To him that does best; God forbid else. Cardinal, Pr'ythee, call Gardiner to me, my new secretary; [Exit WOLSEY. 1 The meaning appears to be, Let care be taken that my promise be performed, that my professions of welcome be not found empty talk.'

2 i. e. so sick as he is proud.

3 Steevens reads one heave at him; but surely without necessity. To hare at any thing or person meant to attack it, in ancient phraseology. Surrey afterwards says:-

First that without the king,' &c. The phrase is derived (like many other old popular phrases) from gaming: to have at all,' was to throw for all that was staked on the board, adventuring on the cast an equal stake.

4 i. e. kept him out of the king's presence, employed in foreign embassies.

5 Aboute this time the king received into favour Doctor Stephen Gardiner, whose service he used in matters of great secrecie and weight, admitting him in the room of Dr Pace, the which being continually abroad in am

And venture maidenhead for't; and so would you,
For all this spice of your hypocrisy :

You, that have so fair parts of woman on you,
Have too a woman's heart; which ever yet
Affected eminence, wealth, sovereignty;

Which, to say sooth, are blessings: and which gifts
(Saving your mincing) the capacity

Of

your soft cheverila conscience would receive, If you might please to stretch it. Anne.

Nay, good troth,Old L. Yes, troth, and troth,-You would not be a queen?

Anne. No, not for all the riches under heaven.
Old L. 'Tis strange; a threepence bowed would

hire me,

Old as I am, to queen it: But, I pray you,
What think you of a duchess? have you limbs
To bear that load of title?

Anne.

No, in truth.

Anne.

I do not know,
What kind of my obedience I should tender;
More than my all is nothing: nor my prayers
Are not words duly hallow'd, nor my wishes
More worth than empty vanities; yet prayers, and
wishes,

Are all I can return. 'Beseech your lordship,
Vouchsafe to speak my thanks, and my obedience,
As from a blushing handmaid, to his highness;
Whose health, and royalty, I pray for.

Cham.

Lady,

I shall not fail to approve the fair conceit,
The king hath of you.-I have perus'd her well;
[Aside.
Beauty and honour in her are so mingled,
That they have caught the king: and who knows yet,
But from this lady may proceed a gem,
To lighten all this isle ?-I'll to the king,
And say, I spoke with you.
Anne.

My honour'd lord.
[Exit Lord Chamberlain.
Old L. Why, this it is; see, see!
I have been begging sixteen years in court
(Am yet a courtier beggarly,) nor could
Come pat betwixt too early and too late,
For any suit of pounds and you, (O fate!)
A very fresh-fish here, (fye, fye upon

Old L. Then you are weakly made: Pluck off a This compell'd fortune!) have your mouth fill'd up,

little;4

I would not be a young count in your way,

For more than blushing comes to: if your back
Cannot vouchsafe this burden, 'tis too weak
Ever to get a boy.

Anne.

How you do talk!

I swear again, I would not be a queen

For all the world.

Old L.

In faith, for little England
You'd venture an emballing: I myself
Would for Carnarvonshire, although there 'long'd
No more to the crown but that. Lo, who comes
here ?

Enter the Lord Chamberlain.

There was a lady once ('tis an old story,)

That would not be a queen, that would she not,
For all the mud in Egypt :-Have you heard it?
Anne. Come, you are pleasant.

Old L.
With your theme, I could
O'ermount the lark. The marchioness of Pembroke
A thousand pounds a year! for pure respect;
No other obligation: By my life,

That promises more thousands: Honour's train
Is longer than his foreskirt. By this time,
I know, your back will bear a duchess ;-Say,

Cham. Good morrow, ladies. What wer't worth Are you not stronger than you were?

to know
The secret of conference?
your
Anne.
My good lord,
Not your demand; it values not your asking:
Our mistress' sorrows we were pitying.
Cham. It was a gentle business, and becoming
The action of good women: there is hope,
All will be well.

Follow such creatures. That you may,
Perceive I speak sincerely, and high note's
Ta'en of your many virtues, the king's majesty

1 The revocation of her husband's love has reduced
her to the condition of an unfriended stranger.
2 Our best possession.

3 Cheveril is kid leather, which, being of a soft yield. ing nature, is often alluded to in comparisons for any thing pliant or flexible.

4 Anne Bullen declining to be either a queen or a duchess, the old lady says, 'pluck off a little let us descend a little lower, and so diminish the glare of preferment by bringing it nearer your own quality.

Anne.
Good lady,
Make yourself mirth with your particular fancy,
And leave me out on't. 'Would I had no being,
If this salute my blood a jot; it faints me,
To think what follows.

