York.
Now, my good lords of Salisbury and Warwick,
Our simple supper ended, give me leave,
In this close walk to satisfy myself;
In craving your opinion of my Title,
Which is infallible, to England's Crown.

Sal.
My lord, I long to hear it thus at full.

War.
Sweet York, begin; and if thy Claim be good,
The Nevills are thy subjects to command.

York.
Then thus:
Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:
The first, Edward the black Prince, Prince of Wales;
The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,
Lionel Duke of Clarence; next to whom
Was John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster;
The fifth was Edmond Langley, Duke of York;
The sixth, was Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Glo'ster;
William of Windsor was the seventh and last.
Edward the black Prince dy'd before his father,
And left behind him Richard, his only son,
Who, after Edward the Third's death, reign'd King;
Till Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster,
The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt,
Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth,
Seiz'd on the realm; depos'd the rightful King;
Sent his poor Queen to France from whence she came,
And him to Pomfret; where, as all you know,
Harmless King Richard trait'rously was murther'd.

War.
Father, the Duke hath told the truth;
Thus got the house of Lancaster the Crown.

York.
Which now they hold by force, and not by right;
For Richard, the first son's heir being dead,
The Issue of the next son should have reign'd.

Sal.
But William of Hatfield dy'd without an heir.

York.
The third son, Duke of Clarence, from whose Line
I claim the Crown, had issue Philip, a daughter,
Who married Edmond Mortimer, Earl of March.
Edmond had issue; Roger Earl of March:
Roger had issue; Edmond, Anne, and Eleanor.

Sal.
This Edmond, in the reign of Bolingbroke,
As I have read, laid Claim unto the Crown;
And, but for Owen Glendour, had been King;

Who kept him in captivity, till he dy'd.
But, to the rest—

York.
His eldest sister, Anne,
My mother, being heir unto the Crown,
Married Richard Earl of Cambridge,
Who was the son to Edmond Langley,
Edward the Third's fifth son.—
By her I claim the Kingdom; she was heir
To Roger Earl of March, who was the son
Of Edmund Mortimer, who married Philip,
Sole daughter unto Lionel Duke of Clarence.
So, if the Issue of the elder son
Succeed before the younger, I am King.

War.
What plain proceeding is more plain than this?
Henry doth claim the Crown from John of Gaunt,
The fourth son; York here claims it from the third.
Till Lionel's issue fail, his should not reign;
It fails not yet, but flourisheth in thee
And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.
Then, father Salisbury, kneel we together,
And in this private Plot be we the first,
That shall salute our rightful Sovereign
With honour of his birth-right to the Crown.

Both.
Long live our Sov'reign Richard, England's King!

York.
We thank you, lords: but I am not your King,
'Till I be crown'd; and that my sword be stain'd
With heart-blood of the House of Lancaster:
And that's not suddenly to be perform'd,
But with advice and silent secrecy.
Do you, as I do, in these dang'rous days,
Wink at the Duke of Suffolk's Insolence,
At Beauford's Pride, at Somerset's Ambition,
At Buckingham, and all the crew of them;
Till they have snar'd the shepherd of the flock,
That virtuous Prince, the good Duke Humphry:

'Tis That they seek; and they in seeking That
Shall seek their deaths, if York can prophesie.

Sal.
My lord, here break we off; we know your mind.

War.
My heart assures me, that the Earl of Warwick
Shall one day make the Duke of York a King.

York.
And, Nevil, this I do assure myself:
Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick
The greatest man in England, but the King. [Exeunt.

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