K. Edw. Why then, thy husband's lands I freely
give thee.
Grey. I take my leave, with many thousand
thanks.
[sv.
Glo. The match is made; she seals it with a curt'-5
K. Edw. But stay thee, 'tis the fruits of love I

mean.

Answer no more, for thou shalt be my queen.
Glo. The ghostly father now hath done his shrift.
[Aside.
Clar. When he was made a shriver, 'twas for
shift.
[Aside.
K. Edw. Brothers, you muse what chat we two

Grey. The fruits of love I mean, my loving liege. K. Edw. Ay, but I fear me, in another sense. What love, thinkst thou, I sue so much to get? 10 Clar. To whom, my lord? [marry her.

Grey. My love 'till death, my humble thanks,

have had.

Glo. The widow likes it not, for she looks sad.
K. Edre. You'd think it strange, if I should

K. Edw. Why, Clarence, to myself.
Glo. That would be tendays' wonder, at the least.
Clar. That's a day longer than a wonder lasts.

Glo. By so much is the wonder in extremes. [did. 15 K. Edw. Well, jest on, brothers: I can tell you Her suit is granted for her husband's lands. [both, Enter a Nobleman.

Grey. Why, then you mean not as I thought you K.Edw. But now you partly may perceive my mind.

Grey. My mind will never grant what I perceive Your highness aims at, if I aim aright.

husband's lands.

Nob. My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken,
And brought as prisoner to your palace gate.
20 K. Edw. See that he be convey'd unto the
Tower:-

K. Edw. To tell thee plain, I aim to lie with thee.
Grey. To tell you plain, I had rather lie in prison.
K. Edw. Why, then thou shalt not have thy
[er;
Grey. Why, then mine honesty shall be my dow-25
For by that loss I will not purchase them.
K. Edw. Herein thou wrong'st thy children
[and me.

mightily.

Grey. Herein your highness wrongs both them
But, mighty lord, this merry inclination
Accords not with the sadness of my suit;
Please you dismiss me, either with ay, or no.
K. Edw. Ay; if thou wilt say ay, to my request:
No; if thou dost say no, to my demand.

And go we, brothers, to the man that took him,
To question of his apprehension.- [ably.
Widow, go you along:-Lords, use her honour-

[Exeunt King, Lady, Clarence, and Lords.
Glo. Ay, Edward will use women honourably.
Would he were wasted, marrow, bones, and all,
That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring,
To cross me from the golden time I look for!
30 And yet, between my soul's desire and me,
(The lustful Edward's title buried)
Is Clarence, Henry, and his young son Edward,
And all the unlook'd-for issue of their bodies,
To take their rooms, ere I can place myself:

Grey. Then, no, my lord. My suit is at an end. 35 A cold premeditation for my purpose!

Glo. The widow likes him not, she knits her [Aside.

brows. Clar. He is the bluntest wooer in Christendom. [Aside.

K. Edw. [Aside.] Her looks do argue her re-40 And chides the sea that sunders him from thence,

Why, then I do but dream on sovereignty;
Like one that stands upon a promontory,
And spies a far-off shore where he would tre tread,
Wishing his foot were equal with his eye;

plete with modesty;

Her words do shew her wit incomparable;

Saying-he'll lade it dry to have his way:
So do I wish the crown, being so far off;

All her perfections challenge sovereignty:

And so I chide the means that keep me from it;

One way, or other, she is for a king;

And so I say I'll cut the causes off,

And she shall be my love, or else my queen.- 45 Flattering me with impossibilities.

K. Edw. Sweetwidow, by my state Iswear to thee, 50 I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,

I speak no more than what my soul intends;

And that is, to enjoy thee for my love.

Grey. And that is more than I will yield unto :
I know, I am too mean to be your queen;
And yet too good to be your concubine.

K. Edw. You cavil, widow; I did mean, my
queen.
[call you-father.
Grey. "Twill grieve your grace, my sons should
K. Edw. No more, than when my daughters call

thee mother.

Thou art a widow, and thou hast some children;
And, by God's mother, I, being but a batchelor,
Have other some: why, 'tis a happy thing
To be the father unto many sons.

Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns!
55 Why, love forswore me in my mother's womb:
And, for I should not deal in her soft laws,
She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe
To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub;
To make an envious mountain on my back,

60 Where sits deformity to mock my body;
To shape my legs of an unequal size;
To disproportion me in every part,
Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-whelp,
That carries no impression like the dam.