The queen is comfortless, and we forgetful
In our long absence: Pray, do not deliver
What here you have heard, to her.
Old L.

What do you think me? [Exeunt. SCENE IV. A Hall in Black-Friars. Trumpets sennet,12 and cornets. Enter two Vergers, with and Antony and Cleopatra are not exactly in point; for the word commend, in both those instances, signifies commit.

7 Not only my all is nothing; but if my all were more than it is, it were still nothing.

8 To approve is not, as Johnson explains it, here, to strengthen by commendation, but to confirm (by the report he shall make) the good opinion the king has formed.

9 The carbuncle was supposed by our ancestors to have intrinsic light, and to shine in the dark: any other gem may reflect light, but cannot give it.

10 Forty pence was in those days the proverbial ex

5 i e. you would venture to be distinguished by the ball, the ensign of royalty, used with the sceptre at co-pression of a small wager. Money was then reckoned ronations.-Johnson.

6 I cannot but be surprised that Malone should have made any difficulty about the reading of the text :— the king's majesty

Commends his good opinion to you.' It is one of the most common forms of epistolary and colloquial compliment of our ancestors, whose letters frequently terminate with and so I commend me to you,' or begin withAfter my hartie commendacions to You' &c. The instances cited by Steevens from Lear

short silver wands; next them, two Scribes, in the habits of doctors; after them, the Archbishop of Canterbury alone; after him the Bishops of Lincoln, Ely, Rochester, and Saint Asaph; next them, with some small distance, follows a Gentleman bearing the purse, with the great seal, and a cardinal's hat; then two Priests, bearing each a silver cross; then a Gentleman Usher bareheaded, accompanied with a Sergeant at Arms, bearing a silver mace; then two Gentlemen, bearing two great silver pillars; after them, side by side, the two Cardinals, WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS; two Noblemen with the sword and mace. Then enter the King and Queen, and their Trains. The King takes place under the cloth of state; the two Cardinals sit under him as judges. The Queen takes place at some distance from the King. The Bishops place themselves on each side the court in manner of a consistory; between them, the Scribes. The Lords sit next the Bishops. The Crier and the rest of the Attendants stand in convenient order about the stage.

Wol. Whilst our commission from Rome is read, Let silence be commanded.

It hath already publicly been read,
And on all sides the authority allow'd;
You may then spare that time.
Wol.
Scribe. Say, Henry king of England, come into
the court.

Be't so:-Proceed.

Crier. Henry king of England, &c.
K. Hen. Here.

With many children by you: If, in the course
And process of this time, you can report,
And prove it too, against mine honour aught,
My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty,
Against your sacred person,4 in God's name,
Turn me away; and let the foul'st contemp
Shut door upon me, and so give me up
To the sharpest kind of justice. Please you, sir,
The king, your father, was reputed for
A prince most prudent, of an excellent
And unmatch'd wit and judgment: Ferdinand,
My father, king of Spain, was reckon'd one
The wisest prince, that there had reign'd by many
A year before: It is not to be question'd
That they had gather'd a wise council to them
Of every realm, that did debate this business,
Who deem'd our marriage lawful: Wherefore I
humbly
Beseech you, sir, to spare me, till I may
Be by my friends in Spain advis'd; whose counse
I will implore: if not; i' the name of God,
Your pleasure be fulfill'd!"
Wol.
You have here, lady,
(And of your choice,) these reverend fathers; men
Of singular integrity and learning,

Yea, the elect of the land, who are assembled
To plead your cause: It shall be therefore bootless,
That longer you desire the court; as well
For your own quiet, as to rectify
What is unsettled in the king.
Cam.

His grace

Hath spoken well, and justly: Therefore, madam,
It's fit this royal session do proceed;
And that, without delay, their arguments

Scribe. Say, Katharine queen of England, come Be now produc'd, and heard.

into court.

Crier. Katharine queen of England, &c.

