beseech your majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a
villain's accusation.
To Gloucester
KING HENRY VI Uncle, what shall we say to this in law?
GLOUCESTER This doom202, my lord, if I may judge:
Let Somerset be regent o'er the French,
Because in York this204 breeds suspicion:
Indicating Horner and Peter Indicating Horner
And let these have a day appointed them
For single combat in convenient206 place,
For he hath witness of his servant's malice:
This is the law, and this Duke Humphrey's doom.
SOMERSET I humbly thank your royal majesty.
HORNER And I accept the combat willingly.
PETER Alas, my lord, I cannot fight: for God's sake, pity my
case: the spite of man prevaileth against me. O Lord, have
mercy upon me! I shall never be able to fight a blow. O Lord,
my heart!
GLOUCESTER Sirrah215, or you must fight, or else be hanged.
KING HENRY VI Away with them to prison, and the day
Of combat shall be the last of the next month.
Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away.
Flourish. Exeunt
[Act 1 Scene 4]
running scene 4
Enter the Witch [Margaret Jordan], the two priests [Hume and Southwell] and Bullingbrook
HUME Come, my masters, the duchess, I tell you, expects
performance of your promises.
BULLINGBROOK Master Hume, we are therefore provided3: will
her ladyship behold and hear our exorcisms4?
HUME Ay, what else? Fear you not her courage.
BULLINGBROOK I have heard her reported to be a woman of an
invincible spirit: but it shall be convenient, Master Hume,
that you be by her aloft, while we be busy below: and so, I
pray you, go in God's name and leave us.
Exit Hume
She lies down upon her face
Mother Jordan, be you prostrate and grovel on
the earth. John Southwell, read you, and let us
to our work.
Enter Eleanor aloft [Hume following]
ELEANOR Well said13, my masters, and welcome all. To this gear
the sooner the better.
BULLINGBROOK Patience, good lady: wizards know their times:
Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,
The time of night when Troy was set on fire17,
The time when screech-owls18 cry and bandogs howl,
And spirits walk, and ghosts break up19 their graves:
That time best fits the work we have in hand.
Madam, sit you and fear not: whom we raise,
We will make fast within a hallowed verge22.
Here [they] do the ceremonies belonging, and make the circle: Bullingbrook or Southwell reads, 'Conjuro te', etc. It thunders and lightens terribly: then the Spirit [Asnath] riseth
ASNATH. Adsum23.
MARGARET JORDAN Asnath,
By the eternal God, whose name and power
Thou tremblest at, answer that26 I shall ask:
For till thou speak, thou shalt not pass from hence.
ASNATH Ask what thou wilt: that28 I had said and done.
Reads
BULLINGBROOK 'First of the king: what shall of him become?'
ASNATH The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose:
As the Spirit speaks,
But him outlive, and die a violent death.
Reads Southwell writes the answer
BULLINGBROOK 'What fates await the Duke of Suffolk?'
ASNATH By water shall he die, and take his end.
Reads
BULLINGBROOK 'What shall befall the Duke of Somerset?'
ASNATH Let him shun castles;
Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains
Than where castles mounted37 stand.
Have done, for more I hardly can endure.
BULLINGBROOK Descend to darkness and the burning lake!
False fiend, avoid40!
Thunder and lightning. Exit Spirit
Enter the Duke of York and the Duke of Buckingham with their guard [Sir Humphrey Stafford as Captain] and break in
YORK Lay hands upon these traitors and their trash41:
To Jordan
Beldam, I think we watched you at an inch42.
What, madam, are you there? The king and commonweal
Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains44:
My Lord Protector will, I doubt it not,
See you well guerdoned for these good deserts46.
ELEANOR Not half so bad as thine to England's king,
Injurious duke, that threatest48 where's no cause.
BUCKINGHAM True, madam, none at all: what call you this?
Pointing to the papers
Away with them: let them be clapped up close50
To Eleanor
And kept asunder51.-- You, madam, shall with us.
Stafford, take her to52 thee.
[Exeunt above Eleanor and Hume, guarded]
We'll see your trinkets here all forthcoming53.
All, away!
Exeunt [below guard with Margaret Jordan, Southwell and Bullingbrook]
YORK Lord Buckingham, methinks you watched her well:
A pretty56 plot, well chosen to build upon.
Buckingham gives him the papers
Now pray, my lord, let's see the devil's writ57.
What have we here?
Reads
'The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose:
But him outlive, and die a violent death.'
Why, this is just61
'Aio Aeacidam, Romanos vincere posse.'62
Well, to the rest:
'Tell me what fate awaits the Duke of Suffolk?'
'By water shall he die, and take his end.'
'What shall betide the Duke of Somerset?'
