Like a bright exhalation in the evening, And no man see me more. Re-enter the DUKES OF NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, the EARL OF SURREY, and the Lord Chamberlain. Nor. Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you To render up the great seal presently Into our hands; and to confine yourself Wol. Stay, Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry Authority so weighty. Suf. Who dare cross them, Bearing the king's will from his mouth expressly? Wol. Till I find more than will, or words, to do it, (I mean, your malice,) know, officious lords, I dare, and must deny it. Now I feel Of what coarse metal ye are moulded,-envy. As if it fed ye! and how sleek and wanton You have christian warrant for them, and, no doubt, That seal You ask with such a violence, the king, (Mine, and your master,) with his own hand gave me: It must be himself then. Proud lord, thou liest; Wol. Sur. Thy ambition, Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land (With thee, and all thy best parts bound together) Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your policy! You sent me deputy for Ireland: Far from his succour, from the king, from all That might have mercy on the fault thou gav'st him; Wol. That in the way of loyalty and truth Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be, Sur. By my soul, Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou shouldst feel And from this fellow? If we live thus tamely Wol. Is poison to thy stomach. All goodness Sur. You writ to the pope, against the king: your goodness, Worse than the sacring bell, when the brown wench Wol. How much, methinks, I could despise this man, But that I am bound in charity against it! Nor. Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand : But, thus much, they are foul ones. Wol. Sur. This cannot save you: I thank my memory, I yet remember Some of these articles; and out they shall. Now, if you can blush, and cry guilty, cardinal, Wol. Speak on, sir; I dare your worst objections: if I blush, It is, to see a nobleman want manners. Suf. I'd rather want those than my head. Have at you. First, that, without the king's assent or knowledge, You wrought to be a legate; by which power You maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops. Nor. Then, that in all you writ to Rome, or else Was still inscrib'd; in which you brought the king Suf. Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold Sur. Item, you sent a large commission Without the king's will, or the state's allowance, Suf. That, out of mere ambition, you have caus'd Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin. Sur. Then, that you have sent innumerable substance, (By what means got, I leave to your own conscience,) To furnish Rome, and to prepare the ways a You have for dignities; to the mere undoing Of all the kingdom. Many more there are ; I will not taint my mouth with. Cham. O my lord, Press not a falling man too far; 't is virtue: His faults lie open to the laws; let them, Not you, correct him. My heart weeps to see him Sur. I forgive him. Suf. Lord cardinal, the king's further pleasure is,→ Because all those things, you have done of late By your power legatine within this kingdom, Fall into the compass of a præmunire,---That therefore such a writ be sued against you; To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements, Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be Out of the king's protection :-This is my charge. Nor. And so we'll leave you to your meditations How to live better. For your stubborn answer, About the giving back the great seal to us, The king shall know it, and, no doubt, shall thank you. So fare you well, my little good lord cardinal. [Exeunt all but WOLSEY. Wol. So farewell to the little good you hear me. a Merc-absolute. Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness! But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride Enter CROMWELL, amazedly. Why, how now, Cromwell? What, amaz'd Crom. I have no power to speak, sir. Wol. At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder Crom. Wol. How does your grace? Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell. A peace above all earthly dignities, Why, well; A still and quiet conscience. The king has cur'd me, I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders, VOL. VII. F |