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Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king,
Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use.

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Win. Here's Gloster too, a foe to citizens;
One that still motions war, and never peace,
O'ercharging your free purses with large fines;
That seeks to overthrow religion,
Because he is protector of the realm;
And would have armour here out of the Tower,
To crown himself king, and suppress the prince.
Glo. I will not answer thee with words, but blows.
[Here they skirmish again.
May. Nought rests for me, in this tumultuous
strife,

But to make open proclamation:-
Come, officer; as loud as e'er thou can'st.
Off. All manner of men, assembled here in arms this
day against God's peace and the king's, we charge
and command you, in his highness' name, to repair
to your several dwelling-places; and not to wear,
handle, or use, any sword, weapon, or dagger,
henceforward, upon pain of death.

Glo. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law:
But we shall meet, and break our minds at large.
Win. Gloster, we'll meet; to thy dear cost, be

sure:

Thy heart-blood I will have, for this day's work.
May. I'll call for clubs,' if you will not away:
This cardinal is more haughty than the devil.
Glo. Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou
may'st.

Win. Abominable Gloster! guard thy head;
For I intend to have it, ere long. [Exeunt.
May. See the coast clear'd, and then we will
depart.-

Good God that nobles should such stomachs2 bear!

I myself fight not once in forty year. [Exeunt.
SCENE IV. France. Before Orleans. Enter,
on the Walls, the Master Gunner and his Son.
M. Gun. Sirrah, thou know'st how Orleans is
besieg'd:

And how the English have the suburbs won.
Son. Father, I know; and oft have shot at them,
Howe'er, unfortunate, I miss'd aim.

my

M. Gun. But now thou shalt not. Be thou rul'd
by me:

Chief master-gunner am I of this town;
Something I must do, to procure me grace:3
The prince's espials have inform'd me,

How the English, in the suburbs close intrench'd,
Wont, through a secret grate of iron bars
In yonder tower, to overpeer the city;
And thence discover how, with most advantage,
They may vex us, with shot, or with assault.
To intercept this inconvenience,

A piece of ordnance 'gainst it I have plac'd;
And fully even these three days have I watch'd,
If I could see them. Now, boy, do thou watch,
For I can stay no longer.

[Exit.

If thou spy'st any, run and bring we word;
And thou shalt find me at the governor's.
Son. Father, I warrant you; take you no care:
I'll never trouble you, if I may spy them.
Enter, in an upper Chamber of a Tower, the LORDS
SALISBURY and TALBOT, SIR WILLIAM
GLANSDALE, SIR THOMAS GARGRAVE, and
others.

Sal. Talbot, my life, my joy, again return'd!
How wert thou handled, being prisoner?

1 Malone erroneously thinks the mayor cries out for peace-officers armed with clubs or staves. The practice of calling out Clubs! clubs! to call out the London apprentices upon the occasion of any affray in the streets, has been before explained, see As You Like h, Act v. Sc. 2.

2 Stomach is pride, a haughty spirit of resentment 8 Favour.

4 Spies. Vide note on Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 1.

Or by what means gott'st thou to be releas'd?
Discourse, I pr'ythee, on this turret's top.

Tal. The duke of Bedford had a prisoner,
Called the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles;
For him I was exchang'd and ransomed.
But with a baser man of arms by far,
Once, in contempt, they would have barter'd me
Which I, disdaining, scorn'd; and craved death
Rather than I would be so vile esteem'd."
In fine, redeem'd I was as I desir'd.
But, O! the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my heart
Whom with my bare fists I would execute,
If I now had him brought into my power.

In

Sal. Yet tell'st thou not, how thou wert entertain'd.

Tal. With scoffs, and scorns, and contumelious

taunts.

open market-place produc'd they me,
To be a public spectacle to all;
Here, said they, is the terror of the French,"
The scare-crow that affrights our children so.
Then broke I from the officers that led me;
And with my nails digg'd stones out of the ground
To hurl at the beholders of my
shame.
My grisly countenance made others fly;
None durst come near for fear of sudden death.
In iron walls they deem'd me not secure;
So great fear of my name 'mongst them was spread
That they suppos'd, I could rend bars of steel,
And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:
Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had,
That walk'd about me every minute-while;
And if I did but stir out of my bed,
Ready they were to shoot me to the heart.

