Enter Cardinal WOLSEY, (the purse borne before him,) certain of the Guard, and two Secretaries with papers. The Cardinal in his passage fixeth his eye on BUCKINGHAM, and BUCKINGHAM on him, both full of disdain.

Wolsey. The Duke of Buckingham's surveyor? ha! Where's his examination ?

1 Secretary.

Here, so please you.

Wol. Is he in person ready?

1 Secr.

Ay, please your Grace.

Wol. Well, we shall then know more; and Buck

ingham

Shall lessen this big look.

[Exeunt WOLSEY and Train. Buck. This butcher's cur is venom-mouth'd, and I 120 Have not the power to muzzle him; therefore, best

Not wake him in his slumber. A beggar's book
Out-worths a noble's blood.

Nor.

114 [the purse], the bag containing the great seal. (R) [both full of disdain.] This very particular stage direction is from the folio, which in this respect is unusually full and exact in this play. (w)

115 The Duke of Buckingham's surveyor (i. e. overseer). He had been dismissed from Buckingham's service. Cf. ii. 172, and note on 1. 108, below. (R)

120 This butcher's cur, Wolsey

What, are you chaf'd?

was not the son of a butcher, but, as we know by his father's will, of a substantial and even wealthy burgess of Ipswich, where, and in Stoke, he was a considerable landholder. A butcher might be all this now, and more, but not then. The folio has venom'd-mouth'd, which is possibly what the author wrote. (w)

122 book, i. e. learning, attainments. (R)

Ask God for temp'rance; that's th' appliance only
Which your disease requires.

I read in 's looks

Buck.
Matter against me; and his eye revil'd

Me, as his abject object: at this instant
He bores me with some trick.
I'll follow and out-stare him.

He's gone to th' King:

Nor.
Stay, my lord,
And let your reason with your choler question
What 't is you go about. To climb steep hills,
Requires slow pace at first: anger is like
A full-hot horse, who being allow'd his way,
Self-mettle tires him. Not a man in England
Can advise me like you: be to yourself

As you would to your friend.

Buck.

I'll to the King ;

And from a mouth of honour quite cry down
This Ipswich fellow's insolence, or proclaim
There's difference in no persons.

Nor.

Be advis'd;

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
That it do singe yourself: we may outrun
By violent swiftness that which we run at,
And lose by over-running. Know you not
The fire that mounts the liquor till 't run o'er,
In seeming to augment it wastes it? Be advis'd:
I say again, there is no English soul

More stronger to direct you than yourself,

If with the sap of reason you would quench,
Or but allay, the fire of passion.

124 temp'rance, moderation. appliance, application or remedy. (R)

128 bores, undermines. (R)
138 Ipswich was Wolsey's birth-

130

140

place, and it was there he founded a college. Cf. IV. ii. 59. (R)

189 There's difference in no persons. I. e. rank counts for nothing. (R)

I am thankful to you, and I'll go along

By your prescription; but this top-proud fellow,
Whom from the flow of gall I name not, but
From sincere motions, by intelligence

And proofs as clear as founts in July, when
We see each grain of gravel, I do know

To be corrupt and treasonous.

Nor.
Buck.

Say not treasonous.

To th' King I'll say 't, and make my vouch as strong

As shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox,

Or wolf, or both, (for he is equal rav'nous
As he is subtle, and as prone to mischief
As able to perform 't, — his mind and place
Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally,)
Only to shew his pomp, as well in France

As here at home, suggests the King, our master,
To this last costly treaty, th' interview

That swallowed so much treasure, and like a glass
Did break i' th' rinsing.

Nor.

Faith, and so it did.

Buck. Pray give me favour, sir. This cunning

Cardinal

The articles o' th' combination drew

As himself pleas'd; and they were ratified,
As he cried, "Thus let be," to as much end
As give a crutch to th' dead.
Has done this, and 't is well;
Who cannot err, he did it.

153 motions, motives. (R) 164 suggests, i. e. tempts. Cf. Two Gentlemen of Verona, III. i. 34. (w)

But our Count-Cardinal for worthy Wolsey, Now this follows,

150

160

170

167 rinsing. The folio, wrenching; a corruption still heard in the United States.

169 combination, interview. (R)

(Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy
To th' old dam, treason,) Charles the Emperor,
Under pretence to see the Queen, his aunt,
(For 't was, indeed, his colour, but he came
To whisper Wolsey,) here makes visitation:
His fears were, that the interview betwixt
England and France might, through their amity,
Breed him some prejudice; for from this league
Peep'd harms that menac'd him. He privily
Deals with our Cardinal, and, as I trow, -
Which I do well; for, I am sure, the Emperor
Paid ere he promis'd, whereby his suit was granted
Ere it was ask'd: but when the way was made,
And pav'd with gold, the Emperor thus desir'd, —
That he would please to alter the King's course,
And break the foresaid peace. Let the King know
(As soon he shall by me) that thus the Cardinal
Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases,
And for his own advantage.

Nor.

I am sorry

To hear this of him; and could wish he were
Something mistaken in 't.

Buck.

No, not a syllable :

I do pronounce him in that very shape
He shall appear in proof.

176 Charles the Emperor, i. e.
Charles V., Emperor of Germany.
Queen Katharine was his mother
Joanna's sister. (R)

178 colour, pretext. The visit occurred in May, 1520, shortly before the meeting of the English and French kings. (R)

179 visitation, visit. (R)

183 He. He, omitted in the first, was supplied in the second

180

190

folio. For trow, in the next line, the first folio reads troa -a mere phonographic irregularity. (w) 195 mistaken, misunderstood. (R)

197 He, &c. Supply "in which." in proof, when put to the test. [Brandon.] Probably Sir Thomas Brandon, master of the King's horse. But this is an historical error; for the Duke

Enter BRANDON; a Sergeant at Arms before him, and two or three of the Guard.

Brandon. Your office, Sergeant; execute it.
Sergeant.

My lord the Duke of Buckingham, and Earl
Of Hereford, Stafford, and Northampton, I
Arrest thee of high treason, in the name
Of our most sovereign King.

Buck.

Lo, you, my lord! The net has fall'n upon me: I shall perish

Under device and practice.

Bran.

I am sorry

To see you ta'en from liberty to look on

Sir,

The business present. T is his Highness' pleasure
You shall to th' Tower.

Buck.

It will help me nothing

To plead mine innocence; for that dye is on me

Which makes my whit'st part black. The will of

Heav'n

Be done in this and all things. I obey.

O, my Lord Aberga'ny, fare you well!

Bran. Nay, he must bear you company. - The

King

was arrested on April 16, 1521, by Sir Henry Marney, captain of the King's guard. (R)

200 Hereford, Capell's reading. The folios have Hertford. (R) 204 practice, intrigue. (R) 204-6 I am sorry, &c. A comma placed after liberty enables some editors to explain the second clause as emphasizing the first. With no comma, to look on, &c., may be construed with liberty.

[To ABERGAVENNY.

200

210

In any case the lines are unsatisfactory. (R)

211 Aberga'ny. The folios have Aburgany, showing the pronunciation; Cambridge, Abergavenny, the full written form of the word. He was Buckingham's son-in-law, and was at first (May, 1521) imprisoned for complicity in the Duke's treason, but was pardoned May, 1522. Cf. ii. 137. (R)