SCENE II. Ante-chamber to KING HENRY VIII's apartment. The Life of King Henry the Eighth  Shakespeare homepage  |  Henry VIII  | Act 3, Scene 2 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  SCENE II. Ante-chamber to KING HENRY VIII's apartment. 

 Enter NORFOLK, SUFFOLK, SURREY, and Chamberlain  NORFOLK  If you will now unite in your complaints, 

 And force them with a constancy, the cardinal 

 Cannot stand under them: if you omit 

 The offer of this time, I cannot promise 

 But that you shall sustain moe new disgraces, 

 With these you bear already. 

 SURREY  I am joyful 

 To meet the least occasion that may give me 

 Remembrance of my father-in-law, the duke, 

 To be revenged on him. 

 SUFFOLK  Which of the peers 

 Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least 

 Strangely neglected? when did he regard 

 The stamp of nobleness in any person 

 Out of himself? 

 Chamberlain  My lords, you speak your pleasures: 

 What he deserves of you and me I know; 

 What we can do to him, though now the time 

 Gives way to us, I much fear. If you cannot 

 Bar his access to the king, never attempt 

 Any thing on him; for he hath a witchcraft 

 Over the king in's tongue. 

 NORFOLK  O, fear him not; 

 His spell in that is out: the king hath found 

 Matter against him that for ever mars 

 The honey of his language. No, he's settled, 

 Not to come off, in his displeasure. 

 SURREY  Sir, 

 I should be glad to hear such news as this 

 Once every hour. 

 NORFOLK  Believe it, this is true: 

 In the divorce his contrary proceedings 

 Are all unfolded wherein he appears 

 As I would wish mine enemy. 

 SURREY  How came 

 His practises to light? 

 SUFFOLK  Most strangely. 

 SURREY  O, how, how? 

 SUFFOLK  The cardinal's letters to the pope miscarried, 

 And came to the eye o' the king: wherein was read, 

 How that the cardinal did entreat his holiness 

 To stay the judgment o' the divorce; for if 

 It did take place, 'I do,' quoth he, 'perceive 

 My king is tangled in affection to 

 A creature of the queen's, Lady Anne Bullen.' 

 SURREY  Has the king this? 

 SUFFOLK  Believe it. 

 SURREY  Will this work? 

 Chamberlain  The king in this perceives him, how he coasts 

 And hedges his own way. But in this point 

 All his tricks founder, and he brings his physic 

 After his patient's death: the king already 

 Hath married the fair lady. 

 SURREY  Would he had! 

 SUFFOLK  May you be happy in your wish, my lord 

 For, I profess, you have it. 

 SURREY  Now, all my joy 

 Trace the conjunction! 

 SUFFOLK  My amen to't! 

 NORFOLK  All men's! 

 SUFFOLK  There's order given for her coronation: 

 Marry, this is yet but young, and may be left 

 To some ears unrecounted. But, my lords, 

 She is a gallant creature, and complete 

 In mind and feature: I persuade me, from her 

 Will fall some blessing to this land, which shall 

 In it be memorised. 

 SURREY  But, will the king 

 Digest this letter of the cardinal's? 

 The Lord forbid! 

 NORFOLK  Marry, amen! 

 SUFFOLK  No, no; 

 There be moe wasps that buzz about his nose 

 Will make this sting the sooner. Cardinal Campeius 

 Is stol'n away to Rome; hath ta'en no leave; 

 Has left the cause o' the king unhandled; and 

 Is posted, as the agent of our cardinal, 

 To second all his plot. I do assure you 

 The king cried Ha! at this. 

 Chamberlain  Now, God incense him, 

 And let him cry Ha! louder! 

 NORFOLK  But, my lord, 

 When returns Cranmer? 

 SUFFOLK  He is return'd in his opinions; which 

 Have satisfied the king for his divorce, 

 Together with all famous colleges 

 Almost in Christendom: shortly, I believe, 

 His second marriage shall be publish'd, and 

 Her coronation. Katharine no more 

 Shall be call'd queen, but princess dowager 

 And widow to Prince Arthur. 

 NORFOLK  This same Cranmer's 

 A worthy fellow, and hath ta'en much pain 

 In the king's business. 

 SUFFOLK  He has; and we shall see him 

 For it an archbishop. 

 NORFOLK  So I hear. 

 SUFFOLK  'Tis so. 

 The cardinal! 



 Enter CARDINAL WOLSEY and CROMWELL  NORFOLK  Observe, observe, he's moody. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  The packet, Cromwell. 

 Gave't you the king? 

 CROMWELL  To his own hand, in's bedchamber. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Look'd he o' the inside of the paper? 

