Will make this sting the sooner.

Cardinal Campeius

Is stol'n 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 returns Cranmer ?

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

Almost in Christendom: shortly, I believe,
His second marriage shall be publish'd, and
Her coronation. Katharine no more

Shall be call'd, queen; but princess dowager,
And widow to prince Arthur.

Nor. This same Cranmer's

A worthy fellow, and hath ta'en much pain
In the king's business.

Suf. He has; and we shall see him
For it, an archbishop.

Nor. So I hear.

Suf. 'Tis so.

The cardinal

Enter WOLSEY and CROMWELL.

Nor. Observe, observe, he's moody.

Wol. The packet, Cromwell,

Gave it you the king?

Crom. To his own hand, in his bedchamber.
Wol. Look'd he o' the inside of the paper?
Crom. Presently

He did unseal them: and the first he view'd,
He did it with a serious mind; a heed
Was in his countenance: You, he bade

Attend him here this morning.

Wol. Is he ready

To come abroad?

Crom. I think, by this he is.

Wol. Leave me a while.

It shall be to the duchess of Alençon,

[Exit CROMWELL..

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!

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-rul'd king. Again, there is sprung up
An 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 ;5 and LovEL. Suf. The king, the king.

K.Hen. What piles of wealth hath he accumulated. To his own portion! and what expence 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 ;

6

[5] That the cardinal gave the king an inventory of his own private wealth, by mistake, and thereby ruined himself, is a known variation from the truth of history. Shakspeare, however, has not injudiciously represented the fall of that great man as owing to an incident which he had once improved to the destruction of another. STEEV.

[6] Sallust, describing the disturbed state of Catiline's mind, takes notice of the same circumstance: citus modo, modo tardus incessius. STE.

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,
Rich stuffs, and ornaments of household; which
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 LOVEL, 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 lov'd you :

He said, he did; and with his deed did crown

His word upon you. Since I had my office,

6

VOL. VI.

I have kept you next my heart; have not alone
Employ'd you where high profits might come home,
But par'd 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

?

[Aside.

Wol. My sovereign, 1 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
Have ever come too short of my desires,
Yet, fil'd with my abilities:7 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

.8

More than mine own; that am, have, and will be.
Though all the world should crack their duty to you,

[7] My endeavours though less than my desires, have fil'd, that is, have

gone an equal pace with my abilities. JOHNS.

[8] Besides the general bond of duty, by which you are obliged to be a loyal and obedient jubject, you owe a particular devotion of yourself to me, as your particular benefactor. JOHNS.

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 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 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