Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts; Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them Who prologue-like your humble patience pray, 23 Piece out] Make up. [Exit. 24 Into a thousand. . . man] Suppose one man to represent a thousand. 31 an hour-glass] A rough estimate of the time occupied by a theatrical performance. 32 Chorus] Interpreter. See line 1, supra, and note. 30 AN ANTE-CHAMBER IN THE KING'S PALACE Enter the ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY, and the BISHOP of ELY CANTERBURY Y LORD, I'LL TELL YOU; that self bill is urged, Which in the eleventh year of the last king's reign Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd, But that the scambling and unquiet time Did push it out of farther ques tion. ELY. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now? CANT. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession: For all the temporal lands, which men devout 1 CANTERBURY] The speaker is Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, founder of All Souls College, Oxford. Shakespeare follows By testament have given to the church, Would they strip from us; being valued thus : A thousand pounds by the year: thus runs the bill. CANT. "T would drink the cup and all. 20 ELY. But what prevention? CANT. The king is full of grace and fair regard. CANT. The courses of his youth promised it not. Hal to Hew The breath no sooner left his father's body, roni But that his wildness, mortified in him, Seem'd to die too; yea, at that very moment, And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him, Holinshed in making him the leader of the plot against Henry IV's bill for confiscating church property. self] selfsame. 4 scambling] bustling, turbulent. Cf. V, ii, 202, infra. 15 lazars] lepers. 19 A thousand pounds by the year] The chroniclers estimate £20,000 to be the capital sum requisitioned by the bill for the royal coffers. This amount at five per cent would produce £1,000 a year. 26 wildness, mortified in him] Cf. 2 Hen. IV, V, gone wild into his grave." "Mortified" means 28 Consideration] Reflection, repentance. 66 ii, 123: "my father is being done to death.” 10 rom Halt 40 30 Leaving his body as a paradise, To envelope and contain celestial spirits. With such a heady currance, scouring faults; So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, ELY. We are blessed in the change, You would desire the king were made a prelate : The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, 34 heady currance] impetuous flow. 35 Hydra-headed wilfulness] many headed, infinitely varied, waywardness. 45 cause of policy] question of state affairs. 48 The air, a charter'd libertine] Cf. As you like it, II, vii, 47-49: “I must have liberty Withal, as large a charter as the wind, To blow on whom I please." The air has prescriptive freedom from restraint. 51 art and practic part of life] practical experience of life; cf. Meas. for Meas., I, i, 13: "Art and practice." 50 |