Henry VIII by William Shakespeare

Act 3 - Scene 2

Ante-chamber to KING HENRY VIII’s apartment.

Duke of Norfolk : If you will now unite in your complaints, [p]And force them with a
constancy, the cardinal [p]Cannot stand under them: if you omit [p]The
offer of this time, I cannot promise [p]But that you shall sustain moe
new disgraces, [p]With these you bear already.

Earl of Surrey : I am joyful [p]To meet the least occasion that may give
me [p]Remembrance of my father-in-law, the duke, [p]To be revenged on
him.

Duke of Suffolk : Which of the peers [p]Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at
least [p]Strangely neglected? when did he regard [p]The stamp of
nobleness in any person [p]Out of himself?

Lord Chamberlain : My lords, you speak your pleasures: [p]What he deserves of you and me
I know; [p]What we can do to him, though now the time [p]Gives way to
us, I much fear. If you cannot [p]Bar his access to the king, never
attempt [p]Any thing on him; for he hath a witchcraft [p]Over the king
in's tongue.

Duke of Norfolk : O, fear him not; [p]His spell in that is out: the king hath
found [p]Matter against him that for ever mars [p]The honey of his
language. No, he's settled, [p]Not to come off, in his displeasure.

Earl of Surrey : Sir, [p]I should be glad to hear such news as this [p]Once every
hour.

Duke of Norfolk : Believe it, this is true: [p]In the divorce his contrary
proceedings [p]Are all unfolded wherein he appears [p]As I would wish
mine enemy.

Earl of Surrey : How came [p]His practises to light?

Duke of Suffolk : Most strangely.

Earl of Surrey : O, how, how?

Duke of Suffolk : The cardinal's letters to the pope miscarried, [p]And came to the eye
o' the king: wherein was read, [p]How that the cardinal did entreat
his holiness [p]To stay the judgment o' the divorce; for if [p]It did
take place, 'I do,' quoth he, 'perceive [p]My king is tangled in
affection to [p]A creature of the queen's, Lady Anne Bullen.'

Earl of Surrey : Has the king this?

Duke of Suffolk : Believe it.

Earl of Surrey : Will this work?

Lord Chamberlain : The king in this perceives him, how he coasts [p]And hedges his own
way. But in this point [p]All his tricks founder, and he brings his
physic [p]After his patient's death: the king already [p]Hath married
the fair lady.

Earl of Surrey : Would he had!

Duke of Suffolk : May you be happy in your wish, my lord [p]For, I profess, you have
it.

Earl of Surrey : Now, all my joy [p]Trace the conjunction!

Duke of Suffolk : My amen to't!

Duke of Norfolk : All men's!

Duke of Suffolk : There's order given for her coronation: [p]Marry, this is yet but
young, and may be left [p]To some ears unrecounted. But, my
lords, [p]She is a gallant creature, and complete [p]In mind and
feature: I persuade me, from her [p]Will fall some blessing to this
land, which shall [p]In it be memorised.

Earl of Surrey : But, will the king [p]Digest this letter of the cardinal's? [p]The
Lord forbid!

Duke of Norfolk : Marry, amen!

Duke of Suffolk : No, no; [p]There be moe wasps that buzz about his nose [p]Will make
this sting the sooner. Cardinal Campeius [p]Is stol'n away to Rome;
hath ta'en no leave; [p]Has left the cause o' the king unhandled;
and [p]Is posted, as the agent of our cardinal, [p]To second all his
plot. I do assure you [p]The king cried Ha! at this.

Lord Chamberlain : Now, God incense him, [p]And let him cry Ha! louder!

Duke of Norfolk : But, my lord, [p]When returns Cranmer?

Duke of Suffolk : He is return'd in his opinions; which [p]Have satisfied the king for
his divorce, [p]Together with all famous colleges [p]Almost in
Christendom: shortly, I believe, [p]His second marriage shall be
publish'd, and [p]Her coronation. Katharine no more [p]Shall be call'd
queen, but princess dowager [p]And widow to Prince Arthur.

