K. Hen. How now, my lord? You do desire to | The occasion shall instruct you: if entreaties know Wherefore I sent for you.

Cran.
It is my duty
To attend your highness' pleasure.
K. Hen.

'Pray you, arise,
My good and gracious lord of Canterbury.
Come, you and I must walk a turn together;

Will render you no remedy, this ring
Deliver them, and your appeal to us

There make before them.-Look, the good man

weeps!

He's honest, on mine honour. God's blest mother!
I swear, he is true hearted; and a soul
None better in my kingdom.-Get you gone,

I have news to tell you: Come, come, give me And do as I have bid you.-[Exit CRANMER.] your hand.

Ah, my good lord, I grieve at what I speak,
And am right sorry to repeat what follows:

I have, and most unwillingly, of late
Heard many grievous, I do say, my lord,
Grievous complaints of you: which, being consi-
der'd,

Have mov'd us and our council, that
you shall
This morning come before us; where, I know,
You cannot with such freedom purge yourself,
But that, till further trial, in those charges
Which will require your answer, you must take
Your patience to you, and be well contented
To make your house our Tower: You a brother
of us!

It fits we thus proceed, or else no witness
Would come against you.
Cran.
I humbly thank your highness;
And am right glad to catch this good occasion
Most thoroughly to be winnow'd, where my
And corn shall fly asunder: for, I know,
There's none stands under more calumnious tongues,
Than I myself, poor man.

K. Hen.

chaff

Stand up, good Canterbury;
Thy truth, and thy integrity, is rooted

In us, thy friend: Give me thy hand, stand up;
Pr'ythee, let's walk. Now, by my holy dame,
What manner of man are you? My lord, I look'd
You would have given me your petition, that
I should have ta'en some pains to bring together
Yourself and your accusers; and to have heard you
Without indurance,2 further.

Most dread liege,

Cran.
The good I stand on is my truth, and honesty;
If they shall fail, I, with mine enemies,
Will triumph o'er my person; which I weigh3 not,
Being of those virtues vacant. I fear nothing
What can be said against me.

K. Hen.

Know you not how

Your state stands i' the world, with the whole world?
Your enemies are many, and not small: their prac-

tices

Must bear the same proportion: and not ever4
The justice and the truth o' the question carries
The due o' the verdict with it: At what ease
Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt
To swear against you? such things have been done.
You are potently opposed; and with a malice
Of as great size. Weens you of better luck,
I mean, in perjur'd witness, than your master,
Whose minister you are, whiles here he liv'd
Upon this naughty earth? Go to, go to;
You take a precipice for no leap of danger,
And woo your own destruction.
Cran.

God, and your majesty,
Protect mine innocence, or I fall into
The trap is laid for me!

Be of good cheer;

K. Hen.
They shall no more prevail, than we give way to.
Keep comfort to you; and this morning see
You do appear before them; if they shall chance,
In charging you with matters, to commit you,
The best persuasions to the contrary
Fail not to use, and with what vehemency

1 You being one of the council, it is necessary to imprison you, that the witnesses against you may not be Geterred.

? Indurance, which Shakspeare found in Fox's narnative, means here imprisonment: one or two of the thefest of the council, making their excuse, declared, hat in requesting his indurance, it was rather meant Er his trial and his purgation--than for any malice conceived against him."

2 i. e. have no value for.

His language in his tears.

He has strangled

Must be fulfill'd, and I attend with patience.

4 Not ever is an uncommon expression, and hers means not always.

5 To reen is to think or imagine. Though now ob solete, the word was common to all our ancient writers. Overweening, its derivative, is still retained in the mo dern vocabulary.

6 This, says Steevens, is I suppose the same old cat that appears with Anne Boleyn in a former scene.

7 The humour of this passage consists in the talkative old lady, who in her burry said it was a boy, adding bless her, before she corrects her mistake.

K. Hen.

Enter, at a IVindow above,' the King and BUTTS.
Butts. I'll show your grace the strangest sight,
What's that, Butts?
Butts. I think your highness saw this many a day.
K. Hen. Body o' me, where is it?
Butts.

