3 Gent. At length her grace rose, and with modest

paces

Came to the altar; where she kneel'd, and saint like
Cast her fair eyes to heaven, and pray'd devoutly.
Then rose again, and bow'd her to the people:
When by the archbishop of Canterbury
She had all the royal makings of a queen;

As holy oil, Edward Confessor's crown,

The rod, and bird of peace, and all such emblems
Laid nobly on her: which perform'd, the choir,
With all the choicest music of the kingdom,
Together sung Te Deum.
So she parted,
And with the same full state pac'd back again
To York-place, where the feast is held.

Sir,

1 Gent.
You must no more call it York-place, that's past;
For, since the cardinal fell, that title's lost:
"Tis now the king's, and call'd-Whitehall.
3 Gent.

But 'tis so lately alter'd, that the old name
Is fresh about me.

2 Gent.

I know it;

What two reverend bishops Were those that went on each side of the queen?

3 Gent. Stokesly and Gardiner; the one of Winchester,

Newly preferr'd from the king's secretary;

The other, London.

2 Gent.

He of Winchester

Is held no great good lover of the archbishop's,

The virtuous Cranmer.

3 Gent.

All the land knows that:

However, yet there's no great breach; when it comes, Cranmer will find a friend will not shrink from him. 2 Gent. Who may that be, I pray you?

Thomas Cromwell;

3 Gent. A man in much esteem with the king, and truly A worthy friend.—The king has made him

Master o' the jewel-house,

And one, already, of the privy-council.

2 Gent. He will deserve more. 3 Gent.

Yes, without all doubt.

Come, gentlemen, ye shall go my way, which
Is to the court, and there ye shall be my guests:
Something I can command. As I walk thither,
I'll tell ye more.

Both.

You may command us, sir.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Kimbolton.

Enter KATHARINE, Dowager, sick; led between GRIFFITH and PATIENCE.

Grif. How does your grace?

Kath.
O, Griffith! sick to death:
My legs, like loaden branches, bow to the earth,
Willing to leave their burden. Reach a chair :-
So, now, methinks, I feel a little ease.

Didst thou not tell me, Griffith, as thou led'st me,
That the great child of honour, cardinal Wolsey,
Was dead?

Grif.

Yes, madam; but, I think, your grace, Out of the pain you suffer'd, gave no ear to't.

Kath. Pr'ythee, good Griffith, tell me how he died: If well, he stepp'd before me, happily,

For my example.

Grif.

Well, the voice goes, madam:

For after the stout earl Northumberland

Arrested him at York, and brought him forward,

As a man sorely tainted, to his answer,

3 I THINK,] Folio, 1623, I thank. Corrected in the second folio.

He fell sick suddenly, and grew so ill,
He could not sit his mule.

Kath.

Alas, poor man!

Grif. At last, with easy roads, he came to Leicester;
Lodg'd in the abbey, where the reverend abbot,
With all his convent, honourably receiv'd him :
To whom he gave these words,-" O father abbot,
An old man, broken with the storms of state,
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye;
Give him a little earth for charity!"
So went to bed, where eagerly his sickness.
Pursu'd him still; and three nights after this,
About the hour of eight, which he himself
Foretold should be his last, full of repentance,
Continual meditations, tears, and sorrows,
He gave his honours to the world again,
His blessed part to heaven, and slept in peace.
Kath. So may he rest: his faults lie gently on him!
Yet thus far, Griffith, give me leave to speak him,
And yet with charity. He was a man
Of an unbounded stomach, ever ranking
Himself with princes; one, that by suggestion
Tied all the kingdom: simony was fair play;
His own opinion was his law: i' the presence
He would say untruths, and be ever double,
Both in his words and meaning. He was never,
But where he meant to ruin, pitiful:

His promises were, as he then was, mighty;
But his performance, as he is now, nothing.
Of his own body he was ill, and gave

ness.

4 Of an unbounded STOMACH,] "Stomach" is used here for pride or haughtiWe may quote the following character of Wolsey from Holinshed, to show how nearly Shakespeare followed the very words of his original :—“This cardinal was of a great stomach, for he computed himself equal with princes, and by craftie suggestions got into his hands innumerable treasure he forced little on simonie, and was not pitiful, and stood affectionate in his own opinion: in open presence he would lie and saie untruth, and was double both in speech and meaning he would promise much and perform little he was vicious of his body, and gave the clergie evil example."

The clergy ill example.

Grif

Noble madam,

Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues
We write in water. May it please your highness
To hear me speak his good now?

Kath.

I were malicious else.

Grif.

Yes, good Griffith ;

This cardinal,

Though from an humble stock, undoubtedly

Was fashion'd to much honour from his cradle".
He was a scholar, and a ripe, and good one;
Exceeding wise, fair spoken, and persuading :
Lofty and sour to them that lov'd him not;
But, to those men that sought him, sweet as summer:
And though he were unsatisfied in getting,
(Which was a sin) yet in bestowing, madam,
He was most princely. Ever witness for him
Those twins of learning, that he rais'd in you,
Ipswich, and Oxford! one of which fell with him,
Unwilling to outlive the good that did it;
The other, though unfinish'd, yet so famous,
So excellent in art, and still so rising,
That Christendom shall ever speak his virtue.
His overthrow heap'd happiness upon him;
For then, and not till then, he felt himself,
And found the blessedness of being little :
And, to add greater honours to his age
Than man could give him, he died fearing God.
Kath. After my death I wish no other herald,
No other speaker of my living actions,

To keep mine honour from corruption,

5 Was fashion'd to much honour from his cradle.] The old copies introduce a period after "honour," which cannot be right, according to the obvious meaning of the passage: Wolsey could not have been a ripe scholar "from his cradle." Besides, as Malone remarks, though he does not follow his own conviction, the words of Holinshed (or rather those of Edmund Campion, whom he quotes) support the modern punctuation :-" This cardinal was a man undoubtedly born to honour."

But such an honest chronicler as Griffith.

Whom I most hated living, thou hast made me,

With thy religious truth and modesty,

Now in his ashes honour.

Patience, be near me still;

Peace be with him!—

and set me lower:

I have not long to trouble thee.-Good Griffith,
Cause the musicians play me that sad note
I nam'd my knell, whilst I sit meditating

On that celestial harmony I go to.

[Sad and solemn music. Grif. She is asleep. Good wench, let's sit down quiet,

For fear we wake her:-softly, gentle Patience.

The Vision. Enter, solemnly tripping one after another, six Personages, clad in white robes, wearing on their heads garlands of bays, and golden vizards on their faces; branches of bays, or palm, in their hands. They first congee unto her, then dance; and, at certain changes, the first two hold a spare garland over her head; at which, the other four make reverend curtsies : then, the two that held the garland deliver the same to the other next two, who observe the same order in their changes, and holding the garland over her head. Which done, they deliver the same garland to the last two, who likewise observe the same order: at which, (as it were by inspiration) she makes in her sleep signs of rejoicing, and holdeth up her hands to heaven. And so in their dancing they vanish, carrying the garland with them. The music continues.

Kath. Spirits of peace, where are ye? Are ye all gone,

And leave me here in wretchedness behind ye?
Grif. Madam, we are here.

The Vision.] This vision is here described exactly in the terms of the original edition.