Duke of Norfolk : This same Cranmer's [p]A worthy fellow, and hath ta'en much pain [p]In
the king's business.

Duke of Suffolk : He has; and we shall see him [p]For it an archbishop.

Duke of Norfolk : So I hear.

Duke of Suffolk : 'Tis so. [p]The cardinal!

Duke of Norfolk : Observe, observe, he's moody.

Cardinal Wolsey : The packet, Cromwell. [p]Gave't you the king?

Cromwell : To his own hand, in's bedchamber.

Cardinal Wolsey : Look'd he o' the inside of the paper?

Cromwell : Presently [p]He did unseal them: and the first he view'd, [p]He did it
with a serious mind; a heed [p]Was in his countenance. You he
bade [p]Attend him here this morning.

Cardinal Wolsey : Is he ready [p]To come abroad?

Cromwell : I think, by this he is.

Cardinal Wolsey : Leave me awhile. [p][Exit CROMWELL] [p][Aside] [p]It shall be to the
Duchess of Alencon, [p]The French king's sister: he shall marry
her. [p]Anne Bullen! No; I'll no Anne Bullens for him: [p]There's more
in't than fair visage. Bullen! [p]No, we'll no Bullens. Speedily I
wish [p]To hear from Rome. The Marchioness of Pembroke!

Duke of Norfolk : He's discontented.

Duke of Suffolk : May be, he hears the king [p]Does whet his anger to him.

Earl of Surrey : Sharp enough, [p]Lord, for thy justice!

Cardinal Wolsey : [Aside] The late queen's gentlewoman, [p]a knight's daughter, [p]To be
her mistress' mistress! the queen's queen! [p]This candle burns not
clear: 'tis I must snuff it; [p]Then out it goes. What though I know
her virtuous [p]And well deserving? yet I know her for [p]A spleeny
Lutheran; and not wholesome to [p]Our cause, that she should lie i'
the bosom of [p]Our hard-ruled king. Again, there is sprung up [p]An
heretic, an arch one, Cranmer; one [p]Hath crawl'd into the favour of
the king, [p]And is his oracle.

Duke of Norfolk : He is vex'd at something.

Earl of Surrey : I would 'twere something that would fret the string, [p]The
master-cord on's heart!

Duke of Suffolk : The king, the king!

Henry VIII : What piles of wealth hath he accumulated [p]To his own portion! and
what expense by the hour [p]Seems to flow from him! How, i' the name
of thrift, [p]Does he rake this together! Now, my lords, [p]Saw you
the cardinal?

Duke of Norfolk : My lord, we have [p]Stood here observing him: some strange
commotion [p]Is in his brain: he bites his lip, and starts; [p]Stops
on a sudden, looks upon the ground, [p]Then lays his finger on his
temple, straight [p]Springs out into fast gait; then stops
again, [p]Strikes his breast hard, and anon he casts [p]His eye
against the moon: in most strange postures [p]We have seen him set
himself.

Henry VIII : It may well be; [p]There is a mutiny in's mind. This morning [p]Papers
of state he sent me to peruse, [p]As I required: and wot you what I
found [p]There,--on my conscience, put unwittingly? [p]Forsooth, an
inventory, thus importing; [p]The several parcels of his plate, his
treasure, [p]Rich stuffs, and ornaments of household; which [p]I find
at such proud rate, that it out-speaks [p]Possession of a subject.

Duke of Norfolk : It's heaven's will: [p]Some spirit put this paper in the packet, [p]To
bless your eye withal.

Henry VIII : If we did think [p]His contemplation were above the earth, [p]And
fix'd on spiritual object, he should still [p]Dwell in his musings:
but I am afraid [p]His thinkings are below the moon, not worth [p]His
serious considering. [p][King HENRY VIII takes his seat; whispers
LOVELL,] [p]who goes to CARDINAL WOLSEY]

Cardinal Wolsey : Heaven forgive me! [p]Ever God bless your highness!

Henry VIII : Good my lord, [p]You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the
inventory [p]Of your best graces in your mind; the which [p]You were
now running o'er: you have scarce time [p]To steal from spiritual
leisure a brief span [p]To keep your earthly audit: sure, in that [p]I
deem you an ill husband, and am glad [p]To have you therein my
companion.

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

Henry VIII : You have said well.

Cardinal Wolsey : And ever may your highness yoke together, [p]As I will lend you cause,
my doing well [p]With my well saying!

Henry VIII : 'Tis well said again; [p]And 'tis a kind of good deed to say
well: [p]And yet words are no deeds. My father loved you: [p]His said
he did; and with his deed did crown [p]His word upon you. Since I had
my office, [p]I have kept you next my heart; have not
alone [p]Employ'd you where high profits might come home, [p]But pared
my present havings, to bestow [p]My bounties upon you.

Cardinal Wolsey : [Aside] What should this mean?

Earl of Surrey : [Aside] The Lord increase this business!

Henry VIII : Have I not made you, [p]The prime man of the state? I pray you, tell
me, [p]If what I now pronounce you have found true: [p]And, if you may
confess it, say withal, [p]If you are bound to us or no. What say
you?

Cardinal Wolsey : My sovereign, I confess your royal graces, [p]Shower'd on me daily,
have been more than could [p]My studied purposes requite; which
went [p]Beyond all man's endeavours: my endeavours [p]Have ever come
too short of my desires, [p]Yet filed with my abilities: mine own
ends [p]Have been mine so that evermore they pointed [p]To the good of
your most sacred person and [p]The profit of the state. For your great
graces [p]Heap'd upon me, poor undeserver, I [p]Can nothing render but
allegiant thanks, [p]My prayers to heaven for you, my
loyalty, [p]Which ever has and ever shall be growing, [p]Till death,
that winter, kill it.

Henry VIII : Fairly answer'd; [p]A loyal and obedient subject is [p]Therein
illustrated: the honour of it [p]Does pay the act of it; as, i' the
contrary, [p]The foulness is the punishment. I presume [p]That, as my
hand has open'd bounty to you, [p]My heart dropp'd love, my power
rain'd honour, more [p]On you than any; so your hand and
heart, [p]Your brain, and every function of your power, [p]Should,
notwithstanding that your bond of duty, [p]As 'twere in love's
particular, be more [p]To me, your friend, than any.

Cardinal Wolsey : I do profess [p]That for your highness' good I ever labour'd [p]More
than mine own; that am, have, and will be-- [p]Though all the world
should crack their duty to you, [p]And throw it from their soul;
though perils did [p]Abound, as thick as thought could make 'em,
and [p]Appear in forms more horrid,--yet my duty, [p]As doth a rock
against the chiding flood, [p]Should the approach of this wild river
break, [p]And stand unshaken yours.

Henry VIII : 'Tis nobly spoken: [p]Take notice, lords, he has a loyal
breast, [p]For you have seen him open't. Read o'er this; [p][Giving
him papers] [p]And after, this: and then to breakfast with [p]What
appetite you have. [p][Exit KING HENRY VIII, frowning upon CARDINAL
WOLSEY:] [p]the Nobles throng after him, smiling and whispering]

Cardinal Wolsey : What should this mean? [p]What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd
it? [p]He parted frowning from me, as if ruin [p]Leap'd from his eyes:
so looks the chafed lion [p]Upon the daring huntsman that has gall'd
him; [p]Then makes him nothing. I must read this paper; [p]I fear, the
story of his anger. 'Tis so; [p]This paper has undone me: 'tis the
account [p]Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together [p]For
mine own ends; indeed, to gain the popedom, [p]And fee my friends in
Rome. O negligence! [p]Fit for a fool to fall by: what cross
devil [p]Made me put this main secret in the packet [p]I sent the
king? Is there no way to cure this? [p]No new device to beat this from
his brains? [p]I know 'twill stir him strongly; yet I know [p]A way,
if it take right, in spite of fortune [p]Will bring me off again.
What's this? 'To the Pope!' [p]The letter, as I live, with all the
business [p]I writ to's holiness. Nay then, farewell! [p]I have
touch'd the highest point of all my greatness; [p]And, from that full
meridian of my glory, [p]I haste now to my setting: I shall
fall [p]Like a bright exhalation m the evening, [p]And no man see me
more. [p][Re-enter to CARDINAL WOLSEY, NORFOLK and SUFFOLK,
SURREY,] [p]and the Chamberlain]

Duke of Norfolk : Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you [p]To render up
the great seal presently [p]Into our hands; and to confine
yourself [p]To Asher House, my Lord of Winchester's, [p]Till you hear
further from his highness.

Cardinal Wolsey : Stay: [p]Where's your commission, lords? words cannot
carry [p]Authority so weighty.

Duke of Suffolk : Who dare cross 'em, [p]Bearing the king's will from his mouth
expressly?

Cardinal Wolsey : Till I find more than will or words to do it, [p]I mean your malice,
know, officious lords, [p]I dare and must deny it. Now I feel [p]Of
what coarse metal ye are moulded, envy: [p]How eagerly ye follow my
disgraces, [p]As if it fed ye! and how sleek and wanton [p]Ye appear
in every thing may bring my ruin! [p]Follow your envious courses, men
of malice; [p]You have Christian warrant for 'em, and, no doubt, [p]In
time will find their fit rewards. That seal, [p]You ask with such a
violence, the king, [p]Mine and your master, with his own hand gave
me; [p]Bade me enjoy it, with the place and honours, [p]During my
life; and, to confirm his goodness, [p]Tied it by letters-patents:
now, who'll take it?

Earl of Surrey : The king, that gave it.

Cardinal Wolsey : It must be himself, then.

Earl of Surrey : Thou art a proud traitor, priest.

Cardinal Wolsey : Proud lord, thou liest: [p]Within these forty hours Surrey durst
better [p]Have burnt that tongue than said so.

Earl of Surrey : Thy ambition, [p]Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land [p]Of
noble Buckingham, my father-in-law: [p]The heads of all thy brother
cardinals, [p]With thee and all thy best parts bound
together, [p]Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your policy! [p]You
sent me deputy for Ireland; [p]Far from his succor, from the king,
from all [p]That might have mercy on the fault thou gavest
him; [p]Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity, [p]Absolved him
with an axe.

Cardinal Wolsey : This, and all else [p]This talking lord can lay upon my credit, [p]I
answer is most false. The duke by law [p]Found his deserts: how
innocent I was [p]From any private malice in his end, [p]His noble
jury and foul cause can witness. [p]If I loved many words, lord, I
should tell you [p]You have as little honesty as honour, [p]That in
the way of loyalty and truth [p]Toward the king, my ever royal
master, [p]Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be, [p]And all that
love his follies.

Earl of Surrey : By my soul, [p]Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou [p]shouldst
feel [p]My sword i' the life-blood of thee else. My lords, [p]Can ye
endure to hear this arrogance? [p]And from this fellow? if we live
thus tamely, [p]To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet, [p]Farewell
nobility; let his grace go forward, [p]And dare us with his cap like
larks.

Cardinal Wolsey : All goodness [p]Is poison to thy stomach.

Earl of Surrey : Yes, that goodness [p]Of gleaning all the land's wealth into
one, [p]Into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion; [p]The goodness
of your intercepted packets [p]You writ to the pope against the king:
your goodness, [p]Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious. [p]My
Lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble, [p]As you respect the common
good, the state [p]Of our despised nobility, our issues, [p]Who, if he
live, will scarce be gentlemen, [p]Produce the grand sum of his sins,
the articles [p]Collected from his life. I'll startle you [p]Worse
than the scaring bell, when the brown wench [p]Lay kissing in your
arms, lord cardinal.

Cardinal Wolsey : How much, methinks, I could despise this man, [p]But that I am bound
in charity against it!

Duke of Norfolk : Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand: [p]But, thus much,
they are foul ones.

