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I can express no kinder fign of love,

Than this kind kifs. O Lord, that lend'ft me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
For thou haft giv'n me, in this beauteous face,
A world of earthly bleffings to my foul;

If fympathy of love unite our thoughts.

Q. Mar. Great King of England, and my gracious lord,

The mutual conf'rence that my mind hath had,
By day, by night, waking, and in my dreams,
In courtly company, or at my beads,
With you 3 mine alder-lievest Sovereign;
Makes me the bolder to falute my King
With ruder terms; fuch as my wit affords,
And over-joy of heart doth minister.

K. Henry. Her fight did ravish, but her grace in fpeech,

Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,

Make me from wondring fall to weeping joys,
Such is the fulnefs of my heart's content.

Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.
All kneel. Long live Queen Margret, England's
happiness!

Q. Mar. We thank you all.

[Flourif. Suf. My lord protector, fo it pleafe your grace, Here are the articles of contracted Peace,

Between our Sovereign and the French King Charles,
For eighteen months concluded by confent.

Glo. [reads.] Imprimis, It is agreed between the French King, Charles, and William de la Pole Marquifs of Suffolk, Ambassador for Henry King of England, that the faid Henry shall efpoufe the lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier King of Naples, Sicilia, and Je- . rufalem, and crown her Queen of England, ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing.

3

mine alder-lieveft Sovereign;] Alder-lieveft is an old English word given to him to whom the fpeaker is fupremely attached: Lieveft being the fuperlative of the comparative, levar, ratber, from lief. So Hall in his Chronicle, Henry VI. Folio 12. Rygbt bygbe and mighty Prince, and my ryght noble, and, after one, levest Lord.

Item. That the Dutchy of Anjou, and the County of Maine, fhall be releafed and delivered to the King her father. [Lets fall the paper.

K. Henry. Uncle, how now?

Glo. Pardon me, gracious lord;

Some fudden qualm hath struck me to the heart,
And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.
K. Henry. Uncle of Winchefter, I pray, read on.

Win. Item, That the Dutchies of Anjou and Maine fall be releafed and delivered to the King her father, and fhe fent over of the King of England's own proper coft and charges, without having any dowry.

K. Henry. They please us well. Lord Marquifs, kneel you down ;

We here create thee the firft duke of Suffolk,
And gird thee with the fword. Coufin of York,
We here discharge your Grace from being Regent
I'th' parts of France, 'till term of eighteen months
Be full expir'd. Thanks, uncle Winchester,
Glofter, York, Buckingham, and Somerset,
Salisbury and Warwick;

We thank you for all this great favour done,
In entertainment to my princely Queen.
Come, let us in, and with all speed provide
To fee her coronation be perform'd.

[Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk,

SCENE II.

Manent the reft.

Glo. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,
To you Duke Humphry muft unload his grief,
Your grief, the common grief of all the land.
What! did my brother Henry spend his youth,
His valour, coin, and people in the wars ?
Did he fo often lodge in open field,

In winter's cold, and fummer's parching heat,
To conquer France, his true inheritance?
And did my brother Bedford toil his wits
To keep by policy what Henry got?

Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham,

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3.

Brave.

Brave York, and Salisbury, victorious Warwick,
Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy?
Or hath mine uncle Beauford, and myself,
With all the learned council of the realm,
Studied fo long, fat in the council-house,
Early and late, debating to and fro,

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe?
And was his Highnefs in his infancy
Crowned in Paris, in defpight of foes?

And fhall these labours and thefe honours die?
Shall Henry's Conqueft, Bedford's vigilance,
Your deeds of war, and all our counsel die?
O peers of England, fhameful is this league,
Fatal this marriage; cancelling your fame,
Blotting your names from books of memory;
Razing the characters of your renown,
Defacing monuments of conquer'd France,
Undoing all, as all had never been.

Car. Nephew, what means this paffionate difcourfe?

This peroration with fuch circumstances?

For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it ftill.

Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it if we can;

But now it is impoffible we should.

