SCENE III. A hall of justice. The Second part of King Henry the Sixth  Shakespeare homepage  |  Henry VI, part 2  | Act 2, Scene 3 

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 Sound trumpets. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN  MARGARET, GLOUCESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, and SALISBURY;  the DUCHESS, MARGARET JOURDAIN, SOUTHWELL, HUME, and BOLINGBROKE, under guard  KING HENRY VI  Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester'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 adjudged to death. 

 You four, from hence to prison back again; 

 From thence unto the place of execution: 

 The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes, 

 And you three shall be strangled on the gallows. 

 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. 

 DUCHESS  Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death. 

 GLOUCESTER  Eleanor, the law, thou see'st, hath judged thee: 

 I cannot justify whom the law condemns. 



 Exeunt DUCHESS and 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. 

 KING HENRY VI  Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester: 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 beloved 

 Than when thou wert protector to thy King. 

 QUEEN MARGARET  I see no reason why a king of years 

 Should be to be protected like a child. 

 God and King Henry govern England's realm. 

 Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm. 

 GLOUCESTER  My staff? here, noble Henry, is my staff: 

 As willingly do I the same resign 

 As e'er 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  QUEEN MARGARET  Why, now is Henry king, and Margaret queen; 

 And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester 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. 

 SUFFOLK  Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays; 

 Thus Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days. 

 YORK  Lords, let him go. Please it your majesty, 

 This is the day appointed for the combat; 

 And ready are the appellant and defendant, 

 The armourer and his man, to enter the lists, 

 So please your highness to behold the fight. 

 QUEEN MARGARET  Ay, good my lord; for purposely therefore 

 Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried. 

 KING HENRY VI  O God's name, see the lists and all things fit: 

 Here let them end it; and God defend the right! 

 YORK  I never saw a fellow worse bested, 

 Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant, 

 The servant of this armourer, my lords. 



 Enter at one door, HORNER, the Armourer, and his  Neighbours, drinking to him so much that he is drunk;  and he enters with a drum before him and his staff  with a sand-bag fastened to it; and at the other  door PETER, his man, with a drum and sand-bag, and 'Prentices drinking to him  First Neighbour  Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of 

 sack: and fear not, neighbour, you shall do well enough. 

 Second Neighbour  And here, neighbour, here's a cup of charneco. 

 Third Neighbour  And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour: 

 drink, and fear not your man. 

 HORNER  Let it come, i' faith, and I'll pledge you all; and 

 a fig for Peter! 

 First 'Prentice	Here, Peter, I drink to thee: and be not afraid. 

 Second 'Prentice	Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master: fight 

 for credit of the 'prentices. 

 PETER  I thank you all: drink, and pray for me, I pray 

 you; for I think I have taken my last draught in 

 this world. Here, Robin, an if I die, I give thee 

 my apron: and, Will, thou shalt have my hammer: 

 and here, Tom, take all the money that I have. O 

 Lord bless me! I pray God! for I am never able to 

 deal with my master, he hath learnt me so much fence already. 

 SALISBURY  Come, leave your drinking, and fall to blows. 

 Sirrah, what's thy name? 

 PETER  Peter, forsooth. 

 SALISBURY  Peter! what more? 

 PETER  Thump. 

 SALISBURY  Thump! then see thou thump thy master well. 

 HORNER  Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man's 

 instigation, to prove him a knave and myself an 

 honest man: and touching the Duke of York, I will 

 take my death, I never meant him any ill, nor the 

 king, nor the queen: and therefore, Peter, have at 

 thee with a downright blow! 

 YORK  Dispatch: this knave's tongue begins to double. 

 Sound, trumpets, alarum to the combatants! 



 Alarum. They fight, and PETER strikes him down  HORNER  Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason. 



 Dies  YORK  Take away his weapon. Fellow, thank God, and the 

 good wine in thy master's way. 

 PETER  O God, have I overcome mine enemy in this presence? 

 O Peter, thou hast prevailed in right! 

 KING HENRY VI  Go, take hence that traitor from our sight; 

 For his death we do perceive his guilt: 

 And God in justice hath revealed to us 

 The truth and innocence of this poor fellow, 

 Which he had thought to have murder'd wrongfully. 

 Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward. 



 Sound a flourish. Exeunt  Shakespeare homepage  |  Henry VI, part 2  | Act 2, Scene 3 

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