That's the plain truth; your painted gloss discovers, For what they have been: 'tis a cruelty, Gar. Good master secretary, I cry your honour mercy; you may, worst Crom. Why, my lord? Gar. Do not I know you for a favourer Of this new sect? ye are not sound. Crom. Not sound? Gar. Not sound, I say. Crom. 'Would you were half so honest! Men's prayers then would seek you, not their fears. Crom. Do. Remember your bold life too. Cham. This is too much; Forbear, for shame, my lords. Gar. I have done. Crom. And I. Cham. Then thus for you, my lord,-It stands agreed, I take it, by all voices, that forthwith You be convey'd to the Tower a prisoner; There to remain, till the king's further pleasure Be known unto us. Are you all agreed, lords? All. We are. Cran. Is there no other way of mercy, But I must needs to the Tower, my lords? Would you expect? You are strangely troublesome.- Cran. For me? Enter Guard. Must I go like a traitor thither? Gard. Receive him, And see him safe i'the tower. Cran. Stay, good my lords, I have a little yet to say. Look there, my lords By virtue of that ring, I take my cause [4] Those that understand you, under this painted gloss this fair outside, discover your empty talk and your false reasoning JOHNSON. Out of the gripes of cruel men, and give it Sur. 'Tis no counterfeit. Suf. 'Tis the right ring, by heaven: I told ye all, Nor. Do you think, my lords, Cham. 'Tis now too certain": How much more is his life in value with him! 'Would I were fairly out on't. Crom. My mind gave me, And his disciples only envy at,) Ye blew the fire that burns ye: Now have at ye. Enter King, frowning on them; takes his seat. Gar. Dread sovereign, how much are we bound to heaven In daily thanks, that gave us such a prince; Not only good and wise, but most religious : His royal self in judgment comes to hear The cause betwixt her and this great offender. K. Hen. You were ever good at sudden commendations, Bishop of Winchester. But know, I come not To hear such flattery now, and in my presence; They are too thin and base to hide offences. To me you cannot reach, you play the spaniel, And think with wagging of your tongue to win me; But, whatsoe'er thou tak'st me for, I am sure, [5] It seems to have been a custom, begun probably in the dark ages, before literature was generally diffused, and before the regal power experienced the re straints of law, for every monarch to have a ring, the temporary possession of which invested the holder with the same authority as the owner himself could exercise. The production of it was sufficient to suspend the execution of the law; it procured indemnity for offences committed, and imposed acquiescence and submission on whatever was done under its authority. Instances abound in the history of almost every nation. See Procopius de bell. Vandal. L. I. p. 15, as quoted in Farnworth's Machiavel, Vol. I. p. 9. The traditional story of the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth, and the Countess of Nottingham, long considered as an incident of a romance, is generally known, and now as generally credited. See Birch's Negotin tions, p. 206. REED. Thou hast a cruel nature, and a bloody.- the proudest Now let me see He, that dares most, but wag his finger at thee: Than but once think his place becomes thee not. K. Hen. No, sir, it does not please me. I had thought, I had men of some understanding This good man, (few of you deserve that title,) Power as he was a counsellor to try him, Not as a groom; There's some of More out of malice than integrity, ye, I see, Would try him to the utmost, had ye mean; Cham. Thus far, My most dread sovereign, may it like your grace (If there be faith in men,) meant for his trial, K. Hen. Well, well, my lords, respect him; Take him, and use him well; he's worthy of it. I will say thus much for him, If a prince May be beholden to a subject, I Am, for his love and service, so to him. Make me no more ado, but all embrace him Be friends, for shame, my lords.-My lord of Canterbury, I have a suit which you must not deny me; That is, a fair young maid that yet wants baptism, You must be godfather, and answer for her. Cran. The greatest monarch now alive may glory In such an honour; How may I deserve it, That am a poor and humble subject to you ? K. Hen. Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons;* You shall have [5] It was the custom, long before the time of Shakespeare, for the sponsors at christenings, to offer gilt spoons as a present to the child. These spoons were called Two noble partners with you; the old duchess of Norfolk, Gar. With a true heart, And brother-love, I do it. Cran. And let heaven Witness, how dear I hold this confirmation. K. Hen. Good man, those joyful tears shew thy true The common voice, I see, is verified [heart. Of thee, which says thus, To my lord of Canterbury [Exeunt. To have this young one made a christian. SCENE III. The Palace Yard. Noise and tumult within: Enter Porter and his Man. Port. You'll leave your noise anon, ye rascals: Do you take the court for Paris-garden? ye rude slaves, leave your gaping.7 Within. Good master porter, I belong to the larder. Port. Belong to the gallows, and be hanged, you rogue: Is this a place to roar in ?-Fetch me a dozen crab-tree staves, and strong ones; these are but switches to them.I'll scratch your heads: You must be seeing christenings ? Do you look for ale and cakes here, you rude rascals? Man. Pray, sir, be patient; 'tis as much impossible (Unless we sweep them from the door with cannons,) To scatter them, as 'tis to make them sleep On May-day morning; which will never be : We may as well push against Paul's, as stir them. Port. How got they in, and be hang'd? apostle spoons, because the figures of the apostles were carved on the tops of the handles. Such as were at once opulent and generous, gave the whole twelve; those who were either more moderately rich or liberal, escaped at the expence of the four evangelists; or even sometimes contented themselves with presenting one spoon only, which exhibited the figure of any saint, in honour of whom the child received its name. STEEVENS. [6] The bear-garden of that time. JOHNSON. [7] Gaping-that is, shouting or roaring; a sense which this word has now almost lost. REED.Such being one of the ancient senses of the verb---to gape, per haps the "gaping pig" mentioned by Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, has hitherto been misinterpreted. STEEVENS. [8] It was anciently the custom for all ranks of people to go out a maying on the first of May. STEEVENS. Man. Alas, I know not; How gets the tide in ? Port. You did nothing, sir. Man. I am not Sampson, nor sir Guy, nor Colbrand,” to mow them down before me: but, if I spared any, that had a head to hit, either young or old, he or she, cuckold or cuckold-maker, let me never hope to see a chine again; and that I would not for a cow, God save her. Within. Do you hear, master porter ? Port. I shall be with you presently, good master puppy. -Keep the door close, sirrah. Man. What would you have me do ? Port. What should you do, but knock them down by the dozens? Is this Moorfields to muster in ? or have we some strange Indian with the great tool come to court, the women so besiege us? Bless me, what a fry of forni cation is at the door! On my christian conscience, this one christening will beget a thousand; here will be father, god-father, and all together. Man. The spoons will be the bigger, sir. There is a fellow somewhat near the door, he should be a brazier by his face; for, o'my conscience, twenty of the dog-days now reign in's nose; all that stand about him are under the line, they need no other penance. That fire-drake3 did I hit three times on the head, and three times was his nose discharg'd against me; he stands there, like a mortarpiece, to blow us. There was a haberdasher's wife of small wit near him, that railed upon me till her pink'd porringer fell off her head, for kindling such a combustion in the state. I miss'd the meteor once, and hit that woman, who cry'd out, clubs when I might see from far some forty truncheoneers draw to her succour, which were the hope of the Strand, where she was quartered. [9] Of Guy of Warwick every one has heard. Colbrand was the Danish giant whom Guy subdued at Winchester. Their combat is very elaborately described by Drayton, in his Polyolbion. JOHNSON. [1] The train-bands of the city were exercised in Moorfields. JOHNSON. [2] A brazier signifies a man that manufactures brass, and a reservoir for charcoal occasionally heated to convey warmth. Both these senses are understood. JOHNS. [8] A fire-drake is thus described by Bullokar, 1616: "Firedrake, A fire sometimes seen flying in the night, like a dragon. Common people think it a spirit that keepeth some treasure hid; but philosophers affirme it to be a great unequal exhalation, inflamed betweene two clouds, the one hot, the other cold, which is the reason that it also smoketh; the middle part whereof, according to the proportion of the hot cloud, being greater than the rest maketh it seem like a bellie, and both ends like to a head and taile." MALONE. [4] The outcry for assistance, upon any quarrel or tumult. WHALLEY |