Even like a man new haled from the rack,
So fare my limbs with long imprisonment :
And these gray locks, the pursuivants of death,'
Nestor-like aged, in an age of care,
Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer.

And death approach not ere my tale be done.
Henry the Fourth, grandfather to this king,
Depos'd his nephew Richard; Edward's son,
The first-begotten, and the lawful heir
Of Edward king, the third of that descent:

spent,

Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent :2

Weak shoulders, overborne with burd'ning grief,
And pithless arms, like to a wither'd vine
That droops his sapless branches to the ground :-
Yet are these feet-whose strengthless stay is numb,
Unable to support this lump of clay,-
Swift-winged with desire to get a grave,
As witting I no other comfort have.-
But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come?

1 Keep. Richard Plantagenet, my lord, will come: We sent unto the Temple, to his chamber; And answer was return'd that he will come.

Mor. Enough; my soul shall then be satisfied. Poor gentleman! his wrong doth equal mine. Since Henry Monmouth first began to reign (Before whose glory I was great in arms,) This loathsome sequestration have I had; And even since then hath Richard been obscur'd, Deprived of honour and inheritance: But now, the arbitrator of despairs, Just death, kind umpire of men's miseries, With sweet enlargement doth dismiss me hence; I would, his troubles likewise were expir'd, That so he might recover what was lost.

Enter RICHARD PLANTAGENET.

1 Keep. My lord, your loving nephew now is

arm;

And, in that ease, I'll tell thee my disease.
This day, in argument upon a case,
Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me:
Among which terms he used his lavish tongue,
And did upbraid me with my father's death;
Which obloquy set bars before my tongue,
Else with the like I had requited him:
Therefore, good uncle,-for my father's sake,
In honour of a true Plantagenet,
And for alliance' sake,-declare the cause
My father, earl of Cambridge, lost his head.
Mor. That cause, fair nephew, that imprison'd me,
And hath detain'd me, all my flow'ring youth,
Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine,
Was cursed instrument of his decease.

Plan. Discover more at large what cause that was; For I am ignorant, and cannot guess.

Mor. I will; if that my fading breath permit, Edmund Mortimer, who was trusted and employed by Henry V. throughout his reign, died of the plague in his own castle at Trim, in Ireland, in 1424-5; being then only thirty-two years old.

I The heralds that, fore-running death, proclaim its approach.

2 Erigent is here used for end.

3 Pith is used figuratively for strength.

4 That is, he who terminates or concludes misery. 5 Lately despised.

6 Disease for uneasiness, trouble, or grief. It is used in this sense by other ancient writers.

7 Nephew has sometimes the power of the Latin nepos, signifying grandchild, and is used with great laxity among our ancient English writers. It is here used instead of cousin.

Finding his usurpation most unjust,
Endeavour'd my advancement to the throne:
The reason mov'd these warlike lords to this,
Was-for that (young King Richard thus remov'1,
Leaving no heir begotten of his body)

I was the next by birth and parentage;
For by my mother I derived am

From Lionel duke of Clarence, the third son
To King Edward the Third, whereas he,
From John of Gaunt doth bring his pedigree,
Being but fourth of that heroic line.

But mark; as, in this haughty great attempt,,
They laboured to plant the rightful heir,
I lost my liberty, and they their lives.
Long after this, when Henry the Fifth,—
Succeeding his father Bolingbroke,--did reign,
Thy father, earl of Cambridge,-then deriv'd
From famous Edmund Langley, duke of York,-
Marrying my sister, that thy mother was,
Again, in pity of my hard distress,
Levied an army; weening to redeem,
And have install'd me in the diadem:
But, as the rest, so fell that noble earl,
And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers,
In whom the title rested, were suppress'd.

Plan. Of which, my lord, your honour is the last. Mor. True; and thou seest, that I no issue have; And that my fainting words do warrant death: Thou art my heir; the rest, I wish thee gather :10 But yet be wary in thy studious care.

Plan. Thy grave admonishments prevail with me⚫ But yet, methinks, my father's execution Was nothing less than bloody tyranny.

Mor. With silence, nephew, be thou politic; Strong-fixed is the house of Lancaster, And, like a mountain, not to be remov❜d.11 But now thy uncle is removing hence; As princes do their courts, when they are cloy'd With long continuance in a settled place. Plan. O, uncle, 'would, some part of my young years

Might but redeem the passage of

your age!1? Mor. Thou dost then wrong me; as the slaught

rer doth,

at Southampton, the night before Henry sailed from that town for France, on the information of this very earl of March.

