We'd ¶ hale him from the bosom of the king, WAR. Here comes my Lord of Canterbury's grace. Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, ARCHB. OF CANT. First, were his sacred garments rent and torn ; ; next, Then laid they violent hands upon him [Exit Attendant. LAN. My lord, will you take arms against the king? ARCHB. OF CANT. What need I? God himself is up in arms When violence is offer'd to the church. Y. MOR. Then will you join with us, that be his peers, To banish or behead that Gaveston? ARCHB. OF CANT. What else, my concerns me near; The bishoprick of Coventry is his. ¶ We'd] Old eds. "Weele' lords? for it Enter QUEEN ISABELLA. Y. MOR. Madam, whither walks your majesty so ISAB. Unto the forest, gentle Mortimer, He claps his cheeks, and hangs about his neck, E. MOR. Is it not strange that he is thus bewitch'd? ARCHB. OF CANT. But yet lift not your swords against the king. LAN. No; but we'll lift Gaveston from hence. WAR. And war must be the means, or he'll stay still, ISAB. Then let him stay; for, rather than my lord Shall be oppress'd with civil mutinies, I will endure a melancholy life, And let him frolic with his minion. ARCHB. OF CANT. My lords, to ease all this, but hear me speak: We and the rest, that are his counsellors, Will meet, and with a general consent Confirm his banishment with our hands and seals. Y. MOR. Content. ARCHB. OF CANT.* And, in the mean time, I'll entreat you all To cross to Lambeth, and there stay with me. Y. MOR. Madam, farewell. ISAB. Farewell, sweet Mortimer; and, for my sake, Forbear to levy arms against the king. Y. MOR. Ay, if words will serve; if not, I must. Enter GAVESTON† and KENT. [Exeunt. GAV. Edmund, the mighty prince of Lancaster, That hath more earldoms than an ass can bear, And both the Mortimers, two goodly men, With Guy of Warwick, that redoubted knight, Are gone towards Lambeth: there let them remain. [Exeunt. *Archb. of Cant.] This prefix is wanting in the old eds. + Enter Gaveston, &c.] Scene, a street perhaps. Enter LANCASTER †, WARWICK, PEMBROKE, the elder MORTIMER, the younger MORTIMER, the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, and Attendants. LAN. Here is the form of Gaveston's exile; May it please your lordship to subscribe your name. ARCHB. OF CANT. Give me the paper. [He subscribes, as the others do after him. LAN. Quick, quick, my lord; I long to write my name. WAR. But I long more to see him banish'd hence. Y. MOR. The name of Mortimer shall fright the king, Unless he be declin'd from ‡ that base peasant. Enter KING EDWARD, GAVESTON, and KENT. EDW. What, are you mov'd that Gaveston sits here? It is our pleasure; we will have it so. LAN. Your grace doth well to place him by your side, For no where else the new earl is so safe. E. MOR. What man of noble birth can brook this sight? + Enter Lancaster, &c.] Qy. Scene, "the New Temple" (see p. 178), though the king exclaims, "Here, Mortimer, sit thou in Edward's throne" (p. 181)? Perhaps a change of scene is supposed at p. 184. declin'd from] i. e. turned away from. Quam male conveniunt§! See, what a scornful look the peasant casts! Y. MOR. Their downfall is at hand, their forces down: We will not thus be fac'd and over-peer'd. E. MOR. We are no traitors; therefore threaten not. GAV. No, threaten not, my lord, but pay them home. Were I a king Y. MOR. Thou, villain! wherefore talk'st thou of a king, That hardly art a gentleman by birth? EDW. Were he a peasant, being my minion, Away, I say, with hateful Gaveston! E. MOR. And with the Earl of Kent that favours him. [Attendants remove GAVESTON and KENT. § Quam male conveniunt] Was the poet thinking of Ovid,— "Non bene conveniunt," &c, Met. ii. 846. |