'We'll see your trinkets here all forth-coming; All.-Away! Exeunt Guards, with SOUTH. BOLING. &c. *York. Lord Buckingham, methinks, you watch'd her well: A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon ! The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose; *Aio te, Eacida, 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, With him, the husband of this lovely lady: Thither go these news, as fast as horse can carry them ; 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! 2 Tell me, &c.] Yet these two words were not in the paper read by Bolingbroke, which York has now in his hand; nor are they in the original play. Here we have a species of inaccuracy peculiar to Shakspeare, of which he has been guilty in other places. Enter a Servant, • Invite my lords of Salisbury, and Warwick, 'To sup with me to-morrow night.-Away! [Exeunt. SCENE I, Saint Albans, Enter King HENRY, Queen MARGARET, GLOster, Cardinal, and SUFFOLK, with Falconers hollaing. 'Q. Mar, Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,3 * 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. K. Hen. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made, And what a pitch she flew above the rest!To see how God in all his creatures works! Yea, man and birds, are fain1 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, 'Car. I thought as much; he'd be above the clouds. Glo. Ay, my lord cardinal; How think you by that? 3 - for flying at the brook,] The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. ^ — are fain—] Fain, in this place, signifies fond, 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? *Tantane animis cœlestibus iræ ? 'Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; • With such holiness can you do it? Suf. No malice, sir; no more than well becomes So good a quarrel, and so bad a peer. Glo. As who, my lord? Suf. Why, as you, my lord; An't like your lordly lord-protectorship. Glo. Why, Suffolk, England knows thine inso lence. Q. Mar. And thy ambition, Gloster. K. Hen. I pr'ythee, peace, Good queen; and whet not on these furious peers, For blessed are the peacemakers on earth. Car. Let me be blessed for the peace I make, Against this proud protector, with my sword! Glo. 'Faith, holy uncle, 'would 'twere come to that! [Aside to the Cardinal. "Car. Marry, when thou darʼst. [Aside. Glo. Make up no factious numbers for the matter, In thine own person answer thy abuse. [Aside. "Car. Ay, where thou dar'st not peep: an if thou dar'st, This evening on the east side of the grove. [Aside. "" K. Hen. How now, my lords? S thine eyes and thoughts Beat on a crown,] To beat is a term in falconry, signifying to flutter. < Car. Believe me, cousin Gloster, "Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly, We had had more sport.-Come with thy twohand sword. [Aside to GLO. Glo. True, uncle. Car. Are you advis'd?-the east side of the grove? Glo. Cardinal, I am with you. 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 for this, * Or all my fence shall fail." *Car. Medice teipsum; • Protector, see to't well, protect yourself. [Aside. [Aside. K. Hen. The winds grow high; so do your stomachs, lords. * How irksome is this musick to my heart! Enter an Inhabitant of Saint Albans, crying, Glo. What means this noise? Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim? Inhab. A miracle! a miracle! Suf. Come to the king, and tell him what miracle. Inhab. Forsooth, a blind man at Saint Alban's shrine, 6 my fence shall fail.] Fence is the art of defence. 7 crying, A Miracle!] This scene is founded on a story which Sir Thomas More has related, and which he says was communicated to him by his father. The impostor's name is not mentioned, but he was detected by Humphrey Duke of Gloster, and in the manner here represented. Within this half hour, hath receiv'd his sight; 'K. Hen. Now, God be prais'd! that to believ ing souls • Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair! Enter the Mayor of Saint Alban's, and his Brethren ; and SIMPCOX, borne between two persons in a Chair; his Wife and a great Multitude following. * Car. Here come the townsmen on procession, * To present your highness with the man. *K. Hen. Great is his comfort in this earthly vale, * Although by his sight his sin be multiplied. * Glo. Stand by, my masters, bring him near the king, His highness' pleasure is to talk with him. *K. Hen. Good fellow, tell us here the circum stance, * That we for thee may glorify the Lord. What, hast thou been long blind, and now restor❜d? 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 great to thee: 'Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass, 'But still remember what the Lord hath done. * Q. Mar. Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou here by chance, * Or of devotion, to this holy shrine? |