And this the royalty of Albion's king?
What, shall king Henry be a pupil still,
Under the surly Gloster's governance?
Am I a queen in title and in style,
And must be made a subject to a duke?
I tell thee, Poole, when in the city Tours
Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love,
And stol'st away the ladies' hearts of France,
I thought king Henry had resembled thee
In courage, courtship, and proportion:
But all his mind is bent to holiness,

To number Ave-Maries on his beads:

His champions are the prophets and apostles;
His weapons, holy saws of sacred writ;
His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves
Are brazen images of canoniz'd saints.
I would the college of the cardinals
Would choose him pope, and carry him to Rome,
And set the triple crown upon his head :—
That were a state fit for his holiness.

Suf. Madam, be patient: as I was cause
Your highness came to England, so will I
In England work your grace's full content.

Q. Mar. Beside the haught protector, have we Beaufort,

The imperious churchman; Somerset, Buckingham, And grumbling York: and not the least of these, But can do more in England than the king.

Suf. And he of these that can do most of all, Cannot do more in England than the Nevils: Salisbury, and Warwick, are no simple peers.

Q. Mar. Not all these lords do vex me half so much,

As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife.
She sweeps it through the court with troops of
ladies,

More like an empress than duke Humphrey's wife:
Strangers in court do take her for the queen:
She bears a duke's revenues on her back,
And in her heart she scorns our poverty:
Shall I not live to be aveng'd on her?
Contemptuous base-born callat as she is,
She vaunted 'mongst her minions t'other day,
The very train of her worst wearing gown
Was better worth than all my father's lands,
Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter.
Suf. Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her,
And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds,
That she will light to listen to the lays,
And never mount to trouble you again.

So, let her rest: and, Madam, list to me;

For I am bold to counsel you in this.
Although we fancy not the cardinal,

Yet must we join with him and with the lords,

Till we have brought duke Humphrey in disgrace.

As for the duke of York, this late complaint

Will make but little for his benefit.

So, one by one, we'll weed them all at last,
And you yourself shall steer the happy helm.
Enter KING HENRY, YORK, and SOMERSET; DUKE and
DUCHESS OF GLOSTER, CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BUCKING-
HAM, SALISBURY, and WARWICK.

K. Hen. For my part, noble lords, I care not Or Somerset, or York, all's one to me. [which; York. If York have ill demean'd himself in France,

Then let him be denay'd the regentship.
Som. If Somerset be unworthy of the place,
Let York be regent; I will yield to him,

War. Whether your grace be worthy, yea or no, Dispute not that: York is the worthier.

Car. Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak,
War. The cardinal's not my better in the field.
Buck. All in this presence are thy betters, War-
wick.

War. Warwick may live to be the best of all.
Sal. Peace, son!--and show some reason, Buck-

ingham,

Why Somerset should be preferr'd in this.

Q. Mar. Because the king, forsooth, will have it so.

Glo. Madam, the king is old enough himself To give his censure: these are no women's matters. Q. Mar. If he be old enough, what needs your To be protector of his excellence? [grace

Glo. Madam, I am protector of the realm; And, at his pleasure, will resign my place.

Suf. Design it, then, and leave thine insolence. Since thou wert king, (as who is king but thou?) The commonwealth hath daily run to wreck; The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas; And all the peers and nobles of the realm Have been as bondmen to thy sov'reignty.

Car. The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags

Are lank and lean with thy extortions.

Som. Thy sumptuous buildings, and thy wife's Have cost a mass of public treasury. [attire,

Buck. Thy cruelty in execution Upon offenders, hath exceeded law, And left thee to the mercy of the law.

Q. Mar. Thy sale of offices and towns in
France,-

If they were known, as the suspect is great,
Would make thee quickly hop without thy head.

[Exit GLOSTER. The QUEEN drops her fan. Give me my fan: what, minion! can you not? [Giving the DUCHESS a box on the ear.

