Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

By violent swiftness, that which we run at,
And lose by over-running. Know you not,
The fire, that mounts the liquor till it run o'er,
In seeming to augment it, wastes it? Be advis'd:
I say again, there is no English soul

More stronger to direct you than yourself;
If with the sap of reason you would quench,

Or but allay, the fire of passion.+

BUCK.

Sir,

I am thankful to you; and I'll go along
By your prescription :- but this top-proud fellow,
(Whom from the flow of gall I name not, but
From fincere motions,s) by intelligence,
And proofs as clear as founts in Júly, when
We fee each grain of gravel, I do know

To be corrupt and treasonous.

NOR.

Say not, treasonous.

BUCK. To the king I'll say't; and make my vouch as strong

As shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox,
Or wolf, or both, (for he is equal ravenous,
As he is fubtle; and as prone to mischief,
As able to perform it: his mind and place
Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally,)

7

* If with the fap of reason you would quench,

Or but allay, the fire of passion.] So, in Hamlet:

[ocr errors]

Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper

" Sprinkle cool patience." STEEVENS.

$fincere motions,)) Honest indignation; warmth of integrity. Perhaps name not, should be blame not.

6

Whom from the flow of gall I blame not. JOHNSON.

for he is equal ravenous,] Equal for equally. Shakspeare frequently uses adjectives adverbially. See King John, Vol. VIII. p. 176, n. 6. MALONE.

[blocks in formation]

Infecting one another,] This is very fatirical. His mind he

Only to show his pomp as well in France
As here at home, suggests the king our master
To this last costly treaty, the interview,
That swallow'd so much treasure, and like a glass

Did break i' the rinfing.

NOR.

'Faith, and so it did.

Buck. Pray, give me favour, fir. This cunning

cardinal

The articles o' the combination drew,
As himself pleas'd; and they were ratify'd,
As he cry'd, Thus let be: to as much end,

As give a crutch to the dead: But our count-car

dinal 9

Has done this, and 'tis well; for worthy Wolfey,
Who cannot err, he did it. Now this follows,
(Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy
To the old dam, treason,)-Charles the emperor,
Under pretence to fee the queen his aunt,
(For 'twas, indeed, his colour; but he came
To whisper Wolfey,) here makes visitation:
His fears were, that the interview, betwixt
England and France, might, through their amity,
Breed him fome prejudice; for from this league
Peep'd harms that menac'd him: He privily

represents as highly corrupt; and yet he supposes the contagion of the place of first minifter as adding an infection to it.

WARBURTON.

8suggests the king our master-] Suggests, for excites.

So, in King Richard II :

"

WARBURTON.

Suggest his foon-believing adversaries." STEEVENS. 9 - our count-cardinal-] Wolfey is afterwards called king cardinal. Mr. Pope and the subsequent editors read-court-cardinal. MALONE.

2

he privily-] He, which is not in the original copy, was added by the editor of the second folio. MALONE.

Deals with our cardinal; and, as I trow, -
Which I do well; for, I am fure, the emperor
Pay'd ere he promis'd; whereby his suit was granted,
Ere it was afk'd;-but when the way was made,
And pav'd with gold, the emperor thus defir'd;-
That he would please to alter the king's course,
And break the forefaid peace. Let the king know,
(As foon he shall by me,) that thus the cardinal
Does buy and fell his honour as he pleases,
And for his own advantage.

NOR.

I am forry

To hear this of him; and could wish, he were

Something mistaken in't.+

BUCK.

No, not a fyllable;

I do pronounce him in that very shape,

He shall appear in proof.

Enter BRANDON; a Sergeant at arms before him, and two or three of the guard.

BRAN. Your office, sergeant; execute it.

SERG.

My lord the duke of Buckingham, and earl
Of Hereford, Stafford, and Northampton, I

[blocks in formation]

Sir,

Does buy and fell his honour as he pleases,] This was a pro

verbial expression. See King Richard III. Act V. fc. iii.

The fame phrafe occurs also in King Henry VI. Part I: from bought and fold lord Talbot."

[ocr errors]

MALONE.

Again, in The Comedy of Errors: "It would make a man as mad as a buck, to be so bought and fold." STEEVENS.

[blocks in formation]

Something mistaken in't.] That is, that he were something different from what he is taken or supposed by you to be.

MALONE.

Arrest thee of high treason, in the name
Of our most sovereign king.

BUCK.

The net has fall'n upon me;
Under device and practice.s

BRAN.

Lo you, my lord,
I shall perish

I am forry To fee you ta'en from liberty, to look on The business present: 'Tis his highness' pleasure, You shall to the Tower.

BUCK.

It will help me nothing, To plead mine innocence; for that die is on me, Which makes my whitest part black. The will of

heaven

Be done in this and all things!-I obey.-
O my lord Aberga'ny, fare you well.

BRAN. Nay, he must bear you company :-The [To ABERGAVENNY.

king

Is pleas'd, you shall to the Tower, till you know How he determines further.

ÁBER.

As the duke faid,

The will of heaven be done, and the king's plea

fure

By me obey'd.

BRAN.

Here is a warrant from

The king, to attach lord Montacute; " and the bodies

5-practice,] i. e. unfair fstratagem. So, in Othello, Act V: "Fallen in the practice of a cursed slave." And in this play, Surry, speaking of Wolfey, says: "How came his practices to light?" REED. 6 I am Sorry

To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on

The business present:] I am forry that I am obliged to be

present and an eye-witness of your loss of liberty. JOHNSON.

7

lord Montacute;] This was Henry Pole, grandfon to George Duke of Clarence, and eldest brother to Cardinal Pole.

Of the duke's confeffor, John de la Court,
One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor,-

BUCK.

So, fo;

These are the limbs of the plot: No more, I hope.

BRAN. A monk o' the Chartreux.

BUCK.

BRAN.

O, Nicholas Hopkins?*

He.

BUCK. My furveyor is false; the o'er-great car

dinal

Hath show'd him gold: my life is spann'd already:* I am the shadow of poor Buckingham;

He had married the Lord Abergavenny's daughter. He was restored to favour at this juncture, but was afterwards executed for another treason in this reign. REED.

8 John de la Court,] The name of this monk of the Chartreux was John de la Car, alias de la Court. See Holinshed, p. 863. STEEVENS.

9 One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor,) The old copies have ithis counsellor; but I, from the authorities of Hall and Holinshed, changed it to chancellor. And our poet himself, in the beginning of the second act, vouches for this correction:

"At which, appear'd against him his surveyor,
"Sir Gilbert Peck, his chancellor." THEOBALD.

I believe [in the former instance) the author wrote-And Gilbert &c. MALONE.

2

Nicholas Hopkins?) The old copy has-Michael Hopkins. Mr. Theobald made the emendation, conformably to the Chronicle: "Nicholas Hopkins, a monk of an house of the Chartreux order, befide Bristow, called Henton." In the MS. Nich. only was probably set down, and mistaken for Mich. MALONE.

3

my life is spann'd already:] To span is to gripe, or inclofe in the hand; to span is also to measure by the palm and fingers. The meaning, therefore, may either be, that hold is taken of my life, my life is in the gripe of my enemies; or, that my time is meaJured, the length of my life is now determined. JOHNSON.

Man's life in Scripture is faid to be but a span long. Probably therefore it means, when 'tis spann'd 'tis ended. REED.

« PredošláPokračovať »