They must weigh out my amletions, They that my trust must grow to, live not here ;

They are, as all my other comforts, far hence, In inine own country, lords.

Cam. I would your grace

Would leave your griefs, and take my counsel. Q. Kath. How, Sir?

Cam. Put your main cause into the king's protection;

He's loving, and most gracious; 'twill be much

Both for your honour better, and your cause;
For, if the trial of the law o'ertake you,
You'll part away disgrac'd.

Wol. He tells you rightly.

Q. Kath. Ye tell me what ye wish for both, my ruin;

Is this your Christian counsel? out upon ye!
Heaven is above all yet; there sits a judge,
That no king can corrupt.

Cam. Your rage mistakes us.

Q. Kath. The more shame for ye; holy men I thought ye,

Upon my soul, two reverend cardinal virtues : But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear

ye:

Mend them for shame, my lords. Is this your comfort?

The cordial that ye bring a wretched lady?
A woman lost among ye, laugh'd at, scorn'd?
I will not wish ye half my miseries,

I have more charity: But say, I warn'd ye; Take heed, for heaven's sake, take heed, lest at once

The burden of my sorrows fall upon ye.
Wol. Madam, this is a mere distraction;
You turn the good we offer into envy.

Q. Kath. Ye turn me into nothing: Woe upon ye,

And all such false professors! Would ye haye

Q. Kath. Have I liv'd thus long-(let me speak myself,

Since virtue finds no friends,)-a wife, a true one ?

A woman (I dare say, without vain-glory,)
Never yet branded with suspicion ?
Have I with all my full affections

Still met the king? lov'd him next heaven? obey'd him?

Been, out of fondness, superstitious to him ? +
Almost forgot my prayers to content him?
And am I thus rewarded ? 'tis not well, lords.
Bring me a constant woman to her husband,
One that ne'er dream'd a joy beyond bis plea-

Wol. 'Pray hear me.

Almost no grave allow'd me :-Like the lily, That once was mistress of the field, and flou. rish'd,

I'll hang my head, and perish.
Wol. If your grace

Could but be brought to know, our ends are honest,

You'd feel more comfort: why should we, good lady,

Upon what cause, wrong you? Alas! our places,
The way of our profession is against it;
We are to cure such sorrows, not to sow them,
For goodness' sake, consider what you do;
How you may hurt yourself, ay, utterly
Grow from the king's acquaintance, by this
carriage.

The hearts of princes kiss obedience,
So much they love it; but to stubborn spirits
They swell, and grow as terrible as storms.
I know you have a gentle, noble temper,
A soul as even as a calm; Pray, think us
Those we profess, peace-makers, friends, and

servants.

Cam. Madam, you'll find it so. You wrong your virtues

With these weak women's fears. A noble spirit,

As your's was put into you, ever casts
Such doubts, as false coin, from it. The king
loves you:

Beware, you lose it not: For us, if you please
To trust us in your business, we are ready
To use our utmost studies in your service.

Q. Kath. Do what ye will, my lords; and pray, forgive me,

If I have us'd myself unmannerly ;
You know I am a woman, lacking wit
To make a seemly answer to such persons.
Pray, do my service to his majesty:

He has my heart yet; and shall have my prayers,

While I shall have my life. Come, reverend fathers,

Bestow your counsels on me: she now begs, That little thought, when she set footing here, She should have bought her dignities so dear.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-Ante-chamber to the King's Apartment.

Enter the Duke of NORFOLK, the Duke of SUFFOLK, the Earl of SURREY, and the Lord CHAMBERLAIN.

Nor. If you will now unite in your complaints,

And force them with a constancy, the cardinal

Cannot stand under them if you omit
The offer of this time, I cannot promise,
But that you shall sustain more new disgraces,
with these you bear already.

Sur. I am joyful

lish earth,

Out of himself!

What he deserves of you and me, I know;
What we can do to him, (though now the time
Gives way to us,) I much fear. If you cannot
Bar his access to the king, never attempt
Any thing on him; for he hath a witchcraft
Over the king in his tongue.