 CROMWELL  Presently 

 He did unseal them: and the first he view'd, 

 He did it with a serious mind; a heed 

 Was in his countenance. You he bade 

 Attend him here this morning. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Is he ready 

 To come abroad? 

 CROMWELL  I think, by this he is. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Leave me awhile. 



 Exit CROMWELL 

 Aside  It shall be to the Duchess of Alencon, 

 The French king's sister: he shall marry her. 

 Anne Bullen! No; I'll no Anne Bullens for him: 

 There's more in't than fair visage. Bullen! 

 No, we'll no Bullens. Speedily I wish 

 To hear from Rome. The Marchioness of Pembroke! 

 NORFOLK  He's discontented. 

 SUFFOLK  May be, he hears the king 

 Does whet his anger to him. 

 SURREY  Sharp enough, 

 Lord, for thy justice! 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  [Aside]  The late queen's gentlewoman, 

 a knight's daughter, 

 To be her mistress' mistress! the queen's queen! 

 This candle burns not clear: 'tis I must snuff it; 

 Then out it goes. What though I know her virtuous 

 And well deserving? yet I know her for 

 A spleeny Lutheran; and not wholesome to 

 Our cause, that she should lie i' the bosom of 

 Our hard-ruled king. Again, there is sprung up 

 An heretic, an arch one, Cranmer; one 

 Hath crawl'd into the favour of the king, 

 And is his oracle. 

 NORFOLK  He is vex'd at something. 

 SURREY  I would 'twere something that would fret the string, 

 The master-cord on's heart! 



 Enter KING HENRY VIII, reading of a schedule, and LOVELL  SUFFOLK  The king, the king! 

 KING HENRY VIII  What piles of wealth hath he accumulated 

 To his own portion! and what expense by the hour 

 Seems to flow from him! How, i' the name of thrift, 

 Does he rake this together! Now, my lords, 

 Saw you the cardinal? 

 NORFOLK  My lord, we have 

 Stood here observing him: some strange commotion 

 Is in his brain: he bites his lip, and starts; 

 Stops on a sudden, looks upon the ground, 

 Then lays his finger on his temple, straight 

 Springs out into fast gait; then stops again, 

 Strikes his breast hard, and anon he casts 

 His eye against the moon: in most strange postures 

 We have seen him set himself. 

 KING HENRY VIII  It may well be; 

 There is a mutiny in's mind. This morning 

 Papers of state he sent me to peruse, 

 As I required: and wot you what I found 

 There,--on my conscience, put unwittingly? 

 Forsooth, an inventory, thus importing; 

 The several parcels of his plate, his treasure, 

 Rich stuffs, and ornaments of household; which 

 I find at such proud rate, that it out-speaks 

 Possession of a subject. 

 NORFOLK  It's heaven's will: 

 Some spirit put this paper in the packet, 

 To bless your eye withal. 

 KING HENRY VIII  If we did think 

 His contemplation were above the earth, 

 And fix'd on spiritual object, he should still 

 Dwell in his musings: but I am afraid 

 His thinkings are below the moon, not worth 

 His serious considering. 



 King HENRY VIII takes his seat; whispers LOVELL, who goes to CARDINAL WOLSEY  CARDINAL WOLSEY  Heaven forgive me! 

 Ever God bless your highness! 

 KING HENRY VIII  Good my lord, 

 You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the inventory 

 Of your best graces in your mind; the which 

 You were now running o'er: you have scarce time 

 To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span 

 To keep your earthly audit: sure, in that 

 I deem you an ill husband, and am glad 

 To have you therein my companion. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Sir, 

 For holy offices I have a time; a time 

 To think upon the part of business which 

 I bear i' the state; and nature does require 

 Her times of preservation, which perforce 

 I, her frail son, amongst my brethren mortal, 

 Must give my tendence to. 

 KING HENRY VIII  You have said well. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  And ever may your highness yoke together, 

 As I will lend you cause, my doing well 

 With my well saying! 

 KING HENRY VIII  'Tis well said again; 

 And 'tis a kind of good deed to say well: 

 And yet words are no deeds. My father loved you: 

 His said he did; and with his deed did crown 

 His word upon you. Since I had my office, 

 I have kept you next my heart; have not alone 

 Employ'd you where high profits might come home, 

 But pared my present havings, to bestow 

 My bounties upon you. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  [Aside]             What should this mean? 

 SURREY  [Aside]  The Lord increase this business! 

 KING HENRY VIII  Have I not made you, 

 The prime man of the state? I pray you, tell me, 

 If what I now pronounce you have found true: 

 And, if you may confess it, say withal, 

 If you are bound to us or no. What say you? 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  My sovereign, I confess your royal graces, 

 Shower'd on me daily, have been more than could 

 My studied purposes requite; which went 

 Beyond all man's endeavours: my endeavours 

 Have ever come too short of my desires, 

 Yet filed with my abilities: mine own ends 

 Have been mine so that evermore they pointed 

 To the good of your most sacred person and 

 The profit of the state. For your great graces 

 Heap'd upon me, poor undeserver, I 

 Can nothing render but allegiant thanks, 

 My prayers to heaven for you, my loyalty, 

 Which ever has and ever shall be growing, 

 Till death, that winter, kill it. 

