K. Henry. My Lord of Warwick, hear me but one word; Let me for this time reign as King.

York. Confirm the Crown to me, and to mine Heirs,

And thou shalt Reign in quiet while thou liv'st.
K. Henry. I am content: Richard Plantagenet,

Enjoy the Kingdom after my decease.

Clif. What wrong is this unto the Prince, your Son?
War. What good is this to England, and himself?
West. Bafe, fearful, and despairing Henry!

Clif. How haft thou injur'd both thy felf and us!
Weft. I cannot stay to hear these Articles.

North. Nor I.

Clif. Come Coufir, let us tell the Queen these News.
West. Farewel, faint-hearted and degenerate King,

In whose cold Blood no spark of Honour bides.
North. Be thou a prey unto the House of York,
And die in Bands, for this unmanly deed.

Clif. In dreadful War, may'st thou be overcome,
Or live in Peace abandon'd and despis'd.

[Exeunt Nor. Cliff. Weftm.

War. Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.
Exe. They feek revenge, and therefore will not yield.

K. Henry. Ah Exeter!

War. Why should you figh, my Lord?

:

K. Henry. Not for my self, Lord Warwick, but my Son,

Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.

But be it as it may; I here entail

The Crown to thee, and to thine Heirs for ever:
Conditionally, that here you take an Oath,
To cease this Civil War; and whilst I live,
To honour me as thy King and Soveraign:
Neither by Treason nor Hostility,

To sek to put me down, and Reign thy felf.

York. This Oath I willingly take, and will perform.
War. Long live King Henry: Plantagenet, embrace him.
K. Henry. And long live thou, and these thy forward Sons.
York. Now York and Lancaster are reconcil'd.
Exe. Accurst be he that seeks to make them Foes.

Sonet. Here they come down.

York. Farewel, my gracious Lord, I'll to my Castle.
War. And I'll keep London with my Soldiers.

Norf.

Norf. And I to Norfolk with my Followers.
Mount. And I unto the Sea from whence I came. [Exe.
K. Henry. And I with grief and forrow to the Court.
Enter the Queen, and the Prince of Wales.

Exe. Here comes the Queen,

Whose looks bewray her anger:
I'll steal away.

K. Henry. Exeter so will I:

[Going.

Queen. Nay, go not from me, I will follow thee-
K. Henry. Be patient, gentle Queen, and I will stay.
Queen. Who can be patient in such extreams?
Ah wretched Man! would I had dy'd a Maid,
And never seen thee, never born thee Son,

Seeing thou haft prov'd so unnatural a Father.
Hath he deserv'd to lose his Birth-right thus?
Hadst thou but lov'd him half fo much as I,
Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
Or nourisht him, as I did with my Blood;
Thou wouldst have left thy dearest Heart-blood there,
Rather than made that Savage Duke thine Heir,
And disinherited thine only Son.

Prince. Father, you cannot disinherit me:
If you be King, why should not I succeed?

K. Henry. Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet Son; The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforc'd me.

Queen. Enforc'd thee? art thou King, and wilt be forc'd?
I shame to hear thee speak; ah timorous Wretch!
Thou haft undone thy felf, thy Son, and me,
And given unto the House of York such head,
As thou shalt Reign but by their sufferance.
To entail him and his Heirs unto the Crown,
What is it, but to make thy Sepulchre,
And creep into it far before thy time ?
Warwick is Chancellor, and the Lord of Calais,
Stern Faulconbridge commands the narrow Seas,
The Duke is made Protector of the Realm,
And yet shalt thou be fafe? such safety finds
The trembling Lamb, invironed with Wolves.
Had I been there, which am a filly Woman,
The Soldiers should have toss'd me on their Pikes,

Before I would have granted to that A&.

But

L

But thou preferr'st thy Life before thine honour.
And feeing thou dost, I here divorce my felf,
Both from thy Table, Henry, and thy Bed,
Until that A& of Parliament be repealed,

Whereby my Son is disinherited.

The Northern Lords, that have forsworn thy Colours,
Will follow mine, if once they see them spread:
And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace,
And utter ruin of the House of York,
Thus do I leave thee; come Son, let's away,
Our Army is ready, come, we'll after them.

K. Henry. Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.
Queen. Thou hast spoke too much already; get thee

gone.

K. Henry. Gentle Son Edward, thou wilt stay with me? Queen. Ay, to be murther'd by his Enemies. Prince. When I return with Victory from the Field, I'll fee your Grace; 'till then I'll follow her.

