SCENE V. Enter Warwick.

thee to France ?

K. LEW. What's he, approacheth boldly to our presence?
QUEEN. Our earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest friend.
K. EDW. Welcome, brave Warwick. What brings
[He defcends, She arifeth.
QUEEN. Ay, now begins a second storm to rise;
For this is he, that moves both wind and tide.
WAR. From worthy Edward, king of Albion,
My lord and fovereign, and thy vowed friend,
I come in kindness and unfeigned love,
First to do greetings to thy royal perfon,
And then to crave a league of amity;
And lastly, to confirm that amity

With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant
That virtuous lady Bona, thy fair sister,

To England's king in lawful marriage.

QUEEN. If that go forward, Henry's hope is dore!
WAR. And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf,
[Speaking to Bona,

I am commanded, with your leave and favour,
Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue
To tell the paffion of my fovereign's heart.
Where fame, late ent'ring at his heedful ears,
Hath plac'd thy beauty's image and thy virtues.

QUEEN. King Lewis, and lady Bona, hear me speak, Before you answer Warwick. His demand

Springs not from Edward's well-meant honeft love,

But from deceit bred by neceffity;

For how can tyrants fafely govern home,

Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?

Το

prove him tyrant, this reafon may fuffice, That Henry liveth ftill; but were he dead,

Yet here prince Edward ftands, king Henry's fon.

Look therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage Thou draw not on thee danger and dishonour,

For tho' ufurpers fway the rule a while,

Yet heav'ns are juft, and time fuppreffeth wrongs.

WAR. Injurious Margaret!

PRINCE. And why not queen?

WAR. Because thy father Henry did ufurp,

And thou no more art prince, than the is

queen.

OXF. Then Warwick difannuls great John of Gaunt,
Which did fubdue the greatest part of Spain;
And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the fourth
Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wifeft;
And, after that wife prince, Henry the fifth
Who by his prowefs conquered all France;
From these our Henry lineally defcends.

WAR. Oxford, how haps it in this fmooth difcourfe,
You told not, how Henry the fixth hath loft
All that which Henry the fifth hath gotten?
Methinks, these peers of France fhould smile at that.
But, for the reft; you tell a pedigree

Of threescore and two years, a filly time

To make prescription for a kingdom's worth.

OXF. Why, Warwick, canft thou fpeak against thy liege, Whom thou obeyedst thirty and fix

years,

And not bewray thy treafon with a blufh?

WAR. Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,

Now buckler falfhood with a pedigree?

For fhame, leave Henry, and call Edward king.
OXF. Call him my king, by whofe injurious doom
My elder brother, the lord Aubrey Vere,

Was done to death; and more than fo, my father;

Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years,
When nature brought him to the door of death?
No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm,
This arm upholds the houfe of Lancaster.
WAR. And I the houfe of York.

K. LEW. Queen Margaret, prince Edward, and Oxford, Vouchsafe at our request to stand aside,

While I ufe farther conference with Warwick.

him not!

QUEEN. Heav'ns grant, that Warwick's words bewitch [They ftand aloof. K. Lew. Now, Warwick, tell me ev'n upon thy conIs Edward your true king for I were loth [fcience, To link with him, that were not lawful chofen.

WAR. Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honour.
K. Lew. But is he gracious in the people's eyes?
WAR. The more, that Henry was unfortunate.
K. Lɛw. Then further; all diffembling fet aside,
Tell me for truth the measure of his love
Unto our fifter Bona.

WAR. Such it seems,

As may beseem a monarch like himself;
Myself have often heard him fay, and fwear,
That this his love was an eternal plant,
Whereof the root was fix'd in virtue's ground,
The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's fun,
Exempt from envy, but not from difdain,

Unless the lady Bona quit his pain.

K. Law. Now, fifter, let us hear your firm refolve. BONA. Your grant, or your denial, fhall be mine. Yet I confefs, that often ere this day, [Speaking to War. When I have heard your king's defert recounted, Mine ear hath tempted judgment to defire.

K. LEW. Then Warwick, this. Our fifter fhall be EdAnd now forthwith fhall articles be drawn

[ward's,

Touching the jointure that your king must make,
Which with her dowry fhall be counterpois'd.
Draw near, queen Margaret, and be a witness,
That Bona fhall be wife to th' English king.
PRINCE. To Edward, but not to the English king.
QUEEN. Deceitful Warwick, it was thy device
By this alliance to make void my fuit;
Before thy coming, Lewis was Henry's friend.

K. LEW. And ftill is friend to him and Margaret;

But if your title to the crown be weak,
As may appear by Edward's good fuccess,
Then 'tis but reason, that I be releas'd
From giving aid, which late I promis'd.
Yet fhall you have all kindness at my hand,
That your estate requires, and mine can yield.
WAR. Henry now lives in Scotland at his eafe,
Where having nothing, nothing can he lose.
And as for you yourself, our quondam queen,
You have a father able to maintain you;
And better 'twere, you troubled him than France.
QUEEN. Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick,peace!
Proud fetter-up and puller-down of kings!

I will not hence, till with my talk and tears,
Both full of truth, I make king Lewis behold
Thy fly conveyance, and thy lord's falfe love;

[Poft, blowing a horn within.

For both of you are birds of felf-fame feather.
K. Law. Warwick, this is fome poft to us, or thee.

SCENE VI. Enter a poft.

POST. My lord ambassador, these letters are for you;
[To Warwick.

Sent from your brother, marquis Montague.
-These, from our king unto your majesty.

[To king Lewis.

-And, madam, these for you; from whom I know not.
[To the queen. They all read their letters.

OXF. I like it well, that our fair queen and mistress

Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his.

PRINCE. Nay, mark, how Lewis ftamps as he were netI hope, all's for the best.

K. LEW. Warwick, what are thy news? and

queen?

[tled.

yours, fair

QUEEN. Mine fuch, as fills my heart with unhop'd joys. WAR. Mine full of forrow and heart's difcontent.

K. LEW. What! has your king marry'd the lady Gray?
And now, to footh your forgery and his,
Sends me a paper to perfuade me patience?

Is this th' alliance, that he seeks with France?
Dare he presume to fcorn us in this manner?

QUEEN. I told your majesty as much before;
This proveth Edward's love and Warwick's honesty.
WAR. King Lewis, I here protest in fight of heav'n,
And by the hope I have of heav'nly blifs,

That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward's,

No more my king, for he dishonours me,

But most himself, if he could fee his shame.
Did I forget, that by the houfe of York,
My father came untimely to his death?
Did I let pafs th' abuse done to my niece?
Did I impale him with the regal crown?