Urs. A glow-worm !

K. Hen. Now, if Frion,
His practised politician, wear a brain
Of proof, king Perkin will in progress ride
Through all his large dominions; let us meet him,
And tender homage: ha, sirs ! liegemen ought
To

pay their fealty.
Daw. Would the rascal were,
With all his rabble, within twenty miles
Of London!

K. Hen. Farther off is near enough
To lodge him in his home: I'll wager odds,
Surrey and all his men are either idle,
Or hasting back; they have not work, I doubt,
To keep them busy.

Daw. 'Tis a strange conceit, sir.

K. Hen. Such voluntary favours as our people In duty aid us with, we never scatter'd On cobweb parasites, or lavish'd out In riot, or a needless hospitality : No undeserving favourite doth boast His issues from our treasury; our charge Flows through all Europe, proving us but steward Of every contribution, which provides Against the creeping canker of disturbance. Is it not rare then, in this toil of state Wherein we are embark’d, with breach of sleep, Cares, and the noise of trouble, that our mercy Returns nor thanks, nor comfort? Still the West Murmur and threaten innovation,

our government tyrannical,

Whisper

VOL. II.

H

Deny us what is ours, nay, spurn their lives,
Of which they are but owners by our gift ;
It must not be.

Oxf. It must not, should not.

Enter a Messenger.
K. Hen. So then--
To whom?

Mess. This packet to your sacred majesty.
K. Hen. Sirrah, attend without. [Exit Mess.
Oxf. News from the North, upon my life.

Daw. Wise Henry
Divines aforehand of events; with him
Attempts and execution are one act.
K. Hen. Urswick, thine ear; Frion is caught!

the man
Of cunning is out-reach'd; we must be safe :
Should reverend Morton, our archbishop, move
To a translation higher yet,' I tell thee,
My Durham owns a brain deserves that See.
He's nimble in his industry, and mounting-
Thou hear'st me?

Urs. And conceive your highness fitly.
K. Hen. Dawbeney and Oxford, since our army

stands

7

to a translation higher yet.] i. e. to heaven. Moreton was at this time Archbishop of Canterbury. He died about three years after this period, at the great age of ninety. The king seems to have changed his opinion with respect to Fox, who was removed on the archbishop's death, not to Canterbury, but to Winchester, in which see he died. Moreton and Fox were fast friends ; they rank high among our prelates, and were, in fact, both very eminent

a

Entire, it were a weakness to admit
The rust of laziness to eat amongst them :
Set forward toward Salisbury; the plains
Are most commodious for their exercise,
Ourself will take a' muster of them there;
And, or disband them with reward, or else
Dispose as best concerns us.

Daw. Salisbury!
Sir, all is peace at Salisbury.

K. Hen. Dear friend
The charge must be our own; we would a little
Partake the pleasure with our subjects' ease:
Shall I entreat your loves?

Oxf. Command our lives.
K. Hen. You are men know how to do, not to

forethink. My bishop is a jewel tried, and perfect;. A jewel, lords. The post who brought these

letters,
Must speed another to the mayor of Exeter ;
Urswick, dismiss him not.

Urs. He waits your pleasure.
K. Hen. Perkin a king ? a king!
Urs. My gracious lord.
K. Hen. Thoughts, busied in the sphere of

royalty,
Fix not on creeping worms, without their stings,
Mere excrements of earth. The use of time
Is thriving safety, and a wise prevention
Of ills expected: we are resolv'd for Salisbury.

[Excunt.

a

SCENE V.

The Coast of Cornwall. A general shout within.—Enter WARBECK, Dal

YELL, KATHERINE, and JANE. War. After so many storms as wind and seas Have threaten'd to our weather-beaten ships, At last, sweet fairest, we are safe arrived On our dear mother earth, ungrateful only To heaven and us, in yielding sustenance To sły usurpers of our throne and right. These general acclamations are an omen Of happy process to their welcome lord : They flock in troops, and from all parts, with wings Of duty fly, to lay their hearts before us. Unequall'd pattern of a matchless wife, How fares my dearest yet?

Kath. Confirm'd in health;
By which I may the better undergo
The roughest face of change; but I shall learn
Patience to hope, since silence courts affliction,
For comforts, to this truly noble gentleman,
(Rare unexampled pattern of a friend !)
And, my beloved Jane, the willing follower
Of all misfortunes.

Dal. Lady, I return
But barren crops of early protestations,
Frost-bitten in the spring of fruitless hopes.

Jane. I wait but as the shadow to the body, For, madam, without you let me be nothing.

War. None talk of sadness, we are on the way Which leads to victory; keep cowards thoughts With desperate sullenness! The lion faints not Lock'd in a grate, but, loose, disdains all force Which bars his prey, (and we are lion-hearted,) Or else no king of beasts.-[Another general shout

within.]–Hark, how they shout; Triumphant in our cause! bold confidence Marches on bravely, cannot quake at danger.

Enter SKETON. Sket. Save king Richard the Fourth! save thee King of hearts! The Cornish blades are men of mettle; have proclaimed through Bodnam, and the whole county, my sweet prince monarch of England: four thousand tall yeomen, with bow and sword, already vow to live and die at the foot of King Richard.

Enter ASTLEY. Ast. The mayor, our fellow-counsellor, is servant for an emperor. Exeter is appointed for the rendezvous, and nothing wants to victory but courage and resolution. Sigillatum et datum decimo Septembris, anno Regni Regis primo, et cætera; confirmatum est. All's cock-sure !

War. To Exeter! to Exeter, march on : Commend us to our people; we in person Will lend them double spirits; tell them so. Sket. and Ast. King Richard, king Richard !

[Exeunt Sker. and Ast.