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Where I may have fruition of her love.

As is fair Margaret, he be link'd in love.

Suff. Tush! my good lord! this superficial tale Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me

Is but a preface of her worthy praise:
The chief perfections of that lovely dame
(Had I sufficient skill to utter them,)
Would make a volume of enticing lines,
Able to ravish any dull conceit.

And, which is more, she is not so divine,
So full replete with choice of all delights,
But, with as humble lowliness of mind,
She is content to be at your command;
Command, I mean, of virtuous chaste intents,
To love and honour Henry as her lord.

K. Hen. And otherwise will Henry ne'er

sume.

Therefore, my lord protector, give consent,
That Margaret may be England's royal queen.
Glo. So should I give consent to flatter sin.
You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd
Unto another lady of esteem;

How shall we then dispense with that contract,
And not deface your honour with reproach?

Suff. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths
Or one, that, at a triumph' having vow'd
To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists
By reason of his adversary's odds:

A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds,
And therefore may be broke without offence.

;

pre

Glo. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than
that?

Her father is no better than an earl,
Although in glorious titles he excel.

Suff. Yes, my good lord, her father is a king,
The king of Naples, and Jerusalem;
And of such great authority in France,
As his alliance will confirm our peace,
And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance.

Glo. And so the earl of Armagnac may do,
Because he is near kinsman unto Charles.

Exe. Beside, his wealth doth warrant liberal
dower;

While Reignier sooner will receive, than give.
Suff. A dower, my lords! disgrace not so your
king,

That he should be so abject, base, and poor,
To choose for wer'th, and not for perfect love.
Henry is able to
h his queen,
een to make him rich:

And not to seeh

So worthless pts bargain for their wives,
As market-men ior oxen, sheep, or horse.
Marriage is a matter of more worth,
Than to be dealt in by attorneyship;
Not whom we will, but whom his grace affects,
Must be companion of his nuptial bed:

And therefore, lords, since he affects her most,
It most of all these reasons bindeth us,
In our opinion she should be preferr'd.
For what is wedlock forced, but a hell,
An age of discord and continual strife?
Whereas the contrary bringeth forth bliss,
And is a pattern of celestial peace.

That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she.
K. Hen. Whether it be through force of your

report,

My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that
My tender youth was never yet attaint
With any passion of inflaming love,
I cannot tell; but this I am assur'd,

I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,
Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
Take, therefore, shipping; post, my lord, to France;
Agree to any covenants: and procure
That lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come
To cross the seas to England, and be crown'd
King Henry's faithful and anointed queen:
For your expenses and sufficient charge,
Among the people gather up a tenth.
Be gone, I say; for, till you do return,
I rest perplexed with a thousand cares.-
And you, good uncle, banish all offence:
If you do censure me by what you were,
Not what you are, I know it will excuse
This sudden execution of my will.
And so conduct me, where from company,
I may revolve and ruminate my grief. [Exit.
Glo. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.
[Exeunt Gloster and Exeter.
Suff. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd: and thus he

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Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers at that time gave the public those plays, not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played before Henry the Fifth is apparent; because, in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts:

'Henry the Sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king, Whose state so many had the managing,

That they lost France, and made his England bleed:

'Which oft our stage hath shown.'

France is lost in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of

Whom should we match, with Henry, being a king, the houses of York and Lancaster.

But Margaret, that is daughter to a king?
Her peerless feature, joined with her birth,
Approves her fit for none, but for a king:
Her valiant courage, and undaunted spirit
(More than in women commonly is seen,)
Will answer our hope in issue of a king;
For Henry, son unto a conqueror,
Is likely to beget more conquerors,
If with a lady of so high resolve,

(1) A triumph then signified a public exhibition; such as a mask, or revel.

The second and third parts of Henry VI. were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and second parts. The first part of Henry VI. had been often shown on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place, had the author been the publisher.

JOHNSON.

(2) By the discretional agency of another.
(3) Judge.

SECOND PART OF

KING HENRY VI.