Sal. I grieve to hear what torments you endur'd:.
But we will be reveng'd sufficiently.
Now it is supper-time in Orleans:
Here, through this grate, I can count every one,
And view the Frenchmen how they fortify;
Let us look in, the sight will much delight thee.-
Sir Thomas Gargrave, and Sir William Glansdale
Let me have your express opinions,
Where is best place to make our battery next.
Gar. I think, at the north gate, for there stand
lords.

Glan. And I, here, at the bulwark of the bridge.
Tal. For aught I see, this city must be famish'd,
Or with light skirmishes enfeebled.

[Shot from the Town. SALISBURY and SIR
THO. GARGRAVE fall.

Sal. O Lord, have mercy on us, wretched sinners
Gar. O Lord, have mercy on me, woetui man!
Tal. What chance is this, that suddenly hath

cross'd us?

Speak, Salisbury: at least, if thou canst speak;
How far'st thou, mirror of all martial men?
One of thy eyes, and thy cheek's side struck off!'
Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand,
That hath contriv'd this woeful tragedy!
In thirteen battles Salisbury o'ercame;
Henry the Fifth he first train'd to the wars;
Whilst any trump
did sound, or drum struck up,
His sword did ne'er leave striking in the field.
Yet liv'st thou, Salisbury" though thy speech doth
fail,

One eye thou hast to look to heaven for grace:
The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.-
Heaven, be thou gracious to none alive,
If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hands!-
Bear hence his body, I will help to bury it.-
Sir Thomas Gargrave, hast thou any life?
Speak unto Talbot; nay, look up to him.
very scourge and a daily terror, insomuch that as his
person was fearful and terrible to his adversaries pre-
sent, so his name and fame was spiteful and dreadful to
the common people absent; insomuch that women in
France, to feare their yong children, would crye the
Talbot cometh.' Hall's Chronicle.

8 Camden says, in his Remaines, that the French scarce knew the use of great ordnance till the siege of

5 The old copy reads went; the emendation is Mr. Mans in 1455, when a breach was made in the walls of

Tyrwhitt's

6 The old copy reads pil'd esteem'd.'

that town by the English, under the conduct of this eart of Salisbury; and that he was the first English gentle

This man [Talbot] was to the French people a man that was slain by a cannon ball

SCENE VI.

Salisbury, cheer thy spirit with this comfort;
Thou shalt not die, whiles-

He beckons with his hand, and smiles on me;
gone,
As who should say, When I am dead and
Remember to avenge me on the French.-
Plantagenet, I will; and like thee, Nero,
Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn:
Wretched shall France be only in my name.

[Thunder heard; afterwards an Alarum.
What stir is this? What tumult's in the heavens?
Whence cometh this alarum, and the noise?
Enter a Messenger.

Mes. My lord, my lord, the French have gather'd

Sheep run not half so timorous from the wolf,
Or horse, or oxen, from the leopard,
As you fly from your oft-subdued slaves.

[Alarum. Another Skirmish.
It will not be :-Retire into your trenches:
You all consented unto Salisbury's death,
For none would strike a stroke in his revenge.-
Pucelle is entered into Orleans,

In spite of us, or aught that we could do.
O, would I were to die with Salisbury!
The shame hereof will make me hide my head.
[Alarum. Retreat. Exeunt TALBOT and
his Forces, &c.

SCENE VI. The same. Enter, on the Walls,
PUCELLE, CHARLES, REIGNIER, ALENÇON, and
Soldiers.

Puc. Advance our waving colours on the walls;
Rescu'd is Orleans from the English wolves:
Thus Joan la Pucelle hath perform'd her word.

Char. Divinest creature, bright Astrea's daughter,
How shall I honour thee for this success?
Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens,
That one day bloom'd, and fruitful were the next.
France, triumph in thy glorious prophetess !-
Recover'd is the town of Orleans:

More blessed hap did ne'er befall our state.
Reig. Why ring not out the bells throughout the
town?
Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires,
And feast and banquet in the open streets,
To celebrate the joy that God hath given us.

Alen. All France will be replete with mirth and
joy,

When they shall hear how we have play'd the men.
Char. "Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won;
For which, I will divide my crown with her:
And all the priests and friars in my realm
Shall, in procession, sing her endless praise.

Here, here she comes:I'll have a bout with A statelier pyramis to her I'll rear,

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10

Embrace we then this opportunity;

As fitting best to quittance their deceit,

Contriv'd by art, and baleful sorcery.