[The Queen makes no answer, rises out of her chair, goes about the court, comes to the King, and kneels at his feet; then speaks.2]

Q. Kath. Sir, I desire you, do me right and jus-
tice;

And to bestow your pity on me: for
I am a most poor woman, and a stranger,
Born out of your dominions; having here
No judge indifferent, nor no more assurance
Of equal friendship and proceeding. Alas, sir,
In what have I offended you? what cause
Hath my behaviour given to your displeasure,
That thus you should proceed to put me off,
And take your good grace from me? Heaven wit-

ness,

I have been to you a true and humble wife,
At all times to your will conformable:
Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,

Yea, subject to your countenance; glad, or sorry,
As I saw it inclin'd. When was the hour,
I ever contradicted your desire,

Or made it not mine too? Or which of your friends
Have I not strove to love, although I knew
He were mine enemy? what friend of mine
That had to him deriv'd your anger, did I
Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice
He was from thence discharg'd? Sir, call to mind
That I have been your wife, in this obedience,
Upward of twenty years, and have been blest

2

1 Ensigns of dignity carried before cardinals. Because she could not come directly to the king for the distance which severed them, she took pain to go about unto the king, kneeling down at his feet,' &c.Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, vol. i. p. 149, ed. 1825.

3 This speech is taken from Holinshed (who copies from Cavendish) with the most trifling variations. Hall has given a different report of the queen's speech, which, he says, was made in French, and translated by him from notes taken by Campeggio's secretary.

4 That is, 'If you can report and prove aught against mine honour, my love and duty, or aught against your sacred person,' &c.

Q. Kath.
To you I speak.
Wol.

Q. Kath.

Lord cardinal,

I am about to weep; but, thinking that
We are a queen (or long have dream'd so,) certain,
The daughter of a king, my drops of tears
I'll turn to sparks of fire.
Wol.

Be patient yet.

Q. Kath. I will, when you are humble; nay,

before,

Or God will punish me. I do believe,
Induc'd by potent circumstances, that
You are mine enemy; and make my challenge,
You shall not be my judge: for it is you
Have blown this coal betwixt my lord and me,
Which God's dew quench!-Therefore, I say again,
I utterly abhor, yea, from my soul,
Refuse you for my judge; whom, yet once more,
I hold my most malicious foe, and think not
At all a friend to truth.

Wol.
I do profess,
You speak not like yourself; who ever yet
Have stood to charity, and display'd the effects
Of disposition gentle, and of wisdom
O'ertopping woman's power. Madam, you do me

wrong:

parted from thence. Many supposed that she would have resorted again to her former place; but she took her way straight out of the house, leaning (as she was wont always to do) upon the arm of her general receiver Master Griffiths.-Life of Wolsey, p. 152.

6 That you desire to protract the business of the court. To pray for a longer day,' i. e. a more distant one, is yet the language of the bar in criminal trials.

7 Challenge here (says Johnson) is a law term. The criminal, when he refuses a juryman, says 'I chal lenge him.'

9 These are not the mere words of passion, but tech5 The historical fact is, that the queen staid for no re-nical terms of the canon law detestor and recuso. The ply to this speech. Cavendish says, And with that she former, in the language of canonists, signifies no more rose up, making a low courtesy to the king, and so de- than I protest against.-Blackstone.

That I have blown this coal: I do deny it:
The king is present: if it be known to him,
That I gainsay my deed, how may he wound,
And worthily, my falsehood? yea, as much
As you have done my truth. But if he know
That I am free of your report, he knows,
I am not of your wrong. Therefore in him
It lies, to cure me; and the cure is, to
Remove these thoughts from you: The which before
His highness shall speak in, I do beseech
You, gracious madam, to unthink your speaking,
And to say so no more.

Q. Kath.

My lord, my lord,
I am a simple woman, much too weak
To oppose your cunning. You are meek, and hum-
ble mouth'd;

2

You sign your place and calling, in full sceming,
With meekness and humility; but your heart
Is cramm'd with arrogancy, spleen, and pride.
You have, by fortune, and his highness' favours,
Gone slightly o'er low steps; and now are mounted
Where powers are your retainers:
and your
wards,'
Domestics to you, serve your will, as't please
Yourself pronounce their office. Í must tell
You tender more your person's honour, than
Your high profession spiritual: That again
I do refuse you for my judge; and here,
Before you all, appeal unto the pope,
To bring my whole cause 'fore his holiness,
And to be judg'd by him.

you,

[She curtsies to the King, and offers to depart. Cam. The queen is obstinate, Stubborn to justice, apt to accuse it, and Disdainful to be try'd by it; 'tis not well. She's going away.

K. Hen.

Call her again.

