As they were living; think, you see them great,
And follow'd with the general throng and sweat
Of thousand friends ; then, in a moment, see
How soon this mightiness meets misery!
And if you can be merry then, I 'll say
A man may weep upon his wedding-day.
SCENE 1.- London. An Antechamber in the
Palace.
Enter the DUKE OF NORFOLK, at one door ; at the
other, the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, and the Lord ABERGAVENNY. Buck. Good morrow, and well met. How have you
done,
Since last we saw in France ?
Nor.
I thank your grace :
Healthful ; and ever since a fresh admirer
Of what I saw there.
Buck.
An untimely ague
Stay'd me a prisoner in my chamber, when
Those suns of glory, those two lights of men,
Met in the vale of Andren.
Nor.
'Twixt Guynes and Arde :
I was then present, saw them salute on horseback;
Beheld them, when they lighted, how they clung
In their embracement as they grew together;
Which had they, what four thron'd ones could have
weigh'd
Such a compounded one ?
Buck.
All the whole time
I was my chamber's prisoner.
Nor.
Then
you
lost
The view of earthly glory: Men might say,
Till this time pomp was single, but now married
& Andren. So the original; so the Chroniclers. But the modern editors write "the vale of Arde.” Arde, or Ardres, is the town, which in the next line is speit Arde in the original. Andren, or Ardren, is the village near the place of meeting.
To one above itself. Each following day
Became the next day's master, till the last
Made former wonders its : To-day, the French,
All clinquant, a all in gold, like heathen gods,
Shone down the English ; and, to-morrow, they
Made Britain, India : every man that stood
Show'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were
As cherubins, all gilt: the madams too,
Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear
The pride upon them, that their labour
Was to them as a painting : Now this mask
Was cry'd incomparable; and the ensuing night
Made it a fool, and beggar. The two kings,
Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst,
As presence did present them; him in eye
Still him in praise : and, being present both,
'Twas said they saw but one; and no discerner
Durst wag his tongue in censure. When these suns
(For so they phrase them) by their heralds challeng'd
The noble spirits to arms, they did perform
Beyond thought's compass; that former fabulous story,
Being now seen possible enough, got credit,
That Beyis was believ'd.
Buck.
O, you go far.
Nor. As I belong to worship, and affect
In honour honesty, the tract of everything
Would by a good discourser lose some life,
Which action's self was tongue to.
Buck.
All was royal ;
To the disposing of it nought rebelld,
Order gave each thing view; the office did
Distinctly his full function. Who did guide ?
I mean, who set the body and the limbs
Of this great sport together ?
Nor.
As you guess :
* Clinquant-bright with gingling ornaments.
One, certes, that promises no element a
In such a business.
Buck. I pray you, who, my lord ?
Nor. All this was order'd by the good discretion Of the right reverend cardinal of York.
Buck. The devil speed him! no man's pie is freed From his ambitious finger. What had he To do in these fierce vanities? I wonder That such a keechb can with his very bulk Take
up the rays o' the beneficial sun,
And keep it from the earth.
Nor.
Surely, sir,
There's in him stuff that puts him to these ends :
For, being not propp'd by ancestry, whose grace
Chalks successors their way; nor call’d upon
For high feats done to the crown; neither allied
To eminent assistants ; but spider-like,
Out of his self-drawing web,-0! give us note!
The force of his own merit makes his way;
A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys
A place next to the
Aber.
I cannot tell
What heaven hath given him, let some graver eye
Pierce into that; but I can see his pride
Peep through each part of him: Whence has he that?
If not from hell the devil is a niggard,
Or has given all before, and he begins
A new hell in himself.
Buck.
Why the devil,
Upon this French going-out, took he upon him,
Without the privity o' the king, to appoint
Who should attend on him ? He makes up the file
Element-constituent quality of mind. Thus in Twelfth Night' (Act III. Sc. 4) Malvolio says, “Go, hang yourselves all! you are idle shallow things : I am not of your element."
b Keech. A “keech” is a lump of fat; and Buckingham here denounces Wolsey as an overgrown bloated favourite.
Of all the gentry; for the most part such
To whom as great a charge as little honour
He meant to lay upon : and his own letter
(The honourable board of council out)
Must fetch him in be papers.
Aber.
I do know
Kinsmen of mine, three at the least, that have
By this so sicken'd their estates, that never
They shall abound as formerly.
Buck.
O, many
Have broke their backs with laying manors on them
For this great journey. What did this vanity,
But minister communication of
A most poor issue ?
Nor.
Grievingly I think,
The peace between the French and us not values
The cost that did conclude it.
Buck.
Every man,
After the hideous storm that follow'd, was
A thing inspir'd; and, not consulting, broke
Into a general prophecy,—That this tempest,
Dashing the garment of this peace, aboded
The sudden breach on 't.
Nor.
Which is budileil out;
For France hath flaw'd the league, and hath attach'd
Our merchants' goods at Bourdeaux.
Aber.
Is it therefore The ambassador is silenc'd ? Nor.
Marry, is 't.
Aber. A proper title of a peace; and purchas'd
At a superfluous rate !
Buck.
Why, all this business
Our reverend cardinal carried.
Nor.
'Like it your grace, The state takes notice of the private difference Betwixt you and the cardinal. I advise you, (And take it from a heart that wishes towards you
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