And strain'd to points of glory and renown, For good of the republic, and their own?

But here no Cato with a senate stood
For commonwealth-nor here were any sought
T'emancipate the state for public good,
But only head-long for their faction wrought.
Here ev'ry man runs on to spend his blood,
To get but what he had already got.
For whether Pompey, or a Cæsar won,
Their state was ever sure to be all one.

And first, before these fatal armies met,
Had forward Warwick laid the passage free,
At Ferry-Briggs; where the lord Clifford 2 (set
With an advent'rous, gallant company,

To guard that strait, York's further march to let)
Began the scene to this great tragedy;
Made the first entrance on the stage of blood;
Which now set wide for wounds, all open stood.

When Edward to exhort his men began,
With words, whereto both spir't and majesty
His pers'nage gave: for that he was a man
(Besides a king) whose crown sat gracefully.
"Com'n is the day," said he, "wherein who can
Obtain the best, is best. This day must try
Who hath the wrong; and whence our ills have been:
And 't is our swords must make us honest men.

It was upon the twilight of that day,
That peaceful day when the religious bear
The olive branches as they go to pray,
(And we, in lieu, the blooming palm use here)
When both the armics, ready in array
For th' early sacrifice of blood, appear
Prepar'd for mischief, ere they had full light
To see to do it, and to do it right.

Th' advantage of the time, and of the wind,
(Which both with York seem as retain'd in pay)
Brave Falconbridge takes hold on, and assign'd
The archers their flight-shafts to shoot away:
Which th' adverse side (with sleet and dimness blind
Mistaken in the distance of the way)
Answer with their sheaf arrows, that came short
Of their intended aim, and did no hurt.

But gather'd by th' on-marching enemy,
Returned were like clouds of steel: which pour
Destruction down, and did new-night the sky,
As if the day had fail'd to keep his hour.
Whereat the ranged horse break out, deny
Obedience to the riders, scorn their pow'r;
Disrank the troops, set all in disarray,
To make th' assailant owner of the day.

Thus thou peculiar engine of our land!
(Weapon of conquest! master of the field!)
Renowned bow! (that mad'st this crown command

Hath in it honour, right, and honesty;

Yet all as nothing is to be avow'd,

Unless withal we have the victory.
For justice is (we see) a virtue proud,

And cleaves to pow'r, and leaves weak misery:
And therefore seeing the case we now stand in,
We must resolve either to die or win.

"So that if any here doth find his heart
To fail him for this noble work, or stands
Irresolute this day; let him depart,
And leave his arms behind, for worthier hands.
I know enow will stay to do their part;
Here to redeem themselves, wives, children, lands,
And have the glory that thereby shall rise,
To free their country from these miseries."

But here what needed words to blow the fire,
In flame already, and enkindl'd so,

As when it was proclaim'd they might retire,
Who found unwillingness to undergo
That vent'rous work; they all did so conspire
To stand out fortune, that not one would go,
To bear away a hand from blood; not one
Defraud the field of th' evil might be done?

Where Warwick3 too (producing in their sight
An argument whereby he did conclude
There was no hope of safety, but by fight)
Doth sacrifice his horse to fortitude;
And thereby did the least conceit of flight,
Or any succour by escape exclude;

Seeing in the streight of a necessity,
The means to win, is t' have no means to fly."

2 The lord Clifford slain at Ferry-Briggs. "The earl of Warwick, before the battle began, with his own hands killed his horse.

Art made at home to have th' especial hand
In our dissentions, by thy work upheld:
Thou first did'st conquer us; then rais'd our skill
To vanquish others; here ourselves to spill.

And now how com'st thou to be out of date,
And all-neglected leav'st us, and art gone;
And with thee th' ancient strength, the manly state
Of valour and of worth, that glory won?
Or else stay'st thou till new-priz'd shot abate'
(That never shall affect what thou hast done)
And only but attend'st some blessed reign,
When thou and virtue shall be grac'd again.

But this short tempest drave Northumberland
(Who led the van-guard of king Henry's side)
With eager heat join battle out of hand,
And this disorder with their swords to hide.
Where twice five hours these furious armies stand,
And Fortune's balance weigh'd on neither side;
Nor either did but equal bloodshed gain,
Till Henry's' chiefest leaders all were slain.

4 William Nevil, lord Falconbridge, after created earl of Kent.

In this battle of Towton, on king Henry's side were slain, Henry Piercy earl of Northumberland; the earls of Shrewsbury and Devonshire; Joba lord Clifford; the lords Beaumont, Nevil, Willoughby, Wells, Roos, Grey, Dacres, Fitz-Hugh, Molineux, Buckingham: knights, the two base sons of Henry Holland, duke of Exeter; Richard Piercy, Gervase Clifton, Andrew Trollop, &c.

