leaves of hopes;' and the idea conveyed to me by the latter, of many desires blooming into promise of fruition, is the more beautiful, and is certainly less commonplace." Blossoms. Some take the word to be a noun here (the folio prints it with a capital," Blossomes"), but it is undoubtedly a verb." 358. This many summers. etc.; and see Gr. 87. 366. We would aspire to. 66 Cf. M. for M. i. 3. 21: "this nineteen years," Hanmer has "he" for we. 367. That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin. On the accent of aspect, see M. of V. p. 128, and cf. v. 1. 89 below. Their ruin (altered by some editors to our ruin" or "his ruin") means the ruin which they (princes) cause, or bring; in other words, their is a "subjective genitive." Similar cases are not rare in S. We have three examples in a single scene (v. I) of the Tempest: "your release," "their high wrongs," and my wrongs." Cf. M. N. D. ii. 1. 240: "Your wrongs (the wrongs done by you) do set a scandal on my sex,' etc. 66 380. These ruin'd pillars. "Alluding, of course, to his insignia of office" (Adee). See p. 176 above (on Pillars). 397. May have a tomb, etc. The folio reads: "May haue a Tombe of Orphants teares wept on him." The lord chancellor is the general guardian of orphans. Johnson considers the metaphor "very harsh;" but Steevens compares Drummond's Teares for the Death of Mœlaides: "The Muses, Phoebus. Love, have raised of their teares A crystal tomb to him, through which his worth appeares." He also cites an epigram of Martial's, in which, he says, the Heliades are represented as "weeping a tomb of tears over a viper;" but it is not until after the amber tears of the sisters of Phaethon have hardened around the reptile (so that he is "concreto vincta gelu") that they are compared to a tomb. 402. In open. Openly, in public. Steevens considers it a "Latinism," because in aperto is used in the same sense! It may be noted that "in the open" is now good English (in England, at least) for "in the open air." Cf. Gr. 90. 405. There was the weight that pulled me down, etc. Cf. what Cavendish says: "Thus passed the cardinal his time forth, from day to day and year to year, in such great wealth, joy, and triumph and glory, having always on his side the king's especial favour, until Fortune, of whose favour no man is longer assured than she is disposed, began to wax something wroth with his prosperous estate. And for the better mean to bring him low, she procured Venus, the insatiate goddess, to be her instrument; who brought the king in love with a gentlewoman that, after she perceived and felt the king's good will towards her, how glad he was to please her, and to grant all her request, wrought the cardinal much displeasure. This gentlewoman was the daughter of Sir Thomas Bullen, knight," etc. 409. The noble troops that waited, etc. The number of persons who composed Wolsey's household was not less than one hundred and eighty, and some accounts (undoubtedly exaggerated) make it eight hundred. Cf. Cavendish's description of the cardinal's passage through London on his way to France: " Then marched he forward, from his own house at Westminster, through all London, over London Bridge, having before him a great number of gentlemen, three in a rank, with velvet coats, and the most part of them with great chains of gold about their necks. And all his yeomen followed him, with noblemen's and gentlemen's servants, all in orange-tawny coats, with the cardinal's hat, and a T and a C (for Thomas, Cardinal) embroidered upon all the coats as well of his own servants as all the rest of his gentlemen's servants. And when his sumpter mules, which were twenty or more in number, and all his carriages and carts, and other of his train, were passed before, he rode like a cardinal, very sumptuously, with the rest of his train, on his own mule, with his spare mule and spare horse-trapped in crimson velvet upon velvet, and gilt stirrups following him. And before him he had two great crosses of silver, his two great pillars [cf. p. 176 above] of silver, the king's' broad seal of England, and his cardinal's hat, and a gentleman carrying his valence, otherwise called his cloak-bag, which was made of fine scarlet, altogether embroidered very richly with gold, having in it a cloak. Thus passed he forth through London, as I said before; and every day on his journey he was thus furnished, having his harbingers in every place before, which prepared lodging for him and his train." 