The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare

FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

'No sooner was I crept out of my cradle,
But I was made a king at nine months old.'

King Henry VI. Part II. Act iv. Sc. 9 'When I was crown'd I was but nine months old.

THE historical transactions in this play take in the compass of above thirty years. In the three parts of King Henry VI. there is no very precise attention to the date and disposition of facts; they are shuffled backwards and forwards out of time. For instance, the King Henry VI. Part III. Act i. Sc. 1 Lord Talbot is killed at the end of the fourth act of this The first of these passages is among the additions play, who in reality did not fall till the 13th of July, made by Shakspeare to the old play, according to Mr. 1453: and the Second Part of King Henry VI. opens Malone's hypothesis. The other passage does occur in with the marriage of the king, which was solemnized the True Tragedie of Richard Duke of York; and eight years before Talbot's death, in the year 1445. therefore it is natural to conclude that neither ShakAgain, in the second part, dame Eleanor Cobham is in-speare nor the author of that piece could have written troduced to insult Queen Margaret: though her penance the First Part of King Henry VI. and banishment for sorcery happened three years before that princess came over to England. There are ⚫ other transgressions against history, as far as the order of time is concerned.

Mr. Malone has written a dissertation to prove that the First Part of King Henry VI. was not written by Shakspeare: and that the Second and Third Parts were only altered by him from the old play, entitled 'The Contention of the Two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster,' printed in two parts, in quarto, in 1594 and 1595. The substance of his argument, as far as regards this play, is as follows:

2. In Act ii. Sc. 5. of this play, it is said that the earl of Cambridge raised an army against his sovereign. But Shakspeare, in his play of King Henry V. has represented the matter truly as it was: the earl being in that piece, Act ii., condemned at Southampton for conspiring to assassinate Henry.

3. The author of this play knew the true pronunciation of the word Hecate, as it is used by the Roman writers :'I speak not to that railing Hecate.' But Shakspeare, in Macbeth, always uses Hecate as a dissyllable.

The second speech in this play ascertains the author to have been very familiar with Hall's Chronicle:

What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech,' This phrase is introduced upon almost every occasion by Hall when he means to be eloquent. Holinshed, not Hall, was Shakspeare's historian. Here then is an additional minute proof that this play was not Shakspeare's.

1. The diction, versification, and allusions in it, are all different from the diction, versification, and allusions of Shakspeare, and corresponding with those of Greene, Peele, Lodge, Marlowe, and others who preceded him: there are more allusions to mythology, to classical authors, and to ancient and modern history, than are found in any one piece of Shakspeare's written on an English story: they are such as do not naturally rise out of the subject, but seem to be inserted merely to This is the sum of Malone's argument, which Steeshow the writer's learning. These allusions, and many vens has but feebly combated in notes appended to it; particular expressions, seem more likely to have been and I am disposed to think more out of a spirit of oppoused by the authors already named than by Shak-sition than from any other cause. Malone conjectured speare. He points out many of the allusions, and in- that this piece which we now call the First Part of stances the words proditor and immanity, which are King Henry VI. was, when first performed, called The not to be found in any of the poet's undisputed works. Play of King Henry VI.; and he afterwards found his -The versification he thinks clearly of a different co- conjecture confirmed by an entry in the accounts of lour from that of Shakspeare's genuine dramas; while Henslowe, the proprietor of the Rose Theatre on the at the same time it resembles that of many of the plays Bank Side. It must have been very popular, having produced before his time. The sense concludes or been played no less than thirteen times in one season: pauses almost uniformly at the end of every line; and the first entry of its performance by the Lord Strange's the verse has scarcely ever a redundant syllable. He company, at the Rose, is dated March 3, 1591. It is produces numerous instances from the works of Lodge, worthy of remark that Shakspeare does not appear at Peele, Greene, and others, of similar versification. any time to have had the smallest connexion with that theatre, or the companies playing there; which affords additional argument in favour of Malone's position, that the play could not be his. By whom it was written (says Malone,) it is now, fear, difficult to ascertain. It was not entered on the Stationers' books, nor printed till the year 1623; when it was reiterated with Shakspeare's undisputed plays by the editors of the first folio, and improperly entitled the Third Part of King Henry VI. In one sense it might be called so; for two plays on the subject of that reign had been printed before. But considering the history of that king, and the period of time which the piece comprehends, it ought to have been called, what in fact it is, The First Part of King Henry VI. At this distance of time it is impossible to ascertain on what principle it was that Heminge and Condell admitted it into their volume; but suspect that they gave it a place as a necessary introduction to the two other parts; and because Shakspeare had made some slight alterations, and written a few lines in it.t

A passage in a pamphlet written by Thomas Nashe, an intimate friend of Greene, Peele, Marlowe, &c. shows that the First Part of King Henry VI. had been on the stage before 1592; and his favourable mention of the piece may induce a belief that it was written by a friend of his. How would it have joyed brave Talbot, the terror of the French, to thinke that, after he had lyen two hundred yeare in his tombe, he should triumph again on the stage; and have his bones new embalmed with the teares of ten thousand spectators at least (at several times,) who in the tragedian that represents his person behold him fresh bleeding.'-Pierce Penniless, his Supplication to the Devil, 1592.

That this passage related to the old play of King Henry VI. or, as it is now called, the First Part of King Henry VI. can hardly be doubted. Talbot appears in the First Part, and not in the Second or Third Part, and is expressly spoken of in the play, as well as in Hall's Chronicle, as 'the terror of the French. Holinshed, who was Shakspeare's guide, omits the passage in Hall, in which Talbot is thus described; and this is an additional proof that this play was not the production of our great poet.

There are other internal proofs of this :

1. The author does not seem to have known precisely now old Henry VI. was at the time of his father's death. He supposed him to have passed the state of infancy before he lost his father, and even to have remembered some of his sayings. In the Fourth Act, Sc. 4, speaking of the famous Talbot, he says:

When I was young (as yet I am not old,)
I do remember how my father said,
A stouter champion never handled sword.'
But Shakspeare knew that Henry VI.could not possi-
bly remember any thing of his father :-

Mr. Malone's arguments have made many converts to his opinion; and perhaps Mr. Morgann, in his elegant Essay on the Dramatic Character of Falstaff, led the way, when he pronounced it 'That-drum-andtrumpet thing,-written doubtless, or rather exhibited long before Shakspeare was born, though afterwards repaired and furbished up by him with here and there a little sentiment and diction.'

*This applies only to the title in the Register of the Stationers' Company: in the first folio it was called the First Part of King Henry VI.

Malone's Life of Shakspeare, p 310, ed 1821.
First published in 1777

FIRST PART OF

KING HENRY THE SIXTH.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

DUKE of GLOSTER, Uncle to the King, and Pro

HUNG be the heavens with black,2 yield day to night!

Comets, importing change of times and states,
Brandish your crystal3 tresses in the sky,
And with them scourge the bad revolting stars,
That have consented unto Henry's death!
Henry the Fifth, too famous to live long!
England ne'er lost a king of so much worth.

Glo. England ne'er had a king, until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to command:
His brandish'd'sword did blind men with his beams;
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings;
His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire,
More dazzled and drove back his enemies,
Than midday sun fierce bent against their faces.
What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:
He ne'er lift up his hand, but conquer'd.
Exe. We mourn in black; Why mourn we not

in blood?

Henry is dead, and never shall revive;
Upon a wooden coffin we attend;
And death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,

1 Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, who is a character in King Henry V. The earl of Warwick, who appears in a subsequent part of this drama, is Richard Nevill, son to the earl of Salisbury, who came to the title in right of his wife, Anne, sister of Henry Beauchamp, duke of Warwick. Richard, the father of this Henry, was appointed governor to the king on the demise of Thomas Beaufort, duke of Exeter, and died in 1439. There is no reason to think the author meant to confound the two characters.

2 Alluding to the ancient practice of hanging the stage with black when a tragedy was to be acted.

Mayor of London. WOODVILLE, Lieutenant of the Tower.

VERNON, of the White Rose, or York Faction.
BASSET, of the Red Rose, or Lancaster Faction.
REIGNIER, Duke of Anjou, and titular King of
CHARLES, Dauphin, and afterwards King of France.
Naples.

DUKE of BURGUNDY. DUKE of ALENCON.
Governor of Paris. Bastard of Orleans.
Master-Gunner of Orleans, and his Son.
General of the French Forces in Bordeaux.
A French Sergeant. A Porter.
An old Shepherd, Father to Joan la Pucelle.
MARGARET, Daughter to Reignier: afterwards
married to King Henry.

COUNTESS of AUVERGNE.
JOAN LA PUCELLE, commonly called Joan of Arc.
Fiends appearing to La Pucelle, Lords, Warders
of the Tower, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Mes-
sengers, and several Attendants both on the Eng-
lish and French.

