Part 10

King. O God, what mischiefes work the wicked ones? Heaping confusion on their owne heads thereby

Queene. Gloster, see here the Taincture of thy Nest, And looke thy selfe be faultlesse, thou wert best

Glost. Madame, for my selfe, to Heauen I doe appeale, How I haue lou'd my King, and Common-weale: And for my Wife, I know not how it stands, Sorry I am to heare what I haue heard, Noble shee is: but if shee haue forgot Honor and Vertue, and conuers't with such, As like to Pytch, defile Nobilitie; I banish her my Bed, and Companie, And giue her as a Prey to Law and Shame, That hath dis-honored Glosters honest Name

King. Well, for this Night we will repose vs here: To morrow toward London, back againe, To looke into this Businesse thorowly, And call these foule Offendors to their Answeres; And poyse the Cause in Iustice equall Scales, Whose Beame stands sure, whose rightful cause preuailes.

Flourish. Exeunt.

Enter Yorke, Salisbury, and Warwick.

Yorke. Now my good Lords of Salisbury & Warwick, Our simple Supper ended, giue me leaue, In this close Walke, to satisfie my selfe, In crauing your opinion of my Title, Which is infallible, to Englands Crowne

Salisb. My Lord, I long to heare it at full

Warw. Sweet Yorke begin: and if thy clayme be good, The Neuills are thy Subiects to command

Yorke. Then thus: Edward the third, my Lords, had seuen Sonnes: The first, Edward the Black-Prince, Prince of Wales; The second, William of Hatfield; and the third, Lionel, Duke of Clarence; next to whom, Was Iohn of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster; The fift, was Edmond Langley, Duke of Yorke; The sixt, was Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloster; William of Windsor was the seuenth, and last. Edward the Black-Prince dyed before his Father, And left behinde him Richard, his onely Sonne, Who after Edward the third's death, raign'd as King, Till Henry Bullingbrooke, Duke of Lancaster, The eldest Sonne and Heire of Iohn of Gaunt, Crown'd by the Name of Henry the fourth, Seiz'd on the Realme, depos'd the rightfull King, Sent his poore Queene to France, from whence she came, And him to Pumfret; where, as all you know, Harmelesse Richard was murthered traiterously

Warw. Father, the Duke hath told the truth; Thus got the House of Lancaster the Crowne

Yorke. Which now they hold by force, and not by right: For Richard, the first Sonnes Heire, being dead, The Issue of the next Sonne should haue reign'd

Salisb. But William of Hatfield dyed without an Heire

Yorke. The third Sonne, Duke of Clarence, From whose Line I clayme the Crowne, Had Issue Phillip, a Daughter, Who marryed Edmond Mortimer, Earle of March: Edmond had Issue, Roger, Earle of March; Roger had Issue, Edmond, Anne, and Elianor

Salisb. This Edmond, in the Reigne of Bullingbrooke, As I haue read, layd clayme vnto the Crowne, And but for Owen Glendour, had beene King; Who kept him in Captiuitie, till he dyed. But, to the rest

Yorke. His eldest Sister, Anne, My Mother, being Heire vnto the Crowne, Marryed Richard, Earle of Cambridge, Who was to Edmond Langley, Edward the thirds fift Sonnes Sonne; By her I clayme the Kingdome: She was Heire to Roger, Earle of March, Who was the Sonne of Edmond Mortimer, Who marryed Phillip, sole Daughter Vnto Lionel, Duke of Clarence. So, if the Issue of the elder Sonne Succeed before the younger, I am King

Warw. What plaine proceedings is more plain then this? Henry doth clayme the Crowne from Iohn of Gaunt, The fourth Sonne, Yorke claymes it from the third: Till Lionels Issue fayles, his should not reigne. It fayles not yet, but flourishes in thee, And in thy Sonnes, faire slippes of such a Stock. Then Father Salisbury, kneele we together, And in this priuate Plot be we the first, That shall salute our rightfull Soueraigne With honor of his Birth-right to the Crowne

Both. Long liue our Soueraigne Richard, Englands King

Yorke. We thanke you Lords: But I am not your King, till I be Crown'd, And that my Sword be stayn'd With heart-blood of the House of Lancaster: And that's not suddenly to be perform'd, But with aduice and silent secrecie. Doe you as I doe in these dangerous dayes, Winke at the Duke of Suffolkes insolence, At Beaufords Pride, at Somersets Ambition, At Buckingham, and all the Crew of them, Till they haue snar'd the Shepheard of the Flock, That vertuous Prince, the good Duke Humfrey: 'Tis that they seeke; and they, in seeking that, Shall finde their deaths, if Yorke can prophecie

Salisb. My Lord, breake we off; we know your minde at full

Warw. My heart assures me, that the Earle of Warwick Shall one day make the Duke of Yorke a King

Yorke. And Neuill, this I doe assure my selfe, Richard shall liue to make the Earle of Warwick The greatest man in England, but the King.

Exeunt.

Sound Trumpets. Enter the King and State, with Guard, to banish the Duchesse.

King. Stand forth Dame Elianor Cobham, Glosters Wife: In sight of God, and vs, your guilt is great, Receiue the Sentence of the Law for sinne, Such as by Gods Booke are adiudg'd to death. You foure from hence to Prison, back againe; From thence, vnto the place of Execution: The Witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes, And you three shall be strangled on the Gallowes. You Madame, for you are more Nobly borne, Despoyled of your Honor in your Life, Shall, after three dayes open Penance done, Liue in your Countrey here, in Banishment, With Sir Iohn Stanly, in the Ile of Man

Elianor. Welcome is Banishment, welcome were my Death

Glost. Elianor, the Law thou seest hath iudged thee, I cannot iustifie whom the Law condemnes: Mine eyes are full of teares, my heart of griefe. Ah Humfrey, this dishonor in thine age, Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground. I beseech your Maiestie giue me leaue to goe; Sorrow would sollace, and mine Age would ease

King. Stay Humfrey, Duke of Gloster, Ere thou goe, giue vp thy Staffe, Henry will to himselfe Protector be, And God shall be my hope, my stay, my guide, And Lanthorne to my feete: And goe in peace, Humfrey, no lesse belou'd, Then when thou wert Protector to thy King