2 Gent. This secret is so weighty, 'twill require | And with what zeal! For, now he has crack'd the A strong faith' to conceal

1 Gent.

I do not talk much.

2 Gent.

Let me have it;

I am confident:

You shall, sir: Did you not of late days hear
A buzzing, of a separation
Between the king and Katharine ?

1 Gent.

Yes, but it held2 not:
For when the king once heard it, out of anger
He sent command to the lord mayor, straight
To stop the rumour, and allay those tongues
That durst disperse it.
2 Gent.
But that slander, sir,
Is found a truth now; for it grows again
Fresher than e'er it was; and held for certain,
The king will venture at it. Either the cardinal,
Or some about him near, have, out of malice
To the good queen, possess'd him with a scruple
That will undo her: To confirm this too,
Cardinal Campeius is arriv'd, and lately;
As all think, for this business.

1 Gent.
"Tis the cardinal;
And merely to revenge him on the emperor,
For not bestowing on him, at his asking,
The archbishopric of Toledo, this is purpos'd.
2 Gent. I think, you have hit the mark: But is't
not cruel,

The cardinal

'Tis woful.
[Exeunt.

league

Between us and the emperor, the queen's great

nephew,

He dives into the king's soul; and there scatters
Dangers, doubts, wringing of the conscience,
Fears, and despairs, and all these for his marriage:
And, out of all these to restore the king,
He counsels a divorce; a loss of her,
That, like a jewel, has hung twenty years
About his neck, yet never lost her lustre ;
Of her, that loves him with that excellence
That angels love good men with; even of her
That, when the greatest stroke of fortune falls,
Will bless the king: And is not this course pious?
Cham. Heaven keep me from such counsel! 'Tis

most true,

These news are every where; every tongue speaks
them,

And every true heart weeps for't: All, that dare
Look into these affairs, see this main end,-
The French king's sister: Heaven will one day
open

The king's eyes, that so long have slept upon
This bold bad man.

Suf.

And free us from his slavery.

Nor. We had need pray,

And heartily, for our deliverance;
Or this imperious man will work us all
From princes into pages: all men's honours
Lie in one lump before him, to be fashion'd
Into what pitch he please."

That she should feel the smart of this? Will have his will, and she must fall. 1 Gent. We are too open here to argue this; Let's think in private more. Suf. For me, my lords, I love him not, nor fear him; there's my creed; SCENE II. An Antechamber in the Palace. En-As I am made without him, so I'll stand, ter the Lord Chamberlain, reading a Letter. Cham. My lord,-The horses your lordship sent for, with all the care I had, I saw well chosen, ridden, and furnished. They were young, and handsome; and of the best breed in the north. When they were ready to set out for London, a man of my lord cardinal's, by commission, and main power, took 'em from me; with this reason,-His master would be served before u subject, if not before the king: which stopped our mouths, sir.

Has crept too near another lady.
Nor.

No, his conscience

"Tis so; This is the cardinal's doing, the king-cardinal: That blind priest, like the eldest son of fortune, Turns what he list. The king will know him one day.

Suf. Pray God, he do! he'll never know himself else.

Nor. How holily he works in all his business! 1 Great fidelity.

2 Steevens erroneously explains this passage, saying zo hold is to believe: it held not here rather means it did not sustain itself, the rumour did not prove true. So in King Richard III. Act ii. Sc. 2-

Doth the news hold of good King Edward's death? 3 See The Winter's Tale, Act i. Sc. 2. note 8. It was the main end or object of Wolsey to bring about a marriage between Henry and the French king's Bister, the duchess of Alençon.

Cham.
Excuse me;
The king hath sent me other-where: besides,
You'll find a most unfit time to disturb him:
Health to your lordships.
Nor.

Thanks, my good lord chamberlain. [Exit Lord Chamberlain. NORFOLK opens a folding-door. The King is discovered sitting, and reading pensively.

Suf. How sad he looks! sure, he is much afficted.

K. Hen. Who is there? ha?

Nor.
'Pray God, he be not angry.
K. Hen. Who's there, I say? How dare you
thrust yourselves

Into my private meditations?
Who am I? ha?

