That which we do, is void, by his denial;
You know the king will credit none but him.
Nor. 'Tis true; he rules the king even as he
pleases.

Suf. How shall we do for to attach him then?
Gard. Marry, thus, my lords; by an act he
made himself,

With an intent to entrap some of our lives;
And this it is: If any counsellor
Be convicted of high treason, he shall
Be executed without public trial:
This act, my lords, he caused the king to make.
Suf. He did indeed, and I remember it;
And now 'tis like to fall upon himself.

Nor. Let us not slack it; 'tis for England's good:

SCENE I.-A Street in London.

Enter BEDFord.

Bed. My soul is like a water troubled; And Gardiner is the man that makes it so. O, Cromwell, I do fear thy end is near! Yet I'll prevent their malice if I can :

We must be wary, else he'll go beyond us.
Gard. Well hath your grace said, my good lord
of Norfolk :

Therefore let us go presently to Lambeth ;
Thither comes Cromwell from the court to-night.
Let us arrest him; send him to the Tower;
And in the morning cut off the traitor's head.
Nor. Come then, about it; let us guard the

town:

This is the day that Cromwell must go down.
Gard. Along, my lords. Well, Cromwell is half
dead;

He shaked my heart, but I will shave his head.
[Exeunt.

ACT V.

And in good time, see where the man doth come,
Who little knows how near's his day of doom.
Enter CROMWELL, with his Train. BEDFORD
makes as though he would speak to him. CROM-
WELL goes on.

Ay, and our last, I fear, an if he come. [Writes.
Here, take this letter, and bear it to Lord Crom-
well;

Bid him read it; say it concerns him near:
Away, be gone, make all the haste you can.
To Lambeth do I go, a woeful man. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-A Street near the Thames.

Enter CROMWELL, attended.

Crom. Is the barge ready? I will straight to
Lambeth:

And, if this one day's business once were past,

Crom. You're well encountered, my good lord I'd take my ease to-morrow after trouble.

of Bedford.

" I see your honour is addressed to talk.

C

Pray pardon me; I am sent for to the king,
And do not know the business yet myself:
So fare you well, for I must needs be gone.
[Exit CROMWELL, &c.
Bed. You must; well, what remedy?
I fear too soon you must be gone indeed.
The king hath business; but little dost thou know,
Who's busy for thy life; thou think'st not so.

Re-enter CROMWELL, attended.

Crom. The second time well met my lord of
Bedford:

I am very sorry that my haste is such.
Lord marquis Dorset being sick to death,
I must receive of him the privy-seal.
At Lambeth soon, my lord, we'll talk our fill.

[Exit.
Bed. How smooth and easy is the way to death!

Enter Messenger.

How now, my friend, wouldest thou speak with me?

Mes. Sir, here's a letter from my lord of Bed

ford.

[Gives him a Letter. CROMWELL puts it in his pocket.

Crom. O good my friend, commend me to thy

lord:

Hold, take those angels; drink them for thy pains.
Mes. He doth desire your grace to read it,
Because he says it doth concern you near.
Crom, Bid him assure himself of that. Farewell.
To-morrow, tell him, he shall hear from me.
Set on before there, and away to Lambeth.
[Exeunt.

SCENE III.-Lambeth.

Enter GARDINER, SUFFOLK, Norfolk, Bedford, Lieutenant of the Tower, a Serjeant at Arms, a Heraid, and Halberts.

Gard. Halberts, stand close unto the water-side; Serjeant at arms, be you bold in your office; Herald, deliver your proclamation.

Her. "This is to give notice to all the king's subjects, the late lord Cro:nwell, lord chancellor of England, vicar-general over the realm, him tɔ

Crom. Well, where you please: but yet before There I am sure to hear more news than you.

The greater men, more sudden is their fall.
And now I do remember, the earl of Bedford'
Was very desirous for to speak to me;
And a verward sent unto me a letter,
The which I think I still have in my pocket,
Now may I read it, for I now have leisure;
And this I take it is.

[Reads.

"My lord, come not this night to Lambeth,
For if you do, your state is overthrown;
And much I doubt your life, an if you come :
Then if you love yourself, stay where you are."
O God, O God! had I but read this letter,
Then had I been free from the lion's paw:
Deferring this to read until to-morrow,

I spurned at joy, and did embrace my sorrow.
Enter Lieutenant of the Tower, Officers, &c.
Now, master lieutenant, when's this day of death?
Lieu. Alas, my lord, would I might never see it!
Here are the dukes of Suffolk and of Norfolk,
Winchester, Bedford, and sir Richard Radcliffe,
With others; but why they come I know not,
Crom. No matter wherefore. Cromwell is pre-
pared,

For Gardiner has my life and state ensnared.
Bid them come in, or you shall do them wrong,
For here stands he who some think lives too long.
Learning kills learning, and, instead of ink
To dip his pen, Cromwell's heart-blood doth drink.
Enter the Dukes of SUFFOLK and NORFOLK; the
Earl of BEDFORD, GARDINER Bishop of Win-
chester, Sir RICHARD RADCLIFF, and Sir
RALPH SADLER.

Nor. Good morrow, Cromwell. What, aloue

so sad?

Crom. One good among you, none of you are
bad.

For my part, it best fits me be alone;
Sadness with me, not I with any one.
What, is the king acquainted with my cause?

ters.

tremes.

Crom. My kind and honourable lord of Bedford,
I know your honour always loved me well:
Gardiner's the cause makes Cromwell so extreme,
But, pardon me, this still shall be my theme;
Sir Ralph Sadler, I pray a word with you;
You were my man, and all that you possess
Came by my means: sir, to requite all this,
Say will you take this letter here of me,
And give it with your own hands to the king?

Sad. I kiss your hand, and never will I rest
Ere to the king this be delivered. [Exit SADLER.
Crom. Why then yet Cromwell hath one friend

in store.

Gard. But all the haste he makes shall be but
vain.

Here is a discharge for your prisoner,
To see him executed presently:

[To the Lieutenant.
My lord, you hear the tenure of your life.
And of this glistering world I take last leave :
Crom. I do embrace it; welcome my last date,
And, noble lords, I take my leave of you.
As willingly I go to meet with death,
As Gardiner did pronounce it with his breath.
From treason is my heart as white as snow;
My death procured only by my foe.

I pray commend me to my sovereign king,

14 Why then soon will we meet again: adieu !—The concluding word of this line has been supplied by Mr Steevens. A rhyme was probably intended.—MALONE.

VOL. I.

3 A

16

Mark, boy, the last words that I speak to thee :
Flatter not Fortune, neither fawn upon her;
Gape not for state, yet lose no spark of honour;
Ambition, like the plague, see thou eschew it;
I die for treason, boy, and never knew it.
Yet let thy faith as spotless be as mine,
And Cromwell's virtues in thy face shall shine:
Come, go along, and see me leave my breath,
And I'll leave thee upon the floor of death.

Son. O father, I shall die to see that wound!
Your blood being spilt will make my heart to

swound.

Crom. How, boy, not dare to look upon the axe?
How shall I do then to have my head struck off?
Come on, my child, and see the end of all;
And after say, that Gardiner was my fall.

Gard. My lord, you speak it of an envious heart;
I have done no more than law and equity.

Bed. O, my good lord of Winchester, forbear: It would have better seemed you to have been absent,

Than with your words disturb a dying man.

Crom. Who me, my lord? no: he disturbs not

me.

My mind he stirs not, though his mighty shock
Hath brought more peers' heads down unto the
block.

Farewell, my boy! all Cromwell can bequeath,-
My hearty blessing:-so I take my leave.

Exec. I am your death's-man; pray, my lord,
forgive me.

Crom. Even with my soul. Why man, thou art my doctor,

And bring'st me precious physic for my soul.

My lord of Bedford, I desire of you
Before my death, a corporal embrace.
Farewell, great lord; my love I do commend,
My heart to you; my soul to heaven I send.
This is my joy, that, ere my body fleet,
Your honoured arms are my true winding-sheet.
Farewell, dear Bedford; my peace is made in
heaven.

Thus falls great Cromwell, a poor ell in length,
To rise to unmeasured height, winged with new
strength,

The land of worms, which dying men discover :
My soul is shrined with heaven's celestial cover.
[Exeunt CROMWELL, Officers, &c.
Bed. Well, farewell Cromwell! sure the truest
friend

That ever Bedford shall possess again.—
Well, lords, I fear that when this man is dead,
You'll wish in vain that Cromwell had a head.
Enter an Officer with CROMWELL'S Head.

Offi. Here is the head of the deceased Crom-
well.

Bed. Pray thee go hence, and bear his head away

Unto his body; inter them both in clay.

[Exit Officer.

15 To lose his head before his cause was tried ;--Speed is the only historian (that I have seen) who asserts that the bill of attainder against Cromwell did not pass till after his death. In one sense indeed he might be said to be executed before his cause was tried, for it was never fairly tried; but the act of parliament by which he suffered, received the royal assent four days before his execution.- MALONE.

16 Mark, boy, the last words that I speak to thee:-The author has here departed from historical truth. The earl of Essex's son was arrived to manhood some time before the execution of his father; and had been called up by summons to the house of peers, four years before that event, by the title of baron Cromwell, of Wimbleton, in the county of Surry.-MALONE.

17 Here is a kind reprieve come from the king.-No reprieve was at any time sent for Cromwell. The unfortunate statesman, during his confinement in the Tower, wrote a pathetic letter to Henry, which brought tears into the eyes of that sanguinary tyrant, but produced no other effect.-MALONE.

SCENE L-London. A Room in FLOWERDALE | How hath he borne himself since my departure,

Junior's House.

Enter FLOWERDALE Senior, and FLOWERDALE

Junior.

Flow. Sen. Brother, from Venice, being thus
disguised,

I come to prove the humours of my son.

I leaving you his patron and his guide?
Flow. Jun. I'faith, brother, so as you will grieve

to hear,

And I almost ashamed to report it.

Flow. Sen. Why, how is't, brother? What, doth he spend beyond the allowance I left him? Flow. Jun. How! beyond that? and far more

I Concerning the origin of this play having been ever ascribed to Shakespeare, I have not been able to form any probable hypothesis. It was not entered on the Stationers' Books, but was published in 1605, as it was plaide by the King's majestie's servants, and is said in the title-page to be written by William Shakespeare. It was printed by T. C. (Thomas Creede) for Nathaniel Butter, who three years afterwards published King Lear.

One knows not which most to admire, the impudence of the printer, in affixing our great poet's name to a comedy publicly acted at his own theatre, of which it is very improbable that he should have written a single line, or Shakespeare's negligence of fame in suffering such a piece to be imputed to him without taking the least notice of it.

It appears from a passage in the first act, that this play was written either in the year 1603, or 1601. MALONE.