His grandfather was Lionel Duke of Clarence, Third son to the third Edward King of Eugland:

Spring crestless yeomen from so deep a root ? Plan. He bears him on the place's privilege, Or durst not, for his craven heart, say thus. Som. By him that made me, I'll maintain my words

On any plot of ground in Christendom.
Was not thy father, Richard Earl of Cam-
bridge,
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For treason executed in our late king's days?
And, by his treason, stand'st not thou attainted,
Corrupted, and exempt from ancient gentry?
His trespass yet lives guilty in thy blood;
And, till thou be restored, thou art a yeoman.
Plan. My father was attached, not attainted,
Condemn'd to die for treason, but no traitor;
And that I'll prove on better men than Som-
erset,

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Were growing time once ripen'd to my will.
For your partaker Pole and you yourself,
I'll note you in my book of memory,
To scourge you for this apprehension :
Look to it well and say you are well warn'd.
Som. Ah, thou shalt find us ready for thee

still;

And know us by these colors for thy foes,
For these my friends in spite of thee shall wear.
Plan. And, by my soul, this pale and an-
gry rose,

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As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate,
Will I for ever and my faction wear,
Until it wither with me to my grave
Or flourish to the height of my degree.
Suf. Go forward and be choked with thy
ambition!

And so farewell until I meet thee next. [Exit.
Som. Have with thee, Pole. Farewell,
ambitious Richard.
[Exit.

Plan. How I am braved and must perforce endure it!

War. This blot that they object against your house

Shall be wiped out in the next parliament Call'd for the truce of Winchester and Glou

That you on my behalf would pluck a flower. Ver. In your behalf still wil I wear the

same.

Law. And so will I.

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Plan. Thanks, gentle sir. Come, let us four to dinner I dare say This quarrel will drink blood another day. [Exeuni. SCENE V. The Tower of London. Enter MORTIMER, brought in a chair, and Gaolers.

Mor. Kind keepers of my weak decaying age,

Let dying Mortimer here rest himself.
Even like a man new haled from the rack,
So fare my limbs with long imprisonment;
And these grey locks, the pursuivants of death,
Nestor-like aged in an age of care,

Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer.
These eyes, like lamps whose wasting oil is
spent,

Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent;
Weak shoulders, overborne with burthening

grief,

10

And pithless arms, like to a wither'd vine
That droops his sapless branches to the ground;
Yet are these feet. whose strengthless stay is

numb,

Unable to support this lump of clay,
Swift-winged with desire to get a grave,
As witting I no other comfort have.

But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come?
First Gaol. Richard Plantagenet, my lord,

will come :

Enter RICHARD PLANTAGENET First Gaol. My lord, your loving nephew now is come.

Mor. Richard Plantagenet, my friend, is he come ?

Plan. Ay, noble uncle, thus ignobly used, Your nephew, late despised Richard, comes. Mor. Direct mine arms I may embrace his neck,

40

And in his bosom spend my latter gasp:
O, tell me when my lips do touch his cheeks,
That I may kindly give one fainting kiss.
And now declare, sweet stem from York's great
stock,

Why didst thou say, of late thou wert despised? Plan. First, lean thine aged back against mine arm;

And, in that ease, I'll tell thee my disease.
This day, in argument upon a case,

Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me;

Among which terms he used his lavish tongue
And did upbraid me with my father's death:
Which obloquy set bars before my tongue,
Else with the like I had requited him.
Therefore, good uncle, for my father's sake,
In honor of a true Plantagenet

50

And for alliance sake, declare the cause
My father, Earl of Cambridge, lost his head,
Mor. That cause, fair nephew, that im-
prison'd me

And hath detain'd me all my flowering youth
Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine,
Was cursed instrument of his decease.

Plan. Discover more at large what cause that was,

For I am ignorant and cannot guess.

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Mor. I will, if that my fading breath permit And death approach not ere my tale be done. Henry the Fourth, grandfather to this king, Deposed his nephew Richard, Edward's son, The first-begotten and the lawful heir

Of Edward king, the third of that descent During whose reign the Percies of the north, Finding his usurpation most unjust, Endeavor'd my advancement to the throne : The reason moved these warlike lords to this

70

Was, for that-young King Richard thus removed,

Leaving no heir begotten of his body-
I was the next by birth and parentage;
For by my mother I derived am

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From Lionel Duke of Clarence, the third son
To King Edward the Third; whereas he
From John of Gaunt doth bring his pedigree,
Being but fourth of that heroic line.
But mark as in this haughty great attempt
They labored to plant the rightful heir,
I lost my liberty and they their lives.
Long after this, when Henry the Fifth,
Succeeding his father Bolingbroke, did reign,
Thy father, Earl of Cambridge, then derived
From famous Edmund Langley, Duke of York,
Marrying my sister that thy mother was,
Again in pity of my hard distress
Levied an army, weening to redeem
And have install'd me in the diadem:
But, as the rest, so fell that noble earl
And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers,
In whom the title rested, were suppress'd.
Plan. Of which, my lord, your honor is
the last.

