Scene II. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. * Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing words 29 * The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd, To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair daughter. • Calling him-Humphrey, the good duke of Glos-* I cannot blame them all; What is't to them? ter; *'Tis thine they give away, and not their own. * Clapping their hands, and crying with a loud voice* Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their Jesu maintain your royal excellence! ' I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss, * He will be found a dangerous protector. * Buck. Why should he then protect our sove reign, * 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. pillage, * And purchase friends, and give to courtezans, * While his own lands are bargain'd for, and sold. * Car. This weighty business will not brook de-* Methinks, the realms of England, France, and Ireland, lay; * I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently. [Exit. Som Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's pride, And greatness of his place be grief to us, Than all the princes in the land beside; [Exeunt Buckingham and Somerset. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. * More like a soldier, than a man o'the church, Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age! 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 land, * And common profit of his country! * York. And so says York, for he hath greatest War. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost; That Maine, which by main force Warwick did win, * And would have kept, so long as breath did last: Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant 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 ticklel point, now they are gone: * Suffolk concluded on the articles; (1) For ticklish. * Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood, Whose church-like humours fit not for a crown. With his new bride, and England's dear-bought queen, And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars: SCENE II. - The same. A room in the duke Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd * brows, * As frowning at the favours of the world? (2) Meleager; whose life was to continue only so long as a certain firebrand should last. Hi mother Althea having thrown it into the fire, he expired in torment. 30 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. Glo. O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy Your grace's title shall be multiplied. lord, • Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts: With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream. Glo. Methought, this staff, mine office-badge • Was broke in twain, by whom I have forgot, Act I. Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet conferr'd When from Saint Albans we do make return, Were plac'd the heads of Edmond duke of Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man, Somerset, • And William de la Poole first duke of Suffolk. This was my dream: what it doth bode, God knows. But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke: In the cathedral church of Westminster, And in that chair where kings and queens are crown'd; Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me, Glo Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright: With thy confederates in this weighty cause. * Hume. Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold; Marry, and shall. But how now, sir John Hume? Seal up your lips, and give no words but-mum! The business asketh silent secrecy. * Dame Eleanor gives gold, to bring the witch: Duch. What, what, my lord! are you so * Sort how it will,4 I shall have gold for all. [Exit. choleric • With Eleanor, for telling but her dream? Glo. Nay, be not angry, I am pleas'd again. Mess. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' Follow I must, I cannot go before, * While Gloster bears this base and humble mind. * Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood, * I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks, * And smooth my way upon their headless necks: * And, being a woman, I will not be slack * To play my part in fortune's pageant. • Where are you there? Sir John !3 nay, fear not, man, We are alone; here's none but thee, and I. SCENE III.-The same. A room in the palace. '1 Pet. My masters, let's stand close; my lord protector will come this way by and by, and then 'we may deliver our supplications in the quill.5 good man! Jesu bless him! Enter Suffolk, and Queen Margaret. 2 Pet. Come back, fool; this is the duke of Suffolk, and not my lord protector. Suff. How now, fellow? would'st any thing with me? 1 Pet. I pray, my lord, pardon me! I took ye 'for my lord protector. Q. Mar. [Reading the superscription.] To my lord protector! are your supplications to his lordship? Let me see them: What is thine? '1 Pet. Mine is, an't please your grace, against John Goodman, my lord cardinal's man, for keep'ing my house, and lands, and wife and all, from me. Suff. Thy wife too? that is some wrong indeed.What's yours?-What's here! [Reads.] Against the duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons of Melford. - How now, sir knave? 2 Pet. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township. Peter. [Presenting his petition] Against my (4) Let the issue be what it will. Scene III. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. master, Thomas Horner, for saying, That the duke* And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds, of York was rightful heir to the crown. Q. Mar. What say'st thou? Did the duke of York say, he was rightful heir to the crown? Peter. That my master was? No, forsooth: my 'master said, That he was; and that the king was 'an usurper. Suff. Who is there? [Enter Servants.] -Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant presently:-we'll hear more of your matter before the king. [Exeunt Servants, with Peter. Q. Mar. And as for you, that love to be pro tected Under the wings of our protector's grace, • Begin your suits anew, and sue to him. [Tears the petition. * Away, base cullions!