King Henry VIII | Page 6

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 And for his own advantage.
NORFOLK. I am sorry To hear this of him; and could wish he were
Something mistaken in't.
BUCKINGHAM. No, not a syllable: I do pronounce him in that very
shape He shall appear in proof.
[Enter Brandon, a Sergeant-at-arms before him, and two or three of the
Guard.]
BRANDON. Your office, sergeant; execute it.
SERGEANT. Sir, 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.
BUCKINGHAM. Lo, you, my lord, The net has fall'n upon me! I shall
perish Under device and practice.
BRANDON. I am sorry To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on The
business present. 'Tis his Highness' pleasure You shall to the Tower.
BUCKINGHAM. It will help nothing To plead mine innocence; for
that dye is on me Which makes my whit'st part black. The will of
Heaven Be done in this and all things! I obey. O my Lord Abergavenny,
fare you well!
BRANDON. Nay, he must bear you company. [To Abergavenny.] The
King Is pleas'd you shall to the Tower, till you know How he
determines further.
ABERGAVENNY. As the Duke said, The will of Heaven be done, and
the King's pleasure By me obey'd!
BRANDON. Here is warrant from The King to attach Lord Montacute,
and the bodies Of the Duke's confessor, John de la Car, One Gilbert
Peck, his chancellor,--
BUCKINGHAM. So, so; These are the limbs o' the plot. No more, I
hope?
BRANDON. A monk o' the Chartreux.
BUCKINGHAM O, Nicholas Hopkins?
BRANDON. He.
BUCKINGHAM. 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, Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on, By
dark'ning my clear sun. My lord, farewell.
[Exeunt.]

SCENE II. The same. The council-chamber.
[Cornets. Enter the King, leaning on the Cardinal's shoulder, the Nobles,
and Sir Thomas Lovell; the Cardinal places himself under the King's
feet on his right side.]
KING. My life itself, and the best heart of it, Thanks you for this great
care. I stood i' the level Of a full-charg'd confederacy, and give thanks
To you that chok'd it. Let be call'd before us That gentleman of
Buckingham's; in person I'll hear his confessions justify; And point by
point the treasons of his master He shall again relate.

[A noise within, crying "Room for the Queen!" Enter Queen Katherine,
ushered by the Duke of Norfolk, and the Duke of Suffolk; she kneels.
The King riseth from his state, takes her up, kisses and placeth her by
him.]
QUEEN KATHERINE. Nay, we must longer kneel; I am a suitor.
KING. Arise, and take place by us. Half your suit Never name to us,
you have half our power; The other moiety, ere you ask, is given.
Repeat your will and take it.
QUEEN KATHERINE. Thank your Majesty. That you would love
yourself, and in that love Not unconsidered leave your honour, nor The
dignity of your office, is the point Of my petition.
KING. Lady mine, proceed.
QUEEN KATHERINE. I am solicited, not by a few, And those of true
condition, that your subjects Are in great grievance. There have been
commissions Sent down among 'em, which hath flaw'd the heart Of all
their loyalties; wherein, although, My good Lord Cardinal, they vent
reproaches Most bitterly on you, as putter on Of these exactions, yet the
King our master-- Whose honour Heaven shield from soil!--even he
escapes not Language unmannerly, yea, such which breaks The sides of
loyalty, and almost appears In loud rebellion.
NORFOLK. Not "almost appears," It doth appear; for, upon these
taxations, The clothiers all, not able to maintain The many to them
longing, have put off The spinsters, carders, fullers, weavers, who,
Unfit for other life, compell'd by hunger And lack of other means, in
desperate manner Daring the event to the teeth, are all in uproar, And
danger serves among them.
KING. Taxation! Wherein? and what taxation? My Lord Cardinal, You
that are blam'd for it alike with us, Know you of this taxation?
WOLSEY. Please you, sir, I know but of a single part, in aught Pertains
to the state, and front but in that file Where others tell steps with me.
QUEEN KATHERINE. No, my lord? You know no