 KING HENRY VIII  Fairly answer'd; 

 A loyal and obedient subject is 

 Therein illustrated: the honour of it 

 Does pay the act of it; as, i' the contrary, 

 The foulness is the punishment. I presume 

 That, as my hand has open'd bounty to you, 

 My heart dropp'd love, my power rain'd honour, more 

 On you than any; so your hand and heart, 

 Your brain, and every function of your power, 

 Should, notwithstanding that your bond of duty, 

 As 'twere in love's particular, be more 

 To me, your friend, than any. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  I do profess 

 That for your highness' good I ever labour'd 

 More than mine own; that am, have, and will be-- 

 Though all the world should crack their duty to you, 

 And throw it from their soul; though perils did 

 Abound, as thick as thought could make 'em, and 

 Appear in forms more horrid,--yet my duty, 

 As doth a rock against the chiding flood, 

 Should the approach of this wild river break, 

 And stand unshaken yours. 

 KING HENRY VIII  'Tis nobly spoken: 

 Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast, 

 For you have seen him open't. Read o'er this; 



 Giving him papers  And after, this: and then to breakfast with 

 What appetite you have. 



 Exit KING HENRY VIII, frowning upon CARDINAL WOLSEY: the Nobles throng after him, smiling and whispering  CARDINAL WOLSEY  What should this mean? 

 What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd it? 

 He parted frowning from me, as if ruin 

 Leap'd from his eyes: so looks the chafed lion 

 Upon the daring huntsman that has gall'd him; 

 Then makes him nothing. I must read this paper; 

 I fear, the story of his anger. 'Tis so; 

 This paper has undone me: 'tis the account 

 Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together 

 For mine own ends; indeed, to gain the popedom, 

 And fee my friends in Rome. O negligence! 

 Fit for a fool to fall by: what cross devil 

 Made me put this main secret in the packet 

 I sent the king? Is there no way to cure this? 

 No new device to beat this from his brains? 

 I know 'twill stir him strongly; yet I know 

 A way, if it take right, in spite of fortune 

 Will bring me off again. What's this? 'To the Pope!' 

 The letter, as I live, with all the business 

 I writ to's holiness. Nay then, farewell! 

 I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness; 

 And, from that full meridian of my glory, 

 I haste now to my setting: I shall fall 

 Like a bright exhalation m the evening, 

 And no man see me more. 



 Re-enter to CARDINAL WOLSEY, NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, SURREY, and the Chamberlain  NORFOLK  Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you 

 To render up the great seal presently 

 Into our hands; and to confine yourself 

 To Asher House, my Lord of Winchester's, 

 Till you hear further from his highness. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Stay: 

 Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry 

 Authority so weighty. 

 SUFFOLK  Who dare cross 'em, 

 Bearing the king's will from his mouth expressly? 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  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: 

 How eagerly ye follow my disgraces, 

 As if it fed ye! and how sleek and wanton 

 Ye appear in every thing may bring my ruin! 

 Follow your envious courses, men of malice; 

 You have Christian warrant for 'em, and, no doubt, 

 In time will find their fit rewards. That seal, 

 You ask with such a violence, the king, 

 Mine and your master, with his own hand gave me; 

 Bade me enjoy it, with the place and honours, 

 During my life; and, to confirm his goodness, 

 Tied it by letters-patents: now, who'll take it? 

 SURREY  The king, that gave it. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  It must be himself, then. 

 SURREY  Thou art a proud traitor, priest. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Proud lord, thou liest: 

 Within these forty hours Surrey durst better 

 Have burnt that tongue than said so. 

 SURREY  Thy ambition, 

 Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land 

 Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law: 

 The heads of all thy brother cardinals, 

 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 succor, from the king, from all 

 That might have mercy on the fault thou gavest him; 

 Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity, 

 Absolved him with an axe. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  This, and all else 

 This talking lord can lay upon my credit, 

 I answer is most false. The duke by law 

 Found his deserts: how innocent I was 

 From any private malice in his end, 

 His noble jury and foul cause can witness. 

 If I loved many words, lord, I should tell you 

 You have as little honesty as honour, 

 That in the way of loyalty and truth 

 Toward the king, my ever royal master, 

 Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be, 

 And all that love his follies. 

 SURREY  By my soul, 

 Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou 

 shouldst feel 

 My sword i' the life-blood of thee else. My lords, 

 Can ye endure to hear this arrogance? 

