SCENE VII.-The same. A Room in the Palace.

KING EDWARD is discovered sitting on his throne; QUEEN ELIZABETH, with the infant PRINCE, CLARENCE, GLOSTER, HASTINGS, and others, near him.

K. EDW. Once more we sit in England's royal throne,
Re-purchas'd with the blood of enemies.

What valiant foemen, like to autumn's corn,
Have we mow'd down, in tops of all their pride!
Three dukes of Somerset, threefold renown'd

For hardy and undoubted champions:

Two Cliffords, as the father and the son;

And two Northumberlands: two braver men

Ne'er spurr'd their coursers at the trumpet's sound:

With them, the two brave bears, Warwick and Montague,
That in their chains fetter'd the kingly lion,

And made the forest tremble when they roar'd.
Thus have we swept suspicion from our seat,
And made our footstool of security.
Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy:
Young Ned, for thee, thine uncles and myself
Have in our armours watch'd the winter's night;
Went all afoot in summer's scalding heat,
That thou might'st repossess the crown in peace;
And of our labours thou shalt reap the gain.

GLO. I'll blast his harvest, if your head were laid;
For yet I am not look'd on in the world.

This shoulder was ordain'd so thick to heave;

And heave it shall some weight, or break my back:
Work thou the way, and thou shalt execute.

[Aside.

K. EDW. Clarence, and Gloster, love my lovely queen,

And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both.

CLAR. The duty that I owe unto your majesty

I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.

K. Edw. Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks. GLO. And, that I love the tree from whence thou sprang'st, Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit:

Το say the truth, so Judas kiss'd his Master;

And cried-All hail! when as he meant-all harm. [Aside

K. EDW. Now am I seated as my soul delights,

Having my country's peace, and brothers' loves.

CLAR. What will your grace have done with Margaret? Reignier, her father, to the king of France

Hath pawn'd the Sicils and Jerusalem,

And hither have they sent it for her ransom.

K. EDW. Away with her, and waft her hence to France.
And now what rests, but that we spend the time
With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows,
Such as befit the pleasure of the court?

Sound, drums and trumpets!-farewell, sour annoy!
For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy.

[Exeunt.

VARIOUS READINGS.

"Let me embrace thee, sour Adversity."

The original has "the sour adversaries." The above is Mr. Dyce's excellent suggestion.

(ACT III., Sc. 1.) We have given the line as it is usually printed, according to Pope's correction.

"My mildness has allay'd their swelling griefs,
My mercy dried their bitter-flowing tears."

ATTENDED. Act IV., Sc. 6.

"And the lord Hastings, who attended him."

Attended him is used in the sense of waited for him.

BEWRAY. Act I., Sc. 1.

"Whose looks bewray her anger."

Bewray is to discover or reveal. Chaucer, in 'The Knightes
Tale,' has-

"Mine harte may not mine harmes bewraie."

BODG'D. Act I., Sc. 4.

"We bodg'd again."

Bodged Dr. Johnson thinks is a misprint for budged. Steevens thinks it here means boggled, made bungling work of our attempt to rally

BRUIT. Act IV., Sc. 7.

"The bruit thereof will bring you many friends."

Bruit is report, common talk. In the Bible (Jeremiah, x. 22),
we have-

"Behold, the noise of the bruit is come."

BUG. Act V., Sc. 2.

"For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all."

Bug is used several times by Shakspere in the sense of bugbear.
In the 'Faerie Queene,' also, we have—

"For all that here on earth we dreadful hold,

Be but as bugs to fearen babes withal."

And in both passages the verb fear is used in its active sense. CALLET. Act II., Sc. 2.

"To make this shameless callet know herself."

Callet is a scold, but is also applied to a woman of loose character. In Gammer Gurton's Needle' we have―

"Thinks the callet thus to keep the neele me fro."

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And in Henry VI., Part II.' (Act I., Sc. 3.), Margaret terms
the Duchess of Gloucester a contemptuous base-born
callet."

CHANNEL. Act II., Sc. 2.

"As if a channel should be called the sea."

Channel, according to Malone, here signifies what we now call a kennel.

CONVEYANCE. Act III., Sc. 3.

"Thy sly conveyance."

Conveyance is here used for juggling, artifice.

DARRAIGN. Act II., Sc. 2.

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'Darraign your battle, for they are at hand."

Darraign is to prepare for battle, either by single combat or with an army. Chaucer, in the Knightes Tale,' has

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two harneis hath he dight,

Both suffisant and mete to darreine

The bataille in the feld betwix hem tweine."

And Spenser, in the 'Faerie Queene'—

"The king was slily finger'd from the deck."

Formerly a pack of cards was called a deck. In 'Selimus, 1594, there is the following instance :

"Well, if I chance but once to get the deck,

To deal about and shuffle as I would."

Pa

EAGER. Act II., Sc. 6.

"Vex him with eager words."

Eager, from the French aigre, is sour, sharp.

FEAR Act III., Sc. 3.

"Go fear thy king withal."

Fear is used in its active sense of affright.

FORE-SLOW.

Act II., Sc. 3.

"Fore-slow no longer, make we hence amain."

To fore-slow is to delay, to loiter.

"Forspent with toil, as runners with a race.' Forspent is exhausted, strength totally expended. In 'King John' we have forwearied.

"For I have heard that she was there in place."

In place was a common form among our old writers for being there present. It occurs in Sc. 6 of this Act

"For choosing me, when Clarence is in place."

LAUND. Act III., Sc. 1.

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"Through this laund anon the deer will come." Laund, according to Camden, is "a plain among trees." Phillips says, "Laund or Lawn, a plain (in a park), untilled ground."

MEEDS. Act II., Sc. 1.

"Each one already blazing by our meeds."

Meeds are merits, deserts; sometimes rewards.

OBSEQUIOUS. Act II., Sc. 5.

"And so obsequious will thy father be."

Obsequious is the act of performing obsequies: it is the "obsequious sorrow" of Hamlet.

PALE. Act I., Sc. 4.

"And will you pale your head in Henry's glory?" Pale is here to impale, or encircle.

PASSING. Act V., Sc. 1.

"O passing traitor, perjur'd, and unjust!"

Passing is used for surpassing, as was often done by our old writers.