Glo. O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy lord, Banish the canker of ambitions thoughts: * And may that thought, when I imagine ill Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry, * Be my last breathing in this mortal world! My troublous dream this night doth make me sad. • Duch. What dream'd my lord? tell me, and I'll requite it With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream. Glo. Methought, this staff, mine office-badge in court, Was broke in twain, by whom, I have forgot, 'But, as I think, it was by the cardinal; And on the pieces of the broken wand 'Were plac'd the heads of Edmond duke of Somerset, And William de la Poole, first duke of Suffolk. This was my dream; what it doth bode, God knows. • Duch. Tut, this was nothing but an argument, That he that breaks a stick of Gloster's grove, • Shall lose his head for his presumption. But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke: Methought, I sat in seat of majesty, In the cathedral church of Westminster, And in that chair where kings and queens are crown'd; Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me, And on my head did set the diadem. Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright: * Presumptuous dame, ill nurtur'd Eleanor! Art thou not second woman in the realm; And the protector's wife, belov'd of him? *Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command, 1 Ill nurtur'd is ill educated. * Above the reach or compass of thy thought? And wilt thou still be hammering treachery, *To tumble down thy husband, and thyself, * From top of honour to disgrace's feet? Away from me, and let me hear no more. Duch. What, what, my lord! are you so cho leric With Eleanor, for telling but her dream? Glo. Nay, be not angry, I am pleas'd again. Enter a Messenger. Mess. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure, You do prepare to ride unto Saint Albans, Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk. Glo. I go-Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us? Duch. Yes, good my lord, I'll follow presently. [Exeunt GLOSTER and Messenger. Follow I must, I cannot go before, * While Gloster bears this base and humble mind. * Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood, * I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks, *And smooth my way upon their headless necks: * And, being a woman, I will not be slack To play my part in fortune's pageant. Where are you there? Sir John 3! nay, fear not, man, 'We are alone; here's none but thee, and I. 2 Whereas for where; a common substitution in old language, as where is often used for whereas. 6 At Agincourt that fought, Whereas rebellious France upon her knees was brought.” Drayton's Polyolbion, xvi. 'I dream'd the nymph that o'er my fancy reigns Came to a part whereas I paus'd alone.' Lord Sterline's Fifty-first Sonnet, 1604. 3 A title frequently bestowed on the clergy. See the first note on the Merry Wives of Windsor. Enter HUME. Hume. Jesu preserve your royal majesty! grace. Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice, Your grace's title shall be multiplied. Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet conferr'd With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch 4; A spirit rais'd from depth of under ground, When from Saint Albans we do make return, 'We'll see these things effected to the full. 'Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man, With thy confederates in this weighty cause. [Exit Duchess. * Hume. Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold; Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume? Seal up your lips, and give no words but-mum! The business asketh silent secrecy. *Dame Eleanor gives gold, to bring the witch: 4 It appears from Rymer's Fœdera, vol. x. p. 505, that in the tenth year of Henry VI. Margery Jourdemayn, John Virley Clerk, and Friar John Ashwell, were, on the ninth of May, brought from Windsor by the constable of the castle, to which they had been committed for sorcery, before the council at Westminster, and afterwards committed to the custody of the Lord Chancellor. It was ordered that whenever the said Virley and Ashwell should find security for their good behaviour they should be set at liberty, and in like manner that Jourdemayn should be discharged on her husband's finding security. This woman was afterwards burned in Smithfield, as stated in the play, and also in the Chro nicles. Vol. VI. 6 * * Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil. Yet have I gold, flies from another coast: I dare not say, from the rich cardinal, And from the great and new-made duke of Suffolk; Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain, They, knowing dame Eleanor's aspiring humour, 'Have hired me to undermine the duchess, And buz these conjurations in her brain. * They say, A crafty knave does need no broker 5; *Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker. * Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near * To call them both-a pair of crafty knaves. * Well, so it stands: And thus, I fear, at last, * Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck; * And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall: * Sort how it will 6, I shall have gold for all. 6 The same. SCENE III. A Room in the Palace. [Exit. Enter PETER, and Others, with Petitions. 1 Pet. My masters, let's stand close; my lord protector will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver our supplications in the quill1. 5 This expression was proverbial. It occurs in the old play, A Knacke to know a Knave, 1594: A crafty knave needs no broker, But here is a craftie knave and a broker too.' It is to be found in Ray's Collection of Proverbs. 6 Let the issue be what it will. See note on Taming of the Shrew, Act iv. Sc. 3. There have been some strange conjectures in explanation of this phrase, in the quill. Steevens says that it may mean no more than written or penned supplications. Mr. Tollet thinks it means with great cractness and observance of form, in allusion to the quilled or plaited ruffs. Hawkins suggests that it may be the same with the French en quille, said of a man when he stands 'upright upon his feet, without moving from the place, in allusion to quille, a ninepin. It appears to me to be nothing more than an intention to mark the vulgar pronunciation of in the coi 2 Pet. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a good man! Jesu bless him! Enter SUFFOLK, and QUEEN Margaret. * 1 Pet. Ilere 'a comes, methinks, and the queen * with him: I'll be the first, sure. 2 Pet. Come back, fool; this is the duke of Suffolk, and not my lord protector. Suf. How now, fellow? wouldst any thing with 'me? 6 1 Pet. I pray, my lord, pardon me! I took ye for my lord protector. Q. Mar. [Reading the superscription.] To my lord protector! are your supplications to his lordship? Let me see them: What is thine? • 1 Pet. Mine is, an't please your grace, against John Goodman, my lord cardinal's man, for keeping my house, and lands, and wife and all, from me. Suf. Thy wife too? that is some wrong indeed 2. -What's yours? What's here? [Reads.] Against the duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons of Melford. How now, sir knave? 2 Pet. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township. Peter. [Presenting his petition.] Against my master, Thomas Horner, for saying, That the duke of York was rightful heir to the crown. Q. Mar. What say'st thou? Did the duke of York say, he was rightful heir to the crown? 'Peter. That my master was? No, forsooth: my i. e. in the bustle. This word is spelt in the old dictionaries quoil, and was no doubt often pronounced by ignorant persons qu le or quill. 2 This wrong seems to have been sometimes practised in Shakspeare's time. Among the Lansdowne MSS. we meet with the following singular petition: Julius Bogarucius to the Lord Trea surer, in Latin, complaining that the Master of the Rolls keeps his wife from him in his own house, and wishes he may not teach her to be a papist.' |