There, my lord:
The high promotion of his grace of Canterbury;
Who holds his state at door, 'mongst pursuivants,
Pages, and footboys.

K. Hen.

Ha! 'Tis he, indeed:

Is this the honour they do one another?

"Tis well, there's one above them yet. I had thought
They had parted so much honesty among them
(At least, good manners) as not thus to suffer
A man of his place, and so near our favour,
To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasures,
And at the door too, like a post with packets.
By holy Mary, Butts, there's knavery:
Let them alone, and draw the curtain close ;3
We shall hear more anon.-

THE COUNCIL CHAMBER.

[Exeunt.

Enter the Lord Chancellor, the DUKE of SUFFOLK,
EARL of SURREY, Lord Chamberlain, GARDI-
NER, and CROMWELL. The Chancellor places
himself at the upper end of the table on the left
hand; a seat being left void above him, as for the
Archbishop of Canterbury. The rest seat them-
selves in order on each side.
lower end, as Secretary.

CROMWELL at the

Chan. Speak to the business, master secretary:
Why are we met in council?
Crom.

Please your honours,
The chief cause concerns his grace of Canterbury.
Gar. Has he had knowledge of it?
Crom.

Nor.

Yes.

D. Keep. Without, my noble lords?
Gar.

Yes.

To one man's honour) this contagious sickness,
Farewell, all physic: And what follows then?
Commotions, uproars, with a general taint
Of the whole state: as of late days, our neighbours,
The upper Germany, can dearly witness,
Yet freshly pitied in our memories.

Cran. My good lords, hitherto, in all the progress
Both of my life and office, I have labour'd,
And with no little study, that my teaching,
And the strong course of my authority,
Might go one way, and safely; and the end
(I speak it with a single heart, my lords,)
Was ever, to do well: nor is there living

A man, that more detests, more stirs against,
Both in his private conscience, and his place,
"Pray heaven, the king may never find a heart
Defacers of a public peace, than I do.
With less allegiance in it! Men, that make
Envy and crooked malice, nourishment,
Dare bite the best. I do beseech your lordships,
That, in this case of justice, my accusers,
Be what they will, may stand forth face to face,
And freely urge against me.
Suf.

Nay, my lord,
That cannot be; you are a counsellor,
And, by that virtue, no man dare accuse you.
Gar. My lord, because we have business of more
moment,

We will be short with you. "Tis his highness'

pleasure,

And our consent, for better trial of
you,
From hence you be committed to the Tower;
Where, being but a private man again,
You shall know many dare accuse you boldly,
More than, I fear, you are provided for.

you,

Cran. Ah, my good lord of Winchester, I thank
Who waits there? You are always my good friend; if your will pass,
I shall both find your lordship judge and juror,
You are so merciful: I see your end,
"Tis my undoing: Love, and meekness, lord,
Become a churchman better than ambition;
Win straying souls with modesty again,
Cast none away. That I shall clear myself,
Lay all the weight ye can upon my patience,
I make as little doubt, as you do conscience,
In doing daily wrongs. I could say more,
But reverence to your callin makes me modest.

D. Keep.
My lord archbishop;
And has done half an hour, to know your pleasures.
Chan. Let him come in.
D. Keep.

Your grace may enter now.4

[CRANMER approaches the Council-table.
Chan. My good lord archbishop, I am very sorry
To sit here at this present, and behold
That chair stand empty: But we all are men,
In our own natures frail, and capables

Of our flesh, few are angels: out of which frailty,
And want of wisdom, you, that best should teach us,
Have misdemean'd yourself, and not a little,
Toward the king first, then his laws, in filling
The whole realm, by your teaching, and your chap-

lains

(For so we are inform'd,) with new opinions, Divers, and dangerous; which are heresies, And, not reform'd, may prove pernicious.

