With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream.

Glo. Methought this staff, mine office' badge in court, Was broke in twain; by whom I have forgot,

But, as I think, 'twas by the cardinal;

And on the pieces of the broken wand

Were plac'd the heads of Edmund duke of Somerset,
And William de la Pole, first duke of Suffolk.
This was my dream: what it doth bode, God knows.
Duch. Tut, this was nothing but an argument
That he that breaks a stick of Gloster's grove
Shall lose his head for his presumption.

But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:
Methought I sat in seat of majesty

In the cathedral church of Westminster,

And in that chair where kings and queens are crown'd;
There (17) Henry and Dame Margaret kneel'd to me,
And on my head did set the diadem.

Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright:
Presumptuous dame, ill-nurtur'd Eleanor!
Art thou not second woman in the realm,
And the protector's wife, belov'd of him?
Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command,
Above the reach or compass of thy thought?
And wilt thou still be hammering treachery,
To tumble down thy husband and thyself
From top of honour to disgrace's feet?
Away from me, and let me hear no more!

Duch. What, what, my lord! are you so choleric

With Eleanor, for telling but her dream?

Next time I'll keep my dreams unto myself,
And not be check'd.

Glo. Nay, be not angry; I am pleas'd again.

(17) And in that chair where kings and queens are crown'd;
There]

The folio has

"And in that Chaire where Kings & Queens wer crownd,
Where

Mr. W. N. Lettsom would read "E'en in that chair," &c.—" There" was first proposed by Mr. Staunton.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure

You do prepare to ride unto Saint Alban's,

Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.

Glo. I go.-Come, Nell,-thou'lt ride with us, I'm sure.(18) Duch. Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently.

[Exeunt Gloster and Messenger.

Follow I must; I cannot go before,

While Gloster bears this base and humble mind.
Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood,

I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks,
And smooth my way upon their headless necks:
And being a woman, I will not be slack

To play my part in Fortune's pageant.

Where are you there, Sir John? nay, fear not, man,
We are alone; here's none but thee and I.

Enter HUME.

Hume. Jesus preserve your royal majesty!

Duch. What say'st thou ? majesty! I am but grace.
Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice,

Your grace's title shall be multiplied.

Duch. What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet conferr'd With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch,

With Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer ?

And will they undertake to do me good?

Hume. This they have promised, to show your highness A spirit rais'd from depth of under-ground, That shall make answer to such questions

As by your grace shall be propounded him.

Duch. It is enough; I'll think upon the questions: When from Saint Alban's we do make return,

We'll see these things effected to the full.

Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man,

With thy confederates in this weighty cause.

[Exit.

Hume. Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold;

(18) I'm sure.] Added from The First Part of the Contention, &c.

Marry, and shall. But, how now, Sir John Hume!
Seal up your lips, and give no words but mum:
The business asketh silent secrecy.

Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch:
Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil.

Yet have I gold flies from another coast:-
I dare not say, from the rich cardinal,

And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk;
Yet I do find it so: for, to be plain,

They, knowing Dame Eleanor's aspiring humour,
Have hired me to undermine the duchess,
And buzz these conjurations in her brain.
They say,-A crafty knave does need no broker;
Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker.(19)
Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near
To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
Well, so it stands; and thus, I fear, at last
Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck,
And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall:
Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all.

[Exit.

SCENE III. The same. An outer room in the palace.

Enter PETER, and other Petitioners.

First Petit. My masters, let's stand close: my lord protector will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver our supplications in the quill.(20)

(19) Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker.] See note 81 on the preceding play, p. 47.

(20) our supplications in the quill.] "Perhaps our supplications in the quill,' or 'in quill' [as Hanmer prints], means no more than our written or penned supplications." STEEVENS."In the quill' may mean 'with great exactness and observance of form,' or with the utmost punctilio of ceremony. The phrase seems to be taken from part of the dress of our ancestors, whose ruffs were quilled. While these were worn, it might be the vogue to say, such a thing is in the quill, ie. in the reigning mode of taste." TOLLET (whose interpretation is commended by Nares, Gloss. in v. Quill).—Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector substitutes " our supplications in sequel;" which Mr. Collier now adopts, understanding "sequel" to be the Petitioner's blunder for "sequence.' But why should the Petitioner, whose language is elsewhere correct enough, blunder in this

Sec. Petit. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a good man! Jesu bless him!

