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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


oi 


THE 


PLAYS 


OF 


VOLUME  THE  FIFTEENTH. 


I'rurttJ  by  S.  Hamilton,  Wc-briJge,  Sum. 


THE 


PLAYS 


OF 


WILLIAM  SHAKSPEARE 


VOLUME  THE  FIFTEENTH. 


CONTAINING 


KING  HENRY  VIII. 
TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 


LONDON: 

Printed  for  J.  Nichols  and  Son;  F.  C.  and  J.  Kiviiunon ;  J.  Stockdale; 
\\' .  Lowndcs ;  G.  Wilkie  and  J.  Robinson  ;  T.  K^erton  ;  J.  Walker  ; 
Scatcbenl  and  Lettennan ;  W.  Clarke  and  Sons;  J.  Marker;  J.  Cnthell, 
K.  Lea;  Lackingtor}  and  Co. ;  J.  Deightoii ;  J.  White  and  Co. ;  B.  Crosby 
and  Co.;  W.  Earle  ;  J.  Gray  and  Son;  Longman  and  Co.;  Cadell  and 
Davies;  J.  Harding;  R.  H.  Evans;  J.  Booker;  S.  Banster;  J.  Mawman; 
Black  and  Co.;  J.  Black;  J.  Richardson-.  J.  Booth;  Newman  and 
Co.;  R.  Plieney;  R.  Srholey ;  J.  Mu  mo  ;  J.  Asperne;  J.  Fanlder; 
R.Baldwin;  Cradock  and  Joy;  Slmr]>e  am,  Hailes;  Johnson  and  Co.: 
Gale  and  Co. ;  G.  Robinson  ;  C.  Brown  ;  and  Wilson  and  Son,  York. 


181°-. 


6 


5  3 


V.  15 


KING  HENRY  VIII. 


VOL.  xv. 


*  KING  HENRY  VIII.]  We  are  unacquainted  with  any  dra- 
matick  piece  on  the  subject  of  Henry  VIII.  that  preceded  this  of 
Shakspeare ;  and  yet  on  the  books  of  the  Stationers'  Company 
appears  the  following  entry:  "  Nathaniel  Butter]  (who  was 
one  of  our  author's  printers)  Feb.  12,  1604-.  That  he  get  good 
allowance  for  the  enterlude  of  King  Henry  VIII.  before  he  begin 
to  print  it ;  and  with  the  wardens  hand  to  yt,  he  is  to  have  the 
same  for  his  copy."  Dr.  Farmer,  in  a  note  on  the  epilogue  to 
this  play,  observes,  frcm  Stowe,  that  Robert  Greene  had  written 
somewhat  on  the  same  story.  STEEVENS. 

This  historical  drama  comprizes  a  period  of  twelve  years, 
commencing  in  the  twelfth  year  of  King  Henry's  reign,  ( 1521,) 
and  eliding  with  the  christening  of  Elizabeth  in  1533.  Shak- 
speare has  deviated  from  history  in  placing  the  death  of  Queen 
Katharine  before  the  birth  of  Elizabeth,  for  in  fact  Katharine 
did  not  die  till  1536. 

King  Henry  VIII.  was  written,  I  believe,  in  1601.  See  An 
Attempt  to  ascertain  the  Order  of  Shakspeare' s  Plays,  Vol.  II. 

Dr.  Fanner,  in  a  note  on  the  epilogue,  observes,  from  Stowe, 
that  "  Robert  Greene  had  written  something  on  this  story  ;"  but 
this,  I  apprehend,  was  not  a  play,  but  some  historical  account  of 
Henry's  reign,  written  not  by  Robert  Greene,  the  dramatick 
poet,  but  by  some  other  person.  In  the  list  of  "  authors  out  of 
whom  Stowe' j?  Annals  were  compiled,"  prefixed  to  the  last  edi- 
tion printed  in  his  life  time,  quarto,  1605,  Robert  Greene  is 
enumerated  with  Robert  de  Brim,  Robert  Fabian,  &c.  and  he  is 
often  quoted  as  ;m  authority  for  facts  in  the  margin  of  the  history 
of  that  reign.  M.ALONK. 


13  2 


PROLOGUE. 


I  come  no  more  to  make  you  laugh  ;  things  now, 
That  bear  a  weighty  and  a  serious  brow, 
Sad,  high,  and  working,  full  of  state  and  woe, 
Such  noble  scenes  as  draw  the  eye  to  flow, 
We  now  present.     Those  that  can  pity,  here 
May,  if  they  think  it  well,  let  fall  a  tear ; 
The  subject  will  deserve  it.     Such,  as  give 
Their  money  out  of  hope  they  may  believe, 
May  here  find  truth  too.     Those,  that  come  to  see 
Only  a  show  or  two,  and  so  agree, 
The  play  may  pass  ;  if  they  be  still,  and  willing, 
I'll  undertake,  may  see  away  their  shilling 
Richly  in  two  short  hours.     Only  they, 
That  come  to  hear  a  merry,  bawdy  play, 
A  noise  of  targets ;  or  to  see  a  fellow 
In  a  long  motley  coat,1  guarded  with  yellowr, 
Will  be  deceiv'd :  for,  gentle  hearers,  know, 
To  rank  our  chosen  truth  with  such  a  show 

1  or  to  see  a  fellow 

In  a  long  motley  coat,]  Alluding  to  the  fools  and  buffoons, 
introduced  in  the  plays  a  little  before  our  author's  time  :  and  of 
whom  he  has  left  us  a  small  taste  in  his  own.  THEOBALD. 

In  Marston's  10th  Satire  there  is  an  allusion  to  this  kind  of 
dress  : 

"  The  longfoole's,  coat,  the  huge  slop,  the  lugg'd  boot, 
"  From  mimick  Piso  nil  doe  claime  their  roote." 
Thus  also  Nashe,  in  his  Epistle  Dedicatory  to  Hare  idth  you 
to   Saffron    Waldeny   or  Guuriel   Harrci/'x    Hunt   is  up,    1.51)6: 
"  — Joules,  ye  know,     !-vaies  for  the  most  part  (especiallie  if 
they  bee  naturaliybo/es )  are  suted  in  long  coats.''*     STEEVENS. 


PROLOGUE.  5 

As  fool  and  fight  is,2  beside  forfeiting 
Our  own  brains,  and  the  opinion  that  we  bring, 
(To  make  that  only  true  we  now  intend,3) 
Will  leave  us  never  an  understanding  friend. 

*  -such  a  show 

As  fool  andjight  is,~\  This  is  not  the  only  passage  in  which 
Shakspeare  has  discovered  his  conviction  of  the  impropriety  of 
battles  represented  on  the  stage.  He  knew  that  five  or  six  men 
with  swords,  gave  a  very  unsatisfactory  idea  of  an  army,  and 
therefore,  without  much  care  to  excuse  his  former  practice,  he 
allows  that  a  theatrical  fight  would  destroy  all  opinion  of  truth, 
and  leave  him  never  an  understanding  friend.  Magnis  ingeniis 
et  multa  nihilominus  habitnris  simplex  convenit  erroris  conjessio. 
Yet  I  know  not  whether  the  coronation  shown  in  this  play  may 
not  be  liable  to  all  that  can  be  objected  against  a  battle. 

JOHNSON. 

J  . the  opinion  that  rvc  bring, 

(  To  make  that  only  true  we  now  intcnd,)~\  These  lines  I  do 
not  understand,  and  suspect  them  of  corruption.  I  believe  we 
may  better  read  thus  : 

the  opinion,  that  ive  bring 

Or  make;  that  only  truth  we  now  intend.     JOHNSON. 

To  intend,  in  our  author,  has  sometimes  the  same  meaning  as 

to  pretend.     So,  in  King  Richard  HI  : 

"  The  mayor  is  here  at  hand:  Intend  some  fear ." 

Again : 

"  Tremble  and  start  at  wagging  of  a  straw, 
"  Intending  deep  suspicion."     STEEVENS. 

If  any  alteration  were  necessary,  I  should  be  for  only  changing 
the  order  of  the  words,  and  reading  : 

That  only  true  to  make  we  now  intend : 
i.  e.  that  now  we  intend  to  exhibit  only  what  is  true. 

This  passage,  and  others  of  this  Prologue,  in  which  great  stress 
is  laid  upon  the  truth  of  the  ensuing  representation,  would  lead 
one  to  suspect,  that  this  play  of  Henry  the  VHIth.  is  the  very 
play  mentioned  by  Sir  H.  Wotton,  [in  his  Letter  of  2  .July,  1G1J5, 
Rdiq.  IVotton,  p.  V2'),~\  under  the  description  of  "  a  nnc  play, 
[acted  by  the  king's  players  at  the  Bank's  Side]  called,  All  is 
True,  representing  some  principal  pieces  of  the  reign  of  Henry 
the  VHIth."  The  extraordinary  circumstances  of  pomp  and 
majesty,  with  which,  Sir  Henry  says,  that  play  was  set  forth, 
and  the  particular  incident  of  certain  cannons  shot  off  at  the 


6  PROLOGUE. 

Therefore,  for  goodness'  sake,  and  as  you  are  known 
The  first  and  happiest  hearers  of  the  town,4 

King's  entry  to  a  masque  at  the  Cardinal  Wolsey's  house,  (by 
which  the  theatre  was  set  on  fire  and  burnt  to  the  ground,)  are 
strictly  applicable  to  the  play  before  us.  Mr.  Chamberlaine,  in 
Winwood's  Memorials,  Vol.  III.  p.  469,  mentions  "  the  burning 
of  the  Globe,  or  playhouse,  on  the  Bankside,  on  St.  Peter's-day 
[1613,]  which  (says  he)  fell  out  by  a  peale  of  chambers,  that 
I  know  not  on  what  occasion  were  to  be  used  in  the  play."  Ben 
Jonson,  in  his  Execration  upon  Vulcan,  says,  they  were  two  poor 
chambers.  [See  the  stage-direction  in  this  play,  a  little  before 
the  King's  entrance :  "  Drum  and  trumpet,  chambers  dis- 
charged."^ The  Continuator  of  Stowe's  Chronicle,  relating  the 
same  accident,  p.  1003,  says  expressly,  that  it  happened  at  the 
play  of  Henry  the  VHIth. 

In  a  MS.  Letter  of  Tho.  Lorkin  to  Sir  Tho.  Puckering,  dated 
London,  this  last  of  June,  1613,  the  same  fact  is  thus  related: 
"  No  longer  since  than  yesterday,  while  Bourbage  his  companie 
were  acting  at  the  Globe  the  play  of  Hen.  VIII,  and  there  shoot- 
ing of  certayne  chambers  in  way  of  triumph,  the  fire  catch'd," 
&c.  MS.  Harl.  7002.  TYRWHITT. 

I  have  followed  a  regulation  recommended  by  an  anonymous 
correspondent,  and  only  included  the  contested  line  in  a  paren- 
thesis, which  in  some  editions  was  placed  before  the  word  beside. 
Opinion,  I  believe,  means  here,  as  in  one  of  the  parts  of  King 
Henry  IV. character.  ["  Thou  hast  redeem'd  thy  lost  opinion." 
King  Henry  IV.  Part  I.  Vol.  XI.  p.  422.]  To  realize  and 
fulfil  the  expectations  formed  of  our  play,  is  now  our  object. 
This  sentiment  ( to  say  nothing  of  the  general  style  of  this  pro- 
logue) could  never  have  fallen  from  the  modest  Shakspeare. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  the  whole  prologue  was  written  by  Ben 
Jonson,  at  the  revival  of  the  play,  in  1613.  MALONE. 

4  Thejirst  and  happiest  hearers  of  the  toinm,~\  Were  it  neces- 
sary to  strengthen  Dr.  Johnson's  and  Dr.  Farmer's  supposition, 
(see  notes  on  the  epilogue,)  that  old  Ben,  not  Shakspeare,  was 
author  of  the  prologue  before  us,  we  might  observe,  that  happy 
appears,  in  the  present  instance,  to  have  been  used  with  one  of 
its  Roman  significations,  i.  e.  propitious  or  favourable :  "  Sis 
bonus  O,  felixquc  tuis !"  Virg.  Eel.  5.  a  sense  of  the  word 
which  must  have  been  unknown  to  Shakspeare,  but  was  familiar 
to  Jonson.  STEEVEXS. 


PROLOGUE.  7 

Be  sad,  as  we  would  make  ye  :  Think,  ye  see 
The  very  persons  of  our  noble  story,5 
As  they  were  living ;  think,  you  see  them  great, 
And  follow'd  with  the  general  throng,  and  sweat, 
Of  thousand  friends ;  then,  in  a  moment,  see 
How  soon  this  mightiness  meets  misery ! 
And,  if  you  can  be  merry  then,  I'll  say, 
A  man  may  weep  upon  his  wedding  day. 

*  • Think,  ye  see 

The  very  persons  of  our  nolle  story ,]  Why  the  rhyme 
should  have  been  interrupted  here,  when  it  was  so  easily  to  be 
supplied,  I  cannot  conceive.  It  can  only  be  accounted  for  from 
the  negligence  of  the  press,  or  the  transcribers  ;  and  therefore 
I  have  made  no  scruple  to  replace  it  thus : 
Think,  before  ye.  THEOBALD. 

This  is  specious,  but  the  laxity  of  the  versification  in  this  pro- 
logue, and  in  the  following  epilogue,  makes  it  not  necessary. 

JOHNSON. 

Mr.  Heath  would  read  : 

of  our  history.     STEEVENS. 

The  word  story  was  not  intended  to  make  a  double,  but  merely 
a  single  rhyme,  though,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  a  very  bad 
one,  the  last  syllable,  ry,  corresponding  in  sound  with  see.  I 
thought  Theobald  right,  till  I  observed  a  couplet  of  the  same 
kind  in  the  epilogue: 

"  For  this  play  at  this  time  is  only  in 
"  The  merciful  construction  of  good  women." 
In  order  to  preserve  the  rhyme,  the  accent  must  be  laid  on  the 
last  syllable  of  the  words  women  and  story. 

A  rhyme  of  the  same  kind  occurs  in  The  Knight  of  the  Burning 
Pestle,  where  Master  Humphrey  says: 

"  Till  both  of  us  arrive,  at  her  request, 

"  Some  ten  miles  oft'  in  the  wild  Waltham  forest." 

JM.  MASON'. 


PERSONS  REPRESENTED. 


King  Henry  the  Eighth. 

Cardinal  Wolsey.     Cardinal  Campeius. 

Capucius,  A mbassadorfrom  tlie  Emperor,  Charles  V. 

Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Duke  o/'Norfolk.     Duke  of  Buckingham. 

Duke  of  Suffolk.     Earl  of  Surrey. 

Lord  Chamberlain.     Lord  Chancellor. 

Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Win  Chester. 

Bishop  of  Lincoln.  ior</Abergavenny.  Z/ore?Sands. 

Sir  Henry  Guildford.     Sir  Thomas  Lovell. 

Sir  Anthony  Denny.     Sir  Nicholas  Vaux. 

Secretaries  to  Wolsey. 

Cromwell,  Servant  to  Wolsey. 

Griffith,  Gentleman-Usher  to  Queen  Katharine. 

Three  other  Gentlemen. 

Doctor  Butts,  Physician  to  the  King. 

Garter,  King  at  Arms. 

Surveyor  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham. 

Brandon,  and  a  Sergeant  at  Arms. 

Door-keeper  of  the  Council-Chamber.     Porter,  and 

his  Man. 
Page  to  Gardiner.     A  Crier. 

Queen  Katharine,  Wife  to  King  Henry,  afterwards 

divorced. 
Anne  Bullen,  her  Maid  of  Honour,  afterwards 

Queen. 

An  old  Lady,  Friend  to  Anne  Bullen. 
Patience,  Woman  to  Queen  Katharine. 

Several  Lords  and  Ladies  in  the  Dumb  Shows; 
Women  attending  upon  the  Queen ;  Spirits,  which 
appear  to  her;  Scribes,  Officers,  Guards,  and 
other  Attendants. 

SCENE,   chiefly   in   London   and  Westminster  j 
once,  at  Kimbolton. 


KING    HENRY  VIII. 


ACT  I.    SCENE  I. 

London.    An  Ante-chamber  in  the  Palace. 

Enter  the  Duke  of  NORFOLK,  at  one  Door;  at  the 
other,  the  Duke  of  BUCKINGHAM,  and  the  Lord 

ABERGAVENNY.1 

BUCK.  Good  morrow,  and  well  met.    How  have 

you  done, 
Since  last  we  saw  in  France  ? 

NOR.  I  thank  your  grace  : 

Healthful ;  and  ever  since  a  fresh  admirer2 
Of  what  I  saw  there. 

BUCK.  An  untimely  ague 

Stay'd  me  a  prisoner  in  my  chamber,  when 
Those  suns  of  glory,3  those  two  lights  of  men, 
Met  in  the  vale  of  Arde. 

1  Lord  Abrrrrarcnni/.~]  George  Nevill,  who  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Edward  Stafford,  Duke  of  Buckingham.  RKKD. 

8 a  fresh  admirer — ]      An  admirer  untired;  an  admirer 

still  feeling  the  impression  as  if  it  were  hourly  renewed. 

JOMN'SON. 

3  Those  suns  ofgloryt~\  That  is,  those  glorious  suns.  The 
editor  of  the  third  folio  plausibly  enough  reads — Those  sons  of 
glory  ;  and  indeed  as  in  old  English  books  the  two  words  are 
used  indiscriminately,  the  luminary  being  often  spelt  son,  it  L> 


10  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

NOR.  'Twixt  Guynes  and  Arde  :* 

I  was  then  present,  saw  them  salute  on  horseback ; 
Beheld  them,  when  they  lighted,  how  they  clung 
In  their  embracement,  as  they  grew  together;5 
Which  had  they, 

What  four  thron'd  ones  could  have  weigh'd 
Such  a  compounded  one  ? 

BUCK.  All  the  whole  time 

I  was  my  chamber's  prisoner. 

NOR.  Then  you  lost 

The  view  of  earthly  glory :  Men  might  say, 
Till  this  time,  pomp  was  single  ;  but  now  married 
To  one  above  itself.6     Each  following  day 

sometimes  difficult  to  determine  which  is  meant ;  sun,  or  son. 
However,  the  subsequent  part  of  the  line,  and  the  recurrence  of 
the  same  expression  afterwards,  are  in  favour  of  the  reading  of 
the  original  copy.  MALONE. 

Pope  has  borrowed  this  phrase  in  his  Imitation  of  Horace's 
Epistle  to  Augustus,  v.  22  : 

"  Those  suns  of  glory  please  not  till  they  set." 

STEEVENS. 

4 Guynes  and  Arde :]     Guynes   then   belonged  to   the 

English,  and  Arde  to  the  French;  they  are  towns  in  Picardy, 
and  the  valley  of  Ardren  lay  between  them.  Arde  is  Ardres, 
but  both  Hall  and  Holinshed  write  it  as  Shakspeare  does. 

REED. 

s as  they  grew  together;]     So,  in  All's  well  that  ends 

'well:  "  I  grow  to  you,  and  our  parting  is  as  a  tortured  body." 
Again,  in  A  Midsummer-Night's  Dream  :  "  So  we  grew  toge- 
ther." STEEVEXS. 

-as  they  grew  together;"]     That  is,  as  if  they  grew  toge- 


ther.    We  have  the  same  image  in  our  author's   Venus  and 
Adonis  : 

" a  sweet  embrace; 

"  Incorporate  then  they  seem ;  face  grows  to  face." 

MALONE. 

c  Till  this  time,  pomp  was  single  ;  but  now  married 

To  one  above  itself.~\     The  thought  is  odd  and  whimsical ; 
and  obscure  enough  to  need  an  explanation.  Till  this  time  (says 


sc.i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  11 

Became  the  next  day's  master,  till  the  last 
Made  former  wonders  it's:7  To-day,  the  French, 
All  clinquant,8  all  in  gold,  like  heathen  gods, 
Shone  down  the  English  ;  and,  to-morrow,  they 
Made  Britain,  India :  every  man,  that  stood, 
Show'd  like  a  mine.     Their  dwarfish  pages  were 
As  cherubins,  all  gilt :  the  madams  too, 
Not  us'd  to  toil,  did  almost  sweat  to  bear 
The  pride  upon  them,  that  their  very  labour 
Was  to  them  as  a  painting :  now  this  mask 
Was  cry'd  incomparable  ;  and  the  ensuing  night 
Made  it  a  fool,  and  beggar.     The  two  kings, 
Equal  in  lustre,  were  now  best,  now  worst, 

the  speaker)  pomp  led  a  single  life,  as  not  finding  a  husband 
able  to  support  her  according  to  her  dignity ;  but  she  has  now 
got  one  in  Henry  VIII.  who  could  support  her,  even  above  her 
condition,  in  finery.  WAHBURTON. 

Dr.  Warburton  has  here  discovered  more  beauty  than  the 
author  intended,  who  only  meant  to  say  in  a  noisy  periphrase, 
that  pomp  was  encreast'd  on  this  occasion  to  more  lhan  twice  as 
much  us  it  had  ever  been  before.  Pomp  is  no  more  married  to 
the  English  than  to  the  French  King,  for  to  neither  is  any  pre- 
ference given  by  the  speaker.  Pomp  is  only  married  to  pomp, 
but  the  new  pomp  is  greater  than  the  old.  JOHNSON*. 

Before  this  time  all  pompous  shows  v.'ere  exhibited  by  one 
prince  only.  On  this  occasion  the  Kings  of  England  and  1  ranee 
vied  with  each  other.  To  this  circumstance  Norfolk  alludes. 

31.  MASON. 

' Eachfolloiuing  day 

Became  the  next  day's  master,  &C.]  Dies  diem  docct. 
Every  day  learned  something  from  the  preceding,  till  the  con- 
cluding day  collected  all  the  splendor  of  all  the  former  shows. 

JOHNSON'. 

8  All  clinquant,]  All  glittering,  all  shining.  Clarendon  uses 
this  word  in  his  description  of  the  Spanish  Jitcgo  de  To  rot. 

JOHNSON. 

It  is  likewise  used  in  A  Memorable  Masque,  &c.  performed 
before  King  James  at  Whitehall  in  1G13,  at  the  marriage  of  the 
Palsgrave  and  Princess  Elizabeth  : 

" his  buskins  clinquant  as  his  other  attire." 

STEEVENS. 


12  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

As  presence  did  present  them  ;  him  in  eye, 
Still  him  in  praise  : 9  and,  being  present  both, 
'Twas  said,  they  saw  but  one ;  and  no  discerner 
Durst  wag  his  tongue  in  censure.1  When  these  suns 
(For  so  they  phrase  them,)  by  their  heralds  chal- 

leng'd 

The  noble  spirits  to  arms,  they  did  perform 
Beyond  thought's  compass ;  that  former  fabulous 

story, 

Being  now  seen  possible  enough,  got  credit, 
That  Bevis  was  believ'd.2 

BUCK.  O,  you  go  far. 

NOR.  As  I  belong  to  worship,  and  affect 
In  honour  honesty,  the  tract  of  every  thing3 
Would  by  a  good  discourser  lose  some  life, 
Which  action's  self  was  tongue  to.  All  was  royal;* 

9 him  in  eye. 

Still  him  in  praise:']      So,  Dryden  : 
"  Two  chiefs 

"  So  match'd,  as  each  seem'd  worthiest  when  alone." 

JOHNSON. 

1  Durst  tvag  his  tongue  in  censure.]      Censure  for  determina- 
tion, of  which  had  the  noblest  appearance.     WARBURTON. 

See  Vol.  IV.  p.  190,  n.  4.     MALONE. 

2  That  Bevis  turns  believed.']      The  old  romantick  legend  of 
Bevis  of  Southampton.    This  Bevis,  (or  Beavois,)  a  Saxon,  was 
for  his  prowess  created  by  William  the  Conqueror  Earl  of  South- 
ampton: of  whom  Camden  in  his  Britannia.     THEOBALD. 

3 the  tract  of  every  thing  &c.]     The  course  of  these 

triumphs  and  pleasures,  however  well  related,  must  lose  in  the 
description  part  of  that  spirit  and  energy  which  were  expressed 
in  the  real  action.  JOHNSON. 

4 All  voas  royal;  &c.]     This  speech  was  given  in  all  the 

editions  to  Buckingham  ;  but  improperly ;  for  he  wanted  infor- 
mation, having  kept  his  chamber  during  the  solemnity.  I  have 
therefore  given  it  to  Norfolk.  WARBURTON. 

The  regulation  had  already  been  made  by  Mr.  Theobald. 

MALONE. 


sc.  J.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  13 

To  the  disposing  of  it  nought  rebell'd, 
Order  gave  each  thing  view ;  the  office  did 
Distinctly  his  full  function.5 

BUCK.  Who  did  guide, 

I  mean,  who  set  the  body  and  the  limbs 
Of  this  great  sport  together,  as  you  guess  ? 

NOR.  One,  certes,6  that  promises  no  element7 
In  such  a  business. 

BUCK.  I  pray  you,  who,  my  lord? 

NOR.  All  this  was  ordcr'd  by  the  good  discretion 
Of  the  right  reverend  cardinal  of  York. 

BUCK.  The  devil  speed  him !  no  man's  pie  is 

free'd 

From  his  ambitious  finger.8  What  had  he 
To  do  in  these  fierce  vanities?9  I  wonder, 

* the  office  did 

Distinctly  his  full  function."]  The  commission  for  regulating 
this  festivity  was  well  executed,  and  gave  exactly  to  every  parti- 
cular person  and  action  the  proper  place.  JOHNSON. 

5 cerfes,~\     An  obsolete  adverb,  signifying — certainly,  in 

truth.     So,  in  The  Tempest: 

"  For,  certes,  these  are  people  of  the  island." 
It  occurs  again  in  Othello,  Act  I.  sc.  i. 

It  is  remarkable,  that,  in  the  present  instance,  the  adverb 
certes  must  be  sounded  as  a  monosyllable.  It  is  well  understood 
that  old  lien  had  no  skill  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  French 
language;  and  the  scene  before  us  appears  to  have  had  some 
touches  from  his  pen.  By  genuine  Shakspeare  ccrtcs  is  con- 
stantly employed  as  a  dissyllable.  STEEVENS. 

~ clement — ]      No  initiation,  no  previous  practices.   F.ls- 

ments  are  the  first  principles  of  things,  or  rudiments  of  know- 
ledge. The  word  is  here  applied,  not  without  a  catachrcsit,  to  a 
person.  JOHNSON. 


no  man^s  pie  is  free'd 


From  his  ambitious  Jin<re.r.~\     To  have  a  finger  in  the  pie,  is 
a  proverbial  phrase.     See  Hay,  214.     REED. 

" fierce  vanities?']     Fierce   is   here,  I   think,   used  like 


14  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

That  such  a  keech l  can  with  his  very  bulk 
Take  up  the  rays  o'the  beneficial  sun, 
And  keep  it  from  the  earth. 

NOR.  Surely,  sir, 

There's  in  him  stuff  that  puts  him  to  these  ends : 
For,  being  not  propp'd  by  ancestry,  (whose  grace 
Chalks  successors  their  way,)  nor  call'd  upon 
For  high  feats  done  to  the  crown ;  neither  allied 
To  eminent  assistants,  but,  spider-like, 
Out  of  his  self-drawing  web,y  he  gives  us  note,5 
The  force  of  his  own  merit  makes  his  way ; 
A  gift  that  heaven  gives  for  him,  which  buys 
A  place  next  to  the  king.4 

the  French  fier  for  proud,  unless  we  suppose  an  allusion  to  the 
mimical  ferocity  of  the  combatants  in  the  tilt.     JOHNSON. 

It  is  certainly  used  as  the  French  wordier.  So,  in  Ben 
Jonson's  Bartholomew  Fair,  the  puritan  says,  the  hobby  horse 
"  is  a. fierce  and  rank  idol.'*  STEEVENS. 

Again,  in  The  Rape  of  Lucrece : 

"  Thy  violent  vanities  can  never  last.'* 
In  Timon  of  Athens ,  we  have — 

"  O  thejierce  wretchedness  that  glory  brings !" 

MA  LONE. 

1  That  such  a  keech — ]     A  keech  is  a  solid  lump  or  mass.   A 
cake  of  wax  or  tallow  formed  in  a  mould,  is  called  yet  in  some 
places,  a  keech.     JOHNSON. 

There  may,  perhaps,  be  a  singular  propriety  in  this  term  of 
contempt.  Wotseij  was  the  son  of  a  butcher,  and  in  The  Second 
Part  of  King  Henry  IV.  a.  butcher's  wife  is  called — Goody 

Keech.     STEEVENS. 

2  Out  of  his  se^drawing  'web,']     Thus  it  stands  in  the  first 
edition.      The  latter   editors,  by  injudicious  correction,  have 
printed : 

Out  of  his  self-drawn  lucb.     JOHNSON. 

' he  gives  us  notc,~]  Old  copy — O  gives  us  &c.  Cor- 
rected by  Mr.  Steevens.  MALONE. 

'  -^  Sift  that  heaven  gives  for  him,  which  buys 

A  place  next  to  the  king.']     It  is  evident  a  word  or  two  in 
the  sentence  is  misplaced,  and  that  we  should  read  : 


ac.  /.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  15 

ABER.  I  cannot  tell 

What  heaven  hath  given  him,  let  some  graver  eye 
Pierce  into  that ;  but  I  can  see  his  pride 
Peep  through  each  part  of  him : 5  Whence  has  he 

that  ? 

If  not  from  hell,  the  devil  is  a  niggard ; 
Or  has  given  all  before,  and  he  begins 
A  new  hell  in  himself. 

BUCK.  Why  the  devil, 

Upon  this  French  going-out,  took  he  upon  him, 
Without  the  privity  o*  the  king,  to  appoint 
Who  should  attend  on  him  ?  He  makes  up  the  file6 
Of  all  the  gentry ;  for  the  most  part  such 

A  gift  that  heaven  gives  ;  "which  buys  for  him. 
A  place  next  to  the  king.     WARBUKTON. 

It  is  full  as  likely  that  Shakspeare  wrote: 

gives  to  him, 

which  will  save  any  greater  alteration.     JOHNSON. 

I  am  too  dull  to  perceive  the  necessity  of  any  change.  What 
he  is  unable  to  give  himself,  heaven  gives  or  deposits^/br  him, 
and  that  gift,  or  deposit,  buys  a  place,  <S:c.  STEEVENS. 

I  agree  with  Johnson  that  we  should  read : 

A  gift  that  heaven  gives  to  him: 
for  Abergavenny  says  in  reply, 

"  I  cannot  tell 

"  What  heaven  hath  given  him  ;" 

which  confirms  the  justness  of  this  amendment.  I  should  other- 
wise have  thought  Steevens's  explanation  right.     M.  MASON. 

5 /  can  sec  his  pride 

Peep   through  each  part    of   him  :]      So,    in    Troilus  and 
Cressida  .- 

" her  wanton  spirits  look  out 

"  At  every  joint  and  motive  of  her  body."     STEEVENS. 

—  the  fie— ]     That  is,  the  list.     JOHNSON*. 

So,  in  Measure  for  Measure:  "  The  greater  j^/e  of  the  subject 
held  the  duke  for  wise."  Again,  in  Macbeth : 

" 1  have  i\Jile 

"  Of  all  the  gentry ."     STEEVENS. 


16  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

Too,  whom  as  great  a  charge  as  little  honour 
He  meant  to  lay  upon  :  and  his  own  letter, 
The  honourable  board  of  council  out,7 
Must  fetch  him  in  he  papers.8 

ABER.  I  do  know 

Kinsmen  of  mine,  three  at  the  least,  that  have 
By  this  so  sicken'd  their  estates,  that  never 
They  shall  abound  as  formerly. 

BUCK.  O,  many 

Have  broke  their  backs  with  laying  manors  on  them 
For  this  great  journey.9  What  did  this  vanity, 

7 council  out,"]     Council  not  then  sitting.     JOHNSON. 

The  expression  rather  means,  "  all  mention  of  the  board  of 
council  being  left  out  of  his  letter."  STEEVENS. 

That  is,  left  out,  omitted,  unnoticed,  unconsulted  with. 

HITSON. 

It  appears  from  Holinshed,  that  this  expression  is  rightly  ex- 
plained by  Mr.  Pope  in  the  next  note:  without  the  concurrence 
of  the  council.  "  The  peers  of  the  realme  receiving  letters  to 
prepare  themselves  to  attend  the  king  in  this  journey,  and  rio 
apparent  necessarie  cause  expressed,  why  or  wherefore,  seemed 
to  grudge  that  such  a  costly  journey  should  be  taken  in  hand — 
"without  consent  of  the  whole  boards  of  the  Counsaille." 

MALONE. 

8  Must  fetch  him   in   he  papers.]     He  papers,  a  verb ;  his 
own  letter,  by  his  own  single  authority,  and  without  the  con- 
currence of  the  council,  must  fetch  him  in  whom  he  papers 
down. — I  don't  understand  it,  unless  this  be  the  meaning. 

POPE. 

Wolsey  published  a  list  of  the  several  persons  whom  he  had 
appointed  to  attend  on  the  King  at  this  interview.  See  Hall's 
Chronicle,  Rymer's  Fcedera,  Tom.  XIII.  &c.  STEEVENS. 

9  Have  broke  their  backs  with  laying  manors  on  them 

For  this  great  journey. ~\  In  the  ancient  Interlude  (tfNaiurct 
bl.  1.  no  date,  but  apparently  printed  in  the  reign  of  King 
Henry  VIII.  there  seems  to  have  been  a  similar  stroke  aimed 
at  this  expensive  expedition: 

"  Prydc.  1  am  unhappy,  I  se  it  well, 

"  For  the  expence  ofmyne  apparcll 


sc.i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  17 

But  minister  communication  of 
A  most  poor  issue  ?' 

NOR.  Grievingly  I  think, 

The  peace  between  the  French  and  us  not  values 
The  cost  that  did  conclude  it. 

BUCK.  Every  man, 

After  the  hideous  storm  that  follow'd,2  was 


"  Towardys  this  vyage — 
"  What  in  horses  and  other  aray 
"  Hath  compelled  me  for  to  lay 
"  All  my  land  to  mortgage." 

Chapman  has  introduced  the  same  idea  into  his  version  of  the 
second  Iliad  : 

"  Proud-girle-like,  that  doth  ever  bcare  her  dowre  upon 
her  backc"     STEEVENS. 

So,  in  King  John  : 

"  Hash,  inconsiderate,  fiery  voluntaries, 
"  Have  sold  their  fortunes  at  their  native  homes, 
"  Bearing  their  birth-rights  proudly  on  their  backs, 
"  To  make  a  hazard  of  new  fortunes  here." 
Again,   in  Camden's  Remains,  1605  :  "  There  was  a  noble- 
man merrily  conceited,  and  riotously  given,  that  having  lately 
sold  a  manner  of  an  hundred  tenements,  came  ruffling  into  the 
court,  saying,  am  not  I  a  mighty  man,  that  beare  an  hundred 
houses  on  my  backe?"     MALONE. 

See  also  Dodsley's  Collection  of  Old  Flays,  edit.  1780,  Vol.  V. 
p.  26  ;  Vol.  XII.  p.  395.  REED. 

So  also  Burton,  in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy :  "  'Tis  an 
ordinary  thing  to  put  a  thousand  oakes,  or  an  hundred  oxen, 
into  a  sute  of  apparell,  to  \veare  a  whole  manor  on  his  back." 
Edit.  1631,  p.  -182.  Wn  ALLEY. 

1    U'hat  did  this  reality, 

lint  minister  t'vc.]     What  elicit   had  this  pompous  show, 
but  the  production  ot' a  wretched  conclusion.     JOHNSON. 

*  F.vcn/  man, 

After  the  hideous  storm  thai  fulloiv'd,  itc.]  From  Holin- 
shed:  "  Monday  the  xviii.  of  .Imuv  was  such  an  hideous  stonne 
of  wind  ;uul  wi'athiT,  that  many  conjectured  it  did  prognosticate 
trouble  and  hatred  shortly  alter  to  follow  between  princes. "- 
Dr.  \\arburton  has  (|iiotctl  n  .similar  passage  from  Hall,  whom 
vol..  XV.  <; 


18  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

A  thing  inspir'd ;  and,  not  consulting,  broke 
Into  a  general  prophecy, — That  this  tempest, 
Dashing  the  garment  of  this  peace,  aboded 
The  sudden  breach  on't. 

NOR.  Which  is  budded  out ; 

For  France  hath  flaw'd  theleague,and  hathattach'd 
Our  merchants'  goods  at  Bourdeaux. 

ABER.  Is  it  therefore 

The  ambassador  is  silenc'd  ?3 

NOR.  Marry,  is't. 

ABER.  A  proper  title  of  a  peace  ;4  and  purchas'd 
At  a  superfluous  rate  ! 

BUCK.  Why,  all  this  business 

Our  reverend  cardinal  carried.5 

NOR.  'Like  it  your  grace, 

he  calls  Shakspeare's  author ;  but  Holinshed,  and  not  Hall,  was 
his  author  :  as  is  proved  here  by  the  words  which  I  have  printed 
in  Italicks,  which  are  not  found  so  combined  in  Hall's  Chronicle. 
This  fact  is  indeed  proved  by  various  circumstances.  MALONE. 

3  The  ambassador  is  silenc'd  ?]      Silenc'd  for  recalled.     This 
being  proper  to  be  said  of  an  orator;  and  an  ambassador  or 
publick  minister  being  called  an  orator,  he  applies  silenc'd  to  an 
ambassador.     WARBURTON. 

I  understand  it  rather  of  the  French  ambassador  residing  in 
England,  who,  by  being  refused  an  audience,  may  be  said  to  be 
silenc'd.  JOHNSON. 

4  A  proper  title  of  a  peace ;]     A  fine  name  of  a  peace. 
Ironically.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Macbeth  : 

"  O  proper  stuff! 

"  This  is  the  very  painting  of  your  fear.'*     STEEVENS. 

3  this  business 

Our  reverend  cardinal  carricd.~\  To  carry  a  business  was 
at  this  time  a  current  phrase  for  to  conduct  or  manage  it.  So, 
in  this  Act: 

" he'd  carry  it  so, 

'*  To  make  the  scepter  his."     REED, 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  19 

The  state  takes  notice  of  the  private  difference 
Betwixt  you  and  the  cardinal.     I  advise  you, 
(And  take  it  from  a  heart  that  wishes  towards  you 
Honour  and  plenteous  safety,)  that  you  read 
The  cardinal's  malice  and  his  potency 
Together :  to  consider  further,  that 
What  his  high  hatred  would  effect,  wants  not 
A  minister  in  his  power :  You  know  his  nature, 
That  he's  revengeful ;  and  I  know,  his  sword 
Hath  a  sharp  edge  :  it's  long,  and,  it  may  be  said, 
It  reaches  far ;  and  where  'twill  not  extend, 
Thither  he  darts  it.     Bosom  up  my  counsel, 
You'll  find  it  wholesome.     Lo,  where  comes  that 

rock,6 
That  I  advise  your  shunning. 


Enter  Cardinal  WOLSEY,  (the  Purse  borne  before 
him,}  certain  of  the  Guard,  and  two  Secretaries 
tvith  Papers.  The  Cardinal  in  his  Passagejixeth 
his  Eye  on  BUCKINGHAM,  and  BUCKINGHAM  on 
him,  both  full  of  Disdain. 

WOL.  The  duke  of  Buckingham's  surveyor  ?  ha  ? 
Where's  his  examination  ? 

1  SECR.  Here,  so  please  you. 

WOL.  Is  he  in  person  ready  ? 

1  SECR.  Ay,  please  your  grace. 

W<JL.   Well,   we   shall  then  know  more ;   and 

Buckingham 
Shall  lessen  this  big  look. 

{Exeunt  WOLSEY,  and  Train. 

"  comes  that  rockt~]     To  make  the  rock  come,  is  not  very 

just.     JOHNSON. 

c  '2 


20  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  /. 

BUCK.  This  butcher's  cur7  is  venom-mouth'd, 

and  I 

Have  not  the  power  to  muzzle  him  ;  therefore,  best 
Not  wake  him  in  his  slumber.     A  beggar's  book 
Out-worths  a  noble's  blood.8 

NOR.  What,  are  you  chaf  *d  ? 

Ask  God  for  temperance ;  that's  the  appliance  only, 
Which  your  disease  requires. 

BUCK.  I  read  in  his  looks 

Matter  against  me  ;  and  his  eye  revil'd 
Me,  as  his  abject  object :  at  this  instant 
He  bores  me  with  some  trick  :9  He's  gone  to  the 

king; 
I'll  follow,  and  out-stare  him. 

NOR.  Stay,  my  lord, 

7  butcher's  cur — 3     Wolsey  is  said  to  have  been  the  son 

of  a  butcher.     JOHNSON. 

Dr.  Grey  observes,  that  when  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham was  reported  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  he  said,  "  The 
first  buck  of  England  was  worried  to  death  by  a  butcher's  dog." 
Skelton,  whose  satire  is  of  the  grossest  kind,  in  Why  come  you 
not  to  Court,  has  the  same  reflection  on  the  meanness  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey's  birth  : 

"  For  drede  of  the  bouchcr's  dog, 

"  Wold  wirry  them  like  an  hog."     STEEVENS. 

8  A  beggar's  book 

Out-icorths  a  noble's  blood.~]  That  is,  the  literary  qualifi- 
cations of  a  bookish  beggar  are  more  prized  than  the  high  descent 
of  hereditary  greatness.  This  is  a  contemptuous  exclamation 
very  naturally  put  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  ancient,  unlet- 
tered, martial  nobility.  JOHNSON. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  the  speaker  is  afterward  pro- 
nounced by  the  King  himself  a  learned  gentleman.  RITSON. 

9  He  bores  me  icilh  some  trick  :~]      He  stabs  or  wounds  me 
by  some  artifice  or  fiction.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  The  Life  and  Death  of  Lord  Cromive//,  1G02: 

"  One  that  hath  gull'd  you,  that  hath  bor'd  you,  sir.*' 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII. 

And  let  your  reason  with  your  choler  question 
What  'tis  you  go  about :  To  climb  steep  hills, 
Requires  slow  pace  at  first :  Anger  is  like 
A  full-hot  horse  ; !  who  being  allow'd  his  way, 
Self-mettle  tires  him.     Not  a  man  in  England 
Can  advise  me  like  you :  be  to  yourself 
As  you  would  to  your  friend. 

BUCK.  I'll  to  the  king ; 

And  from  a  mouth  of  honour2  quite  cry  down 
This  Ipswich  fellow's  insolence  ;  or  proclaim, 
There's  difference  in  no  persons. 

NOR.  Be  advis'd ; 

Heat  not  a  furnace  for  your  foe  so  hot 
That  it  do  singe  yourself:3  We  may  outrun, 
By  violent  swiftness,  that  which  we  run  at, 
And  lose  by  over-running.     Know  you  not, 
The  fire,  that  mounts  the  liquor  till  it  run  o'er, 
In  seeming  to  augment  it,  wastes  it  ?   Be  advis'd: 
I  say  again,  there  is  no  English  soul 
More  stronger  to  direct  you  than  yourself; 
If  with  the  sap  of  reason  you  would  quench, 

1  Anger  is  like 

A  full-hot  horse  ;~\      So,    Massinger,    in    The    Unnatural 
Combat  : 

"  Let  passion  work,  and,  like  a  hot-rein'd  horsp, 
"  'Twill  quickly  tire  itself."     STEEVEXS. 

Again,  in  our  author's  Rape  of  Lucrece : 

"  Till,  like  ujade,  self-mil  himself  doth  tire." 

MALONE. 

-from  a  mouth  of  honour — ]      I  will  crush  this  base- 


born  fellow,  by  the  due  influence  of  my  rank,  or  say  that  all 
distinction  of  persons  is  at  an  end.     JOHNSON. 

'  I  leal  not  <i  furnace  &c.]  Might  not  Shakspeare  allude  to 
Dan.  iii.  '2'2.  ?  "  Therefore  because  the  king's  commandment 
was  urgent,  and  the  furnace  exceeding  hot,  the  fiame  of  lire 
>le\v  those  men  that  took  up  Shadrach,  Mcs/iac,  and  Abednego" 

STEEVEXS. 


22  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

Or  but  allay,  the  fire  of  passion.* 

BUCK.  Sir, 

I  am  thankful  to  you  ;  and  I'll  go  along 
By  your  prescription  : — but  this  top-proud  fellow, 
(Whom  from  the  flow  of  gall  I  name  not,  but 
From  sincere  motions,5)  by  intelligence, 
And  proofs  as  clear  as  founts  in  July,  when 
We  see  each  grain  of  gravel,  I  do  know 
To  be  corrupt  and  treasonous. 

NOR.  Say  not,  treasonous. 

BUCK.   To  the  king  I'll  say't ;   and  make  my 

vouch  as  strong 

As  shore  of  rock.     Attend.     This  holy  fox, 
Or  wolf,  or  both,  (for  he  is  equal  ravenous,6 
As  he  is  subtle  ;  and  as  prone  to  mischief, 
As  able  to  perform  it :  his  mind  and  place 
Infecting  one  another,7  yea,  reciprocally,) 
Only  to  show  his  pomp  as  well  in  France 
As  here  at  home,  suggests  the  king  our  master8 

4  If  with  the  sap  of  reason  you  ivould  quench, 

Or  but  allay,  thejire  of  passion,']      So,  in  Hamlet : 
"  Upon  the  heat  and  flame  of  thy  distemper 
"  Sprinkle  cool  patience."     STEEVENS. 

5  sincere   motions, )  ]       Honest  indignation,   warmth  of 

integrity.     Perhaps  name  not,  should  be  blame  not. 

Whom  from  thejtow  of  gall  I  blame  not.     JOHNSON. 

6  for  he  is  equal  ravenous,']     Equal  for  equally.     Shak- 

speare  frequently  uses  adjectives  adverbially.     See  King  John, 
Vol.  X.  p.  523,  n.  4.     MALONE. 

7  his  mind  and  place 

Infecting  one  another,']  This  is  very  satirical.  His  mind  he 
represents  as  highly  corrupt ;  and  yet  he  supposes  the  contagion 
of  the  place  of  first  minister  as  adding  an  infection  to  it. 

WARBURTON. 

8  suggests  the  king  our  master — ]   Suggests,  for  excites. 

WARBURTON. 
So,  in  King  Richard  II  : 

his  soon-believing  adversaries."     STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  as 

To  this  last  costly  treaty,  the  interview, 

That  swallow'd  so  much  treasure,  and  like  a  glass 

Did  break  i'  the  rinsing. 

NOR.  'Faith,  and  so  it  did. 

BUCK.  Pray,  give  me  favour,  sir.     This  cunning 

cardinal 

The  articles  o'the  combination  drew, 
As  himself  pleas'd;  and  they  were  ratified, 
As  he  cried,  Thus  let  be :  to  as  much  end, 
As  give  a  crutch  to  the  dead:  But  our  count-car- 
dinal9 

Has  done  this,  and  'tis  well ;  for  worthy  Wolsey, 
Who  cannot  err,  he  did  it.     Now  this  follows, 
(Which,  as  I  take  it,  is  a  kind  of  puppy 
To  the  old  dam,  treason,) — Charles  the  emperor, 
Under  pretence  to  see  the  queen  his  aunt, 
(For  'twas,  indeed,  his  colour;  but  he  came 
To  whisper  Wolsey,)  here  makes  visitation : 
His  fears  were,  that  the  interview,  betwixt 
England  and  France,  might,  through  their  amity, 
Breed  him  some  prejudice;  for  from  this  league 
Peep'd  harms  that  menac'd  him  :   He  privily1 
Deals  with  our  cardinal ;   and,  as  I  trow, — 
Which  I  do  well ;  for,  I  am  sure,  the  emperor 
Paid  ere  he  promis'd ;  whereby  his  suit  was  granted, 
Ere  it  was  ask'd  ; — but  when  the  way  was  made, 
And  pav'd  with  gold,  the  emperor  thus  desir'd  ; — 
That  lie  would  please  to  alter  the  king's  course, 
And  break  the  foresuid  peace.     Let  the  king  know, 
(As  soon  he  shall  by  me,)  that  thus  the  cardinal 

—  our  count-cardinal — ]  Wolsey  is  afterwards  called 
king  cardinal.  Mr.  Pope  and  the  subsequent  editors  read — 
court -cardinal.  MA  LONE. 

1  He  pr'rcil'/ — ]      //.••,  which  is  not  in  the  original  copy, 

was  added  by  the  editor  of  the  second  folio.     M ALONE. 


24  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

Does  buy  and  sell  his  honour  as  he  pleases,2 
And  for  his  own  advantage. 

NOR.  I  am  sorry 

To  hear  this  of  him  ;  and  could  wish,  he  were 
Something  mistaken  in't.3 

BUCK.  No,  not  a  syllable  ; 

I  do  pronounce  him  in  that  very  shape, 
He  shall  appear  in  proof. 

Enter  BRANDON  ;  a  Sergeant  at  Arms  before  him, 
and  two  or  three  of  the  Guard. 

BRAN.  Your  office,  sergeant ;  execute  it. 

SERG.  Sir, 

My  lord  the  duke  of  Buckingham,  and  earl 
Of  Hereford,  Stafford,  and  Northampton,  I 
Arrest  thee  of  high  treason,  in  the  name 
Of  our  most  sovereign  king. 

BUCK.  Lo  you,  my  lord, 

The  net  has  falPn  upon  me ;  I  shall  perish 
Under  device  and  practice.4 

2  •  thus  the  cardinal 

Does  buy  and  sell  his  honour  as  he  pleases,']     This  was  a 
proverbial  expression.     See  King  Richard  III.  Act  V.  sc.  iii. 

MALONE, 
The  same  phrase  occurs  also  in  King  Henry  VI.  Part  I : 

" from  bought  and  sold  lord  Talbot." 

Again,  in  The  Comedy  of  Errors  :  "  It  would  make  a  man  as 
mad  as  a  buck,  to  be  so  bought  and  sold."     STEKVENS. 

3  he  were 

Something  mistaken  in't.']     That  is,  that  he  were  something 
different  from  what  he  is  taken  or  supposed  by  you  to  be. 

MALONE. 

4  practice.^     i.  e.    unfair    stratagem.      So,    in    Ol 'hello , 

ActV:    J 

"  Fallen  in  the  practice  of  a  cursed  slave." 
And  in  this  play,  Surrey,  speaking  of  Wolsey,  says : 
"  How  came  his  practices  to  light  ?"     HEED. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  25 

BRAN.  I  am  sorry 

To  see  you  ta'en  from  liberty,  to  look  on 
The  business  present  :r>  'Tis  his  highness'  pleasure, 
You  shall  to  the  Tower. 

BUCK.  It  will  help  me  nothing, 

To  plead  mine  innocence ;  for  that  die  is  on  me, 
Which  makes  my  whitest  part  black.     The  will  of 

heaven 

Be  done  in  this  and  all  things ! — I  obey. — 
O  my  lord  Aberga'ny,  fare  you  well. 

BRAN.  Nay,  he  must  bear  you  company: — The 
king  [To  ABERGAVENNY. 

Is  pleas'd,  you  shall  to  the  Tower,  till  you  know 
How  lie  determines  further. 

ASER.  As  the  duke  said 

The  will  of  heaven  be  done,  and  the  king's  pleasure 
By  me  obey'd. 

BRAN.  Here  is  a  warrant  from 

The  king,  to  attach  lordMontacute;6  and  thcbodies 
Of  the  duke's  confessor,  John  do  la  Court,7 
One  Gilbert  Peck,  his  chancellor,1" — 

5  I  am  sorry 

To  see  you  ta'en  from  liberty,  to  look  on 
The  business  present .-]     I  am  sorry  that  I  am  obliged  to  be 
present  and  an  eye-witness  of  your  loss  of  liberty.     JOHNSON'. 

''  lord  Mont  acute  ;]    This  was  Henry  Pole,  grandson  to 

George  Duke  of  Clarence,  and  eldest  brother  to  Cardinal  Pole. 
He  had  married  the  Lord  Abergavennv's  daughter.  lie  was 
restored  to  favour  at  this  juncture,  but  was  afterwards  executed 
for  another  treason  in  this  reign.  KKI:D. 

—  John  de  la  Court, ~\  The  name  of  this  monk  of  the 
Chartreux  was  John  de.  la  Car,  alias  de  la  Court.  See  Holin- 
shed,  p.  8M.  STKKVKNS. 

b  One  Ciilbert  Peck,  his  chancellor,]  The  old  copies  have 
it — his  coiin.se/lor ;  but  I,  from  the  authorities  of  Hall  and  Ho- 
linshed,  changed  it  to  chancellor.  And  our  poet  himself,  in  tilt- 
beginning  of  the  second  Act,  vouches  for  this  correction  : 


26  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  z. 

BUCK.  So,  so ; 

These  are  the  limbs  of  the  plot :  No  more,  I  hope. 

BRAN.  A  monk  o'  the  Chartreux. 

BUCK.  O,  Nicholas  Hopkins?9 

BRAN.  He. 

BUCK.  My  surveyor  is  false ;  the  o'er-great  car- 
dinal 

Hath  show'd  him  gold:  my  life  is  spann'd  already:1 
I  am  the  shadow  of  poor  Buckingham  ; 2 
Whose  figure  even  this  instant  cloud  puts  on, 
By  dark'ning  my  clear  sun.3 — My  lord,  farewell. 

\_Exeunt. 

"  At  which,  appear'd  against  him  his  surveyor, 
"  Sir  Gilbert  Peck,  his  chancellor."     THEOBALD. 

I  believe  [in  the  former  instance]  the  author  wrote — And 
Gilbert  &c.  MALONE. 

9  — —  Nicholas  Hopkins?"]  The  old  copy  has — Michael 
Hopkins.  Mr.  Theobald  made  the  emendation,  conformably 
to  the  Chronicle :  "  Nicholas  Hopkins,  a  monk  of  an  house  of 
the  Chartreux  order,  beside  Bristow,  called  Henton."  In  the 
MS.  Nich.  only  was  probably  set  down,  and  mistaken  for  Mich. 

MALONE. 

1  my  life  is  spann'd  already  „•]     To  span  is  to  gripe,  or 

inclose  in  the  hand  ;  to  span  is  also  to  measure  by  the  palm  and 
fingers.  The  meaning,  therefore,  may  either  be,  that  hold  is 
taken  of  my  life,  my  life  is  in  the  gripe  of  my  enemies  ;  or,  that 
my  time  is  measured,  the  length  of  my  life  is  now  determined. 

JOHNSON. 

Man's  life,  in  scripture,  is  said  to  be  but  a  span  long.  Pro- 
bably, therefore,  it  means,  when  'tis  spann'd  'tis  ended. 

REED. 

z  I  am  the  shadow  of  poor  Buckingham  ;~\  So,  in  the  old 
play  of  King  Leir,  1605  : 

"  And  think  me  but  the  shadow  of  myself." 

J     J    •*          c> 

STEEVENS. 

J  I  am  the  shadow  of  poor  Buckingham  ; 
Whose  figure  even  this  instant  cloud  puts  on, 
By  dark'ning  my  clear  sun.']     These  lines  have  passed  all 
the  editors.     Does  the  reader  understand  them  ?     By  me  they 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  27 

SCENE  II. 

The  Council-Chamber, 

Cornets.  Enter  King  HENRY,  Cardinal  WOLSEY, 
the  Lords  of  the  Council,  Sir  THOMAS  LOVELL, 
Officers,  and  Attendants.  The  King  enters  lean- 
in":  on  the  Cardinal 's  Shoulder. 


\- 


K.  HEN.  My  life  itself,  and  the  best  heart  of  it,4 
Thanks  you  for  this  great  care  :  I  stood  i'  the  level 

are  inexplicable,  and  must  be  left,  I  fear,  to  some  happier  saga- 
city. It'tbe  usage  of  our  author's  time  could  allow  Jigure  to  be 
taken,  as  now,  for  dignity  or  importance,  we  might  read : 

Whose  Jigure  even  this  instant  cloud  puts  out. 
But  I  cannot  please  myself  with  any  conjecture. 

Another  explanation  may  be  given,  somewhat  harsh,  but  the 
best  that  occurs  to  me : 

/  am  the  shadow  of  poor  Buckingham, 

Whose  figure  even  this  instant  cloud  puts  on, 
whose  port  and  dignity  is  assumed  by  the  Cardinal,  that  over- 
clouds and  oppresses  me,  and  who  gains  my  place 

By  darkening  my  clear  sun.     JOHNSON. 

Perhaps  Shakspeare  has  expressed  the  same  idea  more  clearly 

in  The  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  and 

King  John  : 

"  O,  how  this  spring  of  love  resembletll 

"  Th'  uncertain  glory  of  an  April  day, 

"  Which  now  shows  all  the  beauty  of  the  sun, 

"  And,  by  and  by,  a  cloud  takes  all  away." 

Antony,  remarking  on  the  various  appearances  assumed  by  the 

flying  vapours,  adds : 

" now  thy  captain  is 

"  Even  such  a  body  :  here  I  am  Antony, 

"  But  cannot  hold  this  visible  shape,  my  knave." 

Or,  yet  more  appositely,  in  King  John  : 

" being  but  the  shadow  of  your  son 

"  Becomes  a  sun,  and  makes  your  son  a  shadow." 


28  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

Of  a  full-charg'd  confederacy,5  and  give  thanks 
To  you  that  chok'd  it. — Let  be  calPd  before  us 

Such  another  thought  occurs  in  The  famous  History  of  Thomas 
Stukely,  1605: 

"  He  is  the  substance  of  my  shadoivcd  love." 
There  is  likewise  a  passage  similar  to  the  conclusion  of  this, 
in  Rollo,  or  the  Bloody  Brother,  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher : 

" is  drawn  so  high,  that,  like  an  ominous  comet, 

"  He  darkens  a/I  your  light." 

We  might,  however,  read — pouts  on  ;  i.  e.  looks  gloomily 
upon.  So,  in  Coriolanus,  Act  V.  sc.  i: 

" then 

"  Vfe  pout  upon  the  morning,  are  unapt 

"  To  give,  or  to  forgive." 
Again,  in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Act  III.  sc.  iii: 

"  Thou  pout'st  upon  thy  fortune  and  thy  love." 
Wolsey  could  only  reach  Buckingham  through  the  medium  of 
the  King's  power.  The  Duke  therefore  compares  the  Cardinal 
to  a  cloud,  which  intercepts  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  throws  a 
gloom  over  the  object  beneath  it.  "  I  am  (says  he)  but  the 
shadow  of  poor  Buckingham,  on  whose  figure  this  impending 
cloud  looks  gloomy,  having  got  between  me  and  the  sunshine  of 
royal  favour." 

Our  poet  has  introduced  a  somewhat  similar  idea  in  Mitch 
Ado  about  Nothing: 

"  the  pleached  bower, 

"  Where  honeysuckles,  ripen'd  by  the  sun, 

"  Forbid  the  sun  to  enter  ; — like  favourites 

"  Made  proud  by  princes ." 

To  pout  is  at  this  time  a  phrase  descriptive  only  of  infantine 
sullenness,  but  might  anciently  have  had  a  more  consequential 
meaning. 

I  should  wish,  however,  instead  of 

By  darkening  my  clear  sun, 
to  read — 

Re-dark1  ning  my  clear  sun. 
So,  in  The  Tempest  : 

"  I  have  iodimm'd 

"  The  noontide  sun."     STEEVJCXS. 

The  following  passage  in  Greene's  Dorastus  and  Faivnia, 
1588,  (a  book  which  Shakspeare  certainly  had  read,)  adds  sup- 
port to  Dr.  Johnson's  conjecture :  "  Fortune,  envious  of  such 
happy  successe, — turned  her  wheele,  and  darkened  their  briy.li1 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  29 

That  gentleman  of  Buckingham's :  in  person 
I'll  hear  him  his  confessions  justify  ; 
And  point  by  point  the  treasons  of  his  master 
He  shall  again  relate. 

sunne   of  prosperitie   with   the  mistie  cloudes  of  mishap  ami 
misery.*' 

Mr.  M.  Mason  has  observed  that  Dr.  Johnson  did  not  do  jus- 
tice to  his  own  emendation,  referring  the  words  whose  figure  to 
Buckingham,  when,  in  fact,  they  relate  to  shadow.  Sir  W.  Black- 
stone  had  already  explained  the  passage  in  this  manner. 

MALONE. 

By  adopting  Dr.  Johnson's  first  conjecture,  "  puts  out,"  for 
"  puts  on,"  a  tolerable  sense  may  be  given  to  these  obscure  lines. 
"  I  am  but  the  shadow  of  poor  Buckingham  :  and  even  the  figure 
or  outline  of  this  shadow  begins  now  to  fade  away,  being  extin- 
guished by  this  impending  cloud,  which  darkens  (or  interposes 
between  me  and)  my  clear  sun ;  that  is,  the  favour  of  my  sove- 
reign." BLACKSTONE. 

—  and  the  best  heart  ?///,]  Heart  is  not  here  taken  for 
the  great  organ  of  circulation  and  life,  but,  in  a  common,  and 
popular  sense,  for  the  most  valuable  or  precious  part.  Our 
author,  in  Hamlet,  mentions  the  heart  of  hear!.  Exhausted 
and  effete  ground  is  said  by  the  fanner  to  be  out  of  heart.  The 
hard  and  inner  part  of  the  oak  is  called  heart  of  oak. 

JOHNSON. 

*  stood  /'  the  level 

Of  a  full-charged  confederacy,"]  To  stand  in  the  level  of  a 
gun  is  to  stand  in  a  line  ivith  its  mouth,  so  as  to  be  hit  by  tin- 
shot.  JOHNSON. 

So,  in  our  author's  Lover's  Complaint : 

" not  a  heart  which  in  his  level  came 

"  Could  scape  the  hail  of  his  all-hurting  aim." 

STE  EVENS. 
Again,  in  our  author's  117th  Sonnet: 

"  Bring  me  within  the  level  of  your  frown, 
"  But  shoot  not  at  me,"  <S:c. 
See  also  Vol.  IX.  p.  '271,  n.  4 ;  and  p.  291,  n.  8.     MALONK. 


so  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 


The  King  takes  his  State.  The  Lords  of  the  Coun- 
cil take  their  several  Places.  The  Cardinal  places 
himself  under  the  King's  Feet,  on  his  right  Side. 

A  Noise  within,  crying,  Room  for  the  Queen. 
Enter  the  Queen,  ushered  by  the  Dukes  of  NOR- 
FOLK and  SUFFOLK  :  she  kneels.  The  King 
riseth  from  his  State,  takes  her  up,  kisses,  and 
placeth  her  by  him. 

Q.  KATH.  Nay,  we  must  longer  kneel ;  I  am  a 
suitor. 

K.  HEN.  Arise,  and  take  place  by  us : — Half 

your  suit 

Never  name  to  us ;  you  have  half  our  power : 
The  other  moiety,  ere  you  ask,  is  given  j 
Repeat  your  will,  and  take  it. 

Q.  KATH.  Thank  your  majesty. 

That  you  would  love  yourself;  and,  in  that  love, 
Not  unconsider'd  leave  your  honour,  nor 
The  dignity  of  your  office,  is  the  point 
Of  my  petition. 

K.  HEN.  Lady  mine,  proceed. 

Q.  KATH.  I  am  solicited,  not  by  a  few, 
And  those  of  true  condition,  that  your  subjects 
Are  in  great  grievance  :  there  have  been  commis- 
sions 

Sent  down  among  them,  which  hath  flaw'd  the  heart 
Of  all  their  loyalties: — wherein,  although, 
My  good  lord  cardinal,  they  vent  reproaches 
Most  bitterly  on  you,  as  putter-on 
Of  these  exactions,6  yet  the  king  our  master, 

0  as  putter-on 

Of  these  exactions,']    The  instigator  of  these  exactions;  the 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  si 

(Whose  honour  heaven  shield  from  soil !)  even  he 

escapes  not 

Language  unmannerly,  yea,  such  which  breaks 
The  sides  of  loyalty,  and  almost  appears 
In  loud  rebellion. 

NOR.  Not  almost  appears, 

It  doth  appear :  for,  upon  these  taxations, 
The  clothiers  all,  not  able  to  maintain 
The  many  to  them  'longing,7  have  put  off 
The  spinsters,  carders,  fullers,  weavers,  who, 
Unfit  for  other  life,  compell' d  by  hunger 
And  lack  of  other  means,  in  desperate  manner 
Daring  the  event  to  the  teeth,  are  all  in  uproar, 
And  Danger  serves  among  them.8 

person  who  suggested  to  the  King  the  taxes  complained  of,  and 
incited  him  to  exact  them  from  his  subjects.     So,  in  Macbeth  : 

"  The  powers  above 

"  Put  on  their  instruments." 
Again,  in  Hamlet  : 

"  Of  deaths  put  on  by  cunning  and  forc'd  cause." 

MA  LONE* 
See  Vol.  X.  p.  252,  n.  4.     STEEVENS. 

"  The  many  to  them  'longing,']  The  mawj  is  the  meiny,  the 
train,  the  people.  Dryden  is,  perhaps,  the  last  that  used  this 
word: 

"  The  kings  before  their  many  rode."     JOHNSON. 

I  believe  the  many  is  only  the  multitude,  the  oi  roAAoi.  Thus, 
Coriolanus,  speaking  of  the  rabble,  calls  them — 

" •  the  mutable  rank-scented  many."     STEEVENS. 

9  And  Danger  serves  among  thcm.~]  Could  one  easily  believe 
that  a  writer,  who  had,  but  immediately  before,  sunk  so  low  in 
his  expression,  should  here  rise  again  to  a  height  so  truly  *vib- 
lime  ?  where,  by  the  noblest  stretch  of  fancy,  Danger  is  per- 
sonalized as  serving  in  the  rebel  army,  and  shaking  the  esta- 
blished government.  WAUBURTOX. 

Chaucer,  Gower,  Skelton,  and  Spenser,  have  personified 
Danger.  The  (irst,  in  his  Romannt  of  the  Rose ;  the  second, 
in  his  fifth  Book,  DC  Confessionc  Amantis ;  the  third,  in  his 

Boiige  oj  Court — 


32  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

K.  HEN.  Taxation ! 

Wherein  ?  and  what  taxation  ? — My  lord  cardinal, 
You  that  are  blam'd  for  it  alike  with  us, 
Know  you  of  this  taxation  ? 

WOL.  Please  you,  sir, 

I  know  but  of  a  single  part,  in  aught 
Pertains  to  the  state  ;  and  front  but  in  that  file9 
Where  others  tell  steps  with  me. 

Q.  KATH.  No,  my  lord, 

You  know  no  more  than  others  :  but  you  frame 
Things,  that  are  known  alike ; 1  wrhich  are  not 

wholesome 

To  those  which  would  not  know  them,  and  yet  must 
Perforce  be  their  acquaintance.    These  exactions, 
Whereof  my  sovereign  would  have  note,  they  are 
Most  pestilent  to  the  hearing ;  and,  to  bear  them, 
The  back  is  sacrifice  to  the  load.     They  say, 
They  are  devis'd  by  you  ;  or  else  you  suffer 
Too  hard  an  exclamation. 

K.  HEN.  Still  exaction  ! 

The  nature  of  it  ?  In  what  kind,  let's  know, 
Is  this  exaction  ? 


"  With  that,  anone  out  start  dangerc  ;" 

and  the  fourth,  in  the  10th  Canto  of  the  4th  Book  of  his  Fairy 
Queen,  and  again  in  the  fifth  Book  and  the  ninth  Canto. 

STEEVENS. 

9  front  but  in  that  file — ]     I  am  but  primus  inter  pares. 

I  am  but  first  in  the  row  of  counsellors.     JOHNSON. 

This  was  the  very  idea  that  Wolsey  wished  to  disclaim.  It 
was  not  his  intention  to  acknowledge  that  he  was  the  first  in  the 
row  of  counsellors,  but  that  he  was  merely  on  a  level  with  the 
rest,  and  stept  in  the  same  line  with  them.  M.  MASON. 

1  You  know  no  more  than  others  :  &c.~]  That  is,  you  know 
no  more  than  other  counsellors,  but  you  are  the  person  who 
frame  those  things  which  are  afterwards  proposed,  and  known 
equally  by  all.  M.  MASON. 


ac.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  S3 

Q.  KATH.  I  am  much  too  venturous 

In  tempting  of  your  patience  ;  but  am  bolden'd 
Under  your  promis'd  pardon.    The  subject's  grief 
Comes  through  commissions,  which  compel  from 

each 

The  sixth  part  of  his  substance,  to  be  levied 
Without  delay  ;  and  the  pretence  for  this 
Is  nam'd,  your  wars  in  France  :   This  makes  bold 

mouths : 

Tongues  spit  their  duties  out, and  cold  hearts  freeze 
Allegiance  in  them  ;  their  curses  now, 
Live  where  their  prayers  did;  and  it's  come  to  pass, 
That  tractable  obedience  is  a  slave 
To  each  incensed  will.2     I  would,  your  highness 
Would  give  it  quick  consideration,  for 
There  is  no  primer  business.3 

s  tractable  obedience  &c.~]   i.  e.  those  who  are  tractable 

and  obedient,  must  give  way  to  others  who  are  angry. 

MUSGRAVE. 

The  meaning  of  this  is,  that  the  people  were  so  much  irritated 
by  oppression,  that  their  resentment  got  the  better  of  their  obe- 
dience. M.  MASON. 

The  meaning,  I  think,  is — Things  are  now  in  such  a  situation, 
that  resentment  and  indignation  predominate  in  every  man's 
breast  over  duty  and  allegiance.  MA  LONE. 

3   There  is  no  primer  business.]      In  the  old  edition — 

There  is  no  primer  baseness. 

The  queen  is  here  complaining  of  the  suffering  of  the  commons, 
which,  she  suspects,  arose  from  the  abuse  of  power  in  some 
great  men.  But  she  is  very  reserved  in  speaking  her  thoughts 
concerning  the  quality  of  it.  We  may  be  assured  then,  that  she 
did  not,  in  conclusion,  call  it  the  highest  baseness  ;  but  rather 
made  use  of  a  word  that  could  not  offend  the  Cardinal,  and  yet 
would  incline  the  King  to  give  it  a  speedy  hearing.  I  read 
therefore : 

There  is  no  primer  business. 
i.  c.  no  matter  of  state  that  more  earnestly  presses  a  despatch. 

WAR  BURTON. 

Dr.  Warburton  (for  reasons  which  he  has  given  in  his  note) 
would  read  : 

1 no  primer  business  : 

VOL.   XV.  D 


34  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

K.  HEN.  By  my  life, 

This  is  against  our  pleasure. 

WOL.  And  for  me, 

I  have  no  further  gone  in  this,  than  by 
A  single  voice ;  and  that  not  pass'd  me,  but 
By  learned  approbation  of  the  judges. 
If  I  am  traduc'd  by  tongues,  which  neither  know 
My  faculties,  nor  person,4  yet  will  be 
The  chronicles  of  my  doing, — let  me  say, 
JTis  but  the  fate  of  place,  and  the  rough  brake 
That  virtue  must  go  through.     We  must  not  stint5 
Our  necessary  actions,  in  the  fear 
To  cope6  malicious  censurers ;  which  ever, 
As  ravenous  fishes,  do  a  vessel  follow 
That  is  new  trimm'd  ;  but  benefit  no  further 
Than  vainly  longing.     What  we  oft  do  best, 
By  sick  interpreters,  once  weak  ones,7  is 


but  I  think  the  meaning  of  the  original  word  is  sufficiently  clear. 
No  primer  baseness  is  no  mischief  more  ripe  or  ready  for  redress. 
So,  in  Othello  :• 

"  Were  they  as  prime  as  goats,  as  hot  as  monkies — ." 

STEEVENS. 

4  If  I  am  traduc'd  by  tongues,  which  neither  know 

My  faculties,  nor  person,"]  The  old  copy — by  ignorant 
tongues.  But  surely  this  epithet  must  have  been  an  interpolation, 
the  ignorance  of  the  supposed  speakers  being  sufficiently  indi- 
cated by  their  knowing  neither  the  faculties  nor  person  of  the 
Cardinal.  I  have,  therefore,  with  Sir  T.  Hanmer,  restored  the 
measure,  by  the  present  omission.  STEEVENS. 

5  We  must  not  stint — ]   To  stint  is  to  stop,  to  retard.     Many 
instances  of  this  sense  of  the  word  are  given  in  a  note  on  Jtomco 
and  Juliet,  Act  I.  sc.  iii.     STEEVENS. 

0   To  cope — ]     To  engage  with,  to  encounter.     The  word  i« 
still  used  in  some  counties.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  As  you  like  it  : 

"  I  love  to  cope  him  in  these  sullen  fits."     STEEVENS. 

7  once  weak  ones,~\     The  modern  editors  read — or  weal; 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  35 

Not  ours,  or  not  allow'd  ;8  what  worst,  as  oft, 
Hitting  a  grosser  quality,9  is  cried  up 
For  our  best  act.1     If  we  shall  stand  still, 
In  fear  our  motion  will  be  mock'd  or  carp'd  at, 
We  should  take  root  here  where  we  sit,  or  sit 
State  statues  only. 

K.  HEN.  Things  done  well,2 

And  with  a  care,  exempt  themselves  from  fear ; 
Things  done  without  example,  in  their  issue 
Are  to  be  fear'd.     Have  you  a  precedent 
Of  this  commission  ?  I  believe,  not  any. 
We  must  not  rend  our  subjects  from  our  laws, 
And  stick  them  in  our  will.     Sixth  part  of  each  ? 
A  trembling  contribution  !  Why,  we  take, 
From  every  tree,  lop,  bark,  and  part  o'  the  timber  ;* 


ones ;  but  once  is  not  unfrequcntly  used  for  sometime,  or  at  one 
time  or  other,  among  our  ancient  writers. 

So,  in  the  13th  Idea  of  Drayton: 

"  This  diamond  shall  once  consume  to  dust." 
Again,  in  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor :  "  I  pray  thee,  once 
to-night  give  my  sweet  Nan  this  ring." 

Again,  in  Leicester's  Commonwealth  :  " if  God  should 

take  from  us  her  most  excellent  majesty  (as  once  he  will)  and  so 
leave  us  destitute — ."     STEEVEXS. 

or  not  allow'd;]      Not  approved.     See  Vol.  V.  p.  95, 


n.  ,3.     MA  LONE. 


-what  worst,  as  oft, 


Hitting  a  grosser  quality  ,~\  The  worst  actions  of  great  men 
are  commended  by  the  vulgar,  as  more  accommodated  to  the 
grossness  of  their  notions.  JOHNSON. 

1  For  our  best  act.]  I  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  measure,  we 
should  read — action.  Perhaps  the  three  last  letters  of  this  word 
were  accidentally  omitted  by  the  compositor.  STKEVEXS. 

8  Things  done  well,']  Sir  T.  Hanmer,  very  judiciously  in  my 
opinion,  completes  the  measure  by  reading : 

Things  that  are  done  nW/.     STKI.VKNS. 

*  From  every  tree,  lop,  btir/-.\  and  part  o'  the  timber;"]  Lop 
is  a  substantive,  and  signifies  the  brunches.  WAKBURTOX. 

D  2 


36  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

And,  though  we  leave  it  with  a  root,  thus  hack'd, 
The  air  will  drink  the  sap.     To  every  county, 
Where  this  is  question' d,  send  our  letters,  with 
Free  pardon  to  each  man  that  has  denied 
The  force  of  this  commission  :  Pray,  look  to't  j 
I  put  it  to  your  care. 

WOL.  A  word  with  you. 

[To  the  Secretary. 

Let  there  be  letters  writ  to  every  shire, 
Of  the  king's  grace  and  pardon.     The  griev'd 

commons 

Hardly  conceive  of  me  ;  let  it  be  nois'd, 
That,  through  our  intercession,  this  revokement 
And  pardon  comes  :4  I  shall  anon  advise  you 
Further  in  the  proceeding.  [Exit  Secretary. 

Enter  Surveyor.5 

Q.  KATH.  I  am  sorry,  that  the  duke  of  Buck- 
ingham 
Is  run  in  your  displeasure. 

K.  HEN.  It  grieves  many  : 

The  gentleman  is  learn'd,6  and  a  most  rare  speaker, 


4  That,  through  our  intercession,  £c.]  So,  in  Holinslied, 
p.  892 :  "  The  cardinal!,  to  deliver  himself  from  the  evill  will  of 
the  commons,  purchased  by  procuring  and  advancing  of  this 
demand,  affirmed,  and  caused  it  to  he  hruted  abrode  that 
through  his  intercession  the  king  had  pardoned  and  released  all 
things."  STEEVEXS. 

3  Enter  Surveyor."]  It  appears  from  Holinshed  that  his  name 
was  Charles  Knyoct.  RITSOX. 

u  The  gentleman  is  learn'd,  &f.]  We  understand  from 
"  The  Prologue  of  the  translatour,"  that  the  Knyghte  of  the 
Swanne,  a  French  romance,  was  translated  at  the  request  of 
this  unfortunate  nobleman.  Copland,  the  printer,  adds, 
*"' this  present,  history  compyled,  named  Heli/as  the  Knight 


sc.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  37 

To  nature  none  more  bound  ;  his  training  such, 

That  he  may  furnish  and  instruct  great  teachers, 

And  never  seek  for  aid  out  of  himself.7 

Yet  see 

When  these  so  noble  benefits  shall  prove 

Not  well  dispos'd,8  the  mind  growing  once  corrupt, 

They  turn  to  vicious  forms,  ten  times  more  ugly 

Than  ever  they  were  fair.     This  man  so  complete, 

Who  was  enroll'd  'mongst  wonders,  and  when  we, 

Almost  with  ravish'd  listening,  could  not  find 

His  hour  of  speech  a  minute  ;  he,  my  lady, 

Hath  into  monstrous  habits  put  the  graces 

That  once  were  his,  and  is  become  as  black 

As  if  besmear'd  in  hell.9    Sit  by  us  ;  you  shall  hear 

(This  was  his  gentleman  in  trust,)  of  him 

Things  to  strike  honour  sad. — Bid  him  recount 

The  fore-recited  practices  ;  whereof 

We  cannot  feel  too  little,  hear  too  much. 

WOL.  Stand  forth  ;  and  with  bold  spirit  relate 

what  you, 

Most  like  a  careful  subject,  have  collected 
Out  of  the  duke  of  Buckingham. 


•&• 


of  the  Stvannr,  <tf  mhom  linially  is  descended  my  said  lord.'1 
The  duke  was  executed  on  Friday  the  17th  ot  May,  1521. 
The  book  has  no  date.  STEEVENS. 

7  And  never  seek  for  aid  out  of  himself.]     Beyond  the  trea- 
sures of  his  own  mind.     JOHNSON. 

Read : 

And  ne'er  seek  aid  out  of  himself.     Yet  sec, — .     RITSON. 

*  noble  benefits 

Not  well  dispos'd,~]     Great  gifts  of  nature  and  education, 
not  joined  with  good  dispositions.     JOHNSON. 

9  is  become  as  black 

As  if  besmear' d  in  hell.~\      So,  in  Othello: 

" Her  name,  that  was  as  fresh 

"  As  Dian's  visage,  is  now  begrim'd  and  black 
"  As  mine  own  face."     STEEVENS. 


58  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACTJ. 

K.  HEN.  Speak  freely. 

SURV.  First,  it  was  usual  with  him,  every  day 
It  would  infect  his  speech,  That  if  the  king 
Should  without  issue  die,  he'd  carry  it1  so 
To  make  the  scepter  his  :  These  very  words 
I  have  heard  him  utter  to  his  son-in-law, 
Lord  Aberga'ny ;  to  whom  by  oath  he  menac'd 
Revenge  upon  the  cardinal. 

WOL.  Please  your  highness,  note 

This  dangerous  conception  in  this  points 
Not  friended  by  his  wish,  to  your  high  person 
His  will  is  most  malignant ;  and  it  stretches 
Beyond  you,  to  your  friends. 

Q.  KATH.  My  learn'd  lord  cardinal, 

Deliver  all  with  charity. 

K.  HEN.  Speak  on  ; 

How  grounded  he  his  title  to  the  crown, 
Upon  our  fail  ?  to  this  point  hast  thou  heard  him 
At  any  time  speak  aught  ? 

SURV.  He  was  brought  to  this 

By  a  vain  prophecy  of  Nicholas  Hopkins.3 


1  he'd  carry  it — ]     Old  copy — ke'L   Corrected  by  Mr. 

Howe.     MALONE. 

'  This  dangerous  conception  in  this  point.~\     Note  this  parti- 
cular part  of  this  dangerous  design.     JOHNSON. 

3  By  a   vain  prophecy   of  Nicholas    Hopkins.]      In   former 
editions : 

By  a  rain  prophecy  of  Nicholas  Henton. 

We  heard  before  from  Brandon,  of  one  Nicholas  Hopkins  ;  and 
now  his  name  is  changed  into  Henton  ;  so  that  Brandon  and  the 
surveyor  seem  to  be  in  two  stories.  There  is,  however,  but  one 
and  the  same  person  meant,  Hopkins,  as  I  have  restored  it  in  the 
text,  for  perspicuity's  sake ;  yet  it  will  not  be  any  difficulty  to 
account  for  the  other  name,  when  we  come  to  consider  that  he 
was  a  monk  of  the  convent,  called  Henton,  near  Bristol.  So 
both  Hall  and  llolinshed  acquaint  us.  And  he  might,  according 


sr.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  39 

A".  HEN.  What  was  that  Hopkins  ? 

SURV.  Sir,  a  Chartreux  friar, 

His  confessor ;  who  fed  him  every  minute 
With  words  of  sovereignty. 

A'.  HEN.  How  know'st  thou  this  ? 

SURV.  Not  long  before  your  highness  sped  to 

France, 

The  duke  being  at  the  Rose,  within  the  parish 
Saint  Lawrence  Poultney,4  did  of  me  demand 
What  was  the  speech  amongst  the  Londoners 
Concerning  the  French  journey  :  I  replied, 
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  monk  ;  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 : 
Whom  after  under  the  confession1  s  seal5 

to  the  custom  of  these  times,  be  called  Nicholas  of  Henton, 
from  the  place  ;  as  Hopkins  from  his  family.     THEOBALD. 

This  mistake,  as  it  was  undoubtedly  made  by  Shakspeare,  is 
worth  a  note.  It  would  be  doing  too  great  an  honour  to  the 
players  to  suppose  them  capable  of  being  the  authors  of  it.  . 

STEKVENS. 

Shakspeare  was  perhaps  led  into  the  mistake  by  inadvertently 
referring  the  words,  "  called  Ilenton,"  in  the  passage  already 
quoted  from  Holinshed,  (p.  26,  n.  9,)  not  to  the  monastery,  but 
to  the  monk.  MALONE. 

4  The  duke  bc/tig  at  t)ic  Rose,  tSrc.]  This  house  was  pur- 
chased about  the  year  1561,  by  llichard  Hill,  sometime  master 
of  the  Merchant  Tailors  companv,  and  is  now  the  Merchant 
Tailors  school,  in  Suffolk-lane.  \VnAi.i. I;Y. 

4  under  ///<•  confession's  seal — ]      All  the  editions,  down 

from  the  beginning,  have — commission's.     But  what  commission's 


40  KING  HENRY  VIIL  ACT  I. 

He  solemnly  had  sworn,  that,  what  he  spoke, 

My  chaplain  to  no  creature  living,  but 

To  me,  should  utter,  with  demure  confidence 

This  pausingly  ensu'd, — Neither  the  king,  nor  his 

heirs, 

(  Tell  you  the  duke}  shall  prosper :  bid  him  strive 
To  gain  the  love6  of  the  commonalty  •  the  duke 
Shall  govern  England. 

Q.  KATH.  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. 

K.  HEN.  Let  him  on  : — 

Go  forward. 

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

I  told  my  lord  the  duke,  By  the  devil's  illusions 


seal?  That  is  a  question,  I  dare  say,  none  of  our  diligent  editors 
asked  themselves.  The  text  must  be  restored,  as  I  have  cor- 
rected it;  and  honest  Holinshed,  [p.  863,]  from  whom  our 
author  took  the  substance  of  this  passage,  may  be  called  in  as  a 
testimony. — "  The  duke  in  talk  told  the  monk,  that  he  had  done 
very  well  to  bind  his  chaplain,  John  de  la  Court,  under  the  seal 
of  confession,  to  keep  secret  such  matter."  THEOBALD. 

5  To  gain  the  love — ]      The  old  copy  reads — To  the  love. 

STEEVEXS. 

For  the  insertion  of  the  word  gain  I  am  answerable.  From 
the  corresponding  passage  in  Holinshed,  it  appears  evidently  to 
have  been  omitted  through  the  carelessness  of  the  compositor : 
"  The  said  monke  told  to  De  la  Court,  neither  the  king  nor  his 
heirs  should  prosper,  and  that  I  should  endeavour  to  purchase  the 
good  wills  of  the  commonalty  of  England." 

Since  I  wrote  the  above,  I  find  this  correction  had  been  made 
by  the  editor  of  the  fourth  folio.  MALONE. 

It  had  been  adopted  by  Mr.  Rowe,  and  all  subsequent  editors. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  41 

The  monk  might  be  deceiv'd ;    and   that  'twas 

dang'rous  for  him,7 
To  ruminate  on  this  so  far,  until 
It  forg'd  him  some  design,  which,  being  believ'd, 
It  was  much  like  to  do  :  He  answer'd,  Tusk  ! 
It  can  do  me  no  damage:  adding  further, 
That,  had  the  king  in  his  last  sickness  faiPd, 
The  cardinal's  and  sir  Thomas  Lovell's  heads 
Should  have  gone  off. 

K.  HEX.  Ha!  what,  so  rank?8  Ah,  ha! 

There's  mischief  in  this  man : Canst  thou  say 

further  ? 

SURV.  I  can,  my  liege. 

A'.  HEN.  Proceed. 

Sunr.  Being  at  Greenwich, 

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

K.  HEX.  I  remember, 

Of  such  a  time  : — Being  my  servant  sworn,9 

The  duke   retain'd   him    his. But  on ;   What 

hence  ? 

SURV.  If,  quoth  he,  I  for  this  had  been  com- 
mitted, 

As,  to  the  Tower,  I  thought, — I  would  have  played 
The  part  my  father  meant  to  act  upon 

7 for  him,]     Old    copy — for  this.     Corrected    by  Mr. 

Rowc.     MALONE. 

so  rank?]    Rank  weeds,  are  weeds  grown  up  to  great 

height  and  strength.  What,  says  the  King,  uas  he  advanced  to 
t/i  is  pitch  ?  Jo  H  N  so  x. 

9 Being  mi/  servant  sworn,  &c.]      Sir  William  Blomer, 

(Ilolinshed  calls  him  Uulmcr,)  was  reprimanded  hy  the  King  in 
the  star-chamber,  for  that,  being  his  sworn  servant,  he  had  left 
the  King's  service  for  the  duke  of  Buckingham's. 

Edwards' s  MSS.     STEE  YEN  s. 


*2  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

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.1 

K.  HEN.  A  giant  traitor ! 

WOL.  Now,  madam,  may  his  highness  live  in 

freedom, 
And  this  man  out  of  prison  ? 

Q.  KATH.  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, — 

1  Have  put  his  knife  into  him.]  The  accuracy  of  Holinshed, 
if  from  him  Shakspeare  took  his  account  of  the  accusations  and 
punishment,  together  with  the  qualities  of  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham, is  proved  in  the  most  authentick  manner  by  a  very 
curious  report  of  his  case  in  East.  Term,  13  Henry  VIII.  in  the 
year  books  published  by  authority,  fol.  11  and  12,  edit.  1597. 
After,  in  the  most  exact  manner,  setting  forth  the  arrangement 
of  the  Lord  High  Steward,  the  Peers,  the  arraignment,  and 
other  forms  and  ceremonies,  it  says :  "  Et  issint  fuit  arreine 
Edward  Due  de  Buckingham,  le  derrain  jour  de  Terme  le  xij 
jour  de  May,  le  Due  de  Norfolk  donques  cstant  Grand  seneschal : 
la  cause  fuit,  pur  ceo  que  il  avoit  entend  1'  mort  de  nostre  Srir. 
le  Rey.  Car  premicrment  un  Moine  del'  Abbey  de  Henton  in  le 
countie  de  Somerset  dit  a  lui  que  il  sera  Roy  command'  luy  de 
obtenir  le  benevolence  del'  communalte,  &  sur  ceo  il  dona  ccr- 
taines  robbes  a  cest  entent.  A  que  il  dit  que  le  moine  ne  onques 
dit  ainsi  a  lui,  &  que  il  ne  dona  ceux  clones  a  cest  intent. 
Donques  auteiibits  il  dit,  si  le  Roy  morust  sans  issue  male,  il 
voul'  estre  Roy :  &  auxi  que  il  disoit,  si  le  Roy  avoit  lui  commis 
al'  prison,  donques  il  voul'  lui  occire  ove  son  dagger.  Mes  touts 
ceux  matters  il  denia  in  effect,  mes  fuit  trove  coulp:  Et  pur  ceo 
il  avoit  jugement  comme  traitre,  et  fuit  decolle  le  Vendrcdy  de- 
vant  le  Feste  del  Pentecost  que  fuit  le  xiij  jour  de  May  avant  dit. 
Dieu  a  sa  ame  grant  mercy — car  il  fuit  trcs  noble  prince  &  pru- 
dent, et  mirror  de  tout  courtesie."  VAILLANT. 


«7.  //.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  43 

He  stretch'd  him,  and,  with  one  hand  on-hisdagger, 
Another  spread  on  his  breast,  mounting  his  eyes, 
He  did  discharge  a  horrible  oath  ;  whose  tenour 
Was, — Were  he  evil  us'd,  lie  would  out-go 
His  father,  by  as  much  as  a  performance 
Does  an  irresolute  purpose. 

K.  HEN.  There's  his  period, 

To  sheath  his  knife  in  us.     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,2 
He's  traitor  to  the  height.  {_Exeunt. 

* By  day  and  night, 1     This,    I   believe,   was  a  phrase 

anciently  signifying — at  all  times,  every  txay,  completely.  In 
The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  Fulstaff,  at  the  end  of  his  letter 
to  Mrs.  Ford,  styles  himself: 

"  Thine  own  true  knight, 

"  By  day  or  night  e,"  &c. 

Again,  (I  must  repeat  a  quotation  I  have  elsewhere  employed, ) 
in  the  third  Book  of  Gower,  DC  Confessione  Amantis: 

"  The  sonne  cleped  was  Machayre, 

"  The  daughter  eke  Canace  hight, 

"  By  dale  bothe  and  eke  by  nig/it." 

The  King's  words,  however,  by  some  criticks,  have  been 
considered  as  an  adjuration.  I  do  not  pretend  to  have  deter- 
mined the  exact  force  of  them.  STEEVENS. 


44  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  I. 

SCENE  III. 

A  Room  in  the  Palace. 
Enter  the  Lord  Chamberlain,3  and  Lord  SANDS.* 

CHAM.  Is  it  possible,  the  spells  of  France  should 

juggle 
Men  into  such  strange  mysteries?5 

3 Lord  Chamberlain — ]  Shakspeare  has  placed  this  scene 

in  1521.  Charles  Earl  of  Worcester  was  then  Lord  Chamber- 
lain ;  but  when  the  King  in  fact  went  in  masquerade  to  Cardinal 
Wolsey's  house,  Lord  Sands,  who  is  here  introduced  as  going 
thither  with  the  Chamberlain,  himself  possessed  that  office. 

MALONE. 

Lord  Chamberlain — ]  Charles  Somerset,  created  Earl  of 
Worcester  5  Henry  VIII.  He  was  Lord  Chamberlain  both  to 
Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII.  and  continued  in  the  office  until 
his  death,  1526.  REED. 

*  Lord  Sands.]  Sir  William  Sands,  of  the  Vine,  near  Basing- 
stoke,  in  Hants,  was  created  a  peer  1521.  He  became  Lord 
Chamberlain  upon  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  Worcester  in  1526. 

REED. 

5  Is  it  possible,  the  spells  of  France  shoidd  juggle 

Men  into  such  strange  mysteries  ?]  Mysteries  were  allego- 
rical shows,  which  the  mummers  of  those  times  exhibited  in  odd 
fantastick  habits.  Mysteries  are  used,  by  an  easy  figure,  for 
those  that  exhibited  mysteries;  and  the  sense  is  only,  that  the 
travelled  Englishmen  were  metamorphosed,  by  foreign  fashions, 
into  such  an  uncouth  appearance,  that  they  looked  like  mummers 
in  a  mystery.  JOHNSON. 

That  mysteries  is  the  genuine  reading,  [Dr.  Warburton  would 
read — mockeries']  and  that  it  is  used  in  a  different  sense  from  the 
one  here  given,  will  appear  in  tire  following  instance  from  Dray- 
ton's  Shepherd's  Garland: 

" even  so  it  fareth  now  with  thee, 

"  And  with  these  wizards  of  thy  mysterie" 
The  context  of  which  shows,  that  by  wizards  are  meant  poets, 
and  by  mysterie  their  poetick  skill,  which  was  before  called 


ac.  in.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  45 

SAXDS.  New  customs, 

Though  they  be  never  so  ridiculous, 
Nay,  let  them  be  unmanly,  yet  are  followed. 

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;6  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. 

SAXDS.  They  have  all  new  legs,  and  lame  ones; 

one  would  take  it, 

That  never  saw  them7  pace  before,  the  spavin, 
A  springhalt  reign'd  among  them.8 

CHAM.  Death  !  my  lord, 

"  mister  artes."  Hence  the  mysteries  in  Shakspeare  signify  those 
fontastick  manners  and  fashions  of  the  French,  which  had  ope- 
rated as  spells  or  enchantments.  HEXLEY. 

0  A  Jit  or  two  o'the  face ;]  A  fit  of  the  face  seems  to  be  what 
we  now  term  a  grimace,  an  artificial  cast  of  the  countenance. 

JOHNSON. 

Fletcher  has  more  plainly  expressed  the  same  thought  in  The 
Elder  Brother  : 

" learnt  new  tongues 

"  To  vary  his  face  as  seamen  do  their  compass." 

STEEVEXS. 

'  That  never  saw  them — ]  Old  copy — sec  'em.  Corrected 
by  Mr.  Pope.  MALOXE. 

8  A  springhalt  reign'd  among  thcm.~\  The  stringfialt,  or 
springhalt,  (as  the  old  copy  reads,)  is  a  disease  incident  to 
horses,  which  gives  them  a  convulsive  motion  in  their  paces. 

So,  in  Mideasses  the  Turk,  1610  :  "  — by  reason  of  a  general 
spring-halt  and  debility  in  their  hams." 

Again,  in  Ben  Jonson's  Bartholomnv  Fair  : 

"  Poor  soul,  she  has  had  a  xlringhalt"     STEKVKNTS. 

Mr.  Pope  and  the  subsequent  editors,  without  any  necessity, 
I  think,  for  A  springhalt,  read — And  springhalt.  MAI.ONK. 


46  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

Their  clothes  are  after  such  a  pagan  cut  too,9 
That,  sure,  they  have  worn  out  Christendom.  How 

now  ? 
What  news,  sir  Thomas  Lovell  ? 


Enter  Sir  THOMAS  LOVELL. 

Lov.  'Faith,  my  lord, 

I  hear  of  none,  but  the  newr  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  wfth  quarrels,  talk,  and  tailors. 

CHAM.  1  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,1  that  they  got  in  France, 

•cut  too,]    Old  copy — cut  to't.   Corrected  in  the  fourth 


folio.     MALONE. 

Both  the  first  and  second  folio  read — cut  too't,  so  that  for  part 
of  this  correction  we  are  not  indebted  to  the  fourth  folio. 

STEEVENS. 

1  leave  these  remnants. 

Of  fool,  and  feather,]  This  does  not  allude  to  the  feathers 
anciently  worn  in  the  hats  and  caps  of  our  countrymen,  (a  cir- 
cumstance to  which  no  ridicule  could  justly  belong,)  but  to  an 
effeminate  fashion  recorded  in  Greene's  Farewell  to  Folly,  1617: 
from  whence  it  appears  that  even  young  gentlemen  carried  Jans 
of  feathers  in  their  hands  :  "  — we  strive  to  be  counted  womanish, 
by  keeping  of  beauty,  by  curling  the  hair,  by  wearing  plumes 
of  feathers  in  our  hands,  which  in  wars,  our  ancestors  wore  on 
their  heads."  Again,  in  his  Quip  for  an  upstart  Courtier,  1620: 
"  Then  our  young  courtiers  strove  to  exceed  one  another  in 


ac.  m.  KING  HENRY  VIIL  47 

With  all  their  honourable  points  of  ignorance, 
Pertaining  thereunto,  (as  fights,  and  fireworks;9 
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,3  and  those  types  of  travel, 
And  understand  ascain  like  honest  men  ; 


vcrtue,  not  in  bravery ;  they  rode  not  \\-\\\\fannes  to  ward  their 
faces  from  the  wind,"  &c.  Again,  in  Lingua,  &c.  1607,  Phan- 
tasies, who  is  a  male  character,  is  equipped  with  ajan. 

STEEVENS. 

The  text  may  receive  illustration  from  a  passage  in  Nashe's 
Life  oflacke  Wilton,  1594? :  "  At  that  time  [viz.  in  the  court  of 
King  Henry  VIIL]  I  was  no  common  squire,  no  undertroden 
torch-bearer,  /  had  my  feather  in  my  cap  as  big  as  a  Jtag  in 
the  foretop,  my  French  doublet  gelte  in  the  belly,  as  though 
(lyke  a  pig  readie  to  be  spitted)  all  my  guts  had  been  pluckt 
out,  a  paire  of  side  paned  hose  that  hung  down  like  two  scales 
filled  with  Holland  cheeses,  my  long  stock  that  sate  close  to  my 
dock, — my  rapier  pendant  like  a  round  sticke,  &c.  my  blacke 
cloake  of  black  cloth,  ouerspreading  my  backe  lyke  athornbacke 
or  an  elephantes  eare; — and  in  consummation  of  my  curiositie, 
my  handes  without  gloves,  all  a  more  French  "  &c.  KITSOK. 

In  Rowley's  Match  at  Midnight,  Act  I.  sc.  i.  Sim  says:  "  Yes, 
yes,  she  that  dwells  in  Blackfryers,  next  to  the  sign  of  The  Foul 
laughing  at  a  Feather" 

But  Sir  Thomas  Lovell's  is  rather  an  allusion  to  the  feathers 
which  were  formerly  worn  by  fools  in  their  cups.  See  a  print  on 
this  subject  from  a  painting  of  Jordaens,  engraved  by  Voert;  and 
again,  in  the  ballad  of  News  and  no  AVu'.v: 

"  And  feathers  wagging  in  a  fool's  cap."     Dorcr. 

" -Jircixorks ;~\     We  learn  from  a  French  writer  quoted  in 

Montfaucon's  Monuments  ilc  la  Monarchic  Franrithc,  Vol.  IV. 
that  some  very  extraordinary  fireworks  wire  played  o!f  on  the 
evening  of  the  last  day  of  the  royal  interview  between  Guynes 
and  Ardres.  Hence,  our  "  travelled  gallants,"  who  were  present 
at  this  exhibition,  might  have  imbibed  their  fondness  for  the 
pyrotechnic  art.  STF.EVENS. 

blister'd  brccchcx,~]      Thu*  the  old  copy;  i.  e.  breeches. 

pufF'd,  swell'd  out  like  blisters.  The  modern  editors  read — 
bolstcr'd  breeches,  which  has  the  same  meaning.  STEEVENS. 


48  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

Or  pack  to  their  old  playfellows:  there,  I  take  it, 
They  may,  cum  privilegio,  wear  away  4 
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  ! 

Lor.  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. 

CHAM.  WTell  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. 


4 wear  aicaij — ]      Old  copy — vice  away.     Corrected  in 

the  second  folio.     MA  LONE. 


ac.  in.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  49 

Lor.  That  churcliman  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. 

SAXDS.  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;5 
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. 

SAXDS.  I  am  your  lordship's. 

[Exeunt. 

'- 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. 

MALONE. 


VOT..    \\. 


50  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

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,6  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.7 O,  my  lord,  you  are 

tardy ; 

* noble  bevy,]     Milton  has  copied  this  word : 

"  A  bevy  of  fair  dames."     JOHNSON. 

Spenser  had,  before  Shakspeare,  employed  this  word  in  the 
same  manner : 

"  And  whither  runs  this  bevy  of  ladies  bright?" 

Shepheard's  Calender.  April. 
Again,  in  his  Fairy  Queen  : 

"  And  in  the  midst  thereof,  upon  the  flowre, 
"  A  lovely  bevy  of  faire  ladies  sate." 

The  word  bevy  was  originally  applied  to  larks.  See  the  Glos- 
sary to  the  Shepheard's  Calender.  MA  LONE. 

7  As  first-good  company,  &c.]  As  this  passage  has  been  all 
along  pointed,  [As  first,  good  company,]  Sir  Harry  Guildford 
is  made  to  include  all  these  under  theflrst  article  ;  and  then  gives 
us  the  drop  as  to  what  should  follow.  The  poet,  I  am  per- 
suaded, wrote : 

As  first-good  company,  good  nine,  good  welcome,  &c. 
i.  e.  he  would  have  you  as  merry  as  these  three  things  can  make- 


ac.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  51 


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

The  very  thought  of  this  fair  company 
Clapp'd  wings  to  me. 

CHAM.         You  are  young,  sir  Harry  Guildford. 

SANDS.  Sir  Thomas  Lovell,  Had  the  cardinal 
But  half  my  lay-thoughts  in  him,  some  of  these 
Should  find  a  running  banquet8  ere  they  rested, 
I  think,  would  better  please  them :  By  my  life, 
They  are  a  sweet  society  of  fair  ones. 

you,  the  best  company  in  the  land,  of  the  best  rank,  good  wine, 
&c.  THEOBALD. 

Sir  T.  Hanmer  has  mended  it  more  elegantly,  but  with  greater 
violence : 

As  first,  good  company,  then  good  wine,  &c.     JOHNSON. 

a  running  banquet — ]     A  running  banquet,  literally 

speaking,  is  a  hasty  refreshment,  as  set  in  opposition  to  a  regular 
and  protracted  meal.  The  former  is  the  object  of  this  rakish 
peer  ;  the  latter,  perhaps,  he  would  have  relinquished  to  those 
of  more  permanent  desires.  STEEVENS. 

A  running  banquet  seems  to  have  meant  a  hasty  banquet, 
"  Queen  Margaret  and  Prince  Edward,  (says  Habingdon,  in  his 
History  of  King  Edward  IV.}  though  by  the  Earle  recalled, 
found  their  fate  and  the  winds  so  adverse,  that  they  could  not 
land  in  England,  to  taste  this  running  banquet  to  which  fortune 
had  invited  them."  The  hasty  banquet,  that  was  in  Lord 
JSunds's  thoughts,  is  too  obvious  to  require  explanation. 

It  should  seem  from  the  following  lines  in  the  prologue  to  » 
comedy  called  The  Walks  of  Islington,  1(557,  that  some  doublu 
meaning  was  couched  under  the  phrase,  a  running  banquet  ; 

"  The  gate  unto  his  walks,  through  which  you  may 

"  Behold  a  pretty  prospect  of  the  play  ; 

"  A  play  of  walks,  or  you  may  please  to  rank  it 

"  With  that  "which  ladies  /oiv,  a  running  banquet." 

MA  LONE. 

£  2 


52  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

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

SANDS.  I  would,  I  were ; 

They  should  find  easy  penance. 

Lor.  'Faith,  how  easy  ? 

SANDS.  As  easy  as  a  down-bed  would  afford  it. 

CHAM.  Sweet  ladies,  will  it  please  you  sit  ?  Sir 

Harry, 

Place  you  that  side,  I'll  take  the  charge  of  this : 
His  grace  is  ent'ring. — Nay,  you  must  not  freeze ; 
Two  women  plac'd  together  makes  cold  weather: — 
My  lord  Sands,  you  are  one  will  keep  them  waking; 
Pray,  sit  between  these  ladies. 

SANDS.  By  my  faith, 

And  thank  your  lordship. — By  your  leave,  sweet 

ladies : 
\_Seats  himself  between  ANNE  BULLEN  and 

another  Lady. 

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

ANNE.  Was  he  mad,  sir  ? 

SANDS.  O,  very  mad,  exceeding  mad, in  love  too : 
But  he  would  bite  none ;  just  as  I  do  now, 
He  would  kiss  you  twenty  with  a  breath. 

[Kisses  her. 

CHAM.  Well  said,  my  lord. — 

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

SANDS.  For  my  little  cure, 

Let  me  alone. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  S3 


Hautboys.     Enter  Cardinal  WOLSEY,  attended ; 
and  takes  his  state. 


WOL.  You  are  welcome,  my  fair  guests ;  that 

noble  lady, 

Or  gentleman,  that  is  not  freely  merry, 
Is  not  my  friend :  This,  to  confirm  my  welcome  ; 
And  to  you  all  good  health.  \_Drinks. 

SANDS.  Your  grace  is  noble  : — 

Let  me  have  such  a  bowl  may  hold  my  thanks, 
And  save  me  so  much  talking. 

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 

them 
Talk  us  to  silence. 

ANNE.  You  are  a  merry  gamester, 

My  lord  Sands. 

SANDS.  Yes,  if  I  make  my  play.9 

Here's  to  your  ladyship  :  and  pledge  it,  madam, 
For  'tis  to  such  a  thing, — 

ANNE.  You  cannot  show  me. 


<J if  I  make  my  play.]  i.  e.  if  I  make  my  party. 

STEEVENS. 

Rather — if  I  may  choose  my  game.     RITSOX. 
As  the  measure,  in  this  place,  requires  an  additional  syllable, 
\ve  may,  commodiously  enough,  read,  with  Sir  T.  Ilaumer  : 
Yes,  if  I  may  make  my  play.     STEEVENS. 


54  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  /. 

SANDS.  I  told  your  grace,  they  would  talk  anon. 
\_Drwn   and   Trumpets    tititliin :    Chambers 
discharged.1 

WOL.  What's  that  ? 

CHAM.  Look  out  there,  some  of  you. 

[Exit  a  Servant. 

WOL.  What  warlike  voice  ? 

And  to  what  end  is  this  ? — Nay,  ladies,  fear  not ; 
By  all  the  laws  of  war  you  are  privileg'd. 

Re-enter  Servant. 

CHAM.  How  now  ?  what  is't  ? 

SERV.  A  noble  troop  of  strangers ; 

For  so  they  seem  :  they  have  left  their  barge,-  and 

landed ; 

And  hither  make,  as  great  ambassadors 
From  foreign  princes, 

WOL.  Good  lord  chamberlain, 


1 Chambers  discharged.]      A  chamber  is  a   gun  which 

stands  erect  on  its  breech.  Such  are  used  only  on  occasions  of 
rejoicing,  and  are  so  contrived  as  to  carry  great  charges,  and 
thereby  to  make  a  noise  more  than  proportioned  to  their  bulk. 
They  are  called  chambers  because  they  are  mere  chambers  to 
lodge  powder ;  a  chamber  being  the  technical  term  for  that 
cavity  in  a  piece  of  ordnance  which  contains  the  combustibles. 
Some  of  them  are  still  fired  in  the  Park,  and  at  the  places  oppo- 
site to  the  parliament-house  when  the  king  goes  thither.  Cam- 
den  enumerates  them  among  other  guns,  as  follows  :  " — cannons, 
demi-canrions,  chambers,  arquebuse,  musquet." 
Again,  in  A  new  Trick  to  cheat  the  Devil,  1636: 

" I  still  think  o'  the  Tower  ordinance, 

"  Or  of  the  peal  of  chambers,  that's  still  fir'd 

"  When  my  lord-mayor  takes  his  barge."     STEEVENS. 

they  have  lej't  their  barge,]     See  p.  49,  n.  5. 

MALONB. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  55 

Go,  give  them  welcome,  you  can  speak  the  French 

tongue  ; 

And,  pray,  receive  them  nobly,  and  conduct  them, 
Into  our  presence,  where  this  heaven  of  beauty 
Shall  shine  at  full  upon  them : — Some  attend  him. — 
\_Exit  Chamberlain,  attended.     All  arise, 

and  Tables  removed. 

You  have  now  a  broken  banquet ;  but  we'll  mend  it. 
A  good  digestion  to  you  all :  and,  once  more, 
I  shower  a  welcome  on  you  ; — Welcome  all. 

Hautboys.  Enter  the  King,  and  twelve  Others,  as 
Maskers*  habited  like  Shepherds,  Kith  sixteen 
Torch-bearers;  ushered  by  the  Lord  Chamber- 
Iain.  They  pass  directly  before  the  Cardinal, 
and  gracefully  salute  him. 

\  noble  company!  what  are  their  pleasures  ? 

( 7/.-U/.  Because  they  speak  no  English,  thus  they 
pray'd 

'  F.ntcr  tlic  A7;/£,  and  twelve  Others,  as  Maskers,']     For  an 
account  of  this  masquerade,  see  Holinshcd,  Vol.  IJ.  p.  921. 

STEEVENS. 

The  account  of  this  masquerade  was  first  given  by  Cavendish, 

MI  hi--  Lijc  nfTi'a /,•••,"//,  which  was  written  in  the  time  of  Queen 
Mary  :  from  which  Stowe  and  Holinshed  copied  it.  Cavendish 
was  himself  present.  Before  the  King,  &c.  began  to  dance, 
they  requested  leave  (•'ays  Cavendish)  to  accompany  the  ladies 
at  minuc/triiicc.  \A ;.ve  being  granted,  "  tlicn  went  the  masquers, 
and  first  saluted  all  the  dames,  and  then  returned  to  the  most 
worthiest,  and  then  opened  the  great  cup  of  gold  filled  with 
cnnvries,  and  other  pieco  to  cast  at. — Thus  perusing  all  the 
gentlewomen,  of  some  they  womie,  and  to  some  they  lost. 
And  having  viewed  all  the  ladies  they  returned  to  the  Cardinal 
wiili  great  reverence,  pouring  downe  all  their  gold,  which  was 
above  two  hsmdred  crownes.  At  all,  (juoth  the  Cardinal,  and 
casting  the  die,  he  wonne  it;  whereat  was  made  great  joy." 

/.if<-  of  ll'dxcy,  p.  '22,  edit.  Kill.     M ALONE. 


56  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

To  tell  your  grace  ; — That,  having  heard  by  fame 
Of  this  so  noble  and  so  fair  assembly 
This  night  to  meet  here,  they  could  do  no  less, 
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  I 

pay  them 

A  thousand  thanks,  and  pray  them  take  their  plea- 
sures. 

[Ladies  chosen  for  the  Dance.     The  King 
chooses  ANNE  BULLEN. 

K.  HEN.  The  fairest  hand  I  ever  touch' d !  O, 

beauty, 
Till  now  I  never  knew  thee.         \_Mnsick.  Dance, 

WOL.  My  lord, 

CHAM.  Your  grace  ? 

WOL.          Pray,  tell  them  thus  much  from  me  : 
There  should  be  one  amongst  them,  by  his  person, 
More  worthy  this  place  than  myself;  to  whom, 
If  I  but  knew  him,  with  my  love  and  duty 
I  would  surrender  it. 

CHAM.  I  will,  my  lord. 

[Cham,  goes  to  the  Company,  and  returns. 

WOL.  What  say  they  ? 

CHAM.  Such  a  one,  they  all  confess, 

There  is,  indeed ;  which  they  would  have  your  grace 
Find  out,  and  he  will  take  it.* 

WOL.  Let  me  see  then. — 

[Comes from  his  State. 

4 take  it.~\     lhatis,  take  the  chief  place.     JOHNSON. 


ac.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  57 

By  all  your  good  leaves,  gentlemen ; — Here  I'll  make 
My  royal  choice. 

K.  HEN.  You  have  found  him,  cardinal:5 

[  Unmasking. 

You  hold  a  fair  assembly ;  you  do  well,  lord  : 
You  are  a  churchman,  or,  I'll  tell  you,  cardinal, 
I  should  judge  now  unhappily.6 

WOL.  I  am  glad, 

Your  grace  is  grown  so  pleasant. 

K.  HEX.  My  lord  chamberlain, 

Pr'ythee,  come  hither :  What  fair  lady's  that  ? 

CHAM.  An't  please  your  grace,  sir  Thomas  Bul- 

len's  daughter, 
The  viscount  Rochford,  one  of  her  highness'  women. 

K.  HEN.  By  heaven,  she  is  a  dainty  one. — Sweet- 
heart, 

I  were  unmannerly,  to  take  you  out, 
And  not  to  kiss  you.7 — A  health,  gentlemen, 
Let  it  go  round. 


*  You  have  found  him,  cardinal :]  Holinshed  says  the  Cardi- 
nal mistook,  and  pitched  upon  Sir  Edward  Neville  ;  upon  which 
the  King  laughed,  and  pulled  off"  both  his  own  mask  and  Sir  Ed- 
ward's. Edwards' s  MSS.  STEEVEXS. 

—  unhappily.']     That  is,  unluckily,  mischievously. 

JOHNSON. 

So,  in  A  merye  Jeste  of  a  Man  called  Hou>leglas,b\.\.nodnte: 
"  — in  such  manner  colde  he  cloke  and  hyde  his  unhnppinessc 
and  falsnesse."  STEEVEXS. 

See  Vol.  VI.  p.  55,  n.  2.     MAI.ONE. 

1  I  were  unmannerly,  to  take  i/on  out, 

And  not  to  kiss  //««.]  A  kiss  was  anciently  the  established 
fee  of  u  lady's  partner.  So,  in  A  Dialogue  between  Custom  and 
^'critic,  concerning  the  Use  and  Abuse  of  Dauncing  anil  Min- 
strelsie,  bl.  1.  no  date,  "  Imprinted  at  London,  at  the  long  shop 
adjoining  unto  saint  Mildred's  church  in  the  Pultrie,  by  John 
Allde  :" 


58  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  i. 

WOL.  Sir  Thomas  Lovell,  is  the  banquet  ready 
I*  the  privy  chamber  ? 

Lov.  Yes,  my  lord. 

WOL.  Your  grace, 

I  fear,  with  dancing  is  a  little  heated.8 

K.  HEN.  I  fear,  too  much. 

WOL.  There's  fresher  air,  my  lord, 

In  the  next  chamber. 

K.  HEN.  Lead  in  your  ladies,  everyone. — Sweet 

partner, 

I  must  not  yet  forsake  you  : — Let's  be  merry; — 
Good  my  lord  cardinal,  I  have  half  a  dozen  healths 
To  drink  to  these  fair  ladies,  and  a  measure 
To  lead  them  once  again  ;  and  then  let's  dream 
AVho's  best  in  favour. — Let  the  musick  knock  it.* 

[Exeunt,  mlh  Trumpets. 

"  But  some  reply,  what  foole  would  daunce, 

"  If  that  when  daunce  is  doon, 
"  He  may  not  have  at  ladyes  lips 

"  That  which  in  daunce  he  woon  ?"     STEEVENS. 

See  Vol.  IV.  p.  43,  n.  5.     MALONE. 

This  custom  is  still  prevalent,  among  the  country  people,  in 
many,  perhaps  all,  parts  of  the  kingdom.  When  the  fiddler 
thinks  his  young  couple  have  had  musick  enough,  he  makes  his 
instrument  squeak  out  two  notes  which  all  understand  to  say — 
kiss  her  !  HITSON. 

* a  little  hcatcd.~]     The  King,  on  being  discovered  and 

desired  by  Wolsey  to  take  his  place,  said  that  he  would  "  first 
go  and  shift  him  :  and  thereupon,  went  into  the  Cardinal's  bed- 
charnber,  where  was  a  great  fire  prepared  for  him,  and  there  he 
new  appareled  himsclfe  with  rich  and  princely  garments.  And 
in  the  king's  absence  the  dishes  of  the  banquet  were  cleane  taken 
away,  and  the  tables  covered  with  new  and  perfumed  clothes. — 
Then  the  king  took  his  scat  under  the  cloath  of  estate,  command- 
ing every  person  to  sit  still  as  before ;  and  then  came  in  a  new 
banquet  before  his  majestic  of/tro  hunched  c/V'//r.v,  and  so  they 
passed  the  night  in  banqueting  and  dancing  untiil  morning."  Ca- 
vendish's Life  oJWohcij.  MALONE. 


ACT  u.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  59 

ACT  II.    SCENE  I. 

A  Street. 
Enter  T<ro  Gentlemen,  meeting. 

1  GENT.  Whither  away  so  fast  ? 

2  GENT.  O, — God  save  you  I1 
Even  to  the  hall,  to  hear  what  shall  become 

Of  the  great  duke  of  Buckingham. 

1  GENT.  I'll  save  you 
That  labour,  sir.  All's  now  done,  but  the  ceremony 
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  condcmn'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  ? 

9 Let  the  music  k  knock  //.]    So,  in  Antonio  and  MeUidat 

Part  I.  1602: 

"  Fla.  Faith,  the  son^  will  seem  to  come  off  hardly- 

"  Catz.  Troth,    not  a   whit,   it'  you  seem    to  come   off 

quickly. 
"  Flu.   Pert  Cat/o,  l-nnck  it  then"     STEEVENS. 

:  O, — dot/  ,vr/7'(-  you  /]      Surely,  (with  Sir  Thomas  Ilanmcr,) 
we  should  complete  the  measure  by  reading: 
O,  sir,  (Jod  save,  you  !     STEEVENS. 


60  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

1  GENT.  I'll  tell  you  in  a  little.     The  great  duke 
Came  to  the  bar  ;  where,  to  his  accusations, 
He  pleaded  still,  not  guilty,  and  alleg'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  him  brought,  viva  voce,  to  his  face  :2 
At  which  appear*  d  against  him,  his  surveyor  ; 
Sir  Gilbert  Peck  his  chancellor  ;  and  John  Court, 
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. 
All  these  accus'd  him  strongly  ;  which  he  fain 
Would  have  flung  from  him,  but,  indeed,  he  could 

not  : 

And  so  his  peers,  upon  this  evidence, 
Have  found  him  guilty  of  high  treason.     Much 
He  spoke,  and  learnedly,  for  life  ;  but  all 
Was  either  pitied  in  him,  or  forgotten.3 

2  GENT.  After  all  this,  how  did  he  bear  himself? 

1  GENT.  Whenhewasbrought  again  to  the  bar,  — 

to  hear 

His  knell  rung  out,  his  judgment,  —  he  was  stirr'd 
With  such  an  agony,  he  sweat  extremely,4 

*  To  him  brought,  viva  vocc,  to  his  face  :]      This  is  a  clear  er- 
ror of  the  press.     We  must  read  —  have  instead  of  —  him. 

M. 


3  Was  either  pitied  in  him,  or  forgotten.']      Either  produced 
no  effect,  or  produced  only  ineffectual  pity.     MALONE. 

—  he  sweat  extremely,~\  This  circumstance  is  taken  from 
Holinshed  :  "  After  he  \vas  found  guilty,  the  duke  was  brought 
to  the  bur,  sore-chafing,  and  siveal  marvclously."  STJ.KX  J:NS. 


x.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  61 

And  something  spoke  in  choler,  ill,  and  hasty : 
But  he  fell  to  himself*  again,  and,  sweetly, 
In  all  the  rest  show'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.  JTis  likely, 
By  all  conjectures :  First,  Kildare's  attainder, 
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 
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, 
And  far  enough  from  court  too. 

2  GENT.  All  the  commons 
Hate  him  perniciously,  and,  o'  my  conscience, 
Wish  him  ten  fathom  deep :  this  duke  as  much 
They  love  and  dote  on  ;  call  him,  bounteous  Buck- 
ingham, 

The  mirror  of  all  courtesy  ;5 — 

*     * 

1  GENT.  Stay  there,  sir, 

And  see  the  noble  ruin'd  man  you  speak  of. 

•*  The  mirror  of  all  courtesy ;~\     See  the  concluding  words  of 
u.  1,  p.  42.     STEF.VENS. 


62  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 


Enter  BUCKINGHAM  from  his  Arraignment ;  Tip- 
staves before  him ;  the  Axe  with  the  Edge  towards 
him ;  Halberds  on  each  Side :  with  him,  Sir 
THOMAS  LOVELL,  Sir  NICHOLAS  VAUX,  Sir 
WILLIAM  SANDS,C  and  common  People. 

2  GENT.  Let's  stand  close,  and  behold  him. 

BUCK.  All  good  people, 

You  that  thus  far  have  come  to  pity  me, 
Hear  what  I  say,  and  then  go  home  and  lose  me. 
I  have  this  day  received  a  traitor's  judgment, 
And  by  that  name  must  die ;  Yet,  heaven  bear 

witness, 

And,  if  I  have  a  conscience,  let  it  sink  me, 
Even  as  the  axe  falls,  if  I  be  not  faithful ! 
The  law  I  bear  no  malice  for  my  death, 
It  has  done,  upon  the  premises,  but  justice : 
But  those,  that  sought  it,  I  could  wish  more  chris- 

tians : 

Be  what  they  will,  I  heartily  forgive  them  : 
Yet  let  them  look  they  glory  not  in  mischief, 


s Sir  William  Sands,]  The  old  copy  reads — Sir  Walter. 

STEEVENS. 

The  correction  is  justified  by  Holinshed's  Chronicle,  in  which 
it  is  said,  that  Sir  Nicholas  Vaux,  and  Sir  William  Sands,  re- 
ceived Buckingham  at  the  Temple,  and  accompanied  him  to  the 
Tower.  Sir  William  Sands  was,  at  this  time,  (May,  1521,) 
only  a  baronet,  frather,  a  knight  ;  as  baronetage  was  unknown 
till  1611,]  not  being  created 'Lord  Sands  till  April  27,  1527. 
Shakspeare  probably  did  not  know  that  he  was  the  same  person 
whom  he  has  already  introduced  with  that  title.  He  fell  into 
the  error  by  placing  the  King's  visit  to  Wolsey,  (at  which  time 
Sir  William  was  Lord  Sands,)  and  Buckingham's  condemnation, 
in  the  same  year  ;  whereas  that  visit  was  made  some  years  after- 
wards. MALONE. 


sc.  /.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  63 

Nor  build  their  evils  on  the  graves  of  great  men  ;7 
For  then  my  guiltless  blood  must  cry  against  them. 
For  further  life  in  this  world  I  ne'er  hope, 
Nor  will  I  aue,  although  the  king  have  mercies 
More  than  I  dare  make  faults.     You  few  that  lov'd 

me,8 

And  dare  be  bold  to  weep  for  Buckingham, 
His  noble  friends,  and  fellows,  whom  to  leave 
Is  only  bitter  to  him,  only  dying, 
Go  with  me,  like  good  angels,  to  my  end ; 
And,  as  the  long  divorce9  of  steel  falls  on  me, 
Make  of  your  prayers  one  sweet  sacrifice, 
And  lift  my  soul  to  heaven.1 — Lead  on,  o'God's 

name. 

Lav.  I  do  beseech  your  grace,  for  charity, 
If  ever  any  malice  in  your  heart 
Were  hid  against  me,  now  to  forgive  me  frankly. 

BUCK.  Sir  Thomas  Lovell,  I  as  free  forgive  you, 
As  I  would  be  forgiven  :   I  forgive  all  ; 
There  cannot  be  those  numberless  oii'ences 


7  Nor  build  their  evils  on  the  graves  of  great  mm  ;~\ 
in  this  place,  nrcforicce.     So,  in  Measure  jor  Measure  : 

" Having  v/aste  ground  enough, 

"  Shall  we  desire  to  raze  the  sanctuary, 

"  And  pitch  our  evils  there?" 
See  Vol.  VI.  p.  260,  n.  S.     STEJVVJ-.NS. 

* \oitfe\v  that  Inv'd  ?»r,  &e.]     These  lines  are  remark- 
ably tender  .,nd  pathetick.     JOHNSON. 

—  the  lon<£  divorce — ~\     So,  in  Lord  Storline's  Darius, 
l(j(W  : 

"  Scarce  was  the  lasiirg  last  divorcement  made 

"  Betwixt  the  hodie  and  i;,c  soule"  «S;c.     STJ-:KVEX>. 

1  Ami  lift  m:i  soul  to  heaven.!      So    Milton,   Paradise   Loft, 
Book  IV:' 

"  .  .       their  ^pngs 

"  Divide  tli  -  nighl,  ami  i/Jl  our  thong/its  t<)  he  arm" 


64  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

'Gainst  me,  I  can't  take  peace  with  :  no  black  envy 
Shall  make  my  grave.2 — Commend  me  to  his  grace ; 
And,  if  he  speak  of  Buckingham,  pray,  tell  him, 
You  met  him  half  in  heaven :  my  vows  and  prayers 

* no  black  envy 

Shall  make  my  grave.']  Shakspeare,  by  this  expression, 
meant  no  more  than  to  make  the  Duke  say,  Afa  action  expressive 
of  malice  shall  cancludc  my  life.  Envy,  by  our  author,  is  used 
for  malice  and  hatred,  in  other  places,  and,  perhaps,  in  this. 

Again,  in  the   ancient  metrical   romance  of  Syr   Bevys   of 
Hampton,  bl.  1.  no  date : 

**  Traytoure,  he  sayd  with  great  envy, 

"  Turne  thee  now,  I  thee  defye." 
Again : 

"  They  drewe  theyr  swordes  hastely, 

"  And  smot  together  with  great  envy.'1'' 

And  Barrett,  in  his  Alvearie,  or  Quadruple  Dictionary ,  1580, 
thus  interprets  it. 

To  make  a  grave,  however,  may  mean  to  close  it.  So,  in 
The  Comedy  of  Errors  : 

11  \\  hy  at  this  time  the  doors  are  made  against  you." 
i.  e.  closed,  shut.  The  sense  will  then  be,  (whether  quaintly  OF 
poetically  expressed,  let  the  reader  determine)  no  malicious  ac- 
tion shall  close  my  grave,  i.  e.  attend  the  conclusion  of  my  exist- 
ence, or  terminate  my  life  ;  the  last  action  of  it  shall  not  be  un- 
charitable. SXEEVENS. 

Envy  is  frequently  used  in  this  sense  by  our  author  and  his 
contemporaries.  See  Vol.  VII.  p.  311,  n.  9  ;  and  p.  403,  1.  30, 
I  have  therefore  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Stcevens's  exposition  is 
right.  Dr.  Warburton  reads — mark  my  grave  ;  and  in  support 
of  the  emendation  it  may  be  observed  that  the  same  error  has 
happened  in  King  Henry  V ;  or  at  least  that  all  the  editors 
have  supposed  so,  having  there  adopted  a  similar  correction. 
See  Vol.  XII.  p.  339,  n.  1. 

Dr.  "VVarburton's  emendation  also  derives  some  support  from 
the  following  passage  in  The  Comedy  of  Errors  : 

"  A  vulgar  comment  will  be  made  of  it ; 

"  And  that  supposed  by  the  common  rout 

"  Against  your  yet  ungalled  estimation, 

"  That  may  with  foul  intrusion  enter  in, 

"  And  duett  upon  your  grave,  when  you  are  dead." 

MALONE, 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  65 

Yet  are  the  king's ;  and,  till  my  soul  forsake  me,3 
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  orfe  monument ! 

Lov.  To  the  water  side  I  must  conduct  your 

grace ; 

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  j 
And  fit  it  with  such  furniture,  as  suits 
The  greatness  of  his  person. 

BUCK.  Nay,  sir  Nicholas, 

Let  it  alone ;  my  state  now  will  but  mock  me.4 
When  I  came  hither,  I  was  lord  high  constable, 
And  duke  of  Buckingham ;   now,  poor  Edward 
Boh un : 3 

3  forsake  me,]     The  latter  word  was  added  by  Mr. 

Ro\ve.     MA  LONE. 

4  ATrty,  sir  Nicholas, 

Let  it  alone ;  my  slate  notv  ivill  but  mode  mc.~\  The  last 
verse  would  run  more  smoothly,  by  making  the  monosyllables 
change  places : 

Lei  it  alone,  my  state  will  noiv  but  mock  me. 

WHALLEY. 

—  poor  Edward  Bohun  :]  The  Duke  of  Buckingham's 
name  was  Stafford.  Shakspeare  was  led  into  the  mistake  by 
Holinshed.  STEEVENS. 

This  i.:  not  an  expression  thrown  out  at  random,  or  by  mistake, 
but  one  strongly  marked  with  historical  propriety.  The  name  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  most  generally  known,  was  Stafford  f 
but  the  History  nf  Remarkable  Vr/V/Av,  8vo.  171."),  p.  170,  says: 
"  it  seems  he  affected  that  surname  [of  Bohun~]  before  that  of 
Stafford,  he  being  descended  from  the  lio/ninx,  earls  of  Here- 
ford." His  reason  for  this  might  be,  because  he  was  lord  high 
VOL.  XV.  F 


66  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

Yet  I  am  richer  than  my  base  accusers, 

That  never  knew  what  truth  meant :  I  now  seal  it ; 6 

And  with  that  blood  will  make  them  one  day  groan 

for't. 

My  noble  father,  Henry  of  Buckingham, 
Who  first  rais'd  head  against  usurping  Richard, 
Flying  for  succour  to  his  servant  Banister, 
Being  distressed,  was  by  that  wretch  betray'd, 
And  without  trial  fell ;  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  lov'd  most; 
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, 


constable  of  England  by  inheritance  of  tenure  from  the  Bohtins; 
and  as  the  poet  has  taken  particular  notice  of  his  great  office, 
does  it  not  seem  probable  that  he  had  fully  considered  of  the 
Duke's  foundation  for  assuming  the  name  of  Bohun?  In  truth, 
the  Duke's  name  was  BAGOT;  for  a  gentleman  of  that  very 
ancient  family  married  the  heiress  of  the  barony  of  Stafford, 
and  their  son  relinquishing  his  paternal  surname,  assumed  that 
of  his  mother,  which  continued  in  his  posterity.  TOLLET. 

Of  all  this  probably  Shakspeare  knew  nothing.     MALONE. 

6  /  now  seal  it;  &c.]     I  now  seal  my  truth,  my  loyalty, 

with  blood,  which  blood  shall  one  day  make  them  groan. 

JOHNSON. 


sc.  I.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  67 

Be  sure,  you  be  not  loose;7  for  those  you  make 

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 
But  where  they  mean  to  sink  ye.  All  good  people, 
Pray  for  me!  I  must  now  forsake  ye;  the  last  hour 
Of  my  long  weary  life  is  come  upon  me. 
Farewell : 

And  when  you  would  say  something  that  is  sad,9 
Speak  how  I  fell. — I  have  done ;  and  God  forgive 

me! 

\_Exeunt  BUCKINGHAM  and  Train. 

1  GENT.  O,  this  is  full  of  pity ! — Sir,  it  calls, 
I  fear,  too  many  curses  on  their  heads, 

That  were  the  authors. 

2  GENT.  If  the  duke  be  guiltless, 
'Tis  full  of  woe :  yet  I  can  give  you  inkling 
Of  an  ensuing  evil,  if  it  fall, 

Greater  than  this. 

1  GENT.  Good  angels  keep  it  from  us ! 
Where  may  it  be?  You  do  not  doubt  my  faith,  sir? 

2  GENT.  This  secret  is  so  weighty,  'twill  require 
A  strong  faith9  to  conceal  it. 

l  GENT.  Let  me  have  it ; 

I  do  not  talk  much. 

7 If  not  loose ;]  This  expression  occurs  again  in  Othello ; 

"  There  are  a  kind  of  men  so  loose  of  soul, 

"  That  in  their  sleeps  will  mutter  their  affairs." 

STEEVEXS. 

1  And  i(.-J/rn  ynu  mould  say  something  that  is  sad,  &C.J      So, 
in  King  Richard  II: 

"  Tell  thou  the  lamentable  tale  of  me, 

*'  And  send  the  hearers  \vceping  to  their  beds." 

STEEVENSr 

*  — -strong  faith — ]     Is  great  fidelity.    JOHNSON. 

F  2 


68  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  if. 

2  GENT.  I  am  confident ; 

You  shall,  sir :  Did  you  not  of  late  days  hear 
A  buzzing,  of  a  separation 
Between  the  king  and  Katharine? 

1  GENT.  Yes,  but  it  held  not : 
For  when  the  king  once  heard  it,  out  of  anger 
He  sent  command  to  the  lord  mayor,  straight 
To  stop  the  rumour,  and  allay  those  tongues 
That  durst  disperse  it. 

2  GENT.  But  that  slander,  sir, 
Is  found  a  truth  now :  for  it  grows  again 
Fresher  than  e'er  it  was ;  and  held  for  certa  in1 
The  king  will  venture  at  it.     Either  the  cardinal, 
Or  some  about  him  near,  have,  out  of  malice 

To  the  good  queen,  possessed  him  with  a  scruple 
That  will  undo  her :  To  confirm  this  too, 
Cardinal  Campeius  is  arriv'd,  and  lately ; 
As  all  think,  for  this  business. 

1  GENT.  *Tis  the  cardinal ; 
And  merely  to  revenge  him  on  the  emperor, 
For  not  bestowing  on  him,  at  his  asking, 

The  archbishoprick  of  Toledo,  this  is  purpos'd. 

2  GENT.  I  think,  you  have  hit  the  mark :  But  is't 

not  cruel, 

That  she  should  feel  the  smart  of  this?  The  cardinal 
Will  have  his  will,  and  she  must  fall. 

l  GENT.  'Tis  woful. 

We  are  too  open  here  to  argue  this ; 
Let's  think  in  private  more.  \_Excunt. 


1  and  held  for  certain,']     To  hold,  is  to  believe.     So, 

in  Lord  Surrey's  translation  of  the  fourth  JEneid  : 

"  I  hold  thee  not,  nor  yet  gainsay  thy  words." 

STEEVENS, 


sc.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  69 

SCENE  II. 

An  Ante-chamber  in  the  Palace. 
Enter  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  reading  a  Letter. 