90

Mor. True; and thou seest that I no issue have

And that my fainting words do warrant death ; Thou art my heir; the rest I wish thee gather: But yet be wary in thy studious care.

Plan. Thy grave admonishments prevail with me:

But yet, methinks, my father's execution Was nothing less than bloody tyranny.

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Mor. With silence, nephew, be thou politic: Strong-fixed is the house of Lancaster, And like a mountain, not to be removed. But now thy uncle is removing hence: As princes do their courts, when they are cloy'd With long continuance in a settled place. Plan. O, uncle, would some part of my young years

Might but redeem the passage of your age! Mor. Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth 169

Which giveth many wounds when one will kill. Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good; Only give order for my funeral:

And so farewell, and fair be all thy hopes And prosperous be thy life in peace and war!

[Dies.

Plan. And peace, no war, befall thy parting soul!

In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage
And like a hermit overpass'd thy days.
Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast;
And what I do imagine let that rest.
Keepers, convey him hence, and I myself 120
Will see his burial better than his life.

[Exeunt Gaolers, bearing out the body of Mortimer. Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer, Choked with ambition of the meaner sort : And for those wrongs, those bitter injuries, Which Somerset hath offer'd to my house, I doubt not but with honor to redress; And therefore haste I to the parliament, Either to be restored to my blood, Or make my ill the advantage of my good. [Exit.

ACT III.

SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house. Flourish. Enter KING, EXETER, GLOUCESTER, WARWICK, SOMERSET, and SUFFOLK; the BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, and others. GLOUCESTER cffers to put up a bill; WINCHESTER snatches it, and tears it.

Win. Comest thou with deep premeditated lines,

With written pamphlets studiously devised, Humphrey of Gloucester? If thou canst accuse,

Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention, suddenly;
As I with sudden and extemporal speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.

Glou. Presumptuous priest! this place com

mands my patience,

Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonor'd me. Think not, although in writing I preferr'd 10 The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes, That therefore I have forged, or am not able

Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen :
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer,
Forward by nature, enemy to peace;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree;
And for thy treachery, what's more manifest?
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London bridge as at the Tower.
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.

20

Win. Gloucester, I do defy thee. Lords, vouchsafe

30

To give me hearing what I shall reply.
If I were covetous, ambitious or perverse,
As he will have me, how am I so poor?
Or how haps it I seek not to advance
Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissension, who preferreth peace
More than I do ?-except I be provoked.
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that that hath incensed the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he ;
No one but he should be about the king;
And that engenders thunder in his breast
And makes him roar these accusations forth.40
But he shall know I am as good-
Glou.

As good!

Thou bastard of my grandfather!
Win. Ay, lordly sir; for what are you, I

pray,

But one imperious in another's throne?

Glou. Am I not protector, saucy priest? Win. And am not I a prelate of the church? Glou. Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps And useth it to patronage his theft. Win. Unreverent Gloster ! Glou. Thou art reverent Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life.50 Win. Rome snall remedy this. War. Roam thither, then. Som. My lord, it were your duty to forbear. War. Ay, see the bishop be not overborne. Som. Methinks my lord should be religious And know the office that belongs to such.

War. Methinks his lordship should be humbler;

It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.

Som. Yes, when his holy state is touch'd

[Begin again. Stay, stay, I say!

Glou.
And if you love me, as you say you do,
Let me persuade you to forbear awhile.
King. O, how this discord doth afflict my
soul!

Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer a peace,
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?
War. Yield, my lord protector; yield, Win-

chester;

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Except you mean with obstinate repulse
To slay your sovereign and destroy the realm,

You see what mischief and what murder too Hath been enacted through your enmity; Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood. Win. He shall submit, or I will never yield. Glou. Compassion on the king commands

me stoop;

Or I would see his heart out, ere the priest 120 Should ever get that privilege of me.

War. Behold, my Lord of Winchester, the duke

Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,
As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stern and tragical ?

Glou. Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.

King. Fie, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you preach

That malice was a great and grievous sin; And will not you maintain the thing you teach, Bt prove a chief offender in the same?

130

War. Sweet king! the bishop hath a kindly gird.

For shame, my lord of Winchester, relent! What, shall a child instruct you what to do? Win. Well, Duke of Gloucester, I will yield to thee;

Love for thy love and hand for hand I give. Glou. [Aside] Ay, but, I fear me, with a hollow heart.

See here, my friends and loving countrymen,
This token serveth for a flag of truce
Betwixt ourselves and all our followers :
So help me God, as I dissemble not!

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Win. [Aside] So help me God, as I intend it not!

