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WARWICK:
The bloody parliament shall this be call'd,
Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,
And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice
Hath made us by-words to our enemies.
YORK:
Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute;
I mean to take possession of my 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.
KING HENRY VI:
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 revenged 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 VI:
Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.
CLIFFORD:
Patience is for poltroons, such as he:
He durst not sit there, had your father lived.
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 VI:
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 VI:
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.
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:
'Twas 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 VI:
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.