418. Make use now. Make interest now, "let not advantage slip" (Schmidt). Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 4. 68: "Made use and fair advantage of his days," etc. 428. Out of thy honest truth.* See Gr. 168. 431. Dull, cold marble. Cf. Gray, Elegy: "the dull cold ear of death." 432. Must be heard of. For the repeated preposition, see Gr. 424. 441. Cherish those hearts that hate thee. Warb. thought that the poet did not mean to make Wolsey so good a Christian as this would imply, and that he probably wrote "cherish those hearts that wait thee," that is, thy dependants! 443. Still in thy right hand," etc. Some see an allusion here to "the rod of silver with the dove," or "bird of peace," carried at royal processions. See below (v. 1) in the Order of the Procession, and also in the account of the coronation that follows. 453. Had I but served my God, etc. It is an historical fact that, among his last words to Sir William Kingston, the cardinal said, "If I had served God as diligently as I have done the king, he would not have given me over in my gray hairs. But this is the just reward that I must receive for my diligent pains and study that I have had to do him service, not regarding my service to God, but only to satisfy his pleasure." * Cromwell remained with Wolsey during his confinement at Esher, and obtained a seat in Parliament that he might defend him there. The Lords passed a bill of impeachment against the cardinal, but Cromwell opposed it in the Commons with such skill and eloquence that he finally defeated it. At the length," says Cavendish, "his honest estimation and earnest behaviour in his master's cause, grew so in every man's opinion, that he was reputed the most faithful servant to his master of all other, wherein he was greatly of all men commended." SCENE I.-The ceremonies attending the coronation of Anne Bullen are minutely described by Hall, from whom S. drew the materials for this scene, including the "Order of the Procession." Sir Thomas More was the chancellor on this occasion. 66 Cf. 9. Their royal minds. "Their devotion to the king" (Schmidt). 2 Hen. IV. iv. I. 193: our royal faiths" (fidelity to the king). Pope and H. read "loyal minds." 13. Better taken. Better received, more heartily welcomed. 16. Of those that claim their offices, etc. Holinshed says: "In the beginning of May, 1533, the king caused open proclamation to be made, that all men that claimed to do any service, or execute any office, at the solemn feast of the coronation, by the way of tenure, grant, or prescription, should put their grant, three weeks after Easter, in the Star-Chamber, before Charles, Duke of Suffolk, for that time high steward of England, and the lord chancellor, and other commissioners." 28. Dunstable. The court was held at Dunstable Priory, which was a royal foundation of Henry I., who in 1131 bestowed on it the town of Dunstable and all its privileges. Ampthill Castle, built in the fifteenth century, was one of the favourite resorts of Henry VIII. It was demolished about the year 1626. After many changes of proprietorship, the estate came into the possession of Lord Ossory, who planted a grove of firs where the castle had stood, and in 1773 erected in the centre a monument, surmounted by a cross bearing a shield with Katherine's arms, of Castile and Arragon. A tablet at the base of the cross bears the following inscription, from the pen of Horace Walpole: 29. Lay. "In days of yore, here Ampthill's towers were seen, That is, resided. Cf. T. N. iii. 1. 8: "So thou mayst say, the king lies by a beggar, if a beggar dwell near him;" M. W. ii. 2.63: "When the court lay at Windsor;" Milton, L'Allegro: "Where perhaps some beauty lies," etc. See also 2 Hen. IV. p. 185. 32. Main assent. General assent. Cf. Ham. i. 3. 28: "the main voice of Denmark," etc. 34. The late marriage. "The marriage lately considered as a valid one" (Steevens); or simply the previous marriage. 