Nay, more, an enemy unto you all;
And no great friend, I fear me, to the king.
Confider, lords-he is the next of blood,
And heir apparent to the English crown;
Had Henry got an empire by his marriage,
And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,
There's reafon he fhould be difpleas'd at it.
Look to it, lords; let not his fmoothing words
Bewitch your hearts; be wife, and circumfpect.
What though the common people favour him,
Calling him-Humphrey, the good duke of Glofter;
Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice-
Jefu maintain your royal excellence!
With-God preferve the good duke Humphrey !
I fear me, lords, for all this flattering glofs,
He will be found a dangerous protector.
Buck. Why fhould he then protect our fovereign, He being of age to govern of himfelf?
Coufin of Somerset, join you with me,
And all together-with the duke of Suffolk-
We'll quickly hoife duke Humphrey from his seat.
Car. This weighty bufinefs will not brook delay;
I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently
[Exit. Som. Coufin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's And greatnefs of his place be grief to us, [pride, Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal;
His infolence is more intolerable
Than all the princes in the land befide;
If Glofter be difplac'd, he'll be protector.
Buck. Thou, or I, Somerfet, will be protector, Delpight duke Humphrey, or the cardinal.
Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. While thefe do labour for their own preferment, Behoves
Behoves it us to labour for the realm.
I never faw but Humphrey duke of Glofter
Did bear him like a noble gentleman.
Oft have I feen the haughty cardinal-
More like a foldier, than a man o' the church,
As ftout, and proud, as he were lord of all-
Swear like a ruffian, and demean himself
Unlike the ruler of a common-weal.-
Warwick my fon, the comfort of my age!
Thy deeds, thy plainnefs, and thy houfe-keeping,
Hath won the greatest favour of the commons,
Excepting none but good duke Humphrey.-
And, brother York, thy acts in Ireland,
In bringing them to civil discipline;
Thy late exploits done in the heart of France,
When thou wert regent for our fovereign,
Have made thee fear'd, and honour'd, of the
peo
Join we together, for the public good;
In what we can, to bridle and fupprefs
The pride of Suffolk, and the cardinal,
With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition;
And, as we may, cherish duke Humphrey's deeds,
While they do tend the profit of the land.
War. So God help Warwick, as he loves the land, And common profit of his country!
York. And fo fays York, for he hath greatest
[Afide. Sal. Then let's make hafte, and look unto the main. War. Unto the main! Oh father, Maine is loft; That Maine, which by main force Warwick did win, And would have kept, so long as breath did last: Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant Maine; Which I will win from France, or elfe be flain.
York. Anjou and Maine are given to the French; Paris is loft; the ftate of Normandy
Stands on a tickle point, now they are gone.
Suffolk concluded on the articles;
The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd,
To change two dukedoms for aduke's fair daughter.
I cannot blame them all; What is't to them?
'Tis thine they give away, and not their own.
Pirates may make cheap pennyworth of their pillage,
And purchafe friends, and give to courtezans,
Still revelling, like lords, 'till all be gone:
While as the filly owner of the goods
Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands,
And fhakes his head, and trembling stands aloof,
While all is fhar'd, and all is borne away;
Ready to ftarve, and dares not touch his own.
So York must fit and fret, and bite his tongue,
While his own lands are bargain'd for, and fold.
Methinks, the realms of England, France, and Ire-
Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood, [land,
As did the fatal brand Althea burnt
Unto the prince's heart of Calydon.
Anjou and Maine, both given unto the French!
Cold news for me; for I had hope of France,
Even as I have of fertile England's foil.
A day will come, when York fhall claim his own;
And therefore I will take the Nevils' parts,
And make a fhew of love to proud duke Humphrey,
And, when I fpy advantage, claim the crown,
For that's the golden mark I feek to hit:
Nor fhall proud Lancafter ufurp my right,
Nor hold the fceptre in his childish fift,
Nor wear the diadem upon his head,
Whofe church-like humour fits not for a crown.
Then, York, be ftill awhile, 'till time do ferve:
Watch thou, and wake, when others be afleep,
Το pry
into the fecrets of the state;
'Till Henry, furfeiting in joys of love,
With his new bride, and England's dear-bought
And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars:
Then will I raife aloft the milk-white rofe,
With whofe fweet smell the air fhall be perfum'd
And in my standard bear the arms of York,
To grapple with the houfe of Lancaster;
And, force perforce, I'll make him yield the crown,
Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England down.
SCENE II. The Duke of GLOSTER's Houfe. Enter Duke HUMPHREY, and his Wife ELEANOR. Elean. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load? [corn, Why doth the great duke Humphrey knit his brows, As frowning at the favours of the world? Why are thine eyes fix'd to the fullen earth, Gazing on that which feems to dim thy fight? What fee't thou there? king Henry's diadem, Inchas'd with all the honours of the world? If fo, gaze on, and grovel on thy face, Until thy head be circled with the fame. Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold :What, is't too fhort? I'll lengthen it with mine: And, having both together heav'd it up, We'll both together lift our heads to heaven; And never more abase our fight fo low As to vouchfafe one glance unto the ground. Glo. O Nell, fweet Nell, if thou doft love thy lord,
Banifh the canker of ambitious thoughts:
And may that thought, when I imagine ill
Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry,
Be my last breathing in this mortal world!
My troublous dream this night doth make me fad.
Elean. What dream'd, my lord? tell me, and I'll
requite it
With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream.
Glo. Methought, this ftaff, mine office-badge in
Was broke in twain; by whom, I have forgot,
But, as I think, it was by the cardinal;
And on the pieces of the broken wand
Were plac'd the heads of Edmund duke of Somerset,
And William de la Poole, first duke of Suffolk.
This was my dream; what it doth bode, God knows.
Elean. Tut, this was nothing but an argument,
That he, that breaks a stick of Glofter's grove,
Shall lofe his head for his prefumption.
But lift to me, my Humphrey, my fweet duke: Methought, I fat in feat of majesty,
In the cathedral church of Westminster,
And in that chair where kings and queens are crown'd;
Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me, And on my head did fet the diadem.
Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright; Prefumptuous dame, ill-nurtur'd Eleanor ! Art thou not fecond woman in the realm; And the protector's wife, belov'd of him? Haft thou not worldly pleasure at command, Above the reach or compafs of thy thought? And wilt thou ftill be hammering treachery, To tumble down thy husband, and thyfelf,
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