and done!

Boling. First, of the king. What shall of him become? [Reading out of a paper. Spir. The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose; But him outlive, and die a violent death. [As the Spirit speaks, Southwell writes the answer. Boling. What fate awaits the duke of Suffolk? Spir. By water shall he die, and take his end. Boling. What shall befall the duke of Somerset ? Spir. Let him shun castles;

Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains,

Than where castles mounted stand.

"Have done, for more I hardly can endure.
Boling. Descend to darkness, and the burning
lake:

"False fiend, avoid!

[Thunder and lightning. Spirit descends. Enter York and Buckingham, hastily, with their guards, and others.

Enter a Servant.

To sup with me to-morrow night.—Away! [Exe.
Invite my lords of Salisbury, and Warwick,

ACT II.

SCENE I.-Saint Albans. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, Gloster, Cardinal, and Suffolk, with Falconers hollaing.

'Q. Mar. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,

I saw not better sport these seven years' day: 'Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out. 'K. Hen. But, what a point, my lord, your falcon made,

'And what a pitch she flew above the rest!To see how God in all his creatures works! Yea, man and birds, are fain3 of climbing high. Suff. No marvel, an it like your majesty, My ford protector's hawks do tower so well; They know their master loves to be aloft, *And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch. Glos. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind com-That mounts no higher than a bird can soar. 'Car. I thought as much; he'd be above the clouds.

"York. Lay hands upon these traitors, and their trash.

'Beldame, I think, we watch'd you at an inch."What, madam, are you there? the king and monweal

Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains; 'My lord protector will, I doubt it not, 'See you well guerdon'd' for these good deserts. * Duch. Not half so bad as thine to England's king,

'Glo. Ay, my lord cardinal; How think you by
that?

Were it not good, your grace could fly to heaven?
*K. Hen. The treasury of everlasting joy!
'Car. Thy heaven is on earth; thine eyes and
thoughts

Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart;
Pernicious protector, dangerous peer,

* Injurious duke; that threat'st where is no cause. Buck. True, madam, none at all. What call you this? [Showing her the papers. 'Away with them; let them be clapp'd up close, And kept asunder:-You, madam, shall with us:-That smooth'st it so with king and commonweal! 'Stafford, take her to thee. [Ex. Duch. from above. 'We'll see your trinkets here all forth-coming; "All.-Away!

[Exeunt guards, with South. Boling. *York. Lord Buckingham, methinks, watch'd her well:

A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon!
Now, pray my lord, let's see the devil's writ.
What have we here?

The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose;
But him outlive, and die a violent death.
Why, this is just.

*Aio te, Eacida, Romanos vincere posse.
Well, to the rest:

'Glo. What, cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory?

*Tantane animis cœlestibus iræ ? &c. Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; you'With such holiness can you do it?

[Reads.

Tell me, what fate awaits the duke of Suffolk?
By water shall he die, and take his end.-
What shall betide the duke of Somerset ?
Let him shun castles;

Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains,
Than where castles mounted stand.

* Come, come, my lords;

* These oracles are hardily attain'd,

And hardly understood.

The king is now in progress toward Saint Albans, "With him, the husband of this lovely lady; "Thither go these news, as fast as horse can carry

(1) Rewarded.

'Suff. No malice, sir; no more than well be

Q. Mar. And thy ambition, Gloster.

K. Hen.
I pr'ythee, peace,
Good queen; and whet not on these furious peers,
For blessed are the peace-makers on earth.

Car. Let me be blessed for the peace I make,
Against this proud protector, with my sword!
Glo. 'Faith, holy uncle, 'would 'twere come to
that!
[Aside to the Cardinal.
'Car. Marry, when thou dar'st.
[Aside.
'Glo. Make up no factious numbers for the

dar'st,

This evening, on the east side of the grove. [Aside. 'K. Hen. How now, my lords? 'Car. Believe me, cousin Gloster, 'Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly, We had had more sport.-Come with thy twohand sword. [Aside to Gloster.

(3) Fond.

(2) The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. (4) i. e. Thy mind is working on a crown.

Bead. I will, my lord.-Come on, sirrah; off with your doublet quickly.

Simp. Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.

[After the Beadle hath hit him once, he leaps
over the stool, and runs away; and the
people follow, and cry, A miracle!
*K. Hen. O God, seest thou this, and bear'st so
long?

* Q. Mar. It made me laugh to see the villain

run.

Glo. Follow the knave; and take this drab away. Wife. Alas, sir, we did it for pure need. Glo. Let them be whipped through every market town, till they come to Berwick, whence they [Exeunt Mayor, Beadle, Wife, &c. 'Car. Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day. Suff. True; made the lame to leap, and fly

came.

away.

