Shakspeare's predecessors; but the tameness of the ge-produced previous to 1592, but were not printed until neral style is very different from the peculiar characte-they appeared in the folio of 1623. ristics of that poet's mighty line, which are great energy To Johnson's high panegyric of that impressive scene both of thought and language, degenerating too fre- in this play, the death of Cardinal Beaufort, we may quently into tumour and extravagance. The versifica-add that Schlegel says, 'It is sublime beyond all praise. tion appears to me to be of a different colour.-That Can any other poet be named who has drawn aside the Marlowe, Peele, and Greene, may all of them have had curtain of eternity at the close of this life in such an a share in these dramas, is consonant to the frequent overpowering and awful manner? And yet it is not practice of the age; of which ample proofs may be mere horror with which we are filled, but solemn emofound in the extracts from Henslowe's MS. printed by tion; we have an exemplification of a blessing and a Mr. Malone.' curse in close proximity; the pious king is an image of From the passage alluding to these plays, in Greene's the heavenly mercy, which, even in his last moinents, Groatsworth of Wit, it seems probable that they were labours to enter into the soul of the sinner.' shops, I have perform'd my task, and was espous'd; To your most gracious hands, that are the substance? K. Hen. Suffolk, arise.-Welcome, Queen Mar- I can express no kinder sign of love, A Herald. VAUX. HUME and SOUTHWELL, two Priests. GEORGE, JOHN, DICK, SMITH the Weaver, Mi ALEXANDER IDEN, a Kentish Gentleman. SCENE, dispersedly in various parts of England. Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! Q. Mar. Great king of England, and my gra cious lord; The mutual conference that my mind hath had3—— 'K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in speech, Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty, 'Makes me, from wondering fall to weeping joys; Such is the fulness of my heart's content. Lords with one cheerful voice welcome my love. All. Long live Queen Margaret, England's happiness! Q. Mar. We thank you all. [Flourish. Suff. My lord protector, so it please your grace, Glo. [Reads.] Imprimis, It is agreed between the 1 'The marquesse of Suffolk, as procurator to King Henry, espoused the said ladie in the church of St. Martins. At the which marriage were present, the father and mother of the bride; the French king himself, that 3 I am the bolder to address you, having already fa was uncle to the husband; and the French queen also,miliarized you to my imagination. that was aunt to the wife. There were also the Dukes! 4 i. e. most beloved of all: from alder, of all; for. of Orleance, of Calabre, of Alanson, and of Britaine seven earles, twelve barons, twenty bishops.'-Hall and Holinshed. 2 i. e. to the gracious hands of you, my sovereign, who are, &c. In the old play the line stands :Unto your gracious excellence, that are." merly used in composition with adjectives of the superlative degree and liefest, dearest, or most loved. 5 This weeping joy, of which there is no trace in the original play, Shakspeare frequently uses. It is intro. duced in Much Ado about Nothing, King Richard IL Macbeth, and King Lear. K. Hen. Uncle, how now? Glo. Pardon me, gracious lord; Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart, And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further. K. Hen. Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on. Win. Item,-It is further agreed between them, that the duches of Anjou and Maine shall be released and delivered over to the king her father; and she sent over of the king of England's own proper cost and charges, without having dowry. K. Hen. They please us well.-Lord marquess, kneel down; We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk, Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick; We thank you all for this great favour done, [Exeunt King, Queen, and SUFFOLK. In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham, How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe? *Car. Nephew, what means this passionate discourse ? * This peroration with such circumstance?1 *For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still. Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can; But now it is impossible we should: Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast, Hath given the duchies of Anjou and Maine * Unto the poor king Reignier, whose large style Agrees not with the leanness of his purse.2 Sal. Now, by the death of him that died for all, *These counties were the keys of Normandy :But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son? War. For grief, that they are past recovery: For, were there hope to conquer them again, My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no tears. Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both; Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer: And are the cities, that I got with wounds, 'Deliver'd up again with peaceful words ?3 'Mort Dieu! 1 This speech crowded with so many circumstances of aggravation. 2 King Reignier, her father, for all his long style, had too short a purse to send his daughter honourably to the king her spouse.-Holinshed. 3 The indignation of Warwick is natural, but might have been better expressed: there is a kind of jingle *York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate, That dims the honour of this warlike isle! * France should have torn and rent my very heart, * Before I would have yielded to this league. I never read but England's kings have had Large sums of gold, and dowries, with their wives: And our King Henry gives away his own, To match with her that brings no vantages. *Glo. A proper jest, and never heard before That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth, *For costs and charges in transporting her! *She should have staid in France, and starv'd in France, defore *Car. My lord of Gloster, now you grow too hot; *It was the pleasure of my lord the king. I Glo. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind. "Tis not my speeches that you do mislike, But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you. Rancour will out: Proud prelate, in thy face I see thy fury: if I longer stay, We shall begin our ancient bickerings. Lordings, farewell; and say, when I am gone, prophesied-France will be lost ere long. [Exit. Car. So, there goes our protector in a rage. 'Tis known to you he is mine enemy: *Nay, more, an enemy unto you all; And no great friend, I fear me, to the king; * Consider, lords, he is the next of blood, * And heir apparent to the English crown; *Had Henry got an empire by his marriage, * And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west, *There's reason he should be displeas'd at it. * Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing word Bewitch your hearts; be wise, and circumspect. What though the common people favour him, Calling him-Humphrey the good duke of Gloster; Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice Jesu maintain your royal excellence! With-God preserve the good duke Humphrey ! *He being of age to govern of himself, And all together-with the duke of Suffolk,— We'll quickly hoise Duke Humphrey from his seat. *Car. This weighty business will not brook delay; *I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently. [Exit. Som. Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's pride, And greatness of his place be grief to us, Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal; 'His insolence is more intolerable Than all the princes in the land beside; 'If Gloster be displac'd, he'll be protector. Buck. Or thou, or I, Somerset, will be protector, *Despight Duke Humphrey, or the cardinal. [Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and SOMERSET, Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. While these do labour for their own preferment, Behooves it us to labour for the realm. I never saw but Humphrey duke of Gloster Did bear him like a noble gentleman. Oft have I seen the haughty cardinalMore like a soldier, than a man o' the church, As stout, and proud, as he were lord of all,'Swear like a ruffian, and demean himself Unlike the ruler of a common-weal.Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age! Thy deeds, thy plainness, and thy house-keeping, 'Hath won the greatest favour of the commons, Excepting none but good duke Humphrey. And, brother York, thy acts in Ireland, intended in wounds and words. In the old play the jan gle is different. And must that then which we won with our swords, be given away with words? 4 4 Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, married Cicely, the daughter of Ralf Neville, earl of Westmoreland, by Joan, daughter to John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, by his third wife, dame Catharine Swinford. Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, was son to the earl of Westmore SCENE 11. KING HENRY VI. In bringing them to civil discipline;1 Have made thee fear'd, and honour'd, of the Join we together, for the public good; * York. And so says York, for he hath greatest cause. Sal. Then let's make haste away, and look unto the main. War. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost; Which I will win from France, or else be slain. * Stands on a tickle2 point, now they are gone : *The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd, *And purchase friends, and give to courtesans, While-as the silly owner of the goods *Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands, * And shakes his head, and trembling stands aloof, * While all is shar'd, and all is borne away; Ready to starve, and dare not touch his own. * Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood, A day will come, when York shall claim his own; Whose church-like humours fit not for a crown. queen, And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars ; land by a second wife. He married Alice, only daugh- This is an anachronism. The present scene is in SCENE II. The same. A Room in the Duke of Duchess. Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn, As frowning at the favours of the world? 'Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts: Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream. Was broke in twain, by whom, I have forgot, And William de la Poole, first duke of Suffolk. knows. Duch. Tut, this was nothing but an argument, crown'd; "Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me, Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright: leric With Eleanor, for telling but her dream? Glo. Nay, be not angry, I am pleas'd again. 'Mess. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' 'You do prepare to ride into Saint Albans, 3 Meleager; whose life was to continue only so long 5 Whereas for where; a common substitution in old 1 protector will come this way by and by, and then 'Duch. Yes, good my lord, I'll follow presently. [Exeunt GLOSTER and Messenger. Follow I must, I cannot go before, *While Gloster bears this base and humble mind. *Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood, *I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks, And smooth my way upon their headless necks: *And, being a woman, I will not be slack *To play my part in fortune's pageant. Where are you there? Sir John! nay, fear not, grace. Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice, Your grace's title shall be multiplied. Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch;2 Hume. This they have promised, to show your A spirit rais'd from depth of under ground, That shall make answer to such questions, As by your grace shall be propounded him. 'Duch. It is enough; I'll think upon the questions: When from Saint Albans we do make return, 'We'll see these things effected to the full. Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man, With thy confederates in this weighty cause. [Exit Duchess. * Hume. Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold; Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume? Seal up your lips, and give no words but-mum! The business asketh silent secrecy. *Dame Eleanor gives gold, to bring the witch: *Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil. Yet have I gold, flies from another coast: 'I dare not say, from the rich cardinal, And from the great and new-made duke of Suffolk; Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain, They, knowing dame Eleanor's aspiring humour, 'Have hired me to undermine the duchess, And buz these conjurations in her brain. They say, A crafty knave does need no broker ;3 * Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker. *Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near *To call them both-a pair of crafty knaves. * Well, so it stands: And thus, I fear, at last, *Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck; *And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall: * Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all. [Exit. SCENE III. The same. A Room in the Palace. Enter PETER, and others, with Petitions. '1 Pet. My masters, let's stand close; my lord 1 A title frequently bestowed on the clergy. See the first note on the Merry Wives of Windsor. 'me. Suff. Thy wife too? that is some wrong indeed. -What's yours?-What's here? [Reads.] Against the duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons of Melford.-How now, sir knave? 2 Pet. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township. Peter. [Presenting his petition.] Against my master, Thomas Horner, for saying, That the duke of York was rightful heir to the crown. 'Q. Mar. What say'st thou? did the duke of "York say, he was rightful heir to the crown? 'Peter. That my master was? No, forsooth: my 'master said, That he was; and that the king was an usurper." Suff. Who is there? [Enter Servants.]—Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant presently:-we'll hear more of your matter before the king." [Exeunt Servants, with Peter. 'Q. Mar. And as for you, that love to be pro * Is this the fashion in the court of England? * And must be made a subject to a duke? cations. Mr. Tollet thinks it means with great exact ness and observance of form, in allusion to the quilled 2 It appears from Rymer's Fodera, vol. x. p. 505, or plaited ruffs. Hawkins suggests that it may be the that in the tenth year of Henry VI. Margery Jourde. same with the French en quille, said of a man when he mayn, John Virley Clerk, and Friar John Ashwell, stands upright upon his feet, without moving from the were, on the ninth of May, brought from Windsor by place, in allusion to quille, a ninepin. It appears to be nothe constable of the castle, to which they had been com-thing more than an intention to mark the vulgar pronun mitted for sorcery, before the council at Westminster,ciation of in the coil,' i. e. in the bustle. This word is and afterwards committed to the custody of the Lord spelt in the old dictionaries quoil, and was no doubt Chancellor. It was ordered that whenever the said Vir- often pronounced by ignorant persons quile, or quill. ley and Ashwell should find security for their good be. 6 This wrong seems to have been sometimes prachaviour they should be set at liberty, and in like man- tised in Shakspeare's time. Among the Lansdowne ner that Jourdemayn should be discharged on her hus- MSS. we meet with the following singular petition:band's finding security. This woman was afterwards-Julius Bogarucius to the Lord Treasurer in Latin, burned in Smithfield, as stated in the play, and also in the Chronicles. 