Concerning the French journey? I reply'd,
Men fear'd, the French would prove perfidious,
To the king's danger. Presently the duke
Said, 'Twas the fear, indeed'; and that he doubted,
*Twould prove the verity of certain words
Spoke by a holy nonk; that oft, says he,
Hath sent to me, wishing me to permit
John de la Court, my chaplain, a choice hour
To hear from him a matter of some moment:
Who (after under the confession's seal
He solemnly had sworn, that, what he spoke,

My chaplain to no creature living, but

5

And this man out of prison?
Queen. God mend all!
King. There's something n
thee; What say'st?
Surr. After the duke his f
Hestretch'd him, and, with one h
Another spread on his breast, n
10 He did discharge a horrible oa
Was-Were he evil-us'd, he w
His father, by as much as aper
Does an irresolute purpose.
King. There's his period,

To me, should utter) with demure confidence [heirs, 15 To sheath his knife in us.

Thus pausingly ensu'd, -Neither the king, nor his (Tell you the duke) shall prosper: bid him strive For the love of the commonalty; the duke

Shall govern England.

Queen. If I know you well,

You were the duke's surveyor, and lost your office
On the complaint o' the tenants: Take good heed,
You charge not in your spleen a noble person,
And spoil your nobler soul; I say, take heed;
Yes, heartily beseech you.

King. Let him on:

Go forward.

Suro. On my soul, I'll speak but truth.

He

Call him to present trial: If he

Find mercy in the law, 'tis his
Let him not seek 't of us: By
He's traitor to the height.

SCENEL

An Apartment in the

I told my lord the duke, By the devil's illusions
The monk might be deceiv'd; and that 'twas 30 A fit or two o' the face'; but they

20

Enter the Lord Chamberlain, Cham. Is it possible, the spell Men into such strange mysterio

25 Sands. New customs,
Though they be never so ridicu
Nay, let them be unmanly, ye
Cham. As far as I see, all the
Have got by the late voyage, is

dang'rous for him

To ruminate on this so far, until

35

For, when they hold them, you w
Their very noses had been cou
To Pepin, or Clotharius, they
Sands. They have all new leg
one would take it,
That never saw them pace befo
And springhalt reign'd among
Cham. Death! my lord,

Their ciothes are after such a p

What news, Sir Thomas Lovel

Enter Sir Thomas L

It forg'd him some design, which, being believ'd,
It was much like to do: He answer'd, Tush!
It can do me no damage: adding further,
That, had the king in his last sickness fail'd,
The cardinal's and Sir Thomas Lovel's heads

Should have gone off.

King. Ha! what, so rank1? Ah, ha! [further? There's mischief in this man: Canst thou say 40 That, sure, they have worn out C

Lor. Faith, my lord,

I hear of none, but the new pr

45 That's clapp'd upon the court
Cham, What is 't for?
Lov. The reformation of our
That fill the court with quarrels,
Cham. I am glad 'tis there;

Surv. If, quoth he, I for this had been committed,
As to the Tower, I thought, I would have play'd 50
The part my father meant to act upon
The usurper Richard: who, being at Salisbury,
Made suit to come in his presence; which, ifgranted,
As he made semblance of his duty, would
Have put his knife into him.

2

our monsieurs

To think an English courtier m And never see the Louvre. Lov. They must either (For so run the conditions) leave 55 Of fool, and feather', that they

• Rank weeds are weeds that are grown up to great height and strength. - What, sa he advanced to this pitch? Mysteries were allegorical shews, which the muтте exhibited in odd and fantastic habits. Mysteries are used, by an easy figure, for tho mysteries; and the sense is only, that the travelled Englishmen were metamorphe fashions, into such an uncouth appearance, that they looked like mwnmers in a myst the face seems to be what we now terin a grimace, an artificial cast of the countena stringhalt, or springhalt, is a disease incident to horses, which gives them a convulsiv paces. * This does not allude to the feathers anciently worn in the hats and caps of Ta circumstance to which no ridicule could justly belong), but to an effeminate fashio themen carrying fans of feathers in their hands.

With all their honourable points of
Pertaining thereunto, (as fights, and fireworks;
ignorance
Abusing better men than they can be,
Out of a foreign wisdoın) renouncing clean

Salutes you all: This night he dedicates
To fair content, and you: none here, he hopes,
In all this noble bevy, has brought with her
One care abroad; he would have all as merry

Can make good people. - O, mylord, youare tard-
Enter Lord Chamberlain, Lord Sands, and s
Thomas Lovel.

The faith they have in tennis, and tall stockings, 5 As first-good company, good wine, good welcom

Short blister'd breeches1, and those types of travel,

And understand again like honest men;

Or pack to their old play-fellows: there, I take it,

They may, cum privilegio, wear away

The very thought of this fair company

The lag end of their lewdness, and be laugh'd at. 10 Clapp'd wings to me.

