Saying, he'll lade it dry to have his way:
So do I with the Crown, being so far off,
And so I chide the means that keep me from it,
And fo (I fay) I'll cut the Caufes off,
Flattering me with Impoffibilities:
My Eye's too quick, my Heart o'er-weens too much,"
Unlefs my Hand and Strength could equal them.
Well, fay there is no Kingdom then for Richard:
What other pleasure can the World afford?
I'll make my Heaven in a Lady's lap,
And deck my Body in gay Ornaments,
And 'witch fweet Ladies with my Words and Looks
Oh miferable thought! and more unlikely,
Than to accomplish twenty Golden Crowns.
Why, Love forfwore me in my Mother's Womb
And, for I fhould not deal in her foft Laws,
She did corrupt frail Nature with fome Bribe,
To fhrink mine Arm like to a wither'd fhrub,
To make an envious Mountain on my Back,
Where fits Deformity to mock my Body;
To fhape my Legs of an unequal fize,
To difproportion me in every part:
Like to a Chaos, or unlick'd Bear whelp
That carries no impreffion like the Dam.
And am I then a Man to be belov'd?
Oh monftrous Fault, to harbour such a Thought-
Then fince this Earth affords no Joy to me,
But to command, to check, to o'er-bear fuch
As are of better Perfon than my self;
I'll make my Heaven to dream upon the Crown,
And whiles I live t'account this World but Hell,
Until my mif-fhap'd Trunk that bears this Head,
Be round impaled with a glorious Crown.
And yet I know not how to get the Crown,
For many Lives ftand between me and home:
And I, like one loft in a thorny Wood,
That rents the Thorns and is rent with the Thorns,
Seeking a way, and ftraying from the way,
Not knowing how to find the open Air,
But toiling defperately to find it out,
Torment my felf to catch the English Crown;
And from that torment I will free my self,
Or hew my way out with a bloody Ax.
Why I can fmile, and murther whiles I fmile,
And cry, Content, to that which grieves my Heart
And wet my Cheeks with artificial Tears,
And frame my Face to all Occafions.
I'll drown more Sailors than the Mermaid fhall,
I'll flay more Gazers than the Bafilisk,
I'll play the Orator as well as Neftor,
Deceive more flily than Ulyffes could,
And like a Sinon, take another Troy.
I can add Colours to the Camelion,
Change fhapes with Proteus for Advantages,
And fet the murtherous Matchevil to School
Can I do this, and cannot get a Crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.
Flourish. Enter King Lewis, Bona, Bourbon, Prince of Wales, Queen Margaret, and the Earl of Oxford. Lewis fits, and rifeth up again.
K. Lew. Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret,
Sit down with us; it.ill befits thy State,
And Birth, that thou should'st stand, whiles Lewis fits.
Queen. No, mighty King of France; now Margaret
Muft ftrike her Sail, and learn a while to ferve,
Where Kings command. I was, I must confess,
Great Albion's Queen, in former golden Days:
But now mifchance hath trod my Title down,
And with dishonour laid me on the Ground,
Where I must take like feat unto my Fortune,
And to my humble feat conform my felf.
K. Lew. Why fay, fair Queen, whence springs this deep despair?
Queen. From fuch a caufe as fills mine Eyes with
Tears,
And ftops my Tongue, while my Heart's drown'd in Cares.
K. Lew. Whate'er it be, be thou ftill like thy felf,
And fit thee by our fide.
Yield not thy Neck to Fortune's yoak,
But let thy dauntless Mind ftill ride in triumph.
Over all' mifchance.
Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy Grief,
It fhall be eas'd, if France can yield Relief.
Queen. Thofe gracious Words revive my drooping
Thoughts,
And give my Tongue-ty'd Sorrows leave to speak...
Now therefore be it known to Noble Lewis,
That Henry, fole poffeffor of my Love,
Is, of a King, become a banifh'd Man,
And forc'd to live in Scotland a Forlorn;
While proud ambitious Edward, Duke of York,
Ufurps the Regal Title, and the Seat
Of England's true anointed lawful King.