Glo. But you have done more miracles than I; 'You made, in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly. Enter Buckingham.

'K. Hen. What tidings with our cousin ingham ?

SCENE II.-London. The Duke of York's garden. Enter York, Salisbury, and Warwick.

'York. Now, my good lords of Salisbury and
Warwick,

Our simple supper ended, give me leave,
'In this close walk, to satisfy myself,
'In craving your opinion of my title,
Which is infallible to England's crown.

Sal. My lord, I long to hear it at full.
War. Sweet York, begin: and if thy claim be
good,

The Nevils are thy subjects to command.
York. Then thus:-

Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:
The first, Edward the Black Prince, prince of
Wales;

The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,
Lionel, duke of Clarence; next to whom,
Was John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster:
The fifth, was Edmund Langley, duke of York;
The sixth, was Thomas of Woodstock, duke of
Gloster;

Buck-William of Windsor was the seventh, and last.

Buck. Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold.
A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent,—
'Under the countenance and confederacy
Of lady Eleanor, the protector's wife,
The ringleader and head of all this rout,-
'Have practis'd dangerously against your state,
'Dealing with witches, and with conjurors:
'Whom we have apprehended in the fact;
"Raising up wicked spirits from under ground,
'Demanding of king Henry's life and death,
And other of your highness' privy council,"
'As more at large your grace shall understand.
'Car. And so, my lord protector, by this means
"Your lady is forthcoming yet at London.
'This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's
edge;

"Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour.
[Aside to Gloster.
'Glo. Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my
heart!

* Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers:
* And, vanquish'd as I am, I yield to thee,
*Or to the meanest groom.

*K. Hen. O God, what mischiefs work the
wicked ones;

*Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby!
* Q. Mar. Gloster, see here the tainture of thy
nest;

* And, look, thyself be faultless, thou wert best.
Glo. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal,
'How I have lov'd my king, and commonweal:
'And, for my wife, I know not how it stands;
'Sorry I am to hear what I have heard:
'Noble she is; but if she have forgot
'Honour and virtue, and convers'd with such
'As, like to pitch, defile nobility,
'I banish her, my bed, and company;
And give her, as a prey, to law, and shame,
"That hath dishonour'd Gloster's honest name.
'K. Hen. Well, for this night, we will repose
us here:

'To-morrow, toward London, back again,
'To look into this business thoroughly,

And call these foul offenders to their answers;
'And poise the cause in justice' equal scales,
Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause
prevails.
[Flourish. Exeunt.
(2) Wickedly.

(1) A company.

VOL. 11.

Edward, the Black Prince, died before his father; And left behind him Richard, his only son, 'Who, after Edward the Third's death, reign'd as king;

Till Henry Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster, 'The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt, 'Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth, 'Seiz'd on the realm; depos'd the rightful king; 'Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she

came,

And him to Pomfret; where, as all you know, 'Harmless Richard was murder'd traitorously.

* War. Father, the duke hath told the truth; Thus got the house of Lancaster the crown. *York. Which now they hold by force, and not by right; *For Richard, the first son's heir, being dead, *The issue of the next son should have reign'd. *Sal. But William of Hatfield died without an heir. * York. The third son, duke of Clarence (from whose line

*I claim the crown,) had issue-Philippe, a daughter,

*

*Who married Edmund Mortimer, earl of March:
Edmund had issue-Roger, earl of March:
*Roger had issue-Edmund, Anne, and Eleanor.
'Sal. This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke,
As I have read, laid claim unto the crown
And, but for Owen Glendower, had been king,
Who kept him in captivity, till he died.
But, to the rest.
'York.
His eldest sister, Anne,
'My mother being heir unto the crown,
'Married Richard, earl of Cambridge; who was son
'To Edmund Langley, Edward the Third's fifth son.
By her I claim the kingdom: she was heir
'To Roger, earl of March; who was the son
'Of Edmund Mortimer; who married Philippe,
'Sole daughter unto Lionel, duke of Clarence:
So, if the issue of the elder son
Succeed before the younger, I am king.

War. What plain proceedings are more plain
than this?

'Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,
"The fourth son; York claims it from the third.
'Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign:
It fails not yet; but flourishes in thee,
And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.-

(3) i. e. Your lady is in custody. (4) Weigh.

S

'Then, father Salisbury, kneel we both together;
And, in this private plot,' be we the first,

"That shall salute our rightful sovereign
"With honour of his birthright to the crown.
Both. Long live our sovereign Richard, England's
king!

