Crier. Katharine queen of England, come into the court. Grif. [who is preceding her] Madam, you are call'd back. Q. Kath. What need you note it? pray you, keep your way: When you are call'd, return.-Now the Lord help, They vex me past my patience;-pray you, pass on: I will not tarry: no, nor ever more, Upon this business, my appearance make of their courts.

In any

-Shakespeare.

FALSTAFF'S ADVENTURES.

FALSTAFF, GADSHILL, POINS, and PRINCE OF WALES.

Poins. WELCOME, Jack; where hast thou been?

Fal. A plague of all cowards, I say, and a vengeance too! marry, and amen. Give me a cup of sack, boy. Ere I lead this life long, I'll sew nether-stocks, and mend them, and foot them too. A plague of all cowards! Give me a cup of of sack, rogue. Is there no virtue extant?

Prince. Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter?— pitiful-hearted Titan!—that melted at the sweet tale of the sun? If thou didst, then behold that compound.

Fal. You rogue, here's lime in this sack, too; there is nothing but roguery to be found in villainous man; yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime in it;- -a villainous coward! Go thy ways, old Jack; die when thou wilt; if manhood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face of the earth, then am I a shotten herring. There live not three good men unhanged in England, and one of them is fat, and grows old, heaven help the while! A bad world, I say! A plague of all cowards, I say still.

Prince. How now, woolsack! what mutter you?

Fal. A king's son! If I do not beat thee out of thy kingdom with a dagger of lath, and drive all thy subjects afore thee like a flock of wild geese, I'll never wear hair on my face more. You Prince of Wales!

Prince. Why, how now, Jack,-what's the matter? Fal. Are you not a coward? answer me to that: and Poins there?

Prince. Ye fat paunch, an' ye call me coward, I'll stab thee.

K

Fal. I call thee coward! I'll see thee hanged ere I call thee coward; but I would give a thousand pounds I could run as fast as thou canst. You are straight enough in the shoulders, you care not who sees your back; call you that backing of your friends? A plague upon such backing! Give me them that will face me; give me a cup of sack; I am a rogue if I drunk to-day.

Prince. Oh villain! thy lips are scarce wiped since thou drunkest last.

Fal. All's one for that.

Say I!

Prince. What's the matter?

A plague of all cowards still,

Fal. What's the matter? Here be four of us here have ta'en a thousand pounds this morning.

Prince. Where is it, Jack? where is it?

Fal. Where is it? taken from us, it is; a hundred upon poor four of us.

Prince. What, a hundred, man?

Fal. I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword with a dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust through the doublet; four through the hose; my buckler cut through and through; my sword hacked like a hand-saw,—ecce signum. I never dealt better since I was a man: all would not do. A plague of all cowards!—Let them speak; if they speak more or less than truth, they are villains, and the sons of darkness.

Prince. Speak, sirs:-how was it?
Gad. We four set upon some dozen-
Fal. Sixteen, at least, my lord.

Gad. And bound them. As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us

Fal. And unbound the rest, and then come in the other. Prince. What, fought ye with them all?

Fal. All I know not what ye call all; but if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish, if there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old Jack, then am I no two-legged creature.

Poins. 'Pray heaven, you have not killed some of them.

Fal. Nay, that's past praying for; I have peppered two of them: two, I am sure, I have paid; two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal-if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse-Thou knowest my old ward-here I lay, and thus I bore my point: four rogues in buckram let drive at me

Prince. What, four? thou saidst but two, even now.

Fal. Four, Hal-I told thee, four.

Poins. Ay, ay,-he said four.

Fal. These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me: I made no more ado, but took all their seven points in my target, thus.

Prince. Seven? why, there were but four, even now.
Fal. In buckram.

Poins. Ay, four in buckram suits.

Fal. Seven, by these hilts, or I'm a villain else.

Prince. Pr'y thee, let him alone; we shall have more anon. Fal. Dost thou hear me, Hal?

Prince. Aye, and mark thee too, Jack.

Fal. Do so; for it is worth the listening to. These nine in buckram, that I told thee of

Prince. So, two more already.

Fal. Their points being broken

Poins. Down fell their hose.

Fal. Began to give me ground; but I followed me close, came in foot and hand; and, with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid.

Prince. Oh, monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two!