Sands. 'Tis time to give them physick, their

Are grown so catching.

Cham. What a loss our ladies

Will have of these trim vanities!

Lov. Ay, marry,

[diseases

Cham. You are young, Sir Harry Guilford. Sands. Sir Thomas Lovel, had the cardinal But half my lay-thoughts in him, some of these Should find a running banquet ere they rested, [sons 15 I think, would better please'em: By my life, They are a sweet society of fair ones.

There will be woe indeed, lords: the sly whore
Have got a speeding trick to lay down ladies;
A French song, and a fiddle, has no fellow. [going:
Sands. The devil fiddle'em! I am glad, they're
(For, sure, there's no converting of 'em) now
An honest country lord, as I am, beaten
A long time out of play, may bring his plain song,
And have an hour of hearing; and, by 'r lady,
Held current music too.

Chum. Well said, lord Sands;
Your colt's tooth is not cast yet,
Sands. No, my lord;.

Nor shall not, while I have a stump.
Cham. Sir Thomas,

Whither were you a-going?
Lov. To the cardinal's;
Your lordship is a guest too.
Cham. O, 'tis true:

This night he makes a supper, and a great one,
To many lords and ladies; there will be
The beauty of this kingdom, I'll assure you.

Lov. That churchman bears a bounteous mind

indeed;

A hand as fruitful as the land that feeds us;
His dews fall every where.

Cham. No doubt, he's noble;

He had a black mouth, that said other of him.

Sands. He may, my lord, he has wherewithal;

in him,

[fesso

Lor. O, that your lordship were but now con
To one or two of these!

Sands. I would, I were;
20 They should find easy penance.
Lov. 'Faith, how easy?
Sands. As easy as a down-bed would afford it
Cham. Sweet ladies, will it please you sit? Si

Harry,

25 Place you that side, I'll take the charge of this:
His grace is ent'ring. -Nay, you must not freeze
Twowomen plac'd together make cold weather:-
My lord Sands, you are one will keep'em waking
Pray, sit between these ladies.

30 Sands. By my faith,

And thank your lordship. -By your leave, sweet

ladies:

If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me;
I had it from my father.

35 Anne. Was he mad, sir?

[Sits

[too

Sands. O, very mad, exceeding mad, in love But he would bite none; just as I do now,

He would kiss you twenty with a breath.

40 Cham. Well said, my lord.

[Kisses her.

So, now you are fairly seated:-Gentlemen,
The penance lies on you, if these fair ladies
Pass away frowning.

Sands. For my little cure,

Sparing would shew a worse sin than ill doctrine: 45 Let me alone.

Men of his way should be most liberal,

They are set here for examples.

Cham. True, they are so;

But few now give so great ones.

Wol. My lord Sands,

I am beholden to you:-cheer your neighbours:-
Ladies, you are not merry;-Gentlemen,
Whose fault is this?

Sands. The red wine first must rise
In their fair cheeks, my lord; then we shall have'em

Re-enter Servant.

Cham. How now? what is't?

Serv. A noble troop of strangers;

15

Cham. I will, my lord.

[Cham, goes to the compan

Wol. What say they?
Cham. Such a one, they all con
There is indeed; which they would
Find out, and he will take it'.
Wol. Let me see then.-

By all your good leaves, gentlem

For so they seem: they have left their barge, and My royal choice.

landed;

And hither make, as great ambassadors

From foreign princes.

Wol. Good lord chamberlain,

Go, give'em welcome, you can speak the French

tongue;

King. You have found him, car You hold a fair assembly; you do

20 You are a churchman, or, I'll tell
I should judge now unhappily.
Wol. I am glad,

Your grace is grown so pleasant,
King. My lord chamberlain,

And, pray, receive 'em nobly, and conduct'em
Into our presence, where this heaven of beauty 25 Pr'ythee, come hither: What fair

Shall shine at full upon them:-Someattendhim.

[All arise, and tables removed.
Youhave now a broken banquet; but we'll mendit.
A good digestion to you all: and, once more,
I shower a welcome on you;-Welcome all.
Hautboys. Enter the King, and others, as Maskers,
habited like Shepherds, usher'd by the Lord
Chamberlain. They pass directly before the
Cardinal, and gracefully salute him.

30

Cham. An't please your grace, S len's daughter, Theviscount Rochford, oneofherhi King. By heaven, she is a daint

heart,

[T

I were unmannerly, to take you c
And not to kiss you'.-A health,
Let it go round.

A noble company! What are their pleasures? 35 Wol. Sir Thomas Lovel, is the b

Cham. Because they speak no English, thus

they pray'd

To tell your grace; -That, having heard by fame

Of this so noble and so fair assembly

I' the priyy chamber?

