DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. KING HENRY THE SIXTH. HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOSTER, his Uncle. EDWARD and RICHARD, his Sons. DUKE OF SOMERSET, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, of the King's Party. of the York Faction. LORD SCALES, Governor of the Tower. LORD SAY. SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD, and his Brother. SIR JOHN STANLEY. WALTER WHITMORE. A Sea-captain, Master, and Master's Mate. Two Gentlemen, Prisoners with SUFFOLK. VAUX. HUME and SOUTHWELL, Priests. BOLINGBROKE, a Conjurer. A Spirit raised by him. THOMAS HORNER, an Armourer. PETER, his Man. SIMPCOX, an Impostor. Two Murderers. JACK CADE. GEORGE, JOHN, DICK, SMITH, the Weaver, MICHAEL, &c., Cade's Followers. ALEXANDER IDEN, a Kentish Gentleman. MARGARET, Queen to King Henry. ELEANOR, DUCHESS OF GLOSTER. MARGERY JOURDAIN, a Witch. Wife to SIMPCOX. Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Herald; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c. SCENE, in various Parts of England. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. ACT I. SCENE I. London. A Room of State in the Palace. Flourish of Trumpets: then Hautboys. Enter, on one side, King HENRY, Duke of GLOSTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and Cardinal BEAUFORT; on the other, Queen MARGARET, led in by SUFFOLK; YORK, SoMERSET, BUCKINGHAM, and Others, following. Suf. As by your high imperial majesty I had in charge at my depart for France, As procurator to your excellence, To marry princess Margaret for your grace; So, in the famous ancient city, Tours, In presence of the kings of France and Sicil, The dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretaigne, and Alençon, 1 — TWENTY reverend bishops,] So Holinshed, and Hall whom he copied. The quarto, 1600, of "The First Part of the Contention," reads erroneously, "and then the reverend bishops;" but the edition 1619 of the same play corrects it to "twenty," as in the chroniclers. To your most gracious hands, that are the substance The happiest gift that ever marquess gave, K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, queen Margaret: I can express no kinder sign of love, Than this kind kiss.-O Lord! that lends me life, A world of earthly blessings to my soul, If sympathy of love unite our thoughts. Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gracious lord, The mutual conference that my mind hath had By day, by night, waking, and in my dreams, With you mine alderlievest sovereign2, And over-joy of heart doth minister. K. Hen. Her sight did ravish, but her grace in speech, Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty, Makes me from wondering fall to weeping joys; Such is the fulness of my heart's content. Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love. All. Long live queen Margaret, England's happiness! Q. Mar. We thank you all. [Flourish. Suf. My lord protector, so it please your grace, Here are the articles of contracted peace, 2 With you mine ALDERLIEVEST Sovereign,] "Alderlievest" is a compound word, which does not occur in "The First Part of the Contention," where the whole speech is different. It is derived from alder or aller, as Tyrwhitt states, the genitive case plural, and the superlative of liere; it means, dearest of all. The Germans still use the word allerliebst. In English, "alderlievest" is met with in Gascoigne, and in Marston; but the latter gives it to his Dutch Courtesan, who may be supposed to use it as her native word: it is by no means of frequent occurrence. Between our sovereign, and the French king Charles, For eighteen months concluded by consent. Glo. [Reads.] "Imprimis: It is agreed between the French king, Charles, and William de la Poole, marquess of Suffolk, ambassador for Henry king of England, -that the said Henry shall espouse the lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier king of Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem; and crown her queen of England ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing.— -Item,-That the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine, shall be released and delivered to the king her father"— K. Hen. Uncle, how now? Glo. Pardon me, gracious lord; Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no farther. K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. Item,-"It is farther agreed between them, -that the duchies of Anjou and Maine shall be released and delivered over to the king her father; and she sent over of the king of England's own proper cost and charges, without having any dowry." K. Hen. They please us well.-Lord marquess, kneel down: We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk, Salisbury, and Warwick; 3 - and delivered to the king her father] In the quarto "Contention," Gloster breaks off at the first syllable of the word "father," and a stage-direction is added, "Duke Humphrey lets it fall." No such intimation is given in the folio, 1623, and we are to suppose that Winchester picks up the treaty, and that the king, in consequence, requires him to continue the perusal of it. There is a verbal variation between what Gloster has read, as part of the document, and the words Winchester reads. Possibly it was not meant that Gloster should give the exact words, on account of the state of his mind; but still he is more particular than Winchester. We thank you all for this great favour done, [Exeunt King, Queen, and SUFFolk. In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, Early and late, debating to and fro How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe? And was his highness in his infancy Crowned in Paris, in despite of foes1? And shall these labours, and these honours, die? 4 And was his highness in his infancy was Crowned in Paris, in despite of foes] We have substituted " " for hath of the folio, 1623: we have thought this slight change, of one auxiliary verb for another, preferable to the insertion of been in the second line, before "crowned," which is of course to be read as a dissyllable, and is so printed in all the old copies, showing the line to be complete. Steevens, and other modern editors, add a new word, instead of merely correcting one already found in the original text. |