SCENE I. The Abbey at Bury St. Edmund's. Sound a sennet. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, CARDINAL, SUFFOLK, YORK, BUCKINGHAM, SALISBURY and WARWICK to the Parliament KING HENRY VI I muse my Lord of Gloucester is not come:
'Tis not his wont to be the hindmost man, Whate'er occasion keeps him from us now. QUEEN MARGARET Can you not see? or will ye not observe The strangeness of his alter'd countenance?
With what a majesty he bears himself, How insolent of late he is become, How proud, how peremptory, and unlike himself?
We know the time since he was mild and affable, And if we did but glance a far-off look, Immediately he was upon his knee, That all the court admired him for submission:
But meet him now, and, be it in the morn, When every one will give the time of day, He knits his brow and shows an angry eye, And passeth by with stiff unbowed knee, Disdaining duty that to us belongs.
Small curs are not regarded when they grin;But great men tremble when the lion roars;And Humphrey is no little man in England.
First note that he is near you in descent, And should you fall, he as the next will mount.
Me seemeth then it is no policy, Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears And his advantage following your decease, That he should come about your royal person Or be admitted to your highness' council.
By flattery hath he won the commons' hearts, And when he please to make commotion, 'Tis to be fear'd they all will follow him.
Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.
The reverent care I bear unto my lord Made me collect these dangers in the duke.
If it be fond, call it a woman's fear;
Which fear if better reasons can supplant, I will subscribe and say I wrong'd the duke.
My Lord of Suffolk, Buckingham, and York, Reprove my allegation, if you can;Or else conclude my words effectual. SUFFOLK Well hath your highness seen into this duke;And, had I first been put to speak my mind, I think I should have told your grace's tale.
The duchess, by his subornation, Upon my life, began her devilish practises:
Or, if he were not privy to those faults, Yet, by reputing of his high descent, As next the king he was successive heir, And such high vaunts of his nobility, Did instigate the bedlam brain-sick duchess By wicked means to frame our sovereign's fall.
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep;And in his ****** show he harbours treason.
The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb.
No, no, my sovereign; Gloucester is a man Unsounded yet and full of deep deceit. CARDINAL Did he not, contrary to form of law, Devise strange deaths for small offences done? YORK And did he not, in his protectorship, Levy great sums of money through the realm For soldiers' pay in France, and never sent it?
By means whereof the towns each day revolted. BUCKINGHAM Tut, these are petty faults to faults unknown.
Which time will bring to light in smooth Duke Humphrey. KING HENRY VI My lords, at once: the care you have of us, To mow down thorns that would annoy our foot, Is worthy praise: but, shall I speak my conscience, Our kinsman Gloucester is as innocent From meaning treason to our royal person As is the sucking lamb or harmless dove:
The duke is virtuous, mild and too well given To dream on evil or to work my downfall. QUEEN MARGARET Ah, what's more dangerous than this fond affiance!
Seems he a dove? his feathers are but borrowed, For he's disposed as the hateful raven:
Is he a lamb? his skin is surely lent him, For he's inclined as is the ravenous wolf.
Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?
Take heed, my lord; the welfare of us all Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man.
Enter SOMERSET SOMERSET All health unto my gracious sovereign! KING HENRY VI Welcome, Lord Somerset. What news from France? SOMERSET That all your interest in those territories Is utterly bereft you; all is lost. KING HENRY VI Cold news, Lord Somerset: but God's will be done! YORK [Aside] Cold news for me; for I had hope of France As firmly as I hope for fertile England.
Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud And caterpillars eat my leaves away;But I will remedy this gear ere long, Or sell my title for a glorious grave.
Enter GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER All happiness unto my lord the king!
Pardon, my liege, that I have stay'd so long. SUFFOLK Nay, Gloucester, know that thou art come too soon, Unless thou wert more loyal than thou art:
I do arrest thee of high treason here. GLOUCESTER Well, Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush Nor change my countenance for this arrest:
A heart unspotted is not easily daunted.
The purest spring is not so free from mud As I am clear from treason to my sovereign:
Who can accuse me? wherein am I guilty? YORK 'Tis thought, my lord, that you took bribes of France, And, being protector, stayed the soldiers' pay;By means whereof his highness hath lost France. GLOUCESTER Is it but thought so? what are they that think it?
I never robb'd the soldiers of their pay, Nor ever had one penny bribe from France.
So help me God, as I have watch'd the night, Ay, night by night, in studying good for England, That doit that e'er I wrested from the king, Or any groat I hoarded to my use, Be brought against me at my trial-day!
No; many a pound of mine own proper store, Because I would not tax the needy commons, Have I disbursed to the garrisons, And never ask'd for restitution. CARDINAL It serves you well, my lord, to say so much. GLOUCESTER I say no more than truth, so help me God! YORK In your protectorship you did devise Strange tortures for offenders never heard of, That England was defamed by tyranny. GLOUCESTER Why, 'tis well known that, whiles I was protector, Pity was all the fault that was in me;For I should melt at an offender's tears, And lowly words were ransom for their fault.
Unless it were a bloody murderer, Or foul felonious thief that fleeced poor passengers, I never gave them condign punishment: