2

SCENE IV. The Palace1.

Enter Trumpets, sounding; then two Aldermen, Lord Mayor, Garter, CRANMER, DUKE of NORFOLK, with his Marshal's Staff, DUKE of SUFFOLK, two Noblemen bearing great standingbowls for the christening gifts; then four Noblemen bearing a canopy, under which the DUCHESS of NORFOLK, godmother, bearing the Child richly habited in a mantle, &c. Train borne by a Lady; then follows the MARCHIONESS of DORSET, the other godmother, and Ladies. The Troop pass once about the stage, and Garter speaks.

Gart. Heaven, from thy endless goodness, send prosperous life, long, and ever happy, to the high and mighty princess of England, Elizabeth.

Flourish. Enter King and Train.

Cran. [Kneeling.] And to your royal grace, and the good queen,

My noble partners, and myself, thus pray:-
All comfort, joy, in this most gracious lady,
Heaven ever laid up to make parents happy,
May hourly fall upon ye!

K. Hen.

Thank you, good lord archbishop; What is her name?

or cast.' And in Cole's Dictionary, 1679:- To pick a dart: jaculor.' So Stubbes, in his Anatomy of Abuses: To catch him on the hip, and to picke him on his necke:' and in another place, to picke him on his nose.'

1 At Greenwich, where this procession was made from the church of the Friars.-Hall, fo. 217.

2 Standing-bowls were bowls elevated on feet or pedestals. VOL. VII.

D D

K. Hen.

Stand up, lord.

[The King kisses the Child.

With this kiss take my blessing: God protect thee! Into whose hands I give thy life.

Cran.

Amen.

K. Hen. My noble gossips, ye have been too

prodigal :

I thank ye heartily; so shall this lady,

When she has so much English.

Cran. Let me speak, sir, For heaven now bids me; and the words I utter Let none think flattery, for they'll find them truth. This royal infant (heaven still move about her!) Though in her cradle, yet now promises

Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness: She shall be
(But few now living can behold that goodness),
A pattern to all princes living with her,

And all that shall succeed: Sheba was never
More covetous of wisdom, and fair virtue,
Than this pure soul shall be: all princely graces,
That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,
With all the virtues that attend the good,

Shall still be doubled on her: truth shall nurse her,
Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her:
She shall be lov'd, and fear'd; Herown shall bless her:
Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn,
And hang their heads with sorrow: Good grows

with her:

In her days, every man shall eat in safety
Under his own vine3, what he plants; and sing

3 The thought is borrowed from Scripture. See Micab, iv. 4. 1 Kings, c. iv. The first part of the prophecy is apparently burlesqued in the Beggar's Bush of Beaumont and Fletcher; where Orator Higgin is making his congratulatory speech to the new king of the beggars:

'Each man shall eat his stolen eggs and butter
In his ow shade, or sunshine,' &c.

The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours:
God shall be truly known; and those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood.
[Nor shall this peace sleep with her: But as when
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new create another heir,

As great in admiration as herself:

So shall she leave her blessedness to one,
(When heaven shall call her from this cloud of
darkness),

Who, from the sacred ashes of her honour,
Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was,
And so stand fix'd: Peace, plenty, love, truth,

terror,

That were the servants to this chosen infant,
Shall then be his, and like a vine grow to him;
Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour and the greatness of his name

Shall be, and make new nations 5: He shall flourish,
And, like a mountain cedar, reach his branches
To all the plains about him;-Our children's
children

Shall see this, and bless heaven.

K. Hen. Thou speakest wonders.] Cran. She shall be, to the happiness of England, An aged princess; many days shall see her,

4 Some of the commentators think that this and the following seventeen lines were probably written by Ben Jonson, after the accession of King James. We have before observed Mr. Gifford is of opinion that Ben Jonson had no hand in the additions to this play.

5 On a picture of King James, which formerly belonged to the great Bacon, and is now in the possession of Lord Grimston, he is styled imperii Atlantici conditor. The year before the revival of this play there was a lottery for the plantation of Virginia. The lines probably allude to the settlement of that colony.

And yet no day without a deed to crown it.
'Would I had known no more! but she must die,
She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin,
A most unspotted lily shall she pass

To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her.
K. Hen. O lord archbishop,

Thou hast made me now a man; never, before
This happy child, did I get any thing:

This oracle of comfort has so pleas'd me,
That, when I am in heaven, I shall desire

To see what this child does, and praise my Maker.—
I thank ye all,-To you, my good lord mayor,
And your good brethren, I am much beholden,
I have received much honour by your presence,
And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way,
lords;-

Ye must all see the queen, and she must thank ye,
She will be sick else. This day, no man think
He has business at his house; for all shall stay,
This little one shall make it holiday.

[Exeunt.

EPILOGUE.

"Tis ten to one, this play can never please
All that are here: Some come to take their ease,
And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear,
We have frighted with our trumpets; so, 'tis clear,
They'll say, 'tis naught: others, to hear the city
Abus'd extremely, and to cry,—that's witty!
Which we have not done neither: that, I fear,
All the expected good we are like to hear
For this play at this time, is only in
The merciful construction of good women1;
For such a one we show'd them; If they smile,
And say, 'twill do, I know, within a while
All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap,
If they hold, when their ladies bid them clap.

A verse with as unmusical a close may be found in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Part III. sect. ii.:

'Rose the pleasure of fine women.'

In Ben Jonson's Alchemist there is also a line in which the word woman is accented on the last syllable :

'And then your red man, and your white woman.'