Too kind to them; but now have drawn our sword,

And, if they send me not my Gaveston,

We'll steel it on their crest[s], and poll their tops.

Bald. This haught* resolve becomes your majesty,

Not to be tied to their affection,

As though your highness were a school-boy still, And must be aw'd and govern'd like a child.

Enter the elder SPENSER† with his truncheon, and
Soldiers.

E. Spen. Long live my sovereign, the noble
Edward,

In peace triumphant, fortunate in wars!

K. Edw. Welcome, old man: com'st thou in Edward's aid?

Then tell thy‡ prince of whence and what thou

art.

E. Spen. Lo, with a band of bow-men and of
pikes,

Brown bills and targeteers, four hundred strong,
Sworn to defend King Edward's royal right,
I come in person to your majesty,
Spenser, the father of Hugh Spenser there,
Bound to your highness everlastingly
For favour done, in him, unto us all.

K. Edw. Thy father, Spenser?

Y. Spen. True, an it like your grace, That pours, in lieu of all your goodness shown, His life, my lord, before your princely feet.

K. Edw. Welcome ten thousand times, old
man, again!

Spenser, this love, this kindness to thy king,
Argues thy noble mind and disposition.
Spenser, I here create thee Earl of Wiltshire,
And daily will enrich thee with our favour,
That, as the sun-shine, shall reflect o'er thee.
Beside, the more to manifest our love,
Because we hear Lord Bruce doth sell his land,
And that the Mortimers are in hand withal,
Thou shalt have crowns of us t'outbid the
barons;

And, Spenser, spare § them not, lay it on.-
Soldiers, a largess, and thrice-welcome all!

Y. Spen. My lord, here comes the queen.

Enter QUEEN ISABELLA, PRINCE EDWARD, and Levune. K. Edw. Madam, what news?

Q Isab. News of dishonour, lord, and dis

content.

Our friend Levune, faithful and full of trust,
Informeth us, by letters and by words,
That Lord Valois our brother, king of France,
Because your highness hath been slack in
homage,

Hath seized Normandy into his hands:
These be the letters, this the messenger.

K. Edw. Welcome, Levune.-Tush, Sib, if this be all,

Valois and I will soon be friends again.—
But to my Gaveston: shall I never see,
Never behold thee now?-Madam, in this matter
We will employ you and your little son;
You shall go parley with the king of France.-
Boy, see you bear you bravely to the king,
And do your message with a majesty.

P. Edw. Commit not to my youth things of more weight

Than fits a prince so young as I to bear;
And fear not, lord and father,-heaven's great
beams

On Atlas' shoulder shall not lie more safe
Than shall your charge committed to my trust.
Q. Isab. Ah, boy, this towardness makes thy
mother fear

Thou art not mark'd to many days on earth!
K. Edw. Madam, we will that you with speed

be shipp'd,

And this our son: Levune shall follow you
With all the haste we can despatch him hence.
Choose of our lords to bear you company;
And go in peace; leave us in wars at home.
Q. Isab. Unnatural wars, where subjects brave
their king:

God end them once! My lord, I take my leave,
To make my preparation for France.

[Exit with PRINCE EDWARD.

Enter ARUNDEL.*

K. Edw. What, Lord Arundel, dost thou come alone?

Arundel] Old eds. "Lord Matre." and "Lord Matreuis"; and so in all the other places of this scene, both in the dialogue and the prefixes, where I have substituted "Arundel" and "Arun.": compare the scene, p. 201, first col., in which Arundel delivers the king's message to the barons. This mistake (which has occurred before in the old eds., see note*, p. 202, and is afterwards repeated, see note *, p. 208) was occasioned most probably by the parts of Arundel and Matrevis having been played by one and the same actor.

This granted, they, their honours, and their lives, Are to your highness vow'd and consecrate.

Y. Spen. Ah, traitors, will they still display their pride?

K. Edw. Away! tarry no answer, but be gone!

Rebels, will they appoint their sovereign
His sports, his pleasures, and his company?
1-
Yet, ere thou go, see how I do divorce

[Embraces Young SPENSER. Spenser from me. Now get thee to thy lords, And tell them I will come to chastise them For murdering Gaveston: hie thee, get thee gone!

Edward, with fire and sword, follows at thy heels. [Exit Herald.

My lord[s], perceive you how these rebels swell?

