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 sovereign, York is meetest man To be your regent in the realm of France. Suf. Before we make election, give me leave To show some reason, of no little force, That York is most unmeet of any man.

York. I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet
First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride:
Next, if I be appointed for the place,
My lord of Somerset will keep me here,
Without discharge, money, or furniture,
Till France be won into the dauphin's hands.
Last time, I danced attendance on his will,
Till Paris was besieg'd, famish'd, and lost.

War. That I can witness, and a fouler fact
Did never traitor in the land commit.
Suf. Peace, head-strong Warwick!

War. Image of pride, why should I hold my peace?

Enter Servants of SUFFOLK, bringing in HORNER and PETER.

Suf. Because here is a man accus'd of treason: Pray God the duke of York excuse himself! York. Doth any one accuse York for a traitor? K. Hen. What mean'st thou, Suffolk? tell me : What are these?

Suf. Please it your majesty, this is the man
That doth accuse his master of high treason:

His words were these; that Richard, duke of York,
Was rightful heir unto the English crown;
And that your majesty was an usurper.

K. Hen. Say, man, were these thy words?
Hor. An't shall please your majesty, I never said
nor thought any such matter: God is my witness,
I am falsely accused by the villain.

Pet. By these ten bones, my lords, [Holding up his hands,] he did speak them to me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my lord of York's

armor.

York. Base dunghill villain, and mechanical, I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech:I do beseech your royal majesty, Let him have all the rigor of the law.

Hor. Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words. My accuser is my prentice: and when I did correct him for his fault the other day, he did yow upon his knees he would be even with me: I have good witness of this; therefore, I beseech your majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a villain's accusation.

K. Hen. Uncle, what shall we say to this in law? Glo. This doom, my lord, if I may judge:Let Somerset be regent o'er the French, Because in York this breeds suspicion: And let these have a day appointed them For single combat in convenient place; For he hath witness of his servant's malice: This is the law, and this duke Humphrey's doom. K. Hen. Then be it so. My lord of Somerset, We make your grace lord regent o'er the French. Som. I humbly thank your royal majesty. Hor. And I accept the combat willingly. Pet. Alas, my lord, I cannot fight; for God's sake, pity my case! the spite of man prevaileth The marks of her fingers and thumbs.

against me. O Lord, have mercy upon me! I shall never be able to fight a blow: O Lord, my heart!

Glo. Sirrah, or you must fight, or else be hang'd. K. Hen. Away with them to prison, and the day Of combat shall be the last of the next month.Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-The Duke of Gloster's Garden. Enter MARGERY JOURDAIN, HUME, SOUTHWELL, and BOLINGBROKE.

Hume. Come, my masters; the duchess, I tell you, expects performance of your promises.

Boling. Master Hume, we are therefore provided: Will her ladyship behold and hear our exorcisms ?8

Hume. Ay: What else? fear you not her courage. Boling. I have heard her reported to be a woman of an invincible spirit: But it shall be convenient, master Hume, that you be by her aloft, while we be busy below; and so, I pray you, go, in God's name, and leave us. [Exit HUME.] Mother Jourdain, be you prostrate, and grovel on the earth :-John Southwell, read you; and let us to our work.

[Thunder and lightning. Spirit descends. Enter YORK and BUCKINGHAM, hastily, with their Guards, and others.

York. Lay hands upon these traitors, and their trash.

Beldame, I think, we watch'd you at an inch.What, madam, are you there! the king and commonweal

Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains:
My lord protector will, I doubt it not,

See you well guerdon'd2 for these good deserts.

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. Away with them; let them be clapp'd up close, And kept asunder:-You, madam, shall with us:Stafford, take her to thee.

Exit DUCHESS from above.

spirits, and not to lay them. By exorcise, Shakspeare invariably means to raise 9 Matter or business.

1 Watch-dogs.

2 Rewarded.

We'll see your trinkets here all forth-coming;
All.-Away!

[Exeunt Guards, with SOUTHWELL, BOLING-
BROKE, &C.

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?

The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose:
But him outlive, and die a violent death.
Why, this is just,

Aio te, Eacida, 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,

SCENE I-Saint Alban's.

Enter KING HENRY, QUEEN MARGARET, GLOSTER, CARDINAL, and SUFFOLK, with Falconers, hollaing.

Q. Mar. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,3 I saw not better sport these seven years' day: Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out.

K. Hen. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,

And what a pitch she flew above the rest!-
To see how God in all his creatures works!
Yea, man and birds, are fain4 of climbing high.
Suf. No marvel, an it like your majesty,
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!
Cur. 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 cœlestibus iræ ?

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 inso

lence.

