THE SECOND PART OF

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

INTRODUCTION.

THIS historical play was first published with its present title in the folio of 1623. But much the greater part of it, either "simple, of itself," or with more or less variation, had been published in a quarto in 1594, which bore the following full and descriptive title: The First Part of the Contention betwixt the two famous houses of Yorke and Lancaster, with the death of the good Duke Humphrey: And the banishment and death of the Duke of Suffolke, and the Tragicall end of the prowd Cardinall of Winchester, with the notable Rebellion of lacke Cade: And the Duke of Yorkes first clayme to the Crowne. This play was published again in 1600, and yet again in 1619; in the latter case as the first part of a book with the following title: The Whole Contention betweene the two Famous Houses, Lancaster and Yorke. With the tragical ends of the good Duke Humfrey, Richard Duke of Yorke, and King Henrie the sixt. Divided into two parts: And newly corrected and enlarged. Written by William Shakespeare, Gent. It will be observed that Shakespeare was not living at the time of this last publication. The facts in regard to the play seem to be briefly these. Some time about the year 1589-90, Christopher Marlowe and Robert Greene undertook, with the help of a promising young playwright named William Shakespeare, to dramatize the events of the Wars of the Roses, and The First Part of the Contention was the fruit of their joint labor, in which the superiority of Shakespeare's genius notably asserted itself. Afterwards Shakespeare took this play, and, retaining what he had written of it with no alteration, or with little, he worked over and touched up the rest with the result which we now know as the Second Part of King Henry the Sixth. This he probably did at some indeterminable time between 1600 and 1603. The substance of the play is taken from Holinshed's Chronicles. The period of the action is between 1445 and 1455.

395413

THE SECOND PART OF

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

ACT I.

SCENE I. London. The palace.

Flourish of trumpets: then hautboys. Enter the KING, HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and CARDINAL BEAUFORT, on the one side; the QUEEN, SUFFOLK, YORK, SOMERSET, and BUCKINGHAM, on the other.

Suf. As by your high imperial majesty

I had in charge at my depart for France,
As procurator 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, Bretagne and Alençon,

Seven earls, twelve barons and twenty reverend bishops,
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 Queen

To your most gracious hands, that are the substance
Of that great shadow I did represent;

The happiest gift that ever marquess gave,

The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd.

King. 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,

If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.

Queen. Great King of England and my gracious lord, The mutual conference that my mind hath had,

By day, by night, waking and in my dreams,

In courtly company or at my beads,

With you, mine alder-liefest sovereign,

10

20

20 alder-liefest = most dear: "alder,” old genitive of "all;" so, liefest, or dearest of all.

Makes me the bolder to salute my king

With ruder terms, such as my wit affords

30

And over-joy of heart doth minister.

King. Her sight did ravish; but her grace in speech, Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,

Makes me from wondering fall to weeping joys;

Such is the fulness of my heart's content.

Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.

All. [Kneeling.] Long live Queen Margaret, England's hap piness!

Queen. We thank you all.

Suff. My Lord Protector, so it please your grace,
Here are the articles of contracted peace

Between our sovereign and the French king Charles,
For eighteen months concluded by consent.

"

[Flourish

40

Glou. [Reads.] Imprimis, It is agreed between the French king Charles, and William de la Pole, 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". [Lets the paper fall.

King. Uncle, how now!

Glou. Pardon me, gracious lord;

Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart
And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.

King. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on.

50

Car. [Reads.] "Item, It is further agreed between them, that the duchies 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 any dowry."

King. They please us well. Lord marquess, kneel down:

60

We here create thee the first Duke of Suffolk,
And gird thee with the sword. Cousin of York,
We here discharge your grace from being regent

I' th' parts of France, till term of eighteen months
Be full expir'd. Thanks, uncle Winchester,
Gloucester, York, Buckingham, Somerset,
Salisbury, and Warwick;

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

69

To see her coronation be perform'd. [Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk.

Come, let us in, and with all speed provide

Glou. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,

To you Duke Humphrey must unload his grief,

Your grief, the common grief 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,

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

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe,
And had his highness in his infancy
Crowned 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!

80

90

Car. Nephew, what means this passionate discourse,

100

This peroration with such circumstance?

Glou. Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can;

For France, 't is ours; and we will keep it still.

But now it is impossible we should:

Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast,
Hath given the duchy of Anjou and Maine
Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leanness of his

purse.

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?

Mort Dieu!

110 Mort Dieu God's death. (Fr.)

110