'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 snar'd the shepherd of the flock,
*That virtuous prince, the good duke Humphrey :
*'Tis that they seek; and they, in seeking that,
*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 Warwick

Shall one day make the duke of York a king.

*Should be to be protected like a child.-
'God and king Henry govern England's helm:
'Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm.
'Glo. My staff?-here, noble Henry, is my staff.
As willingly do I the same resign,
'As ere 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 honourable peace attend thy throne! [Exit.

Q. Mar. Why, now is Henry king, and Mar-
garet queen;

*And Humphrey, duke of Gloster, scarce himself,
*That bears so shrewd a maim; two pulls at once,-
*His lady banish'd, and a limb lopp'd off;
*This staff of honour raught: 3-There let it stand,
'Where it best fits to be, in Henry's hand.

* Suff. 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 ma

jesty,

'This is the day appointed for the combat;

And ready are the apellant, and defendant, The armourer and his man, to enter the lists, 'So please your highness to behold the fight.

Q. Mar. Ay, good my lord; for purposely
therefore

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

York. And, Nevil, this do I assure myself,'Richard shall live to make the earl of Warwick 'The greatest man in England but the king. [Exe. SCENE III.-The same. A hall of justice. Trumpets sounded. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, Gloster, York, Suffolk, and Salisbury; Here let them end it, and God defend the right! the Duchess of Gloster, Margery Jourdain, *York. I never saw a fellow worse bested,* Southwell, Hume, and Bolingbroke, under* Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant, guard. *The servant of this armourer, my lords. Enter on one side, Horner, and his Neighbours, drinking to him so much that he is drunk; and he enters bearing his staff with a sand-bag fastened to it; a drum before him; at the other side, Peter, with a drum and a similar staff; accompanied by Prentices drinking to him.

K. Hen. Stand forth, dame Eleanor Cobham,

Gloster's wife:

'In sight of God, and us, your guilt is great;
'Receive the sentence of the law, for sius
'Such as by God's book are adjudg'd to death.-
*You four, from hence to prison back again;
[To Jourd. &c.
*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 honour 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.

* Glo. Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged
thee;

I cannot justify whom the law condemns.-
[Exeunt the Duchess, and the other prisoners,
guarded.

'Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief.
Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age

1 Neigh. Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of sack; And fear not, neighbour, you shall do well enough.

2 Neigh. And here, neighbour, here's a cup of charneco."

3 Neigh. And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour: drink, and fear not your man.

Hor. Let it come, i'faith, and I'll pledge you all; And a fig for Peter!

1 Pren. Here, Peter, I drink to thee; and be not afraid.

2 Pren. Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master; fight for credit of the prentices.

Peter. I thank you all: * drink, and pray for me, I pray you; for, I think, I have taken my last * draught in this world. *-Here, Robin, an if I die, I give thee my apron; and, Will, thou shalt have

'Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground!-my hammer and here, Tom, take all the money

I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go;
'Sorrow would solace, and mine age would ease.2
'K. Hen. Stay, Humphrey duke of Gloster: ere

thou go,
'Give up thy staff; Henry will to himself
'Protector be: and God shall be my hope,
My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet;
And go in peace, Humphrey; no less belov'd,
"Than when thou wert protector to thy king.
*Q. Mar. I see no reason, why a king of years

that I have.-O Lord, bless me, I pray God! for I am never able to deal with my master, he hath learnt so much fence already.

Sal. Come, leave your drinking, and fall to blows. -Sirrah, what's thy name?

Peter. Peter, forsooth.

Sal. Peter! what more?
Peter. Thump.

Sal. Thump! then see thou thump thy master well. Hor. Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man's instigations, to prove him a knave,

(3) Reached. (4) In a worse plight. (5) A sort of sweet wine.

and myself an honest man: * and touching the* And follow'd with a rabble, that rejoice * duke of York,-will take my death, I never To see my tears, and hear my deep-fet groans. meant him any ill, nor the king, nor the queen: The ruthless flint doth cut my tender feet; * And, therefore, Peter, have at thee with a down- And, when I start, the envious people laugh, right blow, as Bevis of Southampton fell upon And bid me be advised how I tread. Ascapart.

[Arum. They fight, and Peter strikes * To think upon my pomp, shall be my hell.

Peter. O God! have I overcome mine enemies in this presence? O Peter, thou hast prevailed in | 'right!

K. Hen. Go, take hence that traitor from our sight;
For, by his death, we do perceive his guilt:1
And God, in justice, hath reveal'd to us
The truth and innocence of this poor fellow,
Which he had thought to have murder'd wrong-
fully.-

Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward.