I am thankful to you; and I'll go along

By your prescription:-but this top-proud fellow,
(Whom from the flow of gall I name not, but
From sincere motions,1) by intelligence,
And proofs as clear as founts in Júly, when
We see each grain of gravel, I do know
To be corrupt and treasonous.

Nor.

Say not, treasonous.

Buck. To the king I'll say 't; and make my vouch as

strong

As shore of rock. Attend. This holy fox,

Or wolf, or both, (for he is equal ravenous,2
As he is subtle; and as prone to mischief,
As able to perform it: his mind and place
Infecting one another,3 yea, reciprocally,)
Only to show his pomp as well in France
As here at home, suggests the king our master4
To this last costly treaty, the interview,

That swallow'd so much treasure, and like a glass
Did break i' the rinsing.

Nor.

'Faith, and so it did.

Buck. Pray, give me favour, sir. This cunning cardinal The articles o' the combination drew,

As himself pleas'd; and they were ratified,
As he cried, Thus let be: to as much end,

Or but allay, the fire of passion.] So, in Hamlet:
"Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper
"Sprinkle cool patience." Steevens.

▪ sincere motions,)] Honest indignation, warmth of integ rity. Perhaps name not, should be blame not.

2

Whom from the flow of gall I blame not. Johnson.

-for he is equal ravenous,] Equal for equally. Shakspeare frequently uses adjectives adverbially. See King John, Vol. VII, p. 415, n. 4. Malone.

3 - his mind and place

Infecting one another,] This is very satirical. His mind he represents as highly corrupt; and yet he supposes the contagion of the place of first minister as adding an infection to it.

Warburton.

4 · suggests the king our master -] Suggests, for excites.

So, in King Richard II:

Warburton.

"Suggest his soon-believing adversaries." Steevens.

As give a crutch to the dead: But our count-cardinal
Has done this, and 'tis well; for worthy Wolsey,
Who cannot err, he did it. Now this follows,
(Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy

To the old dam, treason,)-Charles the emperor,
Under pretence to see the queen his aunt,
(For 'twas, indeed, his colour; but he came
To whisper Wolsey,) here makes visitation:
His fears were, that the interview, betwixt
England and France, might, through their amity,
Breed him some prejudice; for from this league
Peep'd harms that menac'd him: He privily
Deals with our cardinal; and, as I trow,-
Which I do well; for, I am sure, the emperor
Paid ere he promis'd; whereby his suit was granted,
Ere it was ask’d;—but when the way was made,
And pav'd with gold, the emperor thus desir'd ;—
That he would please to alter the king's course,
And break the foresaid peace. Let the king know,
(As soon he shall by me) that thus the cardinal
Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases,7
And for his own advantage.

Nor.

I am sorry

To hear this of him; and could wish, he were
Something mistaken in 't.8

Buck.

No, not a syllable;

I do pronounce him in that very shape,
He shall appear in proof.

5 our count-cardinal-] Wolsey is afterwards called king cardinal. Mr. Pope and the subsequent editors read-court-cardinal. Malone.

6

He privily-] He, which is not in the original copy, was added by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases,] This was a proverbial expression. See King Richard III, Act V, sc. iii.

The same phrase occurs also in King Henry VI, Part I: from bought and sold lord Talbot."

Malone.

Again, in The Comedy of Errors: "It would make a man as mad as a buck, to be so bought and sold." Steevens.

.8

•he were

Something mistaken in 't.] That is, that he were something different from what he is taken or supposed by you to be. Malone.

Enter BRANDON; a Sergeant at Arms before him, and two or three of the Guard.

Bran. Your office, sergeant; execute it.
Serg.
My lord the duke of Buckingham, and earl
Of Hereford, Stafford, and Northampton, I
Arrest thee of high treason, in the name
Of our most sovereign king.

Buck.

Sir,

Lo you, my lord, The net has fall'n upon me; I shall perish Under device and practice.9

Bran.

I am sorry

To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on

The business present:1 'Tis his highness' pleasure,
You shall to the Tower.

Buck.

It will help me nothing,

To plead mine innocence; for that die is on me,

Which makes my whitest part black. The will of heaven Be done in this and all things!—I obey.—

O my lord Aberga'ny, fare you well.

Bran. Nay, he must bear you company:-The king

[To ABER, Is pleas'd, you shall to the Tower, till you know How he determines further.

As the duke said

Aber.
The will of heaven be done, and the king's pleasure
By me obey'd.

Bran.

