Puslapio vaizdai
PDF
„ePub“

Item, That the Dutchy of Anjou, and the County of Maine, fhall be releafed and delivered to the King her father. [Lets fall the paper.

K. Henry. Uncle, how now?
Glou. Pardon me, gracious lord;

Some fudden qualm hath struck me to the heart,
And damn'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.
K. Henry. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on.

Win. Item. That the Dutchies of Anjou and Maine Shall be releafed and delivered to the King her father, and she fent over of the King of England's own proper cost and charges, without having any dowry.

K. Henry. They pleafe us well. Lord Marquifs,
kneel you down;

We here create thee the firft duke of Suffolk,
And gird thee with the fword.

Coufin of York,

We here discharge your Grace from being Regent
I'th' parts of France, till term of eighteen months
Be full expir'd. Thanks, uncle Winchester,
Glofter, York, Buckingham, and Somerfet,
Salisbury and Warwick;

We thank you for all this great favour done,
In entertainment to my princely Queen,
Come, let us in, and with all speed provide
To fee her coronation be perform'd.

Glo.

[Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk.

[blocks in formation]

BRAVE peers of England, pillars of the state,
Το you Duke Humphry muft unload his
grief,

Your grief, the common grief of all the land.
What! did my brother Henry spend his youth,
His valour, coin, and people in the wars?
Did he fo often lodge in open field,

In winter's cold, and fummer's parching heat,

B 3

Το

To conquer France, his true inheritance?
And did my brother Bedford toil his wits
To keep by policy what Henry got?
Have you yourselves, Somerfet, Buckingham,
Brave York and Salisbury, victorious Warwick,
Receiv'd deep fcars in France and Normandy?
Or hath mine uncle Beauford, and myself,
With all the learned council of the realm,
Studied fo long, fat in the council-house,
Early and late, debating to and fro,

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe,
And was his Highness in his infancy
Crowned in Paris, in defpight of foes?

And fhall thefe labours and these honours die !
Shall Henry's Conquest, Bedford's vigilance,
Your deeds of war, and all our counsel die!
O peers of England, fhameful is this league,
Fatal this marriage; cancelling your fame,
Blotting your names from books of memory;
Razing the characters of your renown,
Defacing monuments of conquer'd France,
Undoing all, as all had never been.

Car. Nephew, what means this paffionate difcourfe?

This peroration with fuch circumstances?
For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it fill.
Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it if we can ;

But now it is impoffible we should.

Suffolk, the new-made Duke that rules the roast,
Hath given the dutchy of Anjou and Maine
Unto the poor King Reignier, whofe large flyle
Agrees not with the leannefs of his purse.

Sal. Now, by the death of him who dy'd for all,
These counties were the keys of Normandy :
But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant fon?
War. For grief that they are paft recovery.
For were there hope to conquer
them again,
My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no tears.
Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both:

Those

Those provinces thefe arms of mine did conquer. And are the cities, that I got with wounds, Delivered up again with peaceful words?

York. For Suffolk's Duke, may he be fuffocate, That dims the honour of this warlike ifle! France fhould have torn and rent my very heart, Before I would have yielded to this league, I never read, but England's Kings have had Large fums of gold, and dowries with their wives: And our King Henry gives away his own, To match with her that brings no vantages. Glo. A proper jeft, and never heard before, That Suffolk fhould demand a whole fifteenth, For coft and charges in tranfporting her:

She fhould have ftaid in France, and ftarv'd in France, Before

Car. My lord of Glo'fler, now ye grow too hot: It was the pleafure of my lord the King.

Glo. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind. 'Tis not my fpeeches that you do mislike, But 'tis my prefence that doth trouble you. Rancour will out, proud prelate; in thy face, I fee thy fury if I longer ftay, We fhall begin our ancient bickerings. Lordings, farewel; and say, when I am gone, I prophefy'd, France will be loft ere long.

[Exit. 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. Confider, lords, he is the next of blood, And heir apparent to the English crown. Had Henry got an empire by his marriage, And all the wealthy kingdoms of the east, There's reafon he fhould be difpleas'd at it. Look to it, lords, let not his fmoothing words, Bewitch your hearts; be wife and circumfpect, What though the common people favour him,

B 4

Calling

Calling him Humphry, the good Duke of Glofter,
Clapping their hands and crying with loud voice,
Jefu maintain your royal excellence!

With, God preferve the good Duke Humphry!
I fear me, lords, for all this flattering glofs,
He will be found a dangerous protector.

Buck. Why should he then protect our fovereign,
He being of age to govern of himself?
Coufin of Somerfet, join you with me,
And altogether with the Duke of Suffolk,
We'll quickly hoift Duke Humphry from his feat.
Car. This weighty business will not brook delay.
I'll to the Duke of Suffolk prefently.

[Exit. Som. Coufin of Buckingham, though Humphry's pride And greatnefs of his place be grief to us, Yet let us watch the haughty Cardinal: His infolence is more intolerable Than all the princes in the land befide: If Glo fler be difplac'd, he'll be protector. Buck. Or Somerfet, or I, will be protector, Defpight Duke Humphry, or the Cardinal.

[Ex. Buckingham and Somerfet. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. While thefe do labour for their own preferment, Behoves it us to labour for the realm.

I never faw, but Humphry Duke of Glofter
Did bear him like a noble gentleman:
Oft have I seen the haughty Cardinal
More like a foldier, than a man o'th' church,
As ftout and proud as he were lord of all,
Swear like a ruffian, and demean himself
Unlike the ruler of a common-weal.
Warwick my fon, the comfort of my age!
Thy deeds, thy plainnefs, and thy houfe-keeping,
Have won the greatest favour of the commons,☀
Excepting none but good Duke Humphry.

And brother York, thy acts in Ireland,

In bringing them to civil difcipline;

Thy

Thy late exploits done in the heart of France,
When thou wert regent for our fovereign,
Have made thee fear'd and honour'd of the people.
Join we together for the public good,
In what we can, to bridle and fupprefs
The pride of Suffolk, and the Cardinal,
With Somerfet's and Buckingham's ambition;
And, as we may, cherish Duke Humphry's deeds,
While they do tend the profit of the land.

War, So God help Warwick, as he loves the land, And common profit of his country!

York. And so says York, for he hath greateft caufe. [Afide. Sal. Then let's make hafte, and look unto the main. War. Unto the main? Oh father, Maine is loft; That Maine, which by main force Warwick did win, And would have kept, fo long as breath did laft: Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant Maine, Which I will win from France, or elfe be flain.

[Ex. Warwick and Salisbury.

SCENE III.

Manet York.

York. ANJOU and Maine are given to the French;
Paris is loft; the ftate of Normandy

Stands on a tickle point, now they are gone:
Suffolk concluded on the articles,

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?

'Tis thine they give away, and not their own.
Pirates may make cheap penn'worths of their pillage,
And purchase friends, and give to courtezans,
Still revelling, like lords, till all be gone :
While as the filly owner of the goods

Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands,

[blocks in formation]
« AnkstesnisTęsti »