Crave leave to view these ladies, and entreat Wol. Say, lord chamberlain, They have done my poor house grace; for which I pay them A thousand thanks, and pray them take their pleasures. [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. [Music. Dance. Wol. My lord, Cham. Wol. Your grace? Pray, tell them thus much from me: There should be one amongst them, by his person, I would surrender it. Cham. I will, my lord. [Cham. goes to the Company, and returns. Wol. What say they? Cham. There is, indeed; which they would have your grace Find out, and he will take it.9 Such a one, they all confess, Wol. Let me see then. [Comes from his State. By all your good leaves, gentlemen;-Here I'll make My royal choice. K. Hen. You have found him, cardinal:1 [Unmasking. You hold a fair assembly; you do well, lord: I should judge now unhappily.2 Wol. I am glad, - 6 - take it.] That is, take the chief place. Johnson. 1 You have found him, cardinal:] Holinshed says the Cardinal mistook, and pitched upon Sir Edward Neville; upon which the King laughed, and pulled off both his own mask and Sir Edward's. Edwards's MSS. Steevens. 2 — unhappily.] That is, unluckily, mischievously. Johnson. So, in A merye Feste of a man called Howleglas, bl. 1. no date:' in such manner colde he cloke and hyde his unhappinesse and falsnesse." Steevens. Your grace is grown so pleasant. K. Hen. My lord chamberlain, Pr'ythee, come hither: What fair lady 's that? Cham. An't please your grace, sir Thomas Bullen's daughter, The viscount Rochford, one of her highness' women. K. Hen. By heaven, she is a dainty one.-Sweetheart, I were unmannerly, to take you out, And not to kiss you. A health, gentlemen, Let it go round. Wol. Sir Thomas Lovell, is the banquet ready I' the privy chamber? Lov. Wol. Yes, my lord. Your grace, I fear, with dancing is a little heated. Wol. In the next chamber. There's fresher air, my lord, 3 I were unmannerly, to take you out, And not to kiss you.] A kiss was anciently the established fee of a lady's partner. So, in A Dialogue between Custom and Veritie, concerning the Use and Abuse of Dauncing and Minstrelsie, bl. 1. no no date, "Imprinted at London, at the long shop adjoining unto saint Mildred's church in the Pultrie, by John Allde:" "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. II, p. 38, n. 2. 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 music enough, he makes his instrument squeak out two notes which all understand to saykiss her! Ritson. 4 a little heated.] 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 bedchamber, where was a great fire prepared for him, and there he new appareled himselfe 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 seat under the chloath of estate, commanding every person to sit still as before; and then came in a new banquet before his majestie of two hundred dishes, and so they passed the night in banqueting and dancing untill morning." Cavendish's Life of Wolsey. Malone. K. Hen. Lead in your ladies, every one.-Sweet part ner, I must not yet forsake you:-Let's be merry ;- To lead them once again; and then let 's dream Even to the hall, to hear what shall become 1 Gent. I'll save you That labour, sir. All's now done, but the ceremony Of bringing back the prisoner. 2 Gent. 1 Gent. Yes, indeed, was I. 2 Gent. Were you there? 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 condemn'd upon it. 2 Gent. I am sorry for ' 1 Gent. So are a number more. 2 Gent. But, pray, how pass'd it? 1 Gent. I'll tell you in a little. The great duke Came to the bar; where, to his accusations, 5 I, 1602: Let the musick knock it.] So, in Antonio and Mellida, Part "Fla. Faith, the song will seem to come off hardly. 60,-God save you!] Surely, (with Sir Thomas Hanmer) we should complete the measure by reading: O, sir, Gol save you! Steevens. He pleaded still, not guilty, and alleg'd At which appear'd against him, his surveyor; Hopkins, that made this mischief. 2 Gent. That fed him with his prophecies? 1 Gent. That was he, The same. All these accus'd him strongly; which he fain Have found him guilty of high treason. Much Was either pitied in him, or forgotten.8 2 Gent. After all this, how did he bear himself? 1 Gent. When he was brought again to the bar,-to hear His knell rung out, his judgment, he was stirr'd Sure, he does not, He never was so womanish; the cause 1 Gent. "Tis likely, By all conjectures: First, Kildare's attainder, 7 To him brought viva voce, to his face:] This is a clear error of the press. We must read-have instead of him. M. Mason. 8 Was either pitied in him, or forgotten.] Either produced no effect, or produced only ineffectual pity. Malone. 9 he sweat extremely,] This circumstance is taken from Holinshed: "After he was found guilty, the duke was brought to the bar, sore-chafing, and sweat marvelously." Steevens. Then deputy of Ireland; who remov❜d, Earl Surrey was sent thither, and in haste too, 2 Gent. Was a deep envious one. That trick of state At his return, 1 Gent. All the commons 2 Gent. Hate him perniciously, and, o' my conscience, Wish him ten fathom deep: this duke as much They love and dote on; call him, bounteous Bucking Stay there, sir, And see the noble ruin'd man you speak of. Enter BUCKINGHAM from his Arraignment; Tipstaves before him; the Axe with the Edge towards him; Halberds on each side: with him, Sir THOMAS LOVELL, Sir NICHOLAS VAUX, Sir WILLIAM SANDS,2 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 loose me. I have this day receiv'd a traitor's judgment, 1 The mirror of all courtesy ;] See the concluding words of n. 6, Steevens. p. 224. 2 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, received Buckingham at the Temple, and accompanied him to the Tower. Sir William Sands was, at this time, (May, 1521,) only a baronet, [rather, 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 afterwards. Malone. |