3 This expression was proverbial. 4 Let the issue be what it will. There have been some strange conjectures in expla nation of this phrase, in the quill. Steevens says that i may mean no more than written or penned suppli complaining that the Master of the Rolls keeps his wife from him in his own house, and wishes he may not teach her to be a papist.' 7 The quarto reads an usurer. 'Queen. An usurper thou would`st say, 8 i. e. scoundrels; from coglioni, Ital. His weapons, holy saws of sacred writ; *His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves Are brazen images of canonized saints. *I would, the college of cardinals Would choose him pope, and carry him to Rome, *And set the triple crown upon his head; *That were a state fit for his holiness. Suff. Madam, be patient; as I was cause Your highness came to England, so will I "In England work your grace's full content. grace To be protector of his excellence? Glo. Madam, I am protector of the realm; *Q. Mar. Beside the haught protector, have we The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas Beaufort, *And all the peers and nobles of the realm The imperious churchman; Somerset, Bucking-Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty. ham, *And grumbling York: and not the least of these, 11 *But can do more in England than the king. *Suff. And he of these, that can do most of all, *Cannot do more in England than the Nevils: *Salisbury and Warwick are no simple peers. 'Q. Mar. Not all these lords do vex me half so much, As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies, More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's Strangers in court do take her for the queen: She vaunted 'mongst her minions t'other day, And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds, That she will light to listen to the lays, *And never mount to trouble you again. * So, let her rest; And, madam, list to me: *For I am bold to counsel you in this. *Although we fancy not the cardinal, Yet must we join with him, and with the lords, *Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace. As for the duke of York, this late complaint * Will make but little for his benefit: *So, one by one, we'll weed them all at last, * And you yourself shall steer the happy helm. Enter KING HENRY, YORK, and SOMERSET, conversing with him; DUKE and DUCHESS of GLOSTER, CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BUCKINGHAM, SALISBURY, and WARWICK. K. Hen. For my part, noble lords, I care not which; * Car. The commons hast thou rack'd; the * Are lank and lean with thy extortions. * Have cost a mass of public treasury. * * Q. Mar. Thy sale of offices, and towns in France, If they were known, as the suspect is great,*Would make thee quickly hop without thy head. [Exit GLOSTER. The Queen drops her Fan. Give me my fan: What, minion! can you not? [Gives the Duchess a box on the ear. I cry you mercy, madam; Was it you? Duch. Was'i I? yea, I it was, proud French woman: Could I come near your beauty with my nails, 'Duch. Against her will! Good king, look to't She'll bamper thee, and dandle thee like a baby: breeches, She shall not strike dame Eleanor unreveng'd. [Erit Duchess. *Buck. Lord cardinal, I will follow Eleanor, And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds; *She's tickled now; her fume needs no spurs, *She'll gallop fast enough to her destruction. [Exit BUCKINGHAM. Re-enter GLOSTER. *Glo. Now, lords, my choler being over-blown, Or Somerset, or York, all's one to me.' France, Then let him be denay'd' the regentship. Som. If Somerset be unworthy of the place, Car. Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak. War. Warwick may live to be the best of all. Why Somerset should be preferr'd in this. it so. 'Gl. Madam, the king is old enough himself *I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man, My lord of Somerset will keep me here, * War. That I can witness; and a fouler fact * Did never traitor in the land commit. Suff. Peace, headstrong Warwick! War. Image of pride, why should I hold my peace? 4 Denay is frequently used instead of deny among the old writers. 5 Censure here means simply judgment or opinion; the sense in which it was used by all the writers of the time. 6 This appears to have been a popular phrase for the hands or ten fingers. |