Nor. Oh fear him not;

His spell in that is out: the king hath found Matter against him, that for ever mars

The honey of his language. No, he's settled, Not to come off, in his displeasure.

After his patient's death; the king already Hath married the fair lady.

Sur. 'Would he had!

Suf. May you be happy in your wish, my lord!

For, I profess, you have it.

Sur. Now all my joy

Trace the conjunction!
Suf. My amen to't!
Nor. All men's.

Suf. There's order given for her coronation:

Marry, this is yet but young, † and may be left

To some ears unrecounted.-But, my lords,
She is a gallant creature, and complete

In mind and feature: I persuade me, from her
Will fall some blessing to this land, which

sball

Campeius

Is stolen away to Rome; hath ta'en no leave; Has left the cause o'the king unhandled; and Is posted, as the agent of our cardinal,

To second all his plot. I do assure you

The king cry'd, ha! at this.

Cham. Now, God incense him,

And let him cry ha, louder!

Nor. But, my lord,

When returus Craumer?

Suf. He is return'd, in his opinions; which Have satisfied the king for his divorce, Together with all famous colleges

Almost in Christendom: shortly, I believe, His second marriage shall be publish'd, and

Wol. Is he ready

To come abroad?

Crom. I think by this he is.
Wol. Leave me a while.-

[Exit CROMWELL.

It shall be to the duchess of Alençon,
The French king's sister he shall marry her.-
Anne Bullen! No; I'll no Anne Buliens for
him:

There is more in it than fair visage.-Bullen!
No, we'll no Bullens.-Speedily I wish
To hear from Rome.-The

Pembroke !

Nor. He's discontented.

marchioness of

Suf. May be, he bears the king Does whet his anger to him.

Sur. Sharp enough,

Lord, for thy justice!

Wol. The late queen's gentlewoman;

knight's daughter,

a

To be her mistress' mistress ! the queen's

qnee. !

This candle burns not clear: 'tis I must

snuff it;

A heretic, an arch one, Cranmer; one
Hath crawl'd into the favour of the king,
And is his oracle.

Nor. He is vex'd at something.

Suf. I would 'twere something that would fret the string,

The master-cord of his heart!

Enter the KING, reading a Schedule; and LOVELL.

Suf. The king, the king.

K. Hen. What piles of wealth bath he accumulated

To his own portion! and what expence by the

hour

His eye against the moon: in most strange postures

We have seen him set himself.

K. Hen. It may well be;

There is a mutiny in his mind. This morning
Papers of state he sent me to peruse,
As I requir'd; And, wot you, what I found
There; on my conscience, put unwittingly?
Forsooth, an inventory, thus importing,-
The several parcels of his plate, his treasure,
Frich stuffs, and ornaments of household; which
1 find at such proud rate, that it out-speaks
Possession of a subject.

Nor. It's heaven's will;

Some spirit put this paper in the packet,
To bless your eye withal.

K. Hen. If we did think

His contemplation were above the earth,
And fix'd on spiritual object, he should still
Dwell in his musings: but I am afraid,

His thinkings are below the moon, not worth
His serious considering.

[He takes his seat, and whispers LovELL, who goes to WOLSEY. Wol. Heaven forgive me! Ever God bless your highness! K. Hen. Good my lord,

You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the inventory

Of your best graces in your mind; the which You were now running o'er; you have scarce time

To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span,
To keep your earthly audit: sure, in that
I deem you an ill husband; and am glad
To have you therein my companion.
Wol. Sir,

For holy offices I have a time; a time

To think upon the part of business, which

I bear i'the state; and nature does require

Her times of preservation, which, perforce,

I, her frail son, amongst my brethren mortal,
Must give my tendance to.

K. Her. You have said well.

Appear in forms more horrid; yet my duty,
As doth a rock against the chiding flood,
Should the approach of this wild river break,
And stand unshaken your's.

K. Hen. 'Tis nobly spoken:
Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast,
For you have seen him open't.—Read o'er this ;
[Giving him papers.
And, after, this: and then to breakfast, with
What appetite you have.

