March'd through the city to the Palace-gates.
North. No, Warwick, I remember it to my grief,
And, by his foul, thou and thy Houfe fhall rue it.
Weft. Plantagenet, of thee and these thy fons,
Thy kinfmen and thy friends, I'll have more lives,
Than drops of blood were in my father's veins.
Clif. Urge it no more; left that, instead of words,
I fend thee, Wawick, fuch a meffenger

As fhall revenge his death before I ftir.

War. Poor Clifford! how I fcorn his worthlefs threats, York. Will you, we fhew our Title to the Crown? If not, our fwords fhall plead it in the field.

K. Henry. What Title haft thou, traitor, to the crown?

Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York;
Thy grandfather Roger Mortimer, Earl of March.
*I am the fon of Henry the Fifth,

Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop,
And feiz'd upon their towns and provinces.

War. Talk not of France, fith thou haft lost it all.
K. Henry. The Lord Protector loft it, and not I;
When I was crown'd I was but nine months old.
Rich. You are old enough now, and yet, methinks,
you lofe.

Father, tear the Crown from the Ufurper's head.
Edw. Sweet father, do fo; fet it on your head.
Mont. Good brother, as thou lov'ft and honour'ft arms,
Let's fight it out, and not ftand cavilling thus,
Rich. Sound drums and trumpets, and the King will fly.
York. Sons, peace.

K. Henry. Peace thou, and give King Henry leave to speak.

War. Plantagenet fhall speak first; hear him, Lords, And be you filent and attentive too, For he that interrupts him fhall not live.

* I am the fon of Henry the fifth.] The military merit of Henry the fifth is the fole fup4

port of his fon. The name of Henry the fifth difperted the followers of Cade.

K. Henry:

K. Henry. Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne,

Wherein my grandfire and my father fat?
No, firft fhall war unpeople this my realm,
Ay, and their Colours often borne in France,
And now in England to our heart's great forrow,
Shall be my winding fheet.-Why faint you, Lords?
My Title's good, and better far than his.

War. But prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be King.
K. Henry. Henry the Fourth by conqueft got the

crown.

Tork. 'Twas by Rebellion against his King.

K. Henry. I know not what to fay, my Title's weak: Tell me, may not a King adopt an heir?

York. What then?

K. Henry. And if he may, then am I lawful King: For Richard, in the view of many Lords,

Refign'd the Crown to Henry the Fourth;
Whofe heir my father was, and I am his.

York. He rofe against him, being his Sovereign,
And made him to refign his Crown perforce.
War. Suppofe, my Lords, he did it unconstrain'd,
*Think you, 'twere prejudicial to his Crown?

Exe. No, for he could not fo refign his Crown, But that the next heir should fucceed and reign. K. Henry. Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter? Exe. His is the Right, and therefore pardon me. York. Why whifper you, my Lords, and answer not? Exe. My confcience tells me, he is lawful King. K. Henry. All will revolt from me, and turn to him. North. Plantagenet, for all the Claim thou lay'st, Think not, that Henry fhall be so depos'd. War. Depos'd he fhall be, in defpight of thee.

*Think you, 'twere prejudicial to his Crown P] The phrafe prejudicial to his Crown, if it be right, muft mean, detrimental to he general rights of hereditary

royalty; but I rather think that the tranfcriber's eye caught crown from the line below, and that we fhould read prejudicial to his fon, to his next heir.

North.

North. Thou art deceiv'd, 'tis not thy fouthern Power Of Effex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent,

Which makes thee thus prefumptuous and proud,
Can fet the Duke up in defpight of me.

Clif. King Henry, be thy Title right or wrong,
Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence;
May that ground gape, and fwallow me alive,
Where I fhall kneel to him, that flew my father!
K. Henry. Oh Clifford, how thy words revive my

heart!

York. Henry of Lancaster, refign thy Crown:
What mutter you, or what confpire you, Lords?
War. Do right unto this princely Duke of York,
Or I will fill this House with armed men;

And, o'er the Chair of State, where now he fits,
Write up his title with ufurping blood.

[He ftamps with his foot, and the foldiers fhew themselves. K. Henry. My Lord of Warwick, hear me but one word.

