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 Lovell's heads
Should have gone off.

K. Hen.

Ha! what, so rank? Ah, ha! There's mischief in this man: Canst thou say fur

After your highness had reprov'd the duke
About sir William Blomer,-

K. Hen.

I remember,

Of such a time:-Being my servant sworn,

The duke retain'd him his.But on; What hence? Surv. If, quoth he, I for this had been committed, As, to the Tower, I thought,—I would have play'd

The part my father meant to act upon

The usurper Richard: who, being at Salisbury,
Made suit to come in his presence; which, if granted,
As he made semblance of his duty, would

Have put his knife into him.

K. Hen.

Wol. Now, madam, may his And this man out of prison? Q. Kath.

A giant traitor!

highness live in freedom,

God mend all!

K. Hen. There's something more would out of thee ; What say'st?

Surv. After the duke his father,—with the knife,— He stretch'd him, and, with one hand on his dagger, Another spread on his breast, mounting his eyes, He did discharge a horrible oath; whose tenour

5 —so rank?] Rank weeds, are weeds grown up to great height and strength. What, says the king, was he advanced to this pitch? JOHNSON.

Was,-Were he evil us'd, he would out-go
His father, by as much as a performance
Does an irresolute purpose.

K. Hen.

To sheath his knife in us.

There's his period,

He is attach'd;

Call him to present trial: if he may

Find mercy in the law, 'tis his; if none,

Let him not seek't of us: by day and night",
He's traitor to the height.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

A Room in the Palace.

Enter the Lord Chamberlain and Lord SANDS.

Cham. Is it possible, the spells of France should juggle Men into such strange mysteries'?

Sands.

Though they be never so ridiculous,

New customs,

Nay, let them be unmanly, yet are follow'd.
Cham. As far as I see, all the good our English
Have got by the late voyage, is but merely

A fit or two o'the face; but they are shrewd ones;
For when they hold them, you would swear directly,
Their very noses had been counsellors

To Pepin, or Clotharius, they keep state so.

6

by day and night,] This, I believe, was a phrase anciently signifying—at all times, every way, completely. The king's words, however, by some criticks have been considered as an adjuration. I do not pretend to have determined the exact force of them. STEEVENS.

7 Is it possible, the spells of France should juggle

Men into such strange mysteries ?] i. e. those fantastick manners and fashions of the French, which had operated as spells or

enchantments.

8 A fit or two o'the face ;] A fit of the face is what we now term a grimace, an artificial cast of the countenance.

VOL. VI.

M

Sands. They have all new legs, and lame ones; one

would take it,

That never saw them pace before, the spavin,

9

A springhalt reign'd among them.

Cham.

Death! my lord,

Their clothes are after such a pagan cut too,

That, sure, they have worn out christendom. How now? What news, sir Thomas Lovell ?

Lov.

Enter Sir THOMAS LOVELL.

'Faith, my lord,

I hear of none, but the new proclamation
That's clapp'd upon the court-gate.

Cham.

What is't for?

Lov. The reformation of our travell'd gallants, That fill the court with quarrels, talk, and tailors. Cham. I am glad, 'tis there; now I would pray our

monsieurs

To think an English courtier may be wise,

And never see the Louvre.

Lov.

They must either

(For so run the conditions,) leave these remnants
Of fool, and feather', that they got in France,
With all their honourable points of ignorance
Pertaining thereunto, (as fights, and fireworks;
Abusing better men than they can be,
Out of a foreign wisdom,) renouncing clean
The faith they have in tennis, and tall stockings,
Short blister'd breeches, and those types of travel,

9 A springhalt-] The stringhalt, or springhalt, is a disease incident to horses, which gives them a convulsive motion in their paces.

leave these remnants

Of fool, and feather,] An allusion to the feathers which were formerly worn by fools in their caps.

2

blister'd breeches,] i. e. breeches puff'd, swell'd out like blisters. The modern editors read-bolster'd breeches, which has the same meaning.

And understand again like honest men ;

Or pack to their old playfellows: there, I take it,
They may, cum privilegio, wear away

The lag end of their lewdness, and be laugh'd at.

Sands. 'Tis time to give them physick, their diseases Are grown so catching.

Cham.

What a loss our ladies

Will have of these trim vanities!

Lov.

Ay, marry,

There will be woe, indeed, lords; the sly whoresons
Have got a speeding trick to lay down ladies;

A French song, and a fiddle, has no fellow.

Sands. The devil fiddle them! I am glad, they're

going;

(For, sure, there's no converting of them ;) 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 musick too.

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.

t "Hold"-MALONE : but held in his first edition.

Sands. He may, my lord, he has wherewithal; in him, Sparing would show a worse sin than ill doctrine:

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. My barge stays';
Your lordship shall along:-Come, good sir Thomas,
We shall be late else: which I would not be,
For I was spoke to, with sir Henry Guildford,
This night to be comptrollers.

Sands.

I am your lordship's.
[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

The Presence-Chamber in York-Place.

Hautboys. A small Table under a State for the Cardinal, a longer Table for the Guests. Enter, at one Door, ANNE BULLEN, and divers Lords, Ladies, and Gentlewomen, as Guests; at another Door, enter Sir HENRY GUILDFORD.

Guild. Ladies, a general welcome from his grace
Salutes ye 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

As first-good company, good wine, good welcome,
Can make good people.- -O, my lord, you are tardy;

Enter Lord Chamberlain, Lord SANDS, and Sir THOMAS LOVELL.

The very thought of this fair company

Clapp'd wings to me.

3 My barge stays ;] The speaker is now in the king's palace at Bridewell, from which he is proceeding by water to York place, (cardinal Wolsey's house) now Whitehall.