Flourish. Enter Lewis the French King, Lady
Bona, Bourbon, Queen Margaret, Prince Ed-
ward her Son, and the Earl of Oxford. Lewis 40
sits, and riseth up again.

K. Lewis. Fair queen of England, worthy
Margaret,

Sit down with us; it ill befits thy state,

Queen. Our earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest
friend.
K. Lervis. Welcome, brave Warwick! What
brings thee to France?

[He descends. She ariseth.
Queen. Ay, now begins a second storm to rise =
For this is he, that moves both wind and tide.
War. From worthy Edward, king of Albion,

And birth, that thou shouldst stand, while Lewis 45 My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend, doth sit.

Where kings command. I was, I must confess, 50 With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant

Queen. No, mighty king of France; now Mar

K. Lewis, Why say, fair queen, whence springs

Queen. From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears, [cares. And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in 60 Hath plac'd thy beauty's image, and thy virtue. K. Lewis. Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself, speak,

Before you answer Warwick. His demand
Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,
But from deceit, bred by by necessity:
For how can tyrants safely govern home,
Unless abroad they purchase great alliance!
To prove him tyrant, this reason may suffice, -
That Henry liveth still: but were he dead,

Yet here prince Edwardstands, king Henry's son.
Look therefore, Lewis, that by this league and

marriage

Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour :
For though usurpers sway the rule a while,
Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs.

War. Injurious Margaret!
Prince. And And why not queen?

War. Because thy father Henry did usurp;
And thou no more art prince, than she is queen.
Oxf. Then Warwick disannuls great John of
Gaunt,

Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain;
And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the fourth,
Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest;
And, after that wise prince, Henry the fifth,
Who by his prowess conquered all France:
From these our Henry lineally descends.

War. Oxford, how haps it, in this smooth
discourse,

You told not, how Henry the sixth hath lost
All that which Henry the fifth had gotten ?

25 Touching the jointure that your king must make,
Which with her dowry shall be counterpois'd:ï
Draw near, queen Margaret; and be a witness,
That Bona shall be wife to the English king.

Prince. To Edward, but not to the English king.

that.

By this alliance to make void my suit;
Before thy coming, Lewis was Henry's friend.
K. Lewis. And still is friend to him and Mar-

garet:

Methinks, these peers of France should smile at 30 Qucen. Deceitful Warwick! it was thy device

But for the rest, - You tell a pedigree
Of threescore and two years; a silly time

To make prescription for a kingdom's worth.

Oxf. Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against 35 But if your title to the crown be weak,

thy liege,

Whom thou obeyed'st thirty and six years,
And not bewray thy treason with a blush?
War. Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,
Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?
For shame, leave Henry, and call Edward king.
Orf. Callhim my king, by whose injurious doom

My elder brother, the lord Aubrey Vere,
Was done to death! and more than so, my father,
Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years,
When nature brought him to the door of death!
No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm,
This arın upholds the house of Lancaster.

War. And I the house of York.

As may appear by Edward's good success,-
Then 'tis but reason, that I be releas'd
From giving aid, which late I promised.
Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand,
40 That your estate requires, and mine can yield.
War. Henry now lives in Scotland, at his ease;
Where having nothing, nothing he can lose.
And as for yourself, our quondam queen,-
You have a father able to maintain you;
45 And better 'twere, you troubled him than France.
Queen. Peace, impudent and shameless War-
wick, peace;

Proud setter-up and puller down of kings!
I will not hence, 'till with my talk and tears,

K. Lewis. Queen Margaret, prince Edward, and 50 Both full of truth, I make king Lewis behold

Oxford,

Vouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside,
While I use further conference with Warwick.

Queen. Heavens grant that Warwick's words
[They retire. 55

bewitch him not!

K. Lewis. Now, Warwick, tell me, even upon thy conscience,

Is Edward your true king? for I were loth,

To link with him that were not lawful chosen.

Thy sly conveyance', and thy lord's false love;
[Post, blowing a horn within.
For both of you are birds of self-same feather.
K. Lewis. Warwick, this is some post to us, or
thee.
Enter a Post.
Post. My lord ambassador, these letters are for
you;
[To Warwick.
Sent from your brother, marquis Montague.-

War. Thereon 1 pawn my credit and mine 60 These from our king unto your majesty.

honour.

[lo king Lewis. * This seems to be spoken ironically; Conveyance is here

Envy in this place seems to be put for malice or hatred. the poverty of Margaret's father being a very frequent topic of reproach. put for artifice and fraud.

