Beware you lose it not: For us, if you please Q. Kath. Do what ye will, my lords: And, pray, If I have us'd myself unmannerly; He has my heart yet; and shall have my prayers, SCENE II. ment. Enter the DUKE OF NORFOLK, the DUKE OF SUFFOLK, the EARL OF SURREY, and the Lord Chamberlain. Nor. If you 'Would he had! My amen to't! All men's. Suf. There's order given for her coronation: In mind and feature: I persuade me, from her But, will the king will now unite in your complaints, Digest this letter of the cardinal's? And force them with a constancy, the cardinal But that you shall sustain more new disgraces, Sur. I am joyful To meet the least occasion, that may give me Which of the peers Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least Cham. My lords, you speak your pleasures: Nor. O, how, how? 4 Enforce. Enter WOLSEY and CROMWELL. Observe, observe, he's moody. Wol. The packet, Cromwell, gave it you the king? : Presently Suf. The cardinal's letter to the pope miscarried, He did unseal them and the first he view'd, 3 Behaved. Dwell in his musings: but, I am afraid, [He takes his Seat, and whispers Lovell, Wol. K. Hen. Good, my lord, You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the in 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 Bullens for him : There is more in it than fair visage. Bullen! Of your best graces in your mind; the which No, we'll no Bullens. - Speedily I wish You were now running o'er; you have scarce time The marchioness of Pem- To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span; To hear from Rome. broke! ventory To keep your earthly audit: Sure, in that Nor. He's discontented. Does whet his anger to him. Sir, And 'tis a kind of good deed, to say well: I have kept you next my heart; have not alone Suf. I would, 'twere something that would fret Employ'd you where high profits might come home, the string, The master-cord of his heart! My lord, we have Stood here observing him: Some strange commotion Is in his brain: he bites his lip, and starts; Stops on a sudden, looks upon the ground, Then, lays his finger on his temple; straight, Springs out into fast gait 7; then, stops again, Strikes his breast hard; and anon, he casts 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 8 you, what I found There; on my conscience, put unwittingly? Forsooth, an inventory, thus importing, The several parcels of his plate, his treasure, Rich stuffs and ornaments of household; which I find at such proud rate, that it outspeaks Possession of a subject. The prime man of the state? I pray you, tell me, '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. I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness; Re-enter the DUKES OF NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, the To render up the great seal presently Wol. Stay, Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry Esher in Surrey. This talking lord can lay upon my credit, Is poison to thy stomach. All goodness 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 he 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 sacring bell, lord cardinal. Wol. How much, methinks, I could despise this Sur. This cannot save you: | Weary, and old with service, to the mercy I thank my memory, I yet remember 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. at you. Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me. First, that, without the king's assent, or knowledge, 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 king To be your servant. 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 sub stance, (By what means got, I leave to your own conscience,) Sur. O my lord, 'tis virtue: let them, I forgive him. Suf. Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is,— Because all those things, you have done of late By your power legatine within this kingdom, Fall into the compass of a pramunire 6,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 meditations 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 him: The third day, comes a frost, a killing frost; And,-when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a ripening,-nips his root, And then he falls, as I do. I have ventur'd, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory; But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride At length broke under me; and now has left me, 6 A writ incurring a penalty. 5 Absolute. Crom. Wol. Why, well; Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell. A still and quiet conscience. The king has cur'd me, A load would sink a navy, too much honour; Crom. I am glad, your grace has made that right use of it. Wol. I hope, I have: I am able now, methinks, (Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,) To endure more miseries, and greater far, Crom. The heaviest and the worst, Is your displeasure with the king. Wol. God bless him! Crom. The next is, that sir Thomas More is chosen Lord chancellor in your place. Wol. That's somewhat sudden : May he continue But he's a learned man. Crom. That Cranmer is return'd with welcome, Last, that the lady Anne, Whom the king hath 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. The king has gone beyond me, all my glories The chancellor is the guardian of orphans. Thy hopeful service perish too: Good Cromwell, Crom. 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, Cromwell; And,-when I am forgotten, as I shall be; And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention 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 honour,Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in; A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd it. Mark but my fall, and that that ruin'd me. Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition; By that sin fell the angels; how can man then, To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not; Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. Serve the king, There take an inventory of all I have, To the last penny: 'tis the king's: my robe, I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell, So I have. Farewell, The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell. [Exeunt. SCENE I.-A Street in Westminster. 1 Gent. You are well met once again. ACT IV. And so are you. 1 Gent. You come to take your stand here, and behold The lady Anne pass from her coronation? And, to be short, for not appearance, and Alas, good lady! [Trumpets. 2 Gent. 'Tis all my business. At our last en- The trumpets sound: stand close, the queen is 3. him. Choristers singing. Never greater, 4. 5. Nor, I'll assure you, better taken, sir. 2 Gent. May I be bold to ask what that contains, That paper in your hand? 1 Gent. Yes; 'tis the list Of those that claim their offices this day, By custom of the coronation. The duke of Suffolk is the first, and claims 2 Gent. I thank you, sir; had I not known those customs, I should have been beholden to your paper. 1 Gent. That I can tell you too. The archbishop Of Canterbury, accompanied with other 8 Interest. [Musick. Mayor of London, bearing the mace. Then Garter, in his coat of arms, and, on his head, a g copper crown. Marquis Dorset, bearing a scepter of gold, on his head a demi-coronal of gold. With him, the Earl of Surrey, bearing the rod of steer, with the dove, crowned with an earl's coronetCollars of SS. 6. Duke of Suffolk, in his robe of estate, his coronet on his head, bearing a long white wand, as high steward. With him the Duke of Norfolk, with the rod of marshalship, a coronet on his head. Collars of SS. 7. A canopy borne by four of the Cinque-ports; under it, the Queen in her robe; in her hair, richly adorned with pearl, crowned. On each sule of her, the Bishops of London and Winchester. 8. The old Duchess of Norfolk, in a coronal of gold, wrought with flowers, bearing the Queen's train. 9. Certain Ladies or Countesses, with plain circles of gold without flowers. |