Glo. What means this noise?
Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?
One. A miracle! a miracle!

Suf. Come to the king, and tell him what mi

racle.

One. Forsooth, a blind man at St. Alban's shrine,

Within this half-hour, hath receiv'd his sight; A man that ne'er saw in his life before.

K. Hen. Now, God be prais'd! that to believing souls

Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair!

Enter the Mayor of St. Alban's, and his brethren; and SIMPCOX, borne between two persons in a chair; his wife and a great multitude following. Car. Here come the townsmen on procession, To present your highness with the man. K. Hen. Great is his comfort in this earthly vale,

Although by his sight his sin be multiplied. Glo. Stand by, my masters, bring him near the king;

His highness' pleasure is to talk with him.

K. Hen. Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance,

That we for thee may glorify the Lord.

What, hast thou been long blind, and now restor'd?

Simp. Born blind, an 't please your grace.
Wife. Ay, indeed, was he.

Suf. What woman is this?

Wife. His wife, an 't like your worship.

Glo. Hadst thou been his mother thou couldst have better told.

K. Hen. Where wert thou born? Simp. At Berwick in the north, an 't like your grace.

K. Hen. Poor soul! God's goodness hath been great to thee:

Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass,
But still remember what the Lord hath done.
Q. Mar. Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou
here by chance,

Or of devotion, to this holy shrine?

Simp. God knows, of pure devotion; being call'd

A hundred times, and oftener, in my sleep
By good Saint Alban; who said, 'Simpcox,

come;

Come, offer 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. Car. What, art thou lame?

Let me see thine eyes:-wink now; now open them:

In my opinion yet thou see'st not well.

Simp. Yes, master, clear as day; I thank God and Saint Alban.

Glo. Say'st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of?

Simp. Red, master; red as blood.

Glo. Why, that's well said: What colour is my gown of?

Simp. Black, forsooth; coal-black, as jet. K. Hen. Why then thou know'st what colour jet is of?

Suf. And yet, I think, jet did he never see. Glo. But cloaks and gowns, before this day,

a many.

Wife. Never, before this day, in all his life. Glo. Tell me, sirrah, what's my name? Simp. Alas, master, I know not.

Glo. What's his name?

Simp. I know not.

Glo. Nor his?

Simp. No, indeed, master.

Glo. What's thine own name?

Simp. Saunder Simpcox, an if it please you,

master.

Glo. Then, Saunder, sit there, the lyingest knave in Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind, thou mightst as well have known all our names, as thus to name the several colours we do wear. Sight may distinguish of colours; but suddenly to nominate them all, it is impossible. -My lords, Saint Alban here hath done a miracle; and would ye not think that cunning to be great that could restore this cripple to his legs again?"

⚫ Steevens prints this speech metrically, with certain

Simp. O master, that you could! Glo. My masters of St. Alban's, have you not beadles in your town, and things called whips? May. Yes, my lord, if it please your grace. Glo. Then send for one presently.

May. Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight. [Exit an Attendant. Glo. Now fetch me a stool hither by and by. [A stool brought out.] Now, sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me over this stool and run away.

Simp. Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone; you go about to torture me in vain.

Re-enter Attendant, with the Beadle.

Glo. Well, sir, we must have you find your legs. Sirrah beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool.

Bead. I will, my lord.-Come on, sirrah; off with your doublet quickly.

Simp. 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 the people follow, and cry, A Miracle!

K. Hen. O God, seest thou this, and bear'st so long?

Q. Mar. It made me laugh to see the villain

Have practis'd dangerously against your state,
Dealing with witches, and with conjurers:
Whom we have apprehended in the fact;
Raising up wicked spirits from under ground,
Demanding of king Henry's life and death,
And other of your highness' privy council,
As more at large your grace shall understand.

Car. And so, my lord protector, by this means Your lady is forthcoming yet at London.

This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge;

"Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour. [Aside to GLOSTER.

Glo. Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my
heart!

Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers:
And vanquish'd as I am I yield to thee,
Or to the meanest groom.

K. Hen. O God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones;

Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby! Q. Mar. Gloster, see here the tainture of thy nest;

And look thyself be faultless, thou wert best.

