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For thine own future safety.

Crom. O my lord,

Must I then leave you? must I needs forego
So good, so noble, and so true a master?

Bear witness, all that have not hearts of iron,
With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord.-
The king shall have my service; but my prayers
For ever, and for ever, shall be your's.

Wol. Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear
In all my miseries; but thou hast forc'd me
Out of thy honest truth to play the woman.

Let's dry our eyes: and thus far hear me, Cromwell;
And,-when I am forgotten, as I shall be ;

And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of,-say, I taught thee,
Say, Wolsey,-that once trod the ways of glory,
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,-
Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in ;
A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd it.
Mark but my fall, and that that ruin'd me.
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition;
By that sin fell the angels, how can man then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by't?

Love thyself last : cherish those hearts that hate thee:4
Corruption wins not more than honesty.

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,

To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not :
Let all the ends, thou aim'st at, be thy country's,

[4] Though this be good divinity, and an admirable precept for our conduct in private life, it was never calculated or designed for the magistrate or public minister. Nor could this be the direction of a man experienced in affairs to his pupil. It would make a good christian, but a very ill and very unjust statesman. And we have nothing so infamous in tradition, as the supposed advice given to one of our kings, to cherish his enemies, and be in no pain for his friends. I am of opinion the poet wrote:

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that is, thy dependants. For the contrary practice had contributed to Wolsey's ruin. He was not careful enough in making dependants by his bounty, while intent in amassing wealth to himself. The following line seems to confirm this correction: Corruption wins not more than honesty. That is, You will never find men won over to your temporary occasions by bribery, so useful to you as friends made by a just and generous munificence. WARB, I am unwilling wantonly to contradict so ingenious a remark, but that the reader may not be misled, and believe the emendation proposed to be necessary, he should remember that this is not a time for Wolsey to speak only as a statesman, but as a christian. Shakspeare would have debased the character, just when he was employing his strongest efforts to raise it, had he drawn it otherwise. Nothing makes the hour of disgrace more irksome, than the reflection, that we have been deaf to offers of reconciliation, and perpetuated that enmity which we might have converted into friendship.

Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. Serve the king;
And,-pr'ythee, lead me in:

There take an inventory of all I have,

To the last penny; 'tis the king's: my robe,
And my integrity to heaven, is all

I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell,
Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal

I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.5

Crom. Good sir, have patience.

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The hopes of court my hopes in heaven do dwell.

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I-A Street in Westminster.

Enter two Gentlemen,

meeting.

1 Gent. YOU are well met once again.

2 Gent. And so are you.

1 Gent. You come to take your stand here, and behold The lady Anne pass from her coronation?

2 Gent. 'Tis all my business. At our last encounter, The duke of Buckingham came from his trial.

1 Gent. 'Tis very true: but that time offered sorrow;

This, general joy.

2 Gent. 'Tis well: The citizens,

I am sure, have shown at full their royal minds;

As, let them have their rights, they are ever forward In celebration of this day with shows,

Pageants, and sights of honour.

1 Gent. Never greater,

Nor, I'll assure you, better taken, sir.

2 Gent. May I be bold to ask what that contains, That paper in your hand ?

1 Gent. Yes; 'tis the list

JOHNSON.

[5] This sentence was really uttered by Wolsey. Antonio Perez, the favourite of Philip II. of Spain made the same pathetic complaint: Mon zele etoit si grand vers ces benignes puissances [la cour de Turin, que si j'en eusse eu autant pour Dieu, je ne doubte point qu'il ne m'eut deja recompense de son paradis." MAL.

This was a strange sentence for Wolsey to utter, who was disgraced for the basest treachery to his king in the affair of the divorce: but it shows how naturally men endeavour to palliate their crimes even to themselves. MASON.

Of those, that claim their offices this day,
By custom of the coronation.

The duke of Suffolk is the first, and claims

To be high steward; next, the duke of Norfolk,
To be earl marshal; you may read the rest.

2 Gen. I thank you,sir; had I not known those customs, I should have been beholden to your paper.

But, I beseech you, what's become of Katharine,
The princess-dowager? how goes her business?
1 Gent. That I can tell you too. The archbishop
Of Canterbury, accompanied with other
Learned and reverend fathers of his order,
Held a late court at Dunstable, six miles off
From Ampthill, where the princess lay; to which
She oft was cited by them, but appear'd not:
And, to be short, for not appearance, and
The king's late scruple, by the main assent
Of all these learned men she was divorc'd,
And the late marriage made of none effect :
Since which, she was removed to Kimbolton,
Where she remains now, sick.

2 Gent. Alas, good lady!

[Trumpets. The trumpets sound: stand close, the queen is coming.

THE

ORDER OF THE

PROCESSION.

A lively flourish of Trumpets; then, enter

1. Two Judges.

2. Lord Chancellor, with the purse and mace before him. 3. Choristers singing.

[Music.

Then Garter, in his coat

4. Mayor of London, bearing the mace. of arms, and on his head a gilt copper crown. 5. Marquis DORSET, bearing a sceptre of gold, on his head a demi-coronal of gold. With him, the Earl of SURREY, bearing the rod of silver with the dove, crown'd with an earl's coronet. Collars of SS.

6. Duke of SUFFOLK, in his robe of estate, his coronet on his head, bearing a long white wand, as high-steward. With him, the Duke of NORFOLK, with the rod of marshalship, a coronet on his head. Collars of SS.

7. A canopy borne by four of the Cinque-Ports; under it, the Queen in her robe; in her hair richly adorned with pearl, crowned. On each side of her, the Bishops of London and Winchester.

8. The old Duchess of NORFOLK, in a coronal of gold, wrought. with flowers, bearing the Queen's train.

9. Certain Ladies or Countesses, with plain circlets of gold without flowers.

2 Gent. A royal train, believe me.-These I know ;Who's that, that bears the sceptre ? 1Gent. Marquis Dorset :

And that the earl of Surrey, with the rod.

2 Gent. A bold brave gentleman: And that should be The duke of Suffolk.

1 Gent. 'Tis the same; high-steward.

2 Gent. And that my lord of Norfolk ?

1 Gent. Yes.

2 Gent. Heaven bless thee! [Looking on the Queen. Thou hast the sweetest face I ever look'd on.

Sir, as I have a soul, she is an angel;

Our king has all the Indies in his arms,

And more, and richer, when he strains that lady :
I cannot blame his conscience.

1 Gent. They, that bear

The cloth of honour over her, are four barons
Of the Cinque-Ports.

2 Gent. Those men are happy; and so are all, are near her.

I take it, she that carries up the train,

Is that old noble lady, duchess of Norfolk.

1 Gent. It is; and all the rest are countesses.

2 Gent.Their coronets say so. These are stars, indeed; And, sometimes, falling ones.

1 Gent. No more of that. [Exit Procession, with a great flourish of Trumpets.

Enter a third Gentleman.

God save you, sir! Where have you been broiling?
3 Gent. Among the crowd i'the abbey; where a finger
Could not be wedg'd in more; and I am stifled
With the mere rankness of their joy.

2 Gent. You saw

The ceremony?

3 Gent. That I did.

1 Gent. How was it?

3 Gent. Well worth the seeing.

2 Gent. Good sir, speak it to us.

3 Gent. As well as I am able. The rich stream Of lords, and ladies, having brought the queen

To a prepar'd place in the choir, fell off

A distance from her; while her grace sat down
To rest a while, some half an hour, or so,
In a rich chair of state, opposing freely
The beauty of her person to the people.

Believe me, sir, she is the goodliest woman
That ever lay by man: which when the people
Had the full view of, such a noise arose

As the shrouds make at sea in a stiff tempest,
As loud, and to as many tunes: hats, cloaks,
(Doublets, I think,) flew up; and had their faces
Been loose, this day they had been lost. Such joy
I never saw before. Great-bellied women,

That had not half a week to go, like rams

In the old time of war, would shake the press,
And make them reel before them. No man living
Could say, This is my wife, there; all were woven
So strangely in one piece.

2 Gent. But, 'pray, what follow'd ?

3Gent.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.
2 Gent. Sir, you

Must no more call it York-place, that is past:
For, since the cardinal fell, that title's lost;
'Tis now the king's, and call'd-Whitehall.
3 Gent. I know it;

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

2 Gent. 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:

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