* With sorrow snares relenting passengers; 'Tis meet, he be condemnn'd by course of law. And yet we have but trivial argument, *Suff. Ah, York, no man alive so fain as I. * But, my lord cardinal, and you, my lord of Suf- Say as you think, and speak it from your souls,*Were't not all one, an empty eagle were set *To guard the chicken from a hungry kite, *As place duke Humphrey for the king's protector? Q. Mar. So the poor chicken should be sure of death. 'Suff. Madam, 'tis true: And were't not mad- To make the fox surveyor of the fold? 'Because his purpose is not executed. By nature prov'd an enemy to the flock, Before his chaps be stain'd with crimson blood; As Humphrey, prov'd by reasons, to my liege. And do not stand on quillets, how to slay him: 'Be it by gins, by snares, by subtilty, Sleeping or waking, 'tis no matter how, So he be dead; for that is good deceit, "Which mates4 him first, that first intends deceit. spoke. *Suff. Not resolute, except so much were done ; For things are often spoke, and seldom meant: * But, that my heart accordeth with my tongue,* Seeing the deed is meritorious, *And to preserve my sovereign from his foe,*Say but the word, and I will be his priest. * Car. But I would have him dead, my lord of * Ere you can take due orders for a priest: * I tender so the safety of my liege. *York. And I: and now we three have spoke * It skills not greatly who impugns our doom. Enter a Messenger. * Car. A breach, that craves a quick expedient What counsel give you in this weighty cause? · Som. If York, with all his far-fet policy, Had been the regent there instead of me, He never would have staid in France so long. York. No, not to lose it all, as thou hast done: I rather would have lost my life betimes, *Than bring a burden of dishonour home, *By staying there so long, till all were lost. *Show me one scar character'd on thy skin: *Men's flesh preserv'd so whole, do seldom win. *Q. Mar. Nay then, this spark will prove a raging fire, *If wind and fuel be brought to feed it with:- shame take all! Then, noble York, take thou this task in hand. form'd. But now return we to the false duke Humphrey. For there I'll ship them all for Ireland. And change misdoubt to resolution : Be that thou hop'st to be; or what thou art *Resign to death, it is not worth the enjoying: * Let pale-fac'd fear keep with the mean-born man, *And find no harbour in a royal heart. *Faster than spring-time showers, comes thought on thought; And not a thought, but thinks on dignity. *My brain, more busy than the labouring spider, it,* Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies. *Well, nobles, well, 'tis politicly done, *To send me packing with a host of men: *I fear me, you but warm the starved snake, *Who, cherish'd in your breasts, will sting your hearts. Mess. Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain, To signify that rebels there are up, And put the Englishmen unto the sword: *Send succours, lords, and stop the rage betime, *Before the wound do grow incurable; * For, being green, there is great hope of help. (1) i. e. In the flowers growing on a bank. 'Twas men I lack'd, and you will give them me : (5) It is of no importance. (6) Expeditious * Shall blow ten thousand souls to heaven, or hell: To make commotion, as full well he can, * In Ireland have I seen this stubborn Cade Shaking the bloody darts, as he his bells. * Full often, like a shag-hair'd crafty kerne, * Hath he conversed with the enemy; *And undiscover'd come to me again, * And given me notice of their villanies. This devil here shall be my substitute; For that John Mortimer, which now is dead, *In face, in gait, in speech, he doth resemble: By this I shall perceive the commons' mind, How they affect the house and claim of York. Say, he be taken, rack'd, and tortur'd: "I know, no pain, they can inflict upon him, 'Will make him say-I mov'd him to those arms. Say, that he thrive (as 'tis great like he will,) Why, then from Ireland come I with my strength, And reap the harvest which that rascal sow'd: For, Humphrey being dead, as he shall be, And Henry put apart, the next for me. [Exit. SCENE II-Bury. A room in the palace. Enter certain Murderers, hastily. 1 Mur. Run to my lord of Suffolk; let him know, * We have despatch'd the duke, as he commanded. * 2 Mur. O, that it were to do!-What have we done! Didst ever hear a man so penitent? 1 Mur. "Tis, my good lord. Suff. Away, be gone! [Exeunt Murderers. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, Cardinal Beaufort, Somerset, Lords, and others. K. Hen. Go, call our uncle to our presence Say, we intend to try his grace to-day, Suff. I'll call him presently, my noble lord. #Q. Mar. God forbid any malice should prevail That faultless may condemn a nobleman? *Pray God, he may acquit him of suspicion! *K. Hen. I thank thee, Margaret; these words content me much. Re-enter Suffolk. How now? why look'st thou pale? why tremblest thou? Where is our uncle? what is the matter, Suffolk? Suff. Dead in his bed, my lord; Gloster is dead. Q. Mar. Marry, God forefend! *Car. God's secret judgment:-I did dream to-night, *The duke was dumb, and could not speak a word. [The King swoons. 