This night to meet here, they could do no less, 40 King. I fear, too much.

Lov. Yes, my lord.

Wol. Your grace,

I fear, with dancing is a little heat

Wol. There's fresher air, my lo

In the next chamber.

King. Lead in your ladies, ever I must not yet forsake you: Let [I pay them 45 Good my lord cardinal, I have half

Out of the great respect they bear to beauty,
But leave their flocks; and, under your fair conduct,
Crave leave to view these ladies, and entreat
An hour of revels with them.

Wol. Say, lord chamberlain,
They have done my poor house grace; for which
A thousand thanks, and pray them take their

pleasures.

[Chuse ladies for the dance. King, and Anne Bullen.
King. The fairest hand I ever touch'd! O, beauty, 50

To drink to these fair ladies, and
To lead them once again; and the
Who's best in favour, Let the m
[Exeunt,

A chamber is a gun (used only on occasions of re 1i. e. if I make my party. stands erect on its breech, and so contrived as to carry great charges, and thereby t more than proportioned to its bulk. They are called chambers, because they are mere che powder; a chamber being the technical term for that cavity in a piece of ordnance whic i. e. unluckily, mischie combustibles. Chambers are still fired in the Park, and at the places opposite to the Par when the king goes thither.

ACT

II.

SCENE I.

A Street.

Enter two Gentlemen at several doors.

1 Gent. WHITHER away so fast?

2 Gent. O, God save you!

Even to the hall, to hear what shall become

Of the great duke of Buckingham.

1 Gent. I'll save you

Then deputy of Ireland; who remov'd,

Earl Surrey was sent thither, and in haste too
Lest he should help his father.

2 Gent. That trick of state

5 Was a deep envious one.
1 Gent. At his return,

No doubt, he will requite it. This is noted,
And generally; whoever the king favours,

The cardinal instantly will find employment,

2 Gent. All the coininons

That labour, sir. All'snow done, but the ceremony 10 And far enough from court too,

Of bringing back the prisoner.

2 Gent. Were you there?

1 Gent. Yes, indeed, was I.

2 Gent. Pray, speak, what has happen'd?

1 Gent. You may guess quickly what.

2 Gent. Is he found guilty?

1 Gent. Yes, truly, is he, and condemn'd upon it.

2 Gent. I am sorry for't.

1 Gent. So are a number more.

2 Gent. But, pray, how pass'd it?

1 Gent. I'll tell you in a little. The great duke

Hate him perniciously, and, o' my conscience
Wish him ten fathom deep: this duke as mu
They love and doat on; call him, bounteous Buc

15 The mirrour of all courtesy ;

1 Gent. Stay there, sir,

[ingha

And see the noble ruin'd man you speak of. Enter Buckingham from his arraignment, (T staves before him, the axe with the edge towa 20 him; halberds on each side,) accompanied w Sir Thonas Lovel, Sir Nicholas Vaux, Sir W liam Sands, and common people, &e. 2 Gent. Let's stand close, and behold him. Buck. All good people,

Came to the bar; where, to his accusations,
He pleaded still, not guilty, and alledg'd
Many sharp reasons to defeat the law.
The king's attorney, on the contrary,
Urg'd on the examinations, proofs, confessions
Of divers witnesses; which the duke desir'd
To have brought, rirá voce, to his face:

25 You that thus far have come to pity me,
Hear what I say, and then go home and lose m
I have this day receiv'd a traitor's judgement,
And by that name must die; Yet, Heaven be

At which appear'd against him, his surveyor;
Sir Gilbert Peck his chancellor; and John Court, 30 And, if I have a conscience, let it sink me,

witness,

Confessor to him; with that devil monk

Hopkins, that made this mischief.

2 Gent. That was he,

That fed him with his prophecies?

1 Gent. The same.

35

Even as the axe falls, if I be not faithful!
The law I bear no malice for my death,
"T has done, upon the premises, but justice;
But those, that sought it, I could wish mo
christians:

All these accus'd him strongly; which he fain
Would have flung from him, but, indeed, he could
And so his peers, upon this evidence,
[not:
Have found him guilty of high treason. Much
He spoke, and learnedly, for life; but all
Was either pitied in him, or forgotten.

2 Gent. After all this, how did he bear himself?
1 Gent. When he was brought again to the bar,

-to hear

Be what they will, I heartily forgive 'em:
Yet let 'em look they glory not in mischief,
Nor build their evils on the graves of great mer
For then my guiltless blood must cry against 'er

40 For further life in this world I ne'er hope,
Nor will I sue, although the king have mercie
More than I dare make faults. You few th
lov'd me,

And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham,

His knell rung out, his judgement, he was stirr'd 45 His noble friends, and fellows, whom to leave
With such an agony, he sweat extremely1,
And something spoke in choler, ill, and hasty:
But he fell to himself again, and, sweetly,
In all the rest shew'd a most noble patience.
2 Gent. I do not think, he fears death.

