KING HENRY VIII.

EDITED BY

J. PAYNE COLLIER.

King HENRY VIII.

CARDINAL WOLSEY; CARDINAL Campeius.

CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from Charles V.
CRANMER, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Duke of NORFOLK; Earl of SURREY.
Duke of SUFFOLK; Duke of BUCKINGHAM.
Lord CHAMBERLAIN; Lord CHANCELLOR.
GARDINER, Bishop of Winchester.

Bishop of LINCOLN ; Lord ABERGAVENNY; Lord SANDS.

Sir HENRY GUILDFORD; Sir THOMAS LOvell.

Sir ANTHONY DENNY; Sir NICHOLAS VAUX.

CROMWELL, Servant to Wolsey.

Secretaries to Wolsey.

GRIFFITH, Gentleman-Usher to Queen Katharine.

Three other Gentlemen; Garter, King at Arms.

DOCTOR BUTTS, Physician to the King.

Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham.

BRANDON, and a Sergeant at Arms.

Door-keeper of the Council-Chamber; Porter, and his Man.
Page to Gardiner; A Crier.

Queen KATHARINE, Wife to King Henry VIII.

ANNE BULLEN, her Maid of Honour.

An old Lady, Friend to Anne Bullen.
PATIENCE, Woman to Queen Katharine.

Several Lords, Bishops, and Ladies in the Dumb Shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants.

SCENE: chiefly in London and Westminster; once, at Kimbolton.

The famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII was printed for the first time in the folio of 1623, without any list of characters, which was added by Rowe in 1709. It may be doubted whether in 1613 a new title, All is True, had not been given to the play.

KING HENRY VIII.

PROLOGUE.

I COME no more to make you laugh: things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,

Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
We now present. Those that can pity, here
May, if they think it well, let fall a tear;
The subject will deserve it: such, as give

Their money out of hope they may believe,

May here find truth too: those, that come to see

Only a show or two, and so agree

The play may pass, if they be still and willing,
I'll undertake, may see away their shilling

Richly in two short hours. Only they,
That come to hear a merry, bawdy play,
A noise of targets, or to see a fellow
In a long motley coat, guarded with yellow,2
Will be deceiv'd; for, gentle hearers, know,
To rank our chosen truth with such a show
As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting

In a long MOTLEY coat, GUARDED with yellow,] The variegated dress of a professed fool of old was called motley. Guarded meant ornamented or protected: see Much Ado about Nothing, act i, sc. I, p. 12, the note on the words "guarded with fragments".

Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring,
To make that only true we now intend,

Will leave us never an understanding friend.

Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as you are known,
The first and happiest hearers of the town,
Be sad as we would make ye: think, ye see

The very persons of our noble story,

As they were living; think, you see them great,
And follow'd with the general throng, and sweat
Of thousand friends; then, in a moment, see
How soon this mightiness meets misery:
And, if you can be merry then, I'll say,
A man may weep upon his wedding day.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-London. An ante-chamber in the Palace.

Enter the Duke of NORFOLK, at one door; at the other, the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, and the Lord ABERGAVENNY. Good morrow, and well met. How have you done,

Buck.

Since last we saw in France ?

Nor.

I thank your grace,

Healthful; and ever since a fresh admirer
Of what I saw there.