Cardinal Wolsey : So much fairer [p]And spotless shall mine innocence arise, [p]When the
king knows my truth.

Earl of Surrey : This cannot save you: [p]I thank my memory, I yet remember [p]Some of
these articles; and out they shall. [p]Now, if you can blush and cry
'guilty,' cardinal, [p]You'll show a little honesty.

Cardinal Wolsey : Speak on, sir; [p]I dare your worst objections: if I blush, [p]It is
to see a nobleman want manners.

Earl of Surrey : I had rather want those than my head. Have at you! [p]First, that,
without the king's assent or knowledge, [p]You wrought to be a legate;
by which power [p]You maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops.

Duke of Norfolk : Then, that in all you writ to Rome, or else [p]To foreign princes,
'Ego et Rex meus' [p]Was still inscribed; in which you brought the
king [p]To be your servant.

Duke of Suffolk : Then that, without the knowledge [p]Either of king or council, when
you went [p]Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold [p]To carry into
Flanders the great seal.

Earl of Surrey : Item, you sent a large commission [p]To Gregory de Cassado, to
conclude, [p]Without the king's will or the state's allowance, [p]A
league between his highness and Ferrara.

Duke of Suffolk : That, out of mere ambition, you have caused [p]Your holy hat to be
stamp'd on the king's coin.

Earl of Surrey : Then that you have sent innumerable substance-- [p]By what means got,
I leave to your own conscience-- [p]To furnish Rome, and to prepare
the ways [p]You have for dignities; to the mere undoing [p]Of all the
kingdom. Many more there are; [p]Which, since they are of you, and
odious, [p]I will not taint my mouth with.

Lord Chamberlain : O my lord, [p]Press not a falling man too far! 'tis virtue: [p]His
faults lie open to the laws; let them, [p]Not you, correct him. My
heart weeps to see him [p]So little of his great self.

Earl of Surrey : I forgive him.

Duke of Suffolk : Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is, [p]Because all those
things you have done of late, [p]By your power legatine, within this
kingdom, [p]Fall into the compass of a praemunire, [p]That therefore
such a writ be sued against you; [p]To forfeit all your goods, lands,
tenements, [p]Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be [p]Out of the king's
protection. This is my charge.

Duke of Norfolk : And so we'll leave you to your meditations [p]How to live better. For
your stubborn answer [p]About the giving back the great seal to
us, [p]The king shall know it, and, no doubt, shall thank you. [p]So
fare you well, my little good lord cardinal.

Cardinal Wolsey : So farewell to the little good you bear me. [p]Farewell! a long
farewell, to all my greatness! [p]This is the state of man: to-day he
puts forth [p]The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms, [p]And
bears his blushing honours thick upon him; [p]The third day comes a
frost, a killing frost, [p]And, when he thinks, good easy man, full
surely [p]His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, [p]And then he
falls, as I do. I have ventured, [p]Like little wanton boys that swim
on bladders, [p]This many summers in a sea of glory, [p]But far beyond
my depth: my high-blown pride [p]At length broke under me and now has
left me, [p]Weary and old with service, to the mercy [p]Of a rude
stream, that must for ever hide me. [p]Vain pomp and glory of this
world, I hate ye: [p]I feel my heart new open'd. O, how wretched [p]Is
that poor man that hangs on princes' favours! [p]There is, betwixt
that smile we would aspire to, [p]That sweet aspect of princes, and
their ruin, [p]More pangs and fears than wars or women have: [p]And
when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, [p]Never to hope
again. [p][Enter CROMWELL, and stands amazed] [p]Why, how now,
Cromwell!

Cromwell : I have no power to speak, sir.

Cardinal Wolsey : What, amazed [p]At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder [p]A great
man should decline? Nay, an you weep, [p]I am fall'n indeed.

Cromwell : How does your grace?

