GLO. I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back: Thy scarlet robes, as a child's bearing-cloth WIN. Do what thou dar'st; I beard thee to thy face. GLO. What? am I dar'd, and bearded to my face? Draw, men, for all this privileged place; Blue-coats to tawny-coats. Priest, beware your beard; [GLOSTER and his Men attack the Bishop. I mean to tug it, and to cuff you soundly: Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat; In spite of pope or dignities of church, Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down. WIN. Gloster, thou'lt answer this before the pope. GLO. Winchester goose,' I cry-arope! arope!! Now beat them hence, Why do you let them stay?. Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's array.Out, tawny coats!-out, scarlet hypocrite!2 9 -Winchester goose,] A strumpet, or the consequences of her love, was a Winchester goose. JOHNSON. 1 — a rope! a rope!] See The Comedy of Errors, Act IV. sc. iv. Malone. દ -out, scarlet hypocrite!] Thus, in King Henry VIII. the Earl of Surrey, with a similar allusion to Cardinal Wolsey's habit, calls him" scarlet sin." STEEVENS. Here a great Tumult. In the midst of it, Enter the Mayor of London, and Officers. MAY. Fye, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates, Thus contumeliously should break the peace! GLO. Peace, mayor; thou know'st little of my wrongs: Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king, Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use. WIN. Here's Gloster too, a foe to citizens ;4 One that still motions war, and never peace, O'ercharging your free purses with large fines; That seeks to overthrow religion, Because he is protector of the realm; And would have armour here out of the Tower, To crown himself king, and suppress the prince. GLO. I will not answer thee with words, but blows. [Here they skirmish again. MAY, Nought rests for me, in this tumultuous strife, But to make open proclamation : Come, officer; as loud as e'er thou can'st. 3 the Mayor of London,] I learn from Mr. Pennant's LONDON, that this Mayor was John Coventry, an opulent mercer, from whom is descended the present Earl of Coventry. STEEVENS. Here's Gloster too, &c.] Thus the second folio. The first folio, with less spirit of reciprocation, and feebler metre,—Here is Gloster &c. STEEVENS. OFF. All manner of men, assembled here in arms this day, against God's peace and the king's, we charge and command you, in his highness' name, to repair to your several dwelling-places; and not to wear, handle, or use, any sword, weapon, or dagger, henceforward, upon pain of death. GLO. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law: But we shall meet, and break our minds at large. WIN. Gloster, we'll meet; to thy dear cost, be sure:5 Thy heart-blood I will have, for this day's work. MAY. I'll call for clubs, if you will not away:6This cardinal is more haughty than the devil. GLO. Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou may'st. WIN. Abominable Gloster! guard thy head; For I intend to have it, ere long. [Exeunt. MAY. See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart. Gloster, we'll meet; to thy dear cost, be sure:] Thus the second folio. The first omits the epithet-dear; as does Mr. Malone, who says that the word-sure "is here used as a dissyllable." STEEVENS. I'll call for clubs, if you will not away] This was an outcry for assistance, on any riot or quarrel in the streets. It hath been explained before. WHALLEY. So, in King Henry VIII: " and hit that woman, who cried out, clubs!" STEEVENS. That is, for peace-officers armed with clubs or staves. In affrays, it was customary in this author's time to call out clubs, clubs! See As you like it, Vol. VIII. p. 166, n. 3. MALONE. Good God! that nobles should such stomachs bear! I myself fight not once in forty year. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. France. Before Orleans. 8 Enter, on the Walls, the Master-Gunner and his Son. M. GUN. Sirrah, thou know'st how Orleans is be sieg'd; And how the English have the suburbs won. SON. Father, I know; and oft have shot at them, Howe'er, unfortunate, I miss'd my aim. 7 stomachs-] Stomach is pride, a haughty spirit of resentment. So, in King Henry VIII: 8 he was a man "Of an unbounded stomach STEEVENS. that nobles should such stomachs bear! I myself fight not once in forty year.] Old copy-these nobles. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. MALONE. The Mayor of London was not brought in to be laughed at, as is plain by his manner of interfering in the quarrel, where he all along preserves a sufficient dignity. In the line preceding these, he directs his Officer, to whom without doubt these two lines should be given. They suit his character, and are very expressive of the pacific temper of the city guards. WARBURTON. I see no reason for this change. The Mayor speaks first as a magistrate, and afterwards as a citizen. JOHNSON. Notwithstanding Warburton's note in support of the dignity of the Mayor, Shakspeare certainly meant to represent him as a poor, well-meaning, simple man, for that is the character he invariably gives to his Mayors. The Mayor of London, in Richard III. is just of the same stamp. And so is the Mayor of York, in the Third Part of this play, where he refuses to admit Edward as King, but lets him into the city as Duke of York, on which Gloster says "A wise stout captain! and persuaded soon. "Hast. The good old man would fain that all were well." Such are all Shakspeare's Mayors. M. MASON. M. GUN. But now thou shalt not. Be thou rul'd by me: Chief master-gunner am I of this town; A piece of ordnance 'gainst it I have plac'd; The prince's espials-] Espials are spies. So, in Chaucer's Freres Tale: went. "For subtilly he had his espiaille." STEEVENS. The word is often used by Hall and Holinshed. MALONE, I Wont, through a secret grate of iron bars &c.] Old copySee the notes that follow Dr. Johnson's. STEEVENS. That is, the English went not through a secret grate, but went to over-peer the city through a secret grate which is in yonder tower. I did not know till of late that this passage had been thought difficult. JOHNSON. I believe, instead of went, we should read-wont. The third person plural of the old verb wont. The English-wont, that is, are accustomed- -to over-peer the city. The word is used very frequently by Spenser, and several times by Milton. TYRWHITT. The emendation proposed by Mr. Tyrwhitt is fully supported by the passage in Hall's Chronicle, on which this speech is formed. So, in The Arraignment of Paris, 1584: the usual time is nie, "When wont the dames of fate and destinie Now, boy, do thou watch, For I can stay no longer.] The first folio reads: MALONE. |