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 than fair visage.-Bullen!
No, we'll no Bullens.-Speedily I wish

To hear from Rome.-The marchioness of Pembroke !
Nor. He's discontented.

Suf. May be, he hears the king

Does whet his anger to him.
Sur. Sharp enough,

Lord, for thy justice!

Wol. The late queen's gentlewoman; a knight's daughter, To be her mistress' mistress! the queen's queen!

This candle burns not clear: 'tis I must snuff it;

Then, out it goes.-What though I know her virtuous,
And well-deserving? yet I know her for

A spleeny Lutheran; and not wholesome to

Our cause, that she should lie i' the bosom of

Our hard-ruled king. Again, there is sprung up
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 hath he accumulated
To his own portion! and what expense by the hour
Seems to flow from him! How, i' the name of thrift,
Does he rake this together?-Now, my lords;
Saw you the cardinal ?

Nor. 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; 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 required; 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,
Rich stuffs, and ornaments of household; which

* An inventory.

VOL. III.

+ Steps. 2 C

+ Know.

I 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. Hen. You have said well.

Wol. And ever may your highness yoke together, As I will lend you cause, my doing well

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 loved you:
He said, he did; and with his deed did crown

His word upon you. Since I had my office,

I have kept you next my heart; have not alone
Employ'd you where high profits might come home,
But pared my present havings, to bestow

My bounties upon you.

Wol. What should this mean?

Sur. The Lord increase this business!
K. Hen. Have I not made you

The prime man of the state? I pray you, tell me,
If what I now pronounce, you have found true:
And, if you may confess it, say withal,

If you are bound to us or no. What say you?

Wol. My sovereign, I confess, your royal graces,
Shower'd on me daily, have been more than could
My studied purposes requite; which went
Beyond all man's endeavours:-my endeavours

[Aside.

Have ever come too short of my desires,
Yet filed with my abilities: Mine own ends
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.

K. Hen. Fairly answer'd;

A loyal and obedient subject is

Therein illustrated: The honour of it
Does pay the act of it; as, i' the contrary,

The foulness is the punishment. I presume,
That, as my hand has open'd bounty to you,

My heart dropp'd love, my power rain'd honour, more
On you, than any; so your hand, and heart,
Your brain, and every function of your power,
Should, notwithstanding that your bond of duty,
As 'twere in love's particular, be more

To me, your friend, than any.

Wol. I do profess,

That for your highness' good I ever labour'd
More than mine own; that am, have, and will be.
Though all the world should crack their duty to you,
And throw it from their soul: though perils did
Abound, as thick as thought could make them, and
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 yours,

K. Hen. 'Tis nobly spoken:

Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast,

For you have seen him open't.-Read o'er this;

And, after, this: and then to breakfast, with
What appetite you have.

[Giving him papers.

[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 his eyes: So looks the chafed lion
Upon the daring huntsman that has gall'd him;
Then makes him nothing. I must read this paper;
I fear, the story of his anger. 'Tis so;
This paper has undone me :-'Tis the account
Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together
For mine own ends; indeed, to gain the popedom,
And fee my friends in Rome. O negligence,
Fit for a fool to fall by! What cross devil
Made me put this main secret in the packet

I sent the king? Is there no way to cure this?
No new device to beat this from his brains?
I know, 'twill stir him strongly; Yet I know
A way, if it take right, in spite of fortune,

Will bring me off again. What's this-To the 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,
I haste 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 SUFFOLK, 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,

Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry
Authority so weighty.

Suf. Who dare cross them?

Bearing the king's will from his mouth expressly?

Wol. Till I find more than will, or words, to do it (I mean, your malice), know, officious 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 everything 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 patent: 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 together)

*Esher, in Surrey.

Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your policy!
You sent me deputy for Ireland;

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,
Absolved 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 loved 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 shouldst 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 larks.
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 despised 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 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!

Nor. Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand: But, thus much, they are foul ones.

Wol. So much fairer,

And spotless, shall mine innocence arise,

When the king knows my truth.

*Equal.

+ Ridden.

A cardinal's hat is scarlet, and the method of daring larks is by small mirrors on scarlet cloth.