Gar. Which reformation must be sudden too, My noble lords: for those that tame wild horses, Pace them not in their hands to make them gentle; But stop their mouths with stubborn bits, and spur them,

Till they obey the manage. If we suffer (Out of our easiness, and childish pity

Gar. My lord, my lord, you are a sectary,
To men that understand you, words and weakness.
That's the plain truth; your painted gloss discovers,

Crom. My lord of Winchester, you are a little,
However faulty, yet should find respect
By your good favour, too sharp; men so noble,
For what they have been: 'tis a cruelty,
To load a falling man.

Gar.

Good master secretary,

I cry your honour mercy; you may, worst
Of all this table, say so.

Crom.
Why, my lord!
of this new sect? ye are not sound.
Gar. Do not I know you for a favourer

Crom.

Gar, Not sound, I say.

Not sound?

1 The suspicious vigilance of our ancestors contrived windows which overlooked the insides of chapels, halls, kitchens, passages, &c. Some of these convenient peepholes may still be seen in colleges, and such ancient houses as have not suffered from the reformations of modern architecture. In a letter from Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, 1573, printed in Seward's Anecdotes, vol. iv. p. 270, ed. 1796-And if it please her majestie, she may come in through my comedian Matthews. gallerie, and see the disposition of the hall in dynner 5 Capable of our flesh,' probably means suscepti time, at a window opening thereinto. Without a pre-ble of the failings inherent in humanity." vious knowledge of this custom Shakspeare's scenery in the present instance would be obscure.

2 i. e. shared, possessed.

3 That is, the curtain of the balcony or upper stage, where the king now is. See Malone's Account of the early English Stage, vol. iii. of the late edition by Mr. Boswell. 4 The old stage direction at the commencement of this scene is 'A councell table brought in with chayres

6 Alluding to the heresy of Thomas Muntzer, which sprung up in Saxony in the years 1521 and 1522.

7. i. e. without duplicity or guile. Thus in Acts, 46, In singleness of heart. I have before had occasion to observe that single and simple were synonymous. 8 Those that understand you, under this painted gloss, this fair outside, discover your empty talk and your false reasoning.

His royal self in judgment comes to hear
The cause betwixt her and this great offender.
K. Hen. You were ever good at sudden commen-
dations,

Bishop of Winchester. But know, I come not
To hear such flattery now, and in my presence;
They are too thin and bare to hide offences.2
To me you cannot reach, you play the spaniel,
And think with wagging of your tongue to win me;
But, whatsoe'er thou tak'st me for, I am sure,
Thou hast a cruel nature, and a bloody.-
Good man, [To CRANMER,] sit down. Now let
me see the proudest

He, that dares most, but wag his finger at thee:
By all that's holy, he had better starve,
Than but once think his place becomes thee not."
Sur. May it please your grace,-

No, sir, it does not please me.
I had thought, I had had men of some understanding
And wisdom of my council; but I find none.
Was it discretion, lords, to let this man,
This good man (few of you deserve that title,)
This honest man, wait like a lousy footboy
At chamber door? and one as great as you are?
Why, what a shame was this? Did my commission
Bid ye so far forget yourselves? I gave ye
Power as he was a counsellor to try him,
Not as a groom; There's some of ye, I see,
More out of malice than integrity,
Would try him to the utmost, had ye mean;
Which
ye shall never have, while I live.
Chan.

Thus far,
My most dread sovereign, may it like your grace
To let my tongue excuse all. What was purpos'd
Concerning his imprisonment, was rather
(If there be faith in men) meant for his trial,
And fair purgation to the world, than malice;
I am sure, in me.

Well, well, my lords, respect him;
Take him, and use him well, he's worthy of it.
I will say thus much for him,-If a prince
May be beholden to a subject, I

Am, for his love and service, so to him.

My mind gave me, Make me no more ado, but all embrace him:

Two noble partners with you; the old duchess of
Norfolk,

And lady marquis Dorset; Will these please you?
Once more, my lord of Winchester, I charge you,
Embrace, and love this man.

Gar.

And brother-love, I do it.
Cran.

With a true heart,

And let heaven
Witness, how dear I hold this confirmation.
K. Hen. Good man, those joyful tears show thy
true heart.

