Is all your strict preciseness come to this ? York. She and the dauphin have been juggling;

I did imagine what would be her refuge. War. Well, go to; we will have no bastards live:

Especially, since Charles must father it.

his;

It was Alençon, that enjoy'd my love.
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,

There were so many, whom she may accuse. War. It's sign she hath been liberal and free.

means

leave my curse:

May never glorious sun reflex his beams
Upon the country where you make abode !
But darkness and the gloomy shade of death
Environ you; till mischief and despair,
Drive you to break your necks, or hang your
selves!
Exit, guarded.
York. Break thou in pieces, and consume to
ashes,

Thou foul accursed minister of hell!

Enter Cardinal Beaufort, attended. Car. Lord regent, I do greet your excellence With letters of commission from the king. For know, my lords, the states of Christendom, Mov'd with remorse of these outrageous broils, Have earnestly implor'd a general peace Betwixt our nation and the aspiring French: And here at hand the Dauphin, and his train, Approacheth, to confer about some matter.

York. Is all our travail turn'd to this effect? After the slaughter of so many peers, So many captains, gentlemen, and soldiers, That in this quarrel have been overthrown," And sold their bodies for their country's benefit, Shall we at last conclude effeminate peace? Have we not lost most part of all the towns, By treason, falsehood, and by treachery, Our great progenitors had conquer'd ?O, Warwick, Warwick! I foresee with grief The utter loss of all the realm of France. War. Be patient, York: if we conclude a peace,

It shall be with such strict and severe cove nants,

As little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby. Enter Charles, attended; Alençon, Bastard, A Reignier, and others.

Char. Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed,

That peaceful truce shall be proclaim'd
France,

We come to be inform'd by yourselves

in

serves.

Char. It shall:

Only reserv'd, you claim no interest
In any of our towns of garrison.

York. Then swear allegiance to his majesty;
As thou art knight, never to disobey,
Nor be rebellious to the crown of England,
Thou, nor thy nobles, to the crown of Eng-
land.-

[Charles, and the rest, give tokens of fealty. So, now dismiss your army when ye please; Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still, For here we entertain a solemn peace. [Exeunt SCENE V. London. A Room in the Palace. Enter King Henry, in conference with Suffolk; Gloster, and Exeter, following.

K. Hen. Your wondrous rare description, noble earl,

Of beauteous Margaret, hath 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.
Suff. 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?

Suff. 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, I pray, is Margaret more
than that?

Her father is no better than an earl,
Although in glorious titles he excel.
Suff. 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 Reignier sooner will receive than give. Suff. 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 attorney ship:
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.
cr what is wedlock forced, but a hell,
37

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 dissension 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 expenses 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. Erit
Glo. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.
[Exeunt Gloster and Exeter.
Suff. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd: and thus he
goes,

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.

Exil

Till 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 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 winters 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

But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you.
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,
1 prophesied-France will be lost ere long.

[Exit.
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
Bewitch your hearts; be wise, and circumspect.
What though the common people favour him,
Calling him--Humphrey the good duke of Glos-

ter;

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.

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.
Gio. 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 duchies 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.
Clo. 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,

reign,

He being of age to govern of himself 7-
Cousin of Somerset, join you with me,
And all together-with the duke of Suffolk,-
We'll quickly hoise Duke Humphrey from his

Despight Duke Humphrey, or the cardinal.

[Exeunt Buckingham and Somerset. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows himn. 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 favours 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
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'
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