duke 1 GENT. I'll tell you in a little. The great At which appear'd against him, his surveyor; 2 GENT. That fed him with his prophecies ? 1 GENT. That was he, The same. All these accus'd him strongly; which he fain Would have flung from him, but, indeed, he could not: And so his peers, upon this evidence, Much 2 GENT. After all this, how did he bear himself? 1 GENT. When he was brought again to the bar, to hear His knell rung out, his judgment, he was stirr'd With such an agony, he sweat extremely,* To him brought, viva voce, to his face:] This is a clear error of the press. We must read-have instead of him. Was either pitied in him, or forgotten.] no effect, or produced only ineffectual pity. M. MASON. Either produced MALOne. he sweat extremely,] This circumstance is taken from Holinshed: "After he was found guilty, the duke was brought to the bar, sore-chafing, and sweat marvelously." STEEVENS. And something spoke in choler, ill, and hasty: 2 GENT. I do not think, he fears death. Sure, he does not, He never was so womanish; the cause He may a little grieve at. 2 GENT. The cardinal is the end of this. 1 GENT. Certainly, 'Tis likely, By all conjectures: First, Kildare's attainder, Earl Surrey was sent thither, and in haste too, 2 GENT. Was a deep envious one. 1 GENT. That trick of state At his return, No doubt, he will requite it. This is noted, 2 GENT. All the commons Hate him perniciously, and, o' my conscience, Wish him ten fathom deep: this duke as much They love and dote on; call him, bounteous Buckingham, The mirror of all courtesy ; 1 GENT. Stay there, sir, And see the noble ruin'd man you speak of, The mirror of all courtesy ;] See the concluding words of n. 1, p. 42. STEEVENS. Enter BUCKINGHAM from his Arraignment; Tipstaves before him; the Axe with the Edge towards him; Halberds on each Side: with him, Sir THOMAS LOVELL, Sir NICHOLAS VAUX, Sir WILLIAM SANDS, and common People. 2 GENT. Let's stand close, and behold him. BUCK. All good people, You that thus far have come to pity me, Hear what I say, and then go home and lose me. I have this day receiv'd a traitor's judgment, And by that name must die; Yet, heaven bear witness, And, if I have a conscience, let it sink me, Be what they will, I heartily forgive them: 6 Sir William Sands,] The old copy reads-Sir Walter. The correction is justified by Holinshed's Chronicle, in which it is said, that Sir Nicholas Vaux, and Sir William Sands, received Buckingham at the Temple, and accompanied him to the Tower. Sir William Sands was, at this time, (May, 1521,) only a baronet, [rather, a knight; as baronetage was unknown till 1611,] not being created Lord Sands till April 27, 1527. Shakspeare probably did not know that he was the same person whom he has already introduced with that title. He fell into the error by placing the King's visit to Wolsey, (at which time Sir William was Lord Sands,) and Buckingham's condemnation, in the same year; whereas that visit was made some years afterwards. MAlone. Nor build their evils on the graves of great men ;7 For then my guiltless blood must cry against them. For further life in this world I ne'er hope, Nor will I sue, although the king have mercies More than I dare make faults. You few that lov'd me,8 And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham, Go with me, like good angels, to my end 1; And lift my soul to heaven.'-Lead on, o'God's name. Lov. I do beseech your grace, for charity, If ever any malice in your heart Were hid against me, now to forgive me frankly. BUCK. Sir Thomas Lovell, I as free forgive you, As I would be forgiven: I forgive all; There cannot be those numberless offences 7 Nor build their evils on the graves of great men ;] Evils, in this place, are forica. So, in Measure for Measure: 66 Having waste ground enough, See Vol. VI. p. 260, n. 8. STEEVENS. 8 You few that lov'd me, &c.] These lines are remarkably tender and pathetick. JOHNSON. 9 the long divorce-] So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603 : "Scarce was the lasting last divorcement made "Betwixt the bodie and the soule" &c. STEEVENS. And lift my soul to heaven.] So Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV: 66 their songs "Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven." MALONE. 'Gainst me, I can't take peace with: no black envy Shall make my grave.2-Commend me to his grace; And, if he speak of Buckingham, pray, tell him, You met him half in heaven: my vows and prayers no black envy Shall make my grave.] Shakspeare, by this expression, meant no more than to make the Duke say, No action expressive of malice shall conclude my life. Envy, by our author, is used for malice and hatred, in other places, and, perhaps, in this. Again, in the ancient metrical romance of Syr Bevys of Hampton, bl. 1. no date: Again: "Traytoure, he sayd with great envy, "They drewe theyr swordes hastely, And Barrett, in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, thus interprets it. To make a grave, however, may mean to close it. So, in The Comedy of Errors: "Why at this time the doors are made against you." i. e. closed, shut. The sense will then be, (whether quaintly or poetically expressed, let the reader determine) no malicious action shall close my grave, i. e. attend the conclusion of my existence, or terminate my life; the last action of it shall not be uncharitable. STEEVENS. Envy is frequently used in this sense by our author and his contemporaries. See Vol. VII. p. 341, n. 9; and p. 403, 1. 30. I have therefore no doubt that Mr. Steevens's exposition is right. Dr. Warburton reads-mark my grave; and in support of the emendation it may be observed that the same error has happened in King Henry V; or at least that all the editors have supposed so, having there adopted a similar correction. See Vol. XII. p. 339, n. 1. Dr. Warburton's emendation also derives some support from the following passage in The Comedy of Errors: "A vulgar comment will be made of it; "And that supposed by the common rout 66 Against your yet ungalled estimation, "That may with foul intrusion enter in, "And dwell upon your grave, when you are dead.” MALONE. |