'The Contention of the two famous houses of York and Lancaster,' in two parts, was pubhshed in quarto, in 1600; and the first part was entered on the Stationers' books, (as Mr. Steevens has observed,) March 12, 1593-4. On these two plays, which I believe to have been written by some preceding author, before the year 1590, Shakspeare formed, as I conceive, this and the following dran a; altering, retrenching, or amplifying, as he thought proper. At present it is only necessary to apprize the reader of the method observed in the printing of these plays. All the lines printed in the usual manner are found in the original quarto plays (or at least with such minute variations as a e not worth noticing) and those, I conceive, Shakspeare adopted as he found them. The lines to which inverted commas are prefixed, were, if my hypothesis be well founded, retouched, and greatly improved by him; and those with asterisks were his own original production; the embroidery with which he ornamented the coarse stuff that had been awkwardly made up for the stage by some of his contemporaries. The speeches which he new-modelled, he improved, sometimes by amplification, and sometimes by re

trenchment.

MALONE.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

Hume and Southwell, two priests.

Humphrey, duke of Gloster, his uncle.

King Henry the Sixth:

Bolingbroke, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him.

Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, great Thomas Horner, an armourer. Peter, his man.

uncle to the king.

Richard Plantagenet, duke of York:

Edward and Richard, his sons.

Duke of Somerset,

Duke of Suffolk,

Duke of Buckingham,

of the king's party.

Lord Clifford,

Young Clifford, his son.

Earl of Salisbury,

Earl of Warwick, of the York faction.
Lord Scales, Governor of the Tower.
Sir Humphrey Stafford, and his brother.
Stanley.

Lord Say.
Sir John

A Sea-captain, Master, and Master's Mate, and
Walter Whitmore.

Two Gentlemen, prisoners with Suffolk.
A Herald. Vaux.

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Clerk of Chatham. Mayor of Saint Alban's.
Simpcox, an impostor. Two Murderers.
Jack Cade, a rébel:

George, John, Dick, Smith, the Weaver, Michael,
&c. his followers.

Alexander Iden, a Kentish Gentleman.

Margaret, queen to king Henry.
Eleanor, duchess of Gloster.

Margery Jourdain, a witch. Wife to Simpcox.

Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c.

Scene, dispersedly in various parts of England.

Seven earls, twelve barons, twenty reverend bishops,
I have perform'd my task, and was espous'd:
And humbly now upon my bended knee,
In sight of England and her lordly peers,
Deliver up my title in the queen
To your most gracious hands, that are the substance
Of that great shadow I did represent;
The happiest gift that ever marquis gave,
The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd.

K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, queen Mar-
garet:

I can express no kinder sign of love,
Than this kind kiss.-O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
For thou hast given me, in this beauteous face,
A world of earthly blessings to my soul,
*If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.
Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gra
cious lord;

R

The mutual conference that my mind hath had'-Studied so long, sat in the council-house,

By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams;

In courtly company, or at my beads,

With you mine alder-liefest sovereign,

• Makes me the b lder to salute my king

With ruder terms; such as my wit affords, 'And over-joy of heart doth minister.

How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe?
And hath his highness in his infancy

Been crown'd in Paris, in despite of foes?

Early and late, debating to and fro

And shall these labours, and these honours, die?
Shail Henry's conquest, Bedford's vigilance,

'K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in Your deeds of war, and all our council, die? speech,

'O peers of England, shameful is this league! 'Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty, 'Fatal this mariage, cancelling your fame: 'Makes me, from wondering fall to weeping joys;Blotting your names from books of memory. 'Such is the fulness of my heart's content.Razing the characters of your renown; 'Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love. Defacing monuments of conquered France; All. Long live queen Margaret, England's hap-Undoing all, as all had never been!

piness!

Q. Mar. We thank you all.

[Flourish.

Suff. My lord protector, so it please your grace,
Here are the articles of contracted peace,
Between our sovereign and the French king Charles,
'For eighteen months concluded by consent.

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'Car. Nephew, what means this passionate discourse?

This peroration with such circumstance? 'For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still.