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 blessed for the peace I make, Against this proud protector with my sword! Glo. 'Faith, holy uncle, 'would 'twere come to that! [Aside to the Cardinal. Car. Marry, when thou dar'st. [Aside. Glo. Make up no factious numbers for the matter, In thine own person answer thy abuse. [Aside. Car. Ay, where thou dar'st not peep: an if thou dar'st,

This evening on the east side of the grove. [Aside.
K. Hen. How now, my lords?
Car.
Believe me, cousin Gloster,
Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly,
We had had more sport-Come with thy two-
hand sword.
[Aside to GLOSTER.

The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl.
▲ Fond.

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 Saint Alban's, and his Breth-
ren; and SIMPCOX, borne between two Persons in a
Chair; his Wife, and a great multitude following.
Car. Here come 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 Saint 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.

Fence is the art of defence.

Simp. Alas, good master, my wife desir'd some damsons,

And made me climb, with danger of my life.

Glo. A subtle knave! but yet it shall not serve.— Let me see thine eyes:-wink now;-now open them;

In my opinion yet thou seest not well.

Simp. Yes, master, clear as day; I thank God, and Saint Alban.

Glo. Say'st thou me so? What color is this cloak of? Simp. Red, master; red as blood.

Glo. Why, that's well said: What color is my gown of?

Simp. Black, forsooth; coal-black, as jet.

Enter BUCKINGHAM.

K. Hen. What tidings with our cousin Buckingham?

Buck. Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold. A sort of naughty persons lewdly? bent,Under the countenance and confederacy Of lady Eleanor, the protector's wife, The ring-leader and head of all this rout,Have practis'd dangerously against your state, Dealing with witches; and with conjurers: Whom we have apprehended in the fact; Raising up wicked spirits from under ground, Demanding of king Henry's life and death, And other of your highness' privy council, As more at large your grace shall understand. Car. And so, my lord protector, by this means Your lady is forthcoming yet at London. This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge; 'Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour. [Aside to GLOSTER.

Glo. Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my heart!

Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers:
And, vanquish'd as I am, I yield to thee,
Or to the meanest groom.

K. Hen. O God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones;

is of?

Glo. Then, Saunder, sit thou there, the lyingest knave

In Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind,
Thou mightst as well have known our names, as thus
To name the several colors we do wear.
Sight may distinguish of colors; but suddenly
To nominate them all's impossible.-
My lords, saint Alban here hath done a miracle;
And would ye not think that cunning to be great
That could restore this cripple to his legs?
Simp. O, master, that you could!

Glo. My masters of saint Alban's, 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, with the Beadle.

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 abl; 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 whipped through every market| town, till they come to Berwick, 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.

Q. Mar. Gloster, see here the tainture of thy nest; And, look, thyself be faultless, thou wert best.

Glo. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal, How I have lov'd my king, and commonweal, And, for my wife, I know not how it stands; Sorry I am to hear what I have heard: Noble she is; but if she have forgot Honor, and virtue, and convers'd with such As, like to pitch, defile nobility,

I banish her my bed and company

And give her, as a prey, to law, and shame,
That hath dishonored Gloster's honest name.
K. Hen. Well, for this night, we will repose us here:
To-morrow, toward London, back again,
To look into this business thoroughly,
And call these foul offenders to their answers;
And poises the cause in justice' equal scales,
Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause
prevails.
[Flourish. Exeunt.

SCENE II.-London. The Duke of York's

Garden.

Enter YORK, SALISBURY, and WARWICK.
York. Now, my good lords of Salisbury and
Warwick,

Our simple supper ended, give me leave,
In this close walk, to satisfy myself,
In craving your opinion of my title,
Which is infallible to England's crown.
Sal. My lord, I long to hear it at full.
War. Sweet York, begin: and if thy claim be good,
The Nevils are thy subjects to command
York. Then thus:-

Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:
The first, Edward the Black Prince, prince of Wales;
The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,
Lionel, duke of Clarence; next to whom,
Was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster:
The fifth was Edmund Langley, duke of York;
The sixth was Thomas of Woodstock, duke of
Gloster;

William of Windsor was the seventh and last.
Edward, the Black Prince, died before his father;
And left behind him Richard, his only son,
Who,after Edward the Third's death,reign'd as king;
Till Henry Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster,
The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt,
Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth,
Seiz'd on the realm; depos'd the rightful king;
Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she

Sound trumpets, alarum to the combatants.

[Alarum. They fight, and PETER strikes down his Master.

Hor. Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason. [Dies. York. Take away his weapon:-Fellow, thank God, and the good wine in thy master's way. Peter. O God! have I overcome mine enemies in this presence? O Peter, thou hast prevailed in right!

K. Hen. Go, take hence that traitor from our sight; For, by his death, we do perceive his guilt: And God, in justice, hath reveal'd to us The truth and innocence of this poor fellow Which he had thought to have murder'd wrongfully,

Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.-A Street.

