I speak my good lord cardinal to this point,
And thus far clear him. Now, what moved me

to 't,

your attention: Thus it came;

I will be bold with time and
Then mark the inducement.
give heed to 't:

My conscience first received a tenderness, 170
Scruple, and prick, on certain speeches utter'd
By the Bishop of Bayonne, then French am-
bassador;

Who had been hither sent on the debating

A marriage 'twixt the Duke of Orleans and
Our daughter Mary: i' the progress of this busi-

ness,

Ere a determinate resolution, he,

179

I mean the bishop, did require a respite,
Wherein he might the king his lord advertise
Whether our daughter were legitimate,
Respecting this our marriage with the dowager,
Sometimes our brother's wife. This respite
shook

The bosom of my conscience, enter'd me,

Yea, with a splitting power, and made to tremble

166. "I speak my good lord cardinal"; the king, having first addressed Wolsey, breaks off; and declares upon his honor to the whole court, that he speaks the cardinal's sentiments upon the point in question.-H. N. H.

172. "The Bishop of Bayonne"; strictly it should be "the Bishop of Tarbes," but the mistake was Holinshed's.-I. G.

174. "The Duke of Orleans," was the second son of Francis I, King of France.-I. G.

182. "the bosom of my conscience"; Holinshed's use of “secret bottom of my conscience" justified Theobald's emendation of “bosom” to "bottom."-I. G.

The region of my breast; which forced such

way

That many mazed considerings did throng

And press'd in with this caution. First, methought

190

I stood not in the smile of heaven, who had
Commanded nature that my lady's womb,
If it conceived a male-child by me, should
Do no more offices of life to 't than
The grave does to the dead; for her male issue
Or died where they were made, or shortly after
This world had air'd them: hence I took a
thought,

This was a judgment on me, that my kingdom, Well worthy the best heir o' the world, should not

Be gladded in 't by me: then follows that

I weigh'd the danger which my realms stood in
By this my issue's fail; and that gave to me
Many a groaning throe. Thus hulling in
The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer 200
Toward this remedy whereupon we are
Now present here together; that's to say,
I meant to rectify my conscience, which
I then did feel full sick and yet not well,
By all the reverend fathers of the land

And doctors learn'd. First I began in private
With you, my Lord of Lincoln; you remember
How under my oppression I did reek,

199. "throe"; Pope's emendation of Ff., "throw."—I. G. 204. "yet not," i. e. not yet.-I. G.

209. "moved you"; broached the matter to you.-C. H. H.

When I first moved you.

Lin.

Very well, my liege.

King. I have spoke long: be pleased yourself to

Lin.

say

How far you satisfied me.

210

So please your highness,
The question did at first so stagger me,
Bearing a state of mighty moment in 't
And consequence of dread, that I committed
The daring'st counsel which I had to doubt,
And did entreat your highness to this course
Which you are running here.

King.

220

I then moved you,
My Lord of Canterbury, and got your leave
To make this present summons: unsolicited
I left no reverend person in this court;
But by particular consent proceeded
Under your hands and seals: therefore, go on;
For no dislike i' the world against the person
Of the good queen, but the sharp thorny points
Of my alleged reasons, drive this forward:
Prove but our marriage lawful, by my life
And kingly dignity, we are contented
To wear our mortal state to come with her,

213. "Bearing a state of mighty moment in't," etc.; involving momentous issues and formidable consequences.-C. H. H.

214. "committed the daring'st counsel which I had to doubt,” etc.; instead of directly advising on the queen's case, Lincoln only advised further counsel. This is more clearly put by Holinshed, where the king says, addressing him: “for so much as then you yourself were in some doubt, you moved me to ask the counsel of all these my lords" (iii. 907).-C. H. H.

225. "drive"; Pope's emendation of Ff., "drives.”—I. G.

Katharine our queen, before the primest crea

ture

That's paragon'd o' the world.

Cam.

So please your highness,
The queen being absent, 'tis a needful fitness 231
That we adjourn this court till further day:
Meanwhile must be an earnest motion

Made to the queen, to call back her appeal
She intends unto his holiness.

King.

[Aside] I may perceive
These cardinals trifle with me: I abhor

This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome.
My learn'd and well-beloved servant, Cranmer,
Prithee, return; with thy approach, I know,
My comfort comes along.-Break up the court:
I say, set on.

241

[Exeunt in manner as they entered.

239. “Prithee, return"; the king, be it observed, is here merely thinking aloud. Cranmer was at that time absent on a foreign embassy.-H. N. H.

ACT THIRD

SCENE I

London. The Queen's apartments.

The Queen and her Women, as at work.

Q. Kath. Take thy lute, wench:

with troubles:

my soul

grows sad

Sing, and disperse 'em, if thou canst: leave

working.

SONG.

Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain tops that freeze,
Bow themselves when he did sing:
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung, as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.

Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,

Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,

10

8. "had made a lasting spring”; so in all the old copies. In modern editions generally, been has strangely crept into the place of made, to the great marring, well nigh to the utter spoiling, in fact, of both sense and poetry. Doubtless the change occurred by mistake; it is too bad to have come otherwise. In the preceding line, as is of course used for as if, or as though.-H. N. H.