11, 30 ngia sobrid on sebago uns 1 SCENE I. London. A Room of State in the Palace.

Flourish of Trumpets; then Hautboys. Enter, on one side, KING HENRY, DUKE of GLOSTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and CARDINAL BEAUFORT; on the other, QUEEN MARGARET, led in by SUFFOLK; YORK, SOMERSET, BUCKINGHAM, and Others, following.

Suffolk.

As by your high imperial majesty

I had in charge at my depart for France,
As procurator 1 to your

excellence,

To marry Princess Margaret for your grace;
So, in the famous ancient city, Tours,-

In presence of the kings of France and Sicil,
The dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretaigne, and
Alençon,

1 The marquesse of Suffolk, as procurator to King Henry, esponsed the said ladie in the church of St. Martins. At the which marriage were present the father and mother of the bride; the French king himself, that was uncle to the husband; and the French queen also, that was aunt to the wife. There were also the Dukes of Orleance, of Calabre, of Alanson, and of Bri taine: seven earles, twelve brons, twenty bishops. —Hall and Holinshed.

Seven earles, twelve barons, twenty reverend bi

shops,

I have perform'd my task, and was espous'd;
And humbly now upon my bended knee,
In sight of England and her lordly peers,
Deliver up my title in the

wave the queen

To your most gracious hands, that are the substance 2

Of that great shadow I did represent;
The happiest gift that ever marquess gave,
The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd.

K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, Queen Margaret;

I can express no kinder sign of love,

Than this kind kiss.-O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
For thou hast given me, in this beauteous face,
A world of earthly blessings to my soul, w
*If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.

Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gra-
alicious lord, but not
allo
The mutual conference that my mind hath had 3
By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams;
In courtly company, or at my beads,-
With you mine alder-liefest sovereign,
Makes me the bolder to salute my king
With ruder terms; such as my wit affords,
And over-joy of heart doth minister.

4

2 i. e. to the gracious hands of you, my sovereign, who are, &c In the old play the line stands:

Unto your gracious excellence, that are."

3 I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination.

4i. e. most beloved of all: from alder, of all: formerly used in composition with adjectives of the superlative degree and liefest, dearest, or most loved. Thus Chaucer, in Troilus and Cresside, fii. 2401st loved. Thus

Mine alder-lievest lord, and brother dear."

And Gascoigne :

and to mine alder-lievest lord I must indite." It was apparently obsolete in Shakspeare's time; for Marston puts it into the mouth of his Dutch Courtezan, A similar word is still in use in Germany and Holland. Our ancestors had also alder-best; alder-first, alder-last, &c.

K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in speech, Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty, s Makes me, from wondering fall to weeping Joys53 Such is the fulness of my heart's content. ok Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.ked me

All. Long live Queen Margaret, England's happiness! Q. Mar. We thank you all dead [Flourish. Suf. My lord protector, so it please your grace, Here are the articles of contracted peace, Between our sovereign and the French king Charles, phot

For eighteen months concluded by consent.

Glo. [Reads.] Imprimis, It is agreed between the French king, Charles, and William de la Poole, marquess of Suffolk, ambassador for Henry king of England, that the said Henry shall espouse the lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier king of Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem; and crown her queen of England, ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing. Item, That the duchy of Anjou and the, county of Maine, shall be released and delivered to the king her father

hall

K. Hen. Uncle, how now?

Glo Pardon me, gracious lord? Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, And dimm'd mine e eyes, that I can read no fur

K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. Item, It is further agreed between them, that the dutchies of Anjou and Maine shall be released and delivered over to the king her father; and she sent over of the king of England's own proper cost and charges, without having dowry.

This weeping joy, of wieh there is no trace in the originol play, Shakspeare frequently uses. It is introduced in Much Ada about Nothing, King Richard II., Macbeth, and King Lear.

K. Hea They please us well-Lord marquess, kneel down;

We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk,
And girt thee with the sword-

Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace
From being regent in the parts of France, hab.
Til term of eighteen months be full expir'd.-
Thanks, uncle Winchester, Gloster, York, and
Buckingham,

Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick;

We thank you all for this great favour done,
In entertainment to my princely queen.

Come, let us in; and with all speed provide
To see her coronation be perform'd.

[Exeunt King, Queen, and SUFFOLK
Glo, Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,
To you Duke Humphrey must unload his grief
Your grief, the common grief of a
of all the land.
What! did my brother Henry spend his youth,
His valour, coin, and people, in the wars?
Did he so often lodge in open field,

7

of

In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, To conquer France, his true inheritance? And did my brother Bedford toil his, wits, i To keep by policy what Henry got? Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham, 'Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick, Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy? Or hath my uncle Beaufort, and myself, bn A With all the learned council of the realm, Studied so long, sat in the council-house, Early and late, debating to and from

CK

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in

awe?

And hath his highness in his infancy
Been crown'd in Paris, in despite of foes?
And shall these labours, and these honours, die?
Shall Henry's conquest, Bedford's vigilance,
Your deeds of war, and all our counsel, die?
O peers of England, shameful is this league!

Fatal this marriage, cancelling your fame:
Blotting your names from books of memory:
Razing the characters of your renown;

Defacing monuments of conquer'd France;
Undoing all, as all had never been!

*Car. Nephew, what means this passionate discourse?

*This peroration with such circumstance? *For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still.

* Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can; But now it is impossible we should: Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast, Hath given the duchies of Anjou and Maine *Unto the poor king Reignier, whose large style * Agrees not with the leanness of his purse 7. * Sal. Now, by the death of him that died for all,

These counties were the keys of Normandy:But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son? War. For grief, that they are past recovery: For, were there hope to conquer them again, My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no

tears.

Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both; Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer:

And are the cities, that I got with wounds,
Deliver'd up again with peaceful words 8?
Mort Dieu!

* York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate,

vation.

6 This speech crowded with so many circumstances of aggra7 King Reignier, her father, for all his long style, had too short a parse to send his daughter honourably to the king her sponse. Holinshed.

The indignation of Warwick is natural, but might have been better expressed: there is a kind of jingle intended in wounds and words. In the old play the jingle is different. And must that then which we won with our swords, be given away with words

Vol. VI.