CHAM.  My  lord, — The  horses  your  lordship  sent 
for,  with  all  the  care  I  had,  I  saw  well  chosen,  rid- 
den, and  furnished.     They  were  young,  and  hand- 
some ;  and  of  the  best  breed  in  the  north.   When  they 
were  ready  to  set  out  for  London,  a  man  of  my  lord 
cardinal's,  by  commission,  and  main  power,  look  'em 
from  me ;  with  this  reason, — His  master  would  be 
served  before  a  subject,  if  not  before   the   king : 
which  stopped  our  moutlis,  sir. 

I  fear,  lie  will,  indeed :   Well,  let  him  have  them : 
He  will  have  all,  I  think. 

Enter  the  Dukes  ^NORFOLK  and  SUFFOLK. 

NOR.  Well  met,  my  good2 

Lord  chamberlain. 

CHAM.  Good  day  to  both  your  graces. 

SUF.  How  is  the  king  employ'd  ? 

CHAM.  I  left  him  private, 

Full  of  sad  thoughts  and  troubles. 

NOR.  What's  the  cause? 

CHAM.  It  seems,  the  marriage  with  his  brother's 

wife 
Has  crept  too  near  his  conscience. 

*    Well  met,  mi/  good — ]      The  epithet — %oorf,  was  inserted 
by  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  ibr  the  sake  oi' measure.     SxctvEXs. 


70  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  n. 

SUF.  No,  his  conscience 

Has  crept  too  near  another  lady. 

NOR.  'Tis  so ; 

This  is  the  cardinal's  doing,  the  king-cardinal : 
That  blind  priest,  like  the  eldest  son  of  fortune, 
Turns  what  he  lists.    The  king  will  know  him  one 
day. 

SUF.  Pray  God,  he  do !  he'll  never  know  him- 
self else. 

NOR.  How  holily  he  works  in  all  his  business ! 
And  with  what  zeal !  For,  now  he  has  crack'd  the 

league 
Between  us  and  the  emperor,  the  queen's  great 

nephew, 

He  dives  into  the  king's  soul ;  and  there  scatters 
Dangers,  doubts,  wringing  of  the  conscience, 
Fears,  and  despairs,  and  all  these  for  his  marriage : 
And,  out  of  all  these  to  restore  the  king, 
He  counsels  a  divorce  :  a  loss  of  her, 
That,  like  a  jewel,  has  hung  twenty  years 
About  his  neck,  yet  never  lost  her  lustre  ;3 
Of  her,  that  loves  him  with  that  excellence 
That  angels  love  good  men  with ;  even  of  her 
That,  when  the  greatest  stroke  of  fortune  falls, 
Will  bless  the  king:  And  is  not  this  course  pious? 

CHAM.   Heaven  keep  me  from  such  counsel ! 

'Tis  most  true, 
These  news  are  every  where  j  every  tongue  speaks 

them, 

And  every  true  heart  weeps  for't :  All,  that  dare 
Look  into  these  affairs,  see  this  main  end,4 — 

s  That,  like  a  jewel,  has  hung  twenty  years  &c.]     See  Vol.  IX. 
p.  24-2,  n.  2.     MALONE. 

* sec  this  main  end,]    Thus  the  old  copy.    All,  &c. 


sc.  it.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  71 

The  French  king's  sister'.     Heaven  will  one  day 

open 

The  king's  eyes,  that  so  long  have  slept  upon 
This  bold  bad  man. 

SUF.  And  free  us  from  his  slavery. 

NOR.  We  had  need  pray, 
And  heartily,  for  our  deliverance  ; 
Or  this  imperious  man  will  work  us  all 
From  princes  into  pages  :<;  all  men's  honours 
Lie  in  one  lump  before  him,  to  be  fashion'd 
Into  what  pitch  he  please.7 

SUF.  For  me,  my  lords, 

I  love  him  not,  nor  fear  him;  there's  my  creed: 
As  I  am  made  without  him,  so  I'll  stand, 
If  the  king  please  ;  his  curses  and  his  blessings 
Touch  me  alike,  they  are  breath  I  not  believe  in. 

perceive  this  main  end  of  these  counsels,  namely,  the  French 
king's  sister.  The  editor  of  the  fourtli  folio  and  all  the  subse- 
quent editors  read — his;  but  yf-  or  this  were  not  likely  to  be 
confounded  with  hi  a.  Besides,  the  King,  not  Wolsey,  is  the 
person  last  mentioned ;  and  it  was  the  main  end  or  object  of 
Wolsey  to  bring  about  a  marriage  between  Henry  and  the 
French  king's  sister.  End  has  already  been  used  for  cause,  and. 
may  be  so  here.  See  p.  fil  : 

"  The  cardinal  is  the  end  of  this."     MALONE. 

5   The  French  king's  sister.]     i.  e.  the  Duchess  of  Alcncon. 

STEEVEXS. 

0  From  princes  into  pages  .•]  This  may  allude  to  the  retinue 
of  the  Cardinal,  who  had  several  of  the  nobility  among  hi* 
menial  servants.  JOHNSON. 

7  Into  what  pitch  he  plcase.~\  The  mass  must  be  fashioned 
into  pilch  or  height,  as  well  as  into  particular  form.  The  mean- 
ing is,  that  the  Cardinal  can,  as  he  pleases,  make  high  or  low. 

JOHNSON. 

The  allusion  seems  to  be  to  the  '2 1st  verse  of  the  9th  chapter 
Of  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  fionxins:  "  Hath  not  the  potter 
power  over  the  clay  of  the  same  lump,  to  make  one  vessel  unto 
honour,  and  another  unto  dishonour  ?"  COLLINS. 


72  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

I  knew  him,  and  I  know  him ;  so  I  leave  him 
To  him,  that  made  him  proud,  the  pope. 

NOR.  Let's  in ; 

And,  with  some  other  business,  put  the  king 
From  these  sad  thoughts,  that  work  too  much 

upon  him: — 
My  lord,  you'll  bear  us  company? 

CHAM.  Excuse  me ; 

The  king  hath  sent  me  other-where  :  besides, 
You'll  find  a  most  unfit  time  to  disturb  him : 
Health  to  your  lordships. 

NOR.  Thanks,  my  good  lord  chamberlain. 

\_Exit  Lord  Chamberlain. 

NORFOLK  opens  a  folding-door.     The  King  is  dis- 
covered sitting,  and  reading  pensively? 

SUF.  How  sad  he  looks!  sure, he  is  much  afflicted. 

'  The  stage  direction,  in  the  old  copy,  is  a  singular  one. 
Exit  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  the  King  drams  the  curtain,  and 
sits  reading  pensively.  STEEVENS. 

This  stage  direction  was  calculated  for,  and  ascertains  pre- 
cisely the  state  of,  the  theatre  in  Shakspeare's  time.  When  a 
person  was  to  be  discovered  in  a  different  apartment  from  that  in 
which  the  original  speakers  in  the  scene  are  exhibited,  the  art- 
less mode  of  our  author's  time  was  to  place  such  person  in  the 
back  part  of  the  stage,  behind  the  curtains,  which  were  occa- 
sionally suspended  across  it.  These  the  person  who  was  to  be 
discovered,  (as  Henry,  in  the  present  case,)  drew  back  just  at 
the  proper  time.  Mr.  Rowe,  who  seems  to  have  looked  no 
further  than  the  modern  stage,  changed  the  direction  thus : 
**  The  scene  opens,  and  discovers  the  King,"  &c.  but,  besides 
the  impropriety  of  introducing  scenes  when  there  were  none, 
such  an  exhibition  would  not  be  proper  here,  for  Norfolk  lias 
just  said — "  Let's  in," — and  therefore  should  himself  do  some 
act,  in  order  to  visit  the  King.  This,  indeed,  in  the  simple  state 
of  the  old  stage,  was  not  attended  to ;  the  King  very  civilly  dis- 
covering himself.  See  An  Account  of  our  old  Theatres,  Vol.  III. 

MA  LONE. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  73 

A'.  HEX.  Who  is  there  ?  ha  ? 

NOR.  'Pray  God,  he  he  not  angry. 

A'.  HEX.  Who's  there,  I  say  ?  How  dare  you 

thrust  yourselves 
Into  my  private  meditations  ? 
Who  nm  I  ?  ha  ? 

Noit.  A  gracious  king,  that  pardons  all  offences 
Malice  ne'er  meant :  our  breach  of  duty,  this  way, 
Is  business  of  estate ;  in  which,  we  come 
To  know  your  royal  pleasure. 

K.  HEX.  You  are  too  bold  ; 

Go  to  ;  I'll  make  ye  know  your  times  of  business  : 
Is  this  an  hour  for  temporal  affairs  ?  ha  ? — 

Enter  WOLSEY  and  CAMPEIUS. 

Who's  there  ?    my  good  lord   cardinal  ? — O  my 

Wolsey, 

The  quiet  of  my  wounded  conscience, 
Thou  art  a  cure  fit  for  a  king. — You're  welcome, 

\_To  CAMPEIUS. 

Most  learned  reverend  sir,  into  our  kingdom; 
Use  us,  and  it : — My  good  lord,  have  great  care 
I  be  not  found  a  talker.9  [To  WOLSEY. 

IToL.  Sir,  you  cannot. 

I  would,  your  grace  would  give  us  but  an  hour 
Of  private  conference. 


have  "rent  care. 


1  lie  not  Joiind  a  talker."]      I  take  the  meaning  to  be,  Lei 
care  be.  taken  tltal  mi/  promise  be  performed,  that  my  professions 
(if  welcome  be  nol  j'ov.ad  empty  talk.     JOHNSON*. 
So,  in  A7»q  Rich  a  rtl  III : 

" we  will  not  stand  to  prate, 

"  'ialke.rs  are  no  u;ood  doers."     STEEVEXS. 


7*  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  n. 

K.  HEN.  We  are  busy ;  go. 

[To  NORFOLK  and  SUFFOLK. 

NOR.  This  priest  has  no  pride  in  him  ? 

SUF.  Not  to  speak  of; 

I  would  not  be  so  sick  though,1  for  his 

place : 
But  this  cannot  continue. 

NOR.  If  it  do, 

I'll  venture  one  heave  at  him.2 

SUF.  I  another. 

[Exeunt  NORFOLK  and  SUFFOLK. 

WOL.  Your  grace  has  given  a  precedent  of  wisdom 
Above  all  princes,  in  committing  freely 
Your  scruple  to  the  voice  of  Christendom : 
Who  can  be  angry  now  ?  what  envy  reach  you  ? 
The  Spaniard,  tied  by  blood  and  favour  to  her, 
Must  now  confess,  if  they  have  any  goodness, 
The  trial  just  and  noble.     All  the  clerks, 
I  mean,  the  learned  ones,  in  Christian  kingdoms, 
Have  their  free  voices  j3  Home,  the  nurse  of  judg- 
ment, 

Invited  by  your  noble  self,  hath  sent 
One  general  tongue  unto  us,  this  good  man, 
This  just  and  learned  priest,  cardinal  Campeius ; 
Whom,  once  more,  I  present  unto  your  highness. 

1  so  sick  though,]     That  is,  so  sick  as  he  is  proud. 

JOHNSON. 

1  one  heave  at  him."]     So,  in  King  Henry  VI.  Part  II : 

"  To  heave  the  traitor  Somerset  from  hence.'* 

The  first  folio  gives  the  passage  thus  : 
lie  venture  one  ;  haue  at  him. 

The  reading  in  the  text  is  that  of  the  second  folio.     STEEVENS. 

3  Have  their  free  voices ;]  The  construction  is,  have  sent 
their  free  voices ;  the  word  sent,  which  occurs  in  the  next  line, 
being  understood  here.  MALONE. 


ac.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  75 

K.  HEN.  And,  once  more,  in  mine  arms  I  bid 

him  welcome, 

And  thank  the  holy  conclave  for  their  loves ; 
They  have  sent  me  such  a  man  I  would  have  wish'd 
for. 

CAM.  Your  grace  must  needs  deserve  all  strangers* 

loves, 

You  are  so  noble  :  To  your  highness*  hand 
I  tender  my  commission  ;  by  whose  virtue, 
(The  court  of  Rome  commanding,) — you,  my  lord 
Cardinal  of  York,  are  join'd  with  me  their  servant, 
In  the  impartial  judging  of  this  business. 

K.  HEN.  Two  equal  men.     The  queen  shall  be 

acquainted 
Forthwith,  for  what  you  come : — Where's  G  ardiner  ? 

WOL.  I  know,  your  majesty  has  always  lov'd  her 
So  dear  in  heart,  not  to  deny  her  that 
A  woman  of  less  place  might  ask  by  law, 
Scholars,  allow'd  freely  to  argue  for  her. 

K.  P!EN.  Ay,  and  the  best,  she  shall  have ;  and 

my  favour 

To  him  that  does  best;  God  forbid  else.    Cardinal, 
Pr'ythce,  call  Gardiner  to  me,  my  new  secretary ; 
I  find  him  a  fit  fellow.  [Exit  WOLSEY. 

Re-enter  WOLSEY,  with  GARDINER. 

WOL.  Give  me  your  hand :  much  joy  and  favour 

to  you ; 
You  are  the  king's  now. 

GARD.  But  to  be  commanded 

For  ever  by  your  grace,  whose  hand  has  rais'd  me. 

[Aside. 
K.  HEN.  Come  hither,  Gardiner. 

[They  converse  apart. 


76  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

CAM.  My  lord  of  York,  was  not  one  doctor  Pace 
In  this  man's  place  before  him  ? 

WOL.  Yes,  he  was. 

CAM.  Was  he  not  held  a  learned  man  ? 

WOL.  Yes,  surely. 

CAM.  Believe  me,  there's  an  ill  opinion  spread 

then 
Even  of  yourself,  lord  cardinal. 

WOL.  How !  of  me  ? 

CAM.  They  will  not  stick  to  say,  you  envied  him  ; 
And,  fearing  he  would  rise,  he  was  so  virtuous, 
Kepthim  a  foreign  man  still  ;*  which  so  griev'd  him, 
That  he  ran  mad,  and  died. 

WOL.  Heaven's  peace  be  with  him  ! 

That's  Christian  care  enough :  for  living  murmurers, 
There's  places  of  rebuke.     He  was  a  fool ; 
For  he  would  needs  be  virtuous :  That  good  fellow, 
If  I  command  him,  follows  my  appointment ; 
I  will  have  none  so  near  else.     Learn  this,  brother, 
We  live  not  to  be  grip'd  by  meaner  persons. 

K.  HEN.  Deliver  this  with  modesty  to  the  queen. 

\_Ezit  GARDINER. 

The  most  convenient  place  that  I  can  think  of, 
For  such  receipt  of  learning,  is  Black-Friars ; 
There  ye  shall  meet  about  this  weighty  business: — 
My  Wolsey,  see  it  furnish'd. — O  my  lord, 
Would  it  not  grieve  an  able  man,  to  leave 
So  sweet  a  bedfellow?    But,  conscience,  consci- 
ence,— 
O,  'tis  a  tender  place,  and  I  must  leave  her. 

\_Exeunt. 

4  Kept  him  a  foreign  man  still ;]     Kept  him   out   of  the 
king's  presence,  employed  in  foreign  embassies.    JOHNSON. 


56'.  ///.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  77 

SCENE  III. 

An  Ante-chamber  in  the  Queen's  Apartments. 
Enter  ANNE  BULLEX,  and  an  old  Lady. 

ANNE.  Not  for  that  neither  j — Here's  the  pang 

that  pinches : 

His  highness  having  liv'd  so  long  with  her:  and  she 
So  good  a  lady,  that  no  tongue  could  ever 
Pronounce  dishonour  of  her, — by  my  life, 
She  never  knew  harm-doing ; — O  now,  after 
So  many  courses  of  the  sun  enthron'd, 
Still  growing  in  a  majesty  and  pomp, — the  which 
To  leave  is5  a  thousand-fold  more  bitter,  than 
'Tis  sweet  at  first  to  acquire, — after  this  process, 
To  give  her  the  avaunt!6  it  is  a  pity 
Would  move  a  monster. 

OLD  L.  Hearts  of  most  hard  temper 

Melt  and  lament  for  her. 

ANNE.  O,  God's  will !  much  better, 

She  ne'er  had  known  pomp :  though  it  be  temporal, 
Yet,  if  that  quarrel,  fortune,7  do  divorce 

*  To  leave  is — ]  The  latter  word  was  added  by  Mr. 
Theobald.  MALONE. 

b  To  give  her  the  araunt.'~]  To  send  her  away  contemptu- 
ously ;  to  pronounce  against  her  a  sentence  of  ejection. 

JOHNSON. 

7  Yet,  if  that  quarrel,  fortune,~]  She  calls  Fortune  a  quarrel 
or  arrow,  from  her  striking  so  deep  and  suddenly.  Quarrel  was 
a  large  arrow  so  called.  Thus  Fairfax  : 

" twang'd  the  string,  out  flew  the  quarrel  long." 

WAnBUHTON. 

Such  is  Dr.  Wurburton's  interpretation.  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer 
reads : 

That  quarreller  Fortune. 


78  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

It  from  the  bearer,  'tis  a  sufferance,  panging 
As  soul  and  body's  severing.8 

OLD  L.  Alas,  poor  lady ! 

She's  a  stranger  now  again.9 

I  think  the  poet  may  be  easily'supposed  to  use  quarrel  for  quar- 
reller,  as  murder  for  the  murderer,  the  act  for  the  agent. 

JOHNSON. 
Dr.  Johnson  may  be  right.     So,  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  .• 

" but  that  your  royalty 

"  Hold  idleness  your  subject,  I  should  take  you 

"  For  Idleness  itself." 

Like  Martial's — "  Non  vitiosus  homo  es,  Zoile,  sed  Vitium." 
We  might,  however,  read : 

Yet  if' that  quarrel  fortune  to  divorce 

It  from  the  bearer. 

i.  e.  if  any  quarrel  happen  or  chance  to  divorce  it  from  the 
bearer.  To  fortune  is  a  verb  used  by  Shakspeare  in  The  Two 
Gentlemen  of  Verona : 

" I'll  tell  you  as  we  pass  along, 

"  That  you  will  wonder  what  hath  fortuned." 
Again,  in  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen,  B.  I.  c.  ii : 

"  It  fortuned  (high  heaven  did  so  ordaine)"  &c. 

STEEVENS. 


panging 

As  soul  and  body's  severwg."]  So  Bertram,  in  All's  ivr.ll 
that  ends  well:  "  I  grow  to  you,  and  our  parting  is  a  tortur'd 
body."  STEEVENS. 

Again,  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  : 

"  The  soul  and  body  rive  not  more  at  parting, 
"  Than  greatness  going  oft'."     MALOXC. 

9  stranger  now  again.~\     Again  an  alien;  not  only  no 

longer  queen,  but  no  longer  an  Englishwoman.     JOHNSON. 

It  rather  means,  she  is  alienated  from  the  King's  affection,  is 
a  stranger  to  his  bed;  for  she  still  retained  the  rights  of  an 
Englishwoman,  and  was  princess  dowager  of  Wales.  So,  in  the 
second  scene  of  the  third  Act : 

*' Katharine  no  more 

"  Shall  be  call'd  queen ;  but  princess  dowager, 
"  And  widow  to  prince  Arthur."     To  L  LET. 

Dr.  Johnson's  interpretation  appears  to  me  to  be  the  true  one. 

MALONJE. 


9C.  in.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  73 

ANNE.  So  much  the  more 

Must  pity  drop  upon  her.     Verily, 
I  swear,  'tis  better  to  be  lowly  born, 
And  range  with  humble  livers  in  content, 
Than  to  be  perk'd  up  in  a  glistering  grief, 
And  wear  a  golden  sorrow. 

OLD  L.  Our  content 

Is  our  best  having.1 

ANNE.  By  my  troth,  and  maidenhead, 

I  would  not  be  a  queen. 

OLD  L.  Beshrew  me,  I  would, 

And  venture  maidenhead  for't;  and  so  would  you, 
For  all  this  spice  of  your  hypocrisy  : 
You,  that  have  so  fair  parts  of  woman  on  yon, 
Have  too  a  woman's  heart ;  which  ever  yet 
Affected  eminence,  wealth,  sovereignty  ; 
Which,  to  say  sooth,  are  blessings:  and  which  gifts 
(Saving  your  mincing)  the  capacity 
Of  your  soft  cheveril2  conscience  would  receive, 
If  you  might  please  to  stretch  it. 

ANNE.  Nay,  good  troth,— 

OLD  L.  Yes,  troth,  and  troth, — You  would  not 
be  a  queen  ? 

I  agree  with  Mr.  Toilet.     So,  in  King  Lear : 

"  Dower'd  with   our   curse,  and  stranger'd  with  our 

oath," — 

i.  e.  the  revocation  of  my  love  has  reduced  her  to  the  condition 
of  an  unfriended  stranger.     STEEVENS. 

1  our  best  having.]     That  is,  our  best  possession.    So,  in 

Macbeth  : 

"  Of  nohle  having  and  of  royal  hope." 
In  Spanish,  hazicnda.     JOHNSON. 


•c/ieveril — ]  is  kid-skin,  soft  leather.     JOHNSON. 


So,  in  Histriomastix,  161 0: 

"  The  cheveril  conscience  of  corrupted  law." 

STSEVSNS. 


80  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

ANNE.  No,  not  for  all  the  riches  under  heaven. 

OLD  i.'Tis  strange;  a  three-pence  bowed  would 

hire  me, 

Old  as  I  am,  to  queen  it :  But,  I  pray  you, 
What  think  you  of  a  duchess  ?  have  you  limbs 
To  bear  that  load  of  title  ? 

ANNE.  No,  in  truth. 

OLD  L.  Then  you  are  weakly  made :  Pluck  off  a 

little;3 

I  would  not  be  a  young  count  in  your  way, 
For  more  than  blushing  comes  to  :  i£  your  back 
Cannot  vouchsafe  this  burden,  'tis  too  weak 
Ever  to  get  a  boy. 

ANNE.  How  you  do  talk ! 

I  swear  again,  I  would  not  be  a  queen 
For  all  the  world. 

OLD  L.  In  faith,  for  little  England 

You'd  venture  an  emballing  :  I  myself 
Would  for  Carnarvonshire,4  although  there  'long'd 

3  Pluck  off  a  little;  &c.~]     What  must  she  pluck  off? 

I  think  we  may  better  read  : 

Pluck  up  a  little. 

Pluck  up !  is  an  idiomatical  expression  for  take  courage. 

JOHNSON. 

The  old  lady  first  questions  Anne  Rullen  about  being  a  queen, 
which  she  declares  her  aversion  to  ;  she  then  proposes  the  title  of 
a  duchess,  and  asks  her  if  she  thinks  herself  equal  to  the  task  of 
sustaining  it ;  but  as  she  still  declines  the  offer  of  greatness, 

Pluck  off  a  little, 

says  she ;  i.  e.  let  us  still  further  divest  preferment  of  its  glare, 
let  us  descend  yet  lower,  and  more  upon  a  level  with  your  own 
quality ;  and  then  adds  : 

/  "would  not  be  a  young  count  it;  your  "way, 

which  is  an  inferior  degree  of  honour  to  any  before  enumerated. 

STEEVENS. 

4  Iti  faith,  for  little  England 

You'd  venture  an  emballing :  /  myself 

Would  for  Carnarvonshire,]     Little  England  seems  very 


sc.  in.          KING  HENRY  VIII.  81 

No  more  to  the  crown  but  that.     Lo,  who  comes 
here  ? 

properly  opposed  to  all  the  world ;  but  what  has  Carnarvonshire 
to  do  here  ?  Does  it  refer  to  the  birth  of  Edward  II.  at  Car- 
narvon ?  or  may  not  this  be  the  allusion  ?  By  little  England  is 
meant,  perhaps,  that  territory  in  Pembrokeshire,  where  the 
Flemings  settled  in  Henry  Ist's  time,  who  speaking  a  language 
very  different  from  the  Welsh,  and  bearing  some  affinity  to  the 
English,  this  fertile  spot  was  called  by  the  Britons,  as  we  are 
told  by  Camden,  Little  England  beyond  Wales;  and,  as  it  is  a 
very  fruitful  country,  may  be  justly  opposed  to  the  mountainous 
and  barren  county  of  Carnarvon.  WHALLEY. 

So,  in  A  short  Relation  of  a  loner  Journey  &c.  by  John 
Taylor  the  Water  Poet :  "  Concerning  Pembrookskire,  the  people 
do  speak  English  in  it  almost  generally,  and  therefore  they  call 
it  Little  England  beyond  Wales,  it  being  the  farthest  south  and 
west  county  in  the  whole  principality."  STEEVENS. 

You'd  venture  an  emballing:^  You  would  venture  to  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  ball,  the  ensign  of  royalty.  JOHNSON. 

Dr.  Johnson's  explanation  cannot  be  right,  because  a  queen- 
consort,  such  as  Anne  Bullen  was,  is  not  distinguished  by  the 
ball,  the  ensign  of  royalty,  nor  has  the  poet  expressed  that  she 
was  so  distinguished.  TOLLET. 

Mr.  Toilet's  objection  to  Johnson's  explanation  is  an  hyper- 
criticism.  Shakspeare  did  not  probably  consider  so  curiously 
his  distinction  between  a  queen  consort  and  a  queen  regent. 

M.  MASON. 

Might  we  read — 

You'd  venture  an  empalling; 

i.  e.  being  invested  with  the  pall  or  robes  of  state  ?  The  word 
occurs  in  the  old  tragedy  of  King  Edward  III.  1596: 
"  As  with  this  armour  I  impall  thy  breast — ." 
And,  in  Macbeth,  the  verb  to  pall  is  used  in  the  sense  of  enrobe: 
"  And  pall  thee  in  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell." 

MALONE. 

The  word  recommended  by  Mr.Malone  occurs  also  in  Chap- 
man's version  of  the  eighth  Book  of  Homer's  Odyssey: 

" such  a  radiance  as  doth  round  empall 

"  Crown'd  Cytherea, — "     STEEVENS. 

Might  we  not  read — an  embalming  ?  A  queen  consort  is 
VOL.  XV.  G 


82  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  n. 


Enter  the  Lord  Chamberlain. 

CHAM.  Good  morrow,  ladies.  What  wer't  worth 

to  know 
The  secret  of  your  conference  ? 

ANNE.  My  good  lord, 

Not  your  demand ;  it  values  not  your  asking  : 
Our  mistress*  sorrows  we  were  pitying. 

CHAM.  It  was  a  gentle  business,  and  becoming 
The  action  of  good  women :  there  is  hope, 
All  will  be  well. 

ANNE.  Now  I  pray  God,  amen  ! 

CHAM.  You  bear  a  gentle  mind,  and  heavenly 

blessings 

Follow  such  creatures.     That  you  may,  fair  lady, 
Perceive  I  speak  sincerely,  and  high  note's 
Ta'en  of  your  many  virtues,  the  king's  majesty 
Commends  his  good  opinion  to  you,5  and 

anointed  at  her  coronation ;  and  in  King  Richard  II.  the  word 
is  used  in  that  sense : 

"  With  my  own  tears  I  wash  away  my  balm." 
Dr.  Johnson  properly  explains  it,  the  oil  of  consecration. 

WHALLEY. 

The  Old  Lady's  jocularity,  I  am  afraid,  carries  her  beyond 
the  bounds  of  decorum ;  but  her  quibbling  allusion  is  more  easily 
comprehended  than  explained.  RITSON. 

5  Commends  his  good  opinion  to  you,']  Thus  the  old  copy,  and 
subsequent  editors.  Mr.  Malone  reads  : 

Commends  his  good  opinion  of  </nu.     STEEVENS. 

The  words — to  you,  in  the  next  line,  must  in  construction  be 
understood  here.  The  old  copy,  indeed,  reads : 

Commends  his  good  opinion  of  you  to  you,  and 

but  the  metre  shows  that  cannot  be  right.  The  words — to  you 
were  probably  accidentally  omitted  by  the  compositor  in  the 
second  line,  and  being  marked  by  the  corrector  as  out,  (to  speak- 
technically,)  were  inserted  in  the  wrong  place.  The  old  error 


ac.  m.          KING  HENRY  VIII.  83 

Does  purpose  honour  to  you  no  less  flowing 
Than  marchioness  of  Pembroke  ;  to  which  title 
A  thousand  pound  a  year,  annual  support, 
Out  of  his  grace  he  adds. 

ANNE.  I  do  not  know, 

What  kind  of  my  obedience  I  should  tender ; 
More  than  my  all  is  nothing:6  nor  my  prayers 
Are  not  words  duly  hallow'd,7  nor  my  wishes 

being  again  marked,  the  words  that  were  wanting  were  properly 
inserted  in  the  second  line  where  they  now  stand,  and  the  new 
error  in  the  first  was  overlooked.  In  the  printing-house  this 
frequently  happens.  MALONE. 

It  is  as  probable  that,  in  the  present  instance,  a  correction, 
and  the  erasure  that  was  designed  to  make  room  for  it,  have 
both  been  printed. 

The  phrase  I  found  in  the  text  I  have  not  disturbed,  as  it  is 
supported  by  a  passage  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra: 

"  Commend  unto  his  lips  thy  favouring  hand.'* 
Again,  in  King  Lear: 

"  I  did  commend  your  highness'  letters  to  them." 

STE  EVENS. 

0  More  than  my  all  is  nothing  :"]  Not  only  my  all  is  nothing, 
but  if  my  all  were  more  than  it  is,  it  were  still  nothing. 

JOHNSON, 

So,  in  Macbeth: 

"  More  is  thy  due  than  more  than  all  can  pay." 

STEEVENS. 


-nor  mi/  prayers 


Arc  not  words  duly  halloirfd,  &c.]     It  appears  to  me  abso- 
lutely necessary,  in  order-to  make  sense  of  this  passage,  to  read  : 

for  mij  prayers 

Are  not  words  duly  halloed,  &c. 
instead  of  "  nor  my  prayers." 

Anne's  argument  is  this :  "  More  than  my  all  is  nothing,y»r 
my  prayers  and  wishes  are  of  no  value,  and  yet  prayers  and 
wishes  are  all  1  have  to  return."  M.  MASON. 

The  double  negative,  it  has  been  already  observed,  was  com- 
monly used  in  our  author's  time. 

For  my  prayers,  a  reading  introduced  by  Mr.  Pope,  even  if 
such  arbitrary  changes  were  allowable,  ought  not  to  be  admitted 

G  '2 


84  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

More  worth  than  empty  vanities  ;  yet  prayers,  and 

wishes, 

Are  all  I  can  return.     'Beseech  your  lordship, 
Vouchsafe  to  speak  my  thanks,  and  my  obedience, 
As  from  a  blushing  handmaid,  to  his  highness  ; 
Whose  health,  and  royalty,  I  pray  for. 

CHAM.  Lady, 

I  shall  not  fail  to  approve  the  fair  conceit,8 
The  king  hath  of  you. — I  have  perus'd  her  well;9 

[Aside. 

Beauty  and  honour  in  her  are  so  mingled, 
That  they  have  caught  the  king  :  and  who  knows 

,  yet> 

But  from  this  lady  may  proceed  a  gem, 
To  lighten  all  this  isle  ? ' — I'll  to  the  king, 
And  say,  I  spoke  with  you. 


here,  this  being  a  distinct  proposition,  not  an  illation  from  what 
has  gone  before.  I  know  not,  (says  Anne,)  what  external  acts 
of  duty  and  obeisance  I  ought  to  return  for  such  unmerited 
favour.  All  I  can  do  of  that  kind,  and  even  more,  if  more 
were  possible,  would  be  insufficient :  nor  are  any  prayers  that  I 
can  offer  up  for  my  benefactor  sufficiently  sanctified,  nor  any 
wishes  that  I  can  breathe  for  his  happiness,  of  more  value  than 
the  most  worthless  and  empty  vanities.  MALONE. 

b  I  shall  not  Jail  &c.]     I  shall  not  omit  to  strengthen,  by  my 
commendation,  the  opinion  which  the  King  has  formed. 

JOHNSON. 

9 I  have  perns' d  her  well ;]      From  the   many  artful 

strokes  of  address  the  poet  has  thrown  in  upon  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  her  mother,  it  should  seem  that  this  play  was  written  and 
performed  in  his  royal  mistress's  time :  if  so,  some  lines  were 
added  by  him  in  the  last  scene,  after  the  accession  of  her  suc- 
cessor, King  James.  THEOBALD. 


gem, 


To  lighten  all  this  isle?~]  Perhaps  alluding  to  the  carbuncle, 
a  gem  supposed  to  have  intrinsick  light,  and  to  shine  in  the 
dark:  any  other  gem  may  reflect  light,  but  cannot  give  it. 

JOHNSOX. 


sc.  m.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  85 

ANNE.  My  honour'd  lord. 

[Exit  Lord  Chamberlain. 

OLD  L.  Why,  this  it  is  ;  see,  see  ! 
I  have  been  begging  sixteen  years  in  court, 
(Am  yet  a  courtier  beggarly,)  nor  could 
Come  pat  betwixt  too  early  and  too  late, 
For  any  suit  of  pounds  :  and  you,  (O  fate!) 
A  very  fresh-fish  here,  (fye,  fye  upon 
This  compell'd  fortune!)  have  your  mouth  fill'd  up, 
Before  you  open  it. 

AXNE.  This  is  strange  to  me. 

OLD  L.  How  tastes  it  ?  is  it  bitter  ?  forty  pence, 
no.e 


So,  in  Thus  Andronicus  : 

"  A  precious  ring,  that  lightens  all  the  hole." 

STEEVENS. 

Thus,  in  a  palace  described  in  Amadis  de  Gaule,  Trans.  1619, 
fol.  B.  IV.  p.  5 :  "  In  the  roofe  of  a  chamber  hung  two  lampes 
of  gold,  at  the  bottomes  whereof  were  enchased  two  carbuncles, 
which  gave  so  bright  a  splendour  round  about  the  roome,  that 
there  was  no  neede  of  any  other  light."  With  a  reference  to 
this  notion,  I  imagine,  Milton,  speaking  of  the  orb  of  the  sun, 
says: 

"  If  stone,  carbuncle  most  or  chrysolite." 

Paradise  Lost,  B.  III.  v.  59G. 
And  that  we  have  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  : 

" were  it  carbnncled 

"  Like  holy  Phoebus'  car,"     HOLT  WHITE. 

* is  it  bitter  ?  forty  pence,  HO.]      Mr.  Roderick,  in  his 

appendix  to  Mr.  Edwards's  book,  proposes  to  read  : 

for  two-pence, 

The  old  reading  may,  however,  stand.  Forty  pence  was,  in 
those  days,  the  proverbial  expression  of  a  small  wager,  or  a  small 
sum.  Money  was  then  reckoned  by  pounds,  marks,  and  nobles, 
Forty  pence  is  half  a  noble,  or  the  sixth  part  of  a  pound. 
Forty  pence,  or  three  and  four  pence,  still  remains,  in  many  of- 
fices, the  legal  and  established  fee. 

So,  in  King  Richard  II.  Act  V.  sc.  v  : 

"  The  cheapest  of  us  is  ten  groats  too  dear." 


86  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  n. 

There  was  a  lady  once,  ('tis  an  old  story,) 
That  would  not  be  a  queen,  that  would  she  not, 
For  all  the  mud  in  Egypt  :3 — Have  you  heard  it  ? 

ANNE.  Come,  you  are  pleasant. 

OLD  L.  With  your  theme,  I  could 

O'ermount  the  lark.  The  marchioness  of  Pembroke! 
A  thousand  pounds  a  year !  for  pure  respect ; 
No  other  obligation  :  By  my  life, 
That  promises  more  thousands  :   Honour's  train 
Is  longer  than  his  foreskirt.     By  this  time, 
I  know,  your  back  will  bear  a  duchess ; — Say, 
Are  you  not  stronger  than  you  were  ? 

ANNE.  Good  lady, 

Make  yourself  mirth  with  your  particular  fancy, 
And  leave  me  out  on't.     'Would  I  had  no  being, 
If  this  salute  my  blood  a  jot ;  it  faints  me, 
To  think  what  follows. 
The  queen  is  comfortless,  and  we  forgetful 
In  our  long  absence  :  Pray,  do  not  deliver 
What  here  you  have  heard,  to  her. 

OLD  L.  What  do  you  think  me? 

[Exeunt. 

Again,  in  All's  well  that  ends  well,  Act  II.  the  Clown  says  :  "  As 
fit  as  ten  groats  for  the  hand  of  an  attorney." 

Again,  in  Green's  Groundwork  of  Coneycatching :  " — wagers 
laying,  &c.  forty  pence  gaged  against  a  match  of  wrestling." 

Again,  in  The  longer  thou  livest,  the  more  Fool  thou  art,  1570: 
"  I  dare  tvage  with  any  man  forty  pence." 

Again,  in  The  Storye  of  King  Darius,  1565,  an  interlude: 
"  Nay,  that  I  will  not  forfourty  pence."     STEEVEN.S. 

3  For  all  the  mud  in  Egypt:']     The  fertility  of  Egypt  is  de- 
rived from  the  mud  and  slime  of  the  Nile.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  87 

SCENE  IV. 

A  Hall  in  Black-fryars. 

Trumpets ,    Sennet ,4    and    Cornets.     Enter     Two 
Vergers,  with  short  Silver  Wands ;  next  tliem^ 

4 Sennet,"]     Dr.  Burney  (whose  General  History  ofMu- 

sick  has  been  so  highly  and  deservedly  applauded )  undertook  to 
trace  the  etymology,  and  discover  the  certain  meaning  of  this 
term,  but  without  success.  The  following  conjecture  of  his 
should  not,  however,  be  withheld  from  the  publick : 

"  Senne  or  sennie,  de  1'Allemand  sen,  qui  signifie  assemblee. 
Diet,  de  vieux  Language: 

"  Senne,  assemblee  a  son  de  cloche"  Menage. 
Perhaps, therefore,  (says  he,)  sennet  may  mean  a  flourish  for  the 
purpose  of  assembling  chiefs,  or  apprizing  the  people  of  their 
approach.  I  have  likewise  been  informed,  (as  is  elsewhere 
noted,)  that  seneste  is  the  name  of  an  antiquated  French  tune." 
See  Julius  Ccesar,  Act  I.  sc.  ii.  STEEVENS. 

In  the  second  part  of  Marston's  Antonio  and  Mettlda — 
"  Cornets  sound  ncynet"     FARMER. 

A  senet  appears  to  have  signified  a  short  flourish  on  cornets. 
In  King  Henry  VI.  P.  III.  after  the  King  and  the  Duke  of 
York  have  entered  into  a  compact  in  the  parliament-house,  we 
find  this  marginal  direction :  "  Senet.  Here  they  [the  lords] 
come  damn  [from  their  seats]."  In  that  place  a  flourish  must 
have  been  meant.  The  direction  which  has  occasioned  this  note 
should  be,  I  believe,  sennet  on  cornets. 

In  Marlowe's  King  Edward  II.  we  find  "  Cornets  sound  a 
signate." 

Senet  or  .signate  was  undoubtedly  nothing  more  than  a  flourish 
or  sounding.  The  Italian  Sonata  formerly  signified  nothing 
more.  See  Florio's  Italian  Diet.  1611,  in  v. 

That  senel  was  merely  the  corrupt  pronunciation  of  signate, 
is  ascertained  by  the  following  entry  in  the  folio  MS.  of  Mr. 
Henslowe,  who  appears  to  have  spelt  entirely  by  the  ear  : 

"  Laid  out  at  sundry  times,  of  my  own  ready  money,  abowt 
the  gainynge  of  ower  comysion,  as  followcth,  1597. 

"  Laid  out  for  goinge  to  the  corte  to  the  Master  of  the  Re- 
queasts,  xii  d. 

"  Item.  Paid  unto  the  clerk  of  the  Scnctte,  40s."     MALONE. 


88  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  IT. 

Tico  Scribes,  in  the  Habits  of  Doctors ;  after 
them,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  alone ;  after 
him,  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln,  Ely,  Rochester,  and 
Saint  Asaph ; 5  next  them,  with  some  small  dis- 
tance, Jbllou's  a  Gentleman  bearing  the  Purse, 
with  the  Great  Seal,  and  a  Car  dinars  Hat :  then 
two  Priests,  bearing  each  a  Silver  Cross ;  then  a 
Gentleman- Usher  bare-headed,  accompanied  with 
a  Sergeant  at  Arms,  bearing  a  Silver  Mace ;  then 
two  Gentlemen,  bearing  two  great  Silver  Pillars;6 

* Archbishop   of  Canterbury, Bishops    of  Lincoln, 

Ely,  Rochester,  and  Saint  Asaph;]  These  were,  William 
Warham,  John  Longland,  Nicholas  West,  John  Fisher,  and 
Henry  Standish.  West,  Fisher,  and  Standish,  were  counsel  for 
the  Queen.  REED. 

6 pillars ;~]     Pillars  were  some  of  the  ensigns  of  digfaity 

carried  before  cardinals.  Sir  Thomas  More,  when  he  was 
speaker  to  the  commons,  advised  them  to  admit  Wolsey  into  the 
house  with  his  maces  and  his  pillars.  More's  Life  of  Sir  T. 
More.  JOHNSON. 

So,  in  The  Treatous,  a  satire  on  Cardinal  Wolsey,  no  date, 
but  published  between  the  execution  of  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham and  the  repudiation  of  Queen  Katharine.  Of  this  curiosity 
the  reader  will  find  a  particular  account  in  Herbert's  improved 
edit,  of  Ames's  Typographical  Antiquities,  Vol.  III.  p.  1538, 
&c. 

The  author  of  this  invective  was  William  Roy.  See  Bale  de 
Script.  Brit.  edit.  154-8,  p.  254,  b  : 

"  With  worldly  pompe  incredible, 
"  Before  him  rydeth  two  prestes  stronge ; 
"  And  they  bear  two  crosses  right  longe, 

"  Gapynge  in  every  man's  face  : 
"  After  them  folowe  two  laye  men  secular, 
"  And  each  of  theym  holdyn  a  pillar, 

"  In  their  hondes  steade  of  a  mace."     STEEVENS. 

At  the  end  of  Fiddes's  Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  is  a  curious 
letter  of  Mr.  Anstis's,  on  the  subject  of  the  two  silver  pillars 
usually  borne  before  Cardinal  Wolsey.  This  remarkable  piece 
of  pageantry  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  Shakspeare.  PERCY. 

Wolsey  had  two  great  crosses  of  silver,  the  one  of  his  arch- 


ac.  IT.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  89 

after  them,  side  by  side,  the  tiro  Cardinals  WOL- 
SEY  and  CAMPEIUS  ;  two  Noblemen  with  the 
Sword  and  Mace.  Then  enter  the  King  and 
Queen,  and  their  Trains.  The  King-  takes  place 
under  the  cloth  of  state ;  the  two  Cardinals  sit 
wider  him  as  judges.  The  Queen  takes  place  at 
some  distance  from  the  King.  The  Bishops  place 
themselves  on  each  side  the  court,  in  manner  of  a 
consistoi~y ;  between  them,  the  Scribes.  The  Lords 
sit  next  the  Bishops.  The  Crier  and  the  rest  of 
the  Attendants  stand  in  convenient  order  about  the 
stage. 

WOL.  Whilst  our  commission  from  Rome  is  read 
Let  silence  be  commanded. 

A'.  HEX.  What's  the  need  ? 

It  hath  already  publickly  been  read, 
And  on  all  sides  the  authority  allow'd ; 
You  may  then  spare  that  time. 

WOL.  Be't  so  : — Proceed. 

SCRIBE.  Say,  Henry  king  of  England,  come  into 
the  court. 


bishoprick,  the  other  of  his  legacy,  borne  before  him  whither- 
soever he  went  or  rode,  by  two  of  the  tallest  priests  that  he 
could  get  within  the  realm.  This  is  from  Vol.  III.  p.  920,  of 
Holinshed,  and  it  seems  from  p.  837,  that  one  of  the  pillars 
was  the  token  of  a  cardinal,  and  perhaps  he  bore  the  other  pillar 
as  an  archbishop.  TOLLET. 

One  of  Wolsey's  crosses  certainly  denoted  his  being  Legate,  as 
the  other  was  borne  before  him  either  as  cardinal  or  archbishop. 

"  On  the day  of  the  same  moneth   (says  Hall)  the  cardi- 

nall  removed  out  of  his  house  called  \orke-place,  with  one 
crosse,  saying,  that  he  would  he  had  never  borne  more,  mean- 
ing that  by  hys  crosse  which  he  bore  as  legate,  which  degree- 
raking  was  his  confusion."  Chron.  Henry  VlII.  101.  b. 

MALONE. 


90  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

CRIER.  Henry  king  of  England,  &c. 
K.  HEN.  Here. 

SCRIBE.  Say,  Katharine  queen  of  England,  come 
into  court. 

CRIER.  Katharine,  queen  of  England,  &c. 

\_The  Queen  makes  no  answer,  rises  out  of  her 
chair,  goes  about  the  court?  comes  to  the  King, 
and  kneels  at  his  feet;  then  speaks. ~\ 

Q.KATH.  Sir,  I  desire  you,  dome  right  and  justice  ;3 
And  to  bestow  your  pity  on  me  :  for 
I  am  a  most  poor  woman,  and  a  stranger, 
Born  out  of  your  dominions  ;  having  here 
No  judge  indifferent,  nor  no  more  assurance 
Of  equal  friendship  and  proceeding.     Alas,  sir, 
In  what  have  I  offended  you  ?  what  cause 
Hath  my  behaviour  given  to  your  displeasure, 
That  thus  you  should  proceed  to  put  me  off, 
Andtakeyourgoodgracefromme  ?  Heaven  witness, 
I  have  been  to  you  a  true  and  humble  wife, 
At  all  times  to  your  will  conformable  :9 

7  goes  about  the  court,']     "  Because  (says  Cavendish) 

she  could  not  come  to  the  king  directlie,  for  the  distance  severed 
between  them."     MALONE. 

8  Sir,  I  desire  you,  do  me  right   and  justice ;   &c.]     This 
speech  of  the  Queen,    and  the  King's  reply,   are  taken  from 
Holinshed,  with  the  most  trifling  variations.     STEEVENS. 

9  At  all  times   to  your  -will  conformable:]     The    character 
Queen  Katharine  here  prides  herself  for,  is  given  to  another 
Queen  in  The,  Historic  of  the  uniting  of  the  Kingdom  of  Port u~ 
gall  to  the  Crowne  of  Castill,  fo.   1600,  p.  238 :  "  —at  which 
time  Queene  Anne  his  wife  fell  sicke  of  a  rotten  fever,   the 
which  in  few  daies  brought  her  to  another  life  ;  wherewith  the 
King  was  much  grieved,  being  a  lady  wholly  conformable  to  his 
humour."     REED. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  91 

Ever  in  fear  to  kindle  your  dislike, 

Yea,  subject  to  your  countenance  ;  glad,  or  sorry, 

As  I  saw  it  inclin'd.     When  was  the  hour, 

I  ever  contradicted  your  desire, 

Or  made  it  not  mine  too  ?  Or  which  of  your  friends 

Have  I  not  strove  to  love,  although  I  knew 

He  were  mine  enemy  ?  what  friend  of  mine 

That  had  to  him  deriv'd  your  anger,  did  I 

Continue  in  my  liking?  nay,  gave  notice1 

He  was  from  thence  discharg'd  ?  Sir,  call  to  mind 

That  I  have  been  your  wife,  in  this  obedience, 

Upward  of  twenty  years,  and  have  been  blest 

With  many  children  by  you :   If,  in  the  course 

And  process  of  this  time,  you  can  report, 

And  prove  it  too,  against  mine  honour  aught, 

My  bond  to  wedlock,  or  my  love  and  duty, 

Against  your  sacred  person,2  in  God's  name, 

1  nay,  ga-ce  notice — ]     In  modern  editions  : 

>  Save  not  J1°t'ce — 


Though  the  author's  common  liberties  of  speech  might  justify 
the  old  reading,  yet  I  cannot  but  think  that  not  was  dropped 
before  notice,  having  the  same  letters,  and  would  therefore 
follow  Sir  T.  Hanmer's  correction.  JOHNSON. 

Our  author  is  so  licentious  in  his  construction,  that  I  suspect 
no  corruption.  MALOXE. 

Perhaps  this  inaccuracy  (like  a  thousand  others)  is  chargeable 
only  on  the  blundering  superintendants  of  the  first  folio. — In- 
stead of — nuy,  we  might  read  : 

nor  gave  uodce 

He  VMS  from  thence  discharged?     STEEVENS. 

or  my  love  and  duty 


Against  your  sacred  person,"]  There  seems  to  be  an  error 
in  the  phrase  "  Against  your  sacred  person  ;"  but  I  don't 
know  how  to  amend  it.  The  sense  would  require  that  we 
should  read,  "  Toward*  your  sacred  person,"  or  some  word  of 
a  similar  import,  which  against  will  not  bear:  and  it  is  not 
likely  that  against  should  be  written  by  mistake  for  towards. 

M.  MASON. 
In  the  old  copy  there  is  not  a  comma  in  the  preceding  line 


92  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

Turn  me  away ;  and  let  the  foul'st  contempt 
Shut  door  upon  me,  and  so  give  me  up 
To  the  sharpest  kind  of  justice.     Please  you,  sir, 
The  king,  your  father,  was  reputed  for 
A  prince  most  prudent,  of  an  excellent 
And  unmatch'd  wit  and  judgment :  Ferdinand, 
My  father,  king  of  Spain,  was  reckoned  one 
The  wisest  prince,  that  there  had  reign' d  by  many 
A  year  before  :  It  is  not  to  be  question'd 
That  they  had  gathered  a  wise  council  to  them 
Of  every  realm,  that  did  debate  this  business, 
Who  deem'd  our  marriage  lawful :   Wherefore  I 

humbly 

Beseech  you,  sir,  to  spare  me,  till  I  may 
Be  by  my  friends  in  Spain  advis'd ;  whose  counsel 
I  will  implore  :  if  not ;  i'the  name  of  God, 
Your  pleasure  be  fulfill' d ! 


after  duty.  Mr.  M.  Mason  has  justly  observed  that,  with  such 
a  punctuation,  the  sense  requires — Towards  your  sacred  person. 
A  comma  being  placed  at  duty,  the  construction  is — If  you  can 
report  and  prove  aught  against  mine  honour,  my  love  and  duty, 
or  aught  against  your  sacred  person,  &c.  but  I  doubt  whether 
this  was  our  author's  intention  ;  for  such  an  arrangement  seems 
to  make  a  breach  of  her  honour  and  matrimonial  bond  to  be 
something  distinct  from  an  offence  against  the  king's  person, 
which  is  not  the  case.  Perhaps,  however,  by  the  latter  words 
Shakspeare  meant,  against  your  life.  MALONE. 

against  my  honour  aught, 

My  bond  to  wedlock,  or  my  love  and  duty 
Against  your  sacred  person,  &c.]  The  meaning  of  this 
passage  is  sufficiently  clear,  but  the  construction  of  it  has  puzzled 
us  all.  It  is  evidently  erroneous,  but  may  be  amended  by 
merely  removing  the  word  or  from  the  middle  of  the  second  line 
to  the  end  of  it.  It  will  then  run  thus — 

against  my  honour  aught, — 

My  bond  to  wedlock, — my  love  and  duty, — or 
Against  your  sacred  person,  &c. 

This  slight  alteration  makes  it  grammatical,  as  well  as  intelligi- 
ble. M.  MASOX. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  93 

WOL.  You  have  here,  lady, 

(And  of  your  choice,)  these  reverend  fathers  ;  men 
Of  singular  integrity  and  learning, 
Yea,  the  elect  of  the  land,  who  are  assembled 
To  plead  your  cause:  It  shall  be  therefore  bootless, 
That  longer  you  desire  the  court ; 3  as  well 
For  your  own  quiet,  as  to  rectify 
What  is  unsettled  in  the  kins;. 


•&• 


CAM.  His  grace 

Hath  spoken  well,  and  justly :  Therefore,  madam, 
It's  fit  this  royal  session  do  proceed ; 
And  that,  without  delay,  their  arguments 
Be  now  produc'd,  and  heard. 

Q.  KATH.  Lord  cardinal, — 

To  you  I  speak. 

WOL.  Your  pleasure,  madam  ? 

Q.  KATH.  Sir, 

I  am  about  to  weep  ;4  but,  thinking  that 
We  are  a  queen,  (or  long  have  dream'd  so,)  certain, 
The  daughter  of  a  king,  my  drops  of  tears 
I'll  turn  to  sparks  of  fire. 

WOL.  Be  patient  yet. 


J  That  longer  you  desire  the  court;"]  That  you  desire  to  pro- 
tract the  business  of  the  court ;  that  you  solicit  a  more  distant 
session  and  trial.  To  pray  for  a  longer  day,  i.  e.  a  more  distant 
one,  when  the  trial  or  execution  of  criminals  is  agitated,  is  yet 
the  language  of  the  bar. — In  the  fourth  folio,  and  all  the  modern 
editions,  defer  is  substituted  for  desire.  MALONE. 

4  I  am  about  to  weep  ;  &c.]  Shakspeare  has  given  almost  a 
similar  sentiment  to  Ilermionc,  in  The  IVinter's  Tale,  on  an 
almost  similar  occasion  : 

"  I  am  not  prone  to  weeping,  as  our  sex 

"  Commonly  are,  &c. — but  I  have 

"  That  honourable  grief  lodg'd  here,  which  burns 

"  Worse  than  tears  drown;"  &c.     STEEVENS. 


94  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

Q.  KATH.  I  will,  when  you  are  humble ;  nay, 

before, 

Or  God  will  punish  me.     I  do  believe, 
Induc'd  by  potent  circumstances,  that 
You  are  mine  enemy ;  and  make  my  challenge, 
You  shall  not  be  my  judge  :5  for  it  is  you 
Have  blown  this  coal  betwixt  my  lord  and  me, — 
Which  God's  dewquench! — Therefore,!  say  agairij 
I  utterly  abhor,  yea,  from  my  soul, 
Refuse  you  for  my  judge  ;6  whom,  yet  once  more, 
I  hold  my  most  malicious  foe,  and  think  not 
At  all  a  friend  to  truth. 

WOL.  I  do  profess, 

You  speak  not  like  yourself;  who  ever  yet 
Have  stood  to  charity,  and  display'd  the  effects 
Of  disposition  gentle,  and  of  wisdom 
O'ertopping  woman's  power.     Madam,  you  do  me 

wrong : 

I  have  no  spleen  against  you  ;  nor  injustice 
For  you,  or  any :  how  far  I  have  proceeded, 
Or  how  far  further  shall,  is  warranted 
By  a  commission  from  the  consistory, 
Yea,  the  whole  consistory  of  Rome.  You  charge  me. 
That  I  have  blown  this  coal :  I  do  deny  it : 


You  shall  not  lie  my  judge  :~\  Challenge  is  here  a  veroum 
juris,  a  law  term.  The  criminal,  when  he  refuses  a  juryman, 
says — /  challenge  him.  JOHNSON. 

6  /  utterly  abhor,  yea,  from  my  soul 

Refuse  you  for  my  judge  ;~\  These  are  not  mere  words  of 
passion,  but  technical  terms  in  the  canon  law. 

Detector  and  Recuso.  The  former,  in  the  language  of  canon- 
ists, signifies  no  more,  than  I  protest  against.  BLACKSTONE. 

The  words  are  Holinshed's :  "  — and  therefore  openly  pro- 
tested that  she  did  utterly  abhor,  refuse,  and  forsake  such  a 
judge."  MALONE. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  95 

The  king  is  present :  if  it  be  known  to  him, 
That  I  gainsay7  my  deed,  how  may  he  wound, 
And  worthily,  my  falsehood  ?  yea,  as  much 
As  you  have  done  my  truth.     But  if 8  he  know 
That  1  am  free  of  your  report,  he  knows, 
I  am  not  of  your  wrong.     Therefore  in  him 
It  lies,  to  cure  me :  and  the  cure  is,  to 
Remove  these  thoughts  from  you :  The  which  before 
His  highness  shall  speak  in,  I  do  beseech 
You,  gracious  madam,  to  unthink  your  speaking, 
And  to  say  so  no  more. 

Q.  KATH.  My  lord,  my  lord, 

I  am  a  simple  woman,  much  too  weak 
To  oppose  your  cunning.   You  are  meek,  and  luim- 

ble-mouth'd  ; 

You  sign  your  place  and  calling,9  in  full  seeming, 
With  meekness  and  humility  :  but  your  heart 
Is  cramm'd  with  arrogancy,  spleen,  and  pride. 
You  have,  by  fortune,  and  his  highness'  favours, 
Gone  slightly  o'er  low  steps  ;  and  now  are  mounted 
Where  powers  are  your  retainers  :  and  your  words, 


7  gainsay — ]  i.  e.  deny.  So,  in  Lord  Surrey's  trans- 
lation of  the  fourth  Book  of  the  JEncid : 

"  I  hold  thee  not,  nor  yet  gainsay  thy  words." 

STEEYENS. 

"  But  if- — ~]     The  conjunction — But,  which  is  wanting 

in  the  old  copy,  was  supplied,  for  the  sake  of  measure,  by  Sir 
T.  Hanmer.     STEEVENS. 

1    You  sign  your  place  and  calling,']      •S/ifH,  for  answer. 

WARBURTON. 

1  think,  to  sign,  must  here  he  to  .v/fon-,  to  denote.  By  your 
outward  meekness  and  humility,  you  show  that  you  are  of  an 
holy  order,  but,  &c.  JOHNSON. 

So,  with  a  kindred  sense,  in  Jnliii*  Cai>ar  : 

"  Sign'd  in  thy  spoil,  and  critnson'd  in  thy  lethe." 

STEEVEXS. 


96  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

Domesticks  to  you,  serve  your  will,1  as't  please 
Yourself  pronounce  their  office.     I  must  tell  you, 
You  tender  more  your  person's  honour,  than 
Your  high  profession  spiritual :  That  again 
I  do  refuse  you  for  my  judge  ;  and  here, 
Before  you  all,  appeal  unto  the  pope, 


1    Where  powers  are  your  retainers  :  and  your  words, 

Domesticks  to  you,  serve  your  will,']  You  have  now  got 
power  at  your  beck,  following  in  your  retinue  ;  and  words  there- 
fore are  degraded  to  the  servile  state  of  performing  any  office 
which  you  shall  give  them.  In  humbler  and  more  common 
terms  :  Having  now  got  power,  you  do  not  regard  your  word. 

JOHNSON. 

The  word  power,  when  used  in  the  plural  and  applied  to  one 
person  only,  will  not  bear  the  meaning  that  Dr.  Johnson  wishes 
to  give  it. 

By  powers  are  meant  the  Emperor  and  the  King  of  France, 
in  the  pay  of  one  or  the  other  of  whom  Wolsey  was  constantly 
retained ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  Wolsey  entertained  some  of 
the  nobility  of  England  among  his  domesticks,  and  had  an  abso- 
lute power  over  the  rest.  M.  MASON. 

Whoever  were  pointed  at  by  the  word  powers,  Shakspeare, 
surely,  does  not  mean  to  say  that  Wolsey  was  retained  by  them, 
but  that  they  were  retainers,  or  subservient,  to  Wolsey. 

MALONE. 

I  believe  that — powers,  in  the  present  instance,  are  used  merely 
to  express  persons  in  whom  power  is  lodged.  The  Queen  would 
insinuate  that  Wolsey  had  rendered  the  highest  officers  of  state 
subservient  to  his  will.  STEEVENS. 

I  believe  we  should  read : 

Where  powers  are  your  retainers,  and  your  wards, 
Domesticks  to  you,  &c. 

The  Queen  rises  naturally  in  her  description.  She  paints  the 
powers  of  government  depending  upon  Wolsey  under  three 
images ;  as  his  retainers,  his  wards,  his  domestick  servants. 

TYRWHITT. 

So,  in  Storer's  Life  and  Death  of  Thomas  Wolsey,  Cardinal, 
a  poem,  1599: 

"  I  must  have  notice  where  their  wards  must  dwell : 

"  I  car'd  not  for  the  gentry,  for  I  had 

"  Young  nobles  of  the  land,"  &c.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  97 

To  bring  my  whole  cause  'fore  his  holiness, 
And  to  be  judg'd  by  him. 

[She  curfsies  to  the  King,  and  offers  to  depart. 

CAM.  The  queen  is  obstinate, 

Stubborn  to  justice,  apt  to  accuse  it,  and 
Disdainful  to  be  try'd  by  it  j  'tis  not  well. 
She's  going  away. 

K.  HEN.  Call  her  again. 

CRIER.  Katharine  queen  of  England,  come  into 

the  court. 
GRIP.  Madam,  you  are  call'd  back. 

Q.  KATH.  What  need  you  note  it?  pray  you, 

keep  your  way : 

When  you  are  call'd,  return. — Now  the  Lord  help, 
They  vex  me  past  my  patience ! — pray  you,  pass  on : 
I  will  not  tarry  :  no,  nor  ever  more, 
Upon  this  business,  my  appearance  make 
In  any  of  their  courts. 

[Exeunt  Queen,  GRIFFITH,  and  her  other 
Attendants. 

K.  HEX.  Go  thy  ways,  Kate  : 

That  man  i'the  world,  who  shall  report  he  has 
A  better  wife,  let  him  in  nought  be  trusted, 
For  speaking  false  in  that :  Thou  art,  alone, 
(If  thy  rare  qualities,  sweet  gentleness, 
Thy  meekness  saint-like,  wife-like  government, — 
Obeying  in  commanding, — and  thy  parts 
Sovereign  and  pious  else,  could  speak  thee  out,2) 

* could  speak  thee  ow/,)]      If  thy  several  qualities  had 

tongues  to  speak  thy  praise.     JOHNSON. 

Rather — had  tongues  capable  of  speaking  out  thy  merits  ;  i.e. 
of  doing  them  extensive  justice.  In  Cymbelinc  we  have  a  similar 
expression  : 

"  You  speak  him  for."     STEEVENS. 

VOL.   XV.  H 


9B  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

The  queen  of  earthly  queens : — She  is  noble  born ; 
And,  like  her  true  nobility,  she  has 
Carried  herself  towards  me. 

WOL.  Most  gracious  sir, 

In  humblest  manner  I  require  your  highness, 
That  it  shall  please  you  to  declare,  in  hearing 
Of  all  these  ears,  (for  where  I  am  robb'd  and  bound, 
There  must  I  be  unloos'd ;  although  not  there 
At  once  and  fully  satisfied,3)  whether  ever  I 
Did  broach  this  business  to  your  highness  ;  or 
Laid  any  scruple  in  your  way,  wrhich  might 
Induce  you  to  the  question  on't  ?  or  ever 
Have  to  you, — but  with  thanks  to  God  for  such 
A  royal  lady, — spake  one  the  least  word,  might4 
Be  to  the  prejudice  of  her  present  state, 
Or  touch  of  her  good  person  ? 

K.  HEN.  My  lord  cardinal, 

I  do  excuse  you ;  yea,  upon  mine  honour, 
I  free  you  from't.     You  are  not  to  be  taught 
That  you  have  many  enemies,  that  know  not 
Why  they  are  so,  but,  like  to  village  curs, 
Bark  when  their  fellows  do  :  by  some  of  these 
The  queen  is  put  in  anger.     Y"ou  are  excus'd  : 
But  will  you  be  more  justified  ?  you  ever 
Have  wish'd  the  sleeping  of  this  business ;  never 
Desir'd  it  to  be  stirr'd  ;5  but  oft  have  hinder'd  j  oft 


At  once  and  fully  satisfied,)']  The  sense,  which  is  encum- 
bered with  words,  is  no  more  than  this — I  must  be  loosed, 
though  when  so  loosed,  I  shall  not  be  satisfied  fully  and  at  once  ; 
that  is,  I  shall  not  be  immediately  satisfied.  JOHNSON. 

4 might — ]    Old  copy,  redundantly — that  might. 

STEEVENS. 

3  Desir'd  it  to  be  stirr'd  ;]  The  useless  words — to  be,  might, 
in  my  opinion,  be  safely  omitted,  as  they  clog  the  metre,  with- 
out enforcement  of  the  sense.  STEEVENS. 


#7.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  99 

The  passages  made  toward  it  :6— on  my  honour, 
I  speak  my  good  lord  cardinal  to  this  point,7 
Andthus  far  clear  him.  Now,  whatmov'dmeto't, — 
I  will  be  bold  with  time,  and  your  attention  : — 
Then  mark  the  inducement.    Thus  it  came  ; — give 

heed  to't  :— - 

My  conscience  first  receiv'd  a  tenderness, 
Scruple,  and  prick,8  on  certain  speeches  utter' d 
By  the  bishop  of  Bayonne,  then  French  ambassador  j 
Who  had  been  hither  sent  on  the  debating 
A  marriage,"  'twixt  the  duke  of  Orleans  and 
Our  daughter  Mary:  I'the  progress  of  thisbusiness, 
Ere  a  determinate  resolution,  he 
(I  mean,  the  bishop)  did  require  a  respite ; 
Wherein  he  might  the  king  his  lord  advertise 
Whether  our  daughter  were  legitimate, 


6  The  passages  made  toward  it:']  i.  e.  dosed,  or  fastened* 
So,  in  The  Comedy  of  Errors,  Act  III.  sc.  i : 

"  Why  at  this  time  the  doors  are  made  against  you." 
For  the  present  explanation  and  pointing,  I  alone  am  answer- 
able.    A  similar  phrase  occurs  in  Macbeth  : 

"  Stop  up  the  access  and  passage  to  remorse." 
Yet  the  sense  in  which  these  words  have  hitherto  been  received 
may  be  the  true  one.     STEEVENS. 

7 on  mi/  honour, 

I  speak  my  good  lord  cardinal  to  this  point,"]  The  King, 
having  first  addressed  to  Wolsey,  breaks  off;  and  declares  upon 
his  honour  to  the  whole  court,  that  he  speaks  the  Cardinal's 
sentiments  upon  the  point  in  question  ;  and  clears  him  from  any 
attempt,  or  wish,  to  stir  that  business.  THEOBALD. 

*  Scruple,  and  prick,]  Prick  of  conscience  was  the  term  in 
confession.  JOHNSON. 

The  expression  is  from  Holinshed,  where  the  King  says: 
"  The  special  cause  that  moved  me  unto  this  matter  was  a  cer- 
taine  scrupulositie  that  pricked  my  conscience,"  &c.  See  Ho- 
Unshed,  p.  907.  STEEVENS. 

9  A  marriage,']  Old  copy — And  marriage.  Corrected  by 
Mr.  Pope.  MALOXE. 

II  2 


100  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

Respecting  this  our  marriage  with  the  dowager, 
Sometimes  our  brother's  wire.     This  respite  shook 
The  bosom  of  my  conscience,1  enter'd  me, 
Yea,  with  a  splitting  power,  and  made  to  tremble 
The  region  of  my  breast ;  which  forc'd  such  way, 
That  many  maz'd  considerings  did  throng, 
And  press'd  in  with  this  caution.  First,  meth  ought, 
I  stood  not  in  the  smile  of  heaven ;  who  had 
Commanded  nature,  that  my  lady's  womb, 
If  not  conceiv'd  a  male  child  by  me,  should 
Do  no  more  offices  of  life  to't,  than 
The  grave  does  to  the  dead :  for  her  male  issue 
Or  died  where  they  were  made,  or  shortly  after 
This  world  had  air'd  them :  Hence  I  took  a  thought, 
This  was  a  judgment  on  me  ;  that  my  kingdom, 
Well  worthy  the  best  heir  o'the  world,  should  not 
Be  gladded  in't  by  me  :  Then  follows,  that 
I  weigh'd  the  danger  which  my  realms  stood  in 
By  this  my  issue's  fail ;  and  that  gave  to  me 
Many  a  groaning  throe.     Thus  hulling  in 


1 This  respite  shook 

The  bosom  of  my  conscience,"]  Though  this  reading  be  sense, 
yet,  I  verily  believe,  the  poet  wrote  : 

The  bottom  of  my  conscience, 

Shakspeare,  in  all  his  historical  plays,  was  a  most  diligent 
observer  of  Holinshed's  Chronicle.  Now  Holinshed,  in  the 
speech  which  he  has  given  to  King  Henry  upon  this  subject, 
makes  him  deliver  himself  thus:  "  Which  words,  once  con- 
ceived within  the  secret  bottom  of  my  conscience,  ingendred  such 
a  scrupulous  doubt,  that  my  conscience  was  incontinently  ac- 
combred,  vexed,  and  disquieted."  Vid.  Life  of  Henry  VIII. 
p.  907.  THEOBALD. 

The  phrase  recommended  by  Mr.  Theobald  occurs  again  in 
King  Henry  VI.  Part  I : 

" for  therein  should  we  read 

"  The  very  bottom  and  soul  of  hope." 

It  is  repeated  also  in  Measure  for  Measure,  All's  ixell  that  ends 
well,  King  Henry  VI.  P.  II.    Coriolanus,  &c.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  101 

The  wild  sea2  of  my  conscience,  I  did  steer 
Toward  this  remedy,  whereupon  we  are 
Now  present  here  together ;  that's  to  say, 
I  meant  to  rectify  my  conscience, — which 
I  then  did  feel  full  sick,  and  vet  not  well, — 
By  all  the  reverend  fathers  of  the  land, 
And  doctors  learn'd. — First,  I  began  in  private 
With  you,  my  lord  of  Lincoln  ;  you  remember 
How  under  my  oppression  I  did  reek, 
When  I  first  mov'd  you. 

IAN.  Very  well,  my  liege. 

K.  HEN.  I  have  spoke  long ;  be  pleas'd  your- 
self to  say 
How  far  you  satisfied  me. 

Lix.  So  please  your  highness, 

The  question  did  at  first  so  stagger  me, — 
Bearing  a  state  of  mighty  moment  in't, 
And  consequence  of  dread, — that  I  committed 
The  daring'st  counsel  which  I  had,  to  doubt ; 
And  did  entreat  your  highness  to  this  course, 
Which  you  are  running  here. 

K.  HEN.  I  then  mov'd  you,3 

—  hulling  in 

The   wild  sea — ]      That    is,    floating    without    guidance ; 
tossed  here  and  there.     JOHNSON. 

The  phrase  belongs  to  navigation.  A  ship  is  said  to  hull  when 
she  is  dismasted,  and  only  her  hull,  or  hulk,  is  left  at  the  direc- 
tion and  mercy  of  the  waves. 

So,  in  The  Alarum  for  London,  1G02: 

"  And  they  lye  hulling  up  and  down  the  stream." 

STEEVENS. 

1  ///?."«  mov'd  you,"]  "  I  moved  it  in  confession  to  you,  my 
lord  of  Lincoln,  then  my  ghostly  father.  And  forasmuch  as 
then  you  yourself  were  in  some  doubt,  you  moved  me  to  ask 
the  counsel  of  all  these  my  lords.  Whereupon  I  moved  you, 


102  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  n. 

My  lord  of  Canterbury ;  and  got  your  leave 
To  make  this  present  summons : — Unsolicited 
I  left  no  reverend  person  in  this  court ; 
But  by  particular  consent  proceeded, 
Under  your  hands  and  seals.     Therefore,  go  on  : 
For  no  dislike  i'the  world  against  the  person 
Of  the  good  queen,  but  the  sharp  thorny  points 
Of  my  alleged  reasons,  drive  this  forward  : 
Prove  but  our  marriage  lawful,  by  my  life, 
And  kingly  dignity,  we  are  contented 
To  wear  our  mortal  state  to  come,  writh  her, 
Katharine  our  queen,  before  the  primest  creature 
That's  paragon'd  o'the  world.4 

CAM.  So  please  your  highness, 

The  queen  being  absent,  'tis  a  needful  fitness 
That  we  adjourn  this  court  till  further  day: 
Mean  while  must  be  an  earnest  motion 


my  lord  of  Canterbury,  first  to  have  your  licence,  in  as  much  as 
you  were  metropolitan,  to  put  this  matter  in  question  ;  and  so  I 
did  of  all  of  you,  my  lords."  Holinshed's  Life  of  Henry  VIII. 
p.  908.  THEOBALD. 

*  That's  paragon'd  o'the  'world.']     Sir  T.  Hanmer  reads,  I 
think,  better : 

the  primest  creature 

That's  paragon  o'the  world.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  The  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona : 

"  No  :  but  she  is  an  earthly  paragon" 
Again,  in  Cymbeline  : 

" an  angel!  or,  if  not, 

"  An  earthly  paragon." 

To  paragon,  however,  is  a  verb  used  by  Shakspeare,  both  in 
Antony  and  Cleopatra  and  Othello  : 

"  If  thou  with  Caesar  paragon  again 

"  My  man  of  men. 

" a  maid 

"  That  paragons  description  and  wild  fame." 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  10$ 

Made  to  the  queen,  to  call  back  her  appeal 
She  intends  unto  his  holiness. 

\_They  rise  to  depart* 

K.  HEN.  I  may  perceive,  [Aside. 

These  cardinals  trifle  with  me :  I  abhor 
This  dilatory  sloth,  and  tricks  of  Rome. 
My  learn'd  and  well-beloved  servant,  Cranmer, 
Pr'ythee  return !  with  thy  approach,  I  know, 
My  comfort  comes  along.     Break  up  the  court : 
I  say,  set  on.    [Exeunt,  in  manner  as  tliey  entered. 


3  They  rise  to  depart.]  Here  the  modern  editors  add  :  [  The 
King  speaks  to  Crammer."]  This  marginal  direction  is  not  found 
in  the  old  folio,  and  was  wrongly  introduced  by  some  subsequent 
editor.  Cranmer  was  now  absent  from  court  on  an  embassy, 
as  appears  from  the  last  scene  of  this  Act,  where  Cromwell  in- 
forms Wolsey  that  he  is  returned  and  installed  archbishop  of 
Canterbury : 

"  My  learn'd  and  well-beloved  servant,  Cranmer, 

"  IVythee,  return  ! " 

is  no  more  than  an  apostrophe  to  the  absent  bishop  of  that 
name.     RTDLEY. 


104  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  in. 

ACT    III.      SCENE    I. 

Palace  at  Bridewell, 

A  Room  in  the  Queen's  Apartment. 

The  Queen,  and  some  of  her  Women,  at  work.* 

Q.  KATH.  Take  thy  lute,  wench :  my  soul  grows 

sad  with  troubles ; 

Sing,  and  disperse  them,   if  thou  canst;   leave 
working. 

SONG. 

Orpheus  with  his  lute  made  trees, 
And  the  mountain-tops,  that  freeze, 

Bow  themselves,  when  he  did  sing: 
To  his  musick,  plants,  andjlowers, 
Ever  sprung;  as  sun,  and  showers, 

There  had  been  a  lasting  spring. 

Every  thing  that  heard  him  play, 
Even  the  billows  of  the  sea, 

Hung  their  heads,  and  then  lay  by. 
In  sweet  musick  is  such  art  ; 
Killing  care,  and  grief  of  heart, 

Fall  asleep,  or,  hearing,  die. 

4 at  tiw&.]     Her  majesty  (says  Cavendish,)  on  being 

informed  that  the  cardinals  were  coming  to  visit  her,  "  rose  up, 
having  a  skein  ofredsilke  about  her  neck,  being  at  work  with 
her  maidens."  Cavendish  attended  Wolsey  in  this  visit ;  and 
the  Queen's  answer,  in  p.  108,  is  exactly  conformable  to  that 
which  he  has  recorded,  and  which  he  appears  to  have  heard  her 
pronounce.  MALONE. 


ac.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  105 


Enter  a  Gentleman. 

Q.  KATH.  How  now  ? 

GENT.   An't  please  your  grace,  the  two  great 

cardinals 

Wait  in  the  presence. 5 

Q.  KATH.  Would  they  speak  with  me  ? 

GEXT.  They  will'd  me  say  so,  madam. 

Q.  KATH.  Pray  their  graces 

To  come  near.  [Exit  Gent.]  What  can  be  their 

business 

With  me,  a  poor  weak  woman,  fallen  from  favour  ? 
1  do  not  like  their  coming,  now  I  think  on't. 
They  shouldbegoodmen ;  their  affairs  as  righteous:6 
But  all  hoods  make  not  monks.7 

3  Wait  in  tlic  presence.  3  i.  e.  in  the  presence-chamber.  So, 
in  Peacham's  Compleat  Gentleman:  "  Hie  lady  Anne  of  Bre- 
taignc,  passing  tliorow  the  presence  in  the  court  of  France,"  &c. 

STEEVENS. 

0  They  should  be  good  men  ;  their  affairs  as  righteous  .-] 
Affairs,  lor  professions ;  and  then  the  sense  is  clear  and  pertinent. 
Tne  proposition  is  they  are  priests.  The  illation,  they  are  good 
men  ;  for  being  understood  :  but  if  affairs  be  interpreted  in  its 
common  signification,  the  sentence  is  absurd.  WARBURTON. 

The  sentence  has  no  great  difficulty  :  Affairs  means  not  their 
present  errand,  but  the  business  of  their  calling.  JOHNSON. 

Being  churchmen  they  should  be  virtuous,  and  every  business 
they  undertake  as  righteous  as  their  sacred  office:  but  all  hoods, 
&c. — The  ignorant  editor  of  the  second  folio,  not  understanding 
the  line,  substituted  arc  for  ax;  and  this  capricious  alteration 
(with  many  others  introduced  by  the  same  hand,)  has  been 
adopted  by  all  the  modern  editors.  M  ALONE. 

all  hoods  make  not  monks.']      Cucullus  non  facit  mona- 


chum.     STEEVENS. 

To  this  proverbial  expression  Chaucer  alludes  in  his  Roma  tint 
of  the  Rose,  6190: 


106  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  m. 


Enter  WOLSEY  and  CAMPEIUS. 

WOL.  Peace  to  your  highness  1 

Q.  KATH.  Your  graces  find  me  here  part  of  a 

housewife  ; 

I  would  be  all,  against  the  worst  may  happen. 
What  are  your  pleasures  with  me,  reverend  lords  ? 

WOL.  May  it  please  you,  noble  madam,  to  with- 
draw 

Into  your  private  chamber,  we  shall  give  you 
The  full  cause  of  our  coming. 

Q.  KATH.  Speak  it  here  ; 

There's  nothing  I  have  done  yet,  o'  my  conscience, 
Deserves  a  corner :  'Would,  all  other  women 
Could  speak  this  with  as  free  a  soul  as  I  do ! 
My  lords,  I  care  not,  (so  much  I  am  happy 
Above  a  number,)  if  my  actions 
Were  tried  by  every  tongue,  every  eye  saw  them, 
Envy  and  base  opinion  set  against  them,8 
I  know  my  life  so  even  :  If  your  business 
Seek  me  out,9  and  that  way  I  am  wife  in,1 

This  argument  is  all  roignous, 
It  is  not  worth  a  crooked  brere  ; 
Habitc  ne  makith  Monke  ne  Frere; 
But  a  clene  life  and  devotion, 
Makith  gode  men  of  religion."     GREY. 

8  Envy  and  base  opinion  set  against  them,']  I  would  be  glad 
that  my  conduct  were  in  some  publick  trial  confronted  with  mine 
enemies,  that  envy  and  corrupt  judgment  might  try  their  ut- 
most power  against  me.  JOHNSON. 

Envy,  in  Shakspeare's  age,  often  signified  malice.  So,  after- 
wards : 

"  Ye  turn  the  good  we  offer  into  envy"     MAJ.ONE. 

"  Seek  me  out,  <Src.]  I  believe  that  a  word  has  dropt  out  here, 
and  that  we  should  read  : 


sc.  I.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  107 

Out  with  it  boldly ;  Truth  loves  open  dealing. 

WOL.  Tanta  est  ergd  tc  mentis  integritas,  regina 
serenissima, — 

Q.  KATH.  O,  good  my  lord,  no  Latin  ;2 
I  am  not  such  a  truant  since  my  coming, 
As  not  to  know  the  language  I  have  liv'd  in : 
A  strange  tongue  makes  my  cause  more  strange, 

suspicious  ; 
Pray,  speak  in  English  :  here  are  some  will  thank 

you, 
If  you  speak  truth,  for  their  poor  mistress*  sake; 

If  your  business 

Seek  me,  speak  out,  and  that  way  /  am  wise  in; 
1.  c.  in  the  way  that  I  can  understand  it.     TYHWHITT. 

The  metre  shows  here  is  a  syllable  dropt.     I  would  read : 
I  know  my  life  so  even,     //''tis  your  business 
To  seek  me  out,  &c.     BLACKSTONE. 

The  alteration  proposed  by  Sir  W.  Blackstone  injures  one  line 
as  much  as  it  improves  the  other.     We  might  read : 
Doth  seek  me  out, .     RITSON. 

1  and  tJtat  way  /  am  wife  in,~\      That  is,  if  you  come 

to  examine  the  tille  by  which  I  am  the  King's  wife ;  or,  if  you 
come  to  know  how  I  have  behaved  as  a  wife.  The  meaning, 
whatever  it  may  be,  is  so  coarsely  and  unskilfully  expressed,  that 
the  latter  editors  have  liked  nonsense  better,  and  contrarily  to 
the  ancient  and  only  copy,  have  published  : 

And  that  way  /  am  wise  in.     JOHNSON. 

This  passage  is  unskilfully  expressed  indeed ;  so  much  so, 
that  I  don't  see  how  it  can  import  either  of  the  meanings  that 
Johnson  contends  for,  or  indeed  any  other.  I  therefore  think 
that  the  modern  editors  have  acted  rightly  in  reading  wise  in- 
stead of  ny'/r,  for  which  that  word  might  easily  have  been  mis- 
taken ;  nor  can  I  think  the  passage,  so  amended,  nonsense,  the 
meaning  of  it  being  this  :  "  If  your  business  relates  to  me,  or  to 
any  thing  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge."  M.  MASON-. 

*  O,  good  my  lord,  no  Latin  ;~\      So,  Ilolinshcd,  p.  908  : 

'  Then    began    the    cardinall  to    speake  to   her  in    Latine. 
N'aie  good  my  lord  (quoth  she)   speake  to  me  in  English." 

STE  EVENS. 


108  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  m. 

Believe  me,  she  has  had  much  wrong :  Lord  car- 
dinal, 

The  willing'st  sin  I  ever  yet  committed, 
May  be  absolv'd  in  English. 

WOL.  Noble  lady, 

I  am  sorry,  my  integrity  should  breed, 
(And  service  to  his  majesty  and  you,)3 
So  deep  suspicion,  where  all  faith  was  meant. 
We  come  not  by  the  way  of  accusation, 
To  taint  that  honour  every  good  tongue  blesses ; 
Nor  to  betray  you  any  way  to  sorrow ; 
You  have  too  much,  good  lady :  but  to  know 
How  you  stand  minded  in  the  weighty  difference 
Between  the  king  and  you  ;  and  to  deliver, 
Like  free  and  honest  men,  our  just  opinions, 
And  comforts  to  your  cause.4 

CAM.  Most  honour* d  madam, 

My  lord  of  York, — out  of  his  noble  nature, 
Zeal  and  obedience  he  still  bore  your  grace  ; 
Forgetting,  like  a  good  man,  your  late  censure 
Both  of  his  truth  and  him,  (which  was  too  far,) — 
Offers,  as  I  do,  in  a  sign  of  peace, 
His  service  and  his  counsel. 

Q.  KATH.  To  betray  me.  \_Asidc. 

My  lords,  I  thank  you  both  for  your  good  wills, 
Ye  speak  like  honest  men,  (pray God,  ye  prove  so!) 
But  how  to  make  you  suddenly  an  answer, 
In  such  a  point  of  weight,  so  near  mine  honour, 

3  (And  service  to  his  majesty  and  you,}]     This  line  stands  so 
very  aukwardly,  that  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  out  of  its  place. 
The  author  perhaps  wrote,  as   Mr.  Edwards  has  suggested : 

"  I  am  sorry  my  integrity  should  breed 

"  So  deep  suspicion,  where  all  faith  was  meant, 

"  And  service  to  his  majesty  and  you."     MALONE. 

4  to  your  causc.~]     Old  copy — our  cause.     Corrected  by 

the  editor  or  the  second  folio.    MALONE. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  109 

(More  near  my  life,  I  fear,)  with  my  weak  wit, 
And  to  such  men  of  gravity  and  learning, 
In  truth,  I  know  not.     I  was  set  at  work 
Among  my  maids;  full  little,  God  knows,  looking 
Either  for  such  men,  or  sucli  business. 
For  her  sake  that  I  have  been,5  (for  I  feel 
The  last  n't  of  my  greatness,)  good  your  graces, 
Let  me  have  time,  and  counsel,  for  my  cause ; 
Alas !  I  am  a  woman,  friendless,  hopeless. 

WOL.  Madam,  you  wrong  the  king's  love  with 

these  fears ; 
Your  hopes  and  friends  are  infinite. 

Q.  KATH.  In  England, 

But  little  for  my  profit :  Can  you  think,  lords, 
That  any  Englishman  dare  give  me  counsel  ? 
Or  be  a  known  friend, 'gainst  his  highness' pleasure, 
(Though  he  be  grown  so  desperate  to  be  honest,)" 
And  live  a  subject  ?  Nay,  forsooth,  my  friends, 
They  that  must  weigh  out  my  afflictions,7 
They  that  my  trust  must  grow  to,  live  not  here ; 
They  are,  as  all  my  other  comforts,  far  hence, 
In  mine  own  country,  lords. 


5  For  her  sake  that  I  have  been,  &c.]     For  the  sake  of  that  roy- 
alty which  I  have  heretofore  possessed.     MALONE. 

6  ( Though  he  lie  groivn  so  desperate  to  be  honest,)]     Do  you 
think  that  any  Englishman  dare  advise  me;    or,  if  any  man 
should  venture  to  advise  with  honesty,  that  he  could  live  ? 

JOHNSON. 

weigh   out  my  afflictions,']     This  phrase  is   obscure. 

To  weigh  out,  is,  in  modern  language,  to  deliver  by  weight  ;  but 
this  sense  cannot  be  here  admitted.  To  weigh  is  likewise  to  deli- 
berate upon,  to  consider  with  due  attention.  This  may,  perhaps, 
be  meant.  Or  the  phrase,  to  weigh  out,  may  signify  to  counter- 
balance, to  counteract  with  equal  force.  JOHNSON. 

To  weigh  out  is  the  same  as  to  outweigh.     In  Macbeth,  Shak- 
c]H';ire  has  overcome  for  come  over.     STEEVENS. 


110  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  m. 

CAM.  I  would,  your  grace 

Would  leave  your  griefs,  and  take  my  counsel. 

Q.  KATH.  How,  sir  ? 

CAM.  Put  your  main  cause  into  the  king's  pro- 
tection ; 

He's  loving,  and  most  gracious ;  'twill  be  much 
Both  for  your  honour  better,  and  your  cause  ; 
For,  if  the  trial  of  the  law  overtake  you, 
You'll  part  away  disgrac'd. 

WOL.  He  tells  you  rightly. 

Q.  KATH.  Ye  tell  me  what  ye  wish  for  both,  my 

ruin : 

Is  this  your  Christian  counsel  ?  out  upon  ye ! 
Heaven  is  above  all  yet ;  there  sits  a  judge, 

^  i    -  *  J         &     » 

Inat  no  king  can  corrupt. 
CAM.  Your  rage  mistakes  us. 

Q.  KATH.  The  more  shame  for  ye;8  holy  men  I 

thought  ye, 

Upon  my  soul,  two  reverend  cardinal  virtues ; 
But  cardinal  sins,  and  hollow  hearts,  I  fear  ye : 
Mend  them  for  shame,  my  lords.     Is  this  your 

comfort  ? 

The  cordial  that  ye  bring  a  wretched  lady  ? 
A  woman  lost  among  ye,  laugh' d  at,  scorn* d  ? 
I  will  not  wish  ye  half  my  miseries, 
I  have  more  charity :  But  say,  I  warn'd  ye  ; 
Take  heed,  for  heaven's  sake,  take  heed,  lest  at  once 
The  burden  of  my  sorrows  fall  upon  ye. 

WOL.  Madam,  this  is  a  mere  distraction ; 
You  turn  the  good  we  offer  into  envy. 

8  The  more  shame  for  ye ;]  If  I  mistake  you,  it  is  by  your 
fault,  not  mine  ;  for  I  thought  you  good.  The  distress  of  Ka- 
tharine might  have  kept  her  from  the  quibble  to  which  she  is 
irresistibly  tempted  by  the  word  cardinal.  JOHNSON. 


KING  HENRY  VIII.  ill 

Q.  KATH.  Ye  turn  me  into  nothing:  Woe  upon  ye, 
And  all  such  false  professors  !  Would  ye  have  me 
(If  you  have  any  justice,  any  pity; 
If  ye  be  any  thing  but  churchmen's  habits,) 
Put  my  sick  cause  into  his  hands  that  hates  me  ? 
Alas!  he  has  banish'd  me  his  bed  already; 
His  love,  too  long  ago :  I  am  old,  my  lords, 
And  all  the  fellowship  I  hold  now  with  him 
Is  only  my  obedience.     What  can  happen 
To  me,  above  this  wretchedness  ?  all  your  studies 
Make  me  a  curse  like  this. 

CAM.  Your  fears  are  worse. 

Q.  KATH.  Have  I  liv'd  thus  long — (let  me  speak 

myself, 

Since  virtue  rinds  no  friends,) — a  wife,  a  true  one  ? 
A  woman  (I  dare  say,  without  vain-glory,) 
Never  yet  branded  with  suspicion  ? 
Have  1  with  all  my  full  affections 
Still  met  the  king  ?  lov'd  him  next  heaven  ?  obey'd 

him  ? 

Been,  out  of  fondness,  superstitious  to  him?9 
Almost  forgot  my  prayers  to  content  him  ? 
And  am  I  thus  rewarded  ?  'tis  not  well,  lords. 
Bring  me  a  constant  woman  to  her  husband, 
One  that  ne'er  dream'd  a  joy  beyond  his  pleasure  j 
And  to  that  woman,  when  she  has  done  most, 
Yet  will  I  add  an  honour, — a  great  patience. 

WOL.  Madam,  you  wander  from  the  good  we 
aim  at. 

Q.  KATII.  My  lord,  I  dare  not  make  myself  so 

guilty, 
To  give  up  willingly  that  noble  title 

9 superstitious  to  him  ?]     That  is,  served  him  with  supctv 

stitious  attention  ;  done  more  than  was  required,     JOHXSOX. 


112  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  m. 

Your  master  wed  me  to :  nothing  but  death 
Shall  e'er  divorce  my  dignities. 

WOL.  'Pray,  hear  me. 

Q.  KATH.  'Would  I  had  never  trod  this  English 

earth, 

Or  felt  the  flatteries  that  grow  upon  it ! 
Ye  have  angels'  faces,1  but  heaven  knows  your 

hearts. 

What  will  become  of  me  now,  wretched  lady  ? 
I  am  the  most  unhappy  woman  living. — 
Alas!  poor  wenches,  where  are  now  your  fortunes? 

[To  her  Women. 

Shipwreck'd  upon  a  kingdom,  where  no  pity, 
No  friends,  no  hope ;  no  kindred  weep  for  me, 
Almost,  no  grave  allow'd  me  : — Like  the  lily, 


1  Ye  have  angels' faces,]  She  may  perhaps  allude  to  the  old 
jingle  of  Angli  and  Angeli.  JOHNSON. 

I  find  this  jingle  in  The  Arraignment  of  Paris,  1584.  The 
goddesses  refer  the  dispute  about  the  golden  apple  to  the  decision 
of  Diana,  who  setting  aside  their  respective  claims,  awards  it  to 
Queen  Elizabeth;  and  adds: 

"  Her  people  are  ycleped  angeli, 
"  Or  if  I  miss  a  letter,  is  the  most." 

In  this  pastoral,  as  it  is  called,  the  Queen  herself  may  be  al- 
most said  to  have  been  a  performer,  for  at  the  conclusion  of  it, 
Diana  gives  the  golden  apple  into  her  hands,  and  the  Fates  de- 
posit their  insignia  at  her  feet.  It  was  presented  before  her  Ma- 
jesty by  the  children  of  her  chapel. 

It  appears,  from  the  following  passage  in  The  Spanish  Mas- 
querado,  by  Greene,  1585,  that  this  quibble  was  originally  the 
quibble  of  a  saint :  "  England,  a  little  island,  where,  as  saint 
Augustin  saith,  there  be  people  with  angel  faces,  so  the  inhabi- 
tants have  the  courage  and  hearts  of  lyons."  STEEVENS. 

See  also  Nashe's  Anatomic  of  Absurditie,  1589:  "  For  my 
part  I  meane  to  suspend  my  sentence,  and  let  an  author  of  late 
memorie  be  my  speaker ;  who  affirmeth  that  they  carry  angel? 
in  their  faces,  and  devils  in  their  devices."  MALONE. 


sc.z.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  US 

That  once  was  mistress  of  the  field,2  and  flourish'd, 
I'll  hang  my  head,  and  perish. 

WoL.  If  your  grace 

Could  but  be  brought  to  know,  our  ends  are  honest, 
You'd  feel  more  comfort :  why  should  we,  good 

lady, 

Upon  what  cause,  wrong  you  ?  alas  !  our  places, 
The  way  of  our  profession  is  against  it ; 
We  are  to  cure  such  sorrows,  not  to  sow  them. 
For  goodness'  sake,  consider  what  you  do  ; 
How  you  may  hurt  yourself,  ay,  utterly 
Grow  from  the  king's  acquaintance,  by  this  car- 
riage. 

The  hearts  of  princes  kiss  obedience, 
So  much  they  love  it ;  but,  to  stubborn  spirits, 
They  swell,  and  grow  as  terrible  as  storms.3 
I  know,  you  have  a  gentle,  noble  temper, 
A  soul  as  even  as  a  calm ;   Pray,  think  us 
Those  we  profess,  peace-makers,  friends,  and  ser- 
vants. 

CAM.  Madam,  you'll  find  it  so.    You  wrong  your 
virtues 


-the  lily, 


That  once  was  mistress  oftliejteld,~\     So,  in  Spenser's  Fairy 
,  Book  II.  c.  vi.  st.  16  : 
"  The  lily,  lady  of  the  flow'ring  f  eld."     HOLT  WHITE. 

3  The  hearts  of  princes  kiss  obedience, 
So  much  thcij  love  it ;  but,  to  stubborn  spirits, 
They  swell,  and  grow  as  terrible  ns  storms.]     It  was  one  of 
the  charges  brought  against  Lord  Essex,  in  the  year  before  this 
play  was  probably  written,  by  his  ungrateful  kinsman,  Sir  Francis 
Bacon,  when  that  nobleman,  to  the  disgrace  of  humanity,  was 
obliged,  by  a  junto  of  his  enemies,  to  kneel  at  the  end  of  the 
council-table  for  several  hours,  that  in  a  letter  written  during  his 
retirement,  in  1598,  to  the  Lord  Keeper,  he  had  said,  "  There 
is  no  tempest  to  (he  passionate  indignation  of  a  prince." 

MALONE. 


114  KING  HENRY  VIII.         ACT  m. 

With  these  weak  women's  fears.     A  noble  spirit, 

As  yours  was  put  into  you,  ever  casts 

Such  doubts,  as  false  coin,  from  it.  The  king  loves 

you; 

Beware,  you  lose  it  not :  For  us,  if  you  please 
To  trust  us  in  your  business,  we  are  ready 
To  use  our  utmost  studies  in  your  service. 

Q.  KATH.  Do  what  ye  will,  my  lords :  And, pray, 

forgive  me, 

If  I  have  us'd  myself  unmannerly  ;* 
You  know,  I  am  a  woman,  lacking  wit 
To  make  a  seemly  answer  to  such  persons. 
Pray,  do  my  service  to  his  majesty : 
He  has  my  heart  yet ;  and  shall  have  my  prayers, 
While  I  shall  have  my  life.  Come,  reverend  fathers, 
Bestow  your  counsels  on  me  :   she  now  begs, 
That  little  thought,  when  she  set  footing  here, 
She  should  have  bought  her  dignities  so  dear. 

\_Exeunt. 


4  If  I  have  us'd  myself  unmannerly  ;] 
haved  myself  unmannerly.     M.  MASOX. 


That  is,  if  I  have  be- 


sc.ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  115 

SCENE  II. 

Ante-chamber  to  the  King's  Apartment. 

Enter  the  Duke  of  NORFOLK,  the  Duke  of  SUF- 
FOLK, the  Earl  of  SURREY,  and  the  Lord 
Chamberlain. 

NOR.  If  you  will  now  unite  in  your  complaints 
And  force  them5  with  a  constancy,  the  cardinal 
Cannot  stand  under  them  :  If  you  omit 
The  offer  of  this  time,  I  cannot  promise, 
But  that  you  shall  sustain  more  new  disgraces, 
With  these  you  bear  already. 

J  •/ 

SUR.  I  am  joyful 

To  meet  the  least  occasion,  that  may  give  me 
Remembrance  of  my  father-in-law,  the  duke, 
To  be  reveng'd  on  him. 

SUF.  Which  of  the  peers 

Have  uncontemn'd  gone  by  him,  or  at  least 
Strangely  neglected?6  when  did  he  regard 

5  And  force  them — ~\     Force  is  enforce^  urge.     JOHNSOX. 

So,  in  Measure,  for  Measure  : 

" Has  he  affections  in  him 

"  That  thus  can  make  him  bite  the  law  by  the  nose, 
"  When  he  \\-ou\dJbrcc  it?"     STEEVENS. 

c or  at  least 

Strangely  neglected?"]     Which  of  the  peers  has  not  gone  by 
him  contemned  or  neglected?     JOHNSON. 

Our  author  extends  to  the  words,  strangely  neglected,  the 
negative  comprehended  in  the  word  uncontemn  d.  M.  MASON. 

Uncontemn'd,  as  I  have  before  observed  in  a  note  on  As  you 
like  it,  must  be  understood,  as  if  the  author  had  written  not  con- 
temn'd.  See  Vol.  VIII.  p.  lit,  n.  7.  MALONK. 

l  <> 


no  KING  HENRY  VIII.         ACT m. 

The  stamp  of  nobleness  in  any  person, 
Out  of  himself?7 

CHAM.         My  lords,  you  speak  your  pleasures: 
What  he  deserves  of  you  and  me,  I  know  ; 
What  we  can  do  to  him,  (though  now  the  time 
Gives  way  to  us,)  I  much  fear.     If  you  cannot 
Bar  his  access  to  the  king,  never  attempt 
Any  thing  on  him  ;  for  he  hath  a  witchcraft 
Over  the  king  in  his  tongue. 

NOR.  O,  fear  him  not  j 

His  spell  in  that  is  out :  the  king  hath  found 
Matter  against  him,  that  for  ever  mars 
The  honey  of  his  language.     No,  he's  settled, 
Not  to  come  off,  in  his  displeasure. 

SUR.  Sir, 

I  should  be  glad  to  hear  such  news  as  this 
Once  every  hour. 

NOR.  Believe  it,  this  is  true. 

In  the  divorce,  his  contrary  proceedings8 
Are  all  unfolded ;  wherein  he  appears, 
As  I  could  wish  mine  enemy. 

7 ivhen  did  he  regard 

The  stamp  of  nobleness  in  any  person, 

Out  of  himself?']  The  expression  is  bad,  and  the  thought 
false.  For  it  supposes  Wolsey  to  be  noble,  which  was  not  so  :  we 
should  read  and  point : 

ivhcn  did  he  regard 

The  stamp  of  nobleness  in  any  person  ; 
Out  oft  himself? 

i.  e.  When  did  he  regard  nobleness  of  blood  in  another,  having 
none  of  his  own  to  value  himself  upon  ?     WARBUKTON. 

I  do  not  think  this  correction  proper.  The  meaning  of  the 
present  reading  is  easy.  When  did  he,  however  careful  to  carry 
his  own  dignity  to  the  utmost  height,  regard  any  dignity  of 
another?  JOHNSON. 

9 contrary  proceedings — ]    Private  practices  opposite  to 

his  publick  procedure.    JOHNSON. 


sc.ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  117 

SUR.  How  came 

His  practices  to  light  ? 

SuF.  Most  strangely. 

SUR.  O,  how,  how  ? 

SUF.  The  cardinal's  letter  to  the  pope  miscarried, 
And  came  to  the  eye  o'the  king:  wherein  was  read, 
How  that  the  cardinal  did  entreat  his  holiness 
To  stay  the  judgment  o'the  divorce  ;  For  if 
It  did  take  place,  /  do,  quoth  he,  perceive, 
l\Iy  king  is  tangled  in  affection  to 
A  creature  of  the  queen's,  lady  Anne  Bullen. 

SUR.  Has  the  king  this  ? 

SUF.  Believe  it. 

Sun.  Will  this  work  ? 

CHAM.  The  king  in  this  perceives  him,  how  he 

coasts, 

And  hedges,  his  own  way.9     But  in  this  point 
All  his  tricks  founder,  and  he  brings  his  physick 
After  his  patient's  death ;  the  king  already 
Hath  married  the  fair  lady. 

SUR.  'Would  he  had ! 

SUF.  May  you  be  happy  in  your  wish,  my  lord! 
For,  I  profess,  you  have  it. 

SUR.  Now  all  my  joy 

Trace  the  conjunction  I1 

9  And  hedges,  his  oivn  toffy.]  To  hedge,  is  to  creep  along  by 
ihe  hedge :  not  to  take  the  direct  and  open  path,  but  to  steal 
covertly  through  circumvolutions.  JOHNSON. 

Hedging  is  by  land,  what  coasting  is  by  sea.     M.  MASON. 

1  Trace  the  conjunction  .']     To  trace  is  tojblloiv.     JOHNSON. 
So,  in  Macbeth  : 


-all  unfortunate  souls 


"  That  trace  him  in  his  line." 


118  KING  HENRY  VIII.         ACT  m. 

SUF.  My  amen  to't ! 

NOR.  All  men's. 

SUF.  There's  order  given  for  her  coronation : 
Many,  this  is  yet  but  young,2  and  may  be  left 
To  some  ears  unrecounted. — But,  my  lords, 
She  is  a  gallant  creature,  and  complete 
In  mind  and  feature :  I  persuade  me,  from  her 
Will  fall  some  blessing  to  this  land,  which  shall 
In  it  be  memoriz'd.3 

SUR.  But,  will  the  king 

Digest  this  letter  of  the  cardinal's? 
The  lord  forbid ! 

NOR.  Marry,  amen ! 

SUF.  No,  no ; 

There  be  more  wasps  that  buz  about  his  nose, 
Will  make  this  sting  the  sooner.  Cardinal Campeius 
Is  stolen  away  to  Rome  ;  hath  ta'en  no  leave  ; 
Has  left  the  cause  o'the  king  unhandled ;  and 
Is  posted,  as  the  agent  of  our  cardinal, 
To  second  all  his  plot.     I  do  assure  you 
The  king  cry'd,  ha !  at  this. 

CHAM.  Now,  God  incense  him, 

And  let  him  cry  ha,  louder ! 


The  form  of  Surrey's  wish  has  been  anticipated  by  Richmond 
in  King  Richard  III.  sc.  ult : 

"  Smile  heaven  upon  this  fair  conjunction  !" 

STEEVENS. 

* but  young,]     The  same  phrase  occurs  again  in  Romeo 

and  Juliet,  Act  I.  sc.  i : 

"  Good  morrow,  cousin. 

Is  the  day  so  young  ?" 
See  note  on  this  passage.     STEEVENS. 

5  In  it  be  memoriz'd.]     To  memorize  is  to  make  memorable. 
The  word  has  been  already  used  in  Macbeth,  Act  I.  sc.  ii. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  119 

NOR.  But,  my  lord, 

When  returns  Cranmer  ? 

SUF.  He  is  return'd,  in  his  opinions ;  which 
Have  satisfied  the  king  for  his  divorce, 
Together  with  all  famous  colleges 
Almost  in  Christendom  :4  shortly,  I  believe, 
His  second  marriage  shall  be  publish  Jd,  and 
Her  coronation.     Katharine  no  more 
Shall  be  call'd,  queen  ;  but  princess  dowager, 
And  widow  to  prince  Arthur. 

NOR.  This  same  Cranmer's 

A  worthy  fellowr,  and  hath  ta'en  much  pain 
In  the  king's  business. 

SUF.  He  has  ;  and  we  shall  see  him 

For  it,  an  archbishop. 

NOR.  So  I  hear. 

SUF.  'Tis  so. 

The  cardinal — 


4  He  is  returned,  in  his  opinions ;  which 
Have  satisfied  the  king  for  his  divorce y 
Together  with  all  famous  colleges 

Almost  in  Christendom :]  Thus  the  old  copy.  The  mean- 
ing is  this :  Cranmer,  says  Suffolk,  is  returned  in  his  opinions, 
i.  e.  with  the  same  sentiments  which  he  entertained  before  he 
went  abroad,  ivhich  (sentiments)  hare  satisfied  the  king,  together 
icith  all  (he famous  colleges  referred  to  on  the  oecasion. — Or,  per- 
haps the  passage  (as  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  observes)  may  mean — lie 
is  returned  in  effect,  having  sent  his  opinions,  i.  e.  the  opinions  of 
divines,  &c.  collected  by  him.  Mr.  Rowe  altered  these  lines  as 
follows,  and  all  succeeding  editors  have  silently  adopted  his  un- 
necessary change  : 

He  is  returned  with  his  opinion.1!,  which 
Have  satisfied  the  king  for  his  divorce, 
Gather'd  from  all  the  famous  colleges 
Almost  in  Christendom: .     STEEVENP. 


120  KING  HENRY  VIII.         ACT  m. 


Enter  WOLSEY  and  CROMWELL. 

NOR.  Observe,  observe,  he's  moody. 

WOL.  The  packet,  Cromwell,  gave  it  you  the 
king  ? 

CROM.  To  his  own  hand,  in  his  bedchamber.5 
WOL.  Look'd  he  o'the  inside  of  the  paper? 

CROM.  Presently 

He  did  unseal  them  :  and  the  first  he  view'd, 
He  did  it  with  a  serious  mind ;  a  heed 
Was  in  his  countenance  :  You,  he  bade 
Attend  him  here  this  morning. 

WOL.  Is  he  ready 

To  come  abroad  ? 

CROM.  I  think,  by  this  he  is. 

WOL.  Leave  me  a  while. —     \_~Exit CROMWELL. 
It  shall  be  to  the  duchess  of  Alen9on, 
The  French  king's  sister :  he  shall  marry  her. — 
Anne  Biillen  !  No ;  I'll  no  Anne  Bullens  for  him : 
There  is  more  in  it  than  fair  visage. — Bullen ! 
No,  we'll  no  Bullens. — Speedily  I  wish 
To  hear  from  Rome. — The  marchioness  of  Pem- 
broke ! 

NOR.  He's  discontented. 

SUF.  May  be,  he  hears  the  king 

Does  whet  his  anger  to  him. 

*  To  his  o*un  hand,  in  his  bedchamber.']  Surely,  both  the 
syllable  wanting  in  this  line,  and  the  respect  due  from  the  speaker 
to  Wolsey,  should  authorize  us  to  read : 

To  his  otvn  hand,  sir,  in  his  bedchamber. 
And  again,  in  Cromwell's  next  speech  : 

Was  in  his  countenance :  you,  sir,  he  bade—-. 
or  with  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer  : 

and  you  he  bade — .     STEEVENS. 


sc.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  121 

SUR.  Sharp  enough, 

Lord,  lor  thy  justice  ! 

JfrOL.  The  late  queen's.gentlewoman;  a  knight's 

daughter, 

To  be  her  mistress*  mistress !  the  queen's  queen! — 
This  candle  burns  not  clear :  'tis  I  must  snuff  it ; 
Then,  out  it  goes. — What  though  I  know  her  vir- 
tuous, 

And  well-deserving  ?  yet  I  know  her  for 
A  spleeny  Lutheran  ;  and  not  wholesome  to 
Our  cause,  that  she  should  lie  i'the  bosom  of 
Our  hard-rul'd  king.     Again,  there  is  sprung  up 
An  heretick,  an  arch  one,  Cranmer ;  one 
Hath  crawl'd  into  the  favour  of  the  king, 
And  is  his  oracle. 

NOR.  He  is  vex'd  at  something. 

SUF.  I  would,  'twere  something  that  would  fret 

the  string, 
The  master-cord  of  his  heart ! 


Enter  the  King,  reading  a  Schedule;6  and 
LOVELL. 

SUF.  The  king,  the  king. 

K.  HEX.  What  piles  of  wealth  hath  he  accumu- 
lated 


''  Enter  llic  King,  reading  a  Schedule  ;]  That  the  Cardinal 
pave  the  King  an  inventory  of  his  own  private  wealth,  by  mis- 
take, and  thereby  ruined  himself,  is  a  known  variation  from  the 
truth  of  history.  Shakspeare,  however,  has  not  injudiciously 
represented  the  fall  of  that  great  man  as  owing  to  an  incident 
which  he  had  once  improved  to  the  destruction  of  another.  Sec 
Jlolinshed,  pp.  796  and  797: 

"  Thomas  Ruthall,  bishop  of  Durham,  was,  after  the  death 
of  King  Henry  V1L  one  of  the  privy  council  to  Henry  VIII.  to 


122  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  m. 

To  his  own  portion !  and  what  expence  by  the  hour 
Seems  to  flow  from  him!  How,  i'the  name  of  thrift, 
Does  he  rake  this  together ! — Now,  my  lords  ; 
Saw  you  the  cardinal  ? 

NOR.  My  lord,  we  have 

Stood  here  observing  him  :  Some  strange  commo- 
tion 

Is  in  his  brain  :  he  bites  his  lip,  and  starts ; 
Stops  on  a  sudden,  looks  upon  the  ground, 
Then,  lays  his  finger  on  his  temple  ;  straight, 
Springs  out  into  fast  gait ;  then,  stops  again,7 

whom  the  king  gave  in  charge  to  write  a  book  of  the  whole 
estate  of  the  kingdom,  &c.  Afterwards,  the  king  commanded 
cardinal  Wolsey  to  go  to  this  bishop,  and  to  bring  the  book  away 
with  him. — This  bishop  having  written  two  books,  (the  one  to 
answer  the  king's  command,  and  the  other  intreating  of  his  own 
private  affairs,)  did  bind  them  both  after  one  sort  in  vellum,  &-c. 
Now,  when  the  cardinal  came  to  demand  the  book  due  to  the 
king,  the  bishop  unadvisedly  commanded  his  servant  to  bring 
him  the  book  bound  in  white  vellum,  lying  in  his  study,  in  such 
a  place.  The  servant  accordingly  brought  forth  one  of  the  books 
so  bound,  being  the  book  intreating  of  the  state  of  the  bishop, 
&c.  The  cardinal  having  the  book  went  from  the  bishop,  and 
after,  (in  his  study  by  himself,)  understanding  the  contents 
thereof,  he  greatly  rejoiced,  having  now  occasion  (which  he 
long  sought  for)  offered  unto  him,  to  bring  the  bishop  into  the 
king's  disgrace. 

"  Wherefore  he  went  forthwith  to  the  king,  delivered  the 
book  into  his  hands,  and  briefly  informed  him  of  the  contents 
thereof;  putting  further  into  the  king's  head,  that  if  at  any  time 
he  were  destitute  of  a  mass  of  money,  he  should  not  need  to 
seek  further  therefore  than  to  the  coffers  of  the  bishop.  Of  all 
which  when  the  bishop  had  intelligence,  &c.  he  was  stricken 
with  such  grief  of  the  same,  that  he  shortly,  through  extreme 
sorrow,  ended  his  life  at  London,  in  the  year  of  Christ  1523. 
After  which,  the  cardinal,  who  had  long  before  gaped  after  his 
bishoprick,  in  singular  hope  to  attain  thereunto,  had  now  his 
wish  in  effect,"  &c.  STEEVENS. 

then,  stops  again,']     Sallust,  describing  the  disturbed 

state  of  Catiline's  mind,  takes  notice  of  the  same  circumstance: 
" citus  modo,  modo  tardus  incessus."     STEEVEXS. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  123 

Strikes  his  breast  hard  ;  and  anon,  he  casts8 

His  eye  against  the  moon:  in  most  strange  postures 

We  have  seen  him  set  himself. 

A'.  HEX.  It  may  well  be  ; 

There  is  a  mutiny  in  his  mind.     This  morning 
Papers  of  state  lie  sent  me  to  peruse, 
As  I  requir'd ;  And,  wot  you,  what  I  found 
There  ;  on  my  conscience,  put  unwittingly? 
Forsooth,  an  inventory,  thus  importing, — 
The  several  parcels  of  his  plate,  his  treasure, 
Rich  stuffs,  and  ornaments  of  household;  which 
I  find  at  such  proud  rate,  that  it  out-speaks 
Possession  of  a  subject. 

NOR.  It's  heaven's  will ; 

Some  spirit  put  this  paper  in  the  packet, 
To  bless  your  eye  withal. 

A'.  HEX.  If  we  did  think 

His  contemplation  were  above  the  earth, 
And  fix'd  on  spiritual  object,  he  should  still 
Dwell  in  his  musings :  but,  I  am  afraid, 
His  thinkings  are  below  the  moon,  not  worth 
His  serious  considering. 

\_Hc  takes  his  seat,  and  whispers  LOVELL, 
t-cho  goes  to  WOLSEY. 


to 


IVoL.  Heaven  forgive  me ! 

Ever  God  bless  your  highness ! 

K.  HEX.  Good  my  lord, 

You  arc  full  of  heavenly  stuff,  and  bear  the  inven- 
tory 
Of  your  best  graces  in  your  mind  ;  the  which 

6  Strike.1;  his  breast  hard ;  am!  own,  he  casts — ]  Here  I 
think  we  should  be  at  liberty  to  complete  a  detective  verse,  by 
reading,  with  Sir  Thomas  Ilanmer: 

and  then,  anon,  f>?  cn«ts — •     STEEVEK?. 


124  KING  HENRY  VIII.         ACT  m. 

You  were  now  running  o'er ;  you  have  scarce  time 
To  steal  from  spiritual  leisure  a  brief  span, 
To  keep  your  earthly  audit :  Sure,  in  that 
I  deem  you  an  ill  husband ;  and  am  glad 
To  have  you  therein  my  companion. 

WOL.  Sir, 

For  holy  offices  I  have  a  time ;  a  time 
To  think  upon  the  part  of  business,  which 
I  bear  i'the  state ;  and  nature  does  require 
Her  times  of  preservation,  which,  perforce, 
I  her  frail  son,  amongst  my  brethren  mortal, 
Must  give  my  tendance  to. 

K.  HEN.  You  have  said  well. 

WOL.  And  ever  may  your  highnessyoke  together, 
As  I  will  lend  you  cause,  my  doing  well 
With  my  well  saying ! 

K.  HEN.  'Tis  well  said  again  ; 

And  'tis  a  kind  of  good  deed,  to  say  well : 
And  yet  words  are  no  deeds.   My  father  lov'd  you : 
He  said,  he  did ;  and  with  his  deed  did  crown 
His  word9  upon  you.     Since  I  had  my  office, 
I  have  kept  you  next  my  heart ;  have  not  alone 
Employ'd  you  where  high  profits  might  come  home, 
But  par'd  my  present  havings,  to  bestow 
My  bounties  upon  you. 

WOL.  What  should  this  mean  ? 

SUE.  The  lord  increase  this  business !     [Aside, 

K.  HEN.  Have  I  not  made  you 

The  prime  man  of  the  state  ?  I  pray  you,  tell  me, 
If  what  I  now  pronounce,  you  have  found  true : 

9  ivith  his  deed  did  crown 


His  word — ]     So,  in  Macbeth  : 

"  To  croivn  my  thoughts  with  acts~."    STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  125 

And,  if  you  may  confess  it,  say  withal, 

If  you  are  bound  to  us,  or  no.     What  say  you  ? 

WOL.  My  sovereign,  I  confess,  your  royal  graces, 
Shower'd  on  me  daily,  have  been  more,  than  could 
My  studied  purposes  requite ;  which  went 
Beyond  all  man's  endeavours:1 — my  endeavours 
Have  ever  come  too  short  of  my  desires, 
Yet,  fiPd  with  my  abilities:2  Mine  own  ends 
Have  been  mine  so,  that  evermore  they  pointed 
To  the  good  of  your  most  sacred  person,  and 
The  profit  of  the  state.     For  your  great  graces 
Heap'd  upon  me,  poor  undeserver,  I 
Can  nothing  render  but  allegiant  thanks ; 
My  prayers  to  heaven  for  you  ;  my  loyalty, 
Which  ever  has,  and  ever  shall  be  growing, 
Till  death,  that  winter,  kill  it. 

K.  HEX.  Fairly  answer'd ; 

A  loyal  and  obedient  subject  is 
Therein  illustrated  :  The  honour  of  it 
Does  pay  the  act  of  it ;  as,  i'the  contrary, 
The  foulness  is  the  punishment.     I  presume, 
That,  as  my  hand  has  open'd  bounty  to  you, 
My  heart  dropp'd  love,  my  power  rain'd  honour, 
more 

'  Beyond  nil  man's  endeavours  :]  The  sense  is,  my  purposes 
went  beyond  nil  human  endeavour.  I  purposed  for  your  honour 
more  than  it  falls  within  the  compass  of  man's  nature  to  attempt. 

JOHNSON. 

I  am  rather  inclined  to  think,  that  tvhich  refers  to  "  royal 
graces ;"  which,  says  Wolsey,  no  human  endeavour  could  re- 
quite. MALONE. 

1  Yet,  fil'd  ivifk  my  abilities  :~\  My  endeavours,  though  less 
than  my  desires,  have  fil'd,  that  is,  have  gone  an  equal  pace 
with  my  abilities.  JOHNSON. 

So,  in  a  preceding  scene  : 

" front  but  in  that  file 

"  Where  others  tell  bteps  with  me."     STEEVEXS. 


126  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACTIII. 

On  you,3  than  any;  so  your  hand,  and  heart, 
Your  brain,  and  every  function  of  your  power, 
Should,  notwithstanding  that  your  bond  of  duty,4 
As  'twere  in  love's  particular,  be  more 
To  me,  your  friend,  than  any. 

WOL.  I  do  profess, 

That  for  your  highness*  good  I  ever  labour' d 
More  than  mine  own  ;  that  am,  have,  and  will  be.5 
Though  all  the  world  should  crack  their  duty  toyou, 
And  throw  it  from  their  soul ;  though  perils  did 
Abound,  as  thick  as  thought  could  make  them,  and 
Appear  in  forms  more  horrid ;  yet  my  duty, 


3  my  hand  has  open'd  bounty  t o  you. 

My  heart  dropp'd  love,  my  power  rain'd  honour,  more 
On  you,  &c.]     As  Ben  Jonson  is  supposed  to  have  made 
some  alterations  in  this  play,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  compare 
the  passage  before  us,  with  another,  on  the  same  subject,  in  the 
New  Inn  : 

"  He  gave  me  my  first  breeding,  I  acknowledge ; 

"  Then  shower'd  his  bounties  on  me,  like  the  hours 

"  That  open-handed  sit  upon  the  clouds, 

"  And  press  the  liberality  of  heaven 

"  Down  to  the  laps  of  thankful  men."     STEEVENS. 

4  notwithstanding  that  your  bond  of  duty,']     Besides  the 

general  bond  of  duty,  by  which  you  are  obliged  to  be  a  loyal 
and  obedient  subject,  you  owe  a  particular  devotion  of  yourself 
to  me,  as  your  particular  benefactor.     JOHNSON. 

5  that  am,  have,  and  will  be.~\     I  can  find  no  meaning  in 

these  words,  or  see  how  they  are  connected  with  the  rest  of  the 
sentence  ;  and  should  therefore  strike  them  out.     M.  MASON. 

I  suppose  the  meaning  is,  that,  or  such  a  man,  I  am,  have 
been,  and  will  ever  be.  Our  author  has  many  hard  and  forced 
expressions  in  his  plays ;  but  many  of  the  hardnesses  in  the 
piece  before  us  appear  to  me  of  a  different  colour  from  those  of 
Shakspeare.  Perhaps,  however,  a  line  following  this  has  been 
lost ;  for  in  the  old  copy  there  is  no  stop  at  the  end  of  this  line; 
and,  indeed,  I  have  some  doubt  whether  a  comma  ought  not  to 
be  placed  at  it,  rather  than  a  full  point.  MALONE. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  127 

As  doth  a  rock  against  the  chiding  flood,6 
Should  the  approach  of  this  wild  river  break, 
And  stand  unshaken  yours. 

K.  HEN.  'Tis  nobly  spoken : 

Take  notice,  lords,  he  has  a  loyal  breast, 
For  you  have  seen  him  open't. — Read  o'er  this; 

[Giving  him  Papers. 

And,  after,  this :  and  then  to  breakfast,  with 
What  appetite  you  have. 

King,  frowning  upon  Cardinal  WOLSEY: 
the  Nobles  throng  aj)er  him,  smiling,  and 
whispering. 

WOL.  What  should  this  mean  ? 

What  sudden  anger's  this?  how  have  I  reap'd  it? 
He  parted  frowning  from  me,  as  if  ruin 
Leap'd  from  his  eyes :  So  looks  the  chafed  lion 
Upon  the  daring  huntsman  that  has  gall'd  him ; 
Then  makes  him  nothing.   I  must  read  this  paper; 
I  fear,  the  story  of  his  anger. — 'Tis  so  ; 
This  paper  has  undone  me  : — 'Tis  the  account 
Of  all  that  world  of  wealth  I  have  drawn  together 
For  mine  own  ends  ;  indeed,  to  gain  the  popedom, 
And  fee  my  friends  in  Rome.     O  negligence, 

''  As  doth  a  rock  against  the  chiding  Jlood,~\     So,  in  our  au- 
thor's 116th  Sonnet: 

" it  is  an  ever-fixed  mark, 

"  That  looks  on  tempests,  and  is  never  shaken." 
The  chiding  flood  is  the  resounding  flood.     So,  in  the  verses 
in  commendation  of  our  author,  by  J.  M.  S.  prefixed  to  the 
folio  1632: 

"  there  plays  a  fair 

"  But  chiding  fountain." 
See  Vol.  XII.  p.  361,  n.  2.     MALONE. 

See  also  Vol.  IV.  p.  4-50,  n.  5.     STEEVENS. 

"  Ille,  velut  pelagi  rupes  immota,  resistit." 

JEn.  VII.  586.     S.  W. 


128  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACTIIT. 

Fit  for  a  fool  to  fall  by!  What  cross  devil 
Made  me  put  this  main  secret  in  the  packet 
I  sent  the  king  ?  Is  there  no  way  to  cure  this  ? 
No  new  device  to  beat  this  from  his  brains  ? 
I  know,  'twill  stir  him  strongly;  Yet  I  know 
A  way,  if  it  take  right,  in  spite  of  fortune 
Will  bring  me  off  again.      What's  this — To  the 

Pope? 

The  letter,  as  I  live,  with  all  the  business 
I  writ  to  his  holiness.     Nay  then,  farewell ! 
I  have  touch'd  the  highest  point  of  all  my  great- 
ness;7 

And,  from  that  full  meridian  of  my  glory, 
I  haste  now  to  my  setting :  I  shall  fall 
Like  a  bright  exhalation  in  the  evening, 
And  no  man  see  me  more. 


Re-enter  the  Dukes  of  NORFOLK  and  SUFFOLK, 
the  Earl  of  SURREY, 8  and  the  Lord  Chamber- 
lain. 

NOR.  Hear  the  king's  pleasure,  cardinal :  who 
commands  you 

7  I  have  touch' d  the  highest  point  of  all  my  greatness  ;~\     So, 
in  Marlowe's  King  Edward  II : 

"  Base  fortune,  now  I  see  that  in  thy  wheel 

"  There  is  a  point,  to  which  when  men  aspire, 

"  They  tumble  headlong  down.     That  point  I  touch* d  ; 

"  And  seeing  there  was  no  place  to  mount  up  higher, 

"  Why  should  I  grieve  at  my  declining  fall  ?'* 

MALONK. 

8  Re-enter  the  Dukes  &c.]     It  may  not  be  improper  here  to 
repeat,  that  the  time  of  this  play  is  from  1521,  just  before  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham's  commitment,  to  the  year  1533,  when 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  born  and  christened.     The  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk, therefore,  who  is  introduced  in  the  first  scene  of  the  first 
Act,  or  in  1522,  is  not  the  same  person  who  here,  or  in  1529, 
demands  the  great  seal  from  Wolsey ;  for  Thomas  Howard,  who 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  129 

To  render  up  the  great  seal  presently 
Into  our  hands  ;  and  to  confine  yourself 
To  Asher-house,9  my  lord  of  Winchester's,1 
Till  you  hear  further  from  his  highness. 


was  created  Duke  of  Norfolk,  1514,  died,  we  are  informed  by 
Holinshed,  p.  891,  at  Whitsuntide,  1525.  As  our  author  has 
here  made  two  persons  into  one,  so,  on  the  contrary,  he  has 
made  one  person  into  two.  The  Earl  of  Surrey  here  is  the  same 
with  him  who  married  the  Duke  of  Buckingham's  daughter,  as 
appears  from  his  own  mouth: 

**  I  am  joyful 

"  To  meet  the  least  occasion  that  may  give  me 

"  Remembrance  of  my  father-in-law,  the  duke." 
Again  : 

"  Thy  ambition, 

"  Thou  scarlet  sin,  robb'd  this  bewailing  land 

"  Of  noble  Buckingham,  my  father-in-law  : 

"  You  sent  me  deputy  for  Ireland ; 

"  Far  from  his  succour, ." 

But  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  who  married  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham's  daughter,  was  at  this  time  the  individual  above 
mentioned  Duke  of  Norfolk.  The  reason  for  adding  the  third 
or  fourth  person  as  interlocutors  in  this  scene  is  not  very  appa- 
rent, for  Holinshed,  p.  909,  mentions  only  the  Dukes  of  Nor- 
folk and  Suffolk  being  sent  to  demand  the  great  seal,  and  all 
that  is  spoken  would  proceed  with  sufficient  propriety  out  of 
their  mouths.  The  cause  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  animosity 
to  Wolsey  is  obvious,  and  Cavendish  mentions  that  an  open 
quarrel  at  this  time  subsisted  between  the  Cardinal  and  Charles 
Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk.  REED. 

-'  To  Asher-Ao?we,]  Thus  the  old  copy.  Ashcr  was  the  an- 
cient name  of  Eshcr ;  as  appears  from  Holinshed  :  "  —  and 
everie  man  took  their  horses  and  rode  strait  to  Ashcr" 

Holinshcd,  Vol.  II.  p.  909.     WARNER. 

1 mij  lord  f>f  Winchester*  xt~\     Shakspcare    forgot    that 

Wolsey  was  himself  Bishop  of  Winchester,  unless  he  meant  to 
say,  you  must  confine  yourself  to  that  house  which  you  possess 
as  Bishop  of  Winchester.  Ashcr,  near  Hampton-Court,  waa 
one  of  the  houses  belonging  to  that  bishoprick.  MALONE. 

Fox,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  died  Sept.  1 1,  1528,  and  Wolsey 
held  this  see  in  commcndam,  Eshcr  therefore  was  his  own  house. 

REED. 
VOL.    XV.  K 


ISQ  KING  HENRT  VIII.  ACT  m. 

WOL.  Stay, 

Where's  your  commission,  lords?  words  cannot  carry 
Authority  so  weighty.2 

SUF.  Who  dare  cross  them  ? 

Bearing  the  king's  will  from  his  mouth  expressly  ? 

WOL.  Till  I  find  more  than  will,  or  words,  to  do  it, 
(I  mean,  your  malice,)  know,  officious  lords, 
I  dare,  and  must  deny  it.3     Now  I  feel 
Of  what  coarse  metal  ye  are  moulded, — envy. 
How  eagerly  ye  follow  my  disgraces, 
As  if  it  fed  ye  ?  and  how  sleek  and  wanton 
Ye  appear  in  every  thing  may  bring  my  ruin ! 
Follow  your  envious  courses,  men  of  malice ; 
You  have  Christian  warrant  for  them,  and,  no  doubt, 
In  time  will  find  their  fit  rewards.     That  seal, 
You  ask  with  such  a  violence,  the  king, 
(Mine,  andyourmaster,)  withhisownhandgaveme : 
Bade  me  enjoy  it,  with  the  place  and  honours, 
During  my  life ;  and,  to  confirm  his  goodness, 
Tied  it  by  letters  patents :  Now,  who'll  take  it  ? 


so  weighty.]     The  editor  of  the  third  folio  changed 

weighty  to  mighty,  and  all  the  subsequent  editors  adopted  his 
capricious  alteration.  MALONE. 

I  believe  the  change  pointed  out  was  rather  accidental  than 
capricious ;  as,  in  the  proof  sheets  of  this  republication,  the 
words — weighty  and  mighty  have  more  than  once  been  given  in- 
stead of  each  other.  STEEVENS. 

3  Till  IJind  more  than  will,  or  words,  to  do  it, 
(I  mean,  your  malice,)  know,  &c.]     Wolsey  had  said  : 

words  cannot  carry 

"  Authority  so  weighty." 
To  which  they  reply  : 

"  Who  dare  cross  them  ?"  &c. 

Wolsey,  answering  them,  continues  his  own  speech,  Till  IJind 
more  than  will  or  words  (I  mean  more  than  your  malicious  will 
and  words)  to  do  it;  that  is,  to  carry  authority  so  mighty  ;  I  will 
deny  to  return  what  the  King  has  given  me.  JOHNSON. 


sc.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  131 

SUR.  The  king,  that  gave  it. 

ff'oL.  It  must  be  himself  then. 

SUR.  Thou  art  a  proud  traitor,  priest. 

WOL.  Proud  lord,  thou  liest ; 

Within  these  forty  hours4  Surrey  durst  better 
Have  burnt  that  tongue,  than  said  so. 

SUR.  Thy  ambition, 

Thou  scarlet  sin,  robb'd  this  bewailing  land 
Of  noble  Buckingham,  my  father-in-law : 
The  heads  of  all  thy  brother  cardinals, 
(With  thee,  and  all  thy  best  parts  bound  together,) 
Weigh' d  not  a  hair  of  his.     Plague  of  your  policy ! 
You  sent  me  deputy  for  Ireland ; 
Far  from  his  succour,  from  the  king,  from  all 
Thatmighthave  mercy  on  the  fault  thou  gav'st  him; 
Whilst  your  great  goodness,  out  of  holy  pity, 
Absolv'd  him  with  an  axe. 

WOL.  This,  and  all  else 

This  talking  lord  can  lay  upon  my  credit, 
I  answer,  is  most  false.     The  duke  by  law 


4  Within  these  forty  hours — ~]  Why  forty  hours  ?  But  a 
few  minutes  have  passed  since  Wolsey's  disgrace.  I  suspect  that 
Shakspeare  wrote— uv7///tt  these  four  hours, — and  that  the  per- 
son who  revised  and  tampered  with  this  play,  not  knowing  that 
hours  was  used  hy  our  poet  as  a  dissyllable,  made  this  injudi- 
cious alteration.  MALOXE. 

I  adhere  to  the  old  reading.  Forlij  (I  know  not  why)  seems 
anciently  to  have  been  the  familiar  number  on  many  occasions, 
where  no  very  exact  reckoning  was  necessary.  In  a  former 
scene,  the  Old  Lady  otters  to  lay  Anne  Bullen  a  wager  of 
"  Jnrty  pence  ;"  Slender,  in  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor, 
says — "  I  had  rather  than  forty  shillings  — ;"  and  in  The  Taming 
of  the  .S'/m'.r,  "  the  humour  of  J'orty  fancies"  is  the  ornament 
of  (irinnio's  hat.  Thus,  also,  in  Coriolamuf 

—  on  fair  ground 
"  I  could  beat /or///  of  them."     STEEVENS. 


132  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  m. 

Found  his  deserts :  how  innocent  I  was 
From  any  private  malice  in  his  end, 
His  noble  jury  and  foul  cause  can  witness. 
If  I  lov'd  many  words,  lord,  I  should  tell  you, 
You  have  as  little  honesty  as  honour ; 
That  I,  in  the  way  of  loyalty  and  truth5 
Toward  the  king,  my  ever  royal  master, 
Dare  mate  a  sounder  man  than  Surrey  can  be, 
And  all  that  love  his  follies. 

SUE.  By  my  soul, 

Your  long  coat,  priest,  protects  you ;  thou  should'st 

feel 

My  sword  i'the  life-blood  of  tliee  else. — My  lords, 
Can  ye  endure  to  hear  this  arrogance  ? 
And  from  this  fellow  ?  If  we  live  thus  tamely, 
To  be  thus  jaded6  by  a  piece  of  scarlet, 
Farewell  nobility ;  let  his  grace  go  forward, 
And  dare  us  with  his  cap,  like  larks.7 


*  That  I,  in  the  "way  &c.~]     Old  copy — That  in  the  luay. 

SxEEVENSi. 

Mr.  Theobald  reads : 

That  I  in  the  way  &c. 

and  this  unnecessary  emendation  has  been  adopted  by  all  the 
subsequent  editors.     MALONE. 

As  this  passage  is  to  me  obscure,  if  not  unintelligible,  without 
Mr.  Theobald's  correction,  I  have  not  discarded  it.  STEEVENS. 

6  To  be  thus  jaded — ]  To  be  abused  and  ill  treated,  like  a 
worthless  horse  :  or  perhaps  to  be  ridden  by  a  priest ; — to  have 
liim  mounted  above  us.  MALONE. 

The  same  verb  (whatever  its  precise  meaning  may  be)  occurs 
in  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  Act  III.  sc.  i : 

"  The  ne'er-yet-beaten  horse  of  Parthia 

"  We  have  jaded  out  o'the  field."     STEEVENS. 

~  And  dare  us  with  his  cap,  like  larks.]  So,  in  Burton's 
Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  edit.  163'2,  p.  656  :  " — never  Hobie 
so  dared  a  lark." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  hat  of  a  cardinal  is  scarlet ;  and 


sc.  n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  133 

WOL.  All  goodness 

Is  poison  to  thy  stomach. 

