Now Bolingbroke, these miseries here shown,
Do much unload thy sin; make thy ill good:
For if thou didst by wrong attain the crown,
'T was without cries; it cost but little blood.
But York by his attempt hath overthrown
All the best glory wherein England stood;
And did his state by her undoing win;

And was, though white without, yet red within.

And thus he hath it-and is now to deal
For th' entertaining and continuance
Of men's affections; and to seek to heal
Those foul corruptions, which the maintenance
Of so long wars bred in the commonweal.
He must remunerate, prefer, advance
His chiefest friends; and prosecute with might
The adverse part; do wrong, to do men right.

Whilst martial Marg'ret, with her hopeful son,
Is travelling in France, to purchase aid;
And plots, and toils, and nothing leaves undone;
Though all in vain.-For being thus over-laid
By Fortune, and the time; all that is done,
Is out of season. For she must have stay'd
Till that first heat of men's affections (which
They bear new kings) were laid, and not so much.
When they should find that they had gain'd no more,
Than th' ass by changing of his masters did;
(Who still must labour as he us'd before)
And those expectancies came frustrated,
Which they had set upon th' imagin'd score
Of their accounts: and had considered,
How that it did but litt'e benefit

The doves, to change the falcon for the kite.

And yet, brave queen, for three years of his reign,
Thou gav'st him little breathing-time of rest;
But still his miseries did'st entertain
With new attempts, and new assaults address'd.
And at thy now return from France again,
(Supply'd with forces) once more gathered'st
An army for the field, and brought'st to war
The scatter'd parts of broken Lancaster.

And once again at Exham led'st them on,
With Scots and French, t' another bloody day;
And there beheld'st thyself again undone,
With all that rest, whereon thy fortunes lay.
Where Somerset (late to king Edward gone,
And got his pardon) having 'scap'd away,
With noble Piercy came, to bring their blood
Unto thy side, whereto they first had stood.

Where the lords Molines, Ross, and Hungerford,
With many else of noble families,
Extinguish'd were-and many that day's sword
Cut off their names in their posterities.

* Queen Margaret, furnished with a great power of Scots and French, to the number of twenty thousand, with her husband, entered into Northumberland, took the castle of Bamborough, and after came forward to the bishopric of Durham: where Henry Beaufort, duke of Somerset, who had lately been reconciled to king Edward IV. joined with them; and also brought thither with him sir Ralph Piercy, a man of great courage and worth: who were taken in the battle of Exham, and executed, ag. 3, Ed. IV. 1464.

And when he had dispos'd in some good train
His home affairs; he counsels how t' advance
His foreign correspondence, with the chain
Of some alliance that might countenance
His greatness, and his quiet entertain. [France,
Which was thought fittest with some match of
To hold that kingdom from sub-aiding such,
Who else could not subsist, nor hope so much.

Nor was it now a time to have contrast
With any foreign, mighty potentate;
But keep the outer doors of each side fast,
Having so much to do within his state.
And thereupon was Warwick 11 (by whose cast
All must be wrought) employ'd to mediate
A present marriage, to be had between
Him and the sister of the young French queen.

Which was not long, nor hard to bring to pass,
Where like respects met in a point alike.
So that the same as ev'n concluded was,
And all as done-lady and friends all like:
When Love, the lord of kings, (by whom must pass
This act of our affections) took dislike
That he was not made privy thereunto,
And therefore in his wrath would all undo.

For whilst this youthful prince, at his disport
In Grafton woods, retir'd from public care,
Attending how his suit in France did sort,
(Whereon his cogitations only were)
He 'comes at home surpris'd in other sort:
A nearer fire inflam'd his passions here;
An English beauty, with more worth endu'd
Than France could yield, his royal heart subdu’d.

A woful widow, whom his quarrel had
(As it had many mo) made desolate,
Came to his court in mournful habit clad,
To sue for justice to relieve her state.
And ent'ring as a suppliant all sad,
With graceful sorrow, and a comely gate,

She pass'd the presence; where all eyes were cast
On her more stately presence as she pass'd.

Her looks not let abroad, (but carefully
Kept in, restrain'd) held their reservedness:
Observing none but her own dignity,
And his, to whom she did herself address.
And drawing near his royal majesty,
A blush of reverence, not bashfulness,

Lighten'd her lovely cheeks, und down she kneels;
Gives her petition for the wrongs she feels.

And in deliv'ring it, lifts up her eyes,
(The moving'st mediators she could bring)
And straight withdraws them in submissive wise;
Not fixing them directly on the king:

"The earl of Warwick was sent into France, to treat of a marriage between king Edward and the lady Bona, daughter to Louis duke of Savoy, and sister to the lady Charlotte, queen of France: which was there agreed upon; and monsieur Damp, Martin, with others, appointed to be sent into England, for the full accomplishing thereof. But in the mean time, May 1, the king married the lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter to the dutchess of Bedford, late wife to sir John Grey, slain at St. Albans, on king Henry's part.

Who, mov'd with her sweet fashion, bad her rise,
With gentle language full of comforting;
Read her request-but thought not what he read.
The lines he view'd her eyes had figured.

