Glo. Hadst thou been his mother, thou couldst have better

told.

K. Hen. Where wert thou born?

Simp. At Berwick in the north, an't like your grace.

K. Hen. Poor soul! God's goodness hath been great to thee! Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass,

But still remember what the Lord hath done.

Q. Mar. Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou here by chance? Or of devotion, to this holy shrine ?

Simp. God knows, of pure devotion; being call'd

A hundred times, and oftener, in my sleep

By good Saint Alban; who said,-Simpcox, come;

Come, offer at my shrine, and I will help thee.

Wife. Most true, forsooth; and many time and oft Myself have heard a voice to call him so.

Car. What, art thou lame?

Simp. Ay, God Almighty help me!
Suf. How cam'st thou so?

Simp. A fall off of a tree.

Wife. A plum-tree, master.

Glo. How long hast thou been blind?

Simp. O, born so, master.

Glo. What, and wouldst climb a tree?

Simp. But that in all my life, when I was a youth.

Wife. Too true; and bought his climbing very dear.

Glo. 'Mass, thou lov'dst plums well, that wouldst venture so.

Simp. Alas, good master, my wife desired some damsons,

And made me climb, with danger of my life.

Glo. A subtle knave; but yet it shall not serve.—

Let me see thine eyes:-wink now;-now open them:
In my opinion, yet thou see'st not well.

Simp. Yes, master, clear as day; I thank

God, and Saint Alban.

Glo. Say'st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of?
Simp. Red, master, red as blood.

Glo. Why, that's well said; What colour is my gown of?
Simp. Black, forsooth; coal-black as jet.

K. Hen. Why then, thou know'st what colour jet is of?

Suf. And yet, I think, jet did he never see.

Glo. But cloaks, and gowns, before this day, a many.
Wife. Never, before this day, in all his life.

Glo. Tell me, sirrah, what's my name?

Simp. Alas, master, I know not.

Glo. What's his name?

Simp. I know not.

Glo. Nor his ?

Simp. No, indeed, master.

Glo. What's thine own name?

Simp. Saunder Simpcox, an if it please you, master.
Glo. Then, Saunder, sit thou there, the lyingest knave
In Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind,
Thou mightst as well have known our names as thus
To name the several colours we do wear.

Sight may distinguish of colours; but suddenly
To nominate them all's impossible.-

My lords, Saint Alban here hath done a miracle;
And would ye not think that cunning to be great,
That could restore this cripple to his legs?

Simp. O, master, that you could!

Glo. My masters of Saint Albans, have you not beadles in your town, and things called whips?

May. Yes, my lord, if it please your grace.

Glo. Then send for one presently.

May. Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight.

[Exit an ATTENDANT.

Glo. Now fetch me a stool hither by-and-by.

[A stool brought out.] Now, sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me over this stool, and run away.

Simp. Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone: You go about to torture me in vain.

Re-enter ATTENDANT, with the BEADLE.

Glo. Well, Sir, we must have you find your legs. Sirrah, beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool.

Bead. I will, my lord.-Come on, sirrah, off with your doublet quickly.

Simp. Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.
[After the BEADLE hath hit him once, he leaps over the
stool, and runs away; and the people follow, and cry,
A miracle!

K. Hen. O God, see'st thou this, and bear'st so long!
Q. Mar. It made me laugh to see the villain run.
Glo. Follow the knave; and take this drab away.
Wife. Alas, Sir, we did it for pure need.

Glo. Let them be whipped through every market-town, till they come to Berwick, whence they came.

[Exeunt MAYOR, BEADLE, WIFE, &c.
Car. Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day.
Suf. True; made the lame to leap and fly away.
Glo. But you have done more miracles than I;
You made, in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly.
Enter BUCKINGHAM.

K. Hen. What tidings with our cousin Buckingham ?
Buck. Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold.

A sort of naughty persons, lewdly + bent,-
Under the countenance and confederacy

Of lady Eleanor, the protector's wife,
The ringleader and head of all this rout,-
Have practised dangerously against your state,
Dealing with witches, and with conjurers:
Whom we have apprehended in the fact;
Raising up wicked spirits from under ground,
Demanding of king Henry's life and death,

And other of your highness' privy council,
As more at large your grace shall understand.
Car. And so, my lord protector, by this means
Your lady is forthcoming yet at London.

*

This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge; "Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour.

[Aside to GLOSTER Glo. Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my heart! Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers: And, vanquish'd as I am, I yield to thee,

Or to the meanest groom.

K. Hen. O God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones; Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby!

Q. Mar. Gloster, see here the tainture of thy nest;
And look thyself be faultless, thou wert best.

Glo. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal,
How I have loved my king, and commonweal:
And, for my wife, I know not how it stands;
Sorry I am to hear what I have heard:
Noble she is; but if she have forgot
Honour, and virtue, and conversed with such
As, like to pitch, defile nobility,

I banish her my bed, and company;

And give her, as a prey, to law, and shame,

That hath dishonour'd Gloster's honest name.

