A load would sink a navy, too much honour:
O, 't is a burden, Cromwell, 't is a burden

Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven.

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

What news abroad?

Crom.

The heaviest, and the worst,

God bless him!

Is your displeasure with the king.

Wol.

Crom. The next is, that sir Thomas More is chosen

Lord chancellor in your place.

That 's somewhat sudden :

Wol.
But he's a learnèd man. May he continue
Long in his highness' favour, and do justice
For truth's sake, and his conscience'; that his bones,
When he has run his course, and sleeps in blessings,
May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on them! a
What more?

Crom. That Cranmer is returned with welcome,—
Installed 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 viewed in open 2, as his

queen,

May be covered with the tears of grateful sorrow shed by orphans whom he has befriended.-The Lord Chancellor is the general guardian of orphans.

1 With welcome, that is to say, installed, &c.

2 In open, an imitation of the Latin in aperto, and possibly indicating that Ben Jonson's classic pen had something to do with this part of the play.

G

Going to chapel; and the voice is now

Only about her coronation.

Wol. There was the weight that pulled me down.
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
Upon my smiles.

I am a poor fallen

Go, get thee from me, Cromwell; 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;
Some little memory of me will stir him,

(I know his noble nature,) not to let

a

Thy hopeful service perish too: Good Cromwell,
Neglect him not; make use now, and provide
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!
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.

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

a Use here means interest, as being paid for the use of money.

b All who have not iron hearts, unsusceptible of impression.

• See part of this speech paraphrased in the Appendix.

Of me more must be heard of,—say, I taught thee;
Say, Wolsey,- that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded a all the depths and shoals of honour,—
Found thee a way, out of his wrack, to rise in,
A sure and safe one, though b thy master missed it.
Mark but my fall, and that that ruined me:
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition;
By that sin fell the angels; how can man then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't?
Love thyself last cherish those hearts that hate thee;
Corruption wins not more than honesty.

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,

To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country's,

Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fallest, O Cromwell, Thou fallest a blessed martyr. Serve the king;

And,- Prithee, lead me in:

There take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 't is the king's: my robe

And my integrity to heaven, is all

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell,

Had I but served my God with half the zeal a

e

I served my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.

Crom. Good sir, have patience.

So I have.

Farewell

Wol. The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell. [Exeunt.

a Had, as it were, fathomed all parts of that sea on which worldly honour is sought.

Found a way for thee, although he himself missed it.

c An allusion to the ivory or silver rod, surmounted by the dove or

bird of peace, carried at processions.

a See Life of. Wolsey, sec. 24. Shakspeare makes Cromwell the general representative of Wolsey's faithful servants.

• Half of the zeal with which I served my king.

1 Gent. You come to take your stand here, and

behold

The lady Anne pass from her coronation?

2 Gent. 'T is all my business. At our last encounter, The duke of Buckingham came from his trial.

1 Gent. 'T is very true: but that time offered sorrow a; This, general joy.

2 Gent.

"T is well: The citizens,

I am sure, have shown at full their royal minds,

(As, let them have their rights, they are ever forward,) In celebration of this day with shows,

Pageants, and sights of honour.c

1 Gent.

Never greater d,

Nor, I'll assure you, better taken, sir.

That occasion presented a scene of sorrow, this presents one of general joy.

To do them justice.

• Have fully shown their loyal dispositions by the manner in which they have celebrated this day with shows, representative figures, and triumphal displays.

a Never was a greater demonstration of loyalty, or one more acceptable, better welcomed.

2 Gent. May I be bold to ask what that contains, That paper in your hand?

1 Gent.

Yes; 't is the list

Of those that claim their offices this day,

By custom of the coronation.a

The duke of Suffolk is the first, and claims

To be high steward; next, the duke of Norfolk,
He to be earl marshal: you may read the rest.

2 Gent. I thank you, sir; had I not known those customs, I should have been beholden to b

your paper. But, I beseech you, what's become of Katharine, The princess dowager? how goes her business?

1 Gent. That I can tell you too. The archbishop
Of Canterbury, accompanied with other
Learned and reverend fathers of his order,
Held a late court at Dunstable, six miles off
From Ampthill, where the princess lay; to which
She was often cited by them, but appeared not:
And, to be short, for not-appearance, and
The king's late scruple, by the main assent
Of all these learned men she was divorced,
And the lated marriage made of none effect:
Since which, she was removed to Kimbolton,
Where she remains now, sick.

In the beginning of May, 1533, the king caused open proclamation to be made, that all men that claimed to do any service, or execute any office, at the solemn feast of the coronation, by the way of tenure, grant, or prescription, should put their grant, three weeks after Easter, in the Star Chamber, before Charles, Duke of Suffolk, for that time high-steward of England, and the lord chancellor, and other commissioners.'-Holinshed.

b Obliged to you for the sight of.

• Held a court lately. This was in May, 1533. (See Introductory Remarks, sec. 4.)

a The previous marriage.