Soldiers, good hearts defend your sovereign's right,

For, now, even now, we march to make them stoop.

Away!

[Exeunt. Alarums, excursions, a great fight, and a retreat sounded, within.

Re-enter KING EDWARD, the elder SPENSER, the younger SPENSER, BALDOCK, and Noblemen of the king's side.

K. Edw. Why do we sound retreat? upon them, lords!

This day I shall pour vengeance with my sword
On those proud rebels that are up in arms,
And do confront and countermand their king.
Y. Spen. I doubt it not, my lord; right will
prevail.

E. Spen. "Tis not amiss, my liege, for either part

To breathe a while; our men, with sweat and dust

All chok'd well near, begin to faint for heat;
And this retire refresheth horse and man.
Y. Spen. Here come the rebels.

Enter the younger MORTIMER, LANCASTER, WARWICK, PEMBROKE, and others.

Y. Mor. Look, Lancaster, yonder is Edward Among his flatterers.

Lan. And there let him be,

Till he pay dearly for their company.

War. And shall, or Warwick's sword shall smite in vain.

K. Edw. What, rebels, do you shrink and

sound retreat?

Y. Mor. No, Edward, no; thy flatterers faint and fly.

Lan. They'd best betimes forsake thee and their trains,*

For they'll betray thee, traitors as they are.

Y. Spen. Traitor on thy face, rebellious Lancaster !

Pem. Away, base upstart! brav'st thou nobles thus?

E. Spen. A noble attempt and honourable deed,

Is it not, trow ye, to assemble aid
And levy arms against your lawful king?
K. Edw. For which, ere long, their heads shall
satisfy

T' appease the wrath of their offended king.

Y. Mor. Then, Edward, thou wilt fight it to

the last,

And rather bathe thy sword in subjects' blood Than banish that pernicious company?

K. Edw. Ay, traitors all, rather than thus be brav'd,

Make England's civil towns huge heaps of stones, And ploughs to go about our palace-gates.

War. A desperate and unnatural resolution !— Alarum to the fight!

Saint George for England, and the barons' right! K. Edw. Saint George for England, and King Edward's right!

[Alarums. Exeunt the two parties severally.

Enter KING EDWARD‡ an I his followers, with the Barons and KENT captive.

K. Edw. Now, lusty lords, now not by chance of war,

But justice of the quarrel and the cause,
Vail'd § is your pride: methinks you hang the

heads;

But we'll advance them, traitors: now 'tis time
To be aveng'd on you for all your braves,
And for the murder of my dearest friend,
To whom right well you knew our soul was knit,
Good Pierce of Gaveston, my sweet favourite:
Ah, rebels, recreants, you made him away!

Kent. Brother, in regard of thee and of thy land,

Did they remove that flatterer from thy throne. K. Edw. So, sir, you have spoke: away, avoid our presence! [Exit Kent.

Accursed wretches, was't in regard of us,

*trains] i. e. stratagems.

Is it] So 4tos 1612, 1622.-2to 1598 "It is."

↑ Enter King Edward, &c.] Another part of the field. § Vail'd] i. e. lowered.

It is but temporal that thou canst inflict.

Lan. The worst is death; and better die to live

Than live in infamy under such a king.

K. Edw. Away with them, my Lord of Winchester !

These lusty leaders, Warwick and Lancaster,
I charge you roundly, off with both their heads!
Away!

War. Farewell, vain world!

Lan. Sweet Mortimer, farewell!

Y. Mor. England, unkind to thy nobility, Groan for this grief! behold how thou art maim'd!

K. Edw. Go, take that haughty Mortimer to the Tower;

There see him safe bestow'd; and, for the rest, Do speedy execution on them all.

Be gone!

Y. Mor. What, Mortimer, can ragged stony walls

Immure thy virtue that aspires to heaven? No, Edward, England's scourge, it may not be; Mortimer's hope surmounts his fortune far. [The captive Barons are led of. K. Edw. Sound, drums and trumpets! March with me, my friends.

Edward this day hath crown'd him king anew. [Exeunt all except the younger SPENSER, LEVUNE, and BALDOCK.