'Q. Mar. How fares my lord?-Help, lords! the king is dead. *Som. Rear up his body; wring him by the nose. * Q. Mar. Run, go, help, help!-O, Henry, ope thine eyes! *Suff. He doth revive again;-Madam, be patient. *K. Hen. O heavenly God! * Q. Mar. How fares my gracious lord? Suff. Comfort, my sovereign! gracious Henry, comfort! K. Hen. What, doth my lord of Suffolk comfort me? Came he right now to sing a raven's note, Whose dismal tune bereft my vital powers; And thinks he, that the chirping of a wren, By crying comfort from a hollow breast, Can chase away the first-conceived sound? Lay not thy hands on me; forbear, I say; * Hide not thy poison with such sugar'd words. *Their touch affrights me, as a serpent's sting. Thou baleful messenger, out of my sight! Upon thy eye-balls murderous tyranny Sits in grim majesty, to fright the world. Look not upon me, for thine eyes are wounding:Yet do not go away;-Come, basilisk, And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight: *For in the shade of death I shall find joy; In life, but double death, now Gloster's dead. Q. Mar. Why do you rate my lord of Suffolk thus? Although the duke was enemy to him, * Yet he, most Christian-like, laments his death: And for myself,-foe as he was to me, *Might liquid tears, or heart-offending groans, *Or blood-consuming sighs, recall his life, * I would be blind with weeping, sick with groans, *Look pale as primrose, with blood-drinking sighs, And all to have the noble duke alive. What know I how the world may deem of me? For it is known, we were but hollow friends; So shall my name with slander's tongue be It may be judg'd, I made the duke away: wounded, And princes' courts be fill'd with my reproach. *This get I by his death: Ah me, unhappy! To be a queen, and crown'd with infamy! K. Hen. Ah, wo is me for Gloster, wretched man Q. Mar. Be wo for me,5 more wretched than he is. What, dost thou turn away, and hide thy face? K. Hen. Lords, take your places;-And, I||I am no loathsome leper, look on me. pray you all, [Exit. 'Proceed no straiter 'gainst our uncle Gloster, •Than from true evidence, of good esteem, He be approv'd in practice culpable. (1) A violent gust of wind. (2) Irish foot-soldiers, light-armed. *What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf? * Erect his statue then, and worship it, *Or turn our stern upon a dreadful rock? The pretty vaulting sea refus'd to drown me; * Knowing, that thou would'st have me drown'd on shore, *Some violent hands were laid on Humphrey's life! *If my suspect be false, forgive me, God; *For judgment only doth belong to thee! Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips With twenty thousand kisses, and to drain *Upon his face an ocean of salt tears; To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk, *And with my fingers feel his hand unfeeling: But all in vain are these mean obsequies; And, to survey his dead and earthly image, What were it but to make my sorrow greater? The folding-doors of an inner chamber are thrown open, and Gloster is discovered dead in his bed: Warwick and others standing by it. *War. Come hither, gracious sovereign, view this body. *K. Hen. That is to see how deep my grave is made: * With tears as salt as sea, through thy unkindness: *The splitting rocks cower'd in the sinking sands,For, with his soul, fled all my worldly solace; * And would not dash me with their ragged sides; * For seeing him, I see my life in death. *Because thy flinty heart, more hard than they, Might in thy palace perish Margaret. As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs, *When from the shore the tempest beat us back, * I stood upon the hatches in the storm: *And when the dusky sky began to rob My earnest-gaping sight of thy land's view, *I took a costly jewel from my neck,* A heart it was, bound in with diamonds,*And threw it towards thy land;-the sea re ceiv'd it; * And so, I wish'd, thy body might my heart: *And even with this, I lost fair England's view, *And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart; * And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles, *For losing ken of Albion's wished coast. * How often have I tempted Suffolk's tongue *(The agent of thy foul inconstancy.) To sit and watch me, as Ascanius did, *When he to madding Dido would unfold *His father's acts, commenc'd in burning Troy? * Am I not witch'd like her? or thou not false like him? #Ah me, War. It is reported, mighty sovereign, "That good duke Humphrey traitorously is murder'd By Suffolk and the cardinal Beaufort's means. The commons, like an angry hive of bees, That want their leader, scatter up and down, And care not who they sting in his revenge. Myself have calm'd their spleenful mutiny, Until they hear the order of his death. 