-Suffolk, let them go. * All. Come, let's be gone. [Exeunt Petitioners. * Q. Mar. My lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise, * Is this the fashion in the court of England? * Is this the government of Britain's isle, * And this the royalty of Albion's king? * And must be made a subject to a duke? • Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love, In courage, courtship, and proportion: • But all his mind is bent to holiness, * To number Ave-Maries on his beads: * His champions are the prophets and apostles; * His weapons, holy saws of sacred writ; * His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves * Are brazen images of canoniz'd saints. * I would, the college of cardinals * Would choose him pope, and carry him to Rome, * And set the triple crown upon his head; * That were a state fit for his holiness. Suff. Madam, be patient: as I was cause Your highness came to England, so will I • In England work your grace's full content. * Q. Mar. Beside the haught protector, have we Beaufort, * The imperious churchman; Somerset, Buckingham, * And grumbling York; and not the least of these, * But can do more in England than the king. * Suff. And he of these, that can do most of all, * Cannot do more in England than the Nevils: * Salisbury, and Warwick, are no simple peers. 31 *That she will light to listen to the lays, * And never mount to trouble you again. * So, let her rest: And, madam, list to me; * For I am bold to counsel you in this. * Although we fancy not the cardinal, *Yet must we join with him, and with the lords, * Till we have brought duke Humphrey in disgrace. * As for the duke of York, this late complaint * Will make but little for his benefit: * So, one by one, we'll weed them all at last, * And you yourself shall steer the happy helm. Enter King Henry, York, and Somerset, conversing with him; Duke and Duchess of Gloster, Cardinal Beaufort, Buckingham, Salisbury, and Warwick. K. Hen. For my part, noble lords, I care not which; Or Somerset, or York, all's one to me. York. If York have ill demean'd himself in France, Then let him be denay'ds the regentship. Som. If Somerset be unworthy of the place, Let York be regent, I will yield to him. War. Whether your grace be worthy, yea, or no, Dispute not that: York is the worthier. Čar. Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak. War The cardinal's not my better in the field. Buck. All in this presence are thy betters, War wick. War. Warwick may live to be the best of all. * Why Somerset should be preferr'd in this. * Q. Mar. Because the king, forsooth, will have Q. Mar. If he be old enough, what need your grace To be protector of his excellence? Glo. Madam, I am protector of the realm; And, at his pleasure, will resign my place. Suff. Resign it then, and leave thine insolence. Since thou wert king, (as who is king, but thou?) The commonwealth hath daily run to wreck : * The dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas; * And all the peers and nobles of the realm * Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty. * Car. The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags Q. Mar. Not all these lords do vex me half so * Are lank and lean with thy extortions. much, • As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies, More like an empress than duke Humphrey's wife; Strangers in court do take her for the queen: * She bears a duke's revenues on her back, * And in her heart she scorns her poverty: * Shall I not live to be aveng'd on her? * Contemptuous base-born callat3 as she is, • She vaunted 'mongst her minions t'other day, The very train of her worst wearing-gown Was better worth than all my father's lands, * Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter. Suff. Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her; 6 (1) Scoundrels. (2) Sayings. (3) Drab, trull. (4) i. e. The complaint of Peter the armourer's man against his master * Have cost a mass of public treasury. * Buck. Thy cruelty in execution, * Upon offenders, hath exceeded law, *And left thee to the mercy of the law. * Q. Mar. Thy sale of offices and towns in France, * If they were known, as the suspect is great,* Would make thee quickly hop without thy head. [Exit Gloster. The Queen drops her fan. Give me my fan: What, minion! can you not? [Gives the Duchess a box on the ear. I cry you mercy, madam; Was it you? (5) Denay is frequently used instead of deny among the old writers. (6) Censure here means simply judgment or opinion. 32 SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. Duch. Was't I? yea, I it was, proud French-'I do beseech your royal majesty, * Glo. Now, lords, my choler being over-blown, * With walking once about the quadrangle, * I come to talk of commonwealth affairs. * As for your spiteful false objections, * Prove them, and I lie open to the law: * But God in mercy so deal with my soul, * As I in duty love my king and country! * But, to the matter that we have in hand :--* I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man * To be your regent in the realm of France. * Suff. Before we make election, give me leave To show some reason, of no little force, That York is most unmeet of any man. York. I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet. First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride; * Next, if I be appointed for the place, * My lord of Somerset will keep me here, * Without discharge, money, or furniture, * Till France be won into the dauphin's hands. * Last time, I danc'd attendance on his will, * Till Paris was besieg'd, famish'd, and lost. * War. That I can witness; and a fouler fact * Did never traitor in the land commit. Suff. Peace, headstrong Warwick! War. Image of pride, why should I hold my peace? Enter Servants of Suffolk, bringing in Horner and Peter. Suff. Because here is a man accus'd of treason: Pray God, the duke of York excuse himself! * York. Doth any one accuse York for a traitor? Let him have all the rigour of the law. Act I. Hor. Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words. My accuser is my prentice; and when I did correct him for his fault the other day, he did vow upon his knees he would be even with me: I have good witness of this: therefore, I beseech your majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a villain's accusation. K. Hen. Uncle, what shall we say to this in law? Glo. This doom, my lord, if I may judge. Let Somerset be regent o'er the French, Because in York this breeds suspicion : And let these have a day appointed them For single combat in convenient place; For he hath witness of his servant's malice: This is the law, and this duke Humphrey's doom, K. Hen. Then be it so. My lord of Somerset, We make your grace lord regent o'er the French. Som. I humbly thank your royal majesty. Hor. And I accept the combat willingly. Pet. Alas, my lord, I cannot fight; * for God's * sake, pity my case! the spite of man prevaileth * against me. O, Lord have mercy upon me! I * shall never be able to fight a blow: O Lord, my * heart! Glo. Sirrah, or you must fight, or else be hang'd. K. Hen. Away with them to prison: and the day Of combat shall be the last of the next month. * Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away. [Exe. SCENE IV. The same. The duke of Gloster's Garden. Enter Margery Jourdain, Hume, Southwell, and Bolingbroke. * Hume. Come, my masters; the duchess, I tell * you, expects performance of your promises. * Boling. Master Hume, we are therefore pro*vided: Will her ladyship behold and hear our * exorcisms ?2 * Hume. Ay; What else? fear you not her * courage. * Boling. I have heard her reported to be a * woman of an invincible spirit: But it shall be * convenient, master Hume, that you be by her aloft, * while we be busy below; and so, I pray you, go * in God's name, and leave us. [Exit Hume.] Mother Jourdain, be you prostrate, and grovel on 'the earth :-* John Southwell, read you; and let * us to our work. Enter Duchess, above. * Duch. Well said, my masters; and welcome * K. Hen. What mean'st thou, Suffolk? tell me: * all. To this geer; the sooner the better. What are these? Suff. Please it your majesty, this is the man That doth accuse his master of high treason: "His words were these;-that Richard, duke of York, • Was rightful heir unto the English crown; And that your majesty was an usurper. K. Hen. Say, man, were these thy words? Hor. An't shall please your majesty, I never * Boling. Patience, good lady; wizards know their times: Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night, howl, And spirits walk, and ghosts break up their graves, said nor thought any such matter: God is my wit-We will make fast within a hallow'd verge. ness, I am falsely accused by the villain. Pet. By these ten bones, my lords, [Holding ' up his hands.] he did speak them to me in the ⚫ garret one night as we were scouring my lord of York's armour. * York. Base dunghill villain, and mechanical, * I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech: (1) The marks of her fingers and thumbs. (2 By exorcise Shakspeare invariably means to raise spirits, and not to lay them. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. Scene I. * For, till thou speak, thou shalt not pass from hence. * Spir. Ask what thou wilt:--That I had said and done! Boling. First, of the king. What shall of him become? [Reading out of a paper. Spir. The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose; But him outlive, and die a violent death. [As the Spirit speaks, Southwell writes the answer. Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains, 'Have done, for more I hardly can endure. Boling. Descend to darkness, and the burning lake: Beldame, I think, we watch'd you at an inch.• What, madam, are you there? the king and commonweal • Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains; • My lord protector will, I doubt it not, See you well guerdon'd1 for these good deserts. * Duch. Not half so bad as thine to England's king, * Injurious duke; that threat'st where is no cause. * Buck. True, madam, none at all. What call you this? [Showing her the papers. • Away with them; let them be clapp'd up close, ' And kept asunder: --You, madam, shall with us:• Stafford, take her to thee. [Ex. Duch. from above. • We'll see your trinkets here all forth-coming; • All.-Away! [Exeunt guards, with South. Boling. &c. * York. Lord Buckingham, methinks, you watch'd her well: * A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon! Now, pray my lord, let's see the devil's writ. What have we here? [Reads. The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose; But him outlive, and die a violent death. of York, • Buck. Your grace shall give me leave, my lord To be the post, in hope of his reward. 33 Enter a Servant. Invite my lords of Salisbury, and Warwick, To sup with me to-morrow night.-Away! [Exe. ACT II. SCENE I.-Saint Albans. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, Gloster, Cardinal, and Suffolk, with Falconers hollaing. Q. Mar. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,2 'I saw not better sport these seven years' day: Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out. 'K. Hen. But what a point, my lord, your fal con made, And what a pitch she flew above the rest!To see how God in all his creatures works! * Yea, man and birds, are fain3 of climbing high. Suff. No marvel, an it like your majesty, My lord protector's hawks do tower so well; They know their master loves to be aloft, * And bears his thoughts above his faleon's pitch. Glo. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind That mounts no higher than a bird can soar. 'Car. I thought as much; he'd be above the clouds. Glo. Ay, my lord cardinal; How think you by that? Were it not good, your grace could fly to heaven? * K. Hen. The treasury of everlasting joy! 'Car. Thy heaven is on earth; thine eyes and thoughts 'Beat on a crown, 4 the treasure of thy heart; Pernicious protector, dangerous peer, That smooth'st it so with king and commonweal! Glo. What, cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory? * Tantæne animis cœlestibus iræ? Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; With such holiness can you do it? Suff. No malice, sir; no more than well be Q. Mar. And thy ambition, Gloster. I pr'ythee, peace, Good queen; and whet not on these furious peers, For blessed are the peace-makers on earth. Car. Let me be blessed for the peace I make, Against this proud protector, with my sword! Glo. 'Faith, holy uncle, 'would 'twere come to that! [Aside to the Cardinal. 'Car. Marry, when thou dar'st. [Aside. Glo. Make up no factious numbers for the matter, In thine own person answer thy abuse. [Aside. 'Car. Ay, where thou dar'st not peep: an if thou dar'st, This evening, on the east side of the grove. [Aside. K. Hen. How now, my lords? 'Car. Believe me, cousin Gloster, Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly, • York. At your pleasure, my good lord. --Who's We had had more sport. Come with thy two' within there, ho!" hand sword. [Aside to Gloster. (1) Rewarded. (2) The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. (3) Fond. (4) i. e. Thy mind is working on a crown. |