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.

Skel. 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 punched full of eyelet-holes 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 Hole1 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 cozened; which is possible, I grant.

Fri. Resolved like men of knowledge: at this feast, then,

In honour of the bride, the Scots, I know,

Will in some show, 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

1 That part of the Counter prison in which the poorer prisoners were confined.

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 allowed: I have stole to a dancing school when I was a prentice.

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

Skel. For fashioning of shapes and cutting a crosscaper, 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 ye.

O, the toil

[Exeunt all but FRION.

Of humouring this abject scum of mankind,
Muddy-brained peasants! princes feel a misery
Beyond impartial sufferance, whose extremes
Must yield to such abettors :-yet1 our tide
Runs smoothly, without adverse winds: run on !
Flow to a full sea! time alone debates
Quarrels forewritten in the book of fates.
1 i.e. As yet.

[Exit.

Enter King HENRY, with his gorget on, his sword, plume of feathers, and truncheon, followed by URSWICK.

HEN. How runs the time of day?

Urs.

Past ten, my lord.

K. Hen. A bloody hour will it prove to

some,

Whose disobedience, like the sons o' the
earth,

Throws a defiance 'gainst the face of heaven.
Oxford, with Essex and stout De la Pole,
Have quieted the Londoners, I hope,

And set them safe from fear.

Urs.

They are all silent.

K. Hen. From their own battlements they may behold Saint George's-fields o'erspread with armèd men ; Amongst whom our own royal standard threatens Confusion to opposers: we must learn

To practise war again in time of peace,

Or lay our crown before our subjects' feet;

Ha, Urswick, must we not?

Our Cornish rebels, cozened of their hopes,
Met brave resistance by that country's earl,
George Abergeny, Cobham, Poynings, Guilford,
And other loyal hearts; now, if Blackheath
Must be reserved the fatal tomb to swallow

Such stiff-necked abjects as with weary marches
Have travelled from their homes, their wives, and children,
To pay, instead of subsidies, their lives,

We may continue sovereign. Yet, Urswick,
We'll not abate one penny what in parliament
Hath freely been contributed; we must not;
Money gives soul to action. Our competitor,
The Flemish counterfeit, with James of Scotland,
Will prove what courage need and want can nourish,
Without the food of fit supplies :-but, Urswick,

I have a charm in secret that shall loose

The witchcraft wherewith young King James is bound, And free it at my pleasure without bloodshed.

Urs. Your majesty's a wise king, sent from heaven, Protector of the just.

K. Hen.

Let dinner cheerfully

Be served in; this day of the week is ours,

Our day of providence; for Saturday

Yet never failed in all my undertakings

To yield me rest at night. [A flourish.]—What means

this warning?

Good fate, speak peace to Henry !

Enter Lord DAWBENEY, Earl of OXFORD, and Attendants.

Daw.

Live the king,

Triumphant in the ruin of his enemies!

Oxf. The head of strong rebellion is cut off,

The body hewed in pieces.

K. Hen.

Dawbeney, Oxford,

Minions to noblest fortunes, how yet stands

The comfort of your wishes?

Daw.

Briefly thus:

The Cornish under Audley, disappointed
Of flattered expectation, from the Kentish-
Your majesty's right-trusty liegemen-flew,
Feathered by rage and heartened by presumption,
To take the field even at your palace-gates,
And face you in your chamber-royal: arrogance
Improved their ignorance; for they, supposing,
Misled by rumour, that the day of battle

Should fall on Monday, rather braved your forces
Than doubted any onset; yet this morning,
When in the dawning I, by your direction,

Strove to get Deptford-strand bridge, there I found
Such a resistance as might show what strength
Could make here arrows hailed in showers upon us
A full yard long at least; but we prevailed.
My Lord of Oxford, with his fellow peers
Environing the hill, fell fiercely on them
On the one side, I on the other, till, great sir,-
Pardon the oversight, eager of doing
Some memorable act, I was engaged
Almost a prisoner, but was freed as soon
As sensible of danger: now the fight

Began in heat, which quenched in the blood of
Two thousand rebels, and as many more

Reserved to try your mercy, have returned
A victory with safety.

K. Hen.

Have we lost

In the total

An equal number with them?

Oxf.

Scarcely four hundred. Audley, Flammock, Joseph,

The ringleaders of this commotion,

Railèd1 in ropes, fit ornaments for traitors,

Wait your determinations.

1 As the R is very indistinct, I should have been inclined, perhaps, to make "Haled" out of it, had I not found the expression in Bacon; "they were brought to London all railed in ropes, like a team of horses in a cart."--Gifford.