34 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 64. 



The peculiarly idiomatic expression "I take it" 

 is of frequent occurrence in Fletcher, as witness 

 the following : — 



" This is no lining for a trench, I talie it." 



Rule a m/e. III. 

 " And you have land i' th' Indies, as T take it." 



Jbid. IV. 

 " A fault without forgiveness, as I take it." 



JHlgrim, IV. 1. 

 " In noble emulation (so I take it)." — Ibid. IV. 2. 



In one scene of Henry VIII., Act I. 3., the 

 expression occurs twice: " One would take it;" 

 " Tliere, I take it." 



Of a peculiar manner of introducing a negative 

 condition, one instance from Fletcher, and one 

 from Henry VIII. in reference to the same sub- 

 stantive, though used in dilferent senses, will 

 suffice : 



" All noble battles, 

 Maintain'd in thirst of honour, not of blood." 



Bonditca, V. 1. 

 " And those about her 

 From her shall read the perfect ways of honour, 

 And by those claim their greatness, not by blood." 



Htnry VII I., V. 4. 



Of a kind of parenthetical asseveration, a single 

 instance, also, from each will suffice : 



"My innocent life (I dare maintain it. Sir)." 



Wife, for a MohOi, IV. 1. 

 " A woman (I dare say, without vain glory) 

 [Never yet branded with suspicion." 



Hc7ui/ VII L, III. 1. 



" A great patience," in Hem-y VIIL, may be 

 paralleled by " a brave patience," in The Tiro 

 Noble Kinsmen: and the expression "aim at," 

 occurring at the close of the verse (as, by the bye, 

 almost all Fletcher's peculiarities do) as seen in 

 Act III. I., 



" Madam, you wander from the good we aim at," 

 is so frequently to be met with in Fletcher, that, 

 having noted four instances in the Pilgrim, three 

 in the Custom of the Country, and four in the 

 Elder Brother, I thought I had I'ound more than 

 enough. 



Now, Sir, on reading Henry VIII., and meeting 

 with each of these instances, I felt that I remem- 

 bered "the trick of that voice;" and, without 

 having at present by me any means for reference, 

 I feel confident that of the commonest examples 

 not so many can be found among all the rest of 

 the reputed plays of Shakspeare, as in Henry VIII. 

 alone, or rather in those parts of Henry VIIT. 

 which I reject as Shakspeare's ; while of the more 

 remarkable, I think I might challenge the pro- 

 duction of a single instance. 



My original intention in the present paper was 

 merely to call attention to a few such expressions 

 as the foregoing ; but I cannot resist the impulse 

 to quote one or two parallels of a different cha- 

 racter : — 



Henry VIII. : 

 " The dews of heaven fall thick in blessings on her 1" 



Act IV. 2. 

 Fletcher : 



" The dew of sleep fall gently on you, sweet one ! " 



Elder Brother, IV. 3. 

 " Blessings from heaven in thousand showers fall on 



ye \'—Iiollo, II. 3. 

 '' And all the plagues they can inflict, I «-ish it. 

 Fall thick upon me !" — Kniyht of Malta, III. 2. 



Henry VIIL : 



" To-day he puts forth 

 The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms." 



Act 111. 2. 

 Fletcher : 

 " My long-since-blasted hopes shoot out in blossoms." 



Hollo, II. 3. 



These instances, of course, prove nothing ; yet 

 they are worth the noting. If, however, I were 

 called upon to produce two passages from the 

 whole of Fletcher's writings most strikingly cha- 

 racteristic of his style, and not more in expression 

 than in thought, I should fix upon the third scene 

 of the first act of Henry VIII., and the soliloquy 

 of Wolsey, beginning — 



" Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness!" 



In conclusion, allow me to remark, that I am 

 quite content to have been anticipated by Mr. 

 Spedding in this discovery (if discovery you and 

 your readers will allow it to be), for the satisfac- 

 tion I am thereby assured of in the concurrence 

 of so acute a critic as himself, and of a poet so 

 true as the poet-laureate. Samxjkl Hickson. 



Dee. 10. 1850. 



THE CAVALIER S FAREWELL. 



The following song is extracted from the MS. 

 Diary of the llev. John Adamson (afterwards 

 Hector of Burton Goggles, Lincolnshire) com- 

 mencing in 1658. Can any of your readers point 

 out who was the author ? — 



" THE cavalier's FAREWELI, TO HIS MISTRESS BEING 

 CALLED TO THE WARBS." 



I. 



" Ffair Ffidelia tempt no more, 

 I may no more thy deity adore 

 Nor offer to thy shrine, 

 I serve one more divine 

 And farr more great y° you : 



I must goe. 



Lest the foe 

 Gaine the cause and win the day. 

 Let's march bravely on 

 Charge y™ in the Van 

 Our Cause God's is, 

 Though their odds ia 



Ten to one. 



