Enter Servants of SUFFOLK, bringing in HORNER *Boling. I have heard her reported to be a wo-. and PETER. *man of an invincible spirit: But it shall be con Suff. Because here is a man accus'd of treason:✶venient, master Hume, that you be by her aloft, Pray God, the duke of York excuse himself!` *York. Doth any one accuse York for a traitor? *K. Hen. What mean'st thou, Suffolk ? tell me : What are these? Suff. Please it your majesty, this is the man Was rightful heir unto the English crown; 'K. Hen. Say, man, were these thy words? Hor. An't shall please your majesty, I never said nor thought any such matter: God is my witness, I am falsely accused by the villain. Pet. By these ten bones,' my lords, [holding up his hands.] he did speak them to me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my lord of York's ' armour. York. Base dunghill villain, and mechanical, *I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech; I do beseech your royal majesty, Let him have all the rigour of the law. Hor. Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words. My accuser is my prentice; and when I did correct him for his fault the other day, he did vow upon his knees he would be even with me: I have good witness of this; therefore, I beseech your majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a villain's accusation. K. Hen. Uncle, what shall we say to this in law? * Pet. Alas, my lord, I cannot fight; for God's sake, pity my case! the spite of man prevaileth * against me. O, Lord have mercy upon me! I *shall never be able to fight a blow: O Lord, my * heart! Glo. Sirrah, or you must fight, or else be hang'd. K. Hen. Away with them to prison: and the day Of combat shall be the last of the next month. * Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The same. The Duke of Gloster's * Hume. Come, my masters; the duchess, I tell * you, expects performance of your promises. Boling. Master Hume, we are therefore pro*vided: Will her ladyship behold and hear our * exorcisms ?3 * *Hume. Ay; What else? fear you not her cou rage. 1 We have just heard a duchess threaten to set her ten commandments in the face of a queen. We have here again a similar vulgar expression. It is, however, a very ancient popular adjuration, and may be found in many old dramatic pieces. 2 Theobald inserted these two lines from the old play, because without them the king has not declared his assent to Gloster's opinion: and the duke of Somerset is made to thank him for his regency before the king has deputed him to it. Malone supposes that Shakspeare thought Henry's consent to Humphrey's doom might be expressed by a nod; and therefore omits the lines. 3 By exorcise Shakspeare invariably means to raise spirits, and not to lay them. Vide note on All's Well that Ends Well, Act v. Sc. 3. 4 Matter or business. 5 The old quarto reads the silence of the The variation of the copies is worth notice : *Duch. Well said, my masters; and welcome Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night. And spirits walk, and ghosts break up their graves," [Here they perform the Ceremonies appertaining, *Spir. Adsum. *M. Jourd. Asmath, By the eternal God, whose name and power Boling. First, of the king. What shall of him But him outlive, and die a violent death. [As the Spirit speaks SOUTHWELL writes the answer Boling. What fate awaits the duke of Suffolk? Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains Have done, for more I hardly can endure. [Thunder and Lightning. Spirit descends. Enter YORK and BUCKINGHAM, hastily, with their Guards, and others. York. Lay hands upon these traitors, and their trash. Beldame, I think, we watch'd you at an inch.-- Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains; king, *Injurious duke; that threat'st where is no cause. Wherein the furies mask in hellish troops, Warburton, in a learned but erroneous note, wished w 6 Ban-dog, or band-dog, any great fierce dog which required to be tied or chained up. Canis molossus, a mastive, beare-dog, or bull-dog.' It is sometimes called in the dictionaries canis catenarius. 7 It was anciently believed that spirits, who were raised by incantations, remained above ground, and annight.'swered questions with reluctance. See both Lucan and 'Dark night, dread night, the silence of the night, Statius. 8 Rewarded. A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon! The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose; Aio te, acida, Romanos vincere posse. [Reads. Tell me, what fate awaits the duke of Suffolk? What shall betide the duke of Somerset ? Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains, *Come, come, my lords; These oracles are hardily attain'd, * And hardly understood. The king is now in progress toward Saint Albans, A sorry breakfast for my lord protector. Buck. Your grace shall give me leave, my lord of York, To be the post, in hope of his reward. York. At your pleasure, my good lord.-Who's within there, ho! SCENE I. Saint Albans. Enter KING HENRY, Q. Mar. Believe me, lords, for flying at the 'I saw not better sport these seven years' day: Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out.2 K. Hen. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made, Glo. Ay, my lord cardinal; How think you by that? Were it not good, your grace could fly to heaven? *K. Hen. The treasury of everlasting joy! Car. Thy heaven is on earth; thine eyes and thoughts Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart; Pernicious protector, dangerous peer, That smooth'st it so with king and commonweal! Glo. What, cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory? Tantæne animis cœlestibus iræ ? Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; 'Suff. No malice, sir; no more than well be This evening, on the east side of the grove. [Aside, Car. Believe me, cousin Gloster, Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly, hand-sword. Glo True, uncle. [Aside to GLO. Car. Are you advis'd?—the east side of the grove? K. Hen. [Aside. Why, how now, uncle Gloster ? Glo. Talking of hawking; nothing else, my lord. Now, by God's mother, priest, I'll shave your crown *Or all my fence' shall fail. * [Aside. Protector, see tot well, protect yourself. } [Aside. K, Hen. The winds grow high; so do your sto- * How irksome is this music to my heart! Glo. What means this noise? wind stirring, yet she will wheele and sinke away And what a pitch she flew above the rest!To see how God in all his creatures works! *Yea, man and birds, are fain3 of climbing high. Suf. No marvel, an it like your majesty, My lord protector's hawks do tower so well; They know their master loves to be aloft, * And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch. Glo. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind That mounts no higher than a bird can soar. 1 The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. 2 Johnson was informed that the meaning here is, the wind being high, it was ten to one that the old hawk had flown quite away; a trick which hawks often play their masters in windy weather.' But surely, not go ing out cannot signify not coming home. Dr. Percy's interpretation is entirely opposed to this: he explains it, -The wind was so high it was ten to one that old Joan would not have taken her flight at the game.' Steevens says, The ancient books of hawking do not enable him to decide on the merits of such discordant explanations.' I think, if he had looked into Latham's Falconry, he would have found that Dr. Percy's is the right explana. 8 This scene is founded on a story which Sir Thomas tion. When you shall come afterward to fly her she More has related, and which he says was communica. must be altogether guided and governed by her sto-ted to him by his father. The impostor's name is uot macke; yea, she will be kept and also lost by the same: mentioned; but he was detected by Humphrey Duke of for let her faile of that never so little, and every puff of Gloster, and in the manner here represented. wind will blow her away from you; nay, if there be no More's Works, p. 134, Edit. 1557. 4 i. e. thy mind is working on a crown. 6 The two-hand-sword was sometimes called the long sword, and in common use before the introduction of the rapier. Justice Shallow, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, boasts of the exploits he had performed in his youth with this instrument. In the original play the Cardinal desires Gloster to bring his sword and buckler 7 Fence is the art of defence. See Within this half hour, hath receiv'd his sight; K. Hen. Now, God be prais'd! that to believing Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair! *His highness' pleasure is to talk with him. That we for thee may glorify the Lord. Suf. What woman is this? Wife. His wife, an't like your worship. Glo. Had'st thou been his mother, thou could'st have better told. K. Hen. Where wert thou born? Simp. At Berwick in the north, an't like your grace. K. Hen. Poor soul! God's goodness hath been Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass, *Or of devotion, to this holy shrine? *Myself have heard a voice to call him so. come; Ay, God Almighty help me! Wife. A plum-tree, master. A fall of a tree. How long hast thou been blind? dear. them: In my opinion yet thou see'st not well. Simp. Yes, master, clear as day; I thank God, and Saint Alban. Glo. Say'st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of! Simp. Red, master: red as blood. Glo. Why, that's well said: What colour is my Simp. Black, forsooth; coal-black, as jet. Suff. And yet, I think, jet did he never see. Glo. Tell me, sirrah, wnat's my name? Glo. Nor his? Simp. No, indeed, master. Glo. What's thine own name? Simp. Saunder Simpcox, an if it please you, master. thus Sight may distinguish of colours; but suddenly May. Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight. [A Stool brought out.] Now, sirrah, if you mean to Beal. I will, my lord.-Come on, sirrah: off with your doublet quickly. Simp. Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand. [After the Beadle hath hit him once, he leaps over the Stool, and runs away; and the People follow, and cry, A miracle! *K. Hen. O God, seest thou this, and bear'st so long? * Q. Mar. It made me laugh, to see the villain run. *Glo. Follow the knave; and take this drab away. *Wife. Alas, sir, we did it for pure need, Glo. Let them be whipped through every market town, till they come to Berwick, whence they came, [Exeunt Mayor, Beadle, Wife, &c. 'Car. Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day. Suff. True; made the lame to leap, and fly away. You made, in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly. Glo. But you have done more miracles than I; Enter BUCKINGHAM, › K. Hen. What tidings with our cousin Buck- 'Buck. Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold, Car. And so, my lord protector, by this means And, look thyself be faultless, thou wert best. Glo. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal, 'How I have lov'd my king, and commonweal: And, for my wife, I know not how it stands; "Sorry I am to hear what I have heard: Noble she is ; but if she have forgot Honour, and virtue, and convers'd with such As, like to pitch, defile nobility, I banish her my bed, and company; And give her, as a prey, to law and shame, "That hath dishonour'd Gloster's honest name. K. Hen. Well, for this night, we will repose us To-morrow, toward London, back again, And call these foul offenders to their answers; Our simple supper ended, give me leave Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she I In the original play the words are, as you both know. The phraseology of the text is peculiar to Shakspeare. 2 In Act ii. Sc. 5, of the last play, York, to whom this is spoken, is present at the death of Edmund Mortimer in prison; and the reader will recollect him to have been married to Owen Glendower's daughter in the First Part of King Henry IV. 3 Some of the mistakes of the historians and the drama concerning Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, are noticed in a note to the former play; where he is introduced an aged and gray-haired prisoner in the Tower, and represented as having been confined since Harry Monmouth first began to reign. Yet here we are told he was kept in captivity by Owen Glendower till he died. The fact is, that Hall having said Owen Glendower kept his son-in-law, Lord Grey of Ruthvin, in captivity till he died, and this Lord March having been said by some historians to have married Owen's daughter, the author of this play has confounded them with each other. This Edmund being only six years of age at the death of his father, in 1399, he was delivered by King Henry IV. in ward to his son Henry prince of SCENE III. The same. A Hall of Justice. K. Hen. Stand forth, dame Eleanor Cobham, In sight of God, and us, your guilt is great; Receive the sentence of the law, for sins Such as by God's book are adjudg'd to death.— *You four, from hence to prison back again; [To JOURD. &c. *From thence, unto the place of execution: *The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes, *And you three shall be strangled on the gallows.— You, madam, for you are more nobly born, Despoiled of your honour in your life, Shall after three days' open penance done, Live in your country here, in banishment, With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man. Duch. Welcome is banishment, welcome were my death. * Glo. Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee; *I cannot justify whom the law condemns.- Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief. thou go, Give up thy staff; Henry will to himself Protector be: and God shall be my hope, My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet;2 And go in peace, Humphrey; no less belov'd, Than when thou wert protector to thy king. * Q. Mar. I see no reason, why a king of years * Should be to be protected like a child.- God and King Henry govern England's helm: Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm. Glo. My staff?