Suffolk, the new-made Duke that rules the roaft,
Hath giv'n the dutchy of Anjou and Maine
Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leannefs of his purfe.

Sal. Now, by the death of him who dy'd for all,
These counties were the keys of Normandy:
But wherefore

weeps

Warwick, my

valiant fon? War. For grief that they are paft recovery. For were there hope to conquer them again,

My fword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no tears.
Anjou and Maine! myfelf did win them both :
Those provinces thefe arms of mine did conquer.
And are the cities, that I got with wounds,
Delivered up again with peaceful words?

York. For Suffolk's Duke, may he be fuffocate,
That dims the honour of this warlike ifle!
France fhould have torn and rent my very heart,
Before I would have yielded to this league.

I never

I never read, but England's Kings have had
Large fums of gold, and dowries with their wives:
And our King Henry gives away his own,
To match with her that brings no vantages.
Glo. A proper jeft, and never heard before,
That Suffolk fhould demand a whole fifteenth,
For coft and charges in tranfporting her:

She should have ftaid in France, and starv'd in France,
Before

Car. My lord of Glo'fter, now ye grow too hot: It was the pleasure of my lord the King.

[Exit.

Glo. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind.
'Tis not my fpeeches that you do mislike,
But 'tis my prefence that doth trouble you.
Rancour will out, proud prelate; in thy face,
I fee thy fury if I longer stay,
We fhall begin our ancient bickerings.
Lordings, farewel; and fay, when I am gone,
I prophefy'd, France will be loft ere long.
Car. So, there goes our protector in a rage:
"Tis known to you, he is mine enemy:
Nay more, an enemy unto you all ;
And no great friend, I fear me, to the King.
Confider, lords, he is the next of blood,
And heir apparent to the English crown.
Had Henry got an empire by his marriage,
4 And all the wealthy kingdoms of the caft,
There's reafon he should be difpleas'd at it.
Look to it, lords, let not his fmoothing words.
Bewitch your hearts; be wife and circumfpect.
What though the common people favour him,
Calling him Humphry, the good Duke of Glo'fter,
Clapping their hands and crying with loud voice,
Jefu maintain your royal excellence!

With, God preferve the good Duke Humphry!
I fear me, lords, for all this flattering glofs,.
He will be found a dangerous protector.

Buck. Why fhould he then protect our fovereign,

4 And all the wealthy kingdoms of the wEST,] certainly Shakespear

wrote EAST.

He being of age to govern of himself?
Coufin of Somerset, join you

with me,

And all together with the Duke of Suffolk,
We'll quickly hoift Duke Humphry from his feat.
Car. This weighty bufinefs will not brook delay.
I'll to the Duke of Suffolk prefently.

[Exit.
Som. Coufin of Buckingham, though Humphry's pride
And greatnefs of his place be grief to us,
Yet let us watch the haughty Cardinal :
His infolence is more intolerable
Than all the princes in the land befide:
If Glo'fter be difplac'd, he'll be protector.
Buck. Or Somerfet, or I, will be protector,
Defpight Duke Humphry, or the Cardinal.

[Ex. Buckingham and Somerset.

Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him.
While thefe do labour for their own preferment,
Behoves it us to labour for the realm.

I never faw, but Humphry Duke of Glo'fter
Did bear him like a noble gentleman:

Oft have I seen the haughty Cardinal
More like a foldier, than a man o'th' church,
As ftout and proud as he were lord of all,
Swear like a ruffian, and demean himself
Unlike the ruler of a common-weal.
Warwick my fon, the comfort of my age!
Thy deeds, thy plainnefs, and thy houfe-keeping,
Have won the greatest favour of the commons,
Excepting none but good Duke Humphry.
And brother York, thy acts in Ireland,

In bringing them to civil difcipline;

Thy late exploits done in the heart of France,

When thou wert regent for our fovereign,

Have made thee fear'd and honour'd of the people.
Join we together for the publick good,
In what we can, to bridle and fupprefs
The pride of Suffolk, and the Cardinal.
With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition;
And, as we may, cherish Duke Humphry's deeds,
While they do tend the profit of the land.

War,

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