First Petit.(21) Here 'a comes, methinks, and the queen with him. I'll be the first, sure.

one place? Besides, when a dramatist puts a wrong word into the mouth of a comic character, there is always something ludicrous, or inclining to the ludicrous, in the mistake of the speaker: according to the Ms. Corrector's alteration, as explained by Mr. Collier, there is nothing of the kind here.-We are told by Mr. Hunter (New Illustr. of Shakespeare, vol. ii. p. 66), that “quill' means here the narrow passage through which the Protector was to pass ;" and he infers this meaning from the following lines in Sylvester's Du Bartas (The Ark, p. 114, ed. 1641);

"And th' endlesse, thin ayre (which by secret quils
Had lost it selfe within the winds-but hils," &c.

But if we turn to the original French, it will be seen that no light is thrown on "quill" in Shakespeare by "quils" in Sylvester, who used the word merely because he was translating literally;

"Et puis l'air infini, qui par secrets tuyaux,

Rare, c'estoit perdu dans les sombres caueaux

Des monts butes des vents," &c.

In a later part of the same work (The Tropheis, p. 201) Sylvester has "Anon, like Cedron, through a straighter quill Thou strainest out a little brook or rill;

the original of which is,

"C or dans un sec tuyau

Pousses, comme Cedron, vn petit filet d'eau."

("Tuyau. A pipe, quill, cane, reed, canell." Cotgrave's Dict.).—" There cannot be the slightest doubt that in the quill' is intended for, in the quoil or coil; that is, in the bustle or tumult which would arise at the time the Protector passed. Shakespeare frequently uses the word for bustle, tumult, stir; and that it was sometimes spelt quoil and quoyle appears from Nares, in v. Quoyl. The orthography may have been intended to mark the First Petit.'s mode of pronunciation, quile for coil, and the misprint be only in the last letter, for e." SINGER, Shakespeare Vindicated, &c., p. 148. (I, too, formerly proposed "in the quoil (=coil), not being aware that Mr. Singer had anticipated me).- Read in the quile,'-that is, in due rank and order, like quiles in a hay-field. Quile is a provincial word for a heap." SWYNFEN JERVIS. ("Quile. A pile, heap, large cock, or cop of hay put together ready for carrying, and to secure it from rain; a heap of any thing." Halliwell's Dict. of Arch. and Prov. Words, &c.).—“In the quill,' that is, all together. The First Petit. tells his companions to keep together, so that when the lord protector comes, their supplications may all be delivered at once. This cant expression occurs in a ballad in the Roxburghe Collection, ii. 137;

'Thus those females were all in a quill,

And following on their pastime still."" HALLIWELL.

(21) First Petit.] So the fourth folio ("1 Pet.").-The first and second folios have "Peter;" the third folio has "1 Peter."

Enter SUFFOLK and Queen MARGARET.

Sec. Petit. Come back, fool; this is the Duke of Suffolk, and not my lord protector.

Suf. How now, fellow! wouldst any thing with me? First Petit. I pray, my lord, pardon me; I took ye for my lord protector.

Q. Mar. For (22) my lord protector! Are your supplications to his lordship? Let me see them-what is thine?

First Petit. Mine is, an't please your grace, against John Goodman, my lord cardinal's man, for keeping my house and lands, and wife and all, from me.

Suf. Thy wife too! that's some wrong, indeed.-What's yours? What's here: [Reads] "Against the Duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the commons of Melford."-How now, sir knave!

Sec. Petit. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township.

Peter. [presenting his petition] Against my master, Thomas Horner, for saying that the Duke of York was rightful heir to the crown.

Q. Mar. What say'st thou ? did the Duke of York say he was rightful heir to the crown?

Peter. That my master was? no, forsooth: (23) my master said that he was; and that the king was an usurper.

Suf. Who is there? [Enter Servants.]—Take this fellow in, and send for his master with a pursuivant presently.We'll hear more of your matter before the king.

[Exeunt Servants with Peter. Q. Mar. And as for you, that love to be protected Under the wings of our protector's grace,

(22) For] So Capell.-The folio has "To." (The absurdity of attempting to support the old lection, "To my lord protector," by inserting after it the stage-direction, "Reading" (or "Reading the superscription "), or by printing these words between inverted commas, as if read by the queen, is manifest from what immediately follows.)

(2) That my master was? no, forsooth:] The folio has "That my Mistresse was?" &c.-"Is there not something wrong here? The context seems to require The duke say that my master was? no, forsooth."" W. N. LETTSOM.