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 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 stampt on the king's coin.

Sur. Then, that you have sent innumerable substance (By what means got, I leave to your own conscience,) 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,

Fress 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 see 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 legatine within this kingdom,

Fall into the compass of a pramunire,2

That therefore such a writ be su'd against you;
To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,

Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be

[2] It is almost unnecessary to observe that pramunire is a Bararous word used instead of præmonere. STEEVENS.

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,
Weary, and old with service, to the mercy
Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me.
Vain pomp, and glory of this world, I hate ye;
I feel my heart new open'd: O, how wretched
Is that poor man, that hangs on princes' favours !
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,
That sweet aspéct of princes, and their ruin,
More pangs and fears than wars or women have ;
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again.

Enter CROMWELL amazedly.

Why, how now, Cromwell?

.

Crom. I have no power to speak, sir.

Wol. What, amaz'd

At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder,

A great man should decline?. Nay, an you weep,
I am fallen indeed.

Crom. How does your grace?

Wol. Why, well;

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. The king has cur'd me, I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders,

H

VOL. VII.

These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken
A load would sink a navy, too 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, methinks,

(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!

Crom. The next is, that Sir Thomas More is chosen Lord Chancellor in your place.

Wol. That's somewhat sudden :

But he's a learned man.

May he continue

Long in his highness' favour, and do justice

For truth's sake, and his conscience; that his bones,
When he has run his course, and sleeps in blessings,
May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on 'em!3
What more?

Crom. That Cranmer is return'd with welcome,
Install'd lord archbishop of Canterbury.

Wol. That's news indeed.

Crom. 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. O Crom

The king has 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

[well.

Upon my smiles. Go, get thee from me, Cromwell;
I am a poor fallen man, unworthy now

To be thy lord and master. Seek the king;

That sun, I pray, may never set! I have told him
What, and how true thou art he will advance thee;
Some little memory of me will stir him,

(I know his noble nature,) not to let

Thy hopeful service perish too : Good Cromwell,

[3] The chancellor is the general guardian if orphans. A tomb of tears is very harsh. JOHNSON.

KING HENRY VIII.

4

Neglect him not: make use now, and provide
For thine own future safety.
Crom. O my lord,

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, 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,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by't?

171

Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee :*. Corruption wins not more than honesty.

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,

To silence envious tongues.

Be just, and fear not :

Let all the ends, thou aim'st at, be thy country's,

[4] i. e. Make interest.

STEEVENS.

[5] Though this be good divinity, and an admirable precept for our conduct in private life, it was never calculated or designed for the magistrate or public minister. Nor could this be the direction of a man experienced in affairs to his pupil. It would make a good christian, but a very ill and very unjust statesman. And we have othing so infamous in tradition, as the supposed advice given to one of our kings, fo cherish his enemies, and be in no pain for his friends. I am of opinion the poet

rote:

cherish those hearts that wait thee:

that is, thy dependants. For the contrary practice had contributed to Wolsey's ruin. He was not careful enough in making dependants by his bounty, while intent in Amassing wealth to himself. The following line seems to confirm this correction : Corruption wins not more than honesty. That is, You will never find men won over to your temporary occasions by bribery, so useful to you as friends made by a just and generous munificence. WARBURTON.

I am unwilling wantonly to contradict so ingenious a remark, but that the reader ay not be misled, and believe the emendation proposed to be necessary, he should emember that this is not a time for Wolsey to speak only as a statesman, but as a christian. Shakespeare would have debased the character, just when he was employing his strongest efforts to raise it, had he drawn it otherwise. Nothing makes the hour of disgrace more irksome, than the reflection, that we have been deaf to offers of reconciliation, and perpetuated that enmity which we might have conerted into friendship. STEEVENS.

Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell Thou fall'st a blessed martyr.

And,-pr'ythee, lead me in:

Serve the king;

There take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 'tis the king's my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell,

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.

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

ACT IV.

[Exeuni

SCENE I.-A street in Westminster. Enter two Gentlemen

meeting.

1 Gen. You are well met once again.

2 Gen. And so are you.

1 Gen. You come to take your stand here, and behold The lady Anne pass from her coronation ?

2 Gen. 'Tis all my business.

At our last encounter,

The duke of Buckingham came from his trial.

1 Gen. 'Tis very true: but that time offered sorrow This, general joy.

2 Gen. 'Tis well: The citizens,

I am sure, have shown at full their royal minds ;

As, let them have their rights, they are ever forward'

In celebration of this day with shows,

Pageants, and sights of honour.

1 Gen. Never greater,

Nor, I'll assure you, better taken, sir.

2 Gen. May I be bold to ask what that contains,

That paper in your hand?

1 Gen. Yes; 'tis the list

Of those, that claim their offices this day,

By custom of the coronation.

JOHNSON.

[5] This sentence was really uttered by Wolsey. Antonio Perez, the favourite of Philip II. of Spain made the same pathetic com plaint: "Mon zele etoit si grand vers ces benignes puissances [la cour de Turin, que si j'en eusse seu autant pour Dieu, je ne doubte point qu'il ne m'eut deja recom pensé de son paradis." MALONE.

This was a strange sentence for Wolsey to utter, who was disgraced for the bases treachery to his king in the affair of the divorce: but it shows how naturally men endeavour to palliate their crimes even to themselves. MASON.