To ease your country of distressful war,
And suffer you to breathe in fruitful peace,
You shall become true liegemen to his crown:
And Charles, upon condition thou wilt swear
Το pay him tribute, and submit thyself,
Thou shalt be plac'd as viceroy under him,
And still enjoy thy regal dignity.

Alen. Must he be then a shadow of himself?
Adorn his temples with a coronet1;
And yet, in substance and authority,
Retain but privilege of a private man?
This proffer is absurd and reasonless.

Char. 'Tis known, already that I am possess'd With more than half the Gallian territories, And therein reverenc'd for their lawful king: Shall I, for lucre of the rest unvanquish'd, Detract so much from that prerogative, As to be called but viceroy of the whole? No, lord ambassador; I'll rather keep That which I have, than, coveting for more, Be cast from possibility of all.

York. Insulting Charles! hast thou by secret Used intercession to obtain a league; [means And, now the matter grows to compromise, Stand'st thou aloof upon comparison? Either accept the title thou usurp'st, Of benefit proceeding from our king, And not of any challenge of desert, Or we will plague thee with incessant wars. Reign. My lord, you do not well in obstinacy To cavil in the course of this contract: If once it be neglected, ten to one, We shall not find like opportunity.

Alen. To say the truth, it is your policy,
To save your subjects from such massacre,
And ruthless slaughters, as are daily seen
By our proceeding in hostility:

And therefore take this compact of a truce,
Although you break it when your pleasure serves.
[Aside to Charles.
W. How say'st thou, Charles? shall our con-
Char. It shall:
[dition stand?
Only reserv'd, you claim no interest
In any of our towns of garrison.

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. H. And otherwise will Henry ne'er presume. 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 triumph1 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
Her father is no better than an earl, [that?
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;

Gloster, and Exeter, following.

K. Hen. Your wond'rous 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.
1 (Used for crown.)

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. [king,
Whom should we match with Henry, being a
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,
1 Public exhibition,

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. [lord;
Q.Mar.Great king of England,and my gracious
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-liefest1 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.

[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 Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem; and crown her queen of England, ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing.- -Item,-That the duchy 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 Ican read nofurther. K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray read on. Car. Item,-It is further agreed between them, -that the duchies 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,
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, 1 Beloved above all things.

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
And hath his highness in his infancy [awe?
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! [course?

Car. Nephew, what means this passionate dis-
This peroration with such circumstance1!
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 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?

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 theirwives: 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 cost and charges in transporting her! She should have staid in France, and starv'd in Before [France,

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 iny speeches that you do mislike, 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. 2—

1 Crowded with so many cir. 2 Contentions. :cumstances of aggravation.

Lordings farewell; and say, when I am gone,
I 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 Gloster;
Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice-
May heaven preserve the good duke Humphrey!
I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss,
He will be found a dangerous protector.

B. 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. [delay; Car. This weighty business will not brook I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently. [Exit. S. Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey'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 princes in the land beside;
If Gloster be displac'd, he'll be protector.
B. Or thou, or I, Somerset, will be protector,
Despite 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.
1 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 commonweal.-
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
Join we together, for the public good; [people:-
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.

W. So Heaven help Warwick, as he loves the And common profit of his country! [land Y.And so says York, for he hath greatest cause. 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.
Y. Anjou and Maine are given to the French;
Paris is lost; the state of Normandy
Stands on a tickle1 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 pennyworth's 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 Nevil's 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 scepter 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, [queen,
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,
Withwhose sweet smell the air shall be perfum'd;
And in my standard bear the arms of York,
To grapple with the house of Lancaster; [crown,
And, force perforce, I'll make him yield the
Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England
down.
[Exit.

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.
G. ONell, 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!
Mytroublous dream this night doth make me sad.
Duch. What dream'd my lord? tell me, and
I'll requit it

With 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 [set,
Were plac'd the heads of Edmond duke of Somer-
And William de la Poole first duke of Suffolk.
This was my dream; what it doth bode, Heaven

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
And on my head did set the diadem. [me,
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.

D. 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.
M. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure,
You do prepare to ride unto Saint Alban's,
Whereas1 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:

1 Where.

yet conferr❜d

With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch;
And Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer?
And will they undertake to do me good?

Hume. This have they promised,—to show
A spirit rais'd from depth of under ground,
your highness
That shall make answer to such questions,
As by your grace shall be propounded him.
When from Saint Alban's we do make return,
D. It is enough; I'll think upon the questions:
Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man,
We'll see these things effected to the full.
With thy confederates in this weighty cause.
[Exit Duchess.

H. Hume must make merry with the duchess'

gold;

Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume?
The business asketh silent secrecy.
Seal up your lips, and give no words but-mum!
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,
Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain,
And from the great and new-made duke of Suf-
[folk;
Have hired me to undermine the duchess,
They, knowing Eleanor's aspiring humour,
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 2 how it will, I shall have gold for all. [Exit.

SCENE III.-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.3 2 Pet. Marry, heaven protect him, for he's a good man! Heaven 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! wouldst anything with me?

1 Pet. I pray my lord, pardon me! I took ye for my lord protector.

1 A title bestowed then on the clergy.
2 Happen.

3 In due form.