Hunt. (Aside.) Ho, brave!-Youth;"
But no Plantagenet, by'r lady, yet,
By red rose or by white.

War. An union this way,

Settles possession in a monarchy
Establish'd rightly, as is my

inheritance:

Acknowledge me but sovereign of this kingdom, Your heart, fair princess,—and the hand of providence

Shall crown you queen of me, and my best fortunes. Kath. Where my obedience is, my lord, a duty, Love owes true service.

War. Shall I ?—

K. Ja. Cousin, yes,

Enjoy her; from my hand accept your bride;

[He joins their hands.

And may they live at enmity with comfort,

Who grieve at such an equal pledge of troths!
You are the prince's wife now.

Kath. By your gift, sir.

War. Thus, I take seizure of mine own.
Kath. I miss yet

A father's blessing. Let me find it ;-humbly
Upon my knees I seek it.

Hunt. I am Huntley,

2.

Old Alexander Gordon, a plain subject,

'Ho, brave!-Youth.] The old copy has lady. The earl evidently meant to repeat the king's last words; the mistake probably arose from the printer's eye having been caught by the word immediately below it.

2 Hunt. I am Huntley,

Old Alexander Gordon.] This appears to be a mistake. The

Nor more nor less; and, lady, if you wish for A blessing, you must bend your knees to heaven; For heaven did give me you. Alas, alas! What would you have me say? have me say? may all the happiness

My prayers ever sued to fall upon you,

Preserve you in your virtues!-Prithee, Dalyell,
Come with me; for I feel thy griefs as full
As mine; let's steal away, and cry together.
Dal. My hopes are in their ruins.

[Exeunt HUNT. and DAL.

K. Ja. Good, kind Huntley

Is overjoy'd: a fit solemnity

Shall perfect these delights; Crawford, attend

Our order for the preparation.

[Exeunt all but FRION, HER. SKET.

J. A-WAT. and AST.

Fri. Now, worthy gentlemen, have I not follow'd My undertakings with success? Here's entrance Into a certainty above a hope.

Her. Hopes are but hopes; I was ever confident, when I traded but in remnants, that my stars had reserv'd me to the title of a Viscount at least: honour is honour, though cut out of any stuffs.3

father of Katherine, as is said above, was George Gordon. His father, indeed, was named Alexander, and so was his son and successor; but the latter did not obtain the title till many years after this period.

3 Her. Honour is honour, though cut out of any stuffs.] Ford has made the speakers express themselves characteristically. Heron, or Herne, as Lord Bacon calls him, was a mercer; Sketon, or rather Skelton, was a taylor, and Astley a scrivener: they were all men of broken fortunes, a circumstance to which the poet frequently alludes.

Sket. My brother Heron hath right wisely deliver'd his opinion; for he that threads his needle with the sharp eyes of industry, shall in time go thorough-stitch with the new suit of prefer

ment.

Ast. Spoken to the purpose, my fine witted brother Sketon; for as no indenture but has its counterpane; no noverint but his condition or defeisance; so no right but may have claim, no claim but may have possession, any act of parliament to the contrary notwithstanding.

Fri. You are all read in mysteries of state,
And quick of apprehension, deep in judgment,
Active in resolution; and 'tis pity

Such counsel should lie buried in obscurity.
But why, in such a time and cause of triumph,
Stands the judicious mayor of Cork so silent?
Believe it, sir, as English Richard prospers,
You must not miss employment of high nature.

J. a-Wat. If men may be credited in their mortality, which I dare not peremptorily aver but they may, or not be; presumptions by this marriage are then, in sooth, of fruitful expectation. Or else I must not justify other men's belief, more than other should rely on mine.

Fri. Pith of experience! those that have borne office,

Weigh every word before it can drop from them. But, noble counsellors, since now the present Requires, in point of honour, (pray mistake not,) Some service to our lord; 'tis fit the Scots

Should not engross all glory to themselves,
At this so grand and eminent solemnity.

Sket. The Scots? the motion is defied: I had rather, for my part, without trial of my country, suffer persecution under the pressing-iron of reproach; or let my skin be punch'd full of oyletholes with the bodkin of derision.

Ast. I will sooner lose both my ears on the pillory of forgery.

Her. Let me first live a bankrupt, and die, in the lousy hole, of hunger, without compounding for sixpence in the pound.

J. a- Wat. If men fail not in their expectations, there may be spirits also that digest no rude. affronts, master secretary Frion, or I am cozen'd; which is possible, I grant.

Fri. Resolv'd like men of knowledge! at this feast, then,

In honour of the bride, the Scots, I know,
Will in some shew, some masque, or some device,
Prefer their duties: now, it were uncomely,
That we be found less forward for our prince,
Than they are for their lady; and by how much
We outshine them in persons of account,

By so much more will our endeavours meet with
A livelier applause. Great emperors

Have, for their recreations, undertook

Such kind of pastimes; as for the conceit, .
Refer it to my study; the performance

You all shall share a thanks in: 'twill be grateful.

Her. The motion is allow'd; I have stole to a dancing-school when I was a prentice.

Ast. There have been Irish-hubbubs, when I have made one too.

Sket. For fashioning of shapes, and cutting a cross-caper, turn me off to my trade again.

J. a-Wat. Surely, there is, if I be not deceived, a kind of gravity in merriment; as there is, or perhaps ought to be, respect of persons in the quality of carriage, which is, as it is construed, either so,

or so.

Fri. Still you come home to me; upon occasion,

I find you relish courtship with discretion;
And such are fit for statesmen of your merits.
Pray ye wait the prince, and in his ear acquaint him
With this design; I'll follow and direct you.

[Exeunt all but FRION.

Oh the toil
Of humouring this abject scum of mankind!
Muddy-brain'd peasants! princes feel a misery
Beyond impartial sufferance, whose extremes
Must yield to such abettors :-yet our tide
Runs smoothly without adverse winds; run on!
Flow to a full sea! time alone debates
Quarrels forewritten in the book of fates.

[Exit.

Irish-hubbubs.] Tumultuous merry-meetings at wakes and fairs. The speakers, it should be observed, are all from Ireland. Astley, as has been said, was a petty-fogger; his presence at these hubbubs therefore is natural enough.

5 Yet our tide, &c.] i. e. hitherto, thus far, &c. as in p. 62.