Then paus'd awhile, and mus'd; as if he weigh'd
The substance of her suit. The which (God wot)
Was not the thing he mus'd. And having stay'd,
Seem'd to read on again; but yet reads not.
And still a stealing side-cast look convey'd
On her sweet face: as if he had forgot
To be elsewhere than where he did behold;
And thought not what he did, but what he would,

But I must over-go these passages,

And hasten on my way to overtake
Mine ends, in sad and graver bus'nesses;
Whereof I shall to you relation make.

And yet my zeal here forc'd me thus t' express
Elizabeth, for our Eliza's sake;

Who grac'd the Muses, (which her times became):
"For they who give them comfort, must have fame."
And I must tell you now, when this great fight
Of counter-passions had been throughly try'd,
How in the end the victory did light
Upon Love's forces, as the stronger side;
And beat down those respects of benefit,
Of honour, greatness, strength, and all beside;
And never granted rest unto his strife,

Till marriage rites had her confirm'd his wife.

Which that place where he saw her first, saw done,
Ere he remov'd his foot-" For Love is still
In haste; and (as a lord that rules alone)
Admits no counsellor in good nor ill.
For he and kings gladly give ear to none,
But such as smooth their ways, and sooth their will.
And who will not desire to give his voice,
(Be what it will) to praise a prince's choice?
"Which was (indeed) in virtue, beauty, grace,
And (all but fortune) worthy of his bed;
And in that too, had he but liv'd the space,
T' have seen her plenteous issue fully bred;
That they might have collated strength and grace,
On her weak side: which (scorn'd and maliced)
Lay open undefenc'd, apt to b' undone

By proud usurping pow'r, when he was gone."
But now when fame of this home-chosen match
Arriv'd in France, (for there it did arrive,
Ere they could here attend to make dispatch
T'impart the same to Warwick, or contrive
Some colour that in any sort might fetch
Him fairly off, and no dishonour give)

It so much stirr'd the humours in those parts,
As marr'd the whole complexion of their hearts.

The French king scorns such an indignity:
Warwick disdains employment in this case.
The queen enrag'd, with extreme veh❜mency
Storms at her sister's and her own disgrace.
The lady Bona takes most tenderly,

To be so mock'd with hope of such a place.
And all blame Warwick, and his fraud condemn;
Whilst he himself deceiv'd, suffers with them:

And could not, by all means might be devis'd,
Untaste them of this violent disgust;
But that they still held something lay disguis'd
Under this treaty. So that now he must
Bring home his reputation cauteris'd
With the idle mark of serving others' lust
In frivolous employments; or be sent
Out of the way, to colour some intent.

"Which, to himself, made him with grief inveigh
Against distemper'd kings; who often are
Ill warrants for their own affairs; and weigh
Their lusts more than their dignity by far:
And what a misery they have, that sway
Their great designs; what danger, and what care;
And often must be forc'd (being at their becks)
To crack their reputation, or their necks.

"How their high favours like as fig-trees are,
That grow upon the sides of rocks; where they
Who reach their fruit, adventure must so far,
As t' hazard their deep downfall and decay.
Their grace not fix'd; but as a blazing star,
Burns out the present matter, and away:
And how the world could too well witness bear,
That both their loves and hates like dang 'rous were."

Thus he complains, and makes his home-retire;
All disappointed of his purposes.

For hoping by this match to hold entire
That lady, with her great alliances;
And have the king more firm to his desire,
By managing of both their bus'nesses:
He by this match (thus made without his mean)
Comes barr'd from all those tying int'rests clean.

For well he knew that all his service past
Was past; and would not be a future tie,
To hold him in, unless that he could cast
To introduce some mere necessity
Of his employment, that were like to last,
And shut out all other concurrency:
Without which nor his greatness, nor his wits,
Could ward him from the king's unconstant fits.

Which more perplex'd him, and in nearer sort,
Than what France might by his embassage guess,
Or England deem. But being arriv'd at court,
He draws a traverse 'twixt his grievances:
Looks like the time-his eye made not report
Of what he felt within. Nor was he less
Than usually he was in ev'ry part;
Wore a clear face upon a cloudy heart.
Congratulates the queen-Commends the king
For his rare choice. Protesting her to be
Far beyond all the world beside could bring
To fit his liking: and that he did see
The lady Bona was a peevish thing,
Sullen and proud; and would in no degree
Have pleas'd his humour, or in any sort
Have satisfy'd the ladies of this court.

And after having finish'd all the rite
Of compliment and intervisiting,
He humbly craves dismission, that he might
Retire a while, t' attend the managing
And setting of his country bus'ness right,
Whereby the better to attend the king.
From whom he parts: and never seem'd more dear,
More grac'd, nor yet himself of freer cheer.

First Warwick castle (that had seldom known
The master there) he visits; and from thence
Goes t' other goodly manors of his own:
Where seen with joy, with love, with reverence;
(King of himself) he finds that there is shown
The use of life, the true magnificence,
T' enjoy his greatness: which at court in vain
Men toil for, and yet never do attain.

Which his religious confessor (who best
Could cast, with what a violent access
This fever of ambition did molest
His still-sick mind) takes hold on, to address
(Upon th' advantage of this little rest)
Some lenitives, t' allay the fi'riness
Of this disease; which (as a malady,
Seiz'd in the spir'ts) hath seldom remedy.