A woman (I dare say, without vain-glory,)

Never yet branded with suspicion?

Have I with all my full affections

Still met the king? lov'd him next heaven? obey'd him?
Been, out of fondness, superstitious to him??
Almost forgot my prayers to content him?
And am I thus rewarded? 'tis not well, lords.
Bring me a constant woman to her husband,
One that ne'er dream'd a joy beyond his pleasure;
And to that woman, when she has done most,
Yet will I add an honour,—a great patience.

Wol. Madam, you wander from the good we aim at. Q. Kath. My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty, To give up willingly that noble title

Your master wed me to: nothing but death

Shall e'er divorce my dignities.

Wol.

'Pray, hear me.

Q. Kath. 'Would I had never trod this English earth, Or felt the flatteries that grow upon it!

8

Ye have angels' faces, but heaven knows your hearts. What will become of me now, wretched lady?

7

superstitious to him?] That is, served him with superstitious attention; done more than was required. Johnson.

8 Ye have angels' faces,] She may perhaps allude to the old jingle of Angli and Angeli. Johnson.

I find this jingle in The Arraygnment of Paris, 1584. The goddesses refer the dispute about the golden apple to the decision of Diana, who setting aside their respective claims, awards it to Queen Elizabeth; and adds:

"Her people are ycleped angeli,

"Or if I miss a letter, is the most."

In this pastoral, as it is called, the Queen herself may be almost said to have been a performer, for at the conclusion of it, Diana gives the golden apple into her hands, and the Fates deposit their insignia at her feet. It was presented before her Majesty by the children of her chapel.

It appears, from the following passage in The Spanish Masquerado, by Greene, 1585, that this quibble was originally the quib. ble of a saint: "England, a little island, where, as saint Augustin saith, there be people with angel faces, so the inhabitants have the courage and hearts of lyons." Steevens.

See also Nashe's Anatomie of Absurditie, 1589: "For my part I meane to suspend my sentence, and let an author of late memorie be my speaker; who affirmeth that they carry angels in their faces, and devils in their devices." Malone.

I am the most unhappy woman living.-
Alas! poor wenches, where are now your fortunes?
[To her Women.
Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where no pity,
No friends, no hope; no kindred weep for me,
Almost, no grave allow'd me:-Like the lily,
That once was mistress of the field, and flourish'd,
I'll hang my head, and perish.

Wol.
If your grace
Could but be brought to know, our ends are honest,
You'd feel more comfort: why should we, good lady,'
Upon what cause, wrong you? alas! our places,
The way of our profession is against it;

We are to cure such sorrows, not to sow them.
For goodness' sake, consider what you do;
How you may hurt yourself, ay, utterly

Grow from the king's acquaintance, by this carriage.
The hearts of princes kiss obedience,

So much they love it; but, to stubborn spirits,
They swell, and grow as terrible as storms.1

I know, you have a gentle, noble temper,

A soul as even as a calm; Pray, think us

Those we profess, peace-makers, friends, and servants. Cam. Madam, you'll find it so. You wrong your vir

tues

With these weak women's fears. A noble spirit,

As yours was put into you, ever casts

Such doubts, as false coin, from it. The king loves you; Beware, you lose it not: For us, if you please

To trust us in your business, we are ready

9

the lily,

That once was mistress of the field,] So, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, Book II, c. vi, st. 16:

"The lily, lady of the flow'ring field." H. White.

1 The hearts of princes kiss obedience,

So much they love it; but, to stubborn spirits,

They swell, and grow as terrible as storms.] It was one of the charges brought against Lord Essex, in the year before this play was probably written, by his ungrateful kinsman, Sir Francis Bacon, when that nobleman, to the disgrace of humanity, was obliged, by a junto of his enemies, to kneel at the end of the council-table for several hours, that in a letter written during his retirement, in 1598, to the Lord Keeper, he had said, "There is no tempest to the passionate indignation of a prince." Malone.

To use our utmost studies in your service.

Q. Kath. Do what ye will, my lords: And, pray, forgive me,

If I have us'd myself unmannerly;

You know, I am a woman, lacking wit
To make a seemly answer to such persons.

Pray, do my service to his majesty:

He has my heart yet; and shall have my prayers,
While I shall have my life. Come, reverend fathers,
Bestow your counsels on me: she now begs,

That little thought, when she set footing here,
She should have bought her dignities so dear. [Exeunt.
SCENE II.

Ante-Chamber to the King's Apartment.

Enter the Duke of NORFOLK, the Duke of SUFFOLK, the
Earl of SURREY, and the Lord Chamberlain.

Nor. If you will now unite in your complaints,
And force them3 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 more new disgraces,
With these you bear already.

Sur.

I am joyful
To meet the least occasion, that may give me
Remembrance of my father-in-law, the duke,
To be reveng❜d on him.

Suf.

Which of the peers

Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least

Strangely neglected?4 when did he regard

2 If I have us'd myself unmannerly;] That is, if I have behaved myself unmannerly. M. Mason.

3 And force them-] Force is enforce, urge. Johnson. So, in Measure for Measure:

4

Has he affections in him

"That thus can make him bite the law by the nose,
"When he would force it?" Steevens.

--or at least

Strangely neglected?] Which of the peers has not gone by him uncontemned or neglected? Johnson.

Our author extends to the words, strangely neglected, the negative comprehended in the word uncontemn'd.

M. Mason.

The stamp of nobleness in any person,
Out of himself?5

Cham.

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 his tongue.

Nor.

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.

Sur.

Sir,

I should be glad to hear such news as this
Once every hour.

Nor.

Believe it, this is true.

In the divorce, his contrary proceedings
Are all unfolded; wherein he appears,

As I could wish mine enemy.

Sur.

His practices to light?

Suf.
Sur.

How came

Suf. The cardinal's letter to the pope miscarried,

Uncontemn'd, as I have before observed in a note on As you Like it, must be understood, as if the author had written not contemn'd. See Vol. V, p. 29, n. 7. Malone.

5 when did he regard

The stamp of nobleness in any person,

Out of himself?] The expression is bad, and the thought false. For it supposes Wolsey to be noble, which was not so: we should read and point:

when did he regard

The stamp of nobleness in any person;

Out of 't himself?

i. e. When did he regard nobleness of blood in another, having none of his own to value himself upon? Warburton.

I do not think this correction proper. The meaning of the present reading is easy. When did he, however careful to carry his own dignity to the utmost height, regard any dignity of another? Johnson. 6 contrary proceedings-] Private practices opposite to his publick procedure. Johnson.

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.
Sur. Has the king this?

Suf.

Sur.

Believe it.

Will this work?

Cham. 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 physick After his patient's death; the king already Hath married the fair lady.

Sur.

"Would he had!
your wish, my lord;

My amen to 't!

All men's.

Suf. There's order given for her coronation: Marry, this is yet but young,9

9 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 memoriz❜d.1

7 And hedges, his own way.] To hedge, is to creep along by the hedge: not to take the direct and open path, but to steal covertly through circumvolutions. Johnson.

Hedging is by land, what coasting is by sea. M. Mason.

8 Trace the conjunction!] To trace, is to follow. Johnson. So, in Macbeth:

The form of Surrey's wish has been anticipated by Richmond in King Richard III, sc. ult:

"Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction!" Steevens. but young,] The same phrase occurs again in Romeo and Juliet, Act I, sc. i:

9