King. O loving uncle, kind Duke of Gloucester,

How joyful am I made by this contract !
Away, my masters! trouble us no more;
But join in friendship, as your lords have done.
First Serv. Content: I'll to the surgeon's.
Sec. Serv.
And so will I.
Third Serv. And I will see what physic the
tavern affords.

[Exeunt Serving-men, Mayor, &c. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign,

Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet 150 We do exhibit to your majesty.

Glou. Well urged, my Lord of Warwick: for, sweet prince,

An if your grace mark every circumstance, You have great reason to do Richard right; Especially for those occasions

At Eltham Place I told your majesty.

King. And those occasions, uncle, were of force:

Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is
That Richard be restored to his blood.

159

War. Let Richard be restored to his blood; So shall his father's wrongs be recompensed. Win. As will the rest, so willeth Winchester. King. If Richard will be true, not that alone But all the whole inheritance I give That doth belong unto the house of York, From whence you spring by lineal descent.

Plan. Thy humble servant vows obedience And humble service till the point of death. King. Stoop then and set your knee against

my foot;

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And, in reguerdon of that duty done,
I gird thee with the valiant sword of York:
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet,
And rise created princely Duke of York.
Plan. And so thrive Richard as thy foes
may fall!

And as my duty springs, so perish they
That grudge one thought against your ma-
jesty!

All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!

Som. [Aside] Perish, base prince, ignoble Duke of York!

Glou. Now will it best avail your majesty
To cross the seas and to be crown'd in France":
The presence of a king engenders love 181
Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,
As it disanimates his enemies.
King. When Gloucester says the word, King
Henry goes;

For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
Glou. Your ships already are in readiness.

[Sennet. Flourish. Exeunt all but Exeter. Exe. Ay, we may march in England or in France,

Not seeing what is likely to ensue.

This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love 190
And will at last break out into a flame :
As fester'd members rot but by degree,
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy
Which in the time of Henry named the Fift
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe;
That Henry born at Monmouth should win all
And Henry born at Windsor lose all :
Which is so plain that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time.

200

[Exit.

SCENE II. France. Before Rouen. Enter LA PUCELLE disguised, with four Soldiers with sacks upon their backs. Puc. These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,

Through which our policy must make a breach:

Take heed, be wary how you place your words;
Talk like the vulgar sort of market men
That come to gather money for their corn.
If we have once, as I hope we shall,
And that we ...d the slothful watch but weak,
I'll by a sign give notice to our friends,
That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.
First Sol. Our sacks shall be a mean to
10

sack the city,

And we be lords and rulers over Rouen ; Therefore we'll knock. [Knocks.

Watch. [Within] Qui est là ? Pue. Paysans, pauvres gens de France; Poor market folks that come to sell their corn.

An alarum. Enter TALBOT in an excursion.

Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears,

If Talbot but survive thy treachery.
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escaped the pride of France.

{Exit. An alarum; excursions. BEDFORD, brought in sick in a chair. Enter TALBOT and BURGUNDY without: within LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, BASTARD, ALENCON, and REIGNIER, on the walls.

Puc. Good morrow, gallants! want ye corn for bread?

I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast Before he'll buy again at such a rate: 'Twas full of darnel, do you like the taste? Bur. Scoff on, vile fiend, and shameless courtezan!

I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own And make thee curse the harvest of that corn. Char. Your grace may starve perhaps before that time.

Bed. O, let no words, but deeds, revenge

this treason!

Puc. What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance,

50

And run a tilt at death within a chair?

Tal. Foul fiend of France, and hag of all

despite,

Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours!
Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age
And twit with cowardice a man half dead?
Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
Puc. Are ye so hot, sir? yet, Pucelle, Lold
thy peace;

If Talbot do bet thunder, rain will follow.
[The English whisper together in council.
God speed the parliament! who shall be t
speaker?

Tal. Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field?

Puc. Belike your lordship takes us then for fools,

To try if that our own be ours or no.

Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecate, But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest; Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out? Alen. Signior, no.

Tal. Signior, hang! base muleters of France!

Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls And dare not take up arms like gentlemen. 70 Fuc. Away, captains! let's get us from

the walls;

For Talbot means no goodness by his looks. God be wi' you, my lord! we came but to tell

Tal. But, ere we go, regard this dying prince,

The valiant Duke of Bedford. Come, my lord, We will bestow you in some better place, Fitter for sickness and for crazy age.

91

Bed. Lord Talbot, do not so dishonor me: Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen And will be partner of your weal or woe. Bur. Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you.

Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once
I read

That stout Pendragon in his litter sick
Came to the field and vanquished his foes:
Methinks I should revive the soldiers' hearts,
Because I ever found them as myself.

Tal. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!
Then be it so heavens keep old Bedford safe i
And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,
But gather we our forces out of hand

101