King Henry the Sixth: uncle to the king. Richard Plantagenet, duke of York : Duke of Somerset, Duke of Buckingham, Lord Clifford, Young Clifford, his son. { of the king's party. Earl of Salisbury, of the York faction. Earl of Warwick, S Lord Scales, Governor of the Tower. Lord Say. Sir Humphrey Stafford, and his brother. Sir John Stanley. A Sea-captain, Master, and Master's Mate, and Two Gentlemen, prisoners with Suffolk. Hume and Southwell, two priests. Bolingbroke, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him. George, John, Dick, Smith, the Weaver, Michael, &c. his followers. Alexander Iden, a Kentish gentleman. Margaret, queen to king Henry. 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. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. ACT I. SCENE I.-London. A room of state in the palace. Flourish of Trumpets: then Hautboys. Enter, on one side, King Henry, Duke of Gloster, Salisbury, Warwick, and Cardinal Beaufort; on the other, Queen Margaret, led in by Suffolk; York, Somerset, Buckingham, and others, following. Suffolk. AS by your high imperial majesty Alençon, Seven earls, twelve barons, twenty reverend bishops, Deliver up my title in the queen Of that great shadow I did represent; The happiest gift that ever marquis gave, The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd. K. Hen. Suffolk, arise. - Welcome, queen Mar garet: I can express no kinder sign of love, Than this kind kiss.-O Lord, that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! For thou hast given me, in this beauteous face, ' A world of earthly blessings to my soul, * If sympathy of love unite our thoughts. Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gra cious lord; The mutual conference that my mind hath hadBy day, by night; waking, and in my dreams; • In courtly company, or at my beads,• With you mine alder-liefest2 sovereign, Makes me the bolder to salute my king With ruder terms; such as my wit affords, And over-joy of heart doth minister. K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in 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 happiness! Q. Mar. We thank you all. [Flourish. Suff. My lord protector, so it please your grace, Here are the articles of contracted peace, Between our sovereign and the French king Charles, 'For eighteen months concluded by consent. 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, that the said Henry shall espouse the lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier king of Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem; and crown (1) I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination. (2) Beloved above all things. ۱ her queen of England, ere the thirtieth of May Glo. Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, Pardon me, gracious lord; 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, And girt thee with the sword.Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace From being regent in the parts of France, Till term of eighteen months be full expir'd.Thanks, uncle Winchester, Gloster, York, and Buckingham, Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick; Glo. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state, [Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk. To you duke Humphrey must 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 so often lodge in open field, 'In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, To conquer France, his true inheritance? And did my brother Bedford toil his wits, To keep by policy what Henry got? Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham, Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick, 'Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy? Or hath mine uncle Beaufort, and myself, With all the learned council of the realm, Studied so long, sat in the council-house, Early and late, debating to and fro How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe? And hath his highness in his infancy 'Been crown'd in Paris, in despite of foes? 'And shall these 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, shameful 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 conquered France; Undoing all, as all had never been! 'Car. Nephew, what means this passionate dis course? This peroration with such circumstance?! * 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. of him that died for all, * Sal. Now, by the death * These counties were the keys of Normandy: But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son? War. For grief, that they are past recovery: 'For, were there hope to conquer them again, 'My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no 'Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both; Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer: tears. (1) This speech crowded with so many circumstances of aggravation. |