“Of flattringe speeche, with sugred wordes beware,
Suspect the harte, whose face doth fawne, and smile,
With trusting theise, the worlde is clog’de with care,
And fewe there bee can scape theise vipers vile:
With pleasinge speeche they promise, and proteste,
When hatefull hartes lie hidd within their brest.”
According to the 2nd part of Henry VI. (act iii. sc. 1, l. 224, vol. v. p. 158), the king speaks favourably of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Margaret the queen declares to the attendant nobles,—
“Henry my lord is cold in great affairs,
Too full of foolish pity, and Gloucester’s show
Beguiles him as the mournful crocodile