Nor. A gracious king, that pardons all offences
Malice ne'er meant; our breach of duty, this way,
Is business of estate; in which, we come
To know your royal pleasure.

for the state of the theatre in Shakspeare's time. When a person was to be discovered in a different apartment from that in which the original speakers in the scene are exhibited, the artless mode of that time was, to place such person in the back part of the stage, behind the curtains which were occasionally suspended across it. These the person who was to be discovered (as Henry in the present case,) drew back just at the proper time. Norfolk has just said 'Let's in; and therefore should himself do some act in order to visit the king. This, indeed, in the simple state of the old stage, was 6 The stage direction in the old copy is singular-not attended to; the king very civilly discovering himExit Lord Chamberlain, and the king draws the cur- self. See Malone's account of the Old Theatres, in Mr. in, and sits reading pensively.'-This was calculated Boswell's edition, vol. ii.

5 The meaning is, that the cardinal can, as he pleases, make high or low.

Beshrew me, I would,
And venture maidenhead for't; and so would you,
For all this spice of your hypocrisy :

You, that have so fair parts of woman on you,
Have too a woman's heart; which ever yet
Affected eminence, wealth, sovereignty;
Which, to say sooth, are blessings: and which gifts
(Saving your mincing) the capacity

Of your soft cheveril conscience would receive,
If you might please to stretch it.

Anne.

Nay, good troth, Old L. Yes, troth, and troth,-You would not be a queen?

Anne. No, not for all the riches under heaven.
Old L 'Tis strange; a threepence bowed would

hire me,

Old as I am, to queen it: But, I pray you,
What think you of a duchess? have you limbs
To bear that load of title?

Anne.

No, in truth.

Anne.
I do not know,
What kind of my obedience I should tender;
More than my all is nothing: nor my prayers
Are not words duly hallow'd, nor my wishes
More worth than empty vanities; yet prayers, and
wishes,

Are all I can return. 'Beseech your lordship,
Vouchsafe to speak my thanks, and my obedience,
As from a blushing handmaid, to his highness;
Whose health, and royalty, I pray for.

Cham.

8

Lady,
I shall not fail to approve the fair conceit,
The king hath of you.-I have perus'd her well;
[Aside.

Beauty and honour in her are so mingled,
That they have caught the king and who knows yet,
But from this lady may proceed a gem,
To lighten all this isle?—I'll to the king,
And say, I spoke with you.
Anne.

My honour'd lord.
[Exit Lord Chamberlain.
Old L. Why, this it is; see, see!
I have been begging sixteen years in court
(Am yet a courtier beggarly,) nor could
Come pat betwixt too early and too late,
For any suit of pounds: and you, (O fate!)
A very fresh-fish here, (fye, fye upon

Old L. Then you are weakly made: Pluck off a This compell'd fortune!) have your mouth fill'd up,

little;

I would not be a young count in your way,

For more than blushing comes to: if your back
Cannot vouchsafe this burden, 'tis too weak
Ever to get a boy.

Anne.

How you do talk!

I swear again, I would not be a queen

There was a lady once ('tis an old story,)

That would not be a queen, that would she not,
For all the mud in Egypt:"-Have you heard it?
Anne. Come, you are pleasant.

Old L
With your theme, I could
O'ermount the lark. The marchioness of Pembroke
A thousand pounds a year! for pure respect;
No other obligation: By my life,

That promises more thousands: Honour's train
Is longer than his foreskirt. By this time,
I know, your back will bear a duchess ;-Say,

Cham. Good morrow, ladies. What wer't worth Are you not stronger than you were?

to know

The secret of your conference?

Anne.
My good lord,
Not your demand; it values not your asking:
Our mistress' sorrows we were pitying.

Cham. It was a gentle business, and becoming
The action of good women: there is hope,
All will be well.

Anne.
Now I pray God, amen!
Cham. You bear a gentle mind, and heavenly
blessings

Follow such creatures. That you may, fair lady,
Perceive I speak sincerely, and high note's
Ta'en of your many virtues, the king's majesty

1 The revocation of her husband's love has reduced
her to the condition of an unfriended stranger.
2 Our best possession.