The whole number slain were accounted by some thirty-three thousand, by others thirty-five thousand and ninety-one.

Now Bolingbroke, these miseries here shown,
Do much unload thy sin; make thy ill good:
For if thou didst by wrong attain the crown,
'T was without cries; it cost but little blood.
But York by his attempt hath overthrown
All the best glory wherein England stood;
And did his state by her undoing win;

And was, though white without, yet red within.

And thus he hath it-and is now to deal
For th' entertaining and continuance
Of men's affections; and to seek to heal
Those foul corruptions, which the maintenance
Of so long wars bred in the commonweal.
He must remunerate, prefer, advance
His chefest friends; and prosecute with might
The adverse part; do wrong, to do meu right.

Whilst martial Margret, with her hopeful son,
Is travelling in France, to purchase aid;
And plots, and toils, and nothing leaves undone;
Though all in vain.-For being thus over-laid
By Fortune, and the time; all that is done,
Is out of season. For she must have stay'd
Till that first heat of men's affections (which
They bear new kings) were laid, and not so much.

When they should find that they had gain'd no more,
Than th' ass by changing of his masters did;
(Who still must labour as he us'd before)
And those expectancies came frustrated,
Which they had set upon th' imagin'd score
Of their accounts: and had considered,
How that it did but litt'e benefit

The doves, to change the falcon for the kite.

And yet, brave queen, for three years of his reign,
Thou gav'st him little breathing-time of rest;
But still his miseries did'st entertain
With new attempts, and new assaults address'd.
And at thy now return from France again,
(Supply'd with forces) once more gathered'st
An army for the field, and brought'st to war
The scatter'd parts of broken Lancaster.

And once again at Exham led'st them on,
With Scots and French, t' another bloody day;
And there beheld'st thyself again undone,
With all that rest, whereon thy fortunes lay.
Where Somerset (late to king Edward gone,
And got his pardon) having 'scap'd away,
With noble Piercy came, to bring their blood
Unto thy side, whereto they first had stood.

Where the lords Molines, Ross, and Hungerford,
With many else of noble families,
Extinguish'd were-and many that day's sword
Cut off their names in their posterities.

Queen Margaret, furnished with a great power of Scots and French, to the number of twenty thousand, with her husband, entered into Northumberland, took the castle of Bamborough, and after came forward to the bishopric of Durham: where Henry Beaufort, duke of Somerset, who had lately been reconciled to king Edward IV. joined with them; and also brought thither with him sir Ralph Piercy, a man of great courage and worth: who were taken in the battle of Exham, and executed, an. 3, Ed. IV. 1464.

Where fled again their luckless, follow'd lard;
And is so near pursu'd by th' enemies,
As th' ensign of his crown was seiz'd upon,
For him who had before his kingdom won;

And shortly after too his person gat.
For he now weary'd with his long exile,
And miseries abroad, grew passionate
With longing to return t' his native soil.
And seeing he could not do the same in state,
He seeks, disguiz'd in fashion, to beguile
The world a time, and steal the liberty
And sight of his dear country privately.

As if there were for a pursued king

A covert left on Earth, wherein to hide;
When pow'r and Jealousy are travelling,
And lay to catch affliction on each side.
"Misfortune serves, we see, for ev'ry thing."
And soon he comes, God knows, to be descry'd
And Edward hath the booty he desir'd;
For whose establishment all things conspir'd.

Yet long it was not ere a fire began
To take in th' inward'st closet, where he laid
The treasure of his chiefest trust; and ran
From thence through all its state, before it stap
For being a king, who his whole fortunes wan
With other hands, must many leave unpaid;
And could not fill up that vast greediness
Of expectation, which is bottomless.

Though he did all the best that in him lay,
(As a most active prince) to satisfy
The int'rest of their travails, and defray
The bands contracted 'twixt his sov'reignty

And the republic: seeking to allay to
All grievances; recorder Equity,
Reform the bars, that Justice did abuse;
Lay easy on the state, as new kings use.

As he, who having found great treasury,
The first year offers with most grateful cheer
A sheep of gold to Juno's deity;

And next of silver, for the second year;
The third of brass: and then neglectively,
Nothing at all-so those respects, which were
Born of a present feeling, mov'd him most;
But soon were with their times and motives lost.

And what his bounty could not recompense,
He pays with honours, and with dignities.
And (more to angle the benevolence,
And catch the love of men with courtesies)
He oft would make his dignity dispense
With his too low familiarities;
Descending from his sphere of majesty
Beneath himself very submissively.

9 King Henry was taken in Lancashire, 2 brought to London, with his legs bound to stirrups; having in his company only Dr. Manning dean of Windsor, with another divine; who we taken with him, and committed to the Tower.

10 King Edward IV. sat on the King's Bench, a open court, three days together, in Michaelma term, anno 2 of his reign; to understand how to laws were executed.

