Unto another Lady of esteem.

How shall we then dispense with that Contract,
And not deface your honour with reproach?

6

Suf. As doth a Ruler with unlawful oaths;
Or one, that at a triumph having vow'd
To try his ftrength, forfaketh yet the Lifts
By reafon of his adversary's odds.

A poor Earl's daughter is unequal odds;
And therefore may be broke without offence.

Glou. Why, what, I pray, is Margret more than that? Her father is no better than an Earl,

Although in glorious titles he excel.

Suf. Yes, my good Lord, her father is a King, The King of Naples and Jerufalem ;

And of fuch great Authority in France,

That his Alliance will confirm our Peace;

And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance.

Glou. And fo the Earl of Armagnac may do, Because he is near kinsman unto Charles.

Exe. Befide, his wealth doth warrant lib'ral Dow'r, While Reignier fooner will receive, than give.

Suf. A Dow'r, my Lords! Difgrace not fo your King,
That he fhould be fo abject, base and poor,
To chufe for wealth, and not for perfect love.
Henry is able to enrich his Queen;

And not to feek a Queen, to make him rich.
So worthless peasants bargain for their wives,
As market-men for Oxen, Sheep or Horse.
But marriage is a matter of more worth,
Than to be dealt in by Attorneyfhip,
Not whom we will, but whom his Grace affects,
Must be companion of his nuptial bed.
And therefore, Lords, fince he affects her moft,
It most of all these reasons bindeth us,

6

at a triumph] That is, at the sports by which a triumph is celebrated.

By attorneyship.] By the in

tervention of another man's choice; or the difcretional agency of another.

In

In our opinions fhe fhould be preferr❜d.
For what is wedlock forced, but a hell,
An age of difcord and continual ftrife?
Whereas the contrary bringeth forth Bliss,
And is a pattern of celeftial Peace.
Whom fhould we match with Henry, being a King,
But Margret, that is daughter to a King?
Her peerless feature, joined with her birth,
Approves her fit for none, but for a King;
Her valiant courage, and undaunted fpirit,
More than in woman commonly is feen,
Anfwer our hope in Iffue of a King;
For Henry, fon unto a Conqueror,
Is likely to beget more Conquerors;
If with a Lady of fo high refolve,
As is fair Margret, he be link'd in love.

Then yield, my Lords, and here conclude with me,
That Margret fhall be Queen, and none but she.

K. Henry. Whether it be through force of your re

port,

My noble Lord of Suffolk; or for that
My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any paffion of inflaming love,
I cannot tell; but this I am assur'd,
I feel fuch sharp diffention in my breast,
Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
As I am fick with working of my thoughts.

Take therefore fhipping; poft, my Lord, to France ;
Agree to any Covenants; and procure,

That lady Marg❜ret do vouchsafe to come
To cross the feas to England; and be crown'd
King Henry's faithful and anointed Queen.
For your expences and fufficient charge,
Among the people gather up a tenth.
Be gone, I fay; for 'till you do return,
I am perplexed with a thousand cares.
And you, good Uncle, banish all offence:

If you do cenfure me, 7 by what you were,
Not what you are, I know, it will excufe
This fudden execution of my will.

8

[Exit.

And fo conduct me, where, from company,
I may revolve and ruminate my grief.
Glou. Ay; grief, I fear me, both at first and last.
[Exit Gloucefter.
Suf. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd, and thus he goes,
As did the youthful Paris once to Greece,
We hope to find the like event in love;
But profper better than the Trojan did:
Margret fhall now be Queen, and rule the King:
But I will rule both her, the King, and realm. [Exit.

7 If you do cenfure me, &c.] To cenfure is here fimply to judge. If in judging me you confider the paft frailties of your own youth.

8

ruminate my grief. ] Grief in the first line is taken generally for pain or uneafinefs; in the fecond fpecially for jorrow.

Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two fucceeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the fecond and third parts were published without the first may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were furreptitiously obtained, and that the printers of that time gave the publick those plays not fuch as the authour defigned, but fuch as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the feries of events; that it was written and played before Henry the fifth is

apparent, becaufe in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other

parts.

Henry the fixth in fwaddling
bands crown'd king,
Whofe fate jo many had i'th
managing

That they left France, and made
all England rue,

Which oft our flage bath fhewn. France is loft in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of the houfes of York and Lancefter.

The two first parts of Henry VI. were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written we know not, but it was printed likewife in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and fecond parts, the first part of Henry VI. had been often shown on the flage, and would certainly have appeared in its place had the authour been the publisher.

The END of the FOURTH VOLUME.

1

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