Wol. Heaven forgive me! 135
Ever God bless your highness!
King. Good my lord,
You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the inventory
Of your best graces in your mind; the which[546]
You were now running o'er: you have scarce time
To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span[547] 140
To keep your earthly audit: sure, in that
I deem you an ill husband, and am glad[548]
To have you therein my companion.
Wol. Sir,
For holy offices I have a time; a time[549]
To think upon the part of business which[550] 145
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.
King. You have said well.
Wol. And ever may your highness yoke together, 150
As I will lend you cause, my doing well
With my well saying!
King. '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[551] 155
His word upon you. Since I had my office,[552]
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. [Aside] What should this mean?[553] 160
Sur. [Aside] The Lord increase this business![553]
King. 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? 165
Wol. My sovereign, I confess your royal graces,
Shower'd on me daily, have been more than could
My studied purposes requite; which went[554]
Beyond all man's endeavours: my endeavours[555]
Have ever come too short of my desires, 170
Yet filed with my abilities: mine own ends[556]
Have been mine so that evermore they pointed[557]
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 175
Can nothing render but allegiant thanks,
My prayers to heaven for you, my loyalty,
Which ever has and ever shall be growing[558]
Till death, that winter, kill it.
King. Fairly answer'd;
A loyal and obedient subject is 180
Therein illustrated: the honour of it
Does pay the act of it; as, i' the contrary,[559]
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 185
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[560] 190
That for your highness' good I ever labour'd
More than mine own; that am, have, and will be—[561]
Though all the world should crack their duty to you,[562]
And throw it from their soul; though perils did
Abound, as thick as thought could make 'em, and[563] 195
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.
King. 'Tis nobly spoken.
Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast, 200
For you have seen him open't. [Giving him papers.] Read o'er this;[564]
And after, this: and then to breakfast with
What appetite you have.[565]
[Exit King, frowning upon the Cardinal: the nobles
throng after him, smiling and whispering.
Wol. What should this mean?
What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd it?[566]
He parted frowning from me, as if ruin 205
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;[567]
This paper has undone me: 'tis the account 210
Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together[568]
For mine own ends; indeed, to gain the popedom,
And fee my friends in Rome. O negligence![569]
Fit for a fool to fall by: what cross devil[569]
Made me put this main secret in the packet 215
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!' 220
The letter, as I live, with all the business
I writ to's holiness. Nay then, farewell![570]
I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness;[570]
And, from that full meridian of my glory,
I haste now to my setting: I shall fall 225
Like a bright exhalation in the evening.
And no man see me more.[571]
Re-enter to Wolsey the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, the
Earl of Surrey, and the Lord Chamberlain.
Nor. Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you[572]
To render up the great seal presently
Into our hands; and to confine yourself 230
To Asher-house, my Lord of Winchester's,[573]
Till you hear further from his highness.
Wol. Stay:
Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry[574]
Authority so weighty.[575]
Suf. Who dare cross 'em,
Bearing the king's will from his mouth expressly? 235
Wol. Till I find more than will or words to do it—[576]
I mean your malice—know, officious lords,
I dare, and must deny it. Now I feel
Of what coarse metal ye are moulded—envy:[577]
How eagerly ye follow my disgraces,[578] 240
As if it fed ye! and how sleek and wanton[579]
Ye appear in every thing may bring my ruin![580]
Follow your envious courses, men of malice;[580]
You have Christian warrant for 'em, and, no doubt,[581]
In time will find their fit rewards. That seal 245
You ask with such a violence, the king,[582]
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-patents: now, who'll take it?[583] 250
Sur. The king, that gave it.
Wol. It must be himself, then.
Sur. Thou art a proud traitor, priest.[584]
Wol. Proud lord, thou liest:
Within these forty hours Surrey durst better[585]
Have burnt that tongue than said so.
Sur. Thy ambition,
Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land 255
Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law:
The heads of all thy brother cardinals,
With thee and all thy best parts bound together,
Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your policy!
You sent me deputy for Ireland; 260
Far from his succour, from the king, from all
That might have mercy on the fault thou gavest 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, 265
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 270
You have as little honesty as honour,[586]
That in the way of loyalty and truth[587]
Toward the king, my ever royal master,
Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be,[588]
And all that love his follies.
Sur. By my soul, 275
Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou shouldst feel[589]
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,[590] 280
Farewell nobility; let his grace go forward,
And dare us with his cap like larks.[591]
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; 285
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,[592]
As you respect the common good, the state 290
Of our despised nobility, our issues,
Who, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen,[593]
Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles
Collected from his life. I'll startle you
Worse than the sacring bell, when the brown wench[594] 295
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![595]
Nor. Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand:
But, thus much, they are foul ones.
Wol. So much fairer 300
And spotless shall mine innocence arise,
When the king knows my truth.
Sur. This cannot save you:[596]
I thank my memory, I yet remember
Some of these articles, and out they shall.
Now, if you can blush and cry 'guilty,' cardinal,[597] 305
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 had rather want those than my head. Have at you![598]
First that, without the king's assent or knowledge, 310
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 inscribed; in which you brought the king 315
To be your servant.
Suf. Then that, without the knowledge[599]
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 320
To Gregory de Cassado, to conclude,[600]
Without the king's will or the state's allowance,
A league between his highness and Ferrara.[601]
Suf. That, out of mere ambition, you have caused
Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin.[602] 325
Sur. Then that you have sent innumerable substance—[599][603]
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[604]
Of all the kingdom. Many more there are; 330
Which, since they are of you and odious,
I will not taint my mouth with.
Cham. O my lord!
Press 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 335
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,[605]
Fall into the compass of a præmunire—[606] 340
That therefore such a writ be sued against you;
To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,
Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be[607]
Out of the king's protection. This is my charge.[608]
Nor. And so we'll leave you to your meditations 345
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.[609] 350
Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness![610]
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms,[611]
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, 355
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,[612]
And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured,
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
This many summers in a sea of glory,[613] 360
But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride[614]
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:[615] 365
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,[616]
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,[617]
More pangs and fears than wars or women have: 370
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
Never to hope again.
Enter Cromwell, and stands amazed.[618]
Why, how now, Cromwell!
Crom. I have no power to speak, sir.
Wol. What, amazed
At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder[619]
A great man should decline? Nay, an you weep,[620] 375
I am fall'n 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 cured me, 380
I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders,
These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken[621]
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! 385
Crom. I am glad your grace has made that right use of it.[595][622]
Wol. I hope I have: I am able now, methinks,[622]
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[623]
Lord chancellor in your place.
Wol. That's somewhat sudden:
But he's a learned man. May he continue 395
Long in his highness' favour, and do justice
For truth's sake and his conscience; that his bones,[624]
When he has run his course and sleeps in blessings,
May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on 'em![625]
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 405
Only about her coronation.
Wol. There was the weight that pull'd me down. O Cromwell,[626]
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, 410
Or gild again the noble troops that waited
Upon my smiles. Go, get thee from me, Cromwell;
I am a poor fall'n man, unworthy now[627]
To be thy lord and master: seek the king;
That sun, I pray, may never set! I have told him[628] 415
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 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. 425
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, 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,[629]
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,[630] 435
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.[631]
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition: 440
By that sin fell the angels; how can man then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?[632]
Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee;[633]
Corruption wins not more than honesty.[634]
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, 445
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;[635][636]
And prithee, lead me in:[635][636][637] 450
There take an inventory of all I have,[635][638]
To the last penny; 'tis the king's: my robe,[635][638]
And my integrity to heaven, is all[635]
I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!
Had I but served my God with half the zeal 455
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.