SCENE I.
A Street in Westminster.
Enter Two Gentlemen, meeting.
1 Gent.
You are well met once again3 note.
2 Gent.
So are you4 note.
1 Gent.
You come to take your stand here, and behold
The lady Anne pass from her coronation?
2 Gent.
'Tis all my business. At our last encounter,
The duke of Buckingham came from his trial.
-- 435 --
1 Gent.
'Tis very true: but that time offer'd sorrow;
This, general joy.
2 Gent.
'Tis well: The citizens,
I am sure, have shown at full their royal minds5 note
;
As, let them have their rights, they are ever forward
In celebration of this day6 note
with shows,
Pageants, and sights of honour.
1 Gent.
Never greater,
Nor, I'll assure you, better taken, sir.
2 Gent.
May I be bold to ask what that contains,
That paper in your hand?
1 Gent.
Yes; 'tis the list
Of those, that claim their offices this day,
By custom of the coronation.
The duke of Suffolk is the first, and claims
To be high steward: next, the duke of Norfolk,
He to be earl marshal; you may read the rest
2 Gent.
I thank you, sir; had I not known those customs,
-- 436 --
I should have been beholden6 note to your paper.
But, I beseech you, what's become of Katharine,
The princess dowager? how goes her business?
1 Gent.
That I can tell you too. The archbishop
Of Canterbury, accompanied with other
Learned and reverend fathers of his order,
Held a late court at Dunstable, six miles off
From Ampthill, where the princess lay; to which
She was often cited by them, but appear'd not:
And, to be short, for not appearance7 note
, and
The king's late scruple, by the main assent
Of all these learned men she was divorc'd,
And the late marriage8 note made of none effect:
Since which she was removed to Kimbolton* note,
Where she remains now, sick.
2 Gent.
Alas, good lady!—
[Trumpets.
The trumpets sound: stand close, the queen is coming.
-- 437 --
THE ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.
A lively flourish of Trumpets; then enter
1. Two Judges.
2. Lord Chancellor, with the purse and mace before
him.
3. Choristers singing.
[Musick.
4. Mayor of London bearing the mace. Then
Garter, in his coat of arms9 note, and on his
head, a gilt copper crown.
5. Marquis Dorset, bearing a sceptre of gold, on
his head a demi-coronal of gold. With him
the Earl of Surrey, bearing the rod of silver
with the dove, crowned with an earl's coronet.
Collars of SS.
6. Duke of Suffolk, in his robe of estate, his coronet
on his head, bearing a long white wand, as
high-steward. With him, the Duke of Norfolk,
with the rod of marshalship, a coronet
on his head. Collars of SS.
7. A canopy borne by four of the Cinque-ports;
under it, the Queen in her robe; in her hair
richly adorned with pearl, crowned. On
each side of her, the Bishops of London and
Winchester.
8. The old Duchess of Norfolk, in a coronal of gold,
wrought with flowers, bearing the Queen's
train.
9. Certain Ladies or Countesses, with plain circlets1 note
of gold without flowers.
-- 438 --
2 Gent.
A royal train, believe me.—These I know:
Who's that, that bears the scepter?
1 Gent.
Marquis Dorset:
And that the earl of Surrey, with the rod.
2 Gent.
A bold brave gentleman: That should be
The duke of Suffolk.
1 Gent.
'Tis the same; high-steward.
2 Gent.
And that my lord of Norfolk?
1 Gent.
Yes.
2 Gent.
Heaven bless thee!
[Looking on the Queen.
Thou hast the sweetest face I ever look'd on.—
Sir, as I have a soul, she is an angel;
Our king has all the Indies in his arms,
And more, and richer, when he strains that lady2 note
:
I cannot blame his conscience.
1 Gent.
They, that bear
The cloth of honour over her, are four barons
Of the Cinque-ports.
2 Gent.
Those men are happy; and so are all, are near her.
I take it, she that carries up the train,
Is that old noble lady, duchess of Norfolk.
1 Gent.
It is; and all the rest are countesses.
2 Gent.
Their coronets say so. These are stars, indeed;
And, sometimes, falling ones.
1 Gent.
No more of that.
[Exit Procession, with a great flourish of Trumpets.
-- 439 --
Enter a third Gentleman.
God save you, sir! Where have you been broiling?
3 Gent.
Among the croud i' the abbey; where a finger
Could not be wedg'd in more; I am stifled3 note
With the mere rankness of their joy.
2 Gent.
You saw the ceremony?
3 Gent.
That I did.
1 Gent.
How was it?
3 Gent.
Well worth the seeing.
2 Gent.
Good sir, speak it to us.
3 Gent.
As well as I am able. The rich stream4 note
Of lords, and ladies, having brought the queen
To a prepar'd place in the choir, fell off
A distance from her; while her grace sat down
To rest a while, some half an hour, or so,
In a rich chair of state, opposing freely
The beauty of her person to the people.
Believe me, sir, she is the goodliest woman
That ever lay by man: which when the people
Had the full view of, such a noise arose
As the shrouds make at sea in a stiff tempest,
As loud, and to as many tunes: hats, cloaks,
(Doublets, I think,) flew up; and had their faces
Been loose, this day they had been lost. Such joy
I never saw before. Great-bellied women,
-- 440 --
That had not half a week to go5 note
, like rams6 note
In the old time of war, would shake the press,
And make them reel before them, No man living
Could say, This is my wife, there; all were woven
So strangely in one piece.
2 Gent.
But, what follow'd7 note?
3 Gent.
At length her grace rose, and with modest paces
Came to the altar; where she kneel'd, and, saintlike,
Cast her fair eyes to heaven, and pray'd devoutly.
Then rose again, and bow'd her to the people:
When by the archbishop of Canterbury
She had all the royal makings of a queen;
As holy oil, Edward Confessor's crown,
The rod, and bird of peace, and all such emblems
Laid nobly on her: which perform'd, the choir,
With all the choicest musick of the kingdom,
Together sung Te Deum. So she parted,
And with the same full state pac'd back again
To York-place, where the feast is held.
1 Gent.
Sir, you
Must no more call it York-place, that is past:
For, since the cardinal fell, that title's lost:
'Tis now the king's, and call'd—Whitehall.
3 Gent.
I know it;
But 'tis so lately alter'd, that the old name
Is fresh about me.
2 Gent.
What two reverend bishops
Were those that went on each side of the queen?
-- 441 --
3 Gent.
Stokesly and Gardiner; the one, of Winchester,
(Newly preferr'd from the king's secretary,)
The other, London.
2 Gent.
He of Winchester
Is held no great good lover of the archbishop's,
The virtuous Cranmer.
3 Gent.
All the land knows that:
However, yet there's no great breach; when it comes,
Cranmer will find a friend will not shrink from him.
2 Gent.
Who may that be, I pray you?
3 Gent.
Thomas Cromwell;
A man in much esteem with the king, and truly
A worthy friend.—The king
Has made him master o' the jewel-house,
And one, already, of the privy-council.
2 Gent.
He will deserve more.
3 Gent.
Yes, without all doubt.
Come, gentlemen, ye shall go my way, which
Is to the court, and there ye shall be my guests;
Something I can command. As I walk thither,
I'll tell ye more.
Both.
You may command us, sir.
[Exeunt.
8 note.
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].
