THE THIRD PART OF

KING HENRY VI.

ACT I.

SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house.

Drums. Some Soldiers of YORK's party break in. Then enter the
Duke of YORK, EDWARD, RICHARD, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE,
WARWICK, and others, with white roses in their hats.

War. I wonder how the king escap'd our hands.
York. While we pursu'd the horsemen of the north,
He slily stole away, and left his men:
Whereat the great Lord of Northumberland,
Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,
Cheer'd up the drooping army; and himself,
Lord Clifford,() and Lord Stafford, all a-breast,
Charg'd our main battle's front, and, breaking in,
Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.

Edw. Lord Stafford's father, Duke of Buckingham,
Is either slain or wounded dangerous;

;(2)

I cleft his beaver with a downright blow:

That this is true, father, behold his blood.

[Showing his bloody sword. Mont. [to York, showing his] And, brother,(3) here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood,

(1) Lord Clifford,] See note 210 on the preceding play.
(2) dangerous;] The True Tragedie, &c., has "dangerouslie."
(3) Mont. [to York, showing his] And, brother,] See note 26.

VOL. V.

P

Whom I encounter'd as the battles join'd.
Rich. Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did.

[Throwing down the Duke of Somerset's head.
York. Richard hath best deserv'd of all my sons.-
But, is your grace dead, my Lord of Somerset ?
Norf. Such hap have all the line of John of Gaunt !
Rich. Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head.
War. And so do I.-Victorious Prince of York,
Before I see thee seated in that throne

Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,

I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close.
This is the palace of the fearful king,

And this the regal seat: possess it, York;

For this is thine, and not King Henry's heirs'.

York. Assist me, then, sweet Warwick, and I will;

For hither we have broken in by force.

Norf. We'll all assist you; he that flies shall die.

York. Thanks, gentle Norfolk :-stay by me, my lords;

And, soldiers, stay, and lodge by me this night.

War. And when the king comes, offer him no violence, Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.

[The Soldiers retire. York. The queen, this day, here holds her parliament,

But little thinks we shall be of her council:

By words or blows here let us win our right.

Rich. Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house.
War. The bloody parliament shall this be call'd,

Unless Plantagenet, duke of York, be king,

(4) But,] The True Tragedie, &c., has "What," which Mr. W. N. Lettsom would adopt, placing it in a line by itself.

(5) Such hap have all the line of John of Gaunt !
Rich. Thus do I hope]

Both The True Tragedie, &c., and the folio have

"Such hope have all," &c. ;

but "hope" is a manifest error (in consequence of the transcriber's or compositor's eye having caught that word in the next line), and must have been left uncorrected in the remodelled play by an oversight.— Capell substituted "end:" I prefer what occurred to me long ago, and what I now find proposed by an anonymous critic in the Cambridge Shakespeare,-"hap."

And bashful Henry depos'd, whose cowardice
Hath made us by-words to our enemies.

York. Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute;
I mean to take possession of my right.

War. Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,

Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells.
I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares :-
Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.

[Warwick leads York to the throne, who seats himself.

Flourish. Enter King HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, WEST-
MORELAND, EXETER, and others, with red roses in their hats.

K. Hen. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
Even in the chair of state belike he means-
Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer-
T'aspire unto the crown, and reign as king.—

Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father;

And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd revenge On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends.(6)

North. If I be not, heavens be reveng'd on me!

Clif. The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel. West. What, shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down:

My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it.

K. Hen. Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.
Clif. Patience is for poltroons, such as he :(7)

He durst not sit there, had your father liv'd.
My gracious lord, here in the parliament

Let us assail the family of York.

(6) And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd revenge
On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends.]

The first line has been shortened in more ways than one: but see note 2 on The Second Part of King Henry VI. In the second line "favourites" -which Capell altered to "favourers "-is the reading of The True Tragedie, &c., as well as of the folio.

(7) Patience is for poltroons, such as he :] This is altered by the editor of the second folio to ". Poultroones, and such is he."-Here Walker (Crit. Exam., &c., vol. ii. p. 26) is perhaps right in considering "Patience to be a trisyllable, and "poltroons" to be accented on the first syllable," Patience is for poltroons, such as he."

North. Well hast thou spoken, cousin: be it so
K. Hen. Ah, know you not the city favours them,
And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?

Exe.(8) But when the duke is slain, they'll quickly fly. K. Hen. Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart, To make a shambles of the parliament-house! Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words, and threats Shall be the war that Henry means to use.

[They advance to the Duke. Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne, And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet;

I am thy sovereign

York.

Thou'rt deceiv'd; (9) I'm thine.

Exe. For shame, come down: he made thee Duke of

York.

York. 'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.(10)

Exe. Thy father was a traitor to the crown.

War. Exeter, thou'rt a traitor to the crown

In following this usurping Henry.

Clif. Whom should he follow but his natural king?
War. True, Clifford; and (11) that's Richard duke of

York.

K. Hen. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne? York. It must and shall be so: content thyself. War. Be Duke of Lancaster; let him be king. West. He is both king and Duke of Lancaster; And that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain. War. And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget That we are those which chas'd you from the field, And slew your fathers, and with colours spread March'd through the city to the palace-gates.

(8) Exe.] So the older play.-The folio has "Westm.," a mistake, as the next speech evinces.

(9) Thou'rt deceiv'd;] So The True Tragedie, &c.—Not in the folio. (10) 'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.] The original play has

as the kingdome is." "Why Shakespeare made this alteration," observes Malone, "it is not easy to say; for the new line only exhibits the same meaning more obscurely." The "earldom" is that of March, which York inherited from his mother. See, in The Second Part of King Henry VI. p. 139, York's speech, "His eldest sister, Anne," &c. (1) and] Omitted in the folio (accidentally, no doubt).

North. No,(12) Warwick, I remember't to my grief; And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.

West. Plantagenet, of thee, and these thy sons, Thy kinsmen, and thy friends, I'll have more lives Than drops of blood were in my father's veins.

Clif. Urge it no more; lest that, instead of words, I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger

As shall revenge his death before I stir.

War. Poor Clifford ! how I scorn his worthless threats!
York. Will you we show our title to the crown?
If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.

K. Hen. What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?
Thy father(13) was, as thou art, Duke of York;
Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, earl of March:
I am the son of Henry the Fifth,

Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop,
And seiz'd upon their towns and provinces.

War. Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.
K. Hen. The lord protector lost it, and not I:

When I was crown'd I was but nine months old.

Rich. You're old enough now, and yet, methinks, you

lose.

Tear the crown, father,(14) from th' usurper's head.

Edw. Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.

Mont. [to York] Good brother,(15) as thou lov'st and hon

our'st arms,

Let's fight it out, and not stand cavilling thus.

Rich. Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly.

York. Sons, peace!

(12) No,] So The True Tragedie, &c.-The folio has "Yes." (13) Thy father, &c.] So The True Tragedie, &c.-The folio has "My Father," &c.-"This is a mistake, into which Shakespeare was led by the author of the old play. The father of Richard Duke of York was Earl of Cambridge, and was never Duke of York, being beheaded in the lifetime of his elder brother Edward Duke of York, who fell in the battle of Agincourt." MALONE.

(14) Tear the crown, father,] So Hanmer; and, no doubt, rightly; though both The True Tragedie, &c., and the folio have "Father teare the Crowne."

(15) Good brother,] See note 26.