Heaven witness with me, when I here came in, And never live to show the incredulous world And thus upbraided it: The care on thee depending, Therefore, thou, best of gold, art worst of gold. Other, less fine in carat, is more precious, Preserving life in med'cine potable28: But thou, most fine, most honour'd, most renown'd, Hast eat thy bearer up. Thus, my most royal liege, Accusing it, I put it on my head; To try with it, as with an enemy, That had before my face murder'd my father,The quarrel of a true inheritor. But if it did infect my blood with joy, Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride; Did, with the least affection of a welcome, Heaven put it in thy mind, to take it hence, Come hither, Harry, sit thou by my bed; And hear, I think, the very latest counsel 28 It was long a prevailing opinion that a solution of gold had great medicinal virtues; and that the incorruptibility of the metal might be communicated to the body impregnated with it. Potable gold was one of the panaceas of ancient quacks. By what by-paths, and indirect crook'd ways, My gain of it by their assistances; Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed, Wounding supposed 30 peace: all these bold fears31, Thou see'st with peril I have answer'd: i For all my reign hath been but as a scene I cut them35 off; and had a purpose now 29 Soil is stain, spot, blemish. 30 Supposed peace is imagined peace, counterfeit, not real. 31 Fears are objects of fear; terrors. 32 The mode is the state or form of things. 33 Purchas'd here signifies obtained by eager pursuit. It is from the French pourchas, and was sometimes so spelled when used to signify the obtaining of lands or honours by any other means than by title or descent. See Spelman's Glossary, in purchacia; and Minshew's Guide to the Tongues, in pourchas. 34 i. e. by order of succession. Johnson observes that 'every usurper snatches a claim of hereditary right as soon as he can. So did Richard Cromwell in his first speech to parliament:For my own part being, by the providence of God, and the disposition of the law, my father's successor, and bearing the place in the government that I do,' &c,-Harleian Miscellany, vol. i. p. 21. 35 Mason proposes to read I cut some off, which seems indeed necessary. The sense would then be, Some I have out off, and many I intended to lead to the Holy Land.' To lead out many to the Holy Land; You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me; Enter PRINCE JOHN of Lancaster, WARWICK, Lords, and Others. K. Hen. Look, look, here comes my John of Lancaster. P. John. Health, peace, and happiness, to my royal father! K. Hen. Thou bringst me happiness, and peace, son John; But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown Where is my lord of Warwick? 36 This is a true picture of a mind divided between heaven and earth. He prays for the prosperity of guilt, while he deprecates its punishment.. At length he recovered his speech and understanding, and perceiving himselfe in a strange place, which he knew not, he It hath been prophesied to me many years, [Exeunt. ACT V. SCENE I. Glostershire. A Hall in Shallow's House. Enter SHALLOW, FALSTAFF, BARDOLPH, and Page. Shal. By cock and pye1, sir, you shall not away to-night. What, Davy, I say! willed to know if the chamber had anie particular name, whereunto answer was made, that it was called Jerusalem. Then said the king, Lauds be given to the Father of Heaven, for now I know that I shall die here in this chamber, according to the prophesie of me declared, that I should depart this life in JerusaIem.'-Holinshed, p. 541. The late Dr. Vincent pointed out a remarkable coincidence in a passage of Anna Comuena (Alexias, lib. vi. p. 162, ed. Paris, 1658), relating to the death of Robert Guiscard, king of Sicily, in a place called Jerusalem, at Cephalonia. In Lodge's Devils Conjured is a similar story of Pope Sylvester; but the Pope outwitted the Devil. And Fuller, in his Church History, b. v. p. 178, relates something of the same kind about Cardinal Wolsey, of whom it had been predicted that he should have his end at Kingston. Which was thought to be fulfilled by his dying in the custody of Sir William Kingston. 1 This adjuration, which seems to have been a popular substitute for profane swearing, occurs in several old plays. Thus in Soliman and Perseda, 1599:-By cock and pie and mousefoot." In Wily Beguiled, 1606-'Now by cock and pie, you never spake a truer word in your life.' In The Two Angry Women of Abingdon, 1599: 'Merry go sorry, cock and pie, my hearts. By cock is supposed to be a corruption or disguise of the name of God in favour of pious ears: but the addition of pie has not yet been satisfactorily accounted for. It has been conjectured that it may be only a ludicrous oath by the common sign of an alehouse, The Cock and Magpie, or Cock and Pie, being a most ancient and favourite sign. It should appear from the following Vol. V. 15* Fal. You must excuse me, master Robert Shal low. Shal. I will not excuse you; your shall not be excused; excuses shall not be admitted; there is no excuse shall serve; you shall not be excused.Why, Davy! Davy. Here, sir. Enter DAVY. Shal. Davy, Davy, Davy,-let me see, Davy; let me see:-yea, marry, William cook, bid him come hither. Sir John, you shall not be excused. Davy. Marry, sir, thus; those precepts2 cannot be served: and, again, sir,-Shall we sow the headland with wheat? Shal. With red wheat, Davy. But for William cook: Are there no young pigeons? Davy. Yes, sir.--Here is now the smith's note, for shoeing, and plough-irons. Shal. Let it be casts, and paid:-Sir John, you shall not be excused. . Davy. Now, sir, a new link to the bucket must needs be had;-And, sir, do you mean to stop any of William's wages, about the sack he lost the other day at Hinckley fair? Shal. He shall answer it:--Some pigeons, Davy; a couple of short-legged hens; a joint of mutton; and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell William cook. Davy. Doth the man of war stay all night, sir? Shal. Yes, Davy. I will use him well; A friend passage, in A Catechisme containing the Summe of Religion, by George Giffard, 1583, that it was not considered as of the sacred name. a corruption 'Men suppose that they do not offende when they do not sweare falsely; and because they will not take the name of God to abuse it, they sware by small things; as by cock and pie, by the mousefoot, and many such like.' 2 Precepts are warrants. Davy has almost as many employ. ments as Scrub in The Beaux Stratagem. 3 i. e. cast up, computed. |