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ACT III.

SCENE I. A Chase in the North of England.

Enter Two Keepers 1, with Crossbows in their
Hands.

1 Keep. Under this thick grown brake we'll
shroud ourselves;

For through this laund3 anon the deer will come;
And in this covert will we make our stand,

Culling the principal of all the deer.

* 2 Keep. I'll stay above the hill, so both may shoot. * 1 Keep. That cannot be; the noise of thy crossbow

* Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost. *Here stand we both, and aim we at the best: * And, for the time shall not seem tedious,

1 In the folio copy, instead of two keepers, we have through negligence the names of the persons who represented these characters, Sincklo and Humphrey. Humphrey was probably Humphrey Jeaffes, mentioned in Mr. Henslowe's manuscript; Sincklo we have before mentioned his name being prefixed to some speeches in the Induction to The Taming of the Shrew. Hall and Holinshed tell us that Henry VI. 'was no sooner entered into England but he was known and taken of one Cantlow, and brought to the king.' It appears, however, from records in the duchy office that King Edward granted a rent charge of one hundred pound to Sir James Harington, in recompense of his great and laborious diligence about the capture and detention of the king's great traitor, rebel, and enemy, lately called Henry the Sixth, made by the said James; and likewise annuities to Richard and Thomas Talbot, Esquires, - Talbot, and Levesey, for their services in the same capture. Henry had been for some time harboured by James Maychell of Crakenthorpe, Westmoreland. See Rymer's Fœdera, xi. 548, 575.

2 Thicket.

3 A plain extended between woods, a lawn.

* I'll tell thee what befell me on a day,

* In this self-place where now we mean to stand. 2 Keep. Here comes a man, let's stay till he be

past.

Enter KING HENRY, disguised, with a Prayerbook.

K. Hen. From Scotland am I stol'n, even of pure love,

To greet mine own land with my wishful sight. 'No, Harry, Harry, 'tis no land of thine;

*

Thy place is fill'd, thy sceptre wrung from thee, Thy balm wash'd off*, wherewith thou wast anointed:

No bending knee will call thee Cæsar now,
'No humble suitors press to speak for right,
No, not a man comes for redress of thee;

*

For how can I help them, and not myself?

1 Keep. Ay, here's a deer whose skin's a keeper's fee:

This is the quondam king; let's seize upon him. *K. Hen. Let me embrace these sour adversities; *For wise men say, it is the wisest course.

*2 Keep. Why linger we? let us lay hands upon

him.

* 1 Keep. Forbear awhile; we'll hear a little more. K. Hen. My queen, and son, are gone to France for aid;

And, as I hear, the great commanding Warwick Is thither gone, to crave the French king's sister To wife for Edward: If this news be true,

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4 Thus also in King Richard II. :—

'Not all the water in the rough rude sea

Can wash the balm from an anointed king.'

It is observable that this line is one of those additions to the original play which are found in the folio and not in the quarto.

'Poor queen, and, son, your labour is but lost; For Warwick is a subtle orator,

"And Lewis a prince soon won with moving words.

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By this account, then, Margaret may win him; 'For she's a woman to be pitied much:

* Her sighs will make a battery in his breast;
* Her tears will pierce into a marble heart;
* The tiger will be mild, while she doth mourn;
* And Nero will be tainted with remorse,

*

* To hear, and see, her plaints, her brinish tears. Ay, but she's come to beg; Warwick, to give: She, on his left side, craving aid for Henry; He, on his right, asking a wife for Edward. She weeps, and says-her Henry is depos'd; He smiles, and says-his Edward is install'd; * That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no more: *Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the wrong, * Inferreth arguments of mighty strength 5; *And, in conclusion, wins the king from her, * With promise of his sister, and what else, *To strengthen and support King Edward's place. *O Margaret, thus 'twill be; and thou, poor soul, * Art then forsaken, as thou went'st forlorn 6.

2 Keep. Say, what art thou, that talk'st of kings and queens?

'K. Hen. More than I seem, and less than I was

born to:

A man at least, for less I should not be;

And men may talk of kings, and why not I?

2 Keep. Ay, but thou talk'st as if thou wert a king.

5 This line has already occurred in the former Act:

'Inferring arguments of mighty force.'

In the old play the line occurs but once.

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6 The piety of Henry scarce interests us more for his misfortunes than this his constant solicitude for the welfare of his de ceitful queen.-Steevens.

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'K. Hen. Why, so I am, in mind; and that's enough.

2 Keep. But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown? K. Hen. My crown is in my heart, not on my head; *Not deck'd with diamonds, and Indian stones, *Nor to be seen: 6 my crown is call'd, content; A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy.

2 Keep. Well, if you be a king crown'd with content,

Your crown content, and you, must be contented To go along with us: for, as we think,

You are the king, King Edward hath depos'd; And we his subjects, sworn in all allegiance, · Will apprehend you as his enemy.

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* K. Hen. But did you never swear, and break an oath?

* 2 Keep. No, never such an oath, nor will not now. *K. Hen. Where did you dwell, when I was king of England?

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2 Keep. Here in this country, where we now remain.

* K. Hen. I was anointed king at nine months old; My father and my grandfather were kings;

* And

you were sworn true subjects unto me: * And, tell me then, have you not broke your oaths? * 1 Keep. No;

For we were subjects, but while you were king. *K. Hen. Why, am I dead? do I not breathe a man?

* Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear.

*

Look, as I blow this feather from my face,

*And as the air blows it to me again,

* Obeying with my wind when I do blow,

7 Malone thinks that there is an allusion here to an old poem by Sir Edward Dyer, beginning-My mind to me a kingdom is See it in Percy's Reliques, 3d edit. vol. i. p. 293.

* And yielding to another when it blows,
* Commanded always by the greater gust;
* Such is the lightness of you common men.
* But do not break your oaths; for, of that sin
My mild entreaty shall not make you guilty.

*

* Go where you will, the king shall be commanded; * And be you kings; command, and I'll obey.

1 Keep. We are true subjects to the king, King Edward.

* K. Hen. So would you be again to Henry, * If he were seated as King Edward is.

1 Keep. We charge you, in God's name, and in the king's,

To go with us unto the officers.

K. Hen. In God's name, lead; your king's name be obey'd:

* And what God will, then let your king perform; * And what he will, I humbly yield unto. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.

London. A Room in the Palace.

Enter KING EDWARD, GLOSTER, CLARENCE, and LADY GREY.

'K. Edw. Brother of Gloster, at Saint Albans' field

'This lady's husband, Sir John Grey, was slain, His lands then seiz'd on by the conqueror : Her suit is now, to repossess those lands; 'Which we in justice cannot well deny, Because in quarrel of the house of York

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The worthy gentleman did lose his life1.

1 This is in every particular a falsification of history. Sir John Grey fell in the second battle of St. Albans fighting on the side of King Henry; and so far is it from being true that his lands were seized by the conqueror (Queen Margaret) that they were

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