Able to ravish any dull conceit.
And, which is more, she is not so divine,
So full replete with choice of all delights,

But, with as humble lowliness of mind,
She is content to be at your command;
Command, I mean, of virtuous chaste intents,
To love and honour Henry as her lord.

K. HEN. And otherwise will Henry ne'er presume
Therefore, my lord protector, give consent
That Margaret may be England's royal queen.

GLO. So should I give consent to flatter sin.
You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd
Unto another lady of esteem;

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

SUF As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths;
Or one that, at a triumph having vow'd
To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists
By reason of his adversary's odds:

A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds,

And therefore may be broke without offence.

GLO. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than that? Her father is no better than an earl,

Although in glorious titles he excel.

SUF. Yes, my lord, her father is a king,

The king of Naples and Jerusalem;
And of such great authority in France,

As his alliance will confirm our peace,

And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance.

GLO. And so the earl of Armagnac may do,

Because he is near kinsman unto Charles.

EXE. Beside, his wealth doth warrant a liberal dower,

Where Reignier sooner will receive than give.

Sur. A dower, my lords! disgrace not so your king,

That he should be so abject, base, and poor,

To choose for wealth, and not for perfect love.

Henry is able to enrich his queen,

And not to seek a queen to make him rich:
So worthless peasants bargain for their wives,
As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse.

Marriage is a matter of more worth
Than to be dealt in by attorneyship;

Not whom we will, but whom his grace affects,
Must be companion of his nuptial bed:
And therefore, lords, since he affects her most,
It most of all these reasons bindeth us,
In our opinions she should be preferr❜d.
For what is wedlock forced but a hell,
An age
of discord and continual strife?
Whereas the contrary bringeth forth bliss,
And is a pattern of celestial peace.

Whom should we match with Henry, being a king,
But Margaret, 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 spirit,
(More than in women commonly is seen,)
Will answer our hope in issue of a king;
For Henry, son unto a conqueror,
Is likely to beget more conquerors,
If with a lady of so high resolve

As is fair Margaret he be link'd in love.

Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me,

That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she.

K. HEN. Whether it be through force of your report, My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that

My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any passion of inflaming love,
I cannot tell; but this I am assur'd,
I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,
Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,

As I am sick with working of my thoughts.

Take, therefore, shipping; post, my lord, to France;
Agree to any covenants; and procure

That lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come
To cross the seas to England, and be crown'd
King Henry's faithful and anointed queen:

For

your expenses and sufficient charge, Among the people gather up a tenth. Be gone, I say; for, till you do return,

I rest perplexed with a thousand cares.
And you, good uncle, banish all offence:
If you do censure me by what you were.
Not what you are, I know it will excuse
This sudden execution of my will.

And so conduct me, where, from company,
I may revolve and ruminate my grief.

GLO. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.

[Exit.

[Exeunt GLOSTER and EXETER. SUF. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd: and thus he goes, As did the youthful Paris once to Greece; With hope to find the like event in love, But prosper better than the Trojan did. Margaret shall now be queen, and rule the king; But I will rule both her, the king and realm.

[Exit

VARIOUS READINGS.

Than Julius Cæsar, or bright Cassiope." (ACT I., Sc. 1.)

This is the reading of the MS. Corrector.

Pope suggested (the notion

looks like a joke) to fill up the line thus:

In the original the line is terminated with four hyphens, thus (----), a point which is several times used in the same play to mark an interrupted speech.

"He being in the rearward, plac'd behind,

With purpose to relieve and follow them." (ACT I., Sc. 1.)

The original has vaward-the

van. It is possibly a misprint.

Steevens and Monck Mason explain the passage in the following manner:-"When an army is attacked in the rear, the van becomes the rear in its turn, and of course the reserve."

"For I will touch thee but with reverent hands,

And lay them gently on thy tender side.

I kiss these fingers for eternal peace."

Suffolk exhorts Margaret not to fear, or fly.

The original reading continues: "For I will touch thee but with

reverent hands.

I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,

And lay them gently on thy tender side."

Capell suggested the reading which is usually followed; and the transposition of the lines is

Suffolk says

(ACT V., Sc. 3.)

"Do not fear, nor fly;

For I will touch thee but with reverent hands."

He then adds, kissing the lady's fingers,

"I kiss these fingers for eternal

peace,

And lay them gently on thy tender side,"

accompanying the words by a cor responding action. He takes the

found in the MS. Corrections. Malone says, that by the original reading, "Suffolk is made to kiss his own fingers, a symbol of peace, of which there is, I believe, no example."

lady's hand, but, instead of seizing it as the hand of a prisoner, he replaces it, having kissed it, on her tender side.

"Speak, Winchester, for boiling choler chokes

The hollow passage of my poison'd voice." (ACT V., Sc. 4.)

The above is the reading of the original.

Pope suggested prison'd, which

is also found in the MS. corrections. It is a decided emendation.

GLOSSARY.

A-MORT. Act III., Sc. 2.

"What, all a-mort?"

A-mort is dejected, dispirited. See Taming of the Shrew.' APPREHENSION. Act II., Sc. 4.

"To scourge you for this apprehension."

Apprehension is opinion-for apprehending it thus.

BALEFUL. Act V., Sc. 4.

"By sight of these our baleful enemies."

Bale is grief, trouble, mischief. Baneful is now generally used.

BLOOD. Act IV., Sc. 2.

"If we be English deer, be then in blood."

In blood was a term of the chace, for the deer in full vigour. BREAK. Act I., Sc. 3.

"Break up the gates."

To break up is to open. In the Winter's Tale' (Act III. Sc. 2), speaking of a letter, we have "break up the seals and read;" and in Hall's 'Chronicle,' he says the Kentish-men "brake up the gates of the King's Bench and Marshalsea."