[Exit KING, frowning upon Cardinal WOLSEY: the Nobles throng after him, smiling and whispering. Wol. What should this mean?

What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd it?
He parted frowning from me, as if ruin
Leap'd from bis eyes: So looks the chafed
lion

Upon the daring huntsman that bas gall'd him;
Then makes him nothing. I must read this

pader:

I fear the story of his anger.-'Tis so;

This paper has undone me :--'Tis the account

gether,

As I will lend you cause, my doing we

With my well saying!

K. Hen. 'Tis well said again;

And 'tis a kind of good deed, to say well :

And yet words are no deeds. My father lov'd

My studied purposes requite; which went
Beyond all man's endeavours -my endeavours
Have ever come too short of my desires,
Yet, fil'd with my abilities: Mine own ende
Have been mine so, that evermore they pointed
To the good of your most sacred person, and
The profit of the state. For your great graces
Heap'd upon me, poor undeserver, I
Can nothing render but allegiant thanks;
My prayers to heaven for you; my loyalty,
Which ever has, and ever shall be growing,
Till death, that winter kill it.

• Know.

Pope?

The letter, as I live, with all the business
I writ to his holiness. Nay then, farewell!

I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness;

And, from that full meridian of my glory,
Ihaste now to my setting: I shall fall
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
And no man see me more.

Re-enter the Dukes of NORFOLK, and SUP-
FOLK, the Earl of SURREY, and the Lord
CHAMBERLAIN.

Nor. Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you

To render up the great seal presently

Into our hands; and to confine yourself
To Asher-house, my lord of Winchester's,
Till you hear further from his highness.

Wol. Stay,

(I mean, your malice,) know, officions lords,
I dare, and must deny it. Now I feel
Of what coarse metal ye are moulded,-envy.
How eagerly ye follow my disgraces,

As if it fed ye and how sleek and wanton
Ye appear in every thing may bring my ruin!
Follow your envious courses, men of malice;
You have Christian warrant for them, and, no
doubt,

In time will find their fit rewards. That seal,
You ask with such a violence, the king,
(Mine and your master,) with his own hand
gave me ;

Bade me enjoy it, with the place and honours, During my life; and, to confirm his goodness, Tied it by letters patents: Now, who'll take it? Sur. The king, that gave it.

Wol. It must be himself then.

Sur. Thou art a proud traitor, priest.
Wol. Proud lord, thou liest;
Within these forty hours Surrey durst better
Have burnt that tongue, than said so.

Sur. Thy ambition,

Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law: The heads of all thy brother cardinals, (With thee, and all thy best parts bound to gether,)

Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your poYou sent me deputy for Ireland; [licy!

Far from his succour, from the king, from all That might have mercy on the fault thou gav'st him;

Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity,
Absolv'd him with an axe.

Wol. This, and all else

This talking lord can lay upon my credit,
I answer is most false. The duke by law
Found his deserts: how innocent I was
From any private malice in his end,
His noble jury and foul cause can witness.
If I lov'd many words, lord, I should tell you,
You have as little honesty as honour;
That I, in the way of loyalty and truth
Toward the king, my ever royal master,

Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be,
And all that love his follies.

Sur. By my soul,

Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou should'st feel

My sword i'the life-blood of thee else.-My lords,
Can ye endure to hear this arrogance ?
And from this fellow? If we live thus tamely,
To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet,
Farewell nobility; let his grace go forward,
And dare us with his cap, like Jarks.
Wol. All goodness

Is poison to thy stomach.

Sur. Yes, that goodness

Of gleaning all the land's wealth into one,
Into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion;
The goodness of your intercepted packets,
You writ to the pope, against the king: your
goodness,

Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious.
My lord of Norfolk,-as you are truly noble,
As you respect the common good, the state
Of our despis'd nobility, our issues,
Who, if be live, will scarce be gentlemen,-
Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles
Collected from his life :-I'll startle you
Worse than the scaring bell, when the brown
wench

Lay kissing in your arms, lord cardinal.
Wol. How much, methinks, I could despise

this man,

But that I am bound in charity against it!