SCENE-partly in England, and partly in France.

Like captives bound to a triumphant car.
What? shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory's overthrow?
Or shall we think the subtle-witted French
Conjurers and sorcerers, that, afraid of him,
By magick verses' have contriv'd his end?

Win. He was a king bless'd of the King of kings.
Unto the French the dreadful judgment day
So dreadful will not be, as was his sight.
The battles of the Lord of Hosts he fought:
The church's prayers made him so prosperous.
Glo. The church! where is it? Had not church.
men pray'd,

His thread of life had not so soon decay'd:
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whom, like a schoolboy, you may overawe.
Win. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art pro-

tector;

And lookest to command the prince, and realm.
More than God, or religious churchmen, may.
Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe,

Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh; And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st, Except it be to pray against thy foes.

Bed. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your minds in peace!

Let's to the altar :-Heralds, wait on us :—
Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms;
Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead.-
Posterity, await for wretched years,
When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall suck
Our isle be made a nourish of salt tears,
And none but women left to wail the dead.-

3 Crystal is an epithet repeatedly bestowed on comets by our ancient writers.

4 Consented here means conspired together to pre mote the death of Henry by their malignant influence on human events. Our ancestors had but one word to express consent, and concent, which meant accord and agreement, whether of persons or things.

5 There was a notion long prevalent that life might be taken away by metrical charms.

6 Nurse, was anciently spelt nouryce and noryshe ' and, by Lydgate, even nourish.

Henry the Fifth! thy ghost I invocate;
Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils!
Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!
A far more glorious star thy soul will make,
Than Julius Cæsar, or bright

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all!
Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,
Of loss, of slaughter, and discomfiture:
Guienne, Champaigne, Rheims, Orleans,
Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost.2
Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's
corse?

Speak softly; or the loss of those great towns
Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death.
Glo. Is Paris lost? is Rouen yielded up?
If Henry were recall'd to life again,

These news would cause him once more yield the
ghost.

Exe. How were they lost? what treachery was
us'd?

Mess. No treachery; but want of men and money.
Among the soldiers this is mutter'd,-
That here you maintain several factions;
And, whilst a field should be despatch'd and fought,
You are disputing of your generals.
One would have fing'ring wars, with little cost;
Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings;
A third man thinks, without expense at all,
By guileful fair words peace may be obtain❜d.
Awake, awake, English nobility!

Let not sloth dím your honours, new begot:
Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms;
Of England's coat one half is cut away.

Exe. Were our tears wanting to this funeral,
These tidings would call forth her flowing tides.3
Bed. Me they concern; regent I am of France:-
Give me my steeled coat, I'll fight for France.-
Away with these disgraceful wailing robes!
Wounds I will lend the French, instead of eyes,
To weep their intermissive miseries.4

Enter another Messenger.

Retiring from the siege of Orleans,
Having full scarce six thousand in his troop,
By three and twenty thousand of the French
Was round encompassed and set upon :
No leisure had he to enrank his men n;
He wanted pikes to set before his archers;
Instead whereof, sharp stakes, pluck'd out of hedges,
They pitched in the ground confusedly,
To keep the horsemen off from breaking in.
More than three hours the fight continued
Where valiant Talbot, above human thought,
Enacted wonders with his sword and lance.
Hundreds he sent to hell, and none durst stand him;
Here, there, and every where, enrag'd he slew:
The French exclaim'd, The devil was in arms;
All the whole army stood agaz'd on him:
His soldiers, spying his undaunted spirit,
A Talbot! a Talbot! cried out amain,
And rush'd into the bowels of the battle.
Here had the conquest fully been seal'd up,
If Sir John Fastolfe had not play'd the coward;
He being in the vaward (plac'd behind,
With purpose to relieve and follow them,)
Cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke.
Hence grew the general wreck and massacre;
Enclosed were they with their enemies:
A base Walloon, to win the Dauphin's grace,
Thrust Talbot with a spear into the back;
Whom all France, with their chief assembled
strength,

Durst not presume to look once in the face.

Bed. Is Talbot slain? then I will slay myself,
For living idly here, in pomp and ease,
Whilst such a worthy leader, wanting aid,
Unto his dastard foeman is betray'd.

3 Mess. O no, he lives; but is took prisoner, And Lord Scales with him, and Lord Hungerford Most of the rest slaughter'd, or took, likewise.

