King Henry VI, Part II

King Henry VI, Part II

ACT II SCENE III	A hall of justice.
	Sound trumpets. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEENMARGARET, GLOUCESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, and SALISBURY;the DUCHESS, MARGARET JOURDAIN, SOUTHWELL, HUME,and BOLINGBROKE, under guard
KING HENRY VI	Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester's wife:
	In sight of God and us, your guilt is great:
	Receive the sentence of the law for sins
	Such as by God's book are adjudged to death.	5
	You four, from hence to prison back again;
	From thence unto the place of execution:
	The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes,
	And you three shall be strangled on the gallows.
	You, madam, for you are more nobly born,	10
	Despoiled of your honour in your life,
	Shall, after three days' open penance done,
	Live in your country here in banishment,
	With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man.
DUCHESS	Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death.	15
GLOUCESTER	Eleanor, the law, thou see'st, hath judged thee:
	I cannot justify whom the law condemns.
	Exeunt DUCHESS and other prisoners, guarded
	Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief.
	Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age
	Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground!	20
	I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go;
	Sorrow would solace and mine age would ease.
KING HENRY VI	Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester: ere thou go,
	Give up thy staff: Henry will to himself
	Protector be; and God shall be my hope,	25
	My stay, my guide and lantern to my feet:
	And go in peace, Humphrey, no less beloved
	Than when thou wert protector to thy King.
QUEEN MARGARET	I see no reason why a king of years
	Should be to be protected like a child.	30
	God and King Henry govern England's realm.
	Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm.
GLOUCESTER	My staff? here, noble Henry, is my staff:
	As willingly do I the same resign
	As e'er thy father Henry made it mine;	35
	And even as willingly at thy feet I leave it
	As others would ambitiously receive it.
	Farewell, good king: when I am dead and gone,
	May honourable peace attend thy throne!
	Exit
QUEEN MARGARET	Why, now is Henry king, and Margaret queen;	40
	And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce himself,
	That bears so shrewd a maim; two pulls at once;
	His lady banish'd, and a limb lopp'd off.
	This staff of honour raught, there let it stand
	Where it best fits to be, in Henry's hand.	45
SUFFOLK	Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays;
	Thus Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days.
YORK	Lords, let him go. Please it your majesty,
	This is the day appointed for the combat;
	And ready are the appellant and defendant,	50
	The armourer and his man, to enter the lists,
	So please your highness to behold the fight.
QUEEN MARGARET	Ay, good my lord; for purposely therefore
	Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried.
KING HENRY VI	O God's name, see the lists and all things fit:	55
	Here let them end it; and God defend the right!
YORK	I never saw a fellow worse bested,
	Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant,
	The servant of this armourer, my lords.
	Enter at one door, HORNER, the Armourer, and hisNeighbours, drinking to him so much that he is drunk;and he enters with a drum before him and his staffwith a sand-bag fastened to it; and at the otherdoor PETER, his man, with a drum and sand-bag, and'Prent
First Neighbour	Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of	60
	sack: and fear not, neighbour, you shall do well enough.
Second Neighbour	And here, neighbour, here's a cup of charneco.
Third Neighbour	And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour:
	drink, and fear not your man.
HORNER	Let it come, i' faith, and I'll pledge you all; and	65
	a fig for Peter!
First 'Prentice	Here, Peter, I drink to thee: and be not afraid.
Second 'Prentice	Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master: fight
	for credit of the 'prentices.
PETER	I thank you all: drink, and pray for me, I pray	70
	you; for I think I have taken my last draught in
	this world. Here, Robin, an if I die, I give thee
	my apron: and, Will, thou shalt have my hammer:
	and here, Tom, take all the money that I have. O
	Lord bless me! I pray God! for I am never able to	75
	deal with my master, he hath learnt me so much fence already.
SALISBURY	Come, leave your drinking, and fall to blows.
	Sirrah, what's thy name?
PETER	Peter, forsooth.
SALISBURY	Peter! what more?	80
PETER	Thump.
SALISBURY	Thump! then see thou thump thy master well.
HORNER	Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man's
	instigation, to prove him a knave and myself an
	honest man: and touching the Duke of York, I will	85
	take my death, I never meant him any ill, nor the
	king, nor the queen: and therefore, Peter, have at
	thee with a downright blow!
YORK	Dispatch: this knave's tongue begins to double.
	Sound, trumpets, alarum to the combatants!	90
	Alarum. They fight, and PETER strikes him down
HORNER	Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason.
	Dies
YORK	Take away his weapon. Fellow, thank God, and the
	good wine in thy master's way.
PETER	O God, have I overcome mine enemy in this presence?
	O Peter, thou hast prevailed in right!	95
KING HENRY VI	Go, take hence that traitor from our sight;
	For his death we do perceive his guilt:
	And God in justice hath revealed to us
	The truth and innocence of this poor fellow,
	Which he had thought to have murder'd wrongfully.	100
	Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward.
	Sound a flourish. Exeunt