Glo. Reads. Imprimis, It is agreed between the French king, Charles, and William de la Poole, marquess of Suffolk, ambassador for Henry king* of England, that the said Henry shall espouse the lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier king of Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem; and crown* her queen of England, ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing.Item,-That the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine, shall be released and delivered to the king her father

K. Hen. Uncle, how now?
Glo.

Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can;
But now it is impossible we should:
Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast,
Hath given the duchies of Anjou and Maine
Unto the poor king Reignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leanness of his purse.

Sal. Now, by the death of him that died for all,
These counties were the keys of Normandy :-
But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son?
'War. For grief, that they are past recovery:
For, were there hope to conquer them again,
'My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no

tears.

Pardon me, gracious lord;'Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both;
Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer:
And arc the cities, that I got with wounds,
'Deliver'd up again with peaceful words?
'Mort Dieu!

Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart,
And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.
K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on.
Win. Item,-It is further agreed between them
-that the duchies of Anjou and Maine shall be
released and delivered over to the king her father;
and she sent over of the king of England's own
proper cost and charges, without having dowry.

K. Hen. They please us well.-Lord marquess
kneel down;

We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk,
And girt thee with the sword.-

Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace
From being regent in the parts of France,
Till term of eighteen months be full expir'd.-
Thanks, uncle Winchester, Gloster, York,
Buckingham,

Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick;
We thank you all for this great favour done,
In entertainment to my princely queen.
Come, let us in; and with all speed provide
To see her coronation be perform'd.

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York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate,
That dims the honour of this warlike isle!
France should have torn and rent my very heart
Before I would have yielded to this league.

I never read but England's kings have had
Large sums of gold, and dowries with their

wives :

And our king Henry gives away his own,
To match with her that brings no vantages.

Glo. A proper jest, and never heard before, *That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth, For costs and charges in transporting her!

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*Car. My lord of Gloster, now you grow too hot; It was the pleasure of my lord the king.

Glo. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind; 'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike, state,But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you. Rancour will out: Proud prelate, in thy face I see thy fury: If I longer stav,

[Exeunt King, Queen, and Suffolk. Glo. Brave peers of England, pillars of the To you duke Humphrey must unload his grief, Your grief, the common grief of all the land. "What! did my brother Henry spend his youth, 'His valour, coin, and people, in the wars? 'Did he so often lodge in open field, "In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, To conquer France, his true inheritance? And did my brother Bedford toil his wits, To keep by policy what Henry got? 'Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham, 'Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick, Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy? 'Or hath mine uncle Beaufort, and myself, "With all the learned council of the realm,

(1) I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination. (2) Beloved above all things.

We shall begin our ancient bickerings."-
Lordings, farewell; and say, when I am gone,
I prophesied-France will be lost ere long. [Exit.
Car. So, there goes our protector in a rage.
'Tis known to you, he is mine enemy:
Nay, more, an enemy unto you all;
And no great friend, I fear me, to the king.
*Consider, lords, he is the next of blood,
And heir apparent to the English crown;
Had Henry got an empire by his marriage,
And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,
There's reason he should be displeased at it.

(3) This speech crowded with so many circum
stances of aggravation.
(4) Skirmishings.

*Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing words *Bewitch your hearts; be wise, and circumspect. "What though the common people favour him, 'Calling him-Humphrey, the good duke of Glos

ter ;

*

Clapping their hands, and crying with a loud voice* 'Jesu maintain your royal excellence! 'With-God preserve the good duke Humphrey ! 'I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss, "He will be found a dangerous protector.

* Buck. Why should he then protect our reign,

He being of age to govern of himself?'Cousin of Somerset, join you with me,

The peers agreed; and Henry is well pleas'd,
To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair
daughter.

I cannot blame them all; What is't to them?
"Tis thine they give away, and not their own.
Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their
pillage,

*And purchase friends, and give to courtezans,
Still revelling, like lords, till all be gone:
*While as the silly owner of the goods
sove-* Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands,
*And shakes his head, and trembling stands aloof,
* While all is shar'd, and all is borne away;
Ready to starve, and dare not touch his own.
So York must sit, and fret, and bite his tongue,
While his own lands are bargain'd for, and sold.
Methinks, the realms of England, France, and
Ireland,

And all together-with the duke of Suffolk,"We'll quickly hoise duke Humphrey from his seat. * Car. This weighty business will not brook de-* lay;

*I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently.