Bed. His ransom there is none but I shall pay : I'll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne, His crown shall be the ransom of my friend; Four of their lords I'll change for one of ours.Farewell, my masters; to my task will I; Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make,

2 Mess. Lords, view these letters, full of bad To keep our great Saint George's feast withal:

mischance,

France is revolted from the English quite;
Except some petty towns of no import:

The Dauphin Charles is crowned king in Rheims;
The bastard of Orleans with him is join'd;
Reignier, duke of Anjou, doth take his part;
The duke of Alencon flieth to his side.

Ten thousand soldiers with me I will take,
Whose bloody deeds shall make all Europe quake.
3 Mess. So you had need; for Orleans is be-

sieg'd;

The English army is grown weak and faint:
The earl of Salisbury craveth supply,

And hardly keeps his men from mutiny,

Exe. The Dauphin is crowned king! all fly to Since they, so few, watch such a multitude.

him!

1 Pope conjectured that this blank had been supplied by the name of Francis Drake, which, though a glaring anachronism, might have been a popular, though not judicious, mode of attracting plaudits in the theatre. Part of the arms of Drake was two blazing stars.

Exe. Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry

sworn;

Either to quell the Dauphin utterly,

Or bring him in obedience to your yoke.
Bed. I do remember it; and here take leave,
To go about my preparation.

[Exit.
Glo. I'll to the Tower, with all the haste I can,
To view the artillery and munition;
And then I will proclaim young Henry king. [Exit.
Exe. To Eltham will I, where the young king is,
Being ordain'd his special governor;
And for his safety there I'll best devise.
Win. Each hath his place and function to attend :
I am left out for me nothing remains.
But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office;
The king from Eltham I intend to steal,
And sit at chiefest stern of public weal.

[Exit.

[Exit. Scene closes.

5 For an account of this Sir John Fastolfe, vide Biographia Britannica, by Kippis, vol. v. ; in which is his life, written by Mr. Gough.

6 The old copy reads send, the present reading was proposed by Mason, who observes that the king was not at this time in the power of the cardinal, but under the care of the duke of Exeter. The second article of accusation brought against the bishop by the duke of Glouces ter is that he purposed and disposed him to set hand on the king's person, and to have removed him from El4 i. e. their miseries which have only a short inter- tham to Windsor, to the intent to put him in governance

2 Capel proposed to complete this defective verse by the insertion of Rouen among the places lost, as Gloster Infers that it had been mentioned with the rest. 3 i. e. England's flowing tides.

mission.

as him list.' Holinshed vol. iii. p. 591

SCENE II. France. Before Orleans.

CHARLES, with his Forces; ALENCON, REIGNIER,

and others.

Enter Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words,
For they are certain and infallible.
Char. Go, call her in: [Exit Bastard.] But, first
to try her skill,

Char. Mars his true moving,' even as in the heavens,

So in the earth, to this day is not known:
Late did he shine upon the English side;
Now we are victors, upon us he smiles.
What towns of any moment, but we have?
At pleasure here we lie, near Orleans;
Otherwhiles, the famish'd English, like pale ghosts,
Faintly besiege us one hour in a month.

Alen. They want their porridge, and their fat bullbeeves:

Either they must be dieted like mules,
And have their provender tied to their mouths,
Or piteous they will look, like drowned mice.
Reig. Let's raise the siege; Why live we idly

here?

Talbot is taken, whom we wont to fear:
Remaineth none but mad-brain'd Salisbury;
And he may well in fretting spend his gall,
Nor men, nor money, hath he to make war.
Char. Sound, sound alarum; we will rush on them.
Now for the honour of the forlorn French :--
Him I forgive my death, that killeth me,
When he sees me go back one foot, or fly. [Exeunt.
Alarums: Excursions: afterwards a Retreat.
Re-enter CHARLES, ALENCON, REIGNIER, and
others.

Char. Who ever saw the like? what men have I? Dogs! cowards! dastards!-I would ne'er have fled, But that they left me 'midst my enemies.

Reig. Salisbury is a desperate homicide;
He fighteth as one weary of his life.
The other lords, like lions wanting food,
Do rush upon us as their hungry prey.2

Alen. Froissard, a countryman of ours, records,
England all Olivers and Rowlands bred,
During the time Edward the Third did reign.
More truly now may this be verified;
For none but Samsons, and Goliasses

It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!

Lean raw-bon'd rascals; who would e'er suppose They had such courage and audacity?