And spotless, shall mine innocence arise, When the king knows my truth.

Sur. This cannot save you :

I thank my memory, I yet remember
Some of these articles; and out they shall.
Now, if you can blush, and cry guilty, cardinal,
You'll show a little honesty.

Wol. Speak on, Sir:

I dare your worst objections: if I blush,
It is to see a nobleman want manners.

Sur. I'd rather want those, than my head.
Have at you.

First, that, without the king's assent, or knowledge,

You wrought to be a legate; by which power
You maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops.

Nor. Then, that, in all you writ to Rome, or else

To foreign princes, Ego et Rex meus
Was still inscrib'd; in which you brought the
To be your servant.
[king

Suf. Then, that, without the knowledge
Either of king or council, when you went
Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold
To carry into Flanders the great seal.

Sur. Item, you sent a large commission To Gregory de Cassalis, to conclude, Without the king's will, or the state's allowance, A league between his highness and Ferrara.

Suf. That, out of mere ambition, you have caus'd

Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin. Sur. Then, that you have sent innumerable substance,

(By what means got, I leave to your own con. science,)

To furnish Rome, and to prepare the ways
You have for dignities; to the mere undoing
Of all the kingdom. Many more there are;
Which, since they are of you, and odious,
I will not taint my mouth with.

Cham. O my lord,

Press not a falling man too far: 'tis virtue :
His faults lie open to the laws; let them,
Not you, correct him. My heart weeps to sea
him

So little of his great self.

Sur. I forgive him.

Suf. Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is,

Because all those things, you have done of late
By your power legatiue within this kingdom,
Fall into the compass of a pramunire, —
That therefore such a writ be sued against you:
To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,
Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be
Out of the king's protection:-This is my
charge.

Nor. And so we'll leave you to your medita. tions

How to live better. For your stubborn answer,
About the giving back the great seal to us,
The king shall know it, and, no doubt, shall

thank you.

So fare you well, my little good lord cardinal, [Exeunt all but WOLSEY. Wol. So farewell to the little good you bear

me.

Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness! This is the state of man; To day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honours thick upon

Lim:

king's hand:

But, thus much, they are foul ones. Wol. So much fairer,

This many summers in a sea of glory;
But far beyond my depth: my bigh-blown pride
At length broke under me; and now has it?
me,

Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell.

I know myself now; and I feel within me
A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience.

cur'd me

The king has

I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders,

These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken
A load would sink a navy, to much honour:
O'tis a burden, Cromwell, 'tis a burden,
Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven.
Crom. I am glad, your grace has made that
right use of it.

Wol. I hope I have: I am able now,
thinks,

(Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,)

To endure more miseries, and greater far,
Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer.
What news abroad?

Crom. The heaviest, and the worst,

Is your displeasure with the king.
Wol. God bless him!

Must I then leave you? Must I needs forego
So good, so noble, and so true a master?
Bear witness, all that have not hearts of iron,
With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his
lord.-

The king shall have my service; but my prayers
For ever and for ever shall be your's.

Wol. Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear

In all my miseries; but thou hast forc'd me
Out of thy honest truth to play the woman.
Let's dry our eyes and thus far hear me, Crom
well;

And, (when I am forgotten, as I shall be:
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no men-

tion

of me more must be heard of,) say, I taught thee,

Say, Wolsey, (that once trod the ways of glory, And sounded all the depths and shoals of hon

our,)

not:

come,

Install'd lord archbishop of Canterbury.
Wol. That's news indeed.

Crom. Last, that the lady Anne,

Whom the king bath in secrecy long married,
This day was view'd in open, as his queen,
Going to chapel; and the voice is now
Only about her coronation.

Wol. There was the weight that pull'd me down. O Cromwell,

The king bas gone beyond me, all my glories
In that one woman I have lost for ever:
No sun shall ever usher forth mine honours,
Or gild again the noble troops that waited
Upon my smiles. Go, get thee from me, Crom-

well;

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Crom

well,

Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal

I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies. ↑
Crom. Good Sir, have patience.
Wol. So I have. Farewell

The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do
dwell.
[Exeunt.