1 Gent. Sure, he does not,

He never was so womanish; the cause

He may a little grieve at.

2 Gent. Certainly,

The cardinal is the end of this.

1 Gent. "Tis likely,

By all conjectures: First, Kildare's attainder,

Is only bitter to him, only dying,
Go with me, like good angels, to my end;
And, as the long divorce of steel falls on me,
Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,
50 And lift my soul to heaven.-Lead on, o' Go

name.

Lov. I do beseech your grace, for charity,
If ever any malice in your heart
Were hid against me, now to forgive me frank
55 Buck. Sir Thomas Lovel, I as free forgive yo
As I would be forgiven: I forgive all;

There cannot be those numberless offences

2 Gent. If the duke be guiltle

You met him half in heaven: my vows and 5 Tis full of woe: yet I can give
h, pray, tell him,

prayers
Yet are the king's; and, 'till my soul forsake me,
Shall cry for blessings on him: May he live
Longer than I have time to tell his years!
Ever belov'd, and loving, may his rule be!
And, when old time shall lead him to his end,
Goodness and he fill up one monument! [grace;
Lov. To the water-side I must conduct your
Then give my charge up to Sir Nicholas Vaux,
Who undertakes you to your end.

Vaux. Prepare there,

The duke is coming; see, the barge be ready;
And fit it with such furniture, as suits
The greatness of his person.

Buck. Nay, Si Nicholas,

Let it alone; my state now will but mock me.
When I came hither, I was lord high constable,
And duke of Buckingham; now, poor Edward

Bohun:

Yet I am richer than my base accusers,
That never knew what truth meant: I now seal it;
And with that blood, will make 'em one day

groan for't.

My noble father, Henry of Buckingham,

10

Of an ensuing evil, if it fall,
Greater than this.

1 Gent. Good angels keep it fu
What may it be? You do not do
2 Gent. This secret is so weigh
A strong faith to conceal it.
1 Gent. Let me have it;

I do not talk much.

2 Gent. I am confident; 15 You shall, sir: Did you not of 1 A buzzing, of a separation Between the king and Katharine 1 Gent. Yes, but it held not: For when the king once heard it, 20 He sent command to the lord m To stop the rumour, and allay t That durst disperse it.

2 Gent. But that slander, sir, Is found a truth now: for it grow 25 Fresher than e'er it was; and hel The king will venture at it. Eith Or some about him near, have, c To the good queen, possess'd hin That will undo her: To confirm

Who first rais'd lead against usurping Richard, 30 Cardinal Campeius is arriv'd, an

Flying for succour to his servant Banister,
Being distress'd, was by that wretch betray'd,
And w thout trial feil; God's peace be with him!
Henry the seventh succeeding, truly pitying
My father s loss, like a most royal prince,
Restor'd me to my honours, and, out of ruins,
Made my name once more noble. Now his son,
Henry the eighth, life, honour, name, and all
That made me happy, at one stroke has taken
For ever from the world. I had my trial,
And, must needs say, a noble one; which makes me
A little happier than my wretched father:
Yet thus far we are one in fortunes,-both
Fell by our servants, by those men we loved
most;

As all think, for this business.

And merely to revenge him on th 1 Gent. "Tis the cardinal; For not bestowing on him, at his 35 The archbishoprick of Toledo, th 2 Gent. I think, you have hit the

not cruel,

That she should feel the smart of dinal

40 Will have his will, and she must f
1 Gent. 'Tis woeful.

We are too open here to argue th
Let's think in private more.

A most unnatural and faithless service!
Heaven has an end in all: Yet, you that hear me,
This from a dying man receive as certain :-
Where you are liberal of your loves and counsels,
Be sure, you be not loose; for those you make 50 furnished. They were young, and

friends,

And give your hearts to, when they once perceive

The least rub in your fortunes, fall away

Like water from ye, never found again

45

SCENE II.

An Antichamber in the P

Enter the Lord Chamberlain, rea all the care I had, I saw well chose My lord, the horses your lordshi

of the best breed in the north. Whent

to set out for London, a man of my l by commission, and main power, too with this reason, Hismasterwould

But where they mean to sink ye. All good people, 55 a subject, if not before the king: wh

Pray for me! I must now forsake you; the last

hour

Of my long weary life is come upon me.
Farewell:

And when ye would say something that is sad, 60
Speak how I fell.-I have done; and God forgive
me! [Exeunt Buckingham, and Train.

mouths, sir.

I fear, he will, indeed: Well, let hi
He will have all, I think.

Enter the Dukes of Norfolk an
Nor. Well met, my lord chamb
Chám. Good day to both your g

Meaning, that envy should not procure or advance his death,

i.e. great fr