"To-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms."—Act III. 2.
Fletcher:
"My long-since-blasted hopes shoot out in blossoms."—Rollo, 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 characteristic 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 satisfaction 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.
SAMUEL HICKSON.
Dec. 10. 1850.