To nature none more bound; his training fuch, That he may furnish and inftruct great teachers, And never feek for aid out of himself.7

Yet fee

When thefe fo noble benefits fhall prove

Not well difpos'd, the mind growing once corrupt,
They turn to vicious forms, ten times more ugly
Than ever they were fair. This man fo cómplete,
Who was enroll'd 'mongft wonders, and when we,
Almoft with ravish'd lift'ning, could not find
His hour of fpeech a minute; he, my lady,
Hath into monftrous habits put the graces
That once were his, and is become as black
As if befmear'd in hell. Sit by us; you fhall hear
(This was his gentleman in truft,) of him
Things to ftrike honour fad.-Bid him recount
The fore-recited practices; whereof

We cannot feel too little, hear too much.

WOL. Stand forth; and with bold spirit relate what you,

Moft like a careful fubject, have collected
Out of the duke of Buckingham.

of the Swanne, of whom linially is defcended my faid lord.” The duke was executed on Friday the 17th of May, 1521. The book has no date. STEEVENS.

7 And never feek for aid out of himself.] Beyond the treafures of his own mind. JOHNSON.

Read:

And ne'er feek aid out of himself. Yet fee,-. RITSON. noble benefits

Not well difpos'd,] Great gifts of nature and education, not joined with good difpofitions. JOHNSON.

As if befmear'd in hell.] So, in Othello:

Her name, that was as fresh

"As Dian's vifage, is now begrim'd and black

"As mine own face." STEEVENS,

K. HEN.

Speak freely.

SURV. First, it was ufual with him, every day
It would infect his fpeech, That if the king
Should without iffue die, he'd carry it' fo
To make the scepter his: These very words
I have heard him utter to his fon-in-law,
Lord Aberga'ny; to whom by oath he menac'd
Revenge upon the cardinal.

WOL.

Please your highness, note This dangerous conception in this point.2 Not friended by his with, to your high person His will is moft malignant; and it stretches Beyond you, to your friends.

Q. KATH.

Deliver all with charity.

K. HEN.

My learn'd lord cardinal,

Speak on:

How grounded he his title to the crown,

Upon our fail? to this point haft thou heard him At any time fpeak aught?

SURV.

He was brought to this

By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Hopkins.3

I

Rowe.

he'd carry it-] Old copy-he'l. Corrected by Mr. MALONE.

2 This dangerous conception in this point.] Note this particular part of this dangerous defign. JOHNSON.

3 By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Hopkins.] In former editions:

By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Henton. We heard before from Brandon, of one Nicholas Hopkins; and now his name is changed into Henton; so that Brandon and the furveyor feem to be in two stories. There is, however, but one and the fame perfon meant, Hopkins, as I have restored it in the text, for perfpicuity's fake; yet it will not be any difficulty to account for the other name, when we come to confider that he was a monk of the convent, called Henton, near Bristol. So both Hall and Holinfhed acquaint us. And he might, according

K. HEN. What was that Hopkins?

Sir, a Chartreux friar,

SURV.
His confeffor; who fed him every minute

With words of fovereignty.

K. HEN.

How know'ft thou this?

SURV. Not long before your highness fped to

France,

The duke being at the Rofe, within the parish
Saint Lawrence Poultney,4 did of me demand
What was the fpeech ainongst the Londoners
Concerning the French journey: I replied,
Men fear'd, the French would prove perfidious,
To the king's danger. Prefently the duke
Said, 'Twas the fear, indeed; and that he doubted,
'Twould prove the verity of certain words
Spoke by a holy monk; that oft, fays he,
Hath fent to me, wishing me to permit
John de la Court, my chaplain, a choice hour
To hear from him a matter of fome moment:
Whom after under the confefsion's feal 5

to the cuftom of these times, be called Nicholas of Henton, from the place; as Hopkins from his family. THEOBALD.

This mistake, as it was undoubtedly made by Shakspeare, is worth a note. It would be doing too great an honour to the players to suppose them capable of being the authors of it.

STEEVENS.

Shakspeare was perhaps led into the mistake by inadvertently referring the words, "called Henton," in the paffage already quoted from Holinfhed, (p. 26, n. 9,) not to the monastery, but to the monk. MALONE.

4 The duke being at the Rofe, &c.] This houfe was purchafed about the year 1561, by Richard Hill, fometime mafter of the Merchant Tailors company, and is now the Merchant Tailors fchool, in Suffolk-lane. WHALLEY.

5

-under the confeffion's feal-] All the editions, down from the beginning, have-commiffion's. But what commiffion's

ᎠᏎ

He folemnly had fworn, that, what he spoke,
My chaplain to no creature living, but

To me, fhould utter, with demure confidence
This paufingly enju'd,-Neither the king, nor his
heirs,

(Tell you the duke) fhall profper: bid him ftrive To gain the love of the commonalty; the duke Shall govern England.

Q. KATH.

If I know you well, You were the duke's furveyor, and loft your office On the complaint o' the tenants: Take good heed, You charge not in your fpleen a noble perfon, And spoil your nobler foul! I fay, take heed; Yes, heartily beseech you.

K. HEN.

Go forward.

SURY.

On my foul, I'll speak but truth. I told my lord the duke, By the devil's illufions

feal? That is a question, I dare fay, none of our diligent edi tors asked themselves. The text must be restored, as I have corrected it; and honest Holinfhed, [p. 863,] from whom our author took the substance of this paffage, 'may be called in as a teftimony." The duke in talk told the monk, that he had done very well to bind his chaplain, John de la Court, under the feal of confeffion, to keep fecret fuch matter." THEOBALD.

• To gain the love-] The old copy reads-To the love. STEEVENS.

For the infertion of the word gain I am anfwerable. From the correfponding paffage in Holinfhed, it appears evidently to have been omitted through the careleffness of the compofitor: "The faid monke told to De la Court, neither the king nor his heirs fhould profper, and that I should endeavour to purchase the good wills of the commonalty of England."

Since I wrote the above, I find this correction had been made by the editor of the fourth folio. MALONE.

It had been adopted by Mr. Rowe, and all fubfequent editors.

STEEVENS.

The monk might be deceiv'd; and that 'twas dang'rous for him,"

To ruminate on this so far, until

It forg'd him fome defign, which, being believ'd,
It was much like to do: He anfwer'd, Tush!
It can do me no damage: adding further,
That, had the king in his laft fickness fail'd,
The cardinal's and fir Thomas Lovell's heads
Should have gone off.

K. HEN.

8

Ha! what, fo rank? Ah, ha! There's mischief in this man:-Canft thou fay

After your highness had reprov'd the duke

About fir William Blomer,

K. HEN.

I remember,

Of such a time :-Being my fervant fworn,9

The duke retain'd him his.- -But on; What

hence?

SURV. If, quoth he, I for this had been committed,

As, to the Tower, I thought,-I would have play'd The part my father meant to act upon

for him,] Old copy-for this. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. MALONE.

8 -fo rank?] Rank weeds, are weeds grown up to great height and ftrength. What, fays the King, was he advanced to this pitch? JOHNSON.

9

Being my fervant fworn, &c.] Sir William Blomer, (Holinfhed calls him Bulmer,) was reprimanded by the King in the star-chamber, for that, being his fworn fervant, he had left the King's fervice for the duke of Buckingham's.

Edwards's MSS. STEEVENS.