A load would sink a navy, too much honour:
O, 'tis a burden, Cromwell, 'tis a burden,
Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven.

Cro. I am glad,your grace has made that right use of it. Wol. I hope, I have: I am able now, methinks,

(Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,)

To endure more miseries, and greater far,

Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer.
What news abroad?

Crom. The heaviest, and the worst,

Is your displeasure with the king.

Wol. God bless him!

Crom. The next is, that sir Thomas More is chosen Lord Chancellor in your place.

Wol. That's somewhat sudden :

But he's a learned man. May he continue
Long in his highness' favour, and do justice

For truth's sake, and his conscience; that his bones,
When he has run his course, and sleeps in blessings,
May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on 'em !3
What more?

Crom. That Cranmer is return'd with welcome, Install'd lord archbishop of Canterbury.

Wol. That's news indeed.

Crom. Last, that the lady Anne,

Whom the king hath in secrecy long married,

This day was view'd in open, as his queen,

Going to chapel; and the voice is now

Only about her coronation.

Wol. There was the weight that pull'd me down.
Cromwell,

The king has gone beyond me, all my glories

In that one woman I have lost for ever:

No sun shall ever usher forth mine honours,

Or gild again the noble troops that waited

Upon my smiles. Go, get thee from me, Cromwell; I am a poor fallen man, unworthy now

To be thy lord and master. Seek the king;

That sun, I pray, may never set! I have told him What, and how true thou art he will advance thee; Some little memory of me will stir him,

(I know his noble nature,) not to let

Thy hopeful service perish too: Good Cromwell,
Neglect him not: make use now, 4 and provide

[3] The chancellor is the general guardian of orphans. A tomb of tears is very harsh. JOHNS. [4] i. e, make interest. STEEV.

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:

-cherish those hearts that wait thee:

that is, thy dependants. For the contrary practice had contributed to Woisey'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: Corr:ption 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.

STEEV.

Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, Thou fall'st a blessed martyr.

And,-pr'ythee, lead me in:

Serve the king;

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.

Wol. So I have. Farewell

The hopes of court! my hopes in heaven do dwell.

ACT IV.

[Exeunt.

SCENE 1.-4 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 rone 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. 2Gent.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? 3Gent. 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.