You would have given me your petition, that 1 should have ta'en some pains to bring together Yourself and your accusers; and to have heard you Without indurance," further. Cran. Most dread liege, The good I stand on" is my truth, and honesty ; Will triumph o'er my person; which I weigh not, What can be said against me. K. Hen. Know you not how Your state stands i'the world, with the whole world? Are many, and not small; their practices Must bear the same proportion and not ever Of as great size. Ween 8 of better luck, you I mean, in perjur'd witness, than your master, Whose minister you are, whiles here he liv'd Upon this naughty earth? Go to, go to; You take a precipice for no leap of danger, And woo your own destruction. Cran. God, and your majesty, Protect mine innocence, or I fall into K. Hen. Be of good cheer; They shall no more prevail, than we give way to. You do appear before them; if they shall chance, Fail not to use, and with what vehemency There make before them.-Look, the good man weeps! [6] Indurance, that is confinement. JOHNSON. Though good may be taken for advantage or superiority, or any thing which may help or support, yet it would, I think, be more natural to say: The ground I stand on------. JOHNSON. [8] To ween is to think, to imagine. Though now obsolete, the word was common to all our ancient writers. STEEVENS. He's honest, on mine honour. God's blest mother! None better in my kingdom.-Get you gone, He has strangled His language in his tears. Enter an old Lady. [Exit CRANMER. Gen. [Within.] Come back; what mean you? K. Hen. Now, by thy looks I guess thy message. Is the queen deliver❜d? Lady. Ay, ay, my liege; And of a lovely boy: The God of heaven Acquainted with this stranger; 'tis as like you, K. Hen. Lovell, Lov. Sır. Enter LOVELL. K. Hen. Give her an hundred marks. I'll to the queen. [Exit King. Lady. An hundred marks! By this light, I'll have more. An ordinary groom is for such payment. Lobby before the Council-chamber, [Exeunt. Enter CRANMER; Ser vants, Door-keeper, &c. attending. Cran. I hope, I am not too late; and yet the gentleman, That was sent to me from the council, pray'd me To make great haste. All fast? what means this ?-Hoa! Who waits there ?-Sure, you know me? D. Keep. Yes, my lord; But yet I cannot help you. Cran. Why? D. Keep. Your grace must wait, till you be call'd for. Cran. So. Enter Doctor BUTTS. Butts. This is a piece of malice. I am glad, I came this way so happily: The king Cran. [Aside.] 'Tis Butts, The king's physician; As he past along, How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me! [Exit BUTTS. Pray heaven, he sound not my disgrace! For certain, (God turn their hearts! I never sought their malice,) Among boys, grooms, and lackeys. But their pleasures Must be fulfil'd, and I attend with patience. Enter, at a window above, the King and BUTTS. Butts. I think, your highness saw this many a day. Butts. There, my lord: The high promotion of his grace of Canterbury; K. Hen. Ha! "Tis he, indeed : Is this the honour they do one another? 'Tis well, there's one above them yet. I had thought, To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasures, THE COUNCIL-CHAMBER. [Exeunt. Enter the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of SUFFOLK, Earl of SURREY, Lord Chamberlain, GARDINER, and CROMWELL. The Chancellor places himself at the upper end of the table [9] The suspicious vigilance of our ancestors contrived windows which overlooked the insides of chapels, halls, kitchens, passages, &c. Some of these convenient peep-holes may still be found in colleges, and such ancient houses as have not suf fered from the reformations of modern architecture. Without a previous knowledge of this custom, Shakespeare's scenery, in the present instance, would be obscure. STEEVENS. on the left hand; a seat being left void above him, as for the Archbishop of Canterbury. The rest seat themselves in order on each side. CROMWELL at the lower end, as se cretary. Chan. Speak to the business, master secretary: Why are we met in council? Crom. Please your honours, The chief cause concerns his grace of Canterbury. D. Keep. My lord archbishop; And has done half an hour, to know your pleasures. Chan. Let him come in. D. Keep. Your grace may enter now. [CRANMER approaches the Council-table. Chan. My good lord archbishop, I am very sorry To sit here at this present, and behold That chair stand empty: But we all are men, In our own natures frail; and capable Of our flesh, few are angels: out of which frailty, The whole realm, by your teaching, and your chaplains, Gar. Which reformation must be sudden too, But stop their mouths with stubborn bits, and spur them, (Out of our easiness, and childish pity To one man's honour) this contagious sickness, Of the whole state: as, of late days, our neighbours, Yet freshly pitied in our memories. Few are perfect while they remain in their mortal capacity. STEEVENS. [2] Alluding to the beresy of Thomas Muntzer, which sprung up in Saxony in the years 1521 and 1522. GREY. Cran. My good lords, hitherto, in all the progress Be what they will, may stand forth face to face, Suf. Nay, my lord, That cannot be; you are a counsellor, And, by that virtue, no man dare accuse you. Gar. My lord, because we have business of more moment, We will be short with you. 'Tis his highness' pleasure And our consent, for better trial of you, From hence you be committed to the Tower; Where, being but a private man again, You shall know many dare accuse you boldly, More than, I fear, you are provided for. Cran. Ah, my good lord of Winchester, I thank you, You are always my good friend; if you will pass, I shall both find your lordship judge and juror, You are so merciful: I see your end, 'Tis my undoing Love, and meekness, lord, Become a churchman better than ambition ; Win straying souls with modesty again, Cast none away. That I shall clear myself, Lay all the weight ye can upon my patience, I make as little doubt, as you do conscience, In doing daily wrongs. I could say more, But reverence to your calling makes me modest. Gar. My lord, my lord, you are a sectary, [S] A heart void of duplicity or guile. sion. See Acts ii. 46. REED. VOL. IV. 45 MALONE. It is a scriptural expres |