Here is a warrant from

The king, to attach lord Montacute;2 and the bodies Of the duke's confessor, John de la Court,3

9

-practice.] i. e. unfair stratagem. So, in Othello, Act V: "Fallen in the practice of a cursed slave."

And in this play, Surrey, speaking of Wolsey, says: "How came his practices to light?" Reed.

1 I am sorry

To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on

The business present:] I am sorry that I am obliged to be present and an eye-witness of your loss of liberty. Johnson.

2 lord Montacute;] This was Henry Pole, grandson to George Duke of Clarence, and eldest brother to Cardinal Pole. He had married the Lord Abergavenny's daughter. He was restored to favour at this juncture, but was afterwards executed for another treason in this reign. Reed.

One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor,✨

Buck..

So, so;

These are the limbs of the plot: No more, I hope.
Bran. A monk o' the Chartreux.

Buck.

Bran.

O, Nicholas Hopkins?5

He.

Buck. My surveyor is false; the o'er-great cardinal Hath show'd him gold: my life is spann'd already:" I am the shadow of poor Buckingham;7

Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on,

By dark'ning my clear sun.3-My lord, farewel. [Exeunt.

-3

- John de la Court,] The name of this monk of the Char. treux was John de la Car, alias de la Court. See Holinshed, p. 863. Steevens.

4 One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor,] The old copies have it— his counsellor; but I, from the authorities of Hall and Holinshed changed it to chancellor. And our poet himself, in the beginning of the second Act, vouches for this correction:

"At which, appear'd against him his surveyor,
"Sir Gilbert Peck, his chancellor."

Theobald.

I believe [in the former instance] the author wrote-And Gil-、 bert &c. Malone.

5

Nicholas Hopkins?] The old copy has-Michael Hopkins. Mr. Theobald made the emendation, conformably to the Chronicle: "Nicholas Hopkins, a monk of an house of the Chartreux order, beside Bristow, called Henton." In the MS. Nich. only was probably set down, and mistaken for Mich. Malone.

6

my life is spann'd already:] To span is to gripe, or inclose in the hand; to span is also to measure by the palm and fingers. The meaning, therefore, may either be, that hold is taken of my life, my life is in the gripe of my enemies; or, that my time is measured, the length of my life is now determined. Johnson.

Man's life, in scripture, is said to be but a span long. Probably, therefore, it means, when 'tis spann'd 'tis ended. Reed.

7 I am the shadow of poor Buckingham;] So, in the old play of King Leir, 1605:

“And think me but the shadow of myself." Steevens. 8 I am the shadow of poor Buckingham;

Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on,

By dark'ning my clear sun.] These lines have passed all the editors. Does the reader understand them? By me they are inexplicable, and must be left, I fear, to some happier sagacity. If the usage of our author's time could allow figure to be taken, as now, for dignity or importance, we might read:

Whose figure even this instant cloud puts out. But I cannot please myself with any conjecture.

SCENE II.

The Council-Chamber.

Cornets. Enter King HENRY, Cardinal WOLSEY, the Lords of the Council, Sir THOMAS LOVELL, Officers, and Attendants. The King enters leaning on the Cardinal's shoulder.

K. Hen. My life itself, and the best heart of it," 9 Thanks you for this great care: I stood i' the level

Another explanation may be given, somewhat harsh, but the best that occurs to me:

I am the shadow of poor Buckingham,

Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on,

whose port and dignity is assumed by the Cardinal, that overclouds and oppresses me, and who gains my place

By dark'ning my clear sun. Johnson.

Perhaps Shakspeare has expressed the same idea more clearly in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Antony and Cleopatra, and King John:

"O, how this spring of love resembleth

"Th' uncertain glory of an April day,

"Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
"And, by and by, a cloud takes all away."

Antony, remarking on the various appearances assumed by the flying vapours, adds:

now thy captain is

"Even such a body: here I am Antony,

"But cannot hold this visible shape, my knave."

Or yet, more appositely, in King John:

being but the shadow of your son

"Becomes a sun, and makes your son a shadow."

Such another thought occurs in The famous History of Thomas Stukely, 1605:

"He is the substance of my shadowed love."

There is likewise a passage similar to the conclusion of this, in Rollo, or the Bloody Brother, of Beaumont and Fletcher:

is drawn so high, that, like an ominous comet, "He darkens all your light."

We might, however, read-pouts on; i. e. looks gloomily upon. So, in Coriolanus, Act V, sc. i:

66

then

"We pout upon the morning, are unapt
"To give, or to forgive."

Again, in Romeo and Juliet, Act III, sc. iii:

"Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love."

Wolsey could only reach Buckingham through the medium of the King's power. The Duke therefore compares the Cardinal