Gloucest.
What Tidings, now?—

Warw.
The Tumult is appeas'd.

Gloucest.
Warwick,—thy free-giving Hand; thy Table,
Open to All; thy affable Deportment;
Thy pleasing Wit;—(Endearing Qualities!)
Conciliate to Thee, daily, such Good Will,
From all Degrees of Men: That, I foresee,
Thy Influence will prevail, throughout the Realm.

York.
Lest we intrude too far upon the Night;
Your Highness will appoint our Shares of Business:
That there be no Confusion, in our Measures.

Gloucest.
My Lords,—when I am justified; Let Salisbury
(Whose Gravity bespeaks Attention) open,
In general Terms, the heinous Crimes, long practiced
Against the King, and State: And dwell upon
The melancholy Prospect, now, before us.

Salisb.
I take My Part.

Gloucest.
Then; let the Duke of York
Unfold each Circumstance of Suffolk's Treason.

York.
Agreed.

Warw.
And, leave the Cardinal to Me.—
Methinks, I see vain Suffolk lower his Crest:—

York.
And Winchester's red, fiery Eyes betray
The Virulency of his festering Soul.

Salisb.
But, We forget your Highness; whose Eloquence,
Strengthen'd with Probity,—

Gloucest.
In the Debate,
Oft' as the Nation's Danger, and the King's,
Shall come in View, will I rise up to speak;
And shew my forward Zeal, at least, to rescue
The King, and Nation, trusted to my Care.

Salisb.
Thus, then, will We instruct our Friends; who wait,
Impatient, for Our final Resolutions.

Gloucest.
Yet, ere we part; grant One Request.

Warw.
You may
Command your Friends.

Gloucest.
My Lords, I offer not
To extenuate the Guilt of Beaufort; nor, am I
Ignorant of his up-lifted Pride,
Which renders him most hatefull to the Nobles:
But still, this hated, this obnoxious Prelate,—
Is he not my Uncle?—Then for My Sake,
Spare the Remainder of his Life.—His Father
Was a most worthy Prince; and his late Brother,
The Duke of Excester, a wise, a learned,
And an upright Counsellour.

York.
If he must live;
Let him have no Abode within the Palace.

Warw.
Confine him to his Diocess, for Life;
That he may not infest the Court: Nor, henceforward,
Embroil the State.

Salisb.
Nor, must he hold
A Seat, in Parliament:—For, what have We
To do with Cardinals? Whose whole Allegiance

The See of Rome usurps.

Gloucest.
Nay, more; my Lords:
Let his ill-gotten Wealth (Wherewith, he hopes
To buy the Papal Crown) be forfeited.
  On these Conditions, let my Uncle live;—
And die, in Peace.

Salisb.
At Your Desire, then, let him
Find that Mercy, he merits not.

York.
A Mercy,
Were You in need of it, He ne'er would grant.

Gloucest.
Though old in Vice; Retirement and Reflection
May, by Degrees, subdue his Heart to Vertue.

Warw.
Is there Aught, more; before we leave your Highness?

Gloucest.
My Lords;—Commend me to our Assembled Friends:
And give them full Assurance, in My Name;
That, as in War, the Fear of Death ne'er drove me
From Perils of the Field: I will, to Morrow,
Shew equal Resolution, in the Senate.
Nor, shall the Dread of Envy, or Detraction,
Nor, yet, the Frowns, nor the Conspiracies,
Of desperate Wicked Men, abate that Ardour,
With which Your friendly Counsels make me glow
To serve, at once, our Countrey, and our King!

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