My lord cardinal,

I do excuse you; yea, upon mine honour,
I free you from't. You are not to be taught
That you have many enemies, that know not
Why they are so, but, like to village curs,
Bark when their fellows do: by some of these
The queen is put in anger. You are excus'd:
But will you be more justified? you ever
Have wish'd the sleeping of this business; never
Desir'd it to be stirr'd; but oft have hinder'd, oft,
The passages made toward it:-on my honour,
I speak my good lord cardinal to this point,
And thus far clear him. Now, what mov'd me
to't,-

6

I will be bold with time, and your attention:-
Then mark the inducement. Thus it came ;-give
heed to't:-

My conscience first receiv'd a tenderness,
Scruple, and prick," on certain speeches utter'd
By the bishop of Bayonne, then French ambas-
sador;

Who had been hither sent on the debating

A marriage, 'twixt the duke of Orleans and
Our daughter Mary: I' the progress of this bu-
siness,

Ere a determinate resolution, he

(I mean, the bishop) did require a respite;
Wherein he might the king his lord advertise
Whether our daughter were legitimate,
Respecting this our marriage with the dowager,
Sometimes our brother's wife. This respite shook
The bosom of my conscience, enter'd me,

Crier. Katharine queen of England, come into Yea, with a splitting power, and made to tremble

the court.

Grif. Madam, you are call'd back.

Q. Kath. What need you note it? pray you,
keep your way:

When you are call'd, return.-Now the Lord help,
They vex me past my patience!-pray you, pass on:
I will not tarry: no, nor ever more,
Upon this business, my appearance make
In any of their courts.

[Exeunt Queen, GRIFFITH, and other

Attendants.

K. Hen.
Go thy ways, Kate:
That man i' the world, who shall report he has
A better wife, let him in nought be trusted,
For speaking false in that: Thou art, alone,
(If thy rare qualities, sweet gentleness,
Thy meekness saint-like, wife-like government,-
Obeying in commanding,-and thy parts
Sovereign and pious else, could speak thee out,)4
The queen of earthly queens :-She is noble born;
And, like her true nobility, she has
Carried herself towards me.

Wol.

Most gracious sir,
In humblest manner I require your highness,
That it shall please you to declare, in hearing
Of all these cars (for where I am robb'd and bound,
There must I be unloos'd; although not there
At once and fully satisfied,') whether ever I
Did broach this business to your highness; or
Laid any scruple in your way, which might

1 Deny.

2 You show in appearance meekness and humility, as a token or outward sign of your place and calling but your heart is crammed with arrogancy, &c. 3 The old copy reads:

酱 Where powers are your retainers; and your words, Domestics to you,' &c.

4 If thy several qualities had tongues capable of speaking out thy merits, i. e. of doing them extensive justice.

5 The sense, which is encumbered with words, is no more than this:-I must be loosed, though when so loosed I shall not be satisfied fully and at once; that is, I shall not be immediately satisfied. S

The region of my breast; which forc'd such way,
That many maz'd considerings did throng,
And press'd in with this caution. First methought,
I stood not in the smile of heaven; who had
Commanded nature, that my lady's womb,
If it conceiv'd a male child by me, should
Do no more offices of life to't, than
The grave
does to the dead: for her male issue
Or died where they were made, or shortly after
This world had air'd them: Hence I took a thought,
This was a judgment on me; that my kingdom,
Well worthy the best heir o' the world, should not
Be gladded in't by me: Then follows, that
I weigh'd the danger which my realms stood in
By this my issue's fail; and that gave to me
Many a groaning throe. Thus hulling in
The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer
Toward this remedy, whereupon we are
Now present here together; that's to say
I meant to rectify my conscience,-which
I then did feel full sick, and yet not well,-
By all the reverend fathers of the land,
And doctors learn'd.-First, I began in private
With you, my lord of Lincoln; you remember
How under my oppression I did reek, 10
When I first mov'd you.

Lin.

Very well, my liege.
K. Hen. I have spoke long; be pleas'd yourself

How far
Lin.

to say
you
satisfied me.

So please your highness,

off; and declares upon his honour to the whole court, 6 The king, having first addressed Wolsey, breaks that he speaks the cardinal's sentiments upon the point

in question; and clears him from any attempt or wish to stir that business.

7 The words of Cavendish are- The special cause

that moved me hereunto was a scrupulosity that pricked my conscience.-See also Holinshed, p. 907.

8 Theobald thought we should read The bottom of his conscience.'

9 The phrase belongs to navigation. A ship is said to hull when she is dismasted, and only her hull or hulk is left at the direction and mercy of the waves.

10 Waste, or wear away.

The question did at first so stagger me,-
Bearing a state of mighty moment in't,
And consequence of dread,-that I committed
The daring'st counsel which I had, to doubt;
And did entreat your highness to this course,
Which you are running here.

