SCENE V. - London. A Room in the Palace.

Enter KING HENRY, in conference with SUFFOLK; GLOSTER and EXETER following.

K. Hen. Your wond'rous rare description, noble earl,

Of beauteous Margaret Eath astonish'd me:
Her virtues, graced with external gifts,

Do breed love's settled passions in my heart :
And like as rigour in tempestuous gusts
Provokes the mightiest hulk against the tide ;
So am I driven, by breath of her renown,
Either to suffer shipwreck, or arrive
Where I may have fruition of her love.

Suf. Tush! my good lord! this superficial tale
Is but a preface of her worthy praise:
The chief perfections of that lovely dame,
(Had I sufficient skill to utter them,)
Would make a volume of enticing lines,
Able to ravish any dull conceit.

And, which is more, she is not so divine,
So full replete with choice of all delights,
But, with as humble lowliness of mind,
She is content to be at your command;
Command, I mean, of virtuous chaste intents,
To love and honour Henry as her lord.

K. Hen. And otherwise will Henry ne'er pre

sume.

Therefore, my lord protector, give consent,
That Margaret may be England's royal queen.

Glo. So should I give consent to flatter sin.
You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd
Unto another lady of esteem;

How shall we then dispense with that contract,
And not deface your honour with reproach?

Suf. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths;
Or one, that, at a triumph having vow'd
To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists
By reason of his adversary's odds:

A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds,
And therefore may be broke without offence.

Glo. Why, what, pray, is Margaret more than

that?

Her father is no better than an earl,
Although in glorious titles he excel.

Suf. Yes, my good lord, her father is a king,
The king of Naples, and Jerusalem ;
And of such great authority in France,
As his alliance will confirm our peace,
And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance.

Glo. And so the earl of Armagnac may do,
Because he is near kinsman unto Charles.

Exe. Beside his wealth doth warrant liberal dower;

While Regnier sooner will receive, than give. Suf. A dower, my lords! disgrace not so your king,

That he should be so abject, base, and poor, To choose for wealth, and not for perfect love. henry is able to enrich his queen,

And not to seek a queen to make him rich :
So worthless peasants bargain for their wives,
As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse.

Marriage is a matter of more worth,

Than to be dealt in by attorneyship;

Not whom we will, but whom his grace affects,
Must be companion of his nuptial bed :
And therefore, lords, since he affects her most,
It most of all these reasons bindeth us,
In our opinions she should be preferr'd.
For what is wedlock forced, but a hell,
An age of discord and continual strife?
Whereas the contrary bringeth forth bliss,
And is a pattern of celestial peace.

Whom should we match, with Henry, being a king,
But Margaret, that is daughter to a king?
Her peerless feature, joined with her birth,
Approves her fit for none, but for a king:
Her valiant courage, and undaunted spirit,
(More than in women commonly is seen,)
Will answer our hope in issue of a king ;
For Henry, son unto a conqueror,
Is likely to beget more conquerors,
If with a lady of so high resolve,

As is fair Margaret, he be link'd in love.
Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me,
That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she.

K. Hen. Whether it be through force of your

report,

My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that
My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any passion of inflaming love,
I cannot tell; but this I am assur'd,

I feel such sharp dissention in my breast,
Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
Take, therefore, shipping; post, my lord, to France;
Agree to any covenants; and procure
That lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come
To cross the seas to England, and be crown'd
King Henry's faithful and anointed queen:
For your expences and sufficient charge,
Among the people gather up a tenth.
Be gone, I say; for, till you do return,
I rest perplexed with a thousand cares. —
And you, good uncle, banish all offence:
If you do censure me by what you were,
Not what you are, I know it will excuse
This sudden execution of my will.
And so conduct me, where from company,
I may revolve and ruminate my grief.
Glo. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.
[Exeunt GLOSTER and Exeter.
Suf. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd: and thus he
goes,

Erit.

As did the youthful Paris once to Greece;
With hope to find the like event in love,
But prosper better than the Trojan did.
Margaret shall now be queen, and rule the king;
But I will rule both her, the king, and realm.

[Exit.

SCENE I.

London. A Room of State in the
Palace.

Flourish of trumpets: then hautboys. Enter, on one side, KING HENRY, Duke of GLOSTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and CARDINAL BEAUFORT; on the other, QUEEN MARGARET, led in by SUFFOLK ; YORK, SOMERSET, BUCKINGHAM, and others following.

Suff. As by your high imperial majesty
I had in charge at my depart for France,
As procurator to your excellence,

To marry princess Margaret for your grace;
So, in the famous ancient city, Tours,
In presence of the kings of France and Sicil,

499

I can express no kinder sign of love,
Than this kind kiss.- O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
For thou hast given me, in this beauteous face,
A world of earthly blessings to my soul,
If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.

Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gra-
cious lord;

The mutual conference that my mind 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 hap-
piness!

Q. Mar. We thank you all.

[Flourish.

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 Navies, 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 filter.

K. Hen. Uncle, how now?

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 changes, without having dowry. KH4. They please us well. kneel down;

Lord marquess,

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.
Dil term of eighteen months be full expir`d. —
Thanks, uncle Winchester, Gloster, York, and
Buckingham.

Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick;

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

Frew Kisa, Q. rrx, and S. FFOLK.
GA Brave peers of England, millars of the state
To you duke Hamry moe un'bød b's grief,
Your grief, the common grief of a” the land.
WOR
Camy ander Henry speed)
His valour, coils, and pela in the
Did be so often lodge in own 8030

In winter's cold, and summer's pure", ig bout,

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

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 discourse?

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 tears. 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.

Gio. 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 France,

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
'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,
But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you.
Rancour will our Proui prelate, in thy face
I see thy fary: If I longer si

We shall begin our ancient bekerings-
Lordings frowell; and say, when I am gone,
I propõesied — France »

CH. Sa tre goes our protector in a rage.
'Tis known tabs Ex enxay
Nay, more an enemy and you

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
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,
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. [Erit.
Som. Cousin of Buckingham, though Hum-
phrey's pride,

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.
Buck. Or thou, or I, Somerset, will be protector,
Despight duke Humphrey, or the cardinal.

[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 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,
Have made thee fear'd, and honour'd, of the

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.
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,

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 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,

And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars:
Then wil 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

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 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 abuse our sight so low,
As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground.
Glo. O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy
lord,

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 the sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream.
Glo. Methought, this staff, mine office-badge in

court,

Was broke in twain; by whom, I have forgot,
But, as I think, it was by the cardinal;
And, on the pieces of the broken wand
Were plac'd the heads of Edmond duke of Somerset,
And William de la Poole first duke of Suffolk.
This was my dream; what it doth bode, God knows.
Duch. Tut, this was nothing but an argument,
That he that breaks a stick of Gloster's grove,
Shall lose his head for his presumption.

But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:
Methought, I sat in seat of majesty,

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, 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 cholerick 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.

Mes. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure, You do prepare to ride unto Saint Alban's, 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. [Exeunt 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, man, We are alone; here's none but thee, and I. Enter HUME.

Hume. Jesu preserve your royal majesty ! Duch. What say'st thou, majesty! I am but grace.

Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice,

Your grace's title shall be multiplied.

-mum!

Marry, and shall. But how now, sir John Hume?
Seal up your lips, and give no words but
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 broken;
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.

SCENE III.

[Exit.

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's 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?