SECOND PART OF

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

ACT I.

SCENE I. London. A Room of State in the Palace.

Flourish of trumpets; then hautboys. Enter, on one side, KING HENRY, DUKE of GLOSTER, SALISBury, WARWICK, and CARDINAL BEAUFORT; on the other, QUEEN MARGARET, led in by SUFFOLK; YORK, SOMERSET, BUCKINGHAM, and others, following.

Suffolk. As by your high, imperial majesty, I had in charge at my depart for France,

As procurator1 to your excellence,

To marry princess Margaret for your grace;
So, in the famous ancient city, Tours,-

In presence of the kings of France and Sicil,

The dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretaigne, and Alençon,
Seven earls, twelve barons, twenty reverend bishops,-
I have performed my task, and was espoused;

And humbly now upon my bended knee,
In sight of England and her lordly peers,
Deliver up my title in the queen

1 "The marquesse of Suffolk, as procurator to king Henry, espoused the said ladie in the church of St. Martins. At the which marriage were present, the father and mother of the bride; the French king himself, that was uncle to the husband; and the French queen also, that was aunt to the wife. There were also the dukes of Orleance, of Calabre, of Alanson, and of Britaine; seven earles, twelve barons, twenty bishops."-Hall and Holinshed.

To your most gracious hands, that are the substance 1
Of that great shadow I did represent;

The happiest gift that ever marquess gave,
The fairest queen that ever king received.

1

K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, queen Marga

ret;

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,

6

A world of earthly blessings to my soul,

*If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.

Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gracious

lord;

2

'The mutual conference that my mind hath had 2—

By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams;

In courtly company, or at my beads,

3

With you mine alder-liefest 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 hap

piness!

Q. Mar. We thank you all.

[Flourish.

Suff. My lord protector, so it please your grace, Here are the articles of contracted peace,

1 i. e. to the gracious hands of you, my sovereign, who are, &c. In the old play the line stands:

"Unto your gracious excellence, that are."

2 I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination.

3 i. e. most beloved of all; from alder, of all; formerly used in composition with adjectives of the superlative degree; and liefest, dearest, or most loved.

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 fatherK. Hen. Uncle, how now? Glo. Pardon me, gracious lord ; Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, And dimmed mine eyes, that I can read no further. K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. Item,-It is further agreed between themthat 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 expired.

Thanks, uncle Winchester, Gloster, York, and Buckingham,

Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick;

We thank you all for this great favor done,
In entertainment to my princely queen.
Come, let us in; and with all speed provide
To see her coronation be performed.

[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 valor, coin, and people, in the wars? Did he so often lodge in open field,

• In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat,

6

6

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, • Received 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 awe?
And hath his highness in his infancy

'Been crowned in Paris, in despite of foes?
And shall these labors, and these honors, 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;

6

Blotting your names from books of memory;
Razing the characters of your renown;

'Defacing monuments of conquered France;

Undoing all, as all had never been!

* Car. Nephew, what means this passionate dis

course?

1

*This_peroration with such circumstance? 1
* 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?

1 This speech crowded with so many circumstances of aggravation.

6

6

6

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, 'Delivered up again with peaceful words? • Mort Dieu !

*York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate, *That dims the honor 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. * Glo. 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 starved 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, 'But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you. • Rancor 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, I prophesied-France will be lost ere long.

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,

[Exit.