3 Cheveril is kid leather, which, being of a soft yield. Ing nature, is often alluded to in comparisons for any thing pliant or flexible.

4 Anne Bullen declining to be either a queen or a duchess, the old lady says, 'pluck off a little let us descend a little lower, and so diminish the glare of preferment by bringing it nearer your own quality.

SCENE IV. A Hall in Black-Friars. Trumpets sennet,12 and cornets. Enter two Vergers, with and Antony and Cleopatra are not exactly in point; for the word commend, in both those instances, signifies commit.

7 Not only my all is nothing: but if my all were more than it is, it were still nothing.

s To approve is not, as Johnson explains it, here, to strengthen by commendation, but to confirm (by the report he shall make) the good opinion the king has formed.

9 The carbuncle was supposed by our ancestors to have intrinsic light, and to shine in the dark: any other gem may reflect light, but cannot give it.

10 Forty pence was in those days the proverbial ex

5 i e. you would venture to be distinguished by the ball, the ensign of royalty, used with the sceptre at co-pression of a small wager. Money was then reckoned ronations.-Johnson.

6 I cannot but be surprised that Malone should have made any difficuky about the reading of the text :the king's majesty

Commends his good opinion to you.'

by pounds, marks, and nobles. Forty pence, or three and fourpence, is half a noble, and is still an established legal fee.

11 The fertility of Egypt is derived from the mud and slime of the Nile.

It is one of the most common forms of epistolary and 12 This word sennet, about which there has been so colloquial compliment of our ancestors, whose letters much discussion to little purpose, is nothing more than frequently terminate with and so I commend me to the senne of the old French, or the segno or segnata of you,' or begin with After my hartie commendacions to the Italians, a signal given by sound of trumpet-' sig. you.' &c. The instances cited by Steevens from Learnum dare buccina.'

4

short silver wands; next them, two Scribes, in the With many children by you: If, in the course
habits of doctors; after them, the Archbishop of And process of this time, you can report,
Canterbury alone; after him the Bishops of Lin-
coln, Ely, Rochester, and Saint Asaph; next
them, with some small distance, follows a Gentle-
man bearing the purse, with the great seal, and a
cardinal's hat; then two Priests, bearing each a
silver cross; then a Gentleman Usher bareheaded,
accompanied with a Sergeant at Arms, bearing a
silver mace; then two Gentlemen, bearing two
great silver pillars; after them, side by side, the
two Cardinals, WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS; two
Noblemen with the sword and mace. Then enter
the King and Queen, and their Trains. The King
takes place under the cloth of state; the two
Cardinals sit under him as judges. The Queen
takes place at some distance from the King. The
Bishops place themselves on each side the court
in manner of a consistory; between them, the
Scribes. The Lords sit next the Bishops. The
Crier and the rest of the Attendants stand in con-
venient order about the stage.

And prove it too, against mine honour aught,
My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty,
Against your sacred person, in God's name,
Turn me away; and let the foul'st contemp
Shut door upon me, and so give me up
To the sharpest kind of justice. Please you, sir,
The king, your father, was reputed for
A prince most prudent, of an excellent
And unmatch'd wit and judgment: Ferdinand,
My father, king of Spain, was reckon'd one
The wisest prince, that there had reign'd by many
A year before: It is not to be question'd
That they had gather'd a wise council to them
Of every realm, that did debate this business,
Who deem'd our marriage lawful: Wherefore I
humbly
Beseech you, sir, to spare me, till I may
Be by my friends in Spain advis'd; whose counsel
I will implore: if not; i' the name of God,
Your pleasure be fulfill'd!"
Wol.
You have here, lady,

Wol. Whilst our commission from Rome is read, (And of your choice,) these reverend fathers; men

Let silence be commanded.

It hath already publicly been read,
And on all sides the authority allow'd;
You may then spare that time.
Wol.
Scribe. Say, Henry king of England, come into
the court.

Be't so:-Proceed.

