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THE N.

PUBLIC i

ASTOR, LENO

TILDEN FOUNDATIO

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 the slaughterer doth,

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
Will see his burial better than his life.-

[Exeunt Keepers, bearing out the body of
MORTIMER.

Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer,
Chok'd 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 honour to redress;
And therefore haste I to the parliament,
Either to be restored to my blood,

Or make my ill th' advantage of my good.

ACT III.

[Exit.

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Win. Com'st thou with deep premeditated lines,
With written pamphlets studiously devis'd,
Humphrey of Gloster? 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.

Glo. Presumptuous priest! this place commands my patience,

Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forg'd, 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;
Froward 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 sov'reign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.

Win. Gloster, I do defy thee.-Lords, vouchsafe
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 provok'd?
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that that hath incens'd 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.
But he shall know, I am as good-
Glo.

As good!

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Thou bastard of my grandfather!-
Win. Ay, lordly Sir; for what are you,
But one imperious in another's throne?
Glo. Am I not protector, saucy priest?
Win. And am not I a prelate of the church?
Glo. Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps,
And useth it to patronage his theft.
Win. Unreverent Gloster!
Glo.

Thou art reverent

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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 so near. War. State holy, or unhallow'd, what of that? Is not his grace protector to the king?

Plan. [Aside.] Plantagenet, I see, must hold his

tongue,

Lest it be said, "Speak, sirrah, when you should;
Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?"
Else would I have a fling at Winchester.

K. Hen. Uncles of Gloster, and of Winchester,
The special watchmen of our English weal,
I would prevail, if prayers might prevail,
To join your hearts in love and amity.
O, what a scandal is it to our crown,
That two such noble peers as ye should jar!
Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell,
Civil dissension is a viperous worm,
That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.—
[A noise within; "Down with the tawney
coats!"

What tumult's this?
War.
An uproar, I dare warrant,
Begun through malice of the bishop's men.
[A noise again within; "Stones! Stones!"
Enter the Mayor of London, attended.
May. O, my good lords, and virtuous Henry,
Pity the city of London, pity us!
The bishop and the duke of Gloster's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble-stones,
And banding themselves in contráry parts,
Do pelt so fast at one another's pate,
That many have their giddy brains knock'd out:
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we, for fear, compell'd to shut our shops.
Enter, skirmishing, the serving men of GLOSTER and WIN-
CHESTER, with bloody pates.

K. Hen. We charge you, on allegiance to ourself,

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Just and upright; and, for your royal birth,
Inferior to none but to his majesty:

And, ere that we will suffer such a prince,
So kind a father of the commonweal,
To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate,

We, and our wives, and children, all will fight,
And have our bodies slaughter'd by thy foes.
I Serv. Ay, and the very parings of our nails
Shall pitch a field, when we are dead.

Glo.

[Skirmish again. Stay, stay, I say! And, if you love me, as you say you do, Let me persuade you to forbear a while. K. Hen. 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, Winchester;

Except you mean, with obstinate repulse,
To slay your sov'reign 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.
Glo. Compassion on the king commands me
stoop;

Or I would see his heart out, ere the priest
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?

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

K. Hen. 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,
But prove a chief offender in the same?

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 Gloster, I will yield to thee;

Love for thy love, and hand for hand I give.
Glo. [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!

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

K. Hen. O loving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, How joyful am I made by this contract!— Away, my masters! trouble us no more; But join in friendship, as your lords have done. I Serv. Content: I'll to the surgeon's. 2 Serv. And so will I. 3 Serv. And I will see what physic the tavern affords.

[Exeunt Mayor, serving-men, &r. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign, Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet

We do exhibit to your majesty.

Glo. Well urg'd, 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.

K. Hen. And those occasions, uncle, were of

force:

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

War. Let Richard be restored to his blood;
So shall his father's wrongs be recompens'd.

Win. As will the rest, so willeth Winchester. K. Hen. 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. K. Hen. Stoop, then, and set your knee against my foot;

And, in reguerdon of that duty done,

I girt thee with the valiant sword of York:
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet,
And rise created princely duke of York.

[fall!

Plan. And so thrive Richard as thy foes may And as my duty springs, so perish they That grudge one thought against your majesty! All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty duke of

York!

Som. [Aside.] Perish, base prince, ignoble duke of

York!

Glo. 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
Amongst his subjects, and his loyal friends,

As it disanimates his enemies.

K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, king Henry For friendly counsel cuts off many foes. Glo. Your ships already are in readiness.

[goes;

[Flourish. Exeunt all except EXETER. Exe. Ay, we may march in England, or i:: France,

Not seeing what is likely to ensue.

This late dissension, grown betwixt the peers,
Burns under feigned ashes of forg'd love,
And will at last break out into a flame:
As fester'd members rot but by degrees,
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, nam'd the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,-
That Henry born at Monmouth, should win all;
And Henry born at Windsor, should lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere the hapless time.

[Exit.

SCENE II.-FRANCE. Before ROUEN.

Enter LA PUCELLE, disguised, and Soldiers dressed like countrymen, 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 entrance, (as I hope we shall,) And that we find the slothful watch but weak, I'll by a sign give notice to our friends, That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.

1 Sold. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city, And we be lords and rulers over Rouen; Therefore we 'll knock.

Guard. [Within.] Qui est là?

[Knocks.

Puc. Paisans, pauvres gens de France,Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn. Guard. [Opening the gates.] Enter, go in; the market-bell is rung.

Puc. Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground. [LA PUCELLE, &c., enter the city.

Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENÇON, and forces.

Char. Saint Dennis bless this happy stratagem! And once again we 'll sleep secure in Rouen.

Bast. Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants; Now she is there, how will she specify Where is the best and safest passage in?

Alen. By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower;

Which, once decern'd, shows, that her meaning is,

No way to that, for weakness, which she enter❜d.

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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 gray-beard? break a lance,

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 you so hot, Sir?-Yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace;

If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.

[TALBOT and the rest consult together. God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker?

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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 muleteers of France! Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls, And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

Puc. 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 you That we are here.

[Exeunt LA PUCELLE, &c., from the walls.

Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long, Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house, (Prick'd on by public wrongs sustain'd in France,) Either to get the town again, or die; And I, as sure as English Henry lives, And as his father here was conqueror; As sure as in this late-betrayed town Great Coeur-de-lion's heart was buried,So sure I swear to get the town or die.

Bur. My vows are equal partners with thy vows.
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.

Bed. Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour 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

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