K. Hen. Well, for this night, we will repose us here: To-morrow, toward London, back again,

To look into this business thoroughly,

And call these foul offenders to their answers;

And poise the cause in justice' equal scales,

Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails.

[Flourish. Exeunt.

SCENE II.-London. The Duke of YORK's Garden.

Enter YORK, SALISBURY, and WARWICK.

York. Now, my good lords of Salisbury and Warwick,
Our simple supper ended, give me leave,

In this close walk, to satisfy myself,
In craving your opinion of my title,
Which is infallible to England's crown.

Sal. My lord, I long to hear it at full.

:

War. Sweet York. begin and if thy claim be good, The Nevils are thy subjects to command.

York. Then thus:

Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:

The first, Edward the Black Prince, prince of Wales;
The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,
Lionel, duke of Clarence; next to whom,
Was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster:
The fifth, was Edmund Langley, duke of York;

*I.e. your lady is in custody.

The sixth, was Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloster;
William of Windsor was the seventh, and last.
Edward, the Black Prince, died before his father;
And left behind him Richard, his only son,

Who, after Edward the Third's death, reign'd as king;
Till Henry Bolingbroke, duke of Lancaster,
The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt,
Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth,
Seized on the realm, deposed the rightful king;
Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she came,
And him to Pomfret; where, as all you know,
Harmless Richard was murder'd traitorously.
War. Father, the duke hath told the truth;
Thus got the house of Lancaster the crown.

York. Which now they hold by force, and not by right For Richard, the first son's heir, being dead, The issue of the next son should have reign'd.

Sal. But William of Hatfield died without an heir.
York. The third son, duke of Clarence (from whose line
I claim the crown), had issue-Philippe, a daughter,
Who married Edmund Mortimer, earl of March,
Edmund had issue-Roger, earl of March;
Roger had issue-Edmund, Anne, and Eleanor.
Sal. This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke,

As I have read, laid claim unto the crown;
And, but for Owen Glendower, had been king,
Who kept him in captivity, till he died.
But, to the rest.

York. His eldest sister, Anne,

My mother, being heir unto the crown,

Married Richard, earl of Cambridge; who was son

To Edmund Langley, Edward the Third's fifth son.
By her I claim the kingdom: she was heir

To Roger, earl of March; who was the son
Of Edmund Mortimer; who married Philippe,
Sole daughter unto Lionel, duke of Clarence:
So, if the issue of the elder son

Succeed before the younger, I am king.

War. What plain proceedings are more plain than this? Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,

The fourth son; York claims it from the third.

Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign:

It fails not yet; but flourishes in thee,

And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.

Then, father Salisbury, kneel we both together;
And, in this private plot,* be we the first

That shall salute our rightful sovereign

With honour of his birthright to the crown.

Both. Long live our sovereign Richard, England's king! York. We thank you, lords. But I am not your king

Till I be crown'd; and that my sword be stain'd

*Sequestered spot.

With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster
And that's not suddenly to be perform❜d;
But with advice, and silent secrecy.

Do you, as I do, in these dangerous days,
Wink at the duke of Suffolk's insolence,
At Beaufort's pride, at Somerset's ambition,
At Buckingham, and all the crew of them,
Till they have snared the shepherd of the flock,
That virtuous prince, the good duke Humphrey :
"Tis that they seek; and they in seeking that,
Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy.

Sal. My lord, break we off; we know your mind at full.
War. My heart assures me, that the earl of Warwick
Shall one day make the duke of York a king.

York. And, Nevil, this I do assure myself,Richard shall live to make the earl of Warwick The greatest man in England, but the king.

SCENE III.-The same. A Hall of Justice.

[Exeunt.

Trumpets sounded. Enter KING HENRY, QUEEN MARGARET, GLOSTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, and SALISBURY; the Duchess of GLOSTER, MARGERY JOURDAIN, SOUTHWELL, HUME, and BOLINGBROKE, under guard.

K. Hen. Stand forth, dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloster's wife: In sight of God, and us, your guilt is great;

Receive the sentence of the law, for sins

Such as by God's book are adjudged to death.

You four, from hence to prison back again; [To JOURDAIN, &c. From thence, unto the place of execution:

The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes,

And you three shall be strangled on the gallows.-
You, madam, for you are more nobly born,

Despoiled of your honour in your life,
Shall, after three days' open penance done,
Live in your country here, in banishment,

With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man.

Duch. Welcome is banishment, welcome were my death.
Glo. Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee;

I cannot justify whom the law condemns.

[Exeunt the DUCHESS, and the other prisoners, guarded.

Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief.

Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age

Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground!

I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go;

Sorrow would* solace, and mine age would

ease.

K. Hen. Stay, Humphrey duke of Gloster: ere thou go,

Give up thy staff; Henry will to himself
Protector be: and God shall be my hope,
My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet;

* (Have.)