And let heaven

Cran.
Witness, how dear I hold this confirmation.

K. Hen. Good man, those joyful tears show thy true heart.

The common voice, I see, is verified

Of thee, which says thus, 'Do my lord of Canterbury

A shrewd turn, and he is your friend for ever.'—
Come, lords, we trifle time away; I long
To have this young one made a christian.
As I have made ye one, lords, one remain;
So I grow stronger, you more honour gain.

SCENE III.-The Palace Yard.

[Exeunt.

Noise and tumult within. Enter Porter and his

Man.

Port. You'll leave your noise anon, ye rascals: Do you take the court for Parish-garden ?3 ye rude slaves, leave your gaping."

[Within.] Good master porter, I belong to the larder.

Port. Belong to the gallows, and be hanged, you rogue: Is this a place to roar in?-Fetch me a dozen crab-tree staves, and strong ones; these are but switches to them.-I'll scratch your heads: You must be seeing christenings? Do you look for ale and cakes here, you rude rascals?

Man. Pray, sir, be patient; 't is as much impossible

(Unless we sweep them from the door with cannons)

To scatter them, as 't is to make them sleep
On May-day morning; which will never be :
We may as well push against Paul's, as stir them.
Port. How got they in, and be hang'd?
Man. Alas, I know not; How gets the tide in?
As much as one sound cudgel of four foot
(You see the poor remainder) could distribute,
I made no spare, sir.

Port.

You did nothing, sir. Man. I am not Samson, nor sir Guy, nor Col

brand,

To mow them down before me: but, if I spared any
That had a head to hit, either young or old,
He or she, cuckold or cuckold-maker,
Let me never hope to see a chine again; and that
I would not for a cow, God save her.
[Within.] Do you hear, master porter?

a Gaping-shouting. The "gaping pig" of Shylock meant probably the roaring pig 2 C 2

Port. I shall be with you presently, good master puppy.-Keep the door close, sirrah. Man. What would you have me do?

Port. What should you do, but knock them down by the dozens? Is this Moorfields to muster in? or have we some strange Indian with the great tool come to court, the women so besiege us? Bless me, what a fry of fornication is at door! On my christian conscience, this one christening will beget a thousand; here will be father, godfather, and all together.

Man. The spoons will be the bigger, sir. There is a fellow somewhat near the door, he should be a brazier by his face, for, o' my conscience, twenty of the dog-days now reign. in's nose; all that stand about him are under the line, they need no other penance: That firedrake did I hit three times on the head, and three times was his nose discharged against me; he stands there, like a mortar-piece, to blow us. There was a haberdasher's wife of small wit near him, that railed upon me till her pink'd porringer fell off her head, for kindling such a combustion in the state. I miss'd the meteor once, and hit that woman, who cried out, clubs! when I might see from far some forty truncheoneers draw to her succour, which were the hope of the Strand, where she was quartered. They fell on; I made good my place; at length they came to the broomstaff to me; I defied them still; when suddenly a file of boys behind them, loose shot, delivered such a shower of pebbles, that I was fain to draw mine honour in, and let them win the work: The devil was amongst them, I think, surely.

Port. These are the youths that thunder at a playhouse, and fight for bitten apples; that no audience, but the Tribulation of Tower-hill, or the limbs of Limehouse," their dear brothers, are able to endure. I have some of them in Limbo Patrum, and there they are like to dance these three days; besides the running banquet of two beadles, that is to come.

Enter the Lord Chamberlain.

Cham. Mercy o'me, what a multitude are

here!

They grow still too, from all parts they are coming,

As if we kept a fair here! Where are these porters,

These lazy knaves ?—Ye have made a fine hand,

fellows.

a Fire-drake. An ignis-fatuus was so called; and the name was also given to any artificial firework. 887

Enter trumpets, sounding; then Two Aldermen, Lord Mayor, Garter, CRANMER, DUKE OF NORFOLK, with his marshal's staff, DUKE OF SUFFOLK, Two Noblemen bearing great standing bowls for the christening gifts; then Four Noblemen bearing a canopy, under which the DUCHESS OF NORFOLK, godmother, bearing the child richly habited in a mantle, &c. Train borne by a Lady: then follows the MARCHIONESS OF DORSET, the other godmother, and Ladies. The troop pass once about the stage, and Garter speaks.

Gart. Heaven, from thy endless goodness, send prosperous life, long, and ever happy, to the high and mighty princess of England, Elizabeth!

Flourish. Enter KING and Train. Cran. [Kneeling.] And to your royal grace, and the good queen,

My noble partners, and myself, thus pray ;-
All comfort, joy, in this most gracious lady,
Heaven ever laid up to make parents happy,
May hourly fall upon ye!

a Bumbards-ale-barrels.

For heaven now bids me; and the words I utter Let none think flattery, for they'll find them truth.