And,

And, madam, these for you; from whom I know|

not.

5

[To the Queen. They all read their letters.
Orf. I like it well, that our fair queen and
mistress
Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his.
Prince. Nay, mark, how Lewis stamps as he
I hope, all's for the best.
[were nettled:
K. Lew. Warwick, what are thy news? and
yours, fair queen?
[joys. 10
Qucen. Mine, such as fills my heart with unhop'd
War. Mine, fullof sorrow and heart's discontent.
K. Lew. What! has your king marry'd the lady
Grey?

And now, to sooth your forgery and his,
Sends me a paper to persuade me patience?
Is this the alliance that he seeks with France?
Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner?

Bona. My quarrel and this English queen's are

one.

War. And mine, fair lady Bona, joins with yours.
K. Lew. And mine, with hers, and thine, and
Margaret's.

Therefore, at last, I firmly am resolv'd,
You shall have aid.
[once.
Queen. Let me give humble thanks for all at
K. Lew. Then, England's messenger, return in

post;

And tell false Edward, thy supposed king,-
That Lewis of France is sending over maskers
To revel it with him and his new bride:

Thou seest what's past, go fear thy king withal. 15 Bona. Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly,

I'll wear the willow garland for his sake. [aside,
Queen. Tell him, my mourning weeds are laid
And I am ready to put armour on. [wrong;
War. Tell him from me, that he hath done me
And therefore I'll uncrown him ere't be long.
There's thy reward; be gone.
[Exit Post.

K. Lerv. But, Warwick;
Thyself, and Oxford, with five thousand men,
25 Shall cross the seas, and bid false Edward battle :
And, as occasion serves, this noble queen
And prince shall follow with a fresh supply.
Yet, ere thou go, but answer me one doubt ;-
What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty?

Queen. I told your majesty as much before:
This proveth Edward's love, and Warwick's ho-20
nesty.
[heaven,
War. King Lewis, I here protest, in sight of
Kin
And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss,-
That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward's;
No more my king, for he dishonours me;
But most himself, if he could see his shame.-
Did I forget, that by the house of York
My father came untimely to his death?
Did I let pass the abuse done to my niece1?
Did I impale him with the regal crown?
Did I put Henry from his native right;
And am I guerdon'd at the last with shame?
Shame on himself! for my desert is honour.
And, to repair my honour lost for him,

30 War. This shall assure my constant loyalty;
That if our queen and this young prince agree,
I'll join my younger daughter, and my joy,
To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands.

I here renounce him, and return to Henry:- 3
My noble queen, let former grudges pass,

And henceforth I am thy true servitor;
I will revenge his wrong to lady Bona,

And replant Henry in his former state.

Queen. Yes, I agree, and thank you for your

motion:

Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous,
Therefore delay not, give thy hand to Warwick;
And, with thy hand, thy faith irrevocable,
That only Warwick's daughter shall be thine. [it;

Queen. Warwick, these words have turn'd my 40 Prince. Yes, I accept her, for she well deserves

hate to love;

And I forgive and quite forget old faults,

And joy that thou becom'st king Henry's friend.

War. So much his friend, ay, his unfeigned

friend,

That, if king Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us
With some few bands of chosen soldiers,
I'll undertake to land them on our coast,

And force the tyrant from his seat by war.

And as for Clarence, -as my letters tell me,

He's very likely now to fall from him;

And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand, [He gives his hand to Warwick.

K. Lew. Why stay we now? These soldiers
shall be levy'd,

45 And thou, lord Bourbon, our high admiral,
Shall waft them over with our royal fleet.-
I long, 'till Edward fall by war's mischance,
For mocking marriage with a dame of France.

"Tis not his new-made bride shall succour him: 50 War. I came from Edward as embassador,

[Exeunt. Manet Warwick.

But I return his sworn and inortal foe:

Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me,
But dreadful war shall answer his demand.
Had he none else to make a stale, but me?

For matching more for wanton lust than honour,
Or than for strength and safety of our country.

Bona. Dear brother, how shall Bona be reveng'd, 55 Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow.

But by thy help help to this distressed queen?

Qucen. Renowned prince, how shall poor Henry

live,

Unless thou rescue him from foul despair?

I was the chief that rais'd him to the crown,
And I'll be chief to bring him down again:
Not that I pity Henry's misery,
But seek revenge on Edward's mockery. [Exit.