Reignier, stand thou as Dauphin in my place: Question her proudly, let thy looks be stern:By this mean shall we sound what skill she hath.

[Retires.

Enter LA PUCELLE, Bastard of Orleans, and others. Reig. Fair maid, is't thou wilt do these wondrous feats?

Puc. Reignier, is't thou that thinkest to beguile me?

Where is the Dauphin ?--come, come from behind;
I know thee well, though never seen before.
Be not amaz'd, there's nothing hid from me:
Stand back, you lords, and give us leave a while.
In private will I talk with thee apart:-

Reig. She takes upon her bravely at first dash.
Puc. Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter.
My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.
Heaven, and our Lady gracious, hath it pleas'd
Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,
To shine on my contemptible estate:
And to sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks,
And, in a vision full of majesty,
God's mother deigned to appear to me;
Will'd me to leave my base vocation,
And free my country from calamity:
Her aid she promis'd, and assur'd success:
In complete glory she reveal'd herself;
With those clear rays which she infus'd on me,
And, whereas I was black and swart before,
That beauty am I bless'd with, which you see.
Ask me what question thou canst possible,
And I will answer unpremeditated:

My courage try by combat, if thou dar'st,
Resolve on this: Thou shalt be fortunate,
And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.
If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.

Char. Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high

terms;

Only this proof I'll of thy valour make,—
In single combat thou shalt buckle with me:
And, if thou vanquishest, thy words are true;

Char. Let's leave this town; for they are hair-Otherwise, I renounce all confidence.

brain'd slaves,

And hunger will enforce them to be more eager :
Of old I know them; rather with their teeth
The walls they'll tear down, than forsake the siege.
Reig. I think, by some odd gimmals or device,
Their arms are set, like clocks, still to strike on;
Else ne'er could they hold out so as they do.
By my consent, we'll e'en let them alone.
Alen. Be it so.

Enter the Bastard of Orleans. Bast. Where's the prince Dauphin, I have news for him.

Char. Bastards of Orleans, thrice welcome to us. Bast. Methinks, your looks are sad, your cheers appall'd:

Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?
Be not dismay'd, for succour is at hand:
A holy maid hither with me I bring,

Which, by a vision sent to her from heaven,
Ordained is to raise this tedious siege,

And drive the English forth the bounds of France.
The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,
Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome;"
What's past, and what's to come, she can descry.

1 'You are as ignorant in the true movings of my muse as the astronomers are in the true movings of Mars, which to this day they could never attain to." Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is up, by Nash, 1596, Preface. 2 i. e. the prey for which they are hungry.

8 These were two of the most famous in the list of Charlemagne's twelve peers; and their exploits are the theme of the old romances. From the equally doughty and unheard of exploits of these champions, arose the saying of Giving a Rowland for an Oliver, for giving a erson as good as he brings.

Puc. I am prepar'd: here is my keen-edged sword,
Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each side:
The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine's church-
yard,

Out of a great deal of old iron I chose forth.
Char. Then come o' God's name, I fear no woman.
Puc. And, while I live, I'll ne'er fly from a man.
[They figh..
Char. Stay, stay thy hands; thou art an Amazon,
And fightest with the sword of Deborah.
Puc. Christ's mother helps me, else I were too
weak.

Char. Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that must help me :

Impatiently I burn with thy desire;

My heart and hands thou hast at once subdu'd.
Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,
Let me thy servant, and not sovereign, be;
'Tis the French Dauphin sueth thus to thee.
Puc. I must not yield to any rites of love,
For my profession's sacred from above:
When I have chased all thy foes from hence,
Then will I think upon a recompense.

4 By gimmals, gimbols, gimmers, or gimowes, any kind of device or machinery producing motion was meant. Baret has 'the gimew or hinge of a door.' 5 Bastard was not in former times a title of reproach. 6 Cheer in this instance means heart or courage, as in the expression 'be of good cheer.'

7 Warburton says that, 'there were no nine sybils of Rome, it is a mistake for the nine Sibylline Oracles brought to one of the Tarquins.' But the poet followed the popular books of his day, which say that 'the ten sybils were women that had the spirit of prophecy (enu merating them) and that they prophesied of Christ' 8 i. e. be convinced of it.

Char. Mean time, look gracious on thy prostrate | Servants rush at the Tower Gates. Enter, to the

thrall.