Cardinal Wolsey : Why, well; [p]Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell. [p]I know myself
now; and I feel within me [p]A peace above all earthly dignities, [p]A
still and quiet conscience. The king has cured me, [p]I humbly thank
his grace; and from these shoulders, [p]These ruin'd pillars, out of
pity, taken [p]A load would sink a navy, too much honour: [p]O, 'tis a
burthen, Cromwell, 'tis a burthen [p]Too heavy for a man that hopes
for heaven!

Cromwell : I am glad your grace has made that right use of it.

Cardinal Wolsey : I hope I have: I am able now, methinks, [p]Out of a fortitude of soul
I feel, [p]To endure more miseries and greater far [p]Than my
weak-hearted enemies dare offer. [p]What news abroad?

Cromwell : The heaviest and the worst [p]Is your displeasure with the king.

Cardinal Wolsey : God bless him!

Cromwell : The next is, that Sir Thomas More is chosen [p]Lord chancellor in your
place.

Cardinal Wolsey : That's somewhat sudden: [p]But he's a learned man. May he
continue [p]Long in his highness' favour, and do justice [p]For
truth's sake and his conscience; that his bones, [p]When he has run
his course and sleeps in blessings, [p]May have a tomb of orphans'
tears wept on em! What more?

Cromwell : That Cranmer is return'd with welcome, [p]Install'd lord archbishop of
Canterbury.

Cardinal Wolsey : That's news indeed.

Cromwell : Last, that the Lady Anne, [p]Whom the king hath in secrecy long
married, [p]This day was view'd in open as his queen, [p]Going to
chapel; and the voice is now [p]Only about her coronation.

Cardinal Wolsey : There was the weight that pull'd me down. O Cromwell, [p]The king has
gone beyond me: all my glories [p]In that one woman I have lost for
ever: [p]No sun shall ever usher forth mine honours, [p]Or gild again
the noble troops that waited [p]Upon my smiles. Go, get thee from me,
Cromwell; [p]I am a poor fall'n man, unworthy now [p]To be thy lord
and master: seek the king; [p]That sun, I pray, may never set! I have
told him [p]What and how true thou art: he will advance thee; [p]Some
little memory of me will stir him-- [p]I know his noble nature--not to
let [p]Thy hopeful service perish too: good Cromwell, [p]Neglect him
not; make use now, and provide [p]For thine own future safety.

Cromwell : O my lord, [p]Must I, then, leave you? must I needs forego [p]So good,
so noble and so true a master? [p]Bear witness, all that have not
hearts of iron, [p]With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord. [p]The
king shall have my service: but my prayers [p]For ever and for ever
shall be yours.

Cardinal Wolsey : Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear [p]In all my miseries; but
thou hast forced me, [p]Out of thy honest truth, to play the
woman. [p]Let's dry our eyes: and thus far hear me, Cromwell; [p]And,
when I am forgotten, as I shall be, [p]And sleep in dull cold marble,
where no mention [p]Of me more must be heard of, say, I taught
thee, [p]Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory, [p]And sounded
all the depths and shoals of honour, [p]Found thee a way, out of his
wreck, to rise in; [p]A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd
it. [p]Mark but my fall, and that that ruin'd me. [p]Cromwell, I
charge thee, fling away ambition: [p]By that sin fell the angels; how
can man, then, [p]The image of his Maker, hope to win by it? [p]Love
thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee; [p]Corruption wins
not more than honesty. [p]Still in thy right hand carry gentle
peace, [p]To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not: [p]Let
all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, [p]Thy God's, and
truth's; then if thou fall'st, [p]O Cromwell, [p]Thou fall'st a
blessed martyr! Serve the king; [p]And,--prithee, lead me in: [p]There
take an inventory of all I have, [p]To the last penny; 'tis the
king's: my robe, [p]And my integrity to heaven, is all [p]I dare now
call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell! [p]Had I but served my God with
half the zeal [p]I served my king, he would not in mine age [p]Have
left me naked to mine enemies.

Cromwell : Good sir, have patience.

Cardinal Wolsey : So I have. Farewell [p]The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do
dwell.

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Next: Act 4 - Scene 1

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