How, or which way: 'tis sure, they found some place

But weakly guarded, where the breach was made,

Bed. Coward of France ?-how much he wrongs And now there rests no other shift but this,

his fame,

Despairing of his own arm's fortitude,

To join with witches, and the help of hell.
Bur. Traitors have never other company.-
But what's that Pucelle, whom they term so pure?
Tal. A maid, they say.
Bed.

A maid! and be so martial!

To gather our soldiers, scatter'd and dispers'd,
And lay new platforms to endamage them.
Alarum. Enter an English Soldier, crying a Tal-
bot! a Talbot! They fly, leaving their Clothes be-
hind.

Sold. I'll be so bold to take what they have left, The cry of Talbot serves me for a sword; Bur. Pray God, she prove not masculine ere long; For I have loaden me with many spoils, If underneath the standard of the French,

She carry armour as she hath begun.

Using no other weapon but his name.

Tal. Well, let them practise and converse with SCENE II.
spirits:

God is our fortress; in whose conquering name,
Let us resolve to scale their flinty bulwarks.

Bed. Ascend, brave Talbot; we will follow thee.
Tal. Not all together: better far, I guess,
That we do make our entrance several ways;
That, if it chance the one of us do fail,
The other yet may rise against their force.
-Bed. Agreed; I'll to yon corner.

Bur.

And I to this. Tal. And here will Talbot mount, or make his

grave.

Now, Salisbury! for thee, and for the right
Of English Henry, shall this night appear
How much in duty I am bound to both.

[The English scale the Walls, crying St. George!
a Talbot! and all enter by the Town.
Sent. [Within.] Arm, arm! the enemy doth make
assault!

The French leap over the Walls in their shirts. Enter,
several ways, BASTARD, ALENGON, REIGNIER,
half ready, and half unready.

Alen. How now, my lords? what all unready1 so?
Bast. Unready? ay, and glad we 'scap'd so well.
Reig. 'Twas time, I trow, to wake and leave our
i
beds,

Hearing alarums at our chamber doors.

Alen. Of all exploits, since first I follow'd arms,
Never heard I of a warlike enterprise
More venturous, or desperate than this.

Bast. I think, this Talbot be a fiend of hell.
Reig. If not of hell, the heavens, sure, favour

him.

Alen. Here cometh Charles; I marvel how he
sped.

Enter CHARLES and LA PUCELLE.
Bast. Tut! holy Joan was his defensive guard.
Char. Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful dame?
Didst thou at first, to flatter us withal,
Make us partakers of a little gain,

That now our loss might be ten times so much?
Puc. Wherefore is Charles impatient with his

friend?

At all times will you have my power alike?
Sleeping, or waking, must I still prevail,
Or will you blame and lay the fault on me?-
Improvident soldiers! had your watch been good,
This sudden mischief never could have fall'n.
Char. Duke of Alençon, this was your default;
That, being captain of the watch to-night,
Did look no better to that weighty charge.
Alen. Had all your quarters been as safely kept,
As that whereof I had the government,
We had not been thus shamefully surpris'd.
Best. Mine was secure.
Reig.
And so was mine, my lord.
Char. And for myself, most part of all this night,
Within her quarter, and mine own precinct,
I was employ'd in passing to and fro,
About relieving of the sentinels:

Then how, or which way, should they first break in?
Puc. Question, my lords, no further of the case,

1 Unready is undressed.

2 Plans, schemes.

[Exit.

Enter

Orleans. Within the Town. TALBOT, BEDFORD, Burgundy, a Captain, and others.

Bed. The day begins to break, and night is fled,
Whose pitchy mantle over-veil'd the earth.
Here sound retreat, and cease our hot pursuit.
[Retreat sounded,

Tal. Bring forth the body of old Salisbury;
And here advance it in the market-place,
The middle centre of this cursed town.-
Now have I paid my vow unto his soul;
For every drop of blood was drawn from him,
There hath at least five Frenchmen died to-night.
And, that hereafter ages may behold
What ruin happen'd in revenge of him,
Within their chiefest temple I'll erect-
A tomb, wherein his corpse shall be interr'd:
Upon the which, that every one may read,
Shall be engrav'd the sack of Orleans;
The treacherous manner of his mournful death,
And what a terror he had been to France.

But, lords, in all our bloody massacre,

I muse, we met not with the Dauphin's grace;
His new-come champion, virtuous Joan of Arc;
Nor any of his false confederates.

