For though he seem, with forged quaint conceit, York. Will not this malice, Somerset, be left? Som. Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out, Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it. K. Hen. Good Lord! what madness rules in brainsick men ; When, for so slight and frivolous a cause, York. Let this dissension first be tried by fight, And then your highness shall command a peace. Som. The quarrel toucheth none but us alone; Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then. York. There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset. Glos. Confirm it so? Confounded be your strife! Much less, to take occasion from their mouths To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves. Let me persuade you take a better course. Exe. It grieves his highness. Good my lords, be friends. K. Hen. Come hither, you that would be com- Henceforth, I charge you, as you love our favor, Beside, what infamy will there arise, Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France! O, think upon the conquest of my father, My tender years; and let us not forego That for a trifle, that was bought with blood! I see no reason, if I wear this rose, [putting on a red rose. That any one should therefore be suspicious I more incline to Somerset than York. Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both. As well they may upbraid me with my crown, Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd. But your discretions better can persuade, Than I am able to instruct or teach : And therefore, as we hither came in peace, Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot; Your angry choler on your enemies. From thence to England; where I hope, ere long, With Charles, Alençon, and that traitorous rout. [florish. Exeunt King Henry, Glos. Som. Win. Suf. and Basset. War. My lord of York, I promise you, the king Prettily, methought, did play the orator. York. And so he did; but yet I like it not, In that he wears the badge of Somerset. War. Tush! that was but his fancy: blame him not: I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm. York. And, if I wist,1 he did,—But let it rest; Other affairs must now be managed. [Exeunt York, Warwick, and Vernon. 1 Thought. Exe. Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice: For, had the passions of thy heart burst out, This jarring discord of nobility, This shouldering of each other in the court, But that it doth presage some ill event. 'Tis much,1 when sceptres are in children's hands; But more, when envy breeds unkind division; There comes the ruin, there begins confusion. [Exit. SCENE II. France. Before Bourdeaux. Enter TALBOT, with his forces. Tal. Go to the gates of Bourdeaux, trumpeter: Summon their general unto the wall. Trumpet sounds a parley. Enter, on the walls, English John Talbot, captains, calls you forth, It is strange. Be humble to us; call my sovereign yours, Gen. Thou ominous and fearful owl of death, Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot. This is the latest glory of thy praise, i. e: to drive or direct.'--Johnson. |