Sun.  Yes,  that  goodness 

Of  gleaning  all  the  land's  wealth  into  one, 
Into  your  own  hands,  cardinal,  by  extortion  j 
The  goodness  of  your  intercepted  packets, 
You  writ  to  the  pope,  against  the  king  :  your  good- 
ness, 

Since  you  provoke  me,  shall  be  most  notorious. — 
My  lord  of  Norfolk, — as  you  are  truly  noble, 
As  you  respect  the  common  good,  the  state 
Of  our  despis'd  nobility,  our  issues, 
"VVho,8  if  he  live,  will  scarce  be  gentlemen, — 
Produce  the  grand  sum  of  his  sins,  the  articles 
Collected  from  his  life  : — I'll  startle  you 
Worse  than  the  sacring  bell,9  when  the  brown 

wench1 
Lay  kis.sing  in  your  arms,  lord  cardinal. 


that  one  of  the  methods  of  daring  larks  was  by  small  mirrors 
fastened  on  scarlet  cloth,  which  engaged  the  attention  of  these 
birds  while  the  fowler  drew  his  net  over  them. 

The  same  thought  occurs  in  Skelton's  Why  come  ye  not  to 
Court  ?  i.  e.  a  satire  on  Wolsey  : 

"  The  re<l  hat  with  his  lure, 

"  Bringeth  al  thinges  under  cure."     STEEVENS. 

*  Who,~]      Old  copy — Whom.     Corrected  in  the  second  folio. 

MALOXE. 

0  Worse  than  f/ir  sacring  bell,]  The  little  bell,  which  is  rung 
to  give  notice  of  the  Host  approaching  when  it  is  carried  in  pro- 
ression,  as  also  in  other  offices  of  the  Romish  church,  is  called 
the  sacrhirr,  or  consecration  bell ;  from  the  French  word,  xacre'r. 

THEOBALD. 

The  Abbess,  in  The  Merry  Devil  of  Edmonton,  160S,  says  : 

" you  shall  ring  the  sacring  bell, 

"  Keep  your  hours,  and  toll  your  knell." 

Again,  in  Reginald  Scott's  Discovery  nf  Il'ifc/icraft,  1584- : 
"  He  heard  a  little  sacring  bell  ring  to  the  elevation  of  a  to-mor- 
row mass." 


134  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  in, 

WOL.  How  much,  methinks,  I  could  despise  this 

man, 
But  that  I  am  bound  in  charity  against  it ! 

NOR.  Those  articles,  my  lord,  are  in  the  king's 

hand: 
But,  thus  much,  they  are  foul  ones. 

WOL.  So  much  fairer, 

And  spotless,  shall  mine  innocence  arise, 
When  the  king  knows  my  truth. 

SUE.  This  cannot  save  you  : 

I  thank  my  memory,  I  yet  remember 
Some  of  these  articles;  and  out  they  shall. 
Now,  if  you  can  blush,  and  cry  guilty,  cardinal, 
You'll  show  a  little  honesty. 

WOL.  Speak  on,  sir ; 

I  dare  your  worst  objections :  if  I  blush, 
It  is,  to  see  a  nobleman  want  manners. 

SUR.   I'd   rather  want  those,   than   my  head. 
Have  at  you. 

The  now  obsolete  verb  to  sacre,  is  used  by  P.  Holland,  in  his 
translation  of  Pliny's  Natural  History,  Book  X.  ch.  vi.     And 
by  Chapman,  in  his  version  of  Homer's  Hymn  to  Diana  : 
"  Sacring  my  song  to  every  deity."     STEEVENS. 

1 lichen  the  brown  ivench  &c.]      The  amorous  propensities 

of  Cardinal  Wolsey  are  much  dwelt  on  in  the  ancient  satire 
already  quoted,  p.  88,  n.  6  : 

"  By  his  pryde  and  faulce  treachery, 
"  Whoardom  and  baudy  leachery, 

"  He  hath  been  so  intolerable." 
Again : 

"  The  goodes  that  he  thus  gaddered 
"  Wretchedly  he  hath  scattered 

"  In  causes  nothynge  expedient. 
"  To  make  wyndowes  walles  and  dores, 
"  And  to  mayntayne  baudcs  and  chores 

"  A  grett  parte  thereof  is  spent." 

And  still  more  grossly  are  his  amours  spoken  of  in  many  other 
parts  oi'the  same  poem.     STEEVENS. 


«?.  //.  KINO  HENRY  VIII.  135 

First,  that,  without  the  king's  assent,  or  knowledge, 
You  wrought  to  be  a  legate  ;  by  which  power 
You  maim'd  the  jurisdiction  of  all  bishops. 

NOR.  Then,  that,  in  all  you  writ  to  Rome,  or  else 
To  foreign  princes,  Ego  et  Rex  incus 
Was  still  inscrib'd ;  in  which  you  brought  the  king 
To  be  your  servant. 

SUF.  Then,  that,  without  the  knowledge 

Either  of  king  or  council,  when  you  went 
Ambassador  to  the  emperor,  you  made  bold 
To  carry  into  Flanders  the  great  seal. 

Sun.  Item,  you  sent  a  large  commission 
To  Gregory  de  Cassalis,  to  conclude, 
Without  the  king's  will,  or  the  state's  allowance, 
A  leasnie  between  his  highness  and  Ferrara. 

O  O 

SUF.  That,  out  of  mere  ambition,  you  have  caus'd 
Your  holy  hat  to  be  stamp'd  on  the  king's  coin.3 

Sun.  Then,  that  you  have  sent  innumerable  sub- 
stance, 

(By  what  means  got,  I  leave  to  your  own  conscience,) 
To  furnish  Rome,  and  to  prepare  the  ways 


*  Your  holy  hat  to  be  stamp'd  on  the  king's  coin.']  In  the 
long  string  of  articles  exhibited  by  the  Privy  Council  against 
\Volsey,  which  Sir  Edward  Coke  transcribed  from  the  original, 
this  offence  composed  one  of  the  charges  :  "  40.  Also  the  said 
Lord  Cardinal  of  his  further  pompous  and  presumptuous  minde, 
hath  enterprised  to  joyn  and  imprint  the  Cardinal's  hat  under 
your  armes  in  your  coyn  of  groats  made  at  your  city  of  York, 
which  like  deed  hath  not  been  seen  to  be  done  by  any  subject 
in  your  realm  before  this  time."  \-  Inst.  JM.  HOLT  WHITE. 

This  was  certainly  one  of  the  articles  exhibited  against  Wol- 
sey,  but  rather  with  a  view  to  swell  the  catalogue,  than  from 
any  serious  cause  of  accusation  ;  inasmuch  as  the  Archbishops 
Cranmer,  Bainbrigge,  and  Warham,  were  indulged  with  the 
fame  privilege.  See  Snelling's  l'ic-c  of' the  Silver  Coin  and 
Coinage  of  England.  DOUCE. 


136  KING  HENRY  VIII,  Acr.im 

You  have  for  dignities ;  to  the  mere  undoing3 
Of  all  the  kingdom.     Many  more  there  are ; 
Which,  since  they  are  of  you,  and  odious, 
I  will  not  taint  my  mouth  with. 

CHAM.  O  my  lord, 

Press  not  a  falling  man  too  far ;  'tis  virtue  : 
His  faults  lie  open  to  the  laws  ;  let  them, 
Not  you,  correct  him.     My  heart  weeps  to  see  him 
So  little  of  his  great  self. 

SUR.  I  forgive  him. 

SUF.  Lord  cardinal,  the  king's  further  pleasure 

is,— 

Because  all  those  things,  you  have  done  of  late 
By  your  power  legatine  within  this  kingdom, 
Fall  into  the  compass4  of  a  prcemuniref — 
That  therefore  such  a  writ  be  sued  against  you ; 
To  forfeit  all  your  goods,  lands,  tenements, 
Chattels,  and  whatsoever,6  and  to  be 
Out  of  the  king's  protection: — This  is  my  charge. 

3 to  the  mere  undoing — ]      Mere  is  absolute.     So,  in 

The  Honest  Man's  Fortune,  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher: 

" I  am  as  happy 

*'  In  my  friend's  good,  as  if  'twere  merely  mine.'* 

STEEVENS. 

See  Vol.  IV.  p.  9,  n.  3.     MALONE. 

*  Fall  into  the  compass  &c.]  The  harshness  of  this  line  in- 
duces me  to  think  that  we  should  either  read,  with  Sir  Thomas 
Hanmer — Fall  in  the  compass,  or  Fall  into  compass,  omitting 
the  article.  STEEVEXS. 

5 of  a  praemunire,]     It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  observe 

thatprainntiiire  is  a  barbarous  word  used  instead  of  prcemonere. 

STEEVEXS. 

6  Chattels,  and  whatsoever,']  The  old  copy — castles.  I  have 
ventured  to  substitute  chattels  here,  as  the  author's  genuine 
word,  because  the  judgment  in  a  writ  of  prcemunire  is,  that  the 
defendant  shall  be  out  of  the  king's  protect  ion  ;  and  his  lands 
and  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  forfeited  to  the  king ;  and 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  137 

NOR.  And  so  we'll  leave  you  to  your  meditations 
How  to  live  better.     For  your  stubborn  answer, 
About  the  giving  back  the  great  seal  to  us, 
The  king  shall  know  it,  and,  no  doubt,  shall  thank 

you. 
So  fare  you  well,  my  little  good  lord  cardinal. 

\_Exeunt  all  but  WOLSEY. 

WOL.  So  farewell  to  the  little  good  you  bear  me. 
Farewell,  a  long  farewell,  to  all  my  greatness  ! 
This  is  the  state  of  man  ;  To-day  he  puts  forth 
The  tender  leaves  of  hope,7  to-morrow  blossoms, 
And  bears  his  blushing  honours  thick  upon  him : 
The  third  day,  comes  a  frost,  a  killing  frost ; 
And, — when  he  thinks,  good  easy  man,  full  surely 
His  greatness  is  a  ripening, — nips  his  root,8 


that  his  body  shall  remain  in  prison  at  the  king's  pleasure. 
This  very  description  of"  the  precmunire  is  set  out  by  Holinshed, 
in  his  Life  oj' King  Henry  1  III.  p.  909.  THEOBALD. 

The  emendation  made  by  Mr.  Theobald,  is,  I  think,  fully 
justified  by  the  passage  in  Holinshed's  Chronicle,  on  which  this 
is  founded  ;  in  which  it  is  observable  that  the  word  chattels  is 
spelt  cattels,  which  might  have  been  easily  confounded  with 
cnstcls  :  "  After  this,  in  the  King's  Bench  his  matter  for  the 
prtemunire  being  called  upon,  two  attornies  which  he  had  au- 
thorised by  his  warrant  signed  with  his  own  hand,  confessed  the 
action,  and  so  had  judgment  to  forfeit  all  his  landes,  tenements, 
goods,  and  called,,  and  to  be  put  out  of  the  king's  protection." 

C/iron.  Vol.  II.  p.  909.     MALONE. 

•  This  is  the  t/ale  of  man  ;   To  day  he  puts  forth 

The  tender  leaves  of  hope,  &c.]     So,  in  our  author's  25th 
Sonnet  : 

"  (Jr-Ait  princes' favourites  their  fair  leaves  spread, 

"  l>ut  as  the  marigold  in  the  sun's  eye; 

"  And  in  themselves  their  pride  lies  buried, 

"  For  at  a  frown  they  in  their  glory  die."      MALONE. 

nips  his  root,]     "  As  spring-frosts  are  not  injurious  to 

the  mot*  of  fruit-trees,"  Dr.  \Varburton  reads — shoot.  Such 
capricious  alterations  I  am  sometimes  obliged  to  mention,  merely 


138  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  m. 

And  then  he  falls,  as  I  do.     I  have  ventured, 
Like  little  wanton  boys  that  swim  on  bladders, 
This  many  summers  in  a  sea  of  glory  ; 
But  far  beyond  my  depth  :  my  high-blown  pride 
At  length  broke  under  me  ;  and  now  has  left  me, 
Weary,  and  old  with  service,  to  the  mercy 
Of  a  rude  stream,  that  must  for  ever  hide  me. 
Vain  pomp,  and  glory  of  this  world,  I  hate  ye ; 
I  feel  my  heart  new  open'd  :  O,  how  wretched 
Is  that  poor  man,  that  hangs  on  princes'  favours  ! 
There  is,  betwixt  that  smile  we  would  aspire  to, 
That  sweet  aspect  of  princes,  and  their  ruin,9 
More  pangs  and  fears  than  wars  or  women  have ; 
And  when  he  falls,  he  falls  like  Lucifer,1 
Never  to  hope  again. — 

to  introduce  the  notes  of  those,  who,  while  they  have  shewn 
them  to  be  unnecessary,  have  illustrated  our  author.    MA  LONE. 

Vernal  frosts,  indeed,  do  not  kill  the  root,  but  then  to  nip 
the  shoots  does  not  kill  the  tree  or  make  it  fall.  The  metaphor 
will  not,  in  either  reading,  correspond  exactly  with  nature. 

JOHNSON. 

I  adhere  to  the  old  reading,  which  is  countenanced  by  the 
following  passage  in  A.  W.'s  Commendation  of  Gascoigne  and 
his  Poesies : 

"  And  frosts    so   nip   the    rootes    of  vertuous-meaning 

minds." 
See  Gascoigne's  Works,  1587.     STEEVENS. 

9 and  their  ruin,']     Most  of  the  modern  editors  read — 

our  ruin.     STEEVENS. 

Their  ruin  is,  their  displeasure,  producing  the  downfall  and 
ruin  of  him  on  whom  it  lights.  So  before  : 

"  He  par  ted  frowning  from  me,  as  if  ruin 
"  Leap'd  from  his  eyes"     MALONE. 

1  And  ivhen  he  falls,  he  falls  like  Lucifer^  So,  in  Church- 
yard's Legend  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  MiRROUR  FOR  MAGIS- 
TRATES, 1587: 

"  Your  fault  not  half  so  great  as  was  my  pride, 
"  For  which  offence  Jell  Lucifer  from  the  skies." 

MALONK. 


//.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  139 


Enter  CROMWELL,  amazedly. 

Why,  how  now,  Cromwell  ? 
CROM.  I  have  no  power  to  speak,  sir. 

WOL.  What,  amaz'd 

At  my  misfortunes  ?  can  thy  spirit  wonder, 
A  great  man  should  decline  ?  Nay,  an  you  weep, 
I  am  fallen  indeed. 

CROM.  How  does  your  grace  ? 

WOL.  Why,  well; 

Never  so  truly  happy,  my  good  Cromwell. 
I  know  myself  now ;  and  I  feel  writhin  me 
A  peace  above  all  earthly  dignities, 
A  still  and  quiet  conscience.     The  king  has  cur'd 

me, 

I  humbly  thank  his  grace ;  and  from  these  shoulders, 
These  ruin'd  pillars,  out  of  pity,  taken 
A  load  would  sink  a  navy,  too  much  honour  : 
O,  'tis  a  burden,  Cromwell,  'tis  a  burden, 
Too  heavy  for  a  man  that  hopes  for  heaven. 

CROM.  I  am  glad,  your  grace  has  made  that  right 
use  of  it. 

WOL.  I  hope,  I  have :  I  am  able  now,  methinks, 
(Out  of  a  fortitude  of  soul  I  feel,) 
To  endure  more  miseries,  and  greater  far, 


In  The  Life  and  Death  of  Thnmas  Wohey,  &c.  a  poem,  by 
Tho.  Storer,  student  of  Christ-church,  in  Oxford,    1.399,   the 
Cardinal  expresses  himself  in  a  manner  somewhat  similar  : 
"  If  once  we  fall,  we  fall  Colossus-like, 
"  We  full  at,  once,  like  pillars  of  the  sunne,"  £c. 

STEEVENS. 


140  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  nr. 

Than  my  weak-hearted  enemies  dare  offer.2 
What  news  abroad  ? 

CROM.  The  heaviest,  and  the  worst, 

Is  your  displeasure  with  the  king. 

WOL.  God  bless  him  ! 

CROM.  The  next  is,  that  sir  Thomas  More  is 

chosen 
Lord  chancellor  in  your  place. 

WOL.  That's  somewhat  sudden : 

But  he's  a  learned  man.     May  he  continue 
Long  in  his  highness*  favour,  and  do  justice 
For  truth's  sake,  and  his  conscience ;  that  his  bones, 
When  he  has  run  his  course,  and  sleeps  in  blessings, 
May  have  a  tomb  of  orphans'  tears  wept  on  'emi3 
What  more  ? 

! /  am  able  now,  methinks, 

(Out  of  a  fortitude  of  soul  I  feel,] 
To  endure  more  miseries,  and  greater  far, 
Than  my  taeak-hearted  enemies  dare  offer. ~\     So,  in  King 
Henry  VI.  Part  II : 

"  More  can  I  bear,  than  you  dare  execute." 
Again,  in  Othello  : 

"  Thou  hast  not  half  the  power  to  do  me  harm, 
"  As  I  have  to  be  hurt."     MALONE. 

3  • a  tomb  of  orphans'  tears  ivept  on  'em !]  The  chan- 
cellor is  the  general  guardian  of  orphans.  A  tomb  of  tears  is 
very  harsh.  JOHNSON. 

This  idea  will  appear  not  altogether  indefensible  to  those  who 
recollect  the  following  epigram  of  Martial: 

"  Flentibus  Heliadum  ramis  dum  vipera  serpit, 

"  Fluxit  in  obstantem  succina  gemma  feram  : 
"  Quae  dum  miratur  pingui  se  rore  teneri, 

"  Concreto  riguit  vincta  repente  gclu. 
"  Ne  tibi  regali  placeas  Cleopatra  sepulchro, 

"  Vipera  si  tumulo  nobiliore  jacet." 

The  Heliades  certainly  ivept  a  tomb  of  tears  over  the  viper. 
The  same  conceit,  however,  is  found  in  Drummond  of  Haw- 
thornden's  Tearesfor  the  Death  of  Moeliadcs  : 


ST.  77.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  141 

CROM.  That  Cranmer  is  return'd  with  welcome, 
Installed  lord  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
WOL.  That's  news  indeed. 

CROM.  Last,  that  the  lady  Anne, 

Whom  the  king  hath  in  secrecy  long  married, 
This  day  was  view'd  in  open,4  as  his  queen, 
Going  to  chapel ;  and  the  voice  is  now 
Only  about  her  coronation. 

Jf'oL.    There  was  the  weight  that  pull'd  me 

down.     O  Cromwell, 

The  king  has  gone  beyond  me,  all  my  glories 
In  that  one  woman  I  have  lost  for  ever : 
No  sun  shall  ever  usher  forth  mine  honours, 
Or  gild  again  the  noble  troops  that  waited 
Upon  my  smiles.5  Go,  getthee  from  me,  Cromwell; 

*'  The  Muses,  Phoebus,  Love,  have  raised  of  their  teares 
"  A  crystal  tomb  to  him,    through  which  his  worth  ap- 
pcarcs."     STEEVENS. 

A  similar  conceit  occurs  in  King  Richard  II.  Act  III.  sc.  iii. 

HENLEY. 

The  old  copy  has — on  him.     The  error,  which  probably  arose 
from  similitude  of  sounds,  was  corrected  by  Mr.  Steevens. 

MA  LONE. 

4 in  open,"]  A  Latinism,  [_in  apcrto~]  perhaps  introduced 

by  Ben  Jonson,  who  is  supposed  to  have  tampered  with  this  play. 
Et  castris  in  aperto  positis  :  Liv.  I.  33.  i.  e.  in  a  place  exposed  on 
all  sides  to  view.  STEEVENS. 

5  Or  gild  again  the  noble  troops  that  -waited 

I '/ton  m>/  sniilc.<t.~]  The  number  of  persons  who  composed 
Cardinal  Wolsey's  household,  according  to  the  printed  account, 
was  eight  hundred.  "  When  (says  Cavendish,  in  his  Life  nf 
Wolseijt)  shall  we  see  any  more  such  subjects,  that  shall  keepe 
such  a  noble  house  ? — Here  is  an  end  of  his  houshold.  The 
number  of  persons  in  the  cheyne-roll  [check-roll]  were  eight 
hundred  persons." 

But  Cavendish's  work,  though  written  in  the  time  of  Queen 
Mary,  was  not  published  till  Kill  ;  and  it  was  then  printed 
mo*t  unfaithfully,  some  passages  being  interpolated,  near  half  of 


142  KING  HENRY  VIII.         ACT  m.. 

I  am  a  poor  fallen  man,  unworthy  now 
To  be  thy  lord  and  master :  Seek  the  king ; 
That  sun,  I  pray,  may  never  set !  I  have  told  him 
What,  and  how  true  thou  art :  he  will  advance  thee  j 
Some  little  memory  of  me  will  stir  him, 
(I  know  his  noble  nature,)  not  to  let 
Thy  hopeful  service  perish  too:  Good  Cromwell, 
Neglect  him  not ;  make  use  now,6  and  provide 
For  thine  own  future  safety. 

CROM.  O  my  lord, 

Must  I  then  leave  you  ?  must  I  needs  forego 
So  good,  so  noble,  and  so  true  a  master  ? 
Bear  witness,  all  that  have  not  hearts  of  iron, 
With  what  a  sorrow  Cromwell  leaves  his  lord. — 
The  king  shall  have  my  service  ;  but  my  prayers 
For  ever,  and  for  ever,  shall  be  yours. 

WOL.  Cromwell,  I  did  not  think  to  shed  a  tear 


the  MS.  being  omitted,  and  the  phraseology  being  modernised 
throughout,  to  make  it  more  readable  at  that  time  ;  the  covert 
object  of  the  publication  probably  having  been,  to  render  Laud 
odious,  by  shewing  how  far  church-power  had  been  extended 
by  Wolsey,  and  how  dangerous  that  prelate  was,  who,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  followed  his  example.  The  persons  who  pro- 
cured this  publication,  seem  to  have  been  little  solicitous  about 
the  means  they  employed,  if  they  could  but  obtain  their  end  ; 
and  therefore,  among  other  unwarrantable  sophistications,  they 
took  care  that  the  number  *'  of  troops  who  waited  on  Wolsey'§ 
smiles,"  should  be  sufficiently  magnified;  and,  instead  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty,  which  was  the  real  number  of  his  house- 
hold, they  printed  eight  hundred.  This  appears  from  two  MSS. 
of  this  work  in  the  Museum ;  MSS.  Harl.  N°.  428,  and  MSS. 
Birch,  4233. 

In  another  manuscript  copy  of  Cavendish's  Life  of  Wolsey, 
in  the  Publick  Library  at  Cambridge,  the  number  of  the  Car- 
dinal's household,  by  the  addition  of  a  cypher,  is  made  1800. 

MALONE. 

r< make  use — ~]     i.  e.  make  interest.     So,  in  Much  Ado 

about  Nothing  :  "  — I  gave  him  use  for  it."     STEEVENS. 


sc.  II.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  143 

In  all  my  miseries  ;  but  thou  hast  forc'd  me 
Out  of  thy  honest  truth  to  play  the  woman. 
Let's  dry  our  eyes :  and  thus  far  hear  me,  Crom- 
well; 

And, — when  I  am  forgotten,  as  I  shall  be  ; 
And  sleep  in  dull  cold  marble,  where  no  mention 
Of  me  more  must  be  heard  of, — say,  I  taught 

thee, 

Say,  Wolsey, — that  once  trod  the  ways  of  glory, 
And  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shoals  of  honour,— 
Found  thee  a  way,  out  of  his  wreck,  to  rise  in  ; 
A  sure  and  safe  one,  though  thy  master  miss'd  it. 
Mark  but  my  fall,  and  that  that  ruin'd  me. 
Cromwell,  I  charge  thee,  fling  away  ambition  ;7 
By  that  sin  fell  the  angels,8  how  can  man  then, 
The  image  of  his  Maker,  hope  to  win  by't? 
Love  thyself  last :  cherish  those  hearts  that  hate 
thee;9 


ambition ;]  Wolsey  does  not  mean  to 
condemn  every  kind  of  ambition  ;  for  in  a  preceding  line  he  says 
he  will  instruct  Cromwell  how  to  rise,  and  in  the  subsequent 
lines  he  evidently  considers  him  as  a  man  in  office  :  "  — then  it' 
thoufall'st,"  &c.  Ambition  here  means  a  criminal  and  inordi- 
nate ambition,  that  endavours  to  obtain  honours  by  dishonest 
means.  MALONE. 

*  By  that  sin  fell  the  angels,']     See  p.  138,  n.  1.     STEEVENS. 

cherish  those  hearts  that  hate  thee  ;~\     Though  this  be 

good  divinity,  and  an  admirable  precept  for  our  conduct  in  pri- 
Vate  life,  it  was  never  calculated  or  designed  for  the  magistrate 
or  publick  minister.  Nor  could  this  be  the  direction  of  a  man 
experienced  in  affairs  to  his  pupil.  It  would  make  a  good  Chris- 
tian, but  a  very  ill  and  very  unjust  statesman.  And  we  have 
nothing  so  infamous  in  tradition,  as  the  supposed  advice 
given  to  one  ofour  kings,  to  cherish  his  enemies,  and  be  in  no  pain 
for  his  friends.  I  am  of  opinion  the  poet  wrote  : 

cht-rixh  those  hearts  that  wait  tJiee ; 

i.  e.  thy  dependants.     For  the  contrary  practice  had  contributed 
to  Wolsey's  ruin.     He  was  not  careful  enough  in  making  de- 


144  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  m. 

Corruption  wins  not  more  than  honesty. 

Still  in  thy  right  hand  carry  gentle  peace, 

To  silence  envious  tongues.  Be  just,  and  fear  not: 

Let  all  the  ends,  thou  aim'st  at,  be  thy  country's, 

Thy  God's,  and  truth's;   then  if  thou  fall'st,  O 

Cromwell, 

Thou  fall'st  a  blessed  martyr.     Serve  the  king; 
And, — Pr'ythee,  lead  me  in  : 
There  take  an  inventory  of  all  I  have,1 
To  the  last  penny ;  'tis  the  king's  :  my  robe, 
And  my  integrity  to  heaven,  is  all 
I  dare  now  call  mine  own.  O  Cromwell,  Cromwell, 
Had  I  but  serv'd  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 2 

pendants  by  his  bounty,  while  intent  in  amassing  wealth  to  him- 
self. The  following  line  seems  to  confirm  this  correction : 

Corruption  ivins  not  more  than  honesty. 

i.  e.  You  will  never  find  men  won  over  to  your  temporary  occa- 
sions by  bribery,  so  useful  to  you  as  friends  made  by  a  just  and 
generous  munificence.  WARBURTOX. 

I  am  unwilling  wantonly  to  contradict  so  ingenious  a  remark, 
but  that  the  reader  may  not  be  misled,  and  believe  the  emenda- 
tion proposed  to  be  necessary,  he  should  remember  that  this  is 
not  a  time  for  Wolsey  to  speak  only  as  a  statesman,  but  as  a 
Christian.  Shakspeare  would  have  debased  the  character,  just 
when  he  was  employing  his  strongest  efforts  to  raise  it,  had  he 
drawn  it  otherwise.  Nothing  makes  the  hour  of  disgrace  more 
irksome,  than  the  reflection,  that  we  have  been  deaf  to  offers 
of  reconciliation,  and  perpetuated  that  enmity  which  we  might 
have  converted  into  friendship.  STEEVENS. 

1 Pr'ythee,  lead  me  in  : 

There  take  an  inventory  of  all  I  have,"]  This  inventory 
Wolsey  actually  caused  to  be  taken  upon  his  disgrace,  and  the 
particulars  may  be  seen  at  large  in  Stowe's  Chronicle,  p.  546, 
edit.  1631. 

Among  the  Harl.  MSS.  there  is  one  intitled,  "  An  Invento- 
rie  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's  rich  Housholde  Stuffe.  Temp.  Hen. 
VIII.  The  original  book,  as  it  seems,  kept  by  his  own  officers." 
See  Harl.  Catal.  X°.  599.  DOUCE. 

4  Had  I  but  serv'd  my  God  &c.]  This  sentence  was  really 
uttered  by  Wolsey.  JOHNSON. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIIL  145 

I  serv'd  my  king,  he  would  not  in  mine  age 
Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies. 

CROM.  Good  sir,  have  patience. 

WOL.  So  I  have.     Farewell 

The  hopes  of  court !  my  hopes  in  heaven  do  dwell. 

[Exeunt. 

When  Samrah,  the  deputy  governor  of  Basorah,  was  deposed 
by  Moawiyah  the  sixth  caliph,  he  is  reported  to  have  expressed 
himself  in  the  same  manner:  "  If  I  had  served  God  so  well  as 
I  have  served  him,  he  would  never  have  condemned  me  to  all 
eternity." 

A  similar  sentiment  also  occurs  in  The  Earlc  of  Murton's 
Tragedy,  by  Churchyard,  1593  : 

"  Had  I  serv'd  God  as  well  in  euery  sort, 
"  As  I  did  serue  my  king  and  maister  still ; 
"  My  scope  had  not  this  season  beene  so  short, 
*'  Nor  world  haue  had  the  power  to  doe  me  ill." 

STEEVEXS. 

Antonio  Perez,  the  favourite  of  Philip  the  Second  of  Spain, 
made  the  same  pathetick  complaint :  "  Mon  zele  etoit  si  grand 
vers  cesbenignes  puissances  [la  courde  Turin,]  quesij'en  eusse 
eu  autant  pour  Dieu,  je  ne  double  point  qu'il  ne  m'eut  deja 
recompense  do  son  paradis."  MALONE. 

This  was  a  strange  sentence  for  Wolsey  to  utter,  who  was  dis- 
graced for  the  basest  treachery  to  his  King  in  the  affair  of  the 
divorce :  but  it  shows  how  naturally  men  endeavour  to  palliate 
their  crimes  even  to  themselves.  M.  MASON. 

There  is  a  remarkable  affinity  between  these  words  and  part 
of  the  speech  of  Sir  James  Hamilton,  who  was  supposed  by 
King  James  V.  thus  to  address  him  in  a  dream  :  "  Though  I  was 
a  sinner  against  God,  I  failed  not  to  thee.  Had  I  been  as  good 
a  servant  to  the  Lord  my  God,  as  I  was  to  thee,  I  had  not  died 
that  death."  Piuscottie's  History  of  Scotland,  p.  261 ,  edit.  1 7SS, 
I'Jmo.  DOUCE. 


VOL.  XV. 


146  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  ir. 

ACT   IV.      SCENE   I. 

A  Street  in  Westminster. 
Enter  Two  Gentlemen,  meeting. 

1  GENT.  You  are  well  met  once  again.3 

2  GENT.  And  so  are  you.4 

1  GENT.  You  come  to  take  your  stand  here,  and 

behold 
The  lady  Anne  pass  from  her  coronation  ? 

2  GENT.  'Tis  all  my  business.     At  our  last  en- 

counter, 
The  duke  of  Buckingham  came  from  his  trial. 

1  GENT.  'Tis  very  true :   but  that  time  offer'd 

sorrow ; 
This,  general  joy. 

2  GENT.  'Tis  well :  The  citizens, 

I  am  sure,  have  shown  at  full  their  royal  minds  ;5 

3  once  again.'}     Alluding  to  their  former  meeting  in  the 

second  Act.    JOHNSON. 

4  And  50  are  you.']     The  conjunction — And  was  supplied  by 
Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  to  complete  the  measure.     STEEVENS. 

5  their  royal  minds;"]     i.  e.  their  minds  well  affected  to 

their  King.    Mr.  Pope  unnecessarily  changed  this  word  to  loyal. 
In  King  Henri/  IV.  Part  II.  we  have  "  royal  faith,"  that  is, 
faith  due  to  kings  ;  which  Sir  T.  Hanmer  changed  to  loyal,  and 
I  too  hastily  followed  Dr.  Johnson  and  the  late  editions,  in  adopt- 
ing the  emendation.     The  recurrence  of  the  same  expression, 
though  it  is  not  such  a  one  as  we  should  now  use,  convinces  me 
that  there  is  no  error  in  the  text  in  either  place.     MA  LONE. 

Royal,  I  believe,  in  the  present  instance,  only  signifies — nolle. 
So,  Macbeth,  speaking  of  Banquo,  mentions  his  "  royalty  of 
nature."  STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  147 

As,  let  them  have  their  rights,  they  are  ever  for- 
ward 

In  celebration  of  this  day6  with  shows, 
Pageants,  and  sights  of  honour. 

1  CKXT.  Never  greater, 
Nor,  I'll  assure  you,  better  taken,  sir. 

2  GEXT.  May  I  be  bold  to  ask  what  that  contains, 
That  paper  in  your  hand  ? 

1  GEXT.  Yes ;  'tis  the  list 
Of  those,  that  claim  their  offices  this  day, 
By  custom  of  the  coronation. 

The  duke  of  Suffolk  is  the  first,  and  claims 

To  be  high  steward  ;  next,  the  duke  of  Norfolk, 

He  to  be  earl  marshal ;  you  may  read  the  rest. 

2  GEXT.  I  thank  you,  sir  j  had  I  not  known  those 

customs, 

I  should  have  been  beholden  to  your  paper. 
But,  I  beseech  you,  what's  become  of  Katharine, 
The  princess  dowager  ?  how  goes  her  business  ? 

1  GENT.  That  I  can  tell  you  too.  The  archbishop 
Of  Canterbury,  accompanied  with  other 
Learned  and  reverend  fathers  of  his  order, 
Held  a  late  court  at  Dunstable,  six  miles  off 
From  Ampthill,  where  the  princess  lay ;  to  which 
She  oft  was  cited  by  them,  but  appear'd  not : 
And,  to  be  short,  for  not  appearance,7  and 

0  this  day — ~\      Sir  Thomas  llunmcr  reads: 

•these  days- 


But  Shakspeare  meant  such  it  dnif  ft*  ihis,  a  coronation  day. 
And  such  is  the  En^li.Nh  idiom,  which  our  author  commonly 
prefers  to  grammatical  nicety.  JOHNSON. 

—  not  (!))j)ctn-ti>icry~\      I  suppose,  our  author  wrote — nori' 
appearance.     So,  in  The  Winter'*  Tnlc.  : 

"  the  execution  did  cry  out 

"  Attain :>t  the  /ww-peribrmance."     STI-:I-:VK\S. 

L  (1 


148  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  ir. 

The  king's  late  scruple,  by  the  main  assent 
Of  all  these  learned  men  she  was  divorc'd, 
And  the  late  marriage8  made  of  none  effect: 
Since  which,  she  was  removed  to  Kimbolton, 
Where  she  remains  now,  sick. 

2  GENT.  Alas,  good  lady ! — 

[  Trumpets. 

The  trumpets  sound:   stand  close,  the  queen  is 
coming. 

THE    ORDER    OF    THE    PROCESSION. 

A  lively  flourish  of  Trumpets;  then,  enter 

1.  Two  Judges. 

2.  Lord  Chancellor,  with  the  purse  and  mace  be- 

fore him. 

3.  Choristers  singing.  [Musick. 

4.  Mayor   of  London   bearing   the   mace.      Then 

Garter,  in  his  coat  of  arms,9  and  on  his 
head,  a  gilt  copper  crow?i. 

5.  Marquis  Dorset,  bearing  a  scepter  of  gold,  on 

his  head  a  demi-coronal  of  gold.  With  him, 
the  Earl  of  Surrey,  bearing  the  rod  of  silver 
with  the  dove,  crowned  with  an  earl's  coronet. 
Collars  ofSS. 

6.  Duke  of  Suffolk^  in  his  robe  of  estate,  his  coronet 

on  his  head,  bearing  a  long  white  wand,  as 
high-steward.  With  him,  the  Duke  of  Nor- 

8  the  late  marriage — ]     i.  e.  the  marriage  lately  con- 
sidered as  a  valid  one.     STEEVENS. 

9  in  his  coat  of  arms, ~\     i.  e.  in  his  coat  of  office,  em- 
blazoned with  the  royal  arms.    STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  149 

folk,  with  the  rod  of  marsJiahhip,  a  coronet 
on  his  head.     Collars  ofSS. 

7.  A  canopy  borne  by  four  of  the  Cinque-ports ; 

under  it,  the  Queen  in  her  robe ;  in  her  hair 
richly  adorned  with  pearl,  crowned.  On 
each  side  of  her,  the  Bishops  of  London  and 
Winchester. 

8.  The  old  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  in  a  coronal  of  gold, 

wrought  with  jlowers,  bearing  the  Queen's 
train. 

9.  Certain  Ladies  or  Countesses,  witJi  plain  circlets ' 

of  gold  without  Jlowers. 

2  GENT.  A  royal  train,  believe  me. — These  I 

know : — 
Who's  that,  that  bears  the  scepter  ? 

1  GENT.  Marquis  Dorset ; 
And  that  the  earl  of  Surrey,  with  the  rod. 

2  GEXT.  A  bold  brave  gentleman  :  And  that 

should  be 
The  duke  of  Suffolk. 

1  GENT.  'Tis  the  same  ;  high-steward. 

2  GENT.  And  that  my  lord  of  Norfolk  ? 

1  GENT.  Yes. 

2  GENT.  Heaven  bless  thee  ! 

\_Looking  on  the  Queen. 

Thou  hast  the  sweetest  face  I  ever  look'd  on. — 
Sir,  as  I  have  a  soul,  she  is  an  angel ; 

1  coronal circlets — ]     I  do  not  recollect  that  these 

two  words  occur  in  any  other  of  our  author's  works  ;  a  circum- 
stance that  may  serve  to  strengthen  Dr.  Farmer's  opinion — that 
the  directions  for  the  court  pageantry  throughout  the  present 
drama,  were  drawn  up  by  another  hand.  STKKVENS. 


1£0  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  ir. 

Our  king  has  all  the  Indies  in  his  arms, 

And  more,  and  richer,  when  he  strains  that  lady :" 

I  cannot  blame  his  conscience. 

1  GENT.  They,  that  bear 
The  cloth  of  honour  over  her,  are  four  barons 
Of  the  Cinque-ports. 

2  GENT.  Those  men  are  happy ;  and  so  are  all, 

are  near  her. 

I  take  it,  she  that  carries  up  the  train, 
Is  that  old  noble  lady,  duchess  of  Norfolk. 

1  GENT.  It  is  ;  and  all  the  rest  are  countesses. 

2  GENT.  Their  coronets  say  so.    These  are  stars, 

indeed ; 
And,  sometimes,  falling  ones. 

1  GENT.  No  more  of  that. 

\_Exit  Procession,  with  a  great  flourish  of 
Trumpets. 

Enter  a  third  Gentleman. 

God  save  you,  sir !  Where  have  you  been  broiling  ? 

3  GENT.  Among  the  croud  i'the  abbey ;  where  a 

finger 

9  "Men  lie  strains  that  lady  :~\     I  do  not  recollect  that 

our  author,  in  any  other  of  his  works,  has  used  the  verb — strain 
in  its  present  sense,  which  is  that  of  the  Latin  comprimere. 
Thus  Livy,  I.  4 :  "  Compres&a  vestalis,  quum  geminum  partum 
cdidisset,"  £c.  Again,  in  Chapman's  version  of  the  21st  Iliad: 

"  Bright  Peribaea,  whom  the  flood,  &c. 

"  Compress'd." 

I  have  pointed  out  this  circumstance,  because  Ben  Jonson  is 
suspected  of  having  made  some  additions  to  the  play  before  us, 
and,  perhaps,  in  this  very  scene  which  is  descriptive  of  the  per- 
sonages who  compose  the  antecedent  procession.  See  Dr.  Far- 
mer's note  on  the  Epilogue  to  this  play.  STEEVEXS. 


sc.i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  151 

Couhl  not  be  wedg'd  in  more ;  and  I  am  stifled J 
With  the  mere  rankness  of  their  joy. 

2  GEXT.  You  saw 

The  ceremony  ? 

3  GEXT.  That  I  did. 

1  GEXT.  How  was  it  ? 
3  GEXT.  Well  worth  the  seeing. 

2  GEXT.  Good  sir,  speak  it  to  us. 

3  GENT.  As  well  as  I  am  able.    The  rich  stream4 
Of  lords,  and  ladies,  having  brought  the  queen 
To  a  prepared  place  in  the  choir,  fell  off 

A  distance  from  her ;  while  her  grace  sat  down 
To  rest  a  while,  some  half  an  hour,  or  so, 
In  a  ricli  chair  of  state,  opposing  freely 
The  beauty  of  her  person  to  the  people. 
Believe  me,  sir,  she  is  the  goodliest  woman 
That  ever  lay  by  man :  which  when  the  people 
Had  the  full  view  of,  such  a  noise  arose 
As  the  shrouds  make  at  sea  in  a  stiff  tempest, 
As  loud,  and  to  as  many  tunes :  hats,  cloaks, 
(Doublets,  I  think,)  flew  up  ;  and  had  their  faces 
Been  loose,  this  day  they  had  been  lost.    Such  joy 
I  never  saw  before.     Great-bellied  women, 

1  and  I  am  stifled — ~]     And  was  introduced  by  Sir  T. 

Hanmcr,  to  complete  the  measure.     STEEVENS. 

4  The  rich  stream  Sfc.~\ 

" ingentera  tbribus  domus  alta  superbis 

"  Mane  salutantum  totis  vomit  aedibus  undam" 

Virg.  Gcorg.  II.  4-6 1.     MALONE. 

Again,  in  the  second  Thelmid  of  Statius,  v.  223  : 

" ibribus  cum  immissa  superbis 

"  Undft  tremit  vulgi." 
So,  in  Timon  of  Athens,  Act  I.  sc.  i: 

" this  confluence,  this  great  jlond  of  visitors." 

Sec  Dr.  Johnson's  note  on  this  passage.     STEEVENS. 


]J2  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  iv. 

That  had  not  half  a  week  to  go,5  like  rams6 
In  the  old  time  of  war,  would  shake  the  press, 
And  make  them  reel  before  them.     No  man  living- 
Could  say,  This  is  my  &'£/<?,  there ;  all  were  woven 
So  strangely  in  one  piece. 

2  GENT.  But,  'pray,  what  followed?7 

3  GENT.  At  length  her  grace  rose,  and  with  mo- 

dest paces 

Came  to  the  altar ;  where  she  kneel'd,  and,  saint- 
like, 

Cast  her  fair  eyes  to  heaven,  and  pray'd  devoutly. 
Then  rose  again,  and  bow'd  her  to  the  people : 
When  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
She  had  all  the  royal  makings  of  a  queen  ; 
As  holy  oil,  Edward  Confessor's  crown, 
The  rod,  and  bird  of  peace,  and  all  such  emblems 
Laid  nobly  on  her  :  which  performed,  the  choir, 
With  all  the  choicest  musick  of  the  kingdom, 
Together  sung  Te  Deum.     So  she  parted, 
And  with  the  same  full  state  pac'd  back  again 
To  York-place,  where  the  feast  is  held. 

1  GENT.  Sir,  you 

Must  no  more  call  it  York-place,  that  is  past : 
For,  since  the  cardinal  fell,  that  title's  lost ; 
3Tis  now  the  king's,  and  calPd — Whitehall. 

5  to  go,]     i.e.  to  continue  in  their  pregnancy.     So, 

afterwards : 

" the  fruit  she  goes  with 

"  I  pray  for  heartily."     STEEVENS. 

6  like  rams — ]     That  is,  like  battering  rams. 

JOHNSON, 
So,  in  Virgil,  JEneld  II : 

" labat  ariete  crebro 

"  Janua ."     STEEVEXS. 

~  But,  'pray,  what  follow' d?~\     The  word — 'pray  was  added, 
for  the  sake  of  the  measure,  by  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  153 

3  GENT.  I  know  it ; 

But  'tis  so  lately  alter'd,  that  the  old  name 
Is  fresh  about  me. 

2  GENT.  What  two  reverend  bishops 
Were  those  that  went  on  each  side  of  the  queen  ? 

3  GENT.  Stokesly  and  Gardiner ;  the  one,   of 

Winchester, 

(Newly  preferr'd  from  the  king's  secretary,) 
The  other,  London. 

2  GENT.  He  of  Winchester 

Is  held  no  great  good  lover  of  the  archbishop's, 
The  virtuous  Cranmer. 

3  GENT.  All  the  land  knows  that : 
However,  yet  there's  no  great  breach  ;  when  it 

comes, 
Cranmer  will  find  a  friend  will  not  shrink  from  him. 

2  GENT.  Who  may  that  be,  I  pray  you  ? 

3  GENT.  Thomas  Cromwell ; 
A  man  in  much  esteem  with  the  king,  and  truly 
A  worthy  friend. — The  king 

Has  made  him  master  o'the  jewel-house, 
And  one,  already,  of  the  privy-council. 

2  GENT.  He  will  deserve  more. 

3  GENT.  Yes,  without  all  doubt. 
Come,  gentlemen,  ye  shall  go  my  way,  which 

Is  to  the  court,  and  there  ye  shall  be  my  guests  ; 
Something  I  can  command.  As  I  walk  thither, 
I'll  tell  ye  more. 

BOTH.  You  may  command  us,  sir. 

[Exeunt. 


154  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  iv. 

SCENE    II.8 

Kimbolton. 

Enter  KATHARINE,  Dowager,  sick;  led  between 
GRIFFITH  and  PATIENCE. 

GRIP.  How  does  your  grace  ? 

KATH.  O,  Griffith,  sick  to  death : 

My  legs,  like  loaden  branches,  bow  to  the  earth, 
Willing  to  leave  their  burden :  Reach  a  chair ; — 
So, — now,  methinks,  I  feel  a  little  ease. 
Didst  thou  not  tell  me,  Griffith,  as  thou  led'st  me, 
That  the  great  child  of  honour,9  cardinal  Wolsey, 
Was  dead  ? 

GRIP.     Yes,  madam  ;  but,  I  think,1  your  grace, 
Out  of  the  pain  you  suffer' d,  gave  no  ear  to't. 

KATH.  Pr'ythee,  good  Griffith,  tell  me  how  he 

died: 

If  well,  he  stepp'd  before  me,  happily, 
For  my  example.2 

8  Scene  //.]     This  scene  is  above  any  other  part  of  Shak- 
speare's  tragedies,  and  perhaps  above  any  scene  of  any  other 
poet,  tender  and  pathetick,  without  gods,  or  furies,  or  poisons, 
or  precipices,  without  the  help  of  romantick  circumstances, 
without  improbable  sallies  of  poetical  lamentation,  and  without 
any  throes  of  tumultuous  misery.     JOHNSON. 

9  child  of 'honour ,]      So,  in  King  Henry  IV.  Part  I: 

"  That  this  same  child  of  honour  and  renown — " 

STEEVENS. 

/  think, — ]     Old  copy — I  thank.     Corrected  in  the 


second  folio.     MA  LONE. 


he  stepped  before  me,  happily, 


For  my  example.']  Happily  seems  to  mean  on  this  occasion — 
peradventure,  haply.    I  have  been  more  than  once  of  this  opi- 


sc.n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  155 

GRIP.  Well,  the  voice  goes,  madam : 

For  after  the  stout  earl  Northumberland3 
Arrested  him  at  York,  and  brought  him  forward 
(As  a  man  sorely  tainted,)  to  his  answer, 
He  fell  siek  suddenly,  and  grew  so  ill, 
He  could  not  sit  his  mule.4 

nion,  when  I  have  met  with  the  same  word  thus  spelt  in  other 
passages.     STEEVENS. 

Mr.  M.  Mason  is  of  opinion  that  happily  here  means  fortu- 
nately. Mr.  Steevens's  interpretation  is,  I  think,  right.  So,  in 
King  Henry  VI.  Part  II : 

"  Thy  fortune,  York,  hadst  thou  been  regent  there, 
"  Might  happily  have  prov'd  far  worse  than  his." 

MALONE. 

3  the   stout   earl    Northumberland — ]      So,    in    Chevy 

Chase  : 

"  The  stout  carl  of  Northumberland 

"  A  vow  to  God  did  make"  &c.     STEEVENS. 

4  He  could  not  sit  his  mule. ,]     In  Cavendish's  Life  of  Wolsey, 
16  H,  it  is  said  that  Wolsey  poisoned  himself;  but  the  words — 
"  at  which  time  it  was  apparent  that  he  had  poisoned  himself," 
which  appear  in  p.  108  of  that  work,  were  an  interpolation, 
inserted  by  the  publisher  for  some  sinister  purpose ;  not  being 
found  in  the  two  manuscripts  now  preserved  in  the  Museum. 
See  a  former  note,  p.  141.     MALONE. 

Cardinals  generally  rode  on  mules.  "  He  rode  like  a  cardi- 
nal, sumptuously  upon  his  mule"  Cavendish's  Life  of  Wolsey. 

REED. 

In  the  representation  of  the  Champ  de  Drap  d'Or,  published 
by  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  the  Cardinal  appears  mounted  on 
one  of  these  animals  very  richly  caparisoned.  This  circumstance 
also  is  much  dwelt  on  in  the  ancient  Satire  quoted  p.  88,  n.  6: 
"  Wat.  What  yf  he  will  the  devils  blisse? 
"  Jef.  They  regarde  it  no  more  be  gisse 
"  Then  waggynge  of  his  mule's  tayle. 
"  Wat.  Doth  he  then  use  on  mule's  to  rydc  ? 
"  Jef.  Ye,  and  that  with  so  shamful  pryde 

"'That  to  tell  it  is  not  possible." 
Again : 

"  Then  foloweth  my  lorde  on  his  mule 
"  Trapped  with  golde  under  her  eule 
"  In  every  poynt  most  curiously." 


156  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  ir. 

KATH.  Alas,  poor  man ! 

GRIP.  At  last,  with  easy  roads,5  he  came  to 

Leicester, 

Lodg'd  in  the  abbey;  where  the  reverend  abbot, 
With  all  his  convent,  honourably  receiv'd  him  ; 
To  whom  he  gave  these  words, — O  father  abbot, 
An  old  man,  broken  with  the  storms  of  state, 
Is  come  to  lay  his  weary  bones  among  ye  ; 
Give  him  a  little  earth  for  charity! 
So  went  to  bed :  where  eagerly  his  sickness 
Pursu'd  him  still ;  and,  three  nights  after  this, 
About  the  hour  of  eight,  (which  he  himself 
Foretold,  should  be  his  last,)  full  of  repentance, 
Continual  meditations,  tears,  and  sorrows, 
He  gave  his  honours  to  the  world  again, 
.His  blessed  part  to  heaven,  and  slept  in  peace. 

KATH.  So  may  he  rest;  his  faults  lie  gently  on  him! 
Yet  thus  far,  Griffith,  give  me  leave  to  speak  him, 
And  yet  with  charity, — He  was  a  man 
Of  an  unbounded  stomach,6  ever  ranking 
Himself  with  princes  ;  one,  that  by  suggestion 
Ty'd  all  the  kingdom:7  simony  was  fair  play; 

Again : 

"  The  bosses  of  his  mulls  brydles 
"  Myght  bye  Christ  and  his  disciples 

"  As  farre  as  I  coulde  ever  rede."     STEEVENS. 

5  "with  easy  roads,]     i.  e.  by  short  stages.     STEEVENS. 


6  Of  an  unbounded  stomach,"]  i.  e.  of  unbounded  pride,  or 
haughtiness.  So,  Holinshed,  speaking  of  King  Richard  III : 

"  Such  a  great  audacitie  and  such  a  stomach  reigned  in  his 
bodie."  STEEVENS. 

one,  that  by  suggestion 


Ty'd  all  the  kingdom:']  The  word  suggestion,  says  the 
critick  [Dr.  Warburton],  is  here  used  with  great  propriety  and 
seeming  knowledge  of  the  Latin  tongue :  and  he  proceeds  to 
settle  the  sense  of  it  from  the  late  Roman  writers  and  their 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  157 

His  own  opinion  was  his  law :  I'the  presence 
He  would  say  untruths ;  and  be  ever  double, 

glossers.  But  Shakspeare's  knowledge  was  from  Holinshed, 
whom  he  follows  verbatim  ; 

"  This  cardinal  was  of  a  great  stomach,  for  he  computed 
himself  equal  with  princes,  and  by  craftie  suggestions  got  into 
his  hands  innumerable  treasure  :  he  forced  little  on  simonie,  and 
was  not  pitiful!,  and  stood  affectionate  in  his  own  opinion :  in 
open  presence  he  would  lie  and  seie  untruth,  and  was  double 
both  in  speech  and  meaning :  he  would  promise  much  and  per- 
form little :  he  was  vicious  of  his  bodie,  and  gave  the  clergie 
euil  example."  Edit.  1587,  p.  922. 

Perhaps,  after  this  quotation,  you  may  not  think,  that  Sir 
Thomas  Hanmer,  who  reads  tyth'd — instead  of  ty*d  all  the 
kingdom,  deserves  quite  so  much  of  Dr.  Warburton's  severity. — 
Indisputably  the  passage,  like  every  other  in  the  speech,  is  in- 
tended to  express  the  meaning  of  the  parallel  one  in  the  chro- 
nicle ;  it  cannot  therefore  be  credited,  that  any  man,  when  the 
original  was  produced,  should  still  choose  to  defend  a  cant  ac- 
ceptation, and  inform  us,  perhaps,  seriously,  that  in  gaming 
language,  from  I  know  not  what  practice,  to  tye  is  to  equal ! 
A  sense  of  the  word,  as  I  have  yet  found,  unknown  to  our  old 
writers;  and,  if  known,  would  not  surely  have  been  used  in  this 
place  by  our  author. 

Hut,  let  us  turn  from  conjecture  to  Shakspeare's  authorities. 
Hall,  from  whom  the  above  description  is  copied  by  Holinshed, 
is  very  explicit  in  the  demands  of  the  cardinal:  who  having 
insolently  told  the  lord  mayor  and  aldermen,  "  For  sothe  I 
thinke,  that  halfe  your  substance  were  too  little,"  assures  them, 
by  way  of  comfort,  at  the  end  of  his  harangue,  that,  upon  an 
average,  the  tythe  should  be  sufficient :  "  Sirs,  speake  not  to 
breake  that  thyng  that  is  concluded,  for  some  shall  not  paie  the 
tenth  parte,  and  some  more."  And  again :  "  Thei  saied,  the 
cardinall  by  visitacions,  makyng  of  abbottes,  probates  of  testa- 
mentes,  graunting  of  faculties,  licences,  and  other  pollyngs  in 
his  courtes  legantines,  had  made  his  threasure  cgall  with  the 
kynges."  Edit.  154-8,  p.  138,  and  143.  FARMEH. 

In  Storer's  Life  and  Death  of  Thomas  Wolsey,  a  poem,  1599, 
the  Cardinal  says : 

"  1  car'd  not  for  the  gentrie,  for  I  had 

"  y7//W'-gentlemen,  yong  nobles  of  the  land,"  ivc. 

STEEVENS. 

Ty'd  all  the  kingdom  ;]   i.  e.  he  was  a  man  of  an  unbounded 


158  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  iy. 

Both  in  his  words  and  meaning :  He  was  never, 
But  where  he  meant  to  ruin,  pitiful : 

stomach,  or  pride,  ranking  himself  with  princes,  and  by  sug- 
gestion to  the  King  and  the  Pope,  he  ty'd,  i.  e.  limited,  circum- 
scribed, and  set  bounds  to  the  liberties  and  properties  of  all  per- 
sons in  the  kingdom.  That  he  did  so,  appears  from  various  pas- 
sages in  the  play.  Act  II.  sc.  ii.  "  free  us  from  his  slavery," — 
"  or  this  imperious  man  will  work  us  all  from  princes  into 
pages :  all  men's  honours,"  &c.  Act  III.  sc.  ii.  "  You  wrought 
to  be  a  legate,  by  which  power  you  maim'd  the  jurisdiction  of 
all  bishops."  See  also  Act  I.  sc.  i.  and  Act  III.  sc.  ii.  This 
construction  of  the  passage  may  be  supported  from  D'Ewes's 
Journal  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Parliaments,  p.  644- :  "  Far  be  it 
from  me  that  the  state  and  prerogative  of  the  prince  should  be 
tied  by  me,  or  by  the  act  of  any  other  subject." 

Dr.  Farmer  has  displayed  such  eminent  knowledge  of  Shak- 
speare,  that  it  is  with  the  utmost  diffidence  I  dissent  from  the 
alteration  which  he  would  establish  here.  He  would  read  ti/th'd, 
and  refers  to  the  authorities  of  Hall  and  Holinshed  about  a  tax 
of  the  tenth,  or  tythe  of  each  man's  substance,  which  is  not 
taken  notice  of  in  the  play.  Let  it  be  remarked  that  it  is  Queen 
Katharine  speaks  here,  who,  in  Act  I.  sc.  ii.  told  the  King  it 
was  a  demand  of  the  sixth  part  of  each  subject's  substance,  that 
caused  the  rebellion.  Would  she  afterwards  say  that  he,  i.  e. 
Wolsey,  had  tythed  all  the  kingdom,  when  she  knew  he  had 
almost  double-tythed  it  ?  Still  Dr.  Farmer  insists  that  "  the  pas- 
sage, like  every  other  in  the  speech,  is  intended  to  express  the 
meaning  of  the  parallel  one  in  the  Chronicle:"  i.  e.  The  cardinal 
*'  by  craftie  suggestion  got  into  his  hands  innumerable  treasure." 
This  passage  does  not  relate  to  a  publick  tax  of  the  tenths,  but  to 
the  Cardinal's  own  private  acquisitions.  If  in  this  sense  I  ad- 
mitted the  alteration,  tyth'd,  I  Avould  suppose  that,  as  the  Queen 
is  descanting  on  the  Cardinal's  own  acquirements,  she  borrows 
her  term  from  the  principal  emolument  or  payment  due  to 
priests ;  and  means  to  intimate  that  the  Cardinal  was  not  con- 
tent with  the  tythes  legally  accruing  to  him  from  his  own  various 
pluralities,  but  that  he  extorted  something  equivalent  to  them 
throughout  all  the  kingdom.  So,  Buckingham  says,  Act  I.  sc.  i. 
"  No  man's  pie  is  freed  from  his  ambitious  finger."  So,  again, 
Surrey  says,  Act  III.  sc.  ult.  "  Yes,  that  goodness  of  gleaning 
all  the  land's  wealth  into  one,  into  your  own  hands,  cardinal,  by 
extortion :"  and  ibidem,  "  You  have  sent  innumerable  substancs 
(by  what  means  got,  I  leave  to  your  own  conscience)  to  the 
mere  undoing  of  all  the  kingdom."  This  extortion  is  so  fre- 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  159 

His  promises  were,  as  he  then  was,  mighty; 
But  his  performance,  as  he  is  now,  nothing.8 
Of  his  own  body  he  was  ill,1'  and  gave 
The  clergy  ill  example. 

OK  IF.  Noble  madam, 

Men's  evil  manners  live  in  brass ;  their  virtues 
We  write  in  water.1     May  it  please  your  highness 
To  hear  me  speak  his  good  now  ? 

quently  spoken  of,  that  perhaps  our  author  purposely  avoided  a 
repetition  of  it  in  the  passage  under  consideration,  and  therefore 
gave  a  different  sentiment  declarative  of  the  consequence  of  his 
unbounded  pride,  that  must  humble  all  others.  TOLLET. 

'  as  he  is  now,  nothing.'}    So,  in  Massinger's  Great  Duke 

of  Florence  : 

" Great  men, 

"  Till  they  have  gain'd  their  ends,  are  giants  in 

"  Their  promises  ;  but  those  obtain'd,  iveak  pygmies 

"  In  t/ictr  performance."     STEEVENS. 

9  Of  his  own  body  he  teas  ///,]  A  criminal  connection  with 
women  was  anciently  called  the  vice  of  the  body.  Thus,  in  The 
Manciple's  Tale,  by  Chaucer  : 

"  If  of  hire  body  dishonest  she  be." 

Again,  in  Holinshed,  p.  1258:  "  — he  laboured  by  all  meanes 
to  cleare  mistresse  Sanders  of  committing  evill  of  her  bodie  with 
him."  STEEVEXS. 

So,  the  Protector  says  of  Jane  Shore,  Hall's  Chronicle,  Edw. 
IV.  p.  16:  "  She  was  naught  of  her  bodye"  MALONE. 

1  their  virtues 

We  write  in  water.]    Beaumont  and  Fletcher  have  the  same 
thought  in  their  Philaster  : 

" all  your  better  deeds 

"  Shall  be  in  ixatcr  writ,  but  this  in  marble.'* 

STEEVEXS. 

This  reflection  bears  a  great  resemblance  to  a  passage  in  Sir 
Thomas  More's  History  of  Richard  III.  whence  Shakspeare 
undoubtedly  formed  his  play  on  that  subject.  Speaking  of  the 
ungrateful  turns  which  Jane  Shore  experienced  from  those  whom 
she  had  served  in  her  prosperity,  More  adds,  "  Men  use,  if  they 
have  an  evil  turne,  to  write  it  in  marble,  and  whoso  doth  us  a 
;.:ood  turne,  we  write  it  in  duste." 

More's  JJWvf,  bl.  1.  1551,  p.  59.     PERCY. 


160  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  iv. 

KATH.  Yes,  good  Griffith  ; 

I  were  malicious  else. 

GRIP.  This  cardinal,2 

In  Whitney's  Emblemes,  printed  at  Leyden,  4to.  1586,  p.  183, 
is  the  following : 

"  Scribit  in  marmore  Icesus. 

"  In  marble  harde  our  harmes  wee  alwayes  grave, 
"  Because,  wee  still  will  beare  the  same  in  minde  : 
"  In  duste  wee  write  the  benefittes  wee  have, 
"  Where  they  are  soone  defaced  with  the  winde. 
"  So,  wronges  wee  houlde,  and  never  will  forgive ; 
"  And  soone  forget,  that  still  with  us  shoulde  live." 
Again,  as  Mr.  Ritson  quotes  from  Harrington's  Ariosto  : 
"  Men  say  it,  and  we  see  it  come  to  pass, 
"  Good  turns  in  sand,  shrewd  turns  are  writ  in  brass" 
To  avoid  an  unnecessary  multiplication  of  instances,  I  shall 
just  observe,  that  the  same  sentiment  is  found  in  Massinger's 
Maid  of  Honour,   Act  V.  sc.  ii.   and  Marston's   Malcontent, 
Act  II.  sc.  iii.     REED. 

8  This  cardinal,  &c.~]  This  speech  is  formed  on  the  following 
passage  in  Holinshed :  "  This  cardinal,  (as  Edmond  Campion, 
in  his  Historic  oj"  Ireland,  described  him,)  was  a  man  undoubt- 
edly born  to  honour  ;  I  think,  (saith  he,)  some  prince's  bastard, 
no  butcher's  sonne;  exceeding  wise,  faire-spoken,  high-minded, 
full  of  revenge,  vitious  of  his  bodie,  loftie  to  his  enemies,  were 
they  never  so  bigge,  to  those  that  accepted  and  sought  his  friend- 
ship wonderful  courteous;  a  ripe  schooleman,  thrall  to  affec- 
tions, brought  a  bed  with  flatterie  ;  insaciable  to  get,  and  more 
princelie  in  bestowing,  as  appeareth  by  his  two  colleges  at  Ips- 
wich and  Oxenford,  the  one  overthrown  with  his  fall,  the  other 
unfinished,  and  yet  as  it  lyeth,  for  an  house  of  studentes,  (con- 
sidering all  the  appurtenances,)  incomparable  throughout  Chris- 
tendome. — He  held  and  injoied  at  once  the  bishoprickes  of 
Yorke,  Duresme,  and  Winchester,  the  dignities  of  Lord  Cardi- 
nal!, Legat,  and  Chancellor,  the  abbaie  of  St.  Albons,  diverse 
priories,  sundrie  fat  benefices  in  commcndam  ;  a  great  preferrer 
of  his  servants,  an  advauncer  of  learning,  stoute  in  every  quar- 
rel, never  happy  till  this  his  overthrow :  wherein  he  shewed  such 
moderation,  and  ended  so  perfectlie,  that  the  houre  of  his  death 
did  him  more  honour  than  all  the  pomp  of  his  life  passed.*'1 

*  So,  in  Macbeth  : 

" nothing  in  his  life 

"  Became  him  like  the  Icauii"  it;——."     STEEVI.N- 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  161 

Though  from  an  humble  stock,  undoubtedly 
Was  fashion'd  to  much  honour.3  From  his  cradle, 
He  was  a  scholar,  and  a  ripe,  and  good  one ; 
Exceeding  wise,  fair  spoken,  and  persuading:4 
Lofty,  and  sour,  to  them  that  lov'd  him  not ; 

When  Shakspeare  says  that  Wolsey  was  "  a  scholar  from  his 
cradle,"  he  had  probably  in  his  thoughts  the  account  given  by 
Cavendish,  which  Stowe  has  copied;  "  Cardinal  Wolsey  was  an 
honest,  poor  man's  sonne — who,  being  but  a  child,  ivas  very  apt 
to  learne  ;  wherefore  by  means  of  his  parents  and  other  his  good 
friends  he  was  maintained  at  the  university  of  Oxford,  where  in 
a  short  time  he  prospered  so  well,  that  in  a  small  time,  (as  he 
told  me  with  his  owne  mouth,)  he  was  made  bachelour  of  arts, 
when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  was  most  commonly 
called  the  boy  batchelour"  See  also  Wolsey's  Legend,  Mirrour 
for  Magistrates,  1587. 

1  have  here  followed  the  punctuation  of  the  old  copy,  where 
there  is  a  full  point  at  honour,  and  From  his  cradle  begins  a  new 
sentence.  This  punctuation  has  likewise  been  adopted  in  the 
late  editions.  Mr.  Theobald,  however,  contends  that  we  ought 
to  point  thus  : 

"  Was  fashion'd  to  much  honour  from  his  cradle." 
And  it  must  be  owned  that  the  words  of  Holinshed,  here  thrown 
into  verse,  "  This  cardinall  was  a  man  undoubtedly  BO  UN  to 
honour,"  strongly  support  his  regulation.  The  reader  has  before 
him  the  arguments  on  each  side.  I  am  by  no  means  confident 
that  I  have  decided  rightly.  MALONE. 

The  present  punctuation, 

•From  his  cradle, 


"  lie  was  a  scholar ,- 


seems  to  be  countenanced  by  a  passage  in  King  Henri/  V : 

"  Nrccr  was  such  a  sudden  scholar  made."     STEEVEXS. 

3  Was  fashion*  d  to  much  lionour.~\  Perhaps  our  author  bor- 
rowed this  expression  from  Saint  haul's  F.pixtlc  to  the  Honiaits, 
ix.  '2}  :  "  Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  cl:;y  of  the  same 
lump,  to  make  one  -ce.s^el  nnlo  honour"  &c.  STELVENS. 

4 fair  spnkcn,  and  persuading:^      Eloquence  constituted 

a  part  of  the  Cardinal's  real  character.  In  the  charges  exhibited 
against  him,  it  was  alledged  that  at  the  Privy  Council  "  he  would 
h:!\c  all  the  words  to  himself,  and  consumed  muck  timcicith  njltir 
h.lc."  See  !•//,>/.  <)i.  1  IOJ.T  WHITE. 

M 


162  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  iv. 

But,  to  those  men  that  sought  him,  sweet  as  summer. 
And  though  he  were  unsatisfied  in  getting, 
(Which  was  a  sin,)  yet  in  bestowing,  madam, 
He  was  most  princely :  Ever  witness  for  him 
Those  twins  of  learning,  that  he  rais'd  in  you, 
Ipswich,5  and  Oxford  !  one  of  which  fell  with  him, 
Unwilling  to  outlive  the  good  that  did  it ; 6 
The  other,  though  unfinished,  yet  so  famous, 
So  excellent  in  art,  and  still  so  rising, 
That  Christendom  shall  ever  speak  his  virtue. 
His  overthrow  heap'd  happiness  upon  him ; 
For  then,  and  not  till  then,  he  felt  himself, 
And  found  the  blessedness  of  being  little  : 
And,  to  add  greater  honours  to  his  age 
Than  man  could  give  him,  he  died,  fearing  God. 

KATH.  After  my  death  I  wish  no  other  herald, 
No  other  speaker  of  my  living  actions, 
To  keep  mine  honour  from  corruption, 

s  Ipsiach,~]  "  The  foundation-stone  of  the  College  which 
the  Cardinal  founded  in  this  place,  was  discovered  a  few  years 
ago.  It  is  now  in  the  Chapter-house  of  Christ-Church,  Oxford." 
Seward's  Anecdotes  of  distinguished  Persons,  &c.  1795. 

STEEVENS. 

6  Unwilling  to  outlive  the  good  that  did  it;"]  Unwilling  to 
survive  that  virtue  which  was  the  cause  of  its  foundation  :  or, 
perhaps,  "  the  good"  is  licentiously  used  for  the  good  man; 
"  the  virtuous  prelate  who  founded  it."  So,  in  The  Winter's 
Tale :  "  —  a  piece  many  years  in  doing." 

Mr.  Pope  and  the  subsequent  editors  read — the  good  he  did 
it ;  which  appears  to  me  unintelligible.  "  The  good  he  did  it," 
was  laying  the  foundation  of  the  building  and  endowing  it :  if 
therefore  we  suppose  the  college  unwilling  to  outlive  the  good  he 
did  it,  we  suppose  it  to  expire  instantly  after  its  birth. 

"  The  college  unwilling  to  live  longer  than  its  founder,  or  the 
goodness  that  gave  rise  to  it,"  though  certainly  a  conceit,  is  suf- 
ficiently intelligible.  MALONE. 

Good,  I  believe,  is  put  for  goodness.     So,  in  p.  159 : 

" May  it  please  your  highness 

"  To  hear  me  speak  his  good  now  1"     STEEVENS, 


sc.  77.  KING  HENRY  VHI. 

But  such  an  honest  chronicler  as  Griffith. 
Whom  I  most  hated  living,  thou  hast  made  me, 
With  thy  religious  truth,  and  modesty, 
Now  in  his  ashes  honour :  Peace  be  with  him! — 
Patience,  be  near  me  still ;  and  set  me  lower : 
I  have  not  long  to  trouble  thee. — Good  Griffith, 
Cause  the  musicians  play  me  that  sad  note 
I  nam'd  my  knell,  whilst  I  sit  meditating 
On  that  celestial  harmony  I  go  to. 


Sad  and  solemn  musick. 

GRIP.  She  is  asleep:  Good  wench,  let's  sit  down 

quiet, 
For  fear  we  wake  her  j — Softly,  gentle  Patience. 

The  Vision.  Enter,  solemnly  tripping  one  after 
another,"  six  Personages,  clad  in  white  robes, 
wearing  on  their  heads  garlands  of  bays,  and 
golden  vizards*  on  their  faces;  branches  of  bays, 
or  palm,  in  their  hands.  Theyjirst  congee  unto 
her,  then  dance ;  and,  at  certain  changes,  the 
Jirst  two  hold  a  spare  garland  over  her  head ;  at 
which,  the  other  four  make  reverend  court* sies  ; 
then  the  two,  lhat  held  the  garland,  deliver  the 
same  to  the  other  next  two,  wiio  observe  the  same 

7 solemnly  tripping  one  cfci'  at'other,"]     This  whimsical 

stage-direction  is  exactly  taken  t'-om  the  old  copy.  STEEYEXS. 

Of  this  stage-direction  I  do  not  believe  our  author  wrote  one 
word.  Katharine's  ntx*  speech  probably  suggested  this  tripping 
<lumb-shew  to  the  too  busy  reviver  oi'this  play.  MALONE. 

1 golden  vizards — ]  These  tawdry  disguises  are  also  men- 
tioned in  Hall's  account  of  a  maakc  devised  by  King  Henry  VIIJ  : 
"  — thei  were  appareled  £c.  with  risers  and  cappes  ttfgolde." 

STEEVEXS. 
M  2 


164  KING  HENRY  VIII.          ACT  vr. 

order  in  their  changes,  and  holding  the  garland 
over  her  head :  which  done,  they  deliver  the  same 
garland  to  the  last  two,  who  likewise  observe  the 
same  order :  at  which,  (as  it  were  by  inspiration,} 
she  makes  in  her  sleep  signs  of  rejoicing,  and 
holdeth  up  her  hands  to  heaven :  and  so  in  their 
dancing  they  vanish,  carrying  the  garland  with 
them.  The  musick  continues. 


KATH.  Spirits  of  peace,  where  are  ye  ?  Are  ye 

all  gone  ? 
And  leave  me  here  in  wretchedness  behind  ye  ?9 

GRIP.  Madam,  we  are  here. 

KATH.  It  is  not  you  I  call  for : 

Saw  ye  none  enter,  since  I  slept  ? 

GRIP.  None,  madam. 

KATH.  No  ?  Saw  you  not,  even  now,  a  blessed 

troop 

Invite  me  to  a  banquet ;  whose  bright  faces 
Cast  thousand  beams  upon  me,  like  the  sun  ? 
They  prormVd  me  eternal  happiness  ; 
And  brought  me  garlands,  Griffith,  which  I  feel 
I  am  not  wrorthy  yet  to  wear  :  I  shall, 
Assuredly. 

GRIP.  I  am  most  joyful, madam, such  good  dreams 
Possess  your  fancy. 


9  And  leave  me  here  in  wretchedness  behind  ye  ?~]  Perhaps 
Mr.  Gray  had  this  passage  in  his  thoughts,  when  he  made  his 
Bard  exclaim,  on  a  similar  occasion,  (the  evanescence  of  vision- 
ary forms) : 

"  Stay,  O  stay !  nor  thus  forlorn 

"  Leave  me  unbless'd,  unp'Uied,  here  to  mourn!" 

SlEEV£NS. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  165 

KATH.  Bid  the  musick  leave, 

They  are  harsh  and  heavy  to  me.  \_Musick  ceases. 

.  PAT.  Do  you  note, 

How  much  her  grace  is  alter'd  on  the  sudden  ? 
How  long  her  face  is  drawn  ?  How  pale  she  looks, 
And  of  an  earthly  cold?  Mark  you  her  eyes?1 

GRIP.  She  is  going,  wench  ;  pray,  pray. 

PAT.  Heaven  comfort  her ! 


Enter  a  Messenger. 

MESS.  An't  like  your  grace, — 

KATH.  You  are  a  saucy  fellow  : 

Deserve  we  no  more  reverence  ? 

GRIP.  You  are  to  blame, 

Knowing,  she  will  not  lose  her  wonted  greatness, 
To  use  so  rude  behaviour  :  go  to,  kneel.2 

MESS.  I  humbly  do  entreat  your  highness*  pardon ; 
My  haste  made  me  unmannerly  :  There  is  staying 
A  gentleman,  sent  from  the  king,  to  see  you. 

1  Mark  you  ficr  cyes?~\     The  modern   editors  read — 

Maik  her  eyes.  But  in  the  old  copy,  there  being  a  stop  of  in- 
terrogation after  this  passage,  as  after  the  foregoing  clauses  of 
the  speech,  I  have  ventured  to  insert  the  pronoun — you,  which 
at  once  supports  the  ancient  pointing,  and  completes  the  mea- 
sure. STKKVKXS. 

— go  in,  l-uecL~\  Queen  Katharine's  servants,  after  the 
divorce  at  Dunstablc,  and  the  Pope's  curse  stuck  up  at  Dunkirk, 
were  directed  to  be  sworn  to  serve  her  not  as  a  Queen,  but  as 
Princess  Dmvfi^rr.  Some  refused  to  take  the  oath,  and  so  were 
forced  to  leave  her  service;  and  as  ibr  those  who  took  it  and 
stayed,  she  would  not.  be  served  by  them,  by  which  means  she 
was  almost  destitute  of  attendants.  See  Hall,  fol.  '21!*.  Bishop 
Burnet  says,  all  the  women  about  her  still  called  her  Queen. 
Burntt,  p.  162.  UEI:D. 


166  KING  .HENRY  VIIL          ACT  iv. 

KATH.  Admit  him  entrance,  Griffith  :  But  this 

fellow 
Let  me  ne'er  see  again. 

\JExeunt  GRIFFITH  and  Messenger. 

Re-enter  GRIFFITH,  with  CAPUCIUS. 

If  my  sight  fail  not, 

You  should  be  lord  ambassador  from  the  emperor, 
My  royal  nephew,  and  your  name  Capucius. 

CAP.  Madam,  the  same,  your  servant. 

KATH.  O  my  lord, 

The  times,  and  titles,  now  are  alter'd  strangely 
With  me,  since  first  you  knew  me.  But,  I  pray  you, 
What  is  your  pleasure  with  me  ? 

CAP.  Noble  lady, 

First,  mine  own  service  to  your  grace ;  the  next, 
The  king's  request  that  I  would  visit  you ; 
Who  grieves  much  for  your  \veakness,  and  by  me 
Sends  you  his  princely  commendations, 
And  heartily  entreats  you  take  good  comfort. 

KATH.  O  my  good  lord,  that  comfort  comes  too 

late ; 

JTis  like  a  pardon  after  execution : 
That  gentle  physick,  given  in  time,  had  cur'd  me; 
But  now  I  am  past  all  comforts  here,  but  prayers, 
How  does  his  highness  ? 

CAP.  Madam,  in  good  health, 

KATH.  So  may  he  ever  do !  and  ever  flourish, 
When  I  shall  dwell  with  worms,  and  my  poor  name 
Banish'd  the  kingdom ! — Patience,  is  that  letter, 
I  caus'd  you  write,  yet  sent  away  ? 

PAT.  No,  madam. 

\_Giving  it  to  KATHARINE. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  167 

KATH.  Sir,  I  most  humbly  pray  you  to  deliver 
This  to  my  lord  the  king.3 

CAP.  Most  willing,  madam. 

KATH.  In   which   I   have   commended  to  his 

goodness 

The  model  of  our  chaste  loves,4  his  young  daugh- 
ter: — 

3  This  to  my  lord  the  king.~\  So,  Holinshcd,  p.  939:  "  — per- 
ceiving hir  selfe  to  waxe  verie  weak  and  feeble,  and  to  teele 
death  approaching  at  hand,  caused  one  of  hir  gentlewomen 
to  write  a  letter  to  the  king,  commending  to  him  hir  daughter 
and  his,  beseeching  him  to  stand  good  father  unto  hir ;  and  fur- 
ther desired  him  to  have  some  consideration  of  hir  gentlewomen 
that  had  served  hir,  and  to  see  them  bestowed  in  marriage. 
Further  that  it  would  please  him  to  appoint  that  hir  servants 
might  have  their  due  wages,  and  a  yeares  wages  beside." 

STEEVENS. 

This  letter  probably  fell  into  the  hands  of  Polydore  Virgil, 
who  was  then  in  England,  and  has  preserved  it  in  the  twenty- 
seventh  book  of  his  history.  The  following  is  Lord  Herbert's 
translation  of  it : 

"  My  most  dear  lord,  king,  and  husband, 

"  The  hour  of  my  death  now  approaching,  I  cannot  choose 
but,  out  of  the  love  I  bear  you,  advise  you  of  your  soul's  health, 
which  you  ought  to  prefer  before  all  considerations  of  the  world 
or  flesh  whatsoever :  for  which  yet  you  have  cast  me  into  many 
calamities,  and  yourself  into  many  troubles. — But  I  forgive  you 
all,  and  pray  God  to  do  so  likewise.  For  the  rest,  I  commend 
unto  you  Mary  our  daughter,  beseeching  you  to  be  a  good  father 
to  her,  as  I  have  heretofore  desired.  I  must  entreat  you  also  to 
respect  my  maids,  and  give  them  in  marriage,  (which  is  not 
much,  they  being  but  three,)  and  to  all  my  other  servants  a 
years  pay  besides  their  due,  lest  otherwise  they  should  be  un- 
provided for.  Lastly,  I  make  this  vow,  that  mine  eyes  desire 
you  above  all  things.  Farewell."  MALONE. 

The  legal  instrument  for  the  divorce  of  Queen  Katharine  is 
i-till  in  being  ;  and  among  the  signatures  to  it  is  that  of  Polydore 
Virgil.  STEEVENS. 

The  model  of  our  cliaslc  /oiw,]   Model  is  image  or  rcpre- 
bee  Vol.  VI II.  p.  'J,5'2,  u.  2 ;  and  Vol.  X.  p.  532,  n.  2. 

MALONK. 


168  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  iv. 

The  dews  of  heaven  fall  thick  in  blessings  on  her! — 
Beseeching  him,  to  give  her  virtuous  breeding ; 
(She  is  young,  and  of  a  noble  modest  nature ; 
I  hope,  she  will  deserve  well ;)  and  a  little 
To  love  her  for  her  mother's  sake,  that  lov'd  him, 
Heaven  knows  how  dearly.  My  next  poor  petition 
Is,  that  his  noble  grace  would  have  some  pity 
Upon  my  wretched  women,  that  so  long, 
Have  followed  botli  my  fortunes  faithfully : 
Of  which  there  is  not  one,  I  dare  avow, 
(And  now  I  should  not  lie,)  but  will  deserve, 
For  virtue,  and  true  beauty  of  the  soul, 
For  honesty,  and  decent  carriage, 
A  right  good  husband,  let  him  be  a  noble  ;5 
And,  sure,  those  men  are  happy  that  shall  have  them. 
The  last  is,  for  my  men; — they  are  the  poorest, 
But  poverty  could  never  draw  them  from  me  ; — 
That  they  may  have  their  wages  duly  paid  them. 
And  something  over  to  remember  me  by ; 


*  A  right  good  &c.]  I  would  read  this  line  (not  with  a  semi- 
colon, as  hitherto  printed,)  but  with  only  a  comma  : 

A  right  good  husband,  let  him  be  a  noble; 
i.  e.  though  he  were  even  of  noble  extraction.     WH ALLEY. 

Let  him  be,  I  suppose,  signifies,  even  though  he  should  be  ;  or, 
admit  that  he  be.  She  means  to  observe,  that  nobility  superaddcd 
to  virtue,  is  not  more  than  each  (tfhcr  women  deserves  to  meet  with 
in  a  hiuiband. 

The  same  phraseology  is  found  in  King  Richard  II: 
"  Setting  aside  his  high  blood's  royalty, 
"  And  let  him  be  no  kinsman  to  my  liege."     STEEVEXS. 

This  is,  I  think,  the  true  interpretation  of  the  line ;  but  I  do 
not  see  why  the  words  let  him  be  a  noble,  may  not,  consistently 
with  this  meaning,  be  understood  in  their  obvious  and  ordinary 
sense.  We  are  not  to  consider  Katharine's  women  like  the 
attendants  on  other  ladies.  One  of  them  had  already  been 
married  to  more  than  a  noble  husband ;  having  unfortunately 
captivated  a  worthless  Ling.  MALONE. 


sc.fr.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  icy 

If  heaven  had  pleas'd  to  have  given  me  longer  life, 
And  able  means,  we  had  not  parted  thus. 
These  are  the  whole  contents: — And,  good  my  lord, 
By  that  you  love  the  dearest  in  this  world, 
As  you  wish  Christian  peace  to  souls  departed, 
Stand  these  poor  people's  friend,  and  urge  the  king 
To  do  me  this  last  right. 

CAP.  By  heaven,  I  will ; 

Or  let  me  lose  the  fashion  of  a  man  ! 

KATH.  I  thank  you,  honest  lord.    Remember  me 
In  all  humility  unto  his  highness : 
Say,  his  long  trouble  now  is  passing 
Out  of  this  world  :  tell  him,  in  death  I  bless'd  him, 
For  so  I  will. — Mine  eyes  grow  dim. — Farewell, 
My  lord. — Griffith,  farewell. — Nay,  Patience, 
You  must  not  leave  me  yet.     I  must  to  bed ; 
Call  in  more  women. — When  I  am   dead,  good 

wench, 

Let  me  be  us'd  with  honour ;  strew  me  over 
With  maiden  flowers,  that  all  the  world  may  know 
I  was  a  chaste  wife  to  my  grave :  embalm  me, 
Then  lay  me  forth  :  although  unqueen'd,  yet  like 
A  queen,  and  daughter  to  a  king,  inter  me. 

I  can  no  more. 

[Exeunt^  leading  KATHARINE. 


170  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

ACT  V.     SCENE  I. 

A  Gallery  in  the  Palace. 

Enter  GARDINER  Bishop  of  Winchester,  a  Page 
with  a  Torch  before  him,  met  by  Sir  THOMAS 
LOVELL. 

GAR.  It's  one  o'clock,  boy,  is't  not  ? 

BOY.  It  hatli  struck. 

GAR.  These  should  be  hours  for  necessities, 
Not  for  delights ; 6  times  to  repair  our  nature 
With  comforting  repose,7  and  not  for  us 
To  waste  these  times. — Good  hour  of  night,  sir 

Thomas ! 
Whither  so  late  ? 

Lov.  Came  you  from  the  king,  my  lord  ? 

GAR.  I  did,  sir  Thomas;  and  left  him  at  primero8 
With  the  duke  of  Suffolk. 


0  Not  for  delight,';;']  Gardiner  himself  is  not  much  delighted. 
The  delight  at  which  he  hints,  seems  to  be  the  King's  diversion, 
which  keeps  him  in  attendance.  JOHNSON. 

7  These  should  be  hours 


times  to  repair  our  nature 

With  comforting  repose  ^\  Hence,  perhaps,  the  following 
passage  in  the  fifth  Act  of  Rowe's  Fair  Penitent.  Sciolto  is  the 
speaker : 

"  This  dead  of  night,  this  silent  hour  of  darkness, 

"  Nature  for  rest  ordain'd  and  soft  repose."     STEEVENS. 

"  at  primero — ]     Primero  and  Primavista,  two  games 

at  cards,  H.  I.  Primcra,  Primavista.  La  Prhniere,  G.  Prime,  f. 
Prime  veue.  Primiim,  et  primum  visum,  that  is,  first,  and  first 
seen  :  because  he  that  can  show  such  an  order  of  cards  first,  wins 
the  game.  Minsheu's  Guide  into  Tongues,  col.  575.  GREY. 


sc.  /.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  171 

7, or.  I  must  to  him  too, 

Before  he  go  to  bed.     I'll  take  my  leave. 

GAR.  Not  yet,  sir  Thomas  Lovell.     What's  the 

matter  ? 

It  seems,  you  are  in  haste ;  an  if  there  be 
No  great  offence  belongs  to't,  give  your  friend 
Some  touch  of  your  late  business:9   Affairs,  that 

walk 

(As,  they  say,  spirits  do,)  at  midnight,  have 
In  them  a  wilder  nature,  than  the  business 
That  seeks  despatch  by  day. 

Lor.  My  lord,  I  love  you ; 

And  durst  commend  a  secret  to  your  ear 
Much  weightier  than  this  work.     The  queen's  in 

labour, 

They  say,  in  great  extremity ;  and  fear'd, 
She'll  with  the  labour  end. 

GAR.  The  fruit,  she  goes  with, 

I  pray  for  heartily ;  that  it  may  find 
Good  time,  and  live  :  but  for  the  stock,  sir  Thomas, 
I  wish  it  grubb'd  up  now. 

Lor.  Methinks.,  I  could 

Cry  the  amen  ;  and  yet  my  conscience  says 
She's  a  good  creature,  and,  sweet  lady,  does 
Deserve  our  better  wishes. 

GAR.  But,  sir,  sir, — 

Hear  me,  sir  Thomas :  You  are  a  gentleman 

So,  in  Wowan*s  a  Weathercock,  1G12: 

"  Come  will  your  worship  make  one  &t  primero?" 

Again,  in  the  Preface  to  The  Rival  Friends,  1632:  "  — when 
it  may  be,  some  of  our  butterfly  judgments  expected  a  set  at 
maw  or  primavista  from  them."  STEEVENS. 

"  Some  ioue/i  of  your  late  business  .•]  Some  hint  of  the  busi- 
ness that  keeps  you  awake  so  late.  JOHNSON 


172  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

Of  mine  own  way ; l  I  know  you  wise,  religious  j 
And,  let  me  tell  you,  it  will  ne'er  be  well, — 
'Twill  not,  sir  Thomas  Lovell,  take't  of  me, 
Till  Cranmer,  Cromwell,  her  two  hands,  and  she, 
Sleep  in  their  graves. 

Lov.  Now,  sir,  you  speak  of  two 

The  most  remarked  i'the  kingdom.     As  for  Crom- 
well,— 

Beside  that  of  the  jewel-house,  he's  made2  master 
O'the  rolls,  and  the  king's  secretary ;  further,  sir, 
Stands  in  the  gap  and  trade  of  more  preferments,3 
With  which  the  time  will  load  him :  The  archbishop 
Is  the  king'shand,and  tongue;  Andwho  dare  speak 
One  syllable  against  him  ? 

GAR.  Yes,  yes,  sir  Thomas, 

There  are  that  dare  ;  and  I  myself  have  ventur'd 
To  speak  my  mind  of  him  :  and,  indeed,  this  day, 
Sir,  (I  may  tell  it  you,)  I  think,  I  have 
Incens'd  the  lords  o'the  council,  that  he  is 
(For  so  I  know  he  is,  they  know  he  is,) 
A  most  arch  heretick,4  a  pestilence 

1  mine  otvn  "way  ;]     Mine  own  opinion  in  religion. 

JOHNSON. 

*  he's  made — ]      The  pronoun,  which  was  omitted  in 

the  old  copy,  was  inserted  by  Mr.  Theobald.     M ALONE. 

3  Stands  in  the  gap  and  trade  of  more  preferments, ]      Trade. 
is  the  practised  method,  the  general  course.     JOHNSON. 

Trade  has  been  already  used  by  Shakspeare  with  this  meaning 
in  King  Richard  II  : 

"  Some  way  of  common  trade." 
See  Vol.  XI.  p.  109,  n.  5.     STEEVENS. 

4  . I  hare 


Incens'd  the  lords  o'the  council,  that  he  /.•;  <Src. 

A  most  arch  hcrdick,~]  This  passage,  according  to  the  old 
elliptical  mode  of  writing,  may  mean — I  have  incens'u  the  lords 
of  the  council5i/o>'  that  he  is,  i.  e.  because.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  173 

That  does  infect  the  land  :  with  which  they  moved, 
Have  broken  with  the  king ; 5  who  hath  so  far 
Given  ear  to  our  complaint,  (of  his  great  grace 
And  princely  care  ;  foreseeing  those  fell  mischiefs 
Our  reasons  laid  before  him,)  he  hath  commanded,6 
To-morrow  morning  to  the  council-board 
He  be  convented.7    He's  a  rank  weed,  sir  Thomas, 
And  we  must  root  him  out.     From  your  affairs 
I  hinder  you  too  long :  good  night,  sir  Thomas. 

Lor.  Many  good  nights,  my  lord;  I  rest  your  ser- 
vant.       [Exeunt  GARDINER  and  Page. 

As  LOVELL  is  going  out,  enter  the  King,  and  the 
Duke  of  SUFFOLK. 

A'.  HEX.  Charles,  I  will  play  no  more  to-night  j 
My  mind's  not  on't,  you  are  too  hard  for  me. 

SUF.  Sir,  I  did  never  win  of  you  before. 


I  have  roused  the  lords  of  the  council  by  suggesting  to  them 
that  he  is  a  most  arch  heretick  :  I  have  thus  incited  them  against 
him.  MALOXE. 

Incensed,  I  believe,  in  this  instance,  and  some  others,  only 
means,  prompted,  set.  on.     So,  in  King  Richard  III: 
"  Think  you,  my  lord,  this  little  prating  York 
"  Was  not  incensed  by  his  subtle  mother  ?"     STEEVENS. 

broken  m'th  the  king;"]      They  have  broken  silence; 


told  their  minds  to  the  king.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Much  Ado  about  Nothing :   "  I  will  break  with  her." 
Again,  in  the  Tico  Gentlemen  of  I'erona  : 

"  I  am  to  break  with  thee  of  some  affairs."     STEEVENS. 

he  hnlh  commanded,]      He,  which  is  not   in   the  old 

copy,  was  inserted  by  Mr.  Pope.      He  hath  was  often  written 
contractedly  h'ath.     Hence  probably  the  error.     MAI. ONI:. 

'    He   be    convented.]      Cntivcntcd   is    summoned,   convened, 
^ec  Vol.  VI.  p.  'J(J'A  n.  5.     STE EVENS. 


174  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

K.  HEN.  But  little,  Charles  ; 
Nor  shall  not,  when  my  fancy's  on  my  play. — 
Now,  Lovell,  from  the  queen  what  is  the  news  ? 

Lov.  I  could  not  personally  deliver  to  her 
What  you  commanded  me,  but  by  her  woman 
I  sent  your  message  ;  who  return'd  her  thanks 
In  the  greatest  humbleness,  and  desir'd  your  high- 
ness 
Most  heartily  to  pray  for  her. 

K.  HEN.  What  say'st  thou  ?  ha ! 

To  pray  for  her  ?  what,  is  she  crying  out  ? 

Lov.  So  said  her  woman ;  and  that  her  sufferance 

made 
Almost  each  pang  a  death." 

K.  HEN.  Alas,  good  lady ! 

SUF.  God  safely  quit  her  of  her  burden,  and 
With  gentle  travail,  to  the  gladding  of 
Your  highness  with  an  heir ! 

K.  HEN.  'Tis  midnight,  Charles, 

Pr'ythee,  to  bed ;  and  in  thy  prayers  remember 
The  estate  of  my  poor  queen.     Leave  me  alone  ; 
For  I  must  think  of  that,  which  company 
Will  not  be  friendly  to. 

SUF.  I  wish  your  highness 

A  quiet  night,  and  my  good  mistress  will 
Remember  in  my  prayers. 

K.  HEN.  Charles,  good  night. — 

[Exit  SUFFOLK. 

8  her  sufferance  made 

Almost  each  pang  a  death.~\     We  have  had  nearly  the  same 
sentiment  before,  in  Act  II.  sc.  iii : 

" it  is  a  sufferance  panging 

"  As  soul  and  body's  severing."     MALONE. 


sr.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  175 

Enter  Sir  ANTHONY  DENNY.' 
Well,  sir,  what  follows  ? 

9  Enter  Sir  Anthony  Denny.]  The  substance  of  this  and  the 
two  following  scenes  is  taken  from  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments 
of  the  Christian  Martyrs,  &c.  1563: 

"  When  night  came,  the  king  sent  Sir  Anthonie  Denie  about 
midnight  to  Lambeth  to  the  archbishop,  willing  him  forthwith  to 
resort  unto  him  at  the  court.  The  message  done,  the  archbishop 
speedily  addressed  himselfe  to  the  court,  and  comming  into  the 
galerie  where  the  king  walked  and  taried  for  him,  his  highnesse 
said,  Ah,  my  lorde  of  Canterbury,  I  can  tell  you  newes.  For 
divers  weighty  considerations  it  is  determined  by  me  and  the 
counsaile,  that  you  to-morrowe  at  nine  of  the  clocke  shall  be 
committed  to  the  Tower,  for  that  you  and  your  chaplaines  (as 
information  is  given  us)  have  taught  and  preached,  and  thereby 
sown  within  the  rcalme  such  a  number  of  execrable  heresies, 
that  it  is  feared  the  whole  realme  being  infected  with  them,  no 
small  contention  and  commotion  will  rise  thereby  amongst  my 
*ubjects,  as  of  late  daies  the  like  was  in  divers  parts  of  Germanic ; 
and  therefore  the  counsell  have  requested  me  for  the  triall  of  the 
matter,  to  suffer  them  to  commit  you  to  the  Tower,  or  else  no 
man  dare  come  forth,  as  witnesse  in  those  matters,  you  being  a 
counsellor. 

"  When  the  king  had  said  his  mind,  the  archbishop  kneeled 
down,  'and  said,  I  am  content,  if  it  please  your  grace,  with  al 
my  hart,  to  go  thither  at  your  highness  commandment ;  and  I 
most  humbly  thank  your  majesty  that  I  may  come  to  my  triall, 
for  there  be  that  have  many  waies  slandered  me,  and  now  this 
way  I  hope  to  trie  myselfe  not  worthy  of  such  reportc. 

"  The  king  perceiving  the  mans  uprightnesse,  joyned  with 
such  sirnplicitie,  said;  Oh  Lorde,  what  maner  o'man  be  you? 
What  simplicitie  is  in  you  ?  I  had  thought  that  you  would  rather 
have  sued  to  us  to  have  taken  the  paines  to  have  heard  you  and 
your  accusers  together  for  your  triall,  without  any  such  indurance. 
Do  you  not  know  what  state  you  be  in  with  the  whole  world, 
and  how  many  great  enemies  you  have  ?  Do  you  not  consider 
what  an  easie  thing  it  is  to  procure  three  or  foure  false  knaves 
to  witness  against  you  ?  Thinke  you  to  have  better  lucke  that 
waie  than  your  master  Christ  had  ?  I  sec  by  it  you  will  run 
headlong  to  your  undoing,  it'  I  would  suffer  you.  ^  our  enemies 
shall  not  so  prevaile  against  you;  for  I  have  otherwise  devised 
with  my  selt'e  to  keep  you  out  of  their  handes.  Yet  notwith- 


176  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

DEN.  Sir,  I  have  brought  my  lord  the  archbishop, 
As  you  commanded  me. 

standing  to-morrow  when  the  counsaile  shall  sit,  and  send  for 
you,  resort  unto  them,  and  if  in  charging  you  with  this  matter, 
they  do  commit  you  to  the  Tower,  require  of  them,  because 
you  are  one  of  them,  a  counsailer,  that  you  may  have  your 
accusers  brought  before  them  without  any  further  indurance, 
and  use  for  your  selfe  as  good  persuasions  that  way  as  you  may 
devise  ;  and  if  no  intreatie  or  reasonable  request  will  serve,  then 
deliver  unto  them  this  my  ring  (which  then  the  king  delivered 
unto  the  archbishop,)  and  saie  unto  them,  if  there  be  no  remedie, 
my  lords,  but  that  I  must  needs  go  to  the  Tower,  then  I  revoke 
my  cause  from  you,  and  appeale  to  the  kinges  owne  person  by 
this  token  unto  you  all,  for  (saide  the  king  then  unto  the  arch- 
bishop) so  soone  as  they  shall  see  this  my  ring,  they  knowe  it  so 
well,  that  they  shall  understande  that  I  have  reserved  the  whole 
cause  into  mine  owne  handes  and  determination,  and  that  i  have 
discharged  them  thereof. 

"  The  archbishop  perceiving  the  kinges  benignity  so  much  to 
him  wards,  had  much  ado  to  forbeare  teares.  Well,  said  the 
king,  go  your  waies,  my  lord,  and  do  as  I  have  bidden  you. 
My  lord,  humbling  himselfe  with  thankes,  tooke  his  leave  of 
the  kinges  highnesse  for  that  night. 

"  On  the  morrow,  about  nine  of  the  clocke  before  noone, 
the  counsaile  sent  a  gentleman  usher  for  the  archbishop,  who, 
when  hee  came  lo  the  counsaile-chamber  doore,  could  not  be  let 
in,  but  of  purpose  (as  it  seemed)  was  compelled  there  to  waite 
among  the  pages,  lackies,  and  serving  men  all  alone.  D.  Buts 
the  king's  physition  resorting  that  way,  and  espying  how  my  lord 
of  Canterbury  was  handled,  went  to  the  king's  highnesse,  and 
said ;  My  lord  of  Canterbury,  if  it  please  your  grace,  is  well 
promoted ;  for  now  he  is  become  a  lackey  or  a  serving  man,  for 
yonder  hee  standeth  this  halfe  hower  at  the  counsaile-chamber 
doore  amongste  them.  It  is  not  so,  ( quoth  the  king, )  I  trowe, 
nor  the  counsaile  hath  not  so  little  discretion  as  to  use  the  metro- 
politane  of  the  realme  in  that  sorte,  specially  being  one  of  their 
own  number.  But  let  them  alone  (said  the  king)  and  we  shall 
heare  more  soone. 

"  Anone  the  archbishop  was  called  into  the  counsaile-chamber, 
to  whom  was  alleadged  as  before  is  rehearsed.  The  archbishop 
aunswered  in  like  sort,  as  the  king  had  advised  him  :  and  in  the 
end  when  he  perceived  that  no  manor  of  persuasion  or  intreatie 
could  serve,  he  delivered  them  the  king's  ring,  revoking  his  cause 
into  thi:  king's  hand?.  The  whole  counsaile  being  thereat  some- 


sc.  i.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  177 

A".  HEN.  I  la!  Canterbury? 

DEX.  Ay,  my  good  lord. 

K.  HEX.  'Tis  true  :  Where  is  he,  Denny? 

DEX.  He  attends  your  highness*  pleasure. 

what  amazed,  the  carle  of  Bedford  with  a  loud  voice  confirming 
his  words  with  a  solemn  othe,  said,  when  you  first  began  the 
matter,  my  lordes,  I  told  you  what  would  come  of  it.  Do  you 
thinke  that  the  king  would  suffer  this  man's  linger  to  ake  ? 
Much  more  (I  warrant  you)  will  he  defend  his  life  against 
brabling  varlets.  You  doe  but  cumber  yourselves  to  hear  tales 
and  fables  against  him.  And  incontinently  upon  the  receipt  of 
the  king's  token,  they  all  rose,  and  carried  to  the  king  his  ring, 
surrendring  that  matter  as  the  order  and  use  was,  into  his  own 
hands. 

"  When  they  were  all  come  to  the  king's  presence,  his  high- 
ness, with  a  severe  countenance,  said  unto  them  ;  ah,  my  lordes, 
I  thought  I  had  wiser  men  of  my  counsaile  than  now  I  find  you. 
What  discretion  was  this  in  you  thus  to  make  the  primate  of 
the  realme,  and  one  of  you  in  office,  to  wait,  at  the  counsaille- 
chamber  doore  amongst  serving  men  ?  You  might  have  con- 
sidered that  he  was  a  counsailer  as  wel  as  you,  and  you  had  no 
such  commission  of  me  so  to  handle  him.  1  was  content  that 
you  should  trie  him  as  a  counsellor,  and  not  as  a  meane  subject. 
But  now  I  well  perceive  that  things  be  done  against  him  mali- 
ciouslie,  and  if  some  of  you  might  have  had  your  mindes,  you 
would  have  tried  him  to  the  uttermost.  But  I  doe  you  all  to 
wit,  and  protest,  that  if  a  prince  may  bee  beholding  unto  his 
subject  (and  so  solemnlie  laying  his  hand  upon  his  brest,  said,) 
by  the  faith  I  owe  to  God  I  take  this  man  here,  my  lord  of 
Canterburie,  to  be  of  all  other  a  most  faithful  subject  unto  us, 
and  one  to  whome  we  are  much  beholding,  giving  him  great 
commendations  otherwise.  And,  with  that,  one  or  two  of  the 
chiefest  of  the  counsaile,  making  their  excuse,  declared,  that  in 
requesting  his  indurance,  it  was  rather  ment  for  his  triall  and 
his  purgation  against  the  common  fame  and  slander  of  the 
worlde,  than  for  any  malice  conceived  against  him.  Well,  well, 
my  lords,  (quoth  the  king,)  take  him,  and  well  use  him,  as  bee 
is  worthy  to  bee,  and  make  no  more  ado.  And  with  that, every 
man  caught  him  by  the  hand,  and  made  fa  ire  weather  of  alto- 
gethers,  which  might  easilie  be  done  with  that  man." 

S  I'KKVKNb. 

vor.   xv.  \ 


178  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACTV. 

K.  HEN.  Bring  him  to  us. 

[Exit  DENNY. 

Lov.  This  is  about  that  which  the  bishop  spake; 
I  am  happily1  come  hither.  [Aside. 

Re-enter  DENNY,  with  CRANMER. 

K.  HEN.  Avoid  the  gallery. 

^LOVELL  seems  to  stay. 
Ha! — I  have  said. — Be  gone. 
What ! —  [Exeunt LOVELL  and  DENNY. 

CRAN.  I  am  fearful : — Wherefore  frowns  he  thus  ? 
5Tis  his  aspect  of  terror.     All's  not  well. 

K.  HEN.  How  now,  my  lord  ?  You  do  desire  to 

know 
Wherefore  I  sent  for  you. 

CRAN.  It  is  my  duty, 

To  attend  your  highness*  pleasure. 

K.  HEN.  'Pray  you,  arise, 

My  good  and  gracious  lord  of  Canterbury. 
Come,  you  and  I  must  walk  a  turn  together  ; 
I  have  news  to  tell  you :  Come,  come, give  me  your 

hand. 

Ah,  my  good  lord,  I  grieve  at  what  I  speak, 
And  am  right  sorry  to  repeat  what  follows : 
I  have,  and  most  unwillingly,  of  late 
Heard  many  grievous,  I  do  say,  my  lord, 
Grievous  complaints  of  you  ;    which,  being  con- 
sider Jd, 
Have  mov'd  us  and  our  council,  that  you  shall 

1 happily — ]     The    present   instance,    and  another   in 

p.  183,  seem  to  militate  against  my  former  explanation  of — 
happily,  and  to  countenance  that  of  Mr.  M.  Mason.  See  p. 
154-,  n.  2.  STEEVENS. 


ac.  t.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  179 

This  morning  come  before  us ;  where,  I  know, 
You  cannot  with  such  freedom  purge  yourself, 
But  that,  till  further  trial,  in  those  charges 
Which  will  require  your  answer,  you  must  take 
Your  patience  to  you,  and  be  well  contented 
To  make  your  house  our  Tower :  You  a  brother 

of  us,2 

It  fits  we  thus  proceed,  or  else  no  witness 
Would  come  against  you. 

CRAN.  I  humbly  thank  your  highness ; 

And  am  right  glad  to  catch  this  good  occasion 
Most  throughly  to  be  winnow'd,  where  my  chaff 
And  corn  shall  fly  asunder :  for,  I  know, 
There's    none    stands    under    more    calumnious 

tongues, 
Than  I  myself,  poor  man.3 

K.  HEN.  Stand  up,  good  Canterbury  ; 

Thy  truth,  and  thy  integrity,  is  rooted 
In  us,  thy  friend :  Give  me  thy  hand,  stand  up  ; 
Pr'ythee,  let's  walk.     Now,  by  my  holy-dame, 
What  manner  of  man  are  you?  My  lord,  I  look'd 
You  would  have  given  me  your  petition,  that 
I  should  have  ta'en  some  pains  to  bring  together 
Yourself  and  your  accusers  ;  and  to  have  heard  you 
Without  indurance,4  further. 

CRAN.  Most  dread  liege, 

* You  a  brother  of  its,  &c.]      You  being  one  of  the 

council,  it  is  necessary  to  imprison  you,  that  the  witnesses  against 
you  may  not  be  deterred.     JOHNSON. 

3  Than  I  myself,  poor  man.~\  Poor  man  probably  belongs  to 
the  King's  reply.  GREY. 

4 indnrctnce,^  i.  e.  confinement.  Dr.  Johnson,  how- 
ever, in  his  Dictionary,  says  that  this  word  (which  Shakspeare 
borrowed  from  Fox's  narrative  already  quoted)  means — delay, 
procrastination.  STEEVENS. 

N  2 


180  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

The  good  I  stand  on5  is  my  truth,  and  honesty ; 
If  they  shall  fail,  I,  with  mine  enemies,'5 
Will  triumph  o'er  my  person  ;  which  I  weigh  not,7 
Being  of  those  virtues  vacant.     I  fear  nothing 
What  can  be  said  against  me. 

K.  HEN.  Know  you  not  how 

Your  state  stands  i'the  world,  with  the  whole  world? 
Your  enemies 

Are  many,  and  not  small ;  their  practices 
Must  bear  the  same  proportion  :  and  not  ever8 
The  justice  and  the  truth  o'the  question  carries 
The  due  o'the  verdict  with  it :  At  what  ease 
Might  corrupt  minds  procure  knaves  as  corrupt 
To  swear  against  you  ?  such  things  have  been  done. 
You  are  potently  oppos'd  ;  and  with  a  malice 
Of  as  great  size.     Ween  you  of  better  luck,9 

*  The  good  I  stand  on — ]     Though  good  may  be  taken  for 
advantage  or  superiority,  or  any  thing  which  may  help  or  sup- 
port, yet  it  would,  1  think,  be  more  natural  to  say : 
The  ground  I  stand  on .     JOHNSON. 

The  old  copy  is  certainly  right.     So,  in  Coriolanus  : 
"  Your  franchises,  tvhereon  you  stand,  confin'd 
"  Into  an  augre's  bore."     MALONE. 

Again,  in  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  :  "  Though  Page  be 

a  secure  fool,  and  stands  so  firmly  on  his  wife's  frailty ." 

STEEVENS. 

0 /,  ivith  mine  enemies,']     Cranmer,  I  suppose,  means, 

that  whenever  his  honesty  fails,  he  shall  rejoice  as  heartily  as  his 
enemies  at  his  destruction.     MALONE. 

7 /  ivcigh  not,~\     i.  e.  have  no  value  for.     So,  in  Love's 

Labour's  Lost  : 

"  You  iveigh  me  not, — O  that's,  you  care  not  for  me." 
See  King  Richard  III.  Act  III.  sc.  i.     STEEVENS. 

8 and  not  ever — ]   Not  ever  is  an  uncommon  expression, 

and  does  not  mean  never,  but  not  always.     M.  MASON. 

-  Ween  you  of  better  luck,']  To  iveen  is  to  think,  to  im- 
agine. Though  now  obsolete,  the  word  was  common  to  all  our 
ancient  writers.  STEEVENS. 


*vf  ^      f    «*  \   f) 

D  •*.        /   c        1    7- 

i.  •)  ^  r;  1 


s<7.  /.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  181 

I  mean,  in  perjur'd  witness,  than  your  master, 
Whose  minister  you  are,  whiles  here  he  liv'd 
Upon  this  naughty  earth  ?  Go  to,  go  to  ; 
You  take  a  precipice  for  no  leap  of  danger, 
And  woo  vour  own  destruction. 

•/ 

CRAX.  God,  and  your  majesty, 

Protect  mine  innocence,  or  I  fall  into 
The  trap  is  laid  for  me  ! 

K.  HEN.  Be  of  good  cheer ; 

They  shall  no  more  prevail,  than  we  give  way  to. 
Keep  comfort  to  you  ;  and  this  morning  see 
You  do  appear  before  them  :  if  they  shall  chance, 
In  charging  you  with  matters,  to  commit  you, 
The  best  persuasions  to  the  contrary 
Fail  not  to  use,  and  with  what  vehemency 
The  occasion  shall  instruct  you  :  if  entreaties 
Will  render  you  no  remedy,  this  ring 
Deliver  them,  and  your  appeal  to  us 
There  make  before  them. — Look,  the  good  man 

weeps  ! 

He's  honest,  on  mine  honour.  God's  blest  mother ! 
I  swear,  he  is  true-hearted ;  and  a  soul 
None  better  in  my  kingdom. — Get  you  gone, 
And  do  as  I  have  bid  you. — [Exit  CRANMER.] 

He  has  strangled 
His  language  in  his  tears. 

Enter  an  old  Lady.1 

GENT.  [Witlrin.~\  Comeback;  What  mean  you  ? 
LADY.  I'll  not  come  back  ;  the  tidings  that  I 
bring 

1  an  old  Lady.']      This,  I  suppose,  is  the  same  old  cat 

that  appears  with  Anne  Bullen,  p.  77.     STEEVENS. 


182  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

Will   make    my  boldness  manners. — Now,   good 

angels 

Fly  o'er  thy  royal  head,  and  shade  thy  person 
Under  their  blessed  wings  !2 

K.  HEN.  Now,  by  thy  looks 

I  guess  thy  message.     Is  the  queen  delivered  ? 
Say,  ay ;  and  of  a  boy. 

LADY.  Ay,  ay,  my  liege ; 

And  of  a  lovely  boy  :  The  God  of  heaven 
Both  now  and  ever  bless  her  !3 — 'tis  a  girl, 
Promises  boys  hereafter.     Sir,  your  queen 
Desires  your  visitation,  and  to  be 
Acquainted  with  this  stranger ;  'tis  as  like  you, 
As  cherry  is  to  cherry. 

K.  HEN.  Lovell,*— 

Enter  LOVELL. 

Lor.  Sir. 

K.  HEN.  Give  her  an  hundred  marks.     I'll  to 
the  queen.  [^nY  King. 

LADY.  An  hundred  marks !  By  this  light,  I'll 
have  more. 


•  good  angels 


Fly  o'er  thy  royal  head,  and  shade  thy  person 

Under  their  blessed  ixings!']   So,  in  Hamlet,  Act  III.  sc.  iv: 

"  Save  me,  and  hover  o'er  me  with  your  wings, 

"  You  heavenly  guards  !"     STEEVENS. 

3 Mess  her !]     It  is  doubtful  whether  her  is  referred  to 

the  Queen  or  the  girl.     JOHNSON. 

As  I  believe  this  play  was  calculated  for  the  ear  of  Elizabeth, 
I  imagine,  her  relates  to  the  girl.  MALONE. 

4  Lovcll,~]  Lovell  has  been  just  sent  out  of  the  presence,  and 
no  notice  is  given  of  his  return  :  I  have  placed  it  here  at  the  in- 
stant when  the  King  calls  for  him.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  183 

An  ordinary  groom  is  for  such  payment. 

I  will  have  more,  or  scold  it  out  of  him. 

Said  I  for  this,  the  girl  is  like  to  him  ? 

I  will  have  more,  or  else  unsay't ;  and  now 

While  it  is  hot,  I'll  put  it  to  the  issue.      [Exeunt. 


SCENE  II. 

Lolly  before  the  Council-Chamber. 

Enter  CRANMER  j    Servants,  Door-Keeper,  8$c. 
attending. 

CRAN.  I  hope,  1  am  not  too  late  ;  and  yet  the 

gentleman, 

That  was  sent  to  me  from  the  council,  pray'd  me 
To  make  great  haste.  All  fast  ?  what  means  this  ? — 

Hoa! 
Who  waits  there  ? — Sure,  you  know  me  ? 

D.  KEEP.  Yes,  my  lord  ; 

But  yet  1  cannot  help  you. 

CRAN.  Why  ? 

D.  KEEP.  Your  grace  must  wait,  till  you  be 
call'd  for. 

Enter  Doctor  BUTTS. 

CRAN.  So. 

BUTTS.  This  is  a  piece  of  malice.     I  am  glad, 
'*•  I  came  this  way  so  happily :  The  king 
Shall  understand  it  presently.  [Exit  BUTTS. 

CRAN.  [Aside."]  'Tis  Butts, 

The  king's  physician ;  As  he  past  along, 


184  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACTV. 

How  earnestly  he  cast  his  eyes  upon  me ! 
•  Pray  heaven,  he  sound  not  my  disgrace !  For  cer- 
tain, 

This  is  of  purpose  lay'd,  by  some  that  hate  me, 
(God  turn  their  hearts!  I  never  sought  their  malice,) 
To  quench  mine  honour :  they  would  shame  to 

make  me 

Wait  else  at  door ;  a  fellow  counsellor, 
Among  boys,  grooms,  and  lackeys.      But  their 

pleasures 
Must  be  fulfill' d,  and  I  attend  with  patience. 

Enter,  at  a  window  above,5  the  King  and  BUTTS. 

BUTTS.  I'll  showyour  grace  the  strangest  sight, — 
K.  HEN.  What's  that,  Butts  ? 

BUTTS.  I  think,  your  highness  saw  this  many  a 
day. 

K.  HEN.  Body  o'me,  where  is  it  ? 

BUTTS.  There,  my  lord  : 

The  high  promotion  of  his  grace  of  Canterbury ; 

5 at  a  window  above,~]     The  suspicious  vigilance  of  our 

ancestors  contrived  windows  which  overlooked  the  insides  of 
chapels,  halls,  kitchens,  passages,  &c.  Some  of  these  conve- 
nient peep-holes  may  still  be  found  in  colleges,  and  such  ancient 
houses  as  have  not  suffered  from  the  reformations  of  modern 
architecture.  Among  Andrew  Horde's  instructions  for  building 
a  house,  (see  his  Dictarie  of  Health,}  is  the  following:  "  Many 
of  the  chambers  to  have  a  view  into  the  chapel." 

Again,  in  a  Letter  from  Matthew  Parker,  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, 1573:  "  And  if  it  please  her  majestic,  she  may  come 
in  through  my  gallerie,  and  see  the  disposition  of  the  hall  in 
dynncr  time,  at  a  window  opening  thereunto." 

See  Mr.  Seward's  Anecdotes  of  some  distinguished  Persons, 
Vol.  IV.  p.  270. 

Without  a  previous  knowledge  of  this  custom,  Shakspeare's 
scenery,  in  the  present  instance,  would  be  obscure. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  185 

Who  holds  his  state  at  door,  'mongst  pursuivants, 
Pages,  and  footboys. 

A'.  HEX.  Ha!  'Tis  he,  indeed: 

Is  this  the  honour  they  do  one  another? 
'Tis  well,  there'sone  above  them  yet.  I  had  thought, 
They  had  parted  so  much  honesty  among  them,6 
(At  least,  good  manners,)  as  not  thus  to  suffer 
A  man  of  his  place,  and  so  near  our  favour, 
To  dance  attendance  on  their  lordships'  pleasures, 
And  at  the  door  too,  like  a  post  with  packets. 
By  holy  Mary,  Butts,  there's  knavery : 
Let  them  alone,  and  draw  the  curtain  close  ;7 
"We  shall  hear  more  anon. —  [Exeunt. 


THE    COUNCIL-CHAMBER. 

Enter  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Duke  o/~  SUFFOLK, 
Earl  of  SURREY,  Lord  Chamberlain,  GARDI- 
NER, and  CROMWELL.  The  Chancellor  places 
himself  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table  on  the  left 
hand ;  a  seat  being  left  void  above  him,  as  for  the 
Archbishop  o/ Canterbury.  The  rest  seat  them- 
selves in  order  on  each  side.  CROMWELL  at  t/ic 
loicer  end,  as  secretary. 

CHAN.  Speak  to  the  business,8  master  secretary  : 
AVhy  are  we  met  in  council  ? 

"  They  had  parted  Sfc.~]  We  .should  now  say — They  had 
shared,  &c.  i.  e.  had  so  much  honesty  among  them. 

STEEVENS. 

'  dmu'  the  curtain  r/<;.vr  ;]  i.  e.  the  curtain  of  the  bal- 
cony, or  upper-stage,  where  the  King  now  is.  See  The  llistori- 
cftl  Account  of  the  English  Sia«e,  Vol.  III.  MALONK. 

Chan.  Speak  in  the  bi(xi>iex*,~]  This  Lord  Chancellor,  though 
a  character,  has  hitherto  had  noplace  in  the  Dramatis  Persotue. 
\\\  the  last  scene  of  the  fourth  Act,  we  heard  that  Sir  Thomas 


186  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

CROM.  Please  your  honours, 

The  chief  cause  concerns  his  grace  of  Canterbury. 

GAR.  Has  he  had  knowledge  of  it  ? 
CROM.  Yes. 

NOR.  Who  waits  there  ? 

D.  KEEP.  Without,  my  noble  lords  ?9 
GAR.  Yes. 

D.  KEEP.  My  lord  archbishop  ; 

And  has  done  half  an  hour,  to  knowyour  pleasures. 

CHAN.  Let  him  come  in. 

D.  KEEP.  Your  grace  may  enter  now.1 

[CRANMER  approaches  the  Council-table. 

More  was  appointed  Lord  Chancellor :  but  it  is  not  he  whom 
the  poet  here  introduces.  Wolsey,  by  command,  delivered  up 
the  seals  on  the  18th  of  November,  1529;  on  the  25th  of  the 
same  month,  they  were  delivered  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  who 
surrendered  them  on  the  16th  of  May,  1532.  Now  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  scene  taking  notice  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  birth, 
(which  brings  it  down  to  the  year  1534,)  Sir  Thomas  Audlie 
must  necessarily  be  our  poet's  chancellor ;  who  succeeded  Sir 
Thomas  More,  and  held  the  seals  many  years.  THEOBALD. 

In  the  preceding  scene  we  have  heard  of  the  birth  of  Eliza- 
beth, and  from  the  conclusion  of  the  present  it  appears  that  she 
is  not  yet  christened.  She  was  born  September  7,  1533,  and 
baptized  on  the  llth  of  the  same  month.  Cardinal  Wolsey  was 
Chancellor  of  England  from  September  7,  1516,  to  the  25th 
of  October,  1530,  on  which  day  the  seals  were  given  to  Sir 
Thomas  More.  He  held  them  till  the  20th  of  May,  1533, 
when  Sir  Thomas  Audley  was  appointed  Lord  Keeper.  He 
therefore  is  the  person  here  introduced;  but  Shakspeare  has 
made  a  mistake  in  calling  him  Lord  Chancellor,  for  he  did  not 
obtain  that  title  till  the  January  after  the  birth  of  Elizabeth. 

MALONE. 

9 noble  lords  ?~\  The  epithet — noble  should  be  omitted, 

as  it  spoils  the  metre.  STEEVENS. 

1  Your  grace  may  enter  now.']  It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the 
mode  of  exhibition  here.  The  inside  and  the  outside  of  the 
council-chamber  seem  to  be  exhibited  at  once.  Norfolk  within 


sc.n.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  187 

CHAN.  My  good  lord  archbishop,  I  am  very  sorry 
To  sit  here  at  this  present,  and  behold 
That  chair  stand  empty :  But  we  all  are  men, 
In  our  own  natures  trail ;  and  capable 
Of  our  flesh,  few  are  angels  :2  out  of  which  frailty, 

calls  to  the  Keeper  "without,  who  yet  is  on  the  stage,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  with  Cranmer,  &c.  at  the  outside  of  the  door  of  the 
chamber.  The  Chancellor  and  counsellors  probably  were 
placed  behind  a  curtain  at  the  back  part  of  the  stage,  and  spoke, 
but  were  not  seen,  till  Cranmer  was  called  in.  The  stage-direc- 
tion in  the  old  copy,  which  is,  "  Cranmer  approaches  the  coun- 
cil-table," not,  "  Cranmer  enters  the  council-chamber,"  seems 
to  countenance  such  an  idea. 

With  all  the  "  appliances  and  aids"  that  modern  scenery  fur- 
nishes, it  is  impossible  to  produce  any  exhibition  that  shall  pre- 
cisely correspond  with  what  our  author  has  here  written.  Our 
less  scrupulous  ancestors  were  contented  to  be  told,  that  the 
same  spot,  without  any  change  of  its  appearance,  (except  per- 
haps the  drawing  back  of  a  curtain,)  was  at  once  the  outside 
and  the  inside  of  the  council-chamber.  See  the  Account  of  our 
old  Theatres,  Vol.  III.  MALONE. 

How  the  outside  and  inside  of  a  room  can  be  exhibited  on  the 
$tage  at  the  same  instant,  may  be  known  from  many  ancient 
prints  in  which  the  act  of  listening  or  peeping  is  represented. 
See  a  famous  plate  illustrating  the  Tale  ofGiocondo,  and  intitled 
I'cro  essempio  d'  Impudicitia,  cavato  da  M.  L.  Ariosto ;  and  the 
engraving  prefixed  to  Twelfth- Night,  in  Mr.  Howe's  edition. 

STEEVENS. 

* and  capable 

Of  our  flesh,  few  are  angels:  £c.]  If  this  passage  means 
any  thing,  it  may  mcanj^/hw  arc  perfect,  ivhilc  they  remain  in 
their  mortal  capacity  ;  i.  e.  while  they  are  capable  [in  a  condi- 
tion] of  being  invested  with  flesh.  A  similar  phrase  occurs  ia 
Chapman's  version  of  the  sixteenth  Iliad  : 

"  That  is  no  city  libertine,  nor  capable  of  their  owe?/." 
Shakapeare  uses  the  word  capable  as  perversely  in  King  Lear: 

" and  of  my  land, 

"  Loyal  and  natural  boy,  I'll  work  the  mean 
"  To  make  thee  capable."     STEEVEXS. 

The  word  capable  almost  every  where  in  Shakspeare  means 
intelligent,  of  capacity  to  understand,  or  quick  of  apprehension. 
Mo,  in  King  Richard  III ; 


188  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

And  want  of  wisdom,  you,  that  best  should  teach  us, 
Have  misdemean'd  yourself,  and  not  a  little, 
Toward  the  king  first,  then  his  laws,  in  filling 

" O,  'tis  a  parlous  boy, 

"  Bold,  quick,  ingenious,  forward,  capable!" 
Again,  in  Hamlet  : 

"  His  form  and  cause  conjoin'd,  preaching  to  stones, 
"  Would  make  them  capable .'" 

In  the  same  play  Shakspeare  has  used  incapable  nearly  in  the 
sense  required  here : 

"  As  one  incapable  [i.  e.  unintelligent]  of  her  own  dis- 
tress." 
So,  Marston,  in  his  Scourge  of  Villanie,  1599 : 

"  To  be  perus'd  by  all  the  dung-scum  rabble 
"  Of  thin-brain'd  ideots,  dull  uncapable." 
Minsheu,   in   his  Dictionary,    1617,    renders   the   word    by 
indocilis. 

The  transcriber's  ear,  I  suppose,  deceived  him,  in  the  passage 
before  us,  as  in  many  others ;  and  the  Chancellor,  I  conceive, 
means  to  say,  the  condition  of  humanity  is  such,  that  we  are  all 
born  frail  in  disposition,  and  weak  in  our  understandings.  The 
subsequent  words  appear  to  me  to  add  such  support  to  this 
emendation,  that  I  have  ventured,  contrary  to  my  general  rule, 
to  give  it  a  place  in  my  text ;  which,  however,  I  should  not 
have  done,  had  the  original  reading  afforded  a  glimmering  of 
sense : 

tee  are  all  men, 

In  our  own  natures  frail,  incapable  ; 
Of 'our flesh,  few  are  angels  ;  out  of  which  frailty, 
And  want  of  wisdom,  you,  fyc. 

Mr.  Pope,  in  his  licentious  method,  printed  the  passage  thus, 
and  the  three  subsequent  editors  adopted  his  supposed  reforma- 
tion : 

we  are  all  men, 

In  our  own  natures  frail,  and  capable 

Of  frailty,  few  are  angels;  from  which  frailly,  &c. 

MALOXE. 

I  cannot  extort  any  kind  of  sense  from  the  passage  as  it  stands. 
Perhaps  it  should  be  read  thus  : 

we  are  all  men, 

In  our  own  natures  frail  and  culpable  : 

OfourJlesh,Jew  are  angels. 
That  is,  few  are  perfect.     M.  MASON. 


sc.ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  189 

The  whole  realm,  by  your  teaching,  and  your  chap- 
lains, 

(For  so  we  are  inform'd,)  with  new  opinions, 
Divers,  and  dangerous ;  which  are  heresies, 
And,  not  reform* d,  may  prove  pernicious. 

GAR.  Which  reformation  must  be  sudden  too, 
My  noble  lords :  for  those,  that  tame  wild  horses, 
Pace  them  not  in  their  hands  to  make  them  gentle; 
But  stop  their  mouths  with  stubborn  bits,  and  spur 

them, 

Till  they  obey  the  manage.     If  we  suffer 
(Out  of  our  easiness,  and  childish  pity 
To  one  man's  honour)  this  contagious  sickness, 
Farewell,  all  physick  :  And  what  follows  then  ? 
Commotions,  uproars,  with  a  general  taint 
Of  the  whole  state  :  as,  of  late  days,  our  neigh- 
bours, 

The  upper  Germany,3  can  dearly  witness, 
Yet  freshly  pitied  in  our  memories. 

CRAX.  My  good  lords,  hitherto,  in  all  the  pro- 
gress 

Both  of  my  life  and  office,  I  have  labour'd, 
And  with  no  little  study,  that  my  teaching, 
And  the  strong  course  of  my  authority, 
Might  go  one  way,  and  safely ;  and  the  end 
Was  ever,  to  do  well :  nor  is  there  living 
(I  speak  it  with  a  single  heart,4  my  lords,) 
A  man,  that  more  detests,  more  stirs  against, 
Both  in  his  private  conscience,  and  his  place, 


3  The  upper  Germany,  &c.]  Alluding  to  the  heresy  of 
Thomas  Muntzer,  which  sprung  up  in  Saxony  in  the  year* 
1521  and  Io22.  GREY. 

4 a  single  In-art, ~\      A  heart  void  of  duplicity  or  guile. 

MALONE. 


ft  is  a  scriptural  expression.     See  Act*,  ii.  !•(>.      UKKD. 


190  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

Defacers  of  a  publick  peace,5  than  I  do. 

'Pray  heaven,  the  king  may  never  find  a  heart 

With  less  allegiance  in  it !  Men,  that  make 

Envy,  and  crooked  malice,  nourishment, 

Dare  bite  the  best.     I  do  beseech  your  lordships, 

That,  in  this  case  of  justice,  my  accusers, 

Be  what  they  will,  may  stand  forth  face  to  face, 

And  freely  urge  against  me. 

SUF.  Nay,  my  lord, 

That  cannot  be ;  you  are  a  counsellor, 
And,  by  that  virtue,  no  man  dare  accuse  you. 

GAR.  My  lord,  because  we  have  business  of  more 

moment, 
We  will  be  short  with  you.      'Tis  his  highness* 

pleasure, 

And  our  consent,  for  better  trial  of  you, 
From  hence  you  be  committed  to  the  Tower  ; 
Where,  being  but  a  private  man  again, 
You  shall  know  many  dare  accuse  you  boldly, 
More  than,  I  fear,  you  are  provided  for. 

CRAN.  Ah,  my  good  lord  of  Winchester,  I  thank 

you, 

You  are  always  my  good  friend  ;  if  your  will  pass, 

I  shall  both  find  your  lordship  judge  and  juror, 

You  are  so  merciful :  I  see  your  end, 

'Tis  my  undoing :  Love,  and  meekness,  lord, 

Become  a  churchman  better  than  ambition  ; 

Win  straying  souls  with  modesty  again, 

Cast  none  away.     That  I  shall  clear  myself, 

Lay  all  the  weight  ye  can  upon  my  patience, 

I  make  as  little  doubt,  as  you  do  conscience, 

In  doing  daily  wrongs.     I  could  say  more, 

But  reverence  to  your  calling  makes  me  modest. 

5  Defacers  of  a  publick  peace,]     Read, — the  publick  peace. 

M.  MASOX. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  191 

GAR.  My  lord,  my  lord,  you  are  a  sectary, 
That's  the  plaintruth;  your paintedgloss discovers,* 
To  men  that  understand  you,  words  and  weakness. 

CROM.  My  lord  of  Winchester,  you  are  a  little, 
By  your  good  favour,  too  sharp  ;  men  so  noble, 
However  faulty,  yet  should  find  respect 
For  what  they  have  been  :  'tis  a  cruelty, 
To  load  a  falling  man.7 

GAR.  Good  master  secretary, 

I  cry  your  honour  mercy ;  you  may,  worst 
Of  all  this  table,  say  so. 

CROM.  Why,  my  lord  ? 

GAR.  Do  not  I  know  you  for  a  favourer 
Of  this  new  sect  ?  ye  are  not  sound. 

CROM.  Not  sound  ? 

GAR.  Not  sound,  I  say. 

CROM.  'Would  you  were  half  so  honest! 

Men's  prayers  then  would  seek  you,  not  their  fears. 

GAR.  I  shall  remember  this  bold  language. 

CROM.  Do. 

Remember  your  bold  life  too. 

CHAN.  This  is  too  much  ; 

Forbear,  for  shame,  my  lords. 

GAR.  I  have  done. 

CROM.  And  I. 

6 your  painted  gloss  £c.]     Those  that  understand  you, 

under  this  pa inted  gloss,  this  lair  outside,  discover  your  empty 
talk  and  your  false  reasoning.     JOHNSON*. 

7 'tis  a  cruelty. 

To  load  a  falling  man. }  This  sentiment  had  occurred  be- 
fore. The  Lord  Chamberlain,  checking  the  Earl  of  Surrey  for 
his  reproaches  to  Wolsey,  says  : 

" O,  my  lord, 

"  Press  not  a  falling  man  too  fur.'*     STEEVBNS. 


192  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

CHAN.  Then  thus  for  you,8  my  lord, — It  stands 

agreed, 

I  take  it,  by  all  voices,  that  forthwith 
You  be  convey'd  to  the  Tower  a  prisoner  ; 
There  to  remain,  till  the  king's  further  pleasure 
Be  known  unto  us  :  Are  you  all  agreed,  lords  ? 

ALL.  We  are. 

CRAN.  Is  there  no  other  way  of  mercy, 

But  I  must  needs  to  the  Tower,  my  lords? 

GAR.  What  other 

Would  you  expect  ?  You  are  strangely  troublesome. 
Let  some  o'the  guard  be  ready  there. 


Enter  Guard. 

CRAN.  For  me  ? 

Must  I  go  like  a  traitor  thither  ? 

GAR.  Receive  him, 

And  see  him  safe  i'the  Tower. 

CRAN.  Stay,  good  my  lords, 

I  have  a  little  yet  to  say.  Look  there,  my  lords  ; 
By  virtue  of  that  ring,  I  take  my  cause 
Out  of  the  gripes  of  cruel  men,  and  give  it 
To  a  most  noble  judge,  the  king  my  master. 

8  Chan.  Then  thus  for  you,  &c.]  This,  and  the  little  speech 
above — "  This  is  too  much,"  &c.  are  in  the  old  copy  given  to 
the  Lord  Chamberlain.  The  difference  between  Cham,  and 
Chan,  is  so  slight,  that  I  have  not  hesitated  to  give  them  both  to 
the  Chancellor,  who  on  Cranmer's  entrance  first  arraigns  him, 
and  therefore,  (without  any  consideration  of  his  high  station  in 
the  council,)  is  the  person  to  whom  Shakspeare  would  naturally 
assign  the  order  for  his  being  committed  to  the  Tosver.  The 
Chancellor's  apologizing  to  the  King  for  the  committal  in  a 
subsequent  passage,  likewise  supports  the  emendation  now  made, 
which  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Capell.  MALONE. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  193 

CHAM.  This  is  the  king's  ring.9 

Sun.  'Tis  no  counterfeit. 

SUF.  'Tis  the  right  ring,  by  heaven :  I  told  ye  all, 
When  we  first  put  this  dangerous  stone  a  rolling, 
'Twould  fall  upon  ourselves. 

NOR.  Do  you  think,  my  lords, 

The  king  will  suffer  but  the  little  finger 
Of  this  man  to  be  vex'd? 

CHAM.  'Tis  now  too  certain : 

How  much  more  is  his  life  in  value  with  him  ? 
'Would  I  were  fairly  out  on't. 