This royal infant, (heaven still move about her!)
Though in her cradle, yet now promises
Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness: She shall
be

(But few now living can behold that goodness)
A pattern to all princes living with her,
And all that shall succeed: Saba was never
More covetous of wisdom, and fair virtue,
Than this pure soul shall be: all princely graces,
That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,
With all the virtues that attend the good,
Shall still be doubled on her: truth shall nurse

her,

Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her: She shall be lov'd, and fear'd: Her own shall

bless her:

Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn,
And hang their heads with sorrow: Good grows

with her:

In her days, every man shall eat in safety
Under his own viue, what he plants; and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours:
God shall be truly known; and those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
And by those claim their greatness, not by
blood.

Nor shall this peace sleep with her: But as when
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phœnix,
Her ashes new create another heir,
As great in admiration as herself;
So shall she leave her blessedness to one,
(When heaven shall call her from this cloud of
darkness,)

Who, from the sacred ashes of her honour,
Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was,
And so stand fix'd: Peace, plenty, love, truth,

terror,

She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin,

A most unspotted lily, shall she pass

To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her.

K. Hen. O lord archbishop,

Thou hast made me now a man; never, before
This happy child, did I get anything:
This oracle of comfort has so pleas'd me,
That, when I am in heaven, I shall desire
To see what this child does, and praise my
Maker.

I thank ye all,-to you, my good lord mayor,
And you, good brethren, I am much beholding;
I have receiv'd much honour by your presence,
And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way,
lords;

Ye must all see the queen, and she must thank ye,

She will be sick else. This day, no man think He has business at his house; for all shall stay; This little one shall make it holiday. [Exeunt.

"Tis ten to one, this play can never please All that are here: Some come to take their ease, And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear, We have frighted with our trumpets; so, 't is clear,

They'll say 't is naught: others, to hear the city

Abus'd extremely, and to cry,- that's witty!'

Which we have not done neither: that, I fear,
All the expected good we are like to hear,
For this play at this time, is only in
The merciful construction of good women;
For such a one we show'd them: If they smile,
And say, 't will do, I know, within a while
All the best men are ours; for 't is ill hap,
If they hold, when their ladies bid them clap.

1 SCENE II.-"At a window above." THE old mode of building castles or mansions, by which a principal room could be commanded from a window opening into it, is illustrated by a letter from Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1573: -"And if it please her Majesty, she may come in through my gallery, and see the disposition of the hall in dinner-time at a window, opening thereunto."

2 SCENE II.-"You'd spare your spoons."

The allusion is to the practice of sponsors at a christening presenting the child with spoons, called apostle spoons. The old plays contain many allusions to this custom; as in a comedy of Middleton's:"2 Gos. What has he given her?-what is it, gossip? 3 Gos. A fair high standing cup, and two great 'postle spoons, one of them gilt."

3 SCENE III.-" Parish-garden." The bear-garden on the Bankside, remarkable enough to be distinguished in the maps of London in the time of Elizabeth.

* SCENE III." Who cried out, clubs!" The cry of clubs was sure to draw together the London"truncheoneers;" and the appearance of "the hope of the Strand" cannot fail to remind us of the heroic apprentices of the watchmaker of Fleet Street, in that inimitable picture of ancient manners, 'The fortunes of Nigel.'

5 SCENE III. "The Tribulation of Tower Hill, or the limbs of Limehouse."

These allusions are perhaps now inexplicable. Johnson supposed the Tribulation to have been a puritanical meeting-house. But why should the "youths that thunder at a playhouse" be endurable by the frequenters of the Tribulation? Because, says Steevens, such an audience was familiarized to excess of noise by the bellowings of their preachers. Are not the tribulation of Tower Hill of the same family as the limbs of Limehouse ?-those who trouble-disturb Tower Hill? some of "your faithful friends of the suburbs," spoken of by the Chamberlain Tower Hill, down to a very recent period, was a great resort of vagabonds, who played pitch and toss and other games.

SHAKSPERE, who, according to Malone, read no history but Holinshed's, may now be traced to another source-to one of the most popular books in our language, 'Fox's Acts and Monuments of the Christian Martyrs,' printed in 1563. Our poet saw the dramatic power of this scene, though the occurrence took place long after the birth of Elizabeth :

"When night came, the king sent sir Anthony Dennyabout midnight to Lambeth to the archbishop, willing him forthwith to resort unto him at the court. The message done, the archbishop speedily addressed himself to the court, and coming into the gallery

where the king walked and tarried for him, his high ness said, 'Ah, my lord of Canterbury, I can tell you news. For divers weighty considerations it is determined by me and the council that you tomorrow at nine of the clock shall be committed to the Tower, for that you and your chaplains (as information is given us) have taught and preached, and thereby sown within the realm such a number of execrable heresies, that it is feared, the whole realm being infected with them, no small contention and commotions will rise thereby amongst my subjects, as of late days the like was in divers parts of Germany,