Henry the eighth, life, honour, name, and all
That made me happy, at one stroke has taken
For ever from the world. I had my trial,

And, must needs say, a noble one; which makes me
A little happier than my wretched father:
Yet thus far we are one in fortunes,-Both
Fell by our servants, by those men we lov'd most;
A most unnatural and faithless service!

Heaven has an end in all: Yet, you that hear me,
This from a dying man receive as certain:

Where you are liberal of your loves, and counsels, Be sure, you be not loose'; for those you make friends,

And give your hearts to, when they once perceive The least rub in your fortunes, fall away

Like water from ye, never found again

But where they mean to sink ye. All good people, Pray for me! I must now forsake ye; the last hour Of my long weary life is come upon me.

Farewell:

And when you would say something that is sad, Speak how I fell.—I have done; and God forgive me! [Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and Train. 1 GENT. O, this is full of pity!-Sir, it calls, I fear, too many curses on their heads,

That were the authors.

2 GENT.

If the duke be guiltless,

"Tis full of woe: yet I can give you inkling Of an ensuing evil, if it fall,

Greater than this.

7 be not LOOSE;] This expression occurs again in Othello:

There are a kind of men so loose of soul,

"That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs."

STEEVENS.

8 And when you would say something that is sad, &c.] So, in

King Richard il.:

66

66

Tell thou the lamentable tale of me,

And send the hearers weeping to their beds." STEEVENS.

1 GENT.

Good angels keep it from us! Where may it be? You do not doubt my faith, sir? 2 GENT. This secret is so weighty, 'twill require A strong faith to conceal it.

1 GENT.

I do not talk much.

2 GENT.

Let me have it ;

I am confident;

You shall, sir: Did you not of late days hear
A buzzing, of a separation

Between the king and Katherine ?

1 GENT.

Yes, but it held not : For when the king once heard it, out of anger He sent command to the lord mayor, straight To stop the rumour, and allay those tongues That durst disperse it.

2 GENT. But that slander, sir, Is found a truth now: for it grows again Fresher than e'er it was; and held for certain', The king will venture at it. Either the cardinal, Or some about him near, have, out of malice To the good queen, possess'd him with a scruple, That will undo her: To confirm this too, Cardinal Campeius is arriv'd, and lately; As all think, for this business.

"Tis the cardinal;

1 GENT.
And merely to revenge him on the emperor,
For not bestowing on him, at his asking,
The archbishoprick of Toledo, this is purpos'd.

2 GENT. I think, you have hit the mark: But is't not cruel,

That she should feel the smart of this? The cardinal Will have his will, and she must fall.

9 - strong faith-] Is great fidelity. JOHNSON.

I

—and HELD for certain,] To hold, is to believe. So, in

Lord Surrey's translation of the fourth Æneid:

"I hold thee not, nor yet gainsay thy words."

STEEVENS.

1 GENT.

"Tis woful.

We are too open here to argue this;
Let's think in private more.

SCENE II.

An Ante-chamber in the Palace.

[Exeunt.

Enter the Lord Chamberlain, reading a Letter. CHAM. My Lord,-The horses your lordship sent for, with all the care I had, I saw well chosen, ridden, and furnished. They were young, and handsome; and of the best breed in the north. When they were ready to set out for London, a man of my lord cardinal's, by commission, and main power, took 'em from me; with this reason,-His master would be served before a subject, if not before the king: which stopped our mouths, sir.

I fear, he will, indeed: Well, let him have them :
He will have all, I think.

Enter the Dukes of NORFOLK and SUFFOLK.
NOR. Well met, my good2 lord chamberlain.
CHAM. Good day to both your graces.

SUF. How is the king employ'd ?

Снам.

I left him private,

What's the cause?

Full of sad thoughts and troubles.

NOR.

CHAM. It seems, the marriage with his brother's

wife

Has crept too near his conscience.

SUF.

Has crept too near another lady.

2 Well met, my GOOD

No, his conscience

Lord chamberlain.] The epithet-good, was inserted by Sir Thomas Hanmer, for the sake of measure.

STEEVENS.

NOR.

"Tis so;

This is the cardinal's doing, the king-cardinal:
That blind priest, like the eldest son of fortune,
Turns what he list. The king will know him one
day.

SUF. Pray God, he do! he'll never know himself

else.

NOR. How holily he works in all his business! And with what zeal! For, now he has crack'd the

league

Between us and the emperor, the queen's great

nephew,

He dives into the king's soul; and there scatters
Dangers, doubts, wringing of the conscience,
Fears, and despairs, and all these for his marriage:
And, out of all these to restore the king,
He counsels a divorce: a loss of her,
That, like a jewel, has hung twenty years
About his neck, yet never lost her lustre *;
Of her, that loves him with that excellence
That angels love good men with; even of her
That, when the greatest stroke of fortune falls,
Will bless the king: And is not this course pious?
CHAM. Heaven keep me from such counsel! "Tis
most true,

These news are every where; every tongue speaks them,

And every true heart weeps for't: All, that dare
Look into these affairs, see this main end',-

3 Turns what he LIST.] So the old copy. The modern editors have altered it to lists, but the original reading was the phraseology of Shakspeare. So, a few lines after this:

66

All men's honours

"Lie in one lump before him to be fashion'd
"Into what pitch he please." MALONE.

4 That, like a jewel, has hung twenty years, &c.] See vol. xiv. p. 264, n. 2. MALONE.

see this main end,] Thus the old copy. All, &c. per

The French king's sister. Heaven will one day open The king's eyes, that so long have slept upon

This bold bad man.

SUF.

And free us from his slavery.

NOR. We had need pray,

And heartily, for our deliverance:

Or this imperious man will work us all

From princes into pages: all men's honours
Lie in one lump before him, to be fashion'd
Into what pitch he please".

SUF.

For me, my lords,
I love him not, nor fear him; there's my creed:
As I am made without him, so I'll stand,

If the king please; his curses and his blessings
Touch me alike, they are breath I not believe in.
I knew him, and I know him; so I leave him
To him, that made him proud, the pope.

Nor.

Let's in.

And, with some other business, put the king From these sad thoughts, that work too much upon him :

ceive this main end of these counsels, namely, the French king's sister. The editor of the fourth folio and all the subsequent editors read-his; but y' or this were not likely to be confounded with his. Besides, the King, not Wolsey, is the person last mentioned; and it was the main end or object of Wolsey to bring about a marriage between Henry and the French king's sister. End has already been used for cause, and may be so here. See p. 357:

"The cardinal is the end of this." MALONE.

6 The French king's sister.] i. e. the Duchess of Alençon. STEEVENS. 7 From princes into pages:] This may allude to the retinue of the Cardinal, who had several of the nobility among his menial servants. JOHNSON.

8 Into what PITCH he please.] The mast must be fashioned into pitch or height, as well as into particular form. The meaning is, that the Cardinal can, as he pleases, make high or low.

JOHNSON.