And even with this, I lost fair England's | Attracts the same for aidance

view,

And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart;
And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles,
For losing ken of Albion's wished coast.
How often have I tempted Suffolk's tongue
(The agent of thy foul inconstancy,)
To sit and witch me, as Ascanius did,
When he to madding Dido, would unfold

His father's acts, commenc'd in burning Troy?
Am I not witch'd like her? or thou not false

like him?

Ah! me, I can no more! Die, Margaret !
For Henry weeps, that thou dost live so long.
Noise within. Enter WARWICK and SALIS-
BURY. The Commons press to the door.
War. It is reported, mighty sovereign,
That good duke Humphrey traitorously is mur-

der'd

By Suffolk and the cardinal Beaufort's means:
The commons, like an angry hive of bees,
That want their leader, scatter up and down,
And care not who they sting in his revenge.
Myself bave calm'd their spleenful mutiny,
Until they hear the order of his death.

K. Hen. That he is dead, good Warwick,
too true;

But how he died, God knows, not Henry:
Enter his chamber, view his breathless corpse,
And comment then upon his sudden death.

'gainst the

enemy; Which with the heart there cools and ne'er te.

turneth

To blush and beautify the cheek again.
But see, his face is black, and full of blood;
His eye-balls farther out than when he liv'd,
Staring full ghastly like a strangled man:
His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretch'd with
struggling;

His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd
And tugg'd for life, and was by strength sub
du'd.

Look on the sheets his hair, you see, is stick-
ing;
His well-proportioned beard made rough and
rugged,

Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodg'd.
It cannot be, but he was murder'd here;
The least of all these signs were probable.

Suf. Why, Warwick, who should do the duke
to death?

Myself and Beaufort had him in protection;
And we, I hope, Sir, are no murderers.

War. But both of you were vow'd duke
Humphrey's foes;

'tis And you, forsooth, had the good duke to keep :
'Tis like, you would not feast him like a
friend;

War. That I shall do, my liege :-Stay,

Salisbury,

If my suspect be false, forgive me, God;
For judgment only doth belong to thee!
Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips
With twenty thousand kisses, and to drain
Upon his face an ocean of salt tears;
To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk,
And with my fingers feel his hand unfeeling:
But all in vain are these mean obsequies;
And, to survey his dead and earthly image,
What were it but to make my sorrow greater?
The folding Doors of an inner Chamber are
thrown open, and GLOSTER is discovered
dead in his Bed: WARWICK and others
standing by it.

War. Come hither, gracious sovereign, view
this body.

K. Hen. That is to see how deep my grave
is made:

For, with his soul, fled all my worldly solace;
For seeing him, I see my life in death. *

War. As surely as my soul intends to live
With that dread King that took our state upon

him

And 'tis well seen he found an enemy.

Q. Mar. Then you, belike, suspect these no-
As guilty of duke Humphrey's timeless death.
blemen
War. Who finds the heifer dead, and bleed-
ing fresh,

And sees fast by a butcher with an axe,
But will suspect 'twas he that made the slaugh

ter ?

Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak?
Even so suspicious is this tragedy.

Q. Mar. Are you the butcher, Suffolk; where's
your knife?

Is Beaufort term'd a kite? where are his talons?

Suf. I, wear no knife, to slaughter sleeping

men;

But here's a vengeful sword, rusted with ease,
That shall be scoured in his rancorous heart,
That slanders me with murder's crimson
badge:

Say, if
That I

thou dar'st, proud lord of Warwickshire,

am faulty in duke Humphrey's death. [Exeunt CARDINAL, SOM. and others. War. What dares not Warwick, if false Suffolk dare hin?

Q. Mar. He dares not calm his contumelious
spirit,

Nor cease to be an arrogant controller,
Though Suffolk dare him twenty thousand
times.

War. Madam, be still with reverence may I
say,

For every word you speak in his behalf,
Is slander to your royal dignity.

Suf. Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demea
nour!

If ever lady wrong'd her lord so much,
Thy mother took into her blameful bed
Some stern untutor'd churl, and noble stock
Was graft with crab-tree slip; whose fruit thou

art,

And never of the Nevils' noble race.

War. But that the guilt of murder bucklers
thee,

And I should rob the deathsman of his fee,
Quitting thee thereby of ten thousand shames
And that my sovereign's presence makes me
mild,

I would, false murderous coward, on thy knee,
Make thee beg pardon for thy passed speech,
And say,-it was thy mother that thou meau'st,
That thou thyself wast born in bastardy:

And, after all this fearful homage done,
Give thee thy hire, and send thy soul to hell,
Pernicious blood-sucker of sleeping men!
Suf. Thou shalt be waking, while I shed thy

blood.