Glo. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do ap-
peal,

How I have lov'd my king and commonweal :
And for my wife, I know not how it stands;
Sorry I am to hear what I have heard;
Noble she is; but if she have forgot
Honour and virtue, and convers'd with such
As, like to pitch, defile nobility,

I banish her my bed and company;
And give her as a prey to law, and shame,
That hath dishonour'd Gloster's honest name.
K. Hen. Well, for this night we will repose
us here:

To-morrow toward London, back again,
To look into this business thoroughly,
And call these foul offenders to their answers;
And poise the cause in justice' equal scales,
Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause
prevails.
[Flourish. Exeunt.

SCENE II.-London. The Duke of York's Garden.

Enter YORK, SALISBURY, and WARWICK. York. Now, my good lords of Salisbury and Warwick,

Our simple supper ended, give me leave,
In this close walk, to satisfy myself,
In craving your opinion of my title,
Which is infallible, to England's crown.
Sal. My lord, I long to hear it at full.

War. Sweet York, begin: and if thy claim be good

The Nevils are thy subjects to command.
York. Then thus-

Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:
The first, Edward the Black Prince, prince of
Wales;

The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,
Lionel, duke of Clarence; next to whom
Was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster:
The fifth was Edmond Langley, duke of York;
The sixth was Thomas of Woodstock, duke of
Gloster;

William of Windsor was the seventh, and last.
Edward, the Black Prince, died before his father;
And left behind him Richard, his only son,
Who, after Edward the Third's death, reign'd as

Of Edmund Mortimer; who married Philippe, Sole daughter unto Lionel duke of Clarence:

So if the issue of the elder son

Succeed before the younger, I am king.

You four, from hence to prison back again;
[TO JOURD., &c.
From thence, unto the place of execution:
The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes,

than this?

Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,
The fourth son; York claims it from the third.
Till Lionel's issue fails his should not reign:
It fails not yet; but flourishes in thee,
And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.
Then, father Salisbury, kneel we together;
And, in this private plot, be we the first
That shall salute our rightful sovereign,
With honour of his birthright to the crown.
Both. Long live our sovereign Richard, Eng-
land's king!

York. We thank you, lords. But I am not your king

Till I be crown'd; and that my sword be stain'd
With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster;
And that's not suddenly to be perform'd;
But with advice, and silent secrecy.
Do you, as I do, in these dangerous days,
Wink at the duke of Suffolk's insolence,
At Beaufort's pride, at Somerset's ambition,
At Buckingham, and all the crew of them,
Till they have snar'd the shepherd of the flock,
That virtuous prince, the good duke Humphrey :
"Tis that they seek; and they, in seeking that,
Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy.

Sal. My lord, break we off; we know your
mind at full.

War. My heart assures me that the earl of
Warwick

Shall one day make the duke of York a king.
York. And, Nevil, this I do assure myself,—
Richard shall live to make the earl of Warwick
The greatest man in England, but the king.
[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-The same. A Hall of Justice. Trumpets sounded. Enter KING HENRY, QUEEN MARGARET, GLOSTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, and SALISBURY; the Duchess of GLOSTER, MARGERY JOURDAIN, SOUTHWELL, HUME, and Bolingbroke, under guard.

K. Hen. Stand forth, dame Eleanor Cobham,
Gloster'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 adjudg'd to death.

* Plot-Spot.

You, madam, for you are more nobly born,
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.
Duch. Welcome is banishment, welcome were
my death.

Glo. Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee;

I cannot justify whom the law condemns.-
[Exeunt the DUCHESS, and the 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!
I beseech your majesty give me leave to go;
Sorrow would solace, and mine age would ease.
K. Hen. Stay, Humphrey duke of Gloster:
ere thou go

Give up thy staff; Henry will to himself
Protector be: and God shall be my hope,
My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet;
And go in peace, Humphrey; no less belov'd
Than when thou wert protector to thy king.

Q. Mar. I see no reason why a king of years
Should be to be protected like a child.
God and king Henry govern England's helm :*
Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm.
Glo. My staff?—here, noble Henry, is my
staff:

As willingly do I the same resign,

As ere thy father Henry made it mine;
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.
Q. Mar. Why, now is Henry king, and Mar-

garet queen;

And Humphrey duke of Gloster 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.

• Helm.-In the original this is realm. Johnson made the correction: the repetition of realm being most probably a typographical error.

Raught. This is used by Chaucer and Spenser in the sense of reached; it certainly means here taken away, as in Peele's Arraigument of Paris:'

"How Pluto raught queen Ceres' daughter thence."