Shall be call'd, queen; but princess dowager,

And widow to prince Arthur.

Nor.

This same Cranmer's

A worthy fellow, and hath ta'en much pain

In the king's business.

Suf.

For it, an archbishop.

Nor.

He has; and we shall see him

So I hear.

'Tis so.

Nor.

Enter WOLSEY and CROMWELL.

Observe, observe, he's moody.

Wol. The packet, Cromwell, gave it you the king?
Crom. To his own hand, in his bedchamber.3
Wol. Look'd he o' the inside of the paper?
Crom.

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.

Wol.

To come abroad?

Crom.

Is he ready

I think, by this he is.

Wol. Leave me a while.

It shall be to the duchess of Alençon,

Presently

[Exit CROM.

The French king's sister: he shall marry her.—
Anne Bullen! No; I'll no Anne Bullens for him:
There is more in it than fair visage.—Bullen!

No, we 'll no Bullens.-Speedily I wish

To hear from Rome.-The marchioness of Pembroke! Nor. He's discontented.

3 To his own hand, in his bedchamber.] Surely, both the syllable wanting in this line, and the respect due from the speaker to Wolsey, should authorize us to read:

To his own hand, sir, in his bedchamber.

And again, in Cromwell's next speech:

Was in his countenance: you, sir, he bade

or with Sir Thomas Hanmer:

He pleaded still, not guilty, and alleg'd
Many sharp reasons to defeat the law.
The king's attorney, on the contrary,
Urg'd on the examinations, proofs, confessions
Of divers witnesses; which the duke desir'd
To him brought, vivâ voce, to his face:7

At which appear'd against him, his surveyor;
Sir Gilbert Peck his chancellor; and John Court,
Confessor to him; with that devil-monk,

Hopkins, that made this mischief.

2 Gent.

That fed him with his prophecies?

1 Gent.

That was he,

The same.

All these accus'd him strongly; which he fain
Would have flung from him, but, indeed, he could not:
And so his peers, upon this evidence,

Have found him guilty of high treason. Much
He spoke, and learnedly, for life; but all

Was either pitied in him, or forgotten.

2 Gent. After all this, how did he bear himself?

1 Gent. When he was brought again to the bar,-to

hear

His knell rung out, his judgment, he was stirr'd
With such an agony, he sweat extremely,
And something spoke in choler, ill, and hasty:
But he fell to himself again, and, sweetly,
In all the rest show'd a most noble patience.
2 Gent. I do not think, he fears death.
1 Gent.

Sure, he does not,

He never was so womanish; the cause
He may a little grieve at.

1 Gent.

'Tis likely, By all conjectures: First, Kildare's attainder,

7 To him brought vivâ voce, to his face:] This is a clear error of the press. We must read-have instead of him. M. Mason.

8 Was either pitied in him, or forgotten.] Either produced no effect, or produced only ineffectual pity. Malone."

9 he sweat extremely,] This circumstance is taken from Holinshed: "After he was found guilty, the duke was brought to the bar, sore-chafing, and sweat marvelously." Steevens.

Then deputy of Ireland; who remov❜d,

Earl Surrey was sent thither, and în haste too,
Lest he should help his father.

2 Gent.

Was a deep envious one.

That trick of state

At his return,

1 Gent.
No doubt, he will requite it. This is noted,
And generally; whoever the king favours,
The cardinal instantly will find employment,
And far enough from court too.

2 Gent.

All the commons

Hate him perniciously, and, o' my conscience,

Wish him ten fathom deep: this duke as much

They love and dote on; call him, bounteous Bucking

ham,

The mirror of all courtesy ; 1.

1 Gent.

Stay there, sir,

And see the noble ruin'd man you speak of.

Enter BUCKINGHAM from his Arraignment; Tipstaves before him; the Axe with the Edge towards him; Halberds on each side: with him, Sir THOMAS LOVELL, Sir NICHOLAS VAUX, Sir WILLIAM SANDS,2 and common People.

2 Gent. Let's stand close, and behold him.

Buck.

All good people,

You that thus far have come to pity me,
Hear what I say, and then go home and loose me.
I have this day receiv'd a traitor's judgment,

1 The mirror of all courtesy;] See the concluding words of n. p. 224. Steevens.

2 Sir William Sands,] The old copy reads-Sir Walter.

6,

Steevens.