Fal. But as ill luck would have it, three misbegotten knaves in Kendal green, came at my back, and let drive at me; for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand.

Prince. These lies are like the father that begets them; gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou clay-brained knot-pated fool, obscene, greasy, tallow-keech

Fal. What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth the truth?

Prince. Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand? Come, tell us your reason; what sayest thou to this?

Poins. Come, your reason, Jack, your reason.

Fal. What, upon compulsion? No: were I at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on compulsion! If reasons were as plenty as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.

Prince. I'll be no longer guilty of this sin; thou sanguine coward, thou bed-presser, thou horse-breaker, thou huge hill of flesh

Fal. Away, you starveling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's tongue, you stock-fish-Oh, for breath to utter what is

like thee! you tailor's yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck.

Prince. Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again; and, when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this.

Poins. Mark, Jack.

Prince. We two saw you four set on four: you bound them, and were masters of their wealth. Mark now, how plain a tale shall put you down. Then did we two set on you four; and, with a word, outfaced you from your prize, and have it; yea, and can shew it you here in the house:-and, Falstaff, you carried your fat away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared for mercy, and still ran and roared, as ever I heard bull-calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou hast done, and then say, it was in fight! What trick, what device, what starting-hole, canst thou now find out, to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?

Poins. Come, let's hear Jack,—What trick hast thou now? Fal. By the lord, I knew ye! as well as he that made ye. Why-hear ye, my masters-was it for me to kill the heir apparent? should I turn upon the true prince? Why, thou knowest, I am as valiant as Hercules: but beware instinct : the lion will not touch the true prince. Instinct is a great matter; I was a coward on instinct. I shall think the better of myself and thee during my life; I, for a valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the sun, lads, I am glad you have the money. Hostess, clap to the doors; watch to-night, pray to-morrow. Gallant lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles of true fellowship come to you. What, shall we be merry? shall we have a play extempore.

Prince. Content: and the argument shall be thy running

away.

Fal. Ah, no more of that, Hal, an' thou lovest me.

-Shakespeare.

GOOD NEWS FROM GHENT.

[By kind permission of ROBERT BROWNING, Esq.]

I SPRANG to the stirrup, and Joris, and he;

I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;

"GOOD SPEED!" cried the watch, as the gate-bolts undrew; "SPEED!" echoed the wall to us galloping through;

Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,

And into the midnight we galloped abreast.

Not a word to each other; we kept the great pace
Neck by neck, stride by stride, never changing our place;
I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight,
Then shortened each stirrup and set the pique right,
Rebuckled the cheek-strap, chained slacker the bit,
Nor galloped less steadily Roland a whit.

'Twas moonset at starting; but while we drew near
Lockeren, the cocks crew, and twilight dawned clear;
At Boom, a great yellow star came out to see;
At Düffeld, 'twas morning as plain as could be;

And from Mecheln church-steeple we heard the half chime,
So Joris broke silence with "YET THERE IS TIME!"

At Aerschot, up leaped of a sudden the sun,
And against him the cattle stood black every one,
To stare through the mist at us galloping past,
And I saw my stout galloper Roland at last,
With resolute shoulders, each butting away
The haze, as some bluff river headland its spray.

And his low head and crest, just one sharp ear bent back
For my voice, and the other pricked out on his track;
And one eye's black intelligence-ever that glance
O'er its white edge at me, his own master, askance!
And the thick heavy spume-flakes, which aye and anon
His fierce lips shook upwards in galloping on.

By Hasselt, Dirck groaned; and cried Joris, "STAY SPUR!"

Your Ross galloped bravely, the fault's not in her,
We'll remember at Aix"-for one heard the quick wheeze
Of her chest, saw her stretched neck and staggering knees,
And sunk tail, and horrible heave of the flank,

As down on her haunches she shuddered and sank.

So we were left galloping, Joris and I,

Past Looz and past Tongres, no cloud in the sky;
The broad sun above laughed a pitiless laugh,

'Neath our feet broke the brittle bright stubble like chaff';

Till over by Dalhem a dome-spire sprang white,

66

And "GALLOP," gasped Joris, FOR AIX IS IN SIGHT!"

"How they'll greet us!" and all in a moment his roan Rolled neck and crop over, lay dead as a stone;