Let me but reign in Quiet while I live.

York. Confirm the Crown to me and to mine heirs,
And thou fhalt reign in quiet while thou liv'ft.
K. Henry. I am content. Richard Plantagenet,
Enjoy the Kingdom after my deceafe.

Clif. What wrong is this unto the Prince your fon?
War. What good is this to England and himself?
Weft. Bafe, fearful and despairing Henry!
Clif. How haft thou injur'd both thyself and us!
Weft. I cannot ftay to hear these articles.

North. Nor I.

Clif. Come Coufin, let us tell the Queen these news. Weft. Farewel, faint-hearted and degen'rate King, In whofe cold blood no fpark of honour 'bides.

North. Be thou a prey unto the Houfe of York; And die in bands for this unmanly deed!

Clif. In dreadful war may'st thou be overcome,

Or live in peace abandon'd and despis'd!

[Exeunt Nor. Clif. Westm, SCENE

*

SCENE III.

War. Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not. Exe. They feek revenge, and therefore will not yield. K. Henry. Ah, Exeter!

War. Why fhould you figh, my Lord?

K. Henry. Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my fon,

Whom I unnaturally fhall difinherit.

But be it as it may, I here entail

The Crown to thee, and to thine heirs for ever
Conditionally, that here thou take an oath
To cease this Civil War; and, whilft I live,
To honour me as thy King and Sovereign,
Neither by treason nor hostility

To feek to put me down, and reign thyself.

York. This oath I willingly take, and will perform. War. Long live King Henry! Plantagenet, embrace him.

K. Henry. And long live thou, and these thy forward fons!

York. Now York and Lancaster are reconcil'd.
Exe. Accurft be he, that feeks to make them foes!
[Sonet. Here they come down.
York. Farewel, my gracious Lord, I'll to my Castle.
War. And I'll keep London with my foldiers.
Norf. And I to Norfolk with my followers.
Mont. And I unto the fea, from whence I came.
[Exeunt York, Warwick, Norfolk and Montague.
K. Henry. And I with grief and forrow to the Court.
Enter the Queen and the Prince of Wales.
Exe. Here comes the Queen, whofe looks bewray

her anger.

I'll fteal away.

*

K. Henry. So, Exeter, will I.

They feek revenge.] They go away not because they doubt the justice of this determination, but because they have been con

[Going.

quered, and feek to be revenged. They are not influenced by pri ciple, but paffion.

Queen

Queen. Nay, go not from me; I will follow theeK. Henry. Be patient, gentle Queen, and I will stay. Queen. Who can be patient in such extremes? Ah, wretched man! would I had dy'd a maid, And never feen thee, never borne thee son, Seeing thou haft prov'd fo unnatural a father. Hath he deferv'd to lofe his birth-right thus? Hadft thou but lov'd him half to well as I, Or felt that pain which I did for him once, Or nourisht him, as I did with my blood; Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there, Rather than made that favage Duke thine heir, And difinherited thine only fon.

Prince. Father, you cannot difinherit me: If you be King, why fhould not I fucceed?

K. Henry. Pardon me, Margret; pardon me, sweet fon;

The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforc'd me. Queen. Enforc'd thee? art thou King, and wilt be forc'd?

I fhame to hear thee fpeak. Ah, tim'rous wretch !
Thou haft undone thyfelf, thy fon, and me;
And given unto the Houfe of York fuch head
As thou fhalt reign but by their fufferance.
To entail him and's heirs unto the Crown,
* What is it but to make thy Sepulchre,
And creep into it far before thy time?
Warwick is Chancellor, and the Lord of Calais &
Stern Faulconbridge commands the narrow Seas;
The Duke is made Protector of the Realm;
And yet fhalt thou be fafe?-fuch fafety finds
The trembling lamb, invironed with wolves.
Had I been there, which am a filly woman,
The foldiers fhould have tofs'd me on their pikes,
Before I would have granted to that Act.

What is it but to make thy Sepulchre.] The Queen's reproach is founded on a pofition

long received among politicians, that the lofs of a King's power is foon followed by lofs of life.

But