10 i. e. I acknowledge thee to be my heir; the conse quences which may be collected from thence I recom mend it thee to draw.

11 Thus Milton, Paradise Lost, book iv. ;— 'Like Teneriffe or Atlas unremov'd.' 12 The same thought occurs in the celebrated dialogue between Horace and Lydia. There is some resem blance to it in the following lines, supposed to be addressed by a married lady, who died very young, to her husband. Malone thinks that the inscription is in the church of Trent :

Immatura peri; sed tu diuturnior annos Vive meos, conjux optime, vive tuos.' 13 i. e. oppressed by those whose right to the crown was not so good as his own.

SCENE I. The same. The Parliament House.2 Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, EXETER, GLOSTER, WARWICK, SOMERSET, and SUFFOLK; the Bishop of Winchester, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, and others. GLOSTER offers to put up a Bill Winchester snatches it and tears it.

Win. Com'st thou with deep premeditated lines,
With written pamphlets studiously devis'd,
Humphrey of Gloster? if thou canst accuse,
Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention suddenly;

As I with sudden and extemporal speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.

Glo. Presumptuous priest! this place commands my patience,

Or thou should'st find thou hast dishonour'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,,
That therefore I have forg'd, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissensious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer;
Froward by nature, enemy to peace;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree;
And for thy treachery, What's more manifest?
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London Bridge, as at the Tower?
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.
Win. Gloster, I do defy thee.-Lords, vouchsafe
To give me hearing what I shall reply.
If I were covetous, ambitious, or perverse,
As he will have me, How am I so poor?
Or how haps it, I seek not to advance
Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissension, Who preferreth peace
More than I do,-except I be provok'd?
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
It is not that, that hath incens'd the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he;
No one, but he, should be about the king;
And that engenders thunder in his breast,
And makes him roar these accusations forth.
But he shall know, I am as good-
Glo.

As good?
Thou bastard of my grandfather!^-
Win. Ay, lordly sir; For what are you, I pray,
But one imperious in another's throne?

Glo. Am I not the protector, saucy priest? Win. And am I not a prelate of the church? Glo. Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps, And useth it to patronage his theft. Win. Unreverent Gloster! Glo. Thou art reverent Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life.

1 My ill is my ill usage. This sentiment resembles another of Falstaff, in the Second Part of King Henry IV.: 'I will turn diseases to commodity.'

2 This parliament was held in 1426 at Leicester, though here represented to have been held in London. King Henry was now in the fifth year of his age. In the first parliament, which was held at London shortly after his father's death, his mother Queen Katharine brought the young king from Windsor to the metropolis, and sat on the throne with the infant in her lap.

3 i e. articles of accusation.

Win. This Rome shall remedy. War.

Roam' thither then. Som. My lord, it were your duty to forbear.. War. Ay, see the bishop be not overborne. Som. Methinks, my lord should be religious, And know the office that belongs to such.

War. Methinks, his lordship should be humbler, It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.

Som. Yes, when his holy state is touch'd so near. War. State holy, or unhallow'd, what of that? Is not his grace protector to the king?

Plan. Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue; Lest it be said, Speak, sirrah, when you should; Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords? Else would I have a fling at Winchester. [Aside. K. Hen. Uncles of Gloster, and of Winchester, The special watchmen of our English weal; I would prevail, if prayers might prevail, To join your hearts in love and amity. O, what a scandal is it to our crown, That two such noble peers as ye, should jar! Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell, Civil dissension is a viperous worm, That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.[A noise within; Down with the tawny coats! What tumult's this?

War.

An uproar, I dare warrant,
Begun through malice of the bishop's men.
[A noise again; Stones! Stones!
Enter the Mayor of London, attended.
May. O, my good lords,-and virtuous Henry, -
Pity the city of London, pity us!

The bishop and the duke of Gloster's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble-stones,
And, banding themselves in contrary parts,
Do pelt so fast at one another's pate,
That many have their giddy brains knock'd out:
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we, for fear, compell'd to shut our shops.
Enter, skirmishing, the Retainers of GLOSTER and
WINCHESTER, with bloody pates.

K. Hen. We charge you, on allegiance to our-
To hold your' slaught'ring hands, and keep the peace.
self,
Pray, uncle Gloster, mitigate this strife.

1 Serv. Nay, if we be

Forbidden stones, we'll fall to it with our teeth. 2 Serv. Do what ye dare, we are as resolute. [Skirmish again. Glo. You of my household, leave this peevish

broil,

And set this unaccustom'de fight aside.