[Exit. 'Som. Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's pride,

And greatness of his place be grief to us, Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal; "His insolence is more intolerable "Than all the princes in the land beside; "If Gloster be displac'd, he'll be protector. Buck. Or thou, or I, Somerset, will be protector, * Despite duke Humphrey, or the cardinal.

[Exeunt Buckingham and Somerset. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. "While these do labour for their own preferment, 'Behoves it us to labour for the realm. I never saw but Humphrey duke of Gloster 'Did bear him like a noble gentleman. 'Oft have I seen the haughty cardinal'More like a soldier, than a man o'the church, 'As stout, and proud, as he were lord of all,'Swear like a ruffian, and demean himself 'Unlike the ruler of a common-weal. Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age! Thy deeds, thy plainness, and thy house-keeping, Hath won the greatest favour of the commons, Excepting none but good duke Humphrey.And brother York, thy acts in Ireland, In bringing them to civil discipline; "Thy late exploits, done in the heart of France, "When thou wert regent for our sovereign, Have made thee fear'd, and honour'd, of the people:

Join we together, for the public good; "In what we can to bridle and suppress "The pride of Suffolk, and the cardinal, "With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition; And, as we may, cherish duke Humphrey's deeds, 'While they do tend the profit of the land.

* War. So God help Warwick, as he loves the land,

And common profit of his country! *York. And so says York, for he hath greatest

cause.

Sal. Then let's make haste away, and look unto

the main.

War. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost; That Maine, which by main force Warwick did win, And would have kept, so long as breath did last: Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant Maine; Which I will win from France, or else be slain.

Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood,
As did the fatal brand Alihea burn'd,
*Unto the prince's heart of Calydon.
Anjou and Maine, both given unto the French!
Cold news for me; for I had hope of France,
Even as I have of fertile England's soil.

A day will come, when York shall claim his own;
And therefore I will take the Nevils' parts,
And make a show of love to proud duke Humphrey,
And, when I spy advantage, claim the crown,
For that's the golden mark I seek to hit :
Nor shall proud Lancaster usurp my right,
Nor hold his sceptre in his childish fist,
Nor wear the diadem upon his head,
Whose church-like humours fit not for a crown.
Then, York, be still a while, till time do serve:
Watch thou, and wake when others be asleep,
To pry into the secrets of the state;

Till Henry, surfeiting in joys of love,

With his new bride, and England's dear-bought

queen,

And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars:
Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rose,
With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfum'd;
And in my standard bear the arms of York,
To grapple with the house of Lancaster;
And, force perforce, I'll make him vield the crown,
Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England down.
[Exit.

SCENE II-The same.

A room in the duke of Gloster's house. Enter Gloster and the Duchess.

Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd

corn,

Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load? *Why doth the great duke Humphrey knit his brows,

As frowning at the favours of the world? Why are thine eyes fix'd to the sullen earth, Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight? 'What see'st thou there? king Henry's diadem, Enchas'd with all the honours of the world? *If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face,

Until thy head be circled with the same. Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold: What, is't too short? I'll lengthen it with mine: And, having both together heav'd it up, *We'll both together lift our heads to heaven; And never more abase our sight so low, As to vouchafe one glance unto the ground.

[Exeunt Warwick and Salisbury. York. Anjou and Maine are given to the French;* Paris is lost; the state of Normandy Stands on a tickle' point, now they are gone : * Suffolk concluded on the articles;

(1) For ticklish.

(2) Meleager; whose life was to continue only so long as a certain firebrand should last. His mother Althea having thrown it into the fire, he expired in torment.

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Glo. O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy Your grace's title shall be multiplied.

lord,

'Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts:

And may that thought, when I imagine ill
Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry,

Be my last breathing in this mortal world!

'My troublous dream this night doth make me sad.
Duch. What dream, my lord? tell me, and
I'll requite it

6 With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream.
Glo. Methought, this staff, mine office-badge
in court,

"Was broke in twain, by whom I have forgot,
'But, as I think, it was by the cardinal;

And on the pieces of the broken wand'

Act. I

Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet
conferr'd

With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch;
And Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer?
And will they undertake to do me good?