We learn from Holinshed, "That king Edward did attempt a thing once in the earles house which was much against the earles honestie, (whether he would have defloured his daughter or his niece, the certaintie was not for both their honours revealed,) for surely such a thing was attempted by king Edward." i. e. fright thy king.

ACT SCENE I.

The Palace in England.

ACT IV.

Enter Gloster, Clarence, Somerset, and Montague.
Glo. NOW tell me, brother Clarence, what think 5
Of this new marriage with the lady Grey?
Hath not our brother made a worthy choice?

you

Clar. Alas, you know, 'tis far from hence to
France;

How could he stay till Warwick made return?
Som. My lords, forbear this talk; here comes

Would more have strengthened this our common-wealth Gainst foreign storms, than any home-bred marriage. Hast. Why, knows not Montague, that of itself, England is safe, if true within itself? Mont. Yes; but the safer, when 'tis back'd with France. [France: Hast. 'Tis better using F France, than trusting 10 Let us be back'd with God, and with the seas1, Which he hath given for fence impregnable, And with their helps alone defend ourselves; In them, and in ourselves, our safety lies.

the king.
Flourish. Enter King Edward, Lady Grey, as
Queen; Pembroke, Stafford, and Hastings. 15
Four stand on one side, and four on the other.
Glo. And his well chosen bride.

Clar. I mind to tell him plainly what I think.
K. Edw. Now, brother of Clarence, how like
you our choice,
That you stand pensive, as half malecontent?

Clar. As well as Lewis of France, or the earl
of Warwick;
Which are so weak of courage, and in judgement,
That they'll take no offence at our abuse.

K. Edw. Suppose they take offence without a

cause,

Clar. For this one speech, lord Hastings well deserves

To have the heir of the lord Hungerford.

K. Edw. Ay, what of that? it was my will, and grant;

And, for this once, my will shall stand for law. 20 Glo. And yet, methinks, your grace hath not done well,

To give the heir and daughter of lord Scales
Unto the brother of your loving bride;
She better would have fitted me, or Clarence;
25 But in your bride you bury brotherhood.
Clar. Or else you would not have bestow'd
the heir

Of the lord Bonville on your new wife's son2,
And leave your brothers to go speed elsewhere.

They are but Lewis and Warwick; I am Edward,
Your king and Warwick's, and must have my will.
Glo. And you shall have your will, because our 30 K. Edro. Alas, poor Clarence! is it for a wife,
Yet hasty hasty marriage seldom proveth well. [king:
K. Edw. Yea, brother Richard, are you offend-
[ed too?

Glo. Not I:

That thou art malecontent? I will provide thee. Clar. In choosing for yourself, you shew'd your judgement:

Which being shallow, you shall give me leave

No; God forbid, that I should wish them sever'd,
Whom God hath join'd together: ay, and 'twere 35 To play the broker in mine own behalf;

Tell me some reason, why the lady Grey

Should not become my wife, and England's queen: 40 Queen. My lords, before it pleas'd his majesty

And you too, Somerset, and Montague,

Speak freely what you think.

To sunder them that yoke so well together. [pity
K. Edw. Setting your scorns, and your mislike,

And, to that end, I shortly mind to leave you.
K. Edw. Leave me, or tarry, Edward will be

aside,

king,

And not be ty'd unto his brother's will.

To raise my state to title of a queen,
Do me but right, and you must all confess

That I was not ignoble of descent,

And meaner than myself have had like fortune.

45 But as this title honours me and mine,

charge,

Do cloud my joys with danger and with sorrow.

K. Edw. My love, forbear to fawn upon their frowns:

Clar. Then this is my opinion, that king Lewis

Becomes your enemy for mocking him

About the marriage of the lady Bona.

Glo. And Warwick, doing what you gave in So your dislikes, to whom I would be pleasing,

Is now dishonour'd by this new marriage.
K. Edw. What, if both Lewis and Warwick be

appeas'd,

50 What danger, or what sorrow can befall thee, So long as Edward is thy constant friend,

By such invention as I can devise?
Mont. Yet to have join'd with France in such And their true sovereign, whom they must obey?
Nay, whom they shall obey, and love thee too,

alliance,

Dr. Johnson observes, that this has been the advice of every man who in any age understood and favoured the interest of England. * Prior to the Restoration, the heiresses of great estates were in the wardship of the king, who in their minority gave them up to plunder, and afterwards matched them to his favourites. - Dr. Johnson remarks on this passage, that he knows not when liberty gained more than by the abolition of the court of wards.