King Henry the Eighth.

Cardinal Wolsey. Cardinal Campeius.
Capucius, ambassador from the emperor
Charles V.

Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury.
Duke of Norfolk. Duke of Buckingham.
Duke of Suffolk. Earl of Surrey.
Lord Chamberlain. Lord Chancellor.
Gardiner, bishop of Winchester.

Bishop of Lincoln. Lord Abergavenny. Lord
Sands.

Sir Henry Guildford. Sir Thomas Lovell.
Sir Anthony Denny. Sir Nicholas Vaux.
Secretaries to Wolsey.

Cromwell, servant to Wolsey.

Griffith, gentleman-usher to queen Katharine.
Three other Gentlemen.

Doctor Butts, physician to the king.
Garter, king at arms.

PROLOGUE.

I COME no more to make you laugh; things

now,

That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high, and working, full of state and wo,
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
We now present. Those that can pity, here
May, if they think it well, let fall a tear;
The subject will deserve it. Such, as give
Their money out of hope they may believe,
May here find truth too. Those, that come to see
Only a show or two, and so agree,

The play may pass; if they be still, and willing,
I'll undertake, may see away their shilling
Richly in two short hours. Only they,
That come to hear a merry, bawdy play,
A noise of targets; or to see a fellow

In a long motley coat, guarded' with yellow,
Will be deceiv'd: for, gentle hearers, know,
To rank our chosen truth with such a show
As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting
Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring
(To make that only true we now intend,2)
Will leave us never an understanding friend.
Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as you are
known

The first and happiest hearers of the town,
Be sad, as we would make ye: Think, ye see
The very persons of our noble story,

As they were living; think, you see them great,
And follow'd with the general throng, and sweat,
Of thousand friends; then, in a moment, see
How soon this mightiness meets misery!
And, if you can be merry then, I'll say,
A man may weep upon his wedding-day.
(1) Laced.
(2) Pretend.

Made Britain, India: every man, that stood,
Show'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were
As cherubims, all gilt: the madams too,
Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear
The pride upon them, that their very labour
Was to them as a painting: now this mask
Was cry'd incomparable; and the ensuing night
Made it a fool, and beggar. The two kings,
Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst,
As presence did present them; him in eye,
Still him in praise: and, being present both,
'Twas said, they saw but one; and no discerner
Durst wag his tongue in censure. When these suns
(For so they phrase them,) by their heralds chal-
leng'd

The noble spirits to arms, they did perform Beyond thought's compass; that former fabulous story,

Being now seen possible enough, got credit,
That Bevis2 was believ'd.

Buck.

O, you go far.

Nor. As I belong to worship, and affect In honour honesty, the tract of every thing Would by a good discourser lose some life, Which action's self was tongue to. All was royal ;| To the disposing of it nought rebell'd; Order gave each thing view; the office did Distinctly his full function.

Buck.

Surely, sir,

Nor.
There's in him stuff that puts him to these ends:
For, being not propp'd by ancestry (whose grace
Chalks successors their way,) nor call'd upon
For high feats done to the crown; neither allied
To eminent assistants, but, spider-like,

Out of his self-drawing web, he gives us note,
The force of his own merit makes his way;
A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys
A place next to the king.

I cannot tell

Aber. What heaven hath given him, let some graver eye Pierce into that; but I can see his pride Peep through each part of him: Whence has he

that?

'Like it your grace,

The state takes notice of the private difference
Betwixt you and the cardinal. I advise you,
(And take it from a heart that wishes towards you
Honour and plenteous safety,) that you read
The cardinal's malice and his potency
Together to consider further, that
What his high hatred would effect, wants not
A minister in his power: You know his nature,
That he's revengeful; and I know, his sword
Hath a sharp edge: it's long, and, it may be said,
It reaches far; and where 'twill not extend,
Thither he darts it. Bosom up my counsel,
You'll find it wholesome. Lo, where comes that
rock,

That I advise your shunning.

Enter Cardinal Wolsey (the purse borne before him,) certain of the guard, and two Secretaries with papers. The Cardinal in his passage

fixeth his eye on Buckingham, and Buckingham on him, both full of disdain.

Wol. The duke of Buckingham's surveyor, ha? Where's his examination?

Secr.

Here, so please you.

Wol. Is he in person ready?
1 Secr.
Ay, please your grace.
Wol. Well, we shall then know more; and
Buckingham

Shall lessen this big look. [Exe. Wolsey, and train.
Buck. This butcher's curl0 is venom-mouth'd,

and I

Have not the power to muzzle him; therefore, best Not wake him in his slumber. A beggar's book Out-worths a noble's blood.

Nor. What, are you chaf'd? Ask God for temperance; that's the appliance only, Which your disease requires.

Buck.