I cry you mercy, Madam, was it you?
Duch. Was 't I! yea, I it was, proud French-

woman:

Could I come near your beauty with my nails,
I'd set my ten commandments in your face.

K. Hen. Sweet aunt, be quiet; 'twas against her will.

Duch. Against her will! Good king, look to't in time;

She'll hamper thee, and dandle thee like a baby: Though in this place most master wear no breeches, She shall not strike dame Eleanor unreveng'd.

[Exit.

Buck. Lord Cardinal, I will follow Eleanor, And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds: She's tickled now; her fume can need no spurs, She'll gallop fast enough to her destruction. [Exit BUCKINGHAM.

Re-enter GLOSTER.

Glo. Now, lords, my choler being over-blown With walking once about the quadrangle, I come to talk of commonwealth affairs. As for your spiteful false objections, Prove them, and I lie open to the law: But God in mercy so deal with my soul, As I in duty love my king and country! But, to the matter that we have in hand:I say, my sov'reign, York is meetest man 1.To be your regent in the realm of France.

Duch. Not half so bad as thine to England's king, Injurious duke, that threat'st where is no cause. Buck. True, Madam, none at all:—what call you this?

[Showing her the papers that have been seized. Away with them! let them be clapp'd up close, And kept asunder.-You, Madam, shall with us.Stafford, take her to thee.—

We'll see your trinkets here all forthcoming.—
All, away!

[Exeunt, above, DUCHESS and HUME, guarded.
Exeunt, below, SOUTHWELL, BOLING-
BROKE, &c., guarded.

York. Lord Buckingham, methinks you watch'd her well:

A pretty plot well chosen to build upon!
Now, pray, my lord, let's see the devil's writ.
What have we here?

[Reads.] "The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose;

But him outlive, and die a violent death."
Well, this is just,

Aio te, acida, Romanos vincere posse.
Well, to the rest:

[Reads.] "Tell me, what fate awaits the duke of Suffolk?

By water shall he die, and take his end."-
"What shall betide the duke of Somerset?—
Let him shun castles;

Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains,

Than where castles mounted stand.".

Come, come, my lords;

These oracles are hardly attain'd,

And hardly understood.

My lord protector's hawks do tower so well;
They know their master loves to be aloft,
And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch.
Glo. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind,
That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.
Car. I thought as much: he'd be above the
clouds.

Glo. Ay, my lord cardinal; how think you by that?

Were it not good your grace could fly to heaven?
K. Hen. The treasury of everlasting joy!

Car. Thy heaven is on earth; thine eyes and thoughts

Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart;
Pernicious protector, dangerous peer,

That smooth'st it so with king and commonweal! Glo. What, cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory?

Tantæne animis cælestibus ira?

Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; With such holiness can you do it?

Suf. No malice, Sir; no more than well becomes So good a quarrel, and so bad a peer. Glo. As who, my lord? Suf.

Why, as you, my lord, An't like your lordly lord-protectorship.

Glo. Why, Suffolk, England knows thine in- .

solence.

Q. Mar. And thy ambition, Gloster.
K. Hen.

I pr'ythee, peace, Good queen, and whet not on these furious peers; For blessed are the peacemakers on earth.

Car. Let me be blessèd for the peace I make, Against this proud protector with my sword! Glo. [Aside to CAR.] 'Faith, holy uncle, would 'twere come to that!

Car. [Aside to GLO.] Marry, when thou dar'st, Glo. [Aside to CAR.] Make up no factious numbers for the matter;

In thine own person answer thy abuse.
Car. [Aside to GLO.] Ay, where thou dar'st not
peep: an if thou dar'st,

This evening on the east side of the grove.
K. Hen. How now, my lords!

Car.

Believe me, cousin Gloster,

[Aside to CAR.] Now, by God's mother, priest, I'll shave your crown

For this, or all my fence shall fail.

Car. [Aside to GLO.] Medice teipsum; Protector, see to 't well, protect yourself.

