The Famous History of the Life of Henry the Eighth: ACT III , SCENE II. Ante-chamber to KING HENRY VIII's apartment.

The Famous History of the Life of Henry the Eighth: ACT III


	Introduction

	THE PROLOGUE

	ACT I

	ACT II

	ACT III

		SCENE I. London. QUEEN KATHARINE's apartments.

		SCENE II. Ante-chamber to KING HENRY VIII's apartment.

	ACT IV

	ACT V

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SCENE II. Ante-chamber to KING HENRY VIII's apartment.

Enter NORFOLK, SUFFOLK, SURREY, and Chamberlain

NORFOLK

      If you will now unite in your complaints,
      And force them with a constancy, the cardinal
      Cannot stand under them: if you omit
      The offer of this time, I cannot promise
5     But that you shall sustain moe new disgraces,
      With these you bear already.

SURREY

      I am joyful
      To meet the least occasion that may give me
      Remembrance of my father-in-law, the duke,
10    To be revenged on him.

SUFFOLK

      Which of the peers
      Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least
      Strangely neglected? when did he regard
      The stamp of nobleness in any person
15    Out of himself?

Chamberlain

      My lords, you speak your pleasures:
      What he deserves of you and me I know;
      What we can do to him, though now the time
      Gives way to us, I much fear. If you cannot
20    Bar his access to the king, never attempt
      Any thing on him; for he hath a witchcraft
      Over the king in's tongue.

NORFOLK

      O, fear him not;
      His spell in that is out: the king hath found
25    Matter against him that for ever mars
      The honey of his language. No, he's settled,
      Not to come off, in his displeasure.

SURREY

      Sir,
      I should be glad to hear such news as this
30    Once every hour.

NORFOLK

      Believe it, this is true:
      In the divorce his contrary proceedings
      Are all unfolded wherein he appears
      As I would wish mine enemy.

SURREY

35 How came
His practises to light?

SUFFOLK

Most strangely.

SURREY

O, how, how?

SUFFOLK

      The cardinal's letters to the pope miscarried,
40    And came to the eye o' the king: wherein was read,
      How that the cardinal did entreat his holiness
      To stay the judgment o' the divorce; for if
      It did take place, 'I do,' quoth he, 'perceive
      My king is tangled in affection to
45    A creature of the queen's, Lady Anne Bullen.'

SURREY

Has the king this?

SUFFOLK

Believe it.

SURREY

Will this work?

Chamberlain

      The king in this perceives him, how he coasts
50    And hedges his own way. But in this point
      All his tricks founder, and he brings his physic
      After his patient's death: the king already
      Hath married the fair lady.

SURREY

Would he had!

SUFFOLK

55 May you be happy in your wish, my lord
For, I profess, you have it.

SURREY

Now, all my joy
Trace the conjunction!

SUFFOLK

My amen to't!

NORFOLK

60 All men's!

SUFFOLK

      There's order given for her coronation:
      Marry, this is yet but young, and may be left
      To some ears unrecounted. But, my lords,
      She is a gallant creature, and complete
65    In mind and feature: I persuade me, from her
      Will fall some blessing to this land, which shall
      In it be memorised.

SURREY

      But, will the king
      Digest this letter of the cardinal's?
70    The Lord forbid!

NORFOLK

Marry, amen!

SUFFOLK

      No, no;
      There be moe wasps that buzz about his nose
      Will make this sting the sooner. Cardinal Campeius
75    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 cried Ha! at this.

Chamberlain

80 Now, God incense him,
And let him cry Ha! louder!

NORFOLK

But, my lord,
When returns Cranmer?

SUFFOLK

      He is return'd in his opinions; which
85    Have satisfied 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
90    Shall be call'd queen, but princess dowager
      And widow to Prince Arthur.

NORFOLK

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

SUFFOLK

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

NORFOLK

So I hear.

SUFFOLK

'Tis so.
The cardinal!

