Then deputy of Ireland; who remov'd, Earl Surrey was sent thither, and in haste too, 2 GENT. Was a deep envious one. 1 GENT. That trick of state At his return, No doubt, he will requite it. This is noted, 2 GENT. All the commons Hate him perniciously, and, o' my conscience, Wish him ten fathom deep: this duke as much They love and dote on; call him, bounteous Buck ingham, The mirror of all courtesy ; 1 GENT. Stay there, sir, And see the noble ruin'd man you speak of. Enter BUCKINGHAM from his Arraignment; Tipstaves before him; the Axe with the Edge towards him; Halberds on each Side: with him, Sir THOMAS LOVELL, Sir NICHOLAS VAUX, Sir WILLIAM SANDS", and common People. 2 GENT. Let's stand close, and behold him. BUCK. All good people, swill find employment.] That is, will find employment for. Of this kind of suppression many instances occur in our author's works and in those of his contemporaries. Thus in The Merchant of Venice: "How good a gentleman you sent relief [to]." Again, in Julius Cæsar: "Thy honourable metal may be wrought "From that it is dispos'd [to]." We find even Dryden falling into this inaccuracy. "God, it is true, with his Divine Providence overrules and guides all actions to the secret end he has ordained them." Life of Plutarch, Dryden's Prose Works, 1800, vol. ii. p. 398. MALONE. 6 The mirror of all courtesy ;] See the concluding words of n. 1, p. 341. STEEVENS. You that thus far have come to pity me, Hear what I say, and then go home and lose me. I have this day receiv'd a traitor's judgment, And by that name must die; Yet, heaven bear witness, And, if I have a conscience, let it sink me, The law I bear no malice for my death, It has done, upon the premises, but justice: But those, that sought it, I could wish more christians: 8 Be what they will, I heartily forgive them: me9, And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham, 7 Sir WILLIAM Sands,] The old copy reads-Sir Walter. The correction is justified by Holinshed's Chronicle, in which it is said that Sir Nicholas Vaux and Sir William Sands, received Buckingham at the Temple, and accompanied him to the Tower. Sir William Sands was, at this time, (May, 1521,) only a knight, not being created Lord Sands till April 27, 1527. Shakspeare probably did not know that he was the same person whom he has already introduced with that title. He fell into the error by placing the King's visit to Wolsey, (at which time Sir William was Lord Sands,) and Buckingham's condemnation, in the same year; whereas the visit was made some years afterwards. MALONE. 8 Nor build their EVILS on the graves of great men ;] Evils, in this place, are forica. So, in Measure for Measure: 66 having waste ground enough, Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary, "And pitch our evils there?" See vol. ix. p. 70, n. 8. STEEvens. 9 - You few that lov'd me, &c.] These lines are remarkably tender and pathetick. JOHNSON. His noble friends, and fellows, whom to leave 9 Go with me, like good angels, to my end; And lift my soul to heaven '.-Lead on, o' God's name. Lov. I do beseech your grace, for charity, If ever any malice in your heart Were hid against me, now to forgive me frankly. BUCK. Sir Thomas Lovell, I as free forgive you, As I would be forgiven: I forgive all ; There cannot be those numberless offences 'Gainst me, I can't take peace with: no black envy Shall make my grave'.-Commend me to his grace; 9 1603: the long DIVORCE -] So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, "Scarce was the lasting last divorcement made "Betwixt the bodie and the soule," &c. STeevens. And lift my soul to heaven.] So, Milton, Paradise Lost, book iv.: 2 no black envy and lift our thoughts to heaven." MALONE. Shall MAKE my grave.] Shakspeare, by this expression, meant no more than to make the Duke say, No action expressive of malice shall conclude my life. Envy, by our author, is used for malice and hatred, in other places, and, perhaps, in this. Again, in the ancient metrical romance of Syr Bevys of Hampton, bl. 1. no date : Again: "Traytoure, he sayd with great envy, "They drew their swordes hastely, "And smot together with great envy." And Barrett, in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, thus interprets it. To make a grave, however, may mean to close it. So, in The Comedy of Errors: "Why at this time the doors are made against you." 3 And, if he speak of Buckingham, pray, tell him, Lov. To the water side I must conduct your grace; VAUX. Prepare there, The duke is coming: see, the barge be ready; And fit it with such furniture, as suits The greatness of his person. BUCK. Nay, sir Nicholas, Let it alone; my state now will but mock me *. i. e. closed, shut. The sense will then be, (whether quaintly or poetically expressed, let the reader determine) "no malicious action shall close my grave," i. e. attend the conclusion of my existence, or terminate my life; the last action of it shall not be uncharitable.' STEEVENS. Envy is frequently used in this sense by our author and his contemporaries. See vol. v. p. 108, n. 9; and p. 166, 1. 6. I have therefore no doubt that Mr. Steevens's exposition is right. Dr. Warburton reads-mark my grave; and in support of the emendation it may be observed that the same error has happened in King Henry V.; or at least that all the editors have supposed so, having there adopted a similar correction. See vol. xvii. p. 312, n. 1. Dr. Warburton's emendation also derives some support from the following passage in The Comedy of Errors: "A vulgar comment will be made of it; "And that supposed by the common rout "And dwell upon your grave, when you are dead." MALONE. forsake ME,] The latter word was added by Mr. Rowe. 4 Nay, sir Nicholas, MALONE. Let it alone; my state now will but mock me.] The last When I came hither, I was lord high constable, And duke of Buckingham; now, poor Edward Bohun 5: Yet I am richer than my base accusers, That never knew what truth meant: I now seal it; And with that blood will make them one day groan for't. My noble father, Henry of Buckingham, Who first rais'd head against usurping Richard, verse would run more smoothly, by making the monosyllables change places: "Let it alone, my state will now but mock me." WHALLEY. 5-poor Edward BоHUN:] The Duke of Buckingham's name was Stafford. Shakspeare was led into the mistake by Holinshed. STEEVENS. This is not an expression thrown out at random, or by mistake, but one strongly marked with historical propriety. The name of the Duke of Buckingham, most generally known, was Stafford; but the History of Remarkable Trials, 8vo. 1715, p. 170, says: "it seems he affected that surname [of Bohun] before that of Stafford, he being descended from the Bohuns, earls of Hereford." His reason for this might be, because he was lord high constable of England by inheritance of tenure from the Bohuns: and as the poet has taken particular notice of his great office, does it not seem probable that he had fully considered of the Duke's foundation for assuming the name of Bohun? In truth, the Duke's name was Bagot; for a gentleman of that very ancient family married the heiress of the barony of Stafford, and their son, relinquishing his paternal surname, assumed that of his mother, which continued in his posterity. ToLLet. Of all this probably Shakspeare knew nothing. Malone. 6 - I now seal it, &c.] I now seal my truth, my loyalty, with blood, which blood shall one day make them groan. JOHNSON. |