35. Kimbolton. The folio has "Kymmalton," which was doubtless the pronunciation of the name. Kimbolton Castle, in Huntingdonshire, successively the property of the Bohuns, the Staffords, and the Wingfields, is now the seat of the Duke of Manchester. From an interesting account of the place in the Athenæum (Jan. 1861), I extract a paragraph or two: "Kimbolton is perhaps the only house now left in England in which you still live and move, distinguished as the scene of an act in one of Shakespeare's plays. Where now is the royal palace of Northampton? Where the baronial hall of Warkworth? ... The Tower has become a barrack, and Bridewell a jail. ... Westminster Abbey, indeed, remains much as when Shakespeare opened the great contention of York and Lancaster with the dead hero of Agincourt lying there in state; and the Temple Gardens have much the same shape as when he made Plantagenet pluck the white rose, Somerset the red; but for a genuine Shakespearian house, in which men still live and move, still dress and dine, to which guests come and go, in which children frisk and sport, where shall we look beyond the walls of Kimbolton Castle? "Of this Shakespearian pile Queen Katherine is the glory and the fear. The chest in which she kept her clothes and jewels, her own cipher on the lid, still lies at the foot of the grand staircase, in the gallery leading to the seat she occupied in the private chapel. Her spirit, the people of the castle say, still haunts the rooms and corridors in the dull gloaming or at silent midnight. . . . Mere dreams, no doubt; but people here believe them. They say the ghost glides about after dark, robed in her long white dress, and with the royal crown upon her head, through the great hall, and along the corridor to the private chapel, or up the grand staircase, past the Pellegrini cartoons.' 37. The Order of the Procession. Called in the folio "The Order of the Coronation;" but it is only the procession on the return from the coronation. W. remarks: "This elaborate direction is of no service to the action, and was plainly intended only for the prompter and property-man of the theatre, that in getting up this show play they might have exact directions about putting this Scene on the stage. But as it doubtless gives us a very exact measure of the capacity of our old theatre to present a spectacle, it should be retained." The direction for the exit of the procession follows the "Order" in these words: "Exeunt, first passing ouer the Stage in Order and State, and then, A great Flourish of Trumpets." Then Garter. Garter king-at-arms, in his coat of office emblazoned with the royal arms. See Addenda below. Collars of SS. The folio has "Esses." "A collar of SS, probably so called from the S-shaped links of the chain-work, was a badge of equestrian nobility." Four of the Cinque-ports. These ports, in the south of England, were originally five (hence the name)-Dover, Hastings, Hythe, Romney, and Sandwich: Winchelsea and Rye were afterwards added. They were under the jurisdiction of barons, called wardens, for the better security of the coast, these ports being nearest to France, and considered the keys of the kingdom. The office was instituted by William the Conqueror in 1078. The Duke of Wellington was lord-warden from 1828 to his death in 1852 (cf. Longfellow's poem, "The Warden of the Cinque Ports"). Her hair richly adorned. The folio has "in her haire," etc.; an error probably occasioned by "in her robe" immediately preceding. On each side her. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 8: "writ o' both sides the leaf," etc. 49. All are near. All who are near. Gr. 244. 55. I' the abbey. That is, Westminster Abbey. 57. The mere rankness. 89. The choicest music. 90. Parted. Departed. The very exuberance. Cf. iii. 2. 327 above. 100. Newly preferr'd. Just promoted. See M. of V. p. 140. III. Without all doubt. Beyond all doubt. See Macb. p. 210 (on 11). 114. Something I can command. That is, I can do something for your entertainment. SCENE II.-6. Great child of honour. Cf. 50 below. 7. I think. The 1st folio has "I thanke;" corrected in the 2d. 10. Happily. Haply; as often in S. See Gr. 42. 12. The stout earl Northumberland. See p. 34, foot-note. 13. At York. Wolsey had removed to his see of York, by the king's command, and had taken up his residence at Cawood Castle (ten miles from the city), which belonged to the Archbishops of York. There he rendered himself extremely popular in the neighbourhood by his affability and hospitality. 17. With easy roads. "The king," said Cavendish to Wolsey, "hath sent gentle Master Kingston to convey you by such easy journeys as you will command him to do." On with, see Gr. 193. To Leicester. "The next day," says Cavendish, "we rode to Leicester N |