The words, therefore, which the second villain utters relative to Pilate, seem to conduct us to the source whence the idea of a troubled dream entered Shakespeare's mind, as a prelude to the horrid event that consigns Clarence to the tomb.

More Proverb-quotations may now be produced, in defence of the conjectures that have been made relating to them.

The following words burst from the lips of the devoted Hastings, a short time before he lays his head upon the block :

66

Hastings. O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!
Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks,
Lives like a (drunken) sailor on a mast;
Ready with every nod to tumble down

Into the fatal bowels of the deep."

that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast." Prov. xxiii. 34.

The word drunken, proves that Shakespeare derived the idea, "lives like a drunken sailor on a mast," from Proverbs, as above indicated.

And see him safe i' the Tower.

Cranmer. Stay, good my lords,

I have a little yet to say. Look there, my lords;
By virtue of that ring, I take my cause
Out of the gripes of cruel men, and give it
To a most noble judge, the king my master.
Chamberlain. This is the king's ring.
Surrey. 'Tis no counterfeit.

Suffolk. 'Tis the right ring, by Heaven: I told ye all, When first we put this dang'rous stone a rolling, 'Twould fall upon ourselves."

["Stone a rolling."]" He that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him." Prov. xxvi. 27.

As Proverb-quotations cannot again appear thus collectively, passages in the play of Henry VIII., connected with our subject, which have not yet been noticed, may follow in their natural course.

ACT I. SCENE I.

London.

NORFOLK'S advice to BUCKINGHAM, who plans destruction to CARDINAL WOLSEY.

Norfolk. Be advised;

Heat not a furnace for your foes so hot
That you do singe yourself."

[" Furnace for your foes so hot."]" Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego therefore he spake, and commanded that they

should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

"Therefore because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego." Dan. iii. 19, 22.

ACT IT. SCENE II.

An Antechamber in the Palace.

From a Dialogue between the LORD CHAMBERLAIN and the DUKES OF NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, relative to CARDINAL WOLSEY.

“Chamberlain. Heaven will one day open

The king's eyes, that so long have slept upon

This bold, bad man.

Suffolk. And free us from his slavery.
Norfolk. We had need pray,

And heartily, for our deliverance;
Or this imperious man will work us all
From princes into pages: all men's honours
Lie like one lump before him, to be fashion'd
Into what pitch he please."

["Into what pitch."]

"This allusion seems to be to the 21st verse of the 9th chapter of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans—

"Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honour, and another into dishonour?"-Collins.

We may now add the latter part of Wolsey's speech, which commences with the words "So farewell to the little good you bear me,” in

ACT III. SCENE II.

"Wolsey. Vain pomp and glory of the world, I hate ye; I feel my heart new open'd: O how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favours! There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes and our ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again."

[“Falls like Lucifer.”]—“ How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north

"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the Most High.

"Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." Isa. xiv. 12, 13, 14, 15.

ACT V. SCENE I.

"Cranmer. I humbly thank your highness; And am right glad to catch this good occasion Most thoroughly to be winnow'd, where my chaff And corn shall fly asunder: for, I know,

There's none stands under more calumnious tongues Than I myself, poor man

יי!.

["Most thoroughly to be winnow'd.”]—A turn

of expression, not unlike this, occurs in the 9th chapter of the prophet Amos:

"For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." Amos ix. 9.

ACT V. SCENE III.

The Palace Yard. Noise and tumult within.
Enter PORTER and his Man.

"Porter. How got they in, and be hanged?
Man. Alas! I know not; how gets the tide in?
As much as one sound cudgel of four foot
[You see the poor remainder] could distribute,
I made no spare, sir.

Porter. You did nothing, sir.

Man. I am not Samson,

* *

*

to mow them down before me."

["Samson to mow them down."]“ Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? (when Samson had, with foxes and firebrands, burnt up their shocks, their standing corn, vineyards, and oliveyards.) And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion.

"And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

"And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will

cease.