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

A still and quiet conscience. The king has

cured me,

380

I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders,

These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken

A load would sink a navy, too much honor.
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. 390
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' favor, and do justice
For truth's sake and his conscience; that his
bones,

When he has run his course and sleeps in bless-
ings,

392. “displeasure"; disgrace.-C. H. H.

May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on 'em!
What more?

Crom. That Cranmer is return'd with welcome, 400
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 Cromwell,

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 honors, 410
Or gild again the noble troops that waited

399. “a tomb of orphans' tears"; the chancellor is the general guardian of orphans. "A tomb of tears," says Johnson, "is very harsh." Steevens has adduced an Epigram of Martial, in which the Heliades are said to "weep a tomb of tears" over a viper. Drummond, in his Teares for the Death of Moeliades, has the same conceit:

"The Muses, Phoebus, Love, have raised of their teares

A crystal tomb to him, through which his worth appears."
-H. N. H.

408. "gone beyond me"; overreached me.-C, H. H. 411. "the noble troops that waited"; the number of persons who composed Cardinal Wolsey's household, according to the authentic copy of Cavendish, was five hundred. Cavendish's work, though written soon after the death of Wolsey, was not printed till 1641, and then in a most unfaithful and garbled manner, the object of the publication having been to render Laud odious, by showing how far church power had been extended by Wolsey, and how dangerous that prelate was, who, in the opinion of many, followed his example. In that spurious copy we read that the number of his household was eight hundred persons. In other MSS. and in Dr. Wordsworth's edition, we find it stated at one hundred and eighty persons.-H. N. H.

Upon my smiles. Go, get thee from me, Cromwell;

I am a poor fall'n 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,
Neglect him not; make use now, and provide 420
For thine own future safety.

Crom.

O my lord,
Must I then leave you? must I needs forgo
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 yours.

Wol. Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear
In all my miseries; but thou hast forced me,
Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman. 430
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 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 honor, 430. "truth"; fidelity.-C. H. H.

Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in;
A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd
it.

439

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 it?
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,
Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O
Cromwell,

Thou fall'st a blessed martyr! Serve the king;
And prithee, lead me in:

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

450

I dare now call my own. O Cromwell, Crom-
well!

Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served 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.

455. "Had I but served my God," etc. Holinshed reports these words as addressed by Wolsey in his last hours to "Master Kingston." -C. H. H.

ACT FOURTH

SCENE I

A street in Westminster.

Enter two Gentlemen, meeting one another.

First Gent. You 're well met once again.

Sec. Gent.

So are you. First Gent. You come to take your stand here and behold

The Lady Anne pass from her coronation? Sec. Gent. 'Tis all my business. At our last encounter,

The Duke of Buckingham came from his trial. First Gent. 'Tis very true: but that time offer'd

sorrow;

This, general joy.

Sec. Gent.

I am sure, have
minds-

"Tis well: the citizens,

shown at full their royal

As, let 'em have their rights, they are ever for-
ward-

In celebration of this day with shows,
Pageants and sights of honor.

First Gent.

10

Never greater,

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