Bed. 'Tis thought, Lord Talbot, when the fight

began,

Rous'd on the sudden from their drowsy beds,
They did amongst the troops of armed men,
Leap o'er the walls for refuge in the field.

Bur. Myself (as far as I could well discern,
For smoke, and dusky vapours of the night)
Am sure I scar'd the Dauphin, and his trull;
When arm in arm they both came swiftly running,
Like to a pair of loving turtle-doves,
That could not live asunder day or night.
After that things are set in order here,
We'll follow them with all the power we have.
Enter a Messenger.

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him?

Mess. The virtuous lady, countess of Auvergne,
With modesty admiring thy renown,

By me entreats, good lord, thou wouldst vouchsafe
To visit her poor castle where she lies;4
That she may boast she hath beheld the man
Whose glory fills the world with loud report.

Bur. Is it even so? Nay, then, I see our wars
Will turn unto a peaceful comic sport,
When ladies crave to be encounter'd with.-
You may not, my lord, despise her gentle suit.
Tal. Ne'er trust me then; for, when a world of

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Tal. Well then, alone, since there's no remedy,
I mean to prove this lady's courtesy.
Come hither, captain. [Whispers.]-You perceive
my mind.

Capt. I do, my lord; and mean accordingly.

SCENE III.

[Exeunt.
Auvergne. Court of the Castle.
Enter the Countess and her Porter.
Count. Porter, remember what I gave in charge;
And, when you have done so, bring the keys to me.
[Exit.
Port. Madam, I will.
Count. The plot is laid: if all things fall out
right,

I shall as famous be by this exploit,
As Scythian Thomyris by Cyrus' death.
Great is the rumour of this dreadful knight,
And his achievements of no less account:

Fain would mine eyes be witness with mine ears,
To give their censure1 of these rare reports.
Enter Messenger and TALBOT.

Mess. Madam,

According as your ladyship desir'd,

By message crav'd, so is Lord Talbot come.
Count. And he is welcome. What! is this the
man?

Mess. Madam, it is.
Count,

Is this the scourge of France?
Is this the Talbot, so much fear'd abroad,
That with his name the mothers still their babes ?2
I see report is fabulous and false :

I thought I should have seen some Hercules,
A second Hector, for his grim aspect,

And large proportion of his strong-knit limbs.
Alas! this is a child, a silly dwarf:

It cannot be, this weak and writhled shrimp
Should strike such terror to his enemies.

Tal. Madam, I have been bold to trouble you:
But, since your ladyship is not at leisure,
I'll sort some other time to visit you.

Count. What means he now ?-Go ask him,
whither he goes.

Mess. Stay, my Lord Talbot; for my lady craves
To know the cause of your abrupt departure.
Tal. Marry, for that she's in a wrong belief,
I go to certify her, Talbot's here.

Re-enter, Porter, with Keys.

Count. If thou be he, then art thou prisoner.
Tal. Prisoner! to whom?

1

Count.
To me, blood-thirsty lord;
And for that cause I train'd thee to my house.
Long time thy shadow hath been thrall to me,
For in my gallery thy picture hangs ;
But now the substance shall endure the like;
And I will chain these legs and arms of thine,
That hast by tyranny, these many years,
Wasted our country, slain our citizens,
And sent our sons and husbands captivate.4
Tal. Ha, ha, ha!

Count. Laughest thou, wretch? thy mirth shall

turn to moan.

Tal. I laugh to see your ladyship so fond,

To think that you have aught but Talbot's shadow,
Whereon to practise your severity.

Count. Why, art not thou the man?
Tal.

I am indeed.

Count. Then have I substance too.
Tal. No, no, I am but shadow of myself:

1 i. e. judgment, opinion.

You are deceiv'd, my substance is not here ;
For what you see, is but the smallest part
And least proportion of humanity:

I tell you, madam, were the whole frame here,
It is of such a spacious lofty pitch,
Your roof were not sufficient to contain it.

Count. This is a riddling merchant for the nonce;"
He will be here, and yet he is not here:
How can these contrarieties agree?

Tal. That will I show you presently.

He winds a Horn. Drums heard; then a Peal of
Ordnance. The Gates being forced, enter Soldiers.
How say you, madam? are you now persuaded,
That Talbot is but shadow of himself?
These are his substance, sinews, arms, and strength,
With which he yoketh your rebellious necks;
Razeth your cities, and subverts your towns,
And in a moment makes them desolate.

