90

But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;
And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere night
They'll be in fresher robes, or they will pluck
The new gay coats o'er the French soldiers' heads
And turn them out of service. If they do this,-
As, if God please they shall,-my ransom then
Will soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour; 95
Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald;

They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;
Which if they have as I will leave 'em them,

Shall leave them little, tell the constable.

Herald. I shall, King Harry. And so, fare thee well; 100 Thou never shalt hear herald any more.

K. Hen. I fear thou'lt once more come again for ransom.

[Exit.

XVIII.

2 KING HENRY VI.

ACT iii. SCENE 1.-ARREST OF GLOUCESTER.

[On the death of Henry V., which happened in France, in the year 1422, he was succeeded by his son Henry VI., then only nine months old. The management of France, which kingdom Henry V. had conquered, was placed in the hands of his brother John, Duke of Bedford, and that of England in the hands of another brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, known as "the good duke Humphrey." During the king's childhood France was lost to us; and the government of England by the Duke of Gloucester was rendered troublesome and difficult by reason of the quarrels, jealousies, and plots of the high nobility. At the time to which we have arrived in the play from which we now quote, these dissensions had reached their height; the young king had just taken upon himself the reins of government, and had married Margaret of Anjou, who, from the first, conceived a violent hatred of Gloucester. The queen and her friends determine to procure his downfall, and we have now to witness his arrest on a charge of high treason. Besides Gloucester and the king, we have in this scene,-the Duke of Suffolk, one of the good duke's greatest enemies; the Dukes of York and Buckingham; Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, son of John of Gaunt, and therefore Henry VI.'s great uncle; and Queen Margaret, all, as will be seen, bent upon Gloucester's downfall.]

SCENE:-The Parliament chamber in the abbey of Bury St. Edmund's.

89. By the mass.-The mass is the Roman Catholic name for the sacrament of Holy Communion. To swear by it, as the king does here, was a very common habit in the middle ages,

Enter GLOUCESTER.

Glou. All happiness unto my lord the king!

Pardon, my liege, that I have stay'd so long.

Suf. Nay, Gloucester, know that thou art come too soon, Unless thou wert more loyal than thou art;

I do arrest thee of high treason here. Glou. Well, Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush Nor change my countenance for this arrest; A heart unspotted is not easily daunted. The purest spring is not so free from mud As I am clear from treason to my sovereign; Who can accuse me? wherein am I guilty? York. 'Tis thought, my lord, that you took bribes of France, And, being protector, stay'd the soldiers'

pay;

By means whereof his highness hath lost France.

5

10

Glou. Is it but thought so? what are they that think it? 15
I never robb'd the soldiers of their pay,

Nor ever had one penny bribe from France.
So help me, God, as I have watch'd the night,
Ay, night by night, in studying good for England;
That doit that e'er I wrested from the king,
Or any groat I hoarded for my use,

20

Be brought against me at my trial-day!

No; many a pound of mine own proper store,
Because I would not tax the needy commons,
Have I dispursed to the garrisons,

25

2. My liege. See § III. note 28.

13. Protector.-Manager in place of the king. Gloucester held this

office while King Henry was a child.

14. His highness.-The king.

18. So help me, God.-A very solemn form of declaration or oath, still

in use on solemn occasions.

18. I have watch'd the night.-I have spent the night watching instead

of sleeping.

20. Doit.-Used here in the sense of a very small sum; it was a small Dutch coin.

21. Groat.-A fourpenny-piece.

24. The needy commons.-The common people.

25, Dispursed.-Given out of my purse.

And never ask'd for restitution.

Car. It serves you well, my lord, to say so much.
Glou. I say no more than truth, so help me God!
York. In your protectorship you did devise

Strange tortures for offenders never heard of,
That England was defam'd by tyranny.

Glou. Why, 'tis well known that, whiles I was protector,
Pity was all the fault there was in me;

For I should melt at an offender's tears,

30

And lowly words were ransom for their fault.
Unless the offender were a murderer,

Or foul felonious thief that fleec'd poor passengers,

I never gave them condign punishment;
Murder indeed, that awful sin, I tortured
Above the felon or what trespass else.

