The second son to the late English Edward, Conceal'd, I know not where, these fourteen years, Craves audience from our master; and 'tis said The duke himself is following to the court. Hunt. Duke upon duke! 'tis well, 'tis well; here's bustling For majesty;-my lord, I will along with you. Kath. Please you walk, sir? Dal. "Times have their changes; sorrow makes men wise; The sun itself must set as well as rise;" Then, why not I? Fair madam, I wait on you. [Exeunt. SCENE III. London.-An Apartment in the Tower. Enter the BISHOP OF DURHAM, SIR ROBERT CLIFFORD, and URSWICK.-Lights. Dur. You find, Sir Robert Clifford, how se curely King Henry, our great master, doth commit So labour to deserve it, by laying open Urs. Remember not the witchcraft, or the magic, The charms and incantations, which the sorceress Clif. I am miserable, If Henry be not merciful. Enter King HENRY. K. Hen. Clifford! Clif. (Kneels.) Let my weak knees rot on the earth, If I appear as lep'rous in my treacheries, I seem a monster, by my breach of truth. K. Hen. Clifford, stand up; for instance of thy safety, I offer thee my hand. Clif. A sovereign balm For my bruis'd soul, I kiss it with a greediness. [Kisses the King's hand, and rises. Sir, you are a just master, but I— K. Hen. Tell me, Is every circumstance thou hast set down With thine own hand, within this paper, true? The progress of our enemies' intents, Without corruption? Clif. True, as I wish heaven; Or my infected honour white again. K. Hen. We know all, Clifford, fully, since this meteor, This airy apparition first discradled From Tournay into Portugal; and thence Of painted power on the shore of Kent, Whence he was beaten back with shame and scorn, Contempt, and slaughter of some naked outlaws: But tell me, what new course now shapes duke 7 Stole into Flanders, flourishing the rags, &c.] Something is apparently lost here, perhaps the end of this line and the beginning of the next, as I have marked them in the text. The import is clear enough there embarked his followers, And made for England-flourishing the rags, &c. In this expedition Perkin did not land, and those of his followers whom he sent on shore at Sandwich, were defeated by the Kentish The prisoners, to the amount of 150 (mostly foreigners), were executed-" Hanged," as Lord Bacon says, " upon the seacoast of Kent, Sussex, and Norfolk, for sea-marks, or light-houses, to warn Perkin's people to avoid the coast." men. Perkin? Clif. For Ireland, mighty Henry; so instructed By Stephen Frion, sometimes secretary In the French tongue unto your sacred excellence, But Perkin's tutor now. K. Hen. A subtle villain That Frion, Frion,-you, my lord of Durham, Dur. French, both in heart and actions. K. Hen. Some Irish heads work in this mine of treason; Speak them. Clif. Not any of the best; your fortune K. Hen. Still more Frion! 8 Stephen Frion.] Frion had been seduced from Henry's service by the Duchess of Burgundy; and was a very active agent in the great drama which she was now preparing to bring forward. "He followed Perkin's fortunes for a long while," Bacon says, " and was indeed his principal counsellor and instrument in all his proceedings." As dangerous as infectious-we must match 'em. Clif. Oh, sir, here I must break Shall be John Ratcliffe, Lord Fitzwater, then K. Hen. Churchmen are turn'd devils. Clif. One more remains Unnam'd, whom I could willingly forget. K. Hen. Ha, Clifford! one more? Clif. Great sir, do not hear him; For when Sir William Stanley, your lord cham berlain, Shall come into the list, as he is chief, I shall lose credit with you; yet this lord, Last named, is first against you. K. Hen. Urswick, the light! View well my face, sirs, is there blood left in it? 9 All these were seized, tried, and condemned for high-treason : most of them perished upon the scaffold. Worsley and the two dominicans were spared. |