This is the Caufe that I, poor Margaret,
With this my Son Prince Edward, Henry's Heir,
Am come to crave thy juft and lawful Aid:
And if thou fail us, all our hope is done,
Scotland hath Will to help, but cannot help:
Our People, and our Peers, are both mifled,
Our Treasure feiz'd, our Soldiers put to flight,
And, as thou feéft, our felves in heavy plight.
K. Lew. Renowned Queen, with patience calma the
Storm,
While we bethink a means to break it off.
Queen. The more we ftay, the ftronger grows our Foe? K. Lew. The more I ftay, the more I'll fuccour thee. Queen. O, but impatience waiteth on true Sorrow. And fee where comes the Breeder of my Sorrow.
K. Lew. What's he approacheth boldly to cur Prefence?*
Queen. Our Earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest
Friend.
K. Lew. Welcome, brave Warwick, what brings thee
to France?
[He defcends. She arifeth.
Queen. Ay, now begins a fecond Storm to rife,
For this is he that moves both Wind and Tide.
War. From worthy Edward, King of Albion,
My Lord and Sovereign, and thy vowed Friend,
I come (in Kindness and unfeigned Love)
First to do greetings to thy Royal Perfon,
And then to crave a League of Amity ; '
And lastly, to confirm that Amity
With Nuptial Knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant
That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair Sifter,
To England's King in lawful Marriage.
Queen. If that go forward, Henry's hope is done.
War. And gracious Madam,
I am commanded, with your leave and favour,
Humbly to kifs your Hand, and with my Tongue
To tell the paffion of my Sovereign's Heart;
Where Fame, late entring at his heedful Ears,
Hath plac'd thy Beauty's Image, and thy Virtue.
Queen. King Lewis, and Lady Bona, hear me fpeak. Before you anfwer Warwick. His demand
Springs not from Edward's well-meant honeft Love,
But from Deceit, bred by Neceffity:
For how can Tyrants fafely govern home,
Unless abroad they purchase great Alliance?
To prove him Tyrant, this reafon may fuffice,
That Henry liveth ftill; but were he dead,
Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's Son.
Look therefore Lewis, that by this League and Marriage
Thou draw not on thy Danger and Dishonour:
For tho' Ufurpers fway the Rule a while,
Yet Heavens are juft, and Time fuppreffeth Wrongs.
War. Injurious Margaret.
Prince. And why not Queen.
War. Because thy Father Henry did ufurp,
And thou no more art Prince than she is Queen.
Oxf. Then Warwick difanuls great John of Gaunt,
Which did fubdue the greatest part of Spain;
And after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth,
Whofe Wildom was a Mirror to the wifeft;
And after that wife Prince, Henry the Fifth,
Who by his Prowess conquered all France:
From these our Henry lineally defcends.
War. Oxford, how haps it in this smooth Difcourfe,
You told not, how Henry the Sixth hath loft
All that, which Henry the Fifth had gotten;
Methinks thefe Peers of France should smile at that."
But for the reft; you tell a Pedigree
Of threescore and two Years, a filly time
To make prescription for a Kingdom's worth.
Oxf. Why Warwick, canft thou speak against thy Liege Whom thou obey'dft thirty and fix Years,
And not bewray thy Treafon with a blush?
War. Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right, Now buckler falfhood with a Pedigree?
For fhame leave Henry, and call Edward King.
Oxf. Call him my King, by whofe injurious doom
My elder Brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere
Was done to Death? and more than fo, my Father,
Even in the downfal of his mellow'd Years,
When Nature brought him to the door of Death?
No Warwick, no, while Life upholds this Arm,
This Arm upholds the Houfe of Lancafter.
War. And I the Houfe of York.
K. Lew. Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford Vouchfafe at our request, to ftand aside,
While I ufe farther Conference with Warwick.
[They ftand aloof. Queen. Heavens grant that Warwick's Words bewitch
K.Lew. Now Warwick, tell me even upon thy Confcience. Is Edward your true King? for I were loth
To link with him that were not lawful chofen.
War. Thereon I pawn my Credit, and mine Honour. R5
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