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War. I think his understanding is bereft :— Speak, Clifford, dost thou know who speaks to thee?— Dark, cloudy death o'ershades his beams of life, And he nor sees, nor hears us what we say.

Rich. O, 'would he did! and so, perhaps, he doth; "Tis but his policy to counterfeit,

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'Because he would avoid such bitter taunts,
Which in the time of death he gave our father.
Geo. If so thou think'st, vex him with eager words.1
Rich. Clifford, ask mercy, and obtain no grace.
Edw. Clifford, repent in bootless penitence.
War. Clifford, devise excuses for thy faults.
Geo. While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.
Rich. Thou didst love York, and I am son to York.
Edw. Thou pitied'st Rutland, I will pity thee.
Geo. Where's captain Margaret, to fence you now?
War. They mock thee, Clifford! swear as thou

wast wont.

• Rich. What, not an oath? nay, then the world goes hard,

• When Clifford cannot spare his friends an oath; I know by that he's dead; and, by my soul,

If this right hand would buy two hours' life,

That I in all despite might rail at him,

This hand should chop it off; and with the issuing blood

Stifle the villain, whose unstanched thirst

York and young Rutland could not satisfy.

War. Ay, but he's dead. Off with the traitor's head,

And rear it in the place your father's stands.—
And now to London with triumphant march,
There to be crowned England's royal king.

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• From whence shall Warwick cut the sea to France, And ask the lady Bona for thy queen;

So shalt thou sinew both these lands together;

And, having France thy friend, thou shalt not dread

1 Sour words; words of asperity. "Verie eagre or sowre: peracerbous."-Baret.

The scattered foe, that hopes to rise again;

For though they cannot greatly sting to hurt,
Yet look to have them buzz, to offend thine ears.
First, will I see the coronation;

And then to Brittany I'll cross the sea,

To effect this marriage, so it please my lord.

Edw. Even as thou wilt, sweet Warwick, let it be; *For on thy shoulder do I build my seat;

* And never will I undertake the thing,

* Wherein thy counsel and consent is wanting.Richard, I will create thee duke of Gloster ;

'And George, of Clarence ;-Warwick, as ourself, 'Shall do, and undo, as him pleaseth best.

Rich. Let me be duke of Clarence; George, of Gloster;

For Gloster's dukedom is too ominous.'

War. Tut, that's a foolish observation;

Richard, be duke of Gloster. Now to London,

To see these honors in possession.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I. A Chase in the North of England.

Enter two Keepers,2 with crossbows in their hands. 1 Keep. Under this thick-grown brake we'll shroud ourselves;

1 Alluding to the deaths of Thomas of Woodstock and Humphrey, dukes of Gloster. The author of the old play, in which this line is found, had a passage of Hall's Chronicle in his thoughts, in which the unfortunate ends of those who had borne the title is recounted: he thus concludes:-"So that this name of Gloucester is taken for an unhappie and unfortunate stile, as the proverb speaks of Segane's horse, whose ryder was ever unhorsed, and whose possessor was ever brought to miserie."

2 In the folio copy, instead of two keepers, we have, through negligence, the names of the persons who represented these characters, Sincklo and Humphrey. Humphrey was probably Humphrey Jeaffes, mentioned in

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For through this laund1 anon the deer will come;

· And in this covert will we make our stand,

Culling the principal of all the deer.

*2 Keep. I'll stay above the hill, so both may shoot. *1 Keep. That cannot be; the noise of thy cross

bow

* Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
*Here stand we both, and aim we at the best;
*And, for the time shall not seem tedious,

* I'll tell thee what befell me on a day,

*In this self-place where now we mean to stand. 2 Keep. Here comes a man; let's stay till he be passed.

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Enter KING HENRY, disguised, with a prayer-book.

K. Hen. From Scotland am I stolen, even of

love,

To greet mine own land with my wishful sight.

No, Harry, Harry, 'tis no land of thine;

*Thy place is filled, thy sceptre wrung from thee,

pure

*Thy balm washed off, wherewith thou wast anointed: No bending knee will call thee Cæsar now,

• No humble suitors press to speak for right, *No, not a man comes for redress of thee; For how can I help them, and not myself?

