HUMPHREY, duke of Gloster, his uncle.
Cardinal BEAUFORT, bishop of Winchester, great BOLINGBROKE, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him.
RICHARD PLANTAGENET, duke of York:
EDWARD and RICHARD, his sons.
HUME and SOUTHWELL, two priests.
THOMAS HORNER, anarmourer. PETER, his man. Clerk of Chatham. Mayor of Saint Alban's. SIMPCOX, an impostor. Two Murderers.
GEORGE, JOHN, DICK, SMITH the Weaver, MI
ALEXANDER IDEN, a Kentish gentleman.
MARGARET, queen to king Henry. ELEANOR, duchess of Gloster.
Young CLIFFORD, his son,
Earl of WLISBURY, of the York faction.
Lord SCALES, governor of the Tower. Lord SAY. MARGERY JOURDAIN, a witch. Wife to Simpcox.
Deliver up my title in the queen
Till term of eighteen months be full expir'd.To your most gracious hands, that are the sub- Thanks, uncle Winchester, Gloster, York, and
The mutual conference that mymind hath had-
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.
K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace 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!
Q. Mar. We thank you all. 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.
Glo. Reads. Imprimis, It is agreed between the French king, Charles, and William de la Poole, 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 dutchy of Anjou and the county of Maine, shall be released and delivered to the king her father
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. K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. Item, It is further agreed between them, -that the dutchies 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, kneel down;
We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk,
And girt thee with the sword.-
Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace
From being regent in the parts of France,
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.
[Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk.
Glo. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,
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 my 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
How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe?
And hath his highness in his infancy
Been crown'd in Paris, in despite of foes ?
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 dis-
course?
This peroration with such circumstance?
For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still.
Glo. 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 dutchies of Anjou and Maine
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
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!
York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate,
That dims the honour of this warlike 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.
Glo. A proper jest, and never heard before,
That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth,
For costs and charges in transporting her :
She should have staid in France, and starv'd in
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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 Gloster
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 common-weal.-
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.-
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,
Cor. Mylord 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:
Tis not my speeches, that you do mislike;
But 'tis my presence, that doth trouble you.
Rancour will out: Proud prelate, in thy face
I sce thy fury: if I longer stay,
We shall begin our ancient bickerings.-
Lardings, farewell; and say, when I am gone,
I prophesied-France will be lost ere long.
Have made thee fear'd, and honour'd, of the
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.
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 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
Bewitch your hearts; be wise, and circumspect.
What though the common people favour him,
Calling him-Humphrey, the good duke of Gloster;
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. 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.
Car. This weighty business will not brook
delay;
I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently. [Exit.
Som. Cousin of Buckingham, though Hum-
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 Gloster be displac'd, he'll be protector.
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
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 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 tickle point, now they are gone :
Suffolk concluded on the articles;
The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd,
To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair
daughter.
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,
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.
Buck. Or thou, or I, Somerset, will be pro- So York must sit, and fret, and bite his tongue, tector,
Despight duke Humphrey, or the cardinal.
[Exeunt Buckingham and Somerset.
While his own lands are bargain'd for, and sold.
Methinks, the realms of England, France, and
Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood,
As did the fatal brand Althea 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,
For that's the golden mark I seek to hit:
Nor shall proud Lancaster usurp my right,
Nor hold his 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
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.
SCENE II. The same. A room in the Duke of GLOSTER's house.
Enter GLOSTER and the Duchess.
Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd
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 see'st 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,
We'll both together lift our heads to heaven;
And never more abase our sight so low,
As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground.
Glo. O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy
Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts:
And may that thought, when I imagine ill
Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry,
Be my last breathing in this mortal world!
My troublous dream this night doth make me sad.
Duch. What dream'd my lord? tell me, and
I'll requite it
With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream.
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Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me, And on my head did set the diadem.
Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright: Presumptuous dame, ill-nurtur'd Eleanor! Art thou not second woman in the realm; And the protector's wife, belov'd of him ? Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command, Above the reach or compass of thy thought? And wilt thou still be hammering treachery, To tumble down thy husband, and thyself, From top of honour to disgrace's feet ? Away from me, and let me hear no more.
Duch. What, what, my lord, are you so choleric With Eleanor, for telling but her dream? Next time, I'll keep my dreams unto myself, And not be check'd.
Glo. Nay, be not angry, I am pleas'd again. Enter a Messenger.
Mess. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure,
You do prepare to ride unto Saint Albans,
Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.
Glo. I go. Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?
Duch. Yes, good my lord, I'll follow presently.
[Excunt Gloster and Messenger.
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! nay, fear not,
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Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as | keeping my house, and lands, and wife and all, yet conferr'd
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When from Saint Albans we do make return,
We'll see these things effected to the full.
Here, Hume, take this reward; makemerry, man,
With thy confederates in this weighty cause.
Exit Duchess.
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:
Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil.
Yet have I gold, flies from another coast:
I dare not say, from the rich cardinal,
And from the great and new-made duke of Suffolk;
Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain,
They, knowing dame Eleanor's aspiring humour,
Have hired me to undermine the duchess,
And buz these conjurations in her brain.
They say, a crafty knave does need no broker;
Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker.
Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near
To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
Well, so it stands: And thus, I fear, at last,
Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck;
And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall :
Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all. [Exit.
SCENE III. The same. A room in the palace.
Enter PETER and Others, with petitions.
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.
2 Pet. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he is a good man! Jesu bless him!
Enter SUFFOLK and Queen MARGARET.
1 Pet. Here'a comes, methinks, and the queen with him: I'll be the first, sure.
2 Pet. Come back, fool; this is the duke of Suffolk, and not my lord protector.
Suf. 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
Suf. 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 master, Thomas Horner, for saying that the duke 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.
Suf. 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
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?
What, shall king Henry be a pupil still,
Under the surly Gloster's governance?
Am I a queen in title and in style,
And must be made a subject to a duke?
I tell thee, Poole, when in the city Tours
Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love,
And stol'st away the ladies' hearts of France;
I thought king Henry had resembled thee,
In courage, courtship, and proportion:
But all his mind is bent to holiness,
less,
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.
Suf. Madam, be patient: as I was cause
Your highness came to England, so will I
In England work your grace's ace's full content.
Q. Mar. Beside the haught protector, have
we Beaufort,
The imperious churchman; Somerset, Bucking-
ham,
And grumbling York: and not the least of
But can do more in England than the king.
Suf. And he of these, that can do most of all,
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