The common voice, I see, is verified
Of thee, which says thus, Do my lord of Canterbury
A shrewd turn, and he is your friend forever.-
Come lords, we trifle time away; I long
To have this young one made a Christian.
As I have made ye one, lords, one remain;
So I grow stronger, you more honour gain.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III. The Palace Yard. Noise and Tu

mult within.

you

Enter Porter and his Man.

Port. You'll leave your noise anon, ye rascals: Do take the court for Paris-garden?' ye rude slaves, leave your gaping.2 [Within. Good master porter, I belong to the larder.

Port. Belong to the gallows, and be hanged, you rogue: Is this a place to roar in ?-Fetch me a dozen crab-tree staves, and strong ones; these are but switches to them.-I'll scratch heads your You must be seeing christenings? Do you look for ale and cakes here, you rude rascals? Man. Pray, sir, be patient; 'tis as much impos

sible

(Unless we sweep them from the door with can-
nons,)

To scatter them, as 'tis to make them sleep
On May-day morning; which will never be :3
We may as well push against Paul's, as stir them.
Port. How got they in, and be hang'd?

Man. Alas, I know not; how gets the tide in?
As much as one sound cudgel of four foot
(You see the poor remainder) could distribute,
made no spare, sir.
Port.
You did nothing, sir.
Man. I am not Samson, nor Sir Guy, nor Col-

:

brand, to mow them down before me: but, if I spared any, that had a head to it, either young or old, he or she, cuckold or cuckold-maker, let me never hope to see a chine again; and that I would not for a cow, God save her.

[Within.] Do you hear, master Porter? Port. I shall be with you presently, good master puppy. Keep the door close, sirrah.

Man. What would you have me do?

Port. What should you do, but knock them down by the dozens? Is this Moorfields to muster in ? or have we some strange Indian with the great tool come to court, the women so besiege us? Bless me, what a fry of fornication is at door! On my Christian conscience, this one christening will beget a thousand; here will be father, godfather, and all together.

Man. The spoons will be the bigger, sir. There is a fellow somewhat near the door, he should be a of the dog-days now reign in's nose: all that stand brazier by his face, for, o' my conscience, twenty about him are under the line, they need no other penance: That fire-drake' did I hit three times on the head, and three times was his nose discharged against me: he stands there, like a mortar-piece, to blow us. There was a haberdasher's wife of small wit near him, that railed upon me till her pink'd porringer fell off her head, for kindling such a combustion in the state. I miss'd the meteor once, and hit that woman, who cried out, clubs !10 when I might see from far some forty truncheoneers draw to her succour, which were the hope of the Strand, where she was quartered. They fell on; I made good my place; at length they came to the broomstaff with ine, I defied them still; when suddenly a file of boys behind them, loose shot, delivered such a shower of pebbles, that I was fain to draw mine honour in, and let them win the work.12 The devil was amongst them, I think, surely.

Port. These are the youths that thunder at a play-house, and fight for bitten apples; that no audience, but the tribulation of Tower-hill, or the limbs of Limehouse, 13 their dear brothers, are able to endure. I have some of them in Limbo Patrum,1a and there they are like to dance these three days;

7Fire-drake; a fire sometimes seen flying in the night like a dragon. Common people think it a spirit 1 This celebrated bear garden, on the Bankside, was that keepeth soine treasure hid; but philosophers af so called from Robert de Paris, who had a house and firme it to be a great unequal erhalation inflamed begarden there in the time of King Richard II. The Globe tweene two clouds, the one hot, the other cold, which is Theatre, in which Shakspeare was a perforiner, stood the reason that it also smoketh; the middle part whereon the southern side of the river Thames, and was con-of, according to the proportion of the hot cloud, being iguous to this noted place of tumult and disorder. St. greater than the rest, maketh it seeme like a bellie, and Mary Overy's church is not far from London Bridge, both ends like unto a head and taile.'-Bullokar's Exand almost opposite to Fishmongers' Hall; Winchester positor, 1616. A fire-drake appears to have been also House was over against Cole Harbour; Paris Garden an artificial firework. Thus in Your Five Gallants, by was in a line with Bridewell; and the Globe playhouse Middleton :faced Blackfriars, Fleet Ditch, or St. Paul's. It was an hexagonal building of stone or brick. Its roof was of rushes, with a flag on the top. In the preliminary remarks is a representation of it, from an old View of London, as it appeared in 1599.