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Till, by broad spreading, it disperse to nought.2
With Henry's death, the English circle ends
Dispersed are the glories it included.
Now am I like that proud insulting ship,
Which Cæsar and his fortune bare at once.
Char. Was Mahomet inspired with a dove ??
Thou with an eagle art inspired then,
Helen, the mother of great Constantine,
Nor yet Saint Philip's daughters, were like thee.
Bright star of Venus, fall'n down on the earth,
How may I reverently worship thee enough?

Alen. Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege. Reig. Woman, do what thou canst to save our honours;

Drive them from Oreans, and be immortaliz❜d. Char. Presently we try :-Come let's away about it?

No prophet will I trust, if she prove false. [Exeunt. SCENE III. London. Hill before the Tower. Enter, at the Gates, the Duke of GLOSTER, with his Serving-men in blue Coats.

Glo. I am come to survey the Tower this day; Since Henry's death, I fear there is conveyance. Where be these warders, that they wait not here? Open the gates; Gloster it is that calls. [Servants knock. 1 Ward. [Within.] Who is there that knocks so imperiously?

1 Serv. It is the noble duke of Gloster, 2 Ward. [Within.] Whoe'er he be, you may not be let in.

1 Serv. Answer you so the lord protector,

villains?

1 Ward, [Within.] The Lord protect him! so we answer him:

We do no otherwise than we are will'd,

Glo. Who willed you? or whose will stands, but mine?

There's none protector of the realm, but I.→
Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize :
Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?

1 i. e. expect prosperity after misfortune, like fair weather at Martlemas, after winter has begun. 2 This is a favourite image with poets.

3 Mahomet had a dove which he used to feed with wheat out of his ear; which dove when it was hungry, lighted on Mahomet's shoulder, and thrust its bill in to find its breakfast, Mahomet persuading the rude and simple Arabians that it was the Holy Ghost.' Raleigh's Hist. of the World, part i. c. vi.

4 Meaning the four daughters of Philip mentioned in Acts, xxi. 9.

5 Conveyance anciently signified any kind of furtive knavery, or privy stealing.

6 To break up was the same as to break open. 7 It appears that the attendants upon ecclesiastical courts, and a bishop's servants, were then, as now, disnguished by clothing of a sombre colour.

Le, bald, alluding to his shaven crown.

Gates, WOODVILLE, the Lieutenant. Wood. [Within.] What noise is this? what trai tors have we here?

Glo. Lieutenant, is it you, whose voice I hear?
Open the gates; here's Gloster, that would enter.
Wood, [Within.] Have patience, noble duke: I
may not open;
The cardinal of Winchester forbids:

From him I have express commandment,
That thou, nor none of thine, shall be let in.

Glo. Faint-hearted Woodville, prizest him 'fore
me?

Arrogant Winchester? that haughty prelate,
Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne'er could brook?
Thou art no friend to God, or to the king:
Open the gates, or I'll shut thee out shortly.

1 Serv. Open the gates unto the lord protector; Or we'll burst them open, if that you come not quickly.

Enter WINCHESTER, attended by a Train of Servants in tawny Coats."

Win. How now, ambitious Humphry? what means this?

Glo. Piel'd priest, dost thou command me to be shut out?

Win. I do, thou most usurping proditor,9
And not protector of the king or realm.

Glo. Stand back, thou manifest conspirator;
Thou, that countriv'dst to murder our dead lord
Thou, that giv'st whores indulgences to sing:
I'll canvas thee in thy broad cardinal's hat,
If thou proceed in this thy insolence.

Win. Nay, stand thou back, I will not budge a foot;

This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain,
To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt.

Glo. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back:
Thy scarlet robes, as a child's bearing-cloth
I'll use, to carry thee out of this place.

Win. Do what thou dar'st: Ibeard thee to thy face.

Glo. What? am I dar'd, and bearded to my face?

Draw, men, for all this privileged place; Blue-coats to tawny-coats. Priest, beware your beard;

[GLOSTER and his men attack the Bishop. I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly: Under In spite of pope or dignities of church, my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat; Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down. Win. Gloster, thou'lt answer this before the pope.

Glo. Winchester goose,12 I cry-a rope! a rope! Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's array. Now beat them hence: Why do you let them stay? Out, tawny coats!-out scarlet13 hypocrite!

Here a great Tumult. In the midst of it, Enter the Mayor of London, 14 and Officers.

May. Fye, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates,

Thus contumeliously should break the peace!
Glo, Peace, mayor: thou know'st little of my

wrongs:

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The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, Volume 2