Bolingbroke.
&mast;Hume.
&mast;Come, my masters; the duchess, I tell
&mast;you, expects performance of your promises.
&mast;Boling.
&mast;Master Hume, we are therefore provided:
&mast;Will her ladyship behold and hear our exorcisms9 note
?
&mast;Hume.
&mast;Ay; What else? fear you not her courage.
-- 197 --
&mast;Boling.
&mast;I have heard her reported to be a woman
of an invincible spirit: But it shall be convenient,
master Hume, that you be by her aloft,
while we be busy below; and so I pray you, go in
God's name, and leave us. [Exit Hume.] mast;&mlquo;Mother
&mlquo;Jourdain, be you prostrate, and grovel on the
&mlquo;earth:—&mast;John Southwell, read you; and let us
&mast;to our work.&mast;&mrquo;
Enter Duchess, above.
&mast;Duch.
&mast;Well said, my masters; and welcome
&mast;all. To this geer; the sooner the better.
&mast;Boling.
&mast;Patience, good lady; wizards know their times:
Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night1 note
,
-- 198 --
&mlquo;The time of night when Troy was set on fire;
&mlquo;The time when screech-owls cry, and ban-dogs howl2 note
,
&mlquo;And spirits walk, and ghosts break up their graves,
&mlquo;That time best fits the work we have in hand.
&mlquo;Madam, sit you, and fear not; whom we raise,
&mlquo;We will make fast within a hallow'd verge.
[Here they perform the Ceremonies appertaining,
and make the Circle; Bolingbroke, or Southwell,
reads, Conjuro te, &c. It thunders and lightens terribly; then the Spirit riseth.
&mast;Spir.
&mast;Adsum.
&mast;M. Jourd.
&mast;Asmath.
&mast;By the eternal God, whose name and power
&mast;Thou tremblest at, answer that I shall ask;
-- 199 --
&mast;For, till thou speak, thou shalt not pass from hence.
&mast;Spir.
&mast;Ask what thou wilt:—That I had said and done3 note
!
Boling.
First, of the king. What shall of him become4 note?
[Reading out of a Paper.
Spir.
The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose;
But him outlive, and die a violent death.
[As the Spirit speaks, Southwell writes the answer.
Boling.
What fate awaits the duke of Suffolk?
Spir.
By water shall he die, and take his end.
Boling.
What shall befall the duke of Somerset?
Spir.
Let him shun castles;
Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains
Than where castles mounted stand5 note
.
-- 200 --
&mlquo;Have done,for more I hardly can endure.
Boling.
Descend to darkness, and the burning lake:
&mlquo;False fiend, avoid6 note
!
[Thunder and Lightning. Spirit descends.
Enter York and Buckingham, hastily, with their Guards, and Others.
&mlquo;York.
&mlquo;Lay hands upon these traitors, and their trash.
&mlquo;Beldame, I think, we watch'd you at an inch.—
&mlquo;What, madam, are you there? the king and commonweal
&mlquo;Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains;
&mlquo;My lord protector will, I doubt it not,
&mlquo;See you well guerdon'd for these good deserts.
&mast;Duch.
&mast;Not half so bad as thine to England's king,
&mast;Injurious duke; that threat'st where is no cause.
-- 201 --
&mast;Buck.
&mast;True, madam, none at all. What call you this?
[Shewing her the papers.
&mlquo;Away with them; let them be clapp'd up close,
&mlquo;And kept asunder:—You, madam, shall with us:—
&mlquo;Stafford, take her to thee.—
[Exit Duchess from above.
&mlquo;We'll see your trinkets here all forth-coming;
&mlquo;All.—Away!
[Exeunt Guards, with South. Boling. &c.
&mast;York.
&mast;Lord Buckingham, methinks7 note
, you watch'd her well:
&mast;A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon!
Now, pray, my lord, let's see the devil's writ.
What have we here?
[Reads.
The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose;
But him outlive, and die a violent death.
&mast;Why, this is just,
&mast;Aio te, Æacida, Romanos vincere posse.
Well, to the rest:
Tell me8 note, what fate awaits the duke of Suffolk?
By water shall he die, and take his end.—
What shall betide the duke of Somerset?—
Let him shun castles;
Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains,
-- 202 --
Than where castles mounted stand.
&mast;Come, come, my lords;
&mast;These oracles are hardily attain'd,
&mast;And hardly understood9 note
.
&mlquo;The king is now in progress toward Saint Albans,
&mlquo;With him the husband of this lovely lady:
&mlquo;Thither go these news, as fast as horse can carry them;
&mlquo;A sorry breakfast for my lord protector.
&mlquo;Buck.
&mlquo;Your grace shall give me leave, my lord of York,
&mlquo;To be the post, in hope of his reward.
&mlquo;York.
&mlquo;At your pleasure, my good lord.—Who's within there, ho!
Enter a Servant.
&mlquo;Invite my lords of Salisbury, and Warwick,
&mlquo;To sup with me to-morrow night.—Away!
[Exeunt.
-- 203 --
James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
