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42.

I know my life so even. If 'tis your business
To seek me out, &c.

L

BLACKSTONE.

-and that way I am wife in,] That is, if you come to examine the title by which I am the king's wife; or, if you come to know how I have behaved as a wife. The meaning, whatever it be, is so coarsely and unskilfully expressed, that the latter editors have liked nonsense better, and, contrarily to the ancient and only copy, have published,

And that way 1 am wise in. JOHNSON. 45. O, good my lord, no Latin;] So, Holinshed, P. 908:

"Then began the cardinall to speake to her in Latine. Naie, good my lord (quoth she), speake to me in English.” STEEVENS. 83. For her sake that I have been, &c.] For the sake of that royalty that I have heretofore possessed.

MALONE.

93. (Though he be grown so desperate to be honest)] Do you think that any Englishman dare advise me; or, if any man should venture to advise with honesty, that he could live? JOHNSON.

95.

-weigh out my afflictions,] To weigh out is the same as to outweigh. In Macbeth, Shakspere has overcome for come over.

STEEVENS.

113. The more shame for ye;- —] If I mistake you, it is by your fault, not mine; for I thought you good. The distress of Katharine might have kept her from the quibble to which she is irresistibly tempted by the word cardinal. JOHNSON,

143.

-superstitious to him?] That is, served

him with superstitious attention; done more than was required.

158. Ye have angels' faces,

JOHNSON. -] She may,

perhaps, allude to the old jingle of Angli and Angeli. JOHNSON.

I find this jingle in the Arrangement 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 quibble of a saint.-" England, a little island, where, as Saint Augustin saith, there be people with angels' faces, so the inhabitants have the courage and hearts of lyons."

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STEEVENS.

-] Force is enforce, urge.

JOHNSON.

Strangely neglected?] Which of the peers

has not gone by him contemned or neglected? JOHNSON.

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211.

-when did he regard

The stamp of nobleness in any person,

Out of himself?] When did he, however careful to carry his own dignity to the utmost height,

regard any dignity of another?

230.

JOHNSON.

-contrary proceedings] Private practices

opposite to his publick procedure.

248. And hedges, his own way.

JOHNSON.

-] To hedge,

is to creep along by the hedge: not to take the direct and open path, but to steal covertly through circumvolutions. JOHNSON. 256. Trace the conjunction!] To trace, is to follow.

JOHNSON. 265. In it be memoriz'd.] To memorize is to make memorable. The word has been already used in Macbeth, act i. sc. 2. STEEVENS.

282. He is return'd, in his opinions; which

Have satisfy'd the king for his divorce,

Together with all famous colleges

Almost in Christendom:

-] Thus the old copy. The meaning is this: Cranmer, says Suffolk, is returned in his opinions, i. e. with the same sentiments, which he entertained before he went abroad, which (sentiments) have satisfied the king, together with all the famous colleges referred to on the occasion.Or, perhaps, the passage (as Mr. Tyrwhitt observes) may mean-He is return'd in effect, having sent his opinions, i. e. the opinions of divines, &c. collected by him. STEEVENS. 837. Enter the King, reading a schedule;] That the

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cardinal gave the king an inventory of his own private wealth, by mistake, and thereby ruined himself, is a known variation from the truth of history. Shakspere, however, has not injudiciously represented the fall of that great man, as owing to an incident which he had once improved to the destruction of another. See Holinshed, Vol. II. p. 796 and 797.

"Thomas Ruthall, bishop of Durham, was, after the death of king Henry VII. one of the privy council to Henry VIII. to whom the king gave in charge to write a book of the whole estate of the kingdom, &c. Afterwards, the king commanded Cardinal Wolsey to go to this bishop, and to bring the book away with him. This bishop having written two books (the one to answer the king's command, and the other intreating of his own private affairs) did bind them both after one sort in vellum, &c. Now, when the cardinal came to demand the book due to the king, the bishop unadvisedly commanded his servant to bring him the book bound in white vellum, lying in his study, in such a place. The servant accordingly brought forth one of the books so bound, being the book intreating of the state of the bishop, &c. The cardinal having the book, went from the bishop, and after (in his study by himself), understanding the contents thereof, he greatly rejoiced, having now occasion (which he long sought for) offered unto him, to bring the bishop into the king's disgrace.

"Wherefore he went forthwith to the king, delivered the book into his hands, and briefly informed

him of the contents thereof; putting further into the king's head, that if at any time he were destitute of a mass of money, he should not need to seek further therefor than to the coffers of the bishop. Of all which when the bishop had intelligence, &c. he was stricken with such grief of the same, that he shortly, through extreme sorrow, ended his life at London, in the year of Christ 1523. After which, the cardinal, who had long before gaped after his bishoprick, in singular hope to attain thereunto, had now his wish in effect," &c. STEEVENS. then, stops again,] Sallust, describing the disturbed state of Catiline's mind, takes notice of the same circumstance.

348.

66 -citus modo, modo tardus incessus."

STEEVENS.

411. Beyond all man's endeavours :- -] The sense is, my purposes went beyond all human endeavour. I purposed for your honour more than it falls within the compass of man's nature to attempt. JOHNSON.

413. Yet, fil'd with my abilities:] My endeavours, though less than my desires, have fil'd, that is, have gone an equal pace with my abilities.

So, in a preceding scene :

front but in that file

Where others tell steps with me.

431.

JOHNSON,

STEEVENS.

notwithstanding that your bond of duty,] Besides the general bond of duty, by which you are

obliged to be a loyal and obedient subject, you owe a par.

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