(Mine, and your master,) with his own hand gave me : Wol. It must be himself then. Proud lord, thou liest; Sur. Thou art a proud traitor, priest. Within these forty hours Surrey durst better Sur. Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land (With thee, and all thy best parts bound together) Far from his succour, from the king, from all That might have mercy on the fault thou gav'st him; Absolv'd him with an axe. This, and all else Wol. That in the way of loyalty and truth Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be, And all that love his follies. Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou shouldst feel Can ye endure to hear this arrogance? And from this fellow? If we live thus tamely VOL. VII. Р Farewell nobility; let his grace go forward, Wol. Is poison to thy stomach. Sur. All goodness Yes, that goodness Of gleaning all the land's wealth into one, Into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion; The goodness of your intercepted packets, You writ to the pope, against the king: your goodness, My lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble, As you respect the common good, the state Of our despis'd nobility, our issues, Who, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen,— Worse than the sacring bell, when the brown wench 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! Nor. Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand: But, thus much, they are foul ones. So much fairer, Wol. When the king knows my truth. Sur. This cannot save you: I thank my memory, I yet remember Some of these articles; and out they shall. Now, if you can blush, and cry guilty, cardinal, Wol. Speak on, sir; I dare your worst objections: if I blush, It is, to see a nobleman want manners. Suf. I'd 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. Nor. Then, that, in all you writ to Rome, or else To foreign princes, Ego et Rex meus Was still inscrib'd; in which you brought the king your servant. To be Suf. Then, that, without the knowledge Either of king or council, when you went Sur. Item, you sent a large commission Without the king's will, or the state's allowance, Suf. That, out of mere ambition, you have caus'd Sur. Then, that you have sent innumerable substance, (By what means got, I leave to your own conscience,) To furnish Rome, and to prepare the ways You have for dignities; to the merea undoing Of all the kingdom. Many more there are; 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; 't is virtue : His faults lie open to the laws; let them, Not you, correct him. My heart weeps to see him So little of his great self. Suf. Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is,— Out of the king's protection :-This is my charge. a Mere-absolute. The king shall know it, and, no doubt, shall thank you. [Exeunt all but WOLSEY. Wol. So farewell to the little good you bear me. Never to hope again. Enter CROMWELL, amazedly. Why, how now, Cromwell? Wol. Crom. I have no power to speak, sir. At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder A great man should decline? Nay, an you weep, I am fallen indeed. What, amaz'd Crom. How does your grace? a Their ruin-the ruin which princes inflict. b This passage was probably suggested by the noble apostrophe in Isaiah :— "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" Wol. Why, well; Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell. A peace above all earthly dignities, A still and quiet conscience. The king has cur'd me, A load would sink a navy, too much honour: Crom. I am glad your grace has made that right use of it. (Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,) To endure more miseries, and greater far, Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer. 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 Lord chancellor in your place. That's somewhat sudden : Wol. For truth's sake, and his conscience; that his bones, Crom. That Cranmer is return'd with welcome, 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 Only about her coronation. Wol. There was the weight that pull'd me down. O Cromwell, The king has gone beyond me; all my glories |