At once and fully satisfied,') whether ever I
Did broach this business to your highness; or
Laid any scruple in your way, which might
Induce you to the question on't? or ever
Have to you-but with thanks to God for such
A royal lady-spake one the least word, might
Be to the prejudice of her present state,
Or touch of her good person?
K. Hen.
My lord cardinal,
I do excuse you; yea, upon mine honor,
I free you from't. You are not to be taught
That you have many enemies, that know not
Why they are so, but, like to village curs,
Bark when their fellows do: by some of these
The queen is put in anger. You are excused
But will you be more justified? You ever.
Have wished the sleeping of this business; never
Desired it to be stirred; but oft have hindered, oft,
The passages made toward it.-On my honor,
I speak my good lord cardinal to this point,2
And thus far clear him. Now, what moved me to't,—
I will be bold with time, and your attention:-
Then mark the inducement. Thus it came ;-give
heed to't.-
My conscience first received a tenderness,
Scruple, and prick, on certain speeches uttered
By the bishop of Bayonne, then French ambassador;
Who had been hither sent on the debating
A marriage 'twixt the duke of Orleans and
Our daughter Mary. I' the progress of this business,
Ere a determinate resolution, he
(I mean, the bishop) did require a respite;
Wherein he might the king his lord advértise
Whether our daughter were legitimate,
Respecting this our marriage with the dowager,
1 The sense, which is encumbered with words, is no more than this:I must be loosed, though when so loosed I shall not be satisfied fully and at once; that is, I shall not be immediately satisfied.
2 The king, having first addressed Wolsey, declares upon his honor to the whole court, that he speaks the cardinal's sentiments upon the point in question.
Sometime our brother's wife. This respite shook
The bosom of my conscience, entered me,
Yea, with a splitting power, and made to tremble
The region of my breast; which forced such way,
That many mazed considerings did throng,
And pressed in with this caution. First, methought
I stood not in the smile of Heaven; who had
Commanded nature, that my lady's womb,
If it conceived a male child by me, should
Do no more offices of life to't, than
The grave does to the dead; for her male issue
Or died where they were made, or shortly after
This world had aired them. Hence I took a thought,
This was a judgment on me; that my kingdom,
Well worthy the best heir o' the world, should not
Be gladded in't by me. Then follows, that
I weighed the danger which my realms stood in
By this my issue's fail; and that gave to me
Many a groaning throe. Thus hulling' in
The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer
Toward this remedy, whereupon we are
Now present here together; that's to say,
I meant to rectify my conscience,—which
I then did feel full sick, and yet not well,-
By all the reverend fathers of the land,
And doctors learned.-First, I began in private
With you, my lord of Lincoln; you remember
How under my oppression I did reek,2
K. Hen. I have spoke long; be pleased yourself to say
How far you satisfied me.
Lin. So please your highness, The question did at first so stagger me,Bearing a state of mighty moment in't, And consequence of dread,-that I committed The daring'st counsel which I had, to doubt;
1 A ship is said to hull when she is dismasted, and only her hull or hulk
is left at the direction and mercy of the waves.
2 Waste, or wear away.
And did entreat your highness to this course,
Which you are running here.
My lord of Canterbury; and got your leave
To make this present summons.-Unsolicited
I left no reverend person in this court;
But by particular consent proceeded,
Under your hands and seals. Therefore, go on;
For no dislike i' the world against the person
Of the good queen, but the sharp, thorny points
Of my alleged reasons, drive this forward;
Prove but our marriage lawful, by my life,
And kingly dignity, we are contented
To wear our mortal state to come, with her,
Katharine our queen, before the primest creature
That's paragoned' o'the world.
Cam.
So please your highness,
The queen being absent, 'tis a needful fitness
That we adjourn this court till further day.
Meanwhile must be an earnest motion
Made to the queen, to call back her appeal
She intends unto his holiness. [They rise to depart.
K. Hen.
I may perceive, [Aside.
These cardinals trifle with me; I abhor
This dilatory sloth, and tricks of Rome.
My learned and well-beloved servant, Cranmer,
Pr'ythee return! With thy approach, I know,
My comfort comes along. Break up the court.
I say, set on.
[Exeunt, in manner as they entered.
1 Shakspeare uses the verb to paragon both in Antony and Cleopatra and Othello.
SCENE I. Palace at Bridewell.
A Room in the Queen's Apartment. The Queen, and some of her Women, at work.
Q. Kath. Take thy lute, wench; my soul grows
Sing, and disperse them, if thou canst; leave working.
Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain-tops, that freeze,
Bow themselves, when he did sing :
To his music, plants, and flowers,
Ever sprung; as sun, and showers,
There had been a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art;
Killing care, and grief of heart,
Fall asleep, or, hearing, die.
Gent. An't please your grace, the two great cardinals
Wait in the presence.1
Q. Kath. Would they speak with me?
Gent. They willed me say so, madam.
Q. Kath.
To come near. [Exit Gent.] What can be their
With me, a poor weak woman, fallen from favor?
I do not like their coming, now I think on't.
They should be good men; their affairs' as righteous:
But all hoods make not monks.
Enter WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS.
Q. Kath. Your graces find me here part of a house
I would be all, against the worst may happen.
What are your pleasures with me, reverend lords?
Wol. May it please you, noble madam, to withdraw
Into your private chamber, we shall give you
The full cause of our coming.
There's nothing I have done yet, o' my conscience,
Deserves a corner. 'Would all other women
Could speak this with as free a soul as I do!
My lords, I care not (so much I am happy
Above a number) if my actions
Were tried by every tongue, every eye saw them,
Envy and base opinion set against them,
I know my life so even. If your business
Seek me out, and that way I am wife in,2
Out with it boldly. Truth loves open dealing.
Wol. Tanta est ergà te mentis integritas, regina
serenissima,-
Q. Kath. O, good my lord, no Latin;
I am not such a truant since my coming,
As not to know the language I have lived in ;
A strange tongue makes my cause more strange, sus
Pray, speak in English; here are some will thank you, If you speak truth, for their poor mistress' sake; Believe me, she has had much wrong. Lord cardinal,
1 "Being churchmen, they should be virtuous, and every business they undertake as righteous as their sacred office; but all hoods make not monks." 2 This is obscurely expressed, but seems to mean, "If your business is with me, and relates to the question of my marriage, out with it boldly."
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