And in that ease I'll tell thee my disease.
This day, in argument upon a case,
Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me;
Among which terms he us'd his lavish tongue
And did upbraid me with my father's death:
Which obloquy set bars before my tongue,
Else with the like I had requited him.
Therefore, good uncle, for my father's sake,
In honour of a true Plantagenet,
And for alliance sake, declare the cause
My father, Earl of Cambridge, lost his head.
Mor. That cause, fair nephew, that imprison'd

me,

And hath detain'd me all my flow'ring youth
Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine,
Was cursed instrument of his decease.

50

Of Edward king, the third of that descent :
During whose reign the Percies of the north,
Finding his usurpation most unjust,
Endeavour'd my advancement to the throne.
The reason mov'd these war-like lords to this
Was, for that, young King Richard thus remov'd,
Leaving no heir begotten of his body,

I was the next by birth and parentage;
For by my mother I derived am

From Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the third son
To King Edward the Third; whereas he
From John of Gaunt doth bring his pedigree,
Being but fourth of that heroic line.

72

80

But mark as in this haughty great attempt
They laboured to plant the rightful heir,
I lost my liberty and they their lives.
Long after this, when Henry the Fifth,
Succeeding his father Bolingbroke, did reign,
Thy father, Earl of Cambridge, then deriv'd
From famous Edmund Langley, Duke of York,
Marrying my sister that thy mother was,
Again in pity of my hard distress
Levied an army, weening to redeem
And have install'd me in the diadem;
But, as the rest, so fell that noble earl,
And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers,
In whom the title rested, were suppress'd.
Plan. Of which, my lord, your honour is the

last.

Mor. True; and thou seest that I no issue have,
And that my fainting words do warrant death.
Thou art my heir; the rest I wish thee gather:
But yet be wary in thy studious care.
Plan. Thy grave admonishments prevail with

me:

And like a mountain, not to be remov'd.
But now thy uncle is removing hence,
As princes do their courts, when they are cloy'd
With long continuance in a settled place.
Plan. O, uncle! would some part of my young
years

Might but redeem the passage of your age.
Mor. Thou dost then wrong me, as that
slaughterer doth

Which giveth many wounds when one will kill.
Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good;
Only give order for my funeral :

And so farewell; and fair be all thy hopes,
And prosperous be thy life in peace and war!
Dies.

Plan. And peace, no war, befall thy parting
soul!

In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage,
And like a hermit overpass'd thy days.
Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast;
And what I do imagine let that rest.
Keepers, convey him hence; and I myself 129
Will see his burial better than his life.

Exeunt Gaolers, bearing out the
body of MORTIMER,
Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer,
Chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort:
And for those wrongs, those bitter injuries,
Which Somerset hath offer'd to my house,
I doubt not but with honour to redress;
And therefore haste I to the parliament,
Either to be restored to my blood,

Or make my ill the advantage of my good. Exit.

ACT III.

SCENE I.-London. The Parliament House. Flourish. Enter King HENRY, EXETER, Glov CESTER, WARWICK, SOMERSET, and SUF FOLK; the Bishop of WINCHESTER, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, and Others. GLOUCESTER offers to put up a bill; WINCHESTER snatches it, and tears it.

Win. Com'st thou with deep premeditated
lines,

With written pamphlets studiously devis'd,
Humphrey of Gloucester? If thou canst accuse,
Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention, suddenly;
As I with sudden and extemporal speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.
Glou. Presumptuous priest! this place com-
mands my patience

90 Or thou should'st find thou hast dishonour'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forg'd, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer,
Froward by nature, enemy to peace :
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree:
And for thy treachery, what 's more manifest!
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London-bridge as at the Tower.

100

But yet methinks my father's execution
Was nothing less than bloody tyranny.
Mor. With silence, nephew, be thou politic:
Strong-fixed is the house of Lancaster,

20

Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted.
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.
Win. Gloucester, I do defy thee.

vouchsafe

Lords,

30

To give me hearing what I shall reply.
If I were covetous, ambitious, or perverse,
As he will have me, how am I so poor?
Or how haps it I seek not to advance
Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissension, who preferreth peace
More than I do, except I be provok'd?
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that that hath incens'd the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he;
No one but he should be about the king;
And that engenders thunder in his breast,
And makes him roar these accusations forth. 40
But he shall know I am as good-

Glou.

Thou bastard of my grandfather!

As good!

Win. Ay, lordly sir; for what are you, I pray,
But one imperious in another's throne?

Glou. Am I not protector, saucy priest?
Win. And am not I a prelate of the church?
Glou. Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps,
And useth it to patronage his theft.
Win. Unreverent Gloucester !
Glou.

