William Shakespeare: King Henry VI, Third Part

ACT I 1. SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house (continued)

KING HENRY.
Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne,
Wherein my grandsire and my father sat?
No! first shall war unpeople this my realm;
Ay, and their colours--often borne in France,
And now in England, to our heart's great sorrow--
Shall be my winding sheet.--Why faint you, lords?
My title's good, and better far than his.

WARWICK.
Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.

KING HENRY.
Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.

YORK.
'T was by rebellion against his king.

KING HENRY.
[Aside.] I know not what to say; my title's weak.--
Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

YORK.
What then?

KING HENRY.
An if he may, then am I lawful king;
For Richard, in the view of many lords,
Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth,
Whose heir my father was, and I am his.

YORK.
He rose against him, being his sovereign,
And made him to resign his crown perforce.

WARWICK.
Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,
Think you 't were prejudicial to his crown?

EXETER.
No; for he could not so resign his crown
But that the next heir should succeed and reign.

KING HENRY.
Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?

EXETER.
His is the right, and therefore pardon me.

YORK.
Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?

EXETER.
My conscience tells me he is lawful king.

KING HENRY.
[Aside.] All will revolt from me and turn to him.

NORTHUMBERLAND.
Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st,
Think not that Henry shall be so depos'd.