Queen. Come, Son, away, we may not linger thus.

[Exeunt Queen and Prince.

K. Henry. Poor Queen,
How love to me, and to her Son,
Hath made her break out into terms of Rage.
Reveng'd may she be on that hateful Duke,
Whose haughty Spirit, winged with defire,
Will cost my Crown, and like an empty Eagle,
Tire on the Flesh of me, and of my Son.
The loss of those three Lords torments my Heart;
I'll write unto them, and intreat them fair;
Come, Coufin, you shall be the Messenger.
Exe. And I hope thall reconcile them all.

[Exit.

Enter Richard, Edward, and Mountague.
Rich. Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.
Edw. No, I can better play the Oator.
Mount. But I have reasons strong and forcible.

Enter the Duke of York.

York. Why, how now Sons and Brother, at a strife ?

What is your Quarrel? how began it first?

Edw. No Quarrel, but a flight Contention.

York. About what?

Rich. About that which concerns your Grace and us,

The Crown of England, Father, which is yours.

York.

1

York. Mine, Boy ? not 'till King Henry be dead.
Rich. Your Right depends not on his Life, or Death.
Edw. Now you are Heir, therefore enjoy it now:
By giving the House of Lancaster leave to breathe,
It will out-run you, Father, in the end.

York. I took an Oath, that he should quietly Reign.
Edw. But for a Kingdom any Oath may be broken:
I would break a thousand Oaths to Reign one Year.
Rich. No; God forbid your Grace should be forsworn.
York. I shall be, if I claim by open War.
Rich. I'll prove the contrary, if you'll hear me speak.
York. Thou can'st not, Son, it is impossible.
Rich. An Oath is of no moment, being not took

Before a true and lawful Magistrate,
That hath Authority over him that Swears.
Henry had none, but did ufurp the Place.
Then seeing 'twas he that made you to depose,
Your Oath, my Lord, is vain and frivolous.
Therefore to Arms: and, Father, do but think,
How sweet a thing it is to wear a Crown,
Within whose Circuit is Elysium,
And all that Poets feign of Bliss and Joy.
Why do we linger thus? I cannot rest,
Until the white Rose that I wear, be dy'd
Even in the lukewarm Blood of Henry's Heart.
York. Richard, enough: I will be King, or die.
Brother, thou shalt to London presently,
And whet on Warwick to this Enterprize.
Thou, Richard, shalt go to the Duke of Norfolk,
And tell him privily of our intent.
You, Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham,
With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rife.
In them I trust; for they are Soldiers,
Witty, courteous, liberal, full of Spirit.
While you are thus employ'd, what resteth more,
But that I feek occafion how to rife?

And yet the King not privy to my drift,

Nor any of the House of Lancaster.

Enter Gabriel.

But stay. what News? why com'st thou in such post?
Gab. The Queen,

With all the Northern Earls and Lords,
Intend here to besiege you in your Castle.
She is hard by, with twenty thousand Men;
And therefore fortifie your Hold, my Lord.
York. Ay, with my Sword.
What, think'st thou that we fear them?
Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me,
My Brother Montague shall poft to London.
Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the reft,
Whom we have left Protectors of the King,
With powerful Policy strengthen themselves,
And trust not simple Henry, nor his Oaths.
Mont. Brother, I go: I'll win them, fear it not.
And thus most humbly I do take my leave.

[Exit Montague,

Enter Sir John Mortimer, and Sir Hugh Mortimer.
York. Sir John, and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine Uncles,

You are come to Sandal in a happy hour.
The Army of the Queen means to besiege us.

Sir John. She shall not need, we'll meet her in the Field.

York. What, with five thousand Men?

Rich. Ay, with five hundred, Father, for a need.

A Woman's General; what should we fear?

Edw. I hear their Drums :

Let's set our Men in order,

[A march afar off.

And issue forth, and bid them Battel streight.

York. Five Men to twenty, though the odds be great,

I doubt not, Uncle, of our Victory.

Many a Battel have I won in France,

When as the Enemy hath been ten to one:

Why should I not now have the like Success?

[Alarum.

Enter Rutland and his Tutor.

Rut. Ah, whether shall I flie, to scape their Hands? Ah, Tutor, look where bloody Clifford comes.

Enter Clifford.

Exit.

Clif. Chaplain, away, thy Priesthood saves thy Life;

As for the Brat of this accursed Duke,

Whose Father flew my Father, he shall die.

Tutor. And I, my Lord, will bear him Company.