3 Serv. My lord, we know your grace to be a man Just and upright; and, for your royal birth, Inferior to none, but his majesty:

And ere that we will suffer such a prince,
So kind a father of the commonweal
To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate,"
We, and our wives, and children, all will fight,
And have our bodies slaughter'd by thy foes.

1 Serv. Ay, and the very parings of our nails Shall pitch a field, when we are dead.

[Skirmish again. Glo. Stay, stay, I say! And, if you love me, as you say you do, Let me persuade you to forbear a while. K. Hen. O, how this discord doth afflict my soul!

of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, by Katharine Swynford, whom the duke afterwards married.

5 The jingle between roam and Rome is common to other writers.

6 Johnson explains unaccustomed by unseemly, indecent; and in a note on Romeo and Juliet he says that he thinks he has observed it used in old books for wonderful, powerful, efficacious. But he could find no instances of either of these strange uses of the word when he compiled his dictionary.

7 i. e. a bookish person, a pedant, applied in contempto a scholar. Inkhornisms and inkhorn-terms were

2

Can you, my lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears, and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer a peace,
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?
War. My lord protector, yield;-yield, Win-
chester;

Except you mean, with obstinate repulse,
To slay your sovereign, and destroy the realm.
You see what mischief, and what murder too,
Hath been enacted through your enmity;
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
Win. He shall submit, or I will never yield.
Glo. Compassion on the king commands me stoop;
Or, I would see his heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of me.

War. Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke
Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,
As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stern, and tragical?

Glo. Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.. K. Hen. Fye, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you preach,

That malice was a great and grievous sin:
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same?

War. Sweet king!-the bishop hath a kindly gird.'

For shame, my lord of Winchester! relent;
What, shall a child instruct you what to do?

Win. Well, duke of Gloster, I will yield to thee; Love for thy love, and hand for hand I give.

Glo. Ay: but, I fear me, with a hollow heart.-
See here, my friends, and loving countrymen;
This token serveth for a flag of truce,
Betwixt ourselves, and all our followers:
So help me God, as I dissemble not!

Win. So help me God, as I intend it not!

[Aside. K. Hen. O, loving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, How joyful am I made by this contract!Away, my masters! trouble us no more; But join in friendship, as your lords have done. 1 Serv. Content; I'll to the surgeon's.

2 Serv. And so will I. 3 Serv. And I will see what physic the tavern affords. [Exeunt Servants, Mayor, &c. War. Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign; Which, in the right of Richard Plantagenet, We do exhibit to your majesty.

Glo. Well urg'd, my lord of Warwick ;-for, sweet

prince,

Plan. And so thrive Richard, as thy foes may fall! And as my duty springs, so perish they That grudge one thought against your majesty! Ali. Welcome, high prince, the mighty duke of York!

Som. Perish, base prince, ignoble duke of York! [Aside.

Glo. Now will it best avail your majesty,
To cross the seas, and to be crown'd in France:
The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects, and his loyal friends;
As it disanimates his enemies.

K. Hen. When Gloster says the word, King Henry goes;

For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
Glo. Your ships already are in readiness.
[Exeunt all but Exeter.
Exe. Ay, we may march in England, or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue;
This late dissension, grown betwixt the peers,
Burns under feigned ashes of forg'd love,3
And will at last break out into a flame:
As fester'd members rot but by degrees,
Till bones, and flesh, and sinews, fall away
So will this base and envious discord breed."
And now I fear that fatal prophecy,
Which in the time of Henry, nam'd the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,—
That Henry, born at Monmouth, should win all;
And Henry, born at Windsor, should lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time. [Exit.
SCENE II. France. Before Rouen. Enter La
PUCELLE disguised, and Soldiers dressed like
Countrymen, with Sacks upon
their Backs.

Puc. These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,
Through which our policy must make a breach:
Take heed, be wary how you place your words;
Talk like the vulgar sort of market-men,
That come to gather money for their corn.
If we have entrance (as, I hope, we shall,)
And that we find the slothful watch but weak,
I'll by a sign give notice to our friends,
That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.
1 Sold. Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city,
And we be lords and rulers over Rouen;
Therefore we'll knock.

[Knocks.

Guard. [Within.] Qui est la? Puc. Paisans, pauvres gens de France: Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn. Guard. Enter, go in; the market-bell is rung. [Opens the Gate Puc. Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground. [PUCELLE, &c. enter the City. Enter CHARLES, Bastard of Orleans, ALENÇON and Forces.