And when he had dispos'd in some good train
His home affairs; he counsels how t' advance
His foreign correspondence, with the chain
Of some alliance that might countenance
His greatness, and his quiet entertain. [France,
Which was thought fittest with some match of
To hold that kingdom from sub-aiding such,
Who else could not subsist, nor hope so much.

Nor was it now a time to have contrast
With any foreign, mighty potentate;
But keep the outer doors of each side fast,
Having so much to do within his state.
And thereupon was Warwick (by whose cast
All must be wrought) employ'd to mediate
A present marriage, to be had between
Him and the sister of the young French queen.

Which was not long, nor hard to bring to pass,
Where like respects met in a point alike.
So that the same as ev'n concluded was,
And all as done-lady and friends all like:
When Love, the lord of kings, (by whom must pass
This act of our affections) took dislike
That he was not made privy thereunto,
And therefore in his wrath would all undo.

For whilst this youthful prince, at his disport
In Grafton woods, retir'd from public care,
Attending how his suit in France did sort,
(Whereon his cogitations only were)

He 'comes at home surpris'd in other sort:
A nearer fire inflam'd his passions here;
An English beauty, with more worth endu'd
Than France could yield, his royal heart subdu'd.

A woful widow, whom his quarrel had
(As it had many mo) made desolate,
Came to his court in mournful habit clad,
To sue for justice to relieve her state.
And ent'ring as a suppliant all sad,
With graceful sorrow, and a comely gate,

She pass'd the presence; where all eyes were cast
On her more stately presence as she pass'd.

Her looks not let abroad, (but carefully
Kept in, restrain'd) held their reservedness:
Observing none but her own dignity,
And his, to whom she did herself address.
And drawing near his royal majesty,
A blush of reverence, not bashfulness,

Lighten'd her lovely cheeks, und down she kneels;
Gives her petition for the wrongs she feels.

And in deliv'ring it, lifts up her eyes,
(The moving'st mediators she could bring)
And straight withdraws them in submissive wise;
Not fixing them directly on the king:

11 The earl of Warwick was sent into France, to treat of a marriage between king Edward and the lady Bona, daughter to Louis duke of Savoy, and sister to the lady Charlotte, queen of France: which was there agreed upon; and monsieur Damp, Martin, with others, appointed to be sent into England, for the full accomplishing thereof. But in the mean time, May 1, the king married the lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter to the dutchess of Bedford, late wife to sir John Grey, slain at St. Albans, on king Henry's part.

Who, mov'd with her sweet fashion, bad her rise,
With gentle language full of comforting;
Read her request-but thought not what he read.
The lines he view'd her eyes had figured.

Then paus'd awhile, and mus'd; as if he weigh'd
The substance of her suit. The which (God wot)
Was not the thing he mus'd. And having stay'd,
Seem'd to read on again; but yet reads not.
And still a stealing side-cast look convey'd
On her sweet face: as if he bad forgot
To be elsewhere than where he did behold;
And thought not what he did, but what he would.

But lest his sudden passion might have there
More witnesses than he could wish to have;
He took up his desires, which posting were
Beyond their stages; and this answer gave:
"Madam, we will ourself take time to hear
Your cause at large. Wherein we will you have
No other ref'rence but repair to us;
Who will accommodate this business."

She that expected present remedy,
(Hearing this dilatory answer) thought
The king found scruple in the equity
Of her request; and thereupon he sought
To put her to delays of court; whereby
She might be tir'd, and in the end get nought.
And that which her opinion made more strong,
Was that he studied and was mute so long.

Which fore'd from her these words: "My lord,
Let not my being a Lancastrian bred,
Without mine own election, disafford
Me right, or make my cause disfigured.;
Since I am now the subject of your sword;
Which God hath (with your right) established,
To do us right. And let not what we were,
Be now the cause to hurt us as we are."

"Lady, mistake me not-never did I

Make war with women, nor us'd women's war,
Revenge; but prosecuted honestly

My right, not men. My quarrels ended are
With my obtaining of the victory.

And (lady) know, your cause moves me thus far,
As you shall find," said he, " I do desire,
To do you greater right than you require."

With this they part; both with their thoughts full charg'd;

She for her suit in hand, and he for her;
Wherein he spends that night; and quite discharg'd
All other cogitations, to confer

First, how he might have her estate enlarg'd:
Then in what sort her service to prefer
Unto his new-expected wife and queen:
Then how to mask his love from being seen.

For yet lust was not grown to that degree,
To have no limits; but that shame kept in
The greatest greatness, from this being free
To hold their wantonness to be no sin.
For though kings cannot over-master'd be,
They will be overlook'd, and seen within:
And though they could their weaknesses make sure,
Yet crimes (though safe) can never be secure.

