And large proportion of his strong-knit limbs. It cannot be, this weak and writhled shrimp Tal. Madam, I have been bold to trouble you; I'll sort some other time to visit you. Count. What means he now?-Go ask him, whither he goes. Mess. Stay, my lord Talbot; for my lady craves To know the cause of your abrupt departure. Tal. Marry, for that she's in a wrong belief, to certify her Talbot's here. I go Re-enter Porter, with Keys. Count. If thou be he, then art thou prisoner. Count. To me, blood-thirsty lord; And for that cause I train'd thee to my house. But now the substance shall endure the like, Wasted our country, slain our citizens, Count. Laughest thou, wretch? thy mirth shall turn to moan. Tal. I laugh to see your ladyship so fond, To think that you have aught but Talbot's shadow, Count. Why, art not thou the man? I am indeed. Count. Then have I substance too. For what you see, is but the smallest part I tell you, madam, were the whole frame here, Your roof were not sufficient to contain it. Count. This is a riddling merchant for the nonce"; He will be here, and yet he is not here: How can these contrarieties agree ? Tal. That will I show you presently. He winds his Horn. Drums strike up; a Peal of OrdThe Gates being forced, enter Soldiers. nance. How say you, madam? are you now persuaded, These are his substance, sinews, arms, and strength, Count. Victorious Talbot, pardon my abuse: I did not entertain thee as thou art. Tal. Be not dismay'd, fair lady; nor misconstrue The mind of Talbot, as you did mistake The outward composition of his body. What you have done hath not offended me: But only, with your patience, that we may 5 This is a riddling MERCHANT for the NONCE ;] "For the nonce" is for the occasion. See Vol. iv. p. 236. "Merchant was often, of old, used as a term of contempt: thus in "Jacob and Esau,” 1568, A. v. sc. 6, "What, ye saucie merchant, are ye a prater now?" The Morality of "The Conflict of Conscience," 1581, contains several instances of the same application of the term. See also " Romeo and Juliet," A. ii. sc. 4, where the nurse calls Mercutio "a saucy merchant.” 6 no less than fame hath BRUITED,] "Bruited" is noised, from the Fr. bruit. It is a word of constant occurrence in writers of the time. Taste of your wine, and see what cates you have; Count. With all my heart; and think me honoured To feast so great a warrior in my house. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. London. The Temple Garden. Enter the Earls of SOMERSET, SUFFOLK, and WARWICK ; RICHARD PLANTAGENET, VERNON, and a Lawyer. Plan. Great lords, and gentlemen, what means this silence? Dare no man answer in a case of truth? Suf. Within the Temple hall we were too loud: Plan. Then say at once, if I maintain'd the truth, Som. Judge you, my lord of Warwick, then, between us. War. Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch, Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth, 7 Or else was wrangling Somerset in the error?] The meaning is, " Or, in other words, was not the wrangling Somerset in error?" Johnson would read the right for "in error ;" and Sir T. Hanmer, And was not, instead of “Or else was ;" both being in direct opposition to the plain meaning of Shakespeare, who intended to make Richard Plantagenet assert his own correctness in two different forms of speech. In the old copy, in the prefixes, Plantagenet is called York; although near the end of the scene (see p. 43) Warwick talks of the justice of creating Plantagenet Duke of York. But in these nice sharp quillets of the law, Plan. Tut, tut! here is a mannerly forbearance: The truth appears so naked on my side, That any purblind eye may find it out. Som. And on my side it is so well apparell'd, So clear, so shining, and so evident, That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye. Plan. Since you are tongue-tied, and so loath to speak, In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts. Let him, that is a true-born gentleman, And stands upon the honour of his birth, If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, From off this brier pluck a white rose with me. Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me. War. I love no colours; and, without all colour Of base insinuating flattery, I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet. Suf. I pluck this red rose with young Somerset ; And say withal, I think he held the right. Ver. Stay, lords, and gentlemen; and pluck no more, Till you conclude that he, upon whose side Som. Good master Vernon, it is well objected; Plan. And I. Ver. Then, for the truth and plainness of the case, I pluck this pale and maiden blossom here, Giving my verdict on the white rose side. Som. Prick not your finger as you pluck it off; Lest, bleeding, you do paint the white rose red, And fall on my side so, against your will. Ver. If I, my lord, for my opinion bleed, And keep me on the side where still I am. Law. Unless my study and my books be false, Plan. Now, Somerset, where is your argument? Plan. Mean time, your cheeks do counterfeit our roses; For pale they look with fear, as witnessing Som. Plan. Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset ? Plan. Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand, I scorn thee and thy faction, peevish boy. Suf. Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet, Plan. Proud Poole, I will; and scorn both him and thee. 8 I scorn thee and thy FACTION,] The old copies have fashion, a word that may possibly be tortured into a meaning, as Warburton attempted; but which was in all probability a mere misprint for " faction," to which Theobald changed it. Warburton's notion was, that it referred to the fashion of wearing the red rose; but, as Mr. Barron Field observes to me, the same character, not long afterwards, employs the word "faction" in precisely the same sense, "Will I for ever, and my faction, wear." A copy of the fourth folio, lent to me by Mr. Holgate, which formerly belonged to Southern, the poet, has fashion corrected to "faction," in his hand-writing. |