Crier. Henry king of England, &c.

K. Hen. Here.

Of singular integrity and learning,

Yea, the elect of the land, who are assembled
To plead your cause: It shall be therefore bootless,
That longer you desire the court; as well
For your own quiet, as to rectify
What is unsettled in the king.
Cam.

His grace

Hath spoken well, and justly: Therefore, madam,
It's fit this royal session do proceed;
And that, without delay, their arguments

Scribe. Say, Katharine queen of England, come Be now produc'd, and heard.

into court.

Crier. Katharine queen of England, &c.

[The Queen makes no answer, rises out of her chair, goes about the court, comes to the King, and kneels at his feet; then speaks.2]

Q. Kath. Sir, I desire you, do me right and jus-
tice ;3

And to bestow your pity on me: for
I am a most poor woman, and a stranger,
Born out of your dominions; having here
No judge indifferent, nor no more assurance
Of equal friendship and proceeding. Alas, sir,
In what have I offended you? what cause
Hath my behaviour given to your displeasure,
That thus you should proceed to put me off,
And take your good grace from me? Heaven

ness,

I have been to you a true and humble wife,
At all times to your will conformable :
Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,

Q. Kath.
To you I speak.
Wol.

Q. Kath.

Lord cardinal,

I am about to weep; but, thinking that
We are a queen (or long have dream'd so,) certain,
The daughter of a king, my drops of tears
I'll turn to sparks of fire.

Wol.

Be patient yet.

Q. Kath. I will, when you are humble; nay,

before,

Or God will punish me. I do believe,
Induc'd by potent circumstances, that
You are mine enemy; and make my challenge,
You shall not be my judge: for it is you
Have blown this coal betwixt my lord and me,
wit-Which God's dew quench!-Therefore, I say again,
I utterly abhor, yea, from my soul,

Yea, subject to your countenance; glad, or sorry,
As I saw it inclin'd. When was the hour,
I ever contradicted your desire,

Or made it not mine too? Or which of your friends
Have I not strove to love, although I knew
He were mine enemy? what friend of mine
That had to him deriv'd your anger, did I
Continue in my liking? nay, gave notice

He was from thence discharg'd? Sir, call to mind
That I have been your wife, in this obedience,
Upward of twenty years, and have been blest

1 Ensigns of dignity carried before cardinals.

Refuse you for my judge; whom, yet once more,
I hold my most malicious foe, and think not
At all a friend to truth.

Wol.
I do profess,
You speak not like yourself; who ever yet
Have stood to charity, and display'd the effects
Of disposition gentle, and of wisdom
O'ertopping woman's power. Madam, you do me

wrong:

I have no spleen against you; nor injustice
For you, or any: how far I have proceeded,
Or how far further shall, is warranted
By a commission from the consistory,

Yea, the whole consistory of Rome. You charge
me,

2 Because she could not come directly to the king parted from thence. Many supposed that she would for the distance which severed them, she took pain to go have resorted again to her former place; but she took. about unto the king, kneeling down at his feet,' &c.-her way straight out of the house, leaning (as she was Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, vol. i. p. 149, ed. 1825.

3 This speech is taken from Holinshed (who copies from Cavendish) with the most trifling variations. Hall has given a different report of the queen's speech, which, he says, was made in French, and translated by him from notes taken by Campeggio's secretary.

4 That is, 'If you can report and prove aught against mine honour, my love and duty, or aught against your sacred person,' &c.

wont always to do) upon the arm of her general receiver Master Griffiths.-Life of Wolsey, p. 152.

6 That you desire to protract the business of the court. To pray for a longer day,' i. e. a more distant one, is yet the language of the bar in criminal trials.

7 Challenge here (says Johnson) is a law term. The criminal, when he refuses a juryman, says 'I challenge him.'

9 These are not the mere words of passion, but tech 5 The historical fact is, that the queen staid for no re-nical terms of the canon law: detestor and recuso. Th: ply to this speech. Cavendish says, 'And with that she former, in the language of canonists, signifies no more rose up, making a low courtesy to the king, and so de- than I protest against.-Blackstone.