-here, noble Henry, is my staff; As willingly do I the same resign, As e'er thy father Henry made it mine; And even as willingly at thy feet I leave it, As others would ambitiously receive it. Farewell, good king: When I am dead and gone, May honourable peace attend thy throne! [Exit. Q. Mar. Why, now is Henry king, and Margaret queen; *And Humphrey, duke of Gloster, scarce himself, *That bears so shrewd a maim; two pulls at once,*His lady banish'd, and a limb lopp'd off. This staff of honour raught, there let it stand, Where it best fits to be, in Henry's hand. * Suff. Thus droops this lofty pine, and hangs his sprays Thus Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days.* York. Lords, let him go."-Please it your majesty, This is the day appointed for the combat ; And ready are the appellant and defendant, The armourer and his man, to enter the lists, So please your highness to behold the fight. *Q. Mar. Ay, good my lord; for purposely. therefore * Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried. 'K. Hen. O' God's name, see the lists and all things fit; Here let them end it, and God defend the right! * York. I never saw a fellow worse bested,* *Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant, The servant of this armourer, my lords. Enter, on one side, HORNER, and his neighbours, drinking to him so much that he is drunk; and he enters bearing his staff with a sand-bag fastened to it; a drum before him; at the other side, PETER, with a drum and a similar staff; accompanied by Prentices drinking to him. 1 Neigh. Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of sack; And fear not, neighbour, you shall do well enough. 2 Neigh. And here, neighbour, here's a cup of charneco. 3 Neigh. And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour: drink, and fear not your man. Hor. Let it come, i'taith, and I'll pledge you all; And a fig for Peter! 1 Pren. Here, Peter, I drink to thee; and be not afraid. 2 Pren. Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master; fight for credit of the prentices. Peter. I thank you all: * drink, and pray for me, * I pray you; for, I think, I have taken my last * draught in this world.**-Here, Robin, an if I die, I give thee my apron; and, Will, thou shalt have my hammer:-and here, Tom, take all the money that I have. O Lord, bless me, I pray God! for I am never able to deal with my master, he hath learnt so much fence already. Sal. Come, leave your drinking, and fall to blows. -Sirrah, what's thy name? Peter. Peter, forsooth. Sal. Peter! what more? Peter. Thump. Sal. Thump! then see thou thump thy master well. Hor. Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man's instigation, to prove him a knave, and myself an honest man:* touching the duke of * York,-will take my death, I never meant him any ill, nor the king, nor the queen: * And, therefore, Peter, have at thee with a downright blow, as Bevis of Southampton fell upon Ascapart.1o *York. Despatch:—this knave's tongue begins to double.11 1 i. e. sorrow requires solace, and age requires case. wine. Warburton imagines that it may have had its 2 The image is probably from our Liturgy :- A lan-name from charneca, the Spanish name for a species of tern to my feet, and a light to my paths.' 3 Raught is the ancient preterite of the verb reach. Shakspeare uses it in Antony and Cleopatra, Act iv. Sc. 9:-The hand of death has raught him.' 4 Her in this line relates to pride, and not to Eleanor. The pride of Eleanor dies before it has reached maturity. turpentine tree; but Steevens says Charneco is the name of a village in Portugal where this wine was made. It is frequently mentioned by old writers. 9 Gay has borrowed this idea in his What d'ye call' it, where Peascod says: Stay, let me pledge-'tis my last earthly liquor.' Peascod's subsequent bequest is likewise copied from 5. e. let him pass out of your thoughts. Duke Hum-Peter's division of his moveables. phrey had already left the stage. 6 in a worse plight. 7 As, according to the old law of duels, knights were to fight with the lance and the sword, so those of inferior rank fought with an ebon staff, or battoon, to the farther end of which was fixed a bag crammed hard with sand. 8 Charneco appeals to have been a kind of sweet 10 Warburton added this allusion to Bevis and Ascapart from the old quarto. The story of this knight and giant were familiar to our ancestors; their effigies are still preserved on the gates of Southampton. 11 This is from Holinshed, whose narrative Shak. speare has deserted in making the armourer confess treason:- His neighbours gave him wine and strong drinke in such excessive sort, that he was therewith |