SCENE 1.London.The Parliament House
Flourish.Enter the KING,EXETER,GLOUCESTER,WARWICK,SOMERSET,and SUFFOLK;the BISHOP OF WINCHESTER,
RICHARD PLANTAGENET,and others.GLOUCESTER offers to put up a bill;WINCHESTER snatches it,and tears it
WINCHESTER.Com'st thou with deep premeditated lines,With written pamphlets studiously devis'd?Humphrey of Gloucester,if thou canst accuse Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge,Do it without invention,suddenly;I with sudden and extemporal speech Purpose to answer what thou canst object.GLOUCESTER.Presumptuous priest,this place commands my patience,Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me.Think not,although in writing I preferr'd The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,That therefore I have forg'd,or am not able Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen.No,prelate;such is thy audacious wickedness,Thy lewd,pestiferous,and dissentious pranks,As very infants prattle of thy pride.Thou art a most pernicious usurer;Froward by nature,enemy to peace;Lascivious,wanton,more than well beseems A man of thy profession and degree;And for thy treachery,what's more manifest In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,As well at London Bridge as at the Tower?Beside,I fear me,if thy thoughts were sifted,The King,thy sovereign,is not quite exempt From envious malice of thy swelling heart.WINCHESTER.Gloucester,I do defy thee.Lords,vouchsafe To give me hearing what I shall reply.If I were covetous,ambitious,or perverse,As he will have me,how am I so poor?Or how haps it I seek not to advance Or raise myself,but keep my wonted calling?And for dissension,who preferreth peace More than I do,except I be provok'd?No,my good lords,it is not that offends;It is not that that incens'd hath incens'd the Duke:It is because no one should sway but he;No one but he should be about the King;And that engenders thunder in his breast And makes him roar these accusations forth.But he shall know I am as good GLOUCESTER.As good!Thou bastard of my grandfather!WINCHESTER.Ay,lordly sir;for what are you,I pray,But one imperious in another's throne?
GLOUCESTER.Am I not Protector,saucy priest?WINCHESTER.And am not I a prelate of the church?GLOUCESTER.Yes,as an outlaw in a castle keeps,And useth it to patronage his theft.WINCHESTER.Unreverent Gloucester!GLOUCESTER.Thou art reverend Touching thy spiritual function,not thy life.WINCHESTER.Rome shall remedy this.WARWICK.Roam thither then.SOMERSET.My lord,it were your duty to forbear.WARWICK.Ay,see the bishop be not overborne.SOMERSET.Methinks my lord should be religious,And know the office that belongs to such.WARWICK.Methinks his lordship should be humbler;It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.SOMERSET.Yes,when his holy state is touch'd so near.WARWICK.State holy or unhallow'd,what of that?Is not his Grace Protector to the King?PLANTAGENET.[Aside]Plantagenet,I see,must hold his tongue,Lest it be said 'Speak,sirrah,when you should;Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?'Else would I have a fling at Winchester.KING HENRY.Uncles of Gloucester and of Winchester,The special watchmen of our English weal,I would prevail,if prayers might prevail To join your hearts in love and amity.O,what a scandal is it to our crown That two such noble peers as ye should jar!Believe me,lords,my tender years can tell Civil dissension is a viperous worm That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth.[A noise within:'Down with the tawny coats!']What tumult's this?WARWICK.An uproar,I dare warrant,Begun through malice of the Bishop's men.[A noise again:'Stones!Stones!']
Enter the MAYOR OF LONDON,attended
MAYOR.O,my good lords,and virtuous Henry,Pity the city of London,pity us!The Bishop and the Duke of Gloucester's men,Forbidden late to carry any weapon,Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble stones And,banding themselves in contrary parts,Do pelt so fast at one another's pate That many have their giddy brains knock'd out.Our windows are broke down in every street,And we for fear compell'd to shut our shops.