K. Hen.

I then mov'd you,
My lord of Canterbury; and got your leave
To make this present summons:-Unsolicited
I left no reverend person in this court;
But by particular consent proceeded,
Under your hands and seals. Therefore, go on:
For no dislike i' the world against the person
Of the good queen, but the sharp thorny points
Of my alleged reasons, drive this forward:
Prove but our marriage lawful, by my life,
And kingly dignity, we are contented

To wear our mortal state to come, with her,
Katharine our queen, before the primest creature
That's paragon'd' o' the world.

Cam.
So please your highness,
The queen being absent, 'tis a needful fitness
That we adjourn this court till further day:
Meanwhile must be an earnest motion
Made to the queen, to call back her appeal
She intends unto his holiness. [They rise to depart.
K. Hen.
I may perceive, [Aside.
These cardinals trifle with me: I abhor
This dilatory sloth, and tricks of Rome.
My learn'd and well-beloved servant, Cranmer,
Pr'ythee return!2 with thy approach, I know,
My comfort comes along. Break up the court:
I say, set on. [Exeunt, in manner as they entered.

Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain-tops, that freeze,

Bow themselves, when he did sing
To his music, plants, and flowers,
Ever sprung; as sun, and showers,
There had been a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,

Hung their heads, and then lay by.

In sweet music is such art;
Killing care, and grief of heart,
Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.

Enter a Gentleman.

Q. Kath, How now?

Wol.

Enter WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS.

Peace to your highness! Q. Kath. Your graces find me here part of a housewife;

I would be all, against the worst may happen.
What are your pleasures with me, reverend lords?
Wol. May it please you, noble madam, to with-
draw

Into your private chamber, we shall give you
The full cause of our coming.

Q. Kath.
Speak it here;
There's nothing I have done yet, o' my conscience,
Deserves a corner: 'Would, all other women
Could speak this with as free a soul as I do!
My lords, I care not, (so much I am happy
Above a number,) if my actions

Were tried by every tongue, every eye saw them,
Envy and base opinion set against them,"

I know my life so even: If your business
Seek me out, and that way I am wife in,"
Out with it boldly; Truth loves open dealing.
Wol. Tanta est ergà te mentis integritas, regina
serenissima,-

Q. Kath. O, good my lord, no Latin;
I am not such a truant since my coming,
As not to know the language I have liv'd in:
A strange tongue makes my cause more strange,
suspicious;

Pray, speak in English: here are some will thank you,
Believe me, she has had much wrong: Lord car-
If you speak truth, for their poor mistress' sake;

dinal,

The willing'st sin I ever yet committed,
May be absolv'd in English.

Wol.

Noble lady,

I am sorry, my integrity should breed
(And service to his majesty and you,)9
So deep suspicion, where all faith was meant.
We come not by the way of accusation,

To taint that honour every good tongue blesses;
Nor to betray you any way to sorrow;
You have too much, good lady: but to know
How you stand minded in the weighty difference
Between the king and you; and to deliver,
Like free and honest men, our just opinions,
And comforts to your cause.

Cam.
Most honour'd madam,
My lord of York,-out of his noble nature,
Zeal and obedience he still bore your grace ;
Forgetting, like a good man, your late censure

Gent. An't please your grace, the two great car- Both of his truth and him (which was too far,)—

dimals

That paragons description and wild fame.'

2 This is only an apostrophe to the absent bishop of that name.

sion to the Latin proverb-Cucullus non facit mona-
chum, to which Chaucer also alludes:-

'Habite ne maketh monke ne frere;
But a clene life and devotion,
Maketh gode men of religion.'

6 I would be glad that my conduct were in some pub. lic trial confronted with mine enemies, that malice and corrupt judgment might try their utmost power against

me.

7 This is obscurely expressed, but seems to mean, If your business is with me, and relates to the question of my marriage, out with it boldly.'

3 Cavendish, who appears to have been present at this interview of the cardinals with the queen, says She 8 Then began my lord to speak to her in Latin.— came out of her privy chamber with a skein of white "Nay, good my lord (quoth she,) speak to me in Enthread about her neck into the chamber of presence.'glish, I beseech you, though I understand Latin.” `————A subsequent speech of the queen's is nearly conform- Cavendish. able to what is related in Cavendish, and copied by Holinshed.

4 Presence chamber.

5 Being churchmen they should be virtuous, and every business they undertake as righteous as their sa cred office: but all hoods make not monks.' In allu

9 This line stands so awkwardly, and out of its place, that Mr. Edwards's proposition to transpose it, should be adopted, thus:

'I am sorry my integrity should breed
So deep suspicion, where all faith was meant,
And service to his majesty and you.'