Enter GLOSTER and Servants, in mourning cloaks. Glo. Thus, sometimes, hath the brightest day a cloud;

And, after summer, ever more succeeds
Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold:
So cares and joys abound as seasons ileet.-
Sirs, what's o'clock!

Serv.

Ten, my lord.

Glo. Ten is the hour that was appointed me, To watch the coming of my punish'd duchess: Uneath may she endure the flinty streets, To tread them with her tender-feeling feet. Sweet Nell, ill can thy noble mind abrook The abject people, gazing on thy face, With envious looks, still laughing at thy shame; That erst did follow thy proud chariot wheels, When thou didst ride in triumph through the streets. But, soft! I think, she comes; and I'll prepare My tear-stain'd eyes to see her miseries.

Enter the DUCHESS OF GLOSTER, in a white sheet, with papers pinn'd upon her back, her feet bare, and a taper burning in her hand; SIR JOHN STANLEY, a Sheriff, and Officers.

Serv. So please your grace, we'll take her from the sheriff.

Glo. No, stir not, for your lives; let her pass by. Duch. Come you, my lord, to see my open shame! Now thou dost penance too. Look, how they gaze! See, how the giddy multitude do point,

And nod their heads, and throw their eyes on thee!
Ah, Gloster, hide thee from their hateful looks;
And, in thy closet pent up, rue my shame,
And ban thine enemies, both mine and thine.
Glo. Be patient, gentle Nell; forget this grief.
Duch. Ah, Gloster, teach me to forget myself:
For. whilst I think I am thy married wife,
And thou a prince, protector of this land,
Methinks, I should not thus be led along,
Mail'd up in shame, with papers on my back;
And follow'd with a rabble, that rejoice
To see my tears, and hear my deep-fet? groans.
The ruthless flint doth cut my tender feet:
And, when I start, the envious people laugh,
And bid me be advised how I tread.

Ah, Humphrey, can I bear this shameful yoke?
Trow'st thou that e'er I'll look upon the world;
Or count them happy, that enjoy the sun?
No; dark shall be my light, and night my day;
To think upon my pomp, shall be my hell.
Sometime I'll say, am duke Humphrey's wife;
And he a prince, and ruler of the land:
Yet so he rul'd, and such a prince he was,
As he stood by, whilst I, his forlorn duchess,
Was made a wonder, and a pointing-stock,

To every idle rascal follower.
But be thou mild, and blush not at my shame;
Nor stir at nothing, till the axe of death
Hang over thee, as, sure, it shortly will.
For Suffolk,-he that can do all in all
With her, that hateth thee, and hates us all,-
And York, and impious Beaufort, that false priest,
Have all limed bushes to betray thy wings,
And, fly thou how thou canst, they'll tangle thee:
But fear not thou, until thy foot be snar'd,
Nor ever seek prevention of thy foes.

Glo. Ah, Nell, forbear; thou aimest all awry;
I must offend, before I be attainted:
And had I twenty times so many foes,
And each of them had twenty times their power,
All these could not procure me any scathe,9
So long as I am loyal, true, and crimeless.
Wouldst have me rescue thee from this reproach?
Why, yet thy scandal were not wiped away,
Thy greatest help is quiet, gentle Nell:
But I in danger for the breach of law.
I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience!
These few days' wonder will be quickly worn.
Enter a Herald.

Her. I summon your grace to his majesty's parliament, holden at Bury the first of this next month.

Glo. And my consent ne'er ask'd herein before! This is close dealing.-Well, I will be there.

[Exit Herald. My Nell, I take my leave:-and, master sheriff, Let not her penance exceed the king's commission. Sher. An't please your grace, here my commission stays:

And sir John Stauley is appointed now,
To take her with him to the Isle of Man.

Glo. Must you, sir John, protect my lady here?
Stan. So am I given in charge, may't please your

grace.

Glo. Entreat her not the worse, in that I pray You use her well: the world may laugh again; And I may live to do you kindness, if

You do it her. And so, sir John, farewell.

Duch. What, gone, my lord; and bid me not farewell?

Glo. Witness my tears, I cannot stay to speak.
[Exeunt GLOSTER and Servants.
Duch. Art thou gone too? All comfort go with
thee!

For none abides with me: my joy is death;
Death, at whose name I oft have been afear'd,
Because I wish'd this world's eternity.-
Stanley, I pr'ythee, go, and take me hence;
I care not whither, for I beg no favor,
Only convey me where thou art cominanded.
Stan. Why, madam, that is to the Isle of Man;
There to be used according to your state.
Duch. That's bad enough, for I am but reproach:
And shall I then be used reproachfully?

Stan. Like to a duchess, and duke Humphrey's

lady,