William Shakespeare: King Henry VI, First Part

ACT FIFTH 1. SCENE I. London. The palace.

[Sennet. Enter King, Gloucester, and Exeter.]

KING.
Have you perused the letters from the pope,
The emperor, and the Earl of Armagnac?

GLOUCESTER.
I have, my lord: and their intent is this:
They humbly sue unto your excellence
To have a godly peace concluded of
Between the realms of England and of France.

KING.
How doth your grace affect their motion?

GLOUCESTER.
Well, my good lord; and as the only means
To stop effusion of our Christian blood
And stablish quietness on every side.

KING.
Aye, marry, uncle; for I always thought
It was both impious and unnatural
That such immanity and bloody strife
Should reign among professors of one faith.

GLOUCESTER.
Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect
And surer bind this knot of amity,
The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,
Proffers his only daughter to your grace
In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.

KING.
Marriage, uncle! alas, my years are young!
And fitter is my study and my books
Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.
Yet call the ambassadors; and, as you please,
So let them have their answers every one:
I shall be well content with any choice
Tends to God's glory and my country's weal.

[Enter Winchester in Cardinal's habit, a Legate
and two Ambassadors.]

EXETER.
What! is my Lord of Winchester install'd
And call'd unto a cardinal's degree?
Then I perceive that will be verified
Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy,
'If once he come to be a cardinal,
He'll make his cap co-equal with the crown.'

KING.
My lords ambassadors, your several suits
Have been consider'd and debated on.
Your purpose is both good and reasonable;
And therefore are we certainly resolved
To draw conditions of a friendly peace;
Which by my Lord of Winchester we mean
Shall be transported presently to France.