'Let him shun castles:
Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains
Than where castles mounted stand.'
Come, come, my lords,
These oracles are hardly attained71,
And hardly72 understood.
The king is now in progress73 towards St Albans,
With him the husband of this lovely lady:
Thither goes these news as fast as horse can carry them:
A sorry breakfast for my Lord Protector.
BUCKINGHAM Your grace shall give me leave, my lord of York,
To be the post78 in hope of his reward.
Calling within
YORK At your pleasure, my good lord. Who's within there, ho!
Enter a Servingman
Invite my lords of Salisbury and Warwick
To sup81 with me tomorrow night. Away.
Exeunt [severally]
[Act 2 Scene 1]
running scene 5
Enter the King [Henry VI], Queen [Margaret], Protector [Gloucester], Cardinal and Suffolk, with Falconers hallooing
QUEEN MARGARET Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook1,
I saw not better sport these seven years' day2:
Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high,
And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out.4
To Gloucester
KING HENRY VI But what a point5, my lord, your falcon made,
And what a pitch6 she flew above the rest:
To see how God in all his creatures works!
Yea, man and birds are fain of8 climbing high.
SUFFOLK No marvel, an it like9 your majesty,
My Lord Protector's hawks do tower10 so well:
They know their master loves to be aloft11,
And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch.
GLOUCESTER My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind
That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.
CARDINAL I thought as much: he w
ould be above the clouds.
GLOUCESTER Ay, my lord cardinal, how think you by that16?
Were it not good your grace could fly to heaven?
KING HENRY VI The treasury of everlasting joy.
CARDINAL Thy heaven is on earth: thine eyes and thoughts
Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart,
Pernicious21 Protector, dangerous peer,
That smooth'st it22 so with king and commonweal!
GLOUCESTER What, cardinal?
Is your priesthood grown peremptory24?
Tantaene animis coelestibus irae25?
Churchmen so hot26? Good uncle, hide such malice:
With such holiness, can you do it?
SUFFOLK No malice, sir, no more than well becomes
So good a quarrel and so bad a peer.
GLOUCESTER As who, my lord?
SUFFOLK Why, as you, my lord,
An't like your lordly Lord's Protectorship.
GLOUCESTER Why, Suffolk, England knows thine insolence.
QUEEN MARGARET And thy ambition, Gloucester.
KING HENRY VI I prithee, peace, good queen,
And whet not on36 these furious peers,
For blessed are the peacemakers on earth37.
CARDINAL Let me be blessed for the peace I make
Against this proud Protector, with my sword.
Gloucester and Cardinal speak aside
GLOUCESTER Faith, holy uncle, would't were come to that.
CARDINAL Marry41, when thou dar'st.
GLOUCESTER Make up no factious numbers for the matter42,
In thine own person answer thy abuse43.
CARDINAL Ay, where thou dar'st not peep: an if44 thou dar'st,
This evening, on the east side of the grove.
KING HENRY VI How now, my lords?
CARDINAL Believe me, cousin Gloucester,
Had not your man put up48 the fowl so suddenly,
We had had more sport.-- Come with thy two-hand sword49.
GLOUCESTER True, uncle.--
Are ye advised?51 The east side of the grove?
CARDINAL I am with you.
KING HENRY VI Why, how now, uncle Gloucester?
GLOUCESTER Talking of hawking; nothing else, my lord.--
Now, by God's mother, priest, I'll shave your crown55 for this,
Or all my fence56 shall fail.
CARDINAL. Medice, teipsum57--
Protector, see to't well, protect yourself.
KING HENRY VI The winds grow high: so do your stomachs59, lords:
How irksome is this music to my heart!
When such strings jar61, what hope of harmony?
I pray, my lords, let me compound62 this strife.
Enter one [Townsman] crying 'A miracle!'
GLOUCESTER What means this noise?
Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?
TOWNSMAN A miracle, a miracle!
SUFFOLK Come to the king and tell him what miracle.
TOWNSMAN Forsooth, a blind man at Saint Alban's shrine67
Within this half-hour hath received his sight:
A man that ne'er saw in his life before.
KING HENRY VI Now, God be praised, that to believing souls
Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair.
Enter the Mayor of St Albans, and his brethren, bearing the man [Simpcox] between two in a chair, [Simpcox's Wife and Townspeople following]
CARDINAL Here comes the townsmen on procession,
To present your highness with the man.
KING HENRY VI Great is his comfort in this earthly vale74,
Although by his sight his sin be multiplied75.
GLOUCESTER Stand by, my masters, bring him near the king:
His highness' pleasure is to talk with him.
KING HENRY VI Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance78,
That we for thee may glorify the Lord.
What, hast thou been long blind and now restored?
SIMPCOX Born blind, an't please your grace.
WIFE Ay, indeed, was he.
SUFFOLK What woman is this?
WIFE His wife, an't like your worship.
GLOUCESTER Hadst thou been his mother, thou couldst have better told85.
To simpcox
KING HENRY VI Where wert thou born?
SIMPCOX At Berwick87 in the north, an't like your grace.
KING HENRY VI Poor soul, God's goodness hath been great to thee:
Let never day nor night unhallowed pass89,
But still90 remember what the Lord hath done.
To Simpcox
QUEEN MARGARET Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou here by chance,
Or of92 devotion, to this holy shrine?
SIMPCOX God knows, of pure devotion, being called
A hundred times and oft'ner in my sleep,
By good Saint Alban, who said, 'Simon, come:
Come offer96 at my shrine, and I will help thee.'
WIFE Most true, forsooth: and many time and oft
Myself have heard a voice to call him so.
CARDINAL What, art thou lame?
SIMPCOX Ay, God Almighty help me.
SUFFOLK How cam'st thou so?
SIMPCOX A fall off of a tree102.
WIFE A plum tree, master.
GLOUCESTER How long hast thou been blind?
SIMPCOX O, born so, master.
GLOUCESTER What, and wouldst climb a tree?
SIMPCOX But that107 in all my life, when I was a youth.
WIFE Too true, and bought his climbing very dear.
GLOUCESTER Mass109, thou lov'dst plums well, that wouldst venture so.
SIMPCOX Alas, good master, my wife desired some damsons110,
And made me climb111, with danger of my life.
GLOUCESTER A subtle knave, but yet it shall not serve112:
Let me see thine eyes: wink113 now: now open them:
In my opinion, yet114 thou see'st not well.
SIMPCOX Yes, master, clear as day, I thank God and Saint Alban.
GLOUCESTER Say'st thou me so116: what colour is this cloak of?
SIMPCOX Red, master, red as blood.
GLOUCESTER Why, that's well said: what colour is my gown of?
SIMPCOX Black, forsooth, coal-black as jet.
KING HENRY VI Why, then, thou know'st what colour jet is of?
SUFFOLK And yet, I think, jet did he never see.
GLOUCESTER But cloaks and gowns, before this day, a many122.
WIFE Never, before this day, in all his life.
GLOUCESTER Tell me, sirrah, what's my name?
SIMPCOX Alas, master, I know not.
GLOUCESTER What's his name?
SIMPCOX I know not.
GLOUCESTER Nor his?
SIMPCOX No, indeed, master.
GLOUCESTER What's thine own name?
SIMPCOX Saunder Simpcox, an if it please you, master.
GLOUCESTER Then, Saunder, sit there, the lying'st knave in
Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind, thou might'st
as well have known all our names as thus to name the
several135 colours we do wear. Sight may distinguish of colours,
but suddenly to nominate136 them all, it is impossible.-- My
lords, Saint Alban here hath done a miracle: and would ye
not think his cunning138 to be great, that could restore this
cripple to his legs again?
SIMPCOX O master, that you could!
GLOUCESTER My masters of St Albans, have you not beadles141 in
your town, and things called whips?
MAYOR Yes, my lord, if it please your grace.
GLOUCESTER Then send for one presently144.
MAYOR Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight145.
Exit [a Townsperson]
GLOUCESTER Now fetch me a stool hither by and by146.-- Now,
sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me
over this stool and ru
n away.
SIMPCOX Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone149: You go
about to torture me in vain.
Enter a Beadle with whips
GLOUCESTER Well, sir, we must have you find your legs.--
Sirrah beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool.
BEADLE I will, my lord.-- Come on, sirrah, off with your
doublet154 quickly.
SIMPCOX Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.
After the Beadle hath hit him once, he leaps over the stool and runs away: and they follow and cry, 'A miracle!'
KING HENRY VI O God, see'st thou this, and bearest156 so long?
QUEEN MARGARET It made me laugh to see the villain run.
GLOUCESTER Follow the knave, and take this drab158 away.
WIFE Alas, sir, we did it for pure need.
GLOUCESTER Let them be whipped through every market town
Till they come to Berwick, from whence they came.
Exeunt [Wife, Beadle, Mayor and Townspeople]
CARDINAL Duke Humphrey has done a miracle today.
SUFFOLK True: made the lame to leap and fly away.
GLOUCESTER But you have done more miracles than I:
You made in a day, my lord, whole towns165 to fly.
Enter Buckingham
KING HENRY VI What tidings with our cousin Buckingham?
BUCKINGHAM Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold:
A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent168,
Under the countenance and confederacy169
Of Lady Eleanor, the Protector's wife,
The ringleader and head of all this rout171,