to live as the benefic ary of ou king.' Where I may have fru.don of her love. As is fair Margaret, he be link'd in love. Suff. Tush! my good lord! this superficial tale Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me Is but a preface of her worthy praise: And, which is more, she is not so divine, K. Hen. And otherwise will Henry ne'er sume. Therefore, my lord protector, give consent, How shall we then dispense with that contract, Suff. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths; A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds, That Margaret shall be queen, and noue but she. report, My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that Glo. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than Her father is no better than an earl, Suff. Yes, my good loud, her father is a king, Glo. And so the earl of Armagnac may do, While Reignier sooner will receive, than give. that he should be so abject, base, and poor, And not to seek a queen to make him rich: And therefore, lords, since he affects her most, That lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers at that time gave the public those plays, not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played be[fore Henry the Fifth is apparent; because, in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts: 'Henry the Sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king, "Whose state so many had the managing, That they lost France, and made his England bleed: 'Which oft our stage hath shown.' France is lost in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of Whom should we match, with Henry, being a king, the houses of York and Lancaster. Bat Margaret, that is daughter to a king? (1) A triumph then signified a public exhibition The second and third parts of Henry VI. were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and second parts. The first part of Henry VI. had been often shown on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place, had the author been the pub lisher. JOHNSON. (2) By the discretional agency of another. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. "The untention of the two famous houses of York and Lancaster,' in two parts, was pub lashed in quarto, in 1600; and the first part was entered on the Stationers' books, (as Mr. Steevens has observed,) March 12, 1593-4. On these two plays, which I believe to have been written by some preceding author, before the year 1590, Shakspeare formed, as I conceive, this and the following drama ; altering, retrenching, or amplifying, as he thought proper. At present it is only necessary to app: ze the reader of the method observed in the printing of these plays. All the lines printed in the usual manner are found in the original quarto plays (or at least with such minute variations as are not worth noticing:) and those, I conceive, Shakspeare adopted as he found them. The lines to which inverted commas are prefixed, were, if my hypothesis be well founded, retouched, and greatly improved by him, and those with asterisks were his own original production; the embroidery with which he ornamented the coarse stuff that had been awkwardly made up for the stage by some of his contemporaries. The speeches which he new-modelled, he improved, sometimes by amplification, and sometimes by retrenchment. MALONE. PERSONS REPRESENTED. Humphrey, duke of Gloster, his uncle. King Henry the Sixth: Hume and Southwell, two priests. Bolingbroke, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him. Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, great Thomas Horner, an armourer. Peter, his man. uncle to the king. Clerk of Chatham. Mayor of Saint Alban's. George, John, Dick, Smith, the Weaver, Michael, Alexander Iden, a Kentish Gentleman. Margaret, queen to king Henry. Eleanor, duchess of Gloster. Margery Jourdain, a witch. Wife to Simpcox. Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Al dermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c. Scene, dispersedly in various parts of England. ACT I. Seven earls, twelve barons, twenty reverend bishops, have perform'd my task, and was espous'd: SCENE L-London. A room of state in the And humbly now upon my bended knee, palace. Flourish of trumpets: then Hautboys. In sight of England and her lordly peers, Enter, on one side, King Henry, Duke of Glos-Deliver up my title in the queen ter, Salisbury, Warwick, and Cardinal Beaufort; To your most gracious hands, that are the substance on the other, Queen Margaret, led in by Suffolk; Of that great shadow I did represent; The happiest gift that ever marquis gave, K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, queen Mar. I can express no kinder sign of love, *If sympathy of love unite our thoughts. R had'—Studied so long, sat in the council-house, The mutual conference that my mind hath By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams; In courtly company, or at my beads,With you mine alder-liefest sovereign, 'Makes me the bolder to salute my king 'With ruder terms; such as my wit affords, And over-joy of heart doth minister. Been crown'd in Paris, in despite of foes? 'K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in Your deeds of war, and all our council, die? 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! Q. Mar. We thank you all. [Flourish. 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 conquered France; Undoing all, as all had never been! 'Car. Nephew, what means this passionate dis course? Suff. My lord protector, so it please your grace,This peroration with such circumstance?? Here are the articles of contracted peace, 'For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still. Between our sovereign and the French king Charles, Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can; 'For eighteen months concluded by consent. But now it is impossible we should: Glo. [Reads.] Imprimis, It is agreed between the Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast, French king, Charles, and William de la Poole,Hath given the duchies of Anjou and Maine 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 t: the king her father Unto the poor king Reignier, whose large style Agrees not with the leanness of his purse. *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. Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both; K. Hen. Uncle, how now? Glo. Pardon me, gracious lord; Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.And K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. 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 dowry. K. Hen. They please us well.-Lord marquess We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk, Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick; We thank you all for this great favour done, *York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate, And our king Henry gives away his own, Glo. A proper jest, and never heard before, *Before *Car. My lord of Gloster, now you grow too hot, *It was the pleasure of my lord the king. *Glo. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind · [Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk.'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike, Glo. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you. To you duke Humphrey must unload his grief, 'In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham, (1) I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination. (2) Beloved above all things. Rancour will out: Proud prelate, in thy face I see thy fury: If I longer stav, We shall begin our ancient bickerings."- (3) This speech crowded with so many circum stances of aggravation. (4) Skirmishings. |