Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? That France must vail! her lofty-plumed crest, Alarums. Enter French and English, fighting. York. Damsel of France, I think I have you fast: [Aside. Puc. Chang'd to a worser shape thou canst not be. And our nobility will scorn the match. a proper man; No shape but his can please your dainty eye. Mar. Hear ye, captain? Are you not at leisure? Puc. A plaguing mischief light on Charles, and Henry is youthful, and will quickly yield. thee! Madam, I have a secret to reveal. knight, peace: Who art thou? say, that I may honour thee. Mar. Margaret my name; and daughter to a king, The king of Naples, whosoe'er thou art. Suff. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd. Be not offended, nature's miracle, Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me: Go, and be free again as Suffolk's friend. [She turns away as going. O, stay! I have no power to let her pass; So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes. Suff. How canst thou tell, she will deny thy suit, [Aside Mar. Why speak'st thou not? what ransom must I pay? Suff. She's beautiful; and therefore to be woo'd: (1) Lower. Mar. What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a And will not any way dishonour me. [Aside. Suff. Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say. Mar. Perhaps, I shall be rescu'd by the French; And then I need not crave his courtesy. [Aside. Suff. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a causeMar. Tush! women have been captivate ere [Aside. now. That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she. report, Where I may have fruition of her love. My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that K. Hen. And otherwise will Henry ne'er pre- Agree to any covenants: and procure sume. Therefore, my lord protector, give consent, Glo. So should I give consent to flatter sin. How shall we then dispense with that contract, Suff. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths; Glo. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than that? Her father is no better than an earl, Suff. Yes, my good lord, her father is a king, Exe. Beside, his wealth doth warrant liberal While Reignier sooner will receive, than give. That he should be so abject, base, and poor, That lady Margaret do vouchsafe to the Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers of that time gave the public those plays, not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played before Henry the Fifth is apparent; because, in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts: Henry the Sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king, bleed: Which oft our stage hath shown." Whom should we match, with Henry, being a king, the houses of York and Lancaster And is a pattern of celestial peace. France is lost in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of But Margaret, that is daughter to a king? Her peerless feature, joined with her birth, Approves her fit for none, but for a king: The second and third parts of Henry VI. were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and second parts. The first part of Henry VI. had been often shown on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place, had the author been the pub For Henry, son unto a conqueror, (1) A triumph then signified a public exhibition; such as a mask, or revel. lisher. JOHNSON. (2) By the discretional agency of another. (3) Judge. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. : ***The Contention of the two famous houses of York and Lancaster,' in two parts, was published in quarto, in 1600; and the first part was entered on the Stationers' books, (as Mr. Steevens has observed,) March 12, 1593-4. On these two plays, which I believe to have been written by some preceding author, before the year 1590, Shakspeare formed, as I conceive, this and the following drama; altering, retrenching, or amplifying, as he thought proper. At present it is only necessary to apprize the reader of the method observed in the printing of these plays. All the lines printed in the usual manner are found in the original quarto plays (or at least with such minute variations as are not worth noticing:) and those, I conceive, Shakspeare adopted as he found them. The lines to which inverted commas are prefixed, were, if my hypothesis be well founded, retouched, and greatly improved by him; and those with asterisks were his own original production; the embroidery with which he ornamented the coarse stuff that had been awkwardly made up for the stage by some of his contemporaries. The speeches which he new-modelled, he improved, sometimes by amplification, and sometimes by re trenchment. MALONE. PERSONS REPRESENTED. King Henry the Sixth: Hume and Southwell, two priests. Bolingbroke, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him. Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, great Thomas Horner, an armourer. Peter, his man. + uncle to the king. Richard Plantagenet, duke of York: Clerk of Chatham. Mayor of Saint Alban's. George, John, Dick, Smith, the Weaver, Michael, &c. his followers. Alexander Iden, a Kentish gentleman. Margaret, queen to king Henry. Edward and Richard, his sons. Duke of Somerset, Duke of Suffolk, Duke of Buckingham, Lord Clifford, Young Clifford, his son. } Earl of Warwick, of the York faction. Lord Scales, Governor of the Tower. Lord Say. Stanley. A Sea-captain, Master, and Master's Mate, and Two Gentlemen, prisoners with Suffolk. Eleanor, duchess of Gloster. Margery Jourdain, a witch. Wife to Simpcox. Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c. Scene, dispersedly in various parts of England. The mutual conference that my mind hath had1- And over-joy of heart doth minister. Studied so long, sat in the council-house, K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in Your deeds of war, and all our counsel, die 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 piness! O peers of England, shameful is this league! hap-Undoing all, as all had never been! [Flourish. Q. Mar. We thank you all. 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, -th 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 father K. Hen. Uncle, how now? Pardon me, gracious lord; Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further. K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. Item,-It is further agreed between them, ---that 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, Buckingham, Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick ; [Ereunt King, Queen, and Suffolk. Car. Nephew, what means this passionate dis course? This peroration with such circumstance ? 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? War. For grief, that they are past recovery: tears. Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both; * York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate, 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 starv'd 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. Rancour will out: Proud prelate, in thy face I see thy fury: If I longer stay, We shall begin our ancient bickerings.4 Lordings, farewell; and say, when I am gone, I prophesied-France will be lost ere long. [Exil. 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. * And heir apparent to the English crown; (1) I am the bolder to address you, having (3) This speech crowded with so many circum already familiarized you to my imagination. (2) Beloved above all things stances of aggravation. Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing words • Clapping their hands, and crying with a loud voice He will be found a dangerous protector. *Buck. Why should he then protect our sovereign, * He being of age to govern of himself? • Cousin of Somerset, join you with me, * The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd, To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair daughter. I cannot blame them all; What is't to them? * And purchase friends, and give to courtezans, * Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands, * And shakes his head, and trembling stands aloof, *While all is shar'd, and all is borne away; *Ready to starve, and dare not touch his own. *So York must sit, and fret, and bite his tongue, • We'll quickly hoise duke Humphrey from his seat. While his own lands are bargain'd for, and sold. * Car. This weighty business will not brook de-Methinks, the realms of England, France, and Ireland, • And all together with the duke of Suffolk, lay; * I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently. And greatness of his place be grief to us, Than all the princes in the land beside; [Exit. [Exeunt Buckingham and Somerset. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. While these do labour for their own preferment, • Behoves it us to labour for the realm. I never saw but Humphrey duke of Gloster • More like a soldier, than a man o'the church, Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age! Thy late exploits, done in the heart of France, • When thou wert regent for our sovereign, Have made thee fear'd, and honour'd, of the War. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost; That Maine, which by main force Warwick did win * And would have kept, so long as breath did last: Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant Maine; Which I will win from France, or else be slain. [Exeunt Warwick and Salisbury. York. Anjou and Maine are given to the French; * Paris is lost; the state of Normandy * Stands on a ticklel point, now they are gone: * Suffolk concluded on the articles; (1) For ticklish. With his new bride, and England's dear-bought queen, And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars: SCENE II.-The same. A room in the duke Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn, Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load? *As frowning at the favours of the world? (2) Meleager; whose life was to continue only so long as a certain firebrand should last. His mother Althea having thrown it into the fire, he expired in torment. |