K. Hen. The winds grow high; so do your stomachs, lords.

How irksome is this music to my heart!
When such strings jar, what hope of harmony?
I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife.

Enter a Townsman of St Albans, crying, “A Miracle!"
Glo. What means this noise?

Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?

Towns. A miracle! a miracle!
Suf. Come to the king, and tell him what miracle.
Towns. Forsooth, a blind man at St Alban's
shrine,

Within this half hour, hath receiv'd his sight;
A man that ne'er saw in his life before.

K. Hen. Now, God be prais'd, that to believing souls

Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair!

Enter the Mayor of St Albans, and his Brethren; and SIMPCOX, borne between two persons in a chair; his Wife and a multitude following.

Car. Here comes the townsmen on procession, To present your highness with the man.

K. Hen. Great is his comfort in this earthly vale, Although by his sight his sin be multiplied.

Glo. Stand by, my masters:-bring him near the king;

His highness' pleasure is to talk with him.

K. Hen. Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance,

That we for thee may glorify the Lord.
What, hast thou been long blind, and now restor❜d?
Simp. Born blind, an't please your grace.
Wife. Ay, indeed, was he.

Suf. What woman is this?

Wife. His wife, an 't like your worship.

Glo. Hadst thou been his mother, thou couldst

have better told.

K. Hen. Where wert thou born?

Simp. At Berwick in the north, an 't like your

grace.

K. Hen. Poor soul! God's goodness hath been great to thee:

Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass,
But still remember what the Lord hath done.

Q. Mar. Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou here by chance,

Or of devotion, to this holy shrine?

Simp. God knows, of pure devotion; being call'd A hundred times, and oft'ner, in my sleep, By good St Alban; who said,—“Simpcox, come; Come, offer at my shrine, and I will help thee." Wife. Most true, forsooth; and many time and oft Myself have heard a voice to call him so. Car. What, art thou lame? Simp

Ay, God Almighty help me!

Suf. How cam'st thou so? Simp.

Wife. A plum-tree, master. Glo.

A fall off of a tree.

How long hast thou been blind? Simp. O, born so, master. Glo. What, and wouldst climb a tree? Simp. But that in all my life, when I was a youth. Wife. Too true; and bought his climbing very dear.

Glo. 'Mass, thou lov'dst plums well, that wouldst

Glo. Then, Saunder, sit there, the lyingest knave in Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind, thou mightst as well have known all our names, as thus to name the several colours we do wear. Sight may distinguish of colours; but suddenly to nominate them all, it is impossible. My lords, St Alban here hath done a miracle; and would ye not think that cunning to be great, that could restore this cripple to his legs again?

Simp. O, master, that you could!

Glo. My masters of St Albans, have you not beadles in your town, and things called whips? May. Yes, my lord, if it please your grace. Glo. Then send for one presently. May. Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight. [Exit an Attendant.

Glo. Now fetch me a stool hither by and by. [A stool brought out.] Now, sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me over this stool, and

run away.

Simp. Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone: You go about to torture me in vain.

Re-enter Attendant, and a Beadle with a whip. Glo. Well, Sir, we must have you find your legs. ---Sirrah beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool.

Bead. I will, my lord.- Come on, sirrah; off with your doublet quickly.

Simp. Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.

[After the Beadle hath hit him once, he leaps over the stool, and runs away; and the people follow and cry, "A Miracle!"

K. Hen. O God! seest thou this, and bear'st so long?

Q. Mar. It made me laugh to see the villain run. Glo. Follow the knave; and take this drab away. Wife. Alas, Sir, we did it for pure need.

Glo. Let them be whipp'd through every market town,

Till they come to Berwick, from whence they came. [Exeunt Mayor, Beadle, Wife, &c. Car. Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day. Suf. True; made the lame to leap, and fly away. Glo. But you have done more miracles than I; You made in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly.

Enter BUCKINGHAM.

K. Hen. What tidings with our cousin Buckingham?