Enter CARDINAL WOLSEY and CROMWELL

NORFOLK

100 Observe, observe, he's moody.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

The packet, Cromwell.
Gave't you the king?

CROMWELL

To his own hand, in's bedchamber.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

Look'd he o' the inside of the paper?

CROMWELL

105   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.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

110 Is he ready
To come abroad?

CROMWELL

I think, by this he is.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

Leave me awhile.

Exit CROMWELL

Aside

      It shall be to the Duchess of Alencon,
115   The French king's sister: he shall marry her.
      Anne Bullen! No; I'll no Anne Bullens for him:
      There's more in't than fair visage. Bullen!
      No, we'll no Bullens. Speedily I wish
      To hear from Rome. The Marchioness of Pembroke!

NORFOLK

120 He's discontented.

SUFFOLK

May be, he hears the king
Does whet his anger to him.

SURREY

Sharp enough,
Lord, for thy justice!

CARDINAL WOLSEY

125   (Aside) 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
130   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
      An heretic, an arch one, Cranmer; one
135   Hath crawl'd into the favour of the king,
      And is his oracle.

NORFOLK

He is vex'd at something.

SURREY

I would 'twere something that would fret the string,
The master-cord on's heart!

Enter KING HENRY VIII, reading of a schedule, and LOVELL

SUFFOLK

140 The king, the king!

KING HENRY VIII

      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,
145   Saw you the cardinal?

NORFOLK

      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,
150   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.

KING HENRY VIII

155   It may well be;
      There is a mutiny in's 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?
160   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.

NORFOLK

165   It's heaven's will:
      Some spirit put this paper in the packet,
      To bless your eye withal.

KING HENRY VIII

      If we did think
      His contemplation were above the earth,
170   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.

King HENRY VIII takes his seat; whispers LOVELL, who goes to CARDINAL WOLSEY

CARDINAL WOLSEY

Heaven forgive me!
175 Ever God bless your highness!

KING HENRY VIII

      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
180   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.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      Sir,
185   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,
190   Must give my tendence to.

KING HENRY VIII

You have said well.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      And ever may your highness yoke together,
      As I will lend you cause, my doing well
      With my well saying!

KING HENRY VIII

195   'Tis well said again;
      And 'tis a kind of good deed to say well:
      And yet words are no deeds. My father loved you:
      His said he did; and with his deed did crown
      His word upon you. Since I had my office,
200   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.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

(Aside) What should this mean?

SURREY

205 (Aside) The Lord increase this business!

KING HENRY VIII

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

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      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
215   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
220   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.

KING HENRY VIII

225   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
230   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,
235   As 'twere in love's particular, be more
      To me, your friend, than any.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      I do profess
      That for your highness' good I ever labour'd
      More than mine own; that am, have, and will be--
240   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 'em, and
      Appear in forms more horrid,--yet my duty,
      As doth a rock against the chiding flood,
245   Should the approach of this wild river break,
      And stand unshaken yours.

KING HENRY VIII

      '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

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

Exit KING HENRY VIII, frowning upon CARDINAL WOLSEY: the Nobles throng after him, smiling and whispering

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      What should this mean?
      What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd it?
      He parted frowning from me, as if ruin
255   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
260   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
265   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!'
270   The letter, as I live, with all the business
      I writ to's 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
275   Like a bright exhalation m the evening,
      And no man see me more.

Re-enter to CARDINAL WOLSEY, NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, SURREY, and the Chamberlain

NORFOLK

      Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you
      To render up the great seal presently
      Into our hands; and to confine yourself
280   To Asher House, my Lord of Winchester's,
      Till you hear further from his highness.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

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

SUFFOLK

285 Who dare cross 'em,
Bearing the king's will from his mouth expressly?

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      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
290   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 every thing may bring my ruin!
      Follow your envious courses, men of malice;
295   You have Christian warrant for 'em, 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,
300   During my life; and, to confirm his goodness,
      Tied it by letters-patents: now, who'll take it?

