And, if you may confess it, say withal, Wol. My sovereign, I confess, your royal graces, K. Hen. Fairly answer'd; A loyal and obedient subject is Therein illustrated: The honour of it 8 Beyond all man's endeavours:] The sense is, my purposes went beyond all human endeavour. I purpose for your honour more than it falls within the compass of man's nature to attempt. Johnson. I am rather inclined to think, that which refers to "royal graces;" which, says Wolsey, no human endeavour could requite. Malone. 9 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. Johnson. So, in a preceding scene: front but in that file "Where others tell steps with me." Steevens. 1 my hand has open'd bounty to you, My heart dropp'd love, my power rain'd honour, more On you, &c.] As Ben Jonson is supposed to have made some alterations in this play, it may not be amiss to compare the passage before us, with another, on the same subject, in the New Inn "He gave me my first breeding, I acknowledge; "Then shower'd his bounties on me, like the hours "That open-handed sit upon the clouds, Your brain, and every function of your power, To me, your friend, than any. Wol. I do profess, That for your highness' good I ever labour'd More than mine own; that am, have, and will be.3 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 them, 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. K. Hen. 'Tis nobly spoken: Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast, 2 "And press the liberality of heaven "Down to the laps of thankful men." 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 particular devotion of yourself to me, as your particular benefactor. Johnson. 3 that am, have, and will be.] I can find no meaning in these words, or see how they are connected with the rest of the sentence; and should therefore strike them out. M. Mason. I suppose the meaning is, that, or such a man, I am, have been, and will ever be. Our author has many hard and forced expressions in his plays; but many of the hardnesses in the piece before us appear to me of a different colour from those of Shakspeare. Perhaps, however, a line following this had been lost; for in the old copy there is no stop at the end of this line; and, indeed, I have some doubt whether a comma ought not to be placed at it, rather than a full point. Malone. 4 As doth a rock against the chiding flood,] So, in our author's 116th Sonnet: 66 it is an ever-fixed mark, "That looks on tempests, and is never shaken." The chiding flood is the resounding flood. So, in the verses in commendation of our author, by J. M. S. prefixed to the folio, 1632: For you have seen him open 't.-Read o'er this; [Giving him Papers. And, after, this: and then to breakfast, with [Exit King, frowning upon Cardinal WoL. the Nobles throng after him, smiling, and whispering. Wol. 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 I writ to his holiness. Nay then, farewel! I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness; 5 I haste now to my setting: I shall fall Re-enter the Dukes of NORFOLK and SUFFOLK, the Earl of SURREY, and the Lord Chamberlain. Nor. Hear the king's pleasure, cardinal: who commands you 5I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness;] So, in Marlowe's King Edward II: "Base fortune, now I see that in thy wheel "There is a point, to which when men aspire, "They tumble headlong down. That point I touch'd; "And seeing there was no place to mount up higher, Why should I grieve at my declining fall?" Malone. 6 Re-enter the Dukes &c.] It may not be improper here to repeat, To render up the great seal presently Stay, that the time of this play is from 1521, just before the Duke of Buckingham's commitment, to the year 1533, when Queen Elizabeth was born and christened. The Duke of Norfolk, therefore, who is introduced in the first scene of the first Act, of in 1522, is not the same person who here, or in 1529, demands the great seal from Wolsey; for Thomas Howard, who was created Duke of Norfolk, 1514, died, we are informed by Holinshed, p. 891, at Whitsuntide, 1525. As our author has here made two persons into one, so, on the contrary, he has made one person into two. The Earl of Surrey here is the same with him who married the Duke of Buckingham's daughter, as appears from his own mouth: "I am joyful Again: "To meet the least occasion that may give me "Thy ambition, "Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land "Far from his succour, دو But Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who married the Duke of Buckingham's daughter, was at this time the individual above mentioned Duke of Norfolk. The reason for adding the third or fourth person as interculators in this scene is not very apparent, for Holinshed, p. 909, mentions only the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk being sent to demand the great seal, and all that is spoken would proceed with sufficient propriety out of their mouths. The cause of the Duke of Norfolk's animosity to Wolsey is obvious, and Cavendish mentions that an open quarrel at this time subsisted between the Cardinal and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Reed. 7 To Asher-house,] Thus the old copy. Asher was the ancient name of Esher; as appears from Holinshed: " — and everie man took their horses and rode strait to Asher." Holinshed, Vol. II, p. 909. Warner. 8 my lord of Winchester's,] Shakspeare forgot that Wolsey was himself Bishop of Winchester, unless he meant to say, you must confine yourself to that house which you possess as Bishop of Winchester. Asher, near Hampton-Court, was one of the houses belonging to that bishoprick. Malone. Fox, Bishop of Winchester, died Sept. 14, 1528, and Wolsey held this see in commendam. Esher therefore was his own house. Reed. Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry Authority so weighty.9 Suf. Who dare cross them? Bearing the king's will from his mouth expressly? Wol. Till I find more than will, or words, to do it, Of what coarse metal ye are moulded,-envy. As if it fed ye? and how sleek and wanton You have christian warrant for them, and, no doubt, (Mine, and your master,) with his own hand gave me: It must be himself then, Proud lord, thou liest; Sur. Thou art a proud traitor, priest. 9 so weighty.] The editor of the third folio changed weighty to mighty, and all the subsequent editors adopted his capricious alteration. Malone. I believe the change pointed out, was rather accidental than capricious; as, in the proof sheets of this republication, the words -weighty and mighty have more than once been given instead of each other. Steevens. 1 Till I find more than will, or words, to do it, (I mean, your malice,) know, &c.] Wolsey had said: 66 Authority so weighty." To which they reply: "Who dare cross them?" &c. Wolsey, answering them, continues his own speech, Till I find more than will or words (I mean more than your malicious will and words) to do it; that is, to carry authority so mighty; I will deny to return what the King has given me. Johnson. 2 Within these forty hours-] Why forty hours? But a few minutes have passed since Wolsey's disgrace. I suspect that Shakspeare wrote-within these four hours,-and that the person who VOL. XI. D d |