If from this presence thou dar'st go with me.
War. Away even now, or I will drag thee

hence:

Unworthy though thou art, I'll cope with thee, duke Humphrey's And do some service to

ghost.

[Exeunt SUFFOLK and WARWICK. K. Hen. What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted?

Thrice is he arm'd, that hath bis quarrel just;
And be but naked, though lock'd up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
[A Noise within.

I thank them for their tender loving care:
And bad not been 'cited so by them,
Yet did I purpose as they do entreat;
For sure, my thoughts do hourly prophesy
Mischance unto my state by Suffolk's means.
And therefore, by His majesty I swear,
Whose far unworthy deputy I am,

He shall not breathe infection in this air
But three days longer, on the pain of death.
[Exit SALISBURY
Q. Mar. O Henry, let me plead for gentle
Suffolk !

K. Hen. Ungentle queen, to call him gentle
Suffolk.

No more, I say; if thou dost plead for him,
Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath.
Had I but said, I would have kept my word;
But, when I swear, it is irrevocable :-
If, after three days space, thou here be'st found
On any ground that I am ruler of,

Q. Mar. What noise is this?
Re-enter SUFFOLK and WARWICK, with their The world shall not be ransom for thy life.-
Weapons drawn.

K. Hen. Why, how now, lords? your wrath.
ful weapons drawn

Here in our presence? dare you be so bold ?-
Why, what tumultuous clamour have we here?
Suf. The traitorous Warwick, with the men
of Bury,

Set all upon me, mighty sovereign.

Noise of a Crowd within. Re-enter

BURY.

Come, Warwick, come good Warwick, go with me;

I have great matters to impart to thee.

[Exeunt HENRY, WARWICK, Lords, &c. Q. Mar. Mischance and sorrow go along with you!

Heart's discontent, and sour affliction,

Be playfellows to keep you company!
There's two of you; the devil inake a third!
SALIS-And threefold vengeance tend upon your steps!
Suf. Cease, gentle queen, these execrations,
And let thy Suffolk take his beavy leave.

Sal. Sirs, stand apart; the king shall know your mind.[Speaking to those within. Dread lord, the commons send you word by

me,

Unless false Suffolk straight be done to death,
Or banished fair England's territories,
They will by violence tear him from your
palace,

And torture him with grievous ling'ring death
They say, by him the good duke Humphrey

died;

They say, in him they fear your highness' death;
And mere instinct of love and loyalty,
Free from a stubborn opposite intent,
As being thought to contradict your liking,
Makes them thus forward in his banishment.
They say, in care of your most royal person,
That, if your highness should intend to sleep,
And charge-that no man should disturb your

rest,

In pain of your dislike, or pain of death;
Yet notwithstanding such a strait edict,
Were there a serpent seen, with forked tongue,
That slily glided towards your majesty,
It were but necessary you were wak'd;
Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber,
The mortal worm might make the sleep eter-

nal:

And therefore do they cry, though you forbid,
That they will guard you, whe'r you will, or

no,

From such fell serpents as false Suffolk is;
With whose envenomed and fatal sting,
Your loving uncle, twenty times his worth,
They say, is shamefully bereft of life.
Commons. [Within.] An answer from the
king, my lord of Salisbury.

Suf. 'Tis like, the commons, rude unpolish'd
hinds,

Could send such message to their sovereign :
But you, my lord, were glad to be employ'd,
To show how quaint and orator you are:
But all the honour Salisbury hath won,
Is-that he was the lord ambassador,
Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king.
Commons. [Within.] An auswer from the king,
or we'll all break in.

K. Hen. Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from

Q. Mar. Fie, coward woman, and soft-hearted
wretch !

Hast thou not spirit to curse thine enemies?
Suf. A plague upon them! wherefore should
I curse them?

Would

curses kill, as doth the mandrake's
groan,

I would invent as bitter-searching terms,
As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear,
Deliver'd strongly through my fixed teeth,
With full as many signs of deadly hate,
As lean-fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave:
My tongue should stumble in mine earnest
words;

Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint;
My hair be fix'd on end, as one distract;
Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban:
And even now my burden'd heart would break,
Poison be their
Should I not curse them.

That thou might'st think upon these by the seal,| Through whom a thousand sighs are breath'd for thee!

So, get thee gone, that I may know my grief;
'Tis but surmis'd whilst thou art standing by,
As one that surfeits thinking on a want.