Thou art reverent,
Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life. 50
Win. Rome shall remedy this.
War.
Roam thither then.
Som. My lord, it were your duty to forbear.
War. Ay, see the bishop be not overborne.
Som. Methinks my lord should be religious,
And know the office that belongs to such.
War. Methinks his lordship should be
humbler;

It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.

Som. Yes, when his holy state is touch'd so

near.

60

War. State holy or unhallow'd, what of that?
Is not his grace protector to the king?
Plan. Aside. Plantagenet, I see, must hold his
tongue,

Lest it be said 'Speak, sirrah, when you should;
Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?'
Else would I have a fling at Winchester.

Can you, my lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer a peace
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?
War. Yield, my lord protector; yield, Win-
chester;

Except you mean with obstinate repulse
To slay your sovereign and destroy the realm.

K. Hen. Uncles of Gloucester and of Win- You see what mischief and what murder too

Hath been enacted through your enmity:
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
Win. He shall submit, or I will never yield.
Glou. Compassion on the king commands me
stoop;

Or I would see his heart out ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of me.

121

War. Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke
Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,
As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stern and tragical?

Glou. Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.
K. Hen. Fie, uncle Beaufort! I have heard
you preach

130

That malice was a great and grievous sin;
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same?

War. Sweet king! the bishop hath a kindly
gird.

For shame, my lord of Winchester, relent!
What shall a child instruct you what to do?

| Burns under feigned ashes of fog'd love,
And will at last break out into a flame:
As fester'd members rot but by degree,
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy
Which in the time of Henry nam'd the Fifth
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe;
That Henry born at Monmouth should win all,
And Henry born at Windsor should lose all : 200
Which is so plain that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time. Exit.

An alarum. Enter TALBOT in an excursion.

Great Coeur-de-Lion's heart was buried,

Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with So sure I swear to get the town or die.

thy tears,

If Talbot but survive thy treachery.
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
That hardly we escap'd the pride of France. 4)

Exit.

Alarum. Excursions. Enter, from the town, BEDFORD, brought in sick in a chair. Enter TALBOT and BURGUNDY without. Then, enter on the walls, JOAN LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, the Bastard of ORLEANS, ALENÇON, REIGNIER,

and Others.

Bur. My vows are equal partners with thy vows.
Tal. But ere we go, regard this dying prince,
The valiant Duke of Bedford. Come, my lord,
We will bestow you in some better place,
Fitter for sickness and for crazy age.

91

Bed. Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me;
Here will I sit before the walls of Roan,
And will be partner of your weal or woe.
Bur. Courageous Bedford, let us now per-
suade you.

Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once I read
That stout Pendragon in his litter sick
Came to the field and vanquished his foes.
Methinks I should revive the soldiers' hearts,

Joan. Good morrow, gallants! Want ye corn Because I ever found them as myself.
for bread?

I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast
Before he 'll buy again at such a rate.
'Twas full of darnel; do you like the taste?
Bur. Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless
courtezan!

I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own,
And make thee curse the harvest of that corn.
Cha. Your grace may starve perhaps before
that time.

Bed. O let no words, but deeds, revenge this
treason.

Jean. What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance,

And run a tilt at death within a chair?

50

Tal. Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite,
Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours!
Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age
And twit with cowardice a man half dead?
Damsel, I'll have a bont with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
Joan. Are ye so hot, sir? Yet, Pucelle, hold
thy peace;

If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow.

The English whisper together in council. God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker? GO

Tal. Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field?

Jean. Belike your lordship takes us then for fools,

To try if that our own be ours or no.

Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecate,
But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest;
Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?
Alen. Signior, no.

Tal. Signior, hang! base muleters of France!
Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls,
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen.

70

Joan. Away, captains! let's get us from the
walls,

For Talbot means no goodness by his looks.
God be wi' you, my lord: we came but to tell you
That we are here.

Exeunt JOAN LA PUCELLE, etc., from the walls.
Tal. And there will we be too ere it be long,
Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!
Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,
Prick'd on by public wrongs sustain'd in France,
Either to get the town again or die;
And I, as sure as English Henry lives,
And as his father here was conqueror,
As sure as in this late-betrayed town

89

Tal. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!
Then be it so heavens keep old Bedford safe!
And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,
But gather we our forces out of hand,
And set upon our boasting enemy.

101

Exeunt all but BEDFORD and Attendants. Alarum. Excursions. Enter Sir JOHN FASTOLFE and a Captain.

Cap. Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste?

Fast. Whither away! to save myself by flight:
We are like to have the overthrow again.

Cap. What will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot?
Fast.

Ay, Exit.

All the Talbots in the world, to save my life.