SURREY

The king, that gave it.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

It must be himself, then.

SURREY

Thou art a proud traitor, priest.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

305   Proud lord, thou liest:
      Within these forty hours Surrey durst better
      Have burnt that tongue than said so.

SURREY

      Thy ambition,
      Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land
310   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;
315   Far from his succor, 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.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      This, and all else
320   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.
325   If I loved many words, lord, I should tell you
      You have as little honesty as honour,
      That in the way of loyalty and truth
      Toward the king, my ever royal master,
      Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be,
330   And all that love his follies.

SURREY

      By my soul,
      Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou
      shouldst feel
      My sword i' the life-blood of thee else. My lords,
335   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.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

340 All goodness
Is poison to thy stomach.

SURREY

      Yes, that goodness
      Of gleaning all the land's wealth into one,
      Into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion;
345   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
350   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
355   Lay kissing in your arms, lord cardinal.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

How much, methinks, I could despise this man,
But that I am bound in charity against it!

NORFOLK

Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand:
But, thus much, they are foul ones.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

360   So much fairer
      And spotless shall mine innocence arise,
      When the king knows my truth.

SURREY

      This cannot save you:
      I thank my memory, I yet remember
365   Some of these articles; and out they shall.
      Now, if you can blush and cry 'guilty,' cardinal,
      You'll show a little honesty.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      Speak on, sir;
      I dare your worst objections: if I blush,
370   It is to see a nobleman want manners.

SURREY

      I had 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.

NORFOLK

375   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
      To be your servant.

SUFFOLK

      Then that, without the knowledge
380   Either of king or council, when you went
      Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold
      To carry into Flanders the great seal.

SURREY

      Item, you sent a large commission
      To Gregory de Cassado, to conclude,
385   Without the king's will or the state's allowance,
      A league between his highness and Ferrara.

SUFFOLK

That, out of mere ambition, you have caused
Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin.

SURREY

      Then that you have sent innumerable substance--
390   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,
395   I will not taint my mouth with.

Chamberlain

      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
400   So little of his great self.

SURREY

I forgive him.

SUFFOLK

      Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is,
      Because all those things you have done of late,
      By your power legatine, within this kingdom,
405   Fall into the compass of a praemunire,
      That therefore such a writ be sued against you;
      To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,
      Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be
      Out of the king's protection. This is my charge.

NORFOLK

410   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 CARDINAL WOLSEY

CARDINAL WOLSEY

415   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 hopes; to-morrow blossoms,
      And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
420   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 ventured,
      Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
425   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.
430   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 aspect of princes, and their ruin,
435   More pangs and fears than wars or women have:
      And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
      Never to hope again.

Enter CROMWELL, and stands amazed

Why, how now, Cromwell!

CROMWELL

I have no power to speak, sir.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

440   What, amazed
      At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder
      A great man should decline? Nay, an you weep,
      I am fall'n indeed.

CROMWELL

How does your grace?

CARDINAL WOLSEY

445   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,
450   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 honour:
      O, 'tis a burthen, Cromwell, 'tis a burthen
      Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven!

CROMWELL

455 I am glad your grace has made that right use of it.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      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.
460   What news abroad?

CROMWELL

The heaviest and the worst
Is your displeasure with the king.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

God bless him!

CROMWELL

The next is, that Sir Thomas More is chosen
465 Lord chancellor in your place.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      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,
470   When he has run his course and sleeps in blessings,
      May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on em! What more?

CROMWELL

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

CARDINAL WOLSEY

That's news indeed.

CROMWELL

475   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.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

480   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 honours,
      Or gild again the noble troops that waited
485   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;
490   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
      For thine own future safety.

CROMWELL

495   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.
500   The king shall have my service: but my prayers
      For ever and for ever shall be yours.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

      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.
505   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,
510   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:
515   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,
520   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;
525   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
      I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!
530   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.

CROMWELL

Good sir, have patience.

CARDINAL WOLSEY

So I have. Farewell
535 The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell.

Exeunt

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