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 lov'd my king, and commonweal :
And, for my wife, I know not how it stands;
Sorry am I to hear what I have heard:
Noble she is; but if she have forgot
Honour, and virtue, and convers'd 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 Edmond Langley, duke of York;
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,
Seiz'd on the realm; depos'd 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 under 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 stained
With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster:
And that's not suddenly to be perform'd ;
But with advice, and silent secresy.

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 snar'd 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.

[Exeunt.

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

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 adjudg’d to death.—
You four, from hence to prison back again;

[To JOURD. &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;
And go in peace, Humphrey; no less belov❜d,
Than when thou wert protector to thy king.

Q. Mar. I see no reason, why a king of years
Should be to be protected like a child.—
God and king Henry govern England's helm :
Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm.

Glo. My staff?—here, noble Henry, is my staff:
As willingly do I the same resign,