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1 Keep. Ay, here's a deer whose skin's a keeper's

fee:

This is the quondam king; let's seize upon him.

Mr. Henslowe's manuscript; Sincklo we have before mentioned, his name being prefixed to some speeches in the Induction to The Taming of the Shrew. Hall and Holinshed tell us that Henry VI. "was no sooner entered into England but he was known and taken of one Cantlow, and brought to the king." It appears, however, from records in the duchy office, that king Edward granted a rent-charge of one hundred pounds to sir James Harington, in recompense of his great and laborious diligence about the capture and detention of the king's great traitor, rebel, and enemy, lately called Henry the Sixth, made by the said James; and likewise annuities to Richard and Thomas Talbot, esquires,-Talbot, and Levesey, for their services in the same capture. Henry had been for some time harbored by James Maychell of Crakenthorpe, Westmoreland. See Rymer's Fœdera, xi. 548, 575.

1 A lawn.

*K. Hen. Let me embrace these our adversities; * For wise men say, it is the wisest course.

*2 Keep. Why linger we? let us lay hands upon him.

*1 Keep. Forbear awhile; we'll hear a little more. K. Hen. My queen and son are gone to France for aid;

And, as I hear, the great, commanding Warwick
Is thither gone, to crave the French king's sister

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To wife for Edward. If this news be true,

'Poor queen, and, son, your labor is but lost;

• For Warwick is a subtle orator,

And Lewis a prince soon won with moving words.

By this account, then, Margaret may win him;

For she's a woman to be pitied much;

*Her sighs will make a battery in his breast; *Her tears will pierce into a marble heart; *The tiger will be mild, while she doth mourn; * And Nero will be tainted with remorse, *To hear, and see, her plaints, her brinish tears. * Ay, but she's come to beg; Warwick, to give; She, on his left side, craving aid for Henry; He, on his right, asking a wife for Edward. She weeps, and says-her Henry is deposed; He smiles, and says-his Edward is installed; *That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no more; * Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the wrong, *Inferreth arguments of mighty strength;

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And, in conclusion, wins the king from her,

*With promise of his sister, and what else,

*To strengthen and support king Edward's place. *O, Margaret, thus 'twill be; and thou, poor soul, * Art then forsaken, as thou went'st forlorn.

2 Keep. Say, what art thou, that talk'st of kings and queens?

'K. Hen. More than I seem, and less than I was

born to;

A man at least, for less I should not be;

And men may talk of kings, and why not I?

2 Keep. Ay, but thou talk'st as if thou wert a king

VOL. IV.

61

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K. Hen. Why, so I am, in mind; and that's

enough.

2 Keep. But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown? K. Hen. My crown is in my heart, not on my head: *Not decked with diamonds, and Indian stones,

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*Nor to be seen: my crown is called content;

A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy.

2 Keep. Well, if you be a king crowned with

content,

Your crown content, and you, must be contented
To go along with us; for, as we think,

You are the king; king Edward hath deposed,
And we his subjects, sworn in all allegiance,

• Will apprehend you as his enemy.

*K. Hen. But did you never swear, and break an oath?

*2 Keep. No, never such an oath, nor will not now. *K Hen. Where did you dwell, when I was king of England?

*2 Keep. Here in this country, where we now remain.

*K. Hen. I was anointed king at nine months old; *My father and my grandfather were kings;

* And you were sworn true subjects unto me;

* And, tell me then, have you not broke your oaths? * 1 Keep. No;

For we were subjects but while you were king.

*K Hen. Why, am I dead? do I not breathe a

man ?

*Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear.
*Look, as I blow this feather from my face,
* And as the air blows it to me again,
* Obeying with my wind when I do blow,
* And yielding to another when it blows,
* Commanded always by the greater gust;
*Such is the lightness of you common men.
* But do not break your oaths; for of that sin
*My mild entreaty shall not make you guilty.
* Go where you will, the king shall be commanded;
*And be you kings; command, and I'll obey.

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