Suf. My lord, these faults are easy, quickly answered;
But mightier crimes are laid unto your charge,
Whereof you cannot easily purge yourself.
I do arrest you in his highness' name;
And here commit you to my lord cardinal,
To keep, until your further time of trial.
King. My lord of Gloucester, 'tis my special hope
That you will clear yourself from all suspect;
My conscience tells me you are innocent.
Glou. Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous;
Virtue is chok'd with foul ambition;

And charity chas'd hence by rancour's hand;

32. Whiles.-An old form of whilst.

33. Pity was all the fault there was in me.—If I had a fault, it was that I was not stern enough, that I was too much given to pity.

37. Fleec'd.-Robbed; the word came to be used in this sense, from the custom of cutting the fleece from the sheep, which has the appearance of robbing the animal.

38. Condign.-Well-deserved; fitting.

41. Easy. -Used here for the adverb easily, modifying answered; a common mode of use in Shakespeare's time.

45. My lord cardinal.-See § VII. note 36.

48. From all suspect.—The verb suspect is here used as a noun, instead of suspicion; this, also, is quite in Shakespeare's style.

Foul subornation is predominant

And equity exil'd your highness' land.
I know their complot is to have my life,

And if my death might make this island happy
And prove the period of their tyranny,

I would expend it with all willingness;

But mine is made the prologue to their play;

For thousands more, that yet suspect no peril,

60

Will not conclude their plotted tragedy.

Beaufort's red sparkling eyes blab his heart's malice,
And Suffolk's cloudy brow his stormy hate;

Sharp Buckingham unburthens with his tongue
The envious load that lies upon his heart;
And dogged York, that reaches at the moon,
Whose overweening arm I have pluck'd back,
By false accuse doth level at my life;

65

And you, my sovereign lady, with the rest,

Causeless have laid disgraces on my head

70

And with your best endeavour have stirr'd up
My liefest liege to be mine enemy;

53. Subornation.-Procuring evidence by foul means; making use of false witnesses.

53. Predominant.-Having the upper hand.

54. Equity.-Fair dealing; honesty.

55. Their complot.-A plot in which several are mixed up; a secret conspiracy.

57. The period of their tyranny.-The end of their tyranny; a period is a full-stop.

59. The prologue to their play.-Many stage-plays are introduced by a speech, sometimes by a dialogue, called the prologue. Gloucester means that if they take his life they will not stop at that, but treating that deed as a prologue, continue their play, by putting to death "thousands more" before the act is played out.

62. Blab. To let out secrets.

66. That reaches at the moon. That strives for what he cannot get. Gloucester was doubtless hinting at York's ambitious designs on the throne.

68. By false accuse.-Verb accuse for noun accusation. See note 48. 69. My sovereign lady.-Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife to Henry VI. 72. My liefest liege.-My liege is the king; liefest means dearest.

Ay, all of you have laid your heads together—
Myself had notice of your conventicles-
And all to make away my guiltless life.

I shall not want false witness to condemn me,
Nor store of treasons to augment my guilt;
The ancient proverb will be well effected:
"A staff is quickly found to beat a dog."
Car. My liege, his railing is intolerable;

If those that care to keep your royal person
From treason's secret knife and traitor's rage
Be thus upbraided, chid and rated at,
And the offender granted scope of speech,
"Twill make them cool in zeal unto your grace.
Suf. Hath he not twit our sovereign lady here,

With ignominious words, though clerkly couch'd,
As if she had subornèd some to swear

False allegations to o'erthrow his state?

Queen. But I can give the loser leave to chide.
Glou. Far truer spoke than meant; I lose, indeed;

Beshrew the winners, for they play'd me false !
And well such losers may have leave to speak.
Buck. He'll wrest the sense, and hold us here all day;
Lord Cardinal, he is your prisoner.

Car. Sirs, take away the duke, and guard him sure.
Glou. Ah! thus King Henry throws away his crutch
Before his legs be firm to bear his body.

74. Conventicles.-Secret meetings.

77. Augment.-Add to; make more of.

75

80

85

90

95

78. Effected. In this case the word means illustrated, shown to be true. 80. Intolerable.-Not to be borne.

83. Chid. After be we should expect chidden. Shakespeare and other writers of the time often used the past tense for the participle;

many participles, too, have changed since the poet's time. See § XII. note 32.

86. Twit.-A short form of twitted, that is, taunted.

87. Ignominious.-Shameful; dishonourable.

87. Clerkly couch'd.--Put together in a clerkly or learned manner. 92. Beshrew.-See § XII. note 63.

94. He'll wrest the sense.-He'll twist the meaning of whatever you say.