'War. As surely as my soul intends to live With that dread King that took our state upon him To free us from his Father's wrathful curse, 'I do believe that violent hands were laid Upon the life of this thrice-famed duke. Suff. A dreadful oath, sworn with a solemn tongue! What instance gives lord Warwick for his vow? War. See, how the blood is settled in his face! Oft have I seen a timely-parted ghost,2 Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale, and bloodless, turneth To blush and beautify the cheek again. His eye-balls further out than when he liv'd, Staring full ghastly, like a strangled man: His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretch'd with struggling; His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodg'd. Suff. Why, Warwick, who should do the duke to death? Myself, and Beaufort, had him in protection; War. But both of you were vow'd duke Humphrey's foes; And you, forsooth, had the good duke to keep: K. Hen. That he is dead, good Warwick, 'tis 'Tis like, you would not feast him like a friend; And 'tis well seen, he found an enemy. 'Q. Mar. Then you, belike, suspect these noble men As guilty of duke Humphrey's timeless death. War. Who finds the heifer dead, and bleeding fresh, And sees fast by a butcher with an axe, (2) A body becomes inanimate in the common course of nature, to which violence has not brought la timeless end. Even so suspicious is this tragedy. They say, in him they fear your highness' death; 'Q. Mar. Are you a butcher, Suffolk? where's And mere instinct of love, and loyalty, your knife? Is Beaufort term'd a kite? where are his talons? [Exeunt Cardinal, Som. and others. War. What dares not Warwick, if false Suffolk dare him? Q. Mar. He dares not calm his contumelious Nor cease to be an arrogant controller, Suff. Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanour! War. But that the guilt of murder bucklers thee, Suff. Thou shalt be waking, while I shed thy If from this presence thou dar'st go with me. *Thrice is he arm'd, that hath his quarrel just; Q. Mar. What noise is this? Re-enter Suffolk and Warwick, with their weapons drawn. * Free from a stubborn opposite intent, As being thought to contradict your liking,- Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber, Suff. 'Tis like the commons, rude unpolish'd Could send such message to their sovereign: 'K. Hen. Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from me, Yet did I purpose as they do entreat; For sure, my thoughts do hourly prophesy 'K. Hen. Ungentle queen, to call him gentle No more, say; if thou dost plead for him, But, when I swear, it is irrevocable : If, after three days' space, thou here be'st found *On any ground that I am ruler of, 'K. Hen. Why, how now, lords? your wrath-The world shall not be ransom for thy life.— ful weapons drawn 'Here in our presence? dare you be so bold?— Set all upon me, mighty sovereign. Noise of a crowd within. Re-enter Salisbury. your mind. [Speaking to those within. They will by violence tear him from your palace, * And torture him with grievious ling'ring death. They say, by him the good duke Humphrey died;| 'Come, Warwick, come, good Warwick, go with me; I have great matters to impart to thee. [Exeunt K. Henry, Warwick, Lords, &c. 'Q. Mar. Mischance, and sorrow, go along with (4) i. e. He shall not contaminate this air with This infected breath. Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan, Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban: Q. Mar. Enough, sweet Suffolk; thou torment'st *And these dread curses-like the sun 'gainst glass, Suff. You bade me ban,' and will you bid me Now, by the ground that I am banish'd from, Give *That I may dew it with my mournful tears; thee! 'So, get thee gone, that I may know my grief; * And banished I am, if but from thee. O, go not yet!-Even thus two friends condemn'd Enter Vaux. Were by his side; sometime, he calls the king, The secrets of his overcharged soul: Now, get thee hence: The king, thou know'st, is If thou be found by me, thou art but dead. Suff. If I depart from thee, I cannot live: 'Q. Mar. Away! though parting be a fretful It is applied to a deathful wound. To France, sweet Suffolk: Let me hear from thee; Q. Mar. And take my heart with thee. This way for me. [Exeunt, severally. SCENE III.-London. Cardinal Beaufort's bed-chamber. Enter King Henry, Salisbury, Warwick, and others. The Cardinal in bed, attendants with him. *K. Hen. How fares my lord? speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign. 'Car. If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's Enough to purchase such another island, * K. Hen. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, *Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will. 'Died he not in his bed? where should he die? Can I make men live, whe'r they will or no? 'Q. Mar. Whither goes Vaux so fast? what *O! torture me no more, I will confess. news, I pr'ythee? Vaux. To signify unto his majesty, That cardinal Beaufort is at point of death: That makes him gasp, and stare, and catch the air, Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth. Alive again? then show me where he is; I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him.*He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.—— Comb down his hair; look! look! it stands up right, Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul!Sometime, he talks as if duke Humphrey's ghost Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary (1) Curse. (2) For whereas (3) The messenger of Juno. |