2 i. e. shouting or roaring; a sense the word has now lost. Littleton, in his Dictionary, has To gape or bail: vociferor.' So in Roscommon's Essay on Transla. tion:

That noisy, nauseous gaping fool was he.' 3 Our ancestors, young and old, rich and poor, all concurred, as Shakspeare in another place says:

To do observance to a morn of May, Stowe says that in the month of May, namely on May. day in the morning, every man would walk into the sweet meadows and green woods; there to rejoice their spirits with the beauty and savour of sweet flowers, and with the noise [i. e. music] of birds, praising God in their kind. It is upon record that King Henry VIII. and Queen Katharine partook of this diversion. See Brand's Popular Antiquities, by Ellis.

4 Guy of Warwick, nor Colbrand the Danish giant, whon Guy subdued at Winchester.

5 The trained bands of the city were exercised in Moorfields.

6 A brazier signifies a man that manufactures brass, and a reservoir for charcoal occasionally heated to convey warmth. Both these senses are understood.

6 -but like fire-drakes

Mounted a little, gave a crack, and fell.'

S Her pink'd cap, which looked as if it had been moulded on a porringer. So in The Taming of the Shrew :

Hab. Here is the cap your worship did bespeak. Pet. Why, this was moulded on a porringer? 9 The brazier.

10 See note on the First Part of King Henry V1. Acti. Sc. 3; and As You Like It, Act v. Sc. 2

II i. e. loose or random shooters. See King Henry IV. Part ii. Act iii. Sc. 2.

12 i, e. the fortress: it is a term in fortification. Limehouse it is evident that Shakspeare meant noisy 13 By the tribulation of Tower-hill and the limbs of rabble frequenting the theatres, supposed to come from those places. It appears from Stowe that the inhabitants of Tower-hill were remarkably turbulent. word limb, in the sense of a turbulent person, is not uncommon in London even at this day. A mischievous ritans were aimed at under these appellations seems to nruly boy is called a limb of the devil.' That the pu ine doubtful.

The

14 i. e. in confinement. In limbo continues to be a cant phrase in the same sense to this day. The Limbus Patrum is, properly, the place where the old fathers and patriarchs are supposed to be waiting for the resurrection. See Titus Andronicue, Act iii. Sc. 1.

besides the running banquet of two beadles,' that.

is to come.

There's a trim rabble let in: Are all these
Your faithful friends o' the suburbs? We shall have
Great store of room, no doubt, left for the ladies,
When they pass back from the christening.
Port.
An't please your honour,
We are but men; and what so many may do,
Not being torn a pieces, we have done :
An army cannot rule them.

Cham

As I live,
If the king blame me for't, I'll lay ye all
By the heels, and suddenly; and on your heads
Clap round fines, for neglect: You are lazy knaves;
And here ye lie baiting of bumbards, 2 when
Ye should do service. Hark, the trumpets sound;
They are come already from the christening:
Go, break among the press, and find a way out
To let the troop pass fairly; or I'll find
A Marshalsea, shall hold you play these two months.
Port. Make way there for the princess.
Man. You great fellow, stand close up, or I'll
make your head ake.

Cran. Let me speak, sir,

For heaven now bids me; and the words I utter
Let none think flattery, for they'll find them truth.
Though in her cradle, yet now promises
This royal infant (heaven still move about her!)
Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness: She shall be
(But few now living can behold that goodness,)
A pattern to all princes living with her,
More covetous of wisdom, and fair virtue,
And all that shall succeed: Sheba was never
Than this pure soul shall be: all princely graces,
With all the virtues that attend the good,
That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,
Shall still be doubled on her: truth shall nurse her,
Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her:
She shall be lov'd, and fear'd; Her own shall bless
her:

Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn,
And hang their heads with sorrow: Good grows

with her :