Count. Victorious Talbot! pardon my abuse:
I find, thou art no less than fame hath bruited,
And more than may be gather'd by thy shape.
Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath;
For I am sorry, that with reverence

I did not entertain thee as thou art.

Tal. Be not dismay'd, fair lady; nor misconstrue
The mind of Talbot, as you did mistake
The outward composition of his body.
What you have done, hath not offended me :
No other satisfaction do I crave,
But only (with your patience) that we may
Taste of your wine, and see what cates you have;
For soldiers' stomachs always serve them well.

Count. With all my heart: and think me honoured To feast so great a warrior in my house. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. London. The Temple Garden. Enter the Earls of SOMERSET, SUFFOLK, and WARWICK; RICHARrd PlantageNET, VERNON, and another Lawyer."

Plan. Great lords, and gentlemen, what means this silence?

Dare no man answer in a case of truth?

Suff. Within the Temple hall we were too loud:
The garden here is more convenient.

Plan. Then say at once, if I maintain'd the truth;
Or, else, was wrangling Somerset in the error?”
Suff. 'Faith, I have been a truant in the law;
And never yet could frame my will to it;
And, therefore, frame the law unto my will.

Som. Judge you, my lord of Warwick, then be

tween us.

War. Between two hawks, which flies the higher
pitch,

Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth,
Between two blades, which bears the better temper,
Between two horses, which doth bear him best,"
Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye,
I have, perhaps, some shallow spirit of judgment:
But in these nice sharp quillets of the law,
Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw.
Plan. Tut, tut, here is a mannerly forbearance;
The truth appears so naked on my side,
That any purblind eye may find it out.

Som. And on my side it is so well apparell'd,
So clear, so shining, and so evident,
That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye.
Plan. Since you are tongue-ty'd, and so loath to
speak,
In dumb significants11 proclaim your thoughts:

tinction to gentleman; signifying that the person showed

2 Dryden has transplanted this idea into his Don Se- by his behaviour he was a low fellow.

bastian :-

Nor shall Sebastian's formidable name

Be longer used, to lull the crying babe.'

3 Writhted for wrinkled.

4 Thus in Solyman and Persida :

If not destroy'd and bound and captivate,
If captivate, then fore'd from holy faith."

5 i. e. foolish, silly, weak.

6 This is a riddling merchant for the nonce. The term merchant, which was, and even now is, frequently applied to the lowest kind of dealers, seems anciently to have been used on these familiar occasions in contradis

7 Bruited is reported, loudly announced.

8 We should read a lawyer. This lawyer was pro bably Roger Nevyle, who was afterwards hanged. See W. Wyrcester, p. 479.

9 Johnson observes that 'there is apparently a want of opposition between the two questions here,' but there is no reason to suspect that the text is corrupt.

10 i. e. regulate his motions most adroitly. We still say that a horse carries himself well.

11 Dumb significants, which Malone would have changed to significance, is nothing more than signs or token.

Let him, that is a true-born gentleman,
And stands upon the honour of his birth,
If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,
From off this brier pluck a white rose with me.
Som. Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer,
But dare maintain the party of the truth,
Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me.

War. I love no colours; and, without all colour Of base insinuating flattery,

I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet.

Suff. I pluck this red rose, with young Somerset And say withal, I think he held the right.

;

Ver. Stay, lords and gentlemen: and pluck no more,

Till you conclude-that he, upon whose side
The fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree,
Shall yield the other in the right opinion.
Som. Good master Vernon, it is well objected;2
If I have fewest, I subscribe in silence.
Plan. And I.

[case,
Ver. Then, for the truth and plainness of the
I pluck this pale, and maiden blossom here,
Giving my verdict on the white rose side.

Som. Prick not your finger as you pluck it off; Lest, bleeding, you do paint the white rose red, And fall on my side so against your will.

Ver. If I, my lord, for my opinion bleed,
Opinion shall be surgeon to my hurt,
And keep me on the side where still I am.

Som. Well, weil, come on: Who else?
Law. Unless my study and my books be false,
The argument you held, was wrong in you;
[TO SOMERSET.
In sign whereof, I pluck a white rose too.
Plan. Now, Somerset, where is your argument?
Som. Here, in my scabbard; meditating that,
Shall dye your white rose in a bloody red.

Plan. Mean time, your cheeks do counterfeit our roses;

For pale they look with fear, as witnessing
The truth on our side.

Som.

No, Plantagenet,
"Tis not for fear; but anger,-that thy cheeks
Blush for pure shame, to counterfeit our roses ;3
And yet thy tongue will not confess thy error.

Plan. Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset ?
Som. Hath not thy rose a thorn, Plantagenet?
Plan. Ay, sharp and piercing, to maintain his
truth;

Whiles thy consuming canker eats his falsehood. Som. Well, I'll find friends to wear my bleeding roses,

That shall maintain what I have said is true,
Where false Plantagenet dare not be seen.
Plan. Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand,
I scorn thee and thy faction, peevish boy.

Suff. Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet.
Plan. Proud Poole, I will; and scorn both him

and thee,

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3 It is not for fear that my cheeks look pale, but for anger: anger produced by this circumstance-namely, that thy cheeks blush, &c.

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On and plot of ground in Christendom:
Was not thy father, Richard, earl of Cambridge,
For treason executed in our late king's day?
And, by his treason, stand'st not thou attainted,
Corrupted, and exempt from ancient gentry?
His trespass yet lives guilty in thy blood;
And, till thou be restor'd, thou art a yeoman.

Plan. My father was attached, not attainted;
Condemn'd to die for treason, but no traitor;
And that I'll prove on better inen than Somerset,
Were growing time once ripen'd to my will.
For your partaker Poole, and you yourself,
I'll note you in my book of memory,10
To scourge you for this apprehension:11
Look to it well; and say you are well warn'd.

Som. Ay, thou shalt find us ready for thee still: And know us, by these colours, for thy foes; For these my friends, in spite of thee, shall wear. Plan. And, by my soul, this pale and angry rose, As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate, Will I for ever, and my faction, wear; Until it wither with me to my grave, Or flourish to the height of my degree.

[Exit.

Suff. Go forward, and be chok'd with thy ambition! And so farewell, until I meet thee next. Som. Have with thee, Poole.-Farewell, ambi tious Richard. [Exit.

Plan. How I am brav'd, and must perforce endure it!

[house,

War. This blot, that they object against your Shall be wip'd out in the next parliament, Call'd for the truce of Winchester and Gloster: And, if thou be not then created York, I will not live to be accounted Warwick, Mean time, in signal of my love to thee, Against proud Somerset, and William Poole, Will I upon thy party wear this rose: And here I prophesy,-This brawl to-day, Grown to this faction, in the Temple garden, Shall send, between the red rose and the white, A thousand souls to death and deadly night. Plan. Good master Vernon, I am bound to you, That you on my behalf would pluck a flower. Ver. In your behalf still will I wear the same Law. And so will I,

Plan. Thanks, gentle sir. Come, let us four to dinner: I dare say, This quarrel will drink blood another day. [Exeunt. SCENE V. The same. A Room in the Tower, Enter MORTIMER,13 brought in a Chair by two Keepers.

Mor. Kind keepers of my weak decaying age, Let dying Mortimer here rest himself.

have derived some such privilege from the knights templars, or knights hospitallers, both religious orders, its former inhabitants. It is true, blows may have been prohibited by the regulations of the society: the author perhaps did not much consider the matter, but repre sents it as suited his purpose.

8 Exempt for excluded.

4 Theobald altered fashion, which is the reading of the old copy, to faction. Warburton contends that by fashion is meant the badge of the red rose, which Somerset said that he and his friends would be distin-socius.'-Baret. guished by.'

5 The poet mistakes. Plantagenet's paternal grandfather was Edmund of Langley, duke of York. His maternal grandfather was Roger Mortimer, earl of March, who was the son of Philippa, the daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence. The duke therefore was his maternal great great grandfather.

6 i. e. those who have no right to arms.

7 It does not appear that the temple had any privilege of sanctuary at this time, being then, as now, the resi dence of law students. The author might imagine it to

9 Partaker, in ancient language, signifies one who takes part with another; an accomplice, a confederate. A partaker, or coparcioner; particeps, consors, con. 10 So in Hamlet :Again :

the table of my memory,'

shall live

Within the book and volume of my brain.' 11 Theobald changed this to reprehension: and War. burton explains it by opinion. It rather means concep tion, or a conceit taken that matters are different from what the truth warrants.

12 A cognizance is a badge.

13 This is at variance with the strict truth of history.

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