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Hume. This they have promised,-to show
your highness

A spirit rais'd from depth of under ground,
As by your grace shall be propounded him.
That shall make answer to such questions,
'Duch. It is enough; I'll think upon the ques

tions:

'When from Saint Albans we do make return, We'll see these things effected to the full.

'Were plac'd the heads of Edmond duke of Here Hume, take this reward: make merry, man,

Somerset,

'And William de la Poole first duke of Suffolk.

This was my dream; what it doth bode, God knows.
Duch. Tut, this was nothing but an argument,
That he that breaks a stick of Gloster's grove,
'Shall lose his head for his presumption.

But list to ine, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:
Methought, I sat in seat of majesty,

In the cathedral church of Westminster,

And in that chair where kings and queens are grown'd;

Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me, 'And on my head did set the diadem.

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With thy confederates in this weighty cause.
*Hume. Hume must make merry with the
[Exit Duchess.

duchess' gold;

Marry, and shall. But how now, sir John Hume? Seal up your lips, and give no words but-mum! 'The business asketh silent secrecy.

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*Dame Eleanor gives gold, to bring the witch: *Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil. 'Yet have I gold, flies from another coast: 'I dare not say, from the rich cardinal, And from the great and new-made duke of Suffolk, They knowing dame Eleanor's aspiring humour, 'Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain, 'Have hired me to undermine the duchess, And buzz these conjurations in her brain. They say, A crafty knave does need no broker; *Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker. * Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near * To call them both-a pair of crafty knaves. * Well, so it stands. And thus, I fear, at last, * Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck; so* Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all. [Exit. *And her attaintre will be Humphrey's fall: SCENE III-The same. A room in the palace. Enter Peter, and others, with petitions.

Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright: *Presumptuous dame, ill-nurtur'd' Eleanor! Art thou not second woman in the realin; And the protector's wife, belov'd of him?' *Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command, *Above the reach or compass of thy thought? And wilt thou still be hammering treachery, *To tumble down thy husband and thyself, From top of honour to disgrace's feet? Away from me, and let me hear no more. 'Duch. What, what, my lord! are you choleric

'With Eleanor, for telling but her dream? Next time, I'll keep my dreams unto myself, "And not be check'd.

'Glo. Nay, be not angry, I am pleas'd again. Enter a Messenger.

'Mess. My lord protector, 'tis his highness'' pleasure,

"You do prepare to ride unto Saint Albans, "Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk. Glo. I go.-Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?* 'Duch. Yes, good my lord, I'll follow presently. [Exeunt Gloster and Messenger. "Follow I must, I cannot go before, *While Gloster bears this base and humble mind. *Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood, *I would re nove these tedious stumbling-blocks, And smooth my way upon their headless necks: *And, being a woman, I will not be slack

To play my part in fortune's pageant. "Where are you there? Sir John! nay, fear not,

man,

'We are alone; here's none but thee, and I.
Enter Hume.

Hume. Jesu preserve your royal majesty!
Duch. What say'st thou, majesty! I am but

grace.

Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice,

(1) Ill-educated.

(2) For where.

3) A title frequently bestowed on the clergy.

'1 Pet. My masters, let's stand close; my lord protector will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver our supplications in the good man! Jesu bless him! 2 Pet. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a quill.

Enter Suffolk, and Queen Margaret.
with him: I'll be the first, sure.
*1 Pet. Here 'a comes, methinks, and the queen

Suffolk, and not my lord protector.
2 Pet. Come back, fool; this is the duke of

Suff. How now, fellow? would'st any thing with me?

for my lord protector.
1 Pet. I pray, my lord, pardon me! I took ye

Q. Mar. [Reading the superscription.] To my lord protector! are your supplications to his lordship? Let me see them: What is thine?

1 Pet. Mine is, an't please your grace, against John Goodman, my lord cardinal's man, for keep'ing my house and lands, and wife and all, from me.

Suff. Thy wife too? that is some wrong indeed..
What's yours?-What's here! [Reads.] Against
of Melford.-How now, sir knave?
the duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons

our whole township.
2 Pet. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of

Peter. [Presenting his petition]

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