The correction is justified by Holinshed's Chronicle, in which it is said, that Sir Nicholas Vaux, and Sir William Sands, re- · ceived Buckingham at the Temple, and accompanied him to the Tower. Sir William Sands was, at this time, (May, 1521,) only a baronet, [rather, a knight; as baronetage was unknown till 1611,] not being created Lord Sands till April 27, 1527. Shakspeare probably did not know that he was the same person whom he has already introduced with that title. He fell into the error by placing the King's visit to Wolsey, (at which time Sir William was Lord Sands) and Buckingham's condemnation, in the same year; whereas that visit was made some years afterwards.

Malone

And by that name must die; Yet, heaven bear witness,
And, if I have a conscience, let it sink me,

Even as the axe falls, if I be not faithful!
The law I bear no malice for my death,
It has done, upon the premises, but justice:

But those, that sought it, I could wish more christians:
Be what they will, I heartily forgive them:
Yet let them look they glory not in mischief,
Nor build their evils on the graves of great men; 3
For then my guiltless blood must cry against them.
For further life in this world I ne'er hope,
Nor will I sue, although the king have mercies

More than I dare make faults. You few that lov'd me,
And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham,

His noble friends, and fellows, whom to leave

Is only bitter to him, only dying,

Go with me, like good angels, to my end;

And, as the long divorce' of steel falls on me,
Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,

And lift my soul to heaven.—Lead on o' God's name.
Lov. I do beseech your grace, for charity,

If ever any malice in your heart

Were hid against me, now to forgive me frankly.
Buck. Sir Thomas Lovell, I as free forgive you,
As I would be forgiven: I forgive all;

There cannot be those numberless offences
'Gainst me, I can't take peace with: no black envy
Shall make my grave."-Commend me to his grace;

3 Nor build their evils on the graves of great men;] Evils, in this place, are forice. So, in Measure for Measure:

66

Having waste ground enough,

"Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary,

"And pitch our evils there?"

Steevens.

You few that lov'd me, &c.] These lines are remarkably tender and pathetic. Johnson.

5

the long divorce-] So, in Lord Sterline's Darius, 1603: "Scarce was the lasting last divorcement made "Betwixt the bodie and the soule" &c. Steevens.

And lift my soul to heaven.] So, Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV:

their songs

"Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven."

7- no black envy

Malone.

Shall make my grave.] Shakspeare, by this expression, meant

8

And, if he speak of Buckingham, pray, tell him,
You met him half in heaven: my vows and prayers
Yet are the king's; and, till my soul forsake me,
Shall cry for blessings on him: May he live
Longer than I have time to tell his years!
Ever belov'd, and loving, may his rule be!
And, when old Time shall lead him to his end,
Goodness and he fill up one monument!

Lov. To the water side I must conduct your grace; Then give my charge up to sir Nicholas Vaux, Who undertakes you to your end.

no more than to make the Duke say, No action expressive of malice shall conclude my life. Envy, by our author, is used for malice and hatred, in other places, and, perhaps, in this.

Again, in the ancient metrical romance of Syr Bevys of Hampton, bl. 1. no date:

Again:

"Traytoure, he sayd with great envy,
"Turne thee now, I thee defye."

cr

They drewe theyr swordes hastely, "And smot together with great envy.

And Barrett, in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, thus interprets it.

To make a grave, however, may mean to close it. So, in The Comedy of Errors:

Why at this time the doors are made against you." i. e. closed, shut. The sense will then be, (whether quaintly or poetically expressed, let the reader determine) no malicious action shall close my grave, i. e. attend the conclusion of my existence or terminate my life; the last action of it shall not be uncharitable.

Steevens.

Envy is frequently used in this sense by our author and his contemporaries. See Vol. IV, p. 392, n. 9; and p. 441, 1. 31. I have therefore no doubt that Mr. Steevens's exposition is right. Dr. Warburton reads-mark my grave; and in support of the emendation it may be observed that the same error has happened in King Henry V, or at least that all the editors have supposed so, having there adopted a similar correction. See Vol. IX, p.

249, n. 7.

Dr. Warburton's emendation also derives some support from the following passage in The Comedy of Errors:

"A vulgar comment will be made of it;
"And that supposed by the common rout
"Against your yet ungalled estimation,
"That may with foul intrusion enter in,

“And dwell upon your grave, when you are dead." Malone.
-forsake me,] The latter word was added by Mr Rowe,

Malone.