I Cap. What, think you much to pay two thousand crowns, * And bear the name and port of gentlemen?— *Cut both the villains' throats;-for die you shall; *The lives of those which we have lost in fight, * Cannot be counterpois'd with such a petty sum. * 1 Gent. I'll give it, sir; and therefore spare my life. *2 Gent. And so will I, and write home for it straight. Whit. I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard, 'And therefore, to revenge it, shalt thou die; [to Suf. 'And so should these, if I might have my will. * Cap. Be not so rash; take ransom, let him live. Suf. Look on my George, I am a gentleman; 'Rate me at what thou wilt, thou shalt be paid. 'Whit. And so am I; my name is-Walter Whitmore. 'How now? why start'st thou? what, doth death affright? Suf. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. 'A cunning man did calculate my birth, ' And told me that by Water I should die: 'Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded; "Thy name is-Gualtier, being rightly sounded. 'Whit. Gualtier, or Walter, which it is, I care not;. 'Ne'er yet did base dishonour blur our name, But with our sword we wip'd away the blot; Therefore, when merchantlike I sell revenge, 'Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defac'd, The duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole. Whit. The duke of Suffolk, muffled up in rags! Suf. Ay, but these rags are no part of the duke; Jove sometime went disguis'd, And why not I? Cap. But Jove was never slain, as thou shalt be. Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, king Henry's blood, The honourable blood of Lancaster, Must not be shed by such a jaded groom. Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand, and held my stirrup? 'Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board, * How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood, * * Cap. First let my words stab him, as he hath me. Suf Base slave! thy words are blunt, and so Cap. Convey him hence, and on our long-boat's Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt 'Troubles the silver spring where England drinks. 'Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth, 'For swallowing the treasure of the realm: Thy lips, that kiss'd the queen, shall sweep ground; the 'And thou, that smil'dst at good duke Humphrey's death, 'Against the senseless winds shalt grin in vain, * Who, in contempt, shall hiss at thee again: * And wedded be thou to the hags of hell, * For daring to affy a mighty lord * Unto the daughter of a worthless king, *With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart. * By thee, Anjou and Maine were sold to France: * The false revolting Normans, thorough thee, * Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy * Hath slain their governors, surpriz'd our forts, * And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home. * The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all, * Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain, * As hating thee, are rising up in arms: *And now the house of York-thrust from the crown, By shameful murder of a guiltless king, * And lofty proud encroaching tyranny, * Burns with revenging fire; whose hopeful colours * Advance our half-fac'd sun, striving to shine, * Under the which is writ—Invitis nubibus. * The commons here in Kent are up in arms: * And, to conclude, reproach, and beggary, * Is crept into the palace of our king, ** * And all by thee:-Away! convey him hence. Suf. O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder * Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges! * Small things make base men proud: this villain 6 here, Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate. 'Drones suck not eagles' blood, but rob bee-hives. 'It is impossible, that I should die By such a lowly vassal as thyself. Thy words move rage, and not remorse, in me: of message from the queen to France; 6 I go I charge thee, waft me safely cross the channel. 'Cap. Walter, 'Whit. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy death. * Suf. Gelidus timor occupat artus:-'tis thee I fear. 'Whit. Thou shalt have cause to fear, before I leave thee. What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop? 1 Gent. My gracious lord, entreat him, speak him fair. 'Suf. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and rough, 'Us'd to command, untaught to plead for favour, 'Far be it, we should honour such as these With humble suit: no, rather let my head Stoop to the block, than these knees bow to any, 'Save to the God of heaven, and to my king; And sooner dance upon a bloody pole, Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom. * True nobility is exempt from fear: * More can I bear, than you dare execute. Cap. Hale him away, and let him talk no more. Suf. Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can, That this my death may never be forgot!— 'Great men oft die by vile bezonians: 'A Roman sworder and banditto slave, 'Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand 'Stabb'd Julius Cæsar; savage islanders, Pompey the great: and Suffolk dies by pirates. [Exit Suf. with Whitmore and others. Cap. And as for these whose ransom we have set, It is our pleasure, one of them depart:Therefore come you with us, and let him go. [Exeunt all but the first Gentleman. Re-enter Whitmore, with Suffolk's body. 'Whit. There let his head and lifeless body lie, 1 Gent. O barbarous and bloody spectacle! His body will I bear unto the king: |