Nor.

It's heaven's will:

Some spirit put this paper in the packet,

To bless your eye withal.

King.

If we did think
His contemplation were above the earth,
And fix'd on spiritual object, he should still
Dwell in his musings: but I am afraid

His thinkings are below the moon, not worth
His serious considering.

130

[King takes his seat; whispers Lovell, who goes to the Cardinal.

Heaven forgive me!

Ever God bless your highness!

Wol.

King.

Good my lord,

You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the inventory

Of

your best graces in your mind; the which You were now running o'er: you have scarce time

To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span
To keep your earthly audit: sure, in that
I deem you an ill husband, and am glad
To have you therein my companion.
Wol.

Sir,

For holy offices I have a time; a time
To think upon the part of business which
I bear i' the state; and nature does require
Her times of preservation, which perforce
I, her frail son, amongst my brethren mortal,
Must give my tendance to.

King.

You have said well.

140

Wol. And ever may your highness yoke together, As I will lend you cause, my doing well

With my well saying!

King.

"Tis well said again;

And 'tis a kind of good deed to say well:

151

And yet words are no deeds. My father loved
you:

He said he did, and with his deed did crown
His word upon you. Since I had my office,
I have kept you next my heart; have not alone
Employ'd you where high profits might come
home,

But pared my present havings, to bestow
My bounties upon you.

Wol. [Aside] What should this mean? 160
Sur. [Aside] The Lord increase this business!

King.

Have I not made you

The prime man of the state? I pray you, tell

me,

If what I now pronounce you have found true:
And, if you may
you may confess it, say withal,
If you are bound to us or no.

What say you? Wol. My sovereign, I confess your royal graces, Shower'd on me daily, have been more than could

170

My studied purposes requite; which went
Beyond all man's endeavors: my endeavors
Have ever come too short of
my desires,
Yet filed with my abilities: mine own ends
Have been mine so that evermore they pointed
To the good of your most sacred person and

172. "been mine so"; so F. 1; Ff. 2, 3, 4 read "been so.”—I, G.

1

The profit of the state. For your great graces
Heap'd upon me, poor undeserver, I

Can nothing render but allegiant thanks,
My prayers to heaven for you, my loyalty,
Which ever has and ever shall be growing,
Till death, that winter, kill it.

King.

Fairly answer'd;
A loyal and obedient subject is

180

Therein illustrated: the honor of it
Does pay the act of it; as, i' the contrary,
The foulness is the punishment. I presume
That, as my hand has open'd bounty to you,
My heart dropp'd love, my power rain'd honor,

more

On you than any; so your hand and heart,
Your brain and every function of your power,
Should, notwithstanding that your bond of duty,
As 'twere in love's particular, be more

To me, your friend, than any.

Wol.

190

I do profess
That for your highness' good I ever labor'd
More than mine own; that am, have, and will
be-

181. "the honor of it does pay the act of it"; the honor attaching to such loyalty sufficiently rewards it.-C. H. H.

189. "in love's particular"; besides your bond of duty as a loyal and obedient servant, you owe a particular devotion to me as your special benefactor.-H. N. H.

192. "that am, have, and will be," etc.; the reading of the Folios of these lines, which have taxed the ingenuity of scholars; some two-dozen various emendations are recorded in the Cambridge Shakespeare, but probably the text as we have it represents the author's words; the meaning of the passage is clear, and the difficulty is due to the change in construction. Instead of "that am, have, and will be," it has been proposed to read, "that am your slave, and

810350

Though all the world should crack their duty

to you,

And throw it from their soul; though perils did
Abound, as thick as thought could make 'em
and

Appear in forms more horrid-yet my duty,
As doth a rock against the chiding flood,
Should the approach of this wild river break,
And stand unshaken yours.

King.

"Tis nobly spoken. Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast,

200

For you have seen him open 't. [Giving him

papers.] Read o'er this;

And after, this: and then to breakfast with
What appetite you have.

[Exit King, frowning upon the Cardinal: the
nobles throng after him, smiling and whis-
pering.

Wol.

What should this mean? What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd it?

He parted frowning from me, as if ruin
Leap'd from his eyes. So looks the chafed
lion

Upon the daring huntsman that has gall'd him;
Then makes him nothing. I must read this

paper;

I fear, the story of his anger.

"Tis so;

This paper has undone me: 'tis the account

210

will be"; this would get rid of the awkward "have"="have been," hut probably the line is correct as it stands.-I. G.

10. "'tis the account," etc. Holinshed records that an inadvertence kind was committed by the Bishop of Durham in 1523, which

Of all that world of wealth I have drawn to

gether

For mine own ends; indeed, to gain the popedom,

And fee my friends in Rome. O negligence!

Fit for a fool to fall by: what cross devil

Made me put this main secret in the packet
I sent the king? Is there no way to cure this?
No new device to beat this from his brains?
I know 'twill stir him strongly; yet I know
A way, if it take right, in spite of fortune
Will bring me off again. What's this? 'To
the Pope!'

The letter, as I live, with all the business

I writ to 's holiness. Nay then, farewell!

220

I have touch'd the highest point of all my great

ness;

And, from that full meridian of my glory,

I haste now to my setting: I shall fall
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
And no man see me more.

Re-enter to Wolsey the Dukes of Norfolk and
Suffolk, the Earl of Surrey, and the Lord
Chamberlain.

Nor. Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you

To render up the great seal presently

Into our hands; and to confine yourself

230

Wolsey used to procure his disgrace. Shakespeare, not without poetic justice, makes him here play his victim's part.-C. H. H. 214. "cross"; thwarting.-C. H. H.