I will repeal thee, or, be well assur'd,
Adventure to be banished myself:

And banished I am, if but from thee.
Go, speak not to me; even now be gone.-
Oh! go not yet!-Even thus two friends con-
demn'd

Embrace and kiss, and take ten thousand

leaves,

Loather a hundred times to part than die.
Yet now farewell; and farewell life with thee!
Suf. Thus is poor Suffolk ten times banished,
Once by the king, and three times thrice by

thee.

'Tis not the land I care for; wert thou hence;
A wilderness is populous enough,

So Suffolk had thy heavenly company:
For where thou art, there is the world itself,
With every several pleasure in the world;
And where thou art not, desolation.
I can no more :-Live thou to joy thy life;
Myself no joy in nought, but that thou livest.

Enter VAUX.

SCENE III.-London.-Cardinal BEAUFORT'S
Bed-chamber.

Enter King HENRY, SALISBURY, WARWICK,
and others.-The CARDINAL in Bed; Atten-
dants with him.

K. Hen. How fares my lord? Speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign.

Car. If thou be'st death, I'll give thee Eng.
land's treasure,

Enough to purchase such another island,
So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain.

K. Hen. Ah! what a sign it is of evil life,
When death's approach is seen so terrible!
War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to
thee.

Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will.
Died he not in his bed? Where should he die ?
Can I make men live, whe'r they will or no?
Oh! torture me no more, I will confess.-
Alive again? Then show me where he is;
I'll give a thousand pounds to look upon
him.-

Q. Mar. Whither goes Vaux so fast? What He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.

news, I pry'thee?

Vaux. To signify unto his majesty,
That Cardinal Beaufort is at point of death:
For suddenly a grievous sickness took him,
That makes him gasp and stare, and catch the

air,

Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth.
Sometime he talks as if duke Humphrey's
ghost

Were by his side: sometimes he calls the king,
And whispers to his pillow, as to him,
The secrets of his overcharged soul:
And I am sent to tell his majesty,
That even now he cries aloud for him.

Q. Mar. Go, tell this heavy message to the
king.
[Exit VAUX.

Ah me! what is this world? What news are
these?

But wherefore grieve I at an hour's poor loss,
Omitting Suffolk's exile, my soul's treasure?
Why only, Suffolk, mourn I not for thee,

And with the southern clouds contend in tears;
Their's for the earth's increase, mine for my
sorrows?

Now, get thee hence the king thou know'st is

coming;

If thou be found by me, thou art but dead.

Suf. If I depart from thee, I cannot live :
And in thy sight to die, what were it else,
But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap?
Here could I breathe my soul into the air,
As mild and gentle as the cradle babe,
Dying with mother's dug between its lips:
Where, from thy sight, I should be raging

mad,

And cry out for thee to close up mine eyes.
To have thee with thy lips to stop my mouth;
So shouldst thou either turn my flying soul,
Or I should breathe it so into thy body,
And then it liv'd in sweet Elysium.

To die by thee were but to die in jest ;
From thee to die, were torture more than

death:

O let me stay, befall what may befall.

Comb down his hair; look! look! it stands

upright,

Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul !-
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him.
Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary

K. Hen. O thou eternal Mover of the bea-
vens,

Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch!
That lays strong siege upon this wretch's soul,
O beat away the busy meddling fiend,
And from his bosom purge this black despair!
War. See how the pangs of death doth make

him grin.

Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably.

K. Hen. Peace to his soul, if God's plea-
sure be!

Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss,
Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.-
He dies, and makes no sign; O God, forgive
him!

War. So bad a death argues a monstrous
life.

K. Hen. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners
all.-

Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close:
And let us all to meditation.
[Excunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I-Kent.-The sea-shore near
Dover.

Firing heard at sea.-Then enter from a
Boat, a CAPTAIN, a MASTER, a MASTER'S-
MATE, WALTER WHITMORE, and others;
with them SUFFOLK, and other Gentlemen,
Prisoners.

Cap. The gaudy, blabbing, and remoseful *
day

Is crept into the bosom of the sea;
And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades

Q. Mar. Away! Though parting be a fretful That drag the tragic melancholy night;

Cade. I fear neither sword nor fire. Smith. He need not fear the sword, his coat is of proof. [Aside. Dick. But, methinks, he should stand in fear of fire, being burnt i'the hand for stealing of sheep. [Aside. Cade. Be brave then; for your captain is Body.brave, and vows reformation. There shall be, in England, seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny the three-hoop'd pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in common, and in when I am king, (as king I will be)Cheapside shall my palfry go to grass: And,