1591
THE SECOND PART
OF
KING HENRY THE SIXTH
by William Shakespeare
Dramatis Personae
KING HENRY THE SIXTH
HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, his uncle
CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, great-uncle to the King
RICHARD PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF YORK
EDWARD and RICHARD, his sons
DUKE OF SOMERSET
DUKE OF SUFFOLK
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
LORD CLIFFORD
YOUNG CLIFFORD, his son
EARL OF SALISBURY
EARL OF WARWICK
LORD SCALES
LORD SAY
SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD
WILLIAM STAFFORD, his brother
SIR JOHN STANLEY
VAUX
MATTHEW GOFFE
A LIEUTENANT, a SHIPMASTER, a MASTER'S MATE, and WALTER WHITMORE
TWO GENTLEMEN, prisoners with Suffolk
JOHN HUME and JOHN SOUTHWELL, two priests
ROGER BOLINGBROKE, a conjurer
A SPIRIT raised by him
THOMAS HORNER, an armourer
PETER, his man
CLERK OF CHATHAM
MAYOR OF SAINT ALBANS
SAUNDER SIMPCOX, an impostor
ALEXANDER IDEN, a Kentish gentleman
JACK CADE, a rebel
GEORGE BEVIS, JOHN HOLLAND, DICK THE BUTCHER, SMITH THE WEAVER,
MICHAEL, &c., followers of Cade
TWO MURDERERS
MARGARET, Queen to King Henry
ELEANOR, Duchess of Gloucester
MARGERY JOURDAIN, a witch
WIFE to SIMPCOX
Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Herald,
a Beadle, a Sheriff, Officers, Citizens, Prentices, Falconers,
Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c.
SCENE:
England
ACT I. SCENE I.
London. The palace
Flourish of trumpets; then hautboys. Enter the KING,
DUKE HUMPHREY OF GLOUCESTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and
CARDINAL BEAUFORT, on the one side; the QUEEN, SUFFOLK,
YORK, SOMERSET, and BUCKINGHAM, on the other
SUFFOLK. 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 Alencon,
Seven earls, twelve barons, and twenty
reverendbishops,
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
marquis gave,
The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd.
KING HENRY. 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
mutualconference 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,
Makes me the bolder to
salute my king
With ruder terms, such as my wit affords
And over-joy of heart doth minister.
KING HENRY. Her sight did ravish, but her grace in speech,
Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,
Makes me from wond'ring 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 happiness!
QUEEN. We thank you all. [Flourish]
SUFFOLK. 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.
GLOUCESTER. [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 HENRY. Uncle, how now!
GLOUCESTER. 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 HENRY. Uncle of Winchester, I pray read on.
CARDINAL. [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 HENRY. 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 dis
charge 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.
Come, let us in, and with all speed provide
To see her
coronation be perform'd.
Exeunt KING, QUEEN, and SUFFOLK
GLOUCESTER. 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,
Receiv'd 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!
CARDINAL. Nephew, what means this
passionate discourse,
This peroration with such circumstance?
For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still.
GLOUCESTER. 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 duchy of Anjou and Maine
Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leanness of his purse.
SALISBURY. Now, by the death of Him that died for all,
These counties were the keys of Normandy!
But
wherefore weeps Warwick, my
valiant son?
WARWICK. 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!
YORK. For Suffolk's duke, may he be suffocate,
That dims the honour of this
warlike isle!
France should have torn and rent my very heart
Before I would have yielded to this league.
I never read but England's kings have had
Large sums of gold and dowries with their wives;
And our King Henry gives away his own
To match with her that brings no vantages.
GLOUCESTER. A proper jest, and never heard before,
That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth
For costs and
charges in transporting her!
She should have stay'd in France, and starv'd in France,
Before-
CARDINAL. My Lord of Gloucester, now ye grow too hot:
It was the pleasure of my lord the King.
GLOUCESTER. My Lord of Winchester, I know your mind;
'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,
But 'tis my presence that doth trouble ye.
Rancour will out: proud prelate, in thy face
I see thy fury; if I longer stay
We shall begin our ancient bickerings.
Lordings,
farewell; and say, when I am gone,
I prophesied France will be lost ere long. Exit
CARDINAL. So, there goes our Protector in a rage.