King Henry VI, Part 3 | Page 4

right.
WARWICK.
Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,
The
proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
Dares stir a wing if Warwick

shake his bells.
I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares.--

Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.
[Warwick leads York to the throne, who seats himself.]
[Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND,

WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and the rest.]
KING HENRY.
My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
Even in
the chair of state! belike he means,
Back'd by the power of Warwick,
that false peer,
To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.--
Earl of
Northumberland, he slew thy father;
And thine, Lord Clifford; and
you both have vow'd revenge
On him, his sons, his favourites, and his
friends.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
If I be not, heavens be reveng'd on me!
CLIFFORD.
The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.
WESTMORELAND.
What! shall we suffer this? let 's pluck him
down;
My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it.
KING HENRY.
Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.
CLIFFORD.
Patience is for poltroons, such as he;
He durst not sit
there had your father liv'd.
My gracious lord, here in the parliament

Let us assail the family of York.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Well hast thou spoken, cousin; be it so.
KING HENRY.
Ah, know you not the city favours them,
And they
have troops of soldiers at their beck?
EXETER.
But when the duke is slain, they'll quickly fly.
KING HENRY.
Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart,
To

make a shambles of the parliament-house!
Cousin of Exeter, frowns,
words, and threats
Shall be the war that Henry means to use.--
[They advance to the duke.]
Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne,
And kneel for grace
and mercy at my feet;
I am thy sovereign.
YORK.
I am thine.
EXETER.
For shame, come down; he made thee Duke of York.
YORK.
'T was my inheritance, as the earldom was.
EXETER.
Thy father was a traitor to the crown.
WARWICK.
Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown
In following
this usurping Henry.
CLIFFORD.
Whom should he follow, but his natural king?
WARWICK.
True, Clifford; and that 's Richard, Duke of York.
KING HENRY.
And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?
YORK.
It must and shall be so.
Content thyself.
WARWICK.
Be Duke of Lancaster; let him be king.
WESTMORELAND.
He is both king and Duke of Lancaster;
And
that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain.
WARWICK.
And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget
That we
are those which chas'd you from the field,
And slew your fathers, and
with colours spread
March'd through the city to the palace gates.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief;


And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.
WESTMORELAND.
Plantagenet, of thee, and these thy sons,
Thy
kinsmen, and thy friends, I'll have more lives
Than drops of blood
were in my father's veins.
CLIFFORD.
Urge it no more; lest that instead of words
I send thee,
Warwick, such a messenger
As shall revenge his death before I stir.
WARWICK.
Poor Clifford! how I scorn his worthless threats!
YORK.
Will you we show our title to the crown?
If not, our swords
shall plead it in the field.
KING HENRY.
What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?
Thy
father was, as thou art, Duke of York;
Thy grandfather, Roger
Mortimer, Earl of March.
I am the son of Henry the Fifth,
Who
made the Dauphin and the French to stoop,
And seiz'd upon their
towns and provinces.
WARWICK.
Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.
KING HENRY.
The lord protector lost it, and not I;
When I was
crown'd I was but nine months old.
RICHARD.
You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose.--

Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head.
EDWARD.
Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.
MONTAGUE.
Good brother, as thou lov'st and honourest arms,

Let's fight it out and not stand cavilling thus.
RICHARD.
Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly.
YORK.
Sons, peace!

KING HENRY.
Peace thou, and give King Henry leave to speak.
WARWICK.
Plantagenet shall speak first; hear him, lords,
And be
you silent and attentive too,
For he that interrupts him shall not live.
KING HENRY.
Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne,

Wherein my grandsire and my father sat?
No! first shall war unpeople
this my realm;
Ay, and their colours--often borne in France,
And
now in England, to our heart's great sorrow--
Shall be my winding
sheet.--Why faint you, lords?
My title's good, and better far than his.
WARWICK.
Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.
KING HENRY.
Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.
YORK.
'T was by rebellion against his king.
KING HENRY.
[Aside.] I know not what to say; my title's weak.--

Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?
YORK.
What then?
KING HENRY.
An if he may, then am I lawful king;
For Richard,
in the view of many lords,
Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth,

Whose heir my father was, and I am his.
YORK.
He rose against him, being his sovereign,
And made him to
resign his crown perforce.
WARWICK.
Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,
Think you
't were prejudicial to his crown?
EXETER.
No; for he could not so