York. We thank you, lords. But I am not your king

Till I be crown'd, and that my sword be stain'd
With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster;
And that's not suddenly to be perform'd,
But with advice and silent secrecy.
Do you as I do in these dangerous days: .
Wink at the Duke of Suffolk's insolence,
At Beaufort's pride, at Somerset's ambition,
At Buckingham and all the crew of them,
Till they have snared the shepherd of the flock,
That virtuous prince, the good Duke Hum-

phrey:

'Tis that they seek, and they in seeking that

70

Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy. Sal. My lord, break we off; we know your mind at full.

War. My heart assures me that the Earl of War

wick

Shall one day make the Duke of York a king. York. And, Nevil, this I do assure myself:

80

Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick
The greatest man in England but the king.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III

A hall of justice.

Sound trumpets. Enter the King, the Queen, Gloucester, York, Suffolk, and Salisbury; the Duchess of Gloucester, Margery Jourdain, Southwell, Hume, and Bolingbroke, under guard.

King. Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester's wife:

In sight of God and us, your guilt is great: Receive the sentence of the law for sins Such as by God's book are adjudged to death. You four, from hence to prison back again; From thence unto the place of execution: The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes, And you three shall be strangled on the gallows. You, madam, for you are more nobly born, Despoiled of your honor in your life, Shall, after three days' open penance done, Live in your country here in banishment, With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man. Duch. Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death.

10

3. "sins"; Theobald's emendation of "sinne" Ff. 1, 2; "sin" Ff. 3. -I. G.

14. "Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death"; Pope reads "Welcome is exile,” &c.; Anon. conjecture, “Welcome is banishment; welcomer my death"; Wordsworth, "Welcome is banishment; welcome were death"; "banishment" is probably to be considered a dissyllable.-I. G.

Glou. Eleanor, the law, thou see'st, hath judged

thee:

I cannot justify whom the law condemns.

[Exeunt Duchess and other prisoners,

guarded. Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief. Ah, Humphrey, this dishonor in thine age Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground! I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go; 20 Sorrow would solace and mine age would ease. King. Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester: ere thou go,

Give up thy staff: Henry will to himself

16. This sentence fell upon the duchess in November, 1441. Holinshed gives the following account of the matter: "This yeare dame Eleanor Cobham, wife to the said duke, was accused of treason; for that she by sorcerie and enchantment intended to destroie the king, to the intent to advance hir husband unto the crowne. Upon this she was examined in saint Stephans chappell before the bishop of Canterburie, and there convict and judged to doo penance in three open places within the citie of London; and after that to perpetuall imprisonment in the Ile of Man, under the keeping of sir John Stanlie knight. At the same season were arraigned and adjudged guiltie, as aiders to the duchesse, Thomas Southwell, priest, John Hum, priest, Roger Bolingbrooke, a cunning necromancer, and Margerie Jordeine, surnamed the witch of Eie. The matter laid against them was, for that they, at the request of the said duchesse, had devised an image of wax representing the king, which by their sorcerie by little and little consumed, intending thereby to waste and destroie the kings person. Margery Jordeine was burnt in Smithfield, and Roger Bolingbrooke was drawne to Tiborne, and hanged, and quartered. John Hum had his pardon, and Southwell died in the Tower the night before his execution." As this crime and punishment of the duchess had much to do in bringing about her husband's fall, there was good dramatic reason for setting it in close connection with the latter event, though in fact the two were over five years apart.— H. N. H.

20. "I beseech"; Hanmer, "Beseech."-I. G.

21. “ease,” the reading of Ff. 1, 4; Ff. 2, 3, “cease.”—I. G.

Protector be; and God shall be my hope, My stay, my guide and lantern to my feet: And go in peace, Humphrey, no less beloved Than when thou wert protector to thy king. Queen. I see no reason why a king of years

29

Should be to be protected like a child.
God and King Henry govern England's realm.
Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm.
Glou. My staff? here, noble Henry, is my staff:
As willingly do I the same resign

As e'er thy father Henry made it mine;
And even as willingly at thy feet I leave it
As others would ambitiously receive it.

Farewell, good king: when I am dead and gone, May honorable peace attend thy throne! [Exit. Queen. Why, now is Henry king, and Margaret queen;

And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce

himself,

40

That bears so shrewd a maim; two pulls at once;
His lady banish'd, and a limb lopp'd off.
This staff of honor raught, there let it stand
Where it best fits to be, in Henry's hand.

29. "Should be to be protected like a child"; Collier MS. reads "Should be protected like a child by peers." "Should be to be"= "should need to be."-I. G.

30. "God and King Henry govern England's realm"; omitted by Capell; "Realm," the reading of Ff.; Steevens (Johnson conj.), "helm"; Dyce and Staunton, "helm!" In the next line Keightley proposed "helm" for "realm."-I. G.

32. Collier MS. inserts after 1. 32, "To think I fain would keep it makes me laugh.”—I. G.

35. "willingly"; Pope, "willing" (from Qq.).—I. G.

Suf. Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his

sprays;

Thus Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days. York. Lords, let him go. Please it your majesty, This is the day appointed for the combat; And ready are the appellant and defendant, The armorer and his man, to enter the lists, 50 So please your highness to behold the fight. Queen. Aye, good my lord; for purposely therefore

Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried. King. O' God's name, see the lists and all things fit:

Here let them end it; and God defend the right! York. I never saw a fellow worse bested,

Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant,
The servant of this armorer, my lords.

Enter at one door, Horner, the Armorer, and his
Neighbors, drinking to him so much that he is
drunk; and he enters with a drum before him
and his staff with a sand-bag fastened to it; and
at the other door Peter, his man, with a drum
and a sand-bag, and 'Prentices drinking to him.
First Neigh. Here, neighbor Horner, I drink
46. "Her" in this line refers to pride, and not to Eleanor.—
H. N. H.

"youngest"; so Ff. 1, 2; Ff. 3, 4, "younger"; Singer (Anon. conj. MS.), "strongest"; Collier MS., "proudest"; Staunton, "haughtiest"; Kinnear, "highest." Perhaps "her" may be taken to refer to "pride.”—I. G.

47. "Lords, let him go,” that is, let him pass out of your thoughts. Duke Humphrey had already left the stage.-H. N. H.

55. "defend"; Pope, "guard"; Vaughan, "fend."-—I. G.