Port. You i' the camblet, get up o' the rail; I'll pick1 you o'er the pales else. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The Palace. Enter Trumpets, soundSing; then two Aldermen, Lord Mayor, Garter, CRANMER, DUKE of NORFOLK, with his Mar- Who, from the sacred ashes of her honour, shal's staff, DUKE of SUFFOLK, two Noblemen Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was, bearing great standing-bowls for the christening And so stand fix'd: Peace, plenty, love, truth, gifts; then four Noblemen bearing a canopy, under which the DUCHESS of NORFOLK, godmother, bearing the Child richly habited in a mantle, &c. Train borne by a Lady; then follows the MARCHIONESS of DORSET, the other godmother, and The troop pass once about the stage, and Garter speaks.

Under his own vine," what he plants; and sing
In her days, every man shall eat in safety
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours:
God shall be truly known; and those about her
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood,
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
[Nor shall this peace sleep with her: But as when
As great in admiration as herself:
Her ashes new create another heir,
So shall she leave her blessedness to one,
(When heaven shall call her from this cloud of
darkness,)

Ladies.

Gart. Heaven, from thy endless goodness, send prosperous life, long, and ever happy, to the high and mighty princess of England, Elizabeth.

Flourish. Enter King and Train.

Cran. [Kneeling.] And to your royal grace, and
the good queen,

My noble partners, and myself, thus pray ;-
All comfort, joy, in this most gracious lady,
Heaven ever laid up to make parents happy,
May hourly fall upon ye!

K. Hen. Thank you, good lord archbishop;
What is her name?

Cran.

K. Hen.

With this kiss take

Elizabeth.

Stand up, lord.-[The King kisses the Child. my blessing: God protect thee! Amen.

terror,

That were the servants to this chosen infant,
Shall then be his, and like a vine grow to him;
Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour and the greatness of his name
Shall be, and make new nations: He shall flourish,
And, like a mountain cedar, reach his branches
To all the plains about him ;-Our children's
Shall see this, and bless heaven.
children

K. Hen.

Thou speakest wonders.]
Cran. She shall be, to the happiness of England,
An aged princess; many days shall see her,
And yet no day without a deed to crown it.
'Would I had known no more! but she must die,
She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin,
A most unspotted lily shall she pass

To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her.
K. Hen. O lord archbishop,

Thou hast made me now a man; never, before This happy child, did I get any thing: This oracle of comfort has so pleas'd me, That, when I am in heaven, I shall desire To see what this child does, and praise my Maker.I thank ye all.-To you, my good lord mayor, And your good brethren, I am much beholden; K. Hen. My noble gossips, ye have been too I have received much honour by your presence, And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way, lords;

Into whose hands I give thy life.

Cran.

1 A public whipping. A banquet here is used figu. ratively, for a dessert. To the confinement of these rioters a whipping was to be the dessert.

2 It has already been observed that a bumbard was a large black jack of leather (Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 2,) used to carry beer to soldiers upon duty, or upon any occasion where a quantity was required. See note on King Henry IV. Part 1. Act ii. Sc. 4.

3 To pick is to pitch, cast, or throw. 4 At Greenwich, where this procession was made from the church of the Friars.-Hall, fo. 217.

5 Standing-bowls were bowls elevated on feet or pedestals.

5 The thought is borrowed from Scripture. See Micah, iv. 4. 1 Kings, c. iv. The first part of the prophe. ey is apparently burlesqued in the Beggar's Bush of

Ye must all see the queen, and she must thank ye,

Beaumont and Fletcher; where Orator Higgin is mak ing his congratulatory speech to the new king of the beggars;

Each man shall eat his stolen eggs and butter In his own shade, or sunshine,' &c.

7 Some of the commentators think that this and the following seventeen lines were probably written by Ben Jonson, after the accession of King James. We have before observed Mr. Gifford is of opinion that Ben Jonson had no hand in the additions to this play.

8 On a picture of King James, which formerly belonged to the great Bacon, and is now in the possession of The year before the revival of this play there was a lot. Lord Grimston, he is styled imperii Atlantici conditor. tery for the plantation of Virginia. The lines probably allude to the settlement of that colony.