CKOM.  My  mind  gave  me, 

In  seeking  tales,  and  informations, 
Against  this  man,  (whose  honesty  the  devil 
And  his  disciples  only  envy  at,) 
Ye  blew  the  fire  that  burns  ye :  Now  have  at  ye. 


9  This  is  the  king's  ring.]  It  seems  to  have  been  a  custom, 
begun  probably  in  the  dark  ages,  before  literature  was  generally 
diffused, and  before  the  regal  power  experienced  the  restraints  of 
law,  for  every  monarch  to  have  a  ring,  the  temporary  possession 
of  which  invested  the  holder  with  the  same  authority  as  the 
owner  himself  could  exercise.  The  production  of  it  was  suf- 
ficient to  suspend  the  execution  of  the  law ;  it  procured  indem- 
nity for  offences  committed,  and  imposed  acquiescence  and  sub- 
mission on  whatever  was  done  under  its  authority.  Instances 
abound  in  the  history  of  almost  every  nation.  See  Procopius  c/e 
bell.  Vandal.  L.  I.  p.  15,  as  quoted  in  Farnworth's  Machiavcl, 
Vol.  I.  p.  9.  The  traditional  story  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  the  Countess  of  Nottingham,  long  considered  as 
an  incident  of  a  romance,  is  generally  known,  and  now  as 
generally  credited.  See  Birch's  Negotiations,  p.  20(3.  REED. 


VOL.   XV.  O 


194  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v> 


Enter  King,  frowning  on  them  ;  takes  his  seat. 

GAR.  Dread  sovereign,  how  much  are  we  bound 

to  heaven 

In  daily  thanks,  that  gave  us  such  a  prince ; 
Not  only  good  and  wise,  but  most  religious : 
One  that,  in  all  obedience,  makes  the  church 
The  chief  aim  of  his  honour  ;  and,  to  strengthen 
That  holy  duty,  out  of  dear  respect, 
His  royal  self  in  judgment  comes  to  hear 
The  cause  betwixt  her  and  this  great  offender. 

K.  HEN.  You  were  ever  good  at  sudden  com- 
mendations, 

Bishop  of  Winchester.     But  know,  I  come  not 
To  hear  such  flattery  now,  and  in  my  presence  j 
They  are  too  thin l  and  base  to  hide  offences.2 

1  They  are  too  thin  &c.]  i.  e.  the  commendations  above  men- 
tioned. Mr.  Pope,  in  the  former  line,  clisaigedjlattery  to  flatte- 
ries, and  this  unnecessary  emendation  has  been  adopted  by  all 
the  subsequent  editors.  I  believe  our  author  wrote — 

They  are  too  thin  and  bare ; 

and  that  the  editor  of  the  first  folio,  not  understanding  the  word, 
changed  it  to  base,  as  he  did  in  King  Henry  IV.  Part  I.  See 
Vol.  XI.  p.  222,  n.  2.  MALONE. 


To  hear  such  flattery  noic,  and  in  mij  presence; 
They  are  too  thin  and  base  to  hide  offences.  &c.]     I  think  the 
pointing  of  these  lines  preferable  to  that  in  the  former  edition, 
in  which  they  stand  thus  : 

/  come  not 

To  hear  such  flatteries  noiv:  and  in  my  presence 

They  are  too  thin,  &c. 
It  then  follows : 

To  me  you  cannot  reach  :  you  play  the  spaniel, 

And  tJiink  with  wagging  of  your  tongue  to  "win  me. 
But  the  former  of  these  lines  should  evidently  be  thus  written ; 

To  one  you  cannot  reach  you  play  the  spaniel, 
the  relative  whom  being  understood.     WHALLEY. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  195 

To  me  you  cannot  reach,  you  play  the  spaniel, 
And  think  with  wagging  of  your  tongue  to  win  me; 
But,  whatsoe'er  tliou  tak'st  me  for,  I  am  sure, 
Thou  hast  a  cruel  nature,  and  a  bloody. — 
Good  man,  \_To  CRANMER.]  sit  down.     Now  let 

me  see  the  proudest 

He,  that  dares  most,  but  wag  his  finger  at  thee : 
By  all  that's  holy,  he  had  better  starve, 
Than  but  once  think  his  place  becomes  thee  not.* 

SUR.  May  it  please  your  grace, — 

K.  HEX.  No,  sir,  it  does  not  please  me. 

Iliad  thought,  I  had  had  men  of  some  understanding 
And  wisdom,  of  my  council ;  but  I  find  none. 
Was  it  discretion,  lords,  to  let  this  man, 
This  good  man,  (few  of  you  deserve  that  title,) 
Tliis  honest  man,  wait,  like  a  lowsy  footboy 
At  chamber  door  ?  and  one  as  great  as  you  are  ? 
Why,  what  a  shame  was  this  ?  Did  my  commission 
Bid  ye  so  far  forget  yourselves  ?  I  gave  ye 
Power  us  he  was  a  counsellor  to  try  him, 
Not  as  a  groom  ;  There's  some  of  ye,  I  see, 
More  out  of  malice  than  integrity, 
Would  try  him  to  the  utmost,  had  ye  mean ; 
Vvhich  ye  shall  never  have,  while  I  live. 

I  think  the  old  copy  is  right.     MAI.ONK. 

Surely,  the  first  of  these  lines  should  be  pointed  thus: 

To  me  you  can/Kit  reach,  you  piny  t/i>-  spaniel, — 
That  is,  you  lawn  upon  me,  who  am  above  your  malice. 

M.  MASON. 

In  the  punctuation  of  this  passage  I  have  followed  the  con- 
curring advice  of  Mr.  Whallcy  and  Mr.  M.  Mason.  STEEVENS. 

;  Than  hut  once  i  h  ink  his  place  becomes  ihee  not.~\  Who  dares 
to  suppose  that  the  place  or  situation  in  which  he  is,  is  not  suit- 
;ihl  •  to  thee  also  ?  who  supposes  that  them  art  not  as  lit  for  the 
i>i;:<v  of  a  pnvv  counsellor  as  he  is. 

Mr.  Howe  and  all  the  subsequent  editors  read — this  place. 

MA  LOST. 
O  '2 


196  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  Y. 

CHAN.  Thus  far, 

My  most  dread  sovereign,  may  it  like  your  grace 
To  let  my  tongue  excuse  all.    What  was  purposed 
Concerning  his  imprisonment,  was  rather 
(If  there  be  faith  in  men,)  meant  for  his  trial, 
And  fair  purgation  to  the  world,  than  malice ; 
I  am  sure,  in  me. 

K.  HEN.        Well,  well,  my  lords,  respect  him  j 
Take  him,  and  use  him  well,  he's  worthy  of  it. 
I  will  say  thus  much  for  him,  If  a  prince 
May  be  beholden  to  a  subject,  I 
Am,  for  his  love  and  service,  so  to  him. 
Make  me  no  more  ado,  but  all  embrace  him ; 
Be  friends,  for  shame,  my  lords. — My  lord  of  Can- 
terbury, 

I  have  a  suit  which  you  must  not  deny  me ; 
That  is,  a  fair  young  maid  that  yet  wants  baptism,4 

4  That  is,  &c.]  My  suit  is,  that  you  would  be  a  godfather  to 
a  fair  young  maid,  who  is  not  yet  christened.  Mr.  Rowe  reads 
— There  is,  &c.  and  all  the  subsequent  editors  have  adopted  this 
unnecessary  alteration.  The  final  word  her,  we  should  now 
consider  as  superfluous ;  but  we  have  many  instances  of  a  simi- 
lar phraseology  in  these  plays  : — or,  the  construction  may  be — A 
fair  young  maid,  &c.  you  must  be  godfather  [fo],  and  answer 
for  her.  So  before  in  this  play : 

" whoever  the  king  favours, 

"  The  cardinal  instantly  will  find  employment  \_for~\, 

"  And  far  enough  from  court  too." 
Again,  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice: 

"  How  true  a  gentleman  you  send  relief  [fo]." 
Again,  in  Julius  Ccssar: 

"  Thy  honourable  metal  may  be  wrought 

"  From  what  it  is  dispos'd  [£o]." 

See  also  Vol.  X.  p.  433,  n.  8,  and  a  note  on  Cymbeline,  sc.  ult. 
Vol.  XVIII.     MALONE. 

The  superfluous  pronoun  in  the  text  (if  it  be  superfluous) 
may  be  justified  by  the  following  passage  in  Romeo  and  Juliet: 

" this  reverend  holy  friar, 

"  All  our  whole  city  is  much  bound  to  him." 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  19? 

You  must  he  godfather,5  and  answer  for  her. 

CRAN.  The  greatest  monarch  now  alive  may  glory 
In  such  an  honour ;  How  may  I  deserve  it, 
That  am  a  poor  and  humble  subject  to  you  ? 

K.  HEN.  Come,  come, my  lord,  you'd  spare  your 
spoons  ;6  you  shall  have 

5  You  must  be  godfather,']  Our  prelates  formerly  were  often 
employed  on  the  like  occasions.  Cranmer  was  godfather  to  Ed- 
ward VI.  See  Hall,  fo.  232.  Archbishop  Warham  to  Henry's 
eldest  son  by  Queen  Katharine ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Winchester 
to  Henry  himself.  See  Sandford,  479,  495.  REED. 

6 you'd  spare  your  spoons  ;]  It  was  the  custom,  long  be- 
fore the  time  of  Shakspeare,  for  the  sponsors  at  christenings  to 
offer  gilt  spoons  as  a  present  to  the  child.  These  spoons  were 
called  apostle  spoons,  because  the  figures  of  the  apostles  were 
carved  on  the  tops  of  the  handles.  Such  as  were  at  once  opu- 
lent and  generous,  gave  the  whole  twelve ;  those  who  were 
either  more  moderately  rich  or  liberal,  escaped  at  the  expence 
of  the  four  evangelists  ;  or  even  sometimes  contented  themselves 
with  presenting  one  spoon  only,  which  exhibited  the  figure  of 
any  saint,  in  honour  of  whom  the  child  received  its  name. 

In  the  year  1560  we  find  entered  on  the  books  of  the  Sta- 
tioners' company,  "  a  spoyne,  of  the  gyfte  of  master  Reginold 
Wolfe,  all  gylte  with  the  pycture  of  St.  John." 

Ben  .lonson  also,  in  his  Bartholomew  Fair,  mentions  spoons  of 
this  kind :  "  — and  all  this  for  the  hope  of  a  couple  of  apostle 
xpoons,  and  a  cup  to  eat  caudle  in." 

So,  in  Middleton's  comedy  of  A  chaste  Maid  of  Cheapsidc, 
1620:  "  2  Gos.  What  has  he  given  her? — what  is  it,  gossip? 
'3  Gos.  A  faire  high  standing  cup,  and  two  great  'postle  spoons, 
one  of  them  gilt.  1  Pur.  Sure  that  was  Judas  then  with  the  red 
beard." 
Again : 

"  E'en  the  same  gossip  'twas  that,  gave  the  spoons.'" 
Again,  in  Sir  Wrm.  D'Avenant's  comedy  of  The  IVits,  1639: 

" my  pendants,  carcanets,  and  rings, 

"  My  christ'ning  caudle-cup,  and  spoons, 

"  Are  dissolv'd  into  that  lump." 
Again,  in  The  Maid  of  the  Mi/I,  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  : 

"  Didst  ask  her  name  ? 

"  Yes,  nml  who  gave  it  her; 


198  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

Two  noble  partners  with  you ;  the  old  duchess  of 
Norfolk, 

"  And  what  they  promis'd  more,  besides  a  spoon, 

"  And  what  apostle's  picture" 
Again,  in  The  Noble  Gentleman,  by  the  same  authors : 

"  I'll  be  a  gossip,  Bedford, 

"  I  have  an  odd  apostle  spoon." 

Mr.  Pegge,  in  his  preface  to  A  Forme  of  Cnry,  a  Roll  of 
ancient  English  Cookery,  compiled  about  A.  D.  1390,  &c.  ob- 
serves, that  "  the  general  mode  of  eating  must  either  have  been 
with  the  spoon  or  the  fingers  ;  and  this,  perhaps,  may  have  been 
the  reason  that  spoons  became  the  usual  present  from  gossips  to 
their  god-children  at  christenings."  STEEVENS. 

As  the  following  story,  which  is  found  in  a  collection  of  anec- 
dotes, entitled  Merry  Passages  and  Jeasts,  MSS.  Har3.  6395, 
contains  an  allusion  to  this  custom,  and  has  not,  I  believe,  been 
published,  it  may  not  be  an  improper  supplement  to  this  account 
of  apostle  spoons.  It  shows  that  our  author  and  Ben  Jonson  were 
once  on  terms  of  familiarity  and  friendship,  however  cold  and 
jealous  the  latter  might  have  been  at  a  subsequent  period : 

"  Shakspeare  was  godfather  to  one  of  Ben  Jonson's  children, 
and  after  the  christening,  being  in  deepe  study,  Jonson  came  to 
cheer  him  up,  and  ask'd  him  why  he  was  so  melancholy  :  No 
'faith,  Ben,  says  he,  not  I ;  but  I  have  been  considering  a  great 
while  what  should  be  the  fittest  gift  for  me  to  bestow  upon  my 
godchild,  and  I  have  resolv'd  at  last.  I  pr'ythee,  what  ?  says  he. 
— I'faith,  Ben,  I'll  give  him  a  douzen  good  laiten  [Latin]  spoons, 
and  thou  shalt  translate  them." 

The  collector  of  these  anecdotes  appears  to  have  been  nephew 
to  Sir  Roger  L'Estrange.  He  names  Donne  as  the  relater  of  this 
story. 

The  practice  of  sponsors  giving  spoons  at  christenings  con- 
tinued to  the  latter  end  of  the  last  century,  as  appears  from  a 
pamphlet  written  against  Dryden,  entitled  The  Reason  of  Mr. 
Baycs's  Conversion,  &c.  p.  14. 

At  one  period  it  was  the  mode  to  present  gifts  of  a  different 
kind.  "  At  this  time,"  [the  first  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth] 
says  the  continuator  of  Stowe's  Chronicle,  "  and  for  many 
yccres  before,  it  was  not  the  use  and  custome,  as  now  it  is, 
[1631,]  for  godfathers  and  godmothers  generally  to  give  plate 
at  the  baptism  of  children,  (as  spoones,  cups,  and  such  like,) 
but  only  to  give  christening  shirts,  with  little  hands  and  cuffs 
wrought  either  with  silk  or  blue  thread ;  the  best  of  them  for 
chief  persons  weare  edged  with  a  small  lace  of  blacke  silke  and 


sc.  ii.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  199 

And  lady  marquiss  Dorset;  Will  these  pi  ease  you? 
Once  more,  my  lord  of  Winchester,  I  charge  you, 
Embrace,  and  love  this  man. 

GAR.  With  a  true  heart, 

And  brother-love,  I  do  it. 

CRAX.  And  let  heaven 

Witness,  how  dear  I  hold  this  confirmation. 

A'.  HEN.  Good  man,  those  joyful  tears  show  thy 
true  heart.7 

The  common  voice,  I  see,  is  verified 

Of  thee,  which  says  thus,  Do  my  lord  of  Canter- 
bury 

A  shrewd  turn,  and  he  is  your  friend  for  ever. — 

Come,  lords,  we  trifle  time  away ;  I  long 

To  have  this  young  one  made  a  Christian. 

As  I  have  made  ye  one,  lords,  one  remain ; 

So  I  grow  stronger,  you  more  honour  gain. 

[Exeunt. 

golde  ;  the  highest  price  of  which  for  great  men's  children  were 
seldom  above  a  noble,  and  the  common  sort,  two,  three,  or  four 
and  five  shillings  a  piece." 

Whether  our  author,  when  he  speaks  of  apostle-spoons,  has, 
as  usual,  attributed  the  practice  of  his  own  time  to  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  Probably,  how- 
ever, he  is  here  accurate  ;  for  we  know  that  certain  pieces  of 
plate  were,  on  some  occasions,  then  bestowed;  I  Tail,  who  has 
written  a  minute  account  of  the  christening  of  Elizabeth,  inform- 
ing us,  that  the  gifts  presented  by  her  sponsors  were  a  standing 
cup  of  gold,  and  six  gilt  bowls,  with  covers. 

Citron.  Hen.  VIII.  fol.  '21 S.     MALOXE. 

7 thy  true  heart.]     Old  copy — hearts.    Corrected  by  the 

editor  of  the  second  folio.     MA  LOVE. 


200  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

SCENE  III. 

The  Palace  Yard. 

Noise  and  Tumult  within.     Enter  Porter  and  his 

Man. 

PORT.  You'll  leave  your  noise  anon,  ye  rascals ; 
Do  you  take  the  court  for  Paris-garden  ?8  ye  rude 
slaves,  leave  your  gaping.9 

* Paris  garden  ?~]  The  bear-garden  of  that  time. 

JOHNSON. 

This  celebrated  bear-garden  on  the  Bankside  was  so  called 
from  Robert  de  Paris,  who  had  a  house  and  garden  there  in  the 
time  of  King  Richard  II.  Rot.  claus.  16  R.  II.  dors.  ii.  Blount's 
GLOSSOGRAPH.  MALONE. 

So,  in  Sir  W.  D' Avenant's  Neiusfrom  Plimoutk  : 

"  — —  do  you  take  this  mansion  for  Pict-hatch  ? 
"  You  would  be  suitors :  yes,  to  a  she-deer, 
"  And  keep  your  marriages  in  Paris-garden  ?" 
Again,  in  Ben  Jonson's  Execration  on  Vulcan  : 

"  And  cried,  it  was  a  threatning  to  the  bears, 
"  And  that  accursed  ground  the  Paris-garden.'* 
The  Globe  theatre,  in  which  Shakspeare  was  a  performer,  stood 
on  the  southern  side  of  the  river  Thames,  and  was  contiguous 
to  this  noted  place  of  tumult  and  disorder.  St.  Mary  Overy's 
church  is  not  far  from  London  Bridge,  and  almost  opposite  to 
Fishmongers'  Hall.  Winchester  House  was  over  against  Cole 
Harbour.  Paris-garden  was  in  a  line  with  Bridewell,  and  the 
Globe  playhouse  faced  Blackfriars,  Fleet-ditch,  or  St.  Paul's.  It. 
was  an  hexagonal  building  of  stone  or  brick.  Its  roof  was  of 
rushes,  with  a  flag  on  the  top.  See  a  south  view  of  London,  (as 
it  appeared  in  1599,)  published  by  T.  Wood,  in  Bishop's  Court, 
in  Chancery  Lane,  in  1771.  STEEVENS. 

9 Kaping'~\     '•  e-  shouting   or  roaring ;    a   sense  which 

this  word  has  now  almost  lost.     Littleton,  in  his  Dictionary,  has 
however  given  it  in  its  present  signification  as  follows :    "  To 


sc.  m.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  201 

[  Wiihm.~\  Good  master  porter,  I  belong  to  the 
larder. 

PORT.  Belong  to  the  gallows,  and  be  hanged, 
you  rogue  :  Is  this  a  place  to  roar  in  ? — Fetch  me 
a  dozen  crab-tree  staves,  and  strong  ones ;  these 
are  but  switches  to  them. — I'll  scratch  your  heads: 
You  must  be  seeing  christenings  ?  Do  you  look 
for  ale  and  cakes  here,  you  rude  rascals  ? 

MAX.  Pray,  sir,  be  patient  j l  'tis  as  much  im- 
possible 

(Unless  we  sweep  themfromthe doorwith  cannons,) 
To  scatter  them,  as  'tis  to  make  them  sleep 
On  May-day  morning  ;2  which  will  never  be  : 
We  may  as  well  push  against  Paul's,  as  stir  them. 

PORT.  How  got  they  in,  and  be  hang'd  ? 

gape  or  barvl,  vociferor."     So,  in  Roscommon's  Essay  on  trans- 
lated Verse,  as  quoted  in  Dr.  Johnson's  Dictionary  : 

"  That  noisy,  nauseous,  gaping  tool  was  he."     REED. 

Such  being  one  of  the  ancient  senses  of  the  verb — to  papr, 
perhaps  the  "  gaping  pig"  mentioned  by  Shyloek  in  The  Mer- 
chant of  Venice,  has  hitherto  been  misinterpreted.  STEI.VENS. 

1  Pray,  sir,  be  patient ;]  Part  of  this  scene  in  the  old  copy 
is  printed  as  verse,  and  part  as  prose.  Perhaps  the  whole,  with 
the  occasional  addition  and  omission  of  a  few  harmless  syllables, 
might  be  reduced  into  a  loose  kind  of  metre ;  but  as  I  know  not 
what  advantage  would  be  gained  by  making  the  experiment,  I 
have  left  the  whole  as  I  found  it.  STEEVENS. 

8  On  May-day  morning  ;]  It  was  anciently  the  custom  for 
all  ranks  of  people  to  go  out  a  maying  on  the  lirst  of  May.  It 
is  on  record  that  King  Henry  VIII.  and  Queen  Katharine  par- 
took of  this  diversion.  See  Vol.  IV.  p.  15:5,  n.  1.  STEKVMNS. 

Stowe  says,  that,  "  in  the  month  of  May,  namely,  on  May- 
day in  the  morning,  every  man,  except  impediment,  would  walk 
into  the  sweet  meadows  and  green  woods;  there  to  rejoice  their 
spirits  with  the  beauty  and  savour  of  sweet  flowers,  and  with 
the  noise  [i.e.  concert]  of  birds,  praising  (iod  in  their  kind." 
See  also  Brand's  Observations  (,>i  popular  Antiquities,  Svo.  1777, 
p.  255.  REED. 


202  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

MAN.  Alas,  I  know  not ;  How  gets  the  tide  in? 
As  much  as  one  sound  cudgel  of  four  foot 
(You  see  the  poor  remainder)  could  distribute, 
I  made  no  spare,  sir. 

PORT.  You  did  nothing,  sir. 

MAN.  I  am  not  Sampson,  nor  sir  Guy,  nor  Col- 
brand,3  to  mow  them  down  before  me  :  but,  if 
I  spared  any,  that  had  a  head  to  hit,  either  young 
or  old,  he  or  she,  cuckold  or  cuckold-maker,  let 
me  never  hope  to  see  a  chine  again  j  and  that  I 
would  not  for  a  cow>  God  save  her. 

\_Within.~\  Do  you  hear,  master  Porter  ? 

PORT.  I  shall  be  with  you  presently,  good  mas- 
ter puppy. — Keep  the  door  close,  sirrah. 

MAN.  What  would  you  have  me  do  ? 

PORT.  What  should  you  do,  but  knock  them 
down  by  the  dozens  ?  Is  this  Moorfields  to  muster 
in  ?4  or  have  we  some  strange  Indian5  with  the 

*  sir  Guy,  nor  Colbrand,]     Of  Guy  of  Warwick  every 

one  has  heard.  Colbrand  was  the  Danish  giant,  whom  Guy 
subdued  at  Winchester.  Their  combat  is  very  elaborately  de- 
scribed by  Drayton,  in  his  Polyolbion.  JOHNSON. 

"*  Moorfields  to  muster  in  ?]      The   train-bands  of  the 

city  were  exercised  in  Moorfields.     JOHNSON. 

6  some  strange  Indian — ]      To  what  circumstance  this 

refers,  perhaps,  cannot  now  be  exactly  known.  A  similar  one 
occurs  in  Ram- Alley,  or  Merry  Tricks,  1611  : 

"  You  shall  see  the  strange  nature  of  an  outlandish  beast 
lately  brought  from  the  land  of  Cataia." 

Again,  in  The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  by  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher : 

"  The  Bavian  with  long  tail  and  eke  long  TOOL." 

COLLINS. 

Fig.  I.  in  the  print  of  Morris-dancers,  at  the  end  of  King 
Henri/  IV.  P.  I.  has  a  bib  which  extends  below  the  doublet; 
and  its  length  might  be  calculated  for  the  concealment  of  the 


sc.  m.  KING  HENRY  VHI.  203 

great  tool  come  to  court,  the  women  so  besiege  us  ? 
Bless  me,  what  a  fry  of  fornication  is  at  door  !  On 
my  Christian  conscience,  this  one  christening  will 
beget  a  thousand  ;  here  will  be  father,  godfather, 
and  all  together. 

MAN.  The  spoons  will  be  the  bigger,  sir.  There 
is  a  fellow  somewhat  near  the  door,  lie  should  be  a 
brazier  by  his  face,6  for,  o'my  conscience,  twenty 
of  the  dog-days  now  reign  in's  nose  ;  all  that  stand 
about  him  arc  under  the  line,  they  need  no  other 
penance  :  That  fire-drake7  did  I  hit  three  times  on 

phallic  obscenity  mentioned  by  Beaumont  and  Fk-tcher,  of 
which  perhaps  the  Bavian  fool  exhibited  an  occasional  view 
for  the  diversion  of  our  indelicate  ancestors.  TOLLKT. 

—  he  should  be  a  brazier  by  his  face,]  A  brazier  signi- 
fies a  man  that  manufactures  brass,  and  a  reservoir  lor  char- 
coal occasionally  heated  to  convey  warmth.  Both  these  senses 
are  understood.  JOHNSON. 

7  That  fire-drake — ]     A  Jirc-drake   is  both  a  serpent, 

anciently  called  a  brenning-drake,  or  dipsas,  and  a  name  for- 
merly given  to  a  Will  o'the  ll'isp,  or  ignis  fotuus.  So,  in 
Drayton's  Nymphidia  : 

"  By  the  hissing  of  the  snake, 

"  The  rustling  of  the  Jire-drake." 
Again,  in  Cfcaar  and  I'onipeij,  a  tragedy,  by  Chapman,  IfiOT; 

"  So  have  I  scene  a  jire-drakc  glide  along 

"  Before  a  dying  man,  to  point  his  grave, 

"  And  in  it  stick  and  hide." 
Again,  in  Aluertus  Walli'iistew,  IGtO: 

"  Your  wild  irregular  lust,  which  like  those  Jire~drakcs 

"  Misguiding  nighted  travellers,  will  Irad  you 

"  Forth  from  the  lair  path,"  <!vc. 

A  fire-drake  was  l:!c;  .vise  an  artificial  Jirwttrk.  So,  in  Your 
Five  Guild  ills,  by  Miil'.ileton,  KJOiS: 

"  but  like  fire-drakex, 

"  .Mounted   a   little,    gave   a   crack,    and   ii-ll." 

STEEVKVS. 

A  fire-drake  is  thus  described  by  Bullokar,  in  Iii^-  f-'.rfjnxitrirt 
Svo.  KilfJ:  "  Firctfrake.  A_//Vt'  sometimes  seen  Hvinu'  in  the 
night,  like  a  dragnii.  Common  people  think  it  a  spirit  that 


204  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

the  head,  and  three  times  was  his  nose  discharged 
against  me ;  he  stands  there,  like  a  mortar-piece, 
to  blow  us.8  There  was  a  haberdasher's  wife  of 
small  wit9  near  him,  that  railed  upon  me  till  her 
pink'd  porringer  fell  off  her  head,1  for  kindling 
such  a  combustion  in  the  state.  I  miss'd  the  meteor2 
once,  and  hit  that  woman,  who  cried  out,  clubs  P 


keepeth  some  treasure  hid ;  but  philosophers  affirme  it  to  be  a 
great  unequal  exhalation,  inflamed  betweene  two  clouds,  the 
one  hot,  the  other  cold,  which  is  the  reason  that  it  also  smoketh ; 
the  middle  part  whereof,  according  to  the  proportion  of  the  hot 
cloud,  being  greater  than  the  rest,  maketh  it  seeme  like  a  bellie, 
and  both  ends  like  unto  a  head  and  taile."  MALONE. 

*  to  blow  MS.]     Read — to  blow  us  up.     M.  MASON. 

I  believe  the  old  reading  is  the  true  one.     So,  in  Othello  ; 
"  .  the  cannon, 

"  When  it  hath  blown  his  ranks  into  the  air — ." 
In  another  of  our  author's  plays  (if  my  memory  does  not 
deceive  me)  we  have  "  —  and  blow  them  to  the  moon." 

STEEVENS. 

9  There  was  a  haberdasher's  wife  of  small  wit — ]  Ben  Jon- 
son,  whose  hand  Dr.  Farmer  thinks  may  be  traced  in  different 
parts  of  this  play,  uses  this  expression  in  his  Induction  to  The 
Magnetick  Lady:  "  And  all  haberdashers  of  small  wit,  I  pre- 
sume." MALONE. 

1 till   her  pink'd   porringer  fell    off  her   head,~\     Her 

pink'd  porringer  is  her  pink'd  cap,  which  looked  as  if  it  had 
been  moulded  on  a  porringer.  So,  in  The  Taming  of  the 
Shrew  : 

"  Hab.  Here  is  the  cap  your  worship  did  bespeak. 
"  Pet.  Why  this  was  moulded  on  a  porringer." 

MALONE. 

1 the  meteor — ]     The  fire-drake,  the  brazier. 

JOHNSON. 

* who  cried  out,  clubs  !]  Clubs  !  was  the  outcry  for  as- 
sistance, upon  any  quarrel  or  tumult  in  the  streets.  So,  in 
The  Renegado  : 

" if  he  were 


"  In  London  among  the  clubs,  up  went  his  heels 
"  For  striking  of  a  prentice." 


sc.  in.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  205 

when  I  might  see  from  far  some  forty  truncheoneers 
draw  to  her  succour,  which  were  the  hope  of  the 
Strand,4  where  she  was  quartered.  They  fell  on; 
I  made  good  my  place  ;  at  length  they  came  to  the 
broomstaff  with  me,5 1  defied  them  still ;  when  sud- 
denly a  file  of  boys  behind  them,  loose  shot,6  de- 
livered such  a  shower  of  pebbles,  that  I  was  fain  to 
draw  mine  honour  in,  and  let  them  win  the  work  :7 
The  devil  was  amongst  them,  I  think,  surely. 

PORT.  These  are  the  youths  that  thunder  at  a 
play-house,  and  fight  for  bitten  apples  j8  that  no 

Again,  in  Greene's  Tu  Qtioque  : 

" Go,  y'are  a  prating  jack  ; 

"  Nor  is't  your  hopes  of  crying  out  for  clubs, 

"  Can  save  you  from  my  chastisement."     WH ALLEY. 

So,  in  the  third  Act  of  The  Puritan,  when  Oath  and  Skirmish 
are  going  to  fight,  Simon  cries,  "  Clubs,  clubs .'"  and  Aaron 
does  the  like  in  Titus  Andronicus,  when  Chiron  and  Demetrius 
are  about  to  quarrel. 

Nor  did  this  practice  obtain  merely  amongst  the  lower  class 
of  people  :  for  in  The  First  Part  of  Henry  VI.  when  the  Mayor 
of  London  endeavours  to  interpose  between  the  factions  of  the 
Duke  of  Glocester,  and  the  Cardinal  of  Winchester,  he  says  : 
"  I'll  call  for  clubs,  if  you  will  not  away." 

M.  MASONT. 

* the  hope  of  the  Strand,']  Sir  T.  Hanmer  reads — the 

forlorn  hope.  JOHNSON. 

5 to  the  broomstaff' with  me,']  The  old  copy  has — to 

me.  Corrected  by  Mr.  Pope.  MALOXK. 

6 loose' shot,']  i.  e.  loose  or  random  shooters.  See 

Vol.  XII.  p.  H:5,  n.  :i.  MALOXK. 

7 ///ework:]      A  term  of  fortification.     STEEVKXS. 

* that  thunder  at  a  play-house,  and  fight  for  bitten 

apples ;~\  The  prices  of  seats  for  the  vulgar  in  our  ancient 
theatres  were  so  very  low,  that  we  cannot  wonder  if  they  were 
filled  with  the  tumultuous  company  described  by  Shakspearc  in 
this  scene. 

So,  in  The  G ul's  Hornbook,  by  Decker,  IGOf) :  "  Your 
groundling  and  gallery  commoner  buys  his  sport  by  the  penny." 


206  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

audience,  but  the  Tribulation  of  Tower-hill,  or  the 
limbs  of  Limehouse,9  their  dear  brothers,  are  able 

In  Wit  without  Money,  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  is  the  fol- 
lowing mention  of  them  :  "  — break  in  at  plays  like  prentices, 
for  three  a  groat,  and  crack  nuts  with  the  scholars  in  penny 
rooms  again." 

Again,  in  The  Black  Book,  1604-,  sixpenny  rooms  in  play- 
houses are  spoken  of. 

Again,  in  The  Bellman's  Night  Walks,  by  Decker,  1616  : 
"  Pay  thy  tivopence  to  a  player  in  this  gallery,  thou  may'st  sit 
by  a  harlot." 

Again,  in  the  Prologue  to  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Mad 
Lover  : 

"  How  many  tivopences  you've  stow'd  to-day !" 
The  prices  of  the  boxes  indeed  were  greater. 

So,  in  The  Gul's  Hornbook,  by  Decker,  1609 :  "  At  a  new 
playe  you  take  up  the  tivelvepenny  room  next  the  stage,  because 
the  lords  and  you  may  seeme  to  be  haile  fellow  well  met,"  &c. 

Again,  in  Wit  'without  Money  : 

"  And  who  extoll'd  you  in  the  half-crown  boxes, 
"  Where  you  might  sit  and  muster  all  the  beauties." 
And  lastly,  it  appears  from  the  Induction  to  Bartholomew 
Fair,  by  Ben  Jonson,  that  tobacco  was  smoked  in  the  same 
place :  "  He  looks  like  a  fellow  that  I  have  seen  accommodate 
gentlemen  with  tobacco  at  our  theatres."  And  from  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher's  Woman  Hater,  1607,  it  should  seem  that  beer 
was  sold  there :  "  There  is  no  poet  acquainted  with  more  shak- 
ings and  quakings  towards  the  latter  end  of  his  new  play,  when 
he's  in  that  case  that  he  stands  peeping  between  the  curtains  so 
fearfully,  that  a  bottle  of  ale  cannot  be  opened,  but  he  thinks 
somebody  hisses."  STEEVENS. 

See  the  Account  of  our  old  Theatres,  Vol.  III.     MA  LONE. 

9 the  Tribulation  of  Tower-hill,  or  the  limbs  of  Lime- 
house,]  I  suspect  the  Tribulation  to  have  been  a  puritanical 
meeting-house.  The  limbs  of  Limehouse  I  do  not  understand. 

JOHNSON. 

Dr.  Johnson's  conjecture  may  be  countenanced  by  the  follow- 
ing passage  in   "  Magnificence,  a  goodly  Interlude  and  a  mery, 
devised  and  made  by  Mayster  Skelton,  Poete  Laureate,  lately 
deceasyd."     Printed  by  John  Rastell,  fol.  no  date  : 
"  Some  fall  to  foly  them  selfe  for  to  spyll, 
"  And  some  fall  prechynge  on  toure  hyll"     STEEVENS. 


x.  in.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  207 

to  endure.  I  have  some  of  them  in  Limbo  Patrum^ 
and  there  they  are  like  to  dance  these  three  days; 


Alliteration  has  given  rise  to  many  cant  expressions,  consist- 
ing of  words  paired  together.  Here  we  have  cant  names  for  tin1 
inhabitants  of  those  places,  who  were  notorious  puritans,  coined 
for  the  humour  of  the  alliteration.  In  the  mean  time  it  must 
not  he  forgotten,  that  "  precious  limbs"  was  a  common  phrase 
of  contempt  for  the  puritans.  T.  WAKTOM. 

Limehouse  was,  before  the  time  of  Shakspeare,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  be  ever  since,  the  residence  of  those  who  furnish 
stores,  sails,  &c.  for  shipping.  A  great  number  of  foreigners 
having  been  constantly  employed  in  these  manufactures  (many 
of  which  were  introduced  from  other  countries)  they  assembled 
themselves  under  their  several  pastors,  and  a  number  of  places 
of  different  worship  were  built  in  consequence  of  their  respective 
associations.  As  they  clashed  in  principles  they  had  frequent 
quarrels,  and  the  place  has  ever  since  been  famous  for  the 
variety  of  its  sects,  and  the  turbulence  of  its  inhabitants.  It  i.s 
not  improbable  that  Shakspeare  wrote — the  lambs  of  Lime- 
house. 

A  limb  of  the  devil,  is,  however,  a  common  vulgarism ;  and 
in  A  neiv  Trick  to  cheat  the  Devil,  1639,  the  same  kind  of  expres- 
sion occurs : 

"  1  am  a  puritan ;  one  that  will  eat  no  pork, 
"  Doth  use  to  shut  his  shop  on  Saturdays, 
"  And  open  them  on  Sunday:  a  familist, 
"  And  one  of  the  arch  limbs  of  Belzebub." 
Again,  in  E-ccrij  Man  out  of' his  Humour: 

"  I  cannot  abide  these  lirnbs  of  sattin,  or  rather  Satan," 
c\.c.     STF.EVENS. 

The  word  limb,  in  the  sense  of  an  impudently  vicious  person, 
is  not  uncommon  in  London  at  this  day.  in  the  north  it  is  pro- 
nounced //////;,  and  means  a  mischievous  boy.  The  alteration 
suggested  by  Mr.Steevens  is,  however,  sufficiently  countenanced 
by  the  word  tribulation,  if  in  fact  the  allusion  be  to  the  puritans. 

Ill  I. SOX. 

It  appears  from  Stowe's  Survey  that  the  inhabitants  of  Tower- 
Lin  were  remarkably  turbulent. 

It  may,  houever,  be  doubted,  whether  this  passMge  was  le- 
velled at  the  spectators  assembled  in  any  of  the  theatres  in  .mr 
author's  time.  It  may  have  been  pointed  at.  some  apprentices 
and  inferior  citi/ens,  who  used  occasionally  to  appear  on  the 


208  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACTV. 

besides  the  running  banquet  of  two  beadles,2  that 
is  to  come. 


stage,  in  his  time,  for  their  amusement.  The  Palsgrave,  or 
Hector  of  Germany,  was  acted  in  1615,  by  a  company  of  citi- 
zens at  the  lied  Bull ;  and  The  Hog  hath  lost  his  Pearle,  a 
comedy,  1614,  is  said,  in  the  title-page,  to  have  been  publickly 
acted  by  certain  London  'prentices. 

The  fighting  Jbr  bitten  apples,  which  were  then,  as  at  pre- 
sent, thrown  on  the  stage,  [See  the  Induction  to  Bartholomew 
Fair:  "  Your  judgment,  rascal;  for  what? — Sweeping  the 
stage?  or,  gathering  up  the  broken  apples  ?" — ]  and  the  words — 
'«  which  no  audience  can  endure,"  might  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  these  thunderers  at  the  play-house  were  actors,  and  not 
spectators. 

The  limbs  of  Limehouse,  their  dear  brothers,  were,  perhaps, 
young  citizens,  who  went  to  see  their  friends  wear  the  buskin. 
A  passage  in  The  Staple  of  Neus,  by  Ben  Jonson,  Act  III. 
sc.  last,  may  throw  some  light  on  that  now  before  us :  *'  Why, 
I  had  it  from  my  maid  Joan  Hearsay,  and  she  had  it  from  a 
limb  of  the  school,  she  says,  a  little  limb  of  nine  years  old. — 
An  there  were  no  wiser  than  I,  I  would  have  ne'er  a  cunning 
school-master  in  England. — They  make  all  their  scholars  play- 
boys. Is't  not  a  fine  sight,  to  see  all  our  children  made  inter- 
luders  ?  Do  we  pay  our  money  for  this  ?  We  send  them  to 
learn  their  grammar  and  their  Terence,  and  they  learn  their 
play-books." — School-boys,  apprentices,  the  students  in  the  inns 
of  court,  and  the  members  of  the  universities,  all,  at  this  time, 
wore  occasionally  the  sock  or  the  buskin. — However,  I  am  by 
no  means  confident  that  this  is  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
passage  before  us.  MALONE. 

It  is  evident  that  The  Tribulation,  from  its  site,  must  have 
been  a  place  of  entertainment  for  the  rabble  of  its  precincts, 
and  the  limbs  of  Limehouse  such  performers  as  furnished  out  the 
show.  HENLEY. 

The  Tribulation  does  not  sound  in  my  ears  like  the  name  of 
any  place  of  entertainment,  unless  it  were  particularly  designed 
for  the  use  of  Religion's  prudes,  the  Puritans.  Mcrcutio  or 
True-wit  would  not  have  been  attracted  by  such  an  appellation, 
though  it  might  operate  forcibly  on  the  saint-like  organs  of 
Ebenezer  or  Ananias. 

Shakspcare,  I  believe,  meant  to  describe  an  audience  familiar- 
ized to  excess  of  noise  ;  and  why  should  we  suppose  the  Tribu- 
lation was  not  a  puritanical  meeting-house  because  it  was  noisy? 


sc.  m.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  209 


Enter  the  Lord  Chamberlain. 

CHAM.  Mercy  o'me,  what  a  multitude  are  here! 

They  grow  still  too,  from  all  parts  they  are  coming, 

As  if  we  kept  a  fair  here!  Where  are  these  porters, 

These  lazy  knaves  ? — Ye  have  made  a  fine  hand, 

fellows. 


I  can  easily  conceive  that  the  turbulence  of  the  most  clamorous 
theatre,  has  been  exceeded  by  the  bellowings  of  puritanism 
against  surplices  and  farthingales;  and  that  our  upper  gallery, 
during  Christinas  week,  is  a  sober  consistory,  compared  with  the 
vehemence  of  fanatick  harangues  against  Bel  and  the  Dragon, 
that  idol  Starch,  the  anti-christian  Hierarchy,  and  the  Whore  of 
Babylon. 

Neither  do  I  see  with  what  propriety  the  limbs  of  Limehouse 
could  be  called  "  young  citizens,"  according  to  Mr.  Malone's 
supposition.  Were  the  inhabitants  of  this  place  (almost  two 
miles  distant  from  the  capital)  ever  collectively  entitled  citizens? 
The  phrase,  dear  brothers,  is  very  plainly  used  to  point  out  some 
fraternity  of  canters  allied  to  the  Tribulation  both  in  pursuits 
and  manners,  by  tempestuous  zeal  and  consummate  ignorance. 

STI:  EVENS. 

1  in  Limbo  Pair  urn, ~\     He  means,  in  confinement.     In 

limbo  continues  to  be  a  cant  phrase,  in  the  same  sense,  at  this 
day.  MALOKE. 

The  Limbns  Pat  mm  is,  properly,  the  place  where  the  old 
Fathers  and  Patriarchs  are  supposed  to  be  waiting  for  the  resur- 
rection. See  note  on  Titus  Andronicns,  Act  III.  sc.  i.  RI:KD. 

running  banquet  of  two  beadles,']     A  publick  whipping. 

JOHNSON. 

This  phrase,  otherwise  applied,  has  already  occurred,  p.  51  : 

" some  of  these 

"  Should  find  a  running  banquet  ere  they  rested." 

A  banquet,  in  ancient  language,  did  not  signify  citluT  dinner 
or  supper,  but  the  desert  alter  each  of  them.  So,  in  Thomas 
Newton's  Herbal  to  the  Bible,  Svo.  1.-3S7  :  "  — and  are  UM-d  to 
be  served  at  the  end  of  meales  lor  a  junket  or  banijiit'tting  dish, 
as  sucket  and  other  daintie  conceits  likewise  are." 

To  the  confinement,  therefore,  of  these  rioters,  a  whipping 
•was  to  be  the  desert.  STEEVEXS. 

VOL.    XV.  1* 


210  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

There's  a  trim  rabble  let  in :  Are  all  these 
Your  faithful  friends  o'the  suburbs  ?  We  shall  have 
Great  store  of  room,  no  doubt,  left  for  the  ladies, 
When  they  pass  back  from  the  christening. 

PORT.  An't  please  your  honour, 

We  are  but  men ;  and  what  so  many  may  do, 
Not  being  torn  a  pieces,  we  have  done : 
An  army  cannot  rule  them. 

CHAM.  As  I  live, 

If  the  king  blame  me  for't,  I'll  lay  ye  all 
By  the  heels,  and  suddenly ;  and  on  your  heads 
Clap  round  fines,  for  neglect:  You  are  lazy  knaves ; 
And  here  ye  lie  baiting  of  bumbards,3  when 
Ye  should  do  service.     Hark,  the  trumpets  sound  j 
They  are  come  already  from  the  christening  : 
Go,  break  among  the  press,  and  find  a  way  out 
To  let  the  troop  pass  fairly ;  or  I'll  find 
A  Marshalsea,  shall  hold  you  play  these  two  months. 

PORT.  Make  way  there  for  the  princess. 

MAN.  You  great  fellow,  stand  close  up,  or  I'll 
make  your  head  ake. 

PORT.  You  i'the  camblet,  get  up  o'the  rail  ;4  I'll 
pick  you  o'er  the  pales  else.5  [Exeunt. 

3  here  ye  lie  baiting  of  bumbards, }     A  bumbard  is  an 

ale-barrel ;  to  bait  bumbards  is  to  tipple,  to  lie  at  the  spigot. 

JOHNSON. 

It  appears  from  a  passage  already  quoted  in  a  note  on  The 
Tempest,  Act  II.  sc.  ii.  out  of  Shirley's  Martyr' d  Soldier,  1638, 
that  bumbards  were  the  large  vessels  in  which  the  beer  was  car- 
ried to  soldiers  upon  duty.  They  resembled  blackjacks  of  lea- 
ther. So,  in  Woman's  a  Weathercock,  1612:  "  She  looks  like 
a  black  bombard  with  a  pint  pot  waiting  upon  it."  STEEVENS. 

4  get  up  o'the  rail ;]     We  must  rather  read — get  up 

off  the  rail, — or, — get  offthe  rail.     M.  MASON. 

6  I'll  pick  you  o'er  the  pales  else.'}     To  pick  is  to  pitch. 

"  To  pick  a  dart,"  Cole  renders,  jacidor.  DICT.  1679.     See  a 


sc.iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  211 

SCENE    IV. 

The  Palace.6 

Enter  Trumpets,  sounding;  then  two  Aldermen, 
Lord  Mayor,  Garter,  CRANMER,  Duke  O/^NOR- 
FOLK,  tt'iY/j  his  Marshal's  Staff,  Duke  of  SUF- 
FOLK, two  Noblemen  bearing  great  slanding- 
boids"  for  the  christening  gifts  ;  then  four  No- 
blemen bearing  a  canopy,  under  which  the 
Duchess  of  NORFOLK,  godmother,  bearing  the 
child  rich  1 1/  habited  in  a  mantle,  fyc.  Train 
borne  by  a  Lady :  then  follows  the  Marchioness 
of  DORSET,  Ihe  other  godmother,  and  Ladies. 
The  Troop  pass  once  about  the  stage,  and  Garter 
speaks. 

GART.  Heaven,  from  thy  endless  goodness,8  send 
prosperous  life,  long,  and  ever  happy,  to  the  high 
and  mighty  princess  of  England,  Elizabeth  ! 

note  on  Coriolanns,  Act  I.  sc.  i.  where  the  word  is,  as  I  conceive, 
rightly  spelt.     Here  the  spelling  in  the  old  copy  is  peck. 

MALONE. 

To  pick  and  to  pilch  were  anciently  synonymous.  So,  in 
Stubbes's  Anatomy  of  Abuses,  1595,  p.  l.'JS:  "  — to  catch  him 
on  the  hip,  and  to  pickc  him  on  his  necke." 

Again,  ibid :  "  to  pickc  him  on  his  nose,"  &c.     STEEVEXS. 

0  The  Palacc.~\  At  Greenwich,  when-,  as  we  learn  from 
Hall,  fo.  '217,  this  procession  was  made  from  the  church  of  the 
Friars.  REED. 

'  standing-bowls — ]      i.  e.    bowls   elevated    on   feet   or 

pedestals.     So,  in  Chapman's  version  of  the  'Jl3d  Iliad  : 

" a  great  new  standing-bawl, 

u  To  set  downc  both  ways."     STKKVKN^. 

v   Heaven,  from  tJiij  endless  goodnc™,  &c.~]     These  words  are 

l'  2 


212  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  v. 

Flourish.    Enter  King,  and  Tram. 

CRAN.  [_KneeUng.~]  And  to  your  royal  grace,  and 

the  good  queen, 

My  noble  partners,  and  myself,  thus  pray ; — 
All  comfort,  joy,  in  this  most  gracious  lady, 
Heaven  ever  laid  up  to  make  parents  happy, 
May  hourly  fall  upon  ye  ! 

K.  HEN.  Thank  you,  good  lord  archbishop  ;9 
What  is  her  name  ? 

CRAN.  Elizabeth. 

K.  HEN.  Stand  up,  lord. — 

\_The  King  kisses  the  Child. 

With  this  kiss  take  my  blessing:  God  protect  thee ! 
Into  whose  hands  I  give  thy  life. 

CRAN.  Amen. 

K.  HEN.  My  noble  gossips,  ye  have  been  too 

prodigal : 

I  thank  ye  heartily ;  so  shall  this  lady, 
When  she  has  so  much  English. 

CRAN.  Let  me  speak,  sir, 

For  Heaven  now  bids  me  ;  and  the  words  I  utter 
Let  none  think  flattery,  for  they'll  find  them  truth. 
This  royal  infant,  (heaven  still  move  about  her !) 
Though  in  her  cradle,  yet  now  promises 
Upon  this  land  a  thousand  thousand  blessings, 
Which  time  shall  bring  to  ripeness  :  She  shall  be 

not  the  invention  of  the  poet,  having  been  pronounced  at  the 
christening  of  Elizabeth.  See  Hall's  Chronicle,  Henry  VIII. 
fol.  218.  MALONE. 

fl  Thank  yon,  goad  lord  archbishop ;]  I  suppose  the  word 
archbishop  should  be  omitted,  as  it  only  serves  to  spoil  the  mea- 
sure. Be  it  remembered  also  that  archbishop,  throughout  this 
play,  is  accented  on  the  first  syllable.  STEEVENS. 


sc.iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  213 

(But  few  now  living  can  behold  that  goodness,) 
A  pattern  to  all  princes  living  with  her, 
And  all  that  shall  succeed :  Sheba  was  never 
More  covetous  of  wisdom,  and  fair  virtue, 
Than  this  pure  soul  shall  be  :  all  princely  graces, 
That  mould  up  such  a  might)7  piece  as  this  is, 
With  all  the  virtues  that  attend  the  good, 
Shall  still  be  doubled  on  her :  truth  shall  nurse  her, 
Holy  and  heavenly  thoughts  still  counsel  her : 
She  shall  be  lov'd,  and  fear'd  :  Her  own  shall  bless 

her  : 

Her  foes  shake  like  a  field  of  beaten  corn, 
And  hang  their  heads  with  sorrow  :  Good  grows 

with  her : 

In  her  days,  every  man  shall  eat  in  safety 
Under  his  own  vine,1  what  he  plants  ;  and  sing 
The  merry  songs  of  peace  to  all  his  neighbours : 
God  shall  be  truly  known  ;  and  those  about  her 
From  her  shall  read  the  perfect  ways  of  honour,* 

1  every  man  shall  eat  in  safety 

Under  his  own  vine,']  This  part  of  the  prophecy  seems  to 
have  been  burlesqued  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  in  The  Beggar's 
fiuxh,  where  orator  Higgin  is  making  his  congratulatory  speech 
to  the  new  king  of  the  beggars  : 

"  Each  man  shall  eat  his  stolen  eggs,  and  butter, 

"  In  his  own  shade,  or  sunshine,"  &c. 

The  original  thought,  however,  is  borrowed  from  the  4th  chapter 
of  the  first  Book  of  Kings  :  "  Every  man  dwelt  safely  under  his 
vine."  STEEVENS. 

A  similar  expression  is  in  Micah,  iv.  4:  "  But  they  shall  sit 
every  man  under  his  vine,  and  under  his  fig  tree,  and  none  shall 
make  them  afraid."  REED. 

•  From  her  .shall  read  the  perfect  ways  of  honour,"]  '\  he  old 
copy  reads — UYJ//.  The  slight  emendation  now  made  is  tully 
justified  by  the  subsequent  line,  and  by  the  scriptural  expression 
which  our  author  probably  had  in  his  thoughts:  "Her  ways 
.»re  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  arc  peace." 

MA  LONE. 


214  KING  HENRY  VIII.  ACT  r. 

And  by  those  claim  their  greatness,  not  by  blood. 
[Nor  shall  this  peace  sleep  with  her:3  But  as  when 

Thus,  already  in  this  play : 

" Wolsey,  that  once  trod  the  -ways  of  glory — ." 

STEEVENS. 

By  those,  in  the  last  line,  means  by  those  ways,  and  proves 
that  we  must  read  'ways,  instead  of  way,  in  the  line  preceding. 
Shall  read  from  her,  means,  shall  learn  from  her.  M.  MASON. 

3  [JVor  shall  this  peace  sleep  with  her:  &c.]  These  lines, 
to  the  interruption  by  the  King,  seem  to  have  been  inserted  at 
some  revisal  of  the  play,  after  the  accession  of  King  James.  If 
the  passage,  included  in  crotchets,  be  left  out,  the  speech  of 
Cranmer  proceeds  in  a  regular  tenour  of  prediction,  and  con- 
tinuity of  sentiments  ;  but,  by  the  interposition  of  the  new  lines, 
he  first  celebrates  Elizabeth's  successor,  and  then  wishes  he  did 
not  know  that  she  was  to  die ;  first  rejoices  at  the  consequence, 
and  then  laments  the  cause.  Our  author  was  at  once  politick 
and  idle ;  he  resolved  to  flatter  James,  but  neglected  to  reduce 
the  whole  speech  to  propriety ;  or  perhaps  intended  that  the  lines 
inserted  should  be  spoken  in  the  action,  and  omitted  in  the 
publication,  if  any  publication  was  ever  in  his  thoughts.  Mr. 
Theobald  has  made  the  same  observation.  JOHNSON. 

I  agree  entirely  with  Dr.  Johnson  with  respect  to  the  time 
when  these  additional  lines  were  inserted.  See  An  Attempt  to 
ascertain  the  Order  of  Shakspeare's  Plays,  Vol.  II.  I  suspect 
they  were  added  in  1613,  after  Shakspeare  had  quitted  the  stage, 
by  that  hand  which  tampered  with  the  other  parts  of  the  play 
so  much,  as  to  have  rendered  the  versification  of  it  of  a  different 
colour  from  all  the  other  plays  of  Shakspeare.  MALONE. 

Such  indeed  were  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Roderick,  though 
the  examples  adduced  by  him  in  support  of  them  are,  in  my 
judgment,  undecisive.  See  Canons  of  Criticism,  edit.  1763, 
p.  263.  But,  were  the  fact  as  he  has  stated  it,  we  know  not 
how  far  our  poet  might  have  intentionally  deviated  from  his 
usual  practice  of  versification. 

If  the  reviver  of  this  play  (or  tamperer  with  it,  as  he  is 
styled  by  Mr.  Malone,)  had  so  much  influence  over  its  numbers 
as  to  have  entirely  changed  their  texture,  he  must  be  supposed 
to  have  new  woven  the  substance  of  the  whole  piece ;  a  fact 
almost  incredible. 

The  lines  under  immediate  consideration  were  very  probably 
furnished  by  Ben  Jonson  ;  for 

"  When  heaven  shall  call  her  from  this  cloud  of  dark- 


sc.iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  215 

The  bird  of  wonder  dies,  the  maiden  pha>nix, 

Her  ashes  new  create  another  heir, 

As  great  in  admiration  as  herself; 

So  shall  she  leave  her  blessedness  to  one, 

(When  heaven  shall  call  her  from  this  cloud  of 

darkness,) 

Who,  from  the  sacred  ashes  of  her  honour, 
Shall  star-like  rise,  as  great  in  fame  as  she  was, 
And  so  stand fixM:  Peace,plenty,love, truth, terror, 
That  were  the  servants  to  this  chosen  infant, 
Shall  then  be  his,  and  like  a  vine  grow  to  him ; 
Wherever  the  bright  sun  of  heaven  shall  shine, 
His  honour  and  the  greatness  of  his  name 
Shall  be,  and  make  new  nations:4  He  shall  flourish, 
And,  like  a  mountain  cedar,  reach  his  branches 
To  all  the  plains  about  him  : Our  children's 

children 
Shall  see  this,  and  bless  heaven. 

K.  HEX.  Thou  speakest  wonders.] 

CHAN.  She  shall  be,  to  the  happiness  of  England, 
An  aged  princess  ; 5  many  days  shall  see  her, 

(meaning  the  "dim  spot"  we  live  in,)  is  a  seeming  imitation 
of  the  following  passage  in  the  9th  Book  of  Lucan  (a  poet  from 
whose  stores  old  lien  has  often  enriched  himself)  : 

quanta  sub  node  jaceret 

Nostra  dies. STEEVEN.S. 

4  His  honour  and  the  greatness  of  his  name 

Shall  be,  and  make  neiv  nations:]  On  a  picture  of  this 
contemptible  king,  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  greal  Bacon, 
and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Grimston,  lie  is  styled 
imperil  Atlantic!  conditor.  The  year  before  the  revival  of  this 
play  (1(U'2)  there  was 'a  lottery  for  the  plantation  of  Virginia. 
These  lines  probably  allude  to  the  settlement  of  that  colony. 

.M.A  LONE. 

5  She  Khali  be,  to  the  happiness  of  England, 

An  aged  princess;]  The  transition  here  from  the  compli- 
mentary address  to  King  James  the  First  is  so  abrupt,  that  it 


216  KING  HENRY  VIII.  4CT  v. 

And  yet  no  day  without  a  deed  to  crown  it. 
'Would  I  had  known  no  more !  but  she  must  die, 
She  must,  the  saints  must  have  her ;  yet  a  virgin, 
A  most  unspotted  lily  shall  she  pass 
To  the  ground,  and  all  the  world  shall  mourn  her. 

K.  HEN.  O  lord  archbishop, 
Thou  hast  made  me  now  a  man  ;  never,  before 
This  happy  child,  did  I  get  any  thing : 
This  oracle  of  comfort  has  so  pleas' d  me, 
That,  when  I  am  in  heaven,  I  shall  desire 
To  see  what  this  child  does,  and  praise  my  Maker.-— 
I  thank  ye  all, — To  you,  my  good  lord  mayor, 
And  your  good  brethren,6  I  am  much  beholden  j 
I  have  received  much  honour  by  your  presence, 

seems  obvious  to  me,  that  compliment  was  inserted  after  the 
accession  of  that  prince.  If  this  play  was  wrote,  as  in  my 
opinion  it  was,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  we  may  easily 
determine  where  Cranmer's  eulogium  of  that  princess  concluded. 
I  make  no  question  but  the  poet  rested  here  : 

And  by  those  claim  their  greqtness,  not  by  blood. 
All  that  the  bishop  says  after  this,  was  an  occasional  homage 
paid  to  her  successor,  and  evidently  inserted  after  her  demise. 
How  naturally,  without  this  insertion,  does  the  king's  joy  and 
satisfactory  reflection  upon  the  bishop's  prophecy,  come  in  ! 

King.  Thou  spcakest  wonders.     O  lord  archbishop, 
Thou'st  made  me  noiv  a  man.     Never,  before 
This  happy  child,  did  I  get  any  thing :  &c. 

Whether  the  king  would  so  properly  have  made  this  inference, 
upon  hearing  that  a  child  of  so  great  hopes  should  die  without 
issue,  is  submitted  to  judgment.  THEOBALD. 

6  And  your  good  brethren^  Old  copy — you.  But  the  alder- 
men were  never  called  brethren  to  the  king.  The  top  of  the 
nobility  are  but  cousins  and  counsellors.  Dr.  Thirlby,  therefore, 
rightly  advised : 

And  your  good  brethren, 

i.  e.  the  lord  mayor's  brethren,  which  is  properly  their  style. 

THEOBALD. 

So,  in  King  Henry  V : 

"  The  mayor  and  all  his  brethren  in  best  sort." 

MALONE. 


sc.  iv.  KING  HENRY  VIII.  217 

And  ye  shall  find  me  thankful.     Lead  the  way, 

lords  ; — 

Ye  must  all  see  the  queen,  and  she  must  thank  ye, 
She  will  be  sick  else.     This  day,  no  man  think 
He  has  business  at  his  house ;  for  all  shall  stay, 
This  little  one  shall  make  it  holiday.7      [Exeunt.* 

7  This  little  one  shall  make  it  holiday.]  The  old  comedy  of 
Grim  the  Collier  of  Croydon  concludes  with  a  similar  idea : 

"  And  all  hell  o'er,  we'll  make  it  holiday.'" 
Hence,  perhaps,  the  following  stroke  of  infernal  jocularity  in 
Dryden's  (Edipns: 

"  . we  play, 

"  For  hell's  broke  up,  and  ghosts  have  holiday" 

STEEVENS. 

9  The  play  of  Henry  the  Eighth  is  one  of  those  which  still  keeps 
possession  of  the  stage  by  the  splendour  of  its  pageantry.  The 
coronation,  about  forty  years  ago,  drew  the  people  together  in 
multitudes  for  a  great  part  of  the  winter.*  Yet  pomp  is  not  the 
only  merit  of  this  play.  The  meek  sorrows  and  virtuous  distress 
of  Katharine  have  furnished  some  scenes,  which  may  be  justly 
numbered  among  the  greatest  efforts  of  tragedy.  But  the  genius 
of  Shakspeare  comes  in  and  goes  out  with  Katharine.  Every 
other  part  may  be  easily  conceived  and  easily  written. 

JOHNSON. 

*  Chetwood  says  that,  during  one  season,  it  was  exhibited  75  times.  See  I  I'M 
History  of  the  Stage,  p.  68.  STKXVENS. 


EPILOGUE. 


'Tis  ten  to  one,  this  play  can  never  please 
AH  that  are  here :  Some  come  to  take  their  ease, 
And  sleep  an  act  or  two ;  but  those,  we  fear, 
We  have  frighted  with  our  trumpets ;  so,  'tis  clear, 
They'll  say,  'tis  naught:  others,  to  hear  the  city 
Abus'd  extremely,  and  to  cry, — that's  nitty  !. 
Which  we  have  not  done  neither :  that,  I  fear, 
All  the  expected  good  we  are  like  to  hear 
For  this  play  at  this  time,  is  only  in 
The  merciful  construction  of  good  women;1 
For  such  a  one  we  show'd  them  ; 2  If  they  smile,3 
And  say,  'twill  do,  I  know,  within  a  while 


The  merciful  construction  of  good  women;]  A  verse,  with 
as  unmusical  a  close,  may  be  found  in  Burton's  Anatomy  of 
Melancholy,  Part  III.  sect.  ii. 

"  Rose,  the  pleasure  of  fine  ivomen," 

In  Ben  Jonson's  Alchemist  there  is  also  a  line  in  which  the  word 
teamen  is  accented  on  the  last  syllable  : 

"  And  then  your  red  man,  and  your  white  woman." 

Act  II.  sc.  iii.     STEEVENS. 

such  a   one  me   shoiu'd  them  ;]     In  the    character  of 


Katharine.     JOHNSON. 


3  -  If  they  smile,  &c.]  This  thought  is  too  much  hacknied. 
It  has  been  used  already  in  the  Epilogues  to  As  you  like  it  and 
The  Second  Part  of  King  Henry  IV.  STEEVENS. 

Though  it  is  very  difficult  to  decide  whether  short  pieces  be 
genuine  or  spurious,  yet  I  cannot  restrain  myself  from  expressing 
my  suspicion  that  neither  the  Prologue  nor  Epilogue  to  this  play 
is  the  work  of  Shakspeare;  non  vultus,  non  color.  It  appears 
to  me  very  likely  that  they  were  supplied  by  the  friendship  or 


EPILOGUE.  210 

All  the  best  men  are  ours;  for  'tis  ill  hap, 
If  they  hold,  when  their  ladies  bid  them  clap. 

officiousness  of  Jonson,  whose  manner  they  will  be  perhaps 
found  exactly  to  resemble.  There  is  yet  another  supposition 
possible  :  the  Prologue  and  Epilogue  may  have  been  written  alter 
Shakspeare's  departure  from  the  stage,  upon  some  accidental 
revival  of  the  play,  and  there  will  then  be  reason  for  imagining 
that  the  writer,  whoever  he  was,  intended  no  great  kindness  to 
him,  this  play  being  recommended  by  a  subtle  and  covert  cen- 
sure of  his  other  works.  There  is,  in  Shakspeare,  so  much  of 
fool  and  fight ; 

" the  fellow, 

"  In  a  long  motley  coat,  guarded  with  yellow," 
appears  so  often  in  his  drama,  that  I  think  it  not  very  likely  that 
he  would  have  animadverted  so  severely  on  himself.  All  this, 
however,  must  be  received  as  very  dubious,  since  we  know  not 
the  exact  date  of  this  or  the  other  plays,  and  cannot  tell  how 
our  author  might  have  changed  his  practice  or  opinions. 

JOHXSON. 

Dr.  Johnson's  conjecture,  thus  cautiously  stated,  has  been 
since  strongly  confirmed  by  Mr.  Tyrwhitt's  note,  p.  5,  by  which 
it  appears  that  this  play  was  revived  in  H51.S,  at  which  time, 
without  doubt,  the  Prologue  and  Epilogue  were  added  by  Uen 
Jonson,  or  some  other  person.  On  the  subject  of  every  one  of 
our  author's  historical  pieces,  except  this,  I  believe  a  play  had 
been  written,  before  he  commenced  a  dramatick  poet.  See  the 
Essay  at  the  end  of  The  Third  Part  of  king  Henry  II. 

MA  i. ONE. 

I  entirely  agree  in  opinion  with  Dr.  Johnson,  that  Hen  Jonson 
wrote  the  Prologue  find  Epilogue  to  this  play.  Shakspeare  had, 
a  little  before,  assisted  him  in  his  St-janus  ;  and  Hen  was  too 
proud  to  receive  assistance  without  returning  it.  It  is  probable, 
that  he  drew  up  the  directions  lor  the  parade  at  tiic  christening, 
&c.  which  his  employment  at  court  would  teach  him,  and  Shak- 
speare must  be  ignorant  of.  1  think,  I  now  and  then  perceive 
his  hand  in  the  dialogue. 

It  appears  from  Stowe,  that  Robert  Greene  wrote  somewhat 
on  this  subject.  FAK.MKK. 

See  the  first  scene  of  this  play,  p.  15.      MAI.ONT. 

Tn  support  of  Dr.  Johnson's  opinion  it  may  not  bo  amiss  to 
quote  the  following  lines  from  old  Hen's  Prologue  to  his  Every 
llun  in  hi*  Humour: 


220  EPILOGUE. 

"  To  make  a  child  new  swaddled,  to  proceed 
"  Man,  and  then  shoot  up,  in  one  beard  and  weed, 
"  Past  threescore  years  :  or  with  three  rusty  swords, 
"  And  help  of  some  few  foot-and-half-foot  words, 
"  Fight  over  York  and  Lancaster's  long  wars, 
"  And  in  the  tyring-house,"  &c.     STEEVENS. 

The  historical  dramas  are  now  concluded,  of  which  the  two 
Parts  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  and  Henry  the  Fifth,  are  among 
the  happiest  of  our  author's  compositions;  and  King  John, 
Richard  the  Third,  and  Henry  the  Eighth,  deservedly  stand  in 
the  second  class.  Those  whose  curiosity  would  refer  the  histori- 
cal scenes  to  their  original,  may  consult  Holinshed,  and  some- 
times Hall :  from  Holinshed,  Shakspeare  has  often  inserted  whole 
speeches,  with  no  more  alteration  than  was  necessary  to  the 
numbers  of  his  verse.  To  transcribe  them  into  the  margin  was 
unnecessary,  because  the  original  is  easily  examined,  and  they 
are  seldom  less  perspicuous  in  the  poet  than  in  the  historian. 

To  play  histories,  or  to  exhibit  a  succession  of  events  by  ac- 
tion and  dialogue,  was  a  common  entertainment  among  our  rude 
ancestors  upon  great  festivities.  The  parish  clerks  once  per- 
formed at  Clerkenwell  a  play  which  lasted  three  days,  contain- 
ing The  History  of  the  World.  JOHNSON. 

It  appears  from  more  than  one  MS.  in  the  British  Museum, 
that  the  tradesmen  of  Chester  were  three  days  employed  in  the 
representation  of  their  twenty -four  Whitsun  plays  or  mysteries. 
The  like  performances  at  Coventry  must  have  taken  up  a  longer 
time,  as  they  were  no  less  than  forty  in  number.  The  exhibi- 
tion of  them  began  on  Corpus  Christi  day,  which  was  (accord- 
ing to  Dugdale)  one  of  their  ancient  fairs.  See  the  Harleian 
MSS.  No.  2013,  2124-,  2125,  and  MS.  Cot.  Vesp.  D.  VIII.  and 
Dugdale's  Warwickshire,  p.  116.  STEEVENS. 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 


*  TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA,]  The  story  was  originally  writ- 
ten by  Lollius,  an  old  Lombard  author,  uud  since  by  Chaucer. 

POPE. 

Mr.  Pope  (after  Dryden)  informs  us,  that  the  story  of  Troilua 
and  Cressida  was  originally  the  work  of  one  Lollius,  a  Lombard; 
(of  whom  Gascoigne  speaks  in  Dan  Bartholmnve  his  Jirst 
Triumph  :  "  Since  Lollius  and  Chaucer  both,  make  doubt  upon 
that  glose,")  but  Dryden  goes  yet  further.  He  declares  it  to 
have  been  written  in  Latin  verse,  and  that  Chaucer  translated  it. 
Lollius  was  a  historiographer  of  Urbino  in  Italy.  Shakspeare 
received  the  greatest  part  of  his  materials  for  the  structure  of 
this  play  from  the  Troyc  Boke  of  Lydgate.  Lydgate  was  not 
much  more  than  a  translator  of  Guido  of  Columpna,  who  wa3 
of  Messina  in  Sicily,  and  wrote  his  History  of  Troy  in  Latin, 
after  Dictys  Cretensis,  and  Dares  Phrygius,  in  1287.  On  these, 
as  Mr.  Warton  observes,  he  engrafted  many  new  romantick  in- 
ventions, which  the  taste  of  his  age  dictated,  and  which  the  con- 
nection between  Grecian  and  Gothick  fiction  easily  admitted  ;  at 
the  same  time  comprehending  in  his  plan  the  Theban  and  Argo- 
nautic  stories  from  Ovid,  Statins,  and  Valerius  Flaccus.  Guido'S 
work  was  published  at  Cologne  in  1 1-77,  again  1-1-80:  at  Stras- 
burgh,  1 1-86,  and  ibidem,  118!).  It  appears  to  have  been  trans- 
lated by  liaoul  le  Feure,  at  Cologne,  into  French,  from  whom 
Caxton  rendered  it  into  English  in  1171,  under  the  title  of  his 
JJeciiyel,  &c.  so  that  there  must  have  been  yet  some  earlier  edi- 
tion of  Guido's  performance  than  I  have  hitherto  seen  or  heard 
of,  unless  liis  first  translator  had  recourse  to  a  manuscript. 

Guido  of  Columpna  is  referred  to  as  an  authority  by  our  own 
chronicler  Grafton.  Chaucer  had  made  the  loves  ot'Troilus  and 
Cressida  famous,  which  very  probably  mitrht  have  been  Shak- 
speare's  inducement  to  try  their  fortune  on  thestage. — Lyclgate's 
Troue  Bokr  was  printed  by  Pynson,  1513.  In  the  books  of  the 
Stationers'  Company,  anno  1581,  is  entered  "  A  proper  ballad, 
dialogue-wise,  between  Troilus  and  Cressida"  Again,  Feb.  7, 
1602:  "  Th«j  booke  of  Troilus  and  Cressida,  as  it  is  acted  by 
my  Lo.  Chamberlain's  men."  The  first  of  these  entries  i*  in  the 
name  of  Edward  White,  the  second  in  that  of  M.  Roberts. 
Again,  Jan.  28, 1608,  entered  by  Rich,  ttoninn  and  Hen.Whalley, 
"  A  booke  called  the  history  of  Troilu.f  and  Crcsrida." 

STEKVKNS. 

The  entry  in  ICOS-f)  was  made  by  the  booksellers  for  whom 
this  play  was  published  in  1(>0!>.  It  was  written,  I  conceive, 
in  1602.  See  An  Attempt  to  ascertain  the  Order  of  Shak.ycare's 
Plays,  Vol.  II.  MA  LONE. 

Before  this  play  of  Troilus  and  Cres.sicta,  printed  ui  KJ09,  i» 


a  bookseller's  preface,  showing  that  first  impression  to  have  been 
before  the  play  had  been  acted,  and  that  it  was  published  with- 
out Shakspeare's  knowledge,  from  a  copy  that  had  fallen  into 
the  bookseller's  hands.  Mr.  Dryden  thinks  this  one  of  the  first 
of  our  author's  plays :  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  may  be  judged, 
from  the  fore-mentioned  preface,  that  it  was  one  of  his  last ;  and 
the  great  number  of  observations,  both  moral  and  politick,  with 
which  this  piece  is  crouded  more  than  any  other  of  his,  seems 
to  confirm  my  opinion.  POPE. 

We  may  learn,  from  this  preface,  that  the  original  proprietors 
of  Shakspeare's  plays  thought  it  their  interest  to  keep  them  un- 
printed.  The  author  of  it  adds,  at  the  conclusion,  these  words : 
"  Thank  fortune  for  the  'scape  it  hath  made  among  you,  since, 
by  the  grand  possessors  wills,  I  believe  you  should  rather  have 
prayed  for  them,  than  have  been  prayed,"  &c.  By  the  grand 
possessors,  I  suppose,  were  meant  Heming  and  Condell,  It  ap- 
pears that  the  rival  play-houses  at  that  time  made  frequent  de- 
predations 'on  one  another's  copies.  In  the  Induction  to  The 
Malcontent,  written  by  Webster,  and  augmented  by  Marston, 
1606,  is  the  following  passage : 

"  I  wonder  you  would  play  it,  another  company  having  in- 
terest in  it." 

"  Why  not  Malevole  in  folio  with  us,  as  Jeronimo  in  decimo 
sexto  with  them  ?  They  taught  us  a  name  for  our  play ;  we  call 
it  One  for  another." 

Again,  T.  Heywood,  in  his  Preface  to  The  English  Traveller, 
1638  :  "  Others  of  them  are  still  retained  in  the  hands  of  some 
actors,  who  think  it  against  their  peculiar  profit  to  have  them 
come  in  print."  STEEVENS. 

It  appears,  however,  that  frauds  were  practised  by  writers  as 
well  as  actors.  It  stands  on  record  against  Robert  Greene,  the 
author  of  Friar  Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay,  and  Orlando  Furioso, 
1594  and  1599,  that  he  sold  the  last  of  these  pieces  to  two  dif- 
ferent theatres  :  "  Master  R.  G.  would  it  not  make  you  blush,  &c. 
if  you  sold  not  Orlando  Furioso  to  the  Queen's  player^  for  twenty 
nobles,  and  when  they  were  in  the  country,  sold  the  same  play 
to  the  Lord  Admiral's  men  for  as  much  more  ?  Was  not  this 
plain  Coneycatching,  M.  G.?"  Defence  of  Coneycatching,  1592. 

This  note  was  not  merely  inserted  to  expose  the  crajt  of 
authorship,  but  to  show  the  price  which  was  anciently  paid  for 
the  copy  of  a  play,  and  to  ascertain  the  name  of  the  writer  of 
Orlando  Furioso,  which  was  not  hitherto  known.  Greene  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  first  poet  in  England  who  sold  the  same 
piece  to  different  people.  Voltaire  is  much  belied,  if  he  has  not 
followed  his  example.  COLLINS. 


Notwithstanding  what  has  boon  said  by  a  late  editor,  £  Mr. 
Capell,]  I  have  a  copy  of  \hcjirstjblioj  including  Troilus  and 
Cressida.  Indeed,  as  I  have  just  now  observed,  it  was  at  first 
either  unknown  OT  forgotten.  It  does  not  however  appear  in 
the  list  of  the  plays,  and  is  thrust  in  between  the  histories  and 
the  tragedies  without  any  enumeration  of  the  pages;  except, 
I  think,  on  one  leaf  only.  It  differs  entirely  from  the  copy  in 
the  second  Julio,  FAKMER. 

I  have  consulted  at  least  twenty  copies  of  the  fir  si  folio,  and 
Troilus  and  Cressida  is  not  wanting  in  any  of  them. 

STEBVSNS. 


VOL.   XV. 


PREFACE 

TO  THE  QUARTO  EDITION  OF  THJS  PLAY,  1609, 

A  never  Writer  to  an  ever  Reader.     Newes. 

Eternall  reader,  you  have  heere  a  new  play,  never  stal'd  with 
the  stage,  never  clapper-claw'd  with  the  palmes  of  the  vulger, 
and  yet  passing  full  of  the  palme  comicall ;  for  it  is  a  birth  of 
your  [r.  that~\  braine,  that  never  under-tooke  any  thing  com- 
micall,  vainely :  and  were  but  the  vaine  names  of  commedies 
changde  for  the  titles  of  commodities,  or  of  playes  for  pleas ; 
you  should  see  all  those  grand  censors,  that  now  stile  them  such 
vanities,  flock  to  them  for  the  maine  grace  of  their  gravities : 
especially  this  authors  commedies,  that  are  so  fram'd  to  the  life, 
that  they  serve  for  the  most  common  commentaries  of  all  the 
actions  of  our  lives,  shewing  such  a  dexteritie  and  power  of  witte, 
that  the  most  displeased  with  playes,  are  pleasd  with  his  comme- 
dies. And  all  such  dull  and  heavy-witted  worldlings,  as  were 
never  capable  of  the  witte  of  a  commedie,  comming  by  report 
of  them  to  his  representations,  have  found  that  witte  there,  that 
they  never  found  in  them-selves,  and  have  parted  better-wittied 
then  they  came :  feeling  an  edge  of  witte  set  upon  them,  more 
then  ever  they  dreamd  they  had  braine  to  grind  it  on.  So  much 
and  such  savored  salt  of  witte  is  in  his  commedies,  that  they 
seeme  (for  their  height  of  pleasure)  to  be  borne  in  that  sea  that 
brought  forth  Venus.  Amongst  all  there  is  none  more  witty 
than  this :  and  had  I  time  I  would  comment  upon  it,  though  I 
know  it  needs  not,  (for  so  much  as  will  make  you  thinke  your 
testerne  well  bestowd)  but  for  so  much  worth,  as  even  poore  I 
know  to  be  stuft  in  it.  It  deserves  such  a  labour,  as  well  as  the 
best  commedy  in  Terence  or  Plautus.  And  beleeve  this,  that 
when  hee  is  gone,  and  his  commedies  out  of  sale,  you  will 
scramble  for  them,  and  set  up  a  new  English  inquisition.  Take 
this  for  a  warning,  and  at  the  perill  of  your  pleasures  losse,  and 
judgements,  refuse  not,  nor  like  this  the  lesse,  for  not  being 
sullied  with  the  smoaky  breath  of  the  multitude  ;  but  thanke 
fortune  for  the  scape  it  hath  made  amongst  you :  since  by  the 
grand  possessors  wills  I  believe  you  should  have  prayd  for  them 
[r.  it~\  rather  then  beene  prayd.  And  so  I  leave  all  such  to  bee 
prayd  for  (for  the  states  of  their  wits  healths)  that  will  not 
praise  it.  Vale. 


PROLOGUE. 


In  Troy,  there  lies  the  scene.     From  isles  of 

Greece 
The  princes  orgulous,2  their  high  blood  chaf'd, 

1  I  cannot  regard  this  Prologue  (which  indeed  is  wanting  in 
the  quarto  editions)  as  the  work  of  Shakspeare;  and  perhaps 
the  drama  before  us  was  not  entirely  of  his  construction.  It 
appears  to  have  been  unknown  to  his  associates,  Hemings  and 
Condell,  till  after  the  h'rst  folio  was  almost  printed  off.  On  this 
subject,  indeed,  (as  I  learn  from  Mr.  Malone's  Emendations  and 
Additions,  &c.  see  Vol.  III.)  there  seems  to  have  been  a  play 
anterior  to  the  present  one  : 

"  Aprcl  7,  1599.  Lent  unto  Thomas  Downton  to  lende  unto 
Mr.  Deckers,  &  harey  cheattel,  in  earnest  of  ther  boocke  called 
Troydes  and  Crcassedaye,  the  some  of  iii  Ib." 

"  Lent  unto  harey  cheattell,  &  Mr.  Dickers,  [Henry  Chcttle 
and  master  Deckar]  in  pte  of  payment  of  their  booke  called 
Troyelles  8f  Cresseda,  the  16  of  Aprell,  1599,  xxs." 

"  Lent  unto  Mr.  Deckers  and  Mr.  Chettel  the  26  of  maye, 
1599,  in  earnest  of  a  booke  called  Troylles  and  Crescda,  the 
some  of  xxs."  STEEVENS. 

I  conceive  this  Prologue  to  have  been  written,  and  the  dia- 
logue, in  more  than  one  place,  interpolated  by  some  Kyd  or 
Marlolue  of  the  time;  who  may  have  been  paid  for  altering 
and  amending  one  of  Shakspeare's  plays :  a  very  extraordinary 
instance  of  our  author's  negligence,  and  the  managers'  taste ! 

RlTSON. 

9  The  princes  orgulous,]  Orgulous,  i.e.  proud,  disdainful. 
Orgueilleux,  Fr.  This  word  is  used  in  the  ancient  romance  ot 
Richard  Cueur  de  Lyon  : 

"  His  atyre  was  orgulous." 

Again,  in  Froissart's  Chronicle,  Vol.  II.  p.  115,  b:  " — but 
they  wyst  nat  how  to  passe  yc  ryver  of  Derne  whiche  was  fell 
and  orgulous  at  certayne  tymes,"  &c.  STEEVKNS. 


228  PROLOGUE. 

Have  to  the  port  of  Athens  sent  their  ships, 
Fraught  with  the  ministers  and  instruments 
Of  cruel  war :  Sixty  and  nine,  that  wore 
Their  crownets  regal,  from  the  Athenian  bay 
Put  forth  toward  Phrygia :  and  their  vow  is  made, 
To  ransack  Troy  ;  within  whose  strong  immures 
The  ravish* d  Helen,  Menelaus'  queen, 
With  wanton  Paris  sleeps  j   And  that's  the  quarrel. 
To  Tenedos  they  come  ; 

And  the  deep-drawing  barks  do  there  disgorge 
Their  warlike  fraughtage  :  Now  on  Dardan  plains 
The  fresh  and  yet  unbruised  Greeks  do  pitch 
Their  brave  pavilions  :  Priam's  six-gated  city,3 
Dardan,  and  Tymbria,  Ilias,  Chetas,  Trojan, 
And  Antenorides,  with  massy  staples, 
And  corresponsive  and  fulfilling  bolts,4 
Sperr  up  the  sons  of  Troy.5 


3  Priam's  six-gated  city,  &c.]     The  names  of  the  gates 

are  here  exhibited  as  in  the  old  copy,  for  the  reason  assigned  by 
Dr.  Farmer ;  except  in  the  instance  of  Antenorides,  instead  of 
which  the  old  copy  has  Antcnom/chis.     The  quotation  from  Lyd- 
gate  shows  that  was  an  error  of  the  printer.     MALONE. 

4  fulfilling  bolts,~]       To  fulfill,  in  this  place,  means  to 

fill  till  there  be  no  room  for  more.     In  this  sense  it  is  now  obso- 
lete.    So,  in  Gower,  De  Confessions  Amantis,  Lib.  V.  fol.  11-1: 

"  A  lustie  maide,  a  sobre,  a  meke, 
"  Fulfilled  of  all  curtosie." 
Again  : 

"  Fulfilled  of  all  unkindship."     STEEVENS. 

To  be  "fulfilled  with  grace  and  benediction"  is  still  the  lan- 
guage of  our  liturgy.  BLACKSTONE. 

s  Sperr  up  the  sons  of  Troy.']  [Old  copy — Stirre.~\  This  has 
been  a  most  miserably  mangled  passage  throughout  all  the  edi- 
tions ;  corrupted  at  once  into  false  concord  and  false  reasoning. 
Priam's  six-gated  city  stirre  up  the  sons  of  Troy?  Here's  a 
verb  plural  governed  of  a  nominative  singular.  But  that  is 
easily  remedied.  The  next  question  to  be  asked  is,  In  what 


PROLOGUE.  229 

Now  expectation,  tickling  skittish  spirits, 
On  one  and  other  side,  Trojan  and  Greek, 

sense-  a  city,  having  six  strong  gates,  and  those  well  barred  and 
bolted,  can  be  said  lo  stir  up  its  inhabitants  ?  unless  they  may 
be  supposed  to  derive  some  spirit  from  the  strength  of  their  for- 
tifications. But  this  eould  not  be  the  poet's  thought.  He  must 
mean,  1  take  it,  that  the  Greeks  had  pitch. il  thei.-  tents  upon 
the  plains  before  Troy  ;  and  that  the  Trojans  were  securely  bar- 
ricaded  within  the  walls  and  gates  of  their  citv.  This  sense  niv 
correction  restores.  To  spci •/ r,  or  ,sy;r//\  from  the  old  Teutonick 
word  Sjwren,  signifies  to  sliut  up,  defend  by  burs,  <&c. 

THEOBALD. 

So,  in  Spenser's  Fain/  Queen,  Book  V.  c.  10: 
"  The  other  that  was  entred,  labour'd  fast 
"  To  sperre  the  gate"  «!vc. 
Again,  in  the  romance  of  The  Sqiihr  of  Loiv  Dcgre  ; 

"  Sjjert/e  with  manie  a  dyvcrs  pynne." 

And  in  The  Vision  of  P.  Plowman,  it  is  said  that  a  blind  man 
"  nntparryd  his  cine." 

Again,  in  Warner's  Albion'' s  England^  1GO'2,  Book  1 1.  eh.  1'2 : 
"  When  chased  home  into  his  holdes,  there  sparred  up 

in  gates." 

Again,  in  the  '2d  Part  of  Bale's  Aden  of  English  Vutarycs  : 
"  The  dore  thereof  oil  tynies  opened  and  speared  agayne." 

STEEVKXS. 

^\Ir.  Theobald  informs  us  that  the  very  names  of  the  gates  of 
Troy  have  been  barbarously  demolished  by  the  editors;  and  a 
deal  of  learned  dust  he  makes  in  setting  them  right  again  ;  much 
however  to  Mr.  Heath's  satisfaction.  Indeed  the  learning  is 
modestly  withdrawn  from  the  later  editions,  and  we  are  quietly 
instructed  to  read — 

"  Dardan,  and  Thvmbria,  Ilin,  .SV<rr/,  Trojan, 
"  And  Antenoridcs." 

But  had  he  looked  into  the  Trnt/  /Juke  of  Lydg::te,  instead  of 
pu//!ing  himself  with  ])ttre*  I'/ifj/^iiif,  he  \vo;ild  have  found 
the  horrid  demolition  to  have  betn  neither  t!u-  ur.rk  of  Shak- 
vpeare,  nor  his  editors  : 

"  Thi-rto  his  cyte  |  compassed  enuvrowne 

"  Had  gates  VI  to  entre  into  the  toune  : 

"  The  first  e  of  all  |  and  strenge.-t  i-ke  \\itli  all, 

*•'  Largest  also  |  and  nio>:e  prmc\  pall, 

"  Of  myghty  byld\nu  |  alone  pereless, 

"  Was  bv  the  kinire.  ealied  I    l)(iri/(t)ii/(li:<  ; 


230  PROLOGUE. 

Sets  all  on  hazard : — And  hither  am  I  come 
A  prologue  arm'd,6 — but  not  in  confidence 
Of  author's  pen,  or  actor's  voice  ;  but  suited 
In  like  conditions  as  our  argument, — 
To  tell  you,  fair  beholders,  that  our  play 
Leaps  o'er  the  vaunt7  and  firstlings8  of  those  broils, 

And  in  storye  |  lyke  as  it  is  founde, 

Tymbria  \  was  named  the  seconde  ; 

And  the  thyrde  |  called  Helyas, 

The  fourthe  gate  |  hyghte  also  Cetheas  ; 

The  fyfthe  Trojana,  \  the  syxth  Anthonydes, 

Stronge  and  mighty  |  both  in  werre  and  pes." 

Lond.  Empr.  by  R.  Pynson,  1513,  fol.  B.  II.  ch.  1 1. 
The  Troye  Boke  was  somewhat  modernized,  and  reduced  into 
regular  stanzas,  about  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  under 
the  name  of,  The  Life  and  Death  of  Hector — who  fought  a 
Hundred  mayne  Battailes  in  open  Field  against  the  Grecians ; 
wherein  there  were  slaine  on  both  Sides  Fourteene  Hundred  and 
Sixe  Thousand,  Fourscore  and  Sixe  Men.  Fol.  no  date.  This 
work  Dr.  Fuller,  and  several  other  criticks,  have  erroneously 
quoted  as  the  original ;  and  observe,  in  consequence,  that  "if 
Chaucer's  coin  were  of  greater  weight  for  deeper  learning, 
Lydgate's  were  of  a  more  refined  standard  for  purer  language  : 
so  that  one  might  mistake  him  for  a  modern  writer." 

FARMER. 

On  other  occasions,  in  the  course  of  this  play,  I  shall  gene- 
rally insert  quotations  from  the  Troye  Booke  modernized,  as 
being  the  most  intelligible  of  the  two.  STEEVENS. 

5  A  prologue  arm'd,~]  I  come  here  to  speak  the  prologue,  and 
come  in  armour  ;  not  defying  the  audience,  in  confidence  of 
either  the  author's  or  actor's  abilities,  but.  merely  in  a  character 
suited  to  the  subject,  in  a  dress  of  war,  before  a  warlike  play. 

JOHNSON. 

Motteux  seems  to  have  borrowed  this  idea  in  his  Prologue  to 
Farquhar's  Twin  Rivals  : 

"  With  drums  and  trumpets  in  this  warring  age, 
**  A  martial  prologue  should  alarm  the  stage." 

STEEVENS. 

7  the  vaunt — ]     i.  e.  the  avant,  what  went  before.     So, 

in  King  Lear  : 

11  Fozw^-couriers  to  oak-cleaving  thunderbolts." 

STEEVENS. 


PROLOGUE.  231 

'Ginning  in  the  middle  ;  starting  thence  away 
To  what  may  be  digested  in  a  play. 
Like,  or  find  fault ;  do  as  your  pleasures  are ; 
Now  good,  or  bad,  'tis  but  the  chance  of  war. 

The  vaunt  is  the  vanguard,  called,  in  our  author's  time,  the 
vaunt-guard.     PERCY. 

-Jirst lings — ]     A  scriptural  phrase,  signifying  thejirst 


produce  or  offspring.      So,  in  Genesis,  iv.  •!• :   "  And  Abel,  he 
also  brought  ot  \he  firstlings  of  his  flock."     STEEVENS. 


PERSONS  REPRESENTED. 


Priam,  King  of  Troy : 

Hector, 

Troilus, 


Paris, 

Deiphobus, 

Helenus, 


his  Sons. 


j,  ^    •       „  1 

Antenor,          \  Tr°Jan  Commanders. 

Calchas,   a  Trojan  Priest,  talcing  part  with   the 

Greeks. 

Pandarus,  Uncle  to  Cressida. 
Margarelon,  a  bastard  So?i  o/' Priam. 

Agamemnon,  the  Grecian  General: 
Menelaus,  his  Brother. 
Achilles, 
Ajax, 


Ulysses, 


Grecian  Commanders. 


Nestor, 
Diomedes, 
Patroclus, 

Thersites,  a  deformed  and  scurrilous  Grecian. 
Alexander,  Servant  to  Cressida. 
Servant  to  Troilus ;  Servant  to  Paris ;  Servant  to 
Diomedes. 

Helen,  Wife  to  Menelaus. 

Andromache,  Wife  to  Hector. 

Cassandra,  Daughter  to  Priam  ;  a  Prophetess. 

Cressida,  Daughter  to  Calchas. 

Trojan  and  Greek  Soldiers,  and  Attendants. 
SCENE,  Troy,  and  the  Grecian  Camp  before  it. 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 


ACT  I.     SCENE  I. 

Troy.     Bijbre  Priam's  Palace. 

Enter  TROILUS  armed,  and  PAXDARLS. 

TRO.  Call  here  my  varlct,1  I'll  unarm  again: 
Why  should  I  war  without  the  walls  of  Troy, 
That  rind  such  cruel  battle  here  within  ? 
Each  Trojan,  that  is  master  of  his  heart, 
Let  him  to  field  ;   Troilus,  alas  !   hath  none. 

PAX.  Will  this  ffccr  ne'er  be  mended  ?- 


b 


1  my  varlct,]  This  word  anciently  signified  a  servant  or 

footman  to  a  knight  or  warrior.  So,  Holinshed,  speaking  of  the 
battle  of  Agincourt  :  "  — diverse  were  releeved  by  their  "car- 
lets,  and  conveied  out  of  the  field."  Again,  in  an  ancient  epi- 
taph in  the  church-yard  of  Saint  Nicas  at  Arras: 

"  Cy  gist  Ilakin  et  son  :r//7/7, 

"  Tout  di.s-arnu!  et  tout  di-pret, 

"  Avec  son  espr  et  salloche,"  ivc.     STKKVT.NS. 

Concerning  the  word  rttr/et,  see  Reclu  rclicx  histnrit/ui'S  xur  /<'•> 
cartes  a  joucr.  Lyon,  1T.";7,  p.  <>1.  M.  ('•  TUTKT. 

*  Will  this  gecr  ne'er  he  inen(ic<l?~\  Tliere  is  somewhat  pro- 
verbial in  this  question,  which  I  likewise  meet  with  in  the  inter- 
lude of  Khi£  Dftf/ux,  l.)()5: 

"  \V\11  not  yet  tltix  ^trrf  lie  anir/n/t'i/, 

"  Nor  your  sinful  acts  ct'iTccted  :"      SrEtvrxs. 


234        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 

TRO.  The  Greeks  are  strong,  and  skilful  to  their 

strength,3 

Fierce  to  their  skill,  and  to  their  fierceness  valiant ; 
But  I  am  weaker  than  a  woman's  tear, 
Tamer  than  sleep,  fonder4  than  ignorance ; 
Less  valiant  than  the  virgin  in  the  night, 
And  skill-less5  as  unpractis'd  infancy. 

PAN.  Well,  I  have  told  you  enough  of  this :  for 
my  part,  I'll  not  meddle  nor  make  no  further.  He, 
that  will  have  a  cake  out  of  the  wheat,  must  tarry 
the  grinding. 

TRO.  Have  I  not  tarried  ? 

PAN.  Ay,  the  grinding  ;  but  you  must  tarry  the 
bolting. 

TRO.  Have  I  not  tarried  ? 
PAN.  Ay,  the  bolting  j  but  you  must  tarry  the 
leavening. 

TRO.  Still  have  I  tarried. 

PAN.  Ay,  to  the  leavening :  but  here's  yet  in  the 
word — hereafter,  the  kneading,  the  making  of  the 
cake,  the  heating  of  the  oven,  and  the  baking;  nay, 
you  must  stay  the  cooling  too,  or  you  may  chance 
to  burn  your  lips. 

TRO.  Patience  herself,  what  goddess  e'er  she  be, 
Doth  lesser  blench6  at  sufferance  than  I  do. 

3 skilful  to  their  strength,  &c.]     i.  e.  in  addition  to  their 

strength.  The  same  phraseology  occurs  in  Macbeth.  See  Vol.  X. 
p.  16,  n.  2.     STEEVENS. 

4 -fonder — ]  i.  e.  more  weak,  or  foolish.  See  Vol.  VII. 

p.  328,  n.  8.  MALONE. 

3  And  skill-less  #c.]  Mr.  Dryden,  in  his  alteration  of  this 
play,  has  taken  this  speech  as  it  stands,  except  that  he  has 
changed  skill-less  to  artless,  not  for  the  better,  because  skill-less 
refers  to  skill  and  skilful:  JOHNSON. 

6  Doth  lesser  blench — ]  To  blench  is  to  shrink,  start,  or  fly 
off.  So,  in  Hamlet : 


sc.  i.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        235 

At  Priam's  royal  table  do  I  sit ; 

And  when  fair  Cressid  comes  into  my  thoughts, — 

So,  traitor! — when  she  comes! When  is  she 

thence?7 

PAN.  Well,  she  looked  yesternight  fairer  than 
ever  I  saw  her  look,  or  any  woman  else. 

TRO.  I  was  about  to  tell  thee, — When  my  heart, 
As  wedged  with  a  sigh,  would  rive  in  twain  ; 
Lest  Hector  or  my  father  should  perceive  me, 
I  have  (as  when  the  sun  doth  light  a  storm,) s 
Bury'd  this  sigh  in  wrinkle  of  a  smile  :;' 
But  sorrow,  that  is  couch'd  in  seeming  gladness, 
Is  like  that  mirth  fate  turns  to  sudden  sadness. 

PAN.  An  her  hair  were  not  somewhat  darker 
than  Helen's,  (well,  go  to,)  there  were  no  more 
comparison  between  thewomen, — But, for  my  part, 
she  is  my  kinswoman  ;  I  would  not,  as  they  term  it, 
praise  her, — But  I  would  somebody  had  heard  her 
talk  yesterday,  as  I  did.  I  will  not  dispraise  your 
sister  Cassandra's  wit ;  but — 

if  he  but  blench, 


"  I  know  my  course- 


Again,  in  The  Pilgrim,  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher : 

" men  that  will  not  totter, 

"  Nor  blench  much  at  a  bullet."     STEEVENS. 

7 when  she  comes! When  is  .she  thcnce?~\     Roth  the 

old   copies   read — then   she   comes,  when  she  is  thence.     Mr. 
Howe  corrected  the  former  error,  and  Mr.  Pope  the  latter. 

MA  I.ONE. 

—  a  storm,)]      Old  copies — a  scorn.     Corrected  by  Mr. 
Howe.     MALONU. 

See  King  Lear,  Act  III.  sc.  i.     STEKVENS. 

—  in  wrinkle  f,f  a  smile:]      So,  in  Tu-c/ft/t-\/«ht  :  "  lie 
doth  smite  his  face  into  more  lines  than  the  new  map  with  the 
augmentation  of  the  Indies."     MAT. ONI:. 

^gain,  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice: 

"  With  mirth  and  laughfcr  let  old  winkles  come." 

STEEVEHS. 


236         TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 

TRO.  O  Pandarus !  I  tell  thee,  Pandarus, — 
When  I  do  tell  thee,  There  my  hopes  lie  drown'd, 
llepiy  not  in  how  many  fathoms  deep 
They  lie  indrench'd.     I  tell  thee,  I  am  mad 
In  Cressid's  love  :  Thou  answer'st,  kShe  is  fair ; 
Pour'st  in  the  open  ulcer  of  my  heart 
Her  eyes,  her  hair,  her  cheek,  her  gait,  her  voice; 
Handiest  in  thy  discourse,  O,  that  her  hand,1 

1  Handiest  in  tliy  discourse,  0,  tliat  her  hand,  Sfc.~\  Handiest 
is  here  used  metaphorically,  with  an  allusion,  at  the  same  time, 
to  its  literal  meaning  ;  and  the  jingle  between  hand  and  handiest 
is  perfectly  in  our  author's  manner. 

The  beauty  of  a  female  hand  seems  to  have  made  a  strong 
impression  on  his  mind.  Antony  cannot  endure  that  the  hand  of 
Cleopatra  should  be  touched  : 

" To  let  a  fellow  that  will  take  rewards, 

"  And  say,  God  quit  you,  be  familiar  with 
**  My  playfellow,  your  hand, — this  kingly  seal, 
"  And  plighter  of  high  hearts." 
Again,  in  Romeo  arid  Juliet  : 

" they  may  seize 

"  On  the  white  wonder  of  dear  Juliet's  hand." 
In  The  Winter's  Tale,  Florizel,  with  equal  warmth,  and  not 
less  poetically,  descants  on  the  hand  of  his  mistress : 

" 1  take  thy  hand;  this  hand 

"  As  soft  as  dove's  down,  and  as  white  as  it ; 
"  Or  Ethiopian's  tooth  ;  or  the  fann'd  snow 
"  That's  bolted  by  the  northern  blasts  twice  o'er." 
This  passage  has,  I  think,  been  wrong  pointed  in  the  late  edi- 
tions : 

Pour'st  in  the  open  ulcer  of  my  heart 
Her  eyes,  her  hair,  her  check,  her  gait;  her  voice 
Handiest  in  thy  discourse; — 0  (hat  her  hand ! 
In  whose  comparison,  &c. 

We  have  the  same  play  of  words  in  Titus  Andronicus  : 
"  O  handle  not  the  theme,  to  talk  of  hands, 
"  Lest  we  remember  still,  that  we  have  none  !" 
We  may  be  certain  therefore  that  those  lines  were  part  of  the 
additions  which  our  poet  made  to  that  play.     MALONE. 

If  the  derivation  of  the  verb  to  handle  were  always  present  to 
those  who  employed  it,  I  know  not  well  how  Chapman  could 
vindicate  the  following  passage  in  his  version  of  the  2i>d  Iliad, 


sc.  i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        237 

In  \vliosc  comparison  all  whites  arc  ink, 
Writing  their  own  reproach;  To  whose  soft  seizure 
The  cygnet's  down  is  harsh,  and  spirit  of  sense 
Hard  as  the  palm  of  ploughman  !'-'  This  thou  tell'st. 

me, 

As  true  thou  tell'st  me,  when  I  say — I  love  her ; 
But,  saying,  thus,  instead  of  oil  and  balm, 
Thou  lay'st  in  every  gash  that  love  hath  given  me 
The  knife  that  made  it. 


where  the  most  eloquent  of  the  Greeks  (old  Nestor)  reminds 
Antilochus  that  his  horses 

" their  slowji'et  handle  not." 

The  intentionally  quaint  phrase — "taste  your  legs,"  introduced 
in  Twelfth-Night,  is  not  more  ridiculous  than  to  talk  of  horses — 
"  handling  theirs/erf." 

Though  our  author  has  many  and  very  considerable  obliga- 
tions to  Mr.  Malone,  I  cannot  regard  his  foregoing  supposition 
as  one  of  them ;  for  in  what  does  it  consist  ?  In  making  Sliak- 
speare  answerable  for  two  of  the  worst  lines  in  a  degraded  play, 
merely  because  they  exhibit  a  jingle  similar  to  that  in  the  speech 
before  us.  STEEVENS. 

* and  spirit  of  sense 

Hard  as  the  palm  of  ploughman  !~\  In  comparison  with  Cressida'* 
hand,  says  he,  the  spirit  of  sense,  the  utmost  degree,  the  most  ex- 
quisite power  of  sensibility,  which  implies  a  soft  hand,  since  the 
sense  of  touching,  as  Scaliger  says  in  his  Exercitations,  resides 
chiefly  in  the  fingers,  is  hard  as  the  callous  and  insensible  palm  of 
the-  ploughman.  Warburton  reads  : 

spite  of  S'.' use. 

Ilanmer : 

to  th'  spirit  of  sense. 

It  is  not  proper  to  make  a  lover  profess  to  praise  his  mistress  in 
spite  of  sense  ;  for  though  he  often  does  it  in  spite  of  the  sense 
of  others,  his  own  senses  are  subdued  to  his  desires.  JOHNSON. 

Spirit  of  sense  is  a  phrase  that  occurs  again  in  the  third  Act 
of  this  play  : 

"  nor  doth  the  eye  itself, 

"  That,  most  pure  spirit  o/'senxe,  behold  itself." 
Mr.  M.  Mason   ^  fro  in   whom   I   have  borrowed  this  parallel) 
recommends  Hanmer's  emendation  as  a  necessary  one. 

Si  i;r.\  I:N>. 


238        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

PAX.  I  speak  no  more  than  truth. 
TRO.  Thou  dost  not  speak  so  much. 

PAN.  'Faith,  I'll  not  meddle  in't.  Let  her  be  as 
she  is :  if  she  be  fair,  'tis  the  better  for  her ;  an  she 
be  not,  she  has  the  mends  in  her  own  hands.3 

TRO.  Good  Pandarus !  How  now,  Pandarus  ? 

PAN.  I  have  had  my  labour  for  my  travel ;  ill- 
thought  on  of  her,  and  ill-thought  on  of  you :  gone 
between  and  between,  but  small  thanks  for  my 
labour. 

TRO.  What,  art  thou  angry,  Pandarus  ?  what, 
with  me  ? 

PAN.  Because  she  is  kin  to  me,  therefore,  she's 
not  so  fair  as  Helen  :  an  she  were  not  kin  to  me, 
she  would  be  as  fair  on  Friday,  as  Helen  is  on  Sun- 
day. But  wrhat  care  I  ?  I  care  not,  an  she  were  a 
black-a-moor ;  'tis  all  one  to  me. 

TRO.  Say  I,  she  is  not  fair  ? 

PAN.  I  do  not  care  whether  von  do  or  no.     She's 


3 she  has  the  mends— ^}     She  may  mend  her  complexion 

by  the  assistance  of  cosmeticks.     JOHNSON. 

I  believe  it  rather  means — She  may  make  the  best  of  a  bad  bar' 
gain.  This  is  a  proverbial  saying. 

So,  in  Woman'1 's  a  Weathercock,  1612:  "I  shall  stay  here  and 
have  my  head  broke,  and  then  I  have  the  mends  in  my  own 
hands." 

Again,  in  S.  Gosson's  School  of  Abuse,  1579  :  "  — turne  him 
with  his  back  full  of  stripes,  and  his  hands  loden  tvith  his  own 
amendes." 

Again,  in  The  Wild  Goose  Chase,  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher: 

"  The  mends  are  in  mine  oivn  hands,  or  the  surgeon's." 
Again,  in  Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  edit.  163'2,  p.  605: 
"  — and  if  men  will  be  jealous  in  such  cases,  the  mends  is  in  their 
oiune  hands ,  they  must  thank  themselves."     STEJUVEXS. 


sc.  /.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        239 

a  fool  to  stay  behind  her  father;4  let  her  to  the 
Greeks;  and  so  I'll  tell  her  the  next  time  I  see  her: 
for  my  part,  I'll  meddle  nor  make  no  more  in  the 
matter. 

TRO.  Pandarus, — 

PAX.  Not  I. 

TRO.  Sweet  Pandarus, — 

PAN.  Pray  you,  speak  no  more  to  me  ;    I  will 
leave  all  as  I  found  it,  and  there  an  end. 

[Exit  PANDARUS.     An  Alarum. 

TRO.  Peace,  you  ungracious  clamours !  peace, 

rude  sounds ! 

Fools  on  both  sides !  Helen  must  needs  be  fair, 
When  with  your  blood  you  daily  paint  her  thus. 
I  cannot  fight  upon  this  argument ; 
It  is  too  starv'd  a  subject  for  my  sword. 
But  Pandarus — O  gods,  how  do  you  plague  me ! 
I  cannot  come  to  Cressid,  but  by  Pandar ; 
And  he's  as  tetchy  to  be  woo'd  to  woo, 
As  she  is  stubborn-chaste  against  all  suit. 
Tell  me,  Apollo,  for  thy  Daphne's  love, 
What  Cressid  is,  what  Pandar,  and  what  we  ? 

* to  siny  behind  her  father ;]      Calchas,    according  to 

Shakspeare's  authority,  The  Destruction  of  Troy,  was  "  a  great 
learned  bishop  of  Troy,"  who  was  sent  by  Priam  to  consult  the 
oracle  of  Delphi  concerning  the  event  of  the  war  which  was 
threatened  by  Agamemnon.  As  soon  as  he  had  made  "  his 
oblations  and  demaunds  for  them  of  Troy,  Apollo  (says  the 
book)  aunswered  unto  him,  saying;  Calchas,  Calchas,  beware 
that  thou  returne  not  back  again  to  Troy  ;  but  goe  thou  with 
Achylles,  unto  the  Greckcs,  and  depart  never  from  them,  for 
the  Greekes  shall  have  victoric  of  the  Troyans  by  the  agreement 
of  the  Gods."  Hint,  of  I  lie.  Dt-st  ruction  of  Troy,  translated  by 
Caxton,  ,3th  edit.  Ito.  ^IGIT.  This  prudent  bishop  followed  the 
advice  of  the  Oracle,  and  immediately  joined  the  Greeks. 

MA  LOSE. 


240        TRO1LUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

Her  bed  is  India  ;  there  she  lies,  a  pearl : 
Between  our  Ilium,5  and  where  she  resides, 
Let  it  be  call'd  the  wild  and  wandering  flood ; 
Ourself,  the  merchant ;  and  this  sailing  Pandar, 
Our  doubtful  hope,  our  convoy,  and  our  bark.6 


Alarum.     Enter  ^ 

MNE.  How  now,  prince  Troilus?  wherefore  not 
afield?7 

TRO.  Because  not  there  j  This  woman's  answer 

sorts,8 

For  womanish  it  is  to  be  from  thence. 
What  news,  ^Eneas,  from  the  field  to-day  ? 

JENE.  That  Paris  is  returned  home,  and  hurt. 

TRO.  By  whom,  ./Eneas  ? 

J&NE.  Troilus,  by  Menelaus. 

TRO.  Let  Paris  bleed  :  'tis  but  a  scar  to  scorn  ; 
Paris  is  gor'd  with  Menelaus'  horn.          \_Alarum. 

s Ilium,']  "Was  the  palace  of  Troy.     JOHNSON. 

Ilium,  properly  speaking,  is  the  name  of  the  city;  Troy,  that 
of  the  country.     STEEVENS. 

6  . this  sailing  Pandar ', 

Our  doubtful  hope,  our  convoy,  and  our  bark."]     So,  in  The 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor: 

"  This  punk  is  one  of  Cupid's  carriers; 
"  Clap  on  more  sails,"  &c.     MALONE. 

7  Hoiv  no-uo,  prince  Troilus?  wherefore  i:oi  ajield?~]      Shak- 
speare,  it  appears  from  various  lines  in  this  play,  pronounced 
Troilus  improperly  as  a  dissyllable ;  as  every  mere  English  reader 
does  at  this  day. 

So  also,  in  his  Rape  of  Lucrece: 

"  Here  manly  Hector  faints,  here  Troilus  swounds." 

MALONE. 

8 sorts,]     i.  e.  fits,  suits,  is   congruous.     So,  in  King 

Henry  V :  "  It  sorts  well  with  thy  fierceness."     STEEVKNS. 


sc.  n.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         241 


JENE.  Hark  !  what  good  sport  is  out  of  town 
to-day  ! 

Tuo.  Better  at  home,  if  would  I  might,  were 

may.  — 
But,  to  the  sport  abroad  ;  —  Are  you  bound  thither? 

J&NE.  In  all  swift  haste. 

TRO.  Come,  go  we  then  together. 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE  II. 

The  same.     A  Street. 
Enter  CRESSIDA  and  ALEXANDER. 

CRES.  Who  were  those  went  by  ? 

ALEX.  Queen  Hecuba,  and  Helen. 

CRES.  And  whither  go  they  ? 

ALEX.  Up  to  the  eastern  tower, 

Whose  height  commands  as  subject  all  the  vale, 
To  see  the  battle.     Hector,  whose  patience 
Is,  as  a  virtue,  fix'd,9  to-day  was  mov'd  : 

9  -  Hector,  rv/io*c  patience 

Is,  ax  a  virtue-,  /z'.rV,]  Patience  sure  was  a  virtue,  and 
therefore  cannot,  in  propriety  of  expression,  he  said  to  be  like 
one.  We  should  read  : 

Is  ax  the  virtue  //'.rV,  - 

i.e.  his  patience  is  as  fixed  as  the  goddess  Patience  itself.     So  we 
find  Troilus  a  little  before  saying  : 

"  Patience  herself,  what  goddess  e'er  she  he, 

"  Doth  It-sser  blench  at  sufferance  than  I  do." 
It  is  remarkable  that  Drvden  when   he  altered  this  play,  and 
found  this  false  reading,  altered  it  with  judgment  to  — 

"  -  whose  patience 

"  Is  lix'd  like  that  of  heaven." 

Which  he  would  not  have  done  had  he  seen  the  right  reading 
VOL.   XV.  Jl 


242        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

He  chid  Andromache,  and  struck  his  armourer ; 
And,  like  as  there  were  husbandry  in  war,1 
Before  the  sun  rose,  he  was  harness' d  light,2 

here  given,  where  his  thought  is  so  much  better  and  nobler  ex- 
pressed.    WARBURTON. 

I  think  the  present  text  may  stand.     Hector's  patience  was  as 
a  virtue,  not  variable  and  accidental,  but  fixed  and  constant.     If 
I  would  alter  it,  it  should  be  thus : 
•Hector,  ivhose  patience 


Is  all  a  virtue  Jix'd,- 


All,  in  old  English,  is  the  intensive  or  enforcing  particle. 

JOHNSON. 

1  had  once  almost  persuaded  myself  that  Shakspeare  wrote, 

. ivliose  patience 

Is,  a*  a  statue  Jix'd, 
So,  in  The  Winter's  Tale,  sc.  ult: 

"  The  statue  is  but  newly  fx'd." 

The  same  idea  occurs  also  in  the  celebrated  passage  in  Twelfth- 
Night  : 

" sat  like  patience  on  a  monument." 

The  old  adage — Patience  is  a  virtue,  was  perhaps  uppermost  in 
the  compositor's  mind,  and  he  therefore  inadvertently  substituted 
the  one  word  for  the  other.  A  virtue  fixed  may,  however, 
mean  the  stationary  image  of  a  virtue.  STEEVENS. 

1  husbandry  in  war,']      So,  in  Macbeth  : 

"  There's  husbandry  in  heaven."     STEEVENS. 

Husbandry  means  economical  prudence.     Troilus  alludes  to 
Hector's  early  rising.     So,  in  King  Henri/  V  : 

" our  bad  neighbours  make  us  early  stirrers, 

"  Which  is  both  healthful  and  good  husbandry" 

MA  LONE. 

2  Before,  the  sun  rose,  he  was  harness' d  light,]     Does  the  poet 
mean  (says  Mr.  Theobald)  that  Hector  had  put  on  light  ar- 
mour V    Mean  !  what  else  could  he  mean  ?     He  goes  to  fight  on 
foot ;  and  was  not  that  the  armour  for  his  purpose  ?    So,  Fairfax, 
in  Tasso's  Jerusalem  : 

"  The  other  princes  put  on  harness  light 

"  As  footmen  use — ." 

Yet,  as  if  this  had  been  the  highest  absurdity,  he  goes  on,  Or 
does  he  wean  that  Hector  ivas  sprightly  in  his  arms  even  before 
sunrise?  or  is  a  conundrum  aimed  at,  in  sun  rose  and  harness  d 
light  ?  Was  any  thing  like  it  ?  But,  to  get  out  of  this  per- 


sc.  n.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        243 

And  to  the  field  goes  he ;  where  every  flower 
Did,  as  a  prophet,  weep3  what  it  foresaw 
In  Hector's  wrath. 


plexity,  he  tells  us,  that  a  very  slight  alteration  makes  all  thete 
constructions  unnecessary,  and  so  changes  it  to  harnets-dight . 
Yet  indeed  the  very  slightest  alteration  will,  at  any  time,  let 
the  poet's  sense  through  the  critick's  lingers :  and  the  Oxford 
editor  very  contentedly  takes  up  what  is  lett  behind,  and  reads 
harness-dight  too,  in  order,  as  Mr.  Theobald  well  expresses  it, 
to  make  all  construction  unnecessary.  WARBUKTON*. 

How  does  it  appear  that  Hector  was  to  fight  on  foot  rather 
to-day  than  any  other  day  ?  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the 
ancient  heroes  never  fought  on  horseback ;  nor  does  their  man- 
ner of  fighting  in  chariots  seem  to  require  less  activity  than  on 
foot.  JOHNSON. 

It  is  true  that  the  heroes  of  Homer  never  fought  on  horse- 
back ;  yet  such  of  them  as  make  a  second  appearance  in  the 
JEiifiti,  like  their  antagonists  the  Kutulians,  had  cavalry  among 
their  troops.  Little  can  be  inferred  from  the  manner  in  which 
Ascanius  and  the  young  nobility  of  Troy  are  introduced  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  funereal  games  ;  as  Virgil  very  probably,  at  the 
cxpence  of  an  anachronism,  meant  to  pay  a  compliment  to  the 
military  exercises  instituted  by  Julius  C'sesar,  and  improved  by 
Augustus.  It  appears  from  different  passages  in  this  play,  that 
Hector  rights  on  horseback  ;  and  it  should  be  remembered  that 
Shakspeare  was  indebted  for  most  of  his  materials  to  a  book 
which  enumerates  Esdras  and  Pythagoras  among  the  bastard 
children  of  King  Priamus.  Our  author,  however,  might  have 
been  k'd  into  his  mistake  by  the  manner  in  which  Chapman  hn* 
translated  several  parts  of  the  Iliad,  where  the  heroes  mount 
their  chariots  or  descend  from  them.  Thus,  Book  VI.  speaking 
of  (Jlaucus  and  Diorned  : 

"  -  — irom  home  then  both  descend."     STKEVKNS. 

If  Dr.  Warburton  had  looked  into  The  Destruction  <>f  Trt>y, 
already  quoted,  he  would  have  found,  in  every  page,  that  the 
leaders  on  each  side  were  alternated  tumbled  from  tlu-ir  /«vvo 
by  the  prowess  of  their  adversaries.  MA  LOST. 

inhere  c\'cri/  flower 

/.?/</,  us  n  propl/i  t,  weep — ]      >yi>,  in  A  Midsmnmrr-Xight' 
DrctiDi,  Vol.  IV.  p.  K)(>: 

"  And  when  she  weeps,  weeps  every  little Ji<i\ce>-, 
"  Lamenting"  &e.     STICK vr.\s. 

1 1  ll 


244        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

CRES.  What  was  his  cause  of  anger  ? 

ALEX.  The  noise  goes,  this:  There  is  among  the 

Greeks 

A  lord  of  Trojan  blood,  nephew  to  Hector ; 
They  call  him,  Ajax. 

CRES.  Good ;  And  what  of  him  ? 

ALEX.  They  say  he  is  a  very  man  per  sef 
And  stands  alone. 

CRES.  So  do  all  men;  unless  they  are  drunk,  sick, 
or  have  no  legs. 

ALEX.  This  man,  lady,  hath  robbed  many  beasts 
of  their  particular  additions;5  he  is  as  valiant  as  the 
lion,  churlish  as  the  bear,  slow  as  the  elephant :  a 
man  into  whom  nature  hath  so  crouded  humours, 
that  his  valour  is  crushed  into  folly,6  his  folly 
sauced  with  discretion:  there  is  no  man  hath  a 


4  per  se,~]     So,  in  Chaucer's  Testament  ofCresseide: 

"  Of  faire  Cresseide  the  floure  and  a  per  se 
"  Of  Troie  and  Greece." 

Again,  in  the  old  comedy  of  Wily  Beguiled :  "  In  faith,  my 
SAveet  honeycomb,  I'll  love  thee  a  per  se  a." 
Again,  in  Blurt  Master  Constable,  1602: 

"  That  is  the  a  per  se  of  all,  the  creame  of  all." 

STEEVENS. 

;  their  particular  additions  ;  ]     Their  peculiar  and  cha- 

vacteristick  qualities  or  denominations.     The  term  in  this  sense 
is  originally  forensick.     MALONE. 

So,  in  Macbeth  : 

" whereby  he  doth  receive 

"  Particular  addition,  from  the  bill 

"  That  writes  them  all  alike."     STEEVENS. 

0  that  his  valour  is  crushed  into  folly,]      To  be  crushed 

into  folly,  is  to  be  confused  and  mingled  with  Jolly,  so  as  that 
they  make  one  mass  together.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Cymbeline  : 

"  Crush  him  together,  rather  than  unfold 
"  His  measure  duly."     STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        24.5 

virtue  that  he  hath  not  a  glimpse  of;  nor  any  man 
an  attaint,  but  he  carries  some  stain  of  it :  lie  i* 
melancholy  without  cause,  and  merry  against  the 
hair  :7  He  hath  the  joints  of  every  thing  ;  but  every 
thing  so  out  of  joint,  that  he  is  a  gouty  Briareus, 
many  hands  and  no  use ;  or  purblind  Argus,  all  eyes 
and  no  sight. 

CRES.  But  how  should  this  man,  that  makes  me 
smile,  make  Hector  angry  ? 

ALEX.  They  say,  he  yesterday  coped  Hector  in 
the  battle,  and  struck  him  down  ;  the  disdain  and 
shame  whereof  hath  ever  since  kept  Hector  fasting 
and  waking. 

Enter  PANDARUS. 

CRES.  Who  comes  here? 

ALEX.  Madam,  your  uncle  Pandarus. 

CRES.  Hector's  a  gallant  man. 

ALEX.  As  may  be  in  the  world,  lady. 

PAN.  What's  that  ?  what's  that  ? 

CRES.  Good  morrow,  uncle  Pandarus. 

PAX.  Good  morrow,  cousin  Cressid  :  What  do 
you  talk  of? — Good  morrow,  Alexander. — How 
do  you,  cousin  ?*  When  were  you  at  Ilium  ?'' 

7  against  the  hair  :~]      I*  a  phrase  equivalent  to  another 

now  in  use — against  the  grain.     The  French  say — ti  cuntrcpoil. 
See  Vol.  XL  p.  371,  n.  7.     STKI- VENN. 

See  Vol.  V.  p.  lO.'i,  n.  3.      MAI.OXK. 

*  (.inod  nii>rrou\  cunsiii  Crcssiil :  IV hat  do  1/011  talk  <>/  ? — Good 
morrow,  Alexander. —  //o;r  tlo  you,  cnn.fi n  .']  Cumtl  iitormn-, 
Ak-xa-ntlcr,  is  added,  in  all  the  edition*,  (says  Mr.  Tope,)  very 
absurdly,  Paris  not  heinj;  on  the  sta^re.  Wonderful  acutencs*  ! 


246        TUOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  I. 

CRES.  This  morning,  uncle. 

PAX.  What  were  you  talking  of,  when  I  came  ? 
Was  Hector  armed,  and  gone,  ere  ye  came  to  Ilium  ? 
Helen  was  not  up,  was  she  ? 

CRES.  Hector  was  gone  j  but  Helen  was  not  up. 
PAN.  E'en  so ;  Hector  was  stirring  early. 
CRES.  That  were  we  talking  of,  and  of  his  anger. 
PAN.  Was  he  angry  ? 
CRES.  So  he  says  here. 

PAN.  True,  he  was  so  ;  I  know  the  cause  too ; 
he'll  lay  about  him  to-day,  I  can  tell  them  that : 
and  there  is  Troilus  will  not  come  far  behind  him  ; 
let  them  take  heed  of  Troilus  j  I  can  tell  them  that 
too. 


But,  with  submission,  this  gentleman's  note  is  much  more  ab- 
surd ;  for  it  falls  out  very  unluckily  for  his  remark,  that  though 
Paris  is,  for  the  generality,  in  Homer  called  Alexander  ;  yet,  in 
this  play,  by  any  one  of  the  characters  introduced,  he  is  called 
nothing  but  Paris.  The  truth  of  the  fact  is  this  :  Pandarus  is  of 
a  busy,  impertinent,  insinuating  character;  and  it  is  natural  for 
him,  so  soon  as  he  has  given  his  cousin  the  good-morrow,  to  pay 
his  civilities  too  to  her  attendant.  This  is  purely  Jv  r^:t,  as  the 
grammarians  rail  it ;  and  gives  us  an  admirable  touch  of  Pan- 
darus's  character.  And  why  might  not  Alexmder  be  the  name 
of  Cressida's  man?  Paris  had  no  patent,  I  suppose,  for  engrossing 
it  to  himself.  But  the  late  editor,  perhaps,  because  we  have  had 
Alexander  the  Great,  Pope  Alexander,  and  Alexander  Pope, 
would  not  have  so  eminent  a  name  prostituted  to  a  common 
varlet,  THEOBALD. 

This  note  is  not  preserved  on  account  of  any  intelligence 
it  brings,  but  as  a  curious  specimen  of  Mr.  Theobald's  mode  of 
animadversion  on  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Pope.  STEEYENS. 

0  at  Ilium  ?]    Ilium,  or  Ilion,  (for  it  is  spelt  both  ways,) 

was,  according  to  Lydgate,  and  the  author  of  The  Destruction 
of  Troy,  the  name  of  Priam's  palace,  which  is  said  by  these 
writers  to  have  been  built  upon  a  high  rock.  See  a  note  in 
Act  IV.  sc.  v.  on  the  words — "  Yon  towers,"  &c.  MALONE. 


sc.  a.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        247 

CUES.  What,  is  he  angry  too  ? 

PAX.  Wlio,  Troilus?  Troilus  is  the  better  man 
of  the  two. 

CRES.  O,  Jupiter!  there's  no  comparison. 

PAN.  What,  not  between  Troilus  ami  Hector? 
Do  you  know  a  man  if  you  see  him  ? 

CRES.  Ay;  if  ever  1  saw  him  before,  ami  knew 
him. 

PAX.  Well,  I  say,  Troilus  is  Troilus. 

CRES.  Then  you  say  as  I  say ;  for,  I  am  sure,  lie 
is  not  Hector. 

PAX.  No,  nor  Hector  is  not  Troilus,  in  some 
degrees. 

CRES.  'Tis  just  to  each  of  them  ;   he  is  himself. 

PAX.  Himself?  Alas,  poor  Troilus!  1  would,  lie 
were, 

CUES.  So  he  is. 

2*AX. 'Condition,  I  had  gone  bare-foot  to 

India. 

CRES.  He  is  not  Hector. 

PAX.  Himself?  no,  he's  not  himself. — 'Would 
'a  were  himself!  Well,  the  gods  are  above  ;'  Time 
must  friend,  or  end:  Well,  Troilus,  we'll, — I  would, 
my  heart  were  in  her  body! — No,  Hector  is  not  a 
better  man  than  Troiius. 

CRES.  Excuse  me. 

PAX.  He  is  elder. 

CUES.  Pardon  me,  pardon  me. 

PAX.  The  other's  not   come  to't  ;    von  ^hall  teil 


1    /f'V/,   tin:   <|0/A  (if,'  uln,\-f  ;}      So,    in    Ot/ic/ln: 
above  all."      MALONI.. 


248        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

me  another  tale,  when  the  other's  come  to't.  Hector 
shall  not  have  his  wit2  this  year. 

CRES.  He  shall  not  need  it,  if  he  have  his  own. 

PAN.  Nor  his  qualities  j 

CRES.  No  matter. 

PAN.  Nor  his  beauty. 

CRES.  'Twould  not  become  him,  his  own's  better. 

PAN.  You  have  no  judgment,  niece  :  Helen  her- 
self swore  the  other  day,  that  Troilus,  for  a  brown 
favour,  (for  so  'tis,  I  must  confess,) — Not  brown 
neither. 

CRES.  No,  but  brown. 

PAN.  'Faith,  to  say  truth,  brown  and  not  brown. 
CRES.  To  say  the  truth,  true  and  not  true. 
PAN.  She  prais'd  his  complexion  above  Paris. 
CRES.  Why,  Paris  hath  colour  enough. 
PAN.  So  he  has. 

CRES.  Then,  Troilus  should  have  too  much :  if 
she  praised  him  above,  his  complexion  is  higher 
than  his  ;  he  having  colour  enough,  and  the  other 
higher,  is  too  flaming  apraisefor  a  good  complexion. 
I  had  as  lief,  Helen's  golden  tongue  had  commend- 
ed Troilus  for  a  copper  nose. 

PAN.  I  swear  to  you,  I  think,  Helen  loves  him 
better  than  Paris. 

CRES.  Then  she's  a  merry  Greek,"  indeed. 

s  his  wit — ]   Both  the  old  copies  have — will.    Corrected 

by  Mr.  Rowe.     MALONE. 

3  a  merry  Greek,']     Grcecari,  among  the  Romans,  signi- 
fied to  play  the  reveller.     STEEVENS, 

The  expression  occurs  in  many  old  English  books.  See  Act  IV. 
sc.  iv: 

"  A  woeful  Cressid  'mongst  the  merry  Greeks."  MALONE. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        249 

PAX.  Nay,  I  am  sure  she  docs.  She  came  to  him 
the  other  day  into  a  compassed  window,4 — and,  you 
know,  he  has  not  past  three  or  four  hairs  on  his 
chin. 

CUES.  Indeed,  a  tapster's  arithmetick  may  soon 
bring  his  particulars  therein  to  a  total. 

PAN.  Why,  he  is  very  young :  and  yet  will  he, 
within  three  pound,  lift  as  much  as  his  brother 
Hector. 

CUES.  Is  he  so  young  a  man,  and  so  old  a  lifter  ?5 

PAX.  But,  to  prove  to  you  that  Helen  loves 
him  ; — she  came,  and  puts  me  her  white  hand  to 
his  cloven  chin, 

CUES.  Juno  have  mercy  ! — How  came  it  cloven  ? 

PAX.  Why,  you  know,  'tis  dimpled :  I  think, 
his  smiling  becomes  him  better  than  any  man  in  all 
Phrvffia. 


4  compassed  ivindoiv,~]      The  compassed  toindau:   is  the 

same  as  the  ooiv  u-indoiv.     JOHNSON. 

A  compassed  window  is  a  circular  bow  window.  In  The 
Taming  of  the  Shrew  the  same  epithet  is  applied  to  the  cape  of 
a  woman's  gown  :  "  — a  small  compassed  cape."  STEEVEXS. 

A  coved  cieling  is  yet  in  some  places  called  a  compassed  cieling. 

M  A  LONE. 

5  so  old  a  lifter?]      The  word  lifter  is  used  for  a  thief, 

by  Greene,  in  his  Art  ofConeycatching,  printed  1.591  :  on  this 
the  humour  of  the  passage  may  be  supposed  to  turn.     \Ve  still 
call  a  person  who  plunders  shops,  a  shop-lifter.     Hen  Jonson 
uses  the  expression  in  Cynthia'*  Hcrels  .• 

"  One  other  peculiar  virtue  you  possess  is,  lifting." 
Again,   in    The  Roaring  Cirf,    liill:    "—cheaters,    lifter*, 
nips,  foists,  piiiigards,  courbers." 

Again,  in  Holland's  Lca^n,-,-,  1633:  "Broker  or  pandar, 
cheater  or  lifter.''''  STEEVENS. 

Illiftus,    in    the    Gothick   language,    signities    a    thief.     See 
olo^.  Vol.  V.  p.  31 1.     HI.ACKSTONE. 


250        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

CRES.  O,  he  smiles  valiantly. 

PAN.  Does  he  not  ? 

CRES.  O  yes,  an  'twere  a  cloud  in  autumn. 

PAN.  Why,  go  to  then  : — But  to  prove  to  you 
that  Helen  loves  Troilus, 

CRES.  Troilus  will  stand  to  the  proof,  if  you'll 
prove  it  so. 

PAN.  Troilus?  why,  he  esteems  her  no  more  than 
I  esteem  an  addle  egg. 

CRES.  If  you  love  an  addle  egg  as  well  as  you  love 
an  idle  head,  you  would  eat  chickens  i'the  shell. 

PAN.  I  cannot  choose  but  laugh,  to  think  how 
she  tickled  his  chin  ; — Indeed,  she  has  a  marvellous 
white  hand,  I  must  needs  confess. 

CRES.  Without  the  rack. 

PAN.  And  she  takes  upon  her  to  spy  a  white  hair 
on  his  chin. 

CRES.  Alas,  poor  chin  !  many  a  wart  is  richer. 

PAX.  But,  there  was  such  laughing ; — Queen 
Hecuba  laughed,  that  her  eyes  ran  o'er. 

CRES.  With  mill-stones.6 
PAX.  And  Cassandra  laughed. 

CRES.  But  there  was  a  more  temperate  fire  under 
the  pot  of  her  eyes ; — Did  her  eyes  run  o'er  too  ? 

PAN.  And  Hector  laughed. 
CRES.  At  what  was  all  this  laughing  ? 
PAX.  Marry,  at  the  white  hair  that  Helen  spied 
on  Troilus'  chin. 

6  her  eyes  ran  o'er. 

Cres.  With  mill-stones.]      So,  in  King  Richard  III: 

"  Your  eyes  drop  mill-stones,  when  fools'  eyes  drop  tears." 

MALONE. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        251 

CRES.  An't  had  been  a  green  hair,  I  should  have 
laughed  too. 

PAX.  They  laughed  not  so  much  at  the  hair,  as 
at  his  pretty  answer. 

CRES.  What  was  his  answer  ? 

PAX.  Quoth  she,  Here's  but  one  andjifty  hairs 
on  your  chin,  and  one  of  them  is  white. 

CRES.  This  is  her  question. 

PAX.  That's  true  ;  make  no  question  of  that. 
One  and  t  fifty  hairs?  quoth  he,  and  one  white  : 
That  while  hair  is  my  father,  and  all  tin'  rest  are 
his  sons.  Jupiter  !  quoth  she,  which  oj  these  hairs 
is  Paris  my  husband ?  Tliejorked  one,  quoth  he  ; 
pluck  it  out,  and  gire  it  him.  But,  there  was  such 
laughing!  and  Helen  so  blushed,  and  Paris  so  dialed, 
and  all  the  rest  so  laughed,  that  it  passed.8 

CUES.  So  let  it  now  ;  for  it  has  been  a  great  while 
going  by. 

PAX.  Well,  cousin,  I  told  you  a  tiling  yesterday  ; 
think  on't. 

CRES.  So  I  do. 

PAX.  I'll  be  sworn,  'tis  true ;  he  will  weep  you, 
an  'twere  a  man  born  in  April." 

7  One  nndjijl ////<•///>•,]  [Old  copies — Ttvn  and  fifty.]  I  have 
ventured  to  substitute — One  and ,//////,  '  think  with  some  cer- 
tainty. How  else  can  the  number  make  out  Priam  and  his  fifty 
sons  ?  THEOBALD. 

—  that  it  p  issed.]  i.  e.  that  it  went  beyond  bounds.  So, 
in  'l'n>-  M<  •/•••//  /r/Vr.v  n/'  l''i>ir!*<»- :  "Why  this  /w.w.v,  master 
Ford.''  Oessida  plays  on  the  word,  as  used  by  Pandarus,  by 
employ  in;.;  it  liersi  it'  in  its  common  acceptation.  Sn.i\i:\s. 

"  an   Vu-  •>'!•  a   nin/t   (mm  ni    .l/»'i/.]      i.e.  a*  [f  'twere, 

tSr.      So,  in    A    Mi,( ,,»w>«rr-.Y/W//'A'   l)i;/n»:   "  I   will   roar   you 
an  'twere  anv  ni^htintrale." 


252        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

CUES.  And  I'll  spring  up  in  his  tears,  an  'twere  a 
nettle  against  May.  [A  Retreat  sounded. 

PAN.  Hark,  they  are  coming  from  the  field  : 
Shall  we  stand  up  here,  and  see  them,  as  they  pass 
toward  Ilium  ?  good  niece,  do  ;  sweet  niece  Cres- 
sida. 

CRES.  At  your  pleasure. 

PAN.  Here,  here,  here's  an  excellent  place  ;  here 
we  may  see  most  bravely  :  I'll  tell  you  them  all  by 
their  names,  as  they  pass  by  ;  but  mark  Troilus 
above  the  rest. 


sses  over  the  Stage. 

CRES.  Speak  not  so  loud. 

PAN.  That's  ^neas  ;  Is  not  that  a  brave  man  ? 
he's  one  of  the  flowers  of  Troy,  I  can  tell  you  ;  But 
mark  Troilus  ;  you  shall  see  anon. 

CRES.  Who's  that  ? 

ANTENOR  passes  over. 
PAN.  That's  Antenor  ;  he  has  a  shrewd  wit,1  I 

The  foregoing  thought  occurs  also  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  ; 
"  The  April's  in  her  eyes  :  it  is  love's  spring, 
"  And  these  the  showers  to  bring  it  on."     STEEVENS. 
1  That's  Antenor  ;  he  has  a  shrewd  •wit,'} 
"  Anthenor  was  —  - 

"  Copious  in  words,  and  one  that  much  time  spent 
"  To  jest,  when  as  he  Avas  in  companie, 
"  So  driely,  that  no  man  could  it  espie  ; 
"  And  therewith  held  his  countenaunce  so  well, 

"  That  every  man  received  great  content 
"  To  heare  him  speake,  and  pretty  jests  to  tell, 
"  When  he  was  pleasant,  and  in  merriment  : 
"  For  tho'  that  he  most  commonly  was  sad, 
"  Yet  in  his  speech  some  jest  he  always  had." 

Lydgate,  p.  105. 


a\  //.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        253 

can  tell  you  ;  and  he's  a  man  good  enough  :  he's 
one  o'the  soundest  judgments  in  Troy,  whosoever, 
and  a  proper  man  of  person  : — When  comes  Troi- 
lus  ? — I'll  show  you  Troilus  anon  j  if  he  see  me, 
you  shall  sec  him  nod  at  me. 

CRES.  Will  he  give  you  the  nod  ? 

PAN.  You  shall  see. 

CRES.  If  he  do,  the  rich  shall  have  more.2 

HECTOR  passes  over. 

PAN.  That's  Hector,  that,  that,  look  you,  that; 
There's  a  fellow ! — Go  thy  way,  Hector ; — There's 
a  brave  man,  niece. — O  brave  Hector! — Look,  how 
he  looks  !  there's  a  countenance  :  Is't  not  a  brave 

man  ? 

CRES.  O,  a  brave  man  ! 

PAN.  Is  'a  not  ?  It  does  a  man's  heart  good — 
Look  you  what  hacks  are  on  his  helmet !  look  you 
yonder,  do  you  see  ?  look  you  there  !  There's  no 
jesting  :  there's  laying  on  ;  take't  off  who  will,  as 
they  say  :  there  be  hacks  ! 

CRES.  Be  those  writh  swords  ? 

Such,  in  the  hands  of  a  rude  English  port,  is  the  grave  An- 
tcnor,  to  whose  wisdom  it  was  thought  necessary  that  the  art  of 
Ulysses  should  be  opposed: 

"  Et  jHoivo  Priannim,  Priamoque  Antenorajunctunt." 

STKKVKXS. 

5  the   rich   shrill  Jiavc   wore."]       The  allusion    is   to   the 

word  noddy,  which,  as  now,  did,  in  our  author's  time,  and 
long  before,  signify  ft  silly  feline,  and  may,  by  its  etymology, 
signify  likewise  full  of  nod?.  Cressid  means,  that  a  noddy  shall 
have  more  nod?.  Of  such  remarks  as  these  is  a  comim  nt  to 
consist!  JOHNSON. 

To  gin'  the  nod,  was,  I  believe,  a  term  in  the  game  at  cards 
called  Noddy,  This  game  is  perpetually  alluded  to  in  the  old 
comedies.  See.  Vol.  IV.  p.  lttf>,  n.  7.  SII:IVKNS. 


254        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 


PARIS  passes  over. 

PAN.  Swords  ?  any  thing,  he  cares  not :  an  the 
devil  come  to  him,  it's  all  one:  By  god's  lid,  it 
does  one's  heart  good : — Yonder  comes  Paris,  yon- 
der comes  Paris :  look  ye  yonder,  niece  ;  Is't  not 
a  gallant  man  too,  is't  not  ? — Why,  this  is  brave 
now. — Who  said,  he  came  hurt  home  to-day  ?  he's 
not  hurt:  why,  this  will  do  Helen's  heart  good  now. 
Ha !  'would  I  could  see  Troilus  now  1 — you  shall 
see  Troilus  anon. 

ORES.  Who's  that  ? 

HELENUS  passes  over. 

PAN.  That's  Helenus, — I  marvel,  where  Troilus 
is  : — That's  Helenus  ; — I  think  he  went  not  forth 
to-day  : — That's  Helenus. 

CRES.  Can  Helenus  fight,  uncle  ? 

PAN.  Helenus  ?  no  ; — yes,  he'll  fight  indifferent 
well : — I  marvel,  where  Troilus  is ! — Hark ;  do  you 
not  hear  the  people  cry,  Troilus  ? — Helenus  is  a 
priest. 

CRES.  What  sneaking  fellow  comes  yonder  ? 

TROILUS  passes  over. 

PAN.  Where  ?  yonder  ?  that's  Deiphobus  :  JTis 
Troilus  !  there's  a  man,  niece  ! — Hem  ! — Brave 
Troilus !  the  prince  of  chivalry  ! 

CRES.  Peace,  for  shame,  peace ! 

PAN.  Mark  him  ;  note  him  ; — O  brave  Troilus  ! 
— look  well  upon  him,  niece  j  look  you,  how  his 


sc.  if.      TllOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        255 

sword  is  bloodied,3  and  his  helm  more  hack'd  than 
Hector's ; 4  And  how  he  looks,  and  how  he  goes ! — 
O  admirable  youth!  he  ne'er  saw  three  and  twenty. 
Go  thy  way  Troilus,  go  thy  way ;  had  I  a  sister 
were  a  grace,  or  a  daughter  a  goddess,  he  should 
take  his  choice.  O  admirable  man  !  Paris  ? — Paris 
is  dirt  to  him  ;  and,  I  warrant,  Helen,  to  change, 
would  o-Jve  an  eve  to  boot/ 


Forces  pass  over  the  Stage. 

CRES.  Here  come  more. 

PAX.  Asses,  fools,  dolts  !  chaff  and  bran,  chaff 
and  bran  !  porridge  after  meat  !  I  could  live  and 
die  i'the  eyes  of  Troilus.  Ne'er  look,  ne'er  look  ; 
the  eagles  are  gone  ;  crows  and  daws,  crows  and 
tlaws  !  I  had  rather  be  such  a  man  as  Troilus,  than 
Aamemnon  and  all  Greece. 


CHES.  There  is  among  the  Greeks,  Achilles;  a 
better  man  than  Troilus. 

PAN.  Achilles  ?    a  drayman,   a  porter,   a  very 
camel. 

CUES.  Well,  well. 

3  -  hole  his  sword  is  bloodied,]      -y<»,  I-yilgate,  describiii" 
Troilus,  in  a  couplet  that  reminds  us  of  Dryden,  or  Pope  : 
"  lie  was  so  fer^e  they  might  him  not  withstand, 
"  When  that  lie  helde  his  b/ody  .MIYJ/V/C  in  hand." 
I   always  quote  from   the  original  poem,  edit.  l.">.5.~>. 

.M.\i  DM.. 

«   -  ///.v  helm  more  hnckM  than  Hector's;}    So,  in  Chaucer'- 
Troiln.s  and  Cr^.<ciu/',  Book  111.  (>•!(>: 

"  Hi--;  fief  in<-  to  /if;i-/,/  H.IS  in  twenty  places,"  \e. 

S  i  i  •  i  v  K  v  -'. 

•th    ll-S- 


I'oree, — dire  monrv  In  l« 


256        TROILUS  AND  CHESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

PAN.  Well,  well  ? — Why,  have  you  any  discre- 
tion ?  have  you  any  eyes  ?  Do  you  know  what  a 
man  is  ?  Is  not  birth,  beauty,  good  shape,  discourse, 
manhood,  learning,  gentleness,  virtue,  youth,  libe- 
rality, and  such  like,  the  spice  and  salt  that  season 
a  man  ? 

CUES.  Ay,  a  minced  man  :  and  then  to  be  baked 
with  no  date  in  the  pye,6 — for  then  the  man's  date 
is  out. 

PAN.  You  are  such  a  woman  !  one  knows  not  at 
what  ward  you  lie.7 

CRES.  Upon  my  back,  to  defend  my  belly ;  upon 
my  wit,  to  defend  my  wiles ; 8  upon  my  secrecy,  to 
defend  mine  honesty ;  my  mask,  to  defend  my 
beauty  ;  and  you,  to  defend  all  these  :  and  at  all 
these  wards  I  lie,  at  a  thousand  wratches. 

PAN.  Say  one  of  your  watches. 

e  no  date  in  the  pye, ~\     To  account  for  the  introduction 

of  this  quibble,  it  should  be  remembered  that  dates  were  an 
ingredient  in  ancient  pastry  of  almost  every  kind.  So,  in 
Romeo  and  Juliet : 

"  They  call  for  dates  and  quinces  in  the  pastry." 
Again,  in  All's  well  that  ends  well,  Act  I :  "  — your  date  is 
better  in  your  pye  and  porridge,  than  in  your  cheek.'* 

STEEVENS. 

7  at  what  ward  you  lie.]     A  metaphor  from  the  art  of 

defence.     So,  Falstaff,  in  King  Henry  I  V.P.I:  "  Thou  know'st 
my  old.  ward;  here  I  lay  ;"  &c.     STEEVENS. 

8  upon  my  wit,  to  defend  my  wiles;]      So  read  both  the 

copies  :  and  yet  perhaps  the  author  wrote : 

Upon  my  wit  to  defend  my  will. 

The  terms  wit  and  will  were,  in  the  language  of  that  time,  put 
often  in  opposition.  JOHNSON. 

So,  in  The  Rape  of  Lucrcce  : 

"  What  wit  sets  down,  is  blotted  straight  with  will." 
Yet  I  think  the  old  copy  right.     MA  LONE. 


sc.  n.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        257 

CRES.  Nay,  I'll  watch  you  for  that ;  and  that's 
one  of  the  cniefest  of  them  too  :  if  I  cannot  ward 
what  I  would  not  have  hit,  I  can  watch  you  for 
telling  how  I  took  the  blow ;  unless  it  swell  past 
hiding,  and  then  it  is  past  watching. 

PAN.  You  are  such  another ! 

Enter  TROILUS'  Boy. 

BOY.  Sir,  my  lord  would  instantly  speak  with  you. 

PAX.  Where? 

BOY.  At  your  own  house;  there  he  unarms  him.' 

PAX.  Good  hoy,  tell  him  I  come :  [_E.iil  Boy.] 
I  doubt,  he  be  hurt. — Fare  ye  well,  good  niece. 

CRES.  Adieu,  uncle. 

PAX.  I'll  be  with  you,  niece,  by  and  by. 

CRES.  To  bring,  uncle, 

PAX.  Ay,  a  token  from  Troilus. 

CRES.  By  the  same  token — you  are  a  bawd. — 

[/>//  PANDARUS. 

Words,  vows,  griefs,  tears,  and  love's  full  sacrifice, 
He  otters  in  another's  enterprize  : 
But  more  in  Troilus  thousand  fold  I  see 
Than  in  the  glass  of  Pandar's  praise  may  be  ; 
Yet  hold  I  off.     Women  are  angels,  wooing: 
Things  won  are  done,  joy's  soul  lies  in  the  doing  : ' 

9  At  your  ou'M  house  ;  there  lie  unarms  him.]   These  necessary 
words  are  added  from  the  quarto  edition.     Poi'K. 

The  words  added  are  only — ihcre  If  unarms  him.     JOHNSON. 

1 joy's   soul  Hex  hi  I /if  doing  :]      So  read  both   the   old 

editions,  tor  which  the  later  editions  hnve  poorly  given: 
The  soul's  joy  lies  in  doing,     JOHNSON. 

It  is  the  reading  of  the  second  folio.     Krrsov. 
VOL.   XV.  S 


258        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i* 

That  she2  belov'd  knows  nought,  that  knows  not 

this, — 

Men  prize  the  thing  ungain'd  more  than  it  is  : 
That  she  was  never  yet,  that  ever  knew 
Love  got  so  sweet,  as  when  desire  did  sue : 
Therefore  this  maxim  out  of  love  I  teach, — 
Achievement  is  command  j  ungain'd,  beseech  :5 
Then  though4  my  heart's  content5  firm  love  doth 

bear, 
Nothing  of  that  shall  from  mine  eyes  appear. 

\_Exit. 


Yet  hold  I  off".     Women  are  angels,  wooing: 

Things  won  are  done,  joy's  soul  lies  in  me  doing :]  This  is 
the  reading  of  all  the  editions  ;  yet  it  must  be  erroneous  ;  for  the 
last  six  words  of  the  passage  are  totally  inconsistent  with  the  rest 
of  Cressida's  speech,  and  the  very  reverse  of  the  doctrine  she 
professes  to  teach.  I  have,  therefore,  no  doubt  that  we  ought 
to  read : 

• -joy's  soul  dies  in  the  doing  : 

which  means,  that  the  fire  of  passion  is  extinguished  by  enjoy- 
ment. 

The  following  six  lines  sufficiently  confirm  the  propriety  of 
this  amendment,  which  is  obtained  by  the  change  of  a  single 
letter : 

That  she  belov'd  &c.  &c.     M.  MASON. 

5  That  she — ]     Means,  that  woman.     JOHNSON. 

3  Achievement  is  command;  ungain'd,  beseech  :]     The  mean- 
ing of  this  obscure  line  seems  to  be — "  Men,  after  possession, 
become  our  commanders ;  before  it,  they  are  our  suppliants." 

STEEVENS. 

4  Then  though — ]     The  quarto  reads — Then  ;  the  folio  and 
the  other  modern  editions  read  improperly — That.     JOHNSON. 

3 my  heart's  content — ]     Content,  for  capacity, 

WAUBURTON. 

On  considering  the  context,  it  appears  to  me  that  we  ought  to 
read — "  my  heart's  consent,"  not  content.  M.  MASON. 

my  heart's  content — ]  Perhaps  means,  my  heart's  satis- 
faction or  joy;  my  well  pleased  heart.  So,  in  our  author's  De- 


sc.  in.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        259 
SCENE  III. 

• 

The  Grecian  Camp.     Before  Agamemnon's  Tent. 

Trumpets.     Enter  AGAMEMNON,  NESTOR, 
ULYSSES,  MENELAUS,  and  Otliers. 

AGAM.  Princes, 

What  grief  hath  set  the  jaundice  on  your  cheeks  ? 
The  ample  proposition,  that  hope  makes 
In  all  designs  begun  on  earth  below, 
Fails  in  the  promis'd  largeness:  checks  and  disasters 
Grow  in  the  veins  of  actions  highest  rear'd ; 
As  knots,  by  the  conflux  of  meeting  sap, 
Infect  the  sound  pine,  and  divert  his  grain 
Tortive  and  errant  from  his  course  of  growth. 
Nor,  princes,  is  it  matter  new  to  us, 
That  we  come  short  of  our  suppose  so  far, 
That,  after  seven  years*  siege,  yet  Troy  walls  stand ; 
Sith  every  action  that  hath  gone  before, 
\Vhereof  we  have  record,  trial  did  draw 
Bias  and  thwart,  not  answering  the  aim, 
And  that  unbodied  figure  of  the  thought 
Thatgave't  surmised  shape.  Why  then,  you  princes. 
Do  you  with  cheeks  abash'd  behold  our  works ; 
Andthink  them  shames,  which  are,  indeed,  nought 

else 
But  the  protractive  trials  of  great  Jove, 

dication  of  his  Vcnm  and  Adonh  to  Loril  Southampton:  "  J 
leave  it  to  your  honourable  survey,  and  your  honour  to'  your 
heart's  content''  This  is  the  reading  of  the  quarto.  The  toliu 
has — contents.  MAI. ONI-;. 

My  heart's  content,  I  believe,   signifies — I  he   acquiescence  of 
nni  heart.     STKF.VJ;VS, 


260        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

To  find  persistive  constancy  in  men  ? 

The  fineness  of  which  metal  is  not  found 

In  fortune's  love :  for  then,  the  bold  and  coward, 

The  wise  and  fool,  the  artist  and  unread, 

The  hard  and  soft,  seem  all  affin'd6  and  kin : 

But,  in  the  wind  and  tempest  of  her  frown, 

Distinction,  with  a  broad7  and  powerful  fan, 

Puffing  at  all,  winnows  the  light  away ; 

And  what  hath  mass,  or  matter,  by  itself 

Lies,  rich  in  virtue,  and  unmingled. 

NEST.  With  due  observance  of  thy  godlike  seat,8 
Great  Agamemnon,  Nestor  shall  apply 
Thy  latest  words.9     In  the  reproof  of  chance 

5 affirfd — ]  i.  e.  joined  by  affinity.     The  same  adjective 

occurs  in  Othello: 

"  If  partially  ciffin'd,  or  leagu'd  in  office."     STEEVENS. 

7 broad — ]     So  the  quarto.     The  folio  reads — loud. 

JOHNSON. 

s    With  due   observance  of  thy  godlike  seat,']     Goodly   [the 
reading  of  the  folio]  is  an  epithet  that  carries  no  very  great  com- 
pliment with  it ;  and  Nestor  seems  here  to  be  paying  deference 
to  Agamemnon's  state  and  pre-eminence.     The  old  books  [the 
quartos]  have  it — to  thy  godly  scat:  godlike,  as  I  have  reformed 
the  text,  seems  to  me  the  epithet  designed ;  and  is  very  conform- 
able to  what  TEneas  afterwards  says  of  Agamemnon  : 
"  Which  is  that  god  in  office,  guiding  men  ?" 
So  godlike  seat  is  here,  state  supreme  above  all  other  com- 
manders.    THEOBALD. 

This  emendation  Theobald  might  have  found  in  the  quarto, 
which  has — the  godlike  seat.  JOHNSON. 

thy  godlike  seat,]     The  throne  in  which  thou  sittest, 

"  like  a  descended  god."     MALONE. 

9  Nestor  shall  apply 

Thy  latest  words.]      Nestor  applies  the  words  to  another  in- 
stance.    JOHNSON. 

Perhaps  Nestor  means,  that  he  will  attend  particularly  to,  and 
consider,  Agamemnon's  latest  words.  So,  in  an  ancient  inter- 
lude, entitled,  The  Nice  Wanton,  1560: 


sc.  m.     TROILUS.  AND  CRESSIDA.        261 

Lies  the  true  proof  of  men  :  The  sea  being  smooth, 

How  many  shallow  bauble  boats  dare  sail 

Upon  her  patient  breast,1  making  their  way 

With  those  of  nobler  bulk  ?* 

But  let  the  ruffian  Boreas  once  enrage 

The  gentle  Thetis,3  and,  anon,  behold 

The  strong-ribb'd  bark  through  liquid  mountains 

cut, 

Bounding  between  the  two  moist  elements, 
Like  Perseus' horse:*  Where's  then  the  saucy  boat, 


"  O  ye  children,  let  your  time  be  well  spent ; 
"  Applifc  your  learning,  and  your  elders  obey." 
See  also  Vol.  IX." p.  4-0,  n.  3.     MALOXK. 

patient    breast, ~\     The    quarto,  not   so    well — ancient 


breast.     Jon  N.SOX. 

*  With  those  of  nobler  bnlk?~\     Statins  has  the  same  thought, 

though  more  diffusively  expressed  : 

"  Sic  ubi  magna  novum  Phario  de  littore  puppis 

"  Solvit  iter,  j.imque  innumeros  utrinque  rudentes 

"  Lataque  velit'eri  porrexit  brachia  mali, 

"  Invasitque  vias ;  it  eodem  angusta  phaselus 

"  /Kquore,  ct  immcnsi  partem  sibi  vendicat  austri." 

Again,  in  The  .SyAvr  of  the  same  author,  Lib.  I.  iv.  1'JO: 

" immensoe  veluti  connexa  carina? 

"  Cymba  minor,  cum  so?vit  hyems — 
" et  eodem  volvitur  aiustro." 

Mr.  Pope  has  imitated  the  passage.     STFEVKXS. 

"'  But  let  the  ruffian  Boreas  once  enrage 

The  gentle  Thetis,'}  So,  in  Lord  (.Vowinr//,  IfiO'J:  "  When 
1  have  seen  Boreas  begin  U>  play  the  r.iffian  with  us,  then  would 
1  down  on  my  knees."  M  A  LOST.. 

4  Bounding  between  the  luso  inoi^l  elements, 

Like  I'erxens?  horte  ;~\  iMi-rcury,  according  to  the  fable, 
presented  JVrseus  \\illi  ,'nl:ii'/ !,  but  \vi>  nowhere  hear  ot  his 
horse.  The  only  Hying  horse  u!' antiquity  was  I'eg.i^us;  and  he 
\vas  the  property,  not  oi'  T.-I'M  u<,  l»ut  llellerophon.  Hut  our 
poet  followed  a  more  modern  fabuli>t,  the  author  of  I  he  Destruc- 
tion ti/'Troij,  a  liook  which  furnished  him  with  .-onic  other  cir- 
cuni-t.inces  of  this  play.  Of  the  horse  alluded  to  in  the  text  he 
i'ouud  in  that  book  the  following  account  : 


262        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

Whose  weak  untimber'd  sides  but  even  now 
Co-rivaPd  greatness  ?  either  to  harbour  fled, 
Or  made  a  toast  for  Neptune.     Even  so 
Doth  valour's  show,  and  valour's  worth,  divide, 
In  storms  of  fortune:  For,  in  her  ray  and  brightness, 
The  herd  hath  more  annoyance  by  the  brize,5 
Than  by  the  tiger  :  but  when  the  splitting  wind 
Makes  flexible  the  knees  of  knotted  oaks, 


"  Of  the  blood  that  issued  out  [from  Medusa's  head]  there 
engendered  Pegasus,  or  thejlying  horse.  By  the  flying  horse 
that  was  engendered  of  the  blood  issued  from  her  head,  is  under- 
stood, that  of  her  riches  issuing  of  that  realme  he  [Perseus] 
founded  and  made  a  ship  named  Pegase, — and  this  ship  was  liken- 
ed unto  an  horse  flying,"  &c. 

Again:  "  By  this  fashion  Perseus  conquered  the  head  of 
Medusa,  and  did  make  Pegase,  the  most  swift  ship  that  was  in 
all  the  world." 

In  another  place  the  same  writer  assures  us,  that  this  ship, 
which  he  always  calls  Perseus'  flying  horse,  "jlew  on  the  sea 
like  unto  a  bird." 

Dest.  of  Troy,  4to.  1617,  p.  155— 164.     MALONE. 

The  foregoing  note  is  a  very  curious  one ;  and  yet  our  author 
perhaps  would  not  have  contented  himself  with  merely  compar- 
ing one  ship  to  another.  Unallegorized  Pegasus  might  be  fairly 
styled  Perseus'  horse,  because  the  heroism  of  Perseus  had  given 
him  existence. 

So,  in  the  fable  of  The  Hors,  the  Shepe,  and  the  Ghoos, 
printed  by  Caxton : 

"  The  stede  qfperseus  was  cleped  pigase 
"  With  swifte  wynges"  &c. 
Whereas,  ibid,  a  ship  is  called  "  —  an  hors  of  tre." 

See  University  Library,  Cambridge,  D.  5.  42.     STEEVENS. 

s by  the  brize,]     The  brize  is  the  gad  or  horse-Jiy.     So, 

in  Monsieur  Thomas,  1639  : 

" Have  ye  got  the  brize  there  ? 

**  Give  me  the  holy  sprinkle." 

Again,   in  Vittoria  Corombona,  or  The  White  Deri?,  1612:  "  I 
will  put  brize  in  his  tail,  set  him  a  gadding  presently." 
See  note  on  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  Act  III.  sc.  viii. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  in.    THOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        265 

And  flies  fled  under  shade,"  Why,  then,  the  thing 

of  courage,7 

As  rous'd  with  rage,  with  rage  doth  sympathize, 
And  with  an  accent  turn'd  in  self-same  key, 
Returns  to  chiding  fortune.8 

ULYSS.  Agamemnon, — 

Thou  great  commander,  nerve  and  bone  of  Greece, 
Heart  of  our  numbers,  soul  and  only  spirit, 
In  whom  the  tempers  and  the  minds  of  all 
Should  be  shut  up, — hear  what  Ulysses  speaks. 
Besides  the  applause  and  approbation 
The  which, — most  mightyfor  thy  place  and  sway, — 

[7o  AGAMEMNON. 

And  thoumost  reverend  for  thystretch'd-out  life,— 

[7o  NESTOK. 

I  give  to  both  your  speeches, — which  were  such, 
As  Agamemnon  and  the  hand  of  Greece 
Should  hold  up  high  in  brass ;  and  such  again, 
As  venerable  Nestor,  hatch'd  in  silver, 


0  And  flies  fled  under  shade,']  i.  c.  And  flies  are  fled  under 
shade.  1  have  observed  similar  omissions  in  the  works  of  many 
of  our  author's  contemporaries.  MALONE. 

ifie  I  fiing   of  courage,]     It  is  said  of  the  tiger,  that  in 


storms  and  high  winds  he  rages  and  roars  most  furiously. 

HAN.MER. 

h  Returns  to  eluding  fortune.]  I;or  returns,  Hanmor  reads 
replies,  unnecessarily,  the  sense  being  the  same.  The  folio  and 
quarto  have  retire.*,  corruptly.  JOHNSON. 

So,  in  King  Richard  II  : 

"  Northumberland,  say — thus  the  king  return*;- 


STKKVI  ,\s. 

The  emendation  was  made  by  Mr.  Pope.      Chiding  is  noisy, 
clamorous.     So,  in  King  Henry  \  III  : 

"  As  dotii  a  rock  against  the  e/iit/i>ig  Hood." 
Seep.  l'J7,  n.  (>.        MAI.  ONE. 


See  also  Vol.  IV.  p.  I/JO,  n.  5. 


264        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

Should  with  a  bond  of  air  (strong  as  the  axletree9 
On  which  heaven  rides,)  knit  all  the  Greekish  ears 
Tohisexperienc'dtongue,1 — yetletitpleaseboth, — 

9 axletree — ]     This  word  was  anciently  contracted  into 

a  dissyllable.     Thus  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Bonduca : 

*< when  the  mountain 

"  Melts  under  their  hot  wheels,  and  from  their  ax'trees 
"  Huge  claps  of  thunder  plough  the  ground  before  them." 

STEEVENS. 

1 •  speeches, — "which  were  such, 

As  Agamemnon  and  the  hand  of  Greece 
Should  hold  up  high  in  brass  ;  and  such  againy 
As  venerable  Nestor,  hatch'd  in  silver, 
Shoidd  with  a  bond  of  air 


-knit  all  the  Greekish  ears 


To  his  experienced  tongue,~]  Ulysses  begins  his  oration  with 
praising  those  who  had  spoken  before  him,  and  marks  the  cha- 
racteristick  excellencies  of  their  different  eloquence, — strength, 
and  sweetness,  which  he  expresses  by  the  different  metals  on 
which  he  recommends  them  to  be  engraven  for  the  instruction 
of  posterity.  The  speech  of  Agamemnon  is  such  that  it  ought 
to  be  engraven  in  brass,  and  the  tablet  held  up  by  him  on  the 
one  side,  and  Greece  on  the  other,  to  show  the  union  of  their 
opinion.  And  Nestor  ought  to  be  exhibited  in  silver,  uniting 
all  his  audience  in  one  mind  by  his  soft  and  gentle  elocution. 
Brass  is  the  common  emblem  of  strength,  and  silver  of  gentle- 
ness. We  call  a  soft  voice  a  silver  voice,  and  a  persuasive 
tongue  a  silver  tongue.  I  once  read  for  hand,  the  band,  of 
Greece,  but  I  think  the  text  right.  To  hatch  is  a  term  of  art 
for  a  particular  method  of  engraving.  Hachcr,  to  cut,  Fr. 

JOHNSON. 

In  the  description  of  Agamemnon's  speech,  there  is  a  plain 
allusion  to  the  old  custom  of  engraving  laws  and  publick  records 
in  brass,  and  hanging  up  the  tables  in  temples,  and  other  places 
of  general  resort.  Our  author  has  the  same  allusion  in  Measure 
for  Measure,  Act  V.  sc.  i.  The  Duke,  speaking  of  the  merit  of 
Angelo  and  Escalus,  says,  that 

" it  deserves  with  characters  of  brass 

"  A  forted  residence,  'gainst  the  tooth  of  time 

"  And  razurc  of  oblivion ." 

So  far  therefore  is  clear.  \Vhv  Nestor  is  said  to  be  hatch'd  in 
silver,  is  much  more  obscure.  I  once  thought  that  we  ought  to 
read, — thatch'd  in  silver,  alluding  to  his  silver  hair;  the  same 


sc.  in.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        265 

Thou  great, — and  wise,2 — to  hear  Ulysses  speak. 


metaphor  being  used  by  Timon,  Act  IV.  sc.  iv.  to  Phryne  and 
Timandra : 


thatch  your  poor  thin  roofs 


"  With  burthens  of  the  (lead- 
But  I  know  not  whether  the  present  reading  may  not  be  under- 
stood to  convey  the  same  allusion ;  as  I  find,  that  the  species  of 
engraving,  called  hatching,  was  particularly  used  in  the  hilts  of 
swords.  See  Cotgrave  in  v.  Huc/ic ;  hacked,  &c.  also,  Hatched, 
as  the  hilt  of  a  sword;  and  in  v.  Hacher  ;  to  hacke,  &c.  also, 
to  hatch  a  hilt.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Custom  of  ihc  Country, 
Vol.  II.  p.  90  : 

"  When  thine  own  bloody  sword  cried  out  against  thce, 

"  JIatch'd  in  the  life  of  him ." 

As  to  what  follows,  if  the  reader  should  have  no  more  con- 
ception than  I  have,  of 

a  bond  of  air,  strong  as  the  axle-tree 


"  On  which  heaven  rides  ;- 


he  will  perhaps  excuse  me  lor  hazarding  a  conjecture,  that  the 
true  reading  may  possibly  be: 

a  bond  o/awe, . 

The  expression  is  used  by  Fairfax,  in  his  1th  Eclogue,  Muses 
Library,  p.  "(>h  : 

"  Unty  these  bonds  of  awe  and  cords  of  duty." 
After  all,    the  construction  of  this  passage  is  very  harsh  and 
irregular;  but  with  that  I  meddle  not,  believing  it  was  left  so  by 
the  author.     TYKWHITT. 

Perhaps  no  alteration  is  necessary:  haich'd  in  silver,  may 
mean,  whose  white  hair  and  beard  make  him  look  like  a  Hgurc 
engraved  on  silver. 

The  word  is  metaphorically  used  by  Jlevwood,  in   The  Iron 


"  Is  //«/(•//'(/ \\  ith  impudency  three-fold  thick." 
And  again,  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Humorous  Lieutenant; 

'•  His  weapon  hatched  in  blood." 
Again,  literally,  in  'ihc  T\vn  Mt-rrii  Milkmaids,  !(>''_!(): 

"  Double  and  treble  gilt,— 

"  Hatched  and  iniaid,  not  tube  worn  with  time." 
Again,  more  appositely,  in  Lnvf  in  a  Mnzt',  !(>:>'_': 

"  Thy  hair  is  tint.'  as  uohl,  thv  chin  is  hatched 

"  With  silver ."  ' 

Airam,  m  Chairman's  version  ol  the  '2">d  Iliad.' 

"  Shall  win  this  i-wonl.  \//;-('/'V  and  hutch'ti ; — •" 


266        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

AGAM.  Speak,3  prince  of  Ithaca;  and  be't  of 
less  expect4 

The  voice  of  Nestor,  which  on  all  occasions  enforced  atten- 
tion, might  be,  I  think,  not  unpoetically  called,  a  bond  of  air, 
because  its  operations  were  visible,  though  his  voice,  like  the 
wind,  was  unseen.  STEEVENS. 

In  a  newspaper  of  the  day,  intitled  The  Neives  published  for 
Satisfaction  and  Information  of  the  People,  Nov.  12,  1663,  No. 
XI.  p.  So,  is  advertized,  "  Lost,  in  Scotland  Yard,  a  broad 
sword  hctcht  tvith  silver."  REED. 

In  the  following  verses  in  our  author's  Rape  ofLucrece,  nearly 
the  same  picture  of  Nestor  is  given.  The  fifth  line  of  the  first 
stanza  may  lead  us  to  the  true  interpretation  of  the  words 
hatch' d  in  silver.  In  a  subsequent  passage  the  colour  of  the  old 
man's  beard  is  again  mentioned  ; 

"  I'll  hide  my  silver  beard  in  a  gold  beaver." 
Dr.  Johnson  therefore  is  undoubtedly  mistaken  in  supposing  that 
there  is  any  allusion  to  the  soft  voice  or  silver  tongue  of  Nestor. 
The  pott,  however,  might  mean  not  merely  that  Nestor  looked 
tike  a  figure  engraved  in  silver  (as  Mr.  Steevens  supposes)!;  but 
that  he  should  actually  be  so  engraved. 

With  respect  to  the  breath  or  speech  of  Nestor,  here  called  a 
bond  of  air,  it  is  so  truly  Shakspearian,  that  I  have  not  the  small- 
est doubt  of  the  genuineness  of  the  expression.  Shakspeare  fre- 
quently calls  words  ivind,  and  air.  So,  in  one  of  his  poems  : 

"  sorrow  ebbs,  being  blown  with  uind  of  words" 

Again,  in  Romeo  and  Juliet  : 

"  Three  civil  broils,  bred  of  an  airy  word." 
Again,  more  appositely,  in  Much  Ado  about  Nothing: 

11  Charm  ache  with  air,  and  agony  with  words." 
The  verses  above  alluded  to  are  these  : 

"  There  pleading  you  might  see  grave  Nestor  stand, 

"  As  'twere  encouraging  the  Greeks  to  fight ; 

"  Making  such  sober  action  with  his  hand, 

"  That  it  beguil'd  attention,  charm'd  the  sight; 

"  In  speech  it  seem'd,  his  beard  all  silver  white 

"  Wagg'd  up  and  down,  and  from  his  lips  did  fly 

"  Thin  winding  breath,  which  purl'd  up  to  the  sky. 

"  About  him  were  a  press  of  gaping  faces, 

"  Which  seem'd  to  swallow  up  his  sound  advice, 

"  All  jointly  list'ning  but  with  several  graces, 

"  As  if  some  mermaid  did  their  ears  entice  ; 

"  Some  high,  some  low  ;  the  painter  was  so  nice, 

"  The  scalps  of  many  almost  hid  behind 

"  To  jump  up  higher  seem'd,  to  mock  the  mind." 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       267 

That  matter  needless,  of  importless  burden, 
Divide  thy  lips ;  than  we  are  confident, 

What  is  here  called  speech  that  bcguil'd  attention,  is  in  the 
text  a  bond  of  air  ;  i.  e.  breath,  or  words  that  strongly  enforced 
the  attention  of  his  auditors.  In  the  same  poem  we  find  a 
kindred  expression : 

"  Feast-finding  minstrels,  tuning  my  defame, 

"  Will  tie  the  hearers  to  attend  each  line." 
Again,  more  appositely,  in  Drayton's  Mortimeriados,  4to.  no 
date : 

"  Torlton,  whose  tongue  men's  ears  in  chains  could  bind.1' 
The  word  knit,  which  alone  remains  to  be  noticed,  is  often 
used  by  Shakspcare  in  the  same  manner.     So,  in  Macbeth  : 

" to  the  which  my  duties 

"  Are  with  a  most  indissoluble  lie 

"  For  ever  knit." 

Again,  in  Othello :  "  I  have  profess'd  me  thy  friend,  and  I 
confess  me  knit  to  thy  deserving  with  cables  of  perdurable 
toughness." 

A  passage  in  Puttenham's  Arte  of  English  Poesie,  1589,  may 
illustrate  that  before  us :  "  Whether  now  persuasions  may  not 
be  said  violent  and  forcible,  especially  to  simple  myndes,  in  spe- 
cial I  refer  to  all  men's  judgement  that  hear  the  story.  At  least 
waies  I  finde  this  opinion  confirmed  by  a  pretie  devise  or  em- 
bleme  that  Lucianus  alleageth  he  saw  in  the  portrait  of  Hercules 
within  the  citie  of  Marseilles  in  Provence ;  where  they  had 
figured  a  lustie  old  man  with  a  long  chayne  ti/cd  by  one  end  at 
Ids  tong,  by  the  other  end  at  the  people's  cares,  who  stood  afar 
off,  and  seemed  to  be  drawen '  to  him  by  force  of  that  chayne 
fastened  to  his  tong;  as  who  would  say,  by  force  of  his  persua- 
sions." MA  LONE. 

Thus,  in  Chapman's  version  of  the  13th  Odyssey  : 

"  He  said;  and  silence  all  their  tongues  contain'd 
"  (In  admiration)  when  tc/V//  j>!  n-otrc  chained 
"  Their  ears  had  long  been  to  him."      STKKVKNS. 

1  Thougm*/, — and  uv'.sr,]     This  passage  is  sense  as  it  stands  ; 
yet  I  have  little  doubt  that  Shakspeare  wrote — 

Though  great  and  uv'xr, .     M.  MASOV. 

3  Agam.  Speak,  £c.]      This  speech  is  not  in  the  quarto. 

.IlUI  SSON. 

4  expect — ]     Expect  for  expectation.     Thus,  in  our  au- 
thor's works,  wtj  have  suspect  for  .suspicion,  &c.     STITVKKS. 


268       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  r. 

When  rank  Thersites  opes  his  mastiff  jaws, 
We  shall  hear  musick,  wit,  and  oracle. 

ULYSS.  Troy,  yet  upon  his  basis,  had  been  down, 
And  the  great  Hector's  sword  had  lack'd  a  master,5 
But  for  these  instances. 
The  specialty  of  rule6  hath  been  neglected: 
And,  look,  how  many  Grecian  tents  do  stand 
Hollow  upon  this  plain,  so  many  hollow  factions.7 
WTien  that  the  general  is  not  like  the  hives8 
To  whom  the  foragers  shall  all  repair, 
What  honey  is  expected  ?  Degree  being  vizarded, 
The  unworthiest  shows  as  fairly  in  the  mask. 

5 Hector's  sword  had  lack'd  a  master,]  So,  in  Cymleline: 

<( gains,  or  loses, 

"  Your  sword,  or  mine ;  or  masterless  leaves  both — ." 

STEEVENS. 

6  The  specialty  of  rule — ~\     The  pc^rticular  rights  of  supreme 
authority.     JOHNSON. 

7  Hollow  upon  this  plain,  so  many  hollow  factions."]      The 
word  hollow,  at  the  beginning  of  the  line,  injures  the  metre, 
without  improving  the  sense,  and  should  probably  be  struck  out. 

M.  MASON. 

I  would  rather  omit  the  word  in  the  second  instance.  To 
stand  empty,  (hollow,  as  Shakspeare  calls  it,)  is  a  provincial 
phrase  applied  to  houses  which  have  no  tenants.  These  factions, 
however,  were  avowed,  not  hollow,  or  insidious.  Remove  the 
word  hollow,  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse,  and  every  tent  in 
sight  would  become  chargeable  as  the  quondam  residence  of  a 
factious  chief;  for  the  plain  sense  must  then  be — there  are  as 
many  hollow  factions  as  there  are  tents.  STEEVENS. 

8  When  that  the  general  is  not  like  the  hive,~\     The  meaning 
is, —  When  the  general  is  not  to  the  army  like  the  hive  to  the 
bees,  the  repository  of  the  stock  of  every  individual,  that  to 
which  each  particular  resorts  with  whatever  he  has  collected 
for  the  good  of  the  whole,  what  honey  is  expected?  what  hope 
of  advantage  ?    The  sense  is  clear,  the  expression  is  confused. 

JOHNSON. 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       2G9 

The  heavens  themselves,9  the  planets,  and  this 

center, l 

Observe  degree,  priority,  and  place, 
Insistnre,  course,  proportion,  season,  form, 
Office,  and  custom,  in  all  line  of  order: 
And  therefore  is  the  glorious  planet,  Sol, 
In  noble  eminence  enthron'd  and  spher'd 
Amidst  the  other ;  whose  med'cinable  eye 
Corrects  the  ill  aspects  of  planets  evil,2 
And  posts,  like  the  commandment  of  a  king, 
Sans  check, to  good  and  bad:  But, when  the  planets, 
In  evil  mixture,  to  disorder  wander,3 

9  The  heavens  themselves,"]  This  illustration  was  probably 
derived  from  a  passage  in  Hooker:  "  If  celestial  spheres  should 
forget,  their  wonted  motion  ;  if  the  prince  of  the  lights  of  heaven 
should  begin  to  stand  ;  if  the  moon  should  wander  from  her 
beaten  way;  and  the  seasons  of  the  year  blend  themselves;  what 
would  become  of  man?"  WAUBURTON. 

1  the  planets,  and  ///A-  center,]     i.  e.  the  center  of  the 

earth,  which,  according  to  the  Ptolemaic  system,  then  in  vogue, 
L>  the  center  of  the  solar  system.     WAHBUKTOX. 

By  thin  center,  Ulysses  means  the  earth  itself,  not  the  center 
Of  the  earth.  According  to  the  system  of  Ptolemy,  the  earth  is 
the  center  round  which  the  planets  move.  M.  MASON. 

*  Corrects  ih<:  ill  asfKCtsnfp/anets  rcil,~]      So,  the  folio.     The 
quarto  reads  : 

Corrects  fh*  influence  of  evil  planets.     MALONI:. 

*  Hut,  ichen  the  planet*, 

In  evil  mixture,  to  (lisirrder  wander,  eve.]  I  believe*  the 
poet,  according  to  astrological  opinions,  means,  when  the  planets 
form  malignant  configurations,  when  their  aspects  are  evil  to- 
wards one  another.  This  he  terms  c"il  mixture.  JOHNSON. 

The  poet's  meaning  may  be  somewhat  explained  by  Spenser, 
to  whom  he  seems  to  be  indebted  for  his  present  allusion  : 
Fbr  who  so  liste  into  the  heavens  lookc, 
And  search  the  courses  of  the  rowling  spheres, 
Shall  find  that  from  the  point  where  they  lir>t  tooLr 
Their  setting  forth,  in  these  lew  thousand  ye:ir«  s 
They  all  are  windird  much  ;  that  plaine  appear,:-;. 


270       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

What  plagues,  and  what  portents?  what  mutiny? 
What  raging  of  the  sea  ?  shaking  of  earth  ? 
Commotion  in  the  winds  ?  frights,  changes,  horrors, 
Divert  and  crack,  rend  and  deracinate4 
The  unity  and  married  calm  of  states5 

"  For  that  same  golden  fleecy  ram,  which  bore 
"  Phrixus  and  Helle  from  their  stepdames  feares, 
"  Hath  now  forgot  where  he  was  plast  of  yore, 
"  And  shouldred  hath  the  bull  which  fayre  Europa  bore. 

"  And  eke  the  bull  hath  with  his  bow-bent  home 
"  So  hardly  butted  those  two  twins  of  Jove, 
"  That  they  have  crush'd  the  crab,  and  quite  him  borne 
"  Into  the  great  Nemaean  lion's  grove. 
"  So  now  all  range,  and  do  at  random  rove 
"  Out  of  their  proper  places  far  away, 
"  And  all  this  world  with  them  amisse  doe  move, 
"  And  all  his  creatures  from  their  course  astray, 
"  Till  they  arrive  at  their  last  ruinous  decay." 

Fairy  Queen,  B.  V.  c.  i.     STEEVENS. 

The  apparent  irregular  motions  of  the  planets  were  supposed 
to  portend  some  disasters  to  mankind ;  indeed  the  planets  them- 
selves were  not  thought  formerly  to  be  confined  in  any  fixed 
orbits  of  their  own,  but  to  wander  about  ad  libitum,  as  the  ety- 
mology of  their  names  demonstrates.  ANONYMOUS. 

4  deracinate — ]  i.  e.  force  up  by  the  roots.     So  again, 

in  King  Henry  V : 

" the  coulter  rusts 

"  That  should  deracinate  such  savag'ry."     STEEVENS. 

married  calm   of  states — ]      The   epithet — married, 


which  is  used  to  denote  an  intimate  union,  is  employed  in  the 
same  sense  by  Milton : 

"  . Lydian  airs 

"  Married  to  immortal  verse." 
Again : 

" voice  and  verse 

"  Wed  your  divine  sounds." 
Again,  in  Sylvester's  translation  of  Du  Bartas's  Eden: 

"  . shady  groves  of  noble  palm-tree  sprays, 

"  Of  amorous  myrtles  and  immortal  bays  ; 

"  Never  unleav'd,  but  evermore  they're  new, 

"  Self-arching,  in  a  thousand  arbours  grew. 

"  Birds  marrying  their  sweet  tunes  to  the  angels'  lays, 

"  Sum 


.1  V^lllll£l»      All      Cl      LllW  Ui5C*llV*.      CM.  UWlAi   >7      C^  *  \^  »1    • 

marrying  their  sweet  tunes  to  the  angels'  lays 
Adam's  bliss,  and  their  great  Maker's  praise.' 


sc.in.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       271 

Quite  from  their  fixure?  O,  when  degree  is  shak'd,6 
Which  is  the  ladder  of  all  high  designs, 
The  enterprise7  is  sick!  How  could  communities, 
Degrees  in  schools,  and  brotherhoods  in  cities,8 
Peaceful  commerce  from  dividable  shores,9 
The  primogenitive  and  due  of  birth, 
Prerogative  of  age,  crowns,  sceptres,  laurels, 
But  by  degree,  stand  in  authentick  place  ? 
Take  but  degree  away,  untune  that  string, 
And,  hark,  what  discord  follows!  each  thing  meets 
fn  mere  oppugnancy:1  The  bounded  waters 
Should  lift  their  bosoms  higher  than  the  shores, 
And  make  a  sop  of  all  this  solid  globe  :2 
Strength  should  be  lord  of  imbecility, 
And  the  rude  son  shoidd  strike  his  father  dead : 
Force  should  be  right;  or,  rather,  right  and  wrong, 
(Between  whose  endless  jar  justice  resides,) 

The  subject  of  Milton's  larger  poem  would  naturally  have  led 
him  to  read  this  description  in  Sylvester.  The  quotation  from 
him  I  owe  to  Dr.  Farmer. 

Shakspeare  calls  a  harmony  of  features,  married  lineaments^ 
in  llomeo  and  Juliet,  Act  I.  sc.  iii.  See  note  on  this  passage. 

STEEVESS. 

6  O,  when  degree  is  shah  V/,]      I  would  read  : 

So,  when  degree  is  shak'd.     JOHNSON. 

The  enterprise — ]     Perhaps  we  should  read  : 
Then  enterprise  is  sick  ! JOHNSON. 

* brotherhoods  in  cities,"]     Corporations,  companies,  ro«- 

fralernities.     Jo  n  N  so  N. 

—  dividable  shores,]  i.e.  divided.  So,  in  Antony  and 
Cleopatra,  our  author  uses  corrigible  for  corrected.  Mr.  M. 
Mason  has  the  same  observation.  STEKVENS. 

1  mere  oppugnancy  :~\  Me  re  is  absolute.    So,  in  Hamlet-- 

"  —   —things  rank  and  gross  in  natuiv 
"  Possess  it  nierefy."     STEKVKN.S. 

*  And  make  a  sop  of  all  M/v  solid  globe  :~\     So,  in  AV-/;,r  I -car  : 
"  —    —I'll  make  a  sop  o'the  moonshine  of  jou." 

Si  J  K\  I  N*. 


272       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

Should  lose  their  names,  and  so  should  justice  too. 
Then  every  thing  includes  itself  in  power, 
Power  into  will,  will  into  appetite ; 
And  appetite,  an  universal  wolf, 
So  doubly  seconded  with  will  and  power, 
Must  make  perforce  an  universal  prey, 
And,  last,  eat  up  himself.     Great  Agamemnon, 
This  chaos,  when  degree  is  suffocate, 
Follows  the  choking. 
And  this  neglection3  of  degree  it  is, 
That  by  a  pace4  goes  backward,  with  a  purpose 
It  hath  to  climb.5     The  general's  disdain'd 
By  him  one  step  below ;  he,  by  the  next ; 
That  next,  by  him  beneath  :  so  every  step, 
Exampled  by  the  first  pace  that  is  sick 
Of  his  superior,  grows  to  an  envious  fever 
Of  pale  and  bloodless  emulation : 6 
And  'tis  this  fever  that  keeps  Troy  on  foot, 
Not  her  own  sinews.     To  end  a  tale  of  length, 
Troy  in  our  weakness  stands,  not  in  her  strength. 
NEST.  Most  wisely  hath  Ulysses  here  discover 'd 
The  fever  whereof  all  our  power7  is  sick. 

•  this  neglection — ]    This  uncommon  word  occurs  again 


in  Pericles,  1609 : 

" if  neglection 

"  Should  therein  make  me  vile, — "     MALONE. 

4  That  by  a  pace — ~\     That  goes  backward  step  by  step. 

JOHNSON. 


•  ivith  a  purpose 


It  hath  to  climb.']   With  a  design  in  each  man  to  aggrandize 
himself,  by  slighting  his  immediate  superior.     JOHNSON. 

Thus  the  quarto.     Folio — in  a  purpose.     MALONE. 

c  bloodless  emulation  .-]     An  emulation  not  vigorous  and 

active,  but  malignant  and  sluggish.     JOHNSON. 

7  our  power — ]    i.  e.  our  army.     So,  in  another  of  our 

author's  plays : 

"  Who  leads  his  power?"     STEEVENS. 


sc.m.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         273 

AGAM.  The  nature  of  the  sickness  found,  Ulysses, 
What  is  the  remedy  ? 

ULYSS.    The   great    Achilles, — whom    opinion 

crowns 

The  sinew  and  the  forehand  of  our  host, — 
Having  his  ear  full  of  his  airy  fame,8 
Grows  dainty  of  his  worth,  and  in  his  tent 
Lies  mocking  our  designs:  With  him,  Patroclus, 
Upon  a  lazy  bed  the  livelong  day, 
Breaks  scurril  jests ; 

And  with  ridiculous  and  aukward  action 
(Which,  slanderer,  he  imitation  calls,) 
He  pageants  us.     Sometime,  great  Agamemnon, 
Thy  topless  deputation9  he  puts  on  ; 
And,  like  a  strutting  player, — whose  conceit 
Lies  in  his  hamstring,  anil  doth  think  it  rich 
To  hear  the  wooden  dialogue  and  sound 
'Twixt  his  stretch'd  footing  and  the  scarfbldage,1 — 
Such  to-be-pitied  and  o'er-wrested  seeming ~ 

* his  a\ry  ftimc,~\     Verbal  elogium  ;  what  our  author,  in 

Macbeth,  has  called  mouth  honour.     See  p.  -(it-,  note. 

MA  I.ONK. 

*  Thy  topless  deputation — ]  Topless  is  that  uhich  has 
nothing  topping  or  overtopping  it:  supreme;  .so\ereign. 

JOHNSON'. 

So,  in  Doctor  Faiisfns,  1601  : 

"  Was  this  the  face  that  launch'd  a  thousand  .ships, 
"  And  burnt  the  toplt-s.t  towers  of  Ilium  :" 
Again,  in  77/6'  Ulind  H.'-ggdr  of  Alexandria,  1.-19S: 

"  And  topi  as  honours  be  bestow'd  on  thee."   STEEVI-:NS>. 

1  'Tn~i.rt  ///x  stretch* (if voting  an./  lite  scallbldage,]  The  galle- 
ries of  the  theatre,  in  the  Line  of  our  author,  were  sometimes 
termed  the  scaffolds.  See  Y'/a  Account  of  the  ancient  Thi'uti-ts, 
Vol.  III.  MALONK. 

2 oVv-wrested  seeming — ~]    i.  e.  wrested  beyond  the  truth  ; 

overcharged.    Both   the   old   copies,   as   well   as  ;•!!  the  modern 
editions,  have — o'er-rested,  uhich  aliords  no  meaning. 

MALONK. 


274        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA,     ACT  i. 

He  acts  thy  greatness  in :  and  when  he  speaks, 
'Tis  like  a  chime    a  mending;3  with  terms  un- 

squar'd,4 

Which,  from  the  tongue  of  roaring  Typhon  dropped, 
Would  seem  hyperboles.     At  this  fusty  stuff, 
The  large  Achilles,  on  his  press' d  bed  lolling, 
From  his  deep  chest  laughs  out  a  loud  applause  j 
Cries — Excellent ! — 'tis  Agamemnon  just. — 
Now  play  me  Nestor ; — hem,  and  stroke  thy  beard, 
As  he,  being  'drest  to  some  oration. 
That's  done  ; — as  near  as  the  extremest  ends 
Of  parallels ; 5  as  like  as  Vulcan  and  his  wife  : 
Yet  good  Achilles  still  cries,  Excellent ! 
3Tis  Nestor  right!  Now  play  him  me,  Patroclus, 
Arming  to  answer  in  a  night  alarm. 
And  then,  forsooth,  the  faint  defects  of  age 
Must  be  the  scene  of  mirth  ;  to  cough,  and  spit, 
And  with  a  palsy-fumbling6  on  his  gorget, 


Over-wrested  is — wound  up  too  high.  A  wrest  was  an  instru- 
ment for  tuning  a  harp,  by  drawing  up  the  strings.  See  Mr. 
Douce's  note  on  Act  III.  sc.  iii.  STEEVEXS. 

3 a  chime  a  mending;']     To  this  comparison  the  praise 

of  originality  must  be  allowed.  He  who,  like  myself,  has  been 
in  the  tower  of  a  church  while  the  chimes  were  repairing,  will 
never  wish  a  second  time  to  be  present  at  so  dissonantly  noisy 
an  operation.  STEEVENS. 

4 unsquar'd,~]     i.  e.  unadapted  to  their  subject,  as  stones 

are  unfitted  to  the  purposes  of  architecture,  while  they  are  yet 

unsquar'd.     STEEVENS. 

5 as  near  as  the  extremest  ends 

Of  parallels  ;]      The  parallels  to  which  the  allusion  seems  to 
be  made,  are  the  parallels  on  a  map.     As  like  as  east  to  west. 

JOHNSON. 

6 a  palsy-Jumbling — ]  Old  copies  gives  this  as  two  dis- 
tinct words.  But  it  should  be  written — palsy-fumbling,  i.  e.  pa- 
ralytick  fumbling.  TYRWIIITT. 

Fumbling  is  often  applied  by  our  old  English  writers  to  the 
speech.  So,  in  King  John%  1591  : 


sc.m.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        27  J 

Shake  in  and  out  the  rivet : — and  at  this  sport, 
Sir  Valour  dies;  cries,  O! — enough,  Putroclus; — 
Or  give  me  ribs  of  steel!  I  shall  split  all 
In  pleasure  of  my  spleen.     And  in  this  fashion, 
All  our  abilities,  gifts,  natures,  shapes, 
Severals  and  generals  of  grace  exact, 
Achievements,  plots,7  orders,  preventions, 
Excitements  to  the  field,  or  speech  for  truce, 
Success,  or  loss,  what  is,  or  is  not,  serves 
As  stuff  for  these  two  to  make  paradoxes.8 

NEST.  And  in  the  imitation  of  these  twain 
(Whom,  as  Ulysses  says,  opinion  crowns 
With  an  imperial  voice,)  many  are  infect. 
Ajax  is  grown  self-will'd  ;  and  hears  his  head 
In  such  a  rein/  in  full  as  proud  a  place 
As  broad  Achilles  :  keeps  his  tent  like  him  ; 
Makes  factious  feasts  ;  rails  on  our  state  of  war, 
Bold  as  an  oracle  :  and  sets  Thersites 


•  hcjiimbleth  in  the  month; 


"  His  speech  doth  fail." 
Again,  in  North's  translation  of  Plutarch:  " — hr  heard  hi> 
wife  Calphurnia  being  fast  aslecpe,  weepe  and  sigh,  and  put 
forth  many  fumbling  lamentable  specie/it's." 

Shakspeare,  I  believe,  wrote — in  his  gorget.     M.U.ONK. 

On  seems  to  be  used  for — at.  So,  p.  '2S5:  "  Pointing u/i  him." 
i.  e.  at  him.     STEEVENS. 

7  All  our  abilities,  gifts,  natures,  shapes, 
Severals  and  generals  of  grace  exact, 

Achievements,  plots,  &c.]      All  our  good  grace  exact,  means 
our  excellence  irrcpnhensiile.     JOHNSON. 

s to  make  paradoxes.]      Paradoxes  may  have  a  meaning, 

but  it  is  not  clear  and  distinct.      I  \vish  the  copies  had  given  : 
to  make,  parodies.     JOHNSON. 

•bears  his  head 


hi  such  a  rein,]   That  is,  holds  up  his  head  as  haughtily.  \\  e 
still  say  of  a  girl,  she  bridles.     JOHNSON. 

T  2 


276        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 

(A  slave,  whose  gall  coins  slanders  like  a  mint,1) 
To  match  us  in  comparisons  with  dirt ; 
To  weaken  and  discredit  our  exposure, 
How  rank  soever  rounded  in  with  danger-2 

ULYSS.  They  tax  our  policy,  and  call  it  cow- 
ardice ; 

Count  wisdom  as  no  member  of  the  war ; 
Forestall  prescience,  and  esteem  no  act 
But  that  of  hand :  the  still  and  mental  parts, — 
That  do  contrive  how  many  hands  shall  strike, 
When  fitness  calls  them  on ;  and  know,  by  measure 
Of  their  observant  toil,  the  enemies'  weight,3 — 
Why,  this  hath  not  a  finger's  dignity : 
They  call  this — bed-work,  mappery,  closet-war : 
80  that  the  ram,  that  batters  down  the  wall, 
For  the  great  swing  and  rudeness  of  his  poize, 
They  place  before  his  hand  that  made  the  engine ; 
Or  those,  that  writh  the  fineness  of  their  souls 
By  reason  guide  his  execution. 

NEST.  Let  this  be  granted,  and  Achilles'  horse 
Makes  many  Thetis'  sons.  [Trumpet  sounds. 

1 whose  gall  coins  slanders  like  a  mint,"]     i.  e.  as  fast  as  a 

mint  coins  money.     See  Vol.  XI.  p.  2-l<05  n.  7.     MAL'ONE. 

2  //otu  rank  soever  rounded  in  with  danger. ~]     A  rank  iveed  is 
a  high  iKced.     The  modern  editions  silently  read: 
Hoiv  hard  soever — .     JOHNSON. 

rounded  in  iviik  danger.']     So,  in  King  Henry  V : 

"  How  dread  an  army  hath  unrounded  him."   STEEVENS, 

•  and  Jcnofvo,  by  measure 


Of  their  observant,  toil,  the  enemies'  weight,"]     I  think  it  were 
better  to  read : 

—  and  Jcnoiv  the  measure, 
By  their  observant  toil,  of  the  enemies'  weight. 

JOHNSON. 

1  i/  measure — ]      That  is,  "  hi/  means  of  their  observant 

toil."     Jr.  M\so\. 


sc.  m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        277 

Ac  AM*  What  trumpet  ?  look,  Menelaus.* 

Enter  JE\EAS. 

MEX.  From  Troy. 

AGAM.  What  would  you  'fore  our  tent  ? 

JExE.  Is  this 

Great  Agamemnon's  tent,  I  pray  ? 

^GVU/.  Even  this. 

JENE.  May  one,  that  is  a  herald,  and  a  prince, 
Do  a  fair  message  to  his  kingly  ears  ?5 

AGAM.  With  surety  stronger  than  Achilles' arm6 
'Fore  all  the  Greekish  heads,  which  with  one  voice 
Call  Agamemnon  head  and  general. 

JFjNE.  Fair  leave,  and  large  security.  How  may 
A  stranger  to  those  most  imperial  looks7 


4  What  trumpet?  look,  Menclaus.]  Surely,  the  name  of 
Menelaus  only  serves  to  destroy  the  metre,  and  should  therefore 
be  omitted.  STEEVENS. 

3 kingly  ears  ?  J     The  quarto  : 

-kingly  eyes.     JOHNSON. 


•  Achilles'  arm — ]     So  the  copies.    Perhaps  the  author 


wrote : 

Alcides'  arm.     JOHNSON. 

7  A  stranger  to  (fiose  most  imperial  looks — ]  And  yet  this  was 
the  seventh  year  of  the  war.  Shakspeare,  who  so  wonderfully 
preserves  character,  usually  confounds  the  customs  of  all  nations, 
and  probably  supposed  that  the  ancients  (like  the  heroes  of 
chivalry)  fought  with  beavers  to  their  helmets.  So,  in  the  fourth 
Act  of  this  play,  Nestor  says  to  Hector  : 

"  But  this  thy  countenance,  still  lock'd  in  steel, 

"  I  never  saw  till  now." 

Shakspeare  might  have  adopted  this  error  from  the  wooden 
cuts  to  ancient  books,  or  from  the  illuminators  of  manuscripts, 
who  never  seem  to  have  entertained  the  least  idea  of  habits, 
manners,  or  customs  more  ancient  than  their  own.  There  are 


278        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 

Know  them  from  eyes  of  other  mortals  ? 

AGAM.  How  ? 

MNE.  Ay; 

I  ask,  that  I  might  waken  reverence, 
And  bid  the  cheek8  be  ready  with  a  blush 
Modest  as  morning  when  she  coldly  eyes 
The  youthful  Phoebus : 
Which  is  that  god  in  office,  guiding  men  ? 
Which  is  the  high  and  mighty  Agamemnon  ? 

AGAM.  This  Trojan  scorns  us;  or  the  men  of 

Troy 
Are  ceremonious  courtiers. 

JENE.  Courtiers  as  free,  as  debonair,  unarm'd, 
As  bending  angels  ;  that's  their  fame  in  peace  : 
But  when  they  would  seem  soldiers,  they  have  galls, 
Good  arms,  strong  joints,  true  swords;  and,  Jove's 

accord, 
Nothing  so  lull  of  heart.9     But  peace, 


books  in  the  British  Museum  of  the  age  of  King  Henry  VI;  and 
in  these  the  heroes  of  ancient  Greece  are  represented  in  the  very 
dresses  worn  at  the  time  when  the  books  received  their  decora- 
tions. STEEVENS. 

In  The  Destruction  of  Troy  Shakspeare  found  all  the  chief- 
tains of  each  army  termed  knights,  mounted  on  stately  horses, 
defended  with  modern  helmets,  &c.  £c.  MA  LONE. 

In  what  edition  did  these  representations  occur  to  Shakspeare? 

STEEVENS. 

s bid  the  cheek — ]    So  the  quarto.     The  folio  has  : 

on  the  cheek — .     JOHNSON. 


•they  have  galls, 


Good  arms,  strong  joints,  true  stoords ;  and,  Jove's  accord, 
Not  king  so  full  of  heart.]   I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt  that 
the  poet  wrote — (as  I  suggested  in  my  SECOND  APPENDIX, 8vo. 
1783)  : 

they  have  galh, 

Good  arms,  strong  joints,  true  sivordsj  and,  Jove's  a  god 
Nothing  so  full  of  heart. 


sc.m.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        279 

Peace,  Trojan  ;  lay  thy  finger  on  thy  lips ! 


So,  in  Macbeth  : 

"  Sleek  o'er  your  rugged  looks;  be  bright  antljovw/ 

"  Among  your  guests  to-night." 
Again,  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  : 

"  Caesar,  why  he's  the  Jupiter  of  men." 
Again,  ibidem  : 

"  Thou  art,  if  thou  dar'st  be,  the  earthly  Jove.1* 
The  text,  in  my  apprehension,  is  unintelligible,  though  I  have 
not  ventured,  on  my  own  opinion,  to  disturb  it.  In  the  old  copy 
there  is  no  point  after  the  word  accord,  which  adds  some  sup- 
port to  my  conjecture.  It  also  may  be  observed,  that  in  peace 
the  Trojans  have  just  been  compared  to  angels;  and  here  /hneas, 
in  a  similar  strain  of  panegyrick,  compares  them  in  war  to  that 
God  who  was  proverbially  distinguished  for  high  spirits. 

The  present  punctuation  of  the  text  was  introduced  by  Mr. 
Theobald.  The  words  being  pointed  thus,  lie  thinks  it  clear 
that  the  meaning  is — They  have  galls,  good  arms,  &c.  and,  Jove 
annucnte,  nothing  is  so  full  of  heart  as  they.  Had  Shakspeare 
written,  " — ivith  Jove's  accord,"  and  "  Nothing's  so  full,"  &c. 
such  an  interpretation  might  be  received ;  but,  as  the  words 
stand,  it  is  inadmissible. 
The  quarto  reads : 

and  great  Jove's  accord — &c.     MALONE. 

Perhaps  we  should  read  : 

and  Love's  a  lord 

Nothing  so  full  of  heart. 

The  words  Jove  and  Love,  in  a  future  scene  of  this  play,  are  sub- 
stituted for  each  other,  by  the  old  blundering  printers.  In  Love's 
Labour's  Lost,  Cupid  is  styled  "  Lord  of  ay-mees  ;"  and  Itomeo 
speaks  of  his  "  bosom's  Lord."  In  Othello,  Love  is  commanded 
to  "yield  up  his  hearted  throne."  And  yet  more  appositely, 
Valentine,  in  The  Tico  Gentlemen  of  I'erona,  says, 

" love's  a  mighty  lord — ." 

The  meaning  of /Eneas  will  then  be  obvious.  The  most  confi- 
dent of  all  passions  is  not  so  daring  as  we  are  in  the  field.  So,  in 
Itomeo  and  Juliet  : 

"  And  what  Lovr  can  do,  that  dares  Love  attempt." 
Mr.  M.  Mason  would  read — "  and  Jove's  own  bird." 
Perhaps,  however,  the  old  reading  may  be  the  true  one,  the 
speaker  meaning  to  say,  that,  iv/ien  they  have  the  accord  <>/  Jove 
on  their  side,  nothing  is  no  courageous  as  the  Trojans.     Thus,  in 
Coriolanus; 


280        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 

The  worthiness  of  praise  distains  his  worth, 
If  that  the  prais'd  himself  bring  the  praise  forth  :l 
But  what  the  repining  enemy  commends, 
That  breath  fame  follows  ;  that  praise,  sole  pure, 
transcends, 


AGAM.  Sir,  you  of  Troy,  call  you  yourself  yE 
JENE.  Ay,  Greek,  that  is  my  name. 
AGAM.  What's  your  affair,  I  pray  you?2 

J&NE.  Sir,  pardon  ;  'tis  for  Agamemnon's  ears. 

AGAM.  He  hears  nought  privately,  that  comes 
from  Troy. 

MNE.  Nor  I  from  Troy  come  not  to  whisper  him  : 
I  bring  a  trumpet  to  awake  his  ear  ;  - 
To  set  his  sense  on  the  attentive  bent, 
And  then  to  speak. 

"  The  god  of  soldiers 

"  (With  the  consent  of  supreme  Jove]  inform 
"  Thy  thoughts  with  nobleness." 

Jove's  accord)  in  the  present  instance,  like  the  Jove  probantf 
of  Horace,  may  be  an  ablative  absolute,  as  in  Pope's  version  of 
the  19th  Iliad,  190: 

"  And,  Jove  attesting,  the  firm  compact  made." 

STEEVENS. 
1  The  worthiness  of  praise  distains  his  worth, 

If  that  the  prais'd  himself  bring  the  praise  forth  ;]      So,  in 
Coriolanus  : 

"  --  power  unto  itself  most  commendable, 
"  Hath  not  a  tomb  so  evident  as  a  chair 
"  To  extol  what  it  hath  done."     MALOXE. 

'  What's  your  affair,  I  pray  you  ?]  The  words  —  I  pray  i/nn, 
are  an  apparent  interpolation,  and  consequently  destroy  the  mea- 
sure. 

"  JEn.  Ay,  Greek,  that  is  my  name, 
"  Agam.  What's  your  affair  ?—  " 

These  hemistichs,  joined  together,  form  a  complete  verse. 

STEEVENS, 


sc.j/f.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        281 

Ac  AM.  Speak  frankly  as  the  wind  ;3 

It  is  not  Agamemnon's  sleeping  hour : 
That  thou  shalt  know,  Trojan,  lie  is  awake, 
He  tells  thee  so  himself. 

J£NE.  Trumpet,  blow  loud, 

Send  thy  brass  voice  through  all  these  lazy  tents; — 
And  every  Greek  of  mettle,  let  him  know, 
What  Troy  means  fairly,  shall  be  spoke  aloud. 

[  Trumpet  sounds. 

We  have,  great  Agamemnon,  here  in  Troy 
A  prince  call'd  Hector,  (Priam  is  his  father,) 
Who  in  this  dull  and  long-continued  truce* 
Is  rusty5  grown  ;  he  bade  me  take  a  trumpet, 
And  to  this  purpose  speak.     Kings,  princes,  lords ! 
If  there  be  one,  among  the  fair'st  or  Greece, 
That  holds  his  honour  higher  than  his  ease ; 
That  seeks  his  praise  more  than  he  fears  his  peril ; 
That  knows  his  valour,  and  knows  not  his  fear ; 
That  loves  his  mistress  more  than  in  confession,* 

•'  Speak  frankly  as  the  wind  ;~\    So,  Jaques,  in  As  you  like  it : 

" 1  must  have  liberty 

"  Withal,  as  large  a  charter  as  the  wind 

"  To  blow  on  whom  I  please; ."     STF.EVEXS. 

4  long-continued  truce — ]      Of  this  long  truce  there  has 

been  no  notice  taken  :  in  this  very  Act  it  is  said,  that  A/ax  coped 
I  lector  yesterday  in  the  battle.     JOHNSON. 

Here  we  have  another  proof  of  Shakspeare's  falling  into  incon- 
sistencies, by  sometimes  adhering  to,  and  sometimes  deserting, 
his  original :  a  point,  on  which  some  stress  has  been  laid  in  the 
Dissertation  printed  at  the  end  of  The  Third  Part  of  Kin% 
Henry  VI.  See  Vol.  XIV.  p.  <2/j.>— f5. 

Of  this  dull  and  long-continued  truce  (which  was  agreed  upon 
nt  the  desire  of  the  Trojans,  for  six  months,)  Sliakspeare  found 
.•in  account  in  the  .seventh  chapter  of  the  third  Hook  of  The 
J)cxt  ruction  of'Troy.  In  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  same  book 
the  beautiful  daughter  of  (.'alchas  is  first  introduced.  M  ALONE. 
—  rn.^l, I — ]  Quarto, — resty.  JOHNSON-. 

"  mure  titan  in  confession,]      Confession  for  profession. 

WARBURTON. 


282        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  i. 

(With  truant  vows  to  her  own  lips  he  loves,7) 

And  dare  avow  her  beauty  and  her  worth, 

In  other  arms  than  hers,8 — to  him  this  challenge. 

Hector,  in  view  of  Trojans  and  of  Greeks, 

Shall  make  it  good,  or  do  his  best  to  do  it, 

He  hath  a  lady,  wiser,  fairer,  truer, 

Than  ever  Greek  did  compass  in  his  arms  ; 

And  will  to-morrow  with  his  trumpet  call, 

Mid- way  between  your  tents  and  walls  of  Troy, 

To  rouse  a  Grecian  that  is  true  in  love : 

If  any  come,  Hector  shall  honour  him  ; 

If  none,  he'll  say  in  Troy,  when  he  retires, 

The  Grecian  dames  are  sun-burn'd,  and  not  worth 

The  splinter  of  a  lance.9     Even  so  much. 

AGAM.  This  shall  be  told  our  loversj  lord  JEneas ; 
If  none  of  them  have  soul  in  such  a  kind, 
We  left  them  all  at  home  :  But  we  are  soldiers ; 
And  may  that  soldier  a  mere  recreant  prove, 
That  means  not,  hath  not,  or  is  not  in  love ! 
If  then  one  is,  or  hath,  or  means  to  be, 
That  one  meets  Hector ;  if  none  else,  I  am  he. 

NEST.  Tell  him  of  Nestor,  one  that  was  a  man 
When  Hector's  grandsire  suck'd  :  he  is  old  now ; 
But,  if  there  be  not  in  our  Grecian  host1 
One  noble  man,  that  hath  one  spark  of  fire 

7  to  her  otvn  lips  he  loves,']     That  is,  confession  made 

ivith  idle  voivs  to  the  lips  of  her  whom  he  loves.     JOHNSON. 

8  In  other  arms  than  hers,~]     Arms  is  here  used  equivocally 
for  the  arms  of  the  body,  and  the  armour  of  a  soldier. 

MALONE. 

9  •         and  not  worth 

The  splinter  of  a  lance.'}  This  is  the  language  of  romance. 
Such  a  challenge  would  better  have  suited  Palmerin  or  Amadis, 
than  Hector  or  ./Eneas.  STEEVENS. 

1  in  our  Grecian  host — 3     So  the  quarto.     The  folio 

has — Grecian  mould.     MALONE. 


sc.  m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        283 

To  answer  for  his  love,  Tell  him  from  me,-— 
I'll  hide  my  silver  beard  in  a  gold  beaver, 
And  in  my  vantbrace"  put  this  wither*  d  brawn  ; 
And,  meeting  him,  will  tell  him,  That  my  lady 
Was  fairer  than  his  grandame,  and  as  chaste 
As  may  be  in  the  world  ;   His  youth  in  flood, 
I'll  prove  tliis  truth  with  my  three  drops  of  blood.5 

J&NE.  Now  heavens  forbid  such  scarcity  of  youth  ! 
ULYSS.  Amen. 


.  Fair  lord  yEneas,  let   me  touch  your 

hand  ; 

To  our  pavilion  shall  I  lead  you,  sir. 
Achilles  shall  have  word  of  this  intent  ; 
So  shall  each  lord  of  Greece,  from  tent  to  tent: 
Yourself  shall  feast  with  us  before  you  go, 
And  find  the  welcome  of  a  noble  foe. 

\_Exeunt  all  but  ULYSSES  and  NESTOR. 

lrLYSS.  Nestor,  - 
NEST.  What  says  Ulysses  ? 

ULYSS.  I  have  a  young  conception  in  my  brain, 
Be  you  my  time  to  bring  it  to  some  shape.4 

*   And  in  riiy  vantbrace  —  ]      An  armour  for  the  arm,  avant- 
bras.      IJOPK. 

Milton  uses  the  word  in  his  Sampson  Agonistcs,  and  Heywood 
in  his  Iron  Age,  1632: 

"  —    —  peruse  his  armour, 

"  The  dint's  still  in  the  rant  brace."     STKK.VENS. 

3  PR  prove  t/tis  truth  «•////  ?>///  three    drops  of  blood.]      So, 
in  Coriulann^  one  of  the  Volsci;in  (iuard  says  to  old  Menenius, 
"  Back,  I  say,  po,  lest  I  let  forth  your  half  pint  of  blood." 

Thus  the  quarto.     The  folio  reads  —  /'//  p;i\ui  this  truth. 

MA  LONE. 

4  lie  you  mif  time  &C.]    i.  e.  be  you  to  my  present  purpose 
what  time  is  in  respect  of  all  other  schemes,  \  i/..  a  ripcncr  and 
bringer  of  them  to  maturity.     STELVENS. 


284        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

NEST.  What  is't  ? 

ULYSS.  This  'tis : 

Blunt  wedges  rive  hard  knots :  The  seeded  pride5 
That  hath  to  this  maturity  blown  up 
In  rank  Achilles,  must  or  now  be  cropp'd, 
Or,  shedding,  breed  a  nursery6  of  like  evil, 
To  overbulk  us  all. 

NEST.  Well,  and  how  ?7 

ULYSS.  This  challenge  that  the  gallant  Hector 

sends, 

However  it  is  spread  in  general  name, 
Relates  in  purpose  only  to  Achilles. 

NEST.  The  purpose  is  perspicuous  even  as  sub- 
stance, 
Whose  grossness  little  characters  sum  up  :8 

I  believe  Shakspeare  was  here  thinking  of  the  period  of  gesta- 
tion which  is  sometimes  denominated  a  female's  time,  or  rec- 
koning. T.  C. 

3  The  seeded  pride  &c.]      Shakspeare  might  have  taken 

this  idea  from  Lyte's  Herbal,  1578  and  1579.  The  Oleander 
tree  or  Nerium  "  hath  scarce  one  good  propertie."  It  may  be 
compared  to  a  Pharisee,  "  who  maketh  a  glorious  and  beautiful 
show,  but  inwardly  is  of  a  corrupt  and  poisoned  nature." — "  It 
is  high  time  &c.  to  supplant  it  ( i.  e.  pharisaism )  for  it  hath 
already  floured,  so  that  I  feare  it  will  shortly  seede,  and  fill  this 
wholesome  soyle  full  of  wicked  Nerium."  TOLLET. 

So,  in  The  Rape  of  Lucrece  : 

"  How  will  thy  shame  be  seeded  in  thine  age, 
"  When  thus  thy  vices  bud  before  thy  spring?" 

MALONE. 

6  nursery — J     Alluding  to  a  plantation  called  a  nursery. 

JOHNSON. 

7  Well,  and  hou?  ?]     We  might  complete  this  defective  line 
by  reading: 

Well,  and  horv  then  ? 
Sir  T.  Hanmer  reads — how  now  ?     STEEVENS. 

1   The  purpose  is  perspicuous  even  as  substance, 
Whose  grossness  little  characters  sum  up:']     That  is,  the 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        285 

And,  in  the  publication,  make  no  strain,9 
But  that  Achilles,  were  his  brain  as  barren 
As  banks  of  Libya, — though,  Apollo  knows, 
'Tis  dry  enough, — will  with  great  speed  of  judg- 
ment, 

Ay,  with  celerity,  find  Hector's  purpose 
Pointing  on  him. 

ULYSS.  And  wake  him  to  the  answer,  think  you  ? 

NEST.  Yes, 

It  is  most  meet ;  Whom  may  you  else  oppose, 
That  can  from  Hector  bring  those  honours1  off, 
If  not  Achilles?  Though't  be  a  sportful  combat, 
Yet  in  the  trial  much  opinion  dwells ; 
For  here  the  Trojans  taste  our  dear'st  repute 
With  their  tin'st  palate  :   And  trust  to  me,  Ulysses, 
Our  imputation  shall  be  oddly  pois'd 
In  this  wild  action  :  for  the  success, 

purpose  is  as  plain  as  body  or  substance  ;  and  though  I  have 
collected  this  purpose  from  many  minute  particulars,  as  ;i  gross 
body  is  made  up  of  small  insensible  parts,  yet  the  result  is  ad 
clear  and  certain  as  a  body  thus  made  up  i>  palpable  and  visible. 
This  is  the  thought,  though  a  little  obscured  in  the  conciseness  of 
the  expression.  WAHBUKTOK. 

Substance  is  estate,  the  value  of  which  is  ascertained  by  thy 
use  of  small  characters,  i.e.  numerals.  iSo,  in  the  prologue  ty 
king  Henry  V : 

" a  crooked  figure  may 

"  Attest,  in  little  place,  a  million." 

The  gross  sum  is  a  term  used  in  'ike  Merchant  of  Venice. 
(irosxness  has  the  same  meaning  in  this  instance.  Srr.rvEXS. 

'-'  And,  in  t/tc  publication,  nta!:r  no  *lr(iin,~]  Nestor  goes  on 
to  say,  make  no  diliicultv,  no  doubt,  when  this  duel  comes  to. 
be  proclaimed,  but  that  Achillas,  dull  as  he  is,  will  disco\er  th* 
drift  of  it.  This  is  t!u  meaning  of  the  line.  So  afterwards,  in 
this  play,  Ulysses  says  : 

"  I  do  not  yfrain  at  the  position." 

i.  e.  I  do  not  hesitate  at,  1  nn.ke  no  difficulty  of  it.      THEOBALD. 
1  those  fn^ifi^rs  —  "1      Folio— A/v  honour.     MALOM  . 


286        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  r. 

Although  particular,  shall  give  a  scantling2 

Of  good  or  bad  unto  the  general ; 

And  in  such  indexes,  although  small  pricks3 

To  their  subsequent  volumes,  there  is  seen 

The  baby  figure  of  the  giant  mass 

Of  things  to  come  at  large.     It  is  suppos'd, 

He,  that  meets  Hector,  issues  from  our  choice : 

And  choice,  being  mutual  act  of  all  our  souls, 

Makes  merit  her  election  ;  and  doth  boil, 

As  'twere  from  forth  us  all,  a  man  distill' d 

Out  of  our  virtues  ;  Who  miscarrying, 

What  heart  receives  from  hence  a  conquering  part, 

To  steel  a  strong  opinion  to  themselves  ? 

Which  entertain'd,4  limbs  are  his  instruments/ 

In  no  less  working,  than  are  swords  and  bows 

Directive  by  the  limbs. 

ULYSS.  Give  pardon  to  my  speech ; — 
Therefore  'tis  meet,  Achilles  meet  not  Hector. 
Let  us,  like  merchants,  show  our  foulest  wares, 
And  think,  perchance,  they'll  sell ;  if  not,6 

8  scantling — ]      That  is,   a  measure,  proportion.     The 

carpenter  cuts  his  wood  to  a  certain  scantling.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  John  Florio's  translation  of  Montaigne's  Essays,  folio, 
1603  :  "  When  the  lion's  skin  will  not  suffice,  we  must  add  a 
scantling  of  the  fox's."  MALONE. 

small  pricks — ]        Small  points   compared   with    the 


volumes.     JOHNSON. 

Indexes  were,  in  Shakspeare's  time,  often  prefixed  to  books. 

MALONE. 

4  Which  entertain'd,  &c.]      These  two  lines   [and  the  COD* 
eluding  hemistich]  are  not  in  the  quarto.     JOHNSON. 

5  limbs  are  his  instruments,'}     The  folio  reads  : 

limbs  are  in  his  instruments. 

I  have  omitted  the  impertinent  preposition.     STEEVENS. 

0  if  not, ~]     I  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  metre,  we  should 

read : 

//'they  do  not.     STEF.VF.NS. 


sc.m.     TllOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        287 

The  lustre  of  the  better  shall  exceed, 

By  showing  the  worse  first.7     Do  not  consent, 

That  ever  Hector  and  Achilles  meet ; 

For  both  our  honour  and  our  shame,  in  this, 

Are  dogg'd  with  two  strange  followers. 

NEST.  I  see  them  not  with  my  old  eyes  ;  what 
are  they  ? 

ULYSS.  What  glory  our  Achilles  shares  from 

Hector, 

Were  he  not  proud,  we  all  should  share8  with  him  : 
But  he  already  is  too  insolent ; 
And  we  were  better  parch  in  Africk  sun, 
Than  in  the  pride  and  salt  scorn  of  his  eyes, 
Should  he  'scape  Hector  fair :  If  he  were  foiPd, 
Why,  then  we  did  our  main  opinion9  crush 
In  taint  of  our  best  man.     No,  make  a  lottery  ; 
And,  by  device,  let  blockish  Ajax1  draw 


"   The  lustre  of  the  letter  shall  exceed, 
Ry  showing  the  -worse  first. ~\     The  iblio  reads  : 
The  lustre  of  the  better,  yet  to  show, 
Sliall  show  the  better. 

I  once  thought  that  the  alteration  was  made  by  the  author : 
but  a  more  diligent  comparison  of  the  quartos  and  the  first  Iblio 
has  convinced  me  that  some  arbitrary  alterations  were  made  in 
the  latter  copy  by  its  editor.  The  quarto  copy  of  this  play  is  in 
general  more  correct  than  the  folio.  MA  LONE. 

8  share — ]     So  the  quarto.     The  folio — ttrnr. 

JOHNSON. 

9  our   nutin    opinion — ]   is,   our    general    estimation    or 

character.      Stv  Vol.  XI.   p.  l'2'J,  n.  9.     Opinion    has   already 
been  used  in  this  scene  in  the  same  sense.     MALONE. 

1  blockish  A/cue — ]      Shakspeare,  on  this  occasion,  ha« 

deserted  Lydgate,  who  gives  a  very  different  character  of  Ajax: 
"  Another  Ajax  (surnameci  Tdamon) 
"  There  was,  a  man  that  learning  </itl  ailorc,"  itc. 
"  Who  did  so  much  in  eloquence  abound, 
"  That  in  his  time  the  like  could  not  be  found." 


288        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  i. 

The  sort2  to  fight  with  Hector :  Among  ourselves, 

Again : 

"  And  one  that  hated  pride  and  flattery"  &c. 
Our  author  appears  to  have  drawn  his  portrait  of  the  Grecian 
chief  from  the  invectives  thrown  out  against  him  by  Ulysses  in 
the  thirteenth  Book  of  Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  translated  by 
Golding,  1 587  ;  or  from  the  prologue  to  Harrington's  Meta- 
morphosis of  Ajax,  1596,  in  which  he  is  represented  as  "strong, 
heady,  boisterous,  and  a  terrible  fighting  fellow,  but  neither 
wise,  learned,  staide,  nor  polliticke."  STEEVENS. 

I  suspect  that  Shakspeare  confounded  Ajax  Telamonius  with 
Ajax  Oileus.  The  characters  of  each  of  them  are  given  by 
Lydgate.  Shakspeare  knew  that  one  of  the  Ajaxes  was  Hector's 
nephew,  the  son  of  his  sister  ;  but  perhaps  did  not  know  that  he 
was  Ajax  Telamonius,  and  in  consequence  of  not  attending  to 
this  circumstance  has  attributed  to  the  person  whom  he  has 
introduced  in  this  play  part  of  the  character  which  Lydgate  had 
drawn  for  Ajax  Oileus : 

"  Oileus  Ajax  was  right  corpulent; 

"  To  be  well  cladde  he  set  all  his  entent. 

"  In  rich  aray  he  was  full  curyous, 

"  Although  he  were  of  body  corsyous. 

"  Of  armes  great,  with  shoulders  square  and  brode  ; 

"  It  was  of  him  almost  a  horse-lode. 

"  High  of  stature,  and  boystrous  in  a  pres, 

"  And  of  his  speech  rude,  and  reckless. 

"  Fidl  many  "worde  in  ydel  hym  asterte, 

"  And  but  a  coward  was  he  of  his  herte." 
Ajax  Telamonius  he  thus  describes  : 

"  An  other  Ajax  Thelamonyius 

"  There  was  also,  diserte  and  virtuous ; 

"  Wonder  faire  and  semely  to  behold, 

"  Whose  heyr  was  black  and  upward  ay  gan  foldc, 

"  In  compas  wise  round  as  any  sphere  ; 

"  And  of  musyke  was  there  none  his  pere. 

" yet  had  he  good  practike 

"  In  armcs  eke,  and  was  a  noble  knight. 

"  No  man  more  orped,  nor  hardyer  for  to  fight, 

"  Nor  desirous  for  to  have  victorye  ; 

"  Devoyde  of  pomp,  hating  all  vayn  glorye, 

"  All  ydle  laud  spent  and  blowne  in  vayne." 

Lydgate's  Auncient  Historic,  &c.  1555. 

There  is  not  the  smallest  ground  in  Lydgate  for  what  the 
author  of  the  Rifacimento  of  this  poem,  published  in  161 1,  hui 


sc.  m.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      289 

Give  him  allowance  for  the  better  man, 
For  that  will  physick  the  great  Myrmidon, 
Who  broils  in  loud  applause  ;  and  make  him  fall 
His  crest,  that  prouder  than  blue  Iris  bends. 
If  the  dull  brainless  Ajax  come  safe  oft', 
We'll  dress  him  up  in  voices:   If  he  fail, 
Yet  go  we  under  our  opinion3  still 
That  we  have  better  men.     13ut,  hit  or  miss, 
Our  project's  life  this  shape  of  sense  assumes, — 
Ajax,  employed,  plucks  down  Achilles'  plumes. 


introduced,  concerning  his  eloquence  and  adoring  learning.  See 
Mr.  Steevens's  note. 

Perhaps,  however,  The  Destruction  of  Troi/  led  Shnkspeare  to 
give  this  representation;  for  the  author  of  that  book,  describing 
these  two  persons,  improperly  calls  Ajax  Oileus,  simply  Ajaxy 
as  the  more  eminent  of  the  two: 

"  Ajajcwas  of  a  huge  stature,  great  and  large  in  the  shoulders, 
great  armes,  and  always  was  well  clothed,  and  very  richly  ;  and 
was  of  no  great  enterprise,  and  spake  very  quicke.  Tlielamon 
Ajax  was  a  marvellous  faire  knight ;  he  had  black  hayres,  and 
he  hadde  great  pleasure  in  musicke,  and  he  sang  him  selfe  very 
well :  he  was  of  greate  prowesse,  and  a  valiant  man  of  warre, 
and  without  pompe."  MALOXK. 

Mr.  Malonc  observes,  that  "  there  is  not  the  smallest  ground, 
&c.  concerning  his  eloquence  and  adoring  learning."  Hut  may 
we  ask  what  interpretation  this  gentleman  would  give  to  the 
epithets 

" dixerte  and  virtitmis?" 

F>y  the  first  word,  (formed  from  the  Latin  discrtitx^  eloquence 
must  have  been  designed  ;  and  by  the  latter,  the  arlcs  in^t-niia', 
which  in  the  age  of  Lydgate  were  often  called  the  virtHon*  arts. 

STEKVENS. 

*    The  sort — ]      i.e.  tlie  lot.      STKF.YF.XS. 

So,  in  Lyddite's  Amieient  Jl'^t'/rif,  &c: 
"  Calchas  had  experience 
"  Especially  of  calculation  ; 
"  Of  Korte  also,  and  divynatinn."      MAI.ONF. 

—  under  our  opinion — ]     Here  again  opinion  means  cha- 
racter.    MAI.ONL. 

VOL.   XV.  I 


290       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  n. 

NEST.  Ulysses, 

Now  I  begin  to  relish  thy  advice  ;  * 
And  I  will  give  a  taste  of  it  forthwith 
To  Agamemnon :  go  we  to  him  straight. 
Two  curs  shall  tame  each  other ;  Pride  alone 
Must  tarre  the  mastiffs  on,5  as  'twere  their  bone. 

[Exeunt. 


ACT  II.6    SCENE  I. 

Another  Part  of  the  Grecian  Camp. 
Enter  AJAX  and  THERSITES. 

AJAX.  Thersites, 

THER.  Agamemnon — how  if  he  had  boils?  full, 
all  over,  generally? 

AJAX.  Thersites, 

THEE.  And  those  boils  did  run  ?— Say  so, — did 
not  the  general  run  then  ?  were  not  that  a  botchy 
core  ? 

AJAX.  Dog, 

4  Ulysses, 

Noiv  I  begin  &c.]  The  quarto   and   folio   have — A'orc, 

Ulysses,  I  begin,  &c.  The  transposition  was  made  by  Mr. 
Steevens.     MALONE. 


J  Must  tarre  the  mastiffs  on,"]     Tarre,  an  old  English  wt>rd, 
signifying  to  provoke  or  urge  on.  See  King  John,  Act  IV.  so.  i : 

" like  a  dog, 

"  Snatch  at  his  master  that  doth  tarre  him  on."     POPE. 

6  Act  II.']    This  play  is  not  divided  into  Acts  in  any  of  the 
original  editions,     JOHNSON'. 


ST.  /.       TllOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        291 

THER.  Then  would  come  some  matter  from  him  j 
I  see  none  now. 

AJAX.  Thou  bitch-wolfs  son,  canst  thou  not 
hear  ?  Feel  then.  [Strikes  him. 

THER.  The  plague  of  Greece  upon  thee,7  thou 
mongrel  beef-witted  lord!8 

AJAX.  Speak  then,  thou  tinsalted  leaven,  speak:9 
I  will  beat  thee  into  handsomeness. 


1  The  plague  of  Greece  upon  thee,]  Alluding  perhaps  to  the 
plague  sent  by  Apollo  on  the  Grecian  army.  JOHNSON. 

The  following  lines  of  Lydgate's  Auncicnt  Historic  of  the 
War  res  between  the  Trojans  and  the  Grecians,  1555,  were  pro- 
bably here  in  our  author's  thoughts : 

And  in  this  whyle  a  great  mortalyte, 
Both  of  sworde  and  of  pestilence, 
Among  Grcekes,  by  fatal  influence 
Of  noyou.s  liete  and  of  corrupt  eyre, 
Engendrcd  was,  that  tho  in  great  dispayre 
Of  theyr  life  in  the  fyelde  they  leye, 
For  day  by  day  sodaynly  they  deye, 
Whereby  theyr  nombre  fast  gan  dyscrece ; 
And  whan  they  sawe  that  it  ne  wolde  sece, 
By  theyr  advyse  the  kyng  Agamemnowne 
For  a  trewse  sent  unto  the  towne, 
For  thirty  dayes,  and  Priamus  the  kinge 
"  Without  abode  graunted  his  axynge."     MA  LUXE. 

Our  author  may  as  well  be  supposed  to  have  caught  this  cir- 
cumstance, relative  to  the  plague,  from  the  first  Book  of  Hall's 
or  Chapman's  version  of  the  Iliad.  STEEVICNS. 

8  thou  mongrel  beef-witted  /on/!]  So,  in  Twelfth- 
Night  :  " — I  am  a  great  eater  of  beef,  and  I  believe  that  does 
harm  to  my  it//."  STEEVENS. 

He  calls  Ajax  mongrel  on  account  of  his  father's  bring  u 
Grecian  and  his  mother  a  Trojan,  See  Hector's  :-.peecli  to  Ajax, 
m  Act  IV.  se.  v: 

"  Thou  art,  great  lord,  my  father's  sister's  son,"  <!vc. 

MA  i.  ONI:. 

"  Speak  then,  than  unsalted  leaven,  speak  :~\  Unsnltrd  leaven 
means  sour  without,  rait,  malignity  without  wit.  Shakspearc 

I    'J 


292       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  n. 

THER.  I  shall  sooner  rail  thee  intawit  and  holi- 
ness :  but,  I  think,  thy  horse  will  sooner  con  an 
oration,  than  thou  learn  a  prayer  without  book. 
Thou  canst  strike,  canst  thou  ?  a  red  murrain  o'thy 
jade's  tricks!1 

AJAX.  Toads-stool,  learn  me  the  proclamation. 

THER.  Dost  thou  think,  I  have  no  sense,  thou 
strikest  me  thus  ? 

AJAX.  The  proclamation, — 

THER.  Thou  art  proclaimed  a  fool,  I  think. 

AJAX.  Do  not,  porcupine,  do  not ;  my  fingers 
itch. 

THER.  I  would,  thou  didst  itch  from  head  to 
foot,  and  I  had  the  scratching  of  thee ;  I  would 

wrote  first  unsalted ;  but  recollecting  that  want  of  salt  was  no 
fault  in  leaven,  changed  it  to  vinew'd.     JOHNSON. 

The  want  of  salt  is  no  fault  in  leaven ;  but  leaven  without  the 
addition  of  salt  will  not  make  good  bread :  hence  Shakspeare 
used  it  as  a  term  of  reproach.  MA  LONE. 

Unsalted  is  the  reading  of  both  the  quartos.  Francis  Beau- 
mont, in  his  letter  to  Speght  on  his  edition  of  Chaucer's  works, 
1602,  says:  "  Many  of  Chaucer's  words  are  become  as  it  were 
lineiv'd  and  hoarie  with  over  long  lying." 

Again,  in  Tho.  Newton's  Herbal  to  the  Bible,  8vo.  1587: 
"  For  being  long  kept  they  grow  hore  and  vineived." 

STEEVENS. 

In  the  Preface  to  James  the  First's  Bible,  the  translators  speak 
offenoivcd  (i.e.  vinewed  or  mouldy)  traditions. 

BLACKSTONE. 

The  folio  has — thou  ivhinid'st  leaven  ;  a  corruption  undoubt- 
edly of  vinnewdst,  or  vinniedst:  that  is,  thou  most  mouldy  leaven. 
In  Dorsetshire  they  at  this  day  call  cheese  that  is  become 
mouldy,  vinny  cheese.  MALONE. 

* a  red  murrain  &c.]  A  similar  imprecation  is  found 

in  Tkf  Tempest :  "  • — The  red  nl/igiti:  rid  you  !" 


sc.  i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        293 

make  thee  the  loathsomest  scab  in  Greece.2  When 
thou  art  forth  in  the  incursions,  thou  strikest  as 
as  another. 


AJAX.  I  say,  the  proclamation, 

THER.  Thou  grumblest  and  railest  every  hour 
on  Achilles ;  and  thou  art  as  full  of  envy  at  his 
greatness,  as  Cerberus  is  at  Proserpina's  beauty, 
ay,  that  thou  barkcst  at  him." 

AJAX.  Mistress  Thersites! 

THER.  Thou  shouldest  strike  him. 

AJAX.  Cobloaf!4 

THER.  He  would  pun  thee  into  shivers5  with  his 
fist,  as  a  sailor  breaks  a  biscuit. 

*  in  Greece.']     [Thus  far  the  folio.]    The  quarto  adds — 

ivhen  thou  art  forth  in  the  incursions,  thou  strikest  as  s/oiv  as  an- 
vthcr.     JOHNSON. 

ay,  ihat  thou  barkcst  at  him.']     I  read, — O  that  thou 


The  old  reading  is  /,  which,  if  changed  at  all,  should  have 
been  changed  into  ay.  TYRWHITT. 

4  Cobloaf!~\  A  crusty,  uneven,  gibbous  loaf,  is  in  sonic 
counties  called  by  this  name.  STEEVKNS. 

A  cob-loaf,  says  Minshcu,  in  his  Dictionary,  HJlfi,  is  "  a 
bunne.  It  is  a  little  loaf  made  with  a  round  head,  such  as  cob- 
•Jrons  which  support  the  fire.  (J.  Bi^net,  a  bignc,  a  knob  or 
lump  risen  after  a  knock  or  blow."  The  word  liigtiets  Cotgrave, 
in  his  Dictionary,  1611,  renders  thus :  "  Little  round  loaves  or 
lumps,  made  of  fine  meale,  oyle,  or  butter,  and  reasons:  bunnes, 
lenten  loaves." 

Cod-loaf  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  rather  written  cop-loaf. 


-pun  t/ier  into  sfiivrrs — ]      Pnn  is  in  the  midland  coun- 

lics  the  vulgar  and  colloquial  word  for — poinnL     JOHNSON. 

It  is  used  by  P.  Holland,  in  his  translation  of  Pliny's  \atnra! 
History,   Book  XXVIII.   eh.  xii :    " — punned  altogether  and 


294      TROILUS  AND  CUESSIDA.      ACT  n. 

AJAX.  You  whoreson  cur !  [Beating  him. 

THEE.  Do,  do. 

AJAX.  Thou  stool  for  a  witch  !6 

THER.  Ay, do, do  ;  thou  sodden-witted  lord!  thou 
hast  no  more  brain  than  I  have  in  mine  elbows ; 
an  assinego7  may  tutor  thee  :  Thou  scurvy  valiant 

reduced  into  a  liniment."  Again,  Book  XXIX.  ch.  iv :  "  The 
gall  of  these  lizards  punned  and  dissolved  in  water."  STEEVENS. 

Cole,  in  his  Dictionary,  renders  it  by  the  Latin  words  contero, 
contundo.  Mr.  Pope,  who  altered  whatever  he  did  not  under- 
stand, reads — pound,  and  was  followed  by  three  subsequent  edi- 
tors. MALONE. 

5  Thou  stool  for  a  milch  /]  In  one  way  of  trying  a  milch  they 
used  to  place  her  on  a  chair  or  stool,  with  her  legs  tied  across, 
that  all  the  weight  of  her  body  might  rest  upon  her  seat ;  and 
by  that  means,  after  some  time,  the  circulation  of  the  blood 
would  be  much  stopped,  and  her  sitting  would  be  as  painful  as 
the  wooden  horse.  GREY. 

7  an  assinego — ]     I  am  not  very  certain  what  the  idea 

conveyed  by  this  word  was  meant  to  be.  Asinaio  is  Italian,  says 
8ir  T.  Hannier,  for  an  ass-driver:  but,  in  Mirza,  a  tragedy,  by 
Rob.  Baron,  Act  III.  the  following  passage  occurs,  with  a  note 
annexed  to  it : 

" the  stout  trusty  blade, 

"  That  at  one  blow  has  cut  an  asinego 
"  Asunder  like  a  thread. " 

"  This  (says  the  author)  is  the  usual  trial  of  the  Persian  sham- 
sheers,  or  cemiters,  which  are  crooked  like  a  crescent,  of  so  good 
rnetal,  that  they  prefer  them  before  any  other,  and  so  sharp  as 
any  razor." 

I  hope,  for  the  credit  of  the  prince,  that  the  experiment  was 
rather  made  on  an  ass,  than  an  ass-driver.  From  the  following 
passage  I  should  suppose  asinego  to  be  merely  a  cant  term  for  a 
foolish  fellow,  an  idiot :  "  They  apparelled  me  as  you  see,  made 
a  fool,  or  an  asinego  of  me."  See  The  Antiquary,  a  comedy,  by 
8.  Marmion,  1641.  Again,  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Scornful 
Lady  ;  "  — all  this  would  be  forsworn,  and  I  again  an  asinego, 
as  your  sister  left  me."  STEEVENS. 

Asincgo  is  Portuguese  for  a  little  ass.    M  use  RAVE. 


sc.  i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        295 

ass !  thou  art  here  put  to  thrasli  Trojans;  and  thou 
art  bought  and  sold8  among  those  of  any  wit,  like 
a  Barbarian  slave.  If  thou  use  to  beat  me,9  I  will 
begin  at  thy  heel,  and  tell  what  thou  art  by  inches, 
thou  thing  of  no  bowels,  thou ! 

AJAX.  You  dog ! 
THER.  You  scurvy  lord ! 

AJAX.  You  cur !  [Healing  liiiu. 

THER.  Mars  his  idiot !  do,  rudeness;  do,  camel ; 
do,  do. 

Enter  ACHILLES  and  PATROCLUS. 

ACHIL.   Why,  how  now,  Ajax  ?    wherefore  do 

you  thus  ? 
How  now,  Thersites  ?  what's  the  matter,  man  ? 

THER.  You  see  him  there,  do  you  ? 
ACHIL.  Ay;  what's  the  matter  ? 

And  Dr.  Musgravc  might  have  added,  that,  in  his  native 
county,  it  is  the  vulgar  name  for  an  ass  at  present.  HENLEY. 

The  same  term,  as  I  am  informed,  is  also  current  among  the 
lower  rank  of  people  in  Norfolk.  STEEVENS. 

An  asincgo  is  a  he  fiss.  "  A  souldicrs  wife  abounding  with 
more  lust  than  love,  complaines  to  the  king,  her  husband  did 
not  satish'e  her,  whereas  he  makes  her  to  be  coupled  to  an 
asinegOf  whose  villainy  and  lust  took  away  her  life." 

Herbert's  Trawl*,  IG'M,  p.  (JS.     RITSOX. 

8  thou  art  bought  and  sold — ]      This  was  a  proverbial 

expression.     MALONE. 

So,  in  King  Richard  III : 

"  For  Dickon  thy  master  is  bought  and  sold." 
Again,  in  King  Henry  VI.  Part  I  : 

"  From  bought  and  fold  lord  Talbot."     STKKVKNS. 

"  I/  thou  use  lo  beat  »«',]  i.  e.  if  thou  continue  to  beat  me, 
or  make  a  practice  of  beating  me. 


296      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  n. 

THER.  Nay,  look  upon  him. 
ACHIL.  So  I  do  ;  What's  the  matter  ? 
THER.  Nay,  but  regard  him  well. 
ACHIL.  Well,  why  I  do  so. 

THER.  But  yet  you  look  not  well  upon  him :  for, 
whosoever  you  take  him  to  be,  he  is  Ajax. 

ACHIL.  I  know  that,  fool. 

THER.  Ay,  but  that  fool  knows  not  himself. 

AJAX.  Therefore  I  beat  thee. 

THER.  Lo,  lo,  lo,  lo,  what  modicums  of  wit  he 
utters !  his  evasions  have  ears  thus  long.  1  have 
bobbed  his  brain,  more  than  he  has  beat  my  bones: 
I  will  buy  nine  sparrows  for  a  penny,  and  his  pia 
mater1  is  not  worth  the  ninth  part  of  a  sparrow. 
This  lord,  Achilles,  Ajax,- — who  wears  his  wit  in 
his  belly,  and  his  guts  in  his  head, — I'll  tell  you 
what  I  say  of  him. 

ACHIL.  WThat? 

THER.  I  say,  this  Ajax 

ACHIL.  Nay,  good  Ajax. 

[AJAX  offers  to  strike  him,  ACHILLES 
interposes. 

THER.  Has  not  so  much  wit 

ACHIL.  Nay,  I  must  hold  you. 

THER.  As  will  stop  the  eye  of  Helen's  needle, 
for  whom  he  comes  to  fight. 

ACHIL.  Peace,  fool ! 

1  his  pia  mater  <ffc.  J     So,  in  Twelfth- Night :  "  — here 

comes  one  of  thy  kin  has  a  most  weak  pia  mater."     The  pia 
mater  is  a  membrane  that  protects  the  substance  of  the  brain. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        297 

THER.  I  would  have  peace  and  quietness,  but  the 
fool  will  not :  he  there  ;  that  he  ;  look  vou  there. 

^ 

AJAX.  O  thou  damned  cur !   I  shall 

ACHIL.  "Will  you  set  your  wit  to  a  fool's  ? 

THER.  No,  I  warrant  youj  for  a  fool's  will 
shame  it. 

PATR.  Good  words,  Thersites. 
ACHIL.  What's  the  quarrel  ? 

AJAX.  I  bade  the  vile  owl,  go  learn  me  the  te- 
nour  of  the  proclamation,  and  he  rails  upon  me. 

THER.  I  serve  thce  not. 
AJAX.  Well,  go  to,  go  to. 
THER.  I  serve  here  voluntary. 

ACHIL.  Your  last  service  was  sufferance,  'twas  not 
voluntary;  no  man  is  beaten  voluntary;-  Ajax  was 
here  the  voluntary,  and  you  as  under  an  impress. 

THER.  Even  so  ? — a  great  deal  of  your  wit  too 
lies  in  your  sinews,  or  else  there  be  liars.  Hector 
shall  have  a  great  catch,  if  lie  knock  out  either  of 
your  brains  ; 3  'a  were  as  good  crack  a  fusty  nut  with 
no  kernel. 

ACHIL.  What,  with  me  too,  Thersites  ? 

THER.  There's  Ulysses,  and  old  Nestor, — whoso 
wit  was  mouldy  ere  your  grandsires  had  nails*  on 

is  beaten  voluntary;]  i. c. voluntarily.  Shakspeare  olicn 

uses  adjectives  adverbially.     See  Vol.  XI.  p.  :5,S(>,  u.  5». 

MALONF. 

3  Hector  shall  have  ft  great  catch,  if  he  kimcl;  out  cither  iif  i/uur 
brains;  &c.]  The  same  thought  occurs  in  Cijtnbeline: 

" not  I  lercules 

"  Could  have  knock'tl  out  his  brains,  lor  he  had  none." 

STEEYENS. 

r, — n7/o.?c    felt    ii-itx   mnitlt/i/   err   your  grand.*! res 


had  nails — ]      [Old  copies — their  jjramlsires.]      This  is  one  ol 


298        TROILUS  AND  CRESSlDA.    ACTII. 

their  toes, — yoke  you  like  draught  oxen,  and  make 
you  plough  up  the  wars. 

ACHIL.  What,  what  ? 

THER.  Yes,  good  sooth  j  To,  Achilles !  to,  Ajax ! 
to! 

AJAX.  I  shall  cut  out  your  tongue. 

THER.  'Tis  no  matter ;  I  shall  speak  as  much  as 
thou,  afterwards. 

PATH.  No  more  words,  Thersites ;  peace. 

THER.  I  will  hold  my  peace  when  Achilles'  brach 
bids  me,5  shall  I? 


these  editors'  wise  riddles.  What !  was  Nestor's  wit  mouldy  be- 
fore his  grandsire's  toes  had  nails  ?  Preposterous  nonsense !  and 
yet  so  easy  a  change  as  one  poor  pronoun  for  another,  sets  all 
right  and  clear.  THEOBALD. 

5 'when  Achilles1  brach  bids  me,~\     The  folio  and  quarto 

read — Achilles  brooch.  Brooch  is  an  appendant  ornament.  The 
meaning  may  be  equivalent  to  one  of  Achilles'  hangers-on. 

JOHNSON. 

Brach  I  believe  to  be  the  true  reading.     He  calls  Patroclus, 
in  contempt,  Achilles's  dog.     So,  in  Timon  nf  Athens: 
"  When  thou  art  Timon's  dog"  &c. 

A  brooch  was  a  cluster  of  gems  affixed  to  a  pin,  and  anciently 
worn  in  the  hats  of  people  of  distinction.  See  the  portrait  of  Sir 
Christopher  Hatton.  STEEVEXS. 

I  believe  brache  to  be  the  true  rending.  It  certainly  means  a 
hitch,  and  not  a  dog,  which  renders  the  expression  more  abusive 
and  offensive.  Thersites  calls  Patroclus  Achilles*  brache,  for  the 
same  reason  that  he  afterwards  calls  him  his  male  harlot,  and  his 
masculine  whore.  M.  MASON. 

I  have  little  doubt  of  broch  being  the  true  reading,  as  a  term 
of  contempt. 

The  meaning  of  broche  is  well  ascertained — a  spit — a  bodkin  ; 
which  being  formerly  used  in  the  ladies'  dress,  was  adorned  with 
jewels,  and  gold  and  silver  ornaments.  Hence  in  old  lists  of 
jewels  are  found  brotchcts. 

I  have  a  very  magnificent  one,  which  is  figured  and  described 
by  Pennant,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Tourto  Scolland,'m  1772, 


sc.i.       TROILi:S  AND  CRESSIDA.        299 

AcillL.  There's  for  you,  Patroclus. 

THER.  I  will  see  you  hanged,  like  clotpoles,  crc 
I  come  any  more  to  your  tents  ;  I  will  keep  where 
there  is  wit  stirring,  and  leave  the  faction  of  fools. 

[£r/V. 

PATH.  A  good  riddance. 

ACHIL.  Marry,  tliis,  sir,  is  proclaimed  through 

all  our  host : 

That  Hector,  by  the  first6  hour  of  the  sun, 
Will,  with  a  trumpet,  'twixt  our  tents  and  Troy, 
To-morrow  morning  call  some  knight  to  arms, 
That  hath  a  stomach  ;  and  such  a  one,  that  dare 
Maintain — I  know  not  what;  'tis  trash:  Farewell. 

p.  11,  in  which  the  spit  or  bodkin  forms  but  a  very  small  part  of 
the  whole.     LOUT. 

Brock  was,  properly,  a  trinket  with  a  pin  affixed  to  it,  and  is 
consequently  used  by  Shukspeare  for  an  ornament  in  general. 
So,  in  Hamlet: 

" he  is  the  brooch  indeed 

"  And  gem  of  all  the  nation." 
So,  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra; 

" not  the  imperious  show 

"  Of  the  lull  fortun'd  Caesar,  ever  shall 
"  Be  broach' d  with  me." 

But  Thcrsites  could  not  mean  to  compliment  Patroclus,  and 
therefore  this  cannot,  1  think,  be  the  true  reading.  lirach,  which 
was  introduced  by  Mr.  I\o\ve,  might  serve  well  enough,  but  that 
it  certainly  meant  a  hitch.  [Sec  Vol.  IX.  p.  1(J,  n.  !).]  It  is 
possible,  however,  that  Shakspeare  might  have  used  the  word  as 
.^ynonymous  to  follower,  without  any  regard  to  sex. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  the  word  intended  might  have 
been  Achilles's  brock,  i.  e.  that  over-weening  conceited  cox- 
comb, who  attends  upon  Achilles.  Our  author  has  used  this 
term  of  contempt  in  Twlflh-Xighl  :  "  Marry,  hang  thce, 
/irock!"  So,  in  Tin-  Jests  of  dVi/r^r  7V<7r,  quarto,  l(i.;7: 
"  This  self-conceited  brock  had  (ieorge  invited,"  \e. 

M  ALONE. 
A  brock,  literally,  means — a  badger.      S  i  rr.vi-:\s. 

the  first — ]      So  the  quarto.     Folio — \\\ej(flh — . 

M.\  LONE. 


300        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  a. 

AJAX.  Farewell.     Who  shall  answer  him  ? 

ACIIIL.  I  know  not,  it  is  put  to  lottery ;  other- 
wise, 
He  knew  his  man. 

AJAX.  O,  meaning  you : — I'll  go  learn  more  of 
it.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  II. 

Troy.     A  Room  in  Priam's  Palace. 

Enter  PRIAM,  HECTOR,  TROILUS,  PARIS,  and 
HELENUS. 

PRI.  After  so  many  hours,  lives,  speeches  spent, 
Thus  once  again  says  Nestor  from  the  Greeks ; 
Deliver  Helen,  and  all  damage  else — 
As  honour,  loss  of  time,  travel,  expence, 
Wounds,  friends,  and  what  else  dear  that  is  consumed 
In  hot  digestion  of  this  cormorant  tear, — 
Shall  be  struck  off: — Hector,  what  say  you  to't  ? 

HECT.  Though  no  man  lesser  fears  the  Greeks 

than  I, 

As  far  as  toucheth  my  particular,  yet, 
Dread  Priam, 

There  is  no  lady  of  more  softer  bowels, 
More  spungy7  to  suck  in  the  sense  of  fear, 
More  ready  to  cry  out — Who  knows  what  follows?* 
Than  Hector  is:  The  wound  of  peace  is  surety, 

7 spungy — ]      So,  in  Macbeth: 

" his  spungy  officers."     STEEVENS. 

* Who  knows  what  follows  ?]      Who    knows    what   ill 

consequences  may  follow  from  pursuing  this  or  that  course  ? 

MA  LONE. 


sc.  if.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        30.1 

Surety  secure ;  but  modest  doubt  is  call'd 
The  beacon  of  the  wise,  the  tent  that  searches 
To  the  bottom  of  the  worst.     Let  Helen  go  : 
Since  the  first  sword  was  drawn  about  this  question, 
Every  tithe  soul,  'mongst  many  thousand  dismes," 
Hath  been  as  dear  as  Helen ;  I  mean,  of  ours : 
If  we  have  lost  so  many  tenths  of  ours, 
To  guard  a  thing  not  ours  ;  not  worth  to  us, 
Had  it  our  name,  the  value  of  one  ten  ; 
What  merit's  in  that  reason,  which  denies 
The  yielding  of  her  up  ? 

TRO.  Fye,  fye,  my  brother  1 

Weigh  you  the  worth  and  honour  of  a  king, 
So  great  as  our  dread  father,  in  a  scale 
Of  common  ounces?  will  you  with  counters  sum 
The  past-proportion  of  his  infinite?1 
And  buckle-in  a  waist  most  fathomless, 
With  spans  and  inches  so  diminutive 
As  fears  and  reasons  ?  fye,  for  godly  shame ! 

HEL.  Xo  marvel,  though  you  bite  so  sharp  at 
reasons,* 

-' mam/  thousand  disnies,]     Dismc,  Fr.  is  the  tithe,  the 

tenth.  So,  in  the  Prologue  to  Govver's  Conjcssio  Amantist 
1554: 

"  The  dismc  goeth  to  the  battaile." 

Again,  in  Holinshcd's  Reign  of  Richard  II:  " — so  that  there 
was  levied,  what  of  the  dismc,  and  hy  the  devotion  of  the  peo- 
ple," i!ve.  STKEVEXS. 

1  The  past-proportion  of  his  />//?«//«•?]      Thus  read  both  the 
copies.      The  meaning  is,  that  ^rratnr.^   to  which    no   incasu/c 
dears  am/  proportion.     The  modern  editors  silently  give  : 
The  vast  proportion — .     JOHNSON. 

'  though  you  bite  so  sharp  at  reasons,  <$'<•'•]     Here  is  u 

wretched  quibble  between  reasons  and  raisins,  which  in  Sh.ik- 
speare's  time,  were,  I  believe,  pronounced  alike.  Dogberry,  in 
Mitch  Ado  about  J^ot/i/ng,  plays  upon  the  same  words:  "  If 
Justice  cannot  tame  you,  she  shall  never  weigh  more  rr<i"i»\  in 
her  balance."  MAL.ON*:. 


302        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTII. 

You  are  so  empty  of  them.  Should  not  our  father 
Bear  the  great  sway  of  his  affairs  with  reasons, 
Because  your  speech  hath  none,  that  tells  him  so  ? 

TRO.  You  are  for  dreams  and  slumbers,  brother 

priest, 
You  fur  your  gloves  with  reason.     Here  are  your 

reasons : 

You  know,  an  enemy  intends  you  harm ; 
You  know,  a  sword  employ'd  is  perilous, 
And  reason  flies  the  object  of  all  harm  : 
Who  marvels  then,  when  Helenus  beholds 
A  Grecian  and  his  sword,  if  he  do  set 
The  very  wings  of  reason  to  his  heels ; 
And  fly  like  chidden  Mercury  from  Jove, 
Or  like  a  star  dis-orb'd  ?3 — Nay,  if  we  talk  of  rea- 
son, 

Let's  shut  our  gates,  and  sleep:  Manhood  and  ho- 
nour 
Should  have  hare  hearts,  would  they  but  fat  their 

thoughts 

With  this  cramm'd  reason  :  reason  and  respect 
Make  livers  pale,  and  lustihood  deject.4 

The  present  suspicion  of  a  quibble  on  the  word — reason,  is 
not,  in  my  opinion,  sufficiently  warranted  by  the  context. 

STEEVENS. 
3  And  fly  like  chidden  Mercury  from  Jovet 

Or  like  a  star  dis-orb'd?']    These  two  lines  are  misplaced  in 
all  the  folio  editions.     POPE. 

* reason  and  respect 

Make  livers  pale,  &c.]     Respect  is  caution,  a  regard  to  con- 
sequences.    So,  in  our  author's  Rape  of  Lucrece: 
Then,  childish  fear,  avaunt!  debating  die  ! 
Respect  and  reason  wait  on  wrinkled  age ! — 
Sad  pause  and  deep  regard  beseem  the  sage." 


Again, 


n  Timon  of  Athens  : 


•  and  never  learn'd 


The  icy  precepts  of  respect,  but  follow'd 
"  The  sujjar'd  uaine  before  thee."     MAI.OM-:. 


sc.  //.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        303 

HECT.  Brother,  she  is  not  worth  what  she  doth 

cost 
The  holding. 

TRO.  What  is  aught,  but  as  'tis  valued  ? 

HECT.  But  value  dwells  not  in  particular  will ; 
It  holds  his  estimate  and  dignity 
As  wrell  wherein  'tis  precious  of  itself 
As  in  the  prizer :  'tis  mad  idolatry, 
To  make  the  service  greater  than  the  god ; 
And  the  will  dotes,  that  is  attributive5 
To  what  infectiously  itself  affects, 
Without  some  image  of  the  affected  merit.6 

Tito.  I  take  to-day  a  wife,  and  my  election 
Is  led  on  in  the  conduct  of  my  will  ;7 
My  will  enkindled  by  mine  eyes  and  ears, 
Two  traded  pilots  'twixt  the  dangerous  shore* 
Of  will  and  judgment :   How  may  I  avoid, 
Although  my  will  distaste  what  it  elected, 
The  wife  I  chose  ?  there  can  be  no  evasion 
To  blench3  from  this,  and  to  stand  firm  by  honour: 

5  And  the  ivill  dotes,  that  is  attributive — ]  So  the  quarto. 
The  folio  reads — inclinable,  which  Mr.  Pope  says  "  is  better." 

MA  LONE. 

I  think  the  first  reading  better ;  the  will  dotes  that  attributes  or 
gives  the  qualities  ichich  it  affects;  that  first  causes  excellence, 
and  then  admires  it.  JOHNSON. 

c  Without  some  image  of  the  affected  merit.']  We  should 
read : 

the  aftected's  merit. 

i.  e.  without  some  mark  of  merit  in  the  thing  affected. 

W'ARBl'KTOX. 

The  present  reading  is  right.  The  will  affects  an  objert  for 
some  supposed  merit, which  1 'lector  says  is  censurable,  unless  the 
merit  so  affected  be  really  there.  JOHNSON. 

in  the  conduct  of  mi/  :i-///;]    i.  e.  under  the  guidance  or' 

my  will.     MALOXI:. 

s blench—]     See  p.  '231,  n.  G. 


304        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTII. 

We  turn  not  back  the  silks  upon  the  merchant, 
When  we  have  soil'd  thcmj9  nor  the  remainder 

viands 

We  do  not  throw  in  unrespective  sieve,1 
Because  we  now  are  full.     It  was  thought  meet, 
Paris  should  do  some  vengeance  on  the  Greeks : 
Your  breath  with  full  consent2  bellied  his  sails  ; 
The  seas  and  winds  (old  wranglers)  took  a  truce, 
And  did  him  service  :  he  touch'd  the  ports  desir'd; 
And,  for  an  old  aunt,3  whom  the  Greeks  held  cap- 
tive, 


•soil'd  them i]     So  reads  the  quarto.     The  folio: 
spoil'd  them.     JOHNSON. 


1 unrespective  sieve,]       That  is,  unto  a  common  voider. 

Sieve  is  in  the  quarto.     The  folio  reads : 

unrespective  same ; 

for  which  the  second  folio  and  modern  editions  have  silently 
printed : 

unrespective  place.     JOHNSON. 

It  is  well  known  that  sieves  and  half-sieves  are  baskets  to  be 
met  with  in  every  quarter  of  Covent  Garden  market ;  and  that, 
in  some  families,  baskets  lined  with  tin  are  still  employed  as 
voiders.  With  the  former  of  these  senses  sieve  is  used  in  The 
Wits,  by  Sir  W.  D'Avenant : 

" -apple-wives 

"  That  wrangle  for  a  sieve" 

Dr.  Farmer  adds,  that,  in  several  counties  of  England,  the 
baskets  used  for  carrying  out  dirt,  &c.  are  called  sieves.  The 
correction,  therefore,  in  the  second  folio,  appears  to  have  been 
unnecessary.  STEEVENS. 

2  Your  breath  with  full  consent — ]     Your  breaths  all  blowing 
together;  your  unanimous  approbation.     See  Vol.  XII.  p.  217, 
n.  5.     Thus  the  quarto.     The  folio  reads — o/*full  consent. 

MALONE. 

3  And,  for  an  old  aunt,']      Priam's  sister,   Hesione,  whom 
Hercules,  being  enraged  at  Priam's  breach  of  faith,  gave  to 
Telamon,  who  by  her  had  Ajax.     MALONE. 

This  circumstance  is  alsp  found  in  Lydgatc,  Book  II.  where 
Priam  says : 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       so-; 

He  brought  a  Grecian  queen,  whose  youth  and 

freshness 

Wrinkles  Apollo's,  and  makes  pale  the  morning.4 
Why  keep  we  her?  the  Grecians  keep  our  aunt: 
Is  she  worth  keeping?  why,  she  is  a  pearl, 
Whose  price  hath  laiinch'd  above  a  thousand  ships, 
And  turn'd  crown'd  kings  to  merchants. 
If  you'll  avouch,  'twas  wisdom  Paris  went, 
(As  you  must  needs,  for  you  all  cry'd — Go,  ^o,) 
If  you'll  confess,  he  brought  home  noble  prize, 
(As  you  must  needs,  for  you  all  clapp'd  your  hands, 
And  cry'd — Inestimable  /)  why  do  you  now 
The  issue  of  your  proper  wisdoms  rate  ; 
And  do  a  deed  that  fortune  never  did,5 
Beggar  the  estimation  which  you  priz'd 
Richer  than  sea  and  land  ?  O  theft  most  base  ; 
That  we  have  stolen  what  we  do  fear  to  keep ! 


"  My  systcr  eke,  called  Exiona 

"  Out  of  this  regyon  ye  have  ladde  away"  &c. 

STEEVEXS. 

* makes  pale  the  morning.']     So  the  quarto.     The  folio 

and  modern  editors — 

makes  stale  the  morning.     JOHNSON'. 

5  And  do  a  deed  that  fortune  never  did,^  If  I  understand 
this  passage,  the  meaning  is  :  "  Why  do  you,  by  censuring  the 
determination  of  your  own  wisdoms,  degrade  Helen,  whom 
fortune  hath  not  yet  deprived  of  her  value,  or  against  whom,  as 
the  wife  of  Paris,  fortune  has  not  in  this  war  so  deelared,  as  to 
make  us  value  her  less  ?"  This  is  very  harsh,  and  mueh  strained. 

JOHN  so  v 


The  meaning,  I  believe,  is  :  "  Act  with  more  inconstancy 
and  caprice  than  ever  did  fortune."  HI;NI,KV. 

Fortune  was  never  so  unjust  and  mutable  as  to  rate  a  tiling  on 
one  day  above  all  price,  and  on  the  next  to  set  no  estimation 
whatsoever  upon  it.  You  arc-  now  going  to  do  what  fortune 
never  did.  Such,  I  think,  i*  the  meaning.  MAI.ONF. 

VOL.     \V.  X 


306        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  n. 

But,  thieves,6  unworthy  of  a  thing  so  stolen, 
That  in  their  country  did  them  that  disgrace, 
We  fear  to  warrant  in  our  native  place ! 

CAS.  \_Within.~]  Cry,  Trojans,  cry! 

PRI.  What  noise  ?  what  shriek  is  this  ? 

TRO.  'Tis  our  mad  sister,  I  do  know  her  voice, 

CAS.  [Within.'}  Cry,  Trojans! 

HECT.  It  is  Cassandra. 


Enter  CASSANDRA,  raving? 

CAS.  Cry,  Trojans,  cry !  lend  me  ten  thousand 

eyes, 
And  I  will  fill  them  with  prophetick  tears. 

HECT.  Peace,  sister,  peace. 

CAS.  Virgins  and  boys,   mid-age  and  wrinkled 
elders,8 


c  But,  thievcs,~]     Sir  T.  Hanmcr  reads — Base  thieves, — . 

JOHNSON. 

That  did,  in  the  next  line,  means — that  which  did. 

MALONE. 

Enter  Cassandra,  raving."]     This  circumstance  also  is  from 
the  third  Book  of'Lydgate's  Anncient  Historic,  &c.  1555  : 
"  This  was  the  noise  and  the  pyteous  crye 
"  Of  Cassandra  that  so  dredefully 
"  She  ganto  make  aboute  in  euery  strete 
*'  Through  ye  towne"  &c.     STIC  EVENS. 

s winkled  elders,]     So  the  quarto.     Folio — wrinkled 

old.    MALONE. 

Elders,  the  erroneous  reading  of  the  quarto,  would  seem  to 
have  been  properly  corrected  in  the  copy  whence  the  first  folio 
was  printed :  but  it  is  a  rule  with  printers,  whenever  they  meet 
with  a  strange  word  in  a  manuscript,  to  give  the  nearest  word  to 
it  they  are  acquainted  with  ;  a  liberty  which  hab  been  not  very 


sc.  n.      TROILUS  AOT)  CRESSIDA.        307 

Soft  infancy,  that  nothing  canst  but  cry, 

Add  to  my  clamours !  let  us  pay  betimes 

A  moiety  of  that  mass  of  moan  to  come. 

Cry,  Trojans,  cry  !  practise  your  eyes  with  tears ! 

Troy  must  not  be,  nor  goodly  llion  stand  ;* 

Our  fire-brand  brother,1  Paris,  burns  us  all. 

Cry,  Trojans,  cry!  a  Helen,  and  a  woe : 

Cry,  cry !  Troy  burns,  or  else  let  Helen  go.  [_Efit. 

HECT.  Now,  youthful  Troilus,  do  not  these  high 

strains 

Of  divination  in  our  sister  work 
Some  touches  of  remorse  ?  or  is  your  blood 
So  madly  hot,  that  no  discourse  of  reason, 
Nor  fear  of  bad  success  in  a  bad  cause, 
Can  qualify  the  same  ? 

TRO.  Why,  brother  Hector, 

We  may  not  think  the  justness  of  each  act 
Such  and  no  other  than  event  doth  form  it ; 
Nor  once  deject  the  courage  of  our  minds, 
Because  Cassandra's  mad  ;  her  brain-sick  raptures 

sparingly  exorcised  in  all  the  old  editions  of  our  author's  plays. 
There  cannot  he  a  question  that  he  wrote : 

mid-age  and  Crinkled  eld. 

So,  in  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor  : 

"  The  superstitious  idle-headed  eld.''' 
Again,  in  Measure  for  Measure  : 

"  Doth  beg  the  alms  of  palsied  <•/</."      KITSON. 

11  Troy  must  not  be,  nor  goodly  llion  stand  ;]  See  p.  210,  n. 
5,  and  p.  2  Mi,  n.  9.  This  line  unavoidably  reminds  us  of  another 
in  the  second  Book  of  the  .Tlueid  : 

"  Trujatjite  nune  stares,  Priamiquc  arx  alia  maiieres." 

S  1 1  i:\  i'N  >. 

1  Our  fire-brand  brother,'}  Hecuba,  when  pregnant  with 
Paris,  dreamed  she  should  be  delivered  of  a  burning  torch  : 

"  ct  Jace  pncgnans 

"  ('ism-it  regtttn  I'arnt  crcat." 

.  l-'.neid  X .  705.     S r  E  E  \  K  x  s . 


308       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  u. 

Cannot  distaste2  the  goodness  of  a  quarrel, 
Which  hath  our  several  honours  all  engag'd 
To  make  it  gracious.3     For  my  private  part, 
I  am  no  more  touch' d  than  all  Priam's  sons : 
And  Jove  forbid,  there  should  be  done  amongst  us 
Such  things  as  might  offend  the  weakest  spleen 
To  fight  for  and  maintain  ! 

PAR.  Else  might  the  world  convince  of  levity4 
As  well  my  undertakings,  as  your  counsels : 
But  I  attest  the  gods,  your  full  consent5 
Gave  wings  to  my  propension,  and  cut  off 
All  fears  attending  on  so  dire  a  project. 
For  what,  alas,  can  these  my  single  arms  ? 
What  propugnation  is  in  one  man's  valour, 
To  stand  the  push  and  enmity  of  those 
This  quarrel  would  excite  ?  Yet,  I  protest, 
Were  I  alone  to  pass  the  difficulties, 
And  had  as  ample  power  as  I  have  will, 
Paris  should  ne'er  retract  what  he  hath  done, 
Nor  faint  in  the  pursuit, 

PRI.  Paris,  you  speak 

Like  one  besotted  on  your  sweet  delights : 
You  have  the  honey  still,  but  these  the  gall ; 
So  to  be  valiant,  is  no  praise  at  all. 

* distaste — ]     Corrupt ;  change  to  a  worse  state. 

JOHNSOX. 

3  To  male  it  gracious."]  i.  e.  to  set  it  off;  to  show  it  to  ad- 
vantage. So,  in  Marston's  Malcontent,  1604  :  "  — he  is  most 
exquisite,  &c.  in  sleeking  of  skinnes,  blushing  of  cheeks,  £c. 
that  ever  made  an  ould  lady  gracious  by  torch-light." 

STEEVENS. 

4 convince  of  levity — ]     This  word,  which  our  author 

frequently  employs  in  the  obsolete  sense  of — to  orcrporver,  sub- 
due, seems,  in  the  present  instance,  to  signify — convict,  or  sub- 
ject to  the  charge  of  levity.  STEEVENS. 

4 your  full  consent — ]     Your  unanimous  approbation. 

See  p.  304,  n.  2.     MA  LONE,. 


Sc.  u.        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      sof) 

PAH.  Sir,  I  propose  not  merely  to  myself 
The  pleasures  sucn  a  beauty  brings  with  it ; 
But  I  would  have  the  soil  of  her  fair  rape1' 
Wip'd  off,  in  honourable  keeping  her. 
What  treason  were  it  to  the  ransack'd  queen, 
Disgrace  to  your  great  worths,  and  shame  to  me, 
Now  to  deliver  her  possession  up, 
On  terms  of  base  compulsion  ?  Can  it  be, 
That  so  degenerate  a  strain  as  this, 
Should  once  set  footing  in  your  generous  bosoms? 
There's  not  the  meanest  spirit  on  our  party, 
Without  a  heart  to  dare,  or  sword  to  draw, 
When  Helen  is  defended ;  nor  none  so  noble, 
Whose  life  were  ill  beslow'd,  or  deatli  imfam'd, 
Where  Helen  is  the  subject:  then,  I  say, 
Well  may  we  tight  lor  her,  whom,  we  know  well, 
The  world's  large  spaces  cannot  parallel. 

HECT.  Paris,  and  Troilus,  you  June  both  said 

well  ; 

And  on  the  cause  and  question  now  in  hand 
Have  gloz'd,7 — but  superficially  ;  not  much 
Unlike  young  men,  whom  Aristotle^  thought 


"  hcrffiir  rape — ]  Rape,  in  our  author's  time,  com- 
monly signified  the  carrying  aivaij  of  a  female.  MALUXK. 

It  has  always  borne  that,  as  one  ol'  i»<  siirniiieation* ;  /•./;»/."•. 
Hcfi'iuc  (without  any  idea  ofper.MtMal  violence)  bu'nj;  constantly 
rendered — the  rape  of  Helen.  S  i  KKVKN^. 

7  Hirer  glo/'d,]  So,  in  Spenser's  i'liiri/  (luccii,  Hook  III. 
viii.  1  1  : 

" could  well  \\\s  glazing  spec'ches  frame." 

To  gf'izi't  in  this  instance,  iiuans  to  insinuate  ;  but,  in  Sliak- 
?pcare,  to  ci»ii»icnf.  So,  in  A///^  llrnri/  I  : 

"  Which  Saliquc  land  the  I-'ri'iich  unjustly  ^A  : 
"  To  bi'  the  realm  of  1'Yance."      Si  KKVK.NS. 

—  Arittntlc-  -  ]      Let  it  be  remembered,  as  often  as  Sliak- 
.-peave's  anachronisms  occur,  tlut  errors  in  tomputinj;  time  \M  i>- 


310        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  IL 

Unfit  to  hear  moral  philosophy  : 

The  reasons,  you  allege,  do  more  conduce 

To  the  hot  passion  of  distemper 'd  blood, 

Than  to  make  up  a  free  determination 

'Twixt  right  and  wrong ;  For  pleasure,  and  revenge, 

Have  ears  more  deaf  than  adders9  to  the  voice 

Of  any  true  decision.     Nature  craves, 

All  dues  be  render* d  to  their  owners  ;  Now 

What  nearer  debt  in  all  humanity, 

Than  wife  is  to  the  husband  ?  if  this  law 

Of  nature  be  corrupted  through  affection  ; 

And  that  great  minds,  of  partial  indulgence  l 

To  their  benumbed  wills,2  resist  the  same  ; 


very  frequent  in  those  ancient  romances  which  seem  to  have 
formed  the  greater  part  of  his  library.  I  may  add,  that  even 
classick  authors  are  not  exempt  from  such  mistakes.  In  the  fifth 
Book  of  Statius's  Thebaid,  Amphiaraus  talks  of  the  fates  of 
Nestor  and  Priam,  neither  of  whom  died  till  long  after  him. 
If  on  this  occasion,  somewhat  should  be  attributed  to  his  augural 
profession,  yet  if  he  could  so  freely  mention,  nay,  even  quote 
as  examples  to  the  whole  army,  things  that  would  not  happen 
till  the  next  age,  they  must  all  have  been  prophets  as  well  as 
himself,  or  they  could  not  have  understood  him. 

Hector's  mention  of  Aristotle,  however,  (during  our  ancient 
propensity  to  quote  the  authorities  of  the  learned  on  every  occa- 
sion) is  not  more  absurd  than  the  following  circumstance  in  The 
Dialogues  of  Creatures  Moralised,  bl.  1.  no  date,  (a  book  which 
Shakspeare  might  have  seen,)  where  we  find  God  Almighty 
quoting  Cato.  See  Dial.  IV.  I  may  add,  on  this  subject,  that 
during  an  altercation  between  Noah  and  his  Wife,  in  one  of  the 
Chester  Whitsun  Playes,  the  Lady  swears  by — Christ  and  Saint 
John.  STEEVENS. 

0 more  deaf  than  adders — ]    See  Vol.  XIII.  p.  283,  n.  4-. 

S  TEE  YENS. 


1 of  partial  indulgence — ]      i.  e.  through  partial  indul- 
gence.    M.  MASON. 

-  benumbed  uv7/*-,]       That    is,   inflexible,    immoveable, 
no  longer  obedient  to  superior  direction.     JOHNSON. 


sc.ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        31 1 

There  is  a  law3  in  eacli  well-order* d  nation, 

To  curb  those  raging  appetites  that  are 

Most  disobedient  and  refractory. 

If  Helen  then  be  wife  to  Sparta's  king, — 

As  it  is  known  she  is, — these  moral  laws 

Of  nature,  and  of  nations,  speak  aloud 

To  have  her  back  return'd  :  Thus  to  persist 

In  doing  wrong,  extenuates  not  wrong, 

But  makes  it  much  more  heavy.  Hector's  opinion 

Is  this,  in  way  of  truth  :4  yet,  ne'ertheless, 

J\Jy  spritely  brethren,  I  propend  to  you 

In  resolution  to  keep  Helen  still ; 

For  'tis  a  cause  that  hath  no  mean  dependance 

Upon  our  joint  and  several  dignities. 

TRO.  Why,  there  you  touch'd  the  life  of  our  de- 
sign : 

Were  it  not  glory  that  we  more  affected 
Than  the  performance  of  our  heaving  spleens,'' 
I  would  not  wish  a  drop  of  Trojan  blood 
Spent  more  in  her  defence.     But,  worthy  Hector, 
She  is  a  theme  of  honour  and  renown; 
A  spur  to  valiant  and  magnanimous  deeds  ; 
Whose  present  courage  may  beat  down  our  foes, 
And  fame,  in  time  to  come,  eanoni/e  us  :" 
For,  1  presume,  brave  Hector  would  not  lose 


'/'here  /v  a  Ian.' — ]     What  the  l;i\v  does  In  evcrv   nation  he- 
i  \vivn  individuals,  justice  ought  to  do  between  nations. 

.Ion  NM>N. 

'  /v  this,  hi  ivay  of  truth  :~\  Though  considering  truth  and 
JU<I'HT  in  this  question,  this  is  my  opinion  ;  yet  as  a  question  ot 
honour,  I  think  on  it  ns  you.  JOHNSON. 

— •  the  performance  of  our  heaving  spleens,']  T!K-  execu- 
tion of  spirit  and  resentment.  JOHNSON. 

—  canoni/e  MS-.-]  The  hope  of  heinir  rr^i^tfr-i/  /,\v  /: 
.-•ft/nf,  is  rather  out  of  its  place  at  so  early  a  period,  a>  this  is  ol' 
the  Trojan  war.  Sri:i:v£Ns. 


312        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  n. 

So  rich  advantage  of  a  promis'd  glory, 
As  smiles  upon  the  forehead  of  this  action, 
For  the  wide  world's  revenue. 

HECT.  I  am  yours, 

You  valiant  offspring  of  great  Priamus. — 
I  have  a  roisting  challenge  sent  amongst 
The  dull  and  factious  nobles  of  the  Greeks, 
Will  strike  amazement  to  their  drowsy  spirits  : 
I  was  advertis'd,  their  great  general  slept, 
Whilst  emulation7  in  the  army  crept ; 
This,  I  presume,  will  wake  him.  \J&xeunt. 


SCENE  III. 

The  Grecian  Camp.     Before  Achilles'  Tent. 
Enter  THERSITES. 

THEE.  How  now,  Thersites  ?  what,  lost  in  the 
labyrinth  of  thy  fury  ?  Shall  the  elephant  Ajax 
carry  it  thus  ?  he  beats  me,  and  I  rail  at  him  :  O 
worthy  satisfaction !  'would,  it  were  otherwise ;  that 
I  could  beat  him,  whilst  he  railed  at  me  :  'Sfoot, 
I'll  learn  to  conjure  and  raise  devils,  but  I'll  see 
some  issue  of  my  spiteful  execrations.  Then  there's 

7  • emulation — ]     That  is,  envy,  factious  contention. 

JOHNSON. 

Emulation  is  now  never  used  in  an  ill  sense  ;  but  Shakspeare 
meant  to  employ  it  so.  He  has  used  the  same  with  more  pro- 
priety in  a  former  scene,  by  adding  epithets  that  ascertain  its 
meaning : 

"  —  —  so  every  step, 

"  Examplcd  by  the  first  pace  that  is  sick 
"  Of  his  superior,  grows  to  an  envious  fever 
"  Of  pale  and  bloodless  emulation."     MALONE. 


sc.  in.     TIIOILUS  AND  CRESS1DA.        313 

Achilles, — a  rare  engineer/  If  Troy  be  not  taken 
till  these  two  undermine  it,  the  walls  will  stand  till 
they  fall  of  themselves.  O  thou  great  thunder- 
darter  of  Olympus,  forget  that  thou  art  .Jove  the 
king  of  gods  ;  and,  Mercury,  lose  all  the  serpentine 
craft  of  thy  Caduccu.s ; 9  if  ye  take  not  that  little 
little  less-tlian-little  wit  from  them  that  they  have! 
which  short-armed  ignorance  itself  knows  is  so 
abundant  scarce,  it  will  not  in  circumvention  deliver 
a  fly  from  a  spider,  without  drawing  their  massy 
irons,1  and  cutting  the  web.  After  this,  the  ven- 
geance on  the  whole  camp  !  or,  rather,  the  bone- 
ache!2  for  that,  methinks,  is  the  curse  dependant 


' a  rare  engineer.]  The  okl  copies  have — en^iner,  which 

was  the  old  spelling  of  engineer.     So,  tritncheoncr,  pioner,  nni- 
tiner,  sounder,  &c.     MALOXE. 

0 the  serpentine  craft  «J 'thy  Caducous  ;]      The  \\  and  of 

Mercury  is  v  reuthed  with  serpents.     So  Martial,  Lib.  VII.  Kpig. 
Ixxiv : 

Cyllcnes  ecelif/ae  decus  !  facunde  minister, 

Aurea  cui  torto  vir<^a  dracone  \-iret.     STFKVF.NS. 

without  drawing  the/r  massy  irons,"]      That  is,  without 


drawing  their  sword*  to  cut  tin-  web.     They  use.  no  means  but 
those  of  violence.     JOHNSON*. 

Thus  the  quarto.  The  folio  reads — the  massy  irons.  In  the 
late  editions  iron  has  been  substituted  for  irons,  the  word  found 
in  the  old  copies,  and  certainly  the  true  reading.  So,  in  AY/;<j 
Richard  III: 

"  I'ut  in  their  hands  thy  bruisinj*  irons  of  wrath, 

"  That  they  may  crush  down  with  a  heavy  fall 

"  The  usurping  helmets  of  our  adversaries."      M  \i  ovr. 

ii/'nisift'^  irons,  in  this  quotation,  as  Mr.  Ilcnky  ha»  «»'ll  ob- 
served in  tiico,  signify — maci's,  weapons  fonnerlv  u>nl  b\  our 
Lnglish  cavalry.  Sei-  druse  an  ancient  Armour,  \i.  .'>:'>. 

S  i  1:1:  \  KXS. 

-  the  bone-ache  .']      In  the  quarto — the  Neapolitan   tiniii'- 
iictit!     JOHNSON. 


ai4        TIIOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  n. 

on  those  that  war  for  a  placket.3  I  have  said  my 
prayers  ;  and  devil,  envy,  say  Amen.  What,  ho  ! 
my  lord  Achilles ! 


Enter  PATROCLUS. 

PATH.  Who's  there?  Thersites?  Good  Thersites, 
come  in  and  rail. 

THER.  If  I  could  have  remembered  a  gilt  coun- 
terfeit, thoti  wouldest  not  have  slipped  out  of  my 
contemplation  :4  but  it  is  no  matter  ;  Thyself  upon 
thyself!  The  common  curse  of  mankind,  folly  and 
ignorance,  be  thine  in  great  revenue  !  heaven  bless 
thee  from  a  tutor,  and  discipline  come  not  near 
thee  !  Let  thy  blood  be  thy  direction5  till  thy  death ! 
then  if  she,  that  lays  thee  out,  says — thou  art  a  fair 

3 that   war  for  a  placket.]     On   this  occasion  Horace 

must  be  our  expositor : 

-fuit  ante  Helcnain  ******  tcterrima  belli 

Causa. 
Sat.  Lib.  I.  iii.  107.     STEEVEXS. 

In  mine  opinion,  this  remark  enlumineth  not  the  English 
reader.  See  mine  handling  of  the  same  subject,  in  the  play  of 
King  Lear,  Act  III.  sc.  iv.  Vol.  XVII.  AMNER. 

1  If  I  could  have  remembered  a  gilt  counterfeit,  thou  wouldest 
r.t)l  have  slipped  out  of  my  contemplation:']  Here  is  a  plain 
allusion  to  the  counterfeit  piece  of  money  called  a  slip,  which 
occurs  again  in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Act  II.  sc.  iv.  and  which  has 
been  happily  illustrated  by  Mr.  Reed,  in  a  note  on  that  passage. 
There  is  the  same  allusion  in  Every  Man  in  his  Humour,  Act  II. 

SC.  V.       WH ALLEY. 

5  Let  thy  blood  be  thy  direction — ]  Thy  blood  means,  thy 
passions  ;  thy  natural  propensities.  See  Vol.  VIII.  p.  17$,  n.  4. 

MA  LONE. 

So,  in  The  Yorkshire  Tragedy  :  "  — for  'tis  our  blood  to  love 
what  we  are  forbidden."  This  word  has  the  same  sense  in 
Timon  of  Athens  and  Cymbeline. 


sc.m.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       31.5 

corse,  I'll  be  sworn  and  sworn  upon't,  she  never 
shrouded  any  but  lazars.  Amen.  Where's  Achilles? 

PATR.  What,  art  tliou  devout  ?  wast  thou  in 
prayer  ? 

THER.  Ay ;  The  heavens  hear  me  ! 

Enter  ACHILLES. 

ACHIL.  Who's  there  ? 
PATH.  Thersites,  my  lord. 

ACHIL.  Where,  where  ?  —  Art  thou  come  ? 
Why,  my  cheese,  my  digestion,  why  hast  thou 
not  served  thyself  in  to  my  table  so  many  meals  ? 
Come  ;  what's  Agamemnon  ? 

THER.  Thy  commander,  Achilles; — Then  tell 
me,  Patroclus,  what's  Achilles? 

PATR.  Thy  lord,  Thersites  ;  Then  tell  me,  I 
pray  thee,  what's  thyself? 

THER.  Thy  knower,  Patroclus ;  Then  tell  me, 
Patroclus,  what  art  thou  ? 

PATR.  Thou  mayest  tell,  that  knowest, 
ACIIIL.  O,  tell,  tell. 

TIIER.  I'll  decline  the  whole  question.'1  Aga- 
memnon commands  Achilles  ;  Achilles  is  my  lord; 
I  am  Patroclus'  knower  ;  and  Patroclus  is  a  fool.'1 

PATR.  You  rascal  ! 

THER.  Peace,  fool ;   I  have  not  done. 

'• ik-cline  tin-  icliolc  <yw.s7/o>/.]  Deduce'  the  <jui>t ion  from 

the  first  case  to  the  last.  JOIINMJN. 

See  Vol.  XIV.  p.  \-.~>:},  n.  <>.      MAI. ONI:. 

7 Putrochtx  is  a  Jo'.l.^  The  tour  next  speeches  are  not 

in  the  quarto.  JOHNSON. 


316       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  n. 

ACHIL.  He  is  a  privileged  man. — Proceed,  Ther- 

sites. 

THEN.  Agamemnon  is  a  fool ;  Achilles  is  a  fool ; 
Thersites  is  a  fool ;  and,  as  aforesaid,  Patroclus  is 
a  fool. 

ACHIL.  Derive  this  ;  come. 

THER.  Agamemnon  is  a  fool  to  offer  to  command 
Achilles ;  Achilles  is  a  fool  to  be  commanded  of 
Agamemnon  ;  Thersites  is  a  fool  to  serve  such  a 
fool ;  and  Patroclus  is  a  fool  positive. 8 

PATR.  Why  am  I  a  fool  ? 

THER.  Make  that  demand  of  the  prover.9 — It 
suffices  me,  thou  art.  Look  you,  who  comes  here  ? 

Enter   AGAMEMNON,   ULYSSES,    NESTOR,   Dio- 
MEDES,  and  AJAX. 

ACHIL.  Patroclus,  I'll  speak  with  nobody: — 
Come  in  with  me,  Thersites.  \_Exit. 

THER.  Here  is  such  patchery,  such  juggling,  and 
such  knavery !  all  the  argument  is,  a  cuckold,  and 
a  whore ;  A  good  quarrel,  to  draw  emulous  fac- 
tions,1 and  bleed  to  death  upon.  Now  the  dry 

8 a  fool  positive.]  The  poet  is  still  thinking  of  his  gram- 
mar ;  the  first  degree  of  comparison  being  here  in  his  thoughts. 

MALONE. 


of  the  prover. ~]      So  the  quarto.     JOHNSON. 


The  folio  profanely  reads — to  thy  creator.     STEEVENS. 

There  seems  to  be  a  profane  allusion  in  the  last  speech  but  one 
spoken  by  Thersites.     MALONE. 

—  to  draw  emulous  factions,']  i.  e.  envious,   contending 
factions.     See  p.  312,  n.  7.     MALONE. 

Why  not  rival  factions,  factions  jealous  of  each  other  ? 

SXEEVENS. 


,vc.  ///.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        si? 

serpitro  on  the  subject  !2  and  war,  and  lechery,  con- 
found all !  [Exit. 
Ac  AM.  Where  is  Achilles  ? 

PATH.  Within   his    tent;    but    ill-dispos'd,   my 
lord. 

AGAM.  Let  it  be  known  to  him,  that  we  are  here. 
He  shent  our  messengers  ;3  and  we  lay  by 
Our  appertaininents,  visiting  ot'liim  : 
Let  him  be  told  so ;  Jest,  perchance,  he  think 
We  dare  not  move  the  question  of  our  place, 
Or  know  not  what  we  arc. 

PATH.  I  shall  say  so  to  him. 

{Exit. 

ULYSS.  We  saw  him  at  the  opening  of  his  tent ; 
lie  is  not  sick. 

"  Now  the  dry  scrpigo  ftc.]     This  is  added  in  the  folio. 

JOHN  sox. 

The  serpigo   is  a  kind  of  tetter.     The  term  has  already  oc- 
curred in  Measure  for  Measure.     STKFVENS. 
'  He  shent  our  messengers  ;]  1.  c.  rebuked,  rated. 

WAHBUUTOX. 

This  word  is  used  in  common  by  all  our  ancient  writers.     So, 
in  Spenser's  Fain/  (}HCC//,   Book  IV.  e.  vi  : 

"  Yet  for  no  bidding,  not  for  being  shent, 
"  "Would  he  restrained  be  from  his  attendement." 
Again,  ibid  : 

"  lie  for  such  baseness  shamefully  him  .s7;c;//." 
Again,  in  the  ancient  metrical  romance  of  The  Suic.tun  of  Ba- 
bijloijne,  p.  -11  : 

"  — hastowc  no  mynde 

"  How  the  cursed  Sowd.-m  Laban 
"  All   messenger  is  he  dot /i  shetule."     STEEVEXS. 
The  quarto  reads — sale;   the  folio — xrnl.     The  correct  ion  \VM 
made  by  Mr.  Theobald.   Sir  T.  Hanmer  reads — ll<  sent  u>  nifs- 
srn^cr.s.      1  have  great  doubts  concerning  the  emendation  now 
adopted,  though  I  have  nothing  satisfactory  to  propose.  Though 
tent  might  easily  have  been  misprinted  for  s/icnt,  hmv  could  sate 
^the   reading  of  the  original   copy)   and  thcnl  have  been  con- 
lounded  ?      MALONK. 


318       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  n. 

AJAX.  Yes,  lion-sick,  sick  of  proud  heart :  you 
may  call  it  melancholy,  if  you  will  favour  the  man ; 
but,  by  my  head,  'tis  pride  :  But  why,  why  ?  let 
him  show  us  a  cause. — A  word,  my  lord. 

[Takes  AGAMEMNON  aside. 

NEST.  What  moves  Ajax  thus  to  bay  at  him  ? 

ULYSS.  Achilles  hath  inveigled  his  fool  from  him. 

NEST.  Who  ?  Thersites  ? 

ULYSS.  He. 

NEST.  Then  will  Ajax  lack  matter,  if  he  have 
lost  his  argument. 

ULYSS.  No  you  see,  he  is  his  argument,  that  has 
his  argument ;  Achilles. 

NEST.  All  the  better ;  their  fraction  is  more  our 
wish,  than  their  faction :  But  it  was  a  strong  com- 
posure,4 a  fool  could  disunite. 

ULYSS.  The  amity,  that  wisdom  knits  not,  folly 
may  easily  untie.  Here  comes  Patroclus. 

Re-enter  PATROCLUS. 

NEST.  No  Achilles  with  him. 

ULYSS.  The  elephant  hath  joints,5  but  none  for 
courtesy:  his  legs  are  legs  for  necessity,  not  for 
flexure. 

4 composure,]     So  reads  the  quarto  very  properly ;  but 

the  folio,  which  the  moderns  have  followed,  has,  it  was  a  strong 
counsel.     JOHXSOX. 

6  The  elephant  hath  joints,  &c.]  So,  in  All's  lost  by  Lust, 
1633: 

" Is  she  pliant  ? 

"  Stubborn  as  an  elephant's  leg,  no  bending  in  her." 
Again,  in  All  Fools,  1605  : 

"  I  hope  you  are  no  elephant,  you  have  joints." 
In   The  Dialogues  of  Creatures  Moralised,  &c.  bl.  1.  is  men- 
tion of  "  the  olefawnte  that  bowyth  not  the  hncys  ;"  a  curious 
specimen  of  our  early  Natural  History.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  in.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        319 

PATH.  Achilles  bids  me  say — he  is  much  sorry, 
If  any  thing  more  than  your  sport  and  pleasure 
Did  move  your  greatness,  and  this  noble  state,1' 
To  call  upon  him  ;  he  hopes,  it  is  no  other, 
But,  for  your  health  and  your  digestion  sake, 
An  after-dinner's  breath.7 

AGAM.  Hear  you,  Patroclus ; — 

We  are  too  well  acquainted  with  these  answers : 
But  his  evasion,  wing'd  thus  swift  with  scorn, 
Cannot  outfry  our  apprehensions. 
Much  attribute  he  hath  ;  and  much  the  reason 
Why  we  ascribe  it  to  him :  yet  all  his  virtues, — 
Not  virtuously  on  his  own  part  beheld, — 
Do,  in  our  eyes,  begin  to  lose  their  gloss ; 
Yea,  like  fair  fruit  in  an  unwholesome  dish, 
Are  like  to  rot  untasted.      Go  and  tell  him, 
We  come  to  speak  with  him:  And  you  shall  not  sin, 
If  you  do  say — we  think  him  over-proud, 
And  under-honest;  in  self-assumption  greater. 


0 noble  state,}  Person  ofhigh  dignity  ;  spoken  oi'  Aga- 
memnon. JoiIX.SOK. 

Noble  slate,  rather  means  I  In'  xtalelij  train  of  attending  ;.oi:V.v 
H'hom  i/on  bring  with  you.  Patroclus  hud  already  addressed 
Agamemnon  by  the  title  of  "  your  greatness"  STKKVKN*. 

Stale  w;:s  formerly  applied  to  a  single  person.  So,  in  ll'it.*;, 
I'its,  (unl  [-'a  iicit'i,  Kill:  "  The  archbi.-'hop  of  Grenada  saving  to 
the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  that  he  much  marvelled,  he  being 
so  great  a  tlulf,  would  vi.-.it  hospital* — ." 

Again,  in  Harrington's  translation  of  .Irioxto,   15JM  : 
"  The  Cireek  demand^  her,  whither  she  was  uoiiv.;, 
"  And  which  of  these  two  great  exlutcs  her  keep-." 
Vet  Mr.  Steevens's  interpretation  appears  to  me  to  ng<ve  bi-f- 
ter  \vitli  the  context  hero.     M.w.oN':, 

•— brmlfi.]  liffnth,  in  the  present  instance,  stands  lor — 
}>rentlii)i<r,  i.  e.  exercise.  So,  in  ILnnli't.'  *' — it  is  the  breathing 
time  of  day  with  me."  Si  r.Kvr.xs. 


320        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  m 

Than  in  the  note  of  judgment  ;8  and  worthier  than 

himself 

Here  tend  the  savage  strangeness9  he  puts  on ; 
Disguise  the  holy  strength  of  their  command, 
And  underwrite1  in  an  observing  kind2 
His  humorous  predominance  ;  yea,  watch 
His  pettish  limes,3  his  ebbs,  his  flows,  as  if 
The  passage  and  whole  carriage  of  this  action 
Rode  on  his  tide.     Go,  tell  him  this  ;  and  add, 
That,  if  he  overhold  his  price  so  much, 

8  Than  in  the  note  &c.]     Surely  the  two  unnecessary  words — 
in  the,  which  spoil  the  metre,  should  be  omitted.     STEEVENS. 

9 tend  the  savage  strangeness — ]     i.  e.  shyness,  distant 

behaviour.     So,  in  Venus  and  Adonis  : 

"  Measure  my  strangeness  with  my  unripe  years." 
Again,  in  Romeo  and  Juliet  : 

" I'll  prove  more  true, 

"  Than  those  that  have  more  cunning  to  be  strange" 
To  tend  is  to  attend  upon.     MA  LONE. 

1 underwrite — ]     To   subscribe,   in    Shakspeare,   is  to 

obey.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  King  Lear  :  "  You  owe  me  no  subscription." 

STEEVENS. 

* in  an  observing  kind — ]     i.  e.  in  a  mode  religiously 

attentive.     So,  in  A  Midsummer- Night's  Dream: 

"  To  do  observance  to  a  morn  of  May."     STEEVENS. 

3  His  pettish  lunes,"]     This  is  Sir  T.  Hanmer's  emendation  of 
his  pettish  lines.     The  old  quarto  reads : 

His  course  and  time. 
This  speech  is  unfaithfully  printed  in  modern  editions. 

JOHNSON. 

The  quarto  reads  : 

His  course  and  time,  his  ebbs  andjtoivs,  and  if 
The  passage  and  tvhole  stream  of  his  commencement 

Rode  on  his  tide. 

His  [his  commencement]  was  probably  misprinted  for  this, 
as  it  is  in  a  subsequent  passage  in  this  scene  in  the  quarto  copy: 
"  And  how  his  silence  drinks  up  his  applause." 

MA  LONE. 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        321 

We'll  none  of  him  ;  but  let  him,  like  an  engine 
Not  portable,  lie  under  this  report — 
Bring  action  hither,  this  cannot  go  to  war : 
A  stirring  dwarf  we  do  allowance  give4 
Before  a  sleeping  giant : — Tell  him  so. 

PATR.  I  shall ;  and  bring  his  answer  presently. 

[Exit. 

AGAM.  In  second  voice  we'll  not  be  satisfied, 
We  come  to  speak  with  him. — Ulysses,  enter.5 

[Exit  ULYSSES. 

AJAX.  What  is  he  more  than  another  ? 
AGAM.  No  more  than  what  he  thinks  he  is. 

AJAX.  Is  he  so  much  ?  Do  you  not  think,  he 
thinks  himself  a  better  man  than  I  am  ? 

AGAM.  No  question. 

AJAX.  Will  you  subscribe  his  thought,  and  say — 
he  is  ? 

AGAM.  No,  noble  Ajax  ;  you  are  as  strong,  as 
valiant,  as  wise,  no  less  noble,  much  more  gentle, 
and  altogether  more  tractable. 

AJAX.  Why  should  a  man  be  proud  ?  How  doth 
pride  grow?  I  know  not  what  pride  is. 

AGAM.  Your  mind's  the  clearer,  Ajax,  and  your 
virtues  the  fairer.  He  that  is  proud,  eats  up  him- 
self: pride  is  his  own  glass,  his  own  trumpet,  his 


4  allowance  give — ]      Allowance   is   approbation.     So, 

in  King  Lear  : 

" if  your  sweet  sway 

"  Allow  obedience."     STEEVENS. 

*  enter. ~\    Old  copies,  regardless  of  metre, — enter  ymi. 

STE  EVENS. 


322        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTII. 

own  chronicle ;  and  whatever  praises  itself  but  in 
the  deed,  devours  the  deed  in  the  praise.6 

AJAX.  I  do  hate  a  proud  man,  as  I  hate  the  en- 
gendering of  toads.7 

NEST.  And  yet  he  loves  himself:  Is  it  not  strange? 

[Aside. 

Re-enter  ULYSSES. 

ULYSS.  Achilles  will  not  to  the  field  to-morrow. 
AGAJM.  What's  his  excuse  ? 

ULYSS.  He  doth  rely  on  none  ; 

But  carries  on  the  stream  of  his  dispose, 
Without  observance  or  respect  of  any, 
In  will  peculiar  and  in  self-admission. 

AGAM.  Why  will  he  not,  upon  our  fair  request, 
Untent  his  person,  and  share  the  air  with  us  ? 

ULYSS.  Things  small  as  nothing,  for  request's 

sake  only, 

He  makes  important:  Possess'd  he  is  with  greatness; 
And  speaks  not  to  himself,  but  with  a  pride 
That  quarrels  at  self-breath  :  imagin'd  worth 
Holds  in  his  blood  such  swoln  and  hot  discourse, 
That,  'twixt  his  mental  and  his  active  parts, 

°  whatever  praises  itself  but  Li  the  deed,  devours  the  deed 

in  the  praise.']     So,  in  Coriohinus  ; 

" power,  unto  itself  most  commendable, 

"  Hath  not  a  tomb  so  evident  as  a  cluiir 
"  To  extol  what  it  hath  done."     MALONE. 

7  the  engendering  of  toads.~]  Whoever  wishes  to  com- 
prehend the  whole  force  of  this  allusion,  may  consult  the  late 
Dr.  Goldsmith's  History  of  the  Earili^  and  animated  Nalun , 
Vol.  VII.  p.  92—93.  STEEVKNS. 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        323 

Kingdom'd  Achilles  in  commotion  rages,8 
And  batters  down  himself:  What  should  I  say? 
He  is  so  plaguy  proud,9  that  the  death-tokens  of  it1 
Cry — No  recovery. 

AGAM.  Let  Ajax  go  to  him. — 

Dear  lord,  go  you  and  greet  him  in  his  tent : 
'Tis  said,  he  holds  you  well ;  and  will  be  led, 
At  your  request,  a  little  from  himself. 

ULYSS.  O  Agamemnon,  let  it  not  be  so ! 
We'll  consecrate  the  steps  that  Ajax  makes 
When  they  go  from  Achilles  :  Shall  the  proud  lord, 
That  bastes  his  arrogance  with  his  own  seam  ja 

8  Kingdom'd  Achilles  in  commotion  rages,"]  So,  in  Julius 
Carsar  : 

"  The  genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
"  Are  then  in  council ;  and  the  state  of  man, 
"  Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
"  The  nature  of  an  insurrection."     MALOXE. 

*  He  is  so  plaguy  proud,  &c.]  I  cannot  help  regarding  the 
vulgar  epithet — plaguy,  which  extends  the  verse  beyond  its 
proper  length,  as  the  wretched  interpolation  of  some  foolish 
player.  STEEVENS. 

1  the  death-tokens  of  it — ]      Alluding  to  the  decisive 

spots  appearing  on  those  infected  by  the  plague.     So,  in  Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher's  Valentinian  : 

"  Now,  like  the  fearful  tokens  of  the  plague, 

"  Are  mere  fore-runners  of  their  ends."     STEEVEKS. 

Dr.  Hodges,  in  his  Treatise  on  lh'-  Plague,  says  :  "  Spots  of 
a  dark  complexion,  usually  called  tokens,  and  looked  on  as  the 
pledges  or  forewarnings  of  death,  are  minute  and  distinct  blasts, 
which  have  their  original  from  within,  and  rise  up  with  a  little 
pyramidal  protuberance,  the  pestilential  poi*on  chiefly  collected 
at  their  bases,  tainting  the  neighbouring  parts,  and  reaching  to 
the  surface."  REED. 

ivith  his  oii-n  scam  ;]      Ku-itic-scaw,  in  the  North,   is 


See  Sherwood'e  English  and  French  Dictionary,  folio,  1650. 

y  2 


324        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTII. 

And  never  suffers  matter  of  the  world 

Enter  his  thoughts, — save  such  as  do  revolve 

And  ruminate  himself, — shall  he  be  worshipped 

Of  that  we  hold  an  idol  more  than  he  ? 

No,  this  thrice  worthy  and  right  valiant  lord 

Must  not  so  stale  his  palm,  nobly  acquired ; 

Nor,  by  my  will,  assubjugate  his  merit, 

As  amply  titled  as  Achilles  is, 

By  going  to  Achilles  : 

That  were  to  enlard  his  fat-already  pride  ; :' 

And  add  more  coals  to  Cancer,  when  he  burns 

With  entertaining  great  Hyperion.4 

This  lord  go  to  him  !  Jupiter  forbid  ; 

And  say  in  thunder — Achilles,  go  to  him. 

NEST.  O,  this  is  well ;  he  rubs  the  vein  of  him. 

[Aside. 

Dio.  And  how  his  silence  drinks  up  this  applause ! 

[Aside. 

AJAX.  If  I  go  to  him,  with  my  arm'd  list  1*11 

pash  him 
Over  the  face.5 


.   3  That  mere  to  enlard  &c.]     This  is  only  the  well-known 
proverb — Grease  a  fat  sow  &c.  in  a  more  stately  dress. 

STEEVEXS. 

4  to  Cancer,  ichen  he  burns 

With  entertaining  great  Hyperion.]      Cancer  is  the  Crab^  u 
sign  in  the  zodiack. 

The  same  thought  is  more  clearly  expressed  by  Thomson, 
whose  words,  on  this  occasion,  are  a  sufficient  illustration  of  our 
author's : 

"  And  Cancer  reddens  with  the  solar  blaze" 

STEEVENS. 

5 Pll  pash  him 

Over  the  face.']   i.e.  strike  him  with  violence.     So,  hi  The 
Virgin  Martyr,  by  Massinger,  1623  : 

" when  the  batt'ring  ram 

"  Were  fetching  his  career  backward,  to  push 
"  Me  with  his  horns  to  pieces." 


sc.ni.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDAv        335 

AGAM.  O,  no,  you  shall  not  go. 

AJAX.  An  he  be  proud  with  me,  I'll  pheezc  his 

pride  :6 
Let  me  go  to  him. 

ULYSS.  Not  for  the  worth7  that  hangs  upon  our 
quarrel. 

AJAX.  A  paltry,  insolent  fellow, 

NEST.  How  he  describes 

Himself!  \_Aside. 

AJAX.     Can  he  not  be  sociable  ? 

ULYSS.  The  raven 

(.'hides  blackness.  [Aside. 


Again,  in  Churchyard's  Challenge,  159ft,  p.  91  :  "  — the  pot 
which  goeth  often  to  the  water  comes  home  with  a  knock,  or  at 
length  h'pasked  all  to  pieces."  REED. 

h  phceze  his  pride  :~\     To  p/icczc  is  to  tomb  or  curry. 

JOHNSON*. 

Mr.  Steevcns  has  explained  the  \\-on\_feazc,  as  Dr.  Johnson 
does,  to  mean  the  untwisting  or  unravelling  a  knotted  skain  of 
silk  or  thread.  I  recollect  no  authority  for  this  use  of  it.  To 
Jcize  is  to  drive  away ;  and  the  expression — Vllfchc  his  pride, 
may  signify,  I'll  humhle  or  lower  his  pride.  See  Vol.  IX. 
p.  11,  n.  1.  WIIALLEY. 

To  cnmh  or  curry,  undoubtedly,  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
here.  Kersey,  in  his  Dictionary,  170S,  says  that  it  is  a  sea- 
term,  and  that  it  signifies,  to  separate  a  cable  by  untwisting  the 
ends ;  and  Dr.  Johnson  gives  a  similar  account  of  its  original 
meaning.  [See  the  reference  at  the  end  of  the  foregoing  note.] 
I>ut  whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  the  expression,  it 
undoubtedly  signified,  in  our  author's  time,  to  beat,  knock, 
strike,  or  whip.  Cole,  in  his  Latin  Dictionary,  1679,  renders  it, 
flagcllarc,  rirgix  cfrr/crc,  as  he  does  to  fcn^c,  of  \\hich  the 
modern  school-boy  term,  to ///:;,  N  a  corruption.  MAI. ONI-:. 

7  \<>tfnr  I//'-  \\-orth — ]  Not  fur  the  value  of  all  for  which 
we  are  fiuhtinur.  JOHNSON. 


326       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTII. 

AJAX.  I  will  let  his  humours  blood.8 

AGAM.  He'll  be  physician,9  that  should  be  the 
patient.  [Aside. 

AJAX.  An  all  men 
Were  o'my  mind, 

ULYSS.  Wit  would  be  out  of  fashion. 

[Aside. 

AJAX.  He  should  not  bear  it  so, 
He  should  eat  swords  first :  Shall  pride  carry  it  ? 

NEST.  An  'twould,  you'd  carry  half.       [Aside. 

ULYSS.  He'd  have  ten  shares. 

[Aside. 

AJAX.  I'll  knead  him,  I  will  make  him  sup* 

NEST.  He's  not  yet  thorough  warm  :  force  him 

with  praises :  * 
Pour  in,  pour  in  ;  his  ambition  is  dry.         [Aside. 

8  I  will  let  his  humours  blood.]     In  the  year  1600  a  collec- 
tion of  Epigrams  and  Satires  was  published  with  this  quaint 
title  :   The  Letting  of  Humours  Blood  in  the  Head-vaine. 

JOHNSON. 

9  He'll  be  physician, ~]     Old  copies — the  physician. 

S  TEE  YENS. 

1  Til  knead  him,  £c.]     Old  copy  : 

Ajax.  Pll  knead  him,  Fll  make  Mm  supple,  he's  not  yet 
thorough  warm. 

Nest. force  him  with  praises  :  &c. 

The  latter  part  of  Ajax's  speech  is  certainly  got  out  of  place,  and 
ought  to  be  assigned  to  Nestor,  as  I  have  ventured  to  transpose 
it.  Ajax  is  feeding  on  his  vanity,  and  boasting  what  he  will  do 
to  Achilles ;  he'll  pash  him  o'er  the  face,  he'll  make  him  eat 
swords,  he'll  knead  him,  he'll  supple  him,  &c.  Nestor  and 
Ulysses  slily  labour  to  keep  him  up  in  this  vein  ;  and  to  this  end 
Nestor  craftily  hints  that  Ajax  is  not  warm  yet,  but  must  be 
crammed  with  moxe  flattery.  THEOBALD. 

Nestor  was  of  the  same   opinion  with   Dr.  Johnson,  who, 
speaking  of  a  metaphysical  Scotch  writer,  said,  that  he  thought 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        327 

ULYSS.  My  lord,  you  feed  too  much  on  this  dis- 
like. [To  AGAMEMNON. 
NEST.  O  noble  general,  do  not  do  so. 
DIG.  You  must  prepare  to  fight  without  Achilles. 

ULYSS.  Why,  'tis  this  naming  of  him  does  him 

harm. 

Here  is  a  man — But  'tis  before  his  face ; 
I  will  be  silent. 

NEST.  Wherefore  should  you  so  ? 

lie  is  not  emulous,2  as  Achilles  is. 

ULYSS.  Know  the  whole  world,  he  is  as  valiant. 
AJAX.  A  whoreson  dog,  that  shall  palter'3  thus 

with  us ! 
I  would,  he  were  a  Trojan ! 

NEST.  What  a  vice 

Were  it  in  Ajax  now 

ULYSS.  If  he  were  proud? 

Dio.  Or  covetous  of  praise  ? 

ULYSS.  Ay,  or  surly  borne  ? 

there  was  "  as  much  charity  in  helping  a  man  down  hill  as  up 
hill,  if  his  tendency  be  downwards."  Sec  Boswell's  Tour  lo  the 
Hebrides,  third  edit.  p.  2k5.  MALONE. 

force  him — ]    i.  e.  stuff  him.     Farcir,   Fr.     So,   again, 

in  this  play  :  "  — mnYiceJbrccd  with  wit."     STEEVENS. 

*  He  is  not  emulous,]     Emulous  is  here  used,  in  an  ill  sense, 
for  envious.     See  p.  316,  n.  1.     MALONE. 

Emulous,  in  this  instance,  and  perhaps  in  some  others,  may 
well  enough  be  supposed  to  signify— ^Vrt/owi-  oj  higher  authority. 

STEEVENS. 

'  that  shall  palter — ]      That  shall  juggle  with  us,  or  fly 

from  his  engagements.     So,  in  ,/u/in.i  Ccrsar: 
"  —    —  what  other  hand 

"  Than  secret  Romans,  who  have  spoke  the  word, 
"  And  will  not  palter?"     MAI.ON£. 


528        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTII. 

Dio.  Or  strange,  or  self-affected  ? 

ULYSS.  Thank  the  heavens,  lord,  thou  art  of 

sweet  composure ; 

Praise  him  that  got  thee,  she  that  gave  thee  suck : 4 
Fam'd  be  thy  tutor,  and  thy  parts  of  nature 
Thrice-fam'd,  beyond  all  erudition  :5 
But  he  that  disciplin'd  thy  arms  to  fight, 
Let  Mars  divide  eternity  in  twain, 
And  give  him  half:  and,  for  thy  vigour, 
Bull-bearing  Milo  his  addition  yield6 
To  sinewy  Ajax.     I  will  not  praise  thy  wisdom, 
Which,  like  a  bourn,7  a  pale,  a  shore,  confines 
Thy  spacious  and  dilated  parts :  Here's  Nestor, — 
Instructed  by  the  antiquary  times, 
He  must,  he  is,  he  cannot  but  be  wise  ; — 
But  pardon,  father  Nestor,  were  your  days 
As  green  as  Ajax',  and  your  brain  so  temper'd, 
You  should  not  have  the  eminence  of  him, 
But  be  as  Ajax. 

AJAX.  Shall  I  call  you  father  ? 

4  she  that  gave  tare  suck :]      This  is  from   St.  Luke, 

xi.  27 :  "  Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bare  thee,  and  the  paps  that 
thou  hast  sucked."     STEEVENS. 

beyond  all  erudition  .-]      Thus  the  folio.     The  quartos, 


erroneously : 

beyond  all  thy  erudition.     STEEVENS. 

6  Bull-bearing   Milo   his   addition  yield — ]    i.  e.   yield   his 
titles,  his  celebrity  for  strength.     Addition,  in  legal  language, 
is  the  title  given  to  each  party,  showing  his  degree,  occupation, 
&c.  as  esquire,  gentleman,  yeoman,  merchant,  &c. 

Our  author  here,  as  usual,  pays  no  regard  to  chronology. 
Milo  of  Croton  lived  long  after  the  Trojan  war.     M ALONE. 

7  like  a  bourn,]    A  bourn  is  a  boundary,  and  sometimes 

a  rivuk-t  dividing  one  place  from  another.     So,  in  King  Lear, 
Act  III.  sc.  vi: 

"  Come  o'er  the  bourn,  Bessy,  to  me." 
See  note  on  this  passage. 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        329 

NEST.  Ay,  my  good  son.8 

Dio.  Be  rul'd  by  him,  lord  Ajax. 

ULYSS.  There  is  no   tarrying   here ;   the  hart 

Achilles 

Keeps  thicket.     Please  it  our  great  general 
To  call  together  all  his  state  of  war ; 
Fresh  kings  are  come  to  Troy  :9   To-morrow, 
We  must  with  all  our  main  or  power  stand  fast : 
And  here's  a  lord, — come  knights  from  east  to  west, 
And  cull  their  flower,  Ajax  shall  cope  the  best. 

AGAM.  Go  we  to  council.     Let  Achilles  sleep: 

Light  boats  sail  swift,  though  greater  hulks  draw 

deep.1  [Exeunt. 

8  Ajax.  Shall  I  call  yon  father  ? 

Nest.  Ay,  my  good  son.~]  In  the  folio  and  in  the  modern 
editions  Ajax  desires  to  give  the  title  of  father  to  Ulysses;  in  the 
quarto,  more  naturally,  to  Nestor.  JOHNSON. 

Shakspeare  had  a  custom  prevalent  about  his  own  time  in  his 
thoughts.  Ben  Jonson  had  many  who  called  themselves  his 
sons. 

Mr.  Vaillant  adds,  that  Cotton  dedicated  his  Treatise  on  Fish- 
ing to  his  father  Walton;  and  that  Ashmole,  in  his  Diary,  ob- 
serves— "  April  3.  Mr.  William  Backhouse,  of  Swallowrield,  in 
com.  Berks,  caused  me  to  call  him  father  thenceforward." 

SrEEVENS. 

9  Fresh  kings  are  come  to  Troy:  &c.]      We  might  complete 
this  imperfect  verse  by  reading : 

Fresh  kings  are  come  to  succour  Troy :  &C. 
So,  Spenser : 

"  To  succour  the  weak  state  of  sad  afflicted  Troy." 

STE  EVENS. 

1 draw  deep."]      So,  in  the  Prologue  to  this  play  : 

" the  deep-drawing  bark^."     STI:KVENS. 


330        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  a. 

ACT  III.     SCENE  I. 

Troy.     A  Room  in  Priam's  Palace. 

Enter  PANDARUS  and  a  Servant. 

PAN".  Friend !  you !  pray  you,  a  word :  Do  not 
you  follow  the  young  lord  Paris  ? 

SERV.  Ay,  sir,  when  he  goes  before  me. 
PAN.  You  do  depend  upon  him,  I  mean  ? 
SERV.  Sir,  I  do  depend  upon  the  lord. 

PAN.  You  do  depend  upon  a  noble  gentleman ; 
J  must  needs  praise  him. 

SERV.  The  lord  be  praised  ! 
PAN.  You  know  me,  do  you  not  ? 
SERV.  'Faith,  sir,  superficially. 

PAN.  Friend,  know  me  better;  I  am  the  lord 
Pan  darns. 

SERV.  I  hope,  I  shall  know  your  honour  better.2 

PAN.  I  do  desire  it. 

SERV.  You  are  in  the  state  of  grace. 

[Mustek  within. 

PAN.  Grace  !  not  so,  friend  ;  honour  and  lord- 
ship are  my  titles : — What  musick  is  this  ? 

2  I  hope,  I  shall  know  your  honour  better.]  The  servant 
means  to  quibble.  He  hopes  that  Pandarus  will  become  a  bet- 
ter man  than  he  is  at  present.  In  his  next  speech  he  chooses  to 
understand  Pandarus  as  if  he  had  said  he  wished  to  »row  better, 
and  hence  the  servant  affirms  that  he  is  in  the  state  of  grace. 
The  second  of  these  speeches  has  been  pointed,  in  the  late 
editions,  as  if  he  had  asked,  of  what  rank  Pandarus  was. 

MALONE. 


sc.nt.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        331 

SERF.  I  do  but  partly  know,  sir ;  it  is  musick  in 
parts. 

PAX.  Know  you  tlie  musicians  ? 

SERV.  Wholly,  sir. 

PAX.  Who  play  they  to  ? 

SERV.  To  the  hearers,  sir. 

PAN.  At  whose  pleasure,  friend  ? 

SERV.  At  mine,  sir,  and  theirs  that  love  musick. 

PAX.  Command,  I  mean,  friend. 

SERV.  Who  shall  I  command,  sir  ? 

PAN.  Friend,  we  understand  not  one  another ; 
I  am  too  courtly,  and  thou  art  too  cunning :  At 
whose  request  do  these  men  play  ? 

SERV.  That's  to't,  indeed,  sir :  Marry,  sir,  at 
the  request  of  Paris  my  lord,  who  is  there  in  per- 
son ;  with  him,  the  mortal  Venus,  the  heart-blood 
of  beauty,  love's  invisible  soul,3 

PAN.  Who,  my  cousin  Cressida  ? 

SERV.  No,  sir,  Helen  ;  Could  you  not  find  out 
that  by  her  attributes  ? 

PAN.  It  should  seem,  fellow,  that  thou  hast  not 
seen  the  lady  Cressida.  I  come  to  speak  with  Paris 
from  the  prince  Troilus :  I  will  make  a  compli- 
mental  assault  upon  him,  for  my  business  seeths. 

SERV.  Sodden  business !  there's  a  stewed  phrase,4 
indeed ! 

3 love's  invisible  soul,']  may  mean,  the  soul  of  lore  in- 
visible every  where  else.  JOHNSON. 

4  Sodden  business!  there's  a  stewed  phrase,']  The  quibbling 
speaker  seems  to  mean  that  sodden  is  a  phrase  fit  only  lor  the 
stews.  Thus,  says  the  Btncd  in  Pericles:  "  The  stuff  we  have, 
a  strong  wind  will  blow  it  to  pieces,  they  are  so  pitifully  sodden" 

STEEVESS. 


332        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA/    ACT  n. 


Enter  PARIS  and  HELEN,  attended. 

PAX.  Fair  be  to  yon,  my  lord,  and  to  all  this 
fair  company!  fair  desires,  in  all  fair  measure,  fairly 
guide  them !  especially  to  yon,  fair  queen !  fair 
thoughts  be  your  fair  pillow ! 

HELEN.  Dear  lord,  you  are  full  of  fair  words. 

P./LV.YOU  speak  your  fair  pleasure,  sweet  queen. — 
Fair  prince,  here  is  good  broken  musick. 

PAR.  You  have  broke  it,  cousin :  and,  by  my 
life,  you  shall  make  it  whole  again  ;  you  shall  piece 
it  out  with  a  piece  of  your  performance  : — Nell,  he 
is  full  of  harmony. 

PAN.  Truly,  lady,  no. 

HELEN.  O,  sir, 

PAN.  Rude,  in  sooth  ;  in  good  sooth,  very  rude. 
PAR.  Well  said,  my  lord!  well,  you  say  so  in  fits.5 

PAN.  I  have  business  to  my  lord,  dear  queen:- — 
My  lord,  will  you  vouchsafe  me  a  word  ? 

HELEN.  Nay,  this  shall  not  hed^e  us  out :  we'll 
i  •  i 

near  you  sing,  certainly. 

PAN.  Well,  sweet  queen,  you  are  pleasant  with 
me. — But  (marry)  thus,  my  lord, — My  dear  lord, 
and  most  esteemed  friend,  your  brother  Troilus — 

' i»  fits.]  i.  e.  now  and  then,  by  fits  ;  or  perhaps  a  quibble 

is  intended.  A.  Jit  was  a  part  or  division  of  a  song,  sometimes  a 
strain  in  musick,  and  sometimes  a  measure  in  dancing.  The 
reader  will  find  it  sufficiently  illustrated  in  the  two  former  senses. 
by  Dr.  Percy,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Rdiqiu's  of  ancient  Eng- 
lish Poetry  :  in  the  third  of  these  significations  it  occurs  in 
All  for  Money,  a  tragedy,  by  T.  Lupton,  1578  : 

"  Satan.  Upon  these  chearful  words  I  needs  must  dance  a 

fittC." 


•sc>.  m.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         3^3 

HELEN.  My  lord  Pandanis ;  honey-sweet  lord, — 

PAX.  Go  to,  sweet  queen,  go  to: — commends 
himself  most  affectionately  to  you. 

HELEN.  You  shall  not  bob  us  out  of  our  melody  j 
If  you  do,  our  melancholy  upon  your  head ! 

PAN.  Sweet  queen,  sweet  queen  •  that's  a  sweet 
queen,  i'faith. 

HELEN.  And  to  make  a  sweet  lady  sad,  is  a  sour 
offence. 

PAN.  Nay,  that  shall  not  serve  your  turn  ;  that 
shall  it  not,  in  truth,  la.  Nay,  I  care  not  for  such 
words ;  no,  no. — And,  my  lord,  he  desires  you,6 
that,  if  the  king-  call  for  him  at  supper,  you  will 
make  his  excuse. 

HELEN.  My  lord  Pandanis, 

PAN.  What  says  my  sweet  queen, — my  very  very 
sweet  queen  ? 

PAR.  What  exploit's  in  hand  ?  where  sups  lie 
to-night  ? 

HELEN.  Nay,  but  my  lord, 

PAN.  What  says  my  sweet  queen  ? — My  cousin 
will  fall  out  with  you.  You  must  not  know  where 
he  sups.7 

6  And,  mij  lord,  he  desires  you,"]  Here  I  think  the  speech  of 
Pandarlis  should  begin,  and  the  rest  of  it  should  be  added  to  that 
oi'  Helen,  but  I  have  followed  the  copies.  JOHNSON*. 

Mr.  Howe  had  disposed  these  speeches  in  this  manner.  Ilaii- 
mer  annexes  the  words,  "  And  to  make  a  sweet  lady"  «!v:c.  to  the 
preceding  speech  of  Pandartis,  and  in  the  rest  follows  Rowe. 

M  ALONE. 

~  You  must  not  knoiv  wlicrc  he  sups.  &c.]  These  words  are 
in  the  quarto  given  to  Helen,  and  the  edit\)r  of  the  folio  did  not 
perceivet  he  error.  In  like  manner,  in  Act  II.  se.  i.  p.  '_'!);'•,  four 
belonging  lo  different  persons  are  all  in  thy  quarto- 


334        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  u. 
PAR.  I'll  lay  my  life,  with  my  disposer  Cressida. 

assigned  to  Ajax.  "  Cobloaf !  He  would  pun  thee,"  &c.  and  in 
the  last  scene  of  the  same  Act,  words  that  evidently  belong  to 
Nestor  are  given  to  Ajax,  [see  p.  326,  n.  1,]  both  in  the  quarto 
and  folio.  I  have  not  therefore  hesitated  to  add  the  words, 
"  You  must  not  know  where  he  sups,"  to  the  speech  of  Pan- 
darus.  Mr.  Steevens  proposes  to  assign  the  next  speech,  "  I'll 
lay  my  life,"  &c.  to  Helen  instead  of  Paris.  This  arrangement 
appeared  to  me  so  plausible,  that  I  once  regulated  the  text  ac- 
cordingly. But  it  is  observable  that  through  the  whole  of  the 
dialogue  Helen  steadily  perseveres  in  soliciting  Pandarus  to  sing: 
**  My  lord  Pandarus" — "  Nay,  but  my  lord" — &c.  I  do  not 
therefore  believe  that  Shakspeare  intended  she  should  join  in  the 
present  inquiry.  Mr.  M.  Mason's  objection  also  to  such  an  ar- 
rangement is  very  weighty.  "  Pandarus,  (he  observes,)  in  his 
next  speech  but  one,  clearly  addresses  Paris,  and  in  that  speech 
he  calls  Cressida  his  disposer."  In  what  sense,  however,  Paris 
can  call  Cressida  his  disposer,  I  am  altogether  ignorant.  Mr.  M. 
Mason  supposes  that  "  Paris  means  to  call  Cressida  his  governor 
or  director,  as  it  appears,  from  what  Helen  says  afterwards,  that 
they  had  been  good  friends" 

Perhaps  Shakspeare  wrote — despiser.  What  Pandarus  say? 
afterwards,  that  "  Paris  and  Cressida  are  twain,"  supports  this 
conjecture. 

I  do  not  believe  that  deposer  (a  reading  suggested  below)  was 
our  author's  word ;  for  Cressida  had  not  deposed  Helen  in  the 
affections  of  Troilus.  A  speech  in  a  former  scene,  in  which 
Pandarus  says,  Helen  loves  Troilus  more  than  Paris,  (which  is 
insisted  on  by  an  anonymous  Itemarker,)  [Mr.  Ritson,]  proves 
nothing.  Had  he  said  that  Troilus  once  loved  Helen  better  than 
Cressida,  and  afterwards  preferred  Cressida  to  her,  the  observa- 
tion might  deserve  some  attention. 

The  words, — I'll  lay  my  life, — are  omitted  in  the  folio.  The 
words, —  You  must  not  know  where  he  sups, — I  find  Sir  Thomas 
Hanmer  had  assigned  to  Pandarus.  MALO;S~E. 

I  believe,  with  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  that — You  must  not  knoia 
ichere  he  sups,  should  be  added  to  the  speech  of  Pandarus  ;  and 
that  the  following  one  of  Paris  should  be  given  to  Helen.  That 
Cressida  wanted  to  separate  Paris  from  Helen,  or  that  the  beauty 
of  Cressida  had  any  power  over  Paris,  are  circumstances  not  evi- 
dent from  the  play.  The  one  is  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Warburton, 
the  other  a  conjecture  of  Mr.  Heath's.  By  giving,  however, 
this  line, — /'//  lay  my  life,  ivit/i  my  disposer  Cressida,  to  Helen, 
and  by  changing  the  word  disposer  into  deposer,  some  meaning 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        33J 

PAX.  No,  no,  no  such  matter,  you  are  wide;* 
come,  your  disposer  is  sick. 

PAR.  Well,  1*11  make  excuse. 
PAN.  Ay,  good  my  lord.    Why  should  you  say—* 
Cressida  ?  no,  your  poor  disposer's  sick. 

PAR.  I  spy.9 

PAN.  You  spy !  what  do  you  spy  ? — Come,  give 
me  an  instrument. — Now,  sweet  queen. 

HELEN.  Why,  this  is  kindly  done. 

PAN.  My  niece  is  horribly  in  love  with  a  thing 
you  have,  sweet  queen. 

HELEN.  She  shall  have  it,  my  lord,  if  it  be  not 
my  lord  Paris. 

may  be  obtained.  She  addresses  herself,  I  suppose,  to  Pandarus, 
and,  by  her  deposer,  means — she  who  thinks  her  beauty  (or, 
whose  beauty  you  suppose)  to  be  superior  to  mine.  But  the 
passage  in  question  (as  Arthur  says  of  himself  in  King  John,) 
is  "  not  worth  the  eoil  that  is  made  for  it." 

The  word — disposer,  however,  occurs  in  77/6-  Epistle  Dcdica- 
toric  to  Chapman's  Homer : 

"  Nor  let  her  poore  disposer  (learning)  lie 
"  Still  bed-rid."     STEEVENS. 

The  dialogue  should  perhaps  be  regulated  thus  : 

"  Par.  Where  sups  he  to-night  ? 

*'  Helen.  Nay,  but  my  lord, — 

**  Pan.  What  sa}rs  my  sweet  queen  ? 

"  Par.  My  cousin  will  fall  out  with  you.          [To  Helen. 

"  Pan.  You  must  not  know  where  he  sups.     [  To  Paris. 

"  Helen.  I'll  lay  my  life  with  my  deposer  Cressida." 
She  calls  Cressida  her  deposer,  because  she  had  deposed  IKT  in 
the  affections  of  Troilus,  whom  Pandarus,  in  a  preceding  scene, 
is  ready  to  swear  she  loved  more  than  Paris.     RITSON. 

B yon  arc  wide ;]  i.  e.  wide  of  your  mark  ;  a  common  ex- 
clamation when  an  archer  missed  his  aim.  So,  in  Spenser's  State 
of  Ireland :  "  Surely  he  shoots  tuide  on  the  bow-hand,  and  very 
far  from  the  mark."  STEEVENS. 

"  Par.  /.wy.]  This  is  the  usual  exclamation  at  o  childish 
game  culled  Hie,  spy,  hie.  STEEVENS. 


336        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  n. 

PAN.  He !  no,  she'll  none  of  him  ;  they  two  are 
twain. 

HELEN.  Falling  in,  after  falling  out,  may  make 
them  three.1 

PAN.  Come,  come,  I'll  hear  no  more  of  this ; 
I'll  sing  you  a  song  now. 

HELEN.  Ay,  ay,  pr'ythee  now.     By  my  troth, 
sweet  lord,2  thou  hast  a  fine  forehead.3 

PAN.  Ay,  you  may,  you  may. 

HELEN.  Let  thy  song  be  love :  this  love  will  undo 
us  all.     O,  Cupid,  Cupid,  Cupid ! 

PAN.  Love  !  ay,  that  it  shall,  i'faith. 

PAR.  Ay,  good  now,  love,  love,  nothing  but  love. 

PAN.  In  good  troth,  it  begins  so : 

Love,  love,  nothing  but  love,  still  more  ! 

For,  oh,  love's  bow 

Shoots  buck  and  doe  : 

The  shaft  confounds ,4 

Not  that  it  wounds5 
But  tickles  still  the  sore. 


1  Falling  in,  after  falling  out,  &c.]  i.  e.  the  reconciliation  and 
wanton  dalliance  of  two  lovers  after  a  quarrel,  may  produce  a 
child,  and  so  make  three  of  two.  TOLLET. 

s sivcet  lord,]     In  the  quarto — sweet  lad.     JOHNSON. 

.  3 a  fine  foreliead.~\     Perhaps,  considering  the  character 

of  Pandarus,  Helen  means  that  he  has  a  forehead  illuminated 
by  eruptions.  To  these  Falstaff  has  already  given  the  splendid 
names  of — brooches,  pearls,  and  ouches.  See  notes  on  King 
Henry  IF.  Part  II.  Vol.  XII.  p.  80,  81,  n.  5.  STE EVENS. 

4  The  shaft  confounds — ]     To  confound,  it  has  already  been 
observed,  formerly  meant  to  destroy.     MALONE. 

5  that  it  icoundx,']     i.  e.  that  which  it  wounds. 

MUSGUAVE. 


sc.i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         337 

These  lovers  cry — Oh  !  oh  !  they  die  ! 

Yet  that  which  seems  the  wound  to  kill, 
Doth  turn  oh  !  oh  !  to  ha !  ha  !  he ! 

So  dying  love  lives  still : 6 
Oh  !  oh  !  tf  while,  hut  ha  !  ha  !  ha  ! 
Oh  !  oh !  groans  outj'or  ha  !  ha  !  ha ! 

Hey  ho ! 

HELEN.  In  love,  i'i'aitli,  to  the  very  tip  of  the 
nose. 

PAH.  He  eats  nothing  but  doves,  love  ;  and  that 
breeds  hot  blood,  and  hot  blood  begets  hot 
thoughts,  and  hot  thoughts  beget  hot  deeds,  and 
hot  deeds  is  love. 


Both  Malone  and  Musgrave  have  mistaken  the  sense  of  this 
passage.  Pandarus  means  to  say,  that  "  the  shaft  confounds," 
not  because  the  wounds  it  gives  are  severe,  but  because  "  it 
tickles  still  the  sore." 

To  confound  does  not  signify  here  to  destroy,  but  to  annoy  or 
perplex;  and  that  it  txonnds  does  not  mean  thatrr/i/c/J  it  wounds, 
but  in  that  it  wounds,  or  because  it  wounds.  M.  MASON. 

0  These  lovers  cry — ()/i !  uh  !  they  die  ! 

Yet  that  'which  seems  the  wound  to  kill, 
Doth  turn  oh  !  oh  !  to  ha  !  ha  !  he  ! 

So  dying  love  //Vt.v  still:']      So,    in  our  author's   I'ainis 
(i  tit!  Ad 01  tift  : 

"  For  I  have  heard,  it  [love]  is  a  life  in  death, 
"  T\n\t  laughs  and  weeps,  and  all  but  in  a  breath  !" 

MALOXE. 

The  wound  to  kill  may  mean  the  wound  that  seems  mortal. 

JOHNSON. 

The  wound  to  kill  is  the  kiUiti*  wound.     M.  MASON. 

A  passage  in  Massinger's  I'\tt<it  Dowry  may  prove  the  aptcst 
comment  on  the  third  line  of  this  despicable  ditty  : 
"  fieaiune/le.   [Within.]    Hal  ha!  hit! 
"  Chard/oil.   How's  this?    It  is  my  lady's  lait^h — 
"  When  first  1  pleas'd  her,   in  this  ,itci'ry  language 
"  She  gave  me  thank-.."      S  ri.L\  ENS. 
VOL.    XV.  / 


338       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  iti. 

PAN.  Is  this  the  generation  of  love?  hot  blood, 
hot  thoughts,  and  hot  deeds  ? — Why,  they  are  vi- 
pers :  Is  love  a  generation  of  vipers  ?7  Sweet  lord, 
who's  a-field  to-day  ?8 

PAR.  Hector,  Deiphobus,  Helenus,  Antenor, 
and  all  the  gallantry  of  Troy :  I  would  fain  have 
armed  to-night,  but  my  Nell  would  not  have  it  so. 
How  chance  my  brother  Troilus  went  not  ? 

HELEN.  He  hangs  the  lip  at  something  ; — you 
know  all,  lord  Pandarus. 

PAN.  Not  I,  honey-sweet  queen. — I  long  to  hear 
how  they  sped  to-day. — You'll  remember  your  bro- 
ther's excuse  ? 

PAR.  To  a  hair. 

PAN.  Farewell,  sweet  queen. 

HELEN.  Commend  me  to  your  niece. 

PAN.  I  will,  sweet  queen.  [Exit. 

A  Retreat  sounded. 


7 a  generation  of  vipers  ?~]     Here  is  an  apparent  allusion 

to  the  whimsical  physiology  of  Shakspeare's  age.  Thus,  says 
Thomas  Lupton,  in  The  Seventh  Bookc  of  Notable  Thinges,  4to. 
bl.  1 :  "  The  female  vyper  doth  open  her  mouth  to  receyve  ye 
generative  &c.  of  the  male  vyper,  which  receyved,  she  doth  byte 
oft'  his  head.  This  is  the  maner  of  the  froward  generating  of 
vypers.  And,  after  that,  the  young  vipers  that  springs  of  the 
same,  do  eate  or  gnaw  asunder  their  mother's  belly,  therby 
comming  or  bursting  forth.  And  so  they  (being  revengers  of 
theyr  father's  iniurye)  do  kyll  theyr  owne  mother.  You  may 
see,  they  were  a  towardly  kynde  of  people,  that  were  called 
the  generation  of  vipers."  St.  Matthew,  iii.  7,  &c.  STEEVENS. 

&  Pan.  h  this  the  generation  of  love  ?  £c. Sweet  ford,  icho's 

a-field  to-day  ?~\  However  Pan.  may  have  got  shuffled  to  the 
head  of  this  speech,  no  more  of  it,  I  am  confident,  than  the 
last  five  or  six  words  belongs  to  that  character.  The  rest  is* 
clearly  Helen's.  RITSON. 


sc.  ii.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       339 

PAR.    They  are   come   from   field  :   let   us   to 

Priam's  hall, 
To  greet  the  warriors.     Sweet  Helen,  I  must  woo 

you 

To  help  unarm  our  Hector  :  his  stubborn  buckles, 
With  these  your  white  enchanting  fingers  touch'd, 
Shall  more  obey,  than  to  the  edge  of  steel, 
Or  force  of  Greekish  sinews  ;  you  shall  do  more 
Than  all  the  island  kings,  disarm  great  Hector. 

HELEN.  'Twill  make  us  proud  to  be  his  servant, 

Paris  : 

Yea,  what  he  shall  receive  of  us  in  duty, 
Gives  us  more  palm  in  beauty  than  we  have  ; 
Yea,  overshines  ourself. 

PAR.  Sweet,  above  thought  I  love  thec.9 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE  II. 

The  same.     Pandarus'  Orchard. 
Enter  PAXDARUS  and  a  Servant,  meeting. 

PAX.  How  now  ?  whcre's  thy  master  ?  at  my 
cousin  Cressida's  ? 


Y.  No,  sir;  he  stays  for  vou  to  conduct  him 

...  •>          •> 

thither. 

Enter  Tuo  ILUS. 

PAX.  O,  here  lie  comes.  —  How  now,  how  now  ? 
TRO.  Sirrah,  walk  oiK  \_Ejrit  Servant. 

9  _    _  above  thought  /  Imr  ///re.]      So,  in  Antony  and  Clco» 
patra  : 

"  She's  cunning  past  man's  t/ioitghi."     STKEVENS. 

z  2 


340       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  m. 

PAN.  Have  you  seen  my  cousin  ? 

TRO.  No,  Pandarus  :  I  stalk  about  her  door, 
Like  a  strange  soul  upon  the  Stygian  banks 
Staying  for  waftage.     O,  be  thou  my  Charon, 
And  give  me  swift  transportance  to  those  fields, 
Where  I  may  wallow  in  the  lily  beds 
Propos'd  for  the  deserver  !  O  gentle  Pandarus, 
From  Cupid's  shoulder  pluck  his  painted  wings, 
And  fly  with  me  to  Cressid ! 

PAN.  Walk  here  i'the  orchard,  I'll  bring  her 
straight.  \JExit  PANDARUS. 

TRO.  I  am  giddy  ;  expectation  whirls  me  round. 
The  imaginary  relish  is  so  sweet 
That  it  enchants  my  sense ;  What  will  it  be, 
When  that  the  watry  palate  tastes  indeed 
Love's  thrice-reputed  nectar  ?  death,  I  fear  me ; 
Swooning  destruction  ;  or  some  joy  too  fine, 
Too  subtle-potent,  tun'd  too  sharp1  in  sweetness, 
For  the  capacity  of  my  ruder  powers  : 
I  fear  it  much  ;  and  I  do  fear  besides, 
That  I  shall  lose  distinction  in  my  joys;2 
As  doth  a  battle,  when  they  charge  on  heaps 
The  enemy  flying. 

1 tun'd  too  sharp — ]     So  the  quarto,  and  more  accu- 
rately than  the  folio,  which  has — and  too  sharp.     JOHNSON. 

The  quarto  has  to  instead  of  too.     MALONE. 
9  That  I  shall  lose  distinction  in  my  joys  ;]  Thus,  in  Sappho's 
Epistle  to  Phaon  : 

" ubi  jam  amborum  fuerat  confusa  voluptas, — " 

STEEVEXS. 


ac.  //.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        341 


Re-enter  PANDARUS. 

PAN.  She's  making  her  ready,  she'll  come 
straight :  you  must  be  witty  now.  She  does  so 
blush,  and  fetches  her  wind  so  short,  as  if  she  were 
frayed  with  a  sprite  :3  I'll  fetch  her.  It  is  the  pret- 
tiest villain  : — she  fetches  her  breath  as  short  as  a 
new-ta'en  sparrow.  [Exit  PANDARUS. 

TRO.  Even  such  a  passion  doth  embrace  my  bo- 
som : 4 

My  heart  beats  thicker  than  a  feverous  pulse ; 
And  all  my  powers  do  their  bestowing  lose, 
Like  vassalage  at  unawares  encount'ring 
The  eye  of  majesty.5 

Enter  PAXDARUS  and  CRESSIDA. 

PAN.  Come,  come,  what  need  you  blush?  shame's 
a  baby. — Here  she  is  now :  swear  the  oaths  now  to 

-frayed — ]   i.  c.  frighted.     So,  in  Chapman's  version  of 


the  21st  Iliad: 

" all  the  massacres 

"  Left  for  the  Greeks,  eould  put   on  looks  of  no  more 

overthrow 
"  Than  now  fraifd  life."     STEEVENS. 

4  Even  sncli  a  passion  doth  embrace  my  bosom  :~\      So,   in  The 
Merchant  of  I' mice: 

"-    -  rash-,- -mbraccd  despair."     MAI.ONE. 

4  Like  vassalage  at  unawares  encountering 

The  eye  of  majesty.']      Mr.    Rowe   seems  to  have   imitated 
this  passage  in  his  Ambitious  S/epniot/icr,  Act  I: 
"  Well  may  the  ignoble  herd 
"  Start,  if  with  heedless  steps  they  unawares 
"  Tread  on  the  lion's  walk  :   a  prince's  genius 
"  Awes  with  superior  greatness  all  beneath  him." 

STKKVI'NS. 


342       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  in. 

her,  that  you  have  sworn  to  me. — What,  are  you 
gone  again  ?  you  must  be  watched  ere  you  be  made 
tame,6  must  you  ?  Come  your  ways,  come  your 
ways ;  an  you  draw  backward,  we'll  put  you  i'the 
fills.7 — Why  do  you  not  speak  to  her? — Come, 
draw  this  curtain,  and  let's  see  your  picture.8  Alas 
the  day,  how  loath  you  are  to  offend  daylight !  an 
'twere  dark,  you'd  close  sooner.  So,  so  ;  rub  on, 

•you  must  be  watched  ere  you  be  made  tame,~\    Alluding 


to  the  manner  of  taming  hawks.     So,  in   The   Taming  of  the 
Shrew  : 

" to  match  her  as  we  watch  these  kites." 

STEEVENS. 

Hawks  were  tamed  by  being  kept  from  sleep,  and  thus  Pan- 
darus  means  that  Cressida  should  be  tamed.  MALONE. 

7 i'the  fills.]  That  is,  in  the  shafts.  Fill  is  a  provin- 
cial word  used  in  some  counties  for  thills,  the  shafts  of  a  cart  or 
waggon.  See  Vol.  VII.  p.  269,  n.  9. 

The  editor  of  the  second  folio,  for  Jills,  the  reading  of  the 
first  folio,  substituted  files,  which  has  been  adopted  in  all  the 
modern  editions.  The  quarto  \\asfilles,  which  is  only  the  more 
ancient  spelling  of  Jills,  The  words  "  draw  backward"  show 
that  the  original  is  the  true  reading.  MALONE. 

Sir  T.  Hanmer  supports  the  reading  of  the  second  folio,  by 
saying — put  you  in  the  files,  "  alludes  to  the  custom  of  putting 
men  suspected  of  cowardice  [i.  e.  of  drawing  backward,"]  in  the 
middle  places."  Thus,  Homer,  Iliad  IV.  299: 

" Kaxz;  o  e;  fj,£<r<rov  £\a,<ra'evi 

"  "O<ppa  xaisx.  eSfAwv  n$  ava/ka/ij  itQ\e[j*l§/}" 

STEEVENS. 

The  word  files  does  not  mean  the  middle  places,  but  the 
ranks.  The  common  soldiers  of  an  army  are  called  the  rank 
and  file ;  and  when  the  Serjeants  or  corporals  misbehave,  it  is 
usual  to  punish  them  by  reducing  them  to  the  files,  that  is,  to 
the  rank  of  private  men.  To  draw  backward,  is  merely  to  Jail 
back,  and  has  no  reference  to  drawing  in  a  carriage. 

M.  MASON. 

s  Come,  draw  this  curtain,  and  let's  see  your  picture.']  It 
should  seem,  from  these  words,  that  Creesida,  like  Olivia  in 
Twelfth-Night,  was  intended  to  come  in  veiled.  Pandarus  how- 
ever had,  as  usual,  a  double  meaning.  MALONE. 


sc.ii.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       345 

and  kiss  the  mistress.9  How  now,  a  kiss  in  fee- 
farm  ! '  build  there,  carpenter ;  the  air  is  sweet.2 
Nay,  you  shall  fight  your  hearts  out,  ere  I  part  you. 
The  falcon  as  the  tercel,  for  all  the  ducks  i'the 
river : 3  go  to,  go  to. 

9  So,  so  ;  rub  on,  and  kiss  the  mistress.]  The  allusion  is  to 
bowling.  What  we  now  call  the  jack,  seems,  in  Shakspeare's 
time,  to  have  been  termed  the  mistress.  A  bowl  that  kisses  the 
jack  or  mistress,  is  in  the  most  advantageous  situation.  Rub  on 
is  a  term  at  the  same  game.  So,  in  No  Wit  like  a  Woman's, 
a  comedy,  by  Middleton,  1657 : 

" So,  a  fair  riddance ; 

"  There's  three  rubs  gone ;    I've   a  clear   way  to   the 

mistress" 
Again,  in  Decker's  Satiromastix,  1602 : 

"  Mini.  Since  he  hath  hit  the  mistress  so  often  in  the  fore- 
game,  we'll  even  play  out  the  rubbers. 

"  Sir  Vaugh.  Play  out  your  rubbers  in  God's  name ;  by  Jesu 
I'll  never  bowl  in  your  alley."  MALONE. 

An  instance  to  the  same  effect  was  long  ago  suggested  in  a 
note  on  Cymbeline,  Act  II.  sc.  i.  STEEVENS. 

1 a  kiss  in  fee-farm!]     Is  a  kiss  of  a  duration  that  has 

no  bounds  ;  a  fee-farm  being  a  grant  of  lands  in  fee,  that  is,  for 
ever,  reserving  a  certain  rent.     MALONE. 

How  much  more  poetically  is  the  same  idea  expressed  in 
Coriolanus,  when  the  jargon  of  law  was  absent  from  our  author's 
thoughts  ! 

" O,  a  kiss, 

"  Long  as  my  exile,  sweet  as  my  revenge  !" 

STEEVENS. 

—  build  tlicre,   carpenter ;    the  air    is   sivcct,~]       So,    in 
Macbeth  : 

" does  approve 

"  By  his  lov'd  mansionry.  that  heaven's  breath 
"  Smells  wooingly  here."      STEEVENS. 

3  The  falcon  as  the  tercel,  for  nil  the  ducks  i'the  river  :~\ 
Pandarus  means,  that  he'll  match  his  niece  against  her  lover  for 
any  belt.  The  tercel  is  the  male  hawk;  by  \\\(.\fiiLun  we  gene- 
rally understand  \\\e  female.  THEOBALD. 

1  think  we  should  rather  read  : — at  the  ten. •  .-1 — . 

TYIUVHITT. 


344       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  in. 

Tuo.  You  have  bereft  me  of  all  words,  lady. 

PAN.  Words  pay  no  debts,  give  her  deeds :  but 
she'll  bereave  you  of  the  deeds  too,  if  she  call  your 
activity  in  question.  What,  billing  again  ?  Here's 
— In  witness  whereof  the  par  ties  interchangeably11' — 
Come  in,  come  in  \  I'll  go  get  a  tire. 

\_Eoclt  PANDARUS. 

CRES.  Will  you  walk  in,  my  lord  ? 

TRO.  O  Cressida,  how  often  have  I  wished  me 
thus  ? 

CRES.  Wished,  my  lord  ? — The  gods  grant ! — O 
my  lord ! 

In  Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Cresseide,  L.  IV.  410,  is  the  following 
stanza,  from  which  Shakspeare  may  have  caught  a  glimpse  of 
meaning,  though  he  has  not  very  clearly  expressed  it.  Panda- 
rus  is  the  speaker  : 

"  What  ?  God  forbid,  alway  that  eche  plesaunce 

"  In  o  thing  were,  and  in  non  othir  wight ; 
"  If  one  can  singe,  anothir  can  wel  daunce, 
"  If  this  he  godely,  she  is  glad  and  light, 
"  And  this  is  faire,  and  that  can  gode  aright ; 
"  Eche  for  his  vertue  holdin  is  full  dere, 
"  Both  heroner  and  faucon  for  rivere." 

Again,  in  Fenton's  Tragical!  Discourses,  bl.  1.  4-to.  1567: 
"  —  how  is  that  possible  to  make  a  froward  kite  a  forward 
hatvke  to  the  ryver  ?"  P.  159,  b. 

Mr.  M.  Mason  observes,  that  the  meaning  of  this  difficult 
passage  is,  "  I  will  back  the  falcon  against  the  tiercel,  I  will 
wager  that  the  falcon  is  equal  to  the  tiercel."  STEEVENS. 

4 the  parties  interchangeably — ]     have   set  their  hands 

and  seals.  So  afterwards  :  "  Go  to,  a  bargain  made :  seal  it, 
seal  it."  Shakspeare  appears  to  have  had  here  an  idea  in  his 
thoughts  that  he  has  often  expressed.  So,  in  Measure  for 
Measure  : 

"  But  my  kisses  bring  again, 

"  Seals  of  love,  but  seal'd  in  vain." 
Again,  in  his  Venus  and  Adonis  : 

"  Pure  lips,  sweet  scats  in  my  soft  lips  imprinted, 

"  What  bargains  may  I  make,  still  to  be  sealing  ?" 

MA  LONE. 


sc.  n.        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      345 

TRO.  What  should  they  grant  ?  what  makes  this 
pretty  abruption  ?  What  too  curious  dreg  espies  my 
sweet  lady  in  the  fountain  of  our  love  ? 

CRES.  More  dregs  than  water,  if  my  fears  have 
eyes.5 

TRO.  Fears  make  devils  cherubins ;  they  never 
see  truly. 

CRES.  Blind  fear,  that  seeing  reason  leads,  finds 
safer  footing  than  blind  reason  stumbling  without 
fear :  To  fear  the  worst,  oft  cures  the  worst. 

TRO.  O,  let  my  lady  apprehend  no  fear :  in  all 
Cupid's  pageant  there  is  presented  no  monster.6 

CRES.  Nor  nothing  monstrous  neither  ? 

TRO.  Nothing,  but  our  undertakings  ;  when  we 
vow  to  weep  seas,  live  in  fire,  eat  rocks,  tame  tigers;7 
thinking  it  harder  for  our  mistress  to  devise  im- 
position enough,  than  for  us  to  undergo  any  diffi- 
culty imposed.  This  is  the  monstruosity  in  love, 
lady, — that  the  will  is  infinite,  and  the  execution 
confined  ;  that  the  desire  is  boundless,  and  the  act 
a  slave  to  limit. 


' // 'my  fears  have  eyes."}     The   old  copies  have — tears. 

Corrected  by  Mr.  Pope.     MAI.OKK. 

" no  fear :  in  all  Cupid9 s  pageant  there  is  presented  no 

monster."}  From  this  passage,  however,  a  Fear  appears  to  have 
been  a  personage  in  other  pageants ;  or  perhaps  in  our  ancient 
moralities.  To  this  circumstance  Aspatia  alludes  in  The  Maid's 
Tragedy  : 

" and  then  a  Fear: 

"  Do  that  Fear  bravely,  wench." 
See  also  Antony  and  Cleopatra,   Act  II.  sc.  ii.     STKEVKXS. 

—  iveep  seas,  five,  in  jire,  eat  rocks,  tame  tigers;}  Here 
we  have,  not  a  Trojan  prince  talking  to  his  mistress,  but  Orlando 
Furioso  vowing  that  lie  will  endure  every  calamity  that  can  be 
imagined:  boasting  that  he  will  achieve  more  than  ever  knight 
performed.  MALOM". 


346     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  m. 

CRES.  They  say,  all  lovers  swear  more  perform- 
ance than  they  are  able,  and  yet  reserve  an  ability 
that  they  never  perform ;  vowing  more  than  the 
perfection  of  ten,  and  discharging  less  than  the 
tenth  part  of  one.  They  that  have  the  voice  of 
lions,  and  the  act  of  hares,  are  they  not  monsters? 

TRO.  Are  there  such  ?  such  are  not  we :  Praise 
us  as  we  are  tasted,  allow  us  as  we  prove  ;  our  head 
shall  go  bare,  till  merit  crown  it:8  no  perfection  in 
reversion  shall  have  a  praise  in  present:  we  will  not 
name  desert,  before  his  birth  ;  and,  being  born,  his 
addition  shall  be  humble.9  Few  words  to  fair  faith  : 
Troilus  shall  be  such  to  Cressid,  as  what  envy  can 
say  worst,  shall  be  a  mock  for  his  truth  ; *  and  what 
truth  can  speak  truest,  not  truer  than  Troilus. 

CRES.  Will  you  wralk  in,  my  lord  ? 


Re-enter  PANDARUS, 

PAN.  What,  blushing  still  ?  have  you  not  done 
talking  yet  ? 

8 our  head  shall  go  bare,  till  merit  crown  it  .•]  I  can- 
not forbear  to  observe,  that  the  quarto  reads  thus :  Our  head 
shall  go  bare,  till  merit  louer  part  no  affection,  in  reversion,  &c. 
Had  there  been  no  other  copy,  how  could  this  have  been  cor- 
rected ?  The  true  reading  is  in  the  folio.  JOHNSON. 

0 //is  addition  shall  be  humble.']     We  will  give  him  no 

high  or  pompous  titles.     JOHNSON. 

Addition  is  still  the  term  used  by  conveyancers  in  describing 
the  quality  and  condition  of  the  parties  to  deeds,  &c.  REED. 

1 ivliat    envy    can    say    ivorst,  shall  be  a   mock  for    his 

truth  ;]  i.  e.  shall  be  only  a  mock  for  his  truth.  Even  malice 
(for  such  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  envy]  shall  not  be  able  to 
impeach  his  truth,  or  attack  him  in  any  other  way,  except  by  ri- 
diculing him  for  his  constancy.  See  p.  61-,  n.  2.  MAI.ONE. 


sc.  IT.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       347 

CRES.  Well,  uncle,  what  folly  I  commit,  I  dedi- 
cate to  you. 

PAN.  I  thank  you  for  that  ;  if  my  lord  get  a  boy 
of  you,  you'll  give  him  me  :  Be  true  to  my  lord  : 
if  he  flinch,  chide  me  for  it. 

Tito.  You  know  now  your  hostages;  your  uncle's 
word,  and  my  firm  faith. 

PAN.  Nay,  I'll  give  my  word  for  her  too  ;  our 
kindred,  though  they  be  long  ere  they  are  wooed, 
they  are  constant,  being  won  :  they  are  burs,  I  can 
tell  you  ;  they'll  stick  where  they  are  thrown.2 

CRES.  Boldness  comes  to  me  now,  and  brings  me 

heart  :  — 

Prince  Troilus,  I  have  lov'd  you  night  and  day 
For  many  weary  months. 

TRO.  Why  was  myCressid  then  so  hard  to  win? 

CUES.  Hard  to  seem  won  ;  but  I  was  won,  my 

lord, 

With  the  first  glance  that  ever  —  Pardon  me  ;  — 
If  I  confess  much,  you  will  play  the  tyrant. 
I  love  you  now  ;  but  not,  till  now,  so  much 
But  I  might  master  it  :  —  in  faith,  I  lie  ; 
My  thoughts  were  like  unbridled  children,  grown 
Too  headstrong  for  their  mother:  See,  we  fools! 
Why  have  I  blabb'd  ?  who  shall  be  true  to  us, 
When  we  are  so  unsecret  to  ourselves  ? 
But,  though  I  lov'd  you  well,  I  woo'd  you  not  ; 
And  yet,  good  faith,  I  wisli'd  myself  a  man  ; 
Or  that  we  women  had  men's  privilege 
Of  speaking  first.     Sweet,  bid  me  hold  my  tongue  ; 


—  thry'llstick  where  thri/  arc  //mm-;?.]      This  allusion  has 
already  occurred  in  Measure  Jbr  Measure; 

"  Nay,  friar,  I  am  a  kind  of  bur,  I  shall  stick." 

STEEVEXS. 


348     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  m. 

For,  in  this  rapture,  I  shall  surely  speak 
The  thing  I  shall  repent.     See,  see,  your  silence, 
Cunning  in  dumbness,3  from  my  weakness  draws 
My  very  soul  of  counsel :  Stop  my  mouth. 

TRO.  And  shall,  albeit  sweetmusick  issues  thence. 
PAN.  Pretty,  i'faith. 

CRES.  My  lord,  I  do  beseech  you,  pardon  me  ; 
'Twas  not  my  purpose,  thus  to  beg  a  kiss : 
I  am  asham'd ; — O  heavens !  what  have  I  done  ? — 
For  this  time  will  I  take  my  leave,  my  lord. 

TRO.  Your  leave,  sweet  Cressid  ? 

PAN.  Leave !  an  you  take  leave  till  to-morrow 
morning, 

CRES.  Pray  you,  content  you. 

TRO.  What  offends  you,  lady  ? 

CRES.  Sir,  mine  own  company. 

TRO.  You  cannot  shun 

Yourself. 

CRES.     Let  me  go  and  try  :4 
I  have  a  kind  of  self  resides  with  you  ;5 
But  an  unkind  self,  that  itself  will  leave, 

3  Cunning  in  dumbness,']    The  quarto  and  folio  read — Coming 
in  dumbness.     The  emendation  was  made  by  Mr.  Pope. 

MALONE. 

4  Let  me  go  and  try  :~\     This  verse  being  imperfect,  I  suppose 
our  author  to  have  originally  written  : 

Let  me  go  in,  my  lord,  and  try.     STEEVENS. 

s  I  have  a  kind  oj~  self  resides  with  you  ;]     So,  in  our  author's 
123d  Sonnet: 

" for  I,  being  pent  in  thcc, 

"  Perforce  am  thine,  and  all  that  is  in  me."     MALOXE. 

A  similar  thought  occurs  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  : 

"  That  thou,  residing  here,  go'st  yet  with  me,"  &c. 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      349 

To  be  another's  fool.     I  would  be  gone  : — 
Where  is  my  wit  ?  I  know  not  what  I  speak.6 

TRO.  Well  know  they  what  they  speak,  that 
speak  so  wisely. 

CRES.  Perchance,  my  lord,  I  show  more  craft 

than  love ; 

And  fell  so  roundly  to  a  large  confession, 
To  angle  for  your  thoughts  :   But  you  are  wise  ; 
Or  else  you  love  not ;  For  to  be  wise,  and  love, 
Exceeds  man's  might;  that  dwells  with  gods  above.7 

0 /  would  be  gone  : — 

Where  is  my  wit?     I  know  not  what  I  speak.']      Thus  the 
quartos.     The  folio  reads  : 

To  be  another', sjbol.     Where  is  my  wit  ? 

I  would  be  gone.     I  speak  I  know  not  what .     MALONE. 

-  But  you  are  wise  ; 

Or  else  you  love  not  ;  For  to  be  tvisc,  and  love, 
Exceeds  man's  might;  £c.]     I  read: 

but  we're  not  wise, 

Or  else  we  love  not ;  to  be  wise,  and  lore, 
Exceeds  man's  might  ;  — 

Cressida,  in  return  to  the  praise  given  by  Troilus  to  her  wisdom, 
replies  :  "  That  lovers  are  never  wise  ;  that  it  is  beyond  the 
power  of  man  to  bring  love  and  wisdom  to  an  union." 

JOHNSON. 

I  don't  think  that  this  passage  requires  any  amendment. 
Cressida's  meaning  is  this :  "  Perchance  I  fell  too  roundly  to 
confession,  in  order  to  angle  for  your  thoughts  ;  but  you  are  not 
so  easily  taken  in  ;  you  are  too  wise,  or  too  indifferent ;  for  to 
be  wise  and  love,  exceeds  man's  might."  M.  MASON. 

—  to  be  wise,  and  love, 

Exceeds  man's  might ;~\  This  is  from  Spenser,  Shepherd's  Ca- 
lendar, March  ; 

"  To  be  wise,  and  eke  to  love, 

"  Is  granted  scarce  to  gods  above."     TYRWHITT. 

This  thought  originally  belongs  to  Publius  Syrus,  amon^ 
whose  sentences  we  find  this  : 

"  Amare  et  sapere  vix  Deo  conceditur." 

Marston,  in  77(6-  Dutch  Courtezan,  160J,  has  the  same 
thought,  and  the  line  is  printed  as  a  quotation  : 


350     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  in. 

TRO.  O,  that  I  thought  it  could  be  in  a  woman, 
(As,  if  it  can,  I  will  presume  in  you,) 
To  feed  for  aye  her  lamp  and  flames  of  love  ;8 
To  keep  her  constancy  in  plight  and  youth, 
Outliving  beauty's  outward,  with  a  mind 
That  doth  renew  swifter  than  blood  decays  ! 9 
Or,  that  persuasion  could  but  thus  convince  me, — 
That  my  integrity  and  truth  to  you 


"  But  raging  lust  my  fate  all  strong  doth  move ; 

"  The  gods  themselves  cannot  be  wise,  and  love" 
Cressida's  argument  is  certainly  inconsequential :  "  But  you 
are  wise,  or  else  you  are  not  in  love  ;  for  no  one  who  is  in  love 
can  be  wise."  I  do  not,  however,  believe  there  is  any  corrup- 
tion, as  our  author  sometimes  entangles  himself  in  inextricable 
difficulties  of  this  kind.  One  of  the  commentators  has  endea- 
voured to  extort  sense  from  the  words  as  they  stand,  and  thinks 
there  is  no  difficulty.  In  these  cases,  the  surest  way  to  prove 
the  inaccuracy,  is,  to  omit  the  word  that  embarrasses  the  sentence. 
Thus,  if,  for  a  moment,  we  read : 

But  you  are  ivise  ; 

Or  else  you  love  ;  for  to  be  idse,  and  love, 

Exceeds  man's  might :  &c. 

the  inference  is  clear,  by  the  omission  of  the  word  not:  which 
is  not  a  word  of  so  little  importance  that  a  sentence  shall  have 
just  the  same  meaning  whether  a  negative  is  contained  in  it  or 
taken  from  it.  But  for  all  inaccuracies  of  this  kind  our  poet 
himself  is  undoubtedly  answerable. — Sir  T.  Hanmer,  to  obtain 
some  sense,  arbitrarily  reads : 

A  sign  you  love  not.     MALOXK. 

9  To  feed  for  aye  her  lamp  #c.]    Troilus  alludes  to  the  perpe- 
tual lamps  which  were  supposed  to  illuminate  sepulchres  : 

" lasting  flames,  that  burn 

"  To  light  the  dead,  and  warm  th'  unfruitful  urn." 
See  my  note  on  Pericles,  Act  III.  sc.  i.     STEEVENS. 

-  siciftcr  than  blood  decays  /]     Blood,   in   Shakspeare, 
frequently  means  desire,  appetite.     MALONE. 

In  the  present  instance,  the  word  blood  has  its  common  sig- 
nification.    So,  in  Much  Ado  about  Nothing: 

"  Time  hath  not  yet  so  dry'd  this  blood — ."    STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        351 

Might  be  affronted  with  the  match1  and  weight 
Of  such  a  winnow'd  purity  in  love  ; 
How  were  I  then  uplifted !  but,  alas, 
I  am  as  true  as  truth's  simplicity, 
And  simpler  than  the  infancy  of  truth.5 

CRES.  In  that  I'll  war  with  you. 

TRO.  O  virtuous  fight, 

When  right  with  right  wars  who  shall  be  most  right! 
True  swains  in  love  shall,  in  the  world  to  come, 
Approve  their  truthsby  Troilus:  when  their  rhymes, 
Full  of  protest,  of  oath,  and  big  compare,3 
Want  similes,  truth  tir'd  with  iteration,4 — 


1  Might  be  affronted  with  the  match — ]     I  wish  "  my  integri- 
ty might  be  met  and  matched  with  such  equality  and  force  of 
pure  unmingled  love."     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Hamlet  : 

"  -    —  that  he,  as  'twere  by  accident,  may  here 
"  Affront  Ophelia."     STEEVENS. 

2  And  simpler  than  the  infancy  of  trtith.~\      This  is  fine  ;  and 
means,   "  Ere  truth,  to  defend  itself  against  deceit  in  the  com- 
merce  of  the  world,   had,   out   of  necessity,   learned  worldly 
policy."     WAUBURTON. 

3 compare,^     i.   e.    comparison.     So    Milton,    Paradise 

Lost,  B.  Ill: 

"  Bey o\\d  compare  the  son  of  God  was  seen — ." 

Sr  SEVEN'S. 


'    True  mains  in  love,  shall,  in  the  world  to  come, 
Approve  their  truths  by  Troilus  :  when  their  rhi/ntes, 
Full  of protest ,  of  oath,  and  l»^  compare. 
Want  .similes,  truth  tir'd,  with  iteration, — ]      The  metre,  as 
well  as  the  sense,  of  the  last  verse,  \\ill  be  improved,  I  think,  b\ 
reading  : 

"  ll'ant  similes  oi' truth,  lir'd  u-ith  iteration, — ." 
So,  a  little  lower  in  the  same  speech: 

Yet  after  all  comparisons  of  truth.     TYKWHITT. 

This  is  a  very  probable  conjecture.      Truth  at  present  has  no 
verb  to  which  it  can  relate.     MALONK. 


352        TRO1LUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  Hi. 

As  true  as  steel,5  as  plantage  to  the  moon,6 


3  As  true  as  steel,]  As  true  as  steel  is  an  ancient  proverbial 
simile.  I  find  it  in  Lydgate's  Troy  Book,  where  he  speaks  of 
Troilus,  L.  II.  c.  xvi : 

"  Thereto  in  love  treive  as  any  stele." 
Virgil,  JEneid  VII.  64-0,  applies  a  similar  epithet  to  a  sword : 

" Jldoque  accingitur  ense." 

i.  e.  a  weapon  in  the  metal  of  which  he  could  confide  ;  a  trusty 
blade.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  Geo.  Gascoigne,  in 
his  Steele  Glass,  1576,  bestows  the  same  character  on  his  Mirrour: 

"  — —  this  poore  glass  which  is  of  trustie  steele." 
Again : 

" that  steele  both  trusty  was  and  true." 

STEEVENS. 

Mirrors  formerly  being  made  of  steel,  I  once  thought  the 
meaning  mighfbe,  "  as  true  as  the  mirror,  which  faithfully  ex- 
hibits every  image  that  is  presented  before  it."    But  I  now  think 
with  Mr.  Steevens,  that — As  true  as  steel  was  merely  a  prover- 
bial expression,  without  any  such  allusion.     A  passage  in  an  old 
piece  entitled  The  Pleasures  of  Poetry,  no  date,  but  printed  in 
the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  will  admit  either  interpretation  : 
"  Behold  in  her  the  lively  glasse, 
"  The  pattern,  true  as  steel."     MALONE. 

6 as  plantage  to  the  moon,~\      Alluding  to  the  common 

opinion  of  the  influence  the  moon  has  over  what  is  planted  or 
sown,  which  was  therefore  done  in  the  increase  : 
"  Rite  Latonae  pueruni  canentes, 
"  Rite  crescentem  face  noctilucam, 

"  Prosperam  frugum, ."     //or.  Lib.  IV.  Od.  vi. 

WARBUKTON. 

Plantage  is  not,  I  believe,  a  general  term,  but  the  herb  which 
we  now  call  plantain,  in  Latin,  plantago,  which  was,  I  suppose, 
imagined  to  be  under  the  peculiar  influence  of  the  moon. 

JOHNSON. 

Shakspeare  speaks  of  plantain  by  its  common  appellation  in 
Romeo  and  Juliet;  and  yet,  in  Sapho  and  Phao,  1591,  Mate- 
drake  is  called  Mandrage  : 

"  Sow  next  thy  vines  mandragc." 

From  a  book  entitled  The  profitable  Art  of  Gardening,  &c.  by 
Tho.  Hill,  Londoner,  the  third  edition,  printed  in  1579, 1  learn, 
that  neither  sowing,  planting,  nor  grafting,  were  ever  under- 
taken without  a  scrupulous  attention  to  the  encrease  or  waning 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       353 

As  sun  to  day,  as  turtle  to  her  mate, 

As  iron  to  adamant,7  as  earth  to  the  center, — 

Yet,  after  all  comparisons  of  truth, 

As  truth's  authenticlvauthor  to  be  cited,8 

As  true  as  Troilus  shall  crown  up  the  verse,9 

And  sanctify  the  numbers. 

CUES.  Prophet  may  you  be ! 

If  I  be  false,  or  swerve  a  hair  from  truth, 
When  time  is  old  and  hath  forgot  itself, 
When  waterdrops  have  worn  the  stones  of  Troy9 
And  blind  oblivion  swallow' d  cities  up,1 
And  mighty  states  characterless  are  grated 
To  dusty  nothing;  yet  let  memory, 
From  false  to  false,  among  false  maids  in  love, 


of  the  moon. — Dryden  does  not  appear  to  have  understood  the 
passage,  and  has  therefore  altered  it  thus : 

As  true  as  flowing  tides  are  to  the  moon.     STEEVENS. 

This  may  be  fully  illustrated  by  a  quotation  from  Scott's 
Discoverir  of  Witchcraft  :  "  The  poore  husbandman  perceiveth 
that  the  increase  of  the  moonc  maketh  plants  frutefull :  so  as  in 
the  full  moonc  they  are  in  the  best  strength ;  decaieing  in  the 
tuane  ;  and  in  the  conjunction  do  utterlie  wither  and  vade." 

FARMER. 

7  As  iron  to  adamant,"]     So,  in  Greene's  Tu  Quoque,  1614? ; 

"  As  true  to  thee  as  steel  to  ada.nant"     MALONE. 

8  As  truth's  authentick  author  to  Le  cited,~]     Troilus  shall 
crown  the  verse,  as  a  man  to  be  cited  as  the  authentick  author  of 
truth  ;  as  one  whose  protestations  were  true  to  a  proverb. 

JOHNSON'. 

9  crown  np  the  verse,"]   i.  e.  conclude  it.     Finis  coronal 

r>j)us.     So,  in  Chapman's  version  of  the  second  Iliad  : 

"  We  flie,  not  putting  on  the  croivne  of  our  so  long-held 
warre."     STEEVKNS. 

1  And  blind  oblivion  swallow'd  cities  up,~\  So,  in  AY;?£ 
Jiichard  III.  quarto,  1598: 

"  And  almost  shoulder'd  in  this  swallowing  gulph 
"  Oi'  blind  forgetful  ness  and  dark  oblivion."     MAI.ONF. 
VOL.   XV.  '2  A 


354       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  m. 

Upbraid  my  falsehood!  when  they  have  said — as 

false 

As  air,  as  water,  wind,  or  sandy  earth, 
As  fox  to  lamb,  as  wolf  to  heifer's  calf, 
Pard  to  the  hind,  or  stepdame  to  her  son ; 
Yea,  let  them  say,  to  stick  the  heart  of  falsehood, 
As  false  as  Cressid.'' 

PAN.  Go  to,  a  bargain  made :  seal  it,  seal  it ; 
I'll  be  the  witness. — Here  I  hold  your  hand ;  here, 
my  cousin's.  If  ever  you  prove  false  one  to  an- 
other, since  I  have  taken  such  pains  to  bring  you 
together,  let  all  pitiful  goers-between  be  called  to 
the  wrorld's  end  after  my  name,  call  them  all — 
Pandars;  let  all  constant  men3  be  Troiluses,  all  false 


*  Tro.  zvkeit  their  rhymes. 

Want  similes  — 

As  true  as  Troilus  shall  crown  up  the  verse  — 

Cres.  

Yea,  let  them  say — 

As  false  as  Cressid.~]  This  antithesis  of  praise  and  censure 
appears  to  have  found  an  imitator  in  Edmund  Smith,  the  author 
of  Phcedra  and  Hippolytus  : 

"  Theseus.  •— . 

*'  And  when  aspiring  bards,  in  daring  strains, 
"  Shall  raise  some  matron  to  the  heavenly  powers, 
"  They'll  say,  she's  great,  she's  true,  she's  chaste  a? 
Phaedra. 

"  Pliadra.  • 

"  And  when  th'  avenging  muse  with  pointed  rage, 
"  Would  sink  some  impious  woman  down  to  hell, 
"  They'll  say,  she's  false,  she's  base,  she's  foul  as  Phaedra.'* 

Act  V.     STEEVEXS. 

-'  constant  men — ]     Though  Sir  T.  Hanmer's  ehienda- 

tion  [inconstant]  be  plausible,  I  believe  Shakspeare  wrote — 
constant.  He  seems  to  have  been  less  attentive  to  make  Pandar 
talk  consequentially,  than  to  account  for  the  ideas  actually 
annexed  to  the  three  names.  Now  it  is  certain  that,  in  his 
time,  a  Troilus  was  as  clear  an  expression  for  a  constant  lover, 
as  a  Cressida  and  a  Pandar  were  for  a  jilt  and  a  pimp. 

TYRWHITT. 


ac.  n.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        355 

women  Cressids,  and  all  brokers-between  Pandars  ! 
say,  amen. 

I  entirely  agree  with  Mr.  Tyrwhitt,  and  am  happy  to  have 
his  opinion  in  support  of  the  reading  of  the  old  copy,  from 
which,  in  my  apprehension,  we  ought  not  to  deviate,  except  in 
cases  of  extreme  necessity.  Of  the  assertion  in  the  latter  part 
of  his  note,  relative  to  the  constancy  of  Troilus,  various  proofs 
are  furnished  by  our  old  poets.  So,  in  A  gorgeous  Gallery  of 
gallant  Inventions,  &c.  4to.  1578: 
"  But  if  thou  me  forsake, 

"  As  Cressid  that  forgot 
"  True  Troilus,  her  make,"  &c. 
Again,  ibid  : 

"  As  Troilus''  truth  shall  be  my  shield, 

"  To  kepe  my  pen  from  blame, 
"  So  Cressid's  crafte  shall  kepe  the  field, 

"  For  to  resound  thy  shame." 

Mr.  M.  Mason  objects,  that  constant  cannot  be  the  true 
reading,  because  Pandarus  has  already  supposed  that  they  should 
both  provefalse  to  each  other,  and  it  would  therefore  be  absurd 
for  him  to  say  that  Troilus  should  be  quoted  as  an  example  of 
constancy.  But  to  this  the  answer  is,  that  Shakspeare  himself 
knew  what  the  event  of  the  story  was,  and  who  the  person  was 
that  did  prove  false ;  that  many  expressions  in  his  plays  have 
dropped  from  him,  in  consequence  of  that  knowledge,  that  are 
improper  in  the  mouth  of  the  speaker ;  and  that,  in  his  licen- 
tious mode  of  writing,  the  words,  "  if  ever  you-  prove  Jcdsc  to 
one  another,"  may  mean,  not,  if  you  both  prove  false,  but,  if 
it  should  happsn  that  any  Jalshood  or  breach  of  faith  should  dis- 
ttiir!c  you,  who  are  noiv  thus  attached  to  each  other.  This  might 
and  did  happen,  by  one  of  the  parties  proving  false,  and  break- 
ing her  engagement. 

The  modern  editions  read — if  ever  you  prove  false  to  one 
another ;  but  the  reading  of  the  text  is  that  of  the  quarto  and 
folio,  and  was  the  phraseology  of  Shakspeare's  age.  MALONK. 

It  is  clearly  the  intention  of  the  poet  that  this  imprecation 
should  be  such  a  one  as  was  verified  by  the  event,  as  it  is  in 
part  to  this  very  day.  But  neither  was  Troilus  e\vr  used  to 
denote  an  inconstant  lover,  nor,  if  we  believe  the  story,  did  he 
ever  deserve  the  character,  :>s  both  the  others  did  in  truth  de- 
serve that  shame  here  imprecated  upon  them.  Besides,  Pandarus 
seems  to  adjust  his  imprecation  to  those  of  the  other  two  pre- 

2  A  2 


356       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTIII. 

TRO.  Amen. 
CRES.  Amen. 

PAN.  Amen.  Whereupon  I  will  show  you  a 
chamber  and  a  bed,4  which  bed,  because  it  shall 
not  speak  of  your  pretty  encounters,  press  it  to 
death :  away. 

And  Cupid  grant  all  tongue-tied  maidens  here, 
Bed,  chamber,  Pandar  to  provide  this  geer ! 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE  III. 

The  Grecian  Camp. 

Enter  AGAMEMNON,  ULYSSES.,  DIOMEDES,  NESTOR, 
AJAX,  MENELAUS,  and  CALCHAS. 

CAL.  Now,  princes,  for  the  service  I  have  done 

you, 

The  advantage  of  the  time  prompts  me  aloud 
To  call  for  recompense.    Appear  it  to  your  mind,5 


ceding,  just  as  they  dropped  from  their  lips  ;  as  false  as  Cressid, 
and,  consequently,  as  true  (or  as  constant)  as  Troilus. 

HEATH. 

4  and  a  bed,']    These  words  are  not  in  the  old  copy,  but 

what  follows  shows  that  they  were  inadvertently  omitted. 

MALONE. 

This  deficiency  was  supplied  by  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer.  He 
reads,  however,  "  —  a  chamber  ivith  a  bed ;  which  bed,  be- 
cause" &c.  STEEVENS. 

•*  Appear  it  to  your  mind,]     Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  very 

properly  in  my  opinion,    reduces   this   line    to  measure,   by 
reading : 

•  •  •    Appear  it  to  you,—-.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  in.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      sr.i 

That,  through  the  sight  I  bear  in  things,  to  Jove6 
I  have  abandoned  Troy,7  left  my  possession, 

6  through  the  sight  I  bear  in  things,  to  Jove  <S:c.]     Thi* 

passage,  in  all  the  modern  editions,  is  silently  depraved,  and 
printed  thus : 

through  the  sight  I  bear  in  things  to  come, — . 

The  word  is  so  printed  that  nothing  but  the  sense  can  determine 
whether  it  be  love  or  Jove.  I  believe  that  the  editors  read  it  as 
/ore,  and  therefore  made  the  alteration  to  obtain  some  meaning. 

JOHNSON. 

I  do  not  perceive  why  love,  the  clear  and  evident  reading  of 
both  the  quartos  and  folios,  should  be  passed  over  without  some 
attempt  to  explain  it.  In  my  opinion  it  may  signify — "  No 
longer  assisting  Troy  with  my  advice,  I  have  left  it  to  the  do- 
minion of  love,  to  the  consequences  of  the  amour  of  Paris  and 
Helen."  STEEVENS. 

;    Tlint,  through  the  sight  I  bear  in  things,  to  Jove 

/  have  abandoned  Troy,  &c.]  This  reasoning  perplexes  Mr. 
Theobald :  "  He  foresaw  his  country  was  undone ;  he  ran  over 
to  the  Greeks;  and  this  he  makes  a  merit  of  (says  the  editor). 
I  own  (continues  he)  the  motives  of  his  oratory  seem  to  be 
somewhat  perverse  and  unnatural.  Nor  do  I  know  how  to  re- 
concile it,  unless  our  poet  purposely  intended  to  make  Calchas 
act  the  part  of  a  trite  priest,  and  so  from  motives  of  self-interest 
insinuate  the  merit  of  service."  The  editor  did  not  know  how 
to  reconcile  this.  Nor  I  neither.  For  I  do  not  know  what  he 
means  by  "  the  motives  of  his  oratory,"  or,  "  from  motives  of 
self-interest  to  insinuate  merit."  But  if  he  would  insinuate,  that 
it  was  the  poet's  design  to  make  his  priest  self-interested,  and  to 
represent  to  the  Greeks  that  what  he  did  for  his  own  preserva- 
tion, was  done  for  their  service,  he  is  mistaken.  Shakspeare 
thought  of  nothing  so  silly,  as  it  would  be  to  draw  his  priest  a 
knave,  in  order  to  make  him  talk  like  nj'uol.  Though  that  be 
the  fate  which  generally  attends  their  abusers.  But  Shakspeare 
was  no  such  ;  and  consequently  wanted  not  this  cover  for  dul- 
ness.  The  pcrverxencss  is  all  the  editor's  own,  who  interprets, 

through  the.  sight-  I  have  in  things  to  conn', 

I  have  aban'/oit'd  Troy, 

to  signify,  "  by  my  power  of  prescience  finding  mv  country 
must  be  ruined,  I  have  therefore  abandoned  it  to  sci-k  refuge 
with  you  ;''  whetvns  the  true  sense  is,  "  Be  it  known  unto  you, 
that  on  account  of  a  gift  or  faculty  I  have  of  seeing  things  to 


358      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  in. 

Incurr'd  a  traitor's  name  ;  expos'd  myself, 
From  certain  and  possessed  conveniences, 

come,  which  faculty  I  suppose  would  be  esteemed  by  you  as 
acceptable  and  useful,  I  have  abandoned  Troy  my  native  coun- 
try." That  he  could  not  mean  what  the  editor  supposes,  ap- 
pears from  these  considerations :  First,  if  he  had  represented 
himself  as  running  from  a  falling  city,  he  could  never  have  said : 

"  I  have expos'd  myself, 

"  From  certain  and  possess'd  conveniences, 

"  To  doubtful  fortunes  ; ." 

Secondly,  the  absolute  knowledge  of  the  fall  of  Troy  was  a 
secret  hid  from  the  inferior  gods  themselves ;  as  appears  from 
the  poetical  history  of  that  war.  It  depended  on  many  contin- 
gencies, whose  existence  they  did  not  foresee.  All  that  they 
knew  was,  that  if  such  and  such  things  happened,  Troy  would 
fall.  And  this  secret  they  communicated  to  Cassandra  only,  but 
along  with  it,  the  fate  not  to  be  believed.  Several  others  knew 
each  a  several  part  of  the  secret ;  one,  that  Troy  could  not  be 
taken  unless  Achilles  went  to  the  war ;  another,  that  it  could 
not  fall  while  it  had  the  palladium  ;  and  so  on.  But  the  secret, 
that  it  was  absolutely  to  fall,  was  known  to  none. — The  sense 
here  given  will  admit  of  no  dispute  among  those  who  know  how 
acceptable  a  seer  was  amongst  the  Greeks.  So  that  this  Calchas, 
like  a  true  priest,  if  it  needs  must  be  so,  went  where  he  could 
exercise  his  profession  with  most  advantage.  For  it  being  much 
less  common  amongst  the  Greeks  than  the  Asiaticks,  there  would 
be  a  greater  demand  for  it.  WARBURTON. 

I  am  afraid,  that  after  all  the  learned  commentator's  efforts 
to  clear  the  argument  of  Calchas,  it  will  still  appear  liable  to 
objection  ;  nor  do  I  discover  more  to  be  urged  in  his  defence, 
than  that  though  his  skill  in  divination  determined  him  to  leave 
Troy,  yet  that  he  joined  himself  to  Agamemnon  and  his  army 
by  unconstrained  good-will ;  and  though  he  came  as  a  fugitive 
escaping  from  destruction,  yet  his  services  after  his  reception, 
being  voluntary  and  important,  deserved  reward.  This  argu- 
ment is  not  regularly  and  distinctly  deduced,  but  this  is,  I  think, 
the  best  explication  that  it  will  yet  admit.  JOHNSOX. 

In  p.  239,  n.  4,  an  account  has  been  given  of  the  motives 
which  induced  Calchas  to  abandon  Troy.  The  services  to  which 
he  alludes,  a  short  quotation  from  Lydgate  will  sufficiently  ex- 
plain. Auncieut  Hut.  &c.  1555  : 


ac.  in.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      359 

To  doubtful  fortunes ;  sequest'ring  from  me  all 
That  time,  acquaintance,  custom,  and  condition, 

"  He  entred  into  the  oratorye, — 
"  And  besily  gan  to  knele  and  praye, 
"  And  his  things  devoutly  for  to  saye, 
"  And  to  the  god  crye  and  call  full  stronge ; 
"  And  for  Apollo  would  not  tho  prolonge, 
"  Sodaynly  his  ans\vere  gan  nttame, 
"  And  sayd  Calchns  twies  by  his  name ; 
"  Be  right  well  'ware  thou  ne  tourne  agayne 
"  To  Troy  townc,  for  that  were  but  in  vayne, 
"  For  finally  lerne  this  thynge  of  me, 
"  In  shorte  tyme  it  shall  destroyed  be : 
"  This  is  in  sooth,  whyeh  may  not  be  denied. 
"  Wherefore  I  will  that  thou  be  alyed 
"  With  the  Greekcs,  and  with  Achilles  go 
"  To  them  anone  ;  my  will  is,  it  be  so : — 
"  For  thou  to  than  shall  lie  necessary, 
"  In  counseling  and  in  giving  rede, 
*'  And  be  right  helping  to  their  good  spcde" 
Mr.  Theobald  thinks  it  strange  that  Calchas  should  claim  any 
merit  for  having  joined  the  Greeks  after  he  had  said  that  he 
knew  his  country  was  undone ;  but  there  is  no  inconsistency : 
he  had  left,  from  whatever  cause,  what  was  dear  to  him,  his 
country,  friends,  children,  £c.  and,  having  joined  and  served 
the  Greeks,  was  entitled  to  protection  and  reward. 

On  the  phrase — As  new  into  the  \vorld,  (for  so  the  old  copy 
reads,)  I  must  observe,  that  it  appears  from  a  great  number  of 
passages  in  our  old  writers,  the  word  into  was  formerly  often 
used  in  the  sense  of  unto,  as  it  evidently  is  here.  In  proof  of 
this  assertion  the  following  passages  may  be  adduced : 

"  It  was  a  pretty  part  in  the  old  church-playes  when  the 
nimble  Vice  would  skip  up  nimbly  like  a  jackanapes  into  the 
devil's  necke,  and  ride  the  devil  a  course1."  Harsnel's  Declara- 
tion of  Popish  Impostures,  4-to.  1(>0'2. 

Again,  in  a  letter  written  by  .1.  Pashm,  July  8,  1  l<f>8  ;  Past  on 
Letters,  Vol.  II.  p.  ~) :  "  — and  they  that  have  justed  with  him 
'»>!<>  this  dav,  have  been  as  richly  beseen,"  &e. 

Again,  in  Laneham's  Account  of  tltc  Entertainment  a!  Kan-J- 
u-orlh,  1,37.~>:  "  —what  time  it  pleased  her  to  rvde  forth  into 
the  chase,  to  hunt  the  hart  of  tors  ;  which  found,  anon,"  iSrc. 

Chase,  indued,  may  mean  here,  the  place  in  which  t!ie  Queen 
hunted  ;  but  I  believe  it  is  employed  in  the  more  ordinary 


360      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTIII. 

Made  tame  and  most  familiar  to  my  nature ; 

And  here,  to  do  you  service,  am  become 

As  new  into  the  world,  strange,  unacquainted : 

I  do  beseech  you,  as  in  way  of  taste, 

To  give  me  now  a  little  benefit, 

Out  of  those  many  register' d  in  promise, 

Which,  you  say,  live  to  come  in  my  behalf. 

AGAM.  What  woitld'st  thou  of  us,  Trojan?  make 
demand, 

CAL.  You  have  a  Trojan  prisoner,  call'd  Antenor,3 

Again,  in  Daniel's  Civil  Warres,  B.  IV.  st.  72,  edit.  1602 : 
"  She  doth  conspire  to  have  him  made  away, — 
"  Thrust  thereinto  not  only  with  her  pride, 
"  But  by  her  father's  counsell  and  consent.'* 
Again,  in  our  author's  All's  -well  that  ends  well : 

" I'll  stay  at  home, 

"  And  pray  God's  blessing  into  thy  attempt."    MALONE. 

The  folio  reads — 

in  things  to  love, 

which  appears  to  me  to  have  no  meaning,  unless  we  adopt  the 
explanation  of  Mr.  Steevens,  which  would  make  sense  of  it. 
The  present  reading,  though  supported  by  Johnson  and  Malone, 
is  little  better  than  nonsense,  and  there  is  this  objection  to  it, 
that  it  was  Juno,  not  Jove,  that  persecuted  the  Trojans.  Jove 
wished  them  well ;  and  though  we  may  abandon  a  man  to  his 
enemies,  we  cannot,  with  propriety,  say,  that  we  abandon  him 
to  his  friends.  Let  me  add,  that  the  speech  of  Calchas  would 
have  been  incomplete,  if  lie  had  said  that  he  abandoned  Troy, 
from  the  sight  he  bore  of  things,  without  explaining  it  by  adding 
the  words — to  come.  I  should,  therefore,  adhere  to  that  read- 
ing, Avhieh  I  consider  as  one  of  those  happy  amendments  which 
do  not  require  any  authority  to  support  them. 

The  merit  of  Calchas  did  not  merely  consist  in  his  having 
come  over  to  the  Greeks ;  he  also  revealed  to  them  the  fate  of 
Troy,  which  depended  on  their  conveying  away  the  palladium, 
and  the  horses  of  Rhesus,  before  they  should  drink  of  the  river 
Xanthus.  M.  MASON. 

!  Antenor,']    Very  few  particulars  respecting  this  Trojan 

arc  preserved  by  Homer.  But  as  Professor  Heyne,  in  his  seventh 
Excursus  to  the  first  JEneid,  observes,  "  Fuit  Antenor  inter 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        361 

Yesterday  took  ;  Troy  holds  him  very  dear. 
Oft  have  you,  (often  have  you  thanks  therefore,) 
Desir'd  my  Cressid  in  right  great  exchange, 
Whom  Troy  hath  still  denied  :   But  this  Antenor, 
I  know,  is  such  a  wrest  in  their  affairs,9 

eos,  in  quorum  rebus  ornantlis  ii  maxime  scriptores  laborarunt, 
qui  narrationes  Ilomericas  novis  commentis  de  suo  onerarunt ; 
non  alitcr  ac  si  delectatio  a  mere  fabulosis  &  temere  effusis  tig- 
mentis  proficisceretur."  STEEVEN.S. 

9  such   a    wrest   in    their   affairs,']     According  to    Dr. 

Johnson,  who  quotes  this  line  in  his  Dictionary,  the  meaning  is, 
that  the  loss  of  Antenor  is  such  a  violent  distortion  of  their 
affairs,  &c.  But  as  in  a  former  scene  [p.  273 — see  n.  '2,]  we 
had  o'er-rested  for  o'er-wrested,  so  here  I  strongly  suspect  wrest 
has  been  printed  instead  of  re>t.  Antenor  is  such  a  stay  or  sup- 
port of  their  affairs,  &c.  All  the  ancient  English  muskets  had 
rests  by  which  they  were  supported.  The  subsequent  words — 
wanting  his  manage — appear  to  me  to  confirm  the  emendation. 
To  say  that  Antenor  himself  (for  so  the  passage  runs,  not  the 
loss  of  Antenor,)  is  a  violent  distortion  of  the  Trojan  nego- 
ciations,  is  little  better  than  nonsense.  MAI.ONE. 

I  have  been  informed  that  a  wrest  anciently  signified  a  sort  of 
tuning-hammer,  by  which  the  strings  of  some  musical  instru- 
ments were  screwed  or  wrested  up  to  their  proper  degree  of  ten- 
sion. Antenor's  advice  might  be  supposed  to  produce  a  conge- 
nial effect  on  the  Trojan  councils,  which  otherwise 

"  . must  slack, 

"  Wanting  his  manage; ."     SFEEVEXS. 

Wrest  is  not  misprinted  for  rest,  as  Mr.  Malone  supposes,  in 
his  correction  of  Dr.  Johnson,  who  has  certainly  mistaken  the 
sense  of  this  word.  It  means  an  instrument  for  tuning  the  harp 
by  drawing  up  the  strings.  Laneham,  in  his  Letter  from 
Kenilworth,  p.  50,  describing  a  minstrel,  says,  "  his  harp  in 
good  grace  dependaunt  before  him  :  his  wreast  tyed  to  a  green 
lace  and  hanging  by."  And  again,  in  Wynne's  History  of  the 
(iwedir  l-'a/nilij:  "  And  setting  forth  very  early  before  day, 
unwittingly  carried  upon  his  finger  the  wrest  of  his  cosen's 
linrpe"  To  wrest,  is  to  wiiid.  See  Minsheu's  Dictionary, 
The:  form  of  the  wrest  may  be  seen  in  some  of  the  illuminated 
service  books,  wherein  David  is  represented  playing  on  his 
harp  ;  in  the  second  part  of  Mersenna's  Harmonics,  p.  69 ;  and 
iu  the  Syntagmata  of  Praetorius,  Vol.  II.  Fig.  xix.  DOUCE. 


362        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTIII. 

That  their  negotiations  all  must  slack, 
Wanting  his  manage  ;  and  they  will  almost 
Give  us  a  prince  of  blood,  a  son  of  Priam, 
In  change  of  him  :  let  him  be  sent,  great  princes, 
And  he  shall  buy  my  daughter ;  and  her  presence 
Shall  quite  strike  off  all  service  I  have  done, 
In  most  accepted  pain.1 

AGAM.  Let  Diomedes  bear  him, 

And  bring  us  Cressid  hither ;  Calchas  shall  have 
What  he  requests  of  us. — Good  Diomed, 
Furnish  you  fairly  for  this  interchange  : 
Withal,  bring  word — if  Hector  will  to-morrow 
Be  answer* d  in  his  challenge :   Ajax  is  ready. 

Dio.  This  shall  I  undertake  j  and  'tis  a  burden 
Which  I  am  proud  to  bear. 

\_Exeunt  DIOMEDES  and  CALCHAS. 

Enter  ACHILLES  and  PATROCLUS,  before  their 
Tent. 

ULYSS.  Achilles  stands  i'the  entrance  of  his 

tent:-— 

Please  it  our  general  to  pass  strangely  by  him, 
As  if  he  were  forgot ;  and,  princes  all, 
Lay  negligent  and  loose  regard  upon  him : 
I  will  come  last :  'Tis  like,  he'll  question  me, 
Why  such  unplausive  eyes  are  bent,  why  turn'd  on 

him  :2 

1  In  most  accepted  pain.]  Sir  T.  Hanmer,  and  Dr.  Warburtou 
after  him,  read : 

In  most  accepted  pay. 

They  do  not  seem  to  underst?.nd  the  construction  of  the  passage. 
Her  presence,  says  Calchas,  shall  strike  off,  or  recompense  the 
service  I  have  done,  even  in  those  labours  which  were  most 
accepted.  JOHNSON. 

"  Why  such  unplausive  eyes  are  bent,  why  turn'd  on  him  :~\ 
If  the  eyes  were  bent  on  him,  they  were  turn'd  on  him.     This 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        563 

If  so,  I  have  derision  med'cinable, 
To  use  between  your  strangeness  and  his  pride, 
Which  his  own  will  shall  have  desire  to  drink  ; 
It  may  do  good :  pride  hath  no  other  glass 
To  show  itself,  but  pride  ;  for  supple  knees 
Feed  arrogance,  and  arc  the  proud  man's  fees. 

AGAM.  We'll  execute  your  purpose,  and  put  on 
A  form  of  strangeness  as  we  pass  along; — 
So  do  each  lord  ;  and  cither  greet  him  not, 
Or  else  disdainfully,  which  shall  shake  him  more 
Than  if  not  look'd  on.     I  will  lead  the  way. 

ACHIL.  What,  comes  the  general  to  speak  with 

me  ? 
You  know  my  mind,  I'll  fight  no  more  'gainst  Troy. 

AGAM.  What  says  Achilles  ?    would  he  aught 
with  us  ? 

NEST.  Would  you,   my  lord,  aught  writh  the 

general  ? 

ACHIL.  No. 

NEST.  Nothing,  my  lord. 

AGAM.  The  better. 

\_Exeunt  AGAMEMNON  and  NESTOR. 

ACHIL.  Good  day,  good  day. 

ME\\  II ow  do  you  ?  how  do  you  ? 

\_Ej'it  MENELAUS, 

Acini..  What,  docs  the  cuckold  scorn  me  ? 

AJAX.  How  now,  Patroclus  ? 
ACHIL.  Good  morrow,  Ajax. 

AJAX.  I  la? 

tautology,  therefore,  together  with  the  redundancy  of  the  line, 
plainly  show  that  we  ought  to  read,  with  Sir  Thomas  Ilamner  : 

H7;y  such  unplausive  ciji's  are  bent  on  him  : 

STEEVENS. 


564        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.   ACTIII. 

ACHIL.  Good  morrow.3 

AJAX.  Ay,  and  good  next  day  too. 

\_Exit  AJAX. 

ACHIL.  What  mean  these  fellows?   Know  they 
not  Achilles  ? 

PATR.  They  pass  by  strangely :  they  were  us'd 

to  bend, 

To  send  their  smiles  before  them  to  Achilles  j 
To  come  as  humbly,  as  they  us'd  to  creep 
To  holy  altars. 

ACHIL.  What,  am  I  poor  of  late  ? 

*Tis  certain,  greatness,  once  fallen  out  with  fortune, 
Must  fall  out  with  men  too:  What  the  declin'd  is, 
He  shall  as  soon  read  in  the  eyes  of  others, 
As  feel  in  his  own  fall :  for  men,  like  butterflies, 
Show  not  their  mealy  wings,  but  to  the  summer ; 
And  not  a  man,  for  being  simply  man, 
Hath  any  honour  ;  but  honour4  for  those  honours 
That  are  without  him,  as  place,  riches,  favour, 
Prizes  of  accident  as  oft  as  merit : 
Which  when  they  fall,  as  being  slippery  standers, 
The  love  that  lean'd  on  them  as  slippery  too, 
Do  one  pluck  down  another,  and  together 
Die  in  the  fall.     But  'tis  not  so  with  me : 
Fortune  and  I  are  friends ;  I  do  enjoy 
At  ample  point  all  that  I  did  possess, 
Save  these  men's  looks;  who  do,  methinks,  find  out 
Something  not  worth  in  me  such  rich  beholding 
As  they  have  often  given.     Here  is  Ulysses ; 

3  Good  morrotv.']  Perhaps,  in  this  repetition  of  the  salute, 
we  should  read,  as  in  the  preceding  instance, — Good  morrow, 
Ajax;  or,  with  more  colloquial  spirit, — I  say,  good  morrow. 
Otherwise  the  metre  is  defective.  STEEVF.XS. 

bui  honour — ]     Thus  the  quarto.     The  folio  reads—- 


but honoured.     MALONE. 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        365 

I'll  interrupt  his  reading. — 
How  now,  Ulysses  ? 

ULYSS.  Now,  great  Thetis'  son  ? 

ACIIIL.  What  are  you  reading  ? 

ULYSS.  A  strange  fellow  here 

Writes  me,  That  man — how  dearly  ever  parted,5 
How  much  in  having,  or  without,  or  in, — 
Cannot  make  boast  to  have  that  which  he  hath, 
Nor  feels  not  what  he  owes,  but  by  reflection ; 
As  when  his  virtues  shining  upon  others 
Heat  them,  and  they  retort  that  heat  again 
To  the  first  giver. 

ACIIIL.  This  is  not  strange,  Ulysses. 

The  beauty  that  is  borne  here  in  the  face 
The  bearer  knows  not,  but  commends  itself 
To  others'  eyes :  nor  doth  the  eye  itself6 
(That  most  pure  spirit7  of  sense,)  behold  itself, 


5  hoiv  dearly  ever  parted,]    However  excellently  cndoivedt 

with  however  dear  or  precious  parts  enriched  or  adorned. 

JOHNSON. 

Johnson's  explanation  of  the  word  parted  is  just.  So,  in  Ben 
Jonson's  Every  Man  out  of  his  Humour,  he  describes  Macilente 
as  a  man  well  parted;  and  in  Massinger's  Great  Duke  of  Florence, 
•Sanazarro  says  of  Lydia  : 

"  And  I,  my  lord,  chose  rather 

"  To  deliver  her  better  parted  than  she  is, 

"  Than  to  take  from  her."     M.  MASON. 

So,  in  a  subsequent  passage  : 

" no  man  is  the  lord  of  any  thing, 

"  (Though  in  and  of  him  there  is  much  consisting,) 
"  Till  he  communicate  Ins  parts  to  others."    MALONE, 

*  nor  doth  the  eye  itself  &c."\     So,  in  Julius  Ca-sar  : 

"  No,  Cassius ;  for  the  eye  sees  not  itself, 

"  But  by  reflexion,  by  some  other  things."     SxKEVEN'St. 

7    To  others'  ei/ex  : 

(  That  most  pure  spirit  &c.]     These  two  lines  are  totally 
omitted  in  all  the  editions  but  the  first  quarto.     I'oi'K. 


366        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTUI. 

Not  going  from  itself;  but  eye  to  eye  oppos'd 
Salutes  each  other  with  each  other's  form. 
For  speculation  turns  not  to  itself,8 
Till  it  hath  travelled,  and  is  married  there 
Where  it  may  see  itself:  this  is  not  strange  at  all. 

ULYSS.  I  do  not  strain  at  the  position, 
It  is  familiar  ;  but  at  the  author's  drift : 
Who,  in  his  circumstance,9  expressly  proves — 
That  no  man  is  the  lord  of  any  thing, 
(Though  in  and  of  him  there  be  much  consisting,) 
Till  he  communicate  his  parts  to  others : 
Nor  doth  he  of  himself  know  them  for  aught 
Till  he  behold  them  form'd  in  the  applause 
Where  they  are  extended;  which,  like1  an  arch, 

reverberates 

The  voice  again  ;  or  like  a  gate  of  steel 
Fronting  the  sun,2  receives  and  renders  back 
His  figure  and  his  heat.     I  was  much  rapt  in  this; 
And  apprehended  here  immediately 
The  unknown  Ajax.3 

Heavens,  what  a  man  is  there  !  a  very  horse ; 
That  has  he  knows  not  what.     Nature,  what  things 

there  are, 

*  For  speculation  turns  not  <Src.]      Speculation  has  here  the 
same  meaning  as  in  Macbeth  : 

"  Thou  hast  no  speculation  in  those  eyes 
"  Which  thou  dost  glare  with."     MALOXE. 

—  in  his  circumstance,']     In  the  detail  or  circumduction 
of  his  argument.     JOHNSON. 

1  which,  like — ]     Old  copies — to/to,  like — .     Corrected 

by  Mr.  Howe.     MALOXE. 

s  a  gate  of  steel 

Fronting  the  sun,~\  This  idea  appears  to  have  been  caught 
from  some  of  our  ancient  romances,  which  often  describe  gates 
of  similar  materials  and  effulgence.  STEEVEXS. 

3   The  unknown  Ajfu:.~\     Ajax,  vho  has  abilities,  which  were 
never  brought  into  view  or  use.     JOHNSON. 


sc.ni.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        367 

Most  abject  in  regard,  and  dear  in  use ! 
What  things  again  most  dear  in  the  esteem, 
And  poor  in  worth  !  Now  shall  we  see  to-morrow, 
An  act  that  very  chance  doth  throw  upon  him, 
Ajax  renown'd.4     O  heavens,  what  some  men  do, 
While  some  men  leave  to  do ! 
How  some  men  creep  in  skittish  fortune's  hall,5 
Whiles  others  play  the  idiots  in  her  eyes ! 
How  one  man  eats  into  another's  pride, 
While  pride  is  fasting6  in  his  wantonness! 
To  see  these  Grecian  lords ! — why,  even  already 
They  clap  the  lubber  Ajax  on  the  shoulder; 

*  Now  shall  we  .v;";  to-morrow. 

An  act  that  rcn/  chance  doth  throw  t'pon  him, 

Ajax  >rn<mviV.J     I  once   thought  that  we  ought  to  read 

renown,     lint  by  considering  the  middle  line  as  parenthetical, 

the  passage  is  sufficiently  clear.     MALONE. 

By  placing  a  break  after  him,  the  construction  v/ill  be  : — Now 
we  shall  see  to-morrow  an  act  that  very  chance  doth  throw  upon 
him — [we  shall  see]  Ajax  renown'd.  HENLEY. 

4  How  some  men  creep  in  skittish  fortune's  hall,']  To  creep 
is  to  keep  out  of  sight  from  whatever  motive.  Some  men  keep 
out  of  notice  in  the  hall  of  fortune,  while  others,  though  they 
butyj/rty  the  idiot,  are  always  in  her  eye,  in  the  way  of  distinc- 
tion. JOHNSON. 

I  cannot  think  that  creep,  used  without  any  explanatory  word, 
can  mean  to  keep  out  of  sight.  While  some  men,  says  Ulysses, 
remain  tamely  inactive  in  fortune's  hall,  without  any  efiort  to 
excite  her  attention,  others,  »\c.  Such,  I  think,  is  the  meaning. 

M ALONE 

0  fasting — ]     Quarto.     The  folio  has  feasting.     Either 

word  may  bear  a  good  sense.     JOHNSON. 

1  have  preferred  fasting,  the  rending  of  the  quarto,  to  feasting, 
which  we  find  in  the  folio,  not  only  because  the  quarto  copies 
are  in  general  preferable  to  the  folio,  but  because  the  original 
reading  furnishes  that  kind  of  antithesis  of  which  our  poet  w;is 
M)  fond.     One  man  eats,  while1  another  fasts.     Achilles  is  he  who 
fasts  ;  who  capriciously  abstains  from  those  active  exertions  which 
would  furni>h  m.>w  food  tor  his  pride.     M 


368        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTIII. 

As  if  his  foot  were  on  brave  Hector's  breast, 
And  great  Troy  shrinking.7 

ACHIL.  I  do  believe  it :  for  they  pass'd  by  me, 
As  misers  do  by  beggars ;  neither  gave  to  me 
Good  word,  nor  look  :  What,  are  my  deeds  forgot  ? 

ULYSS.  Time  hath,  my  lord,  a  wallet  at  his  back,8 
Wherein  he  puts  alms  for  oblivion, 
A  great-sized  monster  of  ingratitudes  : 
Those  scraps  are  good  deeds  past :  which  are  devour' d 
As  fast  as  they  are  made,  forgot  as  soon 
As  done  :  Perseverance,  dear  my  lord, 
Keeps  honour  bright :  To  have  done,  is  to  hang 
Quite  out  of  fashion,  like  a  rusty  mail 
In  monumental  mockery.    Take  the  instant  way  j 
For  honour  travels  in  a  strait  so  narrow, 
Where  one  but  goes  abreast :  keep  then  the  path  ; 
For  emulation  hath  a  thousand  sons, 

7  And  great  Troy  shrinking.]     The  quarto — shrieking.     The 
folio  has,  less  poetically, — shrinking.     The  following  passage  in 
the  subsequent  scene  supports  the  reading  of  the  quarto : 

"  Hark,  how  Troy  roars  ;  how  Hecuba  cries  out ; 
"  How  poor  Andromache  shrills  her  dolours  forth ; 
"  And  all  cry — Hector,  Hector's  dead."  MALONE. 

I  prefer  the  reading  of  the  folio.  That  the  collective  body  of 
martial  Trojans  should  shrink  at  sight  of  their  hero's  danger,  is 
surely  more  natural  to  be  supposed,  than  that,  like  frighted 
women,  they  would  unite  in  a  general  shriek. 

As  to  what  Cassandra  says,  in  the  preceding  note, — it  is  the 
fate  of  that  lady's  evidence — never  to  be  received.  STEEVENS. 

8  Time  hath,  my  lord,  a  wallet  at  his  back,~\     This  speech  is 
printed  in  all  the  modern  editions  with  such  deviations  from  the 
old  copy,  as  exceed  the  lawful  power  of  an  editor.     JOHNSON. 

This  image  is  literally  from  Spenser : 

"  And  eeke  this  wallet  at  your  bache  arreare — 
a *         

"  And  in  this  bag,  which  I  behinde  me  don, 
"  I  put  repentaunce  for  things  past  and  gone." 

Fairy  Queen,  13.  VI.  c.  viii.  st.  24*.     BOADEN. 


if.  ///.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         369 

That  one  by  one  pursue :  If  you  give  way, 

Or  hedge  aside  from  the  direct  forthright, 

Like  to  an  enter'd  tide,  they  all  rush  by, 

And  leave  you  hindmost ; — 

Or,  like  a  gallant  horse  fallen  in  first  rank, 

Lie  there  for  pavement  to  the  abject  rear,'' 

O'er-run !  and  trampled  on  :  Then  what  they  do  in 

present, 

Though  less  than  yours  in  past,  must  o'ertop  yours: 
For  time  is  like  a  fashionable  host, 
That  slightly  shakes  his  parting  guest  by  the  hand; 
And  with  his  arms  out-stretch'd,  as  he  would  fly, 
Grasps-in  the  comer :  Welcome  ever  smiles,2 
And  farewell  goes  out  sighing.  O,letnotvirtueseek 
Remuneration  for  the  thing  it  was ; 
For  beauty,  wit," 

0 to  tin'  abject  rear,]     So  Hanmcr.     All  the  editors  be- 

fore  him  read — to  the  abject,  near.     JOHNSON. 

1  O'er-run  &c.]  The  quarto  wholly  omits  the  simile  of  the 
horse,  and  reads  thus  : 

And  leave  you  hindmost,  then  tvhat  they  do  at  present — 
The  folio  seems  to  have  some  omission,  for  the  simile  begins, 

Or,  like  a  gallant  horse .     JOHNSON. 

The  construction  is,  Or,  like  a  gallant  horse,  &c.  you  lie  there 
for  pavement — ;  the  personal  pronoun  of  a  preceding  line  being 
understood  here.  There  are  many  other  passages  in  these  plays 
in  which  a  similar  ellipsis  is  found.  So,  in  this  play,  p.  !3()5  : 
" — but  commends  itself — ,"  instead  of"  — but  //  commends 
itself."  MA  LONE. 

Welcome  ever  smiles,"]      The  compositor   inadvertently 

repeated  the  word  the,  which  has  just  occurred,  and  printed — 
the  welcome,  &c.     The  emendation  was  made  by  Mr.  J'ope. 

MALONE. 
J  Fur  bra uly,  tr//,  &c.]     The  modern  editors  read  : 

For  beauty,  nit,  high  birth,  desert  in  service,  <X:c. 
I    do  not  deny  but  the  changes  produce  a  more  easy  lapse  of 
numbers,  but  they  do  not  exhibit  the  work  of  Shakspeare. 

JOHNSOV. 

Dr.  Johnson  might  have  said, — the  work  of  Shakspeare.  ;;* 
VOL.  XV.  '2  F, 


370        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.  ACT  in. 

High  birth,  vigour  of  bone,  desert  in  service, 
Love,  friendship,  charity,  are  subjects  all 
To  envious  and  calumniating  time. 
One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin, — 
That  all,  with  one  consent,  praise  new-born  gawds, 
Though  they  are  made  and  moulded  of  things  past; 
And  give  to  dust,  that  is  a  little  gilt, 
More  laud  than  gilt  o'er- dusted.4 

mangled  by  theatres,  ignorant  transcribers,  and  unskilful  printers. 
He  has  somewhere  else  observed,  that  perhaps  we  have  not  re- 
ceived one  of  our  author's  plays  as  it  was  originally  written. 

STEEVENS. 
4  And  give  to  dust,  that  is  a  little  gilt, 

More  laud  than  gilt  o'er-dusted.]     [The  old  copies — goe  to 
dust.]     In  this  mangled  condition  do  we  find  this  truly  fine  ob- 
servation transmitted.    Mr.  Pope  saw  it  was  corrupt,  and  there- 
fore, as  I  presume,  threw  it  out  of  the  text ;  because  he  would  not 
indulge  his  private  sense  in  attempting  to  make  sense  of  it.   I  owe 
the  foundation  of  the  amendment,  which  I  have  given  in  the  text, 
to  the  sagacity  of  the  ingenious  Dr.  Thirlby.     I  read  : 
And  give  to  dust,  that  is  a  little  gilt, 
More  laud  than  they  will  give  to  gold  o'cr-dus'cd. 

THKOBALD. 

This  emendation  has  been  adopted  by  the  succeeding  editors, 
but  recedes  too  far  from  the  copy.  There  is  no  other  corruption 
than  such  as  Shakspeare's  incorrectness  often  resembles.  He 
has  omitted  the  article — to  in  the  second  line  :  he  should  have 
written : 

More  laud  than  to  gilt  o'er-dusted.     JOHNSON*. 

Gilt,  in  the  second  line,  is  a  substantive.  See  Coriofanus, 
Act  I.  sc.  iii. 

Dust  a  little  gilt  means,  ordinary  performances  ostentatiously 
displayed  and  magnified  by  the  favour  of  friends  and  that  admi- 
ration of  novelty  which  prefers  "  new-born  gawds"  to  "  things 
past."  Gilt  o'er-dusted  means,  splendid  actions  of  preceding 
ages,  the  remembrance  of  which  is  weakened  by  time. 

The  poet  seems  to  have  been  thinking  either  of  those  monu- 
ments which  he  has  mentioned  in  All's  ucll  that  endsiuell: 
"  Where  ditzt  and  damn'd  oblivion  is  the  tomb 

"  Of  honoured  bones  indeed; ." 

or  of  t\\e gildrrl  armour,  trophies,  banners,  &c.  often  hung  up  in 
churches  in  "  monumental  mockery."  MALONE. 


sc.m.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        371 

The  present  eye  praises  the  present  object : 
Then  marvel  not,  thou  great  and  c6inplete  man, 
That  all  the  Greeks  begin  to  worship  Ajax ; 
Since  things  in  motion  sooner  catch  the  eye, 
Than  what  not  stirs.  The  cry  went  once  on  thee,5 
And  still  it  might ;  and  yet  it  may  again, 
If  thou  would* st  not  entomb  thyself  alive, 
And  case  thy  reputation  in  thy  tent ; 
Whose  glorious  deeds,  but  in  these  fields  of  late, 
Made  emulous  missions6  'mongst  the  gods  them- 
selves, 
And  drave  great  Mars  to  faction. 

ACHIL.  Of  this  my  privacy 

I  have  strong  reasons. 

ULYSS.  But  'gainst  your  privacy 

The  reasons  are  more  potent  and  heroical : 
'Tis  known,  Achilles,  that  you  are  in  love 
With  one  of  Priam's  daughters.7 

ACHIL.  Ha!  known?5 

ULYSS.  Is  that  a  wonder  ? 
The  providence  that's  in  a  watchful  state, 

•iKCnt  once  on  ihce,~\     So  the  quarto.     The  folio — went 


0  Made  emulous  missions — ]  The  meaning  of  mission  seems 
to  he  dispatches  of  the  gods  from  hcu-ccn  about  mortal  business, 
such  as  often  happened  at  the  siege  of  Troy.  JOHNSON*. 

It  means  the  descent  of  deities  to  combat  on  either  side  ;  an 
idc'.i  which  Shakspcare  very  probably  adopted  from  Chapman's 
translation  of  Homer.  In  the  fifth  1'on'c,  Diomed  wounds  Mars, 
who  on  his  return  to  heaven  i;;  rated  by  Jupiter  for  having  inter- 
fered in  the  battle.  This  disobedience  is  the  faction  which  I 
suppose  Ulysses  would  describe.  STKI;VKKS. 

nnc  of  Priam's  (htnghlcrs.~]      Polyxena,  in  the  act  of 

marrying  whom,  he  was  afterwards  killed  by  Paris.    STEEVENS. 

"  Jin!  known?]  I  must  suppose  that,  in  the  present  instance, 
lome  word,  wanting  to  the  metre,  has  been  omitted.  Perhaps 
the  poet  wrote — IIu!  is't  known?  STI;I:VF,\S. 

'J  15  2 


372        T&OILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  m. 

Knows  almost  every  grain  of  Plutus'  gold ; 9 
Finds  bottom  in  the  uncomprehensive  deeps ; 
Keeps  place  with  thought,1  and  almost,  like  the 

gods, 
Does  thoughts  unveil  in  their  dumb  cradles.2 

9  Knows  almost  every  grain  of  Plutus'  gold ;]  For  this  ele- 
gant line  the  quarto  has  only : 

Knoivs  almost  every  thing.     JOHNSON. 

The  old  copy  has — Pluto's  gold ;  but,  I  think,  we  should 
read — of  Plutus*  gold.  So,  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Phi' 
luster,  Act  IV: 

"  'Tis  not  the  wealth  of  Plutus,  nor  the  gold 

"  Lock'd  in  the  heart  of  earth ."     STEEVENS. 

The  "correction  of  this  obvious  error  of  the  press,  needs  no 
justification,  though  it  was  not  admitted  by  Mr.  Steevens  in  his 
own  edition.  The  same  error  is  found  in  Julius  Ccesar,  Act  IV. 
sc.  iii.  where  it  has  been  properly  corrected  : 

"  . within,  a  heart, 

"  Dearer  than  Pluto's  mine,  richer  than  gold." 
So,  in  this  play,  Act  IV.  sc.  i.  we  find  in   the  quarto — to 
Caicho^s  house,  instead  of — to  Calchas*  house.     MALONE. 

J  Keeps  place  tuitk  thought,']  i.  e.  there  is  in  the  providence 
of  a  state,  as  in  the  providence  of  the  universe,  a  kind  of  ubi- 
quity. The  expression  is  exquisitely  fine  ;  yet  the  Oxford  editor 
alters  it  to — Keeps  pace,  and  so  destroys  all  its  beauty. 

WARBURTON. 

Is  there  not  here  some  allusion  to  that  sublime  description  of 
the  Divine  Omnipresence  in  the  139th  Psalm?  HENLEY. 

2  Does  thoughts  unveil  in  their  dumb  cradles.']  It  is  clear,  from 
the  defect  of  the  metre,  that  some  word  of  two  syllables  was 
omitted  by  the  carelessness  of  the  transcriber  or  compositor. 
Shakspeare  perhaps  wrote : 

Does  thoughts  themselves  unveil  in  their  dumb  cradles. 
Or, 

Docs  infant  thoughts  unveil  in  their  dumb  cradles. 
So,  in  King  Richard  III : 

"  And  turn  his  infant  morn  to  aged  night." 
In  Timon  of  'Athens,  we  have  the  same  allusion : 
"  Joy  had  the  like  conception  in  my  brain, 
"  And  at  that  instant,  like  a  babe  sprung  itp."    MALOXE. 
Sir  Thomas  Hanmer  reads  : 

Does  even  our  thoughts  &c.     STEEYKVS. 


s'c.  in.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        573 

There  is  a  mystery  (with  whom  relation 
Durst  never  meddle3)  in  the  soul  of  state ; 
Which  hath  an  operation  more  divine, 
Than  breath,  or  pen,  can  give  expressure  to : 
All  the  commerce4  that  you  have  had  with  Troy, 
As  perfectly  is  ours,  as  yours,  my  lord  j 
And  better  would  it  fit  Achilles  much, 
To  throw  down  Hector,  than  Polyxena : 
But  it  must  grieve  young  Pyrrhus  now  at  home, 
AVhen  fame  shall  in  our  islands  sound  her  trump ; 
And  all  the  Greekish  girls  shall  tripping  sing, — 
Great  Hector's  sister  did  Achilles  tviti; 
But  our  great  Ajax  bravely  beat  down  him. 
Farewell,  my  lord  :  I  as  your  lover  speak ; 
The  fool  slides  o'er  the  ice  that  you  should  break. 

[Exit. 

PATH.  To  this  effect,  Achilles, have  I  mov'd  you: 
A  woman  impudent  and  mannish  grown 
Is  not  more  loath'd  than  an  effeminate  man 
In  time  of  action.     I  stand  condemn'd  for  this  ; 
They  think,  my  little  stomach  to  the  war, 
And  your  great  love  to  me,  restrains  you  thus : 
Sweet,  rouse  yourself;  and  the  weak  wanton  Cupid 
Shall  from  your  neck  unloose  his  amorous  fold, 
And,  like  a  dew-drop  from  the  lion's  mane, 
Be  shook  to  air.5 

ACHIL.  Shall  Ajax  fight  with  Hector? 

' (with  lu/iom  relation 

Durst  never  meddle] — ]    There  is  a  secret  administration  of 
affairs,  which  no  history  was  ever  able  to  discover.     JOHNSOM. 

4  All  the  commerce — ]     Thus  also  is  the  word  accented  by 
Chapman,  in  his  version  of  the  fourth  Book  of  Homer's  Odyssey: 
"  To  labour's  taste,  nor  the  commerce  of  men." 

STEEVEXS. 

' to  ciir.']     So  the  quarto.     The  folio — ayric  air. 

Joyxsos. 


374        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.  ACT  in. 

PATR.  Ay ;  and,  perhaps,  receive  much  honour 
by  him. 

ACHIL.  I  see,  my  reputation  is  at  stake  ; 
My  fame  is  shrewdly  gor'd.6 

PATH.  O,  then  beware  ; 

Those  wounds  heal  ill, that  men  do  give  themselves: 
Omission  to  do  what  is  necessary7 
Seals  a  commission  to  a  blank  01  danger ; 
And  danger,  like  an  ague,  subtly  taints 
Even  then  when  we  sit  idly  in  the  sun. 

ACHIL.  Go  callThersites  hither,  sweet  Patroclus: 
I'll  send  the  fool  to  Ajax,  and  desire  him 
To  invite  the  Trojan  lords  after  the  combat, 
To  see  us  here  unarm'd :  I  have  a  woman's  longing, 
An  appetite  that  I  am  sick  withal, 
To  see  great  Hector  in  his  weeds  of  peace ; 
To  talk  with  him,  and  to  behold  his  visage, 
Even  to  my  full  of  view.     A  labour  sav'd ! 

Enter  TIIERSITES. 

THER.  A  wonder ! 
ACHIL.  What? 

THER.  Ajax  goes  up  and  down  the  field,  asking 
for  himself. 

ACHIL.  How  so  ? 

c  My  fame  is  skretodly  gor'd.]  So,  in  our  author's  110th 
Sonnet : 

"  Alas,  'tis  true  ;  I  have  gone  here  and  there, — 
"  Gor'd  mine  own  thoughts, "     MALONE. 

7  Omission  to  do  £c.J  By  neglecting  our  duty  we  commission 
or  enable  that  danger  of  dishonour,  which  could  not  reach  us 
before,  to  lay  hold  upon  us.  JOHNSON. 


sc.m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       375 

THER.  He  must  fight  singly  to-morrow  with 
Hector;  and  is  so  prophetically  proud  of  an  lie- 
roical  cudgelling,  that  he  raves  in  saying  nothing. 

ACHIL.  How  can  that  be  ? 

THER.  Why,  he  stalks  up  and  clown  like  a  pea- 
cock, a  stride,  and  a  stand  :  ruminates,  like  an 
hostess,  that  hath  no  arithmetick  but  her  brain  to 
set  down  her  reckoning  :  bites  his  lip  with  a  poli- 
tick regard,8  as  who  should  say  —  there  were  wit  in 
this  head,  an  'twould  out  ;  and  so  there  is  ;  but  it 
lies  as  coldly  in  him  as  fire  in  a  flint,  which  will 
not  show  without  knocking.9  The  man's  undone 
for  ever  ;  for  if  Hector  break  not  his  neck  i'the 
combat,  he'll  break  it  himself  in  vain-glory.  He 
knows  not  me  :  I  said,  Good-morrow,  Ajax  ;  and 
lie  replies,  Thanks^  Agamemnon.  What  think  you 
of  this  man,  that  takes  me  for  the  general  ?  He  is 
grown  a  very  land-fish,  languageless,  a  monster.  A 
plague  of  opinion  !  a  man  may  wear  it  on  both  sides, 
like  a  leather  jerkin. 

Acini,.  Thou  must  be  my  ambassador  to  him, 
Thersites. 

THER.  Who,  I  ?  why,  he'll  answer  nobody  ;  lie 
professes  not  answering  ;  speaking  is  for  beggars  ; 
he  wears  his  tongue  iu  his  arms.1  I  will  put  on  his 
presence  ;  let  Patroclus  make  demands  to  me,  you 
shall  see  the  pageant  of  Ajax. 


ici'ilt  a  politick  regard,"]     With  a  ,s/y  hole.     JOHNSON. 

it  l/cs  a;;  coldly  in  Ji'nn  as  j'.rc  in  <t  Jliiil,  ivuick  If///  no 
' 


icilhout  knocking.']      So,  in  Julius  Ccctnr: 
"  That  carries  anger,  as  ihcjlint  bears  jirc; 
"  Who,  much  enforced,  shows  a  hasty  spark, 
"  And  straight  is  cold  again."      STKF.VKNS. 

—  iif  wars  his  tongue  in  hi*  arms.]      So,  in  Macbeth; 
"  My  "voice  is  in  my  ,mwr/."     STKEVKNS. 


376        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.  ACT  in. 

ACHIL.  Tohim,Patroclus:  Tell  him, — I  humbly 
desire  the  valiant  Ajax,  to  invite  the  most  valorous 
Hector  to  come  unarmed  to  my  tent ;  and  to  pro- 
cure safe  conduct  for  his  person,  of  the  magnani- 
mous, and  most  illustrious,  six-or-seven-times-ho- 
noured  captain-general  of  the  Grecian  army,  Aga- 
memnon. Do  this. 

PATR.  Jove  bless  great  Ajax. 

THER.  Humph! 

PATR.  I  come  from  the  worthy  Achilles,: — r- 

THER.  Ha! 

PATR.  Who  most  humbly  desires  you,  to  invite 
Hector  to  his  tent,  • 

THER.  Humph! 

PATR.  And  to  procure  safe  conduct  from  Aga- 
memnon. 

THER.  Agamemnon? 

PATR.  Ay,  my  lord. 

THER.  Ha! 

PATR.  What  say  you  to't  ? 

THER.  God  be  wi*  you,  with  all  my  heart. 

PATR.  Your  answer,  sir. 

TIIER.  If  to-morrow  be  a  fair  day,  by  eleven 
o'clock  it  will  go  one  way  or  other ;  howsoever,  he 
shall  pay  for  me  ere  he  has  me. 

PATR.  Your  answer,  sir. 

THER.  Fare  you  well,  with  all  my  heart. 

ACHIL.  Why,  but  he  is  not  in  this  tune,  is  he  ? 

TIIER.  No,  but  he's  out  o'tune  thus.  What  mu- 
sick  will  be  in  him  when  Hector  has  knocked  out 
his  brains,  I  know  not :  But,  I  am  sure,  none ; 


sc.ni.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        377 

unless  the  fiddler  Apollo  get  his  sinews  to  make 
catlings  on.2 

ACHIL.  Come,  thou  shalt  bear  a  letter  to  him 
straight. 

THER.  Let  me  bear  another  to  his  horse ;  for 
that's  the  more  capable  creature.3 

ACHIL.  My  mind  is  troubled,  like  a  fountain 

stirr'd ; 
And  I  myself  see  not  the  bottom  of  it.* 

\_Exeunt  ACHILLES  and  PATROCLUS. 

THER.  'Would  the  fountain  of  your  mind  were 
clear  again,  that  I  might  water  an  ass  at  it !  I  had 
rather  be  a  tick  in  a  sheep,  than  such  a  valiant 
ignorance.  \_Exit. 

'  to  make  catlings  on."]      It  has  been  already  observed 

that  a  catling  signifies  a  small  lute-string  made  of  catgut.  One 
of  the  musicians  in  Romeo  and  Juliet  is  called  Simon  Catling. 

STEEVENS. 

3  the   more   capable   creature."]      The   more   intelligent 

creature.     So,  in  King  Richard  III: 

"  Bold,  forward,  quick,  ingenious,  capable.*' 
See  also  Vol.  XV.  p.  187,  n.  2.     M  ALONE. 

4  And  I  myself  see  not  the  bottom  ofil.~\      This  is  an  image 
frequently  introduced  by  our  author.     So,  in  King  Henri/  IV. 
Part  II :    "I  ace  the  bottom  of  Justice  Shallow.*'     Again,  in 
King  Henry  VI.  Part  II : 

" we  then  should  sec  the  bottom 

"  Of  all  our  fortunes."     STEEVENS. 


378        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  iv. 

ACT  IV.    SCENE  I. 

Troy.     A  Street. 

Enter,  at  one  side,  ./ENEAS  and  Servant,  with  a 
Torch  ;  at  the  other,  PARIS,  DEIPHOBUS,  ANTE- 
NOR,  DIOMEDES,  and  Others,  with  Torches. 

PAR.  See,  ho !  who's  that  there  ? 

DEI.  'Tis  the  lord  .^Eneas. 

JENE.  Is  the  prince  there  in  person  ? — 
Had  I  so  good  occasion  to  lie  long, 
As  you,  prince  Paris,  nothing  but  heavenly  business 
Should  rob  my  bed-mate  of  my  company. 

Dio.  That's  my  mind  too. — Good  morrow,  lord 
^Eneas. 

PAR.  A  valiant  Greek,  JEneas  ;  take  his  hand : 
Witness  the  process  of  your  speech,  wherein 
You  told — how  Diomed,  a  whole  week  by  days, 
Did  haunt  you  in  the  field. 

J&NE.  Health  to  you,  valiant  sir,5 

During  all  question  of  the  gentle  truce  :6 

*  valiant  sir,']     The  epithet — valiant,  appears  to  have 

been  caught  by  the  compositor  from  the  preceding  speed),  and 
is  introduced  here  only  to  spoil  the  metre.     STEEVENS. 

c  During  all  question  of  the  gentle  truce  :~]     I  once  thought 
to  read : 

During  all  quiet  of  the  gentle  truce  : 

But  I  think  question  means  intercourse,  interchange  of  conver- 
sation.    JOHNSON. 

See  Vol.  VII.  p.  349,  n.  9.     Question  of  the  gentle  truce  is, 
conversation  while  the  gentle  truce  lasts.     MALONE. 


ac.  i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        379 

But  when  I  meet  you  arm'd,  as  black  defiance, 
As  heart  can  think,  or  courage  execute. 

Dio.  The  one  and  other  Diomed  embraces. 
Our  bloods  are  now  in  calm  ;  and,  so  long,  health  : 
But  when  contention  and  occasion  meet, 
By  Jove,  I'll  play  the  hunter  for  thy  life, 
With  all  my  force,  pursuit,  and  policy. 

JENE.  And  thou  shalt  hunt  a  lion,  that  will  fly 
With  his  face  backward. — In  humane  gentleness, 
Welcome  to  Troy !  now,  by  Anchises'  life, 
Welcome,  indeed !  By  Venus'  hand  I  swear,7 
No  man  alive  can  love,  in  such  a  sort, 
The  thing  he  means  to  kill,  more  excellently. 

Dio.  We  sympathize : — Jove,  let  ^Eneas  live, 
If  to  my  sword  his  fate  be  not  the  glory, 
A  thousand  complete  courses  of  the  sun ! 
But,  in  mine  emulous  honour,  let  him  die, 
With  every  joint  a  wound ;  and  that  to-morrow ! 

JENE.  We  know  each  other  well. 

Dio.  We  do ;  and  long  to  know  each  other  worse. 

PAR.  This  is  the  most  despiteful  gentle  greeting, 
The  noblest  hateful  love,  that  e'er  I  heard  of. — 
What  business,  lord,  so  early  ? 

jENE.  I  was  sent  for  to  the  king ;  but  why,  I 
know  not. 

PAR.  His  purpose  meets  you;8  'Twas  to  bring 
this  Greek 

7  7?y   Venus1  hand  I  sircar,"]      This  oath  was  used  to 

insinuate  his  resentment  lor  Diomedes'  wounding  his  mother  in 
the  hand.     WAKBUKTOX. 

I  believe  Shakspeare  had  no  such  allusion  in  his  thoughts. 
He  would  hardly  have  made  /Eneas  civil  and  uncivil  in  the 
same  breath.  STEEVE.VS. 

8  His  purpose  meets  you ,-]     I  bring  you  his  meaning  and  his 
orders.    JOHNSON. 


380        TROILUS  AND  CRESSID  A.     ACTIV. 

To  Calchas'  house ;  and  there  to  render  him, 
For  the  enfreed  Antenor,  the  fair  Cressid  : 
Let's  have  your  company ;  or,  if  you  please, 
Haste  there  before  us  :  I  constantly  do  think, 
(Or,  rather,  call  my  thought  a  certain  knowledge,) 
My  brother  Troilus  lodges  there  to-night ; 
Rouse  him,  and  give  him  note  of  our  approach, 
With  the  whole  quality  wherefore :  I  fear, 
We  shall  be  much  unwelcome. 

J&NE.  That  I  assure  you  ; 

Troilus  had  rather  Troy  were  borne  to  Greece, 
Than  Cressid  borne  from  Troy. 

PAR.  There  is  no  help  ; 

The  bitter  disposition  of  the  time 
Will  have  it  so.     On,  lord ;  we'll  follow  you. 

J&NE.  Good  morrow,  all.  [Exit. 

PAR.  And  tell  me,  noble  Diomed ;  'faith,  tell  me 

true, 

Even  in  the  soul  of  sound  good-fellowship, — 
Who,  in  your  thoughts,  merits  fair  Helen  best, 
Myself,  or  Menelaus  ? 

Dio.  Both  alike : 

He  merits  well  to  have  her,  that  doth  seek  her 
(Not  making  any  scruple  of  her  soilure,) 
With  such  a  hell  of  pain,  and  world  of  charge  ; 
And  you  as  wrell  to  keep  her,  that  defend  her 
(Not  palating  the  taste  of  her  dishonour,) 
With  such  a  costly  loss  of  wealth  and  friends : 
He,  like  a  puling  cuckold,  would  drink  up 
The  lees  and  dregs  of  a  flat  tamed  piece  ;9 

9  a  flat  tamed  piece ;]     i.e.  a  piece  of  wine  out  of 

which  the  spirit  is  all  flown.     WARBURTON. 

This  word,  with  a  somewhat  similar  sense,  occurs  in  Con'o- 
lanus  : 

"  His  remedies  are  tame  i'thc  present  peace •" 

STEEVEN?-. 


sc.r.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        38 1 

You,  like  a  lecher,  out  of  whorish  loins 
Are  pleas'd  to  breed  out  your  inheritors : 
Both  merits  pois'd,  each  weighs  nor  less  nor  more  ; 
But  he  as  he,  the  heavier  for  a  whore.1 

PAR.  You  are  too  bitter  to  your  countrywoman. 

DIG.    She's  bitter  to  her  country :     Hear  me, 

Paris, — 

For  every  false  drop  in  her  bawdy  veins 
A  Grecian's  life  hath  sunk ;  for  every  scruple 
Of  her  contaminated  carrion  weight, 
A  Trojan  hath  been  slain :  since  she  could  speak, 
She  hath  not  given  so  many  good  words  breath, 
As  for  her  Greeks  and  Trojans  sufler'd  death. 

PAR.  Fair  Diomed,  you  do  as  chapmen  do, 
Dispraise  the  thing  that  you  desire  to  buy  : 

1  Both  merits  pois'd,  eack  weighs  nor  less  nor  mort  ; 
But  he  as  he,  the  heavier Jbr  a  whore.]     I  read  : 

But  lie  as  he,  each  heavier  for  a  whore. 

Heavy  is  taken  botli  tor  weighty^  and  for  sad,  or  miserable. 
The  quarto  reads : 

But  he  as  he,  the  heavier  for  a  whore. 

I  know  not  whether  the  thought  is  not  that  of  a  wager.  It  must 
then  be  read  thus  : 

But  he  as  he.     Which  heavier,  for  a  whore  ? 
That  if, for  a  whore  staked  down,  which  in  the  heavier  ? 

JOHNSON. 

As  the  quarto  reads, 

—  the  heavier  for  a  whore, 

I  think  all  new  pointing  or  alteration  unnecessary.  The  souse 
appears  to  be  this  :  the  merits  of  either  arc  sunk  in  value,  be- 
cause the  contest  between  them  is  only  for  a  strumpet. 

STEEVEXS. 

The  merits  of  each,  whatever  they  may  be,  being  weighed 
one  against  the  other,  are  exactly  equal;  in  each  of  the  scales, 
however,  in  which  their  merits  are  to  be  weighed,  a  harlot  must 
be  placed,  since  each  of  them  has  been  equally  attached  to  one. 
This  is  the  reading  of  the  quarto.  The  folio  reads, 
which  heavier  for  a  w/iurt: 


382        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  iv. 

But  we  in  silence  hold  this  virtue  well, — 
We'll  not  commend  what  we  intend  to  sell.2 
Here  lies  our  way.  \_Exeunt. 

8  We'll  not  commend  tvhat  IKC  intend  to  sell.]  I  believe  the 
meaning  is  only  this :  though  you  practise  the  buyer's  art,  we 
will  not  practise  the  seller's.  We  intend  to  sell  Helen  dear,  yet 
will  not  commend  her.  JOHNSON. 

Dr.  Warburton  would  read — not  sell.     STEEVENS. 

The  sense,  I  think,  requires  we  should  read — condemn. 

TYRWHITT. 

When  Dr.  Johnson  says,  they  meant  to  sell  Helen  dear,  he 
evidently  does  not  mean  that  they  really  intended  to  sell  her  at 
all,  (as  he  has  been  understood,)  but  that  the  Greeks  should  pay 
very  dear  for  her,  if  they  had  her.  We'll  not  commend  what 
we  intend  to  make  you  pay  very  dear  for,  if  you  have  her.  So 
Ajax  says,  in  a  former  scene :  "  however,  he  shall  pay  for  me, 
ere  he  has  me." 

Commend  is,  I  think,  the  true  reading,  our  author  having  in- 
troduced a  similar  sentiment  in  two  other  places.  In  Love's 
Labour's  Lost,  we  have — 

"  To  things  of  sale  a  seller's  praise  belongs." 
Again,  in  his  21st  Sonnet: 

"  I  will  not  praise  that  purpose  not  to  sell." 

This  passage  favours  Dr.  Warburton's  emendation  ;  but  intend 
not  sell  sounds  very  harsh.  However,  many  very  harsh  com- 
binations may  be  found  in  these  plays,  where  rhymes  are  intro- 
duced. MALONE. 

Surely  Dr.  Warburton's  reading  is  the  true  one. 
We'll  not  commend  what  ive  intend  not  sell, 
is  evidently  opposed  to — 

"  Dispraise  the  thing  that  you  desire  to  buy  .*" 
in  the  same  speech. 

Of  such  elliptical  phraseology  as  is  introduced  by  Dr.  War- 
burton's  emendation,  our  author's  plays  will  afford  numerous 
examples.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        383 

SCENE  II. 

The  same.    Court  before  the  House  o/*  Panel  am  s. 
Enter  TROILUS  and  CUESSIDA. 

TRO.  Dear,  trouble  not  yourself;  the  morn  is  cold. 

CRES.  Then,  sweet  my  lord,  I'll  call  mine  uncle 

down ; 
He  shall  unbolt  the  gates. 

TRO.  Trouble  him  not ; 

To  bed,  to  bed :  Sleep  kill3  those  pretty  eyes, 
And  give  as  soft  attachment  to  thy  senses, 
As  infants'  empty  of  all  thought!4 

CUES.  Good  morrow  then. 

TRO.  Pr'ythce  now,  to  bed. 

CRES.  Are  you  aweary  of  me  : 

TRO.  O  Cressida !  but  that  the  busy  day, 
\Vak'd  by  the  lark,  hath  rous'd  the  ribald  crows, ?1 
And  dreaming  night  will  hide  our  joys6  no  longer, 
I  would  not  from  thce. 

CRES.  Night  hath  been  too  brief. 

1  • Sleep  kill — ]  So  the  old  copies.   The  moderns  have— 

Sleep  seal.     JOHNSON. 

Sea!  was  one  of  the  numerous  innovations  introduced  by  Mr. 
Pone.     MA  i, ONE. 

And  give  as  so/?  attachment  to  thy  sense*, 
As   infants'   empty   of  all   thought !]     So,   in    The   Mcrn/ 
Wives  oj  Windsor: 

"  Sleep  she  as  sound  as  careless  wftinci/."     STEF.VENS. 

ribald   crmi's,']      See  note  on  Antony  and  Cleopatra, 

Act  III.  sc.  viii.     HARRIS. 

—  hide  our  joys — ]      Thus  the  quarto.     The  folio  has — 
l;ulc  our  eyes.     MALONE. 


384        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTTT. 

TRO.  Beshrew  the  witch !  with  venomous  wights6 

she  stays, 

As  tediously7  as  hell;  but  flies  the  grasps  of  love. 
With  wings  more  momentary-swift  than  thought. 
You  will  catch  cold,  and  curse  me. 

CRES.  Pr'ythee,  tarry ; — 

You  men  will  never  tarry. 

0  foolish  Cressid ! — I  might  have  still  held  off, 
And  then  you  would  have  tarried.     Hark  1  there's 

one  up. 

PAN.  [_Within.~]  What,  are  all  the  doors  open 
here  ? 

TRO.  It  is  your  uncle. 

Enter  PANDARUS.S 

CRES.   A  pestilence   on  him !    now  will  he  be 
mocking : 

1  shall  have  such  a  life, 


6  venomous  wights — ]    i.  e.  vcncfici ;  those  who  practise 

nocturnal  sorcery.     STEEVENS. 

'  As  tediously — ]     The  folio  has  : 
As  hideously  as  hell.     JOHNSON. 

Sir  T.  Hanmer,  for  the  sake  of  metre,  with  great  probability, 
reads : 

Tedious  as  hell ;  &c.     STEEVKN.S.  " 

8  Enter  Pandarus.]  The  hint  for  the  following  short  con- 
versation between  Pandarusand  Crcssidui.s  taken  from  Chaucer's 
Troilus  and  Cresseide,  Book  III.  v.  1561 : 

"  Pandare,  a  niorowe  which  that  common  was 

"  Unto  his  nece,  gan  her  faire  to  gretc, 
"  And  saied  all  this  night  so  rained  it  alas ! 
"  That  all  my  drcdc  is,  that  ye,  nece  .swete, 
"  Have  little  leisir  had  to  slepe  and  mete, 
"  All  night  (quod  he)  hath  rain  so  du  me  wake, 
"  That  some  of  us  I  trowe  their  heddis  ake. 


sc.  77.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       385 


y.  How  now,  how  now?  how  go  maidenheads? 
—  Here,  you  maid  !  where's  my  cousin  Cressid  ? 

CRES.  Go  hang  yourself,  you  naughty  mocking 

uncle  ! 
You  bring  me  to  do,9  and  then  you  flout  me  too. 

PAN.  To  do  what  ?  to  do  what  ?  —  let  her  say 
what  :  what  have  I  brought  you  to  do  ? 

CRES.  Come,  come  ;  beshrew  your  heart  !  you'll 

ne'er  be  good, 
Nor  suffer  others. 

PAN.  Ha,  ha  !  Alas,  poor  wretch  !  a  poor  ca- 
pocchia  !  '  —  hast  not  slept  to-night  ?  would  he  not, 
a  naughty  man,  let  it  sleep?  a  bugbear  take  him! 

[Knocking. 

CRES.  Did  I  not  tell  you  ?  —  'would  he  were 
knock'd  o'the  head  !  — 


"  Cresseide  answcrde,  ncvir  the  bet  for  you, 
"  Foxe  that  ye  ben,  God  yevc  your  herte  care, 
"  God  help  me  so,  ye  causid  all  this  fare,"  &c. 

STEEVENS. 

9  to  do, 3     To  do  is  here  used  in  a  wanton  sense.     So, 

in  The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,  Petruchio  says:  "  I  would  fain 
be  doing" 

Again,  in  All's  well  that  ends  well,  Lafeu  declares  that  he  is 
"  past  doing."  COLLINS. 

a  poor  capocchia  !]      Pandarus  would  say,  I  think,  in 

English — Poor  innocent !  Poor  fool !  hast  not  slept  to-night  ? 
These  appellations  are  very  well  answered  by  the  Italian  word 
capocchio:  for  capocchio  signifies  the  thick  head  of  a  club;  and 
thence  metaphorically,  a  head  of  not  much  brain,  a  sot,  dullard, 
heavy  gull.  TIIKORALD. 

The  word  in  the  old  copy  is  cJiinnchia,  for  which  Mr.  Theo- 
bald substituted  capocchio,  whiclt  lie  has  rightly  explained. 
Capochia  may  perhaps  be  used  with  propriety  in  the  same  sense, 
when  applied  to  a  female  ;  but  the  word  has  also  an  entirely 
different  meaning,  not  reconcilable  to  the  context  here,  tor 
whic-h  I  choose  to  refer  the  reader  to  Florio's  Italian  Dictionary, 
159S.  MA  LONE. 

VOL.   XV,  2  C 


386       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  ir. 

Who's  that  at  door  ?  good  uncle,  go  and  see.  — 
My  lord,  come  you  again  into  my  chamber  : 
You  smile,  and  mock  me,  as  if2  I  meant  naughtily. 

TRO.  Ha,  ha! 

CRES.   Come,  you  are  deceiv'd,  I  think  of  no 
such  thing.  —  [Knocking. 

How  earnestly  they  knock  !  —  pray  you,  come  in; 
I  would  not  for  half  Troy  have  you  seen  here. 

\_Exeunt  TROILUS  and  CRESSIDA. 

PAN.  \_Going  to  the  door.'}  Who's  there?  what's 
the  matter  ?  will  you  beat  down  the  door  ?  How 
now  ?  what's  the  matter  ? 


Enter 

.  Good  morrow,  lord,  good  morrow. 

PAN.  Who's  there  ?  my  lord  ^Eneas  ?  By  my 
troth,  I  knew  you  not  :  what  news  with  you  so 
early  ? 

E.  Is  not  prince  Troilus  here  ? 
Here  !  what  should  he  do  here  ? 

.  Come,  he  is  here,  my  lord,  do  not  deny 

him; 
It  doth  import  him  much,  to  speak  with  me. 

PAN.  Is  he  here,  say  you  ?  'tis  more  than  I  know, 
I'll  be  sworn  :  —  For  my  own  part,  I  came  in  late  : 
What  should  he  do  here  ? 

4  -  as  if  —  ]  Here,  I  believe,  a  common  ellipsis  has  been 
destroyed  by  a  playhouse  interpolation  :  As,  in  ancient  language, 
has  frequently  the  power  of  —  as  if.  I  would  therefore  omit  the 
latter  conjunction,  which  encumbers  the  line  without  enforcing 
the  sense.  Thus,  in  Spenser's  Fain/  Queen  : 

"  That  with  the  noise  it  shook  as  it  would  fall." 

STEEVENS. 


sc.ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        387 


Who1.  —  nay,  then  :  — 
Come,  come,  you'll  do  him  wrong  ere  you  are  'ware: 
You'll  be  so  true  to  him,  to  be  false  to  him  : 
Do  not  you  know  of  him,  yet  go  fetch3  him  hither; 
Go. 

As  PANDARUS  is  going  out,  enter  TROILUS, 

TRO.  How  now  ?  what's  the  matter  ? 

J£XE.  My  lord,  I  scarce  have  leisure  to  salute  you, 
My  matter  is  so  rash:4  There  is  at  hand 
Paris  your  brother,  and  Deiphobus, 
The  Grecian  Diomcd,  and  our  Antenor 
Deliver'd  to  us  ;5  and  for  him  forthwith, 
Ere  the  first  sacrifice,  within  this  hour, 
"We  must  give  up  to  Diomedes'  hand 
The  lady  Cressida. 

TRO.  Is  it  so  concluded  ? 

JExE.  By  Priam,  and  the  general  state  of  Troy: 
They  are  at  hand,  and  ready  to  effect  it. 

TRO.  How  my  achievements  mock  me!6 

-  y£t  8°  fetch  &c.]  Old  copy,  redundantly  —  but  yet  &c. 

STEEVENS. 

4  -  matter  is  so  rash  :]      My  business  is  so  hasty  and  so 
abrupt.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  King  Henri/  IV.  Part  II  : 

"—    —  aconitum,  or  rash  gunpowder."     STEEVENS. 

Again,  in  Romeo  and  Juliet  : 

"  It  is  too  rash,  too  unadvis'd,  too  sudddn  ; 
"  Too  like  the  lightning,"  &c.     MA  LONE. 

''  Delivered  to  us  ;  &c.]      So  the  folio.     The  quarto  thus: 
Delivered  to  him,  and  forthwith.     JOHNSON. 

6  //OTU  my  achievements  mock   me  /]       So,   in   Antony  and 
Cleopatra  : 

"  And  mock  our  eyes  with  air."     STEEVENS. 

2  C  2 


388       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  I. 

I  will  go  meet  them :  and,  my  lord  ^neas, 
We  met  by  chance  ;  you  did  not  find  me  here.7 

MNE.  Good,good,  my  lord;  the  secrets  of  nature 
Have  not  more  gift  in  taciturnity.8 

\_JLxeunt  TROILUS  and  ^NEAS. 

PAN.  Is't  possible  ?  no  sooner  got,  but  lost  ?  The 
devil  take  Antenor !  the  young  prince  will  go  mad. 
A  plague  upon  Antenor !  I  would,  they  had  broke's 
neck! 


7  We  met  by  chance ;  you  did  not  Jlnd  me  here.~\  So,  lit 
Antony  and  Cleopatra; 

"  See  where  he  is,  who's  with  him,  what  he  does : 
"  /  did  not  send  you."     MALONE. 

9  the  secrets  of  nature 

Have  not  more  gift  in  taciturnity.']  This  is  the  reading  of 
both  the  elder  folios ;  but  the  first  verse  manifestly  halts,  and 
betrays  its  being  defective.  Mr.  Pope  substitutes : 

the  secrets  of  neighbour  Pandar. 

If  this  be  a  reading  exjide  codicum  (as  he  professes  all  his  vari- 
ous readings  to  be)  it  is  founded  on  the  credit  of  such  copies' 
as  it  has  not  been  my  fortune  to  meet  with.  I  have  ventured  to 
make  out  the  verse  thus  : 

The  secret's  things  of  nature,  &c. 

i.  e.  the  arcana  natures,  the  mysteries  of  nature,  of  occult  phi- 
losophy, or  of  religious  ceremonies.  Our  poet  has  allusions  of 
this  sort  in  several  other  passages.  THEOBALD. 

Mr.  Pope's  reading  is  in  the  old  quarto.  So  great  is  the  ne» 
cessity  of  collation.  JOHNSON. 

I  suppose  the  editor  of  the  folio  meant — the  secretest  of  na- 
ture, and  that  secrets  was  an  error  of  the  press.  So,  in  Mac- 
beth : 

"  The  secret'st  man  of  blood."     MALONE. 

I  suppose  our  author  to  have  written — secrecies. 
A  similar  thought  occurs  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra  : 

"  In  nature's  infinite  book  of  secrecy ." 

Wherever  there  is  redundant  metre,  as  in  the  reading  of  the 
quarto,  corruption  nrny  always  be  suspected.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  n.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       389 


Enter  CRESSIDA. 

CRES.  How  now?    What  is  the  matter?    Who 
was  here  ? 

PAX.  Ah,  ah ! 

CRES.  Why  sigh  you  so  profoundly?  where's  my 

lord  gone  ? 
Tell  me,  sweet  uncle,  what's  the  matter  ? 

PAX.  'Would  I  were  as  deep  under  the  earth  as 
I  am  above ! 

CRES.  O  the  gods ! — what's  the  matter  ? 

PAX.  Pr'ythee,  get  thee  in  ;  'Would  thou  had'st 
ne'er  been  born !  I  knew,  thou  would'st  be  his 
death  : — O  poor  gentleman ! — A  plague  upon  An- 
tcnor ! 

CRES.  Good  uncle,  I  beseech  you  on  my  knees, 
I  beseech  you,  what's  the  matter  ? 

PAX.  Thou  must  be  gone,  wench,  thou  must  be 
gone  ;  thou  art  changed  for  Antenor :  thou  must 
to  thy  father,  and  be  gone  from  Troilus  ;  'twill  be 
his  death  ;  'twill  be  his  bane  ;  he  cannot  bear  it. 

CRES.  O  you  immortal  gods ! — I  will  not  go. 
PAX.  Thou  must. 

CRES.  I  will  not,  uncle:  I  have  forgot  my  father; 
I  know  no  touch  of  consanguinity ; 9 
No  kin,  no  love,  no  blood,  no  soul  so  near  me, 
As  the  sweet  Troilus. — O  you  gods  divine ! 

9  /  knmv   no  touch   of  consanguinity  ;~^       So,   in  jMacbeth  : 

"  He  wants  the  natural  touch." 
Touch  of  consanguinity  is  sense  or  Je  cling  of  relationship. 

MALONE. 


390       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  ir. 

Make  Cressid's  name  the  very  crown  of  falsehood,1 

If  ever  she  leave  Troilus  !  Time,  force,  and  death, 

Do  to  this  body  what  extremes  you  can ; 

But  the  strong  base  and  building  of  my  love2 

Is  as  the  very  center  of  the  earth, 

Drawing  all  things  to  it. — I'll  go  in,  and  weep; — 

PAN.  Do,  do. 

CRES.   Tear  my  bright  hair,  and  scratch  my 

praised  cheeks ; 

Crack  my  clear  voice  with  sobs,  and  break  my  heart 
With  sounding  Troilus.  I  will  not  go  from  Troy.3 

\_Exeunt. 

1  the  very  crown  of  falsehood,"]     So,  in  Cymbeline  : 

"  my  supreme  crown  of  grief." 

Again,  in  The  Winter's  Tale: 

"  —  —  the  crown  and  comfort  of  my  life."     MALONE. 

See  page  353,  note  9.     STEEVENS. 

—  the  strong  base  and  building  of  my  love — ]       So,   in 
our  author's  119th  Sonnet: 

"  And  ruin'd  love,  when  it  is  built  anew, ." 

Again,  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra: 

"  Let  not  the  piece  of  virtue,  which  is  set 

"  Betwixt  us  as  the  cement  of  our  love, 

"  To  keep  it  builded,  be  the  ram  to  batter 

"  The  fortress  of  it."     MALONE. 

3  I  will  not  go  from   Troy.~\     I  believe  the  verb — go 

(which  roughens  this  line)  should  be  left  out,  in  conformity  to 
the  ancient  elliptical  mode  of  writing,  which,  in  like  instances, 
omits  it  as  unnecessary  to  sense.  Thus,  in  p.  383,  we  find — 

"  I  would  not  from  thee ;" 
i.  e.  I  would  not  go  from  thee.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  ///.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       391 

SCENE  III. 

T/ie  same.     Before  Pandarus*  House. 

Enter  PARIS,  TROILUS,  J£NEAS,  DEIPHOBUS, 
ANTENOR,  and  DIOMEDES. 

PAR.  It  is  great  morning ; 4  and  the  hour  prefixed 
Of  her  delivery  to  this  valiant  Greek 
Comes  fast  upon  :5 — Good  my  brother  Troilus, 
Tell  you  the  lady  what  she  is  to  do, 
And  haste  her  to  the  purpose. 

TJRO.  Walk  in  to  her  house  ;6 

I'll  bring  her  to  the  Grecian  presently : 
And  to  his  hand  when  I  deliver  her, 
Think  it  an  altar ;  and  thy  brother  Troilus 
A  priest,  there  offering  to  it  his  own  heart.  [Exit. 

PAR.  I  know  what  'tis  to  love  ; 
And  'would,  as  I  shall  pity,  I  could  help! — 
Please  you,  walk  in,  my  lords.  \_Exeunt. 

'  great  morning;']     Grand  jour ;  a  Gallicism. 

STEEVENS. 

i  Comes  fast  upon  :~\  Though  fast  upon,  only  signifies — fast 
on,  1  must  suppose,  with  Sir  T.  Hantner,  we  ought  to  read : 

Come*  Just  upon  us  : 

The  metre,  as  it  stands  at  present,  is  obviously  defective. 

STEEVENS. 

6  Walk  in  to  li<  r  house ;~]  Here,  I  believe,  we  have  an  inter- 
polation similar  to  those  in  p.  S86  and  in  the  preceding  page. 
in  elliptical  language  the  word — ii'alk  (which  in  the  present 
instance  destroys  the  measure)  is  frequently  omitted.  iSo,  in 
King  Henry  IV.  Part  I  : 

"  I'd  in  and  haste  the  writer." 

).  e.  I'll  7iY///r,  or  go  in.  Again,  in  The  Mrrn/  Wires  of 
Windsor:  "  /'//  in',  I'll  in:  follow  your  friend's  advice;  /'// 
in."  In,  therefore,  in  the  speech  of  Troilus,  will  signify  walk 
or  go  in,  the  omitted  verb  being  understood. 


392       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  ir. 

SCENE  IV. 

The  same.     A  Room  in  Pandarus*  House. 


Be  moderate,  be  moderate. 

CRES.  Why  tell  you  me  of  moderation  ? 
The  grief  is  fine,  full,  perfect,  that  I  taste, 
And  violenteth  in  a  sense  as  strong 
As  that  which  causeth  it:7  How  can  I  moderate  it? 
If  I  could  temporize  with  my  affection, 
Or  brew  it  to  a  weak  and  colder  palate, 
The  like  allayment  could  I  give  my  grief: 


7  The  grief  &c.~\     The  folio  reads : 

The  grief  is  Jine,  full,  perfect,  that  I  tastet 

And  no  less  in  a  sense  as  strong 

As  that  uohich  causeth  it. 

The  quarto  otherwise : 

The  grief  'is  jine,  full,  perfect,  that  I  taste, 

And  violenteth  in  a  sense  as  strong 

As  that  ivhich  causeth  it. 

Violenteth  is  a  word  with  which  I  am  not  acquainted,  yet  per- 
haps it  may  be  right.  The  reading  of  the  text  is  without  au- 
thority. JOHNSON. 

I  have  followed  the  quarto.  Violenceth  is  used  by  Ben  Jonson, 
in  The  Devil  is  an  Ass: 

"  Nor  nature  violenceth  in  both  these." 

And  Mr.  Toilet  has  since  furnished  me  with  this  verb  as  spelt  in 
the  play  of  Shakspeare  :  "  His  former  adversaries  violented  any 
thing  against  him."  Fuller's  Worthies  in  Anglesea. 

Dr.  Farmer  likewise  adds  the  following  instance  from  Latimer. 
p.  71  :  "  Muister  Pole  violentes  the  text  for  the  maintenance  ot 
the  bishop  of  Rome." 

The  modern  and  unauthorized  reading  was  : 
And  in  its  sense  is  no  less  strong,  than  that 
Which  causeth  it. STEEVEKS. 


sc.  m     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        393 

My  love  admits  no  qualifying  dross  : 

No  more  my  grief,  in  such  a  precious  loss. 


Enter  TROILUS. 

PAN.  Here,  here,  here  he  comes. — Ah  sweet 
ducks ! 

CRES.  O  Troilus !  Troilus !        [Embracing  him. 

PAN.  What  a  pair  of  spectacles  is  here !    Let 
me  embrace  too  :   O  heart, — as  the  goodly  saying 

is, 

o  heart,  o  heavy  heart* 

Why  sigh'st  t/iou  without  breaking? 
where  he  answers  again, 

Because  tliou  canst  not  ease  thy  smart, 

By  friendship,  nor  by  speaking. 
There  never  was  a  truer  rhyme.     Let  us  cast  away 
nothing,  for  we  may  live  to  have  need  of  such  a 
verse  ;  we  see  it,  we  see  it. — How  now,  lambs  ? 

TRO.  Cressid,  I  love  thee  in  so  strain'd'1  a  purity, 
That  the  blest  gods — as  angry  with  my  fancy, 
More  bright  in  zeal  than  the  devotion  which 
Cold  lips  blow  to  their  deities, — take  thee  from  me. 

CUES.  Have  the  gods  envy  ? 

PAN.  Ay,  ay,  ay,  ay ;  'tis  too  plain  a  case. 

CRES.  And  is  it  true,  that  I  must  go  from  Troy  ? 

TRO.  A  hateful  truth. 

CRES.  What,  and  from  Troilus  too  ? 


—  o  heavy  heart,']      O,  which  is  not  in  the  old  copy, 
U:IK  added,  for  the  sake  of  the  metre,  by  Mr.  Pope.     MALONE. 

—  strain'd — ]     So  the  quarto.      The  folio  and  all  the 
moderns  have — strange.     JOHNSON. 


394        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTIY. 

TRO.  From  Troy,  and  Troilus. 

ORES.  Is  it  possible  ? 

TRO.  And  suddenly;  where  injury  of  chance 
Puts  back  leave-taking,  justles  roughly  by 
All  time  of  pause,  rudely  beguiles  our  lips 
Of  all  rejoindure,  forcibly  prevents 
Our  lock'd  embrasures,  strangles  our  dear  vows 
Even  in  the  birth  of  our  own  labouring  breath : 
We  two,  that  with  so  many  thousand  sighs 
Did  buy  each  other,1  must  poorly  sell  ourselves 
With  the  rude  brevity  and  discharge  of  one. 
Injurious  time  now,  with  a  robber's  haste, 
Crams  his  rich  thievery  up,  he  knows  not  how : 
As  many  farewells  as  be  stars  in  heaven, 
With  distinct  breath  and  consign'd  kisses  to  them,2 
He  fumbles  up  into  a  loose  adieu ; 
And  scants  us  with  a  single  famish'd  kiss, 
Distasted  with  the  salt  of  broken  tears.3 


1  Did  buy  each  other,]   So,  in  our  author's  Venus  and  Adonis  : 
"  A  thousand  kisses  buys  my  heart  from  me, 
"  And  pay  them  at  thy  leisure,  one  by  one."    MALONE. 

*  With  distinct  breath  and  consign'd  kisses  to  them,']  Consigned 
means  sealed;  from  consigno,  Lat.  So,  in  King  Henry  V ;  "  It 
were,  my  lord,  a  hard  condition  for  a  maid  to  consign  to."  Our 
author  lias  the  same  image  in  many  other  places.  So,  in 
Measure  for  Measure: 

"  But  my  kisses  bring  again, 

"  Seals  of  love,  but  seal'd  in  vain." 
Again,  in  his  Venus  and  Adonis  : 

"  Pure  lips,  sweet  seals  in  my  soft  lips  imprinted." 

MALONE. 

3  Distasted  ivith  the  salt  of  broken  tearsJ]  i.  e.  of  tears  to 
which  we  are  not  permitted  to  give  full  vent,  being  interrupted 
and  suddenly  torn  from  each  other.  The  poet  was  probably 
thinking  of  broken  sobs,  or  broken  slumbers.  This  is  the  reading 
of  the  quarto.  The  folio  has — distasting.  MALONE. 


5C.  iv.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        393 


My  lord  !  is  the  lady  ready  ? 

TRO.  Hark  !  you  are  call'd  :  Some  say,  the  Ge- 

nius so 

Cries,  Come  !  to  him  that  instantly  must  die.4  — 
Bid  them  have  patience  ;  she  shall  come  anon. 

PAN.  Where  are  my  tears?  rain,  to  lay  this  wind,* 
or  my  heart  will  be  blown  up  by  the  root  !6 

[Exit  PAXDARUS. 

CRES.  I  must  then  to  the  Greeks  ? 

TRO.  No  remedy. 

Broken  tears  is  sufficiently  explained  by  —  interrupted  tears. 
So,  in  King  Henri/  VIII  :  "  You  have  now  a  broken  banquet  ;" 
i.  e.  an  interrupted  one.  STEKVENS. 

4  Hark  !  yon  are  call'd  :   Some  say,  the  Genius  50 

Cries,  Come  !  to  him  that  instantly  must  die.~\     An  obscure 
poet  (  Flatman  )  has  borrowed  this  thought  : 

"  My  soul  just  now  about  to  take  her  flight, 

"  Into  the  regions  of  eternal  night, 

"  Methinks  I  hear  some  gentle  spirit  say, 

"  Be  not  fearful,  come  away  .'" 
After  whom,  Pope  : 

"  Hark  !  they  whisper  ;  angels  say, 

"  Sister  spirit,  come  au-ay."     MALONE. 

Again,  in  Eloisa  to  Abelard  : 

"  Come,  sister,  come  !  (it  said,  or  scem'd  to  say,) 
"  Thy  place  is  here,  sad  sister,  come  aicay  .'" 

STEEVENS. 

1  Wlicre  arc  my  tears  ?  rain,  tu  lay  thin  ivind,"]  So,  in 
Macbeth  : 

"  That  tears  will  drown  the  uvW." 

Perhaps,  rain,  to  lay  this  wind  !  is  an  optative,  and  as  if  lie 
had  said  —  O  for  tears  &c.  !  and  so  I  have  pointed  it. 

STEEVENS. 

So,  in  The  Rape  nf  Lxcrece  : 

"  This  windy  tempest,  till  it  blow  up  rain, 

"  Holds  back  his  sorrow's  tide,  to  make  it  more; 

"  At  last  it  rains,  and  busy  winds  give  o'er."    MALONE. 

*  -  by  the  root!]      So  the  folio.     Quarto  —  by  mi/  throat. 

MALONE. 


S96        TROILUS  AND  CRESSID  A. 

CRES.  A   woeful   Cressid   'mongst  the  merry 

Greeks!7 
When  shall  we  see  again  ? 

TRO.  Hear  me,  my  love :   Be  thou  but  true  of 
heart, 

CRES.  I  true !  how  now  ?  what  wicked  deem  is 
this?8 

TRO.  Nay,  we  must  use  expostulation  kindly, 
For  it  is  parting  from  us  : 
I  speak  not,  be  thou  true,  as  fearing  thee ; 
For  I  will  throw  my  glove  to  death9  himself, 
That  there's  no  maculation  in  thy  heart : 
But,  be  thou  true,  say  I,  to  fashion  in 
My  sequent  protestation ;  be  thou  true, 
And  I  will  see  thee. 

CRES.  O,  you  shall  be  exposed,  my  lord,  to  dan- 
gers 
As  infinite  as  imminent !  but,  I'll  be  true. 

TRO.  And  I'll  grow  friend  with  danger.     Wear 
this  sleeve. 

CRES.  An d  you  this  glove.   When  shall  I  see  you  ? 

TRO.  I  will  corrupt  the  Grecian  sentinels, 
To  give  thee  nightly  visitation. 
But  yet,  be  true. 

CRES.  O  heavens ! — be  true,  again  ? 


7  A  woeful  Cressid  Amongst  the  merry  Greeks  !]  So,  in  A  mad 
World  my  Masters,   1608,   a  man  gives  the  watchmen  some 
money,  and  when  they  have  received  it  he  says :  "  the  merry 
Creeks  understand  me."     STEEVENS. 

See  p.  248,  n.  3.     MALONE. 

8  ichat  -wicked  deem  is  this?"]       Deem    (a   word   now 

obsolete)  signifies,  opinion,  surmise.     STEEVENS. 

9  For  I  ivill  throw  my  glove  to  death — ]      That  is,    I  will 
challenge  death  himself  in  defence  of  thy  fidelity.    JOHNSON. 


K.  iv.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        397 

TRO.  Hear  why  I  speak  it,  love ; 
The  Grecian  youths  are  full  of  quality ; 
They're  loving,  well  compos'd,  with  gifts  of  nature 

flowing,1 

And  swelling  o'er  with  arts  and  exercise  ; 
How  novelty  may  move,  and  parts  with  person,8 
Alas,  a  kind  of  godly  jealousy 
(Which,  I  beseech  you,  cull  a  virtuous  sin,) 
Makes  me  afeard. 

CRES.  O  heavens !  you  love  me  not. 

TRO.  Die  I  a  villain  then  ! 
In  this  I  do  not  call  your  faith  in  question, 
So  mainly  as  my  merit :  I  cannot  sing, 
Nor  heel  the  high  lavolt,3  nor  sweeten  talk, 
Nor  play  at  subtle  games  j  fair  virtues  all, 

1  They're  loving,  &c.]  This  line  is  not  in  the  quarto.  The 
folio  reads — Their  loving.  This  slight  correction  I  proposed 
some  time  ago,  and  I  have  lately  perceived  it  was  made  by  Mr. 
Pope.  It  also  has  gift  of  nature.  That  emendation  is  Sir  T. 
Hamner's.  In  the  preceding  line  "full  of  quality,"  moans,  I 
think,  absolute,  perfect,  in  their  dispositions.  So,  in  Pericles^ 
Prince  of  Tyre  : 

"  So  buxom,  blithe,  and  full  of  face, 

"  As  heaven  had  lent  her  all  his  grace."     MALOXE. 

The  irregularity  of  metre  in  this  speech,  (unless  the  epithet— 
loving  be  considered  as  an  interpolation,)  together  with  the  ob- 
scure phrase — full  of  (jiutl/ti/,  induce  me  to  suspect  the  loss  of 
some  words  which  are  now  irretrievable.  Full  of  quality,  how- 
ever, may  mean  highly  accomplished.  So,  in  Chapman's  version 
of  die  fourteenth  Iliad: 

" Besides  all  this,  he  was  well  qtialiticd." 

The  construction,  indeed,  may  be — <>f'J'nll  aualiti/.  Thus,  in 
the  same  translator's  version  of  the  third  /  iad,  "full  of  size"  is 
apparently  used  for — tffull  *izc.  STKKVKNS. 

*  uv'///  person,]      Thus  the  folio.     The  quarto  reads— 

u-it/i  portion.     STKF.VKNS. 

ihc    high    lavolt,]      The    ta-jolta    was    a    dance.     See 

Vol.  XII.  p.  'J87',  n.  9.     STKKYI-.VS. 


S98        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  iv. 

To  which  the  Grecians  are  most  prompt  and  preg- 
nant : 

But  I  can  tell,  that  in  each  grace  of  these 
There  lurks  a  still  and  dumb-discoursive  devil, 
That  tempts  most  cunningly:4  but  be  not  tempted. 

CRES.  Do  you  think,  I  will  ? 

TRO.  No. 

But  something  may  be  done,  that  we  will  not : 
And  sometimes  we  are  devils  to  ourselves, 
When  we  will  tempt  the  frailty  of  our  powers, 
Presuming  on  their  changeful  potency. ' 

J£NE.  \_Within.~]  Nay,  good  my  lord, 

TRO.  Come,  kiss  ;  and  let  us  part. 

PAR.  \_Within.~\  Brother  Troilus! 

TRO.  Good  brother,  come  you  hither ; 

And  bring  JEneas,  and  the  Grecian,  with  you. 

CRES.  My  lord,  will  you  be  true  ? 

TRO.  Who,  I  ?  alas,  it  is  my  vice,  my  fault : 
While  others  fish  with  craft  for  great  opinion, 
I  with  great  truth  catch  mere  simplicity  ; 5 
Whilst  some  with  cunning  gild  their  copper  crowns, 
With  truth  and  plainness  I  do  wear  mine  bare. 
Fear  not  my  truth  ;   the  moral  of  my  wit 
Is — plain,  and  true,6 — there's  all  the  reach  of  it. 

1   There  lurks  a  still  and  dumb-discnnrsire  devil, 

That  tempts  most  cunningly  :]      This  passage  may  chance  to 
remind  the  reader  of  another  in  Othello: 

"  For  here's  a  young  and  sweating  devil  here, 
"  That  commonly  rebels."     STF.EVKNS. 

5  • catch   mere  simplicity  ;~\      The   meaning,    I   think,   is, 

"while  others,  by  their  art,  gain  high  estimation,  I,  by  honesty, 
obtain  a  plain  simple  approbation.     JOHNSON. 

—  the  moral  of  mi/  icit 

Is  -  plain,  and  trnc,^\      Moral,  in  this  instance,  has  the  same 
meaning  as  in  Muck  Ado  about  Noticing,  Act  111.  sc.  iv  ; 


x.  iv.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        399 


Enter  ^ENEAS,  PARIS,  ANTEXOR,  DEITIIOBUS,  and 
DIOMEDES. 

Welcome,  sir  Diomed !  here  is  the  lady, 
Which  for  Anterior  we  deliver  you : 
At  the  port,7  lord,  I'll  give  her  to  thy  hand ; 
And,  by  the  way,  possess  thee  what  she  is.8 
Entreat  her  fair ;  and,  by  my  soul,  fair  Greek, 
If  e'er  thou  stand  at  mercy  of  my  sword, 
Name  Cressid,  and  thy  life  shall  be  as  safe 
As  Priam  is  in  Ilion. 

Dio.  Fair  lady  Cressid, 

So  please  you,  save  the  thanks  this  prince  expects : 
The  lustre  in  your  eye,  heaven  in  your  cheek, 
Pleads  your  fair  usage  ;  and  to  Diomed 
You  shall  be  mistress,  and  command  him  wholly. 

TRO.  Grecian,  thou  dost  not  use  me  courteously, 
To  shame  the  zeal  of  my  petition  to  thee, 


"  Benedictus  !  why  Benedictus  ?  you  have  some  moral  in  this 

Benedictus." 

Again,  in  The  Taming  nfthc  Shrew,  Act  IV.  sc.  iv: 

"  —    —he  has  left  me  here  behind  to  expound  the  meaning 

or  moral  of  his  signs  and  tokens."     TOLLET. 

7  At  the  port,]     The  port  is  the  gate.    So,  in  King  Henry  IV. 
Part  II : 

"  That  keeps  the  ports  of  slumber  open  wide." 

STEEVENS. 

possess    thcc   ichat  she   is.~\     I   will    make   ilicc  fully 

understand.     This  sense  of  the  word  possess  is  frequent  in  our 
author.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  The  ^Icrclianl  of  Venice : 

"  Is  he  yet  possess'd 

"  How  much  you  would  ?"     STEKVEN.S. 


400        TliOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  ir. 

In  praising  her : 9  I  tell  thee,  lord  of  Greece, 
She  is  as  far  high-soaring  o'er  thy  praises,1 
As  thou  unworthy  to  be  call'd  her  servant. 
I  charge  thee,  use  her  well,  even  for  my  charge  j 
For,  by  the  dreadful  Pluto,  if  thou  dost  not, 
Though  the  great  bulk  Achilles  be  thy  guard, 
I'll  cut  thy  throat. 

D/o.  O,  be  not  mov'd,  prince  Troilus  : 

Let  me  be  privileg'd  by  my  place,  and  message, 
To  be  a  speaker  free ;  when  I  am  hence, 
I'll  answer  to  my  lust : 2  And  know  you,  lord, 

9  To  shame  the  zeal  of  my  petition  to  thee, 

In  praising  her  „•]      [Old  copies — the  seal.']     To  shame  the 
seal  of  a  petition  is  nonsense.     Shakspeare  wrote  : 

To  shame  the  zeal 

and  the  sense  is  this  :  Grecian,  you  use  me  discourteously :  you 
see  I  am  a  passionate  lover  by  my  petition  to  you ;  and  therefore 
you  should  not  shame  the  zeal  of  it,  by  promising  to  do  what  I 
require  of  you,  for  the  sake  of  her  beauty :  when,  if  you  had 
good  manners,  or  a  sense  of  a  lover's  delicacy,  you  would  have 
promised  to  do  it  in  compassion  to  his  pangs  and  sufferings. 

WARBURTON'. 

Troilus,  I  suppose,  means  to  say,  that  Diomcde  does  not  use 
him  courteously  by  addressing  himself  to  Cressida,  and  assuring 
her  that  she  shall  be  well  treated  for  her  own  sake,  and  on 
account  of  her  singular  beauty,  instead  of  making  a  direct 
answer  to  that  warm  request  which  Troilus  had  just  made  to  him 
to  "  entreat  her  fair."  The  subsequent  words  fully  support  this 
interpretation : 

"  I  charge  thee,  use  her  well,  even  for  my  charge" 

MALONE. 

1  She  is  as  Jar  high-soaring  o'er  thy  praises,"]  So,  in  The 
Tempest : 

" she  will  outstrip  all  praise — ."     STEEVENS. 

*  my  lust:]     List,  I  think,  is  right,  though  both  the 

old  copies  read  lust.     JOHNSON. 
Lust  is  inclination,  mil.     HENLEY. 

So,  in  Exodus,  xv.  9 :  "  I  will  divide  the  spoil ;  my  lust  shall 
be  satisiied  upon  them." 


sc.  iv.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        401 

I'll  nothing  do  on  charge  :  To  her  own  worth 
She  shall  be  priz'd ;  but  that  you  say — be't  so, 
I'll  speak  it  in  my  spirit  and  honour, — no. 

TRO.  Come,  to  the  port. — I'll  tell  thee,3Diomed, 
This  brave  shall  oft  make  thee  to  hide  thy  head. — 
Lady,  give  me  your  hand ;  and,  as  we  walk, 
To  our  own  selves  bend  we  our  needful  talk. 

\_Rxeunt  TIIOILUS,  CRESSIDA,  and  DIOMKD. 

[Trumpet  heard. 

PAR.   Hark  !  Hector's  trumpet. 

J£NE.  How  have  we  spent  this  morning ! 

The  prince  must  think  me  tardy  and  remiss, 
That  swore  to  ride  before  him  to  the  field. 

PAR.  'Tis  Troilus*  fault :  Come,  come,  to  field 
with  him. 

In  many  of  our  ancient  writers,  lust  and  list  are  synonymously 
employed.     So,  in  Chapman's  version  of  the  seventeenth  Iliad  .• 

" Sarpedon,  guest  and  friend 

"  To  thee,  (and  most  deservedly)  thou  flew'st  from  in 

his  end, 

"  And  left'st  to  all  the  lust  of  Greece." 
/'//  answer  to  my  lust,  means — I'll  follow  my  inclination. 

STEEVENS, 

Lust  was  used  formerly  as  synonymous  to  pleasure.     So,  in 
The  Rape  of  Lucrecc  : 

" the  eyes  of  men  through  loopholes  thrust, 

"  Gazing  upon  the  Greeks  with  little  lust."     MALONE. 

I'll  tell  thec,~\     This  phraseology  (instead  of — "  /  tell 


'  _1  A  tk/X 

thee" )  occurs  almost  too  frequently  in  our  author  to  need  exem 
plification.     One  instance  of  it,  however,  shall  be  given  from 
King  John,  Act  V.  sc.  vi : 

"  /'//  tell  thee,  Hubert,  half  my  power  this  night 
"  Passing  these  flats  are  taken  by  the  tide." 
Again,  in  the  first  line  of  Kin<r  Henri/  V : 

"  My  lord,  /'//  tell  you,  that  self  bill  is  urg'd— ." 
Mr.  Malone,   conceiving  this  mode  of  speech  to  be  merely  a 
printer's  error,  reads,  in  the  former  instance — "  /  tell  thee," 
though,   in  the  two  passage's  just  cited,  he  retains  the  ancient, 
and  perhaps  the  true  reading.     STKICVENS. 
VOL.    XV.  <2  D 


402        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  ir. 

DEI.  Let  us  make  ready  straight.4 

J&NE.  Yea,  with  a  bridegroom's  fresh  alacrity, 
Let  us  address  to  tend  on  Hector's  heels : 
The  glory  of  our  Troy  doth  this  day  lie 
On  his  fair  worth,  and  single  chivalry.      [Exeunt. 

4  Dei.  Let  us  make  ready  straight.  &c.]  These  five  lines  are 
not  in  the  quarto,  being  probably  added  at  the  revision. 

JOHNSON. 

But  why  should  Diomed  say — Let  us  make  ready  straight  ? 
Was  HE  to  tend  with  them  on  Hector's  heels?  Certainly  not. 
Dio.  has  therefore  crept  in  by  mistake  ;  the  line  either  is  part  of 
Paris's  speech,  or  belongs  to  Deiphobus,  who  is  in  company. 
As  to  Diomed,  he  neither  goes  along  with  them,  nor  has  any 
thing  to  get  ready  :  —  he  is  now  walking  with  Troilus  and 
Cressida,  towards  the  gate,  on  his  way  to  the  Grecian  camp. 

RITSON. 

This  last  speech  cannot  possibly  belong  to  Diomede,  who  was 
a  Grecian,  and  could  not  have  addressed  Paris  and  ^Eneas,  as 
if  they  were  going  on  the  same  party.  This  is,  in  truth,  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  speech  of  Paris,  and  the  preceding  stage  direc- 
tion should  run  thus :  "  Exeunt  Troilus,  Cressida,  and  Diomed 
tvho  had  the  charge  of  Cressida."  M.  MASON. 

To  the  first  of  these  lines,  "  Let  us  make  ready  straight,"  is 
prefixed  in  the  folio,  where  alone  the  passage  is  found,  Dio. 

I  suspect  these  five  lines  were  an  injudicious  addition  by  the 
actors,  for  the  sake  of  concluding  the  scene  with  a  couplet ;  to 
which  (if  there  be  no  corruption)  they  were  more  attentive 
than  to  the  country  of  Diomed,  or  the  particular  commission  he 
was  entrusted  with  by  the  Greeks.  The  line  in  question,  how- 
ever, as  has  been  suggested,  may  belong  to  Deiphobus.  From 
jEneas's  second  speech,  in  p.  387,  and  the  stage-direction  in  the 
quarto  and  folio  prefixed  to  the  third  scene  of  this  Act,  Deipho- 
bus appears  to  be  now  on  the  stage ;  and  Dio.  and  Dei.  might 
have  been  easily  confounded.  As  this  slight  change  removes 
the  absurdity,  I  have  adopted  it.  It  was  undoubtedly  intended 
by  Shakspeare  that  Diomed  should  make  his  exit  with  Troilus 
and  Crtssida.  MA  LONE. 


sc.  v.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        403 

SCENE  V. 

The  Grecian  Camp.     Lists  set  out. 

Enter  AJAX,  armed;  AGAMEMNON,  ACHILLES, 
PATROCLUS,  MENELAUS,  ULYSSES,  NESTOR, 
and  Others. 

AGAM.  Here  art  thou  in  appointment  fresh  and 

fair,5 

Anticipating  time  with  starting  courage. 
Give  with  thy  trumpet  a  loud  note  to  Troy, 
Thou  dreadful  Ajax ;  that  the  appalled  air 
May  pierce  the  head  of  the  great  combatant, 
And  hale  him  hither. 

AJAX.  Thou,  trumpet,  there's  my  purse. 

Now  crack  thy  lungs,  and  split  thy  brazen  pipe : 
Blow,  villain,  till  thy  sphered  bias  cheek6 
Out-swell  the  colick  of  puff'd  Aquilon : 

•5 in  appointment  fresh  and  fair,"]     Appointment  is  pre- 
paration.     So,  in  Measure  for  Measure  ; 

"  Therefore  your  best  appointment  make  with  speed." 
Again,  in  King  Henri/  V.  Parti: 

"  What  well-appointed  leader  fronts  us  here  ?" 
i.  e.  what  leader  well  prepared  with  arms  and  accoutrements  ? 

STEEVEXS. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  Hamlet  : 

"  Unhousell'd,  disappointed,  unanneal'd."     MALOXE. 

" Inns  check — ]      Swelling  out  like  the  bins  of  a  bowl. 

JOUNSOK. 


So,  in  Vittoria  Corombona^  or  the  White  Dcril,  1612: 

"  -     -  'Faith  his  check 

"  Has  a  most  excellent  bins — ." 

The  idea  is  taken  from  the  puffy  cheeks  of  the  winds,  a>  re- 
presented in  ancient  prints,  maps,  &c.     STEEYEXS. 

2  D  2 


404        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTIV. 

Come,  stretch  thy  chest,  and  let  thy  eyes  spout 

blood ; 
Thou  blow'st  for  Hector.  [Trumpet  sounds. 

ULYSS.  No  trumpet  answers. 

ACHIL.  'Tis  but  early  days. 

AGAM.  Is  not  yon  Diomed,  with  Calchas*  daugh- 
ter ? 

ULYSS.  'Tis  he,  I  ken  the  manner  of  his  gait ; 
He  rises  on  the  toe :  that  spirit  of  his 
In  aspiration  lifts  him  from  the  earth. 


Enter  DIOMED,  with  CRESSIDA. 

AGAM.  Is  this  the  lady  Cressid  ? 

Dio.  Even  she. 

AGAM.  Most  dearly  welcome  to  the  Greeks,  sweet 

lady. 
NEST.  Our  general  doth  salute  you  with  a  kiss. 

ULYSS.  Yet  is  the  kindness  but  particular ; 
'Twere  better,  she  were  kiss'd  in  general. 

NEST.  And  very  courtly  counsel :  I'll  begin. — 
So  much  for  Nestor. 

ACHIL.  I'll  take  that  winter  from  your  lips,  fair 

lady: 
Achilles  bids  you  welcome. 

MEN.  I  had  good  argument  for  kissing  once. 

PATE.  But  that's  no  argument  for  kissing  now : 
For  thus  popp'd  Paris  in  his  hardiment ; 
And  parted  thus  you  and  your  argument. 

ULYSS.  O  deadly  gall,  and  theme  of  all  our  scorns! 
For  which  we  lose  our  heads,  to  gild  his  horns. 


sc,  v.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        405 

PATR.  The  first  was  Menelaus'  kissj — this,  mine: 
Patroclus  kisses  you. 
MEN.  O,  this  is  trim  ! 

PATR.  Paris,  and  I,  kiss  evermore  for  him. 
MEN.  I'll  have  my  kiss,  sir: — Lady,  by  your  leave. 
CRES.  In  kissing,  do  you  render,  or  receive  ?7 
PATR.  Both  take  and  give.8 

CRES.  I'll  make  my  match  to  live,9 

The  kiss  you  take  is  better  than  you  give ; 
Therefore  no  kiss. 

MEN.  I'll  give  you  boot,  I'll  give  you  three  for 
one. 

CRES.  You're  an  odd  man  ;  give  even,  or  give 

none. 
MEN.  An  odd  man,  lady  ?  every  man  is  odd. 

CRES.  No,  Paris  is  not ;  for,  you  know,  'tis  true, 
That  you  are  odd,  and  he  is  even  with  you. 

MEN.  You  fillip  me  o'the  head. 

CRES.  No,  I'll  be  sworn. 

ULYSS.  It  were  no  match,  your  nail  against  his 

horn. — 
May  I,  sweet  lady,  beg  a  kiss  of  you  ? 


7  In  kissing,  do  you  render,  or  receive  ?]  Thus,  Bassanio,  in 
The  Merchant  of  Venice,  when  he  kisses  Portia : 

" 1'air  lady,  by  your  leave, 

"  I  come  by  note,  to  #»v,  and  to  receive.''*      STEF.VENS. 

*  Pair.  Doth  take  and  pivc.~\  This  speech  should  rather  be 
given  to  Menelaus.  TYKWHITT. 

9  /'//  make  my  watch  to  live,']  I  will  make  such  bargains 
as  I  may  live  by,  such  ax  may  bring  me  projit,  therefore  will 
not  take  a  worse  kiss  than  I  give.  JOHNSON. 

I  believe  this  only  means — /'//  lay  my  life.     TYRWHITT. 


406        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA:    ACT  iv. 

CUES.  You  may. 

ULYSS.  I  do  desire  it. 

CRES.  Why,  beg  then.1 

ULYSS.  Why  then,  for  Venus'  sake,  give  me  a  kiss, 
When  Helen  is  a  maid  again,  and  his. 

CRES.  I  am  your  debtor,  claim  it  when  'tis  due. 
ULYSS.  Never* s  my  day,  and  then  a  kiss  of  you.2 

Dio.  Lady,  a  word  ; — I'll  bring  you  to  your  fa- 
ther.       [DIOMED  leads  out  CRESSIDA. 

NEST.  A  woman  of  quick  sense. 

ULYSS.  Fye,  fye  upon  her ! 

There's  language  in  her  eye,  her  cheek,  her  lip, 
Nay,  her  foot  speaks  ;3  her  wanton  spirits  look  out 


1  Why,  beg  then.]     For  the  sake  of  rhyme  we  should  read : 

Why  beg  two. 
If  you  think  kisses  worth  begging,  beg  more  than  one. 

JOHNSON. 

*  Never's  my  day,  and  then  a  kiss  of  you.']  I  once  gave  both 
these  lines  to  Cressida.  She  bids  Ulysses  beg  a  kiss ;  he  asks 
that  he  may  have  it, 

"  When  Helen  is  a  maid  again, — ." 

She  tells  him  that  then  he  shall  have  it, — When  Helen  is  a  maid 
again : 

"  Cres.  I  am  your  debtor,  claim  it  when  'tis  due. 

"  Ulyss.  Never's  my  day,  and  then  a  kissyor  you." 
But  I  rather  think   Ulysses  means  to  slight  her,  and  that  the 
present  reading  is  right.     JOHNSON. 

3  There's  language  in  her  eye,  her  cheek,  her  Up, 

Nay,  her  foot  speaks;  &c.]  One  would  almost  think  that 
Shakspeare  had,  on  this  occasion,  been  reading  St.  Chrysostom, 
who  says — "  Non  loquuta  es  lingua,  sed  loqmda  es  gressu  ;  non 
loquida  es  voce,  sed  oculis  loquuta  es  clnrius  quam  vocr;"  i.  e. 
"  They  say  nothing  with  their  mouthes,  they  speake  in  their  gate, 
they  speake  with  their  eyes,  they  speake  in  the  carriage  of  their 
bodies."  I  have  borrowed  this  invective  against  a  wanton,  as 
well  as  the  translation  of  it,  from  Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melan- 
choly, Part  III.  Sect.  ii.  Memb.  2.  Subs.  3.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  v.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSlfcA.         407 

At  every  joint  and  motive  of  her  body.4 
O,  these  encounterers,  so  glib  of  tongue, 
That  give  a  coasting  welcome  ere  it  comes,5 


4 motive  of  her  body.~\     Motive,  for  part  that  contributes 

to  motion.     JOHNSON. 

This  word  is  also  employed,  with  some  singularity,  in  AWs 
well  I  hat  ends  well: 

"  As  it  hath  fated  her  to  be  my  motive 
"  And  helper  to  a  husband."     STEEVENS. 

5  0,  these  encounterers,  so  glib  of  tongue, 

That  give  a  coasting  welcome  ere  it  comes,~\  Ere  what  comes? 
As  this  passage  stands,  the  pronoun  it  has  no  antecedent. 
Johnson  says,  a  coasting  means  an  amorous  address,  courtship, 
but  he  has  given  no  example  to  prove  it,  or  shown  how  the 
word  can  possibly  bear  that  meaning.  I  have  no  doubt  but  we 
should  read: 

And  give  accosting  welcome  ere  it  come.     M.  MASON. 

Mr.  M.  Mason's  conjecture  is  plausible  and  ingenious ;  and 
yet,  without  some  hesitation,  it  cannot  be  admitted  into  the 
text. 

A  coasting  welcome  may  mean  a  side-long  glance  of  invitation. 
Ere  it  comes,  may  signify,  before  such  an  overture  has  reached 
her.  Perhaps,  therefore,  the  plain  sense  of  the  passage  may  be, 
that  Cressida  is  one  of  those  females  who  throw  out  their  lure, 
before  any  like  signal  has  been  made  to  them  by  our  sex. 

I  always  advance  with  reluctance  what  I  cannot  prove  by 
examples ;  and  yet,  perhaps,  I  may  be  allowed  to  add,  that  in 
some  old  book  of  voyages  which  I  have  formerly  read,  I  remem- 
ber that  the  phrase,  a  coasting  salute,  was  used  to  express  a 
salute  of  guns  from  a  ship  passing  by  a  fortified  place  at  which 
the  navigator  did  not  design  to  stop,  though  the  salute  was  in- 
stantly returned.  So,  in  Othello  : 

"  They  do  discharge  their  shot  of  courtesy; 

"  Our  friends,  at  least." 
Again  : 

"  They  give  this  greeting  to  the  citadel : 

"  This  likewise  is  a  friend." 

Cressida- may  therefore  resemble  a  fortress  which  salutes  before 
it  has  been  saluted.     STKF.VKNS. 

A.  coasting  icelcomc   is   a   conciliatory  welcome ;  that  makes 


408        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  ir. 

And  wide  unclasp  the  tables  of  their  thoughts 

To  every  ticklish  reader !  set  them  down 

For  sluttish  spoils  of  opportunity,5 

And  daughters  of  the  game.         [Trumpet  within. 

ALL.  The  Trojans'  trumpet. 

AGAM.  Yonder  comes  the  troop. 


Enter  HECTOR,   armed;  ^ENEAS,    TROILUS,   and 
other  Trojans,  with  Attendants. 


Hail,  all  the  state  of  Greece  !  what  shall 

be  done 
To   him  that  victory  commands  ?6    Or    do   you 

purpose, 

A  victor  shall  be  known  ?  will  you,  the  knights 
Shall  to  the  edge  of  all  extremity7 
Pursue  each  other  ;  or  shall  they  be  divided 
By  any  voice  or  order  of  the  field  ? 
Hector  bade  ask. 

AGAM.  Which  way  would  Hector  have  it  ? 

J*ENE.  He  cares  not,  he'll  obey  conditions. 

fcilent  advances  before  the  tongue  has  uttered  a  word.     So,  ia 

our  author's  Venus  and  Adonis  : 

"  Anon  she  hears  them  chaunt  it  lustily, 

"  And  all  in  haste  she  coasteth  to  the  cry."     MALONE. 

4  -  sluttish  spoils  of  opportunity,']     Corrupt  wenches,  of 
whose  chastity  every  opportunity  may  make  a  prey.    JOHNSON. 

6  -  what  shall  be  done 

To  him  that  victory  commands  ?"]  This  phrase  is  scriptural, 
and  signifies  —  •what  honour  shall  he  receive  ?  So,  in  I.  Samuel 
xvii.  26  :  "  What  shall  be  done  to  the  man  that  killeth  this  Phi- 
listine?" STEEVENS. 

—  to  the  edge  of  all  extremity  —  ]      So,  in  All's  well  that 
ends  well;  "  To  the  extreme  edge  of  hazard."     STEEVENS. 


sc.  v.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        4O9 

ACHIL.  'Tisdonelike  Hector;  but  securely  done,8 

8  'Tis  done  like  Hector,  but  securely  done,]  This  speech,  in 
the  old  copies,  is  given  to  Agamemnon.  MALONE. 

It  seems  absurd  to  me,  that  Agamemnon  should  make  a  re- 
mark to  the  disparagement  of  Hector  for  pride,  and  that  ^Eneas 
should  immediately  say — 

"  If  not  Achilles,  sir,  what  is  your  name  ?" 
To  Achilles  I  have  ventured  to  place  it ;  and  consulting  Mr. 
Dryden's  alteration  of  this  play,  I  was  not  a  little  pleased  to 
find,  that  I  had  but  seconded  the  opinion  of  that  great  man  10 
this  point.     THEOBALD. 

Though  all  the  old  copies  agree  in  giving  this  speech  to  Aga- 
memnon, I  have  no  doubt  but  Theobald  is  right  in  restoring  it 
to  Achilles.  It  is  this  very  speech,  so  much  in  character,  that 
makes  /Eneas  immediately  recognize  Achilles,  and  say  in 
reply- 

"  If  not  Achilles,  sir,  what  is  your  name  ?" 
And  it  is  to  Achilles  he  afterwards  addresses  himself  in  reply  to 
this  speech  ;  on  which  he  answers  the  observation  it  contains  on 
Hector's  conduct,  by  giving  his  just  character,  and  clearing  him- 
self from  the  charge  of  pride. — I  have  already  observed  that  the 
copies  of  this  play  are  uncommonly  faulty  with  respect  to  the 
distribution  of  the  speeches  to  the  proper  persons.  M.  MASON. 

securely  done,']     In  the  sense  of  the  Latin,  securus — 

srcurus  admodum  de  hello,  animisecuri  homo.     A  negligent  secu- 
rity arising  from  a  contempt  of  the  object  opposed. 

WARBURTOX. 

Dr.  Warburton  truly  observes,  that  the  word  securely  is  here 
used  in  the  Latin  sense  :  and  Mr.  Warner,  in  his  ingenious  letter 
to  Mr.  Garrick,  thinks  the  sense  peculiar  to  Shakspeare  ;  "  for 
(says  he)  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  it  elsewhere."  Thia 
gentleman  has  treated  me  with  so  much  civility,  that  I  am 
bound  in  honour  to  remove  his  difficulty. 

It  is  to  be  found  in  the  last  act  of  '1  tie  Spanish  Tragedy  : 
"  O  damned  devil,  how  secure  he  is." 

In  my  Lord  Bacon's  Essay  on  Tumults,  "  —  neither  let  any 
prince  or  state  be  secure  concerning  discontents."  And  besides 
these,  in  Drayton,  Fletcher,  and  the  vulgar  translation  of  the 
Bible. 

Mr.  Warner  had  as  little  success  in  his  researches  for  the  word 
religion  in  its  Latin  acceptation.  I  meet  with  it  however  in 
Moby's  translation  of  Casti/io,  1561  :  "  Some  be  so  scrupulous, 
as  it  were,  with  a  religion  of  this  their  Tuscane  tung." 


410       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  m. 

A  little  proudly,  and  great  deal  misprizing 
The  knight  oppos'd. 

J<ENE.  If  not  Achilles,  sir, 

What  is  your  name  ? 

ACHIL.  If  not  Achilles,  nothing. 

JENE.  Therefore  Achilles :  But,  whatever,  know 

this  ;— 

In  the  extremity  of  great  and  little, 
Valour  and  pride  excel  themselves  in  Hector ; 
The  one  almost  as  infinite  as  all, 
The  other  blank  as  nothing.     Weigh  him  well, 
And  that,  which  looks  like  pride,  is  courtesy. 
This  Ajax  is  half  made  of  Hector's  blood  : l 
In  love  whereof,  half  Hector  stays  at  home  ; 
Half  heart,  half  hand,  half  Hector  comes  to  seek 
This  blended  knight,  half  Trojan,  and  half  Greek.2 

ACHIL.  A  maiden  battle  then  ? — O,  I  perceive 
you. 

Ben  Jonson  more  than  once  uses  both  the  substantive  and  the 
adjective  in  this  sense. 

As  to  the  word  Cavalcro,  with  the  Spanish  termination,  it  is 
to  be  found  in  Heywood,  Withers,  Davies,  Taylor,  and  many 
other  writers.  FARMER. 

a  Valour  and  pride  excel  themselves  in  Hector ;]  Shakspeare's 
thought  is  not  exactly  deduced.  Nicety  of  expression  is  not  his 
character.  The  meaning  is  plain:  "  Valour  (says  ./Eneas,)  is  in 
Hector  greater  than  valour  in  other  men,  and  pride  in  Hector  is 
less  than  pride  in  other  men.  So  that  Hector  is  distinguished  by 
the  excellence  of  having  pride  less  than  other  pride,  and  valour 
more  than  other  valour."  JOHNSON. 

1  This  Ajax  is  half  made  of  Hector's  blood:']  Ajax  and 
Hector  were  cousin-germans.  MALONE. 

* half  Trojan,  and  half  Greek.]     Hence  Thersites,  in  a 

former  scene,  called  Ajax  a  mongrel.     See  p.  291,  n.  8. 

MALONE. 


sc.v.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        41 1 


Re-enter  DJOMED. 

AGAM.  Here  is  sir  Diomed: — Go,  gentle  knight, 
Stand  by  our  Ajax  :  as  you  and  lord  JEncas 
Consent  upon  the  order  of  their  fight, 
So  be  it ;  either  to  the  uttermost, 
Or  else  a  breath  :3  the  combatants  being  kin, 
Half  stints4  their  strife  before  their  strokes  begin. 
[AjAX  and  HECTOR  enter  the  lists. 

VLYSS.  They  are  oppos'd  already. 

AGAM.  What  Trojan  is  that  same  that  looks  so 
heavy  ? 

ULYSS.  The  youngest  son  of  Priam,  a  true  knight; 
Not  yet  mature,  yet  matchless  ;  firm  of  word  ; 
Speaking  in  deeds,  and  deedless  in  his  tongue  ;5 
Not   soon  provok'd,   nor,   being  provok'd,    soon 

calm'd  : 

His  heart  and  hand  both  open,  and  both  free  ; 
For  what  he  has,  he  gives,  what  thinks,  he  shows ; 
Yet  gives  he  not  till  judgment  guide  his  bounty, 
Nor  dignifies  an  impair  thought''  with  breath  : 
Manly  as  Hector,  but  more  dangerous  ; 

a  breath  :]  i.  e.  a  breathing,  a  slight  exercise  of  arms. 

Sec  p.  319,  ii.  7.     STEEVENS. 

1 stints — ]   i.  e.  stops.     So,  in  Timon  of  Athens  : 

" make  peace,  stint  war- ."     STEEVEXS. 

'Iced/ess  in  his  tongue;']      i.  e.  no  boaster  of  his  own 


deeds.     STEEVEXS. 


an  impair  thought — ]      A   thought  unsuitable  to  the 

dignity  of  his  character.  This  word  1  should  have  changed  to 
i»ijutret  were  I  not  overpowered  by  the  unanimity  of  the  editors, 
ami  concurrence  of  the  old  copies.  JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Chapman's  preface  to  his  translation  of  the  Shield  of 
Homer,  159S:  " — nor  is  it  more  inipairc  to  an  honest  and 
absolute  man"  &c.  STEEVENS.. 


412       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  ir. 

For  Hector,  in  his  blaze  of  wrath,  subscribes 
To  tender  objects  ;7  but  he,  in  heat  of  action, 
Is  more  vindicative  than  jealous  love  : 
They  call  him  Troilus ;  and  on  him  erect 
A  second  hope,  as  fairly  built  as  Hector. 
Thus  says  ^neas ;  one  that  knows  the  youth 
Even  to  his  inches,  and,  with  private  soul, 
Did  in  great  Ilion  thus  translate  him  to  me.8 

\_Alarum.     HECTOR  and  AJAX  Jight. 

AGAM.  They  are  in  action. 

NEST.  Now,  Ajax,  hold  thine  own ! 

TRO.  Hector,  thou  sleep'st ; 

Awake  thee ! 

AGAM.  Hisblows  are  well  disposed: — there,  Ajax! 
Dio.  You  must  no  more.  [Trumpets  cease. 

JENE.  Princes,  enough,  so  please  you. 

AJAX.  I  am  not  warm  yet,  let  us  fight  again. 
Dio.  As  Hector  pleases. 

HECT.  Why  then,  wdll  I  no  more  : — 

Thou  art,  great  lord,  my  father's  sister's  son, 
A  cousin-german  to  great  Priam's  seed  j 
The  obligation  of  our  blood  forbids 
A  gory  emulation  'twixt  us  twain  : 
Were  thy  commixtion  Greek  and  Trojan  so, 
That  thou  could'st  say — This  hand  is  Grecian  alt, 


Hector, subscribes 


To  tender  objects ;]  That  is,  yields,  gives  way.    JOHNSON. 

So,   in   King  Lear:    " — subscribed  his  power;"  i.  e.  sub- 
mitted.    STEEVENS. 

8 thus  translate  him  to  me."]   Thus  explain  ftis  character. 

JOHNSON. 
So,  in  Hamlet : 

"  There's  matter  in  these  sighs,  these  profound  heaves ; 

"  You  must  translate."     STEEVENS. 


ac.  v.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       41  s 

And  this  is  Trojan;  the  sinews  of  this  leg 
All  Greek,  and  this  all  Troy ;  my  mother's  blood 
Rims  on  the  dexter  cheek,  and  this  sinister 
Rounds-in  my  father*  s ;  by  Jove  multipotent, 
Thou  should'st  notbear  from  me  a  Grcekish  member 
Wherein  my  sword  had  not  impressure  made 
Of  our  rank  feud :  But  the  just  gods  gainsay, 
That  any  drop  thou  borrow'st  from  thy  mother, 
My  sacred  aunt,9  should  by  my  mortal  sword 
Be  drain'd  !  Let  me  embrace  thee,  Ajax  : 
By  him  that  thunders,  thou  hast  lusty  arms ; 
Hector  would  have  them  fall  upon  him  thus : 
Cousin,  all  honour  to  thee ! 

AJAX.  I  thank  thee,  Hector : 

Thou  art  too  gentle,  and  too  free  a  man : 
I  came  to  kill  thee,  cousin,  and  bear  hence 
A  great  addition1  earned  in  thy  death. 

HECT.  Not  Neoptolemus  so  mirable 
(On  whose  bright  crest  Fame  with  her  loud'st  O  yes 
Cries,  This  is  //<?,)  could  promise  to  himself2 
A  thought  of  added  honour  torn  from  Hector. 


',-' 


9  My  sacred  aunt,"]  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Greeks  give  to 
the  uncle  the  title  of  Sacred,  £f<o?.  Patruus  avunculus  I  mfi$ 
Tral^o;,  9s(oc,  Gaz.  de  Senec.  patruus"o  TfOf  pr't^o;  *)SM$,  avun- 
culus, Budxi  Lexic. — >TSJOC  is  also  used  absolutely  for  'o  rtgos 
ra7foc  Zcfjc,  Euripid.  Iphigen.  Taurid.  1.  930  : 

"  KS.     *H  iron  voo-o'jv7a?  -SrsTo,'  J^ijtrev  ooaoi';." 
And  Xenoph.  Kyccy  irziS.     Lib.  I.  passim.     VAILLAXT. 

This  circumstance  may  tend  to  establish  an  opinion  I  have 
elsewhere  expressed,  that  this  play  was  not  the  entire  composi- 
tion of  Shakspeare,  to  whom  the  Grecism  before  us  was  proba» 
bly  unknown.  STKEVENS. 

1  A  great  addition — ]  i.  e.  denomination.     See  p.  214,  n.  5. 

STEEVENS. 

*  \nt  Neoptolemus  so  mirable 

( On  whose  bright  crest  Fame  with  her  lond'st  O  i/cs 
Cries,  This  is  he,)  could  promise  to  himself  &c.J  Dr.  War- 


414       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTW. 


.  There  is  expectance  here  from  both  the 

sides, 
What  further  you  will  do. 

burton  observes,  that  "  the  sense  and  spirit  of  Hector's  speech 
requires  that  the  most  celebrated  of  his  adversaries  should  be 
picked  out  to  be  defied,  and  this  was  Achilles  himself,  not  his 
son  Neoptolemus,  who  was  yet  but  an  apprentice  in  warfare." 
In  the  rage  of  correction  therefore  he  reads  : 

Not  Neoptolemus'  s  sire  irascible. 
Such  a  licentious  conjecture  deserves  no  attention.      MALONE. 

My  opinion  is,  that  by  Neoptolemus  the  author  meant  Achilles 
himself;  and  remembering  that  the  son  was  Pyrrhus  Neoptole- 
mus, considered  Neoptolemus  as  the  nomen  gentilitium,  and 
thought  the  father  was  likewise  Achilles  Neoptolemus. 

JOHNSON. 

Shakspeare  might  have  used  Neoptolemus  for  Achilles.  Wil- 
fride  Holme,  the  author  of  a  poem  called  The  Fall  and  evil 
Successe  of  Rebellion,  &c.  1537,  had  made  the  same  mistake 
before  him,  as  the  following  stanza  will  show  : 

"  Also  the  triumphant  Troyans  victorious, 
"  By  Anthenor  and  /Eneas  false  confederacie, 

"  Sending  Polidamus  to  Neoptolemus, 
"  Who  was  vanquished  and  subdued  by  their  conspiracie. 

"  O  dolorous  fortune,  and  fatal  miserie  ! 
"  For  multitude  of  people  was  there  mortificate 

"  With  condigne  Priamus  and  all  his  progenie, 
"  And  flagrant  Polixene,  that  lady  delicate." 
In  Lydgate,  however,  Achilles,  Neoptolemus,  and  Pyrrhus, 
are  distinct  characters.     Neoptolemus  is  enumerated  among  the 
Grecian  princes  who  first  embarked  to  revenge  the  rape    of 
Helen  : 

"  The  valiant  Grecian  called  Neoptolemus, 
"  That  had  his  haire  as  blacke  as  any  jet,"  &c.  p.  102. 
and  Pyrrhus,  very  properly,  is  not  heard  of  till  after  the  death 
of  his  father  : 

"  Sith  that  Achilles  in  such  traiterous  wise 
"  Is  slaine,  that  we  a  messenger  should  send 
"  To  fetch  his  son  yong  Pyrrhus,  to  the  end 
"  He  may  revenge  his  father's  death,"  &c.  p.  237. 

STEEVENS. 

I  agree  with  Dr.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Steevens,  in  thinking  that 
Shakspeare  supposed  Neoptolemus  was  the  nomen  gentilitinm  ; 
an  error  into  which  he  might  have  been  led  by  some  book  of  the 


x.  v.        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       415 

HECT.  We'll  answer  it;3 

The  issue  is  embracement : — Ajax,  farewell. 

AJAX.  If  I  might  in  entreaties  find  success, 
(As  seld  I  have  the  chance,)  I  would  desire 
My  famous  cousin  to  our  Grecian  tents. 

Dio.  'Tis  Agamemnon's  wish:  and  great  Achilles 
Doth  long  to  see  unarm'd  the  valiant  Hector. 

HECT.  JEncus,  call  my  brother  Troilus  to  me  : 
And  signity  this  loving  interview 
To  the  expecters  of  our  Trojan  part ; 
Desire  them  home. — Give  me  thy  hand,  my  cousin; 
I  will  go  eat  with  thee,  and  see  your  knights.4 

AJAX.  Great  Agamemnon  comes  to  meet  us  here. 

HECT.  The  worthiest  of  them  tell  me  name  by 

name  ; 

But  for  Achilles,  my  own  searching  eyes 
Shall  find  him  by  his  large  and  portly  size. 

time.  That  by  Neoptolemus\\c  meant  Achilles,  and  not  Pyrrhus, 
may  be  interred  from  a  former  passage  in  p.  373,  by  which  it 
appears  that  he  knew  Pyrrhus  had  not  yet  engaged  in  the  siege 
of  Troy : 

"  But  it  must  grieve  young  Pyrrhus,  note  at  home,"  &c. 

MALONE. 

J  We'll  ansiver  it ;~]     That  is,  answer  the  expectance. 

JOHNSON. 

—  your  knighls.~]  The  word  knight,  as  often  as  it  occurs, 
is  sure  to  bring  with  it  the  idea  of  chivalry,  and  revives  the 
memory  of  Amadis  and  his  fantastick  followers,  rather  than  that 
of  the  mighty  confederates  who  fought  on  either  side  in  the 
Trojan  war.  I  wish  that  cqucs  and  armiger  could  have  been 
rendered  by  any  other  words  than  knight  and  'squire.  Mr. 
Pope,  in  his  translation  of  the  Iliad,  is  very  liberal  of  the 
latter.  STKEVEVS. 

These  knights,  to  the  amount  of  about  tivo  hundred  thousand, 
(lor  there  were  not  less  in  both  armies,)  Shakspearc  found,  with 
all  the  appendages  of  chivalry,  in  The  Three  Destructions  of 
Troy.  M  ALONE. 


416      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  ir. 

AGAM.  Worthy  of  arms ! 5  as  welcome  as  to  one 
That  would  be  rid  of  such  an  enemy  ; 
But  that's  no  welcome  :  Understand  more  clear, 
What's  past,  and  what's  to  come,  is  strew'd  with 

husks 

And  formless  ruin  of  oblivion  ; 
But  in  this  extant  moment,  faith  and  troth, 
Strain'd  purely  from  all  hollow  bias-drawing, 
Bids  thee,  with  most  divine  integrity,6 
From  heart  of  very  heart,7  great  Hector  welcome. 

HECT.  I  thank  thee,  most  imperious  Agamem- 
non.8 

AGAM.  My  well-fam'd  lord  of  Troy,  no  less  to 
you.  [To  TROILUS. 

MEN.  Let  me  confirm  my  princely  brother's 

greeting  ; — 
You  brace  of  warlike  brothers,  welcome  hither. 

HECT.  Whom  must  we  answer  ? 

MEN.  The  noble  Menelaus." 

5  Worthy  of  arms  /]  Folio.  Worthy  all  arms !  Quarto. 
The  quarto  has  only  the  first,  second,  and  the  last  line  of  this 
salutation ;  the  intermediate  verses  seem  added  on  a  revision. 

JOHNSON. 

0  — —  divine  integrity,]     i.  e.  integrity  like  that  of  heaven. 

STEEVENS. 

7 heart  of  very  heart,"]     So,  in  Hamlet  : 

"  In  my  heart's  core,  ay  in  my  heart  of  heart" 

STEEVENS. 

8 most  imperious  Agamemnon.']     Imperious  and  imperial 

had  formerly  the  same  signification.     So,  in  our  author's  Venus 
and  Adonis : 

"  Imperious  supreme  of  all  mortal  things."     MA  LONE. 

Again,  in  Titus  Andronicus  ; 

"  King,  be  thy  thoughts  imperious,  like  thy  name." 

STEEVENS. 

g  Men.  The  noble  Menelaus.~]  Mr.Ritson  supposes  this  speech 
to  belong  to  Mneas.  REED. 


ac.  r.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        41? 

HECT.  O  you,  my  lord  ?  by  Mars  his  gauntlet, 

thanks ! 

Mock  not,  that  I  affect  the  imtraded  oatli ; 
Your  quondam  wife  swears  still  by  Venus'  glove  :! 
She's  well,  but  bade  me  not  commend  her  to  you. 

MEN.  Name  her  not  now,  sir  j  she's  a  deadly 
theme. 

HECT.  O,  pardon  ;  I  offend. 

NEST.  I  have,  tliou  gallant  Trojan,  seen  thee  oft, 
Labouring  for  destiny,  make  cruel  way 
Through  ranks  of  Greekish  youth  :2   and  I  have 
seen  thee, 

As  I  cannot  suppose  that  Menelaus  would  style  himself"  the 
noble  Menelaus,"  I  think  llitson  right  in  giving  this  speech  to 
JEncas.  M.  MASON. 

1  Mock  not,  &c.]   The  quarto  has  here  a  strange  corruption  : 

l\lock  not  thy  affect,  the  untreaded  earth.     JOHNSON". 

the  untraded  oath  ;]      A  singular  oath,  not  in  common 

use.      So,  in  King  Richard  II: 

" some  way  of  common  trade" 

Under  the  lady's  oath  perhaps  more  is  meant  than  meets  the 
ear ;  unless  the  poet  caught  his  idea  from  Grange's  Golden 
Aphroditis,  4-to.  1577,  sign.  M  ij :  "  At  this  upper  horde  next 
unto  Jupiter  on  the  right  hande  sat  Juno,  that  honourable  and 
gracious  goddessc  his  wyfe :  Nexte  unto  hyr  satte  Venus,  the 
goddes.se  of  love,  ivith  a  (-I.OVE  made  oj~ floures  sticking  in  hyr 
bosomc."  MA  LONE. 

Glove,  in  the  preceding  extract,  must  be  a  corruption  of  some 
other  word,  perhaps  of — Globe.  A  flowery  globe  might  have 
been  worn  by  Venus  as  an  emblem  of  the  influence  of  Love, 
which,  by  adding  graces  and  pleasures  to  the  world,  may, 
poetically,  be  said  to  cover  it  with  flowers. 

Our  ancient  nosegays  also  (as  m^y  lie  known  from  several  old 
engravings)  were  nearly  <rlo/>nl<ir.  But  what  idea  can  be  com- 
municated by  a  glove  made  of  flowers  ?  or  how  could  any  form 
resembling  a  glove,  be  produced  out  of  such  materials  ? 

STEE  VE\S. 

2  Labouring  for  destiny,  &c.]    The  vicegerent  of  Fate.  So,  in 
Coriolanus : 

VOL.   XV.  2  £ 


418        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  ir. 

As  hot  as  Perseus,  spur3  thy  Phrygian  steed, 
Despising  many  forfeits  and  subduements,4 
When  thou  hast  hung  thy  advanced  sword  i'the  air, 
Not  letting  it  decline  on  the  declined  ;5 
That  I  have  said  to  some  my  standers-by, 
Lo,  Jupiter  is  yonder,  dealing  life! 
And  I  have  seen  thee  pause,  and  take  thy  breath, 
When  that  a  ring  of  Greeks  have  hemm'd  thee  in, 
Like  an  Olympian  wrestling :  This  have  I  seen  j 
But  this  thy  countenance,  still  lock'd  in  steel, 
I  never  saw  till  now.     I  knew  thy  grandsire,6 
And  once  fought  with  him  :  he  was  a  soldier  good; 

His  sword,  death's  stamp, 

Where  it  did  mark,  it  took  ;  from  face  to  foot 
He  was  a  thing  of  blood,  whose  every  motion 
Was  tim'd  with  dying  cries  :  alone  he  enter'd 
The  mortal  gate  of  the  city,  which  he  painted 
With  shunless  destiny."  MALONE. 

3  As  hot  as  Perseus,  spur — ]    As  the  equestrian  fame  of  Per- 
seus, on  the  present  occasion,  must  be  alluded  to,  this  simile  will 
serve  to  countenance  my  opinion,  that  in  a  former  instance  his 
horse  was  meant  for  a  real  one,  and  not,  allegorically,  for  a  ship. 
See  p.  261,  n.  4.     STEEVENS. 

4  Demising  many  forfeits  and  subducments,~\  Thus  the  quarto. 
The  folio  reads : 

"  And  seen  thee  scorning  forfeits  and  subduemcnts." 

JOHNSON. 

3  When  thou  hast  hung  thy  advanced  sword  i'thc  ah; 

Not  letting  it  decline  on  the  declined;']     Dr.  Young  appears 
to  have  imitated  this  passage  in  the  second  Act  of  his  Busiris: 

"  . my  rais'd  arm 

"  Has  hung  in  air,  forgetful  to  descend, 

"  And  for  a  moment  spar'd  the  prostrate  foe." 

STEEVENS. 

So,  in  King  Henry  IV.  Part  II: 

"  And  hangs  resolv'd  correction  in  the  air, 
"  That  was  uprear'd  to  execution." 
The  declined  is  \\icfallcn.     So,  in  Timon  of  Athens: 

"  Not  one  accompanying  his  declining  foot."  MALONE. 

6          thy  grandsire,"]     Laomedon.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  v.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        419 

But,  by  great  Mars,  the  captain  of  us  all, 
Never  like  thee  :  Let  an  old  man  embrace  thee  ; 
And,  worthy  warrior,  welcome  to  our  tents, 

MNE.  'Tis  the  old  Nestor.7 

HECT.  Let  me  embrace  thee, good  old  chronicle, 
That  hast  so  long  walk'd  hand  in  hand  with  time: — 
Most  reverend  Nestor,  I  am  glad  to  clasp  thee. 

NEST.  I  would,  my  arms  could  match  thee  in 

contention, 
As  they  contend8  with  thee  in  courtesy. 

HECT.  I  would  they  could. 

NEST.  Ha ! 

By  this  white  beard,  I'd  fight  with  thee  to-morrow. 
Well,  welcome,  welcome!  I  have  seen  the  time — 

ULYSS.  I  wonder  now  how  yonder  city  stands, 
When  we  have  here  her  base  and  pillar  by  us. 

HECT.  I  know  your  favour,  lord  Ulysses,  well. 
Ah,  sir,  there's  many  a  Greek  and  Trojan  dead, 
Since  first  I  saw  yourself  and  Diomed 
In  Ilion,  on  your  Greekish  embassy. 

ULYSS.  Sir,  I  foretold  you  then  what  would  ensue: 
My  prophecy  is  but  half  his  journey  yet  j 

'Tis  the  old  AV.s/or.]     So,  in  Julian  Cccsar  : 

"  Old  Cassius  still." 

If  the  poet  had  the  same  idea  in  both  passages,  TEneas  means, 
"  Nestor  is  still  the  same  talkative  old  man,  we  have  long 
known  him  to  be."  lie  may,  however,  only  mean  to  inform 
Hector  that  Nestor  is  the  person  who  has  addressed  him. 

MALONE. 

I  believe,  that  /Eneas,  who  acts  as  master  of  the  ceremonies, 
is  now  merely  announcing  Nestor  to  Hector,  as  he  had  before 
announced  Menelaus  to  him  ;  for,  as  Mr.  Uitson  has  observed, 
the  last  speech  in  p.  416,  most  evidently  belongs  to  /Eneas. 

STEEVENS. 

*  As  they  contend — ]     This  line  is  not  in  the  quarto. 

JOHNSON. 


420        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  ir. 

For  yonder  walls,  that  pertly  front  your  town, 
Yon  towers,  whose  wanton  tops  do  buss  the  clouds,* 
Must  kiss  their  own  feet. 

HECT.  I  must  not  believe  you  : 

There  they  stand  yet ;  and  modestly  I  think, 
The  fall  of  every  Phrygian  stone  will  cost 
A  drop  of  Grecian  blood :  The  end  crowns  all  j 
And  that  old  common  arbitrator,  time, 
Will  one  day  end  it. 

ULYSS.  So  to  him  we  leave  it. 

Most  gentle,  and  most  valiant  Hector,  welcome : 
After  the  general,  I  beseech  you  next 
To  feast  with  me,  and  see  me  at  my  tent. 

ACHIL.  I  shall  forestall  thee,  lord  Ulysses,  thou ! ' — 


9  Yon  totvers,  u-hose  leant  on  tops  do  buss  the  clouds,']  So,  in  our 
author's  Rape  ofLucrece: 

"  Threatening  cloud  kissing  Ilion  with  annoy." 
Again,  in  Pericles,  Prince  of  Tyre,  1609  : 

"  Whose   touers   bore  heads  so  high,   they   Jciss'd  the 

clouds." 

Ilion,  according  to  Shakspeare's  authority,  was  the  name  of 
Priam's  palace,  "  that  was  one  of  the  richest  and  strongest  that 
ever  was  in  all  the  world.  And  it  was  of  height  five  hundred 
paces,  besides  the  height  of  the  toivers,  whereof  there  was  great 
plenty,  and  so  high  as  that  it  seemed  to  -them  that  saw  them 
from  farre,  they  raught  up  unto  the  heaven,"  The  Destruction 
of  Troy,  Book  II.  p.  4-78. 

So  also  Lydgate,  sign.  F  8,  verso  : 

"  And  whan  he  gan  to  his  worke  approche, 
"  He  made  it  builde  hye  upon  a  rocJic, 
"  It  for  to  assure  in  his  foundation, 
"  And  called  it  the  noble  Ylion." 

Shakspeare  was  thinking  of  this  circumstance  when  he  wrote,  in 
the  first  Act,  these  lines.     Troilus  is  the  speaker  : 

"  Between  our  Ilium,  and  where  she  resides,  [i.  e.  Troy] 
"  Let  it  be  call'd  the  wild  and  wandering  Hood." 

MA  LONE. 

1  /  shall  forestall  thee,  lord  Ulysses,  thou!]  Should  we  not 
read — though?  Notwithstanding  you  have  invited  Hector  to 


sc.  v,        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      421 

Now,  Hector,  I  have  fed  mine  eyes  on  thee;2 
I  have  with  e,\act  view  perus'd  thee,  Hector, 
And  quoted  joint  by  joint.3 

HF.CT.  Is  this  Achilles  ? 

ACHIL.  I  am  Achilles. 

HECT.  Stand  fair,  I  pray  thee :  let  me  look  on  thee. 

your  tent,  I  shall  draw  him  first  into  mine.  So,  in  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  Cupid's  Revenge,  Act  III.  sc.  i : 

"  —   —  O  dissembling  woman, 

"  Whom  I  must  reverence  though ."     TYUWIIITT. 

The  repetition  of  thou!  was  anciently  used  by  one  who  meant 
to  insult  another.  So,  in  Twelfth- Night ;  " — it'  thou  thou'st 
him  some  thrice,  it  shall  not  be  amiss." 

Again,  in  The  Tempest: 

"  Thou  ly'st,  thou  jesting  monkey,  thou!" 
Again,  in  the  first  scene  of  the  fifth  Act  of  this  play  :  "  — thou 
tassel  of  a  prodigal's  purse,  thou.'"     STEEVEXS. 

Steevens's  observations  on  the  use  of  the  word  thou  are  per- 
fectly just,  and  therefore  I  agree  with  Tyrwhitt  that  we  ought 
to  read:  " — lord  Ulysses,  though !"  as  it  could  not  be  the  inten- 
tion of  Achilles  to  affront  Ulysses,  but  merely  to  inform  him, 
that  he  expected  to  entertain  Hector  before  he  did. 

M.  MASON. 

Mr.  Steevens's  remark  is  incontrovertibly  true ;  but  Ulysses 
had  not  said  any  thing  to  excite  such  contempt.  MALOXE. 

Perhaps  the  scorn  of  Achilles  arose  from  a  supposition  that 
Ulysses,  by  inviting  Hector  immediately  after  his  visit  to  Aga- 
memnon, designed  to  represent  himself  as  the  person  next  in 
rank  and  consequence  to  the  general  of  the  Grecian  forces. 

STE  EVENS. 

"  Aou-,  Hector,  I  have  fed  mine  ei/r-s  on  thee  ;~\  The  hint  for  this 
scene  of  altercation  between  Achilles  and  Hector  is  taken  from 
Lydgate.  See  p.  ITS.  STKKVEXS. 

1  And  quoted  joint  luj  joint. ~\  To  (/note  is  to  observe.  So,  in 
ilamlet  : 

"  I'm  sorry  that  with  better  heed  and  judgment 

"  I  had  not  (fioteil  him." 
Again,  in  The  Tivo  Gentlemen  of  Verona: 

"  Tl/n.   And  how  quote  you  my  lolly  ? 

"   I'n/.  I  ijiiole  it  in  3  our  jerkin."     STJ;EY.T:X.S. 


422        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACT  ir. 

ACHIL.  Behold  thy  fill. 

HECT.  Nay,  I  have  done  already. 

ACHIL.  Thou  art  too  brief;  I  will  the  second 

time, 
As  I  would  buy  thee,  view  thee  limb  by  limb. 

HECT.  O,  like  a  book  of  sport  thou'lt  read  me 

o'er ; 

But  there's  more  in  me  than  thou  understand'st. 
Why  dost  thou  so  oppress  me  with  thine  eye  ? 

ACHIL.  Tell  me,  you  heavens,  in  which  part  of 

his  body 

Shall  I  destroy  him?  whether  there,  there, or  there? 
That  I  may  give  the  local  wound  a  name ; 
And  make  distinct  the  very  breach,  whereout 
Hector's  great  spirit  flew :  Answer  me,  heavens ! 

HECT.  It  would  discredit  the  bless' d  gods,  proud 

man, 

To  answer  such  a  question  :  Stand  again  : 
Think'st  thou  to  catch  my  life  so  pleasantly, 
As  to  prenominate  in  nice  conjecture, 
Where  thou  wilt  hit  me  dead  ? 

ACHIL.  I  tell  thee,  yea. 

HECT.  Wert  thou  an  oracle  to  tell  me  so, 
I'd  not  believe  thee.  Henceforth  guard  thee  well; 
For  I'll  not  kill  thee  there,  nor  there,  nor  there ; 
But,  by  the  forge  that  stithied  Mars  his  helm,4 
I'll  kill  thee  every  where,  yea,  o'er  and  o'er. — 
You  wisest  Grecians,  pardon  me  this  brag, 
His  insolence  draws  folly  from  my  lips  ; 

4  But,  by  the  forge  that  stithied  Mars  his  helm,~\     A  stithy  is 
an  anvil,  and  from  hence  the  verb  slit/tied  is  formed. 

M.  MASON. 

The  word  is  still  used  in  Yorkshire.     MALONE. 

A  stith  is  an  anvil,  a  tilth y  a  smith's  shop.     See  Hamlet, 
Act  III.  sc.  ii.  Vol.  XVIII.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  v.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        423 

But  I'll  endeavour  deeds  to  match  these  words, 
Or  may  I  never 

AJAX.  Do  not  chafe  thce,  cousin ; — 

And  you,  Achilles,  let  these  threats  alone, 
Till  accident,  or  purpose,  bring  you  to't : 
You  may  have  every  day  enough  of  Hector, 
If  you  have  stomacn  ;   the  general  state,  I  fear, 
Can  scarce  entreat  you  to  be  odd  with  him.5 

HECT.  I  pray  you,  let  us  see  you  in  the  field ; 
We  have  had  pelting  wars,6  since  you  refus'd 
The  Grecians'  cause. 

ACHIL.  Dost  thou  entreat  me,  Hector  ? 

To-morrow,  do  I  meet  thce,  fell  as  death  j 
To-night,  all  friends. 

HECT.  Thy  hand  upon  that  match. 

AGAM.  First,  all  you  peers  of  Greece,  go  to  my 

tent ; 

There  in  the  full  convive7  we  :  afterwards, 
As  Hector's  leisure  and  your  bounties  shall 
Concur  together,  severally  entreat  him. — 

—  the  general  state,  I  Jear, 

Can  scarce  entreat  you  to  be  odd  with  him.]  Ajax  treats 
Achilles  with  contempt,  and  means  to  insinuate  that  he  was 
afraid  of  fighting  with  Hector.  "  You  may  every  day  (says  he) 
have  enough  of  Hector,  if  you  choose  it ;  hut  I  believe  the 
whole  state  of  Greece  will  scarcely  prevail  on  you  to  engage  with 
him." 

To  have  a  stomach  to  any  thing  is,  to  have  an  inclination  to 
it.     M.  MASON. 

0 pelting  wars,']    i.  e.  petty,  inconsiderable  ones.      So,  in 

A  Midsummer-Night's  Dream  : 

"  Have  every  pelting  river  made  so  proud,"  &c. 
See  Vol.  IV.  p.  ,'5.57,  n.  .3.     STEKVENS. 

'  convive — ]      To  coircire  is  to  feast.     This  word  is  not 

peculiar   to   Shakspeare.      I  find  it   several  times  used   in    The 
History  of  Helyas  Kitig/it  oj the  Sivannetb\,  1.  no  date. 

STEBVEXS. 


424       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  iv. 

Beat  loud  the  tabourines,8  let  the  trumpets  blow, 
That  this  great  soldier  may  his  welcome  know.9 
[_Excunt  all  but  TROILUS  and  ULYSSES. 

TRO.  My  lord  Ulysses,  tell  me,  I  beseech  you, 
In  what  place  of  the  field  doth  Calchas  keep  ? 

ULYSS.  At  Menelaus'  tent, most  princely  Troilus: 
There  Diomed  doth  feast  with  him  to-night ; 
Who  neither  looks  upon  the  heaven,  nor  earth, 
But  gives  all  gaze  and  bent  of  amorous  view 
On  the  fair  Cressid. 

TRO.  Shall  I,  sweet  lord,  be  bound  to  you  so 

much, 

After  we  part  from  Agamemnon's  tent, 
To  bring  me  thither  ? 

ULYSS.  You  shall  command  me,  sir. 

As  gentle  tell  me,  of  what  honour  was 
This  Cressida  in  Troy  ?  Had  she  no  lover  there 
That  wails  her  absence  ? 

TRO.  O,  sir,  to  such  as  boasting  show  their  scars, 
A  mock  is  due.     Will  you  walk  on,  my  lord  ? 
She  was  belov'd,  she  lov'd ;  she  is,  and  doth  : 
But,  still,  sweet  love  is  food  for  fortune's  tooth. 

[Exeunt. 

8  Beat  loud  the  tabourines,]     For   this  the  quarto  and  the 
latter  editions  have  — 

To  taste,  your  bounties. 

The  reading  which  I  have  given  from  the  folio  seems  chosen  at 
the  revision,  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  the  word  bounties. 

JOHNSON. 

Tabourines   are    small    drums.     The  word   occurs  again   in 

Antony  and  Cleopa  t  ra .     S  x  E  E  v  E  x  s . 

9  That  this  great   soldier   may  his  ivelcomc   £»ou\]      So,  in 
Macbeth  : 

"  That  this  great  king  may  kindly  say, 

"  Our  duties  did  his  welcome  pay."     STEEVENS. 


ACT  Y.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        425 

ACT  V.     SCENE  I. 

The  Grecian  Camp.     Before  Achilles'  Tent. 

Enter  ACHILLES  and  PATROCLUS. 

ACHIL.  I'll  heat  his  blood  with  Greekish  wine 

to-night, 

Which  witli  my  scimitar  I'll  cool  to-morrow.1 — 
Patroclus,  let  us  feast  him  to  the  height,2 

PATR.  Here  comes  Thersites. 

Enter  THERSITES. 

ACHIL.  How  now,  tliou  core  of  envy? 

Thou  crusty  hatch  of  nature,3  what's  the  news  ? 

1  /'//  heat  his  blood  with  Greckish  wine  to-night, 

Which  with  my  scimitar  I'll  cool  to-morruw.~]      Grammar 
requires  us  to  read — 

With  Greekish  wine  to-night  I'll  heat  his  blood, 
Which  <S'c. 

Otherwise-,  Achilles  threatens  to  cool  the  wine,  instead  of  Hec- 
tor's blood.     STEEVEXS. 

-  to  the  height. ~\       The   same    phrase   occurs   in    King 

Henry   VIII: 

"  He's  traitor  to  the  height."     STEEVEXS. 

3  Thou  crusty  batch  (>f  nature,']  Batch  is  changed  by  Theo- 
bald to  botch,  and  the  change  is  justified  by  a  pompous  note, 
which  discovers  that  he  did  not  know  the  word  batch.  NVhat  is 
more  strange,  Ilanmer  has  followed  him.  Batch  is  any  thing 
Lulied.  JOHNSON. 

Balcli  does  not  signify  any  thing  baked,  but  all  that  is  baked 
at  one  time,  without  heating  the  oven  afresh.  So,  Ben  Joiison, 
in  his  Catiline: 

"  Except  he  were  of  the  same  meal  and  batch.'" 


426        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACTV. 

THER.  Why,  thou  picture  of  what  thou  seemest, 
and  idol  of  idiot- worshippers,  here's  a  letter  for 
thee. 

ACHIL.  From  whence,  fragment  ? 
THER.  Why,  thou  full  dish  of  fool,  from  Troy. 
PATR.  Who  keeps  the  tent  now? 
THER.   The  surgeon's  box,4  or  the  patient's 
wound. 

PATR.  Well  said,  Adversity!5  and  what  need 
these  tricks  ? 

THER.  Pr'ythee  be  silent,  boy ;   I  profit  not  by 

thy  talk :   thou  art  thought  to  be  Achilles'  male 

i 
varlet. 

PATR.  Male  varlet,6  you  rogue  !  what's  that  ? 

Again,  in  Decker's  If  this  he  not  a  good  Play  the  Devil  is  in  it, 
1612 :  "  The  best  is,  there  are  but  two  batches  of  people 
moulded  in  this  world." 

Again,  in  Summer's  Last  Will  and  Testament,  1600:  "  Hast 
thou  made  a  good  batch  ?  I  pray  thee  give  me  a  new  loaf." 

Again,  in  Every  Man  in  his  Humour:  "  Is  all  the  rest  of 
this  batch  ?" 

Thersites  had  already  been  called  cobloaf.     STEEVENS. 

4  The  surgeon's  box,']  In  this  answer  Thersites  only  quibbles 
upon  the  word  tent.  HANMER. 

s  Well  said,  Adversity!]  Adversity,  I  believe,  in  this  in- 
stance, signifies  contrariety.  The  reply  of  Thersites  has  been 
studiously  adverse  to  the  drift  of  the  question  urged  by  Patroclus. 
So,  in  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  the  Princess,  addressing  Boyet, 
(who  had  been  capriciously  employing  himself  to  perplex  the 
dialogue,)  says — "  avaunt,  Perplexity!"  STEEVENS. 

6  Male  varlet,']  Sir  T.  Hanmer  reads — Male  harlot,  plausi- 
bly enough,  except  that  it  seems  too  plain  to  require  the  ex- 
planation which  Patroclus  demands.  JOHNSON. 

This  expression  is  met  with  in  Decker's  Honest  Whore: 
"  — 'tis  a  male  varlet,  sure,  my  lord!"  FARMER. 

The  person  spoken  of  in  Decker's  play  is  Bellafronte,  a  har- 
lot, who  is  introduced  in  boy's  clothes.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  text  is  right.  MALONE. 


sc.  I.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        427 

THER.  Why,  his  masculine  whore.  Now  the 
rotten  diseases  of  the  south,  the  guts-griping,  rup- 
tures, catarrhs,  loads  o'gravel  i'the  back,  lethar- 
gies, cold  palsies,7  raw  eyes,  dirt-rotten  livers, 
wheezing  lungs,  bladders  full  of  imposthume,  sci- 
aticas, limekilns  i'the  palm,  incurable  bonc-ach, 
and  the  rivelled  fee-simple  of  the  tetter,  take  and 
take  again  such  preposterous  discoveries ! 

PATH.  Why  thou  damnable  box  of  envy,  thou, 
what  meanest  thou  to  curse  thus  ? 

TUER.  Do  I  curse  thee  ? 

PATH.  Why,  no,  you  ruinous  butt;8  you  whore- 
son indistinguishable  cur,9  no. 

THER.  No  ?  why  art  thou  then  exasperate,  thou 

There  is  nothing  either  criminal  or  extraordinary  in  a  male 
varlet.  The  word  preposterous  is  well  adapted  to  express  the 
idea  of  Thersites.  The  sense  therefore  requires  that  we  should 
adopt  Ilanmer's  amendment.  M.  MASON. 

Man-mistress  is  a  term  of  reproach  thrown  out  by  Dorax,  in 
Dryden's  Don  Sebastian,  King  of  Portugal.  See,  however, 
Professor  Heyne's  17th  Excursus  on  the  first  Book  of  the  JEneid^ 
edit.  1787,  p.  161.  STEEVENS. 

7  cold  palsies,']     This  catalogue  of  loathsome  maladies 

ends  in  the  folio  at  cold  palsies.  This  passage,  as  it  stands,  is 
in  the  quarto  :  the  retrenchment  was,  in  my  opinion,  judicious. 
It  may  be  remarked,  though  it  proves  nothing,  that,  of  the  few 
alterations  made  by  Milton  in  the  second  edition  of  his  wonder- 
ful poem,  one  was,  an  enlargement  of  the  enumeration  of  dis- 
eases. JOHNSON. 

—  you  ruinous  butt ;  &c.]   Patroclus  reproaches  Thersites 
with  deformity,  with  having  one  part  crouded  into  another. 

JOHNSON*. 

The  same  idea  occurs  in  The  Second  Part  of  King  Henry  If: 
"  Croud  us  and  crush  us  to  this  monstrous  form." 

STEEVENS. 

'  indistinguishable  c:ir,~]   i.  C.  thou  cur  of  au  undeter- 

minate  shape. 


428         TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTV. 

idle  immaterial  skein  of  sleive  silk,1  thou  green 
sarcenet  flap  for  a  sore  eye,  thou  tassel  of  a  prodi- 
gal's purse,  thou  ?  Ah,  how  the  poor  world  is  pes- 
tered with  such  water-flies;2  diminutives  of  nature!3 

PATR.  Out,  gall!4 

THEE.  Finch  egg ! 5 

ACHIL.  My  sweet  Patroclus,  I  am  thwarted  quite 
From  my  great  purpose  in  to-morrow's  battle. 
Here  is  a  letter  from  queen  Hecuba ; 
A  token  from  her  daughter,  my  fair  love  ;6 
Both  taxing  me,  and  gaging  me  to  keep 

1  thou  idle  immaterial  skein   of  sleive  silk,']      All  the 

terms  used  by  Thersites  of  Patroclus,  are  emblematically  ex- 
pressive of  flexibility,  compliance,  and  mean  officiousness. 

JOHNSON* 

Sleive  silk  has  been  already  explained.     See  Vol.  X.  p.  112, 
n.  9.     MALONE. 

3  such  water-flies  ;]      So,  Hamlet,  speaking  of  Osrick  : 

"  Dost  know  this  icater-fly?"     STEEVENS. 

'diminutives  of  nature !~]      So,  in  Antony  and  Cleo- 


patra ; 

" be  shown 

"  For  poor'st  diminutives,  for  dolts, — "     STEEVENS. 

4  Out,  gall!']      Sir   T.  Hanmer  reads — wz^-gall,  which  an- 
swers well  enough  to  finch-egg  ;  it  has  already  appeared,  that 
our  author  thought  the  nut-gall  the  bitter  gall.  He  is  called  nut, 
from  the  conglobation  of  his  form ;  but  both  the  copies  read — 
Out  gall !     JOHNSON. 

5  Finch  rgg  /]      Of  this  reproach  I  do  not  know  the  exact 
meaning.     I  suppose  he  means  to  call  him  singing  bird,  as  im- 
plying an   useL-ss  favourite,   and  yet   more,   something  more 
worthless,  a  singing  bird  in  the  egg,  or  generally,  a  slight  thing 
easily  crushed.     JOHNSON. 

A  finch's  egg  is  remarkably  gaudy;  but  of  such   terms  of 
reproach  it  is  difficult  to  pronounce  the  true  signification. 

STEEVENS. 

0  A  token  from  her  daughter,  &c.]      This  is  a  circumstance 
taken  from  the  story  book  of  The  Three  Destructions  of  Troy. 

HANMER. 


sc.i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         429 

An  oath  that  I  have  sworn.     I  will  not  break  it : 
Fall,  Greeks  ;  fail,  lame  ;  honour,  or  go,  or  stay; 

My  major  vow  lies  here,  this  I'll  obey. 

Come,  come,  Thersites,  help  to  trim  my  tent ; 
This  night  in  banqueting  must  all  be  spent. — 
Away,  Patroclus. 

[Exeunt  ACHILLES  and  PATROCLUS. 

THER.  With  too  much  blood,  and  too  little  brain, 
these  two  may  run  mad ;  but  if  witli  too  much 
brain,  and  too  little  blood,  they  do,  I'll  be  a  curer 
of  madmen.  Here's  Agamemnon, — an  honest  fel- 
low enough,  and  one  that  loves  quails  ;  but  he  has 
not  so  much  brain  as  ear-wax :  And  the  goodly 
transformation  of  Jupiter  there,  his  brother,  the 
bull, — the  primitive  statue,  and  oblique  memorial 
of  cuckolds;7  a  thrifty  shoeing-horn  in  a  chain, 
hanging  at  his  brother's  leg, — to  what  form,  but 
that  he  is,  should  wit  larded  with  malice,  and  ma- 
lice forced  with  wit,8  turn  him  to  ?  To  an  ass,  were 


7  And  the  goodly  transformation  of  Jupiter  there,  Jiis  brother, 
thr  bull, — the  primitive  statue,  and  oblique  memorial  of  cuckolds ;] 
He  calls  *\lcii{'laits  the  transformation  of  Jupiter,  that  is,  as  him- 
self explains  it,  the  bull,  on  account  of  his  horns,  which  he  had 
as  a  cuckold.  This  cuckold  he  calls  the  primitive  statue  of  cuck- 
olds ;  i.  e.  his  story  had  made  him  so  famous,  that  he  stood  a> 
the  great  archetype  of  his  character.  WARBUKTON. 

Mr.  Heath  observes,  that  "  the  memorial  is  called  oblique,  be- 
cause it  was  only  indirectly  such,  upon  the  common  supposition, 
that  both  bulls  and  cuckolds  were  furnished  with  horns." 

STK  EVENS. 

Perhaps  Shakspeare  meant  nothing  more  by  this  epithet  than 
horned,  the  bull's  horns  being  crooked  or  oblique.  Dr.  War- 
burton,  I  think,  mistakes.  It  is  the  bull,  not  Menclaus,  that  is 
the  primitive  slatuc,  <!vc.  MALONT. 

forced   icith    re//,]        Stuffed    with    wit.       A    term    of 

cookery.      In    this   speech    I    do    not    well    understand    what    is 
meant  by  loving  (/nails.     .JOHNSON. 

By  loving  quails  the  poet  may  mean  loving  the  company  of 


430        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

nothing ;  he  is  both  ass  and  ox :  to  an  ox  were 
nothing ;  he  is  both  ox  and  ass.  To  be  a  dog,  a 
mule,  a  cat,  a  fitchew,9  a  toad,  a  lizard,  an  owl, 
a  puttock,  or  a  herring  without  a  roe,  I  would 
not  care  :  but  to  be  Menelaus, — I  would  conspire 
against  destiny.  Ask  me  not  what  I  would  be,  if 
I  were  not  Thersites ;  for  I  care  not  to  be  the 
louse  of  a  lazar,  so  I  were  not  Menelaus. — Hey- 
day! spirits  and  fires  I1 


Enter  HECTOR,  TROILUS,  AJAX,  AGAMEMNON, 
ULYSSES,  NESTOR,  MENELAUS,  and  DIOMED, 
with  Lights. 

AGAM.  We  go  wrong,  we  go  wrong. 

AJAX.  No,  yonder  'tis ; 

There,  wiiere  we  see  the  lights. 


harlots.  A  quail  is  remarkably  salacious.  Mr.  Upton  says  that 
Xenophon,  in  his  memoirs  of  Socrates,  has  taken  notice  of  this 
quality  in  the  bird.  A  similar  allusion  occurs  in  The  Hollander, 
a  comedy,  by  Glapthorne,  1640: 

" the  hot  desire  of  quails, 

"  To  yours  is  modest  appetite."     STEEVENS. 

In  old  French,  caille  was  synonymous  to  Jille  de  joic.  In  the 
Diet.  Comique  par  le  Roux,  under  the  article  caille,  are  these 
words : 

"  Chaud  comme  une  caille. — 

"  Caille  coeffee, — Sobriquet  qu'on  donne  aux  femmes.  Sig- 
nifie  femme  eveillee,  amoureuse." 

So,  in  Rabelais: — "  Cailles  coiffees  mignonnement  chantans  ;" 
which  Motteux  has  thus  rendered  (probably  from  the  old  trans- 
lation):  "  coated  quails  and  laced  mutton,  waggishly  singing." 

MALONE. 

9  a  fitchew,]      i.  e.  a  polecat.     So,  in  Othello :   "  'Tis 

such  another Jitcheiv,  marry  a  perfum'd  one — ."     STEEVENS. 

1  spirits  and  fires  !~\   This  Thersites  speaks  upon  the  first 

sight  of  the  distant  lights.    JOHNSON. 


sc.i.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        431 

HECT.  I  trouble  you. 

AJAX.  No,  not  a  whit. 

ULYSS.  Here  comes  himself  to  guide  you. 

Enter  ACHILLES. 

ACHIL.    Welcome,    brave    Hector ;    welcome, 
princes  all. 

AGAM.  So  now,  fair  prince  of  Troy,  I  bid  good 

night. 
Ajax  commands  the  guard  to  tend  on  you. 

HECT.  Thanks,  and  good  night,  to  the  Greeks' 
general. 

MEN.  Good  night,  my  lord. 

HECT.  Good  night,  sweet  Menelaus.* 

THER.  Sweet  draught:3  Sweet,  quoth  Ja!  sweet 
sink,  sweet  sewer. 

ACIIIL.  Good  night, 
And  welcome,  both  to  those  that  go,  or  tarry. 

AGAM.  Good  night. 

[_Excunt  AGAMEMNON  and  MENELAUS. 

ACHIL.  Old  Nestor  tarries;  and  you  too,Diomed, 
Keep  Hector  company  an  hour  or  two. 

Dio.  I  cannot,  lord ;  I  have  important  business, 
The    tide    whereof  is  now. — Good   night,   great 
Hector. 

HECT.  Give  me  your  hand. 

'  su-eel  Mcnelan*.~]  Old  copy,  redundantly, — sweet  lord 

Menelaus.  STE  EVEN: s. 

'  Nrtvr/  draught:]  Draught  is  the  old  word  for  forica.  It 
is  used  in  the  vulgar  translation  of  the  Bible.  MAI.ONE. 

So,  in  Iloliushed,  and  a  thousand  other  places.    STEEVKXS. 


432       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       ACT  r, 

ULYSS.  Follow  his  torch,  he  goes 

To  Calchas'  tent ;  I'll  keep  you  company. 

\_Aside  to  TROILUS. 
TRO.  Sweet  sir,  you  honour  me. 

HECT.  And  so  good  night. 

[Exit  DIOMED  ;  ULYSSES  and  TROILUS 
following. 

ACHIL.  Come,  come,  enter  my  tent. 

\JExeunt  ACHILLES,  HECTOR,  AJAX,  and 
NESTOR. 

THER.  That  same  Diomcd's  a  false-hearted 
rogue,  a  most  unjust  knave ;  I  will  no  more  trust 
him  when  he  leers,  than  I  will  a  serpent  when  he 
hisses  :  he  will  spend  his  mouth,  and  promise,  like 
Brablerthe  hound;4  but  when  he  performs,  astro- 
nomers foretell  it;  it  is  prodigious,5  there  will 
come  some  change  ;  the  sun  borrows  of  the  moon, 
when  Diomed  keeps  his  word.  I  will  rather  leave 
to  see  Hector,  than  not  to  dog  him  :  they  say,  he 
keeps  a  Trojan  drab,6  and  uses  the  traitor  Calchas* 
tent :  I'll  after. — Nothing  but  lechery !  all  incon- 
tinent varlets !  \_Exit. 

4  he  will  spend  his  mouth,    and  promise,    like  Brablcr 

the  hound ;]     If  a  hound  gives  his  mouth,  and  is  not  upon  the 
scent  of  the  game,  he  is  by  sportsmen  called  a  bailor  or  brnbler. 
The  proverb  says — "  Brabling  curs  never  want  sore  ears." 

ANONYMOUS. 

5  prodigious,']     i.e.  portentous,  ominous.     So,  in  King 

Richard  III: 

"  Prodigious,  and  untimely  brought  to  light." 

STEEVENS. 

6  they  say,  he  keeps  a  Trojan  drab,']      This  character  of 

Diomed  is  likewise  taken  from  Lydgate.     STEEVENS. 


sc.  n.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       433 

SCENE   II. 

The  same.     Before  Calchas'  Tent. 
Enter  DIOMEDES. 

Dio.  What  are  you  up  here,  ho  ?  speak. 
CAL.  Within.]  Who  calls? 

Dio.    Diomed. — Calchas,    I    think. — Where's 
your  daughter  ? 

CAL.  [  Within.]  She  comes  to  you. 

Enter  TROILUS  and  ULYSSES,  at  a  distance ;  after 
them  THERSITES. 

ULYSS.  Stand  where  the  torch  may  not  discover  us. 

Enter  CRESSIDA. 

TRO.  Cressid  come  forth  to  him  ! 
Dio.  How  now,  my  charge  ? 

CUES.  Now,  my  sweet  guardian  ! — Hark!  a  word 
with  you.  [  Whispers. 

Tno.  Yea,  so  familiar! 
ULYSS.  She  will  sing  any  man  at  first  sight.7 
THER.  And  any  man  may  sing  her,  if  he  can  take 
her  cliff;8  she's  noted. 

7  She  Kill  sing  any  mnn  at  frsl  sight."]     We  now  say — sing 
fit  sight.     The  meaning  is  the  same.     MAI.ONK. 

8 her  cliff;]     That  is,  her  key.     Clef,  French. 

JoHVSOK. 

VOL.  xv.  ->  r 


434        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

Dio.  Will  you  remember  ? 

CRES.  Remember  ?  yes. 

Dio.  Nay,  but  do  then;' 

And  let  your  mind  be  coupled  with  your  words. 

TRO.  What  should  she  remember  ? 
ULYSS.  List! 

CRES.  Sweet  honey  Greek,  tempt  me  no  more 
to  folly. 

THER.  Roguery! 

Dio.  Nay,  then,  — 

CRES.  I'll  tell  you  what  : 

Dio.  Pho  !  pho  !  come,  tell  a  pin  :  You  are  for- 
sworn.  — 

CRES.  In  faith,  I  cannot  :  WTiat  would  you  have 

me  do  ? 

THER  A  juggling  trick,  to  be  —  secretly  open. 
Dio.  What  did  you  swear  you  would  bestow  on 

me  ? 

CRES.  I  pr'ythee,  do  not  hold  me  to  mine  oath  ; 
Bid  me  do  any  thing  but  that,  sweet  Greek. 


t  i.  e.  a  mark  in  musick  at  the  beginning  of  the  lines  of  a 
song  ;  and  is  the  indication  of  the  pitch,  and  bespeaks  what 
kind  of  voice  —  as  base,  tenour,  or  treble,  it  is  proper  for. 

SIR  J.  HAWKINS. 

So,  in  The  Chances,  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  where  An- 
tonio, employing  musical  terms,  says  : 

"  -  Will  none  but  my  C.  cliff"  serve  your  turn  ?" 
Again,  in  The  Lover's  Melancholy,  1629  : 
"  -  that's  a  bird 

"  Whom  art  had  never  taught  cliffs,  moods,  or  notes." 

STEEVENS. 

9  Nay,  but  do  then  ;"]  I  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  metre,  the 
Word  —  Nay,  should  be  omitted.  Yet  such  is  the  irregularity  or 
mutilation  of  this  dialogue,  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  deter- 
mine how  much  of  it  was  meant  for  prose  or  verse.  STEEVENS. 


ac.ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        435 

Dio.  Good  night. 

TRO.  Hold,  patience ! 

ULYSS.  How  now,  Trojan  ? 

CRES.  Diomed,— 

Dio.  No,  no,  good  night :  I'll  be  your  fool  no 
more. 

TRO.  Thy  better  must. 

CRESS.  Hark  !  one  word  in  your  ear, 

TRO.  O  plague  and  madness ! 

ULYSS.  You  are  mov'd,  prince ;  let  us  depart,  I 

pray  you, 

Lest  your  displeasure  should  enlarge  itself 
To  wrathful  terms  :  this  place  is  dangerous  ; 
The  time  right  deadly ;  I  beseech  you,  go. 

TRO.  Behold,  I  pray  you ! 
ULYSS.  Now,  good  my  lord,  go  off: 

You  flow  to  great  destruction  -9l  come,  my  lord. 

TRO.  I  pr'ythee,  stay. 

ULYSS.  You  have  not  patience  ;  come. 

1  You  Jlow  to  great  destruction  ;]  Means,  I  think,  your 
impetuosity  is  such  as  must  necessarily  expose  you  to  imminent 
danger.  MALONE. 

The  folio  has : 

You  flow  to  great  distraction  ; . 

The  quarto : 

Youjlow  to  great  destruction; .     JOHNSON. 

I  would  adhere  to  the  old  reading:  You  flow  to  great  destruc- 
tion, or  distraction,  means  the  tide  of  your  imagination  will 
hurry  you  either  to  noble  death  from  the  hand  of  Diomedes,  or 
to  the  height  of  madness  from  the  predominance  of  your  own 
passions.  STEEVENS. 

Possibly  we  ought  to  read  destruction,  as  Ulysses  has  told 
Troilus  just  before : 

" this  place  is  dangerous  ; 

"  The  time  right  deadly."     M.  MASON. 

'2  r  2 


436          TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    ACTV. 

TRO.  I  pray  you,  stay ;  by  hell,  and  all  hell's  tor- 
ments, 
I  will  not  speak  a  word. 

Dio.  And  so,  good  night. 

CRES.  Nay,  but  you  part  in  anger. 

TRO.  Doth  that  grieve  thee  ? 

0  wither'd  truth ! 

ULYSS.  Why,  how  now,  lord  ? 

TRO.  By  Jove, 

1  will  be  patient. 

CRES.  Guardian ! — why,  Greek ! 

Dio.  Pho,  pho  !  adieu ;  you  palter.2 

CRES.  In  faith,  I  do  not ;  come  hither  once  again. 

ULYSS.  You  shake,  my  lord,  at  something ;  will 

you  go  ? 
You  will  break  out. 

TRO.  She  strokes  his  cheek ! 

ULYSS.  Come,  come. 

TRO.  Nay,  stay;  by  Jove,  I  will  not  speak  a  word: 
There  is  between  my  will  and  all  offences 
A  guard  of  patience  : — stay  a  little  while. 

THER.  How  the  devil  luxury,  with  his  fat  rump, 
and  potatoe  finger,  tickles  these  together!3  Fry, 
lechery,  fry ! 

Dio.  But  will  you  then  ? 

8 palter. ,]     i.  e.  shuffle,  behave  with  duplicity.     So,  in 

Antony  and  Cleopatra  ; 

"  And  palter  in  the  shifts  of  lowness."     STEEVENS. 

3  Horv  the  devil  luxury,  with  hisjht  rump,  and  potatoe  Jinger, 
tickles  these  together.'^  Potatoes  were  anciently  regarded  as 
provocatives.  See  Mr.  Collins's  note,  which,  on  account  of  its 
length,  is  given  at  the  end  of  the  play.  STEEVENS. 


K.II.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        437 

ORES.  In  faith,  I  wilj,  la  ;  never  trust  me  else. 
DIG.  Give  me  some  token  for  the  surety  of  it. 
CRES.  I'll  fetch  you  one.  [Exit. 

ULYSS.  You  have  sworn  patience. 

TRO.  Fear  me  not,  my  lord ; 

I  will  not  be  myself,  nor  have  cognition 
Of  what  I  feel ;  I  am  all  patience. 


Re-enter  CRESSIDA. 

THER.  Now  the  pledge  ;  now,  now,  now ! 
CRES.  Here,  Diomed,  keep  this  sleeve.4 

4 keep  this  sleeve.]  The  custom  of  wearing  a  lady's 

sleeve  for  a  favour,  is  mentioned  in  Hall's  Chronicle,  fol.  12: 
"  — One  ware  on  his  head-piece  his  lady's  sleeve,  and  another 
bare  on  his  helme  the  glove  of  his  deareling." 

Again,  in  the  second  canto  of  The  Barons'  Wars,  by  Drayton: 
"  A  lady's  sleeve  high-spirited  Hastings  wore." 

Again,  in  the  Morte  Arthur,  p.  3,  ch.  119:  "  When  Queen 
Genever  wist  that  Sir  Launcelot  beare  the  red  sleeve  of  the  faire 
maide  of  Astolat,  she  was  nigh  out  of  her  mimic  for  anger." 
Holinshed,  p.  884,  says,  King  Henry  VIII.  "  had  on  his  head 
a  ladies  sleeve  full  of  diamonds."  The  circumstance,  however, 
was  adopted  by  Shakspeare  from  Chaucer,  T.  and  C.  1.  5.  1010: 
"  She  made  him  were  a  penccll  of  her  sleeve."  A  pcnccll  is  a 
small  pennon  or  streamer.  STEEVENS. 

In  an   old  play,   (in  six  acts,)   called   Histriomastix,   1610, 
this  incident  seems  to  be  burlesqued.     Trail  tu  and  Crcssida  arc 
introduced  by  way  of  interlude  ;  and  Crcssida  breaks  out : 
"  O  Knight,  with  valour  in  thy  face, 
"  Here  take  my  skreene,  wear  it  for  grace  ; 
"  Within  thy  helmet  put  the  same, 
"  Therewith  to  make  thine  enemies  lame." 
A  little  old  book,  The  Hundred  Hystorycs  of  Trot/e,  tells  us, 
"  Bryscude   whom  master   Chaucer  calleth    Cresseydet    was    a 
damosell  of  great  beaute ;  and  yet  was  more  quayute,  mutable, 
and  full  of  vagaunt  coudysions."     FAKMEU. 


438        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  v. 

TRO.  O  beauty !  where's  thy  faith  ? 

ULYSS.  My  lord, 

TRO.  I  will  be  patient ;  outwardly  I  will. 

CRES.  You  lookupon  that  sleeve;  Behold  it  well. — 
He  loved  me — O  false  wench  ! — Give't  me  again. 

Dio.  Who  was't  ? 

CRES.  No  matter,  now5  I  have't  again. 

I  will  not  meet  with  you  to-morrow  night : 
I  pr'ythee,  Diomed,  visit  me  no  more. 

THER.  NOWT  she  sharpens; — Well  said,wrhetstone. 

Dio.  I  shall  have  it.6 

CRES.  What,  this  ? 

Dio.  Ay,  that. 

CRES.  O,  all  you  gods ! — O  pretty  pretty  pledge  ! 
Thy  master  now  lies  thinking  in  his  bed 
Of  thee,  and  me  ;  and  sighs,  and  takes  my  glove, 

This  sleeve  was  given  by  Troilus  to  Cressida  at  their  parting, 
and  she  gave  him  a  glove  in  return.  M.  MASON. 

What  Mr.  Steevens  has  observed  on  the  subject  of  ladies' 
sleeves  is  certainly  true ;  but  the  sleeve  given  in  the  present  in- 
stance was  the  sleeve  of  Troilus.  It  may  be  supposed  to  be  an 
ornamented  cuff,  such  perhaps  as  was  worn  by  some  of  our 
young  nobility  at  a  tilt,  in  Shakspeare's  age. 

On  second  consideration,  I  believe,  the  sleeve  of  Troilus, 
which  is  here  given  to  Diomedes,  was  such  a  one  as  was  formerly 
worn  at  tournaments.  See  Spenser's  View  of  Ireland,  p.  43, 
edit.  1633:  "Also  the  deepe  smocke  sleive,  which  the  Irish 
women  use,  they  say,  was  old  Spanish,  and  is  used  yet  in  Bar- 
bary  ;  and  yet  that  should  seeme  rather  to  be  an  old  English  fa- 
shion, for  in  armory  the  fashion  of  the  manche  which  is  given  in 
armes  by  many,  being  indeed  nothing  else  but  a  sleive,  is  fa- 
shioned much  like  to  that  sleive."  MALONE. 

*  No  matter,  now  &c.]  Old  copies,  redundantly, — It  is  no 
matter,  &c.  STEEVENS. 

0  /  shall  have  it.]  Some  word  or  words,  necessary  to  the 
metre,  are  here  apparently  omitted.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       439 

And  gives  memorial  dainty  kisses  to  it, 

As  I  kiss  thee.7 — Nay,  do  not  snatch  it  from  me  j 

He,  that  takes  that,  must  take  my  heart  withal. 

Dio.  I  had  your  heart  before,  this  follows  it. 
TRO.  I  did  swear  patience. 

CRES.  You  shall  not  have  it,  Diomed ;  'faith  you 

shall  not ; 
I'll  give  you  something  else. 

Dio.  I  will  have  this ;  Whose  was  it  ? 

CRES.  'Tis  no  matter. 

Dio.  Come,  tell  me  whose  it  was. 

CRES.  'Twas  one's  that  loved  me  better  than  you 

will. 
But,  now  you  have  it,  take  it. 

Dio.  Whose  was  it? 

CRES.  By  all  Diana's  waiting-women  yonder,8 
And  by  herself,  I  will  not  tell  you  whose. 


'  As  I  kiss  thee.  &c.]     In  old  editions : 
As  I  kiss  thee. 

Dio.  AVzy,  do  not  snatch  it  from  me. 
Cres.   He,  that  takes  that,  must  take  my  heart  withal. 
Dr.  Thirlby  thinks  this  should  be  all  placed  to  Cressida.     She 
had  the  sleeve,  and  was  kissing  it  rapturously ;  and  Diomedes 
snatches  it  back  from  her.     THEOBALD. 

*  By   all   Diana's   ivaiting-tvomen  yondcr,~\     i.   e.  the  stars, 
which  she  points  to.     WARBURTOX. 

So,  in  our  author's  Rape  of  Lucrcce : 

"  The  silver-shining  queen  he  would  distain ; 
"  Her  twinkling  hand-maids  too,  by  him  defil'd, 
"  Through  night's  black  bosom  should  not  peep  again." 

MALONE. 

Milton,  in  his  Elegy  I.  v.  77,  has  imitated  Shakspeare : 
"  —    —  ca-lo  scintillant  astra  sereno 
"  Endymionete  turbo,  ministradccc."     STEKVENS. 


440        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

Dio.  To-morrow  will  I  wear  it  on  my  helm ; 
And  grieve  his  spirit,  that  dares  not  challenge  it. 

TRO.  Wert  thou  the  devil,  and  wor'st  it  on  thy 

horn, 
It  should  be  challenged. 

CRES.  Well,  well,  'tis  done,  'tis  past ; — And  yet 

it  is  not ; 
I  will  not  keep  my  word. 

Dio.  Why  then,  farewell  j 

Thou  never  shalt  mock  Diomed  again. 

CRES.  You  shall  not  go : — One  cannot  speak  a 

word, 
But  it  straight  starts  you. 

Dio.  I  do  not  like  this  fooling. 

THER.  Nor  I,  by  Pluto  :9  but  that  that  likes  not 
you,  pleases  me  best. 

Dio.  What,  shall  I  come  ?  the  hour  ? 

CRES.  Ay,  come : — O  Jove ! — 

Do  come  : — I  shall  be  plagu'd. 

Dio.  Farewell  till  then. 

CRES.  Good  night.     I  pr'ythee,  come. — 

[Exit  DIOMEDES. 

Troilus,  farewell  I1  one  eye  yet  looks  on  thee  ; 
But  with  my  heart  the  other  eye  doth  see.2 


9  Ther.  Nor  /,  by  Plulo:  &c,~]  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer  gives  this 
speech  to  Troilus.  It  does  not  very  much  resemble  the  lan- 
guage of  Thersites.  If  indeed  it  belongs  to  the  former  character, 
it  should  assume  a  metrical  form,  though  it  is  here  given  as  it 
stands  in  the  folio,  and  the  quarto  1609,  "  imprinted  by  G.  Eld, 
for  R.  Bonian  and  H.  Walley."  STEEVENS. 

1  Troilus,  farewell  /]  The  characters  of  Cressida  and  Pan- 
darus  are  more  immediately  formed  from  Chaucer  than  from 
Lydgate  ;  for  though  the  latter  mentions  them  both  characteristi- 
cally, he  does  not  sufficiently  dwell  on  either  to  have  furnished 


sc.ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        441 

Ah  !  poor  our  sex !  this  fault  in  us  I  find, 
The  error  of  our  eye  directs  our  mind  : 
What  error  leads,  must  err ;  O  then  conclude, 
Minds,  sway'd  by  eyes,  are  full  of  turpitude. 

\_Ejcit  CIIESSIDA. 

THER.  A  proof  of  strength  she  could  not  publish 

more,3 
Unless  she  said,  My  mind  is  now  turn'd  whore. 

ULYSS.  All's  done,  my  lord. 

TRO.  It  is. 

ULYSS.  Why  stay  we  then  ? 

TRO.  To  make  a  recordation  to  my  soul 
Of  every  syllable  that  here  was  spoke. 
But,  if  I  tell  how  these  two  did  co-act, 
Shall  I  not  lie  in  publishing  a  truth  ? 
Sith  yet  there  is  a  credence  in  my  heart, 
An  esperance  so  obstinately  strong, 
That  doth  invert  the  attest  of  eyes  and  ears  ;4 

Shakspcare  with  many  circumstances  to  be  found  in  this  tragedy. 
Lydgate,  speaking  of  Cressida,  says  only  : 

"  She  gave  her  heart  and  love  to  Diomcde, 
"  To  shew  what  trust  there  is  in  woman  kind; 

"  For  she  of  her  new  love  no  sooner  sped, 
"  But  Troilus  was  cleane  out  of  her  mind, 

"  As  if  she  never  had  him  known  or  seen, 

"  Wherein  I  cannot  guess  what  she  did  mean." 

STEEVEXS. 

J  But  icith  my  heart  &c.]     I  think  it  should  he  read  thus  : 
But  my  heart  with  the  other  eye  doth  sec.     JOHNSON'. 

Perhaps,  rather: 

But  ic/th  the  other  eye  my  heart  doth  sec.    TYUWHITT. 

The  present  reading  is  right.  She  means  to  say — "  one  eye 
yet  looks  on  thee,  Troilus,  hut  the  other  corresponds  icith  my 
heart,  and  looks  after  Diomedes."  M.  MASON. 

3  A  proof  of  strength  she  could  not  publish  more,']    She  could 
not  publish  a  stronger  proof.     JOHNSON. 

4  That  doth  invert  the  attest  of  eyes  and  cars;']   i.  c.  that 


442       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACTY. 

As  if  those  organs  had  deceptious  functions, 
Created  only  to  calumniate. 
Was  Cressid  here  ? 

ULYSS.  I  cannot  conjure,  Trojan.5 

TRO.  She  was  not  sure. 
ULYSS.  Most  sure  she  was.6 

TRO.  Why,  my  negation  hath  no  taste  of  madness. 

ULYSS.  Nor  mine,  my  lord :  Cressid  was  here  but 
now. 

TRO.  Let  it  not  be  believ'd  for  womanhood  !7 
Think,  we  had  mothers  ;  do  not  give  advantage 
To  stubborn  criticks — apt,  without  a  theme, 
For  depravation,8 — to  square  the  general  sex 
By  Cressid's  rule  :  rather  think  this  not  Cressid. 

ULYSS.  What  hath  she  done,  prince,  that  can 
soil  our  mothers  ? 

TRO.  Nothing  at  all,  unless  that  this  were  she. 

THER.  Will  he  swagger  himself  out  on's  own 
eyes  ? 

TRO.  This  she  ?  no,  this  is  Diomed's  Cressida : 


turns  the  very  testimony  of  seeing  and  hearing  against  them- 
selves.    THEOBALD. 

5  /  cannot  conjure,  Trojan.]    That  is,  I  cannot  raise  spirits  in 
the  form  of  Cressida.     JOHNSON. 

6  Most  sure  she  was.~\     The  present  deficiency  in  the  measure 
induces  me  to  suppose  our  author  wrote  : 

It  is  most  sure  she  was.     STEEVENS. 

7 for  •womanhood.']  i.  e.  for  the  sake  of  womanhood. 

STEEVENS. 

* do  not  give  advantage 

To  stubborn  criticks — apt,  without  a  theme, 
For  depravation,]     Critick  has  here,  I  think,  the  significa- 
tion of  Cynick.     So,  in  Love's  La/tour's  Lost : 

"  And  critick  Timon  laugh  at  idle  toys."     MALONE. 


sc.  n.        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      443- 

If  beauty  have  a  soul,  this  is  not  she  ; 

If  souls  guide  vows,  if  vows  be  sanctimony, 

If  sanctimony  be  the  gods'  delight, 

If  there  be  rule  in  unity  itself,9 

This  was  not  she.     O  madness  of  discourse, 

That  cause  sets  up  with  and  against  itself  I1 

Bi-fold  authority!2  where  reason  can  revolt 

Without  perdition,  and  loss  assume  all  reason 

Without  revolt  ;3  this  is,  and  is  not,  Cressid ! 

Within  my  soul  there  doth  commence  a  fight4 

9  If  there  be  rule  in  unity  itself,']  may  mean — If  there  be 
certainty  in  unity,  if  there  be  a  rule  that  one  is  one. 

JOHNSON. 

If  it  be  true  that  one  individual  cannot  be  two  distinct  per- 
sons. M.  MASON. 

The  rule  alluded  to  is  a  very  simple  one  ;  that  one  cannot  be 
two.  This  woman  therefore,  says  Troilus,  this  false  one,  can- 
not be  that  Cressida  that  formerly  plighted  her  faith  to  me. 

INI  A  LONE. 

1 against  itself!]     Thus  the  quarto.     The  folio  reads — 

against  thyself.     In  the  preceding  line  also  I  have  followed  the 
quarto.      The  folio  reads — This  is  not  she.     MALONE. 

*  Bi-fold  authority  /]  This  is  the  reading  of  the  quarto.  The 
folio  gives  us : 


By  foul  authority  ! 


There  is  madness  in  that  disquisition  in  which  a  man  reasons  at 
once  for  and  against  himself  upon  authority  which  he  knows  not 
to  be  valid.  The  quarto  is  right.  JOHNSON. 

This  is  one  of  the  passages  in  which  the  editor  of  the  folio 
changed  words  that  he  found  in  the  quartos,  merely  because  he 
did  not  understand  them.  MA  LONE. 

1 where  reason  can  moll 

Without  perdition,  and  loss  assume  all  reason 

Without  revolt  ;~]  The  words  loss  and  perdition  arc  used  in 
their  common  sense,  but  they  mean  the  loss  or  perdition  of 
reason.  JOHNSON. 

4  Within  my  soul  there  doth  commence  a  fight — ~\  So,  in 
Hamlet  : 

"  Sir,  in  my  heart,  there  was  a  kind  o?Jighting." 

MALONE. 


444       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  v. 

Of  this  strange  nature,  that  a  thing  inseparate6 
Divides  more  wider6  than  the  sky  and  earth  ; 
And  yet  the  spacious  breadth  of  this  division 
Admits  no  orifice  for  a  point,  as  subtle 
As  is  Arachne's  broken  woof,  to  enter.7 


3 a  thing  inseparate — ]  i.  e.  the  plighted  troth  of  lovers. 

Troilus  considers  it  inseparable,  or  at  least  that  it  ought  never  to 
be  broken,  though  he  has  unfortunately  found  that  it  sometimes 
is.  MALONE. 

6 more  wider — ]     Thus  the  old  copies.     The  modern 

editions,  following  Mr.  Pope,  read— -far  wider ;  though  we  have 
a  similar  phraseology  with  the  present  in  almost  every  one  of 
these  plays.  MALONE. 

So,  in  Coriolanus  : 

"  He  bears  himself  more  proudlier" 
See  note  on  this  passage.     STEKVENS. 

7  As  is  Arackne's  broken  woof,  to  enterJ}  Is, — the  syllable 
wanting  in  this  verse,  the  modern  editors  have  supplied.  I  hope 
the  mistake  was  not  originally  the  poet's  own ;  yet  one  of  the 
quartos  read  with  the  folio,  Ariachna's  broken  woof,  and  the 
other  Ariathna's.  It  is  not  impossible  that  Shakspeare  might 
have  written  Ariadne's  broken  woof,  having  confounded  the 
two  names,  or  the  stories,  in  his  imagination :  or  alluding  to  the 
clue  of  thread,  by  the  assistance  of  which  Theseus  escaped  from 
the  Cretan  labyrinth.  I  do  not  remember  that  Ariadne's  loom  is 
mentioned  by  any  of  the  Greek  or  Roman  poets,  though  I  find 
an  allusion  to  it  in  Humour  out  of  Breath,  a  comedy,  1607 : 

" instead  of  these  poor  weeds,  in  robes 

"  Richer  than  that  which  Ariadne  wrought, 

"  Or  Cytherea's  airy-moving  vest." 
Again,  in  The  Spanish  Tragedy  : 

" thy  tresses,  Ariadne's  twines, 

"  Wherewith  my  liberty  thou  hast  surpriz'd." 
Again,  in  Mulcasses  the  Turk,  1610: 

"  Leads  the  despairing  wretch  into  a  maze  ; 

"  But  not  an  Ariadne  in  the  world 

"  To  lend  a  clew  to  lead  us  out  of  it, 

"  The  very  maze  of  horror." 

Shakspeare,  however,  might  have  written — Arachnea;  great 
liberties  being  taken  in  spelling  proper  names,  and  especially 
by  ancient  English  writers.  Thus  we  have  both  Alcmene 
Alcumene,  Alcmcna.  and  Alcumena.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  ii.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      445 

Instance,  O  instance !  strong  as  Pluto's  gates  ; 
Cressid  is  mine,  tied  with  the  bonds  of  heaven  : 
Instance,  O  instance!  strong  as  heaven  itself; 
The  bonds  of  heaven  are  slipp'd,  dissolved,  and 

loos'd ; 

And  with  another  knot,  five-finger-tied,8 
The  fractions  of  her  faith,  orts  of  her  love, 
The  fragments,  scraps,  the  bits,  and  greasy  reliques 
Of  her  o'er-eaten  faith,  are  bound  to  Dioined.9 


My  quarto,  which  is  printed  for  R.  Bonian,  1609,  reads — 
Ariachna's  broken  woof;  the  other,  which  is  said  to  be  undated, 
reads,  as  Mr.  Steevens  says — Ariathna's.  The  folio — Ariachnc's. 
Mr.  Steevens  hopes  the  mistake  was  not  originally  the  author's, 
but  I  think  it  extremely  probable  that  he  pronounced  the  word 
as  a  word  of  four  syllables.  MALONE. 

—  knot,  Jive-Jinger-ticd,~\    A  knot  tied  by  giving  her  hand 
to  Diomed.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  The  Fatal  Dowry,  by  Massinger,  1632: 

"  Your '  Jingers  tie  my  heart-strings  with  this  touch, 
"  In  true-love  knots,  which  nought  but  death  shall  loose." 

MALONE. 

*  The  fractions  ofherjcdth,  orts  of  her  love, 
Thejragments,  scraps,  the  bits,  and  greasy  rcliques 
Of  her   o'er-eaten  faith,   are   bound  to   Diomcd.~\      Vows 
which  she  has  already  swallowed  once  over.     We  still  say  of  a 
faithless  man,  that  he  has  eaten  his  words.     JOHNSON. 

The  image  is  not  of  the  most  delicate  kind.  "  Her  o'cr-calt'ii 
faith"  means,  I  think,  her  troth  plighted  to  Troilus,  of  which 
she  was  surfeited,  and,  like  one  who  has  over-eaten  himself, 
had  thrown  off'.  All  the  preceding  words,  the  fragments^ 
wraps,  &c.  show  that  this  was  Shakspcare's  meaning.  So,  in 
Twelfth-Night.- 

1  (iive  me  excess  of  it  [musick]  ;  that  surfeiting 

'  The  appetite  may  sicken,  and  so  die." 


Again, 


more  appositely,  in  King  Henri/  IV.  P.  II : 
'  The  commonwealth  is  sick  of  their  own  choice  ; 
'  Their  over-greedy  LOYF.  hath  surfeited. — 
'  ()  thou  fond  many  !  with  what  loud  applause 
'  Didst  thou  beat  heaven  with  blessing  Uolinghroke, 
Before  he  was  what  thou  would'st  have  him  be  ! 


446        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  v. 

ULYSS.  May  worthy  Troilus1  be  half  attached 
With  that  which  here  his  passion  doth  express  ? 

TRO.  Ay,  Greek ;  and  that  shall  be  divulged  wrell 
In  characters  as  red  as  Mars  his  heart 
Inflam'd  with  Venus :  never  did  young  man  fancy 
With  so  eternal  and  so  fix'd  a  soul. 
Hark,  Greek  ; — As  much  as  I  do  Cressid  love, 
So  much  by  weight  hate  I  her  Diomed : 
That  sleeve  is  mine,  that  he'll  bear  on  his  helm  j 
Were  it  a  casque  compos'd  by  Vulcan's  skill, 
My  sword  should  bite  it  :2  not  the  dreadful  spout, 
Which  shipmen  do  the  hurricane  call3, 
Constring'd  in  mass  by  the  almighty  sun, 
Shall  dizzy  with  more  clamour  Neptune's  ear 
In  his  descent,  than  shall  my  prompted  sword 
Falling  on  Diomed. 


"  And  being  now  trimm'd  in  thine  own  desires, 

"  Thou,  beastly  feeder,  art  so  full  of  him, 

*'  That  thou  provok'st  thyself  to  cast  him  up." 

MALONE. 

1  May  "worthy  Troilus — ]  Can  Troilus  really  feel,  on  this 
occasion,  half  of  what  he  utters  ?  A  question  suitable  to  the 
calm  Ulysses.  JOHNSON. 

*  My  sword  should  bite  it :~]     So,   in   The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor :  "  — I  have  a  sword,  and  it  shall  bite,"  &c. 
In  King  Lear  we  have  also  "  biting  faulchion."     STEEVENS. 

3 the  dreadful  spout, 

Which  shipmen  do  the  hurricano  caH,~\  A  particular  ac- 
count of  "  a  spout,"  is  given  in  Captain  John  Smith's  Sea 
Grammar,  quarto,  1627 :  "  A  spout  is,  as  it  were  a  small  river 
falling  entirely  from  the  clouds,  like  one  of  our  water-spouts, 
which  make  the  sea,  where  it  falleth,  to  rebound  in  flashes  ex- 
ceeding high ;"  i.  e.  in  the  language  of  Shakspeare,  to  dizzy  the 
ear  of  Neptune. 
So  also,  Drayton : 

"  And  down  the  shower  impetuously  doth  fall 

"  Like  that  which  men  the  hurricano  call."     STEEVKNS. 


sc.  ii.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        447 

THER.  He'll  tickle  it  for  his  concupy.4 

TRO.  OCressid!  OfalseCressid!  false,  false,  false! 
Let  all  untruths  stand  by  thy  stained  name, 
And  they'll  seem  glorious. 

ULYSS.  O,  contain  yourself; 

Your  passion  draws  ears  hither. 


Enter 


I  have  been  seeking  you  this  hour,  my 

lord  : 

Hector,  by  this,  is  arming  him  in  Troy  ; 
Ajax,  your  guard,  stays  to  conduct  you  home. 

TRO.  Have  with  you,  prince  :  —  My  courteous 

lord,  adieu  :  — 

Farewell,  revolted  fair  !  —  and,  Diomed, 
Stand  fast,  and  wear  a  castle  on  thy  head  !5 

ULYSS.  I'll  bring  you6  to  the  gates. 

—  concupy.']     A  cant  word,  formed  by  our  author  from 
soncupisccncc.     STEEVENS. 

1  -  and  wear  a  castle  on  thy  head!]  i.  e.  defend  thy  head 
with  armour  of  more  than  common  security. 

So,  in  The  most  ancient  and  famous  History  of  the  renowned 
Prince  ArtJtur,  <!vc.  edit.  1631,  ch.  clviii  :  "  Do  tliou  thv  host, 
said  Sir  Gawaine,  therefore  hie  tliee  fast  that  tliou  wcTt  gone, 
and  nit  thou  well  we  shall  soone  come  after,  and  breake  the 
strongest  castle  that,  thou  hast  upon  thy  head."  —  II',  -/tr  a  <v/  .<//••, 
therefore,  seems  to  he  a  figurative  expression,  signifying,  AVv/j 
a  castle  aver  your  head  ;  i.  e.  live'  within  the  walls  of  your  castle. 
In  Urry's  Chaucer,  Sir  Thopas  is  represented  with  a  caslli-  by 
way  of  crest  to  his  helmet.  See,  however,  Titttx  Andronicust 
Act  III.  sc.  i.  STKKVKNS. 

6  I'll  bring  you  &c.~]  Perhaps  this,  and  the  following  short 
speech,  originally  stood  thus: 

Ulyss.  /'//  bring  yon  to  the  gates,  my  lord. 
Tro.  Accept 

Distracted  ihunks.      STEEVEXS. 


448       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  v. 

TRO.  Accept  distracted  thanks. 

\_Exeunt  TROILUS,  ^ENEAS,  and  ULYSSES. 

THER.  'Would,  I  could  meet  that  rogue  Diomed! 
I  would  croak  like  a  raven ;  I  would  bode,  I  would 
bode.  Patroclus  will  give  me  any  thing  for  the 
intelligence  of  this  whore  :  the  parrot  will  not  do 
more  for  an  almond,  than  he  for  a  commodious 
drab.  Lechery,  lechery ;  still,  wars  and  lechery ; 
nothing  else  holds  fashion  :  A  burning  devil  take 
them!7  [Exit. 

SCENE  III. 

Troy.     Before  Priam's  Palace. 
Enter  HECTOR  and  ANDROMACHE. 

AND.  When  was  my  lord  so  much  ungently  tem- 

per'd, 

To  stop  his  ears  against  admonishment  ? 
Unarm,  unarm,  and  do  not  fight  to-day. 

HECT.  You  train  me  to  offend  you  ;  get  you  in  : 
By  all  the  everlasting  gods,  I'll  go. 

AND.  My  dreams  will,  sure,  prove  ominous  to 

the  day.8 
HECT.  No  more,  I  say. 

7 A  burning  devil  take  them  /]    Alluding  to  the  venc- 

real  disease,  formerly  called  the  brenning  or  burning. 

M.  MASON. 

So,  in  Isaiah,  iii.  24 :  "  — and  burning  instead  of  beauty." 

STEEVENS. 

8  My  dreams  "will,  sure,  prove  ominous  to  the  day.]  The  hint 
for  this  dream  of  Andromache  might  be  either  taken  from 
Lydgate,  or  the  following  passage  in  Chaucer's  Nonnes  Prestes 
Tale,  Mr.  Tyrwhitt's  edit.  v.  15,  147: 


sc.nr.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        449 

Enter  CASSANDRA. 

CAS.  Where  is  my  brother  Hector  ? 

AXD.  Here,  sister ;  arm'd,  and  bloody  in  intent : 
Consort  with  me  in  loud  and  dear  petition,9 
Pursue  we  him  on  knees ;  for  I  have  dream' d 
Of  bloody  turbulence,  and  this  whole  night 
Hath  nothing  been  but  shapes  and  forms  of  slaugh- 
ter. 

CAS.  O,  it  is  true. 

HECT.  Ho  !  bid  my  trumpet  sound  ! 

CAS.  No  notes  of  sally,  for  the  heavens,  sweet 
brother. 


"  Lo  hire  Andromacha,  Hcctores  wif, 

"  That  day  that  Hector  shuldc  lesc  his  lif, 

"  She  dremed  on  the  same  night  beforne, 

"  How  that  tlie  lit' of  Hector  shuld  be  lorne, 

"  Il'thilke  day  he  went  Into  battaile: 

"  She  warned  him,  but  it  might  not  availle ; 

"  He  went  forth  for  to  tighten  natheles, 

"  And  was  yslain  anon  of  Achilles."     STEEVEXS. 

My  dreamt  of  last  night  will  prove  ominous  to  the  da i/ ; 
forebode  ill  to  it,  and  show  that  it  will  be  a  fatal  day  to  Troy. 
So,  in  the  seventh  scene  of  this  Act: 

" Uie  quarrel's  most  ominous  to  us." 

Again,  in  King  Richard  III : 

"  . ()  thou  bloodv  prison, 

"  Fatal  and  ominous  to  noble  peers !" 

Mr.  Pope,  and  all  the  subsequent  editors,  read — trill  prove 
ominous  to-day.  MALOXE. 

Do  we  gain  any  thing  more  than  rough  versification  by  re- 
storing the  article — the?  The  meaning  of  Andromache  (without 
it)  is — My  dreams  u-ill  to-day  bfjlitally  \erijied.  STI:  EVENS. 

9  dear  petition,^    ])cur,  on  this  occasion,  seems  to  mean 

important,  consequential.     So,  in  King  Lear ; 

"  some  dear  cause 

"  Will  in  concealment  wrap  me  up  awhile."    STEEVEVS. 
VOL.   XV.  '2  G 


450        TUOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

HECT.  Begone,  I  say :  the  gods  have  heard  me 
swear. 

CA$.  The  gods  are  deaf  to  hot  and  peevish1  vows  ; 
They  are  polluted  offerings,  more  abhorr'd 
Than  spotted  livers  in  the  sacrifice. 

AND.  O I  be  persuaded :  Do  not  count  it  holy 
To  hurt  by  being  just :  it  is  as  lawful, 
For  we  would  give  much,  to  use  violent  thefts,2 
And  rob  in  the  behalf  of  charity. 


1  peevish — ]  i.  e.  foolish.      So,   in   King   Henry    VI. 

Part  II : 

" I  will  not  so  presume, 

"  To  send  such  peevish  tokens  to  a  king."    STEEVEXS. 

*  For  ive  iKould  give  &c.]  This  is  so  oddly  confused  in  the 
folio,  that  I  transcribe  it  as  a  specimen  of  incorrectness : 

" •  do  not  count  it  holy, 

"  To  hurt  by  being  just ;  it  is  as  lawful 

"  For  tve  mould  count  give  much  to  as  violent  thefts, 

"  And  rob  in  the  behalf  of  charity."     JOHNSON. 

I  believe  we  should  read : 

For  tve  would  give  much,  to  use  violent  thefts, 
1.  e.  to  use  violent  thefts,  because  we  would  give  much.     The 
word  count  had  crept  in  from  the  last  line  but  one. 

TYKWHITT. 

I  have  adopted  the  emendation  proposed  by  Mr.  Tyrwhitt. 
Mr.  llowe  cut  the  knot,  instead  of  untying  it,  by  reading : 

For  us  to  count  we  give  what's  gain'd  by  theft, 
and  all  the  subsequent  editors  have  copied  him.  The  last  three 
lines  are  not  in  the  quarto,  the  compositor's  eye  having  probably 
passed  over  them ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  next  speech  of 
Cassandra  is  in  that  copy  given  to  Andromache,  and  joined  with 
the  first  line  of  this. 

In  the  first  part  of  Andromache's  speech  she  alludes  to  a  doc- 
trine which  Shakspeare  has  often  enforced.  "  Do  not  you  think 
you  are  acting  virtuously  by  adhering  to  an  oath,  if  you  have 
stvorn  to  do  amiss."  So,  in  King  John  ; 

" where  doing  tends  to  ill, 

"  The  truth  is  then  most  done,  not  doin<?  it."    MAI.OXE. 


sc.m.    TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        45V 

CAS.  It  is  the  purpose,3  that  makes  strong  the  vow; 
But  vows,  to  every  purpose,  must  not  hold : 
Unarm,  sweet  Hector. 

HECT.  Hold  you  still,  I  say  ; 

Mine  honour  keeps  the  weather  of  my  fate  :* 
Life  every  man  holds  dear  ;  but  the  clear  man5 
Holds  honour  far  more  precious-dear  than  life. — 

Enter  TROILUS. 

How  now,  young  man  ?  mean'st  thou  to  fight  to- 
day ? 

AND.  Cassandra,  call  my  father  to  persuade. 

\_E.rlt  CASSANDRA. 

HECT.  No,  'faith,  young  Troilus  ;  doff  thy  har- 
ness, youth, 

3  //  is  the  purpose,"]     The  mad  prophetess  speaks  here  with 
all  the  coolness  and  judgment  of  a  skilful  casuist.     "  The  essence 
of  a  lawful  vow,  is  a  lawi'ul  purpose,  and  the  vow  of  which  the 
end  is  wrong  must  not  be  regarded  as  cogent."     JOHNSON. 

4  Muic  honour  keeps  the  weather  of  my  Jale  i\       If  this  be 
not  a   nautical  phrase,  which  I  cannot  well  explain  or  apply, 
perhaps  we  should  read  : 

Mine  honour  keeps  llic  weather  off  my  fair  : 

i.  e.  I  am  secured  by  the  cause  I  am  engaged  in  ;  mine  honour 
will  avert  the  storms  of  late,  will  protect  my  life  amidst  the 
dangers  of  the  field. — A  somewhat  similar  phrase  occurs  in  The 
Tempest  : 

"  In  the  lime  grove  that  iccathcr-fends  our  cell." 

STE  EVENS. 

5  dear  man — ]       Valuable  man.     The  modern  editions 

read — brave  man.     The  repetition  of  the  wonl  is  in  our  author's 
manner.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Jlnmeo  and  Juliet  .- 

"  This  is  dear  mercy,  and  thou  seest  it  not." 

STEF.VENS. 

Brave  was  substituted  for  dear  bv  Mr.  Pope.     MALONK. 

"'         ' 


452        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

I  am  to-day  i'the  vein  of  chivalry : 
Let  grow  thy  sinews  till  their  knots  be  strong, 
And  tempt  not  yet  the  brushes  of  the  war. 
Unarm  thee,  go  ;  and  doubt  thou  not,  brave  boy, 
I'll  stand,  to-day,  for  thee,  and  me,  and  Troy. 

TRO.  Brother,  you  have  a  vice  of  mercy  in  you, 
Which  better  fits  a  lion,6  than  a  man. 

HECT.  What  vice  is  that,  good  Troilus  ?  chide 
me  for  it. 

TRO.  When  many  times  the  captive  Grecians  fall, 
Even  in  the  fan  and  wind  of  vour  fair  sword, 

V  ' 

You  bid  them  rise,  and  live.7 
HECT.  O,  'tis  fair  play. 
TRO.  Fool's  play,  by  heaven.  Hector. 


e  Which  better  Jits  a  lion,"]  The  traditions  and  stories  of  the 
darker  ages  abounded  with  examples  of  the  lion's  generosity. 
Upon  the  supposition  that  these  acts  of  clemency  were  true, 
Troilus  reasons  not  improperly,  that  to  spare  against  reason,  by 
mere  instinct  of  pity,  became  rather  a  generous  beast  than  a 
wise  man.  JOHNSON. 

Thus,  in  Philemon  Holland's  translation  of  Pliny's  Natural 
History,  ch.  16 :  "  The  lion  alone  of  all  wild  beasts  is  gentle  to 
those  that  humble  themselves  before  him,  and  will  not  touch 
any  such  upon  their  submission,  but  spareth  what  creature  so 
ever  lieth  prostrate  before  him."  STEEVENS. 

Hence  Spenser's  Una,  attended  by  a  lion.  Fairy  Queen,  !„ 
iii.  7.  See  also  Sir  Perceval's  lion  in  Morte  Arthur,  B.  XIV. 
c.  vi.  T.  WARTON. 

7  When  many  times  the  captive  Grecians fatt, 

You  bid  them  ri.se,  and  live.']  Shakspeare  seems  not  to  have 
studied  the  Homeric  character  of  Hector,  whose  disposition  was 
by  no  means  inclined  to  clemency,  as  we  may  learn  from  An- 
dromache's speech  in  ^he  24th  Iliad  .* 


"  For  thy  stern  father  never  spar'd  a  foe."     Pope, 

"  Thy  father,  boy,  bore  never  into  fight 

"  A  iailkv  mind, ."      Co:rner.     STEEVJEN*. 


sc.  m.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        453 

HECT.  How  now  ?  how  now  ? 

TRO.  For  the  love  of  all  the  gods, 

Let's  leave  the  hermit  pity  with  our  mother; 
And  when  we  have  our  armours  buckled  on, 
The  venom'd  vengeance  ride  upon  our  swords ; 
Spur  them  to  ruthful  work,  rein  them  from  ruth. 

HECT.  Fye,  savage,  fyc ! 

TRO.  Hector,  then  'tis  wars.* 

HEcr.Troilus,  I  would  not  have  you  fight  to-day. 

TRO.  "Who  should  withhold  me  ? 
Not  fate,  obedience,  nor  the  hand  of  Mars 
"Beckoning  wiiu  fiery  truncheon9  my  retire  ; 
Not  Prianms  and  Hecuba  on  knees, 
Their  eyes  o'ergalled  with  recourse  of  tears;1 
Nor  you,  my  brother,  with  your  true  sword  drawn, 


*  Hector,  then  'tis  tiws.]  I  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  metre, 
\\c  ought  to  read  : 

Why,  Hector,  then  'tis  ivars. 

Shakspeare  frequently  uses  this  adverb  emphatically,  as  in 
A  Midsummer-Night's  Dream:  "  Ninus'  tomb,  man:  Why, 
you  must  not  speak,  that  yet."  STEEVEXS. 

9  -with  fiery  truncheon — ]   We  have  here  but  a  modern 

Mars.  Antiquity  acknowledges  no  such,  ensign  of  command  as 
a  truncheon.  The  spirit  of  the  passage  however  is  such  as  might 
atone  for  a  greater  impropriety. 

In  Elizabetha  Triimiphans,  13S8,  a  poem,  in  blank  verse, 
written  by  James  Aske,  on  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  armada, 
the  Queen  appears,  indeed, 

"  Most  brauely  mounted  on  a  stately  steede, 
"  With  truncheon  in  her  hand, — ."     STEEVENS. 

'  with  recourse  <>f  tears  ;~\   i.e.  tears  that   continue  to 

course  one  another  down  the  i'ace.     WAKBUIITOX. 


So,  in  As  you  like  it  : 

"  — — —  the  big  round  tears 

il  Cours'd  one  another  down  his  innocent  nose- 


STEEVENS. 


454        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  v. 

Oppos'd  to  hinder  me,  should  stop  my  way, 
But  by  my  ruin. 

He-enter  CASSANDRA,  with  PRIAM. 

CAS.  Lay  hold  upon  him,  Priam,  hold  him  fast : 
He  is  thy  crutch  ;  now  if  thou  lose  thy  stay, 
Thou  on  him  leaning,  and  all  Troy  on  thee, 
Fall  all  together. 

PRI.  Come,  Hector,  come,  go  back  : 

Thy  wife  hath  dream' d ;  thy  mother  hath  had  visions ; 
Cassandra  doth  foresee  ;  and  I  myself 
Am  like  a  prophet  suddenly  enrapt, 
To  tell  thee — that  this  day  is  ominous  : 
Therefore,  come  back. 

HECT.  ^Eneas  is  a-field  ; 

And  I  do  stand  engag'd  to  many  Greeks, 
Even  in  the  faith  of  valour,  to  appear 
This  morning  to  them. 

PRI.  But  thou  shalt  not  go. 

HECT.  I  must  not  break  my  faith. 
You  know  me  dutiful ;  therefore,  dear  sir, 
Let  me  not  shame  respect  ;2  but  give  me  leave 
To  take  that  course  by  your  consent  and  voice, 
Which  you  do  here  forbid  me,  royal  Priam. 

CAS.  O  Priam,  yield  not  to  him. 

AND.  Do  not,  dear  father. 

HECT.  Andromache,  I  am  offended  with  you : 
Upon  the  love  you  bear  me,  get  you  in. 

[Exit  ANDROMACHE. 

*  shame  respect ;  ]     i.  e.  disgrace  the  respect  I  owe  you, 

by  acting  in  opposition  to  your  commands.     STEEVENS. 


sc.ni.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 

TRO.  This  foolish,  dreaming,  superstitious  girl 
Makes  all  these  bodements. 

CAS.  O  farewell,  dear  Hector.3 

Look,  how  thou  diest !  look,  how  thy  eye  turns  pale! 
Look,  how  thy  wounds  do  bleed  at  many  vents ! 
Hark,  how  Troy  roars !  how  Hecuba  cries  out ! 
How  poor  Andromache  shrills  her  dolours v  forth! 
Behold,  destruction,  frenzy,  and  amazement,5 
Like  witless  anticks,  one  another  meet, 
And  all  cry — Hector !  Hector's  dead  !  O  Hector ! 

TRO.  Away ! — Away  ! — 

CAS.  Farewell. — Yet,  soft : — Hector,  I  take  my 

leave : 
Thou  dost  thyself  and  all  our  Troy  deceive.  [Exit. 

HECT.  You  are  amaz'd,  my  liege,  at  her  exclaim  : 
Go  in,  and  cheer  the  town  :  we'll  forth,  and  fight ; 
Do  deeds  worth  praise,  and  tell  you  them  at  night. 

PRI.  Farewell :  the  gods  with  safety  stand  about 

thee! 

\_Exeimt  severally  PRIAM   and  HECTOR. 
Alarums. 


1   O  farewell  y  dear  Hcctor.~\    The  interposition  and  clamorous 
sorrow  of  Cassandra  were  copied  by  our  author  from  Lydgate. 

STE  EVENS. 

4  -  »lirills  Jicr  dolours  —  ]    So,  in  Spenser's  F.pithalamiiwi  : 
"  I  lark,  how  the  minstrel*  gin  to  shrill  aloud 
"  Their  merry  musiek"  t\c. 
Again,  in  I  ley  wood's  .SV/rrr  //iff,  1  (>!'»: 

"  Through  all  th'  abyss  I  have  shrilTd  \\\\  daughter's  loss, 
"  \Vith  my  concave  trump."      S  ri:i:\  KNS. 


l,  destruction,  /)r»ry,  &c.~\  So  the-  ([iiarto.  The 
editor  of  the  folio,  for  di'stritctioii  substituted  dht  ruction.  The 
original  reading  appears  to  me  far  ]>referable.  MAI.ONK. 


456        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACTV. 

TRO.  They  are  at  it ;  hark !  Proud  Diomed,  be- 
lieve, 
I  come  to  lose  my  arm,  or  win  my  sleeve.6 


As  TROILUS  is  going  out,  enter,  from  the  other  side, 
PANDARUS. 

PAN.  Do  you  hear,  my  lord  ?  do  you  hear  ? 

TRO.  What  now  ? 

PAN.  Here's  a  letter  from  yon'  poor  girl. 

6  In  the  folios,  and  one  of  the  quartos,  this  scene  is  continued 
by  the  following  dialogue  between  Pandarus  and  Troilus,  which 
the  poet  certainly  meant  to  have  been  inserted  at  the  end  of  the 
play,  where  the  three  concluding  lines  of  it  are  repeated  in  the 
copies  already  mentioned.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the 
players  shuffled  the  parts-  backward  and  forward,  ad  libitum; 
for  the  poet  would  hardly  have  given  us  an  unnecessary  repetition 
of  the  same  words,  nor  have  dismissed  Pandarus  twice  in  the 
same  manner.  The  conclusion  of  the  piece  will  fully  justify  the 
liberty  which  any  future  commentator  may  take  in  omitting  the 
scene  here,  and  placing  it  at  the  end,  where  at  present  only  the 
few  lines  already  mentioned  are  to  be  found.  STEEVENS. 

I  do  not  conceive  that  any  editor  has  a  right  to  make  the 
transposition  proposed,  though  it  lias  been  done  by  Mr.  Capell. 
The  three  lines  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Steevens,  which  are  found  in 
the  folio  at  the  end  of  this  scene,  as  well  as  near  the  conclusion 
of  the  play,  (with  a  very  slight  variation,)  are  these: 

"  Pand.  Why  but  hear  you 

"  Tro.  Hence,  broker  lacquey  !  Ignomy  and  shame 
"  Pursue  thy  life,  and  live  aye  with  thy  name !" 
But  in  the  original  copy  in  quarto  there  is  no  repetition  (except 
of  the  words — But  hear  you]  ;  no  absurdity  or  impropriety.  In 
that  copy  the  following  dialogue  between  Troilus  and  Pandarus 
is  found  in  its  present  place,  precisely  as  it  is  here  given ;  but 
the  three  lines  above  quoted  do  not  constitute  any  part  of  the 
scene.  For  the  repetition  of  those  three  lines,  the  players,  or 
the  editor  of  the  folio,  alone  are  answerable.  It  never  could 
have  been  intended  by  the  poet.  I  have  therefore  followed  the 
original  copy.  M ALONE. 


sc.  iv.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        457 

TRO.  Let  me  read. 

PAN.  A  whoreson  ptisick,  a  whoreson  rascally 
ptisick  so  troubles  me,  and  the  foolish  fortune  of 
this  girl ;  and  what  one  thing,  what  another,  that 
I  shall  leave  you  one  o'these  days :  And  1  have  a 
rheum  in  mine  eyes  too ;  and  such  an  ache  in  my 
bones,  that,  unless  a  man  were  cursed,7  I  cannot 
tell  what  to  think  on't. — What  says  she  there  ? 

TRO.  Words,  words,  mere  words,  no  matter  from 
the  heart ;  [Tearing  the  letter. 

The  effect  doth  operate  another  way. — 
Go,  wind,  to  wind,  there  turn  and  change  toge- 
ther.— 

My  love  with  words  and  errors  still  she  feeds ; 
But  edifies  another  with  her  deeds. 

\_Ejceunt  severally. 


SCENE  IV. 

Between  Troy  and  the  Grecian  Camp. 

Alarums:  Excursions.     Enter  THER SITES. 

TIIER.  Now  they  are  clapper-clawing  one  ano- 
ther; I'll  go  look  on.  That  dissembling  abominable 
varlet,  Diomed,  has  got  that  same  scurvy  doting 
foolish  young  knave's  sleeve  of  Troy  there,  in  his 
helm  :  [  would  fain  see  them  meet ;  that  that  same 
young  Trojan  ass,  that  loves  the  whore  there,  might 
send  that  Greekish  whoremasterly  villain,  with  the 

ci(rard,~\     i.  c.  under  the  influence  of  a  malediction, 

such  as  mischievous  beings  have  been  supposed  to  pronounce 
upon  those  who  had  offended  them. 


458       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACT  v. 

sleeve,  back  to  the  dissembling  luxurious  drab,  on 
a  sleeveless  errand.  O*  the  other  side,  The  policy 
of  those  crafty  swearing  rascals,8 — that  stale  old 
mouse-eaten  dry  cheese,  Nestor ;  and  that  same 
dog-fox,  Ulysses, — is  not  proved  worth  a  black- 
berry : — They  set  me  up,  in  policy,  that  mongrel 
cur,  Ajax,  against  that  dog  of  as  bad  a  kind, 
Achilles  :  and  now  is  the  cur  Ajax  prouder  than 
the  cur  Achilles,  and  will  not  arm  to-day ;  where- 
upon the  Grecians  begin  to  proclaim  barbarism,9 
and  policy  grows  into  an  ill  opinion.  Soft !  here 
come  sleeve,  and  t'other. 


Enter  DIOMEDES,  TROILUS  following. 

TRO.  Fly  not ;  for,  shouldst  thou  take  the  river 

Styx, 
I  would  swim  after. 

Dio.  Thou  dost  miscall  retire  : 

I  do  not  fly  ;  but  advantageous  care 
Withdrew  me  from  the  odds  of  multitude  : 
Have  at  thee ! 

*  0'  the  other  side,  The  policy  of  those  crafty  swearing  rascals, 
&c.]  But  in  what  sense  are  Nestor  and  Ulysses  accused  of  being 
swearing  rascals  ?  What,  or  to  whom,  did  they  swear  ?  I  am  po- 
sitive that  sneering  is  the  true  reading.  They  had  collogued 
with  Ajax,  and  trimmed  him  up  with  insincere  praises,  only  in 
order  to  have  stirred  Achilles's  emulation.  In  this,  they  were 
the  true  sneerers  ;  betraying  the  first,  to  gain  their  ends  on  the 
latter  by  that  artifice.  THEOBALD. 

Sneering  was  applicable  to  the  characters  of  Nestor  and 
Ulysses,  and  to  their  conduct  in  this  play ;  but  swearing  was 
not.  M.  MASON. 

9 to  proclaim  barbarism,"]     To  set  up  the  authority  of 

ignorance,  to  declare  that  they  will  be  governed  by  policy  no 
longer.     JOHNSON. 


sc.iv.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        459 

THER.  Hold  thy  whore,  Grecian  ! — now  for  thy 

whore,  Trojan  ! — now  the  sleeve,  now  the  sleeve  ! 

[Exeunt  TUOILUS  and 


Enter  HECTOR. 

HECT.  What  art  thou,   Greek?    art   tliou  for 

Hector's  match  ? 
Art  thou  of  blood,  and  honour  ?  * 

THER.  No,  no  : — I  am  a  rascal ;  a  scurvy  railing 
knave  ;  a  very  filthy  rogue. 

HECT.  I  do  believe  thee  ; — live.  [Edit. 

THER.  God-a-mercy,  that  thou  wilt  believe  me  ; 
But  a  plague  break  thy  neck,  for  frighting  me! 
"What's  become  of  the  wenching  rogues?  I  think, 
they  have  swallowed  one  another :  1  would  laugh 
at  that  miracle.  Yet,  in  a  sort,  lechery  eats  itself. 
I'll  seek  them.  [Edit. 

1  Art  t/ion  of  blond,  rind  honour  ?~\  This  is  an  idea  taken  from 
the  ancient  books  of  romantick  chivalry,  as  is  the  following  one 
in  the  speech  of  Diornedes  : 

"  And  am  her  knight  by  proof."     STF.EVENS. 

It  appears  from  ,SV»w  on  Honor,  Military  and  Ch'i',  folio, 
1G()'2,  p.  l'2'2,  that  a  person  of  superior  birth  might  not  be  chal- 
lenged, by  an  inferior,  or  if  challenged  might  refuse  the  combat. 

Alluding  to  this  circumstance  Cleopatra  says  : 

"  These  hands  do  lack  nobility,  that  they  strike 
"  A  meaner  than  myself." 

We  learn  from  Melvil's  Mrnioir*,  p.  !(>.">,  edit.  173.",  that 
"  the  Laird  of  Grange  offered  to  right  Bothwell,  who  answered, 
that  he  was  neither  Karl  nor  Lord,  but  a  Baron  ;  and  so  was 
not  his  equal.  The  like  answer  made  he  to  Tullibardine.  Then 
my  Lord  Lindsay  offered  to  light  him,  whieh  he  could  not  well 
refuse.  Hut  his  heart  failed  him,  and  he  grew  cold  on  the 
business." 

These  punctilios  are  well  ridiculed  in  Albumazar,  Act  I\r. 
:C.  vii. 


4<5o       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA,      ACT  r. 

SCENE   V. 

Tlie  same. 
Enter  DIOMEDES  and  a  Servant. 

Dio.  Go,  go,  my  servant,  take  thou  Troilus' 

horse ; 2 

Present  the  fair  steed  to  my  lady  Cressid : 
Fellow,  commend  my  service  to  her  beauty ; 
Tell  her,  I  have  chastis'd  the  amorous  Trojan, 
And  am  her  knight  by  proof. 

SERJ\  I  go,  my  lord. 

\_Exit  Servant. 

Enter  AGAMEMNON. 

AGAM.  Renew,  renew!  The  fierce  Polydamus 
Hath  beat  down  Menon  :3  bastard  Margarelon4 

-take  thou  Troilus'  horse;]      So,  in  Lydgate: 


"  That  Troilus  by  mainc  and  mighty  force 
"  At  unawares,  he  cast  down  from  his  horse, 
"  And  gave  it  to  his  squire  for  to  beare 
"  To  Cressida,"  &c.     STEEVENS. 

3  Hath  beat  down  Mcnon:']  So,  in  Caxton's  Recttyl,  &c. : 
"  And  by  gretc  yre  assayllid  the  kynge  Mown,  cosyn  of  Achilles, 
and  gaf  hyin  so  many  strokes  wyth  his  sword  upon  hys  helme, 
that  he  slewe  hym,"  &c.  STEEVENS. 

4 bastard  Margarelon — ]    The  introduction  of  a  bastard 

son  of  Priam,  under  the  name  of  Margarelon,  is  one  of  the  cir- 
cumstances taken  from  the  story  book  of  The  Three  Destructions 
of  Troy.  THEOBALD. 

The  circumstance  was  taken  from  Lydgate,  p.  194: 
"  Which  when  the  valiant  knight,  Margareton, 
"  One  of  king  Priam's  bastard  children,"  &c. 

STEEVENS. 


K.  v.        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        461 

Hath  Doreus  prisoner ; 
And  stands  colossus-wise,  waving  his  beam/ 
Upon  the  pushed0  corses  of  the  kings 
Epistrophus  antl  Cedins  :  Polixenes  is  slain  ; 
Amphimachus,  and  Thoas,  deadly  hurt ; 
Patroclus  ta'cn  or  slain  ;  and  Palamcdes 
Sore  hurt  and  bruis'd :  the  dreadful  Sagittary 
Appals  our  numbers  ;7  haste  we,  Diomed, 
To  reinforcement,  or  we  perish  all. 

-wring  his  beam,]   i.  e.  his  lance  like  a  weaver's  beam, 


as  (ioliath's  spear  is  described.    So,  in  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen, 
13.  III.  vii.  40: 

*'  All  were  the  bcattic  in  bigncs  like  a  mast." 

STEF.VENS. 

—poshed — ]     i.  e.  bruised,  crushed.     So,  before,  Ajax 
says  : 

"  I'll  pash  him  o'er  the  face."     STEF.VI:NS. 

' the  dreadful  Sagittan/ 

Appals  our  number*  ;  ]  "  lieyonde  the  royalme  of  Amasonna 
came  an  auneyent  kynge,  wvse  and  dyscreete,  named  Kpystro- 
phus,  and  brought  a  .M.  knyghtes,  and  a  mervayllou.se  bc.-te  that 
was  called  SAGITTAYHK,  that  hehvnde  the  mv tides  was  an  horse, 
and  to  fore,  a  man  :  this  beste  was  beery  like  an  horse,  and  had 
his  even  rede  as  a  eole,  and  shotte  well  with  a  bo\ve :  //;i.v  beste 
made  the  Grckes  yore  qfenle,  aiul  ?le\i:e  ni<r:i/  oj'  then  with  /its 
Aou'f."  The  Three  Destructions  nf  Troy,  printed  !>\  ('avion. 

Til  l.OH.M.D. 

A  more  circumstantial  account  ofthis  Sagittary  is  to  be  found 
in  Lydgate's  Annctent  Historic,  i\e.  1  "»,")."): 

"  And  with  hym  (Juydo  saytli  th:it  he  hadde 

"  A  wonder  archer  ot"  sy^ht  meruaylous, 

"  Ot' t'ourme  and  shap  in  maner  monstruous: 

"  For  lyke  mync  auctour  as  1  re!u T^I-  can, 

"  ITO  the  nauel  vpwanle  he  \\  as  man, 

"  And  lower  downe  lyke  a  horse  yshaped : 

"  And  thilke  parte  that  alter  man  was  makcd, 

"  Of  skinne  Mas  black  and  rough  a^  anv  here 

"  Couered  with  here  1'ro  eolde  him  for  to  were. 

"  Passyng  foule  and  horrible  ot'syglit, 

"  NN  hose  even  twain  were  sparkeling  as  bright 

"  As  is  a  fnrneis  with  liis  rede  leucue, 

"  Or  the  lyghtnyn^r  that  falleth  from  \'  heauen 


462        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACTK 


Enter  NESTOR. 

NEST.  Go,  bear  Patroclus'  body  to  Achilles  ; 
And  bid  the  snail-pac'd  Ajax  arm  for  shame. — 
There  is  a  thousand  Hectors  in  the  field : 
Now  here  he  fights  on  Galathe  his  horse,8 
And  there  lacks  work  ;  anon,  he's  there  afoot, 
And  there  they  fly,  or  die,  like  scaled  sculls9 

"  Dredeful  of  loke,  and  rede  as  fyre  of  chere, 

"  And,  as  I  reade,  he  was  a  goode  archer ; 

"  And  with  his  bowe  both  at  euen  and  morowe 

"  Upon  Grekes  he  wrought  moche  sorrowe, 

"  And  gasted  them  with  many  hydous  loke  : 

"  So  sterne  he  was  that  many  of  them  quoke,"  &c. 

STEEVENS. 

-on  Galathe  his  horse,"]     From  The  Three  Destructions 


of  Troy  is  taken  this  name  given  to  Hector's  horse. 

THEOBALD. 

"  Cal'd  Galathe  (the  which  is  said  to  have  been) 

"  The  goodliest  horse,"  &c.     Li/dgatc,  p.  14-2. 
Again,  p.  175  : 

"  And  sought,  by  all  the  means  he  could,  to  take 

"  Galathe,  Hector's  horse,"  £c. 

Hey  wood,  in  his  Iron  Age,  1632,  has  likewise  continued  the 
same  appellation  to  Hector's  horse : 

"  My  armour,  and  my  trusty  Galatee." 

Heywood  has  taken  many  circumstances  in  his  play  from  Lyd- 
gate.  John  Stephens,  the  author  of  Cinthia's  Revenge,  1613, 
(a  play  commended  by  Ben  Jonson  in  some  lines  prefixed  to  it,) 
has  mounted  Hector  on  an  elephant.  STEEVEXS. 

9 scaled  sculls — J      Sculls  are  great   numbers  of  fishes 

swimming  together.  The  modern  editors,  not  being  acquainted 
with  the  term,  changed  it  into  .shoals.  My  knowledge  of  this 
word  is  derived  from  Bullokar's  English  Expositor,  London, 
printed  by  John  Legatt,  1616.  The  word  likewise  occurs  in 
Lyly's  Midas,  1592:  "  He  hath,  by  this,  started  a  covey  of 
bucks,  or  roused  a  scull  of  pheasants."  The  humour  of  this 
short  speech  consists  in  a  misapplication  of  the  appropriate  terms 
of  one  amusement  to  another.  Again,  in  Milton's  Paradise  Lost, 
B.  VII.  v.  399,  &c. : 


sc.  v.       TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        463 

Before  the  belching  whale  ; '  then  is  he  yonder, 


•each  bay 


"  With  fry  innumerable  swarms,  and  shoals 
"  Offish,  that  with  their  tins  and  shining  scales 
"  Glide  under  the  green  wave,  in  sculls  that  oft 
"  Bank  the  mid  sea." 

Again,  in  the  26th  Song  of  Drayton's  Polyolbion  : 

"  My  silver-scaled  scnls  about  my  streams  do  sweep." 

STEEVENS. 

Scaled  means  here  dispersed,  put  to  flight.  See  Vol.  VI. 
p.  312,  n.  5;  and  Vol.  XVI.  p.  <),  n.  8.  This  is  proved  decisively 
by  the  original  reading  of  the  quarto,  scaling,  which  was  either 
changed  by  the  poet  himself  to  scaled,  (with  the  same  sense,) 
or  by  the  editor  of  the  folio.  If  the  latter  -was  the  case,  it  is 
probable  that  not  being  sufficiently  acquainted  with  our  author's 
manner,  who  frequently  uses  the  active  for  the  passive  participle, 
he  supposed  that  the  epithet  was  merely  descriptive  of  some 
quality  in  the  thing  described. 

The  passage  quoted  above  from  Drayton  does  not  militate 
against  this  interpretation.  There  the  added  epithet  silver  shows 
that  the  word  scaled  is  used  in  its  common  sense  ;  as  the  context 
here  (to  say  nothing  of  the  evidence  arising  from  the  reading  of 
the  oldest  copy)  ascertains  it  to  been  employed  with  the  less 
usual  signification  already  stated. 

"  The  cod  from  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  (says  a  late 
writer)  pursues  the  whiting,  which  Hies  before  it  even  to  the 
southern  shores  of  Spain.  The  cachalot,  a  species  of  whale,  is 
said,  in  the  same  manner,  to  pursue  a  shoal  of  herrings,  and  to 
swallow  hundreds  in  a  mouthful."  Knox's  I  Union/  of  Fish,  Svo. 
1787.  The  throat  of  the  cachalot  (the  species  of  whale  alluded 
to  by  Shakspeare)  is  so  large,  that,  according  to  Goldsmith,  he 
could  with  ease  swallow  an  ox.  MALONK. 

Hcull.f  and  shoals  have  not  only  one  and  the  same  meaning, 
but  are  actually,  or  at  least  originally,  one  and  the  same  word. 
A  .scull  of  herrings  (and  it  is  to  those1  ti>h  that  the  speaker  al- 
ludes) so  termed  on  the  coast  of  Norfolk  and  Sutfolk,  is  else- 
where called  a  shoal.  IIITSON. 

1  — — the  belching  ;i7/r//t';]      So,  in  I'criclcs: 

" the  belching  whale, 

"  And  humming  water,  muM  o'erwhelm  thy  corse." 

Homer  also  compares  Achilles  to  a  dolphin  driving  other  fishes 
before  him,  Iliad  XXI.  v.  22 : 


464        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

And  there  the  strawy  Greeks,2  ripe  for  his  edge, 
Fall  down  before  him,  like  the  mower's  swath  :3 
Here,there,  and  every  where,  he  leaves,  and  takes  j 
Dexterity  so  obeying  appetite,; 
That  what  he  will,  he  does ;  and  does  so  much, 
That  proof  is  call'd  impossibility. 


Enter  ULYSSES. 

ULYSS.  O,  courage,    courage,   princes!  great 

Achilles 

Is  arming,  weeping,  cursing,  vowing  vengeance  : 
Patroclus*  wounds  have  rous'd  his  drowsy  blood, 
Together  with  his  mangled  Myrmidons, 
That  noseless,  handless,  hack'd  and  chipp'd,  come 

to  him, 

Crying  on  Hector.     Ajax  hath  lost  a  friend, 
And  foams  at  mouth,  and  he  is  arm'd,  and  at  it, 
Roaring  for  Troilus  ;  who  hath  done  to-day 
Mad  and  fantastick  execution  ; 
Engaging  and  redeeming  of  himself, 
With  such  a  careless  force,  and  forceless  care, 
As  if  that  luck,  in  very  spite  of  cunning, 
Bade  him  win  all. 

the  strawy  Greeks,^     In  the  folio  it  is-— the  straying 

Greeks.     JOHNSON. 

— the  mower's  swath :]     Swath  is  the  quantity  of  grass 
cut  down  by  a  single  stroke  of  the  mower's  scythe.    So,  Tusser: 
"  With  tossing  and  raking,  and  setting  on  cocks, 
"  Grass,  lately  in  swathes,  is  meat  for  an  ox." 

STEEVENS. 


sc.  vi.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        465 

Enter  AJAX. 

AJAX.  Troilus!  thou  coward  Troilus  !       [Exit. 
Dio.  Ay,  there,  there. 

NEST.  So,  so,  we  draw  together.4 

Enter  ACHILLES. 

ACIIIL.  Where  is  this  Hector? 

Come,  come,  thou  boy-queller,5  show  thy  face  ; 
Know  what  it  is  to  meet  Achilles  angry. 
Hector  !  where's  Hector  ?  I  will  none  but  Hector. 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE  VI. 

Another  Part  oftlie  Field. 
Enter  AJAX. 

AJAX.  Troilus,  thou  coward  Troilus,  show  thy 
head  ! 

Enter  DIOMEDES. 

Din.  Troilus,  I  say  !  where's  Troilus  ? 

AJAX.  What  would'st  thou? 

4  -  wr  draw  together.]  This  remark  seems  to  be  matle 
by  Nestor  in  consequence  of  the  return  of  Ajax  to  the  field,  he 
having  lately  refused  to  co-operate  or  (frtm<  lu^ctlicr  \viih  the 
(/reeks,  though  at  present  lie  is  routed  from  his  sullen  fit  by 
tlu-  i;vs  of  a  friend.  So,  in  Ci/ntJiia'a  /iVrr/.v,  by  Ben  Jonson  : 
"  '  1  is  the  swaggering  coach-horse  Anaides,  that  (Int-o  u'it/i  liiin 
there."  STKI-;  vr.xs. 


/"^7-(|iu-l!cr,  ]     i.e.   nnirderi-i-  of  a   boy.      So,   in  Ki 


ng 


Henri/  II.  !Jar1  11:   "  —  a  man-y,v<7/fT  and  a 
See  \  oi.  X.  p.  'Jj,  n.9.      SIKI:VI  s^. 

VOL.   XV.  '2   II 


466        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  v. 

Dio.  I  would  correct  him. 

AJAX.  Were  I  the  general,  thou  should* st  have 

my  office 
Ere  that  correction : — Troilus,  I  say !  what,  Troilus ! 

Enter  TROILUS. 

TRO.  O  traitor  Diomed! — turn  thy  false  face, 

thou  traitor, 

And  pay  thy  life  thou  ow'st  me  for  my  horse ! 
Dio.  Ha !  art  thou  there  ? 
AJAX.  I'll  fight  with  him  alone  :  stand,  Diomed. 
Dio.  He  is  my  prize,  I  will  not  look  upon.6 

TRO.  Come  both,  you  cogging  Greeks  ;7  have  at 
you  both.  [Exeuntijightmg. 


*  /  ivill  not  look  upon.]     That  is,  (as  we  should  now 

speak,)   I  will  not  be  a  looker-on.      So,  in  King  Henry  VI. 
Part  III : 

"  Why  stand  we  here — 
"  Wailing  our  losses, — 
"  And  look  upon,  as  if  the  tragedy 
"  Were  play'd  in  jest  by  counterfeited  actors  ?" 
These  lines  were  written  by  Shakspeare.     MALONE. 

7  you  cogging  Greeks ;~\     This  epithet  has  no  particular 

propriety  in  this  place,  but  the  author  had  heard  of  Grcccid 
mendax.    JOHNSON. 

Surely  the  epithet  had  propriety,  in  respect  of  Diomedes  at 
least,  who  had  defrauded  him  of  his  mistress.  Troilus  bestows 
it  on  both,  unius  ob  culpam.  A  fraudulent  man,  as  I  am  told, 
is  still  called,  in  the  North,  a  gainful  Greek.  Cicero  bears  wit- 
ness to  this  character  of  the  ancient  Greeks :  "  Testimoniorum 
feligionem  &  fidem  nunquam  ista  natio  coluit." 

Again :  "  Graecorum  ingenia  ad  fallendum  parata  sunt." 

STEEVEXS. 


sc.  vi.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        467 


Enter  HKCTOR. 

HECT.  Yea,Troilus?  O,well  fought,  my  youngest 
brother ! 


Enter  ACHILLES. 

ACHIL.  Now  do  I  see  thee :  Ha  1 — Have  at  thec. 
Hector. 

HECT.  Pause,  if  thou  wilt. 

ACHIL.  I  do  disdain  thy  courtesy,  proud  Trojan. 
Be  happy,  that  my  arms  are  out  of  use : 
My  rest  and  negligence  befriend  thee  now, 
But  thou  anon  shalt  hear  of  me  again  j 
Till  when,  go  seek  thy  fortune.  [Exit. 

HECT.  Fare  thee  well : — - 

I  would  have  been  much  more  a  fresher  man, 
Had  I  expected  thee. — How  now,  my  brother  ? 

Re-enter  TROILUS. 

TRO.  Ajax  hath  ta'en  ^Eneas ;  Shall  it  be  ? 
No,  by  the  flame  of  yonder  glorious  heaven,8 
He  shall  not  carry  him  ;y  I'll  be  taken  too, 
Or  bring  him  oft': — Fate,  hear  me  what  1  say! 
I  reck  not  though  I  end  my  life  to-day.        [Exit. 

8  by   the  flame   of  yonder  glorious   Jiearcn,~]      So,    in 

f\.i>ig  John  : 

"     .    "by  the  light  that  shines  above  our  heads." 

SXEEVI'NS. 

—  carry  him  ;]     i.  e.  prevail  over  him.     So,  in  AiC 
thai  ends  TIT//  .• 

-The  count  he  wooes  your  daughter, 


"  Resolves  to  <v/ '•/•//  her ; 

'2  ]\  '1 


468        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACTV. 

Enter  one  in  sumptuous  Armour. 

HECT.  Stand,  stand,  thou  Greek ;   thou  art  a 

goodly  mark : — 
No  ?  wilt  thou  not? — I  like  thy  armour  well  ;2 

*  I  like  thy  armour  iKcll;~]     This  circumstance  is  taken 

from  Lydgate's  poem,  p.  196: 

" Guido  in  his  historic  doth  shew 

"  By  worthy  Hector's  fall,  who  coveting 

"  To  have  the  sumptuous  armour  of  that  king,  &c. 

"  So  greedy  was  thereof,  that  when  he  had 
"  The  body  up,  and  on  his  horse  it  bare, 

"  To  have  the  spoil  thereof  such  haste  he  made 
"  That  he  did  hang  his  shield  without  all  care 
"  Behind  him  at  his  back,  the  easier 
"  To  pull  the  armour  oif  at  his  desire, 
"  And  by  that  means  his  breast  clean  open  lay,"  &c. 
This  furnished  Shakspeare  with  the  hint  for  the  following  line : 
"  I  am  unarmed ;  forego  this  vantage,  Greek." 

STEEVENS, 

I  quote  from  the  original,  1555 : 

in  this  while  a  Grekish  king  he  mette, 


Were  it  of  hap  or  of  adventure, 

The  which  in  sothe  on  his  cote  armoure 

Embrouded  had  full  many  ryche  stone, 

That  gave  a  lyght,  when  the  sonne  shone, 

Full  bryght  and  cleare,  that  joye  was  to  sene, 

For  perles  white  and  emerawdes  grene 

Full  many  one  were  therein  sette. — 

Of  whose  arraye  when  Hector  taketh  hede, 

Towardes  him  fast  gan  him  dvawe. 

And  fyrst  I  fynde  how  ho  hath  him  slawe, 

And  after  that  by  force  of  his  manheade 

He  hent  him  up  afore  him  on  his  stede, 

And  fast  gan  wyth  him  for  to  rycle 

From  the  wardes  a  lytell  out  of  syde, 

At  good  leyser  playnly,  if  he  niaye, 

To  r;.ovlc  him  of  his  rych  arraye. — 

On  boi's-j-hacke  out  whan  he  him  ladde, 

Ji'jcLkiMV  ti-o  sh)i-yc  maketh  myndt- 

lie  caste  his  sheldc  at  his  backe  iK-hynde, 

To  weld  him  selfe  at  more  liberty e, — 

So  that  his  brest  disarmed  was  and  bare."     MALONE. 


sc.  n.      TROTLUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        469 

I'll  f'rush  it,1  and  unlock  the  rivets  all, 


:  /'//  frush  //,]  The  word  fnt *h  I  never  found  elsewhere, 
nor  understand  it.  Sir  T.  Hamner  explains  it,  to  break  or 
bruise.  JOHNSON. 

Air.  M.  Mason  observes,  that  "  Ilanmer's  explanation  appears 
to  be  right  :  and  the  word  J]  -HX/I,  in  this  sense,  to  be  derived 
IVoin  the  verb />«/Wr,  to  bruise,  or  break  to  pieces." 

To  frnxh  a  chicken,  &c.  is  a  term  in  carving,  as  ancient  as 
Wvnkvn  de  Worde's  book  on  that  subject,  1508  ;  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  another  phrase,  which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been 
synonymous,  \i/.. — to  "  break  v.p  a  capon ;"  words  that  occur 
in  I.ii-cc's  Labour's  Lost. 

Ilolinshed  (as  Mr.  Toilet  has  observed)  employs  the  verb — to 
frux/i,  in  his  Description  of  Ireland,  p. '29 :  "\\hen  they  are 
sori-J'ritx/it  with  sickness,  or  too  t'arre  withered  with  age." 

The  word  seems  to  be  sometimes  used  ibr  any  action  of  vio- 
lence by  which  things  are  separated,  disordered,  or  destroyed. 
So,  in    Ilinde's   Elionto   Libidinoso,    1606:  "  High  cedars  are 
J'rutlied  with  tempests,  when  lower  shrubs  are  not  touched  with 
the  wind." 

Again,  in  Hans  Beer-pot's  Invisible  Comedy,  &c.  1618: 

"  And  with  mine  arm  tofrush  a  sturdy  lance." 
Again,  in   The  Hilton/  of  II> •  lijax  Knight  of  the  .Suv/w,  bl.  1.  no 
date  :  "  — smote  him  so  courageously  with  his  sworde,  that  he 
Jrushed  all  his  helm,  wherewith  the  trie  fell  backward,"  \c. 

Au:ain,  in  Stanyhurst's  translation  of  the  first  Book  of  Virgil's 
JEntid,  15S2: 

"  All  the  frxslie   and   leavings   of  Greeks,   of  wrathful 

Achilles." 
Again  : 

" yf  that  knight  Antheus  haplye 

"  \\\.'Tt.\frit.i/il,  or  retnanent,"  i\e. 

Ayain,  in  Sir  .lolin  Manduvile's  account  of  the  magical  enter- 
tainments   exhibited    before    the    (Inic   (.'Inin,    p.  '2^5  :    "  And 
then  they  make  knyghts  to  joustcn  in  armes  full  lustyly,  i\e. — 
and  thuyfntxc/ien  togidere  full  liercelv." 
Again,  in  1'airi'ax's  'I'axso  : 

"  Kinaldo's  armour  jin\li\l  and  hack'd  they  had." 

STEKVKXS. 

Tin1  meaning  of  the  word  is  ascertained  by  the  following 
]-;i->age  in  The  Dextnictiou  o/'Y'/v//,  a  book  which  Shakspeare 
ceitainly  had  belt-re  him  wlien  Iu-  wrote  ibis  play:  "  Saying 
these  wordes,  Hercules  c  night  bv  the  head  poor  Lvclms, — and 


470        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

But  I'll  be  master  of  it : — Wilt  thou  not,  beast, 

abide  ? 
Why  then,  fly  on,  I'll  hunt  thee  for  thy  hide. 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE   VII. 

The  same. 
Enter  ACHILLES,  with  Myrmidons, 

ACHIL.  Comehere  about  me, you  my  Myrmidons  j 
Mark  what  I  say. — Attend  me  where  I  wheel : 
Strike  not  a  stroke,  but  keep  yourselves  in  breath ; 
And  when  I  have  the  bloody  Hector  found, 
Empale  him  with  your  weapons  round  about ; 
In  fellest  manner  execute  your  arms.4 
Follow  me,  sirs,  and  my  proceedings  eye : — 
It  is  decreed — Hector  the  great  must  die.  [Exeunt, 


threw  him  against  a  rocke  so  fiercely  that  hee  to^frushed  and  all 
to-burst  his  bones,  and  so  slew  him."     MALONE. 

•*  execute  your  arms.~]  To  execute  their  arms  is  to  em- 
ploy them ;  to  put  them  to  use.  A  similar  expression  occurs  in 
Othello,  where  lago  says  : 

Witness  that  here  lago  doth  give  up 

The  execution  of  his  wit,  hands,  heart, 

To  wrong'd  Othello's  service." 


And  in 


Love's  Labour's  Lost,  Rosaline  says  to  Biron  : 


Full  of  comparisons  and  wounding  flouts, 

Which  you  on  all  estates  will  execute"     M.  MASON. 

A  phrase  nearly  similar  occurs  in  Froissart's  Chronicle,  Vol.  II. 
cap.  Ixxviii :  "  Then  the  nexte  daye  Syr  John  Holande  and  Syr 
Raynolde  Roy  were  armed  and  mounted  on  theyr  horses  and 
soo  came  to  a  fayre  place  redy  sanded  where  they  sholde  doo 
thcyr  armcs,"  Fo.  Ixxxx.  STEEVENS. 


sc.  vm.   TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        47! 

SCENE    VIII. 

Tlic  same. 

Enter  MENELAUS  and  PARIS,  Jighting  :  then 
THERSITES. 


.Tlie  cuckold,  and  the  cuckold-maker,  are 
at  it  :  Now,  bull  !  now  dog  !  'Loo,  Paris,  'loo  ! 
now  my  double-henned  sparrow  !  'loo,  Paris,  'loo  ! 
The  bull  has  the  game  :  —  'ware  horns,  ho  ! 

[Exeunt  PARIS  and  MENELAUS. 

Enter  MARGARELON. 

MAR.  Turn,  slave,  and  fight. 

THER.  What  art  thou  ? 

MAR.  A  bastard  son  of  Priam's.3 

TIIER.  I  am  a  bastard  too  ;  I  love  bastards  :  I  am 
a  bastard  begot,  bastard  instructed,  bastard  in  mind, 
bastard  in  valour,  in  every  thing  illegitimate.  One 
bear  will  not  bite  another,  and  wherefore  should  one 
bastard  ?  Take  heed,  the  quarrel's  most  ominous  to 
us  :  it'  the  son  of  a  whore  fight  for  a  whore,  he 
tempts  judgment  :  Farewell,  bastard. 

MAR.  The  devil  take  thec,  coward!      [Exeunt. 

s  A  bastard  son  of  Priam's.  ~]      Rnstard,  in  ancient  times,  was 
a  reputable  appellation.     So,  in  Khi^  Ilcury  I'l,  Part  I: 

"  Kastnrrt  of  Orleans,  thrift'  welcome  to  us." 
See  note  on  this  passage,  Vol.  XIII.  p.  '21.     See  also  Pope's  note 
on  v.  <J;(,  linui  V.  ami  on  v.  :>l-:5,  Iliad  VIII.     STEEVENS. 


472        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.      ACTV. 

SCENE  IX. 

Another  Part  of  the  Field. 
Enter  HECTOR. 

HECT.  Most  putrified  core,  so  fair  without, 
Thy  goodly  armour  thus  hath  cost  thy  life. 
Now  is  my  day's  work  done ;   I'll  take  good  breath  : 
Rest,  sword  ;  thou  hast  thy  fill  of  blood  and  death ! 
\_Puts  off  his  Helmet,  and  hangs  his  Shield 
behind  him. 

Enter  ACHILLES  and  Myrmidons. 

ACIHL.  Look,  Hector,  how  the  sun  begins  to  set; 
How  ugly  night  comes  breathing  at  his  heels : 
Even  with  the  vail6  and  dark'ning  of  the  sun, 
To  close  the  day  up,  Hector's  life  is  done. 

HECT.  I    am   unarm' d  ;    forego   this   vantage, 
Greek.7 


6  Even  with  the  vail — ]      The  vail  is,   I  think,   the  sinking 
of  the  sun ;  not  veil  or  cover.     JOHNSON. 

So,  in  Measure  for  Measure,  "  vail  your  regard  upon,"  signi- 
fies,— Let  your  notice  descend  upon  &c.     STEEVEN.S. 

7  /  am.  unarm' d ;  forego  thin  vantage,   Greek.']      Hector,  in 
Lydgate's  poem,  falls  by  the  hand  of  Achilles  ;  but  it  is  Troilus 
who,  having  been  inclosed  round  by  the  Myrmidons,  is  killed 
after  his  armour  had  been  hewn  from  his  body,  which  was  after- 
wards drawn  through  the  field  at  the  horse's  tail.     The  Oxford 
editor,  I  believe,  was  misinformed ;  for  in  the  old  story-book  of 
The  Three  Destructions  of  Troy,  I  find  likewise  the  same  account 
given  of  the  death  of  Troilus.     Hey  wood,  in  his  Rape  ofLucrcce, 
1638,  seems  to  have  been  indebted  to  some  such  work  as  Sir  T. 
Hamuer  mentions : 


sc.  ix.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        473 

ACHIL.  Strike,  fellows,  strike  ;b  this  is  the  man 
I  seek.  [H.KCTOH Jails. 

So,  Ilion,  fall  thou  next!  now,  Troy,  sink  down; 
Here  lies  thy  heart,  thy  sinews,  and  thy  bone. — 
On,  Myrmidons  ;   and  cry  you  all  amain, 
Achilles  hath  the  mighty  Hector  slain? 

[  //  Retreat  sounded. 
Hark !  a  retreat  upon  our  Grecian  part. 

~MYR.  The  Trojan  trumpets  sound  the  like,  my 
lord.  ' 

ACHIL.  The  dragon  wing  of  night'  o'erspreads 
the  earth, 

"  Had  puissant  Hector  by  Achilles'  hand 
"  Dy'd  in  a  single  monomachie,  Achilles 
"  Had  been  the  worthy  ;  but  being  slain  by  odds, 
"  The  poorest  Myrmidon  had  as  much  honour 
"  As  faint  Achilles,  in  the  Trojan's  death." 
It  is  not  unpleasant  to  observe  with  what  vehemence  Lydgate, 
who  in  the  grossest  manner  has  violated  all  the  characters  drawn 
by  Homer,  takes  upon  him  to  reprehend  the  Grecian  poet  as  the 
original  offender.     Thus,  in  his  fourth  Book  : 

"  Oh  thou,  Homer,  for  shame  be  now  red, 

"  And  thee  aniase  that  boldest  thy  selfe  so  wyse, 

"  On  Achylles  to  set  suche  great  a  pryse 

"  In  thy  bokes  for  his  chivalrye, 

"  Above  echone  that  dost  hyin  magnyfye, 

"  That  was  so  sleyghty  and  so  full  of  fraude, 

"  ^  I'}  gevest  thou  liym  so  bye  a  prayse  and  lander" 

STE  EVENS. 

^  Strike,  fellows,  strike  ;~]  This  particular  of  Achilles  over- 
powering Hector  by  numbers,  and  without  armour,  is  taken 
from  the  old  story-book.  HAXMI.K. 

On,  Myrmidons;  and  cry  you  all  amain, 

Ac/ii/lc.s  hath  the  ni/^/i///  Hector  xlui>i.~\ 

"    ll'.y.'J.!:')?.  u^yy.  xC  j'j;m    £7Tc~:  :•;.;•'     Kxr:   :'.  •/.,:, 
"  'Ll'i'Uct'xyrz  "a^:     zex'v;,    £jysro:'A/i." 

Iliad  XXII.  v.  I',!):).     MAI.ONK. 

1  The  dragon  u-/w<r  of  /;/»•///—]      See  Vol.  XIII.  p.  .'«)«),  n.  <). 

a    J        o  -i 

M  A  LOST:. 


474.         TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.    Acrr. 

And,  stickler  like,2  the  armies  separates. 

My  half-supp'd  sword,3  that  frankly  would  have 

fed, 

Pleas'd  with  this  dainty  bit,  thus  goes  to  bed. — 

[Sheaths  his  Sicord. 

*  And,  stickler-tote,]  A  stickler  was  one  who  stood  by  to  part 
the  combatants  when  victory  could  be  determined  without  blood- 
shed. They  are  often  mentioned  by  Sidney.  "  Anthony  (says 
Sir  Thomas  North,  in  his  translation  of  Plutarch, )  was  himself 
in  person  a  stickler  to  part  the  young  men  when  they  had  fought 
enough."  They  were  called  sticklers,  from  carrying  sticks  or 
Staves  in  their  hands,  with  which  they  interposed  between  the 
duellists.  We  now  call  these  sticklers — sidesmen.  So,  again,  in 
a  comedy,  called,  Fortune  by  Land  and  Sea,  by  Hey  wood  and 
Rowley  :  "  — 'tis  not  fit  that  every  apprentice  should  with  his 
shop-club  play  between  us  the  stickler."  Again,  in  the  tragedy 
of  Faire  Mar  jam,  1613  : 

"  And  was  the  stickler  'twixt  my  heart  and  him." 
Again,  in  Fuimus  Troes,  1G3S: 

"  As  sticklers  in  their  nation's  enmity."     STEEVENS. 

Minsheu  gives  the  same  etymology,  in  his  Dictionary,  1617: 
"  A  stickler  betweene  two,  so  called  as  putting  a  stick  or  staffe 
between  two  fighting  or  fencing  together."  MALONE. 

Sticklers  are  arbitrators,  judges,  or,  as  called  in  some  places, 
sidesmen.  At  every  wrestling  in  Cornwall,  before  the  games 
begin,  a  certain  number  of  sticklers  are  chosen,  who  regulate  the 
proceedings,  and  determine  every  dispute.  The  nature  of  the 
English  language,  as  I  conceive,  does  not  allow  the  derivation 
of  stickler  from  stick,  which,  as  a  word,  it  has  not  the  remotest 
connection  with.  Stickler  (stic-kle-er)  is  immediately  from  the 
verb  stickle,  to  interfere,  to  take  part  with,  to  busy  one's  self  in 
any  matter.  11  IT  SDK. 

3  My  half-supp'd  siuord,  &c.]  These  four  despicable  verses, 
as  well  as  the  rhyming  fit  with  which  "  the  blockish  Ajax"  is 
afterwards  seized,  could  scarce  have  fallen  from  the  pen  of  our 
author,  in  his  most  unlucky  moments  of  composition. 

STEEVENS. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  remainder  of  this  speech,  as  it 
came  out  of  Shakspeare's  hands,  we  may  be  confident  that  this 
bombast  stuff  made  no  part  of  it.  Our  author's  gold  was  stolen, 
and  the  thief's  brass  left  in  its  place.  RITSON. 

Perhaps  this  play  was  hastily  altered  by  Shakspeare  from  sn 


sc.x.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        475 

Come,  tie  his  body  to  my  horse's  tail ; 

Along  the  field  I  will  the  Trojan  trail.4    [Exeunt. 


SCENE    X. 

The  same. 

Enter  AGAMEMNON,   AJAX,   MENELAUS,  NESTOR, 
DIOMEDES,  and  Others,  marching.  Shouts  nit/tin. 

AGAM.  Hark!  hark!  what  shout  is  that? 
NEST.  Peace,  drums. 

\_irWiln.'}  Achilles! 

Achilles !  Hector's  slain  !  Achilles  ! 

Dio.  Thehruit  is — Hector's  slain,  and  by  Achilles. 

AJAX.  If  it  be  so,  yet  bra  "'less  let  it  be  ; 

7    */  C? 

Great  Hector  was  as  good  a  man  as  he. 

AGAM.  March  patiently  along: — Let  one  be  sent 
To  pray  Achilles  see  us  at  our  tent. — 
If  in  his  death  the  gods  have  us  befriended, 
Great  Troy  is  ours,  and  our  sharp  wars  are  ended. 

[  Exeunt,  marching. 

tkler  piece,  which  the  reader  will  find  mentioned  in  p.  22'5,  n.  2. 
iSome  of  the  scenes  therefore  he  might  have  fertilized,  and  left 
others  as  barren  as  lie  found  them.  STEEVEXS. 

4  Atom*  llic  field  1  ''.'ill  the  Trojan  trail.]  Such  almost 
(changing  the  name  of  Troilus  for  that  of  I  lector)  is  the  argu- 
ment of  Lydgate's  ;>lst  chapter,  edit,  l.l/'.-'j:  "  I  low  Achilles 
.slewe  the  worthy  Troylus  unknyghtly,  and  after  trailed  his  body 
through  the  fyclde  tyed  to  his  horse." 


476         TROILUS  AND  CRESSID A.    ACTK 

SCENE  XL 

Another  Part  of  the  Field. 
Enter  yExEAs  and  Trojans. 

JENE.  Stand,  ho!  yet  are  we  masters  of  the  field  : 
Never  go  home ;  here  starve  we  out  the  night.5 

Enter  TROILUS. 

TRO.  Hector  is  slain. 

ALL.  Hector  ? — The  gods  forbid ! 

TRO.  He's  dead  ;  and  at  the  murderer's  horse's 

tail, 

In  beastly  sort,  dragg'd  through  the  shameful  field. — 
Frown  on,  you  heavens,  effect  your  rage  with  speed! 
Sit,  gods,  upon  your  thrones,  and  smile  at  Troy!6 

6  Never  go  home;  £c.]  This  line  is  in  the  quarto  given  to 
Troilus.  JOHNSON. 

0 -smile  at  Troy!~\  Thus  the  ancient  copies  ;  but  it  would 

better  agree  with  the  rest  of  Troilus's  wish,  were  we  to  read, 
with  a  former  editor  : 

smite  at  Troy  ! 

I  say,  at  once!     STEEVEXS. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  we  should  read — smite  at,  instead 
of — smile.  The  following  words,  "  I  say,  at  once,"  make  that 
unquestionable.  To  call  upon  the  heavens  toy>otc«,  and  on  the 
Gods  to  smile,  at  the  self-same  moment,  would  be  too  absurd 
even  for  that  violent  agitation  of  mind  with  which  Troilus  is  sup- 
posed to  be  actuated.  M.  MASON. 

Smite  was  introduced  into  the  text  by  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer, 
and  adopted  by  Dr.  Warburton.  I  believe  the  old  reading  is 
the  true  one. 

Mr.  Upton  thinks  that  Shakspeare  had  the  Psalmist  in  view: 
"  He  that  dwellcth  in  heaven  shall  laugh  them  to  scorn ;  the 


sc.  xi.     TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        477 

I  say,  at  once  let  your  brief  plagues  be  mercy, 
And  linger  not  our  sure  destructions  on ! 

JExE.  My  lord,  you  do  discomfort  all  the  host. 

TRO.  You  understand  me  not,  that  tell  me  so : 
I  do  not  speak  of  flight,  of  fear,  of  death  ; 
But  dare  all  imminence,  that,  gods  and  men 
Address  their  dangers  in.     Hector  is  gone! 
Who  shall  tell  Priam  so,  or  Hecuba  ? 
Let  him,  that  will  a  screech-owl  aye  be  call'd, 
Go  in  to  Troy,  and  say  there — Hector's  dead: 
There  is  a  word  will  Priam  turn  to  stone  ; 
Make  wells  and  Niobes  of  the  maids  and  wives,7 
Colds  statues  of  the  vouth  ;   and,  in  a  word, 

•/ 

Scare  Troy  out  of  itself.     But,  inarch,  away  : 
Hector  is  dead  ;   there  is  no  more  to  say. 
Stay  yet ; — You  vile  abominable  tents, 
Thus  proudly  pight '  upon  our  Phrygian  plains, 

Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision."  Ps.  ii.  1.  "  The  Lord  shall 
laugh  him  to  scorn  ;  for  he  hath  seen  that  his  day  is  coming." 
Pa.  xxxvii.  1:5.  In  the  passage  before  us,  (he  adds,)  "  the 
heavens  arc  the  ministers  of  the  Gods  to  execute  their  vengeance, 
and  they  are  bid  tojrorcn  on ;  but  the  Gods  themselves  smile  at 
Tro;j ;  they  hold  Troy  in  derision,  for  lis  day  is  cumins*" 

M.VLON'K. 

7  Main-  wells  and  ~Sio!iCs  nflli-  wr.vY.7.-  an>l  7i-/;r.«,]  I  adopt  the 
conjecture  of  a  dec  •.;-:.•;!  friend,  v.-im  would  read — ivcUnnd.  i.  e. 
ueephii;  Niobes.  The  Saxon  termination  off!:;.1  participle  in 
and,  t'or  /;;o,  is  common  in  our  old  poets,  and  o!t-_:i  corrupted  at 
the  press.  So,  in  Spenser  : 

"  His  glitter.'.- W  armour  sliined  far  away." 
Where  the  common  editions  have — -jlittcr  and.      WIIAI.LKY. 

There  is  surely  no  need  of  emendation.     STKF.VI:N.S. 

"  Culd — ]      The  old  copy — Can/c.      STI:I:VI:NS. 

— ])/<r/i/ — ]   i.e.  pitclied,  fixed.  The  obsolete  preterite  and 
participle  passive  of  to  uitch.      So,  Spenser: 

"  Then  broii;_rlit  she  me  into  this  drsrrt  vast, 
"  And  by  my  wretched  lover's  .side  me  w/^A/." 

STEEVKX.S. 


478         TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.     ACT  r. 

Let  Titan  rise  as  early  as  he  dare, 

I'll  through  and  through  you ! — And  thou,  great- 

siz'd  coward ! 

No  space  of  earth  shall  sunder  our  two  hates  ; 
I'll  haunt  thee  like  a  wicked  conscience  still, 
That  mouldeth  goblins  swift  as  frenzy  thoughts. — 
Strike  a  free  march  to  Troy ! — with  comfort  go : 
Hope  of  revenge  shall  hide  our  inward  woe. * 

\_Exeunt  ./£XEAS  and  Trojans. 


As  TROILUS  is  going  out,  enter ',  jro)ti  the  other  side, 
PANDARUS. 

PAN.  But  hear  you,  hear  you ! 

TRO.  Hence, broker  lackey!2  ignomy  and  shame3 
Pursue  thy  life,  and  live  aye  with  thy  name ! 

\JStXit  TROILUS. 


•  faith  comfort  go: 


Hope  of  revenge  shall  hide  our  inward  uoc."]  This  couplet 
affords  a  full  and  natural  close  of  tlie  play;  and  though  I  once 
thought  differently,  I  must  now  declare  my  firm  belief  that 
Shakspeare  designed  it  should  end  here,  and  that  what  follows 
is  either  a  subsequent  and  injudicious  restoration  from  the  elder 
drama,  mentioned  in  p.  223,  or  the  nonsense  of  some  wretched 
buffoon,  who  represented  Pandarus.  When  the  hero  of  the 
scene  was  not  only  alive,  but  on  the  stage,  our  author  would 
scarce  have  trusted  the  conclusion  of  his  piece  to  a  subordinate 
character,  whom  he  had  uniformly  held  up  to  detestation.  It  is 
still  less  probable  that  he  should  have  wound  up  his  story  with  a 
stupid  outrage  to  decency,  and  a  deliberate  insult  on  his  audi- 
ence.— But  in  several  other  parts  of  this  drama  I  cannot  persuade 
myself  that  I  have  been  reading  Shakspeare. 

As  evident  an  interpolation  is  pointed  out  at  the  end  of 
Twelfth-Night.  See  Vol.  V.  p.  119.  STEEVEXS. 

2  Plence,  broker  lackey!']  Thus  the  quarto  and  folio.  For 
Lrolcr  the  editor  of  the  second  folio  substituted  broihcr,  which, 
in  the  third,  was  changed  to  brothel. 


5c.xi.      TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        479 

PAN.  A  goodly  med'cine  for  my  aching  bones ! — 
O  world  !  world !  world !  thus  is  the  poor  agent 
despised  !  ()  traitors  and  bawds,  how  earnestly  are 
you  set  a'  work,  and  how  ill  requited  !  "Why  should 
our  endeavour  be  so  loved,4  anil  the  performance  so 
loathed  ?  what  verse  for  it  ?  what  instance  for  it? — 
Let  me  see  : — 

Full  merrily  the  humble-bee  doth  sing, 
Till  he  hath  lost  his  honev,  and  his  stino; : 

*•'   7 

And  being  once  subdued  in  armed  tail, 
Sweet  honey  and  sweet  notes  together  fail. — 
Good  traders  in  the  flesh,  set  this  in  your  painted 
cloths.5 

As  many  as  be  here  of  pander's  hall, 
Your  eyes,  half  out,  weep  out  at  Pandar's  fall: 
Or,  if  you  cannot  weep,  yet  give  some  groans, 
Though  not  for  me,  yet  for  your  aching  bones. 
Brethren,  and  sisters,  of  the  hold-door  trade, 
Some  two  months  hence  my  will  shall  here  be 

J 

made : 

It  should  be  now,  but  that  my  fear  is  this, — 
Some  galled  goose  of  Winchester"  would  hiss  : 

Broker,  in  our  author's  time,  signified  a  ba\vd  of  either  sex. 
So,  in  /W//IJ  John  : 

"  This  bawd,  this  broker,  this  all-changing  word,"  <!vc. 
See  Vol.  X.  p.  108,  n.  9.     MAU>NK. 

3 ignomy  and  shame —  f<rnonn/  was  used,  in  our  au- 
thor's time,  ibr  ignominy.  See  Vol.  XI.  p.  !'_'(>,  n.  }). 

MAI.ONE. 
4 /orrr/,]     Quarto;  rA'.wYV,  folio.     JOHNSON. 

1 xct  this  in  ijour  painted  eloths.]    i.e.  th  •  paint. 't!  canvas 

with  which  your  rooms  are  hung.     See  Vol.  Vill.p.  r)-;.  \\.  s. 

S  r  i .  i  \  K  \  <. 

0  Some  galled  goose  i>f  Winchester — "]  The  puMielv  ^t^•\vs 
were  anciently  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Ihshop  of  \\"in- 
cliester.  POIM-. 


480       THOILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.       ACTV. 

Till  then  I'll  sweat,7  and  seek  about  for  eases  ; 
And,  at  that  time,  bequeath  you  my  diseases. 


Mr.  Pope's  explanation  may  be  supported  by  the  following 
passage  in  one  of  the  old  plays,  of  which  my  negligence  has  lost 
the  title  : 

"  Collier!  how  came  the  goose  to  be  put  upon  you  ? 
"  I'll  tell  thee  :  The  term  lying  at  Winchester  in  Henry  the 
Third's  days,  and  many  French  women  coming  out  of  the  Isle 
of  Wight  thither,  &c.  there  were  many  punks  in  the  town," 
&c. 

A  particular  symptom  in  the  lues  venerea  was  called  a  Win- 
chester goose.  So,  in  Chapman's  comedy  s(  Monsieur  D*  Olive, 
1606:  "  —  the  famous  school  of  England  call'd  Winchester, 
famous  I  mean  for  the  goose,"  &c. 

Again,  Ben  Jonson,  in  his  poem  called  An  Execration  on 
Vulcan  : 

"  -  this  a  sparkle  of  that  fire  let  loose, 
•"  That  was  locked  up  in  the  Winchcstrian  goose, 
"  Bred  on  the  Bank  in  time  of  popery, 
"  When  Venus  there  maintain'd  her  mystery." 
In  an  ancient  satire,  called  Cocke  Lorclles  Bote,  bl.  1.  printed 
by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  no  date,  is  the  following  list  of  the  dif- 
ferent residences  of  harlots  : 

"  There  came  such  a  wynd  fro  Winchester^ 
"  That  blewe  these  women  over  the  ryver, 
"  In  wherye/,  as  I  wyll  you  tell  : 
'  Some  at  (faynt  Kateryns  stroke  agrounde, 
'  And  miny  in  Holborne  were  founde, 
'  Some^ft  sainte  Gyles  I  trowe  : 
'  Also,  in  Avc  Maria  Aly,  and  at  Westmenster  ; 
'  And  some  in  Shorcdychc  drewe  thcder, 
"  With  grcte  lamentacyon  ; 
"  And  by  cause  they  have  lost  that  fayre  place, 
"  They  wyll  bylde  at  Colman  hedge,  in  space,"  &c. 
Hence  the   old  proverbial  simile  —  "  As  common  as    Coleman 
Hedge:"  now  Coleman  Street.     STEEVENS. 

As  the  publick  stews  were  under  the  controul  of  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  a  strumpet  was  called  a  Winchester  gontc,  and  a 
galled  Winchester  goou.'  may  mean,  either  a  sin'.m/ict  that  had 
the  venereal  disease,  or  one  that  felt  herself  hurt  by  what  Pan- 
darus  luul  said.  It  is  probable  that  the  word  was  purposely  used 
to  express  both  these  senses.  It  does  not  appear  to  me,  from 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         481 

the  passage  cited  by  Steevcns,  that  any  symptom  of  the  venereal 
disease  was  called  a  Winchester  goose"  M.  MASON. 

Cole,  in  his  Latin  Diet.  1669,  renders  a  Winchester  goose  by 

pudendagra.     MA  LONE. 

There  are  more  hard  bombastical  phrases  in  the  serious  part  of 
this  play,  than,  I  believe,  can  be  picked  out  of  any  other  six 
plays  of  Slmkspcare.  Take  the  following  specimens  :  Tortive, — 
periistive, — protractive, — importless, — insisture, — deracinate, — 
dividable.  And  in  the  next  Act:  Past-proportion, — unrespec- 
the, — propugnation, — self-assumption  t — self-admission, — assubju- 
gate, — kingdom'd,  &.c.  TYRWIUTT. 

7  /'//  .v«rc/,]  i.e.  adopt  the  regimen  then  used  for 

curing  what  Pistol  calls  "  the  malady  of  France."  Thus,  says 
the  Bawd,  in  Measure  for  Measure:  "  — what  with  the  sweat, 
&c.  I  am  custom-shrunk."  See  note  on  Timon  of  At/tens, 
Act  IV.  sc.  iii.  STKEVKNS. 

7  This  play  is  more  correctly  written  than  most  of  Shak- 
spearo's  compositions,  but  it  is  not  one  of  those  in  which  either 
the  extent  of  his  views  or  elevation  of  his  fancy  is  fully  dis- 
played. As  the  story  abounded  with  materials,  he  has  exerted 
little  invention ;  but  he  has  diversified  his  characters  with  great 
variety,  and  preserved  them  with  great  exactness.  His  vicious 
characters  disgust,  but  cannot  corrupt,  for  both  Cressida  and 
Pandarus  are  detested  and  contemned.  The  comick  characters 
seem  to  have  been  the  favourites  of  the  writer ;  they  are  of  the 
superficial  kind,  and  exhibit  more  of  manners  than  nature;  but 
they  are  copiously  filled  and  powerfully  impressed.  Shakspeare 
has  in  his  story  followed,  for  the  greater  part,  the  old  book  of 
Caxton,  which  was  then  very  popular;  but  the  character  of 
Thersites,  of  which  it  makes  no  mention,  is  a  proof  that  this 
play  was  written  after  Chapman  had  published  his  version  of 
Homer.  JOHNSON. 

The  first  seven  Books  of  Chapman's  Homer  were  published 
in  the  year  1596,  and  again  in  1.59B.  They  were  dedicated  as 
follows :  To  the  most  honoured  noiv  living  instance  oj'  the 
Achilleian  virtues  eternized  hi/  divine  Homere,  the  Kurle  ttf 
/v'.v.sY'xi',  Karl  Marshall,  <!vc.  The  whole  twenty-four  Books  of 
the  Iliad  appeared  in  Kill.  An  anonymous  interlude,  called 
THKKSYTKS  his  Humour*  and  Conceit*,  had  bc-en  published  in 
1598.  Puttenham  also,  in  his  Arte  oj'  Englishe  I'oexie,  1589, 
p.  35,  makes  mention  of"  T/icrnles  the  glorious  Noddle"  <&c. 

STKKVEXS. 

The  interlude  of  Thersites  was,  I  believe,  published  IOIILT  be- 
iore  1598.     That  date  was  one  of  the  numerous  forgeries  ut 
VOL.  XV.  '2   \ 


482        TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 

Chetwood  the  Prompter,  as  well  as  the  addition  to  the  title  of 
the  piece — "  Thersites  his  Humours  and  Conceits}"  for  no  such 
words  are  found  in  the  catalogue  published  in  1671,  by  Kirk- 
man,  who  appears  to  have  seen  it.  MALONE. 


P.  436.  Hoto  the  devil  luxury,  with  his  fat  rump,  and  potatoe 
Jinger,  tickles  these  together.']  Luxuria  was  the  appropriate 
term  used  by  the  school  divines,  to  express  the  sin  of  inconti- 
nence, which  accordingly  is  called  luxury  in  all  our  old  English 
writers.  In  the  Summce  Theologia;  Compendium  of  Thomas 
Aquinas,  P.  2.  II.  Quaest.  CLIV.  is  de  Luxuries  Partibus,  which 
the  author  distributes  under  the  heads  of  Simplex  Fornicatio, 
Adidterium,  Incest  us,  Stuprum,  Raptus,  &c.  and  Chaucer,  in  his 
Parson  s  Tale,  descanting  on  the  seven  deadly  sins,  treats  of 
this  under  the  title  De  Luxuria.  Hence,  in  King  Lear,  our 
author  uses  the  word  in  this  particular  sense : 

"  To't,  Luxury,  pell-mell,  for  I  want  soldiers." 
And  Middleton,  in  his  Game  of 'Chess: 

" in  a  room  fill'd  all  with  Aretine's  pictures, 

"  (More  than  the  twelve  labours  of  Luxury,] 
"  Thou  shalt  not  so  much  as  the  chaste  pummel  see 
"  Of  Lucrece'  dagger." 

But  why  is  luxury,  or  lasciviousness,  said  to  have  a  potatoe 
Jinger? — This  root,  which  was,  in  our  author's  time,  but  newly 
imported  from  America,  was  considered  as  a  rare  exotick,  and 
esteemed  a  very  strong  provocative.  As  the  plant  is  so  common 
now,  it  may  entertain  the  reader  to  see  how  it  is  described  by 
Gerard,  in  his  Herbal,  1597,  p.  780: 

"  This  plant,  which  is  called  of  some  Skyrrits  of  Peru,  is 
generally  of  us  called  Potatus,  or  Potatoes. — There  is  not  any 
that  hath  written  of  this  plant ; — therefore,  I  refer  the  descrip- 
tion thereof  unto  those  that  shall  hereafter  have  further  know- 
ledge of  the  same.  Yet  I  have  had  in  my  garden  divers  roots 
(that  I  bought  at  the  Exchange  in  London)  where  they  flou- 
rished until  winter,  at  which  time  they  perished  and  rotted. 
They  are  used  to  be  eaten  roasted  in  the  ashes.  Some,  when 
they  be  so  roasted,  infuse  them  and  sop  them  in  wine;  and 
others,  to  give  them  the  greater  grace  in  eating,  do  boil  them 
with  prunes.  Howsoever  they  be  dressed,  they  comfort,  nou- 
rish, and  strengthen  the  bodic,  procure  bodily  lust,  and  thativith 
great  greediness." 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.         483 

Drayton,  in  the  20th  Song  of  his  Polyolbion,  introduces  the 
same  idea  concerning  the  fkirret : 

"  The  skirret,  which,  some  say,  in  sallets  stirs  the  blood" 
Shakspcarc  alludes  to  this  quality  of  potatoes  in  The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor:  "  Let   the  sky   rain  potatoes,   hail   kissing 
comfits,   and    snow    eringoes ;    let    a    tempest    of  provocation 
come." 

Hen  Jonson  mentions  potatoe  pies  in  Every  Man  out  of  his 
Humour,  among  other  (rood  unctuous  meats.  So,  T.  Heywood, 
in  The  English  Traveller,  1633: 

"  Caviare,  sturgeon,  anchovies,  pickled  oysters ;  yes 
"  And  a  pntatoe  pie:  besides  all  these, 
"  What  thinkest  rare  and  costly." 

Again,  in  The  Dumb  Knight,  1633:  "  — truly  I  think  a  mar- 
row-bone pye,  candied  eringoes,  preserved  dates,  or  marmalade 
of  cantlmrides,  were  much  better  harbingers ;  cock-sparrows 
stew'd,  dove's  brains,  or  swans'  pizzles,  are  very  provocative; 
ROASTKD  POTATOES,  or  boiled  skirrcts,  are  your  only  lofty 
dishes." 

Again,  in  Decker's  Honest  Whore,  1635:  "  If  she  be  a 
woman,  marrow-bones  and  potatoe-pies  keep  me,"  &c. 

Again,  in  A  Chaste.  Maid  of  Cheapside,  by  Middleton,  1620: 
"  You  might  have  spar'd  this  banquet  of  eringoes, 
"  Artichokes,  potatoes,  and  your  butter'd  crab  ; 
"  They  were  fitter  kept  for  your  own  wedding  dinner." 
Again,  in  Chapman's  May-Day,  161 1  :  "  — a  banquet  of  oyster- 
pies,  skirret-roots,  potatoes,  eringoes,  and  divers  other  whet- 
stones of  venery." 

Again,  in  Decker's  If  (his  be  not  a  good  Play  the  Devil  is  iu 
it,  1612: 

"  Potatoes  eke,  if  you  shall  lack 
"  To  corroborate  the  back." 

Again,  in  Jack  Drum' '.v  Entertainment,  1601  :  "  — by  Gor,  an 
me  had  known  dis,  me  woode  have  eat  som  potatos,  or  ringoe." 
Again,  in  Sir  W.  D'Avenant's  I. me  and  Honour,  16 19: 
"  You  shall  find  me  a  kind  of  sparrow,  widow; 
"  A  barley-corn  goes  as  Ikr  as  a  potatoe" 
Again,  in  The  Ghost,  1'ilO: 

"  Then,  the  fine  broths  1  daily  had  sent  to  me, 
"  Pntatoe  pasties,  lusty  marrow-pies,"  ,!vc-. 
Again,  in  Histriomastix,  or  the  Player  ivhipl,  1610: 

"  (iive  your  play-gull  a  stool,  and  your  lady  her  fool, 

"  And  her  usher  potatoes  and  marrow." 

Nay,  so  notorious  were  the  virtues  of  this  root,  that  W.  W. 
the  old  translator  of  the  Menirc/nni  of  Plautus,  1595,  lias  in- 
troduced them  into  that  comedy.  \Vhen  Mena-dimus  goos  to 

'2   1    '1 


484         TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 

the  house  of  his  mistress  Erotium  to  bespeak  a  dinner,  he  adds, 
"  Harke  ye,  some  oysters,  a  mary-bone  pie  or  two,  some 
artichockes,  and  potato-roots;  let  our  other  dishes  be  as  you 
please." 

Again,  in  Greene's  Disputation  between  a  Hee  Coneycatcher 
and  a  Shec  Coneycatcher,  1592  :  "  I  pray  you,  how  many  badde 
proffittes  againe  growes  from  \vhoores.  Bridewell  woulde  have 
verie  fewe  tenants,  the  hospitall  would  wante  patientes,  and  the 
surgians  mueh  woorke :  the  apothecaries  would  have  surphaling 
water  and  potato-roots  lye  deade  on  their  handes." 

Again,  in   Cynthia's  Revels,  by  Ben  Jonson  :  " — 'tis  your 
only  dish,  above  all  your  potatoes  or  oyster-pies  in  the  world." 
Again,  in  The  Elder  Brother^  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher : 

"•  A  banquet — well,  potatoes  and  eringoes, 

"  And  as  I  take  it,  cantharides — Excellent !" 
Again,  in  The  Loyal  Subject,  by  the  same  authors : 

"  Will  your  lordship  please  to  taste  a  fine  potato  ? 

"  'Twill  advance  your  wither' d  state, 

"  Fill  your  honour  full  of  noble  itches,"  &c. 
Again,   in    The    Martial  Maid,  by   Beaumont  and  Fletcher: 
"  Will  your  ladyship  have  a  potatoe-pie?  'tis  a  good  stirring  dish 
for  an  old  lady  after  a  long  lent." 

Again,  in  The  Sea  Voyage,  by  the  same  authors : 

" Oh,  for  some  eringoes, 

"  Potatoes,  or  cantharides !" 
Again : 

"  See  provoking  dishes,  candied  eringoes 

"  And  potatoes." 
Again,  in  The  Picture,  by  Massinger : 

" he  hath  got  a  pye 

"  Of  marrow-bones,  potatoes  and  eringoes." 
Again,  in  Massinger's  New  Way  to  pay  old  Debts: 

" 'tis  the  quintessence 

"  Of  five  cocks  of  the  game,  ten  dozen  of  sparrow?, 

"  Knuckles  of  veal,  potatoe-roots  and  marrow, 

"  Coral  and  ambergris,"  &c. 
Again,  in  The  Guardian,  by  the  same  author: 

" Potargo, 

"  Potatoes,  marrow,  caviare — ." 
Again,  in  The  City  Madam,  by  the  same : 

" prescribes  my  diet,  and  foretells 

"  My  dreams  when  I  eat  potatoes." 

Taylor  the  Water-poet  likewise,  in  his  character  of  a  Bawd, 
ascribes  the  same  qualities  to  this  genial  root. 

Again,  Decker,  in  his  Gul's  Hornbook,  1609:  "Potato-pies 
and  custards  stood  like  the  sinful  suburbs  of  cookery,"  &c. 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA.        485 

Again,  in  M&rston's  Satires,  1599: 

" camphire  and  letticc  chaste, 

"  Arc  now  cashier'd — now  Sophi  'ringoes  eatc, 
"  Candi'd  potatoes  are  Athenians'  ineate." 

Again,  in  Holinshed's  Chronicle,  Description  of  England, 
p.  167:  "  Of  the  potato  and  such  vencrous  roots,  &c.  I  speake 
not." 

Lastly,  in  Sir  John  Harrington's  Metamorphosis  of  Ajar, 
1596:  "  Perhaps  you  have  been  used  to  your  dainties  of  pota- 
toes, of  cavcare,  eringus,  plums  of  Genowa,  all  which  may  well 
encrease  your  appetite  to  scverall  evacuations." 

In  The  good  llttswircs  Jewell,  a  book  of  cookery  published 
in  1596,  I  find  the  following  receipt  to  make  a  tarte  that  is  a 
courage  to  a  man  or  tcoman :  "  Take  two  quinces,  and  twoo  or 
three  burre  rootes,  and  a  POTATON  ;  and  pare  your  POTA- 
TON  and  scrape  your  roots,  and  put  them  into  a  quartc  of  wine, 
and  let  them  boyle  till  they  bee  tender,  and  put  in  an  ounce  of 
dales,  and  when  they  be  boiled  tender,  drawe  them  through  a 
strainer,  wine  and  all,  and  then  put  in  the  yolkcs  of  eight  eggs, 
and  the  braynes  of  three  or  four  cocke-sparrotxes,  and  straine 
them  into  the  other,  and  a  little  rose-water,  and  seetli  them  all 
with  sugar,  cinnamon,  and  ginger,  and  cloves,  and  mace  ;  and 
put  in  a  little  sweet  butter,  and  set  it  upon  a  chafing-dish  of 
coles  between  two  platters,  to  let  it  boyle  till  it  be  something 
bigge." 

Gerard  elsewhere  observes,  in  his  Herbal,  that  "  potatoes 
may  serve  as  a  ground  or  foundation  whereon  the  cunning  con- 
fectioner or  sugar-baker  may  worke  and  frame  many  comfort- 
able conserves  and  restorative  sweetmeats." 

The  same  venerable  botanist  likewise  adds,  that  the  stalk  of 
clotburre,  "  being  eaten  rawe  with  salt  and  pepper,  or  boiled  in 
the  broth  of  fat  meat,  is  pleasant  to  be  eaten,  and  stirreth  i/p 
•icitereal  motions.  It  likewise  strengthened)  the  back,"  <!vc. 

Speaking  of  dates,  he  says,  that  "  thereof  be  made  clivers 
excellent  cordial  comfortable  and  nourishing  medicines,  and 
that  procure  lust  of  the  body  very  mightily."  lie  al^o  mentions 
quinces  as  having  the  same  virtues. 

\Ve  may  likewise  add,  that  Shakspeare's  own  authority  for  the 
efficacy  of  (jitittcfs  and  tlalcs  is  not  wanting.  He  Iris  certainly 
introduced  them  both  as  proper  to  be  employed  in  the  wedding 
dinner  of  Paris  and  Juliet  : 

"  They  call  for  diitcs  and  tpiiiiccs  in  the  pastry." 

Il  appears  from  Dr.  t'ampbell's  Pnlitvnl  Surrei/  «/'(»'/•«./ 
Uritciu,  that  potatoes  were  brought  into  Ireland  about  the  yi  ar 
1610,  and  that  they  came  first  from  Ireland  into  Lancashire. 
It  was,  however,  forty  years  before  they  were  much  cultivated 


486         TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA. 

about  London.  At  this  time  they  were  distinguished  from  the 
Spanish  by  the  name  of  Virginia  potatoes, — or  battatas,  which 
is  the  Indian  denomination  of  the  Spanish  sort.  The  Indians  in 
Virginia  called  them  openank.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  the  first 
who  planted  them  in  Ireland.  Authors  differ  as  to  the  nature 
of  this  vegetable,  as  well  as  in  respect  of  the  country  from 
whence  it  originally  came.  Switzer  calls  it  Sisarum  Peruvi' 
anum,  i.e.  the  skirret  of  Peru.  Dr.  Hill  says  it  is  a  solarium; 
and  another  very  respectable  naturalist  conceives  it  to  be  a  native 
of  Mexico. 

The  accumulation  of  instances  in  this  note  is  to  be  regarded  as 
a  proof  how  often  dark  allusions  might  be  cleared  up,  if  com- 
mentators were  diligent  in  their  researches.  COLLINS. 


END    OF   VOL.    XV. 


Primed  hy  S.  Hamilton,  Weybridge. 


in 


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