 And from this fellow? if we live thus tamely, 

 To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet, 

 Farewell nobility; let his grace go forward, 

 And dare us with his cap like larks. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  All goodness 

 Is poison to thy stomach. 

 SURREY  Yes, that goodness 

 Of gleaning all the land's wealth into one, 

 Into your own hands, cardinal, by extortion; 

 The goodness of your intercepted packets 

 You writ to the pope against the king: your goodness, 

 Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious. 

 My Lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble, 

 As you respect the common good, the state 

 Of our despised nobility, our issues, 

 Who, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen, 

 Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles 

 Collected from his life. I'll startle you 

 Worse than the scaring bell, when the brown wench 

 Lay kissing in your arms, lord cardinal. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  How much, methinks, I could despise this man, 

 But that I am bound in charity against it! 

 NORFOLK  Those articles, my lord, are in the king's hand: 

 But, thus much, they are foul ones. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  So much fairer 

 And spotless shall mine innocence arise, 

 When the king knows my truth. 

 SURREY  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, 

 You'll show a little honesty. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Speak on, sir; 

 I dare your worst objections: if I blush, 

 It is to see a nobleman want manners. 

 SURREY  I had 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. 

 NORFOLK  Then, that in all you writ to Rome, or else 

 To foreign princes, 'Ego et Rex meus' 

 Was still inscribed; in which you brought the king 

 To be your servant. 

 SUFFOLK  Then that, without the knowledge 

 Either of king or council, when you went 

 Ambassador to the emperor, you made bold 

 To carry into Flanders the great seal. 

 SURREY  Item, you sent a large commission 

 To Gregory de Cassado, to conclude, 

 Without the king's will or the state's allowance, 

 A league between his highness and Ferrara. 

 SUFFOLK  That, out of mere ambition, you have caused 

 Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the king's coin. 

 SURREY  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 

 You have for dignities; to the mere undoing 

 Of all the kingdom. Many more there are; 

 Which, since they are of you, and odious, 

 I will not taint my mouth with. 

 Chamberlain  O my lord, 

 Press not a falling man too far! 'tis virtue: 

 His faults lie open to the laws; let them, 

 Not you, correct him. My heart weeps to see him 

 So little of his great self. 

 SURREY  I forgive him. 

 SUFFOLK  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 praemunire, 

 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. 

 NORFOLK  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 CARDINAL WOLSEY  CARDINAL WOLSEY  So farewell to the little good you bear me. 

 Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness! 

 This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth 

 The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms, 

 And bears his blushing honours thick upon him; 

 The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, 

 And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 

 His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, 

 And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured, 

 Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 

 This many summers in a sea of glory, 

 But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride 

 At length broke under me and now has left me, 

 Weary and old with service, to the mercy 

 Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me. 

 Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye: 

 I feel my heart new open'd. O, how wretched 

 Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favours! 

 There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to, 

 That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, 

 More pangs and fears than wars or women have: 

 And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, 

 Never to hope again. 



 Enter CROMWELL, and stands amazed  Why, how now, Cromwell! 

 CROMWELL  I have no power to speak, sir. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  What, amazed 

 At my misfortunes? can thy spirit wonder 

 A great man should decline? Nay, an you weep, 

 I am fall'n indeed. 

 CROMWELL  How does your grace? 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Why, well; 

 Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell. 

 I know myself now; and I feel within me 

 A peace above all earthly dignities, 

 A still and quiet conscience. The king has cured me, 

 I humbly thank his grace; and from these shoulders, 

 These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken 

 A load would sink a navy, too much honour: 

 O, 'tis a burthen, Cromwell, 'tis a burthen 

 Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven! 

 CROMWELL  I am glad your grace has made that right use of it. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  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? 

 CROMWELL  The heaviest and the worst 

 Is your displeasure with the king. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  God bless him! 

 CROMWELL  The next is, that Sir Thomas More is chosen 

 Lord chancellor in your place. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  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! What more? 

 CROMWELL  That Cranmer is return'd with welcome, 

 Install'd lord archbishop of Canterbury. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  That's news indeed. 

 CROMWELL  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. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  There was the weight that pull'd me down. O 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 fall'n 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, and provide 

 For thine own future safety. 

 CROMWELL  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 yours. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear 

 In all my miseries; but thou hast forced 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 it? 

 Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee; 

 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, 

 Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, 

 O Cromwell, 

 Thou fall'st a blessed martyr! Serve the king; 

 And,--prithee, 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 served my God with half the zeal 

 I served my king, he would not in mine age 

 Have left me naked to mine enemies. 

 CROMWELL  Good sir, have patience. 

 CARDINAL WOLSEY  So I have. Farewell 

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



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