Y. Spen. Levune, the trust that we repose in thee

Begets the quiet of King Edward's land:
Therefore be gone in haste, and with advice
Bestow that treasure on the lords of France,
That, therewith all enchanted, like the guard
That suffer'd Jove to pass in showers of gold
To Danaë, all aid may be denied

To Isabel the queen, that now in France
Makes friends, to cross the seas with her young

son,

And step into his father's regiment.†

* messenger] So 4to 1598-2tos 1612, 1622, "messengers." † regiment] i. e. rule, government.

Till Edmund be arriv'd for England's good!
Nature, yield to my country's cause in this!
A brother? no, a butcher of thy friends!
Proud Edward, dost thou banish me thy presence?
But I'll to France, and cheer the wrongèd queen,
And certify what Edward's looseness is.
Unnatural king, to slaughter noblemen
And cherish flatterers! Mortimer, I stay
Thy sweet escape. Stand gracious, gloomy night,
To his device!

Enter the younger MORTIMER disguised, Y. Mor. Holla! who walketh there? Is't you, my lord?

Kent. Mortimer, 'tis I.

But hath thy potion wrought so happily? §

Y. Mor. It hath, my lord: the warders all asleep,

I thank them, gave me leave to pass in peace.
But hath your grace got shipping unto France ?
Kent. Fear it not.
[Exeunt.

Enter QUEEN ISABELLA || and PRINCE EDWARD.
Q. Isab. Ah, boy, our friends do fail us all in
France !

The lords are cruel, and the king unkind.
What shall we do? ¶

* levell'd] Old eds. "leuied." clap so] Old eds. "claps."

Enter Kent] Scene, London, near the Tower.

§ But hath thy potion wrought so happily ?] For a highly poetical description of Mortimer's escape from the Tower, see the Third Book of The Barons' Wars by Drayton (who makes the Queen furnish Mortimer with the potion and watch his flight).

|| Enter Queen Isabella, &c.] Scene, Paris. do] So 4tos 1598, 1622.-to 1612 "goe."

Enter SIR JOHN OF HAINAULT.

Sir J. Madam, what cheer?

Q. Isab. Ah, good Sir John of Hainault, Never so cheerless nor so far distrest!

Sir J. I hear, sweet lady, of the king's unkindness:

But droop not, madam; noble minds contemn Despair. Will your grace with me to Hainault, And there stay time's advantage with your son?— How say you, my lord? will you go with your friends,

And shake off all our fortunes equally?

P. Edw. So pleaseth the queen my mother, me

it likes:

The king of England, nor the court of France,
Shall have me from my gracious mother's side,
Till I be strong enough to break a staff;
And then have at the proudest Spenser's head!
Sir J. Well said, my lord!

Q. Isab. O my sweet heart, how do I moan thy wrongs,

Yet triumph in the hope of thee, my joy !—
Ah, sweet Sir John, even to the utmost verge
Of Europe, on the shore of Tanais,
Will we with thee to Hainault-so we will:
The marquis is a noble gentleman;
His grace, I dare presume, will welcome me.-
But who are these?

Enter KENT and the younger MORTIMER. Kent. Madam, long may you live Much happier than your friends in England do! Q. Isab. Lord Edmund, and Lord Mortimer alive!

Welcome to France! the news was here, my lord, That you were dead, or very near your death.

Y. Mor. Lady, the last was truest of the twain:

* dost] Qy. "must"?

ton] Old eds. "or." The meaning seems to be,-We will with thee to Hainault, even if it were situated on the utmost verge of Europe, &c.

But Mortimer, reserv'd for better hap,
Hath shaken off the thraldom of the Tower,
And lives t' advance your standard, good my lord.
P. Edw. How mean you, and the king my
father lives?

No, my Lord Mortimer, not I, I trow.

Q Isab. Not, son! why not? I would it were

no worse!

But, gentle lords, friendless we are in France.
Y. Mor. Monsieur Le Grand, a noble friend of

yours,

Told us, at our arrival, all the news,-
How hard the nobles, how unkind the king
Hath shew'd himself: but, madam, right makes

room

* part] Old eds. “partie" and "party."

+ appointed] i.e. accoutred, furnished with necessaries. deserv'd] Equivalent here to-earned. In p. 201, first col., we have had "earn'd" in the sense of "deserved." § sith] i. e. since.

to bid the English king a base] To bid a base is to run fast, challenging another to pursue,-in allusion to the game of Prison-base or Prison-bars.

say'st] Old eds. say (which might stand, if "How" were altered to "Now ").

** you] So 4tos 1598, 1622.-Not in 4to 1612.