I read in his looks

Matter against me; and his eye revil'd

Me, as his abject object: at this instant

(8) Sets down in his letter without consulting the council.

(9) Conducted.

(10) Wolsey was the son of a butcher.

king;

I'll follow, and out-stare him.

Nor. Stay, my lord, And let your reason with your choler question What 'tis you go about: To climb steep hills, Requires slow pace at first: Anger is like A full-hot horse; who being allow'd his way, Self-mettle tires him. Not a man in England Can advise me like you: be to yourself As you would to your friend. Buck. I'll to the king; And from a mouth of honour quite cry down This Ipswich fellow's insolence; or proclaim, There's difference in no persons.

Nor.

Be advis'd; Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot That it do singe yourself: We may outrun, By violent swiftness, that which we run at, And lose by over-running. Know you not, The fire, that mounts the liquor till it run o'er, In seeming to augment it, wastes it? Be advis'd: I say again, there is no English soul More stronger to direct you than yourself; If with the sap of reason you would quench, Or but allay, the fire of passion.

Buck.

Sir,

I am thankful to you; and I'll go along

my

By your prescription :-but this top-proud fellow,
(Whom from the flow of gall I name not, but
From sincere motions,) by intelligence,
And proofs as clear as founts in July, when
We see each grain of gravel, I do know
To be corrupt and treasonous.
Nor.
Say not, treasonous.
Buck. To the king I'll say't; and make vouch
as strong
As shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox,
Or wolf, or both (for he is equal ravenous,
As he is subtle; and as prone to mischief,
As able to perform it: his mind and place
Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally,)
Only to show his pomp as well in France
As here at home, suggests the king our master
To this last costly treaty, the interview,
That swallow'd so much treasure, and like a glass
Did break i'the rinsing.

Nor.

'Faith, and so it did.

Nor.

I am sorry

To hear this of him; and could wish, he were Something mistaken in't.

Buck.

No, not a syllable,
I do pronounce him in that very shape,
He shall appear in proof.

Enter Brandon; a Serjeant at Arms before him, and two or three of the guards.

Bran. Your office, serjeant; execute it.
Serj.

My lord the duke of Buckingham, and earl
Of Hereford, Stafford, and Northampton, I
Arrest thee of high treason, in the name
Of our most sovereign king.

Buck.

Sir,

Lo you, my lord,
The net has fall'n upon me; I shall perish
Under device and practice.3
Bran.
I am sorry
To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on
The business present: 'Tis his highness' pleasure
You shall to the Tower.
Buck.
It will help me nothing,
To plead mine innocence; for that die is on me,
Which makes my whitest part black. The will
of Heaven

Be done in this and all things!-I obey.-
O my lord Aberga'ny, fare you well.

king

Bran. Nay, he must bear you company :-The [To Abergavenny. Is pleas'd, you shall to the Tower, till you know How he determines further. Aber. As the duke said, The will of heaven be done, and the king's pleasure By me obey'd.

Bran.

Here is a warrant from

cardinal

The articles o'the combination drew,

As himself pleas'd; and they were ratified,
As he cried, Thus let be: to as much end,
As give a crutch to the dead: But our count-cardinal
Has done this, and 'tis well; for worthy Wolsey,
Who cannot err, he did it. Now this follows
(Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy
To the old dam, treason,)-Charles the emperor,
Under pretence to see the queen his aunt
(For 'twas, indeed, his colour; but he came
To whisper Wolsey,) here makes visitation :
His fears were, that the interview, betwixt
England and France, might, through their amity,
Breed him some prejudice; for from this league
Peep'd harms that menac'd him: He privily
Deals with our cardinal; and, as I trow,—
Which I do well; for, I am sure, the emperor
Paid ere he promis'd; whereby his suit was granted,
Ere it was ask'd ;--but when the way was made,
And pav'd with gold, the emperor thus desir'd;-
That he would please to alter the king's course,
And break the foresaid peace. Let the king know,|

(1) Stabs. (2) Excites. (3) Unfair stratagem.

I am the shadow of poor Buckingham; Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on, By dark'ning my clear sun.-) n.—My lord, farewell. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The council-chamber. Cornets. Enter King Henry, Cardinal Wolsey, the Lords of the Council, Sir Thomas Lovell, Officers, and Assistants. The King enters, leaning on the Cardinal's shoulder.

K. Hen. My life itself, and the best heart of it, Thanks you for this great care: I stood i'the level

of a full-charg'd confederacy, and give thanks

To you
that chok'd it.-Let be call'd before us
That gentleman of Buckingham's: in person
I'll hear him his confessions justify;
And point by point the treasons of his master
He shall again relate.

The King takes his state. The Lords of the Council take their several places. The Cardinal places himself under the King's feet, on his right side.

(4) Measured. (5) Chair.