I dare, and must deny it. Now I feel
Of what coarse metal ye are moulded,―envy.
How eagerly ye follow my disgraces,

As if it fed ye! and how sleek and wanton
Ye appear in everything may bring my ruin!
Follow you envious courses, men of malice;
You have Christian warrant for them, and, no doubt,
In time will find their fit rewards. That seal
You ask with such a violence, the king
(Mine, and your master), with his own hand gave
Bade me enjoy it, with the place and honours,
During my life, and, to confirm his goodness,
Tied it by letters-patent: Now, who'll take it?
Sur. The king, that gave it.

Wol.
Sur. Thou art a proud traitor, priest.
Wol.
Within these forty hours Surrey durst better

It must be himself, then.

Proud lord, thou liest;

Have burnt that tongue than said so.

Sur.
Thy ambition,
Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land
Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law:
The heads of all thy brother cardinals

me:

(With thee, and all thy best parts bound together) Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your policy! You sent me deputy for Ireland;

Far from his succour, from the king, from all

That might have mercy on the fault thou gav'st him :
Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity,
Absolv'd him with an axe.

Wol.
This, and all else
This talking lord can lay upon my credit,
I answer is most false. The duke by law
Found his deserts: how innocent I was
From any private malice in his end,
His noble jury and foul cause can witness.
If I loved many words, lord, I should tell you,
You have as little honesty as honour;

That I, in the way of loyalty and truth

Toward the king, my ever royal master,
Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be,
And all that love his follies.

Sur.

By my soul,

Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou shouldst

feel

My sword i' the life-blood of thee else.-My lords,
Can ye endure to hear this arrogance?

And from this fellow? If we live thus tamely,
To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet,
Farewell nobility; let his grace go forward,
And dare us with his cap like larks.

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,
Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious.
My lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble,
As you respect the common good, the state
Of our despised nobility, our issues,
Who, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen,-
Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles
Collected from his life.

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.
And spotless, shall mine innocence arise,
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,

You'll show a little honesty.

Wol.

Speak on, sir;

head. Have

I dare your worst objections: if I blush,
It is to see a nobleman want manners.
Sur. I'd rather want those than my

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 inscribed; in which you brought the king To be your servant.

Suf. Then, that, without the knowledge Either of king or council, when you went Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold To carry into Flanders the great seal.

Sur. Item, you sent a large commission
To Gregory de Cassalis, to conclude,

Without the king's will or the state's allowance,
A league between his highness and Ferrara.

Suf. That, out of mere ambition, you have caused Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin.

Sur. Then, that you have sent innumerable sub

stance

(By what means got, I leave to your own conscience),
To furnish Rome, and to prepare the ways
You have for dignities; to the mere 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! 'tis virtue :

His faults lie open to the laws; let them,

Not you, correct them. My heart weeps to see him So little of his great self.

Sur.

I forgive him.

Suf. Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is,— Because all those things you have done of late

By your power legatine within this kingdom,
Fall into the compass of a præmunire,—
That therefore such a writ be sued against you;
To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,
Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be

Out of the king's protection :-This is my charge.
Nor. And so we'll leave you to your meditations
How to live better. For your stubborn answer,
About the giving back the great seal to us,
The king shall know it, and, no doubt, shall thank
So fare you well, my little good lord cardinal.

you.

[Exeunt all but WOLSEY. Wol. So farewell to the little good you bear me. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness! This is the state of man; to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honours thick upon him : The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; And,-when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a ripening,-nips his root, And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory; But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride At length broke under me; and now has left mc, Weary, and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me. Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye; I feel my heart new open'd. O, how wretched Is that poor man, that hangs on princes' favours! There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars or women have; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again.

Enter CROMWELL, and stands amazed.

Why, how now, Cromwell?

Crom. I have no power to speak, sir.

Wol.

What, amazed

At my misfortunes? Can thy spirit wonder

A great man should decline? Nay, an you weep,
I am fallen indeed.

Crom.

Wol.

How does your grace

?

Why, well;

Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell.

I know myself now; and I feel within me
A peace above all earthly dignities,

A still and quiet conscience. The king has cured me,
I heartily thank his grace; and from these shoulders,
These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken

A load would sink a navy, too much honour :

O, 'tis a burden, Cromwell, 'tis 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,

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.
But he's a learned 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 'em! What more?

Crom. That Cranmer is returned with welcome, Install'd lord archbishop of Canterbury.

Wol. That's news indeed.

Crom.

Last, that the lady Anne,