Sometimes he thinks it better to provide
A place retir'd, and have her from the court;
And then with what pretensions he might hide
His private coming, and his oft resort:
Then by his queen if it should be espy'd,
How he might clear with her, and stop report.
And thus consumes the night-and if he slept,
He slept those thoughts that with these passions kept.

The morning being com'n (and glad he was That it was com'n) after so long a night

And thus rejoins-" My pleasure only shall
Be, madam, for your good. Please it but you
To make it so. And here to tell you all,
I love you; and therein 1 tell you true.
What honour may by king's affections fall,
Must light upon your fortunes, as your due.
And though France shall a wife for fashion bring:
You must be th' only mistress of the king."

Straight might you see, how scorn, and fear, an (All intermix'd in one aspect) return [share

So slow, and his desires ran on so light)
A messenger with speed dispatched was,
Of special trust, this lady to invite

To come t' his presence; though before the time
That ladies rise; who rarely rise betime.

Yet soon she hastes; and yet that soon seem'd long,
To him whose longing went so swift apace;
And frets that such attiring should belong
To that which yields itself sufficient grace:
Consid'ring how these ornaments may wrong
The set of beauty; which we see doth grace
'Th' attire it wears, and is not grac'd thereby,
As being that only which doth take the eye.

But now being com'n, that quarrel of delay
Straight ended was-her presence satisfies
All, what expectance had laid out for stay:
And he beheld more sweetness in her eyes,
And saw her more than she was yesterday.
A cheerliness did with her hopes arise,
That lamped clearer than it did before,
And made her spir't and his affections more.

When those who were about him presently
Voided the room, and left him to confer
Alone with his fair suitor privately,
(As they who to his courses conscious were :)
And he began-" Madam, the remedy
Which you in your petition sue for here,
Shall be allow'd to th' utmost that you crave,
With th' expedition you would wish to have.

"And here I have another suit to you;
Which if you please to grant, we both shall now
Rest equally content"-Wherewith there grew
That sudden alteration in her brow,
As all were over-cast; and so withdrew
That freedom from her looks, (lest they should 'low
More than her heart might mean) as they reflect
A narrower and a carefuller aspect.

That when he saw this barrier of dislike
Thus inter-set, to keep his forwardness
Back from presumptive pressing; it did strike
That rev'rence, as it stay'd him to express
His further will. And she replies: "T is like
When kings to subjects sue, they mean no less
Than to command: nor must they be withstood,
For that good kings will seek but what is good.

"And in that fair respect, your majesty,
According to your will, both must and may
Command my service; who most rev'rently
Your royal pleasure ever shall obey."
With which word pleasure, (though it doubtfully
In that hard fastness of condition lay,
Under the lock of goodness) he was cast
In hope, he might obtain the same at last.

And first within her brow in state sat Scorn;
Shame in her cheeks: where also Fear became
An inmate too; and both appear by turn.
Blushes did paleness, paleness blushes chase;
As scorning, fearing, shaming such disgrace.
As to be mov'd to such an infamy.
She scorns to be addeem'd so worthless base,

She shames to think that ought within her face
Should breed th' opinion of immodesty.
She fears the fatal danger of the place;
Her loneness, and the pow'r of majesty :
And so confus'd in fear, in shame, in scorn,
This answer to his motion doth return:

"My sov'reign lord, it grieves me that you deep Because I in this sort for justice sue,

I would the same with mine own wrong redeem,
And by dishonour re-obtain my due.
No-I would hate that right which should but seen
To be beholden to a wanton view,

Or motive of my person, not my cause;
That craves but right from justice and your laws,

"And know, great monarch, that I more do weig
My distaff with mine honour, than I do
The mightiest sceptre king did ever sway
Upon the Earth, or nations bow'd unto.
I owe subjection; which I humbly pay
With all the outward service I can do:
But, sov'reign, in the region of my heart
I reign sole queen--no king can force a part."

Here fear a little interpos'd a touch,
To warn her violence to temporise
With pow'r and state. And she concludes her speci
With craving pardon in more humble wise;
Yet in proud humble wise: which show'd how murt
And so being full of what she did conceive,
She did her honour above greatness prize.

Desires to be dismiss'd, and takes her leave.

Here, Mary Pembroke, (by whose gen'rous brow,
And noble graces, I delineate

These shapes of others' virtues) could I show
In what a desp'rate and confus'd estate
She left this disappointed king: and how
Love and Ambition in their glory sat,
And tyranniz'd on his divided heart,
Warring each other with a pow'rful part:

How first Love underneath his colours brought
The strength of all her graceful worthiness;
And sets them in th' advantage of his thought,
Upon the side of youth and wantonness:
Then how Ambition, that for glory wrought,
Comes with his state, his crown and pow'rfulness.
And plants her on the side of Providence,
To beat unfit affections off from thence: