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'Duch. Yes, good my lord, I'll follow presently. ['protector will come this way by and by, and thea [Exeunt GLOSTER and Messenger. 'we may deliver our supplications in the quill.5 2 Pet. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a 'good man! Jesu bless him!

• Follow I must, I cannot go before,

* While Gloster bears this base and humble mind. * Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood, * I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks, * And smooth my way upon their headless necks: *And, being a woman, I will not be slack *To play my part in fortune's pageant.

Where are you there? Sir John!' nay, fear not,

man,

We are alone; here's none but thee, and I.

Enter HUME.

Hume. Jesu preserve your royal majesty! 'Duch. What say'st thou, majesty! I am but

grace.

Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice,

• Your grace's title shall be multiplied.

6 Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet conferr'd

'With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch;2 'And Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer?

And will they undertake to do me good? "Hume. This they have promised,-to show your highness

'A spirit rais'd from depth of under ground, That shall make answer to such questions, As by your grace shall be propounded him. Duch. It is enough; I'll think upon the questions: 'When from Saint Albans we do make return, 'We'll see these things effected to the full. Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man, With thy confederates in this weighty cause. Exit Duchess.

* Hume. Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold

Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume? Seal up your lips, and give no words but-mum! ( The business asketh silent secrecy. *Dame Eleanor gives gold, to bring the witch: * Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil. 'Yet have I gold, flies from another coast: I dare not say, from the rich cardinal, And from the great and new-made duke of Suffolk ; 'Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain,

They, knowing dame Eleanor's aspiring humour, 'Have hired me to undermine the duchess, 'And buz these conjurations in her brain.

* They say, A crafty knave does need no broker ;3 * Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker. * Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near * To call them both-a pair of crafty knaves. * Well, so it stands: And thus, I fear, at last, * Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck ; * And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall: * Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all. [Exit. SCENE III. The same. A Room in the Palace. Enter PETER, and others, with Petitions.

4

'1 Pet. My masters, let's stand close; my lord

1 A title frequently bestowed on the clergy. See the first note on the Merry Wives of Windsor.

2 It appears from Rymer's Fœdera, vol. x. p. 505, that in the tenth year of Henry VI. Margery Jourdemayn, John Virley Clerk, and Friar John Ashwell, were, on the ninth of May, brought from Windsor by the constable of the castle, to which they had been committed for sorcery, before the council at Westminster, and afterwards committed to the custody of the Lord Chancellor. It was ordered that whenever the said Virley and Ashwell should find security for their good benaviour they should be set at liberty, and in like manner that Jourdemayn should be discharged on her husband's finding security. This woman was afterwards burned in Smithfield, as stated in the play, and also in the Chronicles.

3 This expression was proverbial.

4 Let the issue be what it will.

3 There have been some strange conjectures in expla nation of this phrase, in the quill. Steevens says that k may mean no more thar icritten or penned suppli

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Suff. Thy wife too? that is some wrong indeed. -What's yours?-What's here? [Reads.] Against the duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons of Melford.-How now, sir knave?

2 Pet. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township.

Peter. [Presenting his petition.] Against my master, Thomas Horner, for saying, That the duke of York was rightful heir to the crown.

'Q. Mar. What say'st thou? did the duke of 'York say, he was rightful heir to the crown?

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'Peter. That my master was? No, forsooth: my master said, That he was; and that the king was an usurper."

Suff. Who is there? [Enter Servants.]-Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant presently :-we'll hear more of your matter before the king. [Exeunt Servants, with Peter. 'Q. Mar. And as for you, that love to be protected Under the wings of our protector's grace, 'Begin your suits anew, and sue to him.

[Tears the Petition. Away, base cullions!-Suffolk, let them go. * All. Come, let's be gone. [Exeunt Petitioners. Q. Mar. My lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise,

* Is this the fashion in the court of England
*Is this the government of Britain's isle,
* And this the royalty of Albion's king?
* What, shall King Henry be a pupil still,
* Under the surly Gloster's governance ?
* Am I a queen in title and in style,

?

* And must be made a subject to a duke?
I tell thee, Poole, when in the city Tours
Thou rann'st a tilt in honour of my love,
And stol'st away the ladies' hearts of France;
'I thought King Henry had resembled thee,
In courage, courtship, and proportion :
But all his mind is bent to holiness,
To number Ave-Maries on his beads:

* His champions are-the prophets and apostles.

cations. Mr. Tollet thinks it means with great exact ness and observance of form, in allusion to the quilled or plaited ruffs. Hawkins suggests that it may be the same with the French en quille, said of a man when he stands upright upon his feet, without moving from the place, in allusion to quille, a ninepin. It appears to be nothing more than an intention to mark the vulgar pronunciation of in the coil,' i. e. in the bustle. This word is spelt in the old dictionaries quoil, and was no doubt often pronounced by ignorant persons quile, or quill.

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6 This wrong seems to have been sometimes prac. tised in Shakspeare's time. Among the Lansdowne MSS. we meet with the following singular petition:

Julius Bogarucius to the Lord Treasurer, in Latin, complaining that the Master of the Rolls keeps his wife from him in his own house, and wishes he may not teach her to be a papist.'

7 The quarto reads 'an usurer.'

Queen. An usurper thou would'st say, Ay--an usurper.' 8i e. scoundrels; from coglioni, Ital

* His weapons, holy saws of sacred writ; * His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves * Are brazen images of canonized saints. *I would, the college of cardinals

* Would choose him pope, and carry him to Rome, * And set the triple crown upon his head; *That were a state fit for his holiness.

'Suff. Madam, be patient; as I was cause 'Your highness came to England, so will I In England work your grace's full content. * Q. Mar. Beside the haught protector, have Beaufort,

To give his censure: these are no women's

matters.

Q. Mar. If he be old enough, what needs your

grace

To be protector of his excellence ?

'Glo. Madam, I am protector of the realm; And, at his pleasure, will resign my place.

Suff. Resign it then, and leave thine insolence. 'Since thou wert king (as who is king, but thou?, 'The commonwealth hath daily run to wreck : we* The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas * And all the peers and nobles of the realm * Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty.

*The imperious churchman; Somerset, Buckingham,

* And grumbling York: and not the least of these, * But can do more in England than the king.

* Suff. And he of these, that can do most of all, * Cannot do more in England than the Nevils : * Salisbury and Warwick are no simple peers. Q. Mar. Not all these lords do vex me half so much,

As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. She sweeps it through the court with troops of lades,

More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's wife;

Strangers in court do take her for the queen:
* She bears a duke's revenues on her back,
* And in her heart she scorns her poverty
* Shall I not live to be aveng'd on her?

Contemptuous base-born callat as she is, She vaunted 'mougst her minions t'other day, The very train of her worst wearing-gown Was better worth than all my father's lands, *Till Sufoik gave two dukedoms1 for his daughter. Suff. Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for har;2

*And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds, *That she will light to listen to the lays, *And never mount to trouble you again. *So, let her rest; And, madam, list to me: * For I am bold to counsel you in this. *Although we fancy not the cardinal, *Yet must we join with him, and with the lords, * Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace. * As for the duke of York, this late complaint3 * Will make but little for his benefit:

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* So, one by one, we'll weed them all at last, * And you yourself shall steer the happy helm. Enter KING HENRY, YORK, and SOMERSET, conversing with him; DUKE and DUCHESS of GLOSTER, CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BUCKINGHAM, SALISBURY, and WARWICK.

* Car. The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags

* Are lank and lean with thy extortions. *Som. Thy sumptuous buildings, and thy wife attire,

* Have cost a mass of public treasury.
* Buck. Thy cruelty in execution,

* Upon offenders, hath exceeded law,
* And left thee to the mercy of the law.

* Q. Mar. Thy sale of offices, and towns in France,

If they were known, as the suspect is great,* Would make thee quickly hop without thy head. [Exit GLOSTER. The Queen drops her Fan. 'Give me my fan: What, minion! can you not? [Gives the Duchess a box on the ear.

I cry you mercy, madam; Was it you? 'Duch. Was't I? yea, I it was, proud French

woman:

'Could I come near your beauty with my nails, I'd set my ten commandments in your face. 6 K. Hen. Sweet aunt, be quiet; 'twas against her will.

'Duch. Against her will! Good king, look to't in time;

'She'll hamper thee, and dandle thee like a baby: *Though in this place most master wear no

breeches,

She shall not strike dame Eleanor unreveng'd.

[Exit Duchess

* Buck. Lord cardinal, I will follow Eleanor, And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds: * She's tickled now; her fume needs no spurs, * She'll gallop fast enough to her destruction. [Exit BUCKINGHAM

*

Re-enter GLOSTER.

* Glo. Now, lords, my choler being over-blown, With walking once about the quadrangle,

I come to talk of commonwealth affairs

* As for your spiteful false objections,

*

K. Hen. For my part, noble lords, I care not Prove them, and I lie open to the law: which ;

Or Somerset, or York, all's one to me.

*But God in mercy so deal with my soul, * As I in duty love my king and country!

York. If York have ill demean'd himself in But, to the matter that we have in hand:

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*I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man,
*To be your regent in the realm of France.
* Suff. Before we make election, give me leave
'To show some reason, of no little force,
• That York is most unmeet of any man.
'York. I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet
'First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride:
* Next, if I be appointed for the place,

Car. Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak.
War. The cardinal's not my better in the field.
Buck. All in this presence are thy betters, War-* My lord of Somerset will keep me here,

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Enter Servants of SUFFOLK, bringing in HORNER and PETER.

Suff. Because here is a man accus'd of treason: Pray God, the duke of York excuse himself!

* York. Doth any one accuse York for a traitor? * K. Hen. What mean'st thou, Suffolk ? tell me : What are these?

Suff. Please it your majesty, this is the man
That deth accuse his master of high treason:
His words were these ;-that Richard, duke of
York,

Was rightful heir unto the English crown;
And that your majesty was an usurper.

'K. Hen. Say, man, were these thy words? Hor. An't shall please your majesty, I never said nor thought any such matter: God is my witness, I am falsely accused by the villain.

'Pet. By these ten bones, my lords, [holding up his hands.] he did speak them to me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my lord of York's

armour.

'York. Base dunghill villain, and mechanical, * I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech; 'I do beseech your royal majesty,

Let him have all the rigour of the law.

Hor. Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words. My accuser is my prentice; and when did correct him for his fault the other day, he did

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* Duch. Well said, my masters; and welcome * all. To this geer;4 the sooner the better.

* Boling. Patience, good lady; wizards know their times:

Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night. The time of night when Troy was set on fire The time when screechowls cry, and ban-dogs howl,

And spirits walk, and ghosts break up their graves, That time best fits the work we have in hand. Madam, sit you, and fear not; whom we raise, • We will make fast within a hallow'd verge. [Here they perform the Ceremonies appertaining, and make the Circle; BOLINGBROKE, 07 SOUTHWELL, reads, Conjuro te, &c. It thunders and lightens terribly; then the Spirit riseth.

* Spir. Adsum.

*M. Jourd. Asmath,

vow upon God, whose name and power his knees he would be even with me: 1* By the eternal:

have good witness of this; therefore, I beseech your majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a villain's accusation.

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K. Hen. Uncle, what shall we say to this in law?

• Glo. This doom, my lord, if I may judge.

Let Somerset be regent o'er the French,

'Because in York this breeds suspicion : And let these have a day appointed them For single combat in convenient place; For he hath witness of his servant's malice: This is the law, and this Duke Humphrey's doom. K. Hen. Then be it so. My lord of Somerset, We make your grace lord regent o'er the French.2 Som. I humbly thank your royal majesty. Hor. And I accept the combat willingly. Pet. Alas, my lord, I cannot fight; for God's sake, pity my case! the spite of man prevaileth * against me. O, Lord have mercy upon me! I * shall never be able to fight a blow: O Lord, my * heart!

Glo. Sirrah, or you must fight, or else be hang'd. K. Hen. Away with them to prison: and the day Of combat shall be the last of the next month. * Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away.

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[Exeunt.

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1 We have just heard a duchess threaten to set her ten commandments in the face of a queen. We have here again a similar vulgar expression. It is, however, a very ancient popular adjuration, and may be found in many old dramatic pieces.

2 Theobald inserted these two lines from the old play, because without them the king has not declared his assent to Gloster's opinion: and the duke of Somerset is made to thank him for his regency before the king has deputed him to it. Malone supposes that Shakspeare thought Henry's consent to Humphrey's doom might be expressed by a nod; and therefore omits the lines.

3 By exorcise Shakspeare invariably means to raise spirits, and not to lay them. Vide note on All's Well that Ends Well, Act v. Sc. 3.

4 Matter or business.

5 The old quarto reads 'the silence of the night.' The variation of the copies is worth notice :

Dark night, dread night, the silence of the night,

Thou tremblest at, answer that I shall ask ;
For, till thou speak, thou shalt not pass from hence.
Spir. Ask what thou wilt:-That I had said

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Have done, for more I hardly can endure.
Boling. Descend to darkness, and the burning
lake ;
False fiend, avoid!

[Thunder and Lightning. Spirit descends. Enter YORK and BUCKINGHAM, hastily, with their

Guards, and others.

Fork. Lay hands upon these traitors, and their trash.

Beldame, I think, we watch'd you at an inch.

' What, madam, are you there? the king and commonweal

'Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains My lord protector will, I doubt it not,

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See you well guerdon'd for these good deserts. *Duch. Not half so bad as thine to England's

king,

* Injurious duke; that threat'st where is no cause.

Wherein the furies mask in hellish troops,
Send up, I charge you, from Cocytus' lake
The spirit of Ascalon to come to me,
To pierce the bowels of this centric earth,
And hither come in twinkling of an eye!
Ascalon, ascend, ascend !-

Warburton, in a learned but erroneous note, wished to prove that an interlunar night was meant. Steevens has justly observed that silent is here used by the poet as a substantive.

6 Ban-dog, or band-dog, any great fierce dog which required to be tied or chained up. • Canis molossus, a mastive, beare-dog, or bull-dog.' It is sometimes called in the dictionaries canis catenarius.

7 It was anciently believed that spirits who were raised by incantations, remained above ground, and answered questions with re uctance. Bee both Lucan and Statius.

8 Rewarded.

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SCENE I. Saint Albans. Enter KING HENRY,
QUEEN MARGARET, GLOSTER, Cardinal, and
SUFFOLK, with Falconers hollaing.

'Q. Mar. Believe me, lords, for flying at the
brook,1

'I saw not better sport these seven years' day: 'Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out.2

K. Hen. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,

And what a pitch she flew above the rest! 'To see how God in all his creatures works! * Yea, man and birds, are fain3 of climbing high. Suff. No marvel, an it like your majesty, My lord protector's hawks do tower so well; They know their master loves to be aloft, * And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch. Glo. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind 'That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.

peremptory?

Tantene animis cœlestibus iræ ? 'Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; 'With such holiness can you do it?

'Suff. No malice, sir; no more than well be

comes

So good a quarrel, and so bad a peer.

Glo. As who, my lord?
Suff.

Why, as you, my lord;

An't like your lordly lord protectorship.

Glo. Why, Suffolk, England knows thine inso

lence.

I pr'ythee, peace

peers,

Q. Mar. And thy ambition, Gloster.
K. Hen.
Good queen; and whet not on these furious
For blessed are the peacemakers on earth."
Car. Let me be blessed for the peace I make,
Against this proud protector, with my sword!
Glo. 'Faith, holy uncle, 'would 'twere come tc
that!
Aside to the Cardinal.
'Car. Marry, when thou dar'st. [Aside.
Glo. Make up no factious numbers for the mat-
ter,

In thine own person answer thy abuse. [Aside.
'Car. Ay, where thou dar'st not peep: an il

thou dar❜st,

This evening, on the east side of the grove. [Aside.
K. Hen. How now, my lords?

• Car.
Believe me, cousin Gloster,
Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly,
We had had more sport.-Come with thy two-
hand-sword.
[Aside to GLO.

Glo True, uncle.

Car. Are you advis'd?-the east side of the grove?
Glo. Cardinal, I am with you.

K, Hen.

Aside. Why, how now, uncle Gloster? Glo. Talking of hawking; nothing else, my

lord.

Now, by God's mother, priest, I'll shave your crowr
for this,

*Or all my fence" shall fail.
*Car. Medice teipsum;

'Protector, see to't well, protect yourself.

[Aside.

[Aside.

K. Hen. The winds grow high; so do your sto machs, lords.

* How irksome is this music to my heart!

* When such strings jar, what hope of harmony?
* I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife.
Enter an Inhabitant of Saint Albans, crying
A Miracle !8

Glo. What means this noise?
Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?

wind stirring, yet she will wheele and sinke away
from him and from his voice, that all the time before
had lured and trained her up.' Booke i. p. 60, Ed. 1633-
3 i. e. fond or glad.

4 i. e. thy mind is working on a crown.
5 Vide St. Matthew, v. 9.

6 The two-hand-sword' was sometimes called the long sword, and in common use before the introduction of the rapier. Justice Shallow, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, boasts of the exploits he had performed in his youth with this instrument. In the original play the Cardinal desires Gloster to bring his sword and buckler 7 Fence is the art of defence..

1 The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. 2 Johnson was informed that the meaning here is, 'the wind being high, it was ten to one that the old hawk bad flown quite away; a trick which hawks often play their masters in windy weather.' But surely, not going out cannot signify not coming home. Dr. Percy's. interpretation is entirely opposed to this: he explains.it, The wind was so high it was ten to one that old Joan would not have taken her flight at the game.' Steevens says, 'The ancient books of hawking do not enable him to decide on the merits of such discordant explanations.' I think, if he had looked into Latham's Falconry, he would have found that Dr. Percy's is the right explana- 8 This scene is founded on a story which Sir Thomas tion. When you shall come afterward to fly her she More has related, and which he says was communica must be altogether guided and governed by her sto-ted to him by his father. The impostor's name is not macke; yea, she will be kept and also lost by the same: mentioned; but he was detected by Humphrey Duke of for let her faile of that never so little, and every puff of Gloster, and in the manner here represented wind will blow her away from you; nay, if there be no More's Works. p. 134. Edit. 1557.

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Inhab. A miracle! a miracle!

Suff. Come to the king, and tell him what miracle. Inhab. Forsooth, a blind man at Saint Alban's shrine,

Within this half hour, hath receiv'd his sight; that ne'er saw in his life before.

A man,

'K. Hen. Now, God be prais'd! that to believing souls

Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair! Enter the Mayor of Saint Albans, and his Brethren; and SIMPCOX, borne between two Persons in a Chair; his Wife, and a great Multitude, following. *Car. Here come the townsmen on procession, * To present your highness with the man. *K. Hen. Great is his comfort in this earthly vale, * Although by his sight his sin be multiplied. * Glo. Stand by, my masters, bring him near the king,

* His highness' pleasure is to talk with him.

*K. Hen. Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance,

* That we for thee may glorify the Lord.
What, hast thou been long blind, and now restor❜d?
Simp. Born blind, an't please your grace.
Wife. Ay, indeed, was he.

Suff. What woman is this?

Wife. His wife, an't like your worship.

Glo. Had'st thou been his mother, thou could'st

have better told.

K. Hen. Where wert thou born?

Simp. At Berwick in the north, an't like your

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'Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass,

'But still remember what the Lord hath done.

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To name the several colours we do wear.

Sight may distinguish of colours; but suddenly
To nominate them all, 's impossible.
My lords, Saint Alban here hath done a miracle,
And would ус not think that cunning to be great,
That could restore this cripple to his legs?

Simp. O, master, that you could!

Glo. My masters of Saint Albans, have you not beadles in your town, and things called whips? May. Yes, my lord, if it please your grace. Glo. Then send for one presently. May. Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight. [Exit an Attendant. Glo. Now fetch me a stool hither by and by. [A Stool brought out.] Now, sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me over this stool, and run away.

Simp. Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone: You go about to torture me in vain.

Re-enter Attendant, with the Beadle.

Glo. Well, sir, we must have you find your legs.

* Q. Mar. Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou here Sirrah beadle, whip him till he leap over that same

by chance,

* Or of devotion, to this holy shrine ?

Simp. God knows, of pure devotion; being call'd

• A hundred times, and oftner, in my sleep 'By good Saint Alban; who said,—Simpcox, come; Come, offer at my shrine, and I will help thee. *Wife. Most true, forsooth; and many time and

oft

* Myself have heard a voice to call him so.
Car. What, art thou lame?
Simp.
Ay, God Almighty help me!
Suff. How cam'st thou so?
Simp.

Wife. A plum-tree, master.
Glo.

A fall of a tree.

How long hast thou been blind? Simp O, born so, master. Glo. What, and would'st climb a tree? Simp. But that in all my life, when I was a youth. *Wife. Too true; and bought his climbing very

dear.

* Glo. 'Mass, thou lov'dst plums well, that would'st venture so.

'Simp. Alas, good master, my wife desir'd some damsons,

And made me climb, with danger of my life. *Glo. A subtle knave! but yet it shall not serve.— Let me see thine eyes:—wink now;-now open them:

In my opinion yet thou see'st not well. 'Simp. Yes, master, clear as day; I thank God, and Saint Alban.

Glo. Say'st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of!

Simp. Red, master: red as blood.

Glo. Why, that's well said: What colour is my gown of?

Simp. Black, forsooth; coal-black, as jet.
K. Hen. Why then, thou know'st what colour jet
is of?

Suff. And yet, I think, jet did he never see.
Glo. But cloaks, and gowns, before this day, a

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stool.

Bead. I will, my lord.-Come on, sirrah: off with your doublet quickly.

Simp. Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.

[After the Beadle hath hit him' once, he leaps over the Stool, and runs away; and the People follow, and cry, A miracle!

* K. Hen. O God, seest thou this, and bear'st so long?

Q. Mar. It made me laugh, to see the villain run. * Glo. Follow the knave; and take this drab away. *Wife. Alas, sir, we did it for pure need. Glo. Let them be whipped through every market town, till they come to Berwick, whence they came. [Exeunt Mayor, Beadle, Wife, &c. 'Car. Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day. 'Suff. True; made the lame to leap, and fly away. You made, in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly. Glo. But you have done more miracles than I;

Enter BUCKINGHAM.

'K. Hen. What tidings with our cousin Buckingham?

'Buck. Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold. 'A sort of naughty persons, lewdly2 bent,'Under the countenance and confederacy, 'Of Lady Eleanor, the protector's wife,

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The ringleader and head of all this rout,'Have practis'd dangerously against your state, Dealing with witches, and with conjurers; Whom we have apprehended in the fact; Raising up wicked spirits from under ground, 'Demanding of King Henry's life and death, And other of your highness' privy council, 'As more at large your grace shall understand. 'Car. And so, my lord protector, by this means Your lady is forthcoming2 